Tag Archives: Hunting

August 29, 2010

What would you do?

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My love and passion for whitetails is hard to explain. And for any of my non-hunting friends, it’s even harder to understand.

While I spend many hours chasing them throughout the fall and winter months, I enjoy observing them, and Lord knows I can’t stand to see them suffer. Trying to extrapolate on that to friends usually gets me a few wrinkled brows. Yes, I kill deer. But, yes, I also respect them plenty enough to get a knot in my oversized belly each time I see one suffering. I get that way about a lot of animals.

A Black Bear finds dinner at the hands of an apparently-injured buck. Photo borrowed from DeerandDeerHunting.com

My friend, Greg, passed along a recent photo series from Deer & Deer Hunting’s chat forum (Click here to see the photos. WARNING: Graphic). The series, titled “Bear Attacks, Eats Buck” is a voyeuristic peek at what happens in nature. A whitetail buck, apparently injured in what was likely an encounter with a vehicle, makes very little effort to get away from a fortuitous black bear. The buck, which appears to have a broken leg among his injuries in the first shot, dies a painful death. The bear feasts.

That part I understand and can accept. Click here for the rest

2 Comments   |  tags: , | posted in 2010, General Tales

July 11, 2010

Book Review: “Hunting Booger Bottom” by Michael Waddell

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Michael Waddell is without question the biggest star in the outdoor world.

To my gun- and bow-toting brotheron, he’s sort of our LeBron James. Well, except when he was a big-time free agent in the hunting industry a couple years ago, he didn’t do an hour-long show on the Outdoor Channel to tell everybody about it. In fact, hardly anyone knew about it. He’s that kind of humble.

He’s gone from a part-time grunt with Realtree Outdoors to the most sought-after representative for every outdoor product manufacturer. He’s developed two brands that carry significant value in the outdoors. And he’s done it by staying true to himself. I respect that very much.

He kind of reminds me a lot of Marty Smith with ESPN. Smith is beloved by NASCAR fans because he is different by being normal. Does that make sense – different by being normal? The normal for both Smith and Waddell helped fit a niche that was needed in their respective industries.

Click here for the rest

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , , | posted in 2010, Book Review, General Tales, Product Reviews, Uncategorized

June 6, 2010

Daydreaming … beyond this year!

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With extremely high hopes and a couple very strong opportunities for successful hunts in place for 2010 and 2011, it might be difficult to understand why I spent a big chunk of today thinking about hunts roughly a dozen or so years away.

While flinging a few arrows at the target with a couple of hunting buddies, conversation stumbled upon taking our kids hunting. Jason, whose target we were trying to wear out, has a little girl just a few months older than Sara. We chatted about buying our little girls youth bows and letting them shoot with their daddies. Those days will be here much quicker than that first hunt. But I look forward, with great anticipation, to hopefully sharing the woods with my little girl. Jeff, our third shooter tonight, has a boy who is within a few years of his first hunts.

I do not plan to pressure Sara (yes, she does already have the lifetime license which is more pressure than I’d like to put on her), but my hope is that she will see just how much passion I have from enjoying all of the fantastic things that hunting provides. My dad never pressured me once, but he was able to help me develop an unmatched enthusiasm for the outdoors.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m about as excited for hunting the 2010-2011 season as I have been in many seasons. But I can’t help but imagine how awesome it will be to share the woods and waters with Sara when we get the chance to do that in a few years!

1 Comment   |  tags: , , , | posted in 2010, General Tales

May 31, 2010

Top Questions about Hunting – Part II

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As a second part of our dive into the minds of Americans alongside Ask.com, we’ll take a look at another five questions that are among the most asked hunting questions at the question and answer site. By the way, these questions are among the more than a million asked at Ask.com everyday!

Without further ado, here are the questions and my personal opinion to the answer. Once again, if you’d like to see how each is answered by others, visit Ask.com and ask.

Fishing is not the only outdoor activity former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin enjoys. Photo borrowed from Ask.com

Does Sarah Palin hunt?
I guess she does. People ask a lot of Palin questions these days. Those questions are not exclusive to politics.

When is turkey-hunting season?
This is another one of those state-dependent answers, but most states do fall in the April-May timeframe for spring turkey season.

What is the easiest breed of hunting dog to train?
Look, there’s a reason why Sage is the star of this blog! I’m completely biased in my opinion that Labrador retrievers are the easiest. I’m sure there’s a Springer Spaniel, German Shorthair or Boykin Spaniel owner out there who disagrees with me.

What is the best rifle for long-range deer hunting?
The opinion of “long range” differs for a lot of hunters, but when it comes to my preference for hunting deer with a rifle, I am a big fan of the .308 Win. And I don’t believe there’s ever been a more shooter-friendly rifle action built than that of the Remington 700. All of my rifles are sent to my friend Lenny Palmatier in Potter County, Pennsylvania to make sure they’re field ready for those long-range deer hunts!

Where is the best duck hunting in the U.S.?
I wish so badly that I could put the answer as the Piedmont Region of North Carolina! Sadly for Sage, that is not the case. I’ve never hunted it, but widespread perception says that Arkansas represents some of the best duck hunting in the U.S. The top location I’ve ever hunted is unquestionably North Dakota. That said, with the right time of the season and the right weather, it’s hard to top any region along the Mississippi flyway.

This is part two of a two-part entry that looks into the top questions about hunting – as posed by Americans at question and answer site Ask.com

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , | posted in 2010, Top Questions, Uncategorized