Turkey Time - Are You Ready?

For some states Turkey season is already under way, but here in Connecticut we still have a few days left before our season opens on April 30th, 2014 so I know I'm a little late with this post but what better time then now for a turkey hunting refresher. 

No turkey hunting post is complete with mentioning the NWTF - National Wild Turkey Federation and what there efforts have meant to restoring wild turkey populations across North America.  If you hunt turkey then in my opinion giving back to the sport is important and becoming a member of NWTF or attending a NWTF event or fundraiser is an excellent way to do so.  Check out this link for ways you can give back.  http://www.nwtf.org/help_now/

What is the NWTF?

The NWTF — a national nonprofit organization — is the leader in upland wildlife habitat conservation in North America.

Founded in 1973, the NWTF is headquartered in Edgefield, S.C., and has local chapters in every state. The NWTF is dedicated to the conservation of the wild turkey and the preservation of our hunting heritage.

Through vital partnerships with state, federal and provincial wildlife agencies, the NWTF and our members have helped restore wild turkey populations throughout North America — from a mere 30,000 in the entire United States to more than 7 million across the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Who Are They?

We are sportsmen, women and children who care deeply about our natural resources and the wild places we love to hunt.

We cherish the memory of the ridge top gobbler we hunted last spring and fondly remember the cornfield where we saw that big buck at sunset two years ago.

Collectively, we come from all walks of life to engage in conservation and preserve the hunting heritage we all hold dear.

... the champions of conservation.

According to many state and federal agencies, the restoration of the wild turkey is arguably the greatest conservation success story in North America's wildlife history.

We have spent more than $412 million to conserve nearly 17.25 million acres of habitat.
That area is larger than the state of West Virginia.

Wild turkeys and hundreds of other species of upland wildlife, including quail, deer, grouse, pheasant and songbirds, have benefited from this improved habitat.

Our dedicated volunteers bring new hunters and conservationists into the fold — nearly 100,000 every year — through outdoor education events.

Most certainly in the the State of Connecticut I do believe that the restoration of the wild turkey to be the greats conservation success story in our history.   I watched out turkey season go from a lottery only hunt in just one small corner of our state to the entire state being open to turkey hunting and now the ability to purchase and hunt both on state land and private land.  As you can see from this Wild Turkey facts sheet post on the Connecticut DEEP Wildlife website.

Wild turkeys were abundant in Connecticut when the first settlers arrived. However, a combination of forest clearing and a series of severe winters eliminated the turkey from Connecticut by the early 1800s. From the 1950s through the early 1970s, attempts at wild turkey restoration through artificial propagation were largely unsuccessful. The major breakthrough in restoration efforts occurred when free-roaming wild turkeys were live-captured and translocated using a rocket net. This large, lightweight net is fired by rockets from a remote blind and carried over turkeys that have been attracted to the area by bait.

Between 1975 and 1992, 356 wild turkeys were released at 18 sites throughout the state. These releases and subsequent population expansion have resulted in the successful restoration of wild turkeys to all 169 Connecticut towns. Recent land use practices in Connecticut have also favored the expansion of wild turkey populations as the landscape has become more forested. As a result of restoration efforts and the increase in forest habitat, sportsmen have been able to hunt wild turkeys since 1981, and landowners and others have enjoyed observing them in their natural state.

Know and obey all the local hunting laws.  You have to understand things like license requirements, gun and ammo restrictions,  Private land permission, legal birds and bag limits, hunter orange requirements, decoy regulations and sometimes just knowing what other hunting opportunities are available during the spring turkey season can shed light on what you might encounter while out there.  If you plan on hunting other states, make sure to keep your regulations straight.  In Connecticut during the spring season any legal turkey must have a visible beard.  That means it is legal to shoot a bearded hen, but just because it is legal doesn't mean you must.  My clan chooses to let the bearded hens walk on by.  Sometimes we might choose to shoot mature birds only and let the young ones take jakes if they want to.  As long as it is a legal bird and you choose to take it then it's a trophy in my book.

Hopefully many of you planning to hit the woods on opening day to chase turkey have already got your preseason preparations done, but if not you still have time to hit the woods and get your scouting in as well as patterning your shotgun, choke and ammo combination.  These birds are not only smart but they are tough so doing your homework and knowing where they roost, feed, strut, breed is crucial to a successful hunt, but even if you know all these things and have practiced your calling you better make sure you are putting enough pellets on target so spending time on the range to get the best possible choke/ammo combination for your firearm is extremely important.  For those chasing turkey with stick and string, well I have major admiration for you folks.  I have yet to use my archery gear for turkey and plan to some day but they are challenging enough for me with the firearm so I'll stick to that for now.

Making turkey sounds is important, but knowing what sounds to make and when to make them is even more crucial to success.  Some times I ask myself - do I really need to carry all these different calls with me?  Well the answer many times is yes.   There have been hunts where I have used every call in my vest within a 100 yard area, knowing there are turkey's there only to have no response on all but one of those calls.  The tone, pitch and volume sometimes just need to be what they want to hear and it is the only thing that works.  One tip about calling - try to sound natural.  What this means is don't use the same sequence, tone and volume when you call.  Mix it up.  If you are letting out some yelps in a 5 or 6 note string then for the next series maybe only yelp twice then pause and then yelp two or 3 more times and even through in some clucks in between and after.  Listen to the real turkeys and you will quickly notice that don't sound like a broken record repeating the same sounds and notes over and over so you need to do the same.  YouTube has plenty of great videos of live hens calling in the field.  Watch them and practice mimicking their calls.

Think safety and think defensive minded!  There is so much to cover when talking safe turkey hunting but understanding what you are actually doing out there will help put it all in perspective.  You are most likely dressed in full camo and hidden well.  You probably have a realistic turkey decoy out in front of you somewhere and you are making realistic sounds of a turkey.  This could be a recipe for problems but if you pay attention to these 10 Tips for a Safe Spring Turkey Hunt provided by the NWTF then you have the building blocks for a safe hunt.   If you are using decoys spend a little extra time when setting them out to make sure that anyone that might come across your decoys in the field can be seen and that if they take a shot at them you are not in the line of fire.  Remember think defensive minded at all times.  Decoy setup isn't necessarily a science but if you observed enough turkeys during your scouting you've picked up some little tidbits of information on how other hens, young toms and that old mature tom interact with each other.  Use that to your advantage when setting up your decoys.  Make them visible and position them in a way that causes that old tom to concentrate on them and not you.  There are times when the best decoy is none at all.  Don't worry the birds will tell you what they want.


Patience is key when turkey hunting.  If you've spent time in the spring woods chasing turkey then at some point I'm sure you've been in the situation where you've been working a gobbler that was sounding off and all of a sudden everything goes quiet.  Not a peep.  Your brain goes into overdrive trying to figure out what went wrong.  You change up call after call and still nothing.  It's time to move, right?  So you start to stand up and your hear it.  Put, put, put... and off he runs.   Turkey's have incredible hearing and eyesight and they use this to their advantage.  In nature it is the hen that usually goes to the tom so you are asking him to come to you.  Learn to be patient and not to quick to move your setup when a bird goes quiet on you because he just may be circling in nice and quiet for a look.  If he is with other hens, once those hens start to wonder off, he might just come back looking for you.

Once you got that bird on the ground make sure you take care of any tagging requirements before setting up for some nice in the field photos.  If you are allowed multiple birds, maybe even set back up and see if you can't get another bird to commit.  If you are going to mount the whole bird, cape it or even just mount the fan, take time in the field to keep blood off the bird and all the feathers in tact.  If you don't plan to use the turkey feathers maybe you cans wing by the local fly fishing shop or know some folks that tie their own flies and offer those feathers up to them.  I've tied many flies using feathers from turkeys I was luck to harvest.

For most the most regarding part of the hunt comes when that turkey is sitting on the dinner table.  I know for a fact that after harvesting a bird a comment will be made about eating turkey poppers before we even make it half way back to the truck.   You can pluck the bird, skin it or even breast it out.  Most folks I know just breast it our, but don't ignore those legs and thighs as they make great additions for soup.  My two favorite recipes are Southwest Turkey poppers and Turkey, mushroom and Wild Rice soup and you can get those recipes here:  My Favorite Turkey Recipes.

I wish everyone a very safe and successful spring turkey hunt and remember to share the outdoors with someone new if you can.

Additional Turkey Hunting Resources:

Turkey Hunting Success and Safety pamphlet from the NWTF.
Turkey Hunting Tactics  - NWTF Website

2013 Connecticut Goose and Deer Openers - Recap

What can possibly be better then opening day?  Well how about two opening days just a day apart!  That's right last week on Thursday was the opener  for the second split of goose season here in Connecticut and Wednesday was out Firearms Deer opener.  It was definitely a busy week and our crew did well for the most part filling the freezer with deer, geese and ducks.

I couldn't make the goose opener on Tuesday but the boys had a full blind and had a 6 man limit on the ground by 7am and it included one banded bird from Labrador Canada.

Wednesday found our crew out in the woods chasing deer.  My son and I hunted state land and he let 3 does walk looking for a buck.  Most of the shooting we heard occurred before 8:30am.   Bubba shot a nice little spike buck on Private land and Busch Pilot took a doe.

Thursday found me in the office and my son in school while the boys hit the goose blind with a few new faces where they once again ended the morning with a limit of geese and 4 banded birds from Labrador Canada.

Friday it rained hard and once again I was in the office - I have 4 days vacation coming up so I couldn't take any more time off, while Bubba and Busch Pilot fought the wind and rain and chased ducks and geese.

Saturday my son, daughter and I were back out on state land chasing deer.  For the first Saturday of the season it was really quiet.  Too quiet.  It could have had something to do with the high winds which were blowing a consistent 20mph and gusting damn near 40.  We heard a few shots way off in the distance early and that was about it.  Around 9am, we were cold and needed a walk so off we went.  We were working around the thickets making a big loop around and through them when my son hit the ground and whispered deer.  I had never seen them or heard them until I caught a deer butt on top of a knoll.  My son said they were in the thick brush about 30 yards from us, and I never even saw them.  My daughter said one was a buck, so I took out the doe in a can call and played soem sweet music.  Sure enough I caught some movement through the brush and could see deer legs coming our way.  Still couldn't see the deer though but knew it had to be a buck.  No one could see it in the thick brush, but I could catch his legs as I was laying flat on the ground.  So I hit the can some more and saw those legs move closer to us.  I told my daughter that if she has a shot to take it, but she still couldn't see him and the deer was less then 25 yards away.  My son was about 10 feet to our right and he couldn't see him either.  He wanted my daughter to shoot but gave him the okay if he had a shot.  It seemed like 20 minutes but it was only about 2 before I saw the legs turn to my right and I told Brendan to get on him.  My daughter and I still had lots of brush in our way and could only see parts of the deer but he must have stepped into an opening because I heard my son bleat at him, the deer stopped and the Remington 11-87 barked.  My daughter excitedly said, holy crap I just saw you shoot him in the shoulder through my scope.  We walked over to where the deer was and had great blood so my daughter and son took up the lead and fought through the thicket to find a nice little spike buck piled up less then 30 yards away.

Bubba and Busch Pilot hit the goose blind Saturday morning with the kids and limited out once again.  No jewelry though.

Sunday we spent the day processing deer and making all kinds of tasty venison treats like Sausage, bolonga and hot dogs.  It was a busy week with plenty of happy hunters and delicious food in our freezer from natures Pantry.

Hope everyone is having a safe and successful hunting season and we wish everyone a very Happy  Thanksgiving!

Moose Update and Other Ramblings

Quick update on our resident moose.  We haven't seen here since the previous weekend but we did run into some new moose sign that wasn't there the previous outing. 

I found this tree which looks just like the first one we found and the more I think about it, I don't believe this was done by a bull moose with his antlers, but by our resident cow moose who is stripping and eating the bark.  I'm sure some of you in moose country can chime in here, what do you think?  

I even took my better half out for a walk to retreive a seat we left in one of our blinds so while out there we tried to find Mrs. Moose but we didn't.  We did have a great hike on a cool fall afternoon though.  Very refreshing.

This is an old foundation out on a piece of State forest land.  I sure would have liked to live out here back in the day.

The deer activity out in this area has been quiet and with the rut about to kick in and the cool weather I was a little discourage with the lack of sightings and sign.  We only have one more week until our gun season opens and that will change it even more.

Haven't seen many ducks around lately but the beavers have done such a good job with their damn and widening out this brook, I'm hoping it will stay open through this recent cold snap and offer up a little hiding spot for some traveling ducks.  Just need to get through gun season before I hunt this area.

Connecticut Moose Sighting

The little Northeast Connecticut town of Stafford Springs that I live in is the third largest land area town in Connecticut with a population of just over 11,000 people and a wide variety of forested land and one that usually isn't mentioned in the same sentence as a moose, but lately it has. 

Photo published on WFSB.COM

 
We have had a few moose sightings over the past few years as reported in the July/August issue of Connecticut Wildlife Magazine, but recently we just had another.  This past Wednesday morning just a few hundred yards down the road from where I live a large moose was spotted out in the open farm field shared by some cows.  Of course, I drive the other direction to work and missed out on this wonderful sight and I was not happy about it.

Back in late September  while doing some bowhunting the boys and I came across a few different piles of old moose scat and we figured it was left by the moose that was reported back in May, but actually it may have been left by one of the moose being reported to be around in town this fall.  We had talked about how cool it would to see a moose here in our little neck of the woods and at that time little did we know that we would actually see one in this area.

Moose scat we found in late September

This past Friday we had rain and wind in the am so when it stopped that afternoon the boys decided to take advantage of the damp and quiet forest floor and do a little ins season scouting.  They headed out to the same little section of sate forest land near our house that just happens to be up the road from where were the recent moose sighting occured.  As they were nosing around along the edge of  a swamp they came across a small tree that had what looked like an extremely large deer rub.  It was over 6 foot high and there was no way a deer did this, so they decided it was made by a moose and it most certainly would look so.  They got talking a bit about what they would do if they saw a moose and not 40 yards later my son Brendan spotted something large and black under some dark thick pines and thought it was a bear, but it turned out to be the same cow moose spotted on Wednesday.  They watched her a bit, moved around to get a better look and she must have noticed them because she turned towards them, made some noises and started moving their way.  Obviously they were a little concerned and put a little distance between them and the moose but watched her for a bit before continuing off on their walk about.

Brandon and Brendan with their find

When they arrived home and showed me the picture of the rub and then told me the story about the moose I was so wound up I wanted to jump out of my skin oh and just a little jealous.  I have seen moose in the wild, but never one in my home state.   Well Saturday morning we headed out to the same section of state forest for some bow hunting.  Brandon got setup in one of our ground blinds, not far from where they saw the moose while my son Brendan setup along a swamp and I went on a scouting mission.  It was a great morning as well all saw deer and Brendan almost got a shot at a nice doe and we had considered it a win for sure.  Little did we know it would get even better.

I met up with my son Brendan and we continued my walk about over the back part of the property so we could check for some newer deer sign and as we started off the hill and down into some thick brush we heard the sound of branches cracking.  at first we thought we jumped a deer, but the noise was way to loud and a whole lot slower.  We stopped dead and listened. Once again we could hear loud crunching and branches breaking and then we heard something that sounded like the sounds I heard a moose make and Brendan confirmed it was the same noise the moose made the day before.  We both thought there was no way in heck we were going to see this moose two days in a row.  Well we didn't want to push her around so we sat and watched and listened, but the noise went off the hill and away from us in a very slow and methodical manner without a sighting.  I was excited and a little disappointed but I was sure it was the moose.  We continued on our way to pick up Brandon at his ground blind and never did see the moose but we did jump a deer that went running by Brandon at warp speed.  He was amazed at how fast and how far it was jumping and how quiet it was.

When we got to Brandon we told him what had just heard and he claimed he heard loud noises from that direction earlier as well.  I wanted the boys to take me to the rub they found so I could see it myself so off we went.  As we were working through the thick brush about 200 yards away from where we started we jumped something and my son whispered MOOSE!  Sure enough I caught a glimpse of her through the brush.  I quickly pulled out my video camera and waited to see here again.  It was like she had disappeared and I kept wondering how the heck something that dark and large just blends in.  I decided to sneak up on the hill where she ran and I quickly found her tracks and took about 4 or 5 more steps and heard here moving through the brush but couldn't see her.  All of a sudden I heard loud crunching coming my way but I knew it was her and sure enough a nice whitetail doe came running my way and I was happy to have my camera rolling.  At one point she stopped and turned to look right at me before bounding off and running by the boys.

I didn't want to disturb the moose any more then we had already done, so we backed out of there and took another route to the rub.   I did get to see the rub and it definitely looks like a rub from a very large animal, but you can be the judge and comment on what you think it is.

I do hope Mrs. Moose sticks around so I can take her picture.  Gun season is a few weeks away and we will definitely see more hunting pressure in the woods here and that just might push her away.

November is always a magical time in the deer woods here in New England, but little did we know just how magical it would be for us and being able to share that with the boys makes it even more magical.

Another First - Weekend Recap

Spent the weekend in the woods with the boys again.  I truly enjoy hunting with my kids and hunters new to the sport as it allows me to see many firsts through their eyes which just streghtens my passion for the outdoors.  This weekend they were both  bow hunting!  Brandon has been practicing and very confident in his shooting so this was his first bow hunt ever.

Brandon and Brendan after a morning hunt

There was no problem getting the boys up and moving Saturday morning even if there were some light showers in the area.  Brendan offered up his blind for Brandon to use on his first bowhunt and considering Brendan had deer encounters during ever sit in this blind, Brandon was definitely excited.   As Brandon and I were sneaking into the ground blind I heard the all too familar sound of a deer snort which stopped me in my tracks.  I turned to look at Brandon and he had a concerned look on his face and wasn't sure what he just heard.  I explained to him that it was a deer snorting at us and he looked less nervous and more confused.  As we stood there I could hear deer moving in the brush just out past the ground blind and then it happened again. Brandon kind of giggled and said it sounded like a train whistle.  I never thought of that, but I guess it kind of does sound like a train whistle - okay not really - it sounds like a deer snort!  After the last snort we heard the deer crashign away so we once again attempted to be quiet and made the last 50 yards to the blind and got all tucked in for a sit.

With the rain still dripping from the wet leaves and trees it made hearing anything impossible so we spent the next 3 hours on high alert only to not see anything.  This wasn't a bad thing, as I spent that time coaching Brandon through and trying to teach him some simple things like marking his yardage, how to scan the woods, paying attention to the wind, etc.  I did also take the time to reminsce about the first time I hear a deer bleat and told Brandon I swore it was a sheep in the middle of the woods.

About 9:30 I headed over to where Brendan was setup and we took a little walk around the back part of the state land to get Brendan reoriented with that piece of state land.  We stopped by the swamp and the beavers have a done a bangup job with their damn making a really nice puddle duck spot and we most certainly saw some ducks in there which will make a nice early morning hunt before work.  The colors along the swamp were really starting to pop and the picture doesn't do it any justice sorry.

We found some fresh rubs and some good sign and an interesting living space made by something, not sure what though.  We never moved a deer but we did finally run into a couple of other hunters on the far back part of the state land and we chatted with them and shared a little information, not all of it though.

Brandon had to head out to work that afternoon so after watching our Penn State Nittany Lions lose to Indiana Brendan and I decided we needed a calming place so back out to the woods we went.  It was hot and buggy but it beat being home doing chores.  We didn't see a thing, but we did hear something that sounded like heavy breathing off in the distance, but it is really thick around there and we never did see anything.  I'm guessing it was a Squatch as there is no other reasonable explanation. 

All in all it was a nice day in the woods!

My Son's First Deer with a Bow and Arrow

My son Brendan has been hunting since he was 12 years old and was out tagging along on many hunts as early as age 5. He is not new to the hunting sports in any way shape or form, but at 22 he had another first this past weekend.  This past weekend Brendan took a nice young buck with a bow on state land from the ground non the less.  This was not his first deer taken or even his first buck, but it was his first deer taken with the bow.

We found 6 piles of old moose poop in this area

Brendan has had little time in the woods during the archery season since he made the varsity football team in his Sophomore year in high school.  Those 3 years of high school football left little time for chasing deer with the bow and even the gun during most football seasons.  After graduation he headed off to college which once again left little time for hunting.  Now he is in graduate school, but living at home and finding the time to get back out in the woods on a regular basis and it has paid off for him.  He shot a nice long beard this past spring and just last weekend he arrowed his first deer with a bow.

I will do my best to tell his story with the same excitement and passion that he does, but it is so much better to listen to him tell it in person.

We are fortunate to have a few nice pieces of state land within minutes of our house and I have hunted this land for over 15 years and know my way around pretty well and spent the late summer getting Brendan reacquainted with the area and offering up some suggestions on where to hunt.  With the storms we've had the past two falls, there are plenty of new deadfalls that offer some great little ground hides in some key travel areas and I had one such deadfall picked out since last year just for this occasion.  My only concern was how much hunting pressure we would see here especially with the new additiona of crossbows being legal for everyone during the archery season.  For the first 5 days of the season, I would drive around the state forest and check for hunters on my way to work, and Brendan would do the same in the late evening on his way home from school.  In those first 5 days we did NOT see a single vehicle or hunter in the spots we wanted to hunt.  So Friday night before the first Saturday of the season, I suggested we attempt to hunt the area we'd been watching, but warned Brendan that I expected to see other hunters in the area.  It had been a long and tough week as my mother-in-law was in the hospital recovering from bypass surgery and we were getting little sleep so we overslept on Saturday and didn't get out until after first light.  Not in my original plan and I thought for sure we'd lost our spot to other hunters.  When we arrived at the gate to park I was shocked to be the only vehicle there.

Brandon trying to figure out why we are not seeing any Squirrels.

We dropped Brendan off at his ground blind and then Brandon and I headed off to hunt some squirrels.  Brandon is still learning to shoot a bow and has his safety course and license, but needs a few more weeks to gain confidence in his shooting.  About 8:30 I got a call from Brendan saying he just had a really nice buck sneak in to his blind at just 15 yards away, but has he adjusted to get a shot he got snorted by another deer he never saw.   One thing I enjoy about hunting is you learn something new every outing and every encounter with an animal and this was one of those lessons for Brendan.  As is typical with many of us that have had these encounters they haunt our dreams on a regular basis and they sure did for Brendan.  He thought he blew his only shot for the season and the season was just 6 days old!  Lesson learned.

Brendan had to wait until the next Friday to get back out to the woods and as he was sneakign into his deadfall, he got snorted again.  He didn't see anything the rest of the morning, but he did take some time to mosey around and check out the sign and just as weeks past there was plenty of fresh sign so he snuck out and decided to wait until Saturday morning to hunt it again instead of hunting it that afternoon.

The arrow tells the story!

We had a similar game plan for this past Saturday, Brandon and I would squirrel hunt allowing me to spend time teaching Brandon about hunting, scouting, safety and getting around the woods while Brendan nestled into his dead fall again.  This time Brendan made some adjustment to where he was sitting and the cover around the deadfall based on what he learned the past two sits and he obviosulty learned well and made the right decisions.  About 8:29 he texted me to check in, I texted him back a few photos of some really nice rubs. A few minutes after that text, my phone rang and it was Brendan calling.  When I answered I immediately new by the sound in is voice that he had shot at a deer.  When I heard the words "I just shot a buck", I almost started to scream with joy, but realized we had work to do and didn't want him to get too excited just yet.  So I calmed him down and gave him some coaching and told him to sit tight, don't move and watch and listen for anything.

It didn't take Brandon and I long to arrive at Brendan's deadfall where we found him standing there with a grin from ear to ear.  I calmly approached and had him walk me through what had just happened.  Brendan had just put his phone back in his pocket, heard some crunching and looked up and could see a deer moving through the thick brush on a trail that would take this deer right by Brendan's hide.  The deer stepped out of the little hemlocks which had been blocking most of Brendan's view of the deer just long enough for Brendan to see antlers and then he went into that fast shot planning mode that we all have gone through.  He waited for the deer to step behind a tree, went to full draw and as the deer made two steps from behind the tree he bleated at it and as the deer stopped and the pin settled just above the deer's heart Brendan released an arrow.  He said he heard the thud and watched the deer take off tail down.  The deer jumped two deadfalls and after the second he heard a large crash but couldn't see anything or hear anything after.  I'm not going to lie, I was a little excited at that point and was struggling to sit tight for a bit more to give the deer a little more time, but he and I needed it to clam down and get ready for the tracking job at hand.

Blood at the shot

Blood almost two feet up the tree.

I had Brendan line me up where he thought the deer was when he shot and I found no blood or sign and my heart sank into my stomach.  I thought, no way.  So I had him rethink it and I played the deer and he walked me past the shot and off in the direction he saw it run.  still no sign.  I wasn't more then about 10 steps from where he said the deer was standing when he shot, so I spun around and headed in the direction the deer had come from and I found blood.  I had Brendan come to the blood and walk it back to see exactly where the deer was standing.  He was only off about 10 feet but just enough to not find sign where he first lined me up.  I then had him look for the arrow, which is a key part to determining what type of shot you got on the deer.  I noticed a very small drop of blood going away from the blood trail and then another.  So I had Brendan follow those tiny drops and it led him right to his arrow.  Those drops of blood had come off the arrow after it passed through the buck.  Only at that point was I confident that the last jump and crash of that deer was where we would find Brendan's deer, but why pass up a training and learning opportunity so I sat back and had Brendan and Brandon follow up the blood trail as I coached from the back of the line.  They tracked it over one small dead fall and right to a second.  I decided to walk around the deadfall to the right, but stopped after a couple of steps because I could see the buck laying there dead.  Brendan caught me stop quickly and said "You see him don't you?!" and I just nodded and he looked up and there it was. The nice little 7 pointer - we refuse to give him the 8th point - didn't go more then 50 yards from a double lung complete pass thru shot.   There was as sigh of relief and some high fives and more then a few hugs and back slaps, oh and a few pictures and then the work began.  Brendan filled his tag out, and we decided to drag it out of the area and field dress it away from his hunting area so we loaded the buck on the Dead Sled and strapped Brendan in and yelled MUSH!

That Dead Sled is nice to have for dragging.

Brendan dragged the buck out and once we reached a spot far enough from his hunting area we started a new lesson on field dressing a deer.  Brendan has a degree in Health Sciences and Rehabilitation Services and is in Graduate school pursing a Masters in Occupation Therapy so he took the opportunity to turn all "Mr. Anatomy" on us and held a show and tell session showing off all the different things he learned ins school as we worked through the process of dressing the deer.  I was very impressed with his knowledge and the fact that he didn't puke as it had been almost 6 or 7 years since he last shot and field dressed a deer.

Brendan's First Archery Deer!

I'm happy he had a successful hunt for many reasons and I was glad I was there to share it, but I am extremely proud to see how well he learned from all those previous hunting trips and of course from his schooling! His passion for the outdoors is evident and growing every day,   Having fresh venison in the freezer is just icing on the cake!

Being able to share my passion for the outdoors with my kids, family and friends is really what my blog is all about and I look forward to this weeks outing as fall turkey opens up and we will try to get Brandon his first bird.  That is if I can get both of them away from the bow for a day.

It doesn't get any better then this!

Connecticut Hunting & Fishing Appreciation Day - Sept 28, 2013

On September 28, 2013, the CT DEEP and Friends of Sessions Woods will be hosting Connecticut’s Annual Hunting & Fishing Appreciation Day at the Sessions Woods Wildlife Management Area in Burlington.
  
Fun activities for all ages are planned, along with educational programs and workshops about hunting, shooting and fishing. Best of all, the event is free to attend!

Why we're celebrating

Hunters and anglers have been at the forefront of the conservation movement for over 100 years. They showed their support by requesting taxes and special fees on hunting and fishing equipment to help pay for wildlife and fish management, habitat restoration, and other conservation programs through the Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration (WSFR) Program.
 

To find out more about activities, vendors, times and directions visit their website at:  www.ct.gov/deep/cwp/view.asp?a=2723&q=462388&deepNav_GID=1655

Crossbows for Everyone, and other New Regulations for Connecticut

This past week the CT Legislature finally passed the proposed set of hunting regulation changes after some fine tuning the wording.  This new regulations package brings some good and controversial changes to Connecticut. 

Changes include: legalizing crossbows for all archery hunters, expansion of youth hunter training opportunities, use of muzzleloaders as a lesser weapon, fluorescent orange exemption for coyote/fox hunters, adjustments to the crow season dates and establishing seasons, bag limits and other restrictions regarding the take of snapping turtles.

Crossbows not just for the injured anymore here in Connecticut.  Crossbows have been added as an approved hunting implement for everyone here in the Nutmeg State.  For some bowhunters, they believe this to be their worst nightmare come true as the woods will now be filled with "those once-a-year hacks with the antler stickers all over their trucks will be trampling our early season" or "FUDDS" as one poster on a forum I frequent put it.  A word of note - it's not YOUR or MY season, it's EVERYONE'S season!   I've hunted other states that allowed Crossbows to be used by anyone and I did not notice an over abundance of "FUDDS" personally, but I did notice a few veteran hunters return to the fall woods with their Crossbow, as well as some youngster join our ranks.  Isn't that we what really need - more kids, more women and the return of many of our veteran hunters?!  If crossbows help, then I say bring them on.  Me personally, I'm sticking to the vertical stick and string!

It will be interesting as people now scramble to get in on the fall archery season with their new crossbow, only to realize they need to have completed and passed a certified bowhunter education course!  It will be more interesting as they struggle to find available classes as most of us that are instructors will be spending our free time hunting, instead of teaching!  You can visit the CT DEEP wildlife website for a list of available hunter education courses here:  CT Hunter Education Courses

No matter what you use to hunt with, it is your responsibility to be comfortable, safe, knowledgeable and proficient with your equipment and we should expect no less from our new fellow bowhunters!

Another change which has stirred up controversy amongst fellow hunters is the extension of the youth training days.   The new regulations allow for 7 youth hunt days (Turkey and Deer) which is up from the 2 in previous years.  Now having had the pleasure of bringing many youths into the hunting sports, I personally believe these youth hunting / training days are the best addition we have seen in a long time and the increase in days is the next step to making them better!  Of course many are complainging how unfair it is to give the kids 7 days of hunting before anyone else, but let's be realistic for a minute.  Of those 7 continuous days (used to be 2 Saturdays only), how many hours is your typical youth going to be out hunting?  They are in school, the weather will have a say int heir time afield as will their other commitments to extra curricular activities.  I may be on the wrong end of this one again, but I'm all for this and I don't have any younger kids anymore!  We need more kids in our ranks and if this helps then let's do it!

I am excited about the ability to use my muzzle loader during the shotgun/rifle deer seasons now as well as the shortening of the October closed hunting season.  Overall I am happy with the recent regulation changes and appreciate the hard work the folks at the CT DEEP put into these changes.  Many hours talking to folks, both for and against, surveys, reviewing what other states have done and finding that balance between our days afield and population control.  Now all we need is Sunday hunting!

You can review all the new regulations here:  http://www.ct.gov/deep/cwp/view.asp?A=2586&Q=514086

Now let's quit fighting with each other and get outside in the great outdoors!

Happy Hunting!

Upcoming Local Events

With winter setting in and most hunting seasons closed and fishing slowing down, everyone is looking for something outdoor related to do so here are a couple of outdoor related things for anyone in the Connecticut area.

Northeast Fishing & hunting Show Feb 15 -17, Hartford, CT

 From the Northeast Fishing & Hunting Show website.

There will be hundreds of booths lining the aisles containing the latest products for both fishing and hunting enthusiasts.  Learn about the newest equipment from some of the top manufacturers and reps, retail vendors, public service exhibits, charter boat captains, plus fishing boats and more!

Attend over 50 hours of seminars from nationally known fishermen and hunting experts.  Seminars will be conducted in three seminar rooms, demonstrations at the fly tying center and the casting pond.
Greg Myerson, sponsored by Eastern Boats, Lane Benoit, Tony Stetzko, Al Gag plus many more.
CHARLIE MOORE THE "MAD FISHERMAN" Saturday, February 16th, 12 noon - 3 PM.  Sponsored by Lunker City

Located at the Big E sight in West Springfield, MA

From the Springfield Sportsmen's Show Website.

The Springfield Sportsmen's Show is undisputedly the largest “pure” sportsmen’s show in the Northeast! This mega sporting event takes place at the Eastern States Exposition, home of the “BIG E,” West Springfield, Massachusetts. The show includes the best of hunting, fishing, boating and adventure recreation that the outdoor world has to offer all bundled together in one great event.

The Springfield Sportsmen’s Show is the place to get the best in hunting and fishing gear!  You’ll find everything you need for your next trip.  We’ve gathered the top vendors of hunting and fishing equipment along with guides, outfitters, and charter captains.  You get the best selection and the best deals of the year all in one shopping location.  That’s why the Springfield Sportsmen’s Show is the Northeast’s strongest fishing, hunting, and outdoor show.

Can't forget about the Upcoming Ducks Unlimited events like the CT State Convention, Putnam Chapter Dinner and the Danbury - Housatonic Game dinner cooking class.  You can check out all the upcoming Connecticut Events at the CT Event Website or check for events in your area.

Your Daughter Shoots Like a Girl!

Growing up in a neighborhood full of boys, it wouldn't take long for someone to make a bad play during a street game and someone would mouth off to the tune off - you swing like a girl!.  Everyone would laugh and away we went.  Being all grown up now and having a daughter of my own I can admit that she does throw like a girl, shoots like a girl, fishes like a girl and hunts like a girl and I am proud of it.  Heck I wish I could shoot like a girl sometimes, because she is pretty darn good and getting better every day.  My daughter Kaleigh has always loved to fish and shoot, but just in the past couple of years has she taken the plunge into hunting and I must admit, she is getting really good at it.

With our busy schedules time in the field with my kids is limited so any time that our schedules open we jump on it and our schedules allowed us to enjoy an afternoon in a backwoods puddle for an waterfowl hunt.  I picked my daughter up at school, made a quick trip to the archery shop to have a quick fix done to her bow, grabbed some lunch and headed home to load up the gear and head off to the swamp.

On the way up the road I got a call from Busch Pilot who was on his way to join in the fun.  Kaliegh and I got the canoe unloaded and I loaded it up with the decoys and headed out to setup a spread consisting of some mallard decoys and some goose floaters.  While I was doing that, Kaleigh was carrying gear to the blind and keeping our lab Hannah from following me out in the canoe.  Once the decoys were set, I pulled the canoe up on shore and hid it in the brush and joined Kaleigh and Hannah in our hide.  Busch Pilot showed up about 30 minutes later and joined our group.  After BP got his  normal welcome of a face full of smelly lab tongue from Hannah, we settled in and started scanning the sky and listening for any hint of ducks or geese all while enjoying the incredible fall colors that were made even more vibrant with the setting sun.

It was a pretty quiet afternoon, right up until about 20 minutes before sunset, which is legal shooting light in CT, when I swore I heard geese off in the distance.  Busch Pilot and Kaleigh both claimed I was hearing things but I did convince them to hit the call and sure enough we got a response.  We couldn't see them yet but could tell they were coming in for the night and hopefully they would land on the X which was wide open and out in front of us.  I picked up the 4 geese just as they broke the trees about 50 yards behind us and they were low and heading in and looked like they were going to land short so Busch Pilot told Kaleigh to go ahead and take em.  Just as they were about to get their feet wet, she stood up with her Remington 870 and squeezed off a shot and two geese hit the water.  We all stood there in amazement with our mouths open and forgot about the other two geese that were making a hasty retreat for safety, which they succeeded at.

Kaleigh had fired one shot and had her limit of two geese while Busch Pilot and I were lighter a couple of shells and had to hit the drive thru for dinner.   So when I say she shoots like a girl there is nothing negative about that comment.  Heck, both Busch Pilot and I wished we had shot like a girl that night and couldn't have been more proud of her.  Maybe if we are lucky she will gives us a lesson or two.

You go Girl!

So Where Did That Canada Goose Really Come From?

For those of us who hunt waterfowl the fall migration is the holy grail and something we look forward to every year.  Migration means large numbers of ducks and geese leaving their northern haunts and heading south for the winter, but you never really know where that duck or goose was unless you are lucky enough to harvest a bird that has been banded.  For us waterfowlers, a banded bird is truly a special gift and one that causes a bunch of discussion in the blind until that lucky hunter can get home and report the band to find out where this bird was from. 

Bubba's Banded Goose

Last week was the Goose opener here in Connecticut and it found yours truly and the normal group of characters headed to the dairy farm for what we had hope would be a successful  hunt with a limit of geese to be turned into a fresh batch of goobasa, goose keilbasa that is. Little did we know that this hunt would turn special with one shot at a goose trying to get away, but it surely did.

It started out as a normal hunt on the farm, with an early morning gathering, setting out the decoy spread, hunkering down in the blind and waiting for the geese to start moving.  We had to deal with the fog and low visibility and birds that don't make much noise in the fog, but the second group of geese heading our way liked what we had to offer and committed to the spread.  Just as the first couple of geese touched down, the caller called take em, the door to the blind fell and there were 15 geese to pick from. We dropped 3 right away and one a little farther out to eh right and Bubba took a final shot at one trying to get out of dodge just about to the safe zone but he dropped it.  Once the shooting is done, the Chinese fire drill starts where a couple of us exit the blind and gather up the downed geese.  I had the pleasure of being set out for the long retrieve and as I approached the down bird, I got my first glance of the jewelry this goose was wearing - A dulled yellow neck collar.  Now I know no one say the collar or the goose would have been dumped a whole lot quicker, so I gathered up the goose making sure my hand covered the collar completely and the feet facing away from everyone.  As I approached the blind the guys were stammering about what a good shot that was and I asked who made the shot, hoping multiple people would claim it, but everyone pointed to Bubba and so I spun the goose around so everyone could see the yellow neck collar and you would have thought everyone was watching the winning run score in game 7 of the world series.  No one really payed much attention to the metal leg band at the time, so we put the goose in the blind and got set back up for the next flock.

We worked the next flock that came in and brok three geese away and they dumped into the decoys and all three stayed and joined the previous 5.  The next flock allowed us to break off just two birds which was exactly what was needed to finish off our 5 man limit, so the pressure was on for Busch Pilot and Chuck to drop the last two and it took an extra shot or three but they did their job and the mission was complete and it was just 7:50am.  A 5 man limit of geese on the 2012 Connecticut goose opener, man you could could smell the goobasa cooking in the smoker.

2012 opening day goose limit

As we were picking up and trying to get packed up and out of the field so as not to spook any geese coming in for a morning meal, one of the guys was looking over the banded goose and took the first look at the leg band and it read - Zoologisk Muesuem  Coppenhagen, Denmark.  This was obviously not the typical federal leg band that we have seen before and the excitement level grew and we could not wait to get back to the house to see what we could find out about this band.  After reviewing the federal band reporting sight and finding nothing, we did a quick google search and found a report from a New Jersey hunter that harvested a goose tagged in the same manner.  There were some links in the replies to his post asking for help and one pointed us to the European Union for Bird Ringing (http://www.euring.org/).   Where after review of their website we found a link to the European Colour-Ring Birding website (http://www.cr-birding.org/) which had links to search the ringing projects where we found two that matched the method and species of Bubba's goose.  There were two projects, one in Russia and one in Greenland.  Both projects listed contact information for the project coordinators so we sent off a couple of emails and by that evening Bubba had received a reply confirming that the banded goose he harvested was from the Greenland project.

Bubba with his West Greenland Banded Goose

The information received from the coordinator confirmed that Bubba's goose had been captured and banded as an adult female on July 23, 2008 on lake "F" in an area known as Isunngua (few of the lakes have names in this area) which was just north of the airport at Kangerlussuaq in West Greenland.  This goose had been reported as being sighted in Connecticut in November of 2008 and September of 2009 as well as back in West Greenland in 2009, 2010 and most recently in July of 2012.  Geese from this project have been reported from Canada to as far south as Virgina and as far west as Ohio. You can read more about this banding project and some of the geese from this project at:  http://greenland2011.wikispaces.com/Recoveries+and+resightings.   

Now we really are not sure how far this goose actually flew because we don't really know what flight path it took and what stops it made along the way from West Greenland this year, but the best I could come up with is approximately 2000 miles as the crow goose flies.   We may not know where the other 4 geese that were harvested in out of the flock with GNI, but you would have to think that she wasn't alone in this flock.

Remember to report all sightings and harvests of banded birds and a good place to start is the Federal band reporting website at: http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/BBL/bblretrv/

Some local Stories and Shout Outs

I haven't had much time to get in the woods so nothing to really report so I  figured I would share some local news stories that I found interesting.  Hope you enjoy some of them.


Woman Scares black bear from her deck

Now I have had to yell at a few bears while hunting to shag them away, but never from my porch or deck.  This lady is either really tough or not playing with a full deck.  The guy with the video camera is definitely not playing with a full deck.  Yikes!

Click the link below to view the video
http://www.courant.com/entertainment/viral/hc-woman-scares-away-bear-with-her-shout-20121002,0,6500388.htmlstory


New Breed of Hunter Shoots, Eats and Tells - NY Times Article

There was a great article in the NY times the other day related to hunting which was kind of shocking because normally hunting doesn't get good press around our neck of the woods, but this article was definitely positive.  The fact that it also include a few of the blogs and people that I follow made it even more special.  Have to give a shout out to Tovar Cerulli from the Mindful Carnivore for being mentioned in the article.  I've been following his blog and his progress on writing his book and his hard work is paying off and he really brings a great perspective to hunting.  Stop by and visit his blog or pick up his book.

Click the link below to read the article.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/02/books/new-breed-of-hunter-shoots-eats-and-writes.html?_r=0


Connecticut Waterfowl Stamp Artwork Winner will be represented on the 2013 stamp

Winning Artwork by Richard Clifton

With waterfowl season just around the corner many of waterfowlers have already purchased our season Federal and State waterfowl stamps and I am always amazed at the incredible talent of these artists and the incredible waterfowl creations they create.  Richard Clifton's artwork of 3 Wood Ducks on a log was chosen to be the 2013 CT waterfowl stamp and being a huge fan of wood ducks I must agree that this is a winner.

You can visit the CT DEEP Website to view all the entries and get information on the next contest by clicking the link below.
http://www.ct.gov/dep/cwp/view.asp?a=2723&q=492150&depNav_GID=1655


With the many hunting seasons that open in October across the Northeast, please remember to be safe and respect those that don't hunt and leave the outdoors better then you found it. 

Now get out and enjoy the great outdoors and fall colors and share the passion with someone!

Connecticut Hunting & Fishing Appreciation Day 2012

On September 22, 2012, the DEEP and Friends of Sessions Woods will be hosting Connecticut’s third Hunting & Fishing Appreciation Day at the Sessions Woods Wildlife Management Area in Burlington.
  
Fun activities for all ages are planned, along with educational programs and workshops about hunting and fishing. Best of all, the event is free to attend!

Why we're celebrating

Hunters and anglers have been at the forefront of the conservation movement for over 100 years. They showed their support by requesting taxes and special fees on hunting and fishing equipment to help pay for wildlife and fish management, habitat restoration, and other conservation programs through the Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration (WSFR) Program. 2012 marks the 75th anniversary of this very successful effort to conserve fish and wildlife in America. It is important to recognize the outstanding contributions that hunters and anglers have made and continue to make for fish and wildlife. Join us and celebrate 75 years of better hunting, fishing, and wildlife-related recreation through WSFR.

To find out more about activities, vendors, times and directions visit their website at:  http://www.ct.gov/dep/cwp/view.asp?a=2723&q=462388&depNav_GID=1655

Another Successful Youth Turkey Hunt

Me, Dylan and Busch Pilot with Fingers

Passinthru Outdoors is all about sharing the passion for the outdoors with others and this past weekend Busch Pilot and I had the opportunity to take a youngster out for only his second turkey hunt ever.  Earlier this week Bubba was telling us about Dylan, whose father had just been deployed and his serving his country as a member of the Air Force and that Dylan had no one to take him Turkey hunting.  Bubba was going to be out of town with his family so we didn't hesitate to say yes when asked if Busch Pilot and I would take him out for youth day here in CT.  The chance to take a youngster out for a hunt is always top on our list, but to take a youngster who's father is currently serving our great country and protecting our freedoms is definitely number one on the list.

Turkey we named Fingers who was on our hit list.

Dylan had completed his hunter safety course last spring and got his license just in time to hunt the last day of the 2011spring turkey season.  Dylan was fortunate enough to tag his first deer last fall and was really looking forward to trying his luck at spring turkey and we were excited to be part of it.  Any time we take a new hunter out to the woods, especially a youngster, it always adds a little bit of extra pressure as you always take the opportunity to teach and you want that person to see game and have a positive experience and if possible to fill a tag.  Well this hunt offered up everything we had hoped for.

Busch pilot and I spent time doing our scouting and getting an idea for what was going on and it was interesting how things changed in just one week.  The birds were broke up even more and were much more quiet.  Even their roosting habits changed. There are hens on nests and we are catching them returning to roost very late in the day.  This is why scouting on a regular basis is important to successful turkey hunts.  Friday evening before the hunt we had 6 jakes work through the farm and head off to roost on the adjoining property, the good news was we felt they would work right back on to the farm or at least we could get them to do so as they would be well within range to hear us calling.

I picked Dylan up at his house at 4:30am and we made the short drive to the farm where we parked and waited for Busch pilot to show up because stopped down the street to talk with fisherman waiting for the 6:00am start time for Connecticut's opening day of fishing season. We got our gear loaded up and headed off to the lower part of the farm which would put us close to where those jakes headed off to roost.  The first signs of light were greeted with a long distance gobble, which perked all 3 of us up.  It wasn't long after that when the next gobbler sounded off and others responded.  We had gobblers close enough that we knew we could work one and it wasn't long before Busch Pilot was working his magic and talking turkey.  We had been talking and teaching Dylan about what was going on and what we thought might happen and he was very attentive and asked some questions.  The best question was when he asked us if we should load the gun!  We got caught up in listening for birds and explaining things to Dylan that it was almost 15 minutes into legal shooting and we still hadn't loaded the shotgun.  We all had a good laugh about that one.

Check Fingers off the hit list

We had gobbles not far from us and knew they had crossed the property and were in the lower pasture of the farm we were hunting and now all we needed was a visual.  I caught the first bird moving up the field and put the binos on him and could see it was a good tom so Busch Pilot gave him a few calls and he stopped and looked right into our setup.  As he stopped to look, we noticed more birds coming in the field below him and it was the 6 jakes from the night before.  All we needed now was for one of them to get interested in the sweet sounds coming from Busch Pilot's slate call.  When that tom took two steps towards us, we knew that this was going to happen.  That tom worked our way while the jakes continued up the field and out of sight.

I had the camera running, BP was calling  and we couldn't forget about coaching Dylan who was extremely calm and ready to go.  At one point when the tom was in range BP and I had a discussion and we decided to let him keep coming to the decoy to offer up a closer shot and the Tom obliged.  When he got to the jake decoy Dylan had the gun up and a bead on him and when we gave Dylan the okay to take the safety off and take his shot.  When the Remington 870 20 gauge barked that tom flipped over and Dylan had his first turkey on the ground.  I think Busch Pilot and I were way more excited at first but it didn't take long for Dylan to join in the celebration.  We exchanged high fives and hugs and let our adrenaline calm down and then sent Dylan out to retrieve his longbeard.

Dylan brought the bird back over to the blind and we looked it over, filled out his tag and took some pictures before breaking down the blind and packing up the decoys.  Dylan's first bird was a two year bird weighing 20lbs and had a 9" beard and had just incredible color.  His bird was also one of the birds on our hit list known as Fingers and there were plenty of folks in our crew hoping to claim his as their own, but not a one was disappointed in the news that Dylan shot fingers.  Matter of fact, everyone was extremely happy and excited for him, even my daughter who held out last weekend in hopes of getting a poke at Fingers.

Dylan with his first turkey - 20lbs 9" beard

 Just as we made it back to the trucks, some friends showed up to check out Dylan's first bird and offer up congrats for a job well done. We then headed off to Busch Pilot's house to clean Dylan's bird and call it  a day.  Dylan plans on mounting the tail and beard and I hope that every time he looks at it he remembers this hunt and thinks about how he can share the passion with someone new.  Because in the end, it's not about the trophies on the wall or the filled tags, but the memories of sharing the passion for the shooting sports with someone else.


Congrats Dylan!