J.J. Kolesar - Bittersweet Find!

Well, it was opening day (Oct. 1st) for Illinois, and everything was going according to plan! Kyle and I hunted that morning and saw a 140" 10 point working a bean field until 830 into the morning. We guessed him to be the same deer we were getting daylight pics of on our Reconyx cameras largely because of his bleach white rack. He quickly became public enemy #1 due to his risky movements. We watched the deer enter into the northern side of the same block of timber we were sitting. We made a quick decision to "Turkey Hunt" this deer and try to put him to bed. We knew that the evening may produce a repeat occurrence, so we decided to hang a set in hopes to catch the daylight mover on his way back out to the bean field. We crawled into our new set and I had just finished hanging my bow up when Kyle said "there he is", and sure enough he was on his way out to stage up before dusk. So much so, that the big boy decided to bed down in some CRP about 40 yards from our set. One problem, once he sat down in the grass, no shots were available. So it became a waiting game. As sunset rapidly approached our opening day dream was about to become reality. We watched him stand up and offer the only shot he was going to give us. At 40 yds., I picked a spot just above a piece of grass in front of him and let the arrow fly. The deer quickly lifted his head and started his turn when my 2-blade Rage found its mark, however, the penetration of the arrow wasn't much to be desired. I felt I hit the front shoulder and was immediately questioning whether or not we would find the buck considering we watched him saunter away. However, Kyle still felt strongly that I might have hit high off shoulder. Well, fast forward to a below-average blood trail, a crazy un-trained blood dog, and 6 hours of diligent grid walking and we were staring at Buck Sadness. However, each haunting day that passed our most visible buck never crossed the path of one of our numerous Reconyx cameras. This was our best clue that quite possibly I had killed the buck. Kyle proved his theory correct when we were shed hunting on Feb. 19th and found my buck 20 yards from where we had ended our grid search through the thick briars and autumn olive. I can officially say I owe my partner big time on this one and am thankful that he stumbled across his final bed in the middle of a timber thicket. After some crucial phone calls to the IDNR I was able to claim my harvest. Not exactly how I envisioned laying my hands on this deer, but it is one I will humbly accept…Bittersweet moment to say the least! Below I have posted steps to help you if you run into this situation shed hunting. Good Luck Everyone!

STEPS FOR TAGGING A LOST DEER, or DISCOVERING A DEAD DEER

1) Leave carcass/remains in tact at location discovered, if possible take a picture of this undisturbed setting, as this will quicken your overall tagging process

2) Call the State Police; they will put you in contact with the appropriate Conservation Office or Officer in your region/If possible Fill out Salvage Tag or Road Kill Form online provided by your state's DNR

3) Meet with or formally speak with your local Conservation Officer to discuss proper protocol for your state, and also to receive a Salvage Tag if necessary. In Illinois, more than likely this will be the case.

4) Receive Salvage tag issued by your state, and claim your deer

5) This would be the correct process for a road kill or skull find as well, whether you shot the deer or not.

6) Enjoy the Confidence of maintaining the integrity of your state's conservation, as they are always looking in the best interest of the animal.

Jeff Lindsey - New Season. New Goals

    For a brief moment, it appears the dog days of summer are behind us. In has been one of the hottest and driest summers I can ever remember. We have been hit with a small drought but nothing that compares to what everyone out west or in the deep south has had to endure. The crops have taken a small setback but I do believe I feel a touch of fall in the air. That change of air is just enough to make a big smile come on my face . The Reconyx cameras are working overtime to give us a summer inventory, some familiar faces have shown up and it's going to be a fun November. 

    This fall I have 2 main goals that doesn't involve any of the familiar faces Reconyx has let me know about. The first one is to get my wife Ashley a deer with her bow, her PSE Chaos is firing darts and her confidence is growing by the week. The first doe that gets within 30 yards of her is going to get some carbon flung her way! My second goal is to shoot a mature doe with my recurve bow. I have been shooting it almost a full year now but have yet to take it afield. That will change this October. 

    Fall will be here in no time and its all down hill from there. Celebrate the upcoming season, have fun and most of all be safe. Happy blood trails. - Jeff

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!

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

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