Deadly Combination

Well turkey season is getting closer and I felt the push to get everything in order. Most importantly making sure my equipment is dead on. We all hear it all the time you owe it to the animal this is very true but you also owe it to yourself, no one goes hunting and expects to miss, we have all done it but that doesn't mean we like it. I just received my 2009 Quest HPS( high performance solocam) man this bow is going to be a killer. I had them paint it all black for one reason because it looks cool, I have killed tons of animals with a camo bow now I am going to try it with a black one. I have nicknamed my bow Black Death. I am also shooting the new Duravane Fusions these little buggers are flying awesome. I am getting solid groups as far as I can shoot with field tips and broadheads. Put some Montec cs on the ends of my arrows and I have a feeling I am going to be deep frying some turkey before I know it.

Dads turkey hunting season

Hunting turkeys is somewhat of a new thing for our family, we have been able to hunt them for the past 8 years in our area so in the spectrum of things I would not consider us to be experts by any means. My Dad ( Kurt) has had really good luck racking up 6 birds in Seven years of hunting them. Those are great odds considering the first few years we had a very small population of turkeys. Dad has opted to use a muzzle loading shotgun the last 6 years and I don't believe he will ever go back to a modern shotgun. This season dad and my grandpa (Andy) hunted hard but when the weather doesn't cooperate usually the turkeys don't either. They did manage to call a few birds up but they just wouldn't come out of the brush which happens a lot when you are hunting turkeys in the woods instead of on field edges. My one day off for the week happened to be during dads season so we made an attempt to fill that tag, I called two beautiful toms in but again they just wouldn't come out of the brush Dad did take a shot but I think that a sapling took most of the Beebe's and not the turkey. I would have most definitely also taken the shot. Even though dad didn't get one, there is something about hunting turkeys that drives me crazy, and being able to share it with family makes it even better.

Side note: Dad was able to capitalize on a coyote that thought he was going to have an easy meal of our Montana Decoys.

Work Work Work

Man its been hectic around the Oravetz household, I am currently working a Refuel Outage at the Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant which keeps me more than busy. Ashley definitely doesn't have any spare time either working a full time job and taking care of Miley, who just celebrated her 1st birthday on sunday is by far not a relaxing duty. With all of that going on I haven't had much time to get in the woods, we have been getting hit with snow and cold for the last 5 months but I think we are finally going to start warming up a bit. I have seen a few birds strutting so that gets me all giddy inside, I have a while yet before my season but it will be here before I know it. Good luck to everyone chasing the thunder chicken this spring.

What's Your Goal

I hate this time of year, we are still a long ways from deer season and I personally have a good 2 1/2 months until turkey season. Sure we go out and look for sheds but we just got another 4 inches of snow on Saturday and we have a chance for a good amount on Thursday so it will be a while until I really hit the trails. This is the time of the year we should all be sitting down and writing out our goals for the next season. Being involved with sports most of my youth I was taught to always have a goal for the season, this follows so true with hunting. Now when setting your goals we have to be realistic, not that there is anything wrong with dreaming, life wouldn't be near as fun if we all couldn't dream a little. But setting obtainable goals is very important because we don't want to set ourselves up for failure. If you have never harvested a deer with a bow obviously you wouldn't set your goal at shooting a 150 inch animal. I think you get the picture. I myself will be heading to the Badlands the first week of September chasing Mulies and Whitetails, my goal right now is to get into better shape and shoot everyday. The shooting is no problem I already shoot at least 15-20 arrows a night in the basement and once it gets nice out I will really do some yard work. The working out part is the tough one working long hours and having a little one running around it can be tough, but it has to be done. I was able to talk with Cameron Hanes a little at the ATA this past winter and this man is hardcore. He is a very intense individual and takes everything to the extreme, he is a great guy to talk to. He wrote a book called The Back Country Bowhunter it is a must read for anyone who wants to take hunting to the next level.

Scouting 09

Well the weather finally broke for us here in the Midwest, it has been a balmy mid 20's to lower 30's for the better part of the week which feels great after being bombarded by sub zero weather for what seems like forever. Eric and I were itching to get out and look for some antlers and check to see where the deer have been hiding. I was actually pretty surprised I thought that we were going to find a "yarded up" area where all the deer had been hanging out because of the large amount of snow and cold weather but it seems that the deer did just fine. I t was definitely still hard getting around if you got off the trails. I think we are going to resume searching after we get a good thaw and lose the majority of the snow. I was able to find the remains of a 3.5 year old, man i would have liked to see what this guy could have turned into. This is just part of being a wild animal. I don't think people understand how hard these bucks run themselves down during the rut, it takes a lot to get back in condition for a long winter and unfortunately this one didn't make it. I am thankful though that I was able to find him, I haven't seen this deer before but I heard about a nice 10 point living in the area where I found him it most definitely could be him.

Ice Fishing

Well there isn't a whole lot to do in central MN in the depths of winter except to go find some frozen water and drop a line or two. I haven't been fishing near as much as usual this winter probably due to the fact that it has been extremely cold. In sub zero temps the fish don't even like to bite to much. The times I have been out we catch some fish but nothing super. It still doesn't matter though it is just fun getting on the lake and enjoying company with your friends. I enjoy talking about the past hunting seasons and what went right and what went wrong. Trying to figure out where we should put in food plots in the spring and all of that good stuff. Hopefully we get some type of warm up and it cranks the fish up a bit. I will keep trying till the ice go's out.

ATA 09

Man where does the time go? I swear that I was just writing my very first post on blogger called ATA 08. Well lets just say things are looking good in the archery world. Working the G5 and Quest booth doesn't give a guy much time to walk around, which is a good thing or I have a feeling my wallet would be even thinner than it is. I shot a few new bows on the market and depending on what your looking for I do believe there is something for everybody. I met a ton of cool new people and caught up with a few guys and gals I don't get a chance to talk to on a regular basis. G5's booth was rockin all week long right along with the quest booth. I have to say that quests new bow line says bow hunter all over it. Even the Bone Collectors themselves swung by the booth a few times and brought along a buddy by the name of Blake Shelton. I have to say that Blake is about as down to earth as they come and has no problem talking hunting. If you have not seen the new Bone Collectors TV show you better get on the bus because it is what hunting is all about. You can check the times on http://www.michaelwaddell.com/ . Be sure to check out all the new G5 products at your local archery shop also. I love the ATA but hate it at the same time, every year afterwards I just get jacked right back up for the hunting season when I know I have a few months before old tom turkey will start gobbling again. I have a feeling that I am going to be making a trip south after some long beards one of these years.