Small Suburban Property Gems
Small pockets of excellent whitetail habitat are found in nearly every community. Finding these little gems can provide excellent hunting for bucks that get little to no hunting pressure. By Bernie Barringer Driving through a suburban area, I was surprised to see a buck in my headlights. He was standing on the side of the road, looking for an opportunity to cross from one housing development to another, and man what a buck he was. The area was partially wooded with properties from two to five acres in size. There were small groups of unsold lots that were covered in trees with thick underbrush. It was the kind of place where a buck could grow old without fear of hunting pressure. His only worries were being hit by a car or chased by dogs. I did some research and found that the property the buck had been leaving was owned by a real estate developer. The property bordered a small park with a walking trail. It was 15 acres he had not yet sold, and he gave me permission to hunt it over the phone. Just like that. “No one has ever asked before,” he said. I never did shoot that particular buck but I got a lot of trail camera photos of him and two other nice bucks on the property. One of these days my hard work on that little gem of property is going to pay off. My friend Josh Runksmeier of Pequot Lakes, Minnesota had a similar thing happen to him; he located a huge buck in a large developed area with homes built in the woods, mostly on five acres pieces of real estate. His result was better than mine; he was fortunate enough to put that buck on his wall that same season. Bucks are growing old and big in these areas where they get almost no hunting pressure. It’s a misfortune that good bucks are dying of old age. Here’s how to do your part to end it. Walk It Out A common theme in hunting these properties is being minimally intrusive with your presence and your scent. But I make an exception to that rule when I first acquire a piece of property. I like to cover it thoroughly and gather as much first hand information as I can. I want to know where the beds are located, how the deer are travelling the topography, what they are eating and where. It’s a rare piece of property this small that has both a bedding and a feeding area. Usually you get one or the other, or neither. But that can be the case when you have good mast crops right on the property. When the acorns, locust pods and hazelnuts are on the ground, the bedding area and the feeding area may be all together in one place. That’s an ideal situation for a small property. A lot of these small properties often tend to be transition areas between feeding and bedding locations. I have one that is a staging area near a crop field. The field is normally in alfalfa. It’s a great early season hunting spot because the bucks tend to hang out there for the last hour of daylight while the does move into the field. These are all things I have learned from first exploring every inch of the property. Once you really get to know the property, you don’t have to do this again, but you do need to figure out what deer you have using the property. The Night Shift Many of these small woodlots surrounded by homes are a bedroom of sorts for the deer. They spend their time in the thicker areas of the property and then move out under the cover of darkness to forage in the surrounding yards. Picking up acorns off mowed lawns is something deer cannot resist, and they readily move about the properties once the lights of the homes go out. Scouting these bedding areas can be a problem, because you tend to bump the deer out into the open during the day, and that’s not good for keeping a low profile. If you find yourself with permission to hunt one of these small properties that seems to be a bedding area, here’s an off-beat idea for scouting it out: do your prospecting at night. The deer are all out roaming the surrounding real estate, so you can freely walk through the bedding areas and mark the entry and exit trails with a GPS or by simply dropping a pin on your smartphone’s mapping app. Sneak back in during the day and hang your stands. Take Inventory The next thing you need to do is learn the potential. We need to find out what bucks are using the land and how often. I have found the best way to inventory the population is with game cameras monitoring trails and mineral licks. This two-pronged attack brings the deer to you with the mineral, and you go to the deer with the trail monitoring. The combination of the two assures that you get a picture of every deer on the property within a month or so. This technique works the best if you start in the spring to early summer when the minerals are most attractive to the deer. Does and bucks alike use the mineral sites and you can watch the antlers grow throughout the summer. It is important to keep your intrusion and ground scent to a minimum. I recommend checking the cameras not more than once every two weeks, and once a month is better if you can stand to wait that long. Keep in mind that the deer using such a small area will be in a state of flux. A buck may be nearby, but may only visit the area with the cameras a couple times a summer. Don’t be discouraged, sometimes the bucks that aren’t living on the property are easier to kill since the
The Successful DIY Mentality
You’re not hunting at home: The Four Parts of a Successful DIY Mentality By Bernie Barringer Hunting away from home presents some unique challenges. When you are hunting in your home area, you have an entire season to bag your buck and fill out your deer tags. But on a DIY road trip, you are hunting under a deadline; you have a limited amount of time to get the job done. The situation calls for an entirely different set of strategies and actions. We can break the hunt down into four separate factors that can significantly improve your chances of success. Scout Thoroughly Back home, you have a pretty good feel for the deer movement patterns. You know where they tend to bed and where they tend to feed and at least a general idea of how the move between the two. When you arrive at a new hunting area on a DIY hunt, you must learn as much as you can in a short period of time. The greatest mistake most hunters make is to climb into a stand too early. You may find an area that’s all torn up with rubs and scrapes or a beaten down deer trail and you can’t wait to get a treestand set up and start hunting. That can be a big mistake, because you may lack confidence in your spot. It’s a lot easier to sit all day when you have confidence in your spot, and that confidence comes only from thorough scouting. Hunt Aggressively Hand in hand with an exhaustive scouting is the desire to make important decisions on the fly and be very aggressive in your hunting. Back home, you would never walk right through a bedding area, but on a road trip you might need to know where the deer are bedding and what is available to you. Spray down the lower half of your body with Scent Killer to minimize your ground scent then go right in there to look it over. Get some game cameras out and check them often so you have a good feel for the area’s potential. It’s hard to beat a game camera on a primary scrape with some fresh urine or an estrus lure. You must take calculated risks and force the issue. If you wait for the information to come to you, you may run out of time, you must go get it. Hunt in Any Conditions Rain or shine, you must be out there to make it happen. I have done more than 20 DIY road trip hunts in several states and it seems like it usually comes down to one or two stands where I feel like I am going to be successful if I just put in my time. Take the appropriate clothing for any conditions and gut out the tough times. Each time you hunt, you have a chance. If you are sitting in a motel waiting for the snow to stop or the wind to change, you are more than likely going to go home with an unfilled tag. Be Mobile Right along with hunting aggressively and hunting hard is the willingness to move quickly and adapt to changing conditions. On one hunt in Iowa, I felt like I was about 60 yards off target, so I climbed down and moved my entire set up the hill. I killed a mature buck the next morning from that tree and I would have helplessly watched him walk by if I had not moved. If you sense that you need to make a move, or feel that a wind switch may betray you, don’t wait, make your move NOW. Using equipment that is light and easy to put up and down is a real key to being mobile. Keep these four factors in mind on your next DIY hunt and you will increase your odds of coming home with a buck in the back of the truck instead of a tag in your back pocket. For more info on DIY public land hunting, get a copy of the book The Freelance Bowhunter: DIY strategies for the travelling hunter.
10 Things you didn’t know about mosquitoes
Did you know that mosquitoes like beer drinkers and have a favorite color? Here are ten things I’ll bet you didn’t know. By Bernie Barringer Mosquitoes are some of the most annoying creatures on Earth. There are billions of them and they turn up where you least like them, which is pretty much everywhere they are found. Campers, fishermen and hunters spurn them as pests, but in some cases they can be much more than that by carrying deadly viruses. Next time you are sitting around the campfire, you can turn these pesky vermin into an interesting conversation by reciting these little-known facts about what many people jokingly refer to as their state bird. Most mosquitoes are vegetarians. Some varieties never bite mammals at all; they prefer sugars found in plants. Of those subspecies that do bite, only the females suck your blood. They need the proteins found in blood to nurture their eggs to maturity. So only a relatively small proportion of the overall population are blood suckers. But it’s enough. There are 3,500 varieties of mosquitoes worldwide. More than 150 have been identified in the United States. About 650 varieties have been found in Brazil. A relatively small number of these species are blood suckers. Mosquitoes like beer drinkers. Human skin and breath emit hundreds of chemical compounds and many of them attract mosquitoes. But there’s one that has been shown to attract the pests more than any other. A study done in Africa on malaria-carrying mosquitoes found that they landed on people who drank beer far more often than on those who did not. Maybe it’s something in the blood. They also like pregnant women. Pregnant women produce more carbon dioxide which attracts mosquitoes, plus the body temperature of pregnant women is slightly higher. This extra warmth has been shown to be an attractor. They transmit at least five different diseases. Malaria is the most well known of mosquito-borne diseases, but cases of West Nile Virus are growing and may be the most dangerous in North America. The Zika virus is a growing threat that may overtake Malaria as the mosquitoes’ most threatening danger. Dengue fever is another disease transmitted by mosquitoes, as are yellow fever and encephalitis. Mosquitoes hibernate. Most of the mosquitoes that survive the winter did so as eggs in the muddy bottom of some pond, but adult mosquitoes also can survive the winter if they can find a place to keep from freezing. Some caves, even in Minnesota, harbor millions of hibernating mosquitoes. They have a favorite color. Well sort of. Studies have shown that some colors of clothing, especially black, red and dark blue, attracted more mosquitoes. Because they home in on heat, some of the colors may be attractive because they are darker and collect more heat than light colored clothing. Mosquitoes are also attracted to movement. The researchers also theorized that the mosquitoes could better sense the movement of darker colors. They have a set of pumps in their head. The little blood suckers do their dirty deed by inserting a bundle of microneedles (the entire bundle is about the width of a human hair) into the skin. They use two tiny pumps inside their head to extract the blood through those needles. They do not explode, sorry. Contrary to popular myth, you can’t make a mosquito explode by trapping its needle in your body. You’ve probably heard that by flexing your muscle you can keep them from pulling out and the blood just fills them up until they pop. Nope. They have a nerve in their abdomen that triggers the pumps in their head to stop filling once their abdomen becomes engorged. Researchers were able to sever this tiny nerve in some individuals and those little suckers did overfill and explode. No doubt a satisfying moment. You are allergic to their saliva. When they first insert their proboscis into your skin, they spit into you. Their saliva has an anticoagulant that keeps the blood from clotting while they suck it up. Compounds in this saliva trigger a release of histamine, which is part of your body’s defense system against allergies. This is what causes the swelling and itching. The two most effective substances that repel mosquitoes are N,N-Diethyl-Meta-Toluamide, AKA DEET, and Permethrin. DEET is found in most mosquito repellent sprays, and Permethrin has been found to repel mosquitoes from clothes, tents and other fabrics even after going through the washing machine. Permethrin is also the active ingredient in the pads on a ThermaCELL, one of the most effective mosquito repellant devices available. Now that you have a PhD in bloodsucking insect science, it may disappoint you to know there is still not much you can do about the pesky micro-critters. But at least you know more about mosquitoes than everyone else around the campfire.
Equipment for the Mobile Hunter
Taking a bowhunting road trip can be intimidating. What should I take and what should I leave home? Here’s a crash course in making sure you have the right stuff and how to avoid loading the truck with things you won’t need. By Bernie Barringer On my first hunt to North Dakota I thought I had things pretty well dialed in before I left home. I had spent some time looking at several areas on Google Earth. I’d spoken with the biologist for one piece of state land and he confirmed that a cornfield planted in the food plot had a good number of deer using it. They intended to leave the corn in the field until spring. The area looked terrific with lots of trees and potential bedding areas near the food plot. I was so confident when I arrived that I carried a treestand and sticks out to the food plot when I went out to scout it. There was find plenty of deer sign around the food plot, but there wasn’t a tree in sight that I could hang my stand in. There were small trees, crooked trees, tall skinny trees and cottonwoods too big to get my stick’s straps around. I had to carry all that stuff the ¾-mile back to the truck and start over. I’ve seen similar situations in the western whitetail states too. The equipment that works perfectly in the hardwood forests I had hunted previously was mostly useless in that habitat. Stands, Sticks, Ladders, Terrain and Trees Hunting the way I do, long walks with quite a bit of equipment are the norm. There are places where a climbing stand is the perfect tool for the job to move in on a deer and get up quickly. But if you take a climbing stand on a hunt to North Dakota, Montana or Nebraska, you’ll most likely never take it out of the truck. You will need a ground blind and some ladder stands. I have learned that the equipment I take needs to match the hunting style and the terrain. Throughout most of the hunting situations you’ll face, a climbing stand will have some use but I primarily use a hang-on stand and portable climbing sticks. I prefer the stackable sticks like the Hawk Helium models because they are stackable, lighter and much easier to carry through the woods. There are trade-offs between comfort and weight. I tend to spend long hours in stands and I lean towards comfort over weight. It takes maybe an hour to walk the stand in to the site, in which I am working harder with a heavier stand, but I may sit in that stand 20-30 hours or more over the course of the hunt. I’ll opt for the hours of comfort every time. A comfortable stand helps me stay silent, motionless and focused. Ground Blinds I can’t remember the last time I went on a hunt without a ground blind in the truck and I use it quite a bit. Ground blinds do present some issues that must be overcome. Whitetails are notoriously fidgety around anything that just shows up in their living room. I try hard to hide the blind in some sort of cover, or even place it beside some piece of farm machinery or bush, or maybe tuck it between a couple cedars. Then brush it in well with natural vegetation to blend it in. There are times and places where a blind is the only option you have. Once you put it out, leave it out. The more times the deer see it the sooner they will start to ignore it. Inside my ground blind I have three important things that make a difference for me. The first is something to hold my bow in position so I can grab it quickly. The second is a comfortable chair. Give me a good chair in which I can sit up high and straight. Stay away from those short, triangular torture chairs. I have a chair with a little table which folds out of the side of it, which leads me to the third important thing. You need a place with in reach to put some important tools and gadgets. During the day I am using my phone, a rangefinder, a book, etc. In each case, you need a place within reach where you can quietly and quickly lay these things down to get ready for a shot. That little table attached to the side of my chair works perfectly for this. How Many Stands Do You Need? During a week-long hunt I will have an average of three stands in the woods at any given time. I’ve had as many as five but that’s rare and in fact, I usually only take 4-5 stands with me. The type of stands I have in the truck depend on the terrain and trees as I mentioned earlier. Heading to North Dakota or Montana, I’ll probably have two ladders, a hang-on and two ground blinds. Where hardwoods dominate the habitat, such as Iowa, Kansas, Ohio or Missouri, I will usually have four hang-ons, a climber and a ground blind. Once you put your tag on that deer, you now have to gather up all your gear. It’s a good idea to keep that thought in mind as you spread your gear across the landscape. When I get my buck I am usually in a hurry to leave. It might be because I am more than ready to get home to my family, or it might be that I really want to get to the next state because the rut is in full swing. Either way, while I am putting gear in the woods, the thought of how fast I can get it out is on my mind. Accessories I used to take both a doe decoy and a buck decoy along but now I save space and I mostly only use the buck. I
Bowfishing Basics: Spring and Summer Fun
By Bernie Barringer Bowfishing equipment has evolved a lot since I started trying it out 40 years ago. There is some high-tec stuff out there, believe me. My favorite bowfishing set-up features a Ben Pearson recurve that I got out of the “Free” box at a garage sale. No kidding. That’s one of the things that makes bowfishing so great: you can make it as simple or as complicated as you want, and anyone can easily get started in bowfishing. The shots are close; rarely over 25 feet, and a bow of just about any draw length or poundage will do. You need to be stealthy, to choose locations carefully, and you need to be a good shot. And being a good shot is not as easy as it sounds. It takes beginning bowfishers a while to get used to the fact that you have to “shoot where they ain’t.” Because of the refraction as the light enters the water, fish appear to be a lot nearer the surface than they actually are. So when you see a carp cruising the shallows, you must aim well below it, if your arrow is to hit its mark. Getting Started My 45-pound recurve has been the perfect bow for me. Compound bows work too, but because of the let-off, they have to be drawn all the way back to shoot. This is a disadvantage because shots are often quick and with little warning. The advantage of a recurve, or one of the wheel-bows made for bowfishing without a let-off, is that you can draw and shoot much more quickly. Arrows should be solid fiberglass, which gives them the sturdiness they need to take a pounding (they hit bottom a lot) and the extra weight gives them the kinetic energy they need to penetrate the water and then the fish. There are several different bowfishing tip designs, but they all have one primary feature: some sort of prongs to keep them from pulling back out of the fish; prongs which can be reversed so you can remove the fish from the arrow once you get it reeled in. Reels are equally diverse. I started with a simple spool on which I hand-wound the line, and now I have a reel with a small crank that pulls all the line into a plastic jar. This set-up really works slick. My son Dawson uses a modified fishing reel that attaches to a mount on his bow. The simple spool reels are around $20 and the one I use is over $100, and there are good options at price points in between. All work, it just depends on how much you are willing to spend for convenience. Where to find the fish Many species of fish are legal to shoot with a bow. Carp, bowfin (also called dogfish), gar, buffalo and drum are among the most common. My experience is primarily with the common carp, since they are most abundant in Iowa and Minnesota where I have done most of my bowfishing. Plus, it is some of the best fish I have found to attract mink and raccoon to trap sets. You can have some success all year long, if you find yourself in the right place and the right time. But if you want consistent action, it takes place in the spring and early summer. When the water warms up in late spring, carp move shallow to spawn. In most areas, this takes place when the water gets close to 70 degrees. In the upper Midwest, that’s usually late April to May. Here in northern Minnesota, it may be later, and we had some fantastic carp shooting at Lake Manitoba in Canada during the first week of June while on a spring bear hunt. These carp may remain shallow where they are vulnerable to bowfishing for almost a month, but the best action will be in a window of opportunity of two weeks or less. When you hit it right, the action can be furious. The best spots are where you find the warmest water. During summer, carp are again found in shallow, warm water where they slurp plants off the surface and cruise around looking for insects and dead baitfish to eat. Thus, you have a second window of opportunity. You are often shooting at their heads, which might be the only thing visible above muddy water. I also have seen pods of carp cruising the shallow bays of clear-water lakes during mid-summer, and have enjoyed good shooting under those conditions. Typically, I shoot from the front of a boat with an electric trolling motor quietly pulling me through the shallows. However, I also have had a ball shooting while slowly walking the back bays where the water is warm. The carp are often lying just below the surface, sunning themselves, but they are extremely spooky, and you have to use a stealthy approach. Shots will generally be short. A 10-yard shot is a very long shot in bowfishing; the majority will be more like 15 feet. It takes some time to get good at hitting a target that close. Most bowhunters do not practice 10-foot shots, but it is a good idea to do so before you go after carp. I cannot stress too much that the refraction of the light on the water makes the target look closer to the surface than it actually is, so you have to shoot below them to hit them. This is one thing that has to become second nature, and you will miss a few fish until you get on to it. My son Dawson missed his first nine shots one day before getting it dialed in. Then he figured it out and hit his next five in a row! Carp shooting is so much fun that it has become a sport in itself for our family, and the fact that we are out getting trapping bait is a nice bonus. For us, the sport