Saturday, July 25, 2009

You're Up Rookie. Ronnie's First Hunt.

We recently gave away a hog hunt on our Hog Forum from Cedar Canyon Ranch near Tehachapi CA. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that a brand spanking new hunter named Ronnie from Fremont CA was the winner. A "Rookie", "Norman New Guy", or "Fresh Meat" as we call them in the sporting world. Let the razzing begin.

I always enjoy watching kids and new older hunters discover how much fun it is to be out hunting. The awe and amazement on their faces is all the reward I need to keep me going. It's like teaching a kid to ride a bike when they pedal away and look back as if to say, "Look at what I can do now."

The affliction is spreading it appears, Ronnie's friend Paul, who came along to help out, is now studying for his hunter safety class.

Huge thanks to Bill Taylor who runs Cedar Canyon Ranch, Paul our guide and the rest of the crew. They were great hosts.

Enough yapping, here's Ronnie's hunt. The Rook did just fine.

Saturday, July 18, 2009

It's All About The Food

"Find the food, find the game", my dad and uncles used to always tell me. During September in Missouri the fox squirrels and gray squirrels are already cutting hickory nuts, it sounds like rain when the shells hit the leaves on the way down.


Pic courtesy of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hickory

In early bowhunting season in Missouri the preferred deer food is persimmons. Deer flock to eat the tasty fruit when it hits the ground, the same for ripe apples. I've seen deer about break their necks standing on their hind legs trying to reach the highest apples on a tree.



Come rifle season in November white oak acorns are the tasty morsels the deer want. Many times I watched does feed all day long near my stand in Rothville MO. One small buck I shot one year was so engrossed in eating white oak acorns we walked right up on him as we tracked another deer my uncle Larry had shot just minutes earlier.



Last week my hunting partner Rick (Westy) and I were checking on a local spot for some varmint calling. As we turned to leave we spotted these band-tail pidgeons dive bombing some scraggly looking trees along an old abandoned orange orchard.

"Hmmmm", we wondered, they can't be loafing in those trees in the 102F heat. What are they doing?

A closer look with the binos gave up their secret, fresh fruit was hanging on some Blue Elderberry trees.