Note: All of the animals harvested by Aim Low team members are absolutely 100% fair-chase. No high fences-No game ranches . . . just good 'ol big game hunting in natural settings!

 

*Make sure you check out the 2007 Archive. It was an unbelievable year!

May 7 - Awesome Day Off
Entry by: Keith

Rain isn't always a bad thing! Today it meant that Nick Govero could hit the woods with good friend, Chris Larken. Both men are in the construction business so heavy rain means time off. Chris grabbed his shotgun, Nick grabbed the camera, and off they went to the turkey woods. While approaching the farm they intended to hunt, they spotted a couple gobblers already in a field. They had a hunch they would follow a ridge line as they traveled, so Chris and Nick hurried to a piece of timber that would cut them off. Once settled in Chris made a soft call. The birds gobbled immediately and headed their way. 20 minutes later, they were headed back to the truck with a 23 lb. bird with over 1.5" spurs! I have already seen the footage, and once again, Nick did a fantastic job capturing the whole event.

April 26 - More Blind Luck
Entry by: Keith

The 2008 turkey season continues to provide some great footage for the Aim Low boys. The cold snap that rolled in for Charlie Ramsbottom's Sunday hunt may have been the cause the birds going lip locked as no birds were heard at sunrise. Around 8:00am Charlie and cameraman Riley Vanatta decided to change locations and do some cold calling. They were rewarded with a couple gobbles and some hope. Once the toms committed it didn't take long for them to cut the distance. As one of the toms began putting, Charlie got a little worried that the birds were getting nervous. A few purrs and some soft yelps put the birds at ease and the rest is history. Once again the Steel Force Talon dispatched the gobbler quickly. Charlie's turkey was 23 lbs., with a 10.75" beard, and just over 1" spurs.

 

April 25-26 Awesome 2 Days in Blind
Entry by: Keith

To say I have had an excitable turkey spring would be an understatement. After spending a morning with John Brown 2 weeks ago and filming him down a big tom with a bow, I could hardly wait for my chance. Well, my first morning in the blind lasted all of about 15 minutes. Cameraman, Nick Govero, and I got set up just in time before a couple soft yelps brought my biggest bird to date charging into my strutter decoy. His feet barely hit the ground and he was on his way. I would like to say I was able to hold off a shot for several minutes as he put on a show, but about 30 seconds was all I could take before sending a new Steel Force Talon broadhead up his rump. The Talon did some unbelievable damage. It was also my first chance to try out my new Whisper Creek Stealth bow. What a handy little bow for inside a blind! My bird had 1.25" spurs and a 10.75" beard.

 

Now, it was Nicks turn. The rest of the day was slow with very high winds and bad storms circling the area. We were very optimistic about Saturday, as better weather was on the way. Saturday morning was slow for us, even though Nick's father, Keith Govero, shot a nice gobbler with a shotgun on the other side of the farm we were hunting. We decided to grab some breakfast and move to another known strutting area for the rest of the day. At 11AM, we were startled to see a big tom at the strutted decoy getting ready to whoop some tail. He apparently snuck up from behind the blind without saying a peep. I scrambled to get the camera rolling as Nick frantically got the Stealth bow in position for a shot. This bird literally beat the snot out of our decoy before Nick placed a perfect shot and put another good bird down. Once again the Talon broadhead did some devastating damage which left a blood trail you would swear was from a heart shot deer. I hate the cliché, "It doesn't get any better than this," but in this case it pretty much sums it up. Here is Nick with his trophy bird, sporting two beards over 9" long.

April 12 - MO Youth Turkey Season
Entry by: Clint 

This was a slightly different opening day of youth season for us! We did not have four or five kids to take with us, it was just the luxury of Riley and myself - enjoying the great outdoors - with no blind this year... and turkey hunting! ... in the SNOW? Yes - I said snow! I know in all the years that I have turkey hunted the great state of Missouri in the Spring, I have never hunted them in the snow.

Even with the frigid temps, the morning started out to give very high hopes of being able to bag a bird. Several tom's were gobbling within 200-300 yards from us. After they hit the ground, the sounds of gobbling turned to silence. In a fairly short period of time we spotted a lone tom about 200 yards from us. We gave a few purr's and yelps with absolutely no response. He would not even look at us! Across the field he went looking for "greener pastures." After sitting another hour with no sight nor sounds of a Tom, we ventured through the timber that overlooks some bottom ground. As we slowly moved down the bluff we spotted some turkeys at the edge of the field. One strutter, 7 or 8 hens and two jakes. In a short period of time, the Tom ran the jakes off in our direction. Bonus for us! We sat patiently, calling the sweet sounds of a few hen turkeys awaiting and eventually ... they came to us! Riley was very patient and made a great shot on the biggest of the two jakes. Nothing better than a young turkey to take home for the freezer. Thanks so much to Corey for going along to capture this exciting hunt on video. Riley and I are excited to share this video with you on an upcoming DVD!

April 12 - IL Turkey Hunt
Entry By: Keith

When John Brown of Chester, IL, asked me if I would like to tag along with him on a turkey hunt and do some some filming, I jumped at the chance. John has deservingly built himself a reputation as one of the best turkey hunters to hit the field. He has taken over 200 turkeys in his life and prefers to hunt with a bow. I had high expectations on this hunt, even though John was not promising anything. The weather was producing far from ideal turkey hunting conditions. None the less, between 20 mph wind gusts, we heard birds gobbling at day break. John worked his magic with an assortment of calls and within minutes a trio of hot toms were attacking his "stuffer" decoy just 8 yards in front of our blind. John was generous enough to allow me to film this unbelievable event for about 30 seconds before taking one of birds out of the fight with a super quick kill shot. The other two toms stuck around and gave us quite a show for the next 30 minutes. This is some of the most entertaining turkey footage I have ever seen. I can't wait to share it with everyone on an upcoming DVD. Here is a shot of John, myself, the stuffer, and his decoys.

 

April 5 - KS Turkey Hunt
Entry By: Corey

My good friend Chad Cox, Clint, and I headed to Central Kansas on an early April archery turkey hunt. The area we were hunting was packed with Rio's, a species that we had not had the opportunity to hunt, until this trip. We arrived at our destination late on Friday night, and set up camp. The next morning we were off, with some direction from a friend who had hunted there last year. We followed his directions, and found ourselves lost! The sun was starting to rise so we found a public hunting area. We stepped out of the truck, let out a locator call, and had an answer. We got all of our stuff together and headed at the bird. We popped up the ASAT quickie blind when we felt like we were close enough, and started calling. Within 20 minutes the gobbler was 5 yards away directly behind us. We could not see the bird, but we got to listen to him drumming his way toward the decoys. Finally he stepped into a shooting lane, and Chad's arrow found the mark. The bird stumbled and went down, but he was still holding his head up, so Chad put a back up arrow into the tom to seal the deal. We had a great time on the trip and Clint and I could not be happier to share Chad's first Rio with him.

 

Feb. 8-11 Central Florida Hog Hunt
Entry by: Keith

Several months ago, Robin informed me that he had been talking with Florida resident, Chet Maxcey about swapping some hunts. Chet and his group were itching to come north to hunt the big whitetail deer we are so blessed with in the Midwest. What they had to offer was some of the best wild hog hunting we have ever heard of, and we had to check it out for ourselves. 

First let me say that Chet Maxcey, his father, Guy, and good friend Mr. Sparks, treated us like kings. Not only did they provide us with some absolutely unbelievable hog hunting, but they cooked for us, waited on us, and chaperoned us to some of their better spots. Most of the time, Eric Gregory and I were catered by Chet's buddy, Charlie Peck, who got a real kick out of watching us try our best at stalking up on wild hogs with bows and arrows. Charlie was used to dropping them with his trusty rifle from safer distances. Robin and Corey Endicott spent most of their time with Chet. 

From the get go, we were knee deep in hogs of all sizes, sex, and color. The first lesson we learned was that these hogs were anything but a push over. With noses rivaling a whitetail and radar like ears, getting within bow range was much more of a task than we had imagined. For every hog we brought down, there were dozens that gave us the slip. The welcomed saving grace was that it usually didn't take long after blowing an opportunity to get right back into more action.

The first hog to go down was this cool looking spotted boar that Robin took less than 30 minutes into our first morning hunt. Eric and I were able to watch the action from several hundred yards away through our Vortex binoculars.

The next morning I took my first Florida hog after stalking within 15 yards of this sow with her head down rooting up the earth. My heart was pounding.

On another side of the ranch Robin drilled this hog with with an unbelievable double lung shot as it ran by within just a few yards doing mach 10. We watched the footage over and over again that night. We can't wait to share the footage! Corey did an awesome job of staying on the running hog and didn't miss a beat. Robin's reaction is priceless.

That afternoon I took the camera from Eric and filmed him putting a great stalk on this big black sow as she was rooting up what the Florida guys were calling a flag pond. The opportunity was made possible by a strong wind in our face. Eric was able to get his shot off a split second before she bolted after realizing she wasn't alone.

The last morning was one I will never forget. The whole trip I kept dreaming about slipping up on a big boar with those cool looking cutters only a mother could love. Right at day break, Eric and I spotted this boar feeding on acorns under an oak canopy. We used palmettos and palm trees for cover as we followed him for what seemed like forever. Most of the ground was covered with pine needles which quieted our footsteps. After realizing that we were just flat not going to be able to get any closer than 35 yards, and sensing that the hog was getting a little fidgety, I lucked out when he stepped out from behind a palmetto and offered a slight quartering away shot. The footage of the Firenock sailing through the air and finding it's spot just behind the shoulder is quite a sight.  The boar is now on it's way to Brian at Almberg Taxidermy.

Before the hunt came to an end, Charlie could not take it any longer as a spectator. He sent us on our way and headed to the south part of the ranch with his rifle. It wasn't long before we heard shots ring out from the south. This is one of two nice hogs he that are now packed away in the Peck freezer.

We cannot say enough about the great time we had on this hog trip. I am already looking forward to our next trip down and have only been back one day. We took a total of 7 hogs on film and saw hundreds. We used this trip to try out the 2008 Steelforce Phathead broadheads which performed fantastic, even on the big boar with over a 1" shield protecting the shoulder. The amazing thing was that after going through the hogs and sticking in the sandy ground, they were still razor sharp. Thanks again to Chet, Guy, Charlie, and Mr. Sparks for granting us a 4 days we will never forget.