Wednesday, August 3, 2011

It's Hot but It's Time

It's hot but it's almost here. Today was, according to the weather man, the hotest day of the year. Heat index was 105 degrees. Tomorrow the forcast is 111. I know it sounds crazy but hunting season is 12 days away in Georgia. I hope to be there. Squirrel hunters can begin their quest August 15th. Ticks, chiggers, red bugs, mosquitos, nats, flies, snakes, spiders and the like are all alive and well. I assure you I will not plan to hunt all day. I have 3 squirrel dogs of which one is an ace, one is started, and one don't know beans. I hope to get them in the woods and get an early start. When then the Alabama season rolls around we will be well on our way, tuned up and focused. I'm sure there will be a price to pay. Personnally I hate chiggers and red bugs. With the leaves still green and growing there will be a lot of looking for a squirrels that cannot be found. But we will find a few. I can use the squirrels to train the puppy. I want to get four or five days under our belts before October 1st, the beginning of the Alabama season. Hunting very early and very late with much repellant we should be just fine. Hard to drive away from the green fertile waters of the Tennessee River and Lake Guntersville but the opportunity is too tempting for a short trip to kill squirrels in Georgia.

Monday, May 23, 2011

Don't know the name of the flower but it was pretty awesome to see.

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

170+

Roger Johnson killed this 170+ buck in the second week of December 2010. He saw the buck the evening before and let it go. Thinking about it that night, he realized the deer was actually a deer he should have shot. Fortunately the next morning a "hot" doe came scampering by and he was close behind. This deer is one of many that have went down in Walker County over the past 10 years. Taking deer management seriously, without buck limits, without feed, and without intervention, Roger and his buddies created a piece of property that is consistent in 160 plus deer.

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Is It All Wrong


Buck management is always a hot topic. It is something that every deer hunter talks about and works for. Over the last few years the theory has been, shoot your does. The bucks get better quality feed and chase harder during the rut. Having fewer deer to breed, the biggest bucks must come out to chase around the few does that are left. Everyone liked the thought of having so many does we could shoot them at will. Even the term, "Just go kill you a doe if you want some meat," was born. I have noticed problems with this theory and I'm not alone. Starting with the fact there has never been research on this issue. Just copy cat tactics of other states. Quite honestly I've hunted these other states and wouldn't personnally follow their management practices, but we have. I am hearing reports now from hunters who say, "I just aint seeing any deer." Well according to the proponents of the three buck limit who told me 4 years ago, to give them 3 years to prove their point, big bucks should be behind every tree. So far I'm still waiting. The buck limit laws have not created the atmosphere it was sold on. I was talking to one of the biggest farmers in Autagaville just the other day who happens to run a hunting operation. He related to me that he has 200 cows in a pasture and 21 bulls. The ratio of cows to bulls is almost 10 to 1. If he went out tomarrow and shot 150 cows, next year his bulls wouldn't be any bigger. He would have a whole lot less cows in the pasture and a whole lot fewer calves but the effect on the bulls would be zero. What does have to do with the size of his bulls is genetics and age. Alabama has good genetics. You go to Eutaw Bait and Tackle and look around. These deer were grown when southern counties had corn and soy beans. Crop prices fell, timber companies stepped in and all these hundreds of deer had to eat was pine trees. Thus people began to see skinny deer with poor horns. Here is where the supplemental feed guys step in. They claim the answer is feeding or baiting to off set the losses. Well, if that was going to make a difference, it already would have. It is not illegal to bait or feed right now. It is just illegal to hunt it. If you wanted big deer, feed them, right now. But people will not do that. In order to get those big horns, deer have to be fed in May, June, July and August when deer hunters are elsewhere. No one feeds during those times. If you have checked the cost on a bag of feed lately you will see that's not a bad idea. It is to expensive for the average man to keep up year round. Therefore most hunters would go out two weeks before bow season and throw out 50 lbs of feed near their favorite treestand. This would do nothing to grow horns or manage deer. It is a lazy mans way of getting by. What is happening under the current management practices is that our "local" does, our breed stock, is depleated. Does do not roam very far from the place they were born unlike bucks. So when you shoot them out. All you have is a whole lot less deer, which is what we said in the beginning that the masses are beginning to complain about. All I'm sayin is without the research it is just an opinion by an Advisory Board, one of which whom stands to gain direct financial dividends, and researchers taking a shot in the dark. Deer hunters, you and I, know what we see in the woods. We know if the plan is working or not. Look at you club or your property. Where are you? Is the current system what they said it was going to be by now? Or do we need changes? Do we need research? Do you and I need to step in the ring and right the ship? Send me your comments bro's. It is not greater restriction we need, it is greater freedom to manage the land. I believe it is a shorter doe season and a more liberal buck harvest. Those practices only created the largest, healthiest deer herd in the United States of America. I find it very simple but....but it is not what everybody else is doing. I think my momma warned me about that.

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Fighting For Forever Wild

A couple buddies and myself finished off an excellent 2011 squirrel season at the Demopolis WMA, now know as David K. Nelson WMA. I hope David K. Nelson was a good man because the greatest hunting spot in the world has his name on it. We took down 19 squirrel and this big boar coon. At the end of the day, some friends made a nice soup out of this old coon. No, No I didn't eat any of it. As a matter of fact, I didn't even hang around for the feast, I headed to Parrish Alabama for some much needed rest. Hunting behind a squirrel dog will walk you down. As my buddy says, P90X hunting. Had a great day anyway as I always do. The thing is, as wonderful as this property is, and you can see by the picture it is some of the best, it's future is temporary. What you and I call our back yard is a foreign land to many senators and legislatures. In my head funding for these area's is a no brainer. Anybody can see.......not so fast. They don't know and don't share our same understanding and passion for these places. They don't know how vital these places are. They've got a huge timber company in one ear promising campaign donations and perks for just a "little timber" harvested on an old remote piece of forgotten land. They've got others promising silver and gold and diverted funds from wild lands would make our schools the greatest in the nation and fill budget shortfalls. It's money, money, money. I have been on the phone fighting for our Forever Wild funding that makes these places posible. I am pleased to announce that so far not one single senator has voted against the funding. Yet, that was not so in the preliminary talks. Some questioned the need to put money into hunting and wild lands when this program and that program were under funded. It took many phone calls and persuation from a lot of people to make them understand what needed to be done. The fight is not over. We cannot rest until Forever Wild is refunded. Certain legislatures are trying to attach amendments that cannot win passage alone to a bill they know must pass and that is dead wrong brother. It is underhanded. Legal, but underhanded. Let Forever Wild pass and push your amendments on a stand alone basis. Right is right and I pray the dealings will be above board. Unfortunately, I smell a rat. One bigger than this coon I'm holding.

Monday, February 21, 2011

Time For Repairs


Bluebirds and other cavity nesting creatures are beginning to scout their future homes. It is both beneficial and rewarding to be a provider of just such a place. If you want a project, plans for these homes are all over the Internet or at your local library. Otherwise most farm and garden stores sell bird houses. Specialty houses like bat houses, squirrel houses, or wood duck boxes can be purchased from individuals and you can surf the net to find them as well. Old boxes should be repaired and cleaned for the birds arrival. Old boxes may look dilapidated but with a few nails and light repairs the birds may prefer them. You may hear that boxes should be a certain distance apart. I do not believe there is a formula for distance between boxes as I have observed several boxes occupied in one yard. Charting when you see birds nesting in a box is fun. You will find some boxes are more successful than others and not all boxes that are scouted by the birds are chosen. Charting will help you know which boxes are preferred and move the boxes that are consistently left unoccupied.

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Where Do We Go From Here?


Where do we go from here? What is out there? Who is to say? My hope is that with a new Commisioner in place, there may be a ray of hope for those displaced by the Lawley regime. I hope that the will to exterminate me and my friends may have passed and that we will be recognized as the good soldiers we have always been. I remember a time when if a cross word was said about my advisory board, I would have drawn my sword and cut off an ear. Sadly, that is not so anymore. I have followed the Baldwin County Newspaper where much has been written about the new Commissioner. He seems honest. We have some common ground. We have some differences. Neither of which matter right now. What matters is replacing the existing members of the advisory board with members who will represent the people. We need members who believe in the honesty and integrity of Alabama's hunters. Punish the law breakers, educate the uneducated, and leave me alone. We need people on the board who are not "connected". We need people who are from the low, middle, and high end societies. Many call themselves hunters but few earn the title legitimately. Anyone can do a hunting show but that doesn't make you love it anymore than the guy who got off work at Express Oil Change today at 3:30 and hustled out to the WMA. The new commissioner will have a say in where we go from here. He will have the Governor's ear. He can replace these members. He can install an advisory board representative of the people with the peoples interest at heart. He can mend the fences or he can be a puppet of an advisory board out of control and corrupted by personal interest. The entire ocean is before us. What is out there? Where do we go from here?

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Looking Ahead, Lawley Retires


Retirement is something we all hope to one day achieve. We hope to do it in a comfortable way. We want to look back and think that we made a difference. We want to know we put in an honest days work for an honest days pay. I wish Barnett all the best. It is no mystery that in a position like his, you cannot please everyone no matter how hard you try. This being understood, Barnett is not my favorite commissioner. As a matter of fact, I'm elated he is gone. One screw up at my job wipes away a novel of at-a-boys and I'm sure in Barnett's case it is no different. My major issue with Barnett was the day he made his way into a position of influence, he made it known his number one goal was to implement buck limits. I was 17 or 18 years old at this time and instantly set against him. During the same time Dan Moultrie was showing up at the advisory board meetings banging the drums of buck limits. Next thing you know, Barnett's the Commissioner, our old hero's are thrown off the board and Moultrie is the chairman. The advisory board we admired, that knew us, that was our friend, was hijacked. Before anyone in Alabama knew what was going on, the board had a new face and a new leader. We were going to be regulated into submission of their ideas, no matter what the data showed, no matter what the history was, or what the studies said. Worse than that, we were going to face regulation no matter what the people said. Kind of like the gambling machines. They were going to find a way. Barnett himself told me that in three years I would be thanking him for what he had done. It's been over three brother and I aint there yet. Many like me in the hunting and fishing world began digging the fox holes and laying out strategies to fight but most still believed in them. The thought was they will never do this to us. Well they did it. Hunters across Alabama were divided. Now here we sit. It's been the worst three or four years of my hunting life because we had no voice, no friend, and no commissioner..... at least one I would claim. It is my hope that the new commissioner will be our friend. That he will listen. That he understands Alabama's history and the quality of the Alabama hunter. This state and it's hunters are unique because there can only be one #1. I'm personally offended when they quote to me what other state's are doing because we are the leader's and have proven that with the largest deer herd in America by land area. Regulation, Big Government, the idea that government knows best and will look out for you, is going to be the downfall of the country and under Lawley, in the Game and Fish Department, a monster few knew existed. All this being said, I hope he does well in his retirement and has good health and happiness. I did my best in opposing him and it is over. If I could find something to say, it might be that his retirement has restored my hope and I thank him for that.