hunting-Deer Stands & Blinds ( Part 2 of 2 )

When you search the woods for signs of deer, find the perfect place to hunt and begin looking for a tree to hang your deer stand on ,do as I do and try to find a tree with limbs you can climb up.Put your stand between 10 - 20 feet off the ground around one of the limbs so as to prevent the stand from slipping down the tree, make sure you have a good safety belt or harness and know how to use it properly and a pull rope to pull your bow or gun up to the stand rather than trying to climb the tree with your bow or gun in your hand. Portable stands can be carried easily into the field every time you hunt or you can put it up and chain it to the tree where it can be left till the end of the season and save time by not having to put the stand up every time you hunt. Tripods can be staked to the ground and pop-up blinds are very easy to carry afield and put up every time you hunt. Blinds are very useful for anyone who can't sit still for very long periods of time. They can be used to hunt in areas were there is no decent trees to hunt from or only brush such as in Texas. Blinds are very instrumental in getting wild game very close. Many of the tree stands today can be converted to accept blind material which will help conceal the movement of the the hunter to an extent. Tree stands put the hunter up off the ground allowing better visibility and moving the human scent up off the ground away from the highly detectable sense of the deers nose. The deer stand only puts the human scent up off the ground for a short time depending on the weather and the terrain before it is spread to the ground and carried with the wind without the use of cover up scents to mask the human scent. Cover-up scents are another secret of the deer hunter of today and will be discussed later in my writings.

Hunting - Deer stands & blinds (part 1 of 2 )

In todays world of hunting there's a very wide variety of deer stands and blinds. All of which are very different yet also very similar. It all depends on the terrain your hunting, the type trees your stand will be on and the situation your in as to what type of set-up you need for your hunting adventure. When it comes time to choose a stand or blind be sure to check out as many different types and styles as possible. Many of the higher grade sporting good stores offer free catalogs which advertises a full line of deer stands and blinds with full descriptions of the product. You can go online to just about any of the product manufacturers to find more information and then theres my favorite online sporting good shop such as http://www.basspro.com/hunting/Department?hvarDept=400&CMID=MH_OS_HUNTING . Remember to keep in mind all the aspects I mentioned above and give some actuall thought before purchasing your deer stand or blind cause most all these stands and blinds are made to last a lifetime. If this is your first deer stand or blind you might try talking to some of your hunting partners or sporting good store clerks which usually are helpful but can't always answer all the questions you may have, but then too your hunting partners will most likely only be able to give you advice on the deer stands or blinds that they use and catalogs can only give you descriptions not answers to your questions. Tripods, climbers, loungers, ladder platform, non-climbers used with a ladder or screw in steps and homemade wooden deer stands are all options however with the technology of today homemade wooden deer stands are a thing of the past and the main reason is safety (broken rungs or steps or falling out of the stand). homemade wooden deer stands are not a good choice at any cost and should not be used even if it looks safe they are still dangerous.

Hunting --- Young Adults

For the sake of readers from this point forward I wish to address all kids in my articles as "Young Adults " . Young adults in todays world everywhere need adult supervision and guideience to help prevent them from becoming involved in drugs, gangs, sex and crimes of todays world. It should be an objective for all adults to try every way possible to get young adults involved in an activity that interest the young adult. By involving young adults in activities either one you enjoy or one they enjoy and you support, your helping keep young adults off the streets and out of troublewith the law. When I began deer hunting some 30 + years ago I took on the task of hunting with young adults in my neiborhood and created a circle of friends that instead of going to town getting into trouble would go to town early to the sporting goods store then meet their buddies at one of trheir homes to sit and discuss hunting tactics and stories. This is how they came to earn my respect and why I call all young hunters " Young Adults. As these young adults grew older they in turn would involve and educate the young adults to the great world of hunting thus the group would grow and the knowledge passed on and expanded to new hunters. Young adults learned an invaluable lesson of life, sporting good stores thieved, hunting was good and poaching in our neck of the woods was almost never heard of happening. Young adults are an essential part of our hunting society today so remember to promote and educate our young adults every chance you get whether they are yours or someone elses. Some young adults may be harder to teach and educate but in the long run it will all be worth while and educating our young adults about hunting keeps our hunting heritage moving in a forward and positive direction for us all. So with one last note everyone please don't forget to ensure our young adults are " Hunter Education Certified " it's the law.

Hunting--Safety and First Aide

Accidents can happen at any given time and its always good to have a partner that can get emergency help if needed.Its also a good idea to tell someone at home where or which farm you are going to be hunting just in case an emergency comes up at home that your needed for.Two way radios are a good thing to have while hunting with a partner so you can keep in touch with each other while separated and are very inexpensive to buy. These can be bought at any sports shop, discount store, convience store or electronics store such as "Radio Shack". A small medical supply kit or first aide kit is another item that should be carried in your vehicle for emergencies and can include such things as aspirin, bandages, tape, sterile gauge, saline water to wash the wound out, tweezers, and anti biotic ointment such as neosporene. You can buy a complete first aide kit for about $25.00 or you can get a plastic box with a lid and buy anything you need to make your own first aide kit from your local pharmacy. Some hunters buy and carry fanny packs to keep their first aide supplies in as well as other hunting possibles they may need while they are far away from their vehicle or they come across another hunter in the woods needing medical attention. Hopefully if you and your partner follow the safety rules of the field you'll never need to use your first aide kit but its nice to have just in case .Don't forget to check the contents from time to time to replenish anything you may use such as aspirin and remember while checking the contents to check also the expiration dates as some items do expire and will need to be replaced. If the expiration date is not quite yet expired but soon will go ahead and replace that item anyway so you don't forget to when it does expire. Keep your kit in good order and up to date and it will be a great value to you if ever it is needed. If you ever use your first aide kit in the field be sure to follow up at home and keep a close eye on the wound. Infection can still set in if not properly cared for. A barb wire fence, a thorn bush, a splinter from a wooden stand or old barn your hunting from can all carry germs and poisons which can cause infections deep within your wound and get into the blood stream causing very serious medical problems within just hours or days of the incident happening,so if it looks like it's getting worst get professional medical attention immediately it could save your life or a limb.

Hunting -- Knowledge and Timing

Now lets talk alittle bit about time. Time is the key element to hunting. Being in the right place at the right time is the key factor to being successful at hunting. For this reason alone you need to get out and study the terrain. Take in as much knowledge about the terrain as possible.Food availability,water sources, fields, fences,old rubs, funnels, escape routes, trails, cover and bedding areas all play an important role in your success of hunting.Many trips to the woods will be necessary to perceive all the knowledge necessary for you to advance your skills and techniques which will allow you to become the best possible hunter you can be and though this knowledge of the terrain you hunt you will be able to predict just where the game will travel at different times of the year, weeks and days. You can even predict the games time down to hours and minutes which means you will know what time to be in what stand to make your kill at any given time of day. Hunting can be a fun, enjoyable and memorable sport but only if you follow all the rules of the state laws and safety rules as well. Remember you don't have to harvest game every time you go hunting to have a great memory and adventure, just take along another safe hunting partner and remember the great time the two of you had while on you trip. Hunting with a partner is always the safest way to hunt. You should try to find a partner to hunt with that can be a "partner for life" . What I mean is find someone that enjoys hunting as much as you do. Someone who has the same code of ethics you have and follow, someone you trust to show and share your favorite hunting spots with and know they will take care of the property and game. Someone that you can trust not to disclose the location of your " honey hole " to anyone else except in emergency situations. Remember hunting with a partner could save your life one day.

Hunting Farm Lands

If your lucky enough to find such a farm take care of it,cherish the land,trees,fences,gates,game and your right to hunt the property. In the past the farms I' ve hunted without leasing I've always cleaned up trash lying around, mended fences and even offered the owner part or all of the game taken from his property after it was checked in , cleaned and packaged. Even if you don't take game from property you hunt offer the owner some game from your freezer as a gesture of good faith and friendship-remember he was probably a hunter once himself and would probably enjoy some wild game again but just doesn't have the time to go hunting anymore or you might even offer to take him along on one of your hunting trips. Although I have been talking about hunting in general and bow hunting there are more forms of hunting which we will talk about later such as gun hunting and the many different game animals and species of each but for now lets get back to our first and primary topic-hunting wild game. Man has studied many different predatory animals and taken their hunting techniques and applied them to the hunting abilities of man and found out it works very well when applied properly. Remember that no matter whether you hunt big game or small game there are many different techniques you can use to take the game your after. There are many books and magazines with different hunting techniques and tips which are very useful but the ones I favor as the best are "North American Hunter" and "Sports Afield" and although they talk about the different techniques used in other areas and on other game these techniques will work on your game as well when applied properly. No matter which books or magazines you read it all comes down to getting the full knowledge of how these techniques are used and applying the right technique to your hunting situation and remember if one technique doesn't work then try another cause what works on some game may not work on others,so learn as many different techniques as possible.

Check All This Out

Tuesday, November 07, 2006Hunting has been around since the beginning of time. It was the caveman and dinosaurs that first hunted in groups or packs and the food harvested then shared by all.The Indians used the same traits while hunting buffalo on the great plains of the western world and even today many hunters will still meet at a pre-determined location and hunt in a group known as a drive.During a drive usually 2 - 4 people will be positioned in stands, blinds or on the ground in an area ahead of the drivers who will then form a line thru the woods and begin walking towards the shooters who had to carefully harvest the animals as they came within range of their weapons but also had to watch for the drivers so as not to cause injury to them or even death.This is a risky way of harvesting wild game but very effective.Clubs and spears was probably the first weapons used for hunting until such time as the discovery of the bow and arrow. Bows and arrows today can be found at any outdoor shop, some convenient stores and larger retail stores such as Walmart supercenters. Walmart is where I buy most all my products and supplies because of the brand names and varieties of their products.Though they may not be the very best brands they still serve the purpose for the amateur and novice hunters of today. Hunting has come a long way since the beginning of time,game has changed, equipment has changed, people have changed and even the land has changed or been changed. Today places that used to be all woods have been cut down and doziered away to make pastures and fields. Farms have been divided into smaller plots and sold off for residential building sites and much of the game driven off to other near by farms. People are more reluctant to let hunters hunt their property due to past experiences with hunters destroying their property. Now days it seems leasing farm property to hunt on is becoming very popular and about the only way to ensure a hunter a place to hunt.Though it can be very expensive for the hunter, it does ensure the property owner that the property will be properly taken care of throughout the time of the contract with the hunter(s) leasing the property. Don't get me wrong there are still farmers willing to let you hunt their property but be assured if it's damaged or destroyed the farmer will most likely stop allowing all hunting on his farm.