It was a cold February morning when I left the house about an hour after sunrise; the temperature was 15 degrees, the wind chill was 5 degrees, the wind was from the northwest and the sky was clear. It wasn't the best of days to go scouting, but it was warmer than it had been in several days. I hoped the warmer weather would cause the deer and turkeys to come out and feed. As I drove down the gravel road a half mile from the house I noticed turkeys feeding in the snow covered soybean field on the south side of an oak woods. The woods was a traditional wintering area for many of the turkeys within a two-mile area.

I pulled the truck over to the side of the road, grabbed my Simmons 7x35 binoculars, and checked out the birds. There wasn't a tom in the bunch, but there were 42 hens. I watched the birds feeding for the next half-hour, checking the edge of the woods every few minutes for deer and more turkeys. When no other birds appeared I started up the truck and drove around to east side of the woods. As I approached an old sandstone foundation I saw more turkeys. I slowed the truck to look. Thirteen longbearded toms were digging through the snow where the combine had dumped a pile of soybeans. I snapped a couple of pictures with my Canon Sure Shot and watched the toms feed for about ten minutes then left. I had a couple of other places I wanted to check yet.
I drove to a tar road, hung a left up a winding road, and eventually topped out on a cornfield surrounded on two sides by oaks. I scanned the area carefully, but there wasn't a turkey or a deer in sight. I headed back down the road, drove another half mile north and turned east. As I topped out on another hill I looked to my left. There was a large flock of turkeys feeding on a silage pile not more than 100 yards from a farmhouse. I quickly counted; 56 hens. Not wanting to waste time I continued up the road to the top of the hill and hung a left. As I started down the other side of the hill I looked east and saw more birds and several deer feeding in a snow covered pasture. There were 5 does and fawns, and 17 jakes and toms. As I watched the birds something up ahead caught my eye.
A quarter of a mile in front of the truck several more turkeys crossed the road, heading into a cornfield where the farmer had spread manure. I drove the truck slowly forward and parked near the corn field, the turkeys not more than thirty yards from the truck. There were 22 hens, 2 jakes, and 3 toms, one of them with a double bird. It was only the second multiple bearded tom I had seen in the wild, the first was a triple bearded Merriam's turkey I had seen on the Valentine National Wildlife Refuge near Valentine, Nebraska. I tried to snap a picture of the bird, but I knew it was too far away for my Canon Sure Shot. But, at least I had seen a double bearded tom; and I knew there were over 100 turkeys within three miles of home, several of them on land that I hunted. It looked like it would be a good turkey season in the spring.

Winter is a great time to scout for turkeys, because the birds are very visible in open meadows and picked agricultural fields, especially if there is snow on the ground. The easiest way to locate turkeys in the winter is to drive down the country roads at daylight. Even in winter turkeys will often fly down from the roost and move to feeding areas early in the morning. I have seen turkeys feeding from as early as 20 minutes before sunrise to as late as four hours after sunrise in early February. You may only see hens at first, but where there's food and hens, there will eventually be jakes and toms.
Although the birds may not be in the same area in the winter as they are in the spring, they are much easier to locate in the winter than at any other time of the year. Cold weather and deep snow cause the birds to move to south facing slopes, steep ridges, and low-lying areas where they can get out of the wind, and where travel is easier because the snow isn't as deep. Limited food sources cause the birds to concentrate on remaining natural foods, agricultural crops, fields where manure has been spread, feed lots, silage piles, and corn cribs.
Don't be surprised if you see turkeys near farms and human activity. I've got one flock that feeds under a bird feeder within ten yards of a house. Another flock feeds in the cow pasture fifty yards from a milking parlor. I've even seen turkeys fly up to feed in an uncovered corncrib within fifty yards of a farmhouse, with a dog in the back yard.
Once you locate turkey-feeding areas check them as often as you can, both morning and evening. I often see toms feeding earlier or later in the day than the hens. The more often you check the area, the more you will know about the birds. After you locate a wintering flock of turkeys it's fairly easy to follow their movements through late winter and early spring.
After the weather warms up and new plant growth appears, the birds will start to move out of the wintering area. During my research I found that when the average weekly temperature gets above freezing, the flocks begin to breakup, they begin to move to their spring/summer range and the toms begin gobbling. Once this happens you should watch the birds as often as you can, so that you know where to find them during the hunting season.
If you lose track of the birds between winter and the breeding season, use a topographical map to look for higher elevations, with adequate roost areas, and nearby food sources within 1 to 5 miles of the wintering site. Well-known turkey researcher Dick Kimmel told me that a flock of radio collared birds moved five miles in one day. He wasn't sure, but he thought some of this movement might have been due to flying and gliding from one ridge top to another. Turkeys can't travel very far with any speed when the snow depth is over about eight inches, unless the fly.
Once you locate likely roosting and feeding areas you can drive the nearby roads listening for gobbles on warm days. I've heard turkeys gobbling regularly once the average weekly temperature rises above freezing. Turkeys begin to gobble as early as mid-March as far north as Minnesota.

If you want to be successful on turkeys in the spring, winter is a good time to start.

If you are interested in more turkey hunting tips, or more turkey biology and behavior, click on Trinity Mountain Outdoor News and T.R.'s Hunting Tips at www.TRMichels.com. If you have questions about deer, elk, turkey or waterfowl log on to the T.R.'s Hunting Tips message board. To find out when peak turkey gobbling occurs in your area click on Peak Turkey Gobbling Dates.

This article is an excerpt from the Turkey Addict's Manual ($19.95 + $5.00 S&H), by T.R. Michels, available in the Trinity Mountain Outdoor Products catalog.

T.R. Michels is a nationally recognized game researcher/wildlife behaviorist, outdoor writer and speaker. He is the author of the Whitetail, Elk, Duck & Goose, and Turkey Addict's Manuals. His latest products are Hunting the Whitetail Rut Phases, the Complete Whitetail Addict's Manual, the 2006 Revised Edition of the Elk Addict's Manual; and the 2006 Revised Edition of the Duck & Goose Addict's Manual.

For a catalog of books and other hunting products; or for information on a wide variety of Natural History Eco-Tours, viewing and photographing regional and national scenic areas, songbirds, big game animals, elk bugling, wolf howling, sandhill crane, swan, prairie chicken, sharp-tailed grouse, swan tours or other trips with T.R. Michels contact: T.R. Michels, Trinity Mountain Outdoors, E-mail: TRMichels@yahoo.com, Web Site: www.TRMichels.com.

Posted by T.R. Michels at 09:00 PM | Permalink

After years of researching white-tailed deer, elk, turkey and waterfowl, and photographing them, I've learned that in order to observe the natural behavior of birds and animals, and get pictures of them you need to: 1. Understand their behavior, so you know when and where they are most active, 2. Be where they are when they are most active, 3. Get as close as you can without disturbing them, 4. Use good, high-powered optics such as binoculars, spotting scopes and camera lenses and, 5. Use amplified earphones to hear better.

You can learn bout the daily and seasonal behavior of birds and animals by reading books about them, going to seminars, learning from others, or by personal experience. I suggest you do the first three before you learn by personal experience, because it will cut down on your learning curve time. Then spend as much time as possible observing and listening to the animals for yourself.

you learn by personal experience, because it will cut down on your learning curve time. Then spend as much time as possible observing and listening to the animals for yourself.

For years I've told people in my seminars, "If you let them (meaning if you pay attention to the animals), they will teach you something." I don't think there is any substitute for personal experience, especially when it comes to understanding wildlife.

You can increase your chances of seeing more birds and animals, and see them closer, by looking for them where they are either accustomed to human and human related behavior (in which case you may not have to worry as much about disturbing them); or you can look for them in areas where they are not disturbed by humans and human related behavior (in which case you may have to use ways to avoid alarming the animals, such as camouflage and concealment).

In many instances you may also have to take steps to avoid making loud or unnatural sounds, such as talking, sneezing, coughing, the noise of your feet as they touch the ground, or your clothes rustling as you move or brush up against vegetation. Quietness and stealth are important when you try to get close to birds and animals.

Keep your voice low, open and close the doors of your vehicle as quietly as possible, don't stop your vehicle suddenly if you see something, either slow down until you come to a stop, or go by, turn around and then approach slowly. Use vegetation or terrain to stay out of the visual range of the animals, wear soft, quiet camouflage clothing, or use a blind when you can.

If you are trying to get close to mammals you may also have to use products to help you reduce human and unnatural odors, which will often alert the game to your presence, with the result that they hide or flee. Use unscented antibacterial hair and body washes, antiperspirant, and body sprays designed for hunters, and odor-reducing clothing designed for hunters. Wear latex or rubber gloves on your hands, and rubber or rubber bottom boots to eliminate odors from your hands and feet, especially if you are looking for any game animal. Unnatural scents alert more animals than most hunters, non the less photographers, realize.
In many cases you can look for birds and animals that are accustomed or semi-accustomed to humans in city, county, regional, state or national parks.

You can expect many big game animals, migratory waterfowl, and hunted upland birds and small game to be more wary and elusive than some birds, because they are hunted, even if they are in parks. The same can be said about animals in many wildlife management areas (WMA), because some type of hunting is often allowed on management areas. Since many wildlife refuges (WR, NWR) don't allow human activities within their boundaries, expect the birds and animals to be more wary and elusive there.

You can also use food to attract birds and animals to your location. Many wildlife photographers use food, or "bait" as it is called, to get carnivores such as mountain lions, wolves, coyotes, foxes and bears to come to particular areas where blinds are set up. You can also use bait or food plots to attract white-tailed and mule deer. Since hunting and baiting is often prohibited on public land, using bait can be very productive on private land that borders private land, especially for white-tailed deer.

One of the biggest problems I notice when people try to locate, see or watch wildlife, especially at the national parks I visit, is that they wake up at their normal times, have a big breakfast, and then expect to see birds and animals between the hours of 9AM and 5PM (which is often the resting or loafing period for many birds and animals). Looking for many birds and animals during midday hours is often futile, because many birds and animals are what scientists refer to as "crepuscular"; which means they are most active within a few hours before and after both dawn and dusk. This is particularly true of most big game animals.

If you want to see more animals you have to get up well before sunrise and stay for 1-3 hours, and get to where the animals are most likely to feed, mate or otherwise be active at or before the time when the are active. Or you need to get there 1-2 hours before sunset and stay until you can no longer see.
Scientific studies have shown that some songbirds are most active during particular hours of the day; the only way to figure out when is to look for information on the internet, or do your own study.

T.R.'s Tips: Locating, Viewing and Photographing Wildlife

Become part of the Environment

1. Wear natural colors or camouflage, or use a hunting blind.

2. Don't wear scented perfume, lotion or sprays.

3. Try to keep the wind from blowing from you to game animals.

4. Keep movement to a minimum, walk softly, and be quiet.

5. Use vegetation and terrain to hide from animals, or break up your outline.

6. Try not to show a shadow.

7. Remember that your reflection may be caught in water.

Observe, but Don't Disturb

1. Choose locations where you can watch and learn, without the birds or animals smelling seeing or hearing you.

2. Be patient. Wait in areas where you think animals may come to, let them come to you, don't purposely spook them in order to see them or get a picture.

3. Savor the experience of seeing the animals in their natural environment, and learn from them, and about them.

Use Your Senses

1. Observing birds and animals and learning about them, requires all of you senses. Use your sense of smell, your hearing and you sight to take it all in.

2. Start by taking in the foreground, then take in a wider area. Use binoculars or spotting scopes to view animals better in dark conditions, or when they are far away.

3. Use your peripheral vision rather than moving your head. When you do move, do it slowly, or when the animals aren't looking, or can't see you.

4. Look for out-of-place shapes or colors; bright colors, dark colors in light places, light colors in dark places, horizontal lines in areas of vertical lines, vertical lines in areas of horizontal lines, shapes that don't resemble or fit into the surroundings.

5. Look for out-of-place motions; a sudden movement, a stealthy movement, the jumping around or flight of a bird or small animal.

6. Look above and below; birds and animals inhabit niches from the ground, to shrubs, from the lower branches of trees to the tips of trees, and all elevations of the air above you.

7. Increase you hearing ability by cupping your hands behind your ears, and turning around to hear sounds from any direction, or use amplified headphones to hear better, and hear sounds from farther away.

8. Pay attention to your instincts. If you feel a chill or the hair on the back of you neck stands up, it may mean an animal is nearby. If you think birds or animals might be in one direction or place, instead of another, check it out. The more time you spend observing birds and animals in natural environments, the better your instincts will become.

9. When birds or animals stop moving or calling, or begin calling urgently or loudly, pay attention, it may mean a predator or large animal is nearby.

Take it Easy

1. Relax your muscles, walk slowly, going step by step in some situations, and don't swing your arms; birds and animals can detect tension and unnatural movements.

2. Make yourself small or unnoticeable: if bird or animals see you, stop moving, when they aren't looking or can't see you, take cover or slowly lower yourself to the ground or crouch on your heels. If you can hold still (without an animal smelling you) for 3-4 minutes, they will usually forget you are there or forget exactly where you are.

3. Don't stare at animals; they often a direct stare as a threat or challenge.

4. If you alarm a flock of birds feeding in a wooded area, and they fly away, hold still for several minutes and be quiet. It nothing more disturbs them they may come back and give you a chance to identify them.

Think like an Animal

1. Figure out the best time of day to see the animals during particular activities. When do they rest, eat, drink or breed? Dusk and dawn are often good bets.

2. Animals and birds may not move when it is too hot, too cold too windy, or too wet; they are generally most active when it is nice. If the weather is inclement think about what you would be doing, and how you would react to the current weather conditions if you were the birds or animals. Where would you go to find forage, to rest, to breed or find protection from the elements. Read field guides and articles or attend seminars to learn more about the normal daily and seasonal activities of the animals, and how they react to the weather.

3. The edges where two types of habitat meet are good places to look for birds and animals. Generally speaking, birds and animals use edges (the borders between two different types of habitat) because edges provide a wider variety of foods and cover. You may also see species from two or more types of habitat in areas where those habitats meet.

4. Look for birds and animals in "high use" areas; resting areas, forage areas, watering areas, and breeding areas, and trails or travel corridors between them. Look for vegetation, water or terrain that might cause game animals to move through a bottleneck. Game animals often use trails and old roads; look for places where they join or intersect. Birds and animals often use branches, ledges or high terrain overlooking water and forage areas before they come in to drink or eat.

5. Take note of the season and the weather conditions; consider whether the animal may be interested in breeding, feeding, resting, migrating or looking for security or thermal cover. Then use that knowledge to locate the animals and choose the best places to see them. After a rain, wind storm, or prolonged hot or cold spell birds and animals often become active.

6. Know what foods bird and animals eat, and which foods they prefer; and look for them. Many birds and animals feed heavily on berries, nuts and acorns, ripening fruits, flowers, grass seeds and invertebrates and insects during certain portions of the year. Locate those food sources at the right time and you will probably locate the birds and animals.

Fall / Winter 2006-2007 Trumpeter & Tundra Swan and Bald Eagle Sightings & Tours

Tawnya Michels Outdoor Photography

November, right after the northern lakes and rivers freeze up is usually best for tundra swans, and there are generally some bald eagles around. The swans will leave for the East Coast when the back waters of the Mississippi River, or the Mississippi River itself, freezes. There were about 300 tundra swans along the Mississippi River in late November, but they had left by early December

T. R. Michels Outdoor Photography

January through March is usually best for trumpeter swans north of Minneapolis/St. Paul, and for bald eagles south of Minneapolis/St. Paul. However, we regularly see bald eagles in the twin cities throughout the year. We saw over 70 bald eagles in southeastern Minnesota in mid-December. There are over 300 trumpeter swans on the Mississippi north of Minneapolis in mid-December. If you would like to join us on a swan or eagle tour e-mail us at TRMichels@yahoo.com.

T.R. Michels is a nationally recognized game researcher and naturalist. For information on Natural History Eco-Tours for game animal, birding, wildflower and scenic photography trips throughout North America contact: Trinity Mountain Outdoor Adventures - Natural History Eco-Tours at www.TRMIchels.com, E-mail T.R. Michels@yahoo.com.

Posted by T.R. Michels at 07:00 PM | Permalink

Now that gun season has kicked in I’m starting to switch to some other types of hunting. I only gun hunt a few days a year, so I try to find some other ways to pass the time until bow season starts back up. Two years ago a good friend of mine introduced me to predator hunting and ever since my first time out, I’ve been hooked. Nighttime predator hunting is a thrill that is completely different than any other hunting I’ve experienced.

Clicking that spotlight on to see the fox’s eyes brightly glowing will surely get your ticker thumping and keep you warm on the coldest of nights. Many of my friends think I’m crazy for going hunting at 11 pm, but once I took them along were quickly hooked too.
Last Wednesday a good friend of mine and I went out to our lease where we’ve been seeing numerous fox. The setup was perfect for predator hunting. We’ve got a thick strip of woods and thicket that cuts the field right down the center. It’s a low point that has a creek running through it, perfect habitat for fox and their prey. We eased out into the field about 80 yards from the edge of the woods and headed towards the far side of the field where a hedge row runs the property line. We set up our decoy and call, and retreated back to the hedge row to wait. With the moon almost full we had to make sure we were below the crest of the hill so we weren’t silhouetted against the sky. One concern was that the wind was shifting a little and blowing down to the thicket, not terrible because the foxes like to approach downwind, it just didn’t give us much time to shoot. Fox are just as sensitive to smell as deer and will bolt if they detect you.
Giving everything about ten minuets to settle down we turned on the call. Within five minuets I saw a dark shadow running through the field, we clicked on the lights and there was the fox. He had snuck up to the decoy without us knowing it and spooked when he realized it wasn’t real. Knowing it was my only chance for a shot I took a running shot. Needless to say the fox kept running and disappeared into the night. After being a little disappointed we settled back in and my buddy made me switch with him. Now I was the spotter and he was the shooter. We waited only five minuets and hit the calls again. Incredibly it only took a few minuets and there was another one! When I put the spotlight on, its eyes were glowing like Christmas lights and my buddy eased up for the shot. Not being used to my gun he forgot to turn the safety off! The fox only stood still for a few more seconds and started to run. My buddy quickly flipped the safety off and took a jump shot. It looked good, but we couldn’t find any sign of a hit.
After only a half hour of hunting we had both embarrassed ourselves and were feeling pretty dejected, we called up two foxes and had both completely missed. It was still a good night to call up two fox in such a short amount of time; at least we know our location and setup will work. We decided to head home and come up with a better game plan, mostly just work on our shooting skills. We attributed our poor performance to it being our first time out at night. We just hadn’t reacquainted ourselves with the equipment and shooting at night. I know excuses, excuses… We’ve got a hunt scheduled for next week so we’ll be sure to redeem ourselves.
If you have any questions about predator hunting send me a response to this journal, or check out the Predator hunting forum in the HuntOnly.com/Forums. There’s plenty of knowledge there and lots of guys who will gladly answer your questions.

Posted by E. Jones at 01:00 PM | Permalink

By now, in most parts of the country, the rut is starting to wind down. Although there may be a few does that come into estrous yet, the majority has already been bred and bucks have trying to recover for a strenuous last few weeks. During the rut, bucks actively search for does for the majority of the day. Unlike the summer months, when their lives revolve around food and water, bucks are actively searching for does the majority of the time during late October and November Instead of feeding heavily and resting, bucks rarely feed and quickly burn up their fat reserves. Once the rut is over, they concentrate more on finding food and bulking back up in order to survive the winter.

Here in central Illinois, the winter months can be pretty brutal. It’s only the first few days of December and we’ve already had a few inches of snow and temperatures have been in the single digits at night. Deer around here will have to survive another 3 months of this weather. Combine these conditions with the rigors of the rut, and you quickly understand why deer begin to feed heavily this time of year.

As hunters, we love to hunt in cooler weather. Deer too enjoy the cooler weather, but there comes a point when it is even too cold for deer. When temperatures plummet, deer activity does as well. Instead of spending time looking for food and feeding, deer will conserve their energy and stay bedded through extremely cold weather. Instead of feeding in early morning and late afternoon, they will feed during the warmest parts of the day: midday. I’ve seen a lot of movement through the 12-3 time period. I rarely enter the stand before daylight. Most of the time I will sleep in and head out by 11 am. There are only two scenarios that will make me head out before the sun rise is on days when a cold front will move through mid day, especially if the front is brining in snow or rain that will last for a prolonged period of time. The deer can sense the coming conditions and will feed heavily prior to bedding when the storm hits. The other time, is when the rain or snow stops just before sunrise. Just as they feed before a storm, they feed just after it stops as well. Times like these can be the most productive all season, especially if you’ve located a hot late season food source.

Some great food sources for late season hunting include corn and wheat. Corn is high in carbohydrates which provide the deer with the energy they need to stay warm through the winter months. If you can find a secluded cut corn field you’re in for some success. Look for a well used trail leading to the field and set up just down wind of it. I was hunting a small corn field a few years ago that was well off the main road. I have over a half mile walk to get to my stand. The stand was located near an inside corner on the edge of the field. Deer would filter out of the bedding area during the early afternoon hours and head towards this corn field. I arrived shortly after noon and by 1:30 there were already a half dozen deer in the field. By the time the sun was down that evening, I had seen over twenty deer. Three of those deer would have scored over 130 inches. Unfortunately, I had chosen the wrong trail to sit on. Out of the twenty three deer that came in to the field that evening, only four came out within bow range of where I was set up. The next year, in that same field, I was set up during late December. This time, the field had been planted in winter wheat. The evening started much the same as the year before. A few does entered the field early. Shortly thereafter, a couple bucks came out. Unlike the year before, these bucks weren’t as big. The largest buck I saw that afternoon would have scored just over 100 inches. With an antlerless tag in my pocket, I was satisfied when a mature 150 pound doe fed within 30 yards. The deer all bolted out of the field when I shot her. She ran less than 20 yards out into the field. I quickly started to drag her out. By the time I was ready to exit the field, a half dozen deer had already re-entered the field. This just goes to show you the drawing power of a hot late season food source.

Even though the temperatures may be cold, the hunting can still be hot. By hunting the warmest hours of the day during bitterly cold weather, and focusing on the arrival and passage of cold fronts, hunters can enjoy some of the best hunting of the year even after the rut is over.

Posted by B. Hagemeier at 08:00 AM | Permalink

I got a phone call in June of 2004 from Don Tyschuk owner and Outfitter of Alberta Whitetail Connection. I knew Don from a previous hunt in 2000 which was the first time I had hunted Alberta Canada. Don wanted to know if I could make the trip up to hunt with him because he had a cancellation so I jumped on the opportunity because Don only hunts 7 rifle hunters a year.

The first year I hunted with him I took a nice 10 point but I had something bigger on my mind this time. My hunt would begin on the 21st of November which is the fourth week of the rut and considered by some not to be the best week but Don assured me that the bucks will still be chasing doe's so I was very excited about going. I would also have to contend with a full moon that week but again Don convinced me that the bucks had more on their mind then a moon and it would not effect the movement.

When I arrived in Edmonton Don picked me up at the airport and as we drove to his nice new home where I would be staying he told me that a friend of mine Glen Bachman from North Carolina had taken a very nice 10pt that was going to score in the mid 160's and once I got to his home he showed me the pictures and man was I envious! Don explained that Glen had shot his buck out of the same stand I hunted in 2000 and that I would be hunting a new stand on different property.

The next morning after a great dinner and a good nights sleep I was in the new stand that over looked a very narrow shooting lane that ran about 200 yards through a dense bush. The wind was about 20 miles an hour and temps were about 20 degrees. I sat for 11 hours and saw one doe and needless to say I was a little disappointed. That evening Don and I talked about me moving to Glens stand but Don told me he wanted me to stay put and give this stand a chance.

The next morning was cold but no wind and everything seemed perfect but after 11 more hours all I saw was a young moose and two 150 class bucks and I was on a mission for something larger. Don picked me up at dark and I told him that I had seen a little more movement and thought if the weather held out tomorrow might be the day. He and I discussed the fact that the shooting lane was so narrow that I would have very little time to make a shot if I got one.

That morning I walked up to where I had watched the two bucks came out of the bush and crossed the shooting lane and put down some doe urine in hopes if a shooter crossed there it might slow him down enough to get a shot. I got back in my blind and settled in for a long day. This was Wednesday morning and just at day light it started a light snow which was beautiful and it seemed like immediately I started to see deer movement. I saw a young buck at about 8.30 and then two does about 9.15. I was starting to get excited and sat back in my chair to drink a cup of coffee, just as I sat the cup down I saw a buck. He looked like he had flown out of the trees and landed right in the middle of the shooting lane when in fact what happened was the deer had jumped a fence just inside the bush and his momentum carried him mid way through the shooting lane a 165 yards away.

The first thing I saw was the 9in drop tine and his mass on the right side so I reached for my Thompson Encore and tried to get the scope on him. He had stopped just long enough to sniff the frozen ground where I had put down the doe urine earlier but by the time I had got the cross hairs on him he was angling away from me into the bush on the other side of the shooting lane. I decided to take the shot, squeezed the trigger, saw the buck lunge and then watched as he vanished into the bush . I just sat there with my heart in my throat and wondering what had just happened.

I heard the radio and it was Don asking if that was me who just shot I told him it was and what had happened, he told me to get out of my blind and walk up to see if there was any blood or hair in the lane. I climbed down out of my stand and started the walk up to where the buck had been standing, as I walked my mind started to play games with me, I began to wonder had I seen what I thought I had and did I hit this buck because things happened so fast it was almost like a dream. The walk took about 20 minutes because of all the ice and snow and as I got to the place I saw no sign that I had hit the deer and my heart began to sink. I could find no blood or hair and I radioed Don and told him I must have missed so Don told me to get back in my blind and he would have Dave a friend of his walk through the bush and try to push the deer out. David had said on the radio he heard the shot and it sounded like a good hit to him which made me feel a little better. When I radioed David to let him know I was in place he came back to me and said to be quite he had heard something trying to jump the fence he was standing by. I guess I must have said the right prayer because about 5 minutes later I heard Dave over the radio say the deer was down and out and I just looked up to the sky and said thank you Lord. Dave also asked me over the radio why I had shot such a small deer?

I was not real sure at this point what I had shot because I only had 5 or 6 seconds to make up my mind to shoot so I asked him if the deer had a drop tine and he said yes but it only had a 12 or 13 inch spread but then he started laughing and said "Bubba" this is an absolute MONSTER with a ton of mass. I was so excited that the 200 yards I had to walk to get to David seems like it was 20 yards and when I saw this buck I could not believe my good fortune. This buck was everything and more then I could have dreamed. He had such character and was so unique with a MONSTER body. When Don got there he was ALL smiles and estimated the deer's age at 7 to 9 years old with only 4 teeth in its mouth.

The buck weighed in at 337 lbs on the hoof and scored 185 1/8 after the drying period with less then a 12 in inside spread. I could not have hand picked a buck that I would have rather harvested then this one and I have Don and David White to thank for this great deer. The buck was mounted by Brian Dodsdon of Artistic-Taxidermy in Edmonton and was shown in the summer issue of Big Buck magazine on page 60 and will be in Rack magazine in the November issue 2005. I hope you enjoyed the story and hope you enjoy the pictures and remember to take a child hunting when you can.

Below are some of the measurements from the rack.

Right side main beam: 24 5/8"
Left side main beam: 24 2/8"
G2 right side: 13 4/8 G2"
left side: 12 1/8"
G3 right side: 9 2/8"
left side: 9 6/8"
Right side Circumferences
Circ 1: 5 7/8"
Circ 2: 5 2/8"
Circ 3: 5 2/8"
Circ 4: 4/28"
Left side Circumferences
Circ 1: 5 3/8"
Circ 2: 5 2/8"
Circ 3: 5 5/8"
Circ 4: 5/38"
Inside spread: 11 5/8"
Non Typical: 22"
Largest Circumference: 9 1/2"

Final Score: 185 1/8"

Posted by S. Johnson at 09:00 AM | Permalink

Over the last few years of duck hunting my philosophy has drastically changed. When I first got serious about duck hunting I was all about hunting in big open water. Several hunting buddies and I would meet at the local waffle house at 3:30am and drive almost 45 minutes to a local river where we would take a 30 minute "body beating" boat ride to our blind (which was not what most would call a "hot spot" for ducks). All of this seemed like a lot of work for the small amount of birds we saw each morning.

I loved duck hunting more than anything in the world, however it was getting to a point where I felt it was almost pointless to spend the majority of the day in a blind where you knew you would only shoot at a couple of ducks.
Last year, in the middle of July everything I thought I knew and loved about duck hunting would change, all because of a train. I was on a back country road as I approached a set of train tracks, I looked to my left and noticed a small marsh area in the corner of a grazing field. I came to a stop for the passing train and could not believe what I was seeing, as I looked across the water there, not twenty yards from my truck were more ducks than I had seen during the entire 2004-05 season! I stared in amazement at hundreds of wood ducks, mallards, hooded mergansers, gadwalls, green and blue winged teal, Canadian Geese, and even a couple of bluebills swimming all through the water and brush. After a few moments the train passed and I slowly drove off, still in shock from what I had just witnessed. Now I realize that this might not be uncommon to all of you that live in Arkansas, Oklahoma, California, or any of the other duck hunting mecca's across the country but here in East Tennessee we do not see that on a day to day basis.
As I returned home that evening I called my hunting buddy up and told him what I had seen. After calling me a liar for over fifteen minutes I finally convinced him to return to the swamp with me the next day. Needless to say, he was calling me everything but a liar when we arrived early the next morning. After witnessing the massive amounts of waterfowl on the water we decided to take a new strategy into the upcoming season. For the next week I spent almost every minute of spare time I had looking at Google earth pictures for any body of water within 15 miles of Athens. You’d be surprised all of the small swamps and marshes that were close to your home that you had no clue existed. I took out a pen and paper and wrote down the location of every piece of water that I saw on the maps. As I woke up the next morning and left my house in search of the ones I could see from a road I thought of what I had seen a week earlier and hoped I would find the same at other swamps in the area. I drove to ten places that morning where I saw somewhere in the area of 1000 ducks and geese. The next day I went to work, trying my best to track down every landowner that these potential "honey holes" belonged to. After locating and calling over ten of them I could do nothing but sit back and smile knowing that three of them had given me permission to hunt. The best part of the whole thing was that nobody had ever hunted on any of them before.
My friend, who had done the same, called and informed me that he had permission to hunt two more places in another part of the county and the following week my friend made the final decision and sold his hunting boat.
We had taken the plunge and sworn off big water for the entire season for something we were unsure would even yield any results. As the season approached we built some small two man blinds out of cedar and surrounding brush on a couple of the swamps and left the others, with decent cover, alone. Four months after I had sat in awe at those train tracks hunting season had finally arrived. As I leaned against a tree in the middle of that same swamp I had no clue what the morning would bring. About fifteen minutes before legal shooting time I stood there and listened to bird after bird hit the water in the thick brush behind me. At 6:56am three of the fattest greenheads I had ever seen hovered over our decoys. The famous "take em" call was ordered and our first three birds of the season were dead on the water! In the next thirty minutes four mallards, two woodies, a hooded merganser drake, and two gadwalls fell to shallow water. After filling our limit in that short time, we could only sit and watch as groups of mallards and gadwalls flew in to our small spread. As we picked up decoys we laughed about what we would have been doing at that same time had we gone to the river blind. We spent the rest of the season bouncing from swamp to swamp and ended up killing over 300 birds of all different species (including a couple of redhead drakes and several bluebills).
Even more to my amazement, we did all of this without blowing a single call. The birds simply wanted to be there bad enough that there was no need for a call. This year we have gained access to a few more of these small, out of the way holes and have shot our limit the first two mornings out. After sharing this information with several other hunters in the area I was surprised at how many would still rather hunt nothing but open water. I am by no means an expert in every area of hunting but what I do know is what has worked for me. If you have never hunting a swamp or small area of standing timber in your area give a try. There is nothing that can replace that feeling of in-your-face hunting that this can bring.

Posted by M. Norfleet at 10:00 PM | Permalink