For the past two years I’ve been deer hunting with Rebecca from the Bass Pro Next Generation Team and we seem to have a problem. We have yet to put a deer on the ground! We are not trophy hunting either. We are going into the field with the “If it’s brown, it’s down” theory.

If we are bow hunting we can’t get a deer within 50 yards of us and if we are rifle hunting we can’t seem to get a deer within 600 yards! The bad thing about it is I’ve been on a roll this year. It seems that everywhere I’ve been, we’ve been having good luck with harvesting an animal.

Well this past week I went to Roanoke, VA to do a deer hunt with Rebecca. They were calling for rain, but I didn’t know we were going to need an Ark to hunt out of. The first morning we sat in a double ladder stand and did not see any deer. We got out of the stand about 10:30 a.m. and shortly afterwards it began to rain. I don’t mean a drizzle. It poured. It rained 15″ the first 2 days. We didn’t let the rain slow us down, we hunted out of ground blinds, but we just didn’t see any deer.

Rebecca and I joked that we have a black cloud hanging over our heads and need to get rid of it. We both have success when we are not with each other, but you put both of us together with a video  camera and you can forget getting any deer close.

Maybe we need to try our luck in Texas!

Now if you put a rod in her hands, we have no problem getting the fish on tape!!!!!

One of the things I love about my job is meeting so many people! I am a people person and I love to talk. My wife has told her friends that I can talk the ears off a telephone pole!

95% of the people I meet on the road are great people and then there’s that 5% that can ruin your day. On my recent trip to the Yukon I had two very different guys I shared my cabin with.

First there was Dr. Shay. He was a dentist from Nebraska and very pleasurable to be around. He was always positive even when his hunt was winding down and he had not taken a moose. Good thing for him is the got a moose on the last couple of days of the hunt! Not only did he get his moose, but he shot a 67″ moose. All I can say is it couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy!

Here is Dr. Shay with his great Trophy!

And then there was John! John was from Hungary and he wasn’t very talkative. When I arrived in camp, John and Shay had been there several days and there hunt was winding down. I moved my things into the cabin and tried to talk to John and introduce myself. He did not even acknowledge my existance. I just chalked it up to the language barrier and walked out. I got to talking to some of the folks in camp and found out that John was the Head of Economics for Hungary and that if his party wins the next elections that he will probably be the next Vice President of Hungary! OK, to me that’s no big deal. I spent 8 years in the Marine Corps Public Affairs. I have served with some great Marine Corps Generals and have even had diner with the King of Norway! This guy puts his pants on one leg at a time and he is no better than me. His position in his country only means that he was born into money.

Over the next couple of days he became a little more open towards me and we started talking about hunting the states. I had found out that he told Dr. Shay that he was scared to come to the U.S. I told him there was no need to be scared, that it was a great country and he would love hunting elk. He asked a few questions about hunting the western states and I actually thought he was warming up to coming to hunt in our GREAT country!

Well the next day things start to go South! He and Dr. Shay were supposed to fly out of camp, but the weather was terrible and they were not able to get out! When I arrived back to camp after a long day of hunting in the snow, I found Dr. Shay and asked him how his day was. Dr. Shay was very upset. He said it’s not been a good day around here, John has gone off the deep end. I said, “what do you mean?” Dr. Shay said,”I was sitting in the cabin today talking to John and John said ‘You know what I think about America? F*#& America!!!!!”

I could not believe it! My blood started boiling and I had to calm myself down! Even though he was thinking it, why would he say it, especially when he was the only guy that felt that way in camp. I told Dr. Shay that if I wasn’t there on official busness I would walk into that cabin and try to shove his teeth down his throat!

Dr. Shay and I took the diplomatic way out of this one. That night after supper we (Dr. Shay, John & Myself) were laying in the cabin. I started a conversation that went with Dr. Shay that went Something like this:

• Me - “I wish I could watch Fox News and see what’s going on in the Real World!”
• Dr. Shay - “Yeah, I wonder what counrty we’re getting ready to handle next?”
• Me - “Well when I was leaving the states I saw where the U.S. was thinking about bombing 1,200 strategic positions in Iran. Heck they said it would only take 3 days to do it!”
• Dr. Shay - “Yeah, Ain’t America great!”

The conversation went on for about 45 minutes and then we went to sleep! Dr. Shay and John had to stay a total of 4 days extra in camp due to weather and John did not speak to anyone after he had his melt down with Dr. Shay. I guess he knew everyone (Canadians & Americans) were very pissed with him and he had better watch it!

Here is a picture of John (Left) and Dr. Shay (Right). Notice how he even closed his eyes for the picture! What a coward! All I got to say is that if this clown is going to be one of the head guys in charge of a country, I feel sorry for the people that live there!

Every hunting season I have an occuring problem. I travel so much and sleep in so many different beds, that when I wake up during the night it takes me a few minutes to realize where I am! It’s kind of scary at times, waking up and not knowing where you are! I’ve even woke up and heard someone snoring and not know who was in the room with me because it was so dark! I also wake up some times with a despirate urge to pee! The problem is that once I get up I usually have to stand beside the bed for a couple of minutes until I realize where I am and which way the bathroom is!

I knew it was coming this hunting season and it happend when I was in the Yukon! I woke up in the middle of the night and needed to go to the bathroom. The cabin I was sleeping in was so dark you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face. I sat up in bed and had no idea where I was. After a few minutes of sitting in the sleeping bag I realized where I was. Then I had another problem. My Surefire flashlight died on me the second night I was in camp! I had to find my way to the door in the dark! You could not see your hand in front of your face and I had to find my way out of the cabin and once I was done I had to find my way back into my sleeping bag! Needless to say, finding my way back into the sleeping bag was the hardest task and it was done with no injuries!

I left this past Wednesday to go to Kit Carson, Colorado for an antelope hunt with Ben of Bass Pro’s Next Generation. It’s fall break for college and he scheduled a quick 2 day hunt.  This would be Ben’s first time hunting Antelope.

I met up with Ben Wednesday afternoon in the Atlanta airport and we flew into Denver.  We arrived in Denver at 7:30 p.m. and then rented a car and took the 2 1/2 hour drive east.

Once we arrived in camp we met up with Chris, the owner of Adventures Wild Outfitters. He told us that there were plenty of Antelope and being we were hunting with a rifle we should be finished no later than the first afternoon.

Well I have been to plenty of camps and I have heard that story before, but I kept my mouth shut and listened to him talk. He said they had been 100% with their rifle hunts and that did sound encouraging.  We talked a little more and being it was 1:00 a.m. we went to bed because we had to drive into Kit Carson to get a hunting license.

The next morning we got up and made the 45 minute ride to town to get the hunting license. Once the license was in had we drove back to the farm house we were staying in to get Ben’s rifle so he could make a few shots and make sure his scope was still zeroed!

Once Ben shot his rifle and made sure it was shooting true we headed out to look for some antelope. The first pastrue we came to, we didn’t spot any antelope. Chris said he had seen some on the other side of the property so we headed to the main road and made the 30 minute ride to the other side of the property.

We started glassing and Chris spotted 2 does and a buck several hundred yards away. Due to the heat waves, Chris could not tell how good the buck was so we decided to do a stalk. We started walking behind the hill so they couldn’t see us. Once we crested the hill we crouched down and walked as far as we could and then we had to belly crawl the last 70 yards to our position at the top of the hill.

Chris glassed the antelope and said he was OK, but we were going to pass on him because we could do better. I filmed him for several minutes and then the does spotted us. They could not tell what we were so they started circling us and came even closer. They eventually trotted off and I looked at Chris and said, “We have our encounter, we can’t let the next one go since we only have 2 days to hunt!” Chris told me not to worry, Ben would get his antelope. We head back to the truck and head further into the property to do some more glassing.

We crest a hill and see several antelope out on the flats between a couple of hills. Chris glasses them and says there are 3 shooters in the group, but there was no way to get close for a shot. It was 1:30. He said we would run into town and get a bite to eat and then come back to see if they had moved.

Once we ate lunch we headed back to where we had spoted the antelope. Great News! They had moved to where we could attempt a stalk. We drove the truck down a fence line and parked it where the antelope could not see us. We had about a 1/2 mile walk to the hill we were using for cover. Once we got to the hill we crouched down and made our way to the top. Once we could not crawl anymore, we once again belly crawled about 100 yards to the top of the hill. Chris raised up and glassed and all he could see is a group of does. He told us we needed to back down the hill and go about another 300 yards and check again and see if we could spot the buck. 

We belly crawl to the top of the hill. Chris spots the buck. Ben moves into position for a shot and I set my camera and tripod up to get some footage of the buck. When I first get the camera set up I can see the buck good. He is standing in the middle of a group of about 14 does. I get a few minutes of footage and then he drops down into a low spot where I can not see him. Ben is ready to shoot, but I have to hold him off. Chris is asking can I see him and I say, “NO!” Chris is getting impatient with me and once again asks can I see the buck. My reply is NO!  There are 5 does looking at us and I ask Chris would they take off running if I moved the camera towards the top of the hill because I could not see the buck because of the sage in front of me.

Chris said he would help me move the camera! I grab once side of the tripod and he grabed the other and we crawled closer to the top of the hill and reposition the camera. I look through the viewfinder to see if I could see the buck! BINGO! I can see the buck, but I’m going to have to coordinate the shot with Ben because there are still sage bushes in the way.

I give Ben the green light and then have to quickly call him off. Then I give Ben the green light and once again call him off. This happens about 5 times. I can see the buck for a few seconds and then he walks behind a bush. Then the moment of truth, the buck walks into view. I tell Ben to shoot and he drops him in his tracks. It was a few tense moments, but Ben stayed calm and we got our antelope.  Not only did we get our antelope, but he was just 2 1/2 inches short of making Boone & Crockett!

After the shot I looked at Chris and told him that plenty of Outfitters had promised hunts this good, but he was the first one to prove it! It was truely and awesome hunt and one that we will not soon forget!

No better way to end the hunt than with a breath taking Sunset!

Yukon Sunrise!

Yukon Sun Set

Creek That We Got Our Drinking Water From!

Fog Rolling Into The Valley We Were Hunting!

Very Beautiful Sunset!

Yukon Bathroom!

On My Way To Camp In The Cesna 206!

When I got back from the Yukon Saturday morning I checked my email to find out I am leaving today for a 4 day trip to Colorado. I’m going with Ben from Bass Pro’s Next Generation and we’re going after Antelope.

All the details I have is that I’m flying into Denver and it’s a 2 hour ride to camp. Other than that I have no idea what is going on!!! Ain’t it great to be a cameraman. Just show up and we’ll fill you in on the details later.

I’m packing the bags light and  going to hit the road about lunch time because my plane leaves at 3:00 p.m. Maybe this time I will have computer access at camp so I can give you guys some updates from the road.

 I have a couple of more posts from my Yukon trip and I will try to finish them when i get back. I will have a week in town before I leave again.

You guys take care and I will see you Sunday!

I will just start out by saying that I have not had much dealings with horses. In 2004 I went on a 3 week Grizzley Bear hunt in Alaska and had to ride a horse. That was my first time ever riding a horse and the first day they had me on that thing for 14 hours. Not only was it my first day ever on a horse, but they also had me swim that thing across a swift flowing river and we were high in the mountains on a very narrow trail that if I would have fallen off my horse I would have only fell a couple of thousand feet!!!!! Once again that was all the first day of my horse career!!!

After a few days the soreness wore off and my horse, Cookie, took very good care of me. She was 18 years old and was slow and steady, but I didn’t want anything different. She took good care of me and I’m glad of that. We had no major problems on that trip.

Now my last trip was my second time dealing with horses. On the Yukon trip I rode a total of 4 different horses!

Moberly - The first horse I rode. He was slow and steady, but late in the day when we headed back to camp, he was trotting all the way home!

Barney - This was my favorite Horse. I rode him 5 days and he was a good steady horse. He did everything I asked of him and gave me absolutely no problems!!!! I even shared some of my apples with him!

Lefty - I only rode Lefty one day, but he was a good horse! I could not believe he was only broken to ride back in June. He was very cooperative and gave me no problems! I even took him to the top of a mountain the only day I rode him!

Creamo - I rode Creamo 3 days. He was slow, but steady. Great horse, but we did have one incident. We were riding along the last day we went out hunting and there was snow everywhere. We rode by a fir tree that had atleast 12 inches of snow on the limbs. As we were passing the tree, all the snow fell off! I guess Creamo thought a Bear was coming after us because he started bucking! This being my first rodeo, my form wasn’t that great and I got disqualified because I slapped him with my free hand, but atleast I didn’t get bucked off!!!!! Other than that incident we got along great.

Even if I’ve only had 6 weeks on a horse, Do you think I can get cowboy status now????

All I can say is I had a blast!!!!!

It took 3 days to get to hunt camp from my home town in North Carolina. Our destination was Yukon Stone Outfitter’s Stewart Camp, 11 miles South of Faro, Yukon. Once we finally made it to camp the weather started out cool and then turned down right cold and ugly. Our second day in camp the temperature was 4 degrees and up in the mountains it was below zero with the wind blowing.

The trip went as follows:

• Day 1 - Flight from Raleigh, NC to Vancouver, BC
• Day 2 - Flight from Vancouver to Whitehorse
• Day 3 - Flight from Whitehorse to spike camp. We flew in a Cesna 206. It was foggy most of the way and we had to turn around and backtrack twice before we made it to camp.
• Day 4 - First Day of the Hunt! Horses were sadled and we left camp at 7:30 a.m. It snowed heavy most of the day. We stayed out 12 hours, built a fire during the heaviest part of the snow storm to warm up and dry out our gloves. No animals spotted. We got back to camp at 8:25 p.m.
• Day 5 - We went and glassed a new area. Saw a few cows early. At 4:00 we saw a big bull, close to 60″, and made a stalk. We came within 193 yards. He walked off with his cows and paid us no attention.  The weather was very cold today, it was 4 degrees in the valley at camp. The temperature up high where we were hunting was 10-15 degrees colder!
• Day 6 - We made the 3 hour ride back to where we saw the big bull. When we left camp it was once again 4 degrees. Once we got to the mountain we started glassing and spotted the bull and hour later. We  had to ride the horses a couple of miles to get into position for a stalk. Once we got to where we thought he was, there was no sign of him. We hiked up high on a bluff and saw the bull had pushed his cows nearly a mile down the valley below! Boy can them things cover some ground fast!
• Day 7 - It snowed all night. We had 3″ of snow in camp and over a foot in the higher elevations. We rode the horses up to sheep country to see if we could see any action. No tracks anywhere. There was lots of snow on the mountain and the wildlife was laying tight. We stayed out until 5:30 and came to camp early!
• Day 8 - We woke up and we were having a blizzard. Michele said we would wait until it quit snowing before we went out since it was snowing so hard and we would not be able to see anything. We ended up staying in camp all day. It did not quit snowing until well after dark.
• Day 9 - We woke up to lots of snow in camp. Everyone else in camp has tagged ( rifle hunters) out so Michele is the only one hunting. Skylar, another guide, came along with us since his hunter was tagged out. It snowed all day. We saw a one horned bull and tried a stalk. He was not interested and pushed his cows up high in the mountains. The fog got so thick at 6:30 the we could not see 30 yards so we sadled up the horses and made the 2 hour ride back to camp.
• Day 10 - We woke up to heavy fog. Michele decided to wait and leave camp once the fog lifted. We helped Glenda make some meals and wash the dishes and then eveyone caught up on month old gossip from some magazines that were in camp. We left camp at 12:00 and rode an hour outside of camp and spotted a bull. We started a stalk and then DISASTER! My camera quits working. Due to all the snow, the camera had condensation and it has to dry out before it will work again. We head back to camp at 5:00.
• Day 11 - We leave camp very early. We get to our glassing spot and Michele spots 2 bulls with 2 cows high on top of a mountain. We ride the horses towards the bulls and then get off to make our stalk. We get to within 147 yards, but can’t get any closer. The bulls are working there way to the valley and there is no way we can keep up with them with all the snow on the ground. We start glassing again and Michele spots a single bull up above the tree line running back and forth acting  crazy. We decide to go after him. It takes us a little over an hour to get close. As we are closing in, he sees the horses and comes running towards us. We have to jump off the horses and get ready in a hurry. We set up behind some fir trees and get ready. Byron, our guide calls him in. We are set up for him to come straight in on us and he dips down into the valley. I hear Michele say. “To the left!” I look up to see the moose just standing 25 yards away behind some fir trees. With the trees in the way and tall willow bushes Michele has no shot. The bull finally whirls and runs straight away. We glassed the rest of the afternoon and see nothing. We get back to camp at 8:10.
• Day 12 - Day of Success! Another bone chilling morning. 12 degrees this time with the wind blowing hard. We go back to our hill and glass for moose. We spot one and once again make a stalk. We do some calling and NOTHING! We go glass again and spot a bull and a cow across the lake. Once again we make our move and once again the bull is not interested!!!!! I tell the guide he just isn’t sounding Sexy enough for the boys! We start glassing again and this time I spot a bull high on the mountain. It’s 3:30 and it will take about an hour to ride the horses to him! We ride to where we thought we saw the bull and our guide, Byron, spots a cow. We get off the horses and Michele and I start sneaking in even if it’s hard to sneak in 12″ of snow. We get to within 30 yards of the cow and then Michele spots another cow. We sit and watch them. After about 10 minutes I look up and see a set of antlers coming over the horizon. I tell Michele, “Bull, Bull, Bull!” She looks up to see the bull coming over the top of the hill. When the cow sees the bull she starts making her sweet mating call and they start towards us. We lose them behinds some fir trees and make a move in our position. They are getting closer. The cow comes out at 30 yards and stands in an opening while the bull is rubbing his chin across her rump. The cow starts moving and the bull moves into the opening. The guide grunts to stop the bull and Michele lets the arrow fly. Just as she releases the arrow, the bull takes a step. The arrow hits the bull behind his last rib and he runs 50 yards and lays down. We talk about the shot and decide it’s best to back out and come back in the morning.
• Day 13 - Michele had a restless night. We loaded up the pack horses and Glenda came with us to recover the bull. Once we got to the bull Michele was estatic. This moose hunt was a very special hunt for her because a moose was the first animal ever taken by a Muzzy Broadhead and her dad loved to hunt them! We took pictures and then the real work began. We started skinning the moose and then packed it onto 4 horses. Total time to skin and pack, approximately 2 hours.
• Day 14 - Our moose is down and we still have a Stone Sheep, Caribou, and Grizzley tag. We left camp and rode 2 hours down stream to look for stone sheep! We glass all day and can’t find the sheep. We get back to camp @ 6:00.
• Day 15 - We head out to look for caribou. We look all day and finally at 4:00 we spot a bull and 2 cows. We do a stalk, but can only get to within 225 yards because they are in a clearing up high on the mountain. We get back to camp @ 8:00.
• Day 16 - Guess what???? It’s snowing heavily again. Michele decides not to go out hunting and boy was it a great decision. It snowed heavily all day long and into the night. I hope it quits hunting because tomorrow is when we are supposed to fly out of camp.
• Day 17 - We awake to low clouds, but thank God it was not snowing. They tell us to get our gear ready, but that we would not be able to fly back to Whitehorse. The hunters coming into camp were driving to Faro (11 miles away) and we would be flown there and drive the trucks back to Whitehorse.  We start flying out of camp @ 9:30. At 2:00 the last hunter comes out of camp and we load up the trucks and start the drive to Whitehorse. We get to Whitehorse @ 6:30. The first order of business is to call my wife and let her know that I’m still ALIVE!!!!! While I’m on the payphone in the hotel I hear someone say, ” I recognize that voice.” Around the coner comes Jim Benton and Chris Douglas. Chris is a fellow videographer and the guy that got me into filming hunts on a national basis. He is like a brother to me now. They had also been in the Yukon hunting. We went out to supper and I got to see photos of Jim’s Boone & Crockett Grizzley he shot. It was great to get back to civiliztions and share stories with friends and to finally take a BATH!!!!!!!
• Day 18 - I wake up @ 4:00 a.m. and I can’t sleep with anticipation of going home. We get to the airport in Whitehorse @ 6:30 a.m. I fly from Whitehorse to Vancouver, Vancouver to Minneapolis and Minneapolis to Raleigh. It takes me 45 minutes to get my luggage and then after paying $108 in parking fees I head home. 2 hours later I arrive in my driveway. It is now 1:36 a.m. I’ve been traveling about 19 hours when I finally get to my house!

It was a great trip and it seems to be my season for getting harvests on film! I hope it keeps up.

For all you single guys, I’VE FOUND THE PERFECT WOMAN! Her name is Glenda and in my opinion she would make a Trophy Wife!

She can do it all.

• She Cooks Great Meals
• She Breaks Horses
• She Packs Horses
• She Can Skin A Moose
• She Can Guide Hunters
• She’s Easy On The Eyes
• She Has A Great Personality

If I were in my early 20s and single I would head to the Yukon. There are plenty of these ladies up there that are available!

It was not easy to get to Hunt Camp on this trip. It took Michele and I 3 days to get to Hunt Camp and 2 days to get home!

I was 3,500 miles away from home and I could tell it once I finally got to camp. I was wore out by all the travel!

Some of the means of transportation for my trip!

NorthWest Airlines

Piper Cub!

And My Favorite, Horses!