JOURNAL

GAMEPLANNING FOR GOBBLERS
Listen, no one loves running miles of ridges with a vest full of calls trying to strike up a gobbler more than me. The days I get to do that reminds me of a much younger and freer time, listening...
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HUNTING TURKEYS AND SCOUTING FOR DEER?
It’s late February early March, and by now your tree stands and compound bows are probably collecting dust in the gear closet. Snow is accumulating in the northern and western states, and bucks are just now beginning to drop sheds....
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EARN YOUR NEXT MATURE BUCK NOW
Big bucks in pressured areas are no easy task.  The next 3-4 months is the best time to “earn” your next buck in my opinion.  Your efforts during these months will be directly related to your success next fall.  Talk...
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PUBLIC LAND HUNTING OPPORTUNITIES AT RISK!
In August of 2021, the Department of Interior announced that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service opened or expanded hunting and sport fishing opportunities across 2.1 million acres within 88 National Wildlife Refuges and one National Fish Hatchery. The Biden...
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FIND, FIX, FINISH
The idea for Spartan Forge formed in 2010 while I was serving in Iraq. I realized that the prosecution/finding of terrorist targets and pursuit of trophy whitetails have many parallels. The targeting cycle used in Iraq was called “Find, Fix, Finish” or F3 for short, this cycle soon evolved into F3EAD or "Find, Fix, Finish, Exploit, Analyze, and Disseminate". After several combat deployments, it occurred to me -- This model applies to hunting a big ole buck or a wily doe, just as it did an enemy of the United States. When under pressure, they both want to avoid detection, but still work achieve their goals. You can exploit them when you understand their goals and can account for their strengths and subsequent weaknesses. Let’s break this model down further and the parallels will become obvious.
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