I just got home last night from Shrew Haven Deer Camp. We had great time as usual, making memories in my most favorite place in the world.
The guys are all regulars that come every year. Tim Cosgrove of Kustom King Archery came on crutches this year. He said he'd rather sit in camp and not hunt at all than miss a year at Shrew Haven. As it turned out Tim took a nice doe from the ground in his Northwoods blind
My dog Dolly came to camp this year and became a hero by running off a bear that had been coming into camp for several nights. We were afraid he was going to pull down a deer from the pole but after little Dolly with the big bark ran him off one night, he never came back :D
As usual we ate way too good, Prime Rib, (3) Legs of Lamb, Pork Ribs, and a Ham as big as my thigh :eek:
The 10 days flew by as they say time does when you're havin fun :campfire: :clapper:
(http://www.shrewbows.com/rons_linkpics/buck%20pole%20006.JPG)
(http://www.shrewbows.com/rons_linkpics/Dolly-me.JPG)
There's some freezer filler. Stories to follow I hope.
those does are as big as most of our bucks in Georgia, Ron!!!!!!!! Great photos. :thumbsup:
Nice heavy meat pole. Sweet! looks like a great time for all.
BTW thanks for the autograph on the dvd I left with Randy. I wish I coulda been there to shake your hand, but work got in the way(as usual).
:thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Too cool. If you had a black and white version of that photo everyone would think it was one from the "good ol days".
Looks to me like you really are hunting in heaven!
Great Ron. Mike
Awesome Picture!
And you got to love the Beagle...I have one also but I don't think she would scare a bear off. She can trail a deer but is just about scared of her shadow. :archer:
Congrats to all the shrewhaven clan...you boys are certainly a consistent bunch of killers!
:thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Great pictures Ron,Congrats to everyone :thumbsup:
Tracy
WOW!!
Those pictures say it all. Brings back memories of when my Dad had a gang of guys that hunted together and had a meat pole like that every year. As a young boy, I couldn't wait for the chance to go and see the bag limits hanging there. i just know it was a special time for all. Congrats!
I am jealous...only have sat twice and really don't know if I am going to be able to go again. Sometimes I wish I made bows for a living...or at least was the brains behind the operation ;) . Looks like a grand time.
Helga stop by???
Great pics Ron!! Looks like you fellers had a great time!!
Ron's right (did I just say that? ;) ), the time at camp flies by. It's a good thing we had some cold weather, since keeping warm burned off some of the calories. I was shocked to see that I only gained 3 pounds for the week at camp. :help: Of course for me, loosing that 3 pounds back will make as much difference as throwing a deck chair off the Titanic.
It was good that Tim Cosgrove made it to camp in spite of his foot troubles. It just wouldn't feel the same without him or any of the gang. Ron mentioned Tim taking a deer from a pop-up ground blind. It was interesting that 3 out of the 6 deer were taken from ground blinds (2 commercial and one natural materials). In the past we've mostly been treestand sitters, but I think we'll be getting back to the ground a little more in the future. Also, wood arrows made a showing in camp again after most of us switching to carbon. As Ron mentioned though, the food was the usual top notch fare.
Thank you Ron and the Shrew Crew for the usual countless laughs and superb time. It's a special week for me (14 years now) and hard to believe that the next time is already 51 weeks away.
P.S. Congratulations to Cindy Gustofsen on shooting a dandy buck with her Super Shrew Recurve. She had been patient with this buck all fall and put it all together taking it from a ground blind during our week up there (Cindy and her husband Randy watch over the cabin for Ron during the off season).
Boy did we have fun or what!!!???
I killed those 2 puny ones on the end, but the second one was kind of special...Ron loaned me his copy of Jay Massey's "1000 Campfires" to read during my mid day sit. I just started the last page, when I heard footsteps coming through the leaves...I sat Jay's book down, drew my bow, and killed that deer at 6 paces, off the ground! A small deer, but one I will remember! Thanks Ron!
Roger "THE SLEDGE" Norris
Congrats guys!!
:notworthy:
Awesome job guys!
man! that sounds like it was blast , cant wait I have few days with my son and I, hunting in new spot...thanks for sharing hoping to get me one on the ground blind too... :campfire: :coffee: :goldtooth:
Highlight of the trip for me....going into the woods to retrieve Tim The Gimp, to find him grinning on his crutches..."Got One!" he said. He even tracked and gutted it himself, one legged!
That's classic traditional bowhunting, right there! Good friends, pretty country, great fellowship, a little food, and trad bows putting some meat on the pole. We need more of that in our lives.
Now that looks like a GREAT time!
Congrats to all, great pictures too.
That is just one MEAN lookin bear dog. Think you could ever teach it to run rabbits too? Great pictures and thank you so much for sharing them and all of the many others you have shared with us. Brokenwing
:bigsmyl: Good Job All
Congrats on a fine hunt and good group of bowhunters. Hey Roger...those "puny" ones will eat just like milk fed veal...way to go. :thumbsup:
:thumbsup: :clapper: :jumper:
(Sorry, no words are coming out of my mouth after seeing these pics, like when I look at Kustom K catalog!!! ;) )
Geez,
We almost forgot, from left to right:
Ron "Lobo" LaClair
Kevin "Whipperwill" Marshall
Tim "Gimpy" Cosgrove
Roger "the Sledge" Norris
Greg "cookie" Nicolaou
Ray "Thumper" Lyon
And of course down in front is Dolly "mad dog" LaClair.
------I like to see so many does hanging---helps to keep the ratio balanced---Doe to buck ratio by me is wayyy out of control...
Mark F.
great pic and hunt--------congrats to all!!!!!!!!
Where can I get a chair like in the photo?.....
Thanks for sharing Ron! What a great picture of a classic deer camp...Just like the days of old I remember since boyhood days. Wonderful!!
Olebow
Curtinmo,
As a matter of fact, that came up in camp this year. That chair in the picture is Ron's. I have a newer version of the chair that was a gift, but I was told it was made in Southern Lower Michigan someplace. It's very comfortable, but a little bulky compared to some of the other things on the market. Also, I think the price is up over $75, but that's based on second hand knowledge.
Looks/sounds like a wonderful hunt. There's no denying the weight carried by that game pole, but the fond words of rememberence that I read every year weigh even more in my opinion.
The way it should be.
Looks like you guys had a great hunt. Congrats.
You got it Ferret...killing deer up there is secondary, in my book.I had spent the previous week in New York City with a bunch of business-sissies. Unwinding up there with the Shrew Crew is exactly what I needed. Killing deer was great, but hanging out with my chums in a great hunt camp was AWESOME.
Cool pictures and story...thanks for sharing! Where were you guys hunting?
(http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n180/RogerNorris/PICT0012.jpg)
Hers a good one from camp
Roger that last shot from your stand was excellent.Good shootin' men nice to see a bunch of buds get together and do some serious huntin and eatin.Gotta love them SHREWS.Hey Ron how many days for me around 350 something?
Good job guys and good pictures! :thumbsup:
Looks like a good time! Let me know if you need me to take a couple extra doe out of there! :goldtooth:
Great pics! Congrats, fellas! And Ron, I think you owe Ms. Dolly a bone :notworthy: !
Claudia
Just like a "boy with a new toy", Roger was snapping digital photo's every chance he got. He'd then load them up in Tim Cosgrove's laptop computer and we'd view his work every day. Tim thought he'd come to camp and finish work on a chapter on arrows for a book and not hunt as much due to his foot surgery. Ah, good intentions waylayed by boys having fun. Well, at least we TALKED about Tim working on the writing project ;) .
Looks like a great time was had by all. Great pics as well.
What a GREAT post; thank you Ron for sharing; felt real warm all over just looking at those pictures; congrats to all!! :archer:
Looks like fun guys. Good to see the dog in the pic, can't wait to get a beagle of my own soon. How do you find them for blood trailing, heard good and bad things about them, not enough to disuade me from wanting one however!
We don't use her for blood trailing, just bear chasing;0)
Ron was using the deer in camp as a training tool to teach Dolly NOT to be interested in deer. She's a rabbit dog.
QuoteOriginally posted by Roger Norris:
Ron was using the deer in camp as a training tool to teach Dolly NOT to be interested in deer. She's a rabbit dog.
Hmmmm,
I think I need to keep my treestands away from the camp deer next year. :rolleyes:
Ray - I did see him putting an e-collar on your Lone Wolf stand.....
Congrats Ron & all the Shrewhaven crew. No amount of money can buy memories like that. Some fine deer on the pole.
ps. Tell Dolly to keep up the good work.
Ron, I see you got your new knife with you. How did it work? That is one awsome knife.
Ya know, .....I alway look forward to this pic every year. Make a nice Christmas card wouldn't it?
Thanks for sharing your hunt with us again.
Those pics put me in the mind set of the old time deer camps. There are very few of them left. Thanks for the great pics.
Roger,
Looking at that picture makes me think it's probably harder to kill one from a tree. I'm use to seeing big broadside targets on level ground. An arrow in the sweet spot from that angle sure would be nasty though!
Hey Ron thats A Real Nice Picture of Dolly!! She Looks Like a Top class Hunting Partner!!! Good Shooting guy's!
DarkeGreen - I think I agree. I killed one from a t5ree and one from the ground that week. The treestand shot went in high on the left side, through the liver, out the opposite armpit, 1 lung. The deer only went 45 yards, but lots could have gone wrong. In contrast, the ground kill zipped through both lungs, perfect shot.
I have never been a "ground hunter", but I think I am changing my mind. I have determined one thing, a treestand shot is more dependant on great penetration than a ground shot....
I will be spending more time on the ground in the future.