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"Just hang on tight, and keep climbing." Those were the words my buddy said to me as he sent me up the tree ahead of him at one of his tree stand locations several decades ago. He already had screw-in steps in place for the first 25 feet up the giant oak tree. My long-legged friend had purposefully spaced the steps much too far apart to deter other hunters from climbing into his stand. It was more than my legs could reach. I had to use a pull and lunge technique to hop from step to step. The

USE PROPER GUN POSITION, LEARN WHERE TO POINT AND FIND THE BEST LEAD I never attended a dove shoot until I was a sophomore in high school. However, I started hunting doves in an abandoned area close to my neighborhood from the time I was 12 years old and received my first J.C. Higgins’ bolt-action .410 shotgun. Today there are few dove hunters but plenty of outdoorsmen who attend large field annual dove shoots. USE PROPER GUN POSITION: One dove hunter who’s excelled in taking doves on dove

HOW TO LEAD A DOVE AND HOW TO MOUNT YOUR SHOTGUN FOR DOVES WITH MARTY FISCHER Editor’s Note: Marty Fischer is a professional wingshooter, a National Sporting Clays Association Level III shooting instructor and a longtime Mossy Oak ProStaff member, is known as America’s leading gun-club designer, having designed more than 150 sporting-clay facilities. In preparation for dove season, Mossy Oak has asked Fischer to give us 10 tips for taking more doves. Tip 1: How to Lead a Dove I believe the most

1. USE THE RIGHT CHOKE Most people tend to over-choke themselves when hunting doves. They either use modified or full chokes, believing that with tighter chokes they can bag doves at greater distances -- perhaps out to 50-60 yards. However, for every bird they bag at those distances, they'll miss five or six birds out of 10 that will be at 25 yards or less. Many dove shooters believe the best all-around choke for dove hunting is the modified. I prefer 3 drams of powder with the equivalent of 1-1

Finding a place to dove hunt in September can be difficult. There are public dove fields in some areas, but on opening morning they are invariably over-crowded. If you have the funds you can join a private hunting club that caters to dove hunters, but all you really need to start shooting limits on your own land is a little time and effort, by planting a productive sunflower field you can bag your limits of birds day after day. WHAT MAKES FOR GOOD DOVE HUNTING? As settlers began clearing forest

Mourning doves are one of the most exciting and challenging of all game bird species to hunt. In many parts of the country, the dove season opener marks the beginning of the fall hunting season. Dove hunting is a family affair, a time for generations of hunters to gather in the grain fields and test themselves against the speed and aerial agility of passing birds. Unlike other native upland game birds like bobwhite quail and grouse, doves have enjoyed a marked increase in overall numbers, thanks

Over the last ten years, I have increased my fishing time annually. In the spring, I fish for striped, white, and quality largemouth and smallmouth bass with friends on the lakes. In the summer, I enjoy fishing a variety of small rivers or creeks for smallmouth bass. However, my biggest bass catches always occur while fishing small community lakes and local farm ponds. It is easy for fishermen to forget about fishing small lakes and ponds when they have a bass boat sitting in the garage, ready

I have never met an angler for any species of fish that didn’t want some sort of advantage to help them catch more fish. That advantage could come in the form of a faster boat, more rods, custom baits, power poles or now, bigger and better graphs. Bass boats with 3-5 graphs are the norm with multiple brands of electronics in use at the bow and console. These setups can range from $15,000-$30,000 depending on what the angler wants. It sounds crazy, but take a look at any of the professional level

TROTLINE FISHING TIPS AND TRICKS WHERE AND WHEN TO SET OUT TROTLINES Catching catfish with trotlines is very fun and a great way to provide family and friends with some of the best table fare there is. While many anglers have their go-to ways of catching catfish, there are several timeless tips and tricks out there that may lead to many more fish on your trotline than the next angler. The first tip to catching catfish on a trotline would be to identify raises in the waterways you’re fishing. The

One of the most common mistakes in food plot plantings and farming for wildlife is improper timing relative to the crop and the region. For example the growing period for warm season annuals can vary pretty widely across the nation. The northernmost part of the states and on into Canada could have as little as 4-5 months of temperatures conducive to growing spring/summer crops. This is all dependent on how quickly the winter snow melts and soil temperatures rise as well as when the first hard