This coming Saturday marks a day that many hunters dream about all year long. The Central Deer Season here in NC opens the woods up to all blackpowder hunters.

   We won’t get into the debate over “traditional” and “modern” blackpowder hunting today because I feel that regardless of what you decide to shoot, you have one shot to make count and that in itself is a major accomplishment for some just starting out in blackpowder. I was one who started out knowing nothing about blackpowder hunting. I browsed the gunrack at a local shop and decided on a cheap inline combo, scope included. With out too much detail, this was a BIG MISTAKE on my part.

   It didn’t take me long after getting home and shooting a few rounds for me to realize that this gun I had purchased was a S.O.B. to clean to say the least.  I managed to get the gun sighted in, cleaned properly, and was on the stand opening morning. As luck would have it, I managed to take a young buck that opening day. After all the excitement and field dressing was over, I quickly frowned at the thought of having to clean this gun again.  I used this gun two more times and took another deer with it that week. Two deer opening week, self taught blackpowder hunter, I was a happy camper. I was hooked on learning more about blackpowder hunting, and after a little more research I found that there were guns out there that were much easier to clean and that by itself would make my blackpowder days much more enjoyable.  Read the rest of this entry »

  I was sent this link a few minutes ago by a friend of mine. Of course the photo is small and the “full story” isn’t available yet online but there is an article coming out of The Forest-Blade down in Swainsboro, Ga. stating that an 891lb feral hog has been killed. I’ll try my best to post any new information that becomes available about this hog. Be sure to check out Phillip over at The Hog Blog because I’m sure he’ll grab any new info on it as well. Till then you can see the small photo and read a very short piece of the story here. (The full story is now available at the link)

   I can’t begin to tell you when the last time I had rain up on this small hill here in the Piedmont of NC. The ground has been past dry, the leaves have been falling in the yard since sometime back around the first of September due to the lack of rain. Several different post have been done about the drought here in the southeast the past few months or so. Yesterday evening that finally changed. I’m not exactly sure on total amounts as of yet, but, it was a nice steady rain overnight and a few downpours throughout the morning here. Hopefully we can pick up a little bit more before this system moves on to the north. Now, if the folks out in California could get hand from above, things would start looking a little better for this country.

   A new law signed by Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell back on June 30th now makes it legal for PA sportsmen to use dogs during the Fall Turkey season there. The dogs are not allowed to capture or kill the wild turkeys but are permitted to flush, scatter, chase and even track. This is the first time dogs have been allowed in any big game hunting  in PA.  The new law does not appear in the 2007-2008 Regulation Digest due to the timing that the law was signed.

Read the rest of this entry »

   The lack of water has caused the governor of Georgia to ask President Bush for help in easing regulations that require Georgia to send water downstream to Alabama and Florida. Tom over at The Black Bear Blog did a story last week and also one this morning about Georgia and it’s water problems. Being that Tom has covered both stories very well, I thought I’d add a twist to the subject this morning and show some readers a few photos I’ve taken while on the Chattahoochee River in the last few years. As you’ll see, some of the photos are taken when water was of no concern to residents of Georgia.

Photos on next page Read the rest of this entry »

  I talk occasionally back and forth through emails with a few fellow deer hunters in Texas. With the lack of rain we’ve had here in North Carolina and the surplus of the wet stuff that Texas has recieved we’ve had alot conversation of lately. They are telling me how to survive the lack of rain, and I’m giving them a few reasons why the deer may not be hitting their corn stations. ACORNS, ACORNS, ACORNS, was my answer.

   Turns out the abundance of rain has really helped the oaks and just about any nut producing tree in the state. I hear pecans are doing well, and the deer are leaving the corn in areas where an acorn can be had. I confirmed my thoughts by finding this article today which is an overall story of how the water has effected Texas trees, and wildlife.

ARTICLE

  

  Well it appears PETA is still full force trying to convince the world to stop fishing. Check out this article about hanging people in the streets in one California city. ARTICLE

“It’s the same whether it be human flesh or the flesh of a fish,” said Mike Brazell, a PETA official who was watching but not dangling. “The only difference is, we choose to put these hooks through our skin, while the fish don’t have a choice.”

Heres something PETA might want to think about, if we don’t get any rain soon here in the south, there will be no fish to “save”. Reckon you folks could rally up some water for us? Now there’s something worth fighting for!!

  This is what Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson had to say to The National Park Service concerning a controversial decision to auction off The Christmas Mountains. This is a touchy subject to say the least. I’ll leave you all with a few quotes from Patterson and his spokesperson.

  

“As he has stated in the past, Commissioner Patterson … would not be willing to sell the Christmas Mountains to the National Park Service if it would mean that there would never be public hunting allowed on the property,” Jim Suydam, Patterson’s spokesman, said in a statement.

“The National Park Service prohibits hunting and enforces an unconstitutional ban on the personal possession of firearms,” Suydam said. “Commissioner Patterson’s message to Superintendent Wellman was simple: No hunting, no firearms, no deal.”

You can read more about this issue concerning The Christmas Mountains here.

  A recent study has shown that the barred owl is quite at home in Charlotte. Barred owls are known for needing large forest to survive but according to the study conducted by The Carolina Raptor Center, the owls are doing great in urban Charlotte.

  An ole’ owl can really make the woods sound off with some serious tunes once he/she gets to “hootin’ and a hollerin’.” Whats even more amazing than the tremendous voices they have, is watching one of these large birds fly through a forest like a seasoned fighter pilot, dodging limbs and trees.

   I’ve encountered several owls in the woods while hunting. One particular story that sticks out is one morning after getting settled into my deerstand just before light getting ready for the morning hunt, I had an owl “swoop” through the trees in close proximity. He/She let out the famous “Hoo,Hoo,Too-HOOOOO”. As if that wasn’t enough to make my heart jump, I was unaware that I had a flock of  Turkeys roosted near by. Anyone that has had a flock of roosted Turkeys spook nearby knows the feeling. I’m sure glad there were no cameras on me that morning because I could’ve passed for someone who thought the sky was falling. It sounded like every treelimb and pinecone in the woods was falling all at once. I never actually saw the owl or the turkeys that morning but I’m almost certain I got spooked worse than the turkeys did!!

Charlotte Owls

   Several months back I did a post about a bounty program proposal good for $5,000 to Johnston County, NC hunters that killed coyotes. I never heard if the plan went through or not but I stumbled across a much larger scale bounty program that have some officials saying “It sounds like it should make sense, but frankly, it just doesn’t work.”

“A big part of the animal damage control effort involves aerial hunting of coyotes, and that program is under review as the result of a July 30 crash of a state plane. The pilot walked away with minor injuries and the gunner had a gash in his head after a crash landing while shooting coyotes.Game, Fish and Parks Secretary Jeff Vonk said the review is not yet complete, but the department is looking at the possibility of contracting with a pilot rather than using a state plane carrying state employees.Most of Monday’s discussion focused on questions by lawmakers on whether the current program is an efficient use of money. Some wondered whether the old bounty system should be resurrected.”

   On a statewide level, I feel that hunters and trappers could put a dent in the coyote population, but, when things are trying to be done at a localized level, it makes a bounty program hardly worth talking about. That was the case with the bounty program proposed by The Johnston County Farm Bureau here in NC. It simply would’nt work in our state.  Moose Droppings had this to say about my previous article concerning the bounty.

   “I’m not sure how well the bounty program will work especially when there is 99 other counties not doing it. I suspect some dead yotes from those counties will make it to Johnston County for the bounty. A better idea would be to invest in some classes to teach the hunters of Johnston County how to hunt and trap theses critters to keep them in check.”

I guess we’ll have to wait and see if a similiar program comes to surface before the years end in here in North Carolina, in the mean time, you can read the full article about South Dakota and the coyote problems these people are facing here.