Heartland Hunters Wants You!

Heartland Hunters Field Staff

Do you have what it takes to be a part of the Heartland Hunters Field Staff? The Heartland Hunters are currently looking to add 10 new Field Staff members to our elite team of Hunters, Fisherman and Outdoorsman.

As a member of the Heartland Hunters Field Staff, you will be able to post your hunting and fishing, pictures and stories both online and in our nationally distributed Newsletter. Your picture and bio will be added to our field staff page, as well as on your own Heartland Hunters Trophy Page giving you instant access to share your most recent outdoor adventures. In addition you will recieve a coveted Heartland Hunters Gear Package along with other incentives throughout the year.

If you are as passionate about the outdoors as we are, send us your 6 best hunting photos and tell us in 1000 words or less, why you should be a part of the Heartland Hunters Field Staff!! Tell us about yourself, how you got started hunting and fishing, what you hunt or fish, where you hunt or fish and why you do it. Copy your pictures, your biography and contact information on to a CD and mail it to Heartland Hunters LLC at PO BOX 25172 St. Louis, Mo 63125, or e-mail your photos and bio to brett@heartlandhunters.com

HeartlandHunters.com was created by Outdoorsman for Outdoorsman and is proud to be represented by some of the most accomplished hunters and anglers in the business.  Our goal is to share outdoor adventures by word and by picture from deep in the woods and waterways, along with the trips and tales that reach beyond the boundaries of the beautiful heartland.

Simply stated, we are avid outdoorsmen and conservationists, passionate about not only sharing our adventures but preserving our outdoor heritage, much like you. Whether you are a hunter or angler, archer or marksmen we promise at heartlandhunters.com there will be a something for you when you can't be outside in person.

For questions contact: brett@heartlandhunters.com

Is Your Turkey Gun Zombie Apocalypse Ready?

By Steve Bemke, Heartland Hunters Pro Staff

Is it just me, or are the turkey guns getting out of control? These days, you see a turkey gun and it looks like hunters are preparing for an anticipated zombie apocalypse. Of course, I'll be the first to admit, I have looked into my gun safe on more than one occasion to determine which will be my go-to guns if, I mean when, that day comes.

Still, turkey guns are beginning to look more and more like an AR rifle in the latest action movie, rather than the old single shot, bead sight, 12 gauge many of us grew up with. We're talking telescoping stock, tactical pistol grip, red dot sights mounted on a picatinny rail, topped off with a choke tube with a name that sounds like a WWE wrestler, and a price tag that makes a tank of gas look cheap. And that doesn't include a box of heavy shot, 3 ½" shells to shoot the zombies, err, turkeys out to 50+ yards.

Look, I'm as guilty as the next hunter out their looking for whatever I can to even up the odds as best I can when chasing wary Tom's and wise old bucks that develop ESP at the age of 3. I am also as fascinated as the next person on what new innovations have hit the field, and what products will help me make the most ethical kill on what ever game I am pursuing.

On the flip side, there is something to be said about getting back to basics every now and then. Remembering what it was like to have one shell under 3" in the chamber, a bead for a sight, and calling a strutting tom into 15-20 yards' so close that you swear his eyes are looking right through yours. It's what got many of us addicted to hunting in the first place.

Just you, a box call, and an old 12 gauge sitting against an old elm tree while your turkey vest, extra turkey calls, and every gadget you can fit in it stays at home. Keep it simple and put your hunting skills to the test. Maybe I am just getting old. Kind of like when you tell a 20 year old about VHS or cassette tapes, and they looks at you like you just stepped off a time machine from the 19th century, or your child asks grandpa what it was like to live in a world that was in black and white.

Think about it and give it a shot this spring. Dust off that old turkey slayer from years ago and let the zombies feel a little safer for a little while. It's easy to get caught up with all of today's innovations, but there is something special about taking the time to get back to basics and roots that got us to where we are today.

Check us out on Facebook, and let is know what your guns of choice would be when the zombie apocalypse is upon us.

If you haven't looked lately, I've made a few changes on my website www.moprostaff.com , added some new info and a few updates. I also wanted to share with everybody a tad bit of info on some new ventures I have started. I've been fortunate to team up with Blaine Anthony and North American Safari. We will be launching a new website soon, www.mosafari.com . The website will feature updates and info as well as video footage of 'Team' Missouri Safari for viewers to watch. With some time and luck, we are striving to turn this into a television show. I am currently working on putting together a 'Team' of hunters and cameramen alike from our state. We will be filming our adventures as they happen. If anybody is interested or you know someone who may be, feel free to drop me a line at Missourisafari@aol.com . Good luck this spring in the woods everybody. Hunt safe, Hunt hard. Hope to see you in the woods. Be sure to look me up on Facebook as well.

Bill Ernst

Mossy Oak Pro Staff
Browning Pro Staff
Rut-Wear Field Expert
Commando Pro Staff
Flatline Outdoors Pro Staff
Hunters Helping Soldiers Pro Staff
WWW.MOPROSTAFF.COM

Bear Hunting Wyoming

By, Leonard Wolter, Hidden Creek Adventures TV

As North American hunting goes, there are very few if any animals more exciting to pursue than a bear. The hunter is hunting the hunter. From the Black Bear to the Polar Bear, none of them are to be messed with. All bears are dangerous, some more than others. On one occasion while hunting elk in Wyoming I was hunted and charged by a large male Grizzly Bear. And yes, the smaller Black Bears have the tendency to look cute but don't be disillusioned, they have the ability to take a full grown man and toss him across the room.

What's more exciting than bear hunting? Hunting them in an area you have never seen before and using a method you never tried before. Yep, that's just what my partner Bill Perry and I did last spring. We loaded up the horses and headed for the west side of the Teton Mountains in Wyoming. Neither of us had ever hunted the area, but rumor had it that there was a pretty decent population of Black Bear and of all color phases. I had spot and stalk hunted for Black Bear, but not from horseback. All we needed was some snow melt and a lot of luck.

We arrived at the trailhead after a relatively uneventful drive from Cody. Well, uneventful if you don't consider driving down the backside of the Tetons on a tight two lane highway pulling a twenty plus thousand pound trailer with no brakes uneventful. Regardless, we made it in a couple of hours before dark. Just enough time to get the horses unloaded, fed and watered. It was a good thing Bill brought water. We were at the campground so early in the year that the water wasn't yet turned on.

From where we were, the mountains looked fantastic. All still snow covered, but the lower elevations like the trailhead were all melted off. Our plans were simple. Take off on horseback in the morning and spot and stalk bears coming out of hibernation. During the spring, only days after the snow melts off a hillside, the green grass begins to appear. As the grass begins to grow, the bears awake from hibernation. Their systems need all the green roughage they can get to kick start the old digestive system. Spot and stalk hunting for bear can be extremely exciting if the snow, grass and bears cooperate.

The next morning we saddled up and took off. The first half of a mile or so was smooth riding, and then we came up onto the first ten foot snow drift. After we circumvented that obstacle we encounter an avalanche area. We found this easier to go over than around. It was great to have Bill along. He probably has more hours in the saddle around these mountains than Jim Bridger. Bill's experience is what helped us navigate without any danger. Most of the day was spent learning the area and glassing the hills. We did spot one bear but too far away to identify. In this area you need to make sure you are stalking a Black Bear, not a Grizzly!

Day two we headed into a different drainage. We had come to the conclusion that the snow melt was late, and the grass growth was minimal. We decided to stop at an area that had a significant amount of open ground, tie up the horses and stay put. The area looked good. Hopefully a bear would like the area as much as we did. The marmots sure liked the area. We stayed put the entire day. Most of which was spent getting a nice sun burn and watching the marmots frolic around the rocks.

Just as the shadows began to get longer a bear showed up. What luck, not only did I have a Black Bear in my crosshairs, it was of the blonde color. This was just what I was hoping for. Right after my 300 WSM rang out the bear dropped. Jump for joy. Jump for joy? Now it looks like I've got to jump a river. Even though both of us had been glassing the area for hours, neither of us paid any attention the creek that continued to rise throughout the day as the snow melted. We were worried about taking the horses across the soft banks. In I went. I believe the temperature was right at thirty three degrees. I did get across without a problem and got to my trophy. A short time later we had the bear skin secured across Bill's saddle and off we went.

The ride back was cold, but who cares, we had a bear. What beautiful country! We saw bears, moose, deer, and marmots, moose calves not a day old and deer fawn not an hour old. This is a for sure a trip we need to do again.

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