It’s in Your Hands, Don’t Put it in Theirs

Posted on December 10, 2012 by Guest

By Jeff Lund

Wednesday I picked up my new Remington shotgun. I paid for it eleven days prior, and since the computer searched the vast nothingness that is my criminal record and found nothing, I was able to begin the latest chapter in my life as a responsible gun owner.

My parents wouldn’t even allow me to go hunting or get a gun unless I took a hunter safety course, which instilled in me the importance of understanding purpose. It is now my unwritten, assumed duty, to never treat any weapon as a toy and use it only in a lawful manner on bright orange discs, ducks, or upland game.
Easy.

But it’s not so simple. I started thinking over the past week and a half about this waiting period. People believe that as long as guns, particularly handguns, are a part of a free society, there will always be violence as if before bullets, everyone got along. Following tragedies stemming from negligence or extreme malice there is usually a cry for someone to do something. That usually falls to the government and politicians with crisp suits and public relation talking points. We live in a free country, but thanks to our violence problem, our idiot problem, our gang problem and our law enforcement funding problem, we suffer.

The Centers for Disease Control reported 11,493 homicide deaths in 2009 and that number hardly covers the true impact. Then comes the debate.

The NRA likes to promote that the national murder rate is the lowest in almost half a century. News organizations and blogs like to cite a study by the Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery that found among the world’s 23 wealthiest countries, 80 percent of all gun deaths are American deaths.

The gun stats are tragic, there is absolutely no doubt, but is a more tightly gripped federal hand on a Constitutional right the answer? According to Forbes the United States sits behind Qatar, Luxembourg, Singapore, Norway, Brunei, and the United Arab Emirates in per capita wealth. (Talk about oil and natural gas dependancy). If we compare ourselves to those countries in one statistical category, we should also look at the context and consider if the comparative alternative is better. Luxembourg is wealthy and has less violent crime, it also has a population of 517,000.

Should we be more like No. 3 Singapore where in 1994 a 19-year old American was caned as punishment. His crime? Vandalism. Can you imagine the protests if United States judges levied beatings for convicts? Recently a Qatari poet was sentenced to life in prison for criticizing his government. Probably not a lot of gun control issues in that wealthy country where freedom is sacrificed in favor of control. Those are two extreme examples, but aren’t the extreme examples what get advocates for change riled up in the first place?

Japan has almost eliminated gun-related homicides by outlawing everything except shotguns and air rifles. Maybe we should do that, forbid people to get their hands on guns, especially handguns and close down most of the 50,812 retail gun dealers (209,750 jobs) held by Americans in the firearm industry.

But this issue isn’t simple stats. It’s about the principle of freedom, and the risk-reward of making weapons available to citizens. It sounds cold and heartless to say something to the effect of needing to take the good with the bad but if we look to the government rather than to ourselves, we will continually have federal blankets that suffocate our freedoms. When we collectively favor government control over self-responsibility and self-management we lose.

A by-product of freedom, is freedom, and the results are some of the most awful, excruciatingly painful aspects of being an American. It takes a toll on all of us, especially those whom are directly impacted.

And yes, someone (individuals) must do something (be responsible) in order for liberty to survive.

You have my promise.

–
Jeff Lund
Teacher/Freelance Writer
Columnist – Manteca Bulletin
Manteca, California
website – www.jlundoutdoors.com

Sunglasses You Can Hide Behind

Posted on November 16, 2012 by Rob Endsley

If you’re looking for a Chistmas gift for the sportsman in your life or just want some super cool shades look no further than Costa’s new lineup of polarized sunglasses in AP Realtree camo.

Costa’s camo series is available in their popular Fantail, Blackfin, Double Haul, and Zane frames and of course you can also get them with uber-schwanky 580P glass lenses for the ultimate in color enhancement and glare reduction.

Costa’s 580P glass allows maximum depth perception and light transmission in the early morning and late afternoon when animals and fish are most active and these lenses provide maximum glare reduction.

I know this firsthand because I wear them nearly every day on the ocean in Alaska and when I’m river fishing in Washington where it seems like we have “low light” conditions more often than not. Even on those rainy, drizzly days we’re famous for here in the Pacific Northwest it’s surprising how much glare is cast off the water.

Now I’m all fired up to try the new Costa Realtree camo shades in the duck blind and in the fern-choked blacktail woods of Washington. If they can give me even the slightest edge detecting an elusive blacktail buck in the early morning darkness I’m all over it.

If you haven’t done it already click on over to Costa AP Realtree Camo and snoop around. You can bet these sweet shades will be on my Christmas list!

Rob Endsley
The Outdoor Line
710 ESPN Seattle
www.theoutdoorline.com

6 Tips for Taking a Late Season Blacktail

Posted on October 20, 2012 by Rob Endsley

I’ve developed a real passion for blacktail hunting because I live in blacktail country and they are so darned difficult to hunt. Taking a mature blacktail buck is like catching a winter steelhead on the fly. It takes a lot of work and patience but when it all comes together and you get one…oh how sweet it is!

If you haven’t taken a deer yet don’t worry…be happy! The latter part of the general season and the late buck hunt are the two best times to tag out on a blacktail.

Here’s a few things that have helped me tag several very nice blacktails here in Washington:

Look for Sign

There’s a ton of great blacktail habitat in Western Washington, but unfortunately they don’t use all of it. The best thing you can do is to check multiple clear cuts early in the season and see which ones have the most sign. Look for fresh rubs on small trees, tracks in the mud, and tracks crossing the roads that surround the clear cuts. If you can’t find fresh rubs indicating that a buck is using the area it might not be the end of the world. You do need to find does, however, as bucks will find them as soon as they come into heat. If you’ve located good numbers of does in your favorite clear cut the chances are good that a buck will eventually show up. The does almost act as a live decoy. And if you’ve found both does and fresh buck rubs…I’d hang out there for a while until that mature blacktail shows up. He’ll be back and it’ll probably be soon.

Cover Ground

The nice thing about blacktails is that they usually won’t run for miles after they are spooked. Where you find them is where they live, much like whitetails in the Midwest. If I’m dead certain that a clear cut is going to produce a buck (i.e. sign, rubs, etc) I’ll sit tight and glass it for a few hours, but if I’m not entirely confident in the cut I’m usually on the move. I’ll cruise as many as four or five clear cuts in a day of hunting and I’ll usually check the timber around them for sign as well. By doing this you may jump a deer or two, but you’re doing some great scouting in the process. If you jump a good buck chances are he’s going to be right back in the same place within a day or two. If they’ve got food, cover, and does they aren’t going to journey too far. A great way to find clear cuts is with Google Earth. You can tell easily tell which clear cuts are grown up and which ones are fairly new.

Glassing

Now that you’ve found a great clear cut with lots of sign you need to park your fanny on a stump or landing with a great view and do some glassing. I generally use my naked eye to scan the areas closest to me and then I start slowly scanning the clear cut in a grid pattern until I’ve covered every square inch out to about 400 or 500 yards. After I’ve done this I’ll take a break for a few minutes and then do it again, and again, and again. Most good clear cuts will have quite a bit of brush to hide a blacktail, so don’t be discouraged if you don’t glass any deer right away. Blacktails will often bed down in the same clear cut they are feeding in and it could be an hour or two before they get out of their beds. When you’re glassing look for the flick of an ear, antler tips, legs, and the flicker of a tail. Any small movement can be a blacktail feeding thru the undergrowth. I glassed for over two hours before the mature blacktail I took three years ago presented himself. He was bedded down in a gulley in the clear cut and finally got up.

Scent Control

I just started using the Scent Away system a few years ago and I am totally sold on it. The local Hunter’s Specialties rep asked me if I’d ever wished I had a couple of extra seconds when I’ve seen a buck. Heck yes I would! Two of the last three years I’ve taken nice blacktails that should have winded me. Because I used scent control, however, I was able to get shots on two great bucks that I might not have otherwise gotten. Most shots you’ll get on blacktail are less than 100 yards in tight cover. It’s close-quarters hunting and every second counts. If you can get a buck to hold for an extra second or two you’re likely to get a shot off and tag a nice buck. My hunting experience using all of the Scent Away products has made a firm believer!!

Hunt the Rut

Most of the blacktails taken in Washington aren’t harvested on opening weekend, they are tagged either late in the general season or on the late hunt in November. Mature blacktails act a lot like whitetails in the midwest…they are nocturnal. At least until they go into the rut and then you’ll find them just about anywhere, including in your back yard or down at the neighborhood park. Don’t get me wrong, they are still hard to get but at least now you’ve got a very good chance and getting a really good buck. My advice is to pass up all the spikes and forkies early in the season and spend some quality time later when the rut is on. That’s when you want to be out there!

Know Your Ground

Clear cuts that are two to 8 years old are generally the best place to find a blacktail. If there are draws or ravines in a clear cut chances are blacktails will use those areas as travel lanes and bedding areas. Don’t be afraid to hike into these areas and do a bit of bird dogging. It’ll be tough going but often times you’ll find that all the blacktails are in the only part of the clear cut you can’t glass into. Another great place to find blacktails is in timbered areas that border a clear cut, especially if the timbered area is full of mature cedar and douglas fir trees.Western cedar and douglas fir are both a favorite food of blacktail deer.

One of my blacktail hunting partners has been texting me photos of rubs and buck tracks quite a bit this past week. He’s been out in the torrential rain crawling around the underbrush looking for sign and he’s found plenty of it. He tells me it’s gonna be on like Donkey Kong in a few days and I believe him. Now is the time folks!

If you get a nice blacktail this fall and don’t mind sharing a photo I’d love to see it. Shoot me an email and share your story. Maybe I’m just a glutton for punishment…but I love blacktail hunting!

Rob Endsley
The Outdoor Line
710 ESPN Seattle
www.theoutdoorline.com

My 2011 Washington Blacktail

Posted on October 27, 2011 by Rob Endsley

I spent five days hunting whitetails and mule deer in Eastern Washington last week in what can only be described as sun bathing weather. Not exactly the type of conditions that produce great deer hunting. I saw plenty of deer, including 9 bucks, but there were no shooters in the bunch. Lots of marching, climbing, hiking, sweating, hobbling, and scratching my head with nothing to show for it except a stubborn sinus infection and sore feet.

Before I headed back to the wet side of the Cascades my insincere final words to the guys in camp were, “No worries…I’ll be able to hunt blacktails for the rest of the season.”

Sure, I could hunt blacktails for the rest of the season and even the late season for that matter, but the “no worries” part wasn’t exactly true. Getting a quality blacktail in the Amazon-like under-scrub jungle in Western Washington isn’t easy duty. I knew exactly what I was up against.

There aren’t too very many people that know exactly where I hunt blacktails and I plan on keeping it that way. Heck, one of my very best friends and partner in the Outdoor Line doesn’t even know where I hunt deer in Eastern Washington after 20 years of asking. I can tell you what types of habitat to look for to find a blacktail, however, as there are plenty of blacktails in Western Washington and that’s a huge leg up in successfully hunting them.

Finding blacktails requires an understanding of what type of habitat they call home. The good thing is that there’s a lot of that type of habitat here in Western Washington. The down side is that not all of it is festooned with these elusive deer. Finding a good spot requires putting boots on the ground and doing some scouting.

Look for clear cuts that are anywhere from 3 to 10 years old and locate as many of these types of clear cuts as you can, so you have a few to bounce around to throughout the season. Blacktails are browse feeders and they love to munch on all the underbrush that sprouts up in these age-class of clear cuts and the cover is not yet thick enough to totally conceal deer when they’re out and about.

Are blacktails using the cut? Look for tracks on the roads that surround the clear cut from blacktails leaving the timber to feed at night. This is an obvious sign that critters are in the neighborhood. A second clue is the prescense of rubs around or in the clear cut from rutting bucks.

You’ll see them when you’re walking around the edge of the cut and also watch for them on small trees in the middle of the clear cuts when you’re glassing them. A few rubs is a good sign and a lot of fresh rubs is money in the bank.

Once you find a clear cut that’s being used by blacktails you can either sit and wait for them to move or slowly still hunt your way around the area. I like a combination of both techniques.

I’ll usually find a perch that offers a good view, which is usually a very uncomfortable splinter-filled stump, and glass for a while watching for movement in the cut. If nothing happens within an hour, or so, I’ll begin still hunting my way either around or thru the cut.

If you’re going to still hunt for blacktails you need to be uber-conscious of the wind and scent control. Hunting blacktails in the brush usually means close quarters hunting and most shots are less than 100 yards. I’ve taken two quality Washington blacktails in the past three years and as luck would have it I had the wind at my back for both of them. If I wasn’t wearing Tek-4 clothing and persistently washing my hunting duds in Scent-A-Way I guarantee that I wouldn’t have had a chance at either of those bucks.

To learn more about scent control check out this blog that I wrote back in September aptly named “Ten Tips for Better Scent Control”.

Having more than one clear cut to hunt came into play yesterday. I usually mountain bike in behind locked gates and when I found a truck parked at my first choice yesterday morning I didn’t waste any time heading for another area.

I worked my way into a productive area at my second stop, glassed from an uncharacteristically comfortable stump for around 30 minutes and then began still hunting my way thru the cut. From past experience I knew there was a small trail that sliced thru the cut and I slowly worked my way down it. There were fresh deer tracks literally everywhere!

It didn’t take long to run into them feeding in a small draw in the cut. Three does and a really small 2 point were 50 yards off the trail and I watched them feed for a while before slinking off.

There were no rubs and I didn’t see one set of tracks that jumped out as being a big buck so I moved on to the next clear cut.

This clear cut was about ten years old, with reprod growing eight to 12 feet high. It was tight cover, but offered some openings and was a perfect place to do some rattling. I still hunted my way to the center of the cut and then rattled for a couple minutes to see what might pop up. After 30 minutes of waiting I moved on, only to jump two blacktail does just fourty feet from my rattling position. Still, there were no rubs in the entire cut and I felt I needed to make another move.

I drove back to the gate that I had intended on parking at in the morning and now there were two trucks parked there. Ugh!

Off to yet another cut and by now it was lunch time. I had talked to a land owner the previous evening who had a deer “problem” and my plan was to head for his place later in the day for an evening hunt. Offers like that just don’t present themselves every day and I was already imagining a pasture full of blacktails. His problem…my delight!

So, I would quickly hunt this heavily-trafficked clear cut to kill some time before heading to the private land. Just killing time…right!

I left the bike in the truck and basically stomped my way into the cut, figuring I would slow down and get the wind in my face towards the back of the huge cut furthest from the busy road where the deer might be hanging out. Less than a quarter mile in there were fresh tracks all over the place. Does, bucks, yearlings…tracks exactly where they shouldn’t be!

This clear cut was shaped like a big “J” and my plan was to cross the largest part of the cut and thoroughly hunt the small part of it where I’d seen deer last year. In doing so I’d lay down a phat RUN AWAY scent trail for any deer in the largest area of the cut. I’d have to put some faith in the scent control measures I’ve been pestering about.

Without knowing it I crossed the clear cut just 50 yards up-wind of this blacktail buck and he had no clue I was there. I took a hard left at the timber and worked my way to a low rise that would give me a view of a small draw in the long part of the cut and there he was. 50 yards away and looking at me…trying to figure out what I was.

I only had a head and neck shot and the buck even gave me time to turn my Burris up to 9 power before I sent the 150 grain 30.06 Winchester XP3 where it needed to go. It was a nice clean kill and we would have fresh venison in the freezer this winter!

Since I was hunting solo I would now have the joy of packing this animal that weighed in excess of 150 pounds over a mile back to the truck by ma’sef. Should I quarter it up and make two trips with the frame pack or just drag it back to the truck cave-man style? I opted for the latter, which should be no surprise. After a few grunts and clicks off I went…50 steps at a time.

An hour and fifteen minutes later I was whooped, but my worn-out self and this heavy-bodied blacktail were in the truck and we were headed for Farmer Georges. Joe Keen, the butcher there, would do the honor of producing steaks, hamburger, and summer sausage for us and he does a fine job of it. Gotta love the small town meat shop!

It helps to be in shape for this sort of thing. Back at the truck with everything stowed nicely in the Truck Vault!

If you think it’s too late in the season to get a blacktail that’s hardly the case. Blacktails are just now coming into the rut and the latter part of the general season and the late season in November can be the best times to hunt these elusive deer. Even if you aren’t successul in finding a good blacktail this week the time you spend in the woods right now can pay off when the late hunt comes around in a few weeks. Deploy some of the tips I’ve given you here and start building up your blacktail knowledge base!

Best of luck to you this hunting season and don’t forget to post your hunting photos and questions in the Outdoor Line Hunting Forum. Ciao…for now!

Rob Endsley
The Outdoor Line
710 ESPN Seattle
www.theoutdoorline.com

Selecting a Trail Camera

Posted on October 12, 2011 by Guest

BY NICK HARTMAN. Picking a Trail Camera is never a black and white decision. There are dozens of trail camera manufacturers, each one with many different models to choose from. So how do you know which camera will work for you?

The single most important consideration is how you plan on using your new trail camera? Is it going to simply watch a feeder? Or will it be on a game trail, a scrape, food plot or you may even want to use it to see who is breaking into your cabin? If you don't know the answer to that question, then you will want a camera that is versatile and can be used for all of the above.

There are three basic aspects to look for in a camera; Detection circuit, picture quality and battery life. Once you start looking at cameras individually, you will notice there are dozen of smaller factors, but camera quality can usually be broken down into these three categories.

Detection Circuit
Detection circuits, at its most basic level, consist of Trigger Speed, Recovery Time and the Detection Zone (which is the combined detection width, detection angle and detection range).

Trigger speed is merely the time it takes a camera to take a picture of a subject when it "activates" the camera. These times can range from 0.2 seconds to 4 or 5 seconds. Why is trigger speed important? Well, a slow trigger speed can mean missing a ton of animals as they walk or run by. Just consider how far you can move in 4 to 5 seconds. You could easily nearly walk out of the field of view in that time with just a brisk walking pace!

Recovery time is the time it takes a camera to store a picture and ready itself for the next activation. These can range from sub-1 second, to 60 seconds. A 60 second recovery time is no big deal if you are watching a feeder. However, a game trail is a different story. Think of this scenario. It is early November and the rut is in full swing. You check your trail camera to only find pictures of does. Where are the bucks?! Well, if your camera has a 60 second recovery time, the chances are pretty high that the buck was trailing those does by just a few seconds. How many times have you seen a buck chase a doe in the rut? Almost constantly! So, recovery time is of utmost importance for game trail surveillance.

The detection zone of a camera is merely the area in front of the camera that it is capable of "sensing." Cuddeback cameras have a very narrow detection zone, which is fine if you are pointing at a feeder. However, a wide detection zone covers a much larger area and is much more desirable on food plots or open fields.

The most capable and versatile (and expensive) trail cameras have quick trigger speeds, quick recovery times and large detection zones.

Bushnell Trophy Cam detection zone test, TrailCamPro.com

Picture Quality
Picture quality refers to the quality of picture both during the day and at night. Day pictures can be very subjective. If you are like me, I merely want to know what walked in front of my camera. I don't plan on framing it, I just want to know what it was, how big it is and when it came by. Some folks want to blow the picture up and frame it. There is no right or wrong way of thinking; it simply comes down to what YOU will be using the camera for. The best way to judge picture quality is by looking at sample photos.

Infrared cameras and Incandescent cameras take drastically different night photos. Infrared cameras are black/white and depend heavily on the individual camera for how bright and clear the picture will be. Also, infrared cameras will produce blur with movement (the amount of blur also depends on the individual camera). Incandescent cameras take beautiful color pictures. However, they use more battery and they have the tendency to spook game much more so than an infrared camera. Once again, you need to look at sample photos to see what will work for you. (Mouse over photos below)

Infrared trail camera flash Incandescent trail camera flash

Battery Life
Experienced trail camera enthusiasts may tell you the first thing to look for in a camera is battery life. Why? It can be expensive to change batteries every 2 weeks! Many modern cameras can run for 3-4 months on a set of batteries while some still struggle to maintain a few weeks of battery life.

One thing I would always recommend, when available, is to use rechargeable batteries (I'm stepping on my soapbox – beware!). Look, if you are reading this article, you are obviously an outdoor enthusiast. We love the outdoors, we love wildlife and maybe more than that, we love to pass it on to the next generation. They make high-quality rechargeable Nickel Metal Hydride (Nimh) batteries that can be charged up to 1,000 times. They also get the same, if not better, battery life (especially in cold weather) than your typical alkaline battery. Over the course of a rechargeable batteries life, think of the amount of batteries you have prevented from finding its way into a landfill. Not convinced? A quality charger and a set of Nimh batteries cost roughly what you would pay for two sets of alkaline batteries. By your third charge, you are making money. Rechargeable batteries are a no-brainer.

Overall
As you can see, so much of buying the right camera comes down to how you will use the camera. If you are unsure, a good bet would be to buy a versatile camera that is solid in all aspects. Another aspect is how much money you would like to spend. It is unreasonable to expect to get the perfect camera (which doesn't exist) for under $100. However, there are quality cameras at each price point, each one offering something a little better as you go up. Once again, consider what you will be using it for. You don't need a $500 camera to watch a feeder, you can easily get by with a $125 camera. However, if you are putting a camera up in the mountains, under severe weather, knowing that something may only walk by once a day or even worse, once a week…. Can you really afford not to have the quickest, most battery efficient and most durable camera watching that spot?

A good resource, to see the different ratings of the trail cameras, is to look over our different tests (which can be found at http://www.trailcampro.com/trailcameratests.aspx). This is black and white information, with no commentary attached. Once you have narrowed it down to a few cameras that would suit your needs, read the review on your individual camera (which you can find here – http://www.trailcampro.com/reviews.aspx). This will put all the information together and provide commentary on the in's and outs of the different cameras.

I hope this article has provided some insight in the basics of buying a trail camera. I am always open to answering any questions (you can email me at nick@trailcampro.com) you may have. I greatly appreciate the Outdoor Line letting me rant on like this. I wish everyone a safe hunting season and happy scouting!

Nick Hartman
TrailCamPro.com

The Thrill is in the Hunt

Posted on August 19, 2011 by Guest

BY JOHN KOENIG.

I still can’t get past the thrill of this past Friday morning’s bear hunt and can’t help but wonder if you other hunters out there feel the same about hunting as I do. I’m anxious to hear your comments on this, so please feel free to leave them.

The Scenario:

It’s black bear season and you have already done your pre-season hunting homework or hired a guide to do the pre-season homework for you. You’ve identified the desired black bear you wish to harvest, his traveling routes, routines, food sources in the area, etc. There’s fresh sign everywhere and you know it’s only a matter of time before preparation meets opportunity.

The time for your hunt has arrived. The first couple of days during your hunt you know for sure your homework has paid off. You have some close encounters where you can hear your quarry but no shot presents itself. You know that you’ve just missed crossing paths either by being in the right spot minutes too late or a little too early. Timing is more than a good idea.

Then comes the moment of truth. Does it ever. Our destined paths cross. Game time. Is it ever.

This is what it came down to for us last Friday morning: Coolest morning of the week so far. The day before the full moon. Now or never. We’ve been sitting in the truck waiting for first light to come, discussing the game plan for the morning before dousing ourselves down with bug dope (mosquitoes are unusually bad this season) and gearing up for the “fair chase” spot and stalk morning hunt to come.

The morning is crisp and cool with a morning fog rolling up the mountainside from the valley floor below… custom made for a good hunt.

First light and we’re off starting our morning hunt with the first few footsteps from the truck spent glassing the surrounding hillsides for any sign of our quarry and getting rid of a little extra morning coffee. The surrounding hills have been thoroughly glassed and our hunt continues, trying to hone our senses back in from a long night’s sleep. With soft slow steps we continue onwards.

Then it happens, not 40 feet away from our parked truck and not 10 to 15 feet below us. The hills come alive with the loud crashing and parting of brush and branches below us. We immediately look at each other and the first words since starting up the hill are spoken, “Bear!” Of course he’s headed away from us into the unit we just spent the last half hour or so glassing and into the morning fog just now rolling in. Go figure, right?

Hard to make out much of anything visually but we can still hear the crashing of brush as it comes to a rest somewhere in the middle of the unit below us. The best vantage point of the entire unit and best place to set up a shot is from right where we’re standing. However, we can’t quite zero in on the location of our quarry.

Adrenalin is not passive. Alive and surging.

I head down into the unit below us leaving my client, good friend John, at the best vantage point for a well-placed shot. The fireweed in this wide open unit is over six feet tall. More than hard to see much of anything from where I’m at. I try and find my best vantage point from where I think our bear has gone and begin calling.

Didn’t take long before I got my answer to where our bear had gone. He starts huffing and puffing threatening to blow my ass down. He charges in from the hillside below, and all I can see is the tall fireweed parting in front of me before he comes to a stop some 30 to 40 yards away. You can hear his loud huffs and snorts as he tries to get wind of me. Now I’m just praying that my client, John can see him from his vantage point and set up his shot.

With a light breeze now coming up the hill to my advantage, but of course bringing with it the morning valley fog, the bear retreats back down the hill. I keep calling and you can hear the bear’s huffing, puffing and growls as he moves up the hillside a bit more. Again, the fireweed parts as if this bear were Moses himself, and again he charges in and stops some 30 to 40 yards short of my position.

Still no visual… “C’mon John, take the shot”, I think to myself. All the while, also thinking how freaking awesome this moment is. The adrenaline has found its voice, almost a scream. The bear, still not getting wind of me and not quite sure yet if I’m prey or predator, again retreats up the hill. Moves up a bit more. I keep calling and now this bear is really pissed off and getting very vocal about the whole situation. He defines primal scream, charges yet again. Only this time the light breeze has me at a disadvantage and I’m winded. Sorry, but being scent free and being eaten alive by mosquitoes is not my idea of an enjoyable hunt. The bear heads up the long hill and off towards the old growth timbered forest. I keep calling hoping and praying I can turn him around but he wanted no part of my little charade anymore and the whole time he’s headed up the hill he remained very vocal about his discontentment. Crap!

I head back up the hill to meet John… Cursed by the fog and lack of a good sight window for a shot, we both were pumped with adrenaline by the shear “thrill of the hunt”. John could hear every single thing I did even being a couple hundred yards away and appeared just as pumped as I was. To me that’s what hunting is all about…The thrill of the hunt! How about you?

This is the second season in a row that John has come hunting with us and the second season John has not bagged his big bear…but… over the past two seasons we have seen bear, passed up on a small one, missed a long shot, had a couple of close encounters and my “friend” John has already rebooked for next season as well.

So, to you… Is the Thrill in The Hunt or Is The Thrill In The Kill?

John Koenig is a full time hunting and fishing guide that lives in Rockport, Washington. He can be reached at (360) 853-9801 or visit him on the web at Johns Guide Service.

Rattle Up a Late Blacktail

Posted on November 14, 2010 by Rob Endsley

Gerald Sexton downed this 4×4 blacktail with guide John Koenig in the Skagit valley

Big blacktail bucks seldom leave the confines of their worm holes in the jungle on the wet side of the Cascades and when they do most of their movements are nocturnal. They are big because they don't make many mistakes. During the rut, however, this all changes. Their minds are more intent on breeding than safety and they can be tricked into range with a few dirty blacktail tricks, one of which is rattling. I got the chance to talk to two northwest blacktail experts, John Koenig and Dieter Kaboth, about rattling for these elusive deer.

Guide John Koenig, owner of John's Guide Service (360-853-9801) in Washington's Skagit valley, used rattling late in the 2010 general rifle season to help several customers tag heavy-bodied blacktails in the North Cascades. One of these bucks was a gagger four by four blacktail sporting a 20 inch inside spread and good mass. As luck would have it John's digital camera fell in the drink the week before the action began and the only photo he grabbed was with his cell phone. John zapped me some phone photos of the giant blacktail and believe me, it was a good'n!

After one of his customers scored a rutting blacktail buck in the middle of the general season John had the presense of mind to remove the bladder from the deer and disperse the urine around the area the deer had been using. To top it all off he also removed the tarsal glands and rubbed them on all the nearby trees. "When we came back the next day another buck had totally torn the place up," says Koenig. Do you think this buck would succumb to rattling? Oh yeah!

John rattles for blacktail deer much the same a mid-west hunter would rattle whitetails. Once he finds fresh rubs or scrapes in an area he'll find a spot nearby that offers good cover for rattling. John likes to set up in the timber along the edge of clear cuts and in areas of thinned timber. He'll shy away from rattling in the middle of clear cuts or large, open areas, as it's too easy for an approaching deer to get down wind and figure out the program as it approaches.

Before the heavy work begins though, John will sit quietly for up to thirty minutes to make sure there isn't already a deer nearby. Then he begins the process by rubbing his antlers against a small sapling to simulate a deer marking it's territory. He methodically sets the scene of a buck rubbing, making a scrape, encountering another dominant buck, and a fight ensuing. If there's a lot of buck sign in the area this could take one to two hours to play the whole act out.

When he starts rattling in earnest he'll tickle the antlers together lightly at first to imitate two bucks that just met up, but aren't fully engaged in a brawl yet. If nothing happens right away he hits the rattling quite a bit harder and thrashes the brush nearby to imitate a full-blown skirmish between two dominant bucks. John will also stomp his feet on the ground to further imitate two bucks engaged in a fight. He'll do this for four to five minutes and then sit still and wait, rifle or bow at the ready for twenty to thirty minutes to see if a buck approaches. If nothing happens he'll slowly hunt his way out of the area and repeat the process somewhere else.

It's a laborious process, but it's put his customers in close contact with quite a few trophy blacktail over the years and definitely worth the effort.

Four time world elk calling champion Dieter Kaboth, who works for Hunter Specialties, lived in Southwest Washington for 26 years and spent a great deal of time rattling blacktails during the rut. Dieter uses a "run and gun" strategy when he's rattling blacktails, covering as much ground as he can in areas with a lot of buck sign. He's looking for dominant bucks actively pursuing does and guarding their territory.

Instead of using antlers though, he prefers to use a Heavy Horns Rattle Bag. Rattle bags are a lot easier to transport than a full set of antlers, easily fitting in a jacket or cargo pocket, and they can be used effectively with one hand. This leaves the other hand free to quickly grab the rifle when a buck comes in.

Like Koenig, he'll work the rattle bag softly at first to imitate the tickle of the horns at the beginning of a fight. He waits just a few minutes and if nothing happens he'll go to a much louder rattle and fight sequence. He rattles hard for two to three minutes and mixes in a short series of two to three low grunts from a grunt tube before and just after the simulated battle. If a buck doesn't approach Dieter within ten to fifteen minutes he moves on, covering ground until a buck that's willing to play is located.

Both Koenig and Kaboth agree that the hunter needs to be ready for a quick shot, as bucks will often approach quietly and appear out of nowhere. Even though they come in tuned up for a fight they don't stick around for long once the gig is up.

Late blacktail seasons are quickly approaching here in the Northwest and rattling could be just what's needed to tag out on a big buck this year. Give some of these strategies a try in the woods and send me a photo or three of the big buck you take rattling. I'll be out in the woods myself later in the week and you can bet I'll have a rattle bag handy!