Hello everyone, with summer officially in full swing we've been pretty busy and slacking a bit when it comes to publishing posts. Please accept our sincerest apology!
With that being said, during this time we would love to here what YOU, the reader, has to say. Damin and I would really appreciate any and all comments you guys give. Don't worry about being nice to us; we're self-assured, confident folks and are open to a little constructive criticism. Thus meaning if you read something you don't believe to be true or may disagree with, tell us! It will help better our writings and will make this blog better for everyone. Unfortunately, we've had some questions and concerns as to how to post a comment from our friends in the HNI community. It's really simple, actually.
Simply go to the bottom of a published post, there you will see the date, time of publication, and a link that may read "0 comments," "1 comment," etc. All you have to do is click on that link and it will take you to a page with a text box in the upper right hand corner which is where you can type your comment. Not a member of Google blogger? Not a problem, simply click on the "Name" option in the bottom right hand corner, or the "Anonymous" if that’s your preference and click "Post Comment," and you're done! That's all there is to it.
Again, we would love any feedback you guys can give us and look forward to hearing from every reader who visits our blog.
God Bless and Happy Hunting!
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
QDM: Not Trophy Management?
As most of you who've read the blog know, Cody and I are both avid proponents of Quality Deer 
Management. And, for a dominant portion of the hunting community today, deer management is a common practice and the traditional attitude of "it's brown, it's down" is viewed as rather archaic. QDM, however, takes things a bit further than just traditional deer management. Often misconstrued as "trophy" management, people sometimes label QDMers as merely trophy hunters (goals of taking big bucks with little regard for anything else). To understand the true goal of QDM, we'll have to take a brief jaunt back in history.
Management. And, for a dominant portion of the hunting community today, deer management is a common practice and the traditional attitude of "it's brown, it's down" is viewed as rather archaic. QDM, however, takes things a bit further than just traditional deer management. Often misconstrued as "trophy" management, people sometimes label QDMers as merely trophy hunters (goals of taking big bucks with little regard for anything else). To understand the true goal of QDM, we'll have to take a brief jaunt back in history. When westward expansion really kicked off in the 1800s deer populations across the country were decimated. Deer were a main source of food, and with no regulations nor understanding of the consequences, deer numbers were reduced to nearly extinction. In the1900s it was realized that something was going to have to be done in order to restore these numbers. The problem was, as was the case in the mid 1900s, the restrictions put in place were aimed at restoring deer populations by restricting antlerless harvests. Quickly the deer numbers catapulted back towards their original numbers, but, in doing so, an unhealthly ecoystem (with regards to whitetails) was developed. With nearly limitless restrictions on bucks, the male whitetails across the country were becoming fewer and fewer. On top of that, in many places even today up to 80% of the buck harvest is of yearlings and 1.5 year old bucks. With fewer bucks around, and fewer mature bucks able to breed, there is extreme stress placed on the young bucks that are around. In some cases, the what is normally 40 day rut can be extended to up to 3 months as the bucks attempt to breed all the doe that come into estrous! This not only places a burden on the bucks, but the does that are bred late in the rut have their fawns late in the spring. This, in turn, leads to an insufficient amount of time for the fawns to develop before the following winter reducing their survival rates. On top of the increased fawn mortality, after the long rut many bucks don't even make it through the intitial winter as they are forced to death through exhaustion.
Naturally there should be a deer herd balance of one buck to one doe.
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Traditional management has left some areas with poor balances such as 5 to 1 or even worse. Under the goals of QDM, adequate doe harvests are suggested in order to restore the natural balance. This balance helps restore God's natural order. And, in comparison to the past half a century, it enables the natural processes of the rut to occur as they should. Also, by restricting the harvests of young bucks, this process is enhanced even quicker as the rut is intensified to its normal strength and mature bucks are able to breed does and pass on genetics that are likely superior to the adolescent bucks. However, as has been discussed, having these older, bigger bucks is not the goal of QDM; it is merely a by-product of the hard work and determination that goes into a QDM program. (Of course, I'm not going to lie, more chances at bigger bucks is something that gets the heart going!!)
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Better deer and better deer hunting, its hard for any avid sportsman to argue with these results. Be it practiced on 100 acres or 1000 acres, Quality Deer Management produces the things of which all deer hunters dream. Patience, desire, dedication and discipline are all it takes to get a QDM program off the ground, trust me, you won't be disappointed.
Friday, June 6, 2008
Summer: Stand Preparation Time
It would seem as though the vast differences between the weather of the summer months and deer season would mean that the weather patterns are completely different. The summer, however, is the perfect time of year to begine understanding the weather patterns in order to begin preparation for stand palcement in the fall.
It's important to understand the direction from which the wind will blow precdeing both low/high pressure regions as well as warm and cold fronts. Even if you have permanent stands set up in an area, certain weather patterns and thus wind directions make the stand almost unhuntable. Granted, scent control/elimination can help protect one from being detected, but, remember, a big buck may only have to locate you one time and he may be gone from the area until after the season is over.
We have a bow stand at one spot on our property overlooking a spring and a draw. The stand is at the top of a ridge and between the draw and the adjacent draw there is a flat area. Weather patterns are crucial when preparing to hunt this stand. Normally, warm air convection would cause air to rise in the morning. Being at the top of the ridge, this is a postive as the air would not carry your scent down into the spring and basin. However, given the wrong direction of wind (southeast in this case), your scent can be blown directly into the basin. Then, when the warm air convection occurs the scent will merely hover in the area ruining your hunt for that day and days to come. Hunting a northwest wind at this stand is essential or you can count on these thermals blowing up your hunting for days to come! Granted, this is only one example, but its significance is no less as it exemplifies just one reason why understanding stand placement and weather are crucial.
We all know that the serious deer hunter knows to hunt the wind. And, with scent-elimination products today it is much easier to remain hidden than it once was. Still, understanding the weather patterns in your area is very important as even with scent control deer can still detect one's presence. Understand your property's makeup and how it affects the winds. Know where the thermals are most signifcant, find where air is likely to hover and become stagnant, doing each of these things will not only increase your chances and taking a trophy whitetail but give you a better understanding of the environment in which you live. Both of which, to me anyways, are very satisfying.
It's important to understand the direction from which the wind will blow precdeing both low/high pressure regions as well as warm and cold fronts. Even if you have permanent stands set up in an area, certain weather patterns and thus wind directions make the stand almost unhuntable. Granted, scent control/elimination can help protect one from being detected, but, remember, a big buck may only have to locate you one time and he may be gone from the area until after the season is over.
We have a bow stand at one spot on our property overlooking a spring and a draw. The stand is at the top of a ridge and between the draw and the adjacent draw there is a flat area. Weather patterns are crucial when preparing to hunt this stand. Normally, warm air convection would cause air to rise in the morning. Being at the top of the ridge, this is a postive as the air would not carry your scent down into the spring and basin. However, given the wrong direction of wind (southeast in this case), your scent can be blown directly into the basin. Then, when the warm air convection occurs the scent will merely hover in the area ruining your hunt for that day and days to come. Hunting a northwest wind at this stand is essential or you can count on these thermals blowing up your hunting for days to come! Granted, this is only one example, but its significance is no less as it exemplifies just one reason why understanding stand placement and weather are crucial.
We all know that the serious deer hunter knows to hunt the wind. And, with scent-elimination products today it is much easier to remain hidden than it once was. Still, understanding the weather patterns in your area is very important as even with scent control deer can still detect one's presence. Understand your property's makeup and how it affects the winds. Know where the thermals are most signifcant, find where air is likely to hover and become stagnant, doing each of these things will not only increase your chances and taking a trophy whitetail but give you a better understanding of the environment in which you live. Both of which, to me anyways, are very satisfying.
Monday, June 2, 2008
Dream Come True Pt. 2
Believe it or not, I am living another one of my dreams when it comes to deer hunting. I have recently been introduced as a writer for showmeyourbuck.com. SMYB is a Virginia based deer hunting site with the focus on regular hunters showing off their trophies. We are going to launch an online magazine this calendar year and are hoping to take it to a print magazine in the future as well.
Joe Beasley, editor and creator of SMYB has graciously assigned me with my own section in which my writings will appear; Cody’s Corner. My goal is to have Cody’s Corner become a respected authority when it comes to deer and deer hunting and I hope to help fellow hunters increase their chances of taking a trophy buck through my writings. I plan on contributing how-to articles, articles on deer behavior and biology as well as product reviews for certain products. It has also been discussed that I do a video on tree stand safety that would be uploaded to the site, which is something I am particularly excited about.
I am eternally blessed to have come in contact with the good people at both Mossy Oak and SMYB. These are two amazing opportunities that I look forward to handling with professionalism and passion. I encourage everyone to visit the SMYB site, www.showmeyourbuck.com, and become a part of the ultimate community for Virginia’s deer hunters.
Joe Beasley, editor and creator of SMYB has graciously assigned me with my own section in which my writings will appear; Cody’s Corner. My goal is to have Cody’s Corner become a respected authority when it comes to deer and deer hunting and I hope to help fellow hunters increase their chances of taking a trophy buck through my writings. I plan on contributing how-to articles, articles on deer behavior and biology as well as product reviews for certain products. It has also been discussed that I do a video on tree stand safety that would be uploaded to the site, which is something I am particularly excited about.
I am eternally blessed to have come in contact with the good people at both Mossy Oak and SMYB. These are two amazing opportunities that I look forward to handling with professionalism and passion. I encourage everyone to visit the SMYB site, www.showmeyourbuck.com, and become a part of the ultimate community for Virginia’s deer hunters.
Monday, May 19, 2008
With spring green up nearly complete, the food plots planted and summer only weeks away it would seem as though it would be a slow time for us in the deer woods. However, now is one of the most important time periods for the serious hunter. Soon does will be giving birth to their fawns and bucks are rapidly (centimeters per day) growing their antlers, thus our supplemental feeding program is now in full swing.
The past couple of years we have relied heavily on the Whitetail Institute’s 30-06 Plus Protein mineral supplementation. This year we’ve not only added a third mineral station but have begin using Antler King. Antler King Protein pellets and mineral supplements provide variety for the deer herd while supplying the necessary minerals they need in order to nourish their fawns or develop their antlers. For does in particular, supplements create for increased lactation which leads to increased survival rates amongst fawns. Does without proper nourishment lose fetuses and fawns at a rate of anywhere from 70-90%. Combining this with the possibility of predation following birth creates a situation in which fawn survival is very difficult. Eliminating fawn death through malnutrition creates an increased number of healthy fawns who are ready to not merely struggle to survive, but thrive upon entering the world.
Like with the freshly planted apple trees, eliminating human presence in the areas of mineral supplementation is key as it allows for a calm environment where the deer do not feel pressured. We try to get in, provide the minerals and leave without making too much noise. Right now this may not seem as though it is that big of a deal, however, during hunting season it will really begin to pay off. In hunting heavily pressured areas one of the most important things is to apply as little extra pressure as possible. Being smart in the woods now only leads to an increased chance of success come hunting season.
On a side not, while our last post was centered around our recent singing with Mossy Oak, Cody and I were both honored and privileged to meet the face of Realtree himself Michael Waddell a couple of weeks ago. On the way to a wedding in Martinsville (congrats Sallie!) we stopped at the grand opening of Gander Mountain in Roanoke. We had planned on stopping and just checking the place out and while we know Mr. Waddell would be there, we figured the chance of getting to see him was slim to none. Well, we were very lucky to pull in right beside a tent where he was just finishing up a talk. We were both able to get our picture taken and talk to Mr. Waddell for a couple minutes. A hilarious and classy guy, it was definitely very exciting for both of us. And, though we’re both Mossy Oak guys now, if you’ve somehow managed to miss Realtree Roadtrips on the Outdoor Channel thus far, I highly recommend checking it out.
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Dream Come True
Damin said that we had some really big news to share, and here it is. Damin and I have been signed to the Mossy Oak Pro Staff. What does a Mossy Oak Pro Staffer do, you ask? Well essentially, we have become professional deer hunters representing Mossy Oak brand camo. Mossy Oak brand camo is the top rated deer hunting camouflage according to Bowhunting World magazine. Our job as Mossy Oak Pro Staffers is to promote Mossy Oak licensed materials at hunting shows, expos, banquets, dinners and other events. Also, we may be asked to give seminars regarding the many aspects of deer hunting.
I can’t speak for Damin, but to me this is really a dream come true. Becoming a Pro Staff member for the best camo brand in deer hunting is something I still haven’t come to grips with yet. Ever since I was started hunting at 6 years old, I always wanted to be a professional hunter and knew that if I worked hard and put all my drive and determination into a positive energy, that I could achieve this goal. However, I could never fathom that I would be 18 when it happened.
There are several people that have been influential to me achieving this dream. First and foremost is my immediate family. Without my Dad I would not only be the hunter or sportsman, but I would not be the man that I am today. He represents all that is good in a father and man and I owe all my successes to him. Damin has also been very influential to me as well. I give Damin a hard time about being a “newbie” to the sport because he has just recently become obsessed with the sport that is deer hunting in the past couple years, but in reality Damin has been hunting just as long as I have and has taken more mature bucks. Still, the determination and drive that Damin displays in his academics and on the basketball court, I have applied to deer and deer hunting. I want to not only be a successful hunter, but a knowledgeable, methodical and tactical hunter and I owe my passion to deer hunting to him. Thirdly, I have to thank my mom for the constant support she gives me. As I’ve said before, becoming a successful deer hunter and harvesting a trophy buck is a year round sport, and she supports me every single day. It took me 12 years to harvest my first mature buck, and she supported me from day one. Her love and patience was on obvious display when she woke up with me at 5 o’clock in the morning to fix me a warm breakfast when she could have stayed in bed. I would also like to send thanks to my grandfather, Jack Schumaker. Paw-paw, as Damin and I call him, is one of the best bear hunters on the east coast and I hope to be to deer hunting what he is to bear hunting. I describe Paw-Paw as an honest, helpful, hardworking sportsman who could care less about the kill, and it just out there to enjoy the hunt. I believe that inherited his passion for the hunt, only for deer and not bear. I would also like to thank my other grandfather, Tizer, for the trips we spent a field for squirrels and deer. I was with Tizer the day I took my first racked buck, a 4 pointer on which I made a remarkable (lucky) 185 yard shot on and it was a hunt that I will never forget.
Without those who I mentioned above Damin and I would not have been granted this incredible opportunity by the wonderful people at Mossy Oak, we are truly blessed.
Damin and I are about to begin an incredible journey that will allow us to meet some great people, experience lifelong dreams, and hopefully help us take a monster buck. And we are looking forward to sharing it all with you.
I can’t speak for Damin, but to me this is really a dream come true. Becoming a Pro Staff member for the best camo brand in deer hunting is something I still haven’t come to grips with yet. Ever since I was started hunting at 6 years old, I always wanted to be a professional hunter and knew that if I worked hard and put all my drive and determination into a positive energy, that I could achieve this goal. However, I could never fathom that I would be 18 when it happened.
There are several people that have been influential to me achieving this dream. First and foremost is my immediate family. Without my Dad I would not only be the hunter or sportsman, but I would not be the man that I am today. He represents all that is good in a father and man and I owe all my successes to him. Damin has also been very influential to me as well. I give Damin a hard time about being a “newbie” to the sport because he has just recently become obsessed with the sport that is deer hunting in the past couple years, but in reality Damin has been hunting just as long as I have and has taken more mature bucks. Still, the determination and drive that Damin displays in his academics and on the basketball court, I have applied to deer and deer hunting. I want to not only be a successful hunter, but a knowledgeable, methodical and tactical hunter and I owe my passion to deer hunting to him. Thirdly, I have to thank my mom for the constant support she gives me. As I’ve said before, becoming a successful deer hunter and harvesting a trophy buck is a year round sport, and she supports me every single day. It took me 12 years to harvest my first mature buck, and she supported me from day one. Her love and patience was on obvious display when she woke up with me at 5 o’clock in the morning to fix me a warm breakfast when she could have stayed in bed. I would also like to send thanks to my grandfather, Jack Schumaker. Paw-paw, as Damin and I call him, is one of the best bear hunters on the east coast and I hope to be to deer hunting what he is to bear hunting. I describe Paw-Paw as an honest, helpful, hardworking sportsman who could care less about the kill, and it just out there to enjoy the hunt. I believe that inherited his passion for the hunt, only for deer and not bear. I would also like to thank my other grandfather, Tizer, for the trips we spent a field for squirrels and deer. I was with Tizer the day I took my first racked buck, a 4 pointer on which I made a remarkable (lucky) 185 yard shot on and it was a hunt that I will never forget.
Without those who I mentioned above Damin and I would not have been granted this incredible opportunity by the wonderful people at Mossy Oak, we are truly blessed.
Damin and I are about to begin an incredible journey that will allow us to meet some great people, experience lifelong dreams, and hopefully help us take a monster buck. And we are looking forward to sharing it all with you.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Chaotic Time for Us!!
Hey everyone, This is a busy time for both Cody and I as we are engulfed in the wonders of exam week. One positive thing about exams? Summer is just around the corner meaning will have plenty of time to photograph, write and just spend time outdoors.
On a side note, check out the picture Cody took during our first Turkey hunt several weeks ago. We
didn't have any luck one could say, but it was a a beautiful morning and definitely a good experience. The toms were gobbling but our lack of experience prevented us from getting them to come ! Of course, with the camo pattern I have on there, had they gotten close I probably would've stuck out like a sore thumb. I think I'm in need of a little Mossy Oak apparel!
Well guys, sorry to cut this so short but I've got to get back to studying. Check in the next week or so as we have some REALLY big news to share with everyone.
On a side note, check out the picture Cody took during our first Turkey hunt several weeks ago. We
didn't have any luck one could say, but it was a a beautiful morning and definitely a good experience. The toms were gobbling but our lack of experience prevented us from getting them to come ! Of course, with the camo pattern I have on there, had they gotten close I probably would've stuck out like a sore thumb. I think I'm in need of a little Mossy Oak apparel!Well guys, sorry to cut this so short but I've got to get back to studying. Check in the next week or so as we have some REALLY big news to share with everyone.
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