Will be filming spring turkey and fall deer. Also will be filming coyote hunting this summer  all will be uploaded for you to view. Allways looking for the next big hunt! allways willing to go hunt with others on thair land and film also. One goal is to teach the youth of america the art of hunting. will be holding a youth camp this summer..   

TRY TO WEAR A PAIR OF AMBER GLASSES WHEN YOU HUNT ON DULL DAYS. THE GLASSES WILL AID IN SEEING MOVEMENT!  Deer will use the same travel routes many times from bedding to feeding areas year after year. This can change though all depending on hunting pressure. Keep in mind that deer will take the safest easiest route when traveling from their food source to bedding areas. Most Deer hunters agree that rub lines indicate one thing: the presence of bucks. Deer rubs are made late summer into early fall by bucks shedding velvet from their antlers.Note: some rubs are territorial rubs where bucks mark their "territory" in pre-rut. Sometimes bucks will use the same tree as a rub, but most of the time they are random. The best time to clear shooting lanes is the winter or spring before the fall hunt. I will clear shooting lanes about 2 months before the season starts. Whitetails like to feed close to their bedding areas. In the fall, they may bed within a couple hundred yards of a food source such as soybeans, corn, alfalfa, clover, apple trees or acorns.  

Deer will always have a source of water within a short distance of their bedding areas. It could be a lake, river, pond, bog, or even a puddle left from rain. Water is the first and last place a deer stops. Deer droppings are how you can find out what the deer are eating. A deer feeding on apples or some other form of soft food will drop dark, moist, clumped pellets. When their diets shift to acorns, the droppings will be dry and lighter in color. By examining their droppings, you can tell what their diets are. One of the first deer hunting secrets that I will tell you is that you need to know deer if you want to hunt them. You need to know what makes them special as a game animal. You need to know some things about deer. First is that they have a very keen sense of smell and they are particularity sensitive to the smell of human beings. If you want to increase your success in deer hunting therefore, one of the things that you can do is to get s spray that will mask your human odor. Some deer have grown accustomed to these smells as well so be wise with your choice and experiment if needed. Another thing that you need to know about deer is that they can communicate quickly to other members of their herd. This means if one deer senses danger, he can send out warning signals rapidly to other deer. This is the reason why you need to be very careful not to startle deer. Your movement must be silent and calculated. Even a faint noise will alert these animals. One of the best deer hunting secrets that any experiences hunter can tell you is that you can always exploit a deer’s strengths against it. A excellent example is that you can use its elevated sense of hearing to attract it. The use of a turkey call is a very effective method of luring these animals. Your call will be heard by deer even from miles away so if you will be patient enough you will soon see deer in your vicinity. Whitetail deer are among the most adaptable animals in the wild. They can survive and even thrive in places most people wouldn’t think they could. This means hunters should look for these animals in unusual places as well as more typical woods, thickets and other commonplace areas.

How much is a deer worth? The answer to that question may have nothing to do with dollars and cents. by Keith Sutton What is the value of a deer? Thought about that when I ran across a news story about Texas deer breeders who paid $450,000 for a deer named Dream Buck. That’s correct: $450,000; almost half a million smackaroos for a deer. What made this white-tailed deer so dreamy were his antlers, which scored an astounding 301 3/8 points when this buck was four years old. Dream Buck was purchased for selective breeding to produce other big-racked deer. His owners had no problem recouping their investment by selling the deer’s semen to other breeders. Of course, deer like Dream Buck are as rare as 20-pound bass. The price paid for this animal was a record and in no way reflects the value of an ordinary deer pursued by an average hunter like you or me. Which leaves me still begging the question: What is the value of a deer? In centuries past, when deer hides and venison were common items of trade, those doing the trading knew quite well the value of a deer or part thereof. In 1718, for example, every frontiersman knew one tanned deerskin could be traded for one pound of black powder, 40 bullets or 20 flints. A rifle could be obtained for 25 deerskins, a pistol for 12, an ax for four, a coat for 12 and a blanket for six. Using the word “buck” as a synonym for “dollar” originated from these trading practices. Each skin originally was referred to as a buckskin, which later was shortened to just buck as in “A pound of black powder will cost you one buck.” Rarely was a buckskin worth a dollar, however. During the nineteenth century, U.S. prices ranged from 20 cents per pound to 75 cents per hide. Deer hides were made into clothing, rugs, wall covers, upholstery, bellows, harnessing, saddles, handbags, bookbinding and more. Venison also served as an important exchange medium. Prices ranged from a halfpenny per pound in 1831 to a high of about 30 cents per pound in the late 1870s. By the turn of the century, however, as citizens became less dependent on wild animal foods, venison prices had fallen to 8 to 15 cents per pound. Today, you’d get some funny looks if you threw 25 tanned deer hides up on the counter at the gun shop and asked for a rifle in return. And if you try selling wild venison, you’ll be a law violator. Nevertheless, we still find reasons to ask now and then, “What is the dollar value of a deer?” Fortunately for us, people have figured out exactly what that value is. For example, when studying economic losses resulting from deer/vehicle crashes, economists can’t compute bottom-line losses without first knowing the estimated value of each deer thus killed. So, someone in this group did all kinds of arithmetic and came up with the figure of $1,250. That is, one deer is worth, economically speaking, approximately $1,250. Other researchers disagree. They say the dollar value of a deer is twice this amount, even if the total is based on hunting expenditures alone. Therefore, depending on who you want to believe, one deer — the regular type and not big-antlered breeding stock like Dream Buck — has a dollar value somewhere between $1,250 and $2,500. That’s a big spread, so last season, I figured I’d do some economic research myself in hopes of pinpointing a more exact figure. I did this while deer hunting with sons Matt and Zach. My first computations were based on reasonable expenses incurred by the three of us while pursuing whitetails on a two-day hunt. Those expenses were: • Three refuge hunting permits: $60 • Motel room for two nights: $100 • Meals for two days: $115.70 • Travel expenses: $93.15 • Ammunition: $1.30 (for the one and only one round fired this trip) This totals $370.15. Our hunting trip produced one doe deer killed by Matt. This deer weighed 91 pounds on the hoof. It therefore cost us $4.06 a pound. Had Zach and I killed a deer, too (neither of us saw one that was legal), the cost per pound would have been considerably lower. Had the three of us traveled to Alberta, Canada, to hunt, the cost per pound would have risen exponentially. Can these cost-per-pound figures help you calculate the value of a deer? Of course not. I present them here just to show you how foolish it really is to try and come up with an accurate figure that shows the true economic value of a deer. In the end, however, a deer’s economic value is pretty meaningless to most of us anyway. Dollars and cents have nothing to do with the reasons we value deer and other wildlife so highly. I’ve decided to think of it like that old MasterCard commercial: All expenses-paid trip to your favorite deer hunting area: $370.15 Getting to spend some time in the deer woods with family and friends: Priceless! There are some things your bucks just can’t buy.               

Draw results posted for ELK Colorado – 2012 by Mia Anstine Wolf Creek Outfitters, Inc. Hey you all! Colorado 2012 draw results are posted for ELK. Head over and see if you were successful. Let us know so we can firm up your spot!!! Remember, if you didn't draw your Colorado Elk tag, we have New Mexico land owner tags available. You can choose and five [...] Read more of this post

An attachment to a federal budget bill needed to avert a government shutdown would take gray wolves off the endangered species list across most of the Northern Rockies. BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — An attachment to a federal budget bill needed to avert a government shutdown would take gray wolves off the endangered species list across most of the Northern Rockies. Wildlife advocates conceded Tuesday the wolf provision was all but certain to remain in the spending bill after efforts to remove it failed. Congress faces a tight deadline on a budget plan already months overdue, and the rider has bipartisan support. It orders the Obama administration to lift protections for wolves within 60 days in five Western states. Protections would remain intact in Wyoming, at least for now. But wolf hunting would resume this fall in Idaho and Montana, where an estimated 1,250 of the animals have been blamed in hundreds of livestock attacks and for declines seen in some big game herds. Wolves also would be returned to state management in Washington, Oregon and Utah. Lawmakers said they inserted the rider to circumvent a federal judge who repeatedly blocked proposals to hunt the predators. The legislation would block further court intervention. "We needed to figure out a way to manage these critters just like we manage other wildlife, and this is the way to do it," Sen. Jon Tester said in an interview with The Associated Press. "If you take a look at impacts wolves have had on domestic livestock, on our big game, it is not deniable that it has been extensive." Wolves were wiped out across most of the United States last century under a government bounty program established to benefit the agriculture industry. They were reintroduced to Wyoming and Idaho in the mid-1990s, and at least 1,651 now roam parts of five states. Only a few dozen of the animals so far have colonized Washington and Oregon and no packs are known to exist in Utah. Idaho and Montana officials were forced to cancel wolf hunts planned last year when U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy restored protections for the species. Those plans are expected to be updated to allow hunting this fall for potentially hundreds of wolves. Wildlife advocates had sought to stop the legislation through a settlement on the issue with the Obama administration announced last month. But that settlement was scuttled in court by U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy, who cited dissension among some environmentalists who characterized the deal as politically-motivated sellout. Mike Leahy, with Defenders of Wildlife, said the time to head off congressional action "has come and gone." He said his group was turning its attention to the states, in hopes of averting overhunting that could drive wolves again to the brink of extinction. "The real threat here is the states grinding down wolf populations in response to anti-wolf rhetoric over time," Leahy said. "They can chip away at the population and manage them down to 100, 150 wolves if they want." Wyoming lawmakers inserted language into the bill to uphold a ruling on wolves by another judge last year that was favorable to their state. However, the ruling said only that the government must reconsider Wyoming's wolf management proposal — not necessarily accept it. Wyoming Republican Rep. Cynthia Lummis said she hoped the rider would "clear away obstacles so that meaningful negotiations can continue" between the state and federal officials. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has said Wyoming law is too hostile to the predators, because it would allow them to be shot on sight across most of the state.

A new Mia & the Little Gal post at the WON by Mia Anstine Head over to the Women's Outdoor News and see what the Little Gal and I have been up to. I am so fortunate, and thankful, to give her these opportunities. Mia & the Little Gal: Bow fishing with an Olympian Posted: 23 May 2012 07:01 AM PDT As many of you know, I am doing my best [...] Read more of this post

Bears beware — Colorado lawmakers worried about the animals' growing population are talking about giving wildlife officials more say over when bears can be hunted. DENVER (AP) — Bears beware — Colorado lawmakers worried about the animals' growing population are talking about giving wildlife officials more say over when bears can be hunted. A proposal set for its first hearing Monday would repeal a 1992 voter-approved initiative that prohibits hunting bears from March 1 to Sept. 1 and give the state Division of Wildlife authority to expand hunting dates. Voters overwhelmingly approved the initiative amid concern that female bears were being hunted in the spring, when they are taking care of their cubs. The initiative also banned hunting bears with dogs and baiting bears with food to kill them. The bill sponsored by Rep. J. Paul Brown would not eliminate those provisions. Brown, a lawmaker from southwestern Colorado, said he's concerned that the animals are becoming less afraid of people. "If at all possible, I just don't want to have a tragedy with some little kid getting killed by a bear if there's a bad bear around," he said. But a wildlife rights group argues the bear population is still vulnerable and its numbers could dwindle fast if more hunting is allowed. "Sure, if you wipe out the whole population there's going to be no conflicts" with people, said Wendy Keefover, director of carnivore protection for WildEarth Guardians. Brown insists he's not advocating a spring bear hunt and that it's unlikely that hunters will be allowed to take the animals during spring. He's also not offering an opinion as to when more hunting should happen. "The Division of Wildlife, I think, are the experts and they're the ones that need to make those decisions," he said. "It's just that right now, as it is in statute, they just don't have that flexibility." Randy Hampton, a DOW spokesman, said the agency is not taking a position on the bill. But he said having additional season-setting flexibility would permit the department to allow bear hunting during the late summer "in areas where bear densities are determined to be too high." "Just because we are given authority to hunt year-round doesn't mean the spring hunt would come back. We're not discussing the spring hunt as an option," Hampton said. Hampton said that wildlife officials estimated the bear population at close to 8,000 in the early 1990s. Additional research is under way and wildlife officials "have conservatively estimated the black bear population in Colorado at approximately 12,000 bears," Hampton said. Bear encounters with people have increased as more Coloradans move into rugged areas and people explore more of the state's backcountry, Hampton said. Urban development, persistent droughts and late frosts also have brought bears and humans closer as the animals search for food. In 2009, wildlife officers and landowners killed 211 bears because of their interaction with people or property, and another 219 in 2010. In 2008, 107 problem bears were killed, according to DOW. Last week, a man in suburban Colorado Springs told police he had to take refuge on top of his truck after he was chased by a mother bear and her two cubs. Last summer, wildlife agents killed a bear that bit a man in Durango who was sleeping in his backyard. The man wasn't seriously hurt. Keefover, with WildEarth Guardians, said bear-versus-human conflicts are a matter of people taking personal responsibility and being smart about not attracting bears by leaving food or trash where it's easily accessible. She said that despite Brown's reassurance that a spring bear hunt won't happen, she's still worried that bears will be targeted when cubs are most dependent on their mothers. "The idea that we need to hunt when cubs are vulnerable is just completely unethical and wrong," she said.

It wasn't until about 9 years ago that I began hunting. Growing up hunting was a man's sport, mainly for meat. My own father went hunting only every 2-3 years for a doe just to fill our freezer. He usually set out for his hunt in the morning and was back within a couple of hours where I assisted and watched in curiosity as we dressed the animal and cut and wrapped it for another long Canadian winter. I understood what the concept of hunting was and was always raised to believe that God placed these animals on our earth to feed us so it never bothered me to see the dressing and skinning of an animal. Besides, I grew up on a cattle farm and the sight of butchering an animal was only another part of our annual routine. It wasn't until my teenage years that I developed an odd fear to guns. Perhaps it was one too many episodes of Cops, or too many action movies? Anytime my father would grab is 30-06 to blast a shot or two into the sky to scare away howling coyotes, I would cringe, and had absolutely no reason to. I knew at a very young age that my fear of firearms was something I would have to overcome in my future. Fastforward to my high school years which was when I met my high school boyfriend who is now my husband and father of my precious two kids. While dating, we discussed our hobbies and what we enjoy doing. I always enjoyed the outdoors, camping and fishing. When he mentioned to me that he loves to hunt, my stomache dropped. Not only did I have zero experience in the sport, I was so afraid of guns that I didn't know how to handle it. How on earth would this ever be something we could do together? For years, hunting season came around and he would hunt for hours, while I sat at home...BORED out of my mind, somehow wishing I was with him out there. Something in me longed to be a part of it. It was unexplainable the unsettled feeling I got of wanting to go along and experience the outdoors right along with him. He would share the stories of things he saw, witnessed, and the gorgeous animals he tagged and I sat wondering if that was something I could really witness myself? Nine years ago, my hubby offered to show me how to shoot his gun. Here was my chance to face the greatest fear I had, shooting a rifle for the first time. At first, I said NO but he of all people knows me so well, and he sensed my curiosity and my urge to challenge myself. He took me to the range, went through a complete lesson on gun safety to which I found quite impressive! When it came time to shoot, I clenched as hard as I could and I think my eyes were shut, heart pounding so hard I thought it would pop out of my chest.  After a few laughs and another lecture about how to hold and shoot properly, I was ready! BOOM....the first shot to the rest of my life! I felt incredible. I felt powerful, accomplished, overwhelmed, and not scared for the first time in my life. My husband was beaming with pride as he showed me how close to the center of the target I was. "Sniper!" he called me which made me feel even more successful. Not only did I overcome the greatest fear I had, but I HIT THE TARGET!!! After that first shot, I challenged myself that fall to tag my first buck! Another unbelievable milestone for me! It was an unexplainable feeling of accomplishment and love for the outdoors that made me realize this was my long lost passion! And somehow I think my heart was always trying to tell me that. As I began to inspire others, especially women like myself, my love for hunting, nature, and the outdoors blossomed into something so much greater then I had ever dreamed. That very day out on our little shooting range was the beginning to a whole new future to me. Once I was able to overcome that fear, I found myself purposly challenging myself, somthing this shy farm girlie girl had never done. It changed the way I lived my life, it completely defined who I was as a woman,  and it was that very "BOOM" moment that formed my future of professional hunting on television. I now film and hunt along side my amazing husband and best hunting partner a girl could ask for. He believed in me from day one and has been such an inspiration to me. I work hard every day to inspire others, especially women and youth, who may have the same feeling or thoughts that I once had. I am blessed to have the opportunity to share my hunting and outdoor experiences with you all. Knowing that I have made a difference in someone's life is the most rewarding feeling :) Face your fears, it may be the beginning for you!   Shelly Kruger Prostaff/TV host for Those Guys Outdoor Adventures on Wild TV twitter- @shellykruger  

Everybody's first tagged kill is something to be remembered for a lifetime. I remember my first kill like it was yesterday. With the help of my encouraging husband Chris,  I had previously overcome a very strange fear to firearms and shot a rifle for the first time in my life. I felt so empowered, like I could hunt King Kong! I was ready to begin training for my first hunt! I could do this, right? Chris and I began nightly shooting lessons at the range. I completed my Hunter Training Safety course to become eligable to hunt in Canada, and even applied for my own Firearms License. I was on a roll! Chris came home from work one night with my very own Weatherby 243 rifle, my own gun!! Never had I thought I would be the owner of a rifle, now I was. We decided to hunt for a whitetail buck. For whatever reason, I have yet to be able to explain, I cannot shoot anything female. The bucks are a general tag here in Alberta and I did not need to be drawn for it. Every evening, we began "scouting" on land we had gotten permission to hunt on and Chris taught me that it's a great way to see what animals are out there. To me, the best part of our pre hunting training was when Chris taught me the art of "patterning." I have always thought hunting was like this: A deer is in the field and it's eating....you shoot it, that's it. The truth is, I was able to pattern deer movement and behavior every single night! I couldn't believe that whitetails do the same thing and pattern their routines on a daily basis if they aren't spooked...how cool!! This is when it became a real sport for me. I watched does with their baby fawns, bucks fighting and challenging eachother, herd movement, and I even learned which tree they favor. On the third night of scouting, we spotted my first buck! He was a 5x5 whitetail . Not a huge guy, but for my first buck, I felt he was perfect! He walked with pride, and had respect from every other deer...a sign that he is the dominant buck in the herd. It wasn't opening day of rifle season yet so I was unable to set up on him. I watched him for 4 more evenings and I knew what time he would cross the field to eat, and which buck he would fight to prove his authority. I knew where he bedded down and even where his favorite spot was to eat. This was incredible! I always thought deer hunting was point and shoot, done. Not at all. The way I look at it, to be a successful deer hunter even for your first kill, you have to learn the pattern and routine of the herd. Opening day. Finally. I hardly slept the night before. Chris worked all day and we weren't able to go hunting until that evening...that was the longest day ever! Would the buck be there? Would I get a shot? Would I be successful? What if I wound him? All thoughts that ran through my mind and actually made my heart race. 5:00pm and we're off. I didn't say two words the entire drive out there due to nerves. We wanted to be in the field set up before the herd came out for their nightly routine of eating. Chris had been out a couple days before and set up a tree stand over looking the entire field. From there, I could shoot in every direction with my 243 Weatherby. Something we never practiced in the training was sitting in a tree stand. I am not a fan of heights and being in this two person tree stand with Chris was making me squirm. Every move he made, the tree stand would move and I would clutch on like I was falling to my death. "Relax" he told me but I couldn't! How would I tell him that there was no way I would be able to shoot from up there? After 20 minutes, and still no deer in the field, he sensed my fear and we made our way down the tree stand. Time for plan B for this hunt. We would wait until the buck came onto the field and stalk up on him in the high grass. This is not the ideal plan for a first time hunter as stalking takes much more skill and experience. We had no choice. Not every hunt will go as planned and you have to be ready to modify any situation. An hour passed and out came the does. I learned in my training that does almost always step out onto the field first, followed by the fawns, smaller bucks, then the big guy. The most dominant buck will step onto the field last. The deer trickled onto the field one after the other so I began feeling confident that my buck would appear soon. A few minutes later, he stepped out. OK...heart pounding I was trying to organize my thoughts. Everything I had learned in the last two months was flying through my mind like a blur. After a few deep breaths, I was able to gather my thoughts. Patience. He ate at a tree right on the edge of the bush line for quite some time. When he continued to calmly move onto the field I slowly crawled in the long grass. Because I knew from patterning where he loved to eat, I knew I was safe crawling on this specific route to get closer to him. One thing that I realized during my stalk was you also have to be careful not to get busted by the other deer in the herd. That's tough, they're everywhere! We had been crawling and stalking for 35 minutes. With Chris right behind me, I ranged him 220 yards. Ok I can shoot 220 yards right? I did at the range. My hunting instincts took over from that point on and a sense of calming came over me. I knew that 220 yards would work, and I knew that I had managed to stalk up on this buck without any other deer busting me. I was not going to blow this hunt by trying to get closer. I waited patiently as he finally moved broadside for a perfect shot. My patience and skill sort of impressed me at that moment.  I had my chance. I sat on the ground, used my knee as a rest, and I saw him perfectly through my scope, his lung in my crosshairs. I heard "Good luck honey" whispered behind me and that gave me all the courage to take the safety off and shoot. BOOM...every deer around me ran as I automatically re loaded for a second shot, I found the buck in my scope again...running...down! I got him!! I shot my first animal and succeeded with one shot! Chris laughed with me and hugged me and we hi fived about 6 times then I rememberd safety...unload your gun Shelly. It's so easy to get caught up in the emotion and adrenaline and forget about what you should actually be doing. Once the gun was unloaded I sat there reflecting on what just happened. I couldn't help it but happy tears filled my eyes as I realized I could actually feed my family if I had to. What an accompished feeling! I wanted to scream to the heavens I GOT HIM...but in training I learned to sit and wait for about 30 mins to make sure the animal is dead. I could only wait about 10 mintues and I ran up to him in excitement. A perfect double lung shot. I grabbed his horns and beamed as I sat there speechless. I'll remember that day for the rest of my life. That was the most fun I have ever had. It was that night that it dawned on me, I am HOOKED. I can only learn more from here and face myself with new challenges and that is what I continue to do today. I encourage all of you to challenge yourself becuase you can do anything you set your mind to!   Shelly Kruger- Prostaff/TV host for Those Guys Outdoor Adventures on Wild TV Follow me on Twitter @shellykruger