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October 30, 2012
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November can be a challenging month for the upland bird hunter. September, despite its heavy cover and warm days, offered plenty of naive young-of-the-year ruffed and prairie grouse, some of which held over to October’s Indian summer. That’s when all the adolescent pheasants, Hungarian partridge, and bobwhite quail were picked off too.
There are still birds left in November, but their habitat is in flux, and they’re in survival mode due to hunting pressure and the worsening weather. All this makes successful November upland hunting a difficult—though not insurmountable—endeavor.
[ Read Full Post ]October 23, 2012
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Solid waterfowl dogs don’t just happen. Obedience, mouth manners, marking, and handling take months of daily training. But in the real world, many of us didn’t do enough of that prerequisite work, and now we’re in the blind, screaming at our dogs: “Listen! Sit! Stay! Come!” And panicking that our duck hunt is a bust.
Unless you retake control of your dog now, it’s not going to be a good day, for you or your hunting partners. But if you’ve done a semblance of pre-hunt training, your dog knows what’s expected of him, and a few simple reminders in the moment can salvage your outing.
1. Issue: Breaking and pacing
Without a doubt, breaking (going for a bird without being sent) and pacing in the blind are the most common problems you’ll see. Not only will a dog’s movement in the blind cost you birds, it can be deadly if the dog breaks in the direction hunters are shooting.
[ Read Full Post ]October 23, 2012
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When it comes to crossbow hunting, one size does not fit all scenarios. Here are three good crossbows for three different hunting situations.
1. Ground Blinds
The popularity of ground blinds is soaring as the average age of hunters rises. Increasingly, we prefer hunting at lower altitudes, and blinds offer concealment and scent containment. Ground blinds are difficult for animals to see into, affording you much greater mobility than a treestand. Plus, you get the option of using a longer-limbed crossbow, which can be stowed anywhere in the blind, including on a shooting stick or other type of prop. Ground blinds are often placed in or around food plots or water holes, forcing the shooter to make longer shots than treestand hunters. Larger, more powerful bows excel at covering increased real estate.
[ Read Full Post ]October 22, 2012
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We found this petroglyph earlier this month in a cave above Idaho's Middle Fork Salmon River.
The cave art was probably rendered by a member of the Sheepeaters—the band of Western Shoshone that specialized in hunting bighorns—at least 150 years ago. Is it a cry for help from a cave-bound spouse, waiting for her brave to return? Or a hunter recounting the rams he has killed? Write the most imaginative caption you can in the comments section. The best entry will win a Gerber field knife sharpener.
Contest ends October 31.
[ Read Full Post ]October 18, 2012
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Willie and Jase Robertson (left), from A&E's hit show Duck Dynasty, are unlikely TV superstars. And they're still hard-core outdoorsmen at heart.
Willie: Our show, Duck Dynasty, is a family show, and the reaction to it has been overwhelmingly positive. But I’ll tell you what—nobody wrote a manual for this. Nobody wrote a manual on how you run a business while all this is happening at the same time.
Jase: When we go out in public now we’re easily recognized. Basically, when you look like we do—before the show, people kept their distance. People thought I was homeless. Now it’s different. I was in Ohio last weekend, my plane got delayed, and I got there 60 seconds before I was going up on stage to speak. When I walked out, there were two families in the front row and they had “Duck Dynasty” spelled out in paint on their chests. People were cheering and hollering. People were going crazy and I hadn’t even said a word.
[ Read Full Post ]October 18, 2012
by Technology has pervaded every aspect of our lives, from the office and the home to how we entertain ourselves—and even how we hunt. The latter is a source of consternation among traditionalists, but for the modern deer hunter willing to embrace the cutting-edge gear manufacturers produce each year, the hunting experience can be richer, safer, and ultimately more productive.
Riflescopes
▶ Internal improvements, better coatings and glass, and increased offerings in range-compensating reticles have made it so that many riflescopes cost as much as, if not more than, the gun they ride atop. However, for the hunter who understands “you can’t shoot it if you can’t see it,” the cost is worth it, particularly when improved light transmission can mean making the shot during those first few or final critical moments of shooting light.
Top Pick
The Nikon Monarch 2.5–10x42 BDC provides a 4x mag range and excellent low-light performance. The BDC reticle aids in shot placement at multiple distances. ($430)
[ Read Full Post ]October 16, 2012
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I won’t lie to you—hunting rabbits with a beagle or five is easier than trying to fill a brace of bunnies by going dogless. But then, some things in life are appreciated most when they don’t come too easily. While most die-hard Elmer Fudds wouldn’t be caught in a thicket without their low-running hounds, for the casual hunter just looking to score some meat for a stew, rabbit country offers the chance for an incredibly fun and productive walk with a 20-gauge tucked over his arm. Follow these strategies to maximize your odds for success, whether going it alone or partnering up for a great hunt.
Going Solo
Because of the abundance of predators out to get them, rabbits prefer areas where thick cover and ample food are in close proximity. Grown-up borders or thickets immediately next to open crops of soybeans, peanuts, and peas, or food plots lush with clover or turnips or overrun with broadleaf weeds will all harbor a population of cottontails.
[ Read Full Post ]October 10, 2012
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Fewer than one in a thousand ducks and geese sport leg bands or collars, making them a rare and unusual trophy for a hunter. Each has a story to tell, tying its wearer to a particular place and time, and telling the tale of its journey. Their recovery also provides information crucial to the proper management of our continent’s waterfowl populations.
In 1902, Dr. Paul Bartsch of the Smithsonian Institution was the first to band birds in North America. Today, research biologists using government-approved equipment band migratory waterfowl. They affix an aluminum band that is marked with a unique number sequence to a bird, recording its species, sex, and age, as well as the date and location of the banding. From subsequent recoveries, the researchers can determine a great deal.
[ Read Full Post ]October 3, 2012
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Because cover can change over the course of the season, your hunting style should reflect that. You have to adapt when fields get harvested or sloughs dry up. Hunting pressure, time of day, number of hunting partners, and even your dog’s stamina can affect the productivity of each cover type.
If you are loath to adapt to habitat changes, just remember this: Pheasants are a simple species, driven to survive and fairly easy to predict. They sleep, eat, loaf, and then eat again. If you understand how birds use each cover type for each activity, you can put more roosters in your bag.
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