I just dropped off cameraman Lance Tangen in southern Minnesota, and I’m about to hook up with another of our cameramen, Mike Clerkin, at the airport in Minneapolis. Then we’ll be heading to the state’s southeastern corner, where we’ll be hunting the gun opener this weekend.
Oct. 24-28 Lance and I had a great bowhunt with outfitter Mike Fishbeck at Pecan Creek Ranch (www.powellhunting.com), near Christoval, Texas. I’m not going to reveal exactly how this hunt turned out, but I will say with confidence that we got plenty of great footage for an exciting 2007 TV program. Although the rut hadn’t yet kicked off there in Tom Green County, we saw nice bucks in bow range every day.
Lance and I used several techniques on this hunt, but mostly we waited in ambush near feeding areas. I can vouch for the pop-up ground blinds from Sportsman’s Guide (www.sportsmansguide.com), as both my cameraman and I were able to hide inside one with deer at close range. The key is putting brush (in our case, freshly cut juniper) around the blind, to help it blend even better into its surroundings.
I just spoke with Stan Potts, who’s had an interesting time of its since our last blog entry a couple of weeks back. Stan and cameraman Tim Potts (his son) bowhunted private land in western Kentucky, where they enjoyed awesome decoying action in mid-October. Then Greg Miller and his cameraman, Brach Pulver, bowhunted the same area. At last check they were still in the woods in Kentucky, but we should have a detailed report from them soon.
After their Kentucky hunt, Stan and Tim headed east to Ohio, for a bowhunt with Joel Snow (www.fivestartrophyoutfitters.com). Stan says he saw an absolute giant a few days ago, and Tim shot great video footage of the buck working a scrape. I got the distinct impression that Stan will be returning to Ohio later in the season, hopefully for a closer-range encounter with that deer.
This weekend, Stan and Tim kick off their bowhunt with Chad John (www.sugarcreekoutfitters.com) in western Illinois. According to Chad, the big bucks are really starting to move in Illinois, a claim backed up by some of the reports our Web site has been receiving in the past few days. (Check out our Rut Reports for up-to-date details on buck activity around North America.) Greg and Brach will also be heading to Illinois next.
Elsewhere in the Midwest, Don and Kandi Kisky are also having great luck bowhunting near their home in southern Iowa. In fact, Kandi already has arrowed a couple of great bucks, and their son, Kaleb, has shot a beautiful deer of his own. Driving north through that region yesterday afternoon, Lance and I saw quite a few whitetails (including some fair bucks) feeding in fields along the highway, so this spell of cold weather has them pretty active during the last days of the pre-rut.
What about the remaining member of the NAW TV team, Dr. James Kroll? He’s wrapping up some projects so he and cameraman Scott Landherr can head to northern Saskatchewan in mid-November. Meanwhile, NAW editor Duncan Dobie is traveling to the South Texas Brush Country for a gun hunt this weekend. In short, the 2006 season is really starting to rock, and we’re out there in the middle of it. We hope you are as well!
P.S. Be sure to check out our brand new North American Whitetail Online Video section, which can be found at www.northamericanwhitetail.com/video.
North American Whitetall North American Whitetail is designed for the serious trophy hunter. It provides authoritative coverage of world-class whitetails, the latest approaches to deer management and advanced hunting techniques.
