Monday, September 24, 2007

Gettin it done in Minnesota-Fair Chase Outfitters


Well here's the latest! We just got back from Green Bay where we did a promotion at Lam beau Field and of course yes, we missed opening day of Minnesota/Wisconsin Bow but let me tell ya, when we got home let's just say we made up for lost time! We were hunting with good friends John & Kate Redmond of Fair Chase Outfitters and it is some of the best hunting ground in the state! Pat has been hunting here for 3 years now and has seen some GIANTS! This was my 1st time hunting with them and I was amazed at the amount of deer, not just deer-but some huge BUCKS! Team member Chad Nolte has been helping John out and he picked out our stand site for us! Now Chad knows what he's doing! We were hunting a lush Antler King food plot with a water hole in the middle of it on top of a secluded ridge! This food plot was like nothing I'd ever seen before, let me tell ya, they know how to grow some food plots! When we got in there, Pat climbed up & as soon as he got up in the tree he looked down and gave me 2 thumbs up and said "You're putting one on the ground tonight!" We had perfect wind, the temps had dropped so we knew it was going to be a great night! We got set up and about 15 minutes later 3 does & 3 fawns came out and started feeding. They milled around for about 10 minutes and then fed up to the water hole which was about 20 yards in front of us. Pat was busy filming them when I looked over to my right and saw just a rack coming up over the ridge into the food plot! HOLY COW he wasn't just a buck with some horns, he was a BUCK WITH SOME HORNS!! He fed his way into the food plot and I got positioned to when he stepped into shooting range I would be ready! It was almost like he was on a string, he was coming right into the water hole! He fed all the way up to where the does and fawns were offering me a 25 yard shot! I waited for Pat to give the sign and I let my Muzzy fly, a heart shot!! Just what the Doctor ordered! He ran only 75 yards and went down!! My first Minnesota buck and my largest buck to date at that!! Another awesome buck down for the Driven team but better yet having my boyfriend Pat there to share it with me! What a great team, we definitely got it done! Thanks to team member Chad Nolte for setting the awesome spot and good friends John & Kate Redmond of Fair Chase Outfitters for the awesome hunt!!

Full Velvet Dandies in North Dakota

My Mathew's teamed up with the ol' MX-3 Muzzy's put the
smack down on this awesome 8-pointer!

Patrick's was a little smaller :o)
Team member Chad Nolte's awesome North Dakota Buck!
Hey everyone! Well the first hunt of the season was definitely a slam dunk!! Pat and I both came home with full velvet bucks riding in the Chevy! Season opened out there on August 31 and it was game time! The first night on stand we had 6 different shooters 70 to 80 yards in front of us feeding out in the middle of the Navy Bean field we were hunting on! Close that night, but no cigar! The next morning we went in & put a set up on the other side of the field just waiting for a North wind evening! We waited until the 3rd night of hunting and you betcha we got a North wind and we were on em'! Pat was up in the tree getting the camera equipment set up and I glassed over in the famous corner that all of the Mac Daddies were coming out of and sure enough there stood a nice 9 pointer coming out to feed at 3:00!! Pat hurried and got the rest of the stuff set up and eventually the buck fed back into the woods to bed down so up I climbed up trying to be as quiet as possible knowing the potential of this stand! We got set up and about 10 minutes later we had a few does and fawns and one small buck feeding out in the field and what happens next, well all I can say is HOLY COW! I looked in the corner and all I saw was a full velvet rack sky lined coming out into the field to feed! This wasn't even one of the bucks we had seen the previous nights! We had the wind right in our face and I knew that if he followed the same path of the bucks the night before I was going to have my first buck in Full Velvet! Sure enough, he fed down our side of the field offering me a 23 yard shot. After the shot, we looked at the footage and decided to wait until the following morning to recover him because I knew my shot was a little far back so to be safe we slipped out quietly and came in the next morning. We only had to blood trail him 100 yards and I got my hands wrapped around MR. MAC DADDY himself, a beautiful full velvet 8-pointer with stickers off his bases on both sides! What an awesome and memorable hunt and to have my favorite camera man in the tree filming me made it so much better! But that was only the beginning, because 3 nights later Pat was now hunting and yours truly was behind the camera for the first time filming! Sure enough, North wind so we decided to of course go back to the killing tree and what do you know, another beautiful 8-pointer in Full Velvet followed the same path my buck did and Pat put the smack down on him!! Thanks to Matt at HuntingLandSearch.Com for this awesome piece of property to hunt on! Two Velvet bucks out of the same tree! We were tagged out in North Dakota, the Chevy locked down with two velvets riding in the back to Minnesota!