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October 3, 2008

Bryan Roth (HuntingBry)-Team Hunt Nut®

  

Well the opening day of Pennsylvania’s archery season is upon us.  Team Hunt Nut® has checked the trail cameras, hung the stands, tuned and sighted in the bows, sharpened the broadheads, and trimmed the shooting lanes.  Now it is time to get out there and git-r-done.

 

Many of us have been out hunting already.  Denton and I were in Maine chasing bears (see our Maine bear hunt Blogs), Steve tagged out on a great buck on opening day in New Jersey (see NJ Season in a Day Blog), and I’ve been doing some hunting in Maryland.  There is just something special about the opener in your home state though.  I don’t know if it is knowing that there will be so many other hunters out there with you hunting, or the fact that you are hunting the areas you know intimately, or simply just that you are closer to home, but the PA archery opener always has an excitement about it for all of us at Hunt Nut®.

 

There is a lot to be excited about this year too.  Denton will be chasing an absolute giant of a whitetail in western PA.

 

Steve has gotten a number of good bucks on trail camera in the area he will be hunting including a slammer with a spit G2 on the left side.

 

 

Despite the intense hunting pressure that my area receives I’m on some great bucks as well.

 

 

So, we are all set and ready to go.  For everyone else in PA that is getting out there tomorrow, best of luck and be safe.  For those that have already been hunting or are still waiting on your opener, good luck and keep hunting hard.

 

Keep checking back, because we are expecting some Hunt Nut® pictures to be posted with us behind some of these bucks and I’m sure that there will be great stories to go with them.

 

Keep living life as a Hunt Nut®!

Hunt Nut® Field Journal

September 13^th, 2008

Season In a Day

Bryan Roth-Team Hunt Nut®

 

Steve Behun, the founder of HuntNut.com®, had a precarious situation this fall.  His son, Stephen IV, has a rare heart condition that he was born with.  To correct this condition three separate open heart surgeries are required.  Stephen, who is 2 years old, has been blessed to have undergone 2 of the surgeries successfully.  The third, and hopefully final surgery was scheduled to occur in mid-September 2008 at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.  As a result Steve knew that the amount of time he would have to bowhunt New Jersey would be condensed this season to merely one day. 

 

Since Steve was going to be at his family’s side during the New Jersey archery season with the exception of the opener he knew he had to harvest a doe to satisfy his earn a buck requirement in New Jersey, get her checked in and on ice, and get back out into the woods to try to harvest a buck all in one day.  To complicate matters further, Steve wanted to capture the entire hunt on film and would be hunting pressured public access property.  That is a tall order to do in a season, let alone a day.

 

In mid-summer Steve set out to the business of establishing some mineral licks and putting out some food to try and get some deer on trail camera.  Since the location is an hour and a half drive from his home, Steve uses external batteries and large memory cards on his cameras to maximize their effectiveness. 

 

Steve set out 3 separate sites that would be potential stand sites.  Each site was selected based on years of experience Steve had hunting these grounds and all were up the mountain a good distance from the parking area.  Being public access property meant packing in minerals, food, and trail cameras by foot.

 

After preparing each site with his special homemade mineral blend and a food attractant Steve waited to see what the cameras would turn up.  He was pleasantly surprised to find a good number of deer hitting all of the sites including some very nice bucks. 

 

Here are some trail camera photos from the summer. 

 

 

 

After analyzing the pictures Steve determined that the spot at the top of the mountain was his best bet at getting a doe because the majority of the activity at that site was from does.  In addition to a lot of doe activity, the pictures revealed that they were there on a regular basis.  This provided Steve his best opportunity at filling that doe tag and getting his buck permit quickly.  He also found that another spot that was near a big old oak, had 5 bucks in the area on a very regular basis including a very respectable 8 point buck and an even larger 9 point.  The regularity and quality of the bucks in this area told Steve that this was the stand he needed to be in to try to harvest a buck.  Steve would take either the big 8 or the 9 if the opportunity presented itself, and since they usually showed together he was looking at having to make a choice.

 

With a game plan ready Steve gathered his gear and we formulated a plan on when to meet to get to the stand location with plenty of time to get to our stands.  This planning was key because since we were hunting public access property we had to pack in our stands and all of our gear.  Because of this the 2 mile hike up the mountain would take a long time.  After careful consideration Steve decided we would meet at a midway point for both of us at 3:30 a.m.

 

After a 2:30 wake-up I headed out to meet Steve and we got on the road to New Jersey.  Traffic was light and we made good time, but I noticed that Steve was under the weather as he coughed and sniffled the whole ride.  Steve was not about to let the flu deprive him of his one day of hunting.

 

We got to the parking area and packed up our gear.  Then we began the long trek in.  Steve uses a pack frame to carry his treestand and all of his gear and by the time we were a quarter of the way there I was wishing I had one as well to better balance the nearly 75 pounds worth of gear I had between camera equipment and treestand. 

 

By the time we got to the stand site we were both soaking wet as it was 75 degrees and getting warmer with very high humidity from the rain storm that blew through the night before.  Steve had that covered as well as we both brought plastic garbage bags and a clean change of clothes.  We changed, dried off, and packed our sweaty clothes into the bags and tied them up to contain the scent for the hunt.  Then up the trees we went and settled in.

 

Shortly after first light Steve gave his opening interview.  After finishing, he caught a glimpse of movement moving along the edge of the woods by the field above us.  It turned out to be a small 8 point buck that moved from our left to our right and out of sight before entering the woods. 

 

Around 7:30 we saw 2 doe in the woods making their way down toward us.  Eventually one went left and the other went right and we lost them both in the brush.  The activity reassured us that we were in the right place to get that earn a buck doe.  Around 8:15 Steve spotted another doe about 65 yards out feeding toward a stone wall that ran toward the stand.  Having hunted this spot before Steve knew there was a good chance the deer would feed along the wall, cross over it and head right toward his shooting lane.  

 

The doe took an agonizingly long time to make her way in.  She was very content nipping the leaves from the brush all around her and in no hurry to be anywhere.  Steve struggled to keep his coughing in check, but with the thick warm moisture in the air it was difficult.  As she worked her way in Steve checked carefully for buttons to make sure we did not remove one of the bucks by mistake.  Finally, after about 40 minutes the deer crossed the wall and moved into the open area where Steve could get a shot and then stopped and fed behind the one large tree remaining in the our path. 

 

Steve stood at the ready, and with the deer only 20 yards away he had to contain his coughs as best he could.  The time did give us the opportunity to verify for certain that it was a doe and not a button buck.  Finally, she had her fill and moved out into the open. 

 

I told Steve to let her clear a small tree in front of us before shooting.  When she stepped behind it Steve drew his bow back and anchored.  She stepped out and I gave Steve the green light to shoot.  Once she stopped and put her front leg forward slightly quartering away Steve released and hit her perfectly burying the arrow through the chest cavity and into her far front leg.

 

The doe ran off hard and we heard her crash in the brush.  Steve checked his watch and it was 9:08 a.m.  He had his doe for earn a buck and now all that was left was the recovery.

 

The recovery proved more challenging than anticipated because everything was so wet that the blood diluted and washed away in a lot of spots.  At the beginning of the blood trail we were following where flies were landing on the leaves and checking for blood.  After about 30 yards the trail improved, but the deer was heading into very dense cover.  We made our way through and eventually found her.  Even though she was hit with a double lung and heart shot and the arrow stayed in her she managed to go 150 yards before expiring. 

 

Steve cleaned her, dragged her out and we got her checked in.  He quartered the doe and put her on ice.  Now with his buck tag in hand we prepared to head out for an afternoon hunt hoping to score on a buck.

 

In preparation for the afternoon we washed off from the sweaty morning walks in and out with a make-shift shower.  We headed back to the parking area and gathered our gear.  Steve was adamant that we had to be very quiet walking in and setting up because we would be within 100 yards of where the bucks bed. 

 

After walking in we again changed our clothes to get the sweaty clothes bagged up and slowly and carefully got set up.  By the time we were set and in the stands it was close to 3:00 in the afternoon.  The activity that Steve had been seeing was usually between 6:30 and 7:00 so we were confident that we had not disturbed the deer on our way in.

 

Just before 4:00 I stood up to change tapes in the camera and Steve said, “Hold up, there is a buck coming.”  I stowed the new tape and hit record.  We got some great footage of a big bodied 1.5 year old spike that fed around the area.  Had he been more what Steve was looking for he would have offered several shots.  The buck worked his way around and started heading our way.  He got to about 4 yards and stopped right under some thick brush where I lost sight of him.  Suddenly, he snorted and blew out apparently detecting something he did not like.  We are guessing that he got our scent at that close range and that set him off.  Even with our impromptu showers and changing of clothes it is hard to be totally scent free when the temperature is in the high 80’s with 75% humidity.

 

Steve was encouraged by the activity but a little worried that the buck spooking like that may have put the bigger bucks on alert.  We could only hope that the commotion the spike made went undetected.

 

Shortly after the spike left it started to rain.  It was a short rain, but hard enough that I put the camera cover on to avoid technical problems.  After the rain stopped I waited about 10 minutes to make sure it would not start up again and then stood up to take the cover off and Steve said, “Don’t move!  Big buck coming.”

 

The way we were sitting Steve could see down the hill to where the bedding area was.  To be over Steve’s shoulder I had the tree, which was a very large diameter tree, between me and that area.  So, I peeked around the tree and saw the buck was just about right on top of us.  I got my eye in the viewfinder and struggled to find the deer because I am used to filming using the LCD display on the camera.  With the cover on the camera the LCD cannot be used.  I finally found the buck and recorded the events that followed.

 

Steve had gotten himself standing and had his bow in hand.  My camera was right over his head staring down at the buck as it fed through the thick brush. I told Steve he could shoot whenever he was ready and he acknowledged with a nod.  As the buck fed he raised his head to reveal the tall tines and long main beams he was sporting on his 9 point rack. 

 

It slowly nibbled its way through the brush toward the opening we had around 20 yards out in front of us.  The buck flicked its tail showing its contentment as is approached.  Each second ticked by like an hour as the deer was well within range, but not out of the underbrush that protected its vitals.  Step by step the buck came and I could hear Steve’s excitement in his breathing through my headphones. 

 

With the deer at the edge of the cover and moving forward Steve took advantage of the last bit of brush to raise his bow and get drawn back.  The buck stepped into the clear with his head up, flicked his tail, and resumed feeding.  Steve settled his pin on the buck and released.  His arrow hit with a loud crack sending the buck’s back legs limp.  Steve quickly nocked another arrow and put another shot on the buck.  This quieted the buck, and Steve got down quickly to make sure the 9 point was down for good.  After that it was all over but the tagging and dragging. 

 

Initially Steve thought he had misjudged the distance and held too high on the buck.  After reviewing the footage frame-by-frame we could see that the deer dropped a minimum of 6 inches as the arrow approached.  Even a calm deer can jump the string.

 

After making sure the buck was anchored Steve looked up at the camera still in the stand and sent a heartfelt message to his son, Stephen, and dedicated the hunt to him.  You can hear his voice crack as he is overwhelmed with the emotion of speaking to his brave son through the camera. 

 

The buck is a very nice 9 point that is a mainframe 10 missing his G4 on the left beam.  He does have 2 unique stickers at the base of each antler.  It will likely score around 120 inches gross and is estimated at 3.5 years old.  It is a great buck and particularly good on pressured land.  The buck is going to the taxidermist as it is Steve’s biggest New Jersey buck and has been dubbed, “Stephen’s buck.” 

 

Steve knew what he was up against with the time constraints he faced due to his son’s upcoming surgery.  After hundreds of miles on his car, hiking miles up and down mountains with hundreds of pounds of gear and supplements, waking up at hours that some are just going to sleep, putting forth extra efforts to go undetected while hunting, and capturing it all on film, Steve was able to do in a day what many will strive for and not succeed at throughout an entire season.  That is Steve’s season in a day.

 

This day was a shining example of Steve’s commitment to both the hunt and to his family.  Seeing this first hand makes me proud to call him a friend and honored to know that a person of this caliber is who we have leading Hunt Nut® and our team.

 

Some may think that going to such great lengths to hunt just one day is not worth it, but that is life as a Hunt Nut®…

 

…and on this day, life is most certainly good.

 

Authors Note:  Stephen IV’s surgery was conducted September 18, 2008 at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.  After an inspirational recovery little Stephen returned home Tuesday September 23, 2008 with Mom, Dad and brother William.  Thanks to God’s grace he is doing remarkably well.    

 

  

September 13th, 2008 was the opener for the NJ bow season. As usual I spent the prior six weeks hanging stands, running mineral and supplement, setting cameras anticipating the start of the season. This year would not be my typical NJ bow season. My time to hunt was limited because my son Stephen IV was due to go back down to CHOP for his third surgical procedure since he was born. With one day to hunt we had a tall order in store.

The Morning of the 13th was wet and windy. We ascended the mountain early in the morning working up a great sweat that was being washed away by the falling drizzle. Once at our stand Bryan and I got our clothes changed and climbed the tree. At 9:008 AM a doe finally finished her 1 hour march towards our stand. At 23 yards the broadhead found its mark and then she jetted for heavy cover. Due to the wet leaves and thick cover it took a little bit longer to trail her than anticipated. But the well placed arrow did the trick. Bryan did an excellent job capturing the action on tape.

We checked in the deer after a two mile drag. Since we were on the road, our butcher station was a tarp behind the truck. We got the doe into a cooler and then got ourselves cleaned up with a big jug of water. Once our clean clothes were donned, it was back to a different stand to see if we could find a buck that we had some scouting pictures of from the week prior.

At 3:30 PM a spike buck walked pas the stand and then winded us. After a few blows and some crashing through the brush he was gone. Now did the big buck hear that commotion and decide not to come our way. At 4:00 PM the rain started to fall. Bryan rigged up the camera in his waterproof bag and sat back down to wait. After 20 minutes the rain stopped and the sun began to emerge. As Bryan removed the rain cover I noticed movement to my right. The big buck was making his way through the thick cover towards our shooting lanes.

I slowly stood and raised my bow. Bryan quickly found the deer on camera and gave me the O.K. to shoot. All I could think about was can I make this shot for my son Stephen. I was hoping we both could celebrate with a nice buck before our trip to the hospital. When the arrow hit the buck, he went right down. I hit him high in the spine, but was able to quickly dispatch him. I am thanking the Lord for a great, brief season with two good deer and a great Family to share every day with. Stephen this hunt was for you buddy. In a couple of years you will be old enough to shot some bucks like this with Dad.

For the complete story and video go to HuntNut.com we will be launching the site early in the Fall of 08. I will keep you all posted.

Good Luck This Season!
Steve Behun
Team HuntNut

Tags: NJ Fall Bow - A Hunt For My Son Stephen IV

September 1, 2008
Bryan Roth (HuntingBry)-Team Hunt Nut

 

We ended our trip to Maine and are now at home unpacking our gear.  No bears made an appearance for Team Hunt Nut, but some great memories were made and we've already started plans for future hunts with our new friends.

From a personal perspective I learned a ton about bears and hunting them even though Denton and I never saw one from the stand.  For the years to come I know we will be able to apply what we've learned and success will follow.  That is, success in the form of filled tags.  We had plenty of success in building friendships and learning about hunting.  That's what being a Hunt Nut is all about.

I believe that I speak for Denton, Mike, and Steve when I give a heartfelt thanks to Pete, Linda, Larry, and Nick for all of their time, effort, and hospitality.  We had a great time, learned a lot, and can't wait to share the woods with you again.

Best of luck this fall and get some of those Maine bruins for us PA boys!

Saturday August 30, 2008

Well tonight it is the last chance. 

Denton and I still have not seen anything, but our bait site was hit Thursday night and we saw the bear's tracks on the way in last night.  Hopefully he'll slip up tonight and show himself during daylight. 

Mike and Linda saw another bear last night, but he never came into the bait.  Mike saw him about 80 yards out and he sat down by a big birch tree.  He moved behind the birch tree and sat down again before making his way toward the bait but disappeared into a brush pile and never showed himself again.

Pete went out with Linda's son Nick, but they had an uneventful evening as well.

We are heading back out again to give it a last ditch effort.

All in all we are having a great time and learning a lot about establishing baits for bear hunting.  We are also making some great friends that we will surely share many future hunting trips with.

August 28, 2008

Since we arrived in Maine on Saturday we have pretty much been on the run.  We have been getting up early in the mornings to check and fill baits and find out what pictures are on the trailcams.  Once we get back we grab some lunch and shower to head out to the stands.

Last night Denton and I switched to a new spot that got hit during daylight on Monday.  We were supposed to hunt that site on Monday, but we got some activity at another site and hunted that Monday and Tuesday.  As they say, hindsight is always 20/20.  What can you say, that's hunting.  We have now moved back to that site and saw a bear on the way out yesterday that looked to be heading to the bait. 

Pete is hunting the stand that we left in case it gets hot again, so we are covering some more ground.

Mike and Linda saw the first bear of the hunt last night, but unfortunately they could not get the shot.  The bear circled the bait.  It had been hit the night before and the barrel was on its side so the bear was very tentative and never came in.  It was still a heartpounding moment and Linda's first bear sighting in the woods ever.  Mike was able to get some good footage.  Linda told us that now that the novelty of her first sighting has past she is now ready to put one on the ground.

It's been a lot of work and some hard hunting thus far, but that is what you get with a DIY hunt.  We are having a great time and wouldn't have it any other way.

Keep checking back and we're looking forward to posting a success story.

After a long offseason tuning our gear and reviewing footage the 2008 Hunt Nut Season is about to kick off.

Well, here we are enjoying our breakfast and coffee getting ready to head out and hit the stands for the opening day of bear up here in Maine.  We got up here on Friday and have been on the go ever since.  Once we left around 3:30 Friday morning the anticipation has been building.  After arriving and meeting up with Pete and Linda we hit the ground running setting our stands, cutting shooting lanes, and checking and filling baits.  We've got a couple of hot baits going right now and got the guns and bows sighted in last night.  After that it was to the task of packing up the camera gear and reviewing last minute check lists.  Now the moment is upon us and we are ready to go.

Check in later, and hopefully we'll have some pics to post of one of us sitting over a bear.

August 18^th, 2008

 

Another fall hunting season is just about upon Team HuntNut ®.  The team has been scouting hard and collecting images on the scouting cameras since mid June.  Our bows and guns are both anxiously awaiting the day the paper targets changes into flesh and bone.  The first crack for the team will be in Maine on a bear hunt with our good friends, Linda and Pete.  They have graciously invited the team for some bear hunting northern woods style. 

 

You know there was no way we were going to turn down a chance to start our season in August.  Especially when the animal of choice is a big old bear.    

 

Bryan Roth, Denton Wenner and Mike Evangelista of Team HuntNut® will hit the road early AM on this coming Saturday to make the long haul into New England with weapons and cameras in hand.  We all are anticipating what their video cameras will capture. 

 

This will be the teams second trip to Maine in three weeks.  The first trip entailed helping Linda and Pete with lots of scouting, baiting, and hanging treestands.  Oh, did I leave out the lobsters.   Yeah still waiting for mine, but I will gladly trade it in for a bear chop or two.      

 

The photos that Linda and Pete have shared with the Team HuntNut® since they left Maine has everyone here in Pennsylvania wishing the season was already open. 

 

Unfortunately I will not be able to go along on this trip, someone has to stay home and watch the shop, so to speak.  While the team is up in Maine, I will be working on finding some of the big bucks here and in New Jersey.  So far our cameras have found a few good ones.  I still have several cameras that I haven’t checked since getting them on the ground in June and July. 

 

Lord willing everyone will have a safe and productive hunt in Maine and then get back here to prepare for the opener in New Jersey.  I have lots of hours of blank tape and many sharp broadheads that are waiting deployment.  Have a great hunt Team.      

 

Steve Behun

Team HuntNut®

 

Tags: HuntNut In Maine

Scouting Camera season is here, and the Team is in full swing with our cameras. We have had mineral out since the spring and our starting to see some nice deer. Bryan, Denton and Mike have all captured some great shots. I just pulled one camera tonight and had some nice deer on it as well. One good ten and two nines, and also one weird looking deer. My two sons Stephen and William tagged along. Or should I say carried along. Stephen is 2 years 3 months And William is 8 months old. Hey you got to start early when you are a future HuntNut®.

Hope everyone else is finding some deer. I have three cameras that I will check this weekend. After that Jim and I will get ready to film a segment for our new turkey call commercial, while the majority of the Team will be getting ready to sling arrows at some bears in Maine. Good luck Team, Linda and Pete I can’t wait to see some bear action on film when you get back.

Steve Behun
HuntNut®.

Tags: Scouting Camera Check