Nick checks in at Hazel Creek Taxidermy to see the progress on building the base for his Russian Brown Bear

Day Two

This past December I returned with cameraman Tyler Viars to the Navajo Nation to fill my coveted Mule deer tag. After hunting for a few days in September before the Navajo youth hunt, with no luck, I had a good feeling that this trip would be different. The first day, we hiked about 7 miles through near knee-deep snow. We saw lots of deer and a few nice bucks, but none proved to be big enough for my trusty Remington 300 Ultra-Mag. I did see a buck that was a big 3x4 that was 34 inches wide but he was 8oo yards away, and no chance for a shot.

On day 2 we spotted a high deep forked 4x4 with brows that I was going to shoot, but I couldn't get lined up with Tyler and he gave us the slip in the thick Junipers. We found him again that evening at the top of the mountain and watched as he made his way down to the meadow we were sitting above. I just knew he would come close enough for a shot, when he laid down under a tree for a few minutes, only to get up and head right back to the top and hang with a single doe. Darkness fell and we headed out, hoping to find him again in the morning.

Day 3 was the last day to hunt, I missed a whole day at the beginning of the hunt because my luggage didn't make the connection in Denver. We had a few hours to get it done, we were slated to fly out at 3:00pm and we were under the gun! My guide Ferlin Begaye, Tyler and I posted up on the ridge where we had spotted the buck the night before and as soon as the sun ws up we spotted him in the exact spot we left him the night before. We decided to climb the mountain to give him a try. First we watched him top out and go over the horizon and headed to the exact spot. There they were 40 yards below. The does spooked and scattered on the steep knee-deep snow covered slope. They slowly picked their wayalong the ridge away from us. We backed off of the rimrock and circled to get ahead of them. When I peeked over the 4x4 was 50 yards below! We waited for him to begin moving and we got into position. I laid down on the rimrock as Tyler found the fleeing deer through the junipers and boulders. It was tough going for the deer, knee deep snow and very steep! The Buck was bouncing up the hill and came into a snowy opening at 140 yards and I asked Tyler if he was on him and he was. I looked through my scope as the buck came to a stop. Behind him I could see a fawn coming fast and I knew I had to kill him before she blocked him. I shot as the fawn was coming up and he dropped like a ton of doodoo!!

We made our way down through a crevice in the rimrock and picked our way through the rugged terrain. He was a beauty! Tall and deep forked with good mass. This was the most beautiful place I have ever shot a deer!! Red canyons and junipers and very rugged, with knee deep snow! We deboned the meat, loaded up the head on my pack and trudged up to the top, it was not easy! Be sure to check out this hunt on Season 2 starting in January.

A very special thanks to my good friends at the Navajo Nation, my Guide Ferlin and my trusty health nut cameraman, Tyler "Squeedunk" Viars, who did a great job!

Bows, bass, Bone Collectors and retrieving dogs are in the spotlight as the new Cleveland Outdoor Adventure Show makes its debut Thursday through Sunday at the I-X Center in Cleveland.

The Bone Collectors are Travis “T-Bone” Turner and Nick Mundt, co-hosts of Michael Waddell’s Bone Collector television series on the Outdoor Channel, one of the most popular hunting TV shows around. Both are outdoor characters, long-time hunters and veterans of filming outdoor adventures.

“It sounds like the perfect lifestyle, getting to hunt as much as we do, but it’s also a lot of work,” said Mundt, 37. “We’ve been home for just eight days since Dec. 27. We appear at a lot of shows in the winter, hunt plenty of turkeys in the spring, and are busiest in fall and early winter when we’re hunting and filming big game animals.”

The men are talented hunters, bagging lots of deer and other game over the years with bow, rifle, shotgun and video camera. Travis “T-Bone” Turner was born in Dayton, Ohio, and his family moved to Georgia when he was a youngster. He has outstanding bowhunting credentials, winning the 1991 ASA 3-D Archery World Championship and is a four-time Georgia State Champion.

The TV hunting stars have become heroes to a lot of young hunters. Turner and Mundt have been one of the most popular additions to the Erie, Pa. and Buffalo outdoors shows produced by Erie Promotions & Expos, which is making its debut as producer of the Cleveland outdoor show at the I-X Center.

Turner’s face is familiar to bowhunters, especially now that’s featured in tree stands and ground blinds around the country on the Bone Collector series. He began his outdoor career as a videographer. His first major effort on the other side of the camera was a decade ago in the Incomplete Deer Hunter, a trio of films featuring comedian Jeff Foxworthy.

Mundt and Turner have traveled the world to both film and appear in hunting adventures. They still enjoy appearing at outdoor shows around the country.

“We like meeting hunters, and enjoy sharing our experiences,” said Mundt. “We’re good, old country boys at heart. We’re the meat and potatoes guys whose favorite place is still a hunt camp. We’re the guys who are up for most any kind of adventure. That’s the message we want to share in our seminars, “Calling The Brotherhood.”

Both have a list of heroes that includes famed hunter Randy Ulmer and Waddell, the star of the Bone Collectors, and some old-timers such as the late Fred Bear and Chuck Adams.

They’ll be on stage all four days of the show, and appear at their exhibit.

The family entertainment at the show ranges from Tad Bowen and his Frisbee dogs, Bawana Jim’s Wildlife Show and the kid’s fishing pond. The trout pond is a free angling experience this year the first time a youngster from 3 to 10 years of age tries to hook a trout.

Cleveland Browns offensive lineman Joe Thomas, an avid angler and hunter, is appearing Sunday at the kids’ trout pond from noon-2:30 p.m.

The bow folks at the show include noted exhibition archer Randy Oitker, who can shoot four arrows at the same time and drill candy Life Savers that are 16 inches apart. The Bowtech Interactive Archery Trailer is on hand. Top area target archers are competing in an IBO Shoot hosted by the Parma Archery Club on Thursday through Saturday.

Well-known retriever trainer Jim Beverly of Oakfield, N.Y. will have a lifetime of dog training advice to share. He’ll also wear a judge’s hat for the unique Companion Retriever Hunting Challenge, an amateurs-only test he developed that is held at noon on March 21 for local sportsmen and their dogs. The competition has two levels, and only six dogs will be entered in each class. There is a $20 fee. For information and entry forms visit retrievertrainer.com.

This is the biggest buck I have ever seen period! This monster was killed by Brian Stephens in Ohio, using at T/C muzzleloader. His beams are the longest and second longest ever on record and if you net his 4x4 frame it would score 211! just 2 3/8" under the World Record Typical Milo Hanson buck that is a 6x6 at 213 5/8. T-Bone, Kenneth and I had the pleasure of checking out the buck after hunting in Ohio this fall. The field photos don't do him justice, so take a look at the photos from our visit and you will see just how big he really is. Thanks to Mr. Stephens for allowing us to film his Super Giant and to Mr. Busse for the tour of his Studio! We were all in awe of the sheer size of this once in a lifetime buck.  I will say, although I'm jealous as heck, I am glad a nice guy like Mr. Stephens got to put his tag on this deer! Congrats to Brian for the biggest thing I have ever seen!!!! For the complete story, check out www.stephensbuck.com.   Unbelievable!!!

It was my 3rd trip to Americas top Corn and Big Buck proucing state, Iowa. After 2 unsuccessful trips loaded with big buck encounters, my girlfriend and camera-girl Arika Sanders headed to Iowa to ransack Kisky farms and try to lay a meat missile into one of their giants grown with love! I had also been hunting a few farms that were for sale with Gabe Adair, from Whitetail Properties, and was skipping around on farms, depending on the prevailing winds. I had gotten some cool trail cam video on my Bushnell trail scout of a big one I was hunting on a piece of Gabe's and had a few encounters with him, but the wind never got right to hunt the farm again.

Our first evening back, November 24, was spent in a blind on a cut corn field at the Kisky's. There was little action and the sun went down with only a few young deer entering the field. The next morning we headed for a tree high on a heavily timbered ridge 500 yards above a corn filed. I hunted this stand in late October and had an exciting morning, rattling in 5 different bucks including a 6 year old brute with a broken front shoulder that had been broken since he was a 2 year old. I was going to shoot him but there were too many twigs in the way and he winded us at the last moment.

We made our way to the stands 45 minutes before shooting light and would be set up in two separate trees. I climbed up Arika's tree and got the camera equipment set, then climbed down, sent her up and got in my own perch. As the sun rose, the woods were quiet and no deer seemed to be moving. Much different than my first sit on the ridge. After an hour and a half I decided to try a doe bleat on my Flextone Buck Collector call. Within seconds I saw a deer fleeing the scene. I didn't realize but Arika was filming a mature 8pt behind her and I though she was just getting scenic’s and pan shots. As we talked over the situation I looked down the draw and saw a brute headed right to our stands! At first she couldn't see the buck but I told her to keep watching cause he was closing fast. Finally she spotted him and zoomed in. The buck was headed straight from the base of her stand and was about to go under it. I could see she was going to get bound up so I stopped the buck and sent a G5 Tekkan on a Beman Bone Collector arrow through his boiler room. The buck jumped and ran 20 yards and stopped, looking straight at the camera. Arika slowly pushed back to the buck as he began to sway, looking like he was about to fall. In the meantime, I grabbed another arrow and got hooked up. The buck was quartering severely left, I put my 20 yd pin in front of his hip and the Tekkan ripped completely through him and came out his right shoulder. He went 40 yards and tipped over!!! He is a 4 year old buck, one Don had trail cam photos of this year and encounters with the year before.

It was a real treat to spend time hunting at the Kisky's. Don has been someone I have envied as a deer hunter for 20 years! It was very special to share the recovery with He and Kandi and these are memories I won't ever forget. Thanks to Don and Kandi for letting me kill one of the many monsters that roam their farms and thanks to their son Kaleb for showing me up as the biggest moron in camp!!! Thanks Kaleb!!! Check this show out on Season 2 it will be action packed!!! Bone Killed one too, but he will have to tell you about it, cause my fingers are tired!!!!!!!!

 From Vatoville we traveled North To Visit my good friends at Concho Valley Outfitters. Scott Halls owns the operation and it's loaded with great bucks and great numbers of deer. Scott feeds his herd literally tons of high protein feed and his deer are in the best of shape! It didn’t take long and we were laying out big bucks on the Texas turf! Pitts killed a great 135 inch 8, T-Bone smoked a huge bodied 10 that scored 142 and I killed a great 11 point that scored 145! Just minutes after shooting my buck at 22 yards with the new Bone Collector arrow, tipped with a G5 meat missile, my Girlfriend Arika, was able to kill a huge 6 pt that was around 7 years old. It was a great week and the time flew by, now all we can do is wait to head to the Lone Star state next year, I always look forward to that!!!! 

Concho Valley Outfitters

From October 13 to the 20 T-bone and myself traveled to San Angelo TX to hunt at Vatoville, we hosted Joel Harris from G5 as well as the G5 hunter winner Randy Dyer and his wife Sheila. My girlfriend Arika Sanders and Greg Thompson were behind the cameras and Michael "Channel Cat" Pitts tagged along to take in the Texas deer management fiesta! Everyone had a good time and we whacked 28 deer in 3 days!

Joel was able to take a great 9 point and an old cull buck, T and myself each shot old pig headed cull bucks. It was a great getaway and always good to meet up with the Anderson's who are the greatest hosts! Thanks to Steve and Michele for their friendship and also to Billy Bob "Bunk" Galbreath for his hard work and dedication to blood trails!

Concho Valley Outfitters