Hunting for "Jaws"

"There's one, up ahead!" Someone yelled from the back of the boat. I could see it, about 100 yards out in front of us and very close to shore, in about 1-2 feet of water. I couldn't believe that a fish that size would be in such shallow water. His back was partially exposed and his first dorsal fin was easily visible. The first thing I thought of was the movie Jaws. Darrel yelled, "It's a good one." I could tell right away that it was a lot bigger than anything else we had seen earlier.  

Illinois Whitetail Hunt

The time had come for us to bow hunt an Illinois buck and we invited Gander Mountain's "We Live Outdoors" camera crew to join us. We had heard good reports about the outfitter that we were going to hunt with and had seen some pictures of the area, the lodge, and some nice whitetails that had been taken in previous years. It would be an excellent area for us to try and fill a late season deer tag. The weather was much warmer than we had anticipated, but that would soon change and turn our hunt into a real challenge.  

Antelope Hunt in Wyoming

As I peered around the side of our antelope decoy on a warm Wyoming afternoon, the buck we were trying to "lure" into us, headed off in the opposite direction. This was the 11th "stalk" we had attempted in the last two days and I thought we had blown it again. My guide and husband, Ray, decided that we should "camp" there for a while to see if anything else might head our way as there were small herds of antelope in every direction.  

Rocky Mountain Sheep

Sometimes the best moments of your life are forever fused with the worst moments of your life. Such was the case in my quest for a P&Y ram in the Canadian Rockies. The series of sheep hunts that resulted in a gold-medal ram for the year was also the series of hunts that nearly ended all my hunting days. The first hunt in the series of three prepared me, the second hunt humbled me, and the third hunt renewed me. 

Weather Front Whitetail

Throughout the years I've been using weather fronts for my pre-season and in-season scouting. It has proven to be a very effective way of locating large white tails. A lot of hunters prefer the comfort of their homes, behind a TV set in their favorite chair on rainy, miserable days but they're missing out on opportunities that could be handed to them because of these weather fronts.

Cornfield Buck

Coues Deer Hunt, Sonora, Mexico

Dennis Dunn, who had just recently completed the North American super slam, invited me on a Coues deer hunt with him in Mexico during the pre rut in December 2004. After being met at the Tucson, AZ airport by our Mexican outfitter, Enrique Molina, we drove about three hours, and crossed the border into Mexico to a place called Nogales. That’s where I met Mike Whelan (who would be my guide), Mike Miller, and a character named Nick.