Blog Entries from the WeHuntSC.com blogging crew
Do mosquitoes bite you? If so, do you like it? If you don?t like it, then register to the site for a chance to win a Thermacell or one of Thermacell?s new lanterns. Thermacell is hands down the best mosquito repellant out there.
I can?t tell you how good of a sponsor Thermacell is to us, which in turn means how good of a sponsor they are for the hunters of South Carolina. Thermacell is working with us on a WeHuntSC.com promotional and we are randomly drawing names of registered site users to win prizes.
Current members don?t get riled up just yet?you?re already in the lot for the drawing. We are going to hold random drawings throughout the weeks of the next 3 months giving away these Thermacells and Lanterns. We are merely going to take the list of registered site users and draw names out of a hat and we will notify the winners.
See a Thermacell Testimonial from a Gander Mountain employee.
If you?re reading this blog and don?t know what a Thermacell is or what it does, then go to Thermacell?s web site for more information or see the below video.
We?ll get started not too long after I get back from the honeymoon and if you win, you?ve got to send us a picture of you and your new Thermacell!
Regards,
Clint
This year we hosted our first Turkey of the Year Competition. In order to ensure that users wouldn?t submit a picture from years ago, we forced user?s entries to have the date of their kill written somewhere in the picture with them. As you may imagine, we heard from several individuals who said ?If I had only known, then I would have done it?. Well? now you know and next year you can do it! You have to start sometime and this year was our starting point.
For this reason we had a low number of user submissions, but nevertheless we did have some hunter?s that were able to get their information submitted successfully. Of the submitted entries to the site, Steve ?Brother? Black from York County, SC has emerged as the winner. Steve is an avid, year-round hunter and is a member of the Mossy Oak Pro Staff. He hunts deer in the fall, ducks around December and, obviously, turkeys in the spring. He took a trip to Arkansas this past duck hunting season and had a very successful hunt. Steve is known as one of the best turkey hunters around York County and the Rock Hill area. Steve has guided some TV show personalities on hunts and enjoys taking his young son hunting.
Steve was nice enough to take a minute away from work tell us the story about how he bagged his competition winning turkey along with some information about the calls he uses.
For more information about the calls that Steve uses check out his sponsor?s web sites at:
We?re excited for Steve and glad he entered the contest. We really enjoy giving back to the hunters of South Carolina! The days when we deliver the prizes are one of my most favorite things that I get to do being involved with this site. From winning the competition, Steve received:
Not too bad for a day in the woods!
A big congratulations to Steve and a message to all the turkey hunters for next year? HAVE A PIECE OF PAPER, PEN, AND CAMERA CLOSE BY IF YOU PLAN ON GETTING A TURKEY IN THE CONTEST!
Until next turkey season?
If you read these blogs then you know that we frequently monitor the site traffic to see what is going on with the metrics and to monitor our growth. We try to give periodic reports of site metrics to let readers and site visitors see who else is checking things out in South Carolina.
Turkey season did show growth in hits and we?re happy about that. From April 1 ? April 30th, in South Carolina, we had 987 visits from 60 different cities. The image below will give you a feel for the spread of hits that we received from South Carolinians.
See the detailed South Carolina report here.
On a national level we received 1,480 visits via 33 states, which is pretty good for just one month. It seems that others around the country are interested in what?s going on with the hunters of South Carolina!
The image below will give you a feel for the spread of hits we received from the national audience.
See the detailed national report here.
I also looked at the metrics from when we started back last September until now and we?ve had 10,395 visits and 77,568 page views with users spending an average of 6:53 seconds on the site. I?d say that?s a pretty good start for not even being up a year yet. So thanks to everyone who visits the site and contributes videos, photos, forum posts, blog responses, competition submissions, etc. The more traffic we receive, the better the competition prizes will be in the future.
And we keep pushing.
As we continue the Tecomate Seed ?Food Plot Journey? the time came to plant the seed. Due to a mix-up at a distribution point we are not planting three different Tecomate products, but rather two. We planted the seed for our summer plot this past weekend (Saturday, May 1st). The products we did plant were Tecomate?s ?Lab Lab? and ?Lab Lab Plus? and I?m very eager to see what will come in the near future.
Mike Lee of Barenbrug USA/Tecomate Seed, along with Don Willis from DBW Outdoors, were present with Keith Frachiseur representing the GroundHog MAX. We all got together and got seed in the ground at one of our food plot feature locations.
First things first?we got up early and went to Bojangles and got some good biscuits. Then we went to our food plot location. The weather predictions had been forecasting rain and isolated thunderstorms for Saturday, but somehow we made it out without getting wet. I was happy about that since I was shooting video and photos during this whole process. I will say that I learned a lot from Mike as we installed the seed and from asking him questions throughout the day.
Our Installation We are installing one food plot location of our ?Food Plot Journey? on about 2.4 acres of land where the soil is pretty sandy in upstate, Pageland South Carolina. Since this specific location has been previously worked and cultivated for food plots, the soil sample readout result of the pH came back at 7.0. Since the pH was already in check, we did not have to apply lime at this location.
We had planned on using a no till drill to plant the seed, but were unable to secure the equipment. Instead we used a tractor, a plow, and a spreader to put the seed out. Per Mike?s instructions, we divided the field in half using different planting techniques on each half. On one half we left the dirt rows that were created where we used the disc to prep the field and on the other half we used a drag to smooth the soil out before we broadcast the seed. This left us with a field that was smooth on the right side and the small rows from the disc remained on the left. Then we broadcasted the seed, via the spreader on the tractor, on both sides of the field. Trust me?it was a whole lot easier hanging off the side of that tractor with a camera when we were riding on the smooth side!
After the seed was broadcasted, we went back and drug the right side again with our drag to cover the seed with dirt. On the left side we went back in and lightly disked and harrowed the field to cover the seed with dirt via the lightly discing method. Dividing the field up like this with two different planting techniques will hopefully show us any differences that may occur as result of the differing implementation methods.
Mike?s theory is that the seed on the left side (the side that was lightly disked and harrowed back in) will be a little bit deeper in the soil than the seed on the right said that was smoothly dragged in. Mike believes that the difference in the planting depths of the seed may have an effect on the seed varieties that come up in our field. Mike is afraid the White Grain Milo in the Lab Lab Plus could be planted too deep with the harrowing method and may not establish well. In time, and with rain, we will hopefully have pictures to demonstrate this.
Now that you understand how we divided the field in half and got dirt back on top of the seed, let me explain where we put which type of seed. Mike indicated that the White Grain Milo in the LabLab Plus will grow a little taller than the straight LabLab. Since it?s taller, we planted the LabLab Plus along the outside border of the field in hopes of giving the deer some kind of barrier to create an inner location where they will feel safe and less guarded. Thus, the LabLab is lower in height and was broadcasted inside the middle of the field. See the graphic below to help you understand how we segmented this field. In the near future, we plan on putting up exclusion fences in each quadrant to show you how the products should grow if they are untouched by the deer.
(We will come back after the first rain and put down some Milorganite to protect the food plot a little, but that will come in a later blog entry.)
All the planting took us about 2.5 hours to get done and we were dusty, sweaty, and hungry by the time is was all over. Since these guys were from Georgia and Alabama, I figured I?d take them somewhere that they most likely hadn?t eaten before. That?s right; we took them to the Legendary ?SmokeHouse Grill? in Jefferson, South Carolina. I believe the guys really liked the food and especially liked the barbeque sauce. We ate there for a bit and then headed to Pageland where my mom had some rum cake awaiting us! Nothing like mama?s cooking.
After eating some rum cake we showed the guys our remote food plot, which is in a totally different location. While we were there we discussed options for planting and discussed what would be the best fits for this location. Keith demoed his GroundHog MAX while we were there and turned up the soil again for me. We?re going back in there to plant soon too?probably this coming weekend.
GroundHog MAX Update: If you?re interested in getting one, The GroundHog MAX is now available at your local Tractor Supply Stores.
Below is a video we shot with Keith explaining a little bit about the remote food plots and the GroundHog MAX.
All in all it was a long day, but it was a good day. I learned a lot, got dirty, ate well, and we got the seed down in a good location with guidance from a panel of experts. I really hope that the man upstairs will bless us with some rain in order to get this stuff to grow because I?m curious to see what will happen. So stay tuned for more as we continue to update this blog series with results of this food plot location and others as well.
If you are into food plots and didn?t make it to our Hunter?s Night Out, then you really missed out on a lot of great information! On Saturday, May 1st 2010 we hosted our first ?Hunter?s Night Out? which featured 3 speakers representing the GroundHog MAX, QDMA, & Tecomate Seed. The event turned out to be very informative with some good questions from the audience.
As people came in I handed out tickets for door prizes that we gave out throughout the evening. Then, our main man Hoot led us off with a prayer and then we began to chow down. We ate some great spaghetti, slaw, and desserts thanks to Lem Robertson and J.E. Aldridge. Once we had put a hurting on the food, it was time to get to business.
Next up were some door prizes where Kyle Sutton of Pageland started off the evening winning a Thermacell. After the first Thermacell giveaway, Ryan Decker of QDMA gave a presentation about quality deer management and his organization. Ryan?s presentation was very thorough and underscored the principles that QDMA was founded upon. Did you know that QDMA was actually started in South Carolina and is now a national organization that is rapidly gaining momentum? By raising awareness of deer management QDMA is slowly but surely helping our deer, us as hunters, and the communities all across the nation.
That pretty much sums up our evening. Thanks to all who attended and, if possible, we hope to try to have some more events like this in the future. If you?ve got any feedback from the event, be sure to let us know .
Some of our doorprize winners below ...
We?ve blogged about it, we?ve tweeted to the Twitterverse, we?ve posted some flyers, and this weekend is our Hunter?s Night Out. We?ve got our ducks in a row and hope to see you at the event. Just a quick recap of what?s going on.
We?re hosting 3 representatives that will speak about game management and food plot creation/maintenance. Each individual is going to give a presentation that lasts about 30 minutes or so with room for questions at the end.
Those 3 representatives are:
Yes, we?re going to feed you and we?re going to start eating around 5:30 so be there and be ready to eat. We are going to eat spaghetti so don?t wear your best shirt! The event is free of charge.
Be sure to get a ticket when you get there? you just might win a Thermacell!
We're also raffling off a ground-blind and some goodies. You can buy a ticket there if you want.
Event Location: First Baptist Church 203 Pigg Street Pageland, SC 29728
Hunting for a Cure is an organization that raises money to fight against childhood disease. The mission of Hunt for the Cure is to introduce children to the joys of wildlife, hunting, and the outdoors and to also raise funds through volunteers and sponsors to contribute to the fight against childhood disease. Hunters from everywhere donate hunts and individuals purchase these hunts at a silent auction at the Hunt for the Cure banquet. The highest bid wins the hunt and 100% of all the proceeds go to St. Jude?s Children?s Hospital in Memphis Tennessee.
Recently, Jimmy Bradley of Pageland, South Carolina was involved with Hunting for a Cure. Jimmy donated a few turkey hunts and the hunts were purchased by John and Tyler Largen of west Tennessee. Tyler is 11 years old and he and his father just started turkey hunting last year. From hearing Jimmy tell of their experiences turkey hunting in SC, I?d say that they definitely have a few hunts to remember.
Jimmy, Tyler, and John?s first hunt together was on Thursday morning. I asked Jimmy to give me some insight as to what all happened on some of their hunts. It really gets tough towards the end! Jimmy has described some of the memories of the few days of hunting below:
Our first hunt was on Thursday morning and we got in really tight on a nice tom. I took my wing out and did four ?Fly downs? with it and the long-beard immediately hammered! He flew down, but no matter what, he was not coming our way. He headed in the opposite direction so we pulled up and moved a half mile down the road. After we moved we heard two birds gobbling really well. So, we set up on the two birds that were gobbling. We called to them and they would gobble back at the calls really well, but they must have been with hens because they would not come near the area we were hunting. In time, they got quiet and we had not heard them for about an hour. We decided to move about a 100 yards and make a new set up. As you would imagine, when we stood up and walked to the decoys the birds flew off!!! They were within 75 yards and where coming in on us silently. I thought to myself that I really blew that one !! At this point, we decided to break for lunch and give John and Tyler time to take a nap because they had arrived late.
John and Tyler Largen on the float trip
We headed back out for the afternoon and set up where we had seen the birds that morning. About 7:00pm I could hear something walking to my right. I looked and saw a Gobbler coming. I was trying to get Tyler turned in that direction so he?d be ready to get his first turkey. About that same time his father, John, turned towards the action and the turkey saw his movement and within moments the bird was gone. Dad had gotten caught! We hunted until dark and came out. We decided we?d try again Friday morning and hoped for better luck.
Friday morning we listened for birds but did not hear any that were within our hunting area. We decided to be creative and do something different since this was a special hunt. We decided to try to float the river! This float trip turned out to be a hunt we would never forget.
In order to do this ?float trip? we needed a boat. After getting my dad?s boat out of the weeds where it has sat for the last 20 years, we made a quick run to Wal-Mart to buy a plug and some paddles. We were excited about our big float trip because the birds seem to gobble really well on the river, but they don?t appear to move too far away from the water. We figured we would just float down the river and call a little and when some turkeys responded, we?d pull the boat up and set up on them.
Jimmy Bradley and the boat After getting everything at Wal-Mart we finally got the boat to the water. Everything started out smooth, then we came to some rocks and I had to get out and pull the boat through. We got back into the boat and got into a good rhythm and were just taking in the whole float trip idea! We weren?t hearing any turkeys calling back, but to be floating down the river turkey hunting seemed neat at this point in time.
I continued calling ever so often, but nothing responded to my calls. Soon enough we came to some more rocks. Here again we had to get out of the boat to pull it through the rocks. We started back on our journey and drifted around a curve and I called some more. Still nothing was responding to my calls. We floated a little ways down the river again and, yes, had to get back out of the boat to pull it through more rocks. We got back on our way and called again and still nothing responded! Then we had to get back out of the boat to pull it past some more rocks! You should be getting the picture by now! By now our ?quick? cruise had lasted 4 hours and we hadn?t even heard a gobble, but we sure had seen a lot of rocks!
While floating down the river we made plans to eat dinner at Beth?s Country Kitchen because pork chops (YUM YUM!) were on the menu and I figured John and Tyler might like that because everyone else in Pageland does. We decided it couldn?t be much further to the bridge where we parked the truck. It didn?t take us long to figure out that we were wrong. We continued to pull the boat down the river which by now seemed to be more rocks than river. We started to get tired so we stopped for a break. When we stopped for a break John dropped his BlackBerry in the river. Our novel idea for a ?float trip turkey hunt? was turning out to be accident prone and more like work than hunting!
The River and The Rocks
Things really went downhill after that. We continued to walk and pull the boat over the rocks and our ?quick? trip ended up being 6 hours long. At the height of all of the bloopers, I slipped on a rock and fell into the only deep spot in the river! I was completely soaked and my wallet, camera, and range finder were soaked too! We realized our ?quick? trip had cut us out of eating pork chops at Beth?s. This was indeed a low-point for the whole squad.
Then we did the unthinkable?We abandoned ship! Due to complete exhaustion, we pulled the boat up into the woods and walked out. Our ?quick? trip ended up lasting 8 hours and I was beaten, battered, and thirsty! The only thing to do in this situation was to laugh about it. We laughed and had fun despite all the river threw at us on our float trip. Shortly thereafter, we went and ate a nice dinner at the Mexican restaurant in Pageland and talked about our fun-filled-day. This was definitely one hunt we will never forget. During the whole river trip we never heard a single gobble! I guess we all have bad days and this was one of mine!
Someone is going to be walking down the river and come up on an old john boat and wonder how it got there. All I can say is take it?It?s yours! You haul it out and you got a boat?.that is, if you get back to it before I do!
Even though no turkey was harvested on their trip, Jimmy the guys definitely had a trip to remember. I?m glad that I didn?t have to haul the boat over all those rocks, but I?ve done similar things before in my life! Jimmy says John and Tyler were troopers even through the blunders of the last day of hunting. So congratulations to them for being soldiers in the backwoods of SC!
Though the last day of hunting turned out pretty rough, we applaud Jimmy for donating a trip to Hunting for a Cure and also encourage you to do so if you can. If you would like to get involved with Hunting for a Cure, contact [email protected] and tell them we sent you.
In the mean time, I think I may go and find me a free john boat!
I woke up early Saturday morning in order to get setup in the field in plenty of time. Mr. J.E. Aldridge met me at the house and we headed out. We got to the field about 30 minutes before daylight. With the Thermacell, 2 decoys, some diaphragms, and a slate call, we set out to get a long-beard. Since most of the turkeys have come from the same general area, we positioned ourselves in a location that is different from where we normally sit. We hoped to be closer to turkeys as they entered the field. We set the decoys out about 15 yards in front of us and to the left.
I?m not turkey hunting expert by far, but so far, every time I?ve been we?ve at least heard some turkeys gobbling from the trees as we got there before daylight. Well, on this day we didn?t hear anything. I was hoping to get some up close and personal footage of a turkey since we were sitting a little closer, but not hearing any turkeys calling out early in the morning gave me a bad feeling about what the day would bring.
There was a front coming in and cloud cover was moving in and out throughout our hunt. The wind was blowing and we could feel the temperature dropping throughout the hunt. Since I?m clueless about turkeys, I don?t know if changes in weather messes with them or not, but I know it can affect the movement of deer some. I hoped that it would get better or that at the least we would hear a gobble somewhere.
In time the sun had completely risen and still we hadn?t heard or seen anything. I randomly called, but nothing seemed to work. Then around 7:30 a hen walked out into the field about 120 yards away to our right. She was walking to our left and this meant she was going to cross our face. I thought she would get a little clearance from the tree line and get out in the field more, but she hugged close to it the whole time. Though, she was by herself and she didn?t stay long. She walked about 20 yards and then flew back up in the trees. I had barely even called at her and she was gone. The thought of a big tom following her was just entering my mind right before she flew away. I don?t know if she was spooked or what. She didn?t respond to my call and left within about 5 minutes of entering the field.
We sat a while longer when another hen came back out in that general area. It could have been the same one, but I?m not sure. This hen did the exact same thing. She walked down the tree line about 15 yards out from it. This time she walked from our far right all the way to our far left and it took her about 20 minutes to make the journey. During these 20 minutes I called and made every sound I could without trying to ?over-call? as Mr. Puette had mentioned to me. No matter what sound I made, the turkey just kept on strutting. I don?t think she really acknowledged any of the sounds as she walked and pecked at the ground and passed by nor did she care about the decoys. We weren?t going to shoot a hen, but it would have been nice to at least get some more footage for the site. After she passed by, Mr. J.E. and I were talking and I told him that I think that turkey might be deaf, thus the title of this blog entry.
That pretty much sums up our hunt. We stayed a little bit longer and then eventually left. We did see a hawk that was chasing after something in the field and that was neat to watch. We also noticed on the way out that the farmer had seeded the field. Looks like there will be some corn around next year. I bet the deer will love that. So there is no really good footage or turkeys to brag about, but we did come across some turkeys that didn?t hear well. Though, maybe the lack of attention to us is a sign about my calling abilities! I guess I?ll keep practicing.
If you read the blogs, then you know I went to Washington DC last weekend. On Saturday Will took the guys from Southern Outdoor Experience hunting and they get a good turkey on film. Will and Adam had planned on going turkey hunting the next day with some friends from up the road. They met Chip and Terry and got in the woods early. Bear with me as I try to re-tell the story of their hunt, which is a little difficult given that I wasn?t there in person.
From the story I heard, the guys got in the woods early at one of our hunting locations. Adam and Will went and set up in one direction and Chip and Terry went in the other. Adam said that when they sat down they started calling a little just to see if they could locate any birds. It didn?t take long before they heard some turkeys that were still in the trees. They sat and waited as the sun began to rise. The area they were hunting on this specific trip is more of a wooded area than the other location where we?ve been turkey hunting this year (which you may have seen on some of the films). The woods gives the birds a little more cover and it makes it more difficult to see them coming! Will and Adam were glad to hear a lot of turkeys gobbling in the distance. Since they had located the birds, they didn?t want to call too much more and they just waited in anticipation. At about 7:30 and they heard a loud boom come from the other side of the tract of land. This meant that Chip and Terry had a made a shot. Shortly thereafter, they went to check on the boys and they had already bagged a good turkey. Chip and Terry were excited about getting a good gobbler! So in the beginning of the video, you?ll see Chip holding the turkey that he shot. We don?t have any footage of this hunt because the camera was in the other location and my camera was with me in DC.
So then what do they do?... They move shop and go to a different location and set up. I think he said they arrived around 8:15 or so. They went out to the field and put a hen decoy up and this time they all sat together. Terry started calling and it wasn?t long before turkeys at this location started yapping back at him. The guys were really impressed with Terry?s turkey calling abilities. Chip always says that Terry?s really good at calling and the boys got to witness it firsthand. They were able to capture some of the footage of this hunt. If you listen in the video, you can hear where Terry?s calling and also hear some turkeys call back in the distance. It?s pretty neat, but you?ll need your volume up.
Will said they had been sitting there for a while and then a hen came out down to the right of the field. The hen came all the way to where they were and got within 15 yards of them. (This is the hen you?ll see in the video) Terry was talking to the hen and it had no clue that they were even in the world. She was just gobbling right away. It?s neat to see the hen that close on video and I know the boys had ice in their veins with it right there on them. Will just held still on the gun as the hen wasn?t going to be shot.
Not too long after that they said a tom came into the far opposite edge of the field. He was a few hundred yards away and terry worked his magic and started calling him in. The turkey didn?t ever see the decoy and didn?t really get within shooting range though, but they said the turkey made a long journey to get near to where they were. They told me that the turkey call was echoing and confusing the turkey. This may have been the reason the turkey?s walking path was irregular. End result of the hunt was no shot, but some good footage of a hen and a sighting of a nice tom.
And here?s the footage
I
I must be the bad luck charm or something because when I leave these guys have birds all around them. 2 turkeys in 2 days + 1 within 15 yards?I?d say that was a good weekend of turkey hunting. Maybe I?ll keep going on road trips so good things will keep happening, but I think the wife-to-be may have something to say about that.
As turkey season draws to an end, we?re just about ready to put some seed down and it?s not just any seed, its Tecomate Seed?you know, the good stuff! You may think that we?re busy turkey hunting every weekend, but don?t forget that we?re also preparing some food plots for next deer season. Yes it?s that time of year! I encourage you to look at the ?Show Us Your Food Plots? page to see some of the user posted images of food plots on which site visitors around the state are working. Feel free to post yours too! You can even film a YouTube video of yourself and tell us what you?re doing/planting/anticipating. We like to see what?s going on around the state and hope to create a food plot synergy if you will! Though, I know some of you like to keep your ?best kept secrets? and food plots to yourself.
It seems hunting can be a year round task, which is a good thing if you ask me! It kind of reminds me of my football days in college. Many think that you just play during the season and come back next year at about the same time of year and play again, but its oooh so different when you?re inside the system. There was always something to do, film to watch, weights to lift, miles to run, practices to attend, meetings etc. Of course we only did that kind of stuff because we wanted to be successful. So I?ll draw the same analogy to hunting. We work hard in the off season running soil samples, clearing woods, and planting food plots in hopes of being successful. Optimistically we?ll be able to get some good deer walking around these food plots to share with you via photo or video. And as our coach would tell us, what you do in the off-season will directly affect what happens during the regular season.
With that said, what exactly do we need to do to prepare to put seed down? Well, there?s really not that much that needs to take place. We should already have our soil samples analyzed, lime down, and the soil should be ready to be seeded. As you can see in the pictures of this blog, we?ve cut the field again to knock down some of the previous year?s growth mixed with some volunteer plants that have come up. We should be ready to seed.
Just before we plant our seed we will broadcast the recommended rate of fertilizer and light disc & drag it into the soil. In doing so, we will reduce the chance of the fertilizer burning the new seedlings after they germinate. Now we are ready to plant our seed. In the larger areas where we?ll be planting, we?ll use a tractor to broadcast the seed. For the remote food plot area, where we used the GroundHog Max, we?ll spread seed with a spreader and an ATV/4-wheeler.
From my perspective, I?m excited (and a little nervous) to see what?s going to happen with all of this. I don?t think I?ve ever actually planted something like this in my life. We?ve had something similar to a garden at my house before, but for me this is a different adventure. Remember, I?m a web guy and my farming skills are little at best. I?m eager to see what will happen and to see if we can get some deer out of these locations. Even if we don?t harvest any of the deer though, at least I?ll know that the deer are eating something that will help them be healthier and help them reach their potential when they get to be mature bucks.
More to come at the seeding!