posted by Jim on Sep 25

I cannot begin to say how appreciative and fortunate I am to be where I am today in the hunting industry. It has provided some great opportunities for me and my friends. Every day I have more to look forward to and unlike the jobs I performed for the automotive companies, I am rewarded everyday for my commitment and hard work. This story is an example of how giving a little of your time can reap great rewards in the end.
Last fall, I had the pleasure of meeting a very generous, good hearted man, Kevin Presnell. Kevin runs several companies, but his greatest passion is his commitment to spreading the good word of Christ in conjunction with sharing the great outdoors with the less fortunate. Kevin is the founder of the Presnell Family Foundation. He commits long hours and extensive financial donations to ensure that the handicapped, ill, or underprivileged adults and children get an opportunity to experience the outdoors. Kevin has applied many concepts to help the less fortunate forget about their handicaps and every day worries.
Last November, the Hunters Prostaff camera crew and myself, went down to do some hunting on a private piece that Kevin had leased. We were told we would be hunting and filming the property for a promotional DVD. Jed Speiser, Bryan Malone, Eddie Stanton and I were ready to hunt and film each other and all took valuable vacation time. When we arrived, there was a misunderstanding and we spent the remainder of the week filming some incredible handicapped hunters. Needless to say, we were bummed that we weren’t hunting, but in the long run volunteering our time to such a great cause has paid us far greater rewards than the hunt itself! We had a great time and made lifelong friendships. Because of this commitment, I was fortunate to land a bigger role with Kevin and his foundation, as well as, a position with his Elite hunting product, The Presnell Sporting Collection.
The Presnell Sporting Collection is like a country club membership for the Elite Sportsman. The Sporting Collection takes all the worries out of booking a hunt. Every location or venue which the Sporting Collection offers is prequalified by our staff. Every attention to detail must be met to exceed our client’s expectations. This is where I come in. Kevin made me the Director of Product Development and Prostaff of the Sporting Collection. This role is multifaceted; however, the key aspect is the review of every venue, from the hunt itself, to the food and lodging, and the proficiency of the guides. I am also responsible to determine the necessary gear required for each venue. This gear will be offered on a new website called Presnell Premier Products. All products will be high end and the ultimate gear for the elite hunter.
Now that you understand the prequalification process and the role I am playing, I can get into the guts of the hunt, literally! Kevin and I left September 11th to review a venue in Colorado. Kessler Canyon Ranch is located near DeBeque, Colorado. Kevin and I spent 5 days at the ranch. Kevin was hunting Mule Deer and I was hunting Elk. The lodge was exquisite, with a décor which cannot be explained in words alone. The artwork and furniture was extremely unique and tastefully acquainted. Lenny, our chef was amazing! He somehow, caused me to gain 2 pounds, while hiking literally miles per day up and down steep canyons. Needless to say, the food was too good to pass up!
Now, let’s get into the hunt. After a 45 minute ride from the ranch up a tight switch back to the top of the mountain, our butts were puckered and our hands were on the door handles, as we looked down the 600 ft. cliff edge. Once at the top, we were sure to get loose chasing some game. The 23,000 acre private ranch was full of free ranging animals. The first morning of our hunt, Kevin had a nice 190 class Mule Deer Buck in his scope. Unfortunately, the buck did not present a shot before heading over the canyon and onto the neighboring property. After an hour of glassing, we were entertained by hundreds of Elk moving down the mountain into an Aspen thicket. We quickly switched gears into Elk hunting mode. Our guide, Tim Curry, worked with me to do some calling. I was hunting with my Jim Belcher Custom Long Bow and was very excited to get in close to a big Rocky Mountain Bull. Tim set up above me and I had Jake Hanson, cameraman for Barrett Communications, by my side. Tim let out a high pitched bugle, representing a satellite bull. We immediately received a response from below us. The wind was right so we headed in. Jake and I set up 75 yards below Tim. Tim and I started a much orchestrated volley of cow mews. The concert was unbelievable! We mewed and the Bull’s blew up. One herd bull in particular was letting out guttural sounds which raised the hair on the back of our necks! Cows were also joining in and the sounds got closer by the minute. I had to rub some Border Crossings Elk Herd in a stick all around us on scrub oak brush because we were assured to get circled. Jake filmed me frantically running around with the Scent and rubbing it on everything I could. It worked like a charm in conjunction with our Buck Fever Synthetics Vanishing Hunter Scent Eliminator! Two smaller bulls were in our laps within minutes. I passed on a young 4 X 4 on film, as he stood directly downwind of our setup!!! Shortly after the 4×4 moved off, I passed on a nice 5X 5. Both bulls were within my 20 yard range of my long bow! The herd bull was bedded up with cows and was not in a hurry to leave his harem. We exited the set up and planned our evening hunt.

On the evening hunt, we set up above the Aspen thicket on drainage leading to a watering hole. Cows, calves and small bulls were below us less than 100 yards. Bulls were screaming approximately 600 yards from our view and then he came out. A complete stud, covered in black mud from his antlers to his big fat butt! He was a huge 6 X 6 bull in the 350 inch range. I turned to the guide and Jake and said let’s go! We need to get above that bull and in between him and the cows. Tim advised if we were patient he would be below us at the watering hole shortly. It never happened. I am a true believer that when the bulls are this horny, you get in their bedroom. This night we waited and it was a show with no go!

The following morning we hit the same canyon. Bulls were blowing up everywhere! I grabbed the long bow and we started in. There were bulls to the left and below and bulls to the right. The wind was better for the herd to the left, but we were closer to the ones to the right. Tim asked me to hunt with the muzzleloader because we could get the herd bull to the right killed now! (Kessler Canyon is in the Colorado Fish and Game Ranching for Wildlife Program. Because of this program, hunters are allowed to hunt with any legal weapon during the full season. Therefore, I was able to go in with my Ultimate Firearms Muzzleloader. Truly, the Ultimate is the premier muzzleloader of the industry, able to shoot 500 yards with 1”MOA!!) Tim was convinced that we were on the same bull from the night before. We set up across the canyon where the herd was filtering down the mountain. They were pouring out from an Aspen thicket directly across from our perch. Tim took out his range finder and advised the cows were at 375 yards. He asked “Jim. Are you comfortable shooting a muzzleloader at that range? Are you stable?” I replied, “I am pretty solid and the gun will do it!” I turned the turret on my Leupold Mark 4 Tactical Scope to 375 yards and locked the gun to my shoulder. We watched bulls filter out with cows. The herd bull was screaming from above as he made his way through the Aspens. Out came the last 3 cows and a huge bodied bull hooking the last cow with his horns. Tim advised it was the herd bull. “He is a good bull! Get on him.” I was reluctant, but I could see his rack from the distance and the white tips looked good. I did not put the scope on his horns, as I tracked him chasing the cows down the draw. He made one loop back up and stopped quartering away up the mountain. Tim advised “364 yards dead on. Are you steady?” I replied yes. I took a long deep breath, locking my arm to steady the shooting stick, and squeezed the 2 lb. trigger. The gun went off and I did not feel the 275 grain bullet, exploding out of the barrel with 200 grains of Triple Seven powder behind it! The crosshairs were locked on my spot, on the back side of his rib cage, as I imagined the opposite shoulders position. A good bow hunter always thinks of the exit hole! The same holds true with the bullet! Needless to say, the bullet hit and the bulls 750+ pound body took the punch. Tim advised you hit him, dead center of the chest! The bull walked stiff legged, about 10 yards, looked up at the cows and looked as though he was going to bugle; he turned and fell down the mountainside. He’s down! He’s down! Tim was impressed with the shot. Was it the gun? Was it the shooter? Was it luck? I believe it is a combination of everything that brings a hunter success. I was elated with joy and gave Tim a big man hug and started the high fives with Jake and Kevin. It was a great hunt!

We were on to get Kevin his buck. Should be easy right? Unfortunately, the bucks we were seeking were slipping out of range every day. After four days of chasing up and down canyons, glassing until our heads were pounding from the strain and experiencing several evenings sitting in thunderstorms, we got it done! Kevin could have taken the easy way out. But Nooooooooooooo! He had to be a persistent, aggressive animal and he dragged Tim and me along with the camera. Up and down, in the rain, barefoot in snow, uphill both ways, climbing, hand over foot, crawling through cactus thickets naked….Just kidding. I am getting carried away. It truly was a challenge because it wasn’t until the last hour, of the last day that Kevin harvested a beautiful 170+” mule deer buck. He made a clean, one shot kill, with the Holland and Holland 7MM piece of artwork. The buck was at 250 yards and he set him down in his tracks! Great job Kevin!
I set out on the hunt to do a few things. I was looking for a 6 X 6 Bull in the 300 class range and I wanted him close enough for the long bow. I wanted to get Kevin on a 200+ inch Mule deer. I wanted to have a great time and experience new challenges. I wanted to meet some exceptional people. I may not have achieved my animal score goals, but I exceeded my expectations everywhere else! I am very proud of this bull and I am very proud of the confidence I have in my Ultimate Firearms Muzzleloader. I am equally proud in Kevin’s persistence to shoot a great buck. Both animals are great trophies in anyone’s portfolio. The hunt was a true success and a true pleasure to be among some great colleagues. Thank you, Kevin Presnell for the hunt and opportunity to work with you in this position. Thank you, Tim Curry and Mark Kessler for the great hunt, hospitality, guiding and beautiful property. Thank you, Jake Hanson, (Cameron Mann), the camera man extraordinaire, who chased us up and down canyons with 50+ pounds of equipment and was eager to assist in the hunt, as well. Thanks for the camera pointers. Great job to all and an experience I will never forget.

posted by Jim on Jan 6

2008 started out like any other year, trail camera pictures produced a few shooters and, of course, one long shot monster target that was very nocturnal. I have always said, “Trail cameras are the world’s best invention and the world’s worst invention at the same time.” That statement was definitely fitting for the outcome of my 2008 bow season. You always like to picture yourself shooting the giant you set your sights on year in and year out, but things just aren’t that simple. The rut just seems to magically put those cruisers right in your lap, just to see if you will hold true to your pre-season plan. Luckily for me, I’m the kind of guy who seems to be a little weak when it comes to temptation and big bucks.

My season started out a bit slow as I had a tragic passing of a family member near the beginning of the season. I didn’t make it out much in October but November held a lengthy vacation as usual. We experienced extremely high winds during that first week of November, but things began to change and as the weather cooled the rutting action definitely heated up. I passed on a nice 10 point in the 150 inch range on November 10^th that had me slightly nervous about a possible mistake. My confidence remained high as activity was at its peak and I had nothing but time until the end of my vacation, which was still over a week away. I hunted the morning of November 11^th along an oak ridge which should have provided plenty of late morning rutting action, with the addition of a fresh rain over night. Unfortunately for me, that movement never happened but luckily for me, the forecast had a wind shift moving in around lunch time. I headed to the house around 11 A.M. to check the weather and grab a bite to eat. Upon checking the weather, I noticed the haze and gloomy look in the air outside and it just felt like a great day to witness movement at any time. I verified the wind and headed to my new destination, a transitional rut funnel that headed out to a large pasture filled with grassy draws and plenty of cover. This type of area has been good to me over the years and I am a firm believer that during the rut the biggest bucks will seclude does out in these open areas. You can also sit in these locations in anticipation of catching bucks between does or just heading back from crop fields in the bottoms to head for these secluded hideouts.

I arrived at roughly 12:00 that afternoon. It’s a bit of a walk in but I took my time as it was also a bit muddy from the fresh rain. A large set of buck tracks on the road had my optimism for a good day on the rise. I checked my trail camera at about 12:15 as I wanted to see what kind of activity had been going on prior to my arrival. This was one of those spots where the action can be short-lived and slow during the times leading up to and after the rut. Timing is crucial and I take pride in staying out until things are just right. My excitement for the hunt was a bit dampened when I found that there were only a dozen photos on the camera. The camera had only been in this location for a few days as I set it up in a rain shower on a windy day a few days prior. It wasn’t totally discouraging, as the weather hadn’t been that great leading up and trail the camera sat on was only one option out of about 4 in traveling through this funnel. However, it was what I felt was the best trail in good shooting and video range. I climbed up into my stand and was setting up all of my gear when I happened to look up briefly and caught movement heading in my direction. I was totally caught off guard and after pulling up my binoculars I knew I had to hurry to get my video camera attached to the camera arm. This was a buck and he was definitely cruising! I got enough of a look to see that I couldn’t pass him up. I knew he had a few stickers and a good frame, but honestly I just looked him over enough to see that he was a good buck and that was about it. It all happened so fast that I think I was just going on adrenaline. I got decent video of the approach but he took a different trail than what I had my good video lanes for and I missed getting the shot on film by a couple feet. I knew the lane he was working towards was great for me, but not for the camera angle.  I grunted him to stop at 30 yards and released a good arrow and I watched it disappear in his chest. I knew after the hit that he wasn’t going far. I was able to get the camera on him right away after the shot so I was able to get him on film going down just 50 yards away. I backed out and requested the help of a good friend and was back in for the recovery a half hour later.   Read the rest … »

posted by Jim on Dec 14

 

On December 5, 2008 my grandfather, Tony Cetrone, harvested the biggest deer of his hunting career at 81 years young!  I have spent the better part of 35 years hunting, fishing and enjoying the outdoors with him and was hunting by his side when this all happened. 

 

It was opening morning of muzzleloader season in Shiawasee County and the conditions were absolutely perfect.  I have 500 acres leased near my home and with the help of my hunting partners; we spend 12 months a year managing the deer herd.  I have a well placed blind on the corner of a cut cornfield and a hay field that sees action all day when the days grow short and the temperatures plunge into single digits.  Shortly after 7:00 A.M. a deer stepped from the timber to feed in the cut cornfield. It was a mature deer, with an impressive sent of antlers, but in low light it, was hard to tell how big the antlers actually were.  I knew he was wide and had long beams, but was not the deer that I was looking for.  I have several trophy bucks to my credit and had already harvested an eight point in early October and a very nice nine point in Nebraska, so I was being a little particular. As the deer disappeared into the timber, I began to second-guess my decision, but couldn’t wait to get my grandfather in this blind and give him a chance to harvest a great buck!

 

I talked to my hunting partner when I got back to the truck and told him about the deer.  We agreed to call my grandfather and try to get him into town that evening to hunt.  I explained to him that I saw a nice buck this morning and I had the deer patterned coming to a food source, he promptly agreed and made the 1 hour trip south to my house.

 

Grandpa met us at the house about 2:00; we quickly gathered our things and headed for the farm.  There was definitely some excitement in the truck as we made the twenty- minute drive; we listened closely, as grandpa told some old deer hunting stories from his 40 plus years of a deer hunting tradition.  When we arrived at the farm I quickly gave him a breakdown of the farm layout, past deer sightings, and how I hoped the evening would turn out.  Grandpa had never deer hunted farm country before and had never shot a muzzleloader but non-the-less displayed total confidence, as we made the quarter mile walk through the snow.

 

As we approached the blind I methodically glassed the timber looking for any deer that may be heading early to feed.  There were several deer lying in the timber; I turned to grandpa and reminded him to be quite because there were deer very close to our stand location waiting to come to the cut cornfield.  He had told me hundreds of time to be quite, so it felt good to be in charge for once and let him know the importance of being as quite as possible.  We settled into the blind and patiently waited for the deer. Read the rest … »

posted by Jim on Nov 24

A good friend and business associate, Anthony Best sent me this picture and a brief story about his hunt with his son Wes.  It made me realize after a long hard, unsuccessful season that I am getting into a phase in my hunting career, where I may be forgetting about the meaning of the hunt.  You see, I have been to several states this year in pursuit of trophy bucks.  Weather and other factors never worked to my favor, so it has been very disappointing to me and rather frustrating. This story and the excitement in Anthony’s voice brought me back to reality.  Lets face it, the trophy is in the hunting experience and the life long memories which are associated with that given day.  What a great day and what a great buck.  Here is the story.

My 12 year old son Wesley has patiently waited all summer for the 2008 deer season.  We spent all summer hanging stands and growing food plots at our farm in Shiawasee county. We seen plenty of deer through archery season, but just couldn’t get the right deer to within easy bow range of Wes. He watched dozens of deer pass just out of range and knew things would be different during the firearm season.

We also spent a weekend this summer building a box blind on at my brothers property in Reed City, MI.  In June we built an awesome box blind along the edge of a cedar swamp and carefully trimmed some shooting lanes.  We were prepared for whatever mother nature handed us knowing we would be warm and dry in our new blind.

 On November 9 we made some mock scrapes and touched up our shooting lanes.  I knew it would be a little slow with the no baiting laws but I hoped the doe urine and the mock scrapes would increase our chances.  I freshened up the scrapes each day and put out my Stink Stick with VS-1 every morning and afternoon.  We had 4 different bucks on the trail camera when we arrived on the 14th so we were feeling optimistic. Weather was cold, wet & windy to say the least but it was dry in the blind.

We hunted all day Sat & Sunday with only seeing two does.  Monday, we decided to go out at 8:00 and sit until noon or as long as he could take it.  It was only 21 degrees so I thought the deer might move from 10 – 12, I was right! At 10 AM a six point appeared out of no where, from the swamp & Wes put it down with one shot from the trusty 30/30!  He was excited!  What a great feeling!  I am very happy for him, it was incredible!

Thank you Anthony and Wesley for a great story.  It is a beautiful buck. But, most of all, thank you for bringing me back to the reality of why we hunt!

posted by Jim on Oct 28

As hard as we tried to get it done in Maryland on the elusive Sika stag last week, we did not. Jim and I were very excited to be the first HPS shooters to put some sausage on the ground or at least the opportunity to do so. But, as it so often happens, the hunting gods had a different plan. On the last evening of our hunt we had a beautiful stag come right to us on a rope begging to be a star just before dark. I call them a muskrat with horns due to their choice of marsh habitat and coloring of chocolate brown. But true to their nature of being a prey animal, he just stopped behind a tree at 15 yards, with the obvious intuition that something just was not right in his world. After a ten minute stand-off he bounded off and stopped right behind the only other tree that offered Mr. Lombardi a no shot situation. Disgust was a word you could have used for the look on young James face but saying that we both had not been to this mountain before would be foolish, because we are hunters. But, upon our return in late December you are going to want to put your money on team J and J for some serious retribution. Beautiful country and great people for sure.

Meanwhile back at the bat cave in Michigan I had left a green horn archer (Little Miss Dangerous) with a one week old Parker Sidekick in her hand practicing daily to build her strength up from never pulling back a bow so that she would-be ready for season. Being right handed and left eye dominant had offered up its share of problems but we got it all sorted out and she was off and firing. On her 20th arrow I heard her slap nocks and thought to myself, “at least she is grouping well”. As she walked to the target the disgusted tone of her voice was obvious when she said “Oh great I broke one of my arrows!” I turned to see her trying to pull the freshly “Robin hooded” pair apart and screamed at her to stop!

So that’s how it all started and it only gets better.  After practicing daily with her new rig for 12 days and proving to me beyond a shadow of a doubt that she was tack driving well out past 20 yards with all her hunting clothes on from a tree stand was she finally able to go hunting. The second night on stand, a gift buck from the gods was sent to her for a memory of a lifetime for a new hunter. At nine yards she stood and stopped it with the patented mouth blat and shot the valves off the top of his heart with a Maniac broad head. He was dead on impact and made it 60 yards to his final resting place in the leaves. It was an absolutely perfect kill. It was a very proud moment for the teacher, as well as, the student, I must admit.

As I age in my own QDM program and my back has a sway in it and my gut hangs a little closer to the ground I find myself looking for the simple things in life like when and where….just like this one. Welcome to the ranks Kimberly…..You are a bow hunter!

Now, for the Miss Hannah story, as you’ve seen from the past stories and pics she also was trained by a modern day Daniel Boone and is no greenhorn in the deer woods. This is not her first buck, but definitely her biggest with gun or bow.  She is also shooting a Maniac broad head with awesome results and a great blood trail to say the least.

Luckily for her a scout (known by her as The Old Man), had passed this great deer up last year and this year and had it patterned to a T the night before.  As every great father would do, Stew put her on the spot and she made the shot count. It’s nice to see that not all our youth has gone off in the wrong direction. I would personally like to see a few more Hannah’s in the woods. I was proud to gut her deer for her even though she only held the legs open for a minute or so before easing to the upwind side of the situation! I didn’t blame her at all.

Congratulations to both girls for an exceptional October and the only thing I would like to suggest is that you both get all your girlfriends involved so that you can all hunt together like Stew and I do. And just maybe then you can let us get back to some serious hunting of our own instead of tracking all of your deer! You know, we hunt too! Very proud of you!!

posted by Jim on Apr 23

It was an incredible morning with the biggest group of toms and hens together that I believe I have ever had the privilege of calling to. It made for some awesome video footage.  Justin filmed the hunt and I had messed up and tried to shoot what we think was actually the same bird we had encountered earlier in the morning.  

He strutted straight away from me at the decoys. I put it low on the back of his fan and hit right where I wanted, but it ended up that I must have miss-judged the placement, hitting him a
bit high and I just caught feathers.   Body shot placement is crucial when hunting turkeys with a bow, therefore, it is essential to understand the vital zone from all angles and practice often.

The bird rejoined the group and we filmed some awesome toms and eventually called another that broke off and I put a good shot on him this time. We were able to get video footage of several hens getting bred, as well.  It was a great first outing for the year and I wish I could have gotten it done right the initial time, so Justin could have had a crack at one, but the season is young. Also, I totally missed the fact that the bird had a double beard until I got home to clean it. He had about a 5 inch short beard and the thick one was right at 10″. Spurs were only around 1″, so I think he might have just been a big 2 year old bird. Good luck to all Hunters Prostaff readers and I’ll keep you posted, as I am now going to try for a headshot only, for the rest of the season.  In Kansas, we are allowed two birds, so I am planning to challenge my bow hunting skills with a G5 small game head.  Aim small and miss small.  The greatest thing about that is it is a kill or a miss, with no in between.  I will let you know how we do and I will be filming many other family and friends this season.