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Wild Turkeys caught in Ken Beam`s Trail Camera – Five “Gobblers”!

Wild Turkeys showed up in my Trail Camera this past week & I thought you all would enjoy seeing this.
Heck, personally when I`m out & about in the New Jersey Outdoors, I really enjoy all types of wildlife that comes into my view & when I put the SD Card in my computer tonight, these wild turkeys definitely got me excited! Notice the nice size “Beards” each of these big birds are sportin`!(“Beards” are how you can tell a Gobbler from a Hen)
All five wild turkeys caught in my camera were “Gobblers”! Hopefully Curt & myself will have the opportunity to harvest a few of these birds in the Springtime when the NJ Turkey Hunting Season kicks in!
Enjoy the video-
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NJ Deer Hunting – Winter 2015 – Ken Beam fills his freezer

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NJ Deer Hunting in the Wintertime can certainly be challenging and today when I jumped up in my tree stand at 5:45am it was a brisk 12 degrees. Fortunately I do indeed like the cold weather, not the wind, just a nice calm, cold winter morning.
After seeing what showed up on my Trail Cameras this past week, I was very anxious to jump up in my tree
this morning! Two very Big Bucks showed up during the week, one is an absolute Trophy! A Huge 8-Pointer
with very high tines on both sides. Have a look at the pictures below –
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Quite the Big Bucks eh?!
Now I do read about this quite often, hunters on various threads around the internet saying, “Ohhhhhh they`ve gone “Nocturnal”….. Really? No no……. see they went “Nocturnal” because nowadays we all have trail cameras and can finally see Monster Bucks like this at night! Big Bucks have always been Nocturnal feeders and are very wise deer, hence the impressive “Crown of Antlers” they usually exhibit like the Big Boys above. So I have been regularly jumping up in my tree stand, hoping that one of these Big Bucks would walk out of the cover…….. but to no avail as of yet. While I am routinely in my stand, I`m not taking that bet that either will show up before the NJ Deer Hunting Season ends. I really think my opportunity to see either or both will be in the Fall of 2015 during the Rut. But I have my fingers crossed and maybe if we get a little snow, these Big Boys will show up in the daylight hours.
As it is getting along in the NJ Deer Hunting Season, it is also time to fill the freezer with some meat!
My opportunity came this morning around 11:30am as four does approached “Ken Beam`s Big Big Buck Deer Feeder”, I cracked the one below, loaded the doe up in `ol Big Red and drove it over to my friend`s place, Tommy the Butcher in Washington to have it processed. By the way, if you`re looking for an excellent butcher in NJ, I highly recommend Tommy! All of the cuts are vacuumed packed and you can`t beat his prices!
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Latest Adventures...

NJ Deer Hunting – Ken Beam shows how to make a Deer Feeder… cheap!

NJ Deer Hunting allows hunters to legally bait deer. Nothin` wrong with that in my opinion,…..since you`re lookin` to put some meat in the freezer. Now you could go out and buy a fancy Deer Feeder from Cabelas priced anywhere from $100 to $700……
OR you could make your own for less than $40
Yeah…….. I think we`ll head on down to the Home Depot and make our own.
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This is a very simple way to make a very effective Deer Feeder. All you need is a
ten foot piece of three inch PVC pipe,(which I cut in half to make two Deer Feeders then get double of everything else mentioned here), a “Y” attachment, a screw-in plug for the end, and a cap for the top. Ohhhhhh…….. yeah…….. and a bag of corn. I get mine from Tractor Supply for $8 for a 40lb. bag. The feeder holds half a bag of corn.
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Watch the “How to make Ken Beam`s Big Buck Deer Feeder” Video below & get ready to do some NJ Deer Hunting!
Deer aren`t the only ones that like Ken Beam`s Big Buck Deer Feeder!
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Latest Adventures...

NJ Bow & Arrow Hunting – Ken Beam lures in a Buck using his “Lucky-Seven Rattlin`Antlers”…

NJ Bow & Arrow Hunting is another venture that I enjoy doing in the Fall, especially when the deer “Rut” mating season in in full-swing. Personally, I get pretty darn excited when I`m in my tree stand using my “Luck-Seven Rattlin` Antlers”. Antler Rattling is an old Indian trick where you use a set of antlers to simulate two bucks fighting over a doe. Now when a buck hears the “two bucks scrapping”, many times he will show up with the idea of stealing the doe away from the fighting bucks.
Well today was one of those perfect Buck Rattling Days……..
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Sitting in my tree stand as daybreak came, the snow-covered Fall ground offered the ideal visibility as I could see easily see all around me. At about 7am I started a little light antler rattling with my “Lucky-Seven Rattlin` Antlers”. Watch the video below as I tell you a little about how these antlers came about.
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After about only 15-20 minutes, a buck started to approach my stand. I watched as he cautiously approached the direction in which he heard the “two bucks fighting” in. When he strolled within 45 yards of my stand, he was in range of my Barnett Hellcat Crossbow.
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After taking a well-placed shot, I watched the buck run about 50 yards or so……..
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Watch the video below of Ken Beam`s NJ Bow &Arrow Hunting Adventure on November 29th 2014!
This is an excellent time of year to be out in the woods. The weather is outstanding in my opinion. Nothing quite like sittin` in your tree stand on a cool, crisp Fall mornin` in the dark…….then when daylight comes, you see your breath in that Autumn air as your senses awaken,……….. you smile with anticipation….
The NJ Bow & Arrow Hunting Season runs from Sept through the end of November & actually comes back in again for a bit in December. Then the NJ Bow & Arrow Winter Season starts in January & goes into the second week of February.
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Ken Beam & Curt Ryder head back to the Pine Barrens to do some NJ Quail Hunting

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Last Saturday as I walked out of the house, I turned back and grabbed my hunting coat out of the garage as I couldn`t believe how cold it was. Normally I like to hunt Quail wearing my vest, but with temperature at a very frigid 14 degrees, I decided to go with the coat.
I met my buddy Curt and “Jake” at our usual meeting spot in Clinton at 4:45am to head back
down south to the Pine Barrens to do a little NJ Quail Hunting in Greenwood Forrest. We always leave very early as it`s a 110 mile drive to our destination in Whiting New Jersey.
As we pulled into the parking area at right about 6:45am, I commented, “Wow……. looks like we got more than just a few hunters here today huh?” as there were quite a few more vehicles than the previous week.
We got out of the truck, threw on our coats, grabbed our guns and made our way out into to woods about 15 minutes or so, before the legal shooting hour, sunrise.
As we hiked out down an old logging trail, we noticed a person chatting with a few hunters. When we got closer we realized it was a Game Warden. When we walked by “Her”, we both said “Good morning”
I also said, “Geez…..we were wonderin` who the heck was out here today without any orange on!” She smiled & said, “Ohhhh I have it right here in my pocket.”
We made our way down an old abandoned road and the first shot of the morning rang! Then another…. and another!. I looked at Curt and said, “Time to hunt!” and with that Curt let Jake off the leash. It was only a matter of minutes before he was on point in a hedgerow. Curt worked around one side trying to get into position, while I was coming around the other side towards Jake.
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As I made my way across the hedgerow, the bird broke out behind us and Curt spun around, took the shot and got our first Quail of the morning.
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Wasn`t too long after that Jake was on point again. This time on the edge of an open field. Curt made his way towards the dog and told me to “stay out in the open as it will probably break across the field.” Jake held point very well and just as Curt was about twenty yards away the bird did indeed break across the open field. I immediately shouldered my .28 gauge over-and-under Beretta shotgun and had my second Quail of the morning.
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Here is a Video with some action-footage from our Quail Hunting Adventure that morning.
Turned out to be another fine morning NJ Quail Hunting with Curt & Jake as we each ended up with our limit of four birds each.
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NJ Pheasant-Quail Hunting with Ken Beam & Curt Ryder – Hunting NJ 2014

Nothing quite like doing a little NJ Pheasant-Quail hunting on a nice cool, crisp November morning.
However, our first stop yesterday morning was to take a little trip south first thing, to try our hand at some Quail hunting in the Pine Barrens of South Jersey.
Curt pulled in the parking lot where we met at 4:45am and was once again, shocked to see me there already! As I opened Curt`s truck door he said, “What the hell is goin` on with Ken Beam? Two weeks in a row he arrives before me!” ……… ha! ha! We joked as I threw my gun in the front seat and proceeded to jump in the truck. Curt looked at me and said, “Dude…….. really?” looking down at my cased gun in the seat. I looked at him laughingly and said, “Hell it`s too early buddy, ahhhhh I forgot……Guess some old habits are hard to break!”. Got out and threw my gun in the back and we were on our way.
Our destination, Greenwood Forrest was approximately 110 miles away.
We arrived at our spot at 6:45am and got ready to head on out to the woods at 7am.
“Jake” was really excited as he usually is and ready to go!
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Curt sets up Jake`s GPS tracking collar. It shows him when Jake stops, what direction the dog`s in and how far away he is.
That morning Quail Hunt in Greenwood Forrest was great! We ended up each getting our limit of four Quail by 9:30am. Jake did a really good job too. Bumped a couple birds, but all in all did really well.
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One time this hunter told Curt and myself, “As long as your English Pointer is gettin` a bloody tail, ya gotta keep him!”……….. Well Jake always gets a bloody tail which is typical for this hunting dog, as they beat the brush with their tail, as they hunt for birds. 
As I said, we had our limits by 9:30am. Curt turned to me and asked, “Want to go back up to Spruce Run to hunt some Pheasants since it`s so early?” Now the thing is with Curt, he`ll hunt from sun-up to sun-down! ha! ha! I said, “Sure….. but I`m only hunting till 1pm today buddy!”
With that, we loaded up in the truck and headed back north on the Garden State parkway.
When we arrived at Spruce Run, we were shocked…….. there wasn`t a vehicle in the parking area! Never have seen this on a Saturday afternoon.
The November air still had a good chill in it that late morning into the afternoon as we made our way across the fields. We weren`t in the field thirty minutes, when Jake put one up that I cracked with my .28 Gauge Beretta Over-and-Under shotgun. Normally I like using my old 1959 Browning Semi-Automatic for Pheasant, but this time I only had the Berretta. It was a good lesson, because up to this point I had only been using this gun for Grouse and Quail. I was more than pleased with what it could do hunting Pheasants.
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Ken Beam is ready to do some NJ Pheasant-Quail Hunting with his .28 Gauge Berretta!
Watch the Video below of our NJ Pheasant-Quail Hunting Adventure last Saturday;
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NJ Small Game Hunting Season 2014 – Ken Beam Pheasant Hunting w/Curt Ryder

I`m 51 years old & I still get as excited about the first day of NJ Small Game Hunting Season as much as when I was nine years old & Dad let me actually hunt with him carrying my trusty single-shot .410 shotgun on that Opening Day long ago.
(Yes yes……. I know…….. legally you can`t be a licensed hunter in NJ until you are ten years old……… All I can say is that things were very different back then. Hell I`d been walking alongside my Dad rabbit hunting since I was six years old. Nowadays you wouldn`t think about
letting a kid hunt without having a NJ Hunting License………yea……. like I said folks, it was just a different time way back when)
So on Saturday I met my best friend Curt Ryder & his dog “Jake” at our usual meeting place,… the Quick Check on 46.When Curt pulled into the Quick Check,  I grabbed my gun & hunting gear & as I jumped in his truck he joked sayin`, “Geez………. What the hell is goin` on here??? Ken Beam is actually on time! For that matter he`s even early!“…… ha! ha!
Our Hunting destination was about a little over an hour away.
We planned on hunting the Walpack Cemetary as we usually do very well there on Opening Day of Small Game Hunting. The weather was perfect. It was a nice, cool, sunny Autumn morning to hunt.Curt had this new GPS-tracking collar on Jake & it was really pretty exciting because it actually tells you how far away he is & and when he`s on “point”! As you walk towards the dog, it shows your getting closer on the GPS screen.
By 11am we each had our limit of two Pheasants. It was definitely a great morning to start the NJ Small Game Hunting Season of 2014!
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NJ Black Bear! Ken Beam captures this Huge Bear on Video in Port Murray NJ

It was a nice balmy night on November 5th and at about 12:30am our Pomeranian “Buttercup” woke me to go out. So I picked her up & I swaggered outside on the porch, half asleep. As I put my Crocs on she started growlin` in my arms……. I said, “Buttercup!…..Shhhhhh……..There`s nothin` out here”…………
Boy was I ever wrong.
I put her down with her leash on & she bolted for the driveway……….. I ran over & walked her out in the yard, still going, “Shhhhhhh……knock it off Buttercup!” as she growled. I should know better………
dogs have a much better sense than us especially in the night.
Then I heard a loud smash right across the street & as I hustled her back to the house, I said, “Guess we`re not alone Buttercup!”………… I put her back inside & grabbed a flashlight & pussy-footed back down the driveway to see what was makin` all that racket across the street. Low & behold as I shined the light towards the neighbors driveway, there where not one, not two, but three Black Bears rummaging through the garbage! They could`ve cared less about me as they “dined” away! After watching them for about ten minutes, I went back inside.
Now in the morning, I took all three of our pups out at 9am……….. again as I walked them towards the driveway, that little Buttercup went crazy barking again!
They were back!
 Yep…… All three Black Bears where at it again! I hustled the pups back in the house & grabbed my camera!
 Now I could obviously see them really well…….. Looked like a Momma & her two youngsters.
The two younger bears probably went about 150 pounds and “Momma” was quite a different story!
My guess was she weighed in between 600-700pounds! A Monster NJ Black Bear indeed!
I worked my way down the edge of my property & wasn`t even 25 yards away from this big bruin!
(Yes….I know……. Definitely wasn`t a very wise thing to do on my part! Please do not try such a foolish stunt like I did!)
Here is that enormous NJ Black Bear caught on video that morning……….. Hope you all enjoy it.
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NJ Pike Fishing on this balmy November Day in my kayak….

The weather forecast was suppose to be warm one more day before a cold-front was upon us. I was getting itchy to take advantage of the short-warm trend so I text my boss at 8pm the night before asking if it would be ok to burn a half-day of vacation. He said, “Sure”……. so I loaded up my `Yak that night & drove my truck to work the next morning, all prepared to get a little NJ Pike Fishing in the next afternoon.
Now that day-light saving time was over, I had to strategically plan out my time that afternoon as I only would have decent light till 5:30.
So at 1pm I changed my clothes & headed for the river with the idea that I would attempt to film this adventure as I worked the Passaic River in my `Yak. I don`t have a Go-Pro Camera yet, so I
bought this head-band that actually holds Canon Powershot Cameras from eBay. As I put it on my head the night before at the house, Sharon said, “Are you really going to wear that thing on your head while you fish?”…………… ha! ha! I said, “Sure…..why not? No one will see me!”
Now I only caught one Pike that day & lost another, but I think you`ll enjoy watching my little NJ Pike
Fishing Video as I explain what I use & how I fish for Pike in the Passaic River.
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Fall temps are coolin` down & the NJ Pike Fishing is gettin` Hot!

Last Sunday was suppose to be my day to work around the house & my one focus was going to be to bag leaves as our yard is covered. It was a picture-perfect Fall Day. Except for one thing……… the wind.
So at around 10am I went out to give it a go with my leaf blower and climbed up on my roof to blow out my leaf-packed gutters. After this was done I decided to tackle the yard figuring it was perfect as the leaves where bone-dry & easy to blow around. Yea……well that was true. Those leaves started blowing everywhere as the wind was picking up.
This was useless I thought.
Well…….. no sense wastin` this gorgeous Fall Day right? So let`s load up the `Yak & hit the river to do a little NJ Pike Fishing for a few hours! Now the problem with that statement is simply this,…….. Ken Beam + Fishin…RARELY =  just a “Few Hours!” ha! ha!
So I did a few more odds & ends around the house loaded up my truck with my gear & `Yak & headed to the river.
I got on the river at 1pm and by 1:20 I landed my first young Pike! I figured, “Wow…… this might just be a good day despite the very windy conditions similar to last weekend.”
My plan was to fish till 4:30 as I told Sharon I`d be home for supper by 5:30. So I strategically figured how much time I could spend between fishin` & paddlin` at each of my three spots. Startin` out backwards, out of order, I was at spot number 3 first and had to be out and back at my truck by 2pm if I was to stay on course in order to hit all three spots.
At 2pm I was right on schedule and driving to spot number 2. I launched the `Yak & decided to give it a shot upstream first. As I paddled under the bridge, I actually had to duck my head a bit……… “Ahhhhhhh…….. The recent rains made the river rise.”
As I worked the spot thoroughly with my accurate casts, I couldn`t believe I hadn`t had a strike. “Time to head downstream”, I thought……
As I worked my way downriver, a Pike jumped right alongside my `Yak! Casting in that direction, brought a swirl then a strike! Fish on! Another young Pike. Wasn`t long after that I caught another Pike casting in the debris in the river. It seemed to me that the Pike that were normally in those other spots, were now downstream, hovering around brush & other debris as the higher water apparently moved them down the river.
Now it was 3:30…….. “Heck….. might as well stay right here at spot number 2 and finish up the day here. Why not? I`m catchin` fish!”……………… Then it became 4:15………. “Fifteen more minutes……ahhhhhh…….I can get back to truck by 4:45″ I said to myself.
Then at 4:40 I was still fishin` as I was gettin` a lot of action. Up to that point I had landed four & lost two others right at the `Yak!
At 4:45 I set the hook again on a slighly heavier Pike! Yes! A decent one that made number five on the day! As I netted him & took a few pictures, I could see that the spinnerbait hook had come out high up towards his eye. So I gingerly worked the hook out of his mouth bare-handed, rather than use pliers. As I did this, he chomped down on my finger with those razor-like teeth!
Needless to say, I did indeed get the hook out of him & returned him safely to the murky waters….
Another great Adventure on the River! (But boy oh boy…….did I ever catch hell walkin` in the door an hour late! -ha! ha!)
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