Hill country outdoors june 2014

outdoorsMAGAZINE

JUNE, 2014

Brian Voss shows off

a slab 10.5 ‘’ Blue Gill

he caught on a

recent fishing trip.

BreamFishing

BasicsDog Training Tips

Mississippi

SpecialBream Issue

John 3:16

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Update from Hope Outdoors

Finding and Fishingfor Bedding Bream

LUNAR PERIODSFISHINGReports

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Freeze-Branding Your Dogs

Winter Water for Wildlife Project Now Accepting Applications

MDWFP, Wildlife Mississippi, and other partners are pleased to announce

the Winter Water for Wildlife project. This project will assist private landown-ers in the Mississippi Delta by offering incentive payments to flood crop fields and manage wetland areas to provide habitat for migrating water birds. This includes existing Wetlands Reserve Program areas.

The goal of the Winter Water for Wildlife project is to raise awareness among Delta landowners about the importance of flooding agricultural areas and conservation program lands to provide habitat for priority wildlife species.

The three project focal areas are Bolivar - lands north of Hwy 82, east of Hwy 1, south of Hwy 32, west of Hwy 61; Sunflower - lands north of Hwy 82, east of Hwy 3, and west of Hwy 49E; and Tunica - lands in Tunica County, east of Hwy 61.

Landowners must submit an application before June 1, 2014, for project consideration; all applications will be competitively ranked based on potential habitat benefits. For more information, contact John Gruchy at [email protected] or visit www.mdwfp.com/winterwater.

Melvin Dorough of Bald Hill with a nice tom he took which sported a 11’’ beard and weighed 27 lbs plus

by W. Bourne

The angler quietly slips his boat along the shoreline, casting and retrieving a small bait a few feet off the bank. Several suc-cessive casts go unrewarded, then suddenly his limp line twitches and darts sideways. Alert to this movement, the fisherman sets the hook, then plays and lands a bluegill that’s black and as big as a salad plate.

He deposits this fish in his live well, then he casts back to the same spot and catches its twin. With a sense of smug satisfac-tion, he realizes his search is successful. A colony of bream is nesting in this cove again this year, and now his fun will be nonstop until he spooks them away.

Bream on the beds! Nothing in fishing matches this phenomenon for sure-thing action and pure, unadulterated fun. When these pugnacious fish move into the shallows and start fanning nests, they are easy marks for anglers who know their ways and the methods to catch them.

Anglers like Jim Spencer of Arkansas. Spencer grew up fishing for bream in this state’s sloughs and reservoirs. He says the peak of the bedding season comes around the full moon in May, and bream continue to spawn in lessening degrees through the summer months.

“I’ve studied the scientific literature on these fish, and in clear lakes, they’ll spawn as deep as 20 feet,” Spencer states. “How-ever, usually they nest in shallow water, no deeper than 6 feet. The more color the water has, the shallower the nests will be. In some dingy oxbows, I’ve found beds in 12 to 20 inches. But I’d say the average nesting depth is 2 to 3 feet deep.”

Finding bedding bream can be a needle-in-a-haystack proposition, but anglers can take shortcuts to confine their search. Spencer explains, “Bream like to nest on flats, a lot of times where there’s something different—brush, stumps, lily pads, etc. So this is where I start searching for a bedding area. I’ll look in protected coves with the right water depth relative to its clarity. Unless the water is extremely clear, I’ll hunt for beds in 6 feet or less.”

Spencer says bream beds may be located in any of several ways. Sometimes anglers can see the lighter beds in dark water, like pancakes scattered across the bottom. (Polarized sunglasses are invaluable for peering below the surface.) Tiny bubbles on the water may give away the presence of bream, which are stirring up the bottom below. Some bedding areas have a peculiar odor which veteran bream fishermen can smell. Or sometimes, especially in shallow water, an angler may spot the fish darting away from an intruding boat.

Most times, however, an angler must find bedding areas through trial-and-error prospecting. Spencer continues, “When I find a flat that looks good, I cast around any structure—vegetation, cypress trees, logs, brush. I just keep moving and trying different spots until I start catching fish, then I stick with it until it plays out.”

Spencer uses ultralight spinning tackle for bream fishing. He prefers a short rod—no longer than 5 feet—and a reel spooled with 2 pound test monofilament. He ties a #4 long shank bream hook on the end of his line, and he baits with a 2-inch section of nightcrawler, which casts better than a cricket.

Catching bream from the beds is a fine art. Anglers who know the right tricks can catch these fish by the dozens when they are spawning in shallow water.

This is the entirety of his rig. He uses no additional weight and no float.

Finding and Fishing forBedding Bream

Bedding bream gather in colonies that can number in the hundreds of fish.

Anglers who know how to find beds and work them the right way can score abun-dant catches of these spunky, great-tasting

panfish.

Catching bream from the beds is a fine art. Anglers who know the right tricks can catch these fish by the dozens when they are spawning in shallow water.

Spencer’s method of fishing is ultra-simple. “When my bait hits the water, I’ll engage the reel, then let the worm sink and watch my line for a bite. If I don’t get a taker by the time the worm hits bottom (slack comes in the line), I’ll reel it in and cast somewhere else.”

However, if Spencer does get a bite, he casts back to the same place a second time. If he gets another bite, he knows he’s located a colony of bluegill.

“The next thing I’ll do is cast 20 to 30 feet out to the side,” Spencer adds. “I search for the edge of the bed so I can fish from the outside in. I don’t like to work the center of a bedding area first. I think the commotion caused by hooked fish scares the other fish around them.

“So I cast progressively to the side until I don’t get a bite, then I start casting back toward the bream. This way I work the outside edge first. By using this method, I can take sev-

Finding and Fishing. . .(Continued from Previous Page)

eral more fish from a bed before they spook away.Spencer says when action on a bed slow down, he leaves

it to hunt for another bed. “I’ll work it the same way, then return to the first one and fish it again. Generally, if you stay off a bed for half an hour, the bream will return, and then you can have another round with them.”

Spencer notes that bream routinely establish beds in the same spots year after year. After a couple of seasons, an an-gler can line up a repertoire of bedding sites, which reduces

his searching time and maximizes his catching time.

“Things really get exciting when you find a bed of big bream,” Spen-

cer concludes. “You usually get a bite as fast as you can get your line in the water. The only thing you have to watch is losing count and catching too many. Check your legal local bream limits per fisherman, and you can go over this num-ber pretty fast if you don’t keep up with your total.”

“Catching bream from the beds is a fine art. Anglers who know the right tricks can catch these fish by the dozens when they are spawning in shallow water.”

Late Spring Fishing in Southwest Mississippi

“May is a great time to fish

in Mississippi because it’s not too hot, not too cold, and all the fish seem to be biting,” says MDWFP Fisheries Bi-ologist, Jerry Brown. Large-mouth bass and crappie are moving into their post-spawn patterns with bluegill and cat-fish just getting cranked up! Look for bass and crappie to be transitioning from shallow water to deeper areas, and holding along contour changes.

Early mornings and late afternoons can be produc-tive when fish are actively feeding. Bluegill begin to bed during May in depths of 3-5 feet and crickets are the most popular bait used to catch these fish. “We’re for-tunate to have several state lakes in southwest Missis-sippi that offer great bream fishing, such as Lake Mary Crawford and Lake Mike Conner. We typically begin to see more of our bream and catfish anglers during creel surveys at this time of year,” added Brown.

Editorial�e Family Farm Pond Dean Wells

Editor

This past week when I was out and about, I drove by a pond out in a pasture and looking over a pond levee I saw people and fishing poles going all over the place. It was then that it struck me about how long it had been since I had seen that. Pondering, I thought I wonder why people just don’t get out and go down the farm pond and go fishing anymore. I re-member when I was growing up how kids would pitch a tent and fish all night. I mind you that there was some sneaky stuff went on at these camp outs. I remember my Pawpaw Swords putting out; long cane poles in the bank and then checking them regularly for whiskered cats. Heck, old people made all of it fun; wishing to see who could out fish the other, or cast the longest distance or catch the biggest fish.

Getting bait was even fun, especially night crawlers and Catawba worms. At one time there was not a yard or pasture that didn’t have at least one Catawba tree. Early and late in the afternoon you could pass by and someone would be poking and knocking the worms out of the trees with a cane pole, as the spouse and or the kids would be running and hurriedly picking them up and tossing them in a tin can. My grandpa Allen would say Catawba worms his favorite bait while my great grandpa Lacy Swords would lean more towards fat night crawlers. Serious catfishermen would often have their own worm farms or would feed the wild worms’ cornmeal or stale cracker crumbs, to keep them fat and close by for the next fishing trip. One thing is for sure they would sure out fish ev-erything else in the bait shop.

If we had a bad worm crop or no shad guts, or cut perch, it was back to “whew” that’s right, stink baits, Catfish Char-lie to drop a name. Whoever invented this concoction had to have been the smelliest fellow that ever drew a breath. Every container was different too. Sometimes it was gummy, stiff, and crumbly, sometimes it was jelly like, but what it lacked in viscosity or didn’t lack, it always stunk to the highest heavens. I even got smart and bought some rubber gloves and DANG IT, if it didn’t always manage to get on me anyway. As soon as all the others spotted me with gloves, I became the bait my hook man. Other baits we used was doc’s bait, that came along later which wasn’t quite as pungent smelling more like a bad diaper, than spoiling blood. Where was the Kool-Aid chicken when you needed it, huh? Anyway what ever we used it was fine as long as it worked.

Gear was simple for the family farm pond angler, some folks liked cane poles, others rod & reel. The Ambassador 5500 series was the Cadillac reel of the farm pond era and the big 404 Zebco’s, with a handle so big and gear ratio so low you,

could winch a cotton wagon out of a mud hole. Then there was fishing line, monofilament to be exact, yellow Stren line was king, oh how many fights that started at the country store, be-tween tobacco spiting catfishermen. “I wouldn’t use that stuff if they gave it to me”. “You know them fish can see it under wa-ter.” It’s clear line for me and eagle claw hooks or nothing”. One rule I didn’t like was no talking on the bank while fishing. No sir, that will scare the big catfish off. I believed that the largest catfish I ever caught on a rod and reel, happened when a bean truck back fired going down the road. Then there were turtles, yep the pond nuisance, bait stealing, good for nothings, is what they were. Needless to say, there was something about hanging a big snapping turtle and slinging it up on the bank next to your grandma. The reaction differed from grandma to grandma, but fast movement was always a common denomi-nator soon followed by side wrenching laughter by yours truly. If you got ole jaws on the bank there was no mercy. Dispatch-ing a big moss backed covered loggerhead was always a little tricky, so we usually ran to the house and got a 22 rifle for the job. Not long after the turtle murder, the stories started. Stories of how ole man so in so, had a big snapper to get a baby calf off the bank and once there was this lady that was attacked while fishing on a bucket near a creek and 4 logger heads, took her under while she was screaming and the gi-ant turtles ate everything but her Sunday bonnet. I have heard some whoppers as you can tell. It was all in fun though, good days too. The part I liked the best was eating the skinned pond cats we caught. My mama or grandma Black, would call all the family and it was on son, at Itra and Lacy Swords residence. Gallons of sweet tea, gallons of coleslaw, buckets of hushpup-pies, pans of catfish, all southern fried. Homemade pies and cakes made by my mama, my grandma and my aunts and they brought them in with both hands full and arms loaded, smil-ing and laughing like it was Christmas. I don’t care who you are, what you’ve done, it will never get better that, at a baseball game, football game, basketball game or on the greenest golf course in America. I might ad here that I have eaten in the best restaurants from San Francisco to Key West I will say this; Oh what I would give or pay, to sat down one more time and more if I could, with all my grand’s and great grand’s for another family farm pond, fish fry. There were once 17 of us that were always there, now there are my parents and me. So dig a fam-ily pond and stock it with channel catfish, catch them and fry them up a couple of times in the spring and summer with you family. Invite your neighbors, and kinfolks, you won’t regret it. You never know, that curly headed, dark skinned from fishing in the sun kid, running around chasing lightning bugs, might just remember it all, as some of the greatest days of his life.

A man’s days on this earth pass by like dandelion fuzz, floating away on a spring wind.

If you are not enjoying your life friend, fix the problem, because you are getting cheated.

The Editor

Whether you are on the water or in the woods, if fish or game is involved, so is scouting. Just because your boat is in the water, doesn’t mean that all you have to do is drop a line in order to catch fish. The same goes for the woods. It doesn’t matter what game you are after, just surrounding yourself with trees will not guarantee any success. And then there are the signs that give proof that fish or game have been there before. This is espe-cially evident in hunting. Game trails run throughout the woods. These paths are proof positive that some or perhaps many types of critters are moving throughout the area you are in. But again, these signs do not guar-antee a successful place to hunt. I can remember the

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early years of deer hunting being so excited about these trails only to realize that I knew nothing about what was using them or when they might be using them. This was of course before trail cameras. I can also remember the days when I would unload a boat and immediately begin to fish the first place that looked “fishy.” It didn’t take me long to realize fish live in the entire lake so it all looks fishy. Again, the signs were no assurance that I would have an encounter with the bass I came after.

Now it is true that the more signs that one has, the greater the opportunity. This goes for fishing or hunting and yet we have all been in the perfect place only to leave empty handed. Sometimes the baro-metric pressure is not right. Sometimes the wind is not right. And sometimes the water is too high or too muddy. Signs are a great thing to use but signs are not what we are hunting or fishing for. They simple point to the real thing.

This fact is especially true when it comes to creation. If you have read one of my columns for any period of time, you know that I am continually showing you how creation points to a Creator and how

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creation gives us a great opportunity to worship this Creator. But please don’t miss the point. Creation is only a sign of the true God, not a god itself. For if cre-ation keeps you away from being the follower of Christ that you are meant to be, then it has become an idol that you have used to replace the one and only God. So ask yourself this question as you continue to pursue your passion in the outdoors: Are the signs I see from nature making me want to become a better follower of Christ? Or are they replacing that desire? Only you know the real answer and only you can change it.

Many remember childhood fishing trips with friends or relatives, dunking worms in a pond or creek, and thrilling to the pulse of scrappy sunfish at the end of the line. Some recollect dogwoods blooming as big redears were pulled one after another from a brushpile hidey-hole. Others think back to frosty winter days ice-fishing for bluegills, or a mid-summer morning spent floating a scenic stream for redbreasts, or that just-right autumn afternoon when the “sunnies” snatched up every fly thrown their way.

We love bream fishing for many reasons. These ban-tam panfish fight like blue blazes for their size. They’re tops on the dinner table. Umpteen-jillion swim in nearly every lake, river, creek and pond in the country. When we want to catch lots of fish, regardless of size, bream answer the call. Nowhere in the continental U.S. are we more than a short drive away from a body of water well populated with one species or another.

Bream fishing is an excellent way to intro-duce youngsters to fish-ing, but don’t fall for the elitists’ inference that bream are just “kids’ fish.” Catching them is a wonderful pastime ev-erybody can enjoy. No need for fancy boats that could bankrupt a banana republic. No powerbuster rods, jet-dashboard reels and suitcase-sized tackle boxes full of expensive lures. Quite the contrary.

Worms, crickets and tiny lures are the bream’s blue-plate special. Cane poles, cut-rate rods and reels and paint-bare johnboats can replace the snaz-zy gear. Glamorous? Hardly. But bream fishing provides a great alternative to “serious” fishing with its multitudinous gadgets, end-less harangues and wearisome technicalities. If you’ll let them, bream can lead you back to what fishing is sup-posed to be — plain, relaxing, out-and-out fun.

Bream Fishing Basics“Bream fishing is an excellent way to introduce youngsters to fishing, but. . .”

BluegillMany species of sunfish inhabit U.S. waters, but three

are far and away more popular than the others.The most abundant and widespread of the trio is

the prolific, pugnacious bluegill. This panfish original-ly swam only in eastern U.S. waters, but stocking ex-panded its range to every state but Alaska. By numbers caught, these sporty customers may rank as our nation’s top gamefish. Folks know them by many names — cop-pernose bream, perch, copperhead, dollardee and blue joe, to mention a few.

Bluegills love company, usually living in loose schools of 20 to 30 individuals. They inhabit everything from ponds, crystal-clear creeks and sluggish bayous to cy-press-shrouded oxbows, vast man-made impoundments and broad lowland rivers. A population of adult fish in habitat conducive to good growth usually has many 6-

to 8-inch fish weighing 4 to 8 ounces apiece, with a smatter-ing of 10- to 12-inch individu-als weighing a

pound or more. They grow as much in girth as they do in length. Real heavyweights resemble — in size and shape — the dinner plate they frequently end up on. The world record, caught in 1950 in Alabama’s Ketona Lake, weighed 4 pounds, 12 ounces, was 15 inches long and had a girth of 18.25 inches.

“If you’ll let them, bream can lead you back to what fishing is supposed to be — plain, relaxing, out-and-out fun.”

Bream Fishing. . .(Continued from Previous Page)

Redear sunfishIf bream were

placed in divisions like boxers, redears would be heavy-weight contenders. These hard-hitting panfish deliver a knockout punch

that will put your bobber down for the 10 count.The “redear” name derives from the crimson-

tipped gill flaps. Redears also have grinding teeth in the throat for crunching the shells of tiny mollusks. For this reason, they’re often dubbed “shellcrack-ers.” Other monickers include government-improved bream, yellow bream, chinquapin and cherry gill.

Size makes redears particularly attractive. Some southern lakes frequently produce 1-1/2 to 2-pound-ers. Redears over 3 pounds have been reported in Ari-zona, Delaware, Kentucky, Mississippi, Ohio, South Carolina and Tennessee. Anglers in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia have caught redears topping 4 pounds. Two states — California and South Carolina — have records over 5 pounds! The world-record from Lake Havasu in Arizona weighed an astounding 5 pounds, 8 ounces.

Though native to the southeast United States, red-ears also thrive in many areas where introduced, in-cluding most of Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana and portions of Virginia, West Virginia, California, Ne-vada, Arizona, New Mexico and Wyoming. They live and feed mostly on the bottom and prefer deeper wa-ter than most other bream. Many are caught around stumps, roots, logs, standing timber and green aquatic vegetation.

Redbreast sunfish R e d b r e a s t

sunfish haven’t gleaned as much press as their larger cousins, but these bream fight tenaciously and are held in high esteem in areas where common. In prime waters, they often weigh 1/2 to 3/4 pound. Most large speci-mens are caught in the Southeast, from the Carolinas down into Florida. The all-tackle world record — a whopper at 2.1 pounds — was taken from Florida’s Suwannee River.

A bright splash of color across the breast and bel-ly gives this panfish its name. However, a redbreast’s breast isn’t always red. It may be vivid yellow or rust-colored. Common regional names include yellow-belly, yellowbreast, robin, red perch, tobacco box and longear.

Redbreasts inhabit diverse waters — everything from cold mountain streams to warm lakes and ponds and brackish coastal marshes — but anglers must be selective about fishing spots. Certain waters have many redbreasts, while similar waters nearby may have none. The best waters tend to be mid-sized streams where redbreasts grub on bottom for snails, crayfish, insects and insect larvae. Redbreasts relish small fish as well, unlike most bluegills and redears.

Bait & Tackle Tips

Any fishing tackle can be applied for bream catch-ing if the hook isn’t too large. But anglers who land the most usually employ the lightest practical tackle. Using fine line, inconspicuous terminal tackle and tiny baits or lures helps overcome the wary nature of large specimens. Light or ultralight rods or poles com-pound the excitement of playing fish.

Most anglers opt for an ultralight spinning or spin-cast combo, a cane pole or a long jigging pole rigged with 2- to 8-pound-test line. Some bobbers, small hooks, split shot and a few favored lures round out the selection. Fly-fishing tackle is popular as well.

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Bream Fishing. . .(Continued from Previous Page)

Bluegills and other bream can be caught using a variety of baits and lures, but small live baits such as crickets tend to work best.

Even a big bream has a small mouth. Larger adults occasionally eat small fish and crayfish, but bream usually feed on tiny forage animals — insects, insect larvae, snails, worms and other small invertebrates. Anglers should use baits and lures similar in size and appearance to these foods.

Live-bait enthusiasts employ crickets, earthworms, catalpa worms, meal worms, wax worms, maggots, grubs, roaches, grasshoppers, grass shrimp, leeches and many other enticements to lure their quarry. Fly fishermen mop up using popping bugs and a huge se-lection of wet and dry flies. Small spinners, mini-jigs, lifelike plastics and even tiny plugs are used by long polers and spinfishermen.

How to Catch ‘Em

Bream feed at all levels, grubbing on bottom, pick-ing food from aquatic vegetation at mid-depths and taking insects on the surface. They may be buried in dense cover or in relatively open water. They may bite only around dawn and dusk, or feed heavily at night. Anglers must contend with these and other variables on every fishing trip.

Fortunately, if you do your fish-finding systemati-cally, you shouldn’t have trouble determining where or how to fish, even when visiting new waters.

First, remember, bream are cover lovers: They rarely venture far from areas providing protection from predators, a ready food supply and shelter from intense sunlight. Concentrate your fishing in areas supplying these needs.

Search for bluegills, redears and other lake and pond dwellers around weed beds, brush piles, fallen or standing timber, boat docks, riprapped banks, stumps and other cover. Stream-loving bream like the redbreast usually live in deep pools out of fast current near rocky or woody cover. They often hide around boulders, fallen timber, root wads, weed beds and un-dercut banks.

Also consider other types of habitat preferences. For example, redears are primarily bottom feeders, usually caught on or near the bottom. Redbreasts oc-

casionally feed on the surface or in midwa-ter, but they, too, are more susceptible to bottomfishing tactics. Adjust your fishing methods to suit the habits of the species you seek.

Be flexible. If one presen-tation doesn’t work, try an-other. Change the color, size or style of lure you’re using; vary the speed of your retrieve; experi-ment with different live baits; use lighter line or less terminal tackle. Sooner or later, if bream are biting at all, and you’ve come prepared with an assortment of tackle and baits, you should pinpoint a produc-tive combination. When you do, tuck it away in your memory for future reference. If you visit the same body of water, or one similar to it, during the same time period under similar weather conditions, chanc-es are good the same fishing pattern will bring you luck again.

And if the bream won’t bite? Well, kick back, relax, breathe some fresh air and enjoy yourself. They’ll start biting sooner or later. They always do. And when they do, you’ll have some fresh memories to tuck away for tomorrow.

Keith Sutton

With a resume listing more than 3,500 magazine, newspaper and website articles about fishing, hunting, wildlife and conser-vation, Keith Sutton of Alexander, Ark., has established a reputation as one of the country’s best-known outdoor writers. In 2011, Sutton, who has authored 12 books, was inducted into the National Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame as a “Legendary Communicator.” Visit his website at www.catfishsutton.com.

Bluegills and other bream can be caught using a variety of baits and lures, but small live baits such as crickets tend to work best.

Choosing a vehicle for towing a trailer can seem like a daunting task. There may be many candidates to choose from, but knowing which to say “no” to can be confusing amidst all the marketing claims floating out there, not to mention Internet-based hearsay, gossip, and personal opinions. So where do you start?

A good place before even focusing on a vehicle is to prioritize your needs and wants, and estimate your real world usage – be it for a small, medium or large SUV, van or pickup.

Since you intend to tow, it is important to un-derstand that your first step is to objectively select the right tool for the job – that is, pick a truck that can safely and reliably handle the trailer you intend to pull.

Once you are sure a proposed new vehicle is suitable for the work you intend to make it do, then you can also realistically assess how you plan to use it and what design, safety, aesthetic and creature comfort features are most important to you.

While you are self-assessing these priorities, ask yourself whether your towing will be infrequent, regular or full time? Will you also use the vehicle for work, or daily driving? How many people do you need to comfortably carry? Do you place a pre-mium on luxury, or would a plainer model suffice?

The number of actual vehicles you may need to sort through is limited by the weight of the trailer you wish to tow. If all you plan to pull is a 3,000 to 4,000 pound popup camper, you have dozens of possibilities. If the trailer weighs 4,000 to 9,000 pounds, choices become fewer – usually full size trucks, vans or SUVs. And when contemplating 9,000 to 20,000 pounds or more, you are far more likely to become a customer of the American Big Three – Ford, Chevy/GMC or Dodge, although Toyota or Nissan have full-size trucks suitable for the lower end of this scale.

First things first

Whether or not the vehicle you’re looking at is even in the ballpark depends on its Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR), Gross Axle Weight Rating (GAWR), Maximum Trailer Tongue weight capacity, and tow ratings, as explained following.

Note: Advertised maximum tow ratings are usually unrealistic. They are based on a 150-pound driver at the wheel, a half tank of fuel and no cargo or passengers. What’s more, a theoretical vehicle marketers use to base their claims may not be spec’d the same as the one you are considering, which would further prevent you from hitting their number. And even if a salesman tells you vehicle X can handle a particular trailer no problem, you should take the time to independently verify this, while anticipating how you plan to really load it.

Curb Weight – Includes the weight of all fuel and other fluid weights. It does not include people or cargo, just the vehicle otherwise ready to go.

Tongue Weight or King Pin Weight – Also called Tongue Load; it’s the weight of the trailer pushed down on the hitch. A “king pin” applies to fifth wheel hitching. This is another critical weight limit you will want to know. Your tow vehicle can only

If you’re towing a lighter load, a smaller vehicle like the Ford Escape might work for you.

by Jeff Cobb

How to Pick tHe RigHt tow VeHicleA look at the ABCs, plus a review of some heavy American iron

handle so much, and you should not over-stress it.Cargo Weight – Refers to the actual weight of all items

added to the Curb Weight of the vehicle, including optional equipment, Tongue Weight or King Pin Weight, plus what ever else you pile on – food, drink, clothing, electronic equipment, kids’ toys, bicycles, motorcycles, ATVs, books, magazines, other gear, etc.

Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW) – A critical capacity to understand. It includes the Curb Weight, Cargo Weight, and weight of all people on board. The GVW is the whole en-chilada – while it can be estimated, the only way to know it accurately is to put the vehicle on a public scale.

Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) – Think of this as a “redline” you don’t want to push. It is the maximum weight you can carry, and includes the actual weight of the vehicle plus everything on it including the trailer’s tongue or kingpin weight.

Gross Axle Weight Rating (GAWR) – The most weight an axle should be subjected to and includes the weight of the tires, wheels, brakes and axle itself. If referring to the rear or front axle, it could be called RGAWR or FGAWR respec-tively.

Maximum Tow Rating – Set by the manufacturer; a recommended maximum weight of towed loads. For trail-ers using weight-carrying hitches, this typically includes a hitch-weight limit as well; for fifth-wheel trailers, the king pin weight is applied to the truck’s GVWR and RGAWR.

Gross Combination Weight Rating (GCWR) – Calculated by adding the maximum allowable GVW of both the tow vehicle and trailer (Gross Trailer Weight (GTW). It’s the maximum al-lowable weight for the tow ve-hicle plus trailer.

Go or no-go?

The above weight stats are used to calculate how heavy a trailer you can tow.

The GVWR and GAWR are listed on the data plate, typi-cally on the driver’s doorframe, fuel door, glove box, or end of the dashboard.

When contemplating whether you can pull a trailer safe-ly and reliably, you need to know the trailer’s GVWR, and assume you will max it, as most people tend to.

Assuming that the tow vehicle’s axle weight is below the GAWR, the total is below the tow vehicle’s GVWR and the

hitch or kingpin weight is below the manufacturer’s limit for your vehicle, you should be able to tow a given trailer.

But be careful. According to H. Kent Sundling, who sells accessories on his MrTruck.com Web site plus many other sites devoted to trucks and trailering, a safe working load is around 80 percent of the tow vehicle’s maximum rating.

So, for example, if your 2009 half ton GMC Sierra 1500 is rated to tow 4,800 pounds, you could try to take it to the limit, but it would be a lot happier if you only made it pull 20 percent less or around 3,850 pounds. You’d also have a greater safety and control margin built in. Does using a larg-er vehicle take more fuel? Yes. But what is it worth to you to put less stress on critical components that will be less likely to fail far from home?

A few heavyweight contenders

America’s Big Three have been building heavy-duty pick-up trucks for decades, and unless Toyota renews now-halted plans for an up-rated version of its Tundra, they remain the only game in town for max-size towing.

Traditional terms for this class of trucks are “three quar-ter ton,” and “one-ton” – referring to their hauling capacity – but the actual capacities of today’s heavy duty pickups are typically much higher than their nominal monikers suggest.

Upgrades over a “half-ton” truck include sturdier chassis, suspension, brakes, drive train, cooling system, and more. Full floating rear axles handle far more weight, with double the number of load-handling tapered bearings.

Highway fuel mileage may (or in some cases, may not) be lower by a few miles per gallon than for half-ton trucks, but substantially higher towing capacity is a more than fair trad-eoff. Ride quality may be somewhat stiffer, but here too great strides have been made toward offering day-to-day comfort, convenience and even luxury features never imagined in the days of your father’s or grandfather’s three-quarter ton.

Depending on options, realistic MSRP ranges from $39,000 to $59,000, with middle to high 40s being average.

How to pick the right. . .(Continued from Previous Page)

The GMC Sierra 1500 is fine for a pop-up trailer, but a larger towable trailer might be too taxing.

These trucks can be configured in a variety of ways, which affect their ultimate cargo and people hauling capa-bilities, tow rating, as well as fuel mileage.

One of these variables is choice of single and dual rear wheels – duallies improve braking and add stability while towing, usually handle greater loads (though not necessar-ily) and they also add weight. Another factor affecting haul-ing ability is whether you opt for two or four-wheel drive – 4WD adds weight, decreasing GVWR. Likewise choice of regular, extended and crew-style cabs help determine maxi-mum workload capabilities – larger cabs also add weight and cut into GVWR.

Note: Proprietary names for small, medium and large cab styles vary from manufacturer to manufacturer.

Another factor is whether you choose automatic or man-ual transmission – A manual (if available) typically reduces tow rating, and automatics are more commonly spec’d in these trucks. Further, automatics with lock-up torque con-verters negate traditional advantages of manual transmis-sions, which in gasoline engines include engine braking on hills.

And yet another critical option that changes everything for a given truck is whether or not to go with a diesel engine option. These cost more, and can add 700 or more pounds to a vehicle’s curb weight, yet ultimately contribute to higher tow ratings. All three makers offer brute strength variations that produce around 350-horsepower, and 650 lb-ft of torque – a measure of towing ability – at real world engine speeds.

The Ford diesel’s torque peak arrives at 2,000 rpm. Both the Dodge and Chevy diesels achieve it at a veritable walking pace of 1,500 and 1,600 rpm respectively – delivering about


40-percent more grunt at just one-third the engine speed re-quired for maximum torque from a comparable displacement gasoline engine.

Note: We can’t name names, but be advised that in this com-petitive and profitable market certain truck manufacturers have been known to increase their various critical weight handling ratings by hundreds of pounds for a new model year without do-ing anything to the truck to make it stronger – such as increas-ing spring rates, or braking ability, or chassis strength. Sundling derisively chalks this phenomenon up to truck manufacturers sprinkling “Magic Spring Dust,” adding it is like “something Tin-kerbell would give Peter Pan.” He has documented this practice several times as different truck marketers play one-upmanship against one another. This is one more reason to choose a truck rated for 20 percent more than your actual anticipated maxi-mum trailer weight.

Chevrolet Silverado 2500HD/3500HD

Note: These General Motors pickups are matched by the GMC clone line of Sierra 2500HD/3500HD.

Chevrolet knows how to put together a fine truck.These offer a tad bit lighter

weight and capacity than the heaviest-duty Dodge or Ford models, but can be quite comfort-able and well appointed, while still offering light commercial grade towing and serious load hauling capabilities.

For either the 2500HD or 3500HD, power comes from a 6.0-liter gasoline-powered Vortec V-8, or a 6.6-liter Duramax V-8 turbo diesel.

The Vortec line has been around since the early 1990s, hav-ing started life as a 4.3-liter six cyl-inder, and now available in many displacements and configurations


in the GM line.The turbo diesel was the result of a joint venture between

GM and Isuzu. It is put together in Ohio, well over a million have been produced, and it has a fairly solid reputation.

Power for the gasoline engine equipped in models with a GVWR less than 10,000 pounds is 360 horsepower (268 kW) at 5,400 rpm. For models with GVWR exceeding 10,000 pounds, the gasoline engine is rated at 322 horsepower at 4,400 rpm.

Torque for the gasoline engine for all 2500HD/3500HD trucks is 380 lb-ft (515 Nm) at 4,200 rpm.

The Duramax diesel provides 365 horsepower (272 kW) at 3,200 rpm, and torque is 660 lb-ft (895 Nm) at 1,600 rpm.

Both gas and diesel versions come with a six-speed auto-matic transmission – the gas engine’s being a Hydra-Matic 6L90, and the diesel’s a commercial-grade Allison 1000.

The 2500HD’s GVWR is 9,200 pounds across the line, regardless of cab style, box length, or whether it has two or four wheel drive.

Towing capacity for the 2500HD is narrowly defined be-tween 12,100 to 13,000 pounds, regardless of the above vari-ables, engine style or axle ratio.

For the 3500HD – which like the larger Dodge and Ford models may come with or without dual rear wheels – GVWR ranges from 9,700 to 11,400 pounds. Tow ratings for the 3500HD range from 11,600 to 13,000 pounds.

ABS braking for both the 2500HD and 3500HD is han-dled by 12.8-inch rotors front and rear. The front rotors are 1.5 inches thick, while the rear rotors are 1.2 inches thick.

Engine choices for this popular truck line are either a gasoline-powered 5.7-liter V-8 Hemi, or 6.7-liter inline-six Cummins turbo diesel. The Hemi is rated at 383 horsepower (286 kW) at 5,600 rpm and 400 lb-ft of torque (542 Nm) at 4,000 rpm. The overachieving Cummins makes 350 horse-power (261 kW) at 3,000 rpm and 650 lb-ft of torque (881 Nm) at 1,500 rpm.

The gas engine is powerful, and if you’re not looking to pull the absolute highest trailer weights, it is an able work-horse, especially when mated to the 4.10:1 rear axle ratio.

The optional diesel however, is arguably the Ram’s bright-est shining attribute. The Cummins 6.7-liter ISB I-6 has a strong reputation. Cummins is an American manufacturer with a long history of producing very durable commercial and industrial diesels, and this engine has a loyal following of raving fans. If you want a testimony from a competitor, consider that Ford offers a Cummins 6.7-liter engine (mated with a suitable transmission) in its 2009 F-650/F-750 com-mercial trucks, which have GVWRs from 20,000 to 37,000 pounds.

The Ram 2500/3500 series pickup trucks equipped with

Hemi engines come with a five-speed automatic transmis-sion, and diesel-equipped models come with a six-speed au-tomatic and can be equipped with a six-speed manual.

Historically some Dodge Cummins-engine trucks have been mated to an automatic transmission that did not share its stellar credentials, although Dodge currently offers a ro-bust warranty and claims fixes for durability should remove any further concern.

Note: If tempted to look at the used market, look for techni-cal service bulletins (TSBs) on this truck for any known issues. The aftermarket may also have solutions to substantially im-prove reliability gaps left by Dodge.

Aside from engines offering more go-power than ever, Ram 2500/3500 trucks offer massive stopping power from ABS-equipped 13.9 inch brake rotors front and rear.

Chassis and suspension ratings now offer a peak Gross Combined Weight Rating (GCWR) of 25,400 pounds for the Ram 3500 with dual-rear wheels, diesel engine, automatic transmission and 4.10:1 rear axle. This configuration is also theoretically capable of towing 18,500 pounds or hauling a maximum payload of 5,110 pounds.

Ford leads the market in sales, and has built a reputation for trucks that do everything well. The 2010 F-Super Duty series is made up of 17 different models, each of which can be further tailored with a variety of options.

While the F-250, F-350 and F-450 are big brothers to America’s top-selling full-size pickup, the F-150, Ford says the F-Super Duty series are built tougher from the ground up.

Engine choices – depending on model – range from a 5.4-liter gasoline-powered Triton V-8, a 6.8-liter gasoline-powered Triton V-10, and a 6.4-liter Power Stroke V-8 Turbo Diesel.

The 5.4-liter V-8 gasoline engine produces 300 horse-power (224 kW) at 5,000 rpm, and 365 lb-ft (494 Nm) of torque at 3,750 rpm. The 6.8-liter V-10 gasoline engine pro-duces 362 horsepower (270 kW) at 4,750 rpm, and 457 lb-ft


(619 Nm) of torque at 3,250. The 6.4-liter Power Stroke die-sel promises 350 horsepower (261 kW) at 2,000 rpm (or 325 horsepower (242 kW) at 2,000 rpm for F-450), and 650 lb-ft (880 Nm) of torque at 2,000 rpm (or 600 lb-ft (813 Nm) at 2,000 rpm for F-450).

Transmission options are a five-speed TorqShift auto-matic with overdrive, or a six-speed manual.

After this year, Ford will switch to a new diesel. Follow-ing a legal battle involving mutual finger pointing, Ford an-nounced early this year that it will end its use of Interna-tional’s Navistar division-made engines in North America as of Dec. 31, 2009.

According to Sundling, the short story the falling out can be traced to Ford’s “bean counters,” which were largely at fault for rampant warranty claims against Ford’s 6.0-liter Power Stroke (Navistar) engines from 2003-2007. Sundling says these engines had worked fine in International trucks, but were plagued in Fords because the company cheapened proprietary engine controls to try and save on production costs.

The diesel promises a number of innovative features and undoubtedly has the 6.7-liter Dodge Cummins engine in its crosshairs.Note: Looking for TSBs when thinking of buying used is recommended.

Despite some problems, many F-Super Duty models have had no major issues, and Ford has managed to hold a sizable base of loyal consumer and commercial customers, which means they must be doing a lot of other things very well.

Some of the things Ford does well include leading the market in towing capabilities. F-Series Super Duty trucks are rated to tow from 16,000 to 24,500 pounds (when mat-ed with a fifth wheel trailer). The lightest-duty F-250 has a GVWR of 8,800 pounds, and the heaviest-duty F-450 offers a GVWR of 14,500 pounds, with F-350s offering capacity be-tween these two extremes.

Axle (GAWR) ratings are as follows: F-250, 6,200 pounds, F-350 (single rear wheel), 7,280 pounds, F-350, (dual rear wheel), 9,000 pounds, F-450: 11,000 pounds.

Ford also offers an integrated Tow Command System, which works with a “special trailer-brake strategy” when the antilock braking system detects poor traction.

And those ABS brakes also happen to be the largest of-fered by the Big Three manufacturers. The F-250s and F-350s come with brakes boasting 13.66-inch front rotors, and 13.39-inch rear rotors. The F-450 boasts massive 14.53-inch front and 15.35-inch rear rotors demonstrating a serious commit-ment to towing applications.

So which is the best vehicle for towing?

When it comes to lighter trailers, there are potentially dozens of choices that we’d need to highlight. While we could arbitrarily pick a “top 10” list, it would favor our biases, with-out regard for your individual needs and wants.

Assuming you follow our guide to picking one able to handle your heaviest loads with a 20-percent safety cushion built in, while also researching a given vehicle’s reliability re-cord, as trite as it sounds, the “best” is otherwise the one that works best for you – your tastes and bank account.

So we did not even try to pick one, again, because too many details involve personal opinions and unique needs and wants. Instead, we gave you qualified vehicles, and told you a few key things to look for – and look out for.

And as things stand, these American trucks are the best they’ve ever been, with no import competition to date. On the other hand, each has an Achilles’ heel here and there among various configurations and model years leading to this one.

Given that fuel costs, plus the economic recession have put a damper on large vehicle sales – and assuming that you need to tow something only a heavy-duty pickup can – there may never have been a better time to get a new full-sized American truck.

We trade for anything from Bass Boats to Billy Goats!!

Come on down to Sherman RV Center and experience the freedom to go your own way!!

Huge selection of New and Used inventory of Motorhomes, Fifth Wheels, and Travel Trailers to fit every need from a weekend escape to a hunting camp to even full time living.

Sherman RV Center

With a fantastic selection of New and Used inventory paired with the best Service Technicians in the business

and a Parts Department that can take care of your every need from accessories to necessities, the choice is easy

Sherman RV Center485 3rd Avenue, Sherman MS 38869

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Over 12 bunkhouse floorplans in stock, perfect for those weekends when y'all want to get away from it all.

Over 60 units in stock, with fresh inventory arriving

straight from the factory everyday.

2014 Sportsmen Sportster S365TH

Fiberglass exterior, 6 cu ft refrigerator, spare tire, stabilizer jacks, 30# Gas bottle with cover, assist grab handle, 2 exterior speakers, gas/elec-tric DSI water heater, outside shower, diamond plate threshold, pull down screen wall, aluminum wheels, power awning, power bed in rear, 10 ft. toy box with vents and tie downs, toy box wired for cable or satellite reception with electrical out-lets, 15000 A/C, closet/wardrobe slide, and much more, 24 month Factory Warranty - One of the Best In The Business!

Summer will soon be here and for RVers that means prime camping season is upon us, but so are the dog days of summer. If you ever walked inside an RV that is sit-ting in the direct sunlight on a hot summer day you know what I’m talking about. Having fun in the sun is great, but when it gets too hot you want your RV to be ready to deal with the heat. Fortunately there are a few things we can do to make our summer RV camping trips more pleasurable.

1) Strategically park your RV to take advantage of any shade that is available, especially on the side where the refrigerator vent is located. Don’t be afraid to ask for a shady site when you check-in at the campground. This will not only help cool the RV down, but your refrigerator and roof A/C will work much more efficiently.

2) You can also improve your air conditioners efficien-cy by keeping the A/C filters clean. In most cases you can wash the filters in warm soapy water, rinse thoroughly and allow them to dry before reinstalling. Another op-tion is to clean the filters with a small hand held vacuum cleaner. I recommend you keep a new set on hand in the event the old filters have seen better days.

3) Use your main patio awning and any window aw-nings to assist in cooling the RV down. In addition to the awnings use your window blinds, curtains or day/night shades to help keep the sun out and the cooler air in.

4) Campground voltage can fluctuate, especially dur-ing the hot summer months when campers are running their A/C, placing a higher demand on campground elec-tricity. You should monitor the voltage coming in to your RV with a digital voltmeter or use a surge protector. If voltage drops below 105-volts or goes above 130-volts turn your appliances and electronic equipment off until proper voltage is restored. Some surge protectors do this automatically.

5) Install a thermostatically controlled refrigerator vent fan at the back of the refrigerator, or at the top of the refrigerator roof vent to assist with drafting the hot

101® – Tips to Keep your RV Cool this

Summerair away from the refrigerator. If you are mechanically in-clined these fans are fairly easy to install, or you can have your local RV dealer install one for you. Either way it’s worth it. The fan removes the heat built up behind the refrigerator improving the refrigerators performance by up to 40%.

6) Another ingredient to keeping your RV cool is proper ventilation. Proper ventilation helps prevent ex-cess heat from building up in your RV. You can install vent covers, like Maxx Air vents, over the roof vents to allow for ventilation. They are inexpensive, easy to install and they let the fresh air in, even when it’s raining, while the stale, musty air, smoke, cooking odors and heat escapes. I use a vent cover on each end of our RV to promote cross ventilation.

7) To help keep the inside of the RV cool start and run the the AC early in the morning when it is cooler outside, try to avoid opening the door as much as possible and cook outside rather than inside whenever possible.

Happy Camping,

Mark Polkwww.rveducation101.comFollow us on FACEBOOK

FISHING ReportsTrace State ParkWater temps are running in the low 70’s with relatively clear water conditions. The bass, crappie and bream reports were all good this past week. The bream have move up in preparation for the spawn. Most anglers are targeting the coves and points with red worms and crickets fished on the bottom or under a cork, but recently, crickets have been the ticket\. Be advised that the fish-ing side of the lake is no wake. Some anglers are leaving with coolers full, as seen below, and many reports of 100 fish days are coming in. Bass anglers are reporting good numbers of bass coming out of shallow water in the coves and around brushtops and points. It took around 12 pounds to win the weekly fruit jar on Thursday. Best baits are flukes, t-rigged plastics and spin-nerbaits. For crappie, anglers are targeting cover/brushtops in 5-10ft of water with both minnows and jigs. Catfish anglers aren’t reporting a too much action, but a few are being caught on liver and nightcrawlers fished along the bottom on the main lake, and in the small lake. Reminder that a fishing rodeo will take place at the small lake on Saturday morning in the small lake for kids 15 years and younger. Artificial habitat was added recently on the fishing side of the lake. Multiple PVC structures were placed near the dam. This is all listed as one location, as they were all placed in the same general vicinity. Our results show that more artifical habitat in 1 place, provides better fishing than when we spread it out. The gps coordinates are as follows: N 34.14.59.40 W 88.54.34.83 Contact the Park at (662) 489-2958 for more information.

Pickwick Lake/J. P. ColemanThe water level is 414.02 and steady at the time of this report. With relatively stable water conditions, the bite has improved. Surface water temps are in the low 70’s. Look for the temps to stay pretty steady, with a cold front coming through late tomor-row. The bass and crappie continue to be good. For bass, anglers are still catching numbers of small fish with a few catching some quality ones. It took over 28 pounds to win a tournament this past weekend, which, no matter what lake you are on this time of year, is a heck of a bag. The bass are have made it shallow for the most part and are in all stages of the spawn as multiple reports of post spawn fish being caught this past weekend along the rock walls. For those shallow fish, anglers are using multiple techniques like spinnerbaits, lipless crankbaits, T-rigs and jigs. Some anglers are still targeting the pre-spawn fish along mainlake points with jerkbaits and spinnerbaits. For crappie, Bear Creek and Yellow Creek continue to be the popular spots for fishermen. Casting jigs and roadrunner type jigs are popular techniques. Anglers fishing a minnow under a cork are having some success as well. Catfish anglers have been having mixed success on cut bait and whole skipjack. Many reports of come in with people catching a few blues and channels off of the rock walls, but it is still a little too early. Look for that bite to really ramp up over the next week or so. Some big fish are also being caught as well, especially at night with 1 report of an 80 pound blue being caught! A reminder that the Mississippi handgrabbing season runs from May 1 - July 15. On Pickwick, only one catfish over 34 inches may be harvested. Please view the rules and regulations regarding handgrabbing before you head out.

Enid LakeWater level 247.21 ft, stable; 2.8 ft below rule curve Tuesday. For water level information, call (662)563-4571 or check at

http://155.76.244.230/offices/ed/edh/docs/bullet.txt for a table or http://ftp.mvk.usace.army.mil/offices/ed/edh/graphs1.htm for a graph. The lake is supposed to be maintained at summer pool (250 ft) from May 1 – August 1.

Crappie spawning is winding down although a few fish are still being caught shallow. Folks have started to pick them up trolling 6 - 8 ft deep out from spawning areas. White bass have been moving back into the main lake and may also be caught trolling for crappie. Channel catfish are gathering on rip-rap to spawn in the holes. Male channels get big, dark bluish heads during spawning season. Fish natural baits under a bobber over the rocks. For largemouth bass, fish spinnerbaits or topwaters around planted brush piles or the edges of flooded grass flats in the backs of creeks and coves where the water is clearer.

Bream may be going on bed this week with the full moon; sniff for bedding bream over sand or gravel bottoms in about 3 ft of water and fish crickets or worms.

The spillway had 1 gate open 0.25 ft (50 cfs) Tuesday. Most fish being caught down here are crappie with jigs and/or minnows on the rocks or catfish on natural baits.

Contact the COE office (662)563-4571 for accessible ramps at current water levels.The daily limit for black bass (largemouth and spotted) is 7 fish, any size.The daily creel limit for crappie on Enid Lake is 20 per person. Crappie must be over 12 inches. Anglers fishing Enid Lake

may use no more than 5 poles per person and no more than 2 hooks or lures per pole. There is a 50 crappie per boat limit for boats with 3 or more anglers. The 12 inch length limit does not apply to the reservoir spillway, but the spillway has a 20 crappie creel limit.

Grenada LakeCollins’ Bait Shop (662)226-3581 reports crappie have been caught recently but were scattered. One report was of 10 – 15

fish/day fishing 2 ft deep in 3 ft of water in Redgrass Creek. Other major creeks and coves should be similar. Fish a bright (pink, orange, red, or combo) jig tipped with a big minnow or just a minnow. A few can be caught slow-trolling jigs 5 - 7 ft deep out from spawning areas. Channel catfish are gathering on rip-rap to spawn in the holes. Male channels get big, dark bluish heads during spawning season. Fish natural baits under a bobber over the rocks. Blue cats (white humpbacks) can be taken on lines, noodles, or by grabbling. It’s too early for flatheads to get in boxes yet. White bass have moved back into the main lake but aren’t schooling on little shad yet; they’re most likely going to be caught by folks trolling for crappie. Best luck on largemouth bass has been in clearer water in coves near the dam on spinnerbaits.

MDWFP electrofishing last week in the Perry Creek and Grenada Landing areas found crappie spawning 1.5 – 3 ft deep in the backs of coves in the shade (under trees or bushes). Post-spawn fish were scattered in flooded dead vegetation (smartweed, coffeeweed, etc.) about 5 ft deep or on any rip-rap rocks.

The spillway had all gates closed (0 cfs) Tuesday. The Corps is doing some relief well maintenance and has the spillway gates closed working on the wells. Until the gates were closed, best luck down here had been for catfish on nightcrawlers or shad. Expect that action to resume if they start letting some water out.

Contact the COE office (662)226-6090 for accessible ramps at current water levels.The daily creel limit for crappie on Grenada Lake is 20 per person. Crappie must be over 12 inches. Anglers fishing Grenada

Lake may use no more than 3 poles per person and no more than 2 hooks or lures per pole. There is a 50 crappie per boat limit for boats with 3 or more anglers. The 12 inch length limit does not apply to the reservoir spillway, but the spillway has a 20 crappie creel limit.

Water level 213.79 ft, stable; 1.2 ft below rule curve Tuesday. For water level information, call (662)226-5911 or check at http://155.76.244.230/offices/ed/edh/docs/bullet.txt for a table or http://ftp.mvk.usace.army.mil/offices/ed/edh/graphs1.htm for a graph. The lake is supposed to be maintained at summer pool (215 ft) from May 1 – August 1.

Sardis LakeWater level 254.74 ft, stable; 5.3 ft below rule curve Tuesday. For water level information, call (662)563-4531 or check at

http://155.76.244.230/offices/ed/edh/docs/bullet.txt for a table or http://ftp.mvk.usace.army.mil/offices/ed/edh/graphs1.htm for a graph. The lake is supposed to be maintained at summer pool (260 ft) from May 1 – August 1. Unless we get significant runoff soon we may be looking at another low water year.

Crappie spawning is winding down, although there were some limits reported from shallow water in the Lower Graham area this past week. Post-spawn crappie are holding on stake beds, timber, and other cover 5 – 7 ft deep; a jig pole should work better than trolling for awhile. Channel catfish are gathering on rip-rap to spawn in the holes. Male channels get big, dark bluish heads during spawning season. Fish natural baits under a bobber over the rocks. Blue catfish (white humpbacks) have been biting cut shad fished on line or noodles in sloughs and grass-covered flats. Some folks have been getting blues grabbling, but it’s too early for flatheads yet. White bass are moving back to the main lake, but aren’t schooling on little shad yet; they are most likely to be landed by folks trolling for crappie. For largemouth bass, fish spinnerbaits or topwaters around cover in the backs of pockets and coves. Bream may be going on bed this week with the full moon; sniff for bedding bream over sand or gravel bottoms in about 3 ft of water and fish crickets or worms.

The spillway had one gate open 0.5 ft (100 cfs) Tuesday. Best luck down here will be for crappie on jigs and/or minnows or for catfish on natural baits. There have been few successful reports lately with only a little water coming through.

The daily limit on black bass (largemouth and spotted) is 7 fish, any size. The daily crappie creel limit is 15 per person. Crappie must be over 11 inches. Anglers fishing Sardis Lake may use no more than 3 poles per person and no more than 2 hooks or lures per pole. There is a 40 crappie per boat limit for boats with 3 or more anglers. The crappie length limit does not apply to the reservoir spillway, but the spillway, including Sardis Lower Lake, has a 20 crappie creel limit.

Tippah County LakeCrappie anglers are targeting any brush they can find, especially off of the old swimming beach with both jigs and minnows, and off of the points on the south side of the lake. The fish should be moved up, getting ready for the spawn. The bream reports are great this week and should continually get better throughout the rest of this month. Anglers are using jigs and crickets to catch their fish in 3-10ft of water. Some reports of large redear, and coolers full of fish are coming out of Tippah this week, and will continue to improve. Still haven’t had many catfish reports, but many bream anglers are catching a few by accident on worms.

Capt Sonny Schindler Shore Thing Fishing Charters

June is hands down the best of the year to fish on the MS Gulf Coast. Look for insane numbers and sizes of trout in the Marsh, Barrier Islands and along the beaches. We will have most of our 8 boat fleet in the Louisiana Marsh. Early mornings, we will have big live shrimp, croakers, mullet and pogies rigged on Carolina rigs over oyster reefs. When the school trout stack up under the diving birds, we will be throwing Boat Monkey Corks over Matrix Vortex Shads to get big numbers of specks. Try not to drift into the middle of the flocks of diving gulls, rather fish the outsides, into the chaos.

When traveling in open water, look for anything floating(buoys, channel markers, debris) for big triple tail. If you see one, pitch the biggest live shrimp you have near it, and hang on.

The near shore reefs should be on fire all of June. Focus on the points and breaks where the water moves best. Fish the entire water column with corks, suspending baits or bottom rigs for trout, reds, drum and more!!!Bay St Louis, MS www.shorethingcharters.com228-342-2295

GuideOne®

Insurance

SullivanInsurance Agency

Leigh Ann Whitehead

Agent

Phone 662.489.0345Celll: 662.231.8147 Fax: 662.489.0358

[email protected]

299 W Oxford StreetPontotoc, MS 38868

Apalachicola Fishing ReportWhat can you expect to catch?? Well, there’s no telling this time of year…The good news, it’s usually not a hard head catfish when the waters are cool…

It’s time to get your preferred fishing dates on the calendar to ensure your favorite captain is available!Inshore The fishing should be on and off- excellent when the temps are up and possibly slow with a barometric change. On

those good days when the weather and conditions are right, grab your rod and hang on or better yet-give us a call. When the warm temperatures and bright sun warms the water it seems to confuse the fish into thinking its spring. The redfish should be biting well along the edges of the flats and oyster bars close to deep water. The cuts and passes should be off and on for redfish as they usually are this time of the year. If you’re looking for big reds it’s always worth a try, drift fish or anchor out, live bait works best, dead bait (shrimp or cut bait) or artificial soft or hard plastics, of course working with the falling or rising tide.

We have been catching some really nice speckled trout , black drum, white trout, reds, and sheepshead in and around the channels, oyster bars and the head of the bay with the winter pattern.

Our phones have been ringing and emails coming in as people are trying to firm up their vacation dates with a fish-ing trip or two during their stay in our beautiful area.

Our calendars are looking good for the upcoming seasonIf you’re looking for experienced, friendly, native

guides give us a call 850-653-2622 or send us an email [email protected]

Trash CanTo break a dog from getting in the trash can place a set mouse trap in the top of a full trash can with a piece of paper over it. Dog will touch paper, trap goes off. I think the noise scares the tar out of them a couple times of this and they think that trash can is one mean piece of furniture.

Deer ChasingBefore taking dogs to woods, go to woods and set some mouse traps with deer scent on them where the dogs will find them. Take dogs to woods. They will be hunting or looking around and run across them if they decide to mess with them they will get a snap. The nice thing about this is it is instant when they find it and you are not around.

Skunk OdorThe remedy Krebaum prescribes neutralizes thiols by inducing them to combine with oxygen, supplied by hydrogen peroxide. (The concoction is a quart of 3 percent hydrogen peroxide, a quarter cup of baking soda, and a teaspoon of liquid soap.) Kre-baum has not tried to market his skunk potion, because there is no way to store it. “If you put the ingredients in a sealed bottle, the whole thing would explode.”Try it, people tell me it really works well, just don’t put it in a sealed container!

Skunk odor quick fix.. aerosol Rightguard deodorant does the trick

Skunk odorForget all those “home made” recipes that may explode. All you need is a bottle of Tomato Ketchup, the acid in the tomato’s will neutralize ANY odor. You can also put some on your hands, rub them together and remove odors, such as fish, onion, etc.

Barking TreedTrap a squirrel let him cage bark/ fight it while in cage. Pull it up in a tree pretty high, don’t want to get him jumping at the tree. Walk off. When he barks go back to him pet him/ praise him, shake the cage rope hiss him, hoop and holler make it exciting for him. Then walk off again. When he barks repeat your actions. Your trying to retrain him that when he barks you will come to him. Warning don’t do this very many time at once you will burn him out. just remember to be consistent. This is one of the methods to use on a young dog that won’t bark. Oh yes from now on if he trees a squirrel in the woods go to where you can see him wait a minute or two if he does not bark just walk away don’t say anything as you leave. If he barks go to him no matter where he is at. When you get to the tree hoop, holler, again make it exciting.

If you have a puppy that loves to eat I have a great way to get him to bark. All u have to do is slowly start feeding your puppy less and less for a couple days. Then one day don’t feed him at all until late at night or that evening. Put your dog food bag in front of him while chained up on a tree or what ever u have. Let him smell it and jump at it until he is winning and tell him good boy and give him one or two pieces of food, do this over and over and don’t give in when he doesn’t bark, just get up and leave and wait for him to bark and repeat the same thing over until he will bark when u tell him to. and feed him like that for 2 or 3 days or how ever long it takes until he gets it. Slowly start doing it with a squirrel and when he gets that, chain him up and drag it off till he cant’ see you and if he finds itdon’t let him get it until he barks. If you do it enough he will get used to it and bark when he gets to the tree every time. good luck, hope i could help you and your dog.

Tying Dog at TreeIt helps to get into the practice of tying your young dog at the tree when he/she first begins treeing, to prevent aggravating bad habits from ever beginning. Tying him to the tree or a nearby tree will do, be sure to place him out of the way of any other older dogs.

Dog Training Tips

God’s Plan of Salvation Romans 3:23 (Problem) - All have sinnedRomans 6:23 (Penalty) - Sin is a death sentenceRomans 5:8 (Provision) -Even while we are sinners God loves usRomans 10:9 (Plan) - Come to Jesus, God’s wayRomans 10:13 (Promise) – Whosoever willRomans 5:1 (Peace) With God through Jesus Christ

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Aberdeen Lake (Tenn-Tom)The bass reports are still good as the fish are mainly in post spawn mode. Most anglers are still throwing spinnerbaits, frogs and t-rigged plastics with some success. Crappie anglers are targeting the lower and middle parts of Becker and moc-casin creek along with other backwater areas with stumps and laydowns. Jigs have been working better than minnows. Some catfish anglers are hitting the water and are reported some success. The anglers are using nightcrawlers, whole shad and cutbait just off the navigation channel to catch their fish. Some anglers are concentrating on the area around the mouth of the old Tombigbee River. A reminder that handgrabbing season runs from May 1 - July 15. Placement of handgrabbing boxes in the Tenn-Tom Waterway is not permitted. Please view the regulations regarding handgrabbing before you head out on the water.

FISHING Report

Dog Training Tips. . .(Continued from Previous Page)

Dog’s and car sicknessGet a young pup used to riding in the dog box--first trips should be on an empty stomach--keep the trips short and fun, then gradually extend them as pup gets used to vehicle motion. In this manner, the first few actual hunting trips that the young pup experiences won’t be marred by uncomfort-able motion sickness causing an unpleasant experience he has to get over before serious training begins.

Training TubeThis training tube is easily made out of wire rolled into a tube. It works good for getting pups going. Just don’t over do it and burn them out on it. The box at the end is the house for the Squirrel. The box in the middle has a slot in it so you can

Dog Training Tips. . .(Continued from Previous Page)

stop the Squirrel from going back into house while training. The training tube I use is only 10 feet long. By keeping it short it can be raised into a tree.

Fishing for SquirrelsGet your rod and reel and tie a 1/2” nut to the line. Throw it over a high limb close to the tree trunk and let the nut come to the ground. Tie a fresh dead squirrel or tail to the line (if using just tail keep the nut tied on). Lay a trail with the squirrel and pull the squirrel up in the air about 6 ft. Take your reel and back as far away as the line allows or to where you can still see your pup. Don’t let your pup see you doing all this. Let your pup loose and get your reel when your pup smells the squirrel and starts looking around move the squirrel a little bit. The pup should start barking and jumping at the squirrel. Pulling the squirrel up into the tree shows the pup that squirrels climb trees. Moving the squirrel a little in the tree will keep his attention and should make him tree. I let the pup tree a few minutes and then praise him a lot. Get your 22 rifle (small guns work better with pups in the begin-

ning stages) shoot up in the air, let the squirrel come down to the pup (this works easier with two people) if your pup runs away with the squirrel you can reel him back in and teach him to drop the squirrel. Also throwing the 1/2” nut across several limbs and using just a squirrel tail the trainer can show the pup a squirrel running through the trees.

Gun Shy DogsIf you have a gun-shy dog, then it helps if you play with it by putting some pebbles in a tin can and rolling it around. just get him to play with it then eventually, you can shoot around him.

McCully family a new home. It was in 2009 when I first met Job at a Hope Outdoors’ hog hunt at the Cuz N Cuz Boar Ranch in Searcy, AR. At the time he was just leaving the wheel chair and able to walk with the aid of a walker. I’ve filmed and hunted with him several times since then on several deer and turkey hunts. In March of 2012, I had the privilege of filming Job’s first turkey harvest at the “Hunt for A Cure” in Savannah, TN where Job has become a fa-vorite at their event to raise money for St. Jude ( www.huntingforacure.net) In 2013, he had the privilege of returning to the event and hunting with Cuz Strickland. If I get the opportunity to have Job and his dad, Rob,

a breathing machine on which he remained for over 12 months. At one time, Job ac-tually died for 7-8 minutes and had to be resuscitated. In 2007, Job received a double lung transplant. In March of 2008, Job was finally release and able to go home. Due to the fungus and deteriorated home, the McCully family could not move back into their home because it could become a fatal place for little Job. It was at this time thou-sands of requests came to the aid of Job and his family and “Extreme Home Maker” came to Bigelow, AR and built the

So many stories could be shared from Hope Outdoors, but one of our favorites could be the story that derives from Arkansas. Job McCully is one of our many heroes that we have the privilege of associating with. Job, son of Rob and Tina McCully of Bigelow, AR, was born as nor-mal as any child could be. At the age of four, Job was diag-nosed with leukemia. He be-gan treatment which resulted in a bone marrow transplant. Because of all the traveling and being away from home, the McCully’s home began deteriorating and became filled with mildew and fun-gus. It was then that little Job developed a fungus in his lungs which caused them to harden. He was became in need of a new set of lungs and was placed on a lung trans-plant list. The wait became a long enduring journey. Job’s lungs soon began to fail and the child had to be placed on

Job McCully & Opie Thomas at the Cuz N Cuz Boar Ranch, Searcy, AR.

Job McCully at a young age

Ty from Extreme Home Makeover about to move the bus for Job to see his new home.

Job McCully

The McCully’s new home!

come to an event, I take ad-vantage of it. Rob’s testimony of all the things that he and his family had to endure is

testimony that gives God the glory for who He truly is! They have become a strong member of the Hope Out-doors’ family and have just started their own chapter in Bigelow. Job turned 16 this May 2, 2014. He’s come along way and a whole lot further than anyone ever expected him to come. He was given the name from the biblical character Job before any of his prob-lems began. Job, from the

Bible, went through a lot of tough times, but God’s word says, “And the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning.” This is Rob and Tina McCully’s prayer for their son Job. Lit-tle did they realize that their son, Job, would bring a huge blessing to anyone’s life that came in contact with their son.

Job with his grandmother, sister, dad, and Mom!

Job and his dad Rob with Cuz Strickland of Mossy Oak at the Hunting for a Cure event in 2013.

Rob, Opie, Cliff Butler (JHook Guide Service of Wayne County TN) with Job and his first turkey harvest at the Hunt for a Cure in Savannah, TN. Job’s turkey won the biggest turkey contest. It had three beards, weighed 18 lbs, and had 1 1/4 inch spurs.

Job and his new 16th birthday present! Job’s first turkey mount.

For more info on Hope Outdoors please contact: Steve “Opie” Thomas 662-231-9552 [email protected] www.hopeoutdoors.org

In our past articles, we covered properly introducing your dog to the Tri-Tronics training collar. These articles included teaching the dog to “turn off ” mild stimulation by performing three different actions, coming toward you, going away from you and becoming stationaryor the “Whoa” command. Other articles covered stop to flush, honoring, creeping, chasing “off game” and patterning. In this article, we will show you how to teach your bird dog to leave snakes alone.

Snake-proofing the dog

Today many hunters and field trailers travel with their dogs, and the venomous snakes that may be encountered vary a great deal. Not only various kinds of rattlesnakes may be found, but water moccasins and copper heads as well. So it is best when snake-proofing to teach the dog that all snakes are something it should avoid.

When snake-proofing a dog, you don’t need to use venom-ous snakes. In fact, the best method we know of uses harmless snakes that can be caught in your area and then turned loose when you are done with them. It is important to use several different species of snake, so that the dog will generalize that all snakes are unpleasant. If you limit your snake-proofing to one species, that species may be the only type of snake that the dog will avoid. Using different varieties of snakes teaches the dog to leave all snakes alone, not just one particular spe-cies.

Teach the dog to avoid a snake when it sees one

To thoroughly teach a dog that it doesn’t want to mess around with snakes, you need to cover separately the attrac-tions of sight, scent, and sound. You should start with sight, and teach the dog to avoid a snake that it sees.

To do this, place a snake on the ground out in the open.

Block its path with a stick until it stops trying to slither away and coils up to protect itself.

Have the dog approach the snake from the upwind side. When the dog goes up to the snake and puts its head down to investigate, immediately use the Tri-Tronics collar set on the high level, pressing the button briefly. If your collar has the “momentary” stimulation feature, it is ideal for this purpose. Press both black buttons at the same time. Make sure the dog has seen the snake and gotten very close to it before you press the buttons.

Repeat this procedure in at least five locations, using at least three different species of snakes.

Teach the dog to avoid the scent of a snake

Secondly, address the attraction of scent. Hide a snake in a small patch of cover. Bring the dog up to the cover from the downwind side. Watch the dog’s response to the scent of the snake. If the dog goes up to the area where the snake is hidden, use the collar in the same way you did in Step 1. If the dog smells the snake, and tries to avoid it, do not use the collar. Allow the dog to move away from the area, while you tell it “Good dog.”

Repeat this procedure in five locations, again using at least three different species of harmless snakes.

Teach the dog to avoid the sound of a rattlesnake

Finally, teach the dog to avoid the attraction of sound, using a tape recording of the buzz of a rattler. The first time you try this, you should use a harmless snake together with a tape player. After the first session, you will no longer need the snake, just the tape player. (If you are interested in obtaining such a tape, we understand they are available from Pro-Dog Supply in Falcon, Colorado, at 800-367-4664.)

Place the tape player so that the dog can’t see it. When the dog goes up to investigate the buzzing sound, wait until it is within three feet of the player, then use your Tri-Tronics collar to make the dog associate strong displeasure with the buzzing sound.

Repeat this procedure in several locations, until you see the dog consistently try to avoid the buzzing sound.

By now the dog should have developed a complete avoid-ance response to all kinds of snakes. And, using this method for snake-proofing, you haven’t had to fool around with any venomous snakes. When you see your dog quickly move to avoid a spot in the field, believe what you see, and don’t step there!

By Jim & Phyllis Dobbs and Alice Woodyard

Wait until your dog sees the snake and puts its head down to investigate.

Immediately use your Tri-Tronics collar at a high level.

RECIPE of the

MonthPAN-FRIED BREAM

1 to 3 fish per person1 cup yellow cornmeal1 1/2 teaspoon salt3/4 teaspoons black pepper1 teaspoon sweet paprika1 cup shortening, or peanut oilWedged lemons, for servingClean fish by making an incision the length of the belly, and scooping out the organs.Hold fish by tail, and with a spoon or the dull edge of a table knife, scrape all the scales off to a point level with the eyes. Head may be removed or not at this point, as you choose.Rinse fish under cold running water, and then put in a pan of cold water until ready to cook.Mix cornmeal (1 cup will do about 6-8 fish; increase proportion-ately with spices for more) with spices in a shallow bowl.Heat about 1 inch of oil or melted shortening until hot and shim-mering on the surface. Test with a bit of hushpuppy batter; if it sizzles and begins to change color immediately, it’s ready.Remove fish from water -- DON’T DRY IT OFF -- shake the excess water off, and dredge in cornmeal mixture. Make sure cornmeal coats the inside of the fish as well.Lay fish gently in hot oil. Fry only as many fish at once as will fit into skillet without touching. Fry until golden brown, (about three minutes), turn, and fry for about two more minutes until that side is golden. Remove from oil and drain on paper towels or brown paper bags, preferably on racks so they will not sit in the drained oil.Add more oil as needed to keep level at about 1 inch as you fry the remaining fish. Serve with wedges of lemon to squeeze over just before devouring.

Serves 4

First and foremost, get yourself a bronze iron built specifically for freeze branding. I get mine here: http://www.lhbrandingirons.com/pg/freeze.asp.

I use a 2” capital A, and it cost me about $41.00 (including shipping).

Next you’ll need to buy two or three bottles of an-hydrous alcohol. Anhydrous simply means almost no water content. Your bottle may say Iso-propyl alcohol 99% - same thing. DON’T try to use rubbing alcohol; the water content is too high. If you cannot get an-hydrous alcohol get a quart of acetone from the hardware store. I’ve used it, too, but I prefer the anhydrous alcohol. Either way, you’ll be about five or six bucks into a quart of anhydrous alcohol or ac-etone.

The last thing you’ll need is dry ice. I get it for .99 cents a lb. at the gro-cery store, and you’ll need a three or four pound chunk of it. Take your ice chest with you to the store when you buy your

Freeze Branding Your Dog 101Article Courtesy of Plottguy

dry ice, and don’t buy it until the day you are going to brand.

You now have enough dry ice and alcohol to brand six or eight dogs.

Needless to say, you’ll need a dry pair of gloves or tongs to handle the dry ice since it’s temperature is about -71 degrees farenheit. I use a metal can that had V8 juice in it for my dry ice/alcohol mixture container. It’s just about the right size, and if you can’t find the big cans of V8, I also like to use a metal 3 lb. coffee can. Any big metal can like that will work just fine.

Break your ice into golf ball to ap-ple size chunks with your hammer and drop about 1 - 1 1/2 lbs. of dry ice in the can. Add about 1 1/2 quarts of alcohol to

the dry ice. It’ll come to a rolling boil very quickly.

Put your iron in the mixture and let it sit for 20 - 30 minutes to drop to the desired temperature. You’ll know it’s getting cold enough because hoar frost will develop on the handle above the can. The colder the better, so the bigger the hoar frost gets the better. Be patient and let it get cold enough so your brand looks good when it’s all said and done.

Clean clipped ribs and hips will need 25 - 35 sec-onds. Thin ears will need about 35 seconds, and thick ears will need around 45 seconds of branding time.

You’ll need at least two people, and three is even bet-ter. One person must brand, while the other two hold the dog. Sometimes you need one guy to hold the front

Freeze Branding. . .(Continued from Previous Page)

end of the dog while the s e c o n d p e r s o n holds the dog’s back legs tight. Just de-pends on

the dog. When we branded my Brandy dog, she curled up in my lap and acted like she was get-ting a relaxing massage. The dog pictured here thrashed around like a Marlin out of water and peed all over my leg. I don’t think the branding hurt so much as she thought she was getting beat up by three people, and I’m here to tell ya, she wasn’t going down without a fight LOL!!!

You animal huggers can already quit your whining about how much it must hurt, and that’s why they struggle when they are being branded, and all of that whiny baby garbage. If you were going to PM me about what an a$$ I am to do that to a dog, and it ought to be done to me, save it. I’m telling you from experience that it don’t hurt. I wear the same iron as my dogs - I belong to them as much as they belong to me. They’d give their life for me; to return the favor is the least I could do.***

Back to the business at hand. As far as loca-tion of the brand goes, I brand both ears, and I do not clip the ear hair before I do. If you are brand-ing ribs or hips clip the hair first. Soak the area to be branded with the alcohol (another reason I prefer alcohol over acetone).

In the case of an ear, lay it on a towel that is on a flat, sturdy surface.

The iron must be pressed very firmly to the animal, and must be gently rocked back and forth, and side to side while branding. Don’t try to push the iron through the dog, just keep firm and steady pressure, and keep an eye on the time, or better yet, have another person time the branding. I lay my watch next to us so any one of us can watch the second hand.

You’ll know when it’s done good enough because there will be a hard as plastic, perfect imprint of your iron on the animals hide as soon as you lift the iron away from your dog. I failed you by not getting a picture of that, but my dog though she was

in Gitmo prison and that we were CIA agents interrogat-ing her, so I let her go out-side and get her wits back about her as soon as we were done with both ears.

If you lift your iron away from the dog and that im-print of your iron has not completely formed, you need a little more time. Carefully put the iron back

in the EXACT same spot and press and rock for about 10 more seconds, and then check it again.

If you are branding both ears as I do, or doing multiple dogs with one iron, put the iron back in the dry ice/alcohol mixture between brandings, and wait until the frost climbs the handle before you use the iron again.

Freeze Branding. . .(Continued from Previous Page)

In a couple of weeks the hair will fall out of the branded area. It will immediately start growing back white as snow. It can take a couple of months for the branded area to appear to be branded, so don’t get im-patient and rebrand the dog. Give it time to develop, and sooner or later it will be completely regrown, like Brandy’s.

Do’s AnD DonT’S

I’ve hot branded hundreds of beef calves, so I had a pretty fair idea how to stamp an iron on a critter. Freeze branding is different, though, so I learned to freeze brand by trial and error. Here’s your opportunity to learn from my mistakes and make sure that your dogs look good right from the get go.

#1 - If you need to touch up a brand a couple months later when it’s obvious that you missed a spot, use the exact same iron, and be WICKED CAREFUL to put it in the exact same spot.

I had two irons, one L&H iron like the one above, and another iron that a cowman from Davis Creek, California built for me. He made the A 2” tall for me,

and he made it out of bronze, but he used skinny bar stock, the way a hot iron is made. The purpose of the block of bronze (the way L&H makes them) is to hold the cold for a longer duration. A hot iron doesn’t need to be that way because a hot iron is branded on a critter in a matter of seconds, and then put back in the fire to heat up again. Anyhow, it was the same height, but a lit-tle different shape. Long story short, I needed to touch up Shakes’ brands, and I made a mistake and used a dif-ferent iron the second time. Unfortunately the mistake didn’t show up for several weeks, so I didn’t realize how bad I had just screwed up his brand.

The moral of the story is....

PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT YOU’RE DOING SO YOUR DOG DOESN’T HAVE TO SPEND THE REST OF HIS LIFE LOOKING LIKE POOR OL’ SHAKES!!

Remember, a good, plas-tic-like imprint of your iron will eventually grow back like this.....

#2 - If you are branding ribs or hips remember to clip the hair first. My buddy Ryan and I tried to freeze brand his dogs on the ribs with Ryan’s beef cattle hot iron. Being a hot iron, it’s obviously made of steel, as opposed to bronze, so it didn’t want to hold the cold. Our next mistake was not clipping the hair. We tried, but the clippers wouldn’t cut it. You need animal hair clippers, not the good old Wahl clippers your mom used on you when you were a kid for your bowl hair-cuts, and then later on during high school to trim your mullet LOL!! Anyway, you can get away with not clip-ping the ears, but you won’t be able get the cold down to the hair folicles in the hide properly through the thick coat on the ribs and the hips if you don’t clip the hair. Ryan has fine haired Walker dogs, but the coat was still too thick, and the brands didn’t take.

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