Summer Chores

Summer means beaches and vacations to a lot people but for turkey hunters it means chufa planting. Since our turkey population here in SC seems to be on a decline, its more important than ever to manage the habitat on our hunting ground. Chufa is a great tool for turkey habitat improvement just about anywhere corn will grow.

In case you didn't know, chufa is a plant that looks like decorative border grass. It produces underground tubers that turkeys, pigs and ducks (when flooded) love. I'm hoping the pigs leave mine to the turkeys.

The NWTF imports their Turkey Gold Chufa brand from Spain but there are growers here in the states that produce it for sale as well. Click here to see some FAQs about chufa.

Planting in June is a hot, muggy undertaking but good friend Patrick and I braved the heat and deer flies yesterday afternoon to get a few chufa plots planted. The process is not simple and usually requires multiple trips to the property to kill weeds, prepare the seed bed, fertilize and plant.

Sweat equity at it's finest. Hopefully these plots will pay big dividends next spring by holding at least a couple of gobblers on our lease. And if you know where these plots are please don't tell Shannon or Kelly......

Wyoming Field Research

I recently returned home from Wyoming where we shot prairie dogs, ground squirrels and rock chuck with the guys at Silver Spur Outfitters in Encampment. And man was it cold…at least for me. The week before I left for the trip, I was in shorts and t-shirts in South Carolina, and while I was in Wyoming, it dropped to a whopping 30 degrees and snowing.

Talk about a damper on shooting prairie dogs.

However, the ground squirrels didn’t seem to mind the snow and wind, so we stayed out with them. Luckily the snow only lasted one day.

We shot Winchester’s new (in 2009) 22LR and 22 Win Mag lead free ammo, 22-250 and the latest .223 Ballistic Silvertip lead free ammo that was just introduced this year.

We tested the product on the varmints from 10 yards all the way out to 540 yards and no matter what the distance was, the ammunition performed great. The results from some of the shots were unbelievable. It’s amazing how high you can launch a prairie dog or ground squirrel in the air with a 22-250 or 223.

Without being too graphic, I’d just have to say that Winchester’s product works. The new BST lead free load designed by Winchester and Nosler features a plastic tip to reduce tip damage and promote long-range performance, and a gilding metal jacket. The fragmenting copper core is engineered to explode on impact. And it indeed exploded.

If you don’t believe me, go out and buy some yourself to try.

You won’t be disappointed!

Media Event

I recently returned from a pretty cool trip to Oregon. First stop was the Chevalier home office in Lake Oswego. It sunny and 70 degrees as usual. I no longer believe all that "it rains in Oregon all the time" crap.

Next stop was a bow geeks delight. A media event on behalf of Nikon Sport Optics at the Bowtech Archery plant in Eugene. First off, we toured the manufacturing side of things and their fully stocked pro shop, then I gave the media a run down on the latest cool products from Nikon.

Next, following a quick lunch, I tagged along as Mark Melotik from Archery Business and Bowhunting World magazines built his own Bowtech Destroyer. And he was heading out in the next couple of days to try and take an Oregon turkey with it. It was a great event made even cooler for the writers who got to assembly their own bows.

Confessions

I haven’t blogged in a long time. There is a good reason behind my procrastination. I wanted to keep my pride. However, as a bowhunter there is no such thing as pride.

I missed a turkey with my bow….four times.

There I said it.

It all started on a cold and rainy morning in the Black Hills of South Dakota. There were three of us in a Double Bull ground blind. On a normal day, this would be the Cadillac of ground blinds, complete with room to stretch out and relax. Let’s do the quick math: three people, two bows and one blind. They say two is company and three is a crowd, and I will have to agree with that.

So there sat myself, Kelly (Chevalier’s Media Buyer) and our guide in extremely close quarters. Since we weren’t strangers, Kelly and I had no problem snuggling up to one another, but I think our guide was erring on the side of caution. He was probably thinking, “What the heck did I get myself into?”

The gobblers were talking on this wet and soggy morning. We decided that whoever had the best shot opportunity would take it. With the morning excitement we played turkey twister as we opened blind windows, moved bodies and at one point Kelly ended up drawing on a turkey with my bow and her arrow knocked.

With no shot, there was a calm after the turkey twister storm. When out of nowhere I could hear a tom drumming. It was foggy and I couldn’t see him, but I knew he was coming. Like a ghost, he appeared 40 yards in front of me. We coaxed him in at about 25 yards. I calmed myself, placed my 20-yard pin on him and let my arrow fly. THWACK!

He puffed up, tumbled and ran away. SWEET! My first turkey EVER! Kelly and I high-fived while our guide went to check for a blood trail. That excitement was short lived as I watched him pull my arrow (actually it was Kelly’s) out of the tree that was directly behind the Tom. Dang it.

On the last evening, the three of us were packed like sardines in the blind, but at this point our guide got comfortable with us in close quarters. We sat up on a ledge that overlooked Sturgis. It was a nice warm gorgeous evening and we were ready for some action!

Not long we had several toms strutting, spitting and drumming for us. Two toms came into our decoy set up. They both were standing at 20 yards, not a care in the world. Focused, I set my 20-yard pin and let an arrow fly.

Nothing.

Shaken up I looked at my guide, “What do I do?” He silently handed me another arrow. Barely able to sit still, I knocked my arrow, told myself to relax and shot again.

Nothing. Well, crap.

He handed me another arrow. “Take your time,” he said. I drew back and focused. Never have I gone from excited to nervous to pissed off in less than two minutes. I settled my pin and released.

Nada.

I signaled for another arrow. I hope I never hear these words from my guide again, “You are out of arrows.”

Remember the MBBA (Muddy Broadhead Bowhunter Association)? You are looking at the 2010 President.If you are ever at the Turkey Track Club in the Black Hills of South Dakota, look at the camp log. It has every hunter listed from the past 30 years or so with their camp notes. You will see mine on the 2010 log: Shannon Salyer – Miss 4x-Bow

Hunting On The Tejon

During my travels to different areas in the western states, I've always been told you never know what kind of weather you're going to get. It can be sunny and warm one minute, and then cold and snowing the next. Well...that was the case on the Tejon Ranch, just outside of Los Angeles, last week while we were there hunting hogs, turkeys and ground squirrels...and one coyote!

We arrived to beautiful sunny California on Sunday, only to leave on Thursday while it was raining, sleeting and snowing.

We were testing a variety of lead free ammunition that Winchester Ammunition manufactures, such as the E-Tip line (300 Win., 30-06 and 7MM), Xtended Range turkey loads (12 ga.), XP3 slugs, lightening fast Super-X rimfire ammunition (22 LR and 22 Win Mag) and the new Ballistic Silvertip Lead Free 22-250.

The new Ballistic Silvertip Lead Free line can also be found in a 223 Rem. Winchester and Nosler teamed up to produce this bullet. It features a plastic tip to reduce tip damage and promote long range performance, and a gilding metal jacket. It's designed with a fragmenting copper core so that it explodes on impact.

It's pretty safe to say that no matter where you are hunting, whether you're in a lead free state or not, Winchester Ammunition can provide you with the ammunition you need to enjoy your hunt and be successful.