Grow the Hunt

Hunting the Southern Beast

-By Brandon Wikman

Last weekend I flew into one of the most sought after travel destinations in the country. A place where magic meets illusion and wonder meets inspiration. I had a roundtrip ticket from Milwaukee, Wis. to Orlando, Fla. My travel bag wasn’t crammed with sporty beach-bum clothes, sun tan lotion, or chocked full of visitor brochures. I was there for one reason, which was hunting southern style. My northern roots expanded south this past weekend when I was introduced to a sweet Southern tradition called wild hog hunting.

Mobs of Magic Kingdom fanatics and Sea World enthusiasts stormed off the plane, while I admired the feeling of entering a totally new world. Florida throughout the summer is extremely hot and humid. It is a habitat full of slithering snakes and gators hidden by the mass vegetation of swampland. Joe Bukey of Strut n’ Rut Outdoor Adventures Television planned the adventure and hunt. Bukey picked me up from the bustling Orlando International Airport and drove toward the swamp country en route to where wild hogs call home. We pulled into the driveway at midnight, unpacked the truck, and the meet and greet frenzy began.

Mike Tussey, who is the owner of Osceola Outdoors, met our crew late that evening at midnight. Tussey’s upbeat, go-go attitude, and comical personality reassured everyone that this would be a fun-filled weekend. There is truly nothing better than experiencing good hunting combined with great people. The blend is unbeatable and ultimately is what shapes the entire adventure. After the jokes settled and everyone got acquainted with each other, we crashed into the pillow only to wake a few hours later.

Hunting wild hogs was a new experience. Tussey and his guide, Robert, dropped me with a few vital lessons on how the rendezvous worked. Both Tussey and Robert had exceptionally trained dogs that would be aiding in the hunt.

The super, heavy-duty trucks were no match for some of the terrain that wild hogs called home. Thick vegetation tangled into webs of barricades that were impossible to infiltrate. Overgrown swamps coupled with deep muddy waters called for a bare-boot show down. It didn’t take long until the dogs began barking. Three dogs jet-skied through the water toward the stinky marsh critter. I grabbed my rifle, took a deep breath, and slopped through the hellhole. Clumps of mud surfaced in the stagnant mosquito breeding waters as I cut the distance towards my opponent.

Three brave dogs circled the ferocious beast. It was like a carousel, but only made of dogs and a giant black monster. I steadied my rifle as Tussey shouted specific orders to the dogs. My soggy knees were soaked with a plaster of mud while my boots sunk into the sludge. My heart raced as I peeked back-and-forth from my scope to reassure that I had a clear shot. The most difficult part is making a clean kill on the wild hog so it won’t charge; or even worse, accidentally hitting a dog. My window of opportunity opened and I cranked back the trigger and busted a bullet into the chest of a behemoth hog. He crippled into the tall saw grass as the dogs pounced onto him.

The rush lasted several hours after the kill. Wild hog hunting truly is an action packed rendezvous that every hunter must try at least once in their lifetime. It was an experience that I will forever remember and hold dear to my heart. Teaming with one of the most legendary outfitters in the state of Florida and a squad of courageous dogs sparked a wild hog chasing fire in my soul that will always blaze. I’d just like to thank Strut n’ Rut Outdoor Adventures and Osceola Outdoors for blessing me with a taste of southern tradition.

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A Bad Day Fishing Is Still Better Than a Day At Work

-By Rich Miller

After nearly a week of sitting on the beach and playing in the sand, by the time Mark arrived Friday I was ready to get on the water. He did not get there until later in the afternoon and we were not sure where the tide would be by the time we got on the water. The plan was for us to go after redfish and flounder. The tide was going to be high and up in the grass, so the fish should have been in there feeding in the shallow water on fiddler crabs and bait fish. We were hoping to see the fish’s tails out of the water while they were feeding so we could cast our baits past them thinking that they would take our baits as we reeled them into the fish while they were in the middle of their feeding frenzy.

Once we got the boat in the water we realized that it was a huge tide. It was the highest the water had been in years. That was not good news for us because the fish would be more spread out and harder for us to locate. We headed into the marsh until it got so shallow the trolling motor hit bottom. We pulled up the motor, got out the push pole and kept going. We had probably been in there about thirty minutes when we spotted a couple of fish tailing. I made a couple of casts but didn’t get them close enough for the fish to see my bait. Then Mark put his on one of the fish’s noses and he was hooked up with a really big fish. He may have had the fish on for two minutes when it just came off for no reason. The fish was too big to keep but it would have been nice to get him to the boat and land him so we could have released him.

South Carolina has a slot limit on red fish and they have to be between 15 to 23 inches before they are legal to keep. After losing that fish it got really slow and we weren’t seeing very much action. We started getting worried that the tide was going out and we didn’t want to get stuck on the mud flat and have to spend the night out there. We took the boat out to the edge of the creek and anchored it there. At that point we bailed out of the boat and started wading where we had spotted the fish earlier. Besides seeing the fish, we were also finding a lot of pieces of fiddler crabs floating by as we were wading in the water. We had only been in the water a few minutes when Mark hooked up another fish. The only problem with this fish, it was actually a two and a half foot shark! He finally got the shark in and I was able to release him. The really bad part was we were wading around in knee deep water with sharks during feeding.

After the shark incident it was pretty slow for the next hour until we saw a fish cruising by that looked like an underwater torpedo by the wake he was leaving. I was able to make a good cast and get my bait in his face and he inhaled it! That is when we encountered another problem; this was a really big redfish for the light tackle that I was using and this fish wasn’t slowing down. He made a long run and all I could do was hold on until he got in some thick reeds and made a turn. I guess the combination of the amount of line I had out and the grass just gave him enough slack to get the hook out of his mouth and he got off too. After Friday afternoon the score was redfish 2, Mark and Rich 0, but we planned on being back on the water first thing Saturday morning.

Back on the water Saturday morning around 6:30, we had an extra rod in the boat. Phil, a friend of Mark, decided to tag along with us. We planned on going to the same spot that Mark and his dad had caught all the fish the week before, so we were all pretty confident while heading across the inlet. When we reached our destination the water was still a little high.

The plan was to catch the fish that were staged on some oyster banks and were feeding on the bait that was coming out of the marsh as the water came out. Then we were going to cast up and down the bank and cover as much water as possible. We were not sight fishing like the day before, though every now and then we would catch a fish breaking the water while chasing bait.

For the first couple of hours it was really slow until Phil caught a keeper trout. Then Mark caught a couple of redfish. All the while I was getting a few bites, but I couldn’t put anything in the boat. Sometime after lunch Phil hooked up with a big redfish that gave us some much needed excitement. This fish ended up being 27-inches long so we had to release him. Phil didn’t care much because he had so much fun just catching him.

After it was all said and done I think we ended up with three redfish and one trout that were keepers and, no, I never did put a fish in the boat. Even though I was skunked during my two days of fishing, which Mark took every opportunity to remind me, I still enjoyed every bite of the ones those guys caught! I am planning on going down again next month for a couple of days so that hopefully I can redeem myself . . . but if I don’t I am sure Mark will let me know about it.

Safe In The Sun

As the 4th of July weekend quickly approaches, many people are probably planning on doing some kind of activity outdoors.

If you are like most of us outdoors people you spend a lot of time in the sun, heading outside every chance we get. We love to spend our days on the water or in the field. Success in any outdoor pursuit requires attention to detail. We spend time finding the perfect lure or the ideal site to hang our stands. One thing that is often overlooked as we head outdoors is skin protection.

Sure, we may remember to slap on a little sunscreen while dove hunting in the hot September sun, but what about when we are on the lake fishing in cool, early spring?

According to the Skin Cancer Foundation, over 1 million cases of skin cancer are diagnosed each year. Most of these cases are caused by the sun’s ultraviolet rays. Take a look at these guidelines offered by the Skin Cancer Foundation to prevent skin cancer. Don’t forget sunscreen this upcoming holiday weekend or anytime you head out to the field or water.

Everyday steps to sun safety:

• Seek the shade, especially between 10 AM and 4 PM
• Do not burn
• Cover up with clothing, including a broad-brimmed hat and UV-blocking sunglasses
• Use a sunscreen with an SPF of 15 or higher every day
• Apply 1 ounce (2 tablespoons) of sunscreen to your entire body 30 minutes before going outside
• Look for skin changes of any kind
• See your physician every year for a professional skin cancer exam

A June Haircut

-By Brandon Wikman

As June’s green foliage sprouts like the end of my shaggy bangs, I am reluctant to say that it’s time for some serious trimming. I typically head into the woods during this time for my ritual of summer pruning, clearing, and cutting. Trimming shooting lanes, scraping debris off of trails and marking them is important to do within the coming weeks.

The acreage I hunt only encounters my handsaw about once a year. Even though one cutting seems as little as shaving a few centimeters off a thick head of hair, the results will magnify. I’ve always been told that a little goes a long, long way. The more I experience this common phrase, whether it’s used for dispersing deer scent, providing bait, or hunting a particular stand; it couldn’t be anymore accurate. I’ve been taught to only snip, cut, and bust as few branches, shrubs, or undergrowth as needed.

I’ve witnessed several hunting buddies yank up their sleeves, take out their chainsaw and do work on the grounds near their tree stand. By the time they finish sinking their chainsaw into trees and piling brush, there’s not much cover left! I’ve seen them literally clear an entire 20x20-yard spot in the forest. The once thick and tangled vegetation that the deer loved transformed into a mini-sized field in the middle of the forest. This is bad for several reasons.

If you decide to turn a lush, green hunting spot completely bald and stricken of cover, you are doing more harm than help. Mature deer depend on weaving through thick cover and tangled brush in the cloak of sunset. It’s what makes them feel safe, secure, and invincible. By removing their cover, we’re actually convincing them to skirt the clear cutting and change travel patterns.

We all understand the process of regeneration. That is why it’s so important to make select and strategic cuts on timber. It opens the canopy and sheds beams of light to the ground, which in turn lift seeds from the soil into the air. If we slice into trees and bush hog the woodland’s floor intensely during the summer, new plant life nearly always takes longer to grow. Summer is known for its serious droughts and there’s no telling the amount of rainfall we may or may not receive. It may take years for the new vegetation to lift and the plant life to turn thick.

Instead of going cut-crazy and altering your honey holes’ effectiveness, make a few select openings that will improve your shooting capabilities. Chomp into the branches with a nice pair of shears or let the bite of a handsaw eat and do the work. As you begin piling brush comprised of tree limbs, shrubs, and bushes, use them to your advantage. I like to construct brush fences along certain deer trails and manipulate game movement to my benefit. Trails that intertwine downwind of my stand location are always choked by heaping piles of limbs or tipped trees. I’ve learned this technique from attending several seminars conducted by leading hunting professionals and land managers.

Last year I was able to sink an arrow into the vitals of a nice deer by persuading it to move according to my direction. Hunting is all about trying new strategies that will improve your odds of success. The fact of the matter is that there’s no secret, magical black box that will rein in monster whitetails every time we use it. The field-testing, first hand experiences, and trial-and-error are what ultimately make us better hunters. Tag two techniques with one job this summer by making select cuts and using the excess debris to your advantage.