It happens every year. We hear tales of the new guy who stumbles into the woods for the first time, scratches out a few calls and nails a big gobbler before the sun clears the horizon. But what you don’t hear are stories about the film crew and hunting pro who spend a full week in prime turkey country but fail to fill a tag or footage. We also don’t hear about the well-seasoned hunter who ends the season empty handed. For every beginner’s success there are dozens of other hard-luck stories in which hunters spend day after day in the woods without connecting. No doubt wild turkeys can humble anyone.

A turkey gobbling his head off on the roost can excite a hunter like few other sights or sounds. The excitement can be short lived though if the old Tom has already made up his mind to fly down away from you. A fired up a gobbler in the midday is different. He’s likely without hens and looking for love. There’s a good chance he’ll aggressively close the distance to your calls.

As we progress later and later into turkey season, hunters should remember things grow a little more dangerous as undergrowth does likewise. Turkey hunting safety should be at the front of your mind when taking to the late-season woods.

It’s funny the things that sometimes remain in our minds. They don’t have to be life altering events or items of historical significance. Each year during our wild turkey hunting season I recall a seemingly insignificant incident that happened years back.

The first time I heard the phrase “I sat down wrong” was decades ago when my wild turkey hunting career was still young. Back then my attitude still brimmed with the brashness of youth. I was mired deeply with that know-it-all arrogance that comes from already having a half dozen kills under my belt.

Catching any fish under twelve inches long usually isn’t worth my time. There are a few exceptions however and bluegill are one of them. Pound for pound they fight like a tiger and are second to none when it comes to table fare.

Most of the year giant bluegill can be difficult to catch. Thankfully late spring and early summer offer an exception. This time of year trophy sized gills are going through their mating ritual and aggressively feed while producing next year’s crop of offspring.

There’s something very rewarding about making your own stuff. Over the years I’ve made my own recurve bows, built boats, fly rods and a host of other things. However nothing has been more beneficial to me than making my own flys. It is extremely cost efficient and there’s nothing like fooling your favorite game fish with a gob of feathers and hair you personally put together at the tying vice.

It has now been well documented that deer, particularly fawns, can be a primary prey for coyotes. And as coyote breeding season is in full swing and coyote spottings become more frequent, it’s natural to wonder how their presence will have an impact on the ecology of your land.

Winter is over and it's time to get the boat back on the water. That also means putting the time, effort and elbow grease necessary to ensure the safest boating season possible.

In more than 30 years of turkey hunting, I’ve seen it happen hundreds of times. A hunter is working the turkey woods, walking and calling every so often to strike a gobble, when suddenly he hears one rocket back in reply. Sometimes the bird is closer than he expects and at that moment, I’ve seen hunters just dive for the nearest tree in a virtual panic, worried the tom was going to just bust right into sight.

The National Deer Association (NDA) recently shared in their recent blog post pre and post care routines for top maintaining top-quality food plots.