Shooting straight and ready

The Farmer was kind enough today to let me come out and blaze away at his big dirt pile. In other words, it was time once again to sight-in guns before the long-awaited start of firearm deer season. In addition to my old 870 rifled slug gun, I had a new Knight muzzleloader to test.

Both guns did well enough that I feel comfortable heading into the morning. To say they are shooting straight would be a bit untruthful. But I do feel comfortable with either gun (both of which will be in the stand with me this weekend).

But you know what? I’m not quite as excited about this gun opener as I have been in recent years. Several mornings and evenings in the stand bowhunting have taken the edge of my need to stand in the timber. The difference in a few hours, of course, is that it’s much easier to reach out and touch the deer we will see.

And I hope to to see a few. But this is my real fear. That Friday morning will be crazy, Friday evening will be OK and Saturday and Sunday will slow up markedly once deer head to the corn.

We’ll see. For now it’s time to wish everyone luck and hope that a big 30-pointer walks past you in the morning or whenever you get out in the timber.

Yes, Scrappy found a new home

A few people have been asking lately about the whereabouts of Scrappy, the little Miniature Pinscher we inherited as a stray.

Well, just in the nick of time, Scrappy was adopted by a new family. After diligent efforts to find his owner came up empty, we tried to find a new home for the Scrap. Drew and Penny (above) learned about Scrappy (or Squeaky as the kids called him or whatever it is they now call the cute little dog) right here on Scattershooting. After they showed up and fell in love with the little rascal he was whisked off to his new, better life.

I say it was just in time because that little rascal was growing on me. Another few days and I would have wanted to keep him. But alas, space is an object in our pin-sized yard. And with a Lab puppy on the way in the next year, there was just no room for Scrappy. We are all happy he is now with a good family, even it if means he will probably be wearing sweaters someday soon.

Open Blog Thursday

A new gun to sight-in, new ducks arriving and a dog biting me to go pheasant hunting all have my attention. Help.

FROM Loren Cook:

“It’s my observation that when checking the RSS feeds I notice more stories placing hunting in a negative light.  Some examples are ‘Indiana teen hunter shoots self’, ‘St. Louis deer hunter dies after shooting’, ‘Hunter accused of illegally killing record buck’, ‘Man dies after shooting self while deer hunting’, and ‘Deer poaching leads to record Neb. Fine’.  I thought Prairie State Outdoors was a pro-hunting Web site?  I understand that these things happen but there are so many anti-hunting groups out there that use this material to further their cause.  I just hate to see PSO give them the ammunition.”

FROM Ray Marshalla, DNR waterfowl biologist:

“Geese know when the season is closed.  I have experienced that situation many times.  Even when we closed early due to the quota being reached I can remember geese flying over me at 25 yards while pheasant hunting in blaze orange a day or two after the season ended.  I always see geese in fields they never use all hunting season the day or two after it closes. Quite amazing! Geese in the duck decoys over robo ducks when the closed segment occurs seems to happen every year to me.  If the season was open they would never land by a robo!”

FROM John Hartmann, USDA wildlife specialist:

“You (actually Flathead) have great photos of the ‘seagull with jewelry.’ I wanted to thank you for the observation information you provided on the website. We are still collecting reports of tagged ring-billed gulls that were banded in 2007. The orange tagged gull that you observed was banded by us “USDA/Wildlife Services” at Dime Pier in Chicago.  We tagged the gulls in order to determine movement patterns of gulls from various nesting colonies in the Chicago area. We are especially interested to know if gulls from outside of Chicago are coming into Chicago during the summer months and if the Chicago gulls stay in the Chicago area or do they leave.  We appreciate the information that you posted.”

FROM Ryan Hulett:

” I was reading your sub article about wanting readers opinions on shows and it got me thinking about one person who does not have his own show currently, but holds his own in an industry that thrives on viewer reviews and the who’s who has to be on TV. Not sure if you’re familiar with Randy Oitker, but he is a class act and his resume speaks for itself. 

“Check out randyoitker.com and also youtube.com and search his name. You are going to find one of the best kept secrets of the hunting industry.  I could go into detail on what Randy does and what he has accomplished but I will let his resume speak for itself. Not only does Randy travel the globe (he was in London in April setting and breaking his own Guinness book records) but he is a home-grown product right here near Plainville, Illinois. Thanks for all of the good stuff you put out on PSO and keep em coming.”

FROM Bill Stephens of Industry:

“I really enjoy the venue of Prairie State Outdoors. Sometimes I see a parallel in the comments, feedback section to the (Controversial?) Tred Barta TV program. I have not seen one of his programs for awhile, that has been by chance not choice. Tred’s format is somewhat bordering on being ‘Out there.’

“When I first started watching his programs I was somewhat turned off by his arrogance and eccentricity. The more I watched and watch him fail on some of his attempts I then started to appreciate that I felt he is the ‘real deal.’ He seems to be his own worst critic at times. The episode where he was trying to kill a coyote with his bow was enjoyable. That was something I could relate to. I have taken a couple of coyotes with my bow and it was as exciting as taking a deer with a bow. Fred concluded that program with no coyotes killed. On his next program that I was watching, he is hammering Yellow Fin Tuna. I have concluded all my off shore trips with no Tuna on board. He wins, he can eat the Tuna, I am sure I would not be filleting out the coyotes. I can hardly stand their smell when skinning them.

“I have been very fortunate to be able to meet and talk with many of the TV outdoor celebrities over the last eighteen years at different sporting shows. Watching their show after meeting them kind of makes me feel as if I am with them on their adventure. Most are very easy to talk to; a couple of them however were complete jerks. Sometimes I have to force myself to remember the only reason that the TV show you are watching is on the air is to ‘Sell you something!’

“The TV programs costs lots of money to air, which is why there is so much STUFF out there to buy. Sunday evening when we were leaving for the deer blinds I grabbed my pack. It weighs almost 12 pounds with STUFF in it. When I returned back to the truck that evening, I had not even opened the pack to see what Stuff had taken the hike with me.

“I believe there is an outdoor show for about any interest There is one show that I simply cannot stand but I have the ability to change channels and wait until ‘The guitar player gets off his buffalo’ to return to the ‘toned-down’ outdoor programming.”

Trail-cam picture seconds before buck shot

This is the first time I’ve ever seen this sequence of pictures.

Dan Baldock is an account manager for Lone Wolf Treestands who killed a nice 10-point Peoria County buck on Nov. 14. Baldock and his buck are pictured above.

But with a trail-cam he also got a picture of himself in his Lone Wolf Assault stand just seconds before he shot the buck. “If you look in the upper right corner you can see me standing in the tree with my bow still on the hanger,” Baldock noted.

Sure enough, blow up the picture (second picture below) and there he is.

Baldock went on to explain that, “I’m left handed so all I had to do was pick up my bow, draw and shoot (maybe 10 seconds total). He was 20 yards when I shot. He is a 10-pointer but he is missing his one brow tine.”

Pretty cool memento of a nice buck.

Fathers, sons a key to deer hunting

Another firearm season is rapidly approaching and it got me to thinking about fathers and sons. This Sunday in the Journal Star (and here on PSO.com) we will have a story about a father who hunts with his daughters. I think it’s a great story (written by Stan Morris, not me, so I’m not bragging).

Every time I hear about a story like Sunday’s it makes me smile. Daughters are increasingly getting out in the field with Dad, and that’s great. But the fact is, fathers and sons remain more central to the deer hunting experience.

Last night during a planning meeting for our Elmwood AllOutdoors Show, all three of the other male committee members (Larry Dozard, Russ Nash and David Vaughan) told stories about hunting deer with their fathers. I hear similar stories all the time.

While I never got that chance growing up in Buffalo, N.Y. (through no fault of my father, we just didn’t hunt), I do look forward to the day when my boys will be able to join me as active participants in a deer hunt. Right now they are too young. They are tag-alongs. And that’s fine. But being more than a tag-along will be a neat experience. Bittersweet, somewhat, since it will mean they are growing up. Yett something I’m really looking forward to.

That said, it will be tough at first to accommodate both Henry and Victor, since they are so close in age. But it’s obviously possible. For proof, here are some pictures from the October youth season of brothers who shot deer while hunting with their father.

The first set is of Chase, 9, and Chance Hunziker, 8, who both shot does while hunting with father Chad (whose Hunziker’s Deer Scent I have been using all season and plan to use during firearm season). Chad has done a good job getting his boys outside for years now and can look forward to many years of hunting together.

Both kills came out of the same stand, Chase (first picture below) on the Saturday of the youth season and Chance on the Sunday.

The next set is of brothers Jake and Matt Osmulski of Elmwood, who both got bucks during the youth season while hunting with their father, Scott Osmulski in Carroll County. Jake (first picture below) shot a 6-pointer and Matt shot a 7-pointer. The only downside for dad is that the boys already filled the freezer. That meant he has not been eager to shoot any does during bow season.

And here’s a picture of Josh Cook, who shot this 6-pointer while hunting with his father Thad on the Sunday of youth season. Writes Thad, “You can tell by the
expression on his face he was pumped! Check out the smile on his face! We had a great time and I think (know) he is hooked for life.”

The first picture was taken just seconds after the shot while Thad and Josh were still in the stand. That’s a happy kid.

Seeing these pictures illustrates to me one more reason why I love hunting. People who don’t hunt don’t understand the bonds it builds with your friends and family members. In this increasingly hectic world it’s a chance to slow down some, spend time together and build memories.

Anyway, here’s to the fathers and sons who will be share time in the timber this weekend. May you all have a safe, successful and memorable hunt.