Catholic Hotdish

Seems like we have waited forever for spring to arrive this year. Less than two weeks ago, snow covered portions of southeastern Minnesota and western Wisconsin. And, on May 5, I walked through a snow-covered field to turkey hunt near Ellsworth, Wis.

Now, things are finally greening up, and I’m seeing the first flower blooms of the year. It’s a very welcome sight! As I was walking past the Cathedral on my way back to the office the other day, I spotted some flowers in the Cathedral courtyard.

Naturally, I pulled out my camera and zoomed in on the splashes of pink in front of me. Taking in the scene definitely put a smile on my face.

With the heat we’ve had this week, leaves on the trees have popped fast. Just a week ago, the trees were bare. Now, we’re near full foliage. With green as my favorite color, this is a beautiful display, indeed.

It also will be very helpful next week when I go turkey hunting during Minnesota’s final season. The H Season starts on Friday, May 24. The foliage will help conceal me so that I can move in closer on birds. That always helps.

And, hopefully, the hens will be done laying their clutches of eggs and will be sitting on their nests. They lay one egg a day up to about 15 or 16, then sit on their nests to incubate their eggs almost round the clock. The first few days this happens, the toms are actively cruising for hens and can be very eager to come to a call.

That’s what I’m hoping for. Eventually, their excitement will fade, but I’m hoping it will last into the H Season. In a normal year, the toms are more subdued by this time, but still have some interest in breeding. This year, they may be far more active, making Season H perhaps the best season of the entire spring!

Originally, I was going to hunt Season E down near Cannon Falls. But, that didn’t work out. So, I called the landowners of the two adjoining properties I was planning to hunt, and asked them if I could switch to Season H. Thankfully, both of them said yes.

Although you can buy the tags over the counter for Seasons E through H, and there is no limit to the amount of tags the DNR will offer, I think there will be fewer hunters in the woods, especially for Season H.

Generally, once fishing season opens, people put away their shotguns and bows, and pick up their fishing rods. I understand that, as I used to do the same thing. But, I have discovered in recent years that turkey hunting can be good in May. And, the fishing season goes a long time, so there is plenty of time to wet a line after my hunt is done.

So, starting next Friday, I will take to the woods in search of a nice gobbler. To me, there’s no better way to enjoy spring!

A snowy landscape made for an interesting backdrop for this Wisconsin turkey hunt.

As I arrived to my hunting spot near Ellsworth, Wis. on Sunday morning for a “spring” turkey hunt, the landscape was radically different from previous years.

I just finished my Wisconsin season, which ran for seven days. On the first evening, snow started to fall where I hunt. When it was finished the next morning, there was 13 inches on the ground. So, I did not hunt for the next three days.

I went back out on Sunday morning. Some snow had melted, but there was still lots on the ground. I hunted a very nice piece of property where my sons and I have killed birds over the last six years.

Turns out there was a fired up tom roosted just a few hundred yards from where I parked the car. The snow didn’t seem to keep the toms from doing what they like to do in the spring – court the ladies.

Making my move

It was tricky to slip in close because there were no leaves on the trees, and the blanket of snow added more light. I couldn’t get in as close as I would have liked, but I got into the section of woods where this gobbler was roosted. I ended up sitting down against a tree in a blanket of snow, which I had never done before.

The tom was gobbling hard on his own, then I heard a hen yelping. I mimicked her a couple of times, then she shut up. I was hoping he would fly down before she did, which is exactly what happened.

He was hot to trot and flew down into the field and continued to gobble. I called softly, then quit. He kept working toward me in the field, and I was convinced I would see him in an opening in the brush on the edge where he was walking. I wanted to sit right along the edge, but felt it would be too risky in terms of him seeing me from the roost. So, I tucked in around the corner, about 30 yards from the edge.

The moment of truth?

Had he walked right along the edge, I would have had a nice 30-yard shot. But, as it turned out, he walked about 20-30 yards out into the field. That put him at about 50 yards or so. Had he stopped in the opening and ran his head up, I would have taken the shot. Instead, he walked right through it and continued toward the corner. I did not shoot because I wasn’t sure I could knock him down.

He reached the corner, but there was a lot of thick brush between me and the bird. I turned to the right hoping he would round the corner and come on in. He only needed to go another 25-30 yards and I would see him again.

What did he do? He stayed right at the corner and continued to gobble. I waited, then did a little more soft calling. Over the years, I have used soft calling to lure the bird the final steps into range and into a clear spot for a shot. He gobbled right away, but stayed put. More than likely, he wanted that hen to come out and show herself.

Time to wait

I’ve played this game before, and knew it was time to shut up. A lot of guys can’t stand it when a bird hangs up, so they keep calling. I have learned that staying quiet usually causes a bird to get curious and come in looking.

I knew he didn’t have any hens with him, and he already had come this far. Plus, there was absolutely no obstruction between him and I, so there was no reason for him to hang up.

Then, he went quiet for a bit, and that’s usually when the bird is moving. So, I got my gun up and ready, then took the safety off. He gobbled again, and seemed a bit closer, but still had a little ways to come. I kept my gun up, and finally took the safety off.

The final steps

Only about a minute later, I caught movement to my left. He walked out into the field about 20 yards and finally cleared the brush and reached an opening. I should have done what my friend suggests and made a call to get him to stop and raise his head.

But, in my excitement, I put the bead on him while he was walking and fired. With his head pulled in toward his body and not raised up, I ended up putting more pellets into the body than I would have liked. In fact, I broke his wing. But, the end result was good – the bird went down! My shot was about 30 to 35 yards, which was well within the range of my shotgun.

I was worried that that the breast on the side facing me would be riddled with pellets. That happened last year on a similar shot. Amazingly, when I breasted out the bird, I didn’t find any pellets on either side.

The two breast halves are now in the freezer. The only tough part was I sliced my thumb when I was breasting out the bird. I had just sharpened the fillet knife, so it went right into my thumb. I went to the Urgency Room and they actually used some type of glue. Oh well, a small price to pay.

Another bird in the snow

Steve Huettl sits in the snow with the bird he took in Wisconsin last week.

My friend, Steve Huettl, hunted the same season and went out into the snow like I did. However, he did not wait until Sunday. He went out Friday afternoon and actually stalked in on a nice gobbler that had hens with him. He snuck in close and shot the bird.

That’s not the way the game is usually played, but you have to adapt to varying conditions. Last year at this time, the trees had leafed out, and the hens were sitting on their nests incubating eggs. With the ladies absent, the toms were left lonely in the woods.

This year, Steve says the birds are “henned up” right now in the areas hit hard by the snow. He believes the snowstorm wiped out all the eggs the hens had laid, meaning they had to start breeding all over again.

That makes for very tough hunting. So, he told me to count my blessings that I was able to get a bird to come in, and come in without any hens around.

I say “Amen” to that. God is good, and I give credit to him for helping me get my Wisconsin “snow bird.”

My wild turkey season in Wisconsin begins Wednesday. I will be hunting with Bob Guditis, who is the father of my first wife, Jennifer, who died of cancer in 1995. I still call him my father-in-law. That’s what he’ll always be to me.

We went out scouting yesterday and enjoyed a fabulous afternoon, with temperatures in the upper 70s. I’m sure the warmth will get the breeding going strong. I talked to one of the landowners, and he says he has been hearing turkeys gobbling along a ridge regularly. I’ve got my blind close to that ridge and near the edge of two large agricultural fields that have some waste corn from last fall.

An area like this is excellent for turkeys and I have killed several birds in this spot over the last six years. I’m confident that there will be birds around, which is what you want.

Another good sign is seeing a few turkeys tracks, plus wild flowers blooming, a sure sign that spring is here. We did see a few patches of snow as we drove around, but it will be gone soon. I think we’ve seen the last of the white stuff.

Bob, meanwhile, got excited when I showed him the piece of land he’ll be hunting. It’s got a nice trout stream running through it, and he’s an avid flyfisherman. So, he’ll have both a shotgun and a flyrod with him. If the turkeys aren’t active, he’ll head to the stream for some trout fishing.

I just hope the weather is decent for at least part of the time. It’s looking like we won’t see the 70s during our week-long hunt, but I would be OK with 50s. After all, turkeys are not nearly as temperature sensitive as humans are. In fact, the most gobbling I ever heard at dawn came on a very cold morning in early April when the temperature was 22 degrees, and only warmed to the low 40s.

This gobbling fest took place on the same property Bob will be hunting. I hope and pray he can get a nice tom to come in close enough for a shot!

A very troubling and perplexing problem came up last week during one of my archery practice sessions. I had been doing well shooting at 20 yards since getting my new Vapor Trail string installed at A1 Archery in Hudson.

Then, things went bad last week while I was shooting at 20 yards, my usual distance. The first arrow hit 2 inches to the right. Then, the second one did, and the third. I had been hitting the bullseye or close to it regularly, so this was strange. As I continued shooting, the arrows started drifting farther to the right. Finally, I had one hit six inches to the right.

I thought my shooting form was going bad, and I got very upset with myself. Turns out a screw was loose – not inside of me, but on the bow. The day after Easter, I called A1 to ask the guys there about my problem. They instructed me to bring the bow in, which I did.

When one of the guys took a look at it, he instantly found the problem – a screw on the bottom cam had popped out. As a result, two other screws came loose and the string slipped off of the grooves on the cam. This caused three problems: 1. Altered arrow impact, 2. lower draw weight, and 3. shortened draw length.

He took about 1o minutes to find a replacement screw and put it on. Then, he sent me to the shooting range to check it out. My groups tightened right back up again, and I readjusted my sight pins.

As I did so, I saw another employee with his bow, and noticed he had a long stabilizer on it. When I asked him about it, he mentioned the brand name of the stabilizer, Bee Stinger. I asked if the shop carried this brand, and he went and got one for me to try.

Instantly, I liked it and knew this was something I should have on my bow. So, I bought one. I had my first home session with it yesterday, and it performed beautifully. It offers both dampening of bow movement after the shot and stabilization during the shot. I discovered that I could hold the pin steadier on the target, and the bow didn’t jump so much after releasing the arrow.

I’m sold on the Bee Stinger. At my age (51), I have discovered that I am not as steady as I used to be. I’m happy to have assistance in this area. Now, I’m back on track with my shooting, and can’t wait to try it at longer distances.

Finally, I want to say a big thank you to the guys at A1. They really took care of me on this one, and they have won my loyalty. I have gone to other local shops, but A1 has become my go-to archery store!

Steve Huettl shows off a nice tom he shot in Wisconsin last May, while hunting with the author.

There’s plenty of snow on the ground, and it looks like more shoveling lies ahead, but that doesn’t stop me from thinking about the upcoming turkey hunting season. The truth is, now is an important time for getting ready to chase gobblers in April and May.

I will be hunting in both Minnesota and Wisconsin this spring, as usual. Lottery results for both states have been available for weeks. I was picked for Season D in Wisconsin, and plan to buy a license over the counter for Minnesota’s Season E (only the first four seasons, A through D, are by lottery). Back in January, I made calls to landowners to secure permission to hunt properties in both states.

If you haven’t already done so, now’s the time to make those calls. The longer you wait, the more risk you run of having others get permission before you do. Then, you’ll have to scramble to find other properties to hunt.

Pick up those calls

With that accomplished, turned to another important task – practicing my turkey calling. Much to the chagrin of my wife and kids, I have been sounding off for several weeks now. I’ve been turkey hunting nearly three decades, and I have become proficient at several types of calls – box, slate, mouth and push-button.

It’s not a task I need to spend hours on, but I don’t want to neglect it entirely. What I have learned is that when a turkey is gobbling and coming in, I tend to get nervous. My mouth gets dry and my hands tremble a bit. So, calling can get more challenging. That’s why I like to keep my calling simple, and go for the easiest calls to use during those tense moments.

My go-to call for pulling a gobbler those finals steps into gun range has been A Pushpin Pro Yelper by Quaker Boy. It’s a pushbutton-style friction call that is very easy to use. I have called in several birds with it, including a nice mature tom in Minnesota last year. This call works!

Yet, I felt I needed to add something more, something hands free. The obvious thing is a mouth diaphragm call. I have used them over the years, but they can be stiff and tricky to operate. I wanted something that is easy to use and can produce the soft calls – clucks and purrs – that I like to use when a gobbler is close but not visible or in gun range.

How to tease toms

I found a call recently that fits the bill. The company is called Tom Teasers and what caught my eye was the name of one of its mouth calls – Butt Naked Hen. When I ran across this name while surfing the Internet, I just had to go to the website and check it out.

I discovered that the calls are hand made, not mass produced. What’s more, each call has a short video demo that you can click on to hear what it sounds like. So, there’s no guesswork.

That was what really sold me on the calls, and I called the company to get my hands on one. I ended up talking to the founder and owner, Tommy Walton, whose company is located in Georgia. How often is it that you can get on the phone with the guy in charge?

Interestingly, the only other time that happened was when I contacted another Georgia company, Comp-N-Choke. The owner took my order back in 2009, and I have been very happy with the results. I have made shots from beyond 50 yards, and it’s highly unlikely I will ever switch to another choke.

Turns out, Tommy Walton knows about Comp-N-Choke and knows the owner. I had a great turkey chat with Tommy, and he graciously agreed to send me some samples. I waited eagerly for them to show up in my mail box, which they did less than a week later.

Perfect fit

To my delight, the Butt Naked Hen was among the samples Tommy sent. I have tried three of the five and like them all, but I especially like the Butt Naked Hen for the soft calls. It makes great clucks and purrs, and I’m sure this call will be with me when I hit the woods in May.

I noticed two things about these calls right away – they’re very easy to use, and they work great right out of the box. So often, I have found, mouth calls are stiff right out of the box and require a break-in period. That’s not the case with Tom Teasers.

On one of the calls, the tape came loose, and I called Tommy to let him know. Very graciously, he sent me a replacement call that arrived just a few days later. He also told me that he has since discovered a flaw in some of the tape he buys to make the calls. He is aware of the problem, and says all mouth call manufacturers are experiencing it, as the tape company sells to a lot of different call manufacturing companies.

So, anyone buying a mouth call should be aware of this, and be prepared to contact the call company if there’s a problem. Tommy said he will replace any call with this problem free of charge. I did not have this problem with the other four calls he sent me, and the replacement call has worked fine.

How good is good enough?

I will be the first to admit that I do not sound nearly as good with a mouth call as Tommy and the other guy who does the demos on the Tom Teasers website. But, the good news is, I don’t have to. It’s all about cadence and rhythm when it comes to producing hen sounds. If you get that right, you’re good to go, especially up here in the Midwest, where birds aren’t pressured nearly as heavily as they are down south.

Tommy told me that, down in the south, birds are hunted hard and can become call shy. So, hunters need to sound as realistic as possible. He added that any bird you get in the south is well earned.

My turkey hunt begins May 1. That’s only a month and a half away. As always, I’m optimistic about the season. Looks like the breeding could happen later this year, like it did two years ago. That’s one reason why I like to hunt in May. It’s very rare that there’s cold and snow then. In fact, two years ago, the weather was great, despite the late spring.

As I wait for the snow to melt, I’ll keep practicing my calling. Who knows? Maybe I can become almost as good on a mouth call as Tommy Walton. Then again, maybe the birds up here can’t tell the difference!

I have always marveled at stories about professional athletes who describe the work they do to try and win a championship.

A common thread is that the campaign started during the offseason. A familiar comment goes something like this: “The day after the season ended last year, I got right to work on my offseason conditioning, and right then and there I set my goal on winning a title.”

Look at Adrian Peterson. The recently announced NFL MVP has said many times that his campaign to be the best running back in the league began minutes after he tore his ACL in a game against the Washington Redskins last season. In fact, before he even left the stadium that fateful day in December 2011, he vowed to play the next season.

And, he did just that. Not only did he lead the league in rushing, he fell just nine yards short of Eric Dickerson’s single-season record. And, in the process, he led the Vikings to the playoffs for the first time in three years. It is well documented how hard he worked to rehab his injured knee. He ended up playing in every single game. And, he left little doubt that he was the hardest working player on the team this year, maybe in the entire league.

I think about that now, with the bow hunting season closed and a seven-month wait until the start of the 2013 archery deer season. Unlike many other hunters, I don’t put my bow on the shelf at this time of year. I continue shooting, mostly to keep my muscles in shape. And, just as important, I am using this time to make improvements on my bow setup.

The biggest tweak is getting a new string on my bow. The old one was showing serious signs of wear, including some cut fibers that could hamper accuracy and lead to breaking of the string. So, I decided to replace it.

For advice, I visited an archery shop in Hudson called A-1 Archery. The guy I talked to recommended one made by a local company called Vapor Trail. I did some checking and saw some great reviews. I even called the company and talked to one of their technicians about the strings they manufacture. I love being able to call a company and actually talk to someone about the products. Seems like companies in the hunting and fishing industry understand this. It’s by no means the first time I have talked to a person at a company about its products. In fact, one time I talked to the company president about a turkey choke and he took my order over the phone! The turkey choke I ordered, called a Comp-N-Choke, has worked great for me, and it likely will be the last turkey choke I ever buy for my Remington 11-87.

I ended up ordering a Vapor Trail string, and got it installed at A-1 earlier this week. The technician there put it on while I waited, then I was able to take some test shots. They put on what’s called a peep sight on the string, which allows you to look through the same opening every time you shoot. Plus, I no longer need special tubing to keep the peep aligned correctly. Vapor Trail says there is no peep rotation in the string, therefore no need to install tubing to keep it in proper alignment.

I had problems with the tube breaking about once every month or two. That means you have to reattach it before you can see through the peep and shoot again. I always feared that it would happen when I was drawing back on a deer. Now, those worries are gone.

Next on my list is sighting in my bow with the new string. After that, I will look at stabilizers. I have a cheap one on my bow now, and would like a high-end one to make sure I can shoot more consistently. It’s all part of being prepared.

I’m really hoping to tag my first archery deer next season. I have gone two seasons without doing so, and the mistakes and failures have fueled my motivation to be successful next time around. I will do all I can to address the little things because that could make all the difference come September.

I almost got a deer yesterday evening the way no one wants to – with my car. Coming back from a fruitful day of stand preparation, the buck jumped out of the ditch as my brother Paul and son Andy and I were headed home from the Red Wing area.

There was no time to react, so I braced myself for impact. I got a good look at the deer as I zipped by it, then heard a thump as it made impact with the back end of my van. Fortunately, both deer and van made out OK. In fact, there was not a scratch on the vehicle.

I thanked God for that, and for the enjoyable day in the woods. We visited two farms where we had permission to hunt, then put up a stand for each of them. I think they all are in good spots, and I think we should have some action on opening day. The other member of our party, Bernie Schwab, got his stands ready the day before. So, we’re set for the firearms deer opener Nov. 3.

Tips for hunting success

For those still in the process of putting up their stands – especially those who haven’t picked a spot yet – I offer four tips for where to put your stands, how to access them and how to hunt them on the opener and throughout the season. When I follow these rules, my success goes up.

1. Hunt funnels. If you don’t know what a funnel is, now’s the time to learn. Deer movement picks up dramatically during the breeding season (known as the rut), and the best place to be is where they travel. Specifically, you want to be in areas where bucks are cruising as they look for does, or are chasing does that aren’t quite ready to be bred.

The good news is, funnels are not hard to find. You can look on satellite images (think Google Earth) and see areas where wooded areas get narrow. That’s a great place to start. Another is where deer cross steep ravines. We found a dandy funnel yesterday that we couldn’t see on a map. It’s only about 25 yards wide and the deer trails already were there, not to mention a buck antler rub and a ground scrape. Andy will be positioned there waiting for deer to come through.

By the way, last year I shot a beautiful 8-point buck while positioned in a classic funnel. He chased a doe right in front of my stand, and I shot him at only about 20 yards.

2. Play the wind. This is far more important than many hunters realize. Observe a deer catching your scent even once, and you’ll know exactly what I mean. If deer see or hear you, they will pause and try to check you out. They may even get fidgety and nervous. But, if they smell you, they’re gone. Right now. No questions asked. That happened to me two years ago. I saw a doe’s head pop up in a cornfield, then she moved from left to right. After only a few steps, she was straight downwind of me, about 25-30 yards away. I looked down at my gun and slowly lifted it up for the shot. But, when I put my scope up where the doe had been, she was gone. Then, I saw her running nearly full speed to my left in an adjacent field. That was the end of that.

So, try to place your stand upwind of where you think the deer will travel. Better yet, have some obstacle like a cliff or pond behind you so that they have to go upwind of you. Also, don’t forget about scent as you go to your stand. If your scent drifts into the woods where the deer are, they may never come your way. In other words, you could end up spooking deer that you never knew were nearby. I think that happens a lot more often than hunters think, and could be a reason some hunters don’t see a deer all day.

3 Stay put. I know it’s tempting to climb down out of your stand to take a break for lunch. But, if you’re serious about shooting a deer, don’t do it. Deer move around a surprising amount throughout the day, and climbing down out of your stand takes away the chance to capitalize on this activity. Remember, it’s the rut and bucks can’t stand to sit still for more than about four or five hours at a time. They get antsy, then get up to keep on chasing does. The nice buck I shot last fall crossed in front of me at 2:55 p.m. Things had been quiet for a while, but I knew I was on a funnel, so I waited. The reward was worth it. Besides, the weather was so nice that it was not hard at all to stay in the stand.

4. Sight in your gun. Lots of hunters fail to do this. Some of them believe that it will shoot the same as last year. Maybe so, but not always. It takes so little time to go to a range and fire a few shots to make sure. Then, not only will your gun be accurate in the woods, but your confidence will go up as well. We were able to get our shotguns sighted in yesterday, and that was the last part of our trip down yesterday.

I’m getting excited. Next week, I will try to get out in my bow hunting stand once or twice, then it’s on to the firearms season.

I can’t wait!

With the Minnesota archery deer hunting opener set for this Saturday, I have been working to get all things ready.

I put up a stand on a good looking spot near Red Wing, then got another set up on a metro property that I hunted last year. Due to a complicated problem, I thought I wasn’t going to be able to hunt the property this year. But, things got resolved within the last week, so I went back out and put up a stand.

Looks like the weather will be nice this weekend, though a bit warm. Saturday should be good because it will still be cool in the morning from the day before, plus winds will be light and from the south/southwest.

That is perfect for my metro stand. The cool temps and light winds should have deer moving. I am hoping things happen early, as I will head to the Archdiocesan Youth Day in the afternoon. Hopefully, by then, there will be a deer at the butcher shop!

I have been practicing with my bow diligently throughout the last year, and I feel ready and confident. Based on my stand setup relative to the deer trails, my shots should be within 25 yards, which is my comfortable range.

I have shot with my practice broadheads and am good to go there. Plus, I will use lighted nocks, both to be able to find my arrows after the shot and, hopefully, see where they hit the deer. A double-lung pass through is my goal. That should make for a quick and easy recovery.

My hope is a deer will present a good shot, and I won’t get too shaky when I draw and can settle the pin in the vital area.

That wasn’t a problem last year, although I think I should have been a bit more deliberate in executing the shot. It’s not like a gun where you simply put the crosshairs on the deer and pull the trigger. You have to make sure everything is lined up and steady.

I hope and pray I can draw on a deer this weekend!

My oldest son Joe is going off to college tomorrow (Friday) for his junior year at the University of Dallas. He is the most avid hunter among my four children, and I thought it would be nice to prepare a wild game dinner for him before he leaves.

Actually, I have done so several times during the three months he has been home, but wanted to serve him up some “natural” fare one last time. This time, I decided to prepare grilled wild turkey breast. Haven’t done that very much over the years, but I recently discovered a terrific marinade that I have used on venison a couple of times with great success, and thought I should try it with turkey.

I will divulge the marinade recipe near the end of this post. A nice touch to the meal was the fried morel mushrooms and onions that I served on the side. I found a large batch of morels on a piece of land in Wisconsin where I went turkey hunting. I brought them home and cooked some that night, then froze the rest for later use. I thawed them and fried them in butter along with the onions. This was the recommendation I got from a good friend of mine, Jim Grill, who is a gourmet cook.

The mushrooms and turkey both were delicious. In fact, the meal was so good that Joe is planning on taking frozen turkey breast down to Dallas. He was fortunate enough to shoot a bird during a hunt back in May just days after he came home for the summer. He plans on making the same grilled turkey that I made for him. For those interested in trying something new, here is the recipe for the marinade:

Ingredients:

– Packet of Italian seasoning mix (may need more than one, depending on how much meat there is to marinade)

– Balsamic vinegar

– Olive oil

– Water

All you need to do is follow the recipe on the back of the packet, substituting Balsamic vinegar for regular vinegar, and olive oil for oil. You combine 1/4 cup Balsamic vinegar with three tablespoons of water and the seasoning mix in a  glass jar, then shake until mixed. You then add 1/2 cup of olive oil and shake again. When mixed, pour over meat that you have placed in a marinade pan (any large plastic or glass pan will do, or even a disposable tin foil roasting pan). Refrigerate overnight, then flip meat in marinade pan and refrigerate meat until cooking at dinnertime.

You can’t go wrong with this recipe. It comes courtesy of some friends, Bob and Christine Brickweg of Burnsville. They shared it with Christine’s sister, Louise Schwab, who lives next door. Louise and her husband, Bernie, used it earlier this summer when they invited my family to come over for dinner. I have tried it several times since, and I now know it works with both venison and turkey.

The key, I think, is to grill your meat on a charcoal grill, rather than gas. I like the flavor of meat grilled on a charcoal grill. You spend about $60 or $70 for a grill that should last a lifetime.

With plenty of summer left, you can bet I’ll be grilling more wild turkey!

I have one year of archery under my belt, and I have learned one very important thing – the key to success is in your head.

In other words, the sport is mostly mental. That important fact landed like a carbon arrowed zipped into a hay bale yesterday during a practice session.

As I draw near to the bow hunting opener next month, I am trying fine tune my shooting to make sure my arrow hits the mark when I – hopefully – take aim at a deer. Thus, instead of shooting several arrows at a time, I chose yesterday to shoot one arrow at a time. I am trying to make each and every shot count because, more than likely, I will get only one shot at any deer that comes my way.

At the same time, I wanted to test shoot two broadheads that I plan on using this fall – Rage and the new Ulmer Edge by Trophy Taker. The two heads are very similar. Both are mechanicals in which the blades deploy from the rear. The Rage comes with a practice head, while the Ulmer Edge comes with a set screw that keeps the blades from deploying during the shot. I like this feature, as it allows the archer to shoot with the actual head versus a separate practice head.

The good news is I shot both heads at 20 and 30 yards and they both hit in the same spot as my field points. So, I don’t need to do any more shooting with them.

The bad news – and what gave me the opportunity to learn an important lesson – is that my favorite arrow broke during the session. I didn’t have the foam target propped up well enough, and it fell over after my arrow hit, snapping the arrow.

I was bummed at first, but then decided to take the advice of my wife, who told me that situations like this can be opportunities if you let them.

I decided to test that theory. I said to myself, “Well, I’ll just  have to find a new favorite arrow.”

Guess what? I have a bunch of them now. Why? I learned that what really makes an arrow hit the mark is good form. When I shot several others arrows after my “favorite one” broke, I was able to get all of the others to hit at or near the bullseye. As I increased my concentration to try and find a new favorite arrow, my form got better and all of my shots were good.

That’s a great lesson to learn, and it helps my confidence way more than believing I shoot better with my “favorite” arrow. The truth is, today’s carbon arrows (which is what most bow hunters use today) are remarkably consistent from one arrow to the next. In fact, the carbon arrow is one of modern archery’s best technological advancements. Thus, when you buy a set of arrows from a given company (I happen to use Gold Tip), all of them should hit in the same spot, at least at short distances like 20 or 30 yards

In the long run, I think I’ll be much better off believing that my shooting form is the critical factor, not which particular arrow I’m shooting. Yesterday, after my practice session, I was able to proudly tell my wife Julie that I applied her little kernel of wisdom to archery.

Who knows? Maybe she’ll be able to offer me more good advice, like where to put up my stands.