2019 Field to fork Program

[Culvercreek hunt club]

[grampy]

What a wonderful program! Congratulations to the new hunters, and a huge thumbs up to all the mentors. Bob, your commitment to this program is beyond awesome! Thank you!

[Culvercreek hunt club]

Waiting on the pic. Just got notified that Nick  took a doe a little while ago. That is #3. I wish we could have come out of the opener with 50% on the board but I'll take what I can get. I can't even begin to say how proud I am of the participants that hung in there and hunted all weekend. I tried my best to convey to them that they really didn't understand what cold was even though many of them had previous experience with outside winter activities. (the key root of that word is active NOT sitting perfectly still for extended periods). Without fail they all mentioned how they thought they knew cold...lol

3 down, 5 to go. 

[Fletch]

Just awesome to the participants and the volunteers!! 

[doebuck1234]

Awesome works guys!!!

[BizCT]

I’ve had no service all weekend. Just seeing this now. Congrats on the success!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Culvercreek hunt club]

Got a text last night and I am still waiting for the pictures but Nick got a very nice doe with about a half hour left in the hunt. 

[moog5050]

8 minutes ago, Culvercreek hunt club said:

Got a text last night and I am still waiting for the pictures but Nick got a very nice doe with about a half hour left in the hunt. 

Trying to get Jayson out Saturday again if he can make it.  

[Culvercreek hunt club]

Last night we held a cutting instruction session on the two bucks the participants took over the weekend. With schedule being what they are for folks we try to do this more than once. We did it on a couple of the mentor's deer taken during bow and 3 participants were able to attend that. 4 more were able to attend and participate in the processing of these bucks.  

[Culvercreek hunt club]

Some pictures of the participants on stand over the weekend. 

[Culvercreek hunt club]

Myles hunt impressions. 

I know Myles took a couple quick walks during the day just to build up some warmth but he was a trooper with an all day sit.   

My name is Myles  and I am 26 years old. I had always wanted to get into the sport of hunting, for myself and to enjoy with my future children. Coming from a non- hunting family, there always seemed to be a barrier between me and the sport of hunting. I never knew how to go about getting into it. When I learned about the Field to Fork program by QDMA, it seemed like the perfect opportunity for me to break through into the world of hunting.

 

I was extremely grateful for the low cost of the program, and after every session I felt like a gained a greater understanding of deer hunting, and hunting in general.

 

The day of the hunt was a roller coaster of thoughts. In hindsight, I learned of many mistakes I made for dressing properly. Sitting in a blind all day was one of the coldest days I had ever experienced. For ten hours, I sat in the blind with my mentor, Terry, whispering jokes and trying to make light of the frigid situation.

 

We didn’t see a single deer all day, and around three o clock I was struggling in my mind to want to quit. I knew Terry wasn’t going to quit so I kept my mouth shut and suffered in silence, trying to remain hopeful. With 45 minutes of sunlight left, I figured we would go without a deer that day. Then, out of no where a doe came into sight, with a buck following, but they were out of range for me to make a comfortable and ethical shot. As I had them in my scope, Terry tapped me on the shoulder and told me to look straight ahead 50 yards out. It was a five point buck, and when a good shot came into view I didn’t hesitate to pull the trigger, and hit it broadside right in the heart.

 

We were ecstatic. With ringing ears we high fived and I was grinning ear to ear. I couldn’t believe how fast it went from 0 to 100. At that moment I was hooked. 

 

Terry directed me on how to properly field dress it after I stopped shaking from the adrenaline rush. He never talked down to me because I was inexperienced, but rather educated me on the proper way to do everything.

 

I am incredibly grateful for the Field to Fork program by QDMA for breaking the barrier between me and hunting. I feel like it is something I will look forward to year after year and will be something I can pass down to my future children to become a family of hunters. 

 

Thank you QDMA!

[Culvercreek hunt club]

The first participant to take a deer was Chaz. You will be able to guess from his creative account that is is a military Vet with previous combat experience. Last night during the processing instruction session Chaz was telling me how badly he was shaking after the shot. He was very surprised that this effected him in this manner becasue of his previous experiences in the military. He sure sounded hooked on hunting.

 

 It’s amazing how familiar this all feels, especially when one considers that I’ve never actually done this before.
               There’s still an assault pack on my back, but this time instead of fighting to get more stuff inside a pack that’s too small, I wondered if I even owned a pack that was the proper size for this venture. There’s a welcome weight reduction that comes along with that.
               The majority of my clothing still won’t blend into anything, but at least that’s the point today, blaze orange being intended to make one stand out as opposed to the not quite green, not quite gray, not quite tan, “digital” pattern I wore ten years ago promising camouflage but offering none.
               There’s still a knife on my belt, but this blade has a singular purpose as opposed to a set of pliers with knife blades and numerous other tools haphazardly attached to them.
               Still a rifle in my hands, though I keep having to remind myself that if a second trigger pull becomes necessary today, I’m going to have to manually chamber the next round. Doesn’t matter how many more times I do this; I will never get used to that.
               As we move out to our objective, I still keep a sharp eye out on the terrain ahead and around me, though now it’s to find signs of a deer having moved through recently as opposed to an IED having been emplaced recently.
               It’s an improvement.
               We get to the blind, which is pretty much just a guard tower while it’s still dark; Mike says there’s at least one deer poking around the food plot it overlooks. I’m not exactly used to operating in the dark without some sort of night vision, so I don’t see it. Not that it matters – can’t shoot until sun up.
               Once the sun is up, we’re able to see a fawn that’s not worth taking poking around not far from us. A group of about twenty turkeys meanders across our field of fire twice. But beyond that, we wait. Nothing new there. It’s not until there’s only an hour of legal shooting left that he shows up.
               It’s the buck that Mike predicted would move through here, roughly at the time he thought he would too. And he’s literally coming right for us, moving closer to the blind as he eats. Only a year and a half old three pointer, but I drove and hour to get here and there’s only an hour left in the day. I’d prefer not to go home empty handed.
               Heart pounding, I orient the Remington 700 towards him and put the Leupold’s crosshairs roughly where the shot would be. He hasn’t completely turned to expose where I want the shot yet, but he’s still moving closer to us so there’s no rush. Which is nice, because I’ve got to get the heart pounding under control. Inhale. Two. Three. Four. Hold. Two. Three Four. Exhale. Two. Three. Four. Hold. Two. Three. Four.
               130 yards away, and his position is just about good enough. I take the safety off. Begin to squeeze. Bang. Recoil isn’t nearly as bad as the last time I fired a 30-06, or the silkies, tan t-shirt, waffle top, and fleece jacket mitigated it.

[virgil]

Really great program. 

[Steuben Jerry]

Love this thread, really awesome that you do this!

[Moho81]

I love reading the stories of their first hunts and experiences. Always brings me back to the beginning of when I started to hunt and even some of their thoughts still ring true today 22 years later. Like “suffering in silence” and “I have to get this heart pounding under control”.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Culvercreek hunt club]

The participants have been really trying but the stories have been coming a little slow. On the bright side Kate (with mentor Mo Tidball) got it done yesterday late in the afternoon. What a beautiful buck.

 

[Moho81]

Slammer of a first deer! Way to go!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Culvercreek hunt club]

I believe it has 10 points up and then if you zoom in there is a small drop tine in front of his left eye.

 

[Culvercreek hunt club]

Sitting over a Moog’s plot with JT. They are hammering this thing. We’ve already seen a doe, a spike and a 2.5 year old buck on the walk in. Just too far for a shot.

[NockednLoaded]

1 hour ago, Culvercreek hunt club said:

Sitting over a Moog’s plot with JT. They are hammering this thing. We’ve already seen a doe, a spike and a 2.5 year old buck on the walk in. Just too far for a shot.


 

That's a cool spot for the plot- I like the geography and terrain features. Looks like the deer DIG it too!

[Culvercreek hunt club]

JT got it done at 425 today. Just under the wire with a. 90 yard shot with the 12 gauge. Story to follow. BUT. This spike must have been ready to shed his antlers. When he went down and flopping he knocked the spikes off.

[Culvercreek hunt club]

JT's story of the hunt

 

The Hunt

 

            Before sharing my story I just want to thank everyone that was involved in the Field to Fork program, without you none of this would have been possible.

 

            Walking up to the blind on the fourth day out, my mentor Bob Rose and I came across three deer, the first two a doe and her fawn. The mom and little one were relaxed watching Bob and I until suddenly they took off running. A big buck came sprinting out of the woods and chased the doe hoping for a chance to mate.                        

            This was the first time all season I had seen any animals at all, my heart was beating out of my chest and into my ears. Everything Bob instructed me to do seemed like a distant whisper even though we were side by side. Nothing presented itself for a shot so we proceeded to our blind. We sat for another two hours seeing some movement in the distance some humans, and some deer. Finally, a fawn came into the food plot ahead of us next to a standalone tree. We quietly watched and waited for other deer to join the little one. After having its fill of the food plot, it slowly crept away out of sight.

            At 4:25 with five to ten minutes left of shooting time, a spike horn buck came sprinting out of the woods directly into the food plot, just where the fawn had been.  “Grab your gun!” Bob whispered nudging me towards the buck. I grabbed my shotgun and set my sights on him. Patiently waiting for him to turn board side Bob turned the magnification up on my scope while I kept my eye on him. “You feel solid?” Bob asked, I nodded my head and whispered “yes”, I took the safety off and squeezed the trigger. The deer winced as it took the slug and jumped to run up the hill, out of sight. We gave it a few minutes and proceeded to track it. We found if next to a tree after tracking its blood trail, it was still alive I shot again at ten yards and missed so Bob finished it off for me.  

            Many people say their first deer gave them a big adrenaline rush similar to the one I described while walking to the blind. My adrenaline was pumping but I wasn’t shaking much I think all the excitement from the first 5 minutes of my hunt settled me down later I felt sturdy like all there was left to do was execute. I hit the deer from about 90 yards away. It was a proud moment for me. I’ve heard that as you get older the first-time experiences present themselves less and less. Im glad that I was able to experience my first hunting season ending with a deer to fill my freezer, while also experiencing the reality of not seeing anything for the majority of that time.

            Regardless of how my hunt turned out, the experience I had with the Field to fork program was one to be appreciative of. They teach you the fundamentals of shooting, processing, ethics of hunting, and many more valuable bits of information. If you are someone interested in hunting as an adult and don’t know where to start Field to fork was designed for you. I also can’t speak highly enough about the men and women that spend their free time teaching people how to hunt, it says a lot about the community and what they are willing to do for others.

[Culvercreek hunt club]

On 11/30/2019 at 7:27 AM, Culvercreek hunt club said:

The participants have been really trying but the stories have been coming a little slow. On the bright side Kate (with mentor Mo Tidball) got it done yesterday late in the afternoon. What a beautiful buck.

 

Busy lives kept  from getting these up in a more timely manner. These are Kate's reflections on the program and her hunts. 

For a while now, I have been interested in learning to hunt deer.  I love being outdoors, live in a rural area with lots of deer, and like knowing where my meat comes from.  One of my coworkers and a neighbor are both avid hunters and always give my family various cuts of venison each year.  But no one in my family hunts and without a mentor I knew it was going to be difficult to get out in the field.  However, many things fell into place to make it happen and one was participating in the “Becoming an Outdoors Women” (BOW) weekend in September 2018 during which I was able to practice shooting and dress and process various game animals.  I meet other women who shared my interest in hunting and talking with them made me more determined to find a way to get out deer hunting.  

BOW sends out emails to any past participants about outdoor opportunities and that was how I learned about QDMA ‘s Field to Fork program.  When I read that a small group of us would be practicing with firearms, learning about deer hunting and going out during the season with a mentor,  I knew this was exactly right for me.

Fast forward to November.  I counted down the days until the start of rifle hunting with a mix of excitement and apprehension.  When the day came,  I was eager to put to use what we had learned in our classes over the past two months, but on the other hand,  I wondered what I would do when I saw a deer out in the field.  

A week before opening day,  Mo Tidball, my mentor, and I met to get acquainted and practice with my gun at a nearby gun club.  Mo made me feel comfortable and was very encouraging.  We scheduled our first hunt for Sunday of opening weekend. 

The day arrived and it was a very cold morning. During the short walk to the tree stand on Mo’s property   my “worry” thoughts were full on:  Would we see deer?  If so,  what would I do?  Would I move too quickly and scare it away?  Would hit it in the right spot?  Would I miss?  Would I forget to breathe?  Would I take too long to shoot?  Talk about performance anxiety!   

But after a few hours of sitting in the stand, asking occasional questions,  practicing as if I saw a deer by raising my gun and aiming at a grass spot, I began to feel more at ease.  Although we saw no deer the entire day,  I remember saying to Mo that I never, ever just sit in one place, watching for hours, but I found that I enjoyed the “Zen” quality to it.  

My second hunt was a day with Bob Rose at his camp.  That was one of those 3:30am alarm clock mornings, an hour’s drive on unfamiliar roads, and slow crawl up a mile-long logging road to his camp (with a  rapidly-moving creek crossing!).   Again, we saw no deer but I learned more tips and got great advice. 

On the Friday after Thanksgiving, I headed to Mo’s for an afternoon hunt.  By this time, I was not really expecting any deer and just another quiet day in the woods.  We head out at 2:30pm to a tree stand in a different location than the first day and I spent the time scanning for deer but also watching squirrels.  It started getting darker and  Mo checked the time; it was 4:15.  I thought we were probably done for the day,  but Mo told me we still had lots of time.

Five minutes later,  Mo whispers “There’s a deer! There’s a deer!” and I snap out of my Zen reverie.  She indicates straight ahead about 70 yards. I catch a glimpse of a buck walking along a small ridge but he’s not easy to see because several tree trunks are in the way.  I tell Mo and she says to shift just a bit toward her.  When I do that, he stops and I see him perfectly between two tree trunks.  He looks in our direction, I slowly raise my  gun and look through my scope. I have a perfect view of the kill spot and totally focus on it.  I pull the trigger and knew I hit him exactly right.   Had he moved one more step,  I would have lost him because the tree trunks would have blocked my view for a good shot.

It all happened so fast.  I felt like it was only seconds from when I saw him to when I pulled the trigger.  I had no time for my heart to pound,  hyper-ventilate,  or even think.  When I realized I had actually shot at a deer, I was in a bit of a daze so it was good we had to wait for a while before getting down from the tree stand.

Finally, Mo,  I, and Mo’s husband, Keith, who heard the shot,  track the buck and we see him dead a short distance away.  When we turned the head lamps on we saw he had 10 points!  I had been so focused on my aim at the kill spot that I didn’t even notice the size of his antlers.  I was so surprised and happy!  Not only had I shot my first deer but it was a once-in-a-lifetime buck!

Spending hours outdoors,  learning new skills and meeting enthusiastic sportsmen and women has been absolutely great and the entire hunting experience has been amazing.  In fact, it was more magical and exhilarating than I ever imagined. I feel so very fortunate to have had this opportunity.  Everyone involved in the Field to Fork program has been extremely generous with their time, expertise and encouragement.  The effort and dedication put in to make us successful is tremendous and anyone who wants to learn to hunt should take advantage of this program.

A huge thank you to Bob,  Mo, and all the folks from QDMA for providing me with an amazing life experience.  I am totally hooked!  I am already looking for opportunities to hunt next year.  I hope to become experienced enough, so that one day, I can mentor others who want to learn and enjoy this fabulous experience.

 

 

 

[Steve D]

43 minutes ago, Culvercreek hunt club said:

These are Kate's reflections on the program and her hunts. 

Fantastic write up and it sounds like she got everything the course had to offer and them some. First time I have heard from someone that attended  “Becoming an Outdoors Women” (BOW) and am glad that program seems to be working also.

[NFA-ADK]

This sucks!  I always run out of likes on the best posts!  lol  

Simply awesome, thanks for all the help you all provided to these new hunters!  Great stories and great deer!  Love seeing new people get into hunting and especially love seeing women who join!  

Welcome aboard to all the new hunters, congrats on your success whether you harvested a deer or not you have some really good mentors!  Remember that hunting is about enjoying the outdoors and you will never had a bad day hunting!  

Again thanks to all the mentors, your time effort and energy towards helping new hunters is amazing!  Keep up the great work!