Spent my last two Sunday mornings on the river wading for some more spot and stalk carpin’.

August 22nd was rainy, but nice and warm so we hit the river anyway…”we’re here, we might as well try it”.

Although it was hard to see in the water and any disturbance on top, we did ok.
My friend Glen got one only staying about 1/2 hour…

I got one and my bud Tim got 3…

Last Sunday, Aug. 29th, , dawned absolutely beautiful…

This time it was just me and my bud Gary(Tim’s dad)…another good morning…

This coming weekend we’ll be camping, bowfishing, fishing, and shooting getting ready for the fall season…can’t wait!

Good Luck to all you guys out west that have seasons underway, or are about to open!!

In my last post I mentioned that my son and I were practicing hard in preparation for this shoot. It was an outstanding weekend! The weather, the people, and the shoot were all wonderful!

After not shooting his bow for a week(he was on vacation), he started out a little slow on Saturday and sat firmly in second place in the youth division.

Cade warming up Sunday morning…

I was out shooting all morning Sunday in my competition rounds. But while I was out, Cade did his shooting, and from what everyone and him told me, he’d shot really well and may have moved into first. The results were being tallied, but had yet to be posted.

Meanwhile I’d had one “bad round”, and ended up shooting for 3rd or 4th place in the recurve division with non other that Fred Eichler!

His wife, Michelle(CEO of Muzzy Corp. and the sponsor of the shoot for 29yrs.)had finally dragged him along with her to the shoot. Fred’s had been trying to come for years, but because of his busy guiding, hunting, and filming schedule, he could never get to NY for the shoot…but this year he did.
For those that have never been around Fred, he’s as “down to earth”, and “fun loving” as anyone you’ll ever meet…just a really “good dude”!

Getting ready to head out…

Some of the highlights of our round…

We went back and forth, him starting out strong.Then in the middle of the round, I came back and passed him…

Two pix that caught targets tumbling with the arrows in them…

Fred having some fun with my son…

Fred came back strong, and needed to knock down the last target to tie me and force a shoot off in….. “The Chair”!

He nailed it! It would come down to a shoot off in the chair! All shoot-off’s are decided in the chair which in in a spot where everyone gathers, so there’s always an audiance!

As we approached the The chair, we could see a big crowd already. the shootoff for 1st and 2nd had come down to the chair , they were tied 6-6 as well…we waited….

Then it was our turn. I won the coin toss and decided to shoot first.

I got lucky and drilled it on my first shot…

Fredthen, got his turn to tie, but pulled his shot a little left….what a fun round!

Right after the shoot-off Cade ran down to check out the posted results and came running up to me to let me know he’d come in 1st… how cool! I’m so proud of my little man.

Here’s a pic that Fred wanted us to take…Him 4th, Cade 1st, and me 3rd…good fun…

Cade getting his ribbon for 1st. Standing with Michelle Mussachia-Eichler, Fred’s wife, and the heart and soul of the Muzzy Stump Shoot…..
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This pretty much sums it up…

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The “Champ”…

Still having an awful lot of fun with the carp in a local river….

On this morning I’d already shot one fish and was working my way upstream when I saw this…

One was a giant!

Ended up with two carp…

Then later in the morning we had some fun getting ready for the Muzzy Stump Shoot(all traditional)..my son Cade(he loves his Sitka ball cap)…
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I like mine too…

This Saturday and Sunday is the Muzzy shoot, wish me luck!

The next morning,Cade joined us on the river. He ’s still on a quest for his his first fish. He had 5 shots, but didn’t connect…dang it! But one fish stayed around long enough for the “back-up shooter” to get a shot. I made good on the opportunity, then handed Cade my bow to fight and land it…

Good friend, and the guy who “showed me the ropes” about bowfishing this river, Gary K…

Then this past Friday, I had the river all to myself. I had two real good opportunities, and connected with both shots. I stingered them both and headed back out into the river.A half hour later, I hadn’t seen another fish so I returned to shore to get my fish. I was within 3 ft. of them when a “rock” moved. This guy was about to start on an easy meal!

He wasn’t happy that I’d ruined his breakfast plans!

The fish on the bottm in this picture, and in my left hand in the next picture is my biggest from this river this year…

Hopefully I’ll have some pix to share from the Muzzy shoot this weekend, I’m really looking forward to it!

Since Cade was having trouble getting the shoulder of the barbs on his arrows thru the scales of these tough fish, I “tweeked his points a bit giving them a little cutting edge to help the barb get thru…

The next fish he hit on this beautiful morning, was very solid hit, but ended with the line tangling around a rock and the fish pulling off. We’re getting closer all the time..

On this fish, I decided that we’d both shoot at it in case his arrow wasn’t in good enough, hoping my arrow would be in it in case so he could land it with my arrow. I shot on his release. Both arrows hit the water at about the same time…unfortunately it was only my arrow in the fish…but he did get to land it….

Another night of bowfishing with our friend Terry on his little boat proved to be a little slow because of the tide and muddy water. But again Cade got a good hit on a fish that tangled in some heavy vegetation. We did a little action though…

Earlier this week, I squeezed in a quick evening ‘chuck hunt…

That brings us to yesterday morning…. Cade decided to sleep in, so I hit the river at very first light with good friends Glen and Gary. We got in about an hour of bowfishing before the rain hit…

Gary, Glen, and myself…

Later in the day, the rain stopped and Cade and I hit a pond for a couple hours of froggin’ before dark….

A cool sneak, then shot…

Another good shot with his little longbow almost parallel to the ground…

Cade did a lot of the shooting and ended up with 8 big frogs, we shot 12 all together on a very hot, humid evening…

Anybody with young kids eager to get out there and do some “hunting”. Find a pond with some frogs, get a whole bunch of arrows, and let them have a blast! You’ll end up with some fine table fare as well…

Don’t let summer be a slow time just waiting for fall to get here, get out and get after some fish and frogs!

I say “we’ve” because for the last month or so it’s been all about getting my son Cade more involved in what I do. Not just tagging along like he has been for a couple years now, but getting to carry his bow and shoot some arrows with a purpose!

I’ve been holding him back from bowfishing because I didn’t think his equipment was “strong enough” to get an arrow enough into a fish to land.

Well I couldn’t hold him back any longer, and at the end of June, we started a quest to get him a fish or two.

Cade’s “almost first shot”…

His very first time out, and very first shot ever at a carp…

Almost!!!!

The next adventure was an invite from a good friend to bowfish on an awesome boat, the “Carp-ageddon”!

Getting ready to shove off…

We had a great time and he hit several fish, but just didn’t get the barb in far enough and just came up with scales more than once…

I managed to make good on a few…

Cade and our host, Terry Receveur…

Me and Terry with one of his fish…

Terry’s son Tyler and myself with a couple…

A great experience for both of us and certainly a night either of us will ever forget…

Still no fish landed for Cade, but now I knew I definitely needed to “tweek” his equipment a little before next time…

Next up would be some froggin’. First time I’ve ever done it with a bow, and certainly his first time as well.

Cade’s first ever “bowkill”…

He didn’t stop there…

He did most of the shooting, but I did get in a few shots myself. With one strike against me, I made good on the second swing…

Check out Cade’s stalk and his last shot of the evening…

He ended up with 6 when the smoke cleared…

Nine all together…

Another awesome experience for both of us…my boys first bowkill!!!

To be continued…

Sharing it with the man who ignited the fire in me, and the little man I’m now passing it on to at a local 3D shoot.

Three generations…

Dad…

Cade…

The 2 most important men in my life…

Joining us were good friends Glen, his son Gregg, and his son-in-law Brian…

Last shot of the day, the steel deer target. Always a test of one’s confidence…
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Happy Fathers Day!

Now that turkey season is over, and not quite time for the trail cams, it’s time to hit the river for some fun!

First fish of the year...

Reelin' him in!

My favorite 'fishing head, Muzzy carp point...

Next target spotted...

The result of the stalk...

My 58″ Bear Grizzly with an AMS Retriever…

These fish can be real spooky and require every bit of "stealth" one can muster at times. Just like stalking critters on land, some situations are easier than others. Great fun!

I wasn't the only one enjoying the river this morning...

Spot and stalk bowfishing, not a better way to spend the first couple hours of a late spring morning...

The first of hopefully a lot of "hunts" on the river!

This one is a long time coming…four hunts over three seasons and “we” finally got it done!

Before daybreak we were set-up in my Double Bull Darkhorse on 4 big longbeards that I’d roosted Saturday evening. I was very confident that we’d be “knee deep” in gobblers soon after fly down. Not to be!

The one hen that was roosted right with them took them all away from me. I couldn’t believe it!

But I could hear birds gobbling in the distance in another part of the orchard, we packed up, and where off to find a more willing participant.

A short time later we where set-up about 150 yds. away from a hard gobbling, lonely sounding gobbler.

Some calling back and forth and soon we could tell he had crossed the creek and was on his way!

Five minutes later I could see him. I purred lightly to pull him in a little further so he could see the decoys. There was no doubt when he did, he blew into strutt, and started right toward “Floyd”, my strutting jake decoy!

As he walked behind “Floyd”, quartering away at about 12yds., the arrow, tipped with a Snuffer 160, from my #58 Kempf Kwyk Styk “Cy” hit him perfect!

He cartwheeled for about 15yds. and in seconds was still….”we’d” finally accomplished something very, very special! A successful hunt shared by a Father and his son!

Approaching “our” fallen foe…

They sure don’t go far when hit just right…

My 9 yr. old son Cade….

A long overdue picture, what an awesome feeling!

A heavy load! Yes, he’s wearing one of my Core tops…

He was a beautiful 2 yr. old gobbler with 7/8″ spurs, and an 8 1/2″ beard…

I’m still at a lose for words to describe how much this hunt means to me….

The scouting pays off quickly! My best friends boy, my god son Matt got his first Gobbler this morning, the opener of our special youth hunt weekend.

Very short, but very intense hunt! Shortly after fly down we had turkeys in front, behind, and both left and right of us. My bud Tom and Matt(12 yr. old shooter) were about ten yards to my right, and with me, on one side was my 9yr. old son Cade, and on the other side of me was Tom’s other boy, 9 yr. old Will.

A hen and gobbler crossed a stone wall not 4 yds. from Matt and Tom heading for the decoys! Matt held solid as a rock and waited for the big gobbler to get to the strutting jake decoy. But the hen he was following turned away from the decoy at about 15yds and the gobbler followed within second and started to walk off.

I clucked a couple times to try to stop him, but as I was doing that, Matt was adjusting his gun to get on the departing bird….he saw him move and started to “get a little pep in his step”. I thought the jig was up and he wasn’t gonna shoot as the bird was walking too quick for him.

Then at about 30yds, came the startling report of his little 20 gauge ! Gobbler down, and what a gobbler he was! We’d later measure his beard at 9 3/4″, spurs at 1 1/4″, and weighed him in at 21 1/4#! First turkey, first time ever hunting, half hour hunt!

Lt to rt in pic….My son Cade(wearing one of my Sitka shirts and hat), Me(wearing 90%), Will, Tom, and Matt…

Same exact tree his father Tom was sitting against last year when me and another friend called a gobbler in for him in a downpour last spring. Another great thing about the hunt was that everyone was in a position to see the whole hunt develop and end! What a show!!!

This was a great trip and an all time thrill for me to share a camp with Gene and Barry Wensel. The weather crippled us right off the bat with a ton of rain. It made a lot of the roads impassable, so access to some of our area was all but impossible. Then on day four, we got 4 inches of snow dumped on us! Yes…In Texas!!!!

Never released an arrow, but got real close one afternoon. Wasn’t meant to be for me on this trip. But still an awesome time with even better people!

The ranch was enormous and beautiful…

A giant boar we saw from the road on day one…

Sheds were all over the place…

We found these one day…

Common sign…we saw some very big boars…

Sunset…

Then came the snow….

A reminder we were still in Texas…

Hunting partners, Don and Skyler Wilson from AL…I hunted this day,all day, in wet snow and light rain in my 90% jacket and pants. No moisture reached my Traverse layers underneath…most excellent!

Same area as first picture…

Ouch!

A lot of time behind the Leica’s…

A picture I’ll treasure…Barry and Gene…