Hunting and Fishing News & Blog Articles

The Founders of Golden Key-Futura – Archery Champions Freddie and Eva Troncoso

FA: Fred, when and how did you get interested in archery?

As I recall, my love for archery occurred the moment I received a rubber tipped set of toy arrows and a bow for Christmas in 1937. The following year, I was fortunate to have seen one of the first Howard Hill bowhunting short movies which were shown during intermissions at most movie theaters. From that exact moment on, I became an avid bowhunter and still hunt exclusively with a bow and arrow.

The Don Tosti Quartet 1958 with front man Freddie Troncoso.

FA: Freddie, it is said that your first love has always been music. How did your interest in music begin and to what level of proficiency did you ascend? What type of music did you play and which instruments did you learn?

Luckily, I was born and raised by a family of musicians which started with my musician father, grand father, mother, two sisters, and two brothers. Yes, we were all musicians who played several instruments including piano, guitar, violin, cello, viola, bass, clarinet, flute, and tuba. I, myself, personally started playing music on the violin, won a $500 scholarship in violin competition, was Assistant Concert Master of our high school orchestra, and was also Assistant Concert Master for the Los Angeles All City Orchestra. I also was very fortunate to win five consecutive high school competitions on KTLA Channel 5. I also placed first in three consecutive talent competitions which were aired on Harry Babbitz’ High Talent Battle TV Show. Those victories were all played on violin along with my sister Virginia who always accompanied me on the piano. During the above era, I specialized in Classical and Symphonic music.

FA: Did you ever go into music full time?

Yes, I started playing with a dance band for dances right after I joined the United States Air Force during 1952.

FA: How about Eva?

Eva took piano lessons and learned how to read and play music – up until the advent of television. When TV appeared, many people including relatives suddenly lost their interest and appreciation for music.

The bowhunter, champion and coach with star pupil and target champion.

FA: How did you two meet?

Eva and I met during a college picnic event during 1954.

You recovered your deer and the meat is processed. You’ve just gathered some firewood and started the fire.  Here is a simple, delicious recipe for venison stew that’s just perfect for a campfire cook-out. Campfire cooking the wild game I harvested is a real favorite of mine and I think you will enjoy too. Here is a recipe and how-to from Robert Gate.

Campfire Venison Stew Recipe

Ingredients:

Six slices of baconOne chopped onionTwo chopped celery sticksOne large chopped carrotOne minced jalapeño, seededThree minded garlic clovesOne pound of venison, cubedTwo cans of drained kidney beansOne tablespoon of Italian seasoningOne can of roasted and diced tomatoes (28 ounces)16 ounces of vegetable brothSalt and pepperQuarter cup of flour

Directions:

Over coals, cook bacon on a camp stove until crispy. Crumble it and set aside for later. Use the bacon fat  to cook the onion, carrot, jalapeño and celery (chop as desired), stirring often until it becomes soft. Remove the vegetables and set aside.In a pot, add the venison to the bacon fat and cook, stirring often until it has browned. Add the bacon and vegetables back into the pot and stir together. Add the kidney beans, seasoning, tomatoes and the broth and allow it to boil.Set the camp stove to the side of the coals, or turn down the heat. Cover the pot and let it simmer for about 45 minutes.Taste stew and season to taste with salt and pepper. Stir in the flour and let it cook for another 10 to 15 minutes. Stir occasionally until the stew has thickened. Serve while it’s hot and enjoy!

In Conclusion

When it comes to creating the best camp dinner or a simple meal at home, you will never go wrong with venison. With this Campfire Venison Stew Recipe, you’ll have a meal fit for the outdoors, with this easy-to-follow recipe.

If you have any questions or would like to share your own tips and experiences with preparing and cooking venison, then comment down below. I would love to hear what you have to think.

Below is a “hit list” of new-for-2022 compound bows from 10 of the most popular brands. Most offer advanced levels of tunability and superior accessorized balance, but don’t worry, they’re “fast, quiet and smooth,” too. Let’s review some features and benefits of bows that today’s top manufacturers have turned loose from the bullpen.

APA Black Mamba 31

APA Archery bows cannot be mistaken. Each one has distinct features with “APA” practically written all over it. And the Black Mamba 31 is certainly rich with sensational APA features and styling. Mainstays are Riser Fangs, the Tool Center, integrated Carrying Handle and comfortable Soft Touch Armour, to name several. The skeletonized riser features cutouts shaped like a black mamba snake’s head; the riser design exudes strength while weighing a feathery 3.8 pounds — comparable in weight to today’s top carbon-riser bows. Equipped with the Weight Distribution System and Mass Transfer Module, an accessorized Black Mamba 31 balances like a dream. Technical bowhunters will love features such as Micro Tune, Nock Point Alignment Zone, Hand Position Reference Groove, Variable Yoke Technology, Center Shot Indicator and more. If you want a durable bow in a beautifully balanced and lightweight platform, then the Black Mamba 31 is for you. There’s even a camera mount on the front of the riser for a GoPro, and speeds up to 350 fps with a 6.75-inch brace height unite power and accuracy in a lights-out hunting machine.

MSRP: $1,199 (starting at)

CONTACT: www.apaarchery.com

Venison or Beef Roast

1 large roast (I try to get one large enough for two meals) always when on sale.
Steak Seasoning
Little garlic salt & pepper
3 Beef Bouillon Cubes
4 cups of water
Just enough flour to coat roast

7 potatoes diced
1 large onion
20 baby carrots cut into
You can add as many veggies as you like depending on how many you are feeding.

First, I season roast with steak seasoning, little garlic salt and pepper. Add flour to a plate or platter big enough to hold roast. Flour each side and around the edge. Next, just enough olive oil to bottom of frying pan to brown roast on all sides.

Now, we start with our Roasting pan or large enough pan to hold roast and veggies. Preheat oven to 400°. Add your roast to center of pan, 4 cups of water and 3 bouillon cubes. Put in oven for one hour then take out and turn over and put back in oven for one more hour. (if your oven cooks fast or really hot then cut down the time or temp) You may need to add more water to cover your roast so it does not dry out.

Fred Lutger with a Trophy Bear – Ontario, Canada

In order to bag a big trophy bear, one that would qualify for the ‘Pope and Young’ or ‘Boone and Crocket’ record book, there are a few things you can do to swing the odds in your favor…

Be selective – If you truly want a trophy animal, don’t fill your tag on a smaller bear.Know what a big bear is. – This sounds easy, but seeing a bear in the wild and judging his size is very difficult. Prior to your hunt visit sporting goods stores that might have a full mount of a black bear. Also check out black bears at museums, wildlife parks and zoos.Look for a ferrule on the bears forehead. – This indentation will be visible running from the forehead straight back along the top of the bears head between his ears. The older and bigger a black bear gets the more prominent this indentation is.Hunt where there are big bears. – Again, this can be hard to determine but there are two good indicators; find out how big the Bear Management Area the outfitter has. It must be big enough to support a continuous hunting program. Too small an area will not let the bears reach a good mature age to reach record book size. And ask to see pictures of recent bears taken {within the last two years}. All outfitters can accumulate impressive pictures over the years, but what potential does his area have for his next hunt?Look for front paw prints that have a pad wider than 4 inches. – A pad that measures 5 inches or better will usually be a bear of record book size. Place wet sand around the bait you are hunting to get these prints.

– Canine Tooth Spread –

Canine tooth spread can be a good indicator of record book potential. I’ve found that measuring tip to tip spread of a black bear’s top canine teeth will give you a quick indicator of the bears record book potential. To get this measurement, put peanut butter or honey on a Styrofoam or plastic plate left at the bait site. Check for bite marks left by scavenging bears. Almost any puncture marks left by the canines over 2 inches wide will be a Pope and Young bear with an 18″ skull measurement.

– How to Measure a Bear Skull –

The size of bears has long caused heated discussions … as well as continual misjudgment. A bear’s size is normally expressed in terms of weight, which is difficult to judge due to individual variations in height, the thickness of fur, and physical stature, as well as the observer’s proximity to the bear and their particular level of stress. Under calm circumstances, a bear’s weight is often misjudged, but during a close encounter, accurate weight determination is impossible by nearly all except possibly a seasoned field scientist. “The grizzly’s reputation for ferociousness toward people,” notes Terry Domico in Bears of the World, “makes the animal seem much larger.”

To the untrained eye, all bears are “big”, as human perception of weight is most often much greater than an animal’s true size. During a survey in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, responses to the weights of American black bears ranged from four hundred to four thousand pounds. The actual weights were ninety-five to one hundred fifteen pounds.

“The boar was small,” according to Ben East author of ‘Bears’, “hardly more than 150 pounds, but still big enough to be a formidable antagonist . . . the men guessed him at four hundred pounds.”

In nearly all species of bears, the male is relatively larger than the female, though differences vary. For example, the difference between the sun bear females and males on Borneois minimal, while on the Malaysian mainland the males may be more than one third larger.

Bear Weights: Males vs Females

Farmers wife, Nicki, invites us to her kitchen for another special recipe: the wild turkey brown-n-bake. Check out her own recipe for unique and delicious  breading mix.

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If you read the title of this video and thought, “No donkeys for me, especially where I hunt!” Well, this, is something I know about.

A few years back I purchased a 75-foot house trailer and moved it on my place. Then I rented it out. Actually, I thought I would make a little extra money doing that. I won’t go into all the ways I was wrong about the renting and making money thing, instead I’ll go directly to my experiences with DONKEYS!

I had been gone for a few days and it was dark when I returned home. I went to sleep right away. At sunrise I heard some extremely loud braying, roaring noises. I mean, like real loud. I yanked on my hunting boots, walked outside, and headed toward the loud noises.

Behind my renters’ trailer I saw a makeshift pen made of rusty, throw away barbed wire … that had 3 Donkeys in it, and they were sounding off at an ear splitting volume. I was not happy. My renter had already left for work. I phoned him and told him how much I disliked the donkeys in a very impolite tone of voice.

He told me he would sell the donkeys right away, something that the passing months would reveal he had no intention of doing. And he chose wording that he knew would work on me, as it had (so far) every time he missed a rent payment.

Discover relevant facts about wild turkeys that you probably do not know. This video has outstanding videography of hens and gobblers doing what they do.

Where do hens lay their eggs? In what ways are the wild turkeys vision different? And several more useful facts.

It never fails, stormy and rainy weather always happen during our Spring Turkey Seasons. And turkey hunters everywhere just don’t see or hear wild turkeys during these foul weather spells.

Matt Dale tells you why he welcomes April’s rains and stormy weather. Rain or shine wild turkeys will move around in their areas. But the inclement weather causes the turkeys to seek their food and move around differently than they do usually.

When the weatherman tells us Stormy Days and bad weather are coming; many turkey hunters, both experienced and newbies, decide to “Sit this one out until the weather gets better.”

In the video below Jason Cruize of Mossberg shows you what you need to look for and do that will put you in the Wild Turkey hunting action when bad weather hits. Veteran wild turkey hunter Jason Cruize shares (2) key truths about wild turkeys that let you know how to find and hunt wild turkeys when bad weather rolls into your area.

 

Expert Wild Turkey hunter Paul Butski is the guest of  Matt Drury and Tim Kjellesvik of the “100% Wild Podcast” discuss how shifts in the weather influence wild turkeys during the Spring hunting seasons.

Podcast Listener “Mark from Georgia” asks Paul Butski if changes in the “barometric pressure” affect the behavior of wild turkeys?

Paul Butski answers “yes” and then explains how wild turkeys react when the barometric pressure RISES … as well as when the barometric pressure DROPS. This is definitely good to know info for any wild turkey hunter. And as additional questions come in you will hear more answers from the voice of experience.

Subscribe to the audio version of the show on the platform of your choice: Apple – https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/d… Android – https://play.google.com/music/listen?… Stitcher – https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/drur… YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list… Get ahead of your Game with DeerCast available on iOS and Android devices App Store: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/deerc… Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/de… For exciting updates on what’s happening on the field and off, follow us on social Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/OfficialDrury… Instagram: @DruryOutdoors Twitter @DruryOutdoors Be sure to check out http://www.druryoutdoors.com for more information, hunts, and more! Music provided by Epidemic Sound http://player.epidemicsound.com/

Matt Dale of Dale Outdoors freely shares his wealth of knowledge about the Spring behavior of wild turkey gobblers and hens, as well as how to adjust your turkey hunting techniques to fit the changes the gobblers and hens are experiencing.

Matt Dale tells us what the four separate phases that gobblers and hens experience throughout the country. Then he shares what his effective private methods for Spring wild turkey hunts are.

Enjoy the Video below on the “4 Phases of Spring Turkey Season.”.

 

Still Hanging With The B10 Buck.

Robert Hoague

Do you know how early a buck in velvet will work on tree limbs with his new antlers? Twenty five years ago I believed that bucks had to shed their antlers before they were able to hook their tines and main beams into a tree’s limbs that were in reach.

At first, I was surprised to see bucks in velvet give some tree branches a good whipping.
But it became a regular part of what I saw bucks doing year after year. Then, several years ago I learned what was up. In early July a buck with antlers that were shaping up very nice got himself hung up jumping a tall cattle panel fence in a corral on my place. i was unaware of this until I noticed some buzzards fly up and when I investigated I saw the buck in the fence  hung up by the antlers and quite dead.

I cut the fence panel loose and was surprised about his velvet antlers. I had expected them to soft and spongy, possibly even rubber like per what someone had told me once. But the antlers were rigid and solid. So when I witnessed bucks in velvet, year after year, giving tree limbs a thrashing I wasn’t that surprised. It’s very cool to live where I can take pictures of wild deer doing their thing.

A couple weeks before the first buck shed its velvet I went to a ground blind I have in a nearby area I call “The Last Barn.” I went there because I had watched B10 leave my food plot and head in the general direction of The Last Barn. My second morning there I saw B10 in the early morning light and took his picture.

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Finally on April 25 the high winds backed down to a low enough wind speed to get after hunting down some wild turkey gobblers. So Champ and I agreed to get together after the end of his school day. After I picked him up we went to an area named the Point, it’s where an East-West fence and a North-South fence intersect and cross the properties 2-track farm road. Wild turkeys regularly come through the Point on their way back to the evening roosts along the river a mile to the West.

Champ set out our decoys and I put our gear inside the Lazy Man ground blind I set up at the point  previously. The blind had been moved by someone and we wouldn’t be able to shoot to our right, which is the most frequently traveled direction. But I hadn’t wanted to make the noise that moving it would take. That urned out to be one of those “I shoulda done it” deals.

Champ and I got inside the blind and sat down.

I took a quick picture of Champ Bullard as we waited quietly in a LAZY MAN GROUND BLIND for wild turkeys to come through the area.

I waited half an hour to call and then every 15-20 minutes I called again — on a Billy Yargus Blue Viper mouth call. I picked up a gobble on my second sequence. He sounded about 200 yards off but didn’t reply any more.

The Lazy Man ground blind is made of fiberglass, it is an excellent blind, it has all the right features. I didn’t take a picture of it at the Point but I will the next time I hunt there.

Ever since opening weekend of this year’s Wild Turkey Season the weather has not been turkey hunter friendly, and even more-so if they are a bowhunter only type, like yours truly. To explain, right now the wind speed is 12-mph out of the NNE. Today’s predicted wind gusts are 18 mph. Actually both of those numbers are less than usual so far this month, with the “gusts” being noticeably less. Gusts have regularly ascended into the 20’s while the stronger wind surges have been in the high 30’s and even low 40’s.

That’s problematic wild turkey hunting weather; when it’s windy enough to be so noisy you can’t hear their gobbles and they can’t hear you calling. Plus, shooting arrows when it’s extra windy can get your arrow off course, which is never a good thing. Anyway, I’ve gone out at varying times during the day; early morning, late afternoon, and mid day to see if I can find anything going on.

On the windiest days I do not see any wild turkeys, regardless of time of day. And on the least windy days  I occasionally see a few.

Over the weekend, on Saturday, I finally got into some action (and got the above picture) after I saw movement to my right. Two hens were coming my way. Then 3 gobblers appeared in front of me and strutted closer. Quickly, I took a picture and then got ready.

To get the fastest arrow speed and avoid any wind deflection I brought my high-speed crossbow. When the three gobblers were within 15 yards I took aim at the one on the left and pulled the trigger. My crossbow bolt went at least a foot to the right of the gobbler. The wind did me in.

I don’t know Tim Wells but I’ve featured a bunch of his bowhunting videos on Bowhunting.net over the years. He travels all over and bowhunts all kinds of wild game. Today he is taking us to Mexico to bow hunt native predators in the Mexican desert.

In this video Tim Wells is using a FOXPRO Game Caller and you get to see first hand how effective this electronic game caller works. The pic below is the remote controll for the FoxPro.

Here is the FoxPro electronic game caller clipped to a branch. This caller is incredibly good. Tim demonstrates how to use it for calling predators. And tells you some tricks that will up your coyote calling success.

And … if you’re wondering if you can cook and eat predator meat, you get the answer in this video,

Tim Wells bowhunts coyotes on the ground and situates himself in the shadows. And as you will know as you watch this video, it works.

My friend Jason Allen of Rush TV  invited world champion turkey caller Billy Yargus up to Michigan a few days ago. They check a few of Jason’s turkey places and when they see two super mature gobblers (aka Kent Daddys) in a large field they concoct a plan to hunt them.

Now, you may or may not know that Jason Allen is one of the best Wild Turkey hunters in the country and Billy Yargus is one of the top wild turkey callers in the world and what happens in this video is an absolute “Must See.”

Obviously I don’t know how well you can call, but I’d bet that you’d enjoy seeing and hearing perfect turkey calling (yes, I said perfect) draw two big “Rope Beard” Gobblers in. Don’t miss this!

Robert Hoague

Below are a couple of pics I lifted from the video. The first is the Toms coming to us.

Learn how you can get the tongue flutter that it takes for you to make a realistic purr on your mouth call. The tongue flutter, comes from the the vibration of your tongue. Practice by breathing in a large volume of air, and let your tongue lay very limp, then blow that air across your tongue with enough force that your call actually vibrate in your mouth. You’ll make your tongue flap. (This is like rolling your “r’s” when speaking Spanish.)

Put the call in your mouth with the round edge towards your throat, letting it lay limply and softly on the top of your tongue. Blow the same volume of air across your tongue as you did practicing. What you’ll get is sounds like a fighting purr call. You’ll notice that increasing your Calling volume  your cheeks will puff out slightly. That‘s the air running over and around the call, and the extra air being held back in your mouth, that causes your cheeks to inflate slightly. That helps keep the rasp down and makes the call have a more realistic tone and a more melodious sound.

Next start backing off on that volume of air until you get a more realistic turkey tone. Once you get the turkey sound down, start adding in some clucks.

To get a cluck use lower tone, and keep it quiet like a realistic cluck is. Clucking is the same principle as cutting, to cut on the mouth call you want loud, short cuts with a large volume of air. But for clucking, you keep that noise soft, while mixing in with some purrs (that we just learned how to do). For an even more realistic and natural sound from a mouth call, mix in some soft yelps or a little whine in there. It all comes together for a great sounding call.

Remember, start with a large volume of air to get the sound coming off the call in your mouth, and then step it down, bringing back that volume to a realistic sound. Click Here and I will show you and you can hear how it should sound.