As an experienced bird hunter, you know there is much more to a successful day than a full game bag. And when you’re helping a newcomer become a hunter, sometimes it’s all that other stuff that becomes most important.
Not everyone is a crack shot like you (hah!). And each new hunter has their own priorities for what makes a fantastic day afield. So when you’re working with a new hunter, don’t forget to talk about all that other stuff: share photos, tell stories, talk strategy and tactics, describe the terrain and scenery. Okay, then brag on your dog.
Sometimes, it’s about gathering wild food, heart-pounding excitement, or quality time with friends and family. Whatever it might be, give your newbie plenty of reasons to go hunting with you … besides a heavy vest. Watch the video, then share all aspects of a hunting trip with your new hunter.
Join the +ONE Movement
One hunt can be all it takes to create a new hunter for life. With your help, we can recruit the next generation of hunters and shooters and grow America’s hunting heritage like never before. Join the +ONE Movement and invite a friend on your next hunt. Share your passion with posts on social media with #PlusOneMovement and #LetsGoHunting.
The Start of Something New…My first hunting experience!
By: Heather Marie Johnson In July 2020, my two aunts, plus a friend and I, went on a road trip. During that time, we talked about past and future trips we have been on. We starting discussing hunting trips, because my Aunt Clara has been on a guided hunt in the past and my husband frequently travels with his friends on hunting trips. We talked about other family members who hunt and discussed the fact that we have never been invited to join them. I mentioned that I would love to try hunting some time, thinking we could plan a trip together in the future. The future was going to be much sooner than we thought! Shortly after getting back home from our trip, my Aunt Clara called me and said that she'd seen a scholarship opportunity through the Ladies Adventure Camp Experience (L.A.C.E.) to be nominated for a guided hunt on wild hogs and whitetail does in Texas—and it was to be a trip for the first-time women hunters. I was thrilled Aunt Clara nominated me! After waiting patiently for a few months, she called me with the exciting news that I’d been selected for the scholarship hunt trip to Texas. I was so excited! I shared the good news with my closest friends and family, and everyone was excited for my new opportunity! We flew from Chicago into Texas and met a group of women at a Dairy Queen in Rotan, Texas, to caravan to Hawks Double Mountain Ranch. From the start, everyone was so nice and excited for the weekend ahead. I felt comfortable with this group of ladies, especially Deb Ferns and Kay Miculek who run the Babes with Bullets camps that was the kick-off for the L.A.C.E. program. [caption id="attachment_3765" align="aligncenter" width="450"]



https://youtu.be/_hcC6GIufCA
Join the +ONE Movement
From small game and upland birds to big game, waterfowl and even the creatures that define the term “top of the food chain,” hunting offers a priceless bond with the natural world, food for the table and a welcome respite from the world’s daily grind. One hunt can be all it takes to create a new hunter for life. With your help, we can recruit the next generation of hunters and shooters and grow America’s hunting heritage like never before. Join the +ONE Movement and invite a friend on your next hunt. Share your passion with posts on social media with #PlusOneMovement and #LetsGoHunting.
I have a love/hate relationship with deer decoys – but the more I understand where and when to use them, the more I love them.
By Bob Robb Back in the Dark Ages of whitetail hunting, before food plots and sophisticated trail cameras and quality deer management and YouTube videos and a plethora of hunting TV shows on cable and all of that, I learned a lot about deer hunting from friends who spent more time in the woods than most sane folks would consider healthy. One of them was Gary Clancy, an outdoor writer and deer hunter extraordinaire from Minnesota who was taken from us far too early, in 2016, by a cancer caused by Agent Orange exposure when he served as an Army point man in Vietnam. Clancy was a soft-spoken, down-to-earth guy who loved to laugh. When he talked about whitetail hunting, I listened, because he knew his stuff. He was one of the first men I know of to start using decoys seriously for deer hunting. His classic 200-plus page book, Rattling & Decoying Whitetails, became a sort of bible on the topic. Gary was killing bucks over decoys that were crude by today’s standards, learning, as he went, the old-fashioned way, through trial and error. What he taught me back then still applies today, and his simple yet effective techniques are even more deadly when using modern decoys.Three Keys to Success
While there are several nuances to using decoys successfully, Clancy stressed three things above all else: placement, scent control and distant visibility. [caption id="attachment_3720" align="aligncenter" width="650"]


Best Time for Decoy Use
Though I’ve used decoys at various times of the season, like Clancy, my experience has been that the chances of having a mature buck come visit a decoy are best during the 10- to 14-day period just prior to does’ first estrus. During this time, bucks are actively scraping and roaming, and they seem to respond to both grunting and rattling, which is a very effective way to draw a buck’s attention to a decoy it might otherwise not see. During the peak of the rut, when most of the mature bucks have already found does to breed, bucks still come to a decoy, but I’ve mostly had immature bucks come then. A mature buck between does might also commit, but everything has to be “just right.” I’ve had my best luck with decoys in the morning when bucks return to bedding areas after an unsuccessful night of seeking out does. I also like using decoys in the afternoons, especially if I can set up in the corner of a field I know does are regularly using. This sometimes means I might hunt a stand in a funnel or known travel corridor between food and bedding areas from sunup until early afternoon, when I might then move my stand location to be near a food plot or other agriculture area.Setting It Up
One of the problems with using some of today’s full-body decoys is hauling them into your hunting area quietly in the dark, then setting them up without sounding like a marching band, for a morning hunt. This is especially true for big decoys that have to be assembled before they’re set up. There are a couple ways to help alleviate this problem. [caption id="attachment_3718" align="aligncenter" width="650"]

Multiple Decoys
[caption id="attachment_3719" align="aligncenter" width="650"]