Jered's favorite animal to pursue with a bow is
the whitetail.
| I grew up in Northern Michigan and that is where I began my love affair with the outdoors. What started out as an innocent search in the woods for a squirrel as a young boy turned into an obsession for whitetail across the Midwest as a young man. Now as I make this transition into pursuing all the Big Game of North America, I am eager to be able to embark on this journey along with my favorite hunting partners, my two brothers. |
One of my favorite memories is from opening day of bow season, 5 years ago. I had a very busy workload that hunting season and I didn’t have time to set up a stand. So my older brother, Shane, put in a set for me. Of course, as younger brothers come to know, I wasn’t expecting the best stand from him (well, I also didn’t actually put in the work for it). The weather was 80 degrees, too hot to be sitting all morning in full camo, the deer wouldn’t be moving. This did not feel like my “lucky” day.
To my surprise, around 7:15 am, I actually had a year and a half buck come in, so I let him walk. Then, about 20 minutes later, a nice Northern Michigan three and a half year old buck walked in and started to mill around. I watched him walk around the area, keeping a 15-20 yard distance from me. He ascended a nearby hill, bringing himself now only seven yards away. So with the buck on a hill and I in this low tree stand, we were now eye level. Thankfully, he put his head behind a tree so I could draw back (blocking his view, but not his vitals!). I picked a hair and aimed. Click. Release. Hit! Straight through the heart and he was off. I sat there in my stand, sweat streaming and adrenaline pumping, eagerly waiting for Shane to meet up and track. I couldn’t believe I shot a deer on public land in a set my brother had hung…all on opening day! Shane and I started tracking and after 90 yards we found my “lucky” buck.
Justin is the comedian who always has something funny to say.
Shane is the president of Tree-Lok, LLC, a company that manufacturers superior locks for tree-stands, trail-cameras and ATVs.
I became interested in bows at an early age when my dad bought me my first Little Bear recurve and put a hay bale in the yard. At 15 years old I was fortunate to spend some quality time with Fred Bear discussing our sport. Since then my interest in bowhunting has turned into a passion and I have been blessed to bow hunt many animals across North America.
My greatest bowhunting memories are not the trophy's that I have taken, but the times I have introduced children to archery. Watching the determination in their eyes when they pull a bow back the first time and aim at the target. Feeling the excitement of a close encounter with their first animal. Those are the memories that I consider the real "trophy's".