The Hunting Files

He Couldn't Kill A Buck If It Was Tied To A Tree

I was talking with a friend at the office one day about her husband's recent hunting trip.  He's a great hunter and has been pretty successful over the years, which makes his story even more funny.  She and I both got a big kick out of it.......

He and some friends spent a few days hunting in Illinois on a spot that was bow only.   On his last afternoon, a  nice 8 pt walks out on him.  He calmly draws and places a nice shot near the kill zone.   Should be the end of the story, right...... nope, when he gets to the buck, it's not totally down.  Having nothing else with him, and not wanting to risk losing what he had waited so long for, he pops it with another arrow.  Down, right?  Nope, it's still got some kick left.  Amazingly, he ends up having to put his third and final arrow into it.  Finally success - he's down and out!

Due to the size of the buck (weighing in at 198 lbs, as he later found out),  he decided to leave and try to enlist the help of his friends for the retrieval.  However, he's worried about leaving because by the time the hail of arrows was over, the buck ended up lying on a grade that dropped off into a ravine.   He thinks, "If this thing ends up down there for some reason, I'll never get it out!  AAhhh wait ..... I'll just use my drag rope and secure him to this tree.  Even if he's got some kick left in him, he'll be fine until I get back".   

Now imagine the return.......

He's been bragging to his buddies about his hunting prowess and what a good buck he has down..........

They all near the spot and there it is......

A nice healthy 8 pt buck.........

TIED TO  A TREE WITH THREE ARROWS STICKING OUT OF IT!   

No doubt, he'll go to his grave with "fair chase" jokes thrown his way.

Gut Piles     www.gutpilestyle.com

Spooked On The Way To The Deer Stand

We've all spooked deer before, but has anything ever spooked YOU out in the woods? 

I have a friend that was walking in to his treestand before daylight last bow season, carrying nothing but his bow and a cigarette. (no flashlight).  As he neared the area where his stand was, he stopped and strained his eyes to locate the stand and took a puff on his cigarette.  As he stood there, he noticed a big stump in the spot where he thought his stand should be.  He didn't remember seeing a stump that big in the area, so he kept straining to make out the shapes.  He took another puff on the cigarette and suddenly the stump lets out this deep grunt and tears out running - sounding like it's tearing down everything in it's path.  There he is... standing in the dark..... no flashlight.....only a bow and a cigarette ...... and a big daddy hog tearing up the woods.      He almost wet his pants.... hehe    He described it as a rather butt puckering experience.  Needless to say, he was wide awake for the rest of the morning....hehehe 

Gut Piles

www.gutpilestyle.com

Children’s Books About Hunting!

People often ask me how I got the idea for writing hunting-related children’s books. Well, it is quite simple – Over the last four years, I’ve been writing product reviews on hunting and fishing gear for magazines such as North American Hunter, North American Fisherman and NWTF Turkey Call.

To do this, I work closely with manufacturers of hunting and fishing gear. One common theme I most often hear most when talking to folks in the hunting and fishing industries is the importance of getting the younger generation started and involved with outdoor sports.

In response, I developed and created Kampp Tales™ books to inform and entertain youngsters while generating a hunger and curiosity for the great outdoors. I believe strongly that getting young people excited about hunting and fishing is a step in the right direction in preserving outdoor sporting traditions, the environment around us, and the wild animals we all love!

Kampp Tales™ Outdoor Adventures entertain children through humorous books that teach safety, hunting techniques, animal facts and respect for wildlife. The hardcover books are published and distributed by Do-All Outdoors LLC.

I am proud to announce the release of the brand new Kampp Tales™ Web site!

Here you can:

• View the Kampp Tales™ animated TV commercial!
• Listen to the Kampp Tales™ theme song!
• Download the FREE Kampp family E-book!
• Learn how YOU can earn a FREE set of books.
• And, Learn all about Kampp Tales™ hunting books for kids!

Check out the NEW site at: www.kampptales.com

Appreciatively,

JJ Reich

 

Back Off

I have a great job. I get to talk "Deer" to hundreds of hunters from across North America all year long. The kind of hunters who think about deer 24/7, guys whose Wives and Girlfriends think they are nuts. My kind of guys.

While talking to these fanatics, one conversation almost always comes up...."I buy quality seed, run soil tests, and fertilize, my food-plots are a thing of beauty, like something from a magazine, however, all I see are does and small bucks.

My advice to them? "Back Off!"

By "Back Off", I mean move those Box Blinds, Ladder and Loc-On Stands back off the food plot. The biggest mistake I see hunters make is to set their stand right "on top" of their food plots. Move those blinds and stands 10-100 yards off the plot, preferably on the downwind side. Brush in around your blinds/stands to help them blend in with the surroundings. I know one very successful hunter who actually builds "Camo Walls" leading to and from his blinds. By doing this he does not spook or educate the deer to the blind location.

Another consideration is when hunting food plots, try to only hunt them once a week, and only during the afternoon hours. Morning hunts tend to run deer off the plots. A food plot should be a place for deer to feed, and feel safe. A relaxed deer is a dead deer!

So the next time you visit your hunting property, go to the center of the food plot and see how you can "Back Off". This will lead to more deer and bigger bucks.

-Coming next- Using Decoys for Doe Management

www.sportsmanscondo.com

A Yankee Duck Hole (part 1)

We don't have  "duck holes" north of the Mason-Dixon line, we hunt migrators at passes or marshes or in boats or fields. Many Southern duck hunters use  techniques of moist soil management to create  flooded crop "honey-holes" that consistently produce great waterfowl hunting. It works so well that it can't be legal, but it is as long as you follow the Federal migratory bird regulation regarding baiting (Google it) .I would not have considered this approach  up till now since the birds always came through in good numbers during the great migrations and shooting was good. With the declines in our MN waterfowl hunting quality I felt I could either hit the road to ND or try to improve what I was fortunate to own already (13 acres  of land adjacent to a flight lake). So I am going to try and create my own duck hole and I will share my experience as I go along. I am no farmer just a duck hunter so bear with me!  The basic elements needed for moist soil management are a crop area that will hold 6"-24" of water, a source of water, and drainage.My first step was to do an elevation survey and review the drainage and water source issues (be cautious if wetlands are present as any modifications are regulated, if you have questions contact your local SCS or DNR offices). These elements checked-out for me so our first step this June was to remove the existing trees, bushes, and grass in order to create a seed bed. The attached image shows the grass at my site about 10 days after the herbicide was applied. As it turns out I have a long donut shaped depression in this field that will hold water with a high spot in the middle that I intend to mow and use for layout blinds.Next I will describe the seed selection, soil preparation, and planting. 

http://www.autumnwings.com/

Frog Gigging - Or Lack There Of.....

This past weekend, while I was down on the farm working, I decided to go out one night and get a few frogs.  We've got a 5 acre lake on the farm, with a small log cabin built right at the waters edge.  When I go down there, it's usually a day trip to work, helping my mother out in whatever she needs done.  This past weekend though I spent a couple of nights in the cabin.

A few weeks earlier I had gone around the lake getting the majority of the frogs off of it then.  My brother came in from out of town a few weeks after that for some things and got a few more then.  Friday night when I was down there, I could hear 5-6 bellowing around the lake, so I thought that I would try to get them Saturday night.  I had a dual purpose in getting the frogs.  I love good fresh frog legs, and I needed to take step by step pictures of the cleaning process to make into a tutorial to be posted on a web site I am a regular on (http://www.gutpilestyle.com/).  The web master for the site is a sadistic slave driver, who doesn't let up until I get him more tutorials on cleaning different types of critters.  LOL!

So anyway, Saturday night rolled around and I, with gig, bag, and flashlight in hand, head around the lake to collect the frogs.  About half way around the lake, as I'm up to my waist in water, in a big weed bed trying to find the frog that I had heard in there bellowing.  As I'm looking, I notice a piece of latice work floating in the water.  "Well crap!  The wind must have gotten ahold of this and tore it off above the swing."  I grab the latice work and commence to dragging it out of the water.  I found out something I hadn't realized before.  Latice work, while rather light when dry, weights quite a bit when it's been soaking in water for at least a week!  As I'm dragging the latice work out, I hear the frog that I was after jump in the water.  CRAP!  OK, so much for that frog.  There was another one pretty close to that one, so I start looking for that one.  I look and look, but can't find the frog through all of the weeds.  As I'm looking for this one, I hear one bellow back about 50 yards in stuff that I had already covered.  Since I can't find this one, I go back and try to find that one.  Of course, no more bellowing from this one, so I can't pinpoint where he was.  I look around a little more, but to no avail, so I head back in the direction I had been going to start with.

By now, I'm wet up to my waist, have had to drag very water-logged latice work out of the lake, still don't have any frogs, and need a dip, but realize that I had left my dip can back at the cabin.  CRAP!  I hear 3 other frogs bellowing so I mark where they are, and start honing in on them as I work my way around the lake.  There's one that's been croaking steady for the last half an hour, but why should my luck change now.  As I get to within about 30 feet of him, he shuts up.  OK, I know he's in this weed bed somewhere close.  I go wading off into the lake again into the weed bed.  Since he's not making any more noise and I can't find him, I just shut my light off.  "I'll wait him out" I think.  WRONG!  After about 10 minutes of standing there listening to the crickets chirping and the other frogs taunting me (3 back in the direction that I've already been), I've had enough.  I take one more look around through the weed bed, but can't find the frog.  I ease out of the water and go toward the next one.  Not more than 2 minutes after I left the one, he starts bellowing again!  I go back and ease around and through the weed bed again, but again, to no avail.  On to the next one (after of course verbally assaulting the frog in my mind).

Another weed bed, another trip into waist deep water, another time of coming out empty handed.  OK now, this isn't funny anymore!  I'm 3/4 the way around the lake and I've yet to even SEE a frog!  I can hear them.  I know they're there.  But I'll be danged if I can find any (guess this is why they haven't ended up on the dinner plate by now).  Now, I hear another and he's close!!!  What's even better is he's in a small, thin weed bed (finally a break!).  There he is!  Man, he's huge!  A swift jab of the gig and he's stuck to the bottom of the lake.  In the past, I'd heard of "ground shrink" with deer, and even experienced it a time or two.  I found that it can also pertain to frogs.....  I get this frog up and go to pull him off of the gig and he's about half the size I thought he was.  OK, medium sized frog is OK.  He'll still taste the same.  I stuff him in the bag, my confidence renewed!  I continue on around the lake (after a short bout of having to yell at momma's dogs and run them back up to the house), not seeing or hearing another frog.

Once I'm back at the cabin, the frogs really start singing then!  Of course!  I would expect nothing else by the way this night has been going!  One measly little frog and a set of wet clothes is all I've got to show for almost 3 hours of being on the lake.  Bedtime!  As I'm laying there listening to the frogs taunt me, one starts croaking under the deck of the cabin.  The next morning, I take pictures of the cleaning process, using my one frog as the star of the show.

Big58cal

Kids Outside At Their Finest!

This past weekend my wife and son came down to the farm while I was down there working.  My son, as usual, wanted to go riding on the 4 wheeler (he's 5).  As we're riding along in the woods, I started down a little bit of a hill and put the brakes on a little.  "Daddy, did you hear that?"  "What was it buddy?"  "I just heard a coyote howling, but it sounded like it was pretty far off."  LOL!  This was during the middle of the day, so I doubted every seriously that a coyote had been howling.  Still, as to not discourage the boy, we talked about it a little more and told him to keep listening to see if he could hear them again.  I didn't know what he had heard, but it's usually something that triggers him like that.  HaHa!  We kept riding through the woods, with me stopping periodically to point out turkey scratchings, old deer rubs, different tree types, etc.  He talked a little more about "the coyote" we had heard, and wondered if we would hear it again.

After getting out of that patch of woods, we went down to the creek and rode through it a little ways, with us seeing minnows in the creek and talking about them.  "Boy daddy, that up there looks deep!"  "It shouldn't be too bad buddy.  I think we can make it through."  We saw a couple of water snakes and talked about them and what they had been doing there and things like that.  Once we came out of the creek, we went up into another patch of woods.  As we're going through there (again down a little bit of a hill again), he said, "Daddy, I hear the coyote again!  I heard it better this time!"  This time though, I figured out what he was hearing.  The back brakes on the 4 wheeler squeaked a little, so what he though was a coyote, was the back brakes.  Not to ruin his fun (and imagination), I didn't say anything about it.  I just let him think he was hearing a coyote.

Later when we were at the house and he was telling momma and nanna about the coyote, it became a whole pack that we had heard, the minnows in the creek became big fish, the "deep" holes of water in the creek were now half-way up the side of the 4 wheeler (instead of just to the foot pegs), and the water snakes (one big and one little) had both turned into full grown Anacondas, by the description at least!

I wish I could go back to that age and have everything ahead of me again!

Big58cal

Learning To Follow A Blood Trail - Part 3

The bad thing about learning to track and trail a wounded animal is that people don't get really get enough experience at it to develop the skills necessary when it's crunch time and they really need them.

An easy way to learn how to trail an animal is to lay out fake blood trails.  To make the "blood" get a bottle of some kind of clear dishwashing liquid, some red food coloring, and some smaller squeeze bottles for the blood.  Empty contact solution bottles work great for the containers.  Mix the red food coloring in with the dish soap until you get the desired color.  To simulate a lung hit, add just enough red food coloring to get a pinkish color and then add a little water and shake up.  This will make bubbles in the "blood".  You can also mix up some to simulate a gut hit.  Get some green food coloring and mix with the dish soap.  You can also take some fine grass clippings and add this to the bottle (you'll probably need to widen the dropper hole on the container a little).

You can lay out a blood trail, using as much or as little blood as you like.  This is really good for kids that are learning.  The kids will really take an interest in it and will be some of the first on the trail.  Lay out several trails and have your buddies follow them, complete with the "animal" doubling back, jumping, making right angle turns, going a little ways without bleeding, etc.  Have them do the same for you.  You can make it as easy or as hard as you would like.  When dealing with kids though, make it easy enough that they can follow it.

Big58cal

Learning To Follow A Blood Trail - Part 2

We'll continue on from where we left off.  We've covered the different blood colors, hit types, and hair colors.

Now, after you're at the hit site and you've determined where you hit the animal, mark the hit site with something.  Toilet paper is good to use for this.  You should already have some in your pack somewhere, so it's available, and the toilet paper is biodegradable.  Orange surveyors tape will also work, but you'll need to take it down when you're done.  Start moving in the direction that you last saw the animal, staying to the side of the blood trail as to not disturb it.  You may have to come back to that spot if you loose the trail.  The first few places you find blood, hang up one of your markers.  You'll eventually start to see a flight line.  This is a general line of course that the animal took out of there.  This is important because it gives you a direction to look ahead in case you loose the trail.  Stand at the last blood/sign and look ahead to find the next spot.  This is where it's helpful to have 2 people tracking.  One can stay at the last blood while the other goes ahead and looks for more.  Autumn leaves can be somewhat deceiving at times with red spots on them.  There are several products on the market to make the blood glow, show up better, etc.  The cheapest and easiest thing to use is hydrogen peroxide in a spray bottle.  When the peroxide contacts blood, it bubbles.  For less than $1 you get 16 oz. to use blood trailing.  Also, don't just look on the ground.  Look on the sides of trees, on the sides of tall grass, etc.  If the animal rubs against these things, blood will get transfered to them.

When trailing, make note of which side of the trail the animal is bleeding on.  The reason for this is if the animal doubles back on the trail on you.  I've had it happen, and the first time it took me a little while to figure out what happened.  Also, if you're hunting out of a tree stand and are shooting down on the animal, you'll have a high entry hole and a low exit hole.  If your shot doesn't pass through, you may only have the high entry hole.  If this is the case, it may take a little while for blood to start coming out and onto the ground.

Keep tracking/trailing the animal, staying to the side of the trail and marking the blood spots as you find them.  This is important if you loose the trail.  If you do loose the trail, follow your flight line and check out in front a little ways.  If there's nothing there, go to the last spot of blood and start walking in ever-widening circles around the blood.  Doing this, you should find the trail.  For some reason, right before a deer goes down, they will make a right angle turn to one side or the other.  I've had several deer do this.  If you do loose the trail and can't find it again, go get some help if you're by yourself.  If possible, get a woman to help you.  Women can see different "shades" of colors, whereas men see the color itself........red, black, blue, etc.  I've had people tell me that they followed a trail as far as they could and lost it.  They returned with a woman to help them trail and the woman immediately picked up the trail and followed it to the animal.  Also, if you're in a state that allows the use of trailing dogs to find animals, utilize this.  Some states do not allow the use of dogs for trailing, so check the regualations in the state you are hunting.  There are organizations made up of people who have trained tracking dogs and will voluntarily come out and help you recover the animal.

That's pretty much it.  Trailing an animal like that isn't difficult, but it does take some time to learn to do right.  If necessary, get down on your hands and knees and look for sign.  I've had times when, by doing this, this was the way that I found the animal.  Check out Part 3 of this for a way to get some "practice" during the off season.

Big58cal

Learning To Follow A Blood Trail - Part 1

One of the hardest things to do while hunting is to learn to follow a blood trail.  You may be thinking, "How hard can it be to look for blood?"  Speaking from experience, it's harder than you may think, or at least following one to the end.

Most deer, elk, moose, caribou, etc will not drop within sight of where you are, and most definitely won't drop in their tracks.  This is where the blood trailing comes in.  Bowhunters especially rely on following a blood trail because an arrow kills by hemmoraging, with very little shock.  A rifle bullet/slug kills by shock.  Shock is the busting of blood vessels in and around the wound channel.

After the shot, mentally mark where the animal was standing and where the last place was that you saw the animal before it went out of sight.  Also, listen for the animal after it is out of sight.  This may give you clues as to where it might have gone if you loose the trail.  If you're in a tree stand, specifically mark these two area with some type of landmark that you will be able to find once on the ground.  Things look quite different when you're on the ground than they do when up in a tree stand.

One of the first things to do is to determine whether or not you hit the animal if you're unsure.  Start at the area where the animal was standing when you shot.  There will probably be some hair there on the ground.  There may or may not be blood present also.  This is where a lot of people give up because they think if there isn't any blood there, they either didn't hit the animal or they only grazed it.  From my experience, about half the time there will be blood visible at the hit site.  The animal may be mortally wounded, but that doesn't necessarily mean there will blood there.

For different hits, you'll want to wait different amounts of time before trailing.  This is a general guideline and should not be followed to the letter and is only if you are certain that you got this type of hit.

• Heart/Lung area - 30 minutes
• Liver - 1 hour
• Gut/Stomach - 4 hours
• Leg (front or back) - Start trailing immediately

If you know you got a gut hit, wait at least 4 hours, weather permitting.  If it looks like it's going to rain or snow, wait as long as possible, but take up the track, going very slowly and quietly.  You'll probably see the animal still alive and need to administer another shot.  The 4 hour wait is to allow the animal time to bed down and die.  With a leg hit, you want to start tracking immediately to keep the wound open and the blood flowing.  If you allow the animal to bed down, the wound will probably close up and you'll loose the trail.  If you're unsure of the exact type of hit you got, go to the hit site and look around for evidence to tell you what kind you got.

• Lung hit - pink frothy blood with bubbles in it
• Heart/Artery hit - bright red blood, often spurting
• Liver hit - dark red blood, almost black in color
• Gut/Stomach hit - greenish or clear substance, often with food particles

If there isn't any blood/liquid at the hit site, start looking for hair.  The different hair colors/types will also tell you where you hit.  This hair color is for a white-tail deer.

• White hair - bottom of belly, throat patch, underside of tail
• Short brown hair - sides
• Long, course hair, often darker at the tip - along top of back and brisket

We'll continue on with Part 2 tomorrow, and pick up the trail.

Big58cal