Doug Hampton - The "Double Deuce"

The one we're after...

Oh yes we've got bigger bucks on our Kansas leases, but it's just something about this buck that fires me up. Maybe it's the double split G-2's that he's sporting on his rack. Or maybe it's because he's the first buck that I had pictures of on my newest Kansas lease. Or could it be that we actually could have harvested this buck last week during the youth season if I had not convinced myself that we had ruined the spot while cutting shooting lanes for a double set of "Big Game" tree-stands, only to have Reconyx pictures of him within two hours of all the activity. How could he be so relaxed when he walks into that Biologic food plot during shooting hours? Does he not know that we are filming for Dream Season and that he will do fine for a main character?

We didn't necessarily have bad luck last week, we simply fell to the natural instincts of big early season whitetails. My son and I had the big 9 x 5 buck walk by us at ten yards. The problem was that it was so dark and I could barely make it out through my Nikon's that it was him. Looking through the view finder 9 minutes later, I was only getting marginal footage at best. We needed just a few more minutes when the 4 year-old decided to exit the beans and bed down for the day. That evening brought an unexpected party on the neighboring property. Lets just say it was quite the fiesta! The microphone hooked up to the loud speakers made for a hard-rock concert's decibel output. The deer probably stopped running when they reached the Missouri line! Maybe they'll be back in time for the rut! .... Coltin had a few opportunities at some 3 year-old 130's type bucks later, but the 9 x 5 along with the Reconyx photo's of some true studs were definitely clouding the 13 year-olds judgment. I guess it's never to early to start trophy hunting.

We'll my wife is up to bat next! She's holding a Kansas muzzle-loader tag and has not so much as even seen a buck in the wild, much less shot or killed one. She has saw a few while driving, if that counts? I guess if the "Double Deuce" buck steps into the food plot while we're there, I'll have to use the ol' " he's not very big, but you can shoot him if you want" speech to keep her from getting too excited. You never know how a person will react to their first buck encounter in the wild, but I'm sure excited to see what happens! Stay tuned to the journal to see if she connects on "D.D.", or maybe even one of the other good bucks that are hanging out on our Kansas farms. Good luck and kill em' big! -Doug Hampton

Louie Payne - What A Weekend For Team Wainwright

What a weekend for Team Wainwright, this year Lance and I were asked to be on Dream Season Celebrities and we jumped at the chance and could not have gotten a better guy than Adam Wainwright, we are both looking forward to hunting with him this year.
Lance and I and our wives meet up in St. Louis for the Annual Drury fall meeting over the weekend and what a tremendous awards show this year, all the editors done a fantastic job.

Then all four of us went to Adam Wainwright’s house on Sunday and we meet him and his family for the first time, he is really a great guy and has a wonderful wife and two small children, we got him set up with his new Bow Madness XL bow with a red and white Cardinals string of course.

Then after a quick visit we were off to Bush Stadium to watch Adam pitch against the Chicago Cubs, this was the first pro baseball game that Melissa and I had ever been to and what an awesome experience it was, I can see why so many fans go to the games because when a big play would happen and everyone jumps out of their seats and cheers I got that excited feeling in my stomach just like I get right before I shoot a buck, when you can look around and the stadium is full of fans it look like a red sea filled the stadium and I can’t wait to go back to St. Louis to watch the Cardinals play again.


Louie Payne

Doug Hampton - Daniel Boone Returns!

A busy week, and Daniel Boone Returns!

Well last week team Hart should have lost a bunch of weight because we stayed hooked up and moving. Rod worked during the day and scouted during the evenings.. J.W. was busy with the P.B.R. event in Brazil while I was getting my hunting spots in Arkansas ready. After a logging crew devastated my best stand location, I wanted to scream! The giant white-oak acorn trees that had provided our deer with food for decades were reduced to just stumps. But then it hit me like ton of bricks,"food plot"! After nine hours of bulldozing, I was ready to disk. I guess sometimes you got to make the best out of the things you can't control anyway, so I did just that. Two acres of Biologic will feed the deer deep into our winter months.

With the food plots complete and the weekend coming fast, it was time for our Catch-A-Dream fundraiser. J.W. and Rod both drove down to my hometown of Monticello, Arkansas to hold a benefit for the Catch-A-Dream Foundation. We knew that it was going to be tough holding the benefit on Labor Day weekend with the Arkansas Razorbacks playing just two hours away in Little Rock. Not to mention that squirrel and dove season opened the same day..... But man were we surprised when my hometown folks began to pour into the doors of that church by the dozens! We were even more surprised when we saw how much money we raised under the circumstances. It was great to see how a small town could get behind us and help us to raise money for such a great cause. We had a lot of people and businesses that donated and helped out with the benefit. Thanks Monticello!



Well Sunday morning Rod and J.W. let the rooster keep sleeping as they headed back home. I went to church to give thanks for the great weekend that we were blessed with before heading to the woods. Rod decided to stop by our Kansas farm on the way home and that's when he spoke the words I been waiting to hear." We got pictures of Daniel Boone", Rod said with an excited voice. " The bad news is that he's only an 8 point....The good news is that he's close to Boone!". Daniel Boone was a ten point last year that we had pictures of as late as February. We had moved one of our Reconyx camera's to a suspected travel route from bedding to a bean field just a few weeks ago, just in time to catch the giant in velvet and then in hard horn. What a way to finish up an already great week! And to top it off, my son will be there in a few days to kick off our Dream Season with our father/son annual trip for the Kansas youth season. Stay tuned !!! -Doug Hampton

David Lindsey - Big Mac

Whitetail seasons across the U.S. are starting to open and we have our Reconyx cameras out in a couple different states taking pictures. It has been an eventful summer with tons of pictures being taken by our cameras as well as a lot of promising prospects showing up in the summer scouting.

One of the bucks on our hit list that I am happy to see is "Big Mac", he is the only deer I know to ever to have made it through a Rage attack. Last fall I shot a little low and just missed the heart. We seen him in December after he had shed early and then we picked up his set of sheds. We figured if he made it that far, he would show up this summer. Well here he is alive and well, bigger than ever and this year sporting not 1 but 2 drop tines. Its going to be a exciting fall with my sights set on "Big Mac" as the chase is on! First up, North Dakota, I can't wait to see what is in store for this fall! -David Lindsey