My brother Randy, a good friend Mark, and my dad Raddie had all drawn bear tag’s for the Red Oak hunting zone in Michigan’s Lower Peninsula.   The first day they could legally start baiting they headed north.  And every weekend thereafter, they would repeat the long and tiresome task of hauling up untold amounts of fresh bait.  They scouted miles and miles of back roads and timber, making bait stations and preparing stand sites.  By the third weekend, they had nine bait stations in all, scattered over several miles of cedar swamp, river bottom, and a couple of promising sites on some hardwood ridges.
     As time pasted and the hunt date got closer, the guy’s started concentrating on the baits showing the most sign.  There were five baits out of the nine that had really good activity.  At each of those five sites is where they hung stands.
           I planned on joining the group on the first weekend of the hunt, to run the camera for my dad at first.  Then if he filled his tag, I would pair up with Randy or Mark, filming their hunts and so on.
    Randy and I were driving separate vehicles and going up on Thursday, September the 18th after work.  Mark would be joining us on Saturday evening.  And, my dad, Raddie, being retired had been up there a few days already keeping the bait sites full and getting the camp set up.
      Arriving too late on Friday night to do anything, Saturday morning we were up early and heading out to check the bait’s.    I set up my camera equipment in the tree that my dad was to hunt that night, and we went back to camp to await the evening hunt.
Darkness had fallen fast and the first night on stand had come and gone.  When we all reunited back at camp, Mark was the only one that had seen a bear.  The bear was small, and he passed up the opportunity.  But, he was very excited about his first heart pounding bear encounter in the woods.  I think he said that his heart beat increased to such a rate that he had an instant headache, blurred vision, and was shaking so bad he would not have been able to draw his bow even if he had wanted to.   There were a lot of laughs all around, and we couldn’t wait until tomorrow’s hunt. Read the rest … »

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 … »

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!

 When calling to deer, whether your using a grunt tube of some sort, a bleat can, or even a set of rattling antlers.  It’s my experience that you need to study the animals reaction to each sound.  Watching it’s body language will give you clues to determine your next move.  Do you call again, or do you wait to see how it plays out?  This is what I call (Taking his temperature).    Over the years I have tried to hone my skills on calling  game to within the range of my bow.  Whether it’s turkey in the spring, elk in September, and yes, even deer from October to the new year. Whatever the game you pursue, I’m sure this can work for you too. I would like to share with you one experience where this really played a big roll in the outcome of my hunt. 

 I was set up in the woods approximately 70 yards from the edge of a power line.  It was late season, December 5th to be exact.  With my binoculars I saw a nice buck following a drainage just inside the woods on the opposite side of a power line over 200 yards away.  The bucks nose was to the ground and he was traveling at a good pace.  I quickly grabbed my grunt tube.   After three or four grunts with no response it was obvious that he did not here my calls.  As fast as I could, I took my rattling antlers from a hook on the back side of my tree and tickled the tines together.  Still the buck showed no sign of slowing.  With nothing to loose, I slammed the horns together and ground them from side to side.  Bingo!
      The buck stopped immediately, threw his head up and stared in my direction.  After a second or two I again mashed the horns together and this time I added a long deep grunt from the call still in my mouth.  With that, the buck quickly changed directions and started my way.  In no time at all he was standing at the edge of the woods on my side of the power line.  As the deer closed the distance to my stand, he became increasingly more wary.  But each time he would slow his pace, I sped him up again with another deep grunt.  At this point, I would say his (temperature was red hot).  Calling aggressively was bringing him in.
       When the buck was within 35 or 40 yards the game changed a bit.  With the late season at hand all the foliage in the woods was down, The buck had expected to see another deer by now.  He hung up and just stared in my direction for several minutes,  then turned around to leave.  I stopped him with yet another grunt, but I could not get him to commit again.  And he began to move further away.  My first instinct was to do what had worked for me this far and give him another grunt.  But I held off.  Now he was on edge and know something was not right.  This is where I could have easily blown the whole thing. His (temperature went from red hot to cold) in a hurry.   Afraid of calling again with him so close.  I watched the buck sneak further and further away. 
Now my stomach felt as though I was going to puck.  My head was spinning and my whole body was trembling as though I had falling through an ice covered pond. 
It’s true that buck’s look bigger when their walking away, but this buck looked like a giant as he slowly faded back to where he had come.  I don’t really remember planning what I would do next, but when the buck was out about 70 or 80 yards I found myself cupping my hand around my mouth and doing my best to sound like one of those doe in heat “can call” that I, unfortunately did not own.  The buck acted as though he didn’t here me and I did it again. 
As if being electrocuted, he jilted around and glared in my direction.  Both of us stood as still as a statue.  Until,  to my complete amazement, the buck of my dreams was once again coming to my ambush. Although this time he was making a half circle to my down wind side, his slow, cautious approach allowed me ample time to ditch the antlers and get my bow ready.  By now he was well within bow range, but with the buck on red alert I dared not move. 
The eternity that it took for him to move the last couple steps that put his head only briefly behind a tree, was a slow torture that I would gladly put myself through again and again.  It’s that adrenaline rush that all bow hunters crave with every part of there being.  When the buck’s head appeared again on the other side of that tree, I found myself at full draw.  Now the tree that a moment before was my saving grace had suddenly became a burden to me, covering his vitals.  Although the next few seconds felt like hours, the deer finally inched forward another step.  When my sight pin settled on an imaginary speck, just behind his front shoulder, I released my arrow.  Eighteen yards away it found it’s mark passing through both lungs and the top of its heart.  I watched that  beautiful buck fall a mere 40 yards from where I had shot him. 
I’m sure that had I kept up the pressure, and continued to call at that buck while his body language was telling me that he know something was not right.  This hunt would have had a very different outcome.  By (taking his temperature), I was able to adjust my tactics, and make it happen. Best of luck, in whatever you pursue.

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!!

 Archery season is upon us.  The phones are wringing off the hook, as just about everyone I know is wondering how opening day went, here in Michigan.  A lot of changes occurred prior to our archery only season.  We had an early doe season with guns about 2 weeks prior to archery.  We had the youth season opener 5 days before season, where most kids hunted with guns.  Baiting has been outlawed!  So, how was your opener and what are you going to do to put the odds in your favor? 

For me, the archery opener was uneventful, at best.  Although, the youth hunters who hunted my property, all saw big,  mature bucks, they were absent on the night of opening archery season.  I saw some does and a spindly 3 point who was gimping on his rear leg.  Most likely, a casualty of the early doe season or youth season.  I am not condemning the  DNR for their actions because the youth season is necessary and more does need to be harvested, however, the timing of these events couldn’t have been played at a worse time.   And, don’t forget, the no baiting laws which are in affect.  Personally, I feel it is an advantage to those of us who put our time in the field developing our land for the optimization of holding deer.  Creating bedding areas, natural(man made) funnels, and developing a food source through numerous browse and food plot techniques all play a factor in success.  However, the guys who don’t have the time, the land, or the access to the equipment necessary must count on baiting to put the odds in their favor.  Several hunters I know left their bows hanging on the opener and, perhaps for the year!

 I am anxious to see how this season plays out and how the harvest numbers will be presented.  I was recently invited to participate in a Versus Country podcast interview with Tred Barta and David Morris.  David Morris in particular, is a property manager with the experience and knowledge of few.  He is the host of the Bucks of Tecomate.  He is one of the forefathers of food plots and property management for the benefits of healthy, strong wildlife populations.  I respect his opinion and was excited to present him with Michigan’s current situation.  Please click to download the Podcast below and pay attention to my question and David’s common sense answer.  If you know a DNR official, perhaps they should listen, as well.  http://sinuatemedia.com/VersusCountry/morris.mp3.  Please comment! The more people who share their concerns will create a reaction and a debate, and from this a solution. 

For those of you, whom have lost hope because you feel baiting is your only option, please do not get discouraged.  Reach down into your souls and remember that there are many techniques to hunting the elusive whitetail.  Oak trees are producing a fantastic mast crop of acorns.  With the lack of golden acorns(shelled corn) in the woods, the odds will be in your favor. Find an oak tree, an apple tree, persimmons, crop fields and find the hunter in you!  Converging deer runs, between bedding and food sources, playing the wind, and using a common sense approach will give you success.  Make some mock scrapes and when they become active, get on them!  Hunters Prostaff has many great products to get you educated, whether you are a novice or a seasoned hunter.  Check out John Eberhart’s DVD’s or his books.  His tactics are proven on state land! Our whitetail field tip sheets are an exceptional tool to have in your backpack. Try Buck Fever Synthetics and make some mock scrapes.  It is all here for far less than you would normally spend on bait!

Lastly, good luck to all and be safe!  Wear a protective harness and remember that most accidents occur stepping into or out of your stand, so be patient and precise in your every move.

 Welcome to this years Waterfowl hunting and filming competition. As always, it’s heating up right off the bat. First off, let’s introduce this seasons Scream Team hunters. Tim Pickett and Johnny Newland are “Team Goose Downers”. They hail from Parma, Michigan.  And, then we have two brothers, Travis and TJ Colpetsir, who make up the team, “Team Light um up”. They shack up in Colon, Michigan.

Teams are pouring in daily and with no entry fee needed and we are seeing a plethora of camo clad hunters from all walks of life trying to wade into the limelight of Waterfowl fame and fortune.  So how can I get involved in all these reindeer games? Its just this easy: Get a team together of two shooters. Then, pick a team name. You need to film or get your hunts filmed, and most important of all, create your own slogan that you Scream out at the top of your lungs when its time to burn some powder on the feathered participants.

     As our popularity grows each year, we are paid the ultimate compliment, as many followers have now started there own copycat team competitions based off of the original, Dream Season.  But there is room for all of us out there and we harbor no animosity what so ever. We feel we bring something fresh to television, yet it still has a distinct odor to it that separates us from the pack. An almost fowl smell if you will.

     You will need to make all others aware of your slogan as it tells a lot about a team and sets you apart as individuals. You will be penalized for not screaming out your slogan to call the shot. Current slogans taken are as follows: “Bring the Rain!” and “Light um up!” Pictures and short hunt recaps will be needed on the Waterfowl forum of this site for bragging rights and a little, ”In yo face!” for the other teams to drool over. All states are welcomed, all ages, all genders, all gauges, all legal harvest methods or North against the South….we don’t care. Please represent all hunters with tolerable language while on film. The last guys I filmed, after all the beeps were installed during editing,  all we had for audio was one long beep with an occasional vowel. And you know who you were!

     You will be judged by your peers in the same industry. Or, a dirty guy stumbling out of an alley, late one night, carrying a bottle of Boonesfarm. But that’s not the point here. This is about world wide fame and notoriety. Endorsements and autographs, which means you can’t just sign with an X anymore. (Tim) Feel free to step on the shoulders of Hunters Pro Staff to get to the top, just don’t forget us please.

     All decent footage WILL be used on this year’s Waterfowl DVD. (At our discretion) We are still tossing around a title but we feel real good about “There’s a fowl smell in this blind” or  “Did you just hear that?” any other suggestions WILL be used. (At our discretion) Obviously humor will be tolerated and suggested, however, to obtain the major prize award of an all expense paid trip to the Tundra to hunt the Arctic swan (At our discretion) you will have to put some beaks in the dirt and close the deal. Missing is no laughing matter! Let’s put the fun back in hunting fellas and become stars in our own minds, if nothing else. Keep at it and don’t give up. Did the Mexicans give up when the Pygmies canoed over and bombed Pearl Harbor? Now let’s get out there and “Burn some feathers!”

DEER RAISED ON QUALITY MANAGEMENT AND FOOD PLOTS !!!!!

A VINTAGE PICTURE OF DEER HARVESTED OVER BAIT WITH MY GREAT FRIEND AND HERO ROBERT MILLER

 There was a day when I thought deer couldn’t be harvested without spreading some golden acorns on the ground.  I had hunted many years without harvesting a deer.  I hunted in the Northwest lower peninsula and it was for bucks only.  I would see does during the gun season, but in the 4 straight years I hunted, I saw one buck and I missed him with my smooth bore Winchester Model 12.  I was young and I was determined to be successful.  Then,  I met a guy named Bob Miller.  He was an inspiration just to be around.  He was Vietnam Veteran who had seen the worst and suffered severe injuries, leaving him with minimal use of his legs.  Bob is a sportsman like no other I had met, because he didn’t let constant pain, or difficulty to get around defeat his desire to be in the woods or in the marsh.  What in the hell does this have to do with baiting?  Well, Bob invited me to hunt his 80 acres of private joy in Curran, Michigan.  The first day Bob took me to my stand,  he looked at me and said, “Now pay attention when the feeder goes off.  It’s like a dinner bell.  The deer will be coming from all directions.”  My first thought was that this guy was high on the drugs he was taking for his pain or that he had done some serious pot smoking while in Vietnam.  He rolled away in his golf cart, smoking a cigarette, and wished me luck with his stern voice. 

I prepared myself, but I wasn’t overly anxious.   Just as I settled in and I was at peace with the beautiful surroundings,  the feeder went off, spinning at 1,000 RPM’S.   HOLY SH__! I almost fell out of the tree and left a stain in my new long underwear.  The shelled corn, bouncing off the aluminum feeder, and flying 30 feet off trees and the feeders metal posts sounded like machine gun fire.  I thought to myself, what a joke!  I am not going to see a thing after that racket.  And, then to my disbelief, I began to see deer pop up from the heather and from the cedar swamp below me. They were coming from every direction.  Bucks and does running to the feeder.  I literally forgot I was hunting because I was blown away.  I had no less than 20 deer all around me.  I shot my first buck ten minutes later and I was hooked.  After several years of hunting over bait, I began to study deer and their behaviors.  I went many days on stand watching hundreds of deer without raising my bow or gun.  I was always fascinated to watch deer standing on their hind legs boxing, for the right to eat at the site.  I saw mature does in the winter beating off yearlings, so they could eat first. A cruel lesson in survival.  Read the rest … »

There is something about that distinctive sound of the muffler cap lightly tapping the muffler that takes me back to a time where a good day’s work meant something. It is 8 a.m. on this mid summer Saturday morning as I walk out to my 1948 Farmall Cub tractor. The morning dew evident on my boots as I wipe the seat with my forearm trying not to spill my coffee. I climb aboard, pull the chock and fire up the 6 volt generator that starts up ole’ “Tilly”. Tink, tink, tink, the muffler cap lightly sings……

As food plotting popularity grows, so does the industry. I have witnessed the craze of the food plotting evolution in every hunting magazine, outdoor TV show, and hunting video. There are countless companies that advertise various seed blends, food plot equipment, and accessories that were not visible 5 to 10 years ago. With the increasing popularity of planting food plots on the rise, you can surely count on big business being right there to capitalize.

I am one of the little guys, just like everyone else I guess. The average consumer with a family who’s already bursting budget just does not allow for a new tractor or ATV that can cost in excess of $10,000! If you are in this majority as I am, then you know the feeling. Like most of you, I do not have any friends or family in the farming business or know anyone that has the equipment I need to help me accomplish my management goals. I spent years with the ole’ rototiller and hand rake working the soil on my little piece of “heaven” putting in food plots, year after year, with countless blisters an calluses’ to show for it! I decided that something needed to be done.

Looking at various options to help me with this task, I had all about given up. I searched local papers, internet classifieds, and even local auctions looking for a used ATV that could handle this job. They were all well out of my price range and averaging $3500 to $4000. The thought of owning a tractor, the king of all plotting machines, I thought was well out of my reach! Boy was I wrong! My search ended when I stumbled upon a 1948 International Farmall Cub for $1300.00, in which I proudly named “Tilly”!!

The tractors and implements of “yesterday” are often overlooked by most as a perfect solution for food plots. These tractors have stood the test of time and were definitely built to last. There are several vintage makes and models to suit everyone’s needs. From small tractors able to negotiate a tight trail system, to large scale tractors, able to farm large tracts of land. For the majority of recreational folks planting food plots, the plots are small, under 5 acres in size with the majority being well under that. The small utility tractors are perfect for Michigan food plotters and should not be overlooked. There are surpluses of these tractors available today as the smaller utility tractors were put away for more modern, larger, and faster pace machines. These old tractors can be found very easily for under $1000 and run like the day they came off the assembly line. Implements like disc harrows, chisel plows, drags, cultipackers, and cultivators are in abundance as well and many times come with the tractor upon purchase.

I have found that you do not need farming experience to operate these old machines as they are very easy to operate and a pleasure to drive. There are several websites that offer support for their favorite brands and sites that have all the information you need about these late model tractors, even available tractors in your area. A great site that is dedicated to older tractors and a great place to start is www.tractorshed.com.

I only wish I would have learned about these old tractors years ago. I am now able to put the fast pace of the city behind as I climb aboard my vintage iron and slip back to a time where the air was cleaner and life was a little less hectic, if only for a weekend…

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.