IBA Member Stories
Submit your story or photos by emailing Teri Hanna
DIY Antelope Hunt
I just blind hunted by a waterhole. I missed a decent buck at 48 yards the first day after 12 1/2 hours in a 100+ degree blind. Two days later I arrowed this doe at 24 yards and watched her drop about 100 yards from my blind.
-John C. Law, Clinton, Iowa
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Bow Winner, Larry Weber Larry Weber, winner of the IBA new member giveaway and his new free Bowtech Destroyer, sponsored by Boyd Mathes of Buck Hollow Sports in Pella, Iowa.
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I rattled two times in this hunt and it delivered me a 150 inch class Pope and Young buck within sight. I did not rattle aggressively. I was tickling the horns, if you will. I did my first rattle about twenty minutes into the hunt and it produced nothing. After an hour and half passed, I tried one more rattle just before the does were starting to move. Then suddenly a buck peeked his head over the hill and looked in my direction. He came in to investigate my rattling, drive away any rivals, and mark his scrapes. On impact the buck kicks both rear legs into the air. Then runs another forty yards crashing into heavy brush. He gets back up and stands for few seconds then continues to walk into the next timber eighty yards away and out of sight. I was feeling good about the placement of the shot. But seeing him walk that far gave me some concern. So I decide to give him sometime before following the blood trail. Besides, there was still plenty of light and the does hadn't walked through my area yet. Thank you, Shawn, for your help. |
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Dear President Thompson & Members of the Iowa Bowhunters Association, |
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The equipment I used was an A&H 68 pound longbow, axis FMJ 808 gr. arrow with Larry’s Abowyer 180 Brown Bear head w/ 100 gr. steel adapter. The Cape Buffalo was shot at 35 yds. through the heart and went 500 yds. The Giraffe was shot at 62 yds. It didn’t look that far. They are so big. I got 18” of penetration with a broadside shot, my PH was very impressed with that and he went about 600 yds.
I also shot a 54” Kudu at 26 yds just a touch back about 3” the last evening right before dark. We had to leave early the next morning to go to another concession to pick up my friend, Grant Poindexter, so he could finish his hunt. They found the Kudu that next afternoon so I don’t have any pictures of him but he was very impressive, to say the least. They’ll send the skull and horns with the rest of trophies to be shipped and dipped.
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Raymond Bowhunters Donate for Breast Cancer Awareness
The idea for the T shirt started at the ATA show. Scott Wymore, ran down several hunting celebrities and asked them to sign the T shirt, it was framed and auctioned off at Spring Banquet. Wayne Kitner bought the shirt at the IBA Banquet for $125.,..And Wayne donated it to the Raymond club. We auctioned it off at our banquet Sat. night and Curt Boose bought it for $300., Then Curt turned around and donated it back AGAIN and Al Neebel bought it for $300., Al is going to auction it off AGAIN at our annual hog roast in August.... ALL of the money raised is being donated to Breast Cancer Awareness. |
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New Bow I shoot my bow about 5 times a week every week. When it got cold I didn’t know where to shoot because it’s kind of hard to shoot a bow and enjoy in when it’s ten degrees outside. So I asked my Mom if I could shoot out of my window at about 20 yards, and what do you know she said yes. I also have a nice strip of land that’s even for about 50 yards (I’ve mostly been shooting on that because it’s been nice outside for the last couple of days). Well that’s my story on how I got my new bow. Hope to see you at a 3-d archery shoot this spring. |
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“What are you going to do sleep all day?” Grandpa would say this jokingly to me as the clock read 4:00 a.m. It was time to go check the trap line! My grandpa was Dutch Leek of Wesley, Iowa. He was a well-known auctioneer and a very avid hunter and trapper in northern Iowa. As a young boy, he taught me how to hunt, trap and respect nature. In high school after a football game, I would always end up at Grandpa Dutch’s house for a weekend of hunting and trapping. I suspect deer hunting was always extra special for us because all of our friends would gather at grandpa’s house in the morning for breakfast and finalize our plans for the morning hunt. We would always get one or two good bucks every single year. I remember telling my grandpa that I would like more chances at bigger bucks. We would see huge deer checking traps in November, however, shotgun season always started in December. One year later, I mentioned to him I was thinking about getting a compound bow because I could begin in October and hunt the rut in November. Grandpa wasn’t keen on the idea since he was such a die hard shotgun hunter. As it turned out, I asked my dad for an early Christmas present that year. We left Wal-Mart with my new “toy” and my dad said to me, “Are you really every going to use this thing?” I loved it. My very first bow was a Bear Whitetail II. As the years flew by my grandpa grew older and had to stop hunting and trapping. His views drastically changed, however, about bow hunting as I grew to be an avid bow hunter. He thought the stories I told about things I saw from the deer stand were great. He could not believe how close you can get to the deer. In October of 2007, as I geared up for yet another bow season, I remember a conversation my grandpa and I had. He told me he was proud of me. He thought I was doing a good job raising my kids to love God and the great outdoors. In April of 2008, he fell and broke his hip and I knew his end was near. I’ll never forget that day – May 3, 2008 within minutes of just harvesting my Tom turkey my cell phone rang and I heard the news that I had been dreading. My grandpa had passed away. I miss him so very much. It was difficult for me this year after shooting my buck because I couldn’t call and tell him my story. I loved my grandpa dearly. |
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Our bear hunt in Canada was wonderful. I got my bear on the 9th day of my 5 day hunt. Kurt got his on the 7th day of the 5 day hunt. In other words, the bears were not moving and the outfitter was determined to stay until we got our bears. The food was great....the camp was great....the outfitter was great...I never got cold and the mosquitoes didnt come until we were packing up to leave!
The 2nd week we were the only ones in camp and had a blast! The 2nd week we saw alot of bears of all sizes and every color......Kurts bear skull measures 19" and is a nice black color....He shot the bear at 11 yards and it took 6 steps and went down......I went there wanting a color phase bear and a beautiful chocolate came in at 14 yards.....he went 38 yards and dropped. I called Kurt and told him to come quick I had a bear.....no other info was given.....so Kurt, the outfitter and the guide all showed up.....this was the first time the outfitter carried his gun...he thought he might have a wounded bear.....I showed him differently. He said that in his 20 years as an outfitter, I was the first female to shoot a bear with a bow! I think he gets alot of rifle hunters. We have alot of pictures and we both got our shots on video.
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 Spring Turkey Season By Al Coblentz, SE Iowa Area Rep. April 21st found me headed south on Highway 1 for a week on Turkey Hunting and camping. I had camp set up at Lacy Keosauqua State Park and then headed out to the woods about 11am. I set my blind up in an area where I had seen birds strut in previous years. I sat for several hours and didn’t see or hear anything. I finally got out of the blind and did so scouting and located some birds but didn’t get close to anything. I finally went back to camp for a late lunch. I went back out just before dark to try and roost a bird for the next morning. I walked into the woods a ways and let out a couple of crow calls. I heard a bird in the distance and decided to just sit down and see what happens. Pretty soon I heard him gobble again and decided to back off a ways because he was getting pretty close and I didn’t want to spook him. I heard birds fly up so I left knowing where to be in the morning. Tuesday morning I was in the woods well before daylight and as quietly as possible set out 2 hens and 1 jake decoy and then set up the blind. I sat there until it started getting pretty light out and made a couple of quiet yelps. The Tom gobbled and he wasn’t to far away and still in the tree. A made a couple more yelps and then was quiet because I knew he was close. He flew down and landed about 125 yards away from me and started strutting. I would yelp and he would gobble but he liked his strutting area and it looked like he wasn’t going to move. Pretty soon it started raining and I saw some hens with him so I figured the deal was all over. Then is rained really hard for a little and I couldn’t see the birds any more. The rain stopped and I let out a couple of yelps and he gobbled back. He hadn’t moved 25 yards during the little rain storm. Pretty soon I had some hens come close to me and get within 10 yards of my decoy. That brought the Tom in as well. He didn’t seem to want to come right over to my decoys. He just stayed off to the one side and strutted and drummed. Finally I thought he was about 20 yards away and I thought I could get a shot. He was in full strut broadside and I was pretty excited. I pulled back my longbow and said to myself “remember on turkeys you have to hit em hi” I shot and saw the arrow go through feathers and heard a thump. I got him I thought, but the Tom just kept strutting like nothing had happened. What the heck, he just kept strutting and drumming and acted like nothing had happened. I couldn’t get another shot off and didn’t know what to do so I just sat there. Finally after about another 20 minutes he just slowly moved away with the hens. When they were out of site I got out of my blind and went over to where I had shot. There was my arrow, stuck in a tree, the thump I had heard. I looked at the arrow and replayed the shot and realized I had shot high and just clipped the top of his feathers while he was strutting and didn’t even break the skin. I thought that was my chance for the year, Boy was I wrong. My bubby called and wondered how it was going and we decided to go to camp and have breakfast. After pancakes, bacon, eggs and turkey stories we were ready to go out again. We headed out to another area and set up the decoys and blind again. This area was kind of along a field edge. We called for a while and didn’t here anything. I got a little shut eye and then I looked out the blind and saw a hen. Pretty soon I saw another hen and she had a beard. Then we heard a tom gobble. This was getting good. The Tom gobbled on the timber side so he closed the open side windows and then opened the windows on the timber side. Pretty soon we saw the tom. He come up to about 50 yards and just stayed there and strutted. Since we both where shooting bows he was still to far away. Pretty soon I peeked out the other side of the blind and said. Randy there are 2 jakes right out here in range. He said shoot one if you what. Nay we got a Tom almost in range. We can’t shoot a jake. The jakes soon headed down to the Tom and when they got close he would chase them. He would then go back to his spot and strut. The jakes would come back and as soon as they were within 8 yards he would chase them again. This went on for about 15 minutes or more. Eventually we thought he was getting close so Randy got his bow ready and was hoping to get a shot. The bird just seemed to be able to keep a tree or brush in the way all the time. I think I did something wrong and the birds all moved off and that was the end of that deal. It was still and awesome day but no birds in the bag. Wednesday morning I went in to a different area that I have hunted before and had success. I heard birds gobbling and so I set up my blind and started to do some calling. I would call and birds would gobble but it was one of those deals where you just feel like they are not responding to you. I ended up falling asleep and a while later I woke up and I thought I think I hear a bird drumming. I peeked out the back of the blind and there was a Tom about 50 yards away. I quickly closed the windows I had open and opened the window on the Toms side. I yelped once and he gobbled. He started coming my way and I got all nervous. He was coming right at me so I pulled back and shot. I shot right in front of him. Dang it. 2 days in a row. He just rubbed it in. He slowly strutted in a half circle around me 50 yards out for about another 15 minutes. I went and got my arrow and realized that he was much farther than I thought. He was about 30 yards away. That was the end of action for this day. Thursday morning I said OK 3 rd times a charm. I went out early and didn’t have any action. It started raining and my buddies called my cell phone and said it was time for breakfast. Sounded ok to me, didn’t hear any birds anyway. It was raining and we didn’t feel like cooking breakfast in the rain so he headed to the café. After a good batch of biscuits and gravy plus lots of coffee I decided to go set up along a field edge and just see what happens. It was just kind of misty not really raining so off I went. I set up along and open field and out my decoys out. I got all set up and it started to rain again. The double bull blind does a pretty good job of keeping me dry so I thought I might as well just stay here and sit out the rain. About 1 pm I saw a bird a long way across the field. He flew over a fence to get into the open field. I got my binoc’s out and saw it was a Tom. With the rain and all when I would yelp on my box call I could see him stretch his head out and gobble but I couldn’t hear him . He kept coming closer and then I could here the gobbles. He just kept coming at me and right toward the decoys. Ok I said here goes. I pulled back and shot low, right in front of him. 3 rd miss in 3 days. I am terrible. I got to watch him go all the way back the field, slowly I might add, and fly over the fence again and away from me. To make it feel even better I packed up and made the long walk back to the truck in the rain. That afternoon it stopped raining so I set up along another open area but didn’t have any action. When I decided to quit I shot an arrow at both my decoys and got a clean kill on both. I wasn’t sure if that built confidence or was rubbing salt in the wound because now both decoys have a hole in them. This brings us to Friday. I headed out and couldn’t decide which ridge to set up on. I picked one and set out the decoys and set up the blind. I didn’t hear any gobbling and then I finally heard a Tom and you guessed it he was on the other ridge and a long way off. What should I do. I sat there thinking about moving and not wanting to go down the ridge and back up the next one. That is the trouble with a blind. They get heavy on those step ridges. Pretty soon I heard the Tom gobble and then I heard thunder. O great, the rain is coming again. I decided to stay where I was until after the rain. I would just yelp every 10 minutes or so. Pretty soon I heard the Tom gobble and thought he sounded a little closer. It thundered and he gobbled again and I knew he was closer then. I called and he cut me off with the next gobble. Then I could see him and he was coming up the ridge on my side. I got the right windows opened on the blind and got ready. I made about 2 more yelps and he was on his way. Once again my heart started going wild. Ok Al slow down, You can do this. Take your time pick a spot. When he gets to that big tree he will be within 15 yds, The bird kept coming and went into a strut. HE got to the big tree and I pulled back to full draw. I held for a second and told myself pick that spot. I shot and it was perfect. He took off and ran about 30 yrds and was down. I threw the blind back and ran over to him, he was mine. Wow it was so awesome I did my little war dance and let out some mighty whoops and thanked God for a wonderful day. The thunder rolled again so I quickly gathered all my gear and headed for the truck. The extra 20 lbs felt so good. Wow 5 birds within 50 yds in 4 days and all those misses. I didn’t deserve this one unless it was for not giving up. I just made it to the truck before the rains came again. I didn’t care. Saturday Morning I took another Friend out and I called in a bird for him and he shot it with a shotgun at about 35 yards. I headed back home Saturday afternoon and decided that this may have been my best week hunting ever. Except for that time when…… Submit your story or photos by emailing Teri Hanna
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While viewing the buck, he happened to look up and discovers me in the tree. For several seconds we both stared at each other motionless and waited for the other one to move first. Looking nervous the buck slowly turns away and starts walking back toward the scrape. I immediately decided to harvest this buck and I quietly grab my bow. Upon full draw I make a bleat sound to stop the buck in preparation for the shot. He slows down but did not stop. I bleat again. He stops then turns his head and looks in my direction. He is quartering away with his right side exposed to me. He is ten to twelve yards from me. I pick a spot, steady my bow and release my arrow.
Well I’ve needed a new bow for a while. My Papa and I have been researching all the bows that would be good for me. But I really wanted a Hoyt because he had one, and I have just thought that they are the best looking and best shooting bows out there. And so after looking and looking for the bow that would be best for me we picked out the Hoyt Katera. My Papa and I got in his truck and started driving up to the Happy Apple Archery shop in Cummings, Iowa. But the bow I really wanted was the 2009 Hoyt Alpha Max 32, but the bow’s draw length was to long for me. So after driving up to Happy Apple I saw how much I could pull back and stuff like that. But then when Papa went to measure my draw length it was about 1 and a half inches more than my Mom and I had measured about a month before. I didn’t know how my Mom and I measured so far off. But when Papa saw that he told me that we should just go and get the Alpha Max. I was so excited that I could now get the Alpha Max! So my Papa ordered me an Alpha Max, ordered his sister one, and of course he got one for himself also. 
After having to wait what felt like forever(only 8 days), Papa called and told me that the bows were in. So my Dad and brother went with me to Happy Apple and picked the bows up on a school night, so we didn’t get home until like nine. But it was all worth it by a long shot. When I got my bow we first went with Rick Motzko who was the owner of the store, and he did stuff with the peep and put on the drop away rest and put the sight on and other things. After he made the arrows I went into the indoor archery range and shot the bow. It felt smooth when I pulled it back and I barely even knew it shot of because of almost no hand shock. 
My First Deer Season Without Grandpa
Kurt & Denita Van Wyk, Canada Hunt 