By: Tom Loundsbury. Winters just wouldn’t be the same for me without my annual varmint hunting excursions. The “varmints” (aka predators) I’m referring to are the fox and coyote, and my home Thumb area has its share of foxes (both gray and red) and coyotes to keep an avid varmint hunter occupied for a long winter’s stretch. My preferred method is using various calling techniques, and my most productive daylight timeframes are right at daybreak or near sunset, although I’ve called varmints in at high noon as well (especially when I’ve located fresh tracks). I’ve … Read More
Speed Touring during Pre-Season…get to know it now!
by: John Eberhardt. How many times have you heard of or witnessed a nice buck consistently come out and feed in the same location every evening during the summer only to dissipate into thin air just prior to season. In areas with a heavy consequential hunting pressure this vanishing act happens far more frequently than not. Unknowingly, many hunters create this vanishing act with their overzealous pre-season scouting and location preparation. By traipsing through the woods, busting through brush, hanging stands, clearing shooting lanes, and marking entry and exit routes just prior to season, hunters … Read More
All’s Well In Love & War but not necessarily with Michigan Bear Hunting
By: John Buczek. For the past few years, I’ve volunteered as a cook with an outfitter based out of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan. This outfitter conducts deer, bear and turkey hunts in both the Lower and Upper Peninsulas. Throughout my time helping this outfitter, I’ve witnessed an issue that I believe affects bear hunting in the state of Michigan. What I’ve both seen and experienced doesn’t just feel like an isolated or local problem, but perhaps something more widespread that needs to be addressed. …The following is … Read More
The 100-inch “Booner”
By: John Eberhardt. Whitetail deer are the most adaptable, widespread, abundant, and sought after game animal in the country and under “normal hunting conditions” a mature whitetail buck is the smartest game animal we have to hunt. The Boone & Crocket club was established to promote and log record class game animals taken with all weapons and the Pope & Young club was established to promote and log record class animals taken with archery equipment. It takes a 170-inch net typical and a 195-inch net non-typical buck to qualify for the Boone & Crocket record … Read More
2019 Challenges Have Turned Into Measures Of Success…the rest of the story!
By: Jim Kushner. Since I was planning to hunt the field behind my house this deer season I decided in late October to put a trail camera out in likely crossings. It was easy enough to drive them out & check them occasionally. The first location produced only one sighting, the doe was so close that all I could see were here ears and the top of her head. I moved it to a different spot and saw a few does. Because of my situation the camera stayed in the same spot until Dec. 1st … Read More
2019’s Challenges Have Turned Into Measures Of Success
By: Jim Kushner. As we get older our measure of success seems to change in more ways than one. Personally my measure of success in my teens was just to fill a deer tag. I was deer hunting crazy from well before I ever went on my first hunt. That first year at age 14 I think I saw only 3 or 4 deer in a full week of hunting. No one in our group filled a tag and as much as I badly wanted a buck I went home a very happy camper just … Read More
This Should Be My 46th Deer Season!
By: Jim Kushner. This should be my 46th deer season. I started hunting with my Dad & older brother on State land. We stayed for the first week of the firearm deer season in the family camper. It was a tradition to hunt there that started before I was born, that particular spot was always where they set up camp & even though it was on state land & a fairly well traveled dirt road I do not remember there ever being anyone else camping there. Maybe it wasn’t the great spot that we always … Read More
My Hunting Obsession Came Late
By: Adrian Zarantonello. I’ll start this story off with the fact that I’m by no means a hunting expert. I haven’t shot any “Booners” and I’m relatively new to hunting. However, for a newer hunter with limited background and experience, some components of hunting stick out more than others in terms of importance. Although my learning curve was steep, I’ve cultivated a great appreciation for scent control and prevention. I thought I’d share my observations concerning scent control and prevention, and its importance in a successful hunt. My hunting obsession started late; I was really … Read More
Death Of A Gun Safe?
By: Jim Kushner. A couple of weeks ago I was educated about the old saying “you get what you pay for”. In this case that applied to my Cannon gun safe. I don’t mind mentioning the brand name because this is all absolutely true. I bought my safe from a chain store and as safes go it was neither cheap or expensive. The electronic keypad was easily programmed and it runs on a single 12 volt battery. After a few years I noticed that the battery would wear out quicker than the one before it. … Read More
Preseason Readiness – Deer Season is fast approaching
By: Tom Lounsbury. Ever since my wife Ginny and I became the 4th generation to own the family farm 20 years ago, we’ve put a lot of effort since then into creating our own little wildlife paradise, thanks to various conservation programs our farm is enrolled in. My main focus is providing proper habitat for wild pheasants, and in so doing it has worked to the benefit of all wildlife, including deer. The majority of the farm entails prairie grass fields, which have evergreen windbreaks all around the outer perimeter, and it didn’t take … Read More