I’ve been seeing quite a few 04 Sportsman HOs going roughly for $3,000 with about 1,500-2,000 miles as somewhat of a gauge.

It really comes down to maintenance. If it has been maintained meticulously then you could reasonably expect 10k+ miles. If you ask around everybody has their own answers. I consider the 100k mark to be around 4k miles. Some people trail ride them hard enough where after 3k they are shot, others 7k others 10k. I know people who will put 2-3k on per year and run them for 5 years and they keep on keepin’ on. Taking it to a trusted dealer or mechanic and having them check it out isn’t a bad idea.

You hear of people getting screwed all the time nowadays, so the mechanic route would be a must for me.

What area are you looking to go to? Or what do you plan on hunting?

Its a tough place to be in because cattle will mow down pretty much anything you plant in terms of food plots! The best option would be to fence off a smaller area which would allow deer to access the plot but not for cattle. Even a 1/4 acre would be huge. Fences for deer should be at least 18 inches from the ground and top and second wire should be at least 12 inches apart. All hog wire should be removed. It’s going to allow deer in and out but not cattle.

Not much help in terms of finding a species palatable to deer but not cattle….they pretty much are the same beast!

Great story and photos! That requires some patience, I’m more than guilty of bailing way too soon. A really good lesson to remember!

Gotta love when it goes down accordingly! There is nothing like a big ole tom coming in on a string! Good Job Fellas!

Must be Bret Amundson? We are very good friends, he’s a great guy and has done an excellent job taking over from the old management.

O no they will definitely grow spurs exceeding 1″. As I’ve come to understand it, age is the driving force. It pretty much takes a bird 3 years to grow 1″ spurs and 4 to get over 1.25″. Some 2 YO birds could have 1″ spurs but not much over, and only in some cases. I believe Missouri conservation did a study a long while back relating bird spur length to a age

So in a nut shell, you’re not running into older birds.

Great photo! Love the old barn look. Good luck in SD!

I’ve seen areas in WI where birds are in huge groups 20+. Around the metro area I’ve seen a lot of pairs and lone toms cruising around. Today, I spotted a bird on some public land where hunting wasn’t allowed so I decided to jump out clad with my work attire, a mouth call and a camera and despite my bright blue jeans, I got him to work into about 30 yards before he spotted me! He was coming in on a string, so I have no doubts he would be fully committed! I also am now wearing my grass stained jeans…..well worth it! Good Luck with the hunt!

That is quite the experience! It’s so cool having all a lot of birds working all around you! I’m glad it ended up working out so great for you guys, similar situations have sometimes ended poorly with the group not caring a bit about me! Again my saving grace has almost always been satellite birds working. Great read, thanks for sharing!

Very cool Joel. It’s been great following along hearing all of the stories about hunting with your kids. Like I said earlier, you know they are going to be alright when they think it’s hilarious watching you chase around a dead bird, rather than completely mortified! Can’t wait to hear more soon!

That is really cool! She is boasting one awesome beard!

Thanks everybody, I really appreciate the kind words! This shot was with a Canon 5D Mark II. Nowadays you can buy a good but inexpensive still camera that will shoot awesome photos and shoot HD video. I would spend my money on a good lens however. That’s a whole new can of worms. The Canon T3i is around 500 bucks, and is a great camera for the money. It has a 18mp sensor and shoots full 1080 hd video.

1080-60 will play in regular speed initially but you can drag it in to GoPro cineform studio (free) and convert it into a 30 fps frame and it will play in slow motion. It’s a really easy conversion!

I feel your pain….night before the hunt throwing everything together. It’s a staple of my routine! I don’t like mounting a GoPro to my gun because as you said, you miss a lot of the action of the bird coming in, and when you shoot it shakes the GoPro so much you miss a lot of the action. The head mount is really easy especially if you are running and gunning but you have to be conscious of not moving your head a lot otherwise you’ll make people sick when they watch it! Now some other options which have yielded some terrific turkey footage in the past.

If you use a decoy place your GoPro 5 yards behind the decoy pointing back towards you, it’s a really cool angle but if the bird doesn’t decoy perfectly then you will miss it. Another one is mounting it on a stake and setting it up directly behind you. This will provide a really stable shot and still catch all of the action.

What GoPro do you have? I always run a go pro in the Narrow setting because otherwise it is so wide it really distorts objects around the outside, and you’ll end up with a crazy round world look. Also it allows for you to make the bird look larger, because using wide angle will make it look like an ant unless it’s less than 5 yards away.

If you would mount the GoPro behind the Turkey I would suggest using medium or wide to get as much of the action as possible. It’s a pretty cool look to run your GoPro in 1080-60fps. It will give it an awesome slow motion shot!

In terms of camo, all I do is tape up the blinking red light. If I am really concerned Ill pick up some gun tape and tape up the actual camera, the case doesn’t seem to matter. Hopefully by the time they would see the GoPro, it would be too late!! Good luck!

 

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It was the fault of those professional drinkers Ben spoke of! My immune system had been compromised. Not to mention, I bested a guy who took 3rd in the state at pool. The first round I won, and he said, “I’m not going to let up on you again.” Then I scratched after putting in the 8 on the final shot to end the 2nd round. Technically it was a draw but surely I used up all my luck in one night.

Joel

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That pool shark had it out for you! So does that make you the 2nd best pool player in SoDak? That’s a plus for the trip.

You’re Killing me! All of this nice weather is wreaking havoc on me. This weekend.

Good job out there, I’m also curious to see how the birds responded.

A few nights ago I had birds heading up to the roost around 730 to 745. I have just started seeing birds out into the fields as of late.

Out along the Missouri River walleye fishing today and had 3-4 toms going crazy gobbling up on the roost…..I was way too excited!

Just from driving around around the West Metro and western Twin Cities, I have seen about a half a dozen groups of turkeys with hens and toms with no strutting action thus far.

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I have never liked the short ATA bows. Of course I shoot a 30-31″ draw length and the angle on those short ATA bows is far to sharp.

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Yeah, I can see that being a problem…fortunately/unfortunately I’m more of a sparrow to your albatross…27-28″

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Lucky you. I walked 300 yrds into my woods and found almost a dozen carcasses

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Ouch….That hurts.

I can’t wait for that sound! Hopefully sooner than later!

We’re not worthy!! It’s amazing what a little fine tuning can do!

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B Stinger are nice. I know a lot of guys who shoot with them. The only problem currently is they are super backed up. Unless you find what you are looking for in stock at a pro shop, you are in for a month wait (give or take).

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My problem exactly. Like I say…Makes my decision easy!

I think it’s a great idea. More than anything else, it will make her focus on lining the sight up on the target. It’s easy to get wrapped up in the action and forget to do the most important thing…aim! A big glowing green dot could be a great reminder.

I think I’ll have to pick one up! I’ve been looking for a good stab set up but this makes my decision easy. I was also looking at the Bee-Stinger Xtreme kit, but its nice to find some first hand info!

That’s some good shooting! Getting from that 290-295 range to a 300 was all mental for me. I would start to get a little jittery when I would think about it. Awesome shooting!

I see you have a side bar. What kind of stabilizer and side bar are you using, and what weights? What are your thoughts on it? I have heard they do a pretty good job of balancing everything out…

When it comes down to it….what feels and shoots the best. Go with it. I have shot the Charger, Ballistic and Carbon Knight. All great bows. I’m partial to the Charger and Ballistic, they felt much more solid in my opinion. I didn’t care for the Carbon Knight as much. My good hunting buddy shoots a charger and loves it. A toss up!

They are awesome machines! It takes a heck of a lot to get those things stuck….but a word to the wise – have an extra belt! We blew two belts driving through some slush up by Pasha….ended up being a near 10 mile walk!