Why I Eat Wild Meat 6 A veteran hunter and nature writer shares his belief that traditional hunting draws us closer to nature and is a physical and intellectual challenge that fulfills one of our fundamental instincts.
6 cover image: Adobe
Stock / Matt Gibson
When the Smoke Clears 10 A guide to traditional muzzleloaders. A Stick and String 14 A guide to bow hunting. Tracking Techniques for Ethical Hunting 18 Scout for signs of wildlife in your hunting area and use these techniques to avoid detection.
Basic Survival Skills & Orienting 24 Advice on keeping your bearings in unfamiliar settings.
30
Whitetails 101 30 A beginner’s guide to scouting and hunting the whitetail deer of North America.
Proper Shot Placement for Humane Hunting 35 Understanding the anatomy of an animal will help ensure that it does not experience unnecessary suffering from a misplaced shot.
Turkey Hunting 101 40 Chasing gobblers during spring is a favorite pastime
40
of Country boys and girls everywhere. Check out our beginner’s guide to some tips to get you started.
44
Hunting Canada Honkers 44 Canada geese are a blast to hunt, they’re great-tasting game, and you might find easy access from farming neighbors tired of having pastures and fields fouled.
Hogs Gone Wild 48 How much do you know about our swine friends?
www.Grit.com
1
Wilderness First Aid Basics 50 When an emergency strikes out in the wilderness, your quick response could mean the difference between life and death.
Field Dressing and Skinning Big Game Animals 54 Don’t waste perfectly good meat. If you want your hunting
50
ventures to be productive, learn some of the basics of field dressing game animals.
How to Tan a Deer Hide 59 Follow these hide-tanning steps, complete with time requirements and tool recommendations, to create your own beautiful, quality leather.
Hairy Banknotes 64 Carrying on an old country tradition. Running the Trapline 66 A primer to trapping.
66
Craft Your Own Coonskin Cap 70 Turn a raccoon hide into a warm and hardy hat. How to Make Your Own Moccasins 74 Take your tanned animal skins one step further by turning the leather into comfortable, durable footwear.
Fishing Freshwater and Farm Ponds 80 Local angling holes provide a valuable food source as well as hours of fun and fulfillment.
80 92
Getting’ Fishy 84 Five species of freshwater fish for the rural American. Savory, Satisfying Venison Recipes 88 Learn the quirks of cooking with venison and use it in these flavorful preparations.
Home Meat Curing 92 The art of producing sausages from farm-fresh meats. 2
Grit’s Guide to Hunting
Turkey Hunting 101
ting grounds” — places they prefer to strut. If unbothered, they’ll stick to those areas from day to day. Again, they are consistent in their routine, which is why scouting is an important element to successfully hunting this elusive bird. Finding their behavior pattern after flying down from the roost helps you pinpoint where to set up.
Chasing gobblers during spring is a favorite pastime of country boys and girls everywhere. Check out our beginner’s guide for some tips to get you started. By Todd Foxx
Rule the Roost
hunters in North America. A fresh cup of coffee, a bagel, and a look at the weather is just the beginning to a wonderful day in the woods. One hunt last spring, after I got set up and the sun began to rise, the woods erupted with sound: Toms gobbling and hens yelping filled the air. I started calling with just a soft yelp on my slate call before the toms flew down, in hopes of drawing one right off the roost. Finally I heard the familiar sound of wings and turkeys flying down from their roost — one, then another, and another. What an awesome feeling of anticipation. Sometime later, a hen came into my decoys with a tom in hot pursuit, and one well-placed arrow later, I knew my turkey tag was filled. Spring turkey hunting is a great pursuit for beginner hunters because the weather is usually bearable, the gear is relatively inexpensive, calling is fun, populations have been on the rise in recent years, and turkeys are not an intimidating animal to process for the dinner table. It’s an inexpensive and enjoyable hobby, and a few tips will give you a better chance at success.
40
Grit’s Guide to Hunting
40-42 Turkey Hunting 101.indd 40-41
Huelskamp; Terry Wild Stock; Russell Graves (2)
up at 4:30 in the morning might seem crazy, but when it comes to
Tools and Techniques
from left: iStock/Jon
Waking spring turkey hunting, it’s well worth it to me and thousands of other
First and foremost, scout for roosts. Turkeys are very consistent in what they do from day to day. They roost in trees, frequently along creeks or rivers, flying up at dusk and flying down at dawn. There are a few ways you can find these roosting spots. First is to go into the woods during midday and look for droppings under big mature trees along creeks or rivers. Turkeys are like any other bird — they relieve themselves often. Droppings will be white in color, and when you find a roosting spot, it’ll likely be obvious. If there are sycamore trees along the creek, check those first. Sycamores are good roosting trees for turkeys because of the big open limbs. Mature oak trees are also a good roosting tree. Tree species obviously depends on your region of the country, but look for big, old trees. The second way you can accomplish finding roost locations is to arrive at your hunting spot before the season and stand near the creek bottom. Turkeys are very vocal birds, especially in the spring. Male birds — jakes, which are first-year males, and toms, 2-year-old males or older — will gobble on the roost, giving away their location. Being mobile is advantageous since you can move on the spot and pinpoint their exact location. Once you find the area in which they are roosting, you can bet they’ll continue to roost in that same area as long as they are not pressured. When I find a roost spot, I’ll go a couple of times to make sure they continue to roost in that same area, and to see what they do after flying down from the roost. Typically they will fly into open crop fields or pastures. Toms strut in open areas in order to attract hens in spring, so they like to be visible to other birds. Toms also have what are called “strut-
There are a couple of key attributes to know about the wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo). They have exceptional eye sight, and their hearing is top notch. In order to beat their eyes, you need a good set of camo from head to toe, including a face mask or face paint. You also want to make sure that all of your movements are slow and methodical, as they will catch any quick movement, even from a hundred yards away. They rely heavily on sight and hearing for their safety. Turkeys are usually hunted with a shotgun. Once you have located birds, look for a good tree to sit under. I typically try to find a tree that is bigger than I am. This will help conceal you and not allow them to silhouette your figure. Decoys are another valuable tool. When I first started, I had one hen decoy for years, and was successful. Don’t let someone tell you that you need a whole flock of decoys. That said, my favorite setup is three decoys. I like to use two hens, one feeding and one alert, and then one male decoy, usually a jake. A strutting decoy can work well too, if you encounter a bird that is very dominant. Usually once a tom sees decoys, his focus will turn to the male decoy. These are very territorial birds, so when they see another male with hens, they will be looking for a fight. Decoy placement can also be important when hunting turkeys. I use a V formation: the two hens being about 10 yards apart and the jake being the point of the V at about 15 yards. I also always face the male decoy toward me. The reason for this is because when a tom comes in to fight, he will usually face
Basic Hunter’s Safety Depending on your state’s regulations, there are generally two turkey hunting seasons: One in the spring and one in the fall, and shooting-hour regulations and season dates may vary depending on whether you hunt public or private land. Spring turkey hunting coincides with the wild turkey’s reproductive season, so generally spring turkey hunting is more popular. Fall tactics include more of a sit-and-wait approach. In this article, the author recommends full camouflage for turkey hunting. In most states, wearing hunter orange isn’t required for turkeys, but if you are on public ground or any place where other hunters could be present, it’s generally recommended to wear hunter orange — if only during the walk from the truck to your setup point — for your safety and the safety of those around you. The first step for any beginner getting into hunting is to take your state’s hunter’s safety education course and complete the necessary certification. Next, look into the dates of the current year that turkeys are in season as well as obtaining all the licenses required by state and federal law.
Box calls like this one are fairly compact in size and are easy to use.
Slate calls are an easy call to master, but you’ll want to spend ample time practicing. www.Grit.com
41
8/8/18 12:22 PM
Hunting
Find a Location
You can find productive goose hunting areas by driving and scouting, but make sure you ask permission from the landowner. Many farmers and landowners don’t want the geese for a number of reasons, including crop damage. They’ll allow you to set up and hunt many times, if you use common sense. Remove trash or any other reminder that you were there, besides footprints. Take care of the property like it is your own. “Scout different times of the day for locating birds on feed fields, especially late-season birds due to extreme temps or fair-weather winter days,” says Danny Guyer, owner of Iron Duck Hunting Guide Service in Plattsburg, Mo. “Find their field, and then set up early the next morning. They often come back until something or someone pushes them out.” Perhaps you don’t have time to scout. Many save time and trouble by hiring a guide who provides hunting spots and everything you need. This is also the era of goose and duck hunting clubs. Prime areas are purchased or rented, and clubs build goose blinds in perfect spots that always seem to draw birds. Most plant and flood unpicked cornfields. Guides provide everything required for a great hunt. However, they can’t control geese, and there are no guarantees. Many of the guides I know have an excellent success rate because of expert calling, their knowledge of goose behavior, and a good set of quality decoys. Costs vary, but obviously guided is more expensive than doit-yourself.
Canada Honkers
Canada geese are a blast to hunt, they’re great-tasting game, and you might find easy access from farming neighbors tired of having pastures and fields fouled.
Build a Blind
I have hunted geese on a plastic bucket under bent-over willows and on an old rug. We have sat in wooden blinds while cold rain drizzled through the top, and even hunted in blinds heated by a portable furnace while we watched football on television and breakfast was cooked. Blinds come in many sizes and forms. Hunters with time and money can make their blind as comfortable as they want. Others create blinds from willow branches or whatever is available. The key is blending in. Your blind must mesh with all natural surroundings. Geese don’t have a problem spotting anything out of place; their very lives depend on wisely choosing landing spots. Good cover is important so sharp-eyed geese can’t see your faces, hands, movements, or anything human. An old-timer once told me, “The first rule of goose or duck hunting is setting up where the birds want to go.” That’s a good argument for portable layout blinds. Portable blinds allow the luxury of scouting, then setting up a blind and decoys where geese fed the day before. We have done well in commercial pop-up blinds covered by brush or grasses from the immediate area to totally blend in. I have tried to find well-covered blinds from a low-flying small airplane without success. Your blind cover may not be blending in if geese fly over your blind and depart after a couple of passes. Try moving your decoys farther from your blind, then pay close attention to how the geese react. Geese tend to look straight
A blind with a lot of natural cover is great for fooling the sharp-eyed Canada goose. The method for hunting geese, and also ducks, is to entice them into close range, then jump them right before they descend onto the water.
By Kenneth L. Kieser
Canada witnessed the changes.
44
GRIT’s Guide to Hunting
44-47 Canada Honkers.indd 44-45
FROM LEFT: JOHANN
We once hunted geese with black flags on stakes, tires cut in half with wooden heads, and silhouette cutouts painted in Canada goose colors. Old decoys are now replaced with flocked head magnum versions and battery-powered swimming decoys. A few lucky hunters in the old days had big sets of full-bodied decoys made of plastic or a composite material that to this day I can’t identify. Mediocre calling fooled geese in the 1960s and ’70s, when most calls were made of wood or plastic and very inexpensive. Olt, Lohman, Herters, and Faulks controlled the market with their surprisingly effective calls, with hunters swearing by their favorite. Calls today are acrylic and cost more than $100. The old her-honk sounds we once made are replaced with double clucking, come-back calls, and perfect goose chatter. The geese and hunters got smarter. So, how do you hunt modern-day Canada geese on a limited budget? Here are some tips to get you started. Before anything else, check state and federal regulations in your area to make sure you are fully legal, equipped, and within the appropriate hunting season.
SCHUMACHER; MARK WALLNER; KENNETH L. KIESER
geese are educated these days. I just surpassed 50 years of waterfowl hunting, and I’ve
www.Grit.com
45
8/8/18 12:24 PM
Hairy Banknotes Carrying on an old country tradition. By Cary Rideout
There’sthese days out past the
trend
end of the paved roads and old-time traditions are creeping back. For many rural folks who harvest the bounty not cultivated by hands but by old Ma Nature, these skills never disappeared. Who among us doesn’t know of a wild berry patch or nut tree, or where the mushrooms sprout up? Fishing and hunting are seeing a resurgence as more country folk take advantage of this healthy food source. But there is another traditional wild harvest farmers once used to put money against the grocery bill. It might surprise you, but a hundred years ago, nearly every farm kid, along with pitching hay and chasing heifers, spent the winters trapping fur. Fur trapping has a long history on this continent, and as the first pioneers cleared a space in the timber, they were quick to use any means of getting cash for the things they could not produce themselves. Since every settler was as much a woodsman as a farmer, most ran trap lines after the snow set in. Many a farm was able to keep above board and the mercantile bills paid with furs. Old timers used to call fur “hairy banknotes” as they were as good as cash and a ready market existed. Today
64
country land owners still participate in this traditional part of rural life and a mighty interesting one it is too. New trappers must understand the days of the wild mountain men are long gone and proper licensing is the law. Modern trapping requires up-to-date certified tools and approved methods, and you must know how to correctly prepare your harvest and wisely market it. Contact the state Fish & Wildlife department or local forest ranger’s of-
fice to inquire about fur trapping. You may need to take a mandatory course to qualify for a trapping license. There are also state or regional trapping associations that will gladly help you with licenses and maybe even put you in touch with a veteran trapper. You’ll find the trapping fraternity is friendly, approachable, and glad you want to learn. Fur trapping is much different than in our granddads’ day, and fur is trapped in specific seasons;
EBBETT-RIDEOUT; GETTY IMAGES/VASSILIY VISHNEVSKIY
interesting
LEFT TO RIGHT: LORAIN
an
no longer, as the old timers said, in any month with an “r.” Some species are protected and cannot be harvested or have bag limits of so many per trapper. No farm produce is worth much if not properly harvested, prepared, and offered in buyer-ready condition. Fur requires correct handling, and it needs to be offered in an industry-accepted manner before a buyer will pay good money. This is a vital skill worth honing, and old-time farmers often excelled at putting up quality fur. A set of the right tools should include knives, fleshing tools, and, of course, the right fur forms. Resembling an ironing board, a fur form can be either soft wood or wire. These are made to shape the processed fur into the form buyers want. A clean dry shed or room in an outbuilding can be a great place to process and store fur from vermin. A heat source is helpful in drying fur and to thaw frozen carcasses before processing. Anyone who lives in the country knows all too well wildlife and fur bearers are all around. Many animals that were scarce a couple generations back are now plentiful and offer opportunities to harvest. Much of the credit for this goes to the hard work of wildlife agencies and outdoors folk who joined forces to bring back fur bearers to the numbers we now enjoy. Remember, trapping is about removing only a few and leaving enough for next year. Same as raising hogs; you don’t butcher the whole pen. So what’s out there past the back porch for the farm trapper? No matter the location, there are fur trapping opportunities in every rural area. Whether doing a head check or riding the tractor, you likely have encountered tracks or even seen the odd critter ambling about. The big three you are most likely to encounter are muskrats, raccoons, and fox. The humble muskrat is harvested in huge numbers and is always in demand by the fur industry. This big water rat
GRIT’s Guide to Hunting
64-65 Intro to Trapping.indd All Pages
is found wherever ponds, sloughs, or swamps are found. Most every property with water has a population, and they are a good starting point for any trapper as they are easy to catch and process. Raccoons need few introductions and most folks wish there were fewer of the corn bandits. Smart, resourceful, and able to live close to man, old Ringtail is a common fur for all farm trap lines. Raccoon numbers are high, and the animals are easy to catch and often travel in groups. Foxes, either red or gray, have been a prize for many a farm trapper. The bane of poultry owners, foxes are a worthy target, but these fence-row runners are wise to man’s ways and require real skill to catch consistently. Farm country can also produce mink, and, at one time, a single mink could clear any farmer’s store debt. Beavers, that most legendary of furs, are again part of rural trapping. Many places in farm country are now overrun with the dam-building troublemakers and once you “catch on” to outsmarting them, you might be surprised how the folks on the next section will ask you to come thin out their problem beavers. Beaver ponds kill trees, flood farm land,
and cause no end of destruction, and trapping is the only way to keep them in check. Both skunks and opossums were once a mainstay of farm trap lines and brought in hard cash. During the dark days of World War II, skunks provided valuable fat for wartime munitions production. Today these furs are not as popular, but trapping a few is never a bad idea, and fowl, both domesticated and wild, will thank you for it. The big range coyote is worth money, and no one running livestock is sad to see these brutes harvested. Again once the neighbors learn you can catch ’em, you might be asked to come over the line fence. The sly bobcat is around most woodlots or swamps and so are badgers. Anyone with a stream on the property or a lake will have river otter passing by. These are extremely valuable and in good numbers everywhere. Running a few traps on the back 40 is a way to keep alive the skills of those hardy souls who broke the sod in summer and matched wits with the mink along the frozen brooks. Treat the fur critters fair and enjoy another part of country life. www.Grit.com
Lorain Ebbett-Rideout
Photographer;
65
8/8/18 12:26 PM
Craft Your Own
Create paper the pads on the gloves to push the patterns for the cap needle partway through the leather. top and side, and Then, use needle-nose pliers to pull the liner top and the needle the rest of the way through. side. The liner-side If you’re comfortable using a thimble, pattern should have that will also work for pushing the a slight taper to needle through the leather. keep the cap from • When sewing, take your time fitting like a bucket. and keep the hair out of the stitches as you pull them snug. By doing so, the stitches will disappear under the hair when it’s combed over the seams. • Finally, test your patterns by making the cap out of felt or scrap material before cutting the leather. Except for the raccoon hides, the materials for this project can be purchased from a craft store or a hardware store. You’ll need: large sheets of paper, a pencil, a light-colored fabric marker, a black permanent felt-tip marker, a cloth tape measure, a ruler, a carpenter’s square, a compass, lightweight work gloves or a thimble, needle-nose pliers, a small quilter’s needle, black all-purpose thread, scissors, a utility knife, ½ yard of black felt, and small and medium binder clips. Optional materials include: a wig or hatstand, black leather dye, and white all-purpose thread for sewing the liner (as it’s easier to see white stitches Use felt fabric to on black felt). You can make this cap form the liner of using one extra-large raccoon hide or your cap. Then, two medium-sized hides. If using two using a blanket hides, one of the hides needs to be at stitch (see Page least 8 inches wide. For this guide, I’ll 72), sew the tapered be using two hides. sides together, and
COONSKIN CAP Turn a raccoon hide into a warm and hardy hat. By Dennis Biswell
Turningmal skins into leath-
deer and other ani-
70 70 MOTHER EARTH NEWS XXXX/XXXX XXXX
70-73 Coonskin Hat.indd 70-71
Shape Your Cap Patterns
DENNIS BISWELL (9); PAGE 70: MATTHEW T. STALLBAUMER
er, as I described in “How to Tan a Deer Hide” on Page 59, can lead to the creation of warm and durable clothing, including coonskin caps. The following instructions will help you craft a cap from hair-on raccoon leather. Such caps have been made and worn by generations of explorers and homesteaders, and you, too, will value the cozy feel of a quality, longlasting cap. This cap has a tapered liner and straight sides. Without the tapered liner, the cap would fit like a bucket. The liner can be removed for washing and will thus get you more years of service from the cap. Before you get started, keep these tips in mind: • When cutting hair-on leather, turn the hide hair-side down, extend the utility knife blade to the shortest setting, and carefully cut through the leather. Leave as much hair on the leather as possible so that it can cover the seams. • Large needles and heavy-duty thread aren’t needed for sewing raccoon leather. Use a small quilter’s needle and all-purpose thread for this project. • When sewing leather, wear a pair of lightweight work gloves. Use
attach the top.
Supplies: Cloth tape measure, paper, pencil or felt-tip pen, scissors, ruler, compass, carpenter’s square. Measure the circumference of the wearer’s head just above their ears with a cloth tape measure. Write that number down and keep it handy, as you’ll need to reference it later. If you’re measuring your own head, use a mirror or ask a friend to help. See photo at top right for a visual of all the patterns described below. Then, calculate the length of the sides: add ½ inch (for the seams) to your head-circumference measurement and divide by 2. On a large sheet of paper, use the carpenter’s square to draw two rectangles 4 inches tall and as wide as the length measurement you calculated. Label one of the rectangles “cap side,” cut out this Trace your cap-side pattern, and lay it aside. Label the other patterns onto the rectangle “liner side.” Label one of the raccoon hide. Label long sides “top.” Next, create the taper the tops of the in the liner-side pattern by marking ½ rectangles along inch toward the middle of the rectangle the midline with a from each top corner. Draw a line from “T,” and the fronts the bottom corner to the ½-inch mark of the rectangles on each side. Cut out this tapered patwith an “F.” tern and set it aside. www.Grit.com
71
8/8/18 12:27 PM
Fishing Freshwater and Farm Ponds
setting, fishing can supplement your diet and provide hours of fun in the process — and it’s an easy and inexpensive hobby to take up.
Waters of Rural America
Local angling holes provide a valuable food source as well as hours of fun and fulfillment.
Whatever water source you fish upon, you need to start by seeking permission from the landowner and make sure you are equipped with an appropriate license. Some of the best fishing waters around the country are farm ponds, many of which no doubt get left alone all year simply because the landowner doesn’t care to fish them and no one dares to ask. Knock on a door, shake someone’s hand, explain that you’ll be completely respectful, and ask permission, just like in the old days. It may be met with rejection, but that’s fine. One simple tactic that may improve your chances for fishing access is to offer a portion of what you catch to the landowner, say one fillet out of every three you keep. And who knows, once you knock on their door a few times with fresh fish fillets, they might even come up with a couple of extra holes for you to try.
By Caleb D. Regan
can barely remember it, but to the best of my recollection, I was attaching a rubber
we were standing at the southwest corner of the family farm pond a quarter-mile from our 100-year-old farmhouse, about an hour before sunset. That was how I learned to fish, standing alongside my mom — she taught me to tie my first fishing knot — and Homeboy, who taught me to work the jig. Homeboy was a family friend of unimaginable character — big beard, overalls with no undershirt, and one of the biggest hearts I’ve ever known — who brought a whole new meaning to the term “free-range” chicken. The chickens at Homeboy’s were free to range about his place, in and out of the house, but would become that evening’s dinner at a moment’s notice, at which time Mom and Dad scooped my brothers and me up, and home we went.
80
Grit’s Guide to Hunting
80-83 Fishing Freshwater.indd 80-81
We spent hours upon hours at that farm pond and knew that an entertaining, easy way to please our parents and feel proud of ourselves was to walk the gravel road home with a stringer-full of fish draped over our shoulders; I can still see the raised-eyebrow, smiling look on Mom’s face and feel the excitement it created to this day. Whether you have access to farm ponds, lake water, freshwater rivers, or small lakes and ponds in an urban
clockwise from left:
I tube jig to the fishing line of a Zebco 33 rod and reel outfit. I can say for certain that
Warren Stone/Photri Images; Fotolia/Marcelo Dufflocq; Spectrum Photofile (2)
Ponds
When fishing in farm ponds throughout most of the country, fishermen are most likely after bass, bluegill, catfish, and black or white crappie. When stocking ponds, it’s generally recommended, from Florida to Iowa to New Mexico, to stock largemouth bass, channel catfish, and bluegill (bream, either bluegill alone, or bluegill and redear sunfish). When kept in the right balance, these three fish can offer great fishing and maintain healthy populations for years. I also lump crappie in there because it’s widely regarded as a delicious fish to eat, but it’s generally not so easy to stock and maintain. Crappie and bluegill fishing require lighter tackle, at least to fish them properly. It’s nothing to horse a ¾-pound crappie into the boat using
15-pound test line, but the flip side of that is you’ll miss more fish with heavier tackle or set the hook too hard and lose more fish. Fish with lighter tackle, 4-pound test on an ultralight spincast combo, or keep it even simpler than that. An old cane pole will work brilliantly for fishing shallows and snag-likely waters, as well as the usually fishy brush pile. Manufacturers even sell (for a pretty penny) fiberglass and graphite “fishing poles” (as opposed to fishing rods equipped with a reel for casting) that operate like a cane pole, and they often have built-in line holders for easy adjustment. Drop a minnow over some cover (brush piles are great) with a bobber and sinker(s), adjust to the right depth (a good place to start is the length of your pole unless you can see differently), and concentrate on gently and smoothly lifting the rod tip an instant after the fish takes it. Bluegill fishing is similar, and they are only slightly less tasty than crappie. One benefit of slabs (big crappie) over bluegills is the larger fillets — it will generally take more bluegill fillets to fill the frying pan. Worms and bread pieces also work for bluegill; just be attentive, both of these fish are light strikers and adept at robbing you blind. Bass fishing is also fun, be it for
Whether fishing for trout, crappie, bass, channel cat, walleye, or northern pike, patience is the most important tool needed for a successful adventure.
www.Grit.com
81
8/8/18 12:29 PM