posted by Jim on Jul 28

The Hunters Prostaff Team has many reasons to be excited right now.  We are growing steadily in a saturated market of hunting websites and hunter “want to be’s”, who are making videos and some actually have TV shows.  I don’t know how some of them get on TV, but I do know a hunter when I meet one.  In my 27 years of hunting, I am still learning everything I can, and I am not shy to admit that I am not a superstar.  However, I am competing in a market with a lot of “hunters”, who have the right contacts or a bunch of cash to back up their mediocre hunting skills.  Don’t get me wrong here!  I have a lot of respect for about 20% of the so call stars on TV, but I personally know many hunters who would put 80% of the TV hosts to shame.  They hunt for what hunting is truly about, the hard way, without the best equipment or a bank roll which pays for “canned hunts”.  These are my hunting heroes.  These are the guys and gals I meet every day, and in the first 5 minutes of the conversation I know they are hunters.  If you have a passion for hunting and you are modest enough to know that hunting is a lifetime of learning, than you understand what I am dishing out.  With multiple Outdoor channels to chose and everyone filming their hunts, the hunting market is overwhelmed with mediocre media.  The Hunters Prostaff team will make every effort to avoid being self proclaimed superstars.  We will give you true to life video and we will try to share the things we feel lead to success through our learning experiences.

The Hunters Prostaff Team has produced two DVD’s with the help of a good friend, Jason Brown, of Jackpine Productions, located in Midland, Michigan.  Jason is a professional!  He has an eye for hunting production and is an award winning Outdoor media producer.  He contributed many hours to our first DVD, sorting through boxes of footage, to produce an amazing DVD that made us look somewhat professional.  Now that is amazing in itself!  Most recently, he completed what we feel is the best Predator DVD on the market today!

Our first DVD, “Hunters Prostaff-The Beginnings” is a culmination of footage from my friends who have a true passion for the outdoors, for all of the right reasons.  It was our first attempt in the video business and I am very proud of everyone involved in its production.  This DVD has 25 Fair Chase hunts and you will appreciate the fact that nothing was staged.  It’s fast paced action from start to finish with some great laughs and real emotion!  This DVD is available in our online store and is FREE with a Hunters Prostaff Membership package. 

Our second DVD, “Extreme Predator Hunting-Vol. 1” is in my view; one of the best Predator DVD’s ever produced!  I may be biased, but predator hunters demand respect and it is one segment I have been trying to learn for many years.  Therefore, I have just about every Predator hunting video and DVD produced.  I am a great fan of Randy Anderson, Bill Burnham, The Best of the West and Predator Quest Teams to name a few.  I paid close attention to DVD reviews from greats like Judd Cooney, of Predator Extreme Magazine. So, needless to say, we knew when we were going to produce a Predator specific DVD, we would have to hit the ground running.  And, that is just what we did!  Without the help of key players, it would have not been possible.  Jed Speiser and Lyndon Branson laid down about 80% of the footage with excellence and determination to “Get R’ done”!  I, Dylan Smith, Matt Frehe, Randy Gibbs and Todd Collick all contributed, as well, to put out some outstanding footage.  We teamed up with a leader in the electronic call industry, Peter Brown, who helped us produce this DVD and supported our team along the way.  Peter owns Extreme Dimensions Wildlife Calls, maker of the popular Phantom Calls and is one of our great sponsors.

“Extreme Predator Hunting-Vol.1” is defined by its title.  This DVD is fast paced, heart pounding, in-your-face action from start to finish.  We have over 60 kills on hunts in Nebraska, Wyoming, Kansas, Texas, Mexico and Africa.  This DVD contains footage of Coyote, Bobcat, African Jackal, and Fox. We entertain you and provide tips along the way, but we also provide some unique features in our interactive menu.  We understand that “learning segments” can make a DVD drag on, so we put a special Tips section in the menu, where we cover everything from guns to ammo, to set ups, to what equipment we use and much more.  We also give you an out takes section of some footage which may show everyone out there in TV land that we are the hunting buddies you want to hang out with in camp.  We make mistakes and laugh at embarrassing blunders and we share it all with you so you too can laugh at us.  This DVD is available right now in our store and will be coming to a store near you soon.

Thanks for the support and I hope we can always provide you a real hunting point of view, which is entertaining and informative, with attitude and integrity!

Thank you,

Jim Lombardi

Owner

Hunters Prostaff, Ltd.

posted by Jim on Jul 3

I don’t know about everyone else out there, across the vast expansion of the U.S. and the world, but I do know here in Michigan, people are watching every dime.  Our economy is tanking, our gas prices are simply ridiculous, and our recreational activities are stagnant.  I know that I have to think about what I can and cannot afford to do this year.  And, there are many factors that contribute to my decisions.  But, if we rethink what it takes to be a hunter and an outdoor enthusiast, we may find that our time in the field can be affordable and successful.

I have had to manage everything I do and I am amazed at the amount of waste there is in our lives.  A good friend of mine lost his job and he really made me think about what I would do without my income.   He has had a hard time replacing his 100k per year income and because I know he loves to golf, fish, hunt, camp and recreate in the outdoors, I was really worried about him and his family.  He made a really good point the last time we were together preparing food plots.  Mike said, “We are surviving on my wife’s income.  You just have to analyze your every purchase and what the differences are between what you need and what you don’t.   Losing my job made me realize how much money we wasted every day.”  I thought to myself, what a slap in the face with reality!  I immediately started to break things down, as if I had lost my job.  Where can I cut?  What can I do without?  I was able to pull $1000+ out of my expenses, and then I started to look at my forecasted costs for hunting.

I have always said that hunters will spend their grocery money to get a new piece of equipment or to mount that buck of a lifetime.  When you have a passion for hunting like I do, you tend to make miscalculated decisions, when it comes to expenditures.  I know I have been in multiple arguments and have created undue stress on my marriage(s).  Hunting probably contributed to my divorce from my first wife.  I was young and when hunting season came around I was gone, even if it meant returning pop cans to pay for the gas to get up north.  Now, it is a different story.  I have analyzed everything from costs of out of state tags to the estimated fuel, food and lodging costs.  Read the rest … »