Building Fences

I chose the title to this blog because this is what I think I have started to do over the past 4 yrs. I have chosen to bring in more knowledge for the sport of hunting whitetails in the past 4 yrs. than I have chosen to my whole life. Why? you may ask, well I think it was just "meant to be" I marriend into a prestigous hunting family with some serious hunting history and with that I think the Hunting Gods just took hold of me.

I have always been a hunter and my father taught me how to respect the outdoors and have fun while I was chasing down whatever I was hunting for, but in the past 4 years I have taken it to a new level. I borrowed a Mathews bow from my father in law in the fall of 2006 and headed into the woods. I wanted to start spending my time bowhunting. My wife was pregnant at the time with our son who was born in the peak of the rut so I always had to get her permission to go out for the day. I was doing some work at a baseball bat factory and the owners were so kind as to let us live in a farm house they owned on there 200 acre property. This property bordered 4,000 acres of State Game land, so I had all the land I needed to get going.

When I got home from the 2006 baseball season, we went straight to the farm house and I went directly to walmart to buy a climbing tree stand. It was about the beginning of September when I made it home so I had a little less than a month to scout. OH MY GOSH, what a honey hole. The first evening in the stand I had about 10 different shooter bucks walk out into the clover field in front of me. I was so pumped to try and arrow one of these studs, I just could not wait until the opener.I like to think I have a big heart and always put others first no matter what my situation. I have shot 7 buck with a rifle up until this time and wanted to see someone special have the opportunity to harvest one of the bucks I was watching on opening day. My Father who has been so great to me was the one who was going to get a shot at one of these bucks first. Well to make a long story short, I put him right in front of two shooters that opening evening, but he missed them both. He was so thrilled to have the opportunity that it did not matter one bit that he missed. I was so happy to at least give him the chance. That year was a great year as I had witnessed on many occasions different bucks I could have shot but elected to pass.

My wife's father told me one thing that sticks... "You have to pay your dues." This means you have to spend countless hours and go through the hard nocks in the field. I totally respect that statement because thats what I am still going through. That year I missed 2 different mature bucks. I shot at one and missed high and then shot at another dandy buck and missed low. I was definately heart broken and got to experience what many of bow hunters do. It is part of the game, but it is how you respond to it that makes you a better hunter and a better person. I have harvested 1 nice 8 point and 2 does with my bow since then.

This year was very frustrating but I learned alot. I shot a beautiful 8 point on Nov. 11, the same day 3 other hunters in my family harvested nice bucks, but dissapointed, after laying down 3 different times I lost the blood trail and never retrieved the deer. I had hit the deer just a bit forward and may not had enough penetration to land the buck.I have spent more time in a tree stand in the past 3 yrs than I have spent in the woods my previous 24. I feel what I have learned has built a foundation for me to be a much better hunter. I also feel it will give me a much better foundation on how to teach my son about the outdoors. I want to pass all the information I have learned onto him and teach him everything I know. Just like building fences, the process can go on for a long time and I will continue to learn and build my foundation as a hunter for a long long time.

Frisco Bound

Not what I wanted to hear today but at least I am breaking camp with a team to play for. I am heading back to Frisco, TX our AA affiliate for what will be part of a 5th season. I have spent several stints in AAA Oklahoma City the past two years and really hoped to break camp with OKC. I guess it just wasn't in the cards but as I have seen in the past, everything works itself out as long as you are healthy and you perform.

The ultimate goal is to get to the Big Leagues, whether that be through AA or AAA it doesn't really matter to me at this point. So here we go, another season is about to begin, spring training is winding down and we have to pack up the car again. This year Kristy has to drive to Dallas with Brayden, my son, alone because I have to fly out with the Big League team to be a back up for the exhibition games. I am a little nervous for her to make the 16 hour drive by herself with Bray, so I will be a little uneasy until she is safe and sound.

I will get to see Wyatt during our opening series which is in Springfield, MO. We opened up there last year too, so I think we are making some plans to do some Turkey filming and some shooting with the bows.

One last note, I just recieved the Keyes care package from Robert Muncie (Hunterfisherman) and man is it a nice pack. He was kind enough to send some under armour hats and gloves for Rags and I. Thanks HF!

Waiting Game

I chose the title to this latest blog because thats what I am going through right now. One of the outlets to get my mind away from the Spring Training waiting game is thinking about, reading about, and going on websites about whitetails. Obviously I spend the majority of my time on Whitetail Affliction, but I also like to do some Camospace to try and bring some members over to our site. I guess I will just tell you a little bit about what I mean when I say "waiting game."

I came into camp this year with little or no expectations of any sort. Yes I wanted to impress and show everyone here that I am in the best shape I have ever been in and deserving of a full time job with our AAA affiliate in Oklahoma City. When I say no expectations I mean I know no matter how great I do or how bad I do, I put a huge effort into my offseason workouts, more than years past that no matter what the outcome this spring, I did everything I possibly could to prepare myself. I have always been the player that the coach does not have to worry about. I am low maintenance and I take care of the things I need to take care of. I like to believe I am truely a professional in every manner possible and I take pride in that. So here we go..... I come to spring training with the Texas Rangers hoping to be the AAA starting 3rd baseman. Reality is, there are only so many spots for so many guys. I have been with the Rangers for 6 years and have held my own everywhere in the system. The Rangers minor league organization was rated by Baseball America as #1. What does that mean for a 27 yr old minor leaguer? It means that I could be one of the top guys in another organization that is weaker, but here I could be fighting to earn a job.

We have a lot of depth but I am showing I am still pretty dang good at this game. I don't know what my fate is for the next couple weeks, but I really haven't even talked about it too much until now. Some things you can control and some things you can't. I am only concerned with what I can control. All I can do is give 100 percent every day and let the chips fall where they may!

The Now and Afflicted

Hey everybody, Let me talk first a little about what is going on with me right now before I get into something else. After a long season of hunting down whitetails in Pennsylvania it is time for me to get back to work. After I take that last trip into the woods to collect the last of my hang on treestands, it is time to head out west.

One thing I do not look forward to is the "JOB" of cleaning out the house and getting everything ready and packed for the season. With a Beautiful wife and a two year old stud of a son we have alot of packing to do. So once the car is filled to it's capacity we make one last mini vacation to wherever the NWTF convention is. This year it was at the Opreyland in Nashville, TN. We stayed for 4 days with my good friend Corey Ragsdale "Tail Chaser" and My wife's family. My father-in-law put on a good seminar about some calling techniques and I watched Bro in law Cory Gulvas work his magic in the Doubles Contest.

Time to head West.... Well, after a nice stay in Tennessee we are back on the road and bound for Surprise, AZ which is a suburb in west Phoenix. This is the site of the Texas Rangers Spring Training and will be my office for the next 6 weeks. As of now I am having a pretty good spring with a couple opportunities to play for the Major League Team. Coincidently, today was a great day as I hit a home run off of established major leaguer Cory Wade from LA Dodgers!

Enough about that, I want to write about why I love to hunt now. I love to hunt because it is flat out "FUN!" I am an adrenaline junkie I would say so I live for the moment of truth and really enjoy all the preperations that go into that moment. Just walking in nature and seeing all of the good Lord's Beauty is very awesome. Anytime I am in the woods, whether it be sitting on stand for hours or scouting or hanging stands, I can escape to my own little world away from everything. It is a pretty great feeling to get home from a long season of baseball and know that the timber awaits me. The thought of the encounter with Mr. Whitetail and possibly the encounter with some of those bad boys on the trail cam and even maybe "Mr. Buck of a Lifetime" is what drives me to be in the woods as much as I can during our hunting season. This is what Whitetail Affliction is to me!