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The Good just gets better in MT.- FOXWORTHY TAKES A GIANT

Posted on Dec, 28 2007 in Realtree No Comments »

Success in a hunting camp is not always measured by what the kill tally is at the end of the hunt, but more so on how much fun you may have had with the people there.

However if the deer are moving and the camp is made up of people you sincerely enjoy being around, you are then in for a treat.

This was exactly the case in Northeast Montana October 22-27. Marking the fourth trip made to this whitetail fantasyland the Realtree Team was eager to keep the streak alive of wrapping our Montana tags around trophy buck racks.

Comedian-Jeff Foxworthy, Lohman and Realtree prostaffer-Ricky Joe Bishop, and Advantage camouflage pro-staffer Jay Gregory were on the roster to hunt while John Tate, Steve Finch, and myself would man the Realtree cameras.

** LET THE HUNT BEGIN

It was the opening week of the Montana rifle season. Our four hour trip from Billings MT to Terry and Donna Korman’s house where we to lodge and eat gave evidence that all of the hunters in the area knew of the opener as we passed four will drive pickups with ATV and camping gear on the back the whole way.

Jeff was not with us but was going to be picked up later that afternoon in Glasgow, MT because of an earlier commitment in another state that morning. Unfortunately, we did not expect him to get to the Milk River in time to make the afternoon hunt; however everyone else would.

After arriving at camp and being greeted by Donna and Terry, who I now call my parents in MT., Ricky and Jay along with John and Steve quickly grabbed their gear and headed for the woods.

I went ahead got my camera gear together while awaiting for the arrival of Jeff. The plan was for Jeff and I to go to a vantage point that we call the rock in hopes to get a glimpse of a big nine pointer that had been seen several times in one of the alfalfa fields on the river’s edge.

Jeff finally arrived about three o’clock and quickly we put our plan to action and on the way out I grabbed my camera while Jeff picked-up his trusty 300 win mag just in case we caught a lucky break. Little did we know how crucial a decision this would prove to be.

Slipping up to the vantage point we were blown away by all the deer that had already made it out in to the field feasting on alfalfa. We felt good about staying away from the river bottom field because if we had tried to get to our stands we would have run all of the deer to the next state. So we settled in for a night of glassing in hopes to spot the monster nine pointer. After a few minutes of looking I was sure that the big buck was not yet in the area that I had seen him in a few weeks prior. They were several other bucks that would push the 140 mark but it was apparent that the Emerson buck was not there. (Emerson was the name that Jeff gave this particular deer after I sent him a copy of some footage that we had shot of the buck earlier in Sept. —Jeff said, “Em are some big horns on that deer”.)

Knowing that the farmer had planted a small section of corn in a slough that was directly below us around 150 yards, I decided to take a peek. When I did my heart about leaped out of my chest. The huge nine was standing in the middle of the corn flexing his muscles to another buck. “Get your gun” I quickly whispered to Jeff as I went for my camera that thankfully sat on my tripod ready to go. “Is he close enough to shoot” Jeff stuttered. “Yes” is about the only word my brain could think up. Anticipation and buck fever made it hard for me to talk in full sentences.

Finally, I zoomed in on the brute and started videoing the buck and just about the time Jeff was ready to pull the trigger, the buck went behind some limbs as he headed toward the alfalfa field to the west of us. The backs of our throat remained tight while we watched the buck go into the alfalfa keeping limbs in between us and him making a shot impossible.

For thirty minutes the buck stayed in the field then just like he had entered he made his way back toward the plot of corn only stopping once to work a scrape, which made for some awesome footage. I whispered to Jeff “this is it, we are going to get our chance tonight”. “Tell me when”, Jeff replied “I have got a good steady bead on him”. At a distance of approx. 150 yards Jeff squeezed the trigger and made a perfect shot. The monster only went about 60 yards before going down.

I could not believe what had just happened. We had no intentions of hunting. We were going to use the late evening to get ready for the week the lied ahead, but now thanks to good luck our hunt was over.

When we approached the buck it took awhile for either of us to mumble a word. The buck was unbelievable. He was a main frame eight pointer with a kicker point of his left G-2 tine which gave him nine points. Later we put the tape on Jeff’s deer and he scored 168 B&C points. Just as an eight pointer he grosses 164 B&C if you take away the 4-inch kicker point.

I felt complete satisfaction. This was a buck that we had seen on a couple of different occasions during bow season, but his pattern was so un-predictiable that we never got him close enough to take with archery gear. However this time the bucks personality of being un-predictable had got him in trouble. I had never expected to see him in the plot of corn. This area was over a half mile from where we had been seeing him. It just goes to show that there are deer gods looking over us, and what better person than Foxworthy to take this giant. He grew up hunting in the rolling hardwoods of north Georgia and since his lucky break of becoming one of the country’s most sought after comedians, he had not had to chance to hunt as much as he had before. All of his child hood dreams of taking a monster buck now lay at his feet on this cool Montana evening as we both sat and stared at this freakish looking buck. To make the situation even sweeter, I had captured it all on tape through the lens of the Realtree camera for the whole world to see.

Jeff welcome back to the world of hunting and Congratulations!

Be sure to tune in next week to hear how the rest of the camp did. Bill Jordan also stops by camp for a few days. So tune in and hear the details!

Deer hunt goes hog wild

Posted on Nov, 28 2007 in Classic Hunts 4 No Comments »

Sometimes things simply do not go as planned. This is exactly what happened November 10th thru the 16th.

Chris Kirby, president of Quaker Boy game calls and my self were scheduled to hunt the Red River region of OK. However it did not take many sits in the deer blinds to find that the deer were simply not moving. The number of deer on this ranch was very low and after three days of putting in a valid effort to capture some big bucks on video unsuccessfully we went to plan B.

I called good friend Meredith Cullen, owner of the Cullen Ranch in Quinland, TX. Knowing that the Cullen staff would be busy with their bird and deer hunting operation I asked Meredith would it be possible if we come by and spend of few days spotting and stalking the wild Russian boar hogs that were running around on his ranch. Meredith graciously invited us to come on by and try to roll tape on some these hogs. We hoped that we could get a couple of 300 pounders going down on videotape with archery gear.

Cameraman David Hoffert who had been videoing for the Realtree team going on 2 years seemed to have a little anxiety about being ground level videoing 300 LB Russian boars with razor sharp cutter teeth and a bad attitude. I informed David that every thing would be cool and it was a safe as deer hunting, when in reality I knew little or nothing about Russian Boar other than keep the wind in your face, make and good shot and run like the devil if they charged. So with all that knowledge to boot, David and I would hunt together and Chris and cameraman/Producer Steve Finch would be the second video team.

We figured between the two pairs that at least one of us would score on a good hunt.

Little did we know things were going to go a lot better than planned as we started our 2-day quest for wild pork.

The first morning we were greeted with a light Texas frost, and cool temperatures in the 30’s. I decided to start off in an area where the year before I had seen a lot of hogs while I was deer hunting. This particular part of the ranch also afforded me a large area to glass. If we could see hogs we could then plan a strategic stalk that would hopefully get us within 40 yards and allow a shot with my bow.

It had only been daylight around 45 minutes when we saw our first hog. It was a medium sized boar. He trotted down the edge of a green field toward some thicker timber. After a little bit of thinking I decided to follow the hog and get a better look at him.

As we started our stalk, I could only see bits and pieces of the hog as he entered the hardwood timber. We sped up our approach trying our best not to lose visual on the pig. When we got to the edge of the timber, I heard a loud squeal to our right around a 150 yards. It did not take long to confirm that the noise was coming from a herd of wild hogs. They were all heading in our direction. Quickly we checked the wind and got in better position for a shot. David started rolling tape on what appeared to be 5 different hogs coming toward us. Two of them were boars and it definitely did not like the presence of each other being there due to the sows that we in the herd. One of the sows had to have been in heat because both boar hogs were dogging her just like a rutting buck will doe a doe in estrus. Now at only 50 yards I started putting pressure on my bowstring. That’s when everything went crazy. The two boars had had enough of each other. The fight of the century broke out just in front of us. There were grunts, squeals, snarls and white frothy foam flying from the two heavyweights as they fought for the right to breed. I tried to maneuver in position for a shot, but I was caught out in the open and could not close the distance. The group of wild pigs slowly worked their way into the timber, and gave me the chance to start a deliberate stalk.

After 3 hours of keeping a visual on the two boars everything started to come together. We had been kneeling on an old cattle trail in thick cover with hogs all around us when we noticed the larger of the two boars coming toward us. He was on the same trial that we were on. My heart was pounding out of my chest. The huge boar was at 30 yards walking directly to us. I took a quick glance behind me to make sure my cameraman had not went AWOL. He was hanging tight with the lens pointed at the black beast approaching us. I drew my bow as he went behind a tree. At a distance of 5 yards the boar stopped and looked at us kneeling in the trail. I was not sure if I wanted the boar to turn broadside or just run off. I certainly hoped we did not make him mad that we were in his trail.

Then the monster backed up a step and exposed his vitals to the camera and me. I took the opportunity and sent my shaft tipped with the 100 grain Rocky Mountain premier broadhead in his lungs. The big boar went about 50 yards after the hit and looked back, then went down for good.

I was pumped! What a hunt!

The hog later weighed in at 305 pounds.

Later that same after noon Chris and Steve went to another section of the ranch, and got all over pigs. It took them around 2 hours to stalk up on a large boar feeding in grassy area. Just before Chris released his arrow he noticed a larger boar coming into the same slough with him. Quickly Chris and Steve turned in time to get the big Russian on tape. Chris drew a bead on the boar and sent a perfect shot on the quartering away target.

Chris’s hog weighed even more. A whooping 320 lbs.!

There is no doubt this in one deer hunt that went HOG WILD!

These spot and stalk hunts can been seen on the newest Realtree video available this summer. CLASSIC HUNTS 4.

Team Realtree scores at the Cullen Ranch

Posted on Oct, 01 2007 in Realtree No Comments »

When the Realtree crew and cameras showed up at the Cullen Ranch in Quinland Texas they were swept away by the scenery of the landscape and the unbelievable hunting lodge that laid before them. Unlike the southern part of the state this section of Texas had plenty of hardwoods and fields that resembles what one might find in the mid-west.

The Cullen ranch has been known for years for its fantastic bird hunting and relaxing camp atmosphere. People from all across the country visit the ranch to either enjoy top-notch hunting or some just come simply to unwind from the strain of every day life. On the Cullen’s visitor list you can find everyone from Hollywood movie stars to everyday people. In recent years not only has the bird hunting become better and better but so has the whitetail herd, and with this the Realtree team looked forward to the opportunity to search out the prime real estate for Monster Bucks.

Michael Waddell and Jay Gregory were scheduled to be the hunters while veteran Realtree cameramen John Tate and Chad Sanders would be looking through the viewfinders. Jay serves as a member of the Advantage pro-staff and also is the host of The Wild Outdoors seen on the Outdoor Channel. Jay has a reputation of putting some bruiser whitetails on the ground with archery gear and on this trip Jay planned to stick with the bow and arrow. Michael on the other hand brought along his trusty Knight in line muzzleloader to do the job.

On the first day of hunting the two hunters found themselves comfortable set up in tripod stands in good funnel areas. Michael’s stand was set in between to thick broom sage fields (similar to CRP fields found in the mid-west) while in the middle was a finger of hardwoods littered with rubs and scrapes. Jay’s stand was on the edge of a large oat field looking down on a hardwood flat also riddled with similar buck sign. With the rut just getting ready to kick in Michael and Jay hoped to get a shot at a mature buck out looking for does.

After a sit of about three hours Michael had seen no deer and with a hard North wind blowing in his face the conditions were miserable, but soon movement caught Michael’s attention. Looking through the Simmons bino’s Michael could see what he had been looking for all morning, a large set of antlers coming down the woodline on the edge of the sage field. As the buck closed the distance his rack became more apparent. He had long tines with main beam came way out and turn down toward the ground, and to put icing on the cake Michael could see a couple of kicker points off the main beams. Michael’s breathing and heart rate intensified as the buck alertly made a V-line to his stand position. Bringing the Knight Muzzleloader up cautiously, Michael settled his sights behind the bucks front shoulder and slowly began to squeeze the trigger. The big whitetail was now standing only 30 yards away, and suddenly the explosion of Michael’s smoke pole broke the silence. The hit was good and the big buck only went only 30 yards before piling up on camera. Michael’s trophy later scored out at 158 B&C points with only a 13 inch inside spread.

Jay saw several good bucks that day and throughout the entire week. Two huge 8pt bucks had closed in to within bow range on two different occasions to inspect Jay’s rattling sequence, but when Jay’s shot was presented it was not good for the camera. (Sometimes hunting with the camera can be frustrating). On a bright note for Jay however he did shoot an awesome boar hog that weighed in the 250lb range while cameraman Chad Sanders caught the spot and stalk on tape.

Back in camp the Realtree crew had a chance to relax and trade hunting stories in the outdoor hot tub that was located on the side of the lodge. I guess you can say the only negative to the whole trip is that everyone gained about 10 pounds from all the good eating. The Cullen Ranch with is fine hunting, awesome accommodations and staff showed Team Realtree what Texas hospitality was all about. Thanks to the Cullen Ranch for an awesome experience.

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