Thankful for Good Stuff, not the Dumb Stuff.

 

One of the great things that I get out of the Twitterverse is seeing all the small guys making noise in the hunting industry.  Lots of cool stuff being made and sold by real hunters who share the same passion as I have (see @ultimatedeerhgr for example).  But then you have the dark side.  You know, the yahoo(s) who wanna sell you something that is just outright dumb.  And by dumb I don’t necessarily mean that something doesn’t work…I simply mean dumb.  Lemme splain.

Paying hundreds of dollars for an ionizer (not to mention adding another item to the pack and stand routine) is dumb.  The studies are out there, they don’t live up to their marketing hype.

Paying for high end camo or scent free camo is dumb.  Just buy normal stuff, wash it and hunt the wind.

Paying ANYTHING for a bottle of yahoo-juice that is supposed to program a deer is dumb.  cough, cough Whitetale Mountian…sorry for this one…just had to.

Paying to go hunt with the vast majority of outfitters is dumb.  Too much pressure, too many other hunters, too many lies…

Ok, Ok.  Too much whining again…I know, I know…I digress.

For a really long time the thing about optics time was either you had a couple grand to drop on proper glasses or you didn’t…it was a chicken sh$t or chicken salad type scenario.  But today the market for quality glasses has evolved and there are better choices for us all.  And for this I am thankful.

For years I have been using a 30 year old pair of Bushnells that were my back ups to my fatty Leicas that were stolen out of my truck.  So I know what it’s like to hunt with clear, clear, clear glasses…and what it’s like to hunt with the blur, blur, blur.  This year I was introduced to Hawke Optics by Aaron errr…@theRusticman and have been oh so thankful.  See…another cool thing about the twitterverse.  Anyways, I picked up a pair of 10×43 Sapphire ED binocs right before the Missouri bow opener and couldn’t wait to see how they performed while tree bound.  The very first thing that jumps out at you is the crisp view.  Plain and simple.  Are the 2K Swarovskis clearer?…you bet…as my bro @wstacymillerII (seen below) pointed/pimped out with his.  But these Hawkes are close and can boast 1/4 of the cost of the high end glasses.

So instead of spending thousands on dumb stuff, I try to focus on things that are of real value…great ground, nice stands/weapons, quality food  and great optics.  Seems to be working for me and fellow #DBDS associate Dan Byers…or @danbyers11 as he’s know in Twitterwonderland.  Heck this guy even wears his old sweaty lucky hat in the stand and kills deer unlike anyone I know.  Yep, he hunts the wind.  (stinky hat AND Hawkes seen below)

 

So I am writing this babel to say thanks to a company that brings quality stuff at a no-brainer price point…Thank you Hawke Optics for all you do and represent.  Your people and your product are tops…SALUTE!

Till next time,

@bucksabound

 

Real Quick

As I am running around like a madman packing up for the first hunt of the year, I can’t help but think about ALL the hunts I am going on this year.  The good Lord willing and the creek don’t rise and all that jazz.  I get to do what I love, in some of the best places to do so.  But, do you know what is really cool?  Wifey, non-hunter, completely supports me.  Completely.

So in light of the NFL mess and the like I want to just throw it out there…never forget the ones that help you chase your dreams…especially if that’s your wife.

To my wife…thanks for it all.  You rule.  Hugs.

Lance

Who Wants A Mid-West Dream Rut Hunt?

This is only one of two hunts to be sold this year on this north central Missouri farm.  The farm has been intensely managed for five years and is set up for those who are serious about hunting trophy whitetails.  Thanks to the folks at @boneyardseed we have many year round food plots and multiple water sources…so the farm holds and attracts neighboring deer.  The farm is just over 1000 acres and sits in a remote area so little vehicle traffic is ever heard or seen.  It is a perfect set up for two hunters.

Over the past four years we have taken deer that have grossed 211, 186 and a couple 150 class bucks.  Please check out the pics below to get a better feel for this special whitetail hunting opportunity.  There is a cabin on the farm…all you have to do is bring the food.

Please contact me at @bucksabound for details.

Missouri Summer Update

 

As with many folks, I am in full mental frenzy mode for the upcoming season.  It’s all encompassing.  So here are a few pics of our @boneyardseed food plots as well as a couple of deer pics.  We will be deploying more cameras and hopefully get some decent deer showing up.

Got to mention that I am blown away at our frost seeded clover [ http://wp.me/p3LQBF-73 ]…this is the way to go if you haven’t tried it.  Our corn, beans, and alfalfa are banging but the weeds are hurting one our pea plots so it seems I need to return to the farm.  Poor me.

Soon we’ll be putting in the fall plots, adding cameras, and be completely useless to the season is over.  Gotta love it.

See ya soon.

@bucksabound

 

 

 

The Plot Thickens

 

First off, lemme toss out there that I do believe in jinxes.  So for me to start bumping gums about how pumped I am about our food plot situation would be dumb…about like the guy who wants to be the first to comment on a dude’s no hitter…in the 4th.  I may be dumb but I’m slow…anyways…plot things are looking up.  We got a little lucky with the rain and the plots are really beginning to pop.  For the first time in several seasons I am excited about the state of our food plots going into summer, and can’t help but catch myself constantly thinking about what deer is in what plot…RIGHT NOW.  ALL THE TIME.  And I know you know what I mean.

Our @boneyardseed custom clover blend and their peas/oats combo are leading the charge with the alfalfa running a close second.  Of course, the beans and corn are on their way as well.  This year we trying out some different food layouts (just to elevate the douche status) such as corn/beans mixed together as well as alternating corn and bean strips.  Should make for some cool backgrounds in those boone pics. 🙂

Again, being able to talk to the @boneyardseed guys throughout this process has proven to be valuable.  Even with a forth generation farmer on our team we had questions and Scott was there throughout…mostly busting @danbyers11’s chops but you know what I’m saying.

Until the next plot report…

@bucksabound

The Right To Poach…And Get Poached

 

Full Disclosure: Can’t say that I have always followed the law when it comes to hunting.  But I was young and I soon thereafter got it together.

Like most I do despise me a poacher, it never stops and they are everywhere.  It seems every property I have hunted over the past 30+ years had a resident poacher or two lurking about.  Below are a few of my favorites.

1.  The dude who sits 5 feet off the line and hunts your property.

2.  The blatant dude who you catch on your cams but is probably only there for a day or two.

3.  The drunk dude who rides the roads shining and shooting.

4.  The dipstick dude who just doesn’t have both oars in the water, so maps are useless to him.

5.  The wayback dude whose grandpappy’s aunt’s mother owned the property and now feels he is like grandfathered in or something.  And you know zero laws apply to this dude…

Read an interesting article by some guy on why poachers do what they do [ http://www.knowhunting.com/article.html?id=124 ] and then saw the paintball poacher video clip [ http://www.wideopenspaces.com/trespassing-hunter-gets-blasted-paint-video/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_term=WOS%20-%202nd&utm_campaign=WOS_newsletter_5.20%20-%202nd%20list ] and began to mull what can be done to curtail poaching, if anything.

To be effective you gotta be able to enforce whatever laws that are on the books BUT the Game and Fish folks are spread way too thin.  I don’t see federal or state budgets increasing to meet this need…ever, ever.  So what else can ya do?  It’s not like entitlement guy is going to just stop doing his thing.  This is where a little vigilantism might just do the trick. *channels my inner Charlie Bronson*

Slow down, you say?  I know, I know.  What I mean is that we must somehow police ourselves.  But to what level and degree is the tricky part.

Perhaps a database of reported/reputed poachers could be formulated…oh my, what fun one could have with this.  To begin with, my immaturity and non-existent compassion for poachers would wager that a little public humiliation is called for (although they probably could care less).  One might also choose to inform said poacher’s employer or significant other of certain no-no’s if warnings are not heeded.  On a side note, you might be surprised what one can discover on them there internets.  Also, one could stay on top of things with the right LE folks so that they could focus on where best to put the hurt.

Most of which I speak is legal…most.  But seriously, who really cares if a few little poacher’s rights get muddied.  Not I.

Anyways, I just wish I knew the right folks to carry such tom foolery off…

Peace out.

@bucksabound

 

 

 

Mizzou Fever

FINALLY made it back to the farm this past weekend and was loaded to the teeth with that @boneyardseed.  Joined by fella DBDS member @danbyers11…it was time.  Friday night we sat around the cabin sipping stuff from jars and discussing what would go where with the Dean of Farmer U…Crazy Larry [coined by @ulimatedeerhgr]. We were able to get Scott from @boneyardseed on the phone and really get things dialed in.  Couldn’t wait for the morning to show..

All in all we planted a 6 acre plot of beans & corn mix, a 2.5 acre plot of peas & oats, a 1 acre plot beans & corn mix, a 1 acre plot of Crazy Larry’s Magic Beans, 3 acre plot of corn, a 5 acre plot of alfalfa, and a 1 acre plot of peas & oats.  Not bad at all.  We also hung several camera’s and freshened up several mineral stations…can’t wait to see what starts showing up. 

Oh, the frost seeded clover is coming up nicely…

Here are some pics of what went down.  Gotta love it.

Booner pics to come. 🙂

@bucksabound

 

Wanna Hunt The Mizzou Rut In November??

So this year I am going to do something a little differently.  I am looking for a group of up to three folks who want to hunt some nice deer during the rut in November.  This year we are going full food plot gonzo with help from the @boneyardseed guys and will have close to 45 acres of standing corn and beans, clover, alfalfa, peas and turnips…in addition to what the farmer plants.  The deer will be there.  In fact, the deer that will be there are pretty nice…ok, really nice.  This farm has produced a 211, 190 and a few 150s over the past 4 years as we have tried not to suck at growing big deer.  This hunt will be 5 days during gun season and is bow only.  If you are serious about hunting for big deer in a super low pressure environment that has plenty of food and water…then this is your place.  Message me on twitter if you are interested.

Below are pics of the deer that (as far as I know) are still out around the farm and a few of ’em are on the wall.  Also, the cabin is on the farm…so that is nice.

 

 

 

 

 

Deer Farming

Just these two little bitty words can cause one of the tightest fraternities of folks I know of to get all Roy D. Mercer at one another.  Just let some dude kill a 180 incher off a high fence operation and get a little showy with his pics…especially with the Twitterers in full effect.  Immediately haters go full gonzo with the name calling, usually casting major doubt on the hunter’s skill level and the like.    But here’s my thing…actually, I have a few things about all this.

The biggest issue in all of this does come from the deer farming industry and is an embarrassment to us all.  I’m talking about those 1 acre pins and the like that people pay to hunt in.  Ok, I’m just going to come out and say it…you suck if you do this.  And by suck I mean really, really suck.  That being said, go hunt a large high fence operation and tell me the deer act differently than those in the wild.  You can’t.  They act/react just like any and every free range deer I have ever seen.  So, if that’s something you are into then have at it.  Just don’t bring up the official scoring thing. 🙂

In terms of the health and safety part of the equation, who knows??  The QDMA is all against the industry as a whole but some of the data used to form their basis is disputable.  Mainly their CWD/disease argument.  It boils down to whether CWD has been/can be transmitted to other deer.  Both sides present compelling arguments…so who knows.  Below are the links to both sides of the fence.

http://www.outdoorlife.com/blogs/newshound/2012/02/qdma-officially-opposes-captive-deer-breeding

http://highroadhunting.com/action-alert-does-the-qdma-and-hsus-have-things-in-common/

As for the idea that deer farming hurts the hunting industry’s image…I agree and I don’t.  Lose those “shooting fish in a barrel” operations, regulate for health and safety heavily and I can’t see how it hurts my image as a hunter.  And if you are really concerned about your image as a hunter…let’s focus our energies on the companies/people perpetrating frauds on the industry with silver bullet widgets topped off with 3 scoops of creative marketing.  And I’d begin looking at all our favorite hunting shows and hunting celebrities *spits up in mouth just saying that* who perpetuate the derptitude via taking the money.

I know, I know.  Already covered that… http://wp.me/p3LQBF-23

Later

Frost Seeding Food Plots, Mizzou Whitetails 2014.

There aren’t many things that you can spend money on that will give you a better hunting experience than the food plot.  But don’t half ass the process or you’ll be a sad one come late season.  Trust me…done done it.  Matter of fact, we have had a rough go with food plots over the past several years…weather and life has seemed to get in the way.  So this year we are gonna get after it.

After all the backandforths with @danbyers11 and Scott…errrrm, @BoneYardSeed ( http://www.boneyardseed.com/ ) we finally nailed down our 2014 food plot lineup.  Gonna have a pretty good mix of standing corn and beans along with clover, turnips, alfalfa and a little oats and peas on the side…around 45 acres when all is said and done.  Yep, that’s a lot and we are going to come outta the chute with a little clover frost seeding. Hopefully, the frost seeding will allow enough time for the clover to mature enough to be an early season hot spot along with peas/oats combo.

By the way, if you are going to buy seed this year then you should consider giving Scott with @BoneYardSeed and shout.  You will be glad you did.

If you have never frost seeded, you might wanna.  It is very effective and can save you some fuel and equipment costs…plus it is provides an excellent reason for Wifey as to why I need to be in Mizzou in March.  Bless her heart…Anyways, here is link to a bit more about frost seeding.  http://www.qdma.com/articles/how-to-frost-seed-food-plots

That’s it for now.

Lance