Texas could be considered the capital of the deer hunting world.  Everything is big in Texas including the deer.  In recent years there have been hundreds of guide services and ranches taking advantage of this popularity.  Dead Man’s Pass Ranch is located near Comstock, TX which is about 3 hours west of San Antonio.  The land is very dry and rocking.  Land owner’s and ranch operators put up tall deer proof fences and set up corn feeders and watering holes.

Dead Man’s Pass Ranch Accomodations
The bunk house is a sturdy metal building. The interior is spacious and well kept. The bed mattresses were a little on the old side. Satellite TV and a pool room are about the only thing to keep you busy when you are not hunting. Do not bring your cell phone or lap top because you have to drive 10 miles to get cell service and there was no internet service in camp.

Dead Man’s Pass Ranch Deer Hunting

Deer are not really hunted at Dead Man’s Pass.  You sit in large tower stands that over look corn feeders.  The deer come to the corn religiously right at day light and dusk.  There are so many deer on the 2000 acres so the corn is the only real source of food.

Deer season is over and the fish have not started biting.  Late winter can be an incredibly boring time of year for the deer hunter.  I thought I would try to help everyone out and make a list of post season boredom breaking ideas.

1. Winter is a great time to put up a trail camera.  A winter wheat field or a small corn pile can really concentrate deer in front of a trail camera.  Here are a few trail camera setup tips.
2. Get out and hike with the family.  Take the kids out for a walk on your deer lease.  Look for rub lines, funnels and white oaks that could be likely stand locations.  You also stand a great chance of finding some shed antlers.
3. Run out and by the Sunday paper.  Deer leases are expiring and hunting clubs are looking for new members.  Don’t miss out on your chance to join the most popular deer hunting club in your area.
4. Grab the shotgun and hit the range.  Shooting trap and sporting clays is a great way to spend a Saturday.

Who would have thunk it.  Mathews is releasing a new dual cam bow in 2009.  After years of marketing and convincing everyone that they needed a single cam bow, they are now offering a dual cam bow.  The video below really offers some insight to how they have tried to balance the timing of the cams.  I can not wait to shoot the new Mathews Monster XLR8

Mathews Archery has released the all new Mathews Reezen Bow for 2009. The bow is quickly being labeled as the fastest and most efficient single cam bow ever built.  The Mathews Reezen will come in two different models.  the Mathews Reezen 6.5 and the Mathews Reezen 7.0.  The difference is in the brace height and the easiest way to explain is to have you watch the video below.

When I was first introduced to deer hunting as a child, I was taught that you hunted deer from a tree stand.  A tree stand seemed to be the most popular and preferred method for ambushing a trophy whitetail deer.  It was not till I went off to college that I was exposed to hunting deer with hounds.  Now as a continue to mature as a deer hunter, I continue to look for ways to close the distance on a whitetail.  A deer hunting blind offers several great features that can not be found in any other piece of hunting equipment.  The most important feature is the ability of many blinds to control or suppress human scent.  If you can beat a deers nose you can get within bow range.  The second thing that a deer blind accomplishes is hiding movement of the hunter drawing a bow or shouldering a slug gun.  Last but definitely not least is the fact that a deer hunting blind can be placed ANYWHERE.  You can place it in the middle of a cut corn field in Iowa.  You can place it on a fence row in Texas.  You can place it in the middle of a 400 acre stand of pines in Alabama.  You can…well you get the idea.  The picture to the rigt is of an Ameristep Intimidator.  Right now Basspro is offering a $50 rebate on this incredible deer hunting blind.  You can also find some really great deals by watching Ebay.

US $30.00 (0 Bid) End Date: Thursday Mar-18-2010 10:02:55 PDT Bid now | Add to watch list

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Deer season is fast approaching and hunters must be prepared for opening day. You must have you stands and deer feeders in place long before season so any game that you may have spooked will have adjusted to the new object in the forest. When setting a deer feeder you must take many variables into account. Think about where the deer are bedding and what direction the deer will be approaching the feeder. You don’t want to position the feeder in a wide open area that is not likely for deer to visit it during hunting hours. You also do not want to position the deer feeder to close to the bedding area because you will disturb the deer when filling the feeder and entering your deer stand.

Cuddeback has just release a new camera that will be priced below $200. This is a great step for Cuddeback. They have been know for super fast trigger speed but that always came with a price. The Cuddeback Capture is a 3mp trail camera with a 50 foot flash range.  I can’t wait to see how it stakes up against the Moultrie m40.

Now that memory cards are so inexpensive more hunters should upgrade to the 2GB cards and switch the trail cameras to video mode. Being able to see the deer move through the food plot work the scrape, really adds a new level to the use of trail cameras. Here are some great examples of Moultrie I40 video clips.

I titled this as long range deer shooting because I really don’t see how this could be considered hunting. Apparently these two old guys set up benches and shooting rest and wait for deer to come out in nearby pastures. Audio in the video says the shot was 890 yards!!!! The video shows several very good kill shots but you have to question if there were any other wounded animals. Head over to deer hunting info and check out the video.

This is a great example of the Ohio DNR officials at work. The crowning glory of the whole operation was that it all began by an annonymous call to the TIP LINE(turn-in-poachers). The investigation began in September and resulted in over 100 violations being charged against 5 Ohio men. According to the Marion Star the men were not selling the trophies commercially. These poachers were fined more than $100,000 and several will server jail time and probation. Probably the worse penalty is that 3 of the men lost there hunting priviledges for life. Here is a list of the offenders and charges:

David Jones, age 31, 65 charges
Fined $54,250, of which he will have to pay $6,500
Restitution of $3,200
Court and jail fees $5,709
(Total out of pocket $15,409)
Jail time given 29 years 210 days, of which he will have to serve 60 days
Lifetime suspension of hunting rights in Ohio
Must attend hunter education class
Five years probation

Robert Freeman, age 42, 27 charges
Fined $21,750, of which he will pay $2,700
Restitution of $2,650
Court and jail fees $4,201
(Total out of pocket $9,551)
Jail time given 10 years 90 days, of which he will serve 60 days
Lifetime suspension of hunting rights in Ohio
Five years probation

Dustin Freeman, age 19, 10 charges
Fined $4,750, of which he will pay $1,000
Restitution of $700
Court and jail fees $3,504
(Total out of pocket $5,204)
Jail time given 1 year 210 days, of which 60 days will be served
Lifetime suspension of hunting rights in Ohio
Five years probation

Joshua Stone, age 29, 3 charges Marion County, 3 charges Delaware County
Marion County
Fined $750, of which he will pay $300
Restitution of $400
Court costs of $162
(Total out of pocket $862)
60 days jail, all suspended
2 year loss of hunting privileges in Ohio
3 years probation
Must attend hunter education class

Delaware County
Fined $1,150, of which he will pay $1,050
Court costs of $317 minimum (longer he takes to pay, the more it is)
(Total out of pocket $1,367)
90 days jail, all suspended
3 years probation
2 year loss of hunting privileges, concurrent with Marion County penalty

David McKinley, age 20, 4 charges
Fined $1,500, of which he will pay $400
Court costs of $203
(Total out of pocket $603)
60 days jail, all suspended
2 years loss of hunting privileges in Ohio
3 year probation
Must attend hunter education class

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