Opening Weekend

Labor Day weekend has been kind of slow for me. I've seen a ton of deer, just not any big bucks. The weather was nice and the moon was right but for some reason, the deer moved late both afternoons. I'm still not a fan of the season opening this early, but if it's open, I guess I'll keep going. Looking for my double drop tine monster.

VERSUS Hunting in the Bluegrass

Versus is back.................Check out Versus beginning this week including Whinchester's Whitetail Revolution Friday at 7:30 hunting for big bucks in the Bluegrass! That should be plenty to get you fired up for the stand Saturday morning for OPENING DAY 2010.

HUNTERS REJOICE: VERSUS DELIVERS MUST SEE TELEVISION

TOMORROW NIGHT BEGINNING AT 7:00 P.M. ET WITH

SIX SEASON PREMIERES OF OUTDOOR SHOWS

NEW YORK, N.Y. (September 2, 2010)-VERSUS, the most-watched sports cable network in the country for outdoor programming, will debut six season premieres of heart-pounding hunting shows on Friday, September 3. New episodes of Winchester World of Whitetail with Larry Weishuhn, Winchester Whitetail Revolution, Remington's The Buck Stops Here with Mike Hanback, The Bucks of Tecomate featuring Jeff Foxworthy and David Morris, Elk Fever and The Best and Worst of Tred Barta begin tomorrow at 7:00 p.m. ET.

Viewers can watch all of VERSUS' respected hosts and outdoor authorities hunt various kinds of game, including whitetail in Kentucky, Colorado and Montana and elk in Colorado. Descriptions for the premiere episodes are below. For a full schedule please visit www.VERSUS.com .

7:00 p.m. ET Winchester World of Whitetail
Track along with Larry Weishuhn as he works with new ammo, attends a Dallas Safari Club event and hunts for whitetail.

7:30 p.m. ET Winchester Whitetail Revolution
Hunter and host Joe Codd is in Kentucky, where he is in the thick timber pulling out all the stops to score a trophy buck.

8:00 p.m. ET The Buck Stops Here with Mike Hanback
Mike heads to Montana to pursue whitetail deer on the famous Milk River.

8:30 p.m. ET The Bucks of Tecomate featuring Jeff Foxworthy and David Morris
David Morris and friends hunt the vast open prairies of Eastern Colorado for monster bucks.

9:30 p.m. ET Elk Fever
Guide Kessler Canyon takes out a first time elk hunter through the beautiful mountain-lined terrain of Colorado.

10:00 p.m. ET The Best and Worst of Tred Barta
Tred is back in action and he's heading out to hunt for elk in this action-packed episode.

1 Hot Week Until Deer 2010

Only one week to got and it looks like the beginning of deer season 2010 will be a hot one. Here we go.

Eastern Kentucky Elk

I'm in Eastern Kentucky inside Knott and Floyd county watching some elk this weekend with my lovely wife. Knott County is the self proclaimed Elk Capital of the East. We've seen a lot of cows so far. Knott County's tourism maps all show "elk viewing stations". I'm not sure what that might be, but the locations on the map must have disappeared from the face of the earth because they aren't marked by signs and no one in the community knows where they are. I was unsure if I was even supposed to be in some of the areas period. Inside Breathitt, there were clearly marked signs. The Elk Expo is next weekend (August 28/29) in Knott County. It's a great area. I'd just like to see signage be more visible if they're going to call themselves the Elk Capital of the East.

Big Buck

Got this buck on film in early July with two months to grow.....the video is terrible with me nervously trying to free hand it..................enjoy. He's tall and WIDE. The best look shows up around the 7 minute mark. I have one much bigger on film but he's gonna be hidden until I get him! :)

IT'S HOT IN KENTUCKY

Good gracious. Enough is enough of this miserably hot weather. We have three weeks before deer season 2010 and it's still going to be hanging around 100 this week. It's so hot, all of our bass are dying. Nothing like seeing 8 to 10 pound bass floating on top of a 90+ degree water pond. SUCKS. Pics tomorrow.

Trail Cam Pics

I haven't gotten much good on trail cams this year, although I do have a couple of tremendous bucks on film. Here are a couple of interesting bucks. The one from the Remington camera looks tall and wide. The other one is in the background and his hard to tell. It looks like he's got a long main beam. After posting, the pics are too small to see anything!

New Versus Hunting Show-Goin' Country

My favorite hunting channel, Versus, is getting ready to debut a new hunting show Goin' Country. The show will be hosted by former American Idol finalist, Kristy Lee Cook. It will air on Sunday nights at 9 p.m. Guests will include Aaron Tippin, Jake Owen, and Blake Lewis. Goin' Country will also feature Cook's work with a horse rescue progra called the Kristy Lee Horse Heaven Foundation

I've been very lucky to get to participate in numerous podcasts for Versus Country TV. Look for a possible Kristy Lee Cook interview in the coming weeks.

Hanging Stands

Hanging stands in the summertime is just not fun. The heat index has been near 100 seemingly every day this summer. Not only is it sweaty, I've learned that taking an old stand doown covered in poison ivy just isn't very intelligent. I've spent the last three days covered in lotion. On a positive note, I only have one more stand to hang and one to repair. Countdown is on.

KY Bear Season 2010

Kentucky's 2nd (and hopefully more successful) black bear season will take place December 18th and 19th in Letcher, Harlan, and Pike Counties. It is open to Kentucky residents only. The season will end when 10 bears or 5 female bears are killed. Hunters will have to call in after 9 pm on December 18th to see if the quota has been reached. Bear permits will be $30. Good luck.

Kentucky Elk Season Notes 2010

**Remember, you must have an out-of-zone elk permit to take an elk out of the 16 county restoration zone.

**Spike and Bull Tags: I'm pretty sure the commission was smokin up when they put the spike permits in.....A spike has no more than two points on EACH side. A Bull has 4 or more points on a side.

**You may no longer hunt elk outside the listed elk seasons. (You can't go elk hunting as before during the legal deer seasons). This is going to make some bow hunters unhappy.

**Hunters drawn for a bull or spike permit are ineligible to be drawn for three years for a bull or spike. They can be drawn for a cow hunt.

**Youth hunters drawn for the special youth hunt will never be able to be drawn for that hunt again.

**There are no longer special metal tags for elk. They now have to be telechecked only.

**Unit 3 is now separated into 3A and 3B.

Interesting Cam Pics

Still haven't gotten a really big buck on trail cam yet. I do have one on video. Here's a couple of intersting cam pics. A buck getting a little smooch from a little doe and an extreme close up.

KY Deer Regulation Changes for 2010-11

The countdown is on to deer season 2010-2011 and there are some big changes in the Kentucky regulations. First, hunters will have to use their normal deer tags for quota hunts. There will no longer be the quota "bonus" tags. I like this change even though I've taken advantage of it in the past. I believe this gives a lot of folks with limited hunting opportunities the ability to participate. There are several zone changes. Caldwell County changed to zone 1. Bullitt, Hardin, Hart, Nelson Counties changed to zone 2. Several counties changed to zone 3. See the guide to the right to see all zone changes.


Important deer dates include:
September 4: opening of bow season. UK/Loserville gameday. UK up 28 by halftime and I'm heading to the stand!
October 1 to Oct. 17th. Crossbow opens. I have no earthly idea why it's so short-stupid.
Youth Firearms: October 9th and 10th
Muzzleloader: October 16th and 17th
Gun: opens November 13th. My momma's birthday.

QDMA National Convention July 10th and 11th

The Quality Deer Management Association National Convention will take place in Louisville on July 10th and 11th at the International Convention Center downtown. The doors will be open from 9-5 on Saturday and 9-4 on Sunday. Guest speakers will include Lee and Tiffany, Grant Woods, and Dan Perez.

Good News: Two Months Until Deer Season 2010

Enough said.........

First Kentucky Bear Attack

Well, I'm in Florida this week apparently where I should be making a video on how NOT to catch big bass or for that matter, any bass at all. Back in Kentucky, a man hiking was attacked by a black bear in Wolfe County. From what I understand, the bear was on the same trail with the man and instead of walking away from the bear, he took pictures and then began beating it with a stick. Bad move.

Here's the story from WLEX in Lexington..........

A man was taken to the hospital Sunday afternoon after being mauled by a bear while hiking in Wolfe County.

It happened around 2:30 along Tunnel Ridge Road. Witnesses tell LEX 18 that a few couples were walking along a trial when one of the men fell behind. When the others turned around to check on him, a black bear was standing in front of him. Witnesses say the man picked up a stick and the bear attacked. The others ran up and began hitting the bear with their backpacks.

The man's leg was mauled and he was taken to the hospital in Irvine. He was later transported to UK Hospital. He was in stable condition at last report

Kentucky Fish and Wildlife, along with the Wolfe County Sheriff's Department are investigating.

We're told officials are in the woods searching for that bear because it will have to be put down.

Free Fishing Weekend June 5th and 6th

Kentucky's free fishing weekend will be June 5th and 6th this year. The event is a part of National Fishing and Boating Week. You may fish in Kentucky without a fishing license or a trout stamp.

Last Weekend of Spring Turkey

Sunday will be the final day of the 2010 Spring Kentucky Turkey season. Sad to see it end because it's been a long frustrating season seeing endless days of gobblers hanging out with hens. One more day for that luck to change. Good luck.

Elk Draw Results Posted

The Elk draw results are posted at F&W. I did not get drawn. I'm hoping somebody in my family might.

You can check with your social or liscense number here:

http://fw.ky.gov/app/ElkQuotaLookup.aspx

GOOD LUCK.

400 Pound Buck Article

http://www.buckmasters.com/BuckmastersLinks/ViewAllArticles/tabid/135/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/2637/Thats-a-Hawg-of-a-Buck-But.aspx

If anyone has seen this photo and thought it was a fake like me, well I guess we were wrong. It was however taken on a high fenced place in Wisconsin. Check out the Buckmasters article on this monster 400 pounder.

Rainy Weekend

There's only 1 more week remaining in the 2010 Spring Turkey Season and it looks rough with the monsoons. We worked quite a few birds yesterday but the hens still have them on lock down. Some hens are sitting but these hens seem to be staying with the gobblers until about 11 and then dispersing.

Also, last night was your final chance to get a elk lottery permit. Not sure on a draw date yet. For those who have yours......good luck.

Hens beginning to Sit

Finally, the hens are beginning to sit. Hopefully the gobblers will get a little more workable over the next week. Over the first week of the season, they've been hanging out with the hens and won't even look at a decoy. Good luck.

Spring Turkey Begins Saturday

Big day Saturday. Spring Turkey officially opens and with this weather, the gobblers are fired up and gobbling hard. Here we go. Good luck folks.

Ethan's Turkey Hunt 2010

Ethan's Easter Sunday afternoon youth hunt was a lot of fun. We had no luck with gobblers avoiding us in both youth hunt morning sessions. This afternoon, my brother spotted these turkeys out and about. We crawled about 200 yards to the blind. The video is poor because I couldn't find my tripod today before I left and I have no idea how to edit. Ethan misses this bird the first time, then you hear a click as he didn't jack the next shell in all the way. I barely got the camera back on the bird when he blasted him on try #3! The bird had 9 1/4 inch beard and weighed 22 lbs. It's seldom that you get to see four mature gobblers in the same field all strutting. One of these days, I'm going to learn how to video. Fun day. Warning: My dad uses a few expletives you may not want your child to hear.

Youth Turkey Ends Today

Youth Turkey season ended this evening. The regular turkey season is just two weeks away. My boy scored on a 9 1/4 inch-22 lb bird tonight. I'll have horrible quality video later.