John Dudley

Quick Stats:
Specialty: Big Game Bowhunting
Hometown: Sparta, Wisconsin
Greatest Love: My favorite animals to hunt are whitetails during the rut, I also specialize in open country spot and stalk for western game.

Favorite UA Gear:
UA Hoodie, Denison Rainwear, Capture, Base Layer 3.0, Derecho

>> Shop all of his favorite gear

Getting to know him

John Dudley started hunting at the age of ten in his childhood state of Mississippi. He was raised to be a passionate deer and turkey hunter and later began harvesting larger game animals. John eventually made his first TV presence on TNN in the late 90’s and has since teamed with close friend to form a cutting edge hunting project called DD Bowhunting.

Outside of hunting John has been shooting professionally since 1997 and has competed in over 140 Professional events Worldwide. He has successfully competed in 3D, field, indoor and outdoor target archery. John is a former member of the US Archery team and has won numerous International medals for US Archery. Besides hunting and competing John is also involved daily with Archery and the Outdoors. John currently travels the globe conducting educational compound archery training seminars for retailers, clubs and National teams. He is also an International public relations and sales/ marketing manager for several archery manufacturers in the U.S. John continues to share his archery knowledge as a respected outdoor and technical writer for multiple publications throughout the World.


Recent Professional Accomplishments
- US Open Gold Medal Team
- British National Indoor Champion
- Australian Field Championship Gold Medalist
- US World Games Team Member
- Fita Marked Field Record Holder 360-62X
- APA Rookie of the Year
- IBO National Champion
- NABH National Champion
- AZ International Gold Medalist
- European Grand Prix Gold Medalist
- World Field Championship Sweden Bronze Medalist
- World Field Championship Croatia Silver Medalist
- Arnold Classic Champion
- US Open Silver Medalist
- 45 Career Top 3 Professional finishes

THE LATEST FROM JOHN

• December 21, 2009

  Unda Arma GERMAN STYLE!

  Posted: John Dudley

  

  Last time I posted I had said I was off to Europe to start doing some work again after the hunting season. Although I am a diehard hunter I make my living representing archery internationally. As some of you may well know I have shot competitively for most of my life and although I have somewhat retired from shooting professionally now I am still neck deep into it. I usually spend the non hunting months traveling the globe working with Shops, Clubs and School helping build archery. Above and beyond that I spend a lot of time contracted to work with National and Olympic level athletes and coaches. At times this schedule can get seriously busy and mentally draining. To be honest most of my salvation comes when I can find a gym or place I can get a workout in. No matter where I am I make sure to find a place and get it done. I speak for many of the UA Outdoor Athletes when I say that fitness is my LIFESTYLE it’s NOT just a thing I do when an elk hunt is coming up or a New Years Resolution. It is part of my life. Personally, I don’t feel complete when I eat like crap and start to look like crap, if I do that a few days it is enough for me. I have found that regardless of what I have to do in everyday life, I HAVE TO INCLUDE FITNESS in my daily routine. This past trip to Germany I had a really cool Under Armour encounter when finding a workout and I thought it was worthy of a share.

  I was in route to a dealer and made a turn down a small road in a small German town when I saw a sign that I think said “Eignung-Mitte” with a picture of a barbell underneath. I think it means “Fitness Center” but regardless, the barbell told me all I needed to know. I went in to the gym and managed to do enough charades and hand gestures to let them know I wanted to get in a workout. The guy behind the counter was a really cool dude and had a really nice gym. I was the only person in there and throughout my entire workout this dude just stared at me non-stop. It was to the point where I was feeling a bit uncomfortable to be honest. Finally the guy got his nerves up to come over and talk to me about what was on his mind. In his really broken English and Arnold Schwarzenegger voice he points at my cold gear collar and says

  “Unda Arma, COOL!”

  I laughed and gave him the thumbs up and say “Ya very COOL”. That kind of broke the ice and from then on he was talking to me about how cool America was and how much he liked fitness over here. He then went on to say that it was really hard to find Under Armour over there and that he has really been trying to find a shirt like the one I had on. Heck, it was hard to hear someone that desperate and not help him out. I literally gave him the shirt off my back! I apologized of course that it was a little sweaty, but he didn’t care at all. He put that sucker on right away and couldn’t stop shaking my hand. Hey, it’s a UA World and I am all about spreading the love. You never know where you will find a new friend or a new place to work out. I am sure if I ever pass through there again I will have a place to relieve some stress and push some weights around! Christmas is a few days away and I am going to enjoy every second with my family! I got them some new UA stuff under the tree and I know they will be pumped to open it. After Christmas I am heading to Mississippi to visit my mom and finish up on a bunch of writing I have coming due. Hopefully I will get in a hunt on the family place as well. Following that I have a big tour coming up in Europe after the ATA show. If any of you are reading from Europe be sure to stop in.

  Merry Christmas Everyone! 

  

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• November 23, 2009

  Three is a Charm!

  Posted: John Dudley

                 

  Wisconsin, Illinois and Kansas tags all checked in and zipped stripped to some horns I only had one tag left to fill. IOWA! Yes, it was a plateful and to be honest I wouldn’t have put in for all those tags had I known I would draw them all. Luckily I did though because Kansas ended fast and I was packed again and ready to hit the woods for more Ruttin’ bucks by November 16^th. Iowa is always a fun place for me because I stay there with some friends I have had a long time. Years ago I met them while doing some events for a Christian Youth Center and it’s just a friendly reunion each time. The terrain there is for the most part flat until you hit a certain part of the Des Moines River Bottoms and then it gets really thick and steep. I normally bounce around between some small private parcels where I have permission and the public land. It is a strange place to hunt the first time because you just don’t expect to see deer since it just looks like there isn’t any there. However, they are in there and although numbers are low in this area there are still good bucks to be taken. Last time I was there with my cameraman JJ and we filmed a cool hunt. He had the same first impression when we drove the area as I had my first time there. “Where are the deer?” he asked. “Don’t worry young grasshopper”, I replied. However, after that hunt was over JJ told me to make sure to let him know if I drew that tag again because this area is actually very fun to hunt. You can count on going days without seeing much but then all the sudden there is a great buck in shooting range. I sit all day here and sometimes with nasty conditions it tests a man. But that test has proven to be well worth making the commitment for. For the past 2 tags in Iowa I have shot my bucks at 11:13 am and 11:15 am. Mid day cruisers! Mentally you have to be prepared for an all day sit.

                  For this hunt I only have about 4 ½ hours to drive so the plan was to be at JJ’s at 1 am so we could pull right in to start hunting Monday morning. We had actually stopped by here on the way back from Kansas and hung a double set so that it would be ready for us first thing Monday morning. We pulled into the field at about 5 am and were pleasantly greeted with freshly picked corn. What a sight for sore eyes! In this area the timber is very small and many times you are hunting small oak flats that are only about 50 yards square atop the ravines of the River. With the corn being out, the small numbers of deer are concentrated into the timber so a hunter has a fighting chance. We climbed into the stands that we had hung and sat for the day. As I would expect it was somewhat slow. We saw one spike in the morning and then went the next 6 hours without seeing anything. As light was fading JJ said we won’t see anything else and I bet him on that. Actually I didn’t think we would but I bet him anyway. A few minutes later another small buck and a doe came walking along the edge of the corn. That reminds me that JJ owes me a fresh Ben Franklin for that bet.  

                  Day two was slow as well. We climbed into that stand to hunt the day. At about 1 o’clock I saw the wind was going to change into something that wasn’t in our favor at all so we got out. Just like in Kansas I had a few cameras out for me doing some homework. One camera showed a good buck working a scrape line along edge of a corn field. Also, about a mile away there was an area that I had hunted years ago that was perfect for that wind as well so we headed there to scout. This particular finger of timber is along the edge of a bean field and a lake. The timber strip is only about 70 yards across. The field edge and the lake are two natural barriers that funnel the deer through this timber strip. There were some great rubs in there and some very good traffic on the trails as well. We hung a set of Lone Wolfs on the west edge of the timber strip since the forecast was calling for an east wind the next day. We cleared a lane all the way across the strip so I had a 10 yard wide lane the entire width of the strip. The idea was to catch any deer passing through as soon as they hit the lane. Not the best concept for a camera but the best we could do with an east wind. There wasn’t any back cover for us in these trees but I figured the deer walking that thick brush would see us until it was too late.

  

           That night the wind was supposed to be out of the North so we couldn’t hunt there so we quickly went over to the corn field where I had the trail picture of the buck working the scrape.  Since this was a last minute, one time sit we threw up two stands on a point along the edge of the corn field. The wind was blowing a gail and I figured movement would be minimal. We sat the 3 hours we had left until dark and just as last light was fading an old monarch doe came into the field along with a younger doe. I waited and waited for a buck to come up behind them but I never saw one. Just as the final minutes of shooting closed to an end I decided to take that old doe. I got a buck tag and a doe tag there and I always like to fill all my tags. I let that Carbon Matrix eat one more time and the arrow flew perfectly and seconds later there was a crash. That doe, very well could be the biggest doe I have ever shot, good food and a smart one to eliminate from the herd. We loaded her onto the hitch hauler and took her in to camp. After that we headed into town to get a really poor plate of Bar B Q. No kidding, hog capital of the Midwest, and for 30$ I was expecting a lot more! JJ liked it, go figure!

  

                  The next day we took the stand along the lake and hunted for the day. Action was very slow until last hour. I was fighting a mind blowing Migraine and could barely stand being there until dark although there were a few doe and a smaller buck 50 yards out in the field feeding. I just sat with my head in my hands wishing it would be over. I had some pills in my pack that I never leave home without but they didn’t even knock a dent in this headache, I needed a shot! I got down as fast I could and went straight for the bed. JJ headed to town to get a Casey’s Pizza. For the next several hours I rolled around in the bed like a baby. All I could hear was the 1990’s turkey video’s that JJ had on the VCR outside my room. Yelp Yelp, Kee kee. Oh my god I wanted to shoot the TV myself! He finally heard enough for himself by 9 and went to sleep. The alarm went off at 430am and luckily I woke up feeling like a champ! We packed the badlands packs full of goodies for the day and headed back to the lake stands.

                  We climbed into our set and waited for the sun to rise. The wind was very light for the first time that week so I had high expectations. Just as the first bit of light hit the horizon I could make out some deer in the bean field. There were 5 doe out there milling around getting some early morning breakfast. I stood there watching them with my Bino’s when suddenly I saw a doe come running around a point with her mouth open. I scanned into the timber behind her and after a few minutes here pops out a nice buck. The buck looked like a true swamp monster with a dark hide and chocolate horns. I watched for over an hour as he pushed the doe all around that point. Eventually they bedded down on the edge of some thick scrub oak along the fence line. The wind at times was perfect but occasionally would swing towards them. For nearly 30 minutes I serious contemplated a stalk. The buck was in a perfect position for a stalk, but the wind was not steady enough. My mind was thinking, leave them and maybe they will come along this strip tonight or go kill that sucker. I debated and debated. Finally I was about to get down to go do the stalk when a heavy machinery convoy drove down the nearest road about ¾ mile away. The Buck stood and watched for 10 minutes as that convoy went through. I was kicking myself at that point because if I had even gotten close to the bucks location on a stalk I could have stood up and walked straight to him when his attention was focused so much on the equipment. After the last truck passed the buck walked into the scrub oak and jumped the doe, then he pushed her back into the timber about 300 yards south of us.

                  I was unhappy about not doing the stalk but still happy to have a hot doe in our timber. I told JJ today was the day. We sat and the clock ticked by… The magic number of 11am came and I told JJ that is when the magic normally happens. We waited and waited but nothing was happening. I reached into my pack to get a sip of Gatorade and looked towards JJ. Over his should I just did catch a glimpse of a dark body walking, nose to the ground, through our strip. I pointed and said “deer… right here!” and turned fast to grab my bow off the Ezy Hanger. By the time I was spinning back around the deer was popping into the small lane I had cleared across the timber strip. I saw good horns and jerked my bow back. I quickly guessed the range at 51 yards since he was next to a tree I knew the distance of. I made a quick grunt and he stopped and looked. I saw my 50 yard pin sitting on his elbow and the before I knew it, thwack! That arrow had done the double chicken wing on that sucker. He went like a wheelbarrow through the timber for about 60 yards and done. I turned to JJ and said “you didn’t get any of that, did you?” He replied, “Nope”! I laughed and said oh well that’s a sweet buck! He pointed to his watch and sure enough 11:30 am. Three times and running I got my buck when everyone else wants to be back at camp eating. MID DAY CRUISERS! Don’t ever get out early! Not in November.

  

  Mortgage Calculator

                 

  We climbed down and walked over to my buck, he was really knarly looking with some really long and curvy main beams. I total swamp monster and a perfect one to end the rut with. I got my doe and a sweet buck once again in Iowa. Man what a role and what a year it has been. I give a lot of credit to shooting a lot of arrows al year long and being ready for a shot at any moment. I also credit fitness and making workouts a part of my lifestyle. It helps one learn to endure and mentally helps build that confidence to stay in there when no one else wants to. I credit good scent prevention products like Dead Down Wind since I am always on the move and almost always have two people in my tree. I give credit to my Lone Wolf stands that let me be mobile and continue to close the gap between where I start my hunt and where I end the hunt. Finally I got to give props to good clothes. Obviously this is an Under Armour Nation and let me tell you without proper layering I wouldn’t be sitting like I do around the clock. I wouldn’t be able to jump down, rip out my sets and relocate to another location in an hour’s time without smelling like Bigfoot. Heat Gear, Cold Gear or Capture are with me every day I’m in the woods.

  Unfortunately for me target shooting season starts in a few weeks. I leave for England the day after Thanksgiving to start doing my thing in the European Target Scene. I actually have two tags still in my wallet. An Ohio tag which I plan to use in January and a Minnesota tag, which I will hunt on occasion when I’m not traveling next month.

  Thanks everyone for reading and hopefully you have had a great year as well, I’m off to England!

  

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• A Kansas Soap Opera

  Posted: John Dudley

  

  Free Laptops College Students

       

  I had a few days to unpack, wash, hang with my family and then head back out after the success in Illinois. Originally I had thought to head to Iowa but after talking to my contact there I was told not to come. The family I stay with had a wedding not to mention all the corn was still standing so that second so I knew it would be wise to delay that hunt another week. To be honest Kansas is a long story with me and definitely a drama story. Kansas has never been easy for me and it dates back several years so let me first go back to tell you a story before I continue with this years. Starting in 2001 I spent several years hunting daylight until dark in Kansas without any luck. Three strikes and I were out! It got to the point where I didn’t put in for a tag in the regular draw there anymore. That year a friend of mine invited me to hunt his place, however I didn’t apply for a tag so I had to jump hoops for a landowner permit. That was a story in itself but I eventually got one on EBay believe it or not. After finally getting that tag I drove to my buddies place only to find more drama. His place was actually a place of several guys and I was the low man on the totem pole. I was told that I was going to hunt whatever stand was left over after all the crew decided on where to go. It wasn’t the best of news to start a hunt that’s for sure. The first night I got sent to a spot no one had hunted, the stand was about 8 feet off the ground and totally grown into a thorny knarly locust tree. The other guys had gotten a photo of a huge buck about a mile or more across the farm. I was stuck to the far side of the farm on the edge of a plowed field. Keep in mind that to that point I had logged 160 hours in a tree without sign of a buck over 120”!  Things didn’t look good. However after being in the stand for an hour I got sight of two huge G2 tines walking through the thick thorns and cedars. The buck everyone else was after had made his way over a mile across the farm to be standing under me. After 161 hours in the stand in Kansas I scored on a 161” buck. Great Buck and a good story but an emotional rollercoaster for me. That was in 2005.

  

  Hot Pictures

   

                  After all that drama of the past I didn’t put in for Kansas for a few years. Luckily I drew some other great tags so I wasn’t ever bothered. Time causes one to forget I guess and this year I put in again for Kansas after being offered to hunt with another friend. This guy had an agreement with a farmer where he just paid a trespass fee to hunt this property but it was a total “DIY” hunt. The reasonable fee was just for the access to hunt, but scouting, cameras, stands and accommodations was all on your own. None of that bothered me at all; I just wanted a place in the correct area without spending more than I could afford. This area was a proven producer so I was really excited. I talked to my contact and told him that I would put in for the tag and if I drew it I would come get a payment to the farmer and come down and do my own stands and stuff when I could fit it in. All was good, so I thought. A few months later I get my Kansas tag in the mail and my first call was to the farmer. I told him who I was and that I drew the tag so I needed to get him paid. He then told me that the normal guys that hunt there had put in for tags for some family members as well as themselves and they all had drawn tags. With that said he didn’t want to overhunt the place and that since I was the low man on the totem pole I wasn’t going to be able to hunt there. Are you kidding me! I was polite because obviously the farmer has a choice to do whatever he wants with his land, but I thought to myself this is a load of crap! More drama in Kansas.

                  I thought, here we go again; it never fails in this state. Right away I started calling a few of my friends in the industry to try to find someone that had a place to go there. To be honest a lot of my friends left me high and dry but some gave me some leads to outfitters they knew. There were hardly any outfitters with room to hunt so the slots that were left were at a premium. I called outfitter after outfitter only to be quoted prices of $500-$1000 per DAY to hunt their properties! Oh my god, call me crazy but who can afford that? I tried for several weeks only to come up empty handed on a place that had realistic pricing to hunt. I took my tag and threw it in my glove box and thought there went $500. That is where the tag sat since late August. Well after filling my tag in Illinois with Sharon in only 3 days and Iowa not being ready yet that tag started calling to me from the glove box.

  I am very confident in deer hunting. I have done it a long time and have no problem going into an area blind and spending a day to check the sign, check the weather forecast, hang stands and start hunting. This was going to be no different. With that said, it was at that point I decided to print off some Walk-In Access Maps from the Kansas DNR website and take a try there. I figured I could learn some new area and nock on a few doors and maybe make some local connections of my own there. My cameraman had 5 days off work so why not? The Soup Opera continues… I Set my alarm for 1230am, woke up, brewed a few cuts of coffee and headed for my camera guys house. I got to JJ’s house around 115am loaded his gear in my truck and made the start of the 9 hour journey. I was trying my best to follow a state map and the PDF document I downloaded to find some of these walk in access grounds. We were only a mile away from the first section of ground when we spotted the first buck. It was a dandy 140 class buck tending a doe only about 100 yards off the road. Definitely a good sign! Never underestimate public hunting!

                  After checking out all the grounds to hunt we saw a lot of good sign. In these areas where the terrain is very open with limited timber in the drainages and draws it is common sense to get into these travel areas and natural funnels. The locations were a no brainer to me I just needed to be smart about checking the wind. I have a weather channel app loaded onto my blackberry so I checked the wind for the next 3 days and hung several stands. Once again the wind was changing almost every sit so luckily we were able to move around and quickly move stands as we needed. For the first day and half we saw a few doe and a few small bucks, but nothing that would be a shooter. On the second day we moved our stands at about 1 in the afternoon. We made this decision after checking the scouting cameras that I had put out on the first day. Whenever I go into an area I select about 3 places I think are good. I will set stands for the right winds and also set cameras on either a trail, food source or scrape. Each evening I will check cards on those cameras with a portable card reader. This allows me to be in several places at once. One camera showed good traffic and good activity on a scrape. That is where we moved to. The next day we hunted all day and didn’t see much again, however the sign was there and I knew some doe’s had started to come into estrus because obviously the day we arrived we saw it about a mile away. When that happens I know that every buck in the area can easily be on one doe and sightings may be rare unless you are lucky to have that one doe come through. Putting in your time is the only thing that gets it done during this time of year.

                  The morning of the 3^rd full day we packed our bags to once again go in for a whole days sit. We made our way very quietly to the stands well before light. Unfortunately we jumped what sounded like a smaller deer and a large deer from under the stand. It was totally dark so we didn’t know for sure but it was defiantly two deer with one being heavier hoofed than the other. Just as sunrise approached I heard deer coming our way already. It was too dark to see or shoot still but I could see them with my Nikon EDG Binos. It was a hot doe with a descent 8 point right on her. I could only watch as she cruised by with him on her every step of the way. I told JJ that is exactly what we have needed to happen. She made her way around the stand and eventually headed north away from us. An hour later a weird looking buck came cruising through. He picked up on that doe’s trail and was off through the woods the way they went, away from us. Another few hours passed and now it was late in the morning. Personally my favorite time to be in the woods! I was facing JJ and whispering something to him when he suddenly said, BUCK! I turned around and gulped! That is freaking HUGE! This giant was cruising through and angling away from us. He was heading north as well and I knew if he hit that doe’s track he would be off to the North like all the others. I quickly hit him with some deep grunts. He stopped and looked then started walking again. I hit him again with some deep grunts. This time he pinned his ears and immediately started rubbing a tree. I thought I got him now, and then he started to come up our way. He circled us and got into some very thick willows or oak brush. I could barely make him out although he was only 50 yards at this point. He stared and stared into our timber. I could see in his demeanor that he was not seeing anything in the open timber and was quickly losing interest. He flipped his head away from us and started walking away. I whispered to JJ, we are screwed, he knows nothing is up here. As I was saying that I hear rustling in the leaves and looked over my shoulder. As fate would have it the hot doe came running in behind our tree at 20 yards and that small buck was still on her. I quickly looked back to the big dog and I saw him whip around to give another look. This time he saw what he needed to and quickly came in on a rope. I drew back and followed him with my pins waiting for a clear lane to shoot. I eventually had to squat down on the stand to thread an arrow into his shoulders at 30 yards. He ran away for 60 yards, stopped and looked back for a second. I already had my Nikons up and on him. There was no sign of him being hit other than me seeing with my own eyes that arrow zip through the boiler room.

  

                  I wanted to absolutely scream at the top of my lungs but had to contain myself since I didn’t see him pile up. I had hunted 23 years of my life to get a shot at a B&C class buck and I was sure this was finally my moment. The emotions ran high and words can’t express how I felt. We gave it an hour and pursued the monster. At first I was really worried to be honest because there was no sign. I was almost ready to back out. I told JJ lets just go to where I saw him stop to look back at us because I would bet my life the shot was perfect. I found the back of my arrow and the first blood just before the point where I saw him stop to look back. I went a few more steps to where I watched him stand. There was a constant flow pumping out and my uncertainty quickly changed to “Check Mate” game over. I followed the red carpet right to the promise land. I was speechless and fell over this buck and just wanted to hug him. 23 years of commitment and I will honestly say it is all worth it when a true super stud buck is in your hands. I hunt on a limited budget and with limited time. I haven’t got the cash to just hunt 4 star places all the time. This buck was hard earned and the soap opera had a fairytale ending.  We savored every second of the moment, pulled stands and loaded my big dog in the truck. I had to show him off to a few buddies on the way home and take pictures every few hours when I saw a good looking setting. Truthfully I wish I could have frozen that day in time and just go back whenever I want. It was really awesome and I can’t wait to see him hanging on my wall. Once again I was able to get it done after 3 full days of hunting. The key here was using my cameras and slowly working our way into the killing tree day by day. We didn’t just rush right into the thickest cover in the section and blow the deer out. We did it step by step and it paid off. I pointed my truck back to Wisconsin and the routine started over once again, unpack, wash, hang with the family, repack and wait for the call that the corn is coming out of the fields in Iowa. Stay Tuned!

  

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• November 22, 2009

  Illinois tag in the bag

  Posted: John Dudley

  

  Last time I checked in I was talking about the field being ready for battle. How true that was. I sat waiting with anticipation for the end of October to get here so I could hit it hard. I have a pocket full of tags, all my areas were scouted and once the rut kicks into gear so does my Toyota truck. I go non-stop around the clock for that brief period of time that nature does its business.  My first stop was Illinois. I have had great luck in Illinois during the last few days of October and the first week of November every year. In certain areas of Illinois where the deer numbers are high and quality deer management is in affect I have had great success with a decoy and rattling horns. This year however, the Midwest has been so wet and corn fields are left standing still today. This really decreases the odds for seeing the numbers of deer that I have in the past so maybe my success of the past wouldn’t be the same this year.

                  Before November I spent several days down south of Pittsfield Illinois with no luck, weather wasn’t favorable and the deer I was seeing were the younger bucks not to mention the full moon was fast approaching. I had some close friends in from Denmark and Mississippi along for this hunt. Two of the guys shot good bucks but I came home empty handed. The action was picking up but once Halloween Day came around I had to get home to see my boy do some trick r treating. I spent most of that day washing my clothes in Dead Down Wind and getting things scent free again. I didn’t like not being in the woods on October 31rst, but one day wasn’t too much to ask for my family.  At 4am November 1rst my wife and I headed out to Peoria Illinois where I have another place to hunt. I like having my wife along with me when I hunt which I know most guys will find hard to believe. She is great to have behind the camera and she enjoys being in the woods with me so I really enjoy it. She filmed me on an exciting Turkey hunt last spring so if she can run and gun for a gobbler, I tree stand sit should be no problem.

  

  Dallas Nightclubs

   

  This particular farm is owned by some good friends of mine. I killed my buck last year on this place and luckily got invited back again. The first day I rattled in a great buck, but he stood behind some thick cover and I couldn’t get an arrow to him. I had the decoy out but the wind was sketchy and the buck just locked up for nearly 20 minutes waiting for the wind to swirl in his favor. Once he got a little sniff of us he was out of there. Still it was good to see a shooter. On November 2^nd we had a good buck come in to the horns in the morning and again staged up just out of range. That night we had to relocate because of the wind and saw yet another buck that had great potential but needed another year so I watched him walk by. The winds were constantly moving on this hunt and we were moving locations nearly every sit. I am thankful for my Lone Wolf Stands because I can be so mobile with two of those and 5 climbing sticks. If I couldn’t have moved around so easily I may not have been successful in fact.

                  On November 3^rd, we were skunked in the morning and yet again the weather forecast showed the wind changing 180 degrees. I had to go scout yet another new area and hang yet another stand. We moved to a new location about 1 pm and climbed into the stands immediately. This area was new to me but the sign looked promising. Right away there were doe’s moving through along with a small buck. I told Sharon that is what we needed this time of year, to be where the high number of doe’s were. We saw about 8 doe’s and two small bucks the last hour of dark. Just as the sun was setting I looked to Sharon to check out the sunset. We had a few words and all the sudden she looked at me alerted. “I hear something” she said. Since I am half deaf and can only here ringing from shooting a 10 gauge half my life without earplugs I had to say “Where!”? She looked over her shoulder and quickly responded “Big Buck”.

                  I popped my head around the tree and saw a wide spread frame and long main beams on this buck and he was on a trot. I spun around and grabbed my bow while confirming to Sharon he was a shooter. I spun back around and pulled my Hoyt Carbon Matrix to full draw. The buck had his nose to the ground and I knew for certain he was instantly going to be directly in our wind. The buck hit our trail and came to a stop and looked our direction all in one motion. There was only a second before he was going to be turning inside-out to get out of there. A second however is all I needed and I saw my Easton Tracer nock bury through the shoulders of the buck. He ran about 60 yards and did the triple lindy. Everything happened so fast, I looked at Sharon and asked if she was able to get that. She confirmed yep and I gave a big hug and several fist pumps. 3 days on this farm and 3 hours in this set and we were done in Illinois!

  

                  I text my buddies Jared and Jeff and told them there was a good buck coming back with us. We were really pumped and seeing that buck come storming in with his nose to the ground just solidified why the rut is the most exciting time to be in the woods. We recovered my buck and tagged him for the ride home. The next morning we got out at first light to get some cool photos and capture the moment to post for all of you. Time was ticking and we headed straight for Wisconsin so I could drop off Sharon, have a night with my boy Harry wash my gear again and grab my cameraman JJ to head to Kansas. That though is another story.

  

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• October 10, 2009

  The field is ready for battle!

  Posted: John Dudley

  

  For the Past two weeks I have been fighting the rain and rising moon in both Ohio and Illinois, hunting has been slow but progress is continual. I have deer tags for both of those states as well as Iowa, Kansas and Minnesota still. Once my hunts kick off on October 24th in Illinios I will constantly be on the move and pounding animals wherever possible. Now is my time when I am mainly hanging lone wolfs, trimming trees and raking stealthy paths to my stand locations. I absolutely love this time of year because it is the eye of the storm. My expectations are high and although i know that chances of success are minimal right now i still get out there. I haven’t seen a shooter during the light for nearly 3 weeks now. However, once the right time comes it all happens fast. I am a firm believer in being totally ready for the rut. If you have multiple tags then be totally ready to hunt one place one morning and maybe 500 miles away the next. For Several years now I have shot multiple P&Y bucks in multiple states in less than a week! The first time I did IL, KS, IA in 4 days. Another year I did WI one morning IA the  next night followed by IL 2 days later. The year UA first came out  (I was am early fan) I shot a monster Iowa buck a day after a great IL buck.

  Illinois & Iowa 2 Days time

  The reason i was successful is because I was ready in each spot before the rut came and as soon as the moon was favorable and the first winter system moved into the Midwest it was petal to the medal. Here is a valuable tip for you. Even if you are hunting with an outfitter, take the early season or summer months to go there and meet the people and help get the area ready where you will be hunting. Obviously you need to ask if they are ok with this, but i can tell you that most of them would apprecaitethe help hanging sets and clearing lanes.  In my Illinois spot my cameraman Thomas went there a month before season to video a few fields and take inventory. Now that season is open we know what farms have good bucks because of that scouting!

  This past week i went down to Illinois to my spot at Backwoods Bowhunting (Calhoun County IL). I was traveling with my buddy and camera guy Thomas. We did the usual of finalizing stands and making sure everything is totally set for my week booked in for the rut. I just get so amped up when hunting in places that i know have potential for absolute monster bucks. Thomas and I made an agreement that if we had a doe come through late in the mornings we would take them, since now is a great time for management. The first morning was pretty nice, it had rained but cleared up for our hunt. There was no movement until nearly 1030am when i doe came through. She read the script perfect for this stand location and we videoed a perfect kill. That night we saw some bucks but nothing worth shooting.

  The next morning it was thundering and lightning really heavy. I was up about 3 am that morning finishing some writing i had to do on the 2010 Hoyt bows. (Soon to hit the market) I was steadily typing until about 8am and then the weather broke. I woke up Thomas and said lets head out there now, hey you dont know if you dont go! We hunted several hours with nothing more but rain. I was happy to have th Denison Rainsuit rolled up in my backpack again. I stayed dry, Thomas didnt. About 11am we looked down and here is a doe eating on the browse that was fleshly on the ground from the limbs we had cut in a shooting lane. I gave Thomas my bow and i took the camera. Thomas made a perfect shot and the red tracer nock was brightly flashing. I decided to stay a little longer since te moon was full and movement would be mid day. Sure enough about an hour later here comes another doe, luckily i had bought two doe tags so i sent a green tracer nock perfectly to the pump house. We had a red blinker and a green blinker flashing about 15 yards apart. 3 for 3 on doe’s with really short track jobs. Stands are set and the field of battle rest for game day to come… 13 days now and counting. Action in Illinois was good considering the time of year and moon.

  The week before in Ohio i had no such luck. I hunted 4 days and logged 42 hours in the tree stand. Hey it may seem crazy to hunt all day in the early season but like i said before you dont know if you dont go. Weather there was totally crap lots of heavy wind and rain. I sat all day because the weather would occasionally clear and when it did i figured deer would move. I did see alot of deer including 2 shooters but couldn’t get the camera on them so i let them continue by me. One thing that was amusing to me though is everyday in Ohio about 10 am a small fawn would walk and bed about 10 yards from my stand. Everyday the same time. He would sleep and a groundhog would show up around lunch time and the two of them were really hilarious to watch. It was great entertainment. On the last day i was bored and too the point of near insanity so i tried something to help pass time. I was eating a breakfast bar for my lunch. It was some kind of a coffee bar and smelled sweet. I had the camera rolling and took a big piece of it and threw it over to the fawn. He heard it land and started sniffing it. Then he ate that sucker! I ended up throwing my whole bar piece by piece down to him and fed him. Man he must have thought that someone was watching him from up above. Literally yes, i guess you never know who is watching and who is willing to help you!  The power of caffeine!, he loved it. I came away from Ohio with nothing in a cooler but im cool with it, the table is set and everything is in position and awaiting the rut!

  TIC …TOC…TIC…TOC

   

  Ill keep you posted! Dudley

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