TEXAS SPRING TURKEY HUNTING

When I first started calling turkeys many years ago I had a hard time getting them to come in to a call. Once I learned how important camo and non-movement was to my success I started calling in boss gobblers on a regular basis. I then decided I would try and take a big Rio Grande gobbler with a bow. Now that was a little harder and took some real doing as they seem to always see me draw my bow when they were close enough to hit. I finally took several with a bow and became confident of my ability to call and shoot turkeys. My success rate was boosted by discovering hen decoys. All of a sudden I had something to take the sharp eyes of a gobbler off of me while I drew my bow. I hunted for many years with my bag of tricks and skills I had learned through the years of turkey calling and was happy with my success and methods. Many times I would go hunting with others and just call so that they could take a gobbler and I had just as much fun or even more.

Then the ultimate method to take a turkey was developed. I almost do not want to disclose this to those that have not yet learned this secret but I believe it will give more people the enjoyment and success of calling in a gobbler of their own. If your goal is to take a turkey with a bow this will help you get it done. This big secret is a simple pop-up blind or tent blind. I will not recommend any one brand as there are many good ones out there in all price ranges. The one thing you need to make sure of is that it is big enough to draw your bow and hold whatever gear you plan on using. I also like to have windows with replaceable, shoot through netting so I do not have to have an open window to shoot at anything. Deer and hogs seem to take a while to get used to a pop-up blind and many times you have to brush it in and make it look like a natural part of the landscape. It still may take weeks for them to accept it. Not so with turkeys, just pop it up, set out a hen decoy in shooting range and you are set. I have put a pop-up blind in an open field and called gobblers minutes after getting it set up. For some unknown reason turkeys seem to accept these camo tents as a part of the landscape. I have had turkeys actually come up to the blind when I was calling and put their head right next to the net windows and not see a thing. Of course you should not move when they get that close. I have found that black or dark green clothes work best when I am hunting or taking pictures from a blind. They do not show up as well as camo through the net windows because most of the blinds are pretty dark inside. Try one of the new pop-up blinds and I think you will find a new tool that you will want to use more and more. Good hunting, Wild Ed

Gun Free Zones and Other Myths

If you believe gun control will stop the killings in our Country you need to look at other countries and use a little common sense. Do criminals obey laws? Simple answer, NO! If more gun laws are passed who will obey them? Only law abiding citizens or the good guys. Criminals will still have guns, will still get guns and still kill people. Look at all the drugs that are outlawed. Has it stopped drugs? No, they get worse every year. The only difference more gun laws will make is that less people will have guns to defend themselves thus making it easier for criminals to kill more people. If you believe the police will protect you think again. The following article says it much better than I can.

By John R. Lott, Jr.:
As Northern Illinois University restarts classes this week, one thing is clear: Six minutes proved too long. It took six minutes before the police were able to enter the classroom that horrible Thursday, and in that short time five people were murdered, 16 wounded.
Six minutes is actually record-breaking speed for the police arriving at such an attack, but it was simply not fast enough. Still, the police were much faster than at the Virginia Tech attack last year. The previous Thursday, five people were killed in the city council chambers in Kirkwood, Mo. There was even a police officer already there when the attack occurred. But, as happens time after time in these attacks when uniformed police are there, the killers either wait for the police to leave the area or they are the first people killed. In Kirkwood, the police officer was killed immediately when the attack started. People cowered or were reduced to futilely throwing chairs at the killer. Just like attacks last year at the Westroads Mall in Omaha, Neb., the Trolley Square Mall in Salt Lake City and the recent attack at the Tinley Park Mall in Illinois, or all the public school attacks, they had one thing in common: They took place in "gun-free zones," where private citizens were not allowed to carry their guns with them. The malls in Omaha and Salt Lake City were in states that let people carry concealed handguns, but private property owners are allowed to post signs that ban guns; those malls were among the few places in their states that chose such a ban. In the Trolley Square attack, an off-duty police officer fortunately violated the ban and stopped the attack. The attack at Virginia Tech or the other public school attacks occur in some of the few areas within their states that people are not allowed to carry concealed handguns. It is not just recent killings that are occurring in these gun-free zones. The Columbine High School shooting left 13 murdered in 1999; Luby's Cafeteria in Killeen, Texas, had 23 who were fatally shot by a deranged man in 1991; and a McDonald's in Southern California had 21 people shot dead in 1984. Nor are these horrible incidents limited to just gun-free zones in the U.S. In 1996, Martin Bryant killed 35 people in Port Arthur, Australia. In the last half-dozen years, European countries — including France, Germany and Switzerland — have experienced multiple-victim shootings. The worst in Germany resulted in 17 deaths; in Switzerland, one attack claimed the lives of 14 regional legislators. At some point you would think the media would notice that something is going on here, that these murderers aren't just picking their targets at random. And this pattern isn't really too surprising. Most people understand that guns deter criminals. If a killer were stalking your family, would you feel safer putting a sign out front announcing, "This home is a gun-free zone"? But that is what all these places did.Even when attacks occur, having civilians with permitted concealed handguns limits the damage. A major factor in determining how many people are harmed by these killers is the amount of time that elapses between when the attack starts and someone is able to arrive on the scene with a gun. In cases from the Colorado Springs church shooting last December, in which a parishioner who was given permission by the minister to carry her concealed gun into the church quickly stopped the murder, to an attack last year in downtown Memphis to the Appalachian Law School to high schools in such places as Pearl, Miss., concealed handgun permit holders have stopped attacks well before uniformed police could possibly have arrived. Just a few weeks ago, Israeli teachers stopped a terrorist attack at a school in their country. Indeed, despite the fears being discussed about the risks of concealed handgun permit holders, I haven't found one of these multiple-victim public shootings where a permit holder has accidentally shot a bystander. With about 5 million Americans currently with concealed handgun permits in the U.S., and with states starting to have right-to-carry laws for as long as 80 years, we have a lot of experience with these laws and one thing is very clear: Concealed handgun permit holders are extremely law-abiding. Those who lose their permits for any gun-related violation are measured in the hundredths or thousandths of a percentage point. We also have a lot of experience with permitted concealed handguns in schools. Prior to the 1995 Safe School Zone Act, states with right-to-carry laws let teachers or others carry concealed handguns at school. There is not a single instance that I or others have found where this produced a single problem.Though in a minority, a number of universities — from large public schools such as Colorado State and the University of Utah to small private schools such as Hamline in Minnesota — let students carry concealed handguns on school property. Many more schools, from Dartmouth College to Boise State University, let professors carry concealed handguns. Again, with no evidence of problems. Few know that Dylan Klebold, one of the two Columbine killers, was closely following Colorado legislation that would have let citizens carry a concealed handgun. Klebold strongly opposed the legislation and openly talked about it. No wonder, as the bill being debated would have allowed permitted guns to be carried on school property. It is quite a coincidence that he attacked Columbine High School the very day the legislature was scheduled to vote on the bill. With all the media coverage of the types of guns used and how the criminal obtained the gun, at some point the news media might begin to mention the one common feature of these attacks: They keep occurring in gun-free zones. Gun-free zones are a magnet for these attacks.


*John Lott is the author of the book, Freedomnomics upon which this piece is based and is a Senior Research Scientist at the University of Maryland.


Protect your right to own and carry firearms, Wild Ed

West Texas Pear Bread

My in-laws used to have a big pear tree in their backyard which produced a lot of pears. The tree was so loaded with pears that each year they would have to shake the limbs and remove a large number of pears just so the remaining pears would not break the tree limbs from their weight as they grew. I have never been a fan of pears and did not eat many of them. My mother in law came up with a recipe to use all those pears that made me a fan. It is a wonderful tasting bread or cake that is as good for breakfast with coffee as it is with ice cream for dessert. It is simple to mix up and bake and fills the house with a nice cinnamon smell kind of like homemade apple pie. I had to bake one to take the picture for this article and I am enjoying a fresh slice as I post this for you. This is good stuff and you need to try it. I hope to make it with apples sometime and see how that turns out.

Jeanine's

West Texas Pear Bread

3 cups of flour

1 teaspoon of soda

1/4 teaspoon of baking powder

1 teaspoon of salt

1 Tablespoon of cinnamon

1 cup chopped pecans

Mix all of the above and add the following

3/4 cup of oil

2 cups of sugar

3 eggs

2 cups of chopped pears

2 teaspoons of vanilla

Stir all together well and put in oiled bread pans or a cake pan.

Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour.

Enjoy, Wild Ed

DFW Texas Hawking Association Adventure

The members of the Texas Hawking Association in the DFW area always seem to have fun whether they are out dirt hawking or flying the beautiful long wing falcons. If you ever get the opportunity to go out with any of this group get ready for the adventure of a lifetime. The rest of us will have to be happy to go along with a reporter in this video.
This Lone Star Adventure has been called the 'sport of kings.' It's an ancient way of hunting that has man and bird working together. FOX 4's Richard Ray heads out south of Fort Worth with the Texas Hawking Association. Click on the link below.

http://www.myfoxdfw.com/myfox/pages/ContentDetail?contentId=5802954

Texas Hunting and Outdoor Legacy

I grew up in a family where everyone hunted. Both sets of grandparents had ranches in the Hill Country of Texas so the kids all came to help on weekends. My cousins, uncles, aunts and parents all hunted. We spent holidays at one or the other ranches and all the kids wanted guns for Christmas. There were members of the family that were unbelievable outdoorsman. Some specialized in deer, other fishing or varmint hunting. Some trapped and some ran packs of hounds. I killed my first deer at six years of age with a model 1894 Winchester in 25-35, a relic of the past now gone. I realize now that I grew up in a special time. It was a time where kids could roam neighborhoods or go to the country and be safe. A time where parents trusted their children, where law enforcement officers were public servants and national pride was rampant. At school we had kids of different colors and from different countries but we were all Americans and we all spoke English. We started the day with a prayer and the pledge of allegiance. I can remember half of my class being gone on the first day of hunting season or the first Monday after hunting season opened. We would bring pictures of our hunt and even guns to show and tell at school and no one had a problem with it. We all carried pocket knives and no one got stabbed. Later we all had gun racks in our vehicles with guns in them and no one got shot. I can remember in High school lots of us boys going hunting after school straight from the school parking lot. Sometimes our coaches or teachers even went with us.
Times have sure changed and I for one am saddened that those times are gone forever. My grandkids will not have prayer at school and very little of the pledge of allegiance. There is hardly any national pride anymore. I attended an honors program at a public school not long ago and was shocked when the pledge of allegiance was conducted and about a third of the audience stayed seated, very few put their hand over their heart and very few knew the words. As I looked around I noticed most of those seated were people that have been allowed to come to this country as immigrants. My ancestors came as legal immigrants and they became Americans, then Texans, and had a great pride in both. It is a sad time for Texas and America.
I hope that you try and pass on the legacy of hunting that we have here in Texas. I pray that you pass on the legacy and pride of being Texan. I also pray that you teach your children what it means to be an American and do not give in to this multi nationality, multi lingual and multi culture that can result in only no pride in anything. We better work to change this now if it is not already too late.
God bless Texas and the USA, Wild Ed

Texas Angry White Men

I try not to put politics on this blog but have decided it is to important not to try and get some common sense out to my fellow Texans. I didn’t write this, but I should have. Beware, there are a lot of angry white men in Texas and we will not go away. I think you will find we have brothers in every other state in this union.

There is a great amount of interest in this year’s presidential elections, as everybody seems to recognize that our next president has to be a lot better than George Bush. The Democrats are riding high with two groundbreaking candidates — a woman and an African-American — while the conservative Republicans are in a quandary about their party’s nod to a quasi-liberal maverick, John McCain. Each candidate is carefully pandering to a smorgasbord of special-interest groups, ranging from gay, lesbian and transgender people to children of illegal immigrants to working mothers to evangelical Christians. There is one group no one has recognized, and it is the group that will decide the election: the Angry White Man. The Angry White Man comes from all economic backgrounds, from dirt-poor to filthy rich. He represents all geographic areas in America, from urban sophisticate to rural redneck, Deep South to mountain west, left Coast to Eastern Seaboard. His common traits are that he isn’t looking for anything from anyone — just the promise to be able to make his own way on a level playing field. In many cases, he is an independent businessman and employs several people. He pays more than his share of taxes and works hard. The victim hood syndrome buzzwords — “disenfranchised,” “marginalized” and “voiceless” — don’t resonate with him. “Press ‘one’ for English” is a curse-word to him. He’s used to picking up the tab, whether it’s the company Christmas party, three sets of braces, three college educations or a beautiful wedding. He believes the Constitution is to be interpreted literally, not as a “living document” open to the whims and vagaries of a panel of judges who have never worked an honest day in their lives. The Angry White Man owns firearms, and he’s willing to pick up a gun to defend his home and his country. He is willing to lay down his life to defend the freedom and safety of others, and the thought of killing someone who needs killing really doesn’t bother him. The Angry White Man is not a metrosexual, a homosexual or a victim. Nobody like him drowned in Hurricane Katrina — he got his people together and got the hell out, then went back in to rescue those too helpless and stupid to help themselves, often as a police officer, a National Guard soldier or a volunteer firefighter. His last name and religion don’t matter. His background might be Italian, English, Polish, German, Slavic, Irish, or Russian, and he might have Cherokee, Mexican, or Puerto Rican mixed in, but he considers himself a white American. He’s a man’s man, the kind of guy who likes to play poker, watch football, hunt white-tailed deer, call turkeys, play golf, spend a few bucks at a strip club once in a blue moon, change his own oil and build things. He coaches baseball, soccer and football teams and doesn’t ask for a penny. He’s the kind of guy who can put an addition on his house with a couple of friends, drill an oil well, weld a new bumper for his truck, design a factory and publish books. He can fill a train with 100,000 tons of coal and get it to the power plant on time so that you keep the lights on and never know what it took to flip that light switch. Women either love him or hate him, but they know he’s a man, not a dishrag. If they’re looking for someone to walk all over, they’ve got the wrong guy. He stands up straight, opens doors for women and says “Yes, sir” and “No, ma’am.”He might be a Republican and he might be a Democrat; he might be a Libertarian or a Green. He knows that his wife is more emotional than rational, and he guides the family in a rational manner. He’s not a racist, but he is annoyed and disappointed when people of certain backgrounds exhibit behavior that typifies the worst stereotypes of their race. He’s willing to give everybody a fair chance if they work hard, play by the rules and learn English. Most important, the Angry White Man is pissed off. When his job site becomes flooded with illegal workers who don’t pay taxes and his wages drop like a stone, he gets righteously angry. When his job gets shipped overseas, and he has to speak to some incomprehensible idiot in India for tech support, he simmers. When Al Sharpton comes on TV, leading some rally for reparations for slavery or some such nonsense, he bites his tongue and he remembers. When a child gets charged with carrying a concealed weapon for mistakenly bringing a penknife to school, he takes note of who the local idiots are in education and law enforcement. He also votes, and the Angry White Man loathes Hillary Clinton. Her voice reminds him of a shovel scraping a rock. He recoils at the mere sight of her on television. Her very image disgusts him, and he cannot fathom why anyone would want her as their leader. It’s not that she is a woman. It’s that she is who she is. It’s the liberal victim groups she panders to, the “poor me” attitude that she represents, her inability to give a straight answer to an honest question, his tax dollars that she wants to give to people who refuse to do anything for themselves. There are many millions of Angry White Men. Four million Angry White Men are members of the National Rifle Association, and all of them will vote against Hillary Clinton, just as the great majority of them voted for George Bush. He hopes that she will be the Democratic nominee for president in 2008, and he will make sure that she gets beaten like a drum.

Written by Gary Hubbell

Stand up for your beliefs, Wild Ed

A Slow Day in the Texas Outdoors is better than.....

My wife and I went up to the family place yesterday to spend some time in the outdoors. We had invited our neighbor couple next door to go with us and were going to make some calling stands and see if we could call up some varmints for pictures. We made several stands and had no luck so we broke for a picnic lunch of fast food place fried chicken. It is always amazing how much better even fast food tastes when I am out in the country. After lunch we had dessert of homemade pralines that became a gourmet sweet just because of where we were when we ate them.

We checked out the deer feeders to find that the raccoons had dissected my digital clock timer on one and I now have to order parts again. I still can not imagine a coon hanging on the feeder and unscrewing the wing nut on the timer housing. Those animals are unbelievable in their ability to get into stuff. I suppose I am going to have to break down and eliminate enough of them to control their antics and save some of the corn for the deer.

After lunch we set up pistol targets at about 30 yards and rifle targets at 100 and took turns shooting some of our favorite firearms. We burned enough ammo to feel like we had spent too much money on it and then put it all away. It is so enjoyable to shoot for a while and watch all your worldly thoughts fade away as you concentrate on bullet placement. We shot several different AR-15 uppers in different calibers that my neighbor had collected. I am more and more becoming a convert in the versatility and accuracy of this modern rifle platform in its modular system. Stoner was way ahead of his time with this design. I use to believe that there was no way a semi auto rifle platform could shoot as accurately as a bolt action. I have recently changed my mind.

Later in the evening we set chairs up under a large oak tree and turned on the electric wildlife caller with owl calls in hopes of getting to see some of the owls that inhabit the Oak Motts in the area. We were not successful in calling in any owls but the haunting calls of the owls coming from the tape and echoing through the oak trees while we rested in the cool evening breeze was a truly unique and haunting sound. The time spent was some of the most soothing I have wasted in a long while. We each need to get back out in the outdoors every once in a while. It does not matter if the hunt ends in a kill or we simply kill time with friends and love ones while getting back to nature. It is time well spent. Enjoy the time outdoors. Wild Ed

Today's Black Rifle

I have shot rifles since I was old enough to sit in my father’s lap and shoot at jackrabbits out the pickup window. I killed my first deer at six years old and roamed the countryside with a small caliber rifle as a youngster. My first deer rifle was a bolt action Remington model 700 in .243 that I still shoot today. It is one of my go-to rifles for most occasions. In the last 15 years or so I really got into small caliber fast cartridges. My love for these started way before that with a 22 Magnum and later a .222. After the Viet Nam Era I got into shooting the .223 or 5.56mm cartridge in bolt action rifles. I had some friends that shot the AR-15 platforms or civilian version of the M-16 combat rifle. I finally broke down and bought one but was unimpressed. It would spit out rounds as fast as you pulled the trigger but was not an accurate rifle. I sold it and moved on with my accurate bolt action .223. About 10 years ago on a prairie dog hunting trip another friend pulled out his new black rifle. It looked kind of like my old AR-15 but had a flat top with solid rings and a scope. The barrel was a 22 inch hunk of stainless steel in a bull barrel configuration. The thing that really got my attention was that this gun could shoot right with the best of the bolt actions along on the trip. I had to have one and began to research the current offerings. I found that the AR-15 platform was now being used to build all sorts of rifles in many calibers. There were many companies and custom gunsmiths that were building these rifles for the public. I settled on a varmint rifle with 22 inch heavy barrel in .223 made by Bushmaster and have not been disappointed in any way. The only gripe I have is in this configuration, it is a heavy rifle and hard to carry on predator calling stands where I walk a long ways to call. The accuracy of this rifle is simply amazing and it will shoot with the best of the bolt actions. I am now looking to find a lightweight calling rifle that is not so heavy but still allows rapid follow up shots without having to bolt the action or lift my head from the scope. I think I have found what I want and can not wait for the rifle to become available to the general public. Remington Firearms is going to release their first AR platform rifle this spring. It will be available in a rifle or carbine form in full camo and come in two varmint calibers. The standard .223 will be available along with the fast Ruger .204. This rifle should be the answer to many varmint hunters and others that like the small fast calibers in a semi auto version that will also shoot accurately. If you have not yet tried a so called black rifle in today’s formats you are really missing out on some of the best of the best. It also comes in camo which may just make it more acceptable to today’s hunter. Once you shoot one you too will become an aficionado.
Good Shooting, Wild Ed

Here is the information on the new Remington R-15 with retail of $999.00

Model R-15 VTR™ Features
New semi-automatic AR-15-style rifle developed with the predator hunter in mind

Free-floating button-rifled 0.680" Muzzle OD ChroMoly barrels with recessed hunting crown for superior accuracy

Fluted barrel design reduces weight and promotes rapid barrel cooling

Clean-breaking single-stage hunting trigger

Receiver-length Picatinny rail for adding optics

Ergonomic pistol grip

Fore-end tube drilled and tapped for accessory rails

Full Advantage® MAX-1 HD™ coverage

Includes 5-round magazineLegal for hunting in most states

Compatible with aftermarket AR-15 magazines

Lockable hard case included