Capturing Animals with a Game Camera

Spring may still be a ways away, but after plowing and shoveling what seems like the never ending snow storm here in upstate NY, I am writing this blog and testing the whole “Think Spring” theory out. The spring months are the perfect time to set up your scouting cameras and start getting some nice pictures of animals such as coyotes, grouse, pheasants, turkeys, and more.

Buck captured with my game camera

One animal I have yet to capture with my game camera is a bear. With all the state land and forest around our house, I refuse to believe that there aren’t any bears out here. Those that hunt bear find that it helps to set up a camera at one of their bait stations so that they can learn what baits are the most effective and, by using a bait drum, or other nearby object, they can also get an accurate assessment of the size of the bear.

One word of caution is that bears are known to wreck a game camera. For this reason it is generally a good idea to purchase a camera that offers a protective case that will help protect it from bears and other animals.

There is another to place your game camera at the bait station. If you set it up on a trail, you risk missing out on some of the action. Bears are smart and will often use a different route to get to the food each time. By setting up on the trail only, you will miss out on the big guys that find an alternate route to the food.

When you set up your camera near a bait station, you will want to adhere too many of the guidelines that are recommended for deer. Consider setting the timer delay to 5 minute intervals to help you avoid getting multiple images of the same animal.

Owning a good game or scouting camera as part of your hunting kit will help take a lot of the guess work out of your hunting. With tools such as this you can gain enough insight to be able to plan a better hunting strategy.

If you have any questions about this or any of the items that we have available for sale, you are always welcome to contact us - we will help you the best that we can. If you have any stories to share about your game cameras, please feel free to post them to our comments. We do love to swap good stories!

The Joys of Camping or Okay, Enough Snow Already!

A lot of people love to pack up their families and go camping, or spend a weekend “roughing it” with a group of friends. There is really nothing quite like a camping trip to relax and unwind and really make you appreciate what Mother Nature has to offer. If you have not been camping in years, or have never been and cannot quite figure out the allure of sleeping outside and cooking over a campfire, it might be the year to reconsider how you will spend your summer.

Camping is one of those things that you should do before you cannot do it anymore. You should do it with your children before they have grown up and moved out. It is easy to go camping these days, even for a beginner. You can rent an RV, reserve a beautiful rustic cabin, or sleep in tents. With your down-filled sleeping bag and your portable heater, you will be camping in luxury!

Camping is one of the cheapest ways that you and your family can go on a good, quality vacation. When is the last time that you let all of your senses truly appreciate what Mother Nature offers?  Waking up to the sound of a bird chirping outside of the tent is so much more pleasant than waking up to the sound of that annoying alarm clock on your nightstand. Even your favorite television show cannot stand up to the light show when you look up at a clear night sky. Sitting around a campfire at night and looking at the Big Dipper and his friends is a wonderful feeling.

If you have never eaten food that was cooked outside on an open fire, you are missing a heck of a treat. Nothing tastes as good as a hot dog that you cooked on a stick over a campfire. Nothing.  If you do not want to cook like that, do not let that be the reason you do not go camping. There are all kinds of camp stoves that you can choose from to be used when you are camping. While you at it, you can even pick up a nice lantern so you will have plenty of light for those nightly card games.

Camping is one of the greatest ways to pluck your family off of all of the electronics that they are usually glued to such as gaming systems, televisions and computers. Camping allows them to use their imaginations again and to experience the great outdoors. A lot of campsites also offer boating sites and fishing holes and swimming areas so you and your family can spend some quality time with each other and put life back into perspective.

I do not know about the rest of you, but we are ready for Spring!

Considering a Spotting Scope? Read this First!

If you have a good, quality pair of binoculars, why in the world would you need to have a spotting scope? For one, a spotting scope is ideal anytime that you want more magnification than your binoculars can provide. They are virtually a small telescope that has been modified in such a way that it can be used during the day. It is mounted on a small, photo tripod, and is usually built to be both water and fog proof.

Spotting scopes are used often for bird watching, hunting, viewing landscapes and wildlife, and for surveillance. They are used frequently to score targets on archery, rifle and pistol ranges, and are also used with an assortment of cameras to take long distance photos.

As you browse through the spotting scopes on our site, you might be wondering what some of these numbers mean and what the difference is between them. One thing that you will notice that is common with nearly all of them is that they each have 3 numbers. The first set of numbers represents the range of the magnification, and the final number is the size of the lens in the front. Therefore, if you are looking at the Alpen Waterproof 15-45x60 spotting scope, that means that the zoom magnification features a range of 15-45x and the diameter of the front lens is 60mm.

Even with a spotting scope, heat waves, humidity, dust, wind, and other atmospheric conditions can limit your range of magnification leaving things looking blurry, no matter how much magnification you are using. On a clear, calm day you can see great distances and, at times, even tiny details such as facial features, up to a mile or more away.

There are advantages of using a spotting scope. One of the primary advantages is that it allows people to observe wildlife from an animal-friendly distance without causing any distress to the animals. You can use them to identify a specific bird in a large flock, distinguish one species of bird from another and spot birds in the distance.

When used to capture images, because of the higher magnification, a spotting scope can produce those brilliantly colored, high-contrast photos that we all love to look at. The optical design and stability make them comparable to, and in many cases, better than a high quality camera with a telephoto lens.

The purchase of a spotting scope is sure to open up a world of new opportunities for you. It will add a whole new dimension to everything you enjoy doing from bird watching, to hunting, and photography. It may take a bit to adjust to using the spotting scope versus your binoculars, but it will be well worth your efforts!

Additionally, each one of the Alpen Spotting Scopes ship for FREE from Milonajo Enterprises!

Another Outfitter Special - Book Your Hunt Today!

At Milonajo Enterprises, we are dedicated to providing our customers with quality at great prices. We are very pleased to be able to already announce another great deal on a hunt on our new Outfitter Specials Page. When you visit the page, scroll down to the Prime Whitetail Hunting section.

This is a fantastic deal. When you book a week for a group of 4 hunters, you will get a 5th spot for free!This is a great deal with a savings of up to $400 per hunter. These hunts will take place in Calhoun County, Illinois - book your hunt fast, spots are filling up quickly and there are a limited number of spots available.

Stop by our site for all of the details about this, and other hunts, that you can book right now. You will find information on contacting Ryan to book your spot, and like always, you are invited to contact us for information too. If you have never done it, you should stop contemplating it and just do it. They are a lot of fun - but be warned, once you do it once, you will want to go back and do again!

Who is Interested in Hunting Antelope in NW Nebraska?

If hunting antelope in Nebraska is the kind of hunting trip that appeals to you, but you have never been quite sure how to book something like this, stop by our new Outfitter Specials page at Milonajo Enterprises. While you are there you will find all of the information that you need including pricing, amenities, and location. You will also find all of the information that you will need to contact Ryan if you have any questions or to book your hunt. Of course, you are always welcome to contact us with any questions too!

The new Promotion at the Milonajo Facebook Fan Page!

At Milonajo, we like to keep our friends and our customers on the toes! When you stop by and "like" our Facebook Fan Page, you will receive a generous coupon code so that you can save some money on your next purchase from our store! This is available only to the fans that click "like" on the welcome page!

Now we have added another promo! If you are fan number 25, you will automatically receive a $10 gift card to Dunkin Donuts! So hurry, stop by and "like" our page ~ we would love to see you win! Your gift card will be mailed to you, all free of charge and is redeemable on any Dunkin Donuts purchase! Just click here to be directed to our fan page on Facebook!

Good luck everyone!

For the Love of Weimaraner's - Meet Mandy!

Today we decided to introduce you to our dog, Mandy. She is a purebred Weimaraner. To say that Mandy is a happy, loving, cheerful and affectionate dog would be an understatement! As you can see for yourself, she’s all of that. She does truly love her family, everyone from the kids to the adults. She loves her cats and she loves her dog “brother”, our 15 year old black lab mix, Zeus. As is typical with this breed, Mandy cannot be trusted with small animals such as rabbits or her natural instincts will shine through and she will do what dogs do naturally, but anyone that is family, she loves with every ounce of her being.

Although these photos show off her lovable, pampered side, she is also a very well behaved dog. She was not always like that though. If you are a dog lover then you already know how stubborn some dogs can be! Weimaraner’s are no exception to that rule. When she wants to be, Mandy can be very stubborn. It took some time and some ingenuity to train her because we did not get her when she was a pup. Mandy, in fact, sadly came from an abusive home and it took her some time to realize that we would never harm her. She was a bit wary at first, and can sometimes still be with strangers, but, all in all she is a great dog that has come a long way.

 
Unfortunately, because of her abusive background, Mandy is gun shy and so she is not much for hunting. She does love to run and she can sniff out and find nearly any thing in record time. She has natural abilities in the field that are just fantastic and would undoubtedly make the perfect bird dog if she was not gun shy.

Our Weimaraner is a swimmer. We have a nice pond in our back yard that Mandy swims in often! She is a good girl that can be taken off of her chain to run around the yard and go for a swim and she very rarely will take off. As a natural retriever, she is happy to carry things around all day long. She is not very good at retrieving birds, rabbits or other wildlife, but when she likes something, she will carry it around all day. Mandy is not afraid to bring you her water or food dishes if they are empty. If they are not empty, she will move them to where her people are if she is hungry and not happy with the location of the dishes.

Our Mandy is a lover. It is a good thing too because she is a strong dog and could be a problem otherwise. She was not always so obedient though! There was a time she was very vocal, at times a little too much. With the proper use of an anti-bark collar, we were able to break her of that habit. We still get to hear her voice, but she has learned some self control.

There was a day that Mandy would take off and run when we would let her off of her chain, a time that she would be stubborn and not listen and would not follow the house rules, so we engaged the use of an electronic collar and, because she is a smart breed of dog, she learned very quickly. 

She may not be our hunting dog, but she is a beautiful animal with a big, kind heart. She can be trusted in the house all day if we are gone and there is no doubt that she would protect all of us, including her older brother Zeus and her feline friends, with all of the strength in her body. Our only regret with her is that we did not get the opportunity to be the first family in her life. Had she not been abused, she would no doubt be a prized hunting dog as well as the perfect family pet.