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“ACE” Jerry Luciano Views
“ACE” Jerry Luciano Views is an Outdoor Professional. Writer. Bestselling Author. Black Belt Martial Artist. Hunter. Fisherman. Outdoorsman. Husband. Father. Friend. Consultant. Entrepreneur. “ACE” Jerry Luciano Views
“That Guy”
I am a professional vagabond and general miscreant. I have “Horizon Syndrome.” I have a need to climb one more hill, scale one more peak, hunt one more animal, hike one more mile, etc. “ACE” Jerry Luciano Views
I Live by the mantra, “Life is what you make of it” and, if you ask me how I’m doing, 99% of the time my answer will be, “Excellent!” “ACE” Jerry Luciano Views
Outdoor Professional/Owner/CEO at BGA Enterprises, LLC, Pro Team at Meopta Sports Optics and Pro Team Member at Rivers West @BigGameAce Hunter,Fisherman,Outdoorsman,Entrepreneur,Author,Outdoor personality,Sales & Marketing Consultant,Seminar Speaker,Nature Lover,Freedom & 2nd Amendment Advocate “ACE” Jerry Luciano Views
Ace Luciano – BGA Enterprises Ace Luciano is first a Hunter, a fisherman, and an outdoorsman for over 30+ years. He is also an author, seminar speaker, consultant, and entrepreneur. Ace has traveled the globe in pursuit of both game and fish throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, Africa, Europe, and Australia and is involved in numerous conservation organizations and youth projects. In 1995 Ace was the youngest director ever elected to the board of directors of any Safari Club International chapter. The Chapters that he has helped to found have earned Rookie Chapter of the Year, Chapter of the Year, and Conservation Organization of the Year honors. “ACE” Jerry Luciano Views
“ACE” Jerry Luciano Views
Well, Bruce, a long time ago, two people fell in love and, no, I’m just kidding. Bruce, I have been in the outdoor arena for a little over the past, a little over a decade. And I’ve obviously been a hunter and outdoors my entire life. And I have to tell you that my introduction to deer hunting was miserable.
I shot my first deer ever in Montana. It was a mule deer, which I had always been told for my young life were darn near impossible to eat. And I shot it on the last half hour of the last day of the season, having hunted for ten straight days with a high temperature of ten below. “ACE” Jerry Luciano Views
I have been in the outdoor arena for a little over the past, a little over a decade
Bruce: Oh, my word.
Ace: It’s amazing I ever went deer hunting again, but I got the bug and have since gone to hunt deer and dozens of other big game species, if not hundreds, all over the world.
Bruce: Well, that was a great transition to the story behind the story. So let’s just stay with your first deer. Where were you? Why did you spend ten days in sub zero temperatures chasing a critter?
Ace: Well, I was very fortunate to spend the first 21 Thanksgivings of my life in Montana, and my family has access to and owns some land out there, and some friends. So when I was a kid, that was where big game hunting was done. It didn’t even occur to me that we could hunt in our back yard in Illinois. We went to Montana to hunt, and that’s where my uncle was, where his farm was, so that’s kind of what we did.
we were fortunate in that we had a lot of different things available. I cut my teeth hunting birds as a kid
And we were fortunate in that we had a lot of different things available. I cut my teeth hunting birds as a kid. There was a lot of ducks, and goose, and pheasant hunting in and around where I lived, but we could do all that in Montana and deer hunt as well. It was also an exotic location, a lot different than when I looked at out my back door.
So, I caught the bug. My dad was a big hunter, and he and my uncle would go off and hunt for the week and come back with deer and elk. It was always a very exciting thing. It was kind of, there was always a lot of suspense. You know, back then, you weren’t in touch with people every second of the day. There was no such thing as a cell phone. So, we really didn’t even know what happened until we got a call from a pay phone somewhere between here and there that said, “Hey, we’re on our way back and we all got bucks”.
My dad was a big hunter, and he and my uncle would go off and hunt for the week and come back with deer and elk
Bruce: That’s great.
Ace: That was basically my start in deer hunting. I chased, we chased that deer for ten days because, back then, you could not hunt until you were 12. And the year of my twelfth birthday, we could not get out there until late in the season. It seemed like back then, although are talking about global warming, etc. well, it was awfully cold back then in November in Montana, and for some reason, the deer just weren’t where they had been. I’m very excited today to go out in that kind of weather, although nowhere near as much as I was back then, and the goal was to get me a deer.
That was basically my start in deer hunting. I chased, we chased that deer for ten days because
As a matter of fact, my father didn’t shoot a deer that year, because we were all trying so hard to get me my buck. So we went after it. Back then, I had inflated rubber boots, and the same coat I wore to school, and nylon snow pants, and cotton long underwear. So, it was nowhere the comfort, and gear, and breathable membranes and things like that that we have today. And yet, imagine that, I not only survived but grew the love deer hunting such that now I have piles of all that gear.
Bruce: So, let’s transition from the wilds of Montana to the wood lots where whitetails call their home. How did that happen?
Ace: Yes. Well, you know, I live in Wisconsin, and Wisconsin is known for their whitetails. As a matter of fact, when I grew up, used to go from Illinois to Wisconsin to deer hunt, from my area, anyway. Back then, the golden triangle that they refer to in southern Illinois hadn’t yet been discovered, and people very often from Chicago and north traveled to Wisconsin to deer hunt.
So I spent my life basically looking at places. Where did I want to be? And Wisconsin, it’s funny, we actually have three distinct areas here that whitetail are hot, and they’re all very different. The main area of Wisconsin, where the majority of deer are shot, is actually what we refer to as our southern farm zone. That’s where it’s the majority agricultural land, very high deer densities, some as high as 50 to 60 per square mile. As you move north into the state, they have what they refer to as the central farm zone, which is your mix of farm and woods. And when I say woods, I mean farm and big woods. Woods over five, six hundred acres interspersed with farm land.
As you get further north in the state, we have what we call the northern tier
As you get further north in the state, we have what we call the northern tier. That’s where there’s only the occasional crop grown and it’s more big woods. Traditionally, that has been Wisconsin’s deer area. That’s where guys go to hunt. You hunt the north woods, and contrary to popular belief, it’s actually a much more difficult hunt. The deer densities are much lower. There are some areas where the densities are as few as six to 10 deer per square mile. So, the hunting methods that we use are entirely different than those that are used in southern Wisconsin. But I would say that hunting the big woods is, appeals much more to my passion than sitting on a tree line in a corn field. Does that make sense?
Bruce: Yes, it does and I went to school at University of Wisconsin, Lacrosse, and started in 1966 along the Baraboo River, and I’ve hunted all the way up on Lake Superior, all the way down probably, I don’t know how close Prairie du Chien is to the Illinois border, but it’s not that far.
Ace: It’s a stone’s throw.
Bruce: So I’ve hunted a lot of the zones you just talked about. Talk to me about hunting the big woods. And we’re talking thousands of hardwoods, thousands of acres of hardwoods. Aren’t we?
Ace: Hundreds of thousands of acres of hardwoods, and pines, and interspersed. You know, for, again, for a decade I’ve actually lived north of the Wisconsin border, which people don’t realize is Michigan. It’s funny how many people forget their geography, but straight north of Wisconsin is Michigan for the majority of the border. And that area, and into northern Wisconsin, is the northern border forest. It’s very, very thick woods interspersed with more open wood lots. Up there, we plan our deer hunting around their cutting patterns.
it’s mostly national forest land and state forest land, in northern Wisconsin
So, the woods there, it’s mostly national forest land and state forest land, in northern Wisconsin. And because it’s a sustainable resource just like deer are, there are areas that they select cut, there are areas that they clear cut, and your deer hunting can really drastically improve based on some of the cutting patterns on the timber companies that lease cuts or have private land that they cut and open to hunting.
It’s definitely an entirely different method of hunting. We are oftentimes putting on serious miles going back into the woods looking for open hardwood ridges that deer are feeding on for food. We’re looking for places like beaver ponds that tend to open up areas and create that edge habitat that whitetails love. We also look for things like the northern cedar swamps and Tamarac swamps that grow thick, good thermal cover. Where they border with the more open hardwoods is a great place to look to ambush a buck, especially when they’re in rut.
Bruce: Let’s talk about ambushing bucks in the big timber. We know there’s over ten million people that chase whitetails every year but, anywhere from down in Florida all the way up to, as you said, you know, Northern Wisconsin then up into Canada. It’s all a little bit different. So, let’s expand that a little bit. Let’s talk about how you set up a stand, a ground blind, a tree stand in that northern tier.
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