Spring Gobbler Season 2013

As I was sitting here typing up a few new recipe posts, I realized I never posted about how I actually got the turkey. If it was anything like last year's season it would have been from the frozen foods section, but this year was a different story. To be honest, this year I took a more lackadaisical approach to turkey hunting. In years past I have done a ton of prepping and scouting for the season. This year, not so much, I had to work the opening weekend but that wasn't discouraging due to the random weather we were having.

By the time I was finally able to make it hunting it was the second weekend. I met up with Jay early that morning and we headed out to a blind he had taken a gobbler from the opening day, nearly two weeks previously. The day started out amazingly, before we could even make it into the blind we had a few gobblers already gobbling coming off the roost. At that point we dove in the blind as quick as possible to prepare for whatever was coming our way. The gobbling soon quit and so did nearly everything else. Nearly an hour passed before we hear something coming from behind us. We were sure at that point and time it was  going to be those gobblers emerging from a creek bottom to our left. Much to our surprise it was a loan doe slinking through the woods looking for a snack. We watched this deer for a few minutes until it go spooked and slowly retreated back towards the creek bed. Even after we saw the deer leave the area we still heard movement behind us. This was we believed the gobblers were actually circling around behind the blind to enter into the area in front of us on a similar path we came in on. It took the group of turkeys nearly another hour to make their way around us. At that point Jay spotted a smaller gobbler moving in front of us from left to right. Before the lead gobbler could make it past, two larger gobblers came in behind him. These three gobblers came in quick and left just as quick. They never made it in closer than 75 yards ducking in and out of trees. They proceeded to head back towards the creek bed and serenaded us for a half an hour with continuous gobbling. After unsuccessfully trying to call them back in we decided to go run and gun, but that didn't provided to be successful either.

With the previous weekend's hunt ending without being able to get a gobbler in range we planned to hit the turkey blind again the next Saturday. With a little scouting done during the weekend we were hopeful but leery due to the terrible weather forecast we were seeing. The terrible weather came through earlier in the week than we thought, but still has the tail end of it last through Saturday morning. Even with the bad weather we still decided to head out and sit in the turkey blind considering we wouldn't get wet and still thought we might have a chance. Jay and I got the blind just as daylight was/should have been break, but due to the weather it was still dark and overcast. We sat there for nearly two and a half without even seeing a thing. At that point we decided to make a few calls and then come up with a new game plan. We had just began to talk about where to move to due to the rain letting up when Jay frozen mid-sentence saying that he hear something. At that point and time we both saw a lone hen streak across in front of us. With the movement of this hen we both were still silent when we hear the same noise coming back in, yet we knew it wasn't the hen because it hadn't let our field of view more than two minutes previously. Jay grabbed the camera to film whatever was coming in and I grabbed my shotgun in hopes that a big tom was strolling in. As the noise closed in we saw a singe head come into view and then another and another. All and all we had six Jakes come in front of us. At that point we figured it was the best time and opportunity to take my first turkey, plus I had been dying to get some wild turkey meat. Needless to say with the six jakes on the move, trailing the hen, I didn't have much time to choose. I only had a few second to choose and  one bird that was separating from the rest was the lead bird, so I put the head of the shotgun on it , pulled the trigger, and managed to take my first turkey.

Huntography's #DeerTour 2013 On Sale Now!

If you remember back during last hunting season I had a guest visit me on Foggy Mountain, Rudy of Huntography. I was lucky enough to be selected to make an appearance on this past season's #DeerTour and be one of the two people representing West Virginia. This past weekend the new season of #DeerTour and a full Huntography store was released. The store has past season of #DeerTour, #ElkTour, and other great Huntography merchandise. Go ahead over and get your copy of #DeerTour 2013 and grab a shirt and hat while you're there too!

Huntorgraphy's #DeerTour2012 Invades West Virginia

You read it right! This years #DeerTour is coming to West Virginia. After missing out on last years tour, I wasn't going to let it happen again. This fall Rudy will be making his way through  seven states, eleven hunters, and  4,000 miles to have a November to remember. He is covering a few of of the hunters from last year including Will (@TheWilltoHunt),  Opie (@FirstLightGear) and Rob Freyer (@BigBuckPW). As for for the new hunters this year there is Mark (@SoleAdventure), Nick (@Nick_Viau), Willie (@OutdoorFreaks), Jesse (@BowhunterCoe), Shane (@smulle8), Zac (@ekrawler), Don (@IowaBowGuy), and myself. With this cast, there should be a lot of excitement, some great stories, and even better, deer. Make to stay tune on twitter to Rudy and myself for more updates on #DeerTour2012. If you're looking for a good way to tide yourself over until this year's hunting season you can order last season's #DeerTour now!

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?

Rent Huntography - Filming American's Hunters, One at a Time Now!!!

This was released yesterday from Huntography. For those of you that still haven't checked out Huntography - West Virginia you need to! Below is a press release with the new availability to rent Huntography - Filming American's Hunters, One at a Time. 2010.

"April 6, 2012 – More and more whitetail deer hunters are moving away from watching deer hunting shows on television and away from buying physical deer hunting DVD’s. The trend towards online viewing and mobile viewing cannot be ignored. For this reason, in addition to offering physical copies of DVD’s to own – for us old schoolers, I am starting to offer our deer hunting films for rent online.

This is similar to what many have experience when using Netflix or their cable and satellite providers video-on-demand functionality for movies. But for deer hunting videos, this is a great first step into getting more folks watching full length feature hunting films online. 

The ease of use, high quality image and affordable cost should be just what the doctor ordered.  
So if you haven’t purchased the 2011 Huntography Whitetail Deer Hunting DVD yet, Filming America’s Hunters, One at a Time, now is your chance to watch it right on your computer, in it’s entirety. 

All proceeds will go directly into the 2012 DeerTour production fund.

Support the movement, share the link with your friends and rent it today." 

Best, 

Rudy
Founder/Filmmaker/Editor

If you haven't got to watch it, now's your chance, I highly recommend it! For more details and a preview check out then rental site here.

2012 WV Fishing, Hunting, and Outdoors Sports Show Recap

Ronnie Hardy of Hardy's Custom Calls

The beginning of this month was the 11th annual 2012 WV Fishing, Hunting, and Outdoors Sports Show. I've been attending this show roughly for that last five years. Over this time I have watched it expand into a great show, it won't rival any of the large shows for many years to come, but it is a great place to find some new gear and talk with some of the local West Virginia vendors.

Last year was the first year I attended the Sports Show as a blogger, at that time I was still new to the idea and didn't fully grasp the idea or understand what I was doing here. Even with that, I still managed to make a great contact in Ronnie Hardy of Hardy's Custom Calls, you may remember reading about him here. He was there again this year with a few new products and all of his great classics. Look for a product review of his new Diamond Wood Striker towards the end of Spring Gobbler Season.

To make a connection with a local West Virginia company and owner in Ronnie Hardy and Hardy's Custom Calls is priceless and something I couldn't have imaged to happen in my first year and half of blogging and my first sports show last year as a blogger, this year I was hoping would lead to a few more connections and if I was lucky it would have been be another West Virginia company. After walking around this year's show it was a very good to say the least, it expanded again this year and had great new vendors.

This year I found a local West Virginia  fishing company that produces limestone sinkers and hunting company that products mineral/attractants for whitetail deer. One I had been watching for a while now, RockyBrook Sinkers, is based out of Morgantown, WV. For a little more information on their company you can read the snippet below from their site...

"RockyBrook Sinkers are more than just sinkers… They help you catch fish! It’s all about their unique shapes and specific density which makes them harder to snag and easier to free when snagged. They add natural "action" and "suspension" to your lures and bait. They’re odorless, have no residue and blend-in with surroundings making them invisible to fish. They make a loud rattle when rolling rocky stream beds or clickin’ two together. The cool part is Limestone is used to help fisheries. It’s the only “rock” that raises pH and produces alkalinity to improve water quality."

I picked up a variety pack of sinkers from RockyBrook Sinkers to test. Here's another product review coming out in the next few weeks, I have used them in larger waters, but haven't been able to test them on smaller streams, that should change after this week.

The other company is newer but has still managed to caught my attention, Horn Hounds, they are based out of Metz, WV. As an up and coming company, Horn Hounds are in the process of releasing more products to their line including cover scents and DVDs, for more information on them here is a blur about them from their site...

"As a new face to an already thriving industry, we here at Horn Hounds are proud to present to "YOU", the hunting world, our complete line of mineral products, cover scents, and of course, our hunting DVD's! Coming soon in the early Spring of 2012 will be our line of Minerals which we will release at the Outdoor Hunting Expo in Columbus,OH in March.The main flagships of our mineral line will be our field proven line of minerals aptly named "Buck Chow"© and also our time tested cover scent which you will see us use again and again in our videos named appropriately --Trail-Be-Gone ©"

I was unable to get any of their products for testing at the WV Fishing, Hunting, and Outdoors Sports Show this year, but am hoping to get some in the near future to test it out for a product review. None the less it is great to see another West Virginia company coming into the mix.

The First Week of Rifle Season: Part 1

With the forecast calling for warm, rainy weather in the early part of the week, I wasn't looking to have much success if any at all. But as the saying goes, "You can't kill 'em from the couch." The first week of rifle season always sounds like a World War 3 is starting, just one of those things one gets use to hunting rifle season in WV. Past the first morning, the deer are running scared as well as a few hunters. But there are two parts to this season, the openings week (this past week) that everyone has time off to hunt a portion of the week and the second week when there is rarely anyone out and the deer start to get back on their patterns and the start of the second half of the rut. Luckily, this year I had the whole week off and  a few days in the second week to hunt also. As for how my week turned out, you may have got a clue in the past TCT, but I'll give an overview of the past week over the next two posts.

Monday - 11/21 - Opening Day

Mainly being a bow hunter, I still get excited for this time of year. Even with only starting my reemergence into the outdoor world five years ago, there is still a little bit of tradition here. As a little kid I always went hunting with my grandpa this week, now that he's beyond the point of being able to tote a gun and run the ridges, Foggy Mountain is mainly left to my uncle and myself.

As with any eager morning I got to my stand early, I met my uncle Rick at the bottom of the mountain as he was unloading his ATV and we wished each other luck and we were on our way. With a heavy mist in the air, that quickly turned back into a drizzle, we both knew this would be a long day. This proved to be true, on any normal opening morning, you can normally count 75 to a 100 shots by noon. This wasn't the case, I didn't hear my first shot that morning until nearly 8:00 AM, that wasn't as shocking as it was to not hear a second shot until 10:28 AM. Shortly after hearing that second faint shot of the morning, I saw my first deer. Well, more like a tail, it was a deer that was bumped up by someone, it was off to the races and  nothing was stopping it. Luckily I was able to see that it was a doe. That was my only action all morning. The rain was still coming down and I wasn't getting any drier so I decided to take a 20 minute lunch break. I climbed down and still hunted my way back to my Jeep for a quick lunch, I was hopeful to at least jump something up on the way out, but still no luck.

It wasn't until a little after 3:00 PM that I saw my next deer. It was a 3-point that I had been seeing on and off all of bow season, to be honest I thought it was 6-point I had pictures of from the previous weekend. I actually have some video footage of this deer, from bow season. This deer snuck in behind me before I even saw it. It was already at 75 yards when I saw it and heading towards a thicket with little to no visibility. I proceeded to watch this deer with my binoculars for 45 minutes after it bedded down in the thicket. This deer wasn't moving, I ranged it at 111 yards, but no matter how I looked at it, I didn't have a shot. I had a choice to make, watch this deer until it was to dark to shoot or try and sneak out of my stand and get a clean shot on it. After weighing my options, I decided if I could make it out of my stand I'd have a good shot at making it through another thicket adjacent to the buck on the opposite side of the creek.

I made it out of my stand without spooking the buck. I knew the rest should be easy, right? Over the next 20 minutes I managed to close in on buck at 45 yards, this was the first spot I was able to get a clear shot. Luckily, I was able to stalk crawl through the thicket on my side of the creek. This should like a lot of work for a 3-point I know, but at this point it was more about seeing if I could do it or not, plus I was this thinking it was that six point. After closing in and getting set up for the shot, the buck was still bedded down when I was able to get my cross-hairs on him. No matter what I did, he wasn't getting up, so at this point I decided my best option would be a neck shot, not my first choice, but there wasn't much left to choose from. As I bore down on fire my shot, another close shot rang out only seconds before I pulled the trigger. Finally that made the deer stand up, of course I wasn't ready for this. I was already firing my shot, in that split second I fired the buck, he stood and my shot fired right under him completely missing him. This was the first time I have ever missed a deer on a first shot, hell the only time I had to use more than one bullet on a deer period. I thought this chance was over and he was gone, but he only took three steps in the opposite direction into a hard quartering away shot and paused that's all I needed, I let another shot ring out and he buckled and he was done. I had successfully stalked and harvested one of the only deer taken this past week on Foggy  Mountain. This was the third consecutive year (you can read about last year's here) I was able to take a deer on opening day of rifle season.

My trophy from Rifle Season... So far...

Boone & Crockett Club Membership Giveaway

I was recently invited to participate in Boone and Crockett Club's Blogger Appreciation Program and received a chance to do a giveaway for one (1) complimentary Associate Membership to the Boone and Crockett Club.

About the Boone and Crockett Club:
Founded by Theodore Roosevelt in 1887, the Boone and Crockett Club promotes guardianship and visionary management of big game and associated wildlife in North America. The Club maintains the highest standards of fair-chase sportsmanship and habitat stewardship. Member accomplishments include enlarging and protecting Yellowstone and establishing Glacier and Denali national parks, founding the U.S. Forest Service, National Park Service and National Wildlife Refuge System, fostering the Pittman-Robertson and Lacey Acts, creating the Federal Duck Stamp program, and developing the cornerstones of modern game laws. The Boone and Crockett Club is headquartered in Missoula, Montana.

About Fair Chase Magazine and your Associate Membership:
Fair Chase is the official publication of the Boone and Crockett Club. The magazine is loaded with information you won't find anywhere else such as Field Trophy Photos of recent entries into the Club's records program, as well as listings of the most recently accepted trophies. You will also find quality features by well known outdoor journalists on North American Big Game, trophy measuring, hunting tips and conservation issues that affect your hunting and more. As an Associate you will receive Fair Chase Magazine on a quarterly basis. You will also have exclusive access to the Associates Community of the Club’s web site. This includes searchable field photos, archive of past Fair Chase articles, and your own personal trophy scoring database. In addition, you will receive a discount on select Boone and Crockett Club merchandise and books. You will also receive a wallet I.D. card and a Boone and Crockett Club window decal.

Register to Win:

There will be two possible entries for this giveaway, one entry and two bonus entries. This giveaway will run from Oct. 21, 2011 to Nov. 6, 2011 at 11:59 PM. The winner will be picked at random with http://www.random.org/. The winner will be announced on Nov. 7 2011.

1.) You must comment on this post with your thoughts/opinions on the information below.

• This is the first entry and must be completed before you can register for the two bonus entries.

2.) Like Foggy Mountain Meanderings on Facebook. After doing so comeback and comment on the blog saying you did so, if you already follow state that also.

3.) Follow Foggy Mountain Meanderings on Twitter. After doing so comeback and comment on the blog saying you did so, if you already follow state that also.

This giveaway was made possible by our friends at Hornady!!!

They have asked that everyone take a look at the video and information below on lead bullets and the the current Acts that are trying to eliminate them.

Hornady Presents Boone and Crockett Club from Boone and Crockett Club on Vimeo.

Lead Bullets
Anti-hunting and anti-fishing interests are currently litigating against the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) to force the EPA to expand its Toxic Substance Control Act (TSCA) authority in order to regulate traditional ammunition and recreational fishing tackle.

When the Act was established in 1976 Congress explicitly excluded from regulation any article subject to excise taxes -- including pistols, revolvers, firearms, shells and cartridges.

The EPA has already once declined a petition that asked the agency to prohibit the manufacture, processing, and distribution in commerce of lead for shot, bullets, and fishing sinkers because it did not have the authority to do so under the TSCA.

Anti-hunting and anti-fishing interests assert the EPA does have the authority and that a lead ban is necessary to address the significant impacts to wildlife populations that are resulting from traditional tackle and ammunition. 

The assertions made by the petitioning groups lack credible scientific foundation, especially when seeking a blanket ban on all lead use. Outside of the California condor, where every death is significant, there is no evidence of a lead crisis at the population level – an entire group of one species living in a specific area.

The biggest threat of lead in wildlife is with birds that have gizzards, which hold on to and grind up food, rather than pass it quickly through their systems.

Proponents of the ban cite the impacts on individual raptors, such as Bald Eagles even though raptor populations are increasing across North America and the Bald Eagle was removed from the Endangered Species list as recently as 2007.

If a complete ban on lead in ammunition where achieved it would have a dramatic negative impact, because of the increased cost of alternative metals, on the cost of ammunition, and therefore participation in hunting and recreational shooting, which in turn is the engine that drives most of the funding for conservation and wildlife management through the excise taxes paid on the purchases of ammunition.

Sportsmen groups have rallied to push forward the introduction of the Hunting, Fishing and Recreational Shooting Protection Act (S.838 & H.R. 1558), which will amend TSCA in a manner that serves to protect and enhance our hunting, recreational shooting and recreational fishing heritage while concurrently facilitating the important benefits that the hunting, shooting and recreational fishing industries contribute to the betterment of our nation’s economy and treasured natural resources. 

The Act is now being discussed and considered in committees. To learn more: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s112-838

Quick Takes: SEEMZ - T.H.E.E. KRUSH Complete Odor Elimination System

Along with any good outdoorsman, you should be preparing for the season year around, this is no different for myself. As the end of archery season came to a close I washed up all my hunting gear one last time and packed it away for a long spring and summer. This provoked a thought that I have used the majority of the major big box stores scent elimination companies in one capacity or another. Their products did fine and have produced well for me, but still left me wanting a little better quality. I went on a mission to find a new line of scent control products to use for this fall.

In the beginning of February I began to look for a new scent elimination products and companies to try out. Shortly there after I stumbled upon Seemz Technology, they tagged themselves as the New Generation of Oder Elimination. Seemz Technology was founded in 2008 and since has striven to produce not only a new scent elimination system but more so a complete odor elimination system. Promptly after reading more about Seemz Technology, I contacted them to see if they would be interested in working with Foggy Mountain Meanderings for a Product Review this upcoming deer season. A few e-mails later and about a month and a half of anticipation, my complete odor elimination system was waiting at my doorstep.

Quick Takes

• Variety: As with most scent elimination lines there are different cover scents. This is no different with Total Human Element Eliminator (T.H.E.E.) KRUSH, it is offered in Original and Earth scent. With the the test group I received the Earth Scent. I feel that this scent will work best for the type of hunting environment that I am in. 

• Scent:  Being Earth scented, it is important that it actually smells as advertised, like dirt to be exact. After a quick overview of the products, I wanted to see if the spray did smell like earth/dirt as other companies have managed to produce. Yet again, Seemz impressed me as they have accurately matched that earthy odor. A little side note on this one, at this point and time Cassie, my girlfriend, walked in asked what I was doing and wanted to see what I had received. After explaining what is was, where it came from, and how I was going to use it, she wanted to help out, so I asked her to smell if and tell me what it smelled like (without informing her if was Earth Scent), her first words after the smell test was, "It smells just like dirt!" So no matter who you ask at this point it passes the scent test, the next test may be a little harder, as a deer's sense of smell is a much better than humans. 

• Product Line / Variety: Seemz Technology has covered almost all your odor eliminating needs when they sent out the complete odor elimination system. It included: 32oz Scent Elimination Spray, 12oz Scent Elimination Spray, 64oz Scent Elimination Refill Bottle, 32oz Laundry Detergent, and 12oz Hair & Body Soap, they even threw in a Seemz Bumper sticker. The two main component that I believe would complete this total system are deodorant / antiperspirant and dryer sheets to accompany the laundry detergent ( in their defense what is missing is stuff they don't even produce at this time). Other than those two things, this kit is very well put together and makes me even more excited for hunting season. 

I am excited about the next phases of this review. I recently sprayed down my trail camera  with T.H.E.E KRUSH to help eliminate my scent. Hopefully, this will keep those pesky bears away from my new toy. The major test, and most exciting, will be using the product line this fall during archery and rifle season. Thanks again for allowing me to do this review.

Waters & Woods: Despite Losses, W.Va. Hunting, Angling Rank High

This isn't a good trend to be showing, but at least there is a little silver lining. As far as my state of West Virginia, we are also declining, but we are not falling as quickly as others. There were only two areas where we dropped below the national average, dove hunting and waterfowl hunting, and the only problem I see those dropping below is I don't see the state having the best areas for these. While there are some areas for dove and waterfowl hunting, they are not as prevalent as other states. Maybe there is still hope for this trend to turn around.

Despite losses, W.Va. hunting, angling rank high

February 27, 2011 by John McCoy

In West Virginia, though, declines in hunter and angler participation have been relatively gradual. In fact, according to a recent U.S. Fish and Wildlife Survey on hunting and fishing trends, the Mountain State’s participation rates remain among the nation’s highest.

Nationwide during the survey trend, the number of hunters fell 11 percent, from 14.1 million in 1991 to 12.1 million in 2006, the latest year for which complete statistics were available. Angler numbers fell at an even greater rate – 16 percent, from 35.5 million in 1991 to 29.2 million in 2006.

Researchers doing the survey compared the states’ trends against the national trends. The number of deer hunters in West Virginia, for example, declined at a slightly higher rate than the national average. So did the number of turkey hunters and rabbit hunters. Only in the area of squirrel hunting did the number of Mountain State participants decline at a lower rate than the national trend.

The number of West Virginians who participate in fishing declined far less than the national trend. In Bass angling, trout angling, catfish angling and “angling for anything,” state residents significantly bucked the national tendency. To continue reading, click here.