How To Safely Transport a Firearm

Any hunter safety course graduate can tell you that transporting firearms involves knowing and following federal laws and state regulations. In addition to abiding by the law, it’s critical to make safety a top priority. While state laws that govern transporting firearms can vary from one state to the next,  you can always rely on the recommended safety procedures below to  help you stay safe.

General Rules

• Always unload and case firearms before transporting them. In many states, this may be the law. The action should be open or the gun broken down, whichever makes the firearm safest.
• Firearms should not be displayed in window gun racks because the display may provoke anti-hunter sentiment. It’s also an invitation to thieves.
• Lean a firearm against a secure rest only. A vehicle does not provide a secure resting place. A gun that falls over might accidentally discharge or be damaged.

Storing your gun in a case when you’re transporting it can help keep you safe and protect your firearm. There are several gun case options to choose from.

Padded, soft-sided case

Material: Canvas, nylon, neoprene, polyester, or leather

Advantages:

• Light, easy to handle and store
• Many designs accommodate scoped rifles
• Offered in camouflage
• Waterproof and floating cases available for duck hunters
• Less costly than hard cases

Disadvantage:

• Less protection than hard-sided cases

Lockable, hard-sided case

Material: Aluminum or composite

Advantages:

• Lightweight but sturdy
• Meets airline standards
• Can include deep foam padding that holds firearm in place and cushions impact
• Composite models can be molded to fit firearm
• Available in waterproof models

Disadvantage:

• Bulkier and costlier than soft-sided cases

Gun sock

Material: Durable stretch fabric (polyester/acrylic) or soft pile materials

Advantages:

• Lightweight protection from dust, dirt, and moisture
• Offered in camouflage
• Often used as a second case to carry a firearm from a vehicle into a hunting area

Disadvantage:

• Minimal protection from elements or impact

No matter which firearms case you choose, always remember the basic rules of firearms safety:

• Point the muzzle in a safe direction.
• Treat every firearm with the respect due a loaded gun.
• Be sure of the target and what is in front of it and beyond it.
• Keep your finger outside the trigger guard until ready to shoot.

You can learn more about how to stay safe while hunting by taking an online hunter safety course at www.hunter-ed.com. The training offered at this site is approved by the state agencies responsible for hunter education, and it’s the same material that’s taught in the classroom.

Studying at hunter-ed.com is free. Those who must be certified before they can buy a hunting license pay a one-time fee, which is due only if they pass the test. Students can take the test as many times as they need to pass it. Online hunter safety courses are available in participating states, so visithunter-ed.com to take a course specific to your state.

In many states, students must pass an online course and a field day to complete all hunter education requirements. Field days are designed to be a hands-on, learning experience, and students are encouraged to review their state requirements about field days before beginning the online course.

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Yamaha Outdoors Tip of the Week: Early Season Turkey Calling

Deciding how aggressive your turkey calling should be depends on several variables, not the least of which is the time of season.

Early in the season, turkeys are usually in large groups.  Depending on how early your season begins, these may be either winter aggregations that have yet to break up, or more likely,
dominant toms with their harem of hens and (hopefully), a few subordinate adult males.

It may seem counterintuitive but this is the time for aggressive calling.  There are several reasons for this.  For starters, real birds are very vocal this time of year.  They’re used to hearing a lot of calling, and you have to compete with that.

Second, they have yet to become call shy.  Yours will be the first artificial calls they hear so they’ll be more receptive, and there’s less chance of making a mistake.

For the third, and most important, tip of early-season turkey calling, please visit – http://www.yamahamotor.com/outdoor/events/dynamicevent/2/1604/yamaha_outdoors_tips_-_early-season_turkey_calling.aspx.

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Shed Hunting After Deer Season

For some outdoorsmen and women, March can be a time of idleness and longing for the next deer season. Shed hunting is one way to get a deer hunting fix while you prepare for the next season – and it may be able to give you an edge over other hunters.

Well-known deer manager and writer, Bob Zaiglin of Houston, Texas, a certified wildlife biologist, has overseen numerous Texas ranches through the years. According to Zaiglin, hunting sheds helps you learn where deer are concentrated on any particular piece of property. The area where you find the most sheds will be the regions where you will discover the most deer. Also sportsmen can pinpoint the corridors deer are using to enter agricultural fields to feed, water and bed and the places where the deer are hiding from hunting pressure.

By hunting sheds, a sportsman may find a rack that will score very high on Boone and Crockett, and that buck never even may have been seen during hunting season. Once the hunter locates that trophy shed and decides to hunt that deer the next season, he must realize he will have to let numbers of small bucks walk past him – if he’s going to try and take that trophy buck. But by knowing a trophy buck is in an area, a hunter can concentrate his hunting time the next season in the general region where he’s found the trophy’s shed antler.

In the West, I find many sheds around watering holes and along fence lines. Often when deer are jumping fences, they’ll knock their antlers off. Then a hunter can try to find travel trails between feeding and bedding areas along fences where he locates drops. Although each of these places are easy spots to discover sheds, if you really want to locate the shed antlers of trophy bucks, you must go into the thicker spots to look for them. One of the problems with locating big sheds in heavy cover is that rodents are more abundant in thick areas and will consume those antlers at a rapid rate after the deer have shed them.

Finding a Matched Pair of Sheds:

Although the dream of most shed hunters is to find a matched pair of trophy antlers, very rarely do deer shed both antlers at the same time and in the same place. But one year I actually located five sets of matched antlers. I’m not sure why finding both antlers off the same deer is uncommon, but my best guess is that antler shedding and the casting of antlers is definitely related to nutrition. A deer on a good nutrition level holds his antlers longer than a deer that is nutritionally deprived of good food. Last year our ranch provided good nutrition. But after hunting season, the lands I managed went into a drought. Since the deer were somewhat deprived nutritionally, the deer shed their antlers more quickly. At least this guess was the best I had as to why I found more sets of antlers together then.

If you enjoyed this article on shed hunting, you may also like to read part two of this series on shed hunting with Bob Zaiglin.

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Using Turkey Decoys for Hunting Grand Slam Gobblers

Turkey decoys work well on any species of turkey, and I have been fortunate enough to chase 4 of the sub species over the years.  Some choose to chase the grand slam for the adventure, which I consider the right reasons, and some chase it to bloat their already excessively large egos, which is a bad reason.  After chasing them all over the country, I am of the opinion that a turkey is a turkey.  They live in different places, but they are all just turkeys.  Constantine will custom paint our best turkey decoy to closely match any species for $45 plus freight for those who want the best to be a little better, and he does a great job.

Turkey decoys in Florida (Osceola)

There are two main differences the Osceola turkey exhibits from other grand slam birds.  He likes to fight, and he is expensive.  Stupid expensive usually.  It’s simple 7th grade economics that make him expensive: supply and demand; he only lives in half a state.  Why they won’t cross this line is beyond my comprehension, but he won’t.  If you decide to pay for one, they are fairly easy to decoy with a jake or tom turkey decoy as they love a good fight.  They are the bird that the Primos B Mobile was fashioned for, and a jake turkey decoy will never work better.  Us midwestern guys like them because it’s warm in Florida mid-March, and that’s when season opens.  If you couple it with a family trip to Disney, it will actually seem cheap, but it’s a bad plan.  Disney was an animal rights guy and some of his parks do not even sell beer.   A whole day on hot pavement with the kids and not one beer in the whole place.  Who would build such a place?

Turkey decoys in Texas (Rio Grande)

Texas Rios are a staple of the grand slam.  When you think Rio Grande turkeys, you think Texas.  I hate Texas turkeys.  Their whole social structure revolves around the feeder, and you can’t fight the feeder.  I have tried several times to find the place to set up where birds will call and decoy like the rest of the country, but the fact remains that those toms know all the hens will come to the corn, and they plan accordingly.  So how do you hunt them?  You set a blind up next to a feeder and shoot them like chickens when they come in to the little yellow turkey decoys, because that is what they turn into 20 yards from the feeder.  Drop out of strut and run to the corn.  Don’t get me wrong, I love hunting Texas.  It’s a whole different world of hunting and shooting with the hogs and exotics, but Texas turkeys are not on my list.  You do have options, and one of them is Kansas.  You can find lots and lots of Rios in Kansas, and they don’t all live by feeders.  Kansas birds will call and come to your turkey decoys like Easterns, and the memory is much sweeter.

Turkey decoys and the white-tipped birds (Merriam)

A snow white Merriams wild turkey is the prettiest of all birds, and you will not find the white tips everywhere the NWTF map shows where they live.  Many of these birds have figured out how to cross the map lines and breed and mingle with Rios, Easterns and hybrids of each.  Mutts, if you will.  If you want a true white-tipped bird, you either sort through a bunch of South Dakota or Nebraska birds as they come to your turkey decoys, or you need to go further west.  Most (not all) snow-white-tipped birds are mountain birds.  Low densities of turkeys means that your boots better be broken in and your lungs and legs up to task.  These Merriams will come from forever to your calling if you can locate them, and are a blast to hunt.  They’re very tough to bow hunt with all the blinds and chairs, but you will always remember the distance that bird traveled to meet your turkey decoys.  Some of my fondest memories are from the mountain Merriams of Montana.  A lot of work, but it makes them that much sweeter.

Turkey decoys and Easterns

He is the king in my book.  He gobbles louder than any other bird, and when he spits and drums, the blind will shake and your hair will stand on end.  He often receives more pressure from hunters and survives more close calls.  He may have seen a buddy or brother go down hard to the roar of a 12 and he learns from it.  Consistently score on pressured Easterns and you can kill any other turkey.

If you choose to chase the slam, best of luck.  I enjoyed the trip, and hope you will as well, and be sure to drop a note on how you think each bird differs.  No doubt your spin will differ from my mine when using turkey decoys on the 4 sub species.

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Turkey Decoys and Gobbling Fans

Turkey decoys need some fanning

Turkey decoys are working the way you want when that tom’s tail fan is pointed in their direction. When a tom struts for a specific turkey, he will ‘point’ his fan at the turkey. He is doing his best to impress that particular hen or jake and show the all his glory. What does this mean to you as a turkey hunter? It gives you a read on whether or not the tom is paying attention to you, your turkey decoy, or a real bird in the field.

Turkey decoys and good calling grab attention

Your turkey decoys and turkey calling serve to attract mature toms to your turkey decoy set. If you call and that big tom struts and points his tail at you, you are doing something right and should continue that sequence as long he keeps pointing the fan at you. If he is not pointing his tail at you, try a new call or a new sequence and see if he green lights your actions by pointing the tail towards you or your turkey decoys. Mix it up and find something that works, and then don’t change. You have the key to heart so do not start getting cute on the calls and messing it all up. Mix in our Jake Turkey Decoy for maximum results.

Turkey decoys finish the job

My goal is to try let the turkey decoys do most of the work. I use the calls to get them close enough to see the turkey decoys, and then hope they finish the job. Too much calling can weird the birds out not only that day but for days or weeks after the fact. If the turkeys smell a rat, be it from the caller or the turkey decoys, that is real pressure. It’s the kind of pressure that makes a turkey hesitant to both calls and turkey decoys. Unless you have a ton of areas to hunt, don’t go slammin’ in hard and fast, as it may be the only chance you get at that group of birds.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ikc6hdTT80

Watch that tail fan for clues to whether or not you are in the game this spring, and remember, you can only a part of the day. Accept that you can not make a turkey come unless he wants to, and get your turkey decoys in the plan to help get it done.

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Easy to Carry As the Clothes On Your Back: Built-in Bug Repellent

A new outdoor product that’s starting to hit the shelves insect-repellent clothing, gear you wear without having to spray yourself with additional insect repellents. There’s options for the hunter, hiker and intrepid explorer. We’ve compiled a list of a few companies and clothing lines that each provide their own versions of anti-bug products.

• Craghoppers uses its NosiLife technology to create its insect-repellent clothing. The system, originally used by hospitals and bedding products against dust mites, uses a type of Permethrin, a synthetic pyrethroid to ward off mosquitoes and other bugs. It’s safe for mammals but toxic to all insects. Craghoppers claims NosiLife’s active ingredients drop mosquito bites by 80 to 90 percent and that the effect is permanent on the company’s website.
• Rectec offers a different system of insect-repellent made specifically for the hunter. Rectec’s ET Edge Realtree camo shirt and cargo pants feature a mosquito repellent finishing in a system based on green nano-chemistry that does not harm human skin.
• Columbia Sportswear makes a variety of bug-repellent clothing for men, women and children that have received positive reviews from users that have worn them for at least a few weeks or a season. The company uses their own registered Insect Blocker technology. It’s odorless and bonded tightly to fabric fibers so that it’ll be effective through 70 washes.
• 6 Legged Tees is the newest player in the insect-repellent clothing field. The company uses similar technology to Craghoppers by treating their shirts with a process that binds Permethrin to a shirt’s fibers. 6 Legged Tees makes eco-friendly designer, screen-printed shirts for outdoors enthusiasts who hate getting bit by bugs.

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Howle’s Hints: DIY Gun Stock Repair

On guns with wooden stocks and forearms, small, shallow dents can be removed from the wood with a wet cotton washcloth and steam iron. Place the wet cloth over the dent and apply the steam iron to the area. The steam entering the porous wood combined with heat expands the wood which helps pull out the dent. Repeat the process until the ding is removed.

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Hunting with a Smart Phone

Everyone these days has a cell phone. A lot of us even have a smart phone such as an iPhone, Blackberry, Droid, etc… Now, you that have these smart phones might be missing out on some features that your smart phone is capable of that could help you when you are hunting. Some of you might be impressed and will go out and get a smart phone once you have read this article. I, personally, have an Apple iPhone 4S. I will be using my phone to illustrate my points in this article. All of these examples can be duplicated on the other smart phones with similar applications and similar phone features. One more thing to note is that you need to have cell service in the areas you hunt.

I am an avid whitetail deer and turkey hunter and the weather is a key factor in hunting these challenging animals. The Weather Channel has the foremost site for producing weather information. I have tested other weather applications but I like theirs the best. Besides, when you need instant weather what channel do you turn on? They have developed a weather application to run on all smart phones.

The first thing I do is check the 10 day forecast to plan my hunting trip. It shows me the trend and pattern of developing weather patterns.

Then, the day of the hunt, I check the hourly forecast where I can see the temperature, wind direction, and wind speed that correspond to the hours I plan to spend in the woods. This helps me decide what stand location I want to go to. Also many of my hunting times have been adjusted according to this data. I check this data while in the woods to see what is happening around me and I have sometimes changed locations due to the wind not being suitable for a particular location.

Finally, I use it when rain clouds are in the air. You can toggle to the radar tab (Explore Map) and see a storm view of where you are hunting. You can then determine if the weather is going to miss you or if you need to get down and seek safety immediately. It also allows me to stretch my hunts to the last minute before I know the weather is going to set in.

As hunters we know how the weather affects the game and, as you can see, how useful a smart phone can be to deliver this information in a timely way. Of course, all of us hunters are trying to increase the odds in our favor and this type of technology can do it for you. If you have an iPhone and want this application, you can search “Weather” in the iTunes App store. Other smart phones can download other versions of this software from the Weather Channel’s Website.

Now that you know the weather you need to figure out where you are going to hunt. My phone has Google Maps with built in GPS so I mark my stand locations ahead of time so I can find them in the dark. This is handy because I don’t have to carry my GPS hand held unit anymore because I always have my phone. I also mark other important items such as trail camera locations, rubs and scrapes on my phone.

Now that you are on the stand safely, I have heard of hunters taking books and magazines to pass the lull times during their stand time. I have done this, but with new smart phones you can now have so much more. Also, it is a lot more compact and easier to carry. (You can even read Outdoor Hub articles and interact with our GREAT Website: OutdoorHub.com while on stand!!!)

I am going to go over how I use my iPhone for entertainment while on stand.

Games – I have a several different games installed on my phone. These games range from card games such as Solitaire, Blackjack, etc. to strategy games such as Chess, Checkers, etc. Smart phone are becoming the new game systems and more games are being developed for them. One thing to note is most of the games I play are games that have pauses in them so I can look up and scan my surroundings to make sure nothing gets by me while hunting. You don’t want to get engulfed in a game and miss a deer walking by.

Multimedia - I use my phone to listen to my favorite artist’s MP3s and to my favorite podcasts. I also can watch recorded TV shows and movies. I just recently installed the Sirius/XM application where I can listen to satellite radio over my phone. This is how I listen while on stand: I stick one ear bud speaker in my ear and keep the other ear free to listen for game. I can’t count how many times I have watched deer or turkeys while listening to my iPod. This is great way to pass the time.

Internet Surfing – Everyone who surfs the Internet has favorite Websites that they go to everyday. Whether it is sports, news, tech, gossip, etc… you can read these Websites while sitting idle on stand. You can even write articles like this while sitting up a tree or hunting in the field.

Email – I sometimes check my email while on stand. This can be good when family and friends email you BUT it can be bad if it is business and there is a problem. Problems can distract you from hunting and I try not to check my email on really good hunting days. I have had to get down from a stand to go back and get on the computer or phone to solve a problem. Not fun!

Text Messaging – I never did much text messaging until I started texting while hunting. It is a great way to communicate with other hunters while on stand. Text messages start flying back and forth such as: Where we going to eat after we get down? You seen anything? Did you shoot? I just got the BIG one! You can also use it to keep in touch with other people who are not hunting. I have taught so many people how to text message just for hunting. Even the older generation who are sometimes technologically challenged are now avid texters.

As you can see, these entertainment tools allow me to stay on the stand longer which always increases my odds of killing the big buck I am after.

Now that you are entertained, you can review trail camera pictures of bucks that you have captured so when a shooter buck walks out you can recognize him and take him immediately. This review can be provided by your hunting club like your own FBI most wanted posters. It can help you nail down a buck you want to shoot or maybe let go.

I also store property maps on my phone. Use them with Google Maps and it can be one of your most useful tools to figure out that big buck.

Now that you have been prepared all during your hunt with your smart phone, let’s say you take that big buck. Use your smart phone to take pictures of him so you can immediately email or text them to your hunting buddies. Better yet, have a hunting buddy take pictures of you and your trophy.

In conclusion, I have shown how smart phones can be used to give you a technologically edge while hunting. They are very powerful and with new features being added all the time, they will remain part of my standard hunting equipment. I recommend they become part of yours. Go over to my Website for some exciting hunting videos at Toxiegivens.com

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What’s in Your Turkey Vest?

I know “what’s in your turkey vest?” is a rhetorical question but it makes you think about your own turkey vest and what equipment you have in it. Since there is no way for me to know what you have in your vest, I am going to talk about what’s in my vest and what equipment I use. I got the idea of writing this article when I started to pack my vest for the upcoming season. I am always adding things to my vest especially when I talk to other turkey hunters or watch them in action on TV. I hope this article will help out new turkey hunters and might even offer suggestions to an old veteran hunter that he or she might not have thought of before.

Obviously you need to start with a turkey vest. Turkey vests have evolved from being simple thin-layered vests with a couple of pockets to having zillions of different size pockets hidden all over the place with comfortable flip out seats. Some of the new vests come with instructions to explain where all the pockets are located and what equipment can go in them. This year I have even seen a new vest that comes with mesh materials on the back that you can pull over the top of you to make yourself into an instant portable blind. Wow! What evolution the hunting industry has come up with!

Now that we talked about the importance of a vest you are asking yourself, “what do you put in it first?” It is not what you think: no calls or shotgun shells but instead my Thermacell with all of its refills and a can of bug spray. My theory is to be successful in the woods, you need to be comfortable and any type of bug buzzing around your head is not going to allow you to be comfortable. Any experienced turkey hunter has forgotten their bug repellant at least once and knows what I am talking about. Along these same lines, I carry a portable rain suit. No one likes wearing wet clothes and a good rain suit can make your life more comfortable in the wet woods.

Next I gather all my calls and put them in my vest. I use primary box calls and I like to carry many of them because of their different sizes and makes. They provide me with different tones and pitches. I have had times when I had a gobbler stalled out at 60 yards not wanting to come in and just by switching to a different call I pushed him over the top and he came on in for the shot. I also carry box calls that do not use chalk and are waterproof for those rainy hunts. Another good rainy day call that I carry is a slate call and sometimes I use it to simulate fighting hen purrs. My last calls consist of shock calls such as my gobbler, crow, coyote, and owl calls.

I also believe in a good pair of binoculars. I pack these in my vest so I will have them there when I need them. I also like to carry a laser range finder. If time permits, I will range my decoys and various surroundings to get an idea of how far I can shoot. Knowing this range can be the difference in harvesting a bird successfully versus shooting too early when you thought he was in range. In my experience judging distances in large open fields can be misleading and a range finder can alleviate this common error.

Another must carry for me is my portable GPS. I hunt some big tracts of land and sometimes when I am chasing a gobbler, I can get turned around and can lose my bearing. By having a GPS unit in my vest, I have the confidence to worry about the gobbler instead of constantly worrying about my location.

With the evolution of the turkey vest, bigger pockets in the back have allowed me to carry soft turkey decoys without adding much additional weight. I personally like to use the real mounted turkey decoys but in my experience you do not always have them on you due to their bulkiness and weight. But I do have a couple of soft decoys stuffed in the back that I can quickly deploy if the opportunity presents itself; especially during those “running and gunning” hunts.

Now I am going to talk about the items I call the accessories. My number one accessory is a half roll of toilet paper. You never know when Mother Nature strikes you and any good woodsman is always prepared. Another must-carry is a couple sets of gloves and a head mask. Turkeys have unbelievable eye sight and everything you can do to combat that is a must. I also normally pack 10 shotgun shells in my vest which I feel is more than enough plus extras for those unexpected situations. I like to carry a couple of flashlights. I carry a LED flashlight for early mornings because it has a tendency not to be as bright and I carry a more powerful flashlight for coming out of the woods at night. I also like to carry a monopod gun rest in the back of my vest. You never know how long you might have to hold your gun while the gobbler moves into position and this can help you with those long periods of time to steady your shotgun. My final accessory and one that I added last year is a set of brush trimmers. These are handy for making ground blinds and can be used quickly to trim shooting lanes when that gobbler has responded to your call and is on his way. The trimmers also store very easily in my vest.

There are other things I carry that deserve to be mentioned but these are the little things that support all the other equipment. These are: box call chalk, a turkey tote for carrying out a bird, extra batteries for my red dot sight and flashlights, a sewing tape measure for scoring your harvested turkey, bottle of water, goggles for keeping dirt and debris out of your eyes in those windy hunts such as in Texas, a hand towel for sweat and other things that might need wiping, and often some type of snacks for those all day hunts.

So, in conclusion, everything you put in your vest has a purpose with a goal of helping you be successful in harvesting that big Ole’ Tom. Now that you have read about what is in my vest, add your comments below and discuss with me and other fellow thunder chicken hunters what you have in your vest. I look forward to learning new possible items that I can add to my vest.  One more thing, go to my Website for exciting turkey videos at ToxieGivens.com. Good luck this season fellow turkey hunters!

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Turkey Thoughts: Outsmarting Clever Gobblers

Although the wild turkey has a noggin the size of a small walnut, the wily bird continues to puzzle even the most experienced of hunters. The feathered chickens of the forest are wired with astute cleverness and a twist of uncanny habits. Here are a couple ways to put the odds in your favor this spring.

The Wake-Up

The daybreak of morning illuminates the newborn sky, while some gambling hunters creep into whisper range of a gobbler’s morning perch. Risky hunters have been known to snuggle right next to a roosting tree in hope to kill at first light. Unfortunately, the cards are not in favor of those who tree hug.

As many of us know, the wild turkey has a very keen set of eyeballs that dissect each leaf, twig, and grass blade of the forest floor. Their ears are extremely effective as well, which help them pinpoint other birds. If you plan to nestle within 50-75 yards of a roost tree, you better have an effective plan. It takes only one eyeball of security to set off the alarm.

Turkeys have a tremendous field of view when half way up a tree. They are able to cover a lot more forest and field and pinpoint noise effectively.

The Hang-Up

Every bird hunter has had a tom “hang-up” on him as they strut, gobble, and flaunt just outside your shooting range. He’s like a treble hook snagged in brush and not moving an inch more. The gobbler patiently waits for your next move and sometimes this standoff can take hours.

The best bet to knock him down is to play his game and wait him out. Patience is the name of the game when it comes to turkey hunting. They have their own mental clock that ticks as sluggish as a Wisconsin winter. I’ve had birds 80 yards away in a field strutting for hours before curiosity overwhelmed them, which brought them into a delightful 20 yards.

Utilizing comfort calls such as clucks and purrs seems to always work well too. Be sure to try raking your hands in the leaves to mimic scratching. These little tricks make a large and significant difference in the world of the wild turkey.

Hunters always like to make decisive moves and bet chance with risky business – sometimes simply playing it safe can save you a lot of hassle and headaches.

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