Category: Deer Hunting
Bulls, Bucks, and Tractors! – Episode #357
New Video
Watch this video to see how we battle the challenges and adventures of early season hunting. From Colorado elk hunting to the opening weekend of Missouri archery season – see the hunts unfold here! Plus, learn about an experimental technique used to improve soil health.
Short Clip:
Ever lost a blood trail? Watch here to learn the techniques we use to blood trail game.
New Weekly Blog: When is the best time to tag does?
Click here to learn when antlerless deer should be harvested.
Tip of the Week:
It’s time to start monitoring utilization cages! This information may guide you to a hunting hot spot.
A Warm-Up For Deer Season – Episode #356
New Video
Deer hunters aren’t the only ones getting ready for fall! Watch to see how whitetails are preparing for the cooler temperatures. Plus, realistic archery practice makes perfect – make sure you are on target this season with these practice tips!
Short Clip:
See the strategy we will be using to intercept deer on their way to a major feeding food plot!
New Weekly Blog: How to Respond to Consistent Deer Movement
Ever wonder the best way to capitalize on deer movement? Learn the techniques we use here!
Tip of the Week:
Make venison ready for the freezer: remove the connective tissue for better tasting meat.
Surefire Scouting Strategies – Episode #355
New Video
Early season hunting strategies can differ across the whitetails range. Here at The Proving Grounds we get boots on the ground to look for sign and the early season attractants. See how we use two different methods of scouting to be in the game as season opens. Watch to get your season started with success!
Short Clip:
Are you looking to find that last minute hunting hot spot? Learn the top 10 factors we consider when placing stand locations.
New Weekly Blog: How To Gain MRI
Deer adapt to conditions throughout the season. See how we capture MRI or Most Recent Information to stay successful throughout the fall.
Tip of the Week:
Keep your eye out for fresh deer sign. Scrapes are beginning to open up!
How To Gain MRI
I’ve got to keep it brief today! The sound of sprinkles are chiming off the tin roof. The Proving Grounds hasn’t experienced rain in weeks. This rain isn’t going to end the drought, but we are hopeful it will refresh our planted food plots as well as give life to seed we plan to broadcast.
This camera was placed to overlook an entire food plot. It captured MRI of a buck we call Handy.
In final preparations before season opens we are adjusting our trail cameras to provide us with the Most Recent Information (MRI) throughout the entire season. This means placing our Reconyx cameras on scrapes or monitoring food plots using the time lapse feature.
The time lapse feature on trail cameras is an extremely valuable tool to deer hunters. When cameras are placed properly overlooking a field on the time lapse feature they replace the need for humans to scout. The trail camera gathers more information about when deer are coming and going, feeding, as well as entering and exiting the field in a week’s time than a personal scouting trip into the field. Not to mention they are scent free.
We place trail cameras high in trees and set them to take photos on five, ten, or fifteen minute intervals for the first few hours of daylight and then again during the last few hours of daylight. This provides us the information we need to hunt successfully. Our hunting strategy discourages hunting directly over food plots, but these trail cameras show us which trails deer are using as they enter the plot. With this data we can select the stand that will intercept those deer as they make their way to the food plot. Hunting deer in transition allows the food plot to remain a safe feeding destination, ensuring deer keep returning.
We’ve used this strategy for years and much of our success is based around gaining MRI and adapting quickly to changes just as deer commonly do. Prior to season, set your trail cameras to cover large food plots using the time lapse feature. Scout scent free all the way through the season, gaining valuable MRI day by day.
Rain is coming in, so the seed must get sown!
Enjoying Creation together,
Matt
Tracking Down A Hit-Lister – Episode #354
New Video
As deer season opens across the country we show the steps it takes to pattern a mature buck. See the tips and tools we use to pattern and hunt mature deer this fall. You can use these same strategies to track down a hit-lister!
Short Clip:
Avoid the common mistakes in self-filming. Watch to see the latest and greatest tips on the proper techniques used to video a deer hunt!
New Weekly Blog: Hunting When The Temperature Rises
Will you be deer hunting during the early season? Learn how our stand placements are chosen to stay hot when the temperatures rise.
Tip of the Week:
Before bow season opens be sure to practice with broadheads. Double check your sights before heading to the stand.
How To Get Deer In Range: Scent Control Techniques
With hunting season around the corner it’s important to get your hunting gear and equipment ready for action. One of the most important parts of this is removing foreign odors. We want to get the bucks in close without them detecting our scent. Watch to see the process we take to get our gear scent free for deer season. This process has been vital to our past successes when bow hunting and getting the bucks within bow range.
The Center Of Attention
Building the “Hit List” for The Proving Grounds every summer is always one of my favorite projects. Familiar faces begin to show up in front of our Reconyx cameras, as well as new bucks that increase our heart rates. My favorite part of the process is building the story with a buck over the years. If we can capture images of an immature buck, uniquely identify him, and follow him until he reaches maturity, then have the chance at putting a tag on him, that’s our dream!
One buck we have followed over the last three years, Handy, is turning into a great buck! Watch the video to hear more about this great buck!
For Love of the Land,
Adam
Are you SCOUTING yet? – Episode #344
New Video
We are! See the video this week when Adam and Matt take to the Redneck Blinds in search of hit list bucks in the Eagle Seed plots. Their early scouting pays off when a mature buck decides to step out of the timber. Do you think he will make the 2016 hit list?
It’s dry and hot here at The Proving Grounds. What does this mean and should we be worried? Watch how these conditions can wreak havoc on a deer herd.
Have you heard of CWD or Chronic Wasting Disease? Grant shares how it can affect your hunting, plus what YOU can do to limit the spread of CWD.
Short Clip:
Take a stroll down memory lane! Watch as a Halloween treat closes the distance into bow range!
New Weekly Video Blog: How To Capture Bucks On Film
Want to get velvet bucks in front of your camera? Matt shares some strategies we use each summer to watch our hit-listers develop!
Tip of the Week:
Get your sight picture correct from the start. Remember to practice aiming for the lower 1/3 of the vitals on a 3-D target this summer!
The Last Bow Hunt – Episode #322
The final evening of bow season didn’t let us down! Adam connects and lays his eyes on what could be next season’s prize!
Trapping season continues and the predators have been working our Duke traps. Learn how we change our sets as the season progresses and the temperatures become colder.
Are there many cedars on your Proving Grounds? Watch to find out why we are aggressively trying to remove these trees. We will share the steps we take to turn cedar thickets back into productive areas for wildlife!
Tip of the Week:
Deer sign remains very visible even after season closes. Scout new areas! Odds are good that you’ll find a new hunting location.
The Riddler Is Down! – Episode #320
Seth Harker was on a mission. His plan was to figure out a tricky old buck whose pattern was a riddle. The answer to this riddle was a cold weather pattern that narrowed Seth’s search to a patch of Eagle Seed beans.
When temps rise, try the clover! That’s what Grant did and deer weren’t the only animals he found. Watch as Grant arrows a fine winter turkey!
Pee-eww!!! There’s a skunk in the trap! We don’t actively target skunks, but skunks will demolish turkey and quail eggs. The big question: Once you’ve caught a skunk, how do you get a skunk out of the trap? It could be a stinky situation. We will show you how we do it without getting a dose of cover scent!
Tip of the Week:
Reminder!
Now is the time you can take predator pressure off poults ’n fawns.
