Talk about a mixed bag, this is something that you don’t see every day! In MO we have a one week long early season that’s designed to cut down on the resident Canadian Goose population. We tried to do our part this last Tuesday!
The weather was beautiful and we decided to set up on a pond that consistently holds some resident geese. We only had to wait til about 7:30 and here they came. They worked perfectly! The came in from behind and banked hard to get the wind right, from there there feet dropped down and they sailed right in to our decoys. I gave the call to take’em as the geese sailed in to approx. 20 yards. As they say, the rest is history!! We didn’t shoot the greatest, but then again, it was the first time out (that’s our excuse anyway!).
About 30 min later my lil hunting buddy whispered excitedly, “Dadddy, there’s a coyote!” I turned to see a coyote not 40 yrds behind us slipping up to the back of our decoys. I give him a few “kisses” and it locked up just in time for me to put the hammer down with some 3 1/2″ steel 2 shot. The coyote never knew what hit it as it dropped in its tracks.
This is the most diverse mixed bag that I’ve ever had a chance to take part it. It was a very fun and memorable hunt. Good luck to you guys out there, be safe!!
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Saturday, October 6th was the opening day of the early goose season here in North Missouri. The temp dropped down to low thirties and was perfect weather for an early season goose hunt.
We knew we were going to be hunting in a corn field that had been replanted in wheat so we cut some green pasture grass the night before so we could help conceal our blinds. A good tip to remember when driving around scouting for geese is that when you find them, pay close attention to the landscape, the cover there, etc so you can find similar foilage to cover your layout blind in.
When we got there we realized the farmer had disked the corn under and then had planted some wheat which was only 3 in. tall. So all we could do was grass our blinds and put them in a grassy roadway in the middle of the field and hope for
the best.
We were in the right spot where the geese wanted to be, but unfortunately I think the lack of cover kept them from finishing. As the picture shows God still blessed us with a productive morning even though it’s a lot nicer when they finish right in your face. Great way to start the opening day of goose season 2012!
Pro-Staffer Bryan Remole
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Watch HunterByDesign Prostaffer Ryan Remole put the smack down on a doe. Ryan made a beautiful shot on this deer and the video bears the proof as the doe ran a very short distance before piling up. Enjoy!
Who says you can’t find a mature buck with decent antlers in south MO?? Well if you’d asked me up til now, I probably would’ve told you that! I know big deer are killed down here every year, it’s just I’m from north MO and there’s no comaparison in the quantity of those big deer from up there to here. Above is a pic of one such deer that’s not a monster, but is definately an mature buck with some pretty impressive headgear.
I also had to include a few others that were just sort of fun. I tell you, I get just about as much enjoyment out of checking the game cams as I do hunting. It’s like christmas every time I put that memory stick in the computer!!
We’ve got a hunt to share with you this week that we never got published from last year so stay tuned for that and hopefully a lot more!
After having many requests for info on calling coyotes I thought I’d oblige and try and share some info. I’ll be the first to admit that my expertise is in all things deer, turkey and waterfowl and that predator hunting is still something that I’m learning. That being said, I’ve called in bobcat, coyotes and foxes using the techniques I’ll share with you.
The first thing you want to realize is that a coyote has some of the best senses and wit of just about any animal you will hunt. They see, smell and hear extremely well and they don’t seem to forget much either! They have a survival instinct like no other.
1. I believe that the most common mistake is being sloppy getting to your set-up spot. Sneak to your setup spot as much as possible. If that coyote sees you walk in and start calling 5min later he does not forget that it was you, not a squealing rabbit he saw walk into the brush pile. Full camo is also a must. Coyotes generally don’t just lock up when they see movement or something out of place, they usually bolt and a sprinting coyote is NOT an easy target!
2. We all know it’s important to get the wind right while deer hunting but I’m here to tell you that this is just as important with coyotes. It’s best (although not always possible) to have shooting lanes down wind of you, as many times coyotes will circle downwind of the squealing.
3. Coyote hunting can seem 2nd rate hunting, not worth gettin up early for, but if that’s the attitude, expect to waste a lot of time. As for deer, movement is greatest for coyotes in the mornings and in the evenings.
4. We all get hung up on calling, and I do believe that good calling is important, but probably not as important as the above 3 points. I don’t know if you’ve ever heard a rabbit in true distress, but it’s not pretty and there really is no rhyme or rhythm to the screeching. Get the pitch right, make it quiver and slide and basically just sound as agonizing as possible! My favorite distress call is the primos Catnip. This call is incredibly easy as it does not have an open reed although it retains its versatility simply by biting the flexible mouthpiece. This is the call I’ve called in a bobcat with and makes some great cat growling if you want to target bobcats. The other distresss call I use is called “tweety” and it is made by verminator. It is an open reed call that I can get a bit more volume out of and is a different tone that I like to mix in with the catnip.
I also like the primos mini howler. I’m still learning what howls to use when, but I can nail all the sounds with this one call. This call is fun at night just playing with packs of coyotes, and helps in learning how to sound as well.
I’m posting a video along with this post that will be most instructive on calling and will hopefully re-inforce much of what I’m saying here just not quite as in-depth.
Here are a couple of pics of some young bucks that hopefully make it through this year. Looks like both of these deer have some great potential and should make for some fun encounters this bow season!
Getting pics in our area in north Missouri has gotten a bit more tough this year as we aren’t allowed to set out salt licks, corn or anything else to congregate deer pre-season for some pics. There were a few cases (and I do mean few) of CWD up north of our area that has put our all powerful conservation dept on high alert and there seems to be a little bit of kneejerking going on around there.
Just got another camera out down here in southwest MO so hopefully I’ll have more pics to share with you soon. Stay tuned…
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Tis the season for all things outdoors! I can’t believe that September is just around the corner ushering in a new archery season and shortly thereafter a waterfowl season! My 5yr old son came walking into the living room a couple of mornings ago having just woke up and announced that he had dreamed I’d killed a really BIG BUCK! After I swelled with pride I told him of my dream of whacking a bunch of ducks and geese. In my household, hunting seasons never take us by surprise, they are always much anticipated!
With season right around the corner I wanted to showcase a few things that we’re doing here at HunterByDesign.com. One of the things I’m really excited about is the logo design we’ve been doing for people lately. This is something that has become more popular for hunting clubs, groups of hunting buds, or a new business that’s needing to communicate well with their consumer base.
DUCK LAYOUT
Custom graphics is sort of our thing here; it keeps things interesting and fun. Send me a pic of your 1st buck, that big bruiser you killed last year, or a good trail cam photo of that big one you’re going after this year and proudly display it in vinyl on your back glass. You can have your own namesake buck that will leave fellow hunters asking questions which allows you to tell your big story one more time 😉
CUSTOM BUCK DECAL
Us waterfowlers are usually pretty proud of what we do and I can think of no better way to display that pride than by custom designing your waterfowl trailer with some kick butt decals! I’ve got some geese and duck layouts that will make you stand out from the crowd.
Nothing is changing about our goal here on HunterByDesign.com and that is to bring you some great videos of us interacting with God’s amazing creation! We are going to work harder than ever to bring you consistant footage of great hunts, great information, and simply great fun in the outdoors!
Stay tuned………..
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Went fishing about a week ago at about 10:30 in the morning, this was the result by noon! Can’t say I’ve ever had catfishing quite like this and don’t expect to experience it any time soon, but boy was this fun! This is a pond that I just recently got permission to fish and I haven’t been disappointed!
I went out the night before and caught several slugs around my house. They proved to be great bait! Also, my father-in-law bought some cooked shrimp (from the frozen section in Walmart) with tails on and this is what he caught his on. I’m not a catfisherman per se as I’m usually after the bass or crappie, but I’m beginning to get hooked. I still have much to learn, but for those of you amateur catfisherman like myself, you might try throwing some slugs and shrimp next outing.
April 24th was going to be a good day. I had hunted this particular property twice and both times I’d heard a big Tom cutting loose from this one patch of timber at the southeast corner of the property. My good friend Brad had just shot his bird the day before and decided to come along, something we’ve done for the past several years now with great success and enjoyment. My 4yr old (aka my huntin buddy), was also coming along which always makes for a proud daddy!
We hiked down through a valley then up a huge hill (not an easy task with a kid on your shoulders) and set up in the “perfect” spot, where I KNEW the bird would be. Ha, if you’ve been turkey hunting long, you know where this is going! You guessed it, the birds were a good 200yrds away. They didn’t talk the greatest early on so we gave this spot some time thinking that the old bird just might not be talking. I can only handle listening to birds rip it up 200yrds away for so long without making a move on them so that’s exactly what we did.
Long story short, we circled a couple of different times and were making our last attempt when Brad happen to spot the tom over on the next hill in the pasture. Fortunately, the bird hadn’t saw us and we were able to slowly duck down out of sight and make for one last hurrah. We circled back around (from where we’d just come) and got over the crest of the hill from where we’d last saw the bird. Brad and the big man stayed back while I crawled up a fenceline to get closer to the crest of the hill. Many times a bird will crest a hill so the hen can see him, but will come no farther so it’s always a good idea to be able to shoot the crest of the hill.
Brad did a great job calling back behind me 50yrds or so and it wasn’t anytime before the bird let out a thunderous gobble and he was close! It was mere seconds before I saw that white and red head crest the hill and the bird was coming. I let him get into full view and in to about 35 yards before I let the hammer fall. The new BPS did the job as the bird went straight down! Suddenly all the walking we’d done that morning seemed justified as I stood over the beautiful bird. This was yet another great hunt that I won’t soon forget both for the turkey shot, but more importantly for the great time spent with a friend and my very best lil hunting buddy!
Saturday April the 27th was a great day to be in the turkey woods. It started being pretty dead at the 1st property even though the weather was perfect. For whatever reason the birds there wouldn’t talk and I didn’t have much time this morning so we moved on. As we passed by a property I have permission to hunt I spotted a majestic Tom strutting his stuff! I drove past next woodline before I could pull in to park. Dad and I called a few times to get his location and decided our best course of action was to circle him.
We walked several hundred yards to be able to get around the bird and begin calling. He was stubborn. We got another bird fired up way in the distance but the tom we were after wouldn’t say a word. That is, until he got about 40 yrds away from us in the timber we were in! He then began to hammer away at the soft purrs emitting from my pot call. Dad and I were caught in the standing position, so dad just kept his gun at the ready waiting for the bird to come around some very thick underbrush the bird was behind.
All of a sudden I caught movement and watched as the tom ran out of the woods into a cut hayfield approx. 65 yards awway. A jake followed closely behind, but he stayed within approx 25yrds of us the entire time. The tom wasn’t about to come around the blind corner there in the woods, he was going to get out in the open away from any possible danger, out where the hen (me) could see him. As soon as I hit the call again the mature tom dropped the landing gear and began spitting, strutting and gobbling – it was beautiful!
This went on for several minutes as we watched the tom strut back and forth gobbling his head off while the jake was eyeballing us not 20 yrds away and was beginning to get suspicious! The jake began putting and purring and I imitated him, driving the poor tom crazy! The tom finally ventured in to about 50 yrds and it became apparent that that was as close as he was coming. I gave dad the green light and he did a great job of putting the hammer down and dropping the bird in his tracks!
This would be a great hunt with anyone but doing this with dad made this hunt all the more memorable. Thanks dad for another great memory!
I also killed my second bird this past Tuesday but have yet to have time to post pics and the story. I’ll be giving some more details on that hunt soon!
