Look out Stuttgart here we come!!!

MA has already started practicing and can actually make some sound come out at times....look at the concentration in those eyes!! Just need to hone her routine a bit before she takes the stage!

2010-2011 Season has begun~~!!

Lots of changes have taken place over the summer! Leanne Mary Audrey and myself have moved to our new home...with Paradise only just 1/4 of a mile from the front door! Our new house sits on 3.5 acres in the country and deer have been frequently visiting our yard to pick up the acorns from the oak trees.




















Dove season was excellent! Already had one eating and anxiously await the next.

After 8 years of patience Young finally downed a doe on the last afternoon of official bow season! He shot her from the Thunder stand at 3:45pm she ran about 50 yards and piled up...she weighed 73# and was 1.5 years old.

MY season has not been going so well. I got a new Matthews Z7 and have had nothing but problems mostly my fault. Shot well on the range....not so good in the woods.

The following events are all true and presented in chronological order.... It exploded one time from me not removing my pull rope and then attempting to draw down on a coon. I missed a doe a week later with something happening during the shot to break my arrow rest, incidentally, both events were separate but in the same tree.....now known as the Jinx tree. A week after that I missed another doe centering a tree

, and then the very next day finally hit a doe but made a bad shot and was unable to recover her...when it rains it pours..

Wayne Boshart and I finally were able to line up a hunt where he missed the first deer he has ever shot at with a bow....Congrats to him as he is now officially ruined...Enjoy the pics....

Trying to Catch Up

Well alot has happened since my last post. Turkey season has come and gone and I am looking down the road to another long and hot summer. Turkey season turned out good, after some frustrating moments and a wounded unrecovered bird in late March. The first and only bird I killed in Mississippi occurred on the last day of the season in the last 5 minutes that I had to hunt. I verbally said to myself..."well my season is coming to close" and I looked up and there he was headed straight towards Killer B! It was windy and raining and the bird was soaking wet I called him in with a box call gobbling and yelping every 15 minutes- 8" beard, 1" spurs. Just goes to show that you should never ever give up and it can turn around on a dime, success is only a trigger pull away!

After two weeks of business trips, the family and I took our first vacation to PA to visit our friends, the Reitz's and Eby's. Turkeys were everywhere and I wound up accidentally shooting two with one shot while shooting at the longbeard on the third day of hunting. 10 1/4" beard, 1" spurs and weighed 21 1/4 pounds. The other bird was a jake. I was also a witness on the hunt where the impossible turkey was killed by Caleb! 10" beard, 3/4" spurs and 16 pounds! Caleb's dad killed a jake that morning but had already cleaned it by the time that we got home so no pics of that one! Cant wait to go back!

Memorial day weekend found us fishing for whatever would bite. Saturday we went to Bluff and caught a few bream, but a local farm pond produced the most on Monday morning. Young and I probably caught close to 50 bringing home 32 bass and bream.

For my dad: I wish you could have been there daddy....you were missed and your presence will always be felt. Your memories of friends, family, and days gone by maybe sliding away, but we will meet again beneath the shade on the other shore and all will be made new because the former things will have passed away. I love you!

2010 NWTF Convention

Had the absolute pleasure of being able to participate in the 2010 NWTF Convention in Nashville. This has been a dream for me and I was able to spend 3 1/2 days in turkey heaven. I saw all the big time names in the industry as well as meeting some fantastic kids who came by the 4-H Shooting Sports booth to shoot BB guns. I watched the 2010 Friction Calling championship, the hotel staff all had camo NWTF hats on. As soon as we pulled up to the valet parking they had turkey calls going on over the PA. (Leanne thought that it was me) they even had Turkey Call TV show going 24 hrs a day on the hotel television!

LA Marsh Hunt

MLK weekend found us traveling on a much anticipated trip to see our old friends the Iles family. While the girls went shopping and Amanda taught Leanne how to make hairbows, Clint and I drove to duck camp on the marsh. This was my first time to hunt there and what an introduction. We spent the night there on Friday and hunted Saturday morning in a downpour. The weather did not inhibit the ducks from flying. A total of 9 hunters killed 45 ducks! Oh and I almost forgot to mention that we saw two gators while we were hunting. Theres things in that there marsh that will eat you!!!

Me and My Hunting Buddy

Had the pleasure of hunting with my buddy Joel Ray again this year. He has learned alot since his initial duck hunt last year (see previous posts). Joel tagged a greenwing teal on our first hunt and then killed a beautiful drake shoveler and a very rare redhead! Congrats my friend having the privilege of hunting with you has been the highlight of my year. Keep after it and remember to let me and your dad shoot from time to time :-)

2010 Ice Breaker

I awoke to 16 degrees on January 9. Young and I had a duck hunt at Trimcane and we knew it was going to be tough one. Temps had been this way for a week and we came prepared. Sledgehammer, axe, and rake. We were the only ones to arrive to hunt so we took our hole and found a really nice spot next to the levee with good cover. We cut a large hole in the ice and boy did the ducks love it. We had shooting (notice I did not say killing) all morning long with the last duck being killed around 11am. It even snowed most of the morning making it an awesome experience. We brought out 6 ducks....1 greenhead ,2 greenwing teal, 1 bluewing teal, 1 ringneck and 1 merganser. It was so cold that I had to hover over the heater to make the zipper on my coat work......but man it was heaven!

Good End to a Bad Start

I was hunting shortly before Christmas during the Primative Weapon season and at daylight had three deer running a ridge in front of me.....I wondered to myself...now what in the world has them stirred up? I found out shortly as a coyote appeared. I said to myself "You come on out here big boy and see what you get!" Sure enough he did and he found out! I reloaded and about two hours later I was looking to my right and heard a grunt to my left. I eased around and there this 8 pt stood about 50 yards away and started closing the distance....I had to shoot him right handed, but he dropped in his tracks....man that 45/70 is wicked. Anyway I sat in the stand until 10:00 making sure that a doe did not come out because I love those backstraps. Good PW kill 13 1/2" spread. Forgot my phone at home so had to drive right down Hwy 12 to Leanne's office to get a pic, then decided to take it by MA's school to get her approval, which she did.

The Thanksgiving Buck

This was truely one of those hunts that hopefully will be in my mind for a long time.....Thanksgiving morning found me in my ladderstand overlooking a crossing. 6:35am this buck stepped out and I grunted to stop him and shot him at 100 yards with my new Remington 30.06. A very nice 9 pt with a 14 1/2" spread and weighed approx 180 pounds