Grow the Hunt

A Hunter's Work Is Never Done

-By Rich Miller

Every year it seems that there is more and more to do to get ready for the upcoming hunting season. This year is proving to be no different either. Keeping up with the areas that I hunt locally is bad enough but when you throw in the lease in Kansas it is even worse.

Last week I flew to my home away from home to visit my good friend and fellow Knight & Hale Pro Staffer Mick bowman. Even though we always have a good time when we are together the purpose of this visit was work.

We tried to get as many stand sites prepared as possible before the season opens. Though it will be November before I am there to hunt, when I show up all I will have to do is get in the tree. We were able to get four different stand sites prepared for a hunter and cameraman. We hunt some of these places year after year and we always see a lot of deer activity.

We checked out a couple of new places that looked very promising but it was so thick out there right now and they will look totally different come November. We trimmed some of the brush from around the stand sites and they will only get better after the leaves fall off the trees.

In several of these places we are not able to plant food plots because it is in pasture. The farmers just won’t allow us to plow up parts of their pastures no matter what we are planting. It didn’t matter anyway because the ground was way too wet to allow us to plant anything. Our solution to putting a food source in these places is Moultrie feeders. Most of these pastures are 80 or 160 acres in size so we put a feeder or two in the middle of the property to help draw deer into these areas.

We place the feeders in areas that are natural travel routes for deer and it doesn’t take them very long at all to find them. The does use these feeders on a daily basis and as you well know, where there are does in November the bucks will be cruising through to check them out. These feeder sites are a great place to set up our Game Spy cameras so we know what uses these feeders. It also provides me with a lot of anticipation every week as I wait on Mick to send me the weekly pictures from our cameras.

I was there for five days and we did manage to get a lot of work done but as it always goes there are never enough hours in the day. It was time for me to fly back home before we knew it. It will seem like time is dragging until I get back out there to hunt in November. There is an upside though, bow season opens here tomorrow. If I have never mentioned it before, I love this time of year!

Cygnet Lake Camp

-By Brandon Wikman

Some people find escape and diversion from everyday life in material items. They discover a single flare of content with simple tangible goods, but soon realize that their fate is left in shreds of momentary value. The secret of life is decorating your soul with ornaments of perpetual beauty that blossoms from God’s greatest bounty.

The arresting fascination of the wilderness has embraced a fairytale charm through the hearts of homebodies seeking grace. Virgin eyes can only attempt creating foggy parodies of what energy the Canadian wilderness would bring to their spirit. The sight of soft speckled sunlight glimmering through the canopy of birch trees; fresh spring water bubbling from a hillside blanketed with flowers meandering through a meadow; spruce trees plastered with white moss as if it were Christmas in the middle of summer. It is these spectacles of Mother Nature that marry our imagination with reality.

In today’s spoon-fed culture where materialistic fascinations of desire penetrate far deeper into the psyche than our conscious mind can even drift; we step into our own hell. Our intellect is carried and passed from precedent generations of want and desire. A mindless craze saturated with media manipulation and a congestion of celebrity do’s and don’ts. Much of society has slowly evolved into a compulsive product of tomorrow’s technology and urgency.

We’ve grown ignorant of the simplicities in life and maintain a hasty cycle of monotony throughout our existence. The world strays through a garden of gold blindfolded and oblivious to the riches buried beneath each blessed day.

Self-gratification is prized as what type of interior our vehicle sports. Modesty has slowly deteriorated from a mindset that solely craves triumph upon scaling the so-called “ladder of success.” Our culture has banded together to blend a poisonous concoction that consists of fame, fortune, and greed. Countless numbers of anemic souls suckle off the drips of toxic media corruption only to find their selves thirsting for another serving.

Too many of us are already dead. The essence of life must be altered back into a realistic perspective. Families must harbor the values of love, time, and tradition to maintain a steadfast birth of contentment. Traveling down the path of least resistance requires nothing more than an attitude lacking ambition and curiosity.

A week spent lavishing in the bush at Cygnet Lake Camp in northwestern Ontario has cleansed my tarnished soul. Relishing the moments of solitude tames the beast within. Inhaling a breath of clean air has never felt so good.

The untamed wilderness has a mystical way of bridging the gap that separates our heart from mind. Tranquility cannot be impersonated from the confinements of our home, but sprouted from the waving pastures of wild flowers. The cascading waterfalls upon ancient moss infested boulders. The teeny droplets of sparkling dew clung glowing on a spider web at dawn. These are a compilation of life’s’ greatest fairytales that you won’t find in your library.

Purify your livelihood by medicating life with a dose of Mother Nature. It will transform the way you live.

I’d like to thank Dan Schafer, owner of Cygnet Lake Camp, for providing me with the time of my life.

Making Summer Successful

-By Brandon Wikman

Summer seems to strike a golden chord with savvy archers awaiting the opener. It is a time when we prep ourselves mentally and physically for the dawning of a new season that lies only weeks ahead. Our goals are set, anticipation is high, and now we sit tight, holding on to last year’s cherished memories. These recollections will soon evolve into this year’s fresh moments of enlightenment as we move into the later stages of summer.

This time of the year is always my most difficult time to cope with. Like many hunters, my calendar counts down the days until opening weekend of archery season. Deer season couldn’t come any sooner, but as it often does for many of us, by September we are wishing we’d put an extra few days of planting food plots, checking cameras, and scouting. Instead of daydreaming about the season, take action to make it the best hunt of your life by successfully preparing a game plan.

During different stages of the day, my mind departs and wanders into the forest. My imagination strolls down deer trails, overlooks hunting property from a birds-eye-view, and plants rich food plots in areas I’d never step camouflage boot in. During the afternoon grind reality splinters the ceiling of my office into tiny fragments of ideas and chunks of drywall clobber me over the head bringing an unsettled ambition to create one more nutritious plot, hang another stand, and burn more gas taking rides around the block with my binoculars strung around my neck. It is these small innovations of strategy that will make us all more successful hunters.

During the next few weeks I will be taking advantage of the extra time by hanging a few more stands around a freshly planted food plot that will be monitored by my handy game camera. Deer are constantly mowing greens right now. You will find bucks juicing-up on protein rich foods that will help them build muscle for the November brawls that lie ahead. Does are not so different. They are inhaling masses of soybean, alfalfa, and clover, which helps them feed their young. I’ve always found that placing my trail camera along field edges during this time of year yields many more photos.

As the shadows of dusk blanket the horizon, mature whitetails step foot into the limelight. It is a perfect time burn a few miles and ignite buck fever by driving around the areas you hunt. I will often times park behind brush or a wall of trees to remain hidden as I drool at the velvet covered bone from the eye-piece of my spotting scope. There’s nothing like glassing fields that are speckled with monster whitetail and knowing your tree stand’s only yards away. You must ask yourself, “Are you ready?”

Many hunters sit back and relax as opening day pulls the carpet from beneath their spotless boots. Prepare yourself now so you can pull the rug from beneath that buck’s hooves!

Bluegrass Breakdown

-By Rich Miller

Last week I was invited to Kentucky for a Knight & Hale Pro Staff meeting. I was really excited about going up there for several reasons. We were going to be checking out the new products for next year and I was going to get to see and hang out with some of my good friends from across the country that I don’t see very often. The meeting was held at the awesome Whitetail Creek Lodge. Other than our meetings we shot our bows on the 3-D range, fished in the pond right in front of our cabin, and thanks to Jim Strelec we ate like kings every afternoon; that man can do wonders with a black iron pot and open flame.

While I was there having a great time with all of my friends, my truck decided that it didn’t want to cooperate anymore and something in the motor was making it bellow white smoke from the exhaust. Being six hours away from home wasn’t the place for this to happen. After calling several different dealerships it was determined that I wasn’t going to be going home on Sunday as planned. It was going to be at least Tuesday before they could get it fixed.

Even though I was a long way from home I guess it could have been worse because I did have my good friend Jim Strelec there. He offered me a place to stay until my truck was ready for the road again. Since I was going to be there with nothing else to do I figured I might as well make it as productive as possible and check out some of the local hunting opportunities.

In this day and age hunting clubs, outfitters, and leasing land can be tough on a hunter’s wallet. I have always been a do-it-yourself type hunter whether it is deer, duck, or turkey hunting. I have found places all across the country and have had pretty good success on public ground for all types of game. It requires a little work and research, but there are places out there and many of the people that use them are not going to talk about them and give away their secrets. Some of these areas are draw hunts and you have to apply for them early, but there are also a lot of over the counter tags available.

After talking to couple of people in the area I found out about an area that is known as the Land Between the Lakes in Kentucky. It is somewhere in the neighborhood of 170,000 acres that for the most part is all open to the public. So I got a map and with some help from Jim and his pickup we did some riding and scouting. It didn’t take long before we started seeing deer pretty regularly in some of the fields and crossing the roads. Everywhere we went it was beautiful and looked as if the place had been made for deer and turkey. The bottoms were grown up in native grasses or either planted in corn with hardwood ridges bounding up each side full of virgin hardwoods. I found several great looking areas that will be good places to start looking if I get to come back this fall. From talking to some of the locals I feel like a hunter has the opportunity to take a trophy class animal while hunting there.

Tags can be purchased over the counter and are pretty reasonably priced for the opportunity to hunt deer of this caliber. When planning these do-it-yourself hunts add a couple of extra days to scout and learn the areas so you can try to pinpoint the animals before you waste your time hunting unproductive areas. Another trick is to contact the state wildlife department and find out when the rut normally occurs and plan your hunt around that time. This kind of hunting is going to require a lot of foot work but for the hunter who can’t afford the high dollar outfitters a hunt like this can turn into a hunt of a lifetime. If you make this an annual trip with a couple of hunting buddies it will get better every year from the knowledge that you gain from the previous years. Like I have always said you can’t kill’em sitting at home on the couch, so give yourself a chance and get in the woods!

Opening Weekend at Wik's World Camp

-By Brandon Wikman

Months of endless planning, tireless preparation, and continuous perseverance made last weekend’s camp a total success. A classroom full of eager kids and a handful of great volunteers helped create a once in a lifetime experience for the next generation of outdoors people.

This marked the 2nd annual Wik’s World Outdoors Camp experience. Now that I had the first year under my belt and a firm understanding of scheduling, seminars, and interactive sessions, I was able to create an entire day’s worth of outdoors lessons.

I added a few new demonstrations and attractions to this year’s camp. A new addition to the seminar room was the replica of Bob Decker’s giant deer, which was shot last fall in Buffalo County, Wisconsin. The hunting community knew the walking Wisconsin record throughout last summer by its nickname, which was called the legendary Field and Stream Buck. Decker was kind enough to let me showcase his Wisconsin non-typical record whitetail at the camp for hundreds of dazzled eyes to see. The buck scored a whopping 233-¼ inches. Teenagers stood motionless in awe gazing at the famous buck. It gave kids a new meaning to how big whitetail can grow.

This year also benchmarked an assortment of entirely new sessions for participants to engage in. The camp offers a program for people to learn how to photograph their trophy deer or turkey. We give great instructions on how to clean up the expired animal, how to position it for eye-pleasing pictures, and also what to look for in an aesthetic frame of mind.

The importance and understanding of deer calling is another critical topic we unveiled this year. We teach campers the basic fundamentals of calling techniques, vocabulary, and when to use each type of call. Campers are able to grunt, snort, and wheeze their way through the 20-minute demo and learn how to coax a monster buck into range. Deer calling wasn’t the only new tips and techniques section that was added.

We were lucky enough to have a professional game trapper and antique collector brief kids on the sport of trapping. Bob White of Adams, Wisconsin, brought a truckload of different traps that ranged in sizes, shapes, and styles. Many of his traps date back to the late 1800’s. He collects all kinds of fascinating gear and products that the kids absolutely loved.

The day ends with a blast, boom, and bang as we break out the shotguns and bust clay pigeons. Many participants have never had the opportunity of firing bb’s into the fragile orange colored disk gliding through the air. During the first few attempts, the clay pigeons left the thrower untouched. By the time we wrapped the session up, there were clay pigeon fragments scattered everywhere. It only took a little practice before the kids found there mark and became confident behind the shotgun.

As the day came to a close after hours of learning how to scout for deer, minimize human odor, score antler, build food plots, and position stands, the parents arrived to join our pizza party, award ceremony, and shopped at the Wik’s World Gear store. The exclusive camp store offers breathtaking woodcarvings that were custom crafted by the hands of Kurt Mallo, who owns Burnt Elk Log Décor. I also added a Wik’s World line of clothing apparel alongside my good friend, Dan Schafer’s famous Rut Junkie line.

Opening weekend of camp was an absolute blast for instructors, participants, and myself. I will be hosting the event for the next three weekends and anticipate more instructive learning, shared memories, and times well spent in the outdoors with good people.

A Fish Tale

-By Rich Miller

In a week I went from the Jack Pines and cool air of Northern Canada to the blue waters of the Atlantic Ocean. I was invited to do some offshore fishing for a few days by a friend of mine. He told me that the past month had been a really good time to be on the water. He said he had been catching sailfish, dolphin, kingfish, and black fin tuna.

We were up at 5:00 am Friday morning and were all ready for a big day on the water. The weather report we wasn’t the best for fishing but we only had three days so we had to play the hand we were dealt. About the time we came through the jetties and hit the ocean we realized that the 4 to 6 foot seas had turned closer to 8’s. It was pretty rough, but the bad part was the wind constantly blowing water all over us. By the time we started fishing everyone’s minds were off of the rough water and looking forward to getting a fish hooked up.

We had the baits in the water for about twenty minutes when the rod on the port side sounded like it was screaming. One of my buddies grabbed that rod and that is when one of the rods on the starboard side lit up and I grabbed it. After a couple minutes of trying to keep the lines out of each others way while fighting the fish we landed two nice dolphins. After those fish were in the boat and the rods were back in the water it got quiet for a while. With not much going on everyone started talking and goofing around, but when one of the rods got a hit we got back to business pretty quick.

That is exactly what happened when one of the kite rods went off. There was a big kingfish on and one of the guys had his hands full while the other three of us were getting rods out of the way. While I was on the front of the boat trying to stay out of the way, I looked around and there was a monster sailfish that hit one of the kite rods we had left out. I grabbed the rod and it was on, the sailfish started dancing across the water. It was pretty hectic with two big fish hooked up at the same time. After I got the sailfish on it wasn’t long until the king had broken the line and gotten off of the other rod. The guys got the rest of the rods out of the water and let me have the boat to myself to fight this trophy fish.

Now, I went Costa Rica several years ago and caught a lot of sailfish but I am here to tell you that Pacific sails don’t have anything on those in the Atlantic. I went round and round the boat with that sucker for over forty minutes, and with the rough water it was all I could do to stand up at times. I got him up to the boat several different times and thought I had him whipped then he would get his head down and take off again. Finally I got him close to the boat and my buddy Rich was able to get hold of him. We pulled him aboard for a quick picture before releasing him to fight another day. After landing that fish we decided to head back in because it seemed like it was getting rougher by the minute. It was a shame though, because we had only been there two hours and had landed two dolphins, a sailfish, and lost a big kingfish.

Over the nest two days the weather didn’t get any better but we did fish a couple of hours each day and manage to land a couple of more dolphins. That night those dolphins made a great meal and they made us forget about how rough the seas were that day. I don’t get to do very much fishing offshore but when I do it is a blast. You just never know what is going to be on the end of the line or how big it is going to be when that reel starts screaming.

Fishing Small Ponds and Lakes

Many anglers across the country got their start fishing on small lakes or ponds. In fact most anglers probably pass by several of these hidden treasures on their way to larger reservoirs. If you really want to return to your roots or introduce a new angler to the sport give one of these small lakes or ponds a try. Here is a great article that we ran across on fishing ponds and small lakes.

When Do Bucks Shed Their Antlers?

We ran across Scott Bestul’s April 24th Blog posting at Whitetail 365. They had received a few letters from their blog readers asking when bucks shed their antlers. It seems like the answer to this question varies depending on what part of the country you are located in. According to Bestul a few variables play into how long a buck hangs onto his antlers. “Easy winters and plentiful food result in unstressed bucks that tend to hold antlers longer. But even when the winter is tough, some bucks are just late shedders.” We have seen pictures of bucks still sporting head gear into early April here in the south.

Leave us a comment and let us know when the deer in your area typically shed their antlers. Do you have late shedders in your area? Are any of you getting pictures of bucks already starting to sprout next season’s antlers? If so, make sure to add them to the Moultrie Feeders Photo Gallery.

Madison Deer and Turkey Expo

-By Brandon Wikman

Thousands of hardcore beard bustin’, bone collectin’ outdoor fanatics flocked to Madison, Wisconsin last weekend. The Madison Deer and Turkey Expo is the granddaddy of outdoors expos in the Midwest. The show generated interest, great business, and lasting memories for all who participated.

The show lasted for an adventurous and non-stop 3 days. Crowds of eager people walked wide-eyed through the endless lanes of exhibitors. At times during the show, I wish I were one of the visitors, because I absolutely love checking out new products, meeting people, and learning more about the industry through the eyes of a consumer. Instead, I had the pleasure of representing my booth and shaking hands with all the wonderful people who stopped to say hi.

During the show, many exciting events are taking place. Some of the most notable and respected outdoor personalities were enthusiastic to share tips and techniques at seminars. Seminars were topically scattered from food plots, to dog training, and even shed hunting. It presented an appealing mix of hobbies for all outdoor goers and doers!

Several hundreds of fortunate hunters brought their big mounts to the show for professional judges to score. They even had a big-buck contest, which was truly a sight to see. It was just another reason I feel blessed to live in the big buck haven of Wisconsin. The show also had a new product section displayed, where vendors had the opportunity of presenting their most prized product for 2009.

Throughout the entire show, I had a chance to listen to some unforgettable hunting stories, which make some of mine look bleak. It’s always fascinating to see how some people get so animated and involved in telling their stories. Their true passion and love for the outdoors is shown through their emotions. It is a simple reminder of why we all venture into the woods and a field to relish the moments of nature’s blessing.

Sunday I took a moment to stroll through the winding booths, which speckled the Alliant Energy Center. Some of my best friends and partners in the industry attended, making it that much more amazing.

It didn’t take too long to find the deer-crazy dudes from White Knuckle Productions. Todd Pringnitz and the rest of the crew always seem to animate the crowds of people lined-up to grab their hunting DVD’s. This year they introduced a brand new DVD called, “Full Circle” which was absolutely incredible. These boys know how to throw down great footage on a yearly-basis.

The show came to a close at 4pm Sunday. It was another great year of meeting people from across the Midwest and passing on the traditions of what hunting is all about, which is making eternal memories with friends.

Visiting the North American Shed Hunter's Club Hunting and Sport Expo

-By Brandon Wikman

The North American Shed Hunter’s Club Hunting and Sport Expo featured an array of incredible spectacles that every hardcore hunter could only dream about. I had the opportunity to be there first-hand and experience the frenzy.

Mark and Tom Miller, who are shed hunting maniacs from Wisconsin, began the NASHC. It has evolved into an annual event that boasts big antlers. They travel the country promoting the sport of shed antler hunting, which has ignited. Thousands of hunters and outdoor fanatics bring their most prized shed antlers to be scored and displayed. It is an experience that you have to see to believe. This year they held the show in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, where they featured dock dogs, seminars, exhibitors, and so much more; all in one mega-building!

A special area of the show displayed the largest bucks killed in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa. The bone-sprucing giants pulled drooling crowds from across the entire Midwest. It was one of the most moving feelings I’ve ever felt.

I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Bob Decker, who killed the infamous “Field & Stream Buck” November 1st 2008. The buck blasted into the new Wisconsin non-typical record book tallying 233 2/8 inches of pure hard horn. It is now Wisconsin’s greatest non-typical class buck ever killed.

Decker has been traveling just as much as I have on the weekends. During tradeshows, Decker has lines of people waiting to hear the unforgettable story of how the hunt unwravled. Many listen with an attentive ear, bulged eyes, and a smile from ear-to-ear. Decker happens to be one of the most humble, modest, and appreciative people I’ve ever met. He hasn’t let the size and glory of his kill outshine his home-style personality.

When people were finished staring at the best collection of Midwest whitetail, they continued walking through the exhibitor area. One of the most talked about booths at the show was Dick’s Whitetail Taxidermy, owned by Dick Gunther. He showcased a magnificent booth full of top-notch quality works of art. His craft is putting the essence of life back into game. Gunther is one of my dearest friends and hunting partners. He is the only taxidermist in the entire state of Wisconsin that I fully trust to mount my deer and turkey mounts. He is from Camp Douglas, which is less than 20 minutes from my home. It makes easy critter transportation turn-around from woods to his shop.

The other talk of the show was a new line of apparel called Rut Junky. Dan Schaeffer is the owner of Rut Junky apparel and is a fellow Wisconsin native. Schaeffer’s line of apparel is trendy, hip, and cool. It takes on an entire new meaning of outdoor addiction. His screen-printed designs are flashy, distressed, and totally one of a kind. It’s nice to see an outdoor wear that caters to a different generation. I picked-up a few for myself and buddies.

Booth’s speckled the showroom floor from corner to corner. My little cousin’s favorite happened to be the shed antler search. It is like an Easter egg hunt, times 10! Throughout the entire day, kid’s rummaged through corn stalks, sifted through hay, and dug into heaping piles of straw in search for bone. My cousin had the time of his life and it is a memory that I will never forget. There’s no better way to get our youth involved into the sport than providing them opportunities to experience what nature has to offer.

I was pleased to see both Mark and Tom Miller throw down another successful yearly event that inspires the love and adoration for shed hunting fanatics. Please take a moment to check out their website at www.ShedAntlers.org.