​Evan joined us for a Blast & Cast trip. Saturday morning we had three birds gobbling, but for some reason they hung up at about 150 yards away. The hens were around us for hours. We had a hoot in the afternoon floating down the river. I brought my mouth turkey call and put that into action, as we greeted fellow anglers with hen yelps and soft purrs.  The rain didn’t stop the fish from biting, as we landed three nice browns, lost one rainbow, and a couple of other fish. A bunch of trout chased us back to the boat, too. Notice the bald eagle checking out Evan’s catch in the third photo.    Evan is a very established sportsman, who has traveled the world on hunting adventures. He’s targeted almost every big and small game animal on the planet and has been extremely successful on these hunts. However, he told me that there’s something about turkey hunting that gets him all fired up. He’ll be back with us to get his NY bird. We’re looking forward to his return!    #BlastAndCast #CatchPhotoRelease #BuckHornLodge #FifieldOutfitters

Father and son, Gilles and Hubert, traveled all the way from Canada to the western Catskills for an outdoors excursion with Fifield Outfitters. This adventurous pair took on our Blast & Cast Package today and will do it again tomorrow. They’re turkey hunting in the mornings and drift boat spin cast fishing in the afternoons. What a beautiful day it was in Delaware County, NY for them! Gilles topped it off by landing a nice brown trout on the mighty East Branch!   

I decided when I had a bit of a break, that I would go out and sit during rifle season. The spot chosen was heavy with bear activity and little deer movement according to the trail cam located there. Hoping for an encounter with a rug steak, what happened was not what was expected. About 45 minutes after it got light, rifle shots from a neighboring property were heard. After the 4th shot, a doe came screaming by and I gave her a quick bleat which brought her to a screeching halt. She looked around and calmed down. I thought the shots I heard must be the shooter got the buck chasing her or perhaps another doe. Meanwhile, she hung out walking around for a minute or so. All of a sudden deep grunting sounds were heading towards me. By the grunts being produced, it was clear that this was not a young deer. Our eyes connected at the same time and he was undecided if he should pursue the hot doe or sneak around me. Noticing his antlers, I knew this was a buck that has never been on any of our trail cams. I raised my rifle up and waited for Mr. Buck to take another step so a 180 Grain Nosler AccuBond could be sent through his boiler room. What seemed like forever, was only seconds in the making. As he stepped, I squeezed and watched the impact. In one shot the buck went down and I headed out of the stand to check him out. Talk about being in the right place at the right time. I thanked God for blessing me with such a beautiful animal to harvest.

Brian hunted with us for two days. On the first day, at a tree stand, he had 9 doe come passing by, but a shooter buck wasn’t traveling with them or near them. On his second day, he was in a ground blind and almost was able to fill out that NY buck tag. A shooter buck appeared 10 yards behind him and worked its way around the blind. However, with the moonlight shining through the trees, and still 30 minutes until shooting hours, Brian did the responsible thing and let this Catskill Mountains’ buck go. He hoped to have another encounter with this sloberknocker. This buck has now put the slip on a couple of hunters.  Brian is an awesome individual with a deep passion for hunting. In due time, he will surely punch his buck tag.

We continue to be blessed with clients that are the most respectable individuals to hunt and fish with. Joe and Danny certainly fit this description. The woods were active for them the last couple of days as they saw fresh bear scat, buck rubs and scrapes, a flock of 30 plus turkeys, and numerous deer. Both of them had their blood pumping as bucks grunted near them as well. The buck that Joe heard created quite the commotion by thrashing a tree just out of sight. These guys were close to having an opportunity to get a glimpse at those bucks. We look forward to their return next season and putting them on some bone! 

Veterans and good buddies, Gerry and John, hunted with us this week. Gerry had a spike horn visit his stand and said, “I hope he brings his grandfather out tomorrow.” Unfortunately, grandpa never showed. When I picked Gerry up from his blind, I pulled a chip out of a trial cam located near it. At 5:30 a.m. this morning, he was dropped off and at 5:02 a.m. a bear had just been through. All in all the hunting was tough, as the deer and bear movement slowed during daylight hours and picked up at night according to our cameras. The deer are now transitioning into post rut and back into their feeding patterns. The animals must have known that these guys were somewhere in the woodlot, because if any shooters had arrived in front of them, they would have laid the hammer down on them. It was truly an honor to have these men come hunt with us. Some people call them veterans, I call them true American heroes of which I’m honored to know. ️  #AmericanPatriots #ThankYouForYourService 

Big game continues to fall at the Buck-Horn Lodge, which is owned and operated by Ron and Carolyn Lewis. On opening day of the 2017 rifle season, while hunting at the Buck-Horn, Tommy brought down a real nice 9 pointer.

His nephew, Jimmy, bagged his first bear, today, while hunting at the Buck-Horn. He put the smack down on this boar with a 270 Weatherby. Ryan fixed him up with stand placement and pointers on big game movement in that area. Last year, Jimmy harvested a quality 8 pointer during rifle season on the property. Congratulations to Tommy on his big whitetail, and Jimmy on his first rug steak! #SnipersTommyAndJimmy

We were honored to be a part of a family hunting trip for guests Bob, his two sons, Ricky and Matt, and Ricky’s sons, Corbin and Logan. The Southern Zone’s opening of rifle season brought 14 year old Logan his first ever deer harvest, a buck!  Junior hunters are allowed to harvest any buck with a three inch horn or bigger. Ricky got to see his son take down his first ever whitetail with one clean shot from his 25-06. Outstanding job, Logan!  Fifield Outfitters is making memories happen one shot or cast at a time. This first-class group of camo renegades are taking home fond memories to last them a lifetime.

Buck down!  Congratulations to returning client, Chris, on his first ever deer kill! This unique five pointer is going to make a nice European Mount. The top photograph is Chris on the left with his brother Greg. His buddy Brian is in the second photo with them both. I’m not sure who was more excited, Chris on harvesting his first buck, or his brother Greg, on Chris getting his first deer. Greg and Brian are hitting the woods in the morning in hopes that the shooter bucks they saw tonight will be back. Awesome job, Chris! #FifieldOutfitters