FEBRUARY NEWSLETTER – IS SPRING OUT THERE? PUNXSUTAWNEY PHIL FEELS NOT!
/FIELD REPORTS
· As winter moves into “full speed ahead” mode this week, thoughts of breaking out of the “bunker,” for some sort of “unsupervised” activity, come to the forefront. We all want a pardon and some space.
· The winter has not put a lot of stress on our wildlife, but this last storm is a doozy! The condition of the mammals looks good, and we hope the birds are doing well.
· As I wrote, the Winter Armageddon 2021 rolled in, let see what happens out east, not real unusual there.
· Duck season, way up and way down. Birds never moved south to the lower valley. Lots of geese though, everywhere it seems. Not a lot of rain to float a boat in Mid Valley, so it was tough conditions also.
· Sauvie’s Island was very scattered, with its usual pattern of late season, too much water, birds spread out and geese hammering the feed and pushing the ducks out of it. This is a new phenomenon that has been occurring for the last few years and something I don’t know a cure for, other than bigger limits during the season and later hunting as the cacklers are going nuts.
· As you read through, you will find some links to handling your big game and gamebirds after the hunt!
· Under geese, these guys don’t even wear masks, they just showed up to rob the place
HEY, IS ANYONE GOING TO FEED ME!? GOOSE SPRINGSTEEN GETTING READY TO STRIKE THE FOOD BANK!
ONCE SOMEONE STARTS DOING THIS YOU ARE HARD TO STOP, BUT THESE GEESE AREN’T HUNTED - PARK GEESE
· Wintering deer, we observed in WA were in great shape, lots of rain so far up there. While on a depredation hunt and Coyote adventure (coyotes never got the memo that they were supposed to show,) we had a young lady, 10 years young, made a great shot on a deer, and man she was so happy, thought she shot a 200+ B&C buck. Looks like we got another hunter to vie for our limited buck slots in WA.
· We have added to our holdings in WA, about 3500 acres adjacent to the Blankenship Farm near Washtucna, a strong addition to our quiver of holdings. 17,500 acres, all part of East Scablands Hunt Club, plus the other properties we hunt.
· Possible we will add more ground to the mix near the Ritzville-Lind-Odessa Triangle, West Scablands Hunt Club. So, more slots for deer and birds.
· Also added more ground in N. Central WA, for both bow and rifle seasons and late bow whitetail rut hunts. We have created some great packages for both DIY, assisted DIY, and various lodging and meal options.
· Dog training started early, but the snow is fighting me currently. Book your dog soon, and also, you’re conditioning and tune up training.
2020 WASHINGTON BUCKS - NICE GOING
BIG GAME WASHINGTON – PROSPECTS AND OPENINGS
ALL OF OUR ADVERTISED HUNTS ARE OVER THE COUNTER TAGS
MODERN RIFLE WASHINGTON GENERAL BUCK SEASON
FIRST HUNT OCTOBER 16TH TO OCTOBER 19TH
SECOND HUNT OCTOBER 23RD TO OCTOBER 26TH
(further down the newsletter more WA hunts)
Most of our hunts are DIY with a few guided.
DEFINITION OF A DIY HUNT: You will be assigned a scouted parcel of land for the hunt. The parcel is for you or your groups exclusive use during the hunt period. We will be checking in with you and monitoring your progress and overall hunting experience to keep track of your hunt. Upon your harvest of an animal and field dressing, we will haul your animal out. We are a strictly foot hunting operation and that’s why we have 90% success.
We have a large number of spots filled for rifle season, and are awaiting those deposits before we open any spots at out Washtucna base ranch for both first and second season. We have a couple of spots available for the Starbuck Ranch, first and second season. Ritzville-Odessa-Lind Ranches we have spots available first and second season. In units and also up Republic, Northern Lights, see below.
In N. Central WA we have spots available for both rifle seasons with various packages available.
General Bow Season in September, same great area, spots available, along with Muzzleloader season in early October. NORTH CENTRAL WASHINGTON WHITETAIL
Late Rut Whitetail Season – Nov. 10 to Dec 15 GMU 101 & 204. This is a great bow hunt, with a number of hunts already sold, so this one needs this a priority if interested. We could be hunting in Snow. It is a 4 day/5-night hunt. We pick up 5 nights at the K Diamond K Ranch /Lodge, with meals. We are hunting relatively small parcels, 60 to 500 acres, and the hunting is really sitting and rattling, grunting etc. We are in great zone for Whitetail, in the San Poi, Kettle River drainages.
It is $2495 per hunter DIY, though we set the blinds, get you to them, and pattern the deer. $2995 for a DIY /Hybrid, we will be more involved in the hunt with making sure you are doing things the right way on a continual basis. The License and tag are $434. We aren’t doing a lot of spot and stalk, though some. You have to sit and wait. But with good cell service, most places, and a heater that won’t bother the deer, it can be comfortable and successful. We will haul your deer in after it is field dressed, or help with that, hang it, and help you skin it, or we can do that. Thus, the DIY or Hybrid DIY. Or we do a complete guided hunt.
We put up the blinds, pattern the deer, scout, so that part we help with the DIY. The patience (being in one place for a number of hours, you hear these horror stories from hunters from the West who went somewhere to hunt Whitetail in the Rut, but it is not that bad. In Texas they drop you at 5 or 6AM and don’t comeback until dark, and it can be cold as hell,) the cold (we put heaters in the blinds that don’t bother the deer,) and we don’t have the pressure that all the other areas of the state have, which really is nothing, a few outfitters target Bow Hunting Rutting Whitetail, but definitely a different experience. Over the counter tags are nice.
A SMILING DAD DURING BUCK SEASON AND DAUGHTER’S FIRST DEER LATER ON
This is a great piece on how to manage your animal, after the harvest, Good read.https://sportingclassicsdaily.com/confessions-of-a-deer-processor/?utm_source=Sporting+Classics+Daily+Email+List&utm_campaign=d16e20749b-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_01_14_06_32_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_d9203652ee-d16e20749b-70290577&mc_cid=d16e20749b&mc_eid=58092845f0
2021 TURKEY – IT IS GETTING CLOSE
TURKEY SEASON People are booking dates already so get on board, the train will leave the station without you. John McClay will help again along with a couple of other Gents. Hatch is incredible. Lots of new birds everywhere. Nesting season this year appears to be a better hatch than 2018, which was huge. The beauty of having ranches and farms all over Douglas County we are lucky we can spread things out and go where it suits conditions and bird numbers
We had a very successful Fall season, which we don’t normally hunt, but there are just so many birds. If you want to hunt this Spring, let’s get a date booked. We have lots of people inquiring on dates and already have quite a few bookings. Just like the deer spots, people want to know they can get out and enjoy the outdoors with us.
Again, this year our primary area of hunting is in SW Oregon again this year. We hunt north, west, some east and south of Roseburg. All of your longtime favorite spots in the vicinity of Oncilla, Sutherlin, Melrose, Days Creek, Oakland, Myrtle Creek, Rice Hill, and Green Valley. And new spots in Oakland, Myrtle Creek and North Umpqua. We have added a big ranch on the North Umpqua and two more farms, one in the Yoncolla area, one in the Lookingglass area near Roseburg. We also have some good access in the Junction City area and building more up in the middle valley. We are fortunate to have that kind of access. We are still headquartered at Rice Hill, but we have now other options to the south of the bird population necessitates an additional headquarters top hunt out of.
We will be adding some guided hunts in North Central Washington near Republic, WA, some lodge based. This is part of the hunt club we are adding in that area, “Northern Lights Hunt Club.” Also working with the K Diamond K Ranch for rooms and lodging, check it out www.kdiamondk.com
We have plenty of good dates available, so still time to book a hunt. Give me a call or an email. Spring is almost here that means “TURKEY TIME!”
WE ALSO HAVE GUIDED TURKEY HUNTS AT REPUBLIC, WA AT THE NORTHERN LIGHTS HUNT CLUB PROPERTIES
TURKEY TIP OF THE MONTH:
John McClay contributed this “nugget.” Book a hunt and you can hunt with him, he is the best, the record proves it, and you will learn a lot, as I do whenever we “Talk Turkey”!!!!
MID DAY HUNTS.
Time for a nap, sure, however, if you are not sleepy, keep this in mind.
Those gobblers have to be somewhere and it is probably without hens.
A quiet set up in the area you last saw gobblers can be very productive.
SHOOTING: FAQS
Frequently when booking hunts people ask me about what rifle and or cartridge to bring. My answer is usually based on these questions back to them, usually circling around Mule Deer as the target in the hunt.
· What do you currently shoot?
· What distance do you feel comfortable shooting at, maximum yardage?
· What big game have you harvested in the past?
I usually suggest. .270 Winchester, 7MM, maybe 300 Winchester. What’s missing? 30.06, 6.5 Creedmoor, .308 Winchester, .300 Winchester Short Mag to name a few. Are there other calibers yes, but these are the ones I suggest and say to avoid in the second group? In my experience the calibers in the first sentence perform and don’t overpower the shooter. Sorry for all you Creedmoor guys, not a fan. 30.06, only handloads and practice make that caliber effective at 300+ yards. Lots of others but for deer, these really can make it happen.
Next month, we talk about what type of bullet I think is best.
SPRING /SUMMER DOG TRAINING
We started training a bit in earnest now as we have 4 feet of snow, but doing fine. Get with me to book space for conditioning and regular training. We will have just few spots available this year.
DOG TRAINING TIP OF THE MONTH -FAQS
So, your dog jumps on you… really?? We do this to ourselves. Picture young pup, he or she is cute and cuddly and born to be held. So, you bend down and pick them up when they run up to you, and hold them. This goes good for about 4 or 5 months. Then fast forward, 80-pound Labrador who comes to you and jumps up because they want to be held! Viola, that is how it ends, so curtail the “running up to you and picking them up “as they get older, the habit will be easier to break and easier on older folks and the young ones in your outfit they tip over.
RECIPE CORNER
Will try to have a recipe every newsletter, if you have one to share send it our way. Obviously, this is from a serious bird hunter, loves to cook what he shoots!
BEER-BRAISED PHEASANT
Braising in beer breaks down the tough legs and thighs of wild pheasant while
The garlic adds incredible flavor to this easy dish.
INGREDIENTS:
Legs and thighs from 3-4 pheasants
1 1/2 TBL flour
1 onion sliced
5-6 cloves of garlic smashed
2 tablespoons Cabela's Open Season
Roasted Garlic & Beer seasoning
COOKING INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Place all ingredients in a large oven bag, set inside a roaster pan
Or another oven safe pan. Twist the bag closed and tuck the opening
Under the bird. Make a small slit in the top of the bag as a steam vent.
3. Transfer dish into the preheated oven and roast for 1 hour and 15 minutes.
The meat should easily fall from the bones and tendons. Serve over brown rice.
HITTING THE HIGH SPOTS IN WASHINGTON
Northern Lights Hunt Club -- We will have a variety of hunts available near Republic, WA on the Northern Lights Hunt Club ground, some new for 2021, WITH LIMITED AVAILABILITY. We have some Modern Rifle, both DIY and Guided, Regular Season Muzzleloader and Bow. Late season Bow for some real quality Whitetail. The Website outlines hunts, seasons and prices, with some other variables will soon be added for lodging. This is a departure from out wide-open spaces hunts, hunting on some quality private land, with timber, not much brush. Very beautiful. Our bow hunts will be on set up blinds and some spot and stalk, with the Whitetails very prevalent early on in the Bow Season. www.kdiamondk.com will host our overnight hunts with lodging and meals in this very fine operation. Also, some special rates for our youth hunters in this club for big game.
Scablands Hunt Club -WEST, we have some modern rifle available in this club, this is a tough hunt, east of Moses Lake. This season we did not hunt it, should have, lots of deer around, so we concentrated our efforts in our other operations in I will publish all the offerings in the next newsletter.
As mentioned, it has some good bird hunting opportunities and the deer of course. This hunt will be priced below our EAST hunts, as a value to our hunters, also the East hunts for deer are basically sold out.
LAST ROOSTER STANDING SHOOTING PRESERVE-WA
We are doing hunts now, but the pheasant and chukar shortage meant we had to not take any new bookings based on available inventory. We are scouring the country looking for birds. Lots of folks moving back into outdoor pursuits, way better than being bunkered up!!
BIRD HUNTING PICS FROM SCABLANDS, LOTS OF SOLO HUNTERS BUT THEY STILL DID GREAT
GOOD LINK ON HOW TO AGE YOUR GAMEBIRDS FOR A BETTER EATING EXPERIENCE
https://projectupland.com/wild-game-recipes/how-and-why-you-should-age-your-upland-birds/