Willowpine August Newswire

Each month, we're going to put out a newsletter with current information.  The Willowpine Outdoors Newswire will feature outdoor news, product testing, new gear, hunting dates, rule changes, and stories.  We'll sometimes feature other outdoor companies, and we will do interviews with people in the industry. Some of the newsletters will be long, and some will be short. Since we're so close to hunting season, the next few months will probably be longer than usual.  If you have anything you want to talk about please send us an email at willowpineoutdoors@gmail.com.  We're always looking for people to tell their stories, share their tips, and provide their knowledge with our community. 
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August Newsire Contents:
1. New Deer Hunting Rules for 2012-2013
2. Early Season Waterfowl Dates
3. HuntingIndiana.com Youth Hunt
4. Up North Journal Podcast
5. New Sitka Optifade Waterfowl Camo 


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The 2012 Indiana deer season is set up to see some changes for this year's season. Indiana wildlife biologists seem to think our deer herd is growing, and the number of vehicle/deer accidents is also increasing. With pressure from insurance companies, the desire to keep human travelers safe, and the ideas from hunters and biologists, the DNR has issued the following new rules. You can also review these rules in the 2012 - 2013 Indiana Hunting and Trapping rulebook. You can view the rulebook via online at http://www.eregulations.com/indiana/hunting/.  
You can also pick up a copy of the rulebook at most places where licenses are sold.

The special Antlerless season will begin on December 26th and end the first Sunday of January. This season is only for designated counties. The counties eligible are those that have a limit of 4 or more bonus antlerless tags. The idea is for hunters that are out of school and off work for Christmas & New Years to get out and harvest antlerless deer. In the past this was late archery season, and many hunters do not go out during late archery. Firearms that are legal during the regular deer firearm season will be legal during this special antlerless season. For more information, check out your 2012-2013 Hunting & Trapping rulebook. 

All hunters will be allowed to use crossbows during the Indiana bow season.  In years past, crossbows were limited to approved handicapped hunters.  However, you must obtain a crossbow hunting license. The regular archery license DOES NOT cover crossbows.

This rule makes it so there is one continuous archery season instead of splitting the season into Early Archery and Late Archery. 

In the past, youth hunters could only harvest one deer during their youth season. Not anymore, kids can now harvest more than one.

If you're planning to hunt Urban Zones, you'll have to get an Urban Zone specific license. This license is only good for Urban Zones. You'll also have to harvest a doe before harvesting a buck. The "Earn a Buck" system makes it so more antlerless deer are being harvested in the Urban Zones. Porter and Lake Counties also now have Urban Zones. 

The new deer license "Bundles" were created for hunters that plan to hunt with more than one weapon.  Many hunters use bow, gun, and muzzleloaders.  Now instead of buying a license (at $24 each) for each season, you can purchase a "Bundle" that is good for archery, firearm, muzzleloader, and the special doe season. The license is good for two doe and one buck total. You can still buy bonus antlerless if you want to harvest more than two does. The price of the new "Bundle" is $65.  

Anyone hunting from a ground blind must now have 144 square inches of blaze orange on ALL SIDES of the blind. A flag on top of the blind is not permitted. This goes for synthetic or naturally made blinds. This is only for the seasons that hunters are required to wear orange.

Hunters can now save themselves the hassle of checking in deer at crowded or closed check stations. The IDNR has adopted online check stations. You just go online, enter your CustomerID (CID) number, and check in your deer. The website for checking in your deer is http://www.checkINgame.dnr.in.gov. For annual license purchasers, your CID number can be found in the top left corner of your license. Lifetime licenses holders will have to go to the CheckIN website to obtain their CID number. Traditional check stations will still be accepting deer if you prefer the old fashioned way. 

As a weekday evening hunter this new check-in rule is great for me. I hunt nearly every weekday from 4pm - dark, and if I harvest a deer, it has proven difficult to make it to the check station before they close. Having to be at work at 7am makes it even harder to check in said deer the next morning. An online check station will solve that problem. 

As mentioned above, all the rule changes can be found in your 2012-2013 Indiana Hunting and Trapping rulebook. I have taken the above information from the book. If you see anything that I misunderstood or misinterpreted, please let us know.  


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The 2012 Early Waterfowl dates have been announced. Come September, we'll be watching speedy Green-winged Teal zip by us while our steel shot only barely catches their tail feathers.  Dates below.

For more information: Adam Phelps, Fish and Wildlife, (812) 334-1137, aphelps@dnr.in.gov

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http://www.hunt-indiana.com/

Each year, Hunting-Indiana hosts a youth hunt.  The hunt is for deer during the specialized youth season. This year, the youth season is set to be September 29th and 30th. The event is for 15 lucky Indiana youth hunters. They go out with adult mentors in pursuit of whitetail deer on private land. The organization provides "goody bags" that are made up of all kinds of neat donated products from outdoor companies. For the second year in a row, a forum poster at Hunting Indiana.com has donated a muzzleloader. They have a simple drawing, and the winner (with parental consent) wins the rifle. It's a spectacular prize for these young hunters.  I think it's a wonderful way for some of the adult outdoorsmen to give back to the next generation of hunters. If you're interested in being a part of the youth hunt, check out the thread (listed below) on Hunt-Indiana.com. They're still accepting donations of prizes and goody bag gear. If you or your organization would like to donate, please contact Woody Williams on the site.  If you're interested in having your child be a part of the hunt, check the website to see if there are any open spots, though the best bet is to plan for it next year. Contact us here at Willowpine if you have a child wanting to get out, and you can't find a mentor. We'll set you up with an advanced hunter. Check back in October for the Youth Hunt results.

Pictures from 2011 Youth Hunt

Registration
http://huntingindiana.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=2012youthdeerhunt&action=display&thread=42880
Rules and Regs
http://huntingindiana.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=2011youthdeerhunt&action=display&thread=38362


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Last summer, I came up with an idea that I thought was original. I was going to start a hunting and fishing outdoor talk radio show. I didn't know how to do it, so I decided to check out some podcasts to see how it's done. Much to my surprise, I found a bunch of hunting and fishing podcasts. I realized that my original idea was not so original at all. I dug through about 10 of them before I found the Up North Journal. It quickly became my favorite, and since then I've listened to all 250 episodes.


Up North Journal hosts a weekly podcast that is about and hour long and focuses on the great outdoors.  Mike Adams along with his sons Jacob and Michael, have spent the last few years filling listeners' ears with their tricks, tips, stories, and adventures in the outdoors. Based out of Michigan, the UNJ team spends a lot of time chasing whitetail deer, turkeys, waterfowl, and most other animals that are hunted in MI. They too discuss bow fishing, trout fishing, bass fishing, and other types of angling.  UNJ is sponsored by PSE Archery, Mossy Oak, Dead Down Wind, and several other fine companies. It's a great show to listen to on the way to your duck blind or deer stand. I've spent many of evenings cleaning fish with UNJ as my soundtrack. 




In addition to doing the weekly podcast, UNJ also puts out videos featuring their outdoor endeavors called Beyond the Wild. They have 18 episodes available online, and can be viewed on YouTube, their website, or iTunes.  One thing I particularly like about Beyond the Wild is that it isn't a kill fest. So many hunting shows now-a-days are all about how many and how big. These kill-fest type television shows rarely take the time to teach anyone how they do it. The funny thing is that we all know the pros are good, that's why they're pros! What I would like is to hear the pros tips and tricks to make myself a better outdoorsman. UNJ and Beyond the Wild does this exact thing. They show their way of doing it, and feature much more than just the kill. If you're interested in checking out their weekly podcast, or the Beyond the Wild series, visit their website at http://www.upnorthjournal.com/ .  They can also be found on Facebook at  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Up-North-Journal/115878931769692 .  If you don't have an iPod or iPad, you can still listen to the talk show by downloading each episode directly off their website.


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The New Sitka Gore Optifade Marsh Camo.

Sitka Gear has tossed a new waterfowl camo pattern in the market. Sitka Gore Optifade Marsh pattern is supposed to work from the bird's eye view.  The Gore scientists have made this camo pattern with an almost fish scale-like hexagon pattern. The scientists believe that many of the camo patterns on the market today are too dark, and instead of hiding hunters, it makes us look like an out of place dark blob. You add the slightest movement to that dark blob, and the birds become very weary. They believe this new camo will help blend the hunter from the bird's 45-degree angle downward view. 

Sitka showing that this hunter is no a dark blob.

In the past, I've wondered if hunter's camo is too dark. My thoughts seemed to be proven when Mossy Oak launched their Mossy Oak Duck Blind pattern.  The Duck Blind pattern was obviously a much lighter color compared to its counterpart; the Realtree Max 4 HD, which through my eyes is a much darker pattern.  I also considered that to my eye, we blend great in both patterns, but what about to the birds?  Sitka has seemed to answer that question with this camo. It does however come with a price. Sitka has always been notorious for placing a very high price tag on all their gear. Sure it's good stuff, but my Cabela's Northern Flight late season coat will do me just fine for $85. This comparing to Sitka's late season coat costing $200-$500. I think that I'll stick with my Cabela's gear in Mossy Oak Duck Blind. That is until Sitka lowers the price, puts the camo on other companies' gear, or sponsors Willowpine as field staff.  If you're a Sitka fan, you can add the new Sitka Optifade Marsh pattern with their other patterns; the Optifade Open Country and Optifade Timber. For more info, visit Sitka's website at http://www.sitkagear.com/.

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We appreciate your taking the time to read Willowpine Outdoors' August Newswire. We also very much appreciate your support in WPO. As mentioned above, we're always looking for people interested in contributing their writing, taking pictures, adding videos, etc. If you think you might like to do this, then please shoot us an email at willowpineoutdoors@gmail.com.  If you haven't already, please take a moment to add us as a friend on Facebook. If you like what we're doing, and want to support us, the best way is to tell a friend! Always remember that Nature provides a free lunch, but only if we can control our appetite.  - Joey W. Buttram, Willowpine Outdoors

Willowpine Outdoors Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/willowpine

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