Folks visiting our website at http://www.gofoxpro.com have been noticing a few changes over the past couple of weeks. The FOXPRO team has been working hard to develop a new look and feel for the website. Along with a new community messaging forum system (click here), you will see other new features arriving later this season. If you haven't visited our website recently, we encourage you to stop by and check out what we have to offer! Your comments and suggestions are welcome.

The overhauled site features an improved sound previewing system, new product videos, the latest product information, and much more to come! For folks who are new to electronic game calls and are unsure of which FOXPRO model is best for them, try out the e-Selector. This interactive application will ask you some questions and make suggestions based upon your answers.

The FOXPRO 2009 – 2010 Online Predator Contest started on November 1, 2009. The official pose, rules, and regulations are posted on the new forums. If you would like to join in the competition this year, check out the following link: http://forum.gofoxpro.com/fp_forums/forumdisplay.php?f=43

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The FOXPRO Fury GX7 and Prairie Blaster both have an exciting feature that allows the user to operate the caller virtually hands free. FOXCAST™ reads from a special sequence file that you load into the unit. The file contains instructions that tell the unit what sounds to play, what volume levels to play at, and can even specify passages of silence. We are going to take an in-depth look at FOXCAST™ and explore some of the possibilities available to you.

FOXCAST™ can be beneficial in many ways. By having the unit make sound changes, volume changes, and include moments of silence on its own eliminates the need for you to have to physically move around. An incoming predator won’t see a hand fumbling with a remote control. FOXCAST™ allows you to free up your hands and keep yourself focused entirely on scanning for predators and enables you to be quicker on your shot.

A FOXCAST™ sequence file can be created on about any computer. The only piece of software you will need is a simple text editor such as Notepad for Windows. Practically every operating system ships with a simple text editing software package. It is not recommended that you use a rich text editor such as Microsoft Word. Those types of editors can put a bunch of extra formatting and other data into the file that will prevent it from being properly read by your game call. You are looking for simple, bare-bones editing software without any special effects.

Your unit can store up to 10 sequences at one time. Each sequence file will have a name ranging from S00 to S09 (that S, zero, zero through S, zero, 9). You then access the sequences by pressing the Sequence button on the side of your TX-500 and selecting the sequence just as if it were an individual sound.

Creating a FOXCAST™ Sequence
To begin, open up your text editing software. Windows users will find Notepad by going to the Start button, All Programs, Accessories and clicking on Notepad. Another way is to access the Start button, click run, then type in "notepad" (without the quotes) and pressing enter.

Once the text editor is open, you can begin authoring your sequence file. It will help if you have your TX-500 with you so that you can refer to the sound list. The following chart will outline all of the functions available to you for authoring a sequence file.

Each command can be written into the sequence file in the way of the example to follows.

The example shown above instructs the Fury or Prairie Blaster to perform the following sequence:

1. Set volume to level 35
2. Play sound number 12
3. Pause for 90 seconds
4. Set volume to level 10
5. Play sound number 48
6. Repeat

When authoring your own sequence file, make sure that you begin the sequence off with a V (volume level) command. If you do not include this command, the unit will not know what volume level the sound should be played at.

The V command simply denotes a numerical value of the volume level from 0 to 40. As you create a sequence file, you can make as many volume adjustments as needed.

The S command denotes the numerical value of the sound you wish to play. The range of values on this command will be from 0 to 499.

The P command denotes the numerical value of the length of a pause in the measurement of seconds. The value of this command can range from 1 to 99999.

The above sequence file example ends with an R. This command tells the unit to restart and continue playing the sequence. Your sequence file must always end with an R, J, or Q. These commands are crucial for wrapping-up or continuing a sequence. The J denotes jukebox mode. When you close your sequence with this command, the unit will move on and start playing the next available sequence file in memory. If you close the sequence with a Q, this denotes single play mode or quit and when this is encountered, the sequence is over.

Creating a Sequence Manually

The Fury and Prairie Blaster can operate on up to 10 sequence files. These files must be named in the format as shown in the following example:

As you can see, each one of the sequence files has a specific naming convention. Each file must begin with S00 and spans through S09 for all 10 possibilities. You can type in a brief description for each sequence as in the example above. That description will show up on the LCD panel when you enter into the sequence mode on the TX-500.

The following instructions will go through the process of creating a sequence file in 7 steps:

1. Open up Notepad
2. Design/type out your entire sequence
3. Access the FILE menu, choose "SAVE AS"
4. Change the "SAVE AS TYPE" pull-down menu to display "ALL FILES" rather than "TEXT DOCUMENTS"
5. Make sure the encoding is set to "ANSI"
6. Type in the name of the file (e.x., "S00 My Stand.seq")
7. Click on the "SAVE" button.

When you are saving a sequence file, be aware of the location you are saving it to. You are welcome to save the sequence file directly to your unit or perhaps you want to place them in another folder on your hard drive. Always know the location of where you are saving the file to, otherwise you may experience difficulty in locating those files later.

Make sure that you change the "SAVE AS TYPE" to "ALL FILES". If you do not do this, the resulting file will look like this:

S00 My Stand.seq.txt

By not changing the type of file, by default, Notepad will attempt to save the sequence file as a .txt file or standard text file. A file that is saved to the Fury in this format will not work.

Possibilities for sequencing out various functions are practically limitless. For example, let’s say that you want to slowly bring in a certain sound, but you prefer not to use Auto Volume. Each time the sound plays through one time, the volume will be increased by a certain amount. Here is an example of how that would look:

S 15
V 3
S 15
V 7
S 15
V 10
Etc.

Click here to download a compressed (zip) file containing 10 sequence files. You are welcome to save these to your hard drive, edit them, and use them as a template for your own sequences. Note: These files will contain sample text defining sequences. You will need to delete this text before you begin creating your own sequences.

Once you begin using FOXCAST™ and discover its potential, it will become a major part of your calling arsenal! Contact a FOXPRO product professional today to learn more about FOXCAST™!

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Memories in the field may often be more rewarding than the actual harvest of the hunt. Memories, tales and stories are all found in each one of us, in a secure place never to be forgotten. As the years pass by, we are all encouraged to share these similar stories with our future generations. These memories, tales and stories are what keep our hunting heritage alive and thriving in today's society. My memories, in some ways, are alike to the ones you have and hold dear to your hearts.

In the fall of 2008 my parents left their residence nestled in a small valley at the base of a richly wooded Pennsylvania mountain. Often times you could find Dad testing his tactics on native trout at a nearby stream, while Mom was usually baking cakes, pies, and cookies. They left for Edinburgh Texas, where they would begin to learn the Spanish language to prepare them to be missionaries in Chile. I called up Randy Watson, a field staff member from Texas, and with his help arranged for a day in February to have my Dad meet me at Randy's for a one night predator hunt. After a 3 hour delay I finally met Randy and my Dad at the Midland airport. We had one night, and one night only, to try and entice a few weary predators to come to the call.

The moon was in its last quarter with temperatures hovering around 45 degrees. For all the night hunters out there, you can relate to the anticipation that builds when you know that the weather is in your favor. I knew we had one night to make it happen and was eager to start calling. Dad was new to the scope of predator hunting, but was confident and excited to have the privilege of his first predator hunt take place in such a highly populated predator area. On the way to the ranch, Randy and I reminisced about past hunts we had together and discussed the different eyes that we may see but most importantly to positively identify that it is a predator. These basic ground rules may seem unnecessary at the time, but could be the difference between a great night of hunting or a not so graceful meeting with a ranch owner. The first stand we stopped at we had a wide open grass field off to our right and thick mesquite cover to our left. Dad and I got situated in the chair that Randy created for the shooter which also had a camera chair affixed to the back of the shooters chair. I would be running the camera the whole night in hopes of capturing Dads' first predator harvest. When Randy began making his distressed screams with the Skyote, the sounds seemed to pierce the cool and silent night air. Dads' excitement grew even greater as he spotted two sets of eyes. Within five minutes we had our first two visitors of the evening making their way through the thick mesquite off to our left. They closed the distance to within 80 yards and we immediately saw that they were two bobcats. Randy started lip squeaking and coaxing the closer cat in to about 60 yards. I was on him with the camera and gave Dad the go ahead to shoot. The blast from the .223 echoed through the night, as we watched the cat quickly get the heck out of there!

Dad couldn't believe he missed, but for someone on their first predator hunt, shooting at night can be very difficult for some people to get used to. We moved onward and called five or six more stands until we finally had a response to the call. A gray fox paralleled us from about 80 yards out and Dad was sure to bear down on this one. You could hear the connection when he fired but unfortunately we were unable to capture the shot on film. So with fur on the ground, everyone seemed to settle down and lose any nervousness that may have been burdening us. The night grew longer as we did a few more stands trying to capture a kill on film, but had little to no response. Around 2 o'clock in the morning, the winds started to pick up and Randy started to play sounds on the FOXPRO. Randy is a great predator hunter and hand caller, but he will be the first to tell you that the volume coming out of his SP-108 speakers of the Snow-Crow-Pro is plenty loud enough to cut through the wind. On this stand, Randy started playing sound number 290 Lucky Bird. I was fighting vigorously to try to stay awake, then I heard the sound suddenly stop and Randy began lip squeaking. I looked to the right and saw another gray fox quickly weaving in and around the sage and mesquite brush. I got on him briefly with the camera but he quickly disappeared. The next time I saw him he popped back up into the center of the frame, and just as quick as the foxes head went up, Dad put it back down. We had just successfully called in and filmed our first hunt of the night.

It was getting late and Randy decided to do one more stand before we had to get Dad back and rested in order to catch his flight. Dad was reenacting the bobcat he missed in his mind, and wished for one more chance at a cat. We drove a few miles to the other side of the ranch where Randy thought we could call something in. We stopped in the middle of a wide two-track with low mesquite and sage on all sides of us. Randy began calling, with the same sound on the FOXPRO (290 Lucky Bird). As Dad moved the chair back and forth covering the rear side of the truck, Randy scanned for eyes in the front. Shortly after we began calling, the chair came to an abrupt stop and immediately I saw the eyes that Dad was looking at. I lip squeaked at Randy to indicate that we had located eyes. He moved his light over and gazed at the two beady red glares. "It's a deer" Randy said. Dad peered through his scope to get a better look and said "I think it's a cat". "Keep an eye on him, I'll keep calling" instructed Randy. As Randy moved his light away and scanned for any other incoming predators Dad kept insisting it was a cat. Never once did he think about firing because he knew that he wasn't completely sure. As Dad and I were watching the eyes, out of nowhere the chair quickly spun 180 degrees facing the front of the truck looking directly down the two-track road. Randy began his signature coaxing sound which is called the "Kiss of Death" and lo and behold, a large cat was running down the road right at us. I quickly began recording with the camera as the cat approached us to within 60 yards of the truck. I heard the safety "click" and was anticipating the shot. BANG the .223 cracked and Dad had harvested his first ever bobcat, just in the nick of time.

As I followed Dad and Randy down the road to the bobcat, the closer I got I realized this cat had a leopard pattern coat of fur. There are different patterns, spots and bars on every bobcat, and this one was one style I personally wanted to get. As Randy and Dad did the outtake and told the viewers what had happened I was reminded of something. I recalled the numerous amounts of hunting excursions that my Dad took me on as I was growing up. All that I learned about hunting and God from my Father was coming back to me and I remembered the real meanings in life. Time is only but a gift given from God for each one of us, how we use it, spend it, and learn from it is all up to us. That hunt will be the last time I get to hunt with my Father for a long time. My parents are traveling to Chile for a four year term as missionaries to tell others about God. One of the many things they will teach them is how He has given them the time to grow in their faith and the opportunity to share that with others. I look forward to many more opportunities to spend with my Dad and others in the field and Gods creation. Randy, John Everly and I hunted the next three nights and harvested a few more cats and coyotes. As Randy and I talked about the past trip and the time with my Dad, he told me that it was great having us there together and that there isn't any amount of money that could buy memories like that. Thanks Randy.

Coyotes are ornery critters that kill for a living. Oh yes, there are those big city coyotes that scrounge residential neighborhoods for scraps of food, but I am betting that they love the pet puppies and kittens that live in those cities a lot better than the garbage they manage to scrounge up. I have called coyotes away from the meat of dead livestock that they had been gorging themselves on, and I know that many other callers have done the same. Coyotes will eat anything that is remotely edible, and some things that don't even seem to be edible. The fact however, is that coyotes prefer fresh meat. During the summer months, Mom and Pop coyote teach their pups how to hunt small animals for food. It is during this time period that pups learn to associate the screams of distressed critters with food. The frantic screams of a dying rabbit or bird, the pleading bawls of a distressed fawn or lamb. These frantic crys are the sound of a dinner bell to a coyote. Hunters who learn to imitate the sound of a distressed critter, has learned a very important lesson. When a coyote hears this sound, there is a very good chance that the coyote will come to investigate. It matters not which little critter screams or bawls that the hunter imitates while in hearing distance of coyotes. The coyote does not know or care which type of critter it hears screaming. To the coyote, it is just lunch.

There are probably more coyotes called with rabbit screams than any other sound. Pick the most frantic and pain filled screams that you can find, as this will yield your best results. When using a mouth blown call, don't worry about sounding exactly like a rabbit. Just make the screams sound like a small critter that is hurting really bad.

Location

Not even the best of callers can call coyotes where there there are no coyotes to call. Ask the land owner if he has been hearing them howl, or has been seeing coyotes on the property. When scouting a new area for coyotes, look for tracks and droppings around water holes, fence corners, cow paths and etc. In farm country you will find the coyotes in or near cover that holds rabbits and Game birds. When choosing a spot from which to call, try to choose a high spot in the terrain where you can see the coyotes approach. I like to call from a sitting position, and I prefer to have my back up against a tree, a rock, a bush, or even a fence post. I plan to be on stand for 15 minutes, so I always sit on a cushion for comfort. I almost always wear a camo jacket, and it is my belief that a hunter's hands and face should be covered while calling. I prefer to call while facing a cross-wind, and keep a close watch on my down-wind side. Coyotes love to circle down-wind of the screams before final approach. When using an electronic caller, I try to place the caller up-wind of the cover where I believe the coyotes are holed up. I like to sit cross-wind of the caller some fifty yards or so. The coyotes often approach from down-wind of the caller instead of down-wind of ME.

Farm country coyotes like to spend their daylight hours in the thickest, most remote cover they can find. Placing an electronic caller upwind of a cedar thicket, or the head of a brush choked valley has helped me whack a lot of coyotes. I think it will help you also.

-Rich Cronk



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Right now within the predator hunting community, we are seeing a surge of shotgun hunting stories. Hunting coyotes with a shotgun has grown in popularity over the past couple of years. It has gotten to the point where a higher percentage of shooters prefer this method over the classic rifle hunting and it continues to gain traction everyday. Along with that popularity comes a lot of questions from hunters who may not be familiar with shotguns. Not all of us were brought up shooting waterfowl, quail or rabbits, so shot gunning predators could be a lot of shooters' first introduction to the shotgun world.

One of the most common questions that you will find going around is "What Choke Do I Need for Coyotes?" I have stopped counting how many times I have seen or been asked this question personally, whether during our many seminars, in emails or on the internet. Unfortunately, often times the question gets answered with something like "get the tightest pattern possible" or "just grab an extra full choke and some #4 buck and you'll be good." Being a water fowler and competitive clay shooter first and foremost, I tend to cringe a little when I here a new shot gunner being told these things.

The purpose of this article is to show you some quick results of patterning with different stock choke tubes supplied with a new Benelli Vinci 12 gauge. Of course other results will vary and won't be exact because every gun and choke is different, but these results are meant to give a basic idea of what is happening with certain chokes and hopefully lead you in the right direction to selecting the correct choke for your hunting situation.

The chokes we will concentrate on are the Cylinder (C), Improved Cylinder (IC), Modified (M), and Full (F). To give some technical info, I will tell you that a 12 gauge bore (cylinder) measures .729" or .730" depending on who you ask. Modified choking is .020" smaller than cylinder, Full is .035" smaller than cylinder and Extra full is considered .040" smaller or more. Of course these numbers do not represent the actual chokes themselves; rather they are actual accepted standard measurements. There are many, many different choke sizes and manufacturers and most of them will differ in what they consider full or modified and even their constriction numbers will differ slightly, but for this discussion we at least have the basics.

In order to make a decision on what choke is needed, the shot gunner must first answer two questions. How long of a shot are you typically going to be taking and how experienced are you with shooting a shotgun, or more specifically, since most of your shots are going to be at moving coyotes, how experienced are you at wing shooting? If you are going to be hunting thick cover and taking shots at 35yds or less than the need for a extra full turkey choke or something like it is not needed and will probably just end up being a handicap, especially for the beginner shooter. If you are hunting more open terrain and you're likely to be presented with shots out to 60yds, then having that full or extra full choke will probably come in handy due to its tighter pattern.

Beginner shooters make the mistake all too often of getting that extra full choke and trying to be proficient with it at close distances. It is hard enough to shoot a running coyote at 15-20 yards with a shotgun, let alone trying to hit one with a pattern the size of an orange or grapefruit. In the picture below you see what the pattern looks like out of our test gun with the Full choke at 10yds on a 5 1/2 " target.

If I was a novice or beginner with a shotgun, I certainly would not want to be shooting that kind of pattern. I would want to give myself every advantage possible to hit my target by casting a bigger net, so to speak. Even with having a great deal of shotgun experience, if I know that I will be hunting an extremely thick area, I myself will opt for a much more open choke like the IC rather than my normal Carlson's .670 or .680, so that I throw a better pattern at short distance.

Now in the next two pictures you will see the difference in the pattern at close range with the C and IC chokes out of our test gun.

Clearly you can already see the dramatic difference in getting away from the full choke at extremely close ranges and the advantage that having IC or C chokes for those shots will give you. Since I have done some extensive testing other than what is shown here, I will say that it is very hard to beat an IC choke at 20yds with #4 buck or Dead Coyote loads. But just to open things up a bit, I'll show you our test gun's pattern with a modified choke at 20yds. This is probably a more realistic distance in which most of your coyotes or other predators will be taken. Over the years our data has shown that the greatest majority of coyotes take with a shotgun are between 20-30yds.

Speaking from experience, the above pattern will hold together nicely and be just as deadly out to 30yds. So the M choke would be a very good choice for anyone who will be presented with an average shot of 15-35 yards.

Once you start getting into more open terrain and extending your shot distances, that's when things get interesting. It's amazing to see what happens to a shot pattern when the distance changes by 20yds. There are a lot of variables that play on what the pattern will turn out like, such as wind, the type of wad used, what ammo manufacturer, what choke manufacturer and so on. The next picture is of a pattern from the same M choke, except it is at 40yds. The difference should be pretty obvious.

Even though the pattern between the M choke at 20 and 40 yards is quite different, it is still going to be a lethal shot at 40yds. However, at distances past 40yds the M choke will start to open up to the point where you will not be guaranteed a lethal hit on the coyote. Obviously using the full or extra full choke will give you a much tighter pattern at those ranges and beyond. So just from this quick test, I personally would not take a shot at a coyote past 45 yards with anything, but a full or tighter choke.

To solve the problem of choosing the correct choke for any given situation, something that I do regularly is carry a set of chokes while in the field. Much like I used to do while shooting sporting clays, where I would be constantly changing chokes for a particular shot. This is also one of the reasons why I choose to shoot extended chokes in all of my guns. My personal preference is the Carlson's Extended chokes, but there are many on the market to choose from. Extended chokes give you the ability to quickly remove the choke without having to fumble with trying to find a choke wrench or tightening your chokes too much. Extended chokes only need to be hand tightened, but should be checked periodically to make sure they don't come loose.

What I hope for you to gain from this, especially you beginner shooters, is that you will choose the choke that will give you the best pattern to match your shooting ability and ethically kill that predator. Experienced shooters can get away with using an extra full choke for all situations, but if you are not an avid shot gunner than try to keep that pattern a bit more open and your shots within 40 yards. Once you figure out how your shotgun shoots with different chokes, then you will be ready to experience some of the most exciting shooting there is--SHOT GUNNING PREDATORS!

-Tim Lewis



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Product Spotlight

FOXPRO SpitFire Programming Options

FOXPRO Spitfire’s are starting ship to hunters around the world. A common question that we get asked is about what kind of options are available for programming these units. If you are considering purchasing a Spitfire or maybe you already ordered one, here is the list of options that are available to you.

The Spitfire stores sounds on removable memory. In order to program new sounds into the unit, you must remove the memory card from the unit and place it in a reader/writer for connecting it up to your PC. You can then use the FOXPRO Programming Utility for getting new sounds into the unit. FOXPRO sounds can be purchased online 24 hours a day, 7 days a week through our e-store.

Throughout the years of my predator hunting endeavors, whether it be wolf hunting in Quebec or predator hunting in Texas one thing that I try to achieve is to maintain the position of advantage. Being versitile and having the ability to adapt have only increased my success when I spend time afield. My days of being one dimensional are long behind me.

Being a solo hunter much of the time the use of placing a partner on the downwind side is not usually in the equation. Instead I have compensated with the use of knowing the land, useful barriers to help guide predators where I want them with a touch of creativity being thrown in when its available. Enough can't be said when it comes to knowing the land that you hunt in conjunction with having the utmost respect for our intended quarry. I know that I have been humbled more than once by a predator that worked a small depression in a field to catch my scent stream when all along I didn't even know the depression existed until it was too late.

Although not always available barriers both natural and man made have definitely increased my success over the years. Some examples of barriers that I have used in order to help control the incoming predator to move where I want for the shot would include cliffs, creeks, ponds, rivers, man made fences with no penetration points and so on.

Being a Penns woods native, most of my hunting occurs in Pennsylvania where I don't have much large unpopulated tracts of land to hunt on and some type of intrusion seems to spoil quite a few hunts but, you adapt, work around it and move on to the next set hoping for success.

One such hunt comes to mind that incorporates the above. Its January 2009 and I am going through my ritual of preparing for my hunt. Preparation for me is knowing the weather conditions, moon phase, having all the necessary gear in order and then I am off reviewing my land ledger so I can plan this hunts circuit by the most efficient means. The conditions for this hunt were great. Cold temperature, a last quarter moon phase with a 5 to 10 mph wind. The plan is to hunt from approximately 95 miles southeast of my residence close to the Maryland border and then back north to home.

Upon arriving on my first set I check the wind direction and realize that its a bad wind for this stand. I typically hunt this location on the ground next to a large pond where the pond is downwind creating a barrier effect for me. Usually I would drive on to the next location but, since I have traveled some distance and not wanting to leave empty handed a new game plan is developed. I grab my gear and throw my Lone Wolf treestand on to my back. The elevation of my treestand along with the use of two natural barriers is where I plan on getting the extra edge for success. Its about a half of an hour before dark and I am in position elevated in my treestand to try to compensate for the bad wind direction. Short of passing up this location it is the only way since a nearby creek (thats very deep) prohibits me from backdooring this property to get the wind right.

This stand is great grey fox country and I am excited. I know this property and I am now high a top their bedrooms. The briars and tangle are so thick that walking off of only two existing trails is virtually impossible without cutting and hacking your way through. I have a very deep section of creek behind me and that large pond southwest of my stand. The area has been calm for about 30 minutes and I am tucked in safely in my treestand. I strategically place my FOXPRO Scorpion about 5 feet off of the ground and its hidden in the briars. The speaker is pointed in the direction of the path of least resistence and the Scorpion is located close to my location so I don't loose the angle on the eyes of any responding predators. Darkness is now upon me and its time to serve the first course. On my first calling sequence I use the coaxer end of my Backstabber hancall. Almost immediately I see the red eyes of a grey fox coming towards me searching for a meal that I know he will never eat. The grey fox closed the distance to ten yards and stopped on the two track trail. Due to its close range very little red light was necessary for the shot. The 17 Mach IV anchored this grey fox.

I then switched to my FOXPRO for the next calling sequence using "screaming grey fox". Moments later a grey fox appears at approximately 25 yards. The 17 Mach IV finds it mark. Two down and once again I go to "screaming grey fox" for about 15 seconds and then trail the sound off once more. In almost carnival like fashion targets keep appearing. Two more grey fox enter the sound beam of the FOXPRO at approximately 50 yards and once again two more grey foxes down lying next to one another. No more calling was done and I just sat there getting over the shakes before I made my descent down the tree when a hog daddy of a grey fox shows up, walks over to one of the grey foxes laying on the ground and then proceeds to run straight away from me. Hoping for five grey fox on one stand I go for the shot but, miss (in my mind I prefer to think that I left that one for seed rather than a clean miss). Two trips later of carrying my gear and the foxes out of the woods I was met by the landowner who was very happy with my success at which time he asked me if I could sometime get him two greys for his great room. He was given two of the grey fox and the other two went home with me.

I rarely hunt from trees due to it not being very practical but, being versitle and able to adapt will definitely increase your odds. Always try to maintain the position of advantage.

Best of luck to you!

-Kirk C. McKendree

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Thanksgiving is a day set aside for family traditions. Some traditions include gathering the family around the table and having each one state what they are thankful for. Others enjoy the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade or one of the many football games. While yet other families may bundle up after dinner and go for a relaxing walk through the woods to admire the beautiful and colorful artwork of God. Whatever your family tradition may be, does anyone really know the history behind the first Thanksgiving and its traditions?

Most of us were taught at a young age that the first Thanksgiving took place in 1621 and it was between the Pilgrims and the Native Americans. The Pilgrims had invited the Native Americans to share a feast with them to show their appreciation for all the Native Americans had taught them. They dined on turkey, corn, mashed potatoes, and of course, pumpkin pie. The Pilgrims dressed in garments of black and white with big buckles on their hats and the Native Americans put on their best moccasins and brightest feathers to attend the celebration.

However, this was not the case. Historians have recorded that in 1620, the Pilgrims arrived in the Americas. During that first harsh winter, about half of those who had arrived died from cold and lack of food. So the next planting season, not only did the Pilgrims pray and asked God for guidance, they also enlisted the help of the Wampanoag Indians. Then come harvest time, the Pilgrims were so pleased with the blessing that God had given them that they decided to hold a three day celebration and invited their Native American friends to join them.

Their menu did not include turkey, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, or pumpkin pie, but instead what they had gathered from their "fowling" trip. In conjunction with wild goose and duck, they also had collected venison, seal, clams, and lobster. Beans, squash, onions, Indian corn, lettuce, and wheat flour along with acorns, chestnuts, and walnuts concluded the menu.

This harvest feast did not occur every year after, therefore it did not become a tradition right away. The Pilgrims considered a "thanksgiving" a good sign from God after a day or two of fasting and prayer in times of need, such as a drought or a battle. It wasn't until the American Revolution that a yearly national day of thanksgiving was even considered by the Continental Congress. By the year 1817, New York State was the only state to recognize Thanksgiving Day as an annual custom. By the mid 19th century, most other states had followed suit.

Then came Sarah Josepha Hale, a magazine editor who wrote strong editorials about popular issues of her time. She was relentless and had petitioned for Thanksgiving to be recognized as a national holiday; and in 1863 President Abraham Lincoln had declared Thanksgiving Day to be the last Thursday of November. Since then, each president has issued a Thanksgiving Day Proclamation. In 1939, President Franklin D. Roosevelt set the date for Thanksgiving as the fourth Thursday of November, which Congress later passed in 1941.

In 1947, a new tradition was in the making. The National Turkey Federation and the Poultry and Egg National Board have given a turkey to the President of the United States during a White House ceremony. The turkey was then taken and prepared for the Thanksgiving feast; but it wasn't until 1989, when President George H.W. Bush officially issued the first Presidential Turkey Pardon.

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