GIVEAWAY!

Okay, this is how it's going to work. In order to be in the running for the drawing you must post a comment on this post. All it has to say is your first name and the word "entered". I will than use an online number generator to randomly select which number post wins. The order will obviously start with the first poster being #1 and will continue on till the last one.

The product for this giveaway is going to be announced next Tuesday (4/3/2012) in honor of my niece which is scheduled to join the world that day.

Let the posting begin!

*I will get in contact with the winner next week after the drawing and have the gift(s) shipped directly to their address.

Big Buck Trend: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

It's been awhile sadly since the last post, apologies to you all. Lots have been in the works but I feel now is as good of a time as any to discuss something everyone is familiar with. As a matter of fact I guarantee if you've found your way to Small Acre Hunting I'd bet you're the type of hunter who finds himself on online forums or hunting websites often. The trend of almost all discussions or questions on these sites are geared to or wind up being based upon harvesting a big buck.


What type of set up would you guys recommend for this property to get a big buck? Have any of you had a big buck respond to this decoy? What are the top 3 things you look for or try to make to attract big bucks? Would you shoot this guy or wait for a bigger buck (insert picture)?


It doesn't seem to matter whether the topic is mechanical, habitat improving, food plots, broadheads, stand placement or even footwear (yes, didn't you know brand "A" is for Big Buck hunters only?)...the end of the questions revolves around the idea of harvesting a big buck. Well, here's how I see this Big Buck Phenomenon.


Now keep in mind this is my opinion, but I bet you'll find yourself agreeing more and more.
 

THE GOOD:

 -The exposure it is generating for our sport. Some of you may view this as a problem, and will tackle that end of this "exposure" word I have as the first part of the good section. The exposure generated by the big bucks taking down yearly does amazing things for de-sensitizing society to our "barbaric" hobby. People seeing photos of the local 9 year old girl's first buck in the Sunday Paper allows that farmer whose anti-hunting see it's not the "evil  redneck" sport he has always said hunting was.

Another good is it's creating educated hunters. Let's face it, "Big Bucks" are typically mature bucks (atleast mature-r than those around) and with that maturity comes intelligence...and with that intelligence comes the ability to better elude hunters. It is this which forces deer hunters who want "Big Bucks" to research and study the animal...which in my opinion creates quite the respect for the creature, or atleast in my opinion it should. The good though is that educated hunters are just naturally going to be better hunters. They're not going to take as many bad shots resulting in wounded deer, they're also not going to typically harvest bucks illegally or out of season (due to that growing respect for them).

The final good thing created by the "Big Buck" craze I'm going to discuss is how it has allowed a little hillbilly from Northern Indiana have a passion for this thing called deer hunting. I'll be 100% honest, I love hunting PERIOD; but it's not shooting the does, although I do love that too, that gets me up at 4am in the morning...it's the chance, just the slight miniscule chance of having a chance at a "Big Buck". It's that passion which makes me want to share what little I know with all of you, so you can chase what you call a "Big Buck" too!

THE BAD:

-The craze is ripping the hunting world in two...those who only care about harvesting "Big Bucks" and those who don't care, but both equally love hunting in their own minds. This causes rifts between friends, families and hunting clubs (trust I've seen it all first hand). One guy believes all "yearling buck" hunters should be harvested themselves...all "yearling buck" hunters just want to be left to enjoy hunting how they see fit. Both have their place on the right side of an arguement, but both also find themselves on the wrong side as well.

One cannot simply write off a hunter's character or love of the sport by the size of their buck harvests. I would never think of telling someone their buck harvest isn't a "trophy" because that my friends is only in the eye of the one who harvested it. I'm not going to discuss this anymore as I covered this whole topic in another thread:

But remember we're brothers and sisters in this thing called hunting, if we want to keep our rights to enjoy the great outdoors and make it possible for our future generations to we must stand together.

Another notable "bad" can be that the "Big Buck" craze can cram hunters into your hunting area. Making it hard to enjoy your hunting as much if you don't get along with those around you. *Public guys you can probably preach on this the most.

THE UGLY

-Now some of you will say this isn't a big deal, but for those of you like me who rely upon others to provide hunting ground for you this UGLY is going to make perfect sense. Not to mention that if you visit this site you more than likely are someone who hunts public or small private hunting grounds...which all of you can feel my pain on this one.

The first part of the UGLY, of the "Big Buck" craze is how it is choking out the common man. Just like golf in many places is out of reach of the common man...hunting is slowly becoming a rich man's sport, causing you to now seemingly have to pay anyone who has huntable land for the rights to hunt it. Leasing land for hunting was unheard of in my area back when my dad was younger now it's ridiculous how much some people want for the rights to hunt just 10 acres of woods!!

States like Illinois, Kansas and Wisconsin just to name a few are seeing land sucked up by the many Outfitters littering their countryside hoping to make money by selling hunts to out of staters looking for that guaranteed "Big Buck". Just another example of how the sport is becoming a rich man's sport...I mean seriously $5000 for a 3 day hunt?!??!?!!

-Now the second part of the UGLY is tied to the exposure word I said earlier in the GOOD section. This exposure works against in many cases due to the fact that with more and more people trying hunting we are getting more and more...um...less than desireable people joining our ranks. It's these people that we find speckling the internet, newspapers and some tv news with their willingness to illegally harvest a "Big Buck".

In Conclusion

It's true when they say nearly everything in life has two sides like a coin. No matter how you flip the "Big Buck" coin in the air it's going to result in good and bad eventually. I guess all we can do is enjoy the ride and do our part to make sure good will land more than bad. When legislation about deer hunting regulations come up, make sure your representatives know your thoughts! When you know illegal hunting is occuring do something! When you see another hunter with a "trophy" buck, congratulate them!

Don't let the "Big Buck" craze cause you to be part of the Bad or the Ugly...do that and I guarantee that when or if you ever get what you call a "Big Buck" it will be that much sweeter to know you did it right.

The 5 things you must do this time of year...

Alright so I know for many us this time of year is for planning our turkey season or getting the boat cleaned up and ready to reel in some bigguns (currently doing a boat project myself). However, this time of year as I've stressed is CRUCIAL for the deer hunter wanting to max their potential for succes the coming year.

Now obviously there is more than 5 things I could recommend you do this time of year but here's a very limited and hard to compile  top 5:

#1-Gear check-ups and size-ups.

Our gear is quite possibly the most important thing we have when it comes to our harvesting ability (second only to the combo of luck and location). So here's a common checklist I use as a run down of my gear:

-Boots, are they still in good shape? Are they washed in scent away and stored appropriately?

-Camouflage Clothing, is any of in need of replacement due to fading, ripping or waist size increase (haha!)?

-Gun (if gun hunting), is it properly cleaned thoroughly and stored and ready for next use?

-Bow, do I want to keep same arrow, rest, sight, quiver etc... or am I changing it up? (a after season bow check up wouldn't hurt at a good pro-shop or yourself if knowledgeable)

-Treestands, have I taken down ones that I want down? Checked all cables on ones to be taken down and left up? ****Shootinglanes! Yes, these can be encouraged now and make some very natural looking shooting lanes if cut now while out checking and pulling treestands.

I think you get the picture...lots and lots to do with this first thing.

#2 "Thank You's" and "May I's"

Write thank you letters to EVERY SINGLE property owner that let you hunt on their property this past year. I don't care if it was only hunted once or was a mere 1 acre piece next to your house, WRITE THEM. This is the way you hang onto properties, and believe or not you may gain other places to hunt by treating them so nice. People talk, you never know who that land owner may know and share their great experience letting someone hunt. By thanking them you can also at times use them as references...yes that's right references. I'll cover that more when I write an entire post dedicated to writing hunting request letters to people, but just take my advice and write a real nice thank you letter and if possible throw a gift card of some kind inside of it....it could be the difference between you hunting there next year or them letting someone else. *This is also the perfect time to start writing formal requests to hunt people's properties. (will be covered in a future post)

#3 Trees...bushes...shrubs

Now is the time to cut trees, hinge trees, plant trees or bushes in an attempt to create a better whitetail habitat. The stress level of the hunting season has lessoned and what you scare off your ground now, will have plenty of weeks and even months to filter back in; getting back into their normal patterns well before the upcoming season.

#4 Food Plot Prep

Review what worked last year and what didn't...and creating a plan for the upcoming planting seasons. Clear any new areas you want to plant, gather soil samples to test and don't hesitate to start tilling/raking up spots the second the frost threat is gone!

#5 Start practicing now

This is especially critical if you're a bow hunter. Start practicing the second you have what your set up will be for the coming year. Get into a habit, maybe every Thursday night you'll go shoot 6 arrows minimum...doesn't sound like much but it will keep you fresh and may just help you make that 30 yard shot at the buck of your dreams.

That's it for now fellas from me. Plenty more to come as we look towards the 2012 hunting season already...as always good luck out there.

God Bless