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What The Heck Is Happening?

OK, folks, I’m going to let you all in on a little secret: The world is not coming to an end, but what has happened is this. A few thousand miles away from our corner of the world somebody got a really bad flu bug, as my grandma would say. The original doctor that treated said flu noticed something different about it and reported his finding.

There are various “stories” about what happened from there, but it seems that things weren’t taken as seriously as they should have been. Jumping ahead, this is where we all are at.

While some folks are harder hit than others, there is one thing that an old friend of mine shared recently. “Isn’t it funny how the folks you knew who hunted and fished treated you differently.” What he and others like him have noticed is that the folks who were either looking down on you or not giving you the time of day now seem to be more interested in knowing how to fish and hunt.

While I totally understand both sides of this, I prefer to look at the positive side. Strangely enough, maybe more folks will realize the importance of conservation and begin to learn a little about fishing/hunting, and in return they would be able to provide for their loved ones.

With spring gobbler season quickly approaching, some folks are showing concern for what they believe is the downswing in the turkey population over the past the past few years. Are the turkeys getting smarter? Maybe. Are there fewer turkey hunters? Not according to license sales numbers. Are turkey hunters losing their turkey hunting edge? I don’t believe it. I feel Chautauqua County has some of the finest turkey hunters in the country.

I wish there was some new research and the discovery that would answer all your questions. Well, folks, that is not the case. As with most things in Mother Nature, there is never just one answer, which can be frustrating for most. But once one sits back and looks at the big picture, I believe that we all will realize how important it is to regain control of how we look at our sport.

From much of what I have read and uncovered, when biologists first start to see a decline in any species, they look at peroration. Let us take a look at the wild turkey first.

A few weeks ago, I received an email — yes, I do have email — regarding the fisher we have in Western New York. The fisher is an introduced species, which I was dead set against from the start in New York State. From the start of the introduction of the fisher, we have begun to see harvest numbers fall. Now is it seems that it’s kinda funny the things that happen around the same time.

Now it’s been well documented that fishers do look at turkey as a food source. There have been reports where fishers have taken turkey on roost. They will wait until the birds are on the roost and then crawl up the tree and out on the limb and take the turkey out, often times knocking the bird to ground and then killing them.

There seems to an awakening to the fact the fisher is not a friend of the wild turkey and could be one of the reason that turkey population has declined. In fact, the state has begun to see this with an expanded trapping season for fishers.

While the fisher isn’t the only critter that enjoys the taste of fresh turkey, the coyote has got to be on top of the list of turkey enemies.

Many hunters assume deer and other prey species have a better sense of smell than predators, including coyotes, but it’s been proven wrong many times.

The evidence comes from years of scent control on archery whitetail hunts. As hard as we try, stand placement sometimes forces us to walk through a shooting lane or down a trail to reach my setup, leaving scent on the ground. Still, it’s easily erased by wearing rubber boots and using scent-erasing products.

Not so for coyotes.

On one particular spring hunt a few years ago — it’s as fresh in my mind as if it happened yesterday –I was sent on a small piece of property, working a long beard. This long beard was making me work to fill my tag. The red head popped out on the field edge some 100 yards out and, for whatever reason, wasn’t interested in what I was selling. It took some time before the bird started working his way to my ambush. During this particular hunt, I was going old school with my smoke pole. This meant I had to get the bird within 20 yards, which is a little close, but with my choice in weapon it was the proper distance.

After a little bedroom talk from his new potential girlfriend, this gobbler was on his way to me. As the bird crossed over that magic line I had drawn in mind, I was ready to fill another tag. Then out of nowhere — actually off to my right within 10 yards of my setup — a coyote jumped out from behind me and dove to my turkey and the turkey took off like a 747 into the next county. There was a little bit more to the story, but I won’t share here, because at that time I couldn’t shoot a coyote in the spring. Some day, however, I love to share what happened to that nasty, sneaky coyote.

Time and time again you’ll be hunting with your favorite weapon, ready to take a shot at an incoming coyote only to watch it stop where I walked, whirl and vanish without even a courtesy pause. Can coyotes smell that well? Apparently so.

What’s really amazing is what you realize when you do the math. A coyote likely has fewer olfactory receptors than a whitetail or equal numbers at best. Humans have approximately 5 million olfactory receptors in the nose. Your canine pal has 220 million while bloodhounds have 300 million. It’s believed whitetails have nearly 300 million. Data is slim on coyote olfactory-receptor totals, but you can bet it compares to the average dog or bloodhound.

That superior sense of smell haunts me when contemplating setup sites. It particularly nags at me when I consider walking out into a clearing to put up a decoy or hide a turkey. I’m leaving a scent trail the entire way. In tight cover, I simply give up my downwind backside unless I have a partner to cover it. But when I must walk out to a spot where I expect a coyote to arrive, I do it with a plan in mind.

Always erase your scent. This includes washing your clothes in scent-free, non-UV brightening detergent. The next step is storing your clothes in scent-proof bags that won’t allow contaminants to invade your clean clothes. Make sure you wash everything you plan on taking to the woods, including daypacks, hats, binocular straps and anything that may capture scent. These items are easily overlooked. When you hit the field, spray everything with scent-erasing products.

Wear boots that include scent barriers in the lining or are rubber bottomed. Traditional rubber boots can work for ground hunting, but they can create blisters on long hikes. Consider going modern with a rubber boot designed for active wear. You’ll be scent-free thanks to its rubber construction, warm with ample insulation and comfortable as you rack up the miles.

To minimize your footprint scent, also consider washing and masking your boots with nature. Walk through waterholes and mud puddles, pausing to give your boots a good splash. If you see a manure pile from livestock or deer, squish your boots in it for a natural cover scent.

Mark your route out and back with precision. Now memorize that line and never let a coyote reach it. Your shooting lanes should give you ample room to shoot before a coyote circles downwind of your decoy or caller. Your shooting window should also include plenty of room for a coyote to circle downwind without bumping into you. Set up so a coyote has at least 100 yards to circle downwind of any distraction you set out.

Coyotes have amazing scent capabilities. You can’t win them all, but with some savvy planning you can conquer most coyote scent quandaries.

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