About Me

     I was born in Shelby, Oh. in 1971 and was introduced to the outdoors at a very early age by my father.  He was an avid upland game hunter and fisherman of anything that tasted good after being breaded and deep-fried.  Time with him was limited to every other weekend due to my parents divorce when I was about five years old.  We chased rabbits with his beagles and fished farm ponds when he didn't have other obligations. 

     He moved away when I was eleven years old, which made our visits much less frequent.  He handed down his love of the outdoors and, for that, I am thankful.  With divorced parents and an unstable home life, the lakes and woods that surrounded our home became my sanctuaries.  Growing up I trapped the creeks for raccoons, muskrats and mink.  I also hunted small game and fished for anything that I could get to bite.  

     At the age of 16 a 1977 Ford LTD, purchased with $300 earned by selling furs and picking strawberries, coupled with an Ohio driver's license, became my real passport to the outdoors.  I soon began working on a large dairy farm each day after school.  The pay of $2.50 per hour was not lucrative by any standard and the work was hard, but their was a big fringe benefit.  With the job came permission to hunt its several hundred game rich acres.  I wreaked havoc on the untapped rabbit and squirrel population and used hounds to hunt raccoons at night.  But, what really intrigued me were the white-tailed deer.  Deer hunting was foreign to me.  Populations in our area were just reaching decent levels, with a bag limit of one deer of either sex during the entire season.  I saved for an entire summer to buy a new 12 gauge Model 500 pump-action combo made by Mossberg.  It came with both a ventilated rib barrel and a rifled slug barrel.  The old LTD was also upgraded to an even older four-wheel drive pick-up. 

     On those first deer hunts I nearly froze to death with temperatures in the teens, but did manage to take my first deer with the Mossberg.  I shoulder shot a young doe that was pushed down a fence-row to within 30-yards of my makeshift ground-blind by hunters on a neighboring farm.  I was hooked and borderline frostbit.

    After graduating high school, I left my job at the farm and headed off to Hocking college to pursue a degree in Wildlife Management, along with the abundant fish, deer and other game species that Southeastern Ohio is known for.  I was low B student in high school, amazing considering my total lack of interest in formal education at the time, but college was different.  I was surrounded by people who shared my passion for the outdoors.  The school work was challenging yet fun.  I completed the program, earning my degree in 1993.  I soon learned the hard reality that having a degree doesn't guarantee you a dream job in your field of study and you still have to make a living somehow. 

   The sixteen years since have been a blur.  I have been employed in the manufacturing field including maintenance, engineering, and quality assurance work.  I married my high school sweet-heart, Jodi, and we bought our home in Bellville, Ohio.   I've also been back to school many times and have completed several courses, most dealing with both mechanical and electrical engineering.  Most recently was 12 months of correspondence writing courses offered by in British Columbia, which I completed in early 2006.  The knowledge gained from these courses, along with the lessons learned over 30 years in the outdoors, have opened a new chapter in my life; The North American School of Outdoor Writing inoutdoor writing and photography. 

     I am now a member of both the OWAA (Outdoor Writers Association of America and the OWO (Outdoor Writers of Ohio).  My articles have appeared in several outdoor publications, most of which have dealt with whitetail hunting in one way or another due to my almost unhealthy obsession with them. 

     I only know of one way to consistently harvest mature whitetails, that is through hard work and a commitment to becoming a student of the white-tailed deer.  That means scouting, studying deer behavior, practicing with your equipment and by planting your butt into the seat of a treestand or groundblind for as long as it takes to get the job done, even when the weather turns bad or you don't feel good. 

     Through trial and error, I have made every deer hunting mistake at least once (most more that once).  I have learned that there are no "silver bullets" or miracle products when it comes to deer hunting, no matter what the manufacturers may claim.  Many products, when used correctly and at the appropriate times, will help you to harvest deer.  But, unfortunately, far more will only empty your wallet and waist your time.  These are the realities of modern day deer hunting.  These are the topics that I write about.  

     I also find myself writing more about wild turkey hunting nowadays, which I have discovered in the past several years is just as addictive and as challenging as deer hunting.  The two just seem go together like peanut butter and jelly. 

    I also love to catch, and eat, fish.  I try to stock our freezer with walleye, perch, and crappie fillets each season.  To me, few meals rival deep-fried yellow perch with all the trimmings (must be hereditary).

   I have no idea where my writing will lead, if anywhere.  I do know this: If people enjoy reading my articles only half as much as I enjoy writing them, writing will be a part of my life for a long, long time.

Tony Seals  

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