Take a youngster hunting

If you ever need to feel a breath of fresh air just find a small son or daughter to take hunting.  It will be a trip that you will not soon forget.  I enjoy seeing the woods through the eyes of my 7 year old girl Emily.  She has question about little things that I've not really considered since childhood.  We usually spend about as much time getting ready to hunt as we spend in the woods.  It starts with packing enough snack to supply a small army.

  Then we have to take all the accessories along, deer calls, cover scent, binoculars, face paint, extra flash lights.  You name it and we pack it to the stand.

 

After we get the truck parked and get unpacked we usually have to spray each other with enough cover scent to last the rest of the hunting season and well on into turkey season.  Then we start the march to the stand.  I'm sure we sound like a army marching in procession as we pass by.  We often stop and talk for several minutes about different type of tracks that we encounter on the road or path.  Emily always finds the neatest flowers growing wild along the trail.

 

We sometimes spot endangered bugs and crazy looking worms.  We once found the biggest anthill in South Alabama, you ask how I know because Emily told me so.  At some point during the trip I realize that I don't know half as much about the outdoors as I think I do.  She will ask me,  Daddy what kind of bird makes that noise?  Dadddy what type of bee is that?  Dadddy why can I not shoot that doe?  All great questions and I hope to have the answer someday.  But until then I'll just enjoy making up whatever answer comes to mind.   

  

We like to do some fishing too.

That's me on the Left and Dad in the middle. 

 He spent alot of time taking me and my brother hunting when we were small and now it's something we enjoy doing with our famlies.

question or comments:

alakingfish@gmail.com

Shelby Byrd

ConQuest Scent Sticks

We have some Exciting News!

ConQuest Scent Sticks shared some of their products for our blog to review.

http://conquestscents.com/

ConQuest is a leader in the market and has developed some awsome products for many different hunting applications. If you have a dog to train for bird hunting (quail,duck,grouse,pheasant) or even coon hunting you need to check the ConQuest web site: http://conquestscents.com/product-category/hunting-scents/dog-training/

Look for reviews in the next couple of months on these great looking products.

This is the Ever Calm Deer Herd Scent Stick.  This product is a great alternative to liquid scent.  You rub this stick on a tree, rock, maybe a fence post and it will last longer than a traditional liquid.  This seems to me would be idea for scouting and use in front of a game camera.  I plan to put it to use in the near future and see what shows up.

Ever Calm Liquid Deer Herd

This is a calming liquid scent and is used in a hanging Stink Stick.

This is a resealable hanging dispenser and looks to me to be well sealed and very durable.

Conquest Scent Sticks has a lot to offer the average hunter.  They have cover scents, predator scents, pig scents, and several others.  My little hunting buddy Emily said she can't wait to try some of ConQuest Venison Meat Sticks.  Man do those Venison and Jalapeno Cheese Sticks sound great.

Check out the ConQuest Web Site:

http://conquestscents.com/

or reach them by phone or mail:

                                                           Phone: (888) 653-2759
                                                            Fax: (810) 653-2809
                                                              ConQuest Scent Sticks

PO Box 219 Davison, MI 48423

Thanks for viewing our blog

alakingfish@gmail.com



My First Deer

My Nephew killed his first deer and at the age of eleven. He

 was so excited about it he put a story together for a school project.

My First Deer

By: Colton Byrd

11/22/06

On November 22 my Dad and I decided to take a little hunting trip. It was a very cold afternoon with a hard wind blowing from the North.  We packed on the layers of clothing and were off to spend some time together in the woods.  I was excited to be going to my Grandfathers hunting camp in Stapleton Alabama.  I chose to hunt the large field where we saw many deer tracks in the grass.  We got in the blind about 3:00 pm and a flying squirrel jumped on my back and scared me half to death.  Shortly afterwards we got settled and the deer started moving.  Many deer where eating or passing through the field mainly doe and smaller bucks but we had to pass on them.  After sitting a while longer we could see another larger deer entering across the field.  As the deer moved into the field dad said there's one now get your gun ready.  I could see through the scope it was a nice six point.  I was breathing hard and heavy and my hands were shaking.  I was finally able to calm down, I took a deep breath and got in a good shooting position. I waited for the deer to turn to give me a better shot, my dad was putting up his binoculars and POW!  I got him!  I was so happy to kill my first deer so I got up and ran across the field to see him.  That was the hunt of my life.

When we arrived at Pawpaw's house we took pictures and cleaned the deer. My dad put some blood on my face to celebrate my first deer kill.  We took some pictures and will share the memories for the rest of our lives.  I was so happy that I could hardly sleep that night.
By: Colton Byrd

Colton is 18 years old now and still loves spending time outdoors with friends and family.  He has now graduated high school and helped win an Alabama State Championship in 6A High School football for the Daphne Trojans. He will attend The University of South Alabama this fall. Our family is very proud of him.  Thanks for sharing this story Colton.

Do you have a hunting story you would like to share with our readers?  If so please send them to alakingfish@gmail.com

Thanks for reading.

Shelby Byrd

Just plain Lucky

Did you ever know a man who had the luck when it come to hunting and fishing?  When I go fishing I find myself developing excuses on why I didn't fill the cooler up with fish.  The classic blame it on the moon "The moon wasn't right I guess".  Or how about this one  "I need to take this cast net and have it looked at, I know it needs some patching".  The same thing can happen hunting.  Here is a classic huntingism "Well I'm going to have to shoot this gun when we get home the scope must be off".  Here is one of my personal favorites "The wind was wrong and that deer smelled me".  No matter what excuse we pull from our arsenal it doesn't change the facts that in the end we failed to execute.  It's rare but sometimes we hear or see people who break the mold and live to a higher degree in the outdoors.  They have a few less weapons in there excuse stockpile.

My father George Byrd (Left) with a 12 pt. in 1964 with Butch Malone

   We call them lucky or as my good friend Joe likes to say "That guy has a horseshoe around his neck".  Or maybe it's "the luck of the Irish".  It could be that those guys don't have a black cat living on their street.  But I think in the end it comes down to execution.  This Rare Breed Outdoors Man takes advantage of the opportunities that come their way.  I was mullet fishing with my father the other day and as usual he was spanking me pretty good.  And I thought about what I was doing different than him.  My net was opening most of the time.  I was casting directly beside him but he was catching ten fish to my one.  I think I realized the difference.  He was throwing a little further out than me and creating his own advantage.  It's the little things we do that make the difference.  This holds true in all parts of life and really shows up outdoors as well.  My fathers old Remington Wingmaster and his Browning Medallion have killed more deer than black tongue.  He's killed deer when no one else was even seeing deer.  I know the secret why and if you keep reading you will too.  Luck might really play a part in it.  What's the old saying "I'd rather be lucky than good any day".  But I think it goes back to creating your own advantages.  Picking proper stand placement for wind direction.  Wearing good cover scent.  Taking the time to put out a good scent attractant for your target species.  If we concentrate more on the little details it will help the bigger picture.  What does our beloved Alabama football coach say "dominate the player in front of you one play at a time".  That holds true in hunting and fishing as well.  I'm going to make this cast count then I'll check the catch in the cooler when I'm done fishing.

George Byrd with 2 nice Bass

    And the main things that you must do to produce is not a secret.  First you must be in the woods to kill a deer.  That sounds simple but it takes some dedication.  You have to hunt when its hot sometimes, you have to fish when the wind is blowing.  It's hard to kill a deer sitting on the couch. When you get a chance on a deer you have to make it happen.  Make the shot count, use good shot placement and know when to take your shot.  That's one of the things that's consistent about my father he just simply doesn't miss when he takes his shot.  I can count on my hands how many times over the years when he pulled the trigger and we didn't have meat on the table.  Over the years growing up we were members in a few clubs and he was called lucky by some and hunt master by others.  But growing up around him and seeing his dedication to his family, faith, hunting and fishing, my brother Leo and I knew the secret and we called him DAD.

George Byrd and Shelby Byrd (Me)

Huge 6pt. for South Alabama bottomed the scales out at 210lbs

11pt. Buck

George Byrd

Nice 9 pt.

George Byrd

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Thanks for reading

S.Byrd