Today, in the #GreatWesternCatskills, we worked with two accomplished individuals, Ms. Lisa Wisely and Mr. Torkil Stavdal of Torkil Stavdal Photography. Footage and photographs were captured of my office on the ice and I was interviewed at a local general store as part of this exciting project to promote tourism in Delaware County, NY. Stay tuned, as there’s more to follow! #BovinaMediaWorks #DelawareCountyNY #Thankful #Blessed #FifieldOutfitters

This is what you call a hard water gold rush! You drill the holes and up comes 8 to 9 pounds of freshwater gold!  We got into a good batch of fish, ranging from walleye, to pickerel, to perch. The bigger fish were caught on tip-ups and we jigged up a bunch of panfish. It was nonstop action, as we were chasing flags all day long. If you want to catch BIG fish, book your next fishing adventure with us! What are you waiting for? #LunkerWalleye #GoldRush #TimeToBookYourTrip #FifieldOutfitters

We had Guy ice fishing with us on Thursday and Joey, Randy, and Jimmy hard water fishing with us on Saturday. It was Guy and Randy’s first time ice fishing and they both caught and released pickerels. Joey and Jimmy both landed these little water wolves too. For Guy’s trip, the weather was 50 degrees with no breeze, which was beautiful for January in the western Catskills. The conditions were vastly different for Jimmy, Randy, and Joey’s adventure. The temperature including windchill was roughly -10 F. The wind blew 30 plus mph all day long and the tip-up holes were freezing up about every 15 minutes. The Clam ice shelter with Mr. Heater kept us warm and out of the wind.

We provide first class service on the ice to all of our clients. For both guided trips, the grill sessions for lunch included some form of venison. Guy had venison bacon cheeseburgers. The other group had venison jalapeno bacon habanero cheeseburgers.   

A great time was had by all and we look forward to getting out on the ice with these anglers again!

Twenty plus mph wind gusts, or even more, with snowdrifts over all of our tip-ups, yet Kevin and I still managed not to get skunked. We stayed warm when we were in the Clam, but not so much when out checking the tip-ups. However, the juicy, flavorful, jalapeno cheddar and bacon venison burgers for lunch added a nice touch and kept us well-fed. #CatchPhotoRelease

It’s time for you to escape from the stresses of life and get rejuvenated with an ice fishing excursion. Reconnect with Mother Nature and enjoy some good humor and fun times. If you’d like to try your hand at some ice fishing, book your guided ice fishing trip with  us today!

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