Being a blogger and a hunter, it probably won’t surprise you that I like to read of lot of other hunting blogs on the internet too! These days you can find everything from deer hunting stories, to recipes to videos of past hunts. Anything you can find in a magazine, book or tv you can now find on the internet. So although I certainly appreciate you reading Wired To Hunt, I thought I would also offer you a few more suggested reads. Below I have listed, in no particular order, the top 10 blogs that I am currently following. They range from blogs ran by big corporations to websites created in the basement without a dime, but they all share one thing in common. They are ran by dedicated and passionate hunters and I think that you’ll all find a site or two in this list that you’ll want to follow in the future!

• Bowhunting.com: Bowhunting.com features blog posts from a number of authors, including Todd Graff, Justin Zarr and many more. Posts are centered around bowhunting, but most are related to whitetail hunting and the preparation that goes along with it. I also really enjoy the videos and reviews that Bowhunting.com produces, really great stuff.
• Whitetail 365: Field & Stream’s 365 days a year whitetail blog is one of the best on the internet. Scott Bestul is the man behind the scenes and along with being a great outdoor writer, he was also one of the first people in the industry to offer me a helping hand as I began my blogging journey. Whitetail 365 is one of the most consistently updated hunting blogs and the quality of content is great too. Look for great news, stories and tips from one of the best whitetail hunters and writers in the industry.
• QDM Works: QDM Works is the online home for the works of Lindsay Thomas Jr, editor for Quality Whitetails magazine of the QDMA. This blog is relatively new, but super high on the quality spectrum. Lindsay has been posting some great articles and tips for anyone interested in how to practice quality deer management the right way.
• HB inMotion: This is the Heartland Bowhunter blog and on par with everything else they put out, it’s top notch. HB inMotion includes plenty of updates from the HB team throughout the year with tons of great photos, videos and stories. Whether or not you’re a Heartland Bowhunter fan, this is a great blog for any whitetail hunter to check out. PS check out a recent photo of a buck that Skyler is chasing called “Dozer”, he is an absolute beast.
• Big Buck Zone: This is Outdoor Life’s primary deer hunting blog and it’s another consistently updated blog (which is sometimes a rarity with a lot of hunting blogs). Look for lots of great big buck stories and other news in the whitetail hunting world.
• Live Hunt: Live Hunt is another great blog and it’s ran by Mark Seacat, an awesome hunter and another great guy. Live Hunt follows Mark as he goes across the country hunting almost every type of big game imaginable. Last year he was chasing elk, sheep and antelope. This year he has added whitetails to the hit list! Definitely worth checking out during the season for updates on his journey.
• Dream Dirt: Dream Dirt is the journal of two land auctioneers for Whitetail Properties. Jason and Chad share with you their lives on a hunting farm, as they manage and hunt their properties. Lots of great information about land management, whitetail hunting and gorgeous photos to boot!
• Record Quest: This is a brand new blog from Outdoor Life that follows Andrew Mckean as he chases world record whitetails across the country. There isn’t much on the blog yet, but it looks to be an exciting one to follow once the season kicks off.
• Passion or Obsession: Here is an up and coming blog that I’ve been enjoying, as one of the Midwest Whitetail teams documents their work and preparation before and during the hunting season. Look for a new web design thats on its way shortly.
• Midwest Bowhunter: Another blog from a Midwest Whitetail team, check out the updates from Scott and Bo as they chase the monster bucks of Kansas and Missouri.

Any others you guys would add to the list? We’d love to hear you’re suggestions in the comments!

As we’re edging ever close to hunting season, I’ve been dealing with my cravings by watching a lot of hunting tv and DVDs. One of my favorite shows, albeit one of the most unorthodox, is Jimmy Big Time. I’ve mentioned Jimmy several times on W2H, but for those not familiar, Jimmy Big Time is a “mockumentary”, similar to The Office, which follows Jimmy Big Time around as he films a hunting show. It’s damn funny and I love seeing such a ridiculous character in the hunting world. That being said, Jimmy’s team has been kind enough to send a few Jimmy Big Time Season 1 DVDs for the Wired To Hunt Nation to enjoy! But nothings easy in this day and age, so we’re going to make you compete for the chance to get Jimmy in your own home!

To win one of three copies of Jimmy Season 1, you’ll need to enter into the Big Time Harvest Photo Contest, which is luckily very easy. All you need to do is post your best harvest photo of you and your deer on the Wired To Hunt facebook page today or tomorrow. Then over the course of the next two days, the Wired To Hunt Nation will vote for their favorite harvest photos. The three photos with the most “like’s” wins a DVD! Super easy and pretty damn awesome, given the fact that this DVD is good for a lot of laughs and who doesn’t like to show off their deer.

So follow these steps to enter the contest:

1. Click here to go to the Wired To Hunt Facebook page

2. Post your best harvest photo with both you and your deer (hopefully yours will be a little more legit than the above photo of Jimmy lol)

3. Vote for your picture by clicking “Like” and tell your friends to do the same!

4. That’s it. Sit back, admire your trophy and wait for the Jimmy Big Time DVD to arrive at your doorstep.

Voting ends Friday night at midnight EST. For more info about Jimmy Big Time check out his facebook page or check out the trailer below.

So go t

I recently attended a seminar in which the speaker spoke quite strongly about the dangers that brassicas can cause your deer herd. Supposedly the toxins found in some types of brassicas, a common food plot forage, can cause deer great harm and there have been cases of deer in Europe dying from diets high in brassicas. After hearing this, I was concerned and did some digging of my own to understand the situation better. After doing my own research, I found that this is a very hotly debated topic and one that is quite polarizing. Many people claim that this is a bunch of BS, that some people have used to sell other food plot forages. That being said, I figured we ought to examine both sides of this issue on Wired To Hunt so that you all know both sides of the story.

So first off, to hear about the potential issues with brassicas, check out this video where Dr. James Kroll provides insight into why he is concerned.

Interview with Dr. James Kroll

On the other hand, check out this article from Quality Whitetails editor, Lindsay Thomas, as he provides his logic for why this should not be an issue. I personally am no expert on the subject, so I can’t claim to know who is right, but I’d love to hear your opinions!

Toxic Brassics? Get Real – Lindsay Thomas Jr

There’s a myth going around the deer hunting community that brassicas – the family name for plants like kale, rape, turnips, canola and other leafy greens – are toxic to deer. The myth is based in truth: if a deer eats nothing but brassicas, or almost exclusively brassicas, health problems will likely arise. We have to put this in context. Almost every plant out there – natural and agricultural – contains compounds that, in high dosages, could be harmful to the health of deer. Brassicas are no more harmful to deer than most of the other foods deer eat every day.

“Plant secondary compounds” are bad-tasting or toxic to help repel animals that might eat the plants. Animals, however, have evolved strategies for getting around these compounds, such as resistance to the compounds and diverse browsing habits. It’s an ongoing evolutionary arms race in which plants evolve stronger defense mechanisms and animals develop offensive capabilities to overcome them.

Pokeweed, for example, contains at least two compounds (which when spelled out are about as long as this whole sentence) that are toxic to mammals, including me and you. People can safely eat “poke salad” if they pick leaves only from young plants, and if they eat in moderation. Deer browse pokeweed leaves throughout every stage of the plant’s development. Obviously, deer have their own mechanism for dealing with the toxic compounds in pokeweed. For one, they aren’t eating pokeweed exclusively – it is just one of many plants making up the green soup in their stomachs….

To read the rest of the article, click here.

So what do you think? Thumbs up or down for brassicas in your food plots?

Wired To Hunt: QDMA National Convention 2010 from Mark Kenyon on Vimeo.

Just days from now, deer hunting’s finest will be congregating in Louisville, Kentucky to celebrate and discuss the future of deer hunting. The Quality Deer Management Association National Convention will be taking place this July 9-11 and I’m excited to say that I’ll be joining the party too! As the event website so eloquently puts it, “Each year QDMA brings together the most well-respected biologists and white-tailed deer specialists, industry celebrities, country music entertainers, and in-demand exhibitors who make the National Convention a must-see event for the dedicated attendees.”

It’s going to be an action packed weekend created with the sole intention of bringing whitetail and management enthusiasts together to celebrate and learn more about our incredible passion of hunting. That being said, the QDMA has put together a list of attractions and events that is almost endless. As an attendee myself, I’m particularly excited to see exhibitors such as Sitka Gear, Muddy Outdoors, Midwest Whitetail and Whitetail Properties. Speaking of Whitetail Properties, the host of the WP show will be a featured speaker at the convention this year. Also speaking will be Lee and Tiffany Lakosky, Bill Winke, Grant Woods and many more. My only concern is that I won’t have enough time to see and do all that I want!

Whether or not you practice quality deer management, the QDMA is an overwhelming force for good in the whitetail hunting world and it is events like this that highlight the ways they have brought hunters together. If you’re in the area or are looking for an awesome weekend road trip, I’d highly recommend heading to Louisville for the 2010 QDMA National Convention this Friday, Saturday or Sunday!

If you make it to Louisville, look for me there! I’ll be fresh off of a backpacking trip in the Smoky Mountains, unshaven, exhausted and possibly half eaten from mosquitos and bears. But none the less, I ‘ll be excited for some awesome whitetail action.

For more information about the convention and to register, check out the official QDMA National Convention page.

It’s finally here. The new season of Heartland Bowhunter premieres tonight, 6/30, on the Sportsman Channel at 10 PM EST and I know that many of you have been anxiously awaiting this moment. For those of you not in the know, check out my review of HB Season 2. This show is a great example of the next generation of hunters changing the hunting TV world. Leading up to the new season I’ve been able to preview the first episode and now have gotten to chat with Heartland Bowhunter co-host, Mike Hunsucker, about what this season has in store. So without further ado, check out my interview with Mike as we cover what’s new for Season 3, how this past fall went and his advice for the next generation of hunters!

So first, Mike can you tell us how you got involved in Heartland Bowhunter and what your role is on the team?

Mike: I got involved with HB way back when it was just getting started. Shawn’s dad Rex owns a machine shop that produces our HB Sniper Pro tree arm and at the time Larry McCoy was working for the shop helping produce the arm. Shawn and I had been filming hunts for quite some time, but simply to have the memories to share with families and friends. Shawn had known Larry for quite some time and we started hunting and filming together. Originally the plan was to produce a DVD promoting the tree arm, but after putting all the work in to produce a DVD we decided that we wanted to look at the television side of things. It all took off from there!

My role with HB has changed greatly over the past few months. Shawn and I are becoming much more involved with the business side of things including managing partner relations, working with the website and online store, and overseeing the production of the show. There is a lot of work that goes into our production and I am glad to be getting my hands dirty in it!

So the new season of Heartland Bowhunter is premiering tonight (Wednesday), how excited are you for fans to see this new season and how would you say it went for you guys?

Mike: I am really excited for the premiere of Season 3. We had a very tough year over all as did a lot of people in the whitetail woods, but we had a good amount of success as a team. I feel that the hunt isn’t all about the kill. It’s about the whole experience – the ups and downs – and we try to portray that as good as we can to the viewers.

How is Season 3 different from the previous two?

Mike: You will definitely notice some changes with Season 3. We made some good strides with Season 2, but wanted to continue to improve the quality of our production and I think you will certainly see the progression throughout the season.  We also are diversifying ourselves a little bit with hunts out west for antelope, elk, and mule deer in addition to the deer and turkey hunts here in the Midwest. Additionally you will notice that each episode will feature multiple hosts, most likely the person hunting will be doing the spines for their hunt. HB was built around the team and we are getting back to the team feel this year.

So much has been made about the production value and incredible visual quality of Heartland Bowhunter. How do you guys achieve this kind of effect in all of your work?

Mike: Dedication. Everyone on the team is EXTREMELY dedicated to the camera. We rarely have freelance camera guys filming for us, in fact probably 90% of the video on the show is shot by one of the guys on the team. It is a ton of hard work and it takes a lot of time, but we all take pride in our work and it all makes it worth it when the final product comes together!

You’re a young guy, making it big in the hunting world. Do you have any advice for other young hunters out there?

Mike: Thanks Mark. None of us consider ourselves celebrities or feel like we have made it “big time” in the hunting world. We are just like everyone else out there, just hunting and having a good time. I realize that filming hunts is not only becoming more popular, but is also becoming much more feasible financially with the prices of HD cameras dropping. This is really great because now almost anyone can go out there and film hunts. Whether it’s just for fun, or if you are trying to produce high quality videos, I encourage everyone to give it a shot. I know one thing, there is nothing better than being able to share your experience in the woods with your friends and family…its truly priceless!

For more info about Heartland Bowhunter and to watch episodes online, visit the HB website.

From time to time we all dream about moving to one of those whitetail hunting edens that you only seem to see on TV. That glorious piece of ground where the grass is always greener, the sun shines a little longer and the bucks carry chandeliers on their heads. But is there really such a place where boys can become men and dreams become reality?

I can’t say for sure  if a good piece of land will actually make you a man, but there are some incredible areas in this country of ours that the Whitetail Gods have shown favor to and I certainly think they are the canvas for dreams to be realized. That being said, Outdoor Life Magazine was kind enough to list a number of these areas in their top “Whitetail Wondertowns.” This list comes from a larger overall ranking of the top towns for an outdoorsman to live in America. According to Outdoor Life, these “rankings are based on the performance of hundreds of towns in various socio-economic and outdoors-related categories. Socio-economic subcategories, which make up 40 percent of the overall score, include population percent growth since 2000, median household income, median home value, cost of living, unemployment rate, population density, mean commute time and amenities. Outdoors-related subcategories, which combine to account for 60 percent of the overall score, include the gun-friendliness of each town’s state, huntable and fishable species nearby, proximity to public land and waters, and the potential for taking a trophy-caliber animal or fish nearby.

So take a look below at what Outdoor Life chose as their top “Whitetail Wondertowns”, as well as each town’s ranking in the overall outdoor category.

• Alexandria, MN – 110
• Ashtabula, OH – 151
• Bartlesville, OK – 71
• Del Rio, TX – 117
• Eaton, MD – 37
• Escanaba, MI – 177
• Glasgow, MT – 34
• Great Bend, KS – 147
• Keokuk, IA – 119
• Kingsville, TX – 165
• Kirksville, MO – 122
• Lebanon, MO – 103
• Nebraska City, NE – 96
• Orofino, ID – 90
• Petoskey, MI – 89
• Phillips, WI – 31
• Quincy, IL – 135
• Sandpoint, ID – 28
• Uvalde, TX – 108
• Valentine, NE – 104

So what do you think of this list? Is it really a sound list of the top 20 whitetail towns in your eyes? One concern of mine is that of these towns, only half of them are found in the Top 10 states for P & Y bucks. As much as I love Michigan, I would not recommend going to Petoskey or Escanaba if you’re looking for a once in a lifetime whitetail hunt. The deer just aren’t there! At least not in impressive number or size. On the other hand, towns like Quincy and Glasgow are in some of the hottest deer hunting land in the nation, respectively being located in Adams County, Illinois and near the Milk River in Montana.

So lets hear the thoughts of the Wired To Hunt Nation. Who should be added to this list and who should be off it? Share your opinion in the comments!

One of the core missions of Wired To Hunt has always been to share news and information about the newest technology and products in the hunting industry with the next generation of hunters. So I’m always particularly excited when I get unique opportunities to do just that and today I can honestly say I’m pumped.

Big & J Industries is the producer of one of the most buzzed about new products to hit the hunting industry in the last couple of years and it only made sense that the Wired To Hunt Nation would be interested. Big & J have created BB^2, standing for Bigger Bucks Bigger Bone, which is one of the most revolutionary deer supplemental feeds and attractants to see the light of day. This year has seen lots of change and tremendous growth for the company and I knew that the Wired To Hunt Nation would be looking for more information about this hot new brand. That being said, I was fortunate enough to chat with one of the founders of Big & J, Sean Wuller. Between emails and conversations over the phone, Sean has been so gracious to share with us a bit of insight into Big & J and some news about exciting things to come. Read on for an exclusive look into Big & J Industries and “discover the power of the brown bag”.

Sean, Big & J has really seemed to be generating great buzz lately, but I know there are still many hunters that don’t know who you are and what Big & J is all about. Could you start us off with some background on Big & J, what  your products are and how they were developed?

Sean: Our signature product BB^2 evolved out of a necessity our property and our lifestyles demanded.  We were tired of putting out a supplemental feed, mineral and then topping them with various attractants to lure the deer to them at all times of the year.  A good friend of ours is a nutritionist so we recruited him in helping us develop, what at the time we felt was just a product we were going to use that would give us the upper hand on our property versus our neighboring properties, we had no clue that what we had would lead us to where we are at today.  After over three years of field testing and numerous variations of the products, we finally had our patent pending formula that had been tested in every corner of the United States with flying colors.  Jeremy and I both came from construction backgrounds, working full time jobs and then heading to our property when ever we could, planting food-plots, setting up cameras and filling feeders with what we then deemed “the mix”, anticipating what we would find the next week.  After multiple months of going through thousands of photos, our friends and neighbors caught wind of what we were doing and just had to try it.  So after months of giving away thousands of pounds of product, people started asking us why we weren’t selling this stuff.  Honestly we never thought we had a chance, boy were we wrong.  Two years later, with two of the largest outdoor enthusiasts super stores now carrying our product line, and multiple independent retailers later, a business is flourishing.

As you just mentioned, it seems like Big & J is at a very exciting point in it’s life as a business. Could you speak to some of the new things happening with the company and your product?

Sean: The past 24 months have taken us on a whirl wind adventure.  We have partnered with Whitetail Properties, QDMA, Beyond the Hunt TV, Heartland Bowhunter, Huntmasters TV & Lodge, Mossy Oak Bio Logic, Hazel Creek Inc., Bow Madness, Wildlife Obsessions and Natural Born Killers to name a few.  With the addition of the Drurys coming this year, we have absolutely taken the industry by storm  Some say this is scary, but when your product performs as ours have, we call it exciting.  In addition to our TV personnel we have signed contracts with both Bass Pro Shops and Cabelas as well as many independent dealers across the nation and the list grows on a weekly basis.  We recently completely redesigned our website to allow ease of use, as well as offer our clients and potential clients the opportunity to research our products, our involvement in the community and industry, what our partners are doing, as well as feeding laws in every state.  We are more than a bag of attractant, our products are nutrition driven but our company is devoted to making our hunting heritage better for the future, that is why our core values are based on QDM practices.

That being said, could you speak about your philosophy on quality deer management and how your products can fit into a QDM plan?

Sean: QDMA is more than an organization, it is a commitment to yourselves, your family and most of all your environment.  Not only does it make your deer hunting better, but it makes everything you do better.  The values learned while working the land, studying your animals and not shooting everything that walks by, teaches you more than what you can read in a magazine.  What we learn in QDM allows us to determine our success whether it be in food-plots, timber management, prescribed burns or feeder implementation.  Our products allow you to pattern, supplement, attract and hold animals on your property while providing them with the added nutrition that will help take them to the next level.  Of course we all want to shoot 200″ deer, but what we really like about the product is that it draws them in from only a few weeks old, thus helping those fawns and yearlings to quit nursing sooner, which in return allows us to have a better herd all around.  There is no denying it, genetics play a major role, but their environment and their nutrition play a bigger role than most people realize.  By combining QDM land practices with supplemental feeding stations filled with BB^2, we feel this is the ultimate combination.  As a national sponsor of QDMA, we  feel that together we can really make deer hunting better for years to come.

You mentioned that you’ve been working with and filming with a lot of the guys in the industry, could you speak about how that’s been and who’s been the most fun to work with?

Sean: Every one of our partners brings something new and exciting to the table.  We are very fortunate to work with the best in the industry.  We have had amazing times with all of them. From turkey hunts and feeder installation with Cally Morris of Hazel Creek, to setting up a killer Kansas property with Pete Alfano from Whitetail Properties, to hanging out preseason scouting with Mark and Terry Drury, to turkey hunting with the guys from Huntmasters, to hanging with the HB crew filming new segments and teaching Rick & Julie Kreuter the finer points of deer attractants.  Being on the road the past two years we have racked up miles on the road, but most of all, memories we will always have. So to say one group is better than the other is just plain hard to do.  To be the best you have to study the best, now that they are on our team, it makes our jobs so much easier!

For more information about Big & J Industries, check out their new and improved website here.

Big & J Website

As you may have read here before, I’m a huge fan of the show Heartland Bowhunter. If you’ve never heard of it, you really need to jump on the bandwagon and get with it. This is the filet mignon of hunting television. For more info, you can check out my review of Heartland Bowhunter Season 2. So that being said, I was super excited for Season 3 to premier on TV this summer. It premiers next wednesday, June 30th at 10 PM EST on the Sportsman Channel. Lucky for me, I didn’t have to wait that long. The HB team was kind enough to allow me a sneak peak at the first episode and boy are you all in for a treat next week!

Heartland Bowhunter Season 3 looks to be a strong continuation of the ground breaking foundation laid during Season 2. Episode 1 looks great, sounds amazing and kicks off Season 3 in high flying fashion. Right off the bat, the opening credits once again showcase the incredible production value of this show. There honestly is not a better looking hunting video production out there. The shots and editing are just jaw droppingly beautiful. It really transports the viewer right into the show and makes you feel like you are there .

Although the quality of film, editing and music is the same, there are certainly some noticeable changes. First thing you’ll notice that is different is that Episode 1 of this season features an antelope and elk hunt, rather than the traditional early season whitetail hunts. The HB team travels to South Dakota to chase antelope and then heads up to Montana in pursuit of Elk. Both hunts were exciting to watch and took place in some absolutely gorgeous settings. I nearly packed up my things and headed off to the Rockies right then and there. The HB crew hunted with Miller Matthews Outfitters in SD and BD Ranch at Elk Ridge in Montana. Looks like they were two great outfitters and it certainly seemed like the team had an amazing time. I can tell you that Jeff went 1 for 2 on this trip. Anyone have a prediction on which animal he scored on? Was it the South Dakota pronghorn or the Montana elk?

The story wasn’t the only thing that was different this time around though. The biggest difference I noticed as the episode progressed was that Jeff Simpson wasn’t the only one doing interviews! It looks like the rest of the HB team will be getting some significant camera time this year and much more significant focus in the storylines. In this episode we see Michael Hunsucker and Shawn Luchtel, as well as the usual interviews with Jeff. I personally like the addition of more voices to the story and the incorporation of the whole team into the interviews. I’ve heard talk that this season will continue to showcase more of the team and I imagine this will only help build more amazing stories throughout the show.

Long story short, the new episode was an exciting start to the third season of Heartland Bowhunter and I will be anxiously awaiting to see how the story continues this summer! HB has set a new precedent for the quality of hunting television and it looks like they set the bar even higher with Season 3. Make sure to catch Episode 1 of Heartland Bowhunter Season 3 this coming Wednesday, June 30, at 10:00 PM EST on Sportsman Channel.

For more information about the show and information about where you can watch Season 3 check out the Heartland Bowhunter website.

Also, if you’ve been a fan of Heartland Bowhunter in the past, you can show your support for HB by voting for them in the Wild TV Grizzly Awards, which have just opened for voting. Cast your vote here