Team Southern Draw is heading to St. Vincent!

The stars have aligned!  The crew of Southern Draw has all drawn tags to hunt Sambar Deer on St. Vincent National Wildlife Refuge.  For those of you who are not familiar with Sambar deer or St. Vincent National Wildlife Refuge for that matter, than let me explain….St. Vincent is a barrier island off the northwest Gulf coast of Florida.  It is a 12,300 acre National Wildlife Refuge that many species of wildlife call home.  You see, before St. Vincent was a wildlife refuge it was a privately owned island.  The early owners were quite the recreational sportsman and introduced exotic wildlife to the island.  One very unique species introduced, which still thrives on the Island today, is the Sambar Deer. 

Sambar deer are native to Southeast Asia.  They are much larger that than the typical whitetail deer but smaller than elk or moose.  Adults can range anywhere from 200 to 700 lbs.  Their antlers are similar in structure to elk antlers, extending high above their heads.  The Sambar prefers the marsh and wetland areas of the island, making it a perfect environment for them to thrive.

Once a year, the Florida Wildlife Commission (FWC) has a special opportunity drawing where hunters get a chance to apply for a Sambar Deer tag using a lottery system.  These tags are issued to keep the Sambar population in check.  This year we applied as a group and our number was pulled!!!  That means all five team members are getting tags for this hunt!  Load up the boat; we are heading to St. Vincent for a rugged, three day, primitive weapon adventure.  That’s right, I said “BOAT”!  How else would you get to an Island?

This will be quiet the adventure and we are planning to capture the whole trip on film.  This is not a guided trip either, so don’t get confused.  We arrive on the island and set up our primitive camp the day before the hunt starts.  There is no running water, no electricity and nowhere to moor a yacht.  As if any of us have one to begin with.  We are loading up a couple of bay boats with all of our hunting gear, camera equipment, bicycles and plenty of thermacell butane canisters and pads.  That wasn’t a typo, we are taking bikes.  All the research, and forum posts, I have laid my eyes on say that bikes are a must on this hunt, especially when you are trying to get as far away from the other hunters as possible.  Basically we are traveling as light as we all can.  My gear setup will look very similar to my backcountry elk preparations, with the exception of the bike.  Who knows the bike might frustrate me and spend its day on the boat.  Wouldn’t be the first time I walked 15 miles in efforts to arrow an elk.

All in all the Southern Draw crew is excited, especially as early December draws closer.  Regardless of the outcome, the whole experience will be an adventure nonetheless.  If any of our readers have some knowledge or have ever participated in this hunt, than feel free to shoot us a line with any advice you might like to share.  Be sure to stay tuned as this hunt approaches, especially when we storm the beaches of St. Vincent.  We will be sure to bring you play by play details as events happen.

Go shoot your bows!

Adam, SD Pro Staff

The Blog is Back!

After a couple of month hiatus, the blog is back online.   While we were working hard to transfer TeamSouthernDraw.com to its new and improved format we subsequently shut the Southern Draw Field Journal down.  To say the least we are just good ol’ country boys that have enough computer skills to be dangerous.  Between hanging stands, planting food plots, and checking trail cams we haven’t made the time to fix the problems.  So naturally getting the blog back online took longer than expected.  We are up and running now and we  apologize to any of our followers for the inconvenience. 

Check back each week for details from the Southern Draw Field Journal as we prepare to start the 2012 hunting season.  Be sure to add your email address to the “follow” tab found at the bottom left of the blog home page.  This way you will be notified of all field journal entries as they are published.  You never know when one of our experiences could help you in the field.  Be sure to check out our newly added Facebook page as well, come by and give us a “Like”.  This will give you the most up to date/real time information about the Team in the field.  Hopefully everyone has been shooting their bows.  The Florida archery season starts in just 12 short days. 

Shoot more, happy hunting!

Adam, SD Pro Staff

Stump Jumper!

Not to rip off PJ’s latest topic but he is right, the off season is just as important as opening day. The fact of the matter is the more effort you put in, the more successful you will be. Whether this means planting new food plots, moving stands, or mowing trails, there is always something that can be improved.

This off-season I took on a new project. None of us at Southern Draw have ever really been big fans of driving our trucks or ATVs around during deer season. Now don’t get me wrong, in the summertime it is necessary to use these gas hogs. In my eyes stealth is key…you don’t want the game to be aware of your presence. One way to accomplish this without having to hike miles from the front gate to the stand is with electric vehicles. Now of course if your financial situation allows, you could run down to your local Bass Pro Shops and pick up a Bad Boy Buggie. But if you are anything like me and always feel strapped for cash there is a cheaper way. GOLF CARTS!

 

 

It doesn’t have to be anything fancy or new. I picked this one up for free; the owner was going to just simply throw it away because he could not afford new batteries. I often come across them on Craigslist where a widow is trying to get rid of her husband’s old hobbies for a few hundred bucks. They make GREAT hunting vehicles because they are small, lightweight and can haul quite a bit surprisingly. All together we have roughly $1,000 into this cart which includes: brand new batteries ($425), 8” Buggies Unlimited lift kit ($225), and tires and wheels ($350). Although these accessories aren’t necessary, they are aesthetically pleasing. Not to mention easy to install. Anyone who has ever changed their own oil and owns a basic socket and wrench set can easily conquer this lift installation in a weekend.

 

All in all I would take my $1,000 ’96 Club Car over a $12,000 Bad Boy Buggie any day! Being a golf course mechanic by trade, if anyone has any questions about what to order or help with any install, please contact me at brock@teamsoutherndraw.com and I would be glad to assist in any way I can!

Brock – SD Pro Staff

Bow Press….Why buy one? When you can build one!

I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of having to rely on other people when it comes to tinkering with my bow. What if I want to change my own draw string? What if I simply want to adjust my peep sight? Those tasks mean a drive to the local archery shop is in my very near future. Wouldn’t it be great if I had a bow press of my own….?

Christmas was just around the corner, and every year my brother Adam and I love to get each other cool hunting gifts. So, I’m in the gym on a normal Monday trying to think of something rugged that I could get him, and it hit me, “I’m going to buy him a bow press”! Wait, better yet, “I am going to build him one”! Yep, that is exactly what I am going to do.

So my vision began with a get together with my buddy John, who is an excellent welder and an even better artist, to talk about my idea. As I’m blowing him up with this vision I noticed that he too was starting to get excited. Our shared enthusiasm was awesome, especially since we both had never done anything like this before. Excitement turned into brainstorming. We began throwing around ideas, doing research on Archery Talk and using Google images like a road map. The next thing I know, I’m ordering square metal tubing, an acme rod and a bunch of other materials to bring this vision to life.

Welding the tubing together to make the frame.

Acme rod used to generate the pressing action.

First we had to fabricate the frame. This part was a piece of cake. We used 2 inch square tubing for the majority of the frame and 1 3\4 inch square tubing for the pressing arm. To create the pressing action, we ran a ¾ inch acme rod through the center of the tubing which threaded into a ¾ inch matching acme nut that was welded 3 inches the pressing arm. It was extremely critical that the nut was perfectly aligned with the acme rod to prevent any binding that may occur while the press opened and closed. This part of the build consisted of a little, “trial and error”, which definitely added some stress.

Acme nut, welded in place….not a whole lot of room to work in there.

The next step in the construction, and in my opinion, one of the most interesting, was using Adobe Illustrator to design the press’s fingers. The fingers are the portion of the press that would be used to hold the bow in place. Once the design was finished we then transferred the file to a flash drive and took it to a local machine shop. There they cut the fingers out of ½ inch aluminum on a water jet. It was amazing to see how we were able to transform my design on paper, into actual parts.

Adobe Illustrator

Fingers I designed to hold the bow in place…..water jet cut out of aluminum.

After close to a month’s time and 40 hours of fabrication, things were finally coming together and the masterpiece was nearly complete. It took a little bit longer than expected due to all of the trial and error, and it probably didn’t help that I wouldn’t give the “ok”, to a piece that wasn’t perfect. John repeatedly joked about how much of a perfectionist I was the entire time, this coming from a man who gets paid for his extreme attention to detail. What’s that say about me? Ha-ha.

The Finished Product!! Success!

I feel like a gained so much knowledge from this little garage project. I encourage anyone interested in building their own press to do it! If anyone has any questions, I would be happy to provide a materials list as well as a few recommendations.

By the way, my brother Adam loved it. He was totally speachless!

Sam, SD Pro Staff

Summer Time = Hunting Chores

It’s late June and there’s not a lot of hunting going on right now. There is still plenty to do to prime your property for the upcoming season. For those of you that lease hunting land, this is a perfect time of the year to reacquaint yourself with your land owners. Get on the phone with them, let them know how things are going and see if there is anything you can do for them. This could be the difference in them keeping you on their tract for another year or replacing you. I have done this for almost three years now and every year another piece of property seems to open up. It’s always good to have the land owner’s good graces.

There have been some good bucks crossing our property this summer; however it seems like they spook/disappear for a few days with even the slightest bit of human activity. Mid-summer is a great time to go ahead and get your hunting areas set up in order to let the place get plenty of rest before the season. With your ground blinds, try your best to brush them in with their natural surroundings. I constantly see people just plop down these camo boxes in the wide open, and expect them to work. In my opinion, it just doesn’t look natural; take the extra time to really make your set up blend in.

Tropical storm Debbie afforded us some time off work early this week, so we put our rain gear on and got some of these chores done. In 2 days, we planted 8 acres of dove fields, got a few stands hung, brushed in a blind, and even had time to clean up the small pond we have on property. If you want to increase your odds this season, put the leg work in, do some scouting, and get your property primed. Reap the rewards of your efforts, I’m planning too!

Now all that’s left is to fine tune the ole bow and try to drag myself through this hot summer until hunting season!

PJ, SD ProStaff

Quick Food Plot Update

As promised, I wanted to let everyone in on the progress of our new food plots. The month of June has been more than cooperative. Our new tract of land has been getting hit with afternoon rain nearly every day. It was like someone flipped the switch following an extremely dry April and May. All of the seeds are really taking off. The Browntop Millet popped first and aided in protecting the other delicate seeds. The Iron/Clay Cowpeas and the Hulled Aeschynomene are really starting to come in and anchor the majority of the plots nutrition. All in all, the plots are a couple feet tall and the deer are starting to take a liking to them. I will have more pictures soon.

30 days after planting, no rain, no growth.

Following the rains!

Large Main Plot

The game cams are showing signs of life following the rains. We are regularly getting photos of mature does with newly dropped fawns and small bachelor groups of good bucks, all roaming the plots and all growing antlers. This is a great sign for our new property. Hopefully with this new found food source the once migrant herd of whitetails will stop and take up home in our low pressure scrub.

With the spring/summer plots going well, the guys and I will start the planting of our 10+ acres of dove field on the other end of the property. Check back soon to see the progress of this project.

If any of you all are in search of quality wildlife seed blends, check out Hancock Seed. They were extremely helpful and informative while we were making our food plot decisions.

Adam, SD ProStaff

2012 Southern Draw Preview!

The boys are from the south, the hunts are from everywhere! Preview several hunts that you can expect to see soon at our official website TeamSouthernDraw.com.

JT – SD Prostaff