Hunting guide news

Tracy Schmidt Ticks seem to be everywhere when I go hunting. I encounter them in the woods, bushes, high grasses and leaf debris. They need heat and moisture to survive and can sense heat and carbon dioxide from a nearby host animal. There are 80 species of ticks in the United States, but only about a dozen are considered a health threat to humans.  The ticks I encounter the most are the deer tick and the wood tick. The deer tick is the only one of the two that can transmit Lyme disease. The wood tick can transfer Rocky Mountain spotted fever in some areas of North America and is the most commonly found tick in the United States. These ticks hatch from eggs in spring and become nymphs during their first year of life. Blacklegged ticks (commonly called deer ticks) are the only ticks that carry Lyme disease. And not all of these ticks carry the disease. The tick larva are the most likely to transfer Lyme disease during the late spring and summer, if they become infected with...

Levi Morgan |  BowLife.com The grip is the only part of your bow you actually touch during the shot process, meaning the way you handle it is critical. Despite that, I believe grip remains one of the most overlooked aspects of  good shooting form .  Over the years, I’ve seen many variations of how people grip their bows, and guess what? None of them are necessarily wrong. Just like any other aspect of archery, the proper grip is simply one that can be repeated consistently shot after shot. However, there are several things that can make that task much easier. One is to keep the entire grip on the thumb side of your lifeline. Then you want to point your thumb at about 2 o’clock (10 o’clock for left-handed shooters), making sure it isn’t riding up against the shelf of the riser. Lastly, you want to have a loose hand, not squeezing the grip and not with your fingers stuck straight out; just let your hand relax. There are two main muscles in your hand, one on each si...

Kat Ainsworth Whether you’re about to wade into flooded timber for the first time or are a seasoned waterfowler looking for new ideas, this is for you. Hunting flooded timber is preferred over other methods by many duck hunters, for good reason. There’s nothing quite like it and for me, personally, it’s resulted in some of my favorite duck hunting memories. It’s church, only for waterfowlers; the towering oaks and shimmering water are the cathedral and the ducks flying overhead are the choir. Let’s get started on the sermon. Choose Your Spot…But Remain Fluid Selecting a location in green timber is about far more than simply wading into the trees and hoping for the best. Just as with hunting any species, scouting matters. Becoming familiar with the land and the locations the ducks prefer to congregate is a must. Aside from the ducks themselves, you’re looking for a hole, a natural clearing in the timber large enough to attract ducks flying overhead while providing cover for you...

Bob Humphrey | Originally published in  GameKeepers: Farming for Wildlife Magazine I reached the big fir tree and started climbing to my hang-on stand just as I’d done a dozen times before, albeit a bit more tentatively. This was my first attempt at climbing after recovering from a dislocated shoulder and I was unsure how it would hold up. It turned out to be more of a test than I ever could have anticipated. The lower limbs were sufficiently spaced to provide an adequate means of ascent, or so I thought. I was about halfway up, reaching with my good arm when one of my “steps,” a dead branch, snapped. There was a split-second of panic as I felt the full weight of my body suddenly exerted on my newly repaired shoulder.  Fortunately it held, and I was able to regain my footing. Things could have gone far worse, and I would have had no-one but myself to blame. I’ve since become a lot less cavalier about how I ascend to my  elevated shooting platforms . THE...