Author: Hard Core

It has been a long season for me in Wisconsin and a very different year from my adventures last winter in the flooded rice fields of southern Louisiana. The hunting season this year in Wisconsin was a year of variables and changes like I’ve never experiences before. From a late crop harvest to extreme changes in the weather, it was increasingly difficult to stay on top of the bird activity as the season progressed. At times it seemed as though it would be a lost season, but there were many little gems and great hunts that still made it memorable.…

It’s the catch phrase we hear all the time in the world of deer hunting – Quality Deer Management, or QDM. If you want bigger bucks, participate in QDM. What more deer? QDM’s the answer. The basic principle of QDM for the average deer hunter when it concerns QDM is simple. Let the smaller bucks go so they can become bigger bucks. So, what’s the catch? QDM works, but it has to be done right. Too often, there are factors that are not taken into account when it comes to QDM. The first and foremost is the very definition of…

Waterfowl Hunting Season When you’re not field hunting for ducks and geese, chances are you’re going to have to hit some public land to chase waterfowl. As we all know from experience, hunting on public land and water has its challenges as well as its rewards. Here are some tips to finding repeated success when hunting public land. Scout, Scout and Scout Some More Be ready to haul your gear far and wide to find the best spot for a public land hunt. Any waterfowler that has been at it for any length of time knows that you need to…

It’s that time of year when we start seeing all kinds of great photos taken of monster bucks, limits of ducks and muddy trucks. Ok, I added that bit about the trucks just because it rhymed, but you know what I mean. Taking a great outdoor photo isn’t as hard as it sounds; you just need to keep a few simple tricks up your sleeve. There are a couple of things to keep in mind. Take the photo with your audience in mind. In other words, don’t think of yourself, but what others will think of your photo. And secondly,…

There is one big thing that waterfowl and deer hunters have in common besides a love for being outdoors. Both types of hunting can be majorly impacted by the wind. Learning to adapt and know when to make changes is a key to being successful. Now there are plenty of things that you have no control over when you’re hunting. The wind may be the biggest and most important to your chances of having a good hunt. For deer hunters, wind shifts can make a stand location the wrong choice. And for waterfowlers, wind changes can leave you with decoys…

Most Hard Core waterfowlers could fill a shopping cart with the amount of duck and goose calls they own. Calls today come in a wide variety of materials, colors and claims of what the call will do for the hunter. You have a choice of which calls you put on your Hard Core Lanyard for a hunt. So what drives Hard Core hunters to select one call over another to put on their Hard Care Lanyard for a hunting trip? There are a number of reasons and one overwhelming thing, we have to remember to not go by what we…

Pop quiz. You’re hunting Canada geese in a cut cornfield in November. Your spread is looking perfect from the beam of your headlamp and you settle in to your Hard Core Man Cave blind. As the sun starts coming up, you notice a layer of frost has covered your Hard Core decoys. What do you do? If you know the weather calls for frost, you can carry rags with you to place over the decoy’s backs. That way, you can uncover them right at flying time and have frost-free decoys. Another tactic is using windshield washer fluid to clear off…