Deer Season is here

The weather outside has turned from hot and nasty to cool, colorful and perfect for getting into the woods a little more often.  I love this time of year.  I have been in the woods of and on since september because around here in northern IL where I am from squirrell season opens up the first of September.  This gives me a good reason to get into the woods to check on my deer stand and make sure my trails are clear to keep my deer moving in the direction I want them to be moving in.

After settling in to my stand and letting the animals of the woods get used to me and go back to doing their normal routine, I like to take a look around and be sure there are no other people around and see if there has been any changes since I was in the woods last.  I feel it is important to be very sure of your surroundings especially if you hunt in public land or on someone else's property.  A nice afternoon in the stand could turn out to be a very bad situation if you aren't sure of what is around you.

Be sure to let someone know where you are going and how long you expect to be gone.  This way if something goes wrong someone will know to come looking for you and where to come looking for you after a certain amount of time has passed and you haven't shown up.  Be prepared even if you aren't very far from town or home.  Have a way start a fire if needed, a flashlight, a fold-able limb saw, a good knife, plenty of warm clothing, and a bottle of water are just a few essentials to have in a pack of some sort.

Deer are creatures of habit and will travel pretty much the same path each and every day until the rut sets in and they go crazy for a week or two.  If you know where the deer move and how they move you can pretty much choose which one you want and when you want it.  There is some skill involved and maybe a little luck but mostly a pattern.

For the past ten years or so I have been strictly a meant hunter and not a trophy hunter.  The fact being that my freezers are full of venison, fish, pork, beef, and vegetables from the garden I am officially a trophy hunter this year.  The extra meat will come in handy but it isn't necessary, so I can afford to be picky finally.  I have shot big deer in the past but it was out of necessity not sport.  This year I am going to be a sportsman I guess.

Time in the woods is the best way to get the deer you are after.  The more time you put in the more successful you will be as a hunter.  Spend time learning the behavior of all the animals in your next of the woods.  The squirrels and chipmunks let me know when something is different in the woods or someone or something is coming through the woods.  Also spend time paying attention to how the wind moves through the trees, bushes and weeds.  If you pay attention to what is around you and how everything reacts to the conditions in the woods you will also be more successful.

Be careful, respect nature, and good hunting to you, my friends.

Cris Coleman

Spring Turkey Hunting Basics

There is a huge variety of hunting equipment available these days, due to the growing popularity of turkey hunting and ever-increasing numbers of turkey hunters. Turkey hunting was a much simpler activity in the past.

The hunter, dressed in his usual garb and hat, places his favorite slate call, box call, wing bone or scratch box into his jacket on the way out of the house. He picks up his double-barreled shotgun and a few shells in his pocket before walking out the door.

This is him, the turkey hunter

Fall was the preferred time to hunt wild turkeys by most of the famous old time turkey hunters and is still favored by many traditionalists. These turkey hunting experts liked it best because it was a lot more difficult and therefore more rewarding to call in an old turkey in the fall rather than the spring.

Gobblers in the late summer, fall and winter become very solitary animals with very little interest in females. They do, however, gobble in the fall and there have been a few mornings in October and November that you would think that it was spring with the huge number of gobblers around. On rare occasions, gobblers will even come in strutting and gobbling just like it was spring. More likely though, you won’t even notice a fall turkey reacting to your calls. He will just appear silently, looking for companionship with another long beard but not really caring whether he finds it or not. This is a real fall gobbler.

The fall season has regained its popularity recently with the ever-increasing numbers of turkeys. Over 40 states now host fall turkey seasons and more and more hunters are discovering the excitement of hunting in the fall. Turkey hunting is a pleasurable and enjoyable sport people are starting to like.

This sport requires seperate permits for hunters during the fall, along with the applications for spring hunting permits. Turkey hunters are allowed only to take only one wild turkey of either sex during that fall season each day.

Before you can hunt a wild turkey, you have got to find them. The easiest way to do this is by locating the general areas of the turkey’s habitat.

Turkeys are usually found in open, mixed hardwood and pine forests. Others are scattered in brush land. Others prefer to roost in trees larger than the surrounding vegetation and will often choose place to stay on sites facing slopes where they can shelter from the existing strong wind. They will use open fields and meadows as feeding and boasting sites and wooded areas are roosting sites. If few or no roosting sites are available, the turkey may leave the place and not use it.

Basic Turkey Characteristics

Turkey hunting is challenging, exciting and in some cases becomes addictive. Turkey’s senses are extremely keen – even your heart pounding can make the turkey vanish like a puff of smoke.

Turkeys’ ears are also placed on both sides of their heads. And because they have no outer ear to develop the sound in one direction, they hear sounds all the way around them. Sounds received by only one ear can help the turkey find out which direction the sound comes out but not any indication of distance. Turkeys turn around to be more alert.

With a highly developed sense of smell, they can determine the direction of danger by scent and wind direction. The clever beasts generally flee away from the danger, not toward it. Besides their sense of smell, they rely heavily on both their eyes and ears to determine the direction of danger before they run away from it.

Good luck, great hunting, and please respect our great outdoors.

Last minute X-Mas Shopping

If you are like most people you do the majority of your Christmas shopping at the last minute. Visit any mall or shopping center in the final days before Christmas and you are likely to find parking lots that are filled to capacity and stores that are literally filled with shoppers who are still searching for the perfect Christmas gift for their friends or family members. As it gets closer and closer to Christmas the crowds tend to get more and more restless and the search for the perfect gift becomes a search for an acceptable gift. Although Christmas falls at the end of the year and people have a whole year to prepare for this joyous occasion, most people leave their shopping until the last minute every year despite New Year’s resolutions to get the Christmas shopping done early. This article will discuss a few different types of last minute Christmas shoppers. There are those who do their Christmas shopping at the last minute out of necessity, those who do it because they have procrastinated and those who do it because they find it to be exciting. I'm one that procrastinates.

People become last minute Christmas shoppers for a number of reasons. Perhaps the most innocent last minute shoppers are those who shop at the last minute out of necessity. Consider college students who typically end the semester around mid to late December. Many of these students are living on campus without access to a car. This can make Christmas shopping quite difficult but when you combine this living situation with the fact that they have finals to take at the end of semester, Christmas shopping becomes downright impossible. Finals often account for as much as 50% of a college student’s grade and it is understandable that they would have to spend the early part of December studying, the middle of the month taking their finals and then wind up last minute Christmas shopping almost immediately after their last final.

Other last minute Christmas shoppers include those who are just born procrastinators(me). They may go to stores every weekend in October or November. This could be an excellent opportunity for them to get their Christmas shopping done early but instead they wind up window shopping or purchasing items for themselves. While they are aware the Christmas season is approaching, they don’t feel compelled to start shopping until the absolute last minute. When this happens they find themselves in the unfortunate position of fighting the crowds in a last minute Christmas shopping frenzy.

Finally, there are others who are last minute Christmas shoppers simply because this is when they prefer to do their Christmas shopping. Some of these shoppers see shopping at the last minute as a challenge. They know they are short on time but are confident they will be able to find great gifts for everyone on their Christmas list this year. Other shoppers who intentionally wait until the last minute to do their Christmas shopping may do so because they enjoy the excitement of the crowds. Although last minute Christmas shopping can be stressful it is often exciting. Those who enjoy this excitement love shopping at the last minute because it gives them a sense of energy they wouldn’t feel if they were shopping for Christmas presents in October. I personally hate the crowds and wish I would get it done earlier.


OLOE

Survival Training -

The Good in Survival Training


You may be an adventurer who frequents the outdoors, goes hiking up the world’s tallest mountains, swims underneath the vast oceans, and visits the icy areas of the globe. Maybe you think about the soldier who lives in the jungle out of necessity, sent out on a reconnaissance mission taking weeks and months of his life. Have you ever wondered how people like these survive the various dangers the world has to offer?

Soldiers, particularly those highest trained, are schooled on how to survive when out in the field, regardless of the climate or environment they are in. Adventurers know some basic survival skills such as lighting a fire, building shelters, etc. One thing is common with both – they underwent some form of survival training before embarking on their journey.

Benefits of survival training

You never know when the survival skills will come in handy or when they will be needed, so one benefit of survival training is that it prepares you for what may be a possibility. You may need a fire one night to use as a light or to keep warm, and you don’t have matches, but you can make one thanks to survival training.

Another benefit is that it teaches you how to make the most of the environment you are in, regardless of what it is. For example, you are in the jungle. Survival training will teach you how to hunt for food and water, how to cook the food, as well as build a shelter made of trees – which would be difficult to do if not properly trained.

Additionally, survival training will teach you how to adapt to terrain. If trapped on an island, you will know what to do with the resources the island has to offer. It is different when you are trapped near the top of a mountain, since you have to know how to properly climb down from it.

How to be trained

There are quite a number of survival training schools available that are open free of charge to anyone, not to mention certain military camps where this training is a requirement. If you are simply an adventurer, you would have to enroll in this form of school or hire an expert to teach you. If you are in the military or aspiring to be, it is not much of a problem since this is required especially if you’re to be sent out to the field.

Survival training would be very helpful in certain situations. If you frequently adventure, the training would be a great asset and is highly recommended.


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Urban Survival Guide