It’s that time of year to clear out the files and pass along the hunting tips that didn’t make it into an issue of The Bullet this past year or on the site. Enjoy.

  When hunting squirrels with an air-gun, make sure that you aim perfectly because if you don't you will either injure the animal without a kill, scare away other squirrels in the area, or both. - Leo Kogan

  When squirrel hunting at about midday (12:00), set up on a shady tree. Watch any tree you see squirrel go in and out of holes be patient wait an them 5 to 6 came out for me in at least 15 minutes and killed them all in a couple of minutes. - Steven Fletcher

  All you need to keep bucks from rubbing on your trees in your yard is one pipe per tree. They don't like to hit their horns on the metal. - Kenneth Kegley

  To help keep the hair off a squirrel while skinning it, wet the fur down first. - Cody

  Hey, before the rut take a week or two to see how many big bucks are out there in different locations. - Nolan Jones

  Use your cone shaped moose call for hearing moose better. Just turn it around to your ear. Amazing what ya can hear. – E. Bear

  When hunting with someone else and ya'll split up it is good to have a couple of walkie talkies to keep in contact with your other person. - Garrett Farmer

  When hunting squirrels alone, carry a few small rocks, acorns, walnuts, etc. with you. When you have a squirrel that is playing hide and seek around the tree, throw the stones or whatever else you have at the opposite side of the tree; thus creating noise to cause the squirrel to move towards you creating a shot opportunity. Be ready to shoot! - J.E. Smith

  While hunting for anything, listen for all the animals. They will tell on each other just like they tell on you. Crows and blue jays are real good for this. Watch the other birds too when they fly off in mass, there’s usually something moving. – C D

  When deer hunting on the ground, go to your spot a day before the opener or get out to your spot early while it's still dark and brush away all the leaves and sticks. When you move the deer won't hear you as well. - Dwayne Mugley

  If you want bigger coons to trap, move your traps further from the water. The big older coons prefer to be alone. You will catch less, but better fur. - Cody Presley

  When using a 5 gallon bucket as a seat while hunting, replace the wire handle with a nylon strap or rope. The handle won't bang against the bucket keeping you quiet. Use a strap that is long enough so you can carry your bucket over your shoulder leaving both hands free to safely carry your weapon. - Bill Seibel

  If you are going to build a tree stand do it during the off season to get the deer used to seeing it. - Colton & Jim

  When full moon, go hunting at noon. - Tom

  To cover up in a goose spread put a couple of goose shells on top of yourself to break up the outline of your body. – Brock

  As deer season approaches, go out a month before and put doe urine and corn. Keep it maintained and supplied from day to day, and if legal, keep it up all the way to opening day of the season. This develops a pattern in the routine of your prize. You know you've done good when you start to see his scrapes near your blind. - Alex Poythress

  A good fire starter to have in your survival pack is a 9 volt battery and some fine steel wool to make sparks. Watch it though you could get shocked. - Dustin Wilson

  Try wearing bright blue or green clothes while small game hunting most of the time they look over you. Cam Looker

  Don't buy scent neutralizer make your own. Use baking soda and distilled water. Mix it 50/50 and pour into a spray bottle. Shake well before spraying yourself. Baking soda is very good at killing human odor and its cheaper then paying for brand name products. - Luke Roberts

  A common mistake made when using a deer grunt call is calling too much. Blow 3 - 4 grunts and then wait 10 - 15 minutes. Too much grunting may scare them away. – Ed

  Send your tips to mail@backwoodsbound.com.

  I am not an avid predator hunter, but I have killed my fair share of coyotes while hunting and scouting and just enjoying the outdoors. The season is open year round on the small prairie wolves in Oklahoma and while I won't shoot one during the year when they are denned up and having pups, they are fair game the rest of the year.

  Over the years I have seen many wonders though.

  Most recently as I was going to my bow stand, I turned in under the mountain on the southern most edge of my property and a half grown coyote ran out in the road in front of me and sat down.

  I stopped, bow in hand and I started knocking an arrow and he sat there looking at me like he was trying to figure me out. When he cocked his head to one side and yipped like any other dog would I laughed and put my arrow back in my quiver.

  "You better get up the woods! The next human you meet might not like you so much," I said with a laugh.

  The coyote stood up as I sat down and gave the 4 wheeler gas. He ran to my right on up the hill and out of my headlight. As I rolled on down the road he ran out in the light and stood there and watched me some more. When I got even with him he ran along ahead of my 4-wheeler and stopped at the edge of the first food plot. I stopped and we just looked at each other. Finally I took off again and as I rolled past him he just sat there and looked at me.

  Several years ago in a tree stand I watched 11 coyotes come through hunting as a pack. I have never seen that before or since, but over in the northern part of Haskell County a man killed a female timber wolf that the game department believed had been part of a fur farm and turned loose when fur prices went to nothing. She had had several litters of pups and they determined her to be an old wolf and in the wild for a few years. The coyotes have gotten big and they run in packs occasionally. Hmmmmm.

  Another time I was driving down the long driveway to my in-laws home and I saw a life and death race! A beautiful gray fox was racing across the hay meadow like his bushy tail was on fire! Behind him running just as fast was a coyote intent on killing his distant cousin.

  Slamming the brakes on the truck, I peeled my ever-present SKS from the back seat, jumped out and slammed three shots at the coyote as fast as I could pull the trigger. He tumbled head over heels and the fox got away unscathed, never looking back to see if he was safe until he made it to the woods along the big pond.

  I have only seen a gray fox in the wild four times. The first time I was in high school and I watched one just out of range of my .30-30 catching mice in a brush pile along a new pipeline. Another I saw was crossing a ridge, taking a stroll as though he was out for his Sunday walk. The third time was the time I just wrote about.

  And the fourth…… A couple years ago I was hunting this food plot down the hill from my in-laws commercial hog barns. It was a minimum 135 yard shot to the food plot and the far edge was right at 200 yards. Normally I hunted this food plot with a 7mm Rem Magnum or my .308 Winchester. For some reason I can not explain I picked up my daughter's little Savage Rifle in .243 Win to hunt the plot that evening. The .243 is a good cartridge, but I definitely had better ones for the distance I was shooting. Still, it is what I took.

  The Bermuda grass is thick on the side of the natural earth dam holding tanks and I always rested comfortably that far above the food plots. As I sat there I could see two young does eating at one end of the plot. They were yearlings, their mama sending them away as breeding season came into play in the deer world. I had seen them several times before and while I would quickly take a big mature doe, the two young ones were as safe as they could be.

  The problem with this place was I had taken more than one nap there. The evening was pretty darn cold, but I was bundled up warm and I felt my eyelids grow heavy. I had my shooting sticks up, but the rifle was in the grass beside me propped up on my backpack.

  If you have spent a lot of time in the woods you know that when you feel like you are being watched, you normally are. I moved my head around slowly, looking to either side as my hand had moved to my .44 magnum revolver. This would not be the first time I had a doe on top of me.

  Looking straight down the hill below me I saw two eyes peering up at me through the brush.

  It was a gray fox and he was no more than 25 yards from me, his sharp face barely visible through the thick Sumac and Indian grass on the side of the hill.

  I was in full camouflage, the orange vest I was wearing was camo-orange and I knew that the fox should not be able to see me, but he might have seen me move before I had seen him or became aware of him. I froze, refusing to make eye contact. As I sat there the fox walked out of the brush to the flat bench below me and lay down in that thick Bermuda grass. As I watched in amazement, he curled up and went to sleep.

  Slowly I moved my hand to the rifle, lifting it gentle from the pack, freezing in place each time the fox raised his head and looked around before putting it back down and dozing some more. It took me a full 20 minutes to get my rifle in place.

  He was beautiful and I told myself I would not shoot him unless I could do it without tearing him up. I sat there with the rifle ready for another 10 minutes before he finally got up and scratched. I held the crosshairs on him and then he leaned forward and stretched. I shot him right behind the leg, straight through the heart and he nosed forward into the grass.

  He didn't even kick.

  I sat there, glancing at the now empty food plot. Gathering up my stuff I carried them up the steep embankment and to my truck at the hog house. Walking back I felt a strange mix of sadness and elation at taking this animal.

  Standing by the fox I marveled at how beautiful this small predator was lying there in the grass. I wish I had a video camera to capture the entire nap. I picked him up gently and carried him to the truck. Laying him on the tailgate I felt of the soft fur and already knew how I wanted the taxidermist to mount him.

  Up until that point I had never done a head mount or a full body mount of any animal. I have no desire to kill another fox and to me that makes this one an even more special trophy. He sits over my fireplace now -- vigilantly guarding my living room. I hope to take a bobcat this year to go on the other side.

  Springfield, IL – Illinois deer hunters heading to the field this fall are encouraged to consider donating deer to the Illinois Sportsmen Against Hunger program – part of Illinois "Target Hunger Now!" initiative to feed Illinois families.

  The Illinois Sportsmen Against Hunger program allows hunters to donate whole deer for processing into venison that is provided to food banks, food pantries and other charitable organizations in local communities throughout Illinois.

  Since 1994, the Illinois Sportsmen Against Hunger (ISAH) program has coordinated the donation of more than 674,750 pounds of venison, providing nearly 2.7 million meals for families and individuals in need. More than 101,400 pounds of venison was donated through the program during last year’s deer season.

  "As we ‘Target Hunger Now!’ in Illinois, the Illinois Sportsmen Against Hunger program provides an effective way for hunters to help combat hunger by sharing in the success they enjoy while hunting this fall," said Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) Director Marc Miller.

  "Thousands of Illinois families have benefitted from the generosity of hunters over the years, and we encourage the hunters helping us control the deer population to consider either donating whole deer or making cash contributions to cover processing costs. Help us “Target Hunger Now!"

  The IDNR and the Illinois Conservation Foundation encourage hunters, if they wish, to make a tax-deductible $50 contribution through the ICF to help cover the cost of processing the donated deer into ground venison. Hunters may donate deer to the program without making an additional monetary contribution.

  Monetary donations can be made by hunters, other individuals, and organizations through the Illinois Conservation Foundation, One Natural Resources Way, Springfield, IL 62702-1271. The funds help cover the costs of processing venison by approximately 50 participating meat processors throughout the state.

  Once again this fall, the IDNR also encourages hunters and landowners to obtain additional antlerless deer permits to assist in deer management and to support the ISAH program. The IDNR earmarks funding from the state Wildlife and Fish Fund to assist in covering the costs of processing venison for the ISAH program from deer taken by hunters in areas of the state with growing deer populations. The additional funding is provided through non-resident archery deer permit fees.

  The IDNR – building on the success of the Illinois Sportsmen Against Hunger program -- initiated "Target Hunger Now!" as a means to provide donated venison, as well as fish taken from Illinois waterways by commercial fishermen and processed by Illinois companies, through the network of Illinois food banks for distribution to hungry families throughout the state.

  The deer hunting seasons for 2010 - 2011in Illinois include the Archery Deer Season (Oct. 1, 2010 - Jan. 16, 2011); the Firearm Deer Season (Nov. 19 - 21, 2010 and Dec. 2 - 5, 2010); the Muzzleloader-only Deer Season (Dec. 10 - 12, 2010); and, the seven-day Late Winter Antlerless - only Deer Season (Dec. 30, 2010 -Jan. 2, 2011 and Jan. 14 - 16, 2011).

  For a list of meat processors handling venison for the program, check the IDNR web site at http://dnr.state.il.us/legislation/isah/.

  Check in your state if there is a similar program. Odds are there is. Check with your states department of natural resources on how you can help. Find a link to your state’s DNR on our site at www.backwoodsbound.com/stgamedepts.html.