Foremost Hunting Blog

Great Lakes Wolves Delisted... Now What?

2011-12-30T01:10:00.004-06:00

The following is a commentary by foremosthunting.com's Chris Larsen. It does not necessarily reflect the views of foremosthunting.com.

The big news for Midwest hunters last week was the delisting of the Great Lakes gray wolf population. The move puts management of gray wolves back in the hands of state wildlife managers in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan. This authority has been something state agencies have been asking years for. Currently, state agencies have no authority to use lethal means to deal with problem wolves. By the end of January, they most likely will.

This isn’t the first time we’ve been down this road. This is the third time since the millennium the Great Lakes gray wolf has been delisted from the Endangered Species list. Each of the previous two times it was relisted. This is, for lack of a better term, a bunch of hooey. There are more than 4,000 wolves residing in these three states. That is three times the wolf population of the Northern Rockies. In my home state of Wisconsin, the original management plan called for about 350-400 wolves in the state. Biologists believed the maximum carrying capacity of the state’s habitat and resources would be around 500 wolves. The current Wisconsin population is estimated at over 750 wolves.

There is no good science for continuing to protect the gray wolf as an endangered species. This doesn’t protect common sense from dolts with lawyers and judges who are duped by them. The Humane Society of the United States is one of the key opponents to wolf delisting and they have deep pockets and good lawyers. The big question is, assuming the gray wolf remains delisted, what is next?

The first step should be allowing state agencies to use deadly force on wolves depredating on livestock or nuisance wolves that roam near homes. Most wolves want nothing to do with people and there are plenty of deer for them to eat in the woods. Right now, state agencies can’t use lethal tactics. That leaves them with strategies meant to scare wolves away from farms and homes. Fladry is a common tactic. The instrument in the photo is a siren that goes off every 30 seconds or so. Would you like to live next to that? After a while wolves acclimate themselves to these things and eventually ignore them. If we start shooting problem wolves, fellow pack members will either move away from farms and homes or end up falling to the gun or trap as well.

While many people like the idea of being able to hunt wolves, if we’re going to be true stewards of the land and resources, I would like to see the results of nuisance hunts first. For example, lets say there are nearly 800 wolves in Wisconsin and the initial management goal is 600 wolves. If we sell 200 wolf tags and they are randomly killed throughout the state, did we really manage the population responsibly? Wouldn’t we rather kill problem wolves and leave those who are doing what wolves naturally do to continue doing it?

On the other hand there are those who say every wolf is a problem wolf. Many salivate at the prospect of being able to hunt a wolf. Perhaps we could create a system with 150 nuisance wolf kills and 50 hunter tags per season. If we did a drawing for these tags the difference between having 200 tags in the drawing and 50 in the drawing is pretty minimal. The odds would be thin either way. Charge $5 to be in the drawing. That would raise a lot of money to help pay for wolf damage. Perhaps take one of those tags and auction it off. The state of Iowa does this with one buck tag every year and makes between $5,000 and $10,000 on the tag. And that’s a tag that you can get every three or four years no matter what. The state could probably make $10K by auctioning one wolf tag per year. I think this would be a good compromise that would show good, responsible stewardship while keeping agriculture and hunting interests happy.

As long as the courts don’t stop it, state agencies will begin managing wolves by the end of January. We’ll get a good idea of what the future of wolf management will look like at that point.

The Black Lab Buck

2011-11-16T21:45:00.002-06:00

After years of chasing waterfowl and whitetails with firearms, this season I decided to get into archery hunting. Instead of just killing a deer with the bow, I decided to make my hunts even more challenging by filming them. My good friend, Jason Oswald, has been generous enough to offer his time and efforts to film my hunts. On the way, he has also become addicted to bow hunting lifestyle. This was our first season of hunting from elevated stands and it has been exciting. Seeing deer from above while they have no idea you are there is a thrill. I arrowed my first deer a few weeks ago. One of the cool things about getting into archery hunting is the welcome I have received from fellow hunters. Dozens of emails flooded my inbox after releasing the video of my hunt. The following message is from my friend, Matt Appel. After a hearty congrats, he shared the story of his most recent hunt. Matt is a new daddy this year. Check out the photo at the end of the story.

-----

I curbed my addiction this year by taking a buck I normally would of passed up, but it was on public land, the first time into the area, and it was a fun hunt. I got in my stand, watched a storm front move in, put up my umbrella, sat there and thought “well I'm not going to see anything this morning.” Luckily, the front passed with out a drop of rain. Then I heard some leaves kicking up and looked up to see the buck walking right from where I had walked in 45 minutes before. I looked behind him as he got to 30 yards for a bigger buck, drew, looked behind him again, then settled on him as he passed broadside at 18 yards and figured I would spend some more time with the family this year, then released.

The arrow hit hard and disappeared while the buck bolted out of the woods and into a prairie grass field. As I was getting down from my stand I had a black lab come running in from where the deer went. I looked up to see a pheasant hunter walk by the little wood lot I was in. I hollered over to see if he had seen a deer in the direction he came from. He said “yeah, he's laying right over there!” He walked me over and showed me the deer. He said he tried to stay away from the woods he thought I was in. I told him not to worry, “I was bird hunting out here 2 days ago!” He congratulated me and continued on his way.

While getting my tag out for the buck, I looked up through the prairie grass, and here came another buck walking up on me. He looked me up and down, and just turned and walked in the same direction the pheasant hunter had walked 15 minutes before. I walked my stuff back to my truck, as the pheasant hunter finished up his hunt and managed a nice ring neck. I stripped off my long johns and headed back to the deer. After a 30 minute drag, I had him loaded up and was home 10 minutes later for a nice little breakfast. After 3 years of losing two wallhangers to misplaced shots, and not drawing on one last year, it was very gratifying to tag a 125 lb buck. - Matt Appel, Wisconsin Deer Hunter

Coyotes Find Big South Dakota Buck

2011-10-27T01:15:00.007-05:00

No matter how many hours we put in at the range, not every arrow is going to land exactly where it is intended during a hunting situation. Sometimes nerves are the culprit. Sometimes the arrow is deflected by vegetation or a twig. Sometimes we just plain miss for no explainable reason. Every hunter I have met would rather miss completely than mortally wound or injure an animal without recovering it. Everyone preaches the “wait it out” strategy for wounded deer. But how much time is enough? Even if you allow enough time for a deer to expire, you may not recover the deer in the condition you expect. Such is the case for Minnesota hunter/photographer Matt Addington.

Matt recently sat high above a clearing near the Big Sioux River in South Dakota while waiting for a whitetail to make a mistake. Across the river from him is Northwest Iowa. The Hawkeye State is well known for monster bucks. But South Dakota is no slouch and these river bottoms are home to their share of trophy animals. As Matt’s evening sit played out, a stocky ten pointer appeared under his stand. At just five yards away, the angle created a difficult but still more than ethical shot. After the arrow zipped through the buck, Matt determined his shot penetrated just one lung. He decided to leave him undisturbed for a while.

After four hours of wait time, the trailing began. As he anticipated the opportunity to put his hands on this SoDak whopper, his fears were realized. The buck popped up out of his bed and darted off. A sleepless night ensued. The next morning Matt was back on the blood trail. This time his buck would not escape. In fact, he was just a portion of what he was the evening before. Coyotes made a meal of the great buck’s hind quarters and entrails. If Matt had not found his buck, there is no doubt they would have been back the next night to finish the job. Who knows, he may have bumped the coyotes off the deer as he tracked. Mother Nature doesn't let anything go to waste. Still, it is sad to kill a deer like this and not be able to enjoy the meat. Kudos to Matt for sticking with it and finding his deer.

Thanks to Matt Addington for the photos and willingness to share his story. You can follow Matt on Twitter @MattAddington

For more information on coyote control, visit foremostcoyotehunting.com

The Pre-Rut Is Here, Time To Get In The Woods

2011-10-24T01:13:00.010-05:00

The deer woods are undergoing a massive and dramatic change. Fresh buck sign began popping up a few weeks ago and deer movement is picking up. The October new moon is just a few days away and deer are responding. It is quite likely that a small percentage of does will begin going into estrous this week. Bucks are already starting to change physically. Case in point, this photo submitted by Paul Korn of Tombstone Creek Outfitters in Northern Missouri. Look at the neck on that stud buck. He is already displaying the classic “rutted up” look of a thick necked goliath.

Paul also says he’s seeing a lot more daytime buck pictures on his many trail cameras. This big eight pointer has no problem walking right out in the open during late afternoon hours. Most hunters equate the rut with the best time to hunt big bucks. After all, they are on their feet and moving at all times during the day in an attempt to breed as many does as possible. However, the pre-rut may be the best time to hunt, especially if you’re the type of hunter that keys in on buck sign like rubs and scrapes. As foremosthunting.com’s Will Allen writes in his latest story on pre-rut hunting, during peak rut bucks are too busy breeding does to tend to rub lines and scrapes.

Of course, the best part of this change is the October hunting doldrums are coming to an end. The next month of deer hunting will likely be the best hunting we’ll see north of the Mason-Dixon Line. I’m hearing a lot of reports of successful hunts. What’s even more exciting is that many of these successes are on trophy bucks. Foremosthunting.com’s Tyler Hinner connected on a dandy Northwoods 10 pointer over the weekend. Killing a big buck in late October is becoming a tradition for Tyler. He took a meaty 10 pointer last season around the same time.

After deer hunting solely during firearms seasons in the past, I have started archery hunting this year. I was lucky enough to pass up several shot opportunities on opening weekend back in September. Temperatures were warm and I didn’t want to butcher a deer unless it was a trophy class deer. Since then I have been out chasing waterfowl and upland birds and just haven’t put a lot of time in deer hunting. In mid-October I sat in the tree for a few evenings and one morning hunt without seeing any deer move through. I spooked some bedded deer coming in and out of the stand but haven’t had as shot opportunity in five weeks. I’ll be spending three full days in the woods this weekend and look forward to having a chance at my first archery deer. With cooler temperatures moving in this week, I’ll be hunting meat from the outset. The first deer in range of my bow is in serious trouble! Good luck, and please share any of your successes in the comments section.

Hunting With Huntography: The Plan

2011-08-30T23:03:00.011-05:00

by Chris Larsen
This is the 2nd post in a multi-part series on Huntography: Filming America’s Hunters One At A Time.

When I saw the map detailing the Huntography 2011 Deer Tour I immediately noticed the route went right through my hunting area. After a quick email to Rudy from Huntography to confirm dates and the route, we were all set. If you don’t know about Huntography, check out my last post. To put it simply, Rudy is traveling east from Colorado to film hunts with 19 different hunters in 12 states. The idea is to capture what hunting is all about from regular hunters, not the guys from big budget TV shows.

My location and timing were perfect for a quick stop on the Deer Tour. Rudy plans to arrive in camp on the evening of Saturday, October 15. He will likely be coming off the road after 12 hours of driving, so I don’t plan to work him too hard. We’ll have dinner, tell stories, and perhaps shoot some interviews. My dad will head off for his favorite turkey field Sunday morning as Rudy and I sneak into the woods for a rendezvous with a whitetail. My dad doesn’t bow hunt so chasing whitetails outside of the gun deer season is off limits to him. He’s more than happy to wait for fall gobblers.

Up until this season, that was my game as well. I am rookie bow hunter this year. The opportunity to chase some of the giant whitetails on our property for more than 10 days a year is just too much to pass up. I’ve watched them move through the woods confidently as I sat still with a turkey gun on my lap. Two years ago I sat in the woods for two days during the rut. To say I was impressed would be an understatement. A few weeks later, one of the bucks I saw that weekend hit the ground. They are out there. I just need to put in the time to get my chance.

I recently purchased a Parker Trailblazer XP from A1 Archery in Hudson, Wisconsin. Dan Ellyson has put together an awesome package with the Trailblazer XP. First off, the bow originally retails for $499. He has a deal on this bow right now for $250. This single cam arrow launcher is IBO rated at 310 fps. It’s an incredible bow at a great price. This deal is good for all readers of foremosthunting.com. Dan ships anywhere in the US. He has an accessory package that is just as good. For $109, I added on a 3 pin Trophy Ridge sight, Trophy Ridge whisker bisquit rest, Bohning quiver, Truglo Stabilizer, peep, and string loop. I also picked up a half dozen Easton Carbon Storm arrows for $35. So for under $400, I now have a certified deer-to-venison conversion machine. I’ll have more details on my equipment in a future post. By the way, Dan has helped me go from newbie to competent archer in no time. Over the weekend I grouped three arrows inside of 3 inches at 30 yards. It was the first time I have shot at thirty yards and my bow is shooting tacks!

Back to the hunt… I have chosen three stand sites for this season. In addition, I have recently acquired a climber so if I need to switch it up it’s not a problem. This is the third season of hunting this property and I feel confident in these spots. The three blue triangles on the map represent my stand sites. The red lines are the property boundaries and the yellow lines are fence lines within the property. The white lines are roadways. The yellow triangle is our cabin. I have two refuge zones. The north one gets driven on the final day of the season. The east refuge has never been walked in by anyone in our hunting party, ever. That doesn’t mean someone else hasn’t. But it gets very low pressure. The corn is still quite green and probably won’t get picked until November. There will be some standing corn well into mid-November but usually a few rows are cut by then. This would logically be a big hindrance for our hunting success but so far, it has not been. Deer use the forest as safe travel routes from field to field. There are cattle trails along the fence lines that deer frequent as well. I plan to utilize these as ambush points throughout the season.

The southeast stand sits on a small funnel going into the main valley. This point is the top of a small ridge. On the map you can see a little brown spot in the field just below the stand site. That brown spot is a wash that forms a bowl. There is a lot of space below the barbed wire fence for deer to cross under at that point. Deer then use this crease to walk into the main valley. I have also seen deer cruising the trail that runs parallel with the fence line. Bucks are probably scent checking the does in the field along this trail. The road to the west of this tree line is down in a valley and vehicles can not see the forest edge. Deer feel safe here. There are several benches just inside the forest from here and the orchard across the road offers good eating for deer with a sweet tooth. Baiting is illegal in this area, making natural food sources dynamite. This is the main entry point into the woods from the property to the west of us.

The stand site just north of this one sits on what we call “The Hot Corner”. Nearly every time I walk into The Hot Corner I see deer. There are several fingers leading into this area from adjoining properties and ours. Nearly every deer trail in this woods eventually leads to The Hot Corner. It stacks up. I don’t think there is a bad wind or a good wind for this site because deer literally come from all directions to get here. There is a 90% chance this is where the opening day of the 2011 Huntography Deer Tour will take place.

The stand to the east sits along a fence line overlooking a cornfield and a corner of the woods. Probably not the most ideal place to hunt when the corn is standing. But in reality, the standing corn makes this place what it is. There is a crease that runs from the creek on the southeast boundary through the center of the refuge directly to the northwest corner of the refuge boundary. You can also see the clearing in the woods separating the refuge woods from the main woods and my stand site. Deer walk along the fence from the refuge right to my stand site before jumping the fence into the other refuge area. I have seen several large bucks run this path and found two dead bucks this spring in this area. When bucks are injured, they usually go where they feel safe. This is the spot. The fence should serve as a natural speed bump. When they stop before jumping the fence, I’ll launch an arrow. The corn serves as a natural buffer. It is planted right up to the fence and prevents deer from jumping over until they walk in front of my stand. It is all part of my diabolical plan! Muh hah hah hah! If we’re going to see a trophy buck at any of these stand sites this is the place. It is also a great doe site. That little clearing in the north refuge is known as “The Cave”. Deer load up in there. During last year’s season ending drive I pushed at least two dozen deer out of The Cave. As Ferris Bueller says, “I highly recommend it.”

I can already envision our day on the stand. It’s a crisp autumn morning. Just before the morning dew greets the rising sun, a flash of antler appears. A thick wide ten pointer is walking the saddle of the ridge on his way to destiny. Rudy has the Huntography camera pointed in his direction, recording this big fella’s every step. As he walks below my stand and into range, nothing happens. I watch him walk in and out of range with a wide grin on my face. It is exciting to see deer like this walk below your stand. But I never lift my bow. No reason for it. This Sunday morning marks the final day of the antlerless deer season in our area. We couldn’t shoot a Booner if we wanted too.

Yep, I read the 2011 deer regulations a few weeks ago and was not a happy camper. I planned to hunt Friday and Saturday before Rudy arrived to scout. I would only shoot if a “can’t pass it up buck” walked under the stand. I would wait until Sunday’s Huntography shoot to take anything less. Now I will still be in stand Friday and Saturday. But only to film. I have no desire to kill two does in one weekend. If I’m going to take a doe that weekend it will be with Rudy. Unless something crazy happens, I know we can get a doe in range in The Hot Corner within a few hours. I’ll let Rudy decide how long we wait. We can sit all day and get some great footage of deer moving through the area or kill the first one in range and relax a bit before he hits the road to Green Bay. We’ll play it by ear and enjoy the day. Even if we can’t kill a buck, it will still be a great time.

If you’re trying to figure out what this “antlerless” season is all about, here is the skinny. Chronic Wasting Disease was discovered in Southwest Wisconsin in 2001. Since then, state deer managers have worked hard to reduce the size of the herd in the area. They essentially put a target on every deer in the state. Their efforts to reduce the size of the herd worked great, in the northern part of the state where there is no CWD. The southern portion of Wisconsin is primarily privately held. Most people continued to hunt with the attitude of more deer is better.

The state instituted what is called “Earn-A-Buck”. Basically, it means that you are not allowed to shoot an antlered deer until after shooting an antlerless deer. This rule applies to archers and gun hunters. To make it more appealing, the state gave gun hunters an opportunity to kill an antlerless deer before the regular gun deer season by creating the early antlerless season. Ten years later population densities are still high, CWD is still present, and people still hate Earn-A-Buck. Bowing to political pressure, this year the DNR is allowing hunters to kill either sex for their first deer. However, if you kill a buck first, you must kill an antlerless deer before killing another buck. It really didn’t matter to me, but this has made a lot of folks pretty happy. Personally, I would rather have seen deer managers manage the herd, not the hunters. The DNR allowed the previous year’s doe kill to count for the following year if you didn’t get a buck. There are plenty of does around and most property owners don’t manage them unless they are forced to. This was clearly a political maneuver.

The unfortunate part is that even though the antlerless requirement is relaxed, they still kept this stupid early antlerless season. I’m usually a guy who applauds any extra opportunity to hunt. However, it’s usually so warm that people don’t want to shoot deer. And secondly, and more importantly, this season imposes a blaze orange requirement on everyone who hunts. Ever try to hunt turkeys wearing blaze orange? It doesn’t work. I’m firmly convinced that deer can not see blaze orange if you take the glare off of it. I’ve had deer literally walk right up to me when wearing blaze orange, even when sitting on the ground.

Remember the big buck I talked about at the beginning of this story? Here he is. He came within 15 yards of a hunter sitting on the ground wearing a blaze orange jacket & cap. But do we really need this season anymore? It literally cancels four days of turkey season and puts an unnecessary burden on bow hunters. The middle of October isn’t exactly prime time for hunting. But I would guess more people are negatively affected than take advantage of the early hunt, especially after the EAB restrictions have been relaxed.

So when you get your Huntography 2011 DVD next year remember, the guy bow hunting in blaze orange isn’t stupid, his state is.

Hunting With Huntography

2011-08-10T15:05:00.006-05:00

by Chris Larsen

Like it or not, social media is becoming an increasing popular way to communicate. I am firmly in the “like it” category. Sites like Facebook and Twitter help me stay in contact with friends and family. What is just as amazing is the new relationships fostered on these sites. I can’t tell you how many times people have asked me how I met a new contact or interview and I’ve answered with “Twitter”! One of my Twitter pals is Rudy from Huntography.

Rudy is an internet professional originally from New York, now residing in Colorado. He has an interesting way of burning up his vacation time. 2011 will be his second season of filming America’s hunters, one at a time. We’re not talking about big budget hunting television on ranches with tens of thousands of acres. Rudy films real hunters on family plots and public property. His goal is to capture the experiences, traditions, and lifestyle of hunters across the country.

The theme of this season is “Getting Social With America’s Whitetail Deer Hunters”. Rudy is filming 19 different hunters in 12 states, all of whom he met through social media. I will be the first stop on the tour. Rudy is filming my hunt Sunday, October 16 in Southwest Wisconsin. From there, he will travel to the Green Bay area to complete the Wisconsin portion of the tour. Rudy is also filming hunts in Michigan, Ohio, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Oklahoma. It’s a four week adventure covering 5,000 miles.

At the end of the saga, Rudy puts the entire experience on DVD. He has the 2010 inaugural trip on sale now for just $15. This is not your average hunting video. There are no staged shots or retakes. Rudy lets everything happen naturally. “If you are as passionate about the experience of hunting whitetail deer, the outdoors, archery, the shooting sports and the lifestyle, then you just might like what you see.”

Huntography is a raw look at what makes a hunter tick and how the hunting lifestyle is changing. You’ll see hardcore bow hunters, a mother-daughter combo, and upstate New York brothers keeping the tradition alive. Ever thought about visiting a Georgia deer camp? You’ll see a nice Peach State buck hit the ground and witness field dressing a deer Georgia style. It’s an eye opener for a northern hunter.

The great thing is you won’t have to wait until the end of the year to see what is happening on the 2011 tour. Rudy offers live updates from the tree stand via his iPhone. You can also check in if you’re on Twitter or Facebook. Visit the Foremosthunting.com blog next week as I review my game plan. I have just one day to make magic in front of the Huntography camera. I’ll need to bring my A-game!

Saying Goodbye & Remembering Seasons Past

2011-06-30T01:40:00.009-05:00

I got my new Iphone in the mail today. That means all the memories stored in my old phone need to be moved or will be lost forever in cell phone purgatory. While going through the photos I found shots of my son from back when he was just learning to walk, shots of him in the backseat of my car sleeping with my dog, and a recent one taken just moments after my daughter was born.

They all brought a smile to my face and made me think about everything this phone has done with me over the past 27 months. It is still a good phone. It almost never drops calls & takes pretty good pictures. But being able to access the internet at anytime is starting to become a necessity. It has been a good run old friend.

Wedged between the photos of kids and dogs were photos of a deer. A really big deer. This too brought a lot of good memories back. The fall of 2009 was the first deer season on a great piece of property I hunt with my dad and a friend. My dad and I hunted turkeys a few weeks before gun season opener and saw some nice bucks that weekend. The only issue was that we would have to shoot antlerless deer before taking a buck. Chronic Wasting Disease is on the landscape in this area and these regulations were in place to promote more deer being taken in an effort to combat the disease.

We put a “kill the first antlerless deer you see” strategy together for opening morning. We would then have a chance at one of the bucks spotted a few weeks earlier. My dad decided to sit out deer season this year so I posted Jason near an area my dad saw a nice buck. I set up on a trail I spotted a big ten pointer on a few weeks earlier. Thirty minutes after legal shooting light, Jason’s .30-30 broke the silence. I’m an overly social hunter. If someone shoots something, I’m always curious to know the story behind it as soon as I can. But in this case, I needed to stay put. I assumed he killed an antlerless deer and I still needed mine so there was no reason to visit with him, even though I wanted to.

I was hunting just above the bottom of a wooded ridgeline where three fingers of woods intersect. The fingers are surrounded by corn. At this point in the season, the farmer had harvested three or four rows around the outside of the fields so there was room between the standing corn and the woods. About thirty minutes after Jason’s gun barked, a half dozen deer emerged from the corn and headed right toward me. As soon as they hit the woods all but one peeled off and headed in another direction. The lead deer continued closing the distance. I grunted at her and she came to an instant halt. I put a 165 grain .30-06 bullet through her left shoulder at 35 yards. She dropped without taking another step. I took a few minutes to allow her to expire without someone gawking at her, but I’m certain she didn’t need it. When I approached what I thought was a her, I noticed two bumps on the crown of her… his head. It was a button buck. Either way, my antlerless commitment was fulfilled.

A few moments later, Jason arrived on the scene. He just finished field dressing and hanging his deer. He had also shot a button buck. I walked up to his stand site which was only about 125 yards from mine to take a look. His deer was strolling along the edge of the cornfield between Jason and the standing corn. He put the bullet right through the lungs. The deer went about 20 yards before falling to it’s death. The edge of the corn looked like a scene from a gangster movie.

After helping me with my deer, Jason was off to sit on stand again. But he planned to set up 50 yards into the woods and hunt the ridge to let his stand cool off. I stayed put. The buck I was hunting had appeared from the opposite direction a few weeks earlier. He’s probably still out there, I reasoned.

Two or three hours passed. More deer sauntered by, but nothing I was interested in shooting. At this point I had venison for the freezer. I was hunting trophies. A lot of people struggle with the ethics of trophy hunting. I must admit that I don’t do it until I already have a deer in the freezer. But trophy hunting is liberating. You can watch deer without putting any pressure on yourself to perform. There are no worries about misplaced shots because you’re not going to shoot. This allows you to really study their movement and body language. A doe and her fawn actually bedded down about 15 yards from me. It was an incredible experience. But it didn’t last.

Three hours after wishing Jason good luck, his gun boomed once more. This time it had to be a buck. We talked at length about our strategy. I studied the forest with extreme focus in case his shot was errant. 45 minutes later I was satisfied that his deer was not on his way to my stand. But I had to see what he shot. I walked up the gully toward where I heard the shot. After a ten minute hike, Jason’s blaze orange peeked through the hardwood forest. As I made my way closer, I saw the look on his face. It resembled that of an accident victim. He was in complete shock. “Where is he?” I said. He just raised his arms up in a Y. Jason couldn’t get any words out but he wanted me to know it was big. Really big.

Jason didn’t introduce me to hunting but he is the one who made me serious about it. We hunted waterfowl exclusively for years. When he met his wife, he started deer hunting with her family. It was a tradition with them and he was sucked into it. I continued duck hunting and just accepted his deer hunting as if it was a bad habit he would eventually grow out of. But he never did. Now here I was with him on the day he shot the biggest deer of his life. But the question remained, where is he?

Jason sat down and explained what happened. He was sitting in a tangled dead fall when a doe bedded down right above him on a ridge. Moments later a big eight pointer slogged through thick brush at the bottom of the gulley. He could see the antlers as plain as day but never got a good look at the body. He had to pass up the biggest deer he had ever had a chance to shoot. Ten minutes later he heard steps to his right. When he turned to look, a giant whitetail was headed toward the doe. He was less than 15 yards away. Jason put the crosshairs on him and sent a bullet flying. The buck hesitated but kept moving in the same direction.

We retraced the deer’s steps and found blood. I called my dad on the phone. He was back at the cabin relaxing. I told him to walk out in the direction we last saw the deer. We would stay put in case he spooked the buck back in our direction. Five minutes later my dad called back. He saw the big buck. He was limping badly but made it into the corn. We decided to back off for a few hours.

The lunch counter at the cabin was filled with excitement but apprehension. We had deer hanging in the woods and a possible wall hanger that needed to be recovered. But would we be able to recover him? Three hours later we approached the corn field. Jason would enter the corn. I posted up to his right and my dad would spot from Jason’s left. Jason made it ten yards into the corn before the thrashing began. My vantage point was higher in elevation allowing me to see the pursuit. I couldn’t make out the deer but I could see the corn stalks shutter as the deer rushed through the field. I kept pace with him but from forty yards outside the edge of the standing corn. The chase continued for a few hundred yards. Jason shouted to me. “Are we doing the right thing?” I could see a clearing ahead where the farmer cut a few rows right down the middle of the field. Fifty more yards and the buck would have to show himself.

Jason kept going and the deer did too. I knew he would pop out of the corn at any moment. And just then, there he was! His head was down and his tongue was out. He was out of gas. But at the sight of me, he turned the burners on one last time. I had closed the distance and my first shot was taken at around 20 yards.
The scope was just a blur of brown. The shot sailed over him. He was running away from me but still less than fifty yards away. I set myself and put the second shot right behind his rib cage. The bullet traveled through both lungs. We later found it buried in the opposite shoulder. The big fella took a few final bounds but collapsed at the edge of the field. He was down, and he was big.

One of the best parts of this recovery was that we were all there. Jason and my dad appeared a few minutes after the buck fell. We all experienced the pursuit and it’s conclusion. There is a great deal of satisfaction in a successful recovery. Smiles were wide and abundant. The deer sported a distinctive 7 x 5 rack with double brow tines on one side. But there is a shred of sorrow involved with killing a deer like this. It is sort of like landing on the moon. At that moment, the moon loses some of it’s mysticism. Every time someone else lands on the moon, the achievement loses a bit of it’s luster. Hunters kill bigger deer than this one every year but this was the biggest deer either of us had ever seen while hunting. Jason wondered aloud if he would ever gain as much satisfaction from hunting as he did that day. Would any deer ever stack up to this one?

Jason dressed the deer as I went back to the cabin to get the truck. The good thing about dropping a deer on a field edge is there isn’t much dragging to do. We carefully loaded the giant buck in the truck and headed back to the cabin with excitement about the day’s events. Upon our arrival, there were more pictures taken including this one.

Then the phone calls began. He called his dad and even the inlaws. It was at this time, I started to feel bad for him. His big buck story included someone else killing his deer. He could not have all the glory to himself. I should have let him stand where I stood. I honestly believed the deer was dead and that Jason would find him in the corn. Once the deer was up and running, we couldn’t make the switch. He calls it a team effort and is just happy we found it. I didn’t want credit(or the taxidermy bill). But I will be forever connected to his trophy.

The next day we hunted together but didn’t see another buck. We enjoyed watching does snack on corn and keep their fawns in line. At the end of the day we loaded his buck on the back of his truck. More pictures were taken. Handshakes, smiles, and promises of having more time the following year were shared before his truck cruised down the driveway headed for the taxidermist.

When the deer was caped out, Jason's bullet was found pancaked on the shoulder blade. The .30-30 never made it through the shoulder and into the vitals. It just broke the big brute’s shoulder. That was another source of frustration for him. He wrote about it shortly after the season. He hasn’t hunted with that gun since. Jason now totes a Browning A-Bolt in a .30-06. As it turns out, there is still a lot of satisfaction in hunting. We don’t do it for the antlers or the mounts. The story of that day, that buck, and the teamwork that went into a successful hunt is what it’s all about. Every day we spend in the woods is an opportunity for another great story.

Today, the buck hangs on the wall in our cabin. The mount looks great and I would show it to you. But I don’t have a picture of it on my phone.

Antlers Are Growing Fast In June

2011-06-24T04:22:00.003-05:00

Our friend Paul Korn from Tombstone Creek Outfitters recently sent over some awesome trail camera photos we can't help but share with you. Antlers are starting to take shape on whitetails across the country. These Missouri bucks are going to be monsters in just a few short months. It's fun to see what deer look like in early summer before the full potential is realized. Antlers will continue to grow for another 30 to 45 days before they begin to harden and the velvet is shed. It's amazing what great genetics, quality food sources, and age will yield in a buck. Should be a great season!

The Awesome Power Of A Whitetail's Nose

2011-06-12T23:39:00.003-05:00

While taking a look at some of last season's deer hunting video, I noticed something I had not paid attention too before. Foremost Outdoor TV ProStaffer Jason Oswald was hunting in an improvised ground blind on the west ridge of a large gully. The wind was blowing straight out of the east. A group of deer move up the ridge right in front of his location. They are practically looking right at him. This is gun season so Jason and his camera operator are both wearing blaze orange hats and jackets. The deer have no problems with him until they catch his scent. You will see the doe take in a big breath and then.... watch what happens next!

Review Cabela'sBig Game Hunter For Wii

2011-06-07T23:16:00.000-05:00

Foremost Hunting Jr. Pro Staff Member Mike takes a look at Cabella's Big Game Hunter Video Game For Wii:

Cabela's Big Game Hunter For Wii Entertainment System.

3.5 out of 5 Stars
Cabela's Big Game Hunter is a fun game that you can buy for $20 or less. The first time you load the game, you will have to create a new profile and start a career. You can set the difficulty at easy medium or hard. Easy provides you with a map, tips and “easy animals”, making animals abundant and not spooked easily, highly attracted to calls etc.. Medium Takes the Animals up a notch, making them sparser, and spooked much more easily. Hard truly is hard, taking away your map, making animals virtually non-existent, and much harder to call-in. When you first start the game, you are provided with a .270 caliber bolt-action rifle, a simple rattle call, a 3-9X40 Scope, and a 20ga Over Under Shotgun.
As your loading into a game, the screen will display useful tips. On the Nintendo Wii, getting oriented is a little tricky, pointing your remote at the screen and moving it to the side turns your body, your aiming point is where you point the remote. The Nunchuck is required, and adds some useful features, such as Hunters Instinct. Hunters Instinct makes your screen very dark, and highlights wildlife in yellow making animals easy to spot.
As you go throughout the game, you will unlock little mini-hunts, such as shooting ducks or geese. When you are walking around in the woods or sahara, any small game or waterfowl wildlife are unlimited take. For certain animals (such as Geese) you have to use a shotgun. You can equip certain items in the equipment screen (see picture).

Once you are almost done with each level, you will “stumble” across a trophy animal, Such as a 20 point mule deer, a lion, or a warthog. Sometimes you will be attacked by other animals such as a bear. After completion of a level, you will unlock certain items, such as a new rifle, scope, or handgun. When you finish all the Hunts, you will have 7 rifles in calibers from 22-250, to 416, and a 50 cal Muzzleloader. You will also have 3 shotguns, a crossbow, 3 pistols, and a host of calls. Your First Hunt is in Montana, hunting for Mule Deer. Later you go to places like Ethiopia in the summer and in fall, and back to Montana in the winter. When you put your crosshairs of your scope over an animal, the animal's information will be displayed in the lower left corner (see Picture). During the game, hitting the Minus button on the remote, accesses your PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), Showing what tags you have, the map and your objectives. There are also blinds and tree stands that you can enter and hunt from.
One criticism I have is that the animals that attack you and also some trophy animals like the lion, require 7 or more shots from your highest powered rifle, 8 shots to kill a warthog with a 416 Rigby, I don't think so! The other problem I find with the game is that most other big game animals only require one shot anywhere on their body to kill, with only a few exceptions such as using a very low caliber rifle. The Game is a great deal of fun, with a good selection of gear and good graphics. Sometimes Hard is a little too challenging, but overall, I Give this game 3.5 out of 5 Stars.

There are also blinds and treestands that you can enter and hunt from.

The Map Screen

Trophy Elk Fighting

New Turkey Shot Placement Widget Released

2011-06-01T11:49:00.002-05:00

Foremost Hunting has just released a cool widget that can be added to your website or Blog:

Turkey Arrow Shot Placement

Add this Widget to Your Website:

Simply copy the code below and paste it into the HTML of your blog, website, or Static FBML box on Facebook

Dead Buck Discoveries

2011-05-19T23:44:00.002-05:00

It’s hard to believe but turkey season here in Wisconsin is just a few days from coming to a close. We’re less than 120 days from opening day of archery deer season. Our turkey season was certainly less than what we would have liked. We put a few birds on the ground but we ate more tags than in years past. I’m sure when the final statistics are released, we’ll realize we were not alone. All of the harvest reports I’ve seen so far this spring indicate a decrease in harvest. A combination of winter kill and rough conditions during spring are the leading causes.

Speaking of winter kill, it’s been an interesting spring on our hunting property in Southwest Wisconsin. My dad found this buck back in March. The nine pointer had a 18” spread. We have no idea what killed this big guy. His carcass was found in thick brush on the edge of a meadow. There is also a major trail 10 yards from where he was found. I can imagine him running that trail and collapsing in the brush due to some unknown ailment. His body was no doubt ravaged by coyotes. The bones are strewn about and will no doubt be completely reclaimed by the land in the coming months.

There are several areas within the property we have never walked in, but this was the first carcass we have ever found on the property. There may be deer carcasses in our refuge areas. But fortunately, this guy was the first dead buck discovered in a few years of hunting the property.

During a late April turkey hunt, I found another buck. It’s amazing how they disappear. I walked within 25 yards of this animal a half dozen times before spotting him. This one is probably a year younger than my dad’s discovery. The interesting thing about these two bucks is they were found within 75 yards of each other. That tells me bucks feel comfortable in the area. I haven’t hunted this spot before, but I think it has to warrant a stand site this fall.

Antlers Emerging From Wisconsin Bucks

2011-05-05T14:45:00.002-05:00

It's like Christmas morning for trail camera aficionados in Wisconsin. This photo captured a few days ago by foremosthunting.com’s Justin Davis shows three bucks with new antler growth emerging. It’s impossible to tell the potential of these deer at this point but in the next few months, we’ll get much more information from our photos.

By early June, Wisconsin deer will show about half of their main beams as well as visible G2s. From June through the end of August we’ll see their fastest antler growth spurt. If it is legal to place mineral blocks in your area, early summer is the time to do it if you would like to see immediate results. In August, antlers begin hardening and by early autumn velvet will begin peeling off as bucks prepare for breeding season. If you’re trail cameras are not out, now is the time to start placing them. Keep in mind, travel routes will change before hunting season begins. This coincides with bachelor groups breaking up in September. But summertime is a great opportunity to get an idea of the bucks in your area.

Minnesota Antler Point Restrictions Spark Debate

2011-05-04T09:23:00.000-05:00

Some call it "The nice version of earn a buck", some hunters love it and others are deeply opposed to this new deer management too. Our roving reporter Chris Larson had a chance to interview Minnesota law maker Steve Drazkowski and Marrett Grund from the Minnesota DNR and got two completely different takes on this hot topic:

Minnesota Antler Point Restrictions Spark Debate

Tell us what you think of Antler Point Restrictions!

Wisconsin Gobbler Bites The Dust With Guide Phil Schweik

2011-04-14T15:05:00.001-05:00

Just in from Wisconsin Hunting Guide Phil Schweik:

This morning I had Eric Tufto out for a 1st season spring turkey hunt. We set up along a field edge and hoped that the birds would fly our way when they came off the roost. As we were sitting there waiting we started hearing some hens clucking and then a tom blew up and then another and then another. We were almost right under them!

We patiently waited for them to fly down which seemed to take for ever. Once the birds started flying down we thought we were going to be all done but.... The birds had other ideas they headed back further into the woods and towards another field. No birds for us. We waited for about an hour to see if any other birds would come our way but none did so we decided to put the sneak on the birds that left us.

We headed across a field and into the woods that we figured the birds went through. We crossed through the woods and approached the field on the opposite side. There they were about 70 of them all scattered about in the field. We made a silent stalk up to the edge of the field located a nice tom and Eric did the rest. Boom.... Big Tom Down!!!

It was 21 pounds with a nice double beard that was pushing the 10 inch mark.
I hope you enjoy the photos.

Take care,
Phil

Congrats to Eric and Phil on a great turkey hunt!

The Hypocrisy of The Go Daddy Boycott

2011-04-06T22:07:00.002-05:00

Go Daddy CEO Bob Parsons is under attack from the usual suspects for posting a video of his elephant hunt on his blog. You can see that video at the bottom of this post. Bloggers and social media hacks are urging website owners to move their domains from Go Daddy to other website hosts. It seems most of these folks would rather see humans die than elephants. They want to make decisions for people thousands of miles away. “Sorry, we like elephants. You guys will have to go without food this year.”

Parsons was on a crop damage hunt. The elephants were decimating the fields a village depends on for sustenance. The protection of crops is vital for any farmer. It’s even more important for farming communities in Africa where starvation is one failed growing season away. For more evidence of the real need for food all you need to do is watch the video. There are easily 250 people attempting to get a piece of meat. There are no concerns of whether or not it is ethical to eat the elephant. They are hungry and there is food available. Why someone in New York, Toronto, London, or anywhere else thinks they should decide whether or not these people eat is beyond comprehension. Whole Foods isn’t right around the corner in Zimbabwe.

Most of those calling for boycotts have no connection to their food. They think hamburger comes from Styrofoam. They have never been within twenty feet of a living, breathing cow. Most vegans are blissfully unaware of what it takes to put beans on their plate. Farms, even organic ones, have animal control plans in place. That means shooting deer, pigs, raccoons, and anything else that might want to take a bite out of your romaine before it goes to market. Cheeseburger connoisseurs are hunters by proxy. Lettuce lovers are not exempt.

Mr. Parsons’ hunt and many others like it do more than protect crops. These hunts bring millions to the economy. They provide salaries for guides and hospitality workers. Most importantly to the uneducated masses rallying for Parsons’ head, these hunts provide funds for protection against poaching and habitat preservation. In the United States, the Sierra Club has come to realize sportsmen are not the enemy. Hunters and anglers provide the vast majority of funding for habitat protection and restoration. Licensed hunters like Mr. Parsons are not driving elephants to the brink of extinction. Poachers and uncontrolled revenge killings do far more damage. Without the money hunters like Bob Parsons bring to Africa, poaching would go unchecked and habitat destruction would accelerate. Without hunters elephants and lions would quickly be wiped off the map. Ironic… but true.

The biggest question I pose to Parson’s detractors is why are they doing business with Go Daddy in the first place? Surely from their moral high ground they would take issue with Go Daddy’s over the top advertising campaign. Go Daddy has used objectifying women as it’s primary selling point for years. The ads usually feature a scantily clad young woman prancing across the screen as men struggle to control themselves. The young woman then prepares to open her shirt as the commercial comes to a close and a voice tells you to visit Godaddy.com to “see what happens next.”

The detractors usually say these women are well compensated for what they are doing. They are. However, my children are not compensated. They are inundated by a message telling them if a woman wants to make money, she should sell herself as a sex symbol. If she wants to get a man’s attention, she should open her shirt. Why weren’t they outraged by Go Daddy’s chauvinism? Why did they sign up for web hosting with a company that has no respect for women? Is it because the value the life of animal over the lives of humans?

New Podcast- Wisconsin Hunting Preview

2011-03-28T09:24:00.000-05:00

2011 Wisconsin Turkey Hunting Preview

Foremosthunting.com Host Chris Larsen meets with Wisconsin DNR Upland Wildlife Staff Specialist & Farm Bill Coordinator Scott Walter to discuss the 2011 Spring Turkey Season. Topics include turkey populations, habitat, regulations, and the future of turkey hunting in Wisconsin.

Deer Eats A Bird

2011-03-16T08:33:00.000-05:00

I didn't believe it until I saw it but this whitetail buck actually eats a bird. Check it out:

It doesn't have much to do with hunting but it's pretty crazy!

Inspirational Turkey Pattern

2011-03-08T22:23:00.003-06:00

Just got this photo from Foremosthunting.com's Justin Davis. Justin fired a few shots through his Mossberg 535 this afternoon. A new addition to Justin's gun this year is an Indian Creek Black Diamond Turkey Tube. He shot this target at 40 yards with No. 6 Hevi-Shot. I would be willing to predict this turkey would be pancaked. If this doesn't get you excited for turkey season, I'm not sure what will.

For more information on Turkey hunting and turkey guns, check out our guns and ammunition page at Foremosthunting.com. Justin is working on an article detailing the best way to pattern your shotgun for this season. Keep an eye on our Twitter and Facebook profiles for this upcoming article.

Favorite Outdoor Photos

2011-03-07T23:49:00.014-06:00

by Chris Larsen

With life's responsibilities pulling at us everyday, most of us don't get to hunt and fish as much as we would like. In the Northwoods cabin fever is beginning to set in. We've been cooped up all winter and when opportunities to get out and do things present themselves, we have to wear multiple layers. One of my favorite activities is reliving my favorite outdoor activities through photos.

I rarely leave the house without a camera. Missing a great photo opportunity is heart breaking. All of these photos were taken with a simple point-and-shoot camera. No fancy aperture tricks and no photoshop work either. Just raw photos taken in my favorite places in the world. Here are some of my treasured outdoor photos with a short description of each.

Sunset On The Mishigami - I snapped this one back in 2006 while fishing for salmon on Lake Michigan near Two Rivers, WI. The water was as calm as I've ever seen on the lake and the evening was beautiful. We put a few fish in the boat too.

Morning In The Marsh - From an opening day duck hunt on my favorite Central WI duck pond. My good buddy, Jason Oswald, just paddled a few of our hunting pals to the other side of the bay we were hunting. I don't remember how we did that day, but I'll cherish this photo forever.

Long Lake Magic - This one was taken by my good friend, Andy Gehrke, of Minneapolis, MN. About five years ago, a group of eight of us met in Phillips, WI for a weekend of fishing and debauchery. Another friend was soon to be married and we all pledged to meet every year for an annual "bachelor party". Most of us kept our word for three years before other responsibilities spoiled the fun. This is one of many memorable photos from the 1st Annual Bachelor Party.

Honkers On The Horizon - My hunting buddy, Jesse Windmiller, took this one. Foremost Outdoor TV ProStaffers Tyler Hinner and Matt Appel keep an eye out for canada geese in a Clark County, WI farm field. We put a few on the ground that day and had a blast.

Echoes of The Edmund Fitzgerald - If you've read enough of my blog posts, you know heaven on Earth for me is Minnesota's North Shore. I took this photo from the deck of a rental house just north of Lutsen, MN. My wife's family rented this house for the weekend for several years until the owners decided to move in. I don't think I'll ever get to go back to this particular spot on Lake Superior, but the time spent there was priceless. To see more awesome pictures from the North Shore, check out my photo essay.

Kayaking The Kinni - I took this one from my kayak on the Kinnickinic River in Pierce County, WI. My wife and I spent an afternoon paddling the river a few years ago. The Kinni is a trout stream of legendary proportions in this neck of the woods. The fish don't get enormous, but surveys show about 5,000 fish per lineal mile of stream or about one fish per foot.

Focus - Here's my best hunting pal, Wilbur. This one was taken on a man weekend at the family cabin last fall. The boys got together to do a little cabin maintenance, early season deer hunting, and target shooting. Wilbur didn't get to do any hunting that weekend but he had his share of table scraps and rubs behind the ear.

Gichigami Fun - This is one of my all-time favorites from 2010. My son, Jack, is finally old enough to enjoy throwing rocks into the water. The shores of Lake Superior obliged with plenty stones to throw. This photo was taken near the Kadunce River, just north of Grand Marais, MN. The vastness of the Gichigami in the background contrasts with the fragility and innocence of the young man with a monkey on his back. Yep, I might have asked him if he wanted the monkey off his back a few dozen times over the weekend.

High Altitude - The opportunity to take a photo from above a hot air balloon is rare. I took this shot at 1,000 feet from another balloon. I was lucky enough to be a guest of the Hudson Hot Air Affair for two years in a row. The Hot Air Affair is a balloon festival held in Hudson, WI. A lot of people are puzzled by winter ballooning but it's actually the best time of the year to go. The balloons are much more responsive to heat and fewer heat blasts are required to keep the balloon afloat. This makes the ride more peaceful. Wildlife viewing is also easier with leaf-less trees and a snowy backdrop. People always ask if it's colder. It's not. The balloon moves with the wind so there is no wind chill.

Traditions - I like to take pictures of my dog. Wilbur and my friend, Jesse Windmiller, are big fans of each other and here they are together. I was lying flat on my back when I took this one. The coolest aspect of this shot has to be the arrow on it's way down range at the perfect moment. I don't think I could get this shot again if I tried it a thousand times.

Hardcore Hound - Jesse took this photo of FOTV ProStaffer Matt Appel's dog. Wes is a big, bruising lab who takes his job seriously. Still, this photo captures his easy going personality. I crack a smile everytime I lay eyes on it.

Rookie Performance - This is without a doubt my most special outdoor photo. Unfortunately, a computer virus has left me with only a lower quality version of it. I have a framed hard copy on my desk but the digital version would have been lost forever had I not uploaded it to the Ducks Unlimited photo gallery. This was a hard lesson in the value of backing up files.

This photo was snapped on my super secret hunting spot in Central Wisconsin on opening day of 2005. Wilbur was just seven months old and this was his first bird. My hunting partner was running late but Wilbur and I were ready for the opening bell. This suzy made her appearance just a few minutes after legal shooting time and I wasn't going to pass up a chance to get my dog his first bird. She hit the water about 20 feet from shore and I sent the yellow dog on his way. I was beeming as he swam right to the duck while dodging the decoy spread. Our summer work was paying off! Then he showed his inexperience. Wilbur swam circles around the downed bird. I waded out and teased him with it until he couldn't take it any longer. He scooped her up and brought her to hand. I had time to snap some pictures as he slithered through the cattails.

I can't put a price on these photos. They take me back to some of my favorite days afield. They will be treasured for the rest of my life. If you don't make a habit of taking a camera along on your outdoor adventures, I encourage you to do so. A lot of people don't understand why we do what we do. Even great photos can't tell the entire story. But if a picture is worth a thousand words, you won't waste any breath arguing with them.

If you're an outdoor blogger looking for affordable photos for your site, check out www.huntingstockphotos.com.

Turkey Hunting & Life

2011-03-01T09:47:00.002-06:00

By Chris Larsen

Turkey season is a time of rebirth… I’ve often written about this and it is true. Blankets of snow that dominated the landscape a few weeks earlier are gone. The shades of brown underneath return to green. Animals that survived the harshness of winter have a hop in their step. The going is about to get easier for them over the next few months.

There are many hunters who pursue coyotes and small game all winter long. But most of us haven’t hunted since the final days of deer season. I must admit to missing an entire winter of hunting. Work & family obligations kept me out of the woods all winter long. A planned coyote & shed hunt was put off due to an unexpected surgery. My best hunting partner had to take a four month work assignment in Chicago. The people we enjoy the hunt with are first and foremost in just how much enjoyment we’ll have.

Those are all regrets. I wish I would have made it out a little more. With spring comes a new season and a blank slate. It’s turkey time! The woods will soon erupt with gobbles as winter flocks break up and turkeys begin to form breeding flocks. Jakes and toms will battle for mating supremacy while hens scout for the perfect nesting spot. As the birds do what birds do, hunters will drive country roads looking for them. We will oil guns and pattern loads. Hunting blinds and turkey decoys see the light of day again. Anticipation is running high.

I have experienced great success during fall turkey season the past few years, but my spring turkey seasons haven’t worked out. My blank slate was covered in red ink by the end of the season. In 2009, I suffered some gun issues and was forced to use someone else’s gun. A late morning set up worked to perfection. A dandy gobbler was right on top of my decoy at 25 yards when I tapped the trigger. The bird staggered a bit and I hit him with lead again. The shots were off the mark and we never recovered that turkey. Nothing is more frustrating than not recovering a wounded animal. I’d rather have gobblers henned up or stopping in their tracks out of range. It’s a dismal feeling that I won’t let happen again.

My 2010 season was another exercise in futility. The Mexican Riviera is a favorite vacation destination for my wife and I. Unfortunately, we booked our trip before the Wisconsin turkey season drawing. Our vacation wiped out three and a half of the five days I would have to hunt. I didn’t worry about it. The other members of our turkey camp would have a few days in and they would no doubt be tagged out by the time I arrived. A full day and a half to get a bird? I should be able to do that. I scouted hard for them a few weeks earlier and was confident in a handful of locations. The moment I hit the ground in a US airport, I called the fellas. The weather was tough and the birds were call shy. They were turkey-less. The next morning wasn’t any better. When I arrived in camp my focus was on helping them fill their tag and filming them doing it. I never picked up a gun last spring.

That brings us to this season. Yes, birth is definitely in the air. My wife is eight months pregnant. The doctors say she could go into labor at any time. I will most certainly be sleep deprived on opening day of turkey season, but I won’t be wearing camouflage. In an effort to stay married, I have relegated myself to a late season hunt this year. I’ll wait until May to head into the turkey woods. The greenery will be more mature, the birds will be wary, and the mosquitoes will have developed a finely tuned taste for blood. Yes, this is how you fill a blank slate. The good news is I’ll be used to functioning well in a zombie-like state. Turkey hunting & life… no one said it would be easy, but I’ll enjoy every minute of it.

Top 35 Outdoor Follows On Twitter

2011-02-21T00:46:00.007-06:00

by Chris Larsen

Like it or not, social media is huge and it’s getting bigger. There are people from every walk of life using social media including foremosthunting.com. Twitter is one of our favorite social media outlets because there is always a conversation going on. There are thousands of outdoors folks on Twitter. Here is a list of some of our favorites in no particular order.

@Foremosthunting
This is our Twitter account. We post all our new articles and once in a while we bring back a few classics for review. Foremosthunting enjoys engaging with our readers, so don’t be shy.

@ForemostOutdoor
Follow Foremost Outdoor TV producer, Chris Larsen. He keeps you on top of new articles from foremost hunting.com and the happenings at Foremost Outdoor TV.

@ForemostCoyote
The newest member of the Foremost family of outdoor websites. Foremost Coyote is the Twitter home of foremostcoyotehunting.com

@Kmurrayhunts
Kari Murray of Northern Wisconsin tweets about her outdoor quests and misadventures on her blog, I Don’t Wear Pink Camo To The Woods. She is one of the first people a new hunter on Twitter should follow. She is always engaging with her friends and followers.

@Ghost1066
Tommy Ellis is an artist and outdoorsman from Tennessee. Tommy writes a superb blog called Following Ghost with lots of great stuff for anglers and hunters.

@BenGOutdoors
Ben Gustafson of Minnesota has a few excellent outdoor blogs. Ben G Outdoors and Abnormal Outdoors chronicle Ben’s outdoor lifestyle and weird stories he finds. Ben’s Twitter account is a great place to find the best stories on the web at any given time. He frequently Retweets great content from other users.

@Fowled_Up
One of the best new blogs on the web. A Missouri native tells the story of becoming a waterfowler with his new Chesapeake Bay Retriever on his blog, Fowled_Up.

@ladysportsman
Michelle Scheuermann does Communication Outreach for the Sportsman Channel. She also writes a great blog on outdoor television and business called BulletProof Media.

@FoggyMtnMeander
Justin Morell of West Virginia writes a great blog known as Foggy Mountain Meanderings. It’s a personal blog but Justin isn’t afraid to tackle the tough issues either. He just wrote an excellent blog on Sunday hunting laws.

@CoyoteAssasin
Duane Fronek is a trapper from Northern Wisconsin. He writes a superb blog called Wild Wisconsin. If you’re looking for information on trapping and predator hunting, look no further.

@Centexhunter
I recently found Josh Verdoon on Twitter. He’s from the Austin, Texas area and he hunts just about everything. He’s also got some cool buck fighting footage on his blog right now.

@BobStPierre
Bob is the Director of Marketing and Public Relations for Pheasants Forever in St. Paul, MN. Bob is a big contributor to the PheasantsBlog as well. He doesn’t do a lot of engaging but his content is first rate.

@Huntography
huntography.com is a site dedicated to capturing hunting and the outdoor sports on film and video. Very cool posts and is definitely worth a follow.

@Hank_Shaw
Hank lives in Sacramento, CA but he has also lived in the Twin Cities, MN area. He is a big waterfowler and angler, but what sets him apart is his cooking. You can find some incredible wild game recipes and ideas on his website, honest-food.net.

@OBNetwork
The Outdoor Blogger Network is a centralized location to find the best outdoor bloggers on the internet. They share a wealth of information for getting started in blogging and making an established blog better. Rebecca Garlock, known as @Outdooress on Twitter, is the chief contributor.

@NorCalCazadora
Holly Heyser is one of the best bloggers I have found on Twitter. She writes on a wide variety of hunting pursuits but seems to specialize in waterfowling. She also has some great posts on women-specific hunting issues.

@HeyBJK
Brian is an Air Force Veteran and a heck of a writer. His blog covers hunting, fishing, shooting, and more. Brian is a very friendly guy, so don’t be afraid to start a conversation with him!

@Muskokaoutdoors
Bill Anderson is from Ontario, Canada. He’s got a superb outdoor blog called Muskoka Outdoors. What makes Bill a must follow are his Twitter newspapers. Bill has compiled an incredible list of outdoors accounts that his daily papers are compiled from. Great stuff!

@Mikehanback
Mike is the host of The Buck Stops Here on Versus TV. He also has a superb blog with the latest news and fascinating op-ed style articles. Very few national outdoor TV hosts regularly converse with average, everyday Tweeps. If you’ve got something interesting to say, Mike engages.

@DanSchmidtDeer
Dan is editor and author of one of the best hunting magazines on the newstand, Deer & Deer Hunting. He posts very interesting content on his Twitter page. If you’re a deer hunter, Dan Schmidt is a must follow.

@TovarCerulli
Tovar is one of the most interesting people I’ve met on Twitter. He is a vegan-turned-hunter. You read that right. He brings a different perspective than most when it comes to hunting. His blog is one of the best written blogs on the net and he has a book in the works.

@FirstLightGear
First Light Gear is based in Michigan. They promise the best deals on gear, period. But it’s not your typical sales site. You will find awesome blogs and videos. These guys enjoy a wide variety of outdoor pursuits and their storytelling allows you to go along for the ride.

@Lukekujacznski
Luke is part of the First Light Gear crew. He always has a conversation going or is sharing first rate information.

@GooseDownGC
These guys are call makers out of Southern Illinois, but we won’t hold that against them. They love to chat about all things waterfowl and especially calling. They are a must follow for goose hunters on Twitter.

@DaveRichey
Dave hails from Traverse City, MI. I have never seen Dave have a conversation with anyone on Twitter. That’s usually a one way ticket to Twitter purgatory. But Dave’s writing is so good, you just can’t miss out on it.

@Jim7226
Jim Braaten hails from Minnesota and operates the hugely popular SportsmansBlog. Jim has been in the outdoor writing biz for a long time and is one of the best on the net. He is also organizing the Midwest Fishing & Hunting Outdoor Blogger Summit with Michelle Schuermann of the Sportsman Channel. If you are looking for high quality outdoor content, Jim is a must follow.

@SPORTSMANchnl
This is the Twitter account for the Sportsman Channel Outdoor Network. They keep their followers abreast of all the latest happenings in the outdoor world and have one of the best daily papers on Twitter. The best part about them is they regularly engage with their followers. You can literally have a conversation with the people in charge of the best outdoor network on the air. Try that with some other networks!

@A_Reel_Lady
Glynn hails from Oklahoma and has a blog by the same name. She is a multi-talented outdoorswoman with a talent for telling a story. I highly recommend following her.

@mgaryhanson
Gary Hanson of Anniston, Alabama is about as passionate about fishing as a guy could be. He also shares a wealth of information on hunting and other outdoor pursuits.

@Rbwrightoutdoor
R.B. Wright is banker by day, outdoorsman by choice. His outdoor blog is first rate and he is an outgoing, friendly guy. This North Carolina hunter and angler requires a follow.

@BryanHansel
Bryan is a photographer and kayak guide from Grand Marais, MN. Grand Marais on the North Shore of Minnesota, less than an hour away from the Canadian border. If you’re looking for tips on bagging your next whitetail buck, he’s not for you. But if breathtaking photography from my favorite place on the planet interests you, Bryan is your guy.

@WellsRobb
Robb Wells of Knoxville, Tennessee is a diehard waterfowl hunter. He shares a lot of great links on hunting and waterfowl… and he is always up for a conversation.

@Ilcornfed
Bryan Anderson of Fulton County, IL is one of the few outdoor Twitter recommendations who doesn’t have a blog. However, he is consistently sharing photos and information that any hunter would appreciate.

@KerryMackey
Kerry writes about the outdoors from a Christian perspective. His stories of pursuing game with his young sons are inspiring. Great follow for any spiritual hunter.

@BullsandBeavers
Chris Burget runs the website BullsandBeavers.com from beautiful Sun Valley, Idaho. Chris engages all of his followers and retweets anything interesting he finds on Twitter. He is one of the good guys of the Twittersphere and a must follow.

It’s impossible to include everyone in a list of 35 favorites. If I missed someone, I sincerely apologize and would appreciate it if you made some recommendations in the comments below.

The Secret Turkey Call

2011-02-03T14:24:00.002-06:00

By John Simeone

My revenge against the media hype of commercialization is to give the secret of the Manhattan Project of turkey calls to the people for free.

There are amazing turkey calls made by ingenious individuals who have been generations in the business of outsmarting turkeys, I salute them. Sometimes I have to ask myself about the simplicity of what genius actually is. Is genius highly complicated rocket science or is it as simple as the person that thought of a pet rock collection and made a million dollars. Personally I think it deals with observation and the relationship of knowing what to do about what you see. “Necessity is the mother of invention,” never rang so true.

There are only two things that will attract a turkey, one is food and the other is another turkey. The not so ethical turkey hunters of my state, not all, but so many as to cause an epidemic, have mastered the art of baiting, no pun intended. When I first explored the idea of my new call this weighed heavily on my mind as turkey baiting is not cricket in the ethics of turkey hunting. But what if you could make a call that sounded like turkey food. Didn't I just mention cricket, and not the British form of baseball?

OK, so how did I come up with this brilliant idea? I came out of the woods a few years ago after a gobbler beat me fair and square as they usually do, subsequently meeting up with a very disgruntled turkey hunter. Evidently getting beat by a turkey to some people excites the revenge factor in some humans about like Captain Ahab vs Moby Dick. He swore out loud to me and the whispering pine trees of Louisiana, that he had a gobbler dead to rights, when a swarm of what he described more vividly as “fricken crickets,” started sounding off and the turkeys all went to them. Have you ever noticed how some people take things more seriously than others?

Well the minute I heard this it struck me like a bolt of lightning. Make a turkey call that sounds like a fricken cricket. The name of the call certainly was easy enough, but how would I make it legal, market and sell it. Also it came to mind why no one had ever thought of it before. Maybe they had and it didn't work. “No, it will work,” I thought as I know turkeys hunt by sight and sound, not smell. So in essence I had a call that sounded like turkey food, no one had ever thought to do that. If they had, obviously it would be on the market.

I knew before hand I couldn't make a recording of crickets as this would be an electric call and would be illegal. It had to be a percussion or wind instrument just like any other turkey call. That was not difficult as I found a ready made cricket sounding device that was in fact a musical instrument for a symphony orchestra to emulate the natural sound of a cricket.

It was there for the re-marketing if I wanted it. Of course no one believed me except one man, a state game warden, who also made custom turkey calls. He seemed worried that it would work so well as it would wipe out the turkey population. Knowing well the wild turkey, I seriously doubt it.

So I decided to hint around on websites to see if anyone else had the secret. I told them I had a call that sounded like turkey food instead of another turkey. The only response I got was from the mass of master turkey baiters that thought the only thing that would attract a turkey was a pile of corn. I got summarily accused of making a call that sounded like a deer feeder turning off and on. But no one knew of, hinted to, or had any idea of what it really was.

I actually had one fellow that intended to invest and partner up with me, but during the negotiations he made some serious racial slurs as well as comments against another religion on an open forum that was enough to put anyone out of business, so I parted company with him. I looked into commercial marketing with game call companies and once again got sloughed off. One company genius tried to tell me everyone knew about it, so I asked why it had never hit the market. Never got an answer on that, what I figure it was the standard slough off for all the crackpots with a new turkey call, including me. One owner of an outdoor company didn't even know what a turkey call was and had never been hunting, go figure.

By the end of the day I was fed up with humanity again. I'm a hunter and an outdoor writer, not an entrepreneur. So I decided to get even with all the commercial hype in the outdoor world and let everyone know about the Fricken Cricket turkey call and how to use and get one.

First, to get one, all you have to do is find a large music company and ask for a cricket sound effect instrument by L. P. It looks and works like a baby rattle, it is that simple.

You use the call when you have a hung up gobbler or he is with hens. You use your cricket in concert with your regular turkey call. If the whole flock is hungry they should all come. But that's not the whole set up. If fake rubber turkeys can be used as decoys, fake rubber crickets and grasshoppers can be used too, if you haven't figured this one out yet, try the words fishing lures. There are plenty on the market designed as crickets and grasshoppers. Put a little stick on glue and remove the hooks and you add them to your all ready set out turkey decoys.

If you live in the country and know someone that has chickens, go through a live grasshopper in the pen and watch them go for it. Then throw in a rubber cricket and you will find they will go for that too. You can get them in any large bait shop.

Once it appears that other turkeys have found crickets and the target turkey and friends see this along with the decoy crickets, it should cause a feeding frenzy like a school of sharks.

Is it legal? These are the things you can't do turkey hunting. You can't use grain to bait them, a live decoy or an electric calling device (in most states). You can use artificial decoys in most states. Check your regulation for specifics. My state doesn't say anything about making cricket sounds in the woods and considering it can be done with the human voice it would require a game warden behind every tree to enforce it.

Is it ethical? It depends on who you are talking to. Some hunters think, using scopes on a shotgun is wrong, using a 3 ½ inch shell is wrong, setting up an ambush is wrong, sitting on a chufa patch is wrong...and so on. What is really wrong is sitting on a pile of corn or using an electric caller. Why? Because it's illegal, otherwise it becomes opinion.

Will it work? Yes it will, just like any other turkey call. It is just different, no more than making a new fishing lure. If a turkey wants to come to it they will, anyone knows that. There is no such thing as a perfect turkey call, that's what makes it interesting.

Why don't I try to market it? I prefer watching all the outdoor companies out there silting each others throats trying to outdo each other, now that's as much fun as shooting a turkey to me. If it does become popular I only want to be known as the person that thought up the idea and like I always do, I ….Pass it on.

Here Moose, Moose, Moose

2011-01-31T13:56:00.000-06:00

Have you ever wondered how to call in a big bull moose? We had a chance to talk with Bob Wozniak from Quaker Boy Game calls and he demonstrated the new Bulldozer Moose Call from Quaker Boy. What's unique about this call is that it truly is an all in one call. The Bulldozer has has the ability to make noises that in the past have required several different calls.

By the way, does that guy in the background look familiar?

Turkey Hunting Secret Tidbits that Make for Success

2011-01-31T10:24:00.001-06:00

by Naomi K. Shapiro

Here are some turkey hunting tips and tactics by the old pros. This "insider info" comes with experience, and only from hunters who have been through the trials and tribulations of turkey hunting for many years.

Traditionally, turkey hunters get up very early in the morning - -like "before dawn," and head out to their pre-scouted spot or area to set up their decoys and calls, hoping to get a turkey to come in directly from their nighttime roost. This is all fine and dandy and works a lot of the time, but not all hunts are successful, and you need to step it up a bit, and start trying some different things to make the turkeys come in to your set up.

One thing that experienced turkey hunters do is "run and gun." They'll grab their shotgun, one hen decoy, their calls, and start working their way through the woods, QUIETLY (remember turkeys are very wary, and have keen hearing). Every two hundred yards or so of trekking, and they'll stop, and do a series of calls . If there's no response, they'll move again. But, if they do get a response, they'll set out their one hen decoy, approximately 20 yards from where they have set up, making sure the decoy is set between the hunter and the direction of the gobbling. The hunter will continue a series of calls, until the bird is seen, OR, the hunter knows for sure that he's coming in. And if the bird doesn't come in, or the hunter hears nothing, he/she moves on until a "hot" bird, or even one who's "lethargic" comes in. Don't forget there are lots of "lethargic" birds who are just ambling through the woods, and will come in, if there's an attractant. These birds just aren't real "hot" at any given moment, but that doesn't mean you can't get one.

Let's assume that you've not gotten a return call, but you know there's a bird out there. Maybe he's hung up (real wary and won't come in). A little trick that works is based on the fact that that bird knows EXACTLY where your call came from, and it's used to hearing that call, and may still be interested - -especially a "lethargic" bird. What you should do is cup your hand over the call, turn your head and walk directly AWAY from the gobbling bird. This tells your quarry, that whoever made that call is still calling and moving away. This trick makes the gobbler think that the calling hen is moving away from him, and that quickly piques his interest. You see, usually turkeys while being hunted learn to recognize that hunters are trying to close the distance, and move in. If you do the very opposite, that tells the gobbler that it's not a hunter, because the call is moving away, not closer, so it must be a hen, and he says to himself, "I'd better get after her, or I'm going to lose her." Hunters who use this tactic, normally employ it towards the end of the season, as the toms are most wary at this point, having been hunted hard for a long period.

Another good ploy is to mix up your calls. Use a mouth call, a box call, a slate call – whatever variety you can muster. Give the tom an idea that there are MULTIPLE hens out there, and there's security in numbers. So he's going to feel safe, and content to move right in to the flock, he perceives is there.

Remember - -do your normal regimen first, but if that doesn't work, definitely try these suggested "old timer" methods. They really do work, and can make the difference between your family having turkey or Spam for dinner.

My Best Days Afield

2011-01-27T18:10:00.004-06:00

This is a guest post by Ben Gustafson of Central Minnesota. You can enjoy more of Ben's work on his blog, Ben G Outdoors. http://beng-outdoors.blogspot.com/

When I was still just a kid, around the age of 12, I went out squirrel hunting with my uncle. I was super excited about this hunting trip. First, I had never shot a .22 at any thing other than a target. Secondly, it was the first time I had ever hunted anything other than the bothersome birds around my grandparent’s farm.

I didn’t really know what to expect, but I was so excited. My uncle, cousin, brother and I all piled into my uncle’s car and drove to some woods somewhere. I really have no clue where it was because I was on cloud nine at the time and not paying any attention.

Not knowing the first thing about squirrel hunting Ryan, Aaron and I all followed my uncle’s lead. Now I know it as the spot and tree the squirrel. I remember it being kind of hard to walk through the woods while keeping quiet.

My uncle saw the first squirrel and we were off chasing it until it ran up a tree. Then with just one shot he killed the squirrel. I really wanted to get a chance to shoot one of these tree rats. After another short walk over to the next oak woods we came across another squirrel and it was my turn to shoot. I had the little bugger all dialed in took the shot and I missed. I was to say the least frustrated, because I thought of myself as a good shot. I guess shooting up rather than at a target is a bit more difficult.

I took a second shot and missed again as Mr. Squirrel jumped to the other side of the tree. I had to move to the opposite side of the tree too, so I could get another shot at the furry fella. I took a deep breath after I had him in my sights. I slowly squeezed the trigger back as the gun popped off a shot. Someone yelled out “you got him” as he fell to the ground. I don’t think the grin left my face for the rest
of the day.

Now jump ahead about seven years, I was 19. It was my second deer hunting season back in Minnesota and my first season hunting with my current hunting party. After about three years of deer hunting under my belt I hadn’t had a chance to take a shot at any deer. I was almost to the point where I was going to say deer hunting isn’t for me and move on.

It was early opening morning. I had been sitting in my tree for about 2 hours when I heard a strange sound off to my right. I really wasn’t sure what it was at first. Then it dawned on me it was a buck snorting. My heart started pounding like crazy. Then I heard a bunch of noise in the brush coming from the same direction, but it seemed as though it was far away. I heard it again and again. The sounds of brush being flung around and sticks snapping were very close.

I stood up only to have my leg start shaking like I was running a race. I had to calm down so I closed my eyes briefly hoping to stop my leg from shaking. No luck. I physically grabbed my leg to stop it from shaking and that worked until I saw him, a very nice 8 point buck. Oh and he was following a doe. They were both just walking and not really paying attention to anything.

As they walked close or at least as close as they were going to get, I brought my gun up and took a shot. But my leg started shaking again and I missed. The deer froze in their tracks and I hurriedly fired again. This time I hit the buck, but he didn’t go down. Instead he headed right toward me at full speed. I fired again and again until I unloaded my 870 pump.

As the last slug flew out of my gun the deer dove head first into some brush. At this point he started to baller so loud I almost thought there was a cow out in the woods. I hurried out of my tree so I could make a kill shot. I had to walk around a bit to get in a good position to take a good shot.

My whole party couldn’t believe that it was me who was shooting at the deer they all thought it was someone with a semi auto.

I don’t think those days will be replaced until my boys start hunting.

Antler Point Restrictions With Marrett Grund Minnesota DNR

2011-01-19T13:15:00.002-06:00

Our newest podcast is online! This month Chris interviews Marrett Grund from the Minnesota DNR on a new concept that is gaining popularity with some hunters and upsetting others. Antler Point Restrictions (APR). In this podcast Marrett and Chris discuss reasons for implementing APR and it's effects on the deer herd.

If you like our podcast why not catch up on past episodes or Subscribe To Our Podcast On I Tunes.

Top 5 Outdoor Adventures of 2010

2010-12-31T14:45:00.009-06:00

by Chris Larsen

#5 Hot Air Ballooning Over The St. Croix Valley in February.
I was fortunate enough to take a hot air balloon ride with Scott Aamodt of Stillwater, MN. Scott has piloted hot air balloons for several years and his skills are a testament to his experience. We flew over much of Hudson, WI during our one hour flight. Most people don’t think of hot air ballooning during the dead of winter but it’s actually a great time to go. The foliage is off the trees and you can see right down into the woods. We spotted a very nice whitetail buck on our flight. Check out the video here.

#4 Fast Deer Hunt
I wasn’t fortunate enough to be carrying the gun on this hunt. But I captured it on film. Foremost Outdoor TV ProStaffer Jason Oswald closed the deal on a Southwest Wisconsin doe less than five minutes after we left the cabin. The deer was feeding on wild berries when we spotted her. It was a great management hunt that was so fast we didn’t really get a chance to enjoy the woods. Luckily, we had a few more tags so we spent the rest of the afternoon on stand looking for another deer. We saw plenty of squirrels and of course turkeys. We always have turkeys in our face when deer hunting and deer crawling on us when turkey hunting! Check out more of this story here.

#3 Minnesota North Shore Adventure
After skipping this trip in 2009, we resumed our annual family vacation to the Minnesota North Shore. The Grand Marais area is simply breathtaking in the fall. The mountains are ablaze in orange, red, and gold leaves. The colors are a sharp contrast to the crystal waters of Lake Superior and the streams that flow into it. Grouse and deer sightings are a common occurence. In the five years of visiting the area, I’ve seen just one moose. A large bull had fallen several feet to his death on the stony shores of the Cascade River. This area is a well known moose hunting spot, but I’ve yet to spot a live one! The most enjoyable part of the trip was watching my two-and-a-half year old son develop a love for the outdoors. Right now it’s limited to throwing stones into the water… but we threw a lot of stones into the water! To see my pictorial, click here.

#2 Bagging A Whitetail Buck
This was my second season of deer hunting on our family property. In 2009, I connected on a nubbin’ buck. This year I shot my first antlered buck on the property. The 2 ½ year old sported an eight point rack with an 18 inch spread. One of his points was snapped off and a portion of his main beam was pretty beat up too. I’m sure he had a pretty active autumn. What was rewarding about this deer was the shot. I measured it at 180 yards on the range finder. I’ve never taken a deer at that distance. The shot was well placed and he fell just 30 yards from where he was hit. Even more rewarding was that I had passed up several other bucks before taking this one, including a trophy class buck. He just wasn’t standing the way I wanted him too and I would have hated myself for wounding him. It was easily the biggest deer I’ve ever had in my scope. Five minutes after he was out of sight, I spotted my buck. You can read the whole story here.

#1 Fishing Has No Boundaries
Foremost Outdoor TV was invited to attend a Fishing Has No Boundaries event in Eagle River, WI this summer. Fishing Has No Boundaries(FHNB) is a program that gets disabled and developmentally disabled people an opportunity to fish for the weekend. Several Eagle River area guides and dozens of other volunteers donated their time and use of their boats to make this event happen. It was hosted at Wild Eagle Lodge, which is an incredible resort in the heart of the legendary Eagle River Chain of Lakes.

FOTV ProStaffer Jason Oswald and I spent a day on the water with two guides, four anglers, and their chaperone. The excitement level was like nothing I’ve ever experienced on the water. Guide Lon Millard, put these guys on a panfish honey hole. We put over 200 fish in the boat and 50 on the stringer. It was literally non-stop action. The anglers were highly competitive and had no problems with dishing out and taking a little flak. I’ve never had a better day on the water. Look for this video on foremostoutdoortv.com soon.

Hunters Separate Two Big Bucks With A Shotgun

2010-12-22T08:17:00.000-06:00

These two big bucks are locked together on a frozen pond when a group of bird hunters uses a shotgun to separate them. Unbelievable video footage.

Sarah Palin Did What?

2010-12-11T22:26:00.001-06:00

The wife talked me into watching Sarah Palin's Alaska tonight. The first episode I saw was all about the family commercial fishing enterprise. Very impressed with the family and how everybody got their fingers dirty. Cool to see the family interact and work together. The second episode I watched had Sarah going caribou hunting with her dad. It was a real tough hunt and again, cool to see a nice family dynamic.

Then, it happened. They see a caribou. Sarah gets all lined up to shoot. But the caribou is skylined, so she's gonna wait until she has a good back stop behind the animal right? NOPE! Fire away and a clean miss. Her dad says, "you shot over it". So they load another shell and they think about where that bullet could end up so they wait to fire the next shot right? NOPE! Fire away. Again, over the caribou. They wouldn't dream about firing another one right? Sure, load her up and shoot again. Over it again! Three 7MM projectiles sent flying through the air at who knows where. The family friend hands Sarah another gun. After three misses at a skylined caribou, she shoots at him while he's looking right at her... not broadside, not quartering... straight on. She drops him in his tracks... but again, a skylined shot.

I realize she's hunting in the bush of Alaska and the risk of hitting something is minimal. But there are several reasons to not take this shot.

1) It only takes one person to be in the wrong place at the wrong time to lead to a fatality. Imagine this headline:

"Hunter Dies From Sarah Palin's Stray Bullet"

Not only does someone die unnecessarily, you think the press wouldn't have a field day with that? There are millions of people praying for something like that to happen.

2) It's being videotaped and aired on national television. Millions of people are watching this show and seeing unsafe shooting. This makes hunters look careless to non-hunters, although many probably didn't even think about. It's also a bad example to aspiring hunters. If it's OK to do on TV, then why can't they do it.

I'm certainly not the type of person that wants to pile on Sarah Palin. There are plenty of other people out there doing that. But the carelessness of what I saw tonight really bothered me. Why no one said anything while it was happening, then know one said anything when they reviewed the tape, then no one said anything during post production is beyond me.

My forays into outdoor videos are small potatoes compared to this and everytime I do anything in the field there is a little voice in my head saying, "what does this look like?" I'm always thinking about what it would look like to my friends and family, to non-hunters, to the general public, and to law enforcement. If you are filming a hunt, you must hold yourself to the highest standards. Everyone is watching and once the video is released, there is no turning back. When you are under the microscope that Sarah Palin is under, careful isn't careful enough. What I saw tonight doesn't do her or any other hunter any favors.

2010 Wisconsin Gun Deer Season In Review

2010-11-30T22:30:00.005-06:00

The 2010 Wisconsin gun deer season has come and gone. Preliminary numbers have the total harvest at over 218,000 deer. That’s an 11 percent increase compared to last season. Considering last season was the worst in over a decade, that’s not saying much. However, an increase is better than the alternative. Good weather on opening day and harvested crop fields are being given the credit for much of hunter success. Warm and wet spring weather greened up forests early and aided fawn survival as well. Still, hunter reports were mixed. Some reported plentiful deer sightings while others were left shaking their heads and cursing the DNR.

Some units were below goal and restricted to buck only regulations. Obviously, antlerless harvest was way down in these counties. For example, Ashland County’s antlerless harvest was down 73% while it’s buck harvest was up 12%. This led to the total harvest being down 22%. That’s a lot, but when you consider most hunters didn’t have a doe tag at all, it’s not as bad as it could be. Overall, the state buck harvest was up 17%.

One can conclude that many of the bucks harvested were young deer that may have been passed up under normal conditions. While this has no real effects on the total population in these areas since surviving bucks will still breed all the does, trophy potential has to be greatly diminished. Yearling bucks that were harvested this year will never mature. You can’t blame the hunters who took them and you can’t blame wildlife officials for setting the buck only rules. It’s just something that will need to be worked through over the next five to ten years.

In contrast, the southern part of the state had a huge season. Only a handful of counties in the south saw small declines, while most were way up. The total harvest in the county I hunt in, Lafayette County, was up 45% compared to last year. Dane and Dodge counties also saw significant increases. This must be due to the crops being harvested and 2009’s opening day fog.

Here are our ProStaffer’s reports. You’ll find they are very different dependent upon location. Some hunted multiple units and have separate reports.

Chris Larsen
Lafayette County, Unit 75D
Opening day was incredible. Temperatures were in the 30s in Southern Wisconsin and deer were moving to stay warm. I saw around 35 deer, with seven confirmed buck sightings. One was a spiker/small fork, one was a year-and-a-half-old eight pointer, four were two-and-a-half year old eight pointers, and one was a gigantic trophy class buck. I tagged one of the two-and-a-half year olds. You can read more about my season here. I’m really excited about next season. If those two-and-a-half-year olds make it to next year, they will be very nice bucks next season.

I had a deer hanging and the pressure was off on day two. I set up in an area that has been incredibly productive the past few years. Unfortunately, it was virtually deerless on this morning. After lunch with the other two hunters in camp, the decision was made to do some drives. I personally saw 15 deer on the opening drive along with several turkeys and a coyote. My foot steps were the catalyst of the final and most productive drive of the day. Twenty deer were holed up in an area we call “The Cave.” They were tails up and headed toward the other hunters ten seconds before shots rang out.

This unit is under Earn A Buck regulations and we have all earned our buck and are ready for next season. The only complaint I have from this season is about the dates of the early antler less season. It was downright warm in mid-October and no one wanted to shoot a deer for fear of the meat spoiling. However, time was negotiated with work and spouses so we were going to camp regardless. The heat kept us from seriously pursuing deer and the required blaze orange gave us no shot at a fall turkey. The time in camp was fun, but the hunting was disappointing. I understand the DNR doesn’t want to get too close to rut, but perhaps one weekend later would be better.

Jon Ballard
Jackson County, Unit 55
If I could sum up my Black River Falls hunting experience into one word it would have to be "slow". Admittedly, I didn't get to spend the amount of time I usually do, or I would have liked to, in the woods in 2010. But I was lucky enough to hunt 4 days during the peak of the rut in Unit 55 as well as the opening day of gun season. We hunted both Black River State Forest and private land and I would say that the amount of sign we saw compared to the last years as well as the number of deer we saw was substantially down. I did see one nice buck at around 50 yards and one smaller buck during our 4 day adventure as well as several does on opening day of gun season but the numbers just don't seem to be there. One member of our party of four went all 4 days of bow season with out seeing a single deer. I'm not one of the "Wolves are to blame" crowd but one of our hunting party did see a wolf opening day of gun season at around 100 yards from his ground blind. He described the encounter as "majestic" and was happy to see something since the deer appeared to be long gone. Zone 55 was buck only this year with limited doe tags available for purchase.

Juneau County, Unit 54A
From bad to worse is how I felt about Unit 54A this year. In addition to 3 days of deerless bow hunts, our party of four spent three days of gun season in the woods of Juneau County near New Lisbon. The private acreage we hunt has always been productive in the past but this year the woods appeared to be empty. The activity in 54A was even slower then last year (The 2009 nine day gun season harvest of 3,009 deer compared to 4,714 harvest during the nine day season in 2008 -That's a 36% drop off and yet there are still doe tags for sale?). No one in our hunting party of four even saw a deer in Juneau county. Not even driving home at night. I heard similar stories of despair from neighboring property owners. Unit 54A was buck only this year, which combined with a mild winter may help keep the numbers from getting even worse. But I think the damage was already done several years ago with the liberal harvest quotes and unlimited doe tags. It will take this area several years to recover in my opinion. It is my understanding that doe tags for 54A were available for purchase right up to opening day. Which tells me that either no one is hunting in this unit this year or hunters are fed up with the mismanagement and have decided to do something about it on their own.

Tyler Hinner
Clark County, Unit 58

I took a nice buck with my bow the weekend before gun season and decided to run a camera for FOTV’s Chris Larsen in Lafayette County over opening weekend. During the week, I split time in Clark and Vilas counties. Very few shots were heard during the week. I did kill a doe on Thursday on an 80 acre farm that did not see pressure all week. Walking with the wind in my face from the far side of the property, I started a slow sneak through the dense, young pine cover mixed in with scattered mature oak and maple trees. To my surprise(and theirs), I came within 40 yards of four feeding does. As I waited to see which doe was the most mature, I noticed one of the does was limping and that she had taken a bullet to one of her front legs. I did the ethical thing and harvested that deer… meat in the freezer. Friday we noticed an increased amount of hunters out in the woods, but almost everyone was driving. This trend continued through the final weekend.

Jason Oswald
Lafayette County, Unit 75D
The 2010 9 day gun deer season in Wisconsin again displayed symptoms of a split personality. In my case, I was fortunate to have the chance to return to a friend's camp in Lafayette county, in the southernmost tier of counties in our state. This property holds a lot of deer, and we arrived at camp with a much improved game plan after a year's worth of outings for both deer and turkey. I selected a stand site overlooking a narrow draw that serves as an entry/exit point for deer from neighboring properties, thinking that I would certainly get a good look at any and all deer moving in and out of the property on that side.

My homework paid off with over 30 deer seen on opening day. The downside was that no big bucks happened by my stand. Most of the deer I saw opening weekend on this property were does, with only a young fork buck and small 8 pointer revealing themselves. I was fortunate to take a nice mature doe during a series of drives on Sunday afternoon. Monday found us in the garage butchering venison and in the cabin for a quick clean up before heading home.

Clark County, Unit 58
The snow and ice storm on Thanksgiving eve kept my family at home and off the roads. I found myself behind the wheel heading over the river and through the woods to grandmother's house and my Clark county treestand on Thanksgiving morning. I finally reached my stand at 2pm, and promptly watched 2 does amble through a thick tag alder swamp. Another doe trotted across the food plot just before the end of legal shooting time, and I watched her disappear into the fading light as the last deer I would see this season. Dawn broke a frigid 9 degrees and windy over the same stand on Friday, with nothing moving all morning. Another stand that afternoon proved no better. Our crew spent Saturday cutting firewood and filling the woodshed for the winter. My father-in-law saw no deer at all during the firearm deer season in Clark County.

For Southern Wisconsin deer, the good times continue to roll. In my experience, the opportunity to hunt both Southern and Central Wisconsin and listen to hunters in both regions seeminly confirms the state herd's split personality.

Jeff Bredemus
Burnett County
Wisconsin opener was average for my two brothers, father and myself. Many does and yearling bucks were seen on day one. Day two's rain didn't help much but my one brother was able to harvest a young buck. Reports from others in the Burnett County area also reported fair results with a lack of "shooter" bucks being seen. With time this should hopefully change.

------

Muzzleloader season and more antlerless seasons are still on the way. If you don’t have a deer yet, there’s time. If you’re looking for other outdoor pursuits, the ice is getting thicker. Tyler Hinner reports ice on his favorite Vilas County lake is just getting thick enough to walk on. He pulled five walleyes through two inches of ice Sunday. Ice is spotty and isn’t thick enough to run ATV’s or snowmobiles yet.

Jeff Bredemus was out last week looking for a late fall musky to slime the net. With overcast and stable conditions, he fished a smaller 400 acre lake in hopes to locate schools of suspended bait fish. For this lake the main forage is panfish/perch and with water in the upper 30 degree range they were already setting up in their wintering holes. Using a trolling motor and graph he was able to locate large schools of panfish suspended in 10-14 feet over 30 feet of water. From there, he circled the area casting large rubber swimbaits retrieved in a slow matter. He didn’t hook anything but had a few follows and a couple fish seen always makes the day this time of year. With the temperatures dipping, open water fishing is pretty much done for the year.

Wisconsin Outdoor Report for Mid-November: Gun Deer Edition

2010-11-18T16:02:00.005-06:00

For about 600,000 hunters, Christmas arrives Saturday morning across Wisconsin. To say Santa has delivered in spades could be an understatement. While deer populations are not as high across Northern Wisconsin as they were five or ten years ago, conditions couldn’t be much better than they are this weekend. We received a heavy snow last weekend and most of it is still on the ground. Cold temperatures will be the rule throughout the weekend with a slight chance of rain in the south on Sunday. Nearly all of the crops are off the field as well. Deer should be concentrated in heavy cover and will be easier to see thanks to the snow. I expect a big harvest this year. In buck only zones, the total harvest will be lower, but hunters should see more deer than they’ve seen in the last few years.

I’ll be headed down to the family cabin in Lafayette County. My dad and good buddy Jason Oswald from Foremost Outdoor TV will be joining me. FOTV’s Tyler Hinner has generously donated his opening weekend to filming the show. The hunt will be exceptional, but the camp environment is the most rewarding part of the weekend for me. Stay tuned for that video which is coming soon to a computer near you.

I hope everyone has a safe season. Be aware of your barrel and take it easy on the alcohol. Hunting is one of the safest sports to engage in and Wisconsin is one of the safest states to hunt in. Let’s keep up the good work.

Here’s a look at this week’s field reports:

The previously mentioned Tyler Hinner has been in a tree stand every day since October 20. Early this week, his vigil ended. As Tyler crept toward his stand he kicked up the biggest buck he’s seen all year. He froze, let the deer run off, and then worked downwind to head the buck off. In an hour he worked himself inside of 50yards of this giant nine pointer. A well placed arrow put this big boy on the ground. Perhaps the best part of the hunt… this is a public land monster. Anyone can do it. You just have to be willing to put the time in. Congratulations Tyler!

Tyler has seen deer activity remain constant despite being in post rut. This is probably due to cooler temperatures and increased cloud cover. Corridors just inside forest edges are the best bet to find trophy bucks.

Foremost Outdoor TV ProStaffer Jeff Bredemus is better known as our resident musky specialist, but he spends a fair amount of time in the tree stand as well. Jeff recently rang the bell on a nice Burnett County eight pointer. Great job Jeff!

Ice is beginning to form on many northern waters and all but the diehard anglers have called it a season. However, musky and walleye fishing is heating up on the Madison chain. Slow presentations are the key but you don’t necessarily have to go with small tackle. These fish are feeding for winter and are seeking big, easy prey.

Foremost Outdoor TV ProStaffer Cole Daniels is seeing a noticeable increase in migratory ducks on the Mississippi. Cole hunts near Prairie Du Chien area and reports big flocks of divers such as canvasbacks and goldeneyes. Field hunting for geese has also been very good but requires scouting. The crops have been out for a while so “fresh” fields are scarce and the birds are a bit scattered. The upcoming deer opener is a great opportunity for dedicated waterfowlers. Lake Puckaway near Beaver Dam is one of Cole’s favorite duck hunting lakes during gun deer season. Deer hunters push a lot of birds out of the Grand River marsh and surrounding fields and the competition for ducks on the main lake is minimal.

Of course, most of our staff will be deer hunting this weekend. If you want to keep tabs on how we are doing, check out www.treetalk.mobi It’s new from Foremost Hunting and a great way to keep tabs on fellow hunters. You don’t have to be part of the crew to post either. Everyone is invited and it’s possible to text your report in from your mobile phone. We look forward to hearing your story!

Upper Midwest Outdoor Report For November 9, 2010

2010-11-09T15:29:00.003-06:00

Upper Midwest Outdoor Report
by Chris Larsen

By my calculations and by the numbers crunched by folks known as experts, peak rut has come and gone throughout much of the Upper Midwest. Lunar tables show the best time to be in a deer stand was November 6 through today, November 9. However, Mother Nature is quite a fickle gal and she didn’t cooperate. Warm weather hampered many hunters and keeping big bucks nocturnal. The good news is a front is coming through and deer weather is on it’s way! This weekend should be awesome and just because we’re beyond “peak” rut on the lunar calendar doesn’t mean bucks won’t be chasing does. Sharpen your broadheads because we may be in store for the best weekend of hunting this year!

On the water, muskies are feeding heavily but presentations need to be slow. Suckers are the hot bait for most successful musky anglers. We’re still seeing a hot walleye bite on the Mississippi River. Again, slow presentation over structure is key. Minnows or Gulp on three way rigs seem to be the ticket. I’ve also heard of some good night crawler bites using the “Slow Death” method.

Here’s what our ProStaffers are seeing:

Dan Quinn is FOTV’s resident bass expert. But he’s been focusing on deer hunting over the last few weeks. Dan began deer hunting for the first time this season. To say it’s been a successful introduction is an understatement. Dan arrowed his first doe a few weeks ago in St. Croix County. This week he followed it up with his first archery buck. A dandy Pierce County eight pointer. Congratulations Dan!

In between his deer conquests, Dan has hit the water as well. He reports bass activity has slowed down over much of Northern Wisconsin and Central Minnesota but fish can still be caught over stumps and around other structure.

Foremost Outdoor ProStaffer Cole Daniels is seeing deer activity continue to increase. “Shooter bucks are suddenly appearing during daylight hours and I’m seeing a lot more sparring.” Cole says the corn crop is almost completely harvested in Southwest Wisconsin and believes this will help deer hunters, but the hunt may be different than last years. “Don’t plan to hunt the same places you did last year,” says Daniels. Food sources are more diverse now that the corn is gone and deer are forced to frequent different areas for nourishment. “Scouting is going to be more critical. But it’s obviously easier to see deer movement now that the corn is gone.” Hunters who had the time and property to plant food plots may be rewarded this season. Last season most of Southern Wisconsin was a giant food plot.

Jason Oswald says turkeys in Southern Wisconsin are becoming much more predictable as days become shorter. Find turkeys, watch their travel routes, and intercept them to fill your fall tag. Jason has also noticed a big influx of migrating waterfowl. “The divers are really beginning to show up. I’m seeing canvasbacks and goldeneyes on water that was virtually duckless a week ago.” For serious water fowlers, gun deer season may be the best time of year to hunt. Deer hunters are marching through fields and swamps and moving ducks and geese loafing in fields. Another benefit is casual hunters are more focused on deer hunting so your spread may be the only show in town.

foremosthunting » Wolves In Wisconsin & The Great Lakes States

2010-11-08T09:54:00.002-06:00

Podcast » Wolves In Wisconsin & The Great Lakes States

Chris Larsen visits with Wisconsin DNR Wolf Biologist, Adrian Wydeven. Chris & Adrian discuss wolf issues in Wisconsin and across the Midwest. Topics include wolf management, attacks on livestock, how to prevent attacks, and how the wolf population affects other wildlife populations.

Wisconsin Outdoor Report for October 28, 2010

2010-10-28T14:20:00.006-05:00

What is being described as an inland hurricane swept over much of the Upper Midwest this week. We are still feeling the effects as the storm continues eastward. The lowest barometric pressure ever recorded was measured during the storm. The winds were in excess of 60 miles per hour over most of the plains states with winds of around 100 miles per hour recorded on the shores of Lake Superior. Duluth received seven inches of snow.

The storm is in sharp contrast of conditions this autumn. Conditions have been quite dry and have allowed farmers to get their crops off the fields far earlier than last year. This should congregate deer and many other game species into more huntable cover. Biologists say there was significant turkey mortality from moldy corn in the fields last year as well. We shouldn’t have that problem this winter. Here’s more from Foremost Outdoor TV ProStaffers.

Tyler Hinner is seeing buck activity spike in Northwestern and Central Wisconsin. Younger bucks are sparring and mature bucks can be seen moving later in the evening. Scrapes and rubs are becoming more common as deer begin shifting from pre-rut into rutting activity. Tyler is also seeing a lot of pheasants on public land. The Wisconsin DNR is releasing more birds this year compared to last and they are common in areas in which the releases are occurring. While some stocking is done in St. Croix County, this western county is home to Wisconsin’s biggest population of wild birds.

In Southwest Wisconsin, Cole Daniels is reporting a big jump in rubs and scrapes. According to Daniels, the corn harvest should also boost hunter success. “Last year we had standing corn throughout the winter. This fall 90% of the corn in the area has been picked.” Deer are now more concentrated in the small woodlots of Southern Wisconsin counties. Daniels also recommends hunting over upland type cover, CRP, and even wetland cover to find mature bucks. “Veteran deer know hunters focus on woodlots, so they go to spots most hunters overlook.” Goose hunting has also been very good along the Wisconsin River and the big weather front that just passed should bring some fresh migratory birds through the state. Again, the corn harvest is opening up more and more opportunities for goose hunters.

Foremost Outdoor TV Fishing ProStaffer Dan Quinn says bass are really piling up along rock bars, stumps, and docks. Dan and his father, Steve, had one of their best outings of the year last week, boating over 20 fish in less than an hour. The storm has kept Dan off the water for much of the week and he expects fall turnover to begin on many lakes due to the winds and lower temperatures. River walleye fishing has also been good. You’ll find most fish on or near the bottom along current breaks like points and rock dams.

Would you like to contribute to the Foremost Hunting/Foremost Outdoor TV Outdoor Report? E-mail Chris Larsen at chris@foremostoutdoortv.com

Gulf Coast Wetland & Waterfowl Update- Foremost Hunting Podcast

2010-10-27T08:46:00.001-05:00

Gulf Coast Wetland & Waterfowl Update

Oct 26th, 2010 by foremosthunting

Foremosthunting.com’s Chris Larsen visits with Ducks Unlimited Gulf Response Team Lead Scientist, Dr. Tom Moorman. Topics discussed include the effects of the Deepwater Horizon disaster on the coastal wetlands, how ducks are affected, and the relationship between the oil industry and gulf coast habitat.

2010 Wisconsin Deer Hunting Outlook

2010-10-25T09:50:00.000-05:00

Foremost Hunting has just published a great peice on hunting deer in Wisconsin in 2010. The article includes some great info on public hunting grounds in Wisconsin as well. Read the 2010 Wisconsin Deer Hunting Outlook (Just in time for the rut)

Blaze Orange Turkey Hunting & The World's Fastest Deer Hunt

2010-10-19T15:41:00.004-05:00

I’ve had this past weekend marked on the calendar for a long time. It would be an opportunity to hunt the fall turkey season, shoot a deer during the antlerless season, and get our cabin ready for the traditional gun deer season and the upcoming winter. The plan would be to hunt turkeys in the morning and hunt deer in the evenings. It was too warm for a deer to hang during the day. An evening shoot would provide an overnight cooling period before butchering the animal the following day. The problem was one member of our group couldn’t make it to camp the first evening so we decided to hunt turkeys that afternoon.

We headed out to an area that we know holds fall turkeys. Sure enough as we approached, 15 birds evacuated the area. No problem. We’ll wait for them to come back. Of course, it never happened. But we saw some deer and decided to call it a night early so our turkeys could make it back to their roost without being pestered.

The following morning, two guys set up in a feeding area and two of us were on a known turkey trail. I’ve killed turkeys in this spot before and have seen several flocks use this route to go from the roost to the feeding areas. It took a while but I finally saw some turkeys hopping out of the trees around 7:30 AM. They purred a bit after they jumped down. But instead of making their way to us, they went the other way. You see, we were wearing blaze orange.

I had never turkey hunted during the weekend of the antlerless deer hunt. After inspecting the regulations, it was discovered that blaze orange was required. Deer are essentially color blind and look for movement or odd shapes to elude predators. Turkeys on the other hand can see color just fine. They see everything two dimensionally, so depth of field is not a strong point. But color and detail they get. So needless to say, our turkey hunts were total washouts. We tried to work the terrain and jump shoot but they never presented a responsible shot. Turkeys escape from predators 365 days a year. Us modern day humans act as predators for maybe 30 days a year. That’s all you need to know about our blaze orange turkey hunt.

We had two antlerless deer tags to fill. In Southwest Wisconsin, you have to shoot an antlerless deer before you can shoot a buck. Deer densities are high and the threat of Chronic Wasting Disease is real. The Wisconsin DNR holds an antlerless only gun deer season in October so hunters can fulfill their antlerless requirement before opening day of the traditional gun deer season.

We closed the cattle gate behind the cabin and started walking to our intended stand around 3:30 PM. The hike was a short one. Less than 50 yards past the gate, a deer fed on berries in a clearing. We went to our knees and made the shot. This hunt didn’t last more than five minutes. The deer piled up ten yards into the woods. It was the fastest deer hunt I have ever been a part of. For more, check out the link.

After the deer was field dressed and hanging in the cool garage, we headed deeper into the woods toward our intended stand site. There are deer lurking behind every ridge in this area and you have to walk slow and watch for movement. We found our spot and hunkered down behind a fallen tree. We spotted a deer almost immediately, but she never offered a clean shot. The woods is thick with timber and vegetation and wounding a deer was not part of the game plan. We let her walk and waited for more. But no more deer arrived. The corn surrounding our little patch of deer hunter’s heaven is still standing. That standing corn provides plenty of cover and food. Daytime temperatures were warm and deer just weren’t ready to move yet. But we’ve got some venison in our bellies and in the freezer. I’ll call it a great weekend!

I’ll post an updated outdoor report later this week.

-Chris

Goose Hunting, Unbridled Ambition, And Upper Midwest Field Reports

2010-10-12T16:21:00.008-05:00

We’re getting pretty busy here at foremost hunting.com. Over the weekend the crew filmed a goose hunt in North Central Wisconsin. The morning started with a team effort of stuffing field blinds with natural cover. We packed the blinds with clover and set decoys for the morning flight.

As sunrise peaked over the horizon we began hearing the sounds of dozens of sand hill cranes erupting from their slumber. As the cranes lifted off a distant pond the flutter of mallard wings overhead excited the young men in the layout blinds. But the ducks were not willing to give us any shooting. A half hour later the honks of an incoming flock of geese signaled the moment we were waiting for. This group of 20 Canadians gave us a hard look and descended to within 40 yards. A lot of people would have taken this shot. I had never hunted with most of these guys and was impressed with their patience. It has been a while since I’ve hunted with a large group of college age men. Probably since I was in college. These guys made me feel better about the future of our civilization. They were responsible gun handlers, patient and skilled hunters, and as I would find out later, strong and determined.

The first flock decided to pass on our faux flock. But not long after another group was on it’s way. As this flock circled, yet another contingent of geese passed over the hardwood forest and dropped down to field level on it’s way to our dekes. These birds twisted and contorted on their way down. It was clearly evident they were coming in. Just as safeties were being clicked off, disaster struck. Two geese snapped off the main flock and practically fell into the spread. As their feet came down, the shot was called and the geese were dispatched. The opportunity for a flock shoot with seven guns firing a true 21 shot salute into the air would have to wait. In retrospect, it was a great decision. Two in the hand is worth four in the bush right? The entire flock could have seen something they didn’t like and we would have never had the opportunity to shoot anything. This is the debate waterfowl hunters will be having for eternity.

After a flurry of goose action, things slowed down. The decision was made to go check the pond the birds were roosting on. The group headed for the water haunt of these flocks to see just how many were left on the water. As we approached the cattail swamp surrounding the swamp, the contrast of my experience and their determination was on display. The young men wanted to push forward to see if they could get a crack at the few birds remaining on the pond. I have suffered the consequences of sneak attacks such as this one and found a tower blind to climb into and watch the operation.

They pushed forward into the cattail marsh but I could see the going was tough. They were able to get within 50 yards of open water but were standing in knee deep water and muck. Attempts to call ducks to their position got a few birds off the water but not close enough to shoot. It was probably a good thing. Extricating a duck from thick cattails and knee deep water would have been a tall order.

We shot a few geese. But it was a lot of fun to witness these guys work together with fearlessness. For the most part young guys haven’t failed enough to have doubt… especially about themselves. Not that I am an old man, but I feel as though sometimes we miss out on adventure because we believe it’s not possible. Young people don’t think like that and it’s quite refreshing to be around that type of attitude.

This week, I’ll be back in the woods. anterless gun deer season begins Thursday in Wisconsin. We’ll be in the woods pursuing deer Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. If we tag out early, we’ll chase down some fall turkeys. Should be a blast. I’ll tell you all about it next week!

Field Reports
Foremost Outdoor TV ProStaffer, Nick Haas, says the recent heat wave has really slowed down deer traffic in Northern Wisconsin. Deer are bedding down during the day and moving mostly at night and in the mornings.

The heat didn’t stop James Appel from bagging a gorgeous buck in Northwest Wisconsin. We filmed a muzzleloader elk hunt with James in early September. He took a nice 6x6 bull and less than a month later arrowed this buck. He’s having a tremendous season!

Foremost Outdoor TV ProStaffer, Tyler Hinner filed this report:
Bucks are still in their bachelor groups, but that should change in the next week or so. They are starting to get the "itch". I've seen some deer starting to kick around the dirt making small scrapes and playing with their horns on limbs. The woods is super loud with the fresh leaves on the ground. I don't think you would see a scrape if it was there. It doesn't look like we will have a weather change until later this week and lows in the mid 40's won’t help. A hunter’s best bet would be to find an acorn producing oak ridge. Some corn fields are being cut around town by me, and deer are readily seen on the field edges during daylight hours. Grouse numbers seem to be down this year, but it is on the downward slope of their 10 year cycle. Family groups of geese are combining for some nice size flocks this time of year. But I haven't seen many migratory birds yet.

Meanwhile in Southwest Wisconsin, foremosthunting.com writer Cole Daniels is regularly seeing and hearing turkeys moving throughout the woods and fields. He’s also seeing a number of doe groups but bucks haven’t started regularly pursuing them yet. The leaves are coming off the trees and it’s getting much easier to see through the woods. The crunching of leaves underfoot makes it easier to hear deer, and for them to hear you. Cole recently returned from a Northern Minnesota grouse trip and reports plentiful grouse in good cover. The state is confirming that harvests have been good. Drumming counts were down in the spring but excellent nesting conditions have resulted in a bountiful fall harvest of juvenile birds.

Good luck this week and check in for our next hunting report!

Early October Upper Midwest Hunting Report

2010-10-06T16:52:00.003-05:00

Hello, and welcome to the Foremost Hunting Blog. In the past, the blog has been utilized to keep you abreast of new articles and updates on foremosthunting.com. We plan to continue offering our readers great hunting content through our site and our blog, but we are adding a new angle to our blog posts that I believe you will really enjoy.

We are currently developing a television show which will begin airing in January of 2011. Foremost Outdoor Television will bring hunting, fishing, and the outdoor lifestyle to living rooms across the Upper Midwest on the airwaves and throughout the world online. We'll be releasing more information in the near future. But for now, our team is hitting the woods, waters, and fields to capture the best moments of our 2010 hunting season and we are inviting you, the reader, along for the ride.
I'll provide field reports from our team as well as a behind the scenes look at filming our show. We'll also offer tips on how to film your hunts and even show some of the best hunts you share with us. It's your opportunity to be an outdoor television star! Please, feel free to comment, ask questions, and send us your hunting pictures and videos. I would like to make this a truly interactive experience.

----

Foremosthuting.com Field Report For Early October
ProStaffers Nick Haas and Mike Oberle are seeing deer movement pick up as temperatures are beginning to drop in Northern Wisconsin. We've had frost for two straight mornings and acorns are falling. Corn is also being harvested much earlier than last year. Deer will most likely have fewer places to hide this season as the corn crop is being pulled off the fields. If corn is part of your food plot plantings, leaving the corn standing will help hold deer on your property as they seek out sanctuaries.

Congratulations to our good buddy, Brand Windmiller, on this eight point buck taken recently on his property. Brand and his son, Jesse, bow hunt exclusively with traditional archery equipment. It takes a little more practice and a lot more patience to put down a deer with this stuff. Great job, Brand!

Speaking of traditional equipment, James Appel and his son, Matt, just returned from a Colorado muzzleloader elk hunt. The fellas encountered several quality bulls and came home with a beauty of a 6x6. James took the bull with a 200+ yard shot from the barrel of his muzzleloader. A great shot indeed!

ProStaffer Tyler Hinner is on top of the waterfowl population. He and his crew of goose whackers are watching the birds come off water and finding the fields they are feeding in. As corn and beans are harvested, the geese are hitting them hard. When ducks are in season, they are offering some bonus shooting. Clover is also being utilized by the birds. Fully dressing your field blinds with surrounding vegetation is vital. At this point in the season, most geese have seen a spread or two and know about gun fire. If you just bought your field blinds this season, be sure to "mud them up." This is pretty self explanatory. Create some mud with water and dirt and rub it all over the blind. This will take the sheen off the blind.

Foremosthunting.com writer Cole Daniels is keeping a close eye on the Southwest Wisconsin turkey population. For those who don't know, Wisconsin is number one in the nation for wild turkey harvest. And Southwest Wisconsin is the top destination for turkey's in the cheese state. Just 40 years ago, the Wisconsin wild turkey population was practically zero. Cole says the turkeys on his property are flocking up and are developing patterns around feeding.

After a super trout run along the Minnesota North Shore, our fishing crew is chomping at the bit to get after river walleyes on the Mississippi and St. Croix Rivers. Unfortunately, flooding has put the kibosh on river fishing. All major rivers in the area are near flood stage or higher and some are down right dangerous to boat on. Foremost Outdoor TV ProStaffer Dan Quinn says bass anglers looking for fall action on lakes can find the fish in stumps. Weeds are dying off and the fish are looking for structure to ambush prey from.

We've got a busy week of filming as the team continues to film their deer hunts and we hit the fields for more intense duck and goose action. Hopefully, the rivers will return to normal depth soon. There are a lot of people out of their homes right now and we must think of them even though we can't wait to get after those autumn walleyes. Have a great week! I'm looking forward to hearing about your adventures as I prepare for next week's post.

-Chris Larsen

Do You Need to Spend Big Bucks to be a Hunter?

2010-06-16T09:31:00.000-05:00

by Naomi K. Shapiro

To become a hunter, you don't necessarily need to spend a lot. If you're for instance a single-game (deer or turkey are examples) hunter, it won't cost you that much to outfit yourself, BUT, if you want to hunt everything, then it can run into lots and lots of money. There are all the licenses you'll need. There are the different regs that have to be met. Then there is a wealth of different equipment for different hunting - -ducks, geese, turkey, deer, varmints, grouse, bear, pheasant, coyotes - -the list is endless. And don't kid yourself- - every type of game requires at least some modification in the equipment you'll need. Decoys, ammo, firearms, bows, arrows, scopes, clothing, gear, and on and on and on. There's no limit- -and don't think there is. Every time a hunter believes s/he's fully outfitted, there's something else they discover they "really need." It's never ending, and that isn't a put down. We all do it.

Most people gradually get into the equipment they need in steps. Some start as kids, or a bit older, and build up what they need as they go along. This type of approach won't "break the bank," and pretty soon, at least the basic equipment is obtained.

Guide Phil Schweik who has been hunting since he was a kid, says that as an example, if you need equipment to deer hunt, you can outfit yourself pretty-well for under $300 – and don't laugh, he is serious when he says that. Phil works for a major outdoor outfitter, and needs to watch his dollars just as most of us have to do. The first thing Phil suggests is to look for a good used deer rifle. You can get them from almost all outdoor outfitters and gun shops - -who test, and insure their quality and safety - -or at a gun show, or maybe a private party. Every year, lots of folks decide that their hunting days are over – age, physical ability, other things that they want to do - -lots of reasons; and usually just before deer season, you'll see a ton of ads for used deer rifles. And the nice thing is that you can get a nice used rifle, anywhere from a $100 to around $200 – and yes, I know – there are used rifles that go into the thousands, but a nice conditioned .270, 7mm mag, .30/.30, or .30-06 will do you just fine. Add on a piece of needed clothing, ammo, an ancillary this-or-that, your license, and you're good to go - -at $300 or less.

Notice in our "bargain basement shop-a-thon," I didn't mention scopes. That's because it's tough to find a used scope that'll fit your particular needs. They're all different, and "no one size fits all." Phil Schweik says that a scope is really a personal thing, and pretty much needs to be "fit" to the particular firearm it's going to be used with. Phil suggests that you start out using open sights, and then when you have the cash, buy a new scope, that fits your rifle and your needs. Phil says the variety of models and costs is almost beyond description. His best advice is that you take your rifle, and go into an outdoor outfitter or gun shop, and have them make suggestions about what you'll need for your particular firearm and your own physical needs, as well. Costs of course will vary all over the map – and don't buy more than you need.

Stopping (or Not Stopping) a Dog Fight

2010-06-08T09:38:00.000-05:00

Every hunter hopes that their dog will never have reason to enter into a dog fight. In fact, many dog owners would list reasons why their dog would never do such a thing. However, even highly trained dogs can become emotional or get pulled in to a squabble. It is quite possible that your dog will fight for an acceptable reason. Dogs can fight out of jealousy, poor socialization, improper breeding, or a desire for dominance. But they will also fight when they are in fear or pain, or they are defending themselves against some form of attack.

What if, for example, your perfectly trained, mild-mannered, wonderfully loyal companion is at your side performing well, when you both encounter a dog that has not been perfectly trained, is not mild-mannered or loyal, and is sick, in pain, or tired? Then this unpredictable dog approaches your dog and becomes agitated or violent. Even if your dog is perfect in every way, your dog will fight, if for no other reason than to defend himself. And, even though this is your loyal companion, your interference in this struggle can easily end in your own injury. During a dog fight, you are unrecognizable to your dog as his provider and friend. Instead, you are an obstacle to be removed so that he can get back to the task at hand.

It is important to recognize if the fight truly requires your peace-making interference. Are the dogs truly fighting or are they simply growling and threatening one another? If they are just posturing in an attempt to gain superiority or dominance, it is likely that one will submit and the other will accept the surrender. However, if the dogs are truly fighting and neither one appears ready to back down, it may require your assistance.

In your attempts to separate the dogs, do not take hold of either dog’s muzzle (it is quite probable you will be bitten). Do not yell, as this can often elevate their excitement. Do not insert yourself between the dogs, as you will become a target of their violence. Also, do not attempt to break up the fight by hitting the dogs with objects. This will increase their excitement and add pain to an already sticky situation.

There are two effective ways to bring the fight to an end. The first one involves spraying or throwing water into the dogs’ ears. This allows enough of a surprise and pause that you can intervene and pull them apart. The second method depends entirely on the presence of both owners. Both you and the other dog’s owner (or another willing bystander) grabs a dog by the hindquarters and walks them backwards. Ideally, you should walk in a circle so that the dog is a bit out of balance. Once the dogs are separate, they must stay apart for at least several hours. In most cases this will require that the dogs be tied or crated.

Hunting Varmints 101

2010-06-07T16:03:00.000-05:00

by Naomi K. Shapiro

Call 'em varmints. Call 'em critters. Call 'em small animals. Whatever. They're available, and they're a real hoot to hunt.

Whether it be a rodent (including squirrels, chipmunks and gophers), raccoon, possum - -whatever -- hunting varmints is great sport for some people, and keeps the populations of these animals under control. (We don't consider coyotes a "varmint," so, while we haven't forgotten them, we don't include them as we feel they're a special breed apart from "the usual suspects."

State or area regs for "varmint hunting" change regularly, so check them carefully, including what/where/when you can hunt; restrictions on numbers; and what you have to do with the animals once you've killed them. Regs are particularly rigid when it comes to the use of ANY weapon in zoned/populated/incorporated areas like towns, villages or cities. All of these things should be checked thoroughly before you start playing "John Wayne".

Guide Phil Schweik relates that varmint hunting is usually the first and easiest way to have kids or novices experience hunting. It's inexpensive. It's a lot of fun, it's readily available everywhere, and It gives someone the opportunity to experience and respect the totality of being one with nature in every wondrous aspect of that scenario. And most importantly, it's a great way to teach SAFETY first hand. We're probably "preaching to the choir" when we say this, but it's absolutely essential that you have your kids or novice hunters take a hunter-safety course – and it doesn't matter if it's just to use a BB- or pellet-gun. Do it! Insist on it! Don't let anyone get near any type of weapon without the completion of a comprehensive safety course. Phil Schweik, who is as experienced an outdoorsman that has ever "walked this earth" takes a hunter safety course each and every year! And as we've said before, if it's good enough for him, it should be good enough for everyone else! Safety is always and uniquely "job one".

OK, off the "soap box" and onto the "fun."

Phil Schweik says that the first thing he used as a kid was a BB gun. You could nail a chipmunk, gopher or squirrel in the backyard -- and don't kid yourself, these critters cause a lot of property damage. They dig lots of holes, they spread disease, they damage wiring, they dig up gardens, they get into your garage and home, and all around they can be very destructive and a classic nuisance. Our fifteen years living in a home on a lake in the middle of a national forest taught us never to underestimate the destructive power of these little critters.

After using a BB gun, good numbers of people "graduate" to a pellet gun. Air-powered. And don't kid yourself, a pellet gun can be very powerful and potentially dangerous.

According to Phil, once the kid or novice hunter has the needed experience, the general and very useable "lifetime" weapon of choice for general varmint hunting is a .22 caliber rifle. We've seen varmint hunters "overcalling" with a .30-06, and even once, if you can believe it, my husband spotted a guy using a 300 grain bullet in a 45/70, short barreled guide gun on a gopher. I suppose he thought he had spotted the likes of a grizzly or bison -- and of course a 45/70 has a kick worse than a "boilermaker" with a double shot of rot gut. Phil suggests a .22 autoloader, which can fire semi-automatically with large numbers of bullets available. Lots of hunters enjoy this type of shooting and many have started using a "beamed" laser scope. These .22 caliber rifle outfits are not particularly expensive, and they're light, simple to maintain, and easy to operate. And one of the reasons hunters like this type of setup is that these animals are small and fast -- the laser scope really helps. And if you think it doesn't take skill to shoot one, you're wrong. The animals are fast. They skedaddle all over the place, turn on a dime, and can quickly disappear up the backside of a tree.

What do you do with the critters once you've shot them? Depending on the regs, you can bury them, OR leave them for a day or so. In the forest nothing is ever wasted, so check in the morning after some varmint is shot and it likely will be gone. Nature has its own special way of "clean up." Just ask any crow, weasel, or feral cat.

Reactive Target Shooting

2010-05-27T15:08:00.000-05:00

By John Simeone

“Always quit on a good shot.”.....Dave Miller

It can be anything from plinking in a dirt pit to formal metallic silhouette shooting, but when you get to whack something with your rifle or pistol and you see the results it makes for a better shooter. Why? Because its fun.

Now this has been around a long time, while only the imagination and safety should dictate the target. I see many Dad's at the range training their kids on a simple paper target. Sure its fun but it gets old after a while for a new young shooter. My job at the Ft Polk Shooting Range is to make the shooting sports fun for the whole family. So periodically Aunt Sandy and I head to the range just to draw a crowd, and have some fun.

The first rifle out of the truck was Aunt Sandy's Marlin Model 60 P, in Pink Camo, with the Redfield Scope. I fired a couple of test shots, and swung over to the Birchwood Casey sight and glow target about two inches in diameter. The first shot cut the tiny Red dot in the middle and glowed back at us instantly. No reason to shoot anymore, it was Sandy's rifle so I turned the show over to her.

In rapid fire she shot the center out of the target for all to see, put the gun on safe and said with that cute little lisp of hers, “I need some more bullets,” the Range Mother had arrived.\

The next fun shot was to zero the Pink Tiger, sure enough all the women came down to see if a woman could really shoot the powerful 44 Magnum rifle. Of course the truth is you can hardly feel it kick. A pinwheel shot on the tiny sight and glow target confirmed her zero for all to see. Next was the real fun shot, the water filled plastic milk jugs. I lectured that the rifle displays excellent accuracy so now watch what it will do when it hits. The Water filled jug is a good representation of what the 225 grain Hornady Flextip bullet will do when it strikes a game target. You get what we call DRT, (dead right there.)

This was one of those perfectly timed photographs, as the gun and the camera went off at the same time, showing the perfect hit as water sprayed in all directions. This reactive target demonstration left no question in the minds of the onlookers what the Pink Tiger was all about. Then we showed everyone how to make one for less than $250.

Some of the more learned shooters were interested in my CZ-452 in 22 long rifle. I demonstrated the usage of two bullet brands that I have been using for years. I fired 5 shots on one target with CCI Blazer which is our standard Practice and Metallic Silhouette round, and then 5 shots with the Wolf Match Extra that is our top target round. Although both groups were superior, the Wolf ammo showed amazing results, the kinds that win world class matches. All of this could be seen by the spectators without going down range.

The reactionary targets can be a real time saver when you are a long range shooter and need to test ammunition and make scope adjustment without going down range. The talented sharpshooter Adam Rubin showed us the magnificent accuracy of the Remington 700 XCR compact tactical rifle, with a Nightforce 12X42X56 bench rest scope. It was a. .223 Remington shooting Fiocchi 69 grain Sierra Matchking BTHP. He recorded a 1 and 1/8 inch, 5 shot group at 300 yards. That means Adam can whack a golf ball any time he wants to at that range.

Aunt Sandy felt it was time to give me a challenge and got out the playing cards as I uncased the Marlin 1897 Cowboy, my long-barreled iron sighted 22 demo gun. “You can't do it in 5,” she said.

I announced, “I’m a fixin to do me some shootin.” Then I surprised myself as much as everyone else by splitting the card with the first try with an offhand 20 yard shot. Rapid Fire Sandy then took out the other two cards shooting from double tapping from the bench, “Hey that ain't right.” For the record this in not an impossible shot, it is a highly difficult shot anyway you try it, that when accomplished gives the shooter some real bragging rights.

The rest of the day was spent shooting old shotgun hulls all the way out to 100 yards. This is about as cheap a target as it gets for the “Aim Small Miss Small” 22 shooters. I use this reactionary target instead of digging out the small bore metallic silhouettes, noting if you can hit a 12 gauge shell at 100 yards off hand with the 22, a small bore Ram target is not a problem. Anyway good practice.

Being spoiled rotten for reactionary targets our pistol range has a full complement of steel plate and gong targets for the handgun shooter. Lou Ellison's, “Flyswatter Target” is for the close rage 22 shooter with a scope. You can see the bullet hit each fly at 25 yards making this a real challenge.

Jim Callaway came up with a devise for Black Powder shooters that lets you split a musket ball on an ax blade and hit two targets on either side. Then we have our long range gong targets at 500 yards. The ultimate 500 yard target is “Skeet Shooting”that's right, our long range shooters, readily pick of clay pigeon on the berm, using everything from elaborate sniper and long range hunting rigs to WWII M1 Garands with iron sights. The tiny orange dots just disappear in a dust cloud when the Ft Polk Sharpshooters decide to go for the long shot.

So it is moor than just punching a hole in a piece of paper and making a sight adjustment. Reactive Target shooting brings out that special inner ego and personal satisfaction that makes the shooter whatever the discipline, just plain better. So now you know what it is all about, imagination and setup. The next time you go to your own range have a little fun on reactionary targets and remember Dave Miller's words, “Always quit on a good shot.” Pass it on.

Read More About Guns And Ammunition for Hunting

Bad Weather Hunting -- and Why it Works

2010-05-20T10:30:00.000-05:00

by Naomi K. Shapiro

When inclement weather strikes, 90 per cent of hunters in the woods will turn tail and run for home. On the contrary, guide Phil Schweik says. Unless the weather is life threatening, it's the best time for you to be in the woods. Phil says that he has taken more deer, wild turkey, and other game animals in adverse weather conditions than when it's "blue sky and apple pie." First off, take wind out of the equation. If it's blowing like a "nor'easter," the animals will hunker down – and that's when Phil heads for a local diner and enjoys a cup of Joe, keeping his eye on the weather. We're talking about hunting when there's rain, snow, or an incoming or outgoing storm or front.

Watch The Video and Listen to this bird gobble at the thunder durring a rainy day hunt.

What happens when you have fronts or weather systems coming into an area is that the animals sense that and they become far more active. Now, unlike people, who look for cover and shelter, the animals move around in the woods. The savvy hunter who understands this prepares himself (or herself), and who can withstand the weather conditions can take advantage of some of the best hunting of the year.

Take into consideration adverse weather when choosing clothing and gear. Take QUIET rain gear so you're silent and blend in with the environment. Then, use a ground blind. You're out of the weather and still can hunt very capably. Indeed, hunters will stock up with vittles and NON-ALCOHOLIC liquids, bring along one of those little portable heaters, and sit out the storm in comfort, waiting for that big buck to come in.

When there's nice weather, there are lots of hunters in the woods... deer recognize this and hunker down. When it's adverse weather, the deer sense that people go home, so they move around since there is a lack of human presence. And Phil Schweik says, "the worse the weather, the more animal movement there is." If a deer senses an incoming storm, it will want to immediately stoke up on food and be prepared to hunker down AFTER it feeds. It's nervous. It doesn't want to be deprived of food. It moves around scarfing down what it can find, and to heck with everything else. That's when YOU want to be "right there."

Another thing to note is that bad weather means cloud cover and darker conditions during daylight hours. Deer normally move early morning and early evening, when "low light" is their backdrop. With a storm rolling in or present, it's darker, so the envelope for low light deer movement exponentially increases.

Then, use your common sense. If you see a front or storm moving in, set up in your most opportune hunting spot and "wait." Don't be moving around looking to set up once the storm has arrived. Do it beforehand and you'll be ready for that biggest buck in the woods to make a mistake and meander into your area – and Phil Schweik says it happens all the time -- usually to the savvy hunter who knows about the positive results of being out in adverse weather.

So, next time you see bad weather coming in, forget the comforts of home or the corner bar, and don't turn tail and run in. Everything will still be there AFTER you've nailed that trophy buck. Remember, bad weather is one of the best times to be in the woods.

Related Articles On The Foremost Hunting Website:

Best, Most Ethical "Kill Zones" On a Whitetail

2010-05-13T11:20:00.000-05:00

When you're deer hunting -- bow or gun – it's very important that you make a clean, ethical kill. You don't want to be the hunter who wounds a deer, which means you may have to trek for miles, and for hours, and may end up never finding it – AND, the deer will have to endure a long, agonizing death. That means you want an accurate shot that kills the animal immediately.

For a clean, ethical kill, almost all hunters aim for the chest area. That's the cavity that holds the heart and other major vital organs. There is a simple procedure which will maximize your chances of making a perfect kill shot:

You want to target the animal as it walks past, and "quarters" away from you. If you do this (you're shooting at an angle) by aiming at the front third of the body, the projectile – arrow or bullet -- will almost always stand the best chance of ending up in the chest cavity vital organ area.

What you don't want to do is shoot a deer broadside -- as it stands in front of you. If you shoot broadside, there's a better-than-even chance that your arrow or bullet may be just a tad forward or back of the vital organ portion of the chest cavity – and that means you'll just wing or wound the deer. The "angle" shot done while the deer is "quartering" past you is your best choice by far.

Here are some specific examples of why shooting choices other than the "quartering shot" when deer hunting are not as successful:

If you shoot broadside, particularly with a bow, your arrow may be partially deflected by the protective bone of the shoulder blade or rib cage because of hitting the wrong spot, or the bow not being powerful enough to drive the arrow through bone structure.
If a deer is facing you, again particularly with a bow shot, there is the brisket area with bones, and these bones are simply too hard to pass through and get to the vital area.
With a rear or hind quarter shot, there is simply too much distance for the projectile to travel, and/or can be deflected by bone, preventing it from reaching the vital cavity area.
With a "straight down shot" from a tree stand (according to guide Phil Schweik this is the least likely shot to be successful), you may very well paralyze the deer by hitting it straight in the backbone -- and that's fine, except that this area is so small that it's almost always missed, and then you're just going to wound the deer.
As for a head or neck shot, guide Schweik wouldn't ever advise taking it. It's just too easy to make an error, and the head vital areas are so small that you're almost assured of ending up just wounding the animal; and in the facial area, this shot will cause the deer to suffer immeasurable pain.

We use the term "ethical-kill-shot," because hunters, we believe, are obligated to cause as little suffering as possible in the animals they hunt – and, in addition, making a clean kill means YOU won't have to spend hours – even days – trekking the woods looking for your deer -- and maybe never finding it!

Guest Post By by Naomi K. Shapiro

Related Articles On The Foremost Hunting Website:

Moon Phase Whitetail Hunting

2010-04-26T21:12:00.000-05:00

by Naomi K. Shapiro

One of the arguments often heard among deer hunters is whether whitetail hunting based on moon phase projection is helpful. There have been a ton of articles on both sides of the subject. Some articles are very positive -- and some are not; indeed, any number of hunters believe that the importance of moon phase hunting is vastly overrated; some going as far as to say that it's "snake oil." We're going to explore both sides of the issue, being as objective as we can, based on actual experience -- and we'll let you decide.

Some professional guides throw out the idea of total reliance on moon phases because when someone hires a guide he/she must produce every time in the woods -- moon phase or not. Having said that, a good number of guides generally will say they do indeed see increased movement and success because of using moon phase projections. "It's just part of the entire puzzle," says guide Phil Schweik. You can use moon phase tactics in conjunction with many other considerations -- weather (fronts moving in and out), wind, state of the rut, decoys, scent, calling, location, terrain -- every part of the scenario contributes to a successful hunt when used as a totality. Relying on just one item can be iffy."

There are any number of individuals and companies who produce calendars videos, charts and other items that supposedly will school someone in the art of deciphering and using moon phases. Some hunters closely follow the regimen, others decry it.

According to Schweik, three days before a moon phase, and one-to-three days after a moon phase, he has found a definite change in the pattern of animal/wildlife activity --and that surely includes deer. While Schweik doesn't pay rapt attention to moon phases, he does strongly state that when there is a full moon, there is much more midday deer movement and activity. Indeed, when this happens, Schweik changes from the usual "low light" hours hunting to doing more midday -- he says it often works – and at times, doesn't. But that's true of any hunting, he says. One day something works, and the next day it won't. Schweik says he has a number of clients who specifically hire him to hunt during a particular moon phase event. These hunters have been very successful using this method and swear by it.

Obviously, during the rut, the deer are already on the move, but, according to Schweik and other guides, when hunting during the rut, and using other indicators such as a moon phase, the chances of success rise considerably.

On the other side of the coin, not a lot of hunters talk about moon phase utilization. Most hunters plan their hunt around the rut, and if it so happens that there is a moon phase in effect, OK – but not tremendous numbers give credit for a successful hunt to using moon phase opportunities.

Deer hunting season dates are "written in stone." In the gun season (at least in Wisconsin), you've got nine days to hunt—and that's it -- moon phases or not. In researching this article, the writer couldn't really find any definitive information as to whether deer hunting numbers vary greatly if there is a moon phase during the season. Of course when it comes to bow season, which lasts for months, there surely will be a number of moon phase situations during the season. Again, we couldn't find any specific information as to numbers of bow season deer harvested specifically linked to a moon phase.

Related Content On Foremost Hunting:

Hunting by the moon phase: Have Your Best Deer Hunting Season Ever

Even though Schweik "believes" that deer movement and activity increase during a moon phase, he is not ready to plan a deer hunt using only moon phase information. "I'll use it if the particular situation dictates, but I will only rely on it in conjunction with using all the other variables and techniques involved to maximize my chances of success -- particularly for my clients," Schweik says.

Opinions on the value of moon phase hunting vary greatly -- from the "true believers" to the "true deniers," and the "maybe-ers" in between. Do your own "due diligence," and satisfy yourself as to which position fits your frame of thinking. In the end, there is no "black and white" answer, but certainly there are many shades of "gray." That's what makes hunting interesting!

Video Taping Your Next Hunt

2010-04-19T20:34:00.000-05:00

Here is one of the best articles I've ever read about filming your hunt. This particular article is geared for turkey hunters but the principles apply to all types of hunts. If you ar thinking about filming your next hunt this article is a good read:

Tips On Video Taping Your Next Hunt

Wild Turkey Subspecies

2010-04-19T19:10:00.000-05:00

The wild turkey is one of America’s greatest hunting pursuits. They are also one of our greatest management success stories. After being over harvested in many locales early in the 20th century, wild turkey populations are booming. Their adaptability has helped expand the population to over six million birds across the United States. Many hunters don’t realize there is a difference in birds from sea to shining sea. Here’s a description of the four main subspecies of wild turkeys within our borders.

Eastern Wild Turkey
With over five million birds, the Eastern wild turkey is by far the most prolific. Their range includes nearly every state north, south, and east of Missouri. There are small pockets west of the chief range in states like Kansas and Oklahoma. These birds prefer hardwood forests within agricultural areas but have adapted to an incredible variety of habitats. Easterns are known for being wary but vocal. They are typically responsive to calling. Gobblers can weigh well over 25 pounds with hens weighing in at 8 to 12 pounds. The tail coverts(feathers at the base of the tail) are tipped with chestnut brown. The wing feathers are striped white and black. This coloration is the easiest way to differentiate the Eastern from the Rio.

Rio Wild Turkey

The home range of the Rio extends from Texas into Kansas with transplanted birds in lower numbers throughout the western half of the country. Biologists estimate the Rio population at just over one million birds. Rios prefer open country along streams and rivers. They live among mesquite, pine, and scrub oak forests. In addition to their open country habitat, Rios are known for their long legs. Despite their height, Rios are slightly lighter than Easterns. This could be due to lower quality food sources within their home range. Another way to tell the difference between Rios and Easterns is coloration. Rios have tan tail coverts compared to the brown coverts of the Eastern. Due to overlaps in range, Rio-Eastern hybrids are common in Kansas and Oklahoma.

Merriam’s Wild Turkey
The Merriam’s turkey is a westerner. It’s native range includes New Mexico, Colorado, and Arizona, but it has been successfully introduced across the west. US population estimates are nearly 350,000 birds. They are known as mountain dwellers and are often found roosting in the ponderosa pines of the Rocky Mountain foothills. Because of their habitat, Merriam’s tend to have a wider range than Easterns and Rios, making them a bit more difficult to pattern. They are similar in size to the Eastern turkey but have some blue tones in their main body feathers. Merriam’s turkeys are easily distinguishable from their cousins by the white feathers at the base of their tails.

Osceola Wild Turkey
Osceola turkeys are found only in the state of Florida. The population is estimated at just under 100,000 birds. Osceolas are smaller than Eastern turkeys and feature a much darker color pattern. While Eastern turkeys are bronzed, Osceola’s have some green and reddish hues within their main body feathers. Osceolas are well suited to the swamps and pine and palmetto lowlands of their Florida home. Due to warmer habitat, they tend to breed and lay eggs earlier than other species.

Learn more about hunting wild turkeys @ Foremost Hunting

Bow Fishing -- or how to "hunt" on water

2010-03-23T22:41:00.000-05:00

by Naomi K. Shapiro

So you like to bow hunt, and you like to fish. But you've never been able to do both at once – well, you can, and many do – it's called "bow fishing;" and it's becoming so popular, some even call it a " sporting cult." But it's a total, screaming "blast" like you've never had before. Fun. Laughs. Great sport. AND, you're doing a lot of good for the environment.

We're going to be talking about bow fishing in Wisconsin. Again, as always, check your local areas and regs to insure that you're in compliance.

The two main species targeted are carp and suckers. These are "rough fish," and it's good for all if their populations in our rivers and lakes are controlled -- that's where bow fishing comes in.

Here are the basics – actually, bow fishing is all pretty "basic."

Equipment you'll need: A bow -- you can use whatever you have -- just make sure that it's set from 20 to 30 pounds. Nothing stronger. Arrows: Heavy fiberglas with a special bowfishing tip on it, which consists of two, two inch barbs which spring out upon striking the fish, to form a "backwards V" thereby preventing the arrow from being pulled out by any fish movement. Attach a 100 to 200 pound test, thin diameter, high strength fishing line to your arrow. You hook the line up to the arrow through a hole below the "nock" in the arrow, which is attached to a reel hooked up to your bow (there are any number of excellent bow fishing reels made – and they're not that expensive). Then there's the "boat" you'll need. Best bet is a simple Jon boat -- flat bottomed and easily maneuverable. Most bow fishing addicts (and bow fishing IS addictive!) build or buy an elevated "stand" for placement on either the front or the rear of the Jon boat. If you fish at night (we'll get into that), you'll need a set of halogen lights powered by a small generator which you'll place in the boat.

You can fish 24/7 -- both day and night. If you fish during the day, you'll move slowly around shallow water (one to three feet deep) and back bays. The carp (99% of what you'll get are carp – and they can go over 40 pounds -- with big suckers secondary) hang out in shallow, dirty, mucky water. And the action can be furious. Don't think for a moment that a big carp isn't a challenge. It is.

Lots of bow fishing addicts prefer the night time hours. It's quiet. The water is calmer. Not much wind, usually, and you'll spot a lot of critters -- which is terrific -- muskrat, beaver, raccoons, among others. You turn on your halogen lights and scout the same shallow areas. While many carp and suckers stick to deeper water during the day, they all come in shallow at night. That means you may see hundreds upon hundreds of fish. It's non-stop, until your arms feel like they're going to fall off. By the way, in Wisconsin at least, you cannot LEAVE the fish. You must take them with you. And that's OK, because many give the fish to farmers who use them as fertilizer. And many an eagle or osprey will spot them in a field and grab them. And that's all good.

When shooting fish in the water with a bow, it's a lot different than shooting something on land. There's a different angle, and the reflective traits of water mean that it's almost like seeing an illusion when you a spot a fish. If you aim right at the fish, you'll miss. They're further "down" or "away" than you think. If you aim below the fish, and allow for the difference caused by the water's light refraction, it'll be "game on." And for sure, however you'll try to follow this simple "rule," you won't -- at least initially -- and you'll miss -- until you've practiced enough to get the proper "angle" to shoot at. After you hit the fish, you just reel it in -- easier said than done, with maybe a 40-pound carp on the other end. Some old timers pooh-pooh the reel bit, and just pull the fish in hand-over-hand. Better use gloves if you do that, one quick run by the fish and your hands can be shredded by the line.

Guide Phil Schweik says that bow fishing starts as soon as ice is out, and continues throughout the year, with warm summer nights being particularly popular, echoing the guffaws and laughter of men and women who are enjoying the "best of both worlds" --hunting with a bow, while fishing, the excitement of hitting a huge carp that fights like all get-out – and ridding our waters from the overpopulation of invasive rough fish. "Win/win" all the way down the line. And Phil says that anyone who bow fishes just once, become figuratively "hooked" for life. He says he's seen this happen time and time again.

The First Days of Training Your Hunting Puppy

2010-03-23T10:02:00.000-05:00

Just because your puppy is nearing professional status at fetch with a tennis ball, does not mean he will retrieve birds. The introduction of birds to your puppy is best accomplished by doing just that: introducing them to birds. Bird decoys, fake bird scent, or feathers will probably not be sufficient in exposing your puppy to the hunt. In the same way, introducing a puppy to the gun is not best achieved by making loud, sudden noises.

The first introduction to birds is commonly achieved with pigeons. They are not usually aggressive and they can be used again and again. They are also a good size for most puppies or young dogs. Quails are also a good choice, although they are less durable. For either choice, pull out the flight feathers of one wing so that the bird cannot fly far away from your training area. For an initial exposure to birds, tie the puppy to a long thin rope, then tease the dog with the live bird, leaving it just a few feet from the dog. At this point, any reaction is positive. The dog may just bark at the bird, or may pounce on it and drag it around. It may take a few practice sessions before the pup is willing to pick up the bird.

When the puppy does hold the bird in its mouth, call the puppy to you and praise him/her until the dog naturally drops the bird. Do not grab it out of the dog’s mouth; this can encourage the dog to fight for it and start a game that you will not want to play on your hunt! Allow the dog to keep the prize and let him or her be aware of your praise for holding the bird and bringing it to you. Keeping the process simple, repeat the bird training by tossing it to the dog again and again, each time allowing the distance to grow further. You will want the pup to be very successful at this stage, so do not add other challenges until further in the training.

Introducing your puppy to the gun should involve teaching your puppy to relate the gun to the excitement of chasing birds. What you want to do is teach the dog that the gunshot means that something fun is coming. While you are holding your dog’s collar or leash, have a friend take a live bird about 40 yards away and throw the bird so the dog can see the direction of the fall. As soon as the helper releases the bird, you let the dog go. At first you will do this without noise. Next, the helper will work to distract the pup by calling him just before the throw. You shoot a starter pistol and the helper releases the bird, then you release the pup. Later, add a second shot while the bird is in the air.

When you have had a few successful practice sessions with your puppy, shoot a live bird for the pup. Your helper will toss it in the air for the shot; you should be prepared with at least two shots ready, using small loads so the bird is left intact.

Your puppy should be ready for this kind of training at 3 months old. It is important that you train the puppy with the birds first and successfully accomplish this step before moving on to gun training. If your dog is showing resistance to any kind of bird or gun training, it may be wise to call a professional.

Related Puppy Training Articles:

Teaching Your Puppy To Hunt By Sully Chaudry

Geese & Guns- Taking Your Dog Hunting For The First Time By Kelly Olson

Deer Shed Hunting

2010-03-11T17:24:00.000-06:00

by Naomi K. Shapiro

What could be better than a walk in the woods in early spring? Answer: Walking in the woods in early spring and getting a big load of "deer sheds" --l as in "antlers." Deer shed "hunters" have been pursuing these natural prizes for generations. Indeed, family or affinity groups can do a thorough area-wide "checkerboard search" gleaning every shed antler in the area. Usually led by one or more very experienced deer hunters, these groups -- or individuals -- use some simple rules for maximum reward.

What you want to look for are deer herding and wintering areas. It's early spring. The deer are still bunched up in their "safe" bedding areas. Drive around, if you're not familiar with a particular area (still best to be with someone who KNOWS the area inside-out), and look for any remaining food source -- usually some ag fields that have produced corn, alfalfa, or beans. The deer will herd up and winter bed near and around these areas. If the area you're looking at doesn't have a lot of agriculture, or is a hardwood area, then look for an oak ridge, a cedar swamp, or, really good -- a freshly clear cut area. Loggers leave all the tops of the trees and small branches in these clear cut areas, and they're perfect forage for deer. And, yes, loggers do clearcut in winter.

Once in the general area you're walking, look for deer trails, and the foraging spots just described. You'll see sheds all over. Indeed, if you're out real early, when the snow has just left, the antlers stick out like "sore thumbs." Real easy to spot. Bring a back pack – or something to carry the sheds with you, as they can be cumbersome. Some real nice sheds are always found, and they're used for many purposes.

Here are some things that people do with the sheds, or the way they insure they get them. I cannot attest to the fact that these methods in any particular state or area are legal. You're urged to VERY CAREFULLY find out your state or area regs before you do any shed hunting, or indeed do any thing I'm about to describe.

Some people save the sheds as souvenirs or decorations. People buy them -- if such sales are legal in that particular jurisdiction. Artisans use them to construct lamps or chandeliers -- whatever. We've all seen some absolutely gorgeous bric-a-brac produced from sheds. Affinity groups gather the sheds and then have a "sale" to benefit a charity or something akin to it. All kinds of things... and what always struck me is why more folks don't go out and get these sheds. Friends have seen some enormous sets of antlers -- and grumbled that they didn't get the buck that wore them during the season!

Some savvy shed hunters use a special method to harvest sheds (again -- this may or may not be legal in your jurisdiction. Check your regs out carefully! Don't call us from the hoosegow for bail!). First off, there are many jurisdictions that don't allow deer baiting. If you're in one that DOES, you MAY be in luck. Again, we urge total and strict compliance with all laws and regulations. The following method is something that we've heard about that we want to share with you, but can't be certain of the legality.

Shedding usually begins in early spring, when the sheds are ready to drop or close to it. Shed hunters will set out an old bed spring, or contraption which will "entangle" a deer's antlers -- but have large enough "holes" so that the deer won't become stuck (I cannot in all honesty attest to this). They "seed" the old spring or contraption and surrounding area with corn, and when the deer goes down to feed, the antler will be caught, and a quick twist by the deer will cause the shed to drop – usually quite easily. It sort of like a real loose tooth being pulled out without any effort.

(Phil Schweik of Hooksetters Guide Services contributed to this article)

Read More About Whitetail Deer Shed Hunting On the Foremost Hunting Website

Standing The Charge - Face To Face With An Alaskan Moose

2010-03-10T16:56:00.000-06:00

By John Simeone

I have heard a lot of explanations of courage and valor over the years, the best is the adage of “when you know your dead anyway, you may as well just shoot.”

I loved Alaska having the best job in the Army back in 78, as an Army federal game warden at Ft Richardson. Now you might believe this is some sort of romantic adventure of patrolling the high country and saving little animals from the mean old poachers. Well somewhere along the way we did that too.

We had this little Lieutenant in the MP station almost five feet tall that the Provost Marshal allowed to call the shots which lead to my daily suicide missions to check the roads for black ice on Alieska Mountain about 13,000 feet up in the Chugiacks. Although common sense dictated if it was below zero

there was ice on the roads, but Lt Milktoast had to keep his statistics straight so anything but a physical road inspection would not do for his daily 100 page report to the PM. Half a league, half a league up the mountain I went again, mine is not to question why.

They built the place to have the Winter Olympics there but evidently the roads were too treacherous. I certainly can attest to that fact. So it turned into a military ski resort at the cost of at least one vehicle going off the cliff a day. I never did catch on to the mystique of snow skiing, however the officers would go up on Friday afternoon and hopefully get snowed in until a chopper shuttled them down on Monday. They needed me to confirm the road was too hazardous so they didn't have to come down and go to work. The rest of us had enough brains not to go up there.

On the day in question I put my tire chains on the CJ-5 and made it all the way to the top, an effort in foolhardiness to say the least. It was on the way down, however, that was the problem. The road was so slick you couldn't stand on it and if you were on a grade you started sliding downhill spontaneously. That's what happened to my CJ as the ice was so slick the chains wouldn't bite in. I went into a flat spin at 0 mph and only by luck hit the wall side of the mountain instead of going off the cliff, the vehicle flipped on the driver's side and I then slid right toward the cliff with no guard rail and oblivion. The vehicle stopped short of the cliff by a few feet, and just before I embarrassed myself and started screaming.

I got out packed up my gear and weapons just as the Provost Marshal past me going skiing. He couldn't stop but called in a chopper for me. The Suicide missions ended that day.

How does one train for something like that? Well you do and you don't, they pick you for jobs like that depending on your “Crazy” factor. With that, they must have thought me insane.

It was my two Karate instructors that made me the way I am today. Lou Ellison the Cherokee, was nuts himself and tested his courage daily by allowing a rattlesnake to strike at his face when he stared at the snake inside the aquarium. He didn't even blink when it struck the glass right in his face. It took me three days before I stopped jumping back. Then he insisted I “Catch” a patrol dog. Joe “Pat”Patrick was in full agreement, gave me an arm guard and lip slip the dogs of war. Catching “King” a magnificent German Shepard was like putting your arm in a vise and then letting someone turn the crank to see how much you can take. Pat still enjoys aggravating me to this very day.

Now George Chaney was the task master, and a grand master of the martial arts. If you trained with him you didn't expect to be mediocre, you were a champ or hit the road. Many are told that Karate is for defense only, well not Combat Karate, Chaney taught us to “Attack.” It took many a Japanese and Korean stylist by surprise, as they couldn't stand a charge, so we just ran right over them.

I never had time for alcohol or drugs, but I do remember Lou telling me that the reason he didn't do such things was because he would probably like it, that was good enough for me.

You may wonder why I'm a well known pontificator of the large caliber hunting weapons. This story will tell you the reason. Elmer Keith has always been my gun hero, mainly because his invention saved me on two occasions, that would be the 44 magnum handgun.

They gave me a Smith and Wesson M-29 with a six inch barrel in 44 magnum as well as a pre-64 Winchester M-70 in 300 H&H Magnum as my duty weapons for Army Game Warden duty, still not big enough. I requested them to give me the 300 and I would buy them a 458 out of my own pocket for use as a duty rifle. Later the Commander in his infinite wisdom said he had two new rifles for us. They turned out to be Ruger 77s in 30-06, Captain Dipstick thought if it had four numbers instead of three it was more powerful. More reason not to trust officers.

I can't blame anyone for this but me. I was checking fishing licenses on a remote lake when I heard nearby gunfire. I walked up on a blithering idiot shooting at a trout that his little 9 year old boy was trying to land on a rod and reel. Of course he was drunk too, never thinking about the bullets skipping across the lake and endangering the boaters out there. I counted 5 shots when I said drop the gun Military Police, instead he came around suddenly and we were locked in a deadly “Mexican Standoff.” A millisecond just before I made him a wall pizza, he dropped the gun, making me doublely glad I didn't have to shoot him in front of his son. He turned out to be an Air Force MP, E-6, that cried like a baby and wanted me to give him a break. No, when you point a gun at me that's it. Never did like the Air Force anyway.

It was a full moon at about 20 below zero, I got a call that a bull moose was hit by a car just South of the Ship Creek bridge on the Glen Highway. This was a common occurrence, my job was to put the moose down if it was injured as that area was near a school and we didn't need a wounded bull in the school yard. Little did I know I was about to be up Ship Creek without a paddle.

I met the Alaska State Trooper at the scene who was just finishing up the traffic accident report. “You wouldn't happen to have an elephant gun in your patrol car,” I inquired, as some of the officers did actually have them. “No just a shotgun and #4 buck.” “No thanks, just leave it, it will just piss him off.” He did have a 357 magnum Smith and Wesson, and decided to tag along.

They always go in the alders you know, these thick little trees much like a short pine thicket in Louisiana. There he was, down on his knees so I made some noise and he got up revealing a broken left leg. I could see real good in the moon light but I needed the Kel Light to see the sights on the gun. I always shot single action for accuracy, the first two Speer 240 grain soft points in the shoulder should have been enough. I watched and he turned his other side to me, I went for a neck shot at less than 20 yards. After 4 shots he should have gone down, but no here he came head down in a full irresistible charge.

Now here are some of the things I haven't told you yet, I was up to my waist in a snow bank so there was no way to run. Just for the record Lt Milktoast figured it was not politically correct for a soldier to carry a 44 magnum, so we were only allowed to carry 6 rounds.

Shot number 5 hit the base of the antler as he came in, the Trooper was now shooting from my right side but to no apparent effect.

A moose doesn't charge flamboyantly like a Spanish fighting bull or a Cape Buffalo, no, its more like being run over by the loader end of a backhoe. He had 55 inches of massive antler growth with three nice foot long brow tines on both sides to skewer me, with about 1500 pounds of mad bull moose pushing it. When you know you are dead anyway you may as well just shoot. I fired my last shot at point blank right between the eyes. He crashed before me in a shower of snow that caused a momentary white out, as the Trooper came to my side. I put out my foot and touched his head, it was that close.

I guess that was the only big game animal I ever felt sorry for because neither one of us wanted to be there, it wasn't hunting, it wasn't fun, but it was high adventure. Long live the beast, and ...Pass it on.

Related Links:
Find an Alaska Moose Or Deer Hunting Guide

10 Kansas Deer Confirmed Positive For CWD

2010-03-09T16:18:00.000-06:00

10 Kansas Deer Confirmed Positive For CWD

On March 2, the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks (KDWP) announced that 10 white-tailed deer from northwestern Kansas had tested positive for chronic wasting disease (CWD). These were animals taken by hunters in the 2009 hunting seasons. The agency is still awaiting the result from another deer sample that was presumed to be positive after preliminary testing at the K-State Diagnostic Veterinary Lab in Manhattan.

Processing Your Own Venison

2010-03-06T22:28:00.000-06:00

Have you ever thought about processing your own deer.

It's not that hard to do. This article contains some great tips to help get you started.

Processing Your Own Venison

Lets Go Pheasant Hunting In South Dakota!

2010-03-05T16:10:00.001-06:00

New Article Added To The Site:

South Dakota: A Premier Pheasant Hunting State

A great new article on why South Dakota is considered to be the "Pheasant Hunting Capital of the World"

Idiots On Parade

2010-02-23T08:58:00.000-06:00

Although you are going to think this just another Uncle John gallows humor story, it is all quite true.

By John Simeone

Although I'm never at an end to find something to talk about, my advise to the upcoming outdoor writer, whether you think you need advise or not, is when you are suffering from writers cramp, talk about idiots. That's right, you can always find a complete book of idiots just by being observant. Now Louisiana is a place to find all you want so for a time, instead of being a Bird Watcher like my buddy Pat, I have become be an idiot watcher. Now we all do stupid things from time to time so the occasional laps into the realm is not what I'm talking about, unless it deals with world class stupid.

Like the classic one time only bird brain that illuminated the nipple end of a .54 Hawkins rifle with a cricket lighter while looking down the muzzle to see if it was loaded, well it was.

Now my favorite idiots are drunk hunters because they are epidemic around here. I once observed an old pick up driving itself down a back road appearing to be without a driver. I followed for a good distance and realized there was no one at the wheel. It was going real slow so I parked quickly and ran on foot to catch up. I found the driver slumped over clutching his loaded deer rifle drunk as a lord and passed out. He had gone about half a mile like that.

Now here is one that just happened recently. Just while passing by a somewhat crowded trailer park I noticed this complete moron out in the yard burning tires, this was his chosen pastime on Valentines

Day, while every one else choked on the billows of Black smoke. This guy has got to be the model for the country song, “Bubba Shot The Juke Box.”

There are plenty of female Bubbas out there too. When on a mission to see about the purchase of a deer hound the search found us in a remote trailer park on the infamous Savage Fork road, in no mans land in Western Louisiana. My partner got out to talk to the occupant of the trailer who owned the dog. Considering the unkept environment of the area I decided to stay in the truck. It was very hot in the summer and I noted they didn't have air conditioning as the doors and window were open. There seemed to be a lot of flies buzzing around as well as a buzzard roost in a nearby tree, that also gave me a hint to stay in the truck. I then noticed a rather leathery old gal standing at the entrance to the trailer, and there was a hint of an invitation which I tried to ignore as she puffed on the cigarette hanging out the corner of her mouth. My attention was averted to “Baby Bubba,” a toddler walking about on the bare ground saturated with trash and broken glass. He was being tormented by a horde of cow flies, attracted naturally to the fact he had filled his pamper probably hours before and seemed quite miserable in the summer heat.

I just couldn't take it any more, I had to say something. “Excuse me Mam,” which gave her the attention she was looking for from me obviously, as she smiled an almost toothless grin. “Pardon me for asking, but don't you think its about time to change that baby?” She answered with that same smile very politely and with the skillfulness of a concerned mother, “Oh no, I read the directions on the box of Pampers, it said 16 to 18 pounds, he couldn't have more than three or four there.”

A few years ago a Japanese car manufacturer came to the Shreveport area to discuss a car plant in the area. However when they saw how trashed out the roads were, they declined saying such people could never build a car to their standards.

A lot of people blame hunters for trashing out the roads but I have found this not to be the case. It would seem that just about every rural road in Western Louisiana is trashy in some degree, mainly from joy riders at night driving drunk. Although they do the same thing in broad daylight at lunch time cold sober. You can tell this by all the fast food wrappers.

I'm going to have to put more littering blame on the fishermen than the hunters. Toledo Bend Lake is absolutely beautiful, but a close look finds it trashed out like the rest of the place. This is due to the high alcohol factor in boating and fishing as compared to hunting, although this doesn't let the hunters completely off the hook. Some how when people start drinking in the field or the lake they lose their outdoor manners (if they had them in the first place) and start trashing out the place..

You wont see this in quail or grouse hunting I suppose due to the gentleman protocol involved, but dove and duck hunters have a drinking problem in my area. Recently I spoke to a father who was attending his son's funeral the next day, who was killed in a duck hunting accident. Evidently one was standing up to shoot from the duck blind while the other one was sitting down. It doesn't take a forensic examiner to figure that one out. As the man knew I was both an outdoor writer and a retired criminal investigator he asked me some questions and wanted my opinion. My first question was had they been drinking. He related they had the night before, but couldn't imagine how that could relate to such an accident.

As a range master at a shooting range I get to see a lot of just plain fools. Sometimes you just can't get to them in time to save them. The worst idiot I ever saw at a range was a soldier shooting a semi-automatic pistol. He looked like he knew what he was doing and fired the whole magazine and the slide locked to the rear, without looking in the chamber he let the slide go forward and pointed the muzzle to his head and pulled the trigger. At the click sound I comensed the ass chewing from hell upon him that would have made R. Lee Ermy cringe. I still have nightmares over that one.

I saw a dove hunter give his six year old a shotgun and sit next to him on an Ice chest drinking beer. I don't think he looked at that kid all day as they both shot at doves. Nothing happened that time but there was certainly a danger potential. Nothing against the kid or his age, it was the beer factor. If you are training a new hunter let him do all the shooting and you supervise. This anti-mentoring will in fact get you in trouble.

I had a senior game warden tell me the two things I would never do is get the crossbow legalized in my state or ever be able to do anything about drunk hunters. Got the crossbow legalized the next year later but did not pursue the alcohol issue due to further contemplation. You see, I figure it is a scientific phenomenon dealing with Darwin's theory of natural selection. Some how, some way, there must be a hidden moron or idiot genome in random humans that no matter what the intellect level of the individual it kicks in randomly to thin out the population through natural selection.

I point this out to student idiot watchers, who immediately see the scientific factor and are in total agreement. The lesson is simple so if you feel in a touchy, feely, liberal mood you may want to try to save a would be victim of his own stupidity, but don't spend too much time at it. This is due to the resistance factor associated with being an idiot, they never listen, and they may take you with them. So perhaps it is just better to sit back with your digital camera like I do and wait for the moment of truth because this is just nature taking its course and there is not much you can do about it. Pass it on

Turkey Hunting With a Kid

2010-02-18T11:28:00.000-06:00

Turkey Hunting With a Kid

The Wisconsin 2010 youth hunt will take place April 10 and 11th. It's a great program that cuts some of the red tape that keeps young hunters out of the woods and gives them first crack at a wild turkey.

Deer Management In Wisconsin: A Complex Challenge

2010-02-17T22:42:00.000-06:00

Deer Management In Wisconsin: A Complex Challenge

Pro Staff Member Chris Larsen takes on the topic of deer management in Wisconsin. This is sure to be a great debate. Join us!

The Real Threats To Hunting - Taking A Second Look

2010-02-16T09:32:00.000-06:00

“When making you aware of who the real threats are to the hunting world, you find it is all about brainwashing, fanaticism, and money.”

By John Simeone

My first experience with an anti-hunter was bazaar indeed. While lecturing at the Alaska Wildlife Museum at Fort Richardson, I was escorting two full Army Cornels through the exhibits. We were all dressed in our Dress Green uniforms after a monthly inspection so I felt proud to address these two high ranking officers. Our pride trophy was the “Harry Swank Ram,” the world record Dall Sheep, which also held the coveted Sagamore Hill Award, as one of the best of the best of all big game trophies in the Boone and Crockett Records.

While giving the lecture, one of the Cornels could no longer contain himself and blurted out, “What kind of an ass would kill a beautiful animal like that?” The other Cornel instantly responded, “I don’t know how the hell you became a Cornel in the Army and not like guns.”

Evidently the first full bird had no problem with killing humans and attacked the second with a vengeance. Of course I was only a Spec-4 at the time, but that MP badge I was wearing superseded these two gentlemen at that very moment so I hauled them both out the door and they continued the fight in the hallway. I locked the door to protect the exhibits and called a back up, that was the last I heard of the incident. I wonder to this day if they are still at it.

Somehow about a million mallard ducks congregated right in the middle of the Fort Richardson impact area, probably most of the ducks of the Pacific Flyway. It was 1978 and my assignment was to keep the grizzlies from eating the professor from the University of Alaska. He was there to conduct a survey of the ducks and see how many had died of lead shot ingestion. I didn’t quite understand the problem.

He told me that anti-hunters in house, as part of the Game and Fish Commissions and other politically motivated groups, were about to impose a ban on all lead shot for waterfowl hunting. “Why?” I asked. It is part of a slow process to do away with all hunting was the answer. (Here comes the brain wash.) They are going to say the ducks eat the lead shot that falls from hunter’s guns, and then die of lead poison. “Well do they?” was the next question.

We plodded through a million ducks, for the next three days, who were in a molting stage and couldn’t fly, looking for the evidence. We found many fox kills and saw one Grizzly at a great distance. Then, low and behold, we found a dead duck. In my excitement and elation I inquired to the postmortem results. The duck died of old age, and no lead shot was found in any other duck tested.

I found out other things. They said then after the lead shot survey they would try to outlaw lead bullets, making up some cock and bull story about it poisoning the California condor, if they found a bullet in a gut pile. That was in 1978, it is now 2009, and here we go with the lead bullet ban in California. They were even keeping us from field dressing our deer one year at Ft Polk to see if the deer were eating the bullets from the rifle ranges (that were there since WWII). Do you see a trend here? Deer don’t eat bullets.

Just for the record it only took Australia 10 years to ban all waterfowl hunting and it started with a steel shot program, then they banned semi-auto and pump shotguns, and then there was the final ban on duck hunting as they said society would no longer stand for it. Well, so much for Crocodile Dundee.

You know we let them do this to us and never say a word as hunting is taken like sheep to a slaughter. Sometimes we do it to ourselves in a worse manner and think we are doing the right thing.

Lets look at just a few ways we the hunter put the screws to our own sport and see who the real bad guys are. I intend to take off the gloves this time, so if I rub someone raw out there, consider yourself rubbed.

Canned Hunting: Now here is a real good one for the record books as far as being an entrepreneur, but as far as hunter ethics, it is pure manure. Theodore Roosevelt would turn over in his grave if he knew about, deer so tame they have to hire ranch hands to go out and shoot at them because they are so over cultivated they are not afraid of humans. Penning up cultivated bucks in a small enclosure just large enough to be legal, or large enough to convince the bucks they are on open range. But later you find there are no does in the area so the bucks run around in the rut all the time, affording rich hunters a chance at several large bucks, at about 30 Grand a shot. Or perhaps the fact that pheasants are shot flying from towers after being raised in pens and never released into the wild. Who cares they are only birds like chickens and officially they are not native to America.

It gets worse of course when big game is placed in areas so small they can’t possibly have a chance to escape, but the law says it’s legal so somebody cashes in on all the fun. Am I siding with the anti-hunters here, oh no, but like Roosevelt I won’t shoot a tethered or penned game animal. It’s all in the rules of fair chase if you care to study.

Over Cultivation: Now it might not be possible to completely tame a deer, but you can get so close they will eat right out of your hand. So now we have found a way to scientifically make super deer. Or is it Super Stupid Deer? Some so large they can easily beat any record, if you put stock in such things. I suppose the egg heads learned all that breeding cattle to alleviate world hunger, and line their pockets. Is it all about money, you tell me. Do they turn any of these animal loose on public land, of course not? But then they created Cronic Wasting disease to insure that doesn’t happen, or did they. Did CWD really wipe out the American Deer heard, well not in my neck of the woods.

Of course there are people so obsessed with this trophy collecting some will secretly buy a buck and have it released right in front of them on some public hunting ground to say they shot an all time record. Hey it happens, but it is kinda hard to catch them. The same bunch will be the first to call some good old boy a liar if he happens to get lucky and bag a real wild trophy.

This big buck mania has caused another problem. Not everyone has a chance at something so spectacular so they try to grow their own. It just doesn’t work the way it is advertised every time. But still you have a group of pious trophy hunters scolding the everyday deer hunter every time he harvests something other than the “Awesome Buck.” Of course they have the “Management Bucks” for us peons, while they always get the big ones on the outdoor shows. Another brain wash perhaps, what ever happened to the old deer camps where folks from all walks of life just went hunting, and the motto was “You can’t eat horns.”

Commercialization: Got to have the latest in outdoor apparel, go camo first. As you know you can’t kill an awesome buck if he sees you. I remember in Arkansas all the men wore their hunter orange caps all the time, they were proud to be deer hunters. Now you don’t see it any more, but camo is very popular. I wonder what they are hiding from.

Now I like my laser range finder, my GPS, illuminated crosshairs in my scopes, my carbon arrows, my climbing deer stand, my sent proof ground blind, my inline muzzle loader, and my little orange deer pee bottles. I have to have all that stuff because I write about it and that’s how I pay for all that stuff. You don’t think they actually give this to outdoor writers do you? It works too. I don’t know how I ever climbed Mt Magazine with a 30-30 iron sighted rifle and a Case pocket knife and shot my first deer without all the other stuff. I do wish I could read a good article in an outdoor magazine without thumbing through at least ten pages of ads per article.

Liberal Media, Celebrities, and Corporations: One of the best ways to sell a movie or a new pop hit in music is to go on a “Save the Critters Campaign,” while demonizing hunters along the way. Then we have large corporations that support and donate to anti-hunting activities while actually having hunter customers by the thousands, as one huge insurance company is known to do. It is not hard to find out who they are as lists are available of who does what and who you should do business with. But few folks really know the deal. So take a second look.

One of the reasons I write for this company was the fact that my 6 year outdoor newspaper column in a state known as the Sportsmen’s Paradise, was cancelled due to an anti-hunting corporation that took over the newspaper, they kept the fishing guy..

Cannibals: Now these folks are the worst of all, and are the main cause of infighting in the hunting world. I know of one turkey bunch that got in a big beef with some wheelchair guys, oh heaven forbid, didn’t get the whole story on that. Then there was the guy that said the AR-15 was a weapon of terror and should never be used for hunting. That caused a little ruckus in the hunting world, only to reverse and cause an upswing in hunting with the AR-15. Sometimes I wonder if it was all just planned that way. Then I read an advertisement for broad heads that said 50% of turkeys are lost to hunters using brand X, if you use our arrow heads you will kill them all, really. Now there was a real threat to bow hunting, thank you very much. That’s telling every non hunter in the country that all Bowhunters do is wound animals.

It’s not just individuals; it can be whole outdoor associations at each others throats, as well as big companies going for the cash. D.U. and D.D. was there a problem there, ever? Do gun hunters like bow hunters? Do bow hunters like gun hunters? How about traditional black powder hunters against In-line muzzle loaders. There is quite a feud going on between still hunters and dog hunters in Louisiana, which may lead to a loss of a traditional style of hunting. Of course you can’t get anyone to ride the 4 wheelers in an orderly manner, so if it is legal they will find a way to run wild and aggravate everyone else. Cannibals, jealousy, bad manners and infighting really help the world of hunting, making us our own worst enemies.

But the really bad one was the direct assault of the NABC against the American Crossbow Federation. Starting as a summit meeting in Missouri to protect Bowhunter’s rights from anti-hunters, the first and only thing I could tell that they did was turn ninety degrees and attack the crossbow hunters until you would have thought them the “Children of Israel.” To quote Dan Hendricks, “It’s like a lung cancer patient that won’t quit smoking.” We have to stop attacking ethical forms of hunting that we don’t agree with, and just quit all the bickering.

Know Your Enemy: If you have studied any form of strategy you know of Sun Tzu’s “Art of War.” Yes if you know your enemy you will win half your battles, now we have looked at ourselves a bit to see if we can eliminate some of the in house problems that make us our own worst enemies, and we know who the real enemies are.

But don’t think for one minute it is not a war. We all know the main anti-hunter groups (I won’t give them the honor of being mentioned) and many times rule them out as whackos and fanatics. Well that’s just exactly what they are. Some others however are just innocent city dwellers attempting to do something that feels good to them as they haven’t a clue. Then there are others.

I have known for years that within every Forestry group or DNR there are anti-hunters sitting right at the desks. These are the ones you have to keep an eye on. It’s the person who got the government job in the office and suddenly they realize they are in a position to through in a monkey wrench in the whole system in such a subtle manner it may go unnoticed. Let’s not rule out political influence either when it comes to those jobs.

Then I would invite you to make a personal study of Eco terrorism just for the enlightenment to see how far some of these individuals will in fact go to save Bambi.

What can you do about it? When it looks good it probably isn’t. Always take a second look and engage that analytical part of your mind to sort out the truth, question everything for good answers with long lasting effects. Ask what the long term results will be when something doesn’t look and feel right to you.

Above all sportsmen must keep clean. That means don’t advocate alcohol in the camps, or poaching. Read the game regulations as if it were the Bible and don’t let your buddy make a mistake just because you don’t want to interfere. Go by the rules.

When forming an opinion on hunting make sure it doesn’t cut into the ethical practices of another. By all means take the time to do like David and Lisa Gunter of Pitkin, Louisiana and teach and inspire their 10 year old girl Tracey. Yes the Tracey Gunter Buck is just as important as the Harry Swank Ram, as it sends a clear message to the people that hunting is a good way of life. If we are lucky and watch every step as we “Tread Lightly” as they say, the American Sportsmen may just be around a little while longer to …Pass it on.

SPRING TURKEY HUNTING/TACTICS

2010-02-12T11:47:00.000-06:00

SPRING TURKEY HUNTING/TACTICS

By: Greg Kuper

Hunting turkeys in the spring has different challenges than in the fall. It’s not better or worse, just different. The turkey hunting season in Wisconsin is April 10-May 23 this year. The following suggestions are geared for spring hunting, but a lot of the same tactics can be used in the fall, as well:

Setting up decoys is important to do right. If you do it wrong, a tom might stop at a distance to wait for the hen to come to him. Place yourself right in-between the turkey you’re calling and a fake hen decoy. To do that, stake it about 20 yards past where you are calling from. That way, if he stops to wait for the hen to come to him, you will be very close, and be able to get off a good, clean shot.
Decoys work the best in open areas such as food pots, open fields or clearings, logging roads or under electric wire clearings. That way, the turkeys can see them clearly from a distance. If the turkeys aren’t responding to your calls, just set up the decoys and wait. It is important to set up three decoys, two hens and a jake. The best to use are Carry Lite, they are foam and easy to carry. These decoys will spin around in the wind and catch a turkey’s eye. The reason you want two hens and a jake is because an older tom will see this and think the jake is moving in on his territory (the hens) and run in to attack him.
Putting a gobbler to bed is an old but effective trick. It is almost a guarantee to get a turkey. To do this, you go into the woods at dusk and listen for turkeys gobbling. Even if they don’t gobble or make any other noise, you may be able to hear their heavy wings flap. Now that you know where they are roosting, you know exactly where to go the next morning. To make it work, you absolutely have to be in position before it gets light and set up around a 100 yards away or so (Make it a good spot-good cover). Then, you wait for a tom to roar and then give him your best call. BUT remember one important thing…you very well may set up in the wrong spot. In other words, where you are may not be where the tom will go once he is down on the ground. There are no guarantees, but this is a pretty good odds trick. At the very least, it won’t hurt anything to try.
Hunting times are hard to gauge. Mid-mornings are the hot times to hunt for turkey. The biggest reason is because other hunters will usually go in after nine, or they have to go to work. Great! Better for you when there are less guys out there. The best reason is because spooked turkeys from bad calling hunters have settled down and you can move in. Also, different weather conditions can affect when and if turkeys are active and so can a million other different factors. Usually, the woods are quiet for about two hours after daybreak. This is because the turkeys are busy breeding, or trying to breed. Oh, they will strut around, but they won’t gobble much if at all. Then, the hens will go to lay their eggs. This isn’t exact, but it is usually around 9ish. In the spring, toms want to be around hens at all times, so when the hens are gone, toms are looking for new hens to court and their search begins almost immediately. The younger guys gobble their heads off in the attempt to attract a new hen, but the older guys will strut and drum very intensely. Use this to your advantage. This need for a hen’s company makes them easy to call in.

This is a good time (9 a.m.) to walk on some foot trails, logging roads, clearings, etc. and make a few calls. Once the woods calm down, turkeys get back into their normal routine. In the spring, turkeys are all wound up and you may be able to solicit a shock call at the very least. If a turkey answers a crow call, that is a good time to set up and let out some soft hen calls. It is a good idea to tone down the calls late in the season. Less frequent, softer cutts and yelps are more effective.

There is some great action in the afternoon. The peak is from about 2 to 4 p.m., but from noon to dusk (roosting time), toms have been all but deserted by hens and will very likely gobble at your hen cuts and locator calls. BUT, don’t expect turkeys to gobble as much in the afternoon as they do in the morning. You may get one gobble, two at most, so you have to make your call and listen for even the faintest return call. Be ready, they will move towards your call quickly and quietly during this time of day. After you get an idea of where they are, move in and listen for other sounds, like a turkey walking in the leaves. Late in the day, right before dusk, a tom may run over to check out a hen call before he flies up to roost. Get ‘em.

Good hunting.

Turkey Hunting Weather Conditions

2010-02-11T17:50:00.000-06:00

Did you know that turkey hunting when it is raining is good? I had no idea, but it's true according to turkey guide Phil Schweik of Hooksetters Guide Services!

Check out the complete article:

Turkey Hunting Weather Conditions

Subtle Turkey Decoy Tweaks For Trophy Toms

2010-02-09T17:41:00.000-06:00

Where you place your decoys can make a big difference between a successful hunt and a boring day in the woods. Pro Staff member Chris Larsen gives some great tips and advice in this article on different set ups for decoys and when to use them. If you hunt turkeys with decoys check out this post.

Read The Article: Subtle Turkey Decoy Tweaks For Trophy Toms

Rifle Power- Knocking Things Down

2010-02-08T15:05:00.000-06:00

Rifle Power- Knocking Things Down

In combat and hunting when you pull the trigger you expect the end. Confidence in the a firearm is measured in the knowing when you pull the trigger the battle or the hunt is over.

PETA wants to replace Groundhog‎ with robot

2010-02-02T08:30:00.000-06:00

Happy groundhogs day everyone. Today PETA announced that they would like to see the worlds most famous groundhog Punxsutawney Phil replaced with a robot. I guess Bing (The Search Engine Didn't get the message in time so I've taken the liberty of mocking up a new home page for the occasion.) For those of you that live in a hole (Like this ground hog) PETA is an animal rights organization that is Very Anti Hunting. I don't have an agenda with this post other then to remind hunters that these types of organizations exist and every day they are spreading their anti hunting message. If you value hunting and the outdoors it's important for you to get involved in promoting the sport. Take A Kid Hunting Today, Get Involved In A Pro Hunting Organization Like Pheasants Forever Or The NRA. Remember when you are out in the woods you are our sports ambassadors!

Happy Ground Hogs Day- Oh and by the way, the little rat saw his shadow so 6 more weeks of good coyote hunting!

You got your bird now what? Cooking Wild Turkey

2010-01-31T21:01:00.000-06:00

How to Cook a Wild Turkey

by Naomi K. Shapiro

The "sky's the limit" when it comes to methods of preparing wild turkey -- all of them work, and all will provide some of the finest unattainable-anywhere-else eating. Trust me on that one! Here are just some of the ways to do it:

ROASTING

This traditional whole turkey dinner is not difficult. You clean the bird, stuff it if you wish. Season it any way you like, cover it with an aluminum foil "tent," insert a meat thermometer into the heaviest portion of the breast, and put it in the oven at 325˚ F., until it's done. Some strong caveats: Wild turkey, like any poultry needs to be cooked thoroughly. Most suggest an internal meat temperature of 180˚ -- some even go to 190˚ -- or "in between." Cooking thoroughly is particularly critical because wild turkey -- is just that – "wild," and thorough cooking will kill any pathogens that may be present. A good idea is that when the temperature on your meat thermometer reaches 160˚-170˚, remove the foil "tent," and let the bird finish cooking. The skin will brown and crisp up beautifully. Don't toss those "drippings" in the bottom of the roasting pan. Drain them, and combine them with seasonings and a simple flour roux, and you'll have a fabulous smooth gravy (assuming you "stir" continuously when making the roux and combining it with the drippings) to serve along with the bird itself. One quick tip -- I usually put the turkey on a rack in the roasting pan, so that the entire bird is cooked evenly.

BREAST ONLY

Follow the same procedure as roasting the whole bird, but don't remove the foil "tent" until almost the very end of the cooking, as the breast will dry out more rapidly than a whole bird. A few minutes without the "tent" will still "brown" the breast without drying it out. We also very lightly "brush" the turkey breast with a bit of olive oil to keep things "moist" before we start roasting.
TURKEY "FINGERS"

Cut the turkey into strips -- breasts – thighs -- whatever. Dip them in your favorite "wash" and breading and deep fry them. You'll never be able to eat fast-food chicken "nuggets" again.
GRILLING

Marinate whatever part of the turkey you're going to grill -- teriyaki, Caribbean jerk, BBQ – whatever -- for 24 hours – and then grill. But grilling can fail, so make sure that, for instance, if you use "strips" -- that they're wide enough so they don't drop through the grill grates; and if you're grilling a breast, I would suggest you cut it into half-inch or so slices, because if you grill the whole breast, you're liable to overcook the outside layer(s) while the interior never gets done.

DEEP FRYING

In the last few years, deep frying a whole turkey has become very popular. Any number of capable fryers are offered for sale. Prices can vary from $60 to $100 -- and more --depending on its size (30 quarts and up), and materials. The nice thing about deep frying a turkey is that it's fast, and the deep frying seals in the juices so that you've got a totally moist bird with a wonderful crispy outside when finished. Now there are so many variables that we'll just provide some basics, and you can "fine tune" the method you want to use. First -- do "whole bird" only – with bones in. Read the instructions CAREFULLY on the electric deep fryer you'll be using. Fill the oil to the recommended level depending on the size of the bird. If you don't carefully do this, hot oil can and will be displaced by the bird when you insert it for frying. Don't "play any games" with a deep fryer. The oil is usually about 350˚ and can cause very severe burns. Figure that it'll take about seven to eight minutes per pound to deep fry a whole bird with its bones in That's super quick when compared to roasting. Again, our suggestions are just that -- "suggestions," and each bird and each fryer can be different. So be extremely cautious and enjoy the rewards.

SOUP

Nothing better than parboiling skinned turkey in a big pot (make sure you include the bones!), remove the collected scum as the turkey cooks, then combine with any/all kinds of veggies, onions, leeks, beans, pasta, rice, barley, and you'll have a soup to remember.
CASSEROLES

Cut turkey into chunks or slices, and combine with veggies, potatoes, rice, pasta, soup mixes, seasonings, and some stock for moisture,

While a wild turkey breast looks like "white meat", generally, wild turkey TASTES more toward "domestic turkey dark meat" than "white." That's really a good thing. The flavor is full and magnificent without being overpowering -- and there is little, if any, "gaminess" to the flavor of wild turkey. And yes, depending on the age of the bird, and what it generally has eaten, the flavor will vary, but not greatly.

Get some great wild turkey recipes on the Foremost Hunting Site

(Phil Schweik of Hooksetters Guide Services contributed to this article).

Naomi K. Shapiro, OWAA, SPJ, can be reached at cre8vnaomi@gmail.com

An Eastern Wild Turkey Hunting Adventure

2010-01-31T08:08:00.000-06:00

An Eastern Wild Turkey Hunting Adventure

Read about Pro Staff Member Chris Larsens Eastern Wild Turkey Hunt

Turkey Hunting Clothes

2010-01-29T22:05:00.000-06:00

Turkey hunting is an exciting sport that requires the proper gear for the best hunting experience. Because turkeys have such excellent sight and hearing, great visual acuity, the ability to see a large range, and the ability to see in color, choosing proper clothing is crucial to prevent being seen or heard by your target.

Clothing Tips

There’s a lot of gear that is essential for turkey hunting, and all of it should be camouflaged. When just one article of clothing is not camouflaged, it can mean the difference between success and failure. Ideally your boots, cap, vest, pants, bags, gun, gloves, facemask, and gun should all be camouflaged. You might be able to get by without having camouflaged boots as long as they are a similar color to the forest floor.

Your camouflage should be similar to the background of the forest. In the early spring season, the forest is still more brown and grey and your camouflage should be more similar to those colors, whereas later in the season camouflage should have shades of green mixed as the trees and plants begin to regrow.

Safety is of the utmost concern for any hunter. Turkey hunters should never wear any items that are blue, black, white, or red, as these colors may be mistaken for a turkey by another hunter. If your socks or other parts of your clothing have these colors, be sure to cover them up.

Head

Turkeys have such excellent vision that they can even spot the white of your eyes and recognize your face as being a threat. Therefore it is crucial to have some kind of face or head covering that is camouflaged. Although a full facemask is probably the best option, you might also try camouflage face paint. If the facemask does not cover your hair, then you can use a camouflaged cap of any kind to cover your hair.

Hands

You will likely need insulated gloves during the fall season and lighter gloves in the spring. A couple of good pairs of camouflaged gloves are probably the least expensive item out of all the hunting clothing you’ll need. And when the weather is cold, a good pair of insulated gloves can help keep your fingers warm and nimble for pulling the trigger fast.

Pants

Again, in the spring if the weather is warmer in your area, you will probably be more comfortable with non-insulated camouflaged hunting pants. In the fall, insulated hunting pants will conserve heat and help you stay outdoors much longer. The lighter pants will help you maneuver around in the warmer weather. Waterproofed pants are also helpful in case it rains or if there is moisture on the ground.

Coats

Depending on the weather, you will want to wear a light camouflaged coat or an insulated coat. You will probably want to wear 2 or 3 layers at the very least in cold weather. If you carry any accessories on your coat, be sure that they are either camouflaged or covered. Hunting vests are helpful additions to your coat due to the extra storage space for miscellaneous items like your turkey calls, portable food, knives and other equipment. Again, waterproofed coats and body layers are very helpful in the case of rain.

Boots

Boots may not need to be camouflaged if they are a similar color to the ground you are hunting on, however camouflaged boots are recommended. The best type of boots really depends on the type of terrain in your area. Heavy duty boots with good ankle support and cushioning may be recommended for rough terrain. Softer terrain may be suitable for lighter boots with cushioning.

Insulation is better when the weather is cold, and light boots with no insulation and good air circulation are better for hot weather. Waterproofing is good for all types of weather as there is very likely will be water or moisture on the ground in many areas you hunt in, and nothing is worse than hunting in wet socks. Having an extra pair or two of socks is always good idea if your socks do get wet.

Summary

So, your choice of the best turkey hunting clothing comes down to your local terrain, the season you’re hunting in, and the expected weather. Camouflage is extra important for turkey hunting with the wild turkey’s excellent vision and quick reflexes, and it should be on every visible item you wear. Most importantly, be sure to always follow all safety precautions to have a safe and fun turkey hunting experience.

Learn More About Turkey Hunting Clothing and Gear

Turkey Hunting With A Rifle

2010-01-29T17:50:00.001-06:00

We had a interesting article come in on Turkey Hunting Rifles. To be honest I didn't know any states allowed this but I guess a few do. I would think a rifle would just destroy the meat but I'm know expert. Do you know of someone that turkey hunts with a rifle or is it legal in your state? I would like to find out more about this. The article I'm linking to here really is all about choosing the right shotgun for turkeys but the first part of the article really got me thinking about rifles.

Shed Hunting- Last Chance for a nice rack

2010-01-28T21:14:00.000-06:00

As winter turns into spring many deer hunters turn their attention to shed hunting. Shed hunting is a great opportunity to learn more about your hunting area and the deer that roam it. In addition it's great exercise. Check out the latest article from pro staff member Chris Larsen as he discusses the do's and how to's of scouting for deer head gear.

Shed Hunting For A Nice Rack

Trapping Basics

2010-01-25T09:23:00.000-06:00

by Naomi K. Shapiro

Discussing trapping is a very complex subject. We'll deal with a few basics, and then move on to other articles with more detail in the future.

Trapping can be a lot of fun, and also profitable. However, it is not for your every day outdoor sports enthusiast. "It's hard work, beyond belief, and the hours are long," says Phil Schweik of Hooksetters Guide Services. "Don't quit your day job," because even if you make money -- and you can -- it's not going to readily put you into that dually' with the big diesel you've been longing for." But even if you don't want to trap, it's the experience of a lifetime to walk a trap line with a licensed trapper on some cold, winter's day. You feel totally at one with nature and what it provides. And trappers do a great public service by maintaining viable wildlife populations.

Trapping fur-bearing animals requires multiple approaches. There are the water-based animals such as muskrat, mink, otter, and beaver, and the land-based animals such as raccoons, foxes, and coyotes.

There are a multitude of different types of traps:

The leg-hold traps come in single and double sets, where the jaws clamp onto the animal when it steps on a pan in the center of the trap.
The coil-springs trap has a set of coil springs which operate the same general way as a leg-hold trap, and slams the trap shut onto the animal.
The conibear or "killer trap" is very difficult to describe. It consists of two intersecting squares of one-eighth inch steel rod. The two parts of the trap intersect at their outside edges, with springs on both edges which trigger a mechanism that opens the trap. The trap looks like an "X" from the side. The animal walks through the trap, which clamps down on its neck. This is a trap that MUST BE AVOIDED by an even moderately capable trapper. Only the most experienced trappers use these traps, which, for instance, can be set up on the bottom of a beaver pond. The conibear comes in three sizes, the smallest of which will break your finger, and the largest, your arm, or even being capable of killing you. Hence the nickname "killer trap." Once anyone is "caught" in this trap, it is near impossible to extricate yourself. Conibear traps, for instance, are used for beavers which can weigh over 70 pounds, so the traps must be strong. One can ask any "old timer trapper," and you can be sure they'll have a couple of horror stories about the "killer trap." No joking matter. We're discussing it just to give you some idea of the types of traps used -- not that you should ever use one.

Trappers have any different number of places and "sets" that they'll use, geared to the specific target animal. It's never "one size fits all" when it comes to trapping. Trappers will set up "runway sets" which are natural "paths" that the animal takes on its daily meanderings; or "dirthole sets", and "pocket sets." Then there's what's called a "box set" or "cubby set" with baits.

Trapping truly does require patience and a willingness to learn how to use each specific trap, where and how to set them up, all depending on the particular critter.

There are usually two things that every trapper uses -- and these are "musts." Without them, there'll never be any success. Water trappers need a very good set of hip boots or waders. All trappers must use long rubber gloves – not only to keep their hands warm, but to keep the traps scent free which is critical. If a fur-bearing animal picks up human scent on the trap, no matter how well it is set, they'll stay far away from the trap.

(Thanks to licensed trapper, Phil Schweik, of Hooksetters Guide Services who contributed to this article).

Naomi K. Shapiro, OWAA, SPJ, can be reached at cre8vnaomi@gmail.com

Coyote Hunting

2010-01-25T09:11:00.000-06:00

by Naomi K. Shapiro

With ever-growing coyote populations, hunting them is becoming a very popular sport. We'll discuss some "basics," but make sure you check all regulations in your area (each state and area have different regs) so that you stay within the law when hunting these "wily varmints".

Winter with snow cover is a terrific time of year to hunt coyotes. Hunters dress in snow camo to blend in perfectly with the winter season background.

There are a couple of different hunting methods:

Sit and stalk

Hunters go out in the evening and night hours, setting up in the brush on field edges, over frozen beaver ponds, wood-line edges, and marshes. Electronic decoys are set out -- things like a rabbit or mouse -- natural prey animals for coyotes. These decoys spin around, bounce right and left. The decoys mimic an animal in distress, flip-flopping on the ground. In conjunction with an electronic decoy, hunters will use any number of calls. Electronic calls imitate dying or distressed prey. "Old timers" – as in "real savvy hunters" scoff at the electronic calls, preferring mouth calls. Why? Because they offer a much larger variety of sounds. Pitch and tone and repetition can all be readily changed and adopted to varying conditions with a mouth call. An electronic call doesn't offer these options. Then again, it takes plenty of practice to know what mouth call "tone" to use; when; for what period of time; how many repetitions – all of that. When decoys and calls are properly done and set up, coyotes will come rushing in (coyotes are seldom stationary -- they always are moving).

At night, a spotlight is often used to illuminate. Stop thinking in terms of some real bright halogen light. That's a no-no. Hunters will use a muted amber, red, or green light, which, while providing sufficient illumination, will not alert the very wary coyote to the hunter's presence. Other hunters simply go out on clear, full moon nights only. No need for spotlights of any type.

Running dogs

Many daylight coyote hunters use highly-trained dogs with electronic collars that can be tracked from a vehicle. Hunters will follow their dogs in trucks, using a homing device to track them. After getting a positive lead, the trucks will race around and cut off the coyotes after determining which way they're coming; and literally "head them off at the pass." It works. In truth, however, most hunters don't have the time or money to put into the needed quality dogs and high-end electronic equipment. No one is knocking it, just a "reality check," nothing more.

Weapon of choice

You don't need a .458 elephant gun to hunt coyotes. A long range "varmint rifle" like a .22/250 long rifle or maybe a .243 will do real well. A small bullet with a lot of powder behind it is what you want. That's all you need. Some hunters we know use a .270, but for us that's a little overkill -- literally.

Day hunters will often use a shotgun with an appropriate buckshot load. This offers a larger pattern since coyotes never stop moving; and, unless you're a crack-shot with a rifle, a shotgun will give you a better chance of success -- albeit at a somewhat shorter range. Also, a shotgun can be safer near-population areas (coyotes are "coming into town" more and more, often killing domestic pets) . And of course some hunters opt for using a bow and arrow. Not many though, as if you're talking about a "tough hunt" -- that for sure applies to hunting coyotes with a bow and arrow.

(Phil Schweik of Hooksetters Guide Services contributed to this article).

Naomi K. Shapiro, OWAA, SPJ, can be reached at cre8vnaomi@gmail.com

Breaking the ice for late season duck hunting

2010-01-20T22:57:00.000-06:00

Chris Larsen discusses tactics for breaking up a hole in the ice for late season ducks to fly into. Chris talks about the benefits of hunting the late season for waterfowl and details how to open up a nice hole in the ice to attract ducks.

Ducks really like to see moving water, especially when everything else is froze up

Read Hard Water Duck Hunting

Shotgun Patterning For Turkey Hunting

2010-01-19T00:38:00.000-06:00

by Naomi K. Shapiro - Foremost Hunting Pro Staff Member

So you think, that with a shotgun that has lots of pellets and "sprays" a pattern, you can't miss a turkey? Lots of gobbler hunters including the best ones miss... that is, until they learn some not-rocket-science basics.

First, it's not your gun's fault if you miss! Most shotguns, from Benellis to Remingtons and everything in between are "good." They're manufactured well, and they do what they're supposed to do, if the hunter knows what he or she is doing. But they are all different. It's important to know that every single "pattern" that's shot is also different. There is no "one size fits all." Every gun, every shell, every "load," every choke -- every "everything" is variable. What the savvy turkey hunter does, is to take the time to find the right gun, right shell, right choke for what you're shooting at, with the pattern you're looking for, and the range you're shooting. Turkeys are different than grouse, ducks, geese, skeet, or trap.

You want to find that small "window" that fits what you're doing exactly, and it's not hard to do.

As for gun size lots of turkey hunters use the classic 12 gauge, but for real stopping power (and it does kick like all get-out), use a 10 gauge. What you're looking for is how the shot flies out of the gun. Practice is the secret to success.

Take your shotgun and buy a whole "set" of different shell sizes and types (length, pellet grain size, powder, magnum and regular load). Yes, it'll cost you some money, but it will help you get that bird you're after. Then find a choke (optimum would be able to "test" a number of different chokes, but that is not always an available option) that will provide you the tight pattern you need to make sure that once the turkey is hit, it'll go down instantly. You're not looking for a wide pattern shot as you may do for ducks, or even wider pattern for sport shooting. Your local gun shop will be able to help you in this regard, and you don't have to buy a new shotgun to be successful. And, of course, try to find friends or other turkey hunters who have the same gun you have, and check out what they use.

Information from any good source is always useful, and may at least allow you to hone in and target some "near-specifics", which will save you time and money.

OK you've got boxes of different shells, you've got a choke or chokes that will give you a tight pattern (try to determine the range you want so that the choke will give you the exact pattern you need at that range). Set up a stationary target with a bull's-eye at the range you're going to shoot.

Then test each different shell with the particular choke, and see if you bull's-eye the target in a tight pattern. You'll be surprised at how many supposedly-perfect shell and choke combos won't give you what you want unless they're mated and adapted to the particular make of gun. We've seen any number of very good hunters miss close shots because their choke and/or shell were not in sync with each other and with the gun they're shooting a hundred different things.

And don't for one moment think that because you're using a custom-made Benelli, or a huge magnum shell that it will automatically solve any problems. It won't. Do your homework and take the time to fine-tune YOUR PARTICULAR shotgun to a perfect symmetry with the choke and shell you're using. By doing this, you'll end up enjoying some delicious eating (no one that I know of who has eaten a wild turkey breast can ever be satisfied with a domestic bird again. Twenty-five pound gobbler, anyone?

(Phil Schweik of Hooksetters Guide Services contributed to this article).

Related Articles On Shotgun Patterning:

Shotgun Patterning For Turkey Hunting By Chris Larsen

Turkey Decoy Placement- Critical

2010-01-19T00:21:00.000-06:00

Every year I hear of hunters placing their decoys out of shooting range and then sitting helplessly as turkeys interact with their decoys just out of gun range. DON'T DO THAT! Combo decoy sets (A feeding hen and a gobbler) can nbe quite effective. Learn more about Turkey Decoy Placement

Other Turkey Decoy Links:

If your in the market for some great turkey decoys check out our friends at Cherokee Sports

Hot Spring Turkey Hunting Tips

2010-01-18T17:26:00.000-06:00

Do some scouting- Weather conditions, food sources, access to water etc. change turkey patterns from year to year. Talk to farmers and get your feet in the woods before turkey season.
Turkey's follow farmers- look for plowed fields and newly planted crops- chances are turkey will be close by.
Put a turkey to bed. Go out the night before and figure out where they are roosting without spooking them off the roost.
Set up in their bedroom before the sun comes up. Get as close to the roosted birds you spotted the night before with out spooking them. Call them in before they are henned up.

This is just the bulleted list. To learn more visit: Spring Turkey Hunting Tips @ the ForemostHunting.com Website.

Planting Food Plots For Turkey

2010-01-15T13:16:00.000-06:00

From choosing the proper location for your new turkey food plot to the ethics of food plots we have some great new articles on food plots at our site.

Did you know that:

Turkeys Prefer small clearings in wooded areas?

Turkeys Like berry plants?

Turkeys take baths?

Turkeys prefer thin vegitation?

Read About Food Plots For Turkeys

Jay Leno Likes My Deer Rump Opener

2010-01-15T08:50:00.000-06:00

A few weeks before Christmas I got a interesting call. Our receptionist says "Jon, Jay Leno is on the phone" Yah right I thought but sure enough it was. It turns out that Mr Leno had seen the video on www.taxidermytube.com about how to make your own taxidermy deer rump bottle opener and he loved it. He wanted to use it for his show "Last Minute Christmas Gift Ideas". I was a bit skeptical but we agreed to ship a finished deer rump opener to Hollywood and sure enough the day before Christmas our product was on national TV. I never knew so many folks would be interested in them. There is currently a 6 week wait for one but if you would like a nice and unusual taxidermy piece for your den or living room check out the site. Here is the video that started it all:

Deer Rump Bottle Opener Video from Jon Ballard on Vimeo.

Patterning A Shotgun For Turkey Hunting

2010-01-13T18:07:00.000-06:00

Did you know that all guns are not created equal? Most shotguns have different patterns based on the shell brand, load size and choke. Before you head into the woods this season take some advice from Chris Larsen and consider patterning your turkey gun. It can make the difference between success and failure. I like to use those big cardboard boxes my kids get for Christmas. By now they are done playing in them and the big ones are a excellent size for shotgun patterning. Try different loads, chokes and distances. I cover the box with paper bags each time so I can compare.

Choosing The Right Gun For Turkey Hunting

2010-01-13T17:43:00.000-06:00

With turkey season right around the corner it gets me thinking about picking up a new turkey gun. Sure, the old upland gun I have been using is great but there are some dandy new guns on the market that I would love to add to my collection. I asked two different turkey hunting experts to tell me their ideas on what's important when choosing a gun and here are the articles I got back:

Choosing A Turkey Gun By Chris Larsen

And

Turkey Gun Science By Uncle John

Both these guys had some excellent ideas in regards to what to look for. Well worth the read.

Scouting For Deer After The Season

2010-01-08T17:32:00.000-06:00

Late Season Scouting For Deer

This time of year most hunters are content to sit home on the couch and watch some football. Not me.
Now is one of the best times to get out in the woods and do some post season scouting.

When it comes to deer hunting, people don't think about scouting after deer season, but they should! Late season scouting can make a big difference between success and failure next season.

With snow on the ground it's easy to see where the deer have been moving and bedding and there is no need to worry about spooking deer since the hunting season is 7 months away.

It is a lot easier to see if rub lines are from this year as well as opposed to looking at old rub lines in the fall before they really start rutting. Not to mention sheds. What better way to tell if you have a big buck in your hunting grounds then find some sheds.

For more info on Post Season Deer Scouting Check Out Foremost Hunting

Venison Recipes

2010-01-08T16:36:00.000-06:00

Now that you have deer in the freezer there are a lot of options to make some tasty Venison Dishes. Like beef ther are many different cuts that come from a deer. Below are some great Venison Recipies from my Friend Greg Kuper. You can find even more VENISON RECIPES at our website.

VENISON WELLINGTON (MAKES 8 SERVINGS)

Ingredients:
-1 2 to 2 ¼ pound venison tenderloin
-1 ½ cups of all-purpose flour
-1/8 teaspoon salt
-1/2 cup shortening
-1 beaten egg yolk
-3 tablespoons cold water
-1/2 cup of deli or canned liver pate’
-1 beaten egg white
-* Bordelaise sauce *Fresh Parsley sprigs

Directions:
If roast is long and thin, fold narrow ends under and tie. If roast is flat and wide, tie crosswise in 2 or 3 places to form a rounder roast. Place meat on rack in shallow roasting pan. Roast in a 425 degree oven for 30 minutes for 2 pound meat and 35 minutes for 2 ¼ pound of meat. Remove from pan (Remove strings if tied). Refrigerate about 10 minutes to cool surface. Meanwhile, for pastry, in a medium mixing bowl stir together flour and salt. Using a pastry blender, cut in shortening till pieces are the size of small peas. Combine egg yolk and water. Add to flour mixture, tossing with a fork till all is moistened. Add small amount of water if needed. Form dough into a ball. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough into a 14X12 inch rectangle. Spread with pate’ to within 1 ½ inches of edges. Center meat atop pastry. Fold long sides of pastry around meat, overlapping in center. Brush edges with beaten egg white and seal. Place seam side down in a greased shallow baking pan. Reroll trimmings to make cutouts on pastry. Brush pastry with remaining egg white. If desired, insert meat thermometer. Bake in 425 degree oven for about 25 minutes or till pastry is golden brown and thermometer registers 140 degrees. Let stand for 15 minutes and carve (Meat temp will rise 5 degrees while standing). Serve with Bordelaise sauce, garnish with parsley sprigs.
*Bordelaise sauce*
-1 ½ cups of water
-3/4 cup of red wine
-2 tablespoons of finely chopped shallot or onion
-1 teaspoon of instant beef bouillon granules
-1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed
-1 bay leaf
-3 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
-2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
-1 Tablespoon snipped fresh parsley

Directions:
In a medium saucepan combine water, red wine, shallot or onion, bouillon granules, thyme, and bay leaf. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, for 15-20 minutes (You should have about 1 1/3 cups). Remove bay leaf. Stir together butter or margarine and flour. Add to wine mixture. Cook and stir till thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir for 1 minute more. Stir in parsley.

VENISON GUACAMOLE BURGERS (MAKES 4 SERVINGS)

Ingredients:
-8 Bacon Strips
- ½ cup chopped onion
-1 can (4 ounces) chopped green chilies
-1 pound of ground Venison
-4 slices Monterey Jack Cheese
-4 sandwich buns, split and toasted
-1/4 cup of guacamole

Directions:
In a large skillet, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp. Remove to paper towels and drain. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine onion and green chilies; set aside. Shape ground venison into eight patties. Top half of the patties with onion mixture. Cover with remaining patties and firmly press edges to seal. Grill, covered, over medium heat for 5-7 minutes on each side or until done. Top each with bacon and cheese. Grill one minute longer until cheese is melted. Serve on buns with guacamole.
DEER SAUSAGE ROLL-UPS (MAKES 3 ½ dozen)

Ingredients:
-1 carton (8 ounces) whipped cream cheese
-1/4 pound of Deer Sausage (The Salami Sausage) finely chopped
-2 tablespoons of dill pickle relish
-4 flour tortillas (10 inches), room temperature

Directions:
In a small bowl, combine the cream cheese, deer sausage and pickle relish. Spread over tortillas. Roll up tightly; wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 15 minutes. Unwrap and cut each tortilla into 1 inch slices.

Planting a Food Plot For Deer Hunting

2010-01-06T22:31:00.000-06:00

You don't have spend a lot of money planting a successful food plot. Do your homework and be proactive. If you follow through, chances are you may very well be exhibiting a big rack over the fireplace next season.

ATV attachments like this disc can make planting a food plot much easier. Many rental lots are starting to rent out food plot attachments for ATV's. Especially in rural areas.

Read Planting A Food Plot For Deer To Learn More

Aging A Whitetail Deer By Tooth Wear

2010-01-06T16:04:00.000-06:00

A deer rarely exceeds its average life expectancy of five years of age in the wild. They are capable of living over ten years but that does not happen very often. The main reasons are natural causes such as being hunted by predators such as humans, wolves, bear and big cats. Other causes are accidents (When a deer gets hit by a car) and starvation. As a deer gets older, it is commonly accepted that they wear their teeth down. After ten years, if they make it that long, their teeth are so worn down that they will usually starve to death.

Learn More About Aging Whitetail Deer

Deer Season's Over-Take some notes and increase your success next year

2010-01-05T22:14:00.000-06:00

With dear season over in many parts of the country Foremost Hunting Pro Staff Member Chris Larsen suggests you take some note about your hunt. Notes should include weather conditions, number of deer spotted, moon phases and more. Over time this journal will become a valuable instruction manual for future hunts.

Read Post Hunt Notes At Foremost Hunting

Horizontal Bow Hunter Has A New Website For Crossbow Hunters

2010-01-05T21:29:00.000-06:00

If you’re interested in crossbow hunting check out the new Horizontal Bow Hunting Website (Horizontal Bow Hunter is the official magazine of the American Crossbow Federation). The site is packed with great articles for the crossbow enthusiast as well as information to help education the general public about crossbows and their usefulness. Hats off to Dan and his crew for all their hard work on the site.

If you want to learn more about crossbows and crossbow hunting check out Horizontal Bow Hunter

Fall Turkey Hunting Tactics

2010-01-05T18:17:00.000-06:00

The eager toms of spring no longer come running upon hearing the purr of a hen… or hen call. They are now suspicious. However, most states allow harvesting either sex in the fall thus enhancing a hunter’s opportunity to come home with a bird.

Read Turkey Hunting In The Fall By Chris Larsen

VDB9PRQ42343

An Uncle John Christmas Card

2010-01-05T10:46:00.000-06:00

You might not have known it, and few care, but Christmas Day is my birthday. So for obvious reasons I try to do something special each year to commemorate another yearly escape from the gallows. First of all the best Christmas present I get every year is the fact that more and more outdoorsmen are enjoying the articles of “Uncle John’s Outdoors.” Foremost Hunting.com is the first place where I can actually show all the photos, and more or less tell the stories just like they happen. There is no waiting for an article for the reader, the news happens and then gets printed within hours sometimes. You get to see everything and interact at Foremost Hunting

For 2009 we have had many accomplishments for the first year. Foremost Hunting established itself as one of the national supporters for crossbow hunting, subsequently becoming a leader in the Crossbow World of media coverage, setting a fine example for all archery hunting. With the legalization of the crossbow in many states, a major milestone was the article that insisted that Louisiana legalize the crossbow for turkey hunting. When this was accomplished it showed the power of the outdoor media for a righteous cause.

Foremost Hunting.com sponsored and covered the first State Crossbow 3-D Tournament ever held by the American Crossbow Federation which was held at Fort Polk Louisiana. Foremost Hunting Covered the 2009 Top Gun Challenge (World Squirrel Rifle Championship) as well as the largest Turkey Shoots held in the State of Louisiana. Foremost Hunting gave us insight into The world of handicapped hunting and squared us away in safety matters, while giving us a technical outlook on new equipment with first hand information.

We have learned about key leaders in the hunting community while getting a good look at the next generation of kids that we all like the brag on, well Foremost Hunting is the place to do it. Hey we even have our own Jr. Pro Staff, boys and girls that write their own articles and test their own equipment, all you have to do is browse a little of Foremost Hunting.com and see for yourself. If you have ever wanted to know where all the good outdoor writers are, well we are making new ones right here at Foremost Hunting.

2009 brought a lot of change in our lives, for me personally I lost three good friends all within a 3 week period. Donny Racing an old friend and fishing buddy who would find me stuck in the woods and haul me out no matter what the conditions. He came from a family of hunters and race car drivers that is famous in Western Louisiana. Jim Fetterkile, was the manager and promoter of MWR at Ft Polk Louisiana. He was instrumental in seeing through all the shooting activities and spearheaded the improvements which established the Fort Polk Shooting Complex.

Louis Ellison was my own personal mentor since I was 18 years old. He taught me the martial arts and I went on to become a world champion and grand master instructor. He taught me advanced shooting skills that brought about the Top Gun Challenge rifle match and just about everything else I know about hunting and fishing making him the true Old Man in the saga of “Pass it on.”

My own students are coming along nicely. Kade Jones who is now Kade Parker graduated with honors this year and has decided to become a Louisiana State Policeman. Maurice Masterson “flyswatter junior” the last student of Lou Ellison, is probably the youngest practicing gun smith anywhere. He is gearing up for the Marine Corps and says he will be the best Scout Sniper in the world. All I can say to that is, he has all the right stuff.

Kaleb Dickerson is the newest of the sharpshooter clan of Top Team Gun, looks like this one wants to go to West Point and be an Army Officer just like Dad, Capt Harvey Dickerson. Do you see the trend here?

One of my finest finished products is April Morris, who made a Black Belt with me several years ago. She went on under adverse conditions in the cosmetic world to invent a lip gloss that aids women’s weight loss. I think she is a millionaire now, ladies check out Express Effects Cosmetics.

Promoting the concept of excellence in any endeavor is the key to raising a young person, correct me if I’m wrong, but a few bull’s-eyes and karate chops seem to be a good starting point. Then they take the self discipline and go their own way.

So Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to Bobby Hill and his turkey shooting family, Hendricks and Russo and the American Crossbow Federation, 4 Winds Tribe Cherokee Confederation, Chief Jackie Womack, Mona Hayden for Louisiana Road Trips Magazine, The Mobius Company with Lt General Mohamed Al Samara. Jim Callaway and Dave Miller and all the Range Staff at Fort Polk Shooting Complex, The EMT Hunting Cub members, Star Gun and Archery of Leesville, Days Inn staff at Leesville, and to the Foremost Media group that makes all the good hunting information possible.

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year...and Pass it on