2016 Gamekeepers / Spring - Wood Duck Box Placement

Spring 2016 Cover and drake woodie photo from my article

#ThankfulForBlessings

Sometimes farming for wildlife means doing the extra things that can create better wildlife habitat, including putting out man-made nesting boxes. Long before duck season begins each year, wood ducks will produce a clutch of eggs in hopes of adding ducklings to their world. Property managers and avid waterfowlers should take an interest in this practice that both trains wood ducks to utilize your area during breeding season and potentially increases the number of wood ducks to hunt each successive year.

            

Hunting wood ducks in bottomlands is a unique and special experience, and so is trying to raise ducklings.  Even the most seasoned manager has a soft spot for a nesting box full of fuzzy ducklings about to parachute out of their front door and into mother nature’s den. But before that can ever happen, careful consideration must be given to wood duck nesting box placement, including a fair amount of labor.

            

My Before and After wood chip maintenance photos

Sometimes, it's the little things....

Don’t forget that erecting a wood duck nesting box requires more materials than simply the box itself.  While it is true that one can mount a nesting box alone by nailing it to a tree, that method doesn’t provide a measure of protection from common predators like snakes. A proper mount includes a 4 X 4 pole of treated lumber, and a predator guard usually made of galvanized sheet metal. Nails, screws, hinges and latches are just a few of the smaller hardware pieces that are necessary for final assembly.

To join the Mossy Oak Gamekeeper Club and receive a free hat, Biologic samples  and a magazine subscription click here.

To view past blog entries from GameKeepers magazine click Winter 2016 - Fall 2015 - Summer 2015 - Spring 2015 - Winter 2015 - Fall 2014 - Summer 2014 - Spring 2014 - Winter 2013

Beasley’s BBQ Sauce bottled in Walterboro

Pitmaster Kyle Beasley is left center of photo

This 5-pack of BBQ sauces retails for $45

Ever heard of Apple Pie barbecue sauce before? Not likely, unless you are a serious BBQ aficionado, or perhaps know Walterboro native Kyle Beasley. The first fruit-based barbecue sauce he created, the apple pie sauce, is now available for retail purchase along with four other of his specialty sauces. After a lifetime of cooking meat, sauces and everything in between, Beasley is a budding businessman who is more comfortable with the job title of pit master.

Beasley Catering cooks Ribs too!

“I’ve been cooking barbecue and hash in Walterboro for 30 years now,” said Kyle Beasley. “I love Barbecue. My hash has won a number of local contests. But I also try other styles like Jerk Chicken and when we cater an event I like to tell folks that I handle everything from the rice to the ice. Beasley’s BBQ Catering has been up and running for three years now and we have one food trailer for the cookers, and a second trailer is under construction.”

Right now the sauces are available for sale at Plumber’s Friend store in Walterboro, but Beasley is hoping to have them in the IGA store soon. “Folks can always visit the Internet at www.BeasleysBBQ.com for the latest information as we grow our marketing campaign,” said Beasley. “I have five sauces in the bottle now, but I have 20 more ready to go and a I also am planning a line of fruit-based hot sauces too.” The Beasley’s BBQ Catering page on Facebook is the best way to keep up with what Kyle Beasley has on the grill wherever he is cooking.

To view the feature article in the newspaper click on Colletonian.

To view past blog entries from Smoke In The Boro click on 2016 - 2015

To view past blog entries about cooking click on Camp Chef - Dead Meat TV - Charleston Cooks! - Palmetto BBQ and Brew - CCA Convention - Tony Chachere

Lowcountry Saltwater Fishing Report - 3/29/2016

Fishing Report for the Coastal Lowcountry of South Carolina:

Celebrating 20 Years in 2016 - Congrats!!

Inshore Report: Scott Hammond at Haddrell's Point West declares that Spring has arrived! With longer days full of sunshine and air temps holding in the 70's, the fishery is rapidly changing. Bait is entering our waters and the fish are hungry, with the first flounder showing up now too.

Redfish are no longer focused simply on preservation and are returning to form as top-tier predators. Anglers should consider using artificial plastic lures that mimic baitfish like the jerk shad lures that are available in a wide variety of colors. And trout have awakened from their sluggish winter phase, becoming more active along grassy banks and over submerged oyster beds. A 3-inch Glow/Gold DOA plastic shrimp suspended two-feet underneath a 1/4-ounce DOA popping cork should work great.

The flounder are also being taken on popping corks rigged with a mud minnow. Focus on fishing near structure when targeting flat fish, with old pilings and docks being good places to prospect. Cast in all different directions to try and locate them, and remember that they will hug the bottom where they hope to ambush prey. A pro tip is that flounder may change their location only slightly during the ebb and flow tides, so don't leave a good spot just because the tide changed and the bite turned off.
For all the latest seminar information visit the Internet at Haddrell's Point.

Offshore Report: Wahoo are being caught with regularity along the ledges and the first mahi are showing up to the South too.

To view past Lowcountry Saltwater Fishing Reports click here.

2016 Smoke in the 'Boro - Barbecue Cooking Competition

Don Price, owner of Pimp My Pig,
won the Anything Butt Contest

2016 Event Flyer

The family-oriented fun associated with competitive barbecue cooking is causing quite an aroma of success for Walterboro. Good weather on Friday evening and Saturday at lunchtime helped bring in a record crowd to this event that was the vision of Wayne Keith. During this third edition of Smoke In The Boro, brought to fruition by The Colleton Center and Coastal Electric’s Operation Round Up, the most cooking teams to date came to town from Georgia and the Carolina’s to be judged against the best of the best.

Choosing a non-protein menu item seemed to work well for the Pimp My Pig team from Batesburg-Leesville in S.C., producing a blueberry cheesecake the smoked the competition by winning the Friday night cook off. Owner Dean Price was proud of his prize and went on to cook some tasty cue the next day too. There is a People’s Choice winner on Friday and that went to team Smoke-N-Carolina and pitmaster Mark Spurling for their flavorful chicken wings.

Gotta Love 'Dem Ribs

The winning team on Saturday for Smoke In The Boro is All Smoked Up from Lexington, S.C., led by pitmaster Gary Taylor. Coming in second place is Backwoods Bar-B-Que led by Gene Culbertson. Its worth noting that this team is the 2015 State Champion according to the S.C. BarbecueAssociation, which shows that the best teams are coming to cook in Walterboro. Third place goes to Ultimate Tailgaters BBQ from Aiken, S.C. and pitmaster Chris Fulmer.

To read the feature article in the newspaper click on Colletonian.

To view past blog entries about Smoke In The 'Boro click on 2015

To view past blog entries about cooking click on Camp Chef - Dead Meat TV - Charleston Cooks! - Palmetto BBQ and Brew - CCA Convention - Tony Chachere

Gar Linder organized the Monster Truck and Car Show