Food For Game Winners

With the this contest ending on a holiday weekend it made it a little difficult to award it immediately, but I assure you that it is well worth the wait. As Boyd  stated in the original post, this contest now has five winners of not only the Food For Game book, but they are all signed by Dan Moultrie in addition there is a Moultrie decal included with each book. Without making everyone wait any longer, I will announce the five winners in no particular order. The winners have until Saturday, June 2 at 11:59 PM to contact me with their mailing information, this can be done via the Contact tab at the top of the page. If I have not received notification of this address I will award the book to another contestant.

Winners

1. Will Jenkins
2. Steve Remington
3. Michael Kotzum
4. Z.D. Stovall
5. Mark Huelsing

Trail Cam Tuesday: May 29, 2012

In comparison to the last few weeks of having some exciting trail cam pictures it slowed down a little this week. With the heat and lack of minerals/ feed I didn't think I would have much luck at all. But I  still managed to be a decent round of pictures. They are actually kind of heart breaking for Cassie, but I'll talk about that later on.

Tune in tomorrow to find out the winners of our giveaway!

This first picture (of a buck) didn't leave me awestruck like the last few weeks did, but it still makes me happy to see the growth of any buck around this time of year! It is showing that the deer are healthy and there are more than a few bucks making to the following year as we try to allow for more mature deer to grow.

For anyone who has followed this blog for any amount of time knows how much I enjoy getting pictures of bears, but this pales in comparison to how Cassie feels about the pictures. In reality she wants to see one in person in the wild, that something she's never done. Everyone told her it is only a matter of time living in this region of WV, but it still isn't true. When we went to flip the cards this past weekend, she was so close to accomplishing this goal without even knowing it. With in a six hour period, we missed seeing not only one, but two different bears in front of the trail cam.

Memorial Day

On a day like today many of us celebrate the time off and the kick off to summer, but let us not forget the reason we have this holiday...

For a great cause please read this post about the Wounded Warrior Safari from my friend Brittany Starr of
Starr and Bodill African Safaris.

Trail Cam Tuesday: May 22, 2012

Like I said in yesterday's post, there are many things that can make you a bad or good turkey hunter, but sometimes it comes down to dumb luck. I am not sure if it is by pure dumb luck of the turkeys or bad luck on my part, but here they are strolling in just an hour after legal shooting hours.

I'm not to sure why I like this next picture but I do. It's an interesting view / snap shot of a raccoon perched on top of the stump feeding on something.

After last week's pictures I was hoping to catch that same buck on camera again. I didn't have much luck doing so, but I was able to get a nice picture of this one. From the looks of it, it seems that this will be another decent buck. I can't tell, but from the way the brows are growing, I think this might be "Slick" or an offspring of Little Brow but only time will tell.

Why I Am a Bad Turkey Hunter

A single hen feet from my blind.

It is inevitable, some of us are better at hunting than others. Be it experience, time in the field, gear, or shear dumb luck - someone is always better. It's a fact of life and hunting, someone is always going to be better than you and someone is always going to be worse than you, but when you're hunting does it really matter? To me, no, as long as I am outdoors I don't care, it's better than work any day. With this being said, this past Saturday was the last day of West Virginia's Spring Gobbler season, this is the third season I have attempted to take a gobbler and the third season I have came back empty handed. Slightly annoying, but nothing I can't deal with. Every time I come off the mountain I swing by my grandparents to let them know what I saw and that I made it out safely. During one of these talks with my grandpa, I told him, "I think I'm more of a deer hunter than a turkey hunter." Now this isn't strange to have a favorite species to hunt nor do I dislike turkey hunting, I just am wired for deer hunting. He proceeded to laugh and agreed as over the past few years, I have had more than my fair amount of success from my first bow kill, to filling the freezer during my few months on this blog, or even just taking the lone buck I saw on opening day this past rifle season to name a few. As with anything he told me it'll just take time and the conversation trailed in another direction.

This conversation made me think a little bit and then when talking with my good buddy, Will of TheWillToHunt.com, it hit me why I am a bad turkey hunter. We were talking about having a slow starts to our respective spring gobbler seasons and we both came to the conclusion that we're both mentally wired for deer, not turkeys. I greatly enjoy turkey hunting as I had said before, but even when I had three hens in front of me this season, albeit amazing to watch, I didn't get that feeling. That feeling, is that feeling of your heart starting to race and beat so hard that you can feel it in the back of your throat and start wonder if the deer can hear your heart is about to beat out of your chest, yeah, that feeling. I know I am talking about hens, but still I get that feeling anytime I see a deer on stand, no matter the season.  It just wasn't there for the turkeys. I am still going to turkey hunt in the future and know I'll be able to harvest a gobbler, but there a few reasons I know I'm a bad turkey hunter. A prime example of this happened two Saturdays ago, after heading to Mud Splash to see if I could catch a gobbler or two coming off the roost I hightailed it back to my blind to try and catch a few hens that had been coming in regularly. This isn't that bad, but as I tried to make it back to my blind, I found myself getting distracted as I was scouting for new deer sign more than getting back to the blind. If that wasn't bad enough, once I got there I checked my trail cam, as I normally do, I found that great looking buck from last week's TCT. Now to say I was mildly distracted by that would be an understatement. I spent the majority of the time in that blind looking at those pictures of trying to see where the deer were coming from and do some basic scouting of the area from the blind to see if their patterns have changed since last season.

If you haven't guess from this post, I love to deer hunt, bow especially! I still find enjoyment in turkey hunting, but I seem to get distracted by scouting for deer season. Don't take this as I am complaining, but more so as admitting my problem. The first step is admitting I have a problem, right? Ha, I guess that only matters if I want to get help for it though. Does anyone else have this kind of problem or am I alone?

30/30 Marinade

Now don't get me wrong, I love the pure taste of venison more than anything. I had a conversation with one of my uncles a few days ago about how I don't mix anything into my deer burger when I make it. I do that because I like love the taste of venison. With that being said though, I like to change things up from time to time and marinade my venison steak or any steaks  in my homemade 30/30 Marinade. This is a great marinade to use if you are processing a deer and want to have some fresh venison, this is exactly what I did last fall when  I took my first deer with a bow. It also works great for a normal marinade for when you have some buddies coming over! You might be left wondering why it is called the 30/30 Marinade though, it is simply because it only takes thirty seconds to make it only needs 30 minutes of marinading before you grill/cook it.

Ingredients

• Wet 
• 1/2 Cup - Soy Sauce
• 2 tbsp - Worcestershire Sauce
• 1 tbsp - Teriyaki Sauce
• 1 tsp - White Wine Vinegar
• Dry 
• 1 tbsp - Brown Sugar
• 1 tsp - Ground Black Pepper
• 1/2 tsp - Garlic Powder

Step One: Combine all the wet ingredients into a small mixing bowl and stir to mix.

Step Two: Add the brown sugar to the mixture and continue to stir. Make sure brown sugar dissolves before adding the rest of the dry ingredients. 

Step Three: Pour marinade over meat and let sit for a minimum of thirty minutes but you can allow for this marinade to sit for up to six hours in the fridge. 

Food For Game Giveaway: Take Two

As you know I am doing a giveaway for a copy of The Food For Game, well lucky for you things have changed a little. Boyd, of Moutlrie TGM Podcast and Moultrie's Twitter and social media, left a comment yesterday say that instead of giving away a single copy of Dan Moultrie's Food For Game, we're going to be giving away five signed copies of the book by Dan Moultrie himself. The book alone was a great prize, but to get a signed copy, that is something else!

What is going to change now that this new twist has been thrown in? Not much, the only thing that will be changing is the ending date, it will be moved back a week until May 27 at 9:00AM. Secondly, the number of winners will change, there will be now 5 winners chosen. Sorry, you can only be drawn once for a book, after you have won your numbers will be void.

Remember to enter into this giveaway you must comment on the original blog post (here) and for an extra entry become a fan of Foggy Mountain Meanderings on Facebook, if you are already a fan, just leave comment saying that.

Trail Cam Tuesday: May 15, 2012

This past weekend I attempted turkey hunting again, I say attempted very loosely, but that's another story for any other time. Normally up until this point, every Saturday morning I just went switched my trail cam cards and then dove into my blind to wait on some turkeys. This past Saturday I decided to take a different approach, head to where I'd been hearing some gobbler coming off the roost. Well, they weren't there but I still held tight there until 7:30ish AM. At that time I knew it was time to head to my blind to catch the hens that had been coming in for the past week or two. Come to find out, by me deciding to head away from my blind, I missed the shot of videoing this great looking deer.  Here is the first shot, that I go tin the series.

As you can see from this picture, this buck already has decent antler growth for this region and time of year, but that's not the interesting part. If you look closely, you can see (from the rear) that the left antler looks normal, where as the right one looks a little larger and club like.

With this next picture I was hoping I would get him to stop. He did, but with his head right behind the stump. At least he was stopped I had one more shot at getting a good picture and it...

... paid off! He stuck his head up enough to get his antler growth into this last picture. By the looks of it, he already has nice growth on the right side with the split for a brow tine and main beam, but the left side is what had me interested. Looking at it closely on a camera in a blind got me to think I was seeing things, but I wasn't. After looking at it on the computer for a few days now and getting a few opinions, I think this buck has the starts of what looks to be a double main beam! Who knows, he could be the offspring of this buck from last year or just another Foggy Mountain Freak!

Food For Game: Review and Giveaway

This week has been filled with many great features featuring Moultrie. Tuesday had a great TCT post and the last two days there has been interviews about Moultrie's TGM Podcast and then a personal look at the podcast's hosts. This week wouldn't be complete without something fun and for you. I was lucky enough to get to read Dan Moultrie & Tony Kinton's book, Food For Game, it is a complete guide for the drawing and holding of wildlife through supplemental feeding. For one lucky person, I am going to be giving away a copy. All you  need to do, is leave a comment below. For a extra entry, "Like" Foggy Mountain on Facebook (leave a comment letting me you know you do this or let me know if you already a fan). This contest will end on Sunday, May 20th May 27th (see why here) at 9:00 AM.

Food For Game - By Dan Moultrie & Tony Kinton
  

As this book states, it is a complete guide for the drawing and holding of wildlife through supplemental feeding.  This book explains why there is a need for feeding and gives details on how and what to feed.  It touches on how to acquire hunting land, albeit a hunting lease or club or even door-knocking. It goes on to discuss how to select a site and how to properly use salt and minerals, feeders and even food plots. An important thing to remember and they state this directly in the first chapter...

"If hunting is the goal the effectiveness of feeding, whether totally artificial or some-what natural, should not be used to exploit the game. It can be used as an aid, but care must be taken that such practices are kept within a reasonable limit."

Overall this is a great book, it not only teaches you about feeding for, or even planting food plots of clover or chufa (and many more), whitetail but also covers turkeys, doves, and quail. It's a great read and a must for anyone who uses artificial or natural attractants for wild game. 

Meet Boyd and Gene of Moultrie's TGM Podcast

Even though Boyd was gracious enough to give me an interview about Moutlrie's TGM Podcast, I couldn't stop there. I begged and pleaded proposed an idea that we should take a personal look at the hosts of the podcast, Gene Matchen and  Boyd Barnett. Without even having to think about it, Gene and Boyd were on board. Considering my mild addiction to the podcast, I asked a few questions that I had been wondering for a while and tried to give the new listeners a better understand of how you're listening to. I hope you enjoy the second half of this interview with Moutlrie's TGM Podcast crew. I would also like to thank Boyd, especially, and Gene for working with me on this to bring these great interviews to you.

Boyd Barnett

Foggy Mountain Meanderings: For anyone that listens to the show knows that you are a Mississippi guy, but where in Mississippi are you from?
Boyd Barnett: I was born in Mississippi and grew up in a small town called Magee, MS. (It’s about halfway between Jackson & Hattiesburg, if you were wondering). I loved living there; small towns are great places to grow up. Plus, we had all of the open land for playing and hunting that you’d ever want! 


FMM: It sounds like you grew up in an area that was conducive to outdoor activities, what were your favorite outdoor activities growing up and who got you into the outdoors? 
Boyd: My favorite thing when I was growing up was fishing. My dad would take me fishing as often as he could, and that was a lot! Both of my grandfathers liked to hunt and fish, as well, so we had plenty of opportunities to enjoy the outdoors.

FMM: It sounds like you started at an early age; do you remember what and when you first started hunting?
Boyd: I guess I started hunting birds and squirrels with my BB gun when I was about 8 or so. Unfortunately, I got out of hunting for a long time; with school and all of the extracurricular stuff I was involved with, I just didn’t have the extra time that hunting needed. I wish I had the game cameras and other things we have now; it really would have helped in my time management! 

FMM: Now that you have a little extra time to hunt what is your current hunting obsession?
Boyd: I really like hunting with my bow. I was able to get a new Tribute from my friends at BowTech Archery. I’ve always liked a challenge, and now my new obsession is trying to bring down a turkey with the bow. 

FMM: Now most of us that know you, know you’re the social media and podcast guy, but what do you actually do at Moultrie?
Boyd: I am the Marketing Assistant for Moultrie. In addition to the work I do with the social media and the podcast, I also manage the websites for Moultrie, Carry-Lite Decoys and Code Blue Scents. I also design all of the packaging for Moultrie; so if you like the new camera packages for this year, let me know!

Gene and I do the podcast as something we don’t “have” to do; we just love to do it. To that end, I’d like to thank everyone here at Moultrie that allows us to disappear into the studio for an hour or so every week to record – not to mention all of the editing time! 

FMM: How long have you been with Moultrie?
Boyd: This June I will have been with Moultrie for 2 years, and I’m not exaggerating when I say they’ve been two of the best years of my professional (and personal life). In the time I’ve been here, I’ve had the opportunity to travel to several of the most awesome trade shows in the business, met some truly awesome and legendary figures in the outdoor world, and my wife and I welcomed our first child – my daughter, Savannah – last year. To say I’ve been blessed would be an understatement! 

FMM: Now for the final question, you can only choose one Moultrie product for the upcoming deer season this fall, what would it be? 
Boyd: If I only had one Moultrie product for an entire season, it would have to be one of the Mini Cams; probably the M-80 Black (I love that camera!). Having such a small form factor with all of those features…it really is the hunter’s best friend.

Now, if I could only have one thing from each of our Pradco Hunting brands, it would read like this: Code Blue – Whitetail Doe Estrous, Carry-Lite – HD Deer Decoy, Knight & Hale – Pack Rack, and Summit – Viper SD (w/safety harness!). 

Now on to Gene Matchen's part of the interview.

Gene Matchen

FMM: As with asking Boyd, after being an avid listener I know your roots are Alabama based, but where did you grow up in Alabama?
Gene: I grew up on Logan Martin Lake in Talladega County, AL. It is about 10 minutes from the Talladega Race track. 

FMM: With growing up on a lake, I’m sure you were active in the outdoors. What were your favorites growing up and who got you into the hunting?
Gene: I grew up of course fishing and hunting and also water skiing. These activities occupied most of my time living on the river. My dad took me squirrel hunting at age six and it was then that I shot my first squirrel with a 12 gauge shot gun, but that’s a funny story for another time. I was hooked after that, but my passion became coon hunting, it is still passionate. From there I moved on to big game, it became so much of a love that I got into the industry. 


FMM: It sounds like you have a lot of hunting interest but what is your favorite type of hunting?
Gene: Bow hunting whitetail by far is my favorite; my heart still starts beating out of my chest while I am waiting for that buck or doe to get within range. You can’t describe it and do it justice. Another addiction is turkey hunting. I am waiting until I have a home that will properly display an elk mount before go attempt an elk (A promise to my wife). I also love to hunt rabbit, squirrel, and prairie dogs. 

 FMM: Besides being the co-host of the Moultrie’s TGM podcast, what is your official title and capacity with Moultrie?
Gene: I am the Customer Service Manager for Moultrie and Carry-Lite. My duties include repairs and managing the customer service department. 

FMM: How long have you been with Moultrie?
Gene: I have been with Moultrie for going on 11 years. 

FMM: Before you go, what is the one Moultrie product you must have for this deer season coming up?
Gene: The M-80 Black Flash camera, I won’t leave home without it this coming up season.

Moultrie's TGM Podcast Interview

As I mentioned on Monday, I was lucky enough to interview Boyd Barnett about Moultrie's Total Game Management Podcast. This was a great interview that will let you learn more about the podcast and how it has progressed. It really is a must listen podcast if it isn't already on your playlist. They also do a great job interacting via social media and are always looking for a great discussion or to help with your Moultrie products. 

Foggy Mountain Meanderings: When did the Podcast first air?

Boyd of Moultrie's TGM Podcast: Well, that’s a tricky question…see, the very first show I did was a “test” show to make sure everything was working with the recording software, microphones, iTunes, etc. The “test” show went up on May 16, 2011. Our first real show went up on May 26, 2011.

FMM: By my calculation, shouldn’t the show be coming up on milestone?

Boyd: Yes, we’re coming up on our 50^th show, and that is a big milestone for us. Honestly, when we started I didn't know if anyone would listen to it! We’re hoping to have a special surprise for that show.

FMM: What was the original layout for the show and how has it transformed over the last 40 some shows?

Boyd: I originally came up with the idea for the podcast during a big meeting between all of the other marketing folks here at Pradco Outdoors last April. I listen to several podcasts every week myself, mostly about technology, and they were so well done I felt like I had “a friend on the inside” for those companies. That’s what I wanted: a way to be able to speak directly with the people who use and love our products in a more personal way than even the social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) could provide. Don’t get me wrong; I love interacting with everyone using those things as well, and what has happened is that the social media and the podcast have started to converge.

I like to think that we’ve made great strides in both our format and audio quality since that first show. Michael McDaniel was my co-host for most of the shows, but he moved to another location and hasn’t really had time to participate lately. We brought Gene Matchen, our Customer Service Manager, in for an interview for one show, and he was so good I kept him on!

I would be remiss if I didn’t thank Dan Amrich from OneofSwords.com and Ryan McCaffrey from OXMonline.com, because they really inspired me to do the podcast and showed me what a powerful medium it can be. Plus, Dan really helped me with all of the tech needed to get a show like this “on the air.”

FMM: After looking at how it started, what is the current rundown of the show?

Boyd: The current run-down of the show goes like this: Host Intro, News, Interview (if we have one that week), Deals of the Week, Question of the Week (or Rut Reports, depending on the time of year), then the Wrap-up.

FMM: In regards to the news, as a frequent listener, I always wonder where do you get your new and stories from and what might lead you to choose them?

Boyd: I pick the stories for the News from all of the stories I receive from our friends at GrandviewOutdoors.com, Twitter, and whatever other news outlets I come across. I try to find the ones that I think are interesting or important, and it helps if I think it’s something I think we can talk a lot about. 

FMM: One of my favorite parts of the show is to see what the special guests have to speak about that week, who are some of the guest you've had on?

Boyd: We’ve been really lucky to have some great people on the show! We’ve had Gerald Swindle and Tony Smotherman from Moultrie’s “The Hit List” on Outdoor Channel; Mike Mattly, our national PR manager, who has become the “Steve Martin” of the show with the most appearances; Bobby Murray, who won the first-ever Bassmaster Classic; Chris Parrish of Knight & Hale Game Calls, who is a world champion turkey caller and a good friend of ours….those are just a few of the many guests we’ve had on. We have even more surprises in store, so stay tuned!

FMM: I’m not thinking about a lot of detail on the Question of the Week , but just say it in the lay out and that you can submit then via the comment section and social media, as I will ask you a question later about the Question of the week.

Boyd: One of our newest segments is Question of the Week. This segment is really epitomizes what we want the show to be – a great source of information about Moultrie, Carry-Lite, Code Blue, Summit and all of the other Pradco brands.

FMM: Personal, I love the show because it seems like I’m sitting at my local bow shop listening to everyone shoot the breeze with one another. Was that the original goal or did that transform over time also?

Boyd: My original vision of the show was for it to feel like you have friends here at Moultrie – my co-host and me – and I hope that’s the way people listening view it, too. We’re just a couple of guys who love the outdoors, our products and this industry. We step away from our “real” jobs for a bit every week to do the show, and we do it because we love interacting with our friends (we refuse to call them customers, because they really are our friends) every week.

FMM: I have to go back to something we talked about earlier to get a better understanding, how does the question of the week work?

Boyd: I usually ask for submissions from our Twitter followers and Facebook friends, and then, like I do with the news stories, pick the one I think is interesting and that we can really do justice to by talking it through.

FMM: What are some of the possible prizes associated with the Question of the Week?

Boyd: We’ve been really lucky to have some neat prizes to give away. We started out by giving away hats and decals (and we still do that), but when I attended the big trade shows this year (ATA and SHOT) I had an idea. I thought, “Why not bring a bit of these cool shows to the folks who don’t get to go?” So I stuffed my suitcases with extra show guides and brought them back home. Next year, I’m going to have to take extra bags to carry all of those in!

FMM: Now for the important stuff, how often and when is the podcast released?

Boyd: I do my very best to have a new podcast every week, preferably on Thursdays. Life and work sometimes override that, and it could fall to a Friday or even a Saturday.

FMM: One final question before you go, are there any plans to expand the show?

Boyd: Wow, I don’t think I could do more than one show a week! Ha! When you’re the producer, host, editor and technical support, it can get a bit overwhelming at times. However, if I ever see an opportunity to do a second show (like I did with Lawrence Taylor of LureNet with his live coverage of the Bassmaster Classic in February of this year) I will do my best to make that happen.

I’d love to hear some feedback on our show from our listeners. We had a few comments early on, but lately we haven’t been getting much in the way of comments to the individual posts. We welcome the input on how to make the show better for our friends who are listening every week and supporting what we do.

Trail Cam Tuesday: May 8, 2012

What would Moultrie Week be without a Trail Cam Tuesday? I couldn't let you guys down, so here is a few great shots from the past week or so on Foggy Mountain. From the pictures you might think I'm pulling a few out from this winter, but if you remember a post last week about an interesting opening morning, you'll know these pictures were from that 24 hours period. Yet again, as I said yesterday, without Moultrie this segment would have never made it off the ground. Thank you to Moultrie and their great customer service for helping me with any and all issues.


So I wasn't able to take a turkey on opening day, it was suppose to be a slow day with the weather. It didn't help that I was only able to hunt until 7:45 AM  or so and even at that I was still a little late. Of course, when I check the trail cam, it was only half an hour after I left that this long beard walked in.

A snowy long beard.

A cautious doe and yearly walking in during a snowy late April day.

A beautiful gobbler fanning out his wings.

A slightly blurry shot of a sow and her yearling making an appearance for the first time this year.

Welcome to Moultrie Week

For anyone that follows me on Twitter, Facebook, or this blog knows my love for my Moultrie Trail Cameras. I have used their cameras for years and managed to get some great pictures. One of the best parts of Moultrie is their products and customers service are impeccable. Not to mention, their products are the driving force behind the majority of the pictures used on Trail Cam Tuesday. 

With all that being said, it should not be any surprise that I am also huge fan of Moultrie’s Total Game Management Podcast. I was lucky enough to interview Boyd Barnett of Moultrie's TGM Podcast about the show. As a bonus article, I also got a short interview with Boyd and his co-host Gene Matchen about themselves. 

Stay tuned this week for these interviews, Trail Cam Tuesday, 

and contest to wrap up the week.

The Will to Hunt LIVE!

My good buddy Will, who I spoke a few weeks ago with Harness for Hunters, is starting a new segment on his blog, The Will to Hunt. This segment is The Will to Hunt Live. It is a live group video chat based around Will interviewing the main guest. This week's special guest will be Michael Lee of Backwoods Life. The show kicks off at 9:00 PM EST, tonight, May 2, 2012. I know I will be there catching the show. If you would like to hear more from Will or Michael, make sure to tune in here!

Trail Cam Tuesday - May 1, 2012

Normally this time of year you'd expect to being seeing trail cam shots of turkeys. As much as I wish this was the case, it is not. They seem to be a little camera shy this year than last. But no worries, if I can't get some great shots, I'll at least get some funny ones. This collage of pictures isn't anything new to people that have deer and raccoons frequenting the same area, but it is still really funny. The raccoons seems to be infringing on these does turf a little to much and then the deer react.

And of course what would a Trail Cam Tuesday be without a bear sighting...