Archive for category Upland Hunting
It’s the Principle! Largest Deer of 2008
Posted by Boomer in Human Interest, Uncategorized, Unusual Hunting Experiences, Upland Hunting on February 5th, 2009
This story is so good I’ve directed my human, Glenn Savage, to share it with all my readers.
Boomer
Kyle Hacke and Deer He Discovered
It’s the Principle!
Kyle Hacke, Principal at Hillsboro High School and his brother, Scott Hacke of Springfield, found what may prove to be the biggest Illinois deer head of 2008 on January 2, 2008. Here is the riveting account of Kyle and Scott’s discovery in the words (lightly edited) of Kyle Hacke. The Hacke brothers experienced the equivalent of discovering a shoe box full of thousands of dollars on a deserted street. Kyle and Scott did not hesitate. Kyle wrote, “Scott and I both knew we had a special deer, but the right thing to do was to give it to John(the landowner).”
Kyle wrote further, “Scott and I know that we aren’t supposed to remove a deer or antlers from the field without a salvage tag and John called a CPO as soon as he got there. No one could show up immediately, so he took it home and told them to come to his house, which they did. Scott and I both knew we had a special deer, but the right thing to do was give him to John….It was found by me on John Grosboll’s property in Menard County on January 2, 2008. My brother Scott got permission from John to bird hunt his property. I walked up on the carcass in a border strip along a creek and called Scott over. Coyotes had slicked it up, but there was still a lot of hide, the hoofs, and all of the bones and vertebrae intact. Couldn’t tell how he was killed, no holes in the hide, or broken ribs. I would bet someone took an illegal crack at him. No way someone legally takes a shot at him and doesn’t shout from the mountain top that they may have hit him. He could’ve also been injured from fighting. They say there was a real aggressive 9 pointer out there, that this guy wasn’t really the boss. I spoke with John Saturday at the Quail Forever Banquet and he said he hasn’t had it officially scored yet, but should be somewhere around 246-250. 24-25 points, 4 drop tines, one palmated (you can see that in the pictures we took). The large drop tine on the other side is really long (can see that one in the picture too). When we found it, we called a hunting buddy of ours to explain it to him, then we called John who was extremely happy. He’s taking it to the Deer and Turkey Classic and getting it scored. I don’t deer hunt, but I knew we had found something special. I’ve seen a lot of big deer and I am a pretty good judge after spending so much time outdoors. I don’t know John’s plans for the deer or story, other than he promises to keep it in Menard County.”
For more pictures and story on the Largest Deer go to:
http://www.prairiestateoutdoors.com/index.php?/pso/article/grosboll_buck/
Outdoor Eyewitness: Hawks Stalk Pheasants on the Ground
Posted by Boomer in Natural History, Unusual Hunting Experiences, Upland Hunting on January 24th, 2009
I, “Pheasant Finder Supreme”, am intensely interested in the behavior of any animal that can capture pheasants by any means. If any faithful readers have been an “Outdoor Eyewitness” to unusual predator behavior, please share by writing comments about the following story. Better yet, tell your story so we all can learn.
Boomer
Hawks Stalk Pheasants
Dear Outdoor Eyewitness,
A long time ago, my bird dog and I were making our way along a railroad right-of-way in search of “pheasant friendly” tall grass. A group of two rooster pheasants and two hens swooped over my head and landed between the railroad tracks. The group was one hundred yards from my dog and I and the pheasants were unaware of us. They immediately walked into the border of tall grass.
My bird dog and I were frozen in fascination with what we’d witnessed. Before we could take a step, a red tail hawk, flying low, much like the pheasants, appeared suddenly and landed next to the grass. The hawk then deliberately walked into the same cover. My bird dog and I sped our approach so we could see what might happen. We were within 25 yards when the tall grass erupted in commotion and the red tail hawk emerged with a hen pheasant in its talons.
The raptor rose forty feet into the air as the pheasant struggled to free itself. In a shower of feathers, the hen broke free and flew off. The hawk flew in the opposite direction.
During a pheasant hunt earlier this year, I observed what I thought was two hen pheasants fly low across the field I was facing. As they flew closer, I realized that the bird in front was a hen pheasant but the bird in back was a red tail hawk. Both birds landed by tall grass and walked into the grass.
I thought hawks “stooped” that is dive out of the sky, stun their prey with closed talons then seized their prey and pierced it to kill it.
Rapt Observer
Slam When You Shoot
Posted by Boomer in Upland Hunting on December 29th, 2008
Dear Boomer,
Sometimes, my Mom or I shoot a bird, see it hit the ground, and then we can’t find it. Losing a bird after all the wing shooting practice and all the work we put in to find a place to hunt is a real downer. Can you help us?
Signed,
Bummed Out
Dear Bummed,
I hunt with “scent challenged” humans all the time. Humans make much better hunting partners if they will remember to “SLAM” when they shoot. To make it easier for you to remember, think “bam and SLAM.” When your shotgun goes “bam”, you remember to “SLAM.” Sorry for all the repetition, but my human remembers better if I repeat things for him. He is a great guy but he is a little slow.
So what does “SLAM” stand for? It means, “Stop, Look, And Mark.” Stop when you hear the shot or when you shoot. Look at the game that has been shot And then Mark where you saw the game last. This works especially well when you are hunting in a party of two or more. Put down a cap or highly visible object before you move. You should be carrying a red or orange bandanna anyway as part of your first aid kit in case a dog should get injured. Only the person who shot should move. The person(s) who Looked and Marked where the game fell should tell the shooter when to stop moving. By lining up the location of the fallen game with a point on the horizon, the location should be accurate within feet. This method works because of “triangulation” and the fact that human depth perception beyond a few feet is not very accurate. A single hunter should use SLAM but will not have the pin point accuracy gained by using another person’s view point.
By the way, “triangulation” has other meanings too. But the one I am thinking abut is like hunting with your Mom and using her help to find the game. Do you ever “triangulate” that is, ask your Mom or your Dad for their view point? If you’re old enough to have passed hunter safety and are handling a firearm by yourself, then your Mom and Dad are starting to let you make important decisions. Try asking them for their view point on something you’re trying to decide on. One caution, asking for your Mom and Dad’s view point can cause stress bordering on shock. So I suggest you start slow with minor things like their view point on the new “power drinks vs. regular soda.” Save asking about body piercings and tattoos until you’ve practiced a few times. Also, no matter what they say, be accepting and nonjudgmental.
Back to hunting! Most beginning hunters “gun and run.” That is, they shoot and then go right to where they last saw the game. If the game is still able to run, going right to the last spot the game was seen won’t help because even a wounded pheasant or quail is much faster than a human on foot. After your hunting partners have directed you to the location where the game was last seen, look for blood or feathers in a radius of a few feet.
If you do not find the game in fifteen minutes or so, look for the nearest cover (thick grass, brush pile, gully, rock pile) and search along a line toward the cover before searching the cover.
If you are unlucky enough to be born without radar in your nose like me, then learn to SLAM. Your game recovery rate will improve. Remember to take some time before or after the hunt to get your parents view points on some things of interest to you. Their reactions might be as interesting as going hunting.
Ask Boomer
Posted by Boomer in Dog Behavior Advice, Dog Humor, Upland Hunting on December 28th, 2008
Boomer, a German Wirehair Pointer, lives on a farm in central Illinois.
Boomer can answer questions about dogs, hunting, the environment, or anything else of interest to you. Boomer cannot answer all of his mail because his priorities. Eating, sleeping, exercising, training, and hunting do not leave much spare time. If your question is chosen for an answer by Boomer, it will be published in this blog. Please give your name and state.
Dear Boomer,
My bird dog, Jack Daniels, likes to drink from the toilet bowl. I read in the newspaper that some toilet bowls are cleaner than the salad bar at some restaurants. Is there anything wrong with letting Jack drink from the toilet bowl?
Signed,
Clean Gene
Dear Clean,
That depends, my friend, on whose health you’re guarding. I personally don’t see a down side to refreshing myself from a toilet bowl now and then, but I don’t make it a habit as one never knows where humans have been.
When I work or train, I often pick up poison ivy, poison oak, poison sumac, ticks, fleas, and juice from road kill on my fur. My fur touches the toilet bowl when I drink. Long story short, if you don’t mind, I don’t mind.
Signed,
Boomer
This letter is from Ashley Bishop, Litchfield, IL.
Dear Boomer,
Bath time is a big problem at our house as our dog, Crissy, does not want to take a bath. She refuses to go in the tub. When we put her in the tub, she jumps out. Last time she went hunting, she got sprayed by a skunk. How can we get her to get in the tub?
Signed, Ashley
Dear Ashley,
Great question, Ashley! Coincidentally, I am about to launch my own line of dog fragrances and shampoos based on what dogs like. Your dog probably just doesn’t understand how stressed “Eau De Skunk” makes humans feel and doesn’t see the need for deodorizing. Crissy would like it much more if you splashed on some of my “Sun Baked Mashed Marsupial.” Also, I recommend you roll in some of my “DB #1 or DB#2. You read it right, you roll in it, not roll it on. If you follow my advice, neither of you will feel the need to bathe anymore. However, your family may need some retraining. But that’s another column.
Bathing Crissy in the bathtub is a noble thing to do because you can regulate the temperature of the bath water. When we (dogs) are in the field and retrieving from water or searching in wet grass, we feel the cold water but ignore it because we are born to hunt.
If Crissy is obedience trained, have her heel, walk at your side, come up to a barrier and tell her, “go in”. Change the barrier to a low sided box (card board), then use a box the same “jump over height” as the tub. After she is successfully jumping into the box, you can take her to the tub. Before you have her jump in the tub, wet a towel and lay it in the empty tub. After bathing, drain the tub and lay that towel down in the bottom of the tub so Crissy won’t slip. Remember, to get anywhere in life, you need a little traction.
This next letter is from a young man, 15 years old from Minneapolis Minnesota.
Dear Boomer,
What do you think about spaying and neutering in relation to hunting?
Signed, Curious
Dear Curious,
Spaying and neutering does not interfere with humans desire to hunt and they will be easier to work with.
Signed, Boomer
The next letter is from a female hunter, 16, from Kansas City, Kansas.
Dear Boomer,
What do you think about hunter safety?
Signed, Careful Hunter
Dear Careful Hunter,
Make sure any humans you hunt with have graduated from a hunter safety course.
Hunter safety courses can be hard. I use positive reinforcement with my human. I reward my human with positive attention from time to time.
Signed, Boomer