Rob's Hunting Journal

Antler Makeover

2011-12-07T21:36:00.001-06:00

A couple friends of mine recently found a nice matched set of shed antlers - but one was found fresh in February and still had all its color while the other one wasn't found until it had been laying on the ground for about 9 months and had suffered the effects of being out in the elements. I was asked to try to paint the faded antler to make it match the fresh one.Here are a couple before pictures...

And here are the after pictures...

They aren't an exact match, but to the casual observer they look close enough. And my friends that found them like the way they turned out.

SYC Deer Hunt 2011

2011-10-02T21:27:00.000-05:00

Last weekend the SYC Deer Hunt was held in NW Iowa, and I was fortunate to be able to participate as a guide for one of the hunters. The weekend was full of excitement as 28 hunters harvested a total of 23 deer.Due to the passing of my friend Greg Somers the week before as I mentioned in my last post, I was paired up with a different co-guide for this hunt. This year Danny Dodge of Spencer, Iowa and I were assigned to guide for a young man named Logan Slay. Here we are before the first morning's hunt getting ready to go out into the field. (From left to right: Terri Slay (Logan's Dad), Logan Slay, Danny Dodge, and myself)

The first morning in the stand turned out to be a good one. We saw a total of 7 deer, all does and fawns, and Logan was able to harvest a nice doe. This was Logan's first deer, and it was great that he and his dad were able to share the moment together.

Another successful hunter this year was Zach Olson from Minnesota. I had the privelege of guiding for Zach the last couple years and he bagged one doe the first year he hunted with me. This year he was being guided by my friend Marc Gustafson, and Zach shot two deer - a 7-point buck and a doe!

The biggest buck of the weekend was shot by a young man named Graham who bagged this really nice 10-point!

Overall, lots of good memories were made and the weekend was exciting for everyone involved. A speaker delivered a powerful message of how God changed his life, and lives are constantly being changed by the work of this ministry. I'm thankful for the opportunity I have to participate and for the wonderful friends I have met through SYC.

Remembering a Friend and Hunting Buddy

2011-09-20T23:30:00.000-05:00

My heart was saddened today as I found out that I lost a friend and hunting buddy. Greg Somers, who is a long-time family friend and one of my fellow SYC Hunting Guides for the last couple years, passed away late yesterday evening. I have some great memories of the time I got to spend with Greg, and he will be greatly missed by everyone that knew him.

Dove Season Starts with a Bang!

2011-09-10T00:34:00.000-05:00

The 2011 dove season in Texas began on Thursday, September 1st and found myself in a rare situation - sitting in my office that morning instead of being afield. I can count on one hand the number of times I have missed an opening day dove hunt in my entire life. This year I had more family obligations with school having already started back, and my duties of dropping little ones off at preschool took precedence over my need to be in the field. But I knew the weekend would arrive in two short days, which meant I would be making a trip to my hunting lease for some dove hunting with my Dad and my friend Lee Flannery.

The weekend turned out to be a very memorable one. All three of us were able to bag a limit of doves on Saturday morning. My dad was the first to dominoe, with his 15th bird being bagged at 7:30 AM, approximately 52 minutes after legal shooting hours began. I was next to fill a limit with number 15 falling at 7:45 AM to my 34th shotshell of the morning. This may sound like a lot of shots to you if you have never tried your hand at shooting doves, but according to this article on the Bass Pro Shops website, "Studies indicate dove hunters average about three birds bagged per 25 shots." This means the average person has a .120 batting average when it comes to dove hunting, and Saturday morning's hunt for me would be equivalent to a .441 batting average. I'll take that number any day of the week! Lee finished up the trifecta with a limit of his own by 8:30 that morning. Here we are with our birds.

Another memorable moment that morning was the fact that I shot my first ever White-winged Dove. These are very similar to Mourning Doves, but have a white patch on their wings and have historically been in the southern part of the state. In the last few years we have seen more and more of them here in the northern part of Texas, and I was fortunate to get to bag this one as part of my limit.

Also of a very memorable note was Lee's son, Sean, bagging his first dove of his young hunting career. Not only did he get his first - he got several - and put on quite a shooting exhibition in the process! Way to go Sean!

So, even though I missed opening day the weekend turned out to be spectacular. I guess the best things do come to those who wait.

Help Me Name This Buck

2011-07-26T21:50:00.003-05:00

I got a picture of a really gnarly buck on camera this past week that is so freakish looking I don't know how to describe it. Anybody got any good suggestions for a nickname for this buck?

Time to Get Trail Cameras Running

2011-07-19T22:42:00.004-05:00

With deer antlers really starting to take shape, and hunting season just a little over two months away, now is the time to get those trail cameras in the woods. I recently got several of my cameras in place. Hopefully I will have a good number of pictures to share in the next few weeks. Here is the first nice buck I've gotten on camera this summer.

Antler Restoration

2011-06-05T22:23:00.007-05:00

Earlier this spring I found a unique deer antler while I was shed hunting. It is a very non-typical and heavy antler with lots of character. But, it looked like it had been laying out in the weather for a couple years and it was bleached completely white.

While the antler looks pretty cool just the way it is, I decided I wanted to try to bring it back to life. I used my airbrush to give the antler a good base coat in an off-white bone color. Then I took a small paintbrush and some acrylic paints and went to work.

I used a fresh antler as reference and tried to make the base of the antler darker and fade it into a slightly lighter color toward the end.

After I got it all painted I removed the paint from the high spots on the antler to give it some highlights and make it look more realistic.

I kept removing paint until I got the desired look. Then I touched up some areas until I got it just right. Finally, I put a coat of flat clear sealer on it to protect the color and to add a little sheen to the finish. Here is the finished antler. I like the way it turned out and think it will look even better sitting on the coffee table.

European Mount Desktop Pedestal

2011-04-17T22:28:00.007-05:00

After making the turkey fan display plaque last week I thought of another item to make using my wood router. I have a nice whitetail skull I want to put on display so I decided to build a desktop piece that the skull could sit on.

I started out by tracing the skull and making some cardboard patterns to use for transferring the shape I want on to the piece of wood I would be cutting out. I then cut out the three pieces of wood that would be used in the pedestal: an oval base, an upright piece, and the skull panel.

After cutting and sanding I used the wood router to create the decorative edge on the base and the panel.

Next, I took the three pieces and drilled pilot holes for all the screws and test-fitted them together to make sure they would fit properly and be the desired angle for the skull to sit on.

Then I stained the wood using a red mahogany stain and darkened it up a little bit with some dark walnut stain.

After the stain had dried I applied a couple coats of polyurethane to give the piece a glossier furniture look. I allowed it to dry for about a day and then attached the skull. I really like the way it turned out and think it has a pretty classy look. Here are some pictures of the finished desktop pedestal.

Turkey Fan/Beard Display

2011-04-16T01:14:00.003-05:00

I recently finished up another project I've been wanting to complete for some time now. Several years back I was fortunate enough to call in and harvest my first turkey, an old tom with a 10 1/2" beard. I decided to make my own display panel for the bird's tail and beard. I took a really nice piece of red oak, cut out the pattern I wanted, routed the edge to give it a fancier look, stained the wood, put a few coats of polyurethane on the plaque, and attached the tail and beard. I think this will make a nice addition to my ever-growing trophy room. What do you think?

First Waterfowl Mount

2011-04-11T23:09:00.007-05:00

I've had an interest in taxidermy since I was a kid. I've tinkered with some skull mounts and hide tanning here and there, but I've never actually done a taxidermy mount of a whole animal. Until now.

A couple years ago I was able to attend a one-day waterfowl taxidermy seminar where I watched a professional taxidermist mount a teal from start to finish. There are quite a few steps involved in the process, and I got some valuable experience and learned some helpful tips from watching the taxidermist at the seminar. So I decided I wanted to give this a try for myself.

One of the tools I saw the taxidermist use was a bird flesher, which he had built himself using a low horsepower motor and a wire wheel, to remove all the fat and grease from the bird skin prior to mounting. I decided to build my own bird flesher a few weeks ago after seeing a few different designs on the internet. Here is my homemade bird flesher:

I used a clear rubbermaid container to serve as the containment area to catch all of the fat from the bird when it is removed from the skin by the wire wheel. An attic fan motor powers the wheel and is wired to an on/off switch.

The first duck I chose to mount is a nice American Wigeon drake that I shot during last year's duck season. I should have taken more pictures of the entire process, but unfortunately I didn't, so here is one I took of the skin while I was sewing up some of the holes in the bird in preparation for putting the skin on the mannikin. As you can tell it doesn't look like much at this point...

And here is the final product. I'm happy with the way it turned out for my first one. There are some things I will do differently on the next one as I hope to improve on my second mount. It was a fun project but some very tedious work.

First Fresh Shed Antler of the Year

2011-02-28T23:36:00.003-06:00

I've been out shed hunting a few times already this year and have found a number of old antlers from previous years that were faded and chalky. But last week I managed to find a really nice fresh one that had just recently dropped.

This antler was a 5-point left side with really good mass. I put the tape measure to it and it scored 55 4/8" by itself. So it would be safe to say that if the other side looked the same it would be approximately a 125" - 130" buck. Not too shabby!

But what did the other side look like? I've had trail cameras running on this property for several months and have never gotten a picture of this particular buck so I have no real way of knowing for sure what that right-side antler looks like. But earlier that same day, my friend Cliff found an antler within just a couple hundred yards of where I located this one that I think could be the match.

Take a look at that drop-tine! This picture makes them look a little different, but it is because of the way the drop tine makes the antler sit when it is rested on the floor, so the angle is a little off. But holding them together the mass, main beams, brow tines, and overall tine length match up very closely. Regardless of whether it is a match or not, we each both found a nice trophy. I'm really getting hooked on shed hunting and seem to enjoy it as much or more than hunting itself. Hopefully there will be more fresh ones discovered in the next couple of weeks before the vegetation gets too thick.

Predator Hunting

2011-02-27T22:42:00.004-06:00

A few weeks back we had some winter weather arrive here in North Texas. We had some icy road conditions topped off with several inches of snow. To some of you that might not mean much, as you may live in an area that recieves lots of winter weather and your local road departments are prepared to clear the roads. That doesn't happen here!

When we get some substantial winter weather it pretty much shuts things down. That means my office closes as well. During this recent 4-day winter storm my friend David and I decided to go predator hunting one morning since we didn't have to work. David lives within just a mile or so from my house and he had secured permission for us to hunt on a farmer's property right next door.

David had seen the property before and informed me that there was a nice vantage point from a fairly open hillside that faces down toward a low-lying wooded area. We made the short 5-minute walk to the area and found a good place to set up at the corner of a fenceline. Once we got settled into shooting position we sat quietly for a few minutes to allow any disturbance we had made on our way in to fade away. Then I began calling with the hand-held mouth call, trying my best to imitate a rabbit in distress.

David was to my right scanning the western horizon armed with a shotgun loaded with buckshot while I was looking in a southern direction with my Remington .22-250 rifle. I had been calling approximately 30 seconds when I spotted a coyote trotting in straight for us at about 70 yards. I whispered to David, "Here comes one" and I don't think he believed me at first because it was such a quick response to the call.

The coyote closed the distance to about 35 yards and stopped. I waited for David to shoot, but the shot angle would have been a little dangerous as he would have had to shoot across the front of my body, so he opted to wait for the coyote to move. It began to move and angled off to our right and got just out of shotgun range so I hit the mouth call once again. Curiosity must have got the best of him as he stopped once again broadside looking in our direction. This time I eased the gun up, settled the crosshairs just behind the front shoulder, and squeezed off a round.

The shot was true and the coyote didn't go 30 yards. And just like that our predator hunt had been a quick success. I've always enjoyed hunting with snow on the ground and this time was no different. Seems like the animals are much easier to see with that backdrop of white on the ground. And it sure does make a blood trail easy to follow as well!

Here I am with the coyote, a pretty good-sized male with a decent coat. I ended up skinning it and plan to get the hide tanned one of these days.

Recent Game Camera Pics

2011-02-20T21:37:00.004-06:00

Well I guess it is about time that I update this blog with something. I've been extremely busy lately, so I just haven't had the time. Here are some recent game camera pictures from the protein feeder on my hunting lease. Enjoy!

This is a neat picture...check out the deer in mid-air hopping the fence!

A few new pictures...

2011-01-13T21:58:00.005-06:00

A few recent game camera pictures from my hunting lease...

I'm hoping these two bucks survived this season and hang around until next fall. Both could be potential shooters with another year of age...

Some Interesting Game Camera Pics...

2011-01-04T22:18:00.003-06:00

On my last trip to my hunting lease I checked one of my game cameras and had some very interesting pictures...

First was this deer that seems to have some very abnormal antler growth occurring...

I'm not sure what might have caused this, but my best guess is it is a buck that has some type of testicular problem which would make his antlers remain in velvet and not grow normally. Or it could be an antlered doe....who knows?

Then I noticed the pictures of this young buck that appears to have a fresh wound in the front of his torso...

Once again, I have no way of knowing what caused this. Nobody on our lease has shot and wounded a deer this year so maybe it was shot on a neighboring property. Or maybe it was attacked by a predator and escaped. But my best guess is it probably got caught up in a barbed-wire fence and tore its chest and legs up trying to free itself resulting in this injury. Either way, I hope he can elude the resident coyotes and survive the wound.

You just never know what is going to be on a game camera when you check it!

Lee Flannery's Hog Hunt

2010-12-27T22:04:00.005-06:00

My good friend and hunting buddy Lee recently had an excellent couple of hunts from a new blind he just constructed on our hunting lease. Here is Lee's story as told by him.

I took my son and one of his friends to the deer lease in hopes of seeing something exciting that would help them gain the same interest and love of the outdoors as I have come to enjoy through the years and pass along the gift of experiencing first hand in nature, God's wondrous creations. I had spent the last weekend with a good Christian friend of mine who took the time to drive all the way from East Texas with his trailer so we could load a box blind I had built in anticipation of locating it an area where I had seen a great deal of wildlife activity. I thought this would be an ideal spot to keep my son interested with all of the different things we could see. My friend and I arrived a little after 10PM and spent the next 4.5 hours constructing the blind by lantern light and enjoying the fellowship of one anothers company. He had even taken the time to buy us a couple of comfortable office chairs to sit in once the blind was complete. One was equipped with the ability to raise to extreme heights which was perfect for my son to be able to see everything without any additional effort. Good friends are truly a gift from God! We hunted a little from the blind that next morning and evening and the wildlife activity proved to once again be good in the area. We saw plenty of deer and ducks, a bobcat, and had some close encounters with wild hogs but we didn't kill a thing. Fast forward to last Wednesday before Christmas and my son and I, along with his friend, arrived around 4PM and we quickly unloaded our things and hurried out to the field. We were anticipating a full moon tonight and thought we may see deer moving just before sunset. The wind was out of the NE and there was a nice creek running north and south on the property bisecting a wheatfield so we decided to walk due west to the creek and cross the dry bed there hoping not to disturb anything that may be bedded down along the cover lining the banks. We made it across and then headed NW to the blind before we heard a bunch of wild hogs running south through the brush along the east creek bank.. They had evidently spotted us as we walked through the open field and we quickly made our way back to the spot where we had crossed as they came running by. I took a shot at a little one with one of the four bullets I had loaded in the gun and missed. The boys were super excited and said it was already worth the trip even though we hadn't yet made it to the blind. We made our way to the box blind and jumped a bunch of ducks off the pond where our hunting spot was located. The blind was perched atop the dam overlooking the wheatfield out a couple of the windows and the pond and some mesquite trees out the other two. We crawled in and got the windows opened up and the boys settled in. Each had their own designated areas to watch and we spent the next 15 minutes or so chasing down every rock, bush, cactus and tree that appeared to be an animal of some kind to them. Eventually, my son's friend lit up with a little more excitement pointing back in the direction of the creek and I turned to see a different group of about 20 or so wild hogs coming out of the creek walking directly toward us. We took a few pictures and then got ready to shoot something. The boys covered their ears and I placed the crosshairs squarely behind the shoulder of one of the larger sows and slowly squeezed the trigger. She crumbled and pig 1 was down. I shifted another round into the chamber and followed another one as she ran across the wheat field. I squeezed off another round knocking her down as well. Pig 2 was on the ground. I then turned my attention to the others running frantically for cover and fired my final shot missing the last target. I've come to enjoy wild hog meat as much as deer over the years and was excited about the pork we had taken. These pigs cause a significant amount of damage to crops and pasture in the area, but we had rarely seen any during our previous hunting excursions. As the excitement died down, we noticed that pig 1 had disappeared sometime after our attention was diverted from her and pig 2 was up and walking off with some difficulty. She walked out from behind a small brush pile in the wheat field and then staggered backward falling out of view. I began searching through my pack for my extra shells to reload and much to my amazement, they were nowhere to be found. I had left them back at the bunkhouse in our rush to make it into the field and we still had animals running all around us trying to regroup. After about five minutes of watching them, we noticed pig 2 get up and casually walk away as if nothing had ever happened. It was a sick feeling to watch what I knew to be a wounded animal walk away and not be able to dispatch it immediately and end any suffering. I have rarely had occasion to fire more than one shot at an animal and have prided myself in quick kills. This was not something I wanted to repeat again. It is always a good idea to let animals have some time to expire before you start tracking them so we decided there was nothing else we could do but use the remaining light left to walk back and get more bullets and a spotlight to try and find our kills. After making the trip, we picked up where we had seen the 2nd pig fall behind the brush pile. She had left a good sign and began trailing in the dark by flashlight. When the coyotes began howling, the boys felt a little less like hunters and more like the hunted. I could feel them walking closer than ever at that point and the urge to turn on their lights at the slightest sounds was unavoidable. We followed the trail until we had to give up for the night as tiredness and possibly some fear had overcome them. We would pick back up again in the morning. We woke up at 5:30AM and headed back to the blind. After settling in, we waited for the sun to come up and were able to watch a number of ducks come in to the pond. They kept pouring in on us until there were a good 35 or more swimming around and feeding right in front of us. We had widgeon, gadwall, ringnecks, teal and a pied-billed grebe on the water and they provided a great deal of visual stimulation over the next couple of hours. We finally decided to call it a morning in the stand and get back to tracking as my son had a dental appointment and we needed to try and get back by 2PM. We began scouring the area for any sign of a trail on pig 1 but couldn't locate anything. I began walking trails looking for any sign I could possibly find wondering all along if maybe my sights were off. I happened across her by chance about 60 yards in the grass and mesquites. Again the boys excitement escalated and they could barely contain themselves. We took some photos and then headed back to the bunkhouse for the truck. On the way back, we walked the dry creekbed and found the skeletal remains of a young buck. We came up out of the bank and immediately saw a large boar moving along the edge of the trees. He spotted us as I lay down my things and ran into the creek again. I eased over that way slowly and could hear popping back in the brush. I thought he might be just inside waiting to charge but finally figured out it was another large group of them eating pecans along the creek bank. I sighted my crosshairs on one of them and fired, dropping her instantly. Pigs ran everywhere! The boys got out their pocketknives in case anything came their way. Another one ran out into the open and I quickly laid it to rest as well. We returned with the truck and loaded up our exciting hunting experiences then rushed quickly to the processor to have them butchered and return home for the dental appointment. Not quite as much anticipation there. Overall, we had a great time and I know we made some memories in the process.

Making Strides...A Video Message from my Friend Zach Olson

2010-12-23T19:41:00.006-06:00

For the last year I have been blessed to get to know a young man named Zach Olson, who I have had the privilege of guiding for (along with my friends and fellow guides Greg Somers and Josh Nelson) at both the SYC Turkey Hunt and Deer Hunt. If you have followed my blog you will recognize Zach because you have probably seen his picture on here before. Zach was seriously injured in an automobile accident several years ago that left him in a coma for 6 months. He has been pretty much confined to a wheelchair since the accident but has been making excellent progress with his mobility.

Earlier this evening I received an email from Zach's mother that was such a blessing and inspiration to me that I wanted to share it with everyone. Zach was wishing me a Merry Christmas and had something he wanted to show me. This video was attached...

Praise God for this remarkable milestone in Zach's recovery and for this blessing for he and his family at Christmas time! What a mighty God we serve!

Different Technique Using a Game Camera

2010-12-20T23:07:00.009-06:00

The main reason I use game cameras is to capture pictures of deer. But lately I've wanted to try a different setup with one of my cameras. I wanted to try to get some pictures of ducks on a pond. So a couple weeks ago I positioned a camera at the water's edge at my favorite duck hunting spot to see what kind of pictures I could get. I got a memory card full of duck pictures (383 to be exact). I was pleased with the images, but I didn't take into account the direction of the sun and the lighting wasn't the best for quality pictures. Next time I will position the camera where the sun will be behind the camera to better capture the colors of the birds' plumage. Anyway, here are some of my favorites from this batch of pictures.

Big Bucks in Camera Test Site

2010-12-13T20:55:00.006-06:00

In my last post I showed you some of the best pictures I got from my new camera on it's first trial run in Iowa. Well, in the last couple weeks I've had this camera running on some property I have access to that is a little closer to home. This camera was set on "trail mode" which snaps as many pictures as it can as long as it is sensing motion. With this particular camera they are usually about 4 to 8 seconds apart for night time pictures. Check out this sequence of seven pictures of a really good buck working a scrape captured in the span of 1 minute and 10 seconds...

That was the biggest deer on the camera this time, but it wasn't the only nice buck this camera captured. These deer weren't camera shy either...

I can't wait to build another one of these cameras! You can never have too many!!!

My New Favorite Trail Camera

2010-12-11T10:18:00.024-06:00

In late September I put the finishing touches on another homemade trail camera and I've had it out for several months for some field testing. This camera utilizes a 7.2 megapixel Sony camera that produces very crisp, clear images. The entire unit is very compact in size (approx. 6" x 4") and is customized with 3D camouflage. Here is the external view of the camera.

In order to try to extend battery life in the field, I added extra batteries to this particular camera. The first time out in the field it captured 265 images over the span of 34 days before the batteries died. Over 90% of the images were at night, which requires the camera to flash and use substantially more battery power. I also had the camera on a one-minute delay setting instead of rapid-fire mode. Had it been on rapid-fire it probably would have taken more pictures, but not lasted as many days.
I also used a high-performance wide angle fresnel lens for the motion sensor, which is the black, rounded object on the front of the camera. The case of the camera contains a pipe-thru system which allows a locking cable to be run through the camera and around a tree to help prevent theft. Here is an internal view of the camera.

So far I have been really pleased with the performance of this camera, and I plan to build some more just like it. What I like the most is the ability to view the images in the field on the camera's LCD screen. It is a 2.5" screen so the screen is similar in size to a Blackberry phone. The camera is also still fully-functional as a point-and-shoot camera, so it can be removed from the case and be used just like any normal camera. Here is a sampling of pictures from its first trial run in the field. The camera was located on my friend's property in Iowa, along a well-used trail from the timber to a food plot.

See why I like this camera so much?

The "Deer Sticks" Deer

2010-12-09T20:40:00.006-06:00

For the last two hunting seasons I have been taking my deer to Muenster Meat Co. (formerly Walterscheid Meat Co.) in Muenster, TX. I have been extremely satisfied with their quality, turn-around time, cleanliness, and most importantly their deer sticks. Some people call them snack sticks, buck sticks, or smoked sticks, but regardless of what you call them they are my favorite thing to have made when I harvest a deer. They are slender, tasty snack sticks that are similar to a Slim-Jim, but without all the grease. They contain only venison and a mixture of spices, as no other type of meat, such as pork fat, is mixed in. So as far as I am concerned they are also lean and healthy for you.

Over the last two years I have brought samples in for my co-workers to try, and last year one guy liked the sticks so much that he bought several pounds from me. Well the deer stick craze in my office caught on like wildfire, and before this deer season started a group of my co-workers approached me with a deal I couldn't resist. They had pooled their money (enough to pay for processing a whole deer and pay for my gas money) and wanted me to harvest a deer that would be made entirely into deer sticks so they could each have a supply of their own. I eagerly accepted the offer.

This past Saturday I went to my hunting lease with one goal in mind: to harvest a doe so that my office mates could enjoy these delectable smoked venison snacks. And I was successful.

After not seeing a deer all day long, my fortune changed right at sunset. A group of six or seven does made their way from the edge of a mesquite savanna into a field of winter wheat. I was positioned along a fenceline that crossed through the wheat field and was seated on the ground, along with my friend Justin who was serving as an extra set of eyes. As the does made their way into the wheat, my friend noticed a nice buck who was hanging back just inside the edge of the mesquites. We got a good look at him through the binoculars as he closed to within 75 yards of our position. His antlers were outside the ears and he was a solid-looking 8-point, but he had broken off his left G3 tine. After watching him for about 5 minutes, I decided he wasn't quite what I was looking for in terms of size for a buck, so I opted to revert back to my original gameplan of taking a doe.

By this time there were about 9 does in the field so I picked out one of the largest ones that was offering a nice, broadside shot. I put my sights on the 5th one from the right, centered the crosshairs of my scope right behind her shoulder, and squeezed off a round from my Remington .30-06. She dropped dead in her tracks. A quick, clean kill.

Justin and I took a few minutes to celebrate in the moment and collect ourselves from the adrenaline rush that always accompanies the moment of truth on a hunt, then we proceeded to the deer which we paced off at 130 yards. We called my dad to bring the truck over so we could load her up, and after a few pictures and a quick field-dressing we had completed what I had set out to do. Now everyone at the office can hopefully have some deer sticks by Christmas! It's awesome when a plan comes together!

"Hunting for Big Boy" - The Story of Randy Clark's 2010 Buck

2010-12-06T21:50:00.009-06:00

The following account was written by my friend Jordan's dad, Randy, who harvested a very nice whitetail buck earlier this season. This is his story, as told by him:

Hunting for “Big Boy”

I have been hunting whitetail deer in Texas for 36 years and every season is a new adventure. The sport has changed dramatically since 1974; the equipment/technology, the techniques, the regulations and yes, even my attitude about almost every aspect of it. The last few years have been no exception.

I was not at all too happy about the 2009 deer season's antler restrictions on our small deer lease. After 13 years of hunting this lease, and thousands of digital pictures later, I knew my odds of harvesting a nice deer were just reduced to a mere minimal percentage. My son Jordan told me that it was an investment in the future. It still did not set well.

Last year, 2009, the game camera caught a deer that I can’t say was in any way a result of the new game management regulation, since the antler restrictions had not even gone through its first season, but none the less he was a very nice deer. We named him “Big Boy”.

(Before the season was over we had names for every 8 point and above on our game cameras.) Big Boy was a nice main frame 8 point with good mass, a small bump for a 5th point on his left side between the G3 and the tip and he also had a ¾” kicker on the left side G2. Wow, we were all in awe. He was technically a 10 point.

The 2009 season went by and the three of us, my son-in-law Brad, his father David and I never saw him. We all wondered if he would return in 2010 or if someone else would take him from the gene pool. In 1974 I would have possibly been left to a life time of not knowing the answer to this riddle, but in 2010, the answer was revealed in August when I got the first digital pictures from the game camera. There he was, unmistakably, “Big Boy”, looking every bit as good as the year before.

In the spirit of the new regulations, and equipped with the knowledge that it was “an investment in the future”, I purposed in my heart to not settle for anything less than “Big Boy” this season. Opening day came and so did “Tall Boy”, a nice 8 point, his brother “Tall Boy 2”, with a swept back G2 on the left side, a 6 point with no eye guards, a yearling buck and a few doe. Yep, I let them walk. Tall Boy would have been harvested in the previous years, and my season over, but not this year. “Big Boy” never showed up. Ironically he was at my feeder at 2:00am opening morning. I love those game cameras.

Opening weekend and the second Saturday of the season did not bring a glimpse of “Big Boy”. Had someone else seen him, shot him? This lease can be very frustrating. You can go an entire weekend and not see a single deer, turkey or hog and then the next time you go you may see all of the above and a Bobcat to boot. You just never know.

For years it has been a tradition for me, and other family members, to go to the deer lease on Thanksgiving morning and hunt until 10:00am. We have been doing this for 14 of 15 years on this lease. This year was no exception. It has always been my dream to shoot the big one and show up at the family Thanksgiving dinner with a trophy deer in the back of my truck. It didn’t happen this year either.

I had a real struggle at 4:00am Friday morning, the day after Thanksgiving, as whether or not to get up and make the hour and a half trip to the lease. My motto: “if you’re not in the stand you will not see the deer”, so I got up to go and maximize my time in the woods. I get made fun of by some for staying in my stand all day long. Yep, I will get in my stand at 6:00am and get out at 6:10pm. I am equipped with all the necessary items to make it happen. My deer stand, often referred to by my sons and son-in-law as the “Hilton” makes it easy.

OK, so I got up, made the trip, entered my stand at 6:00am and fired up my heater. I reached under the curtains (camouflage netting), unlatched the windows and got things ready. While driving to the lease my truck thermometer showed it to be a balmy 24 degrees outside, but I am “toasty” warm in my stand and excited about my prospects. Would this be the day? I waited for the sun to rise while laying on my bench/bed and thought to myself, I hope I at least see something today.

At 10:00am I had not seen anything. My son Jordan, who is at his deer lease sitting on a ladder stand, texting me about freezing his rear off and shaking too bad to be quiet, was having the same results. I was warm and relaxed and decided to rest my eyes. An hour later I woke up in disbelief that I had slept that long. I scolded myself for my transgression and began to try and clear my vision. It took me the better part of 10 minutes to clear my eyes and get to where I could focus. I ate my lunch while scanning the timber line and by 11:35 was back to my serious mode of hunting intently.

You always know that in a matter of seconds things can go from serene to chaotic when you are hunting. I was thinking about the fact that my left and back side windows were still closed to restrict the cold air flow and how stupid that could prove out to be. I was thinking that on this lease it really didn’t matter anyway and especially today. Remember, I had not seen nothing, nada, zilch.

It is now high noon and from the left side of the north/front window I saw movement and immediately recognized from over a hundred yards away that Big Boy was on the scene. He had his head down and was in a quick trot, moving south down the tree line from my right to left. My immediate thought: “Why had I left that west window closed?” I quickly moved to open my back/south window in case he moved far enough towards the south that I could have a shot, but didn’t dare touch that west window and risk spooking him. Looking back on it he was not paying a bit of attention to me, he was looking for female companionship, so to speak, and probably would not have noticed.

He moved quickly down the tree line far enough for me to barely see him from the back window, but did not stop until I hit my grunt. I got on him but this was not a viable shot. He was tailing away and only offered the back of his neck, head and a rear end shot. I wisely did not take the shot.

He started going southwesterly into the woods away from me. I stuck my grunt out the north window, opposite the direction that I was seeing him, and grunted 3 times real hard. I saw his silhouette stop through the trees and got my gun ready again. Sure enough, he turned around and headed back out of the woods and towards the north from whence he came. Was this my lucky day? (I have no way of knowing if he heard those 3 grunts, but who really cares anyway, right.)

When he emerged from the woods he went about 15 yards and stopped partially behind some brush, approximately 65 yards from my stand. His head, neck and right shoulder were behind brush. The only shot was going to be high in the back and further aft than I would have liked, but I knew it was a good, clear shot. I squeezed off a round from my 243, and “Big Boy” disappeared. I did not see him run off and I did not see him fall. He simply disappeared.

I mentally marked the spot where he was last standing, waited a minute or two and exited the stand, hopeful to find him lying behind the brush. (This year I had changed from 80 grain PSP ammunition to a ballistic tip bullet, due to having a doe run off last year without leaving a blood trail to follow. I found her but felt lucky to have done so.) As I approached the brush I saw that my 95 grain Hornady Superformance ammunition had reached its intended mark and “Big Boy” lay there silent. I praised the Lord for such a magnificent creature and for His allowing me this good fortune.

“Big Boy” is a mature buck, probably 6 ½ years old, has good mass all the way to the tips and a uniqueness that makes him a trophy in my books. Yes, I am having him mounted; semi-sneak to the right to show off his left side uniqueness. He will go in a room beside the main frame 10 point I harvested in 1974, the only other deer I have had mounted.

You remember the technology comment at the beginning of this rather lengthy story? Well, after praising God, and I am serious about that, I whipped out my phone, took a picture, inserted it into a text message that read, “and just like that, Big Boy is off the market”. I sent it to my sons, son-in-law and eventually others. I am proud and can’t wait to see what the game camera’s reveal next season. Stay tuned.

Randy Clark
Sherman, Texas

Great story, Randy! Congratulations on an awesome buck! The fact that you passed on all those younger bucks will pay off next year! Oh, and I love those game cameras too!

Iowa Hunt Recap

2010-12-02T20:09:00.006-06:00

In mid-November I spent nine consecutive days on an archery whitetail hunt in Iowa, and it brought about some much needed time in the field. I spent an average of about seven hours in the stand each day and saw lots of deer. I saw a total of four "shooter" bucks on the trip, but never sealed the deal and harvested one.

Before the hunt began, I had been able to view some trail camera pictures from one of my homemade game cameras that was positioned on a deer trail on this property for the last two months. The camera revealed some really, really nice bucks that roam this property, and I decided to be really picky for the first few days of the hunt and hold out for a true trophy. I passed on this really good 10-point the very first evening I was in the stand with the hopes of seeing a bigger one...

On the last 4 days of the hunt I did see a bigger one. I spotted a big, wide 8-point way out across the corn field one evening with a couple does. It was very windy that evening and he was too far away to hear my attempt to get his attention with the grunt call. After getting a good look at him with the binoculars I easily determined this to be one of the big bucks from the trail camera. It was this one, which we simply referred to as "Wide 8".

The next morning I had another encounter with this buck in the food plot. The fog and mist was really thick and I only got a quick glimpse of him as he skirted the edge of the food plot and disappeared into the woods. But the next morning was my closest encounter. I had decided to hunt the bottom of a ravine to get out of the wind, and I was hunting from the ground next to a big oak tree. I hit the rattling antlers together and saw a buck heading my way about 80 yards straight in front of me. As he walked toward me I got my bow ready and stood motionless as he approached. Once I got a good look at him I realized it was this same big, wide 8-point that I had seen the previous two days. He closed the distance to approximately 30 yards and then stopped while looking directly at me. We both stood like statues for what seemed like forever but was actually only a couple minutes. I couldn't draw my bow until he turned one way or the other. When he finally made a movement to his right I drew the bow, but he caught my movement out of the corner of his eye and bound away. He stopped at about 50 yards momentarily but he was behind some brush. He then slowly walked off into the woods. The very next morning I tried this same spot, but instead of hunting from the ground I was in my climbing stand. I rattled in three different bucks that morning. The first two were just small ones, but the third one was the "Wide 8" again. This time he approached from behind me about halfway up the ridge. I heard him coming and as I grabbed my bow and moved into position I could tell he caught my scent, as more than likely it was drifting up the ridge right to him. He paused for a moment, looked around, and then turned around and walked away. Close, but no cigar.

I was able to harvest a young doe while I was there, and I have to say this is the best venison I have ever tasted. Much better than the deer meat we get here in Texas.

Here is me with my doe...

The hunt was really challenging and lots of fun. I was able to visit with friends I don't get to see that often and was blessed by their hospitality. I had a wonderful time and hope to be able to go back next season!

Iowa Deer Hunt

2010-11-16T21:59:00.001-06:00

Earlier this year I was fortunate enough to get drawn for a non-resident Iowa archery buck tag. As I write this, I'm three days into my Iowa hunt and I am having a blast! I've seen lots of deer and have seen good bucks on all three days, but haven't seen one I'm ready to take just yet.

On my first evening in the stand, I had this nice 10-point feeding in the food plot with a few does about 80 yards away. I grunted at him to try to get his attention and he looked up, but went back to feeding. So I got a little more aggressive with the grunt call and he headed right for me. He walked right under my stand and provided a perfect 15-yard quartering away shot, but I talked myself out of shooting him. I think he's about a 135" deer, and I may regret this decision later, but I feel confident that I will see bigger deer on this trip. I did get several minutes of good video and a few still images of him as well.

So, what would you have done? Would you have shot him or let him pass?

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Two Bucks Down - Clayton Bowen's Archery Deer

2010-11-08T20:44:00.006-06:00

My friend Clayton Bowen has been a busy man in the deer woods over the last couple weeks. A couple Fridays ago I got a text from him while he was hunting in Illinois that said "I think I just got my first buck with a bow!" He was still sitting in his treestand and feeling the adrenaline rush as he was waiting to go track an 8-point he had just arrowed. The Illinois buck had responded to a grunt call and came in right to the base of the tree Clayton's stand was in. Not only did he get a buck, a few minutes later a doe happened to stroll by, and Clayton made another kill shot to put even more venison in his freezer. Here is the picture of Clayton's 8-point.

Just a little over a week later, while I am sitting in my tree stand one evening, I get another text from Clayton. This time he says he has arrowed another buck, this one a 9-point, on a property he hunts here in Texas. But my friend didn't feel as confident in the shot he had made on this buck, so he decided to wait overnight to go look for the deer. The next morning I get this picture from Clayton of him with his buck which he successfully recovered.

Those are two nice deer buddy! Congratulations on a great deer season so far! I've got some work to do if I'm going to catch up with you...

"Don't Leave Yet!" - Josh Nelson's Buck

2010-11-04T22:43:00.008-05:00

On Tuesday evening of this week, my phone alerted me to a new email in my inbox. I normally don't get many emails in the evening so I grabbed my phone to take a look at the message. It was an email from my friend Josh Nelson in Iowa. That grabbed my attention, as I knew that more than likely meant either: A)new trail camera pictures, or B)a picture of a deer he had taken with his bow.

This time it was the latter, as I opened the email to find this picture of Josh with a very nice Iowa whitetail that he had harvested earlier in the evening.

There wasn't any text or details with the picture so I couldn't wait to congratulate Josh and find out the story on how he was able to get within bow range of this buck. So I quickly shot a congratulatory email back and asked for the lowdown.

Josh was bowhunting from a treestand and had been in the stand for a couple hours on a very pleasant Northwest Iowa evening. The temperature was around 55 degrees, which is unseasonably warm for this time of year. During his sit in the stand he had tried rattling and using a grunt call, but to no avail. He hadn't seen any deer all evening (other than a doe he spooked as he was walking in to climb into his stand). So just as last light was fading, Josh packed up his backpack, took his arrow off the bow and put it back in the quiver, and was ready to climb down out of his stand.

That's when he saw this buck walking directly toward him. So he takes his backpack off, takes the arrow out of the quiver and gets it nocked, leaves his quiver on the bow (which he had never shot that way before), and he draws back on the deer. The buck had closed the distance to 25 yards and had turned broadside. Josh loosed an arrow and it found it's fatal mark.

He knew darkness was rapidly approaching and that he'd better get some assistance in tracking the deer, so Josh contacted his friend Mark Tielbur (who also happens to be a friend of mine) for some help in locating the buck. A few hours later they were back at the house with Josh's buck. Josh told me this is his biggest buck to date, as he has been able to harvest a bigger deer each year since he started hunting.

It looks like a really nice buck to me and one you should definitely be proud of Josh! Congratulations on taking him with your bow! I'm glad you didn't decide to leave your stand a few seconds earlier!

Slow Start to Archery Season

2010-10-16T22:49:00.007-05:00

So far my deer season has been pretty slow. I've only been able to sit in a stand three times, and I've been skunked twice. The other time I saw four does, but decided not to take a shot.

This morning was one of those times when I didn't see a thing. But that's the way hunting can be at times. It was still a beautiful day at the deer lease!

My Dad finally got to sit in a stand this morning and he had three bucks walk by! He said one was a really nice one, and it walked within 20 yards of the stand, but the direction it came from provided no shot opportunities for a right-handed shooter. So it lived to see another day.

The game camera action was a little slow this week as well, but I did have a few decent pictures.

Some New Trail Camera Pictures...

2010-10-07T22:35:00.004-05:00

I checked a few game cameras this past weekend. Here are some of the pictures...

This is a neat sequence of a couple young bucks sparring...

SYC Deer Hunt

2010-09-30T23:50:00.007-05:00

Last weekend was the annual deer hunt held by the Special Youth Challenge Ministries of Northwest Iowa. I got to participate again this year as one of the hunting guides and was once again blessed by the experience. If you aren't familiar with SYC, they are a non-profit ministry devoted to sharing the love of Christ to physically-challenged youth and their families. Through the efforts of a multitude of volunteers, SYC is able to offer opportunities for these kids to get out into the woods and hunt deer. It is an outstanding ministry and I'm blessed to be a part of it!

The weekend kicked off Friday evening with a banquet-style dinner where each of the hunters were introduced to the audience.

The event also featured a speaker who shared a message from God's word. This year's speaker was Blake Mattocks who is an associate pastor at Faith Bible Chapel in Denver, Colorado. Blake shared what God had put on his heart on several occasions throughout the weekend and did a fantastic job of conveying the message that the Christian life is not about "Religion", but rather about a "Relationship" with Jesus Christ.

Also at the banquet, each of the hunters who had harvested a turkey at the Spring Turkey Hunt held earlier this year were presented their fan mounts. Here is my hunter, Zach Olson from Minnesota, with his trophy bird.

Saturday was the first day of the actual hunt, and I was again paired up with Zach and fellow guides Greg Somers and Josh Nelson. We didn't see anything Saturday morning, but 9-year old Connor from Green Bay, Wisconsin was successful in harvesting his first deer - a nice 8-point buck.

Saturday evening we saw a couple does, but they never provided Zach with a shot opportunity.

But Sunday morning proved to be different. We had a doe come in to within about 25 yards of the stand and Zach made a perfect shot with the 20-guage slug to bring the deer down. Congratulations on making an awesome shot, Zach! Here are a couple pictures from the field right after the harvest.

Here is a picture of Zach with his deer back at camp along with myself, Greg and Josh.

There were a total of 28 hunters at this event and 13 got a deer. That's a pretty good success ratio!

The event was once again an all-around huge success in many aspects. Lives were changed, friends were made, and God's Word was preached. I encourage you to visit the SYC website at www.syciowa.com today and see what it is all about!

2010 Dove Season

2010-09-28T23:07:00.004-05:00

I've been fortunate to have had several good dove hunts since the season opened on September 1st. Here is a quick recap:

For opening day I was invited to hunt a special piece of property just a few miles from my house with a group of about 18 guys. I got seven birds that morning, and I think everyone in the group did just as good or better. Unfortunately I was in a hurry to get to work, so I didn't get to take a group picture from that hunt.

On the first Saturday after the season started we had one of our workdays that we have each year at our hunting lease, and we were also able to get in a decent hunt that morning. The five of us got 18 birds.
(Back: Brad Black, Myself, Carter Morris; Front: Ben Hangartner, Scott Jordan-My Dad)

The following weekend we had a group hunt at our lease and had several guest hunters join us as well. It was a great time of fellowship and we were able to kill a bunch of birds. On the morning this picture was taken, the group killed 71 birds. We grilled them up for lunch that day by stuffing them with a jalepeno pepper and wrapping them in bacon. It doesn't get much better than that!
(Back row: David, Matt, Lance; Middle row: Carter, Brad, Myself, Ben; Front
row: My Dad, Jason)

With archery deer season starting up this Saturday, more than likely my dove season is just about wrapped up, as I will focus the majority of my efforts on being in a tree stand. I'm really excited about this deer season and hopefully will have some more pictures and stories to post on here soon!

Young 10-Point

2010-09-12T21:02:00.006-05:00

I got a picture of a young 10-point on one of my game cameras this past week and I have been trying to look at some of my pictures from last year to figure out exactly which deer this is. I like to watch the progression their antlers make from year to year, and a good way to do this is by looking at game camera pictures of the animal. Here is one of the pictures from this year:

I'm pretty sure this is a 2.5 year old deer, as he looks young in the picture. I found this picture I had from last year that I think is this same deer at the age of 1.5. The similarities I'm noticing in the pictures from last year to this year are the G-2's that are shorter than the G-3's, and the brow tines are really short making me think this is the same deer. If it is the same buck, he went from an 8-point last year to a 10-point this year.

Here is a closer look from the front from last year as well as this year:

This is an example of a buck that would have been protected under the 13" antler restrictions last year. This year he appears to be a little wider than that, but I hope he is able to survive another season or two and reach maturity. I'd like to see what a couple more years would do for this buck's antlers.

A fun way to keep track of these deer from year to year (especially when you hunt with a group of people on the same property) is to name the deer based on some kind of characteristic that deer has. I haven't thought of a name for this one yet, but it will probably have something to do with those short brow tines.

Even though this is just a small buck you can see a difference in what another year of age can do for their antlers. You will never have big bucks on your property if you shoot the young ones before they can mature.

Game Camera Photography: Tip #1

2010-08-30T22:28:00.005-05:00

Most hunters that use game cameras do so for one purpose - to monitor the bucks on their property so they will be better prepared to hunt one of those particular bucks when hunting season rolls around. While I follow this practice as well and have done so for years, lately I have focused my efforts on a different aspect of game camera usage - capturing a high quality image. And that doesn't necessarily mean a big buck.

When I am choosing a place to set a camera up in the woods these questions come to mind: What will the background in the picture look like? Will it be a good sunset or sunrise picture? How far away will the subject be when the camera takes a picture? There are lots of aspects to consider when you are trying to use the game camera for more than just a scouting tool.

I am no expert by any means, but after seeing thousands of trail camera pictures I have learned a few things about what to do and what not to do when using a game camera. In some of my next few posts I am going to discuss some of the things I have learned and offer up a few tips to consider when placing your camera in the woods.

Tip #1:
In my opinion, a high-quality game camera photo will never have a feeder in the background. That doesn't mean I don't have cameras at feeders, but when you compare a picture of a deer standing in front of a big, ugly 55-gallon metal drum to a picture of a deer walking down a trail through the woods there is a huge difference.

I checked a camera last week and it had this picture that I thought was a really nice image. It isn't a monster buck, in fact it is just a regular ol' doe, but there is something about this picture that I like. The sunrise creates a nice backdrop for the trees being silhouetted in the distance, and the deer is in a natural setting. This picture is one of the first images captured on my new 7.2 megapixel homemade game camera.

Stay tuned for more trail camera tips and images from the field!

Inspirational Archer

2010-08-29T18:37:00.004-05:00

If you read my blog regularly you probably remember Matt Stutzman, who I introduced on my blog after I met him this past turkey season. Matt was born without arms, but has become one of the best archers I have ever seen shoot a bow. He is quite an inspiration to many people!

Well, Matt has entered a video in the "Mathews Moment" contest being held by Mathews Archery and he needs your vote. Check out Matt's video and vote for Matt! You don't have much time left so hurry over to this link and place your vote.

Inspirational Archer

Good luck, Matt! I hope you win!

Hunting in the City

2010-08-26T21:31:00.003-05:00

Dove season is rapidly approaching here in North Texas and one local city will have its fair share of hunters. That's right, hunting within the city limits of Frisco, Texas is allowed under certain circumstances. Check out this news story for the complete lowdown...

This is the text version of the story on the news station's website:
Dove Hunting in the City

Here is the video of the news story (be sure to scroll down to the bottom of the page and pause the playlist so you can view the video without the extra noise):

View more news videos at: http://www.nbcdfw.com/video.

One thing I would like to point out (as does someone who left a comment on the news story) is that the picture of the guy in the gun shop holding the black shotgun at the bottom of the website article is completely inaccurate of the type of firearm used for dove hunting. That gun in the picture is a self-defense or home-defense model that would not be suited for dove hunting. It looks a whole lot scarier than a typical shotgun used in the field, but in reality the black gun has a shorter barrel which would result in a wider shot pattern that is only practical for very close-range shots. That picture is a perfect example of how someone who is not familiar with firearms could easily be led to believe something that isn't factual.

Don't you wish you lived in Texas? I'm sure glad I do!

Trail Camera in the News

2010-08-25T23:58:00.002-05:00

A local television station ran a story today involving a trail camera and some strange pictures it had captured. According to the story, this camera is located near Archer City, Texas which isn't all that far from where I do most of my hunting. Check out the story...
Did Game Camera Snap Extraterrestrial Photos?

Looks like a glitch with the camera to me...

Built Another Trail Camera

2010-08-19T22:39:00.006-05:00

I finished up another trail camera build this past weekend, and I was quite pleased with the way this one turned out. This one uses a 4.1 megapixel camera with a 1.5" LCD screen for viewing the pictures in the field. I built this one for a buddy of mine, and hopefully he can get it set up in his favorite hunting spot and capture some high-quality pictures before archery season opens.

Here are some pictures of this camera. Of all the ones I've built thusfar, I like the camo on this one the best.

Here it is out for a quick test run.

A test picture proves that it is working properly.

Can't wait to see some field pictures from this unit!

Velvet Bucks

2010-07-29T16:01:00.003-05:00

I got these trail camera pictures from my friend Marc yesterday. These are some great looking bucks! The first one has some really good mass. The second one has some really cool brow tines. And the third one has some character to his rack.

Latest Camera Build

2010-07-26T21:54:00.006-05:00

My obsession with trail cameras continues to grow, and building my own has really added a new dimension to my hunting experience. I recently put the finishing touches on another camera and thought I would take this opportunity to unveil it here on my blog. So here it is, complete with custom 3-D camo:

This trail camera utilizes a 7.2 megapixel Sony digital camera with a 2.5" LCD view screen for reviewing pictures in the field. The control board I used in this camera features 8 different delay settings and can also be set to "Rapid-pic" mode where the camera continues to take pictures as fast as it can as long as motion is detected. This is perfect for a trail setting where multiple deer might be walking by in a situation where a camera set to a 30-second or 1-minute delay could easily miss the second, third or fourth deer.

Here is a view of the guts of the camera. The control board runs on a 9-volt battery which should last several months. The Sony camera runs on a Sony "G" rechargeable battery. This camera also has a walk-test mode in which a red LED lights up when motion is detected so you can get it set at just the right angle.

Another feature I added to this camera is the pipe-through security system which allows you to run a cable through the case to secure and lock the unit to a tree. If you aren't concerned about the unit being stolen, I also added a quick-connect to the back of the case which allows for easy setup on multiple sites. The quick-connect is the same style used to hold quivers on archery equipment.

This camera is only 7.5" x 5" in size, so it easily fits in a backpack or coat pocket. Here are some more views of the camera.

This camera was deployed to the deer woods a little over a week ago, and I can't wait to check the camera and see what it captured!

Summer Update

2010-07-25T14:38:00.007-05:00

Well, the dog days of summer are here. It's hot. Really hot. But, that means that cooler days and fall hunting seasons are just around the corner. As I write this, dove season is only 37 days away and archery season for deer is only 68 days away.

I've been really busy this summer with work and family activities, and I haven't had many opportunities to keep my blog up to date. So, with that being said, I also haven't had many opportunities to make it to my hunting grounds this summer. A few weeks ago, I was finally able to go, and when I got there I discovered this:

That my friends is prep-work on an oil well pad site. That used to be solid woods with a small clearing where one of our ladder stands was located. Now it is a two-acre clearing. I also had one of my homemade trail cameras on a tree in this location. The ladder stand had been taken down and was laying on the ground, but the camera was nowhere to be found. Needless to say, I was a little aggravated. But sometimes that's the way life goes. When I look at this on the bright side, I think that after the well is drilled and the trucks and equipment are gone, this might make for a good food plot site, since there is really good cover surrounding it. And I also have vehicle access to a location where I used to have to walk.

On to some trail camera pictures. Since I was unable to locate the camera, I don't have as many pictures to show you as I would like, but I do have a few from some other cameras. These are the first pictures I have of bucks in velvet from the summer. Nothing huge, but at least something to look at.

This one looks like he has something strange going on with the G-2 on his right antler. Maybe he bumped it against something and caused it to grow funny...

This little guy better hope that his left antler branches, otherwise the antler restrictions won't be in his favor...

I think this is the same deer that was in the first picture. If so, looks like he added a little bit of length on those tines in just a couple weeks...

Here's a couple pictures of a doe I got from one of the cameras I built that was placed in my camera test location. I had about 20 pictures of this doe in front of the camera, and in every single one of them she had that horsefly on her forehead...

Those last two pictures are from my homemade trail camera while the first three are from a store-bought Cuddeback. Based on image quality, which one would you rather have?

Trip to the Archery Range

2010-06-08T21:40:00.010-05:00

This past Sunday afternoon, in the sweltering heat, I went to a local 3-D archery range with my Dad and a friend. I haven't been to a range in a long time, and this one was really neat. It is located right next to a National Wildlife Refuge and the targets are placed in realistic hunting scenarios throughout the woods. It was a lot of fun, and a good way to stay in the hunting mode during the summer. We even saw some wild turkeys while we were there.

In several ways, the archery range was kind of like an archer's "golf course". You walk from station to station through the course, becoming frustrated with bad shots, and occasionally making that one good shot that keeps you coming back for more. Each person shoots from the same spot at each target, and the yardages are different for every shot. And just like losing a ball in golf, if you make a really bad shot and completely miss the target you might lose an arrow!

I don't practice with my bow as much as I would like, and the trip to the range definitely reminded me of that fact. But you know what, no matter how much I practice I will never hit the mark every single time. The same is true in life. No matter how good we act, how many good deeds we do, or how much we go to church, sin is still present in every one of our lives. We have all missed the target!

The Bible says we are all sinners, and that the wages of sin is death. Because of this we are separated from God and we are all in need of a Savior. That is why God sent his son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross to save us from our sins. He took our punishment and died so that we can have eternal life in Heaven with Him. All we have to do is accept His free gift by acknowledging that we are sinners, asking Christ to forgive us of our sins, and inviting Him into our lives to be our Lord.

I hope there is a time in your life in which you can say you have done this. It is the most important decision you can make. I urge you to make that decision today. Don't hesitate!

2010 SYC Turkey Hunt

2010-05-01T00:00:00.002-05:00

This past weekend I was blessed to be a part of an amazing event. The Special Youth Challenge Ministries of Northwest Iowa held their annual turkey hunt, and I was fortunate enough to get to participate as a guide during the hunt. It was definitely an experience I won't forget!

SYC is a non-profit, volunteer ministry that exists for the purpose of reaching people for Jesus Christ. The organization's vision is to empower physically challenged youth to enjoy hunting and the shooting sports and diminish a portion of their disability by teaching them to overcome barriers of the outdoors through the use of special methods, equipment or assistance from volunteers who desire to share their passion for shooting and hunting.

The event kicked off Friday afternoon when the hunters and guides began to arrive. The hunters are given the opportunity to get familiar with the equipment they will be using. The guns are modified so that hunters with limited mobility can use them by looking at a small video screen that shows the view through the scope and pressing a push-button controller that squeezes the trigger. Here is a picture of the setup.

Here is a short video I took of one of the hunters getting familiar with the gun. This was the first time this young man had ever fired a gun. (You can also click here to check out the video.)

On Friday evening a banquet was held where a delicious meal was served, a speaker delivered a message from God's Word, and each of the hunters were introduced. This year's event was one of the largest ever, with a total of 23 hunters participating. Each hunter is usually accompanied by a parent or guardian, and they are paired up with at least two guides for the hunt. There are also many behind the scenes volunteers who prepare food, landowners who donate the use of their property, and lots of people setting up and tearing down before and after the event. So altogether there are several hundred people who are involved to make the weekend a success.

The first hunt was scheduled for Saturday morning as all 23 hunters took to the field with their guides in search of that trophy longbeard. Despite some windy weather, that morning's hunt turned out to be great as five of the hunters harvested a turkey.

I was paired up with a young man from Minnesota named Zach Olson. Zach was involved in an automobile accident a few years ago that left him in a coma for 5 1/2 months. The injuries he suffered during the accident also affected his mobility which is improving, but he primarily has to remain in his wheelchair. I was also accompanied on the hunt by two other guides - Greg Somers and Josh Nelson.

During the first morning's hunt we heard turkeys gobbling all around us, but we just couldn't seem to coaxe one within shooting range. So we came back to camp empty handed on Saturday morning. But that evening proved to be a different story!

When we got to the blind that afternoon, the rain was steadily falling and at one point it was literally a downpour. That's when we noticed a hen and a gobbler walk out into the cornfield to our right about 100 yards away. The turkey calling duties had been assigned to me, and I tried my best to get the gobbler's attention with the slate call, but the rain was coming down so hard that he couldn't hear me. About 30 minutes later, after the rain subsided, I started hitting the call again. By this time the gobbler was out of sight, but I got him to respond to the call.

We could hear him answering back with a loud gobble almost everytime I hit the call over the next half hour. The rainfall hitting the blind and the sound of my slate call had apparently sung Zach to sleep, so as he snoozed the other guides and I kept our eyes peeled for the bird. After about a dozen gobbles from the tom in response to the call, it finally sounded like he was closing the distance. We could tell he was not far behind our blind, and when I looked to my right I saw him walking in directly to the decoys.

That's when all three of us guides began to frantically try to wake Zach up! We finally got him awake and ready to make the shot when we realized the safety on the gun was still on. So we got the safety off and helped Zach get realigned on the bird again. The slow day of nodding off in the blind quickly turned into about a minute of tense adrenaline. Zach fired the gun and made a great shot! The bird was standing 26 yards away, just past the decoys, and Zach hammered him with the 20 guage. Josh and Greg had no problems recovering the bird. We all celebrated, high-fived, and enjoyed the moment. The bird was an old tom that had a 10 1/2" beard and 1" spurs.

Congratulations on harvesting your first turkey Zach! I also should mention that SYC has taxidermy work done for each of the hunters who harvested a bird so they can show off and enjoy their trophy!

There were lots of memorable moments from the weekend, and one that I don't want to fail to mention was the opportunity I had to meet a young man named Matt Stutzman.

Matt is such an inspiration! He was born without arms, but has become one of the best archers you will ever see shoot a bow. How does he shoot a bow you might ask? Check out this video of Matt in action! (You can also click here to check out the video.)

As you can tell, it was a weekend full of inspiration and ministry. For more information about SYC Ministries or to make a donation check out their website at http://www.syciowa.com/. Here are some more pictures from the event.

Opening Day of Turkey Season

2010-04-04T14:09:00.013-05:00

Turkey season started yesterday here in my neck of the woods, and my dad and I gave it our best shot to lure in an unsuspecting gobbler, but to no avail. We tried calling and setting up decoys at multiple locations on the property we hunt, but we didn't see or hear a turkey all day. We only saw a few tracks and it just seemed the birds were nowhere to be found. But, that's why they call it "huntin'" and not "killin'". Here are some pictures from the hunt.

This was our first decoy set, along the edge of a wheatfield in a spot where I shot a really nice gobbler a few years back. There is a creek bottom directly behind us that meanders through the property with a good stretch of woods where the birds have roosted in the past.

This was our second set, in an area that I would consider a mesquite savanna. That's my dad over there on the right.

This was the last place we tried, on top of a ridge where there is a nice stand of post oak and blackjack oak trees.

Some tools of the trade: a slate call and a Remington 1100 shotgun.

With no turkeys responding, I took the opportunity to take a picture of myself in action.

I saw this interesting-looking little cactus while we were hunting and snapped a picture. Anybody know what kind of cactus this is?

After we got done turkey hunting we put some protein pellets in a free-choice style feeder that we have positioned in the center of the property - in an area that we have designated as a "deer sanctuary" that is off-limits to hunting. We've had a game camera running at this site for quite some time, but we try to stay out of this area as much as possible so the camera has not been checked in about four months. I pulled the memory card and took it with me to view the pictures when I got home. While viewing the pictures I was tickled to death to see this:

I haven't gotten pictures of this deer since late October, and I had pretty much come to the conclusion that he had been shot on a neighboring property. This was the deer that I had nicknamed "Slingblade" because of his left G-2 being bladed like a knife. Much to my surprise, he made it all the way through the archery and gun seasons, and was photographed on our property in mid-February. I guess our little sanctuary might be paying off because we also got this picture of him in early December.

I can't wait to see what this deer looks like come this Fall! Hopefully he will just hang out on our property and show up on some more pictures before archery season rolls around.

Now on to the important stuff. We couldn't make a trip to the lease without stopping at this place!

I plan to do some more turkey hunting in the next month, and I've been busy working on a new trail camera that I hope to have completed in the next couple weeks, so check back for updates.

Odd Antlers

2010-03-30T21:44:00.006-05:00

I changed out a memory card on one of my homemade trail cameras that I have at my "Official Camera Test Site" today and got a couple pictures of a very interesting deer...

Here is a cropped, close up for a better view.

A couple things are strange about this picture. First of all are those CRAZY antlers. What is up with that?!?! Secondly, this buck is still carrying his antlers as of March 18th, which is pretty late in the ballgame. This should make for a very interesting conversation piece.

I'm trying to think of a good name for this deer. What do you think I should call him?

More Shed Antlers and Some Colder Weather...

2010-03-20T23:39:00.012-05:00

This morning, despite some windy, colder weather, my dad and I got up early and drove out to our hunting lease to try to look for some shed antlers. We haven't looked on this property yet this year, and we wanted to give it a try before the vegetation grows too tall to be able to spot them (and before it gets warm enough for the rattlesnakes to start moving). Temperatures have been in the 70's all week, but a cold snap moved in overnight bringing some snow flurries and temperatures in the low 30's. We gave it a valiant effort this morning, and I bet we walked every bit of five miles.

My dad found a small one on the edge of a wheat field right off the bat.

My dad ended up finding a total of 4, and I found 1, but all but the first one were old ones that have been on the ground since at least last year. We thought my dad might have found a matched set from an 8-point from last year, as he found two that were very similar in size and shape that were laying within 25 feet of each other. But after a closer look, I think the antlers were from two different deer.

I didn't have my good camera with me, so I was just taking pictures with my phone, and I stopped to snap these two shots of some of our Creator's handiwork while we were walking around through the woods.

The highlight of the day might have been the double-meat, double-cheese burgers we got for lunch at Herd's Hamburgers!

I also pulled a couple trail cameras that haven't been checked since the new year, so I had a good number of pictures to sort through. I got a picture of a really nice looking bobcat. Check out the markings on his coat and how heavily spotted he is.

I also got some hog pictures.

I was also really surprised to see that I had pictures of bucks still carrying their antlers as late as March 13th. I didn't have any pictures of bucks after that day so I'm not sure if they have even dropped them yet or not.

That may have been a contributing factor to why we only found one fresh one this morning...

Built Another Trail Camera

2010-03-16T20:35:00.005-05:00

I've been working on another trail camera over the last several weeks and finished up the build a few days ago. This one is for a friend at church who happened to already own the specific model of Sony camera that I have been using for most of my trail cameras. Here are a few pictures of the finished camera:

Front view showing flash, camera lens, and motion sensor holes

Side view showing external toggle switch and pipe-thru security feature (for locking cable to go through to secure camera to tree or post)

Inside view of camera showing motion sensor control board, 9-volt battery, pipe-thru security feature, and Sony camera

Some features of this camera:
-Sony 4.1 megapixel digital camera with LCD screen to view pictures in the field
-Camera runs off two "AA" batteries while motion sensor runs off one 9-volt battery
-Mossy Oak waterproof case
-Pipe-thru security feature that allows a Python locking cable to run through the case to attach the camera to a tree or post for added theft prevention
-External toggle switch to activate/deactivate motion sensor to prevent unwanted pictures during set up or checking of the camera
-Two camera delay modes - trail setting or feeder setting
-Compact 6 1/2" x 4 1/2" case design that will fit in a coat pocket

I got another camera in the mail this week that I plan to begin work on soon that is a little bit newer model that takes higher resolution images. Hopefully I can get it into the field soon for some test shots. Stay tuned!

Dad Finds a Very Unique Shed

2010-03-07T21:21:00.011-06:00

I was able to spend some time with my dad this afternoon looking for some sheds. Despite the drizzly, wet weather conditions, he and I, along with my friend Justin scoured the woods in search of fallen antlers. It was a good afternoon, and my dad found a shed that is by far the most unique I have ever seen. Instead of just finding one antler, he found a fresh set of antlers from this year that had completely grown together at the bases. When the deer shed it's antlers, they fell off his head as a single piece!

Isn't that the strangest thing you have ever seen! I'm gonna start calling that deer the "Monobrow Buck".

Great find, Daddy! I enjoyed the time we got to spend in the woods together.

My Best Shed To-Date

2010-03-06T22:47:00.008-06:00

I went to one of my favorite shed hunting spots this morning and found my biggest shed to-date! Unfortunately, it wasn't a fresh one from this year, as it looked like it had been exposed to the elements for quite some time - maybe even a couple years. But, the squirrels and rats hadn't chewed on it a bit so it was still in pretty decent shape.

(Note: This isn't how the antler was laying when I found it. It was actually kinda buried under some grass. I just thought this would make a better picture!)

When I got home I put the tape measure to it. It had 4 scorable points and I scored it at 63 5/8". Probably the most impressive measurement on this antler was the main beam length of 26 4/8". So, assuming this deer had a symmetrical antler on the opposite side and an approximate 18" spread, you're looking at a deer that will score between 145" - 150". That's not too shabby!

This year has allowed me to do more shed hunting than ever before and it is a blast. Although, the success rate at times reminds me of when I used to have a bass boat and would go bass fishing on some of the area lakes. You could fish all day long and sometimes only catch one fish. The same goes with shed hunting - sometimes you can look all day long and not find anything!

Today was a gorgeous day, and the temperature got up into the 60's. Spring is just around the corner, and things are beginning to bloom. I snapped a couple other nice pictures while out in the woods.

I also found another antler Friday evening but this one was a real small one. Here you can see how it compares to the one I found today.

If you haven't been shed hunting this year, get off the couch and take a stroll through the woods. You never know what you might find!

Does This Look Familiar?

2010-03-04T18:00:00.001-06:00

Remember the 160"-class set of sheds my friend Justin found a couple weeks ago? Well, look what he found this week! This appears to be the same deer's right antler from this year.

Justin told me he found this one approximately a 1/2-mile from where he found the matching set. I guess there is a possibility this antler is from a different deer, but it sure does look similar. It has slightly less mass than the antler from last year but added a little bit in main-beam length. It also has a kicker point near the base that wasn't present last year. Here are some pictures comparing it to the matched set.

Is it possible that this deer might have reached his prime last year and is now on his way downhill, or could it just be that habitat conditions were better last year resulting in a better set of antlers? Or is this an antler from a different deer with very similar genetics? What do you think? Leave me a comment with your thoughts.

Congratulations on another amazing find Justin!

I Get Misty . . .

2010-03-02T22:42:00.006-06:00

. . .looking at this picture.

I was able to check one of my homemade game cameras again today and was surprised to see that this deer was still hanging on to his headbones. This is probably one of the biggest bucks I've ever gotten on a trail camera, and the moisture in the air when this picture was taken blurred the lens on the camera! Oh well, that happens.

If you can't tell by now, I'm a trail camera fanatic. I really enjoy building them and seeing the results when I check the memory cards. Getting pictures of these animals has always fascinated me, and honestly, getting an exceptional photo of a big buck would mean nearly as much to me as actually harvesting the animal. I take lots of factors into consideration when I place a camera in the woods in an effort to capture a really nice shot.

I did get a few this time that weren't blurry. This buck has already lost his antlers and has an interesting dark spot on the top of his back. (Don't forget you can click on the pictures to open them up and view them full-size.)

This one stopped for a close-up.

What will be in store the next time I pull the memory card? Hopefully a better picture of the big boy in the picture above! Stay tuned to find out.

Trail Camera Reveals the Antlers are Dropping

2010-02-26T22:40:00.015-06:00

I've had one of my homemade trail cameras out in an area that I am going to refer to as my "Official Camera Test Site" for the last week and I thought I would drop in today and swap out the memory card. It had taken over 100 pictures and the batteries were still going strong. I had lots of good deer pics, and only one picture was of a buck that still had his headgear. These pictures are all from my basic 3.2 megapixel model.

The Only Buck Still "Carrying"

The Curious One

"Whoa! What's That?"

A Really Beautiful Deer

Curiosity Killed the Cat

"I'm Perplexed"

A Buck That Has Dropped His Antlers (with a nice background)

A Couple Bucks Without Their Headgear

A Really Good Picture Showing a Buck That Just Recently Dropped His Antlers

A Close Up With Better Detail (Isn't that amazing!?!?)

Another Buck Without His Antlers (For some reason this one looks like he is really old to me.)

I thought these were some really cool pictures. I'd love for you to leave me a comment and let me know which one you like the best.

If you are interested in purchasing one of my homemade trail cameras feel free to send me an email or leave me your email address in the comment box so that I can get back in touch with you on a price quote. They would make a great gift for that special hunter in your life!

Some Impressive Sheds!

2010-02-20T22:03:00.013-06:00

Earlier this week, my friend Justin Berndt made an amazing find! While walking through the woods he happened to stumble across a matching set of antlers that were lying on the ground within four feet of each other. But these weren't your standard, run-of-the-mill antlers. These were BIG!
Justin asked me to put a tape measure to the massive set of antlers to see just how big they were. Since they were not on a skull it was difficult to determine what the inside spread measurement would be, but I conservatively estimated the spread at 17 4/8". After all the measurements were calculated I unofficially scored the antlers at 162 6/8" gross! It is pretty rare to find one antler of this caliber, and to find a matching set is like finding a hidden treasure!

Saturday morning Justin and I decided to go out and do a little shed hunting. Even though I think we were still a little early to find many of this year's sheds, we still managed to find eight that looked like they were from last year.

Justin found five antlers (three of which were non-typical) and I found these three (one of which was non-typical). As you can tell, there must be some freaky genetics among this deer herd.
I had a lot of fun this morning just being able to get outside and explore at my own pace. The weather was great, and it turned out to be a really great day in the woods!

Coyotes in the Snow

2010-02-16T23:28:00.005-06:00

A couple of the guys at work checked a trail camera today and it had taken some really neat pictures of some coyotes. We got about 9" of snow in our area last Thursday, and it seems to me that snow makes just about any picture prettier - even a picture of a coyote!

I have done quite a bit of predator hunting in my time, and let me tell ya, there is nothing quite like the rush you get when you call in a coyote and he is trotting in straight toward you at about 30 yards with no intentions of stopping! Knowing that they are in hunt-mode and looking for you adds an interesting twist to it. Calling coyotes is lots of fun, and I have found that this time of year is the best time to hunt them. I use a jackrabbit-in-distress call and have had up to four of them come in at once.

Coyotes are very abundant in our area. I hear them howling almost every time I deer hunt, and I see them pretty regularly as well. What is the coyote population like in your area?

January Trail Camera Pictures

2010-02-09T22:17:00.005-06:00

The following pictures were all taken by my homemade trail cameras during January. I didn't get any pictures of big bucks this time, but these shots were my favorite ones from the batch.

I've got plans to build a couple more of these cameras over the next few months. Stay tuned for more shots from the field.

Teen from Loving turns terrible year into Stock Show victory

2010-02-06T13:42:00.004-06:00

This story doesn't have anything to do with hunting, but I thought I would share it anyway. Loving, Texas, which is the town this girl is from, is just a few miles from where I do most of my hunting. I participated in stock shows when I was in high school, and I understand how much time and effort (and money) goes into raising these animals. I can't imagine having to deal with the life-threatening health issues she has endured at the same time.

Make sure you scroll down and pause the music at the bottom before you play the video.

The link to the full story is here.

And by the way, her steer sold this morning for an all-time Fort Worth Stock Show record of $210,000! Congratulations to Rikki!

Post-Season Trophies

2010-02-02T21:37:00.013-06:00

I got an email today from my good friend Marc Gustafson in Iowa with some pictures that I have to share. Marc has already been out looking for shed antlers, and judging from the looks of things, he is doing pretty well!

Here is what Marc had to say in the email:
"It has been tough-going shed hunting as I believe most of the antlers were shed between snow storms, and a good portion of them are buried under the snow. I have found most of them in the deer beds and a few in the standing corn. We had snow again last night, as it just keeps coming, which makes it hard to find the ones dropped not long ago. The matched set up close in the pictures measured around 135 inches and will be a dandy if he makes it through the winter."

I have only found three shed antlers in my life, so after seeing these pictures I wanted to pick Marc's brain and get his thoughts on shed hunting and see if he had some tips and techniques to use when looking for shed antlers.

Marc says his favorite spots to look for sheds is first the bedding areas, then trails leading to and from feeding areas, and then the feeding areas themselves. He says the harsh winter in Iowa this year has really caused the deer to congregate around food plots, and he hopes to find quite a few sheds around those feeding areas once some warmer weather arrives to melt some of the snow.

I also asked Marc how many antlers he will generally find in a year, and what was the biggest matched pair he has ever found. He said the matched set in the picture is the largest pair he has found to date and that he averages about 45 antlers a year. But this year he hopes to find 50 or 60 with the deer spending so much time around the food plots. He estimates that over 200 deer are wintering on one particular property he hunts, which makes shed hunting pretty good when there are that many deer congregated in an area that encompasses a couple hundred acres.

Maybe that is why I have so much trouble finding them! It sure makes it difficult when you are searching a 600-acre piece of property that might hold 50 or 60 deer, of which probably only about 15 are bucks. Also, the deer here in Texas usually don't start dropping their antlers until mid-March, after the vegetation begins to green up and grow over what antlers might be on the ground making them less visible. But regardless, I still plan to get out there and look. After all, you can't find any while sitting on the couch!

Thanks for the pictures and the information, Marc. That shed hunting sure looks like a lot of fun! I wish I could spend a weekend up there with you looking for them. Congratulations on finding all those trophies - looks like you have enough to make one heck of a chandelier!

Duck Jerky - A Culinary Experiment

2010-02-01T06:00:00.000-06:00

I'll be honest. I'm not a big fan of duck meat. I like it as stew meat when it is cut up into small, bite-size portions, but cooking the entire duck or even the breast as a whole doesn't have much appeal to me. (I'm not saying it is bad, I'm just saying it isn't my favorite.)

I kept thinking of different ways I could cook the duck meat from my last hunt so that it might be a little tastier and not quite as gamey. One of my coworkers suggested that I make jerky out of it. I've never made jerky before, and that sounded pretty good to me, so I decided to give it a try.

The duck meat I was using had been cut off the breast into filets before it was placed in the freezer. So the first thing I did was thaw the meat out and I sliced it longways into thin strips. (Like you would butterfly a steak, except thinner.) I tried to cut the strips as thin as I could by hand, and I would guess they were about an 1/8" thick.

Next I mixed up a marinade. I searched on the internet and found a few different recipes, and all of them had the same basic ingredients. Here is what I used:
- soy sauce
- worcestershire sauce
- tabasco sauce
- garlic powder
- onion powder
- black pepper
- crushed red pepper
- mesquite flavored seasoning
- meat tenderizer
- brown sugar

I placed all of the meat in a ziplock bag and poured in the marinade. I made sure all the meat was completely covered and then I sealed the bag. I then placed it in the regrigerator to allow the meat to marinate for about 24 hours.

After reading up on the different ways to make jerky, I decided I would start mine off in the smoker for an hour or two, and then allow it to finish drying in the oven. So, the next evening I got a fire going in the fire box with some mesquite wood.

I placed the thin strips of marinated duck meat on the top rack in the smoker and then closed the lid.

My smoker has a thermometer built into it, and I tried to keep the temperature between 150 and 175. This was by far the most challenging part of the process because keeping the fire burning steadily at the same intensity is almost impossible to do. I did a pretty good job keeping the temperature in the range I wanted it, but occasionally it would creep up into the 175 - 200 range. I stayed with it and checked the fire often for about two hours.

Toward the end of that two hours it was about time for me to help get my daughters to sleep, so I wasn't able to tend the fire quite like I should have, and I noticed the meat was starting to look like it was about done. I taste-tested it and it seemed like it was about ready, so I decided not to use the oven and I left it on the smoker for about another half hour.

The end product didn't quite turn out as I had hoped, but for my first try it will do. The flavor was actually really good, but a few of the pieces got a little bit crispy. It was also just a tad spicier than what I would prefer, but it is still edible. Some of my friends at work asked to try some of it, and a couple of them even asked for another piece. (I don't know if they really liked it, if they were really hungry, or if they were just being polite.)

Some lessons learned from this first batch:
- Make the strips just a little bit thicker to keep them from getting crispy.
- Use less tabasco sauce.
- Keep the temperature at a more constant level.

In my opinion, this is a really good alternative for cooking duck meat. There was no gamey taste at all, and it really was pretty tasty. It would make a great snack to take in your backpack when you go out into the woods to hunt or for a day of fishing. I will definitely have to make some more!

The End of a Season - Are You Prepared?

2010-01-28T21:30:00.000-06:00

Duck season came to a close this past weekend, and so did another year of my hunting adventures. As I think back on the times I spent in the field this past fall and winter, I can’t help but think of how fast time slips away. For me, the anticipation of the arrival of hunting season is like a little kid waiting for Christmas morning to get here. Then once it gets here, I blink and it is gone.

That got me to thinking about life in general, and how it could be compared to hunting season.

Typically, hunting seasons are regulated by state and federal wildlife agencies that schedule season dates well in advance. The seasons are strategically planned with a specific opening date and closing date, allowing hunters a limited number of days in the field. While some seasons are rather long, others may be extremely short.

That sure is a lot like our lives. Our Creator has appointed each one of us a specific amount of time on this earth. From the day we are conceived until the day we take our last breath, we are given a limited number of days to live our lives. For some, that number may be quite large and they live to a ripe old age. But for others, life can be very brief.

The difference is this: When it comes to hunting, we know the date the season will end. We can mark it on a calendar and plan accordingly. But life is uncertain. No one knows the time when death will approach. It could be years from now, or life could tragically be taken away from us before the day is over.

My question to you is this: When your season of life is over, where will you be spending eternity?

The Bible says in Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” That means that we are ALL sinners, and that we all have sin in our hearts. Sin separates us from God.

Romans 6:23 states, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” We will all face physical death someday, but our souls will live on forever in either Heaven or Hell. The Bible says that Hell will be an unquenchable fire where there is much torment and agony. But God offers us the free gift of salvation and eternal life in Heaven with Him - if we choose to receive it.

Romans 5:8 says, “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” When Jesus died on the cross, he paid the price for all our sins. He loved us enough that He gave Himself for us, and took the punishment of all the sins of the world upon Himself. Salvation is not something we can earn by doing good works or by being good people. Religion and church membership won’t save you. It is because of Christ’s love for us and by His grace that we are saved.

Romans 10:13 clearly says this: “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” It doesn’t say only rich people, or only people of a certain race, or only people who go to church – it says “whosoever” – that means anybody.

In Romans 10:9-10 we see these words: “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” By placing your faith and trust in Jesus Christ and confessing that He is Lord you can be saved.

Have you accepted the free gift of eternal life? You can receive that gift by following these simple steps:
- Acknowledge you are a sinner and that the penalty for sin is separation from God.
- Believe that Jesus died on the cross for your sins and was raised from the dead.
- Accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior and ask Him to come into your heart.

If you are ready to place your trust in Christ, here is a simple prayer that you can pray to God:
“Lord, I know that I’m a sinner and I don’t deserve eternal life. I believe You died and rose from the grave to save me from my sins. I ask you to come into my life, forgive me of my sins and save me. I am now placing my faith and trust in You, Lord. I accept your free gift of eternal life.”

If you prayed that prayer, I would love to know about it so that I can pray for you as you grow in your walk with the Lord. You can let me know by leaving a comment at the end of this post or by using the “Contact Me” button on the right side of the screen to send me an email.

Don’t let your season of life come to an end without being prepared!

Duck Season Finale

2010-01-23T16:24:00.004-06:00

I had the opportunity to get one last duck hunt in the books this morning before the season draws to a close tomorrow. On this hunt I was fortunate to have my friend Marc Rylander with me, and although we didn't see many birds during the hunt, the camaraderie was second to none! We were also joined by my friend Lee Flannery and his buddy Phil.

This week has been rather warm here in north Texas with temperatures rising into the upper 60's, and that may have played a part in the lack of birds we saw this morning. We woke up to overcast skies and light drizzling rain, both good waterfowling conditions, but the ducks were just not there. We had one group of Wigeons come in really early, and then it got really slow with only a pair of Redhead drakes after that. We only ended up bagging three ducks - 1 Wigeon drake and the 2 Redheads - but it was still a great hunt.

The older I get and the more I hunt, the more I realize that the success of a hunt isn't always measured by how many animals or birds you bag. Sometimes it is the relationships that are forged and the friendships that are developed that mean the most.

Here is our group from this morning. From left to right: me, Lee, Phil, and Marc.

Venison in the Freezer

2010-01-18T20:38:00.004-06:00

Both of this year's deer are back from the processor and my freezer is full. Today I made the 55-mile one-way trip to Muenster, Texas to pick up one of my deer at Muenster Meat Co. (formerly Walterscheid Meat Co.).

You might be wondering - Why on earth would I drive over 100 miles to have a deer processed? The answer: Deer Sticks! Some people call them snack sticks, smoked sticks, or hunter sticks, but whatever you call them, I call them "Good"! They are kind of like a Slim Jim, but not nearly as greasy and taste way better.

As you can tell from the name, Muenster is a German community and this processor is known for producing some excellent German sausage and specialty meats. They are the only place relatively close that I have found who offers these deer sticks. This year I ordered 30 pounds of them, so hopefully that will last me several months.

When I shot my second deer, I was in a bit of a hurry, so I decided to use the local processor (Rick's Outpost) that is just a couple miles up the road. I had the basic cuts done on that deer, but I also decided to try their summer sausage. I ordered 5 pounds of the jalepeno and cheese variety, and I have been really impressed with it as well.

The deer sticks from Muenster are on the plate and the summer sausage from Rick's Outpost is on the right.

These specialty meats are definitely pricey, but I figure if I'm going to put all that time and effort into harvesting a deer I should at least have some really good meat to show for it. Maybe someday I can learn how to make these sausages at home and save some money on processing.

Cold Morning Duck Hunt

2010-01-10T17:41:00.009-06:00

I've been so focused on deer hunting for the last few months that I haven't spent much time duck hunting. This past week I planned to change that trend, and I invited a couple of my friends from work to come out and duck hunt with me at our lease. I had high hopes for our hunt because I have been seeing lots of ducks on the ponds this year, but with the recent Arctic air that moved into our area I wasn't sure if any of the birds would still be there. I figured they had either packed up and headed South or there would be more birds that had moved in from the North.

Just before we arrived at our hunting spot early Saturday morning the thermometer on my truck was reading 1 degree. There was no wind at all so I knew the pond would probably be completely frozen over and we would have to break ice to put the decoys out. And that we did. We busted ice, threw out a few decoys, and waited for legal shooting hours to arrive, which is 30 minutes before sunrise.

Once the clock ticked over to 7:08 and we could legally begin to shoot, the ducks began piling in. It was one of the best duck hunts I have ever been a part of, and by 8:00 the four of us had limited out! Here is a picture of the crew. From left to right: David Mackintosh, Justin Berndt, Lee Flannery, and myself.

This was quite a mixed bag of ducks with most of them being Widgeons and Gadwalls. We also saw some Pintails and a Redhead drake but we couldn't get a shot because they were too far out and wouldn't commit. There were also some Mallards that came in, and Lee shot the trophy bird of the morning by bagging his first Mallard drake.

It was an awesome time with some good friends! I can't think of a much better place to watch the sun come up and enjoy the immaculate handiwork of our Creator!

Here are a few more images from the weekend. Thanks to my friend Justin for the picture in my new blog header.

Rabbit Hunting

2010-01-07T17:00:00.001-06:00

Due to some icy road conditions this morning, I got to stay home from work, so my buddy David and I went rabbit hunting this afternoon. I haven't hunted rabbits since I was a kid, and I forgot how much fun it was!

While we were out hunting we saw a few deer, some ducks, and a big bobcat. We ended up seeing three cottontails, but two of them got away. I missed on the only shot I took, but David was able to connect and bag one rabbit.

David, it was a blast! You better fire up the stew pot this evening!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Shawn Peterson's Big Iowa Buck

2010-01-05T22:29:00.010-06:00

I got these pictures in an email a few days ago from one of my friends in Iowa. The hunter in these pictures is Shawn Peterson, who is one of the Guides and Directors for SYC Ministries of Northwest Iowa. I had the pleasure of meeting Shawn during the SYC deer hunt this past fall. I contacted him to congratulate him on his hunt and asked for permission to use these pictures and his story on my blog. Shawn most graciously accepted my request, so here is his account of how the hunt unfolded:

"I finally got a keeper on the first day of late muzzleloader. Made a 2 hour stalk, through knee deep snow, to get within 60 yards of this buck and doe bedded in a thicket. Tried to grunt the buck out, but no luck. Figured this stalk would end quicker, but I ended up sitting against a tree in the fenceline from 10:00 AM to 3:00PM until the doe finally came out. Left my backpack down in the timber with my snacks and water, ended up eating a little snow to get me through. The doe fed out in front of me for an hour, then bedded down at 100 yards facing me for 35 minutes. I couldn't move at all and started cramping up. She finally got up about 4:40 PM and continued to mill around, while looking back into the thicket periodically. I was hoping he was still there. The buck finally stepped out about 4:50 and gave me a 100 yard shot. I dropped him in his tracks with my new Knight Long Range Hunter, which could be my new favorite gun. The bitter sweet problem was that he flopped his head a couple of times and snapped both of his antlers off and I was sick. He had to be within a couple of days of shedding his antlers. The doe that he was tending eventually worked downwind of the buck and allowed me a chance to reload. When she was about 10 yards from the buck, I popped her also. She ran about 75 yards. This was a hunt that I will never forget. The work to get them out was even harder, I'm glad that I at least took my snowmobile. My day finally ended about 10:00 PM. The buck is a typical 10-point with split brow tines and gross scores just over 158", the first mature buck I've taken with a gun for over 11 years. My success comes from one thing, and that’s because God continues to bless me on my hunting endeavors."

Congratulations on a great hunt and a great buck, Shawn! If sitting there all day in those kind of conditions isn't dedication, well then, I just don't know what is! That is definitely a bruiser of a buck and a hunt to remember!

An email from another blogger . . .

2010-01-04T21:08:00.006-06:00

I recieved a nice email earlier today from another outdoors blogger, and I thought I would share what it had to say:

Rob,

My name is Greg Edmonds and I am from the Richmond, VA area. I wanted to drop you a note to say that I have enjoyed reading your blog, and it is refreshing and encouraging to see the numbers of folks out there who are passionate about the outdoors as well as its Creator. Keep up the good work.

I have just gotten started blogging over the last few months. I was felt led to start one for the guys in our area to read in conjunction with our newly established church Outdoor Ministry. Check it out when you get a chance - trophytalk.blogspot.com.

Take it easy,

Greg Edmonds

Thanks for the kind words, Greg! I really appreciate it.

I got a chance to read Greg's blog this evening and it is worth checking out. I have included the link above.

A New Year, A New Decade

2010-01-01T16:55:00.003-06:00

It is hard to believe, but 2010 is upon us.

Seems like just yesterday it was the year 2000. There have been many milestones in my life over the past 10 years - got married, graduated from college, started a career, started a family, bought a house, and the list goes on. It has been a good decade for my family and I, but we are excited about a new year and what the Lord has in store for us in 2010!

I've also had lots of milestones when it comes to hunting over the last decade - shot my first deer, got on a hunting lease, shot my first turkey, got my first deer with a bow, started this blog, as well as many other exciting memories. I am thankful for the opportunities I've had to go hunting and the resources I've had access to. I don't know what I would do if I couldn't hunt!

I'm not much on new year's resolutions, but as I look toward 2010 and this new decade I have several goals (some being long-term) I would like to reach for.
1: Harvest a Pope & Young deer.
2: Teach my daughters how to hunt and fish.
3: Implement management practices to improve the property I hunt.
4: Continually learn more about hunting and wildlife.
5: Go on my first elk hunt.
6: Purchase some land of my own.
7: Never cease to be amazed at the beauty and awe of God's creation.

Happy new year, everybody!

Shot a doe this morning . . .

2009-12-31T16:19:00.004-06:00

Well, I'm ending 2009 on a pretty good note. I was able to take a doe this morning and put some more venison in the freezer. It was about a 65-yard shot with my .30-06, and there was no tracking this one. She dropped in her tracks. I'm partial to archery equipment, but taking this one with the rifle this morning helped to get rid of the bitter taste in my mouth from losing the big buck last week.

I tried to take a picture with my trail camera, but apparently I was too close and the picture only includes me and not the deer. I couldn't help but laugh when I got home and looked at the pictures of me kneeling on the ground with a big grin on my face and no deer in the picture.

I was able to check some trail cameras and a new buck showed up on one of them that I have never seen before. We usually don't get much snow, but this past week we got a couple good snow storms. So this is a unique picture for me. Check out the tine-length on this dude!

The Oink Stops Here

2009-12-29T17:12:00.004-06:00

I just got these pictures yesterday in an email from Clayton Bowen, who is an old buddy of mine that I used to run around with in my younger days. (Not that I'm old, but now that I'm 30 I can say that.) These hogs were killed in Grayson County, Texas, just a stone's throw from where I grew up.

So I replied back and asked him what the story was on these hogs, and here is what he had to say:

"Well I started walking through the woods with the wind in my face looking for them. I actually didn't see them first, I smelled them. Once I smelled them I got really still and slipped up on them and shot the orange one first. Then about 200 yards later I happened on another pair of them and got a head shot on the black one. Both of them weighed about 100 pounds. These two were part of the five that I shot and trapped two weeks ago. I shot another big sow Saturday night on the same place. But there were only about 50 in that group!!!"

If you have never been around any of these wild hogs, then you probably don't understand how he could have smelled them before he saw them. Trust me, you can! When my dad and I were looking for a doe I shot a few weeks ago, we were walking through a really thick part of the woods and we both caught wind of a really rank, musky smell. (I could insert lots of jokes here . . .) I said I bet it was hogs, and sure enough, about 10 minutes later one jumped up and ran ahead of us. They are definitely odoriferous!

Even though wild hogs are a nuisance to many landowners and even some hunters, they make for a great game animal to pursue! In Texas we have no closed season on them and they can be hunted with any means or methods, so the opportunities are almost endless.

Sounds like you had a great hunt, Bowen! It doesn't sound like there is a shortage of pigs on that place either! Thanks for the pictures.

More memorable moments . . .

2009-12-28T19:36:00.005-06:00

In one of my last posts I mentioned that my latest hunting trip had several memorable moments (in addition to the encounter with the big 10-point). One of those happened while we were searching for the buck. During the course of combing the woods to find the elusive "Ghost Buck", I stumbled across a pretty nice shed antler. I was walking through an area that was really thick with mesquite, and as I ducked under a low-hanging limb I saw this antler lying on the ground.

This is only the third shed antler I have ever found, and it is definitely the biggest. Only one of the three antlers did I find while actually looking for sheds. The other two have just been by accident. This one is missing the brow tine, but still tapes out at over 40". That's not bad for a mainframe 8-point.

On Tuesday morning my dad and I decided to sit together for the hunt. We both sat on the ground - he on one side of a tree and me on the other. Shortly after sunrise I thought I would see if I could get a response to some antler rattling. After one rattling sequence, I heard my dad whisper, "Rob, here's one." I looked back over my shoulder and a young 4-point had responded to the call and was standing about 30 yards in front of my dad.

Since we got such a good response I thought I would try it again. So I made another rattling sequence and this time we had a nice little 8-point come in. I was able to snap a picture with my phone looking over my dad's shoulder.

These close encounters are what make deer hunting so much fun! This little buck lived to see another day and hopefully I can rattle him in again when he grows up.

It was the Best of Times, It was the Worst of Times . . .

2009-12-24T00:00:00.001-06:00

The deer season calamity continues. I write this with much sorrow and anguish.

Rewind to Saturday morning at about 8:15 when my cell phone rings. My good friend Lee Flannery (who also hunts the same property I do) called with the sound of excitement in his voice. He and his son were out deer hunting and had just had a close encounter with a REALLY nice 10-point buck. Lee described the deer as "the biggest one he had seen on this place". Problem was, the deer was just across the fence on the property to the south of us. Lee had rattled the buck to within 50 yards, but he just couldn't coax him across the fence to be able to make a legal shot. However, he was able to snap a quick picture before the deer walked away.

This was actually Lee's second encounter with this big deer. The first time he saw him was a couple weeks ago, but the deer was several hundred yards away and it was really early in the morning when the light was still too low to really get a good look at him. Both times the deer showed up in pretty much the same spot - the edge of a winter wheat field on the very far south end of the property we hunt.

Lee was planning on hunting through Sunday morning, and said he would email me the picture as soon as he got home that afternoon. I had put in for some vacation days at work, and my plans were to go hunting beginning on Sunday evening. So I eagerly waited for the email with the picture of the bruiser buck. Although he saw a lot of deer over the course of the weekend, this buck never showed back up for Lee.

My dad and I have both been strictly bowhunting for the entire season. For this weekend we decided to change gears and break out the rifles in an effort to put some meat in the freezer. This would be the first time I have rifle hunted in several years - not because I don't like rifle hunting, I just love bowhunting that much.

We got to the lease in time to hunt Sunday evening, and we both hunted this same wheat field - my dad on the south end (where Lee had seen the big one) and I was several hundred yards away on the north end. I was planning on taking the first doe that provided a shot, so I picked out a spot where I had been seeing alot of deer cross from a mesquite thicket over into the field. I saw several deer that evening and even had a young buck within range, but the does I saw were in some real thick cover making even a rifle shot almost impossible. Most of the activity I saw was a pretty good distance to the north, and it seemed like quite a few deer were passing through a clearing on the opposite side of the thicket. So I decided that Monday morning I would move north about 200 yards and set up where I could see this clearing.

After the Sunday evening hunt, the much-anticipated email arrived on my inbox on my phone. I opened it up and this is what I saw.

"Oh my goodness! Lee, you weren't kidding. That's an exceptional deer!" - These were the thoughts going through my mind as I looked at this picture.

The area we hunt is not known for trophy deer. A buck in the 140" to 150" range would be a real trophy for this part of the country, and anything over 125" is definitely respectable. After looking at the picture closely I called Lee and we discussed the deer. We both agreed that he would go 130", as we had tried to conservatively estimate his Boone & Crockett score.

Monday morning arrived and we almost accidentally overslept. We headed to our spots and I found a good spot to sit on the ground against a mesquite tree. It was about 7:00 AM when I got situated. Sunrise was at 7:30, so it was already legal shooting hours by the time I got in place. The wind was out of the south, and I figured it would be in my favor if the deer crossed in the same spot as the evening before. About 20 minutes after I sat down I glanced to my left and saw three does about 50 yards away. The closest one was a nice mature one, so I eased the gun into shooting position and squeezed off a round. She bucked and ran about 50 yards and I saw her go down.

I have to admit, at that point I was thinking there is nothing to this whole rifle hunting thing, because that just seemed way too easy. Little did I know how quickly that thought would come back to haunt me.

I grabbed my phone and texted my wife and a couple friends to let them know I had just shot a doe. I thought I would sit there another half hour or so and maybe get another shot at a doe if one walked by. About 10 minutes later one of my friends replied back to my text and was asking me if I was really excited about shooting the doe. I started to reply back, and my text was going to read something like this - "Yeah I'm excited, but this rifle hunting doesn't get me as fired up as bowhunting". The text never got sent. Right as I was in the middle of typing it I heard something behind me.

I glanced over my right shoulder and noticed a little fork-antlered buck about 50 yards behind me. He was looking my direction, but then he started moving to the south so I slowly turned my head around the other way to watch. That's when I saw him - the buck from Lee's picture. The big buck was between 40 and 50 yards away standing directly facing me with his head turned to his right looking at the younger buck. The sun was just starting to creep over the horizon, and the silhouette of this buck against the pinkish-purple backdrop is an image stamped in my brain.

I immediately knew he was a shooter. There was no doubting that. I was already holding my binoculars so I eased them up to my face to take a better look. I took a quick look at his left antler and counted 5 points. I don't even remember looking at the other side. I eased the gun into shooting position and stared through the scope. I put the crosshairs right on his neck and then lowered them to the center of his chest and fired the gun.

He dropped like a sack of potatoes. It was like all four legs just collapsed underneath him. He was just laying there. I was so excited I couldn't believe what had just taken place. I could see him on the ground with his left antler sticking up above the grass and I just kept thinking how awesome he looked. This was my best deer ever.

I grabbed my binoculars again to take a better look at him. I stared at him for probably 20 or 30 seconds and I noticed he started flopping a little bit, but nothing unusual as it takes a little while for a deer to expire after the impact of the shot. He layed still again. I raised up to my knees to see a little better and I noticed that he tried to raise his head up but he wasn't having much luck. I continued to watch as he just lay there and then he started moving again - this time he tried to get to his feet and he staggered around for a few steps and fell back over. I figured he was down for the count. I continued to watch for another 20 or 30 seconds as he just lay there.

Then the unthinkable happened.

About a minute and a half after I had shot the deer, the buck hops to his feet and runs off, jumping a fence about 40 yards away. He disappeared into some mesquite trees and I lost sight of him. I called my dad on the phone and told him about the two deer I had just shot. He was really excited and he started making his way toward me so that we could look for the buck. It took my dad about 15 minutes to walk to my location, so I just sat there and waited for him. After he got there, we went and recovered the doe and brought her closer to the truck.

We found blood at the site where the big buck was standing when I shot, but not very much. With a straight-on chest shot that is to be expected, because more than likely there was not an exit wound. We found more blood at the fence where the deer had crossed and then began to pick up a decent blood trail. We followed the trail for about 60 or 70 yards and then couldn't find another drop. I was on my hands and knees looking and couldn't see a speck of blood anywhere.

To try to make this long, miserable story a little shorter - we never found the deer. We looked for the better part of the day. We gridded the area and tied ribbons to mark transects we had searched. I tried to find someone in the area with tracking dogs but had no luck. We searched more on Tuesday morning. Nothing.

I don't know what happened. I've had so many questions and emotions go through my mind since that shot that it has all been a whirlwind experience. It was one of the best hunting experiences I have ever had, and it was one of the worst hunting experiences I have ever had.

I've tried to look back at this episode and draw some kind of a positive from this whole turn of events and here is what I've come up with so far.
1. It was definitely a memorable moment that my dad and I will share for years to come.
2. I've learned some things I will do differently next time (like wait for a better shot angle).
3. Most importantly, it was a life-lesson in humility. Just when I thought I had it all together, things came crashing down. Pride comes before the fall.

I'm not going to let it ruin my season. The weekend did have a couple more memorable events that I will have to discuss in another post. There are still a few weeks left in the season and I plan on trying to take another doe to fill the freezer. For now, here is a picture of the doe I shot Monday morning. The big smile on my face is not only because I was happy about harvesting the doe, but I seriously thought I would be posing with a big 10-point in the near future. It just wasn't meant to be.

My Nephew's Deer

2009-12-19T10:27:00.000-06:00

I just got this picture from my nephew, Ryan Anderton. He harvested this doe earlier this morning with a rifle on a ranch in Montague County, Texas. Ryan is 16 years old and this is his second deer.

Congratulations Ryan!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Deer Season Woes

2009-12-14T21:54:00.006-06:00

This deer season has been filled with lots of memorable moments, but unfortunately I still have a license full of deer tags. I've seen more deer this season than in any other season I have hunted, but I just haven't been provided many shot opportunities with the bow.

This past Saturday morning I finally had a doe within bow range. At about 7:30 I had three does walk by my stand. The wind was in my favor, and one of the does was standing broadside in front of me at about 28 yards. I loosed an arrow and felt confident in the shot I made. I waited about 30 minutes, then called my dad who was in a stand about 300 yards away, and we began the tracking job.

I immediately found the arrow. It was a complete pass-thru and there was blood on the arrow all the way from the broadhead to the nock, but it wasn't covered in blood like you would expect to see after a good shot. I didn't see any blood on the ground in the immediate area where the deer had been standing. We found the first drop of blood about 20 yards from the site of impact. I began to get concerned, as that was not a good sign.

For the next 4 1/2 hours my dad and I followed a very skimpy blood trail that covered about a 1/2 mile in distance. It was such a small amount of blood that we actually lost the trail on more than half a dozen occasions. It was like someone had taken an eye-dropper and squeezed out a drop or two every 8 - 10 feet. If it weren't for my dad's excellent tracking skills, I would have lost the trail early on during the search, but he had a keen eye to spot those tiny drops and to notice areas where the leaf litter had been disturbed. The deer had gone about 300 - 400 yards south of where I shot her, looped back to the west another 100 yards or so behind the stand my dad was in, and then cut back to the north another couple hundred yards, almost making a complete circle. The last two drops of blood we found were about 20 - 30 feet apart on a trail that was heading toward a large stock tank. The whole trail looked like she had just gone about her business browsing along as there never was a place that looked like she had bedded down. It almost looked like she might have gone to the tank to get a drink and then went on her way.

I hate that we weren't able to recover her. My hope is that I didn't hit any vitals and the deer will survive the wound. As I think back on the shot, the deer ducked slightly as I shot, but I thought it was a double-lunger. I must have hit a little high and too far back. I could make excuses and blame the conditions or my equipment, but the matter of the fact is I just didn't make a good shot. My fault.

After calling off the search, my dad and I were starved. So we each filled our guts with more than one double-meat-double-cheese burger from Herd Hamburger in Jacksboro. That, combined with a cold Dr Pepper, hit the spot and helped to ease some of the frustration brought about by the morning's events.

Later that evening we hunted along the edge of a winter-wheat field. I saw 17 deer that evening with all of them being does. I had taken my bow as well as my rifle with me, but I decided not to shoot.

Next week I am going to get down to business when it comes to deer hunting. I've got some vacation days planned, and it will be my number one goal to put some meat in the freezer. Until then, here are some recent trail camera pics.

Aren't You Missing Something?

2009-12-02T23:11:00.004-06:00

I got this picture from one of my trail cameras the last time I checked them. I assume this deer lost his antler in a fight with another buck, but I guess there could be other explanations. It is hard to tell because of all the raindrops on the lens, but I think this is a buck that I have gotten pictures of a few weeks ago that I call "Unfinished Business". He had really small brow tines and G-2's that were quite a bit shorter than his G-3's. Anyway, I thought it was an interesting picture.

Iowa Trip Recap

2009-11-26T19:36:00.004-06:00

We had another great trip to Iowa this year. My dad and I have been pheasant hunting with our friend Denny up there since the mid 90's, and I look forward to it all year long. There is nothing better than getting to spend some time with old friends doing what you love the best.

Like I mentioned in my previous post, the first day started off really great with the group taking 14 birds. Sunday afternoon was a little slower as we were able to bag another 3 or 4 roosters. Monday also produced a few more birds, and Tuesday ended up being a rain out as the weather decided not to cooperate. Personally, I ended up getting skunked due to my shooting ability (or lack thereof) and my misfortune of not being where the birds decided to flush. I still had a great time and look forward to next year.

Here is a picture from our hunt on Monday morning. (From left to right: me, Marc Gustafson, Mike Hanson, my dad, and Denny Somers)

We were also able to get the trail camera I built for Denny out in the woods shortly after I got there. We checked it a couple days later and it had taken a dozen or so pictures and seemed to be working properly. Here are a few pictures from the camera.

Denny, thanks for hosting us on another great trip and I hope you enjoy the camera. I can't wait to see some of the pictures you get! To my friends Marc, Mike, Ralph, Roger, Mark, Jeff, and Nate - I enjoyed hunting with you guys. Thanks for the memories.

Iowa Update

2009-11-22T18:16:00.005-06:00

We're having a blast in Iowa on our pheasant hunt! The first day was very productive as our group harvested 14 roosters. It was one of the best days in the field that I have seen in 16 years of pheasant hunting, but I went 0-for the whole day!

When we first got here on Saturday morning my friend Marc Gustafson pulled up and wanted me to jump in the truck, because there was a big buck standing out in a field about a mile down the road that he wanted me to see. We hurried that way and the deer was still standing out in the field, and we were able to watch him for about 10 minutes. Marc estimated the deer was in the 150-class range and probably somewhere closer to 160".

Well, Marc went hunting this morning and when we got back to the house there was a deer hanging out by the shop. Marc had spotted the same buck again and was able to stalk within bow range and arrow the deer at about 45 yards.

Needless to say, it is one heck of a buck! It was a main-frame 10-point with two sticker points on the brow tines. My friend Denny and I put a tape measure to it and our unofficial scoring session produced a gross score of 155 5/8". Once again, that is very unofficial, and I believe the score will be higher. Three of the four mass measurements on each side were over 5", with the bases being over 6". The inside spread was over 17".

Congratulations on a great buck Marc!

Another Camera Finished

2009-11-20T22:00:00.002-06:00

I'm really getting hooked on building these homemade trail cameras. I have been thoroughly impressed with their performance, and building them gives me something hunting-related to do when I can't actually be in the field. I finished another one up this past week. This one is headed for some big buck country in Clay County, Iowa. I built this one for a close, personal friend and will be delivering it to him when we travel northward to spend a few days pheasant hunting.

I added some custom touches to this one. It has a 3-D textured camo pattern on the exterior of the case as well as an adjustable mounting bracket on the back for attaching it to a tree, so you can get just the right angle you need - even if the tree is leaning.

I would really like to see this camera take some pictures of an Iowa giant! The property this one is headed for is known for producing some Boone & Crockett caliber bucks over the last several years, and to me - getting a picture of one on a camera I built would be almost as good as harvesting the deer myself.

Friend Bags First Whitetail

2009-11-19T21:40:00.006-06:00

I just got this picture from my good friend Allan Kuykendall earlier today. Allan was hunting in Eastland County last weekend for the opener of the general season for whitetail deer in Texas, and he was able to harvest this nice 9-point buck on Saturday morning.

Here's what Allan said in the email: "It was my first deer and I thought I was going to hyperventilate when I saw him (they always look bigger than they are right before you shoot). He walked behind a tree so it gave me a few moments to calm down and when he walked out from the tree I took a shot and hit him right at his shoulder. He ran about 20 yards into some pretty thick trees/brush and that's where I found him."

I know what you mean, Allan. My heart starts pounding and the adrenaline gets to flowing everytime I have a deer in range - whether its a buck or a doe!

Allan also tells me that his friend he was hunting with caught the whole thing on video. He also said he weighed the deer and it field dressed at 101 pounds. Allan caped the deer out and took it to a taxidermist to have it mounted.

Allan - That is AWESOME! I think that is a beautiful buck and definitely a nice one for your first deer. I can't wait to see the shoulder mount you are having done! Congratulations on harvesting your first big game animal!

Future Bowhunter???

2009-11-18T22:51:00.004-06:00

A few nights ago, my oldest daughter Katy had a performance during the Fall open house at her preschool. One of the songs her class was performing was about the Pilgrims and Indians. It had hand motions that went along with it, and during part of the song the kids were pretending to be the Indians shooting their bows. I guess Katy has watched me practice with my bow enough to have a good idea how a bow is supposed to be held. She just turned 5 and she doesn't have a bow of her own yet, but the last time she went to Cabela's with me she spotted a kid-sized bow that she really wants me to buy for her. (She has good taste too, because it was a junior model Diamond bow in pink camo with a price tag of about $200.) I couldn't help but notice during the performance that she had the best form of all the kids on stage! And look how serious she is. She looks like a natural!

Opening Weekend of Gun Season

2009-11-13T09:01:00.009-06:00

This past weekend produced lots of fun and quite a bit of deer activity at our deer lease. All six of us were there at some point during the weekend, so we had plenty of eyes in the field.

The weekend started on Friday evening with me, my dad, my uncle, and my cousin going to watch the Bryson Cowboys take on the Woodson Cowboys in a six-man football game in Bryson, Texas. The game ended at half-time with the score Bryson 0, Woodson 52. My cousin took some of his new photography equipment to the game with us, and when we pulled into the parking lot to pay the attendant, I jokingly asked if the media got in for free and claimed to be with the Dallas Morning News. The lady didn't buy it. But, later on during the game, one of the cheerleaders came up into the stands and hand delivered us all four one of the plastic footballs they throw into the crowd and a rally towel, both with the Bryson Cowboys logo stamped on them. I thought that was pretty nice!

On our way back to the bunkhouse from the game, we saw a couple does out by the road. One of them had a BIG buck with her! He was standing about 30 yards off the road in an open field and we watched him for three or four minutes - he never would leave that doe. He was a 12-point that had split G-2's, and I'm guessing he was a 150-160 class deer. So we had high hopes for the rest of the weekend as it appeared the rut had kicked in.

Saturday evening, my dad and I decided to hunt the wheat field north of the bunkhouse and see if there was any activity there. We saw lots of tracks and we brushed in a couple spots along the edge of the field about 200 yards from each other. About 5 minutes after we got situated, what I thought was a doe stepped out into the field about 70 - 80 yards from my dad. My dad is still after his first harvest with the bow, and I thought this was going to be the day! I could see the whole thing unfolding from where I was sitting, and my heart was racing as the deer slowly made its way toward my dad. It fed in the field for at least 45 minutes, but it never got closer than 45 yards away - just a little too far to be comfortable with the shot. As it got closer, my dad noticed that it was actually a button buck. Even though he didn't get to take a shot, it definitely got my ol' man's blood pumping and he was excited about the experience.

We all saw quite a few deer from our stands throughout the weekend. I had this 2.5 year old 8-point walk by at 12 yards on Sunday morning, but he needs a couple more years before he will be a shooter.

My cousin Shane took some really cool shots with his new camera lens. He is a very talented photographer. Check out his website at http://www.shuttershane.com/ to see more of his work.

My friend Lee and I both had Wednesday off for Veteran's Day, and Lee decided to take Monday and Tuesday off as well to make it a 5-day hunting weekend. He had his wife and son with him for part of the hunt and was able to see a total of eleven deer in the wheat field on Tuesday evening, all of them being does.
Lee did a little duck hunting on Wednesday morning and was able to shoot a few ducks in the fog. His wife took some really neat pictures during the hunt.

After duck hunting, Lee and his son were walking up the ridge to his hunting spot to take down a pop-up blind when they jumped a deer that was bedded down. Lee noticed it was a spike buck and was able to harvest the deer, making a really good shot through a small opening in some heavy brush. Good job, Lee! Looks like you made an excellent shot. I can't wait to try some of those deer sticks!
Up next - an Iowa pheasant hunt. I can't wait!

Bleak Quail Forecast

2009-11-03T23:41:00.003-06:00

I was checking out the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department's website earlier today when I stumbled across their annual quail forecast. According to the website, the state has been conducting quail surveys since 1978 in an effort to monitor the quail population and determine trends throughout different regions of the state. They use randomly selected 20-mile road surveys to gather the data.

Since I primarily hunt in the Cross Timbers region of the state, I clicked on the link to see the 2009-2010 quail outlook for this particular region.

Not good!

This year's survey results revealed the worst quail numbers in the Cross Timbers region in the 30+ years of the survey. The mean number of bobwhites seen during this year's roadside counts was a whopping 1.11 birds. That is a far cry from the 38.26 birds seen on average during the 1987 counts!

There is no doubt that quail have been in a downward spiral for the last two decades. I decided to look a little closer at the numbers and do some of my own calculations. Here is a quick breakdown of the quail survey numbers since the roadside counts began.

1st decade (1978-1987) - Average of 22.65 bobwhites observed per 20-mile route
2nd decade (1988-1997) - Average of 14.31 bobwhites observed per 20-mile route
3rd decade (1998-2007) - Average of 5.30 bobwhites observed per 20-mile route
This decade (2008-2009) - Average of 2.26 bobwhites observed per 20-mile route

The numbers are staggering. Why the downfall? Just like with any wild animal, there are many factors that affect the population. Some people claim the fireants have played a role in the quail decline. While that may be a factor, I don't think it is the primary reason.

May I suggest it is due to a combination of the following conditions:
habitat fragmentation, overgrazing by livestock, and the lack of fire.

Quail habitat definitely isn't what it once was. Large ranches and farms with contiguous habitat are becoming increasingly fewer and farther between.

Many ranchers allow their cattle to graze the same pasture year-round without rotating them or allowing the pasture to rest for an extended period.

And everybody and their brother are on the local volunteer fire department and get grass fires put out before you can say "Bobwhite". Yeah, one might get out of hand occasionally, but most wildfires are contained before large pastures are burned. Quail thrive on fresh growth after an area has burned, and believe it or not, that fire puts essential nutrients back into the soil and activates a seed bank that could have been dormant for years.

While the outlook isn't good, quail are a very resilient bird, and they always seem to bounce back. I just hope they haven't gotten past the point of no return.

Deer Camp Cuisine

2009-11-02T20:27:00.007-06:00

This weekend marks the opening of the general firearm season for whitetail deer in Texas. Take a drive on just about any highway across the Lone Star State this Friday evening and you will be hard pressed not to see a pickup truck loaded down with hunting gear bound for a deer lease somewhere. Alot of those hunters will be meeting up with friends or family for an entire weekend of hunting and fellowship. Some of them might even have a meat smoker in tow, ready to be fired up for some deer camp cookin'.

Here in Texas, one of the favorite cuts of meat to cook on the smoker is beef brisket. For those of you unfortunate enough not to know what brisket is, let me explain. (I used to think everyone knew what a brisket was, but one time on vacation I encountered a family from Ohio that thought I was talking about a type of bread.) It is a cut of meat taken from the breast section of a cow, beneath the first five ribs and behind the foreshank. See chart below.

Brisket requires long slow cooking to make it tender, and the best way to accomplish this is by smoking it for an extended period of time. There are several methods for smoking a brisket, but I prefer to place the cut of meat in an aluminum roasting pan and cover it with a dry rub. I then build a fire in the firebox of my smoker and place the tray of meat on the grates inside. Some people use Hickory or Pecan wood, but I prefer to use Mesquite which is readily available in our area. In fact, the Mesquite wood I usually use comes from my deer lease. I decided to buy a brisket this past Sunday and I cooked it up for my family. I allowed this one to smoke for about 15 hours yesterday. I sliced it up this evening and it turned out really well. Drizzled with my favorite barbecue sauce this is hard to beat! We will be eating sliced brisket and chopped beef sandwiches for several days!

What is your favorite deer camp cuisine? Let me know what you and your hunting party like to dine on back at camp.

Duck Season

2009-11-01T14:45:00.005-06:00

Duck season opened Saturday morning with some crisp Autumn air falling on North Texas. While I've been focusing most of my efforts on archery hunting for whitetails the last few weeks, I don't want to forget about another one of my favorite pastimes - waterfowling. Up until late Friday evening, I had seriously pondered getting up early for the duck season opener and hitting a local lake within walking distance of my house. But I would have been hunting alone, and waterfowling to me is more of a social sport, so I decided to sleep in.

However, I did speak with two of my waterfowling comrades yesterday evening who had both been in their waders yesterday morning. The first report came from one of the local DU guys who had real good success on public waters at a North Texas reservoir, with he and his 4 hunting buddies almost filling a 5-man limit. The other report came from one of my coworkers who had also hunted on some public land, at a pond located near another well-known lake. He and a couple other guys were able to bag 5 birds.

I typically wait until deer season is over to really get geared up for duck hunting - unless I hear of a really hot spot where the action is good. So what is the report from your area? Leave a comment below and let me know how the ducks are flying where you hunt.

Still No Tags Filled

2009-10-25T15:00:00.003-05:00

After some family activities Saturday morning, I was able to make it out to the lease that afternoon in time to get in an evening hunt. I climbed up into the stand where I have been getting pictures of the nice 10-point lately at about 3:45 yesterday afternoon. I sat there until dark and didn't see anything.

My game camera had a few pictures of some younger bucks cruising the area earlier in the week, but apparently I had left some weak batteries in the camera because it had lost power after only a couple days. So I didn't have any pictures from Tuesday through Saturday.

This morning I got in the stand well before sunrise and enjoyed a beautiful starlit sky. It was a bit breezy, but shortly after daybreak the wind died down somewhat making it a little easier to hear the sounds of the woods. About 9:00 I had two does move in along the edge of the heavy cover off to my southwest. They got within about 30 yards of me as they browsed around eating acorns, but they never stepped out from behind the thick brush to offer a shot. I was able to watch them for about 15 minutes before they finally made their way down the west side of the ridge I was hunting.

So, as archery season quickly nears a close giving way to the regular gun season, I still haven't filled a tag. Hopefully my fortune will change as the rut begins to kick in. I would love for nothing more than to have an increased taxidermy bill!

Here are a couple of the young bucks I had on the camera this time:

To Shoot or Not To Shoot - That is the Question

2009-10-24T06:00:00.001-05:00

When managing a local deer herd, one of the most important aspects is age. A healthy deer herd should have a mixture of younger-aged animals, middle-aged animals, and older-aged animals. Managing for age is one of the primary goals of the antler restrictions that have been implemented by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department in various counties over the last several years. By defining a legal buck as one whose inside antler spread is 13 inches or greater, the department hopes to produce a deer herd with a steady number of mature animals.

One of the challenges associated with a restriction of this sort is enforcement. Texas does not require that harvested deer be checked-in at a check station, and many hunters process their own game, which means that the animal would never be brought in to a commercial meat processor allowing a Game Warden to easily notice an illegal buck. It will be up to the many hunters across the Lone Star State affected by this restriction to make an ethical decision - Do I shoot or not?

With the possibility of a hefty fine or a guilty conscience looming, I want to make certain that any buck that presents me with a shot is legal. One proactive measure a hunter can take is to analyze trail camera photos. Utilizing trail cameras to familiarize yourself with the bucks on the property you hunt is a good management practice that will not only aid in your management efforts but might also keep you from making a costly mistake. A fun thing I like to do is to name each of the bucks I have pictures of to help myself and my fellow hunting buddies to be on the same page when we discuss the deer we see in the field.

This year I have created a slideshow that contains all of the bucks I have captured on trail cameras over the last few weeks. As you can see, several of these bucks are borderline on meeting the antler restrictions. Everyone sees things differently, and while I personally wouldn't shoot a buck that I knew was borderline, I could easily make a spur-of-the-moment mistake. Or one of my hunting buddies might have different standards than I do. While these names might be a little silly, it will be beneficial for my hunting partners and I to review these pictures and familiarize ourselves to help avoid a regrettable pull of the trigger.

Long Day in the Stand

2009-10-18T20:24:00.005-05:00

With a big buck showing up on one of my trail cameras at 2:30 in the afternoon a little over a week ago, I decided that Saturday I would try to sit in my stand all day long to better my chances at getting a shot. And I would have sat there all day, but I forgot to grab my lunch out of the truck when I headed to my stand in the morning.

The day started off pretty good with three does moving across a clearing off to the south of my stand at about 8:00 AM. I had planned on taking a doe if given the opportunity, but they never got within bow range. About thirty minutes later I stood up in my treestand to stretch a little, and as I did, I noticed a doe standing straight out in front of me in some thick cover. She noticed me before I noticed her and she immediately took off.

I got down out of the stand and walked back to the truck for my lunch and some water at about 11:00. I sat there in the truck for a few minutes and listened to a little bit of the Red River Rivalry Texas/OU game on the radio (Hook 'Em Horns!). Then I got back in the stand for the rest of the afternoon. I ended up sitting in that stand for a total of 10 1/2 hours yesterday, and those early morning does turned out to be the only deer I would see. It made for a really long day, and my body felt it this morning, but it was still fun.

Here are some of this week's game camera pictures:
This is the fourth different buck I have gotten a picture of on this camera in the two weeks I have had it in this spot.

This deer is the reason I sat there for so long with such anticipation yesterday.

This is my best game camera picture ever! Getting a big buck to pose like that with a gorgeous sunset in the background is a pretty rare occurrence.

I had made a mock scrape in this spot the day I put the camera here. I don't know if that made a difference or not, but he is definitely marking his territory.

I'm not sure when the next time will be for me to have an opportunity to get back out and hunt again. The weekends are pretty full for the next few weekends, so I may have to sneak a quick trip in for a half day hunt. Stay tuned as the quest continues.

Slow Start to Archery Season

2009-10-15T20:23:00.006-05:00

This archery season has started out pretty slow for me so far. Last weekend I hunted on Sunday and didn't see anything from either of my stands. But, I jumped five deer while walking back to the truck.

I had moved one of my game cameras to a new spot weekend before last, and when I checked it on Sunday it had pictures of three different bucks that I haven't previously gotten pictures of this year. The biggest one in these pictures is definitely the biggest buck I have ever captured on a game camera, and this is the quality of deer we have been holding out for over the last several years. Hopefully one of us will get a shot at him this season!

I also got some neat pictures of these grey foxes.

Opening Day of Archery Season

2009-10-04T17:37:00.009-05:00

Saturday found my dad and I in our treestands at the hunting lease. The day started out with beautiful, clear weather for the morning hunt, but rain and clouds moved in during the middle part of the afternoon. While my dad didn't see anything from his stand Saturday morning, I saw three young bucks (a small 8-point, a 4-point, and a deer that looked like it might have been a spike), but none of the deer were within bow range.

Saturday evening my dad had some other obligations to attend to and I sat in a different stand that I just put up a few weeks ago. I ended up seeing five deer that evening (3 does and 2 yearlings), but once again nothing was in bow range to provide a shot opportunity.

I checked my trail cameras and had a few good pictures. These first two are from my second homemade game camera that I just put out at a feeder a couple weeks ago.

These next pictures are from the first homemade game camera.

These last pictures are from the Cuddeback.

I've had game cameras running for several years and these are the first pictures I have ever gotten of bucks fighting.

2009 Archery Season

2009-10-01T22:05:00.008-05:00

Saturday, October 3rd, marks the beginning of the archery deer season here in Texas. If all goes as planned, I will be sitting in a treestand for the better part of the day this Saturday. Although my scouting cameras haven't captured any pictures of bucks that I would consider a shooter yet this year, I'm still optimistic about this season.

The Texas Parks & Wildlife Department implemented several changes to the deer hunting regulations this year. One of the big changes was the new rule that legalizes crossbows during the archery-only season. In the past, crossbows were only allowed during the regular gun season or they could be used by persons with an upper-limb disability during the archery season. Another change was the increased bag limit for a number of counties throughout the state. The county I hunt in has previously had a bag limit of 3 deer (1 buck and 2 antlerless). The new bag limit is 5 deer (2 bucks and 3 antlerless). Along with the increased bag limit, the department has also implemented antler restrictions for this county which defines a legal buck as one that has: 1)at least one unbranched antler, or 2)an inside spread of 13 inches or greater. Only one buck with an inside antler spread of 13 inches or greater may be taken. In addition to these changes, a special late season for antlerless and spike deer has been added for January 4-17, 2010.

Whether I get a deer or not this year, I will still enjoy being outdoors and taking in God's creation. I look forward to the crisp mornings and hearing the woods come alive with the sounds of birds chirping and leaves rustling. The success of the hunt isn't always determined by harvesting something. But, some of the guys at work have been wondering when I'm gonna bring in some more deer sticks! Hopefully I can at least get a doe to put some meat in the freezer.

Over the last several weeks I've been customizing some arrows to get ready for the opening of archery season. I've been using the Cabela's Carbon Hunter arrows for several years now, mainly because they are fairly cheap compared to other carbon arrows. Out of the box the arrows look like this:

I take a razor blade and strip all of the fletchings and dried glue off the arrow, and then I clean it with a solvent to remove any remaining glue residue.

Then I put one of these self-adhesive arrow wraps on.

Then I decide what color vanes and nock I want for the arrow. I use this fletching jig to attach the vanes.

This is what the whole box of arrows looked like when I finished. You might be wondering what difference it makes to have those fancy colored fletchings compared to the plain ones that come on the arrows. Well, the main benefit is that the bright-colored wrap makes the arrow a whole lot easier to see as it is flying through the air, and it is much easier to find after the shot. It just kinda adds a custom flair to it. Looks like I'll be hunting in style this season!

I tipped a few of these arrows with some 2-blade Rage expandable broadheads. I've never used these broadheads before so I thought I would give them a try and see how they work out. As you can see, the blades deploy from the rear upon impact, creating a two-inch wide cutting surface.

The weather forecast is calling for some slightly cooler weather for the next few days and I can't wait for Saturday morning!

SYC Deer Hunt Highlights

2009-09-29T22:36:00.014-05:00

The Special Youth Challenge Ministries annual deer hunt was held this past weekend in Northwest Iowa. I was able to participate in this year's hunt as a hunting guide for one of the youth hunters. It was an AWESOME weekend and I am grateful for the opportunity to be a part of it!

I flew out of Dallas on Friday morning bound for Omaha, then made the 2 1/2 hour drive to Webb, Iowa. When I arrived Friday afternoon, several of the youth hunters had already shown up and were taking some target practice with the specialized equipment they would be using during the hunt. Each of the hunters was equipped with a shotgun that was outfitted with a scope, camera, view screen, and push-button trigger mechanisms.

The banquet was held on Friday evening. After a delicious smoked pork meal, all of the hunters were introduced and brought on stage, and a Christian speaker from the Mathews Archery company (who was also a ventriloquist) gave his personal testimony and preached the Gospel.

Saturday morning the hunt began, and I was hunting with fellow guide Mike Hanson and youth hunter Cory Gates from Michigan.

We ended up not seeing any deer Saturday morning, and Saturday evening was very slow as well with only two does coming in really late, just past legal shooting hours. Sunday morning proved to be a little better as we had four does come in to the food plot we were hunting. I helped Cory get the gun lined up to make a shot, and we hit one of the does.

After waiting for about 45 minutes we began the tracking job. We followed a good blood trail for about 75 or 80 yards and then we bumped the deer - it ran off ahead of us and up a ridge. It appeared to be moving pretty slow, so we decided to back out for a few hours to let the deer expire. We went and had lunch then came back with some other guides to help us look for it. Five of us spent the better part of the afternoon looking for the deer and we only found about three more drops of blood. Unfortunately we never found the deer. I hate that we weren't able to locate it, but sometimes that happens.

There were a total of 20 youth hunters participating in the event and 11 deer were harvested. Here are a few pictures I took of some of the hunters with their deer they brought in.

Overall, the weekend was a wonderful experience. I was amazed at the outpouring of love, time, money, land, and other various resources that all of the volunteers contributed to make the event such a success. It is my understanding that several people prayed to receive Christ as their personal Savior through this event, and that is what it is all about. It was an incredible event to be a part of and I look forward to participating in future SYC events!

SYC Ministries Deer Hunt

2009-09-24T21:31:00.005-05:00

An exciting event is happening this weekend in Northwest Iowa! The SYC Ministries annual youth deer hunt will be taking place beginning Friday evening, September 25. The event will include a banquet on Friday night, a speaker that will be delivering an important message, and of course a weekend full of hunting. I am blessed to have been given the opportunity to participate in this year’s event as a hunting guide for one of the youth hunters and I couldn’t be more excited! This will be my first SYC event.

SYC, or Special Youth Challenge Ministries is a non-profit, volunteer ministry that exists for the purpose of reaching people for Jesus Christ. The ministry provides hunting opportunities for physically-challenged youth between the ages of 13 – 19 and empowers them to overcome some of the obstacles they may face in the outdoors involved with shooting and hunting. SYC Iowa usually holds several events throughout the year including a deer hunt, turkey hunt, and fundraiser. To find out more about this ministry, visit their website at http://www.syciowa.com/.

Stay tuned for an update from this weekend's hunt!

First Day of Fall Pheasant Wreath

2009-09-21T22:00:00.014-05:00

Tomorrow will be the official first day of Fall, so I thought I would do something to celebrate. My friend Keelie, who has a very neat blog of her own, is having an online wreath party to welcome the first day of Fall and has invited everyone to submit their own Fall wreath creations at her site. While I more than likely will be the only male to submit a wreath, I thought I would give it a try (what the heck) and make the wreath (with the help of my daughter) as a surprise for my wife. Besides, I have been saving up some really neat looking pheasant pelts for a project such as this.

So here it is, my "First Day of Fall Pheasant Wreath".

First, I had to make a trip to the local craft store, wander around through a bunch of flowers, and look for some stuff that reminded me of the Midwest, Harvest, and Fall. So I stuffed a few things in the shopping cart like I had a clue what I was doing, paid for the items, and brought them home. When I got home, I found my pheasant tails and pelts in the freezer and got them out as well. I laid everything out on my workbench and here is what I had to work with.

The next step was to find an assistant, so I enlisted the help of my oldest daughter, Katy.

The first thing to do was to attach the pheasant pelts to the top part of the wreath. The pelts I am using are from birds that I personally harvested in Iowa. Warning: Before the pelts go on a wreath or display of any kind there is some minor taxidermy work required to prevent the pelts from going bad and possibly stinking or attracting bugs. These pelts have previously been tanned or cured by myself, but you can buy a pre-tanned pelt if you wish to attempt something like this. Here we are hot-gluing the pelts to the wreath. I really like the greenish-turquoise colors these birds have just above their tail.

Next, I stuffed in some fall-colored fake leaves that I found at the craft store. These were originally a long garland, but I cut it up into about 15 smaller pieces.

Then I put in a few grass-like, grain-looking stems on the bottom left hand side of the wreath.

So here is what it looked like at this point. Looking pretty good, I think!

Next, I wanted to put an entire pheasant tail over in the bottom left-hand corner of the wreath. This tail had been thouroughly cleaned and cured (just like the pelt) and I had previously hot-glued the base of the quills to keep the tail partially fanned open. I then hot-glued the tail to the desired location on the wreath.

Then came more leaves and grassy stems for filler, and I finished it off with three pine cones. Here is the finished product.

Katy presented it to my wife and she loved it! We had told her we were making her a surprise, and she was definitely surprised to see a wreath! Here are a few more pictures of the finished wreath.

Happy Fall, Y'all!

Making Final Preparations

2009-09-20T07:47:00.006-05:00

Saturday, I made a trip to the hunting lease to put the finishing touches on my stand sites. Archery season starts October 3rd, and I primarily wanted to make sure all of my treestands were to my liking before opening day. So I double-checked that they were all safely secured to their respective tree and that the ratchet straps holding them up were still in good condition. I also installed a hook to hang my backpack and a bowhanger at each site. Finally, I sat in each stand and looked to see what limbs needed to be trimmed to provide better shot opportunities, and removed them accordingly.

Of course I also checked my game cameras and replaced batteries and memory cards. Here are a few recent pics.

This could possibly be the largest boar I have ever gotten a picture of! Check out those cutters!

Here is a decent 9-point buck that has done a real good job evading my cameras all summer. This is only my second picture of him this year.

I thought this next series of pictures was pretty funny. Looks like there was a standoff between the feral hogs and this cow as to who was going to get to eat the acorn-flavored salt block in front of the camera.

This was one of my favorites from the homemade game camera.

Last year I missed all of archery season because I was helping out with Hurricane Ike recovery efforts in the Houston/Galveston area. Hopefully this hurricane season will continue to be a quiet one and I can be in a treestand on opening morning.

Lake Ray Roberts Ducks Unlimited Banquet

2009-09-18T18:45:00.005-05:00

The Lake Ray Roberts Ducks Unlimited Chapter held their 1st Annual Banquet on Thursday evening, September 17, at the Redfearn Gym in Aubrey, Texas. Not only was it the inaugural banquet held by this newly formed DU chapter, but it was also the first DU banquet I have ever attended. The event featured live music, a catered meal by Dickey’s Bar-B-Q, door prizes, silent auction, live auction, and lots of raffle items.

As the world’s leader in wetlands and waterfowl conservation, Ducks Unlimited conserves, restores and manages wetlands and associated habitats for North America’s waterfowl. According to the DU website, as of January 1, 2009 over 12.6 million acres of habitat had been conserved in North America. DU works with private landowners as well as other public agencies to accomplish their mission of conservation through various management practices such as grassland restoration, forest replanting, and watershed restoration. The organization acquires land and easements to protect habitat as well as offering financial incentives to private landowners to manage their property for waterfowl.

While waterfowl may be the primary focus, these land management practices and restoration efforts play an important role in the survival of other wildlife species, as well as benefit the human population. Wetlands are a vital ecological feature that naturally filter water, provide flood protection, and prevent soil erosion. Wetlands also provide hunting and fishing opportunities for sportsmen across the country, which has a substantial effect on the economy.

Since this was my first DU event, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I kind of expected that there might be some type of speaker at the event that would give details on what DU projects were currently underway in our area, or possibly an informative presentation about a waterfowl-related topic. I'm sure the DU representatives on hand would have more than happily answered any questions, but I thought it would have been interesting to see pictures or a video of some of the conservation work going on. But, overall I was very impressed with the banquet and all of the merchandise which was either auctioned off or given away in drawings. There were lots of items up for grabs including several shotguns, hunting and fishing trips, wildlife art, dog training supplies, decoys, and even a chocolate lab puppy. While I didn’t walk away a big winner (I really wanted to win the package that included the Benelli shotgun, guided duck hunt, and free taxidermy mount) I had a great time and met some new people, including local DU Chairman, Luke Thorkildsen. Luke seems like a great guy, and it was evident that he put lots of hard work and effort into making the event a success. Although I’m not sure what the total dollar amount was, lots of money was raised at the event. All of the proceeds will be used by Ducks Unlimited to help conserve North America’s wetlands and enhance waterfowl habitat.

If you have never been to a DU banquet, visit the Ducks Unlimited website today, to find a local event in your area.

Hunting Season is Offcially Here!

2009-09-09T20:52:00.013-05:00

Dove season is in full swing here in North Texas. September 1st marked the opening of another season, and just like always, I have been waiting with much anticipation. Where I grew up, that day is almost like its own holiday. In fact, I think it should be. As far back as I can recall, September 1st has always been the opening day of dove season - and a day where "important" things like work and school get put on the back burner. I can remember skipping first period in junior high and high school for the opening morning of dove season. Expensive college classes were remorselessly disregarded on September 1st during my college days. And early on in my career, precious vacation days were saved for such a time as this.

But this year, for only the second time in almost twenty-five years of dove hunting, I wasn't able to get into the field on opening day. Several factors contributed to this implausible atrocity, but the primary reason was the fact that my wife and one of my daughters were home sick with the flu.

No need to fret though, by the weekend everyone was feeling better and I had an extra day off from work. The best things come to those who wait.

On Saturday morning, myself and four of my hunting comrades took to the field and bagged a total of 60 birds. That was a limit for myself, a limit for my dad, and a limit for my cousin. The other two fellows were just a few birds shy of a limit as well. It was a good hunt!
(From L-R: my friend Lee, my dad, Lee's son Sean, my cousin Shane, me, and my Uncle Rusty)

After cleaning the birds and doing some work around the bunkhouse, my cousin and I began preparing what some would consider an exquisite delicacy. What you see here is a plateful of boneless dove breasts, which have been carefully handcrafted into what would become quite delectable morsels. Each side of the dove's breast has been removed from the bone creating two just-larger-than-bite-size pieces of meat. A toothpick is used sort of like a shish-k-bob in this scenario. One of the pieces of meat is placed on the toothpick, followed by a slice or two of pickled jalapeno peppers, followed by another piece of breast meat, and then the entire creation is wrapped with about a half a slice of bacon (using the sharp ends of the toothpick to hold it on).

I fired up the grill and got it good and hot, then put the doves on to cook.

I cooked 'em 'til the bacon was good 'n crispy and there wasn't any pink or red left in the dove meat. The bacon serves to keep the meat moist and adds flavor while the pepper gives it a little kick. Cooking them this way takes away any gamey taste there might be in the meat. I wish I had a picture to show what they looked like after being cooked, but they looked so good we didn't mess around with foolishness such as picture-taking. They all got eaten rather quickly!

We had decent hunting for the rest of the weekend and we cleaned a total of more than 110 birds between five of us. Not bad. That is almost two limits each for everybody!

We also spent some time getting ready for the upcoming deer season. We got the feeders running and hung a couple stands. Bow season starts in less than a month.

Here are a few pictures from my game camera.

This first one is a good example of how far the flash extends on a nightime shot.

This one shows how far away the motion sensor is effective. That deer is at least 60 feet away.

This is a neat picture of a bobcat. I just wish he had been walking the opposite direction.

This one is pretty cool even though it is a little fuzzy.

And here is a picture of the young 8-point buck that was in velvet in my last set of pictures. He lost the velvet sometime last week. I have been looking at some of my game camera pictures from last year and I am pretty sure I recognize this deer in several of them. He was a really small 7-point last year as a 1 1/2 year old. I hope this deer becomes the poster boy for the new antler restrictions in place in our county and that the hunters on the neighboring properties abide by the new regulations. Maybe he will just hang out in this area for two or three more years.

One more thing to look forward to - homemade game camera number two was also put in service this weekend!

Until next time - "So long, everybody!"

Rob's Hunting Journal

Antler Makeover

SYC Deer Hunt 2011

Remembering a Friend and Hunting Buddy

Dove Season Starts with a Bang!

Help Me Name This Buck

Time to Get Trail Cameras Running

Antler Restoration

European Mount Desktop Pedestal

Turkey Fan/Beard Display

First Waterfowl Mount

First Fresh Shed Antler of the Year

Predator Hunting

Recent Game Camera Pics

A few new pictures...

Some Interesting Game Camera Pics...

Lee Flannery's Hog Hunt

Making Strides...A Video Message from my Friend Zach Olson

Different Technique Using a Game Camera

Big Bucks in Camera Test Site

My New Favorite Trail Camera

The "Deer Sticks" Deer

"Hunting for Big Boy" - The Story of Randy Clark's 2010 Buck

Iowa Hunt Recap

Iowa Deer Hunt

Two Bucks Down - Clayton Bowen's Archery Deer

"Don't Leave Yet!" - Josh Nelson's Buck

Slow Start to Archery Season

Some New Trail Camera Pictures...

SYC Deer Hunt

2010 Dove Season

Young 10-Point

Game Camera Photography: Tip #1

Inspirational Archer

Hunting in the City

Trail Camera in the News

Built Another Trail Camera

Velvet Bucks

Latest Camera Build

Summer Update

Trip to the Archery Range

2010 SYC Turkey Hunt

Opening Day of Turkey Season

Odd Antlers

More Shed Antlers and Some Colder Weather...

Built Another Trail Camera

Dad Finds a Very Unique Shed

My Best Shed To-Date

Does This Look Familiar?

I Get Misty . . .

Trail Camera Reveals the Antlers are Dropping

Some Impressive Sheds!

Coyotes in the Snow

January Trail Camera Pictures

Teen from Loving turns terrible year into Stock Show victory

Post-Season Trophies

Duck Jerky - A Culinary Experiment

The End of a Season - Are You Prepared?

Duck Season Finale

Venison in the Freezer

Cold Morning Duck Hunt

Rabbit Hunting

Shawn Peterson's Big Iowa Buck

An email from another blogger . . .

A New Year, A New Decade

Shot a doe this morning . . .

The Oink Stops Here

More memorable moments . . .

Top 50 Hunting Blog Posts of 2009

It was the Best of Times, It was the Worst of Times . . .

My Nephew's Deer

Deer Season Woes

Aren't You Missing Something?

Iowa Trip Recap

Iowa Update

Another Camera Finished

Friend Bags First Whitetail

Future Bowhunter???

Opening Weekend of Gun Season

Bleak Quail Forecast