Seus Land Exchange Inc.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Hunting for Shed Antlers

antler sheds

Hunting for shed antlers can shed light on the deer you hunt.


From mid-January through February bucks will be shedding their antlers.  Analyzing those sheds will allow you to understand much that will improve your hunting success.


While the prize of the hunt is a benefit, you can also benefit from understanding the quality of bucks that made it through the end of hunting season, the number of bucks that were in the area, and the specific areas that the bucks choose to hang out in.


Tips for hunting shed deer antlers:

  • You must search for deer sheds in the deer's wintering grounds. It's obviously important to correlate the time of season when you intend to hunt with the places where bucks are during the time they shed their antlers.
  • Using dogs to help find shed antlers can be a great idea
  • The timing of your hunting is important.
Then the sooner you can be in the field after an antler is dropped, the better the dog's chance of finding it. Rodents will also eat and destroy antlers due to their mineral content. Also as spring comes grass may grow making it difficult to spot antlers. BUT--

You don't want to risk scaring the bucks away if they are exposed to human pressure or dogs. If you go in before they've dropped their antlers you risk scaring them away.  So really you should only go in early if you know of a special spot other hunters aren't likely to find.

  • Look in and around food plots
  • Look around easy-to-travel areas like trails or water sources
  • Check out our game camera to see when most bucks have shed
Image Credit: Crowhand


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Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Buying Land: Strategies on how to make an offer

oconee county ga land for sale

Curtis Seltzer wrote a fantastic article over at LandThink about how to submit a written offer based on:

  • The value you determined the seller's property is worth to you
  • The appraisal value
  • The market
  • The tax-assessed value
Buying land for sale can be a confusing journey. There are several strategies to employ.

Seltzer maps out your options as follows:


1. Play it straight


Offer less than you believe the land is worth with hopes that you can negotiate a deal up to what the land is worth to you. Just make sure you justify your price based on your research.


2. Roll High


Offer over the seller's asking price BUT:

  • Only offer a $10,000 down payment and insist on seller-financing.
  • Make the offer contingent on a three-month study of the property's "assets and liabilities," which the results have to be acceptable to you. If they are unacceptable, you can void the contract and offer without penalty.
  • Seller has to pay your closing costs.

As Seltzer puts it, "Your plan from the beginning has been to tie up the seller with your bogus contingency, string him out for three months and soften him for your hardball offer."


3. Take-it-or-Leave-it


Offer the price you are willing to pay with no contingencies and a reasonable down payment.  Explain how your research got you to your price, and make it known you aren't going up.


4. Make a Deal


Seltzer had a great idea in realizing the seller's attachment to his land. Say a seller values his 500 acres for hunting, but needs the cash for retirement. Seltzer proposes offering a 10 year, no cost hunting lease to the seller as part of a offer you're willing to pay.  The seller doesn't get as much money as he wants for the land, but he gets what he wants in the property, the ability to still hunt on the land.


It's a great article that gives insights into a land buyer and a land seller's point of view.


Related posts:


How to Buy Land for Sale


Questions to Ask When Buying Land


Buying Land v. Buying Stocks


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Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Types of Hunting Dogs and Gundogs

hunting dog

Depending on how the dog is trained, dogs can be used in a variety of hunting situations. Gundogs or bird dogs are especially useful in finding and retrieving game.


There are several types according to their method of work:

  • Retrievers
  • Flushing Spaniels
  • Pointers and Setters


Retrievers


Retrievers are mostly used when waterfowl hunting. Retrievers are trained to wait patiently when birds move into range, and follow the hunter's gun as he shoots. When each bird is downed, the dog "marks" or remembers where it falls. When the dog is signaled he retrieves the fowl, or if he misses a downed bird he is trained to follow the handler's signals as to where it is. This is called a "blind" retrieve. When multiple dogs are used on a hunt, a well trained dog is taught to "honor" the retrieve on another dog by waiting while the other dog is working.


Retrievers include the following breeds:

  • American Water Spaniel
  • Barbet
  • Chesapeake Bay Retriever
  • Curly-Coated Retriever
  • Flat-Coated Retriever
  • German Water Spaniel
  • Golden Retriever
  • Irish Water Spaniel

Flushing Spaniels


When hunting non-waterfowl, or upland game, flushing dogs work closely with the hunter. They must be kept in shotgun distance. These dogs are used on birds that run from the hunter, like pheasants, to get the bird to fly or spring to wing. Once the dog is flushed, the dog will watch the flight of the bird to watch them fall for retrieval.


Flushing spaniels include:

  • Spaniel (American Cocker)
  • Spaniel (American Water)
  • Spaniel (Boykin)
  • Spaniel (Clumber)
  • Spaniel (English Cocker)
  • Spaniel (English Springer)
  • Spaniel (Field)
  • Spaniel (Irish Water)
  • Spaniel (Sussex)
  • Spaniel (Welsh Springer)


Pointers and Setters


Once he/she reach the field, the handler will "cast" or direct the dog in a wide circle, and he begins making his way through the field to find game.  When game is found, the dog freezes and points or crouches towards it. If other dogs are hunting they also "honor" the first dog's find and crouch or point also.


Next, some dogs are trained to remain motionless until the hunter flushes the game, and other times the dogs are trained to flush the game. If a bird is downed, the dogs are trained to retrieve it. 


Pointers and setters include:

  • English Pointer
  • English Setter
  • Gordon Setter
  • Irish Red and White Setter
  • Irish Setter
Whatever dog you hunt with, just make sure he is well trained and knowledgeable about the hunt. A well-trained and steady dog is a beautiful thing, and represent the efforts of generations of breeders and hunters.

photo credit: me'nthedogs

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