Posts Tagged Hunting
Looking forward to deer season
With the summer heat starting to break just a little bit – the past couple of days have been around 91, 92 or 93 degrees, a couple of weeks ago day time temps were in the 97, 98 and 99 range – its time to start looking for deer season.
My daughter and I just got finished eating breakfast, and I’am getting the truck loaded up. Over the past few days I charged 5 or 6 – 6 volt batteries for the feeders. When we leave home, we are going to go by Tractor supply in Jasper, Texas and pick up something like 12 bags of deer corn. We have 6 feeders to check on, and I’am figuring 2 – 50 pound bags just to get the feeders started.
Besides the regular deer stands and feeders, there is a certain creek bottom that I want to setup a ladder stand on. Every year a buck goes through the creek bottom marking its territory. The nearest box stand is about 100 yards away on top of a hill. Instead of moving the box stand, I’am going to setup a ladder stand.
I have an old climbing stand that I could move to the creek, but over the past few years I have been using my climbing stand less and less. In my younger years using the climbing stand was fun to use, and it provided a degree of flexibility that box stands did not. If I wanted to move the climbing stand over 75 yards, it was a 15 minute job. If I wanted to move a box stand – it would take half a day.
One of the nice things about hunting in a big box stand, it provides plenty of room for you to take someone. If you want to take you son, daughter, grandkids,,, having enough room for 2 people is nice.
There does not seem to be enough young people getting into hunting. As more and more of our nations population moves into the urban jungle, fewer and fewer people want to make the drive to the woods. Combine that to more and more hunting land is being sold off to developers. Land that has used to belong to the timber companies and has been hunted for over 100 years, is being enveloped by urban sprawl.
But anyway, its time to load up the truck, and my daughter and I head out to the woods.
Wildlife Quiz what happened to this pine tree
This is a wildlife test to see how well you know your stuff. What animal damaged this pine tree? Here is a hint – it is not a deer.
Location – East Texas, USA
Date – October 2009.
Post your comments in this thread of the hunting forums.
Survival Quiz – ID these tracks.
This tracks were found along a shallow creek in East Texas. What kind of tracks do you think they are?
Location: East Texas, just north of Beaumont
Date: January 18th, 2008
 Animal Track |
If you wish to comment on this article, visit this thread in the wilderness survival forum.
Survival gear neoprene gloves
Neoprene gloves are my preference for cold weather. But these are only good to around 30 degrees. Once the temperature reaches the mid 30′s, I have a pair of thin, insulated gloves that I put on, and then pull the neoprene gloves over them. The rubber of the Neoprene allows the gloves to stretch over the first pair.
With this combination I have a glove system that is good down into the 20′s and provides a good no slip grip.
If you wish to comment on this video, please do so in this thread at the survival gear forum.
Setting up some deer feeders
Deer feeders offer the local wildlife a source of food during times of drought and other hardship.
Tips on hunting wild hogs
It is believed that hogs were first introduced into the United States by Hernando de Soto in or around 1539. Recent excavations from some of Hernando de Sotos’ encampments in Florida have discovered jaw bones of pigs and other swine bone fragments.
Hogs are a true omnivore, meaning that they will eat almost anything. The diet of a wild hog can include grubs, worms, termites, acorns – anything that the hog can get its mouth on, its likely to eat. There are even stories of wild hogs killing and eating new born deer.
Several factors have contributed to a recent surge in hog populations.
1. For some reason, several states have passed laws prohibiting butchers from processing wild hogs. If a hunter kills a hog, and brings that hog to a butcher, in some states the butcher will not be able to process the meat. This has helped prevent an active hog hunting community of hunters from developing. There are a group of people that hunt hogs, but not to the degree of deer hunters. Most people that hunt hogs process the meat theirselves. This is something that not everyone wants to do.
2. More deer hunters are using feeders. In some cases, deer hunters keep their feeders going all year long, and as a result, supply the hogs with a year round supply of food.
3. Lack of large natural predators to keep the wild hog population in check.
4. Other reasons too numerous to go into here.
A deer hunting story
This is based off a true story that happened on November 30th, 2007. Discussion on this deer hunting story can be found at this link.
I got out to the lease around 3:30, got the 4-wheeler unloaded and drove a little over 1/4 mile to an old logging road. I parked the 4wheeler on the logging road and walked 100+ yards to the stand. I walked because I can move quieter by walking then I can on the 4-wheeler.
On the way to the stand I saw some coyote tracks. It looks like a rabbit track was mixed in them them. I got in the stand around 4:00 pm, took some scenery pictures and read my bible for a little while.
By 5:00 pm there were 3 does under and around the feeder. A little after 5 pm a spike and 6 point came out. The 6 point was too small to shoot. All three of my last deer have been 8 points, so there is no use in going backwards.
Just after 5:15 a nice size deer walks out and starts grazing on the grass on the logging road. I looked at him through my scope and thought it was an 8 point. Later I found out it was a 9 point.