“Fear, no fear.”

We are only as strong and creative as the experiences and new opportunities that we present to our children.
I promise to give my daughter the same guided attention as my parents did I.

(A very proud father smiles today — every day:)

Fat Man’s Landing, MN

“I’ve Seen God Paint!”

A beautiful fall day hunting.

Fat Man’s Landing, MN

“Navigating Lock and Dam #1”

It’s 2 o’clock in the morning…I wonder what the other half of the world is doing right now?

Fat Man’s Landing, MN

“Exercise for my eyes!”

Mushrooms gather on fallen tree.

Fat Man’s Landing, MN

Finding Deer Antlers in Minnesota Woods

Some call it luck…I call Fate. This fall, my buddy Brian and I walked the trails hunting for grouse only to find this ivory memento of a large eight-point buck.

Congratulations! What A great find!

Fat Man’s Landing, MN

A Star-of-a-buck in Starbuck, Minnesota.

Whether it’s “First blood gets the deer” or “The person who makes the killing shot?” In either case, it’s not an easy answer.

My friend hunts private property near Starbuck, MN. He usually hunts a fence line dividing two fields. On this day, the neighbors were hunting close by, so he decided to hunt the adjacent woods. From his stand he heard a shot and watched as the neighbors drag a doe to their vehicle. While watching the hunters, a massive buck moving slowly, through tall switchgrass, caught his eye! The deer was between my friend and the other hunters. As the deer moved passed the other hunters, a safe shot presented itself. He took the shot and the deer dropped! You can imagine how excited he was! He yelled from his stand, “I have a big buck down!” The other hunters walk in his direction as my friend climbed down from his stand. The hunters and my friend walked towards the deer from opposite sides — at 30-yards the deer gets up and starts to run. A hunter from the other party shoots and hits the spine — killing the deer.

The Loaded Question?
Later inspection, my friend had hit the deer in the hind quarter. It was a deer of a lifetime! A huge 11-point buck worthy of a wall mount!

As everyone stood around the deer, the question came up, “So who’s deer is it anyways?” The hunter who shot the second time felt it was his deer. My friend feels that if he had not called the others over — that he would have had a second shot.  In the end, my friend decided it wasn’t worth arguing over and walked away the better man.

So what do you think? Please share your thoughts.

Doctor, Hunter Promotes Deer Stand Safety: MyFoxTWINCITIES.com

Each year, the summer heat lifts and the first fall breeze fills my head with excitement. This is a time for hunters, near and far, to dial in their groups, rig decoys, ready their best four-legged friend and put the finishing touches on the gear. Yes! This is a magical time — when we reflect on seasons past and prepare with anticipation for this years harvest.

With the 2011 hunting season upon us, there’s no better time then RIGHT NOW to start setting goals.

Having yearly goals is a great way to achieve success.

The same principles translate to everyday life. When we focus on something important — something we really want to achieve and work hard towards, we truly maximize our potential. From a hunting standpoint, you’ll soon realize that by doing this, you gain much more from the experiencee of planning. Before you know it — your skills, knowledge and overall enjoyment of the outdoors has also increased!

The goals you set — whether it’s herd management, shot proficiency, gaining greater knowledge or simply forming a better attitude; the fact is…it makes you a better hunter! The next step is to recognize what’s realistic (especially with the amount of time you have to invest with each goal).

For as long as I can remember, I’ve set goals for each season. Because I have new goals, I’ve matured as a hunter and a man. I remember some of my earliest goals: “Shoot my first grouse” or “hear a buck grunt.” Even as a bright-eyed youngster, I became less concerned with killing the buck I saw chasing a doe, but rather —  THRILLED with seeing the whole experience! I realized that it isn’t so much about the destination, as it is the journey getting there.

There are many ways to measure success. If you fall short of reaching your goal — what matters most is the experience you gain and lessons learned in the process. It will certainly give you a sense of accomplishment and a better outlook on what it means to “pursue game.”

Whether you enjoy chasing fur, fins or feathers — start setting seasonal goals and before-long, you’ll start to experience what I like to call, “Increased Hunting Success!”

So what is the best waterfowl ammo? I hear this question a lot, so I decided grab my trusty Remington 870 and pattern the new 2011 steel loads myself. Last year — Black Cloud was a big-hit (no pun intended). In 2011, Winchester is introducing a new load called, “Blind Side.”  I purchased the top six waterfowl loads for 2011 and shot them into a 30-inch circle at 30 yards. Here is a list of what I tested:

Winchester (Blind Side) 3-inch, #2 and BB
Federal (Black Cloud) 3-inch, #2 and BB
Remington (HyperSonic) 3-inch, #2 and BB
Hevi-Shot (Hevi-Metal) 3-inch,  #2 and BB

A pellet in the wing doesn’t count as a Kill Shot

Together, I shot a total of 16 times; 8 each (#2′s and BB) with improved cylinder and modified chokes. I then took a picture of the large pieces of paper and increased the contrast so that you could see the pellet holes. I then counted all the shot inside the 30-inch circle.

What I found is Black Cloud is still the superior load at 30-yards. The pattern is very tight. I counted a total of 10 pellets within the Kill Zone. You will see that the improved cylinder choke with BB is a killer! Next was Black Cloud with #2′s (8 pellets in the Kill Zone) using IC choke. It was interesting to see that the Winchester’s Blind Side did not do as well with the improved cylinder choke tube, but I DID noticed the increased number of pellets! The third runner-up was Hevi-Shot’s, Hevi-Metal with #2 (6 pellets in the Kill Zone) and a modified choke — I also notice that Hevi-Metal was 10 less pellets then Winchester’s Blind Side! Less noticeable, was Federal’s HyperSonic with OK number in the Kill Zone, but found the pattern wide — even with the modified choke.

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