whiskey

I make up a film canister of "Fire Goo". My wife collects the dryer lint for me and I mix it with petroleum jelly. Works great. Just scoop a little out as needed. MRE heaters or solid fuel sticks are good too if you can find them and keep them in your pack.

I've had a cell phone since 1993. I have been with all the carriers. I have been with AT&T for a long time now. I don't want to be without my iPhone. I do a helluva lot more than place phone calls with it though. Weather radar checks, sunrise/sunset times, address book, checking account management, money transfers, appointment calenders, camera, music, email, games, alarm clock, and thousands of other uses. Sure, I could do this at home on my PC, at work on my PC, use various other devices and keep paper notes, but that would be inconvenient as hell. I also like to be able to text message, especially when sitting in the woods. There is an area I hunt that has zero cell coverage and I don't like not having service while I am there. If I step in a hole and break my leg, I would much rather use the electronic device in my pocket than to be forced to use the device a couple feet above my butt. (in my case, about a foot and a half). I don't have the feeling that I need to be tough enough to buck technology and conveniences.

Hopefully TWRA will do some last minute lease fields for us. I read tonight that they try to wait and see which fields are cut at the right time before choosing which to lease. There used to be some good pay fields around Franklin Co. You might could call the local warden and ask if he knows about any paid hunts. They usually only run around 25 bucks. Two of the best hunts I have ever been on were down there. One was on a private hunt out near the interstate off Hwy 50. and the other was when AEDC worked their fields, back about 15 years ago.

That right there is what we call a whiskeism. As defined by Webster ( the little kid from TV, not the book) Whiskeism: A statement partially based on factual opinion. Clear enough for ya?

I am debating going to MO for a week of bow season. It will likely depend on if I can get a buddy or two to go with me.

Go early, use permanon on your clothes and toss the game in a cooler in the back of the truck. At least that is how we do it. Squirrel opener has been hot all of my life. Dove opener has been hot all of my life.

Food Scents! That's nuts! Thanks for making the call WD. That was the same info I had gotten a couple years back from our local warden, however he left out the part about food scents. (unfortunately he also informed a class of Hunter's Safety Course students at the time).

I am a hunter, and a semi-educated one at that. I also know a few wardens personally too. I don't believe that the majority are crooked or intellectually challenged. As for the interpretation, I believe the TWRA received many complaints about the law being too vague, from both hunters and uniformed officers. The TWRA can't quickly change the wording of the law, but they can issues directives to officers to give guidance and department standards. I suspect the law will eventually be amended to include the wording of the directive, but this clears things up until then. This is great for many hunters that struggle to keep wildlife on their small acreage hunting areas and those that can't afford farming equipment. Now they can set up year round feeding stations that keep deer and turkey nearby, and can safely move more than 250 yards away to hunt without fear of being arrested.

That's disgusting... I hope you atleast add an orange vest during gun season.

WD, I believe all you have to do to be legal is to return the dog to the truck, go back to the deer with your gun and finish the deed. I know the law is goofy, but I am glad that I have the option of using my mutt to help find a lost deer. I can work around the rest of the law for now and try to affect change at the next voting session.

Finally, the TWRA has issued an internal statement to standardize the "far to gray" offense of hunting over bait. Like it or not, now we know the rules. TWRA Addresses Use of Bait for Hunting Released on Tue, Aug 23, 2011 - 12:09 pm under NASHVILLE --- The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency has been receiving inquiries concerning hunting with the use of bait. The statute concerning the use of bait (TCA 70-4-113) has not been changed. However, in response to questions from hunters concerning hunting with the aid of bait, the TWRA has adopted an internal law enforcement procedure aimed at providing uniform enforcement of these regulations statewide for deer, turkey, and elk. Due to a greatly different response to bait, the procedure does not apply to bear and other wildlife. For the purpose of enforcing TCA 70-4-113 and Proclamation 10-11, a baited area shall be enforced by the following procedure: No person may hunt wildlife while using bait or may hunt any baited area where he or she knows or reasonably should have known that the area is or has been baited. Shooting into or entering into “a baited area†for the purpose of hunting is prohibited. “A baited area†is defined as a 250-yard radius of the placement of the bait. “A baited area†will no longer be considered to be baited 10 days after all bait has been removed. ---TWRA--- TWRA Addresses Use of Bait for Hunting | TN.gov Newsroom

OK from the horse's mouth: "scn" on tndeer.com is a veteran TWRA officer in the middle Tennessee area and he has confirmed that the laws have not changed from the above posted. He also confirmed that a valid HCP holder may have his CCW on his person during the dog tracking, provided that they are not otherwise prohibited on the property (Fort Campbell, AEDC, ect) Here is the post for reference: Tennessee Deer Talk: Blood Tracking Dog for Deer 2011/2012?

GAAAWD! Dealing with incompetence is a difficult task for me. TWRA didn't include the section on tracking wounded deer with dogs in the 2011 hunter's guide. I SAID HUNTER'S GUIDE! As in a guide for hunters. A place to explain the rules to us dumb, gun totin' hicks that can barely read in the first place. This is what used to be in the Hunter's Guide: Provisions for locating harvested deer with dogs: 1. The deer season must be legally open. 2. The dog must be maintained on a leash at all times. 3. There should be no hunting imple-ment present while tracking with the dog. 4. If the deer travels off the property where it was legally shot, the hunter must have permission of any and all landowners to cross their property and/or retrieve the deer. 5. The hunter must notify the radio dispatcher in the appropriate TWRA regional office before starting the tracking effort. The hunter should specify where the tracking will take place. NOW!!!! NOTHING!!!!

No guns and dog must be leashed. Unless it's changed you are also supposed to notify the regional TWRA office that you are going out to track. (CCW not positive. I will check) I will read the regs again and update any changes. On the H2O2, you can purchase higher % peroxide. I have bought it online. I didn't know that boiling worked the same way. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk.

You ever put a leash on a big dog and try to keep up with it in the woods? A little dog is the way the smart man does it.

+1, but maybe not statewide. Certainly in Unit L. The other two units don't have the herd numbers that we have in Unit L.

As deer season approaches I thought it would be good to share our experiences tracking wounded game. Like many hunters I have done my share of blood trailing, on my hands and knees crawling with a flashlight in my teeth. I have lost a couple deer in the process, but I have learned a lot too. I just want to give a few tips that I learned well last year. Last year I discovered that my mutt was a pretty handy blood trailer. In the process of learning to handle her in the woods and what to avoid, I ran across some helpful tips on the web. Make sure you mark the exact spot the deer is standing when you shoot. Make sure you mark the last spot you saw the deer. Note the deer's behavior at the shot. Did it jump up and kick, did it haunch up in the middle? STOP. Wait 30 minutes before you get out of the stand. If it's morning, wait longer. A pushed deer is much harder to find. DO NOT walk in the blood. If you get blood on your boots and walk around, then you spread blood. Stay off the deer's trail and walk beside the path the deer took. Mark spots of blood often. Hang flagging tape high and place a piece on the ground. If you loose the blood, return to the last know spot and slow your search. Look back at the high hung flagging tape to get an idea of the deer's general direction of travel. Don't go barrelassin' through the woods with no idea what trail you are following. Get help, call all your friends to come help look. If you have only looked for an hour and are ready to give up, it's too soon to stop. You pulled the trigger, now devote the day to finding the deer. If you live within an hour of Clarksville, call me. PM me for my phone number. I am always looking for a chance to give the mutt some training. I won't always be able to come, but I will try my best. My mutt isn't fool proof. If you didn't follow the rules above, she may not be of much help. She did track 4 deer last year and went straight to all four of them. Two were poorly shot and jumped and ran further, not to be recovered. Note the rule above about waiting in the first place. If you know you gut shot a deer, then you need to wait 4-6 hours before starting to track. My daughter shot a deer a few years back that ran hard after the shot. We found good blood but it tapered off after a few hundred yards. We did not wait long enough. We ended up jumping the deer from her bed and losing the trail. If you don't find the deer in the first 200 yards, then stop and wait an hour or more.

I showed this to my dogs. They have decided that you are tainted and should be mauled the next time they see you. edited to add: You better wear ankle protection.

Dove field info updated for Regions 1 and 3. Still nothing for us middle ground folks. COME ON TWRA Region 2 managers!

I didn't get mine.

Even if you don't find a local hunting partner, just go to the woods. When I was 8 years old I started hunting squirrels in the woods behind our house. Get a shotgun or .22 and go hunt some squirrels. Time in the woods is what makes a hunter better. Just learn to move slowly and quietly and get close to game.

I don't usually shoot a dog just for being in the deer woods, even if I witness it chasing a deer. I don't mind shooting stray/feral dogs. I have before and I would again. But I don't want to shoot someones pet unless it is trying to attack me. I grew up in the country where everyone's dog ran the countryside. It's frustrating when a dog messes up a hunt, but that is far from "punishable by death" if you ask me. If my dog gets away from me while blood trailing and a deer hunter on neighboring property were to shoot her, I would be more than a little upset. If I were to find the OP pictures on my trail cam, I would invest more time trying to find the owners and ask them to keep their dogs under control since we know they are out killing deer. But the reality of the situation is that the deer they caught was most likely injured or sick. A healthy deer doesn't often fall prey to two pet dogs. I don't believe we have a domestic dog epidemic in the deer woods.

TLRMADE, Nice deer! Unless you are wanting to cover an area without electricity, you would be better served with a less expensive IR video surveillance camera.

Ten days before season and TWRA has not updated their website to list all the available dove fields. Last year I think it was about 3 days before season before they finished updating. I hope they do it a little earlier this year so I can scout a few fields.

This is why I don't kill bigger bucks. I get pied and sleep through the morning hunts, wake up late, go to Waffle house, smell like grilled onions, decided it's pointless to go hunt while stinking, open another beer and begin the cycle again.