Blog Entries from the WeHuntSC.com blogging crew
The below blog entry is a guest blog entry posted by Andy Hahn
When friends work together toward a common goal we can accomplish amazing things. I have severely limited mobility because of ALS, but my good buddy Ron Wagner always finds the time and energy to help me enjoy the outdoors. In April 2009 we were hunting at Bang?s Paradise Valley Hunting Club in Ehrhardt, South Carolina, when I told Ron I wanted to take a hog with my Horton Hunter HD 175 crossbow. Our timing was perfect because another guest at the lodge was Matt Miller of Covington, Virginia, who works as a pro-staffer for Horton Crossbows. Although he was at Bang?s to pursue turkeys, he gave up his own hunting time and volunteered to help us that morning. Another friend, Matt Lindler (editor for National Wild Turkey Federation publications), joined us to take photos. Our guide, Tom Collins, mapped out a game plan in the dirt like a sandlot quarterback.
?There?s a game trail here...Set up the blind on this side of it. The hogs bed down in the swamp here. I?ll give you guys 20 minutes, then I?ll come in from this end to push the hogs your way.?
Matt M had the pop-up blind open by the time Ron had wheeled me through 50 yards of mud and deadfalls. Ron quickly assembled my BE-Adaptive gun support and stood by to aim the crossbow with my scope camera/monitor system. Tom tromped through the swamp and his plan worked?sort of. Several hogs went past us, but they ran by too quickly for a shot. Then Tom called on the radio to tell us he saw two hogs hiding in a brushpile. Knowing that hogs tend to sit tight when burrowed into cover, he asked, ?Can you guys get Andy over here?? If the hogs hunker down, we?ll go after ?em; we call this method ?squat ?n stalk hunting.? Ron grunted my wheelchair through 150 yards of palmetto scrub, over logs and around fallen branches while Matts L and M carried the crossbow and other gear. One of my tires went flat from a thorn we picked up somewhere along the way. When Ron apologized, I told him flat, muddy wheelchair tires are much better than clean ones that never go outside.
When we found Tom, he pointed at a nasty brushpile and said, ?One of the hogs is right there.? Where??? Oh...There! All I could see was a dark spot through a 10-inch-diameter opening in the tangled branches. Ron affirmed he could thread the needle at a range of 20 yards and send a bolt through the narrow gap. I trust my point man, so we set up for the shot.
Studying the image on my scope cam, we held a powwow with Matt M to determine where to aim. We estimated where the ribs would be, but the shadows made it a tough call. I squeezed the cable release and the bolt disappeared in the brush. We saw the hog?s rear legs twitch, but we couldn?t see the bolt. Had we hit it?
Our second bolt deflected off a branch and careened away harmlessly. The third one stuck the pig but we couldn?t tell exactly where. We had no more bolts, so somebody would have to walk up and check things out. Matt L stood to our right, with his pistol drawn. Tom stood 20 yards to our left, holding his .44 mag revolver. Matt M, carrying Ron?s 9mm pistol, went behind the brushpile.
?I see tusks on that boar,? he warned.
Then he jammed a 7-foot branch in the pile to flush the hogs. I said, ?Somebody yell PULL! When the pig runs we?ll have pulled pork.? A 130-pound sow stepped out, looking for a victim. She paused, chose Tom and charged directly at him. He tried to sidestep but the hog veered to keep him in her path. POW! Tom fired at a range of 3 feet and closing fast. He hit it between the eyes and had to jump aside as the hog, dead on its feet, tumbled under him. The other hog, which turned out to be a 135-pound boar, never moved. We discovered that the first broadhead had penetrated the skull just behind the right ear for an instant kill. (I guess we can call that shot a ?no brainer.?) Our third shot had struck the hip of the already immobilized hog.
Back at the lodge I almost fell off my wheelchair when Ron asked, ?Hey Bang, do you think Jeremy [of Three Mile Creek Taxidermy] can mount that boar with the arrow stuck in its head?? When we returned to Bang?s later that year, we found that Jeremy had indeed prepared the mount to meet Ron?s request.
Here?s how it looks: Our Squat ?N Stalk Arrowhead Hog.
We?re excited to have Michael Lord as part of the WeHuntSC.com blog team. Michael is a very talented singer, speaker, hunter who uses all of his skills as a ministry. Michael hails from Spartanburg, SC and runs Michael Lord Outdoors which is a ministry that seeks to engage outdoorsmen with the life changing message of Jesus Christ. Michael Lord is an avid outdoorsman who loves God and the people He created. This is Michael?s 20 year anniversary in ministry.
Michael speaks and sings at outdoor events, wild-game banquets, camps, and everywhere in between. If you need a speaker or worship leader for an event, you can get in touch with Michael at his web site, on Twitter, and on Facebook. If you went to the 2011 Sportsman?s Banquet at Second Baptist Church in Lancaster, Michael was on hand leading worship at the event.
Michael?s blogs are going to be somewhat different in that they will mostly be video blogs?which some refer to as ?vlogs?. I know that I?m pumped to see what Michael will bring to the site. I won?t spoil Michael?s own introduction for him, but I just wanted to communicate the addition of a new blogger to the team. Join me in welcoming Michael to the site.
Regards,
Clint
On the morning of August 16th I was heading into hunt. Here in the low-country deer hunting season comes in earlier than in most area. On this particular morning I was running a few minutes behind.. I rushed to grab my Cross Over Camo from of my Mckenzie Scent Fan Duffle bag. The unique pattern of CrossOver Camo combined with the scenting abilities of the McKenzie Scent Fan Duffle bag meant I would be well camouflaged and smelling strongly like the scent of a pine tree. I also sprayed my snake boots down with Atsko?s scent killer to help minimize any human scent or scent from my vehicle.
My scent and gear were under control I was ready to head in. I grabbed my flash light and headed out in to the darkness. As I was walked down the edge of a corn field toward my stand I heard a loud crash just ahead of me. I shinned my light in the direction of the sound and there were two does standing in the edge of the corn looking back at me.
As I continued walking I thought to myself that this early encounter was a good sign that the deer were moving.
I arrived at my stand at 5:45. By this time I could see into the wide open field, but it was that time where the light was bright enough to see but not bright enough to make out exactly what I was seeing. Objects looked somewhat fuzzy as I scanned the edge of the field. I thought I could see movement but I wasn't sure what it was. The sun finally began to peek over the tree tops when I looked straight in front of me. I saw something moving about 150 yards away. I was getting excited to see movement since it was the second day of the season and the sight of a deer walking out in front of my stand was a sight I had not seen since in a long time. I flipped the camera on and zoomed in on the object. It turned out the animal was actually a coyote. I have never seen a coyote when I?ve been deer hunting before. I actually had to take a double take thinking maybe it was a house dog, but as it moved closer toward me I was sure it was a coyote. As I was picked up my rifle the coyote started to lie down in the field. I decided to watch it for a minute to see what it was going to do. After a few minutes of lying on the ground, I decided I was going to take the shot. Just as I was about to pull the trigger it got up and darted into the woods after the other coyote standing in the edge of the woods. I was thinking to myself I should have shot earlier while I had the chance. About 5 minutes later a bigger coyote emerged from the woods. The first coyote returned and they started playing with each other running around in circles. They played for a bit, but when the big one stopped I took the shot. I reloaded and tried to stop the other one as it ran straight toward me but I couldn't get a shot on it. I enjoyed watching them, but I?m also glad I got the opportunity to take one out. They are a big problem around the area I hunt.
I have also been filming a few deer since the start of the season. The problem I?m facing this year is the deer are walking right at dark. I can see them through my scope but it?s too dark to film a lot of the deer I have been seeing thus far. I?m going to keep after?em though and hopefully I?ll be able to get some good film in the near future.
Derek
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! Below is the first in the series.
There are several facets of Game Management. The first one we're going to investigate is the notion of food plots. Food plots are great resources for managing game on your land and are commonly found as a staple in any game management strategy. The core definition of a food plot is "A planted area set aside to act as a food source for wildlife" (Wikipedia). Given that definition a farmer's large field of crops such as soybeans, corn, and peas sometimes serves the same purpose that a food plot does even though that is not the intention of the farmer! Though, farmers will eventually harvest their crops whereas when hunters install food plots they are usually not as big, are of more variety, are located in different areas, and wildlife are the intended consumers of these crops.
It's important to begin by saying that food plots are not a solution to a problem, but rather a supplement that can be beneficial for the game on your land. If you do not have deer on your land, planting a food plot will not make them magically appear. Planting food plots will also not instantly create "monster bucks" on your land or instantly increase the number of deer in your herd. If you expect these kinds of miracles to occur as a result of planting food plots then you're going to be disappointed. Managing your own expectations is important when installing and maintaining food plots. After putting in a lot of work and time with food plots it's easy to feel like "I've worked hard so I should reap the benefits of my work", but this is not immediately accurate. The benefits and effects of having food plots on your land become more prevalent over the course of time. As you might imagine from this blog series, food plots are just one tenant of game management and they are probably one of the most well known in the game management matrix.
Hunters often install food plots in areas that farmers wouldn't, in areas that are deep in the woods or out in some remote location. Creating food plots in these remote locations gives deer easy access to food sources that they need and also provides hunters with ideal hunting locations. Thus, food plots offer both nutritional benefits to the deer as well as benefits to the hunter. Let's look at the nutritional benefit of creating food plots first.
Having food plots on your land during the spring, summer, and fall months ensures that the deer in your area have protein which is important during this time of the year when bucks are growing antlers and does are pregnant and lactating. Adequate nutrition helps the reproduction process, increases the birth weight of fawns, foments larger body size, & raises the likelihood of the doe having multiple fawns. The healthier the doe is the more she can lactate. A healthy adult doe directly helps the fawns out as they mature. Also, during the rut, bucks expend a lot of energy & valuable resources. The availability of nutritional resources helps reduce post-rut mortality rates of these bucks when they run themselves ragged during the rut.
During the winter months a deer's food sources are not as plentiful as Mother Nature naturally reduces the available supply of forage. During this time of year deer don't need as much protein for growing antlers or nursing, but rather they use the nutrients they consume for pure energy. Having food plots available helps deer not have to use fat they've stored up for their internal energy demands. When they can find forage to browse on during winter months it aids in keeping them healthy and decreases the amount of time spent recovering from the rut period. The sooner they can recover from the rut and winter the healthier the bucks will be when the time comes to re-grow their antlers and the more fit the does will be to carry and nurse the fawns. Keep in mind that these benefits won't be noticeable initially as it takes time for these cycles to occur.
Keeping food plots going year round is the best case scenario, but sometimes, for various reasons, we may not be able to manage food plots throughout the full year. If I had to pick one season to install food plots, I would definitely install a food plot during the winter months when the deer's food sources are minimized. Providing deer with ample food sources during this time is more critical for them and will also help you locate deer during winter months.
Food plots also offer hunters some benefits.From a hunting perspective food plots normally increase the number of deer you see during the hunting season, that is as long as you don't disturb them too much. I have friends who want to go and "check on' their food plots all the time & go switch game camera cards out at their food plots way too often. Going out to food plots repeatedly only counters the desired goal and the reason you put them in! I've put in a lot of hard work on our food plots and I still have to remind myself not to overdo it when hunting and checking game cams. Mature deer pick up on these disturbances really easily. I try to be mindful of the pressure I put on our food plots and I don't shoot at every deer I see in our food plots.
On a side note, if you're a turkey hunter, food plots also benefit turkeys. Turkeys will come out and pick at the crops (depending on what you've planted) and also get bugs from around them. I got video just this past weekend of a turkey browsing a food plot. In this respect food plots can serve a dual purpose for hunters if you hunt both deer & turkeys.
From what I've read (and heard) it seems that general ratio is to have 5 - 10% of forested land as food plots. There are tons of different crops you can plant and there is a whole industry ready to sell you any kind of food plot seed and gimmick imaginable. I try to keep in mind the end reason of why I'm creating and maintaining food plots because it's easy to get overwhelmed with options. I try to remember that legumes such as clover, peas, & soybeans are all rich in protein and are great for deer.
We've chosen to work with Tecomate Seed for our food plots because they make quality seed that grows well in our area. Tecomate Seed is coated with a coating called "Yellow Jacket" that helps absorb a large amount of water so the seed can germinate. Tecomate Seed has a trusted brand that's built on years of research and testing. If you've ever seen the TV show "Bucks of Tecomate" then you know what I'm talking about. Hopefully in time we'll have some good deer like that around the areas we hunt, but the same rule applies patience is the key.
We are installing food plots on some areas of our land this year and I'm going to be posting some brief blog entries with videos and pictures of our food plots to keep you posted on our successes & failures with regards to our 2011 food plots. We're planting Tecomate's Max Attract in all locations. Regards,
CROSS Outdoor Exchange of Boiling Springs, SC is a multi-faceted organization that truly embraces the outdoors. One side of the organization is a non-profit youth ministry that uses the outdoors as a means to share with, mentor to, and help guide children and youth ages 7-15. CROSS Outdoor Exchange has monthly and seasonal outings to keep kids involved. As part of the program CROSS Outdoor Exchange offers individual hunts/fishing trips to youth that are part of the program. This year CROSS Outdoor Exchange has added a youth deer hunt. The hunt is a fund raiser for the youth injured in the Cleveland Park train wreck earlier this year. This will be an annual event and will help these families in the future.
The other side of CROSS Outdoor Exchange is a for-profit Archery and tackle shop. The store is used not only for sales, but to be a place in the community where folks can find the CROSS ministry. The store carries bows by Bowtech, Strother, and Elite. The archery and tackle shop is also set up as dealers for Bass Pro, Lone Wolf, Lucky Buck, and Rhino. With a full line of fishing tackle and live bait, they also offer a consignment area as a way for outdoorsmen to change some of their older gear for newer models. The consignment area also helps the kids in the ministry get the gear they need at a lower price.
Do you remember your first deer rifle? If you're like me you probably can remember just about everything about your first rifle. My first deer rifle was a Remington Semi-Auto .243 that my Dad bought at a local gun shop. It was a heavy gun and because of that we traded it for a Remington Model 700 .270 the next year. It was with the .270 that I killed my first deer.
Choosing a rifle is one of the most important things you do when preparing a young hunter for their first season. Confidence in your rifle is very important and with a young hunter it is imperative that you build that confidence by choosing the correct rifle. We often hear debates about what is the best caliber but to me it more about confidence than caliber. You can build that confidence by finding a rifle that fits.
I think JD has found the rifle that fits him. JD bought a Remington Model 700 Youth .308 from Sportsman Inc. located in Newport, SC over the weekend. I wasn't able to tag along when he bought it but based on what JD told me it sounded like an awesome experience. The staff at Sportsman Inc. went above and beyond to make sure JD had everything he needed for his first rifle. On Saturday we packed up and headed to my friend Rick's house to get the scope mounted and sighted in.
As we arrived at Rick's house and stepped from the car a cool breeze signaled that deer season was just around the corner. I couldn't have been more excited about watching JD shoot his first rifle. It didn't take long and Rick had JD's scope which is a Nikon 3x9x50 mounted and ready for the shooting range. We set up a bench at 25 yards and got everything ready. We took some time to give JD some safety instructions and get him comfortable with his set up. Again safety and getting familiar with the rifle goes along with building that confidence that is so important.
We had a minor hiccup before JD made his first shot. The mount screw for the scope was a hair too long and wasn't allowing the bolt to close. Rick was on top of it and within minutes he had the screw filed down and the gun ready again. JD got set up and made his first shot at 25 yards. I was eager to see the recoil from the rifle because that is definitely something you want to manage when starting a youngster out shooting. To help with this JD bought Remington's managed recoil ammunition. On the box it stated that it reduces recoil by 50% and I was sold after watching JD make a few shots. We shot about three rounds at 25 yards and then backed up to 50 yards. After making a few more shots we finally backed up to 100 yards. JD shot about nine rounds down range and with each shot you could see his confidence rise.
It was a fun day of shooting and I can't thank Rick enough for his help. We got to teach JD a few things about safety and shooting and we watched JD start to build a bond with his rifle. He's a pretty darn good shot! Now it's time to go hunting!
What do you remember about shooting your first rifle? Check out JD's first shots in the video below.
This past weekend I checked my game camera on Friday to see if I was getting any action at one of my stands. When I got back to a computer and checked I had 885 pics within a one week time span. Needless to say, this was a good sign. The pics had some bucks, does, fawns, and squirrels in the mix. With the cool front moving in over the weekend I felt like it should be a good weekend to hunt. Though my weekend schedule would only allow me to hunt in this specific stand on Sunday afternoon. I looked forward to the hunt all weekend.
Let me back up and say that I hunted this same stand two weekends ago and had a deer bust me. I had been in a hurry to get to the stand, didn?t have time to spray down or use my scent control products, and I rushed out to the stand. I was sitting in the stand when all of a sudden I heard a deer blow at me from behind my stand. The deer was alone & bounded away into the woods. I never saw it, but only heard it as it fled my area of the woods. The fact that it was alone makes me think it was one of the bucks I?ve got on camera. I was not a happy camper.
This stand sits back in some dense woods and early in the year it?s really tough to see due to all the leaves on the trees. It?s a good stand for later in the season when visibility is better, but with so much activity on the game camera I figured I should try my luck. Though, knowing that a deer would be in really close to me before I would see it meant I should take better care of my scent or else I?d get busted again. This time I would be prepared.
I spent some time with my Atsko Scent & UV Control System 4-pack over the weekend. I washed my clothes in the Sport Wash, then applied the UV Killer, took the soap to the shower, and mixed the activator with the N-O-dor spray to get it ready for spraying down before entering the woods. After washing the clothes and ridding them of my scent I dropped them in the McKenzie Scent Fan Duffle Bag and let them marinate in the earth scent wafers that I had in the bag. Before hunting I took a shower with the Atsko Sport Wash, got dressed, and sprayed the rest of my gear down. Even if I didn?t see a deer I was going to have my scent better under control on this hunt.
I got into the stand a little early because I didn?t want to be rushed & because I had pics with deer over the corn pile early in the afternoon. I got set up with my Irwin Quick Grip Redneck Engineered Camera Arm and was ready to rock. I still wish Irwin would come out with a camouflage quick grip, but I?d settle for a black one? if they don?t I guess I?ll have to spray paint my current one. I had quietly clamped the camera to the right side of my stand and had it in position. The camera wouldn?t be falling off this time!
As I sat in the stand the squirrels were driving me crazy. They were everywhere and as they raced around the woods I thought back to Andy Hahn?s blog and wished he would have had them cleared out back there because they were getting my heart rate up every now and then! I sat for a long time without moving. I tried to be as still as possible because, like I said, a deer can get in on you at this stand (early in the season) without you even knowing it. I didn?t want to get busted again. I sent some text messages to other friends who were hunting and sent a few tweets on Twitter as I scanned and listened to the woods around me.
It got to be ?the time? right before dark when you feel like you should see something. I was starting to think I was going to be unsuccessful again and I couldn?t figure out why with all the pics I?d been getting at this location. Then I heard leaves cracking at a slow and steady pace. My first reaction was to cut the camera on. I slowly moved my hand to the camera and hit the power button. I could hear something walking, but couldn?t see it. It was getting closer to me and my heart starting going. It kept on walking through the woods at a slow pace and I finally saw movement. When I saw the movement and was sure it was a deer I hit the record button. Right after I hit the record button I slid my safety off, but left my gun lying in my lap. I had the camera pointing toward the corn in front of me, but the deer was to the right of me. I wasn?t going to swirl the camera and risk getting busted so I just recorded the whole time until the deer got close enough to the viewport of the camera.
With the deer?s next step I saw its leg through some leaves. There was still plenty of light to see, but it was just so thick I couldn?t see well. Finally I saw the outline of the deer and it was only about 25 yards from me. The deer stood still and ate some acorns and while it stood still I heard even more leaves cracking behind it. There were more deer.
It didn?t take long before I could tell that the lead deer was a doe and a good sized one. I watched it as it got closer to me. This deer crossed in front of me at about 15 yards, broad-sided and I could have probably knocked it down with a football?well maybe a couple of years back I could have, but it was really close. I didn?t want to shoot a doe if it had fawns with it and I also wanted to see if the deer trailing behind were any decent bucks. The doe crossed in front of me and I filmed it as much as I could. At one point the barrel of my 243 got in the way of the lens and blurred the video shot, but I wasn?t going to move it just for the sake of the camera. I filmed as best as I could while l kept looking to the right to see what kind of deer the other sound I heard was.
The lead doe had worked her way across the front of me and was over to my left. She didn?t seem interested in the corn I had only 10 ? 20 yards to her right. I was finally able to see the other deer that was making the cracking of the leaves behind the lead doe. It was another doe, a little bit smaller, but not a fawn. It seemed there were as another deer off in the distance, but the sound of it was getting smaller as it got further away. At this point I had all the information I needed in order to make the decision to take the lead doe if I got a good shot.
With where the doe had walked there were now leaves and a few small trees in between us, but to my surprise the doe turned back to the right and headed toward the corn pile. It was only a matter of time. This doe ate corn for what seemed like forever?though it was probably only a couple of minutes. The good part was that she had her butt facing toward me while she ate. This gave me the opportunity to lift my gun up and get it situated. I had her in the crosshairs and was waiting on her to turn and give me a good angle. As she ate corn I waited and waited and eventually pulled my face back from the gun for a moment because I got tired of squinting for so long. I was glad I did because the barrel of the gun was right under the viewfinder of the video camera and had I shot it would have probably jumped up and hit the camera. I slid the gun over and leaned back in. The doe ate and finally popped her head up to the side. I guess she saw me because she perked up real quick and stomped her foot at me. I didn?t have a good angle with her first stomp, but when she looked at me harder she turned the rest of her body and it gave me a good angle. I took the shot and saw her back legs jump up in the air. I knew I had made a hit. I heard her run about 40 yards and crash.
One of my rules that I use after I shoot a deer is to sit in the stand and for a little while and calm down and collect myself. I don?t want to pressure the deer and I don?t want to do anything dumb by being in a rush. I sat there and took some deep breathes and tried to get my heart rate down some. As I sat I could still hear the other deer over in the woods. It didn?t scatter off like you might imagine a deer to do. For a moment I thought I might be able to get 2, but then I decided against it as it was starting to get darker. I put my gun on safety and started taking the camera down from the stand. I turned my light on and climbed down.
Even though I saw the deer jump & heard it crash I still wanted to go to the point of contact to make sure I saw blood because stranger things have happened before when trailing deer. I saw a drop of blood and knew I had contact. I sent some text messages to friends saying I would need help shortly. I walked in the direction that I heard the deer run in and shined the light up ahead and saw a white belly. It didn?t take me but about 5 minutes to find it. Help arrived soon thereafter and we got the deer out of the woods and to the processor.
* Had a problem with my camera & was unable to get any pics off the camera :-(
It was a great early season hunt and I?m glad that I took care of my scent before going in this time because those deer got really close to me. The doe weighed 120lbs and was a good sized doe by South Carolinian standards. I will probably return to this stand at some point and try to get one of the bucks I?ve been getting on camera back there.
Do you self film your hunts? If not you should give it a try?it is challenging, but pretty rewarding to be able to re-live the hunts.