Rough Creek Productions

2012 Coyote Season

2012-03-05T21:35:00.001-06:00

After bow season most hunters don't know what to do, this year especially. Normally we can go out coyote hunting in the snow. The bad part is that there was no snow in North Dakota until the end of February. There is so much food out there for the coyotes that it got difficult calling them in. Normally we could call in quite a few, this year was different.

We had to venture off of our norm just to find coyotes. Spots that use to be good were no longer productive. Don't get me wrong the coyotes were there, as they were howling back at us, they just didn't want to move for food. If I wanted a steak, I wouldn't walk a half mile to a mile to get one. Now I would walk 50 ft to the freezer to grab one. Coyotes are the same way unless you happen to be right on top of them they are not going to come that close when they don't have too.

We did have some luck.

After we found out that they did like the distress calls we did however try out some howls. In February and March, howls are usually the best. This is the time of year that they like to go into heat or have their breeding season. A female invitation howl works good, challenge howl works good (males like to show there dominance), or just a regular howl(if they know another coyote is in the area they might come check you out).

Normally this would work for us too. This has to be one of the toughest coyote seasons for us at Rough Creek Productions. It doesn't help that we started hunting so late. We should be hunting coyotes in October when their hides are good and the coyotes are not that smart. At that time of year though we are focused on other things (deer, pheasants, ducks, geese).

Hopefully next winter will not be so nice and we can have some success.

You can find coyote distress calls and howlers at www.rcpwebstore.com.

Vaughn M. Anderson
Co-Owner
Rough Creek Productions

Hunting with Dad

2011-11-28T22:35:00.001-06:00

I have hunted with my dad more these last 2 weeks then I have in the last 3 years. Circumstances prevented us from hunting together the past few years. I was reminded on just how much I missed hunting with him.

We hunted the last weekend of rifle season together, he was watching over my should as I was pulling the trigger. Not the biggest deer but the memories are huge. Same with this past weekend, we hunted Friday, Saturday, and Sunday together. All 3 were just unbelievable.

Friday, I didn't see much but dad did. He ended up seeing a mountain lion. 13 yards from his stand and he couldn't get a shot off. To him it really didn't matter if he shot it. Just watching and taking pictures(he brought his digital camera with) of mountain lion was good enough for him. If it was me I would have found a way to get a shot. You should have seen the smile on his face. I would like to think that mine was just as big as I listened to his story while driving back into town.

Saturday, wasn't as adventure for dad, though it was for me. I ended up shooting a nice whitetail buck with my muzzleloader. Again, dad was with me. He wasn't watching me as I shot this time but he wasn't to far away. After he heard me shoot he got out of his stand to help me drag my deer back to the truck. This time it was my turn to tell the story on the way home. Both of us smiling again. Amber(my wife) called me that night and I got to tell her that I shot my second buck while she was in Michigan. What I did not get to tell her was the story as dad wanted to tell his version. Of coarse, we all know his version is inaccurate. He just keeps going and going, it is all funny though. One thing that we say in our family is "That deer would be a nice deer in a few years." No matter how big the deer is that is the saying we get. I got to hear that quite a bit. Lots of fun!

On Sunday we didn't see much. So on the way into town we just got to look back at the past few days.

Growing up, dad would take me hunting all the time. He would wake me up at 3:30, 4 o'clock in the morning just so we could drive 2 hours and go goose hunting. For bow hunting we would get up at 6am to go have breakfast and some hot chocolate. These are the things that I miss the most. I look back at those moments and wish that I would have cherished them even more.

I have 2 boys and a 3rd child on the way. I can not wait to share moments like this with them. I also look forward to having them hunting with my dad. I also hope that they cherish the memories that they have with as much I as cherish my memories with dad.

For all the fathers out there with kids, take them hunting. It is a good way to connect with each other and spend quality time together. It made me and my dad a lot closer and it can make you and your kids closer as well.

Vaughn M. Anderson
Rough Creek Productions

All good in the end Part 2

2011-11-21T22:27:00.001-06:00

Final weekend came and I was jacked. The rut is here, I had a great feeling about this. My plan was to get my deer and then help Dusty. Friday came with me seeing a nice buck. The problem was that I was by myself and I couldn't get the video camera ready soon enough. He took off with out a shot fired.

Lets jump to Saturday. The goal here was for me to film Dusty. He would get his deer that morning which would then free him up to film me, the joys of having a hunting show("Our World" for those of you who don't know. www.roughcreekproductions.com) We got down to the spot that we wanted to hunt. When we got down there we found out that it wasn't public land like we thought. We were already running late, now we have to change things up really quick. We decided to go to dad's stand. When we got up there every move that we made was echoing. Like that is going to bring deer in. Once again we had to change things up. We went back to our original spot but this time we went on private stuff that we did have permission on. No deer came by.

Now we are heading back into town for some lunch. On the way in, we spot this "okay" buck 50 yards off the road. Dusty says "There's your mule deer buck." I said back to him "Yeah, but we don't have permission to hunt mule deer here." So we continue on our way. Dusty ends up calling dad, ends up we do have permission. We head back that way. We found a nice little dirt mound that we could sneak up to and get a great shot. The plan was perfect. When we got there and looked over the hill, he was no where to be found. Dusty and I started talking in our normal voices. Then all of a sudden he gets up and starts walking threw the trees. He doesn't give me a good shot and Dusty can't find him on the camera. Finally he gets out of the trees. Dusty is on him, now I can't find him in the scope. The buck starts running faster and faster. Needless to say I didn't take the shot.

That was disappointing. Our heads were down a little bit, we knew though that the possibility of seeing another deer off the road was decent. We were right! After about 5 miles of driving I spot a doe in this draw. Dusty looked in the binoculars and didn't see a buck thought the doe was looking in the draw. So we figured it ain't to far of a walk so lets check it out. The buck was right below her. The buck got up before we were ready. He took off and never looked back. Disappointment number 2. I could not believe the bad luck we were having.

Lets jump to the next day which is also the last day of deer season. Dusty was heading to the river bottom and dad and my nephew, Jase, was coming with me. Dusty was going to sit all day long. I was going to go on a big hike and have dad and Jase pick me up on the other side of these big draws. I got dropped off and went over this first hill. I sat down, right when I sat down this buck and 2 does get up and start running away. I was contemplating weather I should go after them or not. Normally I would but they were running in the direction I was not planning on going. They made the choice for me as for some reason they came running back in my direction. They stopped about 200 yards out there. I got the camera setup, then I got my gun setup and the cross-hairs dialed in. Went to pull the trigger, nothing. The shell never went off. What are the odds! No more buck, as I went to reload he took off. I was furious. Didn't understand why.

I was ready to quit though something told me I needed to pray, so I did. After the prayer I felt better. I kept on walking and getting upset again that I wasn't seeing anything. Finally I decided I had enough. I called dad on the cell phone and said "I'm not walking anymore. Come back to the spot and pick me up." He said "Okay. It will take us a little bit to get there though." He was on top of the other draw watching for deer. I waited for a little bit when dad calls me back saying that there is a buck on top of this hill between us. That got me pumped again. I started walking to the hill just jacked. Got to the top, looked around, no buck in sight. I was upset again.

Finally I got to the last hill. I was walking up it, dead tired, when dad meets up with me and says "I have this buck spotted over this hill. Lets go take a closer look." I said "Okay but I am tired." When we got to the top of the hill we saw that the buck was laying down not paying any attention to us. So we moved a little closer. I got the camera setup again, this time I was able to fire a shot. Smoked him. Finally the worked paid off.

While Jase, dad and I were packing it up I got to thinking "God, why did I have to go through all this work for this deer." Then he told me "Look around you." I looked around, there was my nephew and my dad. Growing up my dad took me hunting with him all the time. Today we don't get a whole lot of opportunities to hunt together. So God turned all the bad things into something even better. The buck's horns was smaller then the one I could have gotten in the morning. But because I got to share it with my dad, as he is watching me shoot, and my nephew this buck's horns grew. That made this buck huge.

I have always had a heart for helping others through hunting. Because of this I want to help others through hunting and the word of God. So I am looking at starting a ministry to preach the word of God through hunting. If you know someone that wants to hunt but can't either because they don't have someone to take them out or they are disabled, give me a call or email, 701.905.9048 or vaughna@roughcreekproductions.com. If there is a will there is a way. God will help us. Through him all things are possible.

All good in the end Part 1

2011-11-21T21:19:00.001-06:00

Man oh man was this rifle season a treat. It seemed like anything that could go wrong did go wrong. I will paraphrase the first 2 weekends for you.

Opening weekend was like this. Mine, Dusty's, and John's guns were off. Took us a while to site them in. Dusty had to go to his backup gun cause his wouldn't get dialed in. John was running late and so was my camera man(Justin Werven). Justin was late cause he was waiting for my suburban. It never got fixed in time so he was late for nothing. We only got to hunt for an hour and a half that day. When we got home we found out that dads 4-wheeler was leaking gas. We brought it in to the garage and didn't notice anything really wrong.

Saturday morning was a treat. We went back out with the 4-wheelers. I went for a walk and only saw one deer. Quick note on that deer, Friday night Justin told me that God wanted me to go back to the same spot the night before. God had something there for me. I was excited about it. You trust in God, that is what he taught me with that deer. Right before I saw that deer some guys got out of their vehicle and started blasting away at this deer, I think never did see the deer they were shooting at. After those shots I was thinking now God can't show me anything. Well the very next hill I went over was this one deer, a buck. I would have shot him but he ran off. I doubted God, he told me there was something there. When I saw that buck, it was like God saying "I told you I would show you something, believe in me." Lesson learned.

After that I caught up with Dusty and John, they didn't see much either. So I hoped on with Dusty while John was driving dads 4-wheeler. We were going and I looked behind us and no John. Drive back found out that the carry rack fell off, screws came loose. We jimmy rigged it back on. I drove that 4-wheeler now just in case something else happens. Wouldn't you guess it did, going up a hill the rack falls of again. This time we are just leaving it off, over that hill is the truck. While going down that hill to the truck the 4-wheeler runs out of gas, it was completely full that morning. It lost all of its fuel, luckily I was able to coast to the truck. Now we had to get it in the truck. We turned the gas nob to the reserve tank and got it started. Dusty drove it up the ramps, squized the brake(which I forgot to mention wasn't working the best) and ran into the front of the pickup box denting it. The dent was pushed far enough in to where it was rubbing on the cab which later caused paint to come off.

Sunday and weekend number 2 wasn't that bad just no deer.

Best Time of Year

2011-11-16T22:46:00.001-06:00

ND deer rifle season always gets me excited. Opening day in my family is like a holiday. No one works and everyone gets together at my parents’ house. If we don't get a deer on opening weekend we are kind of bummed.

Why is that? We should know that the best part of the deer season is coming, not only for rifle but for bow as well. This year I get to hunt it with a muzzleloader (hopefully with a Thompson Center that my brother is going to buy) as well. My dad always says, "If I am going to take any days off during rifle season it will be the last 4 days."

Why, you may ask. THE RUT IS IN FULL FORCE!! It is getting to the end of the rifle season and I am just jacked. On Friday, I get to try to fill that Mule Deer buck tag. When I find the does, the buck won’t be too far off.

If I get my deer on Friday, then I get to hunt with my brother (Dusty) the next 2 days in a treestand, sitting from sun up to sun down, putting down some Dominate Buck Lure and some doe estrus. Then watching the bucks run around with their heads up high, tongues hanging out searching for that hot doe. Smaller bucks will be getting run off. Let’s not forget the joy of watching 2 dominant bucks fighting.

Really, it just doesn't get any better than this. How could it! Oh wait, it does get better. I get to hunt one week with my rifle, one week with a muzzleloader (hopefully I’ll get my buck the first weekend) and another with my bow. Can I just say "AWESOME!"

So why get down when you don't fill your tag the first weekend, the best hunting days are coming.

Justin Werven's Tech Tip on Bow Slings

2011-11-15T20:00:00.001-06:00

Selecting a bow sling (wrist strap) is a relatively easy process. There are many options out there for width, length, style and color. Pick one that fits you bow and wrist and is a style and color you like. Installing a bow sling is simple but if done improperly it will affect your accuracy. A bow sling is installed together with a stabilizer. It provides a "catch" for an archer's hand so they do not drop the bow after taking a shot. Bow slings should be installed loosely so they do not add unneeded torque when the shot is fired.

Check out Rough Creek Productions Tech Tip feature of Episode 2 and 3 of Our World for detailed instructions on installing your bow sling properly. Also check out Straight N' Arrow Bow Slings in our webstore or at www.snaarchey.com for a durable and unique bow sling.

Hunting Survey

2011-11-13T21:41:00.001-06:00

Is is time for another blog! I have been doing a lot of thinking lately on how I can help others threw Rough Creek Productions. I have prayed about it and God has led me in a good direction. To do this though I need some input. I need to know how long hunters have been hunting and if they know any that want to hunt but can't. To getting a better grasp on this I created a survey through SurveyMonkey. Please go to http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CMNBRDC and fill out the survey. I need all the input that I can get.

Lack of Deer

2011-11-10T22:00:00.001-06:00

It has been a while since I made a post. Well hopefully I can start doing them on a regular basis. This blog is going to be about the deer numbers in North Dakota. Last weekend Dusty, John and I all went back to the badlands to do some deer hunting. Dusty and John have whitetail buck tags. I have a mule deer buck tag. We started off a little late on Friday. We finally got to our spots. Dusty and John sat together in the river bottoms and then Justin and I went into the hills. We didn't see anything and Dusty and John saw 3 does. That seemed to be the theme for the weekend. Hardly saw any deer.

So what is causing these low numbers? Well I believe there are 3 factors.

1. Mother Nature--The last few winters have been absolutely crazy. In 2009, ND had 85.4 inches of snow. 2010 wasn't quite as much, 70.3. Those are the 3rd and 4th most in the history of North Dakota. (http://www.kxnet.com/getArticle.asp?ArticleId=699536) With that much snow it is hard for the deer to find food. Then the spring will be wet from all the snow and make even tougher when they give birth.

2. Moutain Lions--North Dakota has never had this many mountain lions. I don't know how many are out there but you use to never get a picture of a mountain lion on a trail camera. These days you get numerous and not just one cat in a picture many cats. They say that a mountain lion can take down 1 deer a week. That is outrageous!! So one grown mountain lion eats 52 deer a year. 1 CAT EATS 52 A YEAR! So far this year there have been 9 cats killed in North Dakota's Badlands. Just those 9 cats had the potential of killing 468 deer this year. I had a buddy that went out hunting in the badlands and he said that he saw 4 mountain lions in a 3 mile radius. He saw more mountain lions than deer. There are so many cats in the Badlands that they are now moving to eastern North Dakota. They spotted a few south of Devils Lake. A lot of mountain lions out there eating deer.

3. Traffic--This one is mainly for western North Dakota. With the oil traffic in western North Dakota there have been numerous deer/vehicle collisions. I tried to find numbers for this but us unsuccessful. Some oil trucks speed up to hit animals on the road. I have a friend that saw a group of antelope on the highway. He then looked down the road and saw an oil truck coming towards them. That trucker actually speed up to hit them. I was told it looked like a bowling alley, antelope flying everywhere. This makes me sick. Yes, a lot of them are accidents, though there those young drivers that think it is cool to hit animals with their semi-truck. They think why not it won't hurt the truck. Makes me sick! I do my best not to hit a pheasant.

This is just what I think has contributed to the low deer numbers. I have seen first hand how low these numbers are. I love walking the Badlands!! I hate walking them and not seeing anything!

Thanks for ready our blog. Give any feedback that you would like.

Vaughn M. Anderson
Rough Creek Proudctions

2011-11-10T21:32:00.001-06:00

Here is our newest episode. Check it out!! Tell me what you like and don't like about it.

ND Bow Season is here.

2011-09-08T22:51:00.000-05:00

North Dakota's bow season opened last Friday. Many people went out and unfortunately I did not. Last year I moved to Beulah from Watford City. I am finding it hard to find land around here to hunt. I finally did find a place to hunt. I am just waiting on the game camera to show me some pictures. So as of right now I am sitting at home waiting for the right picture to come across. I guess instead of bow hunting I will be doing a lot of coyote calling.

Heading to Watford City to check stands.

2011-08-19T17:30:00.001-05:00

Eli and I are on our way back to Watford City to check some water holes. We have the game cameras out now it is time to find out what is coming in. Eli is pumped and ready to go.

Of coarse we are going to try to call in some coyotes as well. Hopefully Uncle Dusty can shoot straight.

Hope to have pictures for you.

Weekend of August 6th

2011-08-07T22:43:00.000-05:00

Well this weekend ended up being a pretty uneventful one. The family and I did some camping at Beulah Bay. It started off a little wet as we had to set up our Jayco camper in the rain. Thankfully my dad was there to help set it up in the rain. The night ended up being for nice as the clouds went away.

The clouds went away that night but when we woke up they were back and pouring rain on us again, this is not going to help me find fishing spots around here. Finally mid afternoon came about and the clouds, plus the rain, rolled off to the east. We finally made it out onto the water.

The boat that I normally use is an 18ft Lund which is a little small to take on rough water, unless you like it bumpy. So instead of taking the Lund we ended up taking my dad's new Tritoon. The Tritoon had the fishing package so it was nice to fish out of. On the Tritoon we had 5 adults and 4 kids, 6 of us fishing. If you want to fish with the family, Pontoons or Tritoons are perfect. About 20 minutes into the fishing extravaganza I have a huge northern pike on. It felt just like a walleye all the way up to the boat. Once I got it up to the boat it did some splashing and then bolted off. I didn't force it so I was able to keep him on without him breaking the line. Finally I got him to the boat and my dad reached for him with the net, he was unsuccessful. Mr. Northern then flopped his head around one last time. The time he was able to get the hook loose. Dad made one last stretch for him. It looked like he was going to get him but just at the last second Mr. Northern wiggled and got away.

I don't know how he got away as the line was tight the whole time. Oh well that fight was awesome. We figured it was an 8 pound fish.

After that fight the rest of the weekend was down hill. Not many bites and the ones that we did get were either perch or small mouth bass. Still a fun weekend none the less. Always fun to get out and relax.

webstore.roughcreekproductions.com

2011-08-03T00:29:00.000-05:00

Sorry I have been away so long. Well I am back now with good news. Rough Creek Productions now has a web store. In the web store we will be selling numerous outdoor products. We have very competitive prices. Products are a little low in quantity but we are growing everyday. Soon we will have a Grand Opening so check out the site and watch for sales.

webstore.roughcreekproductions.com

Mother Nature

2011-04-29T18:17:00.000-05:00

It is a good day to be working on our new videos. With the weather being so crappy I will be working on our new intro. Eli and I were hoping on doing some fishing, thanks a lot mother nature.

With everyone more than likely going to be inside this weekend check out our old videos on YouTube or our website. I will post a video below for you to look at too. Just to get you hooked!

Warm Weather

2011-04-28T21:48:00.000-05:00

With the warm weather Amber and I decided to get back into shooting our bows. Practice, practice, practice, it never hurts. Especially when you are shooting into a Rough Creek Productions target. Shooting just a dozen arrows a day or even a week will help tremendously for the upcoming season. Bow season is just 5 months away.

PS. Eli also got to shoot his bow. A kid can never start shooting to early. Remember to share it with your children, they will love shooting and spending more time with mom or dad.