Things will be very busy for the next 5 weeks. I will leaving very early in the morning (3 a.m.) for a hunt at the Game Trails Ranch in Kentucky. I’m very excited about this hunt and I hope we have some success. It will be my first trip with Tom Miranda of Adantage Adventures on ESPN 2.

I will be back late next Wednesday night. Be home for all of 24 hours and then Tom and I will head out to Oregon for some Roosevelt Elks. I love Elk hunts, to me it’s just like chasing around a 1,000 pound turkey. It can be very addictive.

When we get back from Oregon I will be home 2 days and then it’s off to the Yukon for an 18 day Moose hunt with Michele Eichler. I’m also very excited about this hunt. We have a good chance at a 60″ moose.

All these hunts will be with a bow, which means I have to be very still and practice scent control!

I don’t know if I will have any internet access in Kentucky, but I will try to post as soon as I can. As far as the Oregon and Yukon hunts go, these will be wilderness hunts and I will not be able to give you guys a daily report. I will make sure to take good notes and give you guys a good recap when I get back!

Thanks for reading my posts and I can’t wait to update you as soon as I can!

My favorite time of day is Sunrise and Sunset when I’m on the road. I have seen some spectacular Sunrises and Sunsets! I think the most beautiful ones to me have been down in Mexico and up in Montana. I enjoy sitting in the stand and hearing nature come to life. The animal life seems to be more active at these two points of the day. They are scurrying around getting ready for bed or just waking up greeting the morning.  It’s a time to sit and reflect and enjoy the show!

The picture below is one I snapped last year when we were Elk Hunting in Alberta. The sun had been up for a while, but the woods were alive with the bugles of the bull elks and the colors were just marvelous.

An Oat field in Alberta that we came across shortly after I snapped the picture above. This oat field was full of wildlife, bears, elk and deer to name a few.

Back in 1999 when I started full-time as a freelance outdoor videographer I knew I would be sacrificing my personal hunting time, but it was a sacrifice I was willing to take. After a long trip on the road, I usually come back home to catch up on things around the house and spend time with the family. I get plenty of invitations from my friends to go hunting while I’m in town, but honestly it’s the last thing on my mind when I have just a few days with my family.

I have only harvested one deer since 1999 and boy was he a dandy!

I had been to the Wright Ranch in Dilley, TX to film his deer a couple of different times. I was amazed at what I saw. Mr. Richard has some pretty awesome deer down there. South Texas had always been one of my dream hunts and after talking to Mr. Richard I decided to book a hunt.

It was December of 2004 and I was scheduled to do a two week shoot with Whitetail Adventures in Mexico. The host of the TV Show said he was going to stop in Dilley for a couple of days and visit Mr. Richard at the Wright Ranch and then head into Mexico for his hunt. I asked him If I could do my hunt while we were down there and he said “no problem!”

While I was home for Christmas I drug out my trusty Remington .280 and started doing some target practicing. It had been a few years since I had shot a rifle, but it was just like riding a bike. It took a few shots to get settled down and then I was hitting the target where I wanted to.

We flew out December 27th for the hunt. I was so excited I could hardly wait to get there. Once we arrived at the ranch we went down to the target range and made sure that the rifle was still shooting true. After we left the target range Mr. Richard wanted to go do some rattling. Talk about FUN!  We rattled in about 18 deer the 1st afternoon, but we did not see the one that Mr. Richard wanted me to harvest.

The next morning we went out for another rattling session. It was a beautiful South Texas Morning and we rattled in plenty of bucks, but again we did not see the buck that Mr. Richard wanted me to harvest.

After lunch Mr. Richard told me he was going to put me in a box blind looking over an oat field. He said he was going to show me a picture of the deer he wanted me to harvest and let me and the camera guy sit in the stand by ourselves that afternoon since it was a small box blind. He put a video tape in the VCR and told me he had something he wanted to show me. It was video footage of the deer he was hoping I would harvest. When he told me that and I looked at the TV screen, my jaw dropped. It was an awesome 8 pointer feeding in the oat field that Mr. Richard had been watching the past coulple of years and decided that he wasn’t going to get any bigger. I couldn’t believe it when he asked me would I like to shoot that deer. He surely dwarfed anything I had ever harvested.

Once we had viewed the footage I was eager to get to the stand and we headed out. Once at the box blind we sat there for about 30 minutes and then field started filling up with does and small bucks.  I was enjoying watching the deer feed when I looked up and all I could see were horns coming into the far end of the field.  I put my binoculars on him and realized it was the buck I was looking for.  That’s when my heart started pounding and the adrenaline was really kicking in.  The buck walked to the edge of the field and began to start feeding in the oats. I ranged him with the range finder. 298 yards. I flipped the safety off and eased my finger to the trigger. BOOM! The rifle went off and my target was true! The deer fell in his tracks. 

I called Mr. Richard and told him I had just harvested the deer he wanted me to and I wanted him to come pick me up and share the moment with me. Once he got to the blind we walked down to my deer. There was surely no ground shrinkage on this big boy. He was bigger and wider than he looked when he was standing out in the field. He was 18″ inside spread and scored 154″ B&C. 

That was a hunt I will never forget! 

Back in 2004 I went with Whitetail Adventures to film a hunt in Ohio. Now I won’t say the Outfitter’s name we were hunting with, but I will tell you that he was very Anal about scent control. It was bow season when we were up there and this guy would make us spray down, take our shoes off and wears special scent control boodies on our feet on the way to the stand. 

As usual I had all my gear (approximatley 60 lbs worth) waiting at the door the first morning ready to go to the stand. We sprayed down and put our special scent control boodies on to walk to our stand. The stand we were hunting was looking over a CRP field so the guide drove us right to the stand. Once we got out of the truck the guide put a special cloth down at the base of the tree and we put our boots on and I climbed the tree first.

I usually wear my backpack that maily has those heavy batteries for my camera while climbing the tree to the stand. Then I drop a 35 foot pull rope for the hunter to hook up my Camera Arm and eventually my video camera so I can pull it up and get things ready for the hunt.

I got to climbing the screw in steps and it felt like it was taking forever to get to the hunter’s stand. Then I feel a tug at my rope. I thought it had gotten tangled around one of the steps so I give it a few tugs and something doesn’t feel quite right. I turn on my flashlight and shine it down the trunk of the tree. To my astonishment I had used all my rope and had not made it to the hunter’s stand.

Talk about a crazy hunt. I had to make three trips low enough so the hunter could hook up my equipment and then I staged it in the hunter’s stand so he could pass the equipment to me once I got into the camera stand.

Well, I got all the equipment into the hunter’s stand and then the next task began. I realized I was going to have problems getting into the camera stand. I basically grabbed the platform of the stand and then swung a boot up on the platform and pulled myself up into the stand. What a terrible way to start the hunt and I was already mad at the world and the sun hadn’t even come up yet!

Once the sun came up I realized I was WAY up the tree and that I was really going to have a problem getting out of my stand! I asked the hunter if I could borrow his laser range finder and I shot a range to the bottom of the tree. 

18 Yards!

Now I’m not that great at math, but 18 yards = 54 feet!  I was 54 feet up a tree so large, that I couldn’t even wrap my safety harness around the tree.  When time finally came to get out of the stand I had to basically jump from my stand into the hunters stand because I had no screw in steps to assist me with my decent to the hunter’s stand. Talk about pucker factor!!! Well thank the good Lord I safely made it to the ground.

That trip taught me to always carry extra screw in steps with me in my pack!

I’m always excited about hitting the road and I love traveling the country filming hunts for your viewing pleasure. But it’s not always the glamorus job you think it is.  The worst part about the job is being away from my wife and two kids.  Believe it or not they actually miss me when I’m gone.  That’s why I try not to schedule any trips longer than two weeks long. Unfortunately this year I have signed up for 2 trips that will be three weeks long. I don’t think the wife will kick me out of the house, but I guess we will find out very soon.

LONG DAYS  - For me, the most tiring part is the long days put in while I’m on the road. We usually get up between 3 & 4 a.m. and do not usually get to bed until 11p.m. or midnight.  A week or two of doing that will wear anybody out. After those trips where I don’t get much sleep I usually come in and “hibernate” for a couple of days trying to catch up on some sleep. The problem I run into when I get home, is that my 4-year-old and 9-year-old are expecting Daddy’s undivided attention. They don’t understand that Daddy has been hard at work while he’s been gone and needs the rest.

The Elements - It seems weather is always a factor when you’re hunting, but my two most memorable hunts have been within the past year. Two weeks ago I was in South Carolina with Ben of Bass Pro’s Next Generation show. We were down there for the opening of deer season. I was very excited about getting an early start this year until I got down to New Zion, SC. They were having record highs while we were there. Of the five days we hunting, it was over 100 degrees four of those days. I would break out in a sweat just climbing in the stand and stay wet the rest of the evening.                            Then there was last Thanksgiving when Allen Treadwell and myself went to Saskatchewan for a Whitetail hunt. The first day was not that bad. Highs were in the upper teens and we sat in two lockon tree stands and hunted the elements. It all went down hill after that.  A cold front came in and the temperatures fell drastically. Allen shot his whitetail the afternoon of Thanksgiving. When we woke up that morning it was -36 degrees and the wind was blowing 12 MPH. That day is by far the coldest I have ever been. We had the luxury of sitting in a box blind with the windows closed and a propane heater. The bad part was that it was 5 degrees inside the stand with the heater going. It was so cold that we had to thaw out our water before we could drink it and basically put our sandwiches on the heater to thaw them out before we could eat. But as Jerry Martin says, ”We were making memories!”

Lugging the Equipment -  The part I hate the most about the job is lugging all the equipment around. Once I load up my pack with spare batteries, tripod, supplies and video equipment I am usually toting around 65-75 pounds. Now I’m no big guy, but the Marines helped prepare me for this part of the job. Yes I have packed this equipment in such beautiful places as Alaska, Canada and Mexico.  It has not always been an easy hike, but I have managed to tote my gear myself with no help and I’m proud of that fact.

The Part I Hate the Most - What I hate the most about the job is getting the equipment in and out of treestands. Usually it is dark when I’m getting into a stand in a new place for the first time. The hunters don’t want you shining lights and I try to make minimal noise. The ultimate worst part of this is that I did not get to hang my stand and that someone else did. These outfitters usually make sure that the Pro Hunter can get into his stand with no problem, but the camera stand usually gets hung quickly and never gets stepped into by the person that is hanging the stand.

 Still, I love my job and would not trade it for anything!

The camera rendezvous was a success and I’m Glad I went.  It was nice to sit down with all the other videographers and hunters and listen to the people in the video department who put the shows together and let them tell you exactly what they are looking for this coming season. We are changing the format of the show for the 08 season so this helps everyone get on the same page. We went through real life scenarios in the woods and how to hopefully cover them  properly for the viewers.

 Although this camera school was only 3 days, I think it was well worth if for Bass Pro to get everyone together and tell them what they are looking for this hunting season. Everyone came away with a good understanding of what is expected and hopefully you guys will be able to see a better quality TV show starting January 1st.

 TEASER - Things are changing for the Outdoor World TV show. As soon as I can announce it I will let you guys know!!!!!

Tomorrow starts a four day Bass Pro Videographer/Pro Hunter Rendezvous at the main office in Springfield, MO. The only time each year that all the hunters and videographers are assembled at one location.  It’s where management brings in all the camera guys and Pro Hunters to give them directions for the up coming hunting season. They want to make sure all the employees are on the same page and they want to make sure we get enough footage while we are on location for the editors. I really enjoy shooting for Bass Pro. They are a top notch company and strive to put out a quality TV. 

 I look forward to this workshop, once I get this week behind me I’ll hit the road running!!!

On my trip to South Carolina I caught a good case of Chiggers!!!!! I have been able to avoid them the last couple of years and I guess I let my guard down. Not only do I have them around my ankles and waiste line, but I also have them on my face and scalp!!!

 I think this is the worst case I have ever had! I have asked my friends at ncdeer.com to give me some quick remedies and they suggested several things to try. Anything from bleach to clear fingernail polish to peroxide!!!! I think I’m going with the peroxide and top it off with clear fingernail polish!  I want to get rid of these things fast. I leave again Monday morning and the last thing I want to worry about next week is CHIGGERS!

Ben from Bass Pro’s Next Generation TV Show and I went to South Carolina this week for a hog/deer combo. 

Let me just start by saying that was the hottest hunt I have ever been on!!!!! Three out of the five days we climbed in the stand it was over 100 degrees. We would just sit there and the sweat would roll down our backs. Needless to say there was not much scent control going on.

We arrived at our destination, Black River Plantation, Monday afternoon at 3 O’clock. Mike, the owner, told us to get dressed and we could try for a hog that afternoon.  Ben had never seen a wild hog before, so he was very excited about this trip. We climbed into the stand about 5 and the wait began.

It was HOT, very HOT!!!!!  Nothing was moving the first couple of hours but the Mosquitoes and Sand Fleas.  At 7 we had a couple of nice young bucks come in, but deer season didn’t come in until Wednesday so we had to focus on hogs!

Right before I was about to run out of filming light I caught movement coming through the woods. It was a hog coming to investigate the food plot. I whispered to Ben to get ready. The hog came in and then wheeled and ran 30 yards back into the woods. I think he caught our scent, but his hunger pains must have been won the battle because he came right back towards our stand. I had to hold Ben off for a few minutes because I didn’t have a clear view with the camera. Once the hog stepped into the open he quartered away from us and Ben placed a perfect shot. 

Not a bad hog for his first one. The thing weighed 180 pounds.

Unfortunately we did not get a deer on the trip. We sat in the stand the rest of the week trying to get Ben a buck in velvet, but we could not get any to come within bow range.

It was a fun trip and atleast we started the season off with a harvest!

We had a great time at the beach. It was nice spending time with my family before I hit the road running. We couldn’t have picked a better week to go either. Most of the week we had triple digit temps, but all we had to do was take a dip in that 79 degree water to cool off!

Now the part I hate.  PACKING!

 Once we got home I drug out all my hunting equipment and started my inventory. I must have been on my best behavior at the beach because my wife even offered to help wash my hunting clothes! :-)  Once I got everything together I packed it in my bags and have them staged for next weeks trip. The good thing is that I won’t have to worry about getting my things together anymore. I basically live out of my bags during hunting season. I just take the clothes out and wash them and put them back in the travel bags for safe keeping.

 This week I will be in South Carolina on a Deer/Hog combo hunt with Ben of the Bass Pro’s Next Generation Team. It will be a very hot hunt, but I hope we have plenty of success. I’ll try to keep a good diary and give you guys a day by day account when I get back next Saturday!