Summit Treestands Recalls Crush Treestand Series

© By Othmar Vohringer

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with Summit Treestands, LLC, announced today a voluntary recall of the following consumer product.

Name of Product:

Crush Treestand Series Models: Perch, Stoop and Ledge hang-on model treestands.

Units affected from this recall: About 2,900

Hazard: The treestand’s hanging strap assembly could dislodge from the treestand or fail to restrain or hold properly on the tree, posing a fall hazard. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed. It is illegal to resell or attempt to resell a recalled consumer product.

Description: The recalled treestands have the following names and item numbers:

Crush Series Perch, number 82069.

Crush Series Stoop, number 82070.

Crush Series Ledge number 82071.

The treestands include the main stand platform and seat with a green cinch strap and a tan tree stand hanging strap assembly, which consists of one nylon strap with a hook and an adjustment portion with a metal buckle and a matching nylon tab and a hook. This hanging strap assembly has the recalled item numbers printed on the safety label attached near the buckle.

The recalled products are old at: Hunting stores and in catalogs such as Bass Pro Shops, Cabela’s and others across the U.S.A. and canada from July 2012 through August 2012 for between $70 to $100.

WARNING: Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled treestands and contact Summit Treestands to receive a free replacement hanging strap assembly.

Consumer Contact: Summit Treestands, LLC, toll free at (855) 373-9808, anytime or website www.summitstands.com click on the Recall icon for more information.

(Image courtesy of Summit Treestands)

Hunting Tactics: Read All About It

© Othmar Vohringer

Common belief has it that outdoor writers are the lucky ones because they can spend all their time in the great outdoors. While I admit that I call myself “lucky” I do not spend all my time outdoors. A good part of my time as an outdoor writer is used up in my office writing about the outdoors. Proof of that are my new articles published this fall in the BC Outdoors and western Sportsman magazine, available on the newsstands now.

Western Sportsman magazine. September/October 2012: Beat Them To It. On page 69 I reveal seven of my favourite early season deer hunting tactics that may help you too to get an early season buck this year. Here is a teaser.

Hunt Escape Routes.

For most hunters there is nothing worse than having to share the same area with hordes of other hunters. In fact, dealing with all the other hunters used to be the reason why I rarely went out in the early season. Not anymore! I learned how to use the other hunters as my involuntary deer drivers. When hunting highly pressured areas I forget about scouting for deer sign. Instead, I scout for other hunters and the sign they leave behind. Given the habitual human nature the hunters will do the same things again this season. Try to find trail markers hunters have left behind (they always do), stand locations and easy walking and driving access routes to the area.

Headline News For Hunter And Anglers

© By Othmar Vohringer

As an outdoor writer I spend a considerable amount of time researching news headlines on the internet to gather information about topics I want to write about. It’s a tedious job. On my research rounds I come across many newspaper articles that cover issues that are of importance to hunters and anglers, such as conservation issues, government regulations and many other topics the informed sportsman and women should know about. I am also aware that many outdoor communicators spend as much time each day, or more, as I do searching the news.

This has given me the idea to create a new blog. The BC Headline Hunter is a convenient place where hunters, anglers and outdoor writers/journalists can find all the latest news pertaining to British Columbia hunting, fishing, conservation, related politics and legislation in one single place, gathered and compiled daily just for you.

Visit the BC Headline Hunter.

Game Club Trophy Banquet and more

© By Othmar Vohringer

1st place prize for best wildlife photo

My wife and I attended the annual Game & Trophy Banquet yesterday. This is an annual event put on by the Nicola Valley Fish & Game Club. It’s an event that we look forward to every year. The purpose of the event is to have a good time with fellow hunters and anglers, eating lots of different wild game dishes lovingly prepared by the members and it’s also an opportunity to recognize members that have made special time and labour contributions to the many conservation and hunter recruitment programs of the club. Of course such an event would not be complete without hunters and anglers having their trophies evaluated, measured and rewarded too.

I am going to be busy

© By Othmar Vohringer

This is just a quick update on what is happening around here.

I am going to be very busy, which leaves me little time to write on this blog until the middle of April. Since it is almost turkey hunting season I do try and keep Wild Turkey Fever regularly posted during that time.

Starting tomorrow, March 19, the mandatory BC hunter education course starts. The course will be held at the Nicola Valley Fish & Game Club and finishes with exams on March 22. I am proud to be a part of the official instructor team and I really look forward to welcome the 14 students to the course and later see them graduate and become hunters.

Then it is on to Keremeos for my turkey hunting seminar at the Keremeos-Cawston Sportsmen Association club house on March 28, seminar starting at 10 am. If you’re from the area and read this, I think there are still a few seats available. Contact: 250-499-5984 or 250-499-7171 for more information and booking.

I am particularly looking forward to the upcoming turkey hunting season, opening April 15, because this year I will take two new turkey hunters with me and assist them to hopefully get their first gobbler. To make this hunt the success I want it to be I will head out and scout for a few days right after the seminar.

After a few editorial start up difficulties – they had to find space and added an extra page to the newspaper - my outdoor column in the Merritt News (online version here) is now a regular feature.

BC Outdoors magazine, the main hunting and fishing magazine of our province, just got a completely new designed and interactive website online. One of the new neat features are the BC Outdoors blogs written by some of the BC household names in outdoor writing, such as Brian Chan and Phil Rowely, among others, covering the fishing blogs. Mike Mitchell, Greg Blackburn and myself write the hunting blogs. I feel honored to write specifically for the hunters in my own home province in such a prestigious publication as BC Outdoors. As an avid whitetail deer and turkey hunter I will of course cover that corner. Whitetail deer and turkey hunting are still quite new for British Columbia and that lets me to believe that my blog columns will become popular and in turn I can make these two new game species more popular with the hunters.

This blog post has been brought to you by Othmar Vohringer Outdoors

Read my bi-weekly newspaper column online.

Busy March

© By Othmar Vohringer

This time of year is typically very busy for me. Everything happens in March and early April with hunting trade shows, club events, seminars and writing articles for publishing in the fall and winter editions of hunting magazines.

Tomorrow I am going to the BC Hunting and Fishing Show, the largest hunting and fishing trade show in our province, as an outdoor media representative, taking lots of pictures and notes on new products and people I meet. For me that show is always one of the highlights of the year. Meeting old friends and acquaintances that I rarely see throughout the year and establishing, or renew, business relationships are an important part for me too. Of course I also enjoy just wandering through the exhibitions and see what new products are on the market.

Then on March 19 to 22 I am part of the Nicola Valley Fish & Game Club hunter education instructor team. As a promoter of our hunting heritage this to me is a very important event. The hunter education course (C.O.R.E.) is mandatory in British Columbia for every resident over the age of 14 years wishing to become a hunter. Each year we see more people attending this courses, which is a very good thing as far as I am concerned.

On March 28 I go to Keremeos, which is about a two hour drive from Merritt, to give a four hour turkey hunting seminar at the Keremeos, Cawston Sportsman Association Club House. Since that small town is in the middle of the best turkey habitat, and going by my past seminars, it should be a packed house. Turkey hunting is still relatively new to British Columbia and hunters are understandably eager to learn how to hunt these birds.

(If you’re looking for a seminar and hunting event speaker check my website for more information on the seminar topics I cover.)

February 27 the Nicola Valley Fish & Club, of which I currently serve as the 2nd vice president, held their annual Game Dinner and Trophy Award Night. To see how that went read my “Field Notes” here.

In between all this coming and going I am writing articles for hunting magazines that need to be submitted by the end of April to the beginning of June for fall and winter publishing and there is of course my regular newspaper outdoor column that is not only work but also a lot of fun to write. Somewhere in all that I have to find time to go turkey hunting this spring. With any luck I hope to finally shoot my first BC wild turkey to be featured as main ingredient for the upcoming Thanksgiving dinner. But what really thrills me about it this year is that I will accompany an elderly couple on their request to help them get their first tom. To help a novice hunter, regardless of age, getting their first game is always a very special and enjoyable event for me.

This blog post has been brought to you by Othmar Vohringer Outdoors

Tags: Hunting Trade Show, Hunting Seminars, Outdoor Column, Turkey Hunting, Hunter Education Course, British Columbia

Updating my blogs with new features

© By Othmar Vohringer

It finally happened. Blogger added a new feature that I always wanted. If you look at the top of this blog directly under the banner you will notice links to separate pages, such as “Home” and “About the Author”. For the longest time I was silently hoping that Blogger eventually will make this option available. Until now I had to cram a lot of information into the left sidebar which made the blog look untidy and difficult to find the information I wanted my reader to know about.

I hope you like that new feature which should make it easy for everyone to find additional information. As time goes on I will tweak the blog some more and tidy up a bit more too.

This blog post has been brought to you by Othmar Vohringer Outdoors

In the Spirit of Christmas

© By Othmar Vohringer


I wanted to write a few articles before Christmas but I did not get around to it. So instead I write this Christmas message and the articles will have to wait until the next year.

This was an exceptionally busy year for me with many plans that turned out while others had be put on the shelf for a while longer. The economy hasn't made it easy for anyone. Hunting and fishing magazines have been hit hard by the bad economy. In an effort to save money companies didn’t advertise in the magazines and canceled sponsorship of outdoor trade events and that in turn reflected badly on the bottom line of magazines and events that depend on advertising revenue. If the economy falls the worst thing as company can do is to stop telling people about their product. In these times advertising become even more important than ever.

This loss of cash reflected on freelance outdoor writers and seminar speakers having to take severe pay cuts. It has come to the point where it is impossible to make a living of writing and seminars. Many freelance writers became unemployed and others had to find a second job with a regular paycheck and treat writing as a side job. I was no exception. In order to make ends meet I had to take on extra work as an employed worker. Finding a job was not easy in these times but I got lucky I found work. It is not my first choice sitting in a factory and assemble parts, but I am not complaining it helps paying the bills and that is all that counts.

I am continually amazed how many people are unemployed simply because they feel to proud to take a job they feel is below their status or education. Work is work, as long it pays a living that is all what matters. In my opinion an employed burger flipper contributes more to the growth of the economy than the an unemployed lawyer sitting at home waiting for the right job to come along.

This will be temporary as the economy starts to improve so will the freelance writers and seminar speakers demand. I have plans for the new year that will prevent such shortfalls in the future and will permit me to work as an outdoor professional even if things are not so good economically. The lesson I learned this year is diversity. Of course you got to be careful that you don't spread yourself to thin and then loose sight, but having more than one fire going is always better then setting all bets on one or two horses.

Christmas is here and I look forward to enjoy the coming days in the company of good friends and family. No matter how hard life can get as long you have family and friends you’re strong and never alone.

I wish all my readers and fellow bloggers a very Merry Christmas filled with joy and happiness, and a Happy New Year with my best wishes for good heath and prosperous future.

I look forward to the new year with new reports, news, columns and opinions from our great and wonderful outdoors.

This post has been brought to you by Othmar Vohringer Outdoors

Website Update

© By Othmar Vohringer

In case you all have been wondering what caused my absence from this blog. As usual I have been busy with earning a living and then there is the hunting season too. In the spare time we did some renovations on the house get the garden ready for next year, laid a new wooden floor in the living room and hallway.

After all that I still had a little time on my hand and used it up by completely redesigning my website. While I was at it I added a few new features to it, like “Ask Othmar”. This came about because I get a lot of questions from hunters by email or on my seminars. Many of the questions are similar, suggesting that many hunters have the same problem. So I thought to make my answers available to a wider circle of hunters by posting them on my website.

There are other new features and service that might be of interest to you as a hunter or company in the hunting industry. Go have a look at the new layout and design and let me know how you like it. This is also the perfect time to say a heartfelt thank you to my wife Heidi, without her professional input, design ideas and photography the website surely would not look as good as it does.

Othmar Vohringer Outdoors
Founding Member of Outdoor Bloggers Summit

Health update

© By Othmar Vohringer

Since my post About fishing, bleeding and surgery I received many comments on this blog, by email, on twitter and facebook with get well soon wishes, tips and general concern. I therefore think it is only right to update you on my health and thank you all for the outpouring of concern you have shown.

A few days ago my doctor phoned up to tell me that the results from the blood and urine tests are in and that he would like to speak to me about a concern he had. At my age you start to worry when you hear the word “concern” and so I didn't look forward to the next appointment.

As it turned out there where more good than bad news waiting for me. The good news is that all my inner organs and systems are in very good shape and working order. This, according to my doctor is better then above average for people in my age group. The blood and urine tests also showed that all the other things associated with age such as cholesterol and high blood pressure among a few other things are very good. In short to use the doctors words. “You’re an exceptionally healthy person.”

So what’s the concern then? My hemoglobin is in the basement, which according to the doctor is an indicator of how much blood I lost when I had the nosebleed. The doctor said that I lost just over a third of my blood and he was surprised that I didn’t get a blood transfusion. “Normally” the doc said, “people that loose that much blood go into shock and can slip into a coma.” Wow, that would explain why I still get dizzy spells and feel tired all the time. On the short walk with my dog to the post office, less than a mile, I have to rest three times to catch my breath.

“Yes” the doctor said, “and I advice you to take it very easy, as soon you feel dizzy or tired lay down and have a rest. If you’re not resting you still could send your body into shock. You have very little blood left in your body and it will take about a month to build up to normal. During that time don’t do anything that puts strain on you.”

The good thing is that I now get to eat more of the stuff that I like to eat and that makes most people go “yewww “. In order to build up my blood I have to eat iron rich foods, things like liver and spinach. Yummiii!

Food contains iron in two forms; heme and non-heme. Heme iron is better absorbed by the body than non-heme iron. Heme iron is found in meat, eggs, fish and poultry. Non-heme iron is found in beans, whole grains, nuts and some fruits and vegetables like spinach and string beans. To help the body to absorb the richer heme iron I will eat foods rich on vitamin C such as citrus fruits, cantaloupe, strawberries, broccoli ( I love broccoli it’s my favorite vegetable next to potatoes and spinach), sweet peppers and tomatoes.

To this end the doctor gave me a long list of foods I should eat more of in the coming weeks and he also prescribed iron pills for me. One aspect I like about my doctor is that he is not a pill pusher. I absolutely detest taking medicine. So much so that I rather ride my severe migraine attacks out than resorting to heavy painkillers that leave me nauseous and with upset stomach for days.

Now I am happy again knowing that I am not plagued by some old age ailment that needs non-stop medical attention, as I feared first when I realized that my strength has left and my heart pounded like a sledgehammer. I am looking confident into the future knowing that all is good.

Now I am tired and need a rest. I just happen to know the perfect place to rest. There is a beautiful lake near our house and that is where I will spend the rest of the day with the fishing rod.

Othmar Vohringer Outdoors
Founding Member of Outdoor Bloggers Summit

Chores in and around the house and computer problems

© By Othmar Vohringer

It’s been a while since I wrote anything on this blog, two weeks to be exact, and in that time tings piled up. My birthday came and went without much fuss. I guess at 55 years of age much of the excitement about birthdays is gone. But what I really wanted to write about, rather sooner than later, was the turkey hunting trip and a few new products that I had the pleasure of field testing over the past few weeks.

There is a long list of reasons why my blog posts got delayed. Finally spring has arrived here in the Nicola Valley and with that the garden became a priority and still will be for a few weeks. Inside the house a new staircase needed to be built and while I was at it we laid a new floor in the entry hall too. My wife and I finally got sick of the wall-to-wall carpeting and ripped it all out. The carpet is now replaced with a beautiful natural wood floor and a matching staircase. Next we will tackle the living room floor that at the moment also has wall-to-wall carpet. The wood for the living room floor is currently climatzing in our basement.

What really prevented me from writing are the computer troubles I am experiencing lately. The darn machine is in and put of the “computer clinic” and is still not working right. I guess, like me, the computer is showing its age and probably soon needs to be replaced. But in the meantime I writing as much as I can to meet deadlines and get the posts for this blog written.

By tomorrow I will have the post up, hopefully, about my turkey hunting trip that turned out to be much more than just a ordinary hunting trip. You will have to come back and read all about the experiences and good folks we meet on that trip. I also hope that I get the product reviews written and posted here. It does not often happen that I come across a product that makes me go “WOW” but it happened in the last two weeks not once but twice.

As you can see a lot has happened worth to write about, so make sure to stay tuned and check back frequently.

Othmar Vohringer Outdoors
Founding Member of Outdoor Bloggers Summit

Spring Geese Hunting Season

© By Othmar Vohringer

Here in British Columbia the short spring geese hunting season has opened for ten days. Having spent the past two months indoors with writing and preparations for the upcoming seminar tour I am itching to get out and do some hunting.

This afternoon I brushed up on my calling skills, such as they are, and now I am getting all the stuff ready for tomorrow morning. Looking across the desk at all the equipment piled up in the corner I can’t help but feel a little bewildered about the mountain of stuff. Rally how much does it take to go hunting? Apparently, quite a lot, looking at my stuff in the corner.

There are two pairs of insulated winter boots, a set of ASAT insulated camouflage (parka and bib-coverall), a woolen hat with facemask. Two pairs woolen socks, a set of thick thermal underwear and insulated gloves. On the side table are two boxes of 12 gauge, 3 inch BB Federal Premium shell boxes. The goose calls lay next to it and the Mossberg 535 ATS shotgun is still safely looked away in the gun safe. Just by the office door are two full sets, that’s 24, Flambeau Canada geese decoys.

It looks like I am ready to go geese hunting.

On Monday I’ll be back here and tell you all about it. If I fill my quota I'll brag about it, if not I will come up with excuses. A valued excuse that might occur is that the weatherman has predicted cold windy weather and around here that is not what waterfowl hunters want. We will see, whatever happens it will be good to get out with friends and get some fresh air into the lungs.

Othmar Vohringer Outdoors
Founding Member of Outdoor Bloggers Summit

Newsletter

© By Othmar Vohringer

This is to inform everybody that I have added a newsletter to Othmar Vohringer Outdoors.

The newsletter can be read directly on the website or better yet if you’re interested simply subscribe to it and each new edition will be sent to your e-mail inbox.

The newsletter is an easy and convenient vehicle to keep hunters and hunting industry abreast of new developments, events, products and other useful information as it pertains to Othmar Vohringer Outdoors. In the next edition of the newsletter there also will be seasonal tips for hunters and fishers included, plus short product reviews.

Othmar Vohringer Outdoors
Founding Member of Outdoor Bloggers Summit

Tags: Othmar Vohringer Outdoors, newsletter

Outdoor Writers of Canada

© By Othmar Vohringer

A few weeks ago Peter Wood, author of Ripple Outdoors and Corporate Director of the Outdoor Writers of Canada, sent me an email. In the email Peter paid me a huge and for me humbling compliment by stating that he has read my blogs and thinks they are excellent. Then Peter asked, “Why are you not a member of the Outdoor Writers of Canada (OWC)?” I answered back, thanking him for his kind words and compliment and that I looked into joining the OWC a while back but don’t think that I measure up the professional standards after reading the requirements needed.

To cut a long story short the next email I received was signed by OWC Executive Director and Canadian outdoor celebrity T.J. Schwanky. The email stated that he received word from Peter and after looking at my blogs the OWC would be happy to have me as a member and that I would find attached to the e-mail a membership form.

I filled the membership form out but to complete the application process I had to find, as required by the regulations, a “membership sponsor”. The sponsor had to be an active member in good standing with the OWC. I asked Bill Otway, an award winning outdoor writer and conservationist who, like me, is also a member of the Nicola Valley Fish & Game Club, if he would be so kind to sponsor me.

To be honest, at the time I was not sure if he would sponsor me, because compared to Canadian outdoor celebrities like Perer Wood, T.J. Schawnky and Bill Otway among many others, I am a blank sheet of paper. Bill looked at me and said, “Of course I will sponsor you my friend. You deserve to be a member of the OWC.” With that he signed the form and wrote a nice comment with it as well. I sent the membership form and membership dues off five days ago and on Thursday I received an e-mail confirmation – letter confirmation and membership card will follow with regular mail - that I have been accepted as member of the OWC.

For me this is a proud moment in my outdoor life. The membership and assistance from all the other members will help me to become a better writer and provides me with another outlet to promote the conservation of our rich outdoor heritage to even more people.

To read or download the official press release visit my website

To learn more about Outdoor Writers of Canada visit. www.outdoorwritersofcanada.com


Othmar Vohringer Outdoors
Founding Member of Outdoor Bloggers Summit

Tags: Outdoor Writers of Canada, Othmar Vohringer, Outdoor Writing

The New Year starts promising

© By Othmar Vohringer

In a previous post I reported about the highlights of the past hunting season and it looks like that the new year will be equally exiting. We’re of to a good start.

My new website Othmar Vohringer Outdoors has taken off better then I expected and the response I get is encouraging. It definitely pays to have a website to promote a business or service. Several people inquired about my hunting courses and the seminars. I am particularly proud that it looks very much like that I will be holding my very first hunting seminar at one of the biggest outdoor shows this spring right here in my own home province. This might sound a little strange to some of my readers but in all these years I have never given a seminar in British Columbia or Canada. So I am very pleased that finally I been given the opportunity to play a home game.

With turkey hunting just around the corner I get calls and emails about my turkey hunting course almost every day. This is a very unique course and it seems people are surprised if they learn that my courses are not like a seminar or dry theory in a classroom setting but actual hand one courses where the “students” are directly involved. Rather then just sit and listen or read form charts and books my courses are designed to show hunters how to be more successful. In the course a hunter will not be told how to use a turkey call, he will learn physically right there how use a turkey call. The students will be taken into the field and shown where the turkeys are and how the birds use the terrain to travel from one location to another, where to set up an ambush and so on. I always found that showing and doing at the actual location is a better way to learn then just digesting theories sitting in a stuffy room.

I am getting the hunting course and seminar schedule together as I write this. If you’re interested in having me appear on a hunting event or book a course there is no better time then to do it now and not leave it until all dates are booked out.

Recently I have not posted much on my blogs or visited other blogs. The new year started off busy leaving me little time for much else, including nursing my cold. The upcoming annual Ice Fishing Derby on January 18, keeps me busy too. I actually just came in from an afternoon spent in the cold and snow covered outdoors, video taping a community service broadcast to promote the event. I am still chilled to the bone but it was great. I made some new connections and walked away with new plans and ideas for the future.


Othmar Vohringer Outdoors
Founding Member of Outdoor Bloggers Summit

New Website Launched

© By Othmar Vohringer

Some of my readers and fellow bloggers may have started to wonder about my lack of posting and answering comments made on my blogs.

I am still here and I haven’t abandoned my blogs or my blogging friends. It’s just that over the past few weeks I have been incredibly busy. The hunting season comes to a close on December 10 and I still have not connected with the buck I want. If I didn’t hunt I have been sitting in the office planning for next year and get things rolling in the right direction.

The lion share of the time, however, was spent on getting my website finally ready to be launched. I started the basic design two years ago but each time I looked at it I didn’t like something and changed it. Then in the last two months I completely redesigned everything from the ground up and today I am pleased to announce that OthmarVohringer.comhas been successfully launched. There are still a few minor changes and some editing to be made but the bulk of it up and running.

At this point it is appropriate to say a big thank you to my wife for putting up with my frustrations – me and modern technology do not go along well -, for her continues artistic input, ideas and inspiration but also for the many hours spent editing and proofreading all the text that still continuous to this day. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, without you this website never have turned out the way I envisioned it.

The website will provide information of my many services to the hunting industry. Naturally there is also a lot of information for hunters too in form of articles, tips, product reviews and much more. I believe with OthmarVohringer.com I have created a well-rounded information source for everybody within our large hunting community.

Take a minute or two and check the website and let me know what you think. I also welcome any suggestions you may have. If you would like to help me in spreading the news about the website please feel free to go to “Press Releases” and download the official media release and a picture of your choice, or link back to this article on your blogs. Thank you!

Tags: Website Launch, Othmar Vohringer Outdoors, Smart Hunting Strategies, Press Release, News

Heading out Hunting this Weekend

© By Othmar Vohringer

In an hour I leave with a relative of my wife and a few friends for our November mule deer rut hunt. We’ll be back on Tuesday evening (November 11). I am very exited about this hunt. Previous scouting trips into the area the past week have revealed a lot of buck activity. New rubs – mule deer bucks don’t make scrapes – have appeared everywhere and old rubs have been freshened up. For good measure I placed several doe-in-estrus scent canisters around the area to hold the bucks and make them revisit the area often.

In addition a cold front has moved in last night from the pacific and heading slowly to the east of the North American continent. This front sure will get the bucks fired up and moving. Read more about it on Whitetail Deer Passion – This is the weekend to be out hunting.

Hope you all have a good hunting weekend and please be safe. See you all back here on Wednesday and hopefully I have a great story with pictures of a big buck to tell about.

Tags: Mule Deer Hunting, Hunting Camp, Deer Rut, Deer Scent, Cold Weather Front

The lure of a big buck

© By Othmar Vohringer

By the time you’re reading this I will be off again in the pursuit of a huge mule deer I have encountered a two weeks ago. After spotting the monster dozing in the shadow of big sage bush I stalked to within 150 yards of him. It took me almost two hours to cover the half-mile distance that separated me from him. The countryside these buck calls home consists of rolling hills in the grassland area of our province.

Big mule deer are smart and always bed down in a location that enables them to observe the area for along distance. It took all my stalking savvy, using every little advantage to hide my approach from the every alert eyes of that hunter wise monarch. Once in my final position I raised my rifle, the crosshairs of the scope centered perfectly. Instinctively the trigger finger bent when it felt right. The Weatherby Vanguard .270 barked loud into to silent wilderness sending a deadly Federal Premium 130 grain Nosler Partition bullet on its way.

The buck jumped up looked quick around and then in typical mule deer fashion made his way over the ridge. I could see through my scope that I missed him about ten inches over his back. How could that happen? I am not that lousy, in fact I am actually a very decent marksman. Then it seemed to come back to me that I just before the hunt dropped the rifle on the ground. Not much, it only was about a foot or two off the truck bed. Better check the scope and the zero.

Sure enough when I inserted the laser light into the barrel and aimed at a stone hundred yards away the crosshairs of the scope where off about three inches to the right and four inches high. Back to the shooting range and get that fixed right away. The rifle shoots dead on again and tomorrow (Friday) afternoon I am out in mister mule deer’s range until Tuesday night when I will come back home, hopefully not alone.

I am new to this mule deer hunting and there is much to learn. Mule deer are a very different breed from whitetails. I have been saying to my wife just the other day. “If I would be hunting whitetails for that many weeks that I am after mule deer, the freezer would be full and a rack or two would adorn my office wall by now.”

Here are a few pictures to show you what around here mule deer country looks like. Enjoy.

Rolling hills with ravines, over grown gullies, deep saddles and big dark old growth timber plus ever changing winds and thermals are an old mule deer bucks kind of paradise and a hunters nightmare.

All ducks lined up and ready to rumble

© By Othmar Vohringer

Yesterday I sat in my office, also serving as my hunting gadget storage room, getting all my duck decoys ready by attaching new anchor lines to each of them. Each time I finished a decoy I set it on the floor in a neat line, drake, hen, drake, hen... From the TV upstairs my ears caught the faint announcement form the Canadian Comedy Channel, “are you ready to rumble?”

Looking at my duck decoys all lined up on the floor I thought to myself. “Yes indeed my ducks are all lined up and I am ready to rumble – in the duck marsh that is.” For weeks I am lining my ducks up to get ready for waterfowl season.

It started weeks ago with daily visits to the shooting range to get my shotgun patterned. I am very particular with shooting accuracy. I want the best performance possible be that with bows, rifles, muzlleloader or rifle. To get the best out of every weapon I have to spend considerable time at the range. “This will do” has never been an option for me.

I went through several boxes of various brands, shell and shot sizes, trying out different choke tubes until finally I arrived at a consistent pellet pattern. It’s a lot of work but the end result is worth that work. My trusty Mossberg performs a consistent pattern with Federal Ultra Shok 3” loaded with # 3 steel pellets pushed through an improved choke. Fortunately, the heavier BB shot, which I prefer for geese, of the same brand and shell size performs equally well with the same choke. I do not have to waste time exchanging choke tubes in the marsh when ducks and geese fly in together. All I have to do is load quickly a shell with the proper size pellets.

With the gun performing at its best it was time to scout a few good spots to ambush waterfowl. About a ten-minute drive from our house I found several perfect spots. All the spots are accessible by boat only, which is a good thing. Not many hunters here will go out of their comfort zone for waterfowl hunting. It’s just not that popular around here. One of the places I found receives frequent visits from bears, and judging from the prints in the soft shore sand they are huge. It’s a secluded place and that makes it attractive to ducks. When I go there I might take the rifle along too just in case a bear shows up when I am there too.

The other spot is located in a huge reed field. I cut a channel into it that will accommodate my boat perfectly and stay hidden from any approaching duck’s view. All in all I am pretty confident with the locations I have chosen. The gun shooting well and promising stand locations found I had half of my ducks lined up. I could turn my attention to duck and geese calling practice. I am a great believer in game calling because it works when all the conditions are right and the hunter masters the proper sounds and sequences.

The only downside is, that if you hunt so many different game species you need to practice a lot of different calls. There is just no way that I can consistently practice deer, turkey, elk and waterfowl calls on a regular schedule. The good news is that ones you learned the calls its like riding a bicycle. You never will forget, but you get rusty if you don’t do it for a few month. So, for the past two days I am brushing up on my waterfowl language.

The last job remaining to do was to attach anchors to my brand new set of Flambeau duck decoys. Everything is ready to go or you could say, my ducks are all lined up and I am ready to rumble.

Tags: Waterfowl Hunting, Duck Hunting, Goose Hunt, Duck Calls, Mossberg Shotguns, Federal Ultra Shok

What the statistics say

© By Othmar Vohringer

In October 2007 I had to change to StatCounter because the old company I had all my blogs registered with had a melt down and lost all my data.

Today I checked the overall statistics of all my blogs and I am very impressed with the grand total of visitors to my blogs.

Outdoors with Othmar Vohringer from October 2007 to August 2008
95,585 visitors.
This is my first bolg that I started on January 29, 2006 with a book review of "What Fish Don't Want You to Know". I remember just before the old counter broke down that this blog registerd about 45.000 visitors (can't remember the exact number)

Whitetail Deer Passion blog from October 2007 to August 2008
56,333 visitors (this blog is only seasonally updated)

Wild Turkey Fever blog from October 2007 to August 2008
35,424 visitors (this blog is only regularly updated in the spring and sporadically in the fall.)

FishingBC Blog (started March 2008, sporadically updated)
4,256 visitors

My Stand blog from October 2007 to August 2008 (updated irregularly with the readers favorites from all the other blogs.)
3,248 visitors

This makes a grand total of: 159,422 visitors in just under a year.
Thanks to all my loyal readers who made this success possible. I will try hard to provide you in the future with the information you come to expect from my blogs. I also will try harder to write on a more regular schedule for the Whitetail Deer Passion, Wild Turkey Fever and the FishingBC blog.