Archery is the Number 1 webpage on Archery Hunting & Shooting in the World. It is a great place to advertise your product line and get reconized! Frank Biggs aka Bwana Bubba
Recently via Linkedin the president of the Double Barrel Arrow Loader Company sent me a message and asked if I would be interested in trying out his product for the archery sports. I was intrigued and said I would be very happy to do so. A while later while waiting for the Double Arrow Loader to come, mentioned it to one of the staff pros for a Pro Archery Shop in Portland, Oregon. Duane said “he had heard about and to let them know what I thought about it once I got it”
Double Barrel Arrow Loader mounted on my Martin Onza 3 with arrows.
When I first looked at the well design packing and the design of the concept of the Double Barrel Arrow Loader I knew I was going to like it. While at my day job, during a very short lunch break I took the parts out of the package, wondering for the sake of others how fast could I install the product on the Martin Onza 3 bow! I am up in the lunch room with only my Allen wrench set to put it together. Other than maybe fine tuning the position of the arrow rest, it took me only 20 minutes. I am one that does not look at instructions all the time, but wants to look over a product and see how it is made. Having set an arrow on the rest, I found it to work superb on my bow. Now to the test site for the shooting test in a tree stand format or ground blind. Many times we can have second chance in a treestand to get another arrow off, but having to take it out of quiver costs us a number of seconds and the possibility of noise and detection from the game. I do know without being in the field at this preliminary writing; I am not going to have that problem of noise of having to slip another arrow out of the quiver. I have now been in the field, though I have yet to release an arrow at a Blacktail Buck, I have found that carrying the bow with the Double Barrel Arrow Loader and two arrows on the ready to be very interesting, as the arrow in the Double Barrel Arrow Loader, stays firmly in the holder.
A back view of the Double Barrel Arrow Loader mounted.
The Double Barrel Arrow Loader will be a permanent fixture on the Martin Onza 3 and will allow me more opportunity to be successful. When I play golf and no one is on the course, I will play two (2) balls on the Par 3’s, just because I can. So when I am out shooting 3D for practice and fun, I will be able to shoot two (2) arrows quickly and not take up extra time to take an arrow out of my quiver.
Double Barrel Arrow Loader, mounted no arrows.
My eye and others that use the Double Barrel Arrow Loader will not have their eyes wonder from the game or target. Since more and more of us on the West Coast have found that ground blinds and tree-stands are the way to get more game, the Double Barrel Arrow Loader will be the key to more success. I highly recommend the Double Barrel Arrow Loader to other archers and hunters, keeping in mind that the product is durable and will fit also fit in at least my bow hard case. Frank Biggs akaBwana Bubba
The following statements are my opinion on the subject!
What a topic to write about, one could write a novel and it would a non-fiction totally.
This fine pair of Oregon Columbia Blacktail buck racks were taken illegally in the Willamette Valley of Oregon! Even the meat went to waste!
First off I personally feel there are 3 types of poachers, one that will harvest year round to eat, those that will poach for the horns-rack-antlers-teeth-claws-gall bladders anytime and anyplace, and lastly those that poach for the fun (drunk & other mind-sets), only to have a check mark on a list! The latter is a fact of knowledge, as I know via ranchers and law enforcement that it went on for years in the area of Madras, Oregon (just one local to mention). Some years ago I read and saw the pictures of some 20+ elk lying dead in what looked like a killing field. They were shot for sport and left to rot. The the elk were not salvageable for human consumption.
I would say our first knowledge of poaching would be placed in our minds with the Legend, Myth, or Fictionist Character of Robin Hood who would poach game off of the land of King of England.
Since there were little game laws in the past for hunting or harvesting game for the meat, the hides and whatever else could be used for trade or survive, we will move on to the latter years of the 20th Century and on to the 21st Century.
First off I have no problem for a person or persons to harvest game for survival or subsistence of life!
There is a saying that a famous hunter by the name of Bell Lang who once told to me, “Those that poach by the cover of night shall be caught, and those that poach in broad daylight are less apt to be, though in the end greed will take over and they shall be caught!”
In my early days of hunting or thinking about hunting when I got out of the service, I heard about a great deal of hunts and how the hunts started or ended.
A story that was passed along some 50 years ago from Uncle Dave of a new comer hunting during Elk season shot a monster Mule deer out of season. In the days of past the story only became a story after many years past. In this case it was an accident, yet it still comes under the ORS statues of game violations’.
Poaching for camp meat has been going on for years and was acceptable with hunters in a deer camp or elk camp. “Who’s going to kill us a fat doe for camp meat?” I am sure at least in the 20th Century we all have heard those words from the elders of the hunt, which includes me hearing those exact words. “As long as we eat it all up in camp it is legal!”Personally I was never much into eating fresh deer meat.
Then there is the great group hunting with lots of tags in the camp, with those that didn’t care if they shot anything or not. Hunting was an escapement from the grind of 60 hours plus weeks that many of us know from the past. One or two persons might be the shooters to fill the tags. I once loan a couple of my horses to a man that I once hunted with, later he told me thanks as he drugged out 9 elk with my horses in a single day. He was the shooter of them all and he fed the wild game meat to his care home residents. He has long since left this plant to his happy hunting grounds. Many years ago I told a rancher that invited me to hunt on his ranch that held a great deal of the Rocky Mountain Elk in the sage, Juniper and rim rock country in the Oregon, I had waited a number years to get this bull tag and I will shoot my own bull! I never did hunt in his group of 9 to 12 hunters with him. It was about the meat to him and not the racks, though they did harvest dandy 300+ bulls. It was a free for all when they got into a herd of elk. I do believe that they were pretty lucky as they seem to only harvest the number of elk that they had tags for.
So many times you would hear of stories of Mule Deer hunters hunting the great state of Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana and even the great Steen’s Mountains in Oregon. Stories would be like the following. “Shot a dandy buck coming down to the wintering grounds, getting ready to gut it and a bigger buck came by and I shot him also.” Now this could all be hearsay or an inflated story, but usually people knowing that they have nothing to worry about, it most likely is the truth. The other line with these same stories, “we got the backstrap and hind quarters out of the canyon”. Many times a great deal of useable meat was left behind… So, is someone hunting deep in a rugged area for big bulls or bucks that only take the rake and backstrap poaching?
Well they are and now there are new laws that have slowed that down. Yet we all know it still goes on out there, just have to read the OSP (Oregon State Police) incident reports that are available on line. I am sure these reports are available to all in other states in the Union.
Here the Willamette Valley I have watched a section of land that has held monster Blacktail deer, prior to me getting permission to take pictures and later hunt the property. I would see these big 4 x 4 bucks and some dandy non-typical bucks, none of them ever carried over to the following year. I believe it was a free for all poachers that were willing to trespass the property. Now that I have put up No Trespassing Signs for more than 4 years, I have been able to watch deer that carryover. I understand that the neighbor is experiencing this in 2014. Access is easy and undetectable by the landowner.
“Come in the darkness and leave in the darkness undetected”
Have to say that some of the most humorous poaching cases are those during archery season, when the hunter has taken the game animal with a rifle and hoisted the animal in their garage or car port to skin the animal, only to have the neighbor call into the authorities that the person or persons have a deer hanging and they don’t bow hunt. It is only humorous because of the ignorance of the hunter!
Poachers can be a trespasser, not just person or persons that harvest game illegal in my opinion. This brings to mind about technology that is now used everywhere and many trespassers and poachers are now being caught. That would be trail cameras that are set out on private property as well as public lands. The new cameras available are undetectable by most, including the game. I have seen a few come onto the property that I hunt in the valley. I have asked the landowner if he know them of course before I pursue the individuals. Recently during the writing of the article, one of my hunters has noticed 2 persons coming into the trail cams range. They even have gone up into his treestand and sat. All is on camera to be seen, strange though as they caught the cams take their pictures, they were out of there. This also allows the hunter, landowners and other concerns the profiling of the game. The old cliché that all they look alike is nonsense.
Poaching will continue and poachers with be caught, they love to brag about their kills with pictures. Most are not old enough to remember a monster bull that was harvest some 30+ years ago in the Mt. Rainer National Park. It was a feature picture in the Oregon Hunting & Fishing Newspaper. It did not last long, as a hiker that frequent the area, knew the exact tree that the bull was posed in front of. It did not take long for the Washington Game Officers to be up to the spot with the picture. Oh! What a fine to poach in a National Park, now the Feds and the State are involved with the crime.
The State of Oregon the Oregon State Police have the finest Forensic Labs in the Nation. I bet most don’t know that they can tell whether a Mule deer came from the Steen’s Mts. or from The Dallas. The 21st Century is upon us and to gamble on taking an animal illegally is a big gamble, as you going to lose more than you can imagine.
Just take a look at Aronson’s in the Bend, Oregon area and thinking he and his wife was getting away with poaching and selling hunts that the animals weren’t his to sell on guided trips. More than $66,000.00 in fines, plus 23 others sited with a total of 1200 illegal game violations against the group. One thing I see he got off easy with 30 days in jail.
One can only get away with for a while; it will always catch up with you, if you don’t stop. I would call it Cold Turkey the process!
Even the once great Kirk Darner got caught in the taking of Boone & Crockett Mule Deer bucks every year for many years. In his case, I do believe his wives of few helped in the process. Be careful who you make enemies of when you are in the practice of poaching.
Remembering a customer once that got busted for harvesting a big Mule deer out of season and bull elk in the wrong area during a given year was busted because he owed money to the fellow that hunted with him on both hunts. The game officers were taken to both spots by the informant.
Some years ago while in the famous Fort Rock area of central eastern Oregon, I had spotted a monster Mule deer that had come down off from the Newberry Crater in to the stubble fields to winter. As I was leaving during the Thanksgiving holiday, driving through a foot of snow to the main highway, I noticed a pickup with a couple of guys. I had that feeling they were up to no good. They were in the heart of the wintering grounds for mule deer in this part of Oregon. I waited a couple of minutes and decided to double back, yep they were stopped, glassing and packing. My presence at that time was enough to stop the act of them making a mistake in life. So you are asking if the intent was there! It was as I left out that someone was standing along the truck with a rifle out! For that moment the buck had another lease on life. I hope he made it through the winter.
On last statement from the past in the 20th Century, is the taking of a Pronghorn – Antelope out of a helicopter with a shotgun legal? We know it is done with wild hogs in some states, but Pronghorn. There once was a world famous hunter with a restaurant that did just that. He has long since left the world, but many of his trophies are still around, though not in the restaurant any longer…
There are all types of poaching, but in most cases it usually in my opinion it is about the rack, horns or antlers as Number 1!
In conclusion game officers’ have to have the mindset of a poacher to catch a poacher! Law bidding hunters and citizens need to take a state in the wildlife we have and the new environment of anti-hunting and anti-guns and help put a stop to poaching!
Having a scent felt, doused in “Doe in Heat” hanging in a tree to bring a buck, is it a form of Baiting?
We have been into the 21st Century for some time now and the issue of baiting hunt-able animals or game birds has become a major subject! Must be the Anti-Hunters and Anti-Gun advocates finding a new avenue to target to draw a crowd for their cause! Well as usual I have a few words to say! There is a great deal of writing and talk going on right now about the subject and I have my own thoughts about the subject.
As we look at the circle of the food change including mankind, we find in one way or another we all bait for survival or our enjoyment.
We have the livestock ranches around the world, the livestock eat on ranches and open ranges without much disturbance, then comes the day they first go to the feed lots, then to the butcher, then receive a head shot and end up on our tables to eat by humans and canines.
The Bald Eagles were everywhere, in trees waiting their turns. About 12 Bald Eagles, adults and juveniles were working the sheep!
Even the birds of prey figure out the how to eat the sheep that seem to come up dead in a field, in the State of Oregon in the valley near the towns of Lebanon and on the way to Marcola, I have seen as many 12 Bald Eagles on sheep. Ah! Is that nature’s way to feed the birds of prey, or are they opportunist to feed on fenced Sheep? Easy Prey!
So in the hunting world with any kind hunting weapon to take down big game, birds, small game or other wildlife, there is some form of baiting involved.
Let’s take waterfowl hunting, majority of the time planted fields are flooded in many parts of the country. Ah! Say! Ok! Your hunting spot does not flooded any fields, yet the birds come into the field to feed en route to the water for protection. We lay ambush from cover or blinds with decoys in wait for the waterfowl to fly by or land within our decoys. So are the decoys a group style of baiting?
Upland game bird hunters in many cases with hunt corn fields, wheat crop fields or other fields that have produce an edible to market crop. Yes! The birds hide in the adjacent cover, but they still feed on the remnants of the crop. We have bear hunters in many states that get to bait bears with meat or fruit and lay in wait from treestand or cover blinds.
In the northern sector of CONUS and into Canada many bears are ambushed while working the fresh growth of grasses in the spring. What an excellent way to keep the bears in check.
I know that a well-known hunter and advocate of hunting big game native to the U.S. and exotics from around the world baits the game and lays in wait from a treestand or ground blind. He is very successful, yet he does not eat all his harvests. Most do not know that he raises the game animals and the meat goes to needy families. For him, his family and friends, it is about the hunt, the harvest and the excitement of the whole experience. This is done on this own land and in one way this is his crop!
In some states you can bait big game, but you can’t bait predators, such as Bear and Cougars. That is a great way to manage a state, so it is said (wildlife managers). So bears and cougars run rampaged with no predators other than mankind taking out a few during hunting seasons. Plus over populations of bears have taken out large sections of timber that is not quite ready for harvest. Did you know that they themselves find a great source of sap from these age trees? The strip the bark off, secure the sap and the tree dies. So we won’t have to worry about baiting big game such as deer and elk to hunt with the way it is in Oregon.
Did you know that a Cougar only wants fresh meat and takes on the average about one (1) a week on deer and if working take elk, then maybe one every 14 days.
Recently I got a short 15 second video from an old hunting buddy. It was taken from a camera on his property just outside of the city limits of a rural town, close to Portland, Oregon. Just think about the fact it is summer in the Willamette Valley and he has never seen a Cougar this time of year. In the past years he has seen a Cougar in the snow following deer to their winter staging area. So you ask what does this have to do with baiting, well if we could bait for Bears and Cougars in Oregon, maybe we could save our deer and elk herds. Press Here To See
We have in the western half of the United States the privilege to hunt for Pronghorn (Antelope), though they will roam the great sage brush plains, they do love to work agricultural areas, especially alfalfa. Is it a form of baiting to wait for the Antelope to leave an alfalfa circle and be shot going under the barbwire fence? If we think back to the existence of man, he has in many cases waited for the game he was going to eat to come to water, food or leave from one of them.
Recently I posted a video of a great video archery shot of a Blacktail Deer, there were apples on the ground from the apple tree near the treestand. The comment wasn’t very good telling me he wasn’t a hunter working over bait. It didn’t help that the opening picture was of the same buck standing over a pile of apples early in the season. I explain to help the commenter understand that the opening picture was of a different spot to take census or take count of the bucks in the area and that the kill shot was near an apple tree. Press Here To See
Does anyone really think we would get these shots without doing something to slow them down on the way to the vineyard?
My feelings are if it is legal by the state in-which you hunt, then there should be not issue.
Many years ago when I was having a conversation with Randall Byers of the Pope & Young Club, he made comment to me that in Idaho it was legal to hunt deer over bait and that he and his buddies like to use corn. At the time I thought it was terrible, as I had never done it with big game. Guess I was clueless to the fact it was legal!
I have laid in wait for a buck Pronghorn coming to water and ambushed them at a crossing to water. So is water bait? I would believe in some sense of the idea that it to be bait!
Another instance years ago while hunting for Pronghorn over at Earl Smith’s Ranch outside of Antelope, Oregon, Mike the ranch foreman would say come with me and see what happens in a few minutes. As we watched from about 200 yards away I watched countless Elk jump over the fence and into the wheat field. They did it at the same point every night. That to be a strategic location during the archery season to hunt for the elk. So would that be considered baiting to wait close by for the elk to come and go or just being an opportunist like the Eagle?
I used to hunt for Mule Deer bucks on the Mayo Ranch outside of Riley, Oregon. We would wait in the tall grasses for the Mulie to enter the cut and bailed Alfalfa fields to eat the second cut. So we did not intently bait the deer ourselves, but we made opportunity work for us! At that time I would have never thought that to be a process of baiting, yet I did not plant the crop, but was an opportunist to be in the right spot!
So everyone has their own thoughts what is baiting. It is about hunting and harvesting game to eat, though myself I give the meat away for the most part, as I have many friends that beg for deer and elk meat every year. So for me it is about the adventurer and the harvest, so in later life I have found that using every opportunity to get the hunt done legally is Right.
Anti-Hunters have created the problem with hunting in every sort or form of the sport or natural order of mankind’s desire to kill animals and baiting is just another subject to change the course of history.
This was in January and in this case it was about seeing what the carryover was with the Blacktail Bucks in the area.
All should take note that if hunters or other sports people did not buy sporting goods, which includes licenses to hunt, fish and collect coastal creatures in the oceans, there would be no successful management of game, fish , upland game birds or waterfowl. It is the money from those that love the hunt or fish that allow all to enjoy seeing game.
These are my thoughts on the subject and may not be the thoughts of others! Bwana Bubba
I like to start with humor or some kind of story line in a hunting or equipment article.
We all remember the Wild West movies of the past, with rifles & Six Shooters blazing away with very few Homo sapiens hitting the hard deck. Maybe the rifles or six shooters weren’t very accurate or maybe the shooters weren’t focusing on the target at hand! As we know though, most were accurate up the distance warranted. Take a minute to think about the sights on most of those rifles and Six Shooters, even going into the 21st Century! Rear V and Front Post!
You would have to focus to hit the target!
There are very few bow hunters or archers that don’t have a firearm in their arsenal of hunting or target shooting equipment. In all shooting, it is about hitting the target or game with the utmost accuracy and being able to do that we have to be focus in depth on the target. This is not always about the amount of time to do so, but the accuracy of having all coming together in the moment.
Just think about any other sport that may include a single ball and getting the ball into the hoop, a hole in the ground or into the hands of a wide receiver. The shooter has to focus mentally or have the natural talent to target the target…
My mind comes to two instances! I saw this happen, years ago with Brian Henninger hitting balls during a golf tournament practice session. He was deliberately hitting a tent within inches of the same spot every time at about 260 yards. One fellow said, “man” he is missing the pin”, little did he know that Brian was having fun. Brain was quite focused on hitting the spot on the top of the meeting tent.
What about this year (2014) with the Portland Trailblazer player with .6 tenths of a second to get an inbound shot off and doing so and making the 3 point throw and winning the game for the Trailerblazers. There was nothing about luck, but a man that was in the zone of focus!
Over the years as I have said before I have had the privilege to shoot with many different bow sights and optics on rifles. (What the heck, I have the privilege to use lots of hunting and shooting items over the last 40 years)
To this day I still have Duplex Crosshairs on all my rifles, forcing me to focus to the center. Knowing your weapon of choice and how it shoots is most likely the most important thing. With the speed of the modern day compound bow we have a greater advantage to make shots at greater distances with less drop of the arrow in flight.
As I write about optics – sights that attach to the rifle, guns, crossbow (legal states) and bows, there are so many that have multiple pins in the archery side and in the rifle or gun side we have tactical reticles and BDC Turrets (bullet drop compensator) which are all great. I find the BDC and multiple dot reticles in the firearm side to be great when you have time to dial in the yardage out to great distances or a bench shooter working on fractions. Otherwise most will have a favorite yardage to go by when setting up. As for bow sights I personally feel in the days of slower bows the multiple pins were my choice, yet I would have my 40 yard pin, the one pin that was different in color, it was my go to pin to get the job done when I was in the combat field mode of hunting for big game without the rangefinder. I guess it is good thing I have played some golf in my life.
Those that have shot target bows at the 20 yards with 3 spot & 5 spot targets indoor normally always had a long adjustable bar (extension) with a head and globe sight with a single dot or pin. We could fine tune the sight to make the X’s!
I shot this Martin Scepter Pro series for many years using Mel Stanislawski globe sight. Note the single dot in the 4X magnifier reticle!
To win one must have all 10’s, so this was the equipment to help make it happen!
In my days of shooting small bore indoor rifles (22LR Caliber) at 50 feet competitively, it was all about the International or Olympic globe sights that usually had a circle aperture on the front sight you would have the bull (target bull) centered. You learn to breath, focus and make sure before squeezing the trigger that the bull was perfectly centered so you could make an X.
This is what my Anschutz Model 64 22LR Target Rifle had on the end of the barrel!
In 2013 I was introduced to the HHA Sports Optimizer Bow Sightsand was I able to shoot the 5519 model after an old hunting buddy told me about the sights. What is great about the sight, as I chose this particular model as it is a pendulum style adjustment, though HHA Sports has a dial style also, is that it is a single pin on a moveable pendulum and I can shoot accurately from 10 yards to 80 yards. If I know the yardage I do not have to anything other than move the lever up or down to the marked yardage on the sight with my thumb, yet not lose my grip on the bow. Otherwise I leave it at 40 yards in the field and 30 yards in a treestand.
“R.D.S. is a patented sight in tape system that eliminates the need for multiple pins or crosshairs to shoot various distances with vertical bow, crossbow or firearm. It allows you to focus on a single dot or reticule, dial to the distance of the target and shoot. The clutter and confusion of 3, 5 and 7 pins on a bow or 5 or 6 lines in a scope are removed and replaced with one aiming point. This results in increased accuracy and higher confidence in the field and on the range!”
The system works on every bow I have setup! Many happy hunters know success over this system
If I haven’t said it before it is always about the optics on any weapon or shooting device. If the weapon or shooting device is sound, the only reasons not to be able to a hit a “shootable target” is the shooter or the sight for the most part in shootable conditions.
Take the movie “The Greatest Game Ever Played”, you’ll see in the movie how the golf gallery disappears and the golfer sees only the ball in flight to the hole! As one of my work buddies says “See it before it happens”.
Try one of the HHA Sports sight system on your bow, rifle, gun or crossbow and you won’t be sorry, you might even be able to make that shot you passed up the year before, if the occasion arises! It will take the complexity of out of the picture and allowing you to focus to the target and accomplish your Mission!
To Trespass Knowingly or Not To Trespass with Technology!
Without getting carried away with the past, I will say that in the day, in Oregon when the Bhagwan & his Cult ruled some 60,000 acres outside of Antelope, Oregon, that also had some 60,000 acres of B.L.M. within the boundary, with a vast majority of it being landlocked, I ran the line to hunt for the big Mule Deer and Rocky Mtn. Elk that roamed the land. Later it was taken over by the Washington Family, who donated the land to Young Life. The Bhagwan was pretty easy if you stayed on the B.L.M. via a public road access. Young Life in the first year allowed access via Current Creek on the Big Muddy Rd. That did not last long when the Management of the Young Life on the Big Muddy found there was real money with the hunting of big game.
In 2002 I was stopped on B.L.M. on the Northeast Sector of the Grizzly Elk Hunt Unit in Oregon by Young Life Patrollers. They demanded our Licenses, which in Oregon if on private you’re going to have to give it to them. I told them we were on B.L.M. and I wasn’t going to give them anything. They were packing handguns and demanded the licenses of all three of us. I said are you going to shoot us if we don’t and they said” are you going to shoot us”, I said funny our rifles are on the Quads some 100 yards down the B.L.M. Road. Standstill for a while and the other hunter (Young Life Donor & Doctor) who was with us gave up this license first, then without any more battle of words we all gave the Olsen Brothers our licenses. Their words when they finally got their old technology GPS’s (old technology GPS didn’t work well in pockets) out of their front pockets and found a signal said the following “we are on B.L.M.” “Ah! We still know you were TRESPASSING!” Let it be known that they had to cross B.L.M. to get to one small parcel in the middle of B.L.M.
When we go out of the B.L.M. via the same trail we took in via B.L.M., an O.S.P. Game Officer was waiting for us on the Hwy 218 road access. He asked the following “did you guys have an incident while hunting” I said of course we did, but we were on B.L.M. and showed him the maps that we had, which were made up of old technology and Garmin GPS to outline all of the B.L.M. and had it color coded, with our tracks going in and out. We were carrying the first Topo mapping Garmin GPS that had come out in 2000. We all thought it was over with the proof that we were legal. Well 9 months later we get ticketed for Criminal Trespassing. The same O.S.P. (Oregon State Police) Game Officer from Bend, Oregon drove over to issue the tickets to us in Oregon City, Oregon. I asked him why, since I had an O.S.P. Game Officer as a neighbor and the Senior O.S.P. Game Officer some 4 houses away. His comment “was he had to do it, as Craig I., said he saw you Trespassing”. Then the next comment was “you know you’ll get off on the Trespassing” and I said yes, but we have to hire 3 lawyers!
What the heck i will share the past. Remember only horses for human foot traffic in the area. Private Land Owners can change the demographics for all with the B.L.M…
In conclusion: The DA of Wasco County didn’t want anything to do with it, as we had the evidence that we were innocent of Trespassing on Young Life.
Comments made by the others hunting BLM, old combat veterans “why didn’t you have a firefight Frank?” It was in jest, but reality we were held at bay with handguns, which should have been kidnapping!
The above story now leads into why a hunters or outdoor people should have a Garmin GPS and onXmaps HUNT Mapping Software. The technology that I used back then took a great deal of time and resources to get it done. Now it takes about 15 minutes to have the advance technology on your computer and your GPS to be 100% sure of where your hunting.
Many of my hunters have waited 10 to 20 years to draw a premium tag to hunt deer, elk and especially pronghorn. I don’t put the sheep or goats in the picture as it might never happen and at least in the State of Oregon, the ODFW Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife will help you in locations of goats and sheep. Funny though that many sheep and goats work between private and public land!
The mapping software can be used as a tool to find the private land owners when you see a herd of maybe a 100 Pronghorn in the Alfalfa and most likely get permission to hunt for free!
Many figure they don’t need this type of equipment that paper maps will work just fine for them!
I have given an example of government paper map in the below picture and a picture from onXmaps HUNT so you can compare the difference.
This is what Brett thought he was hunting with National Forest cross fences and coming in from the 160 road working north.
What Brett ended up on was one of the south corner triangle pieces below the Ochoco Creek Rd. with no corner fences. There were no signs either on the land and it was all open timber. Brett was ticketed with a word from the Game Officer he could pay restitution of up to $6250.00 (FOR REAL) to the landowner. Brett offered to put of No Trespassing Signs, the landowner took the signs from Brett and he went to court. He did show the Judge in that particular county a Government Map, which helped a little, but still paid a fine to the court.
I am now informed that landowners do not have to post their lands. So in areas such as National Forest that has private mingle within and no fences, it is your responsibility to know the private (At least Oregon).
onXmapsHUNT has maps for almost every state in CONUS and the great state of Alaska has a map.
I recommend this product with utmost confidence that you’ll have memorial and successful hunts and trips without hassle.
The opening weekend of the general bow (archery) season in Oregon had past by two weeks. After the opening the bucks had become scarce. Two of the other hunters Mark S. an Oregon State Trooper Game Division and my son Frankie had taken bucks on the opening morning with great one shot kills. The bucks for both young men were their first bow kills for bucks and also the privilege of taking Blacktail Bucks, that are very difficult to harvest in the best conditions.
This was taken on 09-07-13 on the cam in the draw. He only came around 3 times in 6 months!
I had gone out to the vineyard a 90 acre of un-fence land in rural Oregon City – Canby, Oregon area in Clackamas County, Oregon and had sat in the tree stand numerous times in vane. The year prior it was common to see at least 2-4 bucks during the archery season any given morning or evening. Even the crop of spikes and does were not coming anywhere near the draw, bewildering mind set.
Frankie my son came out to the vineyard a couple of times. On Monday the 9th of September he came out with me to hunt again. He had also been lucky enough to draw the Oregon Willamette Valley 615 Deer Tag, which allows you to hunt from September 1st, through to February 28th, the following year. On this Monday night I would work from the tree stand with Martin Onza 3 that has proven itself well the year before, but this year the bow sight would be the H H A Sports Optimizer with the single pin on the pendulum system. A sight that forces one to focus on the pin and the target. With the speed of the bow, I usually leave it set for 40 yards when I am going to stalk and 30 yards when I am in three stand. If I have time for a rangefinder, I can easy move the pin up or down on yardage with my thumb quickly.
Frankie would be packing his recently bought rifle in a 308 caliber. He would work through the timber and see if he could drive a buck my way. If a buck were bust in a different journey then he might get a chance to get his 615 tag filled.
Both us seemed to get bored without the sighting of any deer during the evening hunt. With about 15 minutes of light left Frankie came out of the blackberries on the northern sector of the vineyard and I had setup myself working the tree line just west of the tree stand in the draw.
One should have a camera that will take a picture in low light!
Frankie’s new rifle came with combo setup scope that would prove to be a problem! He should have taken out his Weatherby MK V with good optics! You can have a rifle that is over the counter and inexpensive, but one should always have good optics for the conditions which includes the scope mounts!
He texts me that there is branch buck cutting through the grapes (12″ plants) and he just can’t get on him. At that time I spot the buck, but he is 80 yards from me and just walking along. I work in to get closer to him and when the buck was at 60 yards broadside, I decide it is to late to get a bow good shot. Even with the greatness of the Optimizer and the Onza 3, I would have not gotten it done.
Both Frankie and I could not get on him and get a clean shot!
The positive of this, we did see a branched shooter buck, though the buck was not a resident buck to the area. Thus ended the night of the 9th of September with the sighting of one shooter Blacktail Buck only!
On the Tuesday the 10th, I got off early from work and headed out to the vineyard. Again vineyard is a un-fenced 90 arce parcel of land that is just outside of Canby and Oregon City, Oregon. The deer come and go from many parcels of urual lands in Clackamas County. I have seen the same bucks when scouting on lands that are about 1-2 miles line of sight feeding in the fields.
I decided to give the tree stand another go and within an hour I decided I needed to do another spot and stalk. The deer just weren’t working the draw like they were the year before.
A different perspective of the this buck!
The taking of a buck in the draw during the opener and gutting the buck near the draw might have caused a problem? I can’t see why as the coyotes and buzzards had cleaned the bones and any other evidence of the kill within days.
There was not much shooting light left so I decided to place myself next to the treeline that lead out into the grapes plants (young 1st year plants). As I sat there, glassing, range finding spots that I though figured a buck might emerge from, I got this feeling that I had company and not of the human form. Everyone has had the feeling that there is something close and in many instances we don’t take advantage of the sense! In this case I moved my head and noticed a branched buck working almost in the same area that the buck the evening before. In this case I had a bit more light and knew if I did blow the movement I could get a shot off.
In one fluid motion I move from my sitting position and swung around into the kneeling position. (The buck had his head down the whole time he was moving through the plants.) He never made notice to my movement and with ease I pull back my Martin Onza 3 at 72#, the HHA Optimizer single pin sight was set at 40 yards and the pin focused just below the spine. The buck did not jump at release, as the Onza 3 very quiet! His reaction when the arrow hit was that of a rock. He just went down instantly and quivered for just a few moments. The arrow had gone through his heart! In my lifespan of hunting I have had this only happen twice before on bucks and both of them had been Blacktails also! The Blacktail buck most likely didn’t even know he was dead at impact! It doesn’t happen like this very often, but I will take it anytime I can. One never likes to have to track game in the dense cover of Western Oregon during the evening into darkness. A deer can go a little ways and disappear in the Blackberries, which make for difficult recovery on evening hunts. I have to say when there is a spark of adrenalin, old bones can move without pain!
A descendant of Sticker from the past!
Though the buck was only a 3 x 4 with the single eyeguard and most likely three (3) year, I would do it again. After opening day it had been tough and one should never have two legal tags. It makes it tough when your trying for the local stud buck. The rack is a very tight rack with the main beams almost touching. His brother the other 4 X 3 with two (2) eyeguards still roams the property. It appears that he will take up residency on this parcel and surrounding properties. He is a bit bigger and will make a good buck in 2014!
Since this writing I was a fortunate to harvest the Even 3 X 3 in November of this year!
The Oregon General Archery Season Opener proved to be a successful opening day hunt in the Willamette Valley for Blacktail Deer Bucks’. Neither of the two young men had every taken a Blacktail Buck with the bow and arrow!
The anticipation of the 2013 Oregon Archery Season Opener had been a very exciting anxiety brain thought for me.
Having myself wanting to target two (2) different bucks during the season, I was ready for the opener on August 24th, 2013. There would be two (2) other hunters hunting the small parcel (90 acres) of un-fenced land in the Willamette Valley of Oregon in the Clackamas County zone outside of Oregon City, Oregon. Neither of the other two (2) young bucks (Frankie or Mark) had ever taken a buck deer with the bow and arrow. Considering the Columbia Blacktail deer is one of the toughest to hunt, the odds are lowered. One hunter was my son Frank Jr. who has been hunting since he was 12 years old and the other hunter Mark S. one of Oregon’s finest… Both are experience hunters with the rifle and have taken Mule Deer, Blacktail Deer, Elk and Pronghorn. Mark would be hunting from his treestand at the far end of the property in which he can view the vineyard that the deer were still working over during the year. Jr. would be in a ground blind in the same draw that I was in, though I would be in the treestand. This year Jr. would be hunting for the first time with a 2013 Martin Rytrea Alien XT and also for the first time the HHA Sports 5519 Optimizer Bow Sight. All of us would be using again for the second year the Slick Trick 100gr. Broadhead.
Mark’s Blacktail in the velvet!Frankie’s Blacktail in the velvet and how he saw him on opening day, but in the daylight!
Anticipation by all was at its highest with all of us to harvest a Blacktail buck, since we had many bucks working the area. At times it would seem we would have an atmosphere of a buck pasture, as does working the area lacking! Just before shooting time, I get a silent text message from Mark, “they are all around my tree”. My thoughts were of course those of jealousy with him getting first lick on a buck. Legal shooting time was upon us and I get another text message from Mark “Elfi is down, I smoked him”. Now I had a bit of relief that he did not take the Number 1 Blacktail on vineyard and there would still be a chance in the future.
Mark with his P & Y Buck! First bow kill of big game!
Mark text me again that he would stay in this stand for an hour to wait on the deer and give us a chance.
Now the story gets really interesting, as Mark’s last text comes in, I see a lone deer moving through the tree to my left at a good pace. Thinking back the deer was running a bit erratic. This would come into play in about an hour of this sighting! It is now about 30 minutes later and I spot from the treestand about 4-5 bucks in the Douglas Firs, just milling around across the gravel road from the draw. I see they are moving to the North and there is an opening in the blackberries. I knew at this time they deer were heading into the draw. The bucks and a couple does go out of sight as they go around the blackberries, travel 30 yards down the gravel road and turn east into the draw. Quickly sending Jr. a text that they were coming towards him and too be on the ready. The action is about to start, as deer are under my stand coming from the South and I can see the bucks with does coming from the West into the draw.
Frankie with his first bow buck kill with the bow and arrow!
I am just mesmerized by the movement and the amount of game upon us. I have my Optimizer set at 30 yards in anticipation of the bucks coming into my open shooting zone. The deer are on top of Jr.’s ground blind and I just sit there watching the action and not wanting to standup and get ready.
He still lives and looks to have made it through the rifle season in Oregon. No one is suppose to hunt this place with a rifle!
The big Even 3 X 3 is at 42 yards from me, if I were to shoot at the easy shot, the arrow’s flight would have to zoom between Douglas Fir branches and then over the top of Jr.’s blind. All the deer just stop at this point which is 2 – 10 yards from the blind. They know something is up at this point, but still wanting to move down the draw to the creek bottom. All of a sudden one of the bucks looks into the only open window in the portable blind. The buck has eye contact with Jr., (should have had sunglasses on) snorts and bulks. With that movement Even 3 X 3 and all the other bucks and deer are gone in a flash. I was mistaken since I could not see one of the bucks that remained. A Forked Horn with Eyeguards (only buck that is still in velvet) stands his ground at 5 yards from Jr.’s blind. In my mind I am saying shoot, what are you waiting for Frankie! A split second later I hear the report of the arrow hitting the buck in the zone. The buck walks off directly away from him, turns and jogs about 40 yards and the rest is history!
As for myself I am still stunned that I did not take the shot, but there was something in my mind that told me not do so it. Reasoning or Mind Drift? Quickly I am out of the stand congratulating Frankie and he find his deer in minutes. You ask why Jr. didn’t take the Even 3 X 3, same question I asked him! “Dad that is your buck that you have been chasing for 2 years, I wasn’t going to ruin that moment!”
A great hunt that I got to see the hunt un-fold from above!
After finding Frankie’s buck from a good blood trail within a couple of minutes, taking pictures and High Fiving, Frankie now tells me that we need to help Mark find his deer. This happen to be a work day for me and want to get one deer Hawaiian Quartered and then worry about Mark’s buck secondly! We do go over to Mark who was coming back to the truck to get rid of his gear. His buck had not dropped out in the vineyard. We all went back to help him find his buck. A most difficult venture at first as there was little sign of blood to track. After about 15 minutes I told Mark we would be back, as we need to get the buck taken care of now! Mark informed me and Jr. that he had called his Dad, Dan to come and help.
Dad and Son teamed up to trace the buck! 4 eyes many times works better than 2! Hoorah!
As you read this you wonder about Mark’s hit on the deer. It will be another story once Mark gets it written, but from the video he had taken, it was a good hit and finding the buck would come. We get Frankie’s deer done in about 30 minutes Hawaiian style of quartering, taking only the meat out.
Get with Mark and Dan, as they found some more blood. Telling him about the deer I had seen moving through the trees just after his shot, proved to be the positive outcome of finding his buck. The deer have had the habit of escaping or when hit to travel down into a deep canyon on the farm, that I did not even know existed until January of this year. As soon as Mark and Dan hit the deer trail at the top of the canyon the blood trail was very heavy, but not without the buck expiring in the in heavy cover. The dandy Pope & Young Blacktail buck didn’t travel more than 300 yards from the stand, though he made an oval track circle to the right, then straight into the canyon.
Frankie’s buck was a really nice Velvet Forked Horn with Eyeguards, with great sylemtry. Mark’s buck was a very tall 3 X 3 with Eyeguards and would make Pope & Young. It also was the buck that I had put an arrow completely through in 2012 that did not affect the deer. Strange as there were no signs once skinned he had ever been hit, yet we have pictures the day after in 2012 of wounds on left and right side.
At this writing Even 3 X 3 is still alive waiting for the rut to find him. Since opening day he has only been seen 3 times, twice on cameras at the wee hours of the darkness in the morning and once during the general rifle season out in the open field!
It is great that the two young shooters found their marks on bucks to give them the confidence of the bow and arrow on big game.
In the State of Oregon, bowhunters have greater amount of time and opportunities to hunt for big game.
The following article are my thoughts and opinions on the subject of GPS & Mapping Systems
Private land in middle of National Forest!
I would have to say my interested in the GPS (Global Positioning System) equipment started in or around 1998 after I started to work for a large Sporting Goods Company in the Portland Metro Area in Oregon.
This will be a two part (2) article about GPS Products and then about Topo (Topographical) mapping that is designed for hunters, hikers, walkers, fishermen and anyone else that might use a GPS in the great outdoors of the U.S.A.
Over the course of many years of working with GPS products I have come to the conclusion of what I feel is the best GPS products to use in the field. Now this is my opinion and may not be everyone’s opinion!
I have had the opportunity to try every large name GPS products out there that have Topo mapping that is their branded line of mapping. There are many good GPS products out there, but they are not the best!
I want you to think about support, updates, ease of putting in waypoints, transferring waypoints to and from the computer! Garmin is by far the easiest that I have worked with. With Garmin one can zoom in to about 80’ and that is great when you have detail TOPO (Topographical) mapping to go with it.
As for support it is the best out there via the net or on-line, as I have used both and the last time when I could not get it done on my own, I called support and actually got tech support in my local state, which meant a lot when I was communicating my problem.
Another item of importance is that you need a GPS that has a high sensitivity internal antenna and WAAS system. It also needs to be a colored screen vice black and white. It should have capabilities for an SD Micro Card or have enough internal memory. Much of our hunting, hiking or exploring is done in dense timber, or in areas that there might have a canopy. My latest GPS Garmin Montana will work inside of my office building.
A well used Garmin Montana with lots of secret spots!
Most of my hunters that I help did not realize that Garmin has a free software download called Base Map (Computer interface program to GPS device). This is a big deal to me and my hunters that are willing to get the proper mapping and GPS.
The mapping is from another company (Hunting GPS Maps) that is not a Garmin product, yet is able to be used with the Garmin Base Map and Garmin GPS products.
I believe that Garmin’s Blue Maps and City Streets mapping is great, but I am not a fan of the Garmin Topo Mapping. There is not enough detail or no detail of private lands within National Forest and it does not show B.L.M. Lands. Matter of fact there is only white (no way to know other public lands) for all other lands except National Forest which is green.
The inner face is easy and once you have the software load on both the computer and the GPS you have one of the greatest tools in the world.
If you are not computer sassy you can obtain a HUNT ONXMAP Micro Chip and install it in a Garmin GPS product. The importance for those using the product is that you will know the public land (BLM, State, and Federal) private lands and in many cases the landowners name, then there are the private timber lands that are white with dots. Much of the private timber lands in the west are open to the public. The information regarding which timber lands that is open to the public should be listed with the most State Game Departments, which it is in Oregon. Everything is color coded for the easy identifying of lands, National Forest is Green, State Lands are usually Blue, Private Lands are White, BLM is Yellow, City Properties can be purple or maroon, and the Private timber lands are White with Dots.
Just think about being out there hunting and crossing into a piece of this land thinking you are hunting National Forest and it is a Gold Mine in Eastern, Oregon or maybe a mine in Utah. One might not like the experience they might have with an old miner.
A GPS is one of the most important pieces of equipment to have when you are hunting in areas of mixed land.
I will tell you since I first started to write this page, that my friends aHUNT ONXMAPS have come out with a new product for those I Pad and I Phone users, such as my son. You are now able to get the same mapping for their usage. Hopefully you have a connection when out there, as least you can be legal when working the zones.
My I Pad with the new HUNTING GPS MAPS installed!
I tell my DIY Antelope-Pronghorn hunters that it is a must for them to have a product that gives the boundaries. Just look at a place like the famous Steen’s Mountains in Southeastern, Oregon. There are many parcels of private in the middle of BLM that is hard to tell what is what, since there is so much cross fencing. Yes you can have a paper map from the BLM, which is fine for reference, but of course you’ve had the map for 20 years or got it from a buddy who had it for 20 yards and BLM had done land swaps. Don’t get me wrong, I came from old school with paper BLM and N.F. maps.
I know from experience how important a GPS is with trespassing and these products can save a hunt. How many times do hunters get stopped on B.L.M. or even N.F. by ranchers that might have cattle rights on the public land? Telling the hunter they are trespassing! Oh! It happens a lot in the West! The Foreman of the famous Hay Creek back in the day would stop hunters on public roads going along the ranch and into B.L.M. and the National Grasslands. It is one thing to get stopped by law enforcement, but not by a private citizen on the public land!
Private land in the Steen’s Mnts of Oregon that may not have a fence or may have a fence and you think it is BLM.
When I help hunters find places at this point for FREE, I expect it to be quick and easy on my part. The idea of helping hunters in this hectic busy lifestyle we have to shorten the scouting time in land they know nothing about. Get waypoints to them in good hunting areas and go from there.
There is some much one can learn about a spot that they might only get to hunt a few times in a lifetime, since most special tags take so long to get. With a Garmin Colored GPS with SD Micro slot, Garmin Base Map (Computer), Hunting GPS Maps and Google Earth, you can go from Novice to Expert in a very short time prior to your outing.
Do you really want to get Coordinates and plug them into your GPS without knowing what you are looking at?
Be smart and move up in technology and you’ll find new avenues to hunt and be confident in the hunt!
