TruGlo and Apex Gear came out with some great gear for 2011 at this years ATA Show. They all teamed up with the Bone Collector's for a signature line including sights, stabilizers and quivers.


The Bone Collector Pro Tune XS Stabilizer features a tri-channel design to reduce both vibration and noise. The channels carry vibration out to a rubber end cab that absorbs the vibration along with the radial fins. The stabilizer is 5" in length and weighs 4.6 ounces.


The compact MQX-Nano quiver is available in 3, 5 and 7 arrow models. The unique grip design allows for a much more compact design compared to standard quivers that usually line up arrows in a straight line.


A molded rubber hood prevents mechanicals from opening and stops fixed blades from dulling. The magnetic quick connect system allows the quiver to quickly be attached and removed from the bow.


TruGlo's TRU-TEC quiver features the new positive lock mounting bracket for smooth one handed removal. The 5 arrow design features a molded rubber hood that won't dull broadheads and reduces noise associated with foam inserts.

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) today announced that the examination for individuals interested in obtaining a license to use leashed tracking dogs to find wounded or injured big game animals is scheduled for Friday, August 19, from 10:00 AM until noon at designated DEC regional offices across the state. The list of Regional Offices can be found at: http://www.dec.ny.gov/about/50230.html.

The deadline for registering to take the exam is August 12. A score of 80% or higher on the written exam and a valid New York State Big Game hunting license are mandatory requirements for receiving a license. There is a $50.00 application fee, and a $25.00 non-refundable processing fee associated with the license. The leashed tracking dog license is valid for five years.

Before this exam was first offered in 1990, DEC conducted experimental testing with a small group of leashed tracking dog handlers. Now, there are approximately 200 licensed handlers in New York. More information regarding the leashed tracking dog license can be found on the DEC website at http://www.dec.ny.gov/permits/25020.html.

For further information or to apply to take the exam, please contact:

NYS Department of Environmental Conservation
Special Licenses Unit
625 Broadway
Albany, NY 12233-4752
518-402-8985
fwslu@gw.dec.state.ny.us

I met the owners of BowHook Sling as I toured the booths in the Innovation Room at the ATA Show. The company is a local company based in south central New York and their product is a simple, yet effective way to free a hunter or target archer's hands for climbing into a treestand or just pulling arrows from a 3D target.


The BowHook Sling uses a nylon web belt with a leather hub to form the unique "X" shape that separates the hooks from the sling. The rubber coated hooks help dampen the sound of metal on metal, but if the hook hits a metal riser hard enough it will make noise. I used this sling on my Hoyt Carbon Matrix and the unique design of the carbon riser made the BowHook Sling a little more difficult to use, but on standard aluminum risers with uniform cut outs it's very easy to hook the sling up to the bow and take it off.


The BowHook Sling is available in a wide variety of colors including a variety of target colors, digital camo, pink camo and Realtree AP. Prices range from $15 for black and tan, $25 for target colors, and $30 for the Realtree AP version.


For more information on the BowHook Sling or to purchase visit http://www.bowhookslings.com/.

In reviewing comments already submitted for our draft deer management plan, it is apparent that a couple strategies of the plan need greater clarification. We have posted the following notes at www.dec.ny.gov/animals/7211.html to explain that the plan: (1) does not propose a 1-buck per hunter rule, and (2) does not propose an early muzzleloader season across the board for the Southern Zone.

1) 1-Buck Rule? - It's not in the plan.
Strategy 1.3.2 proposes to initiate a process to discontinue either-sex and antlerless-only bow and muzzleloader tags for antlerless harvest and transition to a system based exclusively on Deer Management Permits (DMPs) in all areas of the state. Some hunters have apparently misinterpreted this strategy as though DEC intends to institute a 1-buck per hunter rule. However, this is not the case. The proposal is strictly based on the need for a more sensitive antlerless harvest system, and Appendix 5.6 in the deer plan describes this need and purpose. At this point, the draft plan presents a concept for improved antlerless management. The potential tag system is not fully described, but bow and muzzleloader hunters would still be able to harvest one antlered deer during the regular season and one during either of the special seasons.

2) Early Muzzleloader Season in the Southern Zone? - It's proposed for very limited circumstances in specific areas only.
Strategy 2.2.6 proposes a possible early muzzleloader season under very limited circumstances. Some hunters have apparently misinterpreted this strategy as though an early muzzleloader season is being proposed for most or all of the Southern Zone. However, this is not the case. The strategy describes an approach to progressively increase harvest pressure on antlerless deer in areas where deer populations are above desired levels. This would be considered where DMPs are available to all hunters and additional steps are necessary to reduce the local deer population. A short, early muzzleloader season for antlerless deer is proposed as the third step of a three-step process. Based on current deer population trends, it is likely that step 1 (use of Bonus DMPs; see www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/10001.html for an explanation of Bonus DMPs) might be appropriate for 8-12 Wildlife Management Units, mostly located in northern Regions 8 and 9. If use of Bonus Permits is sufficient, then we would not need to progress on to step 2 (make part of the bow and late muzzleloading season antlerless-only) or step 3 (a short early-muzzleloader season for antlerless deer).

The draft deer plan is available at www.dec.ny.gov/animals/7211.html. I encourage you all to carefully read the plan, form your own opinions and give us feedback.

Please remember that July 28 is the deadline for submitting comments on the draft deer management plan. Comments may be submitted in writing to DEC Deer Management Plan, NYSDEC, 625 Broadway, Albany, NY 12233-4754 or by email to deerplan@gw.dec.state.ny.us using “Deer plan” in the subject line. Please do reply to NY Big Game to submit your comments.

Treelimb Products is a small company specializing in quivers that are lightweight, quiet and versatile. At the top of Treelimb's quivers is the Premium Series available in both 3 and 5 arrow configurations and retail for $94.99 and $99.99 respectively. Both quivers feature Treelimb's signature quick detach mounting system built-in treelimb hanger.


The Premium Series is built from a machined aluminum frame with no moving parts for an ultra quiet design. The quiver's foam insert has hollowed out tubes to accept both fixed and mechanical broadheads.  The quiver mounts can be attached directly to your bowsight or you can purchase the optional Riser Mounting Bracket ($19.99) to keep the quiver higher up the bow's riser.


Treelimb's Standard Quiver also comes in a 3 arrow ($39.99) and 5 arrow design ($44.99) and offers a different type of quick detach design from the Premium Series. The Standard quiver shares the same treelimb hanger and ability to accept both fixed and mechanical broadheads just like the Premium Series.

Treelimb quivers are available in a variety of colors including Realtree AP, Realtree APG, Realtree Hardwoods Green, Mossy Oak Treestand, Mossy Oak Breakup, Lost Camo and Carbon X. New for 2011 will be anodized aluminum frames in a variety of colors.

Slick Trick broadheads are my new favorite head. Last season was my first time using Slick Tricks and they blew through whitetails leaving big holes and easy to follow blood trails - in fact, the deer I shot all went down in sight.


Slick Trick has two main designs - a SuperSteel ferrule with four point bone crushing tip and blades that lock using the patented Alcatraz system, and a cut on contact four blade design that uses the deadbolt lock. There is also the Xbow Trick designed specifically for crossbows.


My personal favorite is the Slick Trick Magnum with 1 1/8" cutting diameter. I prefer this design over the Razortrick because I don't like any screws on my broadheads and the Razortrick uses a small Phillips head screw to lock the blades in place. To me this is just another point of failure and I like to eliminate as many of these as possible when hunting which is why I stick with the Alcatraz blade locking system of the Slick Trick Magnum. The Slick Trick Standard, Grizztrick and Xbow Trick all use the Alcatraz blade locking system.


I've had great luck tuning my Slick Tricks and they group tight out to 50 yards (I didn't shoot them further). Everything except for the blades is made in the U.S.A. while the super sharp Mercedes blades are manufactured in Solingen, Germany - where some of the finest blades in the world are made.

Most seasons in the past I've shot a variety of broadheads throughout the season, but I think I finally found one I like enough to keep on the end of my arrow for the entire season - the Slick Trick Magnum.

One of the largest booths at the ATA Show was the Tree Spider booth by Robinson Outdoors, the makers of Scent Blocker and Scent Shield.


Tree Spider has two safety harness models, the Speed Harness (pictured above) and the Speed Vest (the camo vest further down in this article). Both models include the Spider Speed Clips, Venom buckles (one on each leg and one for the waist), and Ario Mesh Back for increased air flow.


The Speed Harness is an extremely innovative safety harness that utilizes a figure 8 pattern, Tree Spider calls it the X-Web Fit, to hold the hunter. Not only does this pattern utilize less material than other safety harness designs, but it also seems to want to hug the body for a closer and more comfortable fit - although without being able to try on the vest, I can't confirm that it actually is more comfortable than other safety harnesses.


Like most safety harnesses, the Speed Hunter incorporates climbing loops on each side of the waist allowing use of a lineman's rope when hanging tree stands or installing tree steps.


The second model, the Speed Vest, is a slightly larger version of the Speed Harness available in Realtree AP and Mossy Oak Infinity. The Speed Vest has two zippered pockets on the outside for holding your rangefinder, game calls or other accessories.


The contoured front and back panels allow the Speed Vest to conform to your body for a closer fit. This translates into less bulk which is especially important to the archer.


While I think the yellow tether and accents are a visually appealing touch, I'm not so sure I'd want to be wearing any yellow while deer hunting. I'm not really worried about the deer, it's more the other animals that might notice the yellow and go on high alert that I'm worried about - as soon as a deer sees a turkey on high alert you can be sure a whitetail won't stick around to find out what's making that turkey putt.


The Speed Harness and Speed Vest are available in three sizes: S/M, LG/XL, 2XL/3XL with a weight capacity range from 115 - 300 pounds.


An additional feature of the Speed Vest are clips on the back of the vest. This will allow you to wear the vest underneath certain Scent Blocker jackets and clip right into the jacket making it effortless to put on your safety harness and take it off when the hunt is through.


The Tree Spider harnesses will be available during the Summer 2011. Visit www.treespidersafety.com for more information.

Over the last few weeks I've been working with my buddy Paul to plant a half acre clover plot for the upcoming season. We have a little more than 40 acres of mostly open land to work with, but we've had success hunting here in the past and hope that with some habitat improvement we can increase our odds of shooting a buck this fall.

The first thing we did was allow some of the native grasses to grow instead of mowing them all down as they had been in the past. This has created a four foot high mass of cover for the deer to travel through and feel comfortable. It's also helped us provide cover for turkeys and we've seen an increased number of birds since the grass was allowed to grow.

Using a group of tall pine trees as our main stand site, we mowed down a half acre of grass surrounding our future stand that we plan to plant with clover this August. We didn't have the proper equipment to mow the field, but a weed whacker and standard lawn mower did the job and got the plot where we needed it to be.

Since mowing the plot we've let it sit for two weeks so the grasses can regenerate. Allowing the grasses to regenerate ensures that when we spray the plot with Roundup the weeds are killed down to the roots. After spraying we will have a proper plot to start working with.

Next year, however, I do expect us to run into a problem with grasses. Unfortunately, we got started late and the grass we cut had already seeded. When we till the plot we will essentially be disking native grass seed into the ground. I expect to be able to control the grass by using a grass specific herbicide which will not harm the clover, but I hope it doesn't become a big issue for us next season.

To till the food plot we are getting some help from our friends at the Hudson Valley QDMA. The Hudson Valley branch offers a Food Plot on Wheels program for all QDMA members. The Food Plot on Wheels program allows you to borrow, free of charge, equipment including a four foot Plotmaster, 300 pound Cyclone pelletized spreader and a 25 gallon boomless ATV sprayer - the essential tools needed for creating a food plot.

A week after the food plot has been sprayed we will disk the field and spread pelletized lime as recommended by our soil sample test results. Getting this done in the next two to three weeks should allow some time for the lime to start reacting with the soil and raising the pH from 6.3 towards the 7.0 mark.

Paul and I are really excited about the clover plot. It's been really fun to learn about planting for wildlife and how the food plot can help supplement the local deer herd with much needed nutritional forage. If we have success with our half acre plot the plan is to increase the amount of food plots on the land and plant different types of forage to provide year round nutrition for the deer to ensure they make it through the stressful winter months.

We will keep you posted with the progress of our food plot as it slowly comes to life.

It's already July and August will be here before you know it. By that time the bucks will have put on an incredible amount of antler and opening day will be just around the corner. Now is the time to get out there and hit a few 3D shoots with some friends, fine tune the bow and practice at various ranges and elevations, put the trail cameras out and get the hunting gear in order because hunting season is right around the corner.

This year I decided to plant a hunting plot in one of my suburban spots. The area is a well used deer travel corridor that seems to connect several pieces of woods together.


I didn't find this particular spot until December and even then I was getting a lot of activity by the camera and picked up several bucks on trail cam including two beautiful shooter bucks.


There were plenty of acorns in this spot to keep the deer coming through to feed, but I thought I might have some early season luck if I could plant a small hunting plot at this spot. Nothing crazy something around 20 yards by 60 yards.

I knew I couldn't get any sort of equipment back there besides a rake, hand saw and hand seed spreader. I went online and purchased a bag of Secret Spot XL from Whitetail Institute which is a throw and grow type of seed that can tolerate an extremely low pH of around 5.0, but optimally .

With the thought in my head and the seed ordered I headed to the woods and began clearing some small saplings. Once that was done I realized my 20 yard by 60 yard hunting plot was a little too ambitious so I cut it down to about 20 yards by 20 yards. Then the fun part began.

I spent the next few hours raking a good 10 years of fallen leaves off the ground until I hit bare dirt - this took a good four or more hours. Once the ground was clear I took a few soil samples so I could have the BioLogic lab analyze them for me and tell me the true pH of the plot.

The next step was to get some lime down. I had purchased 500 pounds of pelletized lime as the package suggested as well as 100 pounds of 13-13-13 fertilizer. After dragging 120 pounds of lime uphill and through the thick tangled brush, I decided it was enough.

The soil test came back a few days later with a pH of 4.6 - about as bad as you can get for planting anything. Most food plot forage needs a pH of 6.5 to 7.0 - what most people don't realize is that the pH scale moves at a factor of 10. So while a pH of 4.6 doesn't look so bad compared to a pH of 7.0 on paper, in reality the soil is over 100 times more acidic than a neutral pH of 7.

Even though I spread enough lime on my hunting plot to raise the pH above 5.0 it's just barely enough for the seed to grow. The correct pH is critical because it allows the roots of the plants to absorb the available nutrients in the ground. The more nutrients available to the plants the more tonnage they'll produce.

Here's a breakdown of pH and how it relates to the available nutrients in the ground:

• At a pH of 6.5 to 7.0 plants can utilize 95% of the available nutrients in the soil
• At a pH of 6.0 to 6.5 plants can utilize 85% of the available nutrients in the soil
• At a pH of 5.5 to 6.0 plants can utilize 45% of the available nutrients in the soil
• At a pH of 5.5 and below plants can only utilize 15% of the available nutrients in the soil

So why am I even attempting this? To be honest, I'm only moving forward with this small hunting plot because it's not worth it to return the seed. I've already put the time and effort into clearing the plot and liming it, so it's not much more effort for me to spread 40 pounds of fertilizer and 3 pounds of seed.

If there's one thing you take away from my story please remember to always soil test first! Then worry about what you're going to plant. If you don't have a good foundation to start with, no matter what you throw on the ground, it's not going to grow to it's full potential.