Dave Kramer - Summer Vacation

   

Everyone reading this has probably been experiencing the same brutally hot and dry Summer that we here in Iowa have had.  That said, my family and I couldn't wait for August 3rd to get here so we could jump in the truck and head north to Ontario, Canada for a much needed vacation.  Good friends Kris and Annette Lenz had invited us to crash their annual Zehr family fishing trip.  It just so happened to be Annette's father Gerald's 50th trip to Press Lake and they were celebrating by filling camp with over 50 family and friends.  This resort is also where I harvested my first black bear nearly ten years ago. 

    When we arrived at Press lake Saturday the 4th around 12:30 and the temps were twenty some degrees lower than home, I knew we were going to have a great week, regardless how good the fishing was.  We  quickly got things unloaded and were in the boat by 3:00 in hopes of catching some fish for supper that night.  Our first afternoon was a bit slow as far as the bite but we made it back to camp by 5:00 to meet up with the rest of the crew and filled our bellies with fried Canadian walleyes that some of the better fishermen in our group had caught.

    As the week flew by the fishing got better and better.  My kids Darby, Daltyn, And Dru were all able to catch numerous walleye and pike.  My wife Anita caught the biggest pike of the week (33") on an ultralite rod and Daltyn boated the biggest Walleye (20-1/2").  I however landed the most fish of the family for the week including a pair of 19" walleyes and a 29" pike.  We had numerous "ones that got away" that were undoubtedly way bigger than anything we actually caught.  All in all we had a great family trip, ate more fish than we should have and made many new friendships as well as memories.  I feel fortunate to have a family that enjoys the outdoors enough to take this type of vacation.  I've been warned that next year my wife gets to decide where we go but I've got my fingers crossed that she makes the right decision.  For now it's time to concentrate on work, food plots and getting ready October 1st.  Good luck to all of you this fall and keep an eye on the journal. 

Dave Kramer 

Doug Hampton - Not Just A Hunt For A Doe

 How could just a hunt for a doe be responsible for such an emotional moment in a lifetime of hunting whitetails?  I will admit, it didn't make the most since to me either.  I was notnecessarily prepared or expecting it by any means.  I was simply sitting in my tree-stand waiting on the first light of a late October morning.  My mission was simple...  I needed to harvest a doe with a recurve bow, as part of the challenge for the first group hunt for Dream Season 'The Journey'.  I had no clue that months later I would not be able to talk to anyone about the hunt without tears coming to my eyes.

      What is hunting to most folks?  What does it mean to the average hunter?  How can just a doe hunt be so rewarding?   After having my personal best year of killing bucks, how can a doe with a recurve be what I think of the most?  I can't explain it, but I can tell you it's the truth.

      Hunting is so much to so many of us.  It truly becomes our way of life.  The people that influence us through hunting and sharing great memories are among our closest friends and relatives.  Hunting is a bond that can be felt  quicker than explained.  Two of my most influential people in my life were my brother and my grandfather, or 'Pappaw' to anyone in my family.  My brother was my hunting & fishing buddy.   He showed me the ropes of life and even led me to the Lord.

Pappaw saw to it that we became responsible ethical hunters.  He as well as my uncles really spent a lot of their valued time fooling with us.  Pappaw took my brother to kill his first deer when I was 4 years old.  I remember hearing the shot from 'behind the field'.  I ran out of the camp to wait for them coming down the old muddy road.  It wasn't long before I could see the blue Bronco creeping slowly with a small spike laying up on the hood.   I was so excited!  It was the first deer that I can ever remember seeing.  It also was the first moment that I knew I wanted to be a hunter.  A few years later, Pappaw pulled out an old recurve bow.  I believe I was 9 or 10 at the time, but after watching that first arrow hit the paper plate that I was shooting at, I knew I wanted to be a bowhunter.  Later that evening I crawled into an old box-stand about 10 feet off the ground.  Pappaw handed me that recurve and 2 arrows with broadheads.  He instructed me to be safe and he would be back later.  After about an hour, I saw him returning to pick me up.  I quickly waived him back so that I could keep hunting.  Now I had not seen hide nor hair, but I knew I was bowhunting, and I knew I liked it!

         As life flew past me, my brother was killed when I was 13 years old.  He was a few months shy of graduating high school when he was taken from us.  Pappaw would drive from Arkansas to Texas to pick me up and take me back, just so I could hunt.  He knew it was my therapy for dealing with the loss.  He did that for the next few years until I could drive there on my own.  In the year 2000, he was diagnosed with stomach cancer.  After months of fighting, he went to be with my brother.

         As I sat waiting for the daylight to overtake the darkness, I looked at the recurve that I was going to attempt to take a doe with.  I don't consider myself to be an overly emotional guy.  Passionate maybe, but not emotional.  But something about looking down at that recurve began to take me back to that first time I bowhunted.  The memories of  Pappaw handing me the bow and the memories of waiving him back began to hit me.  I thought of my brother and how he had told me that one day he'd be watching me shoot deer on television.  It was just all too much to take in at one time.  The tears began to role down my face & their was no stopping them.  I was glad it was still dark.  T.J., one of the Drury production staff, was along to video for the hunt.  Rod was busy filming one of the contest winners from facebook.  I had only met T.J. just recently, and was hoping he didn't notice the moment that I unexpectedly having.  As soon as it was light enough to see, a doe was headed our way. She never offered me a good shot, so the opportunity to fill my tag had come, and then slipped by. The guide text me after a few hours and said he was on his way. After a minute or two, I text him back & "waived him off", the way I had Pappaw so many years before.  I was just enjoying the hunt.  Not long after, I caught movement of a huge doe coming my way feeding on acorns.  After a few minutes she was heading straight at our tree.  She would cross in front at 15 yards.  I drew the recurve and let the arrow fly.  There was blood immediately and by the way she was running, I knew she wasn't gonna last long. At about 70 yards, she went down on camera. I was once again overcome with emotion. I was so excited that I had accomplished what I had set out to do. I thought about Pappaw telling me to "enjoy your life, hunt all you can son".  Nobody ever said on their deathbed that they wish they had worked more. I can't remember a hunt of my own that meant quite as much as this one. Moments in my life that laid dormant, were suddenly brought back as if they had happened the day before.

       Now I'm just a southern country boy that God has granted some great wishes to.  He's given me an awesome family, great friends, and  made me lucky enough to close the deal on some great bucks over the past few years.  Dream Season 'The Journey' will begin airing in the coming weeks.  Most folks will watch this hunt and never know the significance to me of this particular hunt.  The raw emotion that I felt through that entire day may never be matched again.  The bonds that have been made with my loved ones and friends through hunting areirreplaceable.  I can't wait to re-live this hunt when it airs.  I'll probably have tears in my eye's yet again.  It's my most anticipated hunt to watch, and it's not even a buck.  With my heart and soul I can honestly say, this was not just a hunt for a doe. I still can't explain it, but it sure was special.

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

Aaron Bennett - Busy Summer!

Well, this has definitely been one of the busiest summers of my life! Between planning for a wedding and trying to learn a new hunting lease, time has been flying by faster than I ever imagined it would. My fiancée Jessica, and I have been busy preparing for our September 3^rd wedding date all summer, while I have been running Reconyx cameras and hanging stands on the side. I've always heard that wedding planning was stressful, but now I know why---it interferes with summer scouting! Ha, just joking sweetheart!! 

Anyways, this year I hooked up with Matt Robinson from the Hunting Lease Network ( HYPERLINK "http://www.nationalhuntingleases.com" www.nationalhuntingleases.com) in search of a good piece of ground to lease for the upcoming deer season. He directed me to several farms to look at, and man, they were all smokin' hot farms! Finally, I settled on the one that would suit my needs the best and put in my bid. I won the bid and the lease became mine for the year! The unique thing about this particular tract is that the aerial photo of this farm is very deceiving. It didn't look like much, and I wasn't even going to go look at it but Matt told me I should check it out. He said a couple of other people went to look at it and never even got off the gravel because it didn't look like there was enough timber to hunt. I love to walk farms, so Jessica and I put our boots on and walked every inch of the farm and discovered TONS of deer sign! Needless to say, I am glad those other guys never got out of their truck!

The Reconyx pics have been rolling in and they look very promising! I just hope the big shooters that live on this farm decide to hang around long enough to have a bad encounter with a Rage broadhead!!!

If you are still in search of a good piece of ground to hunt this fall I would highly recommend checking out the Hunting Lease Network, they have hundreds of farms and the representatives are very knowledgeable! Good luck and stay safe! - Aaron

Joe Shults - H.O.O.A.H.

The Pine Mountain Longbeards Chapters Wounded Warriors /
Wheeling Sportsman annual hunt was held in Campbell County
Tennessee again this year. I have been looking forward to
this hunt all year. Last year I was introduced to a program
called H.O.O.A.H (Healing Outside Of A Hospital). This
program is one of the finest and most needed programs that I
have ever had a pleasure of being a part of. After spending
2 years of quality time in blinds with 2 warriors and
hearing their stories of battle, pain and recovery I have
seen why this program is needed and how this program is
helping ! Last year I had the honor and pleasure of hunting
with Corpl. Catlin Mixon and this year it was RET. SGT.
Leroy White III. Both of these brave soldiers have fought
proudly to protect us and this great land! For that I am
grateful and proud of these fine soldiers.

The Pine Mountain Longbeards Chapter of the National Wild
Turkey Federation and C.O.R.A are the host of this event and
do an excellent job in doing so. It takes a lot of hard work
and organizational skills to put together such a event and
for that I salute these great organization's!

This year we were surprised with a visit from an Army
Apache helicopter. It was truly an awesome sight ! What a
piece of machinery it was. All the kids got to get there
pictures taken in it. I would like to give a special thanks
to Mike Trentham for taking those photos and helping get the
Apache there for this event!

Last year I met Leroy briefly but this year I got to get
to know him and hunt with him. He is not only a decorated
soldier but a really nice man and a true outdoorsman. While
we were hunting and Leroy was telling us of his war
encounters it would make the hair stand up on the back of
your neck ! With his many injuries and exposure to chemical
warfare he is lucky to still be with us. Leroy was telling
us about the H.O.O.A.H. program and what it has done for him
and that let us know real fast what a great program that
this is.

The morning hunt was a slow hunt with not a lot of
action. After the morning hunt we went in for lunch and all
the midday events that where planned. Around 2:30 we went
back out for the evening hunt. It really got hot with the
temperature reaching 81. We were not complaining since last
year it rained the whole weekend. After a few hours Leroy
spotted a bird coming into the food plot as I raised the
camera and zoomed in there were actually 4 birds and all
gobblers! As two of them spotted the Feather Flex decoys
they had to come in for a closer look. Big mistake!! As
Leroy got into position the gobbler gave him a perfect shot
I gave him the signal to take him and he wasted no time. The
gobbler dropped like a rock and the hunt was over! Leroy
was so excited and it was his biggest bird to date! It was
also the biggest bird taken during the hunt!

It was an honor to get to hunt with Leroy and once again
I feel like I have made a friend for life! I also got an
invitation to The White House for dinner! It just happens
to be in Savannah, Tennessee. When I go it will be proudest
I have will have ever felt as I walked through the door of
an true American hero! -Joe

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!