Don't Forget the Does

A lot of the hunting world today revolves around bucks.  You'll see on websites "How to get a bruiser in the early season" or "Where to catch the big boys" and so on.  And many lose sight of the does.  And actually, they have a lot to do with genetics and herd health.  Not only that, but they offer more opportunities to shoot and give kids an opportunity for a deer.  And, you hunt does to find bucks in the rut.  But here we go...

• Does give half of the genetics to the fawns.  So they give just as much genetics as bucks.  An unhealthy or sickly doe will not give great genetics even if a great buck breeds her.  
• Not only that, but the more does there are, there is less rut activity.  If there are more does, then it will be harder to pinpoint where a buck will be if there are a lot of places does could be.  If there are less does, then bucks will have to search out for them more, leading to more buck activity.  
• The more does there are, the higher the population of deer.  You may ask, "Isn't that good?"  Yes and no.  More population means more deer which mean more hunting opportunities.  No because if the amount of food a deer population eats exceeds the amount of forage a piece of land produces, then the herd suffers.  Less food means less nutrition.  Less nutrition leads to smaller deer and unhealthier deer and smaller racks and fawns. 

Yes, I did read about some of this, but all you need is a little logic to get to those conclusions (I mean no disrespect to anyone).

Till next time!

Pinpoint Hunting Spots

In prep for hunting season, make sure you know where to hunt on the property (or properties).  Many hunters look at a good looking spot, hoping deer are in the area.  Sometimes they get lucky, other times, not quite so much.  I don't want anyone to be like that.  So, here is a list of places that would be good spots:

• Look for trails leading from bedding to feeding areas.  Trails leading to oak trees would be dynamite spots when the acorns fall.
• Funnels.  Look for places that narrow deer movement to a small area.  An example would be a thin strip of woods in bordered by fields on both sides.  Or, there might be a field on one side and a river on the other, with a little bit of woods in between.  
• In public land, look for places other hunters don't go!  Many hunters on public land (or even private) may not go that far from their trucks to their hunting spots.  Go twice as far as they do.  Also look for places that hunters look over.  Those places will probably hold deer since they are unpressured in that area.

In all, look for food sources and unpressured areas.  Does will go there, and bucks will follow.

Get your license and hang up stands!  It's just around the corner!  'Till next time!    

Recent Camera pics...and one of the cutest so far

I've put the camera back out.  I've gotten a good bit of pictures too, mostly at night, since it's close to a driveway.  But I'll share some of the day pictures:

The doe in the above picture is the mother of the fawn.

 As I was scrolling through pictures this morning, not expecting anything but does (which I got, except the fawn!). I was about to bounce off my seat because that's the first picture I've gotten of a fawn with his/her mother (most of her :).  It's also one of the few pictures of fawns I've gotten and the best one.  Just want to see the bucks now!

Get ready!  It's only a few weeks away!  But keep things in focus, God, school, work, and family come first! Till next time!

Prep For Hunting Season

Hunting season is just around the corner!  While summer is a great time to fish and swim in pools, it's also a great time to get outdoors in the woods and prepare.  Here's a list of things that you can do to prep for the final weeks till the season:

• Backyard bow practice!  Start drilling on your form, aim, release, and follow-through.  Backyard bowhunts are another fun thing.  You put out a target (a 3D makes it a WHOLE lot funner!) and you start from one side of your yard, and creep up on the target, and make a shot.  You practice your skills for a stalk or still hunt.  You can also do this on a treestand.  Go up, sit like normal, then act like the target you set up, say, a deer, walks into view.  Slowly stand up and draw, aim, release, and follow-through.
• Scout!  Look for tracks, trails, browsed plants.  Food sources, bedding areas, you name it!  If you can locate a trail that is close to bedding and food sources for around the year, your set!  For example, one place that I'm looking at putting a stand is close to a trail that passes oaks, a greenbriar patch (which deer like to eat), and bedding.  And when it rains, a small ditch actually makes a temporary pond.  Perfect spot for a stand! Which leads me to my next point...
• Hang Stands!  Looks for spots like what I mentioned above.  Not only that, but bedding near creeks, trails, food sources, near corn fields, and so on.  
• Sight in your gun!  If you don't sight in your rifle, you won't hit anything.  Not only that, but practice with it, let it become almost a part of you since your so good at handling it.
• Put out trail cams!  (I'm repeating myself) Near trails, bedding, food sources, mineral licks, so on.

Other things that I'll leave out of the "big" list is establishing mineral licks and food plots.  Now, food plots are meant to complement natural food sources, not replace them.  You might could just seed a place with naturally occurring seeds, or let the plants come up by themselves.  Sometime food plots can be a pear tree, or an oak stand.  They don't have to be a lawn of clover.  And they are not necessarily necessary to have a great hunt!  I just do a little bit of it because I enjoy doing it.

Stay safe, get your licence, and get ready to hunt!  Until next time!

Fishing on the Watauga River

The Watauga River in western NC is only 60 miles long, but it offers good fishing, depending on where you fish.  Watauga is a Cherokee name and it means "the land beyond 1."
  Last week I was in the mountains with family and we wanted to throw in a line.  A man pointed us to a road that runs parallel to the river.  We went and fished, and caught nothing for a while.  Then, I had almost given up, and BAM!  A smallmouth hit my lure with a fierce blow.  I fought him a little too quick, because he had a lot of fight in him.  I was just about to grab him (he was around a foot long and weighed maybe 2lbs, at least 1 1/2lbs) for a picture and the jerked and flipped and snapped the line!!
  Even so, I had fun. I'll try to get some pictures if I can, then I'll add it to this article.  But here are a few things I have learned about river/creek fishing in general:

1. Fish what the fish will bite.  If they don't want surface lure, try a diver (where legal) or a spoon or worm.  Jigs will also trigger a bite.  If the river is shallow, get a diver that, of course, dives but floats. If it sinks, then it will drag along the bottom like a rock when you reel it in.
2. Artifical bait is good for using a small bobber and a little line below it.  Don't go any deeper than about 8 inches, but that will depend.  A shallow creek will need less line below the bobber than one would in the Mississippi River.
3. Bass strike hard and fast.  They (at least smallmouths) also like to jump out of the water.  Keep you line tight and try to tire the fish out a little by giving him a little line.  But keep it tight.
4. Trout seem to know if someone is fishing for them.  You have to be somewhat stealthy and don't let them know you are there.  

As anyone should, check your state fishing laws to make sure the way you fish is legal.  And always have fun.  Till next time!!

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watauga_River