Dukats Journal of Hunting

(HUNTING VIDEO)

As I pulled into the headquarters of the ranch, I could see my compadres had arrived.  My trip from Arizona was a relatively short one in comparison to the trek from Idaho, but I never seemed to beat my hunting buddies to the ranch.  The fact that it was only a seven hour drive gave me all the more reason to procrastinate until the last minute.

Luckily they had been out all day scouting for antelope.  Unfortunately, by the time I made it, they were deep into telling tales of the previous year to the ranch hands and I could see if I was going to get any last minute scouting in, it would be on my own.  I finally drug Steve away from the laughter and we set out across the closest flat to see what the year had produced.

Dove hunting is normally the first bird season of the year and September 1st is always a highly anticipated date.  The weather is normally beautiful and when the doves are flying it's an exciting and challenging hunt.   

To top it off, you can now hunt south of the border in the off season and shoot doves to your hearts content. 

Got a dove hunt planned?  This is the gear you will need to make it a success. 

Have you ever found that perfect set up within range of a group of love sick gobblers strutting til their heads turned blue?  You sneak in and start purring on your slate only to have Mr. Tommy Tom Tom go silent and disappear in the opposite direction?  Merriam's turkeys seem to be famous for it.  If you don't find one in the first couple weeks, they are too wise to be fooled even by the best turkey caller.  Now what? 

If your anything like me, by the time April rolls around, you'll do about anything to get back out hunting again.  For me it's an annual 20 hour drive to Nebraska to chase the wily long beards.  The problem is, I usually don't make it until early  May and the turkeys have usually been educated by numerous hunters by that stage of the season.

Times have changed and now there are numerous African hunting videos on the market.  So many, in fact, that it’s tough to decide what to spend your money on.  I’ll try to make that decision a little easier for you.  I haven’t seen them all, but I’ve seen enough to have a pretty good idea of what the best are and these are my top picks.

Hunting in New Zealand had long been a dream of mine.  The majestic red stags with their massive crowned antlers and the beautiful full maned tahr are trophies like few others.  My brother-in-law, Fred, had booked the trip with Craigieburn Alpine Safaris www.craigieburn.com in January for a hunt in July of the same year. 

Johnny Westenra, the outfitter and owner of Craigieburn, operates the 42,000 acre ranch in the middle of the South Island of New Zealand.  He conducts free range hunting for a wide range of species on his ranch and has additional areas for chamois and tahr.