southern traditions outdoors - november 2016

1 SOUTHERN TRADITIONS OUTDOORS | NOVEMBER - DECEMBER 2016

NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2016

OPENING DAY MAGIC

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RESTORING QUAIL IN TENNESSEECLOUDY DAY DUCKSKIDS HOOKED ON FISHING

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NOVEMBER - DECEMBER 2016 | SOUTHERN TRADITIONS OUTDOORS 3


Advertising Information: Southern Traditions Outdoors | Rob Somerville

(731) 446-8052 [email protected]

DISCLAIMER - Neither the authors nor Southern Traditions Outdoors Magazine LLC assume any responsibility or liability for any actions by readers who utilize any information contained within. Readers are advised that the use of any and all information contained within Southern Traditions Outdoors is at their own risk.

On the Cover

Southern Traditions Outdoors Magazine Mission Statement:Southern Traditions Outdoors Magazine vows to put forth a publication to promote the outdoors lifestyle in a positive manner. We will strive to encourage veteran and novice outdoorsmen, women, kids, and the physically challenged to participate in the outdoors in a safe and ethical manner. Our publication will bring positive attention to the wondrous beauty of the world of Nature in the mid-south.

Garry MasonWalter WilkersonTerry WilkersonSteve McCadamsKelley PowersShawn ToddEddie BrunswickLarry Self

John SloanRichard SimmsDana WatfordBuck Gardner Richard HinesEd LankfordDrew BrooksJohn Latham

John RobertsRichard HinesRob HurtMark BuehlerRichard FaganNeill McLaurinSam BradshawTodd Cotten

Field Staff Editors

Owners - Eddie Anderson Rob Somerville Kevin Griffith Stacey LemonsPublisher - Eddie AndersonEditor - Rob SomervilleMagazine Design -Donny Byrd

Advertising Sales Rob Somerville - Managing PartnerDistribution Johnathan Anderson Mike Robinson

Southern Traditions Outdoors Magazine, LLC

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PG .................. ARTICLE .......................................................... AUTHOR

7...........................Cloudy Day Ducks .............................................................Sam Bradshaw11 ..........................Is Small Gam Hunting Becoming a Sport of the Past? ......Shawn Todd16..........................Big Buck Strategy .............................................................Richard A. Fagan19..........................Restoring Quail in Tennessee ............................................Richard Hines24..........................Ag News ............................................................................Hannah Patterson30..........................TWRA News .....................................................................STO38..........................Kids Hooked on Fishing ....................................................Kevin Griffith48..........................Triditions Tips ....................................................................Richard A. Fagan53..........................Trophy Room .....................................................................STO

This majestic buck is on full alert, both for a doe willing to give in to his amorous attentions and for hunters, looking to interrupt his courtship.Photo by Rob Somerville


Letter from the EditorFrom the Desk of Rob Somerville

By Rob Somerville One of America’s most cherished holidays will soon be upon us ….. Thanksgiving. To some, this day means a special dinner of turkey and dressing, with all varieties of special foods and desserts to compliment it. To others, it means watching football games on TV. Many look forward to this holiday, to spend time with friends and family, whose busy schedules have kept away for far too long. Many families gather in prayer to offer thanks to God for all of the bountiful blessings in their lives. Recently, I spent some time pondering this holiday, as I sat in a deer stand, watching the world of na-ture evolve around me. I thought about how fortunate I was to live in a country that stood up for the op-pressed, and that doesn’t tolerate terrorists “coming in to our backyard” and messing with our people. Fur-ther thoughts brought to mind about how fortunate I was to live in a country that still gave me the right to bear arms and enjoy the hunting heritage that has become an important symbol of America – the greatest country in the world! Those of you who love to hunt should just imagine for a minute, living in a country with no duck blinds or deer stands, where you couldn’t hear the mystical music of your dog’s voices as they chase rabbits through the fields, or coons through the swamps. I decided then and there, as I sat in my deer stand watching a family of squirrels chasing each other up and down trees, that this year would be different. I would honestly give thanks to the Lord for all that I enjoy in the woods, for my family and friends, and for all that He has blessed me with. I vowed to quit complaining

Giving Thanks


about the minor problems I face day to day. You know, we realize that these complaints are actually petty when something major comes about, such as illness or death in our families. They are really trivial, and I find myself looking at the proverbial glass as being “half empty” instead of “half full”. I promised, then and there, to be more thankful for what I have instead of wishing for what I don’t have. I wrote the following poem in hopes that the next time you are sitting in a deer stand, chasing a rabbit through the fields, watching the tip of your crappie pole for that “tell-tale” twitch of a bite, or scanning the sky for mallards, you too will feel the need to give thanks to the Master of all that is wild. Last but certainly not least, I also wish to thank our entire team at STO Magazine, the readers of this magazine, as well as our fine family of advertisers, for helping to make our publication a success.

Giving ThanksBy Rob Somerville

For the turkeys that gobble and for the bass which leap high,for the hoot of an owl in the pre-dawn sky.For the sight of an antlered, whitetail deer,

for the explosion of a quail covey as it bursts through the air.For the coyote that howls on full those moon nights,

I thank you my Father, for these sounds and these sights.

For the barking of beagles, running hot rabbit trails,for the red-tailed hawk, that so gracefully sails.

For the bobcat, so silently stalking its prey,for the beautiful sunrise on a frost laden day.

For the Black and Tan hound, on a coon as he bays,for all of this Lord, it is you who I praise.

For a child’s first fish, with their face all aglow,for the sound of my arrow as it’s leaving my bow.

For the eyes of a Lab as it’s scanning the sky,ready for mallards, never questioning why.

For the ancient white oak trees, two-hundred years old,not factory-made Lord, only you have the mold.

I thank you dear God, for all of these things,and the precious times of enjoyment that each of them brings.

Happy Thanksgiving and God bless you and yours.


Summertime foliage can create an illusion to the amount of brush you may need. This blind is hidden well, but will need some touch up, after the

vegetation dies off for the winter months. Photo by author

Us or Them?By Sam Bradshaw

t’s that time of year when ev-eryone is starting to scratch their duck hunting itch. Blinds are be-ing brushed, decoys painted, calls tuned, and anything else we deem necessary is being done to prepare for the upcoming season. This is a great time of year and one that

I look forward to just as much as opening day. I get to prepare and think about the previous hunting year’s success and failures, to cap-italize on for this year’s success. Adapting is a key to success. Just as important is continuing the successful actions of years past. What I see important in a hunt are

the tiny aspects that make it suc-cessful. Each hunt I go on, I try to find what went right, and also what went wrong. By doing so, I tell myself the truth of my setup. The only truth you can get from anyone is from the ducks them-selves. All your buddies can guess and suggest all they want, but the ducks tell the tale. There is a never ending list of sit-uations I could try and cover, but I would like to explain my strategy for cloudy day “stale” ducks. Have you ever had a day that nothing goes right? Every duck that flies by just won’t work? Then BAM! The very next day is the best shoot of the season. There is a lot to be said for the difference of days, and primarily that weather is the key. Sun vs. clouds, wind vs. no wind, pie facing vs. no pie facing. The list goes on and on. Year after year, the windless and cloudy days are my toughest days afield. Some people blame it entirely on the ducks, but I couldn’t disagree more. What I

I


Continued on page 10

see often times is that we as hunt-ers blame the ducks more than we blame ourselves. Everyone knows how frustrat-ing it can be when ducks are act-ing skittish. I find those days to be very productive, by stepping back and determining why they are be-ing skittish that day. With only a

60 day season, I want to make ev-ery day have the greatest success it can produce. Cloudy days are tough, but there are a few things we have done to make our cloudy day hunts more successful. Brushing your blind is the most important pre-season activity you can perform, in my opinion. With-out your blind being well hidden, you are 100% the reason that ducks are wary of your spread. But wait, on sunny and windy days, they work within feet of the blind. Hold on a minute though, what about the cloudy, windless days they stay wide? The problem is likely to be the ducks, but I don’t blame them for landing wide of a square blind. Aerial photography has been a hobby of mine for several years, even more so with today’s tech-

nology. It fascinates me to see the exact view a duck has while approaching a blind. I used to fly in my grandfather’s Super-Cub to take pictures from above, but my drone has since replaced that technique. You couldn’t get the still shots or video in the plane you can with a drone. What I have found by viewing blinds from the air is angles. From the ground lev-el, blinds can appear to be brushed to the max, when in a ducks eye they stick out like a neon sign! In the wild, there are absolutely zero angles on any natural form of vegetation, without sunlight. Therefore, to me, removing these angles {corners} is the most im-portant part of brushing a duck blind or any other setup for that matter (pits, boats, layouts, etc.) to prepare for the gloomy days.

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There is still plenty of blind brush-ing left to do here. Photo by author


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It’s perception at its finest, and it can only be observed from the air. Several times I have attached large limbs to T post then set them 4-6 feet away from the corners to form a tree to break up the out-line. The shape of the blind then dissolves and you create a pile of brush that has a natural shape to it with no corners. Cloudy days are frustrating. They will always be tough, but by eliminating all the angles on a blind, I have seen a dramatic increase in our kill ra-tio on these days. Sunshine is the saving grace for a duck hunter, especially with some wind added. Sunshine will create angles all over the place in the form of shadows, which in return hides the angles the blind creates. Sunshine also does something else for you, and that is it makes your decoys visible for miles. Decoys have come a long way over the years. The realism on them now is almost that of a

sculpture, rather than something to throw in the boat to use day in and out. Seeing birds from the air has also changed my view on decoys. Mallard drakes shine like new money, during sunny or cloudy conditions, yet the hens do what nature designed them to do and that is to hide. Viewing ducks from afar in the air, the only col-ors to see are white and black. A lot of companies have brown hens and drakes with a lot more grey to them, which do look real, but I want them to be visible and an eye catcher. After all, we have already eliminated our blind from sight, so now all that’s left is to get their attention. I can remember hunting Reelfoot Lake a few times as a kid and see-ing all the black jugs out in spreads and thinking how dumb it looked. They were geniuses, and still are, for using them. Cloudy days pres-ent a dull background, making only two points on the color spec-trum stand out - black and white. Higdon outdoors is now my “go to” decoy company when purchasing decoys, due to their color schemes available. I have zero ties to the company on any account, other than having a better success rate by using them. The Higdon drake color scheme is spot on to show the white visi-bility, and when you mix in black mallard decoys, the spread has both ends of the spectrum that are visible in any condition. Some

people will disagree with me on this approach to the color scheme of decoys, but the main thing to remember is that what we see isn’t always the view from above. These are just a couple of things I have discovered by learning from others, as well as researching my own days of failure in the field. There will never be the perfect set-up or foolproof plan. If there was, it wouldn’t be much fun, if you ask me. The main purpose I wanted to bring light is how we as hunters cannot blame the animals for the days they don’t commit. We are a predator, and by being a predator in the wild we must outsmart our prey, day in and out. So, in refer-ence to the title of this article, “Is it US or THEM?” I choose US. Re-move yourself from the situation by brushing in your blind to the best of your ability and follow up by choosing the right decoy that will work in all conditions for the upcoming and short 60 day sea-son. These two changings alone have increased our success afield. If you will step back and apply these concepts to your own setup, I believe it will bring new light to the way your go about setting up your favorite spot.

You’re hiding below the ducks, so always consider the angles they

approach from. This blind has few angles and affords you the advan-

tage. Photo by author

NOVEMBER - DECEMBER 2016 | SOUTHERN TRADITIONS OUTDOORS 11Continued on page 15

ello to all you great readers of STO magazine. I hope every-thing in your world is going great. The state of Tennessee changed the hunting season for coon hunt-ers earlier in the year. It took ef-

fect July 1st, of 2016. This change in the hunting season for raccoon is as follows: As of July 1st, 2016 a hunter can hunt on private land and can bag one raccoon per night. Regular raccoon season

opens Sept 16th here and hunters can hunt on refuges and can take two coons, per person, per party. I wonder as I type this article, is it a plan to get more people hunt-ing or more of a way to protect the wild turkey and duck eggs? Small game hunters are becom-ing as rare as an honest politician. As a young man I knew several families that had hounds for coon, rabbit and squirrel. Now, they are far and few between. Most hunters I know now are either duck hunt-ers or deer hunters. That is where the prestige is now, with a big ten pointer or a limit of green heads. Now, I am not knocking the big game hunter or the duck hunter, I used to do it all, but time and age have caught up with me and I can’t do it all, like when I was a young man. I still duck hunt from time to time. Getting up at 4:30 in the morning and sitting in a blind all day is not my cup of tea anymore, but to each his own. I know duck hunters love the swooshing sound of wings and the call of “get em.” The deer hunter lives for the rush of adrenaline with a Boone and Crocket trophy in his cross hairs. I have been there, but the sounds of the hounds draw me

Is Small Game Hunting Becoming a Sport

of the Past?By Shawn Todd

H


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now. Now, the baying of Corey Jeffries pack of beagle hounds on a rabbit track, turning the rabbit and bringing it back to us is music to my ears. The sounds of my new hound {Voodoo} breaking the si-lence of the night, running the ring tail and giving up its location with a chop for the tree, seeing the coon and congratulating her all make my heart swell. That is this old hunters Utopia. Now, I understand why the state focuses on the big game hunter and bird hunter… green back dol-lars. I looked up how the economy

is effected by hunters and I found some things from a study in 2011 (the only study I could find) and it states as follows. Big game hunt-ers spent an average of $19.00 per day, bird hunters spent $35.00 per day and small game hunters spent $13.00 per day. (Stats can be found on the web sight of U.S. Wildlife Service Southeast Region). Now, I am not a math genius, but this adds up. The small game hunter sees why they can’t hunt as many areas as they used to due to the in-crease of leases for deer and duck hunting. Also, the refuges around

this area cater more to the hunters of deer and duck. As a business owner, I understand the reason behind this, but as a small game hunter I am lost. In my opinion, and this only my opinion, this may be making the small game hunter think twice about having hounds and hunting. I hope things change, but if they don’t, the small game hunter may become far and few in between. Until next time see you at the tree.


ou’ve worked all year to get things ready for this day. You have your gun sighted in, your equip-ment is ready, and your stand is in position and waiting on your arrival. On your way to meet up with your friends for breakfast, you wonder if you missed any-

thing. What if something hap-pens you haven’t planned on? Well what have you planned on? What is your plan? Do you even have a strategy?

Developing a Strategy There is a lot more to developing a successful plan to hunt white-

tail deer than just going to a stand you like to hunt. There are a num-ber of variables involved that can rain all over the best made plans. Speaking of the weather, are you prepared for a sudden change in the temperature? An unforeseen rain storm could hit and turn an easy walk through the woods into a soaking wet and muddy trudge. Other factors may include other hunters moving in, if you are hunt-ing public land. If you are hunting with a group, how is everyone go-ing to get to their stands without running the deer into the next county? What if the wind shifts? Do you have an option ready for this? What if you oversleep, or for some reason you arrive at your hunting spot late and the sun is on the rise? Developing a strategy that will al-low you to react when conditions change or when they don’t is do-able. Keep in mind that strategy is an ongoing mindset and must constantly be revised. To start

Big Buck Strategy

By sticking to our plan we had a successful opening morning last year. I received communication just minutes before my buck came into view.

Photo courtesy of author

By Richard A. Fagan

Y


with, I recommend you keep a hunting journal. When things oc-cur that call for a change in plans, it’s good to be able to refer to past experiences. I have a stack of maps and notes that go back years, even to some places I no longer hunt, but I felt the information was worth hanging on to for reference. In a previous article about scout-ing for bucks, I highlighted the importance of extensive and ob-servant scouting. This is where all that hard work comes together. The knowledge you have gained can now be put to use in formulat-ing a plan. Whether it is archery, muzzle loading, or gun season you’ll be putting that plan into ac-tion.

A Group Effort Be sure to include everyone when discussing the plans for the hunt. Even the smallest things overlooked by one person may be remedied by another. Several years ago a friend of mine worked hard cleaning and shining his new

rifle the night before season. The next morning while sitting in his stand, he realized he had left the bolt to his gun at home on the kitchen table. He went back to the truck and took a nap. He didn’t know his partner kept a backup 30-30 behind the seat. He had a long ride home. Making sure all members of your

hunting party are included in the plan is important. Also ensure ev-eryone is on the same page. Coor-dinating movements is a key item to be discussed together.

Communication is Key Today’s wide variety of commu-nication equipment has given us the means to alter our plans quick-ly. Most often we rely on our cell phones and at other times we use two-way communicators. They al-low us to talk to each other with the push of a button rather than typing or fumbling around on a touch screen. Still, cell phones are a valuable means of communi-cation when in the woods and a crucial piece of equipment when hunting alone. I got a text message on open morning last year that a nice eight-point buck had just crossed the field and was heading my way. That forewarning allowed me to get set and focus on that direction. I was glad my partner was able to send it.

A well made plan includes travel routes, to and from your stand.Photo courtesy of author


There have been circumstances where we co-ordinate how and when we leave our stands in order to maybe push a deer in the direc-tion of someone waiting. This is where the knowledge of the land and a means of communication in the field can work together to pro-duce positive results.

A One Man Plan If you hunt alone, having a plan is easier in some ways and hard-er in others. Of course you can change your mind at any time to adjust to any conditions. Where things get more difficult is some-times you end up second guess-ing your moves. Often stories tell of a hunter who decided to hunt

the opposite end of the field at the last minute, only to see a monster buck walk under the stand that was his first choice. Of course, the hunter changed locations and the deer appeared under the stand he had abandoned. Hunting alone may require a less complicated plan, but you should still have one.

Face the Facts Sometimes things go wrong. Even with the best plans, occur-rences happen that cause us to adjust without giving things full considerations. Some years back I was to meet up with one of my hunting bud-dies. Our plan was to cover both ends of a large thicket that was

used as a bedding area. I waited at my truck until I saw the rose color of the morning peaking over the treetops. My phone beeped and my buddy then explained how he forgot to set his clock. I had to ad-just my plan and go to the closest stand, which was his. It was 7:15 in the morning when my 270 took down a wide racked, 12-point buck. That adjustment turned out pretty good for me. One thing you’ll always har-vest, when you have gone through the phases of a well thought out plan, is experience. As my story above pointed out I have learned that when I am hunting with my friend I always remind him to set his clock or I’ll have to hunt his stand again. Evaluate things both during and after the hunt and consider what changes, if any, need to be made. Most of us have our sights set on getting a big mature buck this sea-son, but in order to accomplish that we have to trust our instincts. We need to include with our in-stincts a well thought out plan. Just give it some thought and have a great hunting season.

Here is a map showing how wind travels through an area. This is useful information when making a plan. Remember to always hunt with the wind

in your face. Photo courtesy of author


Restoring Quail in Tennessee

By Richard Hines

ot too long ago it wasn’t un-usual to see an old brown canvas hunting jacket hanging on a nail or peg on someone’s back porch. Those brown jackets seemed to always absorb oil from shotguns which left a dark patch on the pre-ferred carrying shoulder of the owner. The black spot, where the barrel of a double barrel had been carried year after year, was the trademark of a quail hunter. To-day, both the old canvas coat, the double barrel bird gun and quail hunters themselves seem to be in short supply. That’s because quail numbers began making pretty dramatic declines. Unfortunately, this is a decline that could contin-ue. So, if you are a quail hunter, where do you go? Right now, the situation in Ten-nessee is not great for hunting quail. True, you still find a covey or two tucked away on isolated farms and these areas may actu-ally provide huntable numbers on a limited basis. However, provid-ing sufficient numbers for public land hunters is another matter. If Tennessee has one place that can provide good quail numbers, it is Fort Campbell. With thousands of acres open for hunting you should

stand a pretty good chance of finding a bird. That’s the good news, but the bad news is that it’s not always available to hunt. Because Fort Campbell is a U.S. Army base, training takes prece-dence over all other activities, so you just can’t just walk in and go hunting. With daily and ongoing training there are protocols to go through in order to hunt. Ac-cording to Wildlife Biologist Brad Wheat, hunters should check the MWR website every Wednesday after 4:00 PM to find out which areas are scheduled to be open the following Saturday through Friday, which allows you to find out what areas are available. Addi-tionally, active duty personnel get first choice; retired military have second choice and finally, the gen-eral public. A small game permit is required, which costs $50.00/year. As it turns out the best plac-es to quail hunt are also preferred training areas, which is why the birds have prospered on these sites. Hunting on the fort is not as simple as one of the state WMAs, but it can be done. Wheat suggest-ed taking time to get online and start learning about the process.

Tennessee was once covered with thousands of acres of native grass, such as little bluestem, and held a

healthy quail population.Photo by Richard Hines

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This will speed things up if you do decide to hunt on Post. The MWR website is; https://campbell.armymwr.com/us/campbell/programs/hunting. With Volunteer State quail num-bers declining, TWRA has com-mitted personnel and resources to improve the states quail numbers by setting aside “Anchor Areas” for quail. Mark Gudlin; Chief of the TWRA Wildlife and Forestry Division said, “The overall goal is to maximize the habitat as much as possible for bobwhites” Since the WMA land belongs to TWRA, biologists can control manage-ment on the WMA, which in the long run will improve surround-ing private lands. The adjoining private lands are being referred to as “Quail Focus Areas” and efforts are also underway to increase bob-whites on these lands as well. To concentrate these efforts TWRA has developed four “quail anchor areas” which range in size from 5,000 to 14,000 acres each. One of these is Wolf River WMA. Gudlin said, “It’s not just TWRA biologists, but also the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) and Quail Forever who will help drive interest among

landowners in these identified fo-cal areas. TWRA Wildlife Biologist - Chad Harden added, “The focal area concept is a national model intended to impact an area much greater than just WMAs”. Because of this, NRCS biologists are focus-ing bobwhite friendly cost shares for private lands within these fo-cal areas. Simply put, the WMA is the Anchor that provides quality habitat, allowing bobwhite popu-lations to grow and expand onto adjacent private lands. Harden told me that TWRA is making an ef-fort to get birds back by improv-ing habitat that has been lost. It is a slow process, because many areas are wet, which makes a perfect place for the invasion and rapid growth of sweet gum trees. As the gum trees cover a site, grass

and forbs are shaded out; totally eliminating the preferred habitat for quail. To improve the habitat as rapidly as possible, numerous habitat management techniques are being employed on the An-chor Areas. Unlike some game species, quail have very narrow requirements in that they use only early successional habitat; grasses and forbs. As an example, if you disk a field, vegetation quickly grows on the bare dirt. Within a few years you begin seeing shrubs, blackberry vines and within 10-15 years, trees and later the begin-ning of a young forest. Succession is predictable. Quail require a majority of their habitat in grasses and forbs for nesting and brooding cover, while briars and some shrubs are need-ed for winter cover. Once the grass

As most of our quail hunters age, this Tennessee tradition is quickly being lost. Photo by Richard Hines


component is gone it is no longer usable for reproduction. Making matters worse, most grasslands across Tennessee are comprised of exotic grasses, such as fescue. To combat this situation, WMA staff are using prescribed fire to set back plant growth, sometimes with fol-low-up applications of herbicide to eliminate exotic grasses or in-vading hardwood trees. Harden said their staff was also knocking back woody encroachment, using mechanical manipulations such as disking ground, bulldozers and timber harvesting. All of these techniques work in unison to re-turn the site to early successional habitat that includes native warm season grasses or small clumps of scattered shrubs. Over time this work will begin connecting the

early succession patches together, which will increase bird numbers. Ask any bird hunter and you will hear their solution, but in reality it’s not just one thing. Throughout nation, decline in quail numbers actually started over 50 years ago. Today the eastern U.S. only has 1% of its native grassland remaining. A majority of native grasses were either converted to row crops or non-native grass pastures. As a result, numerous grassland birds {including the northern bob-white} have seen serious declines. It has taken us 50 years to get to this point and it will not be re-solved overnight. Many quail ex-perts agree that they may not see bobwhite populations reach his-toric levels, such as those we had in the 1950’s, even within their ca-reers. But, all do agree it is possible with the cooperation of Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, Natu-ral Resources Conservation Ser-vice, Quail Forever, hunters and dedicated landowners. One thing for sure is that we can’t give-up on

this great gamebird.

Quail or Northern Bobwhite? What we call quail in Tennessee, and for that matter throughout the south, are technically called Northern Bobwhite {Colinus vir-ginianus}. The bobwhite’s original range covered 25 states, with the bird’s historical range extending from Michigan and New Jersey, to northern Mexico. A Quail or Northern Bobwhite is one in the same, with only minor variations across the species range. So the name bobwhite, northern bob-white and quail are interchange-able. In some locations, where a high percentage of native vegeta-tion remains, quail numbers re-main stable, but as a whole num-bers in the historical range of 25 states remain low.

Pictured here is a Northern Bob-white hen, quickly searching for cover. Photo by Richard Hines

A rather worn, but nice, over and under shotgun and two northern bob-whites harvested on Fort Campbell. Photo by Richard Hines


AG NEWSTop 10 Tennessee Agriculture Commodities

By Hannah Patterson – www.farmflavor.com

1. Oil crop – Oil crops, such as cottonseed and especially soy-beans are extremely valuable to Tennessee’s economy. This com-modity earned $815.82 million in cash receipts in 2013.

2. Cattle and calves – Approxi-mately 1.8 million head of cattle and calves are raised on Tennessee farms. Generating $690.78 million in cash receipts in 2013, cattle and calves are among the state’s most lucrative livestock commodities.

3. Corn – Field corn raked in $583.2 million in cash receipts in 2013. This vital crop is grown to feed livestock throughout the state and nation.

4. Broilers – An impressive 172.8 million broilers, or chickens grown for meat, are raised annual-ly in the state of Tennessee. Broil-ers brought in $544.55 million in cash receipts in 2013.

5. Cotton – Tennessee farmers produced 430,000 bales of cotton,

or enough to make 50.52 million pairs of jeans. This natural fiber

Pictured here is lifelong and 2nd generation Dyer County farmer, Eddie Anderson with his son and 3rd generation farmer, Johnathan. Eddie, who learned farming from his father {J.W. Anderson} says that hard work, long hours and

willingness to adapt are all major keys to being a successful farmer. Photo by Rob Somerville


earned $301.8 million in 2013.

6. Wheat – Tennessee’s most im-portant food grain generated $259.5 million in cash receipts in 2013. Wheat is also the primary food grain in the U.S., grown in 42 states.

7. Milk – Tennessee is home to numerous dairies producing 15.98 pounds of milk daily per head, for a total of 767 million pounds of milk in 2013. Milk brought in $163.83 million in cash receipts.

8. Tobacco – Tennessee tobac-co farmers produced 44.57 mil-lion pounds of tobacco in 2013. The average price of $2.37 per pound contributed a grand total of $105.38 million to the state’s economy.

9. Vegetables and melons – Grown in greenhouses, gardens and fields, Tennessee vegetables and

melons earned $90.98 million in 2013. This produce is sold at farm-ers markets and retailers or sold for processing.

10. Hogs – Hogs brought home the bacon, $60.32 million in cash receipts, to be precise. As of De-cember 2013, the state of Tennes-see was home to a total of 180,000 hogs.


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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. --- The Ten-nessee Fish and Wildlife Commis-sion established the state’s 2017-18 sport fish regulations at its Octo-ber meeting, which concluded Friday (Oct. 28) at the Holiday Inn Fair Park. The Tennessee Wildlife Resourc-es Agency Fisheries Division pre-sented its original proposals for 2017-18 at its September meet-ing. The TFWC had requested the TWRA consider lowering the creel limit for crappie from 30 to 20 fish per day on Kentucky Lake. After the amendment to the proc-lamation passed in the fisheries committee on Thursday, the full commission passed the regulation Friday. Among the other changes in-clude harvest regulations to a 15-fish creel limit, in combination, for striped bass, hybrid striped bass, and white bass on Douglas Reservoir. The boundary for wild trout on Laurel Creek in Carter County has been defined. The new boundary will now be from the cable crossing located one-half mile upstream of the USFS Dennis Cove Recreation Area extending upstream to the

SPORT FISH REGULATIONS SET AT OCTOBER TFWC MEETING

TWRA NEWS


USFS boundary. A change in the reciprocal agree-ment on Calderwood Reservoir will allow North Carolina bank anglers to have the same privileg-es as boat anglers. Similar changes are being considered by the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Com-mission for Tennesseans. Boat and bank anglers on Dale Hollow Lake can use four fishing rods at one time. This is a change from the current regulation of three fishing rods for boat anglers and a change from six for bank anglers. The 4-rod limit also ap-plies to the seasonal walleye run restrictions. Changes to the live bait procla-mation keeps existing creel limits for Class A and Class B baitfish, and established a possession lim-it of twice the daily creel limit for these classes. The change estab-lished a 50 fish per day limit for Class C bait fish, all species com-bined, with a possession limit of 100 fish. The new proclamation regulates possession of both live and dead baitfish. Gerry Dinkins, of the University

of Tennessee, made a presentation which focused on Tennessee’s fresh-water mussel fau-na. There are 137 freshwater mussel species in Tennes-see, about half of the continent’s ap-proximately 300 species. The commission also heard a pre-sentation from Brandt Informa-

tion Services, on the TWRA’s new licensing systems. The new license system will begin next week, re-placing the current system which has been in place since 1999.Other presentations included an annual review of the Tennessee Scholastic Clay Target Program, the “Recovering America’s Wild-life Act” resolu-tion, an update on Appalachian Bear Rescue, and an update on the recent ly-com-pleted elk hunt-ing season, and a computer aided dispatch system for TWRA wild-life officers. TWRA present-ed three annual statewide divi-sional awards. Perry Massengill was named Fish-eries Technician

of the Year and John Hammonds is the Fisheries Biologist of the Year. David Whitehead was named the Wildlife Biologist of the Year while Tony Duncan received the Wild-life Technician of the Year award. Melvin McLerran was named the part-time Boating Officer of the Year and Brad Bagwell was named the Boating Officer of the Year. In addition, the National Bob-white Conservation Initiative “Firebird” awards were presented to Wes Winton, TWRA AEDC/Bark Camp Barrens WMA Man-ager, and Brittney Viers-Scott, Quail Forever Farm Bill Biologist. The TFWC has one more sched-uled meeting this calendar year. It will be held in Nashville on Friday, Dec. 9 at the TWRA Region II Ray Bell Building.


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KI DSBy Kevin Griffith

love fishing with kids, espe-cially when I can give them a great experience… like actually catch-ing one! Nothing hooks a kid on fishing more than having a fish strike their bait, pull against their line and then successfully land the finned creature. The smile on the

child’s face tells the tale. They are ready to come back for more! That usually excites the adult fisher-man involved as well. They’ve just gained a new fishing buddy; most likely for the rest of their lives! Do you love fishing? Do you want to share this love with your

child, grandchild or family mem-ber? Do you want to create a new fishing buddy? Maybe I can help. I’ve had the privilege to host many groups of kids at Fyrne Lake and that has blessed me with years of experience in getting children hooked on fishing. Perhaps some

IBoy Scouts are shown here beginning their day, fishing off the pavilion dock at Fyrne Lake. Photo by Kevin Griffith



of what I’ve learned along the way will help with your fishing bud-dies. Even before you put a pole in their hand it’s important to make sure they are comfortably dressed and you have sunscreen and bug spray available if needed. It also wouldn’t hurt to have a bag of snacks and a cooler of drinks nearby. There’s nothing that will end a fishing trip with kids quick-er than a swarm of mosquitos or a growling stomach. Also, you’ve got to go into this experience with your long-term goal in mind… to create a fishing buddy. That means you’re their expert guide and fish-ing tackle slave. Be ready to keep their hook baited, line untangled, snags unsnagged and catch un-hooked. You may not even get to wet your own line! You’ve got to be OK with that or you’ll find yourself getting frustrated and distracted from your mission at hand. Even though I own Fyrne Lake, I would still recommend taking your child for their first experi-ence to a small private pond where the fish are fed or a pay catfish pond. That will insure their suc-cess. However, I know they’re not always nearby or available. It’s still very possible to have a good 1st time fishing experience in larger, natural lakes like Fyrne Lake. It will just be more of a challenge for you to guide the fish to their pole. The fish in Fyrne Lake are to-tally wild and prefer striking live or naturally appearing and prop-erly presented artificial bait. My recommendation is to start out

At 7 years-old - Andrew, my youngest son, just caught this bass using a tad-pole as bait. He did everything on his own, from baiting the pole to reeling it

in… except, I still ended up unhooking the fish. Photo by Kevin Griffith



with live bait. Making fishing lures move naturally in the water takes more finesse than most beginning fisherman can master. Live bait is also more interesting to kids. Holding a squiggling worm, chas-ing an escaped cricket or play-ing with minnows in the bucket can maintain the child’s interest between fish bites. However, us-ing live bait is not a guarantee of success. Presenting live bait in a productive way can be challeng-ing. Luckily, my father {Kenneth Griffith} taught me several basic angling principles that still guide my personal fishing today and my efforts in helping visiting children catch fish. While I was growing up, my dad drilled into me the need to min-imize hardware, place the bait on the hook with purpose and cast the line in the water where there are fish. Let’s start by discussing fishing hardware and by that I mean everything going into the water that’s not living. When fish-ing with live bait, the lighter the line and the smaller the hook, the more quickly a fish will bite. Ob-viously, lighter lines require less tension on your drag and the hook used needs to be an appropriate size for your bait. It’s also import-ant to use just enough weight to get your bait to where you want it and just enough float to keep your bait suspended from the surface. Too much hardware discourages bites and may cause a fish to let go once they feel the resistance of excessive weight or an oversized float. Properly placing your bait on the Here’s Andrew at 5 years-old, extremely excited about our joint catch off the

dock at Fyrne Lake. Photo by Kevin Griffith


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hook is just as important. This is especially true when using min-nows. Rigged properly, minnows will do all the work for you as they desperately swim against your line, appearing to be in distress

and an easy meal to any nearby game fish. There are many ways to hook a minnow. For me, when fishing from shore or an anchored boat (not trolling), the best place to hook the minnow is under the

dorsal fin, trying to just get under (not through) the bone. It takes a little experience with each type of minnow to identify just how far below the fin to go. Too far and you weaken the fish, not far enough

Jeremy, my oldest son, is shown at the {age of 6} holding a nice bream he baited, hooked and landed on his own in Florida’s Lake Tarpon. Photo by Kevin Griffith


and you’ll quickly lose your bait. It’s also important to match the hook to your fish. I choose a hook {1-1/2 to 2 times as wide as the back of the minnow is thick} and enough loop to the hook to allow the barb to be fully extend above

the bait’s back. Crickets and worms are much simpler to successfully hook and present. Most any method will pique the interest of a panfish. The challenge here is to hook them be-fore your bait disappears! I hook

crickets under their chin and out through the belly. I prefer to use a thin wire hook with a shank just long enough to extend above their head and barb loop wide enough to slightly extend out of the in-sect’s body. This method keeps the

This picture shows my father, Kenneth Griffith, who taught me everything I know about fishing, my son, Andrew {at the age of 9} and my mom, Mildred, who is the best cook and mother in the world! Photo by Kevin Griffith


cricket active and on a hook that will easily fit into the small mouth of a bream. Worms are even eas-ier to successfully hook. As long as some of the worm is near the hook’s barb, you’ll have a good chance of hooking a fish. Howev-er, bream are expert worm thieves! They seem to know exactly where your barb is and will yank it off from the worms dangling end. If this happens to you, use a small-er hook and less worm! I hard-ly ever use a whole worm when fishing with kids. I’ll typically cut off about one inch of worm and thread it over the barb leaving only a quarter to one half inch of worm dangling. If the fish are still winning the battle I’ll reduce the size of the hook even further and leave even less, or no worm dan-gling at all. I’ve been known to go all the way down to a size 12 hook before landing my thief! Having a perfectly baited hook and a minuscule amount of hard-ware alone will not guarantee suc-cess. You have to fish where the fish are! Casting your line out to-ward the middle isn’t going to ac-complish anything unless there is structure present or obvious fish action on the surface. The best place to cast may only be 3 feet in front of you! It all depends on the location of the structure. Because, where there’s structure, there are usually fish! At Fyrne Lake we’ve purposely placed structure around our docks and shoreline fishing spots to attract fish. There’s a com-bination of natural tree branches, porcupine fish attractors, pallet stacks and Christmas trees. These structures attract and hold bait-

fish, bream and larger gamefish. That helps me insure there is fish around when kids visit. Wherev-er you fish, simply fish near any structure you can identify; fall-en trees, water plants, stumps, docks… anything from vegetable to mineral items in the water may hold fish. If there’s nothing visible, treat the bottom as your structure. Fish will graze along the bottom looking for anything that looks alive and/or edible. The key here is to suspend your bait just above the bottom, not on it. Too high and your bait will be missed, too low and it will be lost in the muck on the bottom. The depth you sus-pend is also important if you see obvious structure. The most pro-ductive depth placement of your bait is suspended just above, be-side or slightly under structure. Once you’ve set the depth of your bait below the float you’ll need to cast your line as close as you can get to your targeted structure without snagging. The reality is you’ll snag it often. Not only be-cause you or your young one is working on casting accuracy, but because you’re learning how deep and how much of the structure ex-tends beyond what’s visible. Don’t fret about it, losing tackle is just a part of the ad-venture! Now you know all you need to know to help kids catch fish except… how to set the hook. Kids get excited when their floats go under and

will frantically reel the line in of-ten pulling the bait right out of the fish’s mouth. The following sim-ple instructions my father shared with me 50 years ago have helped countless young children success-fully hook and land fish.

1) Point the tip of the pole toward the float.2) Wait until the float is fully sub-merged.3) Reel in until the slack in the line is gone.4) Without jerking, firmly raise your pole tip up.5) Without rushing, steadily reel in keeping the line tight.6) Get the fish securely on shore, on the dock or in the boat as soon as it reaches you! My dad’s favorite pastime is fishing and he passed it on to his kids, including me. Thankful-ly, he taught me what it takes to teach children how to fish and in the process creating future fishing buddies. Now you can create your own and pass on your love of this awesome sport!


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TRADITIONS TIPS - with Richard A. Fagan

1. Expand the length on your deer hauling cart to add leverage and more capacity. Here I have used a piece of ladder and inserted a

handle through the steps. This eases the strain on your lower back and legs.

2. To keep fixed-blade knives from causing unwanted damage, make knife holders out of PVC pipe and label them with non-erase

marker. They will also float if dropped into a lake.

4. Store deer urine in the refrigerator. Keep it in a dark bottle or in its original container. This slows the process of it breaking down

into ammonia, making it ineffective as a deer lure.

3. Homemade scent bombs, like this film canister filled with cotton, work great to bring in big bucks. To make it more effective,

wrap a hand warmer around it and secure it with a zip-tie.

5. Most often, when you find a large antler rub like the one pictured, it was made by a large buck. There is an exception to the

rule. A broke horn buck will often rub a larger tree. ld still recommend hunting that area

Editor’s note: all photos and graphics are provided by the author. If you wish to submit a “TIP” send emails to [email protected].


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Kylian Connell is pretty proud of his first redear sunfish ever, and he should be, because it’s a nice one!

Kylian’s with Boy Scout Troop 380 of Ross United Methodist Church in Dyersburg, Tennessee.

Photo by Kevin Griffith

Mason Mullens is holding his prize crappie, landed during a father and son fishing trip with his dad - Gene Mullens, on Fyrne Lake in 2014.

Photo by Kevin Griffith


Allie, Alex and Briley had a fun fishing weekend at Gam And Papaw Wilkerson’s this summer.Photo courtesy of Wilkerson’s Taxidermy


Mr. Smallmouth {Robert “Doc” Jackson} is at it again with another cool weather smallie.

Hunter Burge (age 7) killed his first deer, a but-ton, buck during Missouri's early youth season! Hunter and his dad have a memory that will last a life time! We'd like to give a big thanks to Wilk-erson's Taxidermy in Dyersburg, we will have a perfect trophy to go along with those memories!

Brandon Scheland just caught his first fish of the day. He’s with Boy Scout Troop 380 of Ross United

Methodist Church in Dyersburg, Tennessee. Photo by Kevin Griffith

NOVEMBER - DECEMBER 2016 | SOUTHERN TRADITIONS OUTDOORS 55 NOVEMBER - DECEMBER 2016 | SOUTHERN TRADITIONS OUTDOORS 55

STO Magazine field staff editor - Todd Cotton, is pictured with one of a couple of dozen “eating size”

bass, which he caught at one of his honey-holes.

Jonathan Thomas bagged this nice gobbler in Huntingdon, Tennessee on April 9th of this year. It weighed 23 lbs., had 1 ¾” spurs and a 12 ½” in

beard.

UNBELIEVABLY

GOOD

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southern traditions outdoors - november 2016

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