It started out as an idea in my head and a brushy patch of ground, then eventually with time, sweat and muscle it transformed. From a barren patch of earth sprung new life and great possibility. The possibility of a beautiful food plot is now coming to life to as my hard work this summer is finally paying off in the form of a lush green carpet sprawling across my property.

A month and a half ago, with the help of a few friends, I was able to put in my largest food plot to date on my new piece of property. This small hunting plot is comprised of Whitetail Institute No-Plow on the south side, and Whitetail Institute Tall Tine Turnips and Winter Greens on the north. And with that combination, I’ve got an attractive food source available from October straight through January.

As you can see from the pictures here, the deer are already starting to flock to my plot and I plan on finally taking advantage of that this weekend. I have yet to hunt my food plot, although I set a friend of mine there, and he saw deer every night. So now it’s my turn and I plan on taking my first doe of the year from my little hidey hole and I can’t wait. As you can see, the food plot has definitely grown into a beautiful sprawl of lush, green food. But I aim to add a little red to the picture this weekend.

In a day or two, this little piece of land will continue its evolution. From a food plot, to a killing plot.

For more information about the food plots I’ve planted, visit the Whitetail Institute of North America.

Notice how well he placed the shot in the lower vitals as the deer quartered away. Remember to practice shooting at different angles to make sure you can place the arrow correctly when the deer inevitably shifts positions. And don’t take a quartering towards you shot, it’s much too likely that you’ll hit the shoulder and potentially wound the deer. Be patient and responsible, wait for that good broadside or quartering away shot and send the arrow straight to the vitals.

Bowcast: Doping In/Buying A New Bow

You can listen to the rest of the episodes at their website www.BowCast.com. I will definitely be following their podcasts in the future as I gear up for the October archery season.

What are your thoughts on using a drop away rest? I would love to hear about any of your experiences or opinions about these rests before I go out and buy one of my own.

Feasting on corn

I just ran across an article in the Dallas Morning News discussing a number of ways hunters, fisherman and outdoors enthusiasts can save some money and gas this year while dealing with these tough economic times…

“Fuel costs are a major issue, but so is the cost of everything else, partly due to increased shipping expenses. Ammunition has risen steeply since last hunting season. Even the cost of shelled corn has skyrocketed as hunters compete with ethanol production. I’ve heard corn prices as high as $10 for a 50-pound bag. That’s double last year’s cost.”

The author went on to recommend such money saving tips as car pooling, buying corn and other bait in bulk and loading your own cartridges.

This article’s definitely worth a read and it also corresponded very closely with another piece I just read in the recent North American Whitetail magazine, entitled “Make It Happen,” from the Antler Talk column. This article discussed the possibility that the number one threat to hunting across America could be the rising cost of our sport. Inflation has hit everything from gear, to hunting leases to licenses. The author essentially said that yes, the cost of hunting is rising, but so is everything else, so just deal with it. Examples of ways to deal with this inflation were to utilize public land and just to be plain innovative.

It really is unfortunate that so many of the costs associated with hunting are rising so quickly, but like both of these articles emphasized, we can find ways to make the best of the situation. Check out the article from the Dallas Morning News at DallasNews.com for some great tips and if you have any other money saving ideas, feel free to share them with the rest of the Wired To Hunt community.

The recent comments from Bob Barker in relation to the supposed danger of hunting near residential areas really set me off the other day. But now a Virginia court has ruled in favor of hunter’s rights to be in these areas.  This ruling really sets an important precedent regarding the legitimacy and safety of allowing urban bow hunts. I’m particularly excited about this because I myself bow hunt hunt inside a semi-urban area and I’m glad that there is now a court ruling in favor of my right to do just that.  You can read the full story on this court ruling at The Rub Line.

As Fred Bear said, “If you are not working to protect hunting, then you are working to destroy it.”  With strong support from the hunting community, we can continue to protect our rights to hunt and ensure that we’ll be able to pass this great tradition on to the next generation.

First thing you notice is that they set up a standing buck decoy. This can be a great tactic to use to draw a territorial rutting buck into shooting distance. One thing to consider when setting up a decoy is the distance you place it from your stand, and the direction you point it. You should always set up your decoy at about 15 yards from your stand to draw a buck into a manageable shooting distance, even if it is circling or standing off aways from the decoy. If you are using a buck decoy, face it in the direction you want the deer to come in from, as bucks will approach each other face to face. But if you are using a doe decoy, angle the decoys rear end in the direction you hope the buck will coming from. A bucks first point of business when checking out a doe is to give her a good sniff from behind and this will result in a good clean broadside or quartering away shot as the buck checks out your decoy.

Next Michael uses a typical buck grunt, then a snort wheeze, followed by a short rattling sequence. All of these calling techniques can be useful to draw in a buck. Although they can be used succesfully independently, using them in a sequence makes this scenario seem even more realistic to a curious buck, as he hears all the tell tale sounds of another buck invading his territory.

As the buck comes into shooting range, notice that when Michael draws back on his bow he doesn’t need to arch his bow up or make any unneccesary movements. Many times hunters put too much emphasis on having a heavy draw weight on their bows, and this can result in making awakward and attention grabbing movements when pulling back, as well as hurting your chances of an accurate shot. It is much better to set your draw at a point where you can comfortably and smoothly pull back your bow and hold it. The key to a killing shot with a bow is much more about placement than power.

Last you’ll notice that when the buck starts to move away, Michael uses a short self-made mouth bleat to stop the buck in his tracks. This is a great tactic to stop a deer and provides you with a better shot opportunity, without scaring the deer. I actually used this same trick  to stop the buck I shot last fall at 20 yards from my stand.

Although there is obviously a tremendous amount more to understand when hunting the elusive whitetail deer, this short clip does a great job of highlighting a number of important key concepts and tricks to make you a more succesful deer hunter. Any other key learnings or tips that you pulled from this clip? Let us know.

MyOutdoorTV.com

If any of you are like me, you’re already counting down the days til deer season. Usually getting some target practice or scouting can hold me over during this late summer lull, but here I am in New York City with no way to get my outdoor fix and cabin fever is kicking in bad. Luckily, last fall I discovered MyOutdoorTV.com. This is a great website where you can watch dozens of great hunting and fishing shows streaming online. You can watch everything from North American Hunter to Fishing with Bill Dance. The video quality is great and the choices are endless. Last fall, while I was stuck on my college campus, I spent hours watching hunting videos to get geared up for the coming season. One of my favorites was “BuckEye Cam Fair Chase Encounters”. It’s an archery only, self-guided whitetail hunting show that is filmed primarily in Ohio and I found it to be one of the most educational and interesting shows I’ve seen yet. So if your dying to get outdoors, but don’t have the time or means, check out MyOutdoorTv.com to get your fix online.

Early season buck on the run.

Field and Stream recently ran a story outlining some of the best strategies for bagging an early season buck. Hunting over water, setting up along rub lines, decoying for bachelor groups and hunting early food sources were all brought up and detailed. While these are all effective strategies, my thought is that these ideas have been around for as long as I can remember and seem to be pretty general. I’m wondering if there are any truly radical ideas for sticking a buck early in the year, that only work during this part of the season. So what crazy schemes are you pulling together to fill your tag early this year?