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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.