Fox Hunting 101

Important Information For Hunters Who Plan On Hunting Foxes At Night With A Predator Call And A Light.

There are five things you should know before you go:

1. The laws and regulations of the state you are hunting in.

2. What kind of gun you should use for foxes.

3. What kind of light should you use, and how you use it,

4. How to set up for the hunt, placement of you, the light and the caller.

5. Where to shoot the fox.

Aluminum Arrows vs. Carbon Arrows

Bow hunting requires a lot of equipment. Off the top of my head, you have to consider sights, rests, stabilizers, arrows, and broadheads. It's a lot to think about and in this post I am going to talk a little about just one small, but important, piece of equipment: arrows. There are so many types and makers of arrows out there, but the two main types are aluminum and carbon. Of course, there are positives and negatives to both choices.

Let's start with my favorite type, the carbon arrow. Here are some of the positive aspects of carbon arrows: Carbon is very light weight, so they fly far and fast. Carbon is also known for very tight grouping at the target block. Another nice feature is that they will break before they bend. The major downside is that carbon arrows are not cheap. Also, sometimes they don't penetrate as deep as the aluminum variety.

Now, on to the aluminum arrow. The pros: They are cheap, although nowadays the price is rising and, in some stores, they can be just as much as carbon. Aluminum arrows also penetrate deeper and hit harder than carbon. The cons: They don't fly as far as carbon and they don't have a tight grouping to them. They also bend easily, which can be frustrating.

So, in my opinion, carbon by far is the best bet for your money. What do you guys think?

Fixed Blade Broadheads vs Mechanical Blade Broadheads

The question of fixed blade vs mechanical blade broadheads is a source of ongoing debate between bow hunters. It's a very good question, and both options have their positive and negatives.

Let's start with the fixed blades. First, the pros: They have always been the strongest around- you can beat the crap out of them and they still fly true as the day you first bought them. They are also cheaper then mechanical blades, and if you chip or bend or dull the blade you can simply take it out and replace it. The major drawback is that fixed blades don't always give you a good blood trail when you make a bad shot on a deer.

Now on to the mechanical blades. The best thing about mechanicals is that they make one hell of a hole in a deer, leaving you a very a nice blood trail if you make a bad shot. They also fly nice too. However, there are some significant negatives to consider. Mechanical blades are not cheap, and you have a fifty-fifty chance of all the blades opening on impact. They also bend. Once they are bent and dull, you can't replace the blades unless you buy new broadheads.

Personally, I am partial to the muzzy MX4 100gr fixed blade broadheads. I love them and would never go with any other brand or type. My buddy Dan, on the other hand, swears by his mechanical blade broadheads. I would love to hear your comments on this topic- what kind of broadheads you use and why?

Crow Decoy With An Owl

Dan got this great idea to build a homemade crow decoy because the normal one just wasn't cutting it any more. This is what he came up with: a foam crow mounted

THE KILL LIGHT- Hunting Breakthrough!

We have been fox hunting at night for a few years now. For the first season, we carried a twelve volt light powered from a car battery. It was very awkward and heavy to haul through the field all night, but it kept a good charge. The next year, we used twelve volt lead acid batteries with a 9 amp hour rating - these were much lighter, but only lasted about thirty minutes each. These batteries got us through two seasons. A few months ago , a friend told me about a newer light called a kill light. I didn't think much about it at first, but a week later he let me take a look at this kill light and I was a bit impressed. I did some research online and, to my disbelief, most all opinions and reviews were excellent. I couldn't help but take the plunge and purchase one online - the season for foxes is not in until the end of October in PA., so we have not given light a try in a field test. If this light works as well as I hope, it will lighten our carry load from thirteen pounds to only twelve or so ounces- and that's with three fresh batteries. Heck, I may even carry the light more instead of pawning it off on Justin and Jason (the younger and stronger).kill light XLR250 from Elusive Wildlife Technologies, llp

Hunting On The Driving Range?

Last Saturday, I went deer hunting with Jason in Maryland for the first time this year. He saw a crapload of deer walk by his stand just out of range. But I got to see something a little different- golf balls, and lots of 'em. They were whizzing past my head like bullets for 45 minutes! The neighbor decided to use the field in front of me as his own personal driving range and, it seemed to me, I was the target. So I hid behind the tree. Well, most of me hid behind the tree- my rear was still sticking out. I decided to text Jason and let him know that if he can't find me later, I was probably knocked out in my tree stand (another good reason to hunt with a buddy?). Needless to say, when my neighbor was finally done, not even the squirrels were coming out of hiding.

The True Talker

The True Talker is a MUST HAVE for any bow hunter before entering the woods. I tried many different calls before I found this one. Here's why I love it.

SUCCESS IN THURMONT

After practicing for a few days I had my confidence up and was ready to go back in to the field to try again. My wife gave me permission to go out after work on Tuesday, so I did. I went back to Thurmont, MD and tried again. After last week I knew that stand placement was going to be a very important detail, even more so being able to shoot out of my stand. So I took a little extra time searching for the right tree. I had been in my stand for about 45 minutes when I heard a noise that sounded like a couple of squirrels running around in the leaves. But once I checked it out with my binoculars, I realized it was a button buck jumping over a fallen tree. I felt my heart stop as I took a second look: I saw three deer this time about 120 yards off and walking away from me. There was a 4 point, a spike, and a button buck.

After I calmed down my breathing, I found my grunt tube let out three grunt calls in the direction of the deer. I made some short low tone buck grunts, being careful not to make them too low. I didn't want to scare them off; they weren’t exactly monster bucks, you know. After the calls they slowly turned to the left and walked back towards the beading area they just came out of, about 140 yards away from me. Ten minutes later I saw them again walking towards me this time. My heart started beating really fast as I watched the three deer eat acorns off the ground 50 yards away from me. I took this time to decide which one of the three I wanted to harvest. I chose the spike because it was the biggest of the three and I was hunting for meat, not horns. If I was there for the horns I would have let them all walk, but I need to fill the freezer.

After deciding on a target, I blew another series of grunts, softer then the first time but same tone. Within minutes they were all under my stand and I got a great 15 yard shot at this big boy! This time, unlike last week, I nailed it- hit him right through the lungs. First he jumped, then walked about 30 yards where he laid down for 2 minutes, got up and walked another 15 yards then laid down for about 5 minutes. He got up a third time and tried to walk up the mountain but fell down and rolled into a tree.

Tell me what you think- I know a lot of people think it’s wrong to kill a spike but this one was a full grown deer (dressed out 153-lb).

Back To The Practice Block- Part II

The 2nd trip of the weekend was to a farm in Maryland. I have been hunting
this farm for two years and I have noticed that the doe to buck ratio needs some work. Last year I saw 15 does and

Time To Go Back To The Practice Block

After this weekend, I think I need to spend more time practicing with my bow. And after you hear Jason's story you might agree with me when I say, "I’ll see him there."

I was able to hunt two times this weekend. My first trip out was after work on Friday night. I went to Thurmont, MD, specifically Cunningham Falls State Park. Cunningham Falls is a wonderful state park to hunt, in my opinion. I felt like I was the first one to hunt there this year and I was all alone- LOVED IT :-). This time of year the bucks are fresh out of velvet and ready to start sparring with other bucks to determine the pecking order of the herd, so I started off with a couple of grunt calls and some light rattling. I consider myself an active hunter, meaning I go into the woods trying to create a scene that will attract the deer to me as opposed to the traditional method of sit and wait. This method requires you to spend a lot of time on small details. Anyhow, after a series of calls and a couple soft rattles, I had three does come out and wander around my stand, which I had chosen to put in a bad tree- that's one of those small details I was talking about. I put the stand so tight in the cover that I was unable to maneuver my bow, thus preventing me from taking a shot at the biggest one when she was ten yards in front of me. I was forced to wait until she was about thirty yards behind me to take the shot. Still a doable shot unless the limb of your bow hits your tree stand when you released the string, causing your arrow to fly sideways into a tree. Luckily, the noise stunned one of the other does and made her hold tight in the cover 20 yards from my tree stand. I took the shot through the sticks and briers and missed again. I know this never works, but for me it was more of an anger shot. After being wheezed at for 2 minutes by the first deer I decided to retrieve my arrows and verify the misses then leave.

I will update later with Part II of this weekend's misadventures.

Hello and Welcome

Hello, my name is Justin. I have enjoyed hunting and fishing in PA & MD for many years and every year it seems like more and more people ask me the same question: "Why do you waste your time and money hunting, when you can just buy food at the store?" That is why I created this blog- to share my knowledge about hunting with other people who might not know how to bag a deer every year, or have never tried hunting foxes, or for those of you who don’t understand why hunters freeze their butts off year after year. We do it because we love to hunt! I also hope that this site will serve you as a reader with some entertainment, even if you don’t like to hunt (or haven't tried it yet!).