Packing for the wilderness – what to takeDepending on why you are heading off to the wilderness, you may be thinking about checking out the latest cameras, for photographing the wildlife, shopping for fishing lures or finding red dot sights , for hunting. There are certain items which need to be taken along, depending on what you are intending to do while you are there. However, there are some items which are a good idea to pack, no matter why you are taking off into the wilderness. Let’s take a look at what you need to consider. The right knife for the jobIt’s always a good idea to take a knife with you when you head off into the wilderness. They come in useful for everything from cutting branches to gutting fish. A fixed blade knife is the best choice as it tends to be more reliable than a folding knife; there are less moving parts where there can be problems. A hat for warmthIt can get really cold when you are out in the middle of nowhere, especially at night. Do not forget to pack your reliable beanie hat, to help keep you warm. Water bottle with at least a 2-liter capacityIt goes without saying that it’s important to keep hydrated if you are out hiking. This is why you need to pack a good quality water bottle, where you can store at least two liters of liquid. Somewhere to sleepYou do not necessarily have to take a tent with you, into the wilderness; although this does tend to be the most popular option. If you are heading somewhere which is protected by plenty of tree cover, you may want to consider taking along a hammock, or even just a tarpaulin, instead. You can also supplement any sleeping facility you take with a sleeping bag, for extra protection and warmth. A form of lightObviously, you do not want to be stuck out in the middle of nowhere, with no form of lighting. Depending on your individual requirements, you should take a head lamp or torch to use. The basics for hygiene and healthYou do not need to take the entire contents of your bathroom with you; this is supposed to be about getting back to nature after all. But, you should take the basics, such as a travel size toothbrush and toothpaste, bandage and band aid, and some painkillers. Clothing and shoes – the essentialsIf you are heading into the wilderness, a good pair of hiking boots is essential. It’s also a good idea to take some light shoes, for when you are around the camp in the evening. Make sure that you take clothing that is easily worn in layers, and that is fast drying. Packing the items you take into a pack that has a frame and a strap that fastens around your waist is the best idea. This makes it easier for you to carry the load when you are hiking out to your destination. Stick to packing just the necessities as you do not want the pack to be any heavier than it needs to be. The post Packing for the wilderness – What to Take appeared first on Morning Moss. from http://morningmoss.com/packing-for-the-wilderness-what-to-take/
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Record Black Bear
A lucky Minnesota hunter bagged a possible state record black bear weighing over 700 lbs! Click here for full article! The post Record Minnesota Black Bear appeared first on Morning Moss. from http://morningmoss.com/record-minnesota-black-bear/ Weekly Morning Trail MixThe post Weekly Morning Trail Mix 10-23 appeared first on Morning Moss. from http://morningmoss.com/weekly-morning-trail-mix-10-23/ Land Of The GiantsBy: Marc DrewekAwarded! That special word you want to read when you apply for an Iowa non-resident deer tag. The journey begins in May when you begin the application process and ends in July when you go onto the Iowa DNR Website. It’s hard to describe the feeling when you make the final click on the draw results tab. When the tag arrived in the mail in late July it was like holding a bar of gold. The next five months flew by like a flock of migrating geese. What also helped were numerous family events to look forward to and of course the busy season at TRS. Having hunted in Iowa since 2000 it is like going home to hunt. The largest bucks I have had the opportunity to harvest have all come from Iowa. All of us who love to hunt whitetails and watch outdoor television know Iowa is the place. Knowing that at any time a buck of a lifetime can show himself is a feeling that’s hard to describe. The numbers of deer is another great element in an Iowa deer hunt. Over the years, I have had stands that I have seen over 40 deer in one sit. Although the area I hunt has suffered through EHD, (a hemorrhagic disease of white-tailed deer which is an infectious, and sometimes fatal virus that is characterized by extensive hemorrhages) the deer herd seems to be growing and staying healthy. The terrain I hunt is similar to western Wisconsin, deep ditches leading from the bedding areas into the agricultural fields. The trick here is finding the key bedding areas, setting the stand, and waiting for the right wind. (The one thing I have discovered hunting in Iowa is that the deer do not look up in the trees like the deer in Wisconsin.) After a good night’s rest, day one was filled with excitement and anticipation, just like every other one. With all the rain they had, the fields were wet and extremely muddy so all the stands I wanted to hunt would have a long walk. I sat in a stand that was one of my favorites with five big ditches leading up to a saddle and then down one big main ditch, a perfect funnel. I would see four bucks and a few does that morning. With a missed opportunity with the muzzleloader, it was time to move to the back of the farm; another long walk but well worth it. This was an area that produced my first Iowa harvest, a 160-inch, 10-pointer. So needless to say, I was excited. On this day, the wind was perfect for this stand; directly out of the southwest. At 4:00 the first deer came out and it was a shooter. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get a shot. By the end of the day, I had seen several nice younger bucks and plenty of does. The only negative was that the deer were coming out where I couldn’t get a shot. We needed to move the stand 20 yards south. If we could do this, I knew I would get an opportunity, granted the wind stayed the same. Day two was uneventful at best. The wind changed and we couldn’t hunt where we wanted. We were watching the weather hoping the wind would switch and some colder weather would move in. Day three we decided to move the stand. So I would sit in a blind on another property while the stand was moved. At 1:00 pm I was back on the stand where all the activity was. By 3:00 the deer were moving but they were coming out downwind. I would still see several nice bucks and a few does. Our hope was for the clouds to move out and the colder weather to move in. Day four rolled in with colder weather and sunshine, which we hadn’t seen much of this trip. I sat in the timber for the morning hoping to catch the deer heading to the bedding area. By noon I hadn’t seen a deer, so I decided to take a slow walk back to the evening stand. Just as I had expected, the deer started moving earlier, the first ones at 2:30 and they just kept pouring out. The new stand position was perfect. The farthest shot would be 80 and the closest at 30. By 4:00 I had seen over 25 deer, including another nice 10-point. Needless to say, I was getting pumped. Just to give you an idea I had 17 does and fawns pass by me at once at less than 30 yards. After those does had passed, I noticed two more deer headed my way. Both were bucks. There was a smaller one and a really nice wide 8-pointer. If they stayed on their path, they would be at 30 yards for a shot. Thirty yards it was… and the wide eight was on the ground 20 yards away. After a few minutes of calming myself down, I climbed down and put my hands on him. I couldn’t have been more grateful to harvest this animal. After four days of pounding wind and rain, the satisfaction was overwhelming. Being aggressive and moving the stand made all the difference. Sometimes you have to make things happen and take a chance. The hunt was one of the most enjoyable due in part to where I was hunting, but also because I didn’t put pressure on myself to “shoot the big one.” Instead, I absorbed every minute of being in the outdoors, seeing multiple big bucks and having the chance to experience the thrill of the harvest. It’s not so much about the grail as it is the quest in the land of the giants. The post Land Of The Giants appeared first on Morning Moss. from http://morningmoss.com/land-of-the-giants/ Weekly Morning Trail Mix
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The post Weekly Morning Trail Mix 10-9 appeared first on Morning Moss. from http://morningmoss.com/weekly-morning-trail-mix-10-9/ Refusing To Stop ShortBy: Luke Hartle Trail cams can provide as much invaluable information during the season as they can during pre-season scouting. The leaves were already starting to change colors the first time I got a picture of him. Since mid-July I had been running multiple scouting cameras across the 210 acres I was hunting, and he hadn’t been captured in any of the more than 800 pictures I had logged. The property extended for nearly 2 miles along a meandering creek bottom, surrounded on both sides by expansive crop fields and the occasional woodlot littered with hardwoods. This created thousands of hidey-holes in which this buck could seek refuge, but his sudden appearance still surprised me. Hundreds of scouting cam pics and hours of in-field summer scouting—not to mention hours of early season hunting—hadn’t turned up so much of a track from this buck. But there he was in all his glory, suddenly flaunting in front of multiple cameras. And the kicker? He was big enough to reroute my previous game plan and shift my focus directly to tagging him. There are multiple reasons why whitetail buck might relocate, but rather than focus on why he arrived, change your perspective to determine why he might’ve left where he’d previously been living. The Food Factor Any deer hunter who’s been in the woods for more than one season knows that the rut does crazy things to a whitetail’s schedule and travel routes. No surprises there. But the buck I referenced above showed up during the portion of the season when deer typically don’t wander. The often less than exciting time as bucks shift from their highly predictable summer patterns to the movement halt of the October lull. There can be many reasons for mid-season movements depending on your specific locale. However, if you can put your finger on why a buck might relocate, you can then determine what he’s seeking, or what he’s avoiding, and plan your strategy accordingly based on what your trail cameras are telling you during your continued scouting throughout the season. For example, food sources favored by whitetails change constantly throughout the hunting season, most often dictated by the weather. An early frost can quickly alter a favored soybean field and push deer to a new primary location. Same goes for your food plots. Keep the cameras rolling all season and you’ll have tangible proof of deer movements rather than simply guessing if they’re favoring one food plot or another. Seasonal Habitat In areas consisting of large agricultural fields, I’ve found the cutting of cornfields to be one of the biggest influencers of deer movement. Throughout the summer months, and continuing into early fall, whitetails do not need to travel far at all if they have everything they need for survival, and a cornfield provides two of the big three necessities: cover and food. Add in a quick trip to a nearby water source, and I’ve seen whitetails limit their daily travels to as little as about 100 yards. Similar seasonal patterns can be found in whitetail locales consisting of a lot of CRP fields. When the grasses are growing, cover is ample and there are many escape routes for mature deer. But as the season progresses, especially if a snowstorm rolls through, cover quickly becomes limited and deer are forced to relocate. People Pressure Of course, the biggest factor to influence deer movement is people movement. From farmers to hikers, and from hikers to hunters, it’s no secret that deer will rarely tolerate pressure from people. As simple as it sounds, deer that leave one area have to go somewhere else. Whitetail knowledge will oftentimes give you a good starting point about where they’ve gone, but a trail cam will let you know for sure. Walking The Line Working a line of trail cams throughout the season can be a risky venture. More cameras mean more eyes in the woods feeding you information, but they also mean more intrusion to pull memory cards. I’ve found it extremely effective to check my trail cams after an extended morning sit. I’m already in scent-minimization mode, I’m already in camo and I’m already in the woods—so it logistically makes sense. I do, however, plan my route carefully, minimizing the amount of distance I must travel to check all the cards, but I’m also very careful to travel downwind of bedding areas to minimize the potential for spooking deer in their late-morning beds. Is the risk worth the reward? Absolutely. Information has proven to be the key to consistently tagging mature deer, and the information I gather while hunting, on combination with trail cams watching my blind spots all season long, maximizes information intake. The post Refusing To Stop Short appeared first on Morning Moss. from http://morningmoss.com/refusing-to-stop-short/ Weekly Morning Trail Mix
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ABOUT MEWhats up. Im Todd. I like my dog, boats, the open water, the American flag and guns. Some might describe me as a "basic bro", but I'm really just a down home country boy. And a country boy can survive! Im usually out on the water in my fishing boat or canoe with my dog drinking a beer. Stuff on here is stuff I like. Cheers. Archives
May 2019
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