Grow the Hunt

Game Spy Photo Gallery Featured Hunter - Randy Dudley

Our next photo to be highlighted comes from Randy Dudley in Centerville, TX. This really neat action shot was taken in October, 2010, with his Moultrie Game Spy Camera.

Randy says, "My camera took this picture a split second after I touched off my release on a nice buck deer this past weekend. My Moultrie feeder had just gone off a few minutes before he came walking in. Perfect shot with my Elite GT500 and a short tracking job later I found my buck. Thanks, Moultrie, for great products!"

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Keep sending in your photos and checking this blog, because you may be our next featured hunter! Please include your full name, location, which Moultrie camera you're using and a short story with your photo if you want it shared on our Grow the Hunt blog. The more information and better the photo, the better your chance to be featured.

We're getting a lot of great submissions, so keep them coming!

Moultrie I-45 & I-65 Game Cameras Refurbs - Buy 1, Get 1 FREE!

Your response for this offer has been so overwhelming, we're extending it for everyone to get ready for deer season! For a limited time, when you buy a Game Spy I-45 Refurb or I-65 Refurb, get a second camera of the same model FREE! Simply select the camera of your choice and add a second to your cart (camera model must be the same). Your savings will be reflected at checkout. Purchase as many cameras as you need to outfit your property... for instance, buy five cameras at full price and get five FREE!

Offer applies to Game Spy I-45 Refurb and Game Spy I-65 Refurb models only. All refurbished units are factory reconditioned, guaranteed to be in working order and carry a full one-year warranty. While supplies last. Hurry, offer ends soon!

Blue River Whitetails

- By Brandon Wikman

A certain sign of hunting season’s arrival is when the soft velvet turns ripe and begins to peel off antlers like dry flaky skin. It was early, the weather was warm, and the deer still sported a thin coat in Kansas last week; let the hunt begin!

I’ve always looked forward and dreamed of sitting in a Kansas tree overlooking a mass field of greens. As a media savvy population, we know the caliber of deer that are taken from Kansas’s ground, which makes the concoction so much more riveting. TV shows, writers, and industry leaders flock together like geese to find their landing strip in the beautiful rolling hills of Kansas. Though the state is very diversified in land and terrain, bucks are of plenty. Trophy scoring giants attract antler aficionados all season long. It isn’t a surprise to see so many hardcore hunters travel to the Sunflower State in pursuit of tall-tined critters.

My hunt began with an in-depth research review of my selected guide and outfitter. I’ve been blessed to hunt some absolute dynamite spots with magnificent people, but in the same token, have made fatal mistakes of driving into the wrong camps. My Kansas go-to-guy was David Schotte, owner of Blue River Whitetails. Schotte runs a superb family oriented operation and has been doing a successful job putting his clients on both species year-after-year. He’s also featured on Drury Outdoors, Bass Pro Shops Next Generation, Hardcore Hunting, and Hunting With Keith and Tony! It didn’t take long for me to realize just exactly why these well-known television shows kept returning to Hanover, Kansas!
The first day I arrived at Schotte’s house for a meet n’ greet and more! After striking back on old times and past memories, Schotte was quick to upload some recent Moultrie trail cam pictures. Using the aid of trail cameras significantly reduces hunter error by ten-fold! This is exactly how Blue River Whitetails is able to provide their big buck hunting clients an unheard-of 70% success rate with a 150” average!

As we both clicked through picture-after-picture of recent deer activity, I could only gawk at some of the heart-wrenching whoppers that called this place home. It became even more exciting when we stumbled upon a spot that had an abundance of morning activity. It didn’t take us too long to hone in on the pictures and reserve a spot for the next morning.

Daylight brought the sounds of darkness alive and colors of Mother Nature pure. Muzzleloader in hand, I scanned the valley in search for antler, but instead stumbled upon the trail camera that was strapped to a tree a hundred yards below me. This was where many of the deer were crossing.

Only minutes of daylight passed until deer began funneling back to their bedding area. I motioned to a slight noise of movement to my field producer as he turned on the camera. I buried my face into the scope and waited to see brown. On cue, a doe walked out into the opening. She posed for the trail camera for a brief moment before tossing her head back. Another doe followed. As both doe crossed my shooting window I spotted antler in my scope. Massive brown tines balled-up into my scope and nearly struck me in the face as the doe left my field of view. My heart sunk into the bottom of my stomach as my thumb cranked back the hammer.

Crack! In seconds, smoke piled in front of me like London fog and blocked my vision. The shot instinctively felt good, but I needed to see blood. I walked down the hill, smiled in front of the trail camera and found what I was looking for; fresh blood.

The time and efforts Schotte put toward planting food plots, installing waterholes, building brush blinds, and strategically placing cameras all boiled down to that very moment; holding my biggest buck to date. I want to sincerely thank David Schotte of Blue River Whitetails and bless his family for providing an incredible atmosphere each year we go.

United States, Kansas

Game Spy Photo Gallery Featured Hunter - Kris Gonzalez

Our next photo to be highlighted comes from Kris Gonzalez in West Point, MS. His photo of three great-looking bucks – and one in particular - was taken on September 6, 2010, with his Moultrie Game Spy Camera.

Kris says, "This was a buck that I let go last year, hoping that it would get bigger... and he did!"

We say, "Now that's what Total Game Management is all about! Nice work, Kris, and good luck!"

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Keep sending in your photos and checking this blog, because you may be our next featured hunter! Please include your full name, location, which Moultrie camera you're using and a short story with your photo if you want it shared on our Grow the Hunt blog. The more information and better the photo, the better your chance to be featured.

We're getting a lot of great submissions, so keep them coming!

Scouting Elk in Kentucky

- By Rich Miller

Sunday afternoon, I was in my garage packing up when my buddy, Wack, called me and let me know he was in Kentucky doing a little scouting before their elk season opened. Wack has been guiding there since Kentucky had their first elk season. For the past several years he has been trying to get me to come up there and see all the elk he has been telling me about for years. The reason I was packing was I had a few days off and was planning on doing a little deer hunting. After getting the call from Wack and checking the weather forecast, I decided it was as good a time as any to go to Kentucky. 

After dropping my little boy off at school, I hit the road and five and a half hours later I was sitting in Hazard, Kentucky. After grabbing a bite to eat, we headed up the hill to try to find a few elk for his upcoming hunts. Now, this place he hunts is a working coalmine. I am not sure how many acres the place is, but it’s a ton, I can assure you of that. A lot of the place has already been mined and the other half is active now. What really impressed me was the area that had been mined and reclaimed. They had taken a mountain that was not really good for anything and turned it into an accessible area that was elk heaven now. Not only the elk, but deer and turkey were around every corner, also. We hadn’t been in the mine ten minutes when we spotted our first elk. What I thought was a decent bull, Wack didn’t want to slow down much to look at because he knew where some bigger guys had been hanging out. After about an hour of looking and seeing a bunch of elk, the skies opened up and pushed all the elk back in the timber. The next morning it was a little foggy but we did manage to find a couple of big bulls with their harem of cows. The bugling I heard that morning was unbelievable. I took as much video as I had time for while watching the show that was being put on before me. It was a lot different than what I experienced a couple of weeks ago in Colorado. The next two days were the same way – foggy early – and by the time it lifted the elk were already back in the timber. I did get to see a lot of elk and heard more elk that I ever thought was possible. 

Wack has four different hunters coming in this week with bull tags, and since Kentucky has opened up there elk season he is 100% booked. Kentucky has done an unbelievable job in reintroducing elk to their state. They boast the largest elk herd east of the Mississippi and it is also the healthiest. With no predation, and the winters not being very harsh, the elk grow year around. The hardest part is getting a tag and I have been applying very year with no luck. After seeing what I did this past week I will keep applying and praying that one day I will be one of the lucky few every year that are granted one of the tags.

Game Spy Photo Gallery Featured Hunter - George Moore

Our next photo to be highlighted comes from George Moore in Edmond, OK. His photo of a monster buck was taken on September 7, 2010, with his Moultrie Game Spy Camera.

George says, "Miracle Grow has the new alias of Most Wanted, and he has grown about 50" in one year from a normal 10 pointer with stickers to an 18 pointer that should gross about 180"."

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Keep sending in your photos and checking this blog, because you may be our next featured hunter! Please include your full name, location, which Moultrie camera you're using and a short story with your photo if you want it shared on our Grow the Hunt blog. The more information and better the photo, the better your chance to be featured.

We're getting a lot of great submissions, so keep them coming!

Father-Daughter Hunt Lands Trophy Buck in VA

The story is an incredible one, and I am glad to share it with you and all your readers:

I had been a Deputy Sheriff since 1992 here in Virginia. In 2000, I was told by my doctors I would never work again due to a disease in my spinal cord. I have had multiple surgeries since and things have just gotten worse over the years. The only thing my doctors kept telling me was to keep doing the things I loved and hunting was – and still is – at the top of the list, next to spending time with my wife and daughter.

My entire hunting career, my daughter would be waiting for me to bring home a deer. She would always want to help me any way possible with the process and absolutely loves eating them. Since I got hurt, it has been very difficult every year to continue to hunt. My daughter knew from an early age I would never pressure her to go along, and when she felt the time was right she was always welcome.

Last year Jessica – at 13 years old – asked me if she could come along and learn from me while she could and wanted to share what has made me so happy for so long. So last season I took her and taught her everything I could about hunting and that it was not all about the killing of an animal. She didn't understand at the time. We had several times where we had good bucks around us but she did not shoot.

Then Jessica and her mother bought me one of your trail cameras for Christmas. We started putting it out and watching everything we could. Then we found this buck and several others that Jessica gave nicknames to. Her buck was named "BIG DADDY" at an early time way before he grew such a trophy rack (so my daughter had an eye for good deer from the start).

The opening day of Virginia’s youth day hunt, we got up at 4:30am and were in our stand by 5:15am. We sat and watched a few smaller bucks but "BIG DADDY" did not show up. After sitting until 10:30am, we both couldn't stand to sit anymore. So we came out for lunch and a nap. At 3pm we were back in our stand and sat until almost dark when a huge 8-point buck stepped out less than 20 yard away. I told her if she wanted to take the shot. Then out of nowhere Jessica said "No, Dad, that’s MY BUCK!" I didn't even see him but then there he was trailing the big 8-point. He would not come in any closer than 35 yards and she had one chance, but he was between 3 trees quartering away from us. Jessica asked me "Dad, is that a shot I can take?" I told her exactly where to place the arrow and she let the arrow go. I not only watched the arrow in flight, but also saw its impact and heard the thud when it hit the big deer. We watched the deer run off and heard him crash into a thicket 40 yards away. After her tears cleared and we both stopped shaking, we climbed down from our stand but by that time it was dark.

We went over to where he was standing and there was no arrow or blood. Being that it was dark and I had my baby with me, I explained to her it was best to wait until morning to come look for him. She was fine with that because she, too, knew she made a great shot and we'd find him in the morning.That morning I let her sleep in while I went and looked. It only took 15 minutes to find him because he was exactly where I thought he'd be. I backed out and went home to wake her and get some help getting him out of the woods.

She made a perfect shot and the deer was dead before he hit the ground. We took it to the shop to be mounted and was rough scored at 150+" with a spread of 23".

That is the story of my daughter’s first buck on Virginia’s youth day hunt, and I appreciate the help your product provided us in finding such a trophy.

- Michael and Jessica McCay

Bass Fishing in Deer Season

- By Rich Miller

Deer season opened last week and – it being opening day – I just had to go. With the temperatures in the mid-90’s, I really didn’t want to be there after I was up in the tree. It has been so hot and dry here most of the buck pictures I have been getting the last couple of weeks have been at night anyway. I ended up staying in the tree until dark and never saw a thing. On the way in that evening, I decided I wasn’t getting back in the tree until we got some rain or a weather change. 

Every Thursday afternoon this summer my dad and I fished a bass tournament, and when we pulled out of the driveway my little boy wanted to go with us every week. He didn’t mention much about it until we were headed out for the tournament. My dad and I talked about taking him one afternoon after the tournament trail ended. So after my scorching opening day hunt, I decided it was time to take Tye out and do a little bass fishing. After I got off work that afternoon, I went straight to my parent’s house to meet up with them and Tye as standing in the driveway with his fishing rod and life jacket ready to go. The funny thing was my dad and Tye were both running around like a couple of three-year-olds they were so excited! 

I think Tye enjoyed the ride in the boat about as much as anything because it was all I could do to keep him is his seat on the ride in. It started off a little slow while we got a routine, with Tye slinging his rod all over the place. After I got him settled down it wasn’t long before my dad had a nice bass on his line. He wanted Tye to help him reel it in, but the bass made one last jump and came off. They were both a little down after that but it wasn’t long before I had one on my line and had Tye helping me get it in. He was all about the fish after my dad netted it and held it up; so I got them together and snapped a picture before we released him. Not long after that my dad caught another one and Tye helped him out, too. I don’t think we had to help him as much as he did after we got them on the line, but I was afraid he was going to let the rod go if we didn’t. I caught a couple more and had another good fish that he helped me bring in. He was really having a ball catching all the fish and he must have made about twenty laps around the boat because he couldn’t be still. The only thing he couldn’t figure out was why we didn’t catch a fish every cast. We fished until it was almost dark and I thought Tye might go to sleep in the boat before we got back to the ramp – but boy was I wrong! He was wide-awake, running his mouth the whole ride back.

We did catch a lot of fish for the little while we were there, but the best part was watching him and my dad telling my Mom about all the fish they caught. Every day for a week after our fishing trip, when my mom picked him up from school, he would ask her if Paw Paw had the boat hooked up.