Monday, April 30, 2012
Shed Antler Hunting - Part II
Techniques For Finding Sheds
A new shed antler search technique is getting even more people involved in this non-consumptive sport. The technique, called the “shed drive,” is similar to the deer drive hunting technique so popular in the Midwest. The shed drive involves organizing your partners in a line with each member evenly spaced across the line at the edge of the area to be searched. Drive members then walk through the area, picking up sheds along the way, until everyone meets at the opposite end of the area (where you have hopefully previously left a vehicle for transport back to the starting point!). This technique is growing in popularity because of the camaraderie shared among members. And because all members can take part in the excitement whenever someone finds a shed. During shed drives, hunting becomes a team effort, strengthening friendships and providing free entertainment and lasting memories.
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2011 Tecomate Brush Country Bucks of La Perla
After hunting our way through the Heart Land it was finally time for the South Texas Brush Country. The Texas 2011 deer season marked 25 straight seasons for me of hunting the famed Golden Triangle area of South Texas. My emotions run nothing short of a kid in candy store when I reach the Brush Country each season. On December 16th I arrived at the Laredo International Airport and was met by David Morris and Tecomate videographers Matt Carmen and Jereme Thaxton. Our hunt would be hosted by Tecomate`s Dr. Gary Schwarz in Zapata County at his outstanding La Perla Ranch. No doubt, excitement loomed ahead.
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Monday, April 23, 2012
Laying Out Your Food Plots - Part II
Distribution And Size
Ok, you have a handle on the total acreage of food plots needed, but how many plots do you need, what size should they be and where should they go. You can’t really answer any of these questions without giving thought to the others since they’re all related and interdependent. The number of plots depends in part on what size they are, and vice versa. And, in areas with limited tillable land, the distribution of the tillable land and how much of it there is at each site will go along way in determining both the number and size of food plots. Still, there are ways to come to logical decisions.
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Shed Antler Hunting - Part I
As soon as I noticed the sun glare off the tip of the antler tine, I knew which buck had shed the antler that lay on the deer trail in front of me. It was the right side shed antler from a buck I had passed the previous fall with bow and arrow in hand, as well as a buck for which we had dozens of trail camera photos. He was the largest buck on our Iowa property that we knew survived the previous hunting season. And a buck I hoped to have in front of me again the next hunting season!
As luck would have it, the shed buck mentioned above, not only survived to the following year’s hunting season, but he gained more than 20 inches in gross Boone and Crockett Club score and added eight antler points. On top of this, I was the lucky hunter who was able to put a harvest tag on this magnificent buck when I killed him last December! The icing on the cake was the fact that my brother Jason missed the buck minutes before my opportunity… and everything was caught on video! The 194-inch buck is the largest I have ever killed. Thanks to my interest in shed hunting, I can now display the shed antler beside the pedestal mount of the buck.
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Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Close Encounters: Part 8
It is amazing at the things in the hunting woods that God can use to bring to your mind that comes from the Holy Scriptures. I have a turkey hunting trip planned in Kansas next week that I am preparing for mentally. There is one particular spot on my hunting ground there that I can’t wait to be setup on during my first morning hunt. All this week I have been thinking about this particular wood line of sycamores that run along a river and the edge of a CRP field.
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Monday, April 16, 2012
The Antler Shedding Process
Antler Shedding
In the past, it was believed that deer withdrew to secluded places to shed their antlers in order to avoid the loss of virility in “public.” However, it is likely that deer are unaware of when they will lose their antlers. Antlers are shed when a thin layer of tissue destruction, called the abscission layer, forms between the antler and the pedicle. This layer forms as a result of the decrease in testosterone. As the connective tissue is dissolved, the antler loosens and is either broken free, or falls off on its own. This degeneration of the bone-to-bone bond between the antler and the pedicle is the fastest deterioration of living tissue known in the animal kingdom.
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The Plains of Kansas with Tall Tine Outfitters
After a successful and exciting open country muzzleloader hunt in the Sand Hills of Nebraska in early December 2011, David Morris and I headed south to Protection Kansas to hunt giant post rut Kansas whitetails with my old friend and hunting buddy Ted Jaycox of Ocala Fl. Ted and I grew up hunting together around Ocala Fl, our home town. And I say “old friend” because Ted it was nearly 40 years ago when we were both teenagers that we haunted the local whitetail herd of Central Fl. Ted and I share some terrific memories from our “Good Old Days” afield. We would surely relive some of those adventures during the week`s hunt at Tall Tine.
Here are a few of the memories Ted and I share:
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Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Close Encounters: Part 7
One thing you can say about most turkey hunters is that they are passionate about their sport. Many say that turkey hunters are more than just passionate; they are possessed by long beards and hooked spurs. Turkey hunting will definitely cause you to do things and say things that are not normal. Such as, break out into full strut in the middle of Wal-Mart, or start gobbling when your wife sneezes. Not to mention the stuff they will do in the field just to be able to drape a big ole gobbler over their shoulder. But it may just be me. Most likely none of y’all have ever crawled 200 yards with your nose in cow poop just to get into position on a turkey. Folks, doing things like this is what I call being possessed. Loosing control of our mind and body during the spring of the year just for a pile of feathers, crazy I know.
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