Gun shy dogs.  Can it be fixed?

Can a dog that is “gun shy” be fixed?  I can tell you that answer solely depends on the dog.  I have had dogs come in because of being gun shy and the owners asking me for help on fixing the problem.

The first question that must be asked is, “Why do dogs become gun shy in the first place?”  The fear of guns and/or loud noises comes from that initial blast they hear the very first time.  It might be a 12 gauge shot gun shot over their head, a thunder and lightning storm, nail guns when putting a roof on, or what I dread, fireworks.  Fireworks are the number one reason a dog becomes fearful and they can make a dog shy of guns for life. I have had many people tell me stories about their dog that ran away because of fireworks. They will hide under you or they will sometimes run for the house- anywhere they might feel safe.

Fireworks can just scare the heck out of dogs. I have had people tell me all about their experiences with fireworks.  One that I remember is a guy that had his dog at a party and it started to get late in the evening when unexpected fireworks were shot off.  The dog went under the chair and was shaking with his tail tucked under him.  I’m sure the dog was thinking, “What in the world is that! We are under attack! The sky is falling- we must hide!”

Some of these occurrences can happen to any of us; unexpected weather, being unaware of fireworks that are about to go off, or nail guns going off on the neighbor’s house when you are not around.  Anywhere you go there might be loud noises. And of course, it usually happens to dogs at a young age.  But, it can happen to dogs at an older age as well.

I have heard many different stories: some of which are that they (owners) took their dog out and just wanted to know if the dog was gun shy or not.  So, they took the dog to a trap range or the worst- a rifle range.

When I would ask them, “Why?”

They often respond, “… to see if the dog is gun shy.”

With that I usually think to myself, “Well, if he isn’t gun shy now, you may have just made him gun shy.”

To make it worse, I have had people tell me when they go to these places they sometimes leave their dog in the truck or crate.  Now, the dog hears all those gun shots and frantically wonders, “What’s going on out there?!”  And of course, he/she gets scared of the gun shots. Really a lot of what is happening is that there are multiple gun shots that go off at one time and the poor dog cannot relate them to anything.  But, let me add taking the dog out of the crate and getting close to the gun fire is also not a good thing to do.

Another story I hear is, “I took my dog out to see if she is gun shy so we went out in the field for the first time, a bird got up and I shot it along with my buddies (multiple shots not a good thing).  And when I looked around, my dog was gone.”  So, when they went back to the truck, there she is hiding underneath it.

I had a guy here at the Highlands Hunt Club do that and he followed up by putting the frightened dog in the truck.  He then went and finished the hunt with his buddies, while he was very disappointed in his dog’s performance to say the least.  When the hunt was over, they came into the clubhouse and, of course, the dog had his head down and tail tucked under him.  He was not a happy camper.  I was called in by the owner, TJ, to talk to this gentleman and he told me the story of what happened.

I told the man, “Look, I have had dogs come in for being gun shy before and I am batting about a .500 avg.  Which means only 50% of the time, the dog comes out of this.”  I asked this fellow to leave the dog with me for a couple weeks if he could and he said, “Yes, I can do that.”

I had the dog doing ok for two weeks. I told him to give me another two weeks and he did.  So, after a month the dog was doing really well, so I told him my report.  I told him to leave me with the dog for another month and he did.  When he came to see his dog, he was impressed with the dog and how much he had changed.

We went out to that same field and shot some birds with multiple shots- no problem.  The dog did great work.   He (the owner) was very happy to say the least.

The question now is, “How do we prevent all of this from happening to your dog?”  I would say the best thing to do as far as fireworks and thunderstorms is to keep your young dog confined in the basement of the house, or in the garage.   Put some music on fairly loud to help drown out the noise.  If you take your dog to a clay course, take them there at a safe distance, which is 300 yards plus.  You want to play with your dog like you normally do. You want to let them hear the shot, but not as loud as if you were up close.  As time goes on, you can ease in closer. Depending on the dog, this could take as much time as three to four weeks.  Remember, one very important thing in training dogs is repetition, repetition, repetition.

As a gun dog trainer, I like to see the dog going after birds. I want them to associate the gun fire with the birds.  Once I am convinced that the dog likes the birds enough, I am then ready to add the gun fire.  You do not want to start with a 12 gauge over their head.  I like to start with a starter blank pistol at a safe distance.  This is a two person presentation, one person gets the dog’s attention and throws the bird.  The other person shoots the pistol at a far distance.  I like to start with the guy throwing the bird and sending the dog in the same area with the other person at a safe distance with a shot. I start with just a retrieve from the dog then start with a shot as the dog is going after the bird.  The dog is now focused and thinking more about the bird not and not as much about the shot.  I like to do 5 to 10 of those at a time.  After I feel that the dog had some success with it we move on.  It’s very important not to do too much at once.

After a week or two of this, I will move on to doing some nice easy short grass marks where the dog will have success and easily find the birds.  I have the assistant shoot the gun and then throw the bird as I hold the dog.  I then release the dog for the bird.  This is called a mark bird that is thrown so the dog can see where the dead bird fell.  I shorten the distance between me the handler of the dog and the size of the gun is determined after the reaction to the first week or two of the first step.  I will again do this 5 to 10 times depending on the reaction of the dog.  I will work the gunner in closer with time and repetition.  Then repeat after time with a .410, 20 gauge, and finally a 12 gauge.

Each dog is different with becoming comfortable and confident around gun fire.  So there is not a set formula or time to put on this.  Like I said, this slow and methodical practice is what to do and determines what the dog will give you.  The key to this training and any dog training is to be patient and don’t expect a lot all at once.   Remember to use repetition, have patience, and make sure it is fun for the dog.  If the session seems to be getting too long or you get frustrated, it is time to stop.

The post Gun shy dogs.  Can it be fixed? appeared first on Morning Moss.

Hank Shaw’s Hunt, Gather, Cook

Mixed Bag Chowder

Check out Hank Shaw’s new cook book titled “

“Buck, Buck, Moose” when looking for your next recipe! Hank Shaw is a UW-Madison graduate, that has written several cookbooks that embrace the hunter, angler and everything outdoors! Check out his recipe below!Click here for more information!

The post Hunt, Gather, Cook appeared first on Morning Moss.

Three Japanese Invaders

By Lawanda Jungwirth

Our country’s earliest invasive plants originated mostly in Europe as our ancestors brought them from their homelands to grow in the new world.  Today, invaders come from the world over as they are imported intentionally as nursery stock to decorate our landscapes or are inadvertently in put soil along with those landscape plants.

Three of today’s worst invaders originated in Japan.  One of the three is already pervasive in Wisconsin, the second is big trouble in just over half of our counties, and the third is knocking at the door of our southern border.

Japanese Knotweed is a monster and it’s all over Wisconsin in riparian and wetland areas in sun or shade.  It’s a very large plant; growing up to ten feet tall with roots up to six feet deep.  Horizontally growing underground stems called rhizomes spread up to 65 feet in each direction from the parent plant sprouting along their length.  Remember  from Geometry class?  [Area of a circle equals pi (3.14159265359) times radius squared].  Anyway, using that formula, one plant can cover 13,267 square feet.  That’s almost a third of an acre!

The erect, arching stems resemble bamboo.  Stems are round, smooth and hollow with reddish-brown blotches.  You’re most likely to notice knotweed in August and September when huge upright plumes of creamy white or light green flowers bloom from the ends of the stems.

Japanese knotweed prevents streamside tree regeneration, increases soil erosion and interrupts nutrient cycling (look it up if you aren’t sure what that means).  It spreads easily.  Small pieces of root washed downstream can re-sprout into whole new plants.  It also spreads by seed.  The shiny black seeds have wings that help them float downstream.

Besides its intimidating size that physically crowds out native plants by stealing light, nutrients, water and ground space, knotweed’s roots emit chemicals that are toxic to surrounding vegetation.  It’s a real bully.

What can be done?  Small infestations can be pulled by hand when soil is moist and loose, making sure to get every piece of root.  Persistent cutting (for several years) can also control small patches.  With either method, make sure every pulled or cut piece is collected, bagged and landfilled.

Herbicide treatment works best if plants are cut and treated when they are 4-5 feet tall and treated again when the regrowth is 3 feet tall.  For detailed information on using herbicides on knotweed, get information from the DNR at http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/invasives/fact/japaneseknotweed.html.

Japanese knotweed is Restricted by Wisconsin’s DNR.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Japanese Hedgeparsley is a problem in an area that covers a wide swath from extreme northeast Wisconsin down the east side of the state and across the southern counties.  It looks like a lot of other white-flowering plants, being similar to Queen Anne’s Lace, wild chervil, caraway, poison hemlock, and other hedgeparsleys.  The others are all invasive, or likely will become so in the future.  So, mistakenly eradicating any of them will be a positive.

Japanese hedgeparsley is a biennial plant.  In its first year, it develops finely divided fern-like leaves that hug the ground in a rosette.  The leaves remain green under the snow.  The second year, tiny white flowers in loose flat-topped clusters bloom in mid to late summer.  Each flower produces a pair of bristle-covered fruits that attach to fur or clothing to travel to new locations where they plant themselves.

Hedgeparsley invades forest edges, fields, fencerows, roadsides and disturbed areas.  It doesn’t much care whether its seeds land in sun or shade as they easily germinate anywhere.

Non-chemical control isn’t too difficult.  If the soil is loose, young plants can be pulled.  Older plants can be cut or mowed while flowering.  If any brown seeds are present, the cut material should be bagged and landfilled to avoid spreading seeds.

For information on chemical herbicide treatment of Japanese hedgeparsley, see:  http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/invasives/fact/japanesehedgeparsley.html

The DNR lists hedgeparsley as Restricted in Adams, Brown, Calumet, Columbia, Crawford, Dane, Dodge, Door, Fond du Lac, Grant, Green, Green Lake, Iowa, Jefferson, Juneau, Kenosha, Kewaunee, La Crosse, Lafayette, Langlade, Manitowoc, Marathon, Marinette, Marquette, Menominee, Milwaukee, Monroe, Oconto, Outagamie, Ozaukee, Portage, Racine, Richland, Rock, Sauk, Shawano, Sheboygan, Vernon, Walworth, Washington, Waukesha, Waupaca, Waushara, and Winnebago counties.  It is Prohibited in all other counties.

As far as we know, Japanese Stilt Grass hasn’t entered Wisconsin, but it will soon follow in the footsteps of many other invaders that have crept northward from our neighbors to the south.  It first came to the United States in packing material for porcelain that arrived in Tennessee in 1919.  It didn’t begin its northward progression for many years, but now it’s racing toward us like wildfire.

Stilt grass looks like a tiny bamboo plant, growing only 12-24 inches tall.  It has smooth 2-3” pale green, lance-shaped leaves with a silvery mid-vein reminiscent of willow leaves.  Leaves turn purple in fall.

Stilt grass is taking over wetlands, streambanks, ditches, forests and floodplains.  It out-competes native plants wherever it grows, whether in sun or shade. The plants are prolific seed producers – 1,000 per plant – and they remain viable for 3-5 years.  Seeds are transported by water, in soil and gravel, and on the feet of animals and people.

Shallow fibrous roots make stilt grass relatively easy to pull.  It can also be cut at peak bloom in mid-September, before seeds form.  Chemical herbicides for grasses will control stilt grass.  Follow label instructions exactly.

Japanese stilt grass is Prohibited by Wisconsin’s DNR.

If you see Japanese stilt grass in Wisconsin, the DNR wants to know about it.  Find information about how to report it at http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/invasives/report.html or call (608) 267-5066.

DNR DEFINITIONS

Restricted:  It is illegal to transport, transfer, or introduce the plant without a permit.  You are strongly encouraged to eradicate restricted plants from your property.

Prohibited:  It is illegal to possess, transport, transfer, or introduce the plant without a permit.  You are required to eradicate prohibited plants from your property.

The post Invaders In Your Neck Of The Woods appeared first on Morning Moss.

Want to plant a SUPER perennial crop?

By: Steve Jordan

Many hunters don’t have time to mess around with annual plants each and every year.  They are pinched for time between work, weather and family commitments. 

Planting a good perennial clover mix has been very popular through the years.  In my experience, the first and second year on the clover mix is pretty good for attracting deer.  Starting the third year and after, it is marginal at best.  This is due to the plant itself getting old; some of the original varieties have disappeared and grasses have taken over and weakened the existing plants.  I understand and have tried the expensive herbicide for clover weed control.  When I sprayed with the herbicide, it killed only some of the grasses, but it also stunted and weakened the clover, making it even more undesirable for the deer to eat.

One way to get around that problem is to have three strips of clover growing.  The first year you plant clover in one of the strips.  The other two strips can be planted with any annual plants.  The second year, plant another strip in clover leaving the third strip with another variety of annuals.  In the third year, plant the final third of your clover plot in clover.  Then you can work up your first strip and plant a Round-up ready soybean or corn to work on weed control for that year.  Then keep rotating this plan every year to keep your clover weed free and more attractive to deer.

This strategy does work pretty well if you have the time to commit to this plan, but it still goes back to the fact that clover is not one of the most sought after food sources for deer.  Soybean plants and pods, along with young winter rye will attract more deer every time. 

Now what if you had a perennial plant that was as sought after for deer as much as the soybeans and winter rye?  What if this perennial plant was Round-up ready?  What if it was extremely hardy and easy to grow?  As long as you have good drainage and good sunlight, this plant will thrive.  I made my first test plot with this plant over ten years ago and now have acres planted with it. 

This plant is a high protein Round-up ready alfalfa.  It has a tiny seed similar to clover and can be planted the same way.  Work up your soil and level it as much as possible because you may be mowing this in the future.  Broadcast the seed on the surface and culti-pack the field.

If sprayed and fertilized properly, it will be your most sought after crop for deer.  With lower deer densities, it may have to be mowed once or twice in the summer.  I let the local farmer cut the first crop and then I keep it trimmed the rest of the growing season to keep it young and tasty throughout summer and fall.  I know of people who have this alfalfa planted in high deer density areas and the deer keep it mowed all year.

One drawback is the seed is very expensive.  However if you divide the cost up for the ten years or more that this field will last, it comes out to less than most annual seeds purchased in a 10 year period.  With this crop you are not having to work up the soil every year and having to count on timely rains to get a new crop to germinate.  An established alfalfa plant has extremely deep roots (up to 15 feet), so it handles droughts very well.

A 50-pound bag of seed can be purchased at most farmer co-ops or your local independent food plot suppliers.  The suppliers I have dealt with will not break up a 50-pound bag.  Fifty pounds will plant three to four acres and will cost approximately $450.  Again, this crop is low maintenance and you can probably have your local farmer mow once or twice a year and you should be able to keep it young and plush from there.  Mowing should be done as soon as the purple blossoms just start to show.  I try to mow it at about 4 inches high.  This way the deer still have browse even after mowing. 

A farmer with conventional alfalfa gets 3-4 years out of his field until the grasses start taking over.  With Round-up ready alfalfa, the grasses will not take over, and if you do a good job of spraying, you should have soil showing in any winter-kill blotches.  Small puddles can freeze and thaw over the course of winter causing these areas to die off.  These areas can be successfully replanted just by broadcasting seeds on the bare.  I was told by a farmer that you can’t repair winter-kill areas in alfalfa, but I have successfully done this myself.  By the following fall, I could not tell where the previous winter damage was.  I think conventional alfalfa that gets areas of winter-kill has grasses immediately taking over, so to reseed without working the ground up would not be an option.

There is a 7-acre conventional alfalfa field next to me.  It is rare to see a deer eating in that field.  My 3-acre field will have over a dozen deer eating in it daily.  My alfalfa has a higher protein level, is well-fertilized and is properly mowed to be a greater attraction for deer.

This crop is amazing.  The deer eat on it all spring, summer and fall, and dig through the snow in winter to get at it.  When you add in the fact that this is an easy to plant seed, is a healthy attractant for the deer, and with easy maintenance will last ten years or more, it is a natural to include it in your food plots.

The post Want to plant a SUPER perennial crop? appeared first on Morning Moss.

The High Road for Panfish

By: Jason Mitchell

The author Jason Mitchell believes that anglers can sometimes target some of the biggest crappie and sunfish by fishing high in the water column right under the ice.

Panfish can suspend anywhere in the water column and a big equation for locating fish and putting together a pattern is dialing in that productive zone.  Before electronics, anglers often fished down through the entire water column.  The edge that sonar gives us today is that we can speed up the process of getting back down to fish which makes us more efficient. 

What also happens, as we race back down to a school that might be 15 feet below the transducer, is we miss the high fish or leave fish that might not show up well on electronics.

The reason high fish are so often overlooked today is because when we use sonar, the cone angle is often merely a few feet wide, at most, for the top six feet of the water column.  If visibility allows, anglers can often sight high fish but there are also a few adjustments that enable your Vexilar to be more effective when looking for fish that are in some cases a few feet below your boots.  The first step is stretching that cone angle as much as possible.  Drill the holes as straight down as possible and hang the transducer as high as possible in the center of the hole. 

Many anglers will actually use the foam leveling device as an arm to hang the transducer in the center of the hole, often just a few inches under the water.  As simple as it sounds, keep the jig or presentation right below the transducer.  Keep the transducer in the middle of the hole and keep the rod tip right above the transducer so that the presentation is also hanging right below the transducer.  Remember that the cone angle can often be extremely small so if you are hanging the transducer on one side of the hole and you are fishing down the other side, you might be off by as much as six inches, which can make a big difference for seeing your presentation and watching for fish when your cone angle might only be a foot wide a few feet under the ice. 

Sonar is fast and nimble where you can run and gun easily, but underwater cameras, like the Vexilar Scout can also be really deadly for figuring out high fish.  Panning with an underwater camera is a great way to look for fish that are hanging below the ice, perhaps the best way.  For actually catching fish, hang the lens so that it down views and lower the lens in the hole far enough where you can essentially sight fish without needing a dark house. 

Some areas offer great sight fishing opportunities and if water visibility allows, sight fishing inside a blacked out “Fish Trap” is educational, productive and enjoyable.  Over the past ten years, I have been gravitating toward smaller diameter augers when targeting panfish but sight fishing shallow water and high fish is still one scenario where I really like drilling a bigger hole, as I can peer and see to the sides of the hole so much better. 

There are bodies of water where anglers are really in-tune to fishing high in the water column and anticipate this pattern.  Thus these anglers are set up to capitalize on these fish.  However, in other regions, some anglers have trouble fishing in the top tier of the water column, often the result of the pattern not being as prominent.   

There are many situations however, when high, under the ice patterns shine, especially for big fish.  I have my own opinions and theories, but I believe we often find some of the biggest panfish right under the ice. The bigger fish feel more confident and safe, where as the small fish don’t seem to like to leave the security of either the school, weeds or bottom and be silhouetted.  Big fish also get to you faster, so if there is a pack of 20 fish swimming ten feet down and they rise up to investigate you… guess who gets to you first? 

That said, some of the best baits for exploring these patterns are often larger profiled soft plastics that not only have a tendency to flip the trigger of big crappie, in particular, but can also be seen from a distance below.  My confidence bait right now for big crappie high in the water column is a Makki Plastic Jamei rigged onto a Clam Tackle Duck Bill Drop Jig.  I like how this combination swims in the water.  The new Clam Tackle Cavier jig is another great shallow water crappie killer that really bounces nice when worked and gives soft plastics a nice vibration and action.

Crappie are notorious for riding right under the ice but there are also times when we have seen sunfish and perch ride this highflying pattern as well.  Pressure ridges and ice heaves often attract fish.  Frozen weed fragments hanging from the ceiling of ice are also sweet spots.  Not every day, necessarily, do you find fish a foot or two under the ice but it happens enough that it should definitely be a pattern to check as you search for fish.  When fish seemingly disappear from the water column as the day progresses or don’t show up in the usual locations, take the high road to some of the biggest panfish caught each winter.

The post Take The High Road When Panfishing appeared first on Morning Moss.

Are you looking to get a hunting dog for the New Year?

So, you are thinking about getting a puppy?  The first question you might ask yourself is, “Is this a good time of the year to get a puppy?”   In my opinion, the answer is, “Yes.”

The reasons why I believe this is one of the best times of the year to get a puppy is because you will have the next  four months of  winter in Wisconsin to house break your dog and teach him/her some basic obedience. It’s the perfect time to teach some house manners such as, “no counter surfing, no jumping, chewing and sit.”

The winter snow has helped me house break many puppies over the years. One reason is that puppies typically do not want to be out in the snow and cold, just like you and me.  Meaning, when a pup hits the cold snow, he or she wants to do their duty right away and get back to the warmth of home.  They usually do not spend time sniffing around and checking things out like they would in the warmer spring or summer months.

Another positive aspect of getting a new pup now is that after he/she has mastered most of the basics during the cold months of winter, spring is a great time to teach your pup how to swim.   Your introduction to water and on how to swim, will set the foundation for the rest of his/her swimming life.  If that pup has a poor experience the first time you take them swimming, you may have an uphill battle for the rest of their life.  The best case scenario is to have water that he or she can walk in to.  If not, you may have a place with an indoor pool that you can get in with them.   In this case, take your pup for a brief swim holding them up on their backside.   They should feel comfortable and you will want to try and make it a fun, enjoyable experience for them.  If you sense a lot of hesitation, you may want to come back to it at a different time.

Another thought regarding swimming is that you may want to wait until a hot summer day when your dog is panting. Or, sometimes if you partner a pup with an adult dog that already swims and they see that dog get in the water they will want to join in on the fun!  If your dog wants to retrieve, try having him or her retrieve a bumper within a short distance, close to the edge so that they can get to the bumper quickly and come back to shore.

The truly best part about getting a pup this time of year is it allows for a great window for training all summer at that 6 to 10 months age. This is the best time to train your young dog for hunting.  When the fall months hit, you should have a great foundation.  With the right training, the dog should already know many of the necessary commands and have the strength, endurance and ability to hunt well enough for you.

Another aspect to consider in this decision is whether it is better to look for a male or female puppy.  I have been asked this question many times by people looking to get a pup.  Like anything in life, there are pros and cons to both.  Let’s take a look at the cons first.

We will start with a male, the cons of the male is he typically likes to mark his territory a lot; which means lifting his leg and urinating on anything and everything that they think needs a personalized mark of urine on it.   They also typically want to wander around more than the female.   The intact male also may have more of a tendency to have a dominating attitude towards other males.

Now there are also many pros to the male pup.  One of the pros are that there are no heat cycles to worry about.  The three weeks of spotting for a female can make life a little tough around the house.  Also, typically males are bolder, more confident and more aggressive hunters.  Basically saying that they have more drive and ruggedness than their female counterparts do.  I would have to say that the majority of the men that bring in a hunting dog to the Highlands Hunt Club are males. I believe one of the reasons for this is because they look at them as their “hunting buddy” and a friend if you will and maybe that is just a little more natural and masculine bonding with a male than a female. Not sure about that, but most male hunters seem to prefer male hunting buddies.

Now let’s take a look at some cons for the female pup. One obvious one is that there are heat cycles that you will have to deal with. If you know you are not going to have a litter, I would suggest getting her spayed in a timely fashion.   In this case, I would talk to your vet to see what the best age is to get this done.  Another con to getting a female is she is more likely be sensitive or submissive.   This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but could be depending on the amount and style of hunting you do.  However, with that sensitivity and submissiveness, females can be more eager to please you their owner, than their male counterpart.

There are definitely some pros to having a female.  One of them is that females don’t have the same drive to mark their territory. This leads to the fact that they typically are a little easier to house break because they do not leave some in the tank for another marking.  For the most part, they are not aggressive to other dogs or to people, but all dogs are different.  As far as temperament and trainability, females can be an easier option.  Some of the best dogs I trained were female dogs. 

Finding the right pup is sometimes the biggest hunt with in itself.  Knowing what you want before you start shopping will help make the process a memorable one that you and your family deserve.   Here is a list of questions that I would suggest asking your breeders when shopping for a new puppy:

1. Are there any health risks on the parents?
2. What are the parent’s temperament like?  Are you able to meet both the parents?
3. Hips -elbows x-ray on both parents, are they certified “good or excellent” or “poor or fair”
4. EIC are they clear carrier or affected
5. Eye certified are they clear on that.
6. CNM clear
7. Take a look at the Pedigree, are they AKC registered?
8. What are the sizes of the parents?

Now that I have given you my opinion of the best time of year to get a new puppy, some pros and cons on whether to get a male or female, and some suggested questions while you are shopping for your new puppy, I hope you enjoy your puppy shopping experience and have a great start to 2017!

The post A Hunting Dog For The New Year appeared first on Morning Moss.

“TOM’S TOP TEN” FIRST ICE SAFETY CHECKLIST

BY: TOM GRUENWALD

The process begins nearly imperceptibly.

As autumn progresses, daily lows begin steadily dropping, eventually falling below the freezing mark.  Observant ice anglers, noticing frost appearing across shaded lawns, roof tops and windshields on chilly mornings, sense pending change and respond by monitoring local waters.

They know what’s coming.  Although it takes time, surface temperatures are cooling, and upon reaching that critical point—much like a kernel of popcorn exposed to just the right temperature in hot oil–one exposed water molecule will suddenly pop and swell, instantly transforming from a liquid to a solid…then another, followed by another and yet another as a chain reaction spreads across the surface, forming a sticky, cohesive bonding mass that steadily begins to congeal and strengthen.

The next frosty morning, ice anglers are rewarded with the sight they’ve been longing for:  That unmistakable, glassy surface atop a frozen lake; an icy promise welcoming the season ahead.

Given the right conditions and some time, a solid coating strong enough to support the weight of anglers outfitted with gear will eventually form…but just in case an unforeseen rendezvous with a thin or weak spot is encountered, the smartest always have several first ice safety items readily available amid their chosen armament.

Here are the ones included on my checklist.

1. Personal Flotation Device

It stands to reason these are required by law when navigating open water, so why not when traversing an unpredictable crust of ice coating an icy bath below?

When negotiating first ice, especially on unfamiliar waters, wearing a PFD is a prudent choice—and note this need not be a traditional, bulky bright orange ‘horse collar’ life preserver.  Stylish, warm, comfortable and fully functional U.S. Coast Guard approved PFD’s and float suits are now available from well established companies—and wearing one constitutes a choice that could save your life.

2. Ice Cleats

Since first ice is often smooth and slickened by thin coatings of snow, slush or water generated by drilled holes—ice cleats are nearly a necessity.

While cleats won’t provide infallible traction, they’re a good preventative measure against avoiding embarrassing, painful ending slips or worse yet, serious injuries due to a fall.

3. Ice Picks

Should the unthinkable happen and you break through, ice picks provide the means to establish a firm grip on the edge of solid ice, ensuring your head remains above water while awaiting help, or provided you’re endowed with suitable strength, the ability to independently pull yourself from the water.

4. Whistle

A whistle not only creates awareness by sounding out an attention demanding alarm, but also helps rescuers locate you during periods of limited visibility due to reduced light, blowing snow or fog.

5. Rescue Throw Rope

Like a PFD, I’m a strong proponent of seeing throw ropes become more commonly used.  Should someone break through, a throw rope can quickly be extended and used to pull victims back to safety.

6. Light Source

Bright L.E.D. lights can be used to locate the edge of the ice, or help rescuers find you during periods of low light or poor visibility.

7. Cell Phone

A FULLY CHARGED “sport” or waterproof cell phone, placed within a water resistant case and stored in a sealed plastic bag to protect sensitive internal electronics–is strongly recommended.  Besides providing a means of communicating the need for help, lighting and GPS functions can be used as critically time-saving measures to direct rescuers to your exact location.

8. Bath Towel and Extra Set of Clothes Sealed in a Waterproof Bag

This may seem extreme, but faced with an emergency, having the ability to strip wet clothing, dry off and replace those wet garments with dry ones could easily be an action that saves your life–or that of another.

9. Small Portable Hub Shelter and Portable Heater

Although early season temperatures often don’t mandate use of a portable ice shack to provide fishing comfort, they do offer a distinct secondary benefit:  Shelter from the elements.

In an emergency, minimal time is required to snap up a small hub style shelter, and most of these can be warmed quickly with even a modest sized propane heater.  Compact, lightweight hub models like HT’s 2-Person Insta-Shack fit the bill perfectly.

10. Nebulus Emergency Flotation Device

As the ice thickens and you begin traveling further out, consider a Nebulus.  These self-inflating rubber rafts provide immediate flotation—and not just for anglers!

Strapped to the handlebars of a snowmobile or ATV, the Nebulus E.F.D. will support your machine–plus as many as three passengers for a load totaling up to 1,000 pounds–potentially saving both lives and the expenses associated with retrieving a submerged vehicle.

Remember, ice fishing success is based on playing the game smart—and that process begins by playing it safe.

The post Dangerous Ice! appeared first on Morning Moss.

Reasons to Hire a Guide on Your Next Steelhead Fishing Vacation

Hiring a guide for your fishing trip can lead to a lot more success.

Steelhead anglers tend to be a do it yourselfer kind of people, hence they’ve earned the title angler. It’s reserved for the folks who bait their own hooks, tie their own knots and flies and most of all set their own hooks. But trying to enjoy a vacation and learn a new fishing area can be a complete waste of time and money. Even the best, most experienced fly fisherman hire a guide when they’re in a new place.

1. You’re on vacation so you might as well enjoy yourself

Getting to know all the hot spots of  a river can literally take years. We’ve spent the last 15 years getting to know the great steelhead rivers of South Vancouver Island and sometimes they still throw us a curveball. Generally the best fishing holes stay the best fishing holes year after year and this is where a guide can help you out immensely. When you’re on vacation you only have a couple of weeks (if you’re lucky) to try and figure it all out. Do you want to spend your vacation fishing unproductive holes that make sense in the theory of reading waters or do you want to spend your time catching beautiful chrome steelhead.

2. Your guide knows the optimum conditions and where to fish in poor conditions

You might be lucky enough to scrape up enough knowledge from the local anglers, by asking around town at the local outdoor and fishing stores, to have a clue on where to go. But the best holding spots change with each little rise and fall  in the water levels. Your guide will know where to fish when water is high and the highly producing spots when water is low.  

3. Safety

Swift water can flip a small drift boat in a flash so you’ll need to know the character of this particular river. Steelhead fishing Vancouver Island can be particularly dangerous, due to it’s deep canyons and popularity of winter steelhead runs. If you happen to fall in you could be hypothermic in a matter of minutes, while being a 4 hour drive to a civilization. It’s important to go with someone who knows the system inside and out. Swift water can get angry very quickly. Your guide will know the spots to avoid, and which ones to spend the most time at.

4. Your guide knows what will get these local fish to bite

Have you ever experienced a no fish day while your buddy limits out? And you’re fishing the exact same spots? The difference could be as simple as the color of your fly or lure. Us guides witness trends in fly color every year, from season to season. For a few weeks pink will be the hot color, but the in the matter of hours it switches to green. So you may be fishing the best spot on the river but if you don’t know the color of the day or week you might as well be in the worst spot. A guide is always up on the color trends and can save you hours of time switching gear.

5. Never trust a local to give up the good spots

Ever heard the saying; I don’t often disclose my favourite fishing location, but when I do, I’m lying?

Most anglers are really tight lipped about the best spots. Of course they want to keep these spots  to themselves. A fisherman that will give away local knowledge is extremely hard to find, and this is especially true for Steelhead Fishing Vancouver Island. There is an unwritten rule amongst us islanders, when you find the glory hole of steelhead fishing, tell no one and respect every moment and fish you encounter there. There are spots on South Vancouver Island you simply cannot find without a guide and guide will probably never take a local there. If however,  you’re a tourist on vacation they may agree to take you into the best spots- but you might have to wear a blindfold on the way there!

The post Reasons to Hire a Guide on Your Next Steelhead Fishing Vacation appeared first on Morning Moss.

8 Bowhunting Tips That Will Make You A Better Deer Hunter

These tips will help make you a better bow hunter

Are you ready to try your hand at deer hunting with a bow? In my opinion, this is one of the most challenging, yet personally rewarding experiences that any hunter can have. Catching a whitetail from close range is a testament to your patience, stealth and skill. It takes a truly committed hunter to master the art of archery and once you do, there will be absolutely nothing you can’t do. This is a primal, perfect way of landing your prey and it will make you more adept in all other forms of hunting. Following are a few tips to help you.

1. Get Ready For The Wind

Practicing with your bow during adverse weather conditions will prepare you for anything that you’re likely to face on the big day. Unfortunately, few hunters take the time to practice their shots during the off-season. You’re virtually guaranteed to run into windy conditions and thus, you want to know how to alter your actions to account for this factor. You should also consider practicing in both snow and rain. While it’s sure to be uncomfortable and time-consuming, this practice will definitely provide a worthwhile payoff if you happen to encounter weather troubles like these during your hunt. Your goal is to make your practice conditions as true to real life as you possibly can. You should also practice shooting from various heights, distances and angles. Not only will this prepare you for a broad range of potential challenges, but it will also give you the best opportunity to test the reliability and accuracy of your equipment.

2. Learn How To Effectively Mask Your Scent

Via outdoorlife.com

Your own human odors will spook deer off. You certainly don’t want to add to these by smoking, washing with any heavily scented soaps or leaving common, food smells on your clothes or skin. Keep your hunting clothes tightly sealed in a plastic bag. You might even want to throw some dirt and leaves into this bag in order to further mask suspicious odors. This will infuse your clothing with fragrances that are naturally-occurring. When showering, use scent-free soap and other scent-free products as part of your grooming routine. A lot of hunters use odor eliminator right after they’ve put their hunting clothes on and before heading over to their hideouts. Be sure to respray your body, your hat and your hair immediately after you have walked to your stand. This additional measure will ensure that you’re undetectable.

3. Get Aerial Photos Of Your Scouting Area

Those with massive budgets for deer hunting are able to book their own, private flights over their scouting area to collect images. This, however, is something that you can do even if you have a restricted budget. Take advantage of free, online satellite photos to know more about the terrain. This will give you a better understanding of what to look for before traversing this space on foot. You can also use the location information collected from these same platforms to get hyper-local weather details. Understanding the likelihood of strong winds is incredibly important when hunting with your bow.

4. Identify Your Limits

Find out just how far you can shoot with any accuracy. Then, adjust this distance to account for internal pressure and external weather conditions. This is actually one of the top reasons for practicing in all weather conditions and at numerous distances. You don’t want to over-estimate yourself and blow a fabulous opportunity. Know just how close you need to be in order to successfully land a kill shot even when the wind is blowing and your adrenaline is flowing. Keep in mind that it’s vital to only ever take ethical shots. If you can’t hit your target with accuracy, feeling good about what you do will be hard. You always want the kill to be merciful for the deer.

5. Understand Your Equipment Needs And Gear Up Properly

Via bowhunter.com

While this might seem like a no-brainer, it’s always well-worth review. This is just as important for taking ethical shots as it is for ensuring that there are no wasted opportunities. Rather than considering one brand as being far better than every other, make sure that you understand which equipment is going to work best for you. Moreover, always know the limitations of your gear and how everything is designed to operate under specific conditions. Choose a quality climbing tree stand and safety harness and spend time practicing a careful and quiet entry. Be sure to change your arrow veins as well. You want to use a vein that has a three percent helical and that’s just three inches or less in length. This will ensure that the arrow immediately cuts into the wind after having cleared your rest. The result is a flatter trajectory and rapid, and better spinning.

6. Play It Safe

Being smart about how you hunt is especially important early on in the season. You never want to press too hard on these animals at this time. Coming in too close to bedding areas is an invasion of territory that you’re guaranteed to regret. Not only will this throw off the early season, but it can also scare deer out of the area for the whole season. Keep in mind that large, mature animals don’t get to their impressive sizes due to lack of instinct and cunning. Mature bucks are quick to pick up the signs of predators and any wrong move could be disastrous, no matter how minor it might seem. Once these animals know that they’re being hunted, your chances of landing one will be virtually non-existent.

7. Get In The Right Mindset

Via hunterspec.com

Leave the distractions behind. In fact, if you have distracted friends, think about leaving them behind as well. You don’t want to be caught paying attention to your mobile phone or daydreaming when a massive buck comes walking into your area. Think about the singular focus that animals maintain while hunting. They aren’t distracted or multi-tasking. Instead, they’re solely focused on being stealthy and landing their prey without giving away their positions or their intentions. If you want to hunt deer, make sure that this is where your head is the entire time you’re out.

8. Use Your Safety Harness

Don’t get caught in your treestand without your safety harness. You have to account for far more than the possibility of falling. You also have to think about the heavy equipment that you might be bringing down with you. Using a safety harness is all the more important to do if you intend to head out on your own.

Hunting deer with a bow is a truly unforgettable experience. You’ll need to rely on your instincts and cunning more than ever before. But, with good practice, proper equipment and the tips above, you can bring in a large, prize-worthy buck with a single, clean and ethical shot.

Author Bio:

Jennifer is the founder of BuckWithBow, a great blog that focuses on helping you learn how to hunt deer with a bow. As an experienced bow hunter, she will guide you through the Do’s and Don’ts of the bowhunting world and transform you into a better hunter. Whether you are an experienced bow hunter or an absolute beginner, you will find BuckWithBow a gem!

The post 8 Bowhunting Tips That Will Make You A Better Deer Hunter appeared first on Morning Moss.

Check out Badger Sportsman Magazine today!

The post NEW ISSUE! appeared first on Morning Moss.

15 Knots You Need To Know!

Check out these fishing knots that will help you become for successful while fishing for those trophy fish!

The post 15 Knots You Need To Know! appeared first on Morning Moss.

The Best and Most Practical Pistol & Rifle Shooting Tips

Use these tips to become a better shooter.

Every hunter has to start somewhere with regards to his shooting abilities. Consider yourself lucky if someone had taught you when you were younger, but if you’re really starting from scratch, how do you know where to begin? For this reason, I’ve decided to lend a hand to beginner hunters and give a few pistol & rifle shooting tips.
With these tips, I’m sure you’ll be able to get on with the basics and perhaps proceed to intermediate levels of shooting. Just make sure to remember not to rush yourself throughout the process; talent takes a lot of time and a lot more practice.

Pistol & Rifle Shooting Tips

1. Start at close range

Once you get your first handgun, you’re bound to be overwhelmed with excitement. I have a lot of friends who have been too eager with their shooting and started target practice at long ranges. Needless to say, none of them harnessed the energy of Annie Oakley on the first try.

Thus, to avoid the frustration of multiple missed shots and to truly test out your innate talent on shooting, start at close range and work your way up from there. In this way, you can gauge your capacity at close range. This will make shooting long distances easier to transition to.

Generally, you can apply this tip for both pistol and rifle shooting.

2. Practice follow-through

Hunter looking through rifle scope.

Follow-through means watching your shot hit the target without taking your eye off the scope. This technique will allow you to see where your shot has gone and allow you to adjust your aim right then and there.

Furthermore, it will immensely help you improve your accuracy. Otherwise, if you’re not seeing where your shot goes after you pull the trigger, you miss the opportunity of realizing where you went wrong (in terms of aim and/or position) and thus limit improvement.

Therefore, if you want to be the best rifle hunter, you’re going to have to make an effort to improve yourself.

3. Train yourself in unfavorable conditions

There’s almost always going to be wind during a hunting trip. For this reason, you need to rain yourself to shoot even during unfavorable conditions. Since wind greatly affects the accuracy and precision of your shot by influencing its direction/speed, you need to practice adapting your shooting with this type of weather.

On the other hand, practicing in windy weather will also train you on how to adapt to the situation. A well-practiced hunter will be able to shoot down a buck even with the wind blowing in his face. Again, it all comes down to hard work to be able to shoot in any kind of condition.

4. Develop the correct position

I cannot stress this any further: position plays a key role in your shooting! It is perhaps the most important aspect of shooting other than technique and timing. Thus, a beginner hunter should focus on developing his/her position while you’re starting out.

Moreover, it’s also best to have an expert take a look at your form and position. Chances are, he/she will be able to tell you what you’re doing wrong so you can take note of it in the future.

5. Invest in good equipment

A rifle with a scope.

Of course, the equipment will mean nothing if you are a lousy shot. However, if you know how to use these equipment for the improvement of your shooting, it will definitely happen.

Examples of these equipment are rifle scopes, gun mounts, and IWB holsters. The best IWB holster, specifically, is made to contain your pistol and provide easy access to it in times of need. Generally speaking, equipment and accessories that can add convenience to hunting is usually a good investment.

6. Work on your trigger pull

Most beginner hunters do not know the proper way on how to pull a trigger. And no, it is not simply pulling it back until the gun fires. Ideally, a trigger pull will cause minimal influence on the gun and thus increase the accuracy of your shot.

What is the proper way to “pull a trigger”? Experienced hunters say that a trigger pull is more of a trigger squeeze instead. Simply put, you squeeze the trigger slowly to the rear without causing any external change on the rifle whatsoever. In this way, you don’t change the aim of your rifle upon taking the shot.

The result? A more accurate shot. It can take a lot of practice before you master the proper trigger pull, but remember that it is one of the most important aspects of shooting (for both pistols and rifles.)

7. Be organized

The best hunting backpack can allow for maximum organization, which can help you shoot more comfortably and efficiently. Of course, no hunter wants to go all the way out to the woods or shooting range only to find out that you left some gear at home.

Therefore, keep your gear organized and ready to use before every run. Keep accessories and equipment clean and make sure that they are not broken beforehand.

8. Work on your weaknesses

Okay, so maybe you’re good at shooting moving targets, but suck at shooting long-range distances. I expect you to be focusing more on the skills that you find yourself good at, which is a great practice—however, what about your weaknesses?

To be a great pistol/rifle hunter, you’re going to need to polish your weaknesses as well. Otherwise, you’re going to stay bad at them, unlike when you work on them tirelessly where you’re bound to get better with each practice session.

Conclusion
In this article, we’ve stated the most important pistol & rifle shooting tips. Generally, what I’m trying to say is: practice, practice, practice! Practice every chance you get and improve your skills. However, you also need to make sure to work on your weak sides as well.

Written by Joseph Gleason of Captain Hunter. 

The post The Best and Most Practical Pistol & Rifle Shooting Tips appeared first on Morning Moss.

Six Keys to a Successful Springtime Turkey Hunting

Spring turkey hunting can be frustrating and hard but these tips to success will help.

The season’s upon us!

It’s that special time of the year when gobblers are sounding off, hens are traveling in packs, and hunters clad head to toe in camouflage, moving into the woods with their old shotgun or high-performance compound bow in hopes of bagging a wily old tom.

If you intend to hunt, you need to know the absolute big picture basics of bagging a bird. Yes, you’ll need to sit. Still, you’ll need some effective camouflage and you’ll need an efficient way to kill the bird. Those tips all fit into the key points below.

If you can’t nail these six items, you won’t kill turkeys consistently no matter how effective your ground blind is, how far your gun shoots, or what call you throw out.

The Six Keys

You can’t Kill ‘em from the Couch

This is the “No, duh!” answer that many hunters need to get through their head. When you hunt, you may have to hit the woods and come up empty handed for a few days before you hit that lucky morning where gobblers are sounding thick as flies on a bumper.

If the hunting were easy, there’d be no turkeys. One of the keys of turkey hunting is hunting when it’s hard. Often, it’s on a rainy morning, the week of bad weather that lets up, or the holiday morning when you have the woods to yourself. That’ll be the morning you get your bird.

Go to the thick swamps a mile or more from the parking lot, or the extra 20-mile drive to the isolated farm surrounded by non-hunters. If there’s one absolute truth of turkey hunting, it’s that you have to be where the birds are if you want to kill them.

Scout like the Tom’s Life Depends on it… because it does

We already covered that you need to be where turkeys are to kill one. Obviously, the next step is to determine where the turkeys are, and where they will be. These questions are answered when you’re scouting.

Most turkeys can be killed without a single call. All it takes is the opportune ambush point, and you can hunt turkeys just like deer. Things to look for are roost trees, primary food sources, nesting cover, strut zones, dusting bowls, and pathways between them all.

Find them, mark them out on a GPS or map, and figure out how to slip in and out without being detected.

When a turkey sounds off on a nearby ridge, you should already know where that big guy is headed, what he’ll be doing and where you can set up to kill him. Make accurate notes and spend ample time preseason and during the season to be updated on the turkeys’ whereabouts.

Preparation = Success

If you head to the woods unprepared, then you’re certainly going to have a harder time than if you took a Sunday afternoon to get ready. The key to preparations is spending time on what you need to do.

Turkey hunting requires more prep work than other types because you have to hone your skills and equipment.

If you head to the woods with a shotgun and don’t know your effective range based on patterning your gun, what do you expect to happen when you break the shot? If you only know a single type of call and the turkeys don’t respond, what’s a man to do?

Learn as many calls as you can, pattern your gun with the best ammunition you can convince your wife to let you buy, and for the sake of your hunt, go scouting!

Your hunt will be easier and more fun if you just get ready.

Hunt Smarter AND Hunt Harder

You have to give some “Oomph!” when you’re in the field.

You may have to walk a mile or so, you may be rained on, be eaten alive by mosquitoes and come up empty handed. At the same time, busting through the woods like a wild beast with no sense of what to do will be a death knell for your efforts.

The right balance of knowing what to do, and having the stones to do it is the name of the recipe for turkey trophies.

A perfect example would be burning out your best spot on opening morning. The truth is, many toms will be henned up and you’ll have a rough time getting them to come into the call.

That doesn’t mean you have to burn it up every weekend. Wait for the opportune moment and keep a cool head about yourself until that moment comes.

Be Flexible & Resilient

You can never hunt a day in your life that goes exactly as planned. There are too many moving parts in the woods to predict everything. Be resilient and go with the flow.

If that old bird doesn’t come in, you may have to let him slip off and reposition your setup to kill him before he leaves for the day. Just wait for the best time.

The smarter you are about the way you hunt and the more options you allow yourself to have, the more effective and consistent you’ll be in the turkey woods.

Look for setups that force the hand of the turkey. But if he decides not to come in, you can still slip out to reset. Carry and use multiple calls to sound like a flock but don’t be discouraged when it doesn’t work. Know when to be completely silent too.

It’s all part of killing toms and being in the springtime turkey woods.

Be a Woodsman!

If you love turkey hunting, then you probably also love the forest. You love the hunt because of where it is, and being engulfed in nature is priceless.

The best thing you can do to help your turkey hunting successful is turning that passion for the outdoors to learn about the woods at large. Know about the trees, the birds, and the terrain. Know what turkeys eat, how they behave in different weather and different terrains.

A woodsman is a true outdoorsman that can handle most situations and still come home with a filled tag. It starts with knowing your gear and using as little as possible.

Progress on learning the behaviors of all the big game in the habitat you’re hunting in and how they affect each other and move onto the primary food sources of those game animals in the area. Before too long, you’ll have a Ph.D. in woodsmanship.

Final Thoughts

These are the key, the big picture high ticket concepts you need to master before you can be a true turkey hunter. The tips and tricks for turkey hunting will come in time but as a beginner, look at the big picture and understand the fundamentals of hunting.

Enjoy your time in the woods this spring. Make sure to do your part in looking after the turkey woods and conserve the population we all love to chase so that we can chase them forever.

The post Six Keys to a Successful Springtime Turkey Hunting appeared first on Morning Moss.

Summer Food Plot Tips!

Check out Badger Sportsman Magazine giving you the best in food plot tips! Click the photo for video!

The post Summer Food Plot Tips! appeared first on Morning Moss.

Take Control of Walleyes

By: Gary Parsons and Keith Kavajecz

While current and wind can make for a great bite, they can also be a nightmare for trying to position the boat. Being in complete control when we are chasing walleyes hasn’t always been easy. This type of fishing was very tiring and hands-on in the past. It meant putting the anchor out and then having to toss it out again for a slight adjustment. It meant having a foot on the pedal of the bow mount trolling motor at all times and constantly making adjustments to the speed of the kicker motor. There were even days we had two drift socks out and still couldn’t go slow enough for our presentation to work!

The design of your boat can impact how well you can control it in adverse conditions. There are two things to look at when you are purchasing a boat. First, it should sit level in the water, so wind will affect the whole boat, not just one part of it, like the bow. This is really dependent on boat design, like tank placement, battery placement, floatation and hull design. The only way to see if a boat sits level is to see it on the water.

It is also important to have a boat with a good keel, which will help it track better in the water. When we are trolling sideways in the wind, or into the wind, the boat will not wander as much because the keel will keep tracking and hold the boat on course. You can often tell how well a boat tracks by running it backward and turning. If the boat just slips backward and doesn’t follow the engine, it probably won’t track well. If the boat follows the engine and can make quick turns going backward, it means that the boat does track well.

Advances in technology have really changed the walleye game when it comes to boat control, making it easier to position our boat. They also keep us from not becoming as fatigued as we would have been in the past after a long day on the water.

One of our favorite boat control features is the Anchor Mode on our MotorGuide Xi5 bow mount trolling motor. This comes in handy when we are casting jigs or Shiver Minnows. Instead of having to put out an anchor, with the click of a button the motor will act as the anchor and hold us in place while we work a spot over. Not only does this eliminate the splash and commotion that is usually associated with a traditional anchor, but also we can easily position the boat right where we want it to be.

If we are working a shoreline or bridge pillar, a feature that works great in conjunction with Anchor Mode is “Jogging.” Again, with the touch of a button, we can move in five-foot increments, forward, backward or sideway. The motor will then re-anchor. If we want to move 10 feet over, we just click twice.

You can also connect your Lowrance HDS sonar/GPS units to the Xi5 by using MotorGuide Gateway. The Gateway is a cord that uses the NMEA Network port so you can control your trolling motor right from your Lowrance unit. This allows you to tell the trolling motor to anchor on a specific waypoint, or you can move the cursor to a spot on the map and the motor will go there.

Another great boat control feature is “Heading Lock,”,which can also be found on the Xi5. We like to use this when we are pulling Slow Death rigs or spinner rigs on bottom bouncers. When fishing this way, it is important to keep your bait moving. If you make a sharp turn or slow down too much, the bait will fall to the bottom.

This is where Heading Lock comes in. We just point the motor in the direction we want it to go! The motor does all the work to keep us on course at the desired speed. If we want to move deeper or shallower, we just click a button to turn the motor in the new direction. As it starts to head in the new direction, the motor will actually straighten itself out, cutting boat control in half! Not to mention that the turns are very smooth, so your baits won’t drop to bottom.

Another piece of equipment that can make boat control easier is a Power-Pole. It is an apparatus that mounts on the transom of the boat on the opposite side of the kicker motor. When we are fishing in less than 8’ of water, we can press a button to drop the Power-Pole down, which will anchor us in place. When we are in more than 8’ of water, we rely on the MotorGuide Xi5 bow mount trolling motor with Anchor Mode that we mentioned earlier.

If you have a Power-Pole on your boat, you definitely want to get the Drift Paddle attachment. The Drift Paddle attaches to the spike on the Power-Pole and can be used to create drag. If we are trolling open water in early summer using spinners, and the wind is up to about 15 to 20 mph, as we troll with the wind, it becomes difficult to maintain a good slow speed for the spinners because the wind is pushing us. With the Drift Paddle attached to the Power-Pole, we simply deploy it into the water creating drag that helps slow down our trolling speed.

We can even control the amount of drag it creates by how far down into the water we lower the paddle. If we deploy it only half way it slows us down a little. By deploying it all the way down into the water we have actually been able to slow the boat down as much as a mile to a mile and quarter when trolling with our big engines.

Another advantage of using the Drift Paddle in this scenario is that with the paddle down, it dramatically decreases the “surge” effect the waves have on the boat as we troll. That’s a big deal, especially when trolling spinners, as the surges can affect how the spinners are running, and in dingy water can make it difficult for the fish to track down your bait. By eliminating or at least lessening the surging, the spinners run truer and therefore are more effective.

The Drift Paddle is also useful when doing a controlled drift. It has seven quick-change positions that cover a full 180 degrees, allowing us to set the paddle at any angle we need to help the boat drift on the path we want it to.

We can control the boat’s path from the bow mount trolling motor. When we need to move in or out on a break, the Drift Paddle easily cuts through the water making positioning so much easier than having to drag a drift sock. By drifting with the paddle off the back and steering with our bow mount trolling motor up front, we have excellent control of the boat! By incorporating technology into fishing, you can have a less stressful day on the water and take control of your Next Bite!

The post Catching Walleyes appeared first on Morning Moss.

Handling a Dog in the Pheasant Field

By: Jesse Dieckman

How many of us have heard someone at a distance yelling at their dog? The loud commands that they might be yelling range from; NO! Come! Here! Sit! Get over here NOW! A two worded dog’s name combines into one, for example, John Wayne is now JohnWayne. This experience is one that all hunters with dogs or being on a hunt with dogs have likely had happen at some point in time. Or, maybe we were the one doing the yelling!

One dog issue that happens dog owners frequently encounter is, “the chase.” What I mean here is, most of the time in the pheasant field the dog runs off after a pheasant. Or, if you miss a bird, your dog or your buddy’s dog will not come back as it continues to chase up other birds. This tends to happen with an untrained, young dog without any control. Certainly, if you have a trained, experienced dog you would not have that issue.   From a whistle tweet, to a simple, “No bird,” it lets the dog know it’s not supposed to chase the bird anymore and come back.  An experienced hunting dog will have minimal commands yelled at them because they just know what they are doing. For some breeds, like a pointer, it only takes a few tweets with a whistle to stay close, sit or whoa. This obviously makes the hunting experience much more productive and enjoyable. The less commands, the better the hunt is. A dog that knows the reason he or she is in the field is one that is easy to be around. One of the biggest mistakes I see out in the pheasant field are handlers trying to over handle their dog. If I see a dog establishing a hunt, I let them hunt. Sometimes the best command is no command. Keeping a good eye on the dog during the hunt will help keep you in control. You should use commands only when necessary.

To insure a good hunt, train your dog with the help of a professional ahead of time.   The E-collar can be a helpful training aid. If handled properly, which means the dog is collar conditioned ahead of time before it takes the field, problems can be avoided. I start the pup or young dog with it on their neck to get them used to it without using the actual electricity or vibration- some call it a stimulation or shock. After I feel comfortable about the dog knowing the obedience commands of sit, heel, and here, I may start to implement its use. I will use the E-collar at a low level to get the right reaction I need to get the dog to respond and respect the collar. Again, it is very important to use only commands the dog already knows, and use it as a reinforcement tool. The most important thing to do is put on the E-collar right away before he or she gets out of the truck, trailer, car, UTV, or whatever you are using to carry your friendly hunting buddy. If the dog is E-collar trained, you can use it on the dog if they do not respond to your commands.

I will agree that it is important to have bonding time with your dog at a young age. The more time spent with your dog at a young age, the better the dog will be. The bird training will help make your dog a better hunter. This is something to think about in the offseason. I start taking the dogs in at right around the age of 6 months or better.  I train dogs year-round. I train other owner’s dogs to be better hunting companions. I typically get dogs in for what I think is a short time period of only 3 to 6 months. It really isn’t necessary to train for longer than that in most cases.

The majority of the time it is the husband that will say, “I just want a hunting dog.” If you can look into the future, the benefits of having a well-trained dog in the long run is worth the time and investment for your family. I train the dogs on bird drive, obedience, force fetch collar conditioning and quartering the field. I use different drills and techniques to get that dog to become a better hunting dog for the client. It takes a lot of time, hard work, patience and repetition to become a good hunting dog. But in the end, a happy client makes it worth it. Let’s face it, if you hunt long enough, long shots are fun to see and spending time with friends, family and business acquaintances in the field. The indicator for me to have a great hunt is in the quality of dog I am working with. If it’s a loud hunt with a lot of yelling and hollering it’s probably not that fun. You must be patient with young dogs and continue to work hard with them to make them a great hunting dog.

In the end, do the right steps for your hunting buddy and they will be the best they can be for you and you both will win!

The post Dog Training 101 appeared first on Morning Moss.

Go Deep For Hot Summertime King Action!

By Capt. Lee Haasch

July mornings on Lake Michigan’s coast usually start a bit cooler, not this particular day. With a balmy 78 degrees at 3:45 am, it was going to be another warm one. Temperatures were predicted to hit 90 plus, with very little wind and lots of sunshine.  While this might be normal for central Wisconsin, Algoma is the place most folks go to escape the heat.  Another hot one…  The surface temps already have crept to the upper 60’s and warming deeper is the trend. 

I turned to my son, Trevor, and let him know we would run this charter trip a bit further today, drop lines in about 150 feet and go out from there.  The day before, the kings seemed a bit deeper and the steelhead were 250 and out.  As we slowed, Trevor was already getting his Slide Diver rigged with a white Opti flasher and Aqua Howie fly, ready to hit the water.  With the fish deeper in the warmer water, using the magnum weights and big rings on the Slide Divers allows us get them down below 100 feet and keep them “in the zone” for the active kings.  Using the Slide Divers also lets me use longer leads to stretch the baits back a little farther from the boat and get more strikes.  That day Trevor set the flasher/fly combo about 50 feet back, before setting the Slide Diver, and then let it down 100 feet to start.  It was still dark and the marks were still a little higher, but we’ll drop the rigs deeper as it starts getting light.

The 15 and 17 pound weights on my downriggers would get us down deeper later on but as Trevor set his corner at 65’, the rod hosting his Slide Diver rig bent sternly back and the drag of his reel started screaming!

“FISH, FISH, FISH” he shouted, “IT’S A BIG ONE TOO, WHO’S UP?” he shouted!

Just then, the Ugly Stik on my center rigger popped and bent down to the water with the drag screaming… “ANOTHER ONE!  I KNEW THAT BLOODY NOSE SLIDE DIVER WOULD GO, IT WAS HOT YESTERDAY TOO!”  Trevor screamed.

I kept setting the poles on my side and moved a few out of Trevor’s way as he scooped the first king. Then I moved to his side to set the rig back down. I chuckled to the customers,

“Can’t catch ‘em if the bait’s not in the water.”

The next 45 minutes kept the back deck pretty busy and I tried to keep adding a pole or two to our spread in-between bites whenever I could.  Trevor kept busy grabbing the pounding poles, handing them off to the fishermen and directing traffic to keep the multiple fish attacks from crossing lines.  In between, if a rig went without a bite, we dropped it a little deeper every 10 minutes or so.  It wasn’t long and the setup on my side, now down to 150 feet of line, started pounding.  “GRAB THAT DIVER,” shouted Trevor to a fisherman.  Adding,“That’s the green e-chip aqua/glow Howie fly that worked yesterday, just needed to be a bit deeper.”   

He was right, as we kept lowering the baits, the kings kept biting.  It slowed soon enough, but for now action was HOT.  As the warm summer kept easing the surface temperatures of Lake Michigan up, the fish seemed to stay out and down a bit deeper.  Something I kind of expected with the mild winter and very early spring weather.  This was a little early for this tactic, but you can still capture fish if you understand where the active fish will be hiding out.  Just then, Trevor jumped up, “HIGH BIRD, SEE THE STEELIE JUMPING?” He shouted.  We didn’t keep ALL the baits low.

To keep more baits in the “fish zones,” I rigged up my Ugly Stik / Alphamar combos with Trilene 100% Professional Braid in 65# test.  I used 10 ounce and 12 ounce weights and ran them 120 to 250 feet back behind large Yellow Bird planer boards to get them down 80 to 150 feet and keep my flasher/fly and spoons down deep where the kings are hanging out.   My Slide Divers have the magnum weights and magnum rings to get those well below the 100-foot mark and spooled my Traxstech downriggers with 300 feet of cable and running 15 pound and 17 pound weights.  If the fish go deeper yet, they will easily handle up to 26 pound weights.  I also spooled my downrigger combos with 50# Trilene braid and 60 feet of Trilene Professional fluorocarbon line.  I can run my riggers very deep without seeing my line bow way back and also the braid telegraphs every bite back to the rod amazingly well, when running deep riggers.

Steelhead will often stay near the surface where they can target bugs on the surface and still attack higher swimming alewife.  While my larger, inside Yellow Bird planer boards are pulling 10 ounce weights with varying long lengths of line to reach the deeper kings, I like to keep at least one smaller planer on the outside of my spread, pulling a brightly colored spoon, usually with orange or red on silver, to entice that occasional steelhead strike.  Some days during mid-summer, several higher baits per side are very effective in capturing those roaming steelhead.

As we all enjoy a warm summer this season, don’t forget to look deep for the kings as the surface temperature heats up.  Running flasher/fly combos and glow spoons near thermoclines setting up down deep can entice hungry king action.  I also try to keep a few spoons near the surface to tease some tail-dancing steelhead.  There’s nothing like a mixed bag in the cooler!

For current fishing reports or information on charter fishing in the Algoma area, check out my report page at www.FishAlgoma.com.  You can even sign up for periodic newsletters and fishing reports.  From Captain Lee and the crew aboard the Grand Illusion 2, we are looking forward to seeing all of you on the water this summer.  Good Luck and Good Fishing!

Lee Haasch is an Algoma charter captain with over 40 years of Great Lakes fishing experience. He’s been writing and giving seminars for more than 25 years. Contact: FishAlgoma.com or call 888-966-3474.

TIP OF THE MONTH.  Lake Michigan waters have gotten cleaner and clearer over the last several years.  Zebra mussels, less nutrients washed into the lake, whatever the reason, the result has been gin clear water.  This has the fishermen adapting to the conditions.  The clear water enables the fish to see the boat and other objects that may cause them to hesitate to take your baits.  The best way to entice the bite is to keep your baits farther away from the boat with weights or divers.  A couple of ways I do this are using Yellow Bird planer boards to keep rigs wide from the boat and capture those fish that shy wide of the boat.  Next, I use Slide Divers to allow me to stretch my leads behind the Slide Diver 50 to 75 feet back.  When a fish hits, it slides down to about 3 feet in front of the fish to allow easy netting.  Lastly, to keep my downriggers working for me, I spool my Alphamar’s with 50# Trilene braid and then attach a 75-foot leader of 25# Trilene fluorocarbon leader using an improved albright knot.  The knot will reel right up and I can run very deep downriggers and stretch my lead back 75 feet behind the ball, reduce bow back and the braid will telegraph every little bite to the rod tip.

The post Go Deep For Hot Summertime King Action!  appeared first on Morning Moss.

Into the Deep for Summertime Crappies and Bluegills

Consistent Panfish Action

By:  Dave Duwe

Maybe some of you can relate to this childhood memory.

My dad and I always went fishing in the shallow bays for bluegills in the spring.  We had a great time. As summer grew closer, we continued to fish those shallow bays and I always wondered, “What happened to the fish?”  The big bluegills became 3 to 4 inches by the middle of summer and we just thought the big fish weren’t biting. I guess we weren’t too good at figuring things out in those days. We just didn’t know how much we didn’t know!

When the dog days of summer get here, bluegill and crappie fishing seem to get tough. But it doesn’t have to be that way if you know the right tips and tricks to dial them in when they are down deep. When spawning ends and the water gets warm, most fish will head to the depths of the lake for safety, food and comfort.  If you want to find them, you need the right techniques to bring the big fish into your boat.

Here are a few things I’ve learned over the years, having been a guide on Delavan Lake and one of Wisconsin’s deepest lakes, Lake Geneva. Both of these lakes are located in Southern Wisconsin.

There are two summertime patterns for deepwater panfish that I’ve found very successful. The deep weedline bite is in 15 to 22 ft. of water. Or, as summer wears on, the suspended fish over open water that is even deeper.

For the deep weedline bite, the biggest key to finding the bluegills and crappies is a good fish locator.  My go-to graph is a Humminbird 859, linked to my Minn Kota Terrova bow-mount trolling motor. Before I start fishing, I will slowly move down the weedlines, looking for schools of active panfish.  Once I locate them, I will start to fish. The deep weedline doesn’t hold just one or two fish. Typically, there are large schools that will show up as a cloud on the graph. I prefer the weedlines off of the main lake basin. I start in 15 to 18 ft. of water and have gone as deep as 25 ft.

Of course, my bait of choice is hand-picked worms that my son digs from the garden and my wife’s flower beds.  Unfortunately, there are only so many worms one can find. So, in that case leaf worms also work great. Due to the depth of the water, I find that using a small #12 Kahle hook with a small split shot, positioned one foot above the hook, is the easiest way to get the bait down to the fish.  The presentation is vertical underneath the boat. I use 4 lb. test fished on a spinning reel and 6’6” light action rod. The length of the rod is important to get a solid hook set in the deep water.  Once the bluegill bites, I like to lower my rod tip, giving the fish time to eat the bait before a strong hook set.   Another presentation option is a small version of the drop shot rig; basically the same principle as the bass version, just downsized. For the drop shot, I keep the drop sinker about 6 inches from the hook.  Keep in mind, the deeper the water, the heavier the weight. The hook set is the same with either method. Bluegills are usually tight to the bottom, within 1 to 2 ft.

Crappies on the deep weedline, are typically positioned slightly different in the water column. Unlike the bluegills, the crappies are consistently right on the top of the break, before the weedline drops to the deeper water. The only structure is the weeds. I concentrate on the change and subtle points on the weed edge.  The crappies like the points on the weedline or the slight turns. I position my boat in 20 to 25 ft. of water casting into 12 to 13 ft. of water.  By keeping the boat slightly deeper, if the crappies are down the weedline a bit, you’ll still be able to catch them.

I prefer a small 1/32 oz. jig head, with small plastics for the crappies.  I like a 3/0 round split shot, 12 inches above the jig. This aids in longer casts and it takes less time for the jig to drop to the preferred depths. The color of the plastics can vary depending on the lake, but start with purple and chartreuse, as I have found success with those colors just about everywhere.

If you are unable to locate schooling bluegills and crappies on the deep weedline, there is a good chance they are suspending over the deepest water in the lake. When fishing for blugills in the lakes I fish, I have found 40 to 42 ft. deep is the magic depth, with the fish suspending 10 to 15 ft. down.  I like to drift through the school, using my trolling motor to control the speed of the drift.  Due to the depth, anchoring isn’t really an option. The bait and rig combinations can be the same for suspended fish as they are for the deepwater weed line fish.  Another option is to use a Lindy slick jig in 1/32 oz. It will give the bait a horizontal presentation. I will tip the slick jig with a couple of wax worms or a leaf worm.

The crappies suspend in shallower water, typically 20 to 25 ft., with their position 10 to 15 ft. down. The crappies seem to prefer to be closer to the weeds, as they like an escape route from the bigger game fish. The presentation will be the same as the weedline fish. In either location, I like to use a stop and go retrieve. I have found that the longer the pause the better chance for success. I’ve noted, in my experience, most people retrieve too fast and need to be reminded to slow it down.

Deep water fishing presents some challenges that many anglers aren’t willing to accept. However, the rewards of a bucket of tasty bluegills and/or crappies are attractive enough to venture away from the shade of the shore and the known shallow hot spots.  Down deep the results can be worthwhile.

The post Summertime Crappies appeared first on Morning Moss.

Second Saddle Muskies

By: Larry Smith

Everyone knows I’m a walleye guy.  I’m in pursuit of this marble-eyed fish almost every day, guiding clients and friends on lakes throughout Wisconsin from Winnebago to the Bay of Green Bay. Now, don’t get me wrong; I love fishing for walleye. If I didn’t, it sure would be hard to do what I do everyday, being the type of personality that gets bored easily. However, there is one particular species of fish that really gets me amped up more than I already am:  Muskies.   

It seems hard to believe that a “can’t-sit-still” persona would choose the hunt for the so-called “fish of a thousand casts” to be one of his favorite types of fishing, but it is exactly the “hunting” part that seems to be the addiction; keeping me up nights before musky trips. (Not that I sleep much anyway.)  Muskies sit right below mankind in the predatory hierarchy, grow BIG, are incredible to behold and, indeed, are extremely challenging to catch, even for the most seasoned of fishermen; all reasons illustrating why I love it so much. If it were easy to hit the water on any given day and catch five giant muskies, would the people that pursue them still be addicts of the sport?  Some of you will probably say, “Heck yeah!  I want things easy!” If that were the case, the mystique of this fish would be completely gone.  Photos of trophy muskies would become blasé, and the sense of accomplishment after catching one would be completely diluted. It IS the challenge that MAKES musky fishing what it is.

Being the chosen fish of this great state, there are many, many good musky waters in Wisconsin from north to south. Waters I guide on a regular basis, such as The Petenwell Flowage, hold many big fish as well as some of the upriver lakes of the Winnebago system.  There are even rumors of some giant muskies being caught out in the vast open water areas of Lake Winnebago itself.  However, there is one system that stands out like blaze orange in the November woods when it comes to truly giant fish:  The Bay of Green Bay.

The Great Lakes strain of spotted musky, after having been reintroduced to Green Bay through stocking efforts, has thrived with many 50” fish taken every year.  Much debate has taken place about whether or not Green Bay could produce a new world record. From the fish I’ve seen out of this system over the years, it sure seems possible. Green Bay muskies, being gluttons of the Bay’s abundant forage, have the massive girth to go along with their length; making them considerably heavier than their river system counterparts who deal with current and “lean-out.”  It’s like the donut-eating couch potato vs. the marathon runner (not that donuts make you fat) when comparing lake fish to river fish. In this game, size matters, so bring on the donuts.

Many anglers choose trolling to cover huge areas of water looking for fish.  Although this is a great method, and I often troll the Bay with much success. (Evident in the giant musky caught on one of last season’s episodes of Larry Smith Outdoors.)  Casting, however, and the ultimate hand-to-hand combat experience associated with the technique is how I really prefer to hunt these beasts.

Traditional methods for musky casting employ 7-8’ heavy-action baitcasting outfits, spooled with heavy braid (50-100 lb. test), heavy wire leaders and, attached at the end, a variety of huge cranks, bucktails, spinners, topwaters, etc. (usually a foot or more in length.)  The old adage does hold true that big baits get big fish.  Many trophy muskies have been caught, and will continue to be caught on these traditional baits. However, through my career as a guide over the past 30 years, I have stumbled upon a slightly different approach to casting. 

Before I get into this modified casting approach, let me explain a little about finding potential holding areas for this technique. During mid to late summer, cabbage beds are key. The proverbial tiger of fresh water does like to have a jungle to live in. Cabbage beds provide shade from the summer sun in the Bay’s clear water, and also offer cover from which muskies can ambush potential prey.  However, due to the lack of aforementioned “summer heat” over the past few seasons, cabbage has not as been as plentiful, which pushes a lot of fisherman to troll instead of casting to find fish. Cool summers have cabbage growing in 8-10 feet of water, coming up to within 4-5 feet of the surface.  On a normal “hot” summer, cabbage will grow in as deep as 14 feet of water coming up to 6 feet from the surface or closer. More cabbage means more preferred musky habitat, along with more opportunities for a successful casting approach.

The technique I’m about to illustrate was born out of boredom. When guiding for muskies, it is critical to give your clients first shot at potential spots. While my clients cast from the bow, I stay at the stern and control the boat with the trolling motor; positioning them for what will hopefully be a chance at a fish. Now, I’m the type of guy who always has to have something to do. The “sit and relax” approach does not bode well with me, so naturally I had to find something to do while hanging out in the back of the boat. Clients would be casting traditional baits such as bucktails, jakes, ernies, and the like, so figuring it wouldn’t be the best idea to have more meat hooks flying around, I started casting smaller profile spinners, cranks, etc.; baits more fitting for pike, bass or walleye over the spots my clients had previously fished. Guess what? I started catching fish.

If you think about it, the technique makes sense. Green Bay muskies are no secret, and fishing pressure is steadily increasing every year. Fish become accustomed to seeing the same baits day after day, year after year. Smaller baits, some as small as 5 inches in length, are normally off the radar when it comes to musky fisherman, so the fish have not become acclimated to these types of lures, which is definitely an advantage. The rod and reel is probably the same setup you would use for pike fishing; a medium-heavy baitcasting combination. However, when braids and superlines are the norm these days, I opt for a 40 lb. monofilament instead. If you think about smaller baits and their construction, they most likely are fitted with lighter hooks than you would typically use for musky fishing. The mono gives you that extra stretch that is lacking in braids which is critical when trying to land a trophy-caliber fish; especially if they hit on a figure eight, or if they make a run close to the boat. When if comes to the lures, I’m not going to mention any specific names, but I will tell you that they are your typical musky profiles only much, much smaller. 

So WHEN should you use these smaller baits? Whenever you have pressured fish that won’t respond to traditional lures, or if you’ve raised a fish that won’t commit, it’s probably a good idea to downsize. This is a technique that shines for multiple anglers. One person throws traditional baits, and the person riding second saddle throws the downsized versions. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve been using these downsized baits behind my clients only to their dismay when they see me hooking up in the back of the boat.

Hooking and landing a monster musky on this lighter tackle is no small task.  You have to fight the fish carefully in order to not straighten-out hooks or break the fish off. A long battle on light tackle, although it is a great demonstration of angling skill, also means more stress on the fish which brings me to the most important aspect of musky fishing:  Proper fish handling and release.

I’m probably more nervous about the release of the fish than I am about actually getting it in the boat. Trophy muskies are arguably THE most incredible fish in all of fresh water and need to be handled with respect.

• Always use a cradle or an oversized net with mesh that will not rip fins, remove protective slime, or harm the fish in anyway. It should be big enough for the fish to have plenty of room while inside. Always keep the fish in the water while in the net.
• Have pliers, hook cutters, spreaders, etc. ready at all times. When the hookup happens, the last thing you or the fish need is to be rummaging around looking for tools.
• Wear fish handling gloves made to protect you and the fish or, at the very least, always handle the fish with wet hands.

• Have camera equipment ready for your photos or videos. Keep the fish in the water until you are ready for your shots.
• NEVER hold a trophy musky vertically. This can cause serious damage to the spine/gill plate that will most likely end in the fish’s demise. Always support the weight of the fish by holding it horizontally. If you can’t lift the behemoth by yourself, swallow your pride and get help, or perhaps reconsider holding the fish at all and just unhook and release it while it’s in the water
• Spend time reviving the fish properly at boat side. A played-out musky can take up to a half-hour to revive depending on the length of the battle and the water temperature. Make sure the fish is strong enough to swim off under its own power and remain upright in the water.

Watching your trophy swim off to be caught another day is just as inspiring as catching it. Without the proper release of these fish, the chance of Green Bay producing a world record is certainly a long shot at best. We are SO fortunate to have this amazing fishery. Let’s do everything possible to sustain it so everyone, including the fish, can say, “It’s a great day to be alive!”

Larry Smith is a full-time, multispecies guide in Wisconsin with 30 years of experience.  He is also host of Larry Smith Outdoors television; fresh, weekly outdoor programming airing on Fox Sports North, Fox Wisconsin, CW18 Milwaukee, and Time Warner Cable Sports Channel.  Check local listings for broadcast times or visit LarrySmithOutdoors.com. Like Larry Smith Outdoors on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, and please subscribe to our YouTube channel.

The post Musky Tips Built For Success! appeared first on Morning Moss.

A Few Tips to Consider For a More Successful Archery Season

By: Todd D. Larson 

With the “Dog Days” of summer upon us here in Wisconsin, I can’t help but let my mind wander a bit and think of the cooler days to come. More specifically, I look forward to when archery season opens up in the middle of September and carries us through the first part of January. For those of us with a passion for shooting bows and letting arrows fly, September 17^th, 2016 can’t get here soon enough. And, when January 8th, 2017 comes to a close, it will find many people dragging their feet and just plain wore out from pursuing the most commonly hunted big game species in North America, the whitetail deer. Some hunters will find success early because they will have done their homework and others, well, they’ll be the ones eating their tags walking around like zombies.

In my 41 seasons of chasing these smart and crafty creatures with a bow, I’ve come to understand a few things that I thought I might share to help others be more successful. Here’s the short list…

The Bow

Purchase what you can afford. Buy a quality bow within your budget that feels good each and every time you shoot it. Spend a little more money if you need to in order to get the right fit and don’t buy a particular bow just because of the brand name on it. Remember that this is an investment and something that you will have to enjoy for many years to come. The first step is to decide on the type of bow you are wanting to shoot, (longbow, recurve or compound). Take your time and shoot as many different styles of bows as possible from the various manufacturers. You can narrow it down pretty quickly once the shooting starts. Go to a quality archery shop that is more interested in fitting you with the proper bow rather than how much money they can talk you out of. Most reputable places will spend as much time with you as needed during the selection process. These are the guys that will take care of you when it comes to tuning your bow, cutting arrows, finding the correct release, arrow rest and quiver and any other accessories that you will need. Their job is to get you set up for success and take care of you quickly if something should happen to any piece of your archery equipment.

Shooting

This is as important, if not more important than the bow you purchase. Shoot regularly and consistently; especially when first getting your bow. Many archery shops now have indoor and/or outdoor ranges which allow you to shoot at different distances and at many different types of targets. It’s a blast and challenging all at the same time. Not only that, but you will meet some great people, all with a common interest who are more than willing to help you out. Remember that proper form is key and having a seasoned archer help you get everything dialed in is really important. It certainly will help take away the frustration associated with learning something new.

Another tip; don’t overshoot. What I mean is simply this: Don’t shoot a hundred arrows the first night in your excitement of getting your new bow. You’ll be too sore to even shoot your bow anytime soon after that, thus making the experience less than enjoyable. Keep in mind that you will be using muscles in your arms, neck and back that will need time to strengthen. As those muscles get stronger, shooting more arrows becomes easier. Your draw weight will increase as well, but keep in mind that you don’t need to shoot heavy poundage.

Shoot a draw weight that is comfortable for you. The way that bows are designed today, the arrow will still get there quickly enough. And, a smoother and quicker draw is the one that will increase your chances of success. When I was younger, I shot a draw weight of 70 lbs. or more. Today it’s around 63 to 65 lbs. It makes sense to me to shoot an arrow more comfortably and more consistently. I’ve also come to realize that a faster arrow is not necessarily a better killing arrow. I don’t shoot as many arrows each night as I use to. I would rather shoot fewer arrows and leave on a good note than shoot too many arrows and have them hit all over the target.

Having confidence in your ability and in your shooting distances is key. Be patient, be consistent and have fun. Each and every shot needs to be your best shot. There have been very few times that I have ever had a second chance at killing a deer that I may have missed with my first shot or have made a poor shot on to begin with. Take your time, breathe, relax and visualize the shot before you release the arrow. Make each and every shot count as you only get one first shot.

Practice shooting in various positions. Standing, sitting and kneeling are the most popular. Keep in mind the type of hunting you will be doing, but practice shooting in different positions and situations. If you are hunting from a ground blind, practice sitting on a chair, inside the blind. If you’re going to be hunting from a tree stand, be sure to practice at the height that your stand will be and always, always, always, wear your safety harness. Be certain to clip into a guide rope as you climb up and down from your tree stand. Learn how different angles affect arrow placement when shooting from above and don’t forget to enjoy the view. Hunting from a tree stand is my favorite type of hunting and has been the most productive for me in Northern Wisconsin. Now that we have your bow picked out and you’re shooting like Fred Bear, let’s take a look at your hunting property.

Property

You have two choices, public land or private land. If you’re fortunate to have a piece of property that you own or have been able to lease, fantastic! I prefer hunting private land or a lease for a good number of reasons. Here are just a couple.

The first and most important reason is safety. You know (for the most part) that you and/or others you may have given permission to should be the only ones on that property. I’ve had some great leases over the years that I shared with my family and friends. It’s fun, comfortable and safe. I have to say that getting these leases wasn’t very easy. I did acquire most simply by calling on a piece of property that was for sale or by knocking on doors in areas that were of interest to me. Always be kind and courteous, thanking them for their time. Be sure to leave your name and number with them. They may not want to lease this property to you this season but that may change down the road. Be able to face rejection when they tell you “no,” but keep in mind that’s all part of the process and all it takes is that one person to say “yes” to your request and you’ll be on top of the world. Hunting property is getting harder and harder to come by so be patient and put in your time.

The second reason is deer management. You will have a direct impact on the deer that reside there. I’m a firm believer in the Quality Deer Management program that more and more property owners and their neighbors are embracing. If you give these deer a chance to grow and keep a healthy buck to doe ratio in the mix you’ll experience hunting like you’ve never seen. The key to making this work is to get your neighbors involved. Experiment with food plots that will hold deer and create bedding areas for the deer, if space allows. For ten months out of the year, all a whitetail thinks about is a place to eat and sleep that is relatively safe. The other two months are spent chasing or being chased around because of the rut. This is certainly the best and most productive time of the year to hunt. And, when it’s kicked into full gear these are my two favorite weeks of the year. Be sure to put your time in on the stand to increase your chances of success. I guarantee that you will see more than at any other time of the season.

Public land is always a gamble. I will say that a good number of deer are harvested on public land. The key to success here is to get off the beaten path and go find those places that other hunters have no desire to be in. You’ll be farther away from your competition and be closer to where these big deer like to hang out. They like solitude, safety and comfort next to a feeding area. Find that place and you’ll find success. Check the laws for using and hanging stands or putting up ground blinds on public property. Know that you are not going to be the only hunter out there and be willing to accept the fact that others may wander in what you like to think is “your area.” Remember that it is public land and that’s just part of the deal. I’ve been there and done that and yes, it is frustrating, but make the best of it.

There is certainly a lot more that I could talk about in regards to increasing the odds of being successful bowhunting this fall and winter. Trail cameras, stand placement and cover scent are just a few more things to consider. Do your homework and prepare yourself to the best of your ability. Read as much as you can and don’t be afraid to ask questions. I have learned, however, that the best lessons come from just taking that first step and getting out and into the woods. Enjoy each and every moment that you’re there and I promise that you will be amazed at what you will learn and see.

One other thing to remember…don’t base your success as a hunter on the size of the deer, the harvest or lack thereof. Enjoy the hunt and the people you share it with. The harvest is just the icing on the cake.

Good Luck this season, be safe and have fun!

The post Tips For A More Successful Archery Season appeared first on Morning Moss.