Firsts

Dove hunting was by far my favorite hunt growing up.  The weather was usually nice with a touch on the hot side.  Well, it was actually very, very hot, but as a pre-teen and teen and a baseball player, 90 degrees seemed normal.

Duck hunting on the other hand, just wasn’t my cup of tea.  Don’t get me wrong, I liked shooting.  But duck hunting was alien to the bird hunting I was accustomed to.  It was cold for one thing.  Bitter cold.  The wind was usually howling and for some reason that God can only explain to me, if it rained, it meant the hunt would be even better.  Really?  Cold, wet, and windy meant this would be a good hunt?

But this was not all!  My dad and I would spend several hours getting the boat ready, packing the decoys, getting our clothes situated then drive several more hours so that we could get in a boat in this terrible weather, drive the boat in dark for another 30 minutes, throw out several dozen plastic birds, and then sit in a blind to wait for the sun to come up.  And yes, I hated the ‘early’ part of the hunt also.  Dove season would come in at noon.  Ducks, they flew thirty minutes before sunrise.  Curse those ducks!

I think I was around thirteen when I shot my first duck.  Nothing special.  Not a magnificent shot at all.  In fact, the hen ruddy duck just kind of flew in and landed.  We didn’t call her in.  I don’t think we noticed her until we saw and heard the splash of her landing.  We scared her up so I could get the shot.  But it was my first duck.

Over the years, especially the last ten or so, I enjoy duck hunting much more.  The variety of species intrigues me and I am like a kid in the zoo when I spot one that I don’t usually see.  In all likelihood though, I think my taste for hunting ducks lies mostly on lifestyle.  Not the lifestyle of living large, or even living lower.  More in the lines of my day is not taken completely away by heading out for ducks.  My wife is less frustrated than if I sit in a stand all day and show up an hour after dark.  I still do not like getting up early, but it is tolerable and I have more discipline as an adult to force myself to get out of bed.

My oldest son’s first experience with hunting waterfowl had the makings of both a miserable hunt and a first class experience.  We hunted swans near Lake Phelps in the northeastern part of the state.  It was hard to find camo for his small frame, but we pieced some things together.  We also had absolutely no luck in finding BB steel shot for the 20 gauge side by side he would use.  He shot 4 shot instead.  The #4s are great for ducks such as woodies, but I was warned that the swan was so big he would not be able to bring one down.  Still, we had to use what was available.

The party hunted from a ditch in a field that must have been more than 10,000 acres and the guide was calling only by mouth with his hands cupped over his lips.  There were about a dozen of us hunters.  Turner was too short to reach from one side of the ditch to the other, so he settled his feet in the bottom and leaned against one side.  Within seconds his boots were completely underwater and he whispered to me that they were soaked.  I kicked with the back of my heel a small shelf into the side of the ditch and he dug his heels in the shelf to stay out of the water.  I could only sympathize for him about how the hunt was starting.

The first time he used the Ithaca 20 gauge was just a few months before on opening day of dove season.  He didn’t even shoot a box of shells, but did bring down a few birds.  I saw he was trigger shy.  He was still learning.  When to shoot, when not to shoot, would someone be upset if he missed, would others laugh; all those questions were certainly flowing through his mind.

This day was not much different.  I shot five times that day to get my first swan.  The swan I shot was actually a follow up shot after Turner’s first shot.  Turner had hit him, but he didn’t go down.  Turner took one more shot that day, folding a young swan nearly 70 yards away.  The small shot with a small shotgun that was fired by a small 9 year old was no small feat.



David Tomlin (Harmony, NC) and his son in 2009

I look back on this day after reading an email from David Tomlin.  David shared with me how his hunts changed after having a child.  Then he emphasized ‘for the better.’  I realize how blessed I am to have been with my son on the swan hunt, the dove hunt, and the many other hunts we have done since.  I realize how blessed I am as I teach my daughter the same skills.  I anticipate the opportunity to teach my youngest son and experience everything again for the first time through his eyes.  And as I think about these events, I realize how blessed my father and grandfather were to experience the same with me as I encountered my ‘firsts.’

 

Definitely for the better.

Goose Revenge

Revenge is sweet.  Really it is.  Saturday morning sitting in the chill of the duck blind, I could not help but wonder if the geese would make an encore appearance.  After all, they knew they had defeated me and my hunting buddy just one week before.  Over fifty birds flying just above eye level converging in a massive flock of honks and squeals had somehow avoided five shots of steel.

The wood ducks were up early, starting just before legal shooting time.  Ringnecks were likely mixed in with hooded mergansers as well.  Occasionally I would see several grebes swim around the corner of the trees peeking in my direction, then swim back.

Off in the distance I heard a familiar sound.  Far away, on the other side of the swamp was a decent sized flock formation of Canadians.  Much bigger than a duck, their flight seems slow based on their actual speed and their size.  A wood duck or merganser on the other hand seems to zip through the air effortlessly and with a purpose.

No, not these geese.  Their only purpose was to rub in my misses from the previous week.  Their slow path around the circumference of the swamp was just to antagonize me.  How did I miss last week to begin with?  I could have swatted them down with the end of my barrel had I tried.  Was it the incessant noise?  I am a hunter.  I do not get caught off guard and I am certainly not intimidated by the flying trash bags.  I replayed that situation in my head the entire week.  I was caught up in the moment.  Instead of shooting where I should have, I was overcome by the size and proximity thinking subconsciously that a blast from the end of my double barrel would bring the bird down.  And I may have been right had I been using BB shot or even 2 shot.  But I was hunting ducks and was armed with 4 shot steel.  If shot in the right place 4 shot would suffice.  However the right place is the head and neck and I was simply putting the steel in the air knowing it was an easy shot to the body.

I would not fail this time if given the chance.  Still armed with 4 shot, as ducks were the main prey, secretly inside my heart, I wanted a goose.  The small flock peeled away from the edge of the swamp and headed to a protected area to the south.  I sat there thinking this hunt was likely over.  Then, to my back, I heard it.  Several cackles.  There were not many, maybe two or three at the most, but they were looking for a place to land and feed.  I squatted down and peered over my right shoulder.  They were getting closer.  I slipped the safety off.  Again, the locator honk sounded.  Their path would be directly overhead.

Two birds appeared just behind the pines to my rear.  They were high, maybe 90 to 100 feet.  Maybe more.   Just as they passed overhead, I pulled the trigger.  BANG!  The trailing bird cupped his wings and began a decent.  He was hit.  The lead bird sounded his dissatisfaction in the event.  I watched the trailer settle down below the tree line 100 yards to the Northwest.  The lead bird turned trying to figure why its mate had decided to land.  For a while, I thought it may circle back around for me to get a shot at it as well.  It finally broke from its pattern and flew off to the distance.

After hunting for a while longer, I drew the decoys and left the blind.  I wondered if I would locate the goose.  It was hit, but based on the way it was landing I was not sure if it would be mortal.  I eased the boat through the swamp having to pull the trolling motor several times and use a push pole to get through the weeds.  Is that it?  There was black, white and gray lying on top of some swamp grass.  As I got closer, I could make out the neck was folded, the head underwater.  Yes, I had gotten my trophy.  It appeared to be a nice shot, the steel patterning well on the head and neck.  Not an instant kill, but not one that would cause suffering either.

Death is something a hunter must always endure.  It is the necessary end to the means of the hunt.  I felt a sense of accomplishment.  However, the revenge part; not so much.  Yes, I had learned something from the last hunt and my instincts put me on the spot for the clean kill this time.

The Magnificent Duck Hunt

We finally had a brief spell of truly cold weather, and with that, duck season has been ushered in.  When I was younger, I actually hated duck hunting.  The cold weather, the preparation of decoys, boats, and warm clothing was just too much for a young fellow with lots of energy and little patience to endure.  However, with age, I have come to respect the passion a waterfowler exudes for his quest.

If you are a waterfowler, aka duck hunter, you are at the top of your game.  There are many varieties of ducks, geese, mergansers, and coots and one must learn flight patterns and silhouettes, sounds and calls of each in order to be both successful and lawful.  North Carolina not only limits on each, but also on each breed.  So you have to be able to distinguish a mallard from a black duck from a pintail from a wood duck.  And do this while they fly at 40 mph in wind, rain, and cold.  Yes, it is not for the beginner.

I no longer look at duck hunting as a burden.  I see it as a challenge and a thrill.  While I know what I could see fly in the area I hunt, I still wait with anticipation for what may come down the flyway.  Did I get a drake (male) with vibrant colors, or did I bring down a hen (female).

While I consider myself, well, AWFUL at calling, it still sets my heart beating when I see a high flyer take a turn to my lame excuse for a ‘come back’ call and cup its wings for a landing in the decoy spread.  Oh, and the surprise when the universe is abuzz with honks and cackles from a large flock of Canadians can really pump the blood through your body.  My hunting buddy and I sat with excitement this weekend when two different flocks of geese decided to merge just in front of our blind.  One came in from 10 o’clock, the other from 2 o’clock to form a large group of low flying heavyweights in the waterfowl world, and we could hardly hear the shotguns fire from the riot they were causing.  Keep this part a secret, as it could ruin my reputation as a decent hunter…out of five shots between the two of us, all we got was feathers raining down upon us as the geese continued over top as if we were more of a nuisance then they were.  (I will keep my hunting buddy’s name anonymous for the same reason, so we will just call him Adam for this story).

We did bring in some birds though.  One of which has to be classified as one of the most beautiful waterfowl in the world.  In fact, a quick Google search of the words beautiful and waterfowl had this one listed in several lists.  While most hunters in the know will list the mandarin as the most beautiful duck, the wood duck is listed right there with it.  Another fact, the wood duck is so proliferate in North Carolina, it is called the Carolina duck in most of North America.  It’s green, black, and white crest and magnificently painted bill of red, yellow, black, and white makes it stand out against most others.  They prefer the swampy areas, are congenial, and have a unique call compared to others.  A whistler, it has a short, high pitched blast and can be heard from a good distance away.  It is not the ‘quack’ most associate with ducks.

Fortunately, as I have come to love the waterfowler’s life, I have been able to experience this creature one on one.  Just another reason to participate with nature.

It's the Best Time of the Year!

I listened to the radio intently last Friday evening on the drive home from work.  My university of choice was partaking in their first official basketball game of the season under a new leader.  It was an exciting time.  Here this team was, playing much more like a team than they have in some time, with a brand new coach that seems to have changed the mentality overnight.  And this was coming off a not-so-exciting victory in football over the arch rivals the previous weekend!  (Before I get hate mail from this, I was a UNC fan prior to college, and even applied for journalism at Carolina.  However, NC State took me first, and I quickly converted over to the red and white.)  As the saying goes, this is one of the best times of year for sports.  Football is nearing its championships and basketball is just beginning.

Well, this is an outdoors column, and other than football being played outdoors (and basketball outdoors when played on an aircraft carrier), there is not much in common between the outdoors life and the sports life.  However, the fall does bring an excitement to the outdoors just as it does to sports.

Based on the sports and outdoors analogy, I would have to compare football season and deer season together.  Deer season is in the final run.  This is when the big boys step up.  Yes, the rut is on.  The championship caliber deer are showing themselves.  While I am usually happy to take a doe early in the season, I have to hold back the temptation at this point, just to see if one of those big bruisers with his crown of brown is on the same course.

Then you have basketball and waterfowl.  Coming in to the weekend, I had to constantly battle my inner voices to decide; bucks or ducks?  I have waited all year for duck season to come around once again, yet it is like trying to decide whether to watch LSU and Alabama in football or UNC and Michigan State in basketball.  You know both are going to entertain you.  Yes, you could ‘flip back and forth between the channels’.  But if you are like me, I just do not want to miss that score!

Then you have squirrels, raccoons, and opossums, oh my!  It compares to hockey in my book.  They are there, and if you get a chance you will go take it, but it is not the top choice, or even second for that matter.  It does not mean you will not make a mental note to come back later though.

So where does the bear fit in?  Pretty much any where it wants to!  Have you ever told a bear that it is just not welcome?  Bears make themselves welcome even if I cannot come up with a good sports tie in.  So Mr. Black Bear, you are in a class all your own!  Now when you get done browsing through my backpack for honey and peanut butter, would you mind passing the chips?  We have some game to hunt.

 

 

Bill Howard writes a weekly outdoors column for the Wilson Times and Yancey County News and the bowhunting blog site GiveEmTheShaft.com. He is a Hunter Education and International Bowhunter Education instructor, lifetime member of the North Carolina Bowhunters Association, Bowhunter Certification Referral Service Chairman, member and official measurer of Pope and Young, and a regular contributor to North Carolina Bowhunter Magazine.

Gear Review: ScoutLookWeather

So, here I am, 4:26pm on a Sunday, sitting in a climbing stand on the edge of the woods.  Typing on a netbook.  Crazy right?  Well, I should have about an hour before the first deer sneaks her way out of the darkened tree canopy and finds her way into shooting range for my quick and silent compound bow.

The reason I am working on this now is twofold.  One, I need to get this product review done, and two; this is the perfect time to write about what is going on with this particular hunt.

GPS systems became a great tool for the outdoors person several years ago.  Utilizing the array of satellites put in orbit by the government in order to help one find his position globally protected the hiker, hunter, or fisher from getting lost.  They developed from a display showing longitude and latitude so you could find yourself on a map, to displaying satellite and terrain images.  Along the way, the more bells and whistles the GPS system had, the more expensive the unit would cost.  Downloadable maps, some ranging several hundred dollars in cost, were neat features, but unless you were a diehard outdoorsman that traveled to exotic and unfamiliar locations, they were questionable as to whether they were worth it.

Now I like to have the tools necessary for me to be successful and safe, but I do not want to carry around a small army’s worth of supplies on my excursions.  With the GPS functions of the current smart phones, I quickly adapted to several applications available on it instead of carrying around excessive amounts of electronics.   Free mapping and weather programs were great, as I could not only pinpoint my location, but I could see weather as it developed so as not to get caught off guard on an approaching rain shower or storm.



Screen shot from ScoutLookWeather.com indicating
stand locations, expected deer movement, and scent cone.
The orange arrows were added by me to show movement.

A couple of weeks ago, I was offered the opportunity to test and review a website and smart phone application called ScoutLookWeather.  It seemed interesting enough, so I agreed.  Before downloading it on my Android based phone, I checked the website: ScoutLookWeather.com.  The website was easy enough to get a grasp of without a lot of instruction.  After the download, the application worked the same way as the website.  Also, I noticed it had immediately synced between the website and the phone application.

There she is!

After checking the app, according to my scent cone (a green cone that indicates where your scent will travel based on current conditions) I should hunt the northern stand on the property.  My scent would travel right into the path the deer usually take to the field from the southern stand.  So, that is where I am hunting.

(LONG PAUSE AS THE HUNT TIME BEGINS, THEN FAST FORWARD)

Sure enough, I had a deer come out to my left about 6pm.  After the deer paused and offered a broadside shot just 15 yards from the stand, I released the arrow for the kill.  While waiting in the stand, 10 minutes later 3 more deer came out to my right but came no closer than 40 yards from the stand.  I also noticed looking back at the southern stand, several deer in the field where I expected them to come out also.  If I had hunted the southern stand, those deer would likely have caught my scent in the slight breeze.

Blood soaked arrow does
not mean easy to trail!

Hard to follow at night with only this much sign spaced
several yards apart.



While the shot was true, the deer retreated hard into the woods.  I had a hard time finding bloodshed, but after a 20 minute or so search, I spotted small drops of blood.  The track was on.  I used the way marker feature on the ScoutLook app, using the GPS from the phone to indicate the blood trail.  I proceeded to do this each time I lost the trail so I would have a reference point to come back to.  This was extremely handy as I was in the thick brush and swamp, and light was non-existent except from my LED Lenser headlamp.  After following the trail approximately 150 yards, I lost the blood.  It was now around 9pm and I was crawling on all fours in order to track the blood I did find for the last 30 minutes.  I decided to resume the search in the morning, as the shadows from the brush limited my site lines.  Using the satellite imagery feature of ScoutLook, I made my way back out.  If not for that, this could have easily been one of those cases where the hunter gets stuck in the woods overnight.  Again, limited vision, a low concealing canopy of trees, and not so much as a single star shining through offered no help in keeping my bearings.



Blood trail way markers set
on ScoutLook.

The next day, I worked my way back into the woods, following the blood trail markers I had placed on ScoutLook.  This worked well, and I found the trail I needed to find.  After a couple of more hours, I finally found the deer.  This would never have taken place if I had not used ScoutLook for way markers the evening before.

  



Decoy set-up for incoming waterfowl
as indicated by ScoutLook.

ScoutLook is not only good for the application I tested it for, but it offers a set-up style map for waterfowl hunting, it can be used for hiking and other outdoor activities, it has a drift-point for fishing, and even has a golf mode to help with wind direction on the links.  It provides a cache for photos while in the outdoors, and it will have a log book style feature in the future.  One feature I did not have to use on ScoutLook is a radar map of your area.  This is great for when inclement weather is in the forecast.  It will allow you the opportunity to enjoy your activity until the very last moment.

This result would never had happened without ScoutLook.
Your results may vary!

Screen shot of inclement weather on ScoutLook.

Overall, ScoutLook appears to be a winner.  ScoutLook is easy to use and figure out how to use (no manual-just help screens), is cheap ($1.99 over Android Marketplace, but is available on IOS also), and syncs automatically with the regular website so you can check your locations online and on your phone.  Again, $1.99 for what some GPS systems would charge $199.00 for.  The only thing I could not test, and could not find a direct answer on, was if ScoutLook will save your location maps in areas where only GPS (no cellular) service worked on the smart phone.  I know it will save your markers, just not sure if the maps must download through the cell service each time.  I will continue to use ScoutLook and I look forward to using the log book feature in the future.

Another review of ScoutLookWeather can be found HERE on SoCalBowhunter.

 Want to read more reviews?  Bill Howard's Outdoors Reviews and GiveEmTheShaft Reviews

Bill Howard writes a weekly outdoors column for the Wilson Times and Yancey County News and the bowhunting blog site GiveEmTheShaft.com. He is a Hunter Education and International Bowhunter Education instructor, lifetime member of the North Carolina Bowhunters Association, Bowhunter Certification Referral Service Chairman, member and official measurer of Pope and Young, and a regular contributor to North Carolina Bowhunter Magazine.





Continuing the Heritage-More Obstacles

Note: Please feel free to share this post with anyone that enjoys hunting, fishing, or the outdoors.

Last year, North Carolina registered 505,530 licensed hunters.  This was the most since 1994 and continues a trend in which each year since 2002 the number of licensed hunters has increased.  While it is encouraging to see our numbers go up, they still fall behind in the overall picture as far as percentage compared to population growth.

Getting our youth, as well as adults, in the outdoors to participate in activities such as hunting and fishing is imperative to keep the heritage alive.  As mentioned in the past, there are far more distractions and other activities for the population these days than in the past.  Television with hundreds of channels, game consoles and systems, and computers all compete to keep our youth occupied. 

Please read the previous post Heritage of the Outdoors.

Other factors challenging the outdoor heritage are environmental groups distaste for hunting and fishing.  I use environmental groups loosely.  Let me explain a little before continuing with the point.  Hunters and fishermen/women provide funds for wildlife conservation, gamelands, studies, even preservation areas, amongst other programs through purchases of licenses, stamps, excise taxes through the Pittman-Robertson act, memberships and donations through conservations groups such as Ducks Unlimited, Delta Waterfowl, Quail Unlimited, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Boone and Crockett, Pope and Young, and many more than can be listed.  In other words, outdoorsmen and women provide the majority of funds to protect both wildlife and land.  They are the true environmentalists.  Meanwhile, other groups seeking to stop hunting and fishing, claim to be environmental organizations.

Back to the point.  As recently as August 2010, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was petitioned to ban all lead products used for hunting and fishing under the Toxic Substance Control Act (TSCA).  The EPA responded they did not have authority under the TSCA to activate such a ban. Currently there is a bill asking for the EPA to be granted that authority.  Kind of a back door approach to allow the EPA to be given power to ban ammunition without having it go through Congress.

Referenced in many of these reports are the effects of lead shot on mourning dove populations.  Lead was banned for waterfowl back in 1991 due to effects on the duck, geese, and swan populations.  Researching studies on dove myself, there are studies saying dove populations have been effected by anywhere from .2% to as high as 6.4%.  I believe the difference in percentages may be based on locality.

It is estimated there are between 1.2 and 1.6 million dove hunters in the United States accounting for 19-21 million birds harvested each season.  The ammunition of choice is lead shot which accounts for 75% of shotgun shells sold each year.  Here is where the assault on potential new hunters, as well as existing hunters comes in.  A box of 25 shells of 7 ½ lead shot, the typical purchase for dove ammunition, costs roughly $6.  On opening day of dove season, a hunter, especially a new hunter, can easily shoot 100 shells equating to roughly $24 worth of ammunition.  The primary alternative to lead is steel shot.  In comparison, a box of 25 shells of steel shot costs roughly $25.  This equates to $100 worth of ammunition.  This does not include any shells used for practicing by shooting skeet or clay pigeons.  The large increase in costs would severely deter new hunters.

Shotshells would not be the only ammunition regulated either.  Most hunting cartridges consist of a lead projectile.  A young hunter’s first rifle is often a .22 caliber.  Ammunition is cheap, so the youth can become familiar with the operation of the rifle by shooting many times.  A box of 100 .22 cartridges runs approximately $7.50.  Changing the composition of the bullet could increase the cost by 4 times that amount.  Again, the increase would likely eliminate many new hunter's first excursion, or at least repeated excursions into the outdoors.

What we must do is look at this issue as a whole.  If we go to an overall ban on lead, the numbers of hunters will surely decrease, causing us to lose massive amounts of funding through license sales and excise taxes (Pittman-Robertson Act).  These funds will either no longer provide the conservation efforts needed for our environment or they will have to be supplemented from other avenues in government (overall taxes).  Also, with a decrease in hunters, less game will be taken.  A raise in limits on game would not provide enough control, as the ammunition would still be too costly to take only a limited numbers of game animals.

Wildlife biologists are charged with the task of determining the mortality rates of the different game animals, and if lead is effecting populations such as dove to a detrimental level, then limits should be adjusted downward.  However, it was not long ago dove limits were increased from 12 to 15 birds per day, indication the population has grown rather than decreased.

Perhaps the answer is not to ban all lead ammunition and fishing equipment.  If there are areas in particular that are affected in an adverse way, the local/state governments can and should regulate accordingly.  But to ban all, may have an effect that is much more detrimental than the effect of lead.

Bill Howard writes a weekly outdoors column for the Wilson Times and Yancey County News and the bowhunting blog site GiveEmTheShaft.com. He is a Hunter Education and International Bowhunter Education instructor, lifetime member of the North Carolina Bowhunters Association, Bowhunter Certification Referral Service Chairman, member and official measurer of Pope and Young, and a regular contributor to North Carolina Bowhunter Magazine.

Trophy Care

You have spent the late summer and early fall planting food plots, setting trail cameras and scouting.  You have honed your shooting skills to the point a military sniper would admire your technique and control.  Up in the stand you see a creature that is so majestic you pause momentarily to admire its beauty before you lay the sights on the beast and gently squeeze the trigger.  Yep, he is a wall hanger.  This one will be a center piece in your man cave.  Heck, your wife will likely be so impressed she will let it hang over the fireplace (as long as you let her go shopping for shoes or dresses or something girly like that, of course).

You call several hunting buddies and have them come take a gander before you field dress him.  Then, you bring out the skinning knife and start your cuts.

This is where a problem could come in.  You plan on putting the head on the wall, deciding to do a shoulder mount.  You make a cut around the neck line.  Many do not realize just how far back to make that cut.  You have to be behind the front legs and shoulder for a proper shoulder mount.

I spoke with Pat Nicholson of Nicholson’s Taxidermy (Elm City, NC) a while back about proper care with your game you intend to display.  People, especially new hunters, are unaware of the care needed to take care of the hides.  Three factors spoil meat and destroy hides; heat, dirt, and moisture.  Cool the animal down quickly using ice and field dressing the animal by removing the insides such as the intestines.  Dry the hide by patting it down and add salt to soak up the moisture and preserve it.  Use game bags or plastic trash bags to keep dirt from the making contact with the meat and hide.

One thing I do is contact the taxidermist prior to making the cuts.  Let them know what you intend on doing with the animal.  They will help you on what to do and where to do it.   For instance, on the alligator hunt I recently went on, I spoke with Strickland’s Outdoor Creations (Middlesex, NC) prior to the hunt.  She advised me what to do with the hide.  I also spoke with a wildlife biologist in Georgia on how to handle the meat to prevent spoilage.  If I had not spoken to both, I may have had a problem with the gator since reptiles are handled slightly different than mammals.

Even trappers must learn proper field care, as a wrong cut could determine how much the fur will sale for or even if it will sale at all.  The North Carolina Wildlife website (ncwildlife.org) has much information on game care for the different game animals as well as a simple search with the keywords game care for field care on the internet.

Also, do not expect a taxidermist to ‘rebuild’ something that has been destroyed.  As Pat Nicholson told me, if you blow every feather off a duck or turkey, do not bring him a bag full and ask him to put them back on.  It took God several years to put them there; it would take him much longer to put them back.

Bill Howard writes a weekly outdoors column for the Wilson Times and Yancey County News and the bowhunting blog site GiveEmTheShaft.com. He is a Hunter Education and International Bowhunter Education instructor, lifetime member of the North Carolina Bowhunters Association, Bowhunter Certification Referral Service Chairman, member and official measurer of Pope and Young, and a regular contributor to North Carolina Bowhunter Magazine.

Hooded Merganser Recipe-Guaranteed Good!

When I was a child, I loved bird hunting, but I just could care less about hunting duck in the cold.  My dad would drag me out, occasionally going to the coast to hunt, and the wind, water spray, and bitter temps just made my life miserable.  As I gained some years, and some insulating pounds, the cold didn’t bother me as much, and I grew to appreciate waterfowl hunting.

Each season I try to follow how the birds do up north, so it’ll give me an idea of how they’ll be when they migrate south to North Carolina.  I work on my calling (I need a lot of work!), and study how others do decoy spreads.  And of course, when the season has begun, I start asking other hunters what is flying and at what times.

The word in the field is the mergansers are hot and heavy.  Hoodies, as they are affectionately called,  are beautiful birds, colored in black and white with a huge crest, and are commonly found flying with wood ducks, mallards, and ringnecks along with other waterfowl.

I included a recipe below that should help if you happen to take one while hunting the swamps or open water.


Ingredients:

1 cup dry white wine

1/2 cup honey

1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons red chili paste
1 (4 to 5 lb) whole merganser

1 teaspoon salt

4 slices of ham

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

2 tablespoons orange juice

1 tablespoon corn starch
4 slices cheddar cheese
8 slices bread
choice of vegetables


Directions:
1- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2- Coat shallow roasting pan and rack with non-stick spray.
3- In a small bowl, combine and mix wine, honey, lemon juice and chili paste.
4- Rinse merganser, and cut down center of back to butterfly.  Pat dry.  Pierce skin several times with metal skewer.  Salt and pepper skin.
5- Place cut vegetables in pan below rack.  Place merganser on rack, skin side up.  Place in oven.

6- After 20 minutes, baste with honey/chili mixture.  Roast for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, basting every 15 minutes.

7- With 5 minutes cooking time remaining, place 4 slices of bread out.  Place ham and cheese on slices of bread.

8- Remove merganser from oven, place on platter and keep warm.

9- Combine orange juice and corn starch.

10- Strain pan juices in sauce pan.  Discard vegetables.

11- Bring to a simmer, adding any left over baste.  Thicken with corn starch mixture and add salt and pepper.

12- Cut merganser into pieces (leg, thigh, wings, breast).

13- Toss merganser and sauce into trash.  Top remaining 4 slices of bread with mustard and place on 4 prepared slices of bread, ham, and cheese.

14- Enjoy your sandwiches!

Bill Howard is a Hunter Education and Bowhunter Education Instructor , a Wildlife Representative and BCRS Program Chairman for the North Carolina Bowhunters Association, and an avid outdoorsman.  Please forward any pictures or stories you would like shared to billhowardoutdoors@gmail.com.