During the campaign much discussion took place on this blog and others across the Net about Obama’s anti-gun positions, even though he has attempted to paint a different picture of himself than the actions he has taken against guns. Campaigns can put spots on zebras and stripes on hippopotamus.

It appears that President Obama may not have to be the one to directly begin offering up bills that will strip Americans of their Second Amendment rights. I have said from the beginning that once Obama is elected, we’ll begin seeing an emboldened movement to support his liberal agenda.

Oddly enough, just the other day I was telling my wife, more out of disgust than anything, “You mark my words! Within 3 months a bill will be proposed, that if passed, would require that every gun bought and sold in America would have to be registered with the federal government!”

When I sat down to work this morning and opened by email, I found myself staring into information a reader sent me about H.R. 45, Blair Holt’s Firearm Licensing and Record of Sale Act of 2009.

This bill will do exactly what I warned my wife it would do. Not only that, if you happened to read my last post about Ann Coulter’s article on liberal victimhood, well, welcome to liberal victimhood in the form of another anti-gun bill.

(6) on the afternoon of May 10, 2007, Blair Holt, a junior at Julian High School in Chicago, was killed on a public bus riding home from school when he used his body to shield a girl who was in the line of fire after a young man boarded the bus and started shooting.

As tragic as this is and as self-sacrificing as Blair Holt was, this bill will do nothing to stop that from happening again. As has been pointed out before, it will make matters worse.

The bill spells out what it believes the purposes of the bill are.

(1) to protect the public against the unreasonable risk of injury and death associated with the unrecorded sale or transfer of qualifying firearms to criminals and youth;

(2) to ensure that owners of qualifying firearms are knowledgeable in the safe use, handling, and storage of those firearms;

The public is not going to be protected because a criminal murderer who did not register his gun. The danger in presenting this in this manner is that it leads some people to believe that if a gun is recorded it will no longer be used to commit a crime.

In number two, any intelligent person should ask if the person who killed Blair Holt was knowledgeable in the safe use, handling and storage of his firearm? And if he had registered it, what difference would it have made?

As the Obama administration continues its migration to the far left, his followers, like the sponsors and supporters of H.R. 45, will begin appearing, feeling empowered by the President’s own anti-gun past, and will attempt enactment of bills like this and others.

I’m sure Mr. Obama would consider this bill one of those “reasonable restrictions” often spoken as being necessary.

Let’s get to work and defeat this bill.

Tom Remington

The cold weather of January and February fuels the Coyote’s already high metabolism, driving them to hunt for food almost ‘round the clock. Couple this with a couple of good calls, a night hunting permit, a rifle with a good scope, warm clothing, and you’re in store for some fast action.

First and foremost is to find where the dogs are. Talk to farmers, landowners, and your local Game Warden about coyote sign and location. Deer yards, rabbit cover, and field and swamp edges are all likely to hold coyotes this time of year. Be sure to get permission to hunt from landowners beforehand. I always contact the local Game Wardens and inform them if I’m going to be hunting near a deer yard, especially at night. It saves them from having to investigate a potential complaint and it allows me to hunt undisturbed.

My coyote hunting wangan consists first and foremost, of my deer rifle, a Winchester Model 70, .270 sighted in with 150 grain factory ammo for point blank range, and topped off with a Leuopold Vari-X II 3-9 power scope with a 40 MM objective lens.

You don’t need to go out and spend a lot of money for a new supercharged high velocity rifle. Coyotes are tough and your favorite deer rifle will do just fine. Any of the old standby calibers such the 30.06, .308, .280, .243 and .270 are effective coyote medicine. Sighted in for point blank range, they will reach out and touch the dogs at 200-300 yards. The following link provides a good overview of the nuts and bolts of sighting in for point blank range or absolute zero; http://www.huntingmag.com/guns_loads/zero_060205/

A good scope is a necessity, especially for hunting at night. The larger objective lens gather’s more light. The reflection from the snow aids greatly here. My Leopold 3-9 Vari-X II works well in low light situations, as do many of today’s scopes mounted on favorite deer rifles. The advantage here is that you already know the scope and the rifle that you hunt most with. A little fine tuning for longer range shooting and you’re in business.

Good snow camo is important. I have a couple of sets of shells that cost less then a hundred bucks each. These are available at Cabela’s and Dick’s. They have pockets where I can keep extra shells, a couple of calls and a headlamp. I buy them a size larger than I would normally wear so I can wear them over winter clothing, which I layer according to weather conditions. Be sure to cover your face as well. I also cover my rifle with a camouflaged rifle sock. Coyotes can pick up the glare from all exterior parts of a rifle, especially the shimmer from a scope.

Coyotes live by their noses just as whitetails do, and scent control when hunting coyotes is as critical, if not more so for hunting deer. I use deer and coyote urine on an old sock as a cover scent, and as an attractor. I keep my clothing outside in a Rubbermaid container to keep it odor free. I also try to be as odor-free as possible myself by using non-scented bath soap, shampoo and laundry detergent. These can all be found at your local grocery store. Guns smell like gun oil, powder residue and human scent, so be sure to use some cover scent on your rifle as well. I put it on the above mentioned rifle sock which I keep out side with my hunting clothes.

Calling coyotes is an art and opinions vary widely. If you are going to use hand held calls you need to practice with them before you go out. Put some feeling in your calling and always call at low volume to start. Coyotes rarely call loudly and if you call at to high a volume it will spook a dog that may be close by. I increase the volume slightly after about 10-15 minutes of calling. I like to call for 5-10 seconds every minute for 5 minutes, break for 5 and start again. It’s important to be confident in your calling, and this comes from practice. There are a number of good electronic calls on the market. There are dozens of web articles where you can obtain good information about calling techniques and on coyote vocalization.

Don’t always expect coyotes to come charging into the open as soon as you start calling. Some of them will, but many will tend to circle with their nose to the wind when responding to a call. I’ve had them appear long after I’ve stopped calling. For this reason it’s important to stay on stand longer than the 15-20 minutes that is often advised. Coyotes will not always respond vocally. I will stay put for up to 45 minutes just to be sure there isn’t a big old male cautiously sneaking into my location. A key component in calling is to remain motionless. Coyotes are extremely adept at detecting movement.

There are a variety of hand held and electronic predator calls to choose from. Three good predator call companies are Fox Pro at http://www.gofoxpro.com/, Johnny Stewart Wildlife Calls at http://johnnystewart.com/ and Extreme Dimension Game calls at www.phantomcalls.com/, made right here in Hamden, Maine.

I use a combination an electronic caller and hand held calls that include a dying rabbit, a fawn in distress, coyote howls, and coyote pups in distress. All work well in my area, especially the pup in distress call. I also have a life-sized coyote decoy that I put out when I call at the edges of fields, marshes, and backcountry ponds. Sprinkled with a few drops of coyote and deer urine, the decoy reduces fear and entices coyotes with the hopes of a meal. It also serves to antagonize other coyotes by making them think an intruder is on their turf.

When approaching your set-up be sure to stay in the shadows as much as possible, and out of open areas such as fields. Avoid being silhouetted against the sky. Travel as quietly as possible. Once I arrive at a set-up I put out my cover scent and start calling.

I always carry a set of shooting sticks with me and use them if I’m reasonably sure of what direction the
coyote will approach from. Some hunters attach a bi-pod to their rifle. Personally I like the flexibility of the shooting sticks. Different set-ups require different shooting positions and I don’t want to worry about an attached bi-pod getting in the way when I don’t need it.

Coyote hunting is a great way to keep your deer hunting skills sharp, and help protect our deer and other game from these wary predators.

Bob Lane is a Master Maine Guide. He also guides Caribou hunters and fishermen in Southwest Alaska.

6am finds me on schedule to my first listening location. The air is cool and sharp, there’s no wind. The thick smoke from my breath hovers around my head as I stop to listen. It seems thick enough to convince me it’s hampering my hearing, so I tip toe and listen rather then stand still.

Then it comes…the first gobble. I’m immediately 15 minutes late now, he’s a long ways. It takes forever, dodging the gauntlet of deer in route slows me down even more. As I close the distance, I know exactly where he’s at and the tree I’m gonna call home for the morning.

I barely make it to my tree as I watch hen #1 pitch down at 40-yds. and hen #2 touch down at 15 steps. What they don’t know, is there’s a man on the opposite side of this tree and he’s there for one thing and one thing only….to kill their kin.

3 minutes pass and the crisp, clear roost gobbles now sound muffled. He’s on the ground. My first series of yelps are answered down the ridge by a half-hearted Jake. My next series of yelps are cut off by my target. O boy….sure sounds like he got closer…..probably 100 yds. max.

My next series of low yelps are mixed with high volume, excited cutts. This time the gobbles are even closer and I can picture him nearly fondling himself. He’s never heard a hen this sexy.

Slight left hand movement turns the Holo Sight on, which tells my brain one thing….it’s just about time.

I hear him walking before I see him. It’s a little thick, but I finally catch movement out front. 35 yds. and he’s on a string. I
immediately begin scanning for open lanes to shoot. At 23 yds., he passes a huge oak and I do my final shifting and train the red dot on the next hole.

When he steps in the hole, what he doesn’t know is that quick diaphragm cutt was designed to make him look up. He doesn’t know it exposed every vertebrae to the pissed off swarm of Hevi Shot in my barrel. He has no clue that the man sitting at the base of that oak feels he’s put on this earth for one thing…and that’s to hunt critters like him down. But most importantly, he doesn’t know the 40+ pellets that just entered his head and neck just turned his lights off.

forever……THE END

2005,2006,2007 Florida State Turkey Calling Champion

2004, 2007 Florida State Gobbling Champion

Quaker Boy Game Calls Pro Staff

One of the most asked questions about hunting the wild turkey is “when do I call and how often?” I feel that there is an art to calling turkeys. It’s all based on feeling him out and knowing what he wants to hear. How do you know this? Well I think it will come to you the more you work gobblers in different scenarios. Right off the roost, mid morning with hens, with out hens, public land bird, private land bird. In my opinion, whether calling a hot to trot two year old or a four year old hard hunted public bird, it’s a matter of getting his attention and keeping his interest just enough to get him to investigate. If you over call him, he will stand his ground and wait for this hot hen to meet him for their rendezvous. If you under call him, he will move off to the next hot item.

Take into consideration what part of the season it is and the possibility the bird your working has been called to before. Early season, less pressured birds are generally going to be more workable than birds later in the season that have heard every call in the book. I feel the toms come to the realization that every hen sound they hear is not an actual hen, making them much more difficult to call. That’s not to say that a late season gobbler can’t be called, especially when all of his harem has been bred and is nesting, leaving him all alone most of the day.

My first advice in the process of learning when to call and how often is to practice, practice, practice and become proficient in more than one type of call – box, pot style and air(mouth and tube calls). Learn every vocalization a turkey makes and be able to reproduce these calls. The more calls you have in your repertoire the better chance you’ll have to coax him in. Obtain recordings of wild birds and listen to rhythm and not necessarily tone.(for sounds of the wild turkey go to NWTF.ORG) Remember every wild turkey has a different voice. Record your calling, outside preferably. Gain confidence in your calling, know that you can purr when needed, cut when needed, yelp when needed etc. Nothing is worse than a hunter that is afraid to talk with a gobbler because his calling lacks confidence.

Now for the two types of birds I’ll be discussing. One is your basic call-shy gobbler and two is the workable bird that will come in with just the right amount of coaxing. I don’t mean the two year old that will fall over himself getting to you at the first sound that resembles a hen. I mean a workable gobbler.

When first engaging this tom, just feel him out and see how responsive he is. Start him with a little yelping and back off. If he starts in, then stop!! Over calling is probably the number one reason hunters don’t bag toms. Let me state that again. Over calling is probably the number one reason hunters don’t bag toms!!!

Give him enough to get his attention and start him coming. As your bird is closing I would recommend , what I call, checking him. Just a soft yelp or cluck to find his position and verify he’s still closing the distance. If his gobbles are farther away then its time to get more aggressive with him. Regain his attention with some cutting and excited yelping.

If this works and he starts moving toward you again, then let him work, let him come. I personally like to throw a series of purrs and clucks at him just to seal the deal. A good rule of thumb, less is almost always better, but like I stated previously, don’t loose his attention. Just don’t call every breath to hear him gobble. I love to hear a tom gobble as much as the next guy but don’t get caught up in the moment.

As for Mr. Call Shy, this is the gobbler that will really put your skills and patience to the test. This is the bird that will make you the proudest if you outsmart and bag him or humble you just the same if he evades you. This bird is going to be influenced by very soft subtle hen talk – purring and really soft clucking along with soft short yelps, very similar to tree yelps. Also, throw in a little whine or two. Use a series of the calls mentioned every 15 or 20 minutes.

Make your set up as realistic as possible. Not just with audible turkey talk, but with turkey noises, such as the age old trick of scratching in the leaves while simulating the above mentioned calls.

While hunting the third weekend of the central Florida season, I bagged a great bird on public land using those very tactics. He had gobbled on his own one time and I never answered him directly. I did exactly what I mentioned above, purring and clucking, whining and soft yelping on my Quaker Boy World Champ mouth call and about 40 minutes later the bird slipped in ever so cautiously, never strutting, never gobbling. He weighed 17 pounds, had an 11” beard and 1 1/2” spurs.

When working a bird off the roost, you may want to try a fly down with just wing beats, not the cackle. Use a hat beating on your leg or use a wing off a turkey to simulate a hen flying down. Also knowing where this bird is going after fly down can be valuable to your success.

Setting up where he’s going along with this light calling can prove to be successful. More times than not this bird is going to come in quiet and will not alert you of his presence. If you know this bird is using the area and know he isn’t vocal, just set up, soft call and wait. You are basically fooling this tom into believing you’re a lonely hen feeding. Keep in mind this type of scenario is really not engaging the bird in conversation as mentioned with the first type of gobbler.

Just remember when you’re working a vocal gobbler, call him just enough to keep him coming. Keep his interest piqued enough to make him look for you but no more! As he works his way in, check him a time or two to make sure he’s still closing the distance then shut down your calling and be looking for that neon red, white and blue head. If you’re working a non vocal, call shy bird or just hunting a tom you know is in the area but isn’t giving away his location, simulate a call shy hen – one that is looking for company but isn’t going to gather attention while trying to gain companionship. Soft hen talk mixed with feeding noises is a safe bet.

In addition, if you know anyone that has been successful hunting and taking turkeys, pick their brain for knowledge. Take to the field with them and see what makes them successful. You can learn more from one hunting trip with a good turkey hunter than
many seasons afield by yourself.

Scott Ellis

~Ever wonder why some set ups work and some don’t?~

As a die hard turkey hunter and seminar speaker for both “Hunters Specialties” and “Northwoods Adventures TV“, I get asked a multitude of questions each season on how to set up on turkeys. Do you use a decoy? Do you roost birds every time? Do you ever “run-and-gun”? How important is specific camouflage design? Well, for me, the most important aspect of the hunt is a good set up so let’s start there.

Here in the Northeast, our turkeys tend to start gobbling in mid-March and strutting activity becomes widespread about the same time. It’s then that I’ll put my scouting tactics into overdrive, even though the season doesn’t open until the very end of April. Why? Because good preparation will always tip the odds in my favor. I always recommend having several good sites scouted out, in the event my first set up gets busted by hunters, which happens frequently since I hunt an area in mid-coast Maine with very high hunter density levels. That, plus 90% of the properties I hunt are all public access land, so I’m almost always being stepped on by other hunters. That said, the first thing I do is get a good aerial photo of each property and formulate my plans.

Locating and Planning the Proper Set Up

Once I’ve become familiar with each parcel or property, via an aerial map, I’ll head right out and begin the process of locating birds. For me, the easiest thing to do is hit a likely spot, park my truck, and just listen for gobblers at the crack of dawn each morning. I’ll do that about two to three weeks before the season, making sure to hit each property individually, and since turkeys generally hold close to the same roost sites unless busted, I can get a good fix on where they are, to within a few hundred yards. Then it’s just a matter of putting in the footwork to find the best place to set up for each.

If at all possible, I’ll pick a site, listen for the gobbling to begin at daybreak, then sneak down the trails or through the woods to get within 200 to 250 yards of them and wait for them to fly down. If time is on my side, I’ll pay attention to where they’re headed and then, after they’ve moved off, pick the best spot for a set up for the next day. Here’s where careful planning comes in because there are several key factors involved if you want to maximize your chances for success.

First, locate the point of sunrise at that location and make sure to set up with it at your back or at least from either side. With the sun behind you, you’ll also have the tactical advantage over a turkeys superior eyesight. If you’ve ever set up in haste only to find the rising sun staring you straight in the lookers once it’s cleared the trees, you’ll know exactly what I mean; been there, done that! Next, based on where you feel the turkeys will be flying down, try to pick a spot about 100 to 125 yards away and choose a natural bend or indentation in the tree line that will keep you out of an incoming turkeys direct line of sight. If it’s possible, it’s always a plus if when a turkey first appears, it’s already within range.

I like to hunt without a blind, preferring to sit with my back against a tree, and at least 10-15 feet off the field or trail edge, utilizing the natural surroundings of the woods for the best cover. Sit down and find your sweet spot, then proceed to trimming out just enough brush to create good shooting lanes around you, being careful not to remove too much. Also, make sure there are no small trees or branches that will inhibit swinging your gun, should you need to adjust on that incoming bird.

When it comes to vision, it’s said that a turkey can see movement from hundreds of yards away so good camouflage is crucial. It makes no difference what brand or style you use, as long as it closely matches the immediate surroundings and blends into the background well. Sometimes I like to wear a green camo top to match the budding bushes around me, while wearing pants that may be predominantly browns and greys, to match the leaf litter of the forest floor. A stark contrast splitting your body can do wonders in breaking up the human form. One key element in using your camo effectively would be to always position yourself in the shade, because being exposed in direct sunlight can draw immediate attention to any and all movement you make.

Decoys

To use or not to use? I say, whenever possible…..use them. Decoys tend to draw the turkeys attentions away from you and gives them something to focus on. Some hunters believe decoy use can be a controversial issue at times, and to a certain extent I agree, however I feel that if you understand turkey biology in even the simplest form, it can be overcome.

I always place my decoys about 10-12 yards in front of me and for several reasons. First, if a tom has made the decision to commit, he will either come right to the center of the action or, if he turns out to be a satellite gobbler or insubordinate, he may hang up just a few yards behind them. I’ve seen seasoned pros set their decoys out to 25 yards, only to have such a bird hang up about 15 yards beyond them, making the hunter’s shot about 40-50 yards. Of course, with a good choke, that’s not unreasonable but why take chances? With my set up, even if one fetches up behind my decoys, chances are he’s still well within 25 yards and more than enough for even a youth with a much smaller gun.

I’ve also found from my own personal experiences coupled with mistakes I’ve made in the past, that there certainly can be times when the decoys will spook birds. Here’s what I would suggest; At the start of the season, go with a love scenario that includes an aggressive jake, (strutting decoys work the best), a standing “alert” hen, and a submissive hen, or one in the breeding position. About mid-way through the season I tend to either go with just a strutting jake and a feeding hen to only a couple feeding hens, the reason being that once the season is that far underway, many toms and jakes have had fights over dominance already, and have been whipped more times than they care to repeat. It’s at that time, and the end of the season especially, that I notice more toms, even mature birds, shying away from decoys if they show an aggressive jake. Sometimes if you don’t re-evaluate the time of the season, you could end up losing out on a good bird that you otherwise might have harvested.

Decoy placement can also be a factor, especially if you are hunting with your bow. Whether in a blind or not, drawing is always tricky to do when there is more than one set of eyes on you, and for that reason I like to set up my decoys in a specific manner. If I’m using a jake, strutting or otherwise, I try to set it up facing my position because a dominant bird will always come around to the front of the competition. By doing so, he’ll have his back to me and will give me the chance to draw unseen. Hen decoys can be set up in similar fashion because if a tom thinks she is walking away, he might be more apt to come in around her in an attempt to change her mind.

Calling

I like to set up in the blackness well before pre-dawn, and am often all settled in by 3:30 or 3:45am. I will not call, even once the hens start, as they will often call for a long period of time before fly down. I do like to get a position on where the gobblers are, and listen to how they interact with the hens, if present. When I feel fly down is close, I’ll add my voice to the others by means of very soft tree calls, increasing in volume only in response to that of the hens. Too much calling or calling too loudly too early can result in the hens either flying down and dragging the gobblers away quickly, or will result in leaving the toms treed longer than usual, as they gobble back incessantly, waiting to see the hen that’s making all the ruckus appear before they fly down.

I take special notice when a boss hen responds to my calling and will know her by the way she alone reacts. Such a hen, when encountered, should be drawn in if possible, because she will more times than not, drag several toms in with her. You will know her by her changing pitch and tone, because she will immediately become agitated at you, (the challenge hen), and will try to silence you by way of talking over you. I like to imitate her calls as closely as possible but I try to be more aggressive in my volume and added “cutting”. Usually, she will not stand for this and will come right to me. The plus side, as I mentioned, is that she will probably be bringing the toms with her, but the downside will be that she, (like an old smart matriarchal doe), will be searching for me, and if she sees me, will quickly alert the others and be gone. For that reason, I like to have at least one standing alert hen decoy present in my set up. With any luck she will focus on it and attack it, leaving me free to focus on the gobblers.

If you take the time to consider all the major components involved with making a proper set up, you have greatly increased your chances of putting a tag on a big old tom. A successful turkey hunter is one who has seen the gamut of all that can go wrong, has learned from his mistakes, and who has done his best to make adjustments in his favor. However, because a turkey’s attitude can change as often as the weather, none of us will ever have a fool-proof system, and quite frankly I’m glad we don’t. I personally love the challenge involved with each hunt, because elements and conditions are constantly changing, and to me, that’s what real turkey hunting is all about.

As the days start to grow longer and the fall hunting seasons have passed, our thoughts start wandering to the upcoming spring turkey season. If anyone out there is a quarter like I am, you are starting to prepare your “tools of the trade” for that glorious opening day.

Shotgun Patterning

Just a short time before writing this article, fellow Quaker Boy Pro Staffer Chad Hodge, his wife Jessica and myself; conducted an extensive patterning session. It was a blast and between us both we had numerous chokes and loads to test. Patterning your shotgun is something very important and is neglected by a large portion of the turkey hunting population.

Often, turkey hunters will take to the field with their shotgun and absolutely no clue the point of impact for their gun and the range limitations. Its really simple to accomplish this task and you won’t be scratching your head when your gobbler flies off after the shot at thirty yards.

Start you session with basic dove loads at around twenty yards to determine your point of impact. Your gun may not shoot center and require adjustable fiber optic sights such as those offered by Tru-Glo. I use old wrapping paper, using the backside(unprinted) of the sheet with a about a three inch diameter black dot for an aiming point. Once you’ve established your guns center of impact its time to take the next step.

Pick any one of the great turkey head and neck turkey targets on the market and begin experimenting with the different loads and chokes available. There are several lead pellet loads ranging from five to fifteen dollars a box, all the way up to thirty dollars a box for the more expensive alloys. There are choke tubes ranging from around twenty dollars all the way to nearly one hundred dollars.

Start your patterning again at twenty yards and step it all the way out until you do not have a killable pattern. When I say killable I mean 7-9 pellets in the skeletal regions of the turkeys head and neck. At that point you will know the range of your shotgun. Bear in mind that anything inside twenty yards is going to be about the size of a grapefruit so make sure your aim is true if you get a gobbler in on top of you. Also it can be very beneficial to your pocket book if you and several buddies team up and have these sessions. Have everyone bring their choke tubes and shells and hopefully you’ll find a combination that works for you.

Practice Your Calling

It is no secret that most hunters only break out their calls about a week before the season. Instead start practicing a few months out. Take the time to obtain recordings of actual wild turkeys and mimic those sounds. You can locate them all over the Internet. It will benefit you in the woods. I’ve always said a mediocre caller with great woodsmanship will kill his share of turkeys. But, a great caller with great woodsmanship is a “predator”.

Unfortunately this aspect of turkey hunting is neglected by turkey hunters across the nation. Learn to call better than the average “joe” in the turkey woods and it will pay dividends. The more you sound like a real wild turkey and not a turkey hunter, the more turkeys will ride in your truck with you.

Also recording your calling and your sequences can aid in the improvement of your calling. Do not use your basic tape recorder, the microphone in those radios do not give an accurate recording of the sound. Use your camcorder. It will give you better quality and a more three dimensional sound.

Lastly, practice the call that you are the least proficient on. Whether it be a mouth call, tube call or even a pot and peg style call. Become confident on multiple type calls. You never know which particular sound will strike a nerve with the bird your working. The more “tricks” you have in your vest, the more “treats” your liable to end up with.

Turkey Vest and contents

Today’s turkey vests have become a key tool in organizing your gear and making your hunt as comfortable as possible. Most vests available on the market have a pocket for everything from your box call, to your water bottle and also have a padded seat and back rest. Everything you need is right at your finger tips. One key point is to memorize where you store each item in your vest. It is important not to be fumbling around with all those pockets looking for your headnet or mouth calls when your at that critical moment and a gobbler is approaching.

There are a couple of items to think about putting in your vest to aid you in your quest of that longbeard this spring. One is a pair of compact binoculars. They can prove to be worth their weight in gold when in the spring woods and trying to identify gobblers at long ranges especially in fields. Another is a pair of good hand shears. They work great when your needing to cut some palmettos for a blind or remove any brush obstructing your view.

Lastly, I know you’re all about to say it, thats right, a Therma-cell! If by some chance you’re reading this and have never heard of one, well today my friend is your lucky day. Its the most effective form of mosquito repellent on the market. Run to the nearest sporting goods store and pick one up. Spring turkey hunting will never be the same for you. This little appliance is worth its weight in platinum and I don’t have any idea how I turkey hunted all those years before its inception.

In closing, try these simple ideas to prepare for your upcoming season. Sometimes we only get one or two opportunities to pull the trigger on a bird each season. Make the best of that by preparing properly and having your gun and gear fine-tuned so that you can make it happen when it’s crunch time.

Scott Ellis

Bob Lane is a Licensed Master Maine Guide and photographer. He has also guided Caribou Hunters and Fishermen on float trips in Southwest Alaska.

July’s warm, sunny weather doesn’t provide much incentive to think about deer hunting to outdoorsmen who are trolling for deep swimming salmon and togue, whipping out the fly line during the drake hatch, or pursuing numerous other activities in the Maine woods this time of year.

This time of year I find myself occupied with trying to decide where I’m going to fish during the week and on the weekends, and trying to fit the kayaking and photography in to boot. Being an avid outdoorsman is no easy task. With the expanded archery season opening in September, rifle season for the elusive whitetail opening in November, now is the time to begin preparation to increase your odds for a successful hunting season. Rifles need to be sighted in, bows and arrows need to be tuned, and shooting practice begun in earnest, and, if you hunt from a climbing tree stand, it needs to be inspected and readied for the upcoming days afield.

Over the last 10 seasons, I’ve shot nine deer from my portable climber and I swear by the method. I’d no more go out without it than I would without my favorite rifle. However, I find that the tree stand is the most overlooked piece of equipment in the hunter’s arsenal. Its usually hung in the garage, or tucked away in the cellar and forgotten about until a few days before the season opens. That’s no time to discover a problem that may require a repair or replacement part. Now is the time get it ready for archery and rifle season.

First and foremost is to go over the stand and check the welds. Make sure that they are still solid. I had a crack in one on a stand a few years ago. Luckily I caught it before I went out. It was a simple matter to get it repaired.

If your stand attaches to the tree by cables, check these carefully for fraying and general wear. Any doubt about their integrity is reason enough to replace both of them. If one is bad, most likely the other one will be too. Most manufacturers sell these and a variety of replacement parts for their climbing and stationary stands.

If yours is an older climber and made of steel, attach it to a tree and get in it. Stand up, sit down, twist, and turn and listen for any creaking noises, squeaks etc. Nothing will alert a deer to your presence more than a noisy stand. I lost a shot at a nice buck years back because of it. This is critical if you are a bow hunter and are shooting at close range. The deer that busted me was almost 40 yards away when my stand creaked.

Noise isn’t such a problem with the new aluminum models. I have one of these, but I still get in it just to be sure. I have found that birch trees combined with a climbing stand will make noise even after the stand has been secured in place. Most noise can be cured by tightening a loose part and making sure that it is snug against the tree when reach the desired height.

On steel stands rust can be a factor. It gives off odor that an animal can detect. Ask any fox or coyote trapper about rust. They dye and wax their traps to keep them from oxidizing and emitting a smell. Just because you’re 15 feet off the ground doesn’t mean scent from you and your equipment will go undetected by a deer. A number of variables such as temperature, wind, air density will affect how scent is carried to the nose of a wary whitetail. Any rust should be removed with a wire brush and the area repainted to prevent further rusting during the season when the stand is exposed to the elements. Doing so will also increase the life of the stand.

Once I’m up in my stand I stay all day, and that requires that I be comfortable. Cushions will wear out and the covering will deteriorate over time making them uncomfortable, or unusable. Sitting over a prime trail or feeding area is no place to be moving around in a tree stand trying to get comfortable. Check those seats early in the season and if they aren’t up to the job, repair or replace them. Again most manufacturers carry these and other replacement parts.

I always go over my safety harness at the end of each season and again in the summer, and check for fraying and other wear. Most harnesses have a special tacking on the tether strap that connects from the back of the harness to the tree, and is designed to lessen the shock of a fall. Most of these are designed to be used only once. Check yours to be sure this tacking is still intact. If it isn’t, consult the manufacturer before you use it.

I keep two four point harnesses in my truck at all times in case one becomes unserviceable. If you forget yours, either go back home and get it, or hunt from the ground. The records of injuries incurred as a result of falls from trees stands are grim. Many a hunter has been crippled for life and others have been killed from falls from as low as ten feet up.
Under no circumstances should you use anything but a four point harness when hunting from a tree stand. The old type that consisted of a belt around the waste could cause a hunter to hang doubled at the waist, or inflict serious internal injuries. Last year I saw a guy in a stand with a hank of tow rope under his shoulders attached to the tree by two half-hitches with about two feet of slack in the tether rope. It was a recipe for disaster if I ever saw one.

My harness is on and attached to the tree as soon as I’m in the stand, and before I start climbing, as the majority of falls occur when ascending and descending the tree. Once I’m up in position I take all of the slack out of the tether. This pretty much eliminates any shock when the harness fetches up should I fall. The shock of a two hundred pound body falling a foot or even six inches and then being suddenly fetched up is painful at best and could result in injury. No slack in my tether also allows me to use it as a stabilizer and lean out over the stand when bow hunting.

Always carry a cell phone and let someone know where you are and when you expect to be out of the woods when hunting from a tree stand. I have several emergency numbers pre-programmed into mine. My phone has a lanyard on it that is looped through the buttonhole in the flap of my shirt pocket, eliminating the possibility of dropping it. If you should have a mishap and are unable to climb back down the tree, the phone could mean the difference between a long stint and possibly an overnight hanging in your harness. Your chances of hanging up-right and being able to call someone on the cell phone are better if you are strapped into nothing less than a four-point safety harness. Over the last couple of years I’ve seen several devices on the market that are designed to assist hunters in getting back to the ground after they have fallen and are hanging in a safety harness. These can be found with a little searching on the web. Summit is a major manufacturer of tree stands, harnesses, and accessories. I’ve had good luck with their products. Check them out at www.summitstands.com

Tree stand inspections and proper safety procedures don’t take a lot of time or effort, or even cost much for that matter. They can save a day’s hunt or even a life. While not all falls are fatal, many, hunters have seen an abrupt end to their hunting days due to crippling injuries resulting from a fall from a tree stand that hasn’t been properly maintained, or used in conjunction with a safe, four-point harness.

When opening day rolls around, I want to be up in my favorite tree at daybreak, watching the shadows give way to the day, and listening to the sounds of the woods waking up. I’ll watch the edge growth, the hardwoods, and the thickets, confidently focusing on the hunt, knowing that my stand is secure and my harness safe, because I took the time to go over my gear well before the onset of the best season of the year.

Blood In Motion: A Forensic Guide to Blood Tracking

It takes a lot of work to set up and execute a hunt, but what happens after the shot will determine if the hunt is truly a success.
You’ve scouted and set up stands. You’ve sighted in your guns and bows; maybe planted a food plot and hauled bait into the woods. It’s hard work, to say the least, and finally the animal comes in and the shot is made. How long will the trailing process take you? Will you find the animal? Understanding how to track and find blood can make the difference between having meat and a trophy to show for all the hard work that you have put in — or coming home with nothing at all. You make a plan when you hunt to increase your chance of success, but if you track without a plan, your chances of success are greatly reduced.
I sell blood-detection products to law enforcement, and my business has giving me a lot of information on what to look for and what a blood trail can tell you about the hit you’ve made on an animal. I am called to many deer trails after all hope seems to be lost, because many people know that I can find blood that cannot be easily seen. Blood trails can be misleading to the hunter —lots of blood does not necessarily indicate a mortal wound, nor does a seeming lack of blood necessarily mean the animal isn’t dead.
The reaction of the animal and the blood pattern will give us a better understanding of how to go about recovering an animal. Normally, animals do not bleed to death, as an animal that weighs 160 pounds must lose 45+ ounces to die from blood loss alone. Animals will die faster from trauma than blood loss, and a combination of both is by far the best.
Most animals can travel very fast when wounded — deer can hit 35 mph, and even if they die quickly after the shot, they can travel a long distance before collapsing. A wounded animal will not go far unless it is pushed or sees movement. Sit still for at least a half hour, or you will make the tracking more difficult. Now that many states offer multiple tags, this will also give you a chance to get another animal — if you shot a large buck, it is still possible that there is a larger one close behind him. Most animals travel in loose groups; the animals in the rear of the group can help by showing you where the wounded animal traveled. Spooking these animals will remove helpful clues to the whereabouts of your trophy, and may cause a second opportunity to be wasted.
Pay attention to the reaction of the animal when it is shot, as this is your first clue to helping you know how to find it. The reaction can be deceiving, but it is still important. I have shot deer and had them look at me like nothing happened, only to watch them fall over where they stand. I have had many hunters tell me that they knocked the animal down, only to watch it suddenly jump up and run off, leaving lots of blood.
This is the one that I hate to hear the most. First of all, body shots that do not impact the neck or spine rarely make animal drop, and if the neck or spine is hit, the animal is usually disabled and cannot get up. The clues of the “dropped and got up and left lots of blood” tell me it was most likely a leg or low shoulder hit. The falling down likely means the leg was broken; lots of blood usually indicates a muscle hit. Muscle damage leave lots of blood in the first 100 yards, but then the blood trail fades fast. There will be lots of large spots of blood as the animal stands often and will lean against trees. Even with a broken leg (or two), an animal can run very fast.
I have had a lot of people tell me, “I thought I hit it, but there was no blood.” Any time there is a wounded animal, there is blood, even if it cannot be seen. Blood droplets, which are forced out of the body by gunfire, produce a high-velocity-impact splatter pattern. The pattern can be smaller than 1 mm in the beginning of the trail. Shots taken with a bow leave medium-impact blood splatter patterns and will leave droplets around 3 mm in size. Both can be difficult to see, even in the snow, so trust your instinct and follow the trail the deer took. If the deer was hit, the blood will appear soon. If it was a lung hit, it can take time for the body cavity to fill and blood to be forced out. Animals may run in the beginning of the trail; this will cause blood trails to be harder to see, as the blood is spread over a larger distance. If there is no visible blood trail, wait and let the animal lay down — it will not go far and should die quickly.
Another common animal reaction is the hind leg kick. This reaction indicates that the animal was hit farther back, most likely a gut shot. The blood pattern and the color of the blood will be very important. Darker blood is from the stomach or liver. A liver shot is always fatal, but is still a poor shot to take. Green matter or food is from one of the deer’s four stomachs — a fatal shot, but it will most likely take until the next day or later for the deer to die from a stomach shot. Give this animal at least three hours and follow up in the daytime.
The double lung shot is the best-percentage shot to take, as it will cause massive internal bleeding and drowning, causing death within about 150 yards. This pattern will start out with little blood, but it will increase as the animal starts blowing blood out the mouth and nose.
Quartering-away shots always cause the most damage, as the projectile will travel more distance through the body. Shots from a raised area (tree stand) generally give a better blood trail, as the exit hole will be lower and allow blood to leave the body cavity in greater volume.
Shooting for the tail is the worst shot, leaving only a wounded animal or spoiled meat. If the shot hits the back of the thigh, it will bleed well but will not die soon, as the muscle will tighten up and help stop the bleeding. An animal shot in the anus will spread bacteria all over the insides, and the damage will be even worse if the bladder is also hit. This type of shot requires the animal to be cleaned immediately and thoroughly washed out in order to save any of the meat.

So I Have A Wounded Animal, Now What?
Blood trailers spend a lot of time looking on the ground, but little time looking at the brush, where more than half the blood is usually found. Blood on brush can reveal how high or low the shot hit, helping in the recovery plans.
No hunter should be without a compass — use it to get a bearing on the trail taken using a marker like a unique tree to track to. Working in pairs is best; have one tracker circle ahead 75 to 100 yards in case the animal is alive. Then have the second person take the trail. Repeat this until the animal is recovered. Remember to be safe when tracking, because all animals are dangerous when wounded. Proper gun handling and line-of-fire rules must be followed to avoid injury.
Timing is very important. Tracking too soon is the main reason mortally wounded animals travel a long distance and make recovery difficult or impossible. Tracking too slowly will cause the meat to spoil. Reading the clues properly will make the difference in how good the meat tastes, since recovery shortly after death is important. Meat with a gamey taste can be caused by slow recovery, not cleaning properly or hanging in warm weather.
Adrenaline runs high after the shot, and humans have a hard time controlling it. Relax, breathe deeply and take a few moments to reflect about what happened. The beginning of the trail is the most important place to get the facts of what happened and how to proceed.
The first thing we do at a crime scene is cordon off the area to keep people from altering evidence. Then we use only a few people to process the scene, again, to keep from altering or destroying the evidence. Walking on a blood trail will transfer the blood pattern from its original spot to somewhere else, or destroy it completely. Never put more than three people on a trail unless it is hopeless to recover without extra people. Mark the trail as you progress to give you a travel pattern to study for clues.
Unless the animal drops within sight, no trail should be taken within 30 minutes. The animal you just shot will be looking at the spot where it was wounded to see what happened. It will lay down soon and try to lick or heal the wound, usually with in 40 yards if there is cover. Do you want to turn a 40-yard trail into a 400-yard trail?
Many times I am asked to follow a blood trail that had a small amount of blood that suddenly had twice as much blood, then nothing. This usually means the animal has turned 180 degrees and walked over the same trail twice, then cut off at a 45- or 90-degree angle after it decided the trail it was following was not safe.
The blood left on the ground or brush is important, as it can tell much about the wound. Bright red or pink indicates an artery or lung shot. Many animal trails I have followed were from shots that hit low in the shoulder or leg, leaving large amounts of blood. The blood is slightly darker with a very narrow trail 4 to 8 inches in width. This animal will likely need a second shot. Make plans to get a person ahead to dispatch the animal. Trails of blood more than 2 feet wide are complete pass-through shots and increase the chances of recovery greatly. Blood trails that have squirts of blood on the side of the trail 2 feet or more indicate arterial shots in the neck, heart or other major artery. Give the animal time to bleed out before you start tracking. Brown or greenish blood, or blood with green or brown matter, is always a gut or liver shot — in both cases, the animal will need extra time to die before you attempt to recover it. The liver shot will kill faster, but may still take two hours or more. Blood with green matter is a five- or six-hour wait to track. The tracker should attempt to put a shooter ahead to dispatch the animal if it is still alive.
Many visual blood trails disappear when the animal’s heart stops and the blood pressure drops, as the blood is no longer being forced out of the body. Most animals can still travel 30 to 45 seconds and cover 65 yards or more before dropping, and the blood trail will be almost impossible to see without blood-tracking aids. Bluestar® will come in handy, as the animal will be close by but may not be seen because of terrain or brush.
Many times I have found animals within 40 to 50 yards of the stand, where they died after having run 250 to 300 yards in a long arching circle, trying to get back to the spot they were safe in before the shot. Knowing the bedding areas helps a lot if you cannot find an animal.
There are tools we can use in tracking. Dogs are now legal in many states, and are a great tool if there is no rain or snow. However, most people do not have dogs or have the time to train them, nor do they have the money to pay a dog tracker. Dog tracker fees vary but usually end up around $150. Lights made for finding blood do not work very well, as blood absorbs light. Regardless of what you see on TV, law enforcement officials do not use lights to find blood. There are a few luminol-based products (Tink’s® and Bluestar®, notably) that make blood glow in the dark. I prefer Bluestar® because it was first made for forensic use.
Bluestar®’s inventor, Dr. Loïc J. BLUM, with a Ph.D. in chemiluminescence, has perfected the mixture, making it the easiest and strongest blood finder in the world. It is used in more than 70 countries by law enforcement and hunters alike.
Bluestar® picks up hemoglobin, which transports oxygen to the cells. Hemoglobin contains iron, which is a basic element of earth and is nearly impossible to destroy without fire.
Much time was spent to produce a product that the investigator would need little or no training to use and that could tell the difference between blood and other items containing iron.
Sold in tablets that you add to water, this is the best tracking agent on the market today. At a cost of $19.95 to track four animals, the cost is very affordable. You can usually cover 100 yards in 10 minutes or less, and the time saved will be worth the money spent.
Small and lightweight and sold in packs of four, Bluestar® gives the hunter enough to cover even the longest trails. Bluestar® also will work well in evergreens and moss, because the reaction with blood is so much different from “false positives” that any one can tell the difference. Bluestar® was made for law enforcement to find blood amounts so small the DNA profile cannot be done. Even in the crime scene, clothing or items that have been cleaned over and over will still glow bright blue were blood was present.
Many times the hunter cannot find the beginning of the trail. Before you leave the stand, use a waypoint to know where the animal was standing when the shot was taken. A compass is perfect for this, using a marker such as a tree to find the spot.
Many times I use Bluestar® only to find the start of the blood trail. To do this, spray while walking across the trail as soon as you find the blood. See if you can follow it with your eyes; if not, continue to use the Bluestar®. I often use it to regain a trail when an animal changes terrain, going from leaf litter to grass fields, for example. Bluestar® will work in the rain or snow.
You will learn a lot about trailing when using Bluestar®, since you will see the whole trail every time you use it and can key in on the evidence the blood trail leaves.
Since it glows bright blue in the dark, even people who are colorblind or whose eyes are “not as good as they used to be” can follow the trail without any help. No glasses or lights are needed, just water and a spray bottle. Water can be taken from streams, lakes and ponds along with any tap or bottled water. In extreme cold, you can use window washer solvent.
Another advantage of Bluestar® is total darkness is not needed, just low light after shooting hours end.
Mix a set of tablets in a sprayer and spray on the ground where the animal was standing, and if the animal was hit, there will be a bright blue glow. Blood is easily transferred from one place to another, so stay off the trail or you will leave footprints of blood all over the woods. There will be an unbroken trail of blood where the animal went when using Bluestar®. If you just find blood spots here and there, these are transfer patterns made by people and animals walking on the blood trail. Blood will be trackable for a very long time. There has been a forensic study on Civil War sniper holes at the Shriver House museum in Gettysburg, Pa., and blood was found more 143 years after it was shed. Blood will last in the woods for months, but there is a big difference in the brightness between old trails and new ones. Blood on the hands of a hunter after gutting an animal without gloves will remain for weeks, no matter how well the hunter washes. This is used frequently in murder cases.
Last but not least, use trail markers. This will help if you need to leave the trail for any reason and will help anyone who is trying to join later on to find the trackers. This also gives a pattern of travel, which most likely will be an arch traveling back to the bedding area downwind of the stand. Bedding areas are thick with a good view and take advantage of wind direction, and they provide a perfect area for a wounded animal to try and recover.
So no matter what happens before or after the shot, there are tools that cost very little and will save lots of time, and help us remain ethically responsible by recovering game quickly and efficiently. For more info on Bluestar® go to http://bloodglow.com/. You can call Jerry anytime on his cell phone if you need help figuring out a trail. (888) 579-1965, toll free.

To avoid getting in over your hunting boots when crossing a stream while hunting, simply carry a pair of the thin covered, nylon fabric, hip boots that fold flat and will easily fit into the back pocket of your hunting jacket. When you see the water is so deep that it will be over the top of your hunting boots, take your boots off and slip into the lightweight nylon hip waders. These boots do not have a solid sole, so pick your way carefully, to avoid punching holes in them. Once safely across the stream, remove them and put your hunting boots back on. Takes a couple of extra minutes, but sure beats running around in the cold weather with wet feet.

I have found that after a lot of use and having been put away for the winter, most collapsible turkey decoys lose their form. To bring them back into shape, I take a wire coat hanger, and pull it into the shape of a diamond. Fold the hook back into the center of the coat hanger. Insert this diamond into the decoy. This allows the foam to return back to its original shape, and the decoys can also be used this way in the field.

To prevent holes from being made in your decoy from the hook, a little bit of electrical tape will cover the point fine.

The extra bit of weight in the field also helps hold the decoys down upon your stakes better on those windy spring days like we get here in Vermont.

This is also a great way to dry your wet decoys: simply bend the hook down out of the cavity. The decoy can now be hung up to dry, upside down.

Pat Rayta