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A Good Eight
 After a slow couple days, Bowen and I had high hopes as we settled into our lock on set overlooking a creek. I had no more checked my audio when I looked down and saw a spike right under our set. Bowen was filming as the young buck began licking our tree where I had sprayed Code Blue 5 minutes earlier. He also walked over our trail several times so I was glad we sprayed down well with Seemz. The action only intensified over the course of the morning as we filmed 10 different bucks cruising around our area. I bleated and grunted several times during the morning and the bucks were really responding. We passed on several two year old bucks which have great potential. Around 10 a.m. Bowen whispered that a couple does were heading down the trail leading right under our tree. I was able to take one of them at 7 yards and she piled up within 40 yards. Right before we got down to recover my doe, I rattled again and in runs another young 8 pt. We decided to quickly get down and ice down the doe so we could jump right back in the saddle. A couple days prior to this Bowen checked a trail camera and it showed several bucks working a mock scrape close to our stand site. One of those bucks was a large bodied 8 pt. We decided he was mature and if we had a chance we would like to take him. The next morning we saw the deer but he never gave us a shot opportunity on Saturday. Little did I know that he was going to give us another chance. Once we climbed back into the stand things slowed down a bit so I called back into the bedding area. 5 minutes later I turned to see the big bodied 8 pt creeping along the other edge of the creek. Bowen got the camera on him and I released the arrow when he cleared the last branch. He bolted back into the thick stuff and out of site. We got down and tracked him only 60 yards before seeing his white belly in the thick undergrowth. Things are starting to heat up here in Missouri and MCO is getting it done.
11-8-2011
Gaines Slade
Team MCO
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Isaac's first deer
 The Missouri Youth Firearm Season was Nov 5th - 6th and I had the pleasure of taking my boy Isaac. I took him last year but his nerves got the best of him and we weren't able to get his first deer down. This year he got a new .243 and was determined to get his first deer. He asked me almost everyday if we could go shoot his gun so he could be sure he was ready. We got his gun tuned in at 100 yards and now all we needed was a deer to come into range. Before the hunt I asked him if he wanted to shoot a doe or wait on a good buck and he said "I just want to get my first deer killed so if its brown, its going down". Opening day was cool but pretty windy. We only saw 1 deer all day and she didn't present a good shot so Isaac elected to pass. On Sunday we got to our spot a little late and the deer started showing up before we got into the blind. They saw us and took off the other way. Isaac was upset and thought the hunt was over. We got settled into the blind and about 15 minutes later three does came out to our right while 4 does moved into a cornfield behind us and 3 more does worked to our left. We were covered up in deer when I told Isaac to get the gun ready because he was about to get an opportunity at his first deer. He got the gun up and steadied it on the window of the shooting house just before his nerves took over. He was getting the shakes pretty bad as he was trying to settle onto the doe. I tried to calm him down, told him to take a deep breath, aim right behind the front shoulder, and just squeeze the trigger. He finally got on a doe and squeezed the trigger.. and missed! It was pretty windy and she didn't know what had just happened so he shot again missing for a second time. This time all the deer scattered and as they cleared the field Isaac was getting extremely upset. He couldn't figure out what he did wrong. I tried to tell him it's part of hunting and you're gonna miss and that it's ok. Luckily it couldn't have been more than 20 minutes before 2 does walked out of a crp field and headed right to us. This time around he was focused, let her get perfectly broadside, took a deep breath, settled in for the shot, and BOOM, dropped a big doe right in her tracks at 100 yards. This was the single most exciting moment I've experienced in the woods. I was very excited and even more proud while he was screaming louder then his sisters could, but I think he deserved it! This is a memory he will always remember and I promise you I will never forget.
11-7-2011
Brandon Williams
Team MCO
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First Buck of the Season...
 My early season scouting of a public ground property in Northeast Missouri paid off big time on Sunday afternoon! This mature 10 point buck cruised by our stand following 2 does on their way to feed in a cut cornfield on an adjacent property. Don't be fooled, a lot of prep work and effort went in to harvesting this buck. By utilizing aerial photos of the WMA, we realized the north portion of the property was all but inaccessible as it was almost a mile walk through the woods. My brother and I strapped on our waders and climbers and used the creek that ran along the east part of the property to access the area we wanted to hunt without disturbing it. After and hour and a half excursion just to reach our tree, we set up and waited. About a half hour before dark, 2 does passed by our setup. Following right behind them was this nice wide 10 point. The buck turned and closed the distance to 20 yards, and as he turned broadside to work a rub I released the arrow and watched as my best public land buck to date piled up on camera after 50 yards! This is a prime example of putting in the extra effort to go where most hunters wont and it leading to being successful in harvesting mature bucks, even on pressured public land. I'll be behind the camera trying to film my brother filling his archery tag with another mature Missouri buck in the days to come. Be sure to check out the Muddy Creek Outdoors home page for this hunt in the future. Best of luck to everyone this season.
11-5-2011
Bowen Slade
Team MCO
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Calling Coyotes
 When I think of going out west to hunt, Mule deer, Antelope, and elk
come to my mind. I never thought the day would come when I would load
the truck up for a 10 hour drive to coyote hunt. That day came
this October and I'll admit I was skeptical about spending
the money and time for a Western Kansas/Eastern Colorado coyote hunt.
That will be the last time I'll second guess a coyote calling trip
out west.
The hunt started in Southwest Kansas with a day of hunting. The first
morning was full of coyote action. However it took us a few to work out
some misses. By the end of the day we had called in 8 coyotes but only
managed to take down 3 of them. On the second day the action was still
hot and so was the temperature. Even with temps in the low 80's and
winds at 20 mph we still managed to pull 7 coyotes from the sandy hills of
Kansas and Colorado. Our shooting was greatly improved allowing us to
bag 5 of them. I even pulled a magic shot from behind my ear (or
possibly some where else) by rolling a coyote at 543 yards with my ar-15.
It's a shot I won't forget for a long time. We kept the barrels warm
again on the third day. After calling in several more coyotes and scaring
them away by throwing lead at them we finally dialed back in and let fur fly
on 2 more of the nuisance predators.
This was by far more action than I have ever had calling coyotes in Missouri. Calling 18 coyotes to within 150 yards in just a few days is a
fast way to get hooked on predator calling. I will again find myself
loading up to go west hunting and it wont always be for big game now.
10-28-2011
Jessie Rodenberg
Muddy Creek Outdoors
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Herd Management
 After picking up a new lease in North Central Missouri with no knowledge of it's current deer numbers or what potential bucks may be in the area, I went to work planting food plots and hanging trail cameras to get a better idea of what I had to work with. I believe a balanced buck to doe ratio is very important and it quickly became obvious this property had not been managed to keep the ratio at a desired level. Too many does can lead to bucks with no real need to search to find a partner, which makes it harder for me to kill a mature buck. A ratio that decreases the competition for does can lead to several changes in rutting activity and have negative effects on the overall rutting activity you see from the stand. The pressure my food plots received and the number of does showing up on trail cam pictures made it obvious this property's food sources were not supporting the local deer population at a level that ensures a healthy herd and maximizes genetic potential. I'm using this season to work towards getting this property to a more desirable population level with a better buck to doe ratio, one doe at a time. Hopefully this leads to more bucks reaching their maximum potential and an increase in observed rutting activity from the stand in future seasons.
10-24-2011
Brandon Williams
Team MCO
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Managing the Herd
With my scouting trip to Missouri in the rear view, I returned home to Alabama just in time to kick off the archery season. After planting plots, hanging stands, and checking my LTL game camera I knew that our 40 acre family farm was once again loaded with deer. The interesting thing about this small acreage farm is that because of a lack of hunting pressure on surrounding properties, we have to thin out a large number of does each season to keep the ratio at a tolerable level to see rut activity in late January. Because of the pressure that harvesting does with the rifle would cause, my brother and I try to thin out the doe population early with archery tackle and then let the property go untouched for the entire month of December and early January. This tactic allows us to effectively manage our does while giving us the best chance of harvesting a mature buck later in the season. The 2011 season has started off with a bang, as I was able to harvest 2 does in the first weekend. Consider this tactic on your small acre parcel, especially if you hunt the southeast where hunting pressure is the main factor to consider when trying to lure a big buck onto your food plots come late season.
10-20-2011
Bowen Slade
Team MCO
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Wyoming Antelope
This was one of those hunts where everything falls into place! Joe and I put this trip together at the last minute after being unsuccessful in several western big game tag drawings earlier in the year. With the left over Wyoming tags going fast we grabbed a map to locate the available units, gave google earth a quick look, used what information we could pull from our hunting circles, and grabbed a pair of tags. The long drive out gave us plenty of time to worry about just how little research we did and constantly left us wondering if there was a reason those tags were leftover or if the winter kill was going to get the best of us as it did in South Dakota last year.
 With a little luck we located a respectable buck the first morning and made quick work out of the stalk to get into range. After a near miss and a quick follow up shot we had our first buck down on film and I had my hands on my first Wyoming Antelope! We didn't know it yet, but the next buck wasn't going to come as easy. After seeing the hunting pressure significantly increase we decided we had to get away from the pressure if we were going to get Joe's tag filled on film. We were sure going the extra mile would get us away from most hunters and put us in a spot to be successful. A mile hike into an area ended with a truck driving through the valley and later a two mile hike in and a 3 hour stalk within 150 yards of a bedded buck ended with another hunter taking a shot at him just as we were setting up to close the deal. After frustration set in we grabbed the BLM map and started looking for more areas to scout and glass. Our scouting trip was coming up empty so we headed back to the area where I had taken my buck. To our surprise a small group of Antelope with a decent buck had moved back into the valley. A quick stalk put us into range of the group and Joe put a perfect shot on the buck. After cleaning, quartering, and packing the second buck out we iced down the meat and headed to the mountains to see some new territory on the way home.
This trip is a perfect example of what can be done with a little research, some hard work, and a little luck. Even with the fuel prices we managed to have some fun, see some new territory, and fill two tags without spending a fortune. As we like to say "You can't kill'em from the couch" and Wyoming treated us well. There is no doubt, we will be headed back to Wyoming in the future.
10-17-2011
Gary Albertson
Muddy Creek Outdoors
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Food plots: Success or failure?
Fall is starting to roll into North Missouri and the season will be upon us before we know it. A few farmers are starting to shell some corn and the cooler temps have some of the beans starting to change, it won't be long and the deer patterns will start to swing to the acorns.
 This lull before season opens is the perfect time to evaluate how well your food plots made it through the summer browsing pressure and to get an idea of how long they might make it into the winter. I always try to minimize my time spent in and around my core hunting areas, so I looked the plots over while I was in the area preparing a stand location and checking two of my LTL Acorn game cameras. Everyone knows quality food plots are expensive, labor intensive, weather dependent, and very location specific so it's well worth the time to try and figure out what is working and what needs to be changed for next year. I've been working on improving the hunting on and around the plot I'll be discussing for a few years now and I'm starting to see some progress, but it's not there yet. Even with good planting conditions, adequate fertilization, and plenty of early rain it's apparent the hot dry summer and the deer pressure nearly overwhelmed the one and a half acre soybean plot pictured above. A quick look down the rows shows the plants never got to full canopy and are less than half their normal mature height. The weed pressure doesn't appear to be a problem with only a few weeds scattered throughout the plot. An even closer look reveals nearly every plant shows signs of being heavily browsed. I grabbed a quick random 3 plant sample shown below from the field pictured above and nearly 90% of the leaves the plants put on have been browsed. This is some of the heaviest browsing I've seen on this plot in the past 3 years and it's an obvious sign this plot is still not meeting the local deer herd's needs.
Considering the lack of leaves available to collect sunlight the plants are doing a nice job of filling pods and do not appear to be lacking in fertilization. If the deer pressure continues into the season the food source probably won't last long once the colder temperature sets in. This plot is confined by hardwoods and can not be expanded so I'll most likely be looking to try switching a couple rows of the planter to a forage variety next year in an attempt to provide more browse without losing the yield advantage of the high producing row crop varieties. The area adjacent to the property this plot is located on is heavily hunted for meat during rifle season so I won't be too quick to take a couple does early, but the numbers harvested from the adjacent property will factor into the decision to harvest a few does during the late season.
Overall, I'd say this plot is a success as it's provided summer browsing, collected several game camera pictures, and will provide some food for the late season but more importantly it's showing me there is still room for improvement and some changes need to be made in order to help the deer herd reach it's potential.
9-9-2011
Gary Albertson
Muddy Creek Outdoors
North West Nebraska Antelope
 Fresh off a hard earned Alabama alligator, Team MCO headed west to NW Nebraska in search of a couple speed goats. Mobile, AL to Harrison, NE is just a shade under 30 hours straight through, so after clocking off work at 7pm on Friday we knocked the drive out and pulled into antelope country just in time to meet our buddy Melvin Oldacker and get a quick 3 hours sleep. The alarm buzzed way to early on day one as Bowen and I headed out into the field Sunday morning. This was our first Antelope hunt and we assumed ground blinds over looking water holes and alfalfa fields would be the likely method. Mother nature had thrown us a curve with several days of rain making the blind hunting nearly impossible so we switched gears and began spotting and stalking with the camera and bow. To say that we got our tails whipped for 3 days would be an understatement! Finally on day 4, Bowen touched off his first arrow and smashed a goat at 50 yards and the celebration was on. I still had a tag so with 5 hours remaining on our last day Bowen lead me to within 50 yards of a grazing goat. Using a lone hay bale as cover I settled my 50 yard pin into the zone and released. It was a double lung moneyball and he didn't go 100 yards. Team MCO took it down to the last minute again, but we managed to arrow 2 speed goats on camera using spot and stalk tactics in soggy North WestNebraska. We're setting our sights on the Missouri archery season next so stay tuned.
9-5-2011
Gaines Slade
Team MCO
An 11' 2" Alabama Gator
 Team Muddy Creek Outdoors just wrapped up a successful Alabama gator hunt! I was lucky enough to beat the odds and draw a highly coveted Tensaw Delta tag this year. Considering over 9000 applicants applied for the Tensaw Delta area with only 125 tags available, this was no small task in itself. We scouted hard during the weeks leading up to the 6 night season knowing prior obligations would be cutting our time in half. With only 3 nights to hunt we hit the water early and hunted Friday and Saturday night from 8pm to 6am with no success. Everything seemed to be working against us including other boat traffic and gators breaking the line. The lack of sleep was catching up with us but with only one night left to fill the tag we were out prospecting just before sundown. It wasn't long and we spotted an absolute monster. We tied up and got some footage of him while waiting for legal hunting time to arrive. He had disappeared for over an hour and we started to think he had slipped down a channel. We trolled on down the channel and spotted a gator floating in the open so we quickly closed the gap and with a great cast the hook was set. Over an hour later we had two hooks in the gator and were able to get him near the boat. Walker made a perfect snag with the catch pole and we finished him off with a 12 gauge to the base of the neck. This was not our monster from earlier in the evening, but at 11ft 2 inchs there was no way we could pass him up. Bowen Slade had captured the complete hunt on film and we loaded the gator up and headed to the check station. Spirits were high and it felt great to boat my first Alabama gator!
If you ever want a challenge, catching a large alligator at night with rod and reel is it! I can not wait for next year and hopefully another chance to hunt the monster we saw. For now it is time to prepare the gear and pack up to head to western Nebraska for an archery antelope hunt. Stay tuned, we hope to have more to share after our trip to Nebraska.
8-15-2011
Gaines Slade
Team Muddy Creek Outdoors
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Summer Scouting - What's out there?
 The summer heat is pounding the Midwest and many hunters are spending their spare time next to the air conditioner trying to stay cool. Before we know it the season will be upon us and many hunters will be left wondering "What's out there" as they head to their stand for the first time this fall. As I'm sure many other serious whitetail hunters are doing, I've been taking advantage of a few recent cooler evenings to glass bean fields bordering blocks of timber I will be hunting when the season rolls around. Finding a good vantage point that minimizes any chance of my being detected while giving me a good view of the area is one of the easiest ways I've found to watch for bucks while getting an idea of the size and health of the deer herd. In general I'm seeing good numbers of healthy sized fawns and expect to see an increase in overall deer numbers. The apparent pressure my food plots are seeing combined with my visual head counts during these recent scouting sessions will make filling a few doe tags an easy decision this fall.
The one thing I'm not seeing in my recent evening sits is mature bucks! Several smaller bucks are moving into the fields right before dark, but the more mature deer are either holding out for total darkness or starting to separate themselves from the bachelor groups. I have a feeling a couple large corn fields being located adjacent to my core properties could also be where the more mature deer are spending their time. I've placed a couple trail cameras in high traffic areas and on food plots in an attempt to confirm what deer are using the areas I can't monitor from the perimeter of my properties. I've found the LTL Acorn line of cameras to be one of the best quality "bang for the buck" line of trail cameras available and I'm depending on them too be my eyes in the field when I can't be there or don't want to disturb the area. Despite the anticipation of what might be on the cameras, I'll be sticking to my more passive and patient approach to scouting and hunting this season and won't be checking my cameras as often as others might. I'm confident this approach has been responsible for my success the past few seasons and will be sticking to the plan and using a quality scent elimination system any time I am forced enter my hunting zones. If you haven't already, check out SEEMZ Technology, they are one of the best scent elimination systems out there.
If you're interested in trying either the LTL Acorn cameras or Seem Technology products feel free to shoot me an email and I'll make it worth your time.
7-31-2011
Gary Albertson
Muddy Creek Outdoors
gary@muddycreekoutdoors.com
2011 Journal entries
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