The "Beast" Cameron Hanes

While at the 2013 Archery Trade Show I got to visit with Ultra Marathoner the "Beast" bowhunter Cameron Hanes. While some of us were having fun in the after hours and had our tails dragging in the morning.... Cam was setting the example for the rest of us by hitting the streets running before daylight! He is the Beast! You can follow Cameron's physical training at his web site: CameronHanes.com

$99 Trail Cameras

Camera over looks a mock scrape.

                                            Research by Jim Taylor

Over the years I have tried various brands of trail cameras with disappointing results. I've got an older Moultrie (big 6 volt battery) that "kinda" work but I have to do a series of jumping jacks in front of it to trigger a photo. Several years ago I bought two WildGame cameras, (used 4 c batteries) both are not working this year. In the last few years, trail cameras have gotten more compact, have better battery life, quicker trigger speeds, and better image quality.

Image taken with the $99 Bushnell 

Last year I purchased a compact Tasco that holds 4 AA batteries that I swear will last 6 months. It works but the images are not of the highest quality. Unless you are looking to frame and hang your pictures it seems to be more than adequate for scouting work. I just want it to document what passes in front of the camera. I still have this one and continue to use it today.     

The image above was taken on the 7th of November.

This year after seeing the Bushnell cameras (Model #119420) at Wal-Mart for $99 I had to give them a try. I bought two and hung them up on our hunting lease near Stuttgart in September of this year. They have continued to provide me with respectable images of deer visiting our food plots and have yet to need replacement batteries. For the price I remain impressed with their performance. ChasingGame reviewed the cameras and said the trigger speed is a reasonable 1.25 seconds. I have since bought two more and strategically placed them on some ground that I hunt in Kansas. One of the cameras captured a different buck passing the camera three days in a row. (Shown here)

Range and trigger speeds are your two most important elements of camera selection. Game cameras with less than 1 second trigger speeds are available but they are much more expensive. Reconyx HC600 has a trigger speed of less than a quarter of a second but cost a whopping $550! Bushnell does make a cameras(Trophy Cam HD) that has trigger speeds down to .6 seconds but retails for $249.   

This buck would find it self standing 15 yards from 

my stand on the 10th. 

 If you are watching a food plot or feeder the fast trigger speeds are not necessary. But what about trail watching? An alternative to the fast trigger speeds is to give the deer a reason to slow down on the trail. I like to make a mock scrape at the area of the trial I want the buck to stop at. A fresh scrape with a squirt of doe in estrus or buck urine will get the bucks attention long enough for the trail camera to record the deer. I think you can be much more successful spreading 5 cameras out over your hunting area than having one super-fast expensive camera.

My Nov 10, 2012 buck that was captured on 

camera three days earlier. 

Before deploying a trail camera check local rules on their use. After hearing about them being outlawed in certain areas I called around to several wildlife refuges within the state of Arkansas. Richard Gray, enforcement officer for my favorite National wildlife refuge, White River, says that yes, they do have rules prohibiting leaving Trail cameras overnight. Apparently, they don't specifically have a rule that says you can't leave trail camera on the refuge. What they do have is a rule that prohibits leaving or "abandoning" any personal property on the refuge. Specific exceptions have been made for tree-stands and boats over the years. I would like to see an exception for game cameras as well.

Trail cameras are useful, fun, and can extend your hunting season in a non-consumptive way. To me they add a whole new dimension and exciting element to the scouting endeavor.

I know where you are!

 - by Jim Taylor

The coolest  piece of technology I've incorporated into my hunts has been the Garmin Rino gps/radio.

Rino by Garmin

I was introduced to the benefits of this "gotta-have" tool  about five years ago as I sat on a lonely Idaho ridge top in the dark.  Four of us were bowhunting elk and I was odd man out with only a 1/2 watt radio(Walmart $19.95 I think) and my handheld gps that I was so proud of.  Right at dusk the adrenalin packed voice of hunting partner Ryan Springer broke  radio silence that he had just arrowed a monster bull at like 12 yards.  Springer, Shoemaker, and Frasca had Garmin Rinos....I had my 1/2 watt Wal-Mart special.  I could hear them, but I  could not reply as  my ½ watt radio was too wimpy to broadcast any distance in the thick Idaho timber.  So, there I sat listening to the back and forth chatter of my excited friends as everyone but me worked their way to Springer's downed trophy elk using their Rino gps/radios.  While they did the congratulatory high five’s, handshakes, and posed for trophy pictures  I sat there alone on a stump as dark fell over that Idaho ridge.  Guess what I asked Santa for that Christmas?

Since then, the Rino  has added so much pleasure to my hunts.  I won't  leave home without it.  These powerful little 5w radios  have built in gps's that let you broadcast your position as well as see the gps location  of your hunting buddies on a topo map displayed on the Rino's screen. 

Mike Frasca navigates with his Rino gps/radio 

They have proven indispensable on our elk hunting trips out West each year.  It used to be that when a bowhunter bagged an elk he might have to walk out of a canyon 2 or 3 miles to the nearest trail to rendezvous with his fellow hunters who then had be "guided" back into the canyon to the downed animal. This meant a waste of precious meat packing time when the September temperatures in Colorado are often in the 80's during the day.  With the Garmin Rino radio/gps, when one of our members downs an animal we can immediately see his position and we can all navigate separately and independently from every direction to converge at the downed elk.

Ryan Springer's 2006 Idaho Elk

Aside from the usual benefits of radio communication and gps usage the Garmin Rino allows you to:

1. Get Help: If you fall and break your leg,  your buddies can locate you. Even if you are unconscious your buddys can "ping" your position to locate you. With the rugged terrain of Western Colorado that's not a bad thing to have.

2. On public land like we hunt it is very useful to know exactly where your hunting partners are so that you are not stumbling on top of each other unnecessarily or hunting the same draw. You can actually set your radio to alert you if you come within a certain distance of a hunting partner.

3. You can transmit hunting hot spots, dangerous cliffs, or locations of last blood while tracking to your fellow bowhunters.

At our stage of life, hunting its not so much about the killing as it is about sharing the hunting adventure and friendship and camaraderie built around high mountain campfires. The Rino gps/radio has enhanced our hunting experience by letting everyone in our hunting party share in the exhilaration and excitement at the very moment a  buddy unleashes an arrow at the big one.    It just doesn't get any better than that dude.

Lets go hunting!

Checking Deer with AGFC Iphone app.

Technology Makes Life Easy..Doesn't it?

During this years Muzzleloader season in South Arkansas I attempted to
check  my first deer using the Arkansas Game and Fish I-phone app, on a  young opening day doe.   The process went smooth and easy until I reached the last page.   I know it doesn't take much sometimes, but that's where this ol Arkansas boy became a little confused.  The I-phone application was supposed to provide me my so-called "check number" that I was required to write on my deer tag.  After arriving at the final screen shown below I asked aloud and with a puzzled look:   "Where is my check number?",   Could 1334 be my check number?",   "It does not say "check number."   I'm thinking I've really got this all screwed up.

There was no button to go forward from that point even though the screen tells me to review my information before submitting.  Like most remote areas of Arkansas, cell phone service kinda sucks where we hunt so  I  suspected that I was having cell service problems and would try again later. After  going through the process again  I had  now unintentionally  tagged this little doe TWICE!  And let me tell you if deer were tagged according to size this little gal would have barely been worth a quarter of a tag, certainly not two tags! 

The following Monday I made a call to the Game and Fish office in Little Rock and explained the situation.    I did feel a little better when they informed me that I was not the first.  They quickly removed one of the inadvertent check numbers  while I was on the phone and I breathed  a sigh of relief that I had not used up two of my precious deer tags on a dinky doe.

Tips for Arkansas deer hunters using the Ark GFC I-phone app to tag deer.

The screen shot shown to the left is  what I saw AFTER I hit my final submit button. 

1. The "before submitting" statement lead me to think I still had additional action to take.  Ignore this.. you are done.

2. "Submitted"  ??  This is the culprit that causes the confusion. It should be replaced with "Check Number":

3. This is the "check number" that you will write on your deer tag. 

The whole fiasco would have been avoided if I had gotten to the last page and saw a line that simply said:  CHECK NUMBER: 1334   You have to keep things simple for this ol Arkansas boy.

For additional information visit the AGFC site on how to check deer here.

New Arkansas Game and Fish Iphone App.

Arkansas Game and Fish I-Phone App

The Arkansas Game and Fish has shown it is on the cutting edge of technology with its release of  a new I-phone app makes it easy to get the AGFC news,  season dates, bag limits, WMA locations and check your game with your I-phone.   The app was free and easy to install. 

 
One of the neatest things about the app is the "Near Me" tool that will provide you a list of nearby public hunting areas from your current location.  This is a handy tool when visiting in-laws on the other side of the state where you may be less familiar with the local hunting opportunities.  You can request a list of public hunting areas  within 10, 20, or 50 miles of your current location.
 
In my particular part of the state,  Fort Smith,  the program displayed 5 public hunting areas's within 20 miles.  That is a lot of hunting opportunities. Once you select the area  you would like to go visit the program provide you  the website, phone number, and will map the driving directions  for you from your location.  I did notice that though the list included our National Forests the glaring absence of  our  local National Wildlife Refuges from among the list was puzzling.

The program is new and the links often simply point the the AGFC web site (season & dates)  I'm hoping that it will expand its mobile formatting in the future.  But so far it's a great start that put our agency ahead of other state agencies and I'm proud to have it.

For Additional Information Visit this Link - AGFC I-Phone APP

by Jim Taylor


 

Pearson's Z-Force

The buck made his presence known on the afternoon of November 19 at 5:15pm  as he came in grunting at a group of does. After three trips to Kansas this year I was relieved when he presented himself  broadside at twenty yards.  With three alert does giving me the "you're busted stare" as I drew my bow,  I was still able to deliver the Magnus broadhead to the 10 ring. The buck was mine.

Jim's 2009 Equipment: Bow: Ben Pearson Z-34 with R2B2 Cams- 29"@60lbs.;   Arrows: Carbon Express;  Rest: Whisker Biscuit; Broadhead: Magnus Stinger 4-blade 100grain. 

The next morning,  my hunting buddy Bruce Jameson made an unbelievable shot on a true Kansas monster.  Bruce, who owns "The Outdoor Indoors" in Pittsburg, Kansas, a Ben Pearson Archery retailer  and award winning taxidermy service,  used a  Pearson Z-34 with R2B2 cams.

Pearson helped us deliver two perfect shots on two unique Kansas whitetails.  Both deer were estimated at over  200lbs field dressed. Let me tell you Kansas deer are big in every sense of the word!

The Power of Z-Force at work!

Story by Jim Taylor

2009 Equipment Preparations

by Jim Taylor

My broadhead target is little more ragged and the bulk of my gear is packed as I move into the final day of preparation for my 2009 Colorado Elk bowhunt.

Here in Fort Smith we have been deluged with constant rain over the last week. It has hampered my shooting practice as well as  my scheduled  2.7 mile runs around Shadow lake in my futile preparation for the peaks and canyons of Colorado.

After packing my truck tonight I will depart Fort Smith at 5 am tomorrow morning for the 19 hour trip to the Uncompahgre National Forest.    Ohio bowhunting partners Mike, Tim and  Wade are going to rendezvous with me around noon on Friday. Intentions are to set up camp Friday afternoon and hit the canyons with bow in hand at day break Saturday.