This is from an e-mail I got this morning. Looks like the kids had a blast (no pun intended).
My buddy Orrin and I took our 2 boys out to Peaslee Mountain Hunt Park for a crack at Red Deer and let me tell you, for those who think hunting a fenced area is like tying up and shooting a tame animal, you’ve never been to a REAL hunt park. A certain number of animals are released on 400 acres in the late summer and left to live on their own with no human contact. They get hunted hard from September thru February and the hunts aren’t easy; many folks go home empty handed.
The guide told us there were four does left on the property and trying to hunt that few deer on 400 acres is a huge undertaking, especially when they’re so timid they booger at the sight of a human, just like a whitetail deer. Danny, (the guide), said he didn’t think we would get a shot at one deer, let alone two, with only one day to hunt but we headed out at 7:30am this morning. He dropped me and Ryan off in the woods and took Lance & Orrin about 400 yards away to sit elsewhere and it was bitter cold; 10 degrees above zero with a biting 15 mph wind but the kids shivered through it, backs against trees.
After more than 6 hours and three separate moves to different wooded locations, the does came through, followed by a rogue stag buck and a bull elk. I coaxed Ryan and he had to take a quick shot at the lead doe as she was turning to get out of there, but he took her square in the heart and she was done before she even hit the ground! Shot was 30 yards! Within a minute of Ryan’s shot, the deer bolted down the trail and ran into Lance who dropped a second doe at 60 yards!
Field dressed, Ryan’s was 133 and Lances was 152. Incredible hunt to put the kids on during the off season and it was Ryan’s 1st deer! Each set up was in the woods, sitting on snow and/or pine needles; no tree stands and no heated box blinds, and each set was about 2 hours apiece. We spent one night there before the hunt and were treated like kings to a pot roast of delicious elk and boiled veggies, followed by homemade applepie with french vanilla icecream. Breakfast was at 6:00am, being eggs, bacon, toast, coffee & juice. Our hostess packed us lunches and Ryan & I ate sandwiches right in the woods on the ground in 25 degree weather!
Everything was filmed for outdoor tv and we would like to thank Forest Peaslee, Dannie Peaslee, Charly Calpo, and a special thanks to Nate & Chris for giving us the green light to film this! This is not your “run of the mill” hunt park for sure.
-Blaine
