Jared Lurk - Lurk's October Lull Activities

Justin and I have been in the woods several times this season already. We had a great encounter with a 2.5 year old stud (check out “The Inner Circle” dated 10-3-10 to see him), we also saw a shooter that wasn’t close enough for archery tackle and have seen a pile of does. As the October days click by and approach the middle of the month – we are officially enter the “October Lull” period. I first heard about this so called “lull” around 15 years ago when I went to visit Mark and Terry at Deer camp. I remember them saying, during the “lull”, you would be better off doing anything other than hunting deer (in particular – bucks)! That advice has stuck with me ever since then....

With limited vacation days, we try to be as efficient with our time in the woods as possible. We love hunting that early October period when the big boys are still hitting our biologic maximum and trophy oats plots. But when the “October Lull” hits (it usually begins around Mark’s birthday), its back to our daily routines which include working and spending as much time with our loved ones as we can.

To heed that advice garnered from my uncles almost a decade and a half ago – both Justin and I utilized the opportunity to spend some much needed family time prior to venturing back off into the Iowa deer woods to hunt the “rut”.

This past weekend, my daughter Eloise and Justin’s girlfriend’s daughter Liv (they attend the same daycare / preschool) had a Fall Festival. The school had a theme in each of the classrooms with games for the kids to play with candy & snacks for prizes. The kids dressed up in their Halloween costumes, saw all their friends, played a ton of fun games, picked pumpkins from the makeshift pumpkin patch on the playground and ate some delicious food prepared by the teachers. It was great to see them so happy in their costumes, it’s needless to say, but we can not wait for Halloween to get here so they can dress up again.

After Halloween, we will be back at it. Good luck to you all this fall!!

Bric Steward - 2010 Biologic Award

Well talk about a weekend of excitement. Every year 160 something raging whitetail killers converge on St. Louis for the annual DOD Shoot to Thrill Awards. This is a weekend that has become the same as a family reunion to me. It’s a great time to catch up with the rest of the DOD Team and see the trail cams they have gotten of giants though out the summer, hear of out of state trips planned and trade woes and woos about rain or lack there of for our food plots.

Saturday morning is a class for the finest editors in outdoor video/television to update us on the latest technical camera information. The second half of the day is packed full of sponsor rotations. This is where it gets good. It’s a chance for representatives from our sponsors to come and bring the Team up to speed on their newest equipment and even give us sneak peaks of innovations yet to come. And let me tell ya, some of these things are going to make you want to run to Cabela's and start making a Christmas list!! For instance Blake Shelby from PSE was on hand and brought the new Dream Season EVO! WOW, is all I could say after drawing this bow. Michael Mayer was able to show us a few things in the works with the new Cold Fusion Technology and update us on the Numbered Layering system ScentBlocker uses. The HuntVe guys were on hand delivering Mark and Terry’s new Dream Season Edition HuntVe's. We were able to test drive these machines, and what an eye opening experience. It’s unbelievable the thought that went into these vehicles to make them hunter friendly. Craig Cushman was able to unveil the new Dream Season Omega. Oh, and the TV star himself Bobby Cole, or also know as “BobbyLogic”, was able to show us a great new product in the works that will for sure be the “Last Bite” of many monsters(Hint… Hint.)



Then the evening is capped off by the most amazing full featured award show in the entire outdoor industry, The Shoot to Thrill Awards! There are numerous awards handed out throughout the night to various DOD Teams. Some awards to mention are, “Best Reaction”-won by Rod Owen, the “Mossy Oak Passion Award”-won by Rick Malik, Best Produced Bow Madness Episode-won by Dave Reisner and John O’Dell, and the most Prestigious of awards “The Producer of the Year” was won by the Team that truly had a Dream Season last year Doug Hampton and Rod Owen. Dad and I were proud to be nominated for many of these awards and we were floored to have been chosen the winners of the “2010 Biologic Award!” It was a true honor to be presented with this award. Biologic has truly changed the way we hunt and it has truly changed the farms we hunt on. In my opinion Biologic is the winner for producing the best wildlife seed blends on the market, and for changing the quality of hunting experiences brought to everyday hunters across America. Thank you Bobby Cole and Biologic for all you do for the Drury Outdoors Team!

Steve Coon - Workin It!

On a hot July day with temperature near a 100 degrees, I found myself doing my first in store for the up coming deer season! One of the owners of Dunn’s Sporting Goods asked if I would be available to work the opening of their fall sale and without hesitation I said yes.

Dunn’s is a store where you can get up close and personal with the consumer and it gives you a chance to show your knowledge of the products that we at Drury are sponsored by.




So whenever I get a chance to do that let me tell you I’m there! So prior to the store opening I did a little scouting to see where all the products were located and I was pumped to see that they carried all of sponsor’s merchandise.



As the doors open that morning, it was time to work the crowd. When I was asked what I thought was a better product there was no hesitation on what to show the customers, from the new Early Dream Season Suit from Scent Blocker in the new Infinity by Mossy Oak to all the Scent Blocker products.



Even though the store had numerous tree stands on sale I was able to give my honest opinion on the Big Game Tree Stands on how rock solid they were along with being one of the most comfortable stands that I have ever hunted out of.

So as I represented Drury Outdoors on that hot July day, I had a chance to show case my knowledge on all our products from PSE Bows, Rage, Bio-logic, Nikon, and Scent Blocker. Funny though I tried to get behind the gun counter to sell a few Thompson Centers, but the guys said the way I shoot it might not be a good idea. Wow a comedian in every crowd!



It just goes to show you when we work an in store we can be a great salesmen, because who has better knowledge of the products then us! The boys at Drury Outdoors!!!!

Next stop Bass Pro Shop August 7th with Terry and a few Drury Team Members. I hope to see you there!

Before I end this I did meet one special fan Anna. When her mom told me that Anna and her brother were big fans of Drury Outdoors and that she wanted a photo with me to show her brother, I knew right then and there that my day was complete. So Anna thank you from all the guys at Drury for being one of our fans and make sure you thank your brother also. Again thank you Anna!

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

Steve Coon - Time To Hunt

Joe and I were back in the middle of August working on three projects in Illinois. We had to finish our food plots, check and hang cameras, and hang a few new sets.

First on order was to check our Reconyx Camera to see what deer made it through last season and to see if we had any new players. Well as luck would have it we had pictures of three of our stars and some upcoming talent.

After checking the cameras we were off and running putting them in new spots hoping to get a few more pics. Just to give Joe and I a pat on the back, here in Illinois we don't have the opportunity to place any type of supplement at the cameras to get those up and personal photos. So what we do is scout the area just like we were hanging a tree stand and place the camera in hopes of getting a photograph of that dream buck. Because if we do our part, the Reconyx will definitely do it's part.

Next task in hand was to finish the food plots, so after we disked for the third time and we decided what seed went to which food plot it was time to plant. So with a little rain we should be just fine! "Maybe I should do a rain dance."

The third project was to put the Big Game Tree Stands together and head to the timber to place them in the locations that was scouted by the Reconyx Camera plus the two new sets over our food plots which in time will prove to be killing spots for Joe and I.

So after the sets were hung the trimming was complete it was time for both Joe and I to head home.

So with all this madness over the summer that we put in for these whitetails, in a couple of months, it's going to be "TIME TO HUNT." -Coon Dog

Kyle Lamore - Plantin' A New Plot

Summer...and the living is good for a teacher this time of year! Despite the fact that deer season closed here in Illinois 6 months ago, JJ Kolesar and myself have been working towards the upcoming season ever since.

This past off season, we started putting in a new 2.5 acre foot plot..while that might sound easy, the fact that over 600 trees called this home for the last 15 years didnt help matters. We spent every spare minute cutting, dragging, and burning trees since neither of us owns a bulldozer!

Last week was the easy part--the planting. With plenty of rain latey, we are crossing our fingers that this "buffet" of a food plot, with Biologic's Maximum and Full Draw, along with some soybeans will be the ticket this fall! Trail cameras are out and season cannot get here fast enough for us!

Kyle Lamore - ...If it Weren't for Bad Luck...

Well…October is slowly slipping away and one of our goals for this year was to finally put down a good deer in October. To accomplish this, we tried incorporating several deep timber Biologic food plots this year….well, the Reconyx camera was stolen, along with the stands and ladder stick, so… needless to say it has been a bust. The clock is quickly ticking towards November and with only two hunts left..…no big buck has yet to meet the Rage. However, we have seen and encountered more big deer this October than ever before. I think Jared Lurk said it best one time with “When filming, anything that can go wrong, will go wrong, and at the worst possible time.” The following examples have occurred since season has begun!

1. The month started at Hadley Creek and we saw a ton of deer, shot a doe, but just couldn’t seem to find a buck that would meet the new 140” minimum. We even had an ancient buck come to within 30 yards that would have been in deep trouble back home, but had to give him a pass because he didn’t have quite enough inches on his head.

2. We have been watching a deer that we nicknamed “Redemption” since mid summer. We have tons and tons of pics of this deer and finally laid eyes on him Oct. 19 at only 22 yards from the stand. However, JJ called me off of him b/c it was very low light for the camera and so he got a pass without an arrow released.

3. Saturday, Oct. 25th was the first time we had hunted our new lease in the morning. Well, the morning was full of fog and drizzle, since an inch of rain had fallen the night before. Things started out rather slow, but by mid-morning we had several does moving in. I was filming them and trying to decide if JJ was going to shoot one when my camera starting flashing “CONDENSATION DETECTED”… the words any cameraman detests having pop up!! I told him not to shoot when he tells me big buck coming, a big nine pointer then follows the does right by our stand at 26 yards broadside. JJ’s asks me what is going on, while I currently have a doe staring at me from under the stand b/c the tape is being ejected in and out of the camera. I had to return the favor as he did a week earlier and call him off of the beast b/c the camera couldn’t boot up. Ten minutes later, the camera is working fine…go figure!!

So...we are trying to close the deal of one of these bucks in the near future and hoping our black cloud leaves us alone for a while! Good luck this fall to all!

Kyle

Louie Payne - Hot Times in Kentucky

Summers in Kentucky are always long, dry and hot. Rainfall this time of year is hard to come by but once again we took the gamble by putting our food plots in the ground by mid August. Hunting over a field of green Biologic is something that Mother Nature controls. We were lucky enough to get one good rain right after we put the seed in the ground and boy did it get things rolling. Now we are keeping our fingers crossed that the Hurricanes in the south will bring Kentucky just a little bit of rain and keep our food plots going.

This year I had high hopes of taking a velvet buck but did I get a surprise! After checking the Reconyx camera last weekend, August 28th we had pics of bucks in velvet. But on the 29th of August the same bucks had gone through the complete process of losing the velvet. What a sight to see! We all know once that velvet comes off; it’s a whole new ball game. Nevertheless we will be chasing these bucks in the high Kentucky heat hoping for a cold front soon.