I interrupt your day to bring you this news shocker...People don’t watch fishing shows as much as they watch hunting shows. My information comes from some pretty good sources, the “higher ups” at several different television networks that broadcast outdoor shows. Their observations are based on ratings.

What are the real reasons that make hunting shows more interesting or more compelling to watch? First of all, there has never been any comparison for me when it comes to how long I’ll sit and watch a hunting show as opposed to a fishing show. There was only one fishing show that I would sit and watch and it was “Flip Pallot’s Walker’s Cay Chronicles” on ESPN.

Why is this? This is something that I’ve always wondered and have actually, I think, figured it out. Here goes.

First, I think it has to do with the view. Turn on a fishin’ show and all you see are people in boats on the water, except for the rare trout fishing show. Watch a huntin’ show and the settings are endless. Mountains, swamp bottoms, hardwood ridges, prairies, cornfields, pine trees, well, you get the idea. We get to see so many different types of terrain.

And then there’s the species we hunt. Elk, moose, whitetails, turkeys, mule deer, bears, coyotes, caribou . . . there’s so many different types of game!
The argument could be made that there are just as many, or more, different types of fishing that takes place.

Correct! But herein lies the biggest reason hunting shows have always been and will always be more exciting to watch, WE GET TO SEE THE ANIMAL BEFORE IT'S CONQUERED! Think about it, if you’re watching a bowhunt for elk, you’re probably going to encounter that bull (through the television screen) way before the hunter shoots. Well, without even realizing it, we are watching the events play out leading up to the shot. We don’t know if the hunt is going to be successful or not. There are so many moves the animals can make to spoil the hunt. There are even more moves the hunters could make to spoil the hunt. And we get to watch it all play out, never knowing how it’s going to end!

Pretty much what happens on a fishing show is you see a guy set the hook and the quest is over. The fish is reeled in and held up and probably kissed, then released. You never got to see that fish as it was attracted to the bait, and you never got to see the fish as its trying to decide whether to bite.

On the other hand, you’re watching a show on turkey hunting and you’ve got a big ol’ gobbler strutting and gobbling out there hung up at 70 yards. You can almost sense that tom thinking, “Show me something; let me hear a different call that will coax me in closer. WHAT SHOULD I DO?” And all this before the hunt is over!

Hunting shows (good ones) are awesome television! Now if we could just pass a law that would prohibit any and all dove hunting shows from being aired! AAAAGGH!
It’s a blast to do, but I don’t want to watch it!

Don't forget to check out the Online Journal on Mitch Ensor.

Friday night about a week ago, the weatherman predicted the perfect forecast for the following day. Highs in the upper 70s, very little wind, bluebird skies. Awesome turkey weather. The birds were really starting to turn on so . . . the boys and I went golfing.

That’s right. And none of us wore a stitch of camo!

You see, I’ve had enough of these ol’ Easterns waxing our tails for several weeks now, so Harman, Alex and Lucas decided on a whim they wanted to go “knock it around.”
It had been a while since our last golfing adventure. As a matter of fact, the last time we went last fall, two of my boys (they shall remain nameless) became more interested in chasing an armadillo with a 5 iron than finishing the round in a timely manner. Luckily, a thick briar patch saved us all from any suspense.

As the boys were locating clubs throughout the house, basement, yard, garage, etc., Ginger says, “I hope ya’ll have fun today.”
I replied, “It ought to be interesting, Harman’s playing in flip flops.”
Her comeback was instant, “David, you can’t let him wear those! Please teach him something about golf etiquette.”
“Alright!” I answered, “I just think they’ll be more comfortable than boots.”

On the way to the course, we took a vote and decided you can’t play good golf on an empty stomach so we stopped by the local hamburger/hotdog joint, Charlie Joseph’s, and while we were there, it dawned on me why Ginger seemed a little uptight about our choice of attire.

“She thought we must have been invited to play at the country club!” I discovered.
No wonder! We were going to the American Legion. We were going to be overdressed!

During lunch, my phone rang and my reasoning for golfing instead of turkey hunting was justified! Brad Farris, my buddy from Primos Hunting Calls called. Before the end of the conversation he asked how our spring had been in Georgia and, not wanting to tip my hand, I answered that it had been “different.” Brad countered with “weird” and then we both confessed that the turkeys had kicked our butts. We both felt better. Let’s go tee it up boys!

How’d we do? 18 balls later we finished the round. No flat tires. No stitches. No fights. There were some accusations of cheating. Harman birdied the last par 3. Alex made par on the last par 4. Lucas and I got our money’s worth!

All in an effort to expand the boys horizons. You can’t think JUST about turkey hunting during the spring. Can you?

Ginger and I are raising three boys… I think. At times I feel like we feed ‘em more than we raise ‘em.

Stories that are guaranteed to keep showing up in my blog are those about Harman, Alex and Lucas. It’s amazing how three siblings, raised in the same home with the same rules, can be so different.

I am at a point now, thank God, that I usually just laugh about it instead of trying to analyze it.

Alex,14, is in the ninth grade and is obsessed with sports (mainly baseball) and competing. He tends to go overboard a little (sometimes a lot) with the “competition” thing and winds up in trouble, but that’s another blog for a another day.

Anyway, Alex had a few days off from baseball during his spring break and we decided to take advantage of the time and head for Texas to do a little turkey hunting. Now don’t get me wrong, Alex likes to hunt but what he enjoys the most about hitting the road with me is just that. ROADTRIP!

No mandatory showers, no brushing teeth, lots of “guys only” humor that Ginger asks not to be even made aware of upon returning home, well, you get the idea.

Joining us on the trip was my buddy, Richard Reid, from Grenada, Miss., and "Realtree Outdoors" producer John Tate; we were headed for the Begert Ranch near Allison.
Alex did not make a single morning turkey hunt the entire time we were there!
Every morning it was the same routine.
“Alex, it’s time to get up! Let’s get dressed!”
The whole time Richard and John are chiming in with threats of their own.
“Alex, you little sissy, get up! Sleeping is for losers!”
Alex would sit up in the bed, mumble something about hurting somebody and crash again.

Richard, John and I would walk out the door laughing. After all, it was spring break.

The second morning, a longbeard was gobbling at everything, coming right to us across a big, open field. While he’s getting closer, Richard leans over and says, “It’s a shame ol’ EH isn’t with us this morning.”
I said, “EH”?

“Yeah, Alex. EH. He could shoot this bird when he comes in!”
Totally confused, I turned and looked at Richard and asked again, “EH?”
“Yeah, evening hunter.”

We both laughed and moments later Richard was kneeling beside the 4-year-old gobbler who had put on a big show for John and the camera.

I guess the nickname fit Alex cause it stuck. EH joined us on every afternoon hunt and killed a beautiful 3 year old that strutted in from behind us, once again John got awesome footage.

It was the second best way to end a fantastic trip!

Oh, the best way to end the trip? It had to be Alex finally taking a shower!

Daylight arrived under perfect conditions to begin our quest for Mitch’s turkey.
Excitement filled the blind and it came from a lot of people.

In the Ameristep Bighouse blind was Mitch, Kay, Hoppy, myself and Steve Finch who was operating a small, handheld camera solely for the purpose of capturing any and all “going ons” in the blind. Outside the blind and well-hidden was John Tate, who was running the “big” camera and would be concentrating solely on the wanna-be-a-star turkeys, if and when they showed up.

Geraldo Rivera travels with a smaller entourage than Mitch.

Now, I’m not going to go into the details of the actual hunt, that’s what the Online Journal is for here at Realtree.com, but on the second morning Mitch is looking at a big, strutting turkey through the Nikon scope on the Benelli. And he’s getting closer.

My heart was beating out of control as if a 400” elk was screaming down my neck. Of course, I’m supposed to be the calm, cool, collective one of the bunch right? Not even close.

As I reached up with my left hand to push the safety off for Mitch, the emotions started coming to the surface.

So many things went through my mind. Would this be the last turkey Mitch Ensor ever kills? Will he be able to make the shot? Am I the only one nervous around here? Would Mitch’s dream of completing his Grand Slam come true?

Then, very strangely, I thought about Kay.

Even in the midst of this tense moment, I wondered how she handled watching her husband do what he loves the most, knowing he’s not going to be able to hunt much longer.

Strength and unconditional love. Everyday she wakes up staring at that train barreling down the tracks coming towards her . . . and she never flinches. That calmed me down and broke me down at the same time.

The gun barks and the gobbler is dead.

Mitch’s first reaction was to holler as loud as he could. He was the last one to cry. All I could do was hug Mitch and sob.

For twenty minutes people cried. Everybody cried.

The dead tom had to be thinking, “What about me? Is anybody going to come out here and take pictures with me or anything?”

We finally got around to going out to Mitch’s bird and admiring him. God is awesome!

Mitch had one last request.

He wanted to “walk” to his bird. Grabbing an arm on each side, Hoppy and I each pulled Mitch out of his chair and walked with him to his turkey.

Mitch Ensor, the most incredible turkey hunter.


*Pictured is Mitch and Hoppy with Mitch's final leg of his Grand Slam
**Make sure you watch “Realtree Outdoors” on August 5 to catch the entire hunt on ESPN2. You will not want to miss this one!

Mitch Ensor, of Lebanon Junction, Ky., is like no one I’ve ever met, much less hunted turkeys with. My life has been forever changed.

You see, a year and a half ago, Mitch was like almost any other guy who lived to hunt and fish. He was an avid outdoorsman and loved to bowhunt more than anything. Sitting in a tree stand 20 feet off the ground waiting for a monster buck to walk by was his “heaven on earth.”

Then one day he went to draw back his bow and couldn’t. He tried again. Same results.
Mitch thought he was coming down with something and his body must be tired. Over the course of several weeks, simple things seemed harder to do. His balance was “iffy” at best. He even fell a few times and couldn’t explain why.

A few months later, in March of ’06, Mitch was told he had ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s Disease.

What did Mitch do? He thanked God for being with him and blessing him with a beautiful wife, Kay, and two children, Shelby,7, and Tanner, almost 4.

Learning that he had roughly two years to live, Mitch had a request. He wanted to go kill an Osceola gobbler to round out his Grand Slam and he asked that I be with him when he does.

Now, there aren’t many things that will get me to leave my family during spring baseball and soccer season (with Harman and Alex playing) but this was a no brainer, especially after I had the chance to meet Mitch a month before our hunt and see firsthand his love for life, family, friends, hunting and God.

Well, Ralph and Vicki Cianciarulo put me in touch with their Florida hunting connection, Hoppy Kempfer of Osceola Outfitters, outside of St. Cloud and it took no time to set up our hunt.

In the months leading up to our hunt, this terrible disease continued to ravage Mitch’s body, but not his spirit and sense of humor.

Mitch progressively lost more and more of his physical abilities and there was a point when we weren’t sure he would make the hunt at all!

Even during his toughest times leading up to our hunt, Mitch would tell me how much God had blessed him.

If that won’t eliminate the size of your problems, I don’t know what will.
Finally, March 24 arrived and John Tate, Steve Finch and I jumped in my truck and drove down to St. Cloud to begin the hunt.

Little did we know that this was going to be way more than a hunt!

Well, here it is, in my opinion, the PERFECT turkey hunt.

The hunt has to take place early in the year before any foliage or leaves are present and it must be on a mature hardwood ridge with very little, if any, undergrowth. It has to happen, oh, about 30-45 minutes after sunrise so that magical “golden glow” is working. So that means it’s got to be a clear morning. There can’t be any wind so the microphone can pick up every songbird singing and, of course, the hard gobbling of a big strutter approaching. That means that there can’t be any road noise either (harder to come by than you think).

Now, the cameraman has to be set up 15-20 feet behind the hunter who is sitting at the base of a big oak tree and is turned 45 degrees to the camera so when he looks down the barrel of his shotgun, the camera lens can look right down the barrel as well.

And by the way, there can’t be a decoy involved in the hunt. We want this old bird to take his time and really put on a show gobbling and strutting as he inches his way toward the camera and the hunter who is calling very seductively. Once a lonely gobbler sees a decoy, he’s gets all flustered, rushing things along.

Obviously, the sun has to be at the cameraman’s back. (Boy, it’s a good thing turkeys don’t smell then we’d have to worry about thermals and wind drifts, but remember it can’t be windy.)

Now, here’s the hard part. The tom has to gobble a lot in the bottom before he commits to come up on the ridge with the hunter and cameraman, and when he finally decides to appear, it is the tip of his tail fan that you first see as he struts up on the ridge in full view, 60 yards away from the hunter.

And the sun has to light him when he appears.

Did I mention that he has to be by himself? It’s just more dramatic that way. Plus, a 4-year-old gobbler doesn’t hang around with a bunch of youngsters anyway.

Now all the turkey has to do is parade right down the gun barrel in full view until he is shot at a distance of 16 yards as he comes out of strut for the first time to see where that ‘ol hen is.

The entire time, however, the cameraman has to have been slowly, very slowly, zooming into and back from the gobbler, revealing the hunter and the bird in the same frame several times during the hunt, especially at the time of the shot, which HAS to be a perfect head shot.

Of course, the camera work has to be flawless and captured on a broadcast quality, professional grade, three-chip camera so the color saturation is brilliant. And the tripod has to be stable enough so there is no shake at all, not to mention the footage has to be sharply focused.

I almost forgot, Merriam’s and Rio’s need not apply! The turkey has to be a big Eastern bird (An Osceola would be fine, but there would be no big hardwood ridge).
Why Easterns? They’re smarter.

My fascination with videoing turkeys and turkey hunts can be traced back to 1987 when I opened and operated, with a partner, a full-line hunting and fishing pro shop. We decided to “rent out” hunting videos to our customers. Back then, the pickings were slim and in an effort to offer the best in turkey hunting videos, I watched what was available. One day, I popped the new video from Paul Butski and the late Billy McKoy into the VCR. I was amazed at how close they could get their cameras to strutting gobblers! The footage was awesome! I was hooked. “How can I do that?” I wondered.

Here we are, 20 years later, right in the middle of turkey season, and I’d say so far this spring, the Realtree cameras have recorded 12-14 “good” turkey hunts that will certainly go on next year’s DVD.

That means we’re on pace to wind up with our usual 25-30 hunts. And there’ll be hunts from all across the country with all four subspecies being taken on video. It will be our 17th turkey hunting video and if you figure an average of 23 hunts each, that would give you a total of around 390-400 hunts that have made the final cut — Probably another 100 that didn’t.

Anyway, close to 500 turkeys have died in front of our cameras and yet . . . we have NEVER videoed the PERFECT turkey hunt! (In my opinion.)

As a matter of fact, I have never seen the perfect turkey hunt videoed in ANY of the productions throughout the hunting industry. I’m the first to admit that plenty of companies do a fantastic job when it comes to capturing exciting turkey hunts on tape… Primos, Hunter’s Specialties, Knight & Hale, etc., but once again, I’ve never seen the perfect hunt.

I know what you’re thinking, “Just what is the perfect turkey hunt?”

My next blog will reveal the answer.

There is one fired up bowhunter in the Blanton household these days! The elk lottery has been WON! Now there will be a summer full of anticipation, daydreaming and shooting a bow in the backyard until the triceps can’t take it anymore.

No, it’s not me; it’s my oldest son Harman who turned 17 on March 16. How did this happen? We’ll get to that in a minute.

One of my responsibilities at Realtree is lining up hunts for all video crews. This is absolutely one of my favorite “things to do.” But it also eats up an enormous amount of time. For 365 days a year I’m pulling up little subconscious thoughts trying to find that “new” and “undisturbed” Milk River kind of place to hunt.

Part of this process involves my ongoing relationship with Eric Pawlek, who oversees Cabela’s T.A.G.S. program. Eric and I are constantly talking on the phone about different units to apply for and how can we can build up preference points for different species ranging from elk to sheep.

One day this past winter, I had a thought. If I started applying Harman now to some really, really “never will you draw this unit” hunts, he’ll build up valuable preference points and by the time he gets out of college (6-15 years from now) there’s a chance he could draw a really cool hunt.

Well, Jeff Smith of Seven J Outfitters, where we’ve whitetail hunted in early September for several years, and his head guide, Kenny Morga, have told us for years about the incredible elk living in the Black Hills of Wyoming where they’re located — Unit 116. The bulls are big for a reason, as there are very few tags issued in that unit.

YOU GUESSED IT! In his first year of applying, Harman drew the tag. I don’t know who is more pumped, actually its pretty clear I’m “out of control” excited. Well, Harman’s mom is pretty excited about him missing a week during the middle of September during his senior year of high school. (Not really!)

As you read this I am on my knees explaining to Ginger how “educational” this experience is going to be. We can visit colleges while we’re out there. Isn’t there a university in Sundance, Wyoming?

I’m betting that Ginger’s love for her son “wins out” over her disdain for skipping school. Especially if she could ever hear a big, slobbering bull bugle in her face at 10 yards.

More to come on this once the hunt takes place. Can't wait to tell more. The picture above is of Harman and a Georgia doe he took last fall.

A little over a year ago my life changed forever. The person I learned to hunt with (not from) and the person with whom I laughed the most with when reflecting on the “insane” mistakes we made while trying to learn to bowhunt back in the late 70s was gone. My dad, Don, died suddenly while working in the yard. For those of you who have lost a parent, a brother, a sister, a someone-I-love-very-much person to an unexpected death, you know the feeling. I’ll never forget the time and place I was when I got the news.

My youngest son, Lucas, (9 at the time) and I had just checked into our room in a little hotel in Northern Michigan. I had a speaking engagement at a church that night and Lucas viewed it as a grand time to skip school and join me on the trip. When my sister called me and told me the news, Lucas and I, both sobbing uncontrollably, fell to our knees, hand-in-hand, . . . and prayed for God’s comfort for all of us, especially Mom.

The immediate concern was getting home. It became clear that I would not have time to get home that night because of connections. The next phone call I got was from Bill Jordan. He told me to get to the nearest airport as quickly as I could and there would be a private jet there shortly to take Lucas and me home.

I would get to hug my Mom that night.

I don’t want to know what that jet cost that day — Don’t care. But when people ask me what kind of guy is Bill Jordan, the answer is found in his actions on that day last March.

Now, when I relive the day Dad died and the sadness we experienced, I also remember Bill’s heart.

I am Blessed.

(The above photo is of my father with a pronghorn he took with his recurve while hunting in Wyoming. I know, the photo is cut off, but that is just life when you are working inside of size restraints.)

If we don’t finish Monster Bucks XV soon, I think all of the guys in the production department are going to clock out, go turkey hunting and never come back! It has been a grueling three months since the close of deer season and it seems as if it takes longer and longer to complete the volume set.

You can stroll through the department and on any given day you can watch some phase of Monster Bucks being tweaked in five or six edit suites. Whether the music is being laid in, color being corrected, voiceover being put in or just plain ol’ bad video being re-edited once again to make it easier to watch, it is a long process.

The biggest reason this years DVD set is taking longer is the fact that chief editor Ray Brown, producers John Tate and Marc Womack, and graphic designer Alan Linnenkohl decided to take the production value to another level. These guys are never happy and you can bet this year’s version of Monster Bucks is going to be the best ever!

You’ve never seen a “competition” like this year’s between T-Bone, Michael, myself and Bill (kind of). On top of that, there are 45 hunts total on both volumes. There is more behind-the-scenes footage than ever, a gear page for each hunt and, most importantly, the BIGGEST bucks ever killed!

Vicki Cianciarulo busted a “freak nasty” whitetail with her bow that grossed over 203”!
That’s just to name one.

And if you don’t like the archery competition, just click a button and you can watch just the hunts this year.

We cut some hunts this year that would have made the final edit in years past. This year, they just weren’t good enough.

How did I do this year on Monster Bucks? Well, I missed the biggest buck I’ve ever shot at with my bow. It was in Kansas and I don’t even want to tell you how big he was.

Of course, I missed him on purpose. Because isn’t that what everybody remembers anyway!

And be sure to look for the introductory bowhunting only video, “Nocked and Loaded,” that will be available via the Realstore in the coming weeks.

For whatever reason, some of the folks at Realtree decided it was time for David Blanton (that would be me) to “do a blog.” My first reaction was, “Is that legal?” and if not, “What kind of jail time does it usually bring?”

After a short dialogue with the marketing crew, I don’t know who was more confused. But anyway, the “smart people” here at realtree.com have gotten me all lined out and I’m ready to roll . . . they think.

My goal here at Blanton’s Blog is to entertain you, inform you, provoke you and, in some cases, irritate you enough to keep you coming back.

I love the freedom which I’ve been given and I will reveal things that you wouldn’t know otherwise about myself, Realtree, the hunting industry, my family, friends, heck, I’ll even let you in on “classified” information about Michael Waddell and Bill Jordan, as long as you don’t tell.

For instance, I just got off the phone with Waddell. His number one love in the woods is turkey hunting. Well, that world has been turned sideways. You see, on March 7, Addie and McCoy Waddell were born. Wonderful! Great! Problem is, Michael starts roosting on the bedpost around March 1 and doesn’t come down until, oh, around May 15. And twins and turkeys don’t fit. (If you don’t believe me ask Ashley, Michael’s wife.)

Well, Michael and I just had to face the first dilemma. Ashley has been breastfeeding the babies and went out and purchased a “top of the line” $200 breast pump. Now, she’s decided to quit breastfeeding. (Please note that Ashley did make it three weeks, so give her a round of applause — as she does deserve it!)

“That was a lot of money to spend!” said Michael. “Now it’s no good.”

“Hold on,” I quickly countered. “There’s got to be something you can do with it.”

Michael quickly agreed, so he’s loading up the pump and taking it to Green’s Small Engine Repair to see if it can be reworked to run a slate call, or throw a clay pigeon. Or something!

Stay tuned to see what Waddell comes up with. There really is no telling.