Archive for October 2013
Yamaha provides support in the technical aspects of their products to their team of professional anglers. In turn, the pros test their products under the grueling conditions of the tournament trail. It is a symbiotic relationship that benefits professional bass fishing and the technical development of marine products for use by both the professional and recreational anglers.
In the furtherance of this goal, Yamaha provides media events that allow various media to explore the latest developments in both their marine engines and the various boat companies they own.
Earlier this week one such event took place on Missouri’s Lake of the Ozarks.
While in attendance, I collected a great deal in information and had the opportunity to not only test the boat/motor combinations but also to network with professional Elite BASS anglers, engineers and other outdoor writers.
As the information transforms into stories they will be added to this blog, Facebook, Digg and Google+ social media.
Stay tuned.
Stealth and a change in hunting tactics are keys to solo pheasant hunting. Solo pheasant hunting is a challenge but by following some special patterns, it can prove successful.
Pheasant hunting is usually a social type of hunting. Several hunters drive a field with blockers at the end. Dogs probe every patch of vegetation in search of the gaudy import from the orient.
All too often, the solo hunter stays home when he cannot find a companion.
Not everyone can find a hunting partner with the same availability of time in his or her busy schedule. Perhaps they do not know someone else who is as interested in the sport. Others do not have a good dog to work the fields with them. Some times the dog is ill or tired. These are the solo hunters.
A combination of careful selection of habitat and stealth are essential to success for the solo pheasant hunter.
Sneaking up on birds is a profitable technique. They will sit tight allowing the hunter to get into range before they flush.
Nowhere is more productive for pheasant hunting than South Dakota. By studying hunting techniques from there, we can learn a lot about making pheasant hunting in the prairie state all the more productive.
Lee Harstad, veteran South Dakota pheasant hunter, recommends hunters find areas of brush and heavy cover that are next to harvested fields. “You can stalk the birds toward the open areas,” explains Harstad. “The birds will usually flush rather than take a chance running across the bare areas.” Even if they do decide to run, hunters are able to see them and follow.
Another area to work is the fringe land area along streams. Cover is usually good here and the birds have easy access to water and gravel as grit. Late in the season, pheasants do not want to move around, as they need to conserve calories for warmth. They select areas with all they need to make it through the winter if they are undisturbed.
A little less productive are shelterbelts. These are usually areas of brush and planted trees next to grain fields. The cover is good and the birds have access to any spilled grain in the fields. Because they are more open, stalking is a bit more difficult. They do have open areas where the hunter can seek any birds trying to sneak away.
Another South Dakota hunter, the late Tony Dean, recommended solo hunters move steadily but also stop frequently. Because they are moving along in a stealth mode, it is easy to walk right past the bird who is sitting tight.
The solo hunter does better if he confines his activities to the late part of the season. The hunting pressure on the birds is less at that time of the year. Tony also recommends that one hunt the waterfowl and game production areas.
Late season solo hunters can work the areas with a lot of ground cover. Slews, cattail swamps and the like are shelters for birds. Early in the season, everybody hunts these areas but later the birds move back to them for shelter.
This type of hunting is good in public land areas. The birds are concentrated in the heaviest cover. Some birds will flush wild, but you will get some shots if you walk slowly.
Tony urged that one should find a brushy area and walk about 50 yards straight into it. Then stop and wait for about two minutes. Then he walked directly away to the left, circles around to the other side, and come in from there. This confuses the birds and confines those that would otherwise walk out on the opposite side from where the hunter enters.
Some other good areas to seek late season birds are the lowlands where landowners sometimes pile brush from other locations or where it is too wet to plow and seed. Often these areas are but a few hundred feet across and located in the middle of a harvested grain field. Smaller slews or cattail swamps will also fall into this category.
Because brush provides shelter in otherwise featureless fields, birds will huddle up in any cover they can find.
Dried up or frozen up wetlands often hold water part of the year but become dry land in the fall and winter. Due to the nature of the vegetative cover, they attract pheasants in search of a home. Take care to wear waterproof boots as all the water is not always gone or frozen and one can fall through the ice.
“Hunting isolated habitat is a bit different than working grain fields,” says Harstad. For the solo hunter they are perfect. Lee suggests that the hunter “work in a circle around the outside perimeter of the wetland. Then the hunter makes circles again and again in ever decreasing size until he reaches in the middle.” In this way, the birds evading the hunter move into the middle and he sneaks up on them until they have no place left to go except to flush.
If you have no one to team up with to go pheasant hunting, try some of these techniques. Pheasant does not always have to be a team sport.
Most coon hunting is done behind hounds. But, it is possible to hunt them alone without dogs.
Calling one in is particularly challenging. They are extremely cautious. Often hunters get in a hurry and repeat the call at the wrong time. But if one is patient, it is just a matter of time until a hunter gets his chance at the wily character.
Raccoon of the Midwest are the largest and darkest of the raccoon family. Its winter fur is long and thick with the animal having a bushy ringed tail, black face mask and pointed ears. The general color of raccoons is a yellow gray or gray‑brown with many hairs dark tipped. Their color is darker on the back. The face mask is black and runs from cheek to eyes. A black streak on the forehead completes the pattern. Their tail is usually gray with four to six black rings.
Raccoons are 27 to 34 inches in length and weigh up to 30 pounds on average.
The forefeet of a raccoon are about 3 inches in length and almost as wide as they are long when viewing the tracks. The hind feet have a longer print, 3 or 4 inches in length, resembling a miniature human footprint with long toes. The claws of both are apparent in the tracks. Raccoons walk flat‑footed like a human, with an average stride of about 14 inches.
Raccoons are creatures of the night found wherever woods, swamps and streams provide suitable habitat for food and den sights. Usually they make their home in hollow logs or trees. Sometimes they will inhabit temporary shelters in a rock fissure or a woodchuck den.
Raccoons begin to forage in the early evening along creeks and streams in search of food. You can find their tracks in the mud of the banks. They visit the low streams and pools of water in search of crayfish, frogs, fish and other easy prey. In times of short rations in the woods, raccoon like barns, grain storage buildings, orchards and chicken houses.
Hungry raccoons are the easiest to call in, as they will come to any sound that might mean a meal. Raccoon respond to calls of the type often used to call other predators. They also respond to deer calls. Because of its slow gait hunters should give the coon sufficient time to respond. Twenty minutes is a good rule of thumb.
If one gets one raccoon to come in, it is a pretty good bet that others will also approach. Often several raccoons will answer the same call at the same time.
Raccoons are not as alert to human scent as other predators. Often they come straight into the call. They usually do not circle downwind as do other animals. Their eyesight is fair, but it depends more on a keen sense of hearing. Any unnatural sound in the woods will result in the coon making tracks in the opposite direction.
Night hunting of raccoons requires a headlight like those used by miners. They are available from many sporting goods stores or by mail from hunting supply catalogues. A red filter in the lens of the light allows the hunter to leave it on all the time while calling. The same thing that makes able to see in low light also conceals a hunter behind the light. It is like the old “deer in the headlights” situation. They do not see in the red glow.
Dark misty nights are best for calling coons. Call wherever there is raccoon activity. The only problem is in knowing from which direction they will arrive. A coon coming to a call can be aggressive and inflict a painful wound upon the hunter. It is important to be vigilant and attempt to predict his approach location.
On wet nights, it is difficult to hear the approach of a raccoon. On dry nights, the noise of an approaching coon is more likely heard. Wind also masks the sound of an approaching coon.
When calling from a food source area like an orchard or cornfield, it is wise to have an open space between the caller and the food. It forces the raccoon into the open. Raccoons will usually travel directly from the food source to the call in a straight line. The open space offers the hunter a preferred shot.
In warmer weather, raccoons seem reluctant to approach a call. The fat and heavy fur coat they sport makes them more sluggish.
In colder weather, they are more active until the snow begins to fall. In the snow they retire to some warm retreat to sleep. This is not hibernation. During mild spells in the weather, they again become active and will respond to calls.
Calling coons into the open for hunting is an interesting and challenging proposition. It provides a late‑season hunt that can be the equal of any other type of hunting and an additional opportunity to get into the field.
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (Oct. 3, 2013) – Lew’s® has officially launched its American Hero® Speed Stick® rod series out of genuine respect for America’s military veterans and with a sincere promise to never forget them.
American Hero is more than just a product line though. It is a program that Lew’s developed as a way to help organizations that support veterans in their return to life after military service, and especially those organizations that use fishing as part of the transitional process. American Hero has already provided fishing gear support to a few such groups, including FOCUS Marines Foundation, Reel American Heroes Foundation and Operation HOOAH.
Lew’s CEO Lynn Reeves says his company’s decision to give back to veterans is probably the easiest one his management team has ever made.
“We have an obligation to those who have served our country, and this is one small way that the folks at our company can say ‘thank you,'” he explained. “I can promise you there is no marketing-driven agenda behind American Hero … our intentions are truly based on wanting to help veterans get an opportunity to enjoy some of the same activities that we have been participating in while they’ve been on duty, such as fishing.
“As many of us who fish recreationally already know, there’s nothing like being in the neutral setting of the great outdoors with family and friends, and having a rod and reel in hand, to refresh the mind and soul.”
A portion of the profits from the sale of American Hero and other specially identified Lew’s products go into a budget line item for the program. Company officials review rod and reel requests from organizations, mostly focusing on those groups that provide assistance to veterans with health concerns.
Steve Kokai, a veteran who also works in the fishing industry, originally owned and trademarked the American Hero brand.
“It was during an unrelated phone visit with Steve that I realized he and Lew’s shared a similar vision as to what American Hero was all about,” said Gary Remensnyder, Lew’s president. “It wasn’t long after that he graciously made the brand available to our company. Steve is active in programs like the Reel American Heroes Foundation of Virginia that helps wounded warriors and veterans of all services, and we consider him a valued ally in our efforts to provide meaningful support to such organizations. We couldn’t have a better name than American Hero for this initiative.”
During the same timeframe as the Kokai discussions, the Missouri-headquartered FOCUS Marines Foundation and Lew’s crossed paths. Part of the foundation’s regular class structure included a fishing activity on a private lake, for which they needed rods and reels. Lew’s was ready to help with this program that assists Marine veterans and Navy corpsmen who are having difficulty in returning to civilian life.
Therefore, it seemed only appropriate that Kokai and Isaac Saldivar, a Marine veteran and FOCUS Marines student, were both present in the Lew’s booth at ICAST 2013 in Las Vegas last July when Lew’s announced its plans for the American Hero series and program.
Lew’s recognized two organizations and their attending representatives at its ICAST 2013 booth for their support of military veterans – FOCUS Marines Foundation and Reel American Heroes Foundation.
At the gathering, Saldivar told the group that the fishing outing at FOCUS was the activity that “brought smiles and laughter” to the entire class.
Other FOCUS stories have also since been shared by the foundation. One is from marine Yasmin Garay, who e-mailed class officials after returning home. Her note told about how she had taken a niece and nephew fishing with the Lew’s rod and reel she had received at class, and how her 14-year old nephew said, “You seem alive … not that you were dead before, but it seemed like it.” Her note went on to explain it was a real eye-opener as to where she had been in her life and a motivator to “fix it.”
Last month, Garay received a rare invitation to attend the FOCUS class again and made the return. This time she and Reeves came face to face lakeside during the fishing event. It was an emotional exchange for both as she shared again her family fishing experience, and told him that she has a whole new perspective on life as a result. She followed that with, “thank you.”
Reeves said, “No. I’m the one to say thank you. You had, and have, the hard job.”
“Without a doubt, fishing is one of the favorite class activities here,” said FOCUS Marines Foundation Vice President Ted Kretschmar. “We literally watch it lift a burden from the shoulders and minds of many as they change the focus from whatever their personal concerns might be to instead trying to catch what swims in our lake. The buzzing of excitement continues into dinner that night and beyond.
“Lew’s donation of rods and reels is a great help in the healing process of our students who attend our classes.”
Operation HOOAH (Healing Outside Of A Hospital) is administered by Southern Fishing News and brings 101st Airborne Division wounded warriors to north Alabama for a quality fishing experience with guides. Lew’s has also assisted that outing with tackle donations.
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