Author: Luke Clayton
Luke Clayton
Luke was raised in very rural Red River County where he grew up hunting and fishing. He began amateurishly writing about his adventures at the age of 12, the accounts of his boyhood outings often filling several pages of his Big Chief tablets. Luke began writing professionally while in his twenties and currently writes an outdoor newspaper column that runs weekly in 40 Texas newspapers. Luke is hunting/shooting columnist for Texas Wildlife Magazine and writes regular features for several other outdoor magazines including Airgun Hobbyist where he is Hunting Editor. Radio is a fun endeavor for Luke and his shows are known for his relaxed and down home style WWW.CATFISHRADIO.ORG Luke is on the pro staff of Airforce Airguns, Smokin Tex Electric Smokers, and TRHP Outdoors. Luke and his long time friend Larry Weishuhn also produce a bi-weekly internet radio show titled HUNTING WIRE RADIO and Sporting Classics Radio on Sporting Classics Daily.com Luke covered hunting for the Texas Almanac, one of the oldest and most revered publications in the state. With almost 38 years under his belt as an outdoors writer, Luke has no intention of slowing down anytime soon. He continues to love the lifestyle that has been so fulfilling throughout his life. Luke and friends Larry Weishuhn & Jeff Rice produce a weekly video series " A Sportsman's Life" for CarbonTV.com
Wild hogs often become almost entirely nocturnal during the winter months when cover is sparse. They’ve been exposed to hunter pressure for several months, and being the highly intelligent animals they are, they prefer to feed under the cover of darkness when they have the woods to themselves. Due to their nocturnal nature, hog hunting at night is not only beneficial from a success standpoint – but it’s an adrenaline pumping experience. The critter’s eyesight is touted as being pretty bad, but I’ve seen them spot movement and spook from at least a couple hundred yards away. What they might…
Lake Texoma’s legendary striper fishing was everything we’d hoped for and more. Guided by the skilled hands of Dave Escamilla from Striper Express, we set out at dawn, eagerly anticipating the thrill of Texas-sized stripers tearing into our topwater plugs. With decades of local knowledge, Escamilla positioned us for success, delivering an unforgettable experience in one of North America’s best natural striped bass fisheries. From adrenaline-pumping topwater explosions to hooking hard-fighting brutes on live shad, this was a striper fishing adventure that lived up to its reputation. Striper Express guide David Escamilla, known in fishing circles as “Lil’ Dave, eased…
There is something very special bout spending time in Texas during the spring when fields are adorned with Bluebonnets and Indian Paint Brushes. The mere thought of hunting turkeys in the spring brings to mind gently flowing Hill Country streams and the resounding thunder of a big gobbler answering those plaintive hen yelps. To the best of my memory, this spring will be my forth-fourth year to hunt turkey in Texas. After a couple years of good hatches, numbers should be excellent in many areas. The terrain in Texas is far too diverse to give a ‘blanket’ account of what…
Wild Hog Meat can be cooked many ways Any discussion on how to prepare wild hog meat must begin with the harvest and preparation of the meat. We’ve returned home from the hunt with a cooler full of very fresh wild pork. We made certain to take care of the meat from the time we made the short recovery after placing that broadhead or bullet in the kill zone. Swine blood is one of the quickest to congeal but with that double lung shot, we didn’t have to worry about the animal bleeding out. While skinning our hog we made…
In Texas where I live and have hunted wild hogs for over five decades, there are basically two primary camps of wild hogs hunters. One group prefers hunting them over bait and the other at night using thermal scopes for hogs feeding on open fields and hay meadows. On occasion, I’ve shot a few hogs that I encountered feeding on open fields at night with thermal but I much prefer baiting them and shooting them at relatively close range, often at night using my AGM Global thermal scope. I am pretty selective with the hogs I shoot because I relish…
Which AGM Global Vision Thermal is Right for You? For a night hunter, moving up from digital night vision or old school green or red lights for night hunting to thermal imaging can be likened to walking from a dimly lit room into full sunshine. Thermal scopes highlight the heat signature of objects and are a great step forward from previous methods of night hunting. But with the technology comes the challenge of choosing which scope or monocular best suits your needs and budget. If cost is not a factor, units with higher processors that provide resolution from 384 up…
For the past 30 years or so I have eagerly awaited the opening of spring turkey season. Trying to outsmart a wise old gobbler is one of hunting’s most exciting endeavors. There is something very special about hearing a distant gobbler respond to your plaintive hen yelps, and then hearing the bird come closer and closer until he pops out of the brush with brilliant colors that light up the spring woods. Through these years, I have had the opportunity to hunt with some very good turkey hunters. The late outdoor writer Bob Hood was one of the best. Bob…
The Red and Washita River drainages were dammed in 1944 to create Lake Texoma, a lake situated mostly in Oklahoma, with a portion of it also in Texas. Little did the WWII German prisoners-of-war who helped construct the massive dam know that the 80,000 acres they were helping to impound would one day become a world-class striped bass fishery that would attract striper anglers from all across the country. I’m pretty sure the biologists in charge of the new fishery had no idea what was to come, either. Stripers were first stocked in 1965. The salt mines 40 miles upstream…
Hog Sounds for Hunting Creating hog sounds for hunting is a crucial element to have success on your next hog hunt. In the past few years, several studies have been done to determine the effects various sounds have on wild hogs. The findings reflect a fact I have known most of my life: hogs are especially responsive to what they hear. Sounds they respond to vary. It could be a twig snapping when a hunter stalks within bow range of a sounder of wild hogs. It could be the low guttural grunts of a sow in estrus. Or it may…
Hog hunting can be satisfying and productive. In Texas, where I live, wild hogs are plentiful and it’s not difficult to find a place to hunt them. Hogs are hunted on just about every piece of hunting lease land and piece of ranch or farmland in the Lone Star State. But just because hogs are plentiful doesn’t necessarily mean that they are easy to hunt in every instance. After spending well over four decades hunting hogs, I’ve concluded that they have the ability to reason—or at least react to circumstances—especially when getting pressure from hunters. I believe that the images…
