Most recent blog entries

The Times They Are A-Changin'

Wed, 21 May 2008 13:05:58 GMT

By Mike Handley

Two significant changes are being implemented in Buckmasters' Full-Credit Scoring System, both inspired by actual incidents. For starters, we're revising the fair chase affidavit on the backside of our scoresheets to allow for the states and provinces to dictate what is and isn't legal within their borders. We're also going to accept and give full credit to racks with broken points or beams, as long as the scorer sees them BEFORE they're repaired AND can get an accurate measurement when the pieces are put back into place.

Defining Fair Chase
The decision to change the wording in the fair chase affidavit for free-roaming whitetails is based on two Missouri deer. The first was taken back in 2000 by Randy Simonitch, whose neighbor called him on the morning of Oct. 3 to tell him that a monstrous buck was bedded in the soybeans next to her house.

Randy wasted no time in driving over there. He mounted an hour-long stalk in the wide open - keeping to the buck's backside - and made it to within 30 yards, as close as he dared go. He grunted, the buck stood, and the arrow hit home. At 260 5/8 inches, the Simonitch Buck was a runner-up to the world record among bow-killed Irregulars.

Flash forward to Dec. 12, 2005. Bill Wise met his friend, Donald, that afternoon. Donald was carrying a rifle loaded for doe - the only legal option for a rifleman that time of year. Bill, on the other hand, was planning to bowhunt.

Donald went north so that he could watch a pasture, while Bill headed for his usual bow stand. When Donald reached his destination and glassed the terrain, he saw what had to be the enormous buck over which Bill had been obsessing all season. It was lying down at the edge of the distant woods.

He whipped out his cell phone and called Bill, who quickly reversed direction.

The buck was still in its bed when Bill arrived less than half an hour later. With the wind in his favor, Bill managed to stalk to within bow range and arrowed the 216 3/8-inch buck, whose antlers were still clad in velvet.

Randy Simonitch's buck never raised an eyebrow among keepers of whitetail records. Bill Wise's, however, was rejected by the Pope and Young Club, and it almost was disqualified by Buckmasters.

At issue was the use of the cellular telephone, an electronic communications device. While the state of Missouri has no game regulation banning the use of them, both P&Y and the BTR did. Buckmasters' rule, made long before cell phones were the norm, has been printed on the backside of each scoresheet for the past decade. It states: "Buckmasters Whitetail Trophy Records does not consider fair chase hunting to include the use of aircraft, motorized land vehicles, motorized water craft or any electronic communications devices in the act of harvesting wild game."

Other than the fact that the phone used by Randy Simonitch had a cord and Bill Wise's didn't, there's really very little difference between the two scenarios described. So why penalize one deer and not the other, when both were harvested within the legal guidelines established by the Missouri Department of Conservation?

After considering the matter for many weeks, we decided to accept Bill Wise's 2005 buck. And in doing so, the rule quoted above is being dropped.

From now on, Buckmasters will simply defer to the individual state regulations.

I'll address the issue of broken points in my next blog.

Scatterguns and Strutting Toms

Tue, 25 Mar 2008 15:55:02 GMT

Is there a harder game animal to harvest than a wild turkey? None that I know of. I've heard it said time and again that if a turkey could smell you, you'd never be able to kill one.

I marvel at the stories of the people who harvest turkeys on their first hunts. I read a story on the Buckmasters website the other day about two young ladies who each harvested mature toms at the same time, out of the same blind, on their first trip to the woods. This story made me shake my head almost in disbelief.

To illustrate my thoughts you need to travel back to the 1980s when the movie "The Karate Kid" was released.

In the movie, Daniel-san, played by Ralph Macchio, walks into the home of Mr. Miyagi, played by Pat Morita. Mr. Miyagi is sitting there on the floor by a table. In Miyagi's hand is a pair of chopsticks, and Daniel-san watches him try to catch a house fly with the eating utensil.

Viewers learn that Miyagi has been trying to catch a fly with his chopsticks his entire life. The martial arts master reveals to Daniel that if a man catches a fly with chopsticks then he can accomplish anything.

At this point, one should realize that we are watching a movie, and we have been set up to see Daniel-san catch a fly, thereby signaling that he can accomplish anything and that he will indeed be the hero in the end.

Sure enough, in his fifth or sixth attempt EVER, Daniel-san catches the fly. Mr. Miyagi stands, gives Daniel-san an indignant look and spouts out a smug compliment, "Beginner's luck."

If the scene were real, Daniel-san would have had a chopstick lodged into his forehead. Alas, it was a movie, and a chopstick lodged into the star's cranium has the potential of squelching sequels and putting lucrative merchandizing agreements on ice.

Of course, I do not really want to do any harm to these two lucky young ladies, quite the contrary. I'd like to congratulate them and tell them to savor that experience, and hold it near and dear! Because of their incredibly good fortune, it might seem to them that taking a big ol' tom is easy. In reality, the opportunity to get a shot off at a nice tom can be few and far between.

Additionally, these ladies need to buy a lottery ticket, because they are definitely living under a lucky star!

-- J.D.

OSHA Proposal Would Make Ammo Scarce

Mon, 24 Mar 2008 19:46:47 GMT

By Larry Teague

An unexpected thing happened while gun owners were watching the new Democratic-controlled Congress.

They were blindsided by a different part of the federal government -- the executive branch.

Rules that would break the backs of ammunition manufacturers and dry up ammo supplies are being sought by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), a division of the U.S. Department of Labor.

Published as required by law in the Federal Register, the proposed regulation changes deal with the manufacture, storage and transportation of small-arms ammo, primers and smokeless powder. OSHA wants to make the workplace safer for ammo retailers, wholesalers and manufacturers.

Gun-industry groups say the rules would have an entirely different effect. They would eliminate the jobs of the very workers they’re supposed to protect.

“As written, the proposed rule would force the closure of nearly all ammunition manufacturers and force the cost of small arms ammunition to skyrocket beyond what the market could bear -- essentially collapsing our industry,” says the Newton, Conn.-based National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF).

Buckmasters has long been a supporting member of the NSSF. Among other things, the non-profit group puts on the enormous Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade (SHOT) show each year.

Complying with the proposal would easily exceed $100 million in costs, the NSSF estimates, and that’s no stretch.

One particularly egregious part of the rule would require ammunition manufacturers to shut down and evacuate their factories whenever a thunderstorm approached.

Other language affects the ammo-buying public. No retail-store customer would be allowed within 50 feet of ammo or unless he or she was first searched for matches or a lighter.

The rule would also prohibit smoking within 50 feet of “facilities containing explosives.”

John Frazer, deputy director of research and information for the National Rifle Association’s Institute for Legislative Action, says the proposal is an “unintended result” of an earlier petition to rewrite a confusing set of regulations that have existed since 1981. OSHA combined the rules for small-arms ammo and explosives as a result, despite the differences between the two.

Others see the proposal as a “back-door” attempt at gun control, and it’s not hard to see why. Senators Barack Obama, Ted Kennedy and Hillary Rodman Clinton are members of the OSHA oversight committee.

The NSSF and the Sporting Arms Ammo Manufacturing Institute are urging small-arms ammo retailers and manufacturers to submit comments on the rule. Affected parties should point out that the rule “constitutes a ‘significant regulatory action’ as defined in Executive Order 12866 Section 3(f)(1) in that it will clearly ‘adversely affect in a material way both the manufacturing and retail sectors of the ammunition industry, productivity, competition and jobs.’”

All written comments submitted to OSHA must include the following information in the reference line:

RE: Docket No. OSHA-2007-0032

Comment on Department of Labor/OSHA Proposed Rule

“Significant Regulatory Action” as Defined in Executive Order 12866

Individuals can file comments at http://www.regulations.gov. From pull-down menus at the search page, select “Occupational Safety and Health Administration,” “Proposed Rules” and “Document Title.” Then, type in the word “Explosives” in the area provided for keywords.

The National Rifle Association has provided the following sample letter for concerned citizens to use:

Dear Sir or Madam:

I am writing in strong opposition to OSHA’s proposed rules on “explosives,” which go far beyond regulating true explosives. These proposed rules would impose severe restrictions on the transportation and storage of small arms ammunition -- both complete cartridges and handloading components such as black and smokeless powder, primers, and percussion caps. These restrictions go far beyond existing transportation and fire protection regulations.

As a person who uses ammunition and components, I am very concerned that these regulations will have a serious effect on my ability to obtain these products. OSHA’s proposed rules would impose restrictions that very few gun stores, sporting goods stores, or ammunition dealers could comply with. (Prohibiting firearms in stores that sell ammunition, for example, is absurd—but would be required under the proposed rule.)

The proposed transportation regulations would also affect shooters’ ability to buy these components by mail or online, because shipping companies would also have great difficulty complying with the proposed rules.

There is absolutely no evidence of any new safety hazard from storage or transportation of small arms ammunition or components that would justify these new rules. I also understand that organizations with expertise in this field, such as the National Rifle Association, National Shooting Sports Foundation, and Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers’ Association, will be submitting detailed comments on this issue. I hope OSHA will listen to these organizations’ comments as the agency develops a final rule on this issue.

Sincerely,

The NRA adds that it’s important to remember that this is only a proposal and that there’s still time for gun owners to speak out before the agency issues its final rule.

OSHA recently extended the original 60-day comment period to Sept. 10 at the shooting industry’s request.

Let your voice be heard.

UPDATE: Monday, July 16, 2007 -- Due to a flood of comments from gun owners to their elected representatives, OSHA announced that it is backing off of its proposal to update regulations for small-arms ammo in the workplace.

According to a press release issued today by the National Rifle Association, OSHA decided to withdraw the rule after dozens of U.S. congressmen expressed concern about the overreaching proposal.

Rep. Denny Rehbert (R-MT), working with the NRA, offered an amendment to the Labor-HHS appropriations bill that would have prevented federal funds from being used to enforce the OSHA rule. He also gathered letters from 25 House members expressing concern about the rule, calling it an "undue burden" on ammunition companies.

For more information, visit the NRA's, SAAMI's and NSSF's websites.

Woosh!!!

Wed, 05 Mar 2008 20:19:38 GMT

Another deer season and football season have come and gone. At the risk of sounding clich‚, it seems like yesterday I headed to Wisconsin for a bow hunt and connected the HD box to my television for football viewing nirvana.

"Man, where did the time get off to?" I've heard myself say that over and over the past month. Albert Einstein proved that time can be a flexible thing if you travel fast enough. I beg to differ. I don't zip around at the speed of light, but every year, time just seems to pick up steam, and speed by faster than the year before.

How does one slow down Father Time? I am open to suggestions.

I plan on hunting only public land next deer season. My goal is to prove that with a little luck and a good deal of planning, anyone can tip the odds for success in his or her favor when hunting on public land.

By my count, there are 200 million acres of public hunting land in this country (Here is the Report). That doesn't include a lot of federal hunting land, as the report I used included it in some states totals, then said that it didn't include it for others.

For the sake of argument, we'll use 200 million acres. There are 18.5 million hunters in the U.S. So, that means that for every hunter, there are nearly 11 acres of hunting land, and that is if every hunter visited public land.

I'd venture to say that 50 to 60 percent of hunters utilize their own land, a buddy's land, or a lease. It's probably closer to 60 percent, but here we will use 50 percent. Given that, you should have at least 22 acres all to yourself.

So, for the cost of a state hunting license, and a WMA license if needed, you can have a big plot of land to hunt on almost exclusively. You may have to fork over for a few tanks of gas to get there and back, but if you can split that with a couple of buddies, I can almost guarantee that you can find a place with little to no pressure on the deer, which can become your dream spot.

Year of the Snake (Bite)

Wed, 06 Feb 2008 14:53:36 GMT

-- It seems some folks here at the Buckmasters offices are snake-bitten. Of all the hunts that myself or the editors have taken, no one I know of has harvested a buck, or a doe for that matter. Every year I have been here, someone has gotten a really nice buck, and most have at least put a couple of does in the freezer, but this year is different. It is palpable.

Even the television guys are having a hard go of it this year.

I'm the type of person who needs to have things make sense. This whole season doesn't make sense. Maybe it's global warming. That is a joke, by the way. Don't get me started on that scam. Whatever it is, the reason eludes me, but like I said, you can just feel that something is different.

I cannot speak for the others, but maybe I have become complacent. I've just seen these guys (who are the best hunters I have ever been around) score on such a consistent basis that I equate their success to my own situations.

I think that the saying, "If you got a deer every time it would be called findin' not huntin'," seems appropriate here.

Pearls in Plain Sight
That brings me to a gripe which I have with a lot of hunters today. If I have heard or read the following statements once, I've heard or read them a thousand times: I cannot afford to buy or lease land so I have no where to hunt. It is turning into a rich man's sport.

If you are waiting on someone to hand you a prime hunting spot, or for one to fall right into your lap, you probably agree with the second statement.

Also, if you also believe that you have no good land to hunt, and you hunt public land, I'll bet the following scenario pretty much describes how you hunt: You drive your vehicle in as far as you can safely and legally get it in, and then walk 50 to 100 yards to the first good deer sign you find and hunt right there. I have talked to enough public land managers to know that this is how the majority of public land hunters operate.

I'll admit here and now that I have heard the Rich Man's excuse often enough that I almost started to believe it. Then I decided to get off of my rear end and find an area I can call my huntin' spot.

I started by looking in my home county and the counties bordering it, and I found a 10,000-acre Wildlife Management Area a mere 45 minute drive from my house. I then went to the Buckmasters website and clicked on the page that lists all of the state outdoor agency websites and visited the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources website. I found a ton of information on the very WMA I was interested in hunting. I was able to print out a map of the property, my WMA permit, and the locations of the sign-in booths.

Armed with that information, I headed over there to talk to the local manager who helps manage this WMA. If they were not there, which is true 90 percent of the time, I would have left a note requesting that they call me at their earliest convenience. By sheer luck, the manager was at the sign-in booth.

We talked for a good hour about how the season was going, and let me tell you, this gentleman was a fountain of knowledge about the property. Every WMA manager I have spoken with has been more than willing to share his or her knowledge of the land they manage. If you hunt public land, you have no better friends than these folks.

I left with the following knowledge that helped me select some locations to scout:

1. The location of 45 greenfields, most never hunted because of their remoteness. Most of the greenfields are one to two miles from the nearest road.

2. That fact that the greenfields were not being grazed upon because of all of the acorns that have dropped this year. That will change now that we have had 6 straight days of wet weather that will ruin the acorns on the ground. The greenfields should now become active.

3. The rut is on.

We talked about a lot more than this, and it all was great information that I will use, but these three facts stood out to me. Scouting this weekend will determine if this is true.

Another potential pearl is a decent sized wooded parcel which borders my subdivision. I live outside the city limits, but close proximity to houses makes this a bow hunting area. I do not know who owns the land, but a quick trip to the probate office should clear that up.

There are always pearls in plain sight for someone willing to look. Whether it be public land, a land owner needing help maintaining their land, or any of a million other things that can lead to you finding your pearl. You just have to be willing to look and apply a little elbow grease.

Last Call for New Record Book Entries

Wed, 30 Jan 2008 19:15:39 GMT

March 1, 2008, is the deadline for bucks to appear in the next edition of "Buckmasters Whitetail Trophy Records." All entries received after that date will not appear in print until 2011.

Like other record-keeping organizations, Buckmasters updates its record book every three years. The fourth edition, which included more than 9,000 awesome whitetails, was published during the fall of 2005. The fifth will be published next fall, and it'll contain an additional 1,500 to 2,000 deer - those that have been measured since the last book rolled off the press.

The fifth edition will feature the most up-to-date roster of trophy whitetails, including several new state- and even a couple of new world records.

Anyone interested in having his or her trophy included in the next printing should contact a BTR measurer as soon as possible. The state-by-state list of scorers is accessible through Buckmasters' home page: under resources, and then Buckmasters Trophy Records. There is no charge to have your deer's antlers measured, but there is a $20 fee to enter it into the record book if it qualifies.

The $20 entry fee does not entitle record-holders to a copy of the hardbound book, which typically sells for around $30. Everyone who has a whitetail included in the book (and for whom we have a reliable address) will be notified when it will be available for pre-order or purchase. Those wishing to buy one of the few remaining copies of the soon-to-be obsolete fourth edition, however, can get it now for $14.95. Call 1-800-240-3337 and ask for someone in customer service.

The fourth edition contained 575 pages and black-and-white photographs of the top deer in every category. And that's saying a lot, since the BTR breaks its records down into individual weapon categories with FOUR classifications of antlers in each.

If you have trouble connecting with a measurer, if there is no scorer within a reasonable commute, or if you have any questions, please e-mail me at mhandley@buckmasters.com.

Survey Says . . .

Fri, 30 Nov 2007 22:10:43 GMT

-- Every five years, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service takes the pulse of American hunters and anglers through its National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife-Associated Recreation.

Results of the latest survey, just released, show that 37.8 million of us like to hunt and fish, but there are 6 percent fewer of us than in 2001, the last survey period. The good news is hunters aren't leaving the sport as fast as they did in the 1990s, and big game hunting is remaining stable.

The survey also breaks down hunting by the type of game pursued and the number of days spent in that search. The white-tailed deer continues to be far and above the most popular game animal in the U.S., with 12.5 million of us spending 132 million days afield. No other hunting activity even comes close.

I'll give you a moment to guess the second most popular game animal in the U.S. Hint: It's not elk. It's the wild turkey, with 2.6 million of us trying to coax a gobbler in shooting range each spring and fall.

No. 3 on the wild game hit parade is the rabbit, with 1.9 million participants, followed by 1.8 million hunters of red and gray squirrels, 1.6 million pheasant hunters, 1.2 million dove hunters, 1.1 million duck hunters, 1 million bobwhite quail hunters, 800,000 elk hunters and 800,000 grouse/prairie chicken hunters. Coming in last is bear hunting, with 0.4 million participants.

Here are some other recent snapshots of American hunters:

* Most hunters are high school graduates or have attended 1 to 3 years of college.
* 1 in 4 big game hunters pursue deer on public land.
* More females are hunting, comprising 9 percent of the hunting population.
* The number of days spent hunting actually went up in 2006 compared to the last survey period.
* Hunters and anglers spent $40 billion on equipment and $24.6 billion on food, lodging and transportation.
* Although wildlife watchers outnumber hunters and anglers by more than 37 million, expenditures by sportsmen are greater. Sportsmen spent $76.6 billion on travel and equipment in 2006, while $45.7 billion went to feeding, observing and photographing wildlife that same year.

Wisconsin Hunt

Wed, 14 Nov 2007 18:08:11 GMT

I am back from the Wisconsin hunt, and pretty much the only thing I have to show for my efforts is a few more pounds lost, an increased knowledge of scouting techniques and I'm a walking map of the Tiffany Wildlife area in western Wisconsin.

We arrived there about lunch time last Monday, and were greeted by gale force winds and an advancing cold front. While the cold was a good thing for the hunt, the wind doesn't do archery hunters many favors. (Or firearms hunters for that matter.) So we decided to use the remaining sunlight to scout and pick out a few stand locations for later in the week.

We found heavily used trails, droppings, big and small rubs and scrapes galore. The latter two were made by some heavy bodied, tall tined bucks. The depth and size of the hoof prints, and the sizes of some of the trees that were shredded were the telltale signs.

After 18 hours of riding in the car, this was like a mega-dose of caffeine I can tell you. We all perked up at the thoughts of seeing a monster buck. This is what Wisconsin hunting is all about I remember thinking.

We walked the surrounding 5 miles, and found more likely stand locations than one could hunt in a month of Sundays. The area is so vast that narrowing down the best possible hunting locations was a chore.

The best friend we had at this point was the satellite / topographical map my buddies over at mytopo.com had sent to me. It helped us find the natural elevation funnels, while our scouting pinpointed other man made and natural contours. (felled trees and decades old logging roads) At the end of the day, my handy pedometer registered 47,384 steps taken, and the odometer read 1246 miles driven. Needless to say, the old eye lids were getting droopy.

We each settled on a main and secondary stand location for the forecast wind direction on Tuesday, and hit the rack.

As a side note here, the accommodations that the Dioceses of Lacrosse provided at their Round Hill camp are first class all the way. The cabin is a deer hunter's dream lodge. The church land is nestled in the heart of tens of thousands of public hunting acres, and is bordered just about everywhere by corn fields. If there is a more ideal location for deer in this area, I've never seen it. The old growth forest is dominated by trees that would provide a bounty of food for the deer population all by itself, but add in the corn, and you have deer nirvana.

But it was that nirvana that proved to be our downfall.

You see, parts of Wisconsin are labeled as "Earn a Buck" areas. You have to harvest an antlerless deer before you can harvest a buck. On the surface, this seemed like no big deal, but in practice, it proved to be a hurdle that none of my hunting party was able to overcome.

Reflecting back on it now, I can see the error of our ways, but I think it is a mistake that most any hunter I know would make. Here in the Heart of Dixie, for a good part of my hunting life, we let the does walk. Today, we have learned the folly of those old ways, and now encourage the harvesting of does. But here, you do not have to "hunt" for does. The harvesting of a doe is 99.9 out of one hundred times the consequence of hunting for a buck. They are just there and active.

But in Wisconsin, does are different. With hunters and bucks actively seeking them, for different reasons, the does were laying low in daylight hours. They were hiding from the bucks mostly I think, but that also meant that they were hiding from us.

Over the week we patterned the does to be eating in the uncut corn fields at night, and then bedding down before dawn, and lying all day until the next night. Most experts agree that deer need to feed every 6 hours, and they will, unless pressure forces them to go longer. Under normal circumstances, that means you can sit in the stand all day and wait them out, but not here. High fructose be damned!!!

So our mistake was to sit in stand and wait for the does. By the time we had figured out that the does were sitting still throughout the day, we only had 1 morning and 2 afternoon hunts left. Even still, had we figured out all of the dynamics of this area a little earlier, we just did not have enough man power to foster a proper deer drive. The area is just too vast.

We did see some bodacious bucks though. We walked into some VERY desolate areas that even the locals don't tread into, and the monsters were there. One very mature main frame eight with three points coming off the back, and one younger perfect 10 point come to mind. Both of these were less than 20 yards from my stand and oblivious to my presence. Either could have easily been harvested had I been able to do my part.

Just think what could have happened. But that is what keeps us going back to the deer woods, right?

One last point. A HUGE thanks needs to be extended to Dr. Michele Olsen and Ph.D. candidate Mike Esco at AUM. Without their help I could never have gotten into the kind of shape needed for this hunt. They have helped me make some beneficial life decisions, and I am indebted to both of them. You will hear more from me and them here in the future.

The Final Countdown

Fri, 02 Nov 2007 19:43:00 GMT

Final preparations are being made, the details are coming together and I am ready to go. The hunting crew leaves tomorrow for Wisconsin.

The weather report keeps getting colder by the day. Last week the extended forecast called for highs in the 40s, and lows in the 30s. Today you can knock off 10 degrees for both the high and the low temperatures. This should make for great hunting and hopefully the big boys will start looking for those does. The prediction of snow changes every day. Yes one day, no the next. We'll see.

The light cardio workouts continue. I'll be back in the gym as soon as my trip is in the books.

I recently tested my hunting clothes to ensure that they are not reflecting UV light. I had never thought about that until Ken Piper mentioned it to me the other day. He gave me a black light to use. The test revealed that my clothes are not reflecting UV light. I still plan to use a wash that will kill all UV reflection.

I want to leave nothing to chance on this hunt. I'd really hate to see a buck turn tail and take off. With these precautions, that should not happen.

I intend on posting blog entries to my personal MySpace page if I have access to the Internet. Look for photos and maybe some video when I make it back to work Nov. 12.

Stay safe and keep moving!!!

J.D.

Getting ready to go hunting is a MAJOR undertaking!

Fri, 02 Nov 2007 14:45:38 GMT

Getting ready to go hunting is a MAJOR undertaking -- at least for me. Being primarily a bowhunter, scent is my biggest concern, and I spend a lot of time agonizing over it and looking for new ways to reduce my "scent footprint."

I learn something new every year, whether from reading the articles for Buckmasters, from other hunters, or just by accident. This year was no exception.

As I was getting ready to head to Dreamwoods Adventures hunting camp in southern Illinois, I gathered up all my hunting clothes and equipment. My bow, arrows, quiver, etc., are not a problem since I shoot pretty much year-round, but the clothes and other gear seem to get scattered out over the course of the off season. Having finally gathered everything together, it was quite an intimidating pile: Five large bins (I've learned to purchase the clear ones so I can see what's inside) full to the brim of clothing and gadgets.

Next comes the sorting. I sort my clothes several ways: First by function (bow, gun, waterproof or extreme cold) and next by whether the item will be worn as an inside layer or outer layer.

Before I begin to wash my hunting clothes, though, I run a load of T-shirts, underwear and socks through the washer, and I use my hunter-friendly laundry soap. Running that first load of non-hunting items first helps remove any other scent, perfume and UV brightener residue from the machine. I'm a big believer in the UV factor when it comes to deer hunting. If you don't know what I'm talking about, visit http://www.atsko.com/products/uv-protection/u-v-killer.html to learn more. While you're at ATSKO's website, look around a little and check out their laundry detergents and other products.

Next into the washing machine will be the base layers: Long underwear tops and bottoms, followed by mid layers like vests.

Something I'm learning about base layers is that it is best to buy them in sets. I have several mis-matched tops and bottoms, and I end up spending a lot of time trying to decide which pants to wear with which tops. From now on when I buy base layers, I will get sets so I don't have to think about it and can match them up instantly. Also get a few different colors if possible when buying different weights so you can quickly determine between various levels of insulation.

The last things I wash are the outside layers, the gloves and face masks. Here's another hint: You can't own too many face masks. I go way overboard when it comes to keeping my teeth and gums clean, but I try to use a facemask only once before washing it. We emit a LOT of stinky odor from our mouths, and the cloth of our facemasks captures and holds that odor. Get several masks and wash them regularly.

As you wash your clothes, make sure to take them directly from the drier to a plastic bin or bag. Also make sure that you have dried a few loads of non-hunting clothes without drier sheets or other scented products. Also clean out the lint filter.

Probably the most useful thing I learned this year in the preparation process was a way to wash some of the other gear I have to take with me. I have been hesitant in the past to wash things like hoist ropes, safety vests, deer drags and even my hunting pack because I was afraid (and rightly so) that the strings and straps would get tangled in the washer and cause damage or become damaged.

This year as I was washing, I noticed that my wife has several "delicates" bags in the laundry room. These are mesh, zippered bags for washing bras and shirts with straps, etc. She doesn't need to know that I borrowed one and washed my safety rope, hoist rope and several other items. It worked like a charm. I just washed the empty bag first with the T-shirts and socks to remove regular detergent residue and I was all set.

I also washed my fanny pack in the machine this year. My dryer is two years old, and I finally figured out what the shelf unit that came with it is for. The shelf slides onto the dryer door opening and can be used to dry shoes, hats or objects with metal or plastic clips (like hunting packs). The item sits on the shelf throughout the drying cycle and doesn't tumble. You can't really mix other items at the same time, but it's a good tip to know when you need to dry something quickly, or when allowing an item to dry outside runs the risk of picking up unwanted scent.