Did You Know?

1. When creating a mock scrape, an overhanging branch is vital to the success of the scrape.
2. A resting deer will normally lie on its right side and face the wind.
3. Bucks usually quarter into the wind when approaching scrapes.

Rapala's Fishing Frenzy

It's hard to beat actually fishing but if you are one of those families with an Xbox 360, Playstation or Wii sitting below your TV then you owe it to yourself to check out the new Rapala Fishing Frenzy game. This is a new game this year and is available now. I know I can only play so much golf or tennis on my son's Wii and a I find a relaxing game of fishing a joy. If you pay attention you may even learn a thing or two which may help you when you're back on the water.

Walk Like An Animal

Trying to sneak through the woods in a silent and stealthy manner is difficult at best, especially since we only have two legs. Our cadence can be picked up as a danger signal by all animals. When you are walking your way through the woods try walking forward with an odd number of steps and then stop and then walk and stop etc. Listen to a 4 legged animal walking and this is the cadence they have. We may not be able to sneak like an animal but at least we can sound like one.

Remember September 11

In memory of and tribute to those who died.

With sympathy to all who lost family, friends and colleagues.

With regret for our lost innocence,

And disapointment over how the world has changed.

Remember 9/11.

Mixed Camo

To really improve your camouflage efforts try mixing patterns/colors. Wear a shirt or jacket with one camo pattern and wear a different pattern/color for your pants. The mixture helps break up your outline, which is still very evident, even with the best camouflage available. Also, don't forget about your face and hands. Our bare skin sticks out like a sore thumb and covering exposed skin should be a priority. 

Learning from your Kid

If you ever need to be shown how to catch fish, forget all of the tips and just take along your kid, as Scott did. Alex outfished his dad, again. Good job Alex!

Cheap Bait

Fishing at a local pond that is filled with Bluegills, Largemouth Bass and Crappie was getting costly. Nightcrawlers are the bait of choice on this pond and at $2.50 per dozen it does not take long to end up losing your pocket change. The small fish love to nip the crawlers and suck them off your hook all day long.

On a recent trip to the pond I took one GULP Alive minnow and cut it up into small pieces. I fished for 4 hours and caught several bluegills and a largemouth bass and still had a few pieces of this one cut up bait left. I have tried other similar baits, including GULP, on this pond in the past with no success but GULP Alive did the job. 

The next time you are heading out for a day of fishing give this idea a try. You may never go back to the almighty crawler.

Don't Miss High

This tip was forwarded by Rex Howell. Thanks and sorry for the lack of posts. It's been a busy winter. This tip came from Buckmasters.

Don't Miss High
Ninety percent of the shots missed at deer are high. If you shoot at a deer and he just stands there looking at you, chances are good that the shot went high. When you get excited about taking the shot, you're more likely to jerk the trigger, and that makes the shot go high.
When I aim at a deer with a bow, I aim at the lower one-third of my target area, which takes care of any tendency to shoot high.
Bowhunters talk about whitetails "jumping the string," which means they're reacting to the sound of the bow. I've learned about this the hard way because I've had a lot of bow shots go just over deer. I've looked at slow motion video of those missed shots, and the deer don't really jump when they dodge an arrow. They simply react to the sound so quickly that they duck down and turn to run. As they do so, the arrow misses high.
By putting my sight on the lower one-third of the deer's lungs, it will usually be a good shot, even if the deer ducks before the arrow gets there. If the deer doesn't react to the sound, I'm still in the fatal zone by aiming low, and my exit wound is lower in the deer's body, so I'm more likely to have an immediate blood trail.
If you're hunting with a shotgun, there's even more of a tendency to shoot high because most shotguns don't have nearly as crisp a trigger as a rifle. It takes a pretty good pull to make the shotgun go off, and you wind up shooting high.
--Jackie Bushman

Fishing Under the Ice

Most fisherman drop their lines towards the bottom once the ice hole has been punched, but you may want to try fishing right below the ice near the very top.

As the season progresses and oxygen levels get lower the baitfish, plankton and other goodies that fish eat will spend more time near the surface. This also means that your target fish are also likely near the top, especially during the morning.

You will need to blind fish in this manner because your sonar won't be very effective at this close range.

Good Smelling Plastic

No one can deny the success that GULP and similar plastic baits have had. The problem I have with them is the cost. One way that I am now trying to mimic the concept was hatched in my mind while enjoying a can of sardines. Why throw away the juice of the sardines? Why not pour the left over juice into a container of plastic jigs? After a few days of soaking, in the fridge, the baits have taken on a nice aroma that should be attractive to fish, hopefully, more so than the mock smells the commercial baits are soaked in. Oil from any canned fish or even oysters should be great for making your own fish attracting plastic baits.

PETA - The New Slaughterhouse?

New Data Shows PETA Killed 97 Percent Of Dogs And Cats In 2006

WASHINGTON, DC- Yesterday the nonprofit Center for Consumer Freedom formally petitioned Virginia's Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS), requesting that the government agency officially reclassify People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) as a slaughterhouse.

An official report filed by PETA itself shows that the animal rights group put to death nearly every dog, cat, and other pet it took in for adoption in 2006. During that year, the well-known animal rights group managed to find adoptive homes for just 12 animals. Not counting pets brought to PETA for spaying or neutering, the organization killed 2,981 of the 3,061 “companion animals” it took in. According to VDACS, the average euthanasia rate for humane societies in Virginia was 34.7 percent in 2006. PETA's "kill rate" was 97.4 percent.

“It is absurd to classify PETA as a ‘humane society’ when its employees are slaughtering nearly every companion animal they bring in,” said CCF Director of Research David Martosko. “PETA has killed over 17,000 pets since 1998. Given the group's astonishing habit of killing adoptable dogs and cats with such ruthless efficiency, it's only fair that the state of Virginia refer to PETA as a slaughterhouse.”

Don't Double Freeze Your Catch

If you are an ice fisherman and plan on keeping some fish for future use by freezing them don't just throw your fish out on the ice after catching them. If your catch freezes and then you thaw them to clean and then freeze them again you will end up with mushy fish. You wouldn't buy frozen fish at the store, bring them home, thaw them out and then freeze them again so don't do it to your personal catch either.

Take along a cooler or pail to keep your fish in. Add enough water to cover them and they won't freeze. Using a stringer in an extra hole will also work. Taking a little extra care on the ice will pay big dividends at your next fish fry.

25 Ultimate Vacations for Outdoorsmen

Looking for a great place to go on a vacation as an outdoorsman, check out this link.

A Little Motion Goes A Long Way

We have all seen the motorized bunnies that shake all over the place in an effort to attract predators. These do work but they can be a pain to lug around and set up, not to mention the cost of buying your robotic bunny.

A much simpler method and one that is just as effective is to tie a turkey tail feather to a small rod that you can stick in the ground with ease. A fiberglass driveway markers works great, but you will need to paint it before using. This turkey tail feather will provide just the right amount of movement to help attract that wily predator when you are calling.

Squirrels or Deer

When you come across acorns that have been eaten in the woods don't get too excited about what you may have found until you do a little further investigation. 

Deer love acorns but so do squirrels. I know a hunter that has hunted over acorns with high expectations, only to be let down by the lack of feeding deer and all of the annoying squirrels running around his tree.

To tell if it was deer or squirrels eating those acorns take a look at the left behind portions of the acorn. Deer will snap the cap of the acorn off with their teeth and then eat the rest of the acorn. A squirrel will either take to whole acorn or will leave behind chewed acorns. They will look like someone took a bite out of the acorn. If you are finding mostly chewed acorns and not the caps, either change locations or go get your squirrel gun.

Improving Arrow Penetration

To improve arrow penetration, reduce wind drag and make your arrows easier to remove from the target during practice, apply a thin coating of either a gloss tire gel or a quality auto wax. Personally, I use Klasse sealant which is a high tech auto glaze. It last longer, is essentially odor free and is the slickest product I have found. 

Cold Feet

There is nothing worse than cold feet that has been caused by of all things, sweaty feet. If the conditions are right and your choice of socks were not, you will end up with sweaty feet which will lead to cold feet in a hurry.

The best way to prevent this, other than proper foot gear, is to use an antiperspirant on your feet. Make sure to use a scent free product. You don't want the heat of your feet carrying the fhu fhu smell of your antiperspirant all through the woods.

Money Talks

Unfortunately, Politicians make most (in my opinion) decisions based on either keeping their jobs or money. For once this may help the sportsmen, as long as we make a point to let our elected officials know about the facts revealed in a report released by the Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation. The CSF sent a copy of this full report to all Members of Congress but I think that if we each sent our Representatives a copy it would do more good. The full report can be downloaded here.

Some highlights of the report are:

• America's 34 million hunters and anglers directly support 1.6 million jobs.

• They spend more than a billion dollars a year just in license, stamps, tags, and permit sales.

• They pay $25 billion in federal, state, and local taxes which is enough to pay the salaries 0f 527,900 police officers or 454,000 firefighters or 476,870 public school teachers.

• Taxes paid by hunters have enabled the purchase of more than 15.4 million acres of federal and state managed wilderness and national wildlife refuge land.

• If Sportsmen as a whole were a major corporation, they would be among the top 20 largest companies in the world. Revenue generated by sportsmen exceeds the combined revenues of Microsoft, Google, eBay and Yahoo.

• Fishermen spend more than $1 billion on the purchase of bait alone.
  

Economic impact is not the only "big stick" that us sportsmen carry. We also have tremendous political influence. Outdoor enthusiasts comprise 1/3 of all voters, one of the largest voting blocs in the nation. 8 out of 10 sportsmen say that a candidate's position on sportsmen's issues is important in determining for whom they will vote. 73% of Americans approve of hunting and 95% approve of fishing. Only 3% that appose either or both hunting and fishing are from an animal rights philosophy (isn't it surprising how we only hear about the animal rights issues in the media).

With this information we should all feel a little bit better about the future of our sporting life. However, we must use this information to our advantage the next time the animal rights groups threaten to take away what we all love. The Humane Society and PETA don't want people to know the truth and they are very aggressive and persuasive at pushing their view points. Make it a point to inform your Representatives about the financial impact that we as sportsmen make and more importantly the political clout that we have as a group. If they want their job for another term they had better look at who is footing the bill.

Ice Safety

If you will be going out on the ice this winter please assume that "There is no safe ice" and read the information on this web page put together by the US Army. No fish is worth losing your life over. Play it safe and have fun.

Seeing Blue

Research has proven that deer can see color. The exact colors and the intensity is still being researched but the one color that the researchers are sure that deer can see is Blue.

This is one color I wish that deer couldn't see because I'm a creature of habit and comfort, which means that I wear blue jeans quite a bit while hunting deer. I guess that will have to come to an end.