I had a nice Saturday of hunting. After I bird hunted, I went to one of my suburban deer hunting spots on Saturday afternoon 1/8/2011. It was cold and snowy, and I saw nothing but a fox from 2:30 PM to about 5:00 PM. Around 5 PM, things got interesting.

As I was fighting the numbness in my toes by wiggling my feet back and forth from my deer stand, I noticed a deer coming toward me on a heavily used trail. I gently grabbed my bow off its tree hook, and patiently waited. It took about a minute for the deer to pass the stand, but she was followed by 4 more — all does.

All of the deer kept looking behind them, so I waited a minute or two more. Seeing no other deer coming, I picked out the biggest doe and drew my bowstring. I put the pin on the vitals, and released the string. The string caught the hand muff I had around my waist, and the arrow went off to the right, driving straight into the ground. The deer bolted about 10 yards away, but to my surprise, they came right back! That’s when I heard a grunt.

I looked towards the grunt, and I saw a big-bodied deer coming down the trail. I then realized the deer was a buck. He walked by me at a quartering away angle. I picked a spot where I could drive an arrow through the left back quarter in front of the back leg and up through the vitals. Aware of my hand muff this time, I let the arrow fly. I saw and heard the arrow hit, and I watched the buck run away.

I waited about 40 minutes before coming down from my stand to look for the deer. I found my first arrow, but didn’t find the second — and I found no blood. With the newly fallen snow, I was able to find the buck’s tracks. I noticed that the tracks showed at least one limping leg, so I followed those tracks in lieu of any blood. Within 60 yards of my stand, I found the buck on the ground. He was a smaller rack 7-pointer with 3 points on one side and 4 points on the other.

Knowing I put a good shot on the buck, I filmed my tracking him. The video is below. (The video is a bit dark since I filmed it with my iPhone and a flashlight.)

Here is my Delaware hunting column from Thursday’s edition of The News Journal.

The allure of modern technology is sometimes too much to ignore when I’m sitting in a deer stand with little more to do than count falling leaves. I really tried to maintain focus during a recent deer hunt, but the familiar buzz of my iPhone provided me with a needed diversion.

The fully charged phone, set to vibrate mode, nearly shook me out of my tree. Hours of solitude and background noise provided by crickets, blackbirds and far-off geese lulled me into a heavy-eyed stupor that would normally have ended with the sound of a deer’s footsteps or a forceful forward head nod reminding me that sleeping in a tree is way too uncomfortable. This time, the vibrating phone in my right side pocket jolted me back to a heart-pumping reality.

Wearing a full-body harness over my multi-pocketed cargo pants and thick fleece camouflage shirt, I encountered some difficulty in getting to my buzzing phone. Since I loaded my pockets before I put the harness on, I didn’t realize that one of the harness’ leg straps was covering the pocket the phone was in, and making matters worse, the phone was at the bottom of the pocket (which also contained a grunt call, flashlight, and two bottles of deer scent).

As the phone buzzed, I awkwardly thrust my hand into the pocket with total disregard for the two uncapped spray bottles of deer urine that just happened to be situated in upright positions. It seemed like the double-pump of deer urine mainly saturated my glove, but unfortunately the hand inside that glove was now wrapped around my still-buzzing phone.

Grasping the phone with just my middle finger and thumb, I was mere inches away from answering the call. Pulling the phone out of the pocket, my bow trigger release briefly caught on the harness strap. The slight tug and break in my upward momentum was just enough to cause me to lose my grip on the phone, and I subsequently watched it tumble 20 feet to the leaf-littered ground below.

With about 45 minutes of prime hunting time left, my mind was torn between leaving the phone on the ground or climbing down to get it. Never one to back away from a challenge, I decided to climb down. After all, I could be down the tree steps and back up within a minute or two. What could happen?

Leaving my bow and backpack on their hangers at the top of the stand, I scampered down to retrieve my fallen phone. I picked up the face-down phone with my dry hand and flipped it over to see who called me at such an inopportune time. After several unsuccessful and frustrating attempts at unlocking the phone by sliding my gloved thumb over the touch screen, I knelt down, removed my glove, and swiped my index finger over the screen.

Then I heard a twig snap.

I quickly turned my head and saw a buck 15 yards from me. Instinctively, I reached to the ground for my bow. I reached again. Then reality kicked me in the gut and reminded me that my bow was still up in the tree. The buck saw me at the same time I saw him, and all we could do was stare at each other. Somehow knowing he was safe, he chewed a leaf, shook his head a bit, and silently walked away.

I did finally check the phone.

You would think telemarketers for a deer hunting magazine would know not to call during the late afternoon hours of deer hunting season.

Wild Turkey Hen decoy "killed" by a Bald Eagle in New Jersey

I was turkey hunting New Jersey Friday morning and used a photo-imprinted hen decoy. I set the lone decoy about 15 yards into a plowed field, and I set up on the tree line of the field’s edge. Around 5:45 AM, I saw a bald eagle flying toward me. The eagle passed over me, and I lost site of it. About 30 seconds later, the eagle swooped down and blasted my hen decoy!

I heard the sound of wings, the sound of the bird crashing into the decoy, and the sound of the inflatable decoy popping! I at first thought someone shot the decoy, until I saw the bird standing next to the deflated decoy dumbfounded. After collecting my wits, I tried to photograph the eagle with my iPhone, but all the only photo I managed to get was one of the eagle flying away.

The eagle stood next to the decoy for about 30 seconds, then flew to a nearby tree and screeched for 30 minutes.

I attached some images that show the talon marks (holes) in the decoy.

I am truly impressed with new technology used in decoy manufacturing. If that decoy fooled an eagle’s eyes, it should work very well on wild turkeys!

Author’s Note: Here is a ‘blogified’ version of the hunting article I wrote for The News Journal on January 7, 2010.

The decade of the 2000s brought about significant innovations in hunting-related technology and products.

While intriguing advances were made in just about all areas of hunting last decade, I (with some input from the online hunting community) managed to narrow the list down to  the top ten innovations that enabled us to hunt safer, improve our chances of harvesting game, enhance the quality of our hunts, and protect the environment.

10 – Improved, Easier-to-Use Muzzleloaders – Recent designs in inline muzzleloading technology give hunters an easier, more modern approach to muzzleloading. Simpler ignition systems, pre-measured powder pellets, modern bullets, and cleaner burning powders have led to improved performance and accuracy, decreased loading and reloading times, and less barrel fouling.

I have been using a .50 Cal. Magnum Thompson/Center Encore for about 5 years, and I absolutely love it. In fact, I would rather use my muzzleloader than a shotgun. According to the T/C web site, “using T/C’s Mag Express Sabots and a 250 grain Shockwave™ bullet with 3 Pyrodex Pellets, it produces a muzzle velocity of 2203 ft./second and it is lethal out to 200 yards!”

9 – Adjustable Full-Body Safety Harnesses – While full-body safety harnesses have been securing window washers, loggers, and similar workers for years, they have only recently been adopted by the hunting community. Newer, adjustable full-body harnesses provide hunters of all sizes with added comfort and security when hunting from elevated stands.

8 –Animated Bird Decoys – Arguments exist both for and against the use of spinning-wing and other types of animated decoys for hunting waterfowl, doves, and other game birds, but the simple fact is: these types of decoys are effective. Although spinning-wing decoys came to market in 1998, advanced models of animated decoys became more popular in the 2000s. There are animated decoys that swim, flap, fly, dive, and shake, and they can provide the needed movement that will entice birds to land in your spread.

When thinking of animated decoys, most people think strictly in terms of waterfowl. However, there are also some cool animated decoys for other birds. I have been using Reel Wings decoys for crow hunting for years! Reel Wings makes spinning-wing, kite-like decoys for pigeons, ducks, geese, crows, doves, and more!

7 – More Effective Non-Toxic Shot – Ever since lead shot was banned for U.S. waterfowl hunting in 1991, hunters have been looking for a more effective alternative to the steel shot of the 1990s. With waterfowl shells introduced during the 2000s using bismuth, tungsten-matrix, tungsten-iron, or HEVI-Shot (tungsten, nickel and iron) rather than steel, the effective range of shotguns has dramatically improved when using these newer shells.

While HEVI Shot is great for waterfowl, I also love HEVI-Shot HEVI 13 for turkeys.

6 – Scent-Eliminating Clothing – Hunters were introduced to a plethora of scent-eliminating (or scent concealing) products throughout the 2000s. Pants, shirts, jackets, hats, boots, and even clothing storage bags can now be purchased with scent-eliminating technology. While I don’t believe the clothing eliminates all human scent, I do believe it conceals enough scent to increase a hunter’s chances of success.

5 – Portable, Affordable, and Feature-Rich Digital Range Finders – Bowhunters and long-range rifle shooters welcome the advances in digital range finding technology that came to market during the 2000s. Smaller sizes, lower prices, and advanced features, such as angle range compensation, ballistics consideration, and weather condition allocation give hunters the data needed to make more accurate shots.

4 – Portable GPS Units and PLBs – Perhaps the greatest safety innovations that were introduced to hunters over the past decade were handheld global positioning system units and personal locator beacons. The underlying technologies are similar in that each relies on satellite networks to provide information regarding the user’s physical location, so I am grouping them together in this list. Affordable, compact GPS units provide hunters with turn-by-turn directions, topographic maps, compasses, and advanced features like best hunting time charts, altimeters, barometers, lunar tables, and cameras. When activated, personal locator beacons take a hunter’s positioning information and relay it to a worldwide network of search and rescue satellites, increasing chances of survival during an emergency. With some PLBs having features like integrated homing signals and strobe lights, they have proven to be lifesavers for thousands of hunters, boaters, and other outdoors enthusiasts.

3 – Trail Cameras – Without a doubt, trail cameras have become the best way to scout deer and other game. With their widespread introduction to hunters over the past 10 years, the cameras have enabled hunters to monitor hunting spots year-round without frequently disturbing the game. With cameras that have digital photo and video, infrared, and even wireless email capabilities, trail cameras give hunters a significant advantage over traditional scouting methods.

2 – Smart Phones – While the direct verbal communication with hunting buddies is great, today’s new cellular smart phones provide hunters with a full toolbox of hunting-related products, services, and data in the palms of their hands. Assuming adequate connectivity, a smart phone can provide silent communication (in the form of text messaging and email), GPS features, access to emergency services, maps, a digital camera, weather information, sun and moon tables, ballistics data, tide tables, reading material,  games, and just about whatever else software developers dream up.

Seriously people. My iPhone gives me just about everything I need! Truly, there IS an app for that. On my iPhone, I currently have the following apps: Sunset (shows sunrise and sunset times), Maps, WeatherBug, Flashlight, AIM, Facebook, Tweetie, Knots, Turkey Talk, a camera, and more!

1 – The Ever-Evolving Internet – Yup. The Internet. I know many traditionalists shy away from the power of the Internet, but its constant evolution truly has made the greatest impact on hunting in the 2000s. Think about it: without the Internet, many of the smart phone features don’t exist. Plus, the wealth of knowledge presented via the Web to hunters across the globe is priceless. Rather than making phone calls, sending letters, visiting libraries, and waiting for face-to-face reports, hunters can now instantly follow hunting stories via blogs and forums, track migrations via live video and social media postings, and get current harvest numbers via various sites. What’s more, hunters can research in-state and out-of-state hunting seasons, purchase licenses, attend safety classes, obtain maps, join conservation groups, research and book hunting trips, and more.

Are you are reading my blog? Enough said.
It proved rather difficult narrowing the list down to ten items, and I would be remiss if I didn’t point out some other innovations that deserve consideration.

• New camouflage patterns constantly came to market in the last decade, and most beat their predecessors in providing more effective concealment.

  I know there are a million high-tech camo patterns out there. However, in my opinion, here are the best two patterns on the market. For early season hunting, Predator Spring Green Camo. My hunting buddies and I wear Predator Spring Green from September through early November, and we wear it in the spring for turkeys. Trust me. It is proven. If you look in my book Hunting The First State: A Guide to Delaware Hunting, you will see several photos of us in Predator Spring Screen shirts, fleece pullovers, jackets, and pants. For cold weather hunting, I believe that woolen patterns of King of the Mountain are phenomenal. Bernie Parson is a local reseller who provides create King of the Mountain products.

• Photorealistic waterfowl, big game, turkey, and predator decoys also deserve honorable mention. Advances over the past ten years have led to more life-like decoys, which led to more successful hunts.
• Finally, odorless, insect resistant clothing (clothing made from fibers that are impregnated with insect repellent) is a wonderful innovation. Nothing can spoil a hunt quicker than the smell of aerosol bug repellent.