11-24-24 - Deer Harvest Numbers

On tonight's show, Jim and Scott report on deer harvest numbers, hunting conditions and rut activity during modern gun season. They also gave waterfowl, small game and fish forecasts. Special guest Matt Fulkerson shares his and daughters Nora's and Shelby's awesome deer season stories. Check them out at Jim Strader Outdoors on Facebook.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
News Radio eight forty whas welcomes you to Jim Straighter Outdoors,
the area's leading authority on hunting and fishing. Jim Straighter
Outdoors is brought to you by Massioak Property's Heart Realty.
For the outdoor home of your dreams. Call Paul Thomas
at two seven zero five two four one nine zero
eight Lynden Animal Clinic, your pet's best Friend, Sportsman's Taxidermy.

(00:23):
Visit them at Sportsman's Taxidermy dot Com. An Roth Heating
and Cooling, a family owned business with over one hundred
years of experience in the Louisville area. Wildlife Habitat Solutions.
Check Jim and his team on Facebook at Wildlife Habitat
Solutions and by SMI Marine. Getting your boat back on
the water in no time. To join in on the conversation,

(00:44):
call us at five seven one eight four eight four
inside Louisville and one eight hundred four four four eight
four eight four outside the Metro. Now, sit back and
relax and enjoy the next two hours of Jim Straighter
Outdoors on news Radio eight forty WHAS.

Speaker 2 (01:00):
Good evening everyone. Jim Straighter here with my co host
Scott Cronin and Scott. We got a heavily packed informational
program tonight. I'll let you roll out some of the
topics because we're gonna talk deer, we're gonna talk ducks,
we're gonna talk small gaming. A lot of information put

(01:23):
out there tonight.

Speaker 3 (01:26):
I'm sure everybody's wanting to get the most up to
date deer report if they've had a rough season, Jim,
and I'm sure there's a few folks that are still
picking up the phone and calling their friends and family
with reports of success in the field. And it's been
a very hit or miss situation with this year's deer hunting,

(01:46):
and a lot of folks like myself have had great
numbers of deer being seen on the stand. We've watched
the rut play out and somewhat disappear. It's been up
and down like a roller coaster what it'll do so
many times. But we've also got a lot of folks,

(02:07):
Jim that's spent a lot of time in the field
that have some serious concerns if our deer herd is
in as good as shape as what it was just
a few years ago. There's a lot of deer being
harvested and it's leaning very heavily right now on a
heavy buck harvest. But we'll bring some of those numbers

(02:29):
to folks. But there's still a lot of folks that
got a buck tag in their pocket that have seen
plenty of deer, they've just not seen the right deer.
And then we'll talk a little bit about some of
your favorite styles of hunting.

Speaker 2 (02:41):
In mind, that's a small game.

Speaker 3 (02:42):
And we've got an epic forecast ahead for starting off
duck season, and Jim, just to let you in on it,
we've got some ducks here already, yes, sir.

Speaker 2 (02:53):
I've noticed that myself. And we're even gonna cover a
little fishing, because I understand it. Crappy're on fire several
of the lakes right now. For those folks that are
either done deer hunting and want to change back to
the fishing, or if they're not a hunter and they
enjoy the fishing, we'll have some reports for them as well.
And then we're gonna round things out tonight with a

(03:14):
really great family story. Matt Fulkerson, who's been on the
program with us in the past. He's a three time
Grand National National Wild Turkey Federation Calling Callmaker Champion, and
he and his two daughters had a fantastic deer season.

(03:35):
And we're gonna interview Matt a little later in the
program tonight and talk about their strategies and how he
and his daughters had just a real dream season. If
anyone wants to see the deer that they harvested, they're
posted on my Facebook page at Jim Straighter Outdoors and
it's a great story. I think everybody enjoy hearing that.

(03:55):
So Scott, I'm gonna get the break right here. Coming back,
we'll dive right in on these deer numbers and some
of those concerns, talk about the rut and how it
was a it's just been a different, weird type of
season really for most folks that we've networked with, and
we'll we'll chat about that. So hang on, folks, we'll
be back right after the break. This break is presented

(04:18):
by SMI Marine. Go see them. Hard weather's coming and
it's coming fast. You need to get your boat winner rised.
You better get over there. They'll take great care you. Remember,
you never get soaked by my friends at SMI got
I guess to get things rolling here. Let's talk a
little bit about the dear numbers and statistics that are

(04:43):
again up to date as we can get at this point.
We'll do a follow up next weekend, of course, after
all the numbers are in, but there's a definite some
trends and patterns here we need to talk about.

Speaker 3 (04:57):
Well, Indiana's still underway with going on with third deer season,
and so is Kentucky. Kentucky's closing out tonight with the
modern firearms season, and so we'll focus on Kentucky right
now and then talk a little bit about some of
the reports coming in from Indiana to GYM. But we're

(05:17):
leaning right there on that sixty one percent mark of
males being harvested, and right there about that forty percent mark,
thirty nine percent mark on Antler list deer or female
deer being harvested. And if you look back way to
twenty and nineteen up to twenty twenty three in the

(05:41):
state of Kentucky, our deer numbers are running somewhere around
that fifty four to fifty six percent male harvest percentage.
And it seems like this year, for a lot of
different reasons, it seems like we're running a little bit
hot on that mail harvesting. To comment to that I

(06:03):
think some of it is due to the fact that
we had some warmer than average weather gym, but I'm
also getting enough reports that aren't statistics, and that is
just from hunters in the field that their property lines
are being surrounded. A lot of folks coming in with

(06:23):
a lot of bad reports. And it's not to bring
negativity to the table tonight. It's just the fact that
it seems like, unfortunately, Kentucky's getting to be known more
and more as over the counter heap deer tags and
our non residents are pounding And this is my opinion, Jim,

(06:44):
not yours, but our non residents and residents are pounding
the horns, and I don't think they're doing a very
good job of keeping that buck to dough harvest ratio.
And check there's a there's several counties that are running
seventy five to ninety percent buck harvest, and that's that's
just a little on the high side for me.

Speaker 2 (07:06):
Well, it's well on the high side for me, and
I totally share your opinion. You know, I've been railing
about this some for years and we are at, in
my opinion, a point where this non resident influence is
a huge negative factor for a residents. It's a variety

(07:28):
of things. It's the leasing up of our hunting ground
where locals can hunt. It's the way that folks from
out of state who have way too many small deer
at home come here. They don't come here to the
harvest doves they got that at home. They come here
to shoot our bucks. And a big buck to those
folks is one hundred and twenty five to one hundred

(07:50):
and thirty inch deer and per se. Nothing wrong with that,
But when it starts to get upside down, which I
think we are very near that tipping point quite frankly,
if you don't have concerns about it, then you really
not doing your homework and looking at the broad spectrum

(08:14):
of what's going on. Because the leasing of these big grounds,
the amount of food that the outfitters are putting out.
You know, the small guy in many regards today just
doesn't have a fighting chance. And that is a bad
situation because the average land holding in Kentucky is only
forty seven to fifty acres. Well, if a guy comes

(08:39):
in and leases up anywhere from eight hundred to couple
thousand acres around you, and it's putting that kind of
pressure on the deer doesn't take a rocket sciences to
understand where this is headed.

Speaker 3 (08:53):
And our neighbors to the north of us in Indiana
are facing a lot of these same things as well.

Speaker 2 (09:00):
Let's have a.

Speaker 3 (09:01):
Lot of good friends that live in and around closest
areas going to be you know, who's your national forest,
several state forests in southern Indiana sections. You've got a
lot of friends as well around that Cordon Indian area.
And we're losing a little bit of our heritage and
our tradition because of how popular our sport has become. Yourself, myself,

(09:27):
we're both non resident hunters and other states. I would
like to see us if we crutch crunch on the
numbers and the data over the winter and going into spring.
I would like for our resident hunters to pick up
the phone and call our commissioners at the Kentucky Department
of Fishing Wildlife and invoice their concerns. If someone's a

(09:50):
big advocate for the amount of money and revenue and
which they're generating on leasing their land and non residents,
I'm I'm sure you can pick up the phone and
and advocate for it. But the reports Jim or More
people are finding themselves without a place to hunt, more
individuals who try to manage their properties in their lands,

(10:11):
to have a equal buck to dough ratio, and to
have an age class structure that we were so used
to for years of Kentucky truly being known for trophy deer.
It's becoming a lost part of our deer herd. This
is to advocate for our dear herd, and it's to

(10:32):
advocate for the older age class of trophy deer herd.
It's not to take away from the venison and the
protein that's put on the table, but when you speak
to folks that have twenty five to thirty years plus
of hunting in Kentucky, of knowledge that they're bringing to

(10:53):
these conversations that we have with them, not just by
text message and phone call, but sitting down in person,
and a lot of us that are very passionate about
the big bucks of Kentucky. And while we're killing a
lot of big deer, I just don't think we have
the quality of the deer herds that we used to have.
I think our numbers are up, and I think our

(11:13):
quality of older matured bucks are down.

Speaker 2 (11:17):
Well, when you've got ever increasing numbers of non residents
coming here and targeting bucks only on average. When you've
got the leasing of land where a lot of that
property goes unhunted for dough harvest, and you've got all
those things coming into factor, it's not a good road.
It's just not We're going to do a full program

(11:39):
about this, Scott, you and I have discussed this a lot,
and we're going to roll out a full program about
this in a few weeks, and we really would enjoy
hunter input from folks pro or con, but we are
going to lay it out to where I think it's
going to be easy to understand why we have some
concerns about those.

Speaker 3 (12:01):
And I'm concerned greatly to Jim in the state of
Indiana because of the They've done a great job, you know,
as far as producing big deer in Indiana, and they
they got hit with just a substantial case of deer
desk with EHD from the drought and from the amount

(12:24):
of promotion through marketing media material that was put out
regarding the Boone and Crockett numbers in the state of
Indiana and the impact of the EHD. It's just a
it's a bad combination in that equation if I'm afraid
of what the answer is going to be. To Indiana,
while there's was a tremendous amount of success and pockets,

(12:49):
especially on the opening weekend of Indiana statewide firearm season, overall,
after those first couple of days, Jim, I'd be interested
to hear what you've heard too, But it seemed like
the report started dying off like a big drop coming
down from a roller coaster.

Speaker 2 (13:06):
It mirrors everything that my contacts have been telling me,
and as you know, I network with a whole lot
of people across many, many parts of the state. Let's
talk about the rut here for a few minutes, because
it was very odd in many regards. Number one, it

(13:27):
was what I consider and I always give credit where
credits due on this. David Hall many years ago labeled
a term called the trickle rut. What that means is
it's not a hard peak, and the rud activity seemed
to ebb and flow over a longer period of time

(13:48):
without a just you know, crazy week to ten days
of bucks running with their tongues hanging out and those
chasing everywhere. Now there was rud activity, don't get me wrong,
but as you and I've discussed the weather was a factor.
A lot of road activity occurred during nocturnal hours because

(14:10):
we had warm and rainy weather throughout much of Kentucky season.
When the colder air hit, the bucks were more visible
during daylight hours because of that. But overall, it just
seemed like, well, as you discussed, Western Kentucky's always a
little ahead of the rest of the state. That's just

(14:31):
you know, normal, and it'll run anywhere from three to
seven days ahead of what we see in most of
the state, maybe a little closer to a full week.
But this year, that late moon in October, it seemed
like an above average number of dolls came into a

(14:51):
first heat cycle and that really reaved the bucks up
and it got them on their feet, and it's a
really nice deer we're taken. Then we got close to
the opening a gun season, all the weather turned against us.
There was a lot of rain opening weekend, and all
those factors. So it's just been a very odd ret
cycle that ebbed and flowed from almost everyone I've talked to.

Speaker 3 (15:18):
A lot of flip and flop. My daughter harvested a
good deer for youth on the thirteenth of October. One
of my close friends harvested a phenomenal deer buck on
the nineteenth with that muzzle over season that evening, and

(15:41):
according to field observations and trail cameras, what really happened
was we had a very aggressive but a extremely short
pre rut activity. In my opinion, I feel like around
the October the twenty six all the way up to
about the third or fourth of November, things were really good.

(16:04):
Bucks were fighting a little bit even though we had
warmer temperatures, and then we hit this little peak spurt
of chasing and seeking that went in and it stopped
almost about immediately prior to the modern firearm season starting
in Kentucky. And some of that was due to the weather.
It seemed like the deer numbers were really good as

(16:26):
far as just movement for the opening weekend of the
Kentucky firearm season, It's just we were all kind of
scratching our heads, not wondering what the deer we're gonna
do with the warm weather. But one ended up happening
was a lot of us just set on standing and
we watched a tremendous amount of deer activity, great deer
numbers and good reports coming in, but we were all just

(16:47):
scratching our heads again on where were those big mature bucks.
And I thought a lot of us were thinking that
they were eventually going to show. But I'm just gonna
take my stand, Jim. I don't think we have the
big mature bucks out in the state of Kentucky like
we were used to.

Speaker 2 (17:03):
No, And I agree with you wholeheartedly. And you know,
I've talked to Harold Knight and Tony Brown and a
lot of folks that like me, have a hundred deer
for more than fifty years. And when you watch all
these things evolve, you, you know, kind of get a feel
Forart and Harold's network of unbelievable number of people mine, Tony's.

(17:26):
You know, I don't go on and on VLARRYVI lines,
my buddy down in West Kentucky, your area. All of
us feel like the bigger deer by that, I mean,
you know, the one fifty plus, let's put it that way,
are in a lot shortert supply than they've been in
the past. And that's a big concern. Now, no doubt,

(17:48):
there's boon crockets been killed and some nice deer been harvested,
but that component of bigger bucks that folks could see
if they really put in the time and effort. It
just doesn't seem to be there. It started slipping badly
about three years ago and maybe going back as far

(18:12):
as five and now just about every season hunter that
I've talked to across the state in in southern Indiana
has the same moment about that. So we'll talk about
that a little bit more here after the news break
got to go to break here. This break is presented
by Boss Old Properties, Heart real Tea. Paul Thomas is

(18:34):
a broker there has all kinds of properties for sale
to be glad to list your hunting farm, outdoor recreation
property as well. Check out his listings at mop h
r t realt dot com. Good news is there's still
plenty of hunting ahead for folks that are holding out,

(18:57):
like so many of its are, you know, for a
real nice buck. And again, you know a lot of
my friends killed really nice dear this time. But the
number of bid in crackets that they're being seen or
that folks you know, even have on trail cameras is
off considerably because what we talked about earlier. Let's talk

(19:18):
about some of the tactics are gonna be good going
ahead because the weather, although it's going to be severe,
is favorable for late season bowl and late muzzloorder.

Speaker 3 (19:30):
Well in the short term for the folks that were
able to actually get their food plots and come up
because they hit certain windows during that drought, those those
are gonna pay off in a phenomenal way. They're all
gonna be folks that are gonna utilize supplemental feeding as well.
With the cooler weather ahead, it's going to be a

(19:53):
fantastic time to set back from a distance in glass.
Deer are utilized trail cameras to see when and where
they're coming in to utilize different food sources and natural
food sources as well. There's still quite a few red
oaks if you do enough looking that aren't rotten and

(20:13):
eat up with mealworms. But when it comes to hunting
this time of year, two sign shouldn't.

Speaker 2 (20:21):
Be left out.

Speaker 3 (20:22):
A lot of scrapes will begin to open back up.
You'll have some deer that will still be in that
rut mindset because not all the deer have come into heat.
And just like any other animal, just because an animal
will come in the heat doesn't mean that they necessarily
had a successful breeding or they could have lost it

(20:45):
very easily and had a miscarriage. Which it's pretty common
for animals to have to cycle more than once. But
the good part about it is it gives everybody time
to think. You can really take allow patience and preparation
to put tags on deer, whether that's antlers or antlerless deer.

(21:07):
And here's why, jim A lot of your entry and
your exit to where you hunt in the late season
this time of year is gonna be extraordinarily important because
deer have been putting up with the running activity. They've
been putting up with people intruding in and out of
areas side by sides. A lot of people are gonna

(21:31):
be hitting the woods this time of year to mark
timber on their property because vegetations down and insects aren't
at a lot of habitat work's gonna start taking place
this time of year where people can get in and
get those projects done. While the main part of the
modern farm seasons that going on, you're gonna have people
that are intruding with small game hunting and running dogs

(21:54):
that are gonna continuously keep deer kind of pushed into
areas that aren't seeing a lot of pressure. So I
like to utilize a tree stand, a fixed position tree
stand where it's it's very quiet. I like using a
lot of blinds this time of year, especially on cooler days.
I don't mind the cheat a little bit with a
small heater that allows me to stay out there and

(22:17):
be a little bit more comfortable. But just double check
your equipment. You know, shooting with archery equipment this time
of year, you're going to be bulked up a little
bit more. Doesn't hurt the practice a little bit, or
practice shooting from a blind, whether that's a window or
what have you. And then before you know it, Jim,
we're gonna turn around. That is going to sound like
the wild wild West again here in just a few

(22:39):
weeks with with the Lake Muzzloder seasons that are that
are coming up, and we still have a youth modern
firearm season after Christmas, and and of course you've got
a lot of your quota huts that are going to
be going on where folks can still use modern firearms.
So the the bulk of hunting seasons to most folks,
they think it's over once tonight comes. And that's the

(23:02):
postseason of the modern farm season. But there's there's a
lot of hunting left, a lot of good hunting left,
and dere.

Speaker 2 (23:07):
We yes, sir, and you touched on something I want
to comment on. A lot of folks that were hunting
over corn or we're hunting on food plots, were disappointed
this time because in many areas of the state it
was unbelievable amount of acorns, and on an average, that

(23:32):
seemed to really change things a lot for what a
lot of people normally would see in a regular season.
I know a lot of my hunters, you know, commented
to that. But that's gonna change very rapidly now because
to your point, a lot of those acorns are going
to the wayside at this point, and food plots and

(23:53):
supplemental feed is going to be a big deal going
into this late season, especially given the weather forecast we got.
So there's still plenty of time left of hunt and
there's some you know, good deer still out on the turf,
so we'll see what that gives us.

Speaker 3 (24:13):
As he's deer heard up to Jim, it's important that
folks don't get a little lazy and slack off on,
you know, playing that wind right and sink control, and
just remember every little squeak and pop and costume. It's
not it's not uncommon for folks to have deer within
range and right there at that last second before the shot,

(24:35):
a little this or that from a squeak or a
pop can put deer, you know, the by their no name,
and that's a white tail running away from you.

Speaker 2 (24:45):
As I like to say, I resemble that remark because
I've had that happen numerous times throughout my career. Now
I'm a fanatic about everything being quiet, understand what I
got to do at the moment of truth and keeping
things so and very basic to where when you do
want to take that shot, nothing goes awry you can

(25:05):
possibly help it. That's a really good tip because too
many people get in the blind or you know, sit there,
don't consider what will happen when they put pressure on
one side of a tree stand or another where it'll
you know, settle on the tree and making a little
metal sounded. Buddy, they'll blow out of there. You believe that.

Speaker 3 (25:25):
Yeah, you know what else I'm excited for, too, Jim,
is this weather forecast that we have ahead and we'll
talk in even more detail about things that we need
to do besides the deer hunting part of it. But
I know you grew up and I grew up in
a time where when you got weather like this, you
started killing hogs and putting putting animals down because people

(25:48):
would get together and make sausage and the smokehouse would
get filled and hams would get cured. And I think
that a lot of folks are going to be pleasantly
surprised with the weather that is ahead and the amount
of time, especially these youth have out of school and
people have with holidays that a lot of us are

(26:10):
going to be able to get out and put some
venison on the ground to kind of make up for
some of that warmer and hotter weather. And I'm looking
forward to that.

Speaker 2 (26:19):
Yes, sir. And I'm gonna get to break here real quickly.
Coming back from break, I know you got some great
waterfowl reports, and the small game hunters are going to
be able to be in the field right on the
Thanksgiving holiday for a change, because the way that date
pattern was for Kentucky's gun deer season. So we'll give
them updates on the small game and waterfowl coming back

(26:41):
after this break. It's presented by SMI Marine. Go see them.
They'll get your boat ready for winter troubleshooting and the
problems you may have had here at the end of
the regular boating season. And remember you never get soaked
by my friends at SMI. We were talking about, uh,

(27:03):
the waterfowl small game opportunities that are gonna be a
pawnished towards the end of the week. And let's start
out with the waterfowl reports you've put together because we're
gonna have a strong weather push that's already showing its effects.

Speaker 3 (27:20):
Can I be selfish and knowledgeable at the same time?

Speaker 2 (27:22):
Is that fair?

Speaker 3 (27:24):
Yes, sir, We've got we've got a if, we've got
we've got a lot of ducks. And I know people
are gonna say, well, we don't have the ducks you
know this, yet we really do for.

Speaker 2 (27:35):
This time of year.

Speaker 3 (27:36):
Let's let's talk about what type of ducks we have
and why it's important to understand what we're up against.
We're holding a tremendous amount of mallards uh and wood
ducks in a lot of these pockets of water where
right before gun season come in a lot of five

(27:57):
six seven eight inch trains come to fall in different
parts of western Kentucky and from any area west of Etown.
If you get out and do your homework, and that's
just good old fashioned scouting, you're gonna find where some
creeks and ditches and rivers did get out of their bank,

(28:18):
not necessarily to the point of backwater, but we had
some flash flooding, and the red elk acorns that we've got,
they've not been in water so long that they've gotten rotten.
And these wood ducks and these mallards have gone in
there and they have made themselves a nice, happy little
home because up until this upcoming forecast, we really haven't

(28:43):
had any type of weather to push those ducks out
and make them leave us. Now here's where we're on
the wild card with this. Every waterfowl hunter I know
watches the forecasts more than they kind of watched their
family during this time of the year as far as
trying to predict things and oversea things. Wednesday night, we've

(29:04):
got some rain that's gonna come across most of western
Tucky and that's gonna last into the opener on Thursday,
on the twenty eighth. That's gonna be good. We've got
some wind that's gonna keep our water open. But Jim,
after that, it is a wicked, blistery Arctic forecast because

(29:24):
for the run of the season, until we get out
of that first split, the twenty eight, the twenty ninth,
the thirtieth, the first, the second. If you look at
the forecast, it's lows in the twenties, it's high than
the thirties, it's mostly cloudy, there's a little bit of
sun picking through. But what does that mean the waterfowl hunting?

(29:46):
It is the most epic opening for our duck hunting
that I have ever seen. I have never in my lifetime.
I'm forty six. I've never seen the weather sty cup
so perfectly for the opener, and it's gonna mean a
lot of good there for multiple days. Folks are gonna

(30:08):
have their open water because we're gonna see water locked
up in that first little bit of this before the split,
We're gonna see opportunities on the rivers and lakes, which
is very promising. A lot of folks have sold their
duck boats over the years. I think you're gonna see
where that's gonna pay off. That you've kept that aluminum

(30:29):
boat in that duck line, and you've got your propane
eaters stocked up because new birds in the early season
gym like we've got setting up for right now, birds
that are currently holding on water that we already got.
It means that we have a bunch of non educated ducks,
and non educated ducks means that we're gonna have a
whole lot of blazing that of these shotgun barrels. And

(30:51):
it's gonna be important for folks to get their duck
stamp this week. And don't wait for the reports, because
there won't be any reports on opening day until after
opening day's over.

Speaker 2 (31:01):
And it's going to be a good one. I think
so too, because I'm seeing ducks. There was hardly any
ducks in concentration just before and as gun season started,
and then all of a sudden here in this last
week or so, I'm seeing ducks, to your point, on
these little potholes and on reservoirs, you know, watershed lakes,

(31:22):
those kinds of things, and a lot of mixed species
as well. Let's talk small goon here. Tremendous rabbit reproduction
this year. Almost everyone I've talked to farmers, you know,
folks that have got dogs and getting ready for the season,
and we're running our dogs before the season. Just real

(31:42):
good reproduction. And again, it's great to be able to
get out and pursue that sport without interference from deer hunters.
Nothing against deer hunting, I'm one too, but it's just
nice to have your dogs out where you don't have
to run into those type of conflicts.

Speaker 3 (32:01):
In the collaboration of our predator hunters. It's not just
on the reproduction. If you've got a farm and you
want good turkey numbers, and you want good deer numbers,
and you want good small game numbers, open up the gate,
shake hands with the trapper, and shake hands with the
coyote hunter, and learn how to collaborate and work together.

(32:24):
The areas in which a lot of people have put
a tremendous amount of time into trapping and the hunting
with thermals when those seasons are open and available, have
seen nothing but benefits. Jim from the coyat Control there
with the rifles and the traps and Sir bobcats are

(32:45):
doing just as much damage as well, and we just
need to continue to advocate and once again people reach
out to commissioners and represent its from these departments. I
hope more states will begin to allow some of these
bobcasts to be taken with thermals in these special seasons
as well, not just kyotes.

Speaker 2 (33:06):
Yes, that is something that I think really needs to happen.
I'm glad you touched on that because, for example, you know,
the ability to hunt bobcats over a longer period of
time will be a great benefit, and Lord knows we've
got plenty of them out there. I'm gonna make a statement,
it's one that you and I have discussed and concur on.

(33:30):
I've hunted squirrels for more than sixty years, and I
can tell you I can't say I'm seeing more squirrels
than I've ever seen, but I can sure tell you
I'm seeing as many squirrels as I've ever seen. The
number of young. The reproductive effort both from the winter
squirrel breeding in the summer breeding has been phenomenal. Great

(33:54):
reports of fox squirrel numbers being up in a lot
of areas because of the can do some conditions. And man,
I'm really looking forward to getting out with my new dog,
which I'll kind of share with people here on Facebook
here shortly, and it's just gonna be great. And for
you deer hunters that have had corn out for deer,

(34:16):
I'm sure you're seeing what we're talking about. You want
to do something fun taking a child to that deer
blind and let them pop some of the little squirrels
that are coming to that corn. It's a fun way
and it's a great way to put some meat in
the freezer. It's just a fun thing to do in
this late season.

Speaker 3 (34:37):
And you can go in the middle of the morning
or late in the afternoon. You don't have to get up,
give your body a little bit of rest, and it's
a good way to get a bunch of people together
this time of year, Jim, especially as family Thanksgiving and
holiday travel.

Speaker 2 (34:52):
Yes, sir, it really is all right, folks. I'm gonna
go to break. Coming back from break, Scott and I
are gonna share some fish reports with you, some tips
for this harsh weather that's coming. Will stick with us.
We'll be back right after the break. The Break is
presented by Paul Thomas at Bossio Properties Art Realty. Check
them out m p h A R T Realty dot com.

(35:16):
So it's got at the beginning of a program where
we promised some fisher reports and updates, and the big
news is one of America's favorite fish, crappie. Apparently they're on.
Let's talk about that a bit.

Speaker 3 (35:32):
Get the old hot brother, because the crappie bite has started.
It is on, and there's some patterns, and we're going
to help folks catch more crappie this winter, and if
they've not gave it a shot, we're going to tell
them how to do it, and we're gonna give them
a PhD real quick. Crappie right now are holding right

(35:52):
off of main channels and they're starting to get around
structure thirteen sixteen foot deep. And why you can find
structure and you can find fish. The secret right now
is to find the structure that has the bait. That's
why the fish are there. And start to learn how
to position your boat and use different jigs, and don't

(36:15):
give up just because you find fish on your graft
and don't catch them. You may have to come back
another day, you may have to come back another hour,
but it's important, Jim.

Speaker 2 (36:25):
We have gotten so.

Speaker 3 (36:26):
Far away from what makes a good fishing trip and
what makes a good fisherman or a good fisher woman.
We hear all this stuff about forward facing sonar, but
sometimes it's good to pull your ink pen out and
make a few notes. And what I'm getting at here
is the thing that keeps people off the water, in

(36:50):
my opinion in the winter time is the fact that
you've got to deal with the weather. And the weather
doesn't tend to be very consistent. It's always changing and
here recently our weather's all over the place. But a
cloudy day could be the day that you catch a bunch,
and it could be a sunny day, and it could
be the day that there's a northwest wind or the

(37:11):
day that there's a southwest when you don't know, and
start start putting your time in on the water, but
make notes of when you're catching them and how you're
catching them, and don't forget love.

Speaker 2 (37:24):
Bait is outlawed in a lot.

Speaker 3 (37:26):
Of crappie fishing tournaments. It's outlawed and a lot of
fishing tournaments period. There's a reason for that.

Speaker 2 (37:32):
It works.

Speaker 3 (37:33):
This is the time of year where if you go
to the bait shop and you can buy a large,
medium or small menus, buy those large menus and get
your spidery egg out. If you don't have one, get
it up and put it on your boat after you
buy one, because everybody gets everything prepped for the big
spring crappie fishing. But man, we're just in two to

(37:56):
three months of absolutely phenomenal crappie and small mouth fishing,
which we'll talk later on in the year. But now
that deer season's over. If you're not gonna get out
and do any small game hunting or you're gonna be
the all round sportsman, pay attention to what's happening with
this crappy bait. Because we got blessed with the amount

(38:18):
of rain that come up really quick, and the water
got to the point where it was just perfect conditions
to catch a lot of crappy. A lot of that
structure got to sign water again, and those fish capitalized
on going in there and attacking those bake fish. And
that's kind of gone. That was a short run we
had these last ten days. But right now fish are

(38:41):
so traveling and following these bake fishing. These bake fish
are staging up on structured gym and that's the secret
to putting that one or two crappy in the boat.
But I'm talking catching limits and keeping all hot there
is nothing better than some fresh crappy taco or some
fried crappy and taters.

Speaker 2 (39:03):
Yeah, and I love cold water fish. The temperatures are still, however,
what about fifty five in some cases sixty, But of
course that's gonna change pretty rapidly. But cold water doesn't
buy the crappy as much as a lot of other species.
As matter of fact, it tells the winners really, im

(39:24):
and that and that they have their motors on feeding.
And that's exactly what I think they're doing right now,
don't you. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (39:32):
And that's you know, depending on which way your boats turned,
and depending on how much sunshine is out and what
the wind's doing is really determining. I mean, you're seeing
water gympscus fluctuate five six, seven, eight degrees, And that's
just some of that's based just on the fact that
it's a computer technology, you know, factor of what we're

(39:53):
eating off the water. Some of it is it's changing
that much, and it can fluctuate, It can go up
and down quite a bit. Unfortunately, we're going to start
going towards the pattern that it's gonna go down and
it gets harder for it to creep back up. But
it's uh the boat position, uh, you know, finding the

(40:13):
proper water depth, making sure that you're you're not overthinking it,
and don't worry much about the color of your jig,
and don't think so much about the type of line
or you know, the pound test the line. Right now,
this time of year, you have to focus on bait fish.

(40:33):
And while the little things will make big differences, the
big target is if you're not in baitfish, you're not
in crappy. If you're not in baitfish, you're not in
fish period this time of year.

Speaker 2 (40:46):
Uh.

Speaker 3 (40:46):
And in a few weeks, yes, fish will start slowing
down and be holding tighter to that structure and you
can put put baits in front of them and they'll
be real active. But we've got to remember croppy like
this cooler water and this significant change that we've had
with our population of small mouth fish and a lot
of our fisheries, these are the types of conditions that those.

Speaker 2 (41:10):
Fish are built for.

Speaker 3 (41:11):
This is where they reach optimum nutrition, This is where
they really perform well. They like it, and so we
may not. But the clothes are out there and the
technology is out there to allow us to get on
the water and find the fish and stay warm.

Speaker 2 (41:30):
Yes, sir, on the small mouth bite. What baits are
folks talking about? Now? I know the weights have been
kind of meager for the tournament boys overall, but as
we move forward, there seems to be some changes happening
pretty rapidly on the type of lures that are bit
affected for the bass fishermen.

Speaker 3 (41:51):
Yeah, well, the bites have been a little bit off
for the tournaments. The tournament weights have been down just
a little bit. It's not because of the quality of fish.
It's just been on people being able to target and
find those fish. But a lot of things are going
to work. But just remember this as you see those
water temperatures go down, just remember to slow down. And

(42:16):
that is that if you're in some shallow or water
and you're finding fish, a lot of times you can
actually use a little bit faster approach to your baits
and your presentation. If you're getting in the more where
you're finding a channel break or where water is actually
going up and down as far as depth pretty rapidly,

(42:36):
where fish are necessarily on a ledge of mouth a point,
you're going to have to see what depth those fish
are at. Let me give you an example of that jim.
It may be that you can run a crank bait
through some fish that are in eight or ten foot
of water and they'll absolutely nail it. But you've actually
got to slow down and throw a chatter bait or
a jig or some type of plastic that's going to

(43:01):
be a bigger, slower approach creature bait. If those fish
are just another you know, eight or nine foot deeper,
so you're getting into that thirteen foot range to twenty
two foot range where they're hanging on the mouth of
a creek or a point. Those fish will be in
a little bit colder water, and where a lot of
these fish are at will be because of where the

(43:24):
bait fish are staged up at. And a lot of
times this particular part of the year, when we get
like the weather that we're having now, when we have
those massive temperature drops at night, if you can find
baitfish that are stunned from that cold air dropping from
those clear skies, you can absolutely find a fish feeding

(43:48):
frenzy and it will have large mouth, small mouth crappie,
everything in there. And what happens is those shads, those
bait fish, they're basically paralyzed in the water, and it
is just an easy target that those fish can capitalize
on without a whole lot of chasing.

Speaker 2 (44:06):
Yes, sir, yeah, that's a that's a special thing. Like
like you say, it's not uncommon to catch hybrids, whites,
spotted bass, small as all of them there together. I mean,
they know that the mortasport is open and buddy, the
feedbag is on.

Speaker 3 (44:22):
So if you find the current or find the break
and the bait fish are there, the species that you're
wanting to fish for will be there as well.

Speaker 2 (44:30):
Yes sir, no doubt. All right, folks got to go
to break here. This break is presented by SMI Marine.
If you haven't winterized your boat yet, you better be
thinking about it because winter's coming quick as we move ahead.
You know, we shared that forecast and it's gonna get cold.
So they also be glad to do any type of

(44:52):
maintenance problems you've got on your boat. And they've got
some deals on the twenty twenty fours because the twenty
fives are coming just around and horizon, so go see them.
They'll take great carry you. Remember, you never get soaked
by my friends at SMI Well Scott's Tark's weather is
right around the corner. And as we've been saying, there's

(45:15):
gonna be lows down and let's lows the single digits
and parts of the areas highs in the thirties. So
winter's going to come upon us very very quickly, and
that quite frankly, it's going to catch a lot of
people by surprise if they haven't checked it. And there's
some things they definitely need to be thinking about from

(45:37):
winter rising. Their boat changes in the way they have
to deal with some of their properties. There's just a
lot of things you're going to enter into this. Let's
roll into that. Well.

Speaker 3 (45:49):
The most important thing is is just be prepared and
conscious before it gets here.

Speaker 2 (45:54):
It's a great time to.

Speaker 3 (45:56):
Make sure that you're if you don't have a jump pack,
that you've got one, get it charged up that way
if you have a dead battery. Some of them are
even small and a third rate where you can add
your accessory cords to charge your cell phones. For example, Jim,
if you're out and about hunting, a lot of this
cool air will drain batteries. Battery tenders probably just need

(46:19):
to be checked. If you don't have one on your boat.
Or side by side or wherever it's at. If it's
out in the side of a barn or a building
that doesn't have any type of way of keeping heat there,
it's a really tough time on a battery. And if
you got an open cell battery where it's not closed
and you can do some battery maintenance on that, it's

(46:41):
important to check your fluids there. It never hurts to
have a little d icer around for a lot of
different reasons, whether it's for your windshield or your keyhole
or whatever is going on, and it's nice to have
some d icter replaced in your windshield wiping fluid as well.
Going in and out of the boat rimp, I like

(47:02):
to keep a five gallon bucket at least of some
type of salt or ice melt where if I'm in
and off the boat ramp, I'm leaving it as good
or better for the next guy. It's important that folks
that get out and fish and duck hunting, waterfowl hunting.
We've got a lot of new up and comers, you know,

(47:24):
not just by age, but people who are getting out
and trying to experiment with waterfowl hunting. Some try to
let that boat trailer drain and let the water run
off into the lake or the creek instead of the
boat ramp. And by all means, if you do water
up a boat ramp some that ice melt or salt

(47:45):
or whatever you're gonna do, just be a good steward
of the ramp and keep it going. But I know
a lot of us have some deer cabins, We've got
some little housing or lodging areas that we just we're
gonna have to prep lines, are and disconnect faucets and
hoses a little bit.

Speaker 2 (48:03):
Earlier than the normal gym.

Speaker 3 (48:05):
But more importantly, no matter how many years we've got
in the field or on the farm or just out
and about, it's always best to be prepared that way,
you don't have an emergency. An emergency a lot of
times happens when you don't have what you need, and
simple things like some hot hands and extra set of

(48:26):
dry gloves and a toboggan, just putting a zip lock
freezer bag in the back of your small game vest
or you're hunting backpack, a lighter. All of those things
can prevent some pretty serious situations to occur. And there
may be a few people out there listening snickering, thinking
that you know it's all about doom and gloom, but

(48:47):
it's not.

Speaker 2 (48:50):
Well, there's a reason they call them accidents, and when
they happened to you, it happens fast, and it's usually
at the worst possible moment. That I have been in
some really bad spots throughout my career, just simply because
I've spent so much time outdoors that it runs the
gamut from tipping duct boats over to bad falls on ice,

(49:14):
to tree stand malfunctions, you name it. And I guess
it's just about a word to the wise and the
one thing that you mentioned, and it's caught me by
surprise because I've been so focused on honey and the
fall Fishy is this onset of weather's going to be
abrupt and severe, and these water lines and these cabins

(49:39):
and whatnot they have to be winterized this week or
you're apt to have some busted pipes and all kinds
of problems that you cannot imagine. So you don't want
to be standing in that line. For sure, A.

Speaker 3 (49:52):
Couple of things happen there if you got to spend
time fixing busted pipes, and you're not going to spend
time on the water in the field. The other thing is,
if you haven't priced a plumber lately, you've got to
have some of that damage fixed. You're not gonna have
a little extra money laying around for a new deer
right for an ATV. So it's preventative maintenance will save

(50:13):
you a whole lot of money.

Speaker 2 (50:15):
You're not kid for the duck hunters in the late season,
deer hunters going into muzzle ob what have you? You need
to think about different lubritts for your firearms, for example.

Speaker 3 (50:26):
Well, a lot of dry a Loube is overlooked. A
lot of guns, you know, you take for example, Aaron,
Folks could go over there and see him as well
and and talk, you know about different things you can
do to your farms. A lot of these guns now, Jim,
between sarah coating and being peflong coated. There's some advancements that,

(50:55):
especially on the waterfowl guys, that you really don't even
have to lever caating all your gun traditionally like the
same way it used to be done because of some
of the advancements with the treatments and coatings we can
put on farms. But those folks that will be getting
out during the late muzzleoder season. Folks that will be
operating with archery equipment and some modern farms stuff still

(51:20):
shot guns, waterfowl, deer, whatever. Don't be afraid to run
your gun a little bit dry when it comes to
these really really cold conditions, because gun will well freeze
up on you. And one of the easiest things to
freeze up is that firing pin, especially if people get
a little excessive sometimes with an aristol, can of rim

(51:42):
all or something like that, that can easily happen. So
it's a good time of year just to break your
firearms down. Go through all your archery equipment, you know,
make sure everything's tightened up. Things shrink and expand through
the heat. You'll be amazed, even just on your art
tree equipment, how much you can see a change and

(52:03):
how things can and cannot operate in that cold air. Jim,
I'm sure you've seen it too. It's brutal on stuff.
Not only do we get cold, those parts get cold,
and you take and knock something, it's easy to have
a front broken and next thing, you know, instead of
being in the middle of the hunter, in the middle
of the repair shop.

Speaker 2 (52:22):
Yes, sir, there's no doubt about that. Another word of caution,
and this one's very very important. In winter fishing, you
have to have a life vest on at all times
or you're really asking for trouble because if you fall
out of that boat, you don't have floatation, and in

(52:43):
many cases, if you're fishing alone, if you don't have
a way to get back in that boat, you got
big problems. And it can be.

Speaker 3 (52:53):
Vest yeah, with the self inflating vests and waistbands. Now,
there's not a reason for anybody to be fishing in
a boat period without some type of flotation device on.
So if you ain't got one, to ask for one
for Christmas.

Speaker 2 (53:08):
Yeah, that's that is a good idea. But that's something
you know, I've been in a little lax about that
in the previous life. And as you mentioned, these new ones,
you don't even hardly know you got them on, and
there's just every reason to have it on and very
few not to have it on. So again there's a

(53:28):
word to the wise. All right, we got to go
to break here. This break is presented by Mossol property
Heart real teat check them out at mop h A
R T Realte dot com. All right, folks, we're gonna
talk now with Matt Fulkersine. Those of you hear the
program a lot probably remember Madd. He's a three time

(53:48):
Grand National National Wild Turkey Federation Turkey Call champion, and
he and his daughters Nora and Shelby have had a
dream and deer season and I mean unbelievable. If you'd
like to check the deer out, there's pictures of them
up on my Facebook page at Jim Straight out Doors. Matt,

(54:11):
welcome on board, buddy, and congratulations not only for being
a awesome deer murder and turkey hunter and etc. But
great family man, and kudos too for getting these young
guys out and putting them on some big deer. Buddy,
tell us about it.

Speaker 3 (54:29):
Hey, good evening, Jim and Scott. Hope you all are
doing well.

Speaker 2 (54:34):
Yes, sir, yeah, we uh.

Speaker 3 (54:38):
You know it's I'm really humbled actually the fact that
our season wasn't quite as long as some of you all,
who may have experienced some of the conditions that you've
expressed here the last few weeks leading up to now.
But you know, I don't hunt a very big piece

(55:00):
of property, but you know, one of the conditions that
I was telling Jim about is we hunt relatively close
to betting areas, and I think that that has really
enabled us to be particularly close to mature deer uh

(55:24):
and and getting more daylights sightings of them in particularly
you know, this year that was the case, I know,
since food sources across the board were you know, as
problem as I can remember of a mass crop. You know,

(55:46):
it was it was very very clear that you know,
you're you're baiting of corn, you know, and wasn't nearly
as effective as years in the past. Mm hmm. So
kind of started off with me my dear had him

(56:08):
on camera early on. Was really was really uh. I
wouldn't say he was super patable, but I noticed that
he would he would daylight probably you know, once out
of once out of every six or seven sightings of

(56:31):
him on camera. So I got the study in him,
and then you know, I kind of narrowed down a
particular weather pattern that send a driv him out of
his bed. Had a pretty good idea just from a
daylight sighting from the stand of where he was bedded at.
So it was just a matter of a line in
the wind up to beat his nose and then to

(56:56):
a ligne with him coming in you know.

Speaker 2 (56:59):
Work patterns before you found promising man. And when you
say close proximity of bids, your close proximity of most
people's is probably a little different. You're not talking about
right up against it. Of course, tell folks what that So.

Speaker 3 (57:18):
A lot of you know, our property is embedded in
a lot of CRP grasses that have grown up over
the years. So that promotes obviously some pretty favorable habitat
for betting. And you know, even if it's just staging
at some point, you know, it may not be a
mature deer's primary betting spot, but you know, if he

(57:41):
can leak in there, you know, an hour before you know,
he typically gets up it normally, you know. So we're talking,
you know, anywhere from four to six hundred yards, you know,
is where I'm stationed at. So you know the condition
and I patterned him on was pressure was up, and

(58:04):
this is their typical you know, harvest moon type situation
in October. You know, you had a rising moon. I
knew the pressure was up. I had to hunt him
on a northeast wind and this this we had more
eastern winds this year than I can remember. I don't

(58:28):
remember having this many eastern winds, so that that favored
that favored me for this particular uh situation. So I
noticed that on that particular day I was actually gonna
hunt him in that coat front. I think it was

(58:48):
October the eleventh. I seen pressure pressure was going to spike.
But I got to looking at that Wednesday the nights
and I said, you know, I said, everything lining up.
You know, the pressure is going to be above thirty inches. Uh,
it's a northeast wind. It was just perfect. And I said,

(59:08):
i gotta go in there and try. And so I've
got a favorable access that can cover up a lot
of wrongs, if you know what I mean.

Speaker 2 (59:17):
Yes, And.

Speaker 3 (59:20):
So I was able to get in there, and you know,
good Lord shined on me there and I was able
to take him that night, thankful to some really really
good friends of mine helped me come drag him out. So, yeah,
he was a he was a nice, nice mature deer.

Speaker 2 (59:43):
So abscribe the rack to folks out there.

Speaker 3 (59:48):
Yeah, I think he had to have to look at
the score right around I think twenty two and a
half main beams twenty three inch MA beams had ten
and a half eleven niche G two's close to that
on G three's so just a just a really good

(01:00:11):
mature you know, ten pointer there and that ten points
it will help you a whole lot on score. He
had one of his best characteristics. I say, you can
go on there and look at him. Was you know
yet he had six inch brows, which just very typical,
didn't lose a whole lot, you know, in his nets

(01:00:33):
or he was just a really good deer. I'm proud
of him for I'm sure I'm interested. Did you did
you kill your deer like on a trail or going
to a food plot or a corns or on corn
like when you said that you noticed he was getting
up and then out of his bedding.

Speaker 2 (01:00:53):
A lot of times people will.

Speaker 3 (01:00:55):
Criticize our age group of folks being too depending on
a trail camera. But trail camera, if you'll take it
for more than just a picture, will allow you to
determine when to strike and start to learn patterns. So
I'm kind of interested to hear where you're killed him
from his bed or where he was going, et cetera. Well,

(01:01:21):
that's a good question, Scott, because one of the things
that I had to overcome was where I walk in
at was between me and his bed, so it was
a game, you know, of skirting him by it, you know,
ten yards, and I just happened. I mean, he crossed

(01:01:44):
where I walked in at never slowed down, which is
a you know, this deer lure that I use as
you know, some of the best that I've used. But anyway,
he he there's this spot in our farm that has
grown up. It's kind of like a big sinko. And

(01:02:06):
I seen him the first hunt out that year when
he was still in Velvet, and I knew because of
the way that I had to access, it was gonna
be hard to kill this year because for him to
get to where I was, which I mean I was
hunting over corn, for him to get to where I was,
I mean, there was no other way for me to access.

(01:02:29):
So I knew, I knew I was. I was compromised there.
But you know, it's just one of them things. Where
he crossed me, he was on a mission. He didn't
alert or anything. Because when I seen him coming through
the c RP grass to me, I thought, I thought, well,
I'm going to take him. Before you know, he crosses

(01:02:51):
the path where I walk in well, buddy, when he
hit that trail, I mean he was he never even
give me time to you know, stop him. So I
had to, you know, readjust and and and he crossed
my path, went straight down win from me and then
come into the come into the bait. But it, uh, yeah,

(01:03:17):
everything you know was worked out. It just there's a
little luck in there too, for sure.

Speaker 2 (01:03:25):
Okay, Uh, I've got to go a quick break here, Matt,
coming back, I want you to share the story about
Nora and Shelby's hunts and how much that meant to
you as a father to have that happen, because y'all
just had a fantastic time out there. Sure all right, folks,
this break is presented by SMI Marine there eleven four
hundred Westport Road. Go see him. They'll take great care

(01:03:46):
of you. Remember you never get soaked and s am
I all right, Matt, tell us about Dora and Shelby's
hunt man. Those were beautiful deer, those young ladies. Chill.

Speaker 3 (01:03:58):
Yeah, this is what I really wanted to talk talk about.
You know, I'm for sure blessed beyond my wildest dreams
to have girls that I want to participate in the outdoors.
And and just enjoy heritage. You said it so well
in the post there that just a rich heritage, you know,

(01:04:21):
of getting enjoy those those resources that the Good Lord
put on the serfs. Same scenario. You know. Actually Norah's
hunt was probably the most interesting just because of the
fact that this was also Shelby's first time in a

(01:04:41):
deer stand by herself that night, So it was rather
intriguing with you know, the various texts back and forth.
And she was excited and we were excited, and you know,
this was this was She's a special young lady, Jim know.
She she recognized that she killed her first year and

(01:05:03):
the deer stand with me alone, and wanted the same
for her sister. And so she elected to go out
on her own, and you know, it was me and
little Ciss there and it was it was it was
a it was a down to the wire hunt in
which you know earlier I think we first seen him

(01:05:24):
talking about Noris here. We first seen him I think
around four o'clock. Uh seen him coming into this bedding
area chasing a dough and I just told her, I said,
you know, there's a good chance we're going to see
him again. Pop out here. Well, sure enough, he pops out,
you know, from this particular woodlot straight down to us.

(01:05:47):
He's seventy five yards and this dough is just running
around everywhere. Well, she couldn't get on him. And long
story short, she put the gun down like she was
just almost to the point of hyperventilating, and so I
had to calm her down. And you know, here this
deer is that probably seventy five eighty yards walking away

(01:06:11):
from us, and you know, I had to just get
her composure together, and I just I just reassured her
that hey, this is this is supposed to be fun.
Like we'll see if he presents us with another shot
here and if he does, great, If he don't, hey
we've we've had a good time. So I would say,

(01:06:33):
you know, just give you know, parents or anybody that's
taken the youth, you know, the the commotion or the
process of you know, when you have these types of encounters,
are going to take care of themselves. And what I've
found is, you know, they give me some really good feedback,

(01:06:54):
Like Dad, you get really excited, you know, So you know,
I think it's just it's challenged me more than ever
to just sit back and enjoy the moment and give them,
give them the assurance that you know they're they're going
to succeed whether they you know, harvest this deer or not,
you know. And so now this season, no, no, no,

(01:07:20):
this is modern.

Speaker 2 (01:07:21):
Gun, modern gun.

Speaker 3 (01:07:24):
So, yeah, youth, we didn't have any luck.

Speaker 2 (01:07:26):
At all, That's what I thought, I recalled.

Speaker 3 (01:07:29):
Yeah, So the deer goes down into this valley, and
you know, typically when they do that, you just don't
see them again because that valley runs up to the
neck of this of this particular block of woods and
then they you know, hit a hit another drainage and

(01:07:50):
shoot on out. So I'm sitting there and I see,
I don't see him, but I see a dough peel off,
and I'm thinking, and that's that's that dough. So I
get her squared around, and I said, and then I
see him step out again at one hundred and forty yards.

(01:08:10):
And you know, I worked with my girls on a gun,
you know, with a twenty two. You and I talked
about this, you know, the importance of just squeezing off
if you can get them to not flench, you know,
into work, even even on a low caliber gun. You know,
just get to where they're not anticipating their shot, and

(01:08:31):
just squeeze that trigger, you know, shout out to my mentor,
you know, Pat Cardon and Charlie Wooton, both of them,
you know, blist her dad in my mind, you know. Yeah.
But she was she's very very much a good listener

(01:08:53):
when it comes to those things. And I knew if
I could get her stable, that she was capable of
make him a shot. And I just asked her, I
see him come up here at one hundred and forty yards.
He's broadside. And I just said, are you wanting to
try him again? And she looked at me and she said, yeah,
where's he at? I said, okay, he's right out here.

(01:09:16):
He's one hundred and forty yards. I said, let's wait
till he gets broadside. So he was facing away from
us because the dough was up there along the fence row,
and that dough took off walking, not running back toward
where they came from. And I seen him take that
step to the left, and I said, okay, are you

(01:09:39):
on him? And she said, yeah, I'm on him, My moneyman, buddy,
you know how it is. The heart was a pumping
back again. The old adrenaline was in there, and she
shoots and she misses. Well she looks at me and
she was like, you could just see it. The disappointment
come over and I said, hey, he hasn't moved. Try again,

(01:10:02):
I said, just get on him. Squeeze the trigger, buddy.
She got on that deer and that's just the determination
she squeezed and I mean heart shot. I mean, buddy,
he didn't the old classic mule kick, and I mean
he didn't go ten yards and was.

Speaker 2 (01:10:21):
Well, listen, we got about two minutes. Let's still because.

Speaker 3 (01:10:25):
She was a pretty it was a really really you know,
not a lot of not a lot of that excitement.
That The interesting thing is these were back to back
day days and those were the three most mature bucks

(01:10:45):
on the property. So that's the story here. Uh you know,
and and as you know, as one mature bucks moves out,
you know, you've you've got territory that changes in the
pecking orders, that change engine you know, we just so
happened to catch this next year on a cruise late

(01:11:05):
that evening, and you know it was it was actually
we didn't see none near the movement as we did that.
You know, a couple of prior days before that. But
you know, Shelby's a you know, a veteran hunter. You know,
you guys have interviewed her a couple of times. Here
she's killed a couple of really nice dear and you know,
so they were actually in the floor playing paper rock scissors.

(01:11:29):
I think, uh and uh and and just enjoying one another.
And I look out the window and I see, I
see this deer and I knew what he was. And
I said, I said, Shelby, shooter, like he's he's ready.
So she jumps up and buddy, she she dropped him
right there in the track. So, uh, all these come

(01:11:52):
out of the same exact stand. Uh, well, no, they're
they're two. Did Mine was at the other end of
the farm?

Speaker 2 (01:11:59):
I got you. Well, thanks so much for sharing those stories.
It's just great to hear about kids being able to
participate like that, And hats off to you for being
the kind of dad to put them in position. All right, folks,
that's it for tonight. We'll be here next week, same place,
same time, Hunt safe, Be careful out there, everybody,