It's Like MJ Missing a Layup
2 Comments Published by David Blanton on Tuesday, October 30, 2007 at 9:04 PM.
"Realtree Outdoors" producer and cameraman, John Tate, is as good as it gets when it comes to capturing footage from a tree stand. He is durn near flawless.
He and I make a pretty good team. As a matter of fact, when a “shooter” buck comes to within bow range of us and he leaves without an arrow hole in him, you can rest assured that my arrow has missed its mark...again. But the video is always awesome.
Imagine my surprise when, just a few days ago, John and I, while hunting in Montana with Northern Rockies Outfitters, had a big 8-pointer pass within 25 yards of our stands, through a wide open shooting land, and nary an arrow was flung!
Chalk it up to flat out weirdness. Were we both surprised!
Here’s how it happened:
John spots a couple of small bucks making their way through the cottonwood bottom as
they head for the irrigated alfalfa field. Immediately, I grab my bow off the EZ-Hanger and rotate my body just in case a bigger buck was following.
Well, there wasn’t a bigger buck following, there were TWO bigger bucks bringing up the rear. About that time John sees them as well. From my vantage point (two feet lower than John) I could tell that the first “bigger” buck was the biggest of the bunch, a 135” 8-pointer, and that the last buck was a 125” 10-pointer.
However, from John’s viewpoint he couldn’t quite get a read on the last buck and just figured that the last buck in line would be the biggest (which a lot of the times is the case during early bowseason).
I whisper to John that I’m going to shoot the third buck in line and come to full draw, settling the pin behind the buck’s shoulder. John, not realizing that I had seen the last buck clearly, told me to hold off.
Still at full draw, I glance up at John with the camera pointed at the buck I’m aiming at.
Now I’m confused.
Had I misheard John and was he expecting me to shoot the buck I’m holding on?
Once again, I whispered what to do?
This time I heard John say that the biggest buck was bringing up the rear. At that point in time, the last buck cleared the brush and John realized he was not as big as he’d thought. We swing our attention (and camera) back to the “shooter” and by this time he had gone through the shooting lane.
In other words, we had just been “snookered” by the entire bunch of bucks! Pretty clever on their part how they devised such a crafty plan.
As for me and John, we didn’t think it was funny. As it turned out that was our only chance at a good buck during the week.
BUCKS 1 BLANTON/TATE 0
Just weird. We’re still shaking our heads over this one.
He and I make a pretty good team. As a matter of fact, when a “shooter” buck comes to within bow range of us and he leaves without an arrow hole in him, you can rest assured that my arrow has missed its mark...again. But the video is always awesome.
Imagine my surprise when, just a few days ago, John and I, while hunting in Montana with Northern Rockies Outfitters, had a big 8-pointer pass within 25 yards of our stands, through a wide open shooting land, and nary an arrow was flung!
Chalk it up to flat out weirdness. Were we both surprised!
Here’s how it happened:
John spots a couple of small bucks making their way through the cottonwood bottom as
they head for the irrigated alfalfa field. Immediately, I grab my bow off the EZ-Hanger and rotate my body just in case a bigger buck was following.
Well, there wasn’t a bigger buck following, there were TWO bigger bucks bringing up the rear. About that time John sees them as well. From my vantage point (two feet lower than John) I could tell that the first “bigger” buck was the biggest of the bunch, a 135” 8-pointer, and that the last buck was a 125” 10-pointer.
However, from John’s viewpoint he couldn’t quite get a read on the last buck and just figured that the last buck in line would be the biggest (which a lot of the times is the case during early bowseason).
I whisper to John that I’m going to shoot the third buck in line and come to full draw, settling the pin behind the buck’s shoulder. John, not realizing that I had seen the last buck clearly, told me to hold off.
Still at full draw, I glance up at John with the camera pointed at the buck I’m aiming at.
Now I’m confused.
Had I misheard John and was he expecting me to shoot the buck I’m holding on?
Once again, I whispered what to do?
This time I heard John say that the biggest buck was bringing up the rear. At that point in time, the last buck cleared the brush and John realized he was not as big as he’d thought. We swing our attention (and camera) back to the “shooter” and by this time he had gone through the shooting lane.
In other words, we had just been “snookered” by the entire bunch of bucks! Pretty clever on their part how they devised such a crafty plan.
As for me and John, we didn’t think it was funny. As it turned out that was our only chance at a good buck during the week.
BUCKS 1 BLANTON/TATE 0
Just weird. We’re still shaking our heads over this one.
The Other Fall Excitement
15 Comments Published by David Blanton on Friday, October 26, 2007 at 8:39 AM.
You know one thing I LOVE about huntin’ season? College Football!
You see, around here all of us are die-hard college football fans, and this year the excitement is unbelievable. I mean, how many times is a TOP 5 team going to be upset?
Once again, it has been proven, the Southeastern Conference is the TOUGHEST conference in the land!
The Blanton's are huge Georgia Bulldog fans, and this weekend we line up against our arch rival, the Florida Gators. I’m calling for one of the biggest upsets of an already mind boggling season!
I’ll have you know that I called the upset of Florida by the Auburn Tigers. I called my buddy, Coach Hugh Nall, offensive line coach at Auburn a few days before the game and told him that I KNEW they would beat Florida!
Let’s not talk about the bold predictions that didn’t go exactly the way I envisioned.
It simply does not get any better than coming in from a great day of hunting, settling down in front of the television and watching another “down to the wire” battle between two SEC teams.
We also like to see a game in person. A few weeks ago the entire Blanton clan and a couple of girlfriends went to Athens to watch our Bulldogs dismantle the Ole Miss Rebels, Bill’s school.
Bill insisted on betting lunch on the game, but he wanted too many points. As it turned, out I should have taken him up on it.
Deer huntin’ and college football...they go together like Waffle House and turkey hunting.
What about you? Who’s your team? Behind the Southeastern Conference, who do you think plays the best football in the land?
You see, around here all of us are die-hard college football fans, and this year the excitement is unbelievable. I mean, how many times is a TOP 5 team going to be upset?
Once again, it has been proven, the Southeastern Conference is the TOUGHEST conference in the land!
The Blanton's are huge Georgia Bulldog fans, and this weekend we line up against our arch rival, the Florida Gators. I’m calling for one of the biggest upsets of an already mind boggling season!
I’ll have you know that I called the upset of Florida by the Auburn Tigers. I called my buddy, Coach Hugh Nall, offensive line coach at Auburn a few days before the game and told him that I KNEW they would beat Florida!
Let’s not talk about the bold predictions that didn’t go exactly the way I envisioned.
It simply does not get any better than coming in from a great day of hunting, settling down in front of the television and watching another “down to the wire” battle between two SEC teams.
We also like to see a game in person. A few weeks ago the entire Blanton clan and a couple of girlfriends went to Athens to watch our Bulldogs dismantle the Ole Miss Rebels, Bill’s school.
Bill insisted on betting lunch on the game, but he wanted too many points. As it turned, out I should have taken him up on it.
Deer huntin’ and college football...they go together like Waffle House and turkey hunting.
What about you? Who’s your team? Behind the Southeastern Conference, who do you think plays the best football in the land?
