South Africa isn’t often associated with long-range hunting. Many of the game ranches in this vast country are covered with dense bush that limits shots to a couple hundred yards or less. There are exceptions, however, and the Umkomaas Valley is one of them. Located in the KwaZulu-Natal province on the eastern edge of South Africa, the Umkomaas Valley is a 120,000-acre wilderness that borders its namesake river. KwaZulu-Natal is the homeland of the Zulu people, whose warrior King Shaka developed new weapons and tactics, allowing the tribe to gain control over many of the surrounding areas stretching as far north as Mozambique and deep into the interior of South Africa. It’s been said the Zulu stopped the southward expansion of East Africa’s powerful Masai warriors—or perhaps the Masai stopped the northward expansion of the Zulu.

Our hunting party flew from Johannesburg toward the city of Durban, one of the busiest ports on Africa’s Indian coast, passing over a patchwork of agricultural fields perched on the east and west rims of the Umkomaas Valley. The valley itself is a dark, irregular scar on the landscape with high, rocky cliffs and steep slopes covered by snarled thorns. With no fences and minimal hunting, the valley is home to a wide array of endemic African antelope species including Cape bushbuck, Cape kudu, zebra, eland, duiker, and others.

There are also many warthogs, a half-dozen of which were kneeling on their forelegs and trimming the grass around Crusader Safaris’ Umkomaas Valley tented camp when we arrived. The sun was already behind the canyon rim when we began unloading our gear. Crusader Safaris owner Andrew Pringle directed me toward my own canvas tent while a baboon barked in the high rocks above us. By the time I was settled the only sounds in the valley were the hum of insects and the sloshing of the river.

Of the dozens of species of game to pursue in the Umkomaas, a big bull nyala was what I wanted most. Properly referred to as the common nyala (which doesn’t do this species justice: How could a 400-pound animal with ivory-tipped horns, striking chestnut, gray, and white markings, and a magnificent mane qualify as common?), this spiral-horned antelope exists naturally in few places in Africa, and nowhere does it exist in higher concentrations than in KwaZulu-Natal. In fact, some of the biggest nyala bulls on record were killed within a few miles of Crusader’s Umkomaas camp.

The Rifle & Cartridge

By the time I arrived in South Africa in late 2018, the .300 Precision Rifle Cartridge (PRC) had been announced to the public and a handful of long-range shooters were already using the round to ring steel out past a mile. The powerful new cartridge promised good things: based on a .375 Ruger case, the .300 PRC requires a magnum bolt face, but unlike belted magnums, the full-diameter .375 Ruger case allows for substantial powder payloads. The .300 PRC headspaces off its 30-degree shoulder and chamber drawings are precise. Hornady’s initial match load pushes a 225-grain, polymer-tipped ELD Match bullet with a ballistic coefficient of .777 (G1) at 2,810 feet per second, which is nipping at the .338 Lapua’s heels.

The Lapua excels at long-range shooting, but there are only a handful of hunters that carry Lapua rifles in the field. What about the .300 PRC? I wondered if it would make a sensible all-purpose rifle, especially given the popularity of established rounds like .300 Win. Mag., .300 Weatherby Mag., and the .300 WSM. The .300 PRC hadn’t been used extensively in the field to that point. It was powerful and accurate, but was it practical? And did it offer any real advantage over older rounds?

George Gardiner at GA Precision built several early .300 PRC rifles using Templar V2 actions and I carried one of those guns in the Umkomaas. It wasn’t particularly light, with its 26-inch barrel and removable brake, but it was supremely accurate. At 100 yards the GA rifle would place three 212-grain ELD-X hunting bullets close enough to touch, and five shots under an inch was no problem. The early adopters of the .300 PRC said it was the most accurate of the .30-caliber magnums they’d shot, and I’ve found the same to be true.

I topped the rifle with a Trijicon AccuPoint 2.5-12×42 with a green illuminated reticle. For dedicated long-range testing, I would have chosen greater top-end magnification, but the Trijicon’s low 2.5x magnification was important. While I might shoot a nyala at 400 yards, a 40-yard shot through thick brush was also possible. For that, I needed the additional field of view. I also needed a scope that could withstand being bounced around in the bellies of planes, abuse from baggage handlers, and heavy recoil. The AccuPoint checked all those boxes. I double-checked my zero at 100 yards when I arrived at camp and there was no shift in point of impact.

The Nyala Trail

African winter nights can be quite cold. As dim purple light brightened the eastern horizon and the jackals yapped on the crest of the ridges, I slipped from my bed and pulled on extra layers of clothing. After coffee at the main dining patio, I met Professional Hunter Rad Robertson and together we loaded my gear into his Toyota Hilux pickup. We were hunting farther up the valley and needed an early start. The rest of the camp began to stir as we left and began climbing to the rim of the valley.

By sunrise the Hilux was bouncing through dry watercourses along the river’s edge. I’d seen a half-dozen nyala that morning, including what I thought was a particularly good bull, but one that Rad elected to pass. Nyala are creatures of habit who follow the same trails and prefer to hide in familiar patches of thorn. Late in the morning Rad and I found one trail that was particularly well-worn. We climbed through a forest of tombstone-gray eucalyptus trees and settled on a narrow hummock—an ideal glassing point. We did see several nyala cows, which are lighter in build and color than bulls, browsing along the edge of the primary trail that wound through the trees along a dry riverbed below.

It was late in the day when Rad decided to move and check a narrow bowl higher up the mountain. The higher country was much more open and if we found a bull the shot might be 400 yards or more. It wasn’t long until we saw game: A herd of dusty-gray kudu cows were browsing in the blackthorn trees halfway to the top. Their broad ears flapped as they stretched their long, thin necks up to pick the choicest leaves.

Rad, who was resting against the base of an aloe tree, told me he saw a bull. Above the cows a single dark animal moved through the knee-high, winter-dry grass. I looked at the bull through my binocular and waited in silence for Rad’s decision. When the bull started down the spine of the hill 300 yards away, Rad decided the horns measured between 25 and 26-inches. We could find a bigger bull.

We were ready to pull stakes and head back to camp for a braai when Rad told me saw another nyala. He had seen this bull before and recognized its wide, heavy horns which measured perhaps 27 inches in length, which wasn’t much better than the first. But the second bull’s horns were much wider with deeper curls and greater girth. The animal’s shaggy body was noticeably larger than the first, too.

The bull vanished into a thin band of trees and our only course of action was to drop down into the valley and slip back up the other side. With all the game scattered throughout the bowl and across the ridge it would be hard to avoid detection, but we decided to try our luck.

Grey columns of clouds pushed inland from the Indian Ocean and darkened the hills. Carefully avoiding the wait-a-bit thorns and ever vigilant for snakes in the hip-high grass we made our way up through the forest, past the kudu herd and into the trees where we’d last seen the nyala. The bull had moved and Rad spotted him just 70 yards away. I shouldered the rifle, but could plainly see a single bent branch that had been invisible to the naked eye. The branch covered the bull’s vitals, and I held my shot until the bull disappeared into the dark forest.

Minutes later we saw a bull come out along the far edge of the trees farther down the slope. Rad insisted on glassing the animal first because he didn’t want to shoot the smaller bull by accident, but soon confirmed the animal walking across the ridge below us was indeed the older bull.

With shooting sticks to stabilize the rifle and an aloe tree serving as a brace I was quite steady and could see the seam of the front leg. Holding a third of the way to the top of the shoulder I pressed the safety forward, slowed my breath, and shot.

There was a flash of orange flame from the muzzle and all I could see was a halo of light impressions dancing in my eyes. The tracker initially reported that he didn’t find any blood or signs that the nyala had been hit, which concerned me, but in the tall grass thirty yards from where the bullet struck, the bull lay stretched out dead in mid stride. Nyala are impressive animals, but being close enough to touch one offers a close look at their striking features.

The horns are deep walnut in color with semi-translucent tips and are neatly curved. White marks like warpaint dot the face (including the characteristic chevron) and the long hairs of the animal’s mane are banded in shades of black, gray, and tan. At nightfall, we headed down the mountain with my bull.

Mixed Bag

With a bit of luck and some good shooting, a hunter in the Umkomaas Valley could harvest more game in a week-long safari than most North American hunters collect in a decade. Modern safaris are a great way to experience Africa as it was in the glory days, and it’s an important means to feed a community where cattle are scarce and beef is costly (which, in turn, prevents the need for poaching).

These hunts are also a great way to test bullet performance because you have animals of varying sizes offering differing shot angles and ranges. Hornady’s Neal Emery hung around the skinning shed collecting .300 PRC ELD-X bullets from the game that he and I shot. We had a broad selection of animals, too. By the middle of the week, I’d killed a cape bushbuck ram with a high uphill shot measuring about 320 yards, and I tagged an incredibly old common reedbuck ram under almost the same conditions the following day at the far end of the valley.

On the day I killed my reedbuck, Emery shot a larger ram in the same area at about 400 yards. Interestingly, we were able to collect bullets from other hunters in camp who were using .300 Win. Mag. and .300 H&H rifles, and the .300 PRC performed well compared to those older rounds. The .300 PRC didn’t create excessive wound channels and terminal performance was superb on animals ranging from 100 to 450 pounds at distances from 50 yards to over 500 yards. We finished the safari by shooting across a canyon at distances to 1,400 yards. The .300 PRC shines as a target round, of course, and the extraordinarily accurate GA Precision rifles made hitting targets at long range no chore.

The .300 PRC is indeed a great target round, but it’s an equally adept big-game cartridge capable of taking most any game at extended ranges. I came away from the Umkomaas Valley with an appreciation not only for the forward-thinking design of the cartridge but a sincere appreciation for its outstanding versatility.

If you own a good rifle chambered in .300 PRC there’s little you can’t do with it so long as you can handle the recoil, which is substantial but manageable. Hornady makes a compelling case that they’ve developed a multi-purpose cartridge that’s perfectly suited for the shooter who wants a target gun that’s also capable of tackling big-game hunts in every corner of the globe.

A good battery pack is a vital piece of gear for any hiker these days. There are many components that go into what makes the best battery pack for a thru-hike. It’s not just about the power but also the weight, how quickly it charges your devices, how long it takes to recharge in town, how reliable it is and it’s durabilty.

Based on each of these criteria I believe I have found it, the perfect thru-hiker power bank. Say hello to the:

The ZendureSuperMini 10,000mAh USB-C PD Portable Charger ( link opens Amazon)

The Tech Specs:

Here is a quick overview of the tech specs:

Why is This The Best Battery For Thru-Hikers?

Weight (6.35oz/180g)

It’s lighter than most other comprable 10,000 Mah (see head to head match-ups below).

For example, the super-mini weighs 6.35oz/180g while an equivalent Anker PowerCore 10000 PD weighs 6.8oz(192g).

It’s not much of a difference but every grams counts but as you’ll see below the pass-through charging functionality of the Zendure SuperMini will enable you to save even more weight!

Super Fast Recharge Time (3 Hours)

Via the USB-C PD port it can recharge in 3 hours.

This means you can pop into a town, recharge your battery (both literally and figuratively) and leave town with a fully charged battery without having to stay a night if you don’t want to.

Even if you plan to stay a night a quick recharge time saves you hogging a power outlet all night or you could easily charge your battery fully when just sitting at a restaurant/bar.

Charging Times:

The Zendure SuperMini has both a USB-A and USB-C port, both of which can charge at 18watts of power. The battery supports PD (power delivery) charging meaning it can fast charge an iPhone X up to 50% within 30 mins!

Your phone will have to support PD for this to work (most new iPhone and Samsung devices do), but even if your device doesn’t this battery will charge it as fast as your device will allow.

Size and Durabilty

The outer shell feels much more durable that other batteries which can only be a good thing as your battery, along with most of your gear, will be put through the elements on any thru-hike.

Another major benefit of the Zendure SuperMini is the size and shape of the battery itself. It is 30% smaller than most other batteries and is roughly the size of a credit card.

This shape is much more packable than the usual longer bulkier batteries. This shape makes it perfect for slipping into a hip-belt pocket or a fanny pack for easy access.

Style

Fashion is a thru-hikers last concern but nearly every other battery is just a black brick. The Zendure Super-mini has 3 colors which a) looks cooler and b) will make your battery easier to identify at a shared charging point in a restaurant or hostel etc.

The Holy Grail of Pass-Through Charging

All the above features of the Zendure SuperMini are great but the thing that makes it head and shoulders above the rest of other batteries is that it supports pass-through charging.

What is pass-through charging and why is it so important?

Simply put this means you can charge the battery whilst at the same time use the battery to charge other devices. This quick video demonstrates the difference:

Why is this so good for thru-hikers? Well, it enables you to replace your usual 2 USB port wall charger with a single USB port one.

For example, say I use an Anker Powercore PD battery that doesn’t support pass through charging. When I get to town I want to charge both my battery and my phone at the same time. To do this I have to bring a 2 usb port wall charger (pictured).

Now with the Zendure SuperMini it can turn the battery into another USB port so I only need to bring a smaller 1 port wall charger.

I charge the battery directly using the wall socket and then daisy chain my phone or whatever else I want to charge off my SuperMini battery.

As an example, the two wall chargers pictured above. The smaller one weighs 1.9oz/53g whilst the larger one weighs 8oz/227g. So by utilising the pass-through charging you save 6oz/170+g from your pack, that’s a big weight saving without any loss of functionality.

These are two great ultralight small wall chargers options that support PD to couple with your Zendure SuperMini:

• Rav Power USB-C 61W PD Wall Charger (Foldable Prongs)
• Anker USB-C 30w PD Wall Charger

Head to Head Match-Ups

Zendure SuperMini vs Anker PowerCore 10000 PD

Zendure SuperMini vs RavPower PD Pioneer 10000mAh Portable Charger 2-Port Power Bank

Zendure SuperMini vs Nitecore NB10000

The Perfect Thru-Hiker Battery

The design and specs of the SuperMini make it ideal for any thru-hiker. It’s got the perfect combination of functionality and features.

It matches or surpasses most other batteries on the usual criteria and is one of the very few batteries in it’s class that supports pass-through charging. The Zendure SuperMini when utilized with a smaller wall charger can enable big weight savings.

If you’re interested in getting your own you can see it on Amazon here. Any questions just comment below.

Kayak Trolling Motors

Trolling motors are a fantastic little add-on to your kayak that essentially transforms your once paddle-powered vessel into a high-performance motorized boat.

If you’ve been thinking about adding a trolling motor to your kayak, whether that be for fishing purposes or to simply run circles around your kayaking buddies, then you’ve come to the right place.

We’ve created the ultimate guide to trolling motors, including the benefits of kayak trolling motors, the best trolling motors for kayaks on the market, and the main things to look out for before purchasing.

So, if you’re wondering what are the best kayak trolling motors for your specific kayak, keep on reading as you’re about to become an expert.

What is a Trolling Motor?

A trolling motor is a relatively small electric engine that attaches to the back of a kayak to help propel it through the water at faster speeds. These motors are often used by kayak anglers as they emit very minimal sound and allow fishermen to creep up on their potential catch.

In general, trolling motors are fairly straightforward pieces of gear, and it doesn’t take a genius to figure out how to use one. To turn in any direction, you simply move the handle of the motor left or right. And if you don’t want the motor in the water for any reason, you can quickly and easily pull it out thanks to the rotational clamp that secures the motor to your kayak.

Benefits of a Trolling Motor

Granted, kayak makers originally designed kayaks to be powered by paddle, but no one ever said you couldn’t amp up the kayak’s performance by adding a motor. Motors are a great way to transform your recreational kayak into the ultimate streamlined fishing vessel, and if you weren’t already swayed into purchasing your own trolling motor, you will be thanks to these incredible benefits.

No Splashes

The first major benefit of a trolling motor is the fact that they barely disturb the water. This reason alone is what draws in many kayak anglers, as with a trolling motor, you’re able to creep up on fish in a way you wouldn’t be able to with a paddle.

Hands-Free Fishing

Another huge benefit to a trolling motor is the fact that it removes the need to paddle, meaning you can be hands-free at all times. As well as freeing up your hands to hold other things such as a fishing rod, eliminating a paddle also gives your arms a break as we all know how tiring paddling a kayak can actually be.

Convenient and Useful in Emergencies

There is no shame in getting tired mid-paddle because, after all, just an hour of paddling can burn roughly 476 calories. A trolling motor allows older or slower paddlers to keep up with the pack without getting physically exhausted. They are also extremely useful in the event of an emergency as they’ll get you back to shore far quicker than a paddle ever would.

You Can Head Down to Smaller Tributaries

If you’re trying to decide between a regular fishing boat or a trolling motor-fitted kayak, then in our opinion, the kayak will come out on top. Kayaks that are fitted with a trolling motor are extremely streamlined and portable, meaning you can head over to more remote or narrower tributaries that larger boats can’t enter.

GILI’s Top Picks: By Budget

8 Superior Trolling Motors for Kayaks

Newport Vessels NK 180

It doesn’t get much more premium in the world of kayak trolling motors than the Newport Vessels NK 180. Newport Vessels designed the NK 180 specifically for kayaks, and the 24-volt, 60 pounds thrust motor will have you zipping through the water quickly, efficiently, and most importantly, quietly.

If you have a drill on hand, you can easily attach the aluminum motor mount to the back of your kayak. Once you’ve attached the motor mount, you can then further attach the motor as the package comes with (almost) everything you’d need to get out on the water. For those with a power pole already installed to their kayak, the good news, the installation process will be even easier.

The one thing you will need to purchase separately is a lead acid deep cycle or a lithium deep cycle battery that has a nominal output voltage between 24V and 29V. And then, once you’ve installed the battery, you’ll be ready to hit the water using the speed controller, the digital throttle control, and the steering cables.

Newport Vessels 55 lbs Thrust Kayak Series

The Newport Vessels’ Kayak Series made it onto our best kayak trolling motor list thanks to its impressive 55 pounds of thrust. And yes, you won’t need anywhere near that amount for your tiny little kayak, but it’s always nice to have the option.

Newport Vessels gave their 55 lbs thrust electric kayak motor a 24-inch adjustable shaft, which is ideal for most standard kayaks. And as the adjustable feature makes the motor versatile, if you ever upgrade your ‘yak in the future or if you switch over to a canoe, you won’t need to buy a new motor.

Staying on the topic of the motor’s shaft, Newport Vessels designed their motor out of fiberglass so you can use it as a freshwater or saltwater kayak trolling motor. This ability to kayak in any water type of waterway makes the Newport Vessel’s trolling motor an excellent option for recreational kayakers who like to switch up their kayaking destinations.

To help improve the trolling motor’s performance, Newport Vessel equipped it with a 6-inch telescoping handle and eight different speeds: five of which propel the kayak forward and three which reverse it back.

And to finish off, Newport Vessels also added an interesting feature to the throttle. The throttle on the 12-volt trolling motor clicks when you change gears or when you turn the motor off which helps prevent you from accidentally leaving the motor on and subsequently draining the battery.

AQUOS Haswing Electric Trolling Motor

The AQUOS Haswing Electric Trolling Motor comes in at the mid-range price point for trolling motors, and with an available and adjustable shaft length of 24.4 inches, it is a suitable option for kayaks and other small boats.

AQUOS equipped their saltwater trolling motor with five forward and three reverse speed options to give the user ultimate speed control while out on the water. And then, to further help with controlling the motor, AQUOS added an ergonomic adjustable 13.7-inch handle so you can steer and direct your kayak from the comfort of your kayak seat.

Some other mentionable features of the Haswing Electric Motor include the ability to tilt the motor out of the water when the depth of the water changes, the corrosion-resistant metal components making it perfect for saltwater fishing, and the LED power reader that lets you check your battery power at any time.

GoPlus Electric Trolling Motor

The Goplus Electric Trolling Motor comes in a 46 lbs, 55 lbs, and 86 lbs thrust variation, however, as you’re only powering a kayak, we’re focusing on the smallest of the three. Goplus designed their electric trolling motor to have 8-speed control settings, 5 of which run forward and 3 in reverse. You can easily adjust these speed controls by turning the dial on the ergonomic telescopic handle, which can also be adjusted for optimum comfort.

To make the motor as sturdy as possible, Goplus created it out of fiberglass composite rods, die-cast aluminum heads, and reinforced composite materials so it is able to withstand damage, warping, and bending in both salt and freshwater conditions.

And if you find yourself traveling through different water depths, you can adjust the shaft height and the shaft angle at the mounting bracket tilt mechanism for proper depth placement. This feature also means that you can comfortably steer your kayak from a sitting or standing position without any issues.

Cloud Mountain FineFind 36 lbs Thrust Electric Trolling Motor

The Cloud Mountain FineFind Electric Motor is another motor that comes in a range of different thrust options, from the smallest 36 lbs, which we’re focusing on today, to the largest 86 lbs, which is suitable for larger boats.

Cloud Mountain designed their 36 lbs motor out of corrosion-resistant fiberglass and ensured that you can adjust the shaft for proper depth placement in all types of water conditions. Then, to aid even further in durability, they added a reinforced nylon bracket and saltwater-compatible hardware so your motor will stand the test of time for years to come.

As with many other trolling motors on this list, the FineFind Electric Trolling Motor has 5 forward and 3 reverse speed setting on the 6-inch telescoping adjustable handle so you can control the speed and direction in which your kayak is going.

Watersnake Tracer Transom Mount Trolling Motor

The first Watersnake trolling motor to make our list is the Tracer Transom Mount Trolling Motor. This motor, in particular, has 30 pounds of thrust, however, there are larger options if you’d like a more versatile and powerful motor.

Watersnake gave their trolling motor 7 different speed options, five forwards and two in reverse, which you can control by the speed dial on the extendable handle. And speaking of extendability, the shaft is also adjustable and designed out of chrome-plated steel, so you can use the motor in saltwater.

Watersnake T18 ASP

If you’re after an incredibly lightweight trolling motor, then look no further than the Watersnake T18 ASp. This 18-pound thrust motor weighs only 4.85 lbs making it the lightest option (by far) on our list.

Most kayak trolling motors come with much larger thrust power, but if you’ll only be using the motor for kayaking, then this 18-pound thrust option will provide you with all the power you’ll ever need. If you do want the ability to switch the motor onto a different vessel, however, then the Watersnake T18 ASP also comes in a 24-pound thrust version.

Watersnake fitted their T18 ASP motor with an adjustable mount fitting that is compatible with a variety of fishing kayak fittings. They also decided on a 24-inch shaft length and created it out of alloy and stainless stress, so it is suitable for both fresh and saltwater.

Minn Kota Freshwater Trolling Motor

The good news for those shopping on a budget, cheaper trolling motors such as the Minn Kota Freshwater Trolling Motor will still provide you with all the power you need to get your kayak from A to B. The Endura Minn Kota Trolling Motors has a 30 to 42-inch shaft and provides kayakers with thrust levels of 30 to 55 pounds.

During the design process, Minn Kota created their motor from composite materials and gave it five forward and three backward rev settings. Something they also improved with this model is the battery life which now allows you to spend more time on your favorite lake or river without having to worry about your battery running out.

Comfort and ease of use were also heavily thought about, so Minn Kota equipped the Endura with a six-inch telescopic tiller that improves the motor’s overall comfort and ease of use.

Things to Consider When Choosing a Trolling Motor for a Kayak

Before purchasing a trolling motor for your kayak, there are a few things you need to keep in mind.

Power

Kayaks are fairly small boats, and trolling motors, in general, are designed for boats far larger than your diddy little ‘yak. This means that you won’t need to worry too much about the power of your trolling motor, but we understand it’s useful to know what kind of voltage range is suitable.

For the most part, a 12-volt trolling motor would be more than enough for a kayak seating one or two people.

A general rule when it comes to kayak motors is that you’ll need 2 pounds of thrust for every 100 pounds of loaded weight. And when you’re on the market for a trolling motor, you’ll soon notice that even the puniest electric motor will provide you with more than enough thrust to power your kayak.

Control Type

Many electric trolling motor models will come with a foot pedal, and although foot pedals are incredibly useful on bass boats, they’re essentially pointless on a kayak. Instead, you’ll want a tiller handle trolling motor, which allows you to simply direct the direction of the boat by pushing the handle right or left.

You will also find remote-controlled trolling motors on the market, but these are more expensive than a standard tiller handle trolling motor.

Shaft Length

Trolling motors come in a range of shaft lengths, often being fairly long to reach the water from a bass boat. When it comes to kayaks, however, these long shafts cause a problem, so you need to pay close attention to how long the shaft of your motor is.

When purchasing your kayak trolling motor, you need to ensure that the propeller of the motor would sit 12 inches under the water. If the propeller is higher than 12 inches, it will suck air from the surface and create a lot of noise.

To figure out if the shaft length would be suitable for your kayak, measure from the horizontal bar of your motor mount to the surface of the water. Then, add 12 inches to this figure and a further 3-4 inches if you’ll be kayaking in rougher waters. This combined figure is your ideal trolling motor shaft length.

Mounting System

Most trolling motors are designed for bow mounting on a bass boat, but with a kayak, you’ll need a transom mounting system. Transom mounting systems fit the scuppers in your kayak’s cockpit, and once installed, the system will provide you with a solid bar that you can then mount your trolling motor.

Weight

Something many people don’t consider is the additional weight a trolling motor adds to your kayak. All kayaks have a maximum weight capacity, and your weight, the weight of any fishing gear (if you’re using your kayak for kayak fishing), and the additional weight of a trolling motor could tip you over the limit and cause your kayak to sink into the water.

Before you purchase a trolling motor, calculate your weight, the weight of any passengers (if you’re paddling tandem), and the weight of any gear that’ll be on board at any given time. Then add on the weight of the trolling motor you have in mind and ensure that you remain under your kayak’s maximum weight limit.

FAQ’S

The quality of crab traps for sale online is pitiful, to say the least. So-called “Best Seller” crab traps on Amazon and other online retailers will either fall apart or not hold blue crabs. As somebody who has spent a bit too much on crabbing gear, I’m here to tell you the difference between a good and bad blue crab trap.

When you’re buying crabbing gear, you need to know what to look for in a trap. A great crab trap has quality material, a good design, and is built to last. I’ve used so many traps that were plainly built to fail. For each trap on this list (The conventional crab pot, box traps, ring nets, and hand lines), I will point out what will make or break a crab trap. All of this is based on past experience.

Disclaimer: This article is filled with Amazon and eBay Affiliate Links. As an affiliate for these sites, I receive a small commission for any purchase driven through my link at no extra cost to the buyer. Thank you for supporting my website. I’ll mark each affiliate link with “(Affiliate link).”

Two-Compartment Crab Pot

A crab pot is what you usually think of when you think of crabbing. It’s the type of trap you see on shows such as Deadliest Catch. I have to say that I’m disappointed with the quality of crab pots online for blue crabs. More often than not, they are very low-quality and in limited stock. This is why I buy my traps custom-made.

Through recommendations of other watermen, I have found that they have the most luck through custom trap builders. Kcrabpots, a user on eBay.com, has been building and selling quality crab pots since 2002! This is the only crab pot builder for blue crabs I’m confident in recommending. Click here to find kcrabpots on eBay. You can navigate to his store via the Visit Store button on his about page.

I wrote a review of this crab pot, which you can read here. It’s my favorite crab pot I’ve bought out of the several others I wasted hundreds of dollars on. If you want to learn from my mistakes and save your money, I recommend you read why I love this pot.

When buying a crab pot, manufacturer’s usually get two things wrong: the strength of the wire mesh and the shape of the openings.

The image above is my failed purchase of a crab pot. It was $60 down the drain! It was made out of cheap coated chicken wire that I could easily bend, and I’m not a very strong guy! Crabs had no problem clawing their way out of the sides.

Far too often, this is the case for crab pots. However, one thing this manufacturer did get right was the trap’s openings (sort of!). They came slanted upward with enough room for a crab to easily slide into the trap, but not escape. The only problem was that the openings were made of the same low-quality wire mesh. So, the crabs had no problem bending the metal and finding their way out of the trap.

To be frank, I believe it’s best to buy a crab pot either in person or from a reputable builder. Far too often, the traps at Bass Pro Shops or other retailers, like this one, just will not work.

You will also need a crab pot harness and weighted rope with a buoy for your crab pot. I’ve found Promar sells a reliable harness. I recommend weighted rope over anything else because the slack will not float to the surface and get caught by a passing boat.

If you do go the crab pot route, be sure to check your state’s crabbing regulations. States, such as Maryland, require that you register your pot at their DNR webpage. Maryland also requires that you install a turtle excluder device on each crab pot opening.

Box Traps (My favorite crab trap)

Box traps are one of the two collapsible traps recommended in this article. A collapsible trap is a type crab trap that has to be actively triggered to trap blue crabs, unlike the more passive crab pot. This works as a great alternative for those who do not have access to a boat, do their crabbing from piers, or cannot legally use a crab pot in their state.

In my opinion, the best model of the box trap is the FoxyMate Topless Crab Trap (link to an article dedicated to this crab trap). I wrote an entire articlde dedicated to this trap, so click the link to read more about it.

If you start to do research on crab traps you may get overwhelmed at the sheer number of different versions available. There are pyramid traps, box traps, topless box traps, crab pots, ring nets, and plenty more. Forget all of these terms because they aren’t important. The only trap you should get a crabber is a Foxy-Mate Topless Crab Trap.

Here’s a picture of me holding up a crab I caught in my friend’s Foxy-Mate 66 Crab Trap (Affiliate link to Amazon). It’s not the Topless Foxy-Mate (Amazon Affiliate Link) version that I like best, but it still does the job. I like the topless version because you can stack them like cups for much easier storage. I took this picture on Taylor’s Island, MD. It was a female blue crab, so I had to throw it back.

Foxy-Mates are the ideal crab trap for anyone crabbing for Blue Crabs. If you live on the East Coast, from Texas to Maine, this includes you. They’re legal in every state on the coast and don’t come with pages long of regulations like crab pots do. Plus, they’re much cheaper! They work from a pier and from a boat or kayak, you will just need to get a buoy, some rope, and possibly a crab trap weight for anyone crabbing from a boat. The weight keeps their trap from being tossed around by the current, but it’s only necessary for crabbing in the ocean or rougher waters.

I did some digging on the internet and found that Amazon has the best prices for all of the items I mentioned. Foxy-Mates (Affiliate Link to Amazon) go in and out of stock on Amazon, but that’s because they sell for the best price here. I recommend the Foxy-Mates without a top so you can stack them like cups. You will want two or three so your crabber friend can catch more crabs at once. I usually take 6 out when I’m crabbing from my kayak.

With each trap, you’re going to need a buoy if you’re crabbing from a boat or kayak. States have different rules when it comes to buoys, so I would look at the ones they already have before making a purchase. You can read about your state’s gear guidelines on my State-By-State Crabbing Regulations page.

It never hurts to get more rope either. You can get fancy and order lead-lined rope for these traps (Affiliate link to Amazon). It’s useless if you’re crabbing from a pier, but if you’re using these traps from a boat it’s really helpful. This rope sinks with the trap, rather than float at the surface, which prevents it from getting caught in boat propellers.

With this trap, you’re going to want a weight if they are crabbing in rougher waters. I always recommend this Crab Trap Weight (Affiliate Link to Amazon) that you can zip tie to a Foxy-Mate. Tip: You can get away with zip-tie-ing some cut rebar to the trap as well, which is much cheaper.

I’ll briefly go over why I like this trap. I can sum it up in one sentence: It’s built to last a very long time and has no trouble catching blue crabs.

The trap works by laying flat with bait in the center to attract crabs. You can fasten your choice of bait with the spring at the center of the trap. When a crab tries to eat the bait, you pull on the harness to fold the cage’s doors upward and trap the poor crab.

It’s a great alternative to a crab pot, and much cheaper! It just takes active participation fro the crabber.

The only problem with this model of topless crab traps is that they are in short supply. They sporadically pop up on eBay or Amazon. If that’s the case, you may have to use a more-available FoxyMate box trap with the top. I find the topless version better because it’s stackable. It’s not more effective at catching crabs, just more convenient.

Hand-Lines (The beginner-friendly budget trap!)

Last up on this list is the basic Hand-Line, also known as a throw-line. It’s a step up from using plain old string and a net to catch blue crabs, as people have been doing for centuries.

They work by luring crabs to a piece of bait secured to some string. When the crab finds the bait, slowly pull the bait towards you with the attached string. Once it’s in view, scoop up the crab with a dip net.

The concept is as simple as this trap. It’s a clip to better secure your bait with a built-in weight so the line goes further out in the water. This won’t limit you to plain old chicken necks, which are easiest to tie to some string.

I’ve found that when it comes to hand lines, the cheapest options do the trick. I recommend this Hand Line on Amazon (Affiliate Link). I was surprised at how many I could buy on this Amazon listing for such a low price, which is great because you need around 6 hand lines at a time to catch a decent amount of crabs.

I was surprised at what a good price his dip net was on Amazon, for a high-quality tool (Affiliate Link). If not this one, make sure to get a net with a similar mesh that’s small. I’ve found that with wider-spaced nets, crabs like to cling on for dear life which makes them annoying to deal with.

Traps I Would Avoid

There are so many traps on the internet that websites recommend to beginner crabbers because they don’t know any better! Don’t get tricked and waste your money.

Ring Nets (A worse version of the box trap for the same price!)

A ring net is a circular net that lays flat on the bottom until you pull on its string. When you do, it takes the shape of something like a basket, trapping any poor crab caught in the middle. You’ll find these traps on clearance at your local Walmart or bait shop since no one wants them!

If you’re going to use a collapsible trap like this, stick with a box trap. They’re more durable and reliable at catching crabs for the same price.

If you do end up using this trap, my recommendation of ring nets for blue crabs is the Hurricane Two-Ring Net (Affiliate Link). I’ve found that this is the highest-quality ring net on the market for the lowest price. It’s much cheaper than any box trap or crab pot and perfect for some hands-on crabbing.

The Hurricane Two-Ring Net is durable. Instead of the more common cotton netting ring nets that many beginner crabbers get sucked into buying, this net is made of wire mesh. While any cotton mesh net will fall apart after one or two crabbing trips, the Hurricane will stay together.

A few downsides with this ring net are the harness and lack of bait clip. The harness is made out of pretty cheap cotton string that I recommend replacing with a more durable string. Pormar made a harness for crab pots that should work perfectly here, click here to check it out on Amazon (Affiliate Link).

This ring net has no place to put your bait. Bait that gets lost in the current or stolen by crabs can ruin a crabbing trip. I’ve had some luck using a few zip ties to tie down chicken or fish (depending on what I’m using that day) to the center of the net.

One problem I’ve found with this trap is that the S-ring at the top of the harness will sometimes get caught in the wire mesh. This will prevent the net from creating a hoop-shape when you pull it up, which lets any crab in the middle to get away! I never have this problem with a box trap!

Iguanas are a type of lizard that is found in warm climates. They come in a variety of sizes, with the largest species reaching up to six feet in length. The biggest iguana in the world is the green iguana, which can grow up to seven feet long and weigh up to 20 pounds. Green iguanas are native to Central and South America, and can be found in the wild in countries such as Costa Rica, Panama, and Ecuador.

Its brightly colored and dragon-like appearance make it one of the most popular iguana species. They are mostly harmless to humans, but they can be irritating. The largest iguana genus in the world is the Fiji crested iguana. Almost all Melanesian iguanas are critically endangered, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Only the Marine iguana can be found in the ocean, and it is the only reptile known to spend a significant amount of time in the water. Their swimming abilities allow them to dive to depths of 65 feet and a depth of 15 feet. One of the largest spiny-tailed species in the world, measuring more than four and a half feet in length.

The Galapagos Islands are home to all three species of the genus. The blue iguana was thought to be 69 years old when it died. A Rock iguana’s longevity is well-known. A 41-year-old captive-born rock iguana is currently the world’s longest-living rock iguana. A dry forested area with eroded limestone and sparse vegetation is ideal for Rock iguanas. The ten species recognized are vulnerable, endangered, critically endangered, and two of them have been declared as critically endangered. A green iguana has a typical size of almost five feet, though some have grown to be nearly six feet long.

What Is The Biggest Iguana Found In Florida?

Credit: Oddee

The biggest iguana found in florida is the green iguana. It is a large, tree-dwelling lizard that is native to Central and South America. The green iguana is the largest member of the genus Iguana and can grow to be over 6 feet long and weigh up to 20 pounds.

There is no native iguana species in Florida. Invasive species currently occupy the majority of the state’s land. Despite the fact that these lizards are misunderstood and wreaking havoc, they are frequently misdiagnosed as invasive nuisances. Their feces and elaborate burrows have caused significant damage to man-made and natural structures. The Mexican spiny-tailed iguana grows to be a little shorter than 5 feet and weighs between 5 and 15 pounds. In the 1970s, independent reptile release programs were the most effective way to introduce these lizards to South Florida. By the time Florida’s environmental agencies could intervene, there were thousands living in various counties.

A Mexican spiny-tailed iguana is the most common iguana species found in Florida. Adult green iguanas can grow to be over five feet long and weigh more than 15 pounds. They are prolific breeders, laying nearly 40 eggs per hour. According to research, Florida currently has over 20,000 residents. Fewer cold spells have resulted in them surviving in winter, thanks to climate change.

Largest Green Iguana Ever

Credit: blogspot.com

Each species has its own size, but the largest iguana measured was 5.2 feet long. Two of the ten recognized species are vulnerable, four are endangered, and four are critically endangered.

A iguana is a stocky lizard with a broad head, a saggy skin on its throats, and spines that protrude from its head, neck, backs, and tails. The green iguana, which measures between 5 and 7 feet, is the longest of the iguanas. For example, the female rock iguana can lay up to 20 eggs. The mother’s actions indicate that she is leaving the eggs alone. A baby iguana is completely independent for the first three years of its life. Predators and habitat loss are responsible for the extinction of many young birds. The Galapagos marine iguana, despite its dark skin, can swim through water like a crocodile. The population of the Fiji banded iguana has decreased by 50% between 30 and 45 years. People in Central and South America raise and consume iguanas on farms.

Biggest Iguana Caught In Florida

In Florida, the largest iguana on record was 4 feet 5 inches long and weighed 35 pounds. It was caught in 2009 by a fisherman in Key West.

Ich habe gerade den grten Leguan aller Zeiten gefangen, wenn Sie meine Instagram-Geschichte gesehen haben, wir haben noch ein monster Die Seiten von der Dings ist auch hier verrckt, and ber das fest ist das gemacht. The Ding ist gewaltig, oh nein, geht es ins Rollen gebracht, Bruder, hr von rollen, Baby, das ist so im Gegensatz The 400 Pfund we’re offering is for a limited time, so I’ll take advantage of it. When you want to hear a fangen, sing hier. Ich hier diesen Angelschnur haben, aber die Hundert-Pfund-Test von diesen Angelschnur ist, hier diesen Angelschnur trotzdemern. Ich brauche dich, um, derzeit sehr heim, hier, ihr heute, das weiter daran ziehen. I’m glad I chose trainieren rather than boarding a plane, and I’m glad I chose train-enriching rather than boarding a plane. In der grten dominanten wilder Leguan, he ist.

Is that a sign of my life? Weiter hier berspringst schauen geben, wie er hier so beeindruckend ist? I am so fortunate that I have so many great friends, especially in Germany, that I have found a special place for them all, so thank you very much for all of the wonderful things you have given me. I will be pleased to report that I have found a special place for them Is that versuche you’re looking for, or is it just you making a fool of yourself? ich in Sd Florida, die hier aber die We have Bass Pro Shops located in every city across the country; if you want to make sure you get the best service and prices, please visit our store. Is there any significance to Iggy Jungs, bleiben Sie dran, danke fr Abonnieren, or werde ich es Ihnen sagen Jungs ber die TV-Shows, die herauskommen, and lasst mich e

Giant Iguanas In Florida: Just A Rumo

Despite this, the state has been rumored to be home to giant iguanas. People believe there are giant iguanas in Florida because they have seen the animals on TV or in photos. In Florida, there are no native iguanas; instead, iguanas are invasive species. As a result, there is no such thing as an iguana that can grow to be enormous in Florida.

Iguana Lifespan

An iguana’s lifespan ranges between 12 and 15 years. An iguana can live for more than 20 years if it is properly cared for.

It’s worth noting that iguanas are fairly long-lived lizards, particularly captive-bred ones. A baby iguana that is sold in captivity can live up to 30 years. The average lifespan of a iguana is thought to be 20 years. Pets like these require special housing and veterinary care, so some people may not be appropriate for them. For iguanas to be kept, they must be kept in a comfortable environment. As a young adult, a 42 enclosure is commonly used by keepers. Because your rhinoceros iguana requires UVB lamps, you should select the best UVB lamp for him.

When basking on the iguana, both UVA and UVB are welcome. The rhinoceros iguana‘s name is derived from a bony-plated pseudo-horn or outgrowth that resembles rhinoceros horn. Skin colors range from blue grey to a dark green to brown, depending on the skin type. It is critical to feed a variety of foods to Iggy in order for him to be healthy and happy. At all times, iguanas require fresh, clean water. When it comes to humidity, your iguana should be in a good range of 65-80%. It shed like any other reptile or lizard as a result of its being a rhinoceros iguana.

It can be difficult to shed hair when the air temperature is insufficient or too hot. When you gnashed a iguana, you needed to keep its humidity constant. After two or three years of age, juvenile iguanas shed a thin layer of skin on their bodies. To avoid sticking to the animals new skin, the air must be humid enough to prevent it from sticking. Make sure the products are simple to clean and replace.

There are no predators in the wild that can keep the Grand Cayman blue iguana in check for 40 years. Despite their lack of human intervention, they are impressive. A 40-year-old rhinoceros iguana, known only as Rhino, has been recognized as the world’s oldest living iguana by Guinness World Records. Rhino, the world’s oldest rhinoceros, reached 40 years and 278 days old on November 27, 2020, and lives at the Australia Zoo, which was purchased by Steve Irwin’s widow,Terri, in 2011. Steve Irwin, a wildlife conservation and film maker who was killed by a stingray while filming sharks in 2003, was a well-known wildlife conservation and film maker. The rhinoceros is a testament to the preservation of Irwin’s conservation legacy. This incredible story of survival is an inspiring example of the power and resilience of nature.

I’ve always loved Halloween, and I usually do something “seasonal” when it comes around. As a disclaimer, I have to tell you that if you’re one of my vegetarian or vegan friends, you’ll probably want to skip this one. If you eat meat, and you appreciate the interesting odd tidbit, you may find it interesting, as I did.

Most of you will know that there are a lot of deer in America, and that human-deer conflicts from overpopulation can be an issue in some places. In a way we’ve created a new, almost perfect habitat for wild creatures to find food. We all know racoons are adept at opening garbage cans. Squirrels love nuts, but also don’t mind a slice of old pizza.

Bears (on my mind as I’m getting ready for an off-grid trip into the British Canadian Wilderness as I write this) are well known for being adaptive carnivores. And, as my hosta-growing neighbors can tell you, an urban garden and landscaping is a just a giant, 24-hour salad bambi bar.

I’m not even going to try to tackle arguments for or against urban hunting/culling, overpopulation, or the destruction that deer can rue unchecked on local ecology (the more pressing discussion as opposed to ethics, in my mind).

Those arguments are far too deep, sprawling, and often too opaque to cover in 1000 words or so. I do believe that the actions of man have made it so that the population needs to be kept in check, but what the most efficient and humane way to go about that is a gladiatorial arena of opinions and emotions for some.

The reality is that plenty of urban areas have deer culls, and will continue to for the foreseeable future (one location I reference used their cull to donate 8,600 pounds of venison to food shelves-a good byproduct I think). What I’m talking about today involves something much more focused on the meat of deer itself, and the timeline at which they’re harvested.

In Wisconsin and Minnesota, the deer season runs (roughly here, including archery) from late September to mid November. In places where urban deer culls are held, the season may not be in the fall, it might be later in the winter, or nearly spring, or, as in the case of the cull at U-M Dearborn I link to at the end of this post, over Spring break.

Mating season of deer should be around October-Dec. When a hunter harvests a doe, the last thing they probably think about is if she’d been with a buck. If you harvest and butcher one of those does in the spring though, the butchery can be, ahem, more interesting.

So, just so happens I have a friend in Virginia that participates in his local urban deer cull, and it’s in the spring. And, for the past few years, the does he’s harvested have had some extra baggage in their unborn fetuses. So, he sent me one to cook. Thanks Mark.

I’ve always been fascinating by the odd, unusual edible, and, I’m also a passionate consumer of offal and organ meats, so, it’s honestly right up my alley. What I really wanted to know though, was if there was a tradition of eating unborn animals around the world I could find. Besides a casual Reddit mention, I can’t.

But, humans, enterprising beings that we are, have undoubtedly eaten them, although the only historical anecdote I’ve come across is Indigenous people cooking buffalo fetus for the elderly who have problems chewing. At the end of the day, meat, is meat.

Unpacking the cooler my friend overnighted me, I found a little vacuum sealed bag with what looked to be a squirrel inside. For all intents and purposes, I’d assume you could cook a small fetus of similar animals of similar size as you would any small game. And small game is exactly what my unborn deer tasted like.

What does it taste like?

The big question. If you can get past the aversion, which, is, to be blunt, an inculturalized phobia other (non-American) people around the world probably wouldn’t have a problem eating, a deer fetus cooks up like a squirrel or other very small game, and tastes like meltingly tender deer veal. I found it mild, extremely tender and pleasant.

Imagine eating the most tender confit you’ve ever had. It is in no way strong tasting like organ meats or offal. I ate all of it’s organs to compare them with other small game, and found them near-identical to rabbit and squirrel offal in taste, which are all mild and delicious. I often compare small game offal to poultry organs (chicken, pigeon etc) as their size and taste is pretty similar.

Other notes

The proto-skin

Everything is mini, and in the process of being formed at this stage, including the skin, which feels a bit like a layer of translucent fat, and, although it won’t render out anything noticeable, at least from my experience, seems to really insulate the meat and keep it extremely moist. it was delicious, and seemed to melt into the meat per caul fat.

The tiniest of bones

One hurdle will cooking small game is that the bones can be tiny and hard to keep track of. With rare exception, I do not like bones in my soup and I find it off-putting, as will any average dinner guest.

That being said, as it was the size of a large squirrel, it wasn’t going to make a huge meal. With the higher proportion of bones, barbecuing it and slapping it on a bun wasn’t going to work, so I turned to a classic small game recipe: the ol’ Brunswick stew.

Brunswick stew is traditionally made with different types of small game, so it worked out just fine. To bulk the meat out I added 2 smoked pigeons from the freezer, rounded it with some of my favorite heirloom tepary beans from Romona Farms.

I also replaced the now common ketchup or barbecue sauce with a dash of birch syrup and some canned tomatoes. It made for one of the most interesting meals of small game I’ve had to date. If I’ll do it again, I don’t know.

Further Reading

VA Urban Archery Season

Deer Culling in Philadelphia

Spring Break Deer Cull

I’ve always been a fan of the Big & J deer attractant and mineral blocks. What if I could make my own deer attractant that works just as well for less money? Of course, I use corn feeders where it’s allowed (check your local hunting regulations regarding baiting), but I also build water troughs and mock scrapes to create an environment that encourages deer activity in my hunting areas.

I also like to provide additional nutritional supplementation to the deer in my hunting areas and that’s where the Big & J deer supplements became part of my plan.

Big & J can become pretty expensive, especially if you have a lot of different hunting areas. This year, I found a recipe for the ultimate deer attractant and supplement that I could make at home for a fraction of the cost of Big & J.

Ultimate Deer Attractant

Ingredients List

• 2 bags of sugar
• 2 bags of brown sugar (dark will last longer than light)
• 2 boxes of baking soda
• 4 packages of cherry jello
• 2 big containers of grape Kool-Aid
• 1 big container of oats
• 2 cans of salt

The Short on YouTube had to be under a minute, so it’s a quick run through of my ultimate deer attractant. Let me offer a few more details about the mix and how I use it.

Mixing and Using the Ingredients

Most of the ingredients are just sweet and attract the deer with the sweetness of the item. The baking soda is the primary ingredient in most store-bought pre-mixed deer attractants and provides valuable minerals to the deer. Same with the salt.

I mix the ingredients in a 5 gallon bucket with a lid. This ingredient list almost filled the whole bucket. Pour all the ingredients in the bucket, secure the lid, and shake, rattle, and roll the bucket to mix the ingredients.

Most of these sugar-heavy ingredients will dissolve in a very short time if you don’t mix it some corn. So, I used a second 5 gallon bucket to mix equal parts of the deer attractant and deer corn. I found this causes the deer attractant to last a few days. You could also add molasses as a binder for a longer lasting deer attractant (it’s what most store bought “blocks” use as a binder).

Does It Work?

I found the deer really enjoyed the attractant and wasted no time finding it and eating it. After 8 years of hunting in West Virginia, I finally bagged my first buck! I like to think the attractant helped, although I also made two critical changes to my hunting area that also contributed to my success (stand location and how I approached the stand).

I didn’t use the attractant in Texas or Pennsylvania. We hunted public land in Pennsylvania where “baiting” is not allowed, so it was not an option. For Texas, we have established feeders that habituate the deer to the feeder locations, so I didn’t really feel the need for additional attractants or supplementation. However, the acorns dropped right before we arrived for hunting season. It’s possible that some additional nutrients (and sugar) could have drawn deer away from the preferred acorn food sources, resulting in more deer activity than we saw, this year.

You should always be sure that baiting is legal in your hunting area before using something like this attractant.

Knowing when and how to hunt over scrapes is a pivotal part of being a successful whitetail deer hunter. These markings are utilized by bucks in a way that acts as a calling card for deer in a specific area and they can be extremely productive for hunters who know how to use them.

There is an element of mystery associated with scrapes as hunters can’t always tell what type of buck created the marking without the aid of a trail camera. Nevertheless, hunting scrapes at the right time can be the ticket to bagging a mature buck when all other methods of approaching the deer prove to be fruitless.

In this article, we’ll cover how bucks utilize scrapes in relation to the specific time of year, as well as certain times of the day during deer season. I hope to provide some insight as to the best ways to approach hunting over a scrape, and also give hunters an idea of when to lay off and stay away from them as well.

When Will Bucks Start Making Scrapes?

Scrapes are one of the most talked-about aspects of whitetail deer hunting. While there is plenty of great information that can be found online regarding scrapes, there are a lot of instances where misinformation is spread and sometimes advocated by what most hunters would deem to be reputable outdoorsmen and women in the hunting industry.

Seeing a fresh scrape is certain to inspire a sense of excitement in hunters of all skill levels as it is a sure sign that a buck has been in the area—and that he is likely to return on a semi-regular basis to check the scrape again at some point. So this begs the question, when is the best time to hunt over a scrape?

Hunters should start seeing more signs of buck activity in the form of scrapes on their given hunting location around early to mid-October throughout much of the United States. While bucks are known to make scrapes at virtually any time of the year, this kind of activity will increase when the bucks’ testosterone levels are increasing just before the rut goes into full effect.

This is a time when bucks are becoming more active and preparing to draw a line in the sand, so to speak, when it comes to their own personal territory. Bucks will start to create these kinds of markers as they instinctively know that the rut is set to kick off in a matter of a few weeks, depending on where you’re located throughout the country.

Determine the Freshness of the Scrape First

One of the key aspects to focus on when it comes to scrapes and how you should approach them is freshness. If you come across a scrape in your hunting land, take your time and look it over thoroughly to determine whether or not it is a fresh scrape, or if it has been made more than a few weeks ago. Focusing your efforts on hunting over an old scrape will likely turn out to be a huge waste of time as bucks may be on the move in your area and turning most of their attention towards their female companions instead of scrapes.

Be sure to look at the overhanging branches above the scrape to see if they have recently been chewed or twisted. Most skilled hunters are able to tell when a small tree branch was worked by a buck and make a fairly accurate assessment as to when the buck chewed on the ends of the branch or used its antlers to twist and break the ends.

It’s also important that you closely inspect the ground where the buck has pawed at the scrape and pay attention to whether there are any leaves and other debris that have fallen into the scrape area since the buck made the marking. A fresh scrape will have very few if any leaves in the scrape and an old one will have a decent amount of debris in the area.

When to Start Looking for Scrapes?

The most important question any hunter can ask pertaining to scrapes is likely going to be “when is the best time of year to hunt over scrapes?”

However, it can be just as important to understand when you should start looking for scrapes on your hunting land. If you are able to find scrapes or scrape lines early shortly after they’ve been created by bucks in your area, you can usually work to stay one step ahead of the buck you’re after.

You should start looking for scrapes on the property you are hunting in early October. Once you find the first scrape or scrape line, you should work to connect the dots and try to make an assessment as to where the buck is headed and what two points of interest the scrape is made to connect.

In most cases, scrapes are made in areas very close to where a buck is either feeding or bedding. If you are very familiar with the specific area you’re hunting, you should try to look for areas where bucks might bed down in thickets and other sections that offer good amounts of cover and a higher vantage point than the land surrounding the bedding area.

In addition to finding and pinpointing the particular bedding area in your neck of the woods, it’s also important to try and search out the various food sources nearby. If you can locate the bedding areas and determine which food supplies a buck is likely to be using in early to mid-October, you’re very likely to find scrapes along the trails or edges of thick cover and hardwoods.

Best Time of Year to Hunt Over Scrapes

According to most experienced whitetail deer hunters, hunting over scrapes is an excellent strategy just before the rut starts to kick in. For most of the United States, bucks will start to engage in behavior that is consistent with their usual rutting patterns around the beginning of October or toward the end of the month.

When it comes to hunting over scrapes, freshness is the most important aspect of the entire conversation. If you find a fresh scrape in early October or near the middle of the month, the best time to hunt over this particular buck sign is sooner rather than later. A buck that takes the time to create a scrape is likely to come back and check it within a few days, or sooner in some cases.

It’s a mistake to think that you can simply make a note of this scrape and hunt over it once the rut is truly beginning. Bucks typically make scrapes just a few weeks before they will begin to chase after does as a means to tell other bucks in the area “this is my turf.” Once they begin to go into estrus, bucks will mostly lose interest in scrapes as they will focus most of their efforts on finding these does that are in heat and mating with them.

Bucks will, however, come back and check these scrapes if they are in the area. Most hunters swear by the process of creating their own mock-scrapes in order to draw the attention of bucks. There is little scientific evidence to back up the idea that mock-scrapes are just as productive as naturally occurring scrapes.

Most hunters will have the most success hunting over scrapes in the month before the peak of the rut in their particular area.

Best Time of Day to Hunt Over Scrapes

Most scrapes are going to be worked by bucks under the cover of darkness. Obviously, hunters can’t legally hunt during this time, so the next course of action is to catch an unsuspecting buck at or near a freshly-made scrape in the early morning hours. If you plan to hunt over a particular scrape or a scrape line, it’s best to do so in the early morning.

Be sure to get into your stand well before daylight in order to avoid disturbing any bucks as they make their way along the trail where the scrape is located. It is very likely that the buck has spent the night roaming around the general area, checking scrapes, and feeding on various food sources.

The time for hunting over scrapes successfully is actually a shorter window than most hunters realize. Bucks will make scrapes in the early portion of the hunting season, but they will quickly turn most of their focus toward chasing after does in estrus once the rut kicks in full force.

Buck Behavior Around Scrapes

The subject of buck behavior around scrapes is one that could be discussed in an article of its own as there are many different points to consider. Bucks will react in a variety of ways to other deer visiting their scrapes and many mature bucks are known to make use of scrapes more heavily than younger bucks.

Bucks will begin to make scrapes more aggressively once their testosterone levels increase as the rut comes closer. Scrapes will begin to appear more frequently in October and you can expect other bucks to leave their scent in an already-made scrape in most cases. Some hunters can draw bucks in and keep their attention for a few days through the use of a mock scrape and the right combination of buck urine or doe estrus.

What is a Scrape Line?

A scrape line is one of the biggest signs that bucks are living in a specific area and that they’re also frequently using a certain lane of travel back and forth from their bedding area to their chosen food source. Bucks will create scrapes along the way from their bedding area to a particular food source in intervals of about 20 to 50 yards in most cases.

Bucks will usually create a scrape line sometime around early to mid-October and will continue to use and check these scrapes up until the rut kicks into high gear toward the middle of November.

How to Hunt a Scrape Line

If you plan to hunt over a scrape line, it’s best to do so during the morning hours as most bucks will work their scrapes during the night and move toward their bedding area shortly after the sunrise. In some cases, mature bucks will actually show up during the mid-morning hours to check their scrapes during late October or early November.

It’s best to hunt over a scrape line in the few short weeks just before the rut begins in your specific area. For much of the United States, the rut fully begins in the middle of November, so it’s best to hunt over scrapes and scrape lines in the month before the rut kicks off.

Conclusion

There is a lot of information related to scrapes that can be found online and wildlife biologists are still working to understand the subtle nuances of just how whitetail bucks utilize scrapes in a way to communicate their presence with one another. Regardless of your level of understanding when it comes to scrapes and when to hunt over them, the information in this article should help you get off to a productive start as it relates to scrape hunting in the next season.

Thank you for reading my article! I hope you enjoyed it, and if you have any questions or feedback, please send me an email at [email protected]. If you want to learn more about me or Omega Outdoors, visit my About Page. Otherwise, I hope you have a great day, and check out some of my other articles while you’re here!

Overview: Hoyt Ventum 33 Bow | $1,249

It’s that time of year again. You know, the time where archery-shop parking lots are chock full, and the pro staff are overwhelmed. The time when hunters realize that the “I have time” sentiment is all but gone and the season is starting in mere days—if it hasn’t started already. Hunters across the country will soon be taking to the hills in pursuit of bull elk or velvet mule deer.

I worked as pro staff in an archery shop for several years while in college and if one thing always held true, it was that people procrastinate when getting their equipment ready for hunting season. Bow sales would always skyrocket when the calendar read September.

I am not one to encourage this behavior, but I may be as guilty as the rest. This year my new bow setup came just weeks before the season—I did make sure to practice with my previous setup throughout the off-season to stay prepared, but I’m just now getting acquainted with my new choice in compound bows.

Years of staring at top-end bows on the shelf built a desire for me to always have the “best” model for the year. This year, with the delays in outdoor products everywhere in the industry, my insatiable lust for something new brought me down to the wire.

As I searched through catalogs of new bows, I studied their specs and ended up going with the Hoyt Ventum 33. This is Hoyt’s aluminum-riser flagship model for the year, and it earned its place at the top of the line.

The Ventum offers two axle-to-axle lengths: a 30-inch and a 33-inch. Due to my height and monkey-like arms, I chose the 33-inch axle-to-axle model. I have found over the years that a longer axle-to-axle bow decreases string angle at my long draw length and allows me to shoot more confidently and accurately at farther distances.

The Ventum 33 features an ATA speed rating of 334 feet per second, with a 6 3/8-inch brace height that is as forgiving as anyone could ask for. And this sleek backcountry killer weighs in at 4.7 pounds—without accessories.

Hoyt’s Newly Designed Cam System

The updated cam system on the Ventum 33 delivers the ultimate blend of comfort, speed, and tunability to make this a versitle hunting bow. The HBX cams allow for draw-length adjustability from 26 inches to 31 inches by choosing between two modules-one of my favorite things about the design of HBX system.

While many other cams on the market are draw-length adjustable, when you get to the longer draws the draw cycle suffers and the shootability of the bow is diminished. However, with the HBX system, my 31-inch draw shoots the same as someone at a 27-inch draw. As an added bonus, these cams are adjustable between 80- and 85-percent let-off for a more comfortable shooting experience in a hunting situation.

Another thing that makes the Hoyt a great option for backcountry and Western hunters is the draw weight variability. These bows come with limbs that offer max poundage ratings of 40, 50, 60, 65, 70, and even 80 pounds. I chose the 80-pound limbs to get a little more speed out of a heavier arrow—and let’s just say it has worked well.

Riser and Stabilizer Redesign

The new riser design features two “integrate” options to ensure the best balance you can get out of your archery setup. Hoyt adopted the same rest integration that companies like Mathews have been using for the past couple of years. Using a dovetail design the QAD Integrate MX will attach directly to the riser in a center-mounted position. In a similar fashion, Hoyt designed the riser to accept a picatinny rail on the front to mount your sight directly in line with the riser. These features can help center-balance your bow by removing a lot of attachment hardware from the outside of the riser.

The biggest change you’ll notice on the riser of all top-of-the-line Hoyt bows this year is the stabilizer mounting location. These bows come with the In-Line Short Stop 2.25 stabilizer mounted just above the limb pocket instead of right below the grip. This all-new positioning gets you more bang for your buck. A 2.25-inch stabilizer has the same effect on balance as a 6-inch stabilizer mounted in the traditional location. This means you can get better balance with a lot less weight—a perfect solution for a dedicated hunting bow. With the addition of a sidebar mounted directly to the riser with Hoyt’s sidebar mount, the bow balances beautifully.

Shootability and Performance from Hoyt

When shooting a bow—especially one that is meant for serious hunting out West—I look for several things: Comfortable, smooth, and silent draw; a firm back wall that holds steady; good balance; and a quiet and shock-free shot. The Ventum met all my criteria from the second I picked it up.

The draw cycle is smooth and comfortable. From initiation to the back wall, the cams pull steady and quietly. There are no hard angles that cause a steep drop off or crash into the valley, making it silent and controllable.

The HBX cams are aggressive, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that the bow holds true when at full draw. The bow doesn’t want to jump forward like many other speed bows on the market. Keep your back muscles engaged and hold for as long as you can. Upon release, the hand shock is minimal.

A quiet bow is a good bow, and the Ventum is nothing short of that. I don’t notice any noise that would make me nervous to hunt with. Yes, the loud bows of the past killed a lot of critters, but the quiet technology of these new bows helps tremendously when taking shots on big game animals. Jumping or ducking the string is very real, and the quieter your bow is the more likely you are to connect on your shot.

I didn’t do myself any favors when it comes to a silent shot. Choosing 80-pound limbs for extra speed on the shot only adds to the possible noise a bow can make. My Ventum is pushing a 500-grain arrow at 301 feet per second—an optimum setup for penetration. This is a speed that is difficult to achieve and many bows that push arrows that fast do it with a snappy, loud shot. The Ventum, though, is quiet—even shooting at an indoor range, the noise was minimal. I wish I had a sound level meter, but unfortunately, you’ll have to take my word for it.

Tuning my Ventum was a breeze. With the HBX cams, yoke tuning is a thing of the past. To tune, you need to remove the axle and cam and place small shims to move the cam left or right to correct your center shot. This was an incredibly simple process—at least with the help of some equipment at the local bow shop. Within minutes we had the Ventum shooting perfect bullet holes through paper. Tuning the bow further I noticed it was incredibly easy to get my desired arrow flight—my broadheads are flying true to my field points and I am ready for the archery season. Follow along in the coming months to see how the Ventum performs on my fall hunts.