Sun Outdoors Fall Edition

SUNDAY, OCT. 11, 2009

Cover Story:

BROTHERS, BUCKS, BEST FRIENDS

Jonesboro dentists share their passion for the outdoors, family and friends.

by Tommy Garner Seasonal Hours: Monday — Friday 9am-7pm Saturday 9am - 5pm Sunday 1pm - 5pm

INSIDE: • In Pursuit of ‘Larry the Deer’ • Deer Down! Now What?

• Mast Crop Outlook ‘09 • Choosing the Perfect Treestand • Is Quality Deer Managment for You?

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Sun Outdoors As the days become shorter and the air begins to cool, we find our attention focused on other things. Suddenly, moon phases and the direction of the wind are more important, as is the weather north of us that might be moving fall migrations our way. Conversations suddenly turn to “Did you see any?” or “How’d you do?” The hardwood foliage is not the only thing changing.

We love this time of year because we’re outdoorsmen and outdoorswomen.

We cherish the time we get to spend pursuing our favorite game. We value the time with friends and family, away from the hustle and bustle of work, talking heads on television, and the problems that will greet our return. The anticipation of the first frost, of rub lines, and of the fall migration of mallards — does it really get any better than that?

That’s why we choose to highlight the outdoors with this special section you’re reading today that we call Sun Outdoors.

This section wouldn’t have been possible without the many local merchants who have supported this project, and we hope

that you will show your appreciation and support to them by shopping with them.

We’d like to take this opportunity to thank some of our contributors who provided much of the timely and relevant content in this section. Tommy “Tom Cat” Garner not only writes a weekly outdoor column in The Sun, but was instrumental in making this section possible, and we owe him our gratitude.

Other contributors were Steve Baker, Rhett Butler, David Lange, Greg Watts and Bryan Ross, all local outdoorsmen who were glad to lend their help by providing some informative and interesting articles.

We’d also like to thank Drs. Tim and Randy Woodruff for sharing their story with our readers. After reading our cover story you’ll quickly see why these two brothers are special in so many ways and their passion for the outdoors is thicker than the blood that bonds them.

Thanks for reading, and we hope you enjoy this edition of Sun Outdoors.

David Mosesso

David Mosesso, Sun publisher, poses with a buck he harvested in Woodruff County.

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Prospects look promising for the prepared deer hunter

BY TOMMY GARNER SPECIAL TO THE SUN

Arkansas is the land of opportunity, and that truly is the case for deer hunters. A deer hunter can take to the woods with a bow for a full five months, a black powder hunter can hunt with his smoke pole for 12 days in several north Arkansas deer zones, and a hunter can pack a centerfire rifle in pursuit of America’s favorite big game animal for 27 days in several zones, including Zone 3. This is one of the more liberal deer seasons in the country, so if you want to deer hunt, opportunities are plentiful.

Though the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission states that the annual bag limit is four deer statewide, most of the counties that allow four deer are in the southern end of the state. In our region, three is the max, normally with no more than two legal bucks and one doe, with some zones allowing two does. Couple this with the fact that in many zones, including Zone 3, you can harvest a doe without a doe zone quota permit for 10 of those days if you hunt with a muzzleloader and-or a modern gun, the chances of success are high for those hunters who spend some time in the woods.

Our region has been under the influence of the 3-point rule for more than a decade with some good results and some bad.

Normally, the 3-point rule has a productive life span of seven years before dropping off of

Wanda Garner’s preparedness helped her harvest this big buck. the back side of the bell curve where the results produced are no longer compatible with good quality deer management practices. The good is that the goal to achieve an older age class of bucks has happened, and the taxidermy shops and big buck contests have shown evidence of some of the finest bucks straight across the board that have ever been taken by many hunters in our area. It is no secret that deer hunters like to see and kill bigger bucks and the 3-point rule has definitely made that happen.

The down side has some ugly

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consequences like having an older age class of bucks whose racks do not qualify them as a legal buck under the 3-point rule. These bucks are inferior deer, which continue to pass along their inferior genes, while the genetically superior bucks are being eliminated. The fact remains that there are some very big bucks in our area, but they are on the decline.

The deer harvest information from last year shows that there were a lot of deer taken by the hunters across the state, but those numbers have to be analyzed to get the big picture.

In zones 3 and 6, the buck harvest was down by 24-25 percent, with the button buck harvest up by 18 percent. This simply means that there are fewer of the older-age-class bucks to be hunted and fewer bucks to go into the fall carrying their first racks, many of which would have been legal bucks this fall.

The good news is that there are still a lot of deer to hunt and there is always the possibility of seeing an absolute monster, regardless of where you choose to hunt. The hill country in Zone 3 has never had the reputation of producing giant racks, but even at that, there are still some very big bucks in the woods.

The fact that many more hunters are passing up young bucks, having a self-imposed minimum age limit or gross rack size that they enforce on their property or lease, means that there will be bigger bucks to hunt. More hunters are planting food plots and implementing supplemental nutritional programs on their land, which also contributes to bigger bucks with bigger racks in the area. It would be nice if the hill country would produce its first bona fide Boone & Crockett buck this fall, and there is a possibility that it could happen.

The farming country, especially along the river bottoms in Zone 4, has always produced the biggest bucks in our region.

It is a simple fact that good nutrition equals healthier deer, with bigger bodies and racks to match. With the food factor in place where the deer can eat

all of the good quality food that their heart desires and a short shotgun-muzzleloader, eithersex hunting season, there is no reason for there not to be some monster bucks lurking in the flatlands. The buck harvest was down considerably in Zone 4 during the last two years, but that does not mean that there are no deer there. The weather conditions and the timing of the rut are factors that affect the deer harvest and which must be taken into consideration. One thing for certain is that there are a good number of mature bucks in the area and they are never easy to hunt.

Northeast Arkansas is a sleeper area where there are some giant bucks, but they are hard to pattern and harder to put on the ground. Hunters who are successful in harvesting mature bucks in this area have to hunt them differently than in many areas. Their formula for success is not to hunt a particular buck, but to hunt the travel corridors which rutting bucks use to get from one place to another. This means spending a lot of time on a stand waiting for a buck to come cruising through on his way to some other place in search of a hot doe. Trail camera photos tell the tale of the monsters that inhabit this area, and a patient hunter may have a chance to hang a tag on the buck of a lifetime.

Overall, the prospects for this fall look promising for the hunter willing to do their homework and spend some time in the woods.

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Is quality deer management really for you?

BY STEVE BAKER SPECIAL TO THE SUN

In today’s popular hunting magazines and nearly all outdoor or hunting shows on television, game management is mentioned. Large sections of each media are dedicated to the subject. This article will attempt to help you critically analyze if it is right for you and the property you hunt and offer some hints on how to enhance your property.

If we properly analyze both the property and your perspectives on hunting, our decision will be quite easy.

Initially, we need to consider whether the property is capable of producing the quality deer. This varies considerably and is based predominately on the soil composition and available food sources.

When the first settlers arrived in our area, I would assume that the largest bucks came from those areas with the highest soil fertility that had proper diversity in forbs and browse vegetation. It only makes sense. Long before the concept of quality deer management, the largest deer and largest racks came from upper Midwest and South Texas due to the soil composition. The basic consideration in determining the ability to grow quality deer is proper quality habitat. Unfortunately, few of us have proper habitat on our property. The ability to properly access your property requires a significant amount of research.

Just a few tools, which might be helpful, would include: • Soil samples from the entire property. Deer browse the entire property not just food plots. If 90 percent of the property is below normal minimums, the remainder must be very high quality to balance the property.

• Timber expertise is critical to habitat analysis and improvement. A property filled with beautiful huge oak trees is enjoyable to hunt squirrels in October but provides just a few weeks per year of high quality deer food from acorns. Each acre must provide proper deer forbs and browse at the height level where a deer can utilize the food source. It can be challenging to secure the proper experts in timber management who also completely understand the biological needs of deer. Hardwood forestry management for benefit of deer management is always challenging to properly implement and maintain.

• The size and shape of the property is critical to properly managing deer for

quality. The properties need to be large (whether individually owned, leased or cooperation with mutually agreed rules) enough to allow protection for what we want to try to grow. This means no less than 1,000-2,000 acres — 5,000 acres will be more likely to have adequate success.

It is the author’s position that unless you control a large tract and it is generally block-shaped with limited perimeter exposure, it is unlikely to be successful.

The number of public access roads, number of deer hunting neighbors, poorly defined property lines, etc., detract from the likelihood of success.

Hopefully, the issues mentioned previously will hint at the amount of work, effort, time and money it requires to consider active management for quality deer. Since most readers will not meet the basic requirements, what can the average deer manager realistically hope to do on their property? We will attempt to share the lessons learned over the past 25 years of deer management.

How do we get started?

In the event your property is 400-1,000 acres and you are extremely dedicated to the concept of quality deer management, the first step will be to make the proper contacts with several key technical advisors and government agencies.

The county where your property is located will have a local Farm Service Agency (FSA) and Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and also a local Arkansas Forestry Commission (AFC). The next contact should be with the local private lands biologist for the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.

A few of the services or benefits of each will be listed below: FSA—you should check current farm programs which your property is enrolled in or able to be enrolled in. They can also provide acres, crop acres, crop history, acres of pasture or woods and excellent quality aerial maps of the property. Making contact and establishing a relationship with staff of this office will prove beneficial for any future programs.

NRCS—many of the government programs assisting landowners originate and are overseen by this office. Conservation projects are based in this agency.

They can provide many services related to building ponds or other water structures on your property.

AFC—most landowners can qualify for

a Forestry Stewardship Plan for their property. This program will provide a professional forestry consultant to prepare a plan for your specific property based on the goals you determine.

AGFC staff will typically provide the game management component of this plan. AFC is also the source for trees for special plantings on your property at a very reduced price. In certain areas they can also conduct prescribed burns for the property, which can be a very useful management tool.

AGFC—using a private lands biologist has provided expert advice and assistance free to landowners. In addition to preparing a private lands management plan, they are also the source for qualification for your property to be involved with the deer management assistance program, camp check station program, and other very beneficial programs.

If you have fishing resources on your property, fish biologists are available for expert advice on fish management.

Mentioned above are many agencies which, when utilized properly, comprise a team of experts available to help you

improve your property and perhaps provide some financial assistance for building your property into a quality management area.

Design development By learning, asking questions and site visits, you can begin to formulate a plan of what you envision for your property.

When you have the basic design in mind, it is time to develop the specific design for your property.

One of the most enjoyable aspects to game management is the unique design of your property being shaped into the ultimate home for quality deer. Dr. James Kroll has long suggested that property owners divide their property into 80-acre areas. Each of these areas should create and provide everything a deer will need for quality existence. This would include bedding areas, summer and winter thermal cover, feeding areas, food sources, night feeding areas and, of course water sources. Take one of the PLEASE SEE MANAGEMENT, E7

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MANAGEMENT: Trail cameras, feeding stations can help with analysis of deer population on property aerial maps youFROM havePAGE of your E6 property and begin to break down the area into sub-units of 80 acres. For example purposes, assume you have a 15-acre cedar thicket, which could provide thermal protection in both warm and cold weather and perhaps a bedding area. Perhaps you have or could log a 20-acre hillside which would provide early succession growth with many forbs craved by deer and bedding areas for both deer and turkey in the tree tops. Perhaps there would be a creek bottom, which might provide a food plot location, which would support several 2- to 3-acre food plots. If there is an old pasture area, this could be converted to a hilltop food plot. Consider adding a year-round water source such as a pond near the hilltop food source and consider altering the creek to hold water year round. If you do this for every 80-acre tract, you are well on the way to creating a “patchwork” of quality deer habitat. It would be best to have a balance of mature timber, early succession areas, open fields, water sources, heavy cover and food sources from both food plots and mast crops. Typically, it is recommended that you create a connecting series of access roads which will provide the ability for logging equipment and food plot equipment to easily

provide service where needed. If properly designed the roads can also provide firebreaks or access for controlled burns on smaller sub-tracts.

Property biology Now that we have our property properly designed to allow everything a deer needs to flourish on every 80 acres, it is time to consider the biology of the property.

On a newly developed property, we need to analyze accurately the deer population, age and sex mixture of the herd.

This is best done with trail cameras and feeding stations set up throughout the property and done over a 2-week period pre-season and another survey done post-season. Within a couple of years and a lot of pictures of coons and squirrels, you should be able to determine the number and quality of your deer herd.

Prepare for surprises! Areas you think will only have does may show up with the biggest buck on the property, which has never previously been seen. Likewise, you may see hundreds of doe pictures and a few young bucks and become frustrated at the lack of mature bucks.

The dynamics of herd management present the manager with extreme chal-

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Darrell Whittingham captured these fawns on film. lenges. You just need to work with accurate information and adjust your management strategy to reflect the changes in your deer herd. Entire books are devoted to this subject but allow it to suffice for this article that you must begin to determine the biology of your properties’ herd. This can be done by trail camera censuses at least twice a year (at least one camera for every 80 acres), logs of deer sightings from hunters while hunting and night visual census; and complement this with the biological data kept in camp such as body weight, sex, lactation percentage, antler measurements and age of all deer harvested on the property. After just a few years, you will be able to determine trends in these components and hopefully adjust to properly manage the herd.

Most hunters fail to understand that the majority of the deer’s diet must come from native mast and forbs, which we must manage as efficiently as possible.

Feeding deer with supplemental feed, food plots, corn feeders, etc., is only supplementing what they need from natural feed. If our habitat is properly diversified and capable of producing adequate year-round native food for the herd, we can then move to supplemental food sources.

Unfortunately too many “deer managers” think if they put out a few corn feeders and plant a few food plots, they are going to grow a bunch of big bucks next year. This provides wildlife viewing and perhaps some increased chances to harvest does but will do very little to enhance the harvest of mature quality bucks. It is great fun to “play” farmer on weekends and watch a pretty plot of wheat or oats come up in the fall but it is not enough if you are serious about managing for quality deer. Endless sources

of what to plant in food plots are available through the agencies mentioned previously, or every magazine or television show on hunting has the “magic” big buck food for you to plant. The best recipe is simple. Determine what will grow well on your property considering soil type, quality of soil, pH, fertilizer recommendations, etc., and try to experiment with both summer plots and winter plots. We want plenty of nutrition and the correct plant-born minerals available for bucks when they are growing horns in the spring. We want ample amounts of easily digested, high-quality foods for does as they deliver fawns through late summer’s heavy nursing periods. We want our herd to have all the quality food they need to minimize biological stress throughout the year.

In our area, due to adequate rainfall and mild winters, the most efficient method of production of supplemental food for deer is year-round plots. We typically have ample rain to grow high protein crops like soybeans, cowpeas, corn, or grain sorghum. All are favored by deer and should be considered in a summer plot mix. Recent developments in Round-up technology have afforded the manager much flexibility in keeping these crops clean and weed-free. These crops should be planted to the same standard that they would be planted for harvest. The best crops keep and provide higher quality protein levels over longer periods of time for the wildlife. It is often suggested that one-third of the available plot acreage be planted in summer crops.

Another one-third of the available plots should be planted in winter plots. Normally some mixture of wheat, oats, red and-or arrow leaf clover has produced well and offers high quality cereal grains early season and good protein clover until mid-summer. Supplement this with brassicas if you find them attractive for your deer.

The remaining one-third of the available plot areas should be planted in a perennial source of year-round high protein. Typically this will be a combination of clover plantings. Ladino and Duran are two clovers which have grown well for the author over a number of years.

These plots must be treated with appropriate chemicals to reduce weed competition and must be properly limed and fertilized to maximize the yield. It is suggested that the plots be bush-hogged in late summer when the seed heads have dried to help with continued establishment of the plot via reseeding offered by PLEASE SEE FEEDING, E18

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Damage from devastating ice storm still evident in area

BY TOMMY GARNER SPECIAL TO THE SUN

The ice storm that we experienced early this year was absolutely devastating.

Homes and businesses were damaged by the scores, the electricity was out in places for weeks, many miles of utility poles were down, traffic and commerce were disrupted for days at a time. In our area, it was the worst ice storm in decades, as it was across our country. Basically, life as we know it was paralyzed by the destructive blast of arctic air coupled with moisture. Portable generators, where available, sold by the thousands.

In one location, a whole semi-trailer load of them sold out in less than two hours.

Those people fortunate to have wood heat cooked on the stove top, and melted ice for drinking water and for bathing.

When the sun went down, everyone who had other light sources like candles, lanterns and oil lamps were using them.

Eventually, the ice lost its grip across the region, but it left major destruction behind. The cleanup cost millions of dollars. Even today, all you have to do is take a short drive and you can still see a lot of the damage it caused.

Mast (acorn production) is a major food source for the deer, turkeys and other wildlife, and in years that the mast crop produces well, the animals fare well. In years of low acorn production, the wildlife has to depend on other food sources. This is much more evident in the hill country than it is in the farming country where the deer depend on row crops which are produced every year.

They eat the acorns when they begin to fall, but they are not dependent on them.

The most common acorns that deer prefer to eat are white oak, post oak, red oak, water oak, pin oak and chinquapin. There are several other types of acorns, but these are the ones that deer prefer with white oak being on the top of the list. Normally, when white oak or red oak acorns begin to fall, deer leave whatever food source they are using at the time and focus on the falling acorns. At times, there are some early falling red oak acorns, but most of the time the white oaks fall first. In the hills, to find the deer, find the acorns that they have targeted and you will be in business.

During years of light acorn producPLEASE SEE DAMAGE, E9

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DAMAGE: District 8 forester Mark Phillips says at least 80 percent of region’s trees experienced damage FROM PAGE E8 tion, deer will show up on about any green food source and corn feeders put out by hunters.

When this happens, the deer kill is normally higher than during years of an abundant mast crop because the deer stay in the woods where they are harder to find than in the open fields.

When the deer are in the woods, it is very important to scout to find where they are feeding, bedding, rubbing, scraping and traveling. Only time spent scouting will consistently produce deer under these conditions.

Not only were the acorn-bearing trees damaged but the pecan trees as well. Where available, pecans are a favored food source for deer. There are more pecan groves in the farming land than there are in the hills, and they do have an impact on deer.

I have been asked on a continual basis how the ice storm will affect the acorn crop this fall. To help answer this ques-

tion, I sought the expertise of the Arkansas Forestry Commission, specifically District 8 forester Marc Phillips. According to Phillips, at least 80 percent of the trees in our region experienced damage to their crown during the ice storm, some much worse than others.

“The damage to the timber was extensive, but most of it will recover. The trees will experience epicormic branching (suckering or sprouting limbs) from just below where the limb or trunk was broken. The epicormic branching will occur from buds on the outside of the limb or trunk,” Phillips explained. “The new branches will be considerably more brittle or prone to break than the original limbs. They eventually will fill in a lot of the canopy, but they will not produce acorns this fall.

I personally have seen more red oak acorns so far this year than I have white oak and it is hard to determine where they will produce and where they will not.

“Red oak acorns take two years to produce, so a lot of the

Here are some of the signs that deer leave behind after feeding on acorns. red oak acorns were already on the trees when they were damaged. White oak acorns are 1-year acorns, so they appear in the spring, mature during the summer, then drop in the fall.

Trees do have a tendency to produce more fruit when they are under stress, so there is a good possibility that they will produce a lot of mast where possible. The white oaks and red oaks will produce acorns where

the limbs were not damaged, and next year the new limbs will produce mast as well.”

With this expert’s opinion, there will be some acorns, but they will simply be wherever you find them. Again, this calls for observation through scouting to find this valuable food source, because if you find the falling acorns, you will find the deer. Not all white oak acorns are the same and deer have ones

that they prefer.

The acorns started falling in September and deer will eat them pretty fast. Of course, other animals eat acorns, so you must be able to determine if deer or other animals are eating them. This sounds elementary at first, but only if you know what you are looking for. Deer trails, tracks and droppings are a good indicator that deer are the ones eating the fallen fruit, but there are other telltale signs, too. The deer pop acorns with their jaws and most of the time spit out at least part of the hull. You will find slivers of hull that are curved from the top to bottom or part of a hull which runs from top to bottom. You will also find acorn cups with the side busted out of them, an indication that a deer has eaten the acorn. A squirrel eats an acorn from the top down, leaving the bottom of the acorn where it was attached to the cup. When you know these simple tips, you can immediately tell if it is deer or squirrels eating the acorns.

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THE JONESBORO SUN

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SUN OUTDOORS

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SUNDAY, OCT. 11, 2009

Larry the buck leads hunter on legendary quest

BY RHETT BUTLER SPECIAL TO THE SUN

It seems to me that over the years the great sport of whitetail hunting has developed into the “what did he score?” syndrome. Hunting shows seem to all focus on the score of the buck’s antlers.

The amount of buck management programs that have developed over the last 10 years has propelled our sport in the direction of shooting quality, mature bucks. This is a great accomplishment for all hunters, but with gain there often comes loss. With the increase in these type programs, hunters are obsessing over size, instead of the pursuit. I’ve gotten caught up in this over the years as well, but this past season a wise old buck that I named “Larry” taught me a valuable lesson.

The first time I saw Larry, he appeared out of nowhere. As he stood in the field at sunset, I tried to get a better look at him, but he was too wise for me. As I tried to look at his antlers, my stand creaked and he darted into the woods line like a ghost. I got a good look at him, but it all happened so fast that all I could really see was a huge, block head. What happened on that January afternoon in 2008 would change the way I viewed trophy hunting forever.

In November 2008 I got a picture on my trail camera that shocked me. It wasn’t a huge typical or non-typical as one might hope for. It was a lean looking buck that appeared to have no antlers other than some freaky stubs. I knew he looked strange, but I really didn’t think much about it at the time. I just remember how dumbfounded he looked in that picture. During the entire month of November, I caught the buck on my cameras in several different spots around our club. The more pictures that I got of him the more I noticed his antler deformity. He had a unique shaped head that looked like it had been hit with a scoop shovel and then run into a brick wall. His head was out of proportion when compared to his body. He had the blockiest head that I have ever seen on a whitetail deer. When he posed for a picture he didn’t appear to be the brightest bulb in the box.

As December rolled around I probably had 10 or 12 different pictures of the strange buck. I hadn’t named him yet, but I had a few names rolling around in my head. Skillet Head, Fry Pan Head, Nubs and others. I couldn’t peg a good name until I showed one of his pictures

Rhett and Grace Butler pose with the old warrior, Larry. to a couple of hunting buddies and they said he looked like Larry Bennett, an old frat brother of theirs. I laughed and had to ask why. They told me that the buck looked so dumb and that was how Larry Bennett appeared in every picture that he was in back in college. When I compared photos of Larry Bennett and Larry the deer I could see they may have been separated at birth. We all laughed and agreed that the buck would now be called Larry. The legend of Larry was born.

Now that I had a name for the buck, I started to address him as Larry every time that I talked about him. Before long everyone in camp became familiar with the name. Only a few knew of his whereabouts, but the legend of Larry was coming alive. Larry wasn’t a huge buck that everyone was going to rush out and start hunting. He would be considered as a cull buck that no one would consider hunting. Except for me.

I found him unique and I made him my priority. With as many pictures that I had of Larry, I figured that I could ease into his core area and put Larry out of his misery in one short hunt. Well, this is when the misery begins, and the misery was all on me.

My first hunt for Larry was on a cold December morning and the rut was in

full swing. As I got settled in my stand it wasn’t long before deer started easing my way. Around 9 a.m. I heard some deer coming. As I looked up, I could see a couple of bucks chasing does and another deer lollygagging behind the group. It wasn’t hard to identify this buck. He had a goofy gate and a big block head. This was my first hunt and I was going to kill old Larry. As the group of deer approached my stand and Larry was about to get into range, something tipped him off to the danger above him.

He locked in on me in the tree and I was at least 25 feet high. The staredown took about 40 seconds before Larry turned and bolted. Maybe Larry wasn’t as dumb as he looked.

Over the next 15 days I hunted Larry on and off, morning and afternoon. I kept my cameras out in the area and I was able to monitor Larry’s movement.

It appeared that after my close encounter with Larry he put his guard up. He didn’t go totally nocturnal, but he started playing games with me. He somehow knew how to show up on my cameras just before I got on my stand or right after I got off. On one hunt I got to my stand well before daylight. After I got settled in I saw the flash from my camera go off. I didn’t think much about it at the time but when I finished my hunt, I

checked my camera and there was Larry getting his picture taken right under my nose! In the next few days I caught Larry on camera several more times.

Most of them were at night and early morning before daylight. Every once in a while he would show himself in the middle of the day, but with no regularity. I figured that I had probably spooked him a little so I decided to back off and let him rest. I decided not to hunt in that area until I started getting his picture in a more consistent pattern.

It was Christmas Eve and I decided that I would try Larry again. I had collected several pictures of Larry and it appeared he was using the afternoon a little more than normal. This made sense since this spot lay between three huge green fields. About 2 o’clock I was getting ready and my wife reminded me of some Christmas toy duties that I had to do before my hunt. I realized that I wasn’t going to finish in time to make the hunt and at 4:30 p.m., I was finishing up with the last sticker and screw on the final toy. I would have to wait and try Larry on Christmas afternoon.

The next morning after Santa Claus had visited, my daughter Grace and I went to check my cameras. When I pulled up the most recent pictures, there was Larry standing in front of my camera at 4:30 p.m. the day before! He had this look on his face that said “I am here; where are you?” By this time I was about ready to give up on the buck. He may look dumb, but he was obviously smarter than me. I hunted Larry a few more times before leaving for a trip the week after Christmas. I never saw Larry or got another picture before then.

It was a week after getting back from my trip before I could hunt Larry again.

I took my family and was planning on hunting my first afternoon back, accompanied by my daughter Grace. We had been using Larry’s name so much in the past month that he became a household name. Even my wife was addressing him as “Larry.”

I decided to pick a box stand to hunt for the afternoon since I was taking my daughter with me. Grace kept asking about Larry; wanting to know when he was going to come out into the field, which direction he was going to come from, what time was he going to come out. At about 5 o’clock deer started to enter the field. I was in the same stand that I had first seen Larry about a year PLEASE SEE LARRY, E18

SUNDAY, OCT. 11, 2009

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SUN OUTDOORS

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THE JONESBORO SUN

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THE JONESBORO SUN

Dr. Randy Woodruff

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SUN OUTDOORS

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SUNDAY, OCT. 11, 2009

SUNDAY, OCT. 11, 2009

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SUN OUTDOORS

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E13

Brothers, best friends share love of outdoors

BY TOMMY GARNER SPECIAL TO THE SUN

The young hunters were in a dilemma. They had no idea how to get out of the Black River bottoms where they were duck hunting. What was worse, their guide Dub Jones, who was a diabetic, had passed out. They had to get medical help for Dub, but how were they supposed to find help when they had no idea where they were? The young men decided that the only way for this to work was for them to get Mr. Jones to regain consciousness. Eventually, Dub came around enough for him to point them in the right direction, bringing relief and another great adventure in the outdoors to the inseparable brothers.

The 400-pound wild boar was upset. He grabbed a sapling as big as a pop can and broke it off above the ground. Randy Woodruff knew he was close a few seconds before he saw the giant wild hog. He could smell it. He knew he could not react quickly enough to escape the wild hog if it decided to do more than destroy the sapling, so he called to his brother Tim to “shoot this hog!”

Tim, who was 30 yards farther away, realized the seriousness of the situation and let the big porker have it behind the shoulder with his .30-06. As usual, Tim made a perfect shot. The big boar ran a few yards and died on the ridge top.

This took place during a “brother hunt” that the two hunters make time to do alone each year.

Another time in a remote area of the Rocky Mountains, Tim killed a big mule deer. It was late in the evening, but the guys wanted to get Tim’s deer back to camp before morning. If they left the buck unattended until morning, there would be nothing left because of the dense population of black bears that lived in the area.

They rode an old ATV down the mountain trail to the downed deer, field-dressed it, loaded it on the vehicle and started out. The problem was that the lights did not work on the 4wheeler, total darkness had Saundra Sovick | The Sun come, they were covered with blood in bear country

Mike Jones (left), Randy Woodruff (center) and Tim Woodruff pose with a trio of big bucks they harvested in Randolph County. and did not have a gun with them. The realization that they were in a serious situation sunk in on the hunters.

It was not good, but they were not the only ones who were concerned. Hunting buddy Charlie Miller realized that something was amiss, so he pulled his truck up on a mountain and turned the headlights on to give the brothers a guiding light to help get them safely back to camp.

These experiences and countless others serve to only strengthen the bond between Dr. Randall Woodruff and Dr. Tim Woodruff, both dentists who have worked out of the same office for the last 26 years. They spend every working day together, play golf, duck hunt, deer hunt, work on their farm and take family vacations together.

There is an incredible bond and spirit of unity between these two brothers that is very rare. The Jonesboro dentists have three other brothers — Steve, who is an internal medicine doctor; Lee, who is a podiatrist; and Scott, who is a CPA and financial consultant.

It is very unusual for a family of five brothers to have such a desire to excel that four of them become doctors and the other a CPA. What would inspire such a spirit of excellence?

“Our parents were very strict, but in a loving way. Dad was an influence who instilled the love of the land and nature in us because he worked for the Soil Conservation in Arkansas for many years. He built most of the watershed lakes in this area. He got his degree from Oklahoma State before moving to Arkansas,” Randy and Tim explained.

“He had five boys, and he expected us to put our best foot forward. Mom was a stay-at-home-mom who’s life

was to care for her sons. Because Dad was a government worker, we didn’t have a lot of money, so our family vacations were week-long and sometimes 2-week-long camping trips to the Buffalo River and other places where we would camp, fish and enjoy nature. We did not hunt because Dad could not outfit all five of us with a gun and the other things we needed, so we fished. We didn’t begin hunting until we went to college and dental school. We met some special people, Mike Jones and his father Dub, who was an avid deer and duck hunter. Our passion for duck and deer hunting came from Dub. He became our mentor and made us stay in the woods even when it was cold and miserable.”

The flame that Dub Jones created in them turned into a burning passion and eventually they, along with Mike Jones, became fast friends with another hunter who had the same passion burning inside, Paul Bookout. The four close friends would hunt deer on public land, packing in their stands while wading the water to get to where the deer were and the hunters were not. Eventually, they leased some land, but they were limited in what they could do on the leases as far as quality deer management and planting food plots to improve the deer herd, so they decided that owning their own hunting land was the only way. They bought a large tract of land, and the first thing they did was to have a state biologist assess the property and then put a plan into motion. They implemented a conservation plan using many of the things that they had learned from their father, including select cutting the timber on the property, putting into motion a wildlife

habitat improvement program, planting food plots, doing controlled burns and many other things to achieve the best that they could for the land and the wildlife.

The brothers and their friends began to see results of their labor in a couple of years. The young bucks that they chose not to shoot produced an olderage class of bucks on their property, which in turn meant bigger-bodied bucks with bigger racks. It takes only a glance into the trophy rooms of the good doctors and their friends to see that their many years of planning and management are working.

“We enjoy hunting a lot. We let a lot of nice bucks walk, we enjoy seeing the progress that we have made and we also work with our neighbors to encourage them to do the things we are doing,” Randy and Tim explained.

“Every deer killed on our farm is a group accomplishment, regardless of who kills it. We all have the same passion, and we all know every detail about every deer that we harvest.

“We are very safety conscious. We never go to our stands without radios. Every hunter knows where each of the other hunters are. Besides safety, this helps to keep track of the trespassers. If there is a shot on our farm, we know exactly where it comes from and if it is not one of us, we all converge on that location at the same time.

“Also, our wives are very special.

They support us and love going to our cabin for family outings. The kids hunt and share the love of the outdoors that we have. Hunting has helped our business. When we built our office, we left trees where we can look outside while we are working. We actually have patients that say that looking at the trees out of our office windows is relaxing. It helps us get through the day. We work hard so we can go play,” the brothers explained with a smile.

So what gives with an incredible bond between two brothers who spend almost every day working, hunting and “playing” together? With passion in his voice and the hint of a tear in his eye, Randy Woodruff, speaking of his brother Tim Woodruff, says “He is my best friend!”

Dr. Tim Woodruff

Saundra Sovick | The Sun

E14

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THE JONESBORO SUN

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SUN OUTDOORS

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Everything you need to know about processing your deer

BY DAVID LANGE SPECIAL TO THE SUN

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SUNDAY, OCT. 11, 2009

Fall is upon us as the leaves start to change color and the coolness of the night reminds us that deer season is here. Hunters, have you sighted in your bow? How about your favorite gun?

What about your food plot, tree stands, grunt call, hunting clothes (especially the ones that your spouse has washed in hot water during the offseason and no longer fit)? Of course all of that is important but what about planning for what to do with your harvest once it hits the ground? What? You didn’t think that was important? Well it is!

As a licensed deer processor, I have processed just about every kind of wild game over the past 30 years and have seen it all. I want to provide you with answers to a few common questions that will help you ensure that your meat is something that you can enjoy instead of moving it from one end of the freezer to the other and then tossing it away because it’s gotten old and freezer burned.

Game processing Q&A: When should I field dress my deer?

As soon as possible, especially when the temperature is above 60 degrees.

Should I field dress the deer in the woods?

Every situation is different, but generally speaking you should field-dress your deer where you can keep it the cleanest.

Should I cut the deer’s throat?

No! When you field dress the deer you are removing the blood. By cutting the throat you may also jeopardize the integrity of the mount if it’s a trophy.

Should I wash out the deer in the creek, pond or mud hole?

No. That is a judgment call but I would try to get to clean water. Grit that comes from dirty water is hard to wash out of a deer.

Should I purchase a fly net?

No. While they are helpful the best defense is to skin and quarter the deer, place it in a cooler with lots of ice or take it to the processor.

My hunting spot is about a 1-hour drive from the processor and it is a warm day What should I do?

It is best to pack the cavity with several bags of ice.

I only have 2 bags of ice. Where should I place them?

One should be placed between the back legs and the other as close to the throat as possible. Those areas retain heat longer than other areas.

I have killed a doe. What needs to be removed?

Removing the milk bag is best because this area can sour and spoil the meat if not cooled quickly.

Should I remove the urine bag?

No, but ask your processor. We would prefer that you leave them alone because if you cut it you jeopardize contaminating the meat.

I didn’t find my deer before dark but found it early the next morning. Is it still OK? That depends. Was it cool during the night? Was it paunch shot? Was it a lactating doe? If the night air was cold or even cooled down that is a plus. If the deer was shot in the gut or it was a lactating doe you should field-dress the deer, wash it out and pack it in ice. After a couple of hours you should be able to see visible signs. If a strong odor exists, this should be a warning sign.

I just killed the biggest deer of my hunting career. I know that I need to field-dress the deer but I don’t want to damage the cape. What should I do?

Carefully field-dress the deer. Do not cut beyond the back side of the front legs. Under no circumstances should you cut the throat or into the breast plate. Allow plenty of uncut space for the taxidermist to work with.

I have a hard time field-dressing my deer without cutting into the gut. Do you have any pointers?

Yes. Start as far back as possible cutting toward the front, keeping space between the hide and the gut. Always remember to carry rubber gloves and a sharp knife in your hunting bag. Replace the gloves every year with fresh ones.

My family does not like deer but I like to hunt. What now?

Have you talked to your processor about donating the deer to Arkansas Hunters Feeding the Hungry? It will not cost you anything and the meat will be donated to a registered shelter where it will be consumed.

Most of all, enjoy your hunt!

David Lange operates Ridge Road Processors in Lafe. They process deer and elk, and are open from Oct. 1 until mid-January. Call 5860892.

SUNDAY, OCT. 11, 2009

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SUN OUTDOORS

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THE JONESBORO SUN

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E15

Valuable lessons learned in the ‘squirrel woods’

BY GREG WATTS SPECIAL TO THE SUN

The fondest memories of my youth are of the days spent at my father’s side in the “squirrel woods” — yes, that’s right, the squirrel woods — that’s what they are in Arkansas until the first day of deer season, when of course they become the “deer woods.”

From the first day of squirrel season until the last, we took advantage of every opportunity to go to the woods. My father started taking me to the woods when I was literally too small to walk through the leaves and underbrush and keep up. From the very first time that I sat on a log beside him and the old single-shot 12-gauge that he carried, it’s a memory that he and I still talk about. According to him, on that first day when he let that old cannon loose, the recoil was so great that it rocked him and the log and I fell backwards onto the ground. Neither the blast nor the fall deterred me from wanting to continue to be with him every time he left the house headed for the woods. It was a special time, a special way for

a father and a son to get to know each other at a deeper level and to create memories and a bond that would last a lifetime. It was a time and a place where little words were spoken or needed; our hearts were sharing the simple joys of being together on a cool fall morning, watching the dawn’s first light, listening to the blue jays and the falling acorns, and having our senses filled with all the fragrance, sights and sounds of an Arkansas hardwood forest.

My father is now 87 and is unable to walk as well as one would need to in order to enjoy a good squirrel hunt, but he still feels that same excitement and nostalgia every fall as the air begins to cool and the days shorten. Everything about him says, “It’s time to go to the woods.”

I share that same feeling. I still feel my heart beat faster and my breath become shorter when in the faint light of dawn I hear that familiar rustle in the leaves or that excited fussing chatter that tells me a squirrel is nearby. The excitement has not faded, nor have the memories.

After 50 years I can tell you that it still remains one of the most memorable and important rituals that ever occurred

in the life of a father and a son from a little community in Northeast Arkansas.

If you have never taken your child on a squirrel hunt, I suggest that you are missing out on one of life’s simplest and yet most precious treasures.

Those squirrel hunting trips also taught me valuable lessons about the natural environment around me. One of the most important lessons that I learned from those days in the woods and fields of my youth was of the essential quality of water. Ample water resources meant everything to a successful hunting season. Having enough water to sustain a good food supply and provide a drinking source for all wildlife directly and greatly influences the health, activity and reproduction of that wildlife. We have been living in a “water rich” state with abundant water resources for a very long time. This, however, has been rapidly changing over the past 50 years as we have steadily drained and channeled the excess rainfall away as quickly as possible, resulting in a loss of wetlands. We have also continued to deplete our aquifers at a much faster rate than they can possibly

replenish, causing critical situations in several regions. Quite frankly, we have been poor stewards of the invaluable water resources with which we have been blessed and will soon pay for it with significant lifestyle changes if we do not act quickly to reverse the trends of depletion, misuse and degradation.

As the demands for water resources continue to grow and the supply dwindles, the pressures on our rivers and streams will grow as well. They are always the first resource targeted as an alternative to the aquifers which are now being depleted. There will be plans for dams and for pumping and piping river water to depleted areas. No region in the entire state will be immune from the effects of these types of plans. The Arkansas that we have known our whole lives could be changed forever, affecting not only our lifestyles, but also the habitat, management practices and sustainability of the game we hunt and the streams we fish.

As you hunt this season I’m sure that you will recall, as will I, many special PLEASE SEE SQUIRREL, E22

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THE JONESBORO SUN

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SUN OUTDOORS

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SUNDAY, OCT. 11, 2009

All tree stands are not created equal

BY DAVID MOSESSO SUN STAFF WRITER

Tree stands have caused the demise of more unsuspecting whitetails than any other single product that has come along in the past 50 years. Take a gander through a catalog or gaze through the local outdoor display and one thing is for certain — you’ll likely be more confused after than before. To find the stand that best fits you, you need to answer several questions.

• Is portability an issue? If so, how far are you likely to carry your stand into the field?

• What type of trees will you be hunting from?

• Are you bow hunting or gun hunting?

• How long do you expect to stay in your stand on average?

• How agile are you?

• Are you afraid of heights?

• What is your budget?

Each of these questions must be taken as a sum of the whole, so let’s start with the portability issue. If you’re looking for a “permanent” stand, or a stand that you want to place in the tree and leave there all year, a ladder or “hang-on” stand is your first option. Ladder stands are basically a ladder with a platform on top. They are secured to the tree with either a ratchet-strap or some other device such as a chain. Ladder stands are easy to climb for young and old hunters alike and are typically solid, comfortable and safe.

Ladder stands range from $89-$250, depending on the height and size. A basic 12-foot ladder stand will run under $100 and is easy to set up and will provide years of service if properly maintained. Ladder stands come in “double widths” to accommodate two hunters, especially popular for adult-youth hunt-

Saundra Sovick | The Sun

Different types of deer stands include (from left) the ladder stand, the climbing stand and the hang-on stand. ing trips.

The other “permanent” stand options are the hang-on stands, which are merely elevated platforms that “hang on” to the tree independently of a ladder. Hang-on stands come in all shapes and sizes and can range in price from $50-$300. Typically, inexpensive hangon stands are made from steel while the more expensive and lighter stands are made from aluminum. Hang-on stands are secured to the tree by a number of ways — chains, straps, cables, or a com-

bination of these.

If you’re lucky enough to have a place to hunt on private property and you can leave your stands out all season, inexpensive hang-on stands might suffice.

Remember, to a certain degree, you get what you pay for. Typically, the larger the stand and seat, the more comfortable they are, and if you’re planning on spending a day in a tree a small stand with a thin, uncomfortable seat might test more than your patience. There are some incredibly comfortable mid-

priced hang-on stands made by Summit or Gorilla that will provide great comfort. Millenium Treestands makes a sling seat hang-on that is touted as one of the best on the market.

If you’re looking for a portable stand, then either a lightweight hang-on or a climbing tree stand is the direction you need to be heading. Climbing stands weigh anywhere from 14-25 pounds while a hang-on stand may weigh 9-18 PLEASE SEE TREE STANDS, E22

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SUNDAY, OCT. 11, 2009

FEEDING: Protein feeding can be a valuable tool LARRY: Unusual buck was at least 10 years old the new seed heads.

FROMThese PAGE E7plots provide nearly year-round high-protein source of supplemental feed for the herd and help out during lean times in the summer or winter plantings or in the event of a mast crop failure.

The author enjoys watching game near a corn feeder occasionally. However, this tool is overused as a supplemental feeding tool and is best done as an attractant preceding camera surveys or during severe weather periods. Little nutritional benefit for the deer is provided through corn, and feeders can often harbor or encourage unwanted disease problems from aflatoxin or other soil-born diseases.

Protein feeding The last comment on supplemental feeding will be with regard to protein feeding. This is an extremely valuable tool but useful only to the highly developed deer property. This could be considered the “cap block” of a deer management program. Year-round free choice protein feed will absolutely reduce stress and enhance the biology of a herd. However, feed costs and labor requirements to provide the supplement to various feeding stations throughout the

property (remember every 80 acres) can be staggering. It typically takes three to five years for the biological advantages of supplemental feeding to become obvious (higher body weights and larger racks) but they can be significant. The author suggests this when labor and funds are sufficient but only after the remaining components are fully developed.

In conclusion, we have attempted to describe a recipe for success for managing for quality deer on your property.

Many property owners are already started toward improvement. However, most property owners fail to consider all the necessary components of a total plan and therefore are limited in their potential to accomplish their goals. Significant amounts of money, labor and research are required to become successful at deer management. Every prospective deer manager should strive to do all they can but make sure they never loose sight of why we all participate in deer hunting. The reason for all of us is to enjoy ourselves and a quality hunting experience with our friends and family! Deer management can enrich the experience and give pride to the successful manager and maybe provide the best buck of your lifetime! Best wishes and good hunting!

FROM PAGE E10 ago. As the field filled up with deer I noticed a few bucks, but no Larry. I pointed them out to Grace and all she could ask is “where is Larry?” Twenty minutes later I saw a deer ease out of the tree line into the field. It was Larry; you could see his block head a mile away. I told Grace that Larry was in the field and I got her in position so she could see him. I don’t think she could really see anything, but she said she could see him.

When I ranged him he was 250 yards.

I took a steady rest and when he turned broadside I squeezed the trigger. When Larry went down, I felt mixed emotions.

I was glad my quest was complete, but I had ended the hunt. My emotions were also high because I had just introduced my daughter Grace to deer hunting. One never knows how a 5-year-old will react to a dead animal, especially one that has a name.

We eased down from the stand and I prepared her for what she was going to see. She wasn’t listening because she began to run to Larry. When she reached the deer she said, “He is so beautiful,” and I was assured that everything was OK. It was obvious Larry was a very old

buck. I had invested about 20 days of hunting this buck, probably more than any other buck that I have taken. I was able to harvest him with my daughter and give her some sense of pride that reflected on this buck called Larry. He was an old warrior that had beaten me, until luck turned my way.

We took several pictures of Larry with Grace and me. When we pulled up, everyone gathered around to look at Larry.

Everyone called him by name; I didn’t realize how popular he had become. As we all stood around and admired him, it dawned on me that Larry was a true trophy. We aged him and he was at least 10 years of age. His teeth were worn down almost to the bone. The biologist said that this could have been Larry’s last season.

I made the decision to have Larry mounted, as a tribute to this wise old buck. He sits among many other largerantlered bucks. When friends walk into the room, Larry seems to get all the attention. A fitting tribute for a wily old warrior who gave me the chase of my life. For what it’s worth, Larry scored a whopping 20 points on the Boone and Crockett scale.

SUNDAY, OCT. 11, 2009

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Duck hunters (from left) Matt Barnett, Alex Hinson, Chuck Long, Mary Barnett, Joe Barnett, David Wilcox and Kevin Keen display the fruits of their labor.

Micaiah Stanley of Ash Flat displays a nontypical he harvested in Linn County, Kan.

Brett Shirley, a 17-year-old senior at Westside High School, killed this 380-pound, 7-foot black bear in Desha County last December.

Brett is the son of Lanny and Karen Shirley.

Michael White from Manila displays the bull moose he killed while hunting in Southwest Alaska.

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SUNDAY, OCT. 11, 2009

Duck numbers on the rise

BY TOMMY GARNER SPECIAL TO THE SUN

The cold darkness engulfed us as we headed down the wooded ditch bank towards the flooded field. The dark billowing clouds to the east made us all aware that Mother Nature could point her fickle finger towards us at any time, bringing rain, hail or any other wet, nasty conditions that she wished.

Yes! Perfect duck hunting weather! As we sloshed through the water and mud, spirits were high. It was the first day of the Arkansas duck season. Reaching the decoy spread, each hunter took his place for the anticipated action that would start exactly one half hour before sunrise. Three minutes before legal shooting time a half dozen mallards dropped into the decoy spread, landing in the hole in the middle conveniently left for that exact purpose.

Bo, the chocolate lab, was shaking with excitement. He saw the ducks hit the water, but he didn’t hear any shots and it was only the soft stern command from Garry Mason to “Stay” that kept him from vaulting into the water after the ducks.

Those 180 seconds ticked by very slowly. More ducks winged their way overhead, some right at tree-top level.

During this time, Bo wasn’t the only one shaking with excitement. Mason looked at his watch, then put his duck call to his lips as he hunkered closer to the ground while watching the flock of ducks overhead. He hit them with a hail call and the group of greenheads banked. “Get ready! They are coming in!” he whispered. With cupped wings the ducks dropped out of the sky, intent on joining the decoys and other ducks that were already on the water in the dekes. “Kill ‘em boys!” was the signal that everyone had been waiting for. A dozen or more shots rang out, ducks fell from the sky, and Bo went airborne and hit the water with a splash while zeroing in on a duck splashing on the water.

Before anyone was ready, the hunt was over. I glanced over at Mason and his beloved dog and noticed that Bo was leaning against Garry’s wader clad leg. This was absolutely true love ... a man and his dog that love each other and love what they do. Each of us had a surreal, deep feeling of satisfaction that comes when you know that you have experienced the best that nature has to offer and it is that which keeps us coming back again and again.

Duck hunting has already started in Northeast Arkansas this year with the early teal season, and the statewide duck season starts Nov. 21 and runs through the 29th. The December hunt begins on the 10th, running through Dec. 23 and Dec. 26-Jan. 31. The youth waterfowl hunt is scheduled for December 5-6.

For the latest assessment of what we can expect this season, I spoke with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s Waterfowl Program Coordinator Luke Naylor.

“The duck numbers are good and the pond count in the Prairie Pothole Region are up 45 percent,” Naylor said.

“That is a dramatic turnaround. This is the breeding ground for the ducks for northern United States and Canada.

Good snow packs and rain this spring produced good habitat. The duck count rose from 37 million birds last year to 42 million birds this year. The duck count is the fourth highest on record since we started keeping records in 1955. The mallard is the duck of choice for Arkansas hunters and the mallard count was up by 10 percent. The early teal season was a little slow because there was no cold weather and the rice harvest is late due to the rain.”

“The good duck numbers would indicate that there are plenty of birds, but that does not necessarily translate to us having a good duck hunt here in Arkansas, even though there will be ducks that will come to Arkansas regardless of any other factor,” Naylor continued. “What does trigger the ducks to head south and stop in Arkansas is the cold weather. When a major cold front arrives in the Prairie Pothole region, it pushes the ducks south. The quality of our habitat and available food for the ducks will determine if they stay very long or not. Currently, we have some very good habitat and food across our region. The private land owners and their holding are vital to our ducks and that looks very good now because of the participation of the individuals to help make the habitat better for the ducks. Ducks are not consistent because when it does not get cold, they don’t come by the masses, though some of them will come anyway.

“With that said, we can never guarantee the duck hunters that they will be successful. On the years when the nesting grounds are wet, like they are PLEASE SEE DUCK, E22

Bryan Ross displays his “second-chance” buck.

Never give up ...

BY BRYAN ROSS GREENE OUTDOORS PROSTAFF

I had just completed my second rattling sequence in 15 minutes. I had swapped my bow for my rattling horns from a nearby limb. It was a very calm crisp morning in early November; one of those mornings when you can hear a deer walking for what seems like a quarter-mile away. I could hear this buck in that very distinctive buck gait when they have going somewhere on their mind.

The anticipation had just about gotten the better of me by the time I was actually able to see him.

He came in all bristled up and posturing for the two bucks he knew were violating his turf. He walked right into my shooting lane and stopped, quartering away at 20 yards for the perfect shot, nothing between him and me but air ... and I shot right over his back! He jumped as you would imagine and ran into a small thicket down over the edge of the hill about 30 yards away. While standing in the thicket he did what every bow hunter hates to hear. He blew and he blew, and he stomped his foot and blew some more like an old mature doe does so often. Once he began to move again I grunted to him several times as he was walking off. He would stop, look back over his shoulder and blow again.

Once his view was obstructed well enough that I thought I could move without him seeing me, I grabbed my

rattling antlers with one hand while they were hanging over the branch where I had placed them and rattled them together briefly. That broke him loose and he came running right back to me but this time he was trying to get down wind. I stopped the buck when he was seven steps from the base of my tree, and before he was able to get directly downwind, and made the shot count. It’s a good thing I made that shot because nobody except for him, me and the good Lord above was gonna hear this story if I had missed him twice. After a brief 100yard sprint he was down for the count.

This hunt should have been over when I missed him; rarely do you get a second chance at the same deer minutes apart, much less a mature deer. This buck was fooled not once but twice and as much as I’d like to lay it off on my skills as deer hunting guru it was not! Two things made this a successful hunt out of a blown hunt — No. 1 was luck; and No. 2, the fast approaching rut. ... Thank God for both!

Bryan Ross has lived in North Arkansas his entire life. He now lives in Walnut Ridge.

He has been married to Janet Foley Ross for 10 years. They have a son, Blake, who is 15 years old. Bryan has been employed as a process engineer for Crane Composites in Jonesboro for 18 years. He has been an avid outdoorsman his entire life, but his love for turkey hunting started 20 years ago. His skills in the turkey woods eventually brought him to the competitive calling stages where he has had great success. Bryan has many beards and trophies to prove his success in the woods and on stage.

SUNDAY, OCT. 11, 2009

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TREE STANDS: Hunters have variety of choices FROM PAGE E16 pounds. Of course, with a hang-on stand that doesn’t include the device that you use to climb the tree. Tree steps or climbing sticks can weigh anywhere from 6-15 pounds, so by the time you add that weight to the stand weight you could be toting 30 pounds or more.

If you opt to use a hang-on stand, the pros are that you can climb just about any type tree — trees with limbs or trees without limbs. One advantage to climbing a tree with limbs is the added camouflage that the limbs and leaves provide a hunter. Limbs help to break up your outline and give hunters a sense of concealment. Add in the fact that if you want to leave your stand overnight and return, you can climb down and return quietly in the morning.

Climbing tree stands come in all shapes and sizes and can range in price from $75-$350. If you remember the old Baker Climbing tree stand, you likely already realize just how far technology has impacted the climbing tree stand market. Climbers are now larger, lighter, quieter and maybe most importantly, safer and more comfortable.

The median price for a good climber is around $225, and the average weight of a climber is about 20 pounds.

Summit is likely the most marketed and popular climbing stand but there are dozens of great climbers available.

Ole’ Man, Gorilla, Loggy Bayou, API and Millenium are reputable manufacturers who produce quality tree stands.

Most climbers now have a platform and a separate seat with a rail surrounding the hunter. This provides greater comfort and safety, and many of the climbers with this system allow ultra-comfort for all day hunting.

The primary limitation for climbers is the fact that they will only work on trees without limbs up to your desired climbing height and on trees 20 inches

in diameter or less. In some areas, finding a tree suitable for climbing can be difficult. In other areas, it provides less of a challenge. You need to assess the area that you’re going to be hunting to determine whether a climber will help you or merely frustrate you. There’s nothing worse than finding a well-used trail and not being able to find a tree to climb on the downwind side. In this situation, a hang-on stand will typically always work.

The earlier question concerning your agility relates to the effort that it takes to climb a tree. Obviously, it takes less effort to climb a ladder stand but it can take a great deal of effort to install some of the taller or “double-wide” ladder stands. But, once you get them installed, you’re pretty much done until you decide to move it.

Hang-on stands can take a great deal of effort because you have to install your tree steps or climbing sticks, hang the stand, and climb the tree several times. Lighter, more portable stands are much easier, but all require a great deal of agility. If you’re hanging the stand and plan on hunting it several times, it’s not that big of a consideration.

Climbing stands require some agility and getting in and out of them may be the toughest test. With the new “stand up, sit down” type of climbers, it takes very little effort when done properly.

If you’re trying to determine which tree stand is right for you, perhaps it will be a combination of all three. If you hunt multiple areas, you may need several stands. If you have a favorite spot and it’s treated you well over the years, your ladder stand may fit the bill just fine. Whatever the case may be, it’s fun and rewarding to go through the process trying to determine the right stand for the right location.

memories of the times you’ve enjoyed over the years in the woods and fields of Arkansas. I hope that you will also remember the lessons they teach. Consider the essential quality of water to your hunt, to the environment, to your life and to the lives of future generations of Arkansans. Please join in helping to create an enduring legacy of long-term responsible stewardship “for the life of

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SUNDAY, OCT. 11, 2009

DUCK: Count is fourth highest on record since ’55 FROM PAGE E20 this year, it is always good. Adequate food and water dictates if the ducks will stay in a locale or not, and the weather dictates if and when they come. The poor rice production this year will be a factor in some areas.

Mild dry winters are not conducive to good duck flights, so on the weather thing we will have to wait and see. If the weather conditions are right, we will have a lot of ducks in Arkansas.”

“The season length hasn’t changed in 15 years, and with the duck numbers up it is not likely to change,” Naylor said. “If the number of ducks decrease, the season would be shortened.

The daily bag limit is not really how the annual duck harvest numbers are controlled; it is the length of the season. The more days the season is open, the more ducks the hunters kill. When the season is shortened, the duck harvest numbers go down.”

According to Naylor, the history of Arkansas is that we lead the nation in the mallard harvest, with Stuttgart being well known as the Duck Capital of the world. With some cold weather and water we have, along with the big

river systems, hopefully this will continue. There are some things that we can do to help. Hunters and individual landowners can help improve the habitat here in Arkansas and they can support the conservation programs and organizations in the breeding grounds to help ensure that they are protected.

So, where will you be on Nov. 21 as daylight begins to break over the flooded woods and fields of Arkansas? If I am alive and well, I will be in a duck blind somewhere in Northeast Arkansas with Garry Mason and friends with camera in hand. Hopefully, Bo, the wonderful chocolate Labrador retriever, will be able to make another trip. He is not in good physical health now, but his heart is still in the hunt. He is just moving slower than he did a year ago and he is officially “retired.” Maybe a few days before the opener, there will be a hard freeze in the north country that will stimulate the birds to head down the Mississippi Flyway and they will find that there is plenty of food and water just waiting for them in Arkansas. Then, we will hear those long awaited words “Kill ’em boys!”

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SUNDAY, OCT. 11, 2009

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