Southern Traditions Outdoors 12

Complimentary Copy OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2012

COLD WEATHER CRAPPIE

ARCHERY BASICS

HOW TO FORM A HUNTING CLUB

DUCK HUNTINGLEGENDS

2 SOUTHERN TRADITIONS OUTDOORS | OCT/NOV 2012

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Advertising Information: Southern Traditions Outdoors | Rob Somerville

(731) 446-8052 [email protected]

DISCLAIMER - Neither the authors nor Southern Traditions Outdoors Magazine LLC assume any responsibility or liability for any actions by readers who utilize any information contained within. Readers are advised that the use of any and all information contained within Southern Traditions Outdoors is at their own risk.

On the CoverBuck Gardner is renown for being the “World Champion” and “Champion of Champions” of duck calling. But in my opinion, his most outstanding traits include that he has remained one of the humblest and genuine true gentlemen in the outdoor industry {especially because he has attained such high recognition and accolades} that it has been my pleasure to call him a true friend and mentor. Also it is impressive that he spends so much time from his busy schedule to encourage today’s youth in safely and ethically enjoying the outdoor lifestyle. He is pictured here calling in some ducks, while hunting with us courtesy, of Daddy Pat Roberts and Larry Gibson at Bee Lake in Dyersburg, Tennessee. Needless to say, our multi-hunter limit was quickly filled. Photo by Rob Somerville

Southern Traditions Outdoors Magazine Mission Statement:Southern Traditions Outdoors Magazine vows to put forth a publication to promote the outdoors lifestyle in a positive manner. We will strive to encourage veteran and novice outdoorsmen, women, kids, and the physically challenged to participate in the outdoors in a safe and ethical manner. Our publication will bring positive attention to the wondrous beauty of the world of Nature in the mid-south.

Garry MasonWalter WilkersonTerry WilkersonJeff AgeePaul Moore

Steve McCadamsKelley PowersEddie BrunswickStacey LemonLarry Self

John SloanRichard SimmsJohn MeachamJoe HallBuck Gardner

Scott MarcinEd LankfordDrew BrooksJohn LathamJohn Roberts

Field Staff Editors

Owners - Eddie Anderson Rob Somerville Kevin GriffithPublisher - Eddie AndersonEditor - Rob Somerville

Magazine Design - Kalli LipkeAdvertising Sales Rob Somerville - Managing PartnerDistribution Johnathan Anderson

Southern Traditions Outdoors Magazine, LLC

PG ....................... ARTICLE ................................................................................AUTHOR6 ....................................TWRA News ...............................................................................................................9 ....................................Puppy Training ...........................................................................................................H. Joe King Jr. 12....................................Deer Detecting Dogs, Part 2.......................................................................................Josh Ray16....................................Quail Hunting ..............................................................................................................Rob Somerville20....................................Women in the Outdoors ..............................................................................................Terry Wilkerson22....................................How to Form a Hunting Club ......................................................................................Rob Somerville24....................................Guided By An Angel....................................................................................................Walter Wilkerson28....................................Cold Weather Crappie ................................................................................................Garry Mason30....................................Hot Products ...............................................................................................................34....................................Basics of Archery ........................................................................................................Rob Somerville40 ..................................Duck Hunting Legends .........................................................................................Garry Mason44 ..................................Trophy Room ........................................................................................................46....................................Kid’s Korner

TABLE OF CONTENTS

OCT/NOV 2012 | SOUTHERN TRADITIONS OUTDOORS 5

Buck Gardner – Champion of the Outdoors I’m not naming names, but some outdoor personalities who are considered national icons in the business have gotten somewhat egotistical and have seemingly forgotten where they came from. Fortunately, there are several others who have not lost sight and who “walk the walk” rather than just “talk the talk.” This elite group of positive role models includes outdoor personalities such as Harold Knight, Kelley Powers, Phil Roberson, Brenda Valentine and one of the best of the best ….my good friend, Mr. Buck Gardner. When this title holder of “World Duck Calling Champion” and “Champion of Champions” speaks at various venues, he never brags of his many accomplishments. Instead, Buck tells of his struggles and failures he faced on his long road to success. He talks about family, friends and the importance of involving kids, safely and ethically in the outdoor lifestyle. He is a true Christian

and not just on Sundays. I have seen him stop a business meeting that could mean tons of money to his company, just to talk to a youngster and hand the kid one of the thousands of free duck calls he has always kept on hand, just for this purpose. Buck also has a great sense of humor. During a well-attended seminar, at a major outdoor show, he once asked the vast audience what the most important item to remember to bring to your duck blind every morning was. Immediately, dozens of hands were raised, and when called upon they gave answers such as your hunting license, gun and ammo, your waterfowl stamp, etc. The grizzled veteran acknowledged that each guess was important, but then he gave them the real answer.

Never forget a roll of toilet paper! Last December, I invited Buck and his video crew down to Northwest, Tennessee to do a little duck hunting. Of course, that weekend coincided with the worst snow and ice storm we have had in five years. To add to the foul weather, the transmission in Buck’s truck went out during the storm, halfway to Reelfoot Lake, where we were scheduled to hunt the next morning. Dwayne Dunn, of Cypress Creek Outfitters, and his son Caleb were hosting the hunt. In keeping with our bad luck, the lake had frozen over, it was cloudy and there were no ducks in sight that morning. Well, we cut our losses and headed to Bee Lake, in Dyersburg, Tennessee. The hosts of this mallard magnet honey-hole, “Daddy” Pat Roberts and Larry Gibson put us on the hunt of a lifetime. We got there at 1:00 pm and with ten hunters, had our limits by 3:00 pm. Our luck had changed for the good. Everyone that met my friend Buck that weekend seemed amazed at what a friendly, humble and generous man he was. All the hunt attendees and any kids in sight got a Buck Gardner acrylic duck call, with his autograph engraved in it. All I can say is this, with the state of the world today; we can use more Buck Gardners. It has been my honor to count him as my friend.

Rob Somerville STO Editor

From the Desk of Rob Somerville

Hunters pose with Buck at the Bee Lake bragging pole.

The Anderson twins - Wes and Ward, along

with their dad - Johnathan, get private duck

calling lessons from Buck.

Reelfoot Lake - iced over.


VARIETY OF TOPICS COVERED AT SEPTEMBER TFWC MEETING

The Tennessee Fish and Wildlife Commission heard a 2012 dove report, an assessment of the Caney Fork River, outreach programs in the schools, and an annual presentation from Ducks Unlimited among its agenda items at its September meeting. Tim White, the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency’s Migratory Bird Program Coordinator, gave a report on TWRA’s leased dove field pro-gram that began in the 1980s. The program has been successful in pro-viding quality hunting opportunities. Mark Thurman, TWRA’s Region III Fisheries Manager, presented results of a recent survey of Caney Fork River users. Recreation on the river has seen a definite increase. Thurman reported that from those surveyed, a 99 percent satisfaction rate was reported from anglers with their fishing trip on the Caney Fork and that 78 percent of anglers rarely if ever had negative encounters with a paddler. Strategies as well as further assessment were developed by various TWRA divisions and representatives from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Strategies include educa-tion, outreach, signage geared toward educating paddlers on

proper river etiquette, and providing litter bags for paddlers to deal with trash. In addition, following the TFWC meeting on Friday, the TWRA Fisheries Division hosted a Caney Fork River stake-

holders meeting.• Don Crawford, the Information & Education

Division’s assistant chief, gave a report on the National Fishing in Schools Program

(NFSP) that has been launched in several Tennessee schools. Tennessee was one of the states selected to receive a grant to help schools begin the program. In addition, he gave an update on the National Archery in the Schools Program (NASP) which has seen tre-mendous growth and announced that

the Seventh Annual NASP State Cham-pionships will be held in April 2013

and will return to the Miller Coliseum in Murfreesboro.

• Andrew Peercy from the Tennessee Wildlife Federation gave an update on the Scholastic Clay

Target Program (SCTP). Representatives from the Henry County team which won the national title in the Rookie Di-vision and the Jefferson County 4-H Patriot Shooters which won the Senior Division were recognized at the meeting.• TWRA Assistant Executive Director Nat Johnson gave a report on the availability of TWRA licenses. There are a to-tal of 841 retail outlets to purchase licenses in the state. In addition, internet sales are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week and phone sales are available for 14 hours, six days a week.• Dave Kostersky, from Canada Ducks Unlimited, made his annual presentation to the commission on waterfowl habi-tat in Canada.• Bill Swan, from the Shikar Safari Club International in Chat-tanooga, made a check presentation of $4,000 to the TWRA to benefit the elk program.• Daryl Ratajczak, Forestry and Wildlife Division Chief, recognized Tony Hickle in Region IV as the 2012 Wildlife Technician of the Year. Region IV’s Scott Dykes was hon-ored as the 2011 Wildlife Biologist of the Year. Wildlife Di-vision Assistant Chief Gray Anderson was named the 2012 Wildlife Biologist of the Year.• The TWRA will hold its next meeting on Oct. 26 at Reel-foot Lake State Park. The meeting will be held on one day rather than the usual two-day format.

TWRA NEWSFrom the Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency


USDA TO DISTRIBUTE RACCOON RABIES VACCINATION IN SELECTED EAST

TENNESSEE COUNTIES

The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency has been in-formed that the United States Department of Agriculture will begin distributing an oral rabies vaccine for wild raccoons in selected areas in the southeast, including 15 counties in East Tennessee. The goal of the program is to stop the spread of the rac-coon variant rabies in Tennessee. The oral rabies vaccine is placed inside a fishmeal block or coated with fishmeal. The block and/or the coating is made with fishmeal and oil that is known to attract raccoons. The vaccine will be distributed by ground crews and from fixed wing aircraft. Raccoons that eat the vaccine-laced bait will become immune to rabies. Depending on the weather, the project is scheduled to be-gin on Oct. 2 and conclude in 16 days. The target area will include portions of Bradley, Hamilton, Marion, McMinn, Meigs, Monroe, Polk, Carter, Cocke, Greene, Hamblen, Hawkins, Sullivan, Unicoi, and Washington counties.The USDA is offering the following tips:• Do not attempt removal of the ORV bait from your pet’s mouth, as you could be bitten. Eating these baits will not harm your pet.• Confine your pet and look for other baits in the area. These baits should be removed from where your pet could eat them.• Instruct children to leave the baits alone.• Wear gloves or use a towel when you pick up the bait. Al-though there is no harm in touching undamaged bait, they have a strong fishmeal smell. Wash hands thoroughly with soap and water if there is any chance that the vaccine sachet has been ruptured.• There is a warning label placed on each bait advising peo-ple not to touch the bait. The warning also contains the ra-bies information-line telephone number.

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H e l p u s , K n o c k e m ’ d e a d f o r o u r c o m m u n i t y .

Event Agenda *Dinner & Auction

Thursday, December 13, 2012 Lannom Center

*Duck Blast Hunt

Friday, December 14, 2012

For more information or registration forms, contact:

Tommy Allmon, 731-288-3581 Megan Madden, 731-288-7375

S e c o n d A n n u a l D u c k B l a s t

This year’s profits go towards: McIver’s Grant Public Library

We are providing a Kiwanis Kids Corner for the new library. Thank you for your help and support of this great cause.

Duck Blast 2012 Entry Fees $150 individual $600 per team • Maximum 4 members on

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Duck Blast


In the last several issues, we have discussed socialization and basic obedience training of a newly acquired hunting puppy. This is the beginning for you and your dog to work as a team. By now, the two of you should have formed a bonding trust, where he follows your lead when he sees the training dummy fall or when you direct him on a guided blind retrieve. You should have also both have developed trust and faith in each other. What you want in a fully-trained gun dog or field trail dog (where the duck, pheasant, goose or dove training device is always there, whether the dog sees it fall or it is blind retrieved when instructed) the dog should by now have developed a trust and faith in you, as his master. At this point, the young dog has had months and several sessions on a weekly basis for “mark training” or seeing the object to retrieve fall. This starts in the field, starting from about 20 yards out and building up to field work of up to 200 yards and longer. Throw your training bird or dummy at a 90° angle, for the dog to get that total picture needed to “mark the fall area.” Building these marks starts with single throws. Again this starts in an open yard and progresses to the field, with different grass cover and irregular land features. Single marks are thrown in ponds or a lake for water work, striving for the same results. These marks need to start at the handler’s side, which we talked about in the last issue and continue to working in and out of a boat or duck blind with a dog ramp. Adding a second and third mark comes with lots of marks thrown during practice sessions. In continuation, the next exercise in training lessons needed is the blind retrieve. This starts with a recog-nized bird or dummy placed on the ground and you then sending your dog from the heal position straight to the object. This takes time and repetition. It is what we call “pile work” and it starts at 10 yards and usually leads up to a range of up to 300 yards. It starts with working your dog on flat terrain and then it progresses to irregular land features. Water blinds start with the basic round ponds and lead to irregular shore lines and islands. It is important to remember that you want your retriever to go straight from point A to B. Hand signals are the next tall order. While doing pile work, you want the dog to stop on a blast from the handlers whistle, look at you and follow the direction sent. The “back” hand signal is when the dog is looking at you and you’re giving a hand signal straight above your head and commanding ‘back’. The left and right cast is done by the left or right arm extended out, with your palm open and pointing in the direction to go. For a first year dog, depending on his age and maturity, the mark, blind, and hand signal training will come in time. As the old saying goes “You got to crawl before you can walk.”

All that is stated above comes with months of repetitive practice and numerous sessions. Make sure your pup is very solid and comfortable with each step taken, or a lot of aggravation can arise. The final step, for the first year, is training your pup to get comfortable with his place in the duck blind or boat. With small steps, time, and again patience, you and your retriever will have a partnership that will last for years. H. Joe King, Jr. Thunder Ridge Retrievers

Puppy’s First Duck Season By H. Joe King Jr.

Practice, repetition and patience are the three key ingredients to training a top-notch retriever. - Photo by Rob Somerville


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Deer Detecting DogsBy Josh Ray

A top-notch tracking dog, like Gunner, can save a hunter some heartbreak by trailing and recovering a nice buck that human senses cannot detect. - Photo by Rob Somerville

It has only been a month since deer season start-

ed and already I have been lucky enough to experi-ence the success that the early archery season has to offer. Hunting in Septem-ber brings more hardships than some hunters want to put up with. Sitting in the stand, when its 90 de-grees, wiping sweat from your eyes and swatting mosquitoes doesn’t sound like a great afternoon. But, for those of us who have the bow hunting fever, we couldn’t think of a better

time of the year. Archery season offers an opportu-nity at those older, trophy bucks that for most of the

hunting season seem to be impossible to get a chance at. When the bucks are on their feeding patterns, they get into a routine that makes them vulnerable for

a short time. They also travel in bachelor groups, as the rut is still a long time away.

Just as I described ear-lier, I was sitting in one of my favorite spots one hot September afternoon, wiping sweat and swatting mosquitoes, when I looked

up and coming through a thicket was a very nice 10 pt. buck, followed by an equally nice 8 pt. At first glance I knew this was the buck I wanted to put my tag on. I reached for my bow, and without having time to even stand for the shot, my buck appeared in the only opening I was going to have. I glanced behind the buck, to make sure that his counterpart was not any bigger. In a matter of a few seconds I had made up my mind and drew back my bow.

part two

As soon as I saw the arrow slam into the buck, right behind the shoulder, I knew

he wasn’t going far.


He was standing per-fect, slightly quartering away at 10 yards. Know-ing the opportunity that I had waited on since last year was right in front of me, I released my arrow. As soon as I saw the ar-row slam into the buck, right behind the shoulder, I

knew he wasn’t going far. After only a couple sec-onds I heard him crash in the thicket out in front of me.

Knowing that my buck was down, allowed me to get started on my next task, taking time to train my Catahoula Leopard Dog - Gunner. I slipped out of my stand and went to get him. Although the track was not a difficult one or extremely long, ev-ery chance I get to put him on an actual blood trail, I always do. He followed the track and when he lo-cated the deer, he started tugging and pulling on him as if he thought he owned the buck. Gunner is still very young and he is getting better on every track. There is a big tran-sition from field training to tracking a live blood trail. Each time he goes out, I see him building on what he has learned from the previous track. I have full confidence that he is go-ing to make a great track dog. Having Gunner is

like having another tool in your bag. When you can shoot a deer during early season, during ex-treme heat, and you know that you have Gunner to make sure you are going to recover that animal be-fore the meat has time to spoil, allows you to take

your shot with that much more confidence.

Although hunting in early season can pose many frustrating situ-ations, if you do your homework and prepare, it can be very rewarding. I have had the pleasure of taking Gunner on a cou-ple more tracks since the buck I shot and he has al-ways worked as long as I have asked him to. Some have been recoveries and some haven’t. You have to remember that not ev-ery track job will end suc-cessfully. He may have come up empty handed a couple times, but he is just as excited the next time I go to the kennel as he was the first day I got him and with every excursion the odds rise in his favor of recovery.

Editor’s Note: For more information on Anything Outdoors Tracking Ser-vice, you can give Josh Ray a call at: (870)-219-1823, or email him at [email protected].

Pictured is the author and his early season 10-point buck, his dog“Gunner” helped him recover. - Photo courtesy of Josh Ray

There is a big transition from field training to tracking a

live blood trail.


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Quail Hunting-A Southern Tradition

Hunting the bobwhite quail, in the Southeastern United States, has been a tradition that has been an important sporting culture since before the Civil War. -Picture by Rob Somerville

Where have all the quail gone?

– Predators Although an increased coyote population is of-ten blamed, there are sev-eral predators that have as much or more impact on the declining population of the wild bobwhite quail. I be-lieve hawks do the most dam-

age to adult birds and chicks. Skunks, possums, raccoons, and many species of snakes eat a large quantity of eggs before they hatch. Domes-tic cats and dogs also prey on young birds, due to ur-ban dwellings crowding in to what was once rural farm-land. There is unsubstantiated talk that turkey also preys on

young birds and eggs, but I can find no one with proof of these claims. You might say, “All of these species have cohabitated these lands for decades. How are they caus-ing quail populations to de-cline now?” That brings me to my next point.

Loss of habitat Clearing of precious farm-land, city dwellers moving to urban areas, and fencerows and thickets being sprayed and burned, have all had a huge impact in the decline of Tennessee’s’ wild quail population. The population of predators that hunt quail and their eggs has maintained or

By Rob Somerville

continued on page 18


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This German Short-Haired Pointer, a popular quail hunting dog known for its tenacity and scenting ability, is shown on a rigid point, after detecting a covey of wild quail. -Photo by Rob Somerville


increased. Hawks and most snakes are protected spe-cies, and no one wants to shoot someone’s pet dog or cat. Coyotes, possum, coon, and bobcat have easier hunt-ing now that quail have less and less protective shelter for cover. Add to this the chemi-cal spraying of crops on new-ly cleared fields that once harbored bordering quail habitat, and it’s easy to see why quail numbers have been drastically diminished. They simply have nowhere to hide.

What do quail need in order to survive

and thrive? Food, shelter, water, and security cover are all nec-essary elements for survival of the quail population. The cover must be thick enough for the birds to elude prey. Honeysuckle, briars, and tall grass are all optimum cover choices. Where thick fencerows join, by a stream or pond, allows the impor-tant need for watering. A quail diet consists of mostly grass and plant seeds sup-plemented with various in-sects. They like to cling to habitat in groups, which are called coveys. A quail’s body is naturally camouflaged by Mother Nature to conceal it from predation. Many a deer and turkey hunter have been startled as they acci-dentally “flushed” a covey of birds when walking through a fencerow or thicket. They can accelerate from a stand-ing position to thirty-mph or more in mere seconds.

What can we do to help?

If you are a farmer or land-owner, you can help by plant-

ing and maintaining quail habitat. You can also allow fencerows to “grow up” and not be cleared. This will also help check the declining rab-bit population as well. Con-tact the TWRA or QUAIL UNLIMITED, for more info on what type of food sources you could plant for these birds. If you are a hunter, nev-er “wipe-out’ a covey when hunting them. Shoot enough for table fare, and let the rest p rosper. You can also control the predators we discussed earlier by har-ves t ing them legally during designated trap-ping and hunt-ing seasons.

What won’t work?

Re leas ing pen-raised quail in to the wild is not the so-lution, accord-i n g t o w i l d -life biologists. They claim that only about 2% of pen-raised birds survive in the wild. Most of this is due to lack of sur-vival instincts and the l ack of natural oil that pen-raised birds have on their feathers, which p ro tec t them from rain

and harsh weather.

The future Many “quail preserves” of-fer flight-trained bird hunts. They release these quail in natural habitat for paid hunt-ers to shoot. This is an excel-lent way to introduce kids to

this sport, as the action is vir-tually guaranteed. It is also a great way to keep your adult dogs in top hunting form, as well as train young pups. If we don’t involve youngsters in quail hunting, the future will look bleak.

Quail Continued

STO Magazine co-owner, Eddie Anderson, is pictured here while partici-pating in the time-honored, outdoor tradition of quail hunting. - Photo by Rob Somerville


ACTION LOAN & JEWELRYBUSINESS PROFILE

If you are looking for a great bargain on a new or used firearm during the upcoming hunting season, or if you can’t decide what to get the sportsman in your life this Christmas, then search no further!

Action Loan and Jewelry is one of the largest buyers and sell-ers of sporting goods, tools, guns, jewelry, coins and gold in the area. I highly recommend that you stop by and visit them, whether you need some quick cash or are just bargain hunting! They are located in The Oaks Shopping Center at 2455 Lake Rd. in Dyersburg, Tennessee. They are open Mon-Fri from 8:30 am to 5:30 pm and on Saturday from 8:30 am to 3:30 pm.You can call them at 731-286-0045 or 731-286-2274.- Rob


It’s a little bit unsettling to me how we get caught up in the everyday routine of our work days; always rushing and very rarely taking time to just stop and smell the roses. Camping is my family’s passion and we are very fortunate to have two, very different locations to enjoy this activity. The first is Reelfoot Lake, for when the fish are biting or to just go for a scenic boat ride. The sec-ond place is what we refer to as “The Farm,” and when it is hunting season, we can deer and squirrel hunt, or just take a four wheeler ride. There is nothing like jumping on an ATV and flying down the road, leaving that storm cloud of dust behind you with your hair blowing straight back in the wind. You just can’t help but grin, but not too big, because you don’t want to get any bugs in you teeth.

After my thrill ride, I like to ride off the beaten path and into the woods. We

have three grandkids and another on the way, and they all love to four wheeler ride. When our new grandchild gets to stay with their Gam and Papaw, they will be riding too. It’s great to just get away from the city life and the every-day routine of saying over and over, ‘’I don’t have time.”

I have missed out on a whole lot of living saying those four words. So, from

now on I’m changing that saying to, “I will take the time.” Life is passing us by too quickly, so let’s take some time to stop and smell

the honeysuckle. Jump on your four wheelers, golf carts and bikes and try to regain some of that quality time we may have lost.

Terry “Living Life Outdoors’’ Wilkerson

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n this modern day era, walking up to a land-

owner’s door and politely asking for and receiving per-mission to hunt is becom-ing a rarity. With more and more urban sprawl, and prop-erty values at an all time high, land has become too expensive a luxury for the average blue-collar hunter to purchase for their recre-ational activities of hunting sports. Farmers are imple-menting programs to lease out large tracts of land for hunting leases. They are lit-erally “Farming for wild-life”. These farmers have learned that they can supple-ment their crop income with money generated from hunt-ing. Due to the difficulty in easily accessing hunting per-mission on private ground for free, public hunting areas are over crowded. Because of all of these factors, many out-door oriented men and wom-

en have learned an al-ternative; that being the pooling of their money and resources with other hunters to form a hunting club.

The Good, the Bad and

the Ugly Though this sub-top-ic sounds more like a Clint Eastwood film than an article in a

major outdoor publication, it aptly describes what hunters may encounter when form-ing a hunting club. Let me explain. I have learned many things from the experiences of being the lease foreman of over a dozen hunting clubs in the past twenty years. These tracts of land encompassed over 12,000 acres in all. I have made mistakes and learned from them, and have helped many clubs get started through my experience. The benefits of a hunting club include pooling your money, experience and labor in a group effort for the en-joyment of all. Sounds easy, right? It can be, if you don’t make common mistakes that many fledgling clubs make. I have seen friends and broth-ers literally fighting mad over a hunting club. I have seen landowners tell members to “Never set foot on my land again.” I have also seen clubs

literally kill out all desirable game on a leased property through poor management and over harvesting. Today, I will share with you the keys to forming and maintaining a successful hunting club, a “Blueprint for Success” – if you will.

It takes quality people to have a

quality club. The first step I recommend in forming a hunting club is to partner with someone who you are good friends with, and who is a safe and ethical hunter. Share your goals and visions of where and what type of area you would both like to hunt, how much you are each willing to spend, how many acres you would like to lease, and how many members you need in order to meet expenditures without dipping in to the family gro-cery money. Your next step is to fill the quota of membership you de-cided on with good, quality people. They must be safe, ethical, good-natured and have similar philosophies about game management, harvest size and quotas as the two of you. A very im-portant factor is the fact that they must be financially able to pay their part. Get a signed agreement of membership from all recruited members

before looking for an area to lease.

Land Ho! When you are both in agree-ment on all of the subjects in the paragraph above, be-gin looking for land. Do not wait until a month before hunting season. If you do, most of the quality land will be taken, and if it is not, it will have a premium price tag. A good place to start is with friends, family mem-bers, church and business ac-quaintances, and in newspa-pers and magazine want ads. Once you locate some land to look at, ask some locals about it. An excellent source of wildlife sightings is rural mail carriers. When you are confident that the land meets the needs of the game you wish to pursue, contact the landowner by phone, or bet-ter yet, in person. Ask them if they could find time in their busy schedule to meet with you and your partner to dis-cuss the possibility of leasing their land for a hunting club. Prior to your meeting, put together a formal presen-tation including what type of game you wish to hunt, a proper management plan, how many people will be in your club, and any type of food plots you are willing to plant to enhance the wildlife on his land. The most impor-tant part of this presentation is the set of club rules.

Forming a Successful Hunting Club

A Blueprint for SuccessBy Rob Somerville

I


Club Rules – The building blocks

of success A wise man once said, “Society without rules wreaks utter chaos”. The same can be said about hunting clubs. Rules that are printed out and signed by each club member and the landowner protect all parties involved. When the laws are laid down at the be-ginning and all parties agree

to them, it will prevent feel-ings from getting hurt and tempers from flaring in the future. The following is a list of generic rules I recommend for any hunting club.

The Meeting When you meet with the landowner be respectful and honest. They have proba-bly had domestic animals or equipment shot, been tres-passed on, or had crops or roads rutted. It is a good idea to give him written charac-ter references, complete with contact names and phone numbers. A big plus for you is if you have a letter of ref-erence from a landowner you have hunted on previously. If the landowner seems agree-able to the proposition of leasing his land, it is time for you to make like Monty Hall and “Let’s Make a Deal.” If you plan on implement-ing a game management plan, plant food plots, and grow trophy animals you need to try to secure a minimum of a five-year lease. This serves two purposes. It lets the land owner see the sin-

cerity of your club and gives them the knowledge of a set income coming in for the agreed upon time period. For your club it gives incentive to invest work and money in to the lease towards years of enjoyment. Although it doesn’t happen often, I have seen hunting clubs do a lot of work at no minimal ex-pense, only to get booted out after one year, when another

group comes up with an of-fer of a little more money and reaps the fruits of your labors. The respect you give the landowner, the conduct of your members, and the trust he builds in your group as a club are also key factors in him giving you first right of refusal at the end of the lease contract. If the lease is agreed upon, and the deal is sealed by a handshake, get it typed out and signed by each lease member and the landowner. Spell out each detail, and get it notarized along with a copy of the club rules signed by each member. All members should then get a signed per-mission slip from landowner and a club sticker or placard for their vehicle. Even before you start scouting the land, have the landowner show you the boundaries, and clearly mark them with “No Tres-passing signs”.

ROB’S Ten Commandments of

Hunting Clubs:

1. The cost of the lease, must be each equal cost shared by each member, and agree to a date when the money is due.

2. A listing of all members names, phone num-bers, email, type of vehicle they drive, license plate number, and type and color of ATV. {The vehicle and ATV information is to be able to dis-cern member’s vehicles from trespassers.}

3. Each member, without exception, must follow all game and fish rules, quotas and seasons set by the state agency.

4. All members will treat the landowner, his property and equipment with the utmost respect.

5. Club harvest and quota limits. {Example - on my leases we are only allowed to take one buck per season, and it must have a minimum 16-inch antler spread. Each hunter can take two mature gobblers, and no jakes. There is a $500.00 pen-alty for a deer harvested under the antler re-quirement, and a $100.00 fine if a button buck is taken. We encourage the harvest of does to en-hance our buck to doe ratio. These restrictions are not enforced when dealing with juvenile or physically challenged hunters. The reason for these rules is to establish and maintain a qual-ity game management plan.}

6. A guest policy must be set. When this policy is not put in writing it causes a lot of problems. {We allow a guest on any day but opening day of any type of deer season. No guests are allowed during turkey season.} It also needs to state that each member is completely responsible for the conduct of their guest.

7. All expenses and work voted on by club must be shared equally.

8. Designate parking areas with prior approval of landowner.

9. No rutting of roads, riding ATV’s through planted fields, or driving nails in to trees.

10. Address any and all safety issues that you think may come up and stress safety as the top priority!


Guided By An Angel

By Walter Wilkerson

Pictured here is Al Bradshaw with the last bull elk he harvested, prior to his untimely death in 1999. His legacy lives on through his life-long friend, Brian Klinkhammer who honors Al by mentoring his sons.

-Photo courtesy of Brian Klinkhammer


his is a remarkable and true story about a hunt

that witnessed its roots in the making, 13 years ago, when Al Bradshaw and Brian Klinkhammer went elk hunt-ing in New Mexico. These guys had been best friends for years and they had always hunted deer and turkey to-gether, but their real passion was elk hunting. In 1998, the two friends were at it again, chasing huge bulls across Southwestern New Mexico, just like years past when they came up on a spot that just took their breath away with beauty. A huge meadow with scenic mountains in the back-ground was resonant with the echoes of bugling elk! At that moment, they looked at each other and said, “We have got to share this with our sons.” Tragically, we lost Al Bradshaw in May of 1999.

His passing was a huge loss to his family and friends, as well as to the local community. Over the years, Brian has tak-en Al ’s boys , Cole, Sam and Jake hunting and fishing. But, that promise that he and Al had made to each o the r was burning in the back of his mind. He had to wait patiently, because elk sea-son was in Sep-tember, when the boys were still in school and also you had to be drawn for that area they wanted to hunt. As usual, Brian applied for

tags this year with his son, Eric and his son’s friend Bar-

rett Burns. Now, Brian had not been drawn in years for

The admiration and respect for his life-long friend and huntingcompanion, Al Bradshaw was literally “etched in stone” by Bri-an Klinkhammer, with this beautiful memorial that the group placed in New Mexico, where Al loved to hunt. -Photo courtesy of Brian Klinkhammer

continued on next page

T


this area, but Barrett said he was lucky and guess what... they got drawn for an elk hunt tag. To top it off, an outfitter called Brian and said he had an extra tag for that area. Currently, one of Al’s sons, Sam is a junior in col-lege and would have to miss two weeks of school. But, this was a great opportunity for him and all Brian had to do was talk Sam’s mother, Debbie into letting him miss a little school. Reluctantly, she said yes, as long as he would make up the missed study lessons up. Brian had been dream-ing of this day for so long

that when it happened he knew exactly what to do. He called a company in Tupelo, Mississippi to a granite, ar-rowhead shaped memorial to honor Al for them to put in the spot that they discovered back in 1998. Brian got the rock made and he left out a week earlier than the rest of the group, not only to get used to the altitude, but to do a little mule deer hunting and locate the exact location for his memorial to his life-long friend. The rest of the group left three days later, so they could get to the area and manhandle the 100 lb. memo-rial up into the mountains to

the perfect spot. When they arrived on scene, Brian had already cleared out a spot and put a circle of rocks where he wanted the memorial to go. The boys arrived with the rock soon after. To them, the scene was much prettier than they imagined and they placed the rock in the circle and said a few prayers for Al. I know this brought back a ton of memories for Bri-an and gave a great feeling of pride to Sam, just to be standing where his dad did so many years ago. The next day was filled with scout-ing and getting used to the high altitude. Opening day

finally arrived and all three hunters went their separate ways, but experienced an unsuccessful morning. That afternoon, Eric chose to set up on a water hole and his guide dropped him off. He was sitting in his blind and had his bow pulled back in one direction. Then, he let it down to look in another di-rection and there stood a 6 x 6 bull. Eric finally calmed himself down enough to get off a shot, right behind the shoulder. To his surprise, the bull only ran 100 yards be-fore dropping. Eric just realized that he shot a bull of a lifetime, so

Pictured here are Eric Klinkhammer {l}, Barrett Burns {m} and Al’s oldest son, Sam{r}, who is proudly dis-playing his first elk, harvested in the same area in which his father loved to hunt. -Photo courtesy of Brian Klinkhammer


he had to calm himself down to get out of his blind to go see it up close and person-al. Camp was fun that night, with everyone celebrating Eric’s success, so that put the pressure on Sam and Barrett. The next morning, the guys left camp early and Barrett was fortunate enough to get on a bull quick, but the ex-citement of the hunt made him shoot over the bull. Eric looked at him and said, “Not so lucky Burns.” That afternoon, Barrett and Eric were headed back up the mountain. When they reached their spot and got out, a bull bugled down the side of the mountain. Bar-rett quickly gathered his gear and took off down the moun-tain, while Eric stayed back. When Barrett arrived, he no-ticed the bull trashing a tree with his rack and it wasn’t paying him any attention, so Barrett started to stalk him. He got within 60 yards of him, pulled up and sent an arrow right through the elk’s rib cage and the bull ran off. Barrett dropped his bow and ran back to Eric. He asked, “Where is your bow?” Barrett was so excited that he didn’t realize he had dropped his bow when he had ran back to share the good news. They had to backtrack to find the bow before they could go look for the racked bull. They found his bull and Ol’ Lucky had shot a bull of a lifetime. It was a 6x7 - 360 inch bull. At camp that night, the excitement was really high, but the pressure was even higher for Sam to get his bull also. So, the next morning, Sam and Brian went out to hope-fully find a love sick bull and

it wasn’t long before they did. Sam was saturated with the adrenaline-filled pressure at first, but Brian gave him some encouragement to lift his spirits. They heard elk bugling in the background, so he went to find another one and that afternoon he lucked out. Brian called the big bull virtually into Sam’s lap and this time Al Bradshaw’s off-spring didn’t disappoint. He made a perfect shot and this bull didn’t go far. What was so amazing was that the elk was a 5x5 inch bull and it looked exactly like his dad’s bull in 1998. The guys were looking for something to top off the trip, so they took the arrows from their harvests up to Al’s memorial. When they arrived at the spot, they took the broadheads off the arrows they had killed their elk with and placed them un-der the rock. Amazingly, they noticed elk tracks beside the rock and at that exact mo-ment they heard one bugle in the background. Immediately, Brian and Sam both knew that one of the hunter’s best friend and the others beloved dad had been wathcing over them the whole time. I want to give a huge thank you to these guys for letting me share this story with you, because Al was a very good friend of mine as well, and he is missed dearly. I also want to thank you Brian, for taking the time to show Al’s boys the passion of hunting like you and their father both shared together.

Walt “Keeping the Tradi-tion Alive” Wilkerson

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Cold Weather Crappie

By Garry Mason

The author is shown with the master of crappie fishing with jigs, Charlie Brewer. -Photo courtesy of Garry Mason


remember talking to an elderly, crappie guide

once about crappie fishing in the winter months and his remarks make more sense to me now than they did back then. One reason is because most of the thoughts about crappie fishing in the win-tertime that have occurred to me after having listened to him, have in fact been put to the test by both myself and my friends in the past few years. Here is some food for thought, before you head out in a quest for tasty, winter-time slabs. Most crappie fishermen prefer to fish in deeper wa-ter, during cold weather pat-terns. But, just give me a day in January or Febru-ary, when the sky is crystal clear and the sun is beating down on the water without much wind, and I will show you some tricks and tech-niques that may raise some eyebrows at the nearest bait store. Crappie and the food sources that they feed upon, are cold blooded creatures and therefore seek out a cer-tain comfort zone, just as you and I do. We like to be comfortable and eat well. The animal kingdom is no differ-ent. What is different is the environment in which they live and breathe in. Sunny days in the winter, allow the water temperatures to warm up in shallower waters, dur-ing the day. Mid-day can be the perfect time to fish dur-ing these conditions, which also allows the advantage of not having to get up and out on the cold lake before 9 or 10 o’clock am. As the water temperatures rise from the overhead sun-light, minnows move up into this warmer water, especial-

ly in and around coves con-taining shallow stake beds and brush. Crappie will fol-low this food source right up and into this structure. Finding this type of struc-ture is not hard, once you learn the techniques of fish-ing for shallow-water, win-ter crappie. Most fishermen, who build stake beds, do so in water of less than four or five feet in the early spring, some of which will be stick-ing out of the water as the winter pool elevation of the lake makes its way down to 359 here on Kentucky Lake. Even beds that are not pro-truding out of the water, but can be seen just under the water’s surface, can be great places to catch crappie in the wintertime. The best advan-tage to this type of fishing during the winter, is that you certainly will not have much competition from other fish-ermen. I have fished for two

or three days in a row dur-ing the winter, in one of my favorite coves and never see other fishermen, unless you count a Great Blue Heron or two. Here’s is the technique. Boy, I can’t believe that I am telling you folks this. Oh well, you probably won’t believe me anyway, so here goes. I use a seven-foot B & M rod, with a Johnny Mor-ris 1000 series spinning reel {spooled with six-pound,

high visibility, chartreuse line}. I place a small balsa wood float over the top of a 2”inch Charlie Brewer Slid-er Grub. The Slider Grub is fished on a 1/16th oz. double, light-wire ball jig head. Call

me crazy, but I like red, be-cause it works. I prefer to fish the Slider Grub about one foot or so, under the float. Cast this bait just be-yond the structure that you want to fish and very slowly work it up and into it. This takes a little practice, so as not to get hung on the mat. Two keys are a must for this type of fishing. Rule one is to watch your float at all times. The bite is very subtle most of the time; not a hard tug

like you would see during the spawn. Rule two is that if you get your hook hung up; slowly pull the jig off of the structure. This is where the double light-wire, jig head comes into play, as many times the hook will bend free. Do not pull on the struc-ture, as you may spook the shallow water slabs feeding there. Break your line off, if you need to, and retie. If you get too close to these shal-low feeding crappie during this type of fishing, you will spook them away and it may take the better part of an hour for them to come back to that particular piece of structure. There is nothing wrong with fishing for crappie in deeper water, and if that is the way that you like to fish, then hats off to you. Me, well I like the solitude of being the only guy within a half mile with a hook in the water. Give this method a try and pretty soon you’ll be saying, Can you pass the fillets and hush pup-pies please?

The author, with two slab crappie caught during January on Kentucky Lake, using his shallow water methods. -Photo courtesy of Garry Mason

I

Pictured is an asortment of “slab slaying” Charlie Brewer Slider Grubs. - Photo courtesy of Charlie Brewer


Whether you know trucks or not, the Chevrolet Silverado is likely a familiar vehicle; in a huge swath of variations, it’s the tool of choice for those who need to get things done. From sport trucks to hybrids, and up off-road rigs and heavy-duty models, the Silverado 1500 still stacks up well against rivals .....no matter what the priority.

The sleek lines, smooth handling, powerful engines and ample storage space makes it a top choice for all outdoorsmen!

To see this truck or any other Chevy vehicles, I recommend you visit our friends at Taylor Automotive. They are located at 11989 Hwy 22 East in Martin, Tennessee. You can call them at (731) 587-9544 or visit their website on-line at www.taylorautomotive.net.

Rob Somerville.

FOR HOME, WORK ... OR PLAY!

2013 CHEVY SILVERADO

The Super Duty Platinum will be available initially only as a crew cab, and can be ordered with either the 6.7-liter PowerStroke diesel or 6.2-liter gasoline V8. The Super Duty Platinum comes in a choice of exterior finishes, including Ruby Red, Kodiak Brown, Tuxedo Black, Ingot Silver and White Platinum, complemented with either a Pecan or Midnight Black interior. Ford designers have fashioned a fancy new grille with perforated mesh and a satin-chrome surround, as well as a monochromatic bumper and chrome tow hooks. There is plenty of chrome on the rest of the vehicle, too, including door handles, mirror caps, running boards and exhaust tip — even the Platinum name on either side of the pickup bed. The Super Duty Platinum rides on 20-inch polished aluminum wheels with painted black inserts. The cabin is even snazzier than the exterior, with loads of soft leather and wood and plenty of amenities, including Ford’s Sync infotainment system, navigation, power-adjustable pedals, rearview camera, remote start and power telescoping mirrors.

To see this truck or any other Ford vehicles, I recommend you visit our friends at Union City Ford. They are located at 2020 W. Reelfoot Avenue, in Union City, Tennessee. You can call them at (731) 885-8833 or visit their website on-line at www.unioncityfordlm.com.

- Rob Somerville.

... really PROVES “BUILT FORD TOUGH”

2013 FORD F SERIES SUPER DUTY PLATINUM


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Archery Basics

Practice on the range, and envisioning the actual shooting of an arrowat a buck, may prevent you from getting the “shakes” when a big boylike this comes sauntering down your shooting lane. -Photo by Rob Somerville

By Rob Somerville


he American tradition of taking wild game with

bow and arrow dates back to the days when Native Amer-ican Indians populated what is now the United States. These primitive tribes cut, soaked, and formed their own bows from tree limbs. Their arrows were whittled from stout branches, fletched with bird feathers and had a business end, consisting of a sharpened stone broadhead affixed with a rawhide thong. They became adept at taking animals with a bow, because their tribes depended on the meat for sustenance. Modern archery has come a long way since then. Today’s bow hunters have compound bows and carbon arrows, which far exceed speeds of 300 feet per second. What hasn’t changed is the fact that woodsmanship, practice, and stealth are all necessary com-ponents for successfully har-vesting game with the old “stick and string”. Most modern deer hunters took their first white-tail with a rifle. They then prob-ably graduated to a slug shoot-ing shotgun, then a muzzleloader, and eventually ar-chery gear. The reason for most of these hunters diversifying their hunting weapons was to take ad-vantage of a lon-ger hunting sea-son. But, many of these hunters found the satis-faction of pos-sessing the skill

to consistently take deer with a bow, the ultimate aphrodisi-ac in their love of the pursuit of the wary whitetail.In this article I will highlight some tips for success in basic archery skills. The Three “P’s” – Practice, Perseverance & Patience

Few people are natural born archers. However, it is a skill that can be attained. Be-lieve it or not, in regards to novice archers, women fare better than men. The first step is to purchase a bow that is comfortable for you, fits your draw length {span of arms}, has an adjustable poundage {how hard it is to pull back and hold steadily}, and find-ing one that you can afford. It is necessary to either visit a pro shop, or if you are lucky enough, have an experienced bowman to tutor you. Next you want to match your bow to a proper arrow selection. Pick up a dozen field target

points that match the weight of the broadheads you will be shooting, for practice also. I recommend starting with a basic string-attached peep sight, a two-pin bow sight, a finger release that attaches around your wrist, an eco-nomical arrow rest and a “box-style”, foam or pressed rubber target. Pull the bow back until it “breaks” or lets up on initial pressure. Now is when you find one of the most important marks of a consistent shooter … your anchor point. I recommend bringing the string of the bow to the tip of your nose every time you pull it back to full draw. If you are in-consistent with this “anchor point”, your shot placement will vary. Step off ten paces from your target, ensuring that you have a safe back-drop behind it. A large hay bale works well. Draw the bow back, and

align your top pin through your peep sight on the bull’s eye. If you are right-hand-ed, your right foot should be at a 90 degree angle from your target, with your left foot spread about shoulder’s width apart and angling to-ward the target. Your weight should be balanced slightly back on your right foot. This will be reversed if you are a “south paw”. Release your arrow. Never move your bow arm until the arrow hits the target. This is called “follow through”. Any movement of the bow during arrow release will vary the shot placement. These rules of form are im-portant in being consistently on target. Practice shooting with correctly disciplined form until it becomes sec-ond nature. If your arrow hits anywhere on the target, shoot two more arrows, aim-ing exactly at the same spot

T



and using the correct form. If these arrows hit in a fairly tight group {at least within two inches together} note whether they are upwards, downwards, to the left, or to the right of your aiming point. The rule of thumb is this: chase the arrow. In oth-er words, if the arrow group is to the right, move the pin slightly to the right. If they are above the aiming point, adjust the pin up – and so on. Shoot another group of three arrows and continue adjusting your pin until your groups are consistently hit-ting close to the bulls eye. When your groups begin getting less and less tightly shot together, put the bow up for the day. You are us-ing muscles that you ordi-narily do not use on a day to day basis and will tire eas-ily at first. Practice every day. If your arm shakes too much from pulling the bow back after about a week of

this regiment, you may have to adjust the bows poundage down. This is done by turn-ing the two “Allen head” screws, located on the front of the bow’s top and bottom limbs, counter clockwise, exactly the same amount, in small increments.Step back and admire your work. After a week of shooting consistent patterns from a distance of ten yards, move back to twenty yards. You should only have to adjust your top pin up or down to compensate for distance. Re-member to maintain your proper form and anchor point. After a week of this distance, move back to thir-ty yards and use your bottom pin. Adjust this pin accord-ingly as you did with the top one. You now have a bow set up for target shooting at zero to twenty yards with the top pin, and thirty to forty yards with the bottom pin. Practice

shooting from various dis-tances, to know if you have to aim a little high or low to hit your mark, and with what pin to aim. Now, you want to start practicing from unknown dis-tances to become accustomed to guessing how far you are from your target. A good method I utilize when teach-ing novice archers to do this is to throw sticks out at vari-ous locations and have them shoot from them. To make it more enjoyable, shoot with a group of friends and tie small balloons to your target to burst. But remember; never be critical of sub-par shoot-ers. This may discourage a future bow hunter.Elevate your expectations

After you feel comfort-able when shooting from the ground, and can consistent-ly hit your aiming point, it is time to shoot from an el-evated platform to simulate hunting from a treestand. If you are shooting a “high-speed” bow, this will have little effect on your shots. I have found that when using a “pendulum” style sight, it will shoot a consistently tight and accurate pattern. These sights automatically compen-sate for distance, angle and elevation. They are ideal for hunting situations. Remem-ber to wear a safety harness

when shooting from an ele-vated stand. It is also a good idea to have a partner that can pull out your arrows and tie them to a pull-up rope, so you don’t have to climb up and down constantly. By now, you should be able to shoot arrows for about one-half hour without tiring. To simulate actual hunt-ing situations, shoot in vary-ing weather conditions and wear your actual hunting clothes. This will help pre-pare you for all situations and allow you to ensure that your clothes do not hamper the mechanics of your shooting. I also recommend substituting your box-style target with a high-density, foam deer tar-get. This gets you used to proper shot placement and angles that will ethically har-vest a deer. Familiarize yourself with the vital areas on a deer’s body for humane harvests in the actual field. Archery is a sport that the entire family can partici-pate in and enjoy, and if you love to deer hunt, there is no prouder hunting moment in the outdoors than your first archery harvest. Any experienced archer will tell you that shooting an arrow at a live deer is quite different than shooting at a foam block or deer target.

Archery Continued

Rob’s Recommended Archery Equipment

• Matthew’s Q2 bow• Easton ACC arrows• Muzzy Products – “Zero Effect” arrow rest• Savage – pendulum sight• Muzzy Products 3-blade,100 grain broadheads• Summit’s Viper climbing stand• Ambusher ladder stand• Simm’s Vibrations Labs bow & string silencers• Bass Pro Shops – snake boots• Bass Pro Shops – 3-D Leafy Wear camo• H.S. Scents – camo face paint• Lakota knife• Tru-Ball release• ST-1 stabilizer• Knight & Hale – scent eliminator• Scent-lok – undersuit• Bright-eyes trail markers & oranges ribbon• Code Blue urine scents

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For one thing, your target is now moving. For anoth-er reason, a certain malady tends to kick in, known as “buck fever”Why are my legs shaking and my heart beating so

fast? All deer hunters have ex-perienced it and we all still do, to some extent. I guess when the day comes when seeing a deer doesn’t get me excited, that will be the day I quit. The first deer that I took with a bow was a doe. This “up close and personal” encounter left me with legs that were so rubbery that I could not even stand up for several moments. Deer hunt-ers experience mixed feelings upon the harvest of an animal so beautiful. Pride, sadness, and pure joy can bring you through the full spectrum of emotions. Later in this arti-

cle, I will relate some ways to somewhat keep “buck fe-ver” under control, but first let’s get ready for the deer woods.

Tools of the trade When you are shooting a bow at the target range, or in your backyard, noise does not matter and after a peri-od of a couple of weeks you should be skillful enough at shooting an arrow {equipped with a field-target point} that you are damaging the fletch-ings on your arrows when shooting groups at a distance of thirty yards. But, to hu-manely and legally harvest a deer with bow and arrow, you must shoot arrows tipped with a broadhead and you will want to have a quiet set up. In my opinion, speed is overrated. I feel it is more important to have a quiet and

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A simple “bulls-eye” target is great for starters, but I strongly recommend a 3D – deer target, to add realism to your practice session. -Photo by Rob Somerville



accurate shooting bow and to use stealthy movements, when attempting to draw it. Sims Technologies makes a product that is called Limb-savers. These patented, stick-on devices, take the “twang” out of your bow when fir-ing it. I also use “string si-lencers” to quiet the vibra-tion. The ST-1 bow stabilizer, made locally by Joe Goade, is the last piece in my silenc-ing arsenal.

“In –Expansive” broadheads – the cutting

edge The next item you must decide on is a broadhead. Many people shoot expand-able, open-on-impact broad-heads, and have harvest-ed many deer with them. I choose not to for several rea-sons. First of all, anything that is mechanical can fail, so why take the chance. Sec-ondly, I have had two bad ex-periences with these types of blades not opening. A broad-head should be sturdy, have a superior cutting and penetrat-ing point, and possess razor-sharp blades. The only broad-head I have found in years of field tests that consistently maintains all of these neces-sary ingredients, is made by Muzzy Products. A package of these tips comes with a practice broadhead, which al-lows you to tune your bow to

hunt. Hunting broadheads fly differently than field tips and you must fine tune your bow to their travel, prior to hitting the woods on an actual hunt.In the stand – comfort and safety are the keys A treestand should be com-fortable to prevent you from squirming around and al-lowing the deer to catch you moving, but first and fore-most it must be safe. If you are using a climbing style, or strap-on stand, practice with it at home until you are comfortable with using it. If a ladder stand is preferred, ensure that it is securely at-tached to the tree. Whatever your preference, practice target shooting from your stand, in both standing and sitting positions. Do not “over trim” shooting lanes. Choose a tree that gives you foliage around you, to help you avoid detection. Always be alert and have your bow ready, with an arrow nocked and your bow within easy reach. When a deer approach-es, move only when it will not detect you and be pre-pared to hold at full draw for several seconds, until you can get an ethical shot off. Becoming the u l t ima te predator If you remember that you are hunting an animal that has been hunted by both

man and beast for centu-ries and has developed su-per-charged senses of sur-vival, you will realize the need to be as scent-free and stealthy as possible. Camou-flage your entire body. Wear a head net or camo paint to conceal your face. I like to cut the thumb and forefinger out of the glove on my shoot-ing hand to better feel my re-lease. There are several great camo patterns on the market. I like to wear a different pat-tern on the top and bottom of my body to help break up my outline.

Getting rid of the shakes The sun reflects the glint of antlers. You hear the crunch of approaching footsteps, as the deer’s hooves crunch through the autumn leaves. You carefully pick up your bow and begin to draw. All of a sudden, your foot starts tapping spasmodically and you feel like you are going to hyper-ventilate. This is buck fever and it can be devastat-ing to a successful harvest. It can make you suddenly for-get all of the basic shooting skills you thought had be-come second nature. There is no sure-fire, cure-all solution. But, here are some tips that can help. When you are in your deer stand, mentally envision a deer coming down the trail

and you drawing back and shooting it. Another trick is not to look at the deer, espe-cially if it is a large-racked buck. Instead, focus on its vital area and imagine the bull’s eye or balloon that you practiced shooting at in your back yard. Breathe slowly and carefully through your nose. Do not jerk on your release. Gently put pressure on the release, to sling your arrow. Another trick I use use, to silently repeat to myself, “Take your time, steady, fol-low through, and aim low”. All of these tactics help calm your mind and distract you enough to allow you to follow through with your ba-sic shooting form you have programmed yourself into.Summary: There are many other im-portant factors in being a successful archery hunter. Scouting, stand placement and blood-trailing are just a few. But, we will save those for another time. The im-portant thing is to enjoy the outdoor experience that the Good Lord has blessed us with. If you take a deer, con-sider it “icing on the cake”. Good luck “slinging those sticks” and always remem-ber that our kids are our most precious natural resource. They are our future.

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Archery Continued


Giving ThanksBy Rob Somerville

One of America’s most cherished holidays will soon be upon us ….. Thanksgiving. To some, this day means a special dinner of turkey and dressing, with all varieties of special foods and desserts to compliment it. To others it means watch-ing football games on TV. Many look forward to this holiday to spend time with friends and family that busy schedules have kept away for far too long. Many families gather in prayer, to offer thanks to God, for all of the bountiful blessings in their lives. I wrote the following poem for this column in hopes that the next time you are sitting in a deer stand, chasing a rabbit through the fields, watching the tip of your crappie pole for that “tell-tale” twitch of a bite, or scanning the sky for mal-lards, you too will feel the need to give thanks to the Master of all that is wild. Last but certainly not least, I also wish to thank you, the readers of this magazine, as well as our fine family of adver-tisers, for helping to make it a success.

Giving Thanks By Rob Somerville

For the turkeys that gobble and for the bass which leap high,for the hoot of an owl in the pre-dawn sky.For the sight of an antlered whitetail deer,

for the explosion of a quail covey as it bursts through the air.For the coyote that howls on full moon nights,

I thank you my Father, for these sounds and these sights.

For the barking of beagles, running hot rabbit trails,for the red-tailed hawk, that so gracefully sails.

For the bobcat, so silently stalking its prey,for the beautiful sunrise on a frost laden day.

For the Black and Tan hound, on a coon as he bays,for all of this Lord, it is you who I praise.

For a child’s first fish, with their face all aglow,for the sound of my arrow as it’s leaving my bow.

For the eyes of a Lab as it’s scanning the sky,ready for mallards, never questioning why.

For the ancient white oak trees, two-hundred years old,not factory-made Lord, only you have the mold.

I thank you dear God, for all of these things,and the precious times of enjoyment that each of them brings.

Happy Thanksgiving, and God bless you and yours.Rob.


he Nebraska 2010, duck season was in full swing. I

had arrived in Tekamah, Ne-braska with two hunting bud-dies of mine, Mr. Crockett Mathis and Mr. Tom Moody. Both of these men had made several duck hunting trips with me to wondrous, far-away places in which our goal was to hunt both ducks and geese up and down the Mississippi flyway. This trip was to be special. In fact, this trip was a once in a life-time venture for all three of us. We had been invited to spend three days on a pri-vate hunting club, owned and operated by “Legends of the Outdoors” hall of fame mem-ber, Mr. Ralph Kohler. Some would ask why this was such a special hunt. Sit back and I will tell you why. I had started hunting wa-terfowl in the early 1970’s at the tender age of fifteen, alongside my buddies, wad-ing up and down Blood Riv-er near my hometown of Bu-chanan, Tennessee. Most of the time we did not have waders and thanks to my Granddad, I was able to bor-row his shotgun and scrape up a few shells from Crutch-er’s General store. Back in those days, nontoxic shot shells had not been thought

of and we shot any type of shells that we could buy or beg from older family mem-bers. I remember that my un-cle had a reloading machine and he would load me a box of shot shells for my birth-day each year, which hap-pened to be two days after Christmas. As young water-fowlers, we would dream of hunting faraway places and try to imagine just where the few mallards and wood ducks that we shot had come from. Little did I know back then, how much that waterfowl hunting would shape my life and my career. Nor, could I imagine all of the great plac-es that hunting ducks and geese would take me and all of the wonderful people that this great sport would allow me to become friends with. Dreams are meant to be lived and live my dream

I did. Places such as North Dakota, South Dakota, Ne-braska, Arkansas, Mississip-pi, Missouri, Kentucky and Illinois would become famil-iar haunts during waterfowl season and as time would al-low, I would spend as much time as possible traveling to these other states to ply my trade as a professional out-doorsman, or just to hunt with friends. One of the men who had al-ready become a waterfowling legend, in the area of Tennes-see near where I had grown up, was Crockett Mathis. Crockett is the fourth genera-tion great grandson of Davy Crockett, of the Alamo fame, and is as much of a frontiers-man as his granddad. Crock-ett’s exploits, while hunting in and around West Sandy Bottom were what dreams were made of, as far as us

boys were concerned and we longed to grow up some day to be as well-known as him. As kids, we could only imagine then what it would be like; just get to talk to such a legend, much less ever getting the chance to actually hunt with him. So, here both Tom and I sit in the truck with one of our boyhood he-roes, traveling to a wonder-ful location to spend a few days hunting the birds that we love so well. That was the first spe-cial part of the trip. The next was to be even more memo-rable for us all. Enter Mr. Ralph Kohler, ninety five years young at the time. He would be our guide and host on this hunt. Mr. Ralph, as everyone calls him, started hunting ducks and geese on the Missouri River near his home in Tekamah, Nebras-ka as a youngster, follow-ing around his older uncles. Both of his uncles, having seen something special in this young man, did every-thing possible to insure his future as a waterfowl guide. A career that would cover over eight decades and over eighty five waterfowl sea-sons was born. Ralph started guiding hunters at age six-teen with a mule, a wagon

T

Duck Hunting Legends

By Garry Mason

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Mr. Ralph Kohler has witnessed beautiful sunrises such as this, from duckblinds for over 75 years. - Photo courtesy of Garry Mason

and live duck and goose de-coys, which were legal at the time. Having spent time hunting with Ralph prior to this hunt, I had asked him for some of his thoughts on the changes that he had seen over such a long career as a professional guide. Here is what he said, on live decoys. There were days, Ralph said, that the ducks would just fly on by and not pay any at-tention to the live hens that were calling to them as they flew overhead. Other days, the ducks would work into gun range without hesita-tion. But, on the subject of the geese that would migrate down through the area, he said that almost every goose that came within earshot of those live decoys would work

into range. Without the laws that stopped things such as baiting and the use of live decoys, in his opinion, much of the water fowling as we know it today would not be available to hunters. Over his many years of guiding and hunting, many celebrities and outdoorsmen have shared Mr. Ralph’s blinds and his won-derful hospitality. He recalled Mr. Herb Parsons, the na-tionally known trick shooter that would hunt with him. On one occasion, Mr. Par-sons was supposed to be do-ing a shooting demonstration for Winchester. However, the hunting was so good that he spent three days hunting with Ralph instead. Ralph is not only a pro-


STO field staff editor, Garry Mason, is shown high-balling at somemallards in Nebraska. - Photo courtesy of Garry Mason


fessional waterfowl hunter. Both he and his wife Doro-thy were professional ball room dancers and won many competitions during that part of their life together. Ralph, Dorothy and their son were also the very first family to be named to the All Ameri-can Trap Team. He and hunt-ing pal Monte West, created the very first full-body, mold-ed goose decoy back in the day when plastic decoys were not available. When Mr. Ralph was inducted into the

“Legends of the Outdoors” National Hall of Fame, he and Mrs. Dorothy had been married for longer than any other person who was in at-tendance, except for Mr. Ray Scott.,Mr. Scott had been only two years old when the Kohler’s were married. As the morning of the hunt arrived and we found ourselves in the blind with Mr. Ralph, I could not help but journey back to my days as a youth and think how lucky it was for me to get to

hunt with men such as Ralph Koehler and Crockett Mathis. I can only hope that some-day some young hunter will think the same of me, as I do of them. Side Bar: Mr. Ralph Kohler and his wife Dorothy cele-brated their seventy seventh wedding anniversary this past September and as the duck and goose season for this upcoming year quickly ap-proaches, most of us under-stand that the day is com-ing when we may no longer

get to share a blind with Mr. Ralph, but only memories and his legacy. Mr. Ralph turned ninety five years old this past year and still hunts every day during the Ne-braska season. He is a true American outdoor legend. Crockett and I, along with some other hunting buddies, will head back to Nebraska this upcoming waterfowl sea-son to enjoy one more hunt with Mr. Ralph. But, that will be another story.

This picture is of Mr. Ralph Kohler, standing in front of the duck pond that he has hunted for over 60 years. -Photo courtesy of Garry Mason


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Grant Hilliard {age 12} from Huntingdon, Tennessee took his first buck ever on his Grandpa Cannon’s farm on 12/28/11. He was hunting with his dad and shot the nice deer with a .44 carbine at 150 yards.Photo courtesy of Lankford’s Taxidermy.

Barrett {Lucky} Burns is pictured here with his first bull bull elk, he took in New Mexico on a September, 2012 hunt.Photo coiurtesy of Wilkerson’s Taxidermy


Garry Mason’s grandson. Austin Flowers, with two huge slab crappie that he caught while fishing with his Papa on Kentucky Lake.Photo courtesy of Garry Mason

The term “Girl Power” is proven here by Tiffany Hill, as she poses with the monster buck - her first ever - that she harvested on Nov. 19th, 2011 in Carroll County, Tennessee.Photo courtesy of Lankford’s Taxidermy.

Eric Klinkhammer is shown with a nice bull elk, he took in New Mexico on a September, 2012 hunt.Photo coiurtesy of Wilkerson’s Taxidermy


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Southern Traditions Outdoors 12