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Turkey Hunters Encouraged To Put Safety First

Turkey Hunters Encouraged To Put Safety First

GoHuntGeorgia.com

SOCIAL CIRCLE, Ga --(AmmoLand.com)- Successful hunting trips require a combination of skill, patience and most importantly, preparation. As turkey season rapidly approaches, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources’ Wildlife Resources Division encourages preparation first, hoping that hunters will brush up on important turkey hunting safety tips before hitting the woods.

“Hunters should always be sure to identify their target before pulling the trigger and should never shoot at sound or movement,” advises Lt. Judd Smith. “Turkey hunters have to utilize their firearms safety knowledge and remember ways to keep themselves and others safe while in the woods.”

Hunters are encouraged to review the following turkey hunting season safety precautions.

Season opens on Sat., March 20:

• Never wear red, white, blue or black clothing while turkey hunting. Red is the color most hunters look for when distinguishing a gobbler’s head from a hen’s blue-colored head, but at times it may appear white or blue. Male turkey feathers covering most of the body are black in appearance. Camouflage should be used to cover everything, including the hunter’s face, hands and firearm.
• Select a calling position that provides at least a shoulder-width background, such as the base of a tree. Be sure that at least a 180-degree range is visible.
• Do not stalk a gobbling turkey. Due to their keen eyesight and hearing, the chances of getting close are slim to none, but a hunter in motion greatly increases his/her chances of being mistaken for game.
• Be careful using a turkey call. The sound and motion may attract other hunters. Do not move, wave or make turkey-like sounds to alert another hunter to your presence. Instead, yell in a loud voice so other hunters know you are in the area.
• Be careful when carrying a harvested turkey from the woods. Do not allow the wings to hang loosely or the head to be displayed in such a way that another hunter may think it is a live bird. If possible, conceal the turkey in a blaze orange garment or other material.
• Although it’s not required, it is suggested that hunters wear blaze orange when moving to and from a vehicle and hunting site. When moving between hunting sites, hunters should wear blaze orange on their upper bodies to lessen chances of being mistaken for game.

Additional Safety Tips

Turkey hunters must possess a valid hunting license and a big game license to legally hunt turkeys in Georgia. If hunting on a Wildlife Management Area, hunters must also possess a WMA license. Sportsmen and women must always obtain permission from the landowner before hunting on private land. Only male turkeys may be harvested, and the season bag limit is three gobblers per hunter.

For additional turkey hunting information or turkey hunting safety tips, visit www.gohuntgeorgia.com , contact the nearest Wildlife Resources Division Law Enforcement office or call (770) 918-6414.

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On the Cutting Edge – Keeping Knives Less Sharp
By Greg Hallen

When you sharpen your knives in preparation for next hunting season, don't be afraid to put a little rougher edge on your blades.

Wyoming Game & Fish Department

CHEYENNE, WY --(AmmoLand.com)- Now that many of the hunting opportunities are over for the year, you might have had recent opportunities to find out how your knives perform in the field for a variety of field dressing and other chores. Many of you might have found that your sharp knife just didn’t cut as well as you thought it should. If this is the case, perhaps the knives you use need a rougher edge.

I’ve been sharpening knives for a long time and have accumulated an embarrassing number of sharpening implements for sharpening any steel, including some of the extremely high alloy, stainless hunting knives I’ve acquired. I’ve also written several articles about knife sharpening that have been published in local and national publications. However, for the hunter, I’d like to share an important aspect I learned about cutting edges for knives intended for field use.

About eight years ago I was out videotaping pheasant hunting activities and asked a friend of mine who had just killed a pheasant to field dress the bird with my pocketknife. I thought it was a good opportunity to show him how effortlessly a scary-sharp edge could cut. To my surprise, my friend had trouble cutting through the cartilage of a leg joint. So I gave it a try, and I had the same difficulty because the edge kept sliding over the smooth and hard cartilage. I figured out why it was slipping, and it was because I had finished honing the blade on an extra-fine ceramic sharpening stone, and this results in a very sharp, microscopically smooth, polished edge. And it was because of the smooth edge that the edge was sliding rather than biting into the cartilage.

Then and there I learned that while a blade with a very smooth edge is preferred for woodcarving and shaving, it helps to use a blade with a rougher edge for most cutting chores. I’m not talking about serrated edges, which are good for only a couple of things, like cutting rope. I’m talking about a “microscopically” rougher edge that gives the blade some “bite,” and that’s why I now finish up the edges of hunting knives on an extra-fine diamond stone, and for an even more aggressive cutting edge, finish up sharpening on a fine diamond stone. Not all sharpening devices give the same results. For example, sharpening on a medium-grit ceramic stone or rod polishes the edge to some degree, and doesn’t give the same microscopic edge roughness that diamonds will.

So, when you sharpen your knives in preparation for next hunting season, don’t be afraid to put a little rougher edge on your blades. You’ll be glad you have a knife with a little “bite” to it!

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