By Kim Hiss

     There are plenty of villains in the sporting world. Anti-hunting activists, wrong-headed policy-makers, PETA members, poachers - it's easy to find people who give other hunters grief or hunting itself a bad name. Think about those negative influences too much, and it's hard not to worry about the future of the sport.
     So in the spirit of focusing on the positives, who are the heroes in your hunting life? Specifically the women you've met who have had a positive impact on your field career. Maybe a female guide taught you a great deal. Or a fellow sportswoman turned into the world's best hunting partner. Or perhaps a mother, friend, or workshop leader got you into hunting in the first place?
     I know I've grown from the experience and plain old enthusiasm of plenty of females I've met along the way. I can think of women in the outdoors industry and female guides whose knowledge and passion definitely helped me grow as a hunter. Although I personally don't know any one woman who's had an overwhelming impact on my own hunting life, I've spoken to other people who credit mothers, friends, and even daughters... [ Read Full Post ]

By Scott Bestul

The photo above was sent to me by Illinios whitetail nut Tim Walmsley. Tim is an official measurer for B&C and P&Y. This picture shows the skulls of three trophy-class whitetail bucks, all found on the same farm and all assumed to have died from EHD. Obviously, losing more than one healthy, mature animal to a disease is a devastating loss. I’d be very interested to hear from other hunters in areas experiencing EHD outbreaks.

Here in Minnesota we rarely deal with EHD. Since the midges die when the weather becomes cold, it’s assumed that northern states don’t experience the disease as often. However, when EHD does strike northern deer, biologists feel the outbreak is often even more severe than in more traditional areas. Hope it never hits us here!

The next three photos—also sent in from Tim Walmsley—prove that EHD hasn’t affected all Illinois deer! A couple of truly impressive animals, indeed. I was particularly encouraged by these photos since I am leaving for an Illinois bowhunt this weekend. I have never experienced deer hunting in this great state, though I’ve obviously heard about it for years. And these bucks will show why I’m looking forward to it! Note that the... [ Read Full Post ]

By Kim Hiss

Reader Lou Alexander and her husband just returned from a Wyoming elk hunt, and she sent me the update below. The photo she included of this uncooperative pack horse is pretty great! –K. H.
      
      It was a great trip, but the weather was horrible. The elk weren't moving all week. The wind started to blow the first morning of the hunt, it snowed, the wind then really blew, it rained, did I mention the wind blew, and it snowed some more. We were in beautiful country. I got to ride horses five out of eight days. How can you feel discouraged when sitting on a beautiful mountain meadow, looking at a high country lake with bald eagles flying around you?! We'll get one next time.
      We met some characters in camp, and there was another female hunter. She was with her husband who was hunting elk. She had taken her first antelope earlier in the week and came to enjoy the hunt with him, so she went out just for fun. I enjoyed a camp with other women in it—usually I'm the only one.
 ... [ Read Full Post ]

By Kim Hiss

     Back in the summer of 2005, I met a woman from Keg River, Alberta. She said the upcoming season would be challenging because she’d be hunting while 4 months pregnant. I said, wow, that’s really interesting.
      I was still relatively new to the field and had never heard of a woman hunting while expecting. But I figured with the number of sportswomen out there (the National Sporting Goods Association was counting 2.5 million at the time) the issue had to come up on occasion.
      Curious, I called Karen Lee of Women in the Outdoors (I know, I mention Karen all the time), who offered to forward an email to her network of outdoorswomen, asking if anyone was hunting while pregnant that year. I wasn’t sure if I’d hear anything back.
      Long story short, by October I’d talked with 20 moms-to-be who were taking their rifles into the woods that season. They ranged in age from 22 to 39, in profession from attorney to game warden, and in stage of pregnancy from first to third trimester. Their stories — which included that of an 8-month-pregnant Idaho woman hunting elk with a... [ Read Full Post ]

By Scott Bestul

I got lucky first, shooting this 4-1/2 year old buck as he left a small clover food plot enroute to a larger field of turnips. The buck is a main-frame 10-point with several sticker points. His rack was heavy and, in my kids’ words, “gnarly.” What a great start to my season!

Hunt Stats
Date: Sept 29
Location: Adair Co. MO
Weight: 260 pounds (undressed)
Points: 14
Green Score: 149”
Weapon: Mathews Switchback XT
Shot distance: 29 yards
Method: Tree stand

Travis’ buck is an impressive animal indeed! The 3-1/2 year old wore a perfect 10-point rack that boasted 13” G-3’s. Travis had 30 minutes of shooting light left in his hunt when this beautiful buck walked past his stand, intent on reaching a nearby food plot. And Travis proved again that perfect shot placement and a sharp broadhead is a lethal combination; his buck traveled less than 20 yards before dying. Congrats on a super buck and great kill, Travis!

Hunt Stats
Date: Sept. 30
Location: Adair Co., MO
Weight: 230 pounds (undressed)
Points: 10
Green score 150” (estimate)
Weapon: Mathews Conquest
Shot distance: 30 yards
Method: Tree stand

--Scott

By Scott Bestul

Location is everything when it comes to an effective mock scrape, Collora says. “If I’m hunting familiar territory, I focus on areas where there’s been good scrape activity in the past. On new ground, I look for logging roads, corners of cover, travel corridors, or other funnels. Then I search for a good stand tree and a spot to mark up within easy shooting distance.”

Once Collora has scouted several promising locations, he returns later to make his scrapes (see sidebar). “I wear rubber boots and gloves to stay as scent-free as possible,” he says. “I also do it during midday, when bucks are bedded.”

Collora will revisit his handiwork about once a week. “The best ones will actually be taken over by bucks. I add urine only to ensure they stay fresh,” he says. “The thing to remember is that as soon as these bucks get into hard antler, they’re cruising, checking each other out, claiming their turf. When they start that behavior, they’re highly killable over a mock scrape.”

--by Scott Bestul [ Read Full Post ]