Tips For Using Tripod Shooting Sticks
As another big game hunting season comes to a close, I want to share a tip. I’m still surprised, after all my years of hunting, how many fellow hunters I see in the field without shooting aids. I talk to countless hunters during the year, and hear lots of stories. I hear too many accounts of missed shots, and worse yet, crippled game. Both of these can be remedied with a solid shooting rest. In talking with folks, I feel the number one reason they’re not using shooting sticks is because they don’t want to take the time to learn how to use them, thinking they are big, bulky, noisy and take too much time to operate. Just like anything, the more you practice with shooting sticks, the more confident you’ll become in using them, and the fewer misses you’ll have. In this demonstration I'm using my favorite shooting stick, Bog Pod's Red Legged Devil. We work hard and invest a lot of time and money in hunting, but whether or not we put meat in the freezer comes down to the shot. I hope this short video helps dispel some myths about tripod shooting sticks and shows how easy they [...]
A Columbia Blacktail Season To Remember
Our 2018 Columbia blacktail deer season was one of the best I can recall, but not for reasons many hunters would think. This deer hunting season was about time in the woods with family. The past 18 years of traveling the world, hunting for a living, has been wonderful for me, but it’s not been without sacrifices. Going on over 50 hunts a year was sometimes common, and though it was thrilling and I wouldn’t trade it for the world, being in the field over 250 days a year made it hard to be away from home. During those fall seasons I can count on one hand the number of days I would be home, usually filming a blacktail TV show. This fall was different. I liked being home, and I liked hunting without TV cameras. We invested in a Weyerhaeuser permit near our home, in the McKenzie Unit of western Oregon. We hunted the same exact land my family had hunted since the 1950s. Our youngest son, Kazden, had never been on this land, and I hadn’t set foot there since the late 1970s. My dad, Jerry Haugen, grew up hunting this area, and over the decades our family took [...]
My Shooting Sticks Of Choice
Whether you’re new to the hunting world, or a veteran looking to increase your shot accuracy on game, consider stable shooting sticks. Like many folks, I grew up hunting, but when I started making my living in the outdoors–especially hosting TV shows–I quickly learned a lot and ultimately became a better hunter. There were seasons where I was going on upwards of 60 big game hunts a year around the world, and you can’t help but learn with so much practical experience. Filming dozens of hunts a year, time was tight, and valuable. I had to be in good shape and know a great deal about the behavior of the animals I hunted. I also couldn’t afford to miss any shots. At first, 18 years ago, I tried a monopod but didn’t like it due to it’s instability. I switched to a bipod and it worked okay, but it was flimsy and I felt there was something better; this was especially true when hunting the rugged terrain out West, where most of my hunting is done. I tried various tripods but found nothing I liked, other than one made of sticks I used in Africa…then the Bog Pod came along. The [...]
Rattling Blacktail Deer
In 1979 I rattled in my first Columbia black-tailed deer, and have been hooked ever since. As with calling all big game, there is never a guarantee a blacktail deer will come to the calls or rattles. My success has come down to persistence and timing; being in the right place at the right time. Due to constantly changing hormone levels in blacktails in October and November, catching a buck in the right mood to want to respond to your calls, is as important as the calling, itself. From mid-October until about the 22nd or so, I like using a subtle rattling sequence, with very little or no grunting. This is because most bucks are in pre-rut mode at this time, meaning they are traveling, checking out does and sizing-up bucks the'll soon be fighting for breeding rights. Starting around October 22, I like getting more aggressive with the rattling sequences. By October 31, I'm getting very aggressive, as I feel this is the best time to bring in a mature blacktail buck. I'll use this aggressive approach until about Nov. 20. After that, I go back to less aggressive rattling, but include more grunts and doe bleats, since this is [...]
Summer Lake Opener, 2017
My family began hunting Summer Lake in the 1940s. Both of my grandfathers hunted it, and in 1952 my dad hunted it for the first time, at the age of 12. I first hunted Summer Lake in 1976, at the age of 12, and my oldest son first hunted it in 2012, at age 12. As with many families who hunt, Summer Lake is a tradition that gets in your blood. This past weekend we broadcasted a couple live Facebook sessions with the Oregon Dept. of Fish & Wildlife, on their Facebook page. The day before the season opener, we were joined by longtime biologist, Marty St. Louis, and he shared the trends of what’s happening at Summer Lake, with both ducks and geese. I learned a lot from Marty, including why snow geese continue bypassing Summer Lake and other traditional stops, despite their numbers being very high. We also broadcasted a live hunt. It was the first time Dad and I had ever hunted opening morning and not gotten our limits, but we didn’t care, as we had a great time. For us, it was about the experience. Maybe that’s because we’ve hunted so much over the years, maybe it’s [...]
Book Review: Game Birds–A Celebration of North American Upland Birds
Admittedly, I don’t read many books these days; I simply don’t have the time as I’m too busy writing, myself. So, when I sat down to thumb through Gary Kramer’s latest book, Game Birds: A Celebration of North American Upland Birds, I was shocked when I looked up at the clock, 2 1/2 hours later, and it read 1:30 a.m. Having served on the editorial staff of various magazines over the past 20 years, I’ve been fortunate to work with some of North America’s top writers and photographers. Kramer has always been atop my list of the best of the best photographers/writers. He’s always wonderful to work with, and his photos and written work, as good as it gets. Kramer’s Game Birds book is the ultimate in eye-candy for avid birders and hunters, alike. The range of species captured is most impressive, from kalij pheasant to Himalayan snowcock, from all the native species to those that have been introduced, from birds found in Alaska’s Arctic to Mexico, and across the pond to Hawaii. Not only are the photos jaw-dropping, but the information on each species is concise, detailed and highly educational. I always learn something when reading Kramer’s work, and this [...]