In my last blog entry, I discussed a few important steps you need to take when looking into a new bow purchase. While I’ve shot a lot of bow brands over the years – in about every weight & axle-to-axle configuration you can think of – I chose to make a bow from Elite Archery my companion for the upcoming hunting season. I’m pretty geeked about it, and I’ll tell you why….

I didn’t expect to do this.  I really didn’t . Two years ago, I shot and ordered a short axle to axle, single-cam bow. When I bought it, I told myself (and everyone else) that I wanted to keep the bow for “a long time”.  When I said this to my buds, they gave me the utmost in grief and said it was only a matter of time before I bought a new bow. I like to try out bows, and love the challenge and technical aspects of setting them up.  So last fall, I pulled a different brand bow off the shelf and decided to try a couple shots with it. I’d never shot a bow from this manufacturer before, and I figured, “What the heck…why not??”  After shooting the bow, I immediately fell in love with it. I knew that it would be the brand bow I would shoot in 2013, and possibly beyond.  We’ll talk more about this brand a little later …. but for now, let’s talk about what goes into buying a hunting bow and how you can make wise decisions when doing so.

It’s already that time of year again when the bucks are starting to regrow their antlers, and minerals play a vital role in helping a buck reach its top potential.

For the last few years on my family farm that I hunt I have been battling brome grass.  Brome grass suppresses growth of many plants and small trees and is not very attractive to whitetails. My plan going into this year was to get rid of my brome.

I can't believe how quickly the year has gone by; it's already the end of March, and things are greening up fast.  I have walked dozens of miles shed hunting, and as of this writing, I've managed to scoop up 40 antlers.  For me, the feeling of finding a shed laying on the ground is such a rush.  It's hard to describe the feeling I get when I see one, other than it being "magical."  But besides that, I have other reasons I love shed hunting. The time spent with friends and family is a blessing, the great exercise helps keep me in shape, and learning more about what the deer were doing just a couple months ago is simply invaluable. The title of this blog post is "Putting the Puzzle Together" and it's focused on the scouting aspect of my shed hunting adventures.

Well everyone, after what seems like a terribly long winter, spring is right around the corner and my wife & I have scooped up some nice antlers.  It took forever for the snow to melt, but we've been putting in the miles in an attempt to find that whopper antler that's laying out in the grass somewhere.  While shed season isn't anywhere close to finished for us, I have a feeling the largest shed that will be found this year was scooped up by my wife.

The first two giant toms! Lee shot these birds in the first 15 minutes of the hunt![/caption] Last year I was blessed to get the opportunity to guide a Spring Turkey hunt on my family farm.  The archery shop where I always buy my bows had lined up a turkey hunt, but then he had a conflict and had to find somebody to do the hunt for him.  I was the first person he called, and without hesitation I said yes.  After a few phone calls to Lee, who has now become a good friend, we had made plans.  He would make the drive out from Pennsylvania to chase these wily Nebraska turkeys.