John O'Dell - Spring Break

So I had to take a break from turkey hunting to take the family on our annual trip to Fort Myers Beach FL for spring break. My kids school spring break was late this year due to Easter being so late. Even though I was going to miss a few days in the spring woods I was really looking forward to this trip as we always have a blast on the beach looking for shells, swimming in the ocean, just relaxing on the beach, and fishing.

This year in particular was a great year for fishing! Jacob was up early with me every morning by 5:00AM to hit the beach. He had two goals for the trip this year. 1) He wanted to catch a big redfish and 2) he wanted to catch a shark. Early in the trip he was rewarded for waking up early by catching a big Fort Myers Beach redfish. Also by trips end we had hooked and lost several sharks (one giant that almost spooled our line off the reel) and on the second to last day lady luck shinned our way and he caught a nice bonnet head shark. Not to be outdone by little brother Madison got in on the great fishing action as well and caught the biggest speckled sea trout of the trip and the only pompano.

All in all it was a very relaxing trip for the whole family and I can’t wait to do it all again next spring!

Later this month Dave and I are headed to Saskatchewan for Bow Madness to hunt with Black Bear Island Lodge www.blackbearisland.com for my first ever spring bear adventure so stay tuned to the DOD journal to see how we do!

John O'Dell - Jacob's First Deer

Well I had been waiting all year for a really special hunt in North Carolina with our good friends Matt Bullins and Jason Bowers who are on Dream Season Working Man. During spring turkey season Matt had invited my dad and my son Jacob to come and do some whitetail hunting on his family farm in NC. I look forward to these opportunities to spend time with my dad as we live in different states and don’t get to see each other often Also this was to be Jacob’s first deer hunt ever so to say I was excited would be a huge understatement.

After putting in the time on the practice range I felt comfortable that Jacob who is 9 would be able to handle his TC safely and make a good lethal shot so fast forward several months from April to December. My dad, Jacob, and I were on our way down to NC for our family deer hunt. Matt said the deer had been moving well and that he had filmed a friend’s girlfriend harvest her first deer ever with her TC muzzleloader a nice 8pt buck. He also said that he had a couple of spots picked out for us that he thought would be very productive. Jacob and I were headed to a shooting house on the edge of a food plot and my dad would be hunting a funnel along a hardwood ridge that the deer had been frequenting.

When we arrived in deer camp we went out to dinner and shared hunting stories and jokes (that were age appropriate and mostly at my dads expense). Then the next day we were in the blind and set up by 2:30PM. Right away Jacob and I had some big gobblers come into the field. He had fun watching them through his Nikon binoculars. I was just hoping that they stick around till spring and that Matt invites us back for turkey season. After that we had several hours with no movement of any kind. I would be lying if I said I was not getting a little discouraged as I was hoping we would see some deer even if Jacob could not get a shot. Well just when I thought the days hunt was over I caught some movement on the edge of the field and sure enough there were 2 does and 3 fawns headed to our food plot. There were some tense moments as Jacob and I worked to make sure that we were on the same deer (me with the camera and Jacob with his rifle). Luckily for us the biggest deer which was a big mature doe stepped away from the group at about 80 yards and offered Jacob the shot he had been waiting for. Jacob made a great shot with his TC Contender. As you can imagine there was much celebration in that little shooting house! I was so proud of him. He said “it was the most exciting thing that has ever happened to him in his whole life”! Later we found out that my dad had also harvested a doe (Jacob told him later that his was way bigger). We also received word that Amy Bullins (Matt’s wife) had also harvested her first deer ever, another doe and she did it with her Browning/PSE bow!

All in all it was as much fun as I have had in deer camp in as long as I can remember. To have my dad along and to be able to introduce my son to the great sport of hunting and be with him for his first deer harvest was awesome! It reminds me of how lucky we are as sportsmen to have the opportunity to go hunting and to pass on this great tradition to future generations!

A HUGE thank you goes out to Matt and Jason for making this hunt possible!

Until next time good hunting!
John

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 To Do In The Offseason

One of my other passions besides hunting is fishing. On Father’s Day weekend we headed down to Cary, NC to visit family and we decided while we were there to do some bass fishing. Well to say that the trip was a success would be a huge understatement! Of course it is always great to spend time with family and to mix in some of the best bass fishing I have ever experienced wasn’t bad either. The weather was hot but the fishing was even hotter!! My dad, Jacob, and Madison caught their biggest bass ever which weighed 5, 5.5, and 6.5 lbs respectively. Of course Madison caught the biggest fish as usual. It is becoming harder to drag her away from the water than it was for me when I was her age. These are just a few of the pictures from our awesome family day at the lake.


As we head into July Dave and I will soon be getting some great velvet pictures on our Reconyx cameras of deer we know well such as “Young Stud” and “Crabby” two deer which should easily gross B&C! Hopefully we have some surprises waiting that we have not seen yet so stay tuned as I will be posting our pictures throughout the late summer and into fall.

We are also gearing up for our mule deer/elk trip to Pack-n-horns Outfitters in New Mexico coming up in September. Time can’t go fast enough so until then Dave and I will be shooting every chance we get with our PSE bows.

John O'Dell - Spring 2009 Update

Well it’s been a busy spring so far. Dave and I were lucky enough to be invited to go down to sunny South Florida in late March to hunt Osceola turkeys with our good friend Scott Crippen who owns White’s Tackle in Fort Pierce FL. Having hunted with Scott in the past I knew that Dave and I were going to have a fun time in FL and we were in for a great hunt! Well the hunt was very successful with Dave and I both harvesting great turkeys and capturing some good video along with some great memories. My Osceola was actually my best one so far. We are already planning to head back down south next spring for some more Osceola hunting with Scott. For more details on the hunt check out the March section of the journal page.

Following our turkey hunt in South FL I took the family on our annual pilgrimage to the Sunshine State for spring break in Mid April. We were headed to beautiful Fort Myers Beach. We really look forward to this trip every year as Suzy, the kids, and I get to spend lots of time together looking for shells, swimming in the ocean/pool by the ocean, and fishing off the beach. This year was one to remember for great fishing as Madison caught her first ever slot snook at 28.5” and Jacob caught his first snook ever which we released right after this photo was taken. We caught 14 snook total as well as many other species of fish including a giant sting ray. We saw lots of dolphins and just had a great time relaxing and hanging out together on the beach.

May has finally arrived and Dave have just returned from a trip to hunt with our good friend James Coppedge of Pack-n-horns Outfitters in New Mexico. He and Curt Richey had a great turkey hunt with James and most importantly they saw and filmed lots of mule deer and elk. They also found some nice sheds. Dave and I both have NM tags for mule deer and elk this year to hunt with James so to say that we are pumped for this fall is a huge understatement!

On May 2nd I was finally able to do some more turkey hunting and Dave had done his homework. He took me to one of our favorite farms and long story shot even though the toms were pretty henned up I was able to harvest a giant gobbler that was just less than 28 lbs and had 1.5” spurs. The giant gobbler was a true movie star and made for a very memorable hunt. I have been extremely fortunate this year in that I have only turkey hunted two mornings and I have been able to take two turkeys with 1.5” or better spurs!
In two weeks we are headed to Central FL for a hunt to spot and stalk wild hogs with our PSE’s for an upcoming episode of Bow Madness. Rick Malik, Dave Reisner, and I will be hunting with our good friend Bobby Mathews. The ranch that we will be hunting is truly incredible and we are all looking forward to the hunt.

Until next time safe hunting and take care!

John

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.

John O'Dell - Down and Out....

I truly enjoy every aspect of whitetail deer hunting and that normally means that this time of year I would be hanging stands, planting food plots, and shooting my PSE XForce in 3D tournaments or at our local archery club. This year however I ran into a snafu. I also enjoy playing softball during the summer.

That said I was playing softball for our company coed softball team at JCrew. It was late in the second game of a double header and I was playing left center field. I went to plant my foot like I have done thousands of times before to charge a fly ball and that’s when it happened. I heard a loud “POP” and my left foot literally collapsed and I hit the ground. Being the competitive person that I am I wanted to go after the ball but I quickly ascertained that I could not move my left foot at all. It was just dangling and I felt a sharp pain in the back of my ankle. Ugh! So after being carried off the field by my team mates; I took the golf cart ride to a friend’s car and went directly to the emergency room. It was later determined that I tore my achilles tendon. Then I had to have surgery to reattach the tendon. Believe me that it is as painful as it sounds!!

From what I understand I am on a long path to recovery. My days consist of trying to figure out how to do everyday activities like shower and go to work with crutches or by hoping on one leg! I plan to be diligent with my physical therapy so that I am prepared for my first hunt with long time filming partner Dave Resiner this fall. It will be four to six weeks before I can begin rehab so I guess I will have to get used to my crutches for now. One thing is for certain that I will be shooting early and often with my PSE once I can stand on both feet again.

John O'Dell - Things to do in the off season..

Beyond my passion for hunting I really enjoy fishing as well. I feel fortunate in that both of my children Madison (10) and Jacob (7) have inherited my love of the outdoors and they both especially enjoy going fishing with dad. That said one of our favorite places to go fishing together is on Fort Myers Beach, FL.

My mother and father in-law have a condo right on the beach where the Gulf of Mexico flows through Big Carlos Pass into Estero Bay. The incoming and outgoing tides make cuts in the beach and the bait fish white bait follow the cuts in and out of the bay to and from the ocean with the tides. This creates some incredible inshore fishing opportunities for a real mixed bag.

During our most recent trip down to the Sunshine State my kids caught many different varieties of fish including the inshore slam of Snook, Trout, and Redfish and the trashcan slam of Ladyfish, Catfish, and Jacks. Our best day we caught over 50 fish on live bait and artificial lures.

My daughter Madison has become quite the fisherwoman and I am pretty sure that she out fished everyone on the beach during the time that we were there including her dad. It is a feeling that is difficult to describe when I see the excitement in my childrens' eyes as they are playing tug of war with a big fish. It is fast becoming a family tradition to make trips down to the Sunshine State to do spend quality time as a family and when we are lucky to catch lots of fish. My daughter says that fishing is ok but catching is way more fun! I have to agree with my 10 year old on that one! Enjoy some photos of Madison and Jacob and their big catch!