I have carried many gobblers out of the woods slung over my shoulder, how about you? Post Oak

Alabama’s spring turkey season officially starts on Friday the 15th of March, but this weekend is a special “youth only” season so the youngsters can get a jump on us oldsters and I think that is absolutely great! I plan to be in the woods at daylight in the morning with my granddaughter trying to sweet talk an old Dallas county Tom into taking a ride in my Ford truck.

My granddaughter is as excited as any young guy would be to get out to the spring woods and chase a gobbler with her “pop-pop”.. I have been talking with her about it since deer season and she is confident that if that turkey comes in that she can shoot him with her 20 gauge. She has a nice old Winchester model 37 and I have bought her some #4 turkey loads that I hope we get to use one of in the morning! Last spring, she and I hunted on the Youth weekend and although we walked several miles trying to find a gobbler who would answer my calls, it was too cold and too windy to expect a response so we were not too disappointed when that was the outcome.

This past deer season she made a great shot on her second buck in as many tries, dropping a nice 8 pointer at over 250 yards so she is brimming with confidence in her ability to shoot a turkey at 20 to 30 yards. I sure hope we get the chance and she has the aim she has displayed in the past two deer seasons.

I know today is Friday and it might be a bit late for some of you to plan a hunting trip. But, if you can dig out your camo clothes, boots, shotgun and ammo, A TURKEY CALLER that is easy to use such as a push button style call, then you and your youth hunting partner can have a great experience hunting the most fascinating creature in the spring woods, the wild turkey gobbler! Other items that you will find useful to make the hunt more pleasant, a good mosquito spray, head net, some bottled water and pocket snacks. Take several breaks and use those as teaching opportunities to show the young hunter some of the special features of the spring woods,  buds, blooms, tree types, identify birds by sounds and sight as many as possible. Use an OWL call to mimic the calls of an old Bard owl and the ever present crows can be fooled to coming right to your setup if you can make some angry crow calls that make them just have to come see what the “fuss” is all about!

Don’t forget to be in compliance by having a Mandatory Turkey Harvest record form on you and fill it out immediately BEFORE the bird is moved. If you don’t, you are breaking the law! Don’t do that! Here is the link to print you a form so do it and take it with you plus a pen or pencil!!  http://www.eregulations.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/2012-2013-Harvest-Record.pdf

For us hopeless “turkey addicts” this is the absolute best time of the entire year and I am ready for next Friday to get an opportunity to start using my Harvest record form to start my March Madness markdown! (of long spurred, bushy bearded gobblers)

Throw some gear together and take a youngster turkey hunting this weekend! Both of you will be glad you did, even if you don’t bag a bird. a walk in the Alabama Spring woods is great!  A walk back to the truck with a “long beard” is even sweeter! Remember to hunt safely and if you are toting a bird out of the woods slung over your shoulder, put on a blaze orange cap so another hunter won’t shoot, thinking he sees a moon-walking tom!

YOUTH HUNTING WEEKEND IS A GREAT EVENT ! THANKS “ALDCNR”

Next Week, Spring Turkey Season starts on Friday!! You know where I will be..

Post Oak

This old gobbler is taking a "dirt nap" after an early morning "run in" with some number fours! ~postoak~

Several years ago, two younger turkey hunters I know over in west Alabama were out for an exciting morning of turkey hunting and they got more than they wanted in terms of excitement, the bad kind of excitement.

They got out of the truck at daylight and after a short “listening and locating session” they located what sounded like a pair of gobblers just “tearin it up” down in the hardwoods of a Tombigbee river swamp bottom. They struck out toward the gobbling birds and when they got close enough, they found a couple of big oak trees side by side to sit under and call to the gobblers. The first yelp brought back a thunderous response from what they described as a “whole drove” of gobblers! They had already made plans to try and “double up” and both shoot a gobbler at the right moment. When the ”toms” came in there was five or six of them, all long beards and all excited!

The two young “twenty-something” hunters, who were already veterans of many successful spring turkey kills, got ready for another great moment but, then the gobblers had a different plan. The gobblers came in from left to right and when they were just right for a double shot, the two hunters fired in unison. However, only one bird started flopping and the rest exploded in to full escape mode! Some running and others flying away! The hunter on the right swung his gun in pursuit of the fleeing gobbler, who was retreating the way he came in from the left and when he fired, he heard his buddy on the left scream! That is never a good thing to hear anytime, much less when you are out in the woods miles from medical attention!

He jumped up and ran to his wounded friend screaming an apology and asking desperately, “where are you hit?!?” In response, his buddy, who was laying over on his back, thrusts a bloody camouflage glove hand into the air and the blood is literally spurting out of it! Both of them go into a momentary panic but, they quickly recover their wits and after some first aid including a tourniquet from a belt and a tee shirt wrapped around it to stem the flow, they begin the arduous walk back up hill to the truck nearly a half mile away.

After a ”hundred yard stagger” toward the truck, the injured hunter passes out and his buddy literally drags him the rest of the way to the truck. At the truck he tries the cell phone but, has no coverage, so he fires up the truck and heads for the nearest hospital in east Mississippi. The wound, which cost the young man some of the functionality of his left hand, could have been much worse!  In fact, the forearm of his shotgun took the brunt of the load since he too was aiming at the fleeing gobbler and the shot tore into the foream of the gun and his left hand as he held it. If not for the gun, the shot would have possibly taken his hand off!

That load of number four shot in a 3.5 inch turkey load shell coming out of a tightly choked 12 gauge shot gun would have probably killed the young man if the other fellow had swung a little more to the left before squeezing off the shot at the fleeing gobbler. They both estimated another two or three inches would have put the round in the right side of his skull from about 4 feet away!  I heard their story about two weeks after it happened and while they tried to make light of it. I could tell that both of them were still shaken by the errant shot and the young man with the cast on his hand was still feeling the pain of the wound and the external fixator rods that were sticking out of the cast reminded him of the event every time he accidentally bumped his hand.

It brought to mind an event where my oldest son nearly shot me in the side of the head on a dove shoot when he was just a young boy. I was enjoying our hunt and paying close attention to keep him shooting safely and not allowing him to shoot unless there was a high degree of safety and also a high degree of probable success since I wanted him to gain confidence in his shooting ability. We were doing fine until a friend, who was one of the land owners where we were shooting, drove up on a four wheeler and offered us a cold bottle of water. My son, Hunter,  was standing to my left as Jim and I chatted about the hunt conditions and how well people were shooting. Just then, a dove flew over and as Hunter swung after it to the right, his gun barrel hit the left side of my head about the time he pulled the trigger!

I would have sworn my ear drum had busted! I fell to the ground and grabbed my ear, hunter threw his gun down and started crying, scared he had killed me, and our dove shoot for the day was over! I was lucky though, had I been standing another 8 to 10 inches away, the barrel would have swung behind my head and likely I would have been a “goner”. As it is, just my left ear’s hearing ability is a “goner” and I get to “enjoy” the sound of tinnitus, a high pitched ringing noise, that I have heard ever since that day over 30 years ago.

Be careful when you are swinging your shotgun barrel at a moving target, you just might hit what you are NOT aiming for! Get out and practice a few rounds with your shotgun to get ready for the gobblers! But, watch out for your fellow hunters!

Until next week, Shoot straight and Shoot safe!

~postoak~

These two old Toms found themselves hanging out after being tricked by a "bad old hen" named postoak!

A different  kind of “March Madness”  affects many of us outdoor sportsmen that has nothing to do with a basketball playoff. Our madness is concerned with the prize  we pursue every March, the spring turkey season that “officially” begins on the 15^th of March.

But the season is already well underway in terms of preparation. There are many items to settle before the sun rises on March 15^th for the dedicated turkey hunter. I will be in the woods the last weekend of February scouting and listening for gobbling at daylight. Later, I will take the time to pattern my new shotgun and determine which choke provides the best shot patterns with different shell configurations. And of course, away from the woods, there will be much attention paid to calling practice. Call tuning, sanding of my friction style calls,  sanding & chalking my “paddle box” callers so they mimic several different sounding hens that could be used to gain the gobbler’s attention from his roost on opening morning.

In the natural order of a turkey’s breeding habits a male turkey, the gobbler, simply announces his location from his roost limb with a booming GOBBLEGOBBBLEGOBBLE! The area female turkey, called hens, are expected to yelp a response if they like what they hear and they often emit excited cackles, yelps, clucks and purrs as they fly down off the limb to make their way to the gobbler. The gobbler then flies down to his favorite “strutting zone”, often a small field, logging road or just an open area in the woods on a ridge top or even in a hardwood bottom. There he struts and drums to display his “top bird” status as the most dominant male in the area and the hens walk to him, where they will often run in to him and squat down to signal they are ready to breed.

This is where the challenge comes in for a turkey hunter. It is our game plan to mimic a hen. A hen that sounds so seductive,so sweet, so alluring, the gobbler will leave his strut zone and come over to seek out that sweet sounding hen but, he finds a hunter instead, with a waiting dose of lead!  Talk about a fatal attraction!

Other gobblers who want to challenge him will gobble and also come to his location and often a fight of epic proportions will ensue. Gobblers fight by spurring as their main weapon. They kick and spur each other in the chest, with the older, sharpest spurred Toms inflicting the most damage, enough to “run off” the other gobbler.

The subordinate gobbler will sometimes leave the area or if he stays around, he will not gobble to attract hens since he is risking another “whipping” by the “boss gobbler”.  The gobblers beat each other with their powerful wings, peck each other with their beaks and “neck wrestle” where they will twist their necks around each other and viciously peck, slap spur and kick until one of them  gives up the fight. I have witnessed some fantastic gobbler fights through the years and used that event  on more than one hunt to sneak up close enough to shoot one of the combatants. It is one of my favorite spectacles in the March Madness of the spring turkey woods.

The first weekend in March will provide me a second scouting weekend and if needed, time to pattern my new shotgun, a Bennelli “Super Vinci” 3.5 inch 12 gauge in “Mossy Oak Bottomland” camo pattern, it is an exciting new “tool” for me to enjoy.

The second weekend in March will allow those under 16 years of age to get the first shot, literally, by way of the Alabama youth turkey season.  I plan to take my granddaughter hunting for her first turkey and she is already so impatient and ready to go hunting that it helps me get to a more enthusiastic point in my pre-season prep.

She and I went last year on youth weekend and one other trip later in the year but, did not find a gobbling bird to work. I hope this spring she will get to enjoy the magic of March when a love sick gobbler is interested in my hen calls and walks to my setup from a long way off gobbling dozens of times on the way in! If he comes in close enough I hope she will also get to hear the distinct “pfffft hmmmpp” sound of a drumming gobbler that many adult turkey hunters tell me they have never heard!  I love that sound as much or more than the gobbling! That is a couple of sounds and  some extreme excitement that no hunter can forget for the rest of their life! I hope I can get a gobbler to show off like that for her so she will be a lifelong turkey hunter like her “pop-pop”.

In related events, this Thursday night, February 28th, the Elmore County Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation will hold their annual Hunting Heritage Banquet that includes a charity auction, both live and silent, raffles, door prizes, a great time of fellowship with other local turkey hunters and will be one of the best NWTF banquets iin the entire state if it follows past history!  If anyone would like to attend, I have tickets for sale! This is a recognized 501c3 tax deductable charity event and you’re bound to have a good time, eat some great St.Louis style ribs or BBQ chicken If you come out to support the NWTF. Just give me a call 334-850-9526 or email me, postoakman@gmail.com and I will be glad to get your tickets to you!

Turkey season, March Madness that goes all the way through April 30th, will be here soon!

Get out and enjoy our great Central Alabama Outdoors!

Until next week ,

~Postoak ~ 

This old bird had monster spurs and a double beard. Callin in a bird like this is the reason I love Spring turkey Season! ~Postoak~

Every year I have a love-hate relationship with February. It is the longest “short month” of the year, it is cold, generally too wet, and too gloomy and did I mention too long? I also have a birthday in February and at my age those fail  to excite me other than the fact that I am still walking around on God’s great creation when more and more of my old friend and classmates have already “struck out”. God has been good to me..

Another thing about February is that since I have been living in the Montgomery area, there is a “bloom” of some type of mold spores around mid February that give me a big time case of sinusitis that winds up in bronchitis and is a pain in the “derrieritis!” I have to take allergy tablets through May and then it all clears up. Seems like it is my punishment for being a “turkeyholic” but, long as I can hunt without coughing at those critical moments, I can deal with the sniffling, choking, hacking, and coughing since they do herald in another marvelous Alabama spring turkey season!!

Turkey season starts on March 15th, which is a Friday this year so it will great to kick off a long weekend chasing gobblers in Dallas or Greene county. I have a turkey lease with four other guys in Greene county that is 1800 acres of red clay hills and plantation pines is various stages. There are some mature woods and some big SMZs with open hardwoods and plenty of hard headed Toms to test your patience and woodsmanship. I have thought of dropping out of the lease a few times but, the small group gets along very well, none of us over hunt it and I generally take a couple of boss gobblers of it each year. Last year I took a very nice old long spurred Tom that I now have in my den to remind me of that “sweet” memory. The other place I am hunting this year is a hunting club tract in Dallas county that I joined to deer hunt but, only went twice so I am hoping to have some good turkey hunting mornings to make up for not deer hunting it that much.

February is preparation, feeding and scouting time it you want to get a jump on the competition and “be in the know about where to go” on opening morning. Please be sure to visit the conservation dept’s website for rules regarding off-season feeding for turkey. Just click on http://www.outdooralabama.com/images/file/2013-13%20WFF/2012-13%20Complete%20Reg%20Book%20-12-5-12%20web.pdf  One thing that lots of folks keep forgetting is to have in your possession, a turkey harvest form! It must be completed in the field and if you get caught without it you are going to make a nice donation to the guys in green!

In terms of turkey call practice, there is no such thing as too much! Your wife, your kids, your dog, and even your neighbor may try to convince you of that by telling you how good you sound and that you have been practice for 3 hours or 3 days or 3 weeks! But, that is never enough in the weeks before spring season! I am sitting here with a caller in my mouth and I can tell I really need  to break in this new mouth call!  I also got a new shotgun I need to pattern and I tell you the truth, between work, my wife and her “honey do” list something is just going to be left undone!

A man has got to set his priorities properly! and an improperly prepared turkey hunter is not going to be a description of old POSTOAK!

I took this gobbler on "Good Friday" last spring. At least it was good for me! ~postoak~

I am “practicing” doing some calling at Bass Pro in Prattville tomorrow starting at 1p.m. so come on by and tell me how much practice I need and we can “talk turkey” awhile!

Until next week, get on that prep work and call, call, call!

Post Oak cluckin’ on out!

Trail cam evidence, another fawn gone due to a coyote

My deer hunting buddies are all lamenting the fact that another deer season has ended and they did not kill “the big one” or they did not kill one at all!

But, us spring turkey hunters are getting our caller out and checking out our gear and smiling with each passing day that the spring season only 5 weeks away.  There is however, another group of hunters who think February is a great month for hunting!

I am talking about the small game hunters who can run their beagles after rabbits without interference from deer hunters. The squirrel hunters who can find a limit of “Alabama limb chickens” and have a great time doing it while introducing youngsters to the thrill of trying to knock a squirrel out with a 410 or a 22. Laughing and missing your shots as the little bushy tail varmints make you look silly trying to deliver a dose of lead poison from 70 feet below while he bounds from tree to tree with acrobatic moves that rival the best leaps of a spider monkey. I have enjoyed many wonderful squirrel hunts where we would just go for an extended walk through the woods, pulling vines and shaking limbs to get the squirrels to panic and take off careening through the tree tops with us in hot pursuit. Other hunts were more traditional, doing a spot and stalk or just still hunting under the canopy of live oaks and water oaks down in the river swamp.Each one can be a great adventure with a tasty reward of some fine squirrel dumpling, squirrel stew or my favorite, fried squirrel and gravy with biscuits! YUM!

Many hunters have now found a different type of February hunting quarry that offers more challenge and also provides a great service to all of us who try to help our game species populations thrive. I am talking about the guys who have discovered predator hunting for coyotes, bobcats and fox.

The coyote in particular has grown so much in population and range, that they are a real threat to the deer population in Alabama. White tail fawns are falling victim to coyotes in an increasing rate with some estimates of up to 50% predation.  I am for a zero rate of predation on the fawns since one of them could grow up to be a future wall hanger but, instead it just made into a dinner for a litter of coyote pups.

With the increase in game cameras operating year round on many properties, the evidence is captured for all to see and it is sad to see so many coyotes walking by with a fawn dangling from their jaws. I hope all the coyote hunters have a lot of success and take down all the coyotes that come running in to that squealing rabbit call. If you like action, Coyotes can bring it and you are doing all your fellow hunters a favor by doing in some of the “devil dogs”.

Hogs, like coyotes are on the rise in population in dramatic fashion all across our state. A sow hog can have several litters of pigs a year and at a dozen per litter you do the math on how many of the little rooters are made each year.

Hogs are prolific breeders and prolific feeders. They will eat up, root up, tear up your food plots, farmers’ row crops, bird and turkey nests and even eat the eggs! They will eat anything they can chew from a snake to an ear of corn and love them both. Hogs love acorns, shrubs, berries, grasses clovers. Chufas patches don’t stand a chance if a herd of hogs find them. They kill trees and saplings through their rooting around and digging up bulbs, mushrooms and the roots of various plants.

Hogs travel long distances, mostly at night in search of food and the can show up on your property  and create some major damage. There are a number of hunters who have taken hog hunting hunting to a whole new level and in the process created opportunities to assist land owners with Hog control while providing hunting opportunities for fellow hunters to go hog hunting without all the leg work.

One such hunting service is right here in the river region, Alabama Hog Control offers hog hunts on various properties around the region where the land owner gets the benefit of hog removal, the hunters get the benefit of some great hunting action and the owners of Alabama Hog Control handles the coordination of the event to the benefit of all parties. If you would like to try out some hog hunting action, give Barry or Bart Estes a call and they can get you in on some “hoggin”. Barry’s number is 334-301-0179 and Bart’s is 334-303-4599. Or you can look them up on the web http://alabamahogcontrol.com/

Coyotes are killing too many Alabama Fawns

Hunting season is far from over, all you got to do is get out there and try some of the fantastic February hunting opportunities in our great central Alabama Outdoors.

POSTOAK ….. outdoors.

Will Gibson got this very nice 8 pointer on a hunt with me last weekend! ~postoak~

Tomorrow winds up the deer season in Alabama and for many hunters it was a pretty good year. For others the rut is going strong where they hunt, mostly in south Alabama and many of those hunters would love to see the season extended a couple of weeks into February.

That is an interesting proposal that the State Department of Conservation will discuss as one of the meeting topic when they meet in Montgomery on February 9th. They will meet in the Capitol Auditorium and if you want to make comments at the public meeting you have to be there early and register before 8:30 to be heard.

Commissioner Gunter Guy is expected to introduce an extension of the deer season for portions of southwest Alabama starting next season (2013-2014) that would allow hunters an extra 10 days (until February 10th). While there have been extensive petition signing and  thousands of hunters have signed it in hopes of getting the season extended all across the state, it appears the commissioner is going to move slowly so the effects of such a change can be studied in more detail. I believe that move is a prudent one but, may not make a lot of hunters in “LA” happy.  Perhaps after another year or so with positive results, it will allow the season extension across ALL the lower half.

It is also Mr. Guy’s intent to discuss plans to implement a state wide, telephone based call in game reporting program such as in use in other states where game killed must be reported via phone from the field to be in compliance with the law. Changes continue to come to our hunting laws so please update yourself before next season so you will not be in error and pay that fine!

In other hunting news, Chuck Sykes has been named the Director of the Conservation Department’s  Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries. Chuck is a native of Choctaw County and lives in Wetumpka. On a personal note, he is one heck of a turkey hunter too.. read more here  http://www.outdooralabama.com/news/release.cfm?ID=1108

This past weekend, I had the pleasure of taking my buddy Keith Gibson and his son, Will, for our annual deer hunt at our place in Tuscaloosa County. I put Will in the same ladder stand where we sat last year when he took his first deer, a nice mature doe. This time, I had Will hunt solo with his dad’s permission and left him with the instructions to “choot em” and Keith and I travelled on down in the swamp to other stands.

Will listened well, About 4:10 I heard his rifle fire and I grinned as I figured he got another nice doe from the big green field. However, several minutes later, I heard him shoot again and figured he must have doubled down on some does. Soon as it got dark enough where I felt it would not disturb Keith, I started for his stand and found he was already down and ready to go see Will’s deer. Will had sent him a text that he had killed a doe but, when we got to Will’s stand, he excitedly yelled at his dad “I got a big Buck” and pointed to a very nice 8 pointer laying less than 20 yards from his stand. However, the story of the hunt was even more interesting than we thought!

Will explained that he had seen a good many deer in the green field and had seen the buck chasing does around in the field and in the woods. He said that he decided to go ahead and shoot a doe “early” and hope the buck, who had left, would return. Somehow when he shot the doe ( a nice humane head shot) the bullet passed through and struck the buck he could not see on out in the field that was blocked from his view by corn stalks. The buck was struck in the front leg at the shoulder joint and after several minutes it limped out of the corn stalks and ran right toward his ladder stand. He finished the buck off with a good chest shot at 20 yards.

What a hunting memory he made with his two for one (almost) shot and taking a nice buck and a doe just a few minutes apart! Now it is all up to Keith to pay for two deer at the processor and a great mount of the 8 point buck that will be coming from Capps’ Taxidermy of Demopolis!

Next week I hope to share some nice buck photos that hunters around the state have sent me. If you want to send me a deer photo, email me – postoakman@gmail.com

Until next week, good hunting!

~Postoak~

Brandon Parker with a "fine nine" he recently took in Elmore county

As deer season winds down and many of us have freezers full and our deer hunting urges satisfied, many hunters are finding success in the deer woods around Alabama. The rut is still going on in the south central and southern part of the state and many folks are reporting great hunting on their properties.

Brandon Parker recently took a very nice 9 pointer from Elmore county.

Jeremy Johnson, who works at Buckmasters proved he is a buckmaster for real with another nice buck he took in Montgomery County that weighed over 200lbs. That is a real “hoss” of a buck there Jeremy!

Jeremy Johnson, A real Buckmaster, With a nice Montgomery County 9!

I have had reports from a number of hunting buddies regarding good deer harvests in Montgomery, Autauga, Dallas and Macon County over the last week.

Chandler Griffis took this 6 point Buck on the Recent Warrior Academy Hunt

I spent the weekend helping get hunters to stands on a charity hunt for Warrior Academy’s fund raiser hunting weekend in Greene and Tuscaloosa county and several folks took some quality bucks that were “wall-ready”. I met some very nice folks from the Birmingham area, Decatur, and from Tennessee and even though I hunted very little, I had a great time enjoying the social side of hunting and seeing some very excited youngster come out of the woods with some bucks that are sure to be the object of great hunting memories for many years to come. Proud dads and happy kids who had successful hunts have made great bonding moments in the outdoor sports since the dawn of man and they still never disappoint!

A reader sent me this buck picture that his son got recently in South GA!

Hope you get the opportunity to find a nice buck for the wall or doe for the freezer before the season is gone! I am switching over to Spring Gobbler mode and starting to practice my calling! It will be here before you know it!

Good Hunting to all !

~postoak~

My Granddaughter, Anna "Oakley" Faye, with a nice 8 pointer she took last weekend ~postoak~

I just completed two weekends of deer hunting and the bucks were going crazy over on our place in West Alabama! The rut was wide open the weekend of the 29^th and was showing no signs of a slow down this past weekend. Active scrapes were easy to find all over the property and bucks chasing does was the normal pattern. Although I did see a few more bucks slowing down this past weekend, they still perked up when I witnessed them see a doe and the chase then ensued.

On this past Friday, I hunted a portion of the property I had not been on this year and I was not disappointed at all! I have been chasing a big palmate antlered 8 pointer for many of the days I hunted, other than days when I have taken other folks hunting or been on a different property. There is just not enough time to hunt unfortunately! Between work, holidays, family obligations and the always dreaded “yard work” I just can’t devote enough time to it! Well, maybe in a few more years If I get to retire, and am able, I will be able to hunt like I want to do.. But, that’s not likely.

 The property line to the south was where I had found a lot of deer signs such as a well worn trail, with lots of active scrapes and many active rub lines on some bigger saplings. The first hunt was an afternoon one along the property fence and with a very favorable wind, I sat on the ground in a quick made ground blind using dead limbs and tossing leaves on top of them to make a nice concealment. It worked better than I had hoped for! Soon after settling in, I had a steady stream of deer passing by upwind and felt it was just a matter of time before the “big buck” showed up. I was not too happy though when he showed up across the fence on the other property down wind and coming to the “Tinks” scent bomb I had placed upwind of my hiding spot. I kept hoping he would come on over to our side but the fence deterred him enough to where he finally got nervous and left. I had a great time however watching several nice young bucks and some big groups of does with yearlings. At dark, I slipped out and walked the fence back to the road with plans to return the next morning.

Saturday morning was cold, windy, and I got “spit on” by several short rain showers. None was enough to even soak my jacket but, the deer activity was spotty until about mid-morning. I saw a spike and a young 6 pointer plus a number of does but, the most enjoyable part of the hunt was had on the way back to my truck. We have a large field that has standing corn in the middle, about 10 acres of it, with a green field running down all sides of it. There was two huge fox squirrels working the corn stalks and climbing them to ride them over and get the ears of corn broken or chewed off. They would grab the ears in their mouths and then run as fast as they could across the road and into the woods where they were placing them inside a large log that was rotten and had a large cavity where they would disappear with the corn! They would come back out and run across the road back out in the corn and literally “glide” when they were not having to carry the ear of corn. They are absolutely beautiful creatures! I have heard the term “squirreling away” things and I got to see it first-hand!

Saturday afternoon, I got the extreme pleasure of the company of my granddaughter, Anna Faye, who was taking her first hunt of the season with me. Last year, she went with me on one hunt, shot the gun one time, at a nice 7 point buck, and dropped him at about 225 yards. I often thought it might have just been a case of “beginner’s luck” so I was very interested in see what would happen on the second try. Well, after two and a half hours in the shooting house with me snoozing while she kept watch and hunted “hard” she got the chance. A doe came out trailed by a nice 8 point buck who was large in body size but small in rack, so he was a perfect cull buck for her to take. I gave her a little coaching to get her positioned and holding the rifle properly then I let go, just like last year, so she could independently take the shot, and she did! She dropped the buck in his tracks at 248 yards! I have since nicknamed her Anna “Oakley” Faye! She has proven her prowess in making those long shots!

On Sunday morning, (yes I did some back sliding) I was back in my ground blind before daylight. I brought my rattling antlers with me and while it was still dusky, I rattled them and made some loud grunts with my caller in hopes of bringing in another buck for a “fight”. As I was laying them aside, I saw a large deer coming toward me at a trot. I was disappointed that he had a poor set of head gear though but, he was clearly an old buck so I dropped him when he was almost in my lap! He fell about 10 feet from me and with a twinge of regret about losing the morning of hunting enjoyment, I headed to the cabin to get the four wheeler.

An old Cull buck who came trotting in to my antler rattling ! ~Postoak

It was an exciting, entertaining, very special hunt, good memory making type weekend in the “deer woods”. They are getting fewer and fewer and I need to take advantage of them all I can. And you know what? SO DO YOU!

Go hunting! Deer season is almost gone!

~postoak~

Collin Shumate took this nice 8 pointer hunting with me last weekend! ~postoak~

Cold, windy, rainy, and FUN!! This past weekend was pretty good for hunting in extremes of Alabama weather and the deer were really moving well. The rut was on full bore in west central Alabama this past weekend!

I hunted in Tuscaloosa and Greene county and the deer hunting was great all three days. The deer moved well in the a.m. and mid day hunting was unusually good.

Friday morning  was the worst part of the three day hunt, even though I saw several young bucks and over 20 does. My nephew from Tennessee and north Alabama were down for a hunt and their kids shot at deer with one 8 point taken by Hayden Harris. It was a nice 180 lb buck that had him grinning, and giving a “thumbs up” to everyone who came by the cleaning shed to take a look.

Friday at noon, the rain started for a soaking rest of the day so I assembled a couple of ladder stands I had brought over to add to our stand count on the two tracts we hunt.

Saturday morning was a cold, raw, windy day that had me shivering on my hunt in the swamp and while the deer were easy to spot, they were also hard to hide from as far as scent detection goes. In an attempt to block out some wind, I sat in a ground blind for a couple of hours but, the deer have “patterned” us hunters and they all avoid the hut area. Every deer I saw from the hut was running an open lane about 200 yard to the east and I decided to move over for a better vantage spot. I like to hunt out of a folding camoflauge canvas chair so long as I can find a good hiding spot. I found a large amount of dead vines around an old stump near the lane and it offered me a front row seat to watch the deer that kept running the open lane between 2 swampy areas that were covered with about 6 to 8 inches of water the deer kept sloshing through to get to the lane where they could run a dry, open path. The lane is over 400 yards long and about 20 yards wide. The bucks were rutting like crazy, running does up and down the lane and across the swamps on either side. Most seemed to be “throwing caution to the wind” literally, running and grunting behind the does, some of which seemed to be almost smiling and others just seemed frustrated by the attention the bucks were exhibiting. The winds were strong and shifting all morning and despite all my scent cover, scent elimination and use of estrus based attractants, I got busted by several deer , mostly does. However, one old buck that busted me certainly made a life saving decision and stopped just out of a reasonable shot range for me.

Saturday afternoon, I was pleased to host a couple of folks from Birmingham, a father and his son trying to find that “first buck” for the son. I showed them to a nice double hut that overlooks a huge green field and had favorable wind for the afternoon hunt. They had a great hunt, saw lots of deer, several turkey and the son, Collin Shumate, tried a long shot on a 6 pointer but, did not connect. I was hunting from a tripod on another, smaller  field and saw 14 does, two six pointers and a nice young eight pointer with a nice symmetrical rack. The big buck I was hoping for never showed up. But, a thoroughly enjoyable hunt was had by us all.

On Sunday morning, it was 24 degrees when I parked my truck for the predawn walk to the same swampy area I hunted the morning before that is a favorite of mine.  The walk is over a half mile and I did not spook any deer on the way to my “hiding spot”  overlooking the lane the deer have been using. The wind was much lighter and the direction generally sustained from the east so I found a spot that would keep me from getting “winded” so much by the deer.  The activity was almost non-existent until around 7:30 when 5 gobblers came out about 150 yards to the south on the lane and one went into a full fanned strut like it was spring and started drumming and pirouetting for the next 45 minutes. As a “turkey-holic” that made the trip worth the effort and I was just wishing I had a nice camera with one of those huge telephoto lens to snap some of the “January strut” activity.

All of a sudden, I heard the unmistakable sound of antlers clashing violently so I turned around and stood up next to a vine covered tree to use it for cover and a rest aim if I got a shot. I used my grunt tube and made several very loud and prolonged grunts as the buck’s antlers were smashing each other just out of my sight .  The next sound was sweet as I heard the sloshing noise of several deer coming directly to me across the flooded thicket.  Those bucks stopped fighting and ran straight to me!

The first buck was a nice 10 pointer with heavy horns but, the tines were short so I let him pass the opening I had for a shot window though the thick brush. I could see two more rack bucks coming in at a trot. The second buck bounded through the opening so quickly that I was unable to tell much except he was a rack buck. The third buck had a nice tall rack and was walking fast in a fighting posture with his hair bristled out so I figured he was probably the best of the three and when he stepped in the small opening I sent him a 30-06 round that dropped him immediately.  I chambered in another round and watched for a few minutes to make sure he was down and walked over to admire the nice 8 point, 190 lb buck.  While he was not a “wall hanger” for me, he was a very nice older buck and I count it as a blessing to make the good shot on such a fine animal. It was a very memorable hunt with the bucks coming to my call!

Sunday afternoon, Chuck Shumate and his son Collin of Birmingham, came back down for another hunt and I felt like Collin would be very pleased with the 8 pointer I had seen in the green field I was on the afternoon before so I sent him out to it and his father opted to sit another field to do some deer watching and did not bring a gun. He was focused on providing a good father- son experience for his son and I applaud him for that. Well, his son Collin, did his job, and he put the nice 8 pointer down with a perfect shot around 4 p.m.

A great hunting memory was made for Chuck and Collin. I had a great weekend hunting with my nephews and we all took some deer meat home to enjoy in 2013.

Just using the grunt tube was a special memory maker for me. You see, the grunt tube is a “one of a kind” made for me a couple of years ago by a good friend, Gary Johnson, who passed away last spring out in the turkey woods. Gary was a very gifted call maker and I am fortunate to have several turkey calls, a crow call and the grunt tube he made for me. Gary was a NWTF Committee member for the Elmore County NWTF and all of us miss him alot. He was a special talent and a great guy.

Happy New year to everyone and may you make some great hunting memories in 2013!

~postoak~

Deer Hunting! Sometimes all you get is a muddy truck and great memories!

This past week, with the exception of Monday, I have been off work and enjoying the great December weather in the outdoors. Cold, wet, wind blowing, man it was great! I know many folks think that is terrible weather but, I like all of it when I am away from my daily “grind” at work and I can leave the cell phone in the truck and spend time away from everyone and just enjoy the solitude that is found in the deer woods of December.

I sure wasn’t disappointed either, On Tuesday, I travelled to Livingston for a visit with my first cousin Macks. He has a beautiful camp house on the banks of the Tombigbee river and I always enjoy the time I get to spend hanging out with Macks. He was ready to go hunting when I pulled up and I jumped out of my truck into his and off to the prairie land of north Sumter county we went!  In just a few miles he let me out and pointed the direction to a ladder stand he had that overlooked a nice green field nestled up to a hardwood bottom and flanked by a number of the ever present red cedars that are a predominant land feature in the West Alabama Black Belt. Soon after I got up in the stand, several does and yearlings appeared from the woods and began feeding. The youngsters would eat a little and then buck and prance, chase each other around the field while the mature does quietly fed and watched.

 Like every hunter, I scanned the wood line intently for that “big buck” to join them and he may have, after dark and long after I had left to meet Macks for the ride back to his cabin. His wife Sarah, greeted us and we enjoyed a nice rack of baby back ribs and great fellowship, followed by time on the front porch in some massive red cedar rocking chairs reminiscing about hunts up and down the Tombigbee as we watched it roll by in the darkness. Macks is one of those guys who can imitate a Bard owl call perfectly and as he “talked” to several owls that returned calls to him, His wife and I talked about Macks and what a “hoot” he is to be around. We continued to talk about old hunting trips and the hunting victories he and I shared in as kids until we realized the clock was past 10 p.m. and we were starting to “drag”.

The next morning instead of deer hunting, Macks wanted to shown me his quail hunting operation and since his bird dogs need weekly training, we went over to the quail property called Feather Hill hunting preserve. He set out about 16 quail in sets of two and we enjoyed watching the dogs find and point them and of course, getting in our shots as the quail burst into the air when prompted by the “flush” command that Macks gave to the dogs. He had a new English Setter that reminded me of one my father owned who gave us many thrilling quail hunting moments when I was boy. The pointers were great! But, the Setter worked the ground a bit slower and was more attentive to the commands and the whistles from Macks as she worked across the sage covered hills tracking down the released quail from their hiding spots.

Around noon, the dogs and we were all tired from the morning hunt, so while Macks watered and loaded the dogs for the return to their kennel, I dressed out the 12 quail we had taken and l sealed them up in a ziploc for a planned supper.   We spent a couple of hours riding some of the property that Macks manages for hunting and he had to swap SD cards and make sure all his trail cams were working so he would have images to show his hunters for the upcoming weekend. An afternoon bass fishing in a local farm pond gave us a choice of fried bass fillets or fried quail and I enjoyed both of them as well as the company of my second night on the Tombigbee listening to the owls from the dark front porch of the cabin. A thoroughly relaxing but, exhausting, day outdoors!

The next morning, I “slept in” as Macks had an early morning appointment in Meridian and a line of storms was approaching so I enjoyed the storm and several cups of coffee on his front porch before leaving and heading up to Tuscaloosa for an afternoon hunt at my family’s farm. I opted for a hut due to the strong wind following the storm line and made sure to use all the cover scent and masking scents to inhibit my spooking any deer. However, the afternoon hunt was a very poor one where only two does and a yearling came into the field. My nephew and a buddy of his was also hunting and they reported similar poor results from the strong wind that apparently caused most of the deer to stay bedded.

Friday morning was cold but, still with a strong wind so I again sought the aid of a hut to block the wind in a location we call the “peninsula”. This is a beautiful hardwood section of woods that is surrounded by an old swamp area that has been mostly drained. I have taken many deer from the stand in previous seasons so I felt the “deer hunting fever” build in my old bones as I made my way through the woods in the dark to get in the hut well before daylight.

I always love watching the dawn break sitting in a deer stand, shaking a little bit from the cold and a little bit from the anticipation of the hunt. It is a sure-fired way for me to feel like a young man again for a few hours as I am totally absorbed in the hunt, scanning for deer, watching the movement of the does and young deer while I watch for the buck that is the purpose of my trip to appear. And then, he did appear! As I looked down the shooting lane that is cut to the south of the hut a huge bodied deer stepped from the swamp and walked into the lane! My first thought was to get him in my scope to see if he was indeed a “shooter” buck. But, just as quickly as he appeared, he was gone, trotting into the woods on the other side of the narrow lane. The buck had a very wide rack but, the tines were not very long from what I could tell in the brief look. The rack was a dark one and was reddish brown in color, that made me want to get him even more since the color and width were both very impressive.

I was on high alert for the next 45 minutes scanning intently for the buck and he showed up in the eastern lane chasing a smaller buck away from several does who were showing signs of estrus. He then came back to the lane and chased the does back and forth across the lane and out in the thickets on each side of it in the swamp. There was not much way to make a decent stalk attempt so I just sat in the hut hoping he would show up on the peninsula for a shot. At a little after 11:00 two small rack bucks came running out of the swamp and across the open woods so I got ready for “big red” to show up chasing them like he was earlier but, as luck would have it, he never came out of the thicket out in the swamp. Like many old mature bucks, he didn’t get that big by being stupid!

But one thing is for sure, I will be back after him next weekend unless I find out one of my relatives found him first!  Oh well, that is why it is called hunting,not just shooting!

Alabama deer hunting, what a way to spend some December vacation days! Only bad part is, I am exhausted, my truck is muddy, and I can’t go hunting for the next few days!

Until next week,

~postoak~ OUT doors..