How many of you liked the childhood game of “Hide and Seek”? I did! And I remember when I played that I not only liked to be the last one found, I liked to be the one that couldn’t be found in the first round, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and until after the game was over. In fact, the best was hiding until everyone was finished looking and were just about to give up. I would finally have to reveal my spot that was often right under their nose. The dirty back corner of a garage, under a shelf behind a couple of old pallets…. maybe inside a pile of leaves against a chain-link fence basically out in the open…. or possibly the upper shelf of a closet behind a single row of shoeboxes while the other boxes were placed neatly under the bed. The point? To hide in “layers”. Layers are basically any form of change that causes the seeker to possibly give up. For example, a closet door, an upper shelf, a row of boxes…a fence, a pile of leaves, a tuft of weeds…a few shelves, a back corner, a couple of old pallets. Most people stop after the first layer or two, and the person hiding then of course stays hidden. Also, once the hiding spot is ½ searched, the seeker usually doesn’t come back for another investigation and if they do…those additional layers make the spot even better.
I’ve often found that deer in general, especially a reclusive, old, low-stress seeking monarch, tend to choose their daytime hiding spots in terms of the many layers of habitat change that exist in nature, for example: Ridges, benches, mature timber, young timber, changes in timber type, seasonal habitat changes, rivers, swamps, fields, food sources, etc. By focusing on “layers” when choosing where, when, and how to hunt whether it be public or private lands…maybe even when choosing parcel of land to buy or lease, you are on the path to.................... [More]
Thin is In - "NorthJeff"
A question I often get asked is, “What is your favorite food plot shape?” To me, there is no real obvious “one size fits all” answer. Most often the lay of the land and topography will dictate what is needed, but really the one common denominator is as long as possible…and as THIN as possible. Now of course you have to get enough sunlight into the plot to grow a forage, especially for a “full-sun” variety of your favorite brassica, but that still allows for a fairly thin plot. How thin? I used to have a great plot on my home property in the UP of Michigan that ran roughly a ¼ mile by 8’. That ¼ acre plot snaked its way north and south through 15-20 year old conifers and was planted on a soil of sandy loam with a ph initially in the low 4s. On my WI lease we have a plot that is approximately 1650’x60’ which is over 2 Acres in total and is surrounded primarily by various tall weed varieties within a CRP field. Both of those long winding plots follow the contours of the land to facilitate dictated deer movements as well as to aid in hunter approach and departure. However, that’s not all a long winding ribbon of food offers! Efficiency in planting, continual movement, “safe passage”, and deadly ambush sites are some of the features that also can be taken advantage of by the savvy landowner.
Contoured Construction
Most of you know that deer are creatures of “edge” habitat. Well, considering the nature of a long thin food plot, it’s safe to say there is an incredible amount of edge to be used. But you don’t need to stop there! By following the contour of the land, for example ridges, hill sides, and the outside of depressions, etc., the hunter can use the elevation to his or her advantage while approaching or departing treestands. I love to come in on the down side of a ridge, paralleling the top, and then silently take a 90 degree turn while traveling straight up the ridge and into the stand where only a deer standing directly in front of you is spooked. And lets face it, there is nothing prettier than the flow of bright green along a long narrow ridge of frosted out grasses and fall foliage.
First off, there are so many ways to make deer beds, and in my experience they don't necessarily relate to specifically buck, or doe beds. Instead, the habitat and location, proximity to food, and various stress levels, will indicate where buck or does bed..and to another extent, young, or old bucks. But, we will save that for another topic..here are some thoughs more related to location.
***You have to find the best location, and then use/install the habitat and topography within that best location to develop a bedding area.
1. Determine the location by your access, you prevailing wind directions, and exterior influences of adjacent food sources, bedding areas, habitat funnels, hunting pressure, etc.
2. After the location is determined then build and enhance your bedding areas relative to the habitat, or future habitat.
OSP Writers Conference with Gil and Vicki Ash - Steve Helinski
On June 24, 2010 Gil and Vicki Ash hosted outdoor writers at the sporting clays course at the Hill 'n Dale Club in Medina Ohio. I was lucky enough to be invited.
Being a novice at sporting clays, I was apprehensive about attending the conference. I am left eye dominant and right handed. This had caused me lots of problems in the past while shooting sporting clays. I had resorted to using a piece of scotch tape on the left lens of my shooting glasses. I knew the Ash’s opinion on this…..
Leading up to the class I had practiced the OSP (Optimum Shotgun Performance) Shooting School flashlight drill. This drill has you stick a small mag light down the barrel of your unloaded shotgun while you practice instinctively mounting and swinging the gun, while keeping the beam of light on a wall/ceiling seam. Practice this as I may, I couldn’t seem to put it all together at the range. I resorted to pre-mounting the gun and then swinging at the target at the range. The amount birds I missed was staggering. I wasn’t getting a clear view of birds with the tape over my eye. I only was succeeding in making my shoulder sore.
In the days approaching the conference, I went back and re-read the Ash’s book “If It Ain’t Broke, Fix It”. I re-watched their videos. I wondered if I could put it all together. I left the tape on my left shooting lens......
Thirty years ago in North America only Arkansas, Ohio, and Ontario allowed hunters unrestricted use of crossbows during archery season. During the next ten years, Wyoming and the Canadian Provinces of British Columbia, the Northwest Territories, and Nunavut lifted their restrictions.
Since 2002, however, there has been significant growth in unrestricted crossbow use. Joining the states and provinces above, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Indiana*, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland*, Pennsylvania**, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and the Province of Quebec have added crossbows to their entire archery season, portions of it, or in select areas of their state during archery season. More recently, Michigan*, New Jersey, and Texas have also added crossbows to their archery season.
A question I often get asked is, “What is your favorite food plot shape?” To me, there is no real obvious “one size fits all” answer. Most often the lay of the land and topography will dictate what is needed, but really the one common denominator is as long as possible…and as THIN as possible. Now of course you have to get enough sunlight into the plot to grow a forage, especially for a “full-sun” variety of your favorite brassica, but that still allows for a fairly thin plot. How thin? I used to have a great plot on my home property in the UP of Michigan that ran roughly a ¼ mile by 8’. That ¼ acre plot snaked its way north and south through 15-20 year old conifers and was planted on a soil of sandy loam with a ph initially in the low 4s. On my WI lease we have a plot that is approximately 1650’x60’ which is over 2 Acres in total and is surrounded primarily by various tall weed varieties within a CRP field. Both of those long winding plots follow the contours of the land to facilitate dictated deer movements as well as to aid in hunter approach and departure. However, that’s not all a long winding ribbon of food offers! Efficiency in planting, continual movement, “safe passage”, and deadly ambush sites are some of the features that also can be taken advantage of by the savvy landowner. 
First off, there are so many ways to make deer beds, and in my experience they don't necessarily relate to specifically buck, or doe beds. Instead, the habitat and location, proximity to food, and various stress levels, will indicate where buck or does bed..and to another extent, young, or old bucks. But, we will save that for another topic..here are some thoughs more related to location.
