Grow the Hunt

Spring Turkey Hunting Camo

With turkey season underway across most of the country, chances are that you have your sights set on at least one old tom that you just can’t seal the deal on. You have practiced your calls, know where he roosts, and have a pretty good idea where he spends his days, but you can’t seem to get him into range. Most turkey hunters know the importance of camouflage but one detail you may not have thought about is the pattern of your camouflage. As you know, turkeys have incredible eyesight. No matter how enticing the calling and decoys are, when something looks slightly out of place in the woods it can spook an old gobbler and keep them from coming into your set up. After all, they didn’t get to be that old tom by not being cautious. The spring woods look completely different than they do in the winter during deer season. If you have been using the same camo to turkey hunt that you use to deer hunt, try using something with a different pattern. Use a pattern that blends in with the springtime woods, something that has more leafy patterns and greener colors. The change might just be the key to putting the finishing touches on bagging that old tom.

Setting the STAGE for Hunting Success

-By Randy Cooper

Hunting deer and turkeys for over 40 years has been like going to school. Every time I sit in class (the woods) I learn something new. By sitting in class I evolved as a hunter. In the beginning I did all the traditional things like focusing on the rut. I knew that bucks would be moving and more visible at that time more than any other. I hunted the ridge tops, bottoms, funnels and transition zones. Don’t get me wrong, I STILL hunt all these places. However, I have changed the WAY I hunt altogether.

Years ago I belonged to an archery only club that taught me a lot. We hunted the traditional places using the age old traditional tactics with limited success. At the time we thought that the piece of land we leased was the reason, and that we had to accept what we had and be happy with it. We just didn’t know any better.

Through information gleaned from great magazines, books and videos, we as a club began to realize that what we had was a property with potential. That with some work we could MAKE it into the kind of property that would be productive, have a healthier deer herd and increase the overall health of all the game animals that lived and thrived there. We started concentrating on ALL parts of the season, not just the hunting season. We asked a lot of questions to the Ag department on what crops would do well during different times of the year. I talked to successful farmers who also planted for wildlife on their farms. They, after all, had the hard-earned, long-term experience that we needed to know. We learned a lot about soil preparation, clearing, herbicides, lime, fertilizer, year round mineral stations, supplemental feeding through broadcast feeders and most importantly, food plots.

As a group and as individuals, we completely changed our mindset and approach as to how we looked at the property we had then and every piece of ground we’ve hunted since. It took time and a lot of work, but the end result was that we went from HOPING we would see something to KNOWING we were going to; and letting it walk if it wasn’t mature enough. We started spreading the news about what we were doing and showed the proof in the animals we were harvesting. People began to take notice and these techniques began to spread.

Slowly, people around us began letting smaller deer walk and planting for wildlife. We didn’t realize it at the time but we were planting the seeds of a CO-OP with the properties around us. A lot of those properties were gun hunters and once our ideas caught on, it didn’t sound like a war zone anymore with hunters shooting anything that came by. The attitude of “If it’s brown it’s down” went away and was replaced by “Maybe next year little fella.”

I don’t look at things the same as I once did. Now it’s a more tactical, scientific approach that involves year-round work and management. It has made me more mature and responsible. I truly feel like a STEWARD of the land doing my part to help produce bigger bucks and other wildlife.

Probably the most important thing I do differently now is using a strategic approach to planting my food plots. I categorize them into two groups. First is the MAIN PLOT. This is where deer ultimately go after dark or when a cold front is approaching and they want to pick up plenty of groceries before it hits. This can be from a half acre to several acres and in different shapes. I like the boomerang shape and the racetrack. Both will be completely surrounded by woods. The middle of the boomerang is a good place to put a stand because you can see down either of the sides. The racetrack is circular or oval in shape and has woods in the middle like an infield. The opportunities for stand placement here are endless. In the Main plot, I’ll plant corn, brassicas, turnips, chufa and millet for turkeys. Just plant the groceries and they will come.

I view these as the ultimate destination for deer. Everyone knows that deer move near dark, still within good shooting light, on the way to the food source they are moving toward. I use the Main Plot to my advantage. Through scouting, I determine which trails are getting the most use coming into the Main Plot. Then I back track as much as a couple of hundred yards to find just the right location to make a STAGING PLOT. We have all found clusters of rubs in a small area before. These are staging areas that a buck has used waiting for darkness to fall before exposing himself in a big opening to feed or check out does. During the pre-rut and rut, bucks will vent their frustration by horning every little sapling around where they are staging.

I take advantage of this tendency and try to find a place that has a natural opening, or even a place between pine plantation rows. Somewhere that will allow plenty of light to the ground. Right here I’ll make a small food plot back in the woods away from the Main Plot. In short order, this will become a common place for deer to stage, waiting for dark while giving them something to snack on. It doesn’t have to be big in size, maybe 20 feet wide and about as long. I use a variety of plants on these out of the way plots. I’ll always use something different in each one to see what gets the most use. Some of the seeds I use are corn, clover, chicory, soybeans and peas.

Carefully placing your stand at the STAGING PLOTS will give you a great place to take the bigger bucks that don’t like to show up in an open place during shooting light. It will also work well during the post rut when bucks are trying to recover. They don’t want to wander far from their bedding area to find food so this could be your ticket.

It seems like a lifetime ago that I just grabbed my weapon and went hunting hoping I would see something. I have evolved as a wildlife manager, steward of the land and matured as a hunter. I’ll never look at anything the same way again. I’ve learned to look at the whole picture and come up with a strategy that will work for both me and the wildlife on my property. By using the great seed products that are available, we now have the tools to make a good place a fantastic place to hunt and have a quality experience. Everyone is getting on the bandwagon of Quality Deer Management. Try looking at your place from a different perspective and give some of these techniques a try. You and the wildlife you take care of will be glad you did.

Wisconsin Turkey Hunting Begins Now!

-By Brandon Wikman

The forest ground has transformed from milky white to a refreshing Irish green! The songbirds have begun chirping tunes of sweet grace, while turkeys are proclaiming dominance with echoes of booming, limb-high gobbles. It is turkey season in Wisconsin.

This past weekend I escaped home, away from my college dorm confinements and into the woods for a quick crash course of turkey scouting. Before starting my walk, I tossed on my camouflage, grabbed a few locator calls and stuffed them into my pockets.

I approached an old logging trail with my eyes glued on any signs of turkey. I noticed a few turkey tracks scuffed into the dirt. Luckily enough within minutes I had already enough proof to know that there were turkeys hidden somewhere within my parents hardwood forest. It made my confidence soar and assured me that at least a few survived the harsh winter.

My main objective was to gather enough definitive turkey information, such as travel routines, food sources, and roosting areas, so when I returned home later this week, I’d be ready to put a bird down.

The afternoon sun began fading behind the clouds and flirting with the horizon. I visited a couple of old turkey-dusting sites before noticing a few deer creep craftily along the edge of the woods en route to a crop field. It seems that when deer leave their comfort zone of the thickets, turkeys enter it 20-ft high. I made my way to a few white pines and stopped to listen for any birds launching off the ground and into the pine needles. I didn’t hear a thing. The only noises were those of the forest; bugs, insects, and wood bearing creatures. Fortunately, I brought my trusty owl hoot tube and struck a note that would send chills up the spine of the infamous James Brown. I was reluctant to receive a snappy response from two toms. That was the only sound I needed to hear before driving back home for the night.

I learned over the past few years that pegging a bird is the best tool in tracking him down the next morning into shotgun barrel range. There’s no guesswork come morning and the anticipation of laying out a solid game plan is exciting. It gives you a concrete chance to toss around ideas with your buddy and make an attempt to figure out his next move.

Wisconsin turkey season is constructed rather differently than many other states across the US. Wisconsin consists of 6 seasons, which last only 5 days long. The season begins Wednesday morning and ends Sunday night. This is a great way to keep the bird’s mindset off being pressured by hunters. The downfall is that it only lasts 5 days. That is why scouting before season is critical to the success of having a tubby tom in your vest by afternoon.

I will follow up next week with my turkey hunt. The conditions look promising. The weather has been warm, birds sound aggressive and I’m about as ready as I’ve ever been. Hopefully I’ll be able to bust into the Wisconsin turkey season with a little edge of acquired knowledge and some luck to show forth.

Bass Fishing on Ponds

When people think of bass fishing they typically picture shiny bass boats with huge motors. Fishermen often over-look small farm ponds in favor of large reservoirs in their search for big bass. Each year farm ponds yield numbers of large bass. Since farm ponds do not receive much fishing pressure, the fish usually grow large and aggressive. One of the great things about farm pond fishing is that they haven’t had every bait on the shelf thrown at them, so catching them doesn't require a huge selection of tackle.

If you decide to try your hand at fishing smaller lakes and ponds, here are some areas to focus on in your search for big bass:

• Look for a point that extends out into the lake
• Fish where a creek or ditch enters the pond
• Look for structure, stumps, logs, treetops, or boat docks
• Try fishing along shoreline vegetation
• Also look for shaded areas along the banks

Planting for the ones DEAREST to me

-By Randy Cooper

For the last few weeks I’ve been using my time off to turkey hunt, work on summertime food plots and look for sheds while I’m out. Now that it has warmed up it’s time to plant the vegetable garden for my family. I’ve been married to the most beautiful woman on earth for going on 32 years. In that time I can’t remember a spring that we didn’t have a garden. We love canning and freezing veggies for use all year long. As the prices at the gas pump and at the grocery store continue to climb, I’m amazed at the amount of people I know who have a place for a garden, but think it’s too much trouble. They would rather pay the skyrocketing prices for produce than to fool with raising their own vegetables.

My approach to preparing the garden closely resembles the way I go about preparing a food plot. Below I’ve listed the steps I have taken.

• In the fall, when I was through gardening for the season, I cleaned everything out of the garden and just let the grass and weeds take over to help with erosion. This year however, I’ll till the garden at the end of the season and plant clover in it. Next spring I’ll till the clover under to add to the nutrients in the soil.
• I start by using a steel rake, and rake as much of the weeds and grass out as I can. It would be very difficult to turn under the tremendous amount of leaf litter, pine straw and other things that find their way into the garden space.
• After I’ve removed as much as I can with the rake, I broadcast my pelletized lime and fertilizer with the Moultrie seed spreader. It really works great and is a huge time saver over the push type. It holds over 100 lbs of material and I get a lot of coverage without having to reload it as often.
• Using my tiller, I go over the entire area twice in opposing directions to completely mix the lime and fertilizer into the seed bed and turn under anything that was left behind after raking. This also loosens the hard packed clay we have here in Georgia and aerates the soil.
• Now that the soil is prepared, I stake off my rows with surveyors stakes and tie a string from a stake on one side of the garden to the opposing stake on the other side. I use this as a guide for laying my row with a sharp angled hoe. I just put the hoe in the ground and lay it up against the string and back up all the way to the other side of the garden, leaving a good straight row. I usually put my rows about 6 feet apart to be able to get a tiller in during the season and have plenty of room for the plants to grow.
• Now it’s time to plant. Since we raise a variety of vegetables, I have installed a hog wire fence on three of my rows for the pole beans and purple hull peas to run on. It helps keep everything up off the ground and aids in being able to get to them to pick. I make a mound for cucumbers, squash and watermelons. Just make three or four holes with your finger in the top of the mound for the seeds and cover them up.
• After I’ve finished planting, I use a watering bucket and water everything very well. I then set up my orbital sprinkler on a timer. I program it to come on for an hour at about 3am. I do this so that by the time the sun really gets on the garden later in the morning, the water will be right where it needs to be, around the roots. Watering during the heat of the day will shock and kill a lot of plants. It’s better to water when the temp is cool.
• Now it’s just a matter of patience, maintenance and the enjoyment of the great food produced by your very own garden. There will be no preservatives or color enhancers in them, and by canning or freezing them you can enjoy the fruits (and vegetables) of your labor well into the winter.
• One other item worth mentioning is that if you live in an area like I do where there are deer around, it would be worth your time and money to invest in a deer proof fence. I installed one that is literally invisible at a distance. It is made of plastic-covered, high strength nylon cord. It is light weight and easy to install. Mine is 8 feet high and is tested to stop a deer running full tilt weighing 200 lbs.

I truly love farming for wildlife. For me, it’s a natural off shoot from the gardening I’ve been doing for most of my adult life. I can’t imagine going without a garden and raising my own produce each year. With prices going out of sight because of the drought last year, I am doing myself and my family the biggest favor I can by growing my own food. If you’ve never tried raising a garden before, give it try. It’s not that hard to do. The ones DEAREST to you will show how much they appreciate it. Mine do!

Our Thoughts on Using Game Cameras for Surveillance

Whitetail 365’s March 28th blog written by Scott Bestul tells a story of a shed poacher being caught in the act by a game camera. Game cameras are increasingly being used by sportsmen not only to observe game on their property, but also for security. Many Moultrie customers use their game cameras to monitor hunting cabins during the off season when no one visits for long periods of time. Construction crews have also found game cameras beneficial in keeping an eye on their equipment.

If you do decide to use a game camera as a security tool, it is a good idea to use a model with an infrared flash so attention is not drawn to the camera. Mounting the camera with a security box will help prevent theft of the camera if it is noticed. Keeping your cameras out year round gives you a dated record of who is coming and going, and what they are doing.

Tucking a Bird into Bed

-By Brandon Wikman

Roosting a gobbler is critical in the preparation and strategy for the following morning’s hunt. Here are a couple tips I’ve learned from some top turkey experts on how to put a bird to sleep!

• Distance - Listening is the key element in locating a turkey. Situating yourself in the right proximity will allow you to hear the fly-up. I am very cautious to position myself no closer than a hundred yards from a roost site, which in the Midwest is in the pines. If you sit too close, you may alert the birds, but if you sit too far, you won’t hear them at all.
  
  As darkness settles and the forest becomes silent, keep your ears at full alert. The sounds of limbs busting and wings popping are a definite sign that a bird has roosted near. Sometimes hens will cackle as they make their way to their towering bed. This is just another sound to listen for.



• Saying Goodnight - We’ve all seen hunters use the owl-hoot calling method on television and receive a thunderous response from a nearby gobbler. Using the owl call is an effective strategy in locating a particular gobbler. When using the owl hoot, be sure to sound off a cadence such as, “Who cooks for you? Who cooks for ya’ll?” This will oftentimes super charge a gobbler into giving away his position.
  
  Another type of locating call to use during the evening is a coyote call. I love using them when all else fails. Sometimes gobblers won’t respond to an owl hoot and wind can block your ability to hear the turkeys flying up. This is when a coyote call comes in handy. The yip and bark of the call sends shivers up my spine, but has the potential of snapping a gobbler into gobbling. Coyote calls are extremely high-pitched and the screeching blare can travel throughout an entire block of woods.



• Nightmare - I always wait until complete darkness before slipping out and back towards my vehicle. I leave absolutely no chance in giving away my presence to a bird. The last thing you want to do is pinpoint a bird and then somehow unknowingly bust him off his roost by spooking him.
  
  You need to take into consideration that a turkey literally has a bird’s-eye view when there half way up the tree. This enables them to see and hear even better. When leaving your scouting grounds, be quiet, slinky and smooth.



• Disclaimer - A very important point to consider is that not all birds are responsive. I’ve had situations where I used an owl and coyote call the night before with no feedback from any birds, but come morning a strutting tom’s parading around my old footprints! There are no guarantees or precise patterning methods dealing with these unpredictable birds.
  
  It’s always a bonus when you can locate a bird the night before. With enough thought, planning, and luck you’ll be able to formulate a morning tactic to put the bird on the ground and into your vest. Roosting is just another scouting and prep tool that maximizes your chance at a hefty long beard.

Pond Fish Feeder Sale

Spring has finally arrived and Moultrie has fishing on the brain. Now through April 30th Moultrie is offering 15% off all pond fish feeders.

With three different models to choose from Moultrie, has the fish feeder that will meet your needs. Reel in these great savings before they get away.

The Game Camera Buck

Moultrie recently received this great success story from one of our customers. If you have a success story that was achieved with the help of Moultrie products and would like to share it with our readers, please e-mail us at [email protected].

On June 22nd, my wife and I put my new game camera in a bedding area off of a bean field. I always put my cameras around summer food sources because deer are concentrated there this time of year. On June 27th, I checked my camera and had over 200 pictures. I had just purchased the new Moultrie I-40 infrared game camera and I was excited to see what the pictures looked like and what type of bucks were in the area. I was about half way through the pictures of does and smaller bucks when all of a sudden this giant non-typical was in front of my camera. Living where there is heavy hunting pressure and a poorly managed deer heard, I was in shock. I could not get to the store fast enough and start printing pictures. I had over 20 pictures of this deer. From that point on, my wife Jackie, my buddy Mike, and I dedicated our season to this deer.

We already had spots set up around bedding areas and funnels between the bedding areas. Now the waiting game began. I pulled my camera and did not put it back there until the end of July. After three days I took my camera out of the area and rushed home to view the pictures. There were over 300 pictures on the card. Going through the first 200 pictures there were some does and a few nice bucks. Scanning the rest of the pictures, I began to worry that we were never going to get another velvet picture of the buck. Near the end of the pictures, my heart began to race. You could see a giant rack peeking out from behind a tree. As my heart raced even faster, I continued to scan through the rest of the pictures and was amazed to get seven more pictures from all different angles of the giant buck. He had exploded into a 200 inch plus non-typical.

The first time we hunted this area was November 1st with no sightings of any deer. After sitting all day in different stands based on the wind direction, my wife and I saw a few smaller bucks, but no signs of the big one. It was not until the afternoon of November 8th that I finally saw the giant buck. He was on a doe at 45 yards and never stopped for a shot. Although my heart sank at not being able to get a shot, I was excited that I had at least seen him during the daylight.

I continued hunting him with no more sightings during bow season. Not being much of a gun hunter and having a month long gun season I was not going to hunt him hard until late-muzzleloader season when he might make the mistake of feeding during daylight. On Tuesday November 20th, with gun season in full swing, I decided to hunt a wheat field hoping to shoot a doe. I was in the stand for about two hours when I saw a doe coming out of the thicket heading for the wheat field. Preparing for the shot, I saw some movement behind her and noticed a drop-tine. It was him! I could not believe it! With my heart pounding in my chest, I cocked my hammer on my Thompson Center Prohunter and fired. The shot was only 30 yards but with all the smoke I did not know what happened. When the smoke cleared I saw him lying there thrashing around. Being cold and excited it seemed like forever for me to reload. I shot him again and it was all over. After climbing down and examining the deer, my first shot hit him in the spine. I got very lucky. The buck that I had spent months dreaming about was now in my hands. After spending countless hours in the stand bowhunting to then shoot him while muzzleloading for a doe still runs chills down my spine. This is one hunt I will relive over and over for the rest of my life.

The buck has an official non-typical Boone and Crockett score of 221”. It is the new number one non-typical whitetail taken with a muzzleloader in New York State and could be the largest whitetail taken in the Northeast last season. Keith’s buck is being mounted by Jim Block and Charlie Jaenecke at The Buck Stops Here! Taxidermy studio in Pendelton, New York.

The spot where I shot this deer is a spot I usually don’t hunt much because there are other people that hunt it. If it weren’t for your camera and pictures I would have never known that it existed there. Since then, six of my friends have purchased your cameras. My Wife and I are moving to Wisconsin to chase big whitetails. I can’t wait to put your camera out there and in Iowa.

-Keith

Through the Eyes of a Lens

-By Brandon Wikman

Sometimes the most captivating experience in the outdoors is when you visualize that perfect photograph and capture it in the silence of nature. The only sounds of man are the ones cast by the click of the shutter on your camera.

Photography has become a popular recreation and hobby. Whether it’s burning through gigabytes attempting to capture the defining aspects of your latest buck or perhaps photographing nature as is, still, quiet and peaceful.

Photography is truly, just like hunting. You put yourself in a different frame of mind by blocking out the frequent and typical aspects of life and focusing on the abstract exclusively. It is truly the wonders of wildlife, nature and tranquility that are somehow taken advantage of by the average bystander; it is to our fortune hunters see through a unique perspective.

We put our eyes in front of fine glass to magnify our outlooks on not only the outdoors but also life. We see things in a perceptual way. Whether scope or camera, our eyes are granted with sheer beauty and grace.

I urge everyone, young and old, to partake in the field of outdoor photography. Here are a few basic tips to remember in any given picture-taking experience that I’ve learned from trial and error, photography class and just having fun...

• Leading Lines - Whether it’s a strand of barbed wire or an old country road stretching across the sandy plains, find line designs that exemplify perception and give your imagination a place to follow. This fence and tire track photograph is a perfect example of the perception of leading lines. Take a moment to look at the old farmer’s fence and watch your eyes gaze across the broken country stretching as far as can see.


• Rule of Thirds - Before snapping a picture, think of your sight plane as a tic-tac-toe board. Dividing your field of view into thirds enables your focus to be offset, which gives a dramatic feeling. A perfect example is this corn stalk. Notice how it is over toward the right side of the scene, rather than being in the smack-dab center. Be aware that offsetting an object to the left or right side of the scene is pulling the viewers attention towards something different. We far too often make the center of focus the center of the picture.


• Balance - There are a few styles of balance in terms of the principles of photo art. The first is symmetrical, which is like a mirror image on both sides of the scene. This photo of the tree and I is the equivalent of symmetry; two solid objects that balance the scene. The other popular style is asymmetric balance, which is one side of the photo heavier than the other side in a creative way. Oftentimes the two focal objects compliment each other in form, weight or size making them balance in a unique way.

The art of photography is by far one of the most pleasurable and relaxing hobbies I’ve ever participated in. The creativeness and efforts put toward creating an unforgettable money shot makes the journey one for the memory bank.