With the big bucks starting to move, Derek Stahlman along with cameraman Steven Jobe packed up their gear and headed to northwest Missouri in hopes of scoring on the opening weekend of rifle season.  With their setup positioned on a funnel between two cut beanfields, both had high hopes of catching a buck cruising for does, and they didn’t have to wait long.

 After doing some grunting on the Primos Buck Roar followed by an aggressive rattling sequence, Steven caught some movement on the field edge to the south of their set which turned out to be a shooter buck.  Within moments, a 120 class buck had charged straight in to them offering Derek a 30 yard shot with his .270.  All of this coming less than 2 weeks after Derek had shot a buck with his bow on the same farm. 

Be looking for this hunt on our next DVD this coming fall.

Hunting with Northwest Missouri Outfitters, LLC, field producers Jeff Tourville and J.D. Huitt opened up the 2007 season with a bang. Derek Stahlman was originally scheduled to hunt the opening weekend with Northwest Missouri Outfitters, but due to an injury that left him with a cracked vertebrae in his neck, he was unable to hunt. In his place, Jeff and J.D. went up to hunt a farm where owners Dave and Sam had been getting trail cam pictures of several good bucks.

With the morning movement being slow, they decided to hunt a set Derek had hung over the summer in a whitetail clover plot. At about 7:00, Jeff spotted a buck that he immediately knew was a shooter coming directly to their stand through a field of switchgrass. After a few tense minutes, the buck finally offered a broadside shot allowing Jeff to sink his new Rage broadhead directly into the vitals. The buck didn’t go more than 80 yards before falling on film.

Last Christmas, my wife and I recieved a gift from a good friend of ours.  It was a turkey feather that had painted on it a scene of two gobblers strutting in the presence of a hen in a spring meadow.  To see the detail that was put into this work is nothing short of amazing.  Even now, I have no idea how the artist did it.  To be able to paint with such precision and depth is impressive enough, but to do it all on the delicate surface of a turkey feather take the craft to an all new level.

As I sat there admiring the gift, I immediately wanted to know who the artist was.  I wanted to know how she had kept the feathers from bunching up and what she had to do to give such detail to the painting.  I wondered what other works she had created.  More than anything, I wanted to meet the artist in person and see what else there was to her work.

I often get the same feeling when I’m out in the woods.  Everytime I go out (and especially during turkey season) I’m awestruck by the details of nature.  But there’s more, because being awestruck by the art makes me want to know more about the artist.

There’s a great verse in the Bible (Romans 1:20, to be exact) that talks about how the qualities of God can be clearly seen through nature.  It goes on to say that in light of this, nobody has an excuse for not knowing Him.  Everybody that says they love to hunt or fish is essentially saying that they love the artwork of God, but it doesn’t stop there.  It’s knowing the artist that really counts.  Not only does it enhance the experience of being in God’s creation, but in enhances every other aspect of life also.

The spring 2007 turkey season has started off with a bang for the guys at Three Timbers Outdoors.  With only 2 1/2 days to hunt, brothers Dane and Derek Stahlman packed up their shotguns and gear and headed down south to Louisiana to hunt with good friend and turkey hunting fanatic, Paul Schaffer along with Cajun buddies Garrett and Corey.

The first day treated the guys well as Dane was able to kill his first Louisiana turkey.  Although his was the only one on film that day, Dane’s bird was one of seven turkeys killed in camp making it one of the best openers for the guys in camp.  The day was finished off with good ol’ fashioned Louisiana crawfish boil of epic proportions.

The following morning, Dane and Derek switched roles as hunter and cameraman.  After setting up with their new mounted hen decoy (who now bears the name “Cajun Rosie”) and laying down some finesse calling, they were able to lure a gobbler in for a shot mere feet in front of the camera giving the term “jellyhead” an all new meaning. 

All of us are excited for what God has in store for Three Timbers this season and are thankful to all the guys down in Louisiana that helped Dane and Derek get things rolling for the 2007 season.  Keep checking in.  There’s still a whole load of turkeys left to get whacked!  

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  Rick Thomas has done it again.  Nearly one year after getting a second chance on a muzzleloader buck, Rick was able to defy the odds once again to score on a great Missouri whitetail.  

With Steven Jobe behind the camera, Rick was hunting an area known to produce large deer.  On their second day, Rick spotted a nice buck coming into their setup.  In the process of getting the camera on it, Steven looked behind them to see that another buck has slipped in only 30 yards away! 

In a repeat of the previous year, Rick’s shot hit a tree branch, deflecting the bullet low.  While Rick was conducting his post-shot interview for the camera, the buck circled around and came right back to their set-up!  In the frantic moments that followed, Rick reloaded his muzzleloader and squeezed off a second shot through some thick brush to make a fatal shot on the deer.  After some difficult tracking, he and friend Dave Johnson recovered the deer the following day making another great story for Rick and his muzzleloader.

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