Palominos Galore!

Well, last Saturday was first day of trout and it was a good one.  Natalie had never caught a trout before, so it was a nice surprise that she caught not one, but her limit of five in just a couple hours, including a 19 1/2-inch palomino.

We were fishing up near camp in Potter County.  I've opened up on this same pool for about six years in a row now.  Some years the water has been high and cold and the fish didn't cooperate that well.  It was a struggle to catch enough for a fish fry for one let alone a limit of trout.  Only one year (2011, I believe) did I absolutely kill the fish.  That year, I caught my limit in about 8 casts, and four of those fish were palominos ranging in size from 16-19 inches.  I never thought I'd see another first day like that ever again, simply for the fact that I landed so many big palominos.  I was wrong.  Lightning can strike twice.

This year, limiting was a little more of a challenge and took about an hour.  Natalie had her limit in a little over two hours.  I caught three palominos and she caught two -- five between us!  My biggest was 17 inches.

Unfortunately I've been sick all week...lingering effects of the pneumonia that hospitalized me for four days back in December.  As soon as this clears, though, I'm looking forward to walking the streams again, getting some clean, fresh air in these scarred up lungs of mine, and enjoying some time on the water.  Trout season is already off to a great start.  I have a feeling it will keep getting better.

Getting Ready for Gobblers

This month's issue of Ohio Valley Outdoor Times features my article "Turkey Hunting Mistakes."  It should probably have the phrase "and how to fix them" in that title as well.  Either way, turkey season is just around the corner...finally.  Good luck to everyone heading out for some gobbling good fun.

"Turkey Hunting Mistakes" by Ralph Scherder

Turkey Season Fast Approaching

Well, it's April 9th and I woke up this morning to an inch and a half of snow on the ground.  Doesn't seem like turkey season is just around the corner, but the calendar says otherwise.

Below is a link to my March column in Ohio Valley Outdoor Times.  The focus is on hens, which I think are probably the most overlooked aspect of turkey hunting.  As hunters we focus on big gobblers like we do big bucks, but it's often the females of each species, in this case the hens, that lead us to success.  Give it a read and see if you agree.

Ohio Valley Outdoor Times March 2016

Making A Trapping DVD

Last week my trapping partner Rich Faler and I ran a trapline via boat at the Shenango Reservoir.  Our main focus was catching raccoons.  I’ve only ever trapped from a boat once, this past February in Florida on the Appalachicola River and bordering swampland, and I really enjoyed the experience – in fact, you can read about that trip in my article “Swamp Dogs,” which appeared in the May/June 2015 issue of American Trapper. 

The Florida experience was unique for two reasons.  First, it was my first time trapping from a boat.  Second, steel traps are illegal in Florida, so all trapping had to be done with snares – and I’d never used snares before.  Still, I had success and caught coyotes, raccoons, and otter on the trip.

This Shenango boat trapping expedition was unique in that we’d also hired a camera crew to tag along with us on the trapline to capture footage for a DVD Rich and I are producing.  We’ve been wanting to produce a raccoon trapping DVD for quite some time now and finally decided this was the year to do it.  Usually we rack up decent catch numbers on our traplines together, but usually we don’t have a camera with us.

Years ago, when I co-hosted “Pennsylvania Back Country” on the Sportsman Channel, I learned that hunting and fishing is one thing, and hunting and fishing with a video camera is a whole other.  I hate to say the camera can be a jinx because I don’t really believe in jinxes.  Mostly I believe that you create your own luck through hard work and dedication.  Still, it’s hard to deny the fact that last year, in only two days of trapping, Rich himself caught 18 raccoons with only about 40 traps set for two check days.  There was no camera with him last year.

This year, combining forces, we had over 80 traps set and caught only 13 raccoons in three check days.  This year, as I mentioned, we had the camera.

Despite the lower success rate, we still got enough footage for a DVD, which we hope to release in early 2016.  Hunting, fishing, or trapping with a video camera on hand is an interesting way to experience the outdoors.  While doing this trapping DVD, I had to stop quite frequently and explain what I was doing and why.  In other words, I had to explain to the viewer through my whole thought process involving location, type of trap, drag, and lure selection for raccoons.  When I’m trapping alone, all of that stuff comes second nature to me without even having to think about it.

Something most hunting, fishing, and trapping DVDs don’t really show much of nowadays is the amount of work that actually goes into doing what we love to do.  It takes an incredible amount of time and effort before things come “second nature.”

Ultimately, I think that’s why cameras can jinx things.  We spend so much time outdoors, yet there are so many days we come home with no fish, or no deer, or no raccoons.  That’s just reality.  There are more unsuccessful times than there are successful ones – those unsuccessful times can also be called “learning experiences.”  Anyway, with that in mind, why would it be a shocker that you’re not successful on the day the camera man tags along?

We ended up with enough footage for the DVD…I think.  I’ll know when I start editing it and putting it together.  Overall, though, I’m happy with how things turned out.  It added a new perspective to a new experience.

The popularity of self-filming hunts and fishing trips have grown tremendously in recent years.  Have you ever filmed your own adventures?  Did having the camera along change how you hunted?  Some people are so committed to only taking a shot at a deer, for instance, if they can get it on film.  Have you ever not taken a shot because you couldn’t get the camera on it in time?

Second Week of Archery 2015

I’ve always been amazed at how fast luck can change in the outdoor world.  First week of archery season, I was getting a little frustrated by my lack of luck and the fact that I was seeing so few deer.  It seemed as if every hunter I talked to was seeing deer almost every time on stand, and yet there I was with only a couple of sightings, and none of those deer were even remotely in range.  Most of the deer I saw, in fact, were ones that I’d spooked while walking in the woods to and from my treestand.

On Monday night, October 12^th, that all changed.

I’ve had my trail cameras near two apple trees near a known bedding area.  The bedding area had been logged a few years back and has grown up into one of the thickest tangles of brush I’ve ever seen.  It’s almost impossible to navigate except on your hands and knees.  Experience has taught me that when you find cover like that, you’ll almost always find big bucks nearby, and this was no different.  Almost every night, and sometimes twice per night, a big 10-point buck worked his way out of the bedding area and visited the apple trees.  Although the visits were always well after dark, I knew it was just a matter of time until he made a mistake.

That mistake almost happened Monday evening.  About 7pm, the 10-point crossed a tractor trail 50 yards from my stand.  He crossed the opening so fast that I barely had time to react.  Fifty yards is a long shot with a bow, so I doubt I’d have taken it anyway, but it sure got my heart pounding because I knew his next stop would be the apple tree only 25 yards away – well within bow range.

Unfortunately, by the time the deer made up its mind to visit the apple tree, it was too dark to see it clearly.  As I drew a bead on the deer, I couldn’t distinguish any features.  It was like looking at a big blurry shadow.  I’m not one to risk a bad shot.  I knew if I shot at that moment that my chances of actually killing the deer and successfully recovering it were less than 10%.  I’ve always been confident in my shooting abilities, but even I know when to let it ride.  It almost broke my heart to let the deer go.

I gained one positive out of the encounter, though.  As predicted, the deer was now moving earlier in the evening.  A cold stretch of weather was main reason.  Any time you get a cold stretch of weather in October, deer movement increases dramatically, especially if the few weeks before that cold stretch have been really warm.

The cold weather persisted the rest of the week, with a rain/snow mix on Wednesday.  On Thursday it rained sporadically all day but cleared up the last couple of hours of daylight, just as I was slipping into my treestand.

What happened in that final 20 minutes of daylight is what hunting is all about.  I’ve heard it said hunting can be broken down into one simple equation – preparation plus opportunity equals luck.  I was prepared this time.  On Wednesday I’d moved my treestand closer to where the 10-point had come out on Monday and closer to another apple tree along the tractor trail.  I’d also double-checked my bow to make sure it was still accurate and sharpen my own skills a little bit.  I’ve always thought that one mistake bowhunters make is that they spend so much time practicing before the season but very little time shooting during the season.  The problem with that is that when an opportunity presents itself, you could be rusty.  Archery season is six weeks long, after all.  If your shot doesn’t come until week six, that’s a long time to go without practice.

By the time I headed back to my treestand Thursday evening, I felt prepared.  About quarter till seven, I got my opportunity.  The 10-point stepped out onto the tractor trail.  As he slowly approached the apple tree now only 20 yards away, I got ready to shoot. 

Second week of archery season and I already got my buck.  Now what?  There’s still so much fall left.  I think I’ll head out for some squirrel hunting next week.  Also, trapping season starts next Sunday.  Yes, I may have already killed a buck, but there’s still so much to do in the outdoors!

20-Point Buck Flashback

Here's a link to a story I wrote for the February 2015 issue of Ohio Valley Times.  In the spirit of all those big buck stories that seem to be circulated this time of year..."my buddy's uncle's friend's brother's mama saw a buck so big it had to turn its head sideways to get it's rack between the trees in her yard...and the trees are planted three feet apart!"

Yeah, you know the stories.

But 20-point bucks really do exist.  It's amazing to me how many truly giant deer there are out there, and every year a lucky handful of hunters actually get an opportunity at them.  This buck, killed last year by Malakia Hilton, was one heck of a deer, and the story behind it is pretty cool, too.

Malakia Hilton's 20-Point Buck

Product Review: Natural Gear 3D Suit

Last spring I walked across a field in the early morning light with the intentions of setting up in the corner for turkeys.  Unfortunately, another hunter beat me to the spot.  I saw him from almost two hundred yards away.  A big dark blob hunkered down in the tree line.  From that distance, with the sun just beginning to peek over the horizon, his camouflage clothing looked as black as a bear’s hide.  And if I could see him so easily, then a sharp-eyed tom was sure to pick him out as well.

Why he was so noticeable was twofold.  First of all, the clothing he wore contained no green, despite the fact that he was set up along the edge of a grassy field.  And second, the camo he was wearing contained lots of leaves and might have worked just fine in archery season when, say, he was perched twenty feet high in a treestand.  However, even then, sometimes camo clothing isn’t nearly as effective as it could be because many of those same leafy patterns also contain “ghost shadows.” 

When sunlight falls directly onto camouflage that has built-in shadows, it makes those shadows appear even darker, almost black.  That kind of camouflage tends to work best under specific situations, such as when you have the woods canopy as a backdrop. 

Natural Gear is a camouflage manufacturer who does not use these ghost shadows in their patterns.  All of their patterns have open, broad-based tones slightly more pale or grayish in appearance.  The reason for this is that plenty of shadows already exist in nature.  Why add more?  If you’re wearing a camo pattern that blends in well with your surroundings, the existing shadows found in nature will help you virtually disappear.

Truly blending in with your surroundings isn’t all about the type of pattern you wear, though.  It’s also about adding dimension and breaking up your outline, and nothing does this better than Natural Gear’s 3-D Suit.

Several months ago I obtained a 3-D Suit from Natural Gear (www.naturalgear.com) and couldn’t wait to try it out.  The 3-D Suit is a lightweight garment that easily slips over top of any other clothing you wear.  What a difference it made! 

I spent an evening watching a food plot to see if any deer would come out to feed.  Three does appeared just before dark and worked their way toward me.  They didn’t stop until they were literally feeding on the grass next to my boots…and they never knew I was there!  The next week I had two hen turkeys do the same thing, with the same results.

I’ve always preferred 3-D camo over “regular” camo.  The tiny imitation leaves sewn around the edges do a great job of breaking up my outline and helping me to blend in with any ground cover I find.  And when I’m hunting out of a tree stand, they mix well with the leaves already present in the canopy.  A 3-D suit with lots of earth tones – and no ghost shadows – is the ultimate camouflage for hunters.  Which is to say, of course, that I think Natural Gear’s 3-D Suit is the best I’ve seen on the market.

It’s ideal for those hunters who get home from work and have only a short time to get to their stands for that last bit of daylight.  The whole 3-D Suit can be slipped into in less than a minute.  Wear any type of clothes you want underneath, it doesn’t matter.  The actual suit is made out of a durable yet ultra-thin fabric. The pants and bottom half of the jacket have a mesh interior lining that totally camouflages whatever clothes you’re already wearing.

Natural Gear’s 3-D Suit is also perfect for early season hunting, when the weather in most regions is still quite warm.  The mesh allows for great air circulation and is practically weightless.  Later in the season, when the weather cools down, the 3-D Suit has enough stretch to comfortably fit over heavier garments and hunting jackets.

Another positive quality of Natural Gear’s 3-D Suit is that it’s very packable.  The lightweight nature of the fabric can be easily compressed into a size not much bigger than a softball.  Try doing that with any of the other camouflage suits on the market!

Natural Gear’s line of camouflage has open, broad-based tones meant to match just about every situation you’ll encounter in the woods.  As previously mentioned, their patterns contain no ghost shadows, which means their camouflage works just as good in the shade as it does in full sunlight.  

It’s the most versatile camouflage I’ve ever owned.  Try Natural Gear’s 3-D Suit and see if you don’t agree.