The Great OUTDOORS

By Larry Whiteley

Antler Hunting

For several weeks, I have been in fields and forests looking for shed deer antlers. To me, deer antlers are remarkable works of art. No two of them are ever exactly alike. They are similar, but perfect matches? No. Each is uniquely different.

The lifecycle of antlers is incredible, even magical. Soon after antlers drop off, new antlers start developing. They are bones that re-grow in various shapes and sizes out of pedicles on a male deer’s head. At first, a velvety coating covers it and carries blood to the growing bone. It also helps protect the soft bone from breaking and getting infected. As the antlers grow, the velvet eventually dies and is rubbed off on small trees and bushes. Their full-grown antlers are to impress the ladies and battle with other bucks over those same ladies. Sometimes, but rarely, a female deer will also grow antlers.

If I am lucky enough to find a pair of antlers from the same deer, I mount them on a board together. Single antlers I use to make things in my workshop. They might be attached to a cedar log lamp, as a handle for fireplace tools, coat or hat racks, door or handle pulls, handles for hiking sticks or canes, or whatever else my old mind comes up with as I am working.

If you want to try antler hunting, follow well-used deer trails and do not worry about spooking deer. It is a long time until deer season again. Concentrate where these trails come to fences, creeks, ditches or across big logs. These are places where a deer might jump over something, and the impact of landing on the ground jars their antlers loose.

Slow down and look carefully at least 20 yards away on both sides. If one antler comes off, it will try to shake off the other one, so keep looking. I have hunted for antlers for many years and still get excited when I find one.

Looking for shed antlers can also help you determine where deer might be during hunting season. You can also scout for a turkey to hunt in April. On sunny, warm days, start looking for morel mushrooms. Or, enjoy being out there away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. Unless too much pressure from hunting seasons or diminished food supply causes deer to move on, you can go back every year to those places in God’s great outdoors and enjoy antler hunting.

Fish Facts

Using its nose, a fish can smell food from far away by using two tiny openings on each side of its snout. It swims to the source of the smell and then uses its taste buds to find out if it is good to eat.

Fish also use taste and smell to find their way around. They can sniff out danger, and many fish can smell people. They will swim away from your bait if they smell hand lotion, perfume, deodorant, tobacco or insect repellant.

Strut Zones

If you want to be a good turkey hunter, you need to learn good woodsmanship just as much, if not more, than you need to be a good caller. Good woodsmanship will help you entice a gobbler into an area where he is more likely to go.

Something To Think About

Being a good woodsman means learning to identify turkey hotspots, like where they roost, water, feed and their different strutting areas. Finding the roost is your first step to success. Finding where they water and feed will come in handy, too, but always remember, a gobbler usually does not move far from his strut zones. When a tom approaches, then suddenly turns, he has probably heard another hen closer to his strut zone.

Find the strut zones and you will up your odds of taking a gobbler this spring.

Family Hiking

Proper planning when taking the family on a hike is the most important thing you can do. It is important to tell someone your plans and when you expect to return. Use trail maps and check for the trail distance, estimate the time required along with any other information that might be useful before you leave. The Missouri Department of Conservation Mo App for your smartphone is a great way to do that.

Check weather conditions and forecasts. Consider the ability level of everyone in your family when choosing where to hike. Do not pack too heavy. Keep backpacks as light as possible. Take two to three quarts of water per person. Staying hydrated helps maintain energy levels.

Hike only as fast as the slowest member of your group, and keep track of your progress on the map so that you know where you are at all times. Take a camera or use your smart phone, and take plenty of pictures. Get outdoors and make a memory of hiking with your family.

The Wisdom Of Old Boone

Folks, the best inheritance you can give your children is to teach them to enjoy the great outdoors.

The Warm Days Of March

When you are outside during the warm days of March, look for the colors of spring in tiny wildflowers bursting through decayed leaves. I look forward to the first trilling sounds of the spring peeper frog because I know they will be followed soon by the haunting sound of the whippoorwill, the blooming of the redbuds followed by the flowering dogwood, and the emergence of morel mushrooms on the forest floor.

In the distance, you might hear a turkey gobble. They know mating time is almost here. Below the water, fish are getting ready to head to their spawning areas. Birds are singing their spring songs. You smile because you know the beautiful spring days are coming, and the sooner, the better.