Jameson scores during Youth Hunt
On April 1st, 2011, Scott Cronin, Tedd Moffett, and myself traveled to Scott’s Grayson county farm to get ready for Kentucky’s youth turkey season. Mike Ausbrooks would be bringing his son Jameson down to hopefully bag his first turkey. After everyone arrived, we set out to locate some birds. Scott spotted 4 longbeards strutting in a field, so we backed out and waited until dark to set up blinds for the morning hunt.
Early the next morning, we headed to the blinds to wait for the birds to wake up. It was not long before the birds started gobbling. We could hear one bird gobble on occasion behind us. Scott got out his Derby City Spur and did some calling and the bird responded. We could hear that he had some hens with him, we were hoping he would see the jake decoy with two hens in the field. We felt confident that if he did, he would not like an intruder coming in to steal his ladies. Fortunately for us, we were right.
The gobbler was spittin and drummin behind the blind and he came out into the field in full strut. He went up to the jake and started sizing him up. He pecked and flogged him a few times before Jamison put him down for good. We had a great time hunting and spending time with each other. It was a great way to open up turkey season. Congrats Jameson.
A Magical Time in the Woods
If you are a fanatical whitetail hunter, it is that time of year. The rut is kicking in and if you are a bowhunter, you had better be in the woods any chance that you get. Last Saturday, I had a shooter chasing a hot doe all over the woods. She just happened to take him over the ridge and out of bow range. I tried grunting and bleating him in, but he would not leave her. Later in the morning, I had a small buck cruising the woods looking for does.
Sunday was one of those magical mornings. It did not produce any big buck sightings, but the whitetail rut played out around my stand for 3 hours. I saw a total of 7 does and 4 small bucks. All the bucks were grunting and chasing does everywhere. The does did their best to escape and hide, but the little bucks would find them and chase them hard. I had multiple shot opportunities on these deer, but I just sat back and enjoyed the show. I was hoping my shooter would show back up, but I had a feeling he was already locked up with that hot doe he was trailing on Saturday.
Days like these get your blood pumping. I am anxious to get back after that big boy. Success in the woods should never be measured by the kill. I left the woods both days satisfied with the time I spent outdoors. I may or may not kill that big buck this year. It will not be for lack of trying. However, I will enjoy and savor every minute I get to spend in the woods getting after him. It is a time for me to slow down and enjoy one of my passions. Get out, hunt hard, but more than anything, enjoy it.
Stoner Strikes Again
Two Shot's Hen
Brent Stoner had a very successful fall turkey season in 2010. Here is a summary of his season in his own words-
“The first segment of the 2010 fall season ended today. I am happy to say that I filled my tags with two hens in this early segment. We opened the season on Saturday, October 23rd with a killer miss on video. I talked my good friend and Midwest Whitetail Pro Staffer, Jarrod Hedrick, into going with me and Jim Dawson to film the hunt. Thankfully, he decided to film us so I could provide some comic relief for the guys at the shop.
We arrived early to a spot on my farm that always holds birds. I started doing some soft calling using my Derby City Call. It did not take long for 7 nice toms to filter into the field. These gobblers cut in between Jim and myself. They were working away from me, so I decided to take a shot. Well, a couple of shots. Two shots and no bird. After reviewing the video, I just flat out missed.
We went back out on Sunday morning. This time a group of hens started to work up through a bottom towards the field. Yes, if you watched the video, it took me two more shots. However, I did down one this time. Everyone at the shop is calling me Two Shot Stoner now.
On Friday, Oct. 29th, I decided to try and bag another bird. This was the last day of the early segment. Jim and Jarrod had to work, so I was all by myself. I got a good shot on another hen and I dropped her with one shot. I texted Jim about the bird and one shot. He felt the need to give me a math lesson via text. His text was 5 shots @ 2 birds=40% shooting. Jim and Jarrod both work as educators. I guess they feel the need to make a lesson out of everything. 
I would like to thank Jarrod for taping the first weekend’s hunt and thank Jim for the math lesson.”
Congrats to Brent. We have a lot of fun together hunting and at the shop. It is nice to have friends who you can have fun with. Make sure you check out www.midwestwhitetail.com to see the hunt.
Fall Turkey Action
This past weekend was the first segment of Kentucky’s Fall Shotgun Turkey Season. Brent Stoner, Jarrod Hedrick, and myself went to Brent’s farm to try and bag a couple of birds. Jarrod is a Pro Staffer for Midwest Whitetail. He films hunt for their website and hunting show. Check out his videos on www.midwestwhitetail.com. Most of his videos will be posted under the Indiana section.
The first day was an eventful day. We saw a group of nice gobblers working their way through the middle of the field. Brent and Jarrod were on one end of the field and I was sitting in my Vision blind on the other end. Needless to say, Brent shot twice and missed. The best part is that we have it on film. If you remember last fall, I shot and missed. I took a little heat for that, so Brent is getting pay back. We went home empty handed that day.
The second morning was a little different. We decided to sit together in my blind and position it towards the middle of the field. Jarrod brought along the camera to capture the hunt on film. At about 8:30, we heard a lot of noise behind the blind. It sounded like scratching. Brent peaked out and could not see anything. Eventually, Jarrod peaked out the back and saw a couple of cows right behind us. Over the next few minutes, Jarrod and I kept hearing some soft yelps. I decided to look again. Definitely cows behind us, but there were some birds working there way up through the bottom as well. We made the decision to move the blind away from the cows. That decision paid off. The birds, all hens, came out and started angling away from us. Brent had to take the shot, because I had to move the mesh on the blind to allow Jarrod to film out the blind. Brent shot and missed. Hard to believe, I know. However, two of the hens stopped at the edge of the field and gave Brent one last opportunity. This time, he put one down.
We had a great time hunting this weekend. Derby City calls worked great. Brent did some fighting purrs and soft yelps that helped bring these birds in our direction. Great times with great friends. Jarrod, I really enjoyed hunting with you and look forward to more times in the field together. Brent, thanks for allowing me and Jarrod to hunt at your “Honey Hole”. Look forward to more hunts together in the near future. Congrats again on your bird, Mr. Two Shot Stoner.
Click on this link to watch the video, http://www.midwestwhitetail.com/gallery/72/media/2429/midwest-whitetails-latest-show.html.
Muhlenberg County Students Visit Derby City at NWTF Convention
Derby City recently sent some call building supplies to students at Muhlenberg County High School. Under the guidance of teacher Scott Cronin, these students have been busy building turkey calls since the beginning of February. Mr. Cronin, his fiancee Morgan, and all of his students came by and spent some time at our booth on Friday, Feb. 19th. Scott teaches a wildlife management class and always covers a unit on wild turkeys. He wanted to have his students build turkey calls, but needed some supplies to get started. Derby City was fortunate enough to be able to donate the materials to build these calls. We appreciated Scott, Morgan , and all of the students for coming by our booth. They are a great group of kids. We look forward to helping them again in the future.
