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Learn More About Florida’s Wild Turkey Management

November 25, 2020

Learn More About Florida’s Wild Turkey Management
At the time of this writing, a 20-24 lb. Publix turkey is $ 0.49 per pound. I spend wayyyyy more than that each Spring chasing the Thunder Chicken. Heck, $ 12 doesn’t even cover a box of shells anymore! But, I love it – money well-spent! Of all the critters I chase throughout the year, none get me as pumped as the wild turkey. While populations elsewhere in the South have dipped in recent seasons, I’d submit, without any real research, that… Read More »

Ian Nance
Good Hunt

Filed Under: Hunting

Updated Deer Data: 2018-19 Harvest Report, Hunter Satisfaction, and More

May 30, 2020

Updated Deer Data: 2018-19 Harvest Report, Hunter Satisfaction, and More
FWC has recently released a great deal of deer hunting and management data. I talked about the South Florida Deer Research Project last month. But now, FWC has posted harvest data and hunter satisfaction data from a survey conducted last year. From FWC: “The FWC commissioned Responsive Management, an internationally recognized public opinion and attitude survey research firm specializing in natural resource and outdoor recreation issues, to conduct an annual scientific survey of licensed deer hunters in Florida. The survey… Read More »

Ian Nance
Good Hunt

Filed Under: Hunting

Shed Hunting Tips For More Success

March 27, 2020

Shed Hunting Tips For More Success

Follow These Tips To Have More Shed Hunting Success!

I’ll never forget the sight. More of an excuse to get my kids out of the house than anything, our “shed hunting” trip didn’t last long. But… it didn’t need to either. Barely peeking out of a fresh crust of snow, two tiny tines were reaching out toward the sky. I hollered loudly for my dad and sons… similar to how I get everyone’s attention when the first morel mushroom of the season has been found. “Guys… check it out, my first shed…” The boys, both quite young, were less than impressed, but my dad thought it was pretty cool. A small fork horn shed, from a buck, we passed all season long. With a bit of fresh blood and hair on the pedicle, I could tell it hadn’t been off for long. I think God wanted me to become a shed hunter because he certainly blessed me with the gift of that shed antler. As soon as I touched it I felt something primal. Man has been obsessed with antlers for countless generations, and being the first human to hold this antler felt amazing. Ever since then, I’ve tried to learn as much as I could to become a better shed hunter.

Working in the outdoor industry has allowed me many cool opportunities. I’ve had a chance to work with most of the big celebrity’s in the industry and learned a lot from them along the way. Recently when talking about spring content, I suggested shed hunting. I know for a fact I’m not the only one out there who is interested in learning more about this sport. Shed hunting is becoming an international obsession, and for good reason. Everyone can be involved, and it can be as challenging or easy and one makes it. Not only are shed antlers from all sorts of animals worth a lot of money, but hunting for them is a great way to involve the family, and as I did with my kids — I get everyone outdoors for some fresh air and exercise. I also like the scouting opportunity and the chance to plan future stand locations.

The first rule to remember when shed hunting is that the greatest chance of finding shed antlers will happen in areas that bucks were frequenting during the “shedding” season. Depending on latitude, the shedding season usually begins anywhere from December through April. Usually in my home state of Michigan bucks shed sometime in January or February. Strangely enough, many hardcore shed addicts that I have spoken to have pointed out that some bucks will shed within a day or two on the calendar each consecutive year. (I thought that was interesting) To best identify when bucks have shed, some hunters still run trail cameras. Others simply do a lot of glassing and long-range observation. One of the trickiest parts about shed hunting is self-discipline. Some overzealous shed hunters hit the woods to scour bedding areas a bit too early each winter and end up sending antlered  bucks running to all four corners of the wind. When an antlered buck hits the highway in the winter, there’s no telling where those sheds will fall. Adversely, the longer a hunter waits to look for sheds, the greater the chances of them being chewed up by rodents. Me personally, I like to wait until March. Most decent-sized antlered bucks have shed by then, and the chances that the antlers are still intact are pretty high.

I take an inside out approach to shed hunting, by first starting to look at winter food sources. In my experience, the greatest chances of finding a shed antler are where the hungry bucks had to aggressively dig and paw for food. I then walk the trails hoping to catch an antler or two that got knocked off by brush, or at fence jumps. After that, I scour bedding areas. I have also heard and noticed for myself that big bucks will drop their antlers near each other. Due to the unbalance on a bucks head with only one giant antler, the buck will soon become annoyed and work to get the other side to drop. Younger bucks don’t try to shed as much because the weight difference of only one antler isn’t as noticeable to them with small antlers.

As with anything, when you talk to a few people, you’ll likely hear a few different opinions. Here’s what a few other passionate hunters have to say about shed hunting.

Tyler Zygmunt
Also calling Canada home, Tyler Zygmunt is a modern-day mountain man. Among many other things, Tyler is a professional trapper. I assumed Tyler sold all of the sheds he finds, but I learned that’s not the case. “I don’t sell them, it’s one of those things that I just love to do, everything I find comes down in my basement and I keep on collecting. It is hard here because we don’t have the deer numbers here like you guys do there, and our moose numbers are not the greatest right now either. But I keep plugging away and it’ll happen. I love finding antlers, it gives me a boost knowing that the animal made it another year, moose or deer. Nothing beats the fact of knowing monster moose like this made the most of the winter and is likely going be around next year! So many wolves around it’s really amazing that they do make the winters. I’m trying to help the whole wolf problem! Haha.”

Tyler is one heck of a trapper and moose hunter too, and continuing to do his part to make sure he has more moose and deer sheds to hunt each winter by controlling the predator population.  

Aaron Zimmerman
A bit further south and still in the heart of big whitetail country, Aaron Zimmerman calls central Ohio home. Aaron is generally hunting small pieces of property, with a high amount of hunting pressure. “Where I have had the most success is looking in any areas where deer congregate. I spend the most time in staging areas, feeding areas, main travel routes, and bedding areas. I don’t waste time zig-zagging for the off chance of finding a shed. Where possible I will get a high vantage point on a cut bean field or corn field and glass for sheds. Knowing where the herd beds, I will watch my trail cameras until a buck shows up after shedding. Once I see that I will just walk the trail back to his bedding area and will typically find them along the way. I’m careful to only go into a bedding area one time during late February. Whether I find any sheds or not I will not go in again.”

Aaron’s logic and strategy also make a lot of sense for his location. It is especially important on small properties to not look too early and risk bumping deer that haven’t shed yet off of the property. I personally have bumped antlered deer out of their winter beds and watched them run away, kicking myself for now having no clue where they’ll drop their racks.

Shed hunting is an absolute riot, and a great way to beat cabin fever. Not only is it a great excuse to get outside, but it’s a great time to invade bedding areas with little or no consequence while formulating a plan for the next season. So get out this winter and try shed hunting, and when you find your first shed or your hundredth, be sure to send us pictures on our Facebook page, Click Here.

5 More Shed Hunting Tips:
 

Video by Breaking Point TV

Jason Herbert
Bowhunting.Net

Filed Under: Hunting

There’s More Than Deer Out There

March 6, 2020

There’s More Than Deer Out There

Deer Scouting With A Trail Camera

Deer Scouting with Trail Cameras is a mixed bag. Sometimes the pictures are clear and have deer or other wild animals in them. Sometimes the images are blurry and the deer, etc. in the unclear pictures look awful. Other times something bumps your camera and changes the area where you are taking pictures.

But, all in all, disregarding any pictures that are no good, trail cameras are a swell way for you to learn what is in the area you have the camera pointing at. The pictures we are looking at today are from the same area as the previous trail camera pictures were.

Here are two does. They both are moving through the camera area from east to west.

deer scouting

Later on, a doe comes through west to east and a little bit closer to the camera.

deer scouting

A spike buck was our next visitor. It appears to be walking toward the stob that some of the deer in the previous pictures were checking out.

deer scouting

Yep, he definitely was.

deer scouting

In the next picture, the spike has stepped back and is looking around.

deer scouting

As he turns away the trail camera photographs him again. He has a good-sized body and you may have noticed that his hocks are dark brown.

deer scouting

The next day two does walk through south to north.

deer scouting

During the night we get a surprise. Those dark images in the picture below are wild hogs.

deer scouting

In the next picture, a good-sized wild hog walks through the area.

deer scouting

And the next morning we get a photo of the butt of a brown colored wild hog.

deer scouting

So, here is what we know. Bucks still have not shed their antlers, which is normal here. Usually, they don’t shed them until March. And the dark hocks on our young buck show us that he is looking for, or at least thinking about, meeting up with a doe in rut.

The wild hogs could be passing through rather than hanging out in this area. But, we won’t know until we get some more pictures.

—
See more from Robert Hoague’s Bowhunting Blog: Click Here

Robert Hoague
Bowhunting.Net

Filed Under: Hunting

Interactive Ballistics Data – Graphs, Tables, and More

December 1, 2019

Interactive Ballistics Data – Graphs, Tables, and More

Ballistics

The science of projectiles and firearms, or in other words, the info you need to make the kill!

If you are looking for the 270 vs 308 vs 30 06 ballistics chart, the 5.56 trajectory chart, the 300 Win Mag Ballistics data, or the 30 06 trajectory chart; you are in the right place!

Here are a few suggestions for using the below dashboard:

  1. Select specific calibers and cartridges by using the filters
  2. Hover over graphs and lines to see more detail
  3. Click around to highlight specific data or to apply detailed filtering
  4. Don’t forget to try out full screen (there is a button on the bottom right, below the graphs)
  5. Please give us some feedback!
    1. Additional calibers/cartridges that you would like to see?
    2. Other data that is important to you? Ballistic Coefficient, longer range, more detail, etc.
    3. Share with your friends to get their feedback as well
  6. Last of all, help us keep building interesting content by using our affiliate links. When you need hunting or shooting supplies if you click through our links to Amazon it helps support myhuntingear.com. Thank you!

Explanation of Ballistics Data

Ballistics includes the understanding of trajectory, velocity, energy, as well as other factors as they pertain to projectiles and firearms. An understanding of these principles is essential to shooting accurately and selecting the right caliber/round for the job.

We have compiled ballistics data for some of the most popular calibers around.

Our data-set includes detailed information for:

  • 223 Winchester (5.56 NATO)
  • 270 Winchester
  • 30 06 Springfield
  • 308 Winchester
  • 300 Win Mag
  • More to come soon

The ballistics charts (trajectory graph, velocity chart, and energy chart) can easily be filtered for the specific calibers (223 Win, 5.56 NATO, 270 Win, 308 Win, or 300 Win Mag) that you are interested in. We have compiled ballistics data for over 80 different cartridges that you can choose from!
Below is some important information about trajectory, velocity, and energy. We hope that this helps.

Trajectory

Trajectory – the path your bullet takes from the muzzle of your rifle to the target down range.

We measure trajectory as the bullet drop in inches or the MOA (Minute of Angle). In our trajectory graph, we show how much the bullet drops in inches from the zero point. In the data set if you filter on a specific caliber such as the 223/ 5.56 Trajectory chart. The average drop at the 100 yards is 1.3 Inches up, but then at 200 yards, the bullet drop is at 0 (200 yards is the zero point or the range the rifle is sited for).

MOA made simple

MOA or Minute of Angle is a common way people describe accuracy and trajectory. One minute of angle equals one-sixtieth of one angle. There are 60 minutes of angle in each degree, 360 degrees in a circle. When your rifle is pointed down range, there is a total of 180 degrees to your immediate left, right, and everything in between. See the example below.

Minute of Angle (MOA) explained

Minute of Angle (MOA) explained

If we shine a laser down the end of your barrel in a perfectly straight line, we can describe the variance from this line in MOA. If the barrel is rotated 1 MOA, and we shoot out another perfectly straight line the difference between where these two lines hit at 100 yards will be about 1 inch at 100 yards. About 2 inches at 200 yards and so on.

What is Minute of Angle

What is Minute of Angle

It is common for the adjustments on optics to be made in MOA. If a scope has ¼ MOA adjustments, it will take four clicks to change the impact point by about one inch at 100 yards. In the below table you can see the MOA adjustment vs. the change at 100 Meters/Yards. In our example of the 223/ 5.56 ballistics, if your rifle was shooting ½ inch high at 100 yards, and your optic adjustments were in ¼ MOA you would want to adjust your scope down two clicks.

MOA Sight Adjustment Table - 100 Yards

MOA Sight Adjustment Table – 100 Yards

Velocity

Velocity is the speed at which the bullet travels. Pretty simple right!

Velocity is usually measured in feet per second (fps). For any given projectile, as you push it faster, you will, of course, have improved trajectory and higher energy output. When you compare velocities of projectiles with differing weights, you will want to take all of the data into consideration.

The smaller calibers, such as the .223 Win/5.56 NATO, generally have a projectile weight of 50 gr-62 gr. The .223 Win (5.56 NATO) bullet FLIES out of the muzzle anywhere from 3,000 – 3,500 fps but the velocity drops off relatively quickly. The heavier projectiles from larger calibers, such as the 300 Win Mag, come out of the muzzle a little slower but do not lose that velocity quite as quickly.

We have put together a heat map for the average velocities and the rate at which the velocity declines for each caliber. In the heat map, green is higher and red is lower. Again with the .223 Win/5.56 NATO, which has the highest velocity coming out of the barrel, but also the highest rate of decline in that velocity. The .300 Win Mag, with a bullet weight of 150 gr – 200 gr, has an average muzzle velocity of 2,980, but the projectile with heavier mass holds that speed better than the lighter options.

This discussion about velocity in relation to projectile mass is directly related to the energy of the projectile and makes for a nice transition!

Average Bullet Velocity - FPS

Average Bullet Velocity – FPS

Bullet Velocity Lost every 100 Yards

Bullet Velocity Lost every 100 Yards

Energy

Having just discussed velocity and its interaction with bullet weight, it will come as no surprise to see that the energy produced by the .300 Win Mag is significantly higher than the .223 Win/5.56 NATO, and noticeably higher than the other calibers.

Energy is measured in foot-pounds and represents the kinetic energy of the projectile. Energy is a factor of the bullet mass and the bullet velocity. Energy has a linear relationship with mass but an exponential relationship with velocity. In other words if you increase the projectile mass by two the energy will also increase by two; however, if you increase the projectile velocity by two, the energy will increase by four times!

When the projectile strikes, the target, energy is transferred from the projectile into a target. This massive release of energy is what causes much of the damage which will create a fatal wound in the intended game.

Average Energy - 223 Win - 5.56 NATO -270 Win - 300 Win Mag - 30 06 - 308 Win

Average Energy – 223 Win – 5.56 NATO -270 Win – 300 Win Mag – 30 06 – 308 Win

Conclusion

We hope that you find this data useful, and we hope that you will let us know how we can improve this tool. We intend to continue adding calibers, cartridges, and additional data so please bookmark this page and come back often. If you have suggestions, please let us know! We have selected .223 Win/5.56 NATO, .270 Win, .300 Win Mag, .30-06, and .308 Win because they are some of the most popular calibers, and some of our favorites. We will be adding to this list and building out some fun and new graphs, tables, charts, and visuals.

The post Interactive Ballistics Data – Graphs, Tables, and More appeared first on MyHuntinGear.com.

Roy Ayers
MyHuntinGear.com

Filed Under: Hunting

I love getting to spend a day in the field with something that loves it 10 times more than I ever could.

October 18, 2019

I love getting to spend a day in the field with something that loves it 10 times more than I ever could.

I love getting to spend a day in the field with something that loves it 10 times more than I ever could. submitted by /u/IowaTrout
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News For Hunters!

Filed Under: Hunting

Deer Season Highlights Week 2: More Big Bucks, EHD Impacts, and Close Encounters

October 1, 2019

Deer Season Highlights Week 2: More Big Bucks, EHD Impacts, and Close Encounters

Deer Season Highlights Week 2: More Big Bucks, EHD Impacts, and Close Encounters

Week two was almost as eventful as week one. There were ups. There were downs. A lot of in-betweens. All said, here’s a look at what happened recently. And don’t forget to watch the entire episode to catch the full encounters.

John Kirby's Kentucky buck. (Josh Honeycutt photo)

John Kirby’s Kentucky buck. (Josh Honeycutt photo)

A Huge Velvet Buck

In my last blog post, I introduced the buck my friend and filming partner John Kirby killed. It was a fine deer. And one I was happy to see him tag. He had a great story to tell, and I hope you’ll watch it on today’s episode.

“I just center-punched him,” Kirby said. “Oh my goodness. He came out exactly where he came out last night. The bugs were eating me alive. I’ve never itched so bad in my entire life. I just kept saying, ‘It’s going to be worth it. It’s going to be worth it.’”

Worth it … it was.

Jared looks at a big buck. (Grant Noble photo)

Jared looks at a big buck. (Grant Noble photo)

Big Returning Bucks

Jared Mills also had a couple great buck show back up. He’s been waiting for their return. I’m sure he’s glad they’re back and in the mix. One is a complete stud.

“Oh my gosh,” Mills said. “I’ve been waiting for that deer to show up. I still think he’s a 3-year-old, maybe 4. But he’s back. Gotta keep him alive for another year.”

EHD claims another victim. (Midwest Whitetail photo)

EHD claims another victim. (Midwest Whitetail photo)

EHD Kills

The man himself, Bill Winke, tells what he’s been doing the past week. Unfortunately, he found a big 3-year-old buck dead that had incredible potential. That’s what you don’t want to find. But it happens. Nature takes its course. And EHD impacts deer.

“You don’t want to find any of them dead,” Winke said. “He doesn’t have that look of an older deer. But look at all the stuff he had going.”

It's crop harvest time. (Josh Honeycutt photo)

It’s crop harvest time. (Josh Honeycutt photo)

Crops Coming Out

Personally, I haven’t hunted much the past seven days. Wind directions have been bad for most of the stands I want to be in. On top of that, bucks have been swiftly changing their patterns the past week to 10 days. Because of that, I’ve been investing more time in scouting and less hours in the tree. I personally believe you do more harm than good when you hunt without a purpose, so to speak.

I’m working to relearn a few target bucks. And maybe I’ll be back in a tree soon. I just don’t want to pressure spots for the sake of pressuring them.

Another high note, though? Crops are starting to come out. And that means I might be able to move back in and hunt the area that I pursued Tanker, Shorts and B.O.G. the first week or so of the season.

The corn is still standing where I’ve been pursuing Toots and Acorn Top, though. And that’s where I think I’ll focus efforts until I have a solid daylight pattern on a target buck. EHD impacts are starting to be of concern here, too. Hopefully it isn’t as widespread as we fear.

Not all encounters end up being success stories. (Josh Honeycutt photo)

Not all encounters end up being success stories. (Josh Honeycutt photo)

So Close

All said, I did have an encounter with a big 8-pointer again last week. It passed through just after legal light ended. It was just dark enough I couldn’t get footage, either.

I’ve checked cameras, put out a few scrape tree posts (inspired by Owen Reigler) and hung a few horizontal rubs in that area, though. Hopefully I can dive back in there soon and capitalize on a nice buck.

Don’t Miss: Rapid Decay of a White-Tailed Deer

The post Deer Season Highlights Week 2: More Big Bucks, EHD Impacts, and Close Encounters appeared first on Midwest Whitetail.

Josh Honeycutt
Midwest Whitetail

Filed Under: Hunting

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