Archives for June 2018

Red stag hunting during the rut time #3 – Hirsch Brunft – Rykowisko – La chasse au cerf – la brame

Posted from: http://youtu.be/4tHpA4QoEp0

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If These 5 Things Don’t Happen in Top Gun 2, It Won’t Be True for the 21st Century Military

http://www.wideopenspaces.com/5-things-dont-happen-top-gun-2-wont-true-21st-century-military/

Image via Top Gun 2 Trailer

A lot has changed since the blockbuster movie Top Gun premiered in 1986. Here are some of the things almost certain to be different in Top Gun 2.

Ever since Tom Cruise confirmed that Top Gun 2 is “definitely happening” in an interview on an Australian TV show back in May, the internet has been buzzing with excitement regarding the sequel to the legendary movie.

While we don’t know for sure what Top Gun 2 will be about (who knows, maybe Maverick will be flying a cargo plane full of rubber dog poop out of Hong Kong), we’ve got some decent guesses. Considering changes that have occurred in the military over the 30+ years that have passed since the original Top Gun was released in 1986, here’s what the sequel needs to include to be true to life.

Female Aviators

If These 5 Things Don't Happen in Top Gun 2, It Won't be True for the 21st Century Military female pilots — Time

The two most prominent female characters in the original Top Gun were Carole Bradshaw (Goose’s wife) played by Meg Ryan and Charlotte “Charlie” Blackwood (a civilian technician at Top Gun and Maverick’s love interest) played by Kelly McGillis. There were no female aviators in the US Navy at the time, but the situation has changed dramatically since then, and women have been flying fighters in the Navy since 1994.

Women have even commanded a Carrier Air Wing and an entire Carrier Strike Group in recent years. It’s very likely that there will be a love story incorporated into the plot of Top Gun 2, and I’ll bet you dollars to donuts that it will involve a female aviator. And she won’t be wearing shoulder pads.

No Beach Volleyball

If These 5 Things Don't Happen in Top Gun 2, It Won't be True for the 21st Century Military fallon — Navy

The beach volleyball scene pitting Maverick and Goose against Ice Man and Slider was one of the most famous (or infamous) scenes in Top Gun. At the time, the Navy Fighter Weapons School (better known as Top Gun) was located at Naval Air Station (NAS) Miramar, which is right outside of San Diego. Well, NAS Miramar is now Marine Corps Air Station Miramar and is home to the 3rd Marine Air Wing and their F/A-18 Hornets, F-35B Lightnings, and MV-22 Ospreys (among other aircraft).

The Navy moved the school to NAS Fallon in northern Nevada in 1996, which interestingly enough was where many of the aerial scenes that took place over land in the original Top Gun were filmed. So, while there might be some scenes in Las Vegas or on Lake Tahoe, you probably won’t be seeing any of the characters in Top Gun 2 playing beach volleyball, since the school is now several hundred miles away from the beach.

Lots of New Planes

If These 5 Things Don't Happen in Top Gun 2, It Won't be True for the 21st Century Military new planes — USNI.org

The original Top Gun featured the F-14 Tomcat, which was the Navy’s primary air superiority fighter in the 1980s and 1990s. The Navy retired the last F-14 in 2006 and now uses the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet in that role. Now that the F-35 Lightning is finally starting to enter service, it’s very likely that we’ll see both Super Hornets and Lightnings used by the protagonists in Top Gun 2. Don’t be surprised if an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle of some type has a prominent role in the movie, either.

No More Vietnam Vets

If These 5 Things Don't Happen in Top Gun 2, It Won't be True for the 21st Century Military afghanistan — Wikimedia

Filmed just over a decade removed from the Vietnam War in 1986, many of the higher ranking characters in the movie are clearly Vietnam Veterans. In the movie, the old salts try to teach the young pups like Maverick some hard-earned lessons they learned in fierce aerial combat.

For instance, Commander Mike “Viper” Metcalf, the chief instructor at Top Gun, mentions to Maverick that he flew F-4s in VF-51 with Maverick’s father off the USS Oriskany. In an effort to help Maverick gain some perspective after Goose dies, he mentions that his squadron sustained heavy losses in combat over Vietnam. In real life, VF-51 was not assigned to the USS Oriskany and the carrier was not big enough to operate F-4s. That being said, the Carrier Air Wing assigned to the ship did indeed suffer the highest loss rate of any Naval Air Wing in the Vietnam War, losing half of its assigned planes, including an A-4 Skyhawk flown by then-Lieutenant Commander John McCain. Additionally, Commander Tom “Stinger” Jardian (the bald guy that’s always yelling at Maverick on the USS Enterprise) also wears a Purple Heart and a Vietnam Service ribbon on his uniform, and I’m sure he has a few stories to tell as well.

All of the Vietnam Veterans are long gone from active duty in the Navy. However, they’ve been replaced with plenty of Veterans of Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm, Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and Operation Inherent Resolve. I’m sure we’ll still see some instances of some wise old hands trying to impart some lessons they learned in combat in the skies above Iraq or Syria to the young guys in Top Gun 2.

The Bad Guys

If These 5 Things Don't Happen in Top Gun 2, It Won't be True for the 21st Century Military Russia — YouTube

Though nobody ever comes out and says who the bad guys are in Top Gun, the fact that they were flying (fictional) MiG fighters and have a distinctive red star on their helmets and oxygen masks indicates that they were probably Soviet pilots, but it’s also possible they were Chinese or North Koreans.

Well, the more things change, the more they stay the same. It’s been over 30 years since Top Gun came out and Russia, China, and North Korea are still our main adversaries in the world. So, don’t be surprised if the guys in Top Gun 2 end up in a dog fight with planes from one of those countries.

Like what you see here? You can read more great articles by John McAdams on his hunting blog. Follow him on Facebook The Big Game Hunting Blog or Twitter @TheBigGameHunt.

NEXT: YOU NEED TO SEE THIS VIDEO AN ISIS SNIPER SHOOTING A JOURNALISTS’ GOPRO IN MOSUL

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5 Tips for Saltwater Fishing Without Breaking the Bank

http://www.wideopenspaces.com/5-tips-saltwater-fishing-without-breaking-bank/

Wikimedia

Saltwater fishing doesn’t have to break the bank. Here are some tips on how to be thriftier with your tackle box.

Saltwater Fishing is a great equalizer. Anyone can try it, but it’s tough to actually hook up (let alone catch fish) for beginners. With larger bodies of water the fish could be anywhere, and even with thousands of dollars worth of equipment you’re not guaranteed to catch them.

Good news is, you don’t need to spend big bucks to get results. Whether you’re surf fishing, on a pier, or in a boat, it can be an enjoyable and affordable pastime with these smart fishing tips for saltwater anglers.

Here’s a list to help you gear up and get started without emptying your bank account.

The post 5 Tips for Saltwater Fishing Without Breaking the Bank appeared first on Wide Open Spaces.

Some People Are Mosquito Magnets, Are You?

Posted from: http://bigdeerblog.com/?p=5559

Some people are more attractive to mosquitoes than others, says a Baylor mosquito expert.

Jason Pitts, Ph.D., assistant professor of biology in Baylor University’s College of Arts and Sciences, studies “host seeking”—how mosquitoes find their next blood meal. He said odor is a major factor why mosquitoes bite some people more often.

Female mosquitoes, which bite because they need blood for reproduction, have the ability to smell odor over long distances.

“Females are able to track upwind.” Once they get that stream of odor, they fly in and out of the stream of odor to orient themselves to try get to the host.”

It is not just odor. Heat—at very close range—also is very attractive for female mosquitoes.

“Mosquitoes are exquisitely sensitive to differences in temperature on surfaces. When it comes to heat or carbon dioxide, both can be beacons for mosquitoes as well,” Pitts said.

Lastly, researchers have found that in addition to odor and heat, mosquitoes can use the sense of taste to decide whether to feed.

“Once a mosquito lands on (your) skin, they taste the skin to decide whether this is a good host or not,” Pitts said. “They can actually taste DEET, which is long-range repellent. They can smell it and avoid it. When they taste it, they will also fly away. Therefore, we know that taste is also important in some ways. Taste is the final choice before blood feeding.”

Whether you are a favorite food among mosquitoes or not, Pitts recommends these three tips for minimizing your chances of being bitten.

1. Reduce mosquito breeding grounds.

The most important thing that anyone can do is to reduce breeding sources for mosquitoes by eliminating stagnant water near your home and from your yard.

2. Stick with DEET

Bracelets, bands and other wearable devices that emit repellent compounds, such as citronella, lemongrass oil or eucalyptus, probably do reduce some mosquito bites. However, Pitts said these devices don’t provide absolute protection against bites. Topical repellents, he said, are still the best. They cover your skin and will not only have a volatile repellent effect, but if a mosquito lands on a person’s skin, it will not bite.

3. Avoid peak biting times.

Typically, mosquitoes bite at dusk and at dawn. Mosquitoes are most active when the sun is rising or setting. If you like to take a morning run or walk at dusk, you should apply DEET repellant to avoid being bitten.

Source: The Outdoor Wire

3 Myths About Buck Rubs

Posted from: http://www.bucksbullsbears.com/2018/06/29/3-myths-about-buck-rubs/

A deer rubs his antlers on a small tree to mark his territory right? How complicated can that be? Well, here are some things that will shed new light on what rubs actually mean.

By Bernie Barringer

Outdoor writers like myself are always looking for new ideas and new things to write about. We are always analyzing what we see and trying to learn more from each nugget of bucks sign, mostly in the hopes that we can learn something which we can pass along to our readers in order to educate them and help them hunt more effectively. That’s all good.

The bad side of the coin is that we also tend to overthink and overanalyze things from time to time. In our zeal to learn more that we can write about, we sometimes read way too much into what we are seeing. I think that is true with much of what has been written in the outdoor magazines about rubs in the past 20-30 years. There are even books about how finding rubs lined up in one direction can lead you to your next big buck. Well, let’s just say that’s a stretch.

Rubs associated with scrapes and other breeding activity are the most likely to be visited over and over again.

The advent of GPS collars that track the movement and activities of bucks 24/7 has added to our knowledge of deer behavior, but it has also turned some long-held beliefs into rubbish. Some of those beliefs are related to how deer make and use rubs. Here are three myths that we can put to rest.

Rubs are Territorial Markers

If bucks were patrolling a territory, making rubs to mark the edges of their range, the GPS tracking data would bear that out, but it does not. There is no evidence whatsoever that bucks even have a territory they try to protect in any way. They do have home ranges—areas where they spend the majority of their time—but they show no evidence that they try to protect that home range from other deer in any way.

That’s not to say that rubs are not forms of communication; however, because they are. When the bucks rub trees they deposit scent on them, which communicates to the other deer in the area the statement that, “I was here.” But really, not much more than that. It’s a way for deer to get to know each other better and have a feel for who is using the same areas they are using.

Signpost rubs can be huge. This rub is targeted by many bucks of all sizes because it sits right where they like to enter a soybean field to feed.

Velvet Shedding Rubs

Some deer authorities have surmised that different rubs at different times of the year and on different sizes of trees can be filed into certain categories, such as Velvet Shedding rubs, Signpost Rubs, even Rutting Rubs.

Possibly the most misunderstood is the belief that bucks use rubs to remove the velvet from their antlers. First, it’s important to understand that when the velvet dries, it will fall off whether they rub it on something or not. Secondly, if a buck is inclined to remove it, it wouldn’t make much sense for him to use the trunk of a small tree to remove it. Some bucks don’t seem to care much unless the velvet is hanging down impairing their vision, while others seem to aggressively work at tearing it off.

A friend once watched a full velvet whitetail walk by just out of range on September 5. He sat in a ground blind and watched that deer walk right up to a leafy bush and stick his antlers right into the brush. The buck twisted and turned the antlers in the brush, then slashed at it from side to side a few times, completely removing every trace of bloody velvet within 60 seconds.

Bucks may remove some of the velvet from their antlers by rubbing on tree trunks, but that’s not the preferred method.

Only Big Bucks Rub Big Trees

Bucks do not return to most rubs on any kind of a regular schedule, in fact some never come back at all. But putting a game camera on a rub is a good way to have a look at most of the bucks in that area.

This has an element of fact in it because larger bucks do tend to rub larger trees than smaller bucks at time. But that’s about all there is to it. Biologists have theorized that one of the reasons bucks rub trees is to exercise their neck muscles for the battles that will occur during the rut. It stands to reason that a buck would choose a tree that has some flex too it so it “fights back” so to speak. Larger, stronger bucks would naturally choose thicker trees to create the exercise needed. Certainly, a tree that is really shredded was rubbed by a big buck because small bucks simply do not have the antler size and physical power to really tear up a tree the size of your wrist.

I have personally witnessed small and large bucks rub trees of any size. I have even seen them rub fenceposts and power poles that had no give at all to them. Some of these have been called signpost rubs. They can be rubbed by the biggest buck in the area one minute and then a spike the next.

Signpost rubs are rubs that get used from year to year and are often on big trees. It seems like every deer that comes along, no matter the size, can resist giving it a stroke or two. These don’t seem to be chosen for any specific reason other than the fact that they are in a spot where a lot of deer go by. And that in itself has some value to the hunter.

So don’t read too much into what you see in a rub. In fact, if you really want to learn a lot about who is using a particular rub, put a game camera on it. Seeing is believing.

Tips for Maintaining High-Speed Crossbows

http://www.deeranddeerhunting.com/articles/tv-shows/tips-for-maintaining-high-speed-crossbows

Today’s high-performance crossbows require specific maintenance practices to keep them accurate, dependable and safe. Learn about the four main areas that need attention.

The post Tips for Maintaining High-Speed Crossbows appeared first on Deer & Deer Hunting | Whitetail Deer Hunting Tips.

Coyote Hunting — Best Way to Improve Your Deer Hunting THIS Summer

http://www.deeranddeerhunting.com/articles/deer-news/coyote-hunting-the-best-way-to-improve-your-deer-hunting-this-summer

If you’re looking to keep your hunting skills sharp (and to come up with another excuse not to mow the lawn), do yourself and your resident whitetails a favor this summer and try coyote hunting. This is also a fun and inexpensive way to scratch that itch we all get leading up to the opening of deer season.

The post Coyote Hunting — Best Way to Improve Your Deer Hunting THIS Summer appeared first on Deer & Deer Hunting | Whitetail Deer Hunting Tips.

Florida Alligator Goes After Fisherman Who’s Just Trying to Get in on That Frog Bite

http://www.wideopenspaces.com/florida-alligator-goes-fisherman-video/

Florida alligators have bad attitudes, and apparently don’t like anglers.

This fisherman did not fully think through the consequences of fishing in a Florida alligator hotspot.

In the state of Florida, you never quite know what’s lurking beneath the water’s surface. Floridians are probably used to it, but those who live elsewhere might not understand how calm they can be.

Wild alligators see those game fish as a prey species, and there’s no wonder they get a little frisky.

American alligators are the apex predators of the southern swamps. The Florida Everglades are full of them, and they are hungry. Especially during mating season, adult alligators can be particularly vicious.

This angler is fishing for bass and sees a large alligator swimming around where he is throwing his cast. He catches a nice bass, reels it in, then throws him back in. All the while, the larger alligator can still be seen swimming around.

Then, all of a sudden something comes up from behind the fisherman and the camera gets all shaky.

The fisherman is lucky he is quick on his feet. He narrowly missed getting bit by another little gator that thought he could sneak a bite from behind.

When going after Florida fish, stay away from gator-filled swamps. Gators are not messing around, and though true alligator attacks are rare, you wouldn’t want to find out how rare!

NEXT: Hunting the Nile Crocodile, a Modern Dinosaur

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Southern Ground | The Hunting Club with Blake Echols

Posted from: https://audio.simplecast.com/81c20a76.mp3

On today’s episode, we get to talk to Blake Echols about how he had a true weekend to remember while chasing late season Alabama whitetails on a hunting club he got to hunt as a guest. As you’ll hear, Blake is one of the most sincere guys around and truly deserved this more than anyone I’ve ever met. I’m so confident that you are going to like Blake that I have brought him on the Southern Ground team as a co-host to the show. So plan on hearing a lot more from Blake in the future.

We also hit on public lands and some success that I had on the same week on a piece of public land with the bow in hand. So if that’s what fires you up then you’ll enjoy it!

Netflix and Josh Brolin are Bringing You a Whitetail Deer Hunting Movie

http://www.wideopenspaces.com/netflix-and-josh-brolin-are-bringing-you-a-whitetail-deer-hunting-movie/

Netflix is releasing a movie about the love of the sport and father son bonding of whitetail hunting.

A movie on Netflix about whitetail hunting with an A-List actor? You better believe it! What a breath of fresh air for the hunting community to see hunting put in a positive light to the masses in America and more.

The Legacy of a Whitetail Deer Hunter will be released on July 6th and it looks to be a great mix of humor, family traditions, cinematography, and more as a father and son share the great outdoors. Josh Brolin, a very credible actor, known for his roles in the Goonies, No Country for Old Men, True Grit, and American Gangster, takes on the lead role as a father named Buck Ferguson who loves whitetail hunting, just like most of us avid sportsmen. Buck has a TV show, and over the years has lost touch of the father he hoped to be.

His character embarks on a hunting trip with his cameraman, who is played by Danny McBride (Eastbound and Down, Vice Principals), and his young son for an epic weekend of whitetail hunting in hopes of reconnecting with his offspring and hooking him on the great sport of whitetail hunting.

As a hunter, do you need to hear anything else? It is a movie about hunting…on Netflix! Check out the trailer.

We all remember our first hunt and many of them are full of memories with our fathers. There is something special about a father/son bond that is created on a hunting trip, so we’re predicting this movie will be one we can all relate too.

As I mentioned earlier, hopefully this movie can portray a positive light on the hunting world. In a society that often sees hunting from the outside and pins it as a vicious hobby of harming animals, this movie could possibly showcase the family values, work ethic, and true meaning of hunting and enjoying what the wilderness has to offer.

It looks like they’ll accomplish all while giving us a few laughs along the way. The creators of Eastbound & Down, a wildly popular HBO show, contributed to this production, and it seems to have a lot of potential.

We’ll check back in with a review after it’s released.

NEXT: THIS TINY, DETAILED DEER SKULL IS INSANE

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