HUNTING GUIDES AND HUNTING OUTFITTERS
Throughout the hunting season I have the opportunity to hunt with quite a few guides and outfitters across the country. Some turn out to be wonderful experiences - outfitters I would return to without hesitation, and would recommend to my closest friends. Others are either not quite good enough to make the list, or even worse, earn the distinction of making my proverbial "black list"! (These "others" I do not name or write about out of fairness).
Bristol Hills Outfitters falls into that first "wonderful experiences" category.
HuntGuide.com ProStaffer and 1996 Olympic Archery Gold Medalist Butch Johnson and myself drove from Connecticut to Bristol Hills Outfitters located in the finger lakes region of New York. We were met at our exit by owner Eric Thomas. One thing I immediately liked about Eric is that I think he was just as excited about the hunt as we were!
We followed Eric to get our licenses and then to our hotel where we met up with guides Mark Chrysler and Mike Chapparel. Mike showed us some wonderful home video he had taken of some of the bucks in the area Butch and I were to hunt. I was honestly impressed and truly taken by suprise by the size of some of the bucks in the area. Who knew a place with so many P&Y bucks was right here in the Northeast. If their intention in showing us the video was to get us excited for the upcoming hunt - they hit the mark!
The next morning Mark, Butch and I traveled to a 500 acre farm (one of many farms leased by B.H.O.) where the guides had placed several stands. Based upon the wind conditions and where bucks had been spotted we were walked to our stands. The weather was rather warm (in the 50's and 60's) and somewhat breezy - not good hunting weather. Nonetheless everyone saw deer that day, just no large bucks.
A few things struck me that day. First, the setting in which I found myself seemed more like Illinois, Ohio, or other places in the midwest. We were hunting gentle, rolling hills with abundant farmland. Standing and cut corn, adjacent to hardwoods, thickets, and overgrown apple orchards were the order of the day.
Also, I was impressed by B.H.O.'s stand selection and placement. Most all of the stands used were API Baby Grand models. If you have never sat in one of these stands, they are exceptionally comfortable with large padded seats and wide platforms. B.H.O.'s guides not only have alot of stands, but they aren't afraid to move them as the season progresses and deer movement patterns change.
The next day found me located in a stand down in a bottom below a cornfield. This ideal setup complete with a few overgrown apple trees (which were dropping apples left and right) produced a quite a number of deer. I especially enjoyed watching two young spikes almost directly under my stand as they munched on the apples. Everytime they walked away a new apple would fall and the sound brought them and a doe back to compete for the snack. Just before dark even more deer showed up including some very big bodied deer, but with the light fading it was impossible to count points or make a shot.
Butch, in the mean time, was having a similar experience. It seemed he had deer coming in to him like clock work, and four and six point bucks made their appearance within bow range at almost every sitting. The same evening, he had a large buck come near his stand, rubbing his antlers on a nearby tree (not sapling, thank you), again fading light was the enemy.
The last night of our three day hunt found me below a different corn field. Walking into my stand that morning I came very close to a large buck as he entered a thicket. A quick glimse of my flashlight was enough for me to see he was a definite shooter with a spread reaching well past his ears. As I sat in the stand that afternoon in the balmy weather I watched two does pass under the stand. An hour later a small buck appeared from under an active apple tree next to a thicket and made his way toward my stand. His nose was completely white and he had an unusual black "V" marking which started above the white patch and extented past each eye. This unique animal would certainly have been welcome on my wall! The Hunting Gods didn't see it that way, and kept him well tucked inside a thick area.
The buck walked away unharmed. Hoping to get his attention and bring him back into shooting distance, I grunted softly three times. Within seconds a second buck appeared from under the apple tree! He was also small, but with light fading on the last day of the hunt, I decided to draw. At 26 yards the buck was quartering away. I released my arrow and watched in disbelief as my arrow did not connect with the deer's vitals but superficially hit the shoulder area. The deer bolted away, I felt sick - I had never wounded a deer like that before. (They say it happens to everyone but that was no consolation to me). I would like to blame a twig or branch, but I can't - in the excitement I simply didn't let my bow settle and released too soon.
I tried grunting again with some small hope that the deer would return. Of course, the buck did not return, however, yet another (yes, that's three) buck appeared from the magic apple tree in the tangle. Knowing that ethically I could not shoot this animal because I had not fully inspected the outcome of the prior mishap, I decided to have a little fun with the grunt call. To my amazement I called the buck to within 30 yards of the stand three separate times before he decided to flee from the "buck" he could not see!
After dark, Mark, Butch and I searched for evidence of blood or any other clues for about three hours. We found none. (Mark returned the next day and with still no evidence.) One interesting point was that while searching with my flashlight that evening, I counted no less than 30 scrapes and countless rubs in the small area we were in.
It is my opinion that the unusually warm temperatures along with the winds, kept us from seeing the large bucks that inhabit the area. They were obviously content waiting until after dark to start their movements. A bright spot light flashed into the fields we were hunting after our hunt revealed a number of very large bucks. I can easily see why with good weather such as that in 1997, 5 out of 6 of BHO's deer hunters were able to connect on nicely racked bucks on the first day of their hunts.
Now in their second year, BHO's trophy bucks, outstanding turkey hunting, hardworking guides, and commitment to hunter satisfaction is sure to put them on the map as one of the foremost operations in the Northeast.
Website: www.bristolhillsoutfitters.com
PRO's: Easy drive from most northeast areas
Trophy quality animals
Experienced, Hardworking, Hunter-focused guides
Excellent Habitat
Excellent tree stands and locations
Hunting equal to midwestern operations close to home
CON's Hotel Lodging not a perfect
hunting atmosphere*
*note that for 1999 BHO has acquired a large, modern log home lodge which
will eliminate this, the only con.
