Not having any private land to hunt for most of my life, I have had . to adapt to the only areas that were available to me – public hunting . land in the form of wildlife management areas (WMAs). I have hunted on . public land in Kentucky for the last 15 years, and during that time have. had some good years and some bad ones. I hope with a few of these tips . that I have picked up over the course of those 15 years, you can be . successful with all the pressure that comes along with hunting public . land.. 1. Take your time to understand the rules of the area you will be . hunting. Public hunting areas often have a different set of rules, . seasons and/or bag limits than hunting on private land, and knowing . those rules is the first step to having a safe and successful hunt. Is . there a kill limit? A minimum spread size? (if you are not sure, don’t . shoot). There are some WMA’s that only allow one deer to be taken, so if. you go on a trip with the guys and shoot a doe on the first day, you . may end up in camp doing the cooking and cleaning for the rest of the . trip.....
Read More
Well, welcome to our very first Poor Boys Outdoors “No Bull” product review, where we promise to provide you with an unbiased, no fluff, get-to-the-point reviews of your favorite hunting related products. I had actually intended these to be “90-second Reviews”, but quickly found out that I couldn’t even begin to hit the high points in just 90 seconds. Hopefully a 4.5 minute video won’t bore you too much! .
Read More
“At what age do I start my son or daughter in archery?” That is a . question I have been asked many times over the past year. My answer is . always that it’s never too early to start a youth in archery. My . daughter Briley has been shooting some type of bow since she was 5 yrs . old. That is when she started showing interest in archery and I jumped . at the chance to introduce her to the sport.. The next question is, “Which bow do I get them?” The answer to that . question depends on the long term goal. Do they want to hunt or just . target shoot? There are a lot of bows on the market today to meet the . needs of any shooter and it’s up to them to decide what they want to do.. I will use my daughter as an example.. Briley’s only goal was to hunt from the beginning. She wants to shoot. everything from a turkey to a gator and everything in between. Needless. to say old Dad is going to have his hands full when she gets older. She. started on a toy bow from Bass Pro. This where she just learned the . basic’s of form, aiming etc. The arrows had suction cups on...
Read More
I have accumulated tons of special recollections over the course of my twenty years of looking. I will still vividly bear in mind the small print of my initial no-hit ruminant hunt, my first turkey, and my first smart buck with a bow. however all of those events pale as compared to look my eight year-old son squeeze the trigger on his terribly first deer – a big, mature doe; or watching him harvest his first gobbler this past spring. . Like most fathers who like to hunt, my hope has invariably been to lift my 2 youngsters to share my passion for hunting and enjoying the nice outdoors. That dream became clearly evident to my woman once I brought our first-born son home from the hospital in very little Mossy Oak bib overalls. i do know too several hunters, however, whose kids have mature up with little or no interest in following in their father’s footsteps when it comes to pursuing shooting sports, and I have often wondered what is it that separates those kids who develop the passion and those that don’t. While there’s no secure formula for obtaining and keeping our children concerned in hunting, there are definitely things that we will do as a parent or mentor to extend the percentages of them developing that womb-to-tomb passion....
Read More
When introducing a child to hunting, one among the foremost necessary parts to making sure their success and delight is providing them with the correct instrumentation – specifically the gun that they use. At a minimum, the kid ought to be ready to handle the gun safely, shoulder it properly, and in fact shoot it while not setting out a shoulder or sound them down! The final thing you wish to try and do is begin a kid out with them an excessive amount of gun or a gun that doesn’t match properly and cause them to become “gun shy.”. Fortunately for young hunters today, there are lots of choices once it involves selecting the proper gun. With the continued push to induce additional youth concerned in looking and also the outdoors, most all of the massive piece makers currently manufacture a range of youth model shotguns and rifles. In fact, there are means too several options to hide in one article, or to suggest only 1 or 2 for all youth hunters. that firearm is correct for your youth hunter is basically addicted to his/her size, build, shooting ability and what he/she are going to be hunting (not to say momma and dad’s budget!). the aim of this text is to easily take a glance at 3 nice youth...
Read More
Let’s face it – today’s hunters carry additional “stuff.” From binoculars to recognizing scopes, rangefinders to GPSs, further clothes, food and drink, and needs each occasion. so as to stay all this gear organized and still simply accessible, every hunter needs an honest backpack. whereas a number of us will get everything we’d like} into simply alittle daypack, others people need one thing with a touch more storage room. If you’re like Pine Tree State and match into the latter category, then you will want to present Fieldline’s Glenwood ravine internal frame backpack a look.. As with several of the looking things I purchase, value was a giant think about selecting a pack for the hunting season. At well underneath $50, there are only a few packs on the market with numerous options for thus very little cost. whereas it’s not a pack i might have chosen for per week of cervid hunting within the Colorado backcounty, it’s good for one or 2 day hunt visits that are additional typical of my hunting season, particularly if you’re packing television equipment to the field.. PROS. The Glenwood ravine internal frame backpack has a powerful 3,325 solid inches of space for storing divided among its large main compartment and 4 extra zippered pockets. this provides a hunter many area to pack all...
Read More
A whereas back I wrote a review on the Cabela’s Full Draw two blind that I had been dependably mistreatment over the previous few years. Considering that I only gave around $100 for it, the Full Draw had held up pretty well and allowed me and several friends the opportunity to harvest a number of turkeys. However, with my son beginning to pay longer with me within the field and my better half and girl showing an interest in tagging along, I created the choice early this year to start my explore for a brand new blind. . My expectations were straightforward enough – I required a blind with many room, plenty of shooting windows, made of a sturdy fabric, at an inexpensive price. That wasn’t asking too much, was it? In all honesty, I was really looking hard at the Primos Double Bull Dark Horse, but I just couldn’t get past the $400+ price tag. That’s when, whereas walking the aisles at the NWTF National Convention, I stumbled on a fresh blind by perissodactyl mammal Laboratories referred to as the Evolution XP-1. . The very first thing I detected concerning the perissodactyl mammal blind was the serious 600-denier polyester material wrapped round the large, five-hub frame. Material is what very appears to separate the “cheaper” blinds from the highest...
Read More
Most of us, at just one occasion or another, have flipped through the pages of our favourite looking magazines or browsed the pages of our favorite hunting websites and commented to ourselves on however “lucky” a number of the featured hunters were to possess harvested such tremendous animals. And for a few of these hunters, girl luck was so on their side. For others, though, specifically people who manage to require such trophies on an everyday basis, “luck” has very little to try to to with it. For these hunters, fortune comes within the type of months of preparation and time in the field. the top of the season for these guys is just the start of the next. If your goal is to reap a trophy buck this year, then don’t wait till Gregorian calendar month to begin scouting. Follow this easy four-season schedule and become a year-round student of the deer! . WINTER. By the first of the year, deer season is winding down across the country, and many hunters pack up their gear and kick back in front of the television to watch reruns on the Outdoor Channel. For the serious hunter, however, this is no time to rest!. If you’re fortunate enough to live in one of the states whose season extends into January, then by...
Read More
The idea for Poor Boys Outdoors started back in 2003 with an old Sony Hi8 camcorder, some camouflage tape, and a dream of capturing some great hunting footage to share with my friends and family. On my first hunt behind the camera, a big ol’ Kentucky longbeard charged right into the decoys at 20 yards and I got to video my 13 year-old nephew pulling the trigger on his first Eastern Wild Turkey. To say I was hooked would be an understatement!. It wasn’t long before I was finding and recruiting other guys who shared my passion, and the Poor Boys Outdoors TV show was born. For a couple of years, we ran locally in the Louisville, KY market on WBNA 21, and across much of Kentucky on the WAZOO sports network. Through the TV show, attendance at outdoor expos and our social media efforts, we began to develop a good following of great guys and gals.. However, a career change in November of 2011 led me and my family from Kentucky to Georgia, and put things with Poor Boys Outdoors on hold. I did what I could to keep up the website and our social media efforts, but the television show had to take a hiatus.. Now, as of August 2013, we have a great group of guys in...
Read More
If you’ve been a hunter for more than about 10 minutes, then you . probably recognize the phrase, “It’s not just a passion, it’s an . obsession.” Mossy Oak’s clever catch phrase is marketing genius and . paints the perfect picture of how many of us feel about our outdoor . lifestyle.. Now, before I get into the meat of the devotion, let me just say that. there is nothing wrong with having a passion. If fact, I believe that . God instills passions within each of us and we are given the opportunity. to use these passions to further His kingdom. The problem begins when . this passion truly turns into an obsession, or what we would biblically . refer to as an “idol”.. In Exodus 20: 3-4, we are clearly warned about having idols.. “You shall don’t have any alternative gods before me. You shall not bring yourselfan idolin the shape of something in heaven on top of or on the world below or within the waters below.” . Exodus 20: 3-4 . It is a fine line and one that is easily blurred. So, just how do we. determine when hunting – or anything else in our life – has become an . idol? If it becomes the primary focus of your life and is where you...
Read More
Most of us were taught growing up that practice makes perfect. For most things in life that is pretty sound advice, but when it comes to bowhunting, not all practice is equal.. There was a time, not too long ago, when archery practice consisted of a couple of square bales of straw and a paper plate or pie pan. We would strategically place our bales safely in the yard, attach our target, and proceed to step off twenty yards to begin a marathon practice session. Standing in perfect form, we would launch arrow after arrow into our bales, occasionally moving forwards or backwards to shoot at distances equal to those of the pins on our sights. This would go on until our arms got tired or we finally had a group that we were proud of. For many archers today, the quality of the targets has greatly improved, but the routine remains the same.. Don’t get me wrong – there is absolutely nothing wrong with this type of practice. In fact it is an excellent way to solidify one’s form and to train the muscles so that the shooting routine becomes second nature. It should be a part of every archer’s practice schedule. When it comes to preparing oneself for bowhunting, though, this type of practice has its limitations. The...
Read More
Myself and prostaffer Cory McBride recently spent the weekend on Lake Cumberland striper fishing with Captain Jim Durham and Captain Larry Ulmer of StriperFun guide service. As our luck would have it, we chose the exact date that the Corp of Engineers decided to open up the dam and start dropping the lake. Despite the setback, Larry and Jim were able to find the fish and we had a great time reeling in a mess of 24 to 28 inch fish. This was the first time that Cory and me had ever striper fished, so we were able to learn a lot and have a successful trip thanks to our guides. As always, we had the cameras rolling, and you’ll be able to see exactly how we did when the show airs sometime in August (we’ll keep you posted on the exact date).. StiperFun is based out of Lee’s Ford Marina, just outside of Somerset. The folks at Lee’s Ford put us up in a nice cabin and treated us to some first class eating at their restaurant, which was conveniently located just across the street from the cabin! If you’re interested in trying your hand at Striper fishing, or just want to spend a quiet weekend away at Lake Cumberland, contact the folks at Striper Fun and Lee’s Ford Marina and they will hook you...
Read More
With deer season just days away, to say I’m a little excited would be an understatement! The 7 month wait is over, and it’s finally about time to slip by into the deer woods and see if I can’t let the air out of a few deer – and capture it all on video. Of course, it helps to have a great looking 10-pointer coming in daily to pose for the Spypoint trail camera! But that’s not what really fires me up about the upcoming deer season. I’m excited because my son and wife will both be joining me in the deer woods this year with a bow in their hands for the first time. Now, that’s something to get stoked about!. After getting my son’s bow a few days ago from good friend and prostaffer Billie Crider, we headed out to Kings Archery to get it all set up. Scott and his staff do a great job of working with new shooters, taking the time to make sure the bow’s draw length and poundage were just right, and that everything on the bow was working as it should. Even though Dakota had never really shot a bow with sights/peep sight, they had him shooting a pretty decent group at 10 yards in a matter of minutes. Sure, it’s going...
Read More
LITTLE ROCK – The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s Wildlife Management Division is exploring antler restriction changes for several wildlife management areas and three deer zones. These antler restriction proposals are directly tied to habitat quality and harvest objectives.. Wildlife management division personnel have selected 16 WMAs scattered across the state that have excellent deer management potential. They will be managed as areas where hunters can go and have a good chance of taking a really nice deer.. A few of the WMAs on the list, like Moro Big Pine Natural Area, Rick Evans Grandview Prairie and Freddie Black Choctaw Island, have already been used as pilot areas for this process, and the regulations have proven to be very successful.. Bayou Meto, Cut-off Creek, Ed Gordon Point Remove, Henry Gray Hurricane Lake, Sheffield Nelson Dagmar, St. Francis National Forest, Trusten Holder, Mike Freeze Wattensaw and Harold E. Alexander WMAs would be affected by the proposed regulations. These WMAs have been under three different antler restrictions: three-point rule, four-by-four slot and a four-point rule or 18-inch main beam over the past several years.. The three-point rule has been largely successful in protecting 1½-year-old bucks, according to Dick Baxter, AGFC’s deer program coordinator. “Prior to implementation of the three-point rule during the 1998-99 season, approximately 85 percent of the state’s annual buck...
Read More
First off, thank you for following along with the new “Starting Over” blog here on the PBO website. This is the second entry in the series, so hopefully you took the time to read the first one, which highlights my recent move from Kentucky to Georgia to take a new job with the Georgia DNR. . I also hope that in reading this blog that you, regardless of whether or not you’re starting over, will find something to take away from it that will make you a better hunter.. This second entry is to bring you up to speed on what I’ve done during my first seven months here in Georgia to improve my odds for success this fall. I can tell you without hesitation, that I haven’t invested nearly as much time as I would have liked in serious scouting. Fortunately, I have the advantage of working and living on one of the primary WMAs that I will be hunting, which gives me the opportunity to learn a lot about the layout of the property and deer movement during the course of my daily work activities.. One of the biggest challenges of hunting the WMAs around me is the shortened and varied archery seasons. Unlike Kentucky, which opens most WMAs for the entire season, many of the areas down...
Read More
I’d like to tell you that I have been so busy getting ready for deer season, that I haven’t had time to post anything new in the Starting Over blog….but I’d be lying. I’ve been fairly busy, but its been work, church, family and developing this website more than it has been time in the field. And yet the clock keeps ticking!. Just over a month until deer season and I have no idea where my stand will be hung for opening day. It’s been so nasty hot, that it’s hard to get inspired to head into the woods to do much on-the-ground scouting. I did get the family out the other night for an evening sit on a big field on one of the local WMAs in the hopes of getting some footage of a really nice buck that I got a glimpse of about a week earlier. I only saw a side profile, but he was extremely tall and looked to have a good number of tines. It was just a glimpse, but enough to know he is a for-sure shooter this season. Unfortunately, he was a no show that night…in fact, we only saw 5 deer total, including the small buck below that slipped up behind us. A good time spent with the family, but not what...
Read More
With all the craze over the recent release of the iPhone 5, I got to thinking about what a difference smart phones have made to the way that many of us hunt…or at least the way we kill time in the treestand. In fact, it really got me wondering just what apps are available for us hunters. For the most part, there’s not a whole lot out there that I would describe as beneficial. In fact, two of the four apps discussed here are not really hunting apps, but I have included them because they are definitely useful to an avid hunter. So lets take a look at my 4 must have apps, and if you have a favorite, be sure to share with us in the comments section below.. 1) Accuweather . There are tons of weather apps out there, but this one seems to be the most popular, and every hunter needs to know the weather forecast. While most any weather app will give you the same information, Accuweather does so in a very neat and user-friendly layout. Sunrise and sunset times are right on the main weather page, which certainly comes in handy. Access to current weather radar maps is extremely important when the weather goes sour. There is nothing worse than getting caught in the treestand during...
Read More
Let’s face it, hunting public land can be tough…especially when you have never stepped foot on the property. There are some steps you can take, however, that will tip the odds in your favor when it comes to hunting a new area. Let’s take a look at five such steps that should help put you in range of that public land buck-of-your-dreams this fall.. 1) Go Aerial . Aerial photos, that is! Before I ever step onto a new piece of hunting property or WMA, I like to get a good feel for the area’s terrain and habitat by looking over aerial photos and topo maps. Thanks to the Internet and Google Maps, this is pretty simple process.. Once you have located the hunting property on Google, a lot of great information can be had from a high quality aerial photograph. You can differentiate the various habitat types: fields, stands of hardwoods, pine plantings, cedar thickets, etc. You can also locate water features, drainages, and potential travel funnels.. In addition to the habitat and terrain, don’t overlook studying the area’s access points on the map. This will give you a pretty good idea of where the hunting pressure will come from, as well as potential areas off the beaten path.. Now, with a basic understanding of how the hunting area layout,...
Read More
While there is no way to ever be 100% scent free – despite what some of the product manufacturers would have you believe – there are certainly measures that you can take to tip the odds in your favor when you head out to your favorite stand this fall.. CLEAN YOUR CLOTHES. The foundation to a good scent-control program starts with clean, scent-free hunting clothes. This can be accomplished by washing your clothes in a reputable, scent eliminating laundry detergent. Most any major brand geared towards hunting clothing should work fine, so don’t go spending a fortune on the latest, greatest thing. Just make sure that whatever you use doesn’t contain UV brighteners, which actually makes your hunting clothes more visible to deer. Before washing the clothes, I even go as far as running one cycle of the washer with just the detergent and no clothes to get rid of that “perfume” smell from our normal detergent. While this may be a bit overkill, I like to err on the side of caution when it comes to scent control.. Once your clothes are good and clean, you have two options for drying them. I prefer to hang them outside to air dry, where they can get a natural “outdoors” smell to them. If that is not an option, then you...
Read More
The rangefinder read 202 yards. That was far longer than any shot this Kentucky boy had ever taken at an animal, but it was a shot that I had practiced routinely in the weeks leading up to this hunt. I slowly slipped into a sitting position and rested my Sako .308 across the shooting sticks. As I steadied the crosshairs of the Simmons scope just behind the front shoulder, I took a deep breath to settle my nerves. With the bark of the Sako, I watched as my first Wyoming antelope fell in his tracks.. As I stood over my buck and got my first up-close look at one of these unique critters, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of accomplishment. The hunt had been my very first trip out west, and was a do-it-yourself endeavor, carried out completely on public land. Every minor detail had been carefully planned and replanned over the course of nearly a year. I would have never believed, just a few years earlier, that I would be this far from home on a hunting trip. It was truly a dream come true.. Nearly a year of planning and a little luck resulted in the harvest of this nice antelope on Wyoming public land.. If you have always dreamed of going on a western hunt,...
Read More
Typically, a conversation comparing Kentucky to Georgia would revolve around a sport with a ball…and that’s a can of worms that I wouldn’t dare open. What I want to talk about here is much more important than that!. With my recent move from Kentucky to Georgia, it didn’t take long to notice some significant differences in each state when it comes to hunting. Now, I will tell you up front, that I can’t point to either and say that one state is BETTER than the other. Each has its pros and cons. I can only point out the differences, and you can decide which would better suit your needs.. HUNTING ACCESS. The first thing that I noticed was that hunting access in Georgia is a lot different than in Kentucky. It seems that, in Georgia, you are either a member of a hunting club, or you hunt public land. Period. For those of us raised in Kentucky, hunting clubs are still a relatively foreign idea. While leasing in general is definitely becoming a common way to gain hunting access, there are still quite a few folks who hunt for free on property belonging to family, friends, or friends of friends. So, in private hunting access, the nod definitely goes to Kentucky.. When it comes to hunting public land, however, I...
Read More
I know what you’re thinking. What in the world does Bill Cosby, Morgan Freeman and Poor Boys Outdoors have to do with one another? Well, despite the recent rumors, all three are still alive and well! Let me explain.. If you’ve been a PBO fan for a while, or know me personally, then you probably know that I recently pulled up roots and moved from Kentucky to Georgia with my wife and kids. Actually, I moved down in December, and the family just got down here in June, after the house sold and the kids finished up school. Because of all that was involved with the move and career change, I decided it would be best to take a break from producing the PBO television show; at least until things calmed down a bit and life returned to something resembling “normal”.. Some of the guys involved with PBO wanted to continue on, and decided to start a new venture, which I was totally fine with. Unfortunately, the transition created some confusion, and some people were left with the impression that Poor Boys had simply changed names, or that it no longer existed. That was certainly not the case!. While the TV show might be on hiatus, we have been focused on providing informative and entertaining content through our website and...
Read More
For those of you following along, you know that one of the bucks that I am after is a nice 10-pointer that we’ve named “Mr. Crabs” because of his unique crab claw on the end of each main beam. Prior to the season opening, he was showing up every evening during daylight hours. Then, he suddenly moved to a more nocturnal pattern, only showing up every couple of days.. After hunting that stand twice and only seeing one small buck, a doe (which we couldn’t get a shot at), and a fawn. We were trying to play things smart and only hunt the stand once or twice a week, as to not wear the spot out. On Tuesday, September 15th, a cold front had passed through and temps were down in the upper 60s with a wind out of the north. Hoping this drop in temps would have the deer up on their feet, we headed to the stand with high hopes of filling a tag.. Around 7pm, a small buck slipped into our setup and started feeding. With an hour of daylight left, we were hoping this was a good sign of what was to come. Sure enough, not 15 minutes later, I spotted movement out in front of me. I could tell it was a decent buck, but...
Read More
A state or regional magazine, such as this one, is a great place for an aspiring writer to get their foot in the door.. Ever read through an article in your favorite hunting magazine, and thought to yourself, “I could write something like that!” Well, you very well could, but writing well and getting published are two different things all together. You can write like Ernest Hemingway, but if you don’t know how to market your articles, then they will never grace the pages of your favorite magazine. So what is an aspiring outdoor writer to do?. Let’s take a look at 5 steps to kick start your outdoor writing career.. 1) Start local or with a small column. While all would-be outdoor writers dream of seeing their article grace the cover of their favorite national hunting magazine, the best place to get your start is with a smaller state or regional publication. In my case, it was Kentucky Game & Fish Magazine that published my first article. Their parent company – Intermedia Outdoors – publishes a number of similar magazines for states across the country.. These types of magazines are often open to working with new or lesser known writers. The pay is often a good bit less than their national counterparts, but at least you will be getting paid...
Read More