Posted by Jim Dawson on December 6, 2010 · 1 Comment
Scott Cronin
Scott Cronin gives us some great information for any hunter looking to take up waterfowl hunting-
Ballard and Henderson are well known locations when Kentucky residents begin talking about waterfowl hunting in the commonwealth
. Unfortunately,
a lot of non- traditional and non-experienced waterfowl hunters may not know just how good the waterfowl hunting may be just a few miles from home. The state of Kentucky is very diverse and spending many years of my life spread out from Lexington to Western Kentucky, I can assure you I have seen better hunting around the northern Kentucky area more than I have in the east or west. Waterfowl shows highlight nice blinds placed strategically in more concentrated waterfowl flyways, however, this is not always needed to enjoy a waterfowl experience. Many farms, neighborhoods, golf courses, parks, horse farms, and metropolitan
areas hold water that tend to attract hunt-able
populations of waterfowl. While you may not find a place that will be productive for you all season it is easy for you to find a spot to enjoy a waterfowl hunt. Do not sell yourself short and tell yourself that you do not have what you need in order to duck or goose hunt. More important than the gear you have, scouting is the most important thing you need to consider. Even those who are die hard waterfowl
hunters will tell you scouting is the most important part of your season and success. While you may catch some migrating birds in large numbers, you are more than likely going to get out and scout for an area that will provide you a good hunt for one or two mornings of the season. Waterproof clothing, waders, blinds, calls and decoys are all major marketing areas of the waterfowl industry. Many hunters who do not own these things may not try waterfowl hunting. Honestly, your trusty shotgun and cold weather deer hunting clothes will more than likely allow you to get out and experience a waterfowl hunt. A small boat or canoe can help you retrieve
any downed fowl and aid in pickup and placement of decoys. One word of caution, anytime you are around water in cold weather, do not hunt by yourself. Many hunters can utilize pop up ground blinds and small propane heaters. If you do use a blind, or make a blind, focus on blending into your surrounding area. Focus your efforts towards the art of camouflage
.
So you have decided to give waterfowl hunting a try. First and foremost is scout and find a place where waterfowl are feeding, resting, and just hanging around. You will find that some places are more early morning activity, mid day, and evening locations. Scouting will help eliminate the need for lots of decoys. If you scout and find waterfowl, more than likely a seasoned waterfowl hunter will go with you or lend you some decoys to use. How do you set up your decoys? Reproduce what you are seeing and place a blind or build a blind that will allow you to hide and shoot at your target. Calling is not something you have to do or know how to do. Does it help? Absolutely. It is a tool and strategy used very successfully. Remember, you are trying this sport and admit you are a rookie. What is more important? Hunting where the deer are or having grunt call? Waterfowl hunting is no different. You will find that your scouting is more important that any gear you can buy or any call you can blow. Many cut agriculture fields allow for hunters to try for geese. Hunters can use terrain features,
such as fence rows, weeds, or other structure to help camouflage them. If not, be creative. Dig some holes in fields, use burlap, build a blind, and use natural vegetation to help camo
the hunters. If you find areas of waterfowl are using ponds, creeks, rivers, etc…, find ways to blend in with your surrounding. While the big areas receive
a lot of pressure from die hard waterfowl hunters, a lot of the agriculture fields and pot holes are often overlooked. Remember just because you scout one day does not mean there will not be waterfowl using the area in the near future. While hunters are looking to find concentrations of resident and migrating waterfowl, you never can predict migration and waterfowl patterns. If you do not have any decoys or can not borrow any, many manufacturers
sell a dozen duck decoys for under twenty five dollars. You would be surprised just how appealing residential
and farm locations are to migrating waterfowl. You do not have to place yourself in a massive surrounding of water and agriculture production. When trying to decoy geese, buy the decoys you can afford. Any waterfowl decoys you buy should be realistic looking and durable. While you may spend a few more dollars up front you will find that paint and material vary drastically and you get what you pay for a lot of times.
For the beginning waterfowl hunter, it is hard to beat shooting a modified or improved cylinder choke with legal non toxic shot. Anything from BB-#3 shot. The improved cylinder will be more used for decoying birds. The modified acts as a full on steel, which will be better for hunters who think they will have further shots or pass shooting. For beginners, you want to make sure that you take shots that are 40 yards or less. If you get more into the sport of waterfowl hunting, you can experiment with different alloys and choke combinations that fit your hunting style, setup, and situation best.
Play the wind. Many new waterfowler hunters will not know that birds will land and light into the wind. In most situations, you want to set up with the wind at your back. If you are not able to do this, do not worry. Setting up on the sides of the wind will allow you to hide out of sight of the landing waterfowl. If you are not in the direct path the birds are wanting to land in, you will find that you may not spook and flare as many birds.
If you are fortunate
enough to harvest some fowl, it is easy to breast
the birds and fix them traditionally as you would dove and turkey. Some people do not like the taste of waterfowl, but I have yet to find a lot of people who do not enjoy a nicely marinated breast wrapped with bacon, hot and fresh off the grill. Waterfowl hunting is sometimes looked at as an expensive, cold man’s sport. Don’t buy into that. You have to start somewhere, so why not start on the experimental side of it. Once you see your fowl with wings locked, in shotgun range, and whistling by you, you will be hooked. Do not be surprised if you make a mistake or two when getting started. I have been deer and turkey hunting for a while now and still make silly mistakes. Waterfowl hunting is a great way to get out, extend your season, and make some great memories with friends. You may even find getting out and scouting for waterfowl may lead to your next new place to deer or turkey hunt.
Scott Cronin
Derby City Pro Staffer
Filed under News and Events · Tagged with Ballard County, custom turkey calls, Derby City Calls, duck blinds, ducks, geese, Henderson County, improved cylinder choke, Kentucky Waterfowl Hunting, modified choke, Scott Cronin, waders, waterfowl
Posted by Jim Dawson on November 30, 2010 · Leave a Comment
If you have ever been lucky to observe wild turkeys in the fall, you have gotten to experience the social nature of these great birds. When turkeys form their winter flocks, they will fight to establish their dominance in the flock (hens and gobblers alike). Scott Cronin has some great late season advice that can prove to be deadly and provide for an exciting hunt.
Scott's 2009 Fall gobbler
If you have dust collecting on your full strut turkey decoys, it is time to get them out and use them in December. Last year, I had the nerve to try a full strut decoy on a late fall turkey hunt in December. The key to using this tactic is having a bachelor group of gobblers located ahead of time. Since the beginning of bow season, think about how many times you have seen turkeys fighting to establish the pecking order in their fall flocks. These flocks have now grown into larger winter flocks. If a full strut decoy does so well on one or two gobblers in the spring, how would it do on a group of 6, 8, 10+ in a late season flock? DEADLY! Like spring hunting, you will find fall gobblers do not like the idea of a full strut decoy around 3-5 hen decoys. Call it crazy until you try it. Those breast fry just as good in late winter, as they do on a spring day at turkey camp.
Before you try your luck at a late season gobbler hunt, scout a few fields where birds may be feeding on a regular basis. It is very common for late season turkeys to feed in the same places both early in the morning and later in the afternoon. You may or may not want to try this tactic but it is a tactic I experimented with and will use for many years to come. Unfortunately, this year I will be joining a great friend in Illinois at deer camp to hopefully watch him drop the hammer on a big Illinois buck.
Other traditional late season tactics such as busting flocks, lost yelping with kee
kees
, and hunting feeding areas can lead to a successful hunt. The full strut decoy approach gives you another tactic for an action packed long beard
hunt in December. It’s not uncommon to catch birds strutting
this time of year, especially
those soon to be two year olds that we love so much in the spring. Do not be afraid to try a decoy set of 5-7 decoys since birds are in their fall flock patterns. This is also a great way to hunt with a partner because the birds will not be by themselves
. You can do the count down and shoot together method or just wait to shoot after your partner has harvested their bird. Most of the time there will be one or more birds that stay in range after the shot, allowing your partner a shot opportunity. If the birds scatter, call them back using traditional fall strategies.
The picture above is a December long beard I killed last year using the full strut decoy on a late season turkey hunt. Not only did this bird come in, so did 11 other long beards. The one I harvested met a load of extended range #5’s
at twenty yards. The other bird is a hen my partner shot using a more traditional
fall set up. Good Hunting!
Scott Cronin
Derby City Pro Staffer
Posted by Jim Dawson on November 26, 2010 · Leave a Comment
Scott Cronin's 2010 KY Buck
Derby City Pro Staffer, Scott Cronin, finally connected on a nice buck after a long and trying season. Here is the story of his successful hunt in his own words. Congrats on a great deer, Scott.
When you don’t have lots of ground to hunt and no one to share it with, hunting takes a different turn other than marketing and television shows. It would be nice to kill the biggest deer you get on trail camera photos or see while scouting. However,that is not always the case. Killing several nice deer in years past puts a little more pressure on you to kill one even bigger. Letting deer walk in early season with hopes of filling your tag with a buck of a lifetime takes patience and commitment. At the ripe age of 32, I am learning how to become more of a seasoned hunter. Trying to spend time with friends and family are more important during the hunting season than ever before. The price of equipment, the time it takes to scout, and finding a spot to hunt are increasing when my time and funds seem to be going in other directions. After having a drought in my area, a farm have major dirt work done on it during the heart of gun season, and having a wife expecting our first child, I decided to think level headed. This season has been filled with more disappointment than thrills. For the first time in my hunting career, I was pressured so much with these disruptions and frustration that I filled my tag with a deer I would normally pass up. Now that it is done, I can honestly say that it was good to enjoy the hunt, fill the tag, and start planning for another season.
On Wednesday, I woke up to a pouring rain that I really did not want to see today. I needed that rain months ago when food plots were being put in and the dirt was like sand. I grabbed my gear and made the twenty minute walk to the blind I had set up on the edge of a cut corn field in Muhlenberg county. The land owner has been doing a tremendous amount of work on the property throughout the early season and on into rifle season. To say the deer were disturbed and on a different pattern than normal would be an understatement. I was still confident that I could locate a buck searching for love. The day passed slowly with a few does drifting in and out of the field. The rain keep coming and finally at around 11, it started to break. By the time I would have walked back to the truck, ate, and changed clothes it would push me getting back into the blind later than I wanted. Therefore, I stuck it out with very slow mid day and early evening activity. All trail cam pictures have shown mostly nocturnal activity and reports from other hunters were little to no deer movement. As the afternoon turned into those last few moments of light, this buck came in the field checking does. With little light left I decided to put an end to a long and stressful season for my buck tag. At 75 yards I put the cross hairs behind his shoulder and dropped the deer in his tracks. While it is not my biggest buck it was a buck that I was relieved to take during a difficult season.
Scott's 11 Pointer
Posted by Jim Dawson on September 20, 2010 · 2 Comments
Saturday Wood Ducks
I got an invite to join my good friend and fellow Pro Staffer, Scott Cronin, to do some wood duck hunting in Western Kentucky over the weekend. This would be my first time hunting waterfowl, so needless to say, I jumped at the opportunity. Brian Grossman of Poor Boys Outdoors came with me to film the hunt and do a little hunting as well. Scott’s good friends Wes Belt and Mike Ausbrooks joined us for the hunt also.
Brian, Scott, Wes, and Mike
Scott had scouted the area well, so we set up a spread to get some pass shooting. Our hopes were to get some good video footage for Poor Boys Outdoors. The problem was, the birds did not want to cooperate. We had to pack up the spread and go after the birds. Once we located birds we would sneak in and get them on the jump. This was very effective, as we all limited out both Saturday and Sunday mornings. I will admit that we all missed our fair share of birds on Saturday morning, but we were dialed in on Sunday. The misses were few and far between that day.
My first duck hunt was an awesome experience. Scott and Wes’s wives, Morgan and Dawnyelle took good care of us. They had breakfast waiting on us when we returned to camp and cooked some good meals for us. Ladies, that was really appreciated. Relaxing by the fire, telling stories, laughing, building new friendships, and strengthening old ones. That is what hunt camp is all about. Thanks a bunch for the invite my friend. Wes, Mike, and Brian, look forward to seeing you guys again soon.
Jim's Ducks
Brian, Jim, Wes, and Mike (Sunday's ducks)
Jim and Scott with Sunday's ducks
Filed under Hunts · Tagged with Brian Grossman, Dawnyelle Belt, duck hunting, hunt camp, Mike Ausbrooks, Morgan Cronin, Poor Boys Outdoors, Scott Cronin, Wes Belt, wood duck hunting, wood ducks
Posted by Jim Dawson on May 21, 2010 · 1 Comment
A good friend of mine, Scott Cronin, invited me to go on a hunting trip to Nebraska with him this past weekend. Scott’s friends, Nick Brown and Steve “Fish” Callison were on the trip as well. We went to Ponca Creek Outdoors in North Central Nebraska. The country is beautiful and the turkey hunting was phenomenal.
Each one of us killed two birds. Scott and I hunted together on day one and tagged out. After hunting a cut cornfield on the first morning, we did some run and gun hunting early in the afternoon. We struck a bird, put a short stalk on him, called to him a little, and Scott put him down at 60 yards. This bird completed Scott’s 2nd grand slam.
That evening, Scott and I hunted the same cornfield we hunted in the morning. We had an eventful morning at that location and wanted to get a shot at those birds again. In the morning, we had three longbeards chasing and breeding hens all around us. We knew they would be back later that evening. I ended up shooting a true Merriams at about 4:30. About 2 hours later, Scott and I pulled a double on two beautiful Hybrids. My Magnum Aluminum call helped bag three of these day one birds. It was the best day of turkey hunting I have ever had.
Nick and Fish hunted together and killed 2 longbeards on the first morning. On day two, both of them killed their 2nd birds. Nick and Fish hunted a cornfield that was loaded with turkey. It was common for them to have 5-8 gobblers strutting in the field throughout the day.
It was a great trip. We had a lot of fun and did some serious turkey hunting. I came away from this trip with two nice gobblers, two new friends, and one truly good friend. What a great way to end the 2010 spring turkey season.
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A good friend of mine, Scott Cronin, invited me to go on a hunting trip to Nebraska with him this past weekend. Scott’s friends, Nick Brown and Steve “Fish” Callison were on the trip as well. We went to Ponca Creek Outdoors in North Central Nebraska. The country is beautiful and the turkey hunting was phenomenal. 
