Alberta Bear Bow Hunt

This is going to be sort of long, but here goes...
I was back in northern Alberta hunting with my friends at W&L Guide Service last week. I took 2 great bears last year and couldn't wait to go back

Night #1 - saw 1 bear - many times and though it was a good one, I was watching for one of the absolute monsters they have up there. I took some photos of him and enjoyed the show.

Night #2 - I went to the same stand, and saw the same bear. I estimated him at 6 1/2 feet, so we decided he would be a good back up bear toward the end of the week.

Night #3 - Hunted a new stand and saw 2 small bears and one dandy. The big bear was very wary and made a big loop around the stand using the wind. At 75 yards, he got my wind and was gone. Camp really scored that night. Glenn Gilbert from American Hunter killed 2 - 6 footers, Linda Powell from Remington got a monster 7'8" boar, Mark Nelson from Cabela's killed a 6'3" and John Snow from Outdoor Life killed a 5'9" bear. 5 bears in one night. I was the only one of the group not to score.

Night #4 - I saw the same big bear. He did the same thing and got my wind at 60 yards. Busted again!

Night #5 - I went to a new stand and told John Snow he should go with a gun and try to kill the big bear that kept busting me (the bear didn't show). At about 7:30 - I looked left and spotted a bear coming in about 80 yards out. He cautiously came in, but he did come in. He began to feed, and I let him get settled in. Once relaxed, I waited on the broadside shot, and I nailed him. I shot him with my BowTech 82nd Airborne with a Carbon Express Maxima Hunter and Rage 100 gr 2 blade head. It took both lungs, and he went about 80 yards before piling up. He ended up being a nice 6'8" boar.
Night #6 - Last night, so I decided to go back to my backup bear. My cameraman was in the tree and I was tying my bow to my pull rope, when the cameraguy told me to look. The bear was standing 20 feet away! I scurried up the tree and got settled. He never left, and went and grabbed a piece of meat and took it in a thicket about 30 yards behind the stand. I could hear bones crunching, and I knew he would be back.
A few minutes later, he came back and went to feed on oats in our barrel. There were 3 big trees blocking the camera view, but I could see him. I told the cameraguy that I would move and let him have my spot so he could see the bear, so I climbed out of the stand. He got in my spot and started rolling as I reached the ground. I walked about 5 steps toward the bear (who was facing away) and to the left. I took a deep breath, and the bear heard me and jumped to the side and then turned to face me. He stood up, and I thought what a stupid move I had made. I just stood still, and he dropped back down. When he turned broadside at 16 steps, I drew, and punched one right behind his shoulder. He took off straight away and died in a sprint. The Rage tore a huge hole in him.

He ended up being another boar that was exactly 6'8" like the first. It was pretty exciting shooting him from the ground so close. I don't think I was in any real danger, but it sure got the old heart beating!!

That night Linda shot a beautiful cinnamon bear, and Mark shot a really aggressive 5'8" sow that charged him. She was short, but really bulky.

So ended another great hunt. I am already booked in for early May 2009. I can't wait.

Turkey Season ReCAP

Turkey season is all but over for me. I am hunting tomorrow morning with my dad, and that is it. I didn't hunt nearly as much as usual. Killed the 2 good birds in FL, then went to TX and only got 1 longbeard. It was really tough hunting with little gobbling and a million jakes. It will be great down there next year. I talked to 20+ people who hunted TX, and everyone had a rough hunt. That bird down there is the first gobbler I have ever killed that I didn't get a photo of. I shot him at 7PM and didn't have my camera with me. It was dark when we got back to camp and we went on and cleaned him.

On the KY opener, I went with my buddy Lee Britt about 30 minutes from home. We had a great hunt from the roost, and an hour and 15 minutes after fly down, this nice 2 year-old came all the way into the dekes. I smoked him with the TC.

We got great footage for Outdoor America, and it was a super way to start the KY season. Thanks to Lee for taking me!

A couple days later, I drove to West KY to hunt at TC's Game Trails. Buddies, Neil Sanders, Gregg Ritz, and Alex Rutledge were in camp, and it was a blast. Jason Kidd a friend from KY was guiding there, and he had located some birds for me. We set up the next morning, and 4 toms and a gaggle of hens flew into the field. It took an hour and a half, but two of the longbeards finally came 250 yards across the field and committed. They beat Bmobile to death. One bred my new DSD decoy, went back and kicked Bmobile again, and then went back and bred the DSD again. We had incredible footage, and I shot him right off the deke's back the second time around. Again, he was a nice 2 year-old.

Everyone had a great hunt at Game Trails as you can see from this group photo. The best bird had 5 beards!

The most special hunt of my career was next. On April 26, it was supposed to storm and be nasty. I hadn't been able to take either of my boys all season, and Drew and I decided to go for a couple of hours. My buddy Steve Hartley had a food plot where they had been seeing 4 jakes regularly, and after 2 unsuccesful seasons trying to get the boys a bird, we would have been very happy with a jake.

We got in the blind before daylight and it hadn't rained yet. We expected no gobbling and hoped to get the jakes into the field in the rain. Drew had a baseball game in the afternoon, so we couldn't hunt long.

Long story short - 3 birds gobbled near us at dawn. The 2 close ones worked away, and the farthest one moved in. Soon he gobbled 100 yards out, then after a little light calling, he was at 60 but over a rise. Then I saw his head, and he strutted off and on into range. I told Drew I would call and get his head up and to shoot when it was up. I called, he shot, and Drew had his first gobbler!!!

It was a 20 pound 2 year-old, and neither of us could have been more excited. He made a great shot, and an hour after fly down with lots of gobbling and strutting, our 3 season quest was over. We said a prayer of thanks to the Good Lord, and took the bird home to surprise mom and WIll. I will never forget those hours that morning. They were some of the most precious of my life.

Hopefully we can get dad on a bird tomorrow. I am off to AB for black bears with a bow on Thursday (May 1). SO I will post again around the 10th.

TH

Back from Boar Osceola hunt in FL...

I have been Osceola hunting in FL for 18 years, and I would say without a doubt this was my best trip ever. We started off filming hogs at Chase Ruck's dairy near Okeechobee. I ended up with a nice 160 pound sow and a huge bodied boar that was estimated at 350 pounds at a minimum. The photo doesn't come close to doing the body justice. He had some tusks, but they just don't seem to get big teeth at this dairy.

Then it was off to the ranch I hunt near Haines City. I scouted that afternoon and the next morning, and there were so many gobblers, I couldn't believe it. Last year the hunting was tough. On Friday at noon, I went and set my blind where I thought some gobblers would come out to strut the next morning.

The photo shows the setup in daylight, though I obviously didn't put out the dekes until the next day. Opening day of turkey season had a bunch of birds gobbling in the woods about 150 yards off. Soon after fly down, a big tom came into my field, and slowly worked in to the dekes. He gobbled well to my call and it took him about 15 minutes to strut 80 yards. He came in and smacked B-mobile a bit, and I sliced him with a Rage broadhead at 5 steps as he was pecking B-mobile. After that, another gobbler came in and worked up to the dekes before we could get out of the blind. When he left, we sneaked out, and got my bird and the dekes and left. I planned to come back the next morning.

My bow bird only had about an 8" beard, but he had 1.5" razor spurs. That afternoon, I put writer David Hart in a place I had been seeing some birds and he missed one gobbler, and ended up killing a different bird that came in to 15 yards.

2nd morning had less gobbling as it rained all night, but soon after flydown, a big tom came out in the field. He acted like he was coming in, but then took off running to my right. I soon saw why. 2 more longbeards and a hen had stepped out of the woods, and he didn't want to fight 2 birds. I made a loud yelp, and the 2 longbeards looked my way, saw B-mobile and forgot their hen. They came right in and aggressive purred, etc. One bird was at 3 steps and my cameraman moved and was spotted. The birds trotted out and were leaving, so I picked up the TC and dropped the back bird at 15 steps. He had a 10" beard and 1.25" spurs. Again, I got pinned in the blind, and over the next 2.5 hours, I had a ridiculous amount of gobblers come in to my setup - all within 10 yards.

I had put writer Bob Humphrey at the far corner of my pasture about a mile away - and at 10:30 after working him for 1 solid hour, Bob killed a nice mature bird. So when we got back at lunch, the only guy left without a bird was Eddie Stevenson from Remington Ammunition. I told Eddie to grab a bite to eat and I would take him to my blind. I kidded him that he would be back with a bird by 2PM. He was in my blind about 10 minutes when 3 gobblers (who came in on me that morning) showed and marched right into his dekes. One strutted and whipped up on B-Mobile, and Eddie gave him a dirt nap at 20 steps. It was 1:15 and he was back to camp before 2PM! SO we got all 5 of our birds by lunch on the second day. The birds gobbled and worked well. It was a rare treat to have everyone on good birds that acted like turkeys should. It was a great hunt for Osceolas. If you want to go - drop me an e-mail. The guy that manages the ranch I was hunting is about to get 2 more big leases, and he will have lots of birds. I love this hunt because it is do it yourself with no guides, etc. A nice house, good property and that's it.

Here are the 3 birds that Bob, Eddie and I killed the 2nd day...

We got super footage for Trijicon's Outdoor America, and it should be the best turkey show I have ever been a part of...

Lost my hair at ATA for a good cause...

I know it is a little scary, but here is a photo of Andy and Angie Ross shaving my head at the 2008 ATA show in Indy. Steve Gruber, Tom Nelson, Jon LaCorte, Ann Clark, JY Jones and I all got shaved to raise money for the ASL Cancer Research fund. It was a great success and thelast I heard, we had raised $112,000. Dr Leonard's Fund is very important and I was honored to be able to help in some small way.

Anyone interested in donations - please seee www.aslcancerfund.com . Hopefully for my Wife's sake - it will grow back!

Home for about 10 days then off to the SCI show in Reno...TH

Back from Sonora desert mule deer hunt...

Just got back last night from hunting mule deer with my good buddy Hunter Ross of Desert Safaris (http://www.desertsafaris.com/) down in the Sonora Desert. It was a nightmare trip from a traveling/filming standpoint.

First, on the way down, my cameraman filming for T/C Game Trails (Chris Douglas) was delayed and had to stay in LA overnight. He got in late the next evening. So that was a day of the hunt cut out. The worst part was that we went out looking for deer that afternoon before Chris got to camp, and we found a deer in the 200" range. He was bedded and sound asleep at 75 yards - for 10 minutes. Hunter finally walked up to 35 yards before the deer woke and took off. Man it was awful - seeing that big guy in easy range and just having to watch him with a tag in my pocket.

Well Chris got to camp - and the airlines had lost his luggage! We had 1 tape and 1 battery. The luggage arrived the next night. For 3 days, we played cat and mouse with a really big buck that was 32-34" wide as he would leave an alfalfa field in the mornings. We never could get set up right to get him on film in shooting distance. The last morning of the trip, we could have stalked him and gotten within range pretty easily, but there was no way to do it with the camera.

Chris got really sick about an hour into the hunt on the last day, and we had to take him back to the ranch house. He was in bad shape...

So Hunter deceided to try to film for me, but we never got an opportunity at a big buck that morning. That afternon (our last) Chris was still in bad shape. Hunter and I went out to hunt, and left the camera behind. It was the last few hours, and we hoped to get a good buck to salvage the hunt, and hopefully I could get some magazine stories from the trip.

To make a long story short, we found a good buck trailing a doe. As we assessed him, they kept moving in and out of the brush- getting further away. We debated back and forth on whether or not to shoot him, and finally decided I better try to take him. I know Hunter was hoping I would get a 190-200" buck, but things just kept going wrong.

I shot the buck at some where between 200-250 yards as he walked through a small opening headed into some heavy brush. As usual, the .30 T/C Icon did a great job, and I had my Sonora mulie.

He was heavier than I thought and very tall. He was aged at 7.5-8.5 years old, and we figure he was on his way down. The buck (though he has weak forks on one side) still is right at 180 due to mass. He is a cool old buck with some brow stickers and a small cheater off his G-2. I was sure proud to get him.

This was one of those dream trips for me, and though it didn't turn out nearly as good as it could have, it was great to get to spend a week with Hunter and bring home a neat old buck. I felt bad for Hunter because I could have killed 2 much better bucks off camera, but we were really trying to get a show, and that os a hazard of this business. Hunter's operation in Mexico is 1st Class and is the place to go if you want a HUGE mulie.

That is my last hunt until March except for an occasional duck or coyote hunt here around home. I have ATA, SCI and SHOT shows coming up, so there will be more travel soon. Hope everyone had a happy New Year while I was gone...TH

Merry Christmas - a little early

I want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas, just a little early. The family and I are headed to my parents' house tomorrow for a couple of days to celebrate, and then we will be home for Christmas Eve and Christmas. The holidays are a blast with 7 year-old twins!

After Christmas it will be time to check the ol' T/C Icon and make sure it's still driving tacks, get packed and prepared for my desert mule deer hunt in Sonora, Mexico beginning on Dec. 29th.

So...Ho-Ho-Ho...and Merry Christmas to all!!!

TH

Checking in...

Hey All,

We are just setting up this blog and getting going, so I thought I would check in. This is a slow time for me right now. Just catching up on office work after a long hunting and filming season. We got some great footage for Outdoor America this year.

For those of you who don't know, my buddy Scott Haugen and I are stepping in to fill the primary host positions for Outdoor America after 14 years on the air. Steve Gruber has always hosted the show, and he is stepping back to do other things. Steve will still do 3-4 shows a year, and he really wants to concentrate on BIG whitetails. So Scott and I will be sharing most of the host duties.

The first show of the year will be an introduction to our new format with Scott and me as hosts - and the fact that we are switching to all big game and no fishing! You know that is how I prefer things to go. We are upgrading the show. As of now, we have a new open for the first few shows, and we have a graphics specialist working on a permanent open that will show up a few weeks later that is supposed to rock...

Our new airtimes are Mondays at 8AM - Thursdays at 11AM and Sundays at 1:30PM (all eastern times). I am pumped about the Sunday afternoon spot. It is a big improvement. The new shows begin the week of Dec 31-Jan 6. Tune in and let me know what you think. As always...you can contact me at tim@grandslamhunts.com .

TH