Gaining permission on new hunting ground

Finding new ground to hunt on and actually gaining permission these days can be a massive task to take on.  I’m not so sure whether living in a populated area vs an un-populated area is all that different with the amount of leasing that goes on.  I have no problem with those that can afford a lease, and those that can make a little extra money by leasing.  But it definitely has made a difference in being able to access land.

Here in Nebraska, 98% of the state is privately owned.  While there is state ground open to hunting, there isn’t much.  So what are your options in this situation?

N O  T R E S P A S S I N G

There is still the option of knocking on doors and respectfully asking:  This has changed a bit but you can still find permission this way.  I’ve changed up my tactics on this over the last few years.  Fuel prices can take a bite out of you, so picking a direction and driving around until you find a honey hole isn’t very productive.  I’ve been using google earth and scanning a radius around my area.  I’ll pick out the properties that look promising, and from there I either contact the landowner or if I can’t find that information I’ll then drive to them.  This gives you designated areas and you save a ton of fuel this way.  I dress in a fashion that says I’m respectful and I try to have my pickup somewhat clean.  I’ve found that when you pull up in a mud covered truck and you hop out wearing torn up jeans with the sleeves cut off your shirt, it may not give the first impression that you are needing.  Be very respectful, shake hands, and start off with a little small talk.  If you have business cards, give them one.  If no business card, make up some stock cards that contains all of your contact info.  To me, that says that you are serious and they have a way to always contact you which will go over good with them.

The lease option can be good for a number of reasons.  While you may not have the means to purchase your own land, leasing can be a more affordable way to lock down hunting ground.  In most instances, I have found that paying for a lease may grant you more freedom from the land owner than just having permission.  The landowner may be more inclined to keep a better eye out for trespassers if he lives close to said land.  You also may be able to plant food plots, or work it out with the landowner to keep a certain amount of crops in the field as part of the lease.  There are way too many options to list here, but a very important factor would be to always have a contract for the lease.  I would also be sure to have a contract amongst all of the hunting partners if you chose to go in on a lease with others.  Start out with determining a price you’re willing to pay and plan from there.

A very important piece to all of this, and it fits with the two options above as well, is to build up your network.  Whether leasing or knocking on doors, get the word out that you’re looking and get the word out often.  The more people that know you’re looking for property, means more people you have working with you to find property.

Another option you may utilize is finding an outdoor group that specializes in leasing property, and then charging a member fee which grants you the right of use to all of their leases.  Two that come to mind are Big Red Outdoors here in Nebraska, and LTD Outdoors in Iowa.  You can find them at www.facebook.com/bigredoutdoors and on twitter @BigRedOutdoors and for the Iowa group, they are www.facebook.com/ltdoutdoors and on twitter @LTD_Outdoors  Great guys that are passionate about what they do and have some really good properties.  Definitely worth a consider.

If you’re like me, the lottery hasn’t come in yet so that’s not really working out.  Hopefully some of these methods will work for you.  Good luck!!

Spring Turkey Hunting

Personally, I don’t do any ice fishing.  Once deer season is over here in Nebraska, I can usually squeeze a couple of pheasant hunts in before it closes and possibly a coyote hunt or two, and then I’m pretty much shut down for a little while.  Between Holidays, New Years, kids sports and birthdays, late winter is usually the time where I start getting a little antsy.  And I start crossing days off the calendar in anticipation for Spring turkey season.  There may be a touch more excitement involved this year though.  Between my whole family coming down with influenza and then losing a loved one, those pheasant and coyote hunts didn’t happen.  It’s definitely time to get OUTDOORS!!  Here are a few tips and pieces of information that may help you out, or if you are seasoned in the ways of the turkey then maybe this will help get you geared up to hit the woods.

The calls of the wild turkey are a universal language, and producing these sounds while hunting should work well.  Below are some examples of their vocabulary that I found on the NWTF site.  www.nwtf.org

Yelp — A two-toned call that starts with a whistling “kee” and ends with a quick “oak” sound. This call means, “Here I am, come here” in turkey talk.

Cluck — A single, sharp “puck” sound that means, “Here I am, where are you?” in turkey language.

Purr — A staccato sound that, when uttered at a low volume, tells flock mates that all is well. Increase the volume and turkeys interpret it as a sign of agitation, frustration, anger or aggression.

Putt — A loud cluck uttered when turkeys are alarmed. Putting is most  often shortly followed by a hasty retreat.

Kee Kee — The whistling sound uttered by young fall turkeys. When a flock is scattered the young turkeys will kee kee to each other and the boss hen until the flock regroups.

Cackle — A series of fast clucks uttered when a turkey is flying or when a hen is sexually excited.

Gobble — The grandest sound to a turkey hunter’s ears, this call is uttered by the male turkeys to attract hens for breeding and to announce to the world that the tom is on watch and ready to defend his territory.

There are lots of ways to go after these marvelous birds, and many different types of calls you can use.  I personally prefer to bowhunt them while remaining mobile and having a buddy operate a diaphragm call.  And I love to get in a blind with a bow and the kids just as much.  Calling and decoying a big Tom into within 10 yards of young kids, and their eyes tell you that they just found Big Foot!  And as much as I love hunting with my bow, I have no problem shooting one of these bearded monsters with the trusty shotgun either.  No matter which way, they are all very fun, and getting the kids involved is even better!

 

A few other tips and info:

• Gobblers are usually surrounded with hens early in the morning.  Toward midmorning, the hens will often leave them to sit their nests.  The time to be there is when an old tom is alone.   Did you ever have a vocal bird at predawn working your calls only to have the bird shut up when he flew off the roost?  It is probably no surprise, but he most likely had hens all around him.
• Gobblers still mate in the rain — they just don’t gobble as much or you can’t hear them as much due to the noise.  There is no reason why hunting rainy-day gobblers can’t be successful.  Look for birds in fields and pastures when it is raining.
• A common misconception is that toms sometimes just get tired of gobbling and shut up later in the season. This is not true. Gobbling will peak just before hens are ready to breed (usually just before your hunting season starts) and again after most hens have started to incubate their eggs (usually toward the middle to later part of your season). Late-season hunting is a great time to find a lonesome tom.

Good luck out there hitting the turkey woods!  You can visit www.nwtf.org for a ton of info and they also have the different turkey vocalizations you can listen to, in order to practice your calling.

 

 

Shed Antler Hunting

As the cold of winter has set in, and with the Nebraska archery season set to close tomorrow, I already seem to be day dreaming of the next season to start.  I’m not a big fan of the late winter cold, so ice fishing is not something I get into.  Outside of a couple late season coyote hunts, my next adventure that I long for will be hunting for shed antlers.  There’s many reasons to go looking for sheds, and I’ve really gotten into this activity the last few years.

One of the biggest reasons I enjoy it is for the great adventure it can be for the kids.  Pack some lunches and drinks and get the kids outdoors!  They will have a blast running off some of that winter hibernation.  It’s also a big plus to get out there and hopefully locate sheds from some of the big boys you watched all year but never connected with.  Finding their sheds lets you know they made it through all of the hunting seasons, and as long as they made it through winter, you should be capturing their photos on the trail cams again.  Maybe you like to collect sheds just to hang in the garage or display in the basement.  No matter the reason, it’s a good way to get outdoors.

Here are some tips that will hopefully help you in being successful finding some sheds:

1.  Don’t go too early.  I like to keep trail cams running through the winter to let me know when deer start dropping their antlers.  If you’re too early, you stand the chance of pushing the deer off of your land.  That will result in them possibly dropping on the neighbors property.  Hang your cameras up by a food source or a water hole.  These are the first places I look to when searching for sheds.

2.  The next areas I start searching are bedding areas.  And by bedding, I mean thick nasty areas that deer feel safe and are shielded from the weather.  Places that seem too thick to walk through are the ones I’m looking for.  Not only are they safe havens that hold deer, but all of that nasty cover the deer are walking through may help in knocking their antlers off.

3.  The trails that lead to and from bedding areas and food or water.  These trails sometimes aren’t as productive as the areas above, as deer can and will go wherever they want.  You’ll probably be covering a lot more ground when searching out these trails, but they do produce.

4.  South slopes and ridges.  Deer will spend more time on these south sunny areas soaking up the sun, and the snow will be melting sooner in these areas often times leaving a bright shiny shed antler sticking out for you to locate.

5.  Fence crossings are ideal spots too.  Any place where they have to jump a crossing can lead to them knocking their antlers off.

6.  Using a feeder can be a good way to locate sheds.  Not only will you be supplementing the herd with a food source, but also they will congregate in this one place.  By feeding here often with their heads down, it creates another great spot to collect sheds.

Hopefully these tips will help you while shed hunting.  It’s a good idea to take a pair of binoculars along with you.  This helps in determining whether what you are looking at is a limb or a shed.  It ends up saving you a little time and some miles.  This is also a good time to go knock on doors for new areas to shed hunt.  The neighbor might not have let you hunt on their property this season, but they may let you shed hunt.  Not only does this help you locate sheds from bucks you have been following, but it could also help you in potentially gaining access to actually hunt in the future.  Good luck!

2012 overview

I’m sitting here reflecting on my 2012 as a hunter, as an outdoorsman.  While there was some disappointment involved, I would never say that any year was a failure.  I had really big expectations, along with a lot of changes that didn’t always mesh in to a benefitting circumstance.  But all in all, it was a good year.

Probably the greatest part of 2012 was the spring turkey hunting.  It was the first year I took my son out with his own permit and carrying his own shotgun.  He’s six years old, and I’ve had him out chasing deer and turkey with me since he was three.  He’s a die-hard already, and I couldn’t ask for anything more.  He didn’t fill his tag, but he was able to get some shots off.  Nothing will erase the memory of his face on one particular rainy morning, when we were absolutely covered up in birds.  I greatly look forward to our next adventure.

I had the kids shooting their bows quite a bit this year, and managed to get a little fishing in too.  I need to focus on more fishing and camping for 2013, and keep them outdoors and away from the electronics.  I’ve been trying to get my daughter out hunting with me, but so far she’s been fighting it.  I’m not pushing, if it doesn’t happen I’m ok with that.  She goes fishing and camping with me and I’ll take what I can get.  But here in the last few weeks she’s asked me to take her turkey hunting this next year and that is awesome!  I don’t know if it was all the camo her brother received for Christmas or all of the pictures of us in the outdoors, and I don’t care.  She’s asked to go, and I love it!

The deer season was the disappointing part for me.  It started with the extreme drought we experienced here in the midwest, and then adding a severe case of EHD (epizootic hemorrhagic disease) to our deer herd here in Nebraska.  You can read about this here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epizootic_hemorrhagic_disease  I reached out to landowners in a ten-mile radius of where I bowhunt, in the Southeast corner of the state.  It is our estimation that we had a 60% – 75% loss to our deer population.   So far, I’ve stumbled onto seven dead deer on my property just walking to and from different tree stands.  We’re looking forward to late winter, where we can get together to walk it all out and see what we find. It was spotty though, and not all of the deer died.  I think the drought had just as much effect on my property as the EHD.  My area is a mix of hardwoods and CRP grass, with the deer bedding in the CRP.  The drought had the CRP knocked down to half of what it was the previous year, causing the deer to move onto neighboring properties. I was able to fill my doe tag with my bow, and that was about it.  I think towards the end, I had let my trail cameras sit out for over a month, and all I had on the SD cards were 6 pictures between four cameras.

BUT…these are not excuses.  This was a much-needed learning curve for me this year, and I look forward to using this knowledge in the future.  In the past, I’ve had the tendency to focus on the small picture and not letting the big picture come to me.  An example of this would be focusing on just the piece of land I had permission on, and not the surrounding area.  I’ve gotten away with this for a long time because the deer herds were healthy and plentiful.  When you all of a sudden lose deer numbers, it forces you to expand your views.  With maps, I was able to figure out where the deer had moved to when they left my land.  I didn’t have permission to hunt those places, but that lesson is invaluable, especially with out-of-state trips planned for 2013.  Viewing maps in this different light before I travel to new destinations, will aid me tremendously in being successful.  I was also able to see how the rising coyote population has effected deer numbers and their habits, as well as the lack of water, poor crops, trespassers, and neighboring landowners changing their landscapes.  I filled my doe tag, and ate my buck tag.  And that’s ok!  I’ve never claimed to be one of the best hunters out there, but I’ve always claimed that being out there is where I belong.  I could have just as easily worked my tail off to gain access to another property, but I was too focused on figuring out the changes on the property I already had, and I’m glad it worked out that way.  I’ll be a better hunter because of it.

All in all, we’ve killed some coyotes, caught some fish, bagged some turkeys, took down a few does, and a couple of us did punch our tags on some decent bucks.  The kids were outdoors learning and happy, and we all learned some good info for the future.  We’re adding to our filming equipment and making plans for 2013, as well as a few more coyote and pheasant hunts yet this winter.  After writing this, 2012 feels pretty good.

Conversation with NGPC

There is a pretty serious disease going through our deer herd here in Nebraska this year.  A very popular discussion topic throughout the state, as it has led to thousands of dead deer.  It seems as though the Western part of the state was not hit quite as hard and hunters are having pretty good success over there.  The Eastern half though, is hurting really bad.  The disease is called Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease (EHD) and is closely related to another disease known as blue tongue.  EHD is caused by a biting midge, and symptoms include internal hemorrhage, weakness, high fever, bruising, and dyspnea.  Once the disease fully establishes itself, the animal dies within 8 to 36 hours.  In NE we have some deer death each year due to EHD, but this year it sky rocketed.  Normally this disease doesn’t occur until we get into our hot weather, usually August.  And the midge dies with our first frost, so there’s not a long time frame for a lot of death to occur.  But this year we had really hot weather starting in mid June and it stayed hot for a long time.  This is what unfortunately caused such a massive kill off.  Some reports have stated that we have lost over 6,000 deer.

I had recently wrote an email to the Nebraska Game & Parks (NGPC) to discuss the EHD problem and a few other topics.  A genuine friendly email, as my intentions were not to come across as though I had  great knowledge or that I had answers for them.  To my surprise I received a phone call from the NGPC, which resulted in a great conversation and I gained some knowledge and understanding from the commissions side of things.  I will not include here which official from the NGPC called me, as I didn’t discuss sharing his comments here.  I’m also paraphrasing our conversation, and will not be using direct quotes.

We discussed the numbers that are coming across for the amount of deer that have been found dead.  The latest number that I had heard was roughly 6,000 dead deer.  We both, during the phone call, believe that number is only a fraction of how many actually died.  But it’s almost impossible to figure out precisely.  NGPC must wait until all of the numbers come in from hunters checking in their deer to get a better feel, and also for the hunters, and especially the upland game hunters to report dead deer that they find.  One problem they are having is that not all hunters are reporting their findings.  So please, if you come across any dead deer while out in the field, give the NGPC a call.  We both agreed that because of such a large kill off, that it is directly effecting the rut.  But it is going to be just opinions and not scientific as to how the rut is effected.

My next topic to NGPC was directed towards moving rifle season away from the rut season.  I was curious as to their stance on moving the rifle season to the first week of December.  The main reason I have the opinion that this needs to be done is to help get NE more along the lines of seeing a healthier herd of big mature bucks.  I mentioned both KS and IA being known for a large number of big trophy bucks and that they have their firearms seasons in December, and not during the rut.  I also mentioned that maybe having such a drastic amount of deer dying this year, it perhaps gave them a reason, or an “excuse” as to why they would make such a change in regulations.  The answer I received was that there will probably be no effort in changing the rifle season away from the rut.  In hearing the reason behind that, you have to take the EHD problem out of the equation.  In the last few years, NE has actually been going up in the number of mature bucks being harvested.  In fact, every unit except Keyapaha, they have seen a growing number of mature bucks being checked in.  Although we were in agreeance that KS and IA have much better numbers in this category and that having firearms not involved with the rut helped those states achieve that, they see no reason in changing our rifle season.  Another reason for this, and I admit that I see their point and kind of agree, is this: For the most part, it is the bow hunters that want this change, and in actuality the bow hunters are a small community to make such a change for.  Rifle season in NE is a deeply rooted tradition, and they believe that there would be a massive uproar if they were to make such a drastic change.  Although 95% of my big game hunting is done with a bow these days, rifle season is how I was brought into big game hunting and know that specifically in my family, it’s very much a big deal.  So I can see where they are coming from in this assessment.  But the biggest key to this conversation was of the farmers.  The farmers are the ones that have a loud voice in all of this as well, and they want to see deer numbers drawn down.  They believe that if they were to change rifle season away from the rut, the farmers would go above the NGPC and get legislation involved.  I think we can all agree that if hunting and fishing regulations were decided by the states politicians, instead of the NGPC, there would be a lot of UN-happy people.

Another topic I brought up was implementing antler restrictions and/or earn a buck regulation.  It is in their opinion that those two things do not work for NE.  I believe there was one or two units that they did implement the earn a buck rule, which they did so per request from hunters.  In the end, they don’t feel as though it was the right move.  If I understood the answer correctly, they believe those type of regulations only work in areas that are very over populated or that the deer herd is underfed.  Neither of which is the case here in NE.

In the end of this conversation we both agreed on one very important concept.  That is, we need to let the little bucks walk, and we need to keep a good balance with our doe/buck ratios.  Meaning, it is the hunters that can make this happen by instilling these concepts on their own hunting land as well as talking to neighboring landowners and educate them to get on board with those concepts as well.  I for one think that many hunters are already doing this, and we need to keep promoting it.  I think the fact that the growing number of mature bucks getting checked in the last few years, is a testament to hunters going along with this idea.   We also agreed that with the EHD epidemic, it’s going to take several years before we start seeing the herd numbers coming back, and seeing numerous mature bucks again.  That’s just mother nature doing her thing, and there’s nothing we can do about it.  I just hope that in the next few years, hunters do a good job of letting the does get a pass in order to help build the herd, and practice letting those little bucks grow.

I want to thank the NGPC for taking the time to make this phone call to me.  It was a very respectful and informational conversation, and I wasn’t expecting it.  Thank you!  Although we didn’t 100% agree on a few things, for the most part we shared the same opinions.

I recently joined up with a new grass-roots organization here in NE called the Nebraska Big Game Association.  Here is their mission statement:  “Our mission is to ensure the future of big game (Big Horn Sheep, Elk, Mule Deer, Whitetail Deer, Turkey, Antelope), their habitat and our hunting heritage in the State of Nebraska at the grass-roots level through targeted education, research and management partnerships.  Membership is open to anyone with an interest in the wise management and conservation of our big game resources.“  Along with that, 10% of what they raise or bring in will be donated to the Hunters Helping the Hungry Program.  You can join this organization here http://fs11.formsite.com/NBGA/form1/index.html   and you can find them on Facebook here  https://www.facebook.com/nebraskabiggameassociation

ScentMaster Box Review

I recently had the opportunity to meet the owner of ScentMaster www.scentmasterbox.com and it is my pleasure to be working alongside this great company.  ScentMaster has come up with a product that should be an essential piece of equipment in your hunting arsenal.  For those of you who take scent control seriously in your hunting lifestyle, this product truly is the answer you’ve been looking for.

The ScentMaster is a molded plastic box with a motor on top which pulls the air from the interior of the box through a scent basket which contains an activated charcoal filter, then pushes the same air down a tube into the bottom of the box where the air comes back up through another activated charcoal filter, through your clothing, and the process then repeats itself.  No outside air is introduced into the air flow cycle thereby allowing the charcoal filters to completely de-scent the air in the box and in your clothing.  The air in the box heats up to approximately 130 degrees Fahrenheit which allows all of you clothing to be dried as it is being de-scented.  In addition to this, after your clothes have been dried and de-scented, you can remove the two activated charcoal filters and then add your favorite scent to a scent pad and place it in the scent basket, turn the motor on, and add your favorite cover scent to all of your clothing.

A criticism or point of contention today with hunting clothing which contains charcoal liners, is how long the charcoal liners last and can they be reactivated.  The clothing companies claim that you can reactivate the carbon by placing them in a household dryer on high and run it for 30 minutes.  There are numerous scientific studies which clearly state that this is not possible.  Plus it is very hard on your clothing.  ScentMasters answer to this problem is simple.  After you have hunted for about 25 days, and used the ScentMaster each of those days, you simply put a new carbon filter in the machine.  You now have the highest level of activated charcoal filter working for you.  A typical hunter will be in the field for 25-30 days per year, so a filter could last you for a full season.  For those that hunt more often, you simply purchase a new filter and your all set to hit the woods.

This product makes absolute sense to me.  It saves you from having to replace your high-priced carbon lined camo each year.  It doesn’t stain your clothing like other carbon products out there.  And it costs less than most of the carbon suits on the market.  Most of us already haul our clothing in totes or scent proof bags.  Now you can use this one box to de-scent your clothes after each hunt, and transport them to your next hunt.  Great product!!

The Changing Hunter

In life, change is inevitable.  It tends to cause a lot of stress and requires much planning and organization.  Even the subtle changes can cause you to feel out-of-place.  But how about the changes you go through in your hunting life?  When you are all set up and used to the way things take place year after year, any change in that can make you feel as though it will never be the same or as good.

Many things have changed in the last ten years in my hunting world.  Deer hunting mostly, but upland game and turkey as well.  Everything from losing permission on ground that we had hunted for years, to the crew being disassembled and starting over.  If you allow it to, it can consume you and almost give you the feeling that it will never be what it once was.  To me anyway, it feels as though you will never have hunting ground as good as you once had.  I’ll never find a group of guys to share deer camp with like I always have.  We’ll never find a pheasant field like we’ve been on.  BUT, once you fight through those initial feelings, I’m finding out that this doesn’t have to be the case.

Even though it is getting harder each year to obtain hunting permission without having to pay, the truth of it is you can knock on doors as long as it takes and network nonstop, and you can still find land out there to hunt.  Along with plenty of public land to look in to.  This land is not going to look like your old land, and it may be closer or farther away, but you have to let go of the past and start anew with what you now have.   I’ve lost bowhunting permission on land each of the last three years.  Although very disheartening, I certainly wasn’t going to give up bowhunting because of it.  Three years in a row of complaining, getting angry, constantly knocking on doors only to be turned away, and asking everyone I knew, I finally received permission on some great land.  Past land will always have the memories but sooner or later you have to get past it and get in gear for those future memories.

The worst kind of change for me is when your hunting crew breaks up.  The reasons aren’t important here, but I will say that I hunted with the same crew for twenty years.  Things happen and people change but how do you deal with that kind of relationship change with a group of people who you know so well?   It was pretty hard, and I spent the last two years bouncing around the state trying to find the “new crew.”  This particular change is what drove me to be that much more involved in bowhunting.  I’ve bowhunted for years but not even close to being as hardcore as I have the last two years.  To be honest, I sort of found myself in that tree stand while alone, and I wouldn’t change it for the world.

I came across a good friend a while back, and together with our two young sons, we have formed the “new crew.”  Rifle deer season was fantastic and started a new path for new memories.  My son is five years old and talks about hunting and fishing non stop.  I’m very lucky and proud for his interest in this way of life.  This spring will be his first time turkey hunting, and he can’t stop talking about his new .410 shotgun.  The thought of sitting in the blind and watching his excitement is good stuff.  I can’t wait!

So break out of those negative feelings and embrace change for what it’s worth.  In my case I would say I made out pretty well.   In fact, I think I can proudly say, change isn’t so bad at all.