I love duck hunting, and Teal season is a breath of fresh air for me. Finally here, pumped up like a kid on the night before Christmas. Hell, I can’t even sleep, laying there think of what the next morning will bring. Listen for the whistle of the wings of the first flock to buzz my decoy spreed. Now to me that’s what dreams are made of. I have 25 years of Southeast Louisiana roughest duck hunting under my belt. So listen up,

CUZ DIS CAJUN BOUT TO TELL U HOW WE GONE TO DO DIS LIKE DAT.

• DO YOUR HOMEWORK

Go out and scout, see where the ducks are, where they or flying from and also where they might be headed. One thing you want to keep in mind is Teal don’t like to be in the same place to long. Face it they are on there we to Mexico, so try to stay mobile. Ducks fly in this invisible highway, called flyways. Kinda like Cow trails, they get up and fly this patten everyday. So know where you flyways are.

• FEED

Find a pond that has natural feed. This will allow you the best place to hunt, simply because the ducks have probably already found this spot. But if you don’t have the natural feed, then feed them but make sure to follow all local game laws in your area or state. Some states may not allow feeding of wildlife. You can use rice, corn, milo, etc. Remember all the feed that is not natural has to be gone before you can hunt that hole.

• BLIND & BLIND LOCATION

This one is my favorite, simply because I have always been able to pick the perfect spot as to say. Thanks to my grandpa & father teaching me. Your blind location must be with the sun facing your back and the north wind coming from your back also. The reason for this is because ducks tend to land against the wind. So this keeps all the action in front of your face. Having the sun at your back is so that you can see them, you ever try to shoot a duck with the sun in your eyes! That makes for a very crappy morning. Now that you have your spot, there are many different types of blinds that you can build or even buy.

• PIROUGUE BLIND

A pirouette is a flat bottom canoe that us Cajuns get around the marsh in. Well the blind is quite simple. Place your boat or pirouette were you want it and put brush around it. Remember when brushing your blind only use natural brush. Look at what’s around you and use that. If your in a salt water marsh don’t use a willow tree. Ducks ain’t stupid, you might get luck once but your not going to be successful time and time again.

• STAND BLIND

This is a platform style blind with a bench or seats. Usually built with a couple of 2×4 boards and some ply wood. This is done so that you can be on a sturdy area while you hunt. Make the blind so that you can fit 2, 3, even 4 people, that is pretty much up to you. Keep in mind the bigger the blind the harder to make it blend in. Once you have your base or platform built and don’t forget to brush it up a bit.

• HOUSE BLIND

This is just what it sounds like a house all brushed up. These have seating for alot of hunters and have stoves for cooking and heaters. This type of blind I used for all day hunts.

• BOAT BLIND

This one is my favorite. Why, because it keeps you mobile, and you can move according to wind and also move as the sun changes throughout the day. Usually this is when you buy or make a pop up blind that is attached to you boat. Cabelas has them for about few hundred buck. Just put it on your boat brush it with grass matts you can buy at Cabelas, Academy Sports, or Wal-mart, then add a little of the native grass just to break it the outline. This well help your blind blend better and also hold together better.

• CALLING

Easy way to learn is to buy a CD. By many means a teal has a nasally quack (this is done by the female) and the male is a whistler. Usually the female is the big mouth and she is usually the one who is going to do all the yelling just like at home. Her quacks normally are going to be 4 quick notes starting off high and going down. Then the male is
peep, peep peep, peep peep, just quick little peeps on a teal whistle. See Haydels game calls for your teal whistle and female teal call.

• DECOYS AND DECOY PATTERNS

Face it you can’t get them in close without decoys. Buy some decoys, make sure that they are not to bright and don’t shine when the sun hits them. This will cause ducks to flare up and leave. Green head gear make the best but there are one of they also can be the more pricey of the decoys out there. There is kind of an art to decoy spreads. When piling decoys you may use the V Style set up or you can use the little piles set ups or even the scattered pile style. Each of these will work. You have to make the rite set up work for you. In all the style spreads I listed here don’t forget to leave your shooting lanes!!! Motion decoys also can play a big role in killing the hell out of sum ducks! Good idea of motion decoys come from MOJO Decoys. A great line of all kinds of duck decoys!

If you fallow these simple steps your should to have a great teal season. Thanks for reading and happy hunting! Andre’ Matherne Owner of Nonk Dre’s Custom Calls

For more information on Nonk Dre’s Custom Calls contact Andre by clicking here and follow him and his great duck calls on Facebook. Nonk Dre’s Custom Calls

Black is the original Stedi-Stock Camera, Range Finder, Spotting Scope or Video Camera Shoulder Brace. Shoulder Stabilizer that is ultra-light weight at only 6 ounces, durable and constructed of Hi-Strength Nylon complete with shoulder Strap. It gives the user STABILITY with MOBILITY and keeps your optical device right there for instant use. Take the blur out of your photos, get a bounce back at longer ranges with fewer clicks on your Range Finder, Carry your Spotting Scope with you in the field without a bulky cumbersome tripod, and take the BOUNCE out of your Videos. You can read more about the Stedi-Stock at the Stedi-Stock web site.

With the Stedi-Stock you will never ever have the trouble of shaky video or out of focused pictures anymore. This invention was created by Harold Hurst of Gordonville, Texas.  An avid hunter and outdoors-men of today’s society. People like Harold is what makes the Great outdoors what it is today and we would like to thank him for joining us here at Hello Hunting. When I first talk to him on the phone he had taught me so much about his invention. I was up for the Stedi-Stock Challenge from the get-go.

At the Stedi-Stock company they are here to help you with all your stabilizing needs when it comes to creating new memories. After all creating new outdoor memories is what life should be about. As I have said in the past so many TV Outdoor Shows use all kinds of of camera arms to mount their cameras to. But if they would just try the Stedi-Stock one time they would throw all others away.

Well once again we are giving something away for the Month of August just like we did in July. Donald K. Allen from Lumberton, North Carolina won a gift pack valued at over $50, that was sponsored by Rex Holmes Jr. and his Vapor Trail Scents company. Well now we have a whole other contest starting up and the rules are simply the same as last month.

The Rules

The rules are simple once again.

• Leave a comment on this post in the comment box below or any other post on the site between August 1st and August 31st. It can be about yourself, the site, hunting in general, or just to say that you want some free stuff.
• Make sure you leave a valid email address in the email box that is provided.

We’d really love for you to continue to browse the site a bit, get involved, and leave comments on other articles.  Also feel free to let us know if there is anything else that you would like to see or read about and we will do our best at getting it on the site. If you are interested in writing for Hello Hunting just contact Shannon Wood, Justin Tadlock, or Shannon Lee for more info on getting started. We’d even love for you to join our Facebook group. Of course, these aren’t requirements for entering the contest. We’d just love to build up our hunting community here even larger than it already is.

August Gift Pack includes:

A  camo super combo package which means it comes with the following:

Stedi-Stock shoulder mount with the Quick Release Attachment, the SuperClamp, monopod and the Quick Rifle Rest. A valued gift pack worth well over $125 could be your just for following the rules and leaving a response on Hello Hunting. 

The contest runs until the last day of August. We will email the randomly-picked winner once the contest is over so we can send you some free stuff.

Yes it is back and a ton of new products to show this year at the 18 Annual Buckmasters Expo. To enter the show all you have to do is bring a can of food which goes to the Montgomery Area Food Bank. Over 3000 lbs of canned food was brought in last year and we are looking to make it better this year. This year the will be special guest Bill and Tyler Jordan from Realtree, Greg Miller from In Pursuit, Matt Busbice from Wildgame Innovations, Willie Robertson from Buck commander, and Swamp People Troy and Jacob Landry. Yes even our favorite Mr. Buckmaster himself Jackie Bushman will be there.

This years show will have over 300 booths with all kinds of outdoor gear to choose from. The show will begin at the Montgomery Convention Center at 201 Tallapoosa street Montgomery,AL on Friday Aug. 19 and go through Sunday Aug. 21. On Friday the doors will open to the public at 3pm-9pm. Saturday the 20th at 9am-7pm and Sunday the 21st 10am-5pm. Saturday night Buckmasters will host a members only concert with country legend Sammy Kershaw at 8pm.

The Buckmasters Top Bow Indoor World Championship will take place at the event also. See shooters such as Brian Goza (Bryant, AL), Joseph Goza (Flat Rock, AL), Jackie Caudle (Gadsden, AL), and Justin Martin  (Enterprise, AL). See which one of these shooters and more try to lay claim to this once a year event to have their name placed on the trophy. In the list of these few names Joseph Goza is a four time winner, Jackie Caudle a two time winner and Justin Martin the 2003 winner.  The tournament will begin Friday evening and go through Sunday evening. One winner will take home $15,000  in prize money and a new Yamaha ATV.

For those of you who follow Hello Hunting on a regular bases will also see me there helping out  Mr. Rex Holmes Jr. from Vapor Trail Scents at booth #387. So feel free to stop by and chat a bit and check out the products that we have to offer you. There will be tons of things to do at the Expo this year even for the children. The Young Bucks exhibit will be on hand for children to have a little fun from just walking around and hanging with dad and mom all day. They will get the chance to see Bucky the Buckmasters Mascot and have all the fun in the world while doing so.

Ever thought about becoming an official BTR scorer? Now is your chance! On Saturday there will be a official Buckmasters scoring clinic held to get you a chance to become official scorer. Also do not forget to bring in your trophy deer for display and have it scored to possibly be placed into the Buckmasters Trophy Records. There will be fun for the whole family this year at the 2011 Buckmasters Expo. All you have to do is show up and bring a can of food per a person each day to enter. If you have any other questions about this years Expo feel free to call Buckmasters at 1-800-240-Deer(3337). I hope to see you there in August!

As we traveled down Interstate 10 through Defuniak Springs, Florida to Graceville, Florida, my husband and I discussed the delicious seafood we would eat at Grady’s Restaurant before continuing on to Marianna, Florida to do a little bass fishing on the Mill Pond. It was after nine o’clock when we arrived at our hotel and due to some miscommunication with the desk clerk, we no longer had a room for the night.

We finally decided to call a place my husband had always heard fish tales of, but had never visited, Jack Wingate’s Lunker Lodge on Lake Seminole.  A friendly voice on the other end of the phone informed us that they did not have a vacancy for the night, but where we might find a hotel room and that if we would call him in the morning, he would try to find us some lodging at Wingate’s.  The next morning, I called Wayne, the friendly man on the phone from the night before, and sure enough he had us a room.

We still weren’t certain we wanted to drive another 30 minutes to the lodge, so we drove around a little and fished a few other places on the west end of Lake Seminole, but we never found the legendary bass we had heard stories of Lake Seminole producing. We were almost convinced to turn around and make the three-hour drive back home, but something kept pulling us toward Wingate’s. We decided we had nothing to lose after the escapade we had the night before, so off we went to Bainbridge, Georgia in search of some big time bass fishing.

Wingate’s Lunker Lodge was more than I had imagined. It was a true fisherman’s paradise. We were greeted outside by friendly faces and as we entered the building legendary fisherman and B.A.S.S. co-founder Jack Wingate was headed out the door with his lunch.  The only thing that could make this better would be if we could catch some big fish. As we chatted about the history of Wingate’s and the type of fishing we enjoy, Wayne suggested we go out fishing with a guide.

Wayne contacted Mike Sloan, one of the current owners of the lodge, and he agreed to take us out fishing that afternoon.  Boy did Mike put us on some fish and the scenery on the lake was incredible.  Mike told us about the May shad spawn on the lake and showed us a few of his favorite spots that were guaranteed to produce some lunker bass.

I captured photos of some huge alligators, canvas-back ducks, blue herons and bald eagles.  It was such an exciting afternoon of fishing followed up with a delicious BBQ plate from the BBQ Buffet that Wingate’s restaurant offers on Friday nights.  The next morning my husband and I headed out on the lake at sunrise and had an amazing morning of fishing of which we followed up with breakfast in the lodge.  I couldn’t believe my eyes. Every table was filled with fishermen and the air was filled with the aroma of bacon frying and tall tales of how the

” Big One “

got away. I was thoroughly entertained by the company and staff of the restaurant. We spent very little time in our cabin during our stay due to the camaraderie we found rocking in the wooden rockers on the front porch of the lodge.

Jack Wingate’s Lunker Lodge proved to be a true fisherman’s paradise and more than I could have ever dreamed of. If you are looking for a weekend getaway or even a longer stay, Wingate’s offers cabin rentals, camper hookups, some delicious food, some amazing fishing, and of course some fish tales that will really get you hook-line-and sinker. You can visit their site here at Wingate’s Lunker Lodge and tell them Shannon Lee sent ya!  Happy Fishing!

What else is there to do in the spring or even late spring after your turkey season is gone. Try out a few of these idea’s to hit the water on some late spring action cat fishing. When getting ready for a catfishing trip there are a few must have items that you really need to rely on. A pole that is going to hold and catch that big cat is number one on the list. Catfish are like buzzard’s of the water world and will almost eat anything and everything that comes their way. Anything bloody such as meats and even stinky cheese will catch a big catfish. Having the line sturdy enough on a sturdy pole will also be a plus when you hang into one.

The one thing about cat fish is they will be in deep waters through the early spring but as the shad start to move and run upstream they will start to move in and eating smaller fish. Cut baits such as bream and shad are among some of a cat fishes top food source. Blood baits such as chicken liver or gizzards can also pay off big.

Smaller fish is most likely your best bet in the late spring and early summer months. These are foods that are naturally there already and a big cat will in fact snag it fast. I good idea is to bait a spot up for about a week before you head out to fish it. Like for an example if you are on a creek you can easily bait there. Take a PVC pipe big enough and long enough and it could turn into one of the most hottest of cat fish hot spots.

By using a pipe you can tie them off near a bank and start to feed things such as stinky old cheese or even dog food will work well. Other fish will also come around and check it out so therefore where smaller fish are the big cat’s want be far behind. There has been more than one occasion that I have done this and what a pay off it would bring me.

Let’s now take a view at Thunder Mist Fishing team on catching some great catfish.

You have to be ready at all times when hunting springtime turkeys in Alabama. That was proved a fact to me and a young man on Thursday March 24, 2011. The turkeys had not been gobbling all that well on the roost in the area. That morning there were about five turkeys going good right after day light. Jake Tucker of Monroe County, Alabama said that he had been seeing a few late in the evenings and the birds had been gobbling but not until around 7:30 AM.

As we left the truck and headed to the back side of a row crop field to the edge of some woods I had told him that this morning was going to be a good one. I could just feel it and had to react on what the young man had told me where the turkeys might be and hope for the best. We had walked down into a bottom and set up for some owling on the back side of a small food plot. Jake had said that there were some hen’s and what look to be like one or two gobblers in the days before. I was hoping that these same birds would still be in the area.

At 6:45 AM I made a hoot from my owl call and shure enough about 175 yards away one gobbled down in a bottom. After waiting a few more minutes and owling again another bird had gobbled a little closer but in a different direction. I asked him which one he wanted to try for and a small hike we took to try get for a set up on the closest bird. As we walked down a fire break road we had seen several deer take off and trust me sometimes this will mess up a good morning set up if turkeys are very close. Lucky the deer never blowed our cover. As we walked down the hill to get a little closer I had to suddenly stop Jake in his tracks and show him a hen still sitting in a tree.

By the time we had moved a few more feet the hen we saw took flight away from us headed toward a creek area. It wasn’t but just a few more minutes or so about three more hens went the same way. The hen’s never saw us and the gobbler was still in a tree on top of another hill. As we made our way to try to get ahead of the bird he took off over the hill in flight and gobbled twice more when he hit the ground. Needless to say we never did see or even hear that bird anymore until after we had left and came back from a good hardy breakfast at a small local café.

These small towns hold some very good cooking in their cafe’s. As we sat in the café talking and looking at a plot map discussing what the next move would be when we got back to the hunting grounds. My goal was to give the birds enough time to breed with the hen’s and then for us to try and catch them after they left them for the morning. As we got back to the land where we were hunting we did a good deal of walking and cutting and purring.

As the morning progressed I told jake that if we were to harvest a bird today that we would have to do it in the evening. That is the good thing about Alabama is that we can hunt in the evenings also. There are a few states that only allow morning time hunting until lunch and the evenings have to left alone for the gobblers to do the breeding with the hen’s. As we had walked and walked and finally made our way back to the field there was a gobbler already there. It didn’t take him long to bust us and fly off.

We made one last shot at the calling in a different food plot but did not get an answer from any. As we walked back up the hill and around the corner of a road headed once again to the field two long beard’s took off for flight and we never knew they were there. Only a few seconds went by when I told Jake to shoot the one coming out of the bushes just ahead of us. It was a kind of ambush on him but he had made a clean kill on the bird. I have called up quite a few birds for people before and the first time birds are the greatest one to work on.

No matter how big the gobbler is or how long the beard and spurs are they are a trophy for the first timers whom have never harvested one. The bird that Jake Tucker had killed weighed in at 15 lbs, sported a 6 inch beard and had 1/8 inch spurs. I have had other kids harvest some jake’s in the past and out of all of them this one was by far the heaviest bird to be a young one. I will never forget the smile on Jake Tucker’s face and how happy I was for him. The fact that I was with him was worth a thousand stories for the future.

I met Jake Tucker at the Alabama 4H Center in Columbiana, AL and we hit it off just plain and simple. I have enjoyed my Job with Auburn University working in Crenshaw County as the county 4H agent/assistant. I enjoy spending time with kids and taking them hunting and watching them harvest their first deer or turkey for the first time. Jake Tucker I want to say thank you for allowing me to come and enjoy the great outdoors with you even though I missed the one that I had shot at that evening.

Yes I missed one that evening sharing the hunt with a new friend!

Remember one thing that turkey hunting is more than just the calling. One thing that calls do for you is to help bring them in just a little closer. Which on hand a good decoy set up will make or bust the chance you have at bringing that old tom in closer also. The way you hunt in the turkey woods is most likely the number one thing. I have said this on many occasions,

“you are turkey hunting and not turkey calling”.

The set up that you make one day may or may not work for you two days in a row. Don’t be afraid to change the set up a little also. But the call you just spent forty dollars on may be all you will need. One thing that I have learned is that when I buy a new call I try to find one that makes a new sound to what I have in my pack already. For instance a mouth call may work for me in the early morning set up but may not work for me in the evening. I always carry at least three or four different types of calls to the woods when I go. This give me an upper hand in more ways than none.

The locator calls we use can also play a big factor in locating a lonesome gobbler. One morning I was out on my property trying to locate a certain gobbler that I knew was in the area and when I used the owl call he never responded. After about ten minutes I threw in a few soft purrs and about three soft notes of yelping followed by a crow call. It didn’t take him long to break silence and let me know that he was only across a creek. I never did kill that bird until a week later. He tipped the scales at seventeen pounds and had a 9 3/4 inch beard along with 3/4 inch spurs. I was very happy with taking this bird.

My old calls usually consist of a Lynch Fool Proof box call and a small palm sized scratch box call. I do find myself using a mouth call or a glass slate call to locate birds when other locator calls want work. I try my best to use the locator calls more to locate instead of the mouth or slate. The reason for this is because I have had birds be within twenty- five or so yards and not be able to see them only to see them come in silent and bust me before I’m in a set up position.

So remember to not just leave those older calls that you may never have had any luck with at home. They can be the one or two calls that pays off big when you least expect it. You never know when that old bird is lurking around by himself. Just because he may seem to be by himself doesn’t mean there aren’t any hen eyes watching also. So use the old calls you have stashed away this season and your rewards may be higher than expected.

Good Luck!

The whitetail deer hunting here has begun to be a whole lot better in the last 4 years since they have placed this area on a quality deer management program. Only harvesting bucks with at least 3 points on one side and having a minimum of at least one inch per point to count. You can take two deer per a day here in our great state only one of them being a buck. But you do have the choice of taking two does instead.

This land use to be cotton, soybean, and corn fields and has been planted in native hard wood trees to produce food for wildlife. There are food plots throughout the WMA but plan to do some walking or riding a bike to get to them. There is also some pine plantation area if hunting in pines are your thing. There is more to this tract of land than just deer hunting.

The small game hunting here draws some attention as well with rabbit and squirrel mainly being the most game hunted. Local hunters bring beagles in to put on a good chase for rabbit and then you have a few that come in to even tree the squirrels. If the small game is not what you are looking for but would choose to take aim for something that moves a little faster try your hand at some great duck hunting.

From all the times that I have hunted this place there has yet been one time that I have not seen at least one duck. Usually when I have seen them it has been at least a dozen or more. These ducks come in from the north and to this area for the Alabama River. Some of the sloughs that have water coming in from the river back up into the WMA. This makes some great duck hunting. I have heard of hunters going into the area and and shooting their limit in thirty minutes leaving them with plenty of time to even go home and change for a day of work. I have never found this duck hole but to me it sounds like a spot to wonder about. I would call it the

” Thirty Minute “duck hole.

Like I have said there is plenty of wild game to chase in this area of the state.

Hog hunting here is also on the agenda. This place is over run with Ferrel hogs and could use some thinning out if you know what I mean. Just hit the south road and walk out into the wood’s and sit down on a stump. One is bound to come your way with a little patience. Also while hunting these creatures make sure to be as free of scent as possible for they say that a hog can smell better than a deer.

The last thing I will bring up to talk about is my favorite and that is turkey hunting in the spring. There is not one year that go’s by that I don’t at least hunt the elusive Eastern Wild Turkey. The turkey population is a whole new kind here and can most likely be one of the hardest to hunt compared to many of the other WMA’s in the state that I have hunted. I have hunted quite a few WMA’s for turkey and by far5 the Lowndes WMA is the hardest.

If the cool spring mornings don’t freeze you because of the water, then the bugs will catch up to you on a warm morning. To kill a turkey off this land you will need plenty of patience and very little calling. After the first week these turkey’s are call shy to a point. Go into a area park side the road and wait for one to gobble, then go set up and wait him out. Try to locate them the evening before for this will lead you to a better chance of harvesting one.

When a bird gobbles here it may sound like he’s right on top of you when he’s actually still 100 to 300 yards away. Then there are those that sound like they are 300 yards away and you start to mover toward them and they fly a mile away. This is a simple but hard place to hunt and you have to be careful at not making the wrong moves. So I leave you with this the next time you want to hunt public land in Alabama give Lowndes WMA a try. Trust me you want be disappointed you at least gave it a try.

After  driving to the hunting club and talking to a member that told me about a choke tube for his Browning shotgun, he allowed him to take out the old chock tube and put in the new one.  A few minutes later they drew up the hunt plan and got the dogs ready for the hunt. What Michael didn’t know was that this dog hunt was going to be a remembered hunt that he wouldn’t forget for some time.

So he  picked his  stand on what they called the Twin Oaks Field.  Another member told him where to put his chair and to get ready for some fast action.  So he drove to his stand and walked to the area where he was assigned to.  He waited until they turned out the dogs and soon the dogs were tearing it up.  All of a sudden he heard 4 shots.

It went through his mind that there went the first deer.  Come to find out it was a another member down the road from him who was driving toward him.  So he looked to his right and then to his left about 4 times because he heard the dogs getting closer and closer to him.

Well the guy who was driving toward him was blocking the buck from crossing into another clubs woods.  The buck was running right into Michael’s direction. He could hear the hooves hitting the ground and also the breathing sound of the buck. He took his safety off and when the buck got in front of him he shot one time and the buck fell over. But Michael had to unload on him so he would not get back up.

After he killed the buck he jumped sky-high in the air and he called his parents to tell them that he had just killed a monster buck.  That shot was his first shot with that chock tube and he was happy that he allowed the other member to help him out.  A couple of guys who saw him kill the buck came and helped him put the buck on the tailgate and picked him up.  After that everyone who was hunting that day came and saw the buck.

His Pa which is Michael’s grandfather who got him into hunting and fishing was shown the buck and was very proud of his grandson and how he had come up to be a very good young man. Michael’s grandfather had just had his foot amputated and got his fake foot and he walked down the ramp that his uncle and him built really fast. The whole family was proud to see such a buck and out of all of them Michael was the happiest.