Monthly Archives: June 2011

pheasant hunting

Pheasant Hunting Guide

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Finding a good pheasant hunting guide can be a way to create a memorable pheasant hunting experience. The Internet abounds with information on numerous outfitters, which offer professional guides as part of their pheasant hunting packages. Each hunting area offers different types of guide services. A pheasant hunting guide is usually native to the area and knows the terrain very well, as well as the climate conditions and local quirks of the landscape and weather. A pheasant hunting guide can offer a personalized tour of the land and is able to answer questions about the habitat, bird behavior and also provide tips to improve hunting success. When enlisting the help of a guide it is advisable to obtain references to ensure their honesty and capabilities.

For hunters wanting the aid of a professional pheasant hunting guide, guides can be part of a package deal including lodging, home cooked meals, air and ground transportation, bird dogs, cleaning of birds, shotgun shells and licenses. Numerous businesses offer customized service in all areas of the country to visiting hunters; information can be found online, and packages can be customized to the customer’s requirements. Providing hunting services has become a thriving business for many landowners and entrepreneurs, giving a much-needed boost to struggling local economies while helping boost conservation efforts to benefit wildlife.

Usually, hunts accompanied by a pheasant hunting guide are limited as to the number of hunters in the group. Often the guide will take two hunters, but some guides will allow three if the hunters are safety conscious and have skill with guns, while having the expertise of being comfortable handling them. If the hunters are paying for the number of birds released rather than for each person, some hunters may prefer to hunt alone with the guide. If the hunters have not brought their own dogs, the dogs provided in the hunting package will be managed by the pheasant hunting guide.

For hunters who would rather not hunt with a pheasant hunting guide, but would like the other services provided by hunting packages, self-guided hunts are also available. In North and South Dakota, a system has been developed by hunting businesses to provide lodging and large tracts of excellent hunting habitat, at an affordable fee for self-guided hunters. The arrangement with the landowners providing the hunting areas enables them to use conservation measures on their land that they might not have been able to afford before receiving the funds provided by the hunters. Landowners are now financially able to leave fields with crops that provide winter survival vegetation for the pheasants, and a portion of the farmland can be planted and maintained for the benefit of wildlife to ensure future hunting of quality and quantity.

bow hunting

Bow Hunting Equipment: To Buy or Not to Buy

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Bow Hunting Equipment is a major area of importance in the sport of bow hunting. There are many choices to be made and many myths to be expelled. It is not the brand name that counts; it is the quality of the bow hunting equipment you choose. It is important that your bow hunting equipment correlate with its purpose, and is equally important that it ‘fit’ you.
When choosing bow hunting equipment, it is important that you do your homework and get expert advice. If you are lucky enough to have grown up around bow hunting and gotten hands on experience and advice from an expert as you learned, then you probably are not going to be reading this, so this article will be largely focused on new bow hunting enthusiasts. The novice faces a much different set of concerns and needs then does the experienced bow hunting aficionado.
The average new bow hunter is understandably concerned with costs. With that in mind, several factors should be considered when choosing bow hunting equipment. If you are really not sure how much you want to invest, consider renting hunting equipment initially. That way, you can have a relatively small investment until you see if you want to invest more money in your sport. Just be sure, even when renting bow hunting equipment, that you choose equipment that is both a good fit for you, and appropriate for the hunting you plan to do with it. Be certain you take an authority with you, or get exact advice on what is best for you, before you rent. Rental agents are rarely experts, so be prepared before you go to the rental agency.
Many times Pro Archery shops require the personnel be experts and even require that they receive formal education so they can help customers make good choices when they are about to purchase equipment. Often, if you go in at a time when the shop is not really busy, you can explain that you are a new bow hunter, and want to rent bow hunting equipment initially to be sure the sport is for you. Once you tell them that get their card and agree to purchase from them later if you decide bow hunting is for you, they will help you determine what you need and what equipment is a best fit for you. That way, you can get the advice and help you need to rent equipment, while putting off big investments until you are sure.
That way, when you are ready to purchase bow hunting equipment, you can go to the store with a little experience under your belt, already know what you like, what you need, and what would be the best choice for you. Expert advice in fitting bows to your needs, getting the proper pull weight, the proper type of bow, etc. and fitting all that to the type of game you will be hunting, etc. will make it easier to afford good quality bow hunting equipment when you are ready to buy, and you can buy the best you can afford, while not feeling tempted to settle for lesser quality, because you are afraid if the sport of bow hunting may not be for you.

goose hunting

Seasonal Duck and Goose Hunting In Southeast Texas

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There are many opportunities for duck and goose hunting in southeast Texas. The coastal marshes and waterways along the southeastern coast make ideal stop-overs for migratory waterfowl, and the warm, sunny climate is a welcome break from the cold, snow and sleet often associated with more northern hunting. Duck and goose hunting in southeast Texas offers birds from both the Mississippi and Central flyways, so there is always a good population of many different species in the area during hunting seasons.

One of the advantageous of duck and goose hunting in southeast Texas is the wide variety of food sources available to the migratory birds. This area must seem like a mecca to ducks and geese as there are corn fields, rice field, grain and bean fields that are flooded annually, providing the perfect conditions for tired and hungry migratory birds to stop over and refuel for the next leg of their journey.

Duck and goose hunting in southeast Texas includes the use of dogs, traditional blinds and decoys as well as flags and calling in the geese. If you use a professional guide or goose or duck hunting guide service most of these items will be provided for you, all you will need is your license, appropriate stamps, guns, ammo and waders. This all in one service is ideal for those that travel to the area for the hunt and don’t want to have to bring all their gear and supplies.

The guides and professional that offer duck and goose hunting in southeast Texas are interested in keeping hunters coming back to use their services year after year. They spend hours every afternoon and even in the pre-season to find the patterns the migratory birds are using, which fields they are feeding in and the times that they are moving about. Usually most services offer hunting in the morning, just at sun rise, then end at about noon to give flocks a chance to feed without being disturbed in the afternoon. This keeps the waterfowl in the area as long as possible.

For sportsmen that are flying or arriving from different locations most of the guides offer accommodation through lodges or hotels in the area. They can arrange to pick you up at the airport or other locations and can even assist in obtaining licenses for out of state hunters. If you are planning on duck or goose hunting in southeast Texas and are from another state or country be sure to inform your guide so they can arrange to get you licenses when you arrive. This will avoid delays and any possible problems that may delay your hunt.

hunting dogs

The Excitement of Hunting With Dogs

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Hunting with dogs is a controversial sport in today’s world, and there are some specific types of dogs who hunt either better than others or better “at” certain game, making the art of hunting with dogs a popular sport with many. There are no specific groups in the AKC registry for hunting alone other than maybe the hounds, and this one is of the largest group that have a wonderful hunting nose—with the hounds seeming to have a dominant amount of breeds in their group who do hunt with an ancestral background in their lineage, with the most known hunting traits. These traits vary, such as scenting ability, baying when the scent is found, or excessive stamina to follow a trail or scent for excessive periods of time, with the breeds known as Beagles, Norwegian Elkhounds, Basset Hounds, American Foxhounds, Dachshund, English Foxhound, Bloodhound, Black and Tan Coonhound, and so on.

The AKC Sporting group is a large group of hunting dogs for those who enjoy hunting with dogs, and that specifically enjoy the water and the woods–the American Water Spaniel, Brittany, Chesapeake Bay Retriever, Clumber Spaniel, Cocker Spaniel, Curly-Coated Retriever, English Cocker Spaniel, English Setter, English Springer Spaniel, Field Spaniel, Flat-Coated Retriever, German Shorthaired Pointer, German Wirehaired Pointer, Golden Retriever, Gordon Setter, Irish Setter, Irish Water Spaniel, Labrador Retriever, Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever, Pointer, Spinone Italiano, Sussex Spaniel, Vizsla, Weimaraner, Welsh Springer Spaniel, and Wirehaired Pointing Griffon.

The exciting things about dogs, especially noticeable when we are hunting with dogs, are that each breed has their own natural behavior. The best breed for being a total workaholic out in the field is the Border Collie when herding livestock or children. And the terriers are something else, believe me–they were originally developed to hunt small game, and kill vermin, and nothing had EVER get in their way! And then we have the hunting dogs, maintaining a continuous drive to confront some form of prey or another, to the point if you don’t have the time or energy to train and go with them—don’t buy one, as without proper socialization or training, severe problems will definitely develop. For the hunting dogs that have a high predatory behavior, the word “challenging” doesn’t even come close to the experience of training them.

Hunting with dogs is not an easy task to accomplish by the time they are ready to go to the field—and that is when the quality of training will show up. Because if not, spaniels, retrievers, pointers, and so on, that have a naturally born predatory behavior that has to go somewhere and do something—and if the family has small children, small animals like cats or guinea pigs, they will instantly become game for their hunt that is natural born to them.

elk hunting

The Basics of Basic Elk Hunting Tips

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For the true hunter, the pursuit of game is everything. Elk hunting tips can greatly increase the pleasure of that pursuit. Thanks to the elk’s innate ability for sensing danger, they are one of the most challenging objects of pursuit for a huntsman. Although their massive size would seem to make them easy targets, it is not uncommon for many hunters filled with the anticipation of a kill to find they have unwittingly been given the slip not just for the second time, but for the third or fourth in a single day of hunting. Before setting out, wise hunters know it’s best to educate themselves on every aspect, brushing up on as much information as possible, including current elk hunting tips, tricks and advice.

Of all the most important elk hunting tips, planning and preparedness heads the very top of the list. The vast majority of seasoned hunters will agree that planning ahead can be the difference between the trip of a lifetime and complete disaster. The challenge of hunting lies in part with the unpredictability of the outdoors. While it is folly to always expect something to go wrong, the sport of hunting is one place where safety rules and it is always better to be safe than sorry. The use of firearms, the lack of direct access to medical services and the remote location in which elk hunting can take place requires that any and all precautions that can be taken, should.

When it comes to other elk hunting tips, the study of behavior and the use of calls is a major point of discussion. Failing to use a call correctly can have a negative effect on the success of a hunt. While some debate the use of inexpensive calls over higher priced models, others contend that price is nothing when talent is present. There are many pieces of advice on what type of call to use based on whether one is hunting a bull or cow. These calls are based on gurgles, mews and other sounds indicative of elk behavior in a herd. As many hunters know, certain calls made during the rut have more of an effect than any other time.

Next on the list of elk hunting tips usually has to do with choosing an effective big game cartridge. Elk are large animals that have a tough hide and massive internal organs. While every hunter has his or her preference, there is no absolute single brand that works better than others. Big game ammunition has a specific purpose and some types are even made to be effective exclusively when shooting at big game over long distances. It is important that the choice of cartridge be the type that can be shot time and again with little or no problem, allowing a good amount of handling and control.