Grow the Hunt

Using Moultrie Game Spy Cameras All Year 'Round

By Rich Miller

Well, other than just a couple of states, deer season is officially over and we have another nine to ten months to get ready to go again. Personally, I am already thinking about turkey season. Right now it seems a ways off but it will open for some of us in less than two and a half months. The good thing is we have a bunch of shows to get ready and help us stay busy until it opens. 

This time of year there isn’t much going on other than some small game hunting. I know a lot of guys that run their Moultrie Game Cameras throughout the fall and as soon as deer season is over they yank them out and put them up until the next fall. I want to try and get everyone to leave them out running this year to see the number of new deer that move into their area after the season.

It amazes me every year the number of bucks that show up after the season that I have never gotten a picture of before. Last year, most of the bucks that I had on camera were shot on neighboring properties. By the time deer season was over, I didn’t think we had a buck in the area – and it was really discouraging. 

By the end of February, I had eleven different bucks on camera that had showed up to my food plots that I had never seen before. Now, all of these bucks were really young, but at least they were bucks. Some years it surprises me what shows up because I have had some really nice deer that come into the are and then stick around. 

Another positive of leaving the cameras out after season is it helps with the turkey scouting. On some of the property I hunt, the turkeys do not stay on the property all year so keeping my cameras out there helps me know when they show up. One good thing about having food plots is the turkeys will come to it when they are around. I like knowing the turkeys are using the property so I don’t waste a morning hunt on a place where there are no turkeys. This year, Carry-Lite is introducing their new line of HD Turkey Decoys. Check them out and see if they don’t help lure those wary toms in close!

When we only have a month to hunt – and most of that time is consumed with work – I need to take advantage of the days I do get the opportunity to hunt. Moultrie Game Spy cameras help me do this by giving me proof and so my hunts will be in high percentage areas!

ATA Show 2011

By Brandon Wikman

Our industry’s largest household names, ingenuous manufacturers and key distributors will be herded to Indianapolis, Indiana this coming week for an archery hunting expo on steroids. The long anticipated 2011 Archery Trade Association trade show will be launched this week in full swing!

The Archery Trade Association, formerly known as the Archery Manufacturer and Merchant's Organization (AMO), is a non-profit trade organization for the promotion of archery and bowhunting through the sale of equipment, projects in archery education, the standardization of equipment measures and the sponsorship of events. It includes manufacturers, distributors, retailers and other companies associated with these industries.

The ATA has served its members since 1953. It is dedicated to making the industry profitable by decreasing business overhead, reducing taxes and government regulation and increasing participation in archery and bowhunting.

The ATA Show has been the industry’s largest and longest-running trade show worldwide. In fact, they have boosted, raised and given to so many incredible resources back to our hunting and outdoor lifestyle. In 2004, the ATA began providing implementation grants to state wildlife agencies for the National Archery in the Schools Program (NASP). To date, nearly every state has an active program that originated from individual ATA donations of $15,000. The total support provided for NASP exceeded $800,000 as of mid-2009.

As part of its cooperative work with state agencies, ATA launched the Community Archery Programs (CAP) in 2006. This strategy promotes archery in urban areas as a recreational activity equal to other sports enjoyed by most Americans. ATA’s CAP grants have helped develop shooting facilities, including archery parks and indoor/outdoor shooting centers. These facilities help promote introductory archery programs, primarily NASP, although the ATA also works to establish After School Archery Programs, Explore Bowhunting, the Junior Olympic Archery Development Program and other archery programs nationwide. In fact, from 2004 through mid-2009 alone, the ATA provided about $884,000 in funding. This included grants provided through CAP to initiate NASP in the United States, Canada and Australia. At the same time, ATA contributed nearly $960,000 in CAP grants, equipment and direct aid to state wildlife agencies to grow archery and expand bowhunting opportunities.

If you have a chance to make the ATA Show, do it. This is an experience of a lifetime to see the latest and greatest of our wonderful industry.