Hey Bill-
Do the moon phases affect your hunting strategy?
Sorry- couldn’t resist lol!
So good to see you are back up and running.
MiloView post →
Bill, since does make up so much of the genetic makeup in buck fawns, do you think anyone has ever researched if these does display any characteristics we can identify to avoid harvesting them? Is it the lead doe, the curious doe that always looks for hunters, the big bodied doe? If we could ever identify which does have superior genetics to pass on to buck fawns it would help when doing our doe harvests each year. Obviously these does would be the ones NOT to harvest.View post →
Hey Bill,
I am a long time follower of yours and value your opinion and have learned a lot about archery and archery hunting from you!!
I own 76 acres in west central Minnesota. The property is mostly timber, with about 8 acres of food plots near the center of the property. We have a healthy deer population and good deer hunting in our area for Minnesota standards. I am in a decent neighborhood where most everyone passes young bucks (1-2 year olds anyway) and usually have a few 3 and maybe a 4+ year old class buck around every year. I live about 40 minutes from my land and haul all of my equipment to and from my land when I am up there doing food plot or habitat work; which in the spring and good portion of the summer is once a week or more.
The older I get, the less I like the drive, as well as having to load and haul all of my equipment to do work up there. I am thinking about building a 30'x50' shop/house on my hunting property. Most (30x30) of it would be garage/storage space where I can store my tractor, 4 wheeler, sprayer, stands, etc., and then about 600 square feet of cabin, so I can spend the night up there on weekends during hunting season and a warm spot to go in the winter when I am up there doing habitat work or trapping.
I have kind of determined that the SE corner of the property that butts up to the neighbors large barren pasture to be the best spot for this (least amount of deer activity, right off the road, the cabin would be in the timber surrounded by trees, and in the SE corner which avoids prevailing NW winds).
What are your thoughts on building cabins or shacks on hunting properties? Do you see negative impacts of this? I don't want to completely mess up my hunting by building a cabin/garage though.
I would greatly appreciate your thoughts on this.
Thanks!!!View post →
Bill,
I reached out a couple years ago. I work for MSU Extension and pitched the validity of the idea about a blood enzyme indicator for organs hit by a broad head which may determine recovery time plans. You seemed to think is had potential, but my idea died with MSU wildlife biologists.
Having said that, if you still do consider It worth pursuing consider the idea yours if you know who may want to invest time in the research.
Second, as I type this I’m watching an ozonics pitch on Pursuit channel with you and few other guys. You and a couple of the guys seem to be in a pretty good physical shape. My career with Extension always makes me think out of the box creating program ideas.
Probably a crazy idea, but as a 52 year old guy a lot of my motivation to stay in shape is for my outdoor hobbies like hunting, kayaking, or fishing. They give me drive to work out since I’m not an athlete anymore.
And as an avid outdoor show fan, I’d love to see a show that married the two hobbies or passions together. Could probably get an endless supply of sponsors and pro/college athletes to be on the show or just everyday hunters that stay in shape like you guys just to keep hunting.
Half show hunting, other half work outs and Healthy recipes with wild game.
Probably a crazy idea, but just thought I’d share with you.
Best Wishes Bill!
Miss seeing you on MWW!
Regards
JimView post →
Bill, I see that you said you used to plant the whole farm to corn back in its hey day. Did you plant your fields corn to corn for several years in a row? Did you see much decline in the soil quality if that was the case? Im assuming you did that for the level of cover you had with it and then the late season food it provided. How about other small food sources that would feed the deer during the year when corn wasn't doing much of anything in the way of providing nutrition? I assume you had other plots such as clover, alfalfa and brassicas etc.?View post →
[D&S OUTDOORS VIDEO TIPS AND SUGGESTIONS]
Hello Bill!
My name is Tyler Smith, I and my best friend (Jared Doty) have started a YouTube channel called "D&S Outdoors" (D&S = Doty and Smith) where we self-film and produce hunting and fishing content currently on YouTube only.
Here is our Channel Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ROTYNGWegs
I am looking to ask you a couple questions regarding Hunting videos and building a loyal audience.
Based off of your own filming success and video quality, I really value your opinion/knowledge of what it takes to make good videos on a consistent basis. With that said, here are the questions I have for you Bill.
Questions:
(We like the idea of story-telling/commentating as the video unfolds)
Q1. From our buck videos (BELOW), do think our story-telling allows the viewer to connect to the story well? Are there any ways you think we can improve regarding the viewers connection?
(My best video) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUAT18P2zWA
(Jared's Best Video) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sl55yilBe6c
(My 143 inch buck) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3njrXSFbzg0
(Building Relationship with Viewers is a Goal)
Q2. With us as a small channel getting started, what options do you feel are best with creating a following and relationship with viewers?
Here our my current ideas regarding building relationship with viewers; Consistent update vlogs in-season and off-season, or livestream periodically with news updates.
We feel like we know the direction we want to go in the outdoors career field with this possible company. Getting help or insight can help us learn and grow faster. Especially help from a person like yourself, whom we trust the knowledge and experience of regarding building a company, filming, and hunting.
Thank you SO MUCH for taking time out of your day to help us, for this is not a short exchange.
We all have our own schedules in life so we understand if you don't get back to us right away.
We wish you the best success,
Tyler, Jared, and the D&S Outdoors team.View post →
I bought 95 acres of grassland (easement with flexibility) this summer, It's nearly all grass. Lots of the grass has faded and turned into smooth brome and by December is 2ft tall only, which is terrible cover. It seems cover is my main issue. There are very little trees, maybe an acre or two of shrubs and the rest grass. I plan to plant about 500 evergreens around borders and some in travel corridors, along with some hardwoods and shrubs. I'm 35, so I figure in 15 years it should be something.
In the meantime, my goal over the next 2-3 years is to continue planting trees and improving the grass. There is a new variety of switchgrass called RC Bigrock Switchgrass that is thick and can grow to 7'.
My question is, if I improve say 30 acres of grass and get good stands of thick, tall switchgrass, do you think I will hold a lot more deer, specifically bucks? The farm seems to hold a decent amount of does (maybe 6-8), but bucks don't seem to bed there much. Definitely is a rut farm as the bucks roll through during rut though.
The switch planting I'd think will improve my deer hunting as well as pheasant hunting (which is my #2 goal).View post →
Hi Bill,
My question is on doe harvest. How do you determine if your property has too many does? And when is your preferred time to take them? And most importantly - Do you find that taking them off certain plots, fields, etc affects your ability to harvest mature bucks in the same areas? Much appreciated, love the content.View post →
Bill,
I'm in my late 20s and in the early stages of my land ownership journey. I purchased my first property last year (a 40 here in Iowa) and have since sold it and worked my way into a 120. As I plan toward the future, I always like to begin with the end in mind, and I often debate whether I ultimately would like one larger hunting property or multiple smaller ones. You pieced together one large, continuous farm and my question is; if you had a magic wand and could do it all over, would you again opt for purchasing one big farm or would you spread it out with a couple different ones and why? Let's say I'm asking you this with the goal being strictly to have opportunities to hunt mature bucks.
Thanks for your time, Bill. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you & your family.View post →
Bill,
Merry Christmas to you and your family. I thank you for answering my previous question a number of months ago. My question for you is your opinion of the activated carbon technology in hunting clothing for the purposes of scent control. Does it work? Or Do you think it works if done properly and thoroughly by the hunter? If you haven't tried it, would you try it? I'm just wondering your opinion because I respect it and I know you are very candid and fair. Thank you.
Very Respectfully,
Bill GView post →