Kentucky Afield Outdoors: Use These Tips For An Excellent Deer Season
September 3, 2010
FRANKFORT, Ky. – Picking the right entry and exit route to your treestand or ground blind might be more important to success in deer hunting than where you actually hunt.
“I’d much rather hunt a marginal stand location, where bucks don’t know they’re being hunted,” said Bill Winke, who gave a deer hunting seminar at the recent Quality Deer Management Association national convention in Louisville. “I’m scouting for hidden access routes. Good deer sign is easy to find.”
Winke believes traveling undetected when entering and exiting a hunting area is the real secret to whitetail success. He’s deer hunted an average of 60 days a season for the past 20 years and manages 1,200 acres in south-central Iowa.
He also goes to extreme measures to stay hidden from the keen eyes, ears and noses of deer. “If a big buck knows he’s being hunted, you can forget it,” Winke said. “Chances are you’ll never see him again during the season from that stand.”
The strategies he outlined will work anywhere during both archery and firearms deer seasons.
“I like to get in fast and quiet,” said Winke, a columnist for Petersen’s Bowhunting magazine and publisher of MidwestWhitetail.Com. “If deer don’t know you’re there, you’ve got a good chance at getting a shot.”
Wilke strives to emulate the old saying, “the first time you hunt a treestand is the best” every time he hunts. This is true regardless of the number of times he’s used a particular treestand.
He uses gullies, creeks, standing corn and fencerows to shield his movement.
“I don’t like to go in (to a stand) in the dark,” said Winke. “I want it to be just light enough to see my feet so I won’t step on sticks and make too much noise.”
If downed timber or brush clutters a route, he often goes in before the season and clears the way with a chainsaw. However, Winke cautions that mowing paths to treestands with a tractor can cause problems.
“Deer will sometimes adopt a mowed path as a trail,” he said, “and catch your scent on the ground where you’ve been walking.”
Stands should be approached from down wind, or cross wind, as long as the hunter’s scent is not being blown in the direction deer are expected to approach.
“I like to hunt on windy days, especially when I’m going through standing corn to get to my tree,” said Winke. “Standing corn screens your movement and the rustling covers the sounds of walking.”
He stays away from his best stands on calm days. “Deer can hear you approach from a long way off when it’s quiet in the woods.”
Winke resists the temptation to sneak around his hunting area before the season.
“You need to match normal human activity whenever possible, and park where deer expect vehicles to be parked,” said Winke. “Don’t park too close to where you are going to hunt. Park at a house or beside a barn and take the long way in to your treestand.”
He checks the trail cameras he positions on the edges of fields from a pickup truck. “I mount my trail cameras on metal fence posts,” Winke said. “That way I can drive right up to the camera, replace the memory card with a blank one, and drive off.”
Driving tractors and trucks around a hunting area mimics normal farm traffic, and doesn’t alert deer to danger, like a human on foot does.
He encourages hunters to set their stands and trim the trees well in advance of the season opening day.
An avid bow and muzzleloader hunter, Winke concentrates on does (antlerless deer) in October and bucks in November.
His favorite time to hunt is when the bucks are cruising, just prior to the onset of breeding. “That usually falls between Nov. 5 and Nov. 10, with Nov. 7 being my favorite day to be in my best treestand,” Winke said.
Kentucky’s 135-day archery season begins Saturday, Sept. 4. At the beginning of archery season, Kentucky deer are focused on food. Fields of clover, alfalfa, or sprouting wheat, planted as a cover crop, are good places to hunt.
Pick a tree that provides good cover in a fenceline for your treestand, or a brushy area in the corner of the field for a ground blind. Early in the season the wind predominately blows from the west or southwest, but frequently shifts to the northwest with the advance of cool fronts.
Facing your stand northwest is the ideal positioning for hunting cool front. That way you’ll have the sun set over your left shoulder, and the wind in your face. Deer approaching from upwind won’t be able to smell you, and you’ll be hidden in the shadows as the sun moves to the western horizon.
Early in the season, concentrate on hunting in the late afternoons, especially during the first and last quarter moon periods. This is when the moon is a thin crescent and positioned at 12 o’clock in the sky at dusk. Deer are most likely to converge on feeding areas before dark during this time.
Modern gun deer season opens Nov. 13 statewide. The season runs until Nov. 28 for Zone 1 and Zone 2 counties and until Nov. 22 for Zone 3 and Zone 4 counties.
For other information on Kentucky’s 2010-2011 deer season, visit our website at: fw.ky.gov.
Groups target lead in ammo, tackle – Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
August 16, 2010
By Bob Frye, TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Lead is a common ingredient in ammunition and fishing tackle such as sinkers, but should it be?
Some say no.
A coalition of groups — the American Bird Conservancy, Center for Biological Diversity, Association of Avian Veterinarians, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility and hunters’ group Project Gutpile — filed a petition with the Environmental Protection Agency asking for a ban on the use of lead in ammunition and fishing tackle.
It is being sought under the Toxic Substances Control Act, which regulates dangerous chemicals. The petition references almost 500 scientific studies, “most of which have been peer-reviewed, that starkly illustrate the widespread dangers from lead ammunition and fishing tackle,” according to a press release from the American Bird Conservancy.
The groups claim that 3,000 tons of lead are shot into the environment in the United States through hunting every year, that another 80,000 are released at shooting ranges and that 4,000 are lost in ponds and streams as fishing lures and sinkers. That poses a threat to birds such as bald eagles — the release called lead “a widespread killer in the wild” — and to people, who eat meat from game taken by lead bullets. Click Link Below for Full Story!
via Groups target lead in ammo, tackle – Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
Record brown trout in Wisconsin | StarTribune.com
August 16, 2010
That’s one monster brown trout.
Wisconsin officials have verified that a 41-pound, 8-ounce brown trout caught by Roger Hellen of Franksville, Wis., caught in Lake Michigan on July 16 is now a Wisconsin state record fish. And it may be a world record, too.
It smashed the old record by almost 5 pounds. The previous record was 36 pounds 8.9 ounces and 40.5 inches for a fish caught August 23, 2004, in Lake Michigan near Kewaunee.
Hellen’s is the ninth state record set this year, and the first for a fish caught by hook and line.
He caught the fish north of Racine while competing in a fishing tournament. The fish measured 40.6 inches long.
The fish is an ounce heavier than the 41-pound 7-ounce world record brown trout caught last year in the Big Manistee River in Michigan.
“It was very exciting – it was certainly the biggest trout or salmon I’ve ever seen,” says Cheryl Peterson, DNR fisheries technician who weighted, measured and processed the fish at the tournament. “We knew as soon as it was on the scale it was going to be a new state record.” Click Link Below For Full Story!
via Record brown trout in Wisconsin | StarTribune.com.
Squirrels Beware
August 16, 2010
By: Michael Collins
The sky’s warm spotlight peaks over the ridge and reveals the canopy of that ‘ole’ hickory nut tree. The limbs are slightly bent toward the ground due to the bounty of nuts that are waiting to be harvested. Off in the distance, a train’s horn echoes around the countryside and a crow caws from above. Movement catches your eye; you turn your head to see a doe leading her fawn into the clover plot for an early meal. Your heart jumps in your throat as something begins to thrash around in the hickory above. A chiseling sound fills the area and little pieces of nut shell tap the leaves like rain on the way down to the forest floor. This can only mean one thing.
The Kentucky fall squirrel season begins on Aug. 21. This is the absolute best time for hunters to get after nut-crazed bushy tails. Hunters will find success if they find the nut trees.
Locate Nut Trees
On the opening weekend of the fall 2009 season, I found that the squirrels were cutting on walnuts. On the second weekend, the squirrels were getting into the hickory nuts. Finding either of these nut trees should be a first priority if you wish to fill your daily bag limit. It doesn’t take long to find where the squirrels are feasting. On a day that isn’t too windy, listen and watch for rustling in the trees, and listen for squirrels cutting on nuts. If you find a tree that squirrels are hitting hard, you’ll likely find more than one bucktoothed tree leaper, so make sure you’re ready for some quick shooting.
Last season I sat up against a tree in front of a large hickory that the squirrels were hitting. Three squirrels showed up just after day light and I was able to come out with two of them. When multiple squirrels show up to one tree, you know it’s a place you need to set up shop. Finding a spot like that his helpful because it’s a way hunters can beat the heat. Sitting and waiting will keep you cooler than if you’re moving around looking for squirrels.
Nut Report
In the Northern Kentucky area I have found that hickory nut trees have produced a solid crop this year. The walnut crop seems to be down a little from last year, but there are still plenty out there. In areas such as Owen County and Grant County, the walnut and hickory crops are very good. In June, I checked out some hickory nut trees on a farm in Owen Co. and I found that the nuts were abnormally huge for that time of year. Check out the property you hunt to find out where the squirrels will be on opening day.
Tips and Tricks
If you are around an area where squirrels like to hang out, but you don’t see any, there are a few things you can try to enhance your chances of getting on some. I have used a young squirrel distress whistle for many years and I have had pretty good success with it. Squirrel calls are designed to make squirrels move or bark, but I have called squirrels in to me on several occasions with this call.
Another effective way to call in squirrels is to use two quarters. Quarters have rigid edges on them. Scrape the edges of the quarters together and it will make the sound of a squirrel cutting on a nut. I have seen this technique work. It is a simple way to improve your chances as long as you have two quarters in your pocket.
One of the reasons that fall squirrel hunting can be fun is because hunters can use the thick foliage to slip up on unsuspecting squeakers. This does not mean that it’s easy to do so however. Move when the squirrel moves or when the squirrel is concentrating on cutting into a nut. If the woods are still and you are moving, you take the risk of spooking the squirrel.
Beating the Bugzzzz
By talking with other hunters, I found that bugs are one of the biggest reasons that keep them from going to the woods to hunt fall squirrels. The bugs are horrendous at this time of year and I do admit that they discourage me from hitting the woods from time to time. One way hunters can beat the bugs is to use a ThermaCell Mosquito Repellent. The device contains a butane cartridge inside that releases an odorless repellant. In no way am I advertising for ThermaCell, but I have used the ThermaCell and it has worked for me. This gadget is my best friend when I’m hunting in hot weather.
Go Get Em
Fall squirrel hunting is a great pastime in which hunters can spend time with friends and family. It is also a great opportunity to educate young hunters about hunting and conservation. Squirrel hunting is an excellent time for young hunters to learn how to hunt, how to shoot, how to stalk, and most importantly, how to respect the land that we live on. Get out there and get after them. It’s squirrel bustin’ time!
Kentucky Afield Outdoors: Bass Mortality At Small Tournaments Concerns Anglers, Biologists
August 16, 2010
The dog days of August make fishing during the day miserable. After warming the air all summer, the late summer sun seems the hottest from now until the first weeks of September.
The heat forces bass tournaments into the dark hours at this time of year, but the stresses on the bass caught in those tournaments do not diminish just because its night time. Late summer into early fall presents considerable stresses to black bass just trying to survive.
“The fish are stressed before they get caught from the high water temperatures, especially with the hot summer we’ve had,” said Chris Hickey, black bass biologist for the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. “The ordeal of catching the fish, fighting it, placing it in a livewell for hours, weighing it in and releasing the fish by the marina or ramp into water warmer than where they were is really hard on a bass. They try to make it back home and may not have enough stamina left. Sometimes, they don’t ever recover.”
Anglers recently voiced concerns to Kentucky Fish and Wildlife after they found several 4 to 7-pound bass floating dead following a recent bass tournament at Ken Lake Marina on Kentucky Lake.
“Those tournament anglers could legally take six largemouth, smallmouth or spotted (Kentucky) bass in aggregate daily,” said Gerry Buynak, assistant director of fisheries for Kentucky Fish and Wildlife. “By releasing these fish, a good number likely survived.”
Larger bass are at greater risk of dying from the stresses of tournament fishing.
“Their oxygen requirements are much higher” Hickey said. “The big ones stay out of the water longest for photos, showing off and such. Those 6-pound fish are more likely to die from stress than a 16-incher. When people see several large bass floating near a ramp or marina after a tournament, they get really upset.”
The larger tournament trails do a great job of employing strategies such as placing the fish in salted, oxygenated tanks while waiting for their fish to be weighed. They also use release boats to distribute bass all over the lake and not stockpile them at the weigh-in site. They limit the time bass are out of the water.
Smaller bass tournaments such as those put on by clubs or by your workplace don’t have the resources that large tournament organizations possess. However, some simple strategies will keep more bass alive and limit mortality.
“There are some simple things small tournament organizers can do to reduce mortality,” Buynak said.
Buynak explained that tournament organizers can shorten the length of tournaments held in summer into early fall. For example, shorten the time frame from 8 hours to 4 hours. They can adopt a paper tournament format such as musky anglers do by calling an observer to validate the catch and take digital photo for further proof. They can also stage multiple weigh-ins, one halfway through and one at the end of the tournament, to reduce the time bass slosh around in a livewell.
Anglers fishing the tournament can also employ some simple tactics to reduce stress on the bass.
· Play the bass quickly after it’s hooked. Don’t use underpowered rods and line for tournament fishing, forcing you to play the fish for a long time before landing it.
· Wet your hands before handling the fish as this helps protect the vital slime coat on a bass. The slime coat is the bass’ protection from infection, parasites and disease.
· Also, don’t let the bass flop around on the boat deck. The hot boat deck makes bass flop around after contact. The deck’s carpet removes the vital slime coat of a bass. Fight the fish and remove the hooks quickly; don’t let it flop around on the boat’s deck. Get the bass in the boat’s livewell as quickly as possible.
· Cooling the water in your livewell is one of the most important things to do when surface water temperatures rise above 75 degrees. Some area lakes have water temperatures pushing 90 degrees right now. Cooler water holds more dissolved oxygen than warmer water. Cool the water no more than 10 degrees.
· Adding 1/3 cup of non-iodized or rock salt for every 5 gallons of water in the livewell also aides in reducing stress on the bass. Non-iodized salt works as an anesthetic for bass and makes them more comfortable.
· Salt also helps bass regenerate their protective coating slime that protects them from infection and disease. Commercial livewell additives such as Please Release Me provide about the same benefits as salt.
· Run the livewell aerator continuously in hot weather and whenever more than five pounds of bass are in it. This reduces stress on the bass by keeping the livewell water brimming with dissolved oxygen that fish need to breathe.
· Exchange one-half the water in the livewell every 2 to 3 hours. Add the proper amount of salt and cool the water again.
Late summer and early fall bass fishing usually means fishing deep. If you catch a bass from a depth of 20 feet or more, you may have to “fizz” the bass. Bass possess an expandable bladder in their abdomens that allows them greater buoyancy when needed. When an angler pulls a bass from deep water, the fish often have this bladder extended. They float belly up in the livewell and strain desperately to right themselves.
You’ll have to deflate the bladder with a hypodermic needle with the plunger removed. Draw a line from the split between the dorsal fins along the bass’ back to its anal vent. Insert the needle at a 45-degree angle toward the fish’s head about four rows of scales below where this line meets the lateral line. Listen for a hissing sound and submerge the fish and needle. Wait until the bubbles stop and release the bass. Do not squeeze it. If you remove too much air, the bass will sink to the bottom like a rock.
“Just because it swims away after you release it doesn’t mean it is fine,” said Gerry Buynak, assistant director of fisheries for Kentucky Fish and Wildlife. “Bass may die the next day or a few days later from the stress. But, fizzing and the other precautions will increase chances for survival.”
Tournament angling is popular in Kentucky during the summer. The money spent by tournament anglers helps drive the economy near our major and minor lakes. The excise taxes paid by tournament anglers purchasing motorboat fuel and fishing equipment fund the construction of new boat ramps as well as fisheries management. Their purchase of annual fishing licenses helps provide the money needed to operate Kentucky Fish and Wildlife.
Bass tournament anglers are an important group. Following these precautions will help ensure healthy fish after your bass tournament.
via Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources – Kentucky Afield Outdoors: Bass Mortality At Small Tournaments Concerns Anglers, Biologists.
MN DNR Offers Special Youth Deer Hunting Season | Northland’s NewsCenter
July 15, 2010
Posted by Melissa Burlaga
Youth ages 10-15 also are eligible to participate in a special deer season that runs from Thursday, Oct. 21, to Sunday, Oct. 24, in 12 permit areas of southeastern and 15 deer permit areas of northwestern Minnesota, according to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources DNR.“This youth-only season provides an opportunity for parents, guardians and mentors to schedule and plan a special deer hunt with youth,” said Mike Kurre, DNR mentoring program coordinator.Deer permit areas open to the hunt are 101, 105, 111, 114, 201, 203, 208, 209, 256, 257, 260, 263, 264, 267, 268, 338, 339, 341, 342, 343, 344, 345, 346, 347, 348, 349 and 601.Youth must meet all firearms safety requirement, purchase a license and use the appropriate firearm for the permit area in which they are hunting.Youth may take a deer of either sex. An adult mentor must accompany the youth but may not hunt or carry a firearm.The special season should occur when students are on school break.Public land is open as is private land, provided the youth hunter has landowner permission.Participating in the youth deer season does not preclude the youth from participating in the regular firearms deer season but any deer harvested do count against the youth’s season bag limit.Apply by Aug. 20 for October special youth deer hunts Click Link Below for Full Story!
Vermont scales back on moose permits | The Burlington Free Press
July 15, 2010
Winning a moose permit has always been a game of chance, but the odds grew considerably longer Friday when 2010 permits were picked.
A successful effort to reduce the size of Vermont’s moose population prompted the state Department of Fish and Wildlife this year to cut the number of hunting permits from 1,225 to 765. About 11,000 people applied for the permits, which were chosen by lottery Friday morning in Waterbury.
The annual moose hunt, this year set for Oct. 16-21, was re-introduced in 1993 to help control a burgeoning moose population. Initially comprised of 30 permits, the hunt was expanded several times. Now, it will be contracted.
State moose biologist Cedric Alexander said the moose density is at a more manageable level and fewer hunting permits need to be issued. Click Link Below for Full Story!
via Vermont scales back on moose permits | The Burlington Free Press | Burlington, Vermont.
Jury awards Vermont man $380,557 for hunting wounds | The Burlington Free Press
July 15, 2010
A jury has awarded $380,557 to a Vermont turkey hunter hit by 52 shotgun pellets fired by another hunter.
The Windsor County Superior Court jury returned the award last week against Ralph Townsend of Hartland for the May 2008 incident in Woodstock.
Townsend was sued by William Rea of Barnard, who suffered a collapsed lung and other injuries.
Rea’s attorney, Ross Feldmann, told the Rutland Herald the award was fair. Townsend’s attorney, John Boylan, said it’s too early to decide about an appeal.
At the time of the shooting, Townsend told game wardens he thought he was shooting at a turkey.
Townsend pleaded no contest to charges arising from the shooting, and he received a suspended sentence. Click Link Below For Full Story!
State canceling pronghorn antelope season
July 15, 2010
By BRIAN GEHRING Bismarck Tribune
This week pronghorn antelope hunters would have found out if their application for the gun season was successful.
They weren’t — for any antelope hunter — gun or bow.
Randy Kreil, wildlife chief for the North Dakota Game and Fish Department, said the department will not recommend a hunting season this fall because of back-to-back tough winters and subsequent poor reproduction.
Kreil said department biologists recently completed their annual pronghorn population survey, which shows 37 percent fewer animals than last year and 50 percent fewer than 2008.
Bruce Stillings, the department’s big game biologist in the Dickinson district, said the statewide estimate of pronghorns is down to 6,500.
He said the numbers have been at more than 10,000 antelope since 2003, including two years when there were more than 15,000 animals. Click Link Below for Full Story!
via State canceling pronghorn antelope season.
Kentucky Afield Outdoors: The Jitterbug Caught Night Bass Prior To World War II And Still Does Today
July 7, 2010
FRANKFORT, Ky. – I bought my first Arbogast Jitterbug at the Western Auto in downtown Bardstown well before my 10th birthday. I had no idea about what made a good color choice, so I bought the one that looked the coolest to me at the time: a model with a silver/gray back and white belly. It was the first lure I ever bought with my own money.
I threw that thing on small lakes and ponds with nary a whiff from a bass. I loved its action and followed the directions on the Jitterbug’s packaging: reel the lure in a few feet, let it sit still, repeat.
A cousin is a Dominican sister, stationed at St. Catherine near Springfield for many years of my youth. This gave me access to fish their small lakes and I attacked with my new lure. No strikes from bass, as usual. Toward the end of the day, I grew frustrated and launched a huge rainbow cast, trying to throw it as far as I could.
A power line running about 1 o’clock over my head grabbed the Jitterbug and I watched in horror as it looped around the cables over and over again. I lost my first lure without it catching a fish. That Jitterbug may still be hanging from those wires.
A while later I learned the basics of fishing the Heddon River Runt and the old Knight Tube worms on the many distillery lakes around Bardstown. My brother, Dad and I enjoyed a summer evening fishing on one of those lakes. My brother threw his new black Jitterbug along weed lines just before dark. The commotion from largemouth bass plastering the Jitterbug made Dad and me envious. He caught some good bass that night and lost a big one in the weeds. It was tough to move a big bass from weeds with a Zebco 404 mounted on a whippy fiberglass rod, but my opinion about the Jitterbug changed forever.
The time of day was the difference between my brother’s success with this odd looking lure and my frustration with it. The Jitterbug isn’t a daytime lure; it is the best night bass topwater lure of all time, especially for small lakes and ponds.
Lure inventor Fred Arbogast tinkered in his basement shop with the business end of a spoon and a piece of broom handle back during the Great Depression. The spoon inspired the Jitterbug’s unusual concave lip that produced a highly effective gurgling sound and erratic wobble on the retrieve. No other lure looks or sounds like a Jitterbug since it hit the market in 1937.
Summer nights are the best time to fish Jitterbugs. Black is the only color to throw. It is Jitterbug time when the sun’s fallen so low that you struggle to tie a knot without the help of a flashlight. Tie that last daytime knot to a black Jitterbug.
This lure isn’t a weedless plastic frog you can sling thoughtlessly into the teeth of the vegetation ringing a farm pond or small lake in the darkness. The treble hooks on the Jitterbug impale themselves on any log, lilly pad or strand of coontail they contact.
Study the water before sunset and decide likely casting lanes. Paralleling a weedbed with the Jitterbug draws vicious strikes, but you can catch many huge bass fishing the middle of the pond. The popping, gurgling sound of the Jitterbug draws bass from far away to smash it.
Although the literature promotes a stop-and-go retrieve with the Jitterbug, a straight retrieve often works better. You want the Jitterbug to settle into an annoying rhythm as you work it. The steady irritating sound from the lure drives bass nuts. Hold on to your rod tightly as largemouth bass usually try and savage the lure. The strike is often violent.
The stop-and-go retrieve in which you reel the Jitterbug a few feet, let it rest till the ripples settle out and repeat, works best on nights when the fish aren’t aggressive. Try the steady retrieve first. Move to the stop-and-go if the steady retrieve fails. Resist the temptation to set the hook when you hear the strike or you may have a Jitterbug and its treble hooks flying at your head in the dark. Wait until you feel the weight of the fish before driving the hooks home.
The 3/8-ounce size Jitterbug is a good all-around choice for ponds and small lakes. Cast the lure on a 7-foot medium action spinning rod spooled with 10- to 12-pound test line. Spinning equipment is much easier to deal with at night than baitcasting equipment. Throw the 5/8-ounce Jitterbug if you prefer a baitcasting rod. The slightly longer jointed Jitterbug produces more action and works better on windy nights or in the secluded coves of reservoirs.
The Jitterbug also drives stream smallmouth crazy. Work the ¼-ounce black model at dusk above and below riffles with 45-degree casts. Retrieve the Jitterbug fast enough to keep the gurgle going. The stream current tricks you into thinking you are reeling quickly enough, but often the Jitterbug isn’t making any commotion at all, just bobbing downstream. Speed up if you don’t feel any wobbling through your rod on the retrieve.
Stream smallmouth attempt to kill the Jitterbug with a vicious strike or gently slurp the lure and pull it under the surface. Keep on your toes. Set the hook if you feel any weird resistance. Large stream smallmouth bass often strike the Jitterbug gently.
Tie on the venerable Jitterbug this summer and enjoy some of the most exciting fishing on the planet. It drove bass insane before World War II and still does today.
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