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I not a fan of watching shows with endless clips of ducks falling out the sky or Turkeys flopping. There is sooo much more to a hunt that makes the experience enjoyable - a boat ride out in a marsh before dawn, the distant gobble on a still misty Spring morning, sitting in a tree stand before legal light trying to figure out if objects are moving or just stumps.
Theres too much to enjoy in the woods and on the water to lower it to just pulling a trigger.
I'm not sure what you're talking about, "his guys" are about as accomplished outdoorsman as you'll find in the business. If you've never eaten anything raw you're not living!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Rx5ZKJ0Vozc
https://www.outsideonline.com/1994346/little-things-kill-you
I'm not saying you're wrong, bear and pork need to be cooked to temperature, good lesson in that. Your take on the story that his decision almost killed people isn't quite accurate as I've heard it told from others that were there. In any event, I didn't set out to derail the thread but relate that I enjoy Rinella's work.
Ironically, the "typical" hunting shows seem to turn folks off, but MeatEater has steered a few friends and colleagues towards giving it a go. To Bullfrog's point, he's doing something right.
Going scouting this weekend. I've done quite a bit of research on Bing maps and have spoken to a member on here and gotten some good tips. I'm hunting on public land and from what I have read, I can't hang stands until a day before the opener. Or do I have this wrong?
All kidding aside, I was one of the lucky ones. I was introduced to the sport of hunting by my stepfather in 1969.
He was a quail hunter first and a bow hunter second. Our family joined a lease in Osceola county that cost $500 per year and had 16 members on 52,000 acres. We had a bit of room to roam.
Early on, my stepbrother and I focused on our jeep driving skills (me sitting on a pillow. hello I was seven!) and shooting hogs, armadillos, and meadow larks to hone our rifle and wing-shooting skills.
Our mode of woods transportation was a 52' Willys jeep outfitted with airplane tires, bad (no) brakes, and 15" of play in the steering wheel. We got stuck, ran off bridges and into gates. We did all this most of the time with a rack full of loaded guns mind you! Tell that to any Millennial's mother!~
As we got a bit older, we primarily focused on hogs, quail, and the occasional deer. We were never deer hunters back then. Deer hunting took patience and long, still sits. We preferred the enjoyment and social aspect of riding in the jeep looking for pigs. Plus, we liked to shoot. A lot. And we shot. A lot.
It wasn't unusual for us to have to find creative ways to load all the hogs we shot onto our jeep. Dog boxes got filled first, then the gap between the tow-bar and grill. Once those were filled with hogs, we would typically stop shooting. But not always.
I did manage (by sheer luck) to kill a couple deer, but hogs, and the near constant action they provided, were our primary targets.
Then one fall day, Mr. Owens (another member of the lease) took me turkey hunting. Deal sealed.
It was the most exciting thing I'd ever experienced in the woods. I won't go into the details of that hunt here, but suffice to say it planted a seed that I wouldn't water until many years later.
Soon after that turkey hunt, our family left that lease when the cost and rules got out of control. I remembered crying myself to sleep many a time hoping my stepdad would reconsider.
We never did re-join that lease, but I would get the occasional invite from my soon to be brother in law, whose family were still members of the club.
He was a serious deer hunter with no time to chase hogs. So when I was with him, I went deer hunting.
His preferred technique was slip hunting, and he taught me how to walk, read sign, and to stop more often than move. Lessons I still use today, even though I rarely slip hunt.
Eventually by brother in law's family left as well and I was without a place to hunt for the first time since I was 7 years old.
So in my late teens, we (me, my stepbrother and friends) began hunting public land, and that lasted for several years until golf took hold. Yes, I was a small white ball addict for about 20 years between my early 20's and late 30's.
I would hunt occasionally when an opportunity would arise, but nothing steady.
However, in the late 90's I got an invitation to hunt turkeys in Missouri. And those hunts in the Midwest were water for the seed planted long ago, and only served to strengthen my addiction to pursuing hairy chested redheads.
Then, in 2002, when my addition to golf began to fade, I was invited to join a hunt club in north Florida and have been there ever since.
It has nowhere near the amount of game of many places, but the fellowship among the members is second to none. While we may not kill a lot of animals, we certainly eat good and have great conversations. I have learned to be a competent deer hunter in the fall and a increasingly frustrated turkey hunter in the spring. (but that's another story for a different day)
So that's most of my story and I'm sticking to it.
Oh, and here's a photo of me holding someone else' deer, back in the glory days, circa 1972.
I know many areas vary, but I can't find anything in the three lakes brochure prohibiting placing a tree stand now. You can always call to make sure.
I always prefer to place a tree stand as early as possible so scent is minimized and any disturbance while placing it is far removed from hunting time. Just be sure to chain and lock it to the tree. It is public land.
Thelma is doing her hunting in heaven now. The memories we shared in the woods will never be forgotten.
Hunters and Check Stations
Hunting equipment may not be taken onto the WMA until after 8 a.m. the day before the opening of a season and shall be removed by 6 p.m. 1 day after the end of the season.
It used to say something about treestands but I wouldn't make the assumption that the change in wording somehow how omits them. However, I do agree with you on being able to get stands in early. When I was a kid and paid less attention I didn't even know this was a thing until I got on forums. I hung stands in the summer for years and had no idea it was so taboo for some.
I see it now. I even did a word search.
So no game cams are legal on state land?
Personally I think it's a poor rule as other states allow tree stands to be hung early but use is first come first served so somebody can't throw you out of "their" stand thereby allowing for a means of boxing people out of good hunting areas.
Don't get me wrong, before the rule, I had 3-4 stands at 3 different management areasyear round. But I maintained them and used them. Even have had more burned than I can count. But since they changed the rules, I abide by them, pull my stands when I need to. Although I may be guilty of setting a little early.
I've seen isolated reports where some claimed an officer told them they couldn't put up a cam but I've heard more where they were told it was fine. IMO it's not hunting equipment if you're not actually using it to hunt at that time. I don't understand the ambiguity of the wording and I've never seen it actually enforced for anything other than treestands. This may actually be the first year where the wording was changed to what it is now.
That's not legally correct. Its only abandoned if the owner considers it so or there's evidence of it being left a long time. An old, dilapidated stand, probably abanonded. A shiny new stand put there this year? Not a chance. I'd prosecute you for it.
Whether the person is violating the law by putting the stand out early is between them, the FWC, and myself. But you don't get to steal their stuff just because they put it out too early. If a treestand was a truck, you can't steal a new truck parked in a no-vehicle area just because its somewhere it shouldn't be. No difference between a truck or a treestand.
Also consider that in some WMAs, the FWC condones placing stands in early in contradiction of the brochure. Grove Park WMA was such a place 10 years ago. Not sure about now. Grove Park was owned by Plumb Creek. Where PC didn't care, neither did the local officers and they'd tell you such. They went as far as not only saying they didn't care, but even encouraged me to go ahead and get my stands out in July.
Or report them to the enforcement agencies as lost property and then gain ownership after no one can claim it.
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