Closing One Chapter, Starting A New Chapter

Well, this deer season has been a real cat and mouse type of season. I never got my buck tag filled, which is alright I guess. I consider myself a good hunter, and don't need to put a buck on the ground every season. I took a few good does this season, and that is fine. I got to hunt the entire season, and feel fortunate to have been able to spend as much time in the stand as I did. Just the other night I was out to try and shoot a doe, and had a nice shooter buck come in within bow range! I guess that's just the way it goes sometimes though! Last Saturday I went out for the first day of doe season and got set up by 3:15, and had a doe dead on the ground at 3:45. I still have 2 more tags to fill, so I am going to do my best to get that taken care of this weekend.

Next weekend I am going out to Hill City with some friends to do a little pheasant hunting. I have been looking forward to this for a while. If we are lucky there will be some snow on the ground, and those late season pheasants will be holed up nice and tight in the grass. I'll definitely try and get some pictures of the hunt!

Right now I am starting to think about fishing a whole lot more. Production will start on my new boat this week, and my truck wrap will be all done next week. I am really excited about the way the weather is shaping up for the Classic. Right now New Orleans is on the dry side, which is going to make the fishing that much better. Right now the worst thing that could happen for the fishing down there is if a huge rainstorm blew through and dumped a bunch of rain into the delta. I think if it stays dry, we will be in for some good fishing.

We leave for New Orleans on February 6th, which is really coming up fast. There is still alot left to do, but I can't wait to get down there and get after my 10th Classic!

Deercember, I mean December Update

Deer season is coming down to the wire, and it makes me feel like I am in a tournament. I am persistent and optimistic, and have seen some big boys out. I have put more hours in a tree stand this year than I ever have before. I would guess about 150 hours total! Regardless, I love doing it, and it is one of the best ways to learn about and enjoy mother nature.

So far, I think the weather has been my worst enemy. It hasn't really got too cold yet, and there is no snow on the ground. If the temps would drop down into the 20s consistently, those deer would be hitting the food fields hard, and I might have a little bit better chance. I think right now they are still recuperating from the rut, and here before too long they will start moving again and working in more predictable patterns. I do enjoy hunting the late season, but this season has been so strange and strung out that the late season hunting strategies are not yet effective. What makes it worse is that it seems like everyone else has shot a good buck but me... I mean, I've got more picture messages of good bucks this season than ever before! Come one guys, stop rubbing it in!

Now I am really getting ready for the 2011 fishing season, and next week will be announcing a new sponsor! We are about 2 months away from the Classic, and I can't wait. My boat will be all ready in mid-january, and I plan on getting down to New Orleans a little early so I can go hit some other water ways, like the Atchafalaya Basin, to get myself geared up for the big tournament.

Now it's Christmas time, and I think I have just about all of my shopping done. I can't wait to spend Christmas day with the family, and I'm going to keep my fingers crossed for a white Christmas, so that maybe I can go kill a big buck in the snow the day after Christmas!

I am Thankful for...Patience!

What a cool last couple of weeks it has been. We had so much fun in Florida, and it was such a neat experience for me. Bobbi and a team of other women comprised mostly of bass pro wives ran a relay race across the state of Florida...that's 200 miles! I am so proud of my wife, and was so pumped to be a part of her race and to be there to cheer her on! The race started at 6 a.m. on Friday the 19th and ended at 6 p.m. on Saturday the 20th. Bassmaster.com will have a feature on the event, so if you want to know more about it check it out on there.

As far as deer hunting goes, I am still 0 for 0 on big bucks! I know they're around, and I believe that my patience and persistence will eventually pay off. I just got some pictures of a real nice buck on my trail cam I have set up in LQ, so I am looking forward to running into him sometime soon. The Florida trip gave me an opportunity to take some time off from hunting. I have been hitting the woods so hard lately that I think I really needed a little breather. I approach my deer hunting in the same way that I approach a tournament. Stick with a game plan, be patient, and if what you thought was going to work out doens't then don't be afraid to make adjustments. Unlike most bow hunters, I absolutely love hunting the late season. The last few weeks of December have provided some of my best hunting experiences. So, I am staying optimistic, and am just trying to enjoy the time I get to spend outdoors. It is getting to be the time of year where I need to start redirecting my focus to the upcoming season...and the classic! I'm nowhere close to hanging my bow up yet, but I am going to be spending more time preparing for what's to come. We'll call it my happy balance between bassin and bowhunting!

Thanksgiving was good for us this year. Pretty uneventful, but did get to spend some quality family time at home, and I am always thankful for that!

November News

I've been hunting a whole lot this month, but still haven't put one on the ground. Seen a few good ones, but haven't had the shots. To take a buck here at Lake Quivira you have to earn it, so to speak. We have implemented an "earn a buck" program, where in order to shoot a buck you must first harvest 5 does. I need to shoot 2 does this season before I can shoot a buck, and even the does are giving me nothing to work with! Oh well, I live for this time of year, and I just know that sooner or later I'm going to cross paths with the right critters.

BASS just recently announced that there will be a classic berth for the winner of the College Bass Championship starting in 2012. I hope my guys at KSU get to work so that they can have a shot at being a part of it! Alot of the elite series anglers have mixed emotions about this sort of stuff, but in all honesty this is the best way to grow and perpetuate the sport and its industry.

Next week I am going to be rooting for Bobbi and several other fisherman's wives as they relay race across Florida. These girls have been preparing for this for a long time, and I am really excited to show my support for them. I think it will be pretty cool to switch rolls, Bobbi the competitor and me her support. We will be back in time for Thanksgiving, and back in time to get in on the tail end of the rut!

Autumn Update

Wow! I've been so wrapped up in deer hunting that I have completely spaced out my blog! I just got home from being in the stand all day. No bucks on the ground yet, but I did see a couple of shooters, just no shots. That's the way it goes though. I didn't really want to be done with the season anyway, because I just got started!

I got my boat from last year's elite season sold! Which is a big relief for me. I took the wrap off the boat and truck by myself, which I haven't done before. I sold the boat down in Louisiana, with the help of some friends down there. Now I'm making room for my new boat, and working on new sponsorship opportunities. I got to get all of the companies that will be on the new wrap figured out, which is always some work but fun all at the same time.

Been crappie fishing quite a bit lately. Have caught 250 out on LQ since the last blog post. These fish are just stacked up and ready to eat!

Let's see, since the last post we had halloween with the kids, which is always fun watching them on a sugar rush...

BASS was officially sold to the Jerry McKinnis group, which ultimately I think is a good thing. The Elite tournaments and the Classic will still air on ESPN, but now it will all be done under new "management".

I just got back from New Orleans last week and man did I have a blast down there! I got my game plan put together, and am excited for February to roll around. I elimiated alot of unproductive water, and also found a few good areas. We caught alot of fish, and not just bass. On any given cast down there you are likely to hook up with a redfish, sheepshead, trout, or flounder. It is just unreal. Those redfish are so aggressive and so much fun. There were instances when we were bass fishing that we would see a giant school of reds swim by, and make a cast towards them with whatever we had on and catch them. We had doubles and triples on reds on everything from jigs and texas rigs to topwater frogs! And these fish weren't small. We caught fish up to 15 lbs! I also got to put my new rods and reels to the test while in New Orleans. I got the new Wright & McGill Micro Honeycomb rods and Victory reels, and they are awesome! They handled everything I caught down there with ease, which definitely gives me confidence in them going into next season.

Besides having a great time fishing, I also got to hang out with some good friends. We stayed at Cajun Fishing Adventures, which was awesome, and no we didn't use their guide service! The accomodations were great, and the cajun food was out of this world. Honestly I can't say enough great things about this place, they have an awesome operation. After Katrina they had to completely rebuild there lodge, and it is just beautiful. I really want to say thanks to my good friends Richard and Ken Sherman and everyone at Cajun Fishing Adventures. I had a great time down there, and wish I had a good excuse to make a trip like that more often! Check Cajun Fishing Adventures out at www.cajunfishingadventures.com

Now it is back to the real world. I am working hard to get my boat sold, I just took the wrap off myself over the weekend. Getting all of my loose ends and necessities done and out of the way now so that I can enjoy a November full of deer hunting and time in the woods.

This past weekend we had the Howell family - Randy, Robin, and their 2 kids-,as well as Jill Lane, and Angie Faircloth stay with us. All the wives participated in the Kansas City Marathon as a relay team. Randy and I got to play Mr. Mom over the weekend. We took the kids out fishing and caught about 75 crappie. On Tuesday I went out crappie fishing for a charity trip for Ducks Unlimited and caught 102 crappie. We'll just say that I'm done filetting fish for a while!

Now I wish I had a deer hunting update for all of you, but sadly I haven't had the chance to get out at all yet. I am hoping to get out before November rolls around, but we will have to see what happens. Hopefully by November we will actually see some real Fall weather instead of this warm late Summer weather we've had lately! I can only hope anyway!