Hunting: Be Sure to Get the Trophy You're Looking For

There are few things more disappointing than for a hunter to wait all year for an expensive hunt, spot his game, estimate it as a prize, shoot it, and then come up to find that he has downed a scrawny trophy.

Game Size and Hunting Area

Perhaps the biggest difficulty in assessing the size of big-game animals has to do with the area which produces the game. A game animal is largely a product of what it eats. With many species, the ranting of the young produces later adult animals of small size. This is especially true of deer. Antler development is determined by the incidence of certain minerals found in the game area. Deer need forage from a region high in limestone deposits if the antlers are to reach prodigious size.

Methods of Judging Game

Despite the difficulties, there are ways of appraising game before it is shot. With observation and practice, these ways will pay off, and any hunter can become reasonably adept in using them.

Two of the best tools for estimating game are binoculars and a spotting scope. With them solidly set up, the hunter or guide can often make a fair judgment of the size and desirability of game at great distances. This not only saves time spent in wasted stalking, but prevents disappointment after the kill.

Such pre-assessment should, if possible, be done in advance of the stalk. Game will be farther away, it is true, but will often be standing or slowly moving. It is hard to estimate game breaking cover at close range. Under such a situation, the hunter has to make up his mind awfully fast.

Antelope

Antelope are among the smallest of North American big game. There is a basic rule in antelope estimation - horns always measure less than they appear. This illusion is augmented by the habitual appearance of mirages in antelope country. Mirages, by their very nature, tend to extend any standing animal's height.

The basic method for appraising any big game's headgear is to compare the antlers or horns with the beast's body size. The antelope hunter who does this, and knows in advance the dimensions of an adult antelope, will come fairly close in his estimation of horn length - as long as he doesn't let the factor of desire affect his judgment.

Adult male antelope average 34 inches long and stand 36 inches high. Hog-dressed bucks will lose an average of twenty-seven per cent in weight. As an example, two of the biggest bucks checked at a nearby station for a 1960 Idaho special antelope hunt weighed 90 and 95 pounds respectively. That meant a live weight of 123 and 130 pounds.

In today's hunting, a 15-inch antelope is considered mighty good. Most good trophies will be in the 13-inch class. A 13-inch buck should have horns which appear to be at least one-third the animal's body length.

Mule Deer

Because of their variation in size between areas, deer are hard to estimate as to antler dimensions. First, the hunter should predetermine if the general run of animals in the region he wishes to hunt is large or small for the species. Then, as with other game, a comparison of the headgear may be made with the beast's body size.

One thing I've come to look for when sizing-up trophy mule-deer bucks is the amount of width between the antler and the body, as seen when the beast faces either away or towards me. Big muleys in many western areas will have a rump width of around 18 inches, hair and all. If, as the animal faces away, there appears to be half that much width between antler-and-body on the outside, then it is in the 30-inch class. This trick is most useful when hunting in snow, as such a space shows up well.

Sizing the game you are hunting should be made a lot easier with these tips. Good hunting!

Source: http://www.therealarticles.com/Article/Hunting--Be-Sure-to-Get-the-Trophy-You-re-Looking-For/154242

Put Down the Rifle - Pick up a Compound Bow

Compound bow hunting can provide a new challenge to the avid hunter who is looking for something a little different. The hunter who has mastered the art of using a rifle will love the thrill of learning to hunt in an exciting new way.

The bow has long been used to hunt game all the way back to the Indians. It has been used successfully for hundreds of years, maybe even longer. But it has changed drastically over time as Man has discovered ways to make the bow stronger and more accurate, it's design sprouting in many different ways.

The modern compound bow has evolved to make the use of the weapon easier for the hunter. Engineering has advanced over the past few decades to make bows as functional as ergonomic as possible. They are easier to carry into the woods, and in many cases lighter than most rifles used today. Bow hunting brings back some of thrill that is lost after years of rifle hunting. A hunter must use skills that may not be necessary for hunting with rifle. You must be closer to your prey and probably use some of those stalking skills that you know. It gives some of the advantage back to the animal.

Think of the adrenaline rush you'll get! Slowly pulling back on that bow string, (which is much quieter than releasing the safety on a gun) tracking your prey, holding your breath, waiting for just the right moment, than whoosh! You got him! And with a compound bow!

Not a rifle.

Not everyone can hone the skill needed to use a compound bow right away. That's the challenge. Remember the fun you had when your were learning to hunt with your rifle? All that practicing. The excitement even when you didn't bring down your prey at first? The determination that you had when target shooting? Well, take a stab at hunting with a compound bow and you'll get all that back. Hunt the way they did in the past and you'll fall in love with hunting all over again!

Compound bows have their competitions too, with tradition ranging back all the way to the Middle Ages. Target contests are huge event around the country that are great places to meet new people and learn. Many bowhunters participate so they can place their man-made trophies (some very impressive looking) next to their animal trophies, giving an impressive environment to any hunter's home.

Source: http://www.therealarticles.com/Article/Put-Down-the-Rifle---Pick-up-a-Compound-Bow/149842

How To Locate and Track Game

Finding where the game is located in hunting country is far more dependent upon an understanding of its basic characteristics and traits than upon an ability to follow each consecutive hoof mark in a trail.

An experienced hunter in strange country can often take one good look around and estimate fairly well just where any game is apt to be. And by climbing the first big ridge in that area he can also tell what species is there and its approximate abundance. Such skill is not based on magic or exceptional vision but on past experience and close observation.

PATTERNS OF MOVEMENT

Here are generalizations which will help the beginner:
Generally game is found higher in summer than in late fall and winter. Game goes high in hot weather to escape heat and insect pests. Also, summer feed is more abundant higher up than in the parched regions below.

An early fall brings game down sooner than a late fall. A sudden violent storm also tends to move most game downward, just as clearing weather tends to move it upward.

The largest males of most species are found at the upper peripheries of their range. When traveling in a band, the biggest males ordinarily come last, with the females and small animals ahead. This applies to elk, deer, antelope, caribou, and moose.

Most game feeds in the early morning hours and again at dusk, either bedding down, shading up, or moving to slightly higher elevations during midday. Feeding game will normally be more in the open than will resting game. All game common to wooded country likes "edge" country - that is, areas where foliage meets meadows and similar clearings. Browsing and grazing feed grows better where there is more sunlight, and the edge country offers immediate cover for concealment if enemies appear.

Detecting Spoor

In order to survive, game animals must continue to do fundamental things. They must eat, excrete, rest, reproduce, dodge enemies, and remain within a habitat suitable for their species.

Any time game moves it leaves certain evidences which inform its enemies of its whereabouts. It must do so for its own survival and reproduction. As an example, the minute traces of scent which deer leave upon brush from the metatarsal musk glands during the fall rut tell passing bucks where the does are.

The "flashing" of an antelope, caused by raising its white rump hairs, can be seen with the naked eye for two miles or more in bright sunlight. It tells the hunter and predatory coyote where the antelope band is located, but it also alerts other antelope of the danger.

Tracks

In any tracking, the first necessity is to identify the spoor. The novice looking at the hoofs of such medium game as antelope, sheep, goats, and deer, is apt to say that they all look the same. There are, however, detectable differences; and these differences are not so much in the shape of the hoofs, as in the way the different animals strike the earth when walking or running.

The resulting imprint, with its often minute differences in shape and contour, gives the observing hunter his cue to the animal's identity. Often the type of country helps to corroborate this. Tracks that only looked like deer tracks, in flat desert country might well be antelope tracks. And those big blunt "buck" tracks, far up in the crags and intervening alps, might prove to be a ram's tracks. The terrain does help to identify the spoor.

Excreta

The dung of game animals is another fine way of identifying a species. Briefly, the kernels of deer dung are dark brown, almost black, are usually individually separated, and are about the size of a little fingertip. They are blunt on one end, sharp on the other, like a filbert.

Antelope dung is similar but smaller.
Elk dung is also dark brown with individual kernels which are almond shaped and elliptical, about the length of the first section of an index finger and about s inch in diameter.

With time and experience, these aspects of hunting will become second nature to you.

Source: http://www.therealarticles.com/Article/How-To-Locate-and-Track-Game/151964

Should You Go On A Hunting Safari In Africa?

Some people go on safaris in order to enjoy the sights of nature, others to enjoy the outdoors in exotic locations. Still, others like to combine the two with their love of hunting. Traditionally, hunting safaris in Africa was the main draw and the source for the traditional look you'd expect from these, with khaki clothes, pith helmets, and all. For those who are looking for a new experience while hunting, a safari in Africa may be just what you need, though there are many things to consider.

The Animals

Years ago, you might go on a hunting safari in Africa expecting to bag a lion, or perhaps an elephant with some huge tusks. But due to the endangered status of many African animals, those sorts of safaris are merely a thing of the past. Still, you can expect to hunt exotic creatures like the kudu and the impala while on a hunting safari in Africa. And while you won't be allowed to shoot at any lions, for those looking to hunt tougher game, you can shoot a cheetah or leopard for your trophy.

The Guides

Most packages for hunting safaris in Africa include a personal guide, which can be a valuable asset for hunters. African game animals have plenty of natural predators to watch out for, so an experienced hunter can make the difference between a trophy and a miss when you're going after one of these highly-aware animals. Many companies that offer hunting safaris in Africa also give a guarantee that you'll get a trophy, since they're so confident in their guides. And best of all, even if you don't bag any game while out hunting, you'll still basically have your own personal guide; most hunting safaris in Africa consist of one or two guides and one or two customers.

The Cost

One thing that you do need to keep in mind while planning a hunting safari in Africa is that they do cost a lot of money. In order to prepare for such a trip, you would need to get a passport, immunize yourself against local diseases in some cases, and ship appropriate clothing and equipment to your destination country. And then, once you've bagged an animal, you often have to pay trophy fees; most hunting packages include a few in the cost, but only for specific animals. If you bag a leopard, for instance, you'll have to pay a hefty fee on top of what you've already spent. This can rapidly add to the cost of your trip. However, if you're willing to pay the cost, then a hunting safari in Africa might provide the unique hunting experience that you've been looking for.

Source: http://www.therealarticles.com/Article/Should-You-Go-On-A-Hunting-Safari-In-Africa-/148502