Tim Herald

Quick Stats:
Specialty: Big Game Hunting
Hometown: Lexington, KY
Greatest Love: Hunting Elk when bugling and Cape buffalo by tracking

Favorite UA Gear:
Derecho Jacket, Capture Scent Control Mock, Basemap Legging, Hurlock Fleece Pullover, Camo Field Pant

>> Shop all of his favorite gear

Getting to know him

Tim Herald as been hunting since he was 6 years old. He lives in Lexington, KY with his wife and twin sons. Herald has hunted and fished all over the US and Canada, as well as Mexico, Brazil, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, South Africa and Namibia. He has taken many record book animals with muzzleloader, bow and rifle, and has racked up 22 wild turkey grand slams.

Tim has a Master’s degree in Natural Resource Conservation from the University of Kentucky and has been a professional outdoor writer for more than 10 years. He has shared his experiences in the field through many major magazines such as North American Hunter, Peterson’s Hunting, Sports Afield, Bowhunter, Turkey Call, etc., and is also the “Bowhunting Tactics” columnist for Bowhunt America. Herald has extensive outdoor television experience over the past decade as a guest on over a score of shows, as well as hosting Limbsaver Outdoors and Outdoor America. He currently is also part of the teams of Whitetail Country and Pro Hunter Journal on ESPN2. Herald’s latest project is hosting a new show, The Zone, that will begin airing in fall of 2010.

Though Herald spends many days each year in pursuit of trophy whitetail deer and loves the challenge, his favorite hunts are active. “Elk and turkey hunting are great because you can move, strategize and interact with the animals on their terms. I am also a diehard African hunter and love tracking and pursuing big animals in rough landscapes such as Cape buffalo, kudu and on my next hunt, elephant, “Herald said.

THE LATEST FROM TIM

• February 04, 2010

  Back from Mexico with a B&C Coue’s

  Posted: Tim Herald

  I just returned from a fantastic hunt for an out of the ordinary whitetail. The small Coue’s whitetail lives in AZ, NM and Mexico, and weighs roughly 90 pounds. Though small in size, this deer is a real challenge, and a 110” B&C class Coue’s looks like he has lots of headgear.

  My first two days hunting with Brad Fulk and Rio Sonora Outfitters, found us looking at numerous bucks up to the magic 100 inch mark that is considered a real trophy. The deer were scattered from mountains to desert floor. We did a lot of hiking and a lot of looking in conditions that varies from snow, hail, rain and wind.

  

  The 3^rd day we found a good looking buck, but he disappeared into a canyon out of site. I stayed in place to watch for him to come out, and Brad made a big loop around for a different view of the canyon. An hour and a half later, he signaled for me to come over, so off I went on a mile hike.

  When I got to Brad, he was half a mile from the bedded buck, and we slowly stalked in. We were on a ridge above the buck, and finally we ran out of ground as the hill dropped off in a cliff. We ranged the buck at an even 300 yards, and I settled in on my rifle.

  After 30 minutes, the buck got up, and I hammered him. He went less than 10 yards. Upon recovery, we found the buck to gross scored 116 3/8 and net right at 111. He is a true Booner. The pack job out was a rough one. It was about a mile and a half in a straight line, but we had to go up and down and through numerous canyons and drains, and it took us over an hour and a half just to get to the closest ranch road.

  

  The next day, we got a call from one of Brad’s guides, jason Greer, and they had a buck down. We went over to help with the recovery, and found that hunter Chris Ayers had taken an unbelievable 132 4/8” buck that had a 3” section of G-4 broken off. He would have been over 135 inches!

  What a hunt! 2 B&C caliber Coue’s deer within 4 days, you can’t ask for more than that. This is a physically and mentally tough hunt with hours of glassing, and miles of hiking rugged terrain with heavy packs. When you take a Coue’s, you can be proud because you have worked for it.

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• December 06, 2009

  IA Produces a Great 8 Pointer !!!

  Posted: Tim Herald

  Hola from Albia, Iowa…This was one hunt I was really looking forward to. I drew an Iowa first shotgun/muzzleloader season tag this year, and I was going to hunt with one of the deer hunters I respect most in the world, Bill Winke.

  Now Bill doesn’t do anything but hunt with his Hoyt bow anymore, but he allowed me to come hunt his farm with my TC Endeavor this year. Bill and his guys are producing some incredible webisodes at www.midwestwhitetail.com on a weeklt basis (or more frequent). I have been watching and keeping up with their hunts and bucks all fall as I knew I would get to hunt some of the same places.

  I reported a week or so ago that Bill had told me the big deer had disappeared after the rut. Well the day before I came out, Bill saw a 170+ and a 150 just out of bow range. The day I arrived, one of his friends and neighbors arrowed a 175 buck, so we felt pretty good about the hunt. Bill did advise me to take the first good mature 4.5 year old or older buck I got a crack at.

  The first morning, we just saw a few does, but we figured that the evenings on food sources would be our best chances. Yesterday afternoon, we hunted just off a standing bean field, and deer began to just roll into the beans. About a dozen does, 2 year and a half old bucks, and a 2 and a half year old 8 pointer came out.

  30 minutes before dark, we spotted a good buck coming toward the field, and I got the TC ready. He came strainght in, and it didn’t take long to see that he was mature and a supe r 8 pointer.

  He entered the field and began feeding at about 75 yards, and we rolled some footage of him for THE ZONE. Finally I centered the crosshairs on his shoulder, and hammered him. The buck ran about 40 yards, staggered, and fell off into the creek.

  

  We recovered him, and I couldn’t have been happier. This is the kind of deer that you come to Iowa for. A big thanks goes outto Bill Winke and the MidwestWhitetail.com crew for having me in for the hunt. You can view all the action of my 150″  8 pointer on MidwestWhitetail.com in the next week or so, so tune in.

  The kicker is that I went out tonight to shoot a doe for Bill’s management, and I had a 170″+ ten pointer come out in the same spot and feed in front of me for 15 miniutes. I am always one to take a good mature buck, so I am not upset about it at all. It was just a great experience to sit and watch the true Iowa giant doing his thing.

   Hunt Hard…Tim H.

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• November 24, 2009

  BIG OKLAHOMA BUCK DOWN – END THE NOV. JINX

  Posted: Tim Herald

  I have been having a nightmare of a November. I have been sick with Swine Flu, hunted hard in Nebraska, and then hunted for almost a week in Kentucky, and did not score. That is whitetail hunting, right? It is the great equalizer. You can do it all right for a week or two when hunting mature whitetails, and still come up empty.

   

  Dejected, I left home on November 20^th with the Panhandle of Oklahoma as my destination. I was to hunt with Rick Rhoads and Back Rhoads Outfitters (www.backrhoads.com )out of the small town of Laverne. This is less than 20 miles from KS, and 20 miles from TX. A few days before I left, Rick told me they were seeing some good bucks and the rut was going full tilt. I had hope again.

   The first morning, cameraman Rob Snider, and I climbed into a big cottonwood in a small riverbottom. It was cool, but the fog was so thick, we couldn’t see more than 40 yards for 2 hours. The wind eventually picked up and blew out the fog, and we saw some small bucks late morning.

   At mid-day, we went with Rick to another property to check a couple of trail cams. We had a few good bucks on film, the best about a 140 9 point. Rick wasn’t too excited, so we went back to the original ranch. I asked if Rick thought it would be a good move to sit on a food source for the evening hunt as I figured we would see a lot of does, and during the rut, where there are does, there are bucks. I like to play the percentages, and hope a big boy will come out chasing a doe, or come to check all the does on a food source.

   Rick said he had a setup on a triticale field. That is a hybrid of rye and wheat. The deer were hitting it hard, so I thought we should give it a try.

   It was warm and we had a 25mph wind, but almost immediately, does began filtering into the field. We had about 20 does and one 2 year-old 8 pointer chasing them around an hour before dark when we spotted 3 deer walking in down the field to my right about 350 yards away. One look through the binos told me that this guy was a no brainer, and if he would give me a shot, I was slinging lead on the first night.

   When the big buck saw the does closer to me, he came on a steady walk and began nosing and checking them. When he got in range, I got steady and waited for the right shot angle. He was facing me head on and began eating, so I waited a bit longer. Finally when he turned a shoulder to me, I hammered him, and my November jinx was over.

   

  What a great mature Oklahoma whitetail. I honestly expected to get a crack at a 140ish buck and a 150 if I was really lucky. This Back Rhoads buck was 164” with 25” beams, a typical 10 point frame, a split G-2 and a kicker on a G-3. He is a fantastic old deer.

   

  I hung around camp a couple more days and helped scout for some of the other guys still hunting. In that timeframe, every time I went out, I saw a mature buck that anyone would be pleased to have on their wall- the best being a straight up 10 pointer that I guessed at close to 160. One hunter took a photo of a deer at 300+ yards (he didn’t feel comfortable shooting that far) that we all think was in the 170’s. They have some great deer in western Oklahoma, and it is a true sleeper state for trophy whitetails.

   

  Enjoy Thanksgiving!  I am spending a week with my family, and then traveling to Iowa to muzzleloader hunt with Bill Winke. Hunt Hard…Tim H. 

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• October 27, 2009

  Sask Buck and a Great Bonus

  Posted: Tim Herald

  I just arrived home from Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan where I did a deer hunt with Safari River Outdoors for the 2nd year in a row. Last year I was lucky and killed a great buck that scored 178 3/8.

   

  The weather was warm for Sask (mid 30’s to low 40’s), and the first day, I only saw a bunch of does. On day two, does moved again, and about 10 am the weather turned and the rain started down. For the next 2 1/2 hours I sat in pouring rain, sleet, then snow and back to rain. It was just miserable weather, but I was dry and comfortable in my UA Armour Stealth and ColdGear.

  One minute before noon, I spotted a deer in the thick bush and he walked through a small opening. I saw good antlers, grabbed my gun, and told my cameraman to get ready. Something spooked the buck and he dashed forward about 20 yards and stopped in a perfect opening. I judged him a shooter and waited on the angle. Finally, he turned broadside and I hammered him. He went about 20 yards and was down.

  When I got to the big 6 1/2 year old buck, I was really surprised. I thought he was a good 10 pointer with a split G-2. That was right on one side, but the other side had 9 points for a total of 15. The buck stretched the tape to 174 4/8″. The kicker is that I killed him from the exact stand that I killed my big buck the hear before. Guess where I will be sitting next year?

  

  So I had a few days left in Sask and went out scouting waterfowl. The first morning I hunted a shallow river and killed 7 greenheads and a drake woodie in about 40 minutes. On the way back to camp, I spotted a pond in a wheat field that was covered with ducks. It was about 3 acres and had at least 5000 mallards on it, si I found the landowner and got permission to hunt it.

   

  The next day, I set up about  2 dozen dekes and settled in. I waited until 10 minutes after shooting time so we could get good video, and then it was on. I only shot greenheads and only shot one duck out of any given group. In 31 minutes I had 8 fat greenheads, and honestly, it was the best mallard hunt I have ever been on. I think 4 guys could have limited just as fast, and a few hundred ducks could have been killed.

  I had another good hunt the next morning and then it was time to come home. Again, it was a great trip with Safari River, and I hope to go back next fall maybe just a bit later so it will be colder. Next two weeks or so I plan to bowhunt my home state of KY and then to NE.

  Hunt Hard…Tim H.

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• October 17, 2009

  Son Scores with Crossbow- Great Day in the Woods

  Posted: Tim Herald

  My twin boys’ birthday is Oct 17…On the 16th, I took my son Drew out to a local farm to try his hand at crossbow hunting for whitetail. We hunted from a ground blind at the edge of a field, and the action started pretty fast. We had a spike and a button buck come in close, and Drew practiced sighting in on the small buck. Later, another spike and doe came in.

  It was about 42 degrees and drizzling. A half hour before dark, I saw a big bodied deer step out of the woods at 120 yards. I glassed him, and could tell he was a shooter, so I told Drew to get ready. The buck made a scrape and worked a licking branch, and then he headed our way.

  When he saw the spike in front of us, he bristled up and came in stiff legged trying to intimidate the youngster. At 50 yards, Drew said, “Dad, he’s HUGE!” I told him to wait on the perfect broadside shot, and I ranged the deer a minute later at 26 yards. Finally he turned just right, and I told Drew he could shoot.

  WHAAACKKKKK…the broadhead hit home, and the deer dashed out into the field, tail down. After about 100 yards, he flipped backwards and was out for the count. No tracking, and we were all hugs and hight fives!!!

  

  Taking a good buck at archery range is always great, but to see your young son take a buck like that so close was the thrill of a lifetime. Drew is up and still on cloud 9 this morning. I never knew what I thought about crossbows, but for kids, it is a great teaching tool until they can really shoot a bow.

  Off to Sask. tomorrow to try for a big buck for myself. Hunt Hard…Tim H.

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