RSS

Monthly Archives: March 2017

Trip planning tips

So many people WANT to go on a hunting or fishing trip but find the task daunting and the thought overwhelming so they tend to avoid it….

Truly, if you know a few simple tricks, planning can be expedited and you could find yourself in a boat or tree stand much quicker than expected.

wawang lake, wawang lake resort

U. S. Passport Card

First and foremost, you do NOT need to purchase a passport.  For half the price ($55.00 adult, $40 child) this handy card lasts for a period of 10 years and allows ground transport between the US and Canada and Mexico. If you plan to fly, a passport will be required but most of us travel will plenty of hunting and fishing equipment so driving is much more common.

http://travel.state.gov/content/passports/english/passports/information/card.html

Also a note regarding those pesky DWI’s….if you have had one and it has been over 6 months, there is a good possibility you can still enter Canada!!  https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/402/~/entering-the-u.s.-and-canada-with-dui-offenses

Next, when choosing a trip, make a list of ‘must haves’ such as:  The resort MUST HAVE running water, indoor plumbing, somewhere to prepare food etc.  (We have that…shameless plug lol)

Next devise a budget.  Remember to calculate travel and food costs.  And also remember to find out if the cost is per person or an overall cost.  Always add an extra 15% to that number to ensure you have money for unexpected incidentals such as a flat tire etc.  Also, never forget to calculate the local taxes into the cost.

Once you have a targeted budget, begin your research.  Remember, most resorts do have varying rates depending on the season as well as various other specials during the year.

When utilizing specials, ensure that you understand the weather patterns and fishing patterns at that time of year.  Some places have a change over in ease of catching species or hunting migration patterns.  Make sure you ask about this so you aren’t disappointed.

Take us for example, in June our regular Housekeeping fishing rate is $625 per person but offer various discounts from July-Sept.  In July we offer 25% off for parents and children so the rate would drop to $468.75…quite a savings.  And for those of you who are paying attention, our lake is a closed off headwater, spring fed and our fish cant leave…they just tend to migrate from one part of the lake to another so fishing will only be affected by color, depth and presentation 🙂  Feel free to check us out http://wawangresort.com/HTML%20Pages/RATES/Fishing_Rates.pdf

Last and not least, get referrals!  There is nothing more disappointing that driving (or flying) all that way only to find it isnt what is what you were expecting.  Though no trip may be perfect, you should understand the basics of what to expect.  

Ensure that you also contact the lodge representatives with all questions and they should respond promptly, honestly and with as much information as possible…..remember, they should be looking forward to meeting you and be excited to share what they can provide for you.

Remember…this is YOUR vacation and it is within your control to make it the best possible!

Follow our FISHING BLOG

WEB   RATES     FISH    HUNT    CABINS    PHOTOS
BROCHURE   HUNT BOOKLET

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

 

 

 

Tags: , , , , ,

HOW SCENT ACTUALLY WORKS

scent2Scent is a mysterious  and often grossly misunderstood aspect amongst those who not only pursue game with hounds or other hunting dog breeds, but all hunters in general.

Scent is simply comprised of micro parti­cles of disturbed vegetable matter and/or released dead body cells drifting from the targeted subject. Vegetable matter can be crushed plant material or even minute surface dwelling bio-material living upon hard surfaces like concrete or rock.  Dead body cells consist of drifting dead skin, fur or feather cells eventually falling to the ground.  This may also include fluids, oils and vapors the body expels.

How long does a scent trail last?  That depends on given environmental conditions. The trail won ‘t exist very long if it has been hot and windy over dry surfaces.  In contrast, it will sur­vive much longer in cool, moist conditions upon grassy areas with no wind exposure.

Here are some Myths about scenting:

1.
“Animals can’t smell me when I apply scent-free products like special soaps, sprays or even wear scent free clothing.’   If you are liv­ing and breathing, you are giving off scent.  Although these products may lessen the scent intensity from your person, a Bloodhound can find you in the woods within minutes.  It is impossible for any human to be scent free.

2.
“Hounds can’t run a scent trail in the rain.”  Scent parti­cles tend to be hydrophilic, meaning they readily soak up moisture and create an effluvium of scent for the canine olfactory system.  Hounds have successfully found humans and animals in the pounding rain.  Any good hunting breed should be able to trail game in light to moder­ate rain.

3.
“My dog sometimes ground scents and other times he air scents.”  I suppose if your dog’s nose is on the ground, you can call that ground scenting and if it’s in the air, you can call that air scenting. Is it called water scenting if he sniffs a running creek or tree scenting if he barks up a tree?  Scent is scent!

imagesY2AQPWJMThe canine’s nose is attracted to the strongest scent source available at that moment during trailing.  The canine has thousands more scent receptors than humans. A roaming nose is a hunting nose; let it be.

If you want to see how your dog scents, ignite a brightly colored smoke bomb outdoors with plenty of room to observe and follow the pock­ etc. of floating smoke. Watch how clouds of smoke slowly break apart, climb high into tree tops, sink down into ravines or just lazily snake over the high grass. Wind, atmospheric pressure, humidity, temperature, etc. ….all affect the smoke as it does with scent. That is why your trailing dog runs, stops, circles around, runs again ….. Let him work it out without interference from you. Scenting is his world, not yours.

You can improve your game scent trailing by taking advantage of the best environmental conditions available, as well as staying away from proven scent killers, i.e…..hot and dry surfaces, vehicle exhaust fumes or petroleum products. Trying to scent a hound on a fresh track next to a chugging hunting rig is like us trying to smell a rose over a smoky camp fire.

bait

As much as we now know about scent, there is still plenty of scientific work to be done. As a hunter, you must understand how scent works whether you use a canine partner or not.  Whether hunting birds or bear, scent is always there.

Keep the wind on your face, the sun to your back and hunt like a predator!

Follow our FISHING BLOG

WEB   RATES     FISH    HUNT    CABINS    PHOTOS
BROCHURE    HUNT BOOKLET

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

 

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Tips On How to Shoot Fast

by David E. Petzal

How_to_Shoot_Fast

The sign of a first-rate intelligence, said F. Scott Fitzgerald, is the ability to hold two conflicting ideas in the mind and still function. So it is with fast rifle work. Riflery is a sport of deliberation and precision, but the demands of the real world very often make deliberation and precision impossible. Gunsite Academy sums it up to a T: “A good fast shot is better than a slow perfect shot because you won’t get time for the perfect shot.”

What follows is about shooting quickly after you have positively identified your target. It’s not about blazing away at sounds or snap-shooting at what you think is an animal.

Develop Your Mental Clock
The first step in shooting fast has nothing to do with shooting. It involves learning how much time you have to shoot, and whether you have to shoot fast at all. Much of this can be acquired by watching critters and reading their body language. A whitetail aware of evil nearby does not act like a whitetail whose greatest worry is where he’ll find a date that evening. An animal that’s 400 yards away does not act at all like the animal right under your tree stand.

On occasion, I’ve given the hunters with me heart failure because I waited and waited for a critter to move just a little bit to give me the exact shot I wanted. And I always got it because I knew that animals never stand still, and I knew that whatever I was about to drop the hammer on had no idea anything was amiss.

Eschew Perfection
Unlike shot gunners, who send out hundreds of pellets with every pull of the trigger and are happy if one or two of them get the job done, riflemen have it dinned into them that they have to be precise. It’s not enough to get a bullet in the 10-ring; you want to get it in the X-ring. If you’re shooting groups, you want to shave off every tenth of an inch you possibly can. And the way you do this is by being deliberate and getting everything perfect before you pop a cap.

547e9416-31d5-4b8e-9e13-35f18ec88b17

This is exactly the opposite of how a good game shot operates. Animals have not evolved with 10-rings or X-rings. What they have are hearts and lungs, and a hit anywhere in either counts. Modern hunting bullets are so destructive that catching a distant corner of a lung will result in as certain a kill as a shot right through the middle of said organ.

Don’t Forget to Aim

On the other hand, you still have to aim. Many misses occur because hunters panic, get the crosshairs somewhere in what they think is the general vicinity of the beast, and yank the trigger. (The closer the critter, the more this seems to happen.) A little while back I listened to a Wyoming outfitter recounting in disbelief how a client, resting his rifle on shooting sticks, had managed to shoot an elk in the buttocks at 60 yards. “How do you hit an 800-pound animal in the ass at 60 yards?” he asked me, still indignant. (He tracked the poor creature for two days and eventually lost it.)

is
The answer is simple. When the moment comes, most hunters can only think: “OMG, this is the only chance I’m going to get!” Everything else, such as the fundamentals of riflery, goes right out of their heads.

Furthermore, too many hunters don’t practice. For them, the mechanics of mounting the gun, acquiring the sight picture, and pulling the trigger are about as familiar as those of piloting a space capsule.

What to Do?

I can’t tell you how to acquire cold blood. Jerry Fisher, the great custom gun maker, once told me that after you take about 300 head of big game you calm down. That sounds about right.

Short of that, the way to learn to shoot fast is roughly this: First, know your animal. There is no shortage of game-critter anatomical charts that you can study. Know where the lungs are. That’s always the percentage shot.

Second, when it comes time to shoot for real, envision an aiming point on the beast and hold for that. And the nanosecond the cross hairs are even close to it—not precisely on it—shoot. Fast, good shots, remember?

To practice shooting fast, you need a .22 rifle and a whole bunch of NRA 50-Yard Slow Fire Pistol targets. These have an 8-inch bull that’s just about the size of an animal’s boiler room. Set your scope at its lowest power and, at 20 yards, fire a five-shot string, lowering the gun from your shoulder between shots. What you’re trying to do is get that round off the instant the cross hairs are anywhere in the bull’s-eye. If the bullet hits in the bull, it counts. If it doesn’t, you missed.

sighting-rifle-deer-hunting

It takes me about 1.7 seconds to mount the rifle, aim, and get the shot off. Since my skill with a gun is legendary, bordering on mythical, this is a good time for you to try to match. When you can get all five rounds in the black, every time, back up 5 yards. Eventually you will be shooting from 100 yards, and if you can put 20 out of 20 shots into the bull at that distance, shooting fast, I will buy you a cigar. Or you can buy me one for telling you this stuff.

Follow our HUNTING BLOG

WEB   RATES     FISH    HUNT    CABINS    PHOTOS
BROCHURE    HUNT BOOKLET

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

 

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Black Bear Hunting – SIT Until Dark

450_ashley

We hear tales of bear hunters not sitting until dark and instead stand in time to get back to camp before it gets too late. CRAZY!

Here are some 2016 successful hunters:

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Just like in most types of hunting, “just before dark” is usually the best time for the mature animals to arrive. Sometimes the big ones will be there well before dark, but usually the last 30 minutes of legal shooting light is the best. Carry a flashlight; the bear usually won’t eat you. They are just as afraid of you after dark as they are in the daylight.

sunset bear

Follow our FISHING BLOG

WEB   RATES     FISH    HUNT    CABINS    PHOTOS
BROCHURE    HUNT BOOKLET

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

 

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Bargain vs. Premium Ammo

You get what you pay for. That’s an adage we generally believe in. But does it hold up with respect to ammunition? We set out to answer that question by testing the accuracy of a variety of value-priced .308 hunting ammo against more costly stuff.

ammo1

Methodology
Using three .308 rifles in the test—one hunting rig and two precision rifles that we knew would be ringers.

We put a number of budget and premium loads through all three rifles over the course of one day, ensuring the results wouldn’t be influenced by different environmental conditions. We also used a standard 5-shot-group protocol, and shot two groups with each load at 100 yards. As a control to establish a baseline level of accuracy for each rifle, we also shot 5-shot groups using Federal’s Gold Medal load with 175-grain Sierra BTHPs.

Using the baseline match load to calculate a ratio for each hunting load by dividing the size of the hunting-load groups into the size of the match-load groups. The closer to 1 that ratio is, the better the hunting load performed. None of the hunting loads outshot the match load, so all these ratios were greater than one.

Results
The outcome was interesting. The best hunting ammo was Hornady’s American Whitetail 150-grain Interlock SP. Compared to the baseline groups with the match ammo, this budget-priced load ($19.29 for a box of 20) shot nearly as well as the match ammo in all three rifles and had an impressive 1.41 average ratio. Federal’s Fusion, another bargain ammo ($21.49 for a box of 20) was second best among the loads, with an average ratio of 2.02.

The only expensive load that delivered consistent performance in all three rifles was Federal’s 165-grain Trophy Bonded Tip ($34.49 per box), The two Winchester loads had nearly identical levels of performance, though again, the less expensive 180-grain BST (2.11 ratio average) outshot the more expensive 150-gr. XP3 (2.81 ratio average).

ammo2

It’s worth noting when purchasing premium ammo that the promise of greater accuracy is certainly implied because it uses better quality components, but that much of its benefit is based on the idea that it will perform better on game.

Conclusion
It pays to try different loads in several different bullet weights in your rifles. Investing money to find an accurate load is the cheapest way to get the most from your rig.

Follow our FISHING BLOG

WEB   RATES     FISH    HUNT    CABINS    PHOTOS
BROCHURE    HUNT BOOKLET

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

 

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Morel Mushrooms Hunting For The Beginner

Morels are America’s mushroom, more so than any other. It may be because they’re widespread, they’re easy to identify, and they come up in the spring, giving people a reason to get out and enjoy warm weather after a long winter. Or, it could be they’re popular simply because they taste so good. Morels are so prized they sell for up to $20 a pound in grocery stores in most locations. Here’s a quick guide to finding your own. Please note that although morels are easy to identify, this a hunting guide, not a field guide. If you have any doubt about a mushroom, don’t keep it.

3

Found in much of the U.S. from late March through May, the morel is our favorite mushroom: plentiful, easy to identify, and delicious. It has colorful names like Molly Moocher, Miracle, Dry land Fish—or, my favorite, Hickory Chickens—but mostly, people just call them “mushrooms” and it’s understood that means “morels.”

Identifying Safe Morels
MushroomBroken2
MushroomBroken1donteat
Here are two morels in the wild. Notice the pits (in the top photo), the distinctive conical shape, and the way the bottom of the cap (the pitted part) is attached near the bottom of the stem. Avoid the half-free morel (bottom photo), which has a longer stem and a cap that attaches near the top, looking like an umbrella. These mushrooms can cause some people to have cramps or other forms of gastrointestinal distress.

Definitely Don’t Eat This
MushroomX_
Don’t eat this mushroom, which is a false morel and is mildly toxic. Notice that it lacks the cone shape of the real thing, and has wrinkles, not pits, on its cap.

Where to Look
Mushroom4
Morels live in and on the edge of forested areas. Look for ash, aspen, elm, and oak trees, around which morels often grow. Early in the spring as the ground is warming, you’ll find them on south-facing slopes in fairly open areas. As the season progresses, go deeper into the woods and onto north-facing slopes.

8
Well-drained, sandy soils like this creek bottom make good hunting spots as well. You’ll find the first morels of the year when daytime highs reach the 60s and lows stay above 40 degrees.

Hunting Tactics
7

Hunting morels is like bass fishing. You cover ground until you find one, then slow down and search the area carefully. Concentrate the rest of your hunt on similar areas, on the theory that you’ve found the “pattern” for the day.

Early-Season Morels
Mushroom7
The first morels of the season are small. It takes quite a few to make a meal. The acorn top and walnut husk in the hand above help show scale.

Look For Dead Trees
Mushroom8
Morels often grow around dead and dying trees. Old apple orchards make good hunting grounds. Always look around dead elm trees like this one. When a tree reaches the stage of decay where its bark is slipping off its trunk you’ll often find lots of morels around it.

Later in the Season
3
As the season progresses you find bigger, yellow morels. They taste just as good as the smaller ones, they’re easier to spot, and it doesn’t take as many to feed a hungry hunter.

Mushroom10
Soaking morels in water for a couple of hours cleans them and washes out any bugs living inside the hollow mushrooms. Some people slice them in half lengthwise for a more thorough cleaning.

Mushroom11
Here you see morels sautéing in butter. Cooking in butter brings out their rich, almost meaty flavor. If I don’t have very many, I like to scramble them into eggs with some tarragon. Batter-fried morels are also very popular.

Mushroom12

The bounty of spring, fork-ready. Serve with a breast of wild turkey or some fish fillets and it’s totally awesome!

Follow our FISHING BLOG

WEB   RATES     FISH    HUNT    CABINS    PHOTOS
BROCHURE    HUNT BOOKLET

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

 

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Wild Plants to Cure the Flu and Common Cold

Can’t make it to the drug store right now? Whatever the reason, you do have some natural medicinal options in the winter season. Look for these three plants to lessen the symptoms and shorten the duration of your next case of the cold or flu. All you need is a sharp eye and a patch of wild growth to find these common and potent medicinal’s.

Mullein 
Mullein is a native plant, which favors dry, rocky soil and full sunlight, and is found throughout North America. An easy way to spot patches of this plants in cold weather is to look for the chocolate brown skeletons of the second-year plants. Look for 4- to 6-foot-tall stalks, which often have branching flower heads that resemble the arms of a saguaro cactus.

images2KI75GRG

The part you want for medicine are the velvety green leaves, which can still be found in winter growing in basal rosettes on one-year-old plants. Treat head colds by crushing the leaves into boiling water and breathing the steam. This medicated vapor acts as a decongestant.

barberryBarberry
The little red berries of barberry contain a compound called berberine. This acts as an immune system booster, helping your body fight off viral attacks like the common cold and the flu. The bitter taste of the berries isn’t very inviting, but eating a handful each day you’re feeling sick can shorten the illness, much like elderberry and Echinacea will. Look for small bushes with small dangling red berries. The two native varieties of the shrubs will have thorns in sets of three growing all over the twigs. The introduced Japanese species will have single thorns growing around the twigs. All three species can be used medicinally. As an additional point of identification, check the seeds in the red berries. Each berry should contain dark, slender seeds—typically two per berry.


Yarrow

This non-native plant grows from coast to coast on sunny open ground, although it’s originally nativeyarrow to Europe. Its most common use is as a poultice for cuts and other wounds. But you can fight colds and flu with it by making a tea from the leaves. Chop up the fresh leaves and add one tablespoon to one cup of scalding hot water. Soak the leaves for 10 to 15 minutes. You can sweeten the drink if you need to, or drink it commando-style. The anti-viral compounds help your immune system through its battle, while the diaphoretic compounds will get a sweat going to help break fevers.

Just make sure you use a field guide or guidance from an expert for positive identification of these plants. The last thing you need to do is poison yourself while you’re already ill.

rosehipsRose Hip Benefits
A Rose hip is the fruit of a rose. The wild dog rose is the type of rose most often cultivated for their hips. This plant grows up to ten feet tall and bears a white, very fragrant flower. Once the flower has bloomed, and all the petals have fallen off, the hip is picked and used in a wide variety of preparations. Rose hips are the best source of vitamin C; they contain 50% more vitamin C than oranges.
A single tablespoon of the pulp gives an adult more than the recommended daily allowance of 60 mg. They can be eaten raw, after being put through a blender, or soaked in water overnight and then cooked in the water for about half an hour. Because of the high vitamin C content they are an excellent immune system booster, and are often used as a supplement to prevent or treat a cold. The pulp from rose hips may be used in sauces or made into jelly.

Have you made medicine from wild plants?

Follow our FISHING BLOG

WEB   RATES     FISH    HUNT    CABINS    PHOTOS
BROCHURE    HUNT BOOKLET

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

 

 

 

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Country-Style Fried Bear Steak

This recipe will bring out the southern drawl in anyone. It’s great for any game meat but extra special with bear. It uses a blended creole seasoning mix recipe, which are also included.

bear-steak-620x338[1]

Creole Seasoning

  • 2 tbsp. onion powder
  • garlic powder
  • dried oregano leaves
  • dried sweet basil 1 tbsp.
  • dried thyme leaves
  • black pepper
  • white pepper
  • cayenne pepper
  • salt 3 tbsp.
  • sweet paprika

Blend together in a food processor. Store in an airtight container.

Ingredients

  • 2 lbs. bear steak, cut into 4 equal portions
  • 3 tbsp. creole seasoning,
  • divided ½ lb. bacon, chopped
  • 11⁄4 cups all-purpose flour,
  • divided 1 large egg
  • 2½ cups milk,
  • divided 1 cup bread crumbs
  • ½ cup yellow onion, minced
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • ½ tsp. pepper

Instructions
Place the bear steak on a piece of plastic wrap and cover with another piece of plastic wrap. Pound steak with a meat mallet until it’s ¼ inch thick. Season both sides of meat with 1 tsp. of creole seasoning.

Fry the bacon in a large, heavy skillet until just crisp. Remove and drain. Set pan with the bacon grease aside.

Prepare 3 bowls to dredge the meat.

Into the first bowl, add 1 cup flour and 1 tbsp. creole seasoning.

To the second bowl, add egg whisked with ½ cup milk and ½ tsp. creole seasoning.

Into the third bowl, add bread crumbs mixed with all but ½ tsp of remaining creole seasoning.

Dredge the meat in the first bowl, shake off any excess, then dip in second bowl and again shake off excess, then roll in crumb mixture. Repeat with all steaks.

Reheat the bacon fat in skillet until hot, but not smoking. Carefully add 1 piece of meat and fry until golden, about 3 to 4 minutes per side. Transfer to paper towel to drain, repeat with other pieces of meat.

Add ¼ cup flour and ½ tsp. of creole seasoning to drippings in pan.

Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly for 2 minutes. Add onion and cook, stirring until onions soften, about 4 minutes. Whisk in remaining milk and salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer until sauce is thickened, about 5 minutes.

Stir in bacon. Serve with steaks.

Follow our FISHING BLOG

WEB   RATES     FISH    HUNT    CABINS    PHOTOS
BROCHURE    HUNT BOOKLET

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

 
 

Tags: , , , ,

Making Waterproof Matches

When it comes to matches, waterproof ones are best, especially in dire circumstances like a flood. Since they’re much more expensive than their pedestrian cousins, you might want to make your own.

cabdle

Use the Candle Technique
Burn a candle long enough for a pool of wax to form around the wick. Blow it out, then dip the head of your match into the wet wax, about of an inch (3 mm) up the stick. Remove the matchstick and allow the wax to dry, pinching it closed to form a water-tight seal.

Deploy the Nail Polish Ploy
Coat your matches with clear nail polish to waterproof them. Dip the head of the match and a bit of the matchstick itself into the polish, then rest the match on a counter with the head hanging off the edge to dry. Survive any wilderness situation with these critical tips.

Try the Turpentine Trick
The easiest way to waterproof your matches is simply to drop them in turpentine. Allow the matches to soak for five minutes before placing them on newspaper to dry. After twenty minutes or so, you’ll have waterproof matches that will last several months.

Follow our FISHING BLOG

WEB   RATES     FISH    HUNT    CABINS    PHOTOS
BROCHURE    HUNT BOOKLET

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

 

 

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

 
%d bloggers like this: