Greg Abbas

GREG’S TRIED AND TRUE DECOY STRATEGIES

December 21, 2019 by Greg Abbas 3 Comments

MAXIMIZE YOUR ODDS OF BAGGING A LONGBEARD WITH THESE DECOY STRATEGIES

Turkey decoys can be a blessing and a curse. All of us who enjoy turkey hunting have watched in amazement as a decoy brings a longbeard in on a string. If you have turkey hunted long enough, you have also watched in amazement as a decoy ruined a hunt. I can’t tell you how many times I have watched a tom come running across a field to my setup only to turn around and run away when he saw a decoy. Below are a few tips to ensure a decoy works well for you this spring and help you put Mr. Tom in the freezer.

Realize that turkeys can be extremely claustrophobic. One mistake many turkey hunters make is placing turkey decoys too close together. When a tom approaches the setup, the hen decoys are bunched together in a small group so the tom can’t easily strut around each hen. Real hens don’t often feed within inches of each other. As a result, the tom feels uneasy and he spooks

2. Some hunters love using strutting tom decoys. These decoys work well if you know you are dealing with the dominant bird in the area. If a two year old tom approaches a large strutting decoy, he may feel intimated and turn tail and run. Use a jake decoy for best results.

3. When people goose or duck hunt, they often put out dozens of decoys. Many decoys often makes the set up seem more realistic. When turkey hunting, try using three or four decoys instead of just one. A few decoys will make a tom more comfortable. I hunted in Florida and my guide put out eight decoys. It was a lot of work, but the tom’s flew down and ran into my setup. Having several decoys out can really help.

4. When placing decoys, put them less than 20 yards from the tree or blind where you are sitting. Toms will often hang up 10 or 20 yards from a decoy. Many hunters set their decoys at 20 yards or further which makes the shot opportunity a little on the far side, especially if a youngster is the hunter.

5. If you can’t afford expensive decoys or don’t want to spend a small fortune on a stuffed decoy, check out Turkey Decoy Wraps from A-Way Hunting Products. The wrap is an actual turkey skin complete with real feathers that you quickly wrap around any decoy. Turkey Decoy Wraps come with velcro so attaching them is a piece of cake. The real feathers make any decoy look like a real hen and it eliminates the shine and fake look that often spooks real turkeys. “The natural iridescence of the real feathers found on the Decoy Wrap does a great job of outsmarting longbeards,” said Greg Abbas of A-Way Hunting.

OUR TURKEY DECOY WRAPS ARE ON SALE NOW

TURKEY DECOY WRAPS BRING YOUR EXISTING DECOYS TO LIFE

Quick Inventing Tips

December 12, 2019 by Greg Abbas 7 Comments

A lot of inventors do not act on their inventions because they think that patent services are cost prohibitive. They lack knowledge in this area and are not aware of the different types of patent protection that are out there. There are some shorter term protections that are affordable and allow you protection on the CONCEPT of your idea, even before you have a working model! It’s best not to show your idea to anyone prior to seeing a patent attorney unless they sign a non-disclosure agreement. Its also not a great idea to mortgage your house to fund your project based on the opinions of your idea from your friends and family. They often do not want to hurt your feelings and will give you a glowing report, whether they like your idea or not. A simple market survey will go a long way here BEFORE you bet the farm! Do not show your proto-type on any public forum. Doing so can cause your invention to be non-patentable.

If you decide to produce, package and market your idea yourself, two common issues that cause first timers to fail on the store shelf is lack of effective package design and lack of an effective name that describes what the product does. The color of the packaging should be a bright color that first grabs the consumer’s attention. AVOID camo packaging that does its job too well of blending in so nobody sees it! Design packaging that is quick and to the point with only 3-5 selling points listed on the front, along with supporting pictures of the features.

If you decide that you don’t have the time or the money to produce and market your idea and would rather do a royalty or private label deal, it is best that you know how to properly approach potential partner companies instead of just calling them up and “winging it”. This is where most inventors make the most critical error and either get show down quick, get no response, or even get their idea stolen. You will need to know how to approach these companies, when to call, how to quickly and effectively present your idea, what to expect, what your other forms of income are besides the royalty itself (most companies will not offer info on this when you negotiate). You will need to know what percentages are proper for the industry and what should and shouldn’t be in the agreement so that nobody can LEGALLY steal your idea. Yes it can happen if you don’t know what to look for. Its never your knowledge that will hurt you, its your lack of it if you’ve never done these deals. Your car and garage sale negotiating skills will not work here. This is a different kind of animal! Just like hunting, its best to know the terrain before going in. To find out more, visit the invention consulting page.

NOW AVAILABLE SYNTHETIC AND REAL URINE SCENTS

October 26, 2018 by Greg Abbas 5 Comments

DESIRE and SMART SCRAPE (made from REAL doe urines) are now available made only with SYNTHETICS.

All deer urines ARE created equal, despite claims made by marketers. Most companies in this industry probably buy the urine from the same supplier. None have responded to the many complaints from deer hunters about deer urine freezing in cold weather and becoming ineffective at critical times. A-Way Hunting Products has solved this problem by creating new proprietary technology that has secret ingredients which not only heightens a buck’s sense of curiosity but, directly resolves the freezing problem. Our urines are from certified CWD negative farms.

Crossbows, Blinds, and Grandchildren

August 18, 2015 by Greg Abbas 1 Comment

By Fred Abbas

There was a time for many years when I was infatuated with big bucks. My son Greg and I probably hunted every big buck state in the country over the past 15 years. But we never bothered to register or measure any of our out of state trophy bucks in Pope & Young or Boone & Crockett, or any other record books. Nor did we write stories about them. Not so with our Michigan bucks though, we absolutely cherish our hunts here. We registered every Michigan trophy buck in Commemorative Bucks of Michigan… here’s why. Michigan is not known for big bucks, nor will Michigan ever be a destination for out of state trophy hunters, like say, Ohio, Kansas, Illinois, or Iowa, to name a few states. In Michigan big bucks are few and far between, and are extremely hard to locate and even harder yet to hunt, but that’s exactly why we love hunting Michigan, big bucks here are truly an enjoyable challenge. Each year we receive countless invitations from Michigan land owners to hunt their private grounds and farms, some big and some small parcels, these offers are almost always accompanied by trail camera pictures of big bucks. Some of these offers even come with detailed maps of the buck’s movements, every single one of the land owners invariably wants to share their knowledge of the buck’s whereabouts with us . We respectfully decline all invitations simply because to us the challenge of locating the buck and the enjoyment of the hunt would have been compromised, and besides, while we appreciate the offers we really don’t need, or encourage outside help. As the grandchildren started to show interest in hunting my mind set totally changed. Now instead of hunting alone on different farms and harboring long held secret tactics I now find joy in teaching them. No, I’m not giving up hunting big bucks, I’m just hunting them less. The two granddaughters are 14 years old. Kaitlyn, (my brother Allie’s granddaughter) has a little hunting experience and Alyssa (Greg’s daughter) has vast experience because she has been tagging along with us since she was a child. Her capacity to learn is boundless, so far she has taken 4 bucks. Michael who is 12 years old (my youngest son Freddy’s son), also has been tagging along with us for years, but this would be his first hunt. None of the kids hunt with a bow because none of them could pull the poundage needed for an ethical kill. Lucky for them though, It just so happened that Horton had sent us three crossbows and they were still in their boxes gathering dust in our store room. Greg and I have been sponsored by Mathews for many years and neither of us had any experience with a crossbow at the time. When we sighted them in for the kids we were extremely impressed by their accuracy. Ironically when we saw the growing popularity of crossbows, especially with rifle hunters we actually invented the “Dual Grunter” deer call because of them. In time and much practice we felt confidant that the kids were ready for the hunt. Like most kids today, they all have smart phones which of course takes up the majority of their time, playing games, texting, and such. We knew that this could pose a problem in a tree stand for the inexperienced. It was a dilemma that needed to be dealt with. Probably ( almost) every hunter under 50 spends time using their smart phones while in their tree stands, but the older hunters are much more disciplined and were more apt to maintain their focus on the hunt while multi- tasking. Rather than offering the kids an ultimatum banning smart phones on the hunt we offered them a compromise, just as the Michigan DNR had to do when they realized that today’s youth were losing interest in hunting in general, especially deer hunting , and wisely relented by lowering the age for hunting and allowing the use of crossbows. Our solution ? We bought each one, made in Michigan, Shadow Hunter blinds. We now felt secure that they could stay safe, be comfortable, and gain their independence if they wished to hunt alone, and still play their games on their smart phones, and whatever else they do with them.. As they grow older and acquire more experience and skill they then can choose the style of hunting that best suits them. During our out of state business travels we began to notice that more and more hunters in the Midwest and Northeast were trending toward blind hunting and it has created a host of companies now building blinds, but none could compare in quality to the Shadow Hunter blind. Shadow Hunter ( Summit Outdoors) produces several different style blinds but our choice was the 5′ x 5′ Crossbow blinds. Greg and I absolutely love these 100% maintenance free blinds. Since these blinds are designed to be more or less stationary, we carefully set each blind out months before the season to give deer time to get used to them. Notice the strategic location of each blind. One blind was positioned between a huge bedding area and a large food plot planted with Imperial Whitetail Clover, (we can’t say enough about the amazing drawing power of this particular clover, and it lasts for up to 5 years). The second blind was positioned near a cluster of white Oak trees and a small isolated food plot planted with the Whitetail Institute’s Chicory Plus which includes Whitetail clover. The third blind was situated near a well used river crossing, just below a ridge topped with acorns, along with another small food plot planted with Alfa-Rack, which has a mixture of Forage Chicory. The common denominator in all three locations are the variety of food sources, which gives each blind equal opportunities. Deer are like people, they have different personalities and they have different food preferences. But they all have one thing in common, all deer love a variety of foods. By giving them choices the deer will rotate from one food source to another. It wasn’t only the deer who rotated, the kids did as well. If one were to become successful then another has their choice to hunt that blind’s location. They also have a choice to shoot a doe (without fawns), or a buck. Like most school age kids their hunting time is severely limited, especially since all three are involved in after school sports. Alyssa is also involved in horse racing competitions which further afforded her even less time for hunting. Because of these limitations Greg and I would do the scouting for them, but that would be the extent of our involvement. All three were taught shot placement, the importance of wind direction, how to, and when to use deer calls and deer attractant scents, along with using range finders, even setting out yardage markers. They were given the opportunity to use their own skills once the hunt started, and they were given a choice if they wanted someone to hunt with them. Wisely, all three choose to have a parent or grand parent to hunt with them. Since Alyssa had seniority, she had the hottest blind location, and it didn’t disappoint her. Even before day light Greg and Alyssa could see the outlines of deer parading from the food plot toward the bedding area, all of them having to pass in front of the blind. As shooting light rapidly approached they could see a nice racked buck making his way from the food plot, he was using a trail that would put him on her 30 yard marker. Earlier Alyssa had sprayed “She-Duction” on each of the deer runs in hopes of stopping deer exactly where it would give her the best shot, and that’s exactly what happened. The moment the buck hit the scent line it was as though Alyssa was reeling him in. The buck ended up over the scent with his head down sniffing the powerful scent while standing perfectly broadside, totally oblivious of his surroundings. Greg whispered to Alyssa, asking her which cross-hairs are you using? She whispered, the second one, it was her 30 yard pin. Moments later I got the call that I was hoping for, Greg said Alyssa hit a nice buck, it won’t go far, come on over. Believe it or not, this blind is only 75 yards from our camp and I was there to congratulate her in mere minutes. I was thrilled to witness this success two more times before this amazing day was over. At lunch Kaitlyn drew the longer straw and despite seeing numerous deer at her blind, (but out of range) she chose to hunt Alyssa’s blind for the evening hunt, and she wasn’t particular what she shot for her first deer. Barely one hour into the evening hunt Freddy radioed that Michael had shot his first deer and it was a nice buck, and that they would stay in the blind until after the evening hunt. Just before dusk Kaitlyn spotted a big doe coming out of the bedding area traveling down the exact 30 yard trail that Alyssa’s buck had taken and astonishingly the doe stopped to sniff the scent that Alyssa had sprayed there in the morning. I soon got the call from my brother Allie, ( who was more excited than Kaitlyn) that Kaitlyn had shot her first deer, a doe. This worked out perfectly, now I could take the quad and pick up both deer at one time. After all the hugs and congratulations, the elation came to a screeching halt when the kids were each handed a knife. Truly a day that will live on in their memories forever, and ours as well.

Kaitlyn’s 1st Deer

Alyssa’s 4th Buck

Michael’s 1st Buck

Editor’s note:

Fred happens to be Michigan’s # 1 top ranking trophy hunter with 56 Michigan trophy bucks in the record books of Commemorative Bucks Of Michigan, Pope & Young, Buckmasters and Long Hunter Society. Fred also is the inventor of the famous “BowGrunter” and “Dual Grunter” deer calls, along with “Scent Web”the worlds most powerful deer attractant scents. Fred and Greg are joint owners of A-Way Hunting Products and A-way Outdoors Invention Consulting, and are long time contributors to Woods-N-Waters New

A-Way Hunting Products Shadow Hunter Blinds

www.awayhunting.com info@summitoutdoors.com

(989) 435-3879 (888) 446-4868

Whitetail Institute Of North America

www.whitetailinstitute.com

(800) 688-3030

Fred’s 2013 Bow Buck

November 25, 2013 by Greg Abbas Leave a Comment

We were aware of this buck for about 3 weeks. He had been working one of our mock scrapes (She Heat). About a week and a half ago I had an 8 pointer come into the scrape and a few minutes later a bigger 9 pointer came in with ears laid back shuffling side ways in an effort to intimidate the smaller buck, I had no intentions of shooting either buck, and possibly blow my chances with the 12 pointer. The smaller buck yielded but didn’t want to leave, both deer stood in the bushes about 15 yards from the scrape. All of a sudden both bucks came to full attention, I followed their gaze, it was the big buck and he was coming right toward me with little caution. I felt so confidant that I would get a shot that I took a picture of him. The big buck winded the other two bucks and immediately gave chase. There went my buck, it was only 3:15 PM. Greg and his daughter Alyssa came down to the camp a few days later after getting my report for Alyssa’s hunt.. Greg and Alyssa would hunt the scrape stand, I decided to hunt a different stand on the edge of one of our food plots planted with Imperial Whitetail clover because there was a lot of doe activity here. As fate would have it I didn’t have long to wait, I spotted several does feeding toward me and a few minutes later I spotted the big buck following the does at a distance. The does angled perfectly in front of me at 30 yards, the big buck took the same angle. I ranged him at 37 yards then drew my bow, aimed, and let loose. I clearly saw the arrow slice through him and could see heavy bleeding as he ran. Ironically the buck had staged 80 yards in front of Greg and Alyssa’s stand for at least 25 minutes before he decided to follow the does into the clover field. Greg and Alyssa witnessed the whole scene. Once word got out via radio it turned into a family affair, Greg and Alyssa came over to help track, then my brother Allie and his granddaughter Caitlyn came over and we all went tracking. Had I not seen the hit I would have felt very uncomfortable with the sparse drops of blood that we were finding. Experience told me this this buck was running all out until he died some 200 yards from the point of impact, thus the reason for the small blood drops. As I followed the blood drops everyone else was scanning the woods ahead for a body, and that’s exactly what happened when Greg said there he is just before Caitlyn did. Everybody in our family who was there that day played some type of roll during this hunt and recovery of such a beautiful animal, making lasting memories for all of us.

A Solution to Every Bow Hunter’s Problem

October 9, 2013 by Greg Abbas 2 Comments

By Fred Abbas

When we set about inventing hunting aides, especially for deer hunters, we looked at the weaknesses of the prey vs the weaknesses of the hunter. In the case of a bow hunter we wanted to eliminate the probable mistakes the hunter is most apt to make under certain conditions, and that included us as well, in which he or she had no control. Then we focused on a deer’s sense of curiosity along with his social structure and viewed these as weaknesses that needed to be exploited. Deer are much more vocal than most hunters would believe, but for the most part they are soft and subtle 95% of the time. Back in the 70’s every deer call on the market was designed strictly for gun hunters, and unfortunately they still are today. These calls were too loud, their reeds froze when moisture got on the them in cold weather and they took a lot of air to activate them, making it hard for the hunter to control the volume, but worse they were designed only for the rut time frame with their deep and loud grunts. Being bow hunters who spent quite a bit of time afield we were hearing something quite different coming from the deer themselves, than what we were buying at the local sporting goods store. The first thing we needed to do was to duplicate that soft social grunt that we were constantly hearing, it took months to accomplish because we were working on 4 different tones, fawn, doe, buck, and dominant buck. Next we looked at the bow hunter, we knew that he would become almost helpless at the most critical stage of the hunt once both hands were on his bow, especially at full draw, of course he could always make a noise with his mouth, or whistle to stop a deer. The problem we had with that was the hunter would invariably put himself in a do or die situation, along with giving his position away, with absolutely no hope of bringing a deer into a more favorable position. We felt that a hunter could have more control over the situation, any situation, if he could control the volume needed for the changing situations. For instance, the hunter could call very softly to a deer behind a bush or tree, he would be able to create curiosity in the buck and get him to step out, or louder if needed to stop a deer. Every hunter must turn their head into the direction of their draw and that’s exactly where we mounted the call on their shoulder area. The small tube slipped into their mouth and they simply inhaled to activate the call, the call body was designed to face backwards because we discovered that deer will almost always lose both their sense of depth and height at the same time. They will look in your direction, but always on ground level as long as you never call when they are facing you. This deer call became famously known as the “Bowgrunter”, and to this day is the only 100% hands free patented social deer call in the world.

“Crossbows”

A few years ago crossbows exploded on the scene when many states began to loosen and lift the restrictions that held crossbow use in check when they realized how much revenue they were losing on declining license sales. We also realized that a healthy crossbow user was most apt to be a gun hunter who simply wanted to extend his season and had little or no experience with bow hunting. Actually 60% of all deer hunters were gun hunters, which meant that if these hunters owned a deer call it would be a hand held tube type call, and of course they would not be familiar with the “Bowgrunter” simply because of it’s name. Most of these new crossbow hunters had a problem that they probably didn’t know existed, namely by being up close and personal they couldn’t move as much as they did while gun hunting and their tube type calls were obsolete and too loud for this type situation, thus hindering their own success ratio. We viewed this as a problem that definitely needed a solution. The thought occurred to us, could we create a cross between our 100% hands free deer call such as the “Bowgrunter” into a tube type hand held deer call to be used during the gun season ? Would that call be able to cater to the needs of a bow hunter then turn around and cater to the needs of a gun hunter, which are totally different needs, basically merging two calls into one ? Mind you, this had never been done before, but that’s exactly what happened when we developed a removable mouth piece and lanyard that fit on the “Bowgrunter”, a new deer call had been born called the “Dual Grunter”. Which by the way is fast becoming our top selling deer call, especially our camo covered version .

There is a solution to every problem and if we find it you will be able to buy it! GOOD LUCK ON YOUR NEXT HUNT!!

Greg Abbas and his daughter, Alyssa, with Alyssa’s first buck.

I HAVE AN IDEA!!!

July 31, 2013 by Greg Abbas 1 Comment

By Tracy Breen

If you are a hunter or angler, at some point in your life you have probably had an idea for a hunting or fishing-related product that you thought would sell well. Often your idea of a lifetime never becomes more than an idea. What if your product idea could make you money? What if your new game call, gun case or fishing lure could do well in the market place? You will never know unless you put your best foot forward and try to bring your idea or product to market.

Greg Abbas from A-Way Hunting Products knows a lot about bringing products to market. Greg spends his days developing and selling hunting products to box stores, pro shops and mom-and-pop retailers. He knows what it takes to bring a product from “just an idea” to the finished product and every stage along the way.

Over the past several years, Greg has helped many people bring their products to market. Greg knows how the bumps in the road discourage many people from designing and marketing their product. Greg can help you overcome the bumps in the road.

Greg offers a unique invention consulting service. He specializes in helping people who want to bring an outdoor product to market develop a game plan. He won’t likely buy your idea or make it for you, but he will help point you in the right direction and it won’t cost you an arm and a leg.

Do you have an idea you think could make money in the outdoor market? Look at the testimonial below. If that inspires you, give Greg Abbas a call and schedule an appointment. Greg is an inventor who specializes in bringing outdoor products to market.

“I’ve been a successful business owner for more than twenty years yet struggled for three years getting my product from concept to store shelf. I was not learning the ropes; I was trying to just find the ropes.

One evening while enjoying the A-Way Hunting Television Show, I saw Greg’s invention consulting commercial and jotted down the telephone number. It sat on my desk for months while I continued to waste time and money.

Before finally deciding to contact Greg, I had the luxury of calling a few friends from the outdoor industry. I was pleased to learn of Greg’s outstanding reputation among his peers. I was amazed to learn his consult fee was among the smallest fees I had spent to date. Greg took his time and explained the entire process in very plain terms from concept through manufacturing to marketing at retail. I will soon have a product launch because of Greg’s help.

Save your money looking for the ropes. Instead, contact Greg. He is an industry insider, inventor, entrepreneur, and most importantly a good Christian family man. He will guide your dream of outdoor product invention to reality.”

~ Rod Debias – Self-Inflating gun and bow cases

CAMO BUCK REVIEW

July 15, 2013 by Greg Abbas Leave a Comment

by Tracy Breen tracybreen.com

If you are a hunter, you most likely enjoy looking at taxidermy. Every hunter I know has some type of taxidermy in their house. Some folks have one or two mounts; others have an entire room or man cave dedicated to animal mounts. Some people have mountain scenes that are covered in mounts. Taxidermy is fun to look at and enjoy, but taxidermy can be expensive and as time passes, so does the quality of the mount.

Over time, the sun shining through a living room window will cause the hair on a deer head to fade. Over time, the eyes will start to crack and in some cases, moths start to feed on mounts. In a few months, a room full of mounts can be destroyed by moths. I have seen it with my own eyes.

One economical alternative to getting a buck mounted is to purchase the CamoBuck. A CamoBuck is a plastic deer head that is decorated in camouflage that won’t fade quickly in the sun because it has UV protection. The CamoBuck is available in several different camouflage patterns. You simply attach your antlers to the top of the head of the CamoBuck and hang the buck on the wall like you would a traditional shoulder mount. Here is what Greg Abbas from A-Way Hunting Products has to say about the CamoBuck. “I like CamoBuck because it is a perfect go between from an expensive shoulder mount and a cheaper European mount. It goes well in a home décor setting, bar, garage, office or man cave. It won’t fall apart with time. It is ALWAYS a conversation piece with guests. I think they are neat looking!”

As Greg said, if there is one thing that the CamoBuck is, it’s a conversation piece. When someone walks into your game room to check out your mounts, the first one they will likely mention is the CamoBuck… if you have one.

Maybe you shot a big buck but he wasn’t big enough to spend hundreds of dollars on to have mounted. Maybe a shoulder mount isn’t in your budget right now. Maybe you want a CamoBuck just because it looks cool. Whatever the case may be, the CamoBuck will look great in any room of the house.