Dave Reisner - Getting Started

He collects his arrows and grabs his bow and heads down to the Glen Del Buck target to put in some quality practice time.  He positions himself at just the right distance lets all but one of his arrows fall to the turf and knocks his first arrow.  With an almost effortless pull of his string he is poised and ready to let his first arrow fly.  With flawless form he settles in on his pin and with no hesitation lets it rip.  The arrow slices through the air on the way to his intended target where it hits it squarely in the neck.  This is followed by "Dad, I got em."  As the rest of his arrows are released one by one with most of them hitting the target the eager 6 year old can't wait to show Dad of his success.

As I explain to him once again that he really wants to aim for the heart and lungs he innocently confesses that he knows that and that is where he was trying to aim.  With Dads blessing and approval he quickly collects all his arrows and lines back up for another round.

As any father would do, a big smile overcomes my face as I watch my son's unbridled enthusiasm as he releases each arrow.  After twenty minutes or so he is tuckered out and puts his bow and arrows back and moves on to his next adventure of the day. 

So far with my sons I have been overly passive with regard to hunting, shooting or anything related.  I always invite them along and try to make it as fun for them as possible, but I let them decide how much participation they want to have and when they are ready to take the next step.  As any parent would know it's not hard to figure out when they really want something as they can be relentlessly persistent in bugging their parents in these times. 

My son recently attended a NWTF Jakes Day where he won his new bow and this has started a real enthusiasm for shooting.  It is not like this was the first bow he had, more like the third or fourth, but this one may have come at the right time as he is ready for it this time.  I've already had to get an additional half dozen arrows as the knocks or fletchings had been worn off.

Weather this is his start into a lifetime of shooting a bow and the evolution that would ensue or just another monthly phase that he'll be into and out of is yet to be determined, but as father who loves the sport I can only hope that he has been bitten by the same bug that still affects me today!  -Dave Reisner

Dave Reisner - Tough Summer

This summer has been tough!  The lack of rain has really taken its toll on the food plots and my sanity. To understand where I am coming from let me digress. I have made it through the massive floods of 2008 and then reoccurring floods the next few years after to now the past two years being in drought circumstances.  Through all this I have gained much more empathy for the farmers that rely on crops and the all powerful Mother Nature for their livelihood.  I used to think farmers just liked to hear themselves complain and that they were never happy no matter what weather was doing. 

The story hits a little closer to home when you have some sweat equity invested in even "small" scale food plots as well as money invested for fertilizer, seed, and roundup. Not to mention the tractors, implements, diesel fuel and all the miscellaneous costs I spend each year.  Do I sound like a farmer yet? 

So back to the present!  I have been checking on my corn fields every week to see what I can expect for corn production and make decisions on whether or not I need to mow it down and start fresh with fall green food sources. 

Of my 3 main areas planted all within 3 weeks I have all ends of the spectrum covered.

  

The first area planted I will actually make corn and although the field did show signs of serious stress it got just enough moisture late to fill out the ears and I am confident that it would yield 150 bushel or better per acre if it was to be harvested.

The second field planted, probably 10 to 12 acres, I will be considering a total loss and have already mowed some of it down to plant fall greens. It turned yellow earlier and never got taller than 6'.  Even this field after a couple late rains shows signs of trying to still produce an ear of corn, but realistically it is too late for this corn. 

The last field planted which is about a 5 acre corn field has a mixture of both good areas and some areas that look like it burned up.  All in all I think it would average 80 bushel per acre. 

My conclusion is that I do not completely understand the corn plant and its needs at variable times of growth, but overall I'm amazed at its resourcefulness to at any cost try to produce an ear of corn.    

….Now I'm just praying for rain for my fall green plots!!!! -Dave Reisner

John O'Dell - Trade Show Time

Dave and I were fortunate to be at ATA in Columbus OH on the 14th and 15th of January this year. It was great to be able to hang out with all of our wonderful sponsors and to see some of the new exciting products that are coming out this year. Here are a couple of pictures from ATA.

This past weekend the weather warmed up just enough for the kids to talk me into doing some winter bass/bluegill fishing. I was convinced we would not have much luck catching any fish but I figured time spent with them fishing was way better than hanging around the house watching TV. I have to admit I am glad that they talked me into taking them to the lake as we caught 12 bass over 2.5 lbs with the biggest being a 5.5lb beauty that my daughter Madison caught on her last cast of the day. We also caught countless numbers of bluegills. Being from Iowa it was pretty incredible to be able to go fishing without first having to drill a hole in the ice this time of year. It was also the single best day by far I have ever had on the water (ice or no ice) in January!


Here in February from the 19th – 21st 2010 I will be at the NWTF convention in Nashville TN with a bunch of other Drury Team Members. If you are there please stop by and say hello.

John O'Dell - Less Then 1 Month Away

I hope everyone’s summer is going well. Dave and I are less than a month away and counting for our first hunt of the fall. We will be in New Mexico hunting elk, mule deer, and black bears with James Coppedge of Pack-n-Horns outfitters www.packnhorns.com for Bow Madness TV Season 3. We have both been shooting our PSE’s a lot in anticipation of another great hunt with James!

We have also been collecting pictures of some nice bucks in velvet that will be on the hit list for this fall. I have attached a couple of the good bucks we have captured on our Reconyx cameras so far this year. Hopefully these pictures will lead to some up close encounters with these deer when the season gets started!

Also Dave and I will be at the Bass Pro Fall Classic this weekend. My schedule is listed below so if you are in the area feel free to stop by and say hello.

I will be in Memphis TN Friday August 7th 5:00PM – 9:00PM. I will be in St. Charles MO Saturday August 8th 12:00noon – 5:00PM and on Sunday August 9th I will be in Columbia MO from 12:00noon – 5:00PM.

Dave will be at Bolingbrook, IL at 8 pm on August 7th. Portage, IN at 4PM on August 8th and Gurnee, IL at 4PM on August 9th.

My next blog will be when Dave and I get back from NM so until then enjoy the rest of the summer!
John and Dave

John O'Dell - What a Month!

Well the month of September 2008 turned out to be a great month! Although Dave and I did not have any luck on our short trip out west (2 days) to Sherman Creek Outfitters, we did have a couple of close encounters. I had a 170” Mule deer buck in velvet at 10 yards but he came in directly behind the rock blind I was hiding in and I could not get turned around for the shot. Then Dave had a great encounter with a black bear at 10 yards on the ground but opted to pass the shot as Joe had some pictures of a monster bear that he though was 400 lbs plus! We plan to head back out to hunt with Joe and Jodi in December as Joe has a number of great deer on camera. Hopefully we’ll have better luck then.

The reason our hunt was cut short is that Suzy and I were expecting a new addition to the family. If I would have missed the birth of my child I am pretty sure I would be living with Joe and Jodi permanently. Luckily for me baby O’Dell waited to arrive on the morning of Saturday the 13th of September. Macy Elizabeth O’Dell was born 8 lbs 4 oz 21.5”. My son Jacob had the quote of the day when she was born as he said when asked what he thought about his new baby sister “Well I kind of wanted a brother but at least we got something”! J Mom and baby are doing great! Dad is tired from lack of sleep!



One week after Macy’s arrival my lovely wife was gracious enough to let me fly to St. Louis for our Drury Outdoors annual fall meeting. At the meeting we review upcoming titles and themes for the DVD’s and TV shows. We also have the opportunity to view new products from our wonderful sponsors and we have the opportunity to spend time as team members swapping hunting stories and just having a great time together. The weekend culminates with the annual awards banquet. It is an incredible atmosphere where we get to see highlights from the hunts our teams captured from the previous hunting season. There is always some good humor mixed in from some of the bloopers from the season and this year was special in that we celebrated Drury Outdoors upcoming 20th year anniversary! (Congratulations again Mark and Terry!) Having been on the team for 15 of those years it doesn’t seem possible that so much time has passed. I guess that is why they say time flies when you are having fun! During the awards show there are also different categories were team members are recognized amongst their peers for outstanding production. The pinnacle of these awards is the “Producer of the Year”. The competition for this category has become intense and realistically could go to several teams. This year however I was extremely fortunate to be the recipient of this prestigious award. It was an awesome feeling to win but it was equally enjoyable to celebrate with all of my good friends and Drury Team Members. I only wish Suzy could have been there as well but she was home taking care of Macy Elizabeth.



Well October has finally arrived and as usual Dave and I can’t wait to get in the deer stand! We have several pictures of some giant bucks on our Reconyx camera. Amy will up to bat first with early season muzzleloader in Iowa (Suzy is taking the year off due to Macy’s feeding schedule) and then Dave and I will get after it with PSE’s in hand. Hopefully my next updates will be on the journal page with some big bucks down.

Safe Hunting!

John

John O'Dell - Passing On The Tradition

Well I am finally walking without the support of a walking boot and crutches. My achilles is getting better everyday, so it is time to get back to normal late summer activities. That said I was able to take the kids fishing again. We had a blast catching lots of bluegills and bass despite the summer heat. Jacob definitely caught the most fish with the aid of his "Sponge Bob" bobber while Madison caught ole "big mouth bass". It was a really nice fish for this time of year.

Suzy and I are getting ready for the new addition to our family which will be here soon with a due date of September 19th. She has also been busy with back to school shopping with the kids. This has given me the time to do some scouting and Dave and I are getting some great photos of some giant deer already.


Dave and I are headed back to Sherman Creek Outfitters to hunt with our good friends Joe and Jodi Rasmussen for the archery season opener in Eastern Washington State. As usual Joe has some dandy whitetail bucks in velvet that he has patterned. This year he has an added surprise for us. He has been getting some great pictures of some nice mule deer in velvet. He has also been seeing quite a few black bears so he said we might want to buy a tag. He won't have to twist my arm! If you recall Dave and Joe played a fast one on me last year with the two sided coin so that means I am up to bat first this year and I can't wait.

I am anticipating the 08' deer season as much as any season ever. The reason is because my daughter Madison is going to try to take her first deer with a bow. She has been shooting a Browning bow from our friends at PSE and I think you'll agree from the attached photo that she is shooting pretty well. I can't wait to spend time with her in the woods this fall and with any luck I will film her harvest her first deer. Although it will be awhile before her little brother can hunt he already enjoys shooting his bow with dad.

Well my next blog will be after I get back from Sherman Creek Outfitters so hopefully I will have a good story to tell.