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

Alpha Mudlite Realtree® AP® Hunting Boots

• A boot made for comfort
• Scent control
• Lightweight
• 7.0 mm neoprene for cold to extreme cold weather
• brush tuff puncture resistant upper material for long term durability
• 100% waterproof

Venom Scent HD™ Realtree® APG HD® Snake Boots

• 360º Snake Guard Protection
• 100% Water Proof
• Scent-Free protection
• abrasion resistant toe cap
• comfort
• Side – Zip for easy on and off

These are just a few things that make these two sets of boots worth paying the money for. If my feet get cold in the dead winter then I am ready to head back to the house or camp. My feet do not sweat in these boots unlike some of the other hunting boots that I have had in the past. We all want comfort and it is here with LaCrosse. We all want 100% water proof barrier and it is also here. No more leaving the stand early because of the normal issues you may have with other style boots. Sit all day and never think of your feet getting cold or hurting from the long walk in. The days of buying boots for hunting are just about to become the end when you buy from LaCrosse Footwear.

WWE Hall of fame Legend Shawn Michaels has stepped out of the WWE ring and into the wild with MacMillan River Adventures. After recording on my (DVR) and watching the first three episode’s on the Outdoor Channel I have learned it is going to be hard to miss one single show. The very first episode was aired on June 28, 2011 on the Outdoor Channel. Shawn Michaels and Keith Mark takes base camp in the middle of the famous Yukon to go after one of the top four-legged animals in the world known as the Yukon Moose.

The show started off by showing some of the WWE’s ring time with Shawn and moves on to some of the best hunting adventures in the world. As Shawn takes his wrestling gear off and put’s on his camo to head out for the famous Yukon moose. You bet your tail that each Tuesday night either I or my (DVR) will be getting the new inside look as the show continues. Let’s take a look at the teaser and you want be upset that you did. A don’t want to miss show that is going to change the Outdoor Channel from here out.

Did you think we were going to show you the whole show? You got to see this!

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!

Harold Hurst from Texas sent me a message asking me if I had ever seen a small piece of equipment called the Stedi Stock. I had told him that I had never even heard of it. So his reaction is, “Hey I will send you one”, and you tell me how it works. I had called Mr. Harold up and told him that I would love to try out his invention and to my surprise when it came to my door steps I was very happy at what I saw. Now at this point it has done everything that it is suppose to do and even more.

I will continue to put it through test and see how the outcome of the test go about. There are so many camera arms out there on the market today and the cost of them are sky high. The cost of the Stedi Stock is only $29.95 plus $5.00 shipping. You can get the better deal and get the camo super combo package for $109.00 plus shipping. This comes with everything from the steady stock, mono pod, super clamp, quick release, and even the rifle rest. Everything that you need is all in one bundle ready for you to film your next hunt. You can learn more about the Stedi Stock just by clicking here. “ Stedi Stock ”

I have noticed that I have yet to find any flaws in the making of this equipment yet at this time. Everything can fit into a back pack for easy carrying. The set up time to put all of it together is less than 1 minute. that is a plus compared to hanging a stand and strapping on a tree arm to mount the camera.

It’s durability is strong and water resistant. If you can hold a gun up to your shoulder then you can hold up the Steadi Stock with a camera mounted to it. This small set up is going to change the way hunter’s film their hunts from now on.

Just mount your camera, aim and shoot! It is that simple and that easy even a child can do it. In fact I would put my name behind it and this is something that I don’t do very often for those of you that know me. The size of everything in the whole package makes time easier for not just the set up but as I have already said once, carrying it as well.

There will be no more climbing out of tree and then doing a follow up shot with a tripod. The mono pod can handle that for you. In fact you want even need the mono pod unless you just want to use it. The Stedi Stock will do all the work for you.

Knowing that there are so many gimmicks out there in the outdoor industry today it is simple to see that this is not one of them. Think back about ten years or so when TV shows were using those cameras that weighed 25 lbs. If they had the Stedi Stock back then like we do today all that shaky footage would have never been there.

Thank God for all the new inventions that have come out and those of them that work are great. There are some out there that work. But the question is ” How Well ” do they work? There is greatness and there is fair working conditions when it comes to products in the outdoor industry.

So take just a few minutes of you time and check this product out and you too may be ordering you one before hunting season roles around. This will make a great gift to any hunter and could even lead you into filming or taking pictures of your hunts to come. ” Tell them that Hello Hunting sent you. ”

Good Luck!

Hello Hunting has moved up on the web site scale from being just a blog to an all access online magazine. After doing a few things new such as designing a new lay out for the site and taking on a new face lift we want to continue to grow with the community that follows. Rex Holmes Jr. from Vapor Trail Scents has talked to me on many occasions for making his web site better.

We have now teamed up with Vapor Trail Scents to bring you the first ever Hello Hunting Online Magazine. Guess what! It’s all Free! How simple can you read and how simply can we put the word “Free” in a sentence. When you see the word free you may think there is a catch to it. What if I told you that all you have to do to win a free prize from us here at Hello Hunting is read a little and post a comment at the end of any or each article that you read.

The Prize

Win a gift set from Vapor Trail Scents worth over $50. The prize includes a Vapor Maker spray bottle, one bottle of 33 point Buck lure, one bottle of Spike Horn Buck lure, and one bottle of My sheila Doe & Heat lure. This is enough scent to last you an entire hunting season.

The Rules

The rules are simple. Actually they’re so simple that there’s only two:

• Leave a comment on this post in the comment box below. 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 comment box.

We’d really love for you to browse the site a bit, get involved, and leave comments on other articles. 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.

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

Good Luck!

Yes that is rite you no longer have to book trips to Louisiana or Florida to hunt down a large gator anymore. If you are a resident of Alabama like I am then there is a chance that you can get a tag at home to hunt the elusive American Alligator. I have yet to apply for a tag here but hopefully soon over the next year I will be doing so. Louisiana is at the heart of alligator country! And Louisiana’s alligator population is estimated to be approximately 1.5 million gators! In addition to their wild population, it is esimated that another 500,000 alligators are found on commerical alligator farms within the state.

Alabama’s population has grown over the years and now is home to some of the best gator hunting around. Remember that you do have to apply for tags online and the chances are slim. A state that has placed a hold on the alligators for years now has a season of their own. A chance at a tag is simple. Just go to Outdoor Alabama home of the (ADCNR) and just apply. Each application will cost you $6.

One hundred twenty-five people will be randomly drawn by computer to be eligible for Mobile and Baldwin county hunts. One hundred twenty people will be randomly drawn by computer to be eligible for the Southeast hunts and fifty people will be drawn for the hunts in West Central Alabama. This will give you a total of 295 tags to be drawn. You can apply for all areas but your odds or very slim.

The season for gator hunting in Alabama is in August and the drawings will be held at 12:00 PM (CST) on July 11,2011. If yo never have never got a tag in the past here in Alabama then you will have to go to one of the three locations for safety class before you can go on the hunt and receive your tag. Only one tag per a hunter will be issued even though you can apply for all areas you will only be able to hunt one of the three. Each person receiving an Alligator Possession Tag will be allowed to harvest one alligator six feet in length or longer.

Alligators must be captured and brought up to the boat, bank or dock prior to shooting the animal. It is unlawful to shoot at or kill an unrestrained alligator. Restrained is defined as an alligator that has a noose or snare secured around the neck or leg in a way that the alligator is controlled by the hunter. Capture methods are restricted to hand-held snares, snatch hooks hand-held or rod/reel, harpoons with attached line, and bowfishing equipment with line attached from arrow to bow.

” No use of bait is allowed. “

It is unlawful in the state of Alabama to bait and harvest any kind of game animal of any nature. The laws here are simple to follow and can be read online at Outdoor Alabama. We as hunter’s in Alabama take great pride in fair chase and true sportsmanship of harvesting wildlife in our great state. This is a Liberal laws state and if residents of Alabama can obey them so can the non- residents of other states.

Hunting Season’s:

MOBILE/BALDWIN COUNTIES

– August 12-15, 2011 and August 19-22, 2011

SOUTHEAST ALABAMA

– August 12-28, 2011

WEST CENTRAL ALABAMA

– August 12-15, 2011 and August 19-22, 2011

If you do apply for an alligator tag in Alabama I wish you good luck on the drawing. It may seem hard to get a tag the first year but realize that there are some huge gators in the swamps and water ways of Alabama and keep trying year after year.  If you do get a tag I want to wish you good luck! And be safe at all times while on your hunt. An alligator hunt in Alabama could be just what the doctor could have ordered for you to get out and start a new hunting season here.

There are some ladies that just stand out in the outdoor industry of today. We have crowned a woman of the year for Hello Hunting in the past and now it is getting to be that time once again. I am sorry that we do not have any awards as far as a plaque to give to these ladies but they have done so much for our outdoor world already. So this is our way to give back to all our outdoor ladies and outdoor moms that have raised us to be perfectly good gentlemen.

Our first Hello Hunting Woman of the year was elected in August of 2010 and her name is Nancy Joe Adams a resident of Montgomery,AL. It is now time to recognize another woman in the outdoors for doing such a great deed. Keli Van Cleave has done so much in the great outdoors and is a lead member of Pink Outdoors. This sweet lady has no trouble calling Colorado home. She loves the outdoors just as much as the next woman out there. We only seeing her going further and further up the pole to reach her goal at the top.

Prois Hunting sent her to the Reno Cabela’s to participate in the first Cabela’s Boomtown charity shoot.  It was a picturesque setting in the Nevada mountains.  She stated it was awesome to see 145 participants the first day and over 55 on a Sunday. There were approximately 60 female participants and many of those being children.  She thought since she was representing Prois, she should change her arrow holder to match her beautiful Prois bag to be more of an Urban 3-D fashionist.  She couldn’t believe the women who wanted to follow her Prois purse idea! Turned out now that it has grown and is even getting bigger with more time.

The bag shown here are just a few of the things that you can get from keli. She has worked so hard to get to where she has come at this point in her life. We at Hello hunting hope to wish her many more journey’s into the field in the future. It is people like her that show all of us men what real outdoor women are all about. The fact that she also works well with young women and kids in getting them involved in the outdoors just means that much more to the outdoor industry. So we at Hello Hunting would like to say congratulations to this years 2011 Hello Hunting Woman of the Year. Keli Van Cleave!

After recently talking on the phone with Rex Holmes Jr about how his vapor maker and scents were working he was glad to tell me all the new news. I was very proud to hear that he had gotten some interest from a hunter over sea’s. When i say over sea’s I mean France. When the country France comes to mind we dont think much about hunting. But word has spread so fast that the vapor maker and vapor trail scents are being asked for all over the world.

Something really has to work 100% before I will even come close to placing my thoughts and saying my name evolving the product. I will say that I was very skeptic when first trying this product out. In my mind it was just another joke and the scents were just another group of scents that may or may not work. Now I am proud to be part of the Vapor Trail scents team in helping them with anything that they need.

I have been working with Rex Holmes Jr for about two years now and he has become a very great friend. I can’t wait to get the chance to work with him this year at the 2011 Buckmasters expo. This year is surely grown to be even bigger in the outdoor industry. As for me and the vapor trail scents team we have become very busy. We still have a lot to do and when we found out that the vapor maker and the scents are being used on hunts outside the United States and even being asked for by hunter’s in France we now can carry a big smile on our faces.

Hopefully time will tell us how far we can go with this and to my acknowledge I will say the sky is the limit. Knowing that we will try 100% to make all customers happy and bring a smile to their faces as for ours. Knowing that hunter’s use these products are showing us that people are believing in the products that have been made.

It also show us that the customer really believes that they work and they can rely on them as much as we do. I no longer go into the deer woods without my vapor trail scent products. I have learned that not just in the deer woods it will work but If I’m fishing on a boat in humid heat I have found other ways to use my vapor maker. So after learning more about theses products dont you think it time to get out there and grab you one also. You can order the vapor maker and the vapor trail scents here at Vapor Trail scents.

Now is the time to get you one before it is too late!

Did you know that the rut has happened as early as October in Illinois? There is one factor that will start the rut a month or month and a half early. Do you know what it is?

Temperature!

The reason the cold temperature will trigger the rut early is because that is how nature helps put the scent of does in heat all over the woods.
This is how nature helps the buck  find the doe. When a deer smells you 99% of the time what does he smell? He smells your perspiration. He also smells it in a liquid state. In fact, all animals smell in a liquid form. Even a snake runs his tongue out to pick up the moisture from the air to help him determine what is around him. When you are really hot and it is very cold outside, you give off a lot more perspiration. The same is true with does in heat. This is why it is called “in heat.”

I believe a doe’s temperature rises to about 112 degrees when she is in heat. An example of this theory can be seen if you have ever peed outside when it was very cold. Steam from the warm liquid goes straight up and then down and all around. A deer has a normal body temperature of 104 degrees. When she is in heat, the scent steam is coming off of her private parts and everywhere she goes it floats all through the woods sticking to every bush, blade of grass and tree it comes in contact with.

If you have ever owned a female dog that has come in heat, you will notice every male dog around – most of whom you’ve never laid eyes on before is at your house trying to find your female dog. How did they know where to come? Scent. Specifically, the scent of the dog in heat which has been carried throughout the neighborhood and deposited on every bush and blade of grass around. That is why male dogs go around smelling every bush they come by.

This is identical to the steam or perspiration coming off of the doe in heat and being carried down through the woods by prevailing winds and sticking to every bush it comes in contact with. When a buck smells this scent, especially a 5 or 6-year-old, he smells the liquid form of the scent and knows it is the real thing. He won’t question scent in a liquid form that is disseminated through the air. He will come straight to the source – or doe – to mate every time.

This is where The Vapor Maker® comes into play. The Vapor Maker® is the only scent dispersal system on the market that you have total control of. It requires no batteries because it is a pump up bottle that holds 16 oz. of liquid. It has a special atomizing tip that will take any kind of scent and put it in the air exactly like nature does. It also has a 3 foot hose with a clip to hook to a limb down wind or out to your side in a tree stand.

Because the bottle is made of a durable plastic you cannot hurt it or break it if you drop it from the tree stand. You can turn the bottle on by turning the ball valve, and with a 3 mph wind it will carry the scent 1/8 of a mile through the woods. The more wind, the further the scent will go. As you walk through the woods you can spray the bushes and low hanging tree limbs to lay a scent trail straight to your stand. Because scent in the air in a liquid form is the natural way deer smell, it needs to be watered down. A deer can smell 1000 times better than you and I. If it is strong to you it will overpower the sensitive olfactory system of a deer. You have to make the smell the same as nature does in order to fool the deer.

Deer are naturally inquisitive and may do anything at any time, but we want them to do it all the time because it is a natural instinct. So a 1 oz. bottle of a strong scent would need about 8 oz. of water to make it smell natural. At Vapor Trail Scents, L.L.C. our scents are 100% natural – made from a food source deer and other animals love. We gather the food source and make the scent ourselves. All of our scents, attractants and cover ups come in 4 oz. bottles and sell for just $7.00. We have found that 8 oz. of water to 4 oz. of our scent, My Shelia Doe in Heat, is perfect to fool all the bucks in your neck of the woods.

We also make the only cover scent and attractant – 33 Point Buck – that will eliminate the smell of gasoline. We have tested it against all the top scent killers on the market and the 33 Point Buck consistently beat out the competition in eliminating all types of scents.

We are confident the 33 Point Buck will totally cover up your scent. Used with the Doe in Heat, these two make an unbeatable pair to optimize your hunting experience. We recommend 4 oz. of 33 Point to 4 oz. of water. You can also spray it directly on your clothing using The Vapor Maker®.

Our company also makes Dominant Buck and Wapiti Scents. Read about us and our products at vaportrailscents.com