THE FRONT PORCH

Welcome to the Front Porch. Here you will find talk about what is going on with WKO and any success we've had. We use only recent photos and references from our hunts. This gives our clients an up-to-date, honest report. Check back daily, because like the seasons it will change.

Below are remaining hunt dates for 2013:

September Archery - 13-16th

Archery or Crossbow - October 4th-7th

Youth October 12/13th

December Youth - 28-29th

If you would like to be included on our cancellation list please email us at wko_hunts@insightbb.com.

TODAY's News from the Porch:

Update: 6.18.13 - We hope everyone enjoyed a Happy Father's Day. The weather was good here in West Kentucky and many spend time outdoors and hopefully some of you did the same.

We are 80 days out from the Archery opener for those of you that will be joining us in September on our opening hunt. If not already, it's getting time to dust the cobb webs off the bows and starting getting your bow dialed in.

We've started seeing some bean fields sprout and it won't be long as more and more deer start piling into them of the late evenings. We're running a few cams at this time but by the end of June will have all cams out and running.

6.10.13 - Things continue to be wet here in the Bluegrass state. Corn crops have got off to a good start and what early beans we've seen planted are up and benefiting from the moisture as well. Verdict is still out on what kind of mast crop we'll see this fall but we'll know how they look in the coming weeks.

We've booked the last of our Muzzleloader hunts for 2013 and appreciate those that booked. Our 2013 turkey hunts here in Kentucky are slim pickings right now as well. I'm still working on our out of state turkey hunts for Spring 2014 so stay tuned for that information. If you are still looking for a deer hunt for this year we still have a few early archery season dates, as well as, late season archery. We also have a few Youth hunts available as well during Kentucky's youth deer hunt seasons.

One thing I've heard more and more of between last deer season and some of the most recent hunters I've talked to is how they've had a bad experience with an outfitter. I've been on many out of state hunts myself and whereas I like to think I've done all the necessary homework to spend my money somewhere, there is always a chance of a bad experience. Everyone is different about what they want out of a hunt. Some have to kill an animal for the hunt to be a good hunt and be worth the money. Others at least want an opportunity, some want to see the caliber of buck they are after while some find good measures in an outfitter where everything went as discussed and had no surprises.

Regardless of you hunting with us or not, I strongly encourage you to ask all or a good number of the questions you find at the link below. If your not about going through a Q&A session with multiple outfitters before making your choice, ask the simple question on whether or not the Outfitter has some sort of hunter contract. You should find this to be the case with many outfitters. It's harder for a outfitter or guide to deceive you if you have asked him direct questions or put something in writing. Probably the #1 disappointment or complaint has to do with the number of hunters being ran through camps. If you are told there will be 8 hunters in camp, there should be no reason to arrive and be part of a group of 20. Ask the question, "how many hunters they will be hunting" during the dates you want to hunt. Ask about whether hunts will be taking place prior to your hunt, etc. With fair chase hunting no outfitter can guarantee you a kill or a shot for that matter, but land that is over-hunted will greatly reduce your chances of success.

For a look at what to expect during your hunt ---> HOW OUR HUNTS TAKE PLACE.

What to ask an Outfitter

6.8.13 - We appreciate everyone who has contacted us over the last week or so. We've enjoyed the conversations.We are caught up on emails and phone calls at this time.We've seen quite a bit of moisture over the last couple weeks which the crops and food plots have enjoyed. The fawn crop looks healthy so far as our counts are above last year at this time.

We'll begin posting up trail cam pics here in he next week or so as we get into our summer scouting schedule and regular glassing. Bean fields are still a few weeks away from providing productive glassing.

6.3.13 - During the next 30 days we'll see our bucks grow into their headgear and we'll take you along during the growth. We will begin deploying our trail cams over the next 7 to 10 days and before it's over with have nearly 30 cameras taking pics. We'll post many of the images here on the site in our Trail Cam section. From time to time we'll also display some here on the Front Porch as well.

We will catch up on any open emails today. We appreciate the interest in the hunts we have left open and thanks to those of you looking ahead to the 2014 Spring Turkey seasons. We'll have our out of state hunt info together soon and will be getting that out to you.

5.29.13 - Hopefully everyone survived the long holiday weekend and was able to enjoy some time with family and friends while remembering those who fought for this great country of ours. With the outdoors being part of our lives, both personally and professionally, it's hard to get away from it. Much of the long weekend was spent fishing, gigging and working on properties.

I've traditionally looked at the time between turkey season and deer season in 4 segments. Even more so as we enter this Spring not guiding and running a bear camp in Quebec like we have done previous years. The first segment involves mostly May through Memorial weekend and taking care of mineral sites, plot preparation and whatever warm season plotting we want done, establishing tranditional crops such as corn, as well as, preparing for our supplemental feeding that can begin June 1st. The second segment runs from Memorial weekend until the 4th of July Holiday. During this segment we've established supplemental feed stations, began running trail cams and will change the cam locations several times as deer transition into summer feed patterns. The third segment involves mostly summer scouting and glassing fields, running trail cams and beginning to establish possible stand locations for the early archery season. The third segment for us usually ends about the time antler growth is over which traditionally is in early August. The fourth and final segment of the summer is scouting, stand placement and becoming persistant with keeping up with visible bucks prior to the archery opener. In a nutshell we have about 17-18 weeks ahead of us that is purely deer season preparation with nothing else in the mix.

We have seen our first fawns of the year in the last few days, which is always nice to see. We'll be rolling out feed sites this upcoming weekend with trail cams, so we should start seeing plenty of antler soon.

5.22.13 - We've stayed fairly wet the last couple days which has slowed our field work. Tractor problems didn't help much either, but our mechanical issues have been fixed and now awaiting a little dry out which probably will not happen until the long upcoming weekend.

Activity at our mineral licks has been good. We're starting to see more activity at them and some antlered bucks showing up as well. Most corn crops have been planted and have a good growing start with our rain fall over the last 2 weeks. We probably won't see any beans planted for at least 3 weeks, if not 4-5. Our ban on supplemental feeding lifts June 1st so we will begin our feeding programs along with trail cam setup here in the next 10-12 days.

We are beginning to see quite a bit of interest in our 2014 turkey hunts which is fairly normal if you are looking to book a good hunt with a reputable outfitter. Reputable outfitters usually book fairly fast. Our issues here in Kentucky have always been our season dates do not get officially set until later in the year. We have traditional season opening dates which here is the closest Saturday to April 15th. The chances of this changing is not great, but there is always the possibility. For that reason when we book next years spring hunts there is always an *astericks involved because the opening day is usually not set until later in the fall. For our turkey hunts in other states we are usually hunting days or weeks following their normal season openers. Why? Well, with most Spring seasons the weather is unpredictable and hunting any state early can mean weather issues like the snow seen across the midwest in late April and even May. Henned up birds are pretty common which can provide tougher hunting, etc. I will soon be posting up information for our 2014 out of state hunts for Merriams, Osceolas and Rios. If there is enough interest in Goulds for 2014 and people are willing to commit with deposits, we will put on another Goulds hunt in 2014. Look for more information next week on our 2014 Spring hunts.

For a look at what to expect during your hunt ---> HOW OUR HUNTS TAKE PLACE.

Recent Success :

Trail Cams :

We run cams 365 days per year.

If you are looking for help to hunt or fish in Kentucky drop us a line and see what we can put together for you. Good Hunting! wko_hunts@insightbb.com

Information and Booking: 812-598-1193
email: wko_hunts@insightbb.com
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