Hunting Blog

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Plenty of hunters succeed each season and get home to find the meat they’ve harvested in the field is no good. There are plenty of reasons for this, ranging from high temperatures to contamination. And, for every reason your meat is ruined, there’s a way the spoilage could’ve been prevented.

Cool your kill - in warm weather, it’s exceptionally important that you get the carcass cooled as quickly as possible. Traditional field dressing is the best option, but if you’ve got access to a one-ton packed with ice, more power to you. Do bear in mind that meat spoils from inside as well.

Keep it clean - you can protect your meat from bugs and debris by placing it in suitable sacks. Many veteran hunters recommend a dash of black pepper on the carcass to keep insects at bay while you’re working.

Avoid contamination - when dressing your carcass, take care not to puncture the innards as the contents of the animal’s digestive tract can ruin all your hard work. Many hunters recommend tying off the rectum before you remove it to avoid accidental spills.

1. Be sure the animal is definitely dead. Don’t get too close until you know for sure.
2. Tag your animal in accordance with local regulations before you do anything else.
3. Roll the animal onto it’s back. If at all possible, the animal’s head should be uphill from it’s tail.
4. Remove the penis and scrotum if required, then cut around the anus. Some hunters recommend tying it off to avoid contamination that fecal matter can cause.
5. Work up from the rectum, cutting through the hide carefully so as not to puncture the innards
6. When you reach the rib cage, turn the animal onto one side and the organs will roll loose, you can then reach under to sever the tissue holding them in place.
7. Reach inside the brisket as far as you can and cut the windpipe, then remove the lungs, heart and liver.
8. The animal is now ready to move. When you reach your destination or camp, hang the animal to allow it to cool while you clean the remaining scraps of tissue from the carcass.

One of the keys to success in hunting is placing an accurate shot - whether you hunt with a bow or a firearm, this sentiment rings true. So what is important when setting up your perfect shot, and perhaps more importantly, which shots should you let slip by? Though the window for placing your shot of a lifetime may be only seconds, it’s important to exercise good judgement and aim to place your shot as effectively as possible.

Good shots are clear, no brush or other obstructions between you and your quarry. Don’t take aim An ideal shot can be made when an animal is quartering away or presents itself broadside to you. Either of these gives you a clean shot at the vital organs allowing you to dispatch the animal quickly and ethically.

The golden rule, so to speak, is being sure you’re aiming at the right target. This ensures safety for bystanders and other hunters. Bear in mind you should know what lies beyond your intended target, as a bullet or arrow can potentially carry on and cause serious harm to someone further a field.

Most animals have exceptional senses - this is what helps them survive in nature as well as during the hunting season. When it comes to hunting game, you have to accept that the majority of nature’s creatures have far sharper senses than you ever will. So, to give yourself a shot at, well, having a shot, you need to approach the hunt with care.

Move slow, if at all and mask your tracks as many ways as you can. Remember that deer, elk and similar species can hear even better than they can see, so you’ll need to stick to firm ground to avoid alerting those big tufted ears to your presence. And most of all, keep your eyes peeled. The best chance you have of bagging that trophy is ensuring you see him before he sees you, plain and simple.

A good scope and a pair of binoculars can go a long way toward giving you an edge in the field - so choose them wisely, but use them with care. A hunter with eyestrain is about as much use as a chocolate tea pot.

The best way to bag a trophy is to ensure you see plenty of deer. And the best way to see as many deer as possible is to find a stand, sit there quietly and wait. Nature gave the whitetail deer exceptional vision, but their sight is more geared toward picking up motion than noticing stationery objects. So sitting still, especially when the wind is in your favor, pays dividends.

Choosing a stand can be tricky, especially in areas where the hunt pressure is high. Look for an area where there’s evidence of deer activity, a trail between known food sources and bedding areas, for example. Other good locations for a whitetail hunt stand are at natural funnels in the terrain, where the movement of animals are restricted for one reason or another. Similarly, placing a hunt stand a bit further out than the average Joe is willing to trek is a great way to bag a whitetail when the hunt pressure is at it’s highest.

Avoid placing a hunt stand near fresh scrapes - most whitetail deer do not revisit these and you could find yourself waiting a long time for nothing. Another word of caution - if you are in your stand for more than eight hours, be sure you’re masking your scent effectively.

In short, if you choose your stand carefully and just be patient, that perfect whitetail is bound to cross your sights.

Reaping the rewards of the forthcoming duck season starts with reflecting on the events, successes and failures of your last season. So, review what you tried last year - what worked, what didn’t and was there anything you never got around to trying?

Key things to consider include how your duck blinds and other sites performed under various weather conditions and how do other variables, like the river stage, impacted your favorite spot? Balance the answers to these questions against your goals for the coming season and you’ll be in a good position to maximize your duck hunting time and get the best results.

As you choose areas to hunt at particular times or under specific conditions, make time to practice your hunt skills before you intend to use them. And consider taking a journal on hunts with you - or at least a notepad. This will allow you to jot down your successes, failures and things you might like to try in the field next year. After all, it’s never too early to start planning for your next success.

Particularly when you’re going after big game, like elk or caribou, booking your hunt with an outfitter can be easier than going it alone. There are a number of things to consider - from the equipment and physical effort required to understanding the lay of the land and knowing where the beasties like to hide.

An outfitter can provide a solid alternative to spending thousands on gear you’re unlikely to use for any other purpose or hunt in your lifetime. That isn’t to say hunting with an outfitter is cheap - it isn’t, but you’ve got to weigh the investment up against the savings. Additionally, an outfitter can provide you with some essential services once you’ve made that golden shot and bagged your trophy. Bear in mind an elk weighs at least four times what you do, and consider how readily you can pack that animal out of the hunt zone - with an outfitter, a lot of that hassle simply disappears.

The majority of good outfitters won’t guarantee you a kill- this is because to do so is impossible unless you’re hunting on a ranch or farm that breeds the animals for this purpose. However, an outfitter worth his salt will usually give you a fifty per cent chance of bagging a good mark. So do your homework and check the outfitters’ references from the outset to avoid disappointment.

People do a wide variety of things with their game meat once they get it home. Some butcher it themselves and freeze it, others have a professional butcher take care of the job for them. In addition to the traditional meat cutting services, many butchers will also make sausage or jerky from your game.

Apart from freezing or drying the meat, there’s one traditional option that is often overlooked in our modern world - canning. You can prepare meat for stews and other dishes, then use a pressure canner to preserve the meat for future use without refrigeration.

A few important tips for canning your game meat are: be sure all jars, even new ones, are cleaned before you start; remove any damaged meat as you go; leave at least an inch of head space at the top of each jar; always use adequate pressure when canning; and, examine all finished jars after they’ve had time to cool to ensure they’ve sealed properly.

When we pack up all our gear and head off for hunting season, one of the items we often leave behind is a camera. Whether you’re a great photographer or not, having even the most basic camera on hand can be useful in the field.

If you have a compact digital or traditional camera, that’ll do nicely. Many seasoned hunters recommend packing a three-pack of disposable cameras into the rest of your gear - this way if they get lost or broken, no one cares, but you have them on hand if you need them.

A great way to involve friends or family members in the hunt is to take them along to document your trip. A relative who loves taking pictures of the outdoors is ideal for this job, but your nephew armed with a digital or disposable camera will do just as well. Have them fill in a hunt journal for you and take photos of areas you want to remember for next year. Also, taking pictures of your trophy before it’s butchered is always a bonus

Many experienced hunters have found that the public lands available to them in recent years are increasingly crowded. While it’s fair to say the more the merrier in most cases, hunting is an event best done with a close group of friends or relatives - not hundreds, or even thousands, of strangers. The safety implications alone are staggering.

As such, more and more hunters are investigating their options. Some are fortunate enough to have land-owning friends or neighbors who permit them to hunt on their properties. Others opt to pay the extra money that going on package hunts requires or stump up the cash to buy a piece of property suitable for their hunting needs. But that isn’t for everyone.

For the rest of us, hunt leasing is a viable option. There are a number of online communities geared toward matching property owners interested in offering hunters the opportunity to use their land in the non-crop seasons, with hunters looking for a new patch to call their own. Lease agreements are fairly standard and can run from a few months a year to multi-year arrangements that will benefit future generations of hunters in your family.