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Blog Entries from the WeHuntSC.com blogging crew


Clint Patterson
Clint Patterson
Clint Patterson's Blog

Derrick Outen Strikes Again

       WeHuntSC.com - 2 Does in the shooting lane
   
Every now and then I need some entertainment. When that time comes I give Derrick Outen a call. This past Saturday morning we were lined up to go hunting with Derrick Outen. Derrick said he?d been getting some deer on game camera and felt sure someone in our group would get some action. The forecast promised a cold morning and it was very accurate.

We met up with Derrick at 5:30 in the morning. I thought that was a little early, but I had forgotten to budget in the time necessary to let Derrick bend our ears a little before heading out.  After our ears got warm we headed out.

Derrick and I were hunting out of a tall tower stand overlooking a food plot bordered by a cutover on one side and some woods on the other. The sun reflected off the ice that covered the trees, plants, and underbrush that surrounded us below.  We watched the sun rise while we scanned the field below for movement.  At a certain point the sun was shining directly in our eyes, the stand was facing east. For about 20 minutes I could only look left and right out of the sides of the stand avoiding the front of the stand where the brightness of the sun shined through.  Eventually the sun got high enough to where we could see out of all directions of the stand easily. It felt like it was time for something to happen. 

WeHuntSC.com - Derrick Outen staring through the scope at the does   
   

We surveyed the field looking for any movement. I would zoom in with the camera looking around the edges of the field while Derrick looked through his binoculars. Around 8:20 a hawk appeared out in front of us at about 80 yards and perched on a tree branch. The hawk would swoop down as if to catch something and then return to the branch. It did this several times so I decided to turn the camera on to hopefully get the hawk catching something on camera. I turned the camera on and got the hawk flying off and returning to the branch one time. Just a few seconds after the hawk returned Derrick said ?look at those deer?. Sure enough two does had walked out in a shooting lane to our left while this hawk was chasing his breakfast. I rotated the camera over to film the deer as Derrick slid down from his chair into shooting position.

At first we weren?t sure if the does were going to be big enough to validate taking a shot. After looking at them closely we decided that the first one was decent enough size to make a shot. I had the camera in place and Derrick was ready to make the shot. As I looked through the camera I heard Derrick say ?Are you ready? and I whispered back ?yes?.  A millisecond after I said yes the deer was laying on the ground. Derrick wasted no time pulling the trigger after hearing that I was ready. The smaller doe scurried off with the loud booming sound of the shot. There was no doubt on this one. Derrick had a made good shot.

We sat in the stand for a bit to let the nerves settle a little and then we got down out of the stand. Getting down out of that tall stand is a process for me because I don?t like being up that high in the first place. I made a point to go slowly and after I got down I filmed Derrick as he got down from the stand as well to show the height of the stand.  We went over to the deer and loaded her up. Derrick says that he aimed at the base of her neck. I?m not so sure about that, but whatever the case is?he hit the deer at the base of the neck. The doe weighed 113lbs and we had another good morning in the woods.


Derrick came through again and I got my fair share of entertainment.

Regards,
 

Clint
 


Deer Surveying

WeHuntSC.com - Intro to Game Management

It?s evident that managing game on one's land can have long-term benefits for hunting. In this blog series we're looking at the concept of Game Management. So far in the journey we've discussed Food Plots, Selective Harvest, & Herd Balance and with this entry we're going to look into the concept of deer surveying.

WeHuntSC.com - Deer SurveyingDeer surveying is exactly what is sounds like, surveying the deer on your land. Recent technology has made surveying deer (and any species of game) a whole lot easier, mainly via the creation of the game camera. The invention of the game camera has undeniably changed the way we hunt. Game cameras give hunters an advantage by providing valuable information about the deer in our area. Obviously game camera pics don't give an outdoorsman a 100% accurate read on the deer in a given area, but they do give way more insight about the deer herd than if we didn't have game cameras.

Game cameras are the most common (and affordable) way to survey one's deer herd. Though, there are more scientific and expensive methods of surveying deer.  I heard one speaker at a conference say that in some locations they were flying airplanes over tracks of land taking thermal imagery to survey the game on the land. I imagine thermal imagery is more accurate and way more expensive too! I also know that DNR uses some more advanced, scientific techniques for surveying deer population & growth. These are all neat methods that provide more accurate data, but any method besides a game camera falls out of my financial range. Nevertheless the importance of having a feel for the game on your land is the main point to be noted.

WeHuntSC.com - Man checking Game CameraWhy is having knowledge of the deer in an area important for game management? If you are herd balance conscientious then surveying deer can give you a feel for the ratio of bucks to does on your property.  Sure it's not accurate down to a finite percentage, but it does allow more informed decisions to be made about the herd in a given area.  From this insight a hunter can help determine which deer he or she should or shouldn't harvest based on numbers. Essentially a hunter can get a feel for the herd balance in the area they are hunting through surveying the game on their land. You'll find that die-hard hunters survey deer year round and move their game cameras around a few times a year. Surveying deer, like game management, is a year round process.

Surveying the game in a hunter's allotted hunting area also helps one determine the age class of deer in the region. Viewing the size of deer in a game camera's pictures can help hunters determine the age of bucks based on body size, rack size, and other traits of mature bucks. Along with viewing the different age class of bucks any recent fawns, yearlings, and does can be observed as well. Viewing the deer in your area helps you get a feel for the health of deer as well.

Knowledge of the game in a track of land is a must in any effective game management strategy. Whether you survey deer through more expensive techniques or simply through a game camera, surveying deer pays dividends and helps hunters make informed decisions. Surveying deer allows hunters to watch deer mature over time and gives insight toward the herd balance ratios. If you haven't already, start learning about the deer in your area and you'll be a better hunter because of it.

Regards,

Clint
 


Why You Should be a Predator Hunter

This past week I received an email from a friend that really got my attention and so I wanted to share it with everyone here.  These pictures were taken in Mississippi, but this scenario can easily happen anywhere coyotes exist. If you're a deer and/or turkey hunter and you wonder what the big fuss about coyotes is about...see below. This is why the sport of predator hunting is on the rise and is one of the reasons we're hosting the Predator Competition.

 

WeHuntSC.com - Coyotes kill deer

 

WeHuntSC.com - Coyotes kill deer

 

WeHuntSC.com - Coyotes kill deer

 

WeHuntSC.com - Coyotes kill deer

 

WeHuntSC.com - Coyotes kill deer

 

WeHuntSC.com - Coyotes kill deer

 

WeHuntSC.com - Coyotes kill deer

 

WeHuntSC.com - Coyotes kill deer

 

WeHuntSC.com - Coyotes kill deer

 

WeHuntSC.com - Coyotes kill deer

 

WeHuntSC.com - Coyotes kill deer


Yellow Cape Communications - Video Series: Buddy Stand Placement

Yellow Cape Communications is a communications firm based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Yellow Cape specializes in television production, multi-media for web, still photography, communications consulting, marketing communications services and all things web. You've seen Yellow Cape?s work before when you first come to the site and see the girls in camo introducing our site. You may also have seen the 2010 Central Eagles State Championship Documentary or the Chesterfield County Career and Technology Education video.  I also had Jason produce a DotNetNuke SuperFan Video for me and it turned out really good!

Jason Fararooei and his team at Yellow Cape Communications create top notch multi-media communications - so if you work for an organization that may need multi-media creation, photography or communications consulting services, give Jason a shout http://www.YellowCapeCommunications.com.

Yellow Cape Communications has partnered with WeHuntSC.com on 5 quick-tip video segments to promote the basics in hunting and outdoor safety. Over the course of this deer hunting season we will be releasing the videos in this blog series. I can already tell you that the last segment in this series is by far the best! The below is the third in the series.


2011 WinnTuck Waterfowl Competition
WeHuntSC.com - WinnTuckWe?re excited to host the 2011 WinnTuck Waterfowl Competition again this year. We?ve had a lot of people asking about it and WinnTuck and Lodge Creek Calls have come through again! Some lucky SC waterfowl hunter will win a great prize package and will be featured here on the site as this year?s winner! Be sure to have the date in the picture in order to qualify for the top 3. We?ll do it the same way we did last year?we?ll narrow the entries down to a top 3 and then the site audience will vote on the winner. 
 
Stay tuned to the WinnTuck Waterfowl Competition page as we?ll be posting updates & new prizes as they come in. Be sure to read the rules because you have to have a date in the picture in order to win!
 
Regards,
 
Clint
 

Herd Balance
WeHuntSC.com - Intro to Game Management
We're continuing along in our blog series on game management. Having to research for these blog entries is helping me learn some things and forcing me to look at game management from various perspectives. We've talked about food plots and selective harvest already and in this entry we'll discuss "herd balance".
 

WeHuntSC.com - Herd Balance

The notion of herd balance is one that not all deer hunters consider. The term "herd balance" most commonly refers to the ratio of bucks to does in a given area, but it is also related to a deer's habitat. The overarching goal of herd balance is to have a quality deer herd. A quality deer herd means that the population of deer is in balance with the available forage and cover.  A balanced herd has deer that are healthy, well nourished, and the herd has a well-balanced ratio of bucks to does. A balanced herd will produce healthy fawns that survive winter and will also have an even distribution of deer age classes.

A significant number of hunters prefer to harvest antlered deer in comparison to antlerless deer, which leads to unbalanced sex ratios in the population. Dr. Dave Guynn, professor in the Department of Forestry, Clemson University and a member of the QDMA's Executive Board posted a great article on herd balance on QDMA's web site. In his article he asked the question "Why should we concern ourselves with maintaining a natural social balance in a managed deer herd? Because, to survive as long as they have, deer long ago developed social rules or mechanisms that would keep deer herds and their individual members fit and competitive. However, when harvest regulations allow hunters to deplete certain social classes (with deer, this is usually most or all bucks 1.5 years old or older) in an unscientific, haphazard manner, the herd's social mechanisms can become stressed". As hunters harvesting deer every year we should keep the concept of these social classes in mind. If we only harvest the largest bucks we see then we?re causing an imbalance in the herd that can have longer-term effects on the quality of deer in a given area.

WeHuntSC.com - Herd Balance

In his well written article Dr. Guynn also stated that 'In a balanced population, mature bucks will do most of the breeding. The presence of older bucks and their signposts may suppress the competitiveness and libido of younger bucks. Lower testosterone levels should result in decreased weight loss during the rut and allow young bucks to grow to greater size before they assume breeding duties." In the end of his article he noted "Once established, such socially balanced herds will have high rates of reproduction and fawn survival." I think we all want high rates of reproduction (bred by the big boys) and high rates of fawn survival. In order to help this process out we can take measures to ensure a balanced herd. The restoration of balance between males to females in the population, along with healthy habitats filled with high-value forage is a must for successful game management.  
 

WeHuntSC.com - Leslie Sims with a pic of the big buck she got in Pageland SC 2 weeks ago

If you're like me you don't hunt on extremely large tracks of land and it's easy to feel like your actions to improve herd balance may be futile. Since a deer herd will generally occupy a region larger than the area of land one hunts, it's a great idea to form a "cooperative". A "cooperative" is an agreement made by neighboring property owners to abide by game management practices. If agreed to and abided by it only takes a couple of seasons before the benefits will start being noticed. 
 
In this blog entry we've looked at the concept of herd balance as it relates to Game Management. Having a balanced herd is a critical part of effective game management. As we just witnessed this past week in Pageland, the size deer in South Carolina can grow to when hunters work together in a cooperative to practice game management can be amazing.
 
Information in this blog entry cited from:
 
Regards,
 
 
Clint
 

Selective Harvest

WeHuntSC.com - Intro to Game Management

In this blog series we're looking at concepts, practices, and approaches that can aid in managing game in a hunter's area. "Game management" in our approach stems from the perspective of "the everyday hunter" rather than someone who owns a ranch and is managing game as a business. We've looked at food plots in depth already in this series and in this entry we?ll look into the concept of "Selective Harvest".

As you would imagine, "selective harvest" simply means what you would expect, being selective about the deer that you shoot. This concept goes against the grain for some hunters because it means not shooting every deer that you see. Given a normal scenario, in order to have mature deer with good genetics on your land, a hunter simply can't shoot every deer he/she sees and expect to see a lot of "Monster Bucks" on the same land. Letting young bucks walk is critical in order to get mature bucks to hold on your land. I have been surprised at the number of bucks we're seeing now simply from practicing selective harvest on our hunting land for a few years.

WeHuntSC.com - Selective HarvestI'm no pro hunter and I'll admit that its way easier to "talk the talk" than it is to "walk the walk" when out in the field.  It's easy to get worked up when you see a deer and then the trigger finger starts to itch, but if you're trying to manage the game on your land then you must be able to control yourself. I try to think about the future and the bigger picture of what we're trying to do rather than getting caught up in the moment and yes it does get awful tempting sometimes.
 
Selective harvest involves a great deal of discipline. A hunter who is trying to manage his game must be disciplined about the deer that he/she does and doesn't harvest. The moments that I really debate whether I should or shouldn't shoot a deer are the moments I remember when I see the same deer the following year and he's that much bigger. We see the benefits of our discipline in the future by way of bigger, more mature bucks. It's also important to note that when it comes to breeding, it's better to have bigger, more mature bucks breeding the does than having the younger bucks mating with them. The helps spread good genes down the line to the deer of the future.
 
Several benefits can be drawn from implementing selective harvest in areas where game is being managed. The obvious benefit is that deer will mature and hunters can notice larger bucks over the course of a few seasons. A result that doesn't take as long to notice is that from practicing selective harvest on our hunting land I've noticed that I see more deer during hunting hours. Over time deer can "feel" it when hunters apply too much pressure and they either become nocturnal or simply stay away from the areas where they feel unsafe. When using the selective harvest approach deer aren't as pressured and disturbed and because of it they feel more comfortable about their environment. The more comfortable they feel, the more deer that will be seen. Every hunter that I knows enjoys seeing deer when they go out hunting.
 
One thing I've found helpful is to make the decision of what deer I will and won't shoot at before entering the woods. Once I make the decision, I stick to it. I go into the stand knowing that I will or won't shoot a doe and that I will only shoot a certain type of buck. I study the traits of a mature buck and I look for those traits if I see a buck while hunting. Having this knowledge helps me make decisions about the age of the buck and whether it's a "shooter" or not. Going in with a plan is always a good thing.
 
Many hunters think "If I don't shoot this deer then the guy in the woods across the road from me will." This may or may not be the case in every instance, but one can never truly know. We've tried to be proactive and talk about game management with hunters who hunt neighboring properties. Thus far everyone has been upbeat and responsive to this approach because ultimately everyone wants to see big deer. I think it makes everyone a little more optimistic if we know the people around us are also on the same page. Over the course of time, with everyone working together in our area, we are seeing bigger deer. The same concept can hold true for anyone who works at it and communicates. 
 
In this blog entry we've looked at a select harvest approach to deer hunting as it relates to game management. While being selective about the deer we do and don't shoot at can be tough at times, the benefits in the long run far outweigh the momentary happiness of shooting a small buck or doe. Selective harvest is a must in any game management strategy.
 
Regards,
 
 
Clint
 

Yellow Cape Communications - Video Series: Buddy Stand Benefits

Yellow Cape Communications is a communications firm based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Yellow Cape specializes in television production, multi-media for web, still photography, communications consulting, marketing communications services and all things web. You've seen Yellow Cape?s work before when you first come to the site and see the girls in camo introducing our site. You may also have seen the 2010 Central Eagles State Championship Documentary or the Chesterfield County Career and Technology Education video.  I also had Jason produce a DotNetNuke SuperFan Video for me and it turned out really good!

Jason Fararooei and his team at Yellow Cape Communications create top notch multi-media communications - so if you work for an organization that may need multi-media creation, photography or communications consulting services, check Jason out www.YellowCapeCommunications.com

Yellow Cape Communications has partnered with WeHuntSC.com on 5 quick-tip video segments to promote the basics in hunting and outdoor safety. Over the course of this deer hunting season we will be releasing the videos in this blog series. The below video, Buddy Stand Benefits is the 2nd video of the series.

 

Regards,

 

Clint

 


Schofield's Duck Hunter Extravaganza

Just wanted to make sure you knew about Schofield's Duck Hunter Extravaganza that's going on this weekend. If you're into waterfowl hunting, and you like good deals, then you'll want to check this out. 

WeHuntSC.com - Schofields Duck Hunter Extravaganza

WeHuntSC.com - Schofields Duck Hunter Extravaganza


Early November Food Plot Update
WeHuntSC.com - Intro to Game Management Blog Series
As we continue on with the Intro to Game Management Blog Series we're about done with all the "work" that we have to do with our Tecomate Seed Food Plots. Now it's just time to watch them grow and hunt over them! 
 
I went out and took some pictures of the food plots one afternoon. These pictures show the plots about 3-4 weeks after fertilizing them. They are looking good and green! With frost starting to get here now and the leaves falling off the trees it won't be a long time until the deer are spending a lot of time in these food plots! I think they turned out pretty well and they've still got some room to grow.
 
Below is a photo gallery that I created with updated pics of each food plot. I hope to post one more update later in the season to give you another look,and hopefully we'll have some deer in these plots as well!
 
WeHuntSC.com - Early November Food Plot Update Photo Gallery
 
Now that we've covered food plots thoroughly we'll be moving on to other facets of Game Management that one should consider when thinking of managing game. Stay tuned!
 
Regards,
 
Clint
 

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