Inspiring the Whitetail Hunter

My goal is to inspire you to hunt harder and better and with a deeper respect and appreciation of the deer and the woods. I try to do it with timely discussions, personal perspectives and insights, big-buck photographs and interesting stories like the one I got from Jack Wade awhile back: 

Hello Mike: Your blog is a great source of excitement and inspiration, thanks for the hard work in keeping it going. I share a story about my biggest deer to date. The inspiration factor behind it made the difference.

My good friend Mike takes me to his club every year to hunt in the thick cover on the banks of the Mississippi. One December day  I hunted all morning in a cold, steady rain for as long as I could stand it. Saw a few doe and a scrub buck. I went in for lunch and to dry out.  When the rain slacked, everyone in camp that had slept in went to the woods. I got cozy and lazy and stayed in.

I got to chatting with some fellows and one was Nelson Cannon, who was featured on your blog on 1/22/08 with a big non-typical from Haywood County. He regaled Mike and me with the story of his big muzzleloader buck and it lit up the room with infectious excitement. I had gotten water logged and cold that morning, but by the time Nelson finished his tale, the fire in my belly was back.

I told myself I'll never get a chance like that if I let soggy gloves keep me in camp. I set out to a new stand site at 3:00 p.m. I had just climbed the ladder and was still getting settled when I saw antlers floating through the brush. Ten point! I made a good shot and had my biggest buck ever on the ground within 20 minutes of leaving the comfort of camp, all thanks to a good deer hunting story.

I had hunted for over 20 years without ever seeing a big deer in the woods. That gets to be discouraging. Thanks to some generous invitations to hunt some good places I have seen more antlers both in the woods and in the back of my truck in the last 5 years than in the 15 before. Nelson's story got me out of camp on that damp afternoon, but you can't always count on that. In my view, this is the true reason for your blog. It’s not just a kettle of buck fever to stir, it is a much-needed source of kindling to keep the fire going, to make a hunter get out and keep at it even if he is cold, soggy and disenchanted. Thanks for what you do.—Jack

Thanks man. BTW, Jack is still inspired, below is the buck he shot last month. comment