Articles

HUNTING WARY WATERFOWL

After the first few hours or days of duck season, waterfowl get wary. The birds are still out there, somewhere. You can wile away the hours waiting for them to come to you, or you can get out and go after them. Here’s a few ideas on where to start your quest for quackers. LIKELY LOCATIONS Farm Ponds - Most farms have ponds and while many might seem more suited place to spending a summer afternoon with a worm and a bobber, they also attract waterfowl when they have been blown out of their usual

SPECIES PROFILE: MALLARDS

MIGRATION North America is divided into four major flyways for waterfowl migration. Mallards can be found on the Pacific, Central, Mississippi and Atlantic Flyways. Some mallards will travel over 1,500 miles during their annual fall migration. Migration altitude varies ranging from 200 feet up to 4,000 feet. When spring migration arrives, mating pairs of mallards fly north to the breeding grounds together. WATERFOWL MANAGEMENT Moist soil management is simply the strategy of encouraging natural

THE NAMING OF THE WATERFOWL SPECIES

DID YOU EVER WONDER HOW SOME WATERFOWL SPECIES GOT THEIR NAMES? Bob Humphrey It is fairly easy to see how the black duck, redhead, pintail and green-winged teal got their common names. For others it is not so obvious, and sometimes it is quite interesting. The wood duck is an obvious one, so named for its fondness for flooded timber and nesting in tree cavities. Another diminutive duck that prefers beaver bogs and timber-trimmed potholes is the ring-necked duck, which is easily identified by the

MAGNA CARTA OF WILDLIFE CONSERVATION

The most vigorous participants in healthy land, clean water and prospering populations of wildlife are hunters and fishers – a seminal fact that is not lost on most outdoorsmen. Like all great truths, the ideology of such world-class stewardship is best shared as a very short non-fiction. The title of this one is The North American Model of Wildlife Conservation. Incremental commitments by Mossy Oak to the American conservation movement include a preeminent partnership with Ducks Unlimited, the

Teamwork

Podcast Transcription: Teamwork Speakers: Billy McOwen Andrew Walters Click Here to Listen to the Podcast Billy McOwen Hey everybody and welcome. This is episode number seven of find your favorite place. My name is Billy McOwen and I'm your host. I am joined today by our broker in charge out of the Greenville office, Mr. Andrew Walters. Andrew, how you doing? Andrew Walters I'm doing great. How are you? Billy McOwen It's good to see you, brother. So let me take care of some business right off

FOOLING DECOY-SHY DUCKS

HOW TO BRING EVEN THE MOST GUN-SHY DUCKS INTO GUN RANGE THIS SEASON. by Bob Humphrey The phrase “decoy-shy ducks” is a bit of an oxymoron. After all, ducks are gregarious, preferring the company of others of their kind. Decoys are meant to present that. Yet waterfowl seem to become warier, and ducks develop a knack for distinguishing decoys from the real thing with each passing day of the season. If you want to stay in the game, you may need to do like the ducks and modify your behavior

A DUCK HUNTER’S GUIDE TO ENJOYING THEIR DAYS AFIELD THIS SEASON

CONTROLLING THE CONTROLLABLES Brent Birch Duck season is now upon us with many seasons in the upper half of the country underway and southern states cranking up soon. By all reports, this could be a tougher than tough season given poor habitat on the breeding grounds this past spring and summer. No one truly knows, because the aerial surveys weren’t conducted due to COVID-19 protocols in Canada. How sports arenas and stadiums can be packed with fans but a couple of guys can’t get in an airplane

THE LICKING BRANCH

Bob Humphrey THIS SUBTLE, OFTEN UNDERRATED OBJECT MIGHT JUST BE ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT KEYS TO HONING IN ON DEER MOVEMENTS. One of the benefits to being a bowhunter is that you tend to have more opportunities to watch natural, undisturbed deer behavior. I was hunting over a scrape one afternoon when a decent buck - tempting, but too small for early in the season - appeared and slowly made his way to the scrape. First, he lifted his nose, and carefully inspected each twig of the overhanging

MANAGING SMALL PROPERTIES FOR DEER

PARRISH ELLIOTT TALKS ABOUT MOSSY OAK’S PROSTAFF Editor’s Note: Parrish Elliott of Fairview, Tennessee, is the regional manager for the members of the Mossy Oak ProStaff for Tennessee, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Georgia and Alabama. The ProStaff goes to consumer shows, participates in hunts for disabled veterans, conservation organization banquets, QDMA meetings, spring turkey seminars, deer shows and other outdoor functions where they represent Mossy Oak, meet the public and help the

HANGING MULTIPLE STANDS ON SMALL PROPERTIES

Heath Wood As I sat in my tree stand for the first time on a new piece of property, I could not help but wonder if I was in the right spot to get close enough to a deer to make a harvest. I acquired a new place to hunt from a local farmer during the first week of November. I knew that buck movement would be revving up during this time, which is why I opted out of thoroughly scouting the land like I usually do when I have a couple of months before hunting season. Not being prepared, I decided to