Hunting and Fishing News & Blog Articles

Bowhunting in the Backcountry can be challenge. Right off the bat, many factors come to  mind. The particular animal I’ll hunt always determines the level of intensity necessary for success. I’ve found it helpful to always answer these 3 questions.

These are just three key components I weigh in when I put together my game plan for a successful hunt. A well thought out plan frequently ends in a well deserved harvest! Think about it for just a moment…. was any battle ever won without a well minded plan? That has always been my strategy when its Maniac Time!

Bear hunting is always a mad rush for me, the endurance to locate, the patience to locate and the wits to move in for the kill. Hunting Black Bear is very challenging here in Idaho, because there are two levels here.. that is ‘straight up’ or ‘straight down.’

Physically, the mountainous, unforgiving terrain and the grueling pack out is always a real challenge. And when fresh meat is packed on your back it can put a cold chill up and down your spine while you’re packing meat out during the night hours.

Most of my bear hunts seem to end with very little light left to make the trek out, let alone gather a moment of rest. If anyone has ever packed out meat in Idaho you certainly know the density of their wolf population.

At Last! Although they were introduced over 30 years ago, mechanical broadheads are finally  legal in all 50 of the United States. The final stand out was Idaho, and Idaho has now legalized bowhunters to use mechanical broadheads to harvest big game.

“Unlike early models, where material short comings and poor designs compromised lethality, today’s mechanical broadheads are more fatal then ever and have proven themselves to be extremely reliable and durable on all of North America’s big game animals,” said FeraDyne Outdoors Chief Commercial Officer Jon Syverson. FeraDyne Outdoors is the parent company of Rage, Muzzy, Wac Em and Rocky Mountain broadheads.

According to FeraDyne, advancements in both design and materials have led stalwart states into reversing previous opinions on the lethality of mechanical heads. With numerous studies and field-proven citizen science, Syverson says there’s no question as to the impact modern-day mechanical broadhead designs have on recovery and success on big game.

The brands under the FeraDyne Outdoors umbrella bring to market a wide variety of mechanical and hybrid mechanical broadhead designs from Rage, Muzzy, Wac Em and Rocky Mountain. Through the use of premium titanium, stainless steel and aircraft-grade aluminum, broadhead ferrules have never been stronger or more consistent.

Modern custom-hardened steel blades are sharp, durable and devastating upon delivery. With a variety of blade angle configurations, tip styles and grain weights in the marketplace, there are mechanical broadheads that fit the requirements of nearly all bowhunters regardless of individual gear setup.

Eastmans’ Dan Pickar Bow hunts open country Mule Deer in Montana. It’s a spot and stalk DIY video mule deer hunt in the “Breaks” country. Dan’s racing against a major weather shift and has his eyes set on a big cheater buck.

Meet the friendly neighborhood plant lady Becky Schumacher and go with her to a wild area on public land to find and identify the particular plants that deer naturally gravitate toward — when foraging for food in their area. Enjoy today’s wild horticulture lesson on this Tex Grebner Outdoors!

FORAGING & GATHERING WILD EDIBLE PLANTS.

Learning where the deer are naturally going to be is key to hunt where its close range.

Becky Schumacher Shows You The WILD PLANTS DEER PREFER.

In this video we join Chris Creed to show us how to identify oak trees for Whitetail Deer Hunting. Chris has an in depth knowledge on tree and plant identification. Acorns are a large part of a whitetails diet. Knowing which acorns to look for will benefit your hunting in a big way. Their leaves distinguish White Oaks from Red Oaks.

White oaks have rounded lobes and red oak lobes have pointed tips. Their Acorns are also a solid identifier, specifically the acorn cap. The caps of red oaks come down 1/4 of the way 0f the nut and will have a scale-like appearance. The cap of a white oak acorn comes down the nut about 1/3 of the way and is bumpy and is typically elongated. The red oak is stubby and fat. You’ll see the difference in this video.

CLICK BELOW TO WATCH THIS INFORMATIVE VIDEO.

It’s important to understand the palatability of acorns to a Whitetail. Whitetails prefer white oak acorns over red oak acorns 10 times out of 10, because the tannin levels are lower on white oaks compared to red oaks. The higher the tannin levels make red acorns much more  bitter.

Note that when red oak acorns are plentiful, they are still a preferred food source when white oak acorns are no longer available.

During October, acorns are key. Bucks are fueling up for the rut and they are really zeroed in on acorns.

Over my long deer hunting with a bow life I’ve heard lots of conflicting viewpoints concerning the vision of deer. For starters there is, “They are color blind.” or “They are not color blind.” “They are near sighted.” “Their distance vision is great.” “They can see perfectly at night.” “They can see UV light” “They can’t see UV light.” And lots more.

In the video below You’re gonna see what science states about deer vision. Don’t miss this because there are deer vision surprises for everyone here. (Introduction by Robert Hoague)

(from Robert Hoague) My Grandmother Clara Hoague was unbeatable at home-style cooking. One of her specialties was Fried Rabbit. And me and my bow and arrows supplied rabbits for lots of our family meals. When I saw this YouTube video and noted how Cowboy Kent Rawlins prepared and cooked rabbit it really took me back to some of the most memorable times in my life.

In fact, after the other members of our family had passed on, Grandma and I continued to share holidays, birthdays and other special times together — and we always ate our favorite meal, fried rabbit, mashed potatoes and her homemade pie. The rabbit part was a joint effort, I got ’em and she made them delicious with her breading and cast iron skillet.

I would give anything to share one more of Grandma’s wonderful, savory meals of fried rabbit with her.

Robert Hoague

First, Cherokee bow and arrow maker Willie Pekah shares his expert knowledge about making both Comanche bows and arrows. His comments are truly enlightening and really show us how important that bows and arrows were to the daily lives and long term survival of the Indian Nations in America.

Secondly, It’s great to see traditional skills being passed onto the next generations. Noel Grayson shows you the key issues that are considered as the type of tree is selected and a bow is begun. Noel does an excellent job covering the step by step work that must be done and the orderly way he presents the bow mqking process is very informative. Insiders say the teaching and learning of bow and arrow making is led by the Brotherhood of the Bow.

Don Wilson grimaced with disgust as his deer plan crashed and burned on the eve of opening day.  For nearly a week, he’d seen a great buck feed consistently in a small field an hour before dark.  Unfortunately, his neighbor began a construction project that afternoon with lots of commotion that surely would suppress deer movement that evening and the next day.   However, since deer couldn’t feed that evening, maybe they would early the following morning.  

On September 8th, Wilson watched daylight arrive as he sat against a large oak at the edge of the field.  As the first rays of sun lit the treetops, a mature buck stepped into the open at 40 yards, it’s antlers in full velvet.  As the deer slightly quartered away, Wilson aimed his CamX crossbow and sent a Grim Reaper Hybrid on its way.  The suburban buck fled about 75 yards before piling up and Wilson was ecstatic about the recovery.  Despite bowhunting for more than 50 years, this was his first velvet buck.

Such a Unique Trophy

As members of the deer family grow antlers, the protective skin covering the growing tissue is termed “velvet” and is warm to the touch since growing antlers are laden with blood vessels.  Throughout the antler growing season, deer do not spar with their antlers as they will bleed if damaged.  In early to mid-September, decreasing sunlight triggers an end of blood flow to the antlers causing them to harden and the fuzzy covering to die and fall off.

 Velvet bucks are unique because deer are beyond the velvet stage prior to the opening of many State hunting seasons.  Typically, archers anticipate the coming of the rut to get serious about bagging a buck, yet more and more are becoming excited about arrowing a deer during the velvet season.  

I spend all year preparing for bowhunting Elk on public land. It takes dedication and time but the end result is oh so rewarding. Allting time to prepare you for elk hunting will make your hunts more enjoyable. Plus, your efforts increase the chances of accomplishing your ultimate goal of success.

Once the memories build you may even find yourself in the same position I am, an elkaholic. Don’t worry about it. I can’t think of a better addiction to have.

My name is Michael. I am an ‘elkaholic’ and I live all year long for elk season. I am so addicted that I even start counting down the days till the following year’s elk season as soon as the current season closes. Hunting for elk with a bow on public land can be one of the most challenging hunts I know of, but it’s also one of the most rewarding. It is draining both physically and mentally. It takes hard work to be successful at hunting elk on public land — preparations are an ongoing process.

The country Elk live in is tough so physical conditioning is a must. The average person is only willing to walk a mile or less past a closed gate or down a trial to find elk. If you go an extra distance you eliminate 80% of the public and greatly increase your chance for success. Keep in mind that 3 miles in, means 3 miles out and hopefully that is with the extra load of meat.

Do NOT ruin the cape of your deer, bear, elk, etc..

Cliff Gray tells you the #1 way that people can ruin the capes of their trophy. And here is how to do it right, every time.

NOTE: Click On The Image Below To Watch The Video.

Want to test your knowledge of archery stalking skills by taking it to the extreme. Spot and stalk antelope hunting with the speedsters of the prairie will do it for you.

At first light I was in an usual situation; switching back and forth between my binoculars and the spotting scope as I watched for a glimpse of an antelope. I had high expectations in this section of public land in my home state of Montana. Last year I had bowhunted a mile to the north, and I was fortunate enough to harvest my first P&Y antelope.

After a year of planning, I decided to stick with the country I know, and hunt the same general area in hope of seeing some of the bucks that I glassed the previous year.

Soon I glassed three antelope bucks and a doe working their way towards a pond. It was still early, and in the dim morning light I couldn’t tell the size of the bucks, so I put my pack on and used a natural fold in the terrain to get out of sight of the bucks and then worked my way around with hopes to cut them off on their way to the water. Soon I was on my stomach cresting over the hill looking out at the group of antelope, but to my dismay, the bucks needed a few more years to reach trophy class. So I just enjoyed watching them for a little bit and saw them feed and water only 50 yards away.

After the group returned to the prairie, I started picking out the sagebrush flats with my spotting scope. After 15 minutes I glassed what looked to be a good buck bedded down with some does.  From this distance I could see mass, and decent digger length.  After determining he was staying bedded down for awhile I turned towards the west to glass some rolling hills, and right away I saw a herd of antelope walking parallel to where I was.  Opportunity knocked and I saw a handful of decent bucks, so I made this herd my focus for the time being. I messed up the stalk, I could still chase after the other buck I had found in his bed.

Knife Sharpening is a skill that is difficult for many hunters to get right. Many hunters never truly master it. But I will show you how to do it correctly. With good sharpening technique and the proper type of stone, everyone can put a sharp cutting edge on their knife. Follow the steps below to learn how.

Let’s talk about replaceable-blade knives. They’re popular among many hunters who have never learned to sharpen, because they never need to put an edge on a knife—they just use a blade until it’s dull and then throw it away. Then they clip a new blade in and the knife is ready for the field. I’ve got a problem with that. Several, actually.

I have a problem with anyone who isn’t won’t to invest the time and effort to learn how to sharpen a knife has no business in the woods. For centuries, hunters and woodsmen have relied on their knife sharpening skills to keep them alive in the field and bring home meat for their table. We owe it to them to keep those skills alive.

Another pet peeve, to me, is the “use it and toss it” mentality. A good fixed-blade hunting knife won’t leave used-up razors in its wake, it will last your lifetime and possesses a balance and feel that a replaceable-blade knife can never rival.

Safety is another concern. Replaceable-blade knives are surgically sharp and can break under stress. A friend of mine was recently assisting a young hunting partner quarter an elk. As his young friend removed the hindquarter, his blade snapped, the broken portion zinged upward into rupture his eyeball, instantly rendering him permanently blind in that eye. Another friend was processing a mule deer and put his blade right through his boot and deep into his ankle without even knowing he did it.

The Council to Advance Hunting and the Shooting Sports, Director of Research and Partnerships, Charles ‘Swanny’ Evans, opened the session on hunting participation. Evans presented the findings of the Hunting License Sales 2020-2021 report. This study was the follow-up to the COVID-19 and Hunting License Sales report the Council released last year, documenting a 4.9% increase in hunting license sales from 2019 to 2020. To continue monitoring the pandemic’s impact, the Council revisited this study in early 2022 to identify ongoing changes and emerging trends in hunters’ rates of license purchases. Working with Southwick Associates, the Council collected monthly resident and nonresident hunting license sales data from 46 state wildlife agencies to quantify and compare 2021 to 2020 sales. Among those 46 reporting states:

“While there was a decrease in resident hunting license purchases in 2021, the surge in nonresident license sales blunted the overall effect and sales were still higher than pre-pandemic 2019 levels,” Evans said before turning the discussion to data from another source, the License Sales Data Dashboard.

The License Sales Data Dashboard project will transition to a real-time dashboard in the near future, providing timely information to the public and R3 practitioners. Southwick Associates recently updated it to its current form. While it currently only has data from 20 states, the overall trends demonstrated were similar to the Hunting License Sales 2020 – 2021 report.

In addition to those trends, the dashboards provide a more in-depth view into several categories when looking at hunting license sale changes from 2020 to 2021:

When asked about these projects after the Symposium, Council Executive Director Dr. Steven Leath said, “We are pleased that engagement in hunting is still higher than it was a couple of years ago, and we look forward to continuing to work with all of our partners to increase the number of states providing data to the License Data Dashboard as we transition it from the current form to a real-time resource available to everyone.”

In  February a major migration of hunting manufactures travel to Fort Worth Texas for the NBS Show. After the show, a number of Owners, Buyers, Reps, & Manufactures take advantage of the time off for great hunting for Hogs, Exotics and late season Whitetail deer.

One year I arranged for the ‘Bad Hombres’ at Grim Reaper Broadheads to travel down south and hunt with outfitter Zane Beckmann at Hugelland Safaris. I’ve had the privilege of bowhunting with The Big Kahuna, Jay Liechty, el Presidente of Grim Reaper Broadheads, for deer and wild hogs and let me tell you Jay is a passionate bowhunter.

Jay really loves the meat he takes on his bowhunts. In fact Jay can glean more meat off an animal than a vulture. Jay and  the rest of the ‘Bad Hombres’ Matt Bateman, Regional Sales Manager, Brock Zobell, Manufacturing Engineer, Jace Johnson, Sales /Customer Service, Jared Demille, Machinist, Dan Medaris, Machinist, and Tyler Carter, Product Assistant arrived on the Tuesday following the NBS Show and were ready fo bowhunt wild hogs.

I was sure that swimming was fun and easy to do when I noticed other neighborhood kids swimming in a nearby pond. I told my father that I want to go swimming in the pond. He asked me about my plan. I told him that I would directly jump into the pond and start swimming.

He smiled at me and said, “I will help you get started”. The next day he enrolled me in swimming classes and I learned the basics of swimming and got trained to perfection. Now I realize why my dad smiled at me that day.

It doesn’t matter if you are 14 or 40 and you’re thinking about entering the hunting world, you must be wondering how to get started. Maybe you’re thinking about what all gear you will need to hunt. Buying the necessary hunting gear is a secondary task; your primary job is to learn how to hunt, and where to hunt. Answers to these questions can be tricky if you do not know anyone who has been involved in hunting before. 

Let’s get started

Type of hunting – There are several types of hunting like bird hunting, small game, big-game. Then comes the question of the weapon to use. Generally you can use a crossbow, bow, a shotgun, or a rifle. 

In the spirit of Rick Philippi’s successful bowhunt for Moose in Alberta, Canada we share three delicious recipes for cooking moose from Cooking With SusieQ. Welcome to the 2022 Moose Recipe Page.

This recipe is from Letha N. (avid hunter)
MOOSE MEATLOAF

Ingrediants:
1 egg
¾ c. milk
1 c. shredded Cheddar cheese (Colby Jack is also good)
½ c. quick cooking oats
½ c. chopped onion
1 tsp. salt
1 ½ tsp. Garlic Pepper
1 lb. ground moose / elk
1 c. ketchup
3/4 c. packed brown sugar
1 ½ tsp. prepared mustard

DIRECTIONS
In a bowl, beat the egg and milk. Stir in cheese, oats, onion, salt, & pepper. Let sit for five minutes to let the oats soak up the egg and milk mixture. Add ground moose/elk, then mix well (it works better if you mix it with your hands). At this point you can shape into eight mini loaves and place in a greased 13 x 9 baking dish, or you can just make one big loaf and place in a greased bread pan. Combine ketchup, mustard, and brown sugar. Stir. Spoon over loaves or loaf. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 1 hr. or until a meat thermometer inserted in center of loaf reads 160 degrees.
This recipe is from Scott & Nancy

MOOSE ROAST
This is the best moose roast recipe I have ever tasted.

Ingredients:
1-4 lbs. moose roast
3-4 strips  bacon
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1 tsp. dry mustard
4 tbsp. brown sugar
2 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup white wine vinegar
2 tbsp.  chopped onions
3 tbsp. flour
1 cup cranberry juice
1 cup milk 

DIRECTIONS

I’ve been buying Sony digital Cameras for over 20 years. But for the last few years they just haven’t been as dependable as they used to be. Their quality has fallen off too. So I spent some time online reading reviews and checking camera stats; researched all the new cameras. And I decided to purchase a Minaulta.

After it arrived I wanted to check it out. I waited until good daylight and walked around looking for deer to take pictures of. The sunlight spread around at ground level and I moved into the woods on a nearby deer trail. Bingo! A doe stood up 20 yards away and looked at me.

We both stood in place watching one another. What seemed like 2 or 3 minutes, but was probably only half a minute, the doe watched me. It was one of the does that has a lot of ribs showing. Surprisingly, she was not overly concerned about me and casually walked away.

I continued to walk through the trees and soon I noticed another doe. But I saw it first and carefully moved my camera viewfinder to my eye and took the doe’s picture.

I stayed frozen in place and the doe turned and continued walking and soon she was out of sight.

I can smell this strong smelling liquid a couple hundreds yards away. So I’m sure with a bear’s powerful nose that distance is stretched for hundreds of yards. So before the hunt begins I put the bear lure on WRC’s Pro-Wick scent pads and hang them high on the bait sights. Ninety-five percent of the areas are hit within 2 days.

Ralph & Vicki Cianciarulo, ‘America’s Favorite Hunting Couple’

INTERVIEW: Ralph and Vicki Cianciarulo – Part 2

FA (): Ralph, why did you try so hard to get Vicki hunting with you? And if you had to do it over again would you do it the same?

RC (Ralph Cianciarulo): We need to get as many women and children involved in this great lifestyle and I truly felt a long time ago that the best way to  ()do that is introduce everyone to women who can truly hunt, ones that were not afraid to get dirty, get bruised climbing mountains, be able and close the deal when it came time, to show everyone that this is just not just a man’s sport.

Getting more Moms hunting will bring in the children and this will increase the pie and that is when we all win. I can tell you there were not a lot of women hunters and none on TV when we started but we have been very fortunate to see the new couples, the new families and witness the birth of all this and be a part of it. I will put Vicki up against any hunter, she is the real deal and I am proud to say she is my best hunting partner, that is until RJ starts hunting with me more, LOL. If I had to do it all over again, I WOULD NOT CHANGE A THING!

VC (Vicki Cianciarulo): I am sure he wouldn’t do it all over again since I am always shooting the bigger critters. He didn’t have to try too hard to get me hunting more, except on those really cold mornings!