Friday, December 21, 2007

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

© By Othmar Vohringer




Due to work and family related commitments over the festive days I probably will not be able to write on my blogs until after the New Year. I will try but can’t promise.

Therefore I would like to take this opportunity to get a few things out that are important to me and that I feel deeply about.

First I would like to say a big thank you to my wife, all the supporters, sponsors, affiliates and fellow outdoor bloggers and last but by no means least the thousands of loyal readers that visit my blogs regularly. It is all of you that with your encouragement, critique and friendship have contributed to the success of my blogs. Without all of you my voice on these blogs would be nothing more than a whisper in a windstorm. So from my heart I thank you all and hope that in the New Year I can build upon that support and continue with my mission and plans for the future.


This has been a tremendous year in which my blog network has achieved huge leaps. From the humble beginnings of about 20 visitors per day the blog network now averages 5000 visitors per week. Writing four blogs, maybe soon five, is no easy task it demands time, commitment and dedication. This brings me to a very special person without I could not do what I do. Heidi has not only been a tireless supporter and inspiration but also still is a very patient English teacher. I am sure that many other wives’s would run to the divorce court if their husbands come home from work and head to the computer where they spend the rest of the evening writing blogs and designing websites until late in the night.

Blogging has opened new avenues for me that I never thought possible. If you go to my blogroll you can see how many other outdoor, hunting and fishing blogs are affiliated with me and each of them makes my life richer, each of them provides me with knowledge and wisdom that would be hard to come by any other way. I visit many blogs, not only outdoor blogs, and it occurred to me that many bloggers badmouth each other but interestingly enough none of them is an outdoor blogger.

Outdoor bloggers seem to be a very special breed. Although we all have different opinions we stick together and support each other. How far this support can go and how well we can work together has been clearly shown when a few of us came together and founded the Outdoor Bloggers Summit. Neither of the founding members ever have met personally; we all just know each other through communication on the blogs. If you go to the OBS blog and check out the supporter list you will see a very long list of other outdoor bloggers.

Isn’t that incredible?

That brings me neatly to my hope for the New Year. Hunters all over North America face huge challenges that take time, money and personal effort of every single hunter to overcome. There are interest groups of various persuasions that would like to see hunting and the ownership of firearms a thing of the past. Not a day goes by were we’re not confronted with anti hunting and anti gun propaganda be that in the media, the courts or at state and federal government hearings. The antis are clever self-promotion geeks that leave no opportunity pass by to make their voices heard loud and clear. It appears that they are in the majority yet they are not. In fact the antis are a very small minority. Hunters on the other hand are a huge majority and financial heavy weights. Read my article The Economics of Hunting and you will learn just how powerful a force we could be.

My hope for the future is that all the hunters in North America could do what the outdoor bloggers do. Rather than squabble with each other about personal interpretations of hunting ethics and bad mouth others for their hunting style preference we should remind ourselves more of what unites us all. Once we leave the petty finger pointing, which by the way, is a welcome information resource used against us by the anti hunters, we could all stand together shoulder to shoulder and concentrate on the real issues that threaten our hunting heritage.

In the New Year lets start to treat each other with respect and practice a little tolerance of each other and turn our efforts and energy to issues that are very pressing so we can provide a future for the young hunters as our forefathers have done for us. We’re all hunters and that makes us in some way also brothers and sisters.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Othmar Vohringer

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Monday, December 17, 2007

Christmas Gifts For Hunters

© Othmar Vohringer

Christmas is only a few days away and if you’re anything like me you still have to get some last minute gifts for family and friends. To this end I wrote a list of useful gifts that are sure to make every hunter happy this Christmas and that will not cost you an arm and leg.

Gifts to make hunting safer and more successful:

Gifts every rifle hunter should find under the Christmas tree.

From Gun Safety Innovations comes a neat product called the GunTriever. This is a product that every firearm hunter using a treestand should own. The GunTriever will leash your firearm safely to the stand and prevent damage to the gun should it fall accidentally out of the treestand. Not only will the GunTriever prevent your priced rifle and scope form possible damage but just as important, if not more so, likely prevent injury to you and others by preventing accidental discharge caused by the firearm hitting hard on the ground after a fall.
Read the full product review here







Custom Gun Slings by Levergun Leather Works

How about a beautiful hand made rifle sling created after your own wishes and design. Levergun Leather Works, located in the mountains of the Idaho Panhandle is a one man operation specializing in hunting and shooting products made from leather.

Chance "Lever" Shelton, the man behind Levergun Leather Works is a true artist. His products are not mass manufactured. Each item is carefully designed and then hand made, from the leather tooling to the stitching, all is done by hand and with quality in mind that lasts forever. The photo I provided here barely does justice to the talent Levergun Leather Works possesses. To see all of the craftsmanship and quality you have to visit the website where you can see hundreds of designs. Levergun Leather Works offers a wide array of products besides gun slings Shelton makes knife sheaths, holster rigs, rifle scabbards, butt stock covers, pouches and fishing rod cases and each item is a unique work of leather tooling art

The ideal gift for every experienced and novice turkey hunter.

Just in time for Christmas Heirloom Custom Turkey Calls offers a special sale.













The Holiday Special package includes.
  • One Double Barrel
  • One Single Barrel (your choice of slate or crystal)
  • One Rebel Yell box call
  • One Copperhead pot call replaceable surface
  • One Copperhead box call replaceable surface
  • And two strikers

This is the perfect Christmas gift for any avid and beginning turkey hunter.
This special offer ends at midnight of December 24th.

Visit the Heirloom Turkey Call Website to purchase this Christmas Special, to view the entire lineup of high quality turkey calls and watch videos of the calls in action.

Books that belong in every hunter’s bookshelf:

Fall and Winter Turkey Hunting Handbook
By Steve Hickoff

About the Book
For the sportsman who thrills at the booming gobble of a spring tom during mating season and wants to extend that exhilarating feeling, Steve Hickoffs Fall and Winter Turkey Hunters Handbook offers the perfect remedy. The fall and winter season not only allows a wider variety of hunting options than the spring, but it also requires different hunting tactics and skills. Hickoff examines fall turkey behavior and vocalizations and provides details on locating, scouting, and calling fall gobblers, with tips for mapping flock patterns and identifying changing flock composition. Includes the little-known strategy of hunting turkeys with dogs, using them to find and flush flocks. The material on firearms, ammunition, and archery tackle will benefit all turkey hunters--fall, winter, or spring.

What the Author Says About the Book
My "Fall & Winter Turkey Hunter's Handbook" (240 pp.; 150 color photos) was just released last month by Stackpole Books. I'm happy to say that between my seminar appearances from Maine to Kansas, phone calls, and both radio and magazine interviews, there's been some steady interest.

In the book, I examine fall and winter turkey behavior and vocalizations. I also provide details on locating, scouting, and calling autumn wild turkeys, with tips for patterning birds and identifying changing flock composition. Also discussed here is the strategy of hunting turkeys with dogs by using them to flush flocks before hunters call scattered birds back to their concealed setup. As a bonus, the material on firearms, ammunition, and archery tackle will benefit all turkey hunters—fall, winter, or spring.
To read more about this book or to purchase it go here


Hunting The First State
A Guide to Delaware Hunting
By Steven Kendus

Perfectly situated on the eastern seaboard between the Chesapeake Bay to the west and the Delaware River, Delaware Bay, and Atlantic Ocean to the east, Delaware has proven to be a hunting paradise for local sportsmen. For centuries, outdoorsmen and outdoorswomen have harvested the natural riches offered by the wild game that inhabit Delaware’s deciduous forests, salt and freshwater marshes, and cultivated crop fields. Common game, such as white-tailed deer, Canada geese, and varied species of ducks have been targeted by the majority of Delaware hunters, but woodcock, quail, snow geese, crows, squirrels, and rabbits are also plentiful in Delaware and provide Delaware sportsmen with hours of hunting enjoyment each season. Join Delawarean Steven Kendus as he uses his hunting wisdom, experience, and research to preserve Delaware’s hunting legacy by sharing important history, tactics, locations, tips, and tricks associated with Delaware hunting.

Hunting the First State: A Guide to Delaware Hunting is the only book that comprehensively addresses hunting Delaware!

What's more, Hunting the First State includes useful hunting information that also applies to hunting in other areas of the Mid-Atlantic region, including:

  • Southeastern Pennsylvania
  • Southern New Jersey
  • Eastern Maryland
Hunting the First State: A Guide to Delaware Hunting is a must have reference for any hunter who hunts or who is considering hunting the Delaware region.
Find practical tips, tactics, and Delaware hunting locations for:

  • White-tailed Deer
  • Eastern Wild Turkeys
  • Eastern Gray Squirrels
  • Eastern Cottontail Rabbits
  • Bobwhite Quail
  • Mourning Doves
  • Woodcock
  • Crows
  • Ducks
  • Canada Geese
  • Snow Geese
Although the book deals mainly with hunting in Delaware, Southeastern Pennsylvania, Southern New Jersey and Eastern Maryland, knowing what an accomplished hunter Steven Kendus is I am sure some of his tips and tricks apply to other regions too.
To read more about the book or to purchase the book visit Hunting the First State

Mapping Trophy Bucks
Using Topographic Maps to Find Deer
By Brad Herndon

I have often said in my deer hunting seminars, and will keep saying it until the day I die, that the key to successful deer hunting is studying and knowing the structure of the land. This is especially so on hard hunted public land. Deer travel from fod source to bedding - or to escape hunting pressure – by utilizing the lay of the land and so do the trophy bucks when they chase does.

Knowing how to use a topographic map and knowing the structure of the land and how deer use that structure will make scouting for that elusive trophy buck, or any deer for that matter, a snap. On 192 pages of Mapping Trophy Bucks author Brad Herndon teaches you how to use topographical maps and wind directions to pinpoint deer travel routes and to place your stands in advance of the deer season. This is likely the best $24.95 a hunter ever will spend.


To read more about the book go here. To read more or purchase the book go here



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Sunday, December 16, 2007

Blogger Comments Are Working Again

© By Othmar Vohringer

























As regular readers of this and other blogs hosted by Blogger have experienced in the last few days, there was a problem to post comments. Google, the owners of Blogger, removed the feature “Anonymous” that enabled readers that have no account with Blogger to leave comments on our blogs. The only way that readers without a Blogger account could comment on the blog was by signing up for a Blogger account. Needless to say that only diehard fans of a particular blog would go to such extreme length.

It seems Google realized that problem and I am happy to announce that they fixed the problem by adding a feature (Choose an identity:) – see image at the top – that lets you chose:

1. AOL/AIM
2. LiveJournal
3. TypeKey
4. WordPress
5. Any Other ID
In addition the option "Anonymous" is back again.

I hope that this new feature will fix the problem many of you had and look forward to your comments on my articles and posts. Comments on blogs are a wonderful feature for two reasons.

One of the reasons is that a comment or honest critique is like a pad on the back of the writer. There is nothing more disheartening for a blog writer than not knowing if what he has to say appeals to the readers or still worse if anybody even reads what he/she writes.

The other reason, and for me the important one, is that comments give the writer a very good idea of what the visitors like to read on a particular blog. In my opinion it is this immediate response that gives us blog writers the opportunity to actually have a relationship with our readers that is absent in any other writing media.

So now that it seems for the time being –you never know with Blogger and Google what they think of next – that everything is back in order lets get busy and comment away.


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Wednesday, December 12, 2007

A Weekend of Hunting

© Othmar Vohringer

On November 24, I posted In Search Of Big Bucks. As my regular readers will remember this is the story of my hunting trip into the wilderness on British Columbia in pursuit of big racked mule deer. On that hunt I had a few opportunities to connect with big bucks and saw plenty of deer despite unpredictable weather. In the end I came home without ever having fired my rifle but promised to redeem myself.

Last Saturday (December 8) was the day I wanted to make good and at least shoot one buck with my new rifle. For this I chose a hunting region that had an “any buck” season. At this point, the last day of our hunting season, I lowered my standards from a trophy buck to any-buck-will-do. Heck, if shooting a doe at this time of the season would be legal I would have been happy with that too.

My hopes of hunting success soared sky high on Friday when my wife told me that she took a series of pictures of a group of deer, among them a huge eight-point buck, frolicking in a field not ten driving minutes from our home.

Exited, my wife told me the story of how she drove along the road when she spotted a few deer in a field, drove further up the road to turn around and come back to a narrow drive way where she could park the car and take a few pictures. Then she discovered the buck nearby watching the does and took a few pictures of him too. “That’s good news honey,” said I, “this means the rut is still in full swing.”


(Picture courtesy of Artemis Graphics & Design)

My wife decided a few days previously that she would make a weekend of hunting too. House hunting and photography subject hunting that is. (You can read about her “hunting” trip here.) She went to Merritt and Ernie and I went to Hope which is along the same route and so we decided that I would accompany my wife to Hope where we would all have breakfast together. After eating, a kiss and good wishes, I jumped into Ernie’s truck and we headed our way and my wife went her way.
Ernie and I left the highway and drove up some icy and bumpy logging roads toward our hunting area. Secretly I was worried about my wife because of the icy road conditions in the higher elevations. I know she is a very good and careful driver, but I still worried. It’s not her I don’t trust, it’s all the other road users and their habits that worries me more.

The moment we arrived at our hunting destination my hopes of succeeding with my plan sank to rock bottom. The snow was solid frozen into a layer of ice and each step sounded like when you step onto popcorn only much louder. How could anyone expect to see deer when they could hear our approach from a mile away? Still I did what every hunter would do who was determined; who knew, perhaps a love-sick buck would ignore the noise I made while walking on the frozen snow in search of him. I certainly had nothing to loose.
















(This is the condition that greeted us on our arrival. Ice and frozen snow that made walking difficult and noisy. The worst imaginable conditions to hunt deer.)

All was not lost though because Ernie’s daughter, 12-year-old Katerina accompanied us on this hunt. Katerina has shown an interest in nature and animals from an early age and more recently has voiced her desire to hunt. (Her plans for the future are to become a wildlife biologist.) Ernie took his .22 rifle along to hunt for grouse but all we wound up seeing was rabbit, coyote and cougar tracks. We decided at this point that now would be as good a time as any to give Katerina shooting lessons.

Ernie put a tin can up as a target, and handed the .22 rifle to Katerina. She had previously been thoroughly instructed on gun safety but had never shot a firearm before. Katerina aimed at the can from 2O yards away. The first shoot zipped through the air and with a metallic sound into the tin can.
Okay…
The first was a lucky shot. But when the second, the third, the fourth…the twentieth went into the tin can Ernie and I looked at each other knowing here was a natural talent at work. I could tell that Ernie was one proud papa.


(Katerina under the close guidance of her father carefully aims at the target, squeezes the trigger and the gun goes off and sends a bullet smack into the middle of the target. Well done Katerina. We were so proud of that young lady- a hunter in the making.)

After the shooting lesson was over it was time to head to a different location and try our luck there. We drove an hour west to Chilliwack where Ernie knew of an area that held a fairly good deer population. Unfortunately, it seemed that almost every other hunter knew this as well because on the drive in we encountered dozens of other hunters cruising the logging roads.
At several points along the road we found obvious evidence of recent hunting success in the form of disposed deer hides and guts- right out in the open. “Wow” was all I could say, not knowing that I was soon to make an even more eye-popping discovery.

About a half hour later we got out of the truck and I walked for about a mile to an overgrown clear cut that looked very promising. I keep telling myself that I would find my deer here. After sitting for an hour in the freezing cold on an elevated and windswept spot overlooking the clear cut without seeing any movement whatsoever, not even a bird or a squirrel, I admitted defeat. With cold and stiff fingers I pulled the radio out of my pocket and contacted Ernie to let him know that I had had about as much fun as I was prepared to have and would be on my way back to the truck. On the way back I chose a different direction, still somewhat hopeful that I might yet run into a buck. At least this area had no crunchy snow, which made walking much quieter.

About halfway back to the truck I became aware of the stench of rotting meat coming from a ravine. Following my nose I arrived at the source of this foul smell and my eyes almost popped out of their sockets. On the slope of the ravine I discovered a heap of bones, hides and guts. Closer examination revealed that this must be the remains of at least 50 animals. The remains were scattered for a long way down the ravine and consisted mainly of deer bones that led me to believe that this might have been the handy work of poachers. Then I discovered cattle and hog bones and that started to make it look more like the illegal dumping place for local meat processors- or maybe I should say clandestine meat processors.



























(The bone yard. This is an illegal animal remains dumping place, attracting a lot of predators and birds of prey. I have seen tracks of coyotes, bobcats and cougars. A bald eagle, buzzards and ravens were perched nearby in the trees waiting for me to go away so they could continue with their dinner party.)

When Ernie arrived at the truck I told him about my bone yard discovery. Katerina immediately was exited and wanted to see the bones. She asked me many questions about the individual bones and where they belonged in the skeleton of an animal. I told you she showed and interest in animals and nature from an early age and she is not squeamish at all. A few years ago I cut up a deer and she watched the entire procedure very carefully and asked questions about the anatomy and finally she asked if I could get the brain out of the skull so that she could have a look at it. Her parents agreed that if she keeps that interest up she could one day become a veterinarian or animal biologist.

I phoned up my wife from the truck but her cell phone was out of reach, which worried me instantly. I hate if my wife does not answer the phone because I worry too much about something happening. On the second try I got the answering message. Finally an hour later my wife phoned me to tell me in a chipper voice what a great day she had had and that she was about an hour behind us and would drive into Langley to pick me up from Ernie’s house. I am always glad to hear the voice of my wife but at that point it sounded like the most beautiful music in my ears.

We were all in Langley at about 8:00pm and on the way back home to Maple Ridge my wife told me of the many pictures she had taken of the beautiful landscapes, a cattle drive done by real cowboys on horseback, and of particular interest to me photos of Rocky Mountain Big Horn Sheep.


(Picture courtesy of Artemis Graphics & Design)

Now if I were so inclined I could get flat out jealous. So far my wife has had the better hunting season then I. She has shot, with the camera, one buck in velvet during the early season, then a black bear near our home and three blacktail deer on the same day and now she just shot the classic British Columbia trophy: a Rocky Mountain Big Horn Sheep. I am not jealous of her success, quite the opposite; I am proud and very happy for her. You can read all about my wife's adventure of that weekend on her blog.

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Monday, December 10, 2007

Blogroll Update

© By Othmar Vohringer

I would like to introduce two new blog to you that I have added to my blogroll today.

The first blog is Artemis – 12monthOFwinter.

I am particularly fond of having this blog on my blogroll. 12monthOFwinter is the blog of my wife. She will use the blog to showcase her exceptional photography and writing skills. I am sure you will like this blog as much as I do. Visit my wife and say hello and that her hubby sent you.

The second blog is The Rash Outdoor Chronicles.

I found Albert A Rasch’s blog because he has kindly linked to my recent article on My Stand, The Economics Of Hunting. Mr.Rash writes a very good blog without mincing words. Head over and say hello.

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Thursday, December 06, 2007

Blog Network Update

© By Othmar Vohringer

It’s time for another update of my hunting and outdoor blogs to let you all know what information is on offer on my blog network.

My Stand
Have you ever wondered how many people in North America hunt and fish? How much money these hunters and fishers contribute to the economy and how many work places are created in the hunting and fishing industry?
You need not to wonder anymore, just head over to the My Stand blog where you you can read all about it and also find out where the money goes and what is done with it. I was surprised to learn how much we hunters and fishers contribute to the economy, wildlife and habitat conservation when I researched the information for the article. The Economics Of Hunting brings it all in the open.


Whitetail Deer Passion
Soon the hunting seasons will be over. It is around this time of year were I get calls from hunters, that still haven’t tagged a deer, asking me in frustration. “Only a few weeks to go and I still have no deer what should I do?” If you are one of these hunters then you need to read my article Cornfield Bucks. The tips and tactics discussed in that article may be just what you need to do in order to fill the freezer with venison this year.


Wild Turkey Fever
Snow is not uncommon in American states and Canadian provinces where the fall turkey hunting season runs into late November or even into December. Turkeys can be, just like deer, successfully tracked by following their fresh tracks in the snow. This is a good way to get the main ingredients of your Christmas dinner and it is a lot of fun too. Tracking a Tom in the Snow will explain how it is done.


I have created a newsletter to inform hunters and the hunting industry periodically of what’s happening with Othmar Vohringer – SHS. All you have to do is to subscribe with an email stating your name and a valued email address.


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Monday, December 03, 2007

HuntingLife.Com Sponsors The Nation’s Outdoor Sportsman’s Show

The Nation’s Outdoor Sportsman’s Show
January 4-6, 2008
Dulles Expo
Chantilly, VA

HuntingLife.Com continues it’s commitment to conversation by sponsoring The Nation’s Outdoor Sportsman Show held January 4-6,2008 in Chantilly, VA. Touted as the International Hunting and Fishing Conservation show this show will have everything for the outdoor enthusiast.
HuntingLife.Com will sponsor booth space for over 20 conservation groups and HuntingLife president Kevin Paulson will be speaking at the event. Other notable speakers include Jim Zumbo, Matt Coughlin and Max Rowe.

Hundreds of exhibitors complete the attraction, with outfitters, vendors and conservation organizations all under the same roof.

For more information on The Nation’s Outdoor Sportsman Show go to www.nationsoutdoorshow.com.
HuntingLife.Com is a company dedicated to conservation and showcasing the best outfitters in the world. For more information on HuntingLife.Com go to www.HuntingLife.Com.

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Saturday, December 01, 2007

Lets Go Hunting

© By Othmar Vohringer

Bryan from the DeerPhD posted a very flattering article where he explains how his blog became what it is doday. Bryan goes on to thank a few outdoor bloggers for their support of his blog. Among (Skinny Moose Media, Outdoor Bloggers Summit, Hunt Smart, Think Safety, Simply Outdoors, Bright Idea Outdoors Weblog, Tails & Trails and Big Buck Zone) he also mentions me with the following quote;

“I think we all know Othmar. He runs several sites/blogs. He’s an outdoor speaker, and he was extremely supportive of my blogging pursuits from day 1. I’ll never forget the first time I received an e-mail from Othmar. Just knowing I was on his radar made me think that I had “made it”! This guys is an extremely talented writer with a huge heart.”

I was very flattered by this nice comment and I wrote back:

“My big thank you for the link to my blog comes a little late but it is heartfelt.
You know how to make an old man blush. I liked you blog the very first time I read it. I have made many friends in the outdoor blogging sphere and my wish for the future is that perhaps we all could get together to hunt and share a campfire.
-ov-“

One of the many benefits of outdoor blogging is that we make many friends. Although we never have met each other personally we pull all on the same string by promoting hunting and the hunting heritage. What we outdoor bloggers can achieve without ever meeting in person has been shown when a few of us got together on the internet and by phone and created the (Outdoor Bloggers Summit.

When I wrote my comment on Bryan’s blog, especially the last sentence; “I have made many friends in the outdoor blogging sphere and my wish for the future is that perhaps we all could get together to hunt and share a campfire.” I got to thinking how neat it would be if we all could get together on a hunting adventure.

For those of you that read my blog regularly and know about my involvement with the Outdoor Bloggers Summit and the planed meeting in the coming spring, I have to say that my idea of an outdoor bloggers hunting adventure would be something completely independent from the Outdoor Bloggers Summit.

We all write about hunting would it not be a real cool idea if we could share a real life campfire together?

Here is my idea about such an adventure and I hope that my fellow outdoor bloggers will give some input and ideas too.

First we would have to find a location to stage this hunting bash. Rex at the Deer Camp Blog does a great job of telling us about his famous Christmas Plantations and I think, provided Rex wants to take part, this would be a great place to hold such a gathering.

What do you all think about this idea? Let me know by commenting on this blog or my contacting me personally.

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