Deep Sea Fishing in two weeks!

Going down to the Dominican Republic in two weeks for a family vacation with my wife and three sons.  I have a fishing excursion booked called Gone Fishing, a charter service owned by Jack Rougerie.  I am hoping that we can hook up with a marlin or sailfish!  That is our goal!  I'll update the blog upon my return.

Future Hunt Plans

Well the hog and turkey better keep their eyes open this spring. Although still four months away, its never too early to start imagining gobbles and grunts. Turkey season should bring some great excitement, while the Annual BowcamTreecam hog hunt should be nothing less than spectacular. The destination will likey once again be the lonestar state. The ranch is yet to be determined, and hopefully the Prostaffers will get down and dirty with some big pigs! The Gobbler goal in 2011 is to bag one with a muzzeloader and one with a bow. As for the next next four months...the game is all about, shooting, reading and researching...and maybe a little ice fishing!!

Success In Michigan!

As Halloween approached, the blood in my veins began warming up. Halloween is my favourite time of year. The weather is cooler, my house is full of snacks for my boys (and me), and the whitetail deer are almost in full rut. There is only one way to describe going to Michigan on our annual Pappas Boys bowhunt during this time of year...simply awesome! As usual our great friend Jim Nugent rolled out the red carpet for us, making our stay one to remember. The first morning I had two does come under my stand after I lowered my bow down....still not sure why they didn't spook. Very quickly they did though, as my buddy Jimmy approached to pick me up. Murphy's law. That night I had three does out in front of my stand, about 33 yards away. Light was fading fast, and as a result I rushed the shot missing high...twice! My brother had much better luck. He had four bucks and six does around him. He patiently waited for the biggest of the four bucks to present a shot. At 34 yards he made the shot count, perfectly placing his arrow behind the rib cage and exiting out the front shoulder, the nice buck only went 60 yards! My dad was the center of attention the next morning as he made a perfect shot on a doe at 15 yards. She dropped in her tracks. What a great trip, once again, with family and friends...it couldn't have been better!!

Wet, Wet, Wet

Thats how my first Ontario bowhunt went. It started with poor stand placement by me. I opted for a tree that was climbable for my self-climber, failing to consider the shootability of the tree. After climbing up, it was evident that I failed to consider my available shooting lanes, and visability as I was almost useless from this stand location. Saturday I plan be in a much more open area, with high visability. The next four hours was spent keeping dry as it rained for over two hours. I did not see a deer, or hear a deer until we walked out as we spooked two deer getting back to my truck after dark. I plan on going again this weekend with my brother. I'll touch base Monday with the report on how it went. Wish me luck.

Louisiana - Great Hunt

Although my tag is still in my pocket, I had an absolute blast at my good friend Glen's camp this past weekend. Glen put me on a stand that was frequented daily by several pope and young bucks. On the first night I had four eight points come in, along with a four point and four does. One of the eight points we estimated to be in the mid 130's, which would be my biggest buck. The problem was that the trail cam from that stand had several bigger bucks coming in on a regular basis, so I waited it out and passed up the 130 class buck. That night ended with tag soup for dinner. My good friend Shane took a great 13 point buck (144 3/8) with his BowcamTreecam capturing the shot on video. The next morning I had a doe and two fawns at my bait pile for an hour. I got some great footage of them and enjoyed watching them play around. That night I took the same stand as the night before, and had two eight points come in. They didn't read the script and never went to the bait pile. Shane's friend Johnny took a nice eight point which scored 126 6/8. I had a great time, with great people, and we got some great footage of nice bucks. All in all, an awesome trip!!

Ten months ago...

Ten months ago I finished up the bowhunting season with a headache. That headache, which was caused by me not finding a buck that I made a good shot on (my hunting partner found it two weeks later 10 yards from we stopped looking), has lasted until yesterday. It ended when my friend Glen Redd called and said "two days until you get here you know". I replied, "actually it's 47 hours, 18 minutes!" Before a bowhunt I always get fired up. But this year is different. My quest to arrow a buck worthy of some real estate on the fireplace mantle has never been higher. My preparation this year has been endless. From airing out my gear, to avoiding using deodorant, I have been focused on reducing my scent and have been shooting alot of arrows in hopes to get that chance to arrow a big boy. I've got a new scentlok suit this year, I switched to rubber boots to minimize scent, I am switching back to mechanical broadheads, and will most certainly be utilizing my most important piece of bowhunting equipment, my bowcamtreecam. Creating very clear highlight clips from my bowhunting adventures is my passion. Having the ability to take clear video is critical for me. Friday morning I plan to do just that. I will surely be back here Monday to let ya'll know how I made out!

Two more deer in the bag

BowcamTreecam prostaffers Pat Squire and Mike Low got their fall off on the right foot, each taking a whitetail with their bows. Pat took a doe and Mike took a buck on their annual trip to Alberta. They were very close to taking a bull elk aswell, with the elk having the last laugh. Their hunting pal took a nice 5 x 5 bull. Their pictures will be in the photo gallery shortly.