First Successful Turkey Hunt
I have already written about taking my first deer, and since turkey season isn’t far I’m going to let you all know the story behind my first turkey harvest. I had been turkey hunting for about four years and had never had a real “great” hunt or opportunity to put my tag on a bird. A close hunting buddy Nathan Coulter and I, had watched videos all winter/spring and talked to veteran turkey hunters; gathering every bit of information we could to try to make this spring different than the others and put a bird on the ground.
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Stumble It!
I know that’s not exactly how the traditional saying goes, as I’m substituting a kitten in place of lion to describe the month of March. At least, that's how I'd like to see March unfold, with a beginning, middle and end less like January and more April-ish.
When planning and preparation meet opportunity, is it luck or destiny when it comes to hunting whitetail deer. It’s my opinion that it’s a little bit of both. In my 35 years of hunting whitetail deer I’ve evolved from little or no planning and preparation to where I am today which some would consider over planning and preparation.
Story By: Michael Stefanik It was the evening of October 23rd and I was preparing my hunting gear to hunt one of my stands in the morning. This was the first time I would be hunting this stand this year. The weather forecast was dismal! The forecast called for torrential downpours on and off all day. Great, I have never had any luck in weather like this. At least, this would give me an opportunity to try out my new tree umbrella. I had a long week at work and I couldn’t wait until morning to get out there, no
My broad heads seek early season whitetail like a man The forest’s canopy is choked with heavy green foliage wrapping around limbs, while the floor’s scattered with gold nuggets of prized acorns. There’s no better time to hunt Buffalo County, Wisconsin than right now!
My spring 2009 turkey season was about to start and with a few final checks before the opener, I was ready. For the past few weeks I had been scouting my properties for the up-coming season. I was able to roost birds at all three properties during my scouting trips in the evenings and I was able to pin point a couple strutting zones during my morning trips. With a day before the opener I was still a little unsure of which spot to hunt the opening morning.
Hey everyone, It's been a while since I last made a journal entry on HuntOnly, but I've been doing my best to spend a good amount of time in the woods this year. I've been bow hunting pretty hard since the opener in mid September. Up until this week I was hunting food sources, either oaks, cut fields, or food plots. I was having decent success, with seeing plenty of deer, but never one of the bigger bucks I'm after. Everything has changed greatly in the last two weeks. Starting in the middle of last week (Oct 21) I noticed
“Can you see the one on the far left?” I whispered. “Yeah,” Tyler answered. “I think I can get through the branches. I’m on her front shoulder. Here goes.” It is said that the Lord works in mysterious ways. I can verify that statement with my son, Tyler’s, 2006 NY muzzle loader season. But to digress momentarily; Those of you who have read my articles know that I espouse hunting and fishing as much as possible and as cheaply as possible. It is a practice I have followed for 45 years. That is not to say that if you can
It’s getting to be that time of year again. The season ended just a few months ago, but for diehard whitetail hunters such as me, the offseason is a short one. It’s time to get the trail cameras back in the woods and take care of spring food plots.
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.
On the evening of November 5, I went out to a stand location I have been hunting actively all year. It is located near a food source. Well there is a whitetail buck that I estimate to be about a 145-150 class brute. I have been looking for this buck all season long. I have had pictures of him on my trail cameras from the first week I put them out in August until I took them out 2 weeks ago.
It seems that for the last few years I am always finding myself looking for some more sun block during the duck hunting season. I can’t keep enough of that SPF-100 around. Last fall I sat on top of my pit over looking my decoys like a weathered lifeguard, it was miserable. Obviously not killing birds wasn’t enough torture, so I let a large group of mosquitoes drop into the deks and consume my face.
Many hunters have debated over the use of fawn bleats as a way of calling deer. Some argue that it spooks the deer and ruins future hunts, while others make the point that it works remarkably well. Fawn bleats are used with the intention of calling does directly to the hunter.
I had gotten permission to hunt some property in NE Texas just a few days ago, 684 acres to be exact. 60 percent is in pasture, mixture between hay fields and corn. The other 40 percent is wooded. The owner told me he had a lot of hogs tearing up his pasture and asked me to go wreck havoc on them. So, I called a buddy of mine, Case,y who loves to hunt the piggies almost as much as I do to set up a hunt.
