Today is opening day of Ohio archery. I hunt in Northeast Ohio (Portage County). Was an absolute gorgeous morning, but a tad on the warm side. No clouds, and a near full moon directly overhead while walking to my stand.

Temp: mid-upper 40’s (rising to 70 during the day)

Wind: less than 5 MPH West to Southwest

Pressure: 30-32, decreasing

Since the mornign was so great, deer were in the fields. I had to walk a grassy field that is separates two bean fields to my stand. On each side of this field, there is a tree line. I try to sneak past the deer in the bean fields using this route.  Unfortunately,there were 2 deer at my stand waiting to greet me (one seemed very large…too dark to see antlers)…snorted and took off.  At daybreak, a doe grazed directly below me for about a half hour, then walked off. No bucks this morning, but tons of squirrel and one heck of a sunrise.

Just had lunch with my wife. Now it time to hit up some homework and then back to the woods for an evening hunt. I’ll be hunting a new stand so I’m excited…

GO BUCKS!!! (Ohio State & whitetail deer)

archery, hunting, Ohio, opening day, Portage County, season opener

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I received a comment today from an earlier post that pointed me to the website of some of the attorneys representing the hunters of Minnesota in the ALS Enterprises lawsuit. As indicated on the court documents, Heins, Mills, & Olson, P.L.C. is representing the plaintiffs, along with Merchant & Gould. Heins, Mills, & Olson explain their involvement in the case on their website. Here is an excert, but be sure to check-out the firm’s website for full details:

The consumer protection attorneys at Heins Mills & Olson are investigating consumer complaints involving Scent-Lok odor-eliminating clothing…Consumers have alleged that these companies defrauded the public by misrepresenting the efficacy of their products and the ability to regenerate the odor-eliminating properties of their products.

There is also a link within their website for any hunters to contact the firm to submit a complaint/concern if they feel that their Scent-Lok clothing does not work as promised.

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I tend to be early to bed and early to rise. I write this post at 5:20 AM, which means that this time tomorrow I’ll be in my Subaru Outback, heading toward one of my morning hunting stands for the opening day of the Ohio deer season. Absolutely CANNOT wait…I’m itchin’
What’s a guy do the day before deer season?

• School: Well, my studies will pervade the hunting season, so this morning I’ll be typing away on some papers and essays. It’s been a good month in my little world of academia. You may already know that my prospectus is complete! I am also happy to report that two of my research studies were just accepted for publication in 2 scholarly journals! Science can be a slow process…these papers have been in the works for over a year. Already onto the next ones…
• Family: Since I’m working from home today, my father, sister, brother-in-law, and nephew are visiting! My nephew is 1-year old, and they all live in PA. My brother-in-law has a business meeting near my home, so we’re making a day of it with the family. I miss them all, so it should be a nice day (in between schoolwork)!
• More Family: This hunting season will be my first as a married man. I am hoping to spend some great quality time with my wife this evening before venturing off into the wilderness tomorrow.
• Final Preparations: Clothes are washed; fanny pack is packed, tree stand is silenced, and my bow is shooting true. Tonight I will double check everything and load the car. I’ll also spray everything down with some scent-free cover scent, to be repeated tomorrow morning.
• Restless sleep:Hoping to get a good night’s sleep…but I doubt it. I saw some antlers a month ago while clearing tree limbs at one of my favorite stands, and that buck will be haunting my sleep.

Best of luck to all who are already participating or who will be heading out in the coming weeks. Whack one!

archery, deer, Ohio, openning day, preparations

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While the issue of scent control is open for debate, it seems that most hunters acknowledge that a deer’s foremost defense mechanisms is a good sense of smell. Not surprisingly, hunters use a lot of resources (time, money, energy) in their attempts to deceive a deer’s nose. With the marketing of products dedicated to scent control, it can be easy to forget other important factors. To increase your odds at success this year, make sure you pay at least as much attention to what I’ll call Sound Control & Movement Control.

1. Sound Control - It doesn’t take much noise to alarm a wary deer. In the woods, all sound is magnified because there is no ‘background noise’ to dampen it. All it takes is a slight creak of your treestand, a cough, or sound of your clothes rubbing to ruin an otherwise perfect set-up. Here are some tips to help keep you quiet:

• Buy quiet clothes. I have two favorite archery jackets. One is a “Jerzees” pullover, and the other is a Remington zip-up fleece. I found both at Wal-mart for less than $20 on sale…and both make no noise when I move. You can test clothing in the store by rubbing its fabric against itself and listening for yourself
• If you’re going to invest money in clothing, purchase rain gear wisely. Rain gear has a tendency to be very loud. Some people argue that it’s okay to be loud when it rains because the rain is already making noise. I disagree because the sound of rain on cheap rain gear is artificial. This year will actually be my first archery season ever with rain gear. My wife got me a set for Christmas while we were engaged last year. It’s so quiet that I won’t mind wearing rain gear even if there’s a slight chance of rain. It’s almost as quiet as my regular hunting clothes.
• Test your gear in the preseason. I like spend a few hours climbing a tree with my treestand, pulling up my bow, and practicing any movements I might make to shoot a deer. I take a notepad with me to document anywhere I hear artificial noise (usually caused my metal touching metal). I then devise methods to silence these sounds. Usually, it only requires a little camo adhesive designed for this purpose. In years past, I only ’silenced’ my bow. But after a practice session like I just described, I learned that I could decrease a lot of sound by ’silencing’ several parts of my tree stand.

2. Keep still - There’s not much worse than spending a few hours in a stand, only to make a few unnecessary movement that spook a deer before you were even aware of its presence. My biggest time in this area is to be over cautious.

• If you hear something, turn your head slowly to check it.
• Before standing or sitting down to stretch or relax, check your area thoroughly for any sign of deer.
• If a deer is in sight, position yourself for shooting only when the deer’s head is behind an obstacle (such as a tree), or when the deer looks away. Don’t get fooled into thinking that deer aren’t looking when their head is down in a feeding fashion. Many deer “trick” predators by putting their heads down while actually looking up.
• Practice drawing your bow or raising your firearm slowly and quietly.

Here’s to a quiet and still hunt!

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This post is part of an ongoing series dedicated to understanding the Second Amendment. If you haven’t done so already, I recommend starting with my first post in this series. (information from NRA’s website):

I suppose I can’t do a series on the Second Amendment without mentioning the NRA. So, without further ado, here is the NRA in its own words.

While widely recognized today as a major political force and as America’s foremost defender of Second Amendment rights, the NRA has, since its inception, been the premier firearms education organization in the world.

First, a little history on the NRA

Dismayed by the lack of marksmanship shown by their troops, Union veterans Col. William C. Church and Gen. George Wingate formed the National Rifle Association in 1871. The primary goal of the association would be to “promote and encourage rifle shooting on a scientific basis,” according to a magazine editorial written by Church.

In 1872, with financial help from New York state, a site on Long Island, the Creed Farm, was purchased for the purpose of building a rifle range.

…in 1903 when NRA Secretary Albert S. Jones urged the establishment of rifle clubs at all major colleges, universities and military academies.

Here’s something from my good friend Wikipedia:

[the NRA] asserts that any attempt to regulate arms conflicts with the second clause of the amendment; the “right to keep and bear arms.” The NRA has supported gun rights on other grounds as well—they opposed the Brady Bill in the courts on Tenth Amendment grounds, not Second Amendment.

Just in case you’re not aware, the Brady Bill is what requires a five day waiting period for handgun sales. The original purpose of the waiting period was to conduct a background test.

All sounds great so far, but I’ve always had one question. How did the NRA transition from an association dedicated to rifles to one the supports public ownership of other forms of firearms?

With that question in mind, I’m wondering where the line is (or should be) drawn. That is, what type of firearm goes past the Second Amendment? To illustrate my question, think of it like this…do citizens have the right to bear ‘nuclear weapons’…if not, then what about missals, or bazookas, or grenades, or pistols, or rifles. At what point is ownership of a firearm no longer protected by the Second Amendment?

firearms, NRA, Second Amendment

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In a recent post, I listed some pet peeves of hunters. Jeff, of lowcountry hunting, commented that his pet peeve of hunting is when his success is chalked up to luck. I’m sure that those of us who spend hours scouting, planting, and preparing couldn’t agree more. His comment inspirted what I am calling my unscientific view of the science of hunting.

Unscientific View: I am saying it’s unscientific because I have no data to support my claim. I guess you could say that I’m in the theoretical stage right now.

Scientific View: A key aspect of “the sciences” that separates them from “non-sciences” is the ability to predict. Think chemistry. If I mix A with B, I predict I will get C. I can make this prediction based on my previous observations. So, here is my attempt at creating a prediction of the success of hunting.

Predictors of Success:

1. Shooting skill
2. Knowledge of prey
3. Scouting abilities
4. Ability to control scent
5. Persistence
6. Time available to Hunt
7. Hunting Budget
8. Mental Toughness
9. Experience
10. Innovation
11. Flexibility
12. The ‘X’ Factor

Add all of these up, and I think you have a good recipe for continued success. Maybe it’s true that anyone can head out and happen upon a deer now and again…but it’s the continued success, time and time again, that separates a “Hunter” from “someone who hunts”.

hunting, Prediction, Science, Skill

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Looks like Scent-Lok was a step ahead of the game on this lawsuit. Back in April, Scent Lock made the following statement on their website:

Over the past few months a number of forums and other internet discussions have raised questions concerning the science and capabilities of activated carbon technology. To help answer the questions raised by some participants and hunters, Scent-Lok Technologies enlisted the help of several highly qualified experts in the field of textile research, human odor and the sciences related to activated carbon. These experts represent some of the most qualified and respected universities and research facilities in the world.
We asked these experts to evaluate our test methods, results, and to answer the challenges to our product claims based on scientific facts and principles. We captured the results and testimony of our independent research team and have prepared a video program for review by interested customers and hunters.
To watch the video please visit http://www.scentlokscience.com

We invite you to receive a free copy of our DVD “Inside; The Science Behind Scent-Lok Technology.” To order your free copy, contact Scent-Lok at 800-315-5799 or fill out the form HERE.

I encourage any and all skeptics to get the full story by investigating what Scent-Lok says about themselves.

Also, be sure to check-out the following:

• ongoing discussion at the Black Bear Blog
• Official court documents that explain all allegations (obtained by Skinny Moose’s investigating crew).

Scent Lok; Scent Lok; lawsuit; free; video

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Some of my friends from the Skinny Moose Network got a hold of the actual court documents for the lawsuit against ALS Enterprises. Here is the entire court document, which includes lists of defendants, allegations, and judge signatures.

I’ll be sure to keep everyone posted as soon as I hear more updates.

Also, one important side note. We’ve all seen what can happen when society assumes that allegations are truth. We all need to remain cognizant of the fact that this class-action suit deserves its due process. I’m sure we all have our opinions about carbon-clothing (you can see mine here), but this law-suit may provide the proof we’ve all been looking for (one way or another)!

ALS Enterprises, Carbon Clothes, class action, Scent Lok

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Last night I received an e-mail from J.R. Absher of Outdoor Life. The e-mail was in response to an earlier post of mine entitled “My Stance on Carbon Clothing“. J.R. informed me of a lawsuit that is brewing in Minnesota. According to the Star Tribune, four Minnesota hunters filed a lawsuit against ALS Enterprises, Inc., the manufacturer of “Scent-Lok”, ScentBlocker, and other lines of carbon clothing. Co-defendants of this class action lawsuite include Cabela’s, Gander Mountain, Bass Pro Shops, and Browning.  Vice President of ALS claimed that the company will stand behind “years of research” conducted by Intertek Testing Services and researchers at University of Windsor and North Carolina State University. For more details about the suit, please see J.R.’s post or the Star Tribune.

Here are some points to ponder as this story unfolds over the next few months:

1. This is a class-action lawsuit, filed on behalf of any Minnesota hunter who purchased the clothing.  That leaves 49 additional states with hunters who may have purchases carbon-clothing. As J.R. Absher pointed out to me in our e-mail correspondence,  many lawyers will love to get their hands on this class-action suit. MY POINT: this could get really ugly.
2. ALS Enterprises claims that they have research to support their product. They also stand behind “a written guarantee that says you’ll experience unalarmed wild animals downwind.” The main source of the research is a private research company (Intertek). According to this company’s website, its “strength is in helping clients reduce their time to market so they may increase their revenue potential.” The scientific community what is called a ‘peer-review process’ to validate scientific claims. That is, before a scientific study can be published in a scientific journal, it must undergo a process of peer review, during which other scientists evaluate the validity of the study’s claims. The problem with private research companies is that their research is not subjected to this peer-review process (at least not to my knowledge). MY POINT: Research by a company that is HIRED to support that product can be BIASED. If they don’t provide information that the company can use to market the product, then the company won’t get paid.
3. According to the Star Tribune, the carbon clothing business may be worth $100 million annually. Given my first point to ponder, this issue may get very sticky very quickly.

You’ll want to pay attention to this story as it develops, especially if you’ve purchases carbon clothing.

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I’ve read many articles that suggest ‘Buck Fever’ and ‘Target Panic’ are virtually the same phenomenon. As a result, most advice for Buck Fever stems from that of Target Panic.

My opinion differs from most that I have read. I believe these two phenomena are distinctly different. As of right now, this is only my opinion. I hope to study these issues further over the course of my career (I’m currently looking for sponsors to fund the research…any takers?).

Basis for my opinion: Target shooting and hunting are very different in their nature. The targets differ, and most notably, the environments differ. By environments, I am referring to the nature of target shooting and hunting. The primary difference seems to be that when you target shoot, you know your target, and you know when you will shoot. In hunting, the nature of your target, the angle of the shot, and the time your prey presents itself can all vary.

So what? While many techniques for ‘curing’ Target Panic and Buck Fever coincide, I hold the belief that there are also differences. To my knowledge, many techniques unique to Buck Fever have yet to be discussed or even discovered. For example, there is a technique from the world of Psychology that some call ‘Reactive Decision Making’. It’s all about how to make decisions under periods of intense pressure. This notion applies perfectly to hunting. I plan on developing some posts about Reactive Decision Making and related techniques in the future, so stay tuned.

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