19 things I learned in ACC 255

Through out this semester I have learned a lot about the online business community.  I will list 19 things that I can name that were new to me and that I have learned.

1. How to create an e-book
2. How to create AdSense ads on the blog posts and pillar articles
3. How to create pillar articles 
4. How to create a good blog post
5. How to create a web site that can be used for business purposes
6. Putting counters on the bottom of the important pages on a web site
7. How to create products to sell
8. How to monetize the web site
9. How to attract customers
10. Create content that is interesting for the readers
11. How to make a web site visually appealing
12. How to develop plans to keep the business running
13. How to commit time to creating a good project
14. Prioritize time where it is needed
15. How to write effectively for my niche group
16. Discovered my niche group
17. How to run analytics on my web site to see the type of traffic I have coming to my site
18. How to reach out to readers to interest them
19. How the internet is very beneficial to business owners.

This class has helped me realize how much of a tool it really is to all business owners and how well it reaches out to the public.  This class has really taught me a lot and I plan to use this down the road hopefully.

How high should the stand be.

Over the years I have experimented with how high I should really be in the tree to stay out of sight from the deer and have come up with a fifteen foot range 15-30 feet for bow hunting.  This is due to the fact that deer do not usually look up into the trees since they have no predators up there.  The range though allows you to stay out of the way of 2 of their sensory organs, their nose and their eyes.  If you are above fifteen feet in the air you are right at the bottom range of being high enough to be undetected.  The ideal range is 20-25 feet because  this will for sure keep you out of sight and the deer will have a harder time smelling you as well down wind since your scent will be higher up in the trees.  Now 30 feet is a little excessive for the bow hunter because at that height the shot angle window to hit both lungs decreases to a very small window.  It takes a lot of time to figure out what is the right height for you to bow hunt at, but now all of my stands are in the 20-25 feet range and have had extraordinarily good luck at this range.  Now gun hunters your range is not as significant, just climb the tree until you have a good view of your surroundings and that is where you should be since your weapon has a much more significant range it really does not matter how high your stand is.  So everyone reading hope this has helped you out and happy hunting.

Trick of the Trade

So we have all heard that eating breakfast is the most important meal of the day, since it helps fuel your body for the rest of the day.  Well I don't know about everyone else but I find it hard to cook something at like 4am when you are used to getting up at a much later time.  So most of the time I will go without breakfast before hunting and this tends to lead to problems.  It is much easier to fall asleep when you are out in the stand and also if your body does not have enough sugars it will start to make you feel sick which will shorten up your time that you stay out in the stand.  Well I have had this happen to me and I radioed my dad to tell him that I was getting out of my stand to go back to the truck and go back to sleep till he got there so I could feel better.  Well his response was did you eat breakfast?  So of course I said no, to which he said well come down here and get some hard candy it will make your brain think that it is getting fed and will make you feel better till we get done hunting.  Thank god he did this for me because not even an hour after I got back to my stand a big based 13 pointer walked five yards from my stand and now he is hanging on my wall.  So now I have learned my lesson and bring hard candy out with me just in case something like that were to happen again.

Prepare for the Weather

If you are a resident of Illinois you will know that it is not the most predictable, as the saying goes if you don't like the weather wait five minutes and you might like it then.  When hunting deer in Illinois it starts off rather warm and ends miserably cold so you really need to dress for the weather at hand.  When hunting late fall to early winter usually the lighter camo will do along with a couple of layers tops under the camo.  Now mid winter to late winter get ready to bundle up and be prepare to possibly be cold because it seems that no matter how much clothes you have on you still somehow become cold.  For me it seems that the more clothes that i put on the colder I get and it just seems like a never ending battle.  Just make sure you are always prepared for the weather though, just remember if you have too many clothes on you can take them off and store them in your bag but if you do not have enough clothes you will be miserable for the entire time you are out hunting.  If you are not prepared for the weather in Illinois chances are you will not be able to stay out long enough for you to even see anything worth shooting, because the deer will move when they get cold and if you do not have the clothes to stay out you will not see them.  Dress for the weather and stay out and hunt for as long as you can!

Camouflage

There has always been a controversy out there saying that a hunter does not really need camouflage because of the fact that deer are color blind and can not really pick you out from the surroundings.  But what people need to know is that just because they are color blind does not meant that they can not pick you out from the background.  You have to realize they patrol this area more than you are out there and they know when things are not right.  So if are one of the people that believe that camo is needed then you really need to choose a camo that is going to blend in with the hunting background.  And I do not mean just for a particular time, you need to have a set for the warmer weather and a set for colder weather.  The warmer weather should consist of more greens to help you blend in with the leaves on the tree while in the stand.  The winter clothing should consist of more browns and lighter colors to help blend in with the trees without leaves on it.  So when you are trying to pick out a camo make sure you are choosing for the time that you are going to be hunting more.  And to prove my point more I have a picture of using the right kind of camo for the job.

                           

Perfecting your skills

Although hunting is a game of luck when it comes to what walks in front of you, it becomes a game of skill when the animal is in front of you.  Luck has nothing to do with where the arrow or shot hits that takes skill and when your skill is lacking then the chance of you bagging your animal becomes less and less.  The way to make sure to keep the skill level that is needed is to practice like crazy.  With a bow this is a lot easier to do since you can keep pulling your arrows and re-using them.  I recommend becoming very comfortable with shooting at different yardages because deer will not just be at one set yardage all the time.  Keep practicing until you are comfortable with the yardages and are able to group the arrows consistently.  This keeps your skill level with the bow high and allows you to be a confident shooter.  Now with the gun since ammunition is not cheap, thanks the the awesome gun laws we have, I would recommend using a .22 rifle to practice with if you have it.  This allows you to use a low recoil weapon to allow you to get used to shooting and developing a particular style of shooting.  Once you have a good shooting style you tend to become comfortable with any weapon that falls into your hands and this will make you a great shooter.  So get out there and practice and have fun doing it.

Sharp is necessary!

When going out bowhunting it is important to make sure all of your cutting equipment is sharp and ready to use, otherwise you might be having a tough time if you manage to get one down.  Depending on what tools you use when field dressing a deer can dictate how many items you need to make sure are sharp before going out.  I personally have a knife and a gut hook to account for when going out.  I test to make sure my knife is sharp before my first time going out and then after every deer I kill, and a good way to test this is to cut diagonally on a piece of paper.  If the blade cuts all the way down its' length then the blade is sharp but if it only makes a small cut sharpening is needed.  I rely on my knife when I am out hunting so I like it to be razor sharp to make the field dressing process that much quicker and easier.  Now after checking to make sure all the cutting tools you have to field dress a deer are sharp it is also important to check your broadheads as well.  Sharp heads cut through with ease and less drag making the blow a quick deadly cut.  If the heads are sharp enough you might just get to experience shooting a deer and not have it run far and die not too far from where you hit it.  So make sure all of your tools are sharp, you want them to work properly when you need them most.

Body size?

Although many hunters go out looking for that one massive buck that would look awesome on the wall, but there are some people who go out just to put meat in the freezer so they can feed themselves.  These kind of people look for healthy animals to take down.  It does not always matter the size of the animal either for these people, I mean they are not going to pass up a big doe to take a yearling by any means.  But each animal has a distinct taste when it comes to looking at the size.  A yearling will taste less wild because it has not had enough time for hormones to effect the meat, also they have less stress put on the muscles making the meat easier to eat.  Now does that are in the age range of 2-3 are the next best thing because their meat will taste more like that of beef and not have as much of a wild taste.  This is due to not having a lot of hormones affecting the meat and their primary diet is corn and grass (at least where I am from).  Now although everyone is looking for that monster buck there is one downside to this.  Although the mount will look great on the wall, the meat will not taste good because it has had a lot of testosterone flowing through his muscles and this makes the meat have a very wild taste and makes it tough to eat.  But depending on what you put the meat in it really won't matter, the best thing I have found for the meat from a buck is to put it in chili.  So just remember that its not always about the size when it comes to hunting, a lot of the smaller deer taste better than the older bigger deer.

BUSTED!

Nothing makes you feel down like getting busted by a deer.  Whether or not it is by the deer you are aiming for or a smaller deer just walking through it always makes you mad.  I have had this happen to me a lot of times while out in the stand and it is very frustrating.  I have had my sights on several very decent bucks and happened to move just a little too much with a smaller buck or doe behind me and they caught me doing this and continuously blow and stop at you which alerted the deer I was looking at and then off he goes along with the other deer in the area.   These kinds of things can be avoided by keeping an eye on all of your surroundings before standing up or aiming your weapon down range on the animal.  Also what can get you busted is your lack of covering your scent on the way to the stand.  Even though some people do not believe that cover scent works, I will personally tell you that it does.  The times that I have forgot to spray down before entering the timber it never fails I get busted.  Now as long as I spray down before walking to my stand and enter the timber I have no problem staying hidden from the deer.  So remember no sudden movements and cover your scent and you should have a greater chance of not getting busted while out in the stand!

Where do you hunt?

There are many places on where you can hunt depending on where your land is located compared to the bedding areas, food sources, and water sources for the deer.  Hunting in just the timber allows you to see deer and gives you a great chance of seeing a lot of unsuspecting deer at that.  They feel completely safe in the timber because nothing tries to kill them in the timber.  But the down side is that you have few shooting lanes and the deer tend to just walk on through the timber without stopping too often since the food they are looking for is not there.  Now if you hunt a funnel on the outside of the timber like a lane that separates the timber and a field you have a great chance of seeing deer along with getting more shot opportunities since the deer will be coming out of the timber and possibly walking along the lane or out into the food source.  But with this said the deer tend to be more wary out in the open and not stick around long if something stands out.  Now if you hunt along a river you have a greatly increased chance of seeing some nice bucks since they tend to have trails running alongside the rivers.  So with all of this said be sure to pick an awesome spot where you think you will have the best shot at bagging an awesome deer, best of luck.

Those Dang Squirrels

Is it just me or do the squirrels bother every hunter in the woods?  It seems that when I am out hunting in the morning everything it perfect until the squirrels wake up.  Once those little tree rats wake up it seems like the nice peaceful timber is just about as loud as a highway.  Alright I maybe over exaggerating there but still they always run around trampling through all the leaves and mach 1 making so much noise.  Heaven forbid they see you move in your treestand, because then they will climb a tree near you and continuously bark at you until they feel satisfied or something else distracts them.  I have finally got good enough with my bow to shoot them while I am in the stand, and since this is quiet it does not affect my hunting.  And since squirrel season is going on the same time deer season is it is perfectly legal to kill them.  Now if you hunt in an area where squirrels are not present then you should really consider yourself a lucky person since you have no idea how much of a nuisance these creatures really are!  And to all you people who think these animals are cute, try sitting out in a quiet area where there are squirrels and good luck doing this because there is no such thing!

During Rut

During Rut is my favorite time to hunt, there is a lot more activity going on with the bucks chasing the does and the bucks fighting.  It is so much more entertaining to be out during this time because the does are in heat and minding their own business and this tends to attract at least one buck to the party.  This buck will chase her around all over the place until she submits to him, but that is not the fun part to watch.  The fun part is watching her run away from him and turn and look back to see if he is still chasing, sounds familiar doesn't it guys?  Also during this time bucks have a lot of testosterone pumping through their body and tend to get much more aggressive towards other bucks.  They react in two different ways during rut when you are using a buck grunt and rattling antlers they can either approach you cautiously to see what is going on or they will storm in on you ready for a fight.  The cautious buck is not as much fun to watch when you are out hunting, the aggressive one is a blast though.  To see a smaller buck with lots of testosterone built up in him come charging in with his ears back, hair on end and breathing hard is just funny to watch until a bigger buck comes along and picks a fight with him then it is even more interesting to watch because the bigger buck usually dominates the little one and sends him on his way with is tail tucked between his legs.  If you have not experienced these kinds of experiences I sure hope you do it makes hunting that much more fun and interesting.  Happy Hunting.

Conservation Officer

Now we all know that the conservation officers are out there on patrol during the deer season, but not too often do you really have to talk to one.  Now for all of you folks who have yet to talk to one consider yourself lucky, my family and I tend to talk to the same one three times a year at least and each time is to check to make sure we are legal.  The talk usually consists of what we have seen, if they can see our gun and tags to make sure they are valid and legal and then tend to just tell us to have a nice day.  Now in case you do not know about what the conservation officers are checking for I will tell you.  When looking at your gun (in the state of Illinois) they will ask for your firearm then three shells.  This is to make sure that the magazine tube under the barrel of the shotgun holds only two shells.  Since in the state of Illinois we are only allowed to have 3 rounds in the weapon while hunting (1 in the chamber and 2 in the tube).  Now when he asks to see the tags he is checking to make sure we have valid Illinois deer hunting permits along with a valid hunting license.  Also he checks to make sure that you have your Firearms Owners Identification card on you since we have to have it with us along with our hunters safety coarse card.  So to all of you people who have not been stopped by the conservation officer you are missing out on a lot of fun dealing with them, and by the way that was sarcasm.  Hope no one has to have a talk with them and happy hunting.

using quads while hunting

Although you can not hunt off the back of a quad you can use it to get too and from your stand, help collect hunting supplies, and help bring a deer back to your vehicle.  I use my family quad for all of these things when we are out gun hunting.  When you have to walk a mile or more to get to your stand you tend not to want to walk so riding the quad is the sensible option here, that way you do not get hot walking to the stand and sweat then get cold once you sit still.  Now while on a quad with a firearm the gun MUST be unloaded and cased so that you are legal, you do not want want the conservation officer nabbing you for that.  If you have a lot of things that you need out to your stand and it is too muddy to get back there with a heavier vehicle like a truck the quad is the best choice of transportation out there.  It helps to be able to travel back and forth with out digging ruts with the truck or worse getting stuck with it.  Now we have all had to drag a deer for some kind of distance and I do not know about all of you but it is not fun at all no matter how far you have to drag it.  So when you have a deer down why not just throw it on the back of the quad and take it back to the truck that way you do not disturb the surrounding area too much by bringing the truck down there to get the deer and allows the people around you to be able to hunt longer with out any interruptions.  So if you have to walk a long way, carry a lot of items to and from the stand, or move a deer why not use a quad.  Just be sure to follow the laws of the state you are in and be safe.  Happy Hunting.

Judging distance.

Whether you just use a gun or a bow or both you need to know how to judge distance if you do not put yardage markers out to make it easier on yourself.  The best way I have found to judge distance is when you are practicing shooting, practicing at a specific range will allow you to visualize how far away are and you can use this in the field.  Say you have yardage markers set up at home for practice shooting your bow  after you are comfortable with these yardages take the markers out next time out and judge yardage for yourself.  You should have the yardages you practiced at memorized by now and if you look too close to the target then you probably are.  This will help judge closer yardages such as twenty through fifty yards, anything more than fifty I would suggest having yardage markers out at the furthest point you feel comfortable shooting at and if a deer walks within that range take your shot.  Now if you are really good and do not need yardage markers then kudos to you, I have been hunting eight years now and have still not mastered memorizing the longer yardages yet.  So get out and practice and get to memorizing your yardages and you will become a better hunter.

Judging a buck from the stand

Now we have all been up in the stand and had bucks come to our calls, but how do you decide what is a good buck to take.  Many people just look at the rack and let a bullet or arrow fly and do not think twice.  The best way to judge the age of a buck is not to look at its rack but at the other features of the animal.  When you have a buck spotted from the distance take a look through the binoculars and take a look at the face of the animal if the animal has a short face it usually means that the animal is rather young.  If the animals face looks proportionate to the ears then it means that the animal is a mature buck and could be taken but there are bigger ones out there.  Now if the bucks face is long and the ears are small and he has a big thick neck and a bigger belly then the animal is a dominate buck and he is more than likely a shooter.  Usually these deer present themselves as an elegant creature, standing tall and proud and it is quite easy to spot these bucks in a heard.  When you see an animal like this now you can look at the rack to see if it is big enough for your standards and if it is take it.  The dominate bucks will tend to have a much larger set of antlers to go with their body.  I hope this has helped you be able to judge shooter bucks a little better.

Bow Sights

There are several different sights you can put on your bow and they are fiber optic pins, a pendulum sight, a red dot, and even a scope.  I personally would go with the fiber optic sights when choosing a sight for a hunting bow and this is because they allow wider range coverage so you do not have to move the sight housing any.  When choosing a fiber optic sight you have a choice between 3-5 pins usually.  The 3 pin sight housing I would recommend for beginner archers and this is because you can set the pins for the 3 distances that the beginner is comfortable with, which is usually 10, 15, and 20 yards.  After getting comfortable with those ranges then you can resight the housing to 20, 25, and 30 yards and they will be just fine in a hunting situation with that set up.  More advanced hunters with higher poundage and faster speeds tend to use the 5 pin set up allowing them to reach out to 50 or 60 yards.  Usually when hunting a deer I would never go out to 50 or 60 yards because the kill zone gets so small, but people hunting elk would use these pins more because it is not as easy to get the elk to come in closer than that.  Although I did not talk about the other kinds of sights they all have their uses, but I feel as though the fiber optic sights suit hunters better than the others.  The other sights are more meant for competition shooting and do not really have a purpose in the hunting environment. Hope this helps and happy hunting.

Optics for a shotgun.

When using a shotgun there are various types of optics that you can use when hunting.  You can use just the sights that are on the gun called iron sights, you can use a red dot scope, or a rifle scope.  Now depending on where you are hunting really judges what kind of optics you should use.  If hunting in a heavily wooded area a red dot sight or iron sights are the best to use since you will have a wider view of what is around you.  It would not be the best idea to have a 9 x 40 scope if you are in a heavily wooded area since you would not be able to see anything because most shots should happen within 50 yards.  Now if you are hunting on an open field then a rifle scope would be one of the better options since you have a chance to shoot longer distances.  I would not recommend using just iron sights or a red dot since they are usually meant for closer range shots and although close shots happen in the field you usually get longer shots.  Now when choosing a scope you want to choose a power that will make you comfortable with shooting the longer ranges.  I personally use a 3 - 9 x 40 scope and love it, long shots are a breeze with that scope but if you are more comfortable with a lesser power scope a 2 - 7 x 32 scope, since it allows for closer shots the power is not as strong and allows this.  Hope this has helped with you choosing your scope.  Happy Hunting.

Hunting With Family

I won't lie the best time that I have spent hunting was out with my dad and grandpa.  It's nice to be out there in the woods doing something we all enjoy.  This past hunting season my dad and I set a goal to help grandpa shoot a bigger buck than he has in the past.  We both agreed that if anything of decent size is walking towards the hunting shed where grandpa was sitting to let it walk by and wait for him to shoot at it before we took our shots at anything.  Well I was sitting in my stand about 300 yards away from my dad and grandpa, when a nice buck came out of the woods and started walking over towards where dad and grandpa were.  I gave grandpa and dad a call to let them know it was coming and eventually I heard a shot then saw nothing but a white tail go running over the hill.  Well later on that season our land lord was out driving around and spotted a monster buck and gave grandpa a call to let him know there was one on his other field.  Well he got out of the shed rode the four wheeler to his truck then drove over to the field that the buck was at.  He grabbed his gun loaded it on the walk and put the cross hairs on the buck, pulled the trigger and hit the buck at 100 yards square in the heart.  Dad and I rushed over to see my grandpa pull one of the biggest bucks that have ever came off the land lord's land.  His buck weight 205 lbs field dressed and was a big 9 pointer.  Needless to say it was one of grandpa's happiest days hunting.

Broadheads

There are many boradheads you can choose when hunting deer.  The two that I focus on are fixed blades and mechanical broad heads.  Each type of head has its purpose to take the deer down.  Fixed blade boradheads are good at slicing and dicing when hitting its target.  But the tip of the head is usually wedge shaped allowing it to blast through bone if enough force was applied behind it.  If the tip is a cut on contact tip then it is better off shooting at the rib cage since the ribs are soft bones that the blades themselves can cut through.  The down side to fixed blade broadheads is that you have to resight in your bow to the broadhead you are shooting usually.  Now mechanical broadheads fly just like field points requiring no resighting, but some heads require the force to the impact to flip the blades opening which could stop the arrow from passing all the way through.  I use RAGE broadheads which have blades that open when the skin of the animal pushes the blades down and out of the housing.  This broadhead is crazy with the cutting diameter, since I use the 2 blade version of this head I have a two inch cutting hole where most to all other heads have a smaller hole.  These heads make a cut that is like slice through the animal and tend not to clot, or better yet the animal does not have time to clot because it usually down before that.

over population

Each year hunters take out thousands of deer but this is still not enough we still have a massive deer over population problem.  This leads to people hitting them with their cars, complaining about them eating their plants, and sometimes deer venturing into towns and causing problems.  Hitting deer with cars in Illinois is not uncommon, we rank one of the highest deer to car accident states.  If the deer are not jumping out in front of cars they are causing problems eating decorative plants such as flowers.  People get mad at the deer for doing this but really you can not blame the deer since you are basically putting candy out for them.  There is a reason flowers like that do not grow out in the wild, its because the deer are attracted to them and will eat them.  Next we have cases where deer will actually wander into towns and cause problems.  They can potentially get into buildings where they tend to get scared when they can not get out, when this happens they will run and jump into anything they can to get out of the buildings.  This is the reason why people need to quit complaining to the hunters about killing the animals when those animals are destroying your belongings.

Fun but pricey

Hunting is not as simple as just picking up a bow or gun and heading out to the woods to look for an animal.  It takes money to get the equipment necessary and I hate to admit it but it is not cheap.  A good bow will set you back a couple hundred dollars for just a bare bow not including a rest, peep sight, sights, stabilizer, arrows and broad heads.  All of that is another couple of hundred dollars along with if an arrow or head breaks you have to buy more.  Firearms are actually worse than archery though because you have to continuously buy ammo and cleaning supplies.  With archery you can keep using the same projectiles over and over until it breaks.  Guns though cost so much more than bows when it comes to just buying them.  Many ask if there is a time that I would quit hunting because it cost too much, and my answer to that is never in a million years will I quit hunting just because of price.  To me and many like me hunting is worth the price, it helps families bond and allows the hunters to enjoy the tranquility of the woods.  Hunting to a true hunter is a priceless activity and will continue hunting no matter how high the price gets.  It is worth every penny to learn an experience the things you do when going out hunting with the family.  So get out and bring a kid along and get them interested in the outdoors and see their happiness and you will never complain about how expensive it gets.

Getting to the Stand

There is two way to get out to the stand and that is to walk or ride a quad out.  Now although riding a quad out to the stand sounds like the easy choice, I feel as though it really is not.  Riding a quad out requires you to case and unload your firearm or lock your bow while on the ride.  Then when at the stand the quad must be hidden out of the line of sight of the deer and that is rather impossible since it will be on the same level as they are.  Also riding the quad out to the stand makes unnecessary noise that could scare the deer away from your area.  Walking out to the stand is by far the best choice, although it is not near as fast as the quad it is much more quiet.  A down side to walking is that depending on the temperature you could sweat, and sweating tends to make the clothes stink which could make it so the deer can wind you.  But since walking provides more stealth when entering the woods I would suggest walking over the quad any day.  Now although a combination of using the quad and walking could be beneficial but again you have to lock out your bow or unload and case your firearm for a short ride.  Walking allows you a chance to take a shot while going to the stand and I would choose this over the easy ride any day and its good for you!  So get out and enjoy the woods and happy hunting.

Hunting the Rut

The rut, also known as the mating season for the deer, is by far the best time to be out in the stand hunting hard for the monster bucks.  During this time the doe's urine has a distinct potent smell that tell the bucks that they are ready to breed.  As the rut begins you will notice more of the smaller bucks chasing the younger doe around and sparing with each other but no real fighting takes place.  But once more doe start to go into heat you tend to see more mature bucks showing their presence running the trails the doe have been using more frequently.  It is tough to find the monster bucks at anytime during the rut, since they tend to be more nocturnal or tend to just lay with one doe.  After a about a week or so into the rut the mature bucks tend to be out in full force and ready to fight when the doe population that is in heat is not keeping up with the amount of bucks in the area.  The bucks are more prone to answer to doe bleats, buck grunts, and rattling.  Usually they come in slower with the doe bleats and tend to come in more aggressive and fast when using a combination of the buck grunts and rattling together.  Just seeing the buck come in with the crazed look in his eye, hair standing on end, and breathing hard is just a sight to see.  So now that you know what goes on during the rut be sure to get out there next time it comes around and be sure to hunt it hard.

Gun Laws

In the past we have had a few problems where the Illinois government has threatened to change the gun laws on the citizens of Illinois.  I vaguely remember a time in particular that my dad was worrying about having to personally transport the weapons to a family member out of state so that he could keep his guns.  Fortunately the government was not able to do anything with that and we were able to keep our guns, but this is a major thorn in our side.  Gun activists everywhere are saying that "we need stricter gun control laws" but in reality the government needs to lighten up on everything when it comes to this subject.  I hear people argue constantly about how guns kill people, but in reality guns do not kill people because the gun does not have a mind of its own and can not consciously make itself fire.  It requires a person to pull the trigger and usually its a bad person behind said gun.  So why punish the people who have guns registered to the state, who pay taxes on ammo and the firearm when purchased.  Bad people are going to get the guns either way so why not make laws more lenient for the american public who legally acquires these weapons.  Gun control laws will get us no where, it will anger the hunting community because of outrageous taxation on the the ammo and it will anger the gun collecting community and the recreation shooters.  Don't make the people angry government officials because remember we are the ones that gave you a chance in office we do not have to re-elect you if you make us angry.  And just remember blaming a gun for killing people is like blaming a pencil for misspelled words.

Cover Sent or No?

Some people live and die by the use of scents when it comes to hunting, cover scents are a big factor in those scents.  A cover scent allows you to spray your clothes with something that smells like the natural surrounding,I my self use timber floor (aka dirt).  This allows the hunter to attempt to blend into their surroundings making it less likely for the deer to pick up the human scent in the wind.  I myself use just the spray on scent when it comes to cover, but they also make cover scent shampoo, soap, and even toothpaste.  That seems to go a little to the extreme for hunting since most of the time the body is covered with some kind of clothing that the spray can be directly applied to and this will do just fine.  Now other people say that cover sent is just a waste of money, and I can see where their argument lies.  Most of the people I have encountered that said this were mainly gun hunters, where the deer do not come in near as close than in bow hunting.  To them I could see how cover sent is potentially a waste of money since by the time the deer comes with in distance to smell you if the wind is calm they should already have a bullet through them and on the ground.  But for the bow hunter where being hidden is the main objective smelling like the surroundings is a big advantage to the hunter and put them one step closer to bagging a deer.

Mounting and Skull Caps

I personally feel as though if you are proud of the animal you harvested that you should either mount the entire head or maybe just the antlers if you are not willing to pay the price for a head mount.  I personally have two full head mounts from the years that I have been hunting, a big ten pointer that was taken with my gun and a tall, narrow, and massive thirteen pointer that was taken with my bow.  There was no way that I was not going to mount these based on how bit they were.  If you feel as though the animal can not be beat in your eyes go ahead and mount the head but be ready to pay for it, I believe my last one was around the five hundred dollar range.  A more money sensitive approach would be to skull cap it, this requires you to cut the antlers off the head usually right behind the eye and right in front of the ears is where I cut mine.  They can be decorated to look like a piece of art if done correctly.  I usually order a skull mount from a taxidermy magazine so all that needs to be done is screw the skull plate onto the mount then fill in the area over the skull but under the base of the antlers to make everything look uniform and even.  Usually we paint ours with a textured paint to give it an aesthetically pleasing look to the room but you can also cover the base in felt to give it the the same kind of pleasing look.  If you are proud of what you took mount it unless you cant afford it then skull cap it.  Happy hunting!

Bow hunting is where it's at!

Although I enjoy the thrill of hunting with a gun, the most exciting hunt I have ever been on is with my bow.  The deer are able to get much closer and adds more of a challenge to the sport of hunting.  Instead of being able to easily take a deer down at fifty yards like you could with a gun you have to be much more patient with the deer when using bow and arrow.  Take more time to study the patterns of the deer in your area if you are able to find the trails that are being used by the bucks and what are being used by the doe then you will be able to greatly increase your chances of harvesting a deer with a bow.  I personally spent three years hunting with my bow before I was ever able to harvest any buck with it.  I finally was proficient with it after three years of practicing and harvesting doe that when the opportunity knocked to harvest a big buck I was nothing but confident.  Allowing a deer to come within ten yards as I did that day is a very risky chance since at that close the slightest movement can spook the deer and the shot opportunity will be lost.  After being drawn on the animal for five minutes a shot was finally presented by the massive thirteen point buck at five yards, and as the saying goes practice makes perfect I released my shot and with in seconds had a downed deer and now a wall hanger.  If you enjoy an adrenaline rush and have a place to hunt get a bow and arrow and get out there and enjoy.

To the Beginners!

For all of you who are starting to get into hunting or has a family member trying to get you into the sport there are a few tips you should learn to live by.  These tips will help you be a successful hunter and they are:  Get there early, Stay out there late, Be quiet, and Don't smell.

Earliness is the key to any hunt since you only have so many hours in the day.  I personally like to arrive out in my stand at least a half hour to an hour before sun rise.  This is to allow you to get to your stand and adjust yourself so that everything is where you need it to be.  Also being out there allows for the timber to return back to the way it was relatively quickly before you got there.

Staying late is also a great tip to live by because the best time to get a big deer is when the sun comes up and when it goes down.  This is due to the amount of light available for the animal to see you, since you have camouflage on the deer's eyes will have a harder time picking you up from a distance.  This is also the time when they are most active since it is when the deer feed.

Being quiet is the most important tip to live by though.  Deer have an incredible sense of hearing and if the day is calm they can hear just about anything.  I personally turn my phone to silent so that it makes no sound, not even a vibrate to help reduce the chance of being busted by any deer.

Before you go out make sure you do not put on anything that will make you smell good to a human, because these smells are not natural the deer will pick these scents out immediately and you will get a first had experience of them waving bye bye to you with the big white tail.

Hope these tips are useful for you guys and hope you bag the deer of a lifetime, good luck and happy hunting.

Falling asleep in the stand

We have all done it, woke up nice and early so we can get out to our stand in hopes of seeing that buck of a lifetime to walk in front of you only to fall asleep in the stand  I am not quite sure how it works but it happens to me a lot.  I am always pumped to go out and get to my stand nice and early but once I am sitting in the stand and everything has settled down my eyes start to get heavy and the eventually the sleep comes over me like a blanket.  Luckily I am always wearing a harness to make sure I do not fall out of my tree but it still scares me to fall asleep in my tree.  One way that I have found to counter this is to eat a healthy breakfast before going out to the stand this helps give your body energy to run off of and then you will be less likely to snooze in the tree.  Also when you know that you will be going out hunting the next day be sure to go to bed earlier than usual, I am mainly talking to the younger generation here, a good night sleep will help you stay awake longer in the tree.  But like I said we have all had this happen to us at some point or another and is not an uncommon thing to have happen.  Stay awake, because you never know what could be walking by you when you are sleeping.  Happy Hunting.

PETA

Hunting is seen in many ways by different people, some view it as a way to put food on the table others find it morally wrong to kill helpless animals.  The people of the group PETA or People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals are categorized in the second group.  They feel that hunting is a way of torturing the animals and feel as though it is wrong.  But what I have to say about that is, although not every shot hits where a hunter wants it to go usually the animal is brought down rather quick and it does not suffer that much.  It is not like the hunters go out there to wound the animal just for fun, our goal is to make good clean shots that will take the life as quickly as possible.  And how can an animal have rights, for years animals have been used as tools for working and food and honestly that is how it should be.  We as hunters go out to harvest animals to put food on our table and sometimes the less fortunate tables as well.  We are not heartless animal killers, honestly it hurts to see an animal that has been severely wounded to be just walking around.  I would rather the people of PETA to see that hunters are needed otherwise the amount of people who hit deer each year with vehicles would go up.  So what would you rather do allow people to kill an animal as quickly as possible or hit one doing 65 with your car and have to pay thousands of dollars to fix it?  It is your call!

Hunting from where?

There are many ways you can hunt, I personally favor the tree stand but there are many other ways to hunt.  People hunt out of tree stands, ground blinds, sheds, and on the ground.  Hunting out of a stand allows you advantage because it puts you our of the deer's line of sight.  Allowing you to be able to maneuver around slightly more than any of the others I listed.  It gives you a wide range of view and nothing is constricting you down.  I personally hunt out of stand that is anywhere from 10 to 30 feet off the ground to assure that I stay out of the line of sight.  Ground blinds offer you a more direct, straight on view of what is going on.  Ground blinds though only allow you to see what the deer sees and puts you on the level of the deer.  Since you are completely surrounded by a canvas you are not easily seen but if you do not give the deer time to get used to the blind you will spook them, also being surrounded by the canvas limits your line of sight.  Hunting out of the shed allows you slightly more mobility since you can easily move the shed in a field closer to where the deer are moving.  Like the ground blind though you are completely sealed in and can not get a good 360 degree view of what is going on and have a chance of letting things slip by you.  Hunting on the ground out in the open gives you the opportunity to see what the deer sees but you are at a major disadvantage.  Since deer have such great eye sight and usually run the same path they will notice if something is out of the ordinary.  You sitting next to a tree will be very obvious to the deer and chances are it will spook and run away.  Out of what I listed I prefer using a tree stand because it puts you at the greatest advantage of being able to harvest a deer.  It gives you the greatest view of your surroundings and keeps you out of sight for the most part of the deer.

One of the Happiest days of my life

I remember when I first started going out and sitting in the tree with my dad how excited I was to be out there.  To see the animals waking up and and moving around excited me to no end, but then I got to see what was so spectacular about hunting.  I wasn't even the one to shoot the buck but my adrenaline was flowing strong and hard to hear the gun shot and then to see the buck laying there triggered something deep down and made me want to be out there more.  I finally got my chance when I was 13 when my dad finally let me go out hunting with him after I completed my hunter's safety course.  I was so excited to finally get a chance to shoot my first deer and I didn't care what it was it could have been a small fawn and I would have been happy.  We went out early in the morning my dad with his Mossberg 500 and I had a Remington 870 express that I was borrowing from my uncle.  I had a small buck walk with in five yards of me a little before legal shooting time and I was so depressed that I didn't get a shot at it.  It was a good thing I didn't get a shot off at that buck because my dad and I went back out later that afternoon and had an opportunity of a lifetime.  A huge 10 point buck came out of the timber next to us while we were in the process of talking.  He walked with in thirty yards of me and my dad and I got a chance to take this big buck.  I was so nervous I missed my first shot and hit him through the liver and hit the heart with my second shot, he went about 20 more yards and fell over.  I was so excited I about jumped right out of the tree stand that was 20 feet off the ground and ran over to the buck.  That day will be one of the most memorable days of my life because I got to take a dream buck for my first deer ever and I did it with my family which means the world to me!

Don't mess up!

Most hunters make some very common mistakes while deer hunting.  Failure to scout is the main one, even if you have been hunting the same spot for years you still need to get out there before the season starts and observe what is going on.  I can honestly say that I fail to scout ever year, it is just so hard to get out there before the season starts to observe what is going on.  Just like I said before you have to be good with the weapon you are hunting with.  Knowing the limits of your weapon is a must, if you are not comfortable with the weapon you are using then how are you supposed to be able to kill the animal quickly?  Without patience though hunting would be impossible, hunting is a big game of waiting for something to walk into your line of sight.  It is not guaranteed to see something every time you go out, so be ready to to be patient.  Now many hunters really mess up when calling or using scents.  I can safely say that calling and using scents is not a problem for me, I do not call too often if at all really and as for scents I only use a cover scent.  Some people have a tendency to over call though and this spooks the deer, most of those people also think the more attractant scent you have the better but this tends to spook the deer as well because it is unnatural.  For me though the biggest thing you could do wrong is use cheap, poorly made equipment when hunting.  I would not go to Wal-Mart to buy a scope for my deer gun, those scopes are too cheap and can not handle the amount of force that a shotgun puts on the scopes.  When looking for equipment I am not saying that you need to go out and buy the most expensive equipment but you do need to do your research to find what equipment is best and what can be avoided.  Hopefully me pointing out some of the errors I have made and some other hunters I know have made will help you in becoming a better hunter.  Good Luck Hunting.

Safe Hunting

Many think very little of hunting safely.  I personally take safety very seriously when I am out hunting.  When I am in my tree stand I always wear a harness, I would rather be uncomfortable than be dead or paralyzed.  I would honestly say that a safety harness is a must.  Also if you are hunting with another person you must always be completely aware of where that other person is at all times.  You do not want to take a shot on an animal without knowing the background, no animal is worth the life of a friend or family member!  Nothing helps defend my case more than an article from Fox 17 about a Michigan man killing his brother in a hunting accident.    A brother and some of his friends went to go do a quick hunt on some deer that were crossing an open pasture very frequently.  The brother shot at and missed a deer not knowing his brother was out in the area.  The brother never came home and was found with a bullet hole in the head.  This is definitely a backs my strong feelings of safety while hunting.  I would say wear a safety harness to help keep yourself in your tree and ALWAYS know the background of where you are hunting.  If you do not know where your friends and/or family are do not take a shot, its not worth killing someone.  Thanks for reading and just remember hunt safely!

http://www.fox17online.com/news/fox17-deer-hunter-shot-and-killed-in-mecosta-county-20111116,0,4310380.story

Shed Hunting

Many hunters go out in the off season, usually once the weather starts to warm up after winter, to go out and look for the antlers that have fallen off the buck's head.  There are some ways to do this and come back with a few antlers, although you do not always come back with something.  First of all do not go out too early, going out too early tends to mess up the traffic patterns of the deer roaming your area.  If at all possible set up some trail camera's on common routes and feeding grounds to see if the bucks caught on camera have started to lose their antlers.  It is very hard for a novice shed hunter to find the antlers right away because of how well the sheds tend to blend in with the floor, you should really train your eyes to spot the antlers in the brush.  It works best to have a friend take an old shed and place it somewhere then have you try to find the shed.  This trains your eyes to find the sheds much easier than to the untrained eye.  Now while you are out in the woods make sure you are not walking to fast and have tunnel vision.  Walk at a slow pace and keep your head on a swivel to cover a great deal of area and to make sure you do not miss anything.  When looking for sheds look near evergreens, bedding areas, and fence lines, these are ideal places to find sheds.  Evergreens provide cover and wind blockage during the winter months.  Checking where they sleep is another good place to look along with places they are more than likely to jump.  These tips should help you find the sheds when you are looking for them so get back out to the woods and see if you can find that set of sheds that came off the big buck that might be prowling your hunting area!!!

Keep hunting alive

Many people in this world feel as though hunting is wrong and should be banned because of the mistreatment of the animals when it is done.  But to all of us hunters we see is as a time to bring the family closer, its a time of bonding.  My dad introduced me to hunting when I was ten and I can not thank him more for doing so.  It was because of him that I have a greater respect for nature and to not be wasteful.  He believed just as a lot of other hunters believe that introducing children to the world of hunting helps bring about a better person.  Also during the hunting season is when I am able to get closer to my dad and grandpa since we can sit and talk in the hunting shed if it gets to cold.  We are able to discuss things that we would not get to discuss any other time since it could offend other people or we just do not want to talk about that stuff in front of other people.  So to all you people who feel that hunting is wrong and is teaching the kids the wrong thing, I respect your opinion I really do but if it was not for hunting and being able to spend the time with my family I would not have turned out half the person I am today.  Hunting helps bring families closer and helps raise kids to be responsible and caring for the environment.

Best Slug gun to use for deer hunting.

Many say that they all have the best gun when it comes to deer hunting.  There are many things that go into consideration when picking the right gun.  I have come across a list of 15 guns that other people feel are the "best" shotguns to hunt deer with and they consist of:

1. TarHunt RSG
2. Remington 870 Express
3. Ithaca Deerslayer
4. Savage Model 212 and 220
5. H&R Ultra Slug Hunter
6. Browning A-Bolt Shotgun Hunter
7. Browning Gold Deer Hunter
8. Remington 11-87 
9. Mossberg 500 Slugster
10. Thompson Center Encore
11. Benelli Super Black Eagle II Rifled Slug
12. Winchester 1300 Speed Pump
13. Browning BPS Rifled Deer Hunter
14. Marlin 512 Slugmaster
15. Mossberg 695

Although these guns all have their own strengths and weaknesses it all really depends on what preference you have for your gun.  You have 4 different types of shotguns:  single shot, pump, semi automatic, and bolt action. If you like the single shot guns then you will love the H&R and Thompson Center.  They are incredibly accurate but if you miss that shot the chances of you being able to get a follow up shot are very slim.  Now if you like a bolt action guns then the TarHunt, Savage, Browning A-Bolt, Marlin, and Mossberg 695 would be the choice for you.  All are accurate, close to the single shot shotguns but you have a higher chance of taking a follow up shot.  The shot is a little harder to take since it is hard to stay on target and cycle a bolt all the way though.  Now if you are a pump person then the Remington 870, Ithaca, Mossberg 500, Winchester 1300, and Browning BPS would be ideal guns for you.  These guns help with follow up shots, greatly since a pull and a push of you rest hand is much quicker to reload than using a bolt action.  The  pump action guns can take much more abuse than the semi automatics since the action is being moved by your own power.  Now if you are about shooting fast then the semi auto shotguns are for you and they are the Browning Gold, Remington 11-87, and Benelli.  These guns cycle in the next round right after you pull the trigger thus allowing a much quicker follow up shot if needed compared to the rest of the guns listed.  The semi automatics allow you to maintain a shooting position without having to move very much between shots, thus allowing you to regain sight on the targets quicker.  I personally prefer the semi automatics over everything and shoot the Remington 1100 (the gun the 11-87 replaced) and I can say I would never trade the semi automatic for any other gun.

Shotgun Ammunition

There are many types of ammunition for a shotgun each one having its own purpose.  In Illinois you typically hunt deer with a round called a slug.  There are two types of deer ammunition used and they are rifled slugs and sabots.  Rifled slugs are typically used in a smooth bore shotgun and usually have a maximum rang of about 100 yards.  Although the Federal Truball rounds that I have shot the past 4 years have been accurate out too 130 yards and I can say this because I have successfully harvested a deer at that range.  There are so many types of rifled slugs though to name a few: Federal Truball, Remington Sluggers, and Winchester Super X.  The other type of ammunition is a sabot.  The sabot is a jacketed slug that is more accurate that a standard rifled slug.  It is used in rifled barrels for shotguns and is accurate out to 200 yards.  There are also many kinds of sabots as well and to name a few of those:  Lightfield, Federal Barnes Expanders, Hornady, and Remington Accutips.  I have seen a deer taken at that range from my dad, clean shot through the heart and dropped her in her tracks.  Depending on what type of hunting environment that you are in really should help you choose what kind of barrel and slug combination you should use.  If you are in a mainly timber rich area a smooth bore shot gun with rifled slugs would be all you really need, since you should not have a shot over 100 yards in the timber.  But if you are mainly hunting on fence rows then I would recommend a rifled barrel and sabots to shoot the farther distance accurately.

Shot Placement on a Whitetail

Throughout the years that I have been hunting whitetails I have heard of a lot of places to place a shot to successfully harvest a deer.  I have heard shoot for the heart, angled shot towards the lungs through the liver, double lungs, a head on shot through the brisket, the femoral artery in the rear leg, and of course the fabled Texas heart shot a.k.a right up the anus.  Although it all depends on what kind of weapon you are using whether it be a shotgun, rifle, or bow and arrow I have found that the most successful shot a person can place is slightly above the heart where the projectile will damage the heart and lungs making it a very quick death.  Some things i have seen on hunting shows show people hunting with rifles that aim for the shoulder of the animal, this is incredibly effective since what this shot does is breaks both shoulders and takes out the lungs as well allowing the animal a quick death without running away.  Now as for some of the other shots I listed I feel I should tell you some of the disadvantages.  Shooting straight for the heart is the quickest way to kill an animal but it is a rather small organ compared to the lungs.  If you are shooting at that animal and you move a little bit you could hit low and not hit any vital organs thus not harvesting the animal.  Now shooting straight at the brisket is a rather risky shot, although you are guaranteed to hit vital organs you are not guaranteed to recover the animal, since it has a high probability of running after this shot there is only one hole for the animal to bleed from and may not produce a very visible blood trail.  The fabled Texas heart shot is not a very good shot at all really, it will kill the animal but it is not guaranteed to be fast or you finding the animal.  This shot is a very messy clean up as well, the smell will be terrible since your shot went through the entire intestinal area.  Like I said the best shot that I have found is a double lung shot just above the heart when the animal is broadside to inflict maximum damage and a quick recovery.  It cuts two holes through which the animal will bleed out incredibly quickly and there is a higher probability of recovering the animal.

What to do in the off-season

I want to start off by thanking everyone for reading my blogg.  I am an avid outdoors man and love when that time of year comes around that allows me to get back out into the tree stand doing what I love.  But in the off-season I find it very beneficial to practice almost every day, you know what they say that practice makes perfect.  In the eight years that I have been hunting I have tried to get out as much I can and practice with my bow and shotgun.  I used to practice for 3 hours continuously shooting my bow at various distances that were not marked to help me judge distances more effectively.  By doing this I became very confident with my shooting ability and with confidence comes effective shooting.  Now for my gun I was limited to how much practice I could do since the ammunition is not the cheapest thing but I still found time to practice my shooting.  I would shoot up to 15-30 slug rounds at a time 2 or 3 times during the off-season to help train myself to get ready for the slug season.  The practice that I put myself through made me a better shot and has helped me harvest some very nice deer.  I have attached a few pictures here as well which shows that practice sometimes give you great rewards.

First Deer - taken when I was 13 with a Remington 870

10 Point Buck -  gross scored 157 3/4

First Buck with a Bow - taken when I was 16 with a Bowtech Pro 40 with a Freedom Cam 

13 Point Buck - gross scored 139 6/8

Pins showing all the deer i have taken with a bow and gun

25 in all