The whitetail rut this year has been what I would consider a trickle rut. Some days it’s intense, while other days are so subdued that it seems more like early season hunting. A warmer than normal November in the mid-west along with a ton of standing corn has left a lot of hunters wondering when they’re going to witness the intensity we all wait to see each fall. With that being said, I personally think the second estrus in mid-December may be the best time to kill a big buck this year…but fortunately I won’t have to worry about it, at least in Missouri.
On a hunt that started just over a month ago, I returned back to the headquarters of Hazel Creek with cameraman Jeff Schuster and five days to lay down a mature northern MO whitetail for the sophomore release of the Bringin’ it Home DVD Series. Cally and Annetta have definitely become good friends through almost three years of production work on multiple projects. They were kind enough to open their doors to the Rack Focus crew this year and give me an opportunity to hunt on some of the best ground I’d ever seen.
What was somewhat odd about getting up on stand was the fact that we had seen so many critters fall on this very ground while we worked on Volume One of the series. It would be like watching the Yankees on TV your entire life and then going to a game and having the opportunity to take batting practice on the hallowed ground you’ve seen all of the Yankee legends play. It was pretty cool to say the least.
I had been waiting very patiently for Cally to connect on an Iowa buck before he gave us the green light to come down…did I mention I was waiting very patiently yet? Well, the call came through on Sunday that he had finally shot a giant mid-150’s 8 point and our hunt would begin on Monday evening.
When we arrived, we took a look at some of the recent trail camera pics and identified a few of the young deer we wanted to let walk, we then got our gear together, jumped on the Hunt-V and headed to the field, it was just that easy.
Over the first few days we had several encounters with some great young deer, one encounter with a five year old mid-150’s 10 point that I called in twice off a hot doe with a tending grunt and a snort-wheeze. He came in to 53 yards and gave us a show, making a scrape and working over some small trees, just looking for his opponent. If we had one of Cally’s full-body decoys it would have been all but over. I thought he would come closer but he decided to go after his woman. I would second-guess not letting one fly at fifty…until the Hazel Creek Club decided to make an appearance on the night of day four.
On an overcast evening, Jeff and I got on stand by about 2pm after a long morning sit. We both had a great feeling about this stand, the wind was perfect and we had a bean field that was the main attraction for a lot of Booners over the years. After a few establishing shots and only 25 minutes on stand…we saw him. From the five minutes we had him in the zone, he was working over trees the entire time. I came to full draw and let down twice with number three sealing his fate. He was a buck we knew well and had identified as an old buck we wanted to take if we could. He had a right side of over 60 inches, but his left was nothing but a beam that split and a kicked back brow tine. He was a really unique buck that stuck out as soon as we saw him.
The shot was true, with the Maniac Expandable blowing out both lungs at 18 yards. He jumped a 25-foot section of the creek in one bound and crashed nose first in the bean field. The footage was phenomenal and we had our Missouri buck expired 80 yards away in the beans. I can’t thank Cally and Annetta enough for giving me a chance to come down and hunt the ground they put so much sweat into every year. I also want to thank Jeff for laying down on video one of my most memorable hunts to date, great job! I’m looking forward to many more great times with the Hazel Creek crew in years to come.
On the first evening, the Warrior crew split up into two-man teams, one would hunt and the other would run the camera. The goal for that night was to tell a story through the lens, no matter how much activity went on during the hunt. So much of the story-line happens outside of the hunting realm, so each group went out and created their own story. When each group returned, there were two shooter bucks captured on video and a few pretty darned good story-lines. We then reviewed and critiqued each group’s footage so they could build on something the next day.
On day two we compared about eight different tree-arms to help determine what manufacturer created the best one for the money and which was best overall. We also shot interviews and went through lighting schemes to really show the Warrior crew how to get the most out of locations and subjects visually. The guys then wrapped up the day with another hunt on some of the best ground the great state of Illinois has to offer.
There are certain projects that, as a company, you feel very close to. Over the last two and a half years we’ve seen Team Hazel Creek blossom from what was originally just a leader (Cally Morris) with an unrelenting goal to be the best they could be, to now a proven Producer and personality in the outdoor industry that should be taken very seriously. Cally has definitely been the driving force that has lead Hazel Creek’s “Bringin’ it Home” DVD Series to become what it is today. With the help of his wife Annetta, Field Producer Jessie Klauser, Rack Focus editor Al Pope and the rest of the team here at The Post, we feel we have a product that is on the verge of literally blowing up, it’s just a matter of how big.
Overall, it was a great chance for all us to get together and celebrate all of the hard work that went into making “Bringin’ it Home” Vol. 1 a huge success and a look forward to all of the new creative elements and story-lines Vol. 2 and Vol. 3 will offer up next year. From the entire Rack Focus Crew, we want to thank Cally, Annetta and Team Hazel Creek for making our weekend in Northern Missouri one we won’t forget. 
The next morning met us with some rain, but the pigs were really moving. We let the Howa speak and downed two hogs on an old logging road. After two short recoveries, we called Pig’s Dad, Tom or “Dapper” as everyone calls him, to come help load the pigs and engage in some father-son banter. Dapper didn’t disappoint and provided some great made for TV moments.
Four years now Al and I have been collecting points for Michigan bear tags and we decided this was the year to put them to use. We were hosted by Al’s parents at their cabin in the western upper peninsula. As the winner of the bear hunter biathlon I was granted the chance to hunt first. The bear action was pretty hot and I made short work of a 200 lb bear on the second afternoon of our hunt. Unfortunately, things took a turn for the worse and Al didn’t get a chance to use his tag, but season is open until late October and a return trip is already in the works.
A proud new partner to Rack Focus Post is The Wildlife Research Center. Recently we visited the WRC Television Prostaff at The Wildlife Research Center Roundtable Meeting held at Valhalla in Grayling, headed by Ron Bice. WRC will be launching a new ad campaign starting in January that will feature a series of commercials we shot during day two of the Roundtable three-day meetings.
We are very happy to announce the addition of a new partnership between Rack Focus and Livin’ the Hunt TV. After several months of talks with Executive Producer Shane Ellison, I believe that LTH will be a great Series that offers a ton of high-end field production techniques, great storytelling, unmatched Big Game hunting with a great message.
Whenever we get a chance to get out of the editing bays during the third quarter and grab the HD cameras, we jump at it. For the BackCountry Quest Television Series we have had five different interview shoots for the individual episodes. As we have gotten later in the production season and more comfortable with the layout of the shows, the interviews have gone a little smoother each time. Our shoot location for all of the interviews is the “Locker Room” at the BCQ Headquarters in Grayling, MI. The Locker Room is comprised of more gear than your local sporting goods shop. The Keefer boys have accumulated quite the assortment of sponsor goods for all times of the hunting season. We use current sponsor product in the background during the interviews to give sponsors more value to their investment in the show. Every little bit helps and gives BCQ an advantage over their competition. Here are a few pics from the last two shoots.
Well, we decided this year to enter into the Communicator Awards, to “diversify our portfolio” if you will. After winning four Telly Awards last year, we just learned we have taken home three Communicators. Two of the Awards were for our recent Hazel Creek project. We received an Award of Excellence for the hazelcrek.com website and an Award of Distinction for The Hazel Creek “Bringin’ it Home” DVD Series. We also received The Award of Distinction for our work on the 2008 “Heartland Bowhunter TV” Series. We are very proud of what we have accomplished here at The Post and appreciate all of the creative opportunities we get each year from our production partners.
