By Waterfowlers, For Waterfowlers: Hard Core Decoys

Breaking news – it has just been announced that Hard Core Decoys is now owned by Hard Core Brands International, LLC and Jim Shiefelbein…click here to read the press release.

Not every company can live up to its tagline, much less its name. Hard Core Decoys, manufacturer and supplier of premium waterfowl decoys, is one that can. Hard Core Decoys makes decoys for the true “hard core” waterfowl hunters out there, the ones that hunt 99% of the days open for waterfowl season, missing that 1% for a brother’s wedding or a friend’s homecoming. That much was evident as I spoke with Vice President Mike Galloway on the phone: he was on the road in the Mississippi Delta, looking out for birds in the midst of a hunt. I was lucky enough to catch him for the low-down on just what Hard Core Decoys is all about.

“What sets us apart from our competitors is that our products are made by waterfowlers, for waterfowlers,” Galloway says. Every member of the staff, from the creators and manufacturers to (of course) the pro staff who put the decoys to the test out in the field, participates in the pursuit of the elusive game. “We’re not just some conglomerate that absorbed a decoy maker. We’re the guys who are part of the sport,” Galloway continues. “When we make decoys, we don’t just pick one body and put four different postures on it. Each one of our decoys is dynamic and as close to reality as possible.”

Galloway is drawn to the sport, and by extension the industry, for the camaraderie and the social nature of a waterfowl hunt. “I love to deer hunt, but that’s basically a solo activity,” Galloway explains, continuing that “waterfowl hunting is a communal activity. While you’re out there, you share stories or a cigar with your buddies in the covert. You watch that Mississippi Delta sunrise together, and if there’s anything in this world that will make you believe in God, it’s that.” On his own dedication to the hunt, Galloway adds “in pursuit of waterfowl, you’re actually hunting. There’s serious thought involved – you mess up a single thing or improperly position a single decoy and those birds aren’t coming anywhere near you. It’s chess and it’s checkers: you’ve gotta think, but you’ve also got plenty of action and in the end you’re having fun.”

Hard Core takes that deep sense of community and the “team hunt” attitude into their products. They make decoys not only that the consumer wants, but that they want. “We wouldn’t put our name on a decoy that we wouldn’t use or stand behind ourselves. Our decoys perfectly recreate resting postures, sleeping postures and every possible true waterfowl position – no detail or expense is spared in the creation of our products,” Galloway asserts.

Everything Galloway told me about over the phone was backed up by Rick Carone, one of Hard Core’s pro staff and an expert waterfowl hunter who I spoke to after interviewing Mike. He sang the praises of the decoys themselves, saying “partly, they’re the perfect replication of a real goose. And what’s more, they’ve got so many different poses that it allows you to make your decoy flock so much more dynamic and realistic. Not all decoys do that.” Then, touching on the camaraderie alluded to by the Hard Core VP, Carone detailed a “wounded warrior” hunt they took an Afghan vet on during his recent return to the United States.

“Mike [Galloway] sent an email around to all of us asking if we’d be able to lend a hand, and he immediately got an overwhelming response in support,” Carone says. Echoing what Galloway had just told me minutes before, Carone added that “we went out to hunt with the vet and shared stories, from war and from hunts. We thanked him for his service, got his own opinions on what was happening overseas and then some. It wasn’t just about the birds but about the fact of being out on the hunt with your friends, new and old.” Straight out of the battlefield and into the wetlands, Hard Core remains dedicated to those who dedicate themselves to the pursuit of difficult game.

In addition to their personal commitment to their work, they go beyond the call of duty and back up their products with promises unique to the industry. For one thing, they absolutely guarantee delivery to retailers. “That’s a huge thing in the decoy market,” Galloway explained to me, “a lot of the times companies oversell and under deliver. Not so with us.” Adding to that, Galloway says “if you have an issue with one of your decoys, we guarantee that when you call Hard Core you will be speaking directly with a member of the Hard Core team who will help you out, not some call service in India.”

One thing you can’t say about Hard Core is that they’re static or stuck in their ways. Galloway could hardly contain his excitement over the phone, telling me that very soon they’ll be “blowing the doors off the outdoor industry.” As much as I pried, Galloway’s lips were sealed about the details.

Whatever happens in the year to come, you can be sure to hear about it first on Outdoor Hub.

Outdoor Hub, The Outdoor Information Engine - By Waterfowlers, For Waterfowlers: Hard Core Decoys

Winter Rabbit Hunting, Making the Most Out of Winter

The snow falls as does the temperature.  After a stretch of several months with a revolving door of human activity, the fields and forests now more closely resemble a ghost town.  There’s no reason to go out there anymore.  This is the perception of those that do not seek out the cottontail rabbit.  They sit huddled in their warm homes, left to reflect on their exploits in October and November.  Their guns and bows have been put away in storage, and their attention has shifted to football, shoveling snow, and maybe the occasional trip to ice fish or snowmobile.

For me and others like me that follow beagle dogs in snow after the ubiquitous cottontail rabbit, this is the season that we live for.  There was a time when small game like rabbits were the object of all hunters young and old alike, but the proliferation of the white-tailed deer has changed the focus of the American hunter.  I hunt deer too, but secretly I relish having the winter to myself, or seemingly so, to run my beagles after cottontails.  After months of sitting quietly in a tree or in a blind waiting for luck to chance my way, I’m ready to get out into the stillness of a frozen world and listen to a chorus of excited hounds in full chase, ready bust the brush to make something happen, ready to holler and laugh with a companion at a shot made or missed on a returning rabbit.  The season is mine.

Perhaps it is the seeming loneliness of the cold winter landscape that adds to the bond felt between my hunting companions, mostly close family members, and myself.  We are out there, the only humans within sight partaking in a unified goal.  An effort we take very seriously and attempt with great intensity, yet at the same time one we address with the light-heartedness and total enjoyment that makes undertaking such a task in relatively harsh conditions fully enjoyable.  Our faces get beaten red from the chaffing winds and the bright sun bouncing off the snow-covered ground.  If the snow gets too deep, the legs throb from lifting and setting back down of tall heavy boots.  We work up a sweat that soon chills the body in an attempt to roust our quarry from their hiding places.  But the broad smiles we share cannot be hidden, even as our lips crack and bleed in doing so.  Like minded hunters make for a fun hunt even when the rabbits are not running.  The season is ours.

And then there are the beagles, the true stars of the show.  For those that have never hunted behind beagles, ones that come from hunting lines that have been raised to hunt, you simply cannot realize the drive of these little hounds.  Pound for pound, I’d put a beagle against any other hunter, man or beast, for pure drive after game.  I see what these dogs run through time and time again, never ceasing, never giving up, and I am filled with love and admiration at a fellow living thing that not only feels the passion for the chase as I do, but one that exceeds it.  The effort I put into hunting rabbits pales in comparison to that put forth by the beagles.  Similarly, the great pleasure that I derive from hunting rabbits also pales in comparison to that which my beagles get.  I don’t know if dogs can technically smile, but one look into my beagles’ eyes after running a rabbit tells me that they’ve achieved a happiness that the human spirit, burdened with our responsibilities and troubles, can never hope to reach.   To hear a brace of beagles running a rabbit in a frozen swamp, the music of their voices piercing the crisp air and knowing that they will circle that wily critter back to you, is to know heaven.  One cannot feel cold when he knows that as that distant howling gets louder and closer, the object of the chase is coming your way and you need to start scanning for the little brown jet through the brush.  The moment of truth approaches and the heart begins pounding as the realization of the coming shot approaches.  The season is theirs.

And I would be remiss in failing to mention the cottontail rabbit, a creature which is prey for so many hunters, man and beast.  Such a simple creature that lives a simple  life, eating and breeding as much as it can in a short amount of time, as if knowing more than any other creature that its time on this earth is short.  No game animal so closely matches the tenacity and drive of its pursuers as the cottontail rabbit does to the beagle.  So closely matched are the two that the existence of one without the other seems like it would put the universe out of balance.  And while the cottontail seemingly has the world against it, Nature takes care of her own.  Don’t pity the rabbit, for it will quickly make a fool out of you if you think twice about pulling the trigger on one.  I’ve emptied a 12 gauge autoloader at racing rabbits only to see them waving that cotton-ball tail at me as if giving me the middle finger as they ran off laughing.  You bet I feel respect and admiration for those rabbits we chase, and it’s probably not a stretch to say I feel a love for them too.  This season is all of ours.

Outdoor Hub, The Outdoor Information Engine - Winter Rabbit Hunting, Making the Most Out of Winter

Hog Hunting in Sarasota, Florida

After our charter fishing trip off the coast, it was time to do some holiday hunting in Sarasota with my good buddy Eric Johnson. He leases 350 acres just about 40 miles from my parents’ house here in Florida. It’s a very cool set up, maybe 6 miles back off a public road road where an easement through the swamp takes you back to this nasty yet beautiful gem of a piece.

The state controls a nice bit of property in these parts, helping to ensure a healthy wildlife population and land preservation for the area. We are hunting pigs and whitetail. Today, I’m just along for the ride and Eric is on the trigger. That said I’m planning to get the iPhone camera working a bit!

The weather is perfect! It’s been unseasonably warm as of late, so the cold air today will no doubt fire things up. I’m pumped for what the day may bring. The sky is almost surreal and I feel a certain awesome spiritual energy come on as I stare through the cypress trees and palms that fill this wooded area. I am in a totally present state of mind. I am out of body and my consciousness is peaking. This is the way I feel in the outdoors as the morning approaches. The sky is an orange-ish pink that belongs almost exclusively to west Florida sunrises.

At about 8:15 am we see three pigs standing at about 75 yards out. Eric looks fired up and seriously ready to rock. The biggest boar appears to be in his crosshairs now, his safety is off, and boooom! Head shot baby, he racks another shell in his .300 Winchester Model 70 Mag, boom he smokes a second boar and boom then down he drops on the spot! All perfect kill shots, freaking awesome!

Okay so here’s the deal y’all, we’ve dropped three pigs, passed on two young bucks and now have seen maybe 75 turkeys! Who says Florida isn’t a riot? The bucks were acting a bit excited, like there actually is a second rut! Just kidding, but in Michigan the second rut is a bit suspect and takes serious determination to sit through and weather. Typically I always thought of Florida as a place for my wife Nadine and young sons Hunter and River to lounge about with the rest of our family. Now I view Sarasota as a bit of a sportsman’s paradise too.

At about 9 am along comes a pretty nice 6 pointer and Eric fires and “down goes Frazier”. Five minutes pass and along comes a massive sow pig and blam! Down goes another pig! Wow, this is a killing morning in Florida y’all!

Sometimes I think positive people have a massive advantage in the woods. Guys like Eric and I, we always expect that it will happen at any moment. Often good fortune comes first to those who know how and expect to receive it. What a morning it has been and now we are about to barbeque some back straps and open a cold beer. Man I love the outdoors.

Outdoor Hub, The Outdoor Information Engine - Hog Hunting in Sarasota, Florida

SCI Plans Biggest Convention Yet, No Matter That Hunting Numbers Are Declining

Forty years ago, Safari Club International’s first annual hunter’s convention seemed more like a gathering between 20 hunting enthusiasts in someone’s garage. At the next convention in February 2012, SCI Chief Communications Officer (and former President) Dr. Larry Rudolph expects 15,000 to 20,000 attendees; a record high number.

“Over this forty year period we’ve grown from a very tiny, little – we’ll just call it friends getting together for the weekend – to what is now literally the most celebrated hunting show on earth,” said Dr. Rudolph.

There will be about 2,500 booths present from exhibitors like Realtree, Cabela’s, Yamaha, Remington, Winchester and just a plethora of top gun, clothing and accessories manufacturers at the convention in Arizona, February 1st to 4th, 2012.

National Rifle Association CEO Wayne LaPierre will be the keynote speaker, focusing his discussion on the protection of hunter’s rights and the importance of introducing youth to hunting. Musicians Martina McBride, Trace Adkins, Brit Beat and Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons will also be there.

I was intrigued to hear that SCI is expecting record attendance at the 2012 event when hunter research points to a declining hunter population. Dr. Rudolph thinks the decline is mostly due to the bad economy. “Hunting is not a cheap sport. But, SCI members are a demographic of hunters from all over the world who are passionate about SCI’s mission to conserve wildlife worldwide and protect hunter’s right.”

Part of the money raised at the hunter’s convention goes toward worldwide wildlife conservation. “They want to come there – support hunter advocacy, protect our hunting rights. And they know that hunters are protectors of our true wildlife treasures,” Dr. Rudolph said. “They know conservation begins with hunters. So they not only are supporting it as a show, as a venue, but they have a passion for that mission. And I believe that’s why our numbers are growing.”

Last year, SCI efforts helped to take the gray wolf off of the list of endangered species. Now the wolf is able to be hunted with regulation and that is a big accomplishment to Dr. Rudolph.

This year, SCI will focus its efforts on raising the lion population in southeast and south Africa. Dr. Rudolph said lion population is declining where there is no legal hunting, because that means there are also no conservation actions in place. “Lions haven’t been hunted there since 1975. Now, instead of lions being conserved for the value of their species, they are being poisoned. If they kill a cow or goat in Kenya, the local people will take that animal and they put poison in the carcass…. and they’re decimating the animal population, particularly the lion.”

Dr. Rudolph said restricted lion hunting is a big issue for SCI because with restricted hunting, the lion population could be wiped out without conservation efforts in place.

Find out more about SCI’s Annual Hunter’s Convention here and check out SCI’s website for more information about the organization.

Outdoor Hub, The Outdoor Information Engine - SCI Plans Biggest Convention Yet, No Matter That Hunting Numbers Are Declining

Bear Hunting 101: The Training Season

“Daylight in the swamp!”  The world-wide morning wake-up call for hunters everywhere.  Whether it be upland birds, ducks, deer, or bear, this call jolts sleepy-headed sportsmen and women out of the sack and into a world of adventure.  But for bear hunters during the annual bear-training season, which runs from early July to about a week before the September Bear Season opener, the morning alarm has a whole new ring to it, so to speak.  On this writer’s first ever bear-training session, the morning alarm sounded at 4:00 A.M.  But it wasn’t a regular alarm clock by any means.  It was the deep, booming voices of a dozen bear hounds howling in my ear to get up and get moving.  I was lucky enough to be a guest of my son and his Newberry Unit Michigan bear hunting group, for the 2011 bear training season opener which began on the weekend of July 9^th.

I am certainly not joking about the 4:00 a.m. wake-up call from the concierge services of messieurs Plott, Blue Tick, and Walker, all pure-bred bear hounds of the finest bloodlines and training.  Their voices boomed at me to get over to the fire pit and get that first cup of coffee poured into my cup.  There would be a breakfast bar waiting in the truck—a true breakfast bar, that is, either granola or the cereal grain type.  If I wanted to be a part of this chase, then I had better be in the passenger’s seat when the truck pulled away from camp.  Being new to the sport of bear hunting, and hoping to be invited back to Bear Camp again sometime soon, you can bet your season’s bear tag I was ready to go when the truck pulled out of camp.  In fact, my son, and George, the camp’s main dog caretaker, had the dogs loaded up into four bear-dog trucks and ready for the chase—long before daylight even touched that old blueberry and tag alder swamp.  We took the legal limit of six dogs into the woods on this training morning.

Group guidelines and the day’s action plan had been all set the night before.  Hunters and their dogs all knew which way to go in search of bear tracks.  My son and I headed north at a snail’s pace as we turned out of camp and drove along the dry and sandy county road.  “You’re looking for tracks along the banks and then down into the road.  Pay attention!  And if you see anything that even remotely looks like a bear track, holler out and we’ll stop to check it out.”  Almost immediately a call came over the two-way radio.  It was George, one of our trainers, with the day’s first sign of good luck.  “Driving along east on the Blue Road here and the dogs rigged a little.  Both Old Sparky and Hopper had something to say.”  (“rigged” means the dogs caught a bear scent and barked.)  “Roger” was my son’s only reply.  Fact is, you don’t dare say too much over the airwaves so other trainer/hunters don’t move into your area.  Especially if the sign looks hot and might lead to a good chase.  This particular hunting group code names all the roads and earthly landmarks.  I was up there for three days and still have no idea where the Blue Road is located.  All I know is we were on the main road that took us to and from Bear Camp.

I was lucky enough to spot an old track, and the kid was pretty impressed with my attention to our scouting efforts.  But then just another 100 yards down the road he saw something that caused some serious interest: it was a nice track crossing from right to left.  The bear had crossed the road from my side of the truck, so  I scoured the bank and found where the animal had lumbered down.  Then it made a clean, visible track right in the middle of the road.  My son marked the tracks which headed up the bank and into the woods.  I was instructed to stay in the middle of the road and keep an eye on the bear’s line of movement.  Then he put out the call over the airwaves and said the magic words, “they look pretty good.”  Within a matter of minutes the other hunters were on us like bears after a honey.

The dogs were wild with excitement, their voices bellowing loud enough to impair my hearing and thinking.   But my job was to keep a pair of dogs quiet while the best trackers were put down on the track.  The extra dogs must be kept quiet as to not over excite the main trackers and to keep from calling these dogs back to the truck.  The next thing we knew one dog handler unleashed his dog.  It was the Plott hound, Old Sparky, and the dog took off like a rocket and just a-howling, his deep voice booming far into the dense jackpine forest.  After about another minute, the second dog was unleashed and it all became official:  the 2011 bear training season was off and running.

All trainers and bear chasers got back into the trucks and fanned out in every direction to set up a perimeter.  These dogs were being tracked by both high tech and traditional methods.  Some of these hunters used GPS tracking devices and some used the traditional tried-and-true gear:  just their own ears trained to the voices of baying hounds, good vision, past experience and common sense.  This combination of old and new techniques was a new approach for our bear-dog training group.  And the end result was destined to produce an amazing experience on this bear chase.

In hot pursuit of the dogs and bear, it seemed as though we raced up and down the county road and two tracks much too fast for personal safety.  However, the guy behind the wheel of this truck told me to “just relax”—because this would be his third year of chasing bears and he was getting to know every bump, rut, rock and curve in these roads.  Although the trip was a lightning fast and bumpy ride, I managed to stay seat-belted into my place as co-pilot.  Unfortunately, I had the dubious position of map reader.  And now the joke was on me.  It’s simply not easy to read a county road map while bouncing along a two track at over 50 miles an hour.  I was chided a number of times for giving out bad information by those who responded to my radio reports.

“Sounds like your map reader needs to go back to school there,” a voice teased over the radio.   (I am a former school teacher and took the razzing in stride.)  The next thing I knew two trucks converged on a narrow tree-and-brush lined road.  Both trucks raced about a half mile into who knows where.  (I had ditched the map into a corner on the floor.)  We came to a small clearing and our other trucks were already in position.  We were on a ridge which led down to a creek bottom.  Then two other dogs were cut loose to track the bear.

After a short wait the two younger dogs still in training were walked into chase.  Or I should say these dogs dragged their leash masters toward the baying hounds?  Now all the dogs were in pursuit of this bruin.  From the sounds of their voices I could tell the dogs probably had the bear treed.  A quick glance at the GPS unit confirmed this as the dogs with tracking collars were clustered in a group on the GPS screen.

On the way into the tree I fell far behind the group.  The cover was as thick as any I have ever tried to walk though.  During a bear chase this is not a leisurely walk in the park with your sunglasses and a bottle of ice water.  It is, in fact, more like a race to the finish with a ‘you just try to stop me’ attitude.  I fell more than once and soon looked like I was wearing the designer outfit of U.P. black spruce.  After each stumble I pulled myself up and continued on a line toward the deafening sounds of barking and howling dogs.

Finally I came upon the treed bear.  From about 50 yards back I watched the tree swaying back and forth could hear the hunters’ shouting directions to each other. Clearly I could see the black silhouette of the bear in the tree.  The dogs’ baying was frantic now and the noise level was deafening.  OSHA would have cited this entire group for not wearing approved ear protection.  After about 30 minutes at the tree, this training session came to an abrupt end.  Each of us took a leashed dog back through the thick cover and up to the truck.   It had been a very successful run.  From the sight of the first fresh track to the bear in the tree, a mere 90 minutes had passed.  Now it was time to break into the coolers and get out the icy cold bottles of waters.  And I got to eat a second morning breakfast bar.

When we got back to camp and the dogs were settled around, someone asked me how I liked my first successful bear-training session.  “Nothing to it,” was my off- the-cuff reply.  “I think it was pretty easy, really.”  To which my own flesh-and-blood, replied, “Dad, you now have a genuine false sense of reality.”  Then as we ate lunch, stories of past bear chases were told.  Stories about chases that lasted all day, all night, two days or longer, and of the dozens of bruins that eluded both dogs and hunters.  Many, many of those bears were never treed.  And I had better not forget it.  But for the record, the 2011 bear training season opener was a huge success for this hunting group.  Complete with my false sense of reality, to boot!

Russ Fimbinger is a freelance outdoor writer and photographer and new to bear hunting.

Outdoor Hub, The Outdoor Information Engine - Bear Hunting 101: The Training Season

Starting Out Young

by Mac Moad

Tanner Colten Moad, 5 years old, is one of the coolest kids I know. The youngest of 4 children of mine, Tanner never stops moving.
Before gun season in central eastern Oklahoma, the traditional bow season usually takes priority. I had taken the first week of bow season off from work in an attempt to tag out early at the request of my wife Lori. In her mind, if I was to tag out early, my deer season would then be “dear” season, with lots of additional chores getting done that get overlooked during each year’s deer season. Read more

Picture This: Mac the Dog

Send Pictures to:

Todd Krater
U.S. Hunting Today
Managing Editor
todd@ushuntingtoday.com

Note: If you want a picture posted and do not have a digital copy I would be willing to scan it for you.  Please contact me for details.

US Hunting Today reserves the right to refuse any picture for any reason as well as edit it where appropriate.

Bow Hunting Grand Slam 2007

By Mac Moad

The first week of October was finally here.  The first three days were spent in my favorite stand watching 3 raccoons in which I had named Larry, Curly, and Moe.  The mother raccoon was slightly bigger than the two younger ones, and seemed curious to every movement surrounding them.  The days here in eastern Oklahoma in October were still in the 80’s with mosquitoes buzzing everywhere.  I was wondering if it were still to hot to hunt and questioned myself again over and over.  Each day so far, I had hunted morning and evening with only a few does showing up. Read more

Calling Elk Bow Close

Whether hunting public or privateland, the fundamentals of calling elk remain the same.

By Michael Waddell

We heard the bull bugle at first light and snuck into his core area. When I hit a lick on my bugle, the bull simply came unglued and stormed our position like a tank, crashing through brush and small lodgepole pines like they were atchsticks. Before we could react he was in our lap and we were pinned down, myself hiding behind a camera, too afraid to even touch the tripod for fear of my shaking hands would run the footage. All I could see of my partner edged against a stunted pine was the tip of his undrawn arrow shaking uncontrollably on the rest. Before a shot presented itself, the bull smelled a  rat and disappeared as quickly as he arrived.

Read more

A Warning To Outdoor Users About Echinococcus, From Worms

by

Tom Remington

This is a warning to outdoor users about a potentially deadly biological event that could result from one’s curiosity to poke at and kick through scat from wolves, coyotes and foxes. Of course not everyone knowingly does this but many hunters, trappers and simply the curious, want to know what these animals have been eating. Read more

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