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Improve Your Turkey Hunting Odds By Spring Coyote Hunting

March 7, 2023/0 Comments/in Get Muddy /by Elizabeth Rak

When two gobbling toms rumbled the early morning spring woods, my late friend and I decided we would have the best chance if we split the difference between the roosted birds. After quietly making our way down a wooded fence row, we made it within one hundred yards of each tom, then proceeded to get into position to begin calling.

As the sun lit up the spring woods, I knew it wouldn’t be long until we heard the beat of wings as the two toms flew off the roost. I amped up my calling by cutting and imitating a fly-down cackle on an H.S. Strut diaphragm call to entice them into coming closer. After a short time, we heard the anticipated sound of a turkey flying down and landing in the leaves. A few seconds later, I spotted one of the toms strutting his way down the hill toward the sound of my calls. Meanwhile, on the opposite side of the approaching longbeard, my friend stayed motionless as the other tom was still roosting a mere sixty yards in his direction. Trying to stay still, I was baffled when the gobbler heading in my direction suddenly went out of strut, then quickly went the opposite way, eventually out of sight. While trying to figure out what had gone wrong so quickly, I suddenly caught movement a few yards to my front. My instincts took over when I saw a coyote approaching where my tom once stood. After folding the coyote in his tracks, my twelve-gauge shotgun echoed through the bottom ridge. Unfortunately, the echoing of my gun resulted in the tom in front of my friend going silent until it eventually flew off the roost in the opposite direction.

If one has vast turkey hunting experience, it is easy to relate to the heartbreak and the aggravation my friend and I felt after a coyote ruined our morning of tagging a gobbler. Many turkey hunters have had coyotes attack their decoys or, as with our hunt, charge between the hunter who has been calling and the gobbling tom who is not too far ahead. Even though coyotes can be highly frustrating when turkey hunting, it is mother nature’s way for them to find an easy meal during the spring of the year.

A coyote’s breeding season typically occurs from late January through mid-March. Once a female has been successfully bred, she has a gestation period of around sixty days before having her pups. With the peak of the breeding season occurring in mid-February, that would make their young scheduled to arrive mid-April to early May. Days before a female gives birth, and through the first several days of the young coyote pups being born, the mother’s requirement for more food increases drastically. During this period, it is typical for the male coyote to be a bit more aggressive as he is hunting for food for the mother and her pups. This is the reason for the increased coyote activity while hunters try to harvest a spring turkey. To help boost the odds for a spring gobbler and prevent coyotes from ruining a turkey hunt, it is vital to spend the month before the season hunting and calling coyotes. When coyotes are in search of extra food to prepare the female coyote for birth and later feed the young themselves, response rates to calls can be highly effective.

When hunting coyotes in March, it is imperative to focus on the territorial sounds they make, which symbolize the protectiveness of the area around their den sites, and the sounds of an easy meal. Using coyote vocals such as challenge and territorial howls signal to other coyotes that the area is theirs. If resident coyotes have settled themselves, they often will respond to see who has invaded their area. As for food source sounds, many animals also have their young in early spring. For that reason, using sounds such as baby cottontail, baby birds, and fawn distress all work excellently because they are the natural sounds heard in the wild at that particular time.

Due to the increased aggravation that male coyotes often have before their mate has pups, finding areas near a den can be ideal for hunting. As a good scouting tool, I have often placed one or two Muddy Outdoors Manifest 2.0 Cellular Cameras near areas where I plan to turkey hunt or where I suspect a den is located. When coyotes begin showing up on my cameras, I move in as quickly as possible and try to make a harvest. While finishing up the last portion of the coyote hunting season, focus on den areas and coyotes near a turkey hunting spot. By doing so, I have found that I have less pressure from predators when spring turkey season arrives in mid-April; less pressure from nearby coyotes means calling a gobbler into close range becomes less complicated.

Ground Blind Tips With Drury Outdoors And Keith Beam

Ground Blind Tips With Keith Beam & Drury Outdoors -100% Wild Podcast

On a recent episode of Drury Outdoors 100% Wild Podcast, host Matt Drury and Tim Kjellesvik talk with Double Bull blind co-inventor and GSM Director of Product Innovation Keith Beam. During this podcast, Keith gives insight into the development of the Double Bull blind and what’s to be expected from Muddy’s line of ground blinds in the future. The guys share some laughs along with a few proven ground blind hunting tactics.

Summertime To-Do List For Hunting Season

August 16, 2019/0 Comments/in Box Blinds, Get Muddy, Ground Blinds, Hang-Ons, Trail Cameras /by Muddy Outdoors

Getting Ready For Fall

It’s hot! With heat indexes soaring near triple digits in much of the country, that last thing on your mind might be the fall deer hunting seasons. Preparing for them shouldn’t be, however. Regardless of the heat and humidity, if you expect to have success this fall, then you’d better get busy checking off the boxes on this summertime to-do list.

Trail cameras are a big part of your summertime to-do list:

As each day finds the buck’s antlers adding more inches, setting up and placing trail cameras is important if you want to know what kinds of bucks you have running around. They will also let you know where they are – and are not – frequenting.

If you want to make your cameras a larger player in your summertime to-do list, be sure to place them strategically. Water sources are always good places to set up a camera or two. Beyond that, of course, look for well-used trails and set one up wherever you find one, especially if you find an area where more than one trail converge. This will increase the number of pics you get, as this is an indicator that deer are coming from all areas your hunting property to this spot, or that it is a focal point in different travel routes for deer for some reason.

If you are lucky enough to find a licking branch, this is an absolute must for a camera. And if you’re ahead on your summertime to-do list and already have all of your cameras set, pull one from somewhere else to place here.

If there has to be one thing to avoid on your summertime to-do list of setting out trail cameras, it would be to avoid putting them out in windy or weedy places. If you do, every time the wind blows the weeds in front of your camera, or a leaf in front of it, it will snap a photo of nothing, and those get boring really fast.

One more no-no about trail cameras when thinking about your summertime to-do list is to try to avoid putting them in areas that will cause you to be too invasive in order to check them. You don’t want to spook deer or allow them to pattern you before the season starts.

Scouting is a big part of any summertime to-do list:

Scouting doesn’t start as the season draws near; it should be a continuous process through the year. Scouting in the summer is as good as any. It allows you to identify travel routes and feeding areas that the deer are using when there is no hunting pressure, which can be invaluable for early season sits.

It also enables you to see how many, and what types of bucks, are hanging around. Often, they are in bachelor groups this time of year, making getting an eye on them easier.

There is no need to go deep all the time on your summer scouting trips. A lot of the time, you can spot bachelor groups of bucks and does feeding in crop fields from the road. Or consider parking and walking a short distance to a fencerow, hill or other easy to get to spot where you can glass the area without tromping through the woods.

You’ll be surprised what a little scouting can do to improve your summertime to-do list, that even trail cameras can’t do for you. Putting boots on the ground allows you to see well-worn trails, old rubs, and scrapes, identify water sources you may not have known were there and observe deer in areas where your cameras aren’t. It also helps you pinpoint bedding areas, fence crossings and the like.

Treestand preparation and placement should be a part of your summertime to-do list:

A lot of people put it off until closer to the opener, but when going through your summertime to-do list, putting your treestands up and preparing them now should be on your list.

There are valid points to wanting to wait until closer to season to hang stands. Deer patterns can change between summer and fall, requiring you to move a stand or two after putting them up, but overall, where you place your stands now will still be the right decision come fall. For those always occurring instances where you notice deer using an area during the season where you don’t have one hung, keep an extra or two in the garage for just this reason, but you don’t want to wait until season approaches to hang them all.

If you have properly done your scouting and studied your trail cameras, you should already know where you need to hang them.

Sure, it may require torturous hikes through standing crop fields to hang them now versus later, but the extra work now will not only make you more prepared come fall, but it will also allow you to leave the area less disturbed as the season approaches.

Hanging stands, and all of the trimming, etc. that goes along with it takes a ton of time; time that really isn’t available as hunting season approaches when there are other things to do and get ready. Doing it now may be hot and sweaty work, but will be so worth it come fall.

Besides just hanging a stand and trimming shooting lanes, think a bit deeper. Add clearing brush, weed-eating or weed-killing entry and exit trails to your summertime to-do list also. Obviously, this isn’t necessary for stands on field edges and the like, but for those hung in the timber, think about getting rid of as much of the debris as you can along the trail in order to make those calm morning entries as quiet as possible.

Food plots should be on your summertime to-do list:

That’s right, depending on what you intend to plant, summertime is the time to plant food plots if you intend to have any.

A wide variety of crops can be planted this time of year, so along with all of the other things, there are to do, planting food plots are another item on a summertime to-do list.

Plants such as beets, oats, tubers, alfalfa, and greens like brassicas are all best when planted in the summer heat. They are heat and drought-resistant and come up in time to coincide with when you plan to be hunting over them.

Safety, the most important thing on your summertime to-do list:

With all of the important things to get done on the summertime to-do list, none are more important than safety. Remember that. Whether scouting, tending plots or hanging stands, practice safety first. Never ascend a tree without the proper safety gear, such as a Muddy lineman’s belt, and never check or sit in stands without a Muddy safety harness. Once stands are in place, secure a Safe-Line to the tree so that on your first hunt of the year, you will be tied in the moment your feet leave the ground.

Conclusion:

There really is no off-season when it comes to serious deer hunting. In fact, if you do it right, there is a lot more work to be done now than once it’s time to be out hunting, so don’t let summer slip by without taking some time to create and knock out a summertime to-do list for a successful fall.

Having The Right Amount Of Trail Cameras

July 17, 2019/0 Comments/in Get Muddy, Trail Camera Accessories, Trail Cameras /by Muddy Outdoors

Running trail cameras can no doubt be one of the most exciting things to do as a whitetail hunter. The feeling of inserting an SD card into a computer and anxiously waiting for the card to load so you can start flipping through photos is almost as good as the feeling of seeing a big buck headed your way while in a treestand. It’s often described as better than Christmas. Partially because of this, it can be easy to run a lot of trail cameras. Trail cams have their place when it comes to deer hunting and can be very beneficial to you in terms of helping you be a successful hunter.

The question that always seems to arise when discussing the aspect of using trail cameras is how many should you be using? Some hunters don’t like to use trail cameras at all, and some run them religiously. When it comes to how many you should be running, it’s not a black and white answer, but more doesn’t always equal better. It’s very dependent on how much hunting property you own or have access on, and what you can handle. That may be five trail cameras, it might be twenty spread across multiple states, or it could be seventy on a large farm.

Below are a few points outlined that can be a product of running too many trail cameras. If you find yourself in any of these predicaments, odds are you’ve bitten off more than you can chew when it comes to trail cameras. So, take a look at these points and ask yourself if you’ve found yourself in any of these scenarios.

There Isn’t Time For Other Projects

If you get to a point where you find yourself not being able to complete other whitetail projects because you spend too much time heading afield to swap SD cards, it may be time to consider how many you are running. There’s a lot that needs to get done in the whitetail woods throughout the entire year and if you start putting things on the backburner or find yourself not completing what you want to get done during a day or a weekend of whitetail work because of having too many trail cameras to check, that can signify you simply have too many. If you get to this point, take a look at how many you are running, and what you’d be able to get done if you cut the number of trail cams you have in the field.

You Can’t Stay Organized

When you start running a lot of trail cameras, things can start to get hectic when it comes to staying organized. There’s a lot of other stuff that goes into it that one may not worry about when only running a few cams. But when you start to run a big number of cameras, there’s a lot of batteries, SD cards and trail camera maintenance that you have to worry about. When you run a couple, it may not seem like a big deal, but when all of a sudden you have thirty cameras, it can be very challenging to keep all of this organized. It can be a good idea to label SD cards for specific cameras, create spreadsheets on where your cameras are and to number each trail camera. This can help, but when you get to a point where you’ve simply got too many and can’t stay organized, or forget about cameras, you’ve got too many.

You’re Always “Behind”

This is a big indicator of running too many trail cameras. When you run a large number of cameras, a lot of times you end up relying on the information they provide during the season by default. When you have a large fleet of trail cameras out and find yourself not hunting areas during the season unless you check a camera that has a shooter on it, this can put you into dangerous waters and often times lead you to chasing your tail. A scenario would be you check five cameras in a day in the middle of October, and on one of them over a bean field, you have a shooter that showed up five days ago. Because that’s the only camera you had a shooter show up, you hunt there and don’t see him. Well, that buck could have easily shifted food sources in those five days, and you should be scouting for the hot food source, not just checking trail cameras. If you find yourself doing this too much, it might be time to reduce how many cameras you’re running.

So How Many is Too Many?

Well, that is dependent on you and you only. What it comes down to is are you able to stay organized, can you still get everything else done that you need to and are you not chasing your tail because of trail cameras? For some people, they might be able to run thirty trail cameras on a large farm and be able to still hunt effectively while keeping all of their trail camera data organized. If you hunt multiple states, this might mean you can only keep track of a couple in the out of state areas.

At the end of the day, trail cameras are meant to be a tool to help you succeed at deer hunting. When you use them properly, they can most definitely provide you with information to make you a better hunter. But when trail cameras become relied upon, or when hunters get ahead of themselves and run too many, it can detract from other things that you need to do in order to be a successful hunter. If you get to a point where trail cameras take away from these other things or create stress because you can’t keep up with them all or stay organized, then it’s time to consider reducing the number of trail cameras you have in the field.

Trail Camera Tips

Must Have Tree Stand Accessories

October 24, 2018/0 Comments/in Get Muddy, Treestand Accessories /by Muddy Outdoors

Essential Tree Stand Accessories

For a whitetail deer hunter, there is no place you would rather be during deer season than in the tree stand. Countless hours are spent in preparation for the time in the stand: running trail cameras, tending to food plots, creating habitat, and studying the wind to find the perfect spot for tree stand locations. When the time is right, when the wind is perfect, and the deer are on their feet; it’s time to get in the stand and make something happen.

Time in the tree stand is magical, it is where hunters long to be, but it’s not always the most comfortable. Long hours in the tree stand waiting for that bruiser buck to make an appearance can take its toll, but with a few tree stand accessories you can make those long sits more comfortable, more productive, and hopefully fill that tag.

Tree stand accessories can be broken down into a few categories to help you determine what tools make the most sense for your setup and your hunts. Accessories for hunter comfort, for organizing equipment, and for your weapon are all important details to polish off your tree stand setup and insure you will be ready when that critical moment arrives.

Accessories for hunter comfort help extend tree stand sits, making sure you are in the woods when that hit list buck makes an appearance.

Seat Cushion – A good quality seat cushion is a must when you plan to spend much time waiting out a mature buck. The added comfort will not only help you stay longer in the stand, but also help you to sit still during the hunt. Squirming around trying to find a comfortable way to sit is a guaranteed way to get picked off by a wary buck.

Waterproof Seat Cover – One of the drawbacks of using a foam seat cushion is when they get wet. Rain and morning dew will soak into a seat cushion like a sponge. A sure way to ruin your days hunt is to sit down onto a wet cushion first thing in the morning. By adding a waterproof seat cover you can be sure that your cushioned seat will be dry and comfortable for your entire hunt.

Lumbar Support – Supporting your lumbar during long sits is the ideal solution to a stiff and sore back due to long hours spent hunting. A quick attach, lightweight support that works with any stand is a fantastic way to make sure you are focused on the hunt, and not aches and pains.

Accessories for organizing equipment make effective use of the limited space available when you are in the tree. Keeping your gear organized and at the ready can make the difference between notching a tag or going home empty handed.

Screw-In Single Hook – Non-slip rubber coated screw in hooks provide a variety of uses like: hanging a pack, quiver, or rattling antlers. Keep a couple of these in your daypack all the time and you will find a variety of uses for them.

Multi-Hook Strap On Holder – Using a strap on accessory holder that fastens around the tree gives you the flexibility to put up multiple hooks quickly and quietly. Drilling into heavy bark is no issue, and they easily fold up and store in your daypack between hunts.

Pivoting Multi-Hanger – Every tree and every tree stand setup is unique. Having the flexibility to adjust a gear hanger for the situation at hand can be paramount. A pivoting hanger offers the flexibility to adjust the hanger height and angle quickly and quietly during the hunt.

Accessories for the weapon are designed to provide hunters with greater accuracy and reduce motion in the stand. By having your weapon at the ready and steady for the shot, these tree stand accessories offer hunters an edge of confidence.

Universal Platform Bow Holder – Having your bow at the ready, out of the way, and in a vertical position reduces delay and motion in the stand to make the shot when it presents itself. A rock solid support that is rubber coated not only prevents damaging the bow, but is silent as well.

Gun or Bow Organizer – A safe out of the way place to keep your rifle or bow helps to keep you comfortable in the tree stand. It’s critical to keep your hands free for glassing and calling, but to still have quick access to your weapon. An adjustable quick organizer designed to keep your weapon at the ready will make you a more effective hunter.

Shooting Rail – For firearm hunters, nothing affects accuracy more than steadiness. Having a solid rest is crucial to executing an accurate and lethal shot. Whether you are hunting with a centerfire rifle, a muzzleloader, or a shotgun; a stable and sturdy rail to shoot from is imperative. Look for one that is easy to set up, and flips up out of the way when you are entering and exiting the stand.

Using a tree stand to get the upper advantage on a wary whitetail deer is a fantastic proven tactic. After investing so much time and effort to find the right tree, and make that stand location perfect for the hunt, be sure to bring along the right tools to help you stay comfortable, organized, and accurate in the stand!

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What Style of Hunter are You?

June 29, 2017/0 Comments/in Get Muddy, Uncategorized /by Muddy Outdoors

Tree Stand Matching Guide | What Style of Hunter are You?

There is no doubt that each hunter has a preferred method of hunting and many incorporate a variety of hunting styles that change with the season, terrain, and the weather. Even though it is more typical to stalk hunt in many of the western states and often favorable in some Midwestern states, hunting from elevated stands has steadily grown in popularity across all regions. The right tree stand can be the difference in being able to sit the hours needed to make a successful harvest of that elusive trophy buck or getting down early and missing the opportunity entirely. There are a variety of elevated stands available regardless of which style of stand hunter you are.

Which Style of Hunter are You?

Each hunter has his/her own style when it comes to hunting. Sometimes the year, weather, or property steers the style of hunting you might go with for the year. However, taking a look in the general sense at your hunting strategies and tactics will allow you to make a conclusion on which style hunter you are, this later down the road can help you make decisions on which gear is right for your style.

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The One and Done

The One and Done hunter is often only in the woods opening day and a few following days while the pressure is low and the odds are high for a successful harvest.

The One and Done hunter often is going to spend their time in the stand opening day of gun season or the opener in the early season. Often these hunters are filling the freezer and the lack of pressure of deer early in the season offers high odds of a harvest. Habitually deer are going to be easy to pattern early season if the hunter has had game cameras out or has done any scouting. Deer will use the same corridors, pinch points, staging areas, feeding areas, food plots and mineral licks as they have leading up to opening day and until the pre-rut rituals begin. The One and Done also would apply to those hunters that only appear in the woods the opener of gun season or perhaps the weekend after.

The Family Man/Soccer Mom

The Family Man or the Soccer Mom hunter is going to be limited to the days and hours hunting because of family obligations.

The Family Man or Soccer Mom are often going to frequent the same stand that was erected preseason for the lack of time in scouting and moving stands, however, this is not always the case. Some of these hunters are skilled with their time and resources and can plan according to the limited time they have available. They make due with what they have, and hit the woods at sporadic times throughout the week and snag any available weekend that may appear.

The Public Land Gypsy

The Public Land Gypsy will be more apt to move around a lot on parcels of public land and wildlife management areas. Often not having the option of leaving a stand on the land overnight.

When hunting public land, using topo maps or maps that the state has issued for public land use, a hunter goes in Nomad mode seeking the perfect spot for the highest odds of game traffic. The diehard public land hunter is not going to stick to the edges where more pressure is put on game from those hunters who fail to wander into the heart of the property.

The Weatherman

The Weatherman hunter is one who will hunt a variety of stands specifically for what the wind direction or weather is doing.

A Weatherman hunter is going to plan the hunt based on wind direction and what is projected by the weather radar. Naturally, this style hunter will have several stands to choose from on any given hunt. A “fair-weather” hunter can be placed in this category for the fact that they will choose an enclosed stand for the day’s hunt or forego the hunt altogether. The weatherman can usually hunt often, but can also be limited to hunting days as they often single out cold and high-pressure fronts.

The Paparazzi

The Paparazzi hunter is going to place their stands depending on what their game camera strategy has proven in the area.

The Paparazzi hunter is motivated by what the game cameras have captured, having a “hit-list” of bucks for the season. The paparazzi hunter will strategically place stands in the areas that the hit-list bucks are known to travel proven via trail camera results. The paparazzi hunter will take advantage of a variety of stand types and will hunt long hours any chance they get.

The Food Plot Hugger

The Food Plot Hugger hunts only over food plots or agricultural fields.

Food Plot hunters tend to place stands hugging the edges of green fields, food plots, and agricultural fields or corridors and staging areas leading to the food sources. It is not rare to find that this style of hunter will only hunt during afternoon hours due to the natural instinct for deer to frequent these areas before, or at sundown. If the terrain allows for food plot hunters to access a stand without busting deer off the food source, some hunters will hunt these stands in the morning hours.

The Rut Crazed Hunter

The Rut Crazed hunter spends the majority of their time on the hunt during the prime rut paying attention to rut funnels and high traffic areas.

A Rut Crazed hunter plans long hunts around the captivating buck rut. It is not rare for the rut-crazed hunter to spend all day in the stand for several consecutive days in a row or for an entire week or more during legal hunting hours. During a strong rut, it is not hard for the rut crazed hunter to sit all day due to the anticipated excitement of deer traffic or rut action that could unfold at any given moment.

The Full-Time Sportsman

The Full-Time Sportsman is diehard and will be physically in the woods every waking hour possible during the open season. They have no strict hunting preferences and continuously studies the terrain, moon phases, barometric pressure, and often relate to the Farmer’s Almanac or the old timer’s tales. They are often the most “experience-educated” hunter among all the styles.

The Full-Time Sportsman uses every method available, at one point or another, during the season in pursuit of the elusive trophy buck. Often, but not in all cases, the full-time sportsman is a trophy hunter and reserves tags for “Hit-List” bucks that have been following through game camera photos and chance encounters from previous seasons. This style hunter is going to have a variety of stands, if not every type of stand, available to them for a variety of hunting situations.

Note: It is not uncommon for a hunter to be any combination of the various styles!

Match a Tree Stand To Your Style of Hunting

With the numerous styles of tree stands available, finding the perfect stand for the hunter’s style of hunting doesn’t take much research. The various type stands are typically hang-on/lock-on stands, climbing stands, single and double ladder stands, tripods, quadpods, and box blinds.

Hang-On Stands

Hang-on stands, also known as lock-on stands are light stands that incorporate a platform and seat for the main unit that is strapped onto a tree by ratchet straps, chains, or wire cable. This type of stand requires a climbing step system, also referred to as climbing sticks, to be affixed to the tree to gain access to the stand. Hang-on stands are often used in conjunction with ladder stands, or other style stands for a cameraman or a second person stand.

Muddy Outdoors offers a variety of hang-on stands that fit the purpose of a variety of hunter styles. The lightweight Vantage Point weighing in at a mere 13 pounds offers four adjustment options for the platform with a flip-back footrest and adjustable Triplex foam waterproof seat that flips up and out of the way for standing. The Vantage Point is designed to be packable with the Muddy Outdoors Climbing System (sold separately) and carried backpack style with the straps included.

Hunting Styles Supported: The Weatherman and Public Land Gypsy

Climbing Stands

Climber Stands are not favorable for all hunters because they are the most challenging to use among the various types of stands. The advantages of being able to use a climber allow the hunter to hunt in areas that may not be accessible to other type stands or can be carried in and used on newly found signs. Muddy Outdoors offers two climber stands, The Stalker Climber and The Woodsman Climber.

The Woodsman Climber offers all-day comfort with a 2” thick foam sling-style seat and backrest with a padded armrests. The non-slip slats on the foot platform and rubber coated foot straps assist in safe climbing and the flex cable Hybrid Mounting System with a spring-loaded pin for quick adjustment. The Woodsman Climber includes an accessory bag and padded back straps for easy carrying in the woods.

Hunting Styles Supported: Climbing stands are ideal for the public land gypsy, the weatherman, the rut-crazed hunter, the full-time sportsman, as well as, the paparazzi; those hunters who will likely frequent various stands depending on deer movement.

Ladder Stands

Ladder stands seem to be the most popular, widely used style of elevated tree stand because of the ease of use by any age or size of hunter. Ladder stands also give the hunter an option of single or double stands. Muddy Outdoors offers several models of both single ladder stands and double ladder stands. The single ladder stand offering is The Boss Hog, The Grandstand, The Huntsman, The Odyssey, and The Skybox.

The Huntsman is the most economical single ladder stand in the Muddy Outdoors single ladder stand series, offering an extremely comfortable flip-back seat, padded armrests and a deep platform, many other features found in more expensive stands. The Grandstand is the Cadillac of the Muddy Outdoors single ladder stand series. The Grandstand offers a spacious, comfortable flip-back seat to allow the hunter to take advantage of the full foot platform. The shooting rail is a stable prop for gun or crossbow hunting and can be flipped up and secured out of the way for archery hunting. The extra wide, angled steps and handrail adds additional security climbing or descending the stand. The 90-pound weight of this stand results in placing it in areas that the stand will most likely sit for a while.

Hunting Styles Supported: Ladder stands are the perfect solution for the rut-crazed hunter, the family man or soccer mom, the food plot hugger, and the full-time sportsman; those hunters that strategically place a stand and spend many hours hunting out of that stand, especially if they are taking another hunter!

Hunting Tripod and Quadpod Stands

Tripods and quadpod stands give hunters an advantage when there isn’t a perfect tree line or a straight tree for stand placement. This type stand can be used on the edges of the field, in the open, or tucked away in the timbers. Muddy Outdoors offers The Liberty that features a center mount 360° swivel Flex-Tek seat and padded shooting rail, and an easy climb and entry ladder. The Liberty has a 16′ height from ground to shooting rail and weighs in at 132 pounds.

The Nomad Tripod is a compact 12-foot high ladder stand that has an easy entry ladder. The comfortable Flex-Tek seat rotates 360° with a padded 36″ high shooting rail and a steel foot rail. The Nomad might be compact in stature, but it has a weight rating of 500 pounds. The Quad is a 12′ high stand featuring two platform-mounted Flex-Tek chairs and a spacious 57″ x 57″ platform. A wrap around padded shooting rail is at the perfect height of 36″. The stand is rated for 500 pounds and only weighs 110 pounds. The unique feature of The Quad is that Muddy Outdoors offers a camouflage blind with a roof height measuring 84″ tall in the center and completely encloses the platform portion of this stand. This feature allows this blind to be a great mobile blind similar to a box blind.

Hunting Styles Supported: The weatherman, the family man/soccer mom, the one and done, and the full-time sportsman will all find these stands the perfect solution for their time on the hunt,

Box Stands/Box Blinds

The last type of stand discussed here, the box blinds or box stands, are usually a little more permanent or require more effort to move around a parcel of land. Muddy Outdoors offers the Gunner and The Bull. Both Muddy Outdoors box blinds offer an optional ladder system and platform. The Gunner is made of insulated Therma-Tek panel sides and features a 70″ x 30″ locking door, with 33″ x 13″ windows. Other convenient features are a drink holder, a gear shelf, and a storage box. The blind, without the platform, weighs 250 pounds and is weight rated up to 500 pounds. A 5 foot, 4’x4′ metal platform is available for this stand which offers an easy access ladder and landing platform complete with handrails.

The Bull is the Mac-Daddy blind in the Muddy Outdoors stand line-up and is typically a stand that is placed in an ideal hotspot and left there for several seasons; such as the edge of a greenfield, agriculture field, a vast area, or on a rise overlooking a bluff or valley. The Therma-Tek system offers a weatherproof, noise-free and scent-free blind by layering high-density foam, tempered hardboard, and marine carpet, all encapsulated in exterior grade UV protected PVC. When used with the 10′ foot Muddy Tower, The Bull includes a ground anchor with cable and turnbuckle and four 24″ stakes for a secured tie-down system. The easy access ladder with handrail adds security when ascending and descending the stand. The 43″ x 20″ deep platform landing offers two handrails for security when entering the full-length, lockable entry door. The window configuration allows this blind to be used for gun or bow hunting.

Hunting Styles Supported: There is no doubt that this blind makes the perfect hunting solution for the food plot hugger, the weatherman, the family man/soccer mom, the one and done, and the full-time sportsman.

Each model of the Muddy Outdoors tree stands includes safety harnesses which should be properly worn every time a hunter uses an elevated stand. Muddy Outdoors not only offers a variety of great stands in several styles for every type hunter, but also offers an assortment of stand and blind accessories that bring convenience to any style hunter on the hunt.

Which style hunter are you? Do you have the gear and stands to match your style? Would these matchings make hunting a lot easier for you? Write below and give us your feedback! If you are interested in learning more click the blog below!

Safety Guide

What Do Deer Eat During the Late Season?

December 8, 2016/0 Comments/in Get Muddy, Trail Cameras /by Muddy Outdoors

How to: What Do Deer Eat During the Late Season?

This video dives straight into finding out the answer to the question: What do deer eat during the late season? While this is a very basic question, the more advanced tactic of looking at a deer’s stomach answers the question. This process offers very valuable intel when it comes to hunting. Figuring out what a deer’s diet consists of regarding the late season food sources on your property, can help you determine where bucks might be patterned. Looking into a deer’s stomach contents can show you not only where to find deer at, but where to hunt, where to hang your trail cameras, and where to concentrate your late season efforts on.

What Do Deer Eat in the Late Season? | Trail Cameras Weekly “Week 10”

By opening up the stomach of a deer that is killed on your property, or by a neighbor nearby, you can quickly determine what late season food sources your deer are concentrating on your property. This video shows you two stomachs, one from a doe in Indiana, and another of a buck Steve Smolenski killed in Pennsylvania. It is important to remember, the property’s habitat and available food sources greatly diversify the results from analyzing the stomach contents. Every property is different, this is why it is a very successful tactic!

A Deer’s Stomach

There is more to this than simply slicing the stomach to find the answer to, “what do deer eat”. Deer are ruminants and have a four-chambered stomach.

The Rumen where deer store their food as they eat serves as a mechanism to allow deer to quickly eat large quantities of food without much chewing. This is a trait that helps limit the time they are exposed to predators. When they get back to a safe bedding area they proceed to re-chew this food or chew their fermented slightly digested “cud” going into the second chamber of the stomach the Reticulum, where the majority of microorganisms of a deer stomach really start to work. From there it moves to the Omasum the third chamber where water is absorbed, then proceeds to the final chamber the Abomasum where the food is further digested…Now why is this important? For the most part you will be able to easily identify what food sources they ate in the first chamber the rumen, and for the most part the second chamber. After you move on towards the final chamber it gets obviously harder.

Timeline?

By opening up stomach we can actually identify what the deer has eaten. Now you may be wondering how big of a timeline does it give us?

The answer assures us that this process is very high quality and accurate intel. From the time a deer eats to the time it passes through and comes out the other end, most of the material (about 80 %) takes only 48 hours to go through. This means during anytime regardless of harvest the gut pile and stomach contents will actually at least the last day or so of feeding. There is much to take into consideration after this as some food sources digest much faster than others.

While you can certainly see what the deer has eaten in the past 12 hours, you cannot determine when they ate food sources due to the vast range of different digestibility. AKA winter rye and species like clover digest easily compared to woody browse and mast such as white oak acorns. This is why It is important to understand what you are looking at before making any assumptions or conclusions.

So What are They Eating?

After the point when you identify the rumen and least digested contents of the stomach, you can pick apart the contents and try and apply percentages, or a conclusion to where the deer on this property are spending their time feeding.

The Buck:

The buck’s stomach contents revealed most visibly corn, but you have to realize this is probably only 20-30% of the contents. It just happens to be the most visible and easily identified. 60-70% or the majority of the stomach contents were grasses and forbs, with about half being winter wheat in the surrounding cover cropped ag fields. They also witnessed a basic estimate of 10% woody browse. There were no food plot species or acorns in the stomach. This directly reflected what food sources were available and not available on the property this year as Steve’s property does not hold food plots or a vast amount of oaks.

The Doe:

Now this doe is a different story. The property has popcorn (which shatters more easily once eaten and is far less desirable than regular corn) many oaks and acorns, several areas of early successional growth ( woody browse) and of course the large winter rye cover cropped AG fields that were discussed last week on Trail Cameras Weekly. The percentages come out to be roughly 20-30% corn and acorns, 60-70% Winter rye/grasses and forbs, and an estimated 10 % of woody browse.

It is important to remember these are roughly estimated numbers but they do closely resemble what a deer’s diet and nutritional needs are this time of year. The graph below is taken from Nutritional Requirements of White-tailed Deer in Missouri produced by the Extension Department of the University of Missouri.

As you can see the average percentages between fall and winter roughly fall in line with the percentages the hunters witnessed in the stomach contents of the two deer killed in December.

Conclusion

Over the course of the next week or so, if the hunting is slow, take a doe for the freezer or for management purposes, or just try and examine the stomach contents of a deer killed on or near your property. Do not waste the gut pile! Often times this is a far more accurate representation of what your late season food sources are, how much time your deer are spending in the food sources, and where you might want to think about hunting as the temperature starts to fall! If you are asking “what do deer eat in the late season” take it into your own hand to find the answer!

Prep for Late Season

2 Bucks That Show You Shouldn’t Dismiss October Deer Hunting

October 26, 2016/0 Comments/in Box Blinds, Get Muddy, Safety Systems /by Muddy Outdoors

2 Giant Bucks That Prove October Deer Hunting Can Be Successful

What you are looking at are two bucks “Lefty” and “Danger”…and they are both examples of October deer hunting perfected. This is a smack in the face for many hunters. All too often bow hunters dismiss the first 3 weeks of October as fruitless and barren as far as deer movement and harvest opportunities are concerned. If you have up to this point been one of these hunters…the small amount of days left in October should be exploited.

The two bucks shown above and below are proof that big mature bucks can and will be brought down throughout October. If these two stories don’t change your mind about October upon watching them, will prove you might just be the most stubborn hunter in the woods to date.

Bill Winke’s “Lefty”

October 19^th Bill WInke had his last encounter with a buck he called “Lefty”. If you follow the Midwest Whitetail show at all, you were kept up to date with every single photo, trail camera image and video that Bill got of “Lefty”. Throughout the season Bill dove into a constant state of patterning “Lefty” with his Muddy trail cameras. In fact, in his weekly web show “Whitetail 101” featured on Muddy TV, he discussed “Lefty” on episodes, keeping an audience up to date with the buck’s home range, recent movements, and status. Even when the mature buck “Lefty” broke off his G3 on his signature left beam, Bill kept us up to date.

Midwest Whitetail’s signature, the thing the audience loves the most about the show, is that it is semi-live content. Every week, you get the latest intel, hunts, and what is coming up from the guys that are actually out there hunting. Some of this semi-live content is available on Muddy TV under the web show name “Whitetail 101”. The weekly episode, Episode 8: October Cold Fronts, covering the hunting strategy Bill was going to be using, actually explained the scenario that led to the successful harvest of “Lefty”.

Whitetail 101 Ep9, “October Cold Fronts”

Bill’s focus for the week of hunting was to concentrate on cut corn fields. As soon as the combines rolled out, Bill went in. This tactic and information that he presented to the audience could not have proven to be any more reliable as the buck he named “Lefty” worked his way into the field.

Iowa Giant | Winke’s Quest for “Lefty

Mark Drury’s “Danger” 217 2/8” Inch Buck

Another big name in hunting, Mark Drury of Drury Outdoors, found success with a very very impressive deer during October. Again, this particular buck was brought down with help of trail camera info. A build up of trail camera information from previous years and recent information on the bedding area where “Danger” resided, led Mark to believe that hunting the bedding area would pay off big.

After the thought, the strategy went into place Mark built a platform for, and hauled in a Muddy Bull box blind to hunt “Danger”. Mark spent a couple hours setting up the box blind, and trimming shooting lanes and set up for the day he would go in after “Danger”.

Takeaways From These Bucks

The takeaways from these bucks killed in October is obviously that October is a month to hunt. We all to often hear of hunters that completely dismiss October deer hunting as a “good” month of hunting, when in fact it could be the best to your specific situation. Sure October is a month of rapid change, this change is associated with homornes, weather, food sources and the changing deer movement as a result of those factors. But if you have the knowledge of how to kill a buck in October, then you can use the month of bow huting to its full potential.

This knowledge can be summed up from these two hunts that give you some amzing hunting tips for October. Bill WInke’s buck “Lefty” was killed using the information he revealed on his weekly show “Whitetail 101”. Cut corn fields, again the same information he told the audience “could pull deer off acorns during October”, led him to a successful harvest of his number one hit-list buck. But before this, with keeping up with both Midwest Whitetail and Whitetail 101, the audience viewed the entire strategy laid out behind the deer and the hunt that day. Years of trail camera information suggested not only the buck’s personality, but his home range depending on the month and time of the year. This supplied Bill with information to where the buck “Lefty” might be bedded, giving Bill the intel he needed to stay out of the area.

The biggest mistake hunters can make in October is being carelessly aggressive after a buck. Going after a buck is one thing, but being careless in you scent strategys, entry and exit routes, noise, and stand setup will ruin the hunt and your chance for the deer. Bill took extreme caution on this buck. This mostly came with his trail camera strategies, not being to invasive with his placement, wearing rubber waders while checking cards, and keeping the pressure off the buck.

Mark Drury used the same strategies with his buck “Danger”. The trail camera intel was invaluable, but his hunt brings with it a new factor that you absolutely should be paying attention to this time of year. Mark looked for an October cold front, just like the one that is explained and laid out in the blog: Deer Hunting October Cold Fronts. With a cold front pushing cooler temperature and a rise in pressure, Mark planned to go in for an aggressive hunt. The combination with the weather and an optimally placed Muddy Bull box blind came together for the harvest of the number one hit-list buck “Danger”.

Both of these giants are tangible evidence that October is more that a month to sweep under the rug. Each and every week we bring you new, “fresh” content on our semi-live, always available channel, Muddy TV. You will find several shows giving you the latest hunting observations, how tos, and tips for each week of hunting! October is not over, now is the time to get aggressive and go after the bucks, with of course the tips and tactics you have learned today.