Wild Hogs And “Song Dogs”

By Scott Ellis

As the summer heat sets in and turkey season is a distant memory, thoughts of the upcoming seasons are definitely weighing on my mind. What is a hunter to do to pass the time? Well I’ve got just the solution to get you in the woods with your favorite rifle.

Wild hogs are legal game on any private land year round and can offer some exciting off season hunting. If you were raised in Florida, pigs have probably been a normal part of the scenery during the general hunting seasons. Some of us hunt them with dogs, some of us hunt them with guns and some of us don’t hunt them at all but, they can offer a challenge and the ability to polish your predatory skills as a well. Read more

Fall Turkeys: A Bird Of Another Feather

By Scott Ellis

With summer winding down the arrival of archery, muzzle loading , early duck , and dove season is greatly anticipated. People are tuning bows, sighting scopes and plowing fields. It could also be a great time to tune those turkey calls for the upcoming fall season. That’s what I said, “tune your turkey calls”. Most states offer turkey as fair game during archery and all but a few offer a fall turkey season. (check your local game laws to verify your season and what is legal to take, gobbler, hen or both) Fall turkey hunting can definitely put your turkey hunting skills to the test.

When most people hear turkey hunting they generally associate it with a strutting tom and the beautiful sound of a gobble during the spring. Learning the art of fall turkey hunting not only increases your chances of putting a bird in the freezer for Thanksgiving dinner, it allows you to learn more about turkeys and how they live throughout the year, not just during the mating season. This can benefit the spring turkey hunter as well. By having more knowledge of your quarry, such as their pecking order, how to find them and their language, you can add more to your bag of tricks. Fall hunting requires more woodsman ship than calling ability. Locating your fall birds can be a challenge in itself. Read more

The Opening Of Dove Season

By Scott Ellis

After a long day on the annual planting of our dove field, one can do nothing but stand back and have a sense of pride and accomplishment. That’s the beauty of planting a dove field, it’s not only a gathering of friends, it’s a time of sharing memories and bonding. Three of my closest friends, my father and my uncle joined together back in July to get our annual dose of farming. We started this endeavor five years ago. That was my first time planting. With my father and uncle, I grew up hunting millet fields the mines had planted for erosion purposes. We had some great shoots and it is where I learned to hone my wing shooting skills. But there is just something special about standing over 12 acres of freshly planted earth and knowing you’ve done it on your own. You really appreciate the shoot and the all the camaraderie that comes with it. Read more