Grow the Hunt

Upcoming Camp

-By Brandon Wikman

The past five weeks haven’t been spent glassing fields for fury antlers, or for that matter planting food plots; but rather on the phone, attending meetings and detailing a surefire schedule for my youth camp.

It’s hard to imagine just last fall I began to brainstorm concepts to implement an outdoor day camp for kids in the state of Wisconsin. Now it’s here! I’ve spent countless hours planning, preparing and strategizing the best way to grab the attention of an eight year old, but more importantly making it a pleasurable and enjoyable learning experience. After several trial and error practices, I’ve nailed down a twelve-hour outdoor education course!

I plan to begin the camp bright and early at eight in the morning. We will begin an introduction of participants and instructors to ease any nerves and break the ice. I will continue by describing how I began my lifelong pursuit in the outdoor industry and how they too, can make their dream come true. I’ve always been interested in the behind the scenes look at what goes into making a television show. So, I’ve brought my cameraman to demonstrate a brief seminar and show his equipment for display. It’s always neat to see the camouflaged camera, monster tripods and a big arm brace bracket for tree stand hunting. That’s not even including all the wireless microphone equipment, cleaning supplies, batteries, tapes, etc.

The basis of my camp is to touch on a little bit of each hunting subject, whether it is deer, turkey, environmentalist, or farmer. By giving kids a small sample of what the outdoors offers, it maximizes the chance that they’ll follow hunting traditions for years to come.

Whitetails are a fascinating creature. That is why I plan to spend a respectable amount of time teaching kids about their characteristics and behavior. Everything from searching for mock shed antlers, scoring, fake blood trailing and analyzing scouting techniques, the whitetail portion is exciting and fast paced. We dig into the anatomy, growth and ages of deer through diagrams, videos and detailed pictures.

Wild turkeys are another critter that deserves time in the spotlight. We dissect the scouting, planning and calling techniques to exemplify how diverse these animals truly are. Their wide range of vocabulary and behavior makes them a challenging opponent. Teaching kids how to use mouth calls, and friction calls will be a main component in the breakout sessions of the class.

The last event planned for the day is a lifelike 3d-archery hunting course. I’ve spent several days in preparing specific scenarios of animal encounters and crafted it into a gripping experience! From shooting from elevated positions to hunting tent blinds, this course will test not only endurance, but also focus and concentration.

My primary goal as a teacher is to implement educational tools that kids will take and use for years to come. I’ve integrated video, hands-on experience and demonstration areas, so kids are able to understand each and every topic to the utmost. Finding fun in outdoor education was as easy as coming up with the idea of a camp for kids. The tricky part about it was all the minor details that go into it making it a fundable learning environment.

With enough passion and heart put toward a project, only God knows the potential of it. I hope through my camp kids will grasp a better understanding of the outdoors and the several opportunities they have to live the outdoor experience. Whether it is growing food plots, stalking whitetail, or calling in turkeys, it’s something all kids should at least try once.

Food Plot Utilization

So the food plots that you planted are coming in now. You are wondering were my efforts worth it? Did I add enough fertilizer and lime to the plot? What type of use is the food plot getting? One easy way to tell is to set up a small exclosure* in each food plot. An exclosure is nothing more than a small fenced in area to protect the plants inside of it from being eaten by wildlife.

These are simple to construct and can tell you a lot about your food plot. Simply take a piece of chicken or hog wire and wire the ends together so that it forms a circle about 3 feet in diameter. Drive two stakes into the ground and tie the wire cage to them.

Now you have a control area to measure how your food plot is performing. By comparing the rest of the food plot to the exclosed area you should be able to get a pretty good idea of how much use the food plot is receiving. On the other hand, if the plants in the food plot and the ones in the exclosed area are not thriving you may need to revisit how the food plot was prepped. Did you do a soil test? Did it receive the proper amount of lime and fertilizer? Make note of how well the food plot in the control area performs, so you can make some changes in how it is planted for next season.

*exclosure - An exclosure, in an area being used extensively for grazing, is a limited area from which cattle and wildlife are excluded by fencing.

Hemorrhagic Disease

This hunting season, it is important to remember the diseases that are plaguing deer. Hemorrhagic disease, a generalized name for both epizootic hemorrhagic disease virus (EHDV) and bluetongue virus (BTV), kill more deer (whitetail, blacktail and mule deer) than any other disease. Spread by a small midge fly, also known as gnats, the diseases kill nearly 50 to 90 percent of infected deer. Hemorrhagic disease attacks a deer’s blood clotting ability, resulting in hemorrhaging in the organs and tissues. Symptoms include fever, swollen necks, tongues and eyelids, excessive salivation, abnormal growth of hooves, lethargy and an emaciated appearance. Surviving deer develop antibodies to the disease, but this immunity does not guarantee that a deer will not be susceptible to future strains of the virus.

Fortunately, hemorrhagic disease cannot be transferred to humans through consumption or contact with infected deer. However, experts suggest that any animal that appears diseased should not be eaten or handled. There is currently no cure for hemorrhagic disease. Anyone finding a deer that appears to be diseased or a dead carcass should immediately contact a conservation officer in their area.

Read more about hemorrhagic disease »

A Summer Thought

-By Brandon Wikman

Deer and turkey season has all but piddled into a simple memory as we begin the sweltering month of July. The summer months are a time of grilling, camping, swimming, and tempting our lips with the bittersweet taste of lemonade. Although seasons have passed, memories never fade. There always seem to be a few unforgettable memories that never cease the mind, especially in my case - my very first Illinois deer hunt.

My friend and I were visiting a local pro shop and we jumped into the subject of last deer season. After he explained his misfortunes and sour luck at missing the almighty Bullwinkle, I had to brighten up the scene with my interesting hunting adventure.

The day before Illinois firearm season began, I ventured south toward Putnam County, IL. A county that isn’t as publicized as the infamous Pike, Brown or Adams County, which are near the southwestern portion of the state. I was invited to hunt the ground by a friend I met at a Bass Pro Shops Grand Opening in Indiana. As soon as I heard Illinois, archery and deer hunting all in one sentence, I began drooling at a chance to hunt the Land of Lincoln. Illinois has produced some wicked racked whitetails, and the odds of getting a crack at a trophy buck in this agriculture haven are pretty good!

Muzzleloader in hand, I trekked my way toward the tree stand with my cousin, Joe Nawrot, running camera hoping to capture some great bruiser buck video footage. The first day of our hunt we caught a glimpse of a doe scampering through the woods. We both anticipated a buck to be hot on her trail, but nothing showed up. We sat for another two hours until noon. The slow deer activity and lack of sightings left us puzzled, but it was only the first day. After we grabbed a makeshift gas station lunch, we hopped back into the tree and sat the rest of the afternoon. Temperatures teetered around 40-degrees, all the snow was melted and the post-rut activity looked scarce. The afternoon proved unsuccessful with not one deer spotting.

There’s nothing more mind boggling than to experience a solid day with deer activity on an all-time drought; especially when you’ve only got 3-days to hunt, and you’ve traveled hundreds of miles.

The second day started out rough. Winds blowing up to 40-mph swayed our tree back-and-forth, making it nearly impossible to get a solid aim or align crosshairs on vitals. As you would’ve guessed, we saw a grand total of zero deer during the entire day’s perch. Things began getting emotional as we hung our heads and stuffed our faces with comfort food. I remember faintly wincing at the television screen awaiting tomorrow’s forecast, afraid to listen to the weather. The weatherman announced a winter storm warning with ice and rain mix, along with high winds. Joe and I looked at each other and tampered with the idea of heading back home before the storm erupted. I don’t know why, but we opted to stay. All variables were against us, with the most critical being rain - moisture and video cameras don’t blend; it’s as simple as that.

We arose the morning of day three with open eyes and watched the snow powder the hotel’s parking lot. Joe and I debated what to do. We could either hunt hard without the camera, or stick around the hotel room watching Sunday morning’s lineup of cartoons. We decided to hunt.

The storm seemed to engulf every sign of life in the woods. From snow, to rain, to ice, there was not a critter to be seen. As noon approached and the storm ensued, we began to strategize a plan. We both knew where the bedding location was on the property, so I told Joe to slowly walk through the bedding area and hopefully with enough luck, a buck would squirt out.

No more than ten minutes into the one-man drive, a herd of deer followed the lead doe across the woods en route to another thicket. I peered through the scope brushing away water and spotted a racked deer. As soon as he stopped to look back, I fired a 250-grain sabot into the deer’s vitals. It just happened! Joe came running through the woods toward my stand as I scaled down the tree. An enlightening moment of sheer luck enriched our soggy souls as a team effort approach and a will to succeed surely paid off!

Memories like these captivate and hold our passions true to the outdoors. Living the outdoors experience, stockpiling memories and sharing the encounters with good friends are what hunting is all about.

My Second Year with "BRUTAL BOBBY"

-By Randy Cooper

Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words. That’s the case here. Bobby is a buck that I’ve had the privilege to watch going on my two years. I first got pictures of him coming to my feeder last August while in full velvet. I’ve included some infrared footage of him below from this year, but the one color picture from last year shows him after nearly a year of being fed a good diet of corn and high mineral goat feed. His coat is shiny and he is the very meaning of a healthy deer.

I gave him the name “BOBBY” because he only has half a tail. It appears to be bobbed off. Even without being able to see this buck’s behind, I could always tell it was him because of his uneven brow tines.

I hunted all year for two very special bucks. It was cat and mouse with them all season. I saw Bobby several times but let him go, waiting for the others. That’s the price you pay when you’ve made up your mind to only settle for a certain deer. I think this year it’s going to be different. I’m watching four bucks now that I’m sure will make Pope and Young by the time they shed velvet. Bobby is one of them. I am not sure that the huge 10 pointer that I hunted all last season is still with us. One of the other three bucks may be him, but right now I just can’t tell until their racks develop further.

Things have changed in a big way with Bobby since last year. Bobby was just one of the guys last season and came to feed with the rest of the gang. He worked a scrape that I filmed all season, but he didn’t display any aggressive behavior. We as hunters have all heard of bucks establishing a pecking order or dominance throughout the year in the herd. They usually start when they are little squirts when they mock battle each other as spikes and 4 pointers. These sparing matches are just play but do allow the bucks to test each others strength. Usually, bucks will run in bachelor groups until closer to rut when they begin to swell up with testosterone. Bigger bucks become loners and are aggressive toward each other and sometimes serious fights break out between them.

There must be a vacancy that needs to be filled in the pecking order between the bigger bucks that have been coming to my feeder. So far, Bobby’s neck, believe it or not, is bigger than all the other bucks and he is showing so much aggression toward the other bucks his size that I’ve never seen or heard of anything like it. Through my Moultrie I-60 camera, I’ve taken some extremely good footage of him going after other bucks that get too close to him or the feeder. He’s chased off two at a time that are as big as he is.

From all the indications, Bobby is going to be “THE BOSS” this year. He is simply brutal toward the other bucks. He’ll probably do most of the breeding and get into some serious fights. I hope to catch them on film and I also hope to take him home with me. He’s a bull of a buck and is very muscular. It’s funny really, when he’s about to go after one of the other bucks he’ll stop what he’s doing and stare at them for a second and then he’ll charge. It’s just like the F-22 Raptor getting a missile lock on an enemy aircraft and then firing.

Bucks aren’t supposed to be this aggressive this early. That’s why this is so rare. Check out the footage and the color pic of Bobby from last year. I’m sure he’ll be bigger this time and when he’s fully developed I’ll send some more pictures of him. Hopefully I’ll be in the picture too!

Crab Claw's Daddy

Here’s a picture to keep you motivated for next hunting season. A Moultrie customer captured this monster he nicknamed “Crab Claw’s Daddy” on his Moultrie scouting camera last hunting season. Start mounting your game cameras early so you can start tracking a trophy buck like this one.