August 2015 Whitetail Column

My August 2015 whitetail column is now available online from Pennsylvania Outdoor Journal.  In the column, I test shoot and review the Mathews/Mission Sniper Lite crossbow.  You can view it by clicking here.

A Summer of Fishing

It's been a good summer of fishing so far. Started off in June with a nice big brown near camp in Potter County. That fish his a size 8 beadhead woolly bugger and fought hard. Measured 20".

The week after catching that brown, I caught another wild brown about 18". It was a heck of a fish too. 

And then, last month, Greg Harold and I took his son Tyler and Rachel's son Ian to Lake Arthur for some catfishing. Landed around 10 cats, and I got a small striper, but the prize was Greg's 22" largemouth bass on a jointed floating Rapala. We'd heard the bass feeding off shore and I dipped into my bag of tricks and gave Greg the Rapala. A half dozen casts later, the fish smacked the lure only five feet from the shore in about a foot of water. The boys were awfully excited...and so were we!

And then of course there was the huge freshwater drum I caught last week. I haven't been fishing nearly as much this summer as if have liked to, but every time I do hit the water, it seems like I run into some nice fish. Makes me wish I'd have fished more!

Butler-Freeport Trail

Walked a section of the Butler-Freeport Rails to Trails today. It's a beautiful place to clear your head and enjoy some solitude. I walk it occasionally, or ride my bike, and it's always fun.

One of the neatest things is the cafe/bike shop in Herman. The storefront reminds me of an old western town. 

Here's a chart with all the access points and mileage.

Throwback Thursday Trapline Photo

A few years ago I trapped a section of stream near a house where this dog lived. Every day, when he saw my truck, he came running down and checked traps with me. I never knew his name, but he was a fine trapping partner...although he didn't take kindly to me trying to make him carry out the catch every morning.

Bass and Poppers

Flyfishing for bass has always fascinated me, but I never really tried it until last summer.  Now I’m hooked. 

Bass thrive almost everywhere in the United States.  Here in Pennsylvania, we have generous populations of both largemouth and smallmouth.  No matter where bass are found, though, they all have one thing in common – they all like poppers.

Poppers come in a variety of shapes and sizes.  If I had to describe them, I’d say they are large, cork-shaped flies with a few feathers and rubber legs – although not all of them have rubber legs, the most effective ones I’ve used do.  More often than not, they look ridiculous, almost cartoonish.  Some of them have fancy paint jobs and goofy-looking eyes.  But don’t let that fool you.  They’re effective.

The first step in fishing bass poppers is using a fly rod with enough power to cast them.  Poppers can be heavy and trout-weight fly rods don’t have the backbone to cast them effectively.  A 9-foot fly rod in the 6- to 7-weight range will work if you don’t have to cast far to reach structure.  On windy days I use a 9 ½-foot, 7- to 8- weight rod to help offset the resistance caused by wind while false casting.

Casting a bass popper is not easy.  It requires more physical effort than casting tiny trout flies.  When using a popper, there’s no such thing as a delicate, beautifully-looped cast.  It’s more like slinging it out there and plopping it onto the water.  However, because the poppers themselves are so heavy, you have to be more patient and allow the line to unfold all the way in front and behind you while false casting to avoid snapping them off.

Fishing bass poppers requires very little finesse.  I like to point the rod tip toward the popper and strip line while twitching the rod to the left or right, which creates the “pop.”  There’s no right or wrong way to fish a popper in terms of retrieval speed.  Most times, it’s a matter of determining how aggressive the fish are that particular day.  If the fish are in attack mode, I like a fast retrieve – two or three strips and twitches and then a pause.  If they seem more sluggish, a slow and subtle retrieve seems to work best – one strip and twitch and then pause.  The most important part of the retrieve, regardless of speed, is the pause.  Let the fly sit still for a full second or two before inducing more action.  Most strikes occur when the fly is stationary. 

Bass are hard-lipped fish and it takes a sharp hook and a solid set to hook them.  A soft hook set will result in a loss almost every time.  If you’ve watched any of the professional bass fishermen on television, you’ll notice that when they get a strike they really rear back on the rod, fast and hard.  When using a fly rod, this is especially critical because it has more give than traditional spinning gear.  For this reason, I use heavier leaders in the 3x to 2x range (8 to 10 pound test) and very rarely use a tippet.  Usually bass aren’t all that picky or line shy.  I haven’t noticed much difference in catch ratios from one size leader to another, so I use heavier leaders so that I don’t have to worry about breaking off on the hook set. 

When I’m fishing ponds, I like a spot and stalk style of bass fishing.  Staying far enough from the water’s edge to avoid spooking fish, I find the shallow, vegetated flats where bass like to cruise.  If a fish is up and moving, it’s likely hungry and can be caught.  When I see a bass in the shallows, I estimate its course and try to land the popper a few feet in front of its nose.  Many times, just the disturbance of the popper hitting the water is enough to incite strikes.  That’s what I like about bass.  They hit as much out of aggression and impulse as they do hunger.

In deeper parts of ponds, I fish parallel to the bank, casting out ahead as I move around the pond.  Sometimes I’ll fish perpendicular just for the sake of covering as much water as possible, but most of the biters can be found close to shore where they set up ambush for any bug, frog, or food source that finds its way into the water.

When fishing lakes, I look for structure such as lily pads and trees in the water.  Many bass poppers are available with weedless hooks, but I don’t think they’re necessary.  Most of the time I fish the edges of the weeds and lily pads anyway because if I hook a fish in the weeds, I know it’s going to be next to impossible to power it out of there with just a fly rod.  In my opinion, weedless hooks are valuable when fishing ponds that have a lot of surface debris on them.  The weed guard keeps you from having to clean debris from the hook after every retrieve.

There’s a reason why bass are considered one of the top gamefish today.  They strike hard, fight hard, and can be found almost anywhere in the country.  If you want to catch them on the fly – a surface fly, no less! – try a popper and get in on the action.

*This article first appeared in the September 2014 issue of PA Outdoor Journal.

Book Review: "Whitetail Wisdom" by Dan Schmidt

Dan Schmidt has been the editor of Deer & Deer Hunting since January 2002.  Over the years he’s had the opportunity to work with some of the country’s top whitetail experts, and in the process he himself has become an expert.  He proves this in his book, Whitetail Wisdom (KP Books, 2005).

The subtitle of Whitetail Wisdom is “A Proven 12-Step Guide to Scouting Less and Hunting More.”  Don’t be fooled, though.  Mr. Schmidt does not encourage walking into the woods cold.  He simply suggests that you learn everything you possibly can about whitetail behavior and habits so that you can apply that knowledge to any situation you might encounter in the deer woods.  All of this can be implied from several of the chapter titles, such as Become A Student, Think Like A Deer, Match Wits With A Matriarch, and Become a Buck Hunter.

The real benefits of reading this book, though, are in the many tips Schmidt provides to help you simplify your approach and become a utilitarian hunter.  With so much technology available to hunters today, it’s easy to forget the basics that result in consistency afield.  Schmidt reminds us that we don’t necessarily need all those fancy gadgets available to today’s sportsmen to be successful.  All we really need is common sense.

Whether you hunt with bow, rifle, shotgun, or muzzleloader, Whitetail Wisdom is chock full of valuable advice.  You’ll learn how deer behavior changes throughout the season so that you’ll be able to adapt your hunting strategies as well.  The chapters on shooting and tracking are alone worth the book’s cover price.

One of the best aspects of Whitetail Wisdom is that its focus is geared toward public land rather than private leases.  The theory behind this is that public land whitetails are some of the most pressured  and most challenging whitetails you’ll find anywhere.  And if you can be consistently successful hunting on public land, you’ll find success almost anywhere you travel in whitetail country.

Summer Trout and a Giant Drum

Yesterday I took Ian fishing to Buffalo Creek. Water was really low -- we need rain! -- and I didn't expect to catch much. We walked about a mile downstream from a bridge, along an area that's float stocked for trout in the spring, and found only a couple of pools with fish, most of which were carp and freshwater drum. In one spot, though, we spotted a big palomino trout meandering around the pool. Considering the temperature and water level, that shocked the heck out of me. Usually by mid-August the water temperature is too warm to support trout. If this hot stretch continues very long, though, that will certainly happen this year, too.

Palominos stick out like the proverbial sore thumb, and in the low, clear water, the fish glowed bright orange. The fact that dozens of fishermen had probably fished that spot the past couple months and not caught that fish told me we were dealing with a pretty educated palomino.

We tried for the palomino for quite awhile, to no avail, although Ian did pull out three rainbow trout in that time. We both pulled out a handful of little smallmouth bass as well. 

Eventually I moved to the tail end of the pool where it was shallower and saw a huge freshwater drum sitting by a rock. I flipped my line out and let it settle to the bottom about a foot in front of the drum. It took awhile, maybe five minutes, before the fish finned upstream slightly and sucked it in. What a fight!

Ok, so maybe they're not the prettiest fish in the world, and they taste a lot like cardboard, but they can be a thrill to catch, especially one that size, about 26 inches.

In regards to eating freshwater drum, a friend of mine offers this special recipe...fillet the fish and grill it on cedar planks. Make sure to season the planks with lots of salt and pepper. When the fish is done cooking, throw away the fish and eat the planks! Needless to say, I didn't keep the drum for eating.

Pymatuning Spillway... (Still Pretty Cool)

Stopped by the Spillway at Pymatuning Lake this afternoon. Haven't been here in over 20 years. Water is really low and there aren't as many carp as I remember back then, but there are still a bunch, and it's still a pretty cool destination. It's neat watching the carp jockey and splash all over each other to get the bread people were throwing in.

Product Review: Quick Fletch

Archery is a long season, and during the course of such a long season, equipment can take a beating.  This year, it seems like the fletching on my arrows has suffered the brunt of it.  One reason is probably that I’m constantly practicing.  Every time I hunt, before I get out of my stand I take a shot at a leaf on the ground to see if I can hit it.  Also, before I leave the house for an afternoon hunt I take a shot or two at my 3D target.

And sometimes I just feel like I have a quirk or two that needs straightened out and I spend considerable time working on it.  Because we spend so much time actually in the woods, we can go lengthy stretches without shooting at a target.  So on Sundays I like to make time for practice in between all the family stuff.

When you shoot as much and as often as I do, your arrows are bound to take a beating.  Especially the fletching.  Seems I’m always nicking my fletching.  I know I should use more field tips when I practice a lot, but I figure that if I hunt with broadheads, then I should be practicing with broadheads.  And my fletching pays the price for it.

I’ve always considered it a pain in the rear to fletch arrows.  I don’t like messing around with all those vanes and glue.  But now I don’t have to mess with either, because now, when I need a quick fix for my fletching, I use Quick Fletch.

Quick Fletch is a pre-fabricated plastic tube with evenly-spaced two-inch vanes.  They work very similar to heat shrink tubing.  You slide the tube over your arrow shaft and use boiling water to shrink it down to size.

One of the statements on the packaging is “Spend more time hunting and less time fletching.”  That’s pretty much right on.  I fletched a half dozen arrows in about five minutes.  The longest part of the process was waiting for the water to boil.

Here’s how it works.  Clean the arrow shaft of all previous fletching.  Use a scraper or razor blade to shave off all the old glue so that you have a clean arrow surface to work with.  Then slide the pre-fabricated tubing onto the shaft.  There is a light adhesive inside the tubing that helps to hold it in place on the shaft.

Boil some water.  Don’t stand by the stove and watch the water as it heats up.  If you watch the water, it will take forever to boil.  That’s what my grandma always told me when I was a kid, at least.

Once the water’s boiling, dip the nock end of the arrow into the water.  Submerge all the way past the fletching.  Wait about seconds before removing the shaft from the water, then wait about 15 minutes for it to dry before heading out to the archery range.

Sure it’s fast and easy to fletch a half dozen arrows, but the question is will they be accurate?  Yep, they’re definitely accurate.  In fact, they shoot just as well if not better than my “regular” fletched arrows.  And all without having to move my sights.

Quick Fletch uses the NAP Twister Vane System.  Twister Vanes are two inches in length and are grooved on one side so that they spin your arrows 2x faster than normal, un-grooved vanes.  Faster arrow spin translates into more accuracy and tighter groups.

Quick Fletch is also durable.  If you have a pass-through on whitetails or targets, the vanes are strong enough not to tear.  Yet they are easy to remove by simply cutting the plastic casing and peeling them off like a sticker.  Once removed, they leave no sticky glue residue behind.  You can start all over again with a clean shaft.

The only drawback to using Quick Fletch is that they tend to be expensive.  Expect to pay about $15 for six fletchings.  Some might consider that a small price to pay for accuracy.

Quick Fletch is available through New Archery Products (www.newarchery.com or www.quickfletch.com).  If you have arrows that need fletched but don’t have the time to do them, Quick Fletch is worth checking out.

Potter County Solitude

Here's the link to "Potter County Solitude," my latest fly fishing column in Pennsylvania Outdoor Journal....click here

Monster Bucks and Minerals

Check out such whitetail mineral supplements as Hunter’s Specialties’ Vita-Rack 26 and on the bag you’ll read things like “unlock their genetic potential” and “watch ‘em grow.”  But can Vita-Rack 26 and similar products really produce mega bucks? 

Under the right conditions and when used correctly – Yes. 

The problem is that many hunters use them incorrectly.  Nonbelievers dismiss minerals because they fail to see bigger bucks that hunting season.  And they’re right.  The chances of seeing improved bucks after only one year is slim.

“Minerals have a cumulative effect realized after years of continuous use,” says Dave Fuhr, chemist and developer of Vita-Rack 26.  Fuhr’s research has shown that after seven years of continuous use, it is possible to change the genetic structure of a deer herd.

When Fuhr and his wife first started working on their farm in Missouri in 1991, the typical 3 ½ year old buck weighed approximately 140 pounds.  Fuhr soon began experimenting with what would later become Vita-Rack 26.  In less than a decade, the typical 3 ½ year old buck weighed well over 200 pounds, and in 2009 Fuhr’s wife killed a 5 ½ year old that weighed 295, field dressed.  “Deer on our farm,” says Fuhr, “average 50 pounds heavier than anywhere else in the area.  The average buck killed on our farm weighs 350 pounds or more live weight.”

It stands to reason that if a deer’s physical capabilities are fully realized, then the size of its antlers will follow suit, and the result will be larger racks.  “Whitetails instinctively seek out the minerals and vitamins they need,” says Fuhr, “which are often lacking from their everyday diet.”

One such vitamin is B-12, which does not occur in the wild.  B-12 plays a vital role in strengthening the immune system in both animals and humans.  When an animal or human is sick, more often than not they will receive medication with a heavy dose of B-12 in it.  For example, when the H1N1 virus scare swept through the U.S. last year, the booster shots given contained multiple types of B vitamins, B-12 among them.

B-12 helps boost the immune systems of whitetails in the same way.  It helps them fight off diseases and other stress factors that may inhibit antler growth so that more energy can be spent on physical development.  One of those stress factors is ticks.

“Our research across the country has shown that deer with healthy immune systems, deer that have been exposed to Vita-Rack 26, actually repel ticks,” says Fuhr.  A tick count is done on all deer harvested from the Hunter’s Specialties Farm in northern Missouri.  Out of 50 deer checked last season, only one had ticks.  It was covered with them, if fact.

Why that one deer had so many ticks while the others had none can be easily explained.  “The buck was killed during the rut,” Fuhr says, “when a buck’s range increases, and we think that buck came from a neighboring area where the deer do not receive this type of nutrition program.”

Fuhr, who has extensive experience working in regions where Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) is present, says that minerals such as Vita-Rack 26 can help prevent CWD, not to mention it can also prevent Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease (EHD or “blue tongue”), which took its toll on whitetail herds in many parts of the country in 2007 and 2008.  In short, Vita-Rack 26 works as a miracle drug and should be a cornerstone in building and maintaining a healthier deer herd.

For Vita-Rack 26 to be effective, though, how much of it should deer consume?  “It depends on the deer,” says Fuhr.  “Sometimes it’s as much as five or six ounces.  On average, though, an ounce is the norm.  Deer know how much they need.”

Vita-Rack 26 gets its name from the number of minerals and vitamins it possesses – 14 and 12, respectively.  Among the minerals are calcium and phosphorous, which many other brands also use.  The difference between brands, says Fuhr, is the levels of each mineral used.

I’ve used several brands of minerals, and each one has been effective to some degree in that deer used the sites.  How often they used them varied according to the brand.  For instance, the Whitetail Institute’s 30-06 works well where I hunt in West Virginia, but near my home in Pennsylvania, deer hardly touch it.  Other brands I’ve tried work better in PA than WV.  In all cases I judge a brand’s effectiveness by the number of deer visits to the site every week.

So far, the only brand that seems to work well everywhere I use it is Vita-Rack 26.  The reason could be that the levels of calcium and phosphorous in Vita-Rack 26 are lower than in most other brands.  As Fuhr says, “More is not always better.  It’s how the levels of those vitamins and minerals work together with the other ingredients that make it appealing and easier for the deer to digest.”

Another interesting fact is that Vita-Rack 26 is completely odorless, yet deer still find the sites.  “We had a lot of snow last year,” says Fuhr, “and deer dug through the snow to get to the mineral.”  Once again, it’s a case where a deer’s instinct takes over.  They know they need something, and they instinctively know where to find it.

This also explains why minerals don’t necessarily work in all parts of the country.  Some deer herds are already getting proper nutrition from natural food sources.  For most whitetail populations, though, this is not the case, and when these minerals are used correctly, deer will flock to them.

Setting up mineral sites with Vita-Rack 26 this August will not help much when it comes to growing bigger bucks this fall, but keeping those sites refreshed and active all year round will result in bigger bucks and a healthier deer herd later on.  And there’s no better time than right now to start investing in the future.

The Austin Dam...A Dam Good Place to Visit

Take route 872 north out of Austin, Pennsylvania, and look to your left.  It’s hard to imagine that a century ago the deep valley once held a booming, paper mill town.  Even more amazing is that just one mile upstream there used to be a dam that stood some 50 feet high and spanned 530 feet across.  Today, 100 years later, only remnants of both the town and dam remain.

According to the Austin Dam Memorial Association, Austin was one of the boom towns of the 1890-1910 lumber era.  As old growth trees began to vanish, the Freeman Run valley still contained huge tracts of pulpwood.  Industrialist George Bayless arrived from Binghamton, NY, to build a paper mill.

Freeman Run alone wasn’t big enough to provide the steady flow of water needed to run the mill, so in May 1909 Bayless contracted for the construction of a huge concrete dam.  The town and paper mill then flourished. 

At the time it was the largest concrete dam in Pennsylvania, a feat of “modern” engineering.  Townsfolk had their trepidations, though.  What if the dam broke?  Engineers eased their worries only slightly by also building a wall consisting of 700,000 cords of wood directly downstream from the dam.  They claimed this would divert water around the town if the dam should ever fail.

On September 30, 1911, the dam did indeed fail.  After an extended period of torrential rains, stress on the dam grew too much until the concrete simply gave way and a rush of water swept downstream through the town of Austin killing at least 78 people.  The mass of water also wiped out the town of Costello almost three miles downstream.

The disaster inspired legislation in 1913 to regulate dams in Pennsylvania.  Decades later, the site of the Austin Dam has now become a popular destination in central Potter County.

The dam and the area surrounding it have been designated a park and improvements have been made throughout the years by the Austin Dam Memorial Association.  These folks have worked hard to turn it into a great family destination.  A well-maintained dirt road traverses the park.  There are plenty of primitive camping sites and strategically-placed information plaques throughout the park. 

There are miles of hiking trails available, some leading north through the park and some leading south.  There are 15 picnic tables as well set up in both public and private settings, not to mention a large pavilion at the site of the ruins.  Running water is available at several sites, and for those who can’t travel without internet, free wi-fi is also available throughout the park.

Also, the remnants of the dam still stand, with no gate or rope keeping out visitors.  Which is perhaps the neatest part of the whole thing – you can actually walk right up and touch the dam wall.  It gives you a perspective and an appreciation for what happened there.

Freeman Run flows through the park and was the stream they’d dammed in 1909.  In its own right, Freeman Run is a dang good trout stream, stocked heavily by the state and local sportsman’s clubs, and also home to a number of native brookies and wild browns. 

It’s an incredible experience to catch fish in the shadows of the ruins, to land a trout and then look up at the concrete wall towering overhead.  Imagine the moment when those walls burst.  Imagine the great wall of water that swept down through Austin, effectively wiping out the town.

The whole flood lasted barely 30 minutes, but the effects will last forever.  After the flood, as the town lay in ruins, many of the survivors completely left the area claiming that no town could ever be rebuilt after such devastation.  Well, the human spirit is strong. 

The town was rebuilt, though not as big or as booming as it was back then.  Today Austin is a quiet little mountain town with a giant history, good fishing, and a great family destination.

Facts About Antler Growth

Deer hunters are always fascinated by antlers, but what amazes me most is how some bucks can grow such large racks in a single summer.  Antler tissue is the fastest normal growing tissue known to man.  Considering that most antlers begin developing in late March and early April in most parts of the country and are finished growing by mid-August, that means that a 170-inch Boone & Crockett whitetail will grow more than an inch of bone every day.

During April, the first month of antler growth, the antlers grow very little, usually only a few inches.  In May the days continue to lengthen and antler growth accelerates, with most of that growth occurring during June and July.  Which means that at this time of year, you can practically watch a rack growing larger before your eyes!

How does antler growth happen?

Pedicles are the two circular areas on a buck’s skull.  The pedicles begin developing on buck fawns while still in the womb.  The pedicles finish developing after the buck fawn is born.  These pedicles serve as foundations for that buck’s future antlers.

Recently I read an interesting fact regarding pedicles.  In the Whitetail Report 2010, published by the Quality Deer Management Association, it’s stated that “transplanting material from a buck’s pedicle to other skeletal regions results in growth of antler tissue in the transplanted area.”  Translation:  If you transplanted a piece of pedicle onto a mouse’s forehead, that mouse would soon start growing an antler.  Kind of a neat idea, I think.

Antlers begin growing as a result of lengthening days, or photoperiodism.  Longer days increase the whitetail’s urge to feed, thus promoting growth.  As antlers begin to emerge from the whitetail’s pedicles, they’re covered with velvet, which is a hairy skin containing a network of blood vessels.  The blood vessels nourish the growing bone.  The blood in the velvet is what makes antlers appear dark brown, if not black, in summer.

How much or how fast antlers grow is dependent on two things, age and nutrition.  Obviously, a mature buck 3 ½ years old living in prime habitat will experience accelerated antler growth.  However, that same 3 ½ year old buck in poor habitat will grow a much smaller set of antlers.  Genetics also play a role, of course, but I’ve always believed (and many researchers agree) that genetics are the smallest part of the equation, simply because most areas of the country already have good genetics. 

It’s important to remember that antler growth is a secondary concern.  Throughout spring and summer, most of the food consumed by whitetails will contribute to their physical development.  Only after a deer’s physical needs are met will the surplus nutrients benefit antler growth.  And only after a whitetail reaches full maturity and all of its nutritional needs are met will those existing genetics shine through.

Just as curious as what triggers antler growth is what makes that growth stop. 

In late July or early August, bucks receive a natural boost in their testosterone levels.  It’s nature’s way of alerting them to the coming fall breeding season.  This spike in testosterone levels results in less blood flow to the antlers, which means that the antlers gradually stop growing.  Typically antlers stop growing approximately 30 days before the velvet is actually shed.  During these 30 days, bucks use minerals from their skeleton to harden their antlers.

Exactly when antlers stop growing is unknown, but it’s believed to occur no later than the second week of August, and typically around the end of July.  In other words, chances are good that the bucks you see now will be about the same size come archery season.  Once again, photoperiodism is the key factor. 

In spring, longer days and more sunlight spur whitetails to shed their winter coats and begin the growing process.  In fall, shorter days and less sunlight cause whitetails to shed their summer coats – and velvet.  In late August, many bucks begin shedding their velvet.  By mid-September, almost all of the bucks will have done likewise.

It’s also common for bucks to eat the nutrient-rich velvet after it’s off their antlers.  The whole shedding process, even for bucks with large antlers, usually lasts only a few minutes.