July 15, 2022 Interloper- High Pressure Fishing in the LOC Derby By: Justin Hunold Over an IPA in his kitchen Craig said “You’ll meet Paul the Captain, Matt who lives fishing and has a ponytail and Brandon who is learning the game.” followed by, “I just fish with these guys here and there. They are Legit.” I will be an interloper in this game. I have to explain, for Craig to call someone a legit angler means they are as real deal as ibuprofen is to pain relief, leave that aspirin at home kids. Craig is a US Coast Guard Licensed Captain, Federal Border Patrol Agent on Lake Ontario and, oh yeah, he owns 315 Guide Services. Needless to say he knows what it takes to be a Great Lakes Waterman and the people that make his cut are on a very short list. In the late 1960’s the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation began to stock west coast transplanted salmon into Lake Ontario. This effort was to reinvigorate the fishery. During the years of market fishing and hunting the native Atlantic Salmon had been all but extirpated from the smallest of the Great Lakes. Chinook (King) and Coho Salmon were introduced, they are bred in the Salmon River Fish Hatchery. The facility is located just a touch towards Santa’s house, up the latitudinal lines in the town of Altmar New York. There is a culture in upstate New York around these fish. These small towns north of Route 49 double, triple or even quintuple their populations during the salmon’s annual run up the local rivers to spawn. Pulaski and Oswego lead the way as far as name recognition goes, people come from around the world to invade and wade the rivers in those municipalities. Oswego County Holds ten world or state records for size of fish, both of these towns are in Oswego County. Mind you Pulaski High will graduate less than 100 seniors in any given year. Math is constant. You wouldn’t think of it as an outsider, the math that matters is the dollars and cents on the line this particular day. You see, Team No Dil’Emma (Paul, Matt and Brandon) were leading the Fair Haven Challenge Tournament and running lines trying to capture the $25,500 prize for the largest Salmon of 2020 in the Fall LOC Derby. That is line one of the math, but the subsequent lines add up to those prizes if they are quantified correctly and the fish cooperate. At 4:30 am we pulled into the parking lot of the docks. My Yeti had kept my coffee too hot to drink at this point. We walked ourselves and our gear down to the boat, Matt was already gassing the rig up. Matt is the glue of the team. Part of the math is how the members meld together, and in that department from my observation Matt is the JB Weld of the whole thing. After a few minutes Brandon and Paul showed up and they all began to prep. Introductions were quick and the BSing started, but the tension of the morning was palpable. Most people in my position are the people who pay for fishing charters, treated as Royalty for a few hours on the boat. I wasn’t there for that, I was there to see what a high end prize focused team did throughout the day, and down to the second to catch fish. The detail is amazing. My goal was to take it all in, take some pictures and stay the hell out of the way. I didn’t want to cost them any fish, tackle, time or money. The lines can’t hit the water until 6 am eastern time, and these are very strict rules. I had to enter the LOC derby just to ride along for fear of disqualification. We were under way and as the Twenty Eight foot vessel rounded the breakwall we went under full power. Matt was driving the boat, I was sitting across from him looking back on the organized chaos happening between the bounces of the waves under No Dil’Emma’s belly. Paul was rigging up Flashers, baits, and organizing all of the fishing gear. Paul is the leader of the team and this is obvious, he was talking to Craig and Brandon and explaining what bait on which rods and two nets for every fish. What rods to get ready, and where they would be located, making the back of the boat look like an arachnid with too many legs on one side. You see on a normal fishing day Paul would be driving, Matt would be rigging and making the every second decisions and Brandon would be executing those orders. This is the way of things. Craig would be the lowest man on the totem pole, he isn’t a crew member but he knows enough to lend a hand. Under these high stress payday possibilities Paul was making all the calls, rigging rods and taking charge of the back of the boat. Brandon was placing the rods on the racks of rod holders. We were in about 170 feet of water when the countdown started. Matt announced three minutes, the guys in the back still scrambling to take care of all of these rods that can sum up about five figures between rod, reel, line and actual fish catching tackle on the end. That is not to mention the Scotty electric down riggers, the eight to ten pound weights on those with a probe for the Fish Hawk trolling system attached just above the faceted fish shaped rigger weight. The probe alone is upwards of $300 retail, this system gives the actual depth of the baits attached to the down riggers along with trolling speed and temperature at the depth that the baits are at. Two minutes, the planer boards were attached to the outriggers and sent out port and starboard a few hundred feet from the boat. These are used to spread the baits out so that the actual trolling footprint of the boat is much wider than the width of the gunnels. They are also useful for having baits at multiple depths in the water column One minute, this is where plans are being stated out loud, Brandon has moved to the front of the boat, and inhabited the Captains seat at some point in the functional frantic moments. Matt is back snapping the lines into the down riggers, Paul is prepping more flasher/cutbait rigs, Craig is mirroring Matt’s efforts on the opposite side of the boat. “All good, 6 O’clock!” Brandon exclaims. The lines hit the water, the down rigger lines go down and out first, followed by the dipsy rods attached to the Planer Boards and then a rod loaded with 500 feet of copper line. All of these rods are at controlled and calculated depths. The math is astounding: the speed of the boat is controlled at the surface with the motors and Trolling Bags, which are essentially water filled parachutes on each side of the boat. That speed is displayed on the GPS on the console above the steering wheel, but that isn’t the speed of the baits which is the crucial number. Speaking of the speed of the baits, that is displayed on the Fish Hawk which at that very moment wasn’t operating properly or at all for that matter. Paul walks up to look at it and then back to the aft fishing deck a few times frantically, then he hits the computer-like display like Fonzy and the jukebox and bingo bango it suddenly starts working. That was the biggest burst of luck this team would see all day. The speed of the bait is a function of water pressure and drag at depth, speed of the boat, and the ever present current that you’d never expect on a lake of that size. So all things being equal the boat may be traveling at 3.5 miles per hour at the surface and the baits will be traveling at a slower speed say 2.7 at depth or sometimes with the current blowing up the butt of the boat the disparity between the numbers will be a lot closer. The fish will dictate the proper speed of the bait presentation. But that’s not the only math that they dictate. The depth they inhabit is dictated by the water temperature they live their best lives at, generally around 50 degrees fahrenheit. So, any given day the conditions above the surface can change their preferred depth by feet in the double digit range. Cold rain can bring them up in the column, so can wind, water turn over, sunlight and an assundry of other factors that I have no ideas on. Now back to the rods with Dipsy Divers and Copper Line. They are depth control measures. Dipsy Divers are basically a flying saucer with line ties and unequal weight distribution. They dig into the water and because of the size and hydrodynamics the Dipsy takes the baits down to a predictable depth. Copper line will run the lures down via its denser than water nature, for every 100 feet of copper line the lure gains twenty feet of depth. We were putting out 500 feet. Is your head spinning yet? All of this rigging took fifteen minutes. The calculus doesn’t stop there, Paul and Matt are checking the depth finder constantly, while Brandon is using compass headings to direct the boat over a certain depth of water. Yet with all this math the only thing that matters as far as numbers go is tangible pounds of salmon in the boat. And at 7:20 they had their first chance at making that number more than 0. The rod that has the 500 feet of Copper loaded on it showed a strike, Matt grabbed it. If you watched any sort of big water fishing you’d expect Brandon to drop the boat into neutral and let Matt proceed to fight the very fresh, very big King Salmon with rod and reel alone. What I actually saw was amazing teamwork between driver and angler, using the boat to fight the fish in a way I hadn’t seen before. This plays multiple roles but one of my observations was that it allowed the crew to not have to clear any of the other lines out of the way for a long time, the boat was able to keep tension on the fish while Matt played him and finally it kept the rest of the baits moving so that the odds of a double were increased. The shuffle of two nets getting line up like two outfielders backing each other up happened about fifteen minute after the strike. It was all business after Paul netted the fish, no big celebration, no hugs, no fist bumps or pumps. Back to work, Paul was working on making sure the right rods were in the right places with the right baits and Matt was double checking depths and drags, everything was checked and double checked. Nothing is left to chance, except the mood of the fish. There is a misnomer in the non-angling world, that fishing is luck. I assure you most of fishing is not luck. I can tell you numerous stories about how it isn’t luck, until it is. This day out on the boat was littered with a bunch of unlucky strikes, balling baits up, pushing baits forward, not getting hooked when the fish would take a bait. None of these things are controlled by the angler. Those parts of fishing are luck. “Lots of downtime.” Craig utters out loud “Ain’t no uptime” Paul only half jokes. “Temperature is down 20 feet from yesterday.” Paul states. This literally means in the game of chasing temperature, the magic number of 45-50 degrees, that the water of that particular heat signature is twenty feet deeper than that temperature was yesterday, the water is warmer than the day before. See you’re always chasing numbers in this game, not the game species, but the numbers that lead to the optimum habitat. Brandon goes to the back of the boat to relieve himself, and a fish hammers the rod that he is standing over. Brandon the consummate angler grabs the rod rather than zipping up. The fish is on and Brandon has a wide stance to keep his pants up rather than to provide good leverage on the fish. He took a camera in his face especially well considering the circumstances. Craig took the fishing rod from Brandon and proceeded to play the fish out. Matt landed the fish in the net with Paul standing behind with net number two as back up. Again when the chinook hit the floor at 9:56 there was no uproar, no hubbub. Just professionals looking for perfection of presentation as they got ready for the next one. At 10:29 a rod goes off again, Paul grabs it and has the fish loaded, rod bent. Matt is at the helm at this point and is using the boat in conjunction with Paul’s reeling and leaning. The fight last for fifteen minutes, long enough for the other two guys to grab nets. Then it happens, the line gets slack and it is obvious to Paul that the fish which was once there isn’t any longer. Pure dejection. “That one hurt big time,” He says to me. Rough math is rough but, going into the weekend they were up about a fish worth on everyone in the Fair Haven Challenge. A team can weigh five fish, and they just lost a good one. Had that fish been in the boat the team would have more than likely been in the running, without it they wouldn’t bother weighing the other two. The day rolled on like the waves on the surface, but unlike the waves the fishing was inconsistent. What’s funny is this group of guys that I really enjoyed hanging out with kept telling me that they wished they had shown me a better day of fishing. I had a great time, for a person who loves processes and unscripted stories, to watch a team perform like a play out in front of me was a pleasure in and of itself. I assured them that there was an amazing story on this day and that it doesn’t have to be littered with big fish. It can have more fish next time, but to tell the story of the fish isn’t the story of the Team, the men, the boat, the towns, the culture, or the math. All too often we as angler judge our days with a scale, ruler or phones full of grip and grins. I got to make some friends, hang out with my best friend and learn more math in an 8 hour run than I had in four years of public high school. I can’t thank Paul Powers, Matt Reibenfeld and Brandon Mirrer enough. We will write a big fish story next time.
July 8, 2022 Should I Buy a Wall Tent? By: Justin Hunold Scrolling through Instagram, thumbing down through all of the images of the outdoors that help inspire my adventures, I see it. The wall tent at night, backlit from the lantern inside, stripped trees for the lodge poles with a set of moose antlers above the door, I swooned with idyllic romanticism. If this sounds like as great a picture to you as it did to me, let’s talk about the upsides and tips for camping in a wall tent. All things being equal, camping is an amazing way to take in the outdoors. Whether you spend the night in a camper with AC or in a bivy under the stars, waking up to the sights, sounds, and smells of the natural world does wonders for the human spirit. For the past few years I have spent a few weeks during the late fall in a canvas wall tent. Though the one I have been using doesn’t harken back to the image painted earlier, it does fall in a great spot between the camper and the bivy. My cousin Marc did a bunch of research, separately of my tent lusting, and decided to pull the trigger on a Davis Wall Tent. He also purchased a wood stove for it and so began our soiree of primitive camping for hunting season. This is a quick overview of why you may want to look into a wall tent setup, and some points to think about once you decide a canvas vacation home is for you. Let’s first look into why a person would want a canvas wall tent. Room is the first deciding factor for most folks. Unlike a nylon dome style tent, a wall tent is built for maximum height and, with straight walls, actual capacity for people and gear. Next, canvas wall tents are still portable but it can be the size of a typical cabin that one might stay in at a campground, very convenient. You can set up a full cabin anywhere you may need it. That may be the woods for a week during hunting season, or it can be for a garage sale or graduation party at your home. If I were to guess, the number one reason most folks go to a wall tent is overall comfort and protection from the elements. Canvas wall tents are built with stove jacks to host a wood stove. Canvas tents are naturally waterproof and insulated. Unlike propane heaters, wood is dry heat, and outdoors folks can use it to actually dry out clothing and gear. This alone is next to impossible with any other sort of non-radiant heat. Canvas is a great insulator. Everyone will stay warm with the stove in the winter, no wind cutting through the tent, no water building up. I know, the saying is “cotton kills”. In this case, that blend of cotton or polyester is great protection from the elements, hot or cold. Wall tents are naturally waterproof and make amazing wind barriers. In the summer you can open the windows for a crosswind and stay very cool. It’s definitely not the aforementioned camper with air conditioning, but it’s markedly better than a nylon dome tent for sure. We’ve covered the why’s of a wall tent, so let’s take a dive into some of the how’s, tips and points of interest. The how’s are pretty simple: most companies will offer kits that have poles included or just corner brackets and you go to a hardware store and have conduit cut to length (provided in the instructions). To build the tent you frame out the roof first then install the wall poles. Tie down points are sewn into the tent in key positions. Use all of the tie downs- they exist for a reason. There are a few options for floors, with the two most popular being pallet bases with plywood for a semi-permanent feel or waterproof canvas tarps. After much experimentation, we chose canvas tarps, leaving an open spot in the corner for the stove. If you decide on the wood floor, you will need a fireproof mat for that area. If you plan for a few people to stay in one tent, there needs to be rules. One of our big rules was no air mattresses. This came about in year two, just like the canvas tarp floor, after we realized how much room they take up. Cots elevate the sleeping area, meaning that the user can stow gear under them. They can also double as a seat if needed. Also, designate areas to hang drying gear. You don’t want your sleep system to get soaked because someone else hung a wet jacket over it. As far as the stove goes, you’ll need welders gloves or the like to tend to it often. A kettle of water should be a constant companion of the wood stove for both a source of hot water and a bit of moisture in the air. Some wood should be stacked inside, this way there isn’t a reason to open the doors unless it’s to relieve yourself. There should also be an assigned person to cut the stove off when the party leaves and someone else should double-check! Stoves are not to be taken lightly in a tent, as the wind can move the cover or in the extreme, disconnect the stove pipe (chimney). A small folding table is an amazing piece of kit for a wall tent. It generally turns into a catch-all but it’s nice to have. We would generally stack our non-perishables in rubber totes under it. Again, singing the praises of the wood stove: you can cook just about any stovetop meal on the wood stove so don’t skimp on the cuisine just because you’re roughing it. We keep a thermometer above the table, mostly because it’s fun to see it reach the mid-seventies when it’s in the single digits outside and we are having a few drinks. Another friend of mine uses an ice fishing sled and a solar shower to shower inside his wall tent after a day of hunting. We never went that route, although, by the end of the week we probably should have. With the ability to have hot water and dry out your garments, this means a person can actually wash clothes if needed. Speaking of friends, if you want to stay on speaking terms with anyone you’re sharing a wall tent with for extended time you’ll want a pair of inside-only shoes. Any kind of shoes will work, a lot of people will wear slippers or a Crocs style shoe. Tarps will be clean but you’ll still need shoes. A few more necessary items include a lantern or two, a decent hatchet, a cast iron pan, fire poker, and tongs. I would also suggest a few pots for water or a tea kettle, a French Press or percolator, and a wind-up alarm clock. Marc chose to have an awning built into his kit and a window stitched in opposite the door. Both of these were clutch points of customizations. We can keep wood, gear, and our coolers under the awning and when need be get some air moving through with an open window. He decided to forgo the stakes that the company offered. The first time we tried to use it in high winds we realized quickly that normal tent stakes weren’t going to cut it. From there we decided to use pressure treated 2”x2” cut to a point and notched an inch up from that point. Tie the rope to the stake around that notch and then drive the pointed end of the ten inch stake down into the ground. This action sucks the rope into the ground as well and makes that thing as steady as a Pennsylvania coal miner. If you’ve tent camped before, everything you’d bring with you for that applies in the wall tent world. It’s all about what makes you happy. Try it out a few times and you’ll be surprised what makes the cut and what doesn’t once the comfort side is taken care of. A wall tent isn’t for every situation, you’re not packing this thing into the backcountry in your backpack. When you’re able to access the campsite from the road, by vehicle, horseback, or bike with a trailer, a wall tent is tough to beat. If you’ve been thinking about that camper and you just aren’t sure, take a look at a wall tent. Camping with friends or family and wanting some space, or maybe to feel comfortable solo camping for a long period you need to make a canvas wall tent a consideration. If nothing else you might get to post a cool picture of it on social media.
June 24, 2022 Hunting Buddies: What Makes a Good Hunting Partnership By: Justin Hunold Aside from my father I would say I have had two real hunting partners in my life. One is family and the other mine as well be. I have two really great fishing buddies as well. Furthermore, I have a cousin who is also very busy with all things in life. We don’t hunt together often but we also talk and text about it constantly. If the opportunity presented itself I believe that they would be good hunting partners too. What has set them apart from the dozens of other people I have spent hours with out in the woods and on the water? Well, other than their ability to put up with my bullshit that is? Let’s dive in and try to figure out what makes us tied at the hip for outdoor adventures. I asked them all the same questions via text message and prompted them to be brutally honest about their answers. I wanted to see if we could drill down on some common themes to bring out what has made us good partners in our adventures. What makes me compliment them in the pursuit of the natural world. The question is based on this “Why are we good hunting partners?” The Good: The question was “What is the best part of having me as a hunting/fishing partner.” If I were to look at the cumulative answers it comes down to shared values. I think this is probably the most important statement in a good partnership. I don’t necessarily mean religion, political or fiscal values either, although those may help. Family values fall into this category, if you prioritize family, like I do, your hunting partners need to understand that. I don’t care what’s happening, I will not miss Halloween or my son’s Birthday. Both of which fall during hunting seasons. My buddies need to understand and be okay with this. We may have to drive separately or hunt/fish alone one or two days during those stretches, but those are boundaries I put in place and with that they can do the same. Brad is my cousin, I hunt with him the most. He has a wife and a step son. We have cut trips short or rearranged weekends for baseball and ultra marathons. Craig and I have been friends for 20 years. I was in his wedding and I am his daughter’s godfather. We both understand the priorities of parenthood and take the fact that we ran around the woods and water at will together for 10 plus years into account. Now we do it when our schedules line up. Work ethic is another aspect in the spectrum of values that was noted. Jim, who I have spent more time on a boat with than probably everyone else combined, stated that the competitive nature of our fishing was a draw and bonding opportunity. We fish in very different styles so we were always grinding to catch more or bigger fish, there was always one more cast. Tom, is another cousin. We don’t get to hunt together a lot, he is a family man with a wife and three kids and a MLB player. We talk about hunting on almost a daily basis. He pointed out that we have the same level of work and effort. Brad said we are willing to do anything and go anywhere to get the job done, without complaints. Your hunting partner needs to love the process as much as you do. Your levels of input and output need to be nearly equal. Craig also brought up valuing conservation of the resources including responsible harvest of fish. Brad focused on the fact that I enjoy the entire process of hunting, scouting, setting stands, building blinds, cameras, content and that we share the year round mentality. Your values don’t have to be the exact same as your hunting partners, and if you have multiple hunting and fishing buddies they don’t have to have the same values either, but yours need to complement each of them. Jim doesn’t keep a whole lot of fish, Craig does, I keep this in mind with each of them. TJ will get up at 2 am if that’s what is needed to catch the first flock of the morning, Brad on the other hand will hunt his way in during gray light to best take advantage of his level of patience and will change tactics at the drop of a hat. TJ and I stick to a plan, with Brad I am very fluid with planning. You’re there as much for them as they are for you. And that’s for the bad too. The Bad: “ What’s the worst aspect of hunting/fishing with me?” I asked each of these men to be brutally honest with me. That’s a lot to do with someone you need to trust with flying hooks, bad weather, treestand, fast and deep water and firearms. There have been moments with each of them that I was ready to leave them out there and I know for sure they have more times than that when they were ready to tell me to pound sand and we are done doing this together. Here are the examples that came to light that I may not have seen coming. Competition, Jim and I are competitive with fishing and we have viewed it as a good thing most times. Yet, deep down in my dear friend’s soul lived a beast that wanted to toss my over competitive ass into a deep hole with an anchor tied to my leg because of that same competition. At least that’s the way I read his text answer. He mentioned something I do all the time that I had no idea bothered him. I slap my lures off the top of the water to clear weeds. I do it maybe dozens of times on a given fishing trip. He hates it. I understand why that’s annoying and I totally won’t ever do it again when we are together, unless he is out fishing me. One of the things Brad mentioned was along the same lines, the good was we feed off of each other. The bad aspect was the same, we feed off each other. So, instead of one helping the other push through the tough days or mornings of laziness we join in commiserating or skipping time in the stand we should be partaking in. So, we have always known that but now that it has been verbalized I will do my best to push when it is on me to do, but I will ask him to do the same. It’s a partnership after all. TJ pointed out the fact there were plenty of early days that we didn’t like each other until the decoys were set and we were watching for incoming birds. We both learned you didn’t have to want to like someone to work as a team. This occurred with some of those very early, very cold and very quiet long line sets. We hunted enough together we didn’t really need to speak to lay out twelve dozen decoys on long lines in the pitch black. We were well oiled even if we were giving each other the silent treatment. The Ugly: With TJ, Jim, Craig, and Tom they all gave an answer that I take as the biggest compliment. It’s the ugly truth of growing older. The worst part is we don’t get to do this stuff together enough. That was their “worst part” and I agree. I spend weeks a year hunting, scouting and camping with Brad but trying to line that up with the others is almost impossible. So at the end of the day, we do our best and know we always have the outdoors. Friendship, this is the highest priority. For my family and friends that I hunt and fish with, we value that bond more than anything else. We level at the same place, fish, bucks and ducks are great, but time spent together is the driving factor in all of this. Whether its skipping morning sits to grab coffee and drive around glassing fields, grabbing Bojangles after a duck-less morning, beers and rigging rods only to get skunked on the first salmon trip of the fall, sharing baby pictures and trading one liners from the Simpsons or texts of trail camera videos, pictures and talking about heavy metal therein lies the point. I value them, and I think I can say with confidence they value me enough that success is a great goal but it truly is the journey that matters. And when success happens I am happy to have such great men in my life to share that great feeling with. I know they have my back and I have theirs. I believe this is the essence of the pursuit of game, a story as old as time. These bonds are forged in the first embers of the human spirit and continue to burn no matter how much time they are left to the side of life. A cupped bird, a chasing buck, a spawning salmon, dropping acorns or hard hitting smallmouth is all the spark we need to continue to burn that fire. A hunting party is as ingrained as procreation or communication. It’s what makes us human, and if you find the right hunting and fishing partners, they can help make you a better human.
June 17, 2022 Guided Hunts and Being a Good Client By: TJ Rademacher I’ve had the opportunity to be on both sides of the client-outfitter relationship. I came out of high school and spent a short time as a big game guide in Montana and Idaho. I got to experience the ups and downs of being in the outfitting business. Since it is a service there is a high amount of pressure to get your client into position for the best opportunity you can. Typically, there are fairly large sums of money changing hands. With that exchange come expectations from the client. This is perfectly acceptable. You should expect the highest amount of effort possible to be put forth by your guide and the outfit to help you get the opportunity for a successful hunt. The key word in that statement is opportunity. The critters you pay good money to chase are not in on this exchange of money. I don’t care if it’s a laid-back South Texas Teal hunt or grueling pursuit of a big western bull elk, critters do what critters do and they have one thing on their mind. That is survival. They are working for one more day and trying to not get themselves killed. They do not care about what you want. Where they were yesterday, they may not be there today. It’s still hunting at the end of the day. It’s best to remember this when you pay an outfitter for their services. You should not be a push over if you think you are genuinely taken advantage of to be sure but managing your expectations and not letting yourself think that your money alone will buy your success is what I’m driving at. Here are a few things that will help you choose outfitter and end up being more successful. Hopefully, it lends some light on how to be someone that an outfitter looks forward to having back too. This lays out the thought process on how to be successful on a guided hunt. At the beginning of most hunts there is usually some sort of safety talk from the outfitter or guide. This is a general layout of the expectations, what is acceptable behavior around firearms and other key subjects for the area you are in. I’ve seen and heard about some wild stuff going down. Pay attention to what is expected. You don’t want your guide on edge wondering if they are going to catch a Nosler partition through their ribs because of a client constantly fiddling with safeties and being generally unsafe with a weapon. Follow the rules don’t cut corners and practice the rules of firearms safety. Most guides are the same as you. They love the outdoors, and they love getting after it and being successful in the field. Most take a huge amount of pride in being the one to count on and help deliver that success. They stay under a constant amount of scrutiny from clients themselves and the managers of the outfit. They want you to be successful because they want to be a successful guide. Be gracious from the start. The amount of logistics and prep to get you where you need to be are huge. In many ways the logistics are what ends up making you successful. Stay humble and treat it like you are a team. It’s okay to ask why you are doing what you are doing sometimes. It shows you are genuinely interested and will typically be appreciated if it comes from that angle. The thing I would tell you to avoid is being the person openly questioning somebody who has likely forgotten more hours in the area you are hunting than you have put in probably anywhere. This is not a good way to form a successful team and may hinder your success greatly. Check your ego at the door and be in the moment there with your guide. They will appreciate your attitude. Come prepared. When you are researching an outfit to hunt with, you’ll typically see a packing list of some sort. Pay attention to this and either pack or purchase the items you think you’ll need accordingly. If you must purchase something like boots make sure you are wearing them months or at the very least, weeks in advance of your hunt if you are planning on a western big game hunt. I’ve seen new boots smoke clients within a couple days. Don’t do that to yourself. Along with breaking in your boots or other gear you need to be physically up to the challenge. Don’t be the guy who so horribly misjudged the physical requirements of a hunt that they can’t take advantage of the guides experience due to lack of ability to get to the places they need you to go. This is your responsibility to make sure you have the endurance to do this in advance. It’s hard from the guides perspective to feel a ton of sympathy when you don’t plan ahead. Actively participate in the hunt from start to end. It is about the experience and your guide can see that. You will always get more from someone when you try and match their efforts or assist them in some way. Don’t be the guy who doesn’t help brush and A-frame or at least offer to set out/ pick up decoys. It’s a small gesture that will help earn mutual respect between both parties and in some cases influence your success. This Is especially true when you are setting up 60-70 dozen silhouettes on a Kansas field hunt where the farmer won’t allow trucks and trailers in the field. It’s all part of it and you need to help roll with the punches to be successful. Tip. Even if you are not as successful as you had figured. the effort to get you on the best opportunity possible was most likely put forth if you went with a reputable outfitter. Your choice in outfitter is your responsibility. You should seek out a group of people who are honest and hard working. They typically have been in business for a while and have a good track record of keeping their clients happy for the most part. Don’t try to cut corners and go with someone who doesn’t exhibit most of these qualities. Especially the honesty and work ethics part. Your tip is your sign of appreciation to the individual that helped you have the best experience available at that time. You should recognize their efforts by tipping accordingly if they have done their job to the best of their ability. Sometimes you are unsuccessful no matter what happens due to a variety of reasons. A lot of these are beyond anyone’s control. You can have a skunk at peak rut as well as the day of a peak migration. If you’ve made it this far you’ve seen that a guided hunt is an interactive experience and comes with some simple responsibilities on your part. Accepting These will help you have the best experience you can possibly get access to at that particular point in the season. Plan ahead and book during times that have historically been the most productive for the outfitter in the past. Above all be gracious and positive. Be ready to put in the effort to get you the rest of the way to success. Also remember That this is supposed to be fun. Don’t take things so seriously that you aren’t taking something positive away from the time you are in the field. Cherish each sunrise. You aren’t guaranteed tomorrows. T
June 3, 2022 What Shells are Best for Waterfowl Hunting Pt 2 A cannonball in the shallow end of shotshell selection By: TJ Rademacher In my last article I talked about the evolution of the modern waterfowl shot shell and how we have gotten back to offerings available that closely match the performance of lead. Hell, in some ways they might be better. So, you’ve got a whole lot of choices! Honestly, you can do well with any of the modern offerings. The knowledge I’m about to leave with you will help you understand what sizes of shot in a given material for some general situations. Some of this might surprise you. Since we are talking about shot let’s talk about chokes for a minute before we get too deep into this. Chokes obviously effect your pattern size and density (pellet count) through tighter or looser constrictions. You can go as far down the rabbit hole as you want on how company A guarantees 50% denser patterns and company B says birds will actually put themselves on your strap because if the decreased shot string length produced by their wad grabber technology. I don’t care what kind of snake its named after or what type of violent weather pattern its supposed emulate. Your choke and shotgun combo will literally be not worth a damn if you don’t pattern it with whatever load you choose to run through it. One more thing to consider for those who can’t or choose not spend money on some of the more expensive choke options your shotgun probably came with a few factory chokes. Just because its stock doesn’t mean it doesn’t work. Try them out with some of the partial boxes of shells you have. Get some cardboard out draw a 40-inch circle on it and shoot it. The results may surprise you. Let me preface this next part with the following, it’s an educated opinion. I’m not a ballistician and my physics formula game is weak so if you don’t completely agree with everything I have to say I’m sorry for any imperfections. There are tons of studies about the actual science of why a certain shot size does what it does as it travels down range or when it makes contact with a bird. I highly suggest you read some of the stuff by Tom Roster if you want a real understanding of the science. If you like the details like me, you will find this information extremely interesting. This is not that kind of article though. I’m going off the research that I was able to digest from folks like Tom over the years and the experiences I have had in the field. Here are the cliff notes. Ditch the 3.5 inch shells. You don’t need them. The tradeoff for more powder and heavier pay loads is more recoil. Recoil affects your ability to be able to get back on target after you either miss or you are trying to get after that other drake you see slipping out the back. Even if you are pass shooting I hold the same opinion. If you are shooting a steel shot shell, I recommend a 3inch shell. You can get more than enough speed to kill birds as long as you are choosing the right size shot and plenty enough payload for dense patterns. If you choose to go with Bismuth or tungsten I maintain that you really don’t need anything more than a 2 ¾ inch shell for birds inside of 40ish yards. This is because we are back to the near lead performance level with bismuth and way beyond with tungsten. I’ve also found that tungsten, bismuth and steel pattern out of 2 3/4 and 3 inch shell more uniformly and denser than 3.5-inch shells in my results. This is just my experience, but hey it jives with the science too. It’s weird how that stuff works. On to shot size. I don’t really see why you would need to shoot more than BB in a quality steel load for any North American waterfowl. To be completely honest I think #2 shot is plenty if your pattern is doing what is supposed to and you are being ethical with your distances. Here is why the shot is roughly a sphere. It’s not super aerodynamic like a bullet so the larger the sphere the more drag it creates. its gong to slow down faster than a slightly smaller shot and also when it hits the bird it probably going to drag more crap with it through the wound channel. So at the effective ranges shotgun operate in the #2 shot will most likely be traveling faster longer and penetrate deeper. This is why I would go with #2 for big ducks and Geese. For smaller ducks I go with #4 and #6 shot sizes. If its early season teal, go with the extra pellets #6 offers. If you feel like you need some more thump for those wood ducks, widgeon and even a pintail if he’s close go #4. This is what I consider optimal If you choose steel. If you go with the bismuth and tungsten blends you can drop a couple shot sizes and expect The same performance you had with your steel loads. You are going to pick up some density in your patterns with the same sort of ballistic results in a larger steel load. This is where I have found is the happy medium for me. I’m getting lead-ish performance for a little bit more. Plus, I get fewer holes in my pattern. These make the most sense to me if you can make room for it in the budget. Also consider this, if the amount of shooting you do is low volume and opportunities are hard to come by it may be advantageous to use a higher density shell. You will not be burning through them as fast. I’ve adopted this approach because in my home state of North Carolina I can count on one hand the times I’ve ever gotten close to going through a box of shells in a single hunt. Food for thought. If you can justify them and want to shoot a pure tungsten load more power to you. I’ve shot a handful of boxes at birds and patterned them and they are truly devastating on and off paper. I know for a fact that #9 and #8 will crush mallards at all ethical ranges. I’ve not seen it but have heard of people putting geese down with #7 1/2. The patterns are dense enough that you do not have to worry about a bird slipping through. There is just not enough room. If you put a good shot on them with tungsten odds are the bird is going down hard. However, the price is asinine. We are talking around 70-90 bucks for a box of 10. It’s hard to wrap your brain around that kind of price tag for waterfowl hunting. If the cost was no object I would shoot these. For now, I’ll stay in my budget’s lane. I encourage everyone to use their best judgment on what shells to pick. Don’t get too hung up on the material because you can have success with all off the flavors of shot shell on the market. What you should get hung up on is how a given load performs out of your particular shotgun. Don’t get caught up in the opinions of others either before you try something. Don’t let anyone price shame you or tell you it’s not good enough. If it patterns well you will be just fine. Remember you have to find them before you can shoot them. I recommend money be spent on fuel and a decent set of binoculars before I got carried away with ammunition. Drink water… there is nothing worse than pulling your foot out of wader boots with a calf cramp. T
May 27, 2022 The Evolution of Shot Shell Performance Part 1 Choosing The Best Waterfowl Load Through Observation By: TJ Rademacher Lead shot has been gone for a long enough to become the stuff of legend. I’ve heard stories of its abilities on ducks and geese. Before the 1991 ban on lead shot shells for waterfowl hunters never really had to deal with a lack knockdown power. There have been thousands and thousands of birds killed with a very limited selection of lead shot shell lengths and payloads. Since lead became off limits to us, we’ve been chasing its characteristics in other materials. This is a look at how we’ve really come full circle to match, and in some instances greater ballistic performance of the venerable lead pellet. The best waterfowl load is matching or exceeding the performance of lead. I’ve heard the guys who used lead before the ban talk about a how 2 ¾ inch #6 loads where absolute poison on decoying big ducks. 3 inch #4 was the surefire solution to putting geese on the ground. Bluebills being crushed by #7 trap loads over a big water layout boat rig was commonplace. Lead is a very effective transferor of energy. It is very dense as compared to the surface area. This density allows for penetration through vital organs and kinetic energy transfer that can break key structural junctions that keep birds in the air. Lead loads were propelled around 11-1200 FPS in traditional loads used for the take of waterfowl and still are for applications where they are still allowed to be used. Once this wasn’t allowed and shot shell manufactures looked for an answer with nontoxic properties, steel was picked up as the substitute. Early steel shot users had horrible reviews. Hunters with claims of shot bouncing off birds not penetrating the fat layer on late season birds. Early steel loads were of low quality in some cases. The modern ways that manufactures have squeezed the maximum amount of performance out of steel loads was not present then. It was a time of adjustment and as with anything totally new there was a lot to figure out. To get the same kinetic energy the size of shot had to go up to consistently kill birds. As shot size goes up in relation to a constant payload weight the number of pellets in that load goes down. You’re getting a less dense pattern. So, if you look at the voids that this can create in the pattern, you can see how a bird could pass through untouched. Worse yet the same bird might not absorb enough pellets to make a quick kill. Extra powder longer shells like the 3.5” chambering in 12 gauge were ways to make payloads increase and to make up for the other thing that helps steel ballistics wise. Speed. The speed of the pellets increased to help make up for steels deficiencies. Advertised speeds up to 1700 fps have come to market to cure steels shortcomings. There are many other factors in the evolution of steel shot that increased its performance for a budget friendly alternative to lead, but we don’t have room for all of the finer points we are hitting the high points here. As the market evolved some companies brought to market new materials to move the standard seen in steels shells. Steel has killed a lot of birds from its inception until now. Enter bismuth and tungsten. These elements are what have brought us back around full circle. They get us close to some of the properties of lead and in some case surpass its performance. These two metals are good substitutes because they have the density like or greater than lead based on what blend of either. They are also nontoxic, which is a continued push in modern ammunition. The only real problem with loads utilizing these two types of material is cost. Even with blending these with duplex steel loads like Hevi Metal the price of a box of shells is noticeably higher, no matter what flavor combination you choose. You are also getting fewer shells in some loads based on what blend of either type of material is being used. Tungsten and bismuth are typically blended with other metals or polymers make them more affordable and increase performance on some areas. There are a few offerings in a pure tungsten load which allow for shot as low as #9 with ballistic capabilities comparable to that of larger lead and steel pellets. These are very cost prohibitive and are not a normal selection for even the most dedicated shell snobs. I have used some of the lower density blends and had really good results. In my opinion the reasons why the bismuth blends are worth the increase in cost is the increased pattern density. The fewer number of holes in the pattern, from a properly choked gun, is noticeable in downrange performance on birds, in my experience. There are other nuances to this material, but these are the high-level differences and advantages that I feel most hunters would see as pertinent information. The next part of this series will have more to with what sizes of shot to choose given a particular material and more about the ballistics of different lengths of shells and weight of payloads and why you might choose one or the other for different situation or when choosing one load to do it all with. I felt it was necessary to understand the history as I’ve observed it before we go into the why. I’ll leave you with this. Most of us need to spend more time shooting clays. Many times, the reason the bird doesn’t drop is because you didn’t put the work in during the off season. You may also make a choice to take an opportunity on something that is low percentage at longer range. This is not the end all be all or a reason to buy the cheapest stuff out there but the advantages in one material over another shine when the shooter is performing at their highest level. To put a modern spin on an old saying it’s probably the indigenous individual not the archery equipment. More to come soon. Don’t Stop your swing T
May 20, 2022 Hunting Deer with Dogs : A Yankee Hunting in the Shadows of a Southern Racetrack By Justin Hunold Early Southern Mornings in the Pines When I made my southern migration in my early 20’s to see what North Carolina had to offer, the move came with the best intentions to understand and embrace as many southern traditions and ways of life as my thick northern blood could find tenable. We all know about sweet tea, grits and NASCAR. Fish Fry? Country Music? Pickled Okra? Dove Hunting? Those are all easy things to check off the list early on. Yet, there was a southern hunting tradition that I was pretty steadfast on not embracing : Hunting deer with dogs. I walked into my first morning shift as a Team Lead in the Hunting Department at a major big box outdoor store and I met him. There stood a middle aged man, shorter in stature, well kept, green shirt tucked in and jeans without a wrinkle, Merrell slip on shoes on his feet. I would later learn that this was the only style of shoes I would ever see him in with one exception. “You must be our new Yankee” with a true southern accent, stuck out his hand and said “I’m Barry Ridenhour, I run the morning crew” After some short intros to the morning crew “ That there is Spider and Raid Man” turn the corner into the ammo aisle “ This here is Larry Beaver, we call him Beav” Barry pulled me aside and said “Listen here, You don’t go F$!@ing with me and I won’t go F@$!ing with you.” He poked my chest a little harder than he poked his own while saying that. This was the most honest anyone had been with me since I moved south. The sentiment was as serious as the poke was hard. Barry had retired from tree work to then spend another couple decades as a bricklayer before starting his retirement job of retail supervision. His callused finger brought that life to a point on my sternum. I closed every night and Barry opened every morning, so all in all our interactions were brief but normally really filled with humor. Barry had a quick wit, and a very different perspective than mine. He was normally done around 2:00pm and I began my shift at 1:00pm so we had about an hour of overlap a few days a week. In about 3 years of working together we had only one real cross interaction. And the sentiment of the chest poking conversation was at the heart of the matter. Other than that, mostly laughs and picking on any poor coworker that walked by. I could, and maybe someday will, write a story about this man who might have been 5’4” but lived life like he was 10 foot tall and bulletproof. Some things I had to get used to when it came to deer hunting in the south were the heat of the early season, corn feeder and piles of feed, dodging snakes and spiders, gas lines, thick thick woods, no snow, and always hunting from an elevated position. None of these things were normal to me, neither was the hard scrabble living the deer piece together in the different areas I was chasing them in. I had never hunted a beanfield, small chunks of woods in completely urban settings or box blinds that have names like “The Hotel” with deer coming to bait as reliably as a Timex Ironman tells you it’s time to get out of bed. Set it right and it works all the time. As I got adjusted to these things I started paying more attention to the culture of deer hunting around North Carolina.Although the Piedmont was now rich with whitetails this wasn’t always the case. I ran into a lot of people who bird hunted, doves, quail and waterfowl and then occasionally deer hunted, or were just getting into deer hunting. Hunting has deep roots and rich traditions in this area, but whitetails were fairly “new” still. With all of my coworkers chasing whitetails, ducks, geese and other small game we were constantly sharing pictures and stories of our adventures. Barry was no exception. As the first fall we worked together began to take hold I got my first peek into hunting deer with dogs. Barry belonged to a club “out east”. So,on his days off Barry would drive the almost two hours before daylight to be at the club early and hunt deer with the people he shared the club with. He didn’t own a deer tracking dog, but the guys that he had been hunting with for 30+ years did. And that was part of the story and tradition of the club. A lot of the Dog Handlers didn’t bring a gun to the game, just the dog. Barry just brought a shotgun and buckshot. He would tell me about the big buck his buddy shot, or the doe days where everyone got a deer. Those stories were at the time, different and altogether more enticing to me than even my own. I was hunting over bait, and we sold more feeders and corn than I could shake a stick at. Could hunting deer with dogs be a more traditional, wholesome, and sporting way to chase whitetails than what I was doing? One Sunday that following summer I went to Barry’s house to work on my car. That again is another story altogether. Barry invited me into his house, and there in the living room with bows tied around their necks were two shoulder mounts. The bows were Barry’s wife, Kay’s way of getting them pretty enough to hang and as interesting as that notion is, I wanted to know the story of the bucks. They were both small, not much to speak of for antlers. I knew for certain these weren’t Barry’s biggest bucks, but for the man who at one time owned the fastest Cadillac in the world, these were the ones he chose to display with pride. Barry told me those were the first whitetails he had ever shot at his club. In fact they were the first whitetails he had ever seen while hunting years ago. Mind you he had hunted his whole life and these deer were taken in his adulthood. He told me the story about these bucks creeping through the black jacks and pines with dogs in tow. Between that story and the previous fall tales I was intrigued. “Hey, you think I could tag along with ya some time.” “ Hell Yeah Dawg” It was early when I met Barry in the parking lot at work. I got in his Chevy 1500 and we started the trip to get to the club. It was abusively early, like 3:30 AM. It would take us about 2 hours to get to Rockingham. That name might strike you as familiar, that’s because of the world famous speedway the ROCK. So, there in a Red Chevy I sat eating my Bacon and Biscuit sandwiches, drinking my coffee, listening to the original world’s most interesting man on our way to hunt deer over dogs, in the shadow of a world famous speedway that was once a crown jewel of the NASCAR schedule. This was as southern an experience as anything my carpetbagging mind could wrap itself around. We pulled up to the camp which was a pavilion with a trailer next to it. Barry Jumped up on the tailgate of his truck and shouted out instructions. “We’re doing the cornfield hunt first”. All of the set ups we hunted that day had a traditional name. The plans for those hunt’s weren’t decided that morning, the night before or even the weeks prior, these setups have been decades in the making. So we rode over to the corn field. Shotguns and stools ready to go we set up in an “L” shape along the field with safe zones of fire understood. I was told to shoot any buck, if it had horns I was to shoot. You see, the meat gets shared between everyone, any buck would be split between everyone there. This was proven when one of the sitters shot a spike buck almost immediately when the dogs took to the field. The dogs we hunted over were varied and of no particular lineage as I could tell. With the first run being made in a cornfield I wasn’t able to really see what was going on with the dogs. These dogs weren’t any fancy breed or particular lineage that I could tell, so much as a mix of beagles and other hounds. They were small. And able to weave their way through a lot of this very tight, thick, snake filled, sand bottomed cover. We set up on a sand road, I was sitting on my dove stool looking into the woods, trying to see through the black jack oaks and mixed pines when I could hear something coming. I got ready, hoping to see horns, but instead a big doe came to the road I was sitting on the other side of. When she hit the road she bounded over it and easily hit the other side without touching the manicured sand. Then she trotted out of my life at 7 yards. A few minutes later I heard bells and some barks and one of those short statured hound mixes came sniffing the exact path that doe had taken to the road. Then I watched the damndest thing, that dog went to the spot where the doe took off for her leap and walked across the road in a direct line and nosed down in the exact spot she impacted on her first earthward step. He then followed her off into the brush on the other side of the road. I have no clue if he was intuitive enough to guess the path, if his nose was good enough to track a gap that big, or if he just remembered every hunt on that road, but that dog missed nothing. And as fast as they both appeared, that dog disappeared into the sandy, snake infested, spider filled forest. A friend and coworker, Trey, had been hunting with Barry before. So, when I told Trey I was going he said, “ You’ll have fun with Ol’ Barry, just remember if you can hear the dogs the deer is already past you.” He wasn’t wrong. That is exactly what happened with that one encounter. And just like when I had hunted birds or small game with dogs, hearing their howls and barks coming through the country was as exciting as seeing the deer. There is something primal about the sound of hounds and the unknown outcome that that report signifies. It was strange to have the idea of these two things, the sight of the game and the sound of the dogs having to be in conjunction but slightly detached. It’s like wrapping your head around fraternal twins, you know they go together, but you can’t quite understand how that all works. We kept rotating through different sets, or hunts as Barry would call them, The Corn Field, The School House, The Race Track. These were traditional pushes, and everyone understood their place and job. We were set up on some thick low pines with grasses mixed in when I heard the blast of a shotgun in the distance. And after the dogs filtered through and were gathered up we went over to see a nice 9 point buck that had succumbed to the 00 buckshot. A Semi Auto Shotgun is the only tool for the job when it comes to this style of hunting Eventually, we went back to the camp, which was a trailer and a pavilion. With a few deer hanging up from the pavilion, I watched as they used a rock, rope and truck to skin the deer. Making standard caping cuts around the hide, the “butcher” then inserted a rock just under the skin where the necklace cut rides over the spine. Then with the rope that was tied off to the truck’s trailer hitch, he tied that rock into place. This appeared to be a similar way as you would affix a roc to a stick when you were trying to make a spear as a kid. Once the knot was deemed tight the truck drove forward and the skin all came off in one piece. From there the deer were pieced out, with the shooter getting some choice cuts but each buck got spread out through the club members piece by piece. And at the end of the day, this made sense to me in a way it wouldn’t have when I got in Barry’s truck earlier that morning. In a crazy way I went from having no attachment to this style of hunting, in fact I’ll go as far to say a disdain, to an admiration for everything it represented and an understanding of the culture that surrounded it. This understanding is slight at best but it is a tangible line on the grains of my inner vinyl record that is deer hunting. The dogs were shared, the spots were shared, the jokes were shared, the culture was shared, and so were the plenties of the harvest. As I grow older I find that I better understand the ins and outs of different and wrong. We often do things differently that someone else deems as wrong. Those lines are subjective. In the hunting community we need to start taking in the experiences of others, try to understand that other hunter. You are both a part of a dying breed, we are wolves. So understand that although you might view someone hunting by legal means that you don’t agree with as wrong, in the end likely they are just different. There aren’t enough wolves left to start making members of our pack outcasts. Even when those members use a pack of real dogs to pursue whitetails. And by the way this was the only time I saw Barry wear anything other than those damn Merrells
May 13, 2022 What to Carry for Waterfowl Hunting: Make Your Blind Bag Work For You By T.J. Rademacher A well thought out blind bag is an essential tool for waterfowl hunting Every seasoned public land waterfowler knows that there are all sorts of things that get thrown into blind bags. If you are new to this sport, there is an excellent chance that you will get bogged down on all sorts of details. Your basic list of blind bag contents should not be the thing to overthink. You can bring what you want, but remember to look at each item objectively. Most public land hunters walk in or are limited to what they can carry in their boat. One time of a shoulder strap cutting off your airway for 300 yards, through shin deep muck will help you understand that less is more. This is aimed at the guy or gal who doesn’t have private blinds, a huge boat or an enclosed trailer to get your stuff to the X. It’s not that we don’t want to bring a stove to cook our breakfast on… it’s that we can’t. You will get opportunities to be frivolous with items that come with you on a hunt sometime, but for now keep it simple. Do yourself a favor and take some of what I have to say into consideration. It all comes from a bit of trial and mostly error. First let’s talk about the blind bag itself. This bag should be made from a waterproof or highly water resistant material. The things inside should be shielded from the elements by quality zippers and taped seams. Either one works. This costs a little more coin on the front end but will pay you back when you miss judge your tossing distance to a buddy on the other side of the ditch you need to cross… Believe me I’ve been there. Remember your time is limited; a few hours in the field on most waterfowl hunts. Your bag should be small enough to be super mobile but have enough capacity to hold the essentials. Some folks choose a backpack style while others choose a more traditional duffel bag style. So let’s talk about the essentials. Shells should be limited to two or three boxes max. Right here is the bulk of your bag’s weight. I was not blessed to grow up in an area where people shoot limits on public water very often. Even on the bucket list hunts I’ve been on to other places throughout North America there was never a need for more than 50 shells. I can count on one hand the times I’ve shot more than a box of shells. Most of the time it’s less than ten that get used. I carry two boxes because it completely covers my requirements and allows for swatting as many cripples as I can handle, without ever worrying about ever running out. Plus, sometimes you can come in clutch for that buddy who forgets important things like shells… sometimes. Having everything you need for both you and your friends gives an added level of security to your adventures. Those friends might have two legs or four. Aside from shells you need something to drink or eat most likely. Lickies and Chewys are super important to have on hand. The last three hours of a hunt can be super tough to stick out for those late morning opportunities. They are especially tough if all you can think about is where you are going to eat after. Besides food I keep a small med kit with basic comfort items like chapstick and Motrin and trauma items for both me and my dog. Most common things like a headache, a small cut for the dog or myself can be handled with this kit. One maybe unusual thing, I keep a tourniquet on hand. A tourniquet may sound very extra at first thought but terrible accidents happen around firearms sometimes. I’m hunting areas off the beaten path with no immediate help. Having a quality tourniquet and the knowledge of how to use one could literally save someone’s life. Some of the smaller items are important as well. Your calls and game strap are pretty obvious must-haves for the hunt. But what happens when you dump your shotgun in the mud and need to get your trigger group pins out of the gun to clear an obstruction and get it running again? A quality multitool is worth its weight in gold for fixing guns and tons of other problems you might encounter. After said trip into the mud you might find your barrel plugged. I keep a 12 gauge bore snake and a cloth at all times. It is better to know the bore is clear than to have a barrel detonate because you left something in it. Also bring a small bottle of your favorite gun oil or maybe dry lube in the winter. It’s magic when you have it and can be a show stopper for your favorite fowling piece when you don’t. A choke wrench and an extra choke, when conditions call for a change, can come in handy. These items are optional, but highly recommended. I always have a couple ways to keep warm. Typically, I’ll have a couple sets of hot hands for stiff fingers. In addition I always carry two ways to make fire. I keep A lighter and small magnesium striker with oiled cotton balls to make sure I can get something lit and keep it burning if conditions are damp. Dryer lint works very well as a starter too. Keep them in a vacuum sealed bag to have them ready to go. This way they won’t be water logged when you need them. I’ve had the pleasure of spending more time than I had planned for in the field due to motor issues or getting wet in cold weather. These moments let me know the value of these two items. You are welcome in advance. You can bring some other small creature comforts like extra gloves or other items you feel you can’t live without but the above mentioned gear is what I’ve found to be just what I need without wanting for more when I’m focused on killing birds. Focus on what’s essential and adjust what you carry as you gain experience. Your ideas of essential and mine may differ and that’s fine. I’m just trying to help you prevent the pack mule effect that ends up dragging a lot of new folks down. Whether walking in or taking a watercraft a blind bag keeps you organized, equipped, fed, hydrated and can be a real life saver. Remember to swing through T
May 6, 2022 A Final Hunt: The Beaver Flow By: Justin Hunold The Sherman Brook And its Speckled Beauties By: Frank Williams God bless my soul, you are growing old. So I took my pole, line and hook and started Out back for the “Sherman Brook” Down through the barnyard, out through the gate. Each stop took me forward, not knowing my fate. Out thro’ the “Rye Lot”, I plodded with glee. Down round the curve by the “Old Beech Tree” Through the “Carter Lot Gate”, I traveled along. The brook was below me, singing its song. I baited my hook and got ready my pole. For out in the stream was my favorite hole. I cast in my line, and pulled him out, And there on the bank lay a “Beautiful Trout”, I gazed at the beauty with color sublime. I said to myself, “Well- You are mine.” Babble, babble went the stream, In answer to my “Final Dream” Before we talk about my plagiarism in this case, I believe that at this point the man that wrote this would give me his blessing in using it. He would likely enjoy giving the world a peek into his little slice of heaven and his flare for telling a story. You see, I’m not the only person in my family who would write about their passion for the natural world and our interaction with it. The man who wrote this was my Great Grandfather, Frank. The poem takes place on the farm he and my Great Grandmother Evelyn purchased. They then increased its holdings, production and number of occupants, with their growing family. The call of the wild has long been abided in my family. Frank Williams with Fox pelts from his farm and probably some that surrounded it. At the time I started exploring the surrounding lands it was owned by Don and Joan Williams, my Great Aunt and Uncle. These adventures started in earnest with my Uncle Stephen. Later my dad, Scott, would teach me how to really hunt there, on Sundays I didn’t have wrestling. After highschool I would drive the half an hour or so to get up to Panther Lake, almost weekly. Uncle Don even knew when I had gotten new tires on my S10 by the time the end of summer rolled around from the change in tread pattern in the sand. When I was little my Uncle Stephen would take me in those woods and we would put up or build some tree stands, do some fishing, catch some frogs and get me “lost”. By the time I was old enough to hunt there I had been “lost” enough that my compass became mostly useless. I knew where I was all the time. Not long after that my dad shot a seven point buck when I was with him, the first deer I had ever seen taken while hunting. My Uncle told me to sit on the front hill one evening, normally the deer would be coming through the woods behind the knob. That watch was at the edge of a pine patch and hardwoods. That evening a nice six point did exactly that. He was my first buck, I killed him with a borrowed 30-06 and a well placed shot. Many memorable mistakes were made before that, but those are stories for over a beer not in a blog. A fall or two after that I read “How to Bag The Biggest Buck of Your Life” by Larry Benoit. I decided I was going to become a tracker. At breakfast one particular morning, in the arrogance of a very young man, I told my Father and Uncle that I was going to do so. They chuckled and encouraged me. Well, at the end of a track that day was a three point buck that I shot at 10 yards. Not my biggest buck but maybe my favorite of all time. This was the only buck I have ever tracked in my life. Oh to be that self confident again. I realized I could catch more of those Speckled Beauties if I would float my bait under a small cork bobber on the Sherman Brook. The more natural color and presentation would not hold a Beautiful Trout back from hitting the worm or fly slinking past their nose. I have more outdoor memories on this property than just about any other place I’ve ever spent time outside. My Uncle and I are very close, and I believe this piece of land, this 400 or so acres helped make it that way. We had been inseparable in a lot of ways for all of my life. My son’s middle name is Stephen after my Uncle. This is the place he watched me grow into a man, and where he first really started to treat me like one. Our cumulative memories there were innumerable. I had moved away from Upstate New York. I went to North Carolina, attended college, worked full time to put myself through school and learned some hard life lessons. After a few years and a few miles I finally made my way back. Uncle Stephen called me. The news carried some weight. “Uncle Don is selling the property, closing soon”, he said. I can’t write the rest of that conversation in any sort of quotes, but I remember an immense feeling of loss. I can only speak for myself, but the idea of not being able to wander around this place carried the weight of losing a family member, or friend. And just as you would for a friend or family member we decided right there, we would have a vigil or remembrance. We would do it in the only fitting way we could. We would sneak on one last time and go for a hunt. But this hunt would be completely different. It would be a duck hunt. At the “Back” of the acreage was a beaver swamp, or as we call it The Beaver Flow. We often deer hunted back there, we’d hike back to it, hell, I had even tried to fish it before but never duck hunted it. When I was younger we didn’t hunt waterfowl. During the time I was gone, continuing the journey of becoming a man that I had started on this land, we had both started to enjoy the sport of duck hunting. During all the mornings we had sat over the beaver flow we had seen ducks fly over, around, and drop down into this bowl of standing timber, grass and water. Knowing what I do now, that place would be a go to honey hole, it just wasn’t on our radar for that before. So there, in the dark, with waders on, decoys, guns and headlamps we walked up and down the ridgelines for what seemed like way longer than it ever took in wool pants. We finally slid down the hill and spilled into the flow. We set the decoys up in a likely opening, chatting about all the things we enjoyed about the property, and how we couldn’t believe this was the last go round we’d have there. We shared stories of things we’d seen and done there, both together and separately, before and after I was born. The generations before me had either grown up on the farm or spent a lot of time there with their grandparents. We finished setting the decoys and tucked into some deadfall on the bank. As we watched the sun come over that place for the last time we spoke very little which is a rarity for me, my mouth tends to babble babble. And just then with a perfect fall morning crackling around us, in came….nothing. There were no ducks. Just as it seems to go, when you’re deer hunting all you see is squirrels and when you decide to hunt small game you see deer. So went the picturesque idea we both dreamed of the night before. We weren’t there for the ducks though. We just sat and took it all in. It was as if we were at a viewing or a funeral, that moment that you’re waiting for,when you think the loved one will talk back to you. Then it dawns on you that they cannot and won’t ever again. The parts of them you keep with you are the parts that stay alive. We had taken enough great things from that place and it owed us no more. But with that just like the special little things you tend to see around you after the loss of a loved one, we got to see one flock of Wood Ducks pass by us at about 100 yards. One last “Well, Hello There.” and an idea that maybe Frank and Evelyn wanted to let us know they saw how much we cared. Frank and Evelyn Williams When the closing happens to me, in the reverse fashion, and I buy the farm, I hope my loved ones think about me with their first impactful moment in nature after my moving on. That is one of my greatest wishes. And I hope one of them has enough reprobate left in them, with a bit of rue for authority, to sneak just a handful of my ashes onto that front hill or maybe even toss some into the Sherman Brook.
April 15, 2022 We Love to Watch Them Strut By: Justin Hunold When you get a group of Turkey hunters together and the stories start flowing one thing becomes apparent, The sounds of spring dominate the conversation. We judge each other by our ability to imitate a turkey, we wax poetic over birds hammering on the roost, the weird sounds we hear a hen make sticks in our minds, hell we even discuss odd things that make Toms shock gobble. Let’s think about the fact that we have calling championships in which other callers judge the accuracy and artistry of the calling sequence presented on a stage in front of the world. For me though, the sounds are a primer and what really gets my motor turning are the sights of the Turkey woods. Hearing them is great, Seeing them is what matters The sounds let me know what’s going on, Tom over there , Hen over there, hunter over there or was that a real bird? That’s the thing, I love the sounds but more and more they seem to be becoming rarer and rarer. Let’s not forget with the progression in call technology and growth in turkey hunting opportunities hunters calling has never been easier or sounded better. This has led to a lot of calls being thrown at seemingly more highly pressured birds. There was an article in a major publication about staying quiet and waiting birds out just a few days ago, this should be the canary in the coal mine of what the sounds of spring are doing to our turkey hunting. Now picture this, you’re walking a ridge top and calling to get a response from a randy Tom. A few yelps in and he thunders from your north and another one hammers from your west, the best sounds. These birds sound equidistant and are both responsive, guess what matters more than the sound of drumming, spitting, gobbling; which bird can you see first. I don’t remember every gobble but I sure as hell remember the sights of the steam pouring out of a gobblers face as he gobbles, the iridescent shine coming off the strutting gobbler all puffed up trying to show off, or the patriotic flag themed dome piece poking through the red rippers and he’s picking his way through the thick stuff. How many times have you slammed on the brakes to see what the flock in the field looks like? How many times did that sight prompt your eye to look at your mapping app to figure out if you could get to those birds? So, as much time as we all like to focus on yelps, clucks, purrs, kee kee runs, spitting, drumming, gobbling and shock calling they are all just sounds in the ether. Clues. What happens if we never get that visual of a bird strutting, or flying down, or a hen sneaking through cover beckoning against you? Let’s look at not only the beauty of these cinematic spring scenes but also what goes into them and how they help us. Look at the more recent tactic of Reaping a turkey, or moving into position behind a strutting Tom silhouette and then shooting the target bird in the face from as close as possible. This tactic works best with a real turkey fan, birds can tell the difference and requires zero sounds, just a natural movement with aggressive posturing from the “Decoy”. Take a look at hunting decoys and the evolution of Turkey decoys over the years specifically. The foam decoys I had at 12 years old wouldn’t even hit the store shelves these days. We’ve gone from hair dryers to reform them to full body molded decoys. Stuff in your pocket to which frame pack carries my two full body Hens and strutting Jake the best? So, the visuals matter on a nuts and bolts level, and with more calling pressure and smarter birds, they matter more than ever.When we are using decoys the Gobbler gets to see what we are looking for as well, visual cues. Setting up in shadows, fully camoed, minimal movement, we want our footprint on the visual landscape to be as small as possible. We have to balance this with good decoy placement, set up to compliment the terrain and scene we are trying to paint with sound and sight. It’s a tough mix between a large visual and the subtle nuances of a natural scene. Turkey’s like to strut in the open in the spring, they are prominent on the landscape in this way, but remember this gets them killed and not just by us. When thinking about the aesthetics of the scene, think about the Hen laying in cover, the Jake just out of direct sight, the Tom not fully silhouetted in the strut zone. You can be too in their face but often you can’t be too subtle. Remember nothing is as subtle as a silent “B” and that’s the sort of play you should hedge towards when dealing with the visual acuity of a Turkey. At the end of the day I don’t believe that the folks who chase spring birds will ever forgo the love and admiration of the music of Turkey’s mating concert. In the end it is probably the most important attachment we have to the birds in many ways. Most of us will never forget the first hammering gobble we heard echo through that early morning misty mountain hop. I’ll never forget the one time I had twelve distinct gobblers answering me and I was too inexperienced to get sight of any of them. But that’s the point at the time I was hunting for the gobble. Now I hunt for the gobbler and I gotta see em to shoot em.To me the other visuals make for a stark contrast to the spring deer scouting time right before Turkey season too. Early spring in my neck of the woods still has snow and ice, a few leftover beech tree leaves hanging on, some oaks holding a bit of their lobed or spiked plumage and a lot of gray and brown. As turkey season comes in, those colors transfer from gray and brown to being splashed with greens of all hues, reds, blues and violets in the flowers that wake up from the winter nap. The aesthetic is striking. But when you hear that bird call in the distance, as thrilling as that is, remember it matters not until you can see all those colors in his strutting plumage as he does his best spring dance for you, the very best sight of spring.
