The annual learn-to-hunt turkey workshop to support the effort of the Wisconsin DNR in Washington County is once again being hosted by Daniel Boone Conservation League. Important deadlines:

-March 11: Applications due

-March 24: LTH Event from 10 – 3 (participation required)

-March 29, 30 and 31: Actual hunting weekend

Click on the links to download these critical documents. Note that the 2013 Application and Mentor forms are MANDATORY for participation. You can e-mail (chucks@imipr.com) or snail mail me the forms c/o Insight Marketing, LLC 10344 N. Cedarburg Rd., Mequon WI 53092. PLEASE MAIL ALL COMPLETED FORMS TO ME, NOT THE DNR – I’LL HAND THEM IN. THANKS!

2013 Workshop Overview-Read Me First

2013 LTH Hunter Application

2013 MentorBackgroundCheck

2013 Workshop Agenda

2013 Bonus Quiz

Emily Gaskell bags her first bird, a fine jake, with mentor Gary Tess. Both are Daniel Boone members.

Bearded Hen, a photo by ChuckOutdoors on Flickr.

I was sorely tempted to take this Rio hen for a mount but hadn’t shot a tom yet, so she got to live another day. Taken through the shoot-through mesh of a Double-Bull blind.

Choose the right shot & choke eliminates the need to beat your shoulder up with magnum loads. A must view if you work with smaller-framed hunters!

20 Gauge Turkey Gun Delivers 12 Ga. Performance

►

I can now breast a bird in the rain without getting when. I literally shot this movie in the 10 minutes between taking a roast out of the oven and letting it cool before slicing (FYI, this makes for a moister bird, roast, loin, chop or whatever. Cutting right after removing from the oven/grill is a cardinal sin).

Rap Hunt [mouse over for hotlink]

These two videos are absolutely hilarious whether you’re a hunter or not. The “dead bird” thrashing is priceless.

I burned the second of my fall turkey tags on Sunday, taking a young hen in my first attempt and videoing a hunt. Let’s just say there’s room for improvement. I was only using the Kodak Zi8, which is great for quick video work, but doesn’t have the optics for the good zoom images that make a hunt exciting.

I did, however, make a video on how to breast out a turkey in three minutes. I hope you enjoy it.

I took a nice tom earlier in the year, making a 200 sneak along a tree line that normally fails 99 times out of a 100. This time, I closed the gap without getting busted. Here’s a short video proving the tom was a limb hanger.

http://www.youtube.com/user/MrCritterKiller

There was already a ChuckOutdoors on YouTube, so I was forced to go with something a little more inventive: MrCritterKiller.

I would like to emphasize that despite the seemingly bloodthirsty name, the channel contents will retain all the good sportsmanship and good outdoor advice of ChuckOutdoors.

Normally by this time, I’d have a few score rounds down range from deer rifle(s). Work, however, has been nasty…and the dogs know it’s pheasant season…and if don’t get a round or two of clays in, I won’t stay on top of my pheasant game.

With deer season three weekends away, I at least know the venerable Model 70 .270 and the T/C Encore .50 caliber muzzleloader are dead on at 100 yards (the longest possible shot from my tree stand is 116 yards, so I like to be anywhere from dead on to one inch high).

The T/C 7mm barrel, on the other hand, is most vexing. I’m not saying it doesn’t group well, but the blackpowder rifle holds better groups! If another ammo change doesn’t produce better results, I may send the barrel back to T/C.

At this point, my biggest effort should be running through boxes of shells from the sitting, standing and kneeling positions from the Model 70 (and maybe the .223 bolt action just for grins).

Summer sporting clays league goal: 40. Actual average: 39.33. Fall game series league goal: 40. Actual average: 39.grrrr. All I had to do was shoot a 41 on the final round (with previous rounds of 44 and 46, I was feeling good). I shot…a 39!

Still, the game series was a lot of fun.

A few of the trees are quitting already and the kids are back in school. Dove and early goose season already opened, and turkey and bow deer start on Sept. 18. While I love shooting the O/U for clays and skeet, it’s not my hunting gun. On Saturday, I pulled out the Benelli Super Black Eagle 2 (SBE2), screwed in the Rhino .660 turkey choke, grabbed a handful of Nitro Ammunition 4x5x7 shells and headed for the patterning range. Nitro tweaked its load last year, so even though I haven’t changed my “Easy Hit” front sight in years, a little testing was in order.

At 25 yards, the pattern stays reasonably centered with a hold point on the wattles. At 45 yards, the pattern noticeably drops, as well as trends slightly right. There’s still sufficient pellets in the kill zone, but anything less than a dead-on hold on the head would be foolish. This load seems to drop more than the previous load, so the range time proved valuable.

On Wednesday, I shot skeet with the SBE2 and noticed the HUGE difference that just 3/4″ in stock length can make. The SBE2 is shorter, and that’s a good thing: when I’ve got a cold weather jacket and the game vest on, I can still shoulder the gun cleanly. I broke 22 the first round, which is good for me. Just for grins, I swapped out the skeet choke for modified choke on the second round. I noticed that I started to second guess my lead on a few birds, which was stupid. Focus on the bird, and let your subconscious brain take care of the lead. On the plus side, I could smoke birds across the field.

Next week starts the sporting clays “game series,” and I’ll post an update after a few rounds.