Will takes his first video BUCK!!!

I am an awfully proud dad tonight. My twins had their 8th birthday yesterday. Last Sunday, I took Drew out on KY's youth deer season, and we got blanked. We didn't see a deer. We went to the same spot, and it was much cooler. This is property that Steve Hartley, owner of Steve Hartley's Guide Service (502-803-5899) has been letting us hunt for years, and there are lots of deer. After an hour in the Double Bull blind, our cameraman Mike Hockensmith nudged me and said, "buck...". Will and I looked up the hill and could see a nice little buck standing in the tall weeds about 50-60 yards out. He was really nervous, and stood around checking the area out for 5 minutes. When he looked away or took a step, Will and I slowly got him into position.

He calmed down some, and though we were having a little problem with the sun glaring in the scope and camera, but we got through it, and Will let the TC roll. With the smoke, I didn't know if he hit him as the deer dashed back in the woods. We got out to look as we had an hour or so of light left, and after about 20 yards, we found blood, and Will was able to track him. We found him about 100 yards down the hill all piled up. He hit him in the shoulder quartering to, and it exited out the far hip. I have no idea how the deer went anywhere. We were a happy group. These are the most special hunts I ever go on. Taking the kids out is what hunting is all about, and they are the memories that we will all remember for the rest of our lives. Congrats to Will and thanks to Mike for filming it for us...TH

TH Accepts Post at Bad Boy Buggies

This past week I accepted the Director of Marketing poistion with Bad Boy Buggies in Natchez, MS. I am really excited to go to work with this great organization that makes an incredible product. I spent 4 days this week in MS, and the folks at Bad Boy are super. There are big things on the horizon for BBB, and I feel very fortunate to be a member of the team...

Last minute on the Jicarilla

My annual elk hunt on the Jicarilla Apache Res in NM was tough but great this year. I hunted with my trusty TC muzzleloader and had bulls in range pretty much every day. I was definitely being picky. I saw plenty of 6x6 bulls, but no real mature ones, or ones that were "right".

Everyone in my group was knocking down good bulls, but we kept hunting hard. The first couple of days, the bulls responded well to calling, especially raking a shed on trees. My guide and old friend Larson Panzy called numerous bulls into bow range, and the 2nd day, we had a 6x6 come in to 4 yards. It was great. The 3rd afternoon, I passed up a beautiful 280ish 6x6 out in a sage flat at about 50 yards.

We had more great encounters, and the last day, we got in on 2 6x6's in a knock down, drag out fight. They were in intense battle, and it was a real spectacle. I figured we just weren't going to get one this year because the last afternoon, the temps were 80 and the wind was absolutely brutal.

We decided to sit water, and an hour or so before dark, we heard a distant bugle. After 30 minutes, elk began to emerge from up the draw, and eventually 25 or more cows, calves and spikes were moving toward our waterhole with the bull bugling out of sight. He finally came out herding cows, and I could see he had a huge body. Then I saw he was only a 5x5, but he was very mature, heavy and wide. He was definitely the boss of the area and kept all in line. He worked in and got down in the pond and drank and bugled only 40 yards from me. He was blocked for the camera then, so I waited for him to get out, and the TC hammered him at about 50 yards. Again, he was a 5x5, but he was a great bull in my opinion. Most of the 6x's I saw were smaller than him...last 15 minutes of the hunt, we pulled it out. That is 6 bulls in 6 years on the Jicarilla...Sorry about the photos. Like I said, he was last minute and my camera was in the truck, we had to get him out, and these are the only shots I got. We drove all night just to catch our flights the next day...TH