Happy New Year

Happy New Year to all. Let's hope 2010 will be a great year for hunting and fishing in the Bluegrass. My 2009 was a great one as a dad as my son finally connected on his first turkey and his 3rd buck. Other than that, it was slow! Let's hope foor great things in 2010! Good luck to everyone.

Free Youth Hunt Days

Remember, Youth ages 15 and under may hunt deer with a firearm Dec. 26-27, and may hunt and trap small game and furbearers Dec. 26 – Jan. 1, all without a license or permit. Get a kid out this weekend and next week. Watch for those bucks who have dropped antlers already. Take a look at that head before you shoot.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all. No hunting this week. We just got back from a funeral in Russell Springs. Remember, the free youth hunt weekend is coming up.

The Michaella Monroe Buck is Scored

Michaella Monroe's buck was officially scored 219 5/8 non-typical. Check it out in the Kentucky Conservation Coalition newsletter. Also, take a minute to read the story about the disabled hunters deer hunt and the Blugrass Army Depot. There are some great pics.

Copy and Paste

http://fw.ky.gov/pdf/newsletter1209.pdf

No Bear Killed???????

Well, it looks like Kentucky's first ever bear season might have been a complete bust. If telecheck results are correct, ZERO bear were killed in this weekends historic hunt. I know snow was a big issue in the three county area but I'm shocked no bear were taken.

Bear Season open again Sunday the 20th

Wow, I'm shocked that the bear season will be open Sunday the 20th. The limit of bears was not killed today. I'm not sure how many bear were killed b/c the telecheck results won't be posted until Sunday morning. Update to come.

Apparently, people are saying the snow storm has shut down many roads in Eastern Kentucky this morning and a lot of people couldn't even hunt.

Historic Bear Season Tomorrow

Saturday December 19th will be Kentucky's first ever modern bear season. Hunters will have to check the F&W website at 9 pm on Saturday night to see if the season will be open on Sunday the 20th or closed due to the number of bear killed on Saturday. As of last week, very few tags had been sold for the 3 county bear hunt. Hopefully, we'll begin getting some pics by tomorrow night.

Late Season Elk Draw Results Released

The late season elk hunt hunt results were released today. I had no idea they were going to be released so you need to go check your liscense number on line. Good luck. Just copy and paste the link.

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

Late Muzzleloader!

It's go time for the late muzzleloader season which begins tomorrow (December 12th) and runs through the 20th in all 4 deer zones. This season might be even better than gun with the cold weather and more does coming in. I'm loading up on the OJ and cold medicine b/c I feel like dirt. I'm trying to decide if I can even get out in the morning. I figure I'll tough out that 18 degree Saturday monring and pay for it later. Good luck folks.

Hunting Seasons Updates

Muzzlelaoder begins again this weekend (Dec. 12) and runs through the 20th in all four zones.

Crossbow runs until December 31st.

The Free Youth deer hunting weekend is December 26th and 27th.

The Bear season is December 19th and 20th in Harlan, Pike, and Letcher counties.

Bobcat runs through January 31st.

Squirrel season runs until Feb 28th.

The Free Youth small game week is December 26th to Jan. 1.

Fall turkey gun ends on Decmeber 11th. Archery Turkey runs until January 18th and crossbow ends December 31st.

KDFWR Releases Elk Harvest Info

Through November there had been 249 bulls killed in Kentucky including one out-of-zone bull. The out-of-zone bull was killed by crossbow in Laurel County. So far, the success rate for bulls is 86%. That is the success vs. tags drawn so some hunters could've possibly not hunted. There were 266 Bull permits issued + 24 either sex permits. The 24 either sex permits Landowner Cooperator Permits.

Tree Stand Safety

I did a really stupid thing this weekend. I left my safety harness in the truck and instead of going back and getting it, I climb up into a stand without it. This particular stand wasn't very high off the ground but high enough to to cause a serious injury. As I began to sit down, the stand shifted and I lost my balance. I threw my bow toward my feet and luckily somehow caught onto a branch and got my balance back enough to right the stand. Very stupid decision not to go back to the truck but I learned a good lesson. Be safe out there folks. Where those safety harnesses and come home safe.

Josh Webb Buck

Dang, Josh Webb's year has NOT sucked. Big bull and a big buck. A 2009 to remember. How many Kentucky huters scored this Bluegrass double this season.....not many.

Shotgun Fall Turkey Opens Again Today

Fall Gun Turkey opens back up today (Dec. 5). I've not been seeing any all of the sudden. Hope you are.

Already time to buy Elk Hunt Lottery Application

It's already time you can purchase your elk lotter application for 2010. The $10 application gives you the opportunity to be drawn for either a bull or cow tag. It should be interesting to see how many permits are issued this season. We shouldn't know until sometime around March. Good luck.

https://fw.ky.gov/license/olpsintro.aspx

What I learned this season............

Every time you go out in the woods or fields, you learn something about deer hunting. Every season, you learn something too. Usually, by next season, you forget it because your blinded by excitement like a kid sprinting down the steps on Christmas morning.

Here are a few things I learned this season that I'd forgotten before the season started:

1. No matter how many big bucks you see in the summer time or on camera, you won't see that many during hunting season.

2. If you get that one 10 second chance at a really big buck, you darn well better take advantage because you usually won't get another one.

3. Appreciate neighbors that kill a few deer here and there and have stands on your property line because they could sell to guys who let everybody hunt and kill every deer they see.

4. The weather is more than unpredictable in the Bluegrass and it gets crazier every year.

5. You should hunt hard in the early season while the bucks are grouped up.

more to come later...............

Great Article from Deer and Deer Hunting

Looks like I'm not the only one......................He sums most of it up to a bad timing on moon phase, bad weather (warm, wet, and windy), and acres of corn and beans not harvested b/c of wet weather.

http://www.northamericanwhitetail.com/nawblog_2006/index.html
Copy and paste the above link to read the entire article by Gordon Whittington of Deer and Deer Hunting

NAW's Big Buck Blog
December 1, 2009
By Gordon Whittington

Rut Gone Wrong

December 1, 2009

Serious whitetail hunters spend 50 weeks of each year waiting for the other two to get here. So what happens when those two -- the ones that typically feature the hottest and heaviest rutting activity -- are a bust? It makes for some mighty long days in the field, and for some equally long faces back in camp.

Welcome, sadly, to one of those years. For much of North America, the 2009 rut has been a flop of epic proportions.

Amber waves of (soggy) grain: that's the story in much of the Corn Belt this fall, and neither farmers nor hunters are happy about it.

I wish it weren't so, but from everything I've seen and heard, it is. I honestly can't recall such a poor span for mature buck movement at this time of year since . . . well, I don't know when. It's just been that bad.