Season Reports by Blood Brothers Outdoors

Newest Blood "Sister" - Jordyn Erdody, Born July 8th!

jarrod@bloodbro.com (Jarrod Erdody, Dan Infalt, Lee Gatzke) — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 07:51:13 PDT

My wife gave birth to our new baby girl, Jordyn Alice Erdody, on Wednesday
late afternoon. Both are doing well now, though it was a rough day. We're
bringing her home Friday. She was 8 pounds, 11 ounces, 22-inches long.

Baby #3 Coming Soon!

jarrod@bloodbro.com (Jarrod Erdody, Dan Infalt, Lee Gatzke) — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 09:57:55 PDT

Just a quick update from here at the hospital. Jennie went into labor this
morning about 1am. It's been a long night and morning...we're hoping to
announce our new little one later today.

Summer Re-Roofing Project

jarrod@bloodbro.com (Jarrod Erdody, Dan Infalt, Lee Gatzke) — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 07:19:07 PDT

Summer is time for getting big projects done before you-know-what
arrives in the fall. I don't know how I suckered Lee into this, but I
got him to share his roofing expertise with me as we re-roofed my
house in June. We were stuck with the hottest week of the summer and
had to work through the night, but we got it done. We both agreed we
know what we WON'T be missing come November while we're sitting in a
cold treestand! Thanks again, Lee.

Planning a Father-Son Iowa Bowhunt

jarrod@bloodbro.com (Jarrod Erdody, Dan Infalt, Lee Gatzke) — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 07:33:28 PDT

It won't be long and I'll find out, hopefully just verify, that my
dad drew his Iowa bow tag this year. My brother and I have applied
for him the past couple years, knowing it wasn't something he'd do on
his own but if/when he drew a tag he'd "probably" find a way to get
excited and go. Well, I scouted a good spot this spring for him. I'll
be muzzleloader hunting it this winter, but I'm taking a week to
bring my dad out there this November for a week to get first crack
and bowhunt it. I'm really looking forward to this trip with my dad
and will hopefully film him taking his best buck ever. It's been
several years since my dad and I went on a hunting trip together and
I'm vowing to make more time for that despite my fanatical approach
to hunting (versus my dad's laid back approach).

This is a farm that's on the small side. It'll be a good one for our
upcoming Farm Country video that's in the works. Most of us don't
have the luxury of 600+ acre farms, but we all know the great
potential in Iowa. I don't plan on running my dad all over the
country, which is why a rut hunt where the bucks are on the move and
my dad can hunt fewer spots should be great. I'll post more in the
coming months as we find out if he draws and then go scout some
summer velvet bucks.

Fawns a Droppin'

jarrod@bloodbro.com (Jarrod Erdody, Dan Infalt, Lee Gatzke) — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 07:25:41 PDT

My brother John found these two little ones just off his yard the
other day.

Scott Scores on His 1st Turkey

jarrod@bloodbro.com (Jarrod Erdody, Dan Infalt, Lee Gatzke) — Mon, 18 May 2009 05:42:25 PDT

My hunting buddy Dave asked me to call and film for his Bro-in-law, Scott... Worked hard for almost 15 minutes today!

We were running and gunning and covered a 200 yard farm in 15 minutes trying to provoke a gobble. We stopped in a little clear area in the woods near a field where I have seen Toms the last couple evenings.... I called from a standing position with Dave and Scott standing behind me and plenty of trees if we got a gobble... I yelped loud with a box call several times to shock a gobble and got nothing... All the sudden Dave whispers "don't move he is coming right at us... I am like "where" he says 2:00 so I just move my eyes and the tom is walking fast right at us from 60 yards closing the gap in a wide open mature woods.
I whispered as soon as he gets behind the tree when I drop you guys drop... We all dropped as the bird went behind a tree at about 50 yards.

Scott is a 1st time turkey hunter and was really nervous. When we dropped we had a slight dip to hide in behind a small downed tree with no back drop.We just waited with no turkey showing after a minute or so... I slipped out a light yelp and got a gobble... I waited about 15 seconds and hit a yelp again and he hammered back from 40 yards and went into strut and now I could see him again. As soon as he fully came into view he spotted us trying to hide behind the "branch".

He putted and I told Scott to shoot. He said "I don't have a shot" and the bird turned and started to look flighty so I said just rise up and shoot him. Bam. Dropped him in his tracks. He was very excited and I was very happy to be there for his 1st bird, 1st hunt ever. He will never forget... Especially with footage to show off of his hunt.

Dome Scores a Tom on his Son's First Hunt

jarrod@bloodbro.com (Jarrod Erdody, Dan Infalt, Lee Gatzke) — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 12:10:23 PDT

Ya'll may recall my friend Dan Desrosiers (aka Dome) from his giant
208" booner he killed a couple years ago (highlighted in our Hill
Country Video too!). Well, Dan shared a cool story this morning of
his son Ben's first turkey hunt yesterday evening. Ben will be 4
years old this November and accompanied Dome to the woods on
Michigan's turkey opener. Thirty minutes into the hunt, Dome had
called two nice toms in but they hung up. An excited Ben kept
whispering, "Shoot em Dad!" but Dome knew they were just out of
range. He started getting aggressive with a diaphragm call and got a
gobbler in the woods behind him to respond. This brought the two toms
in on a string and Dome blasted the bigger of the two at 20 yards.
Ben urged his daddy to "shoot the other one!" but Dome held off. It
was a short but sweet turkey season for Dan and his son, one they'll
always remember. It will take many more hunts to convince Ben that
turkey hunting isn't always that easy.

Backyard Burn Almost Gets Away!

jarrod@bloodbro.com (Jarrod Erdody, Dan Infalt, Lee Gatzke) — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 06:40:17 PDT

This is usually the type of story I expect from Infalt.... I was
burning some garbage Saturday while doing some spring cleaning in the
yard and a gust of wind threw some flames into my switchgrass.
Fortunately, the east wind blew it towards my yard and woods instead
of out into the field so it died down at the transition and I got it
out with the water hose before the firemen had to lend a hand. It
doesn't look that bad in the picture but the flames were higher than
that small pine tree! I was very fortunate it didn't end up worse
than it did.

Morning Steelhead Fishing on the Grand River

jarrod@bloodbro.com (Jarrod Erdody, Dan Infalt, Lee Gatzke) — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 06:34:44 PDT

Well, no fish pictures to show, but here are a few scenic shots from
a morning fishing outing with my friend Eddie Stanton as we attempted
to catch some steelhead in the Grand River below the dam in downtown
Grand Rapids. All we caught was one 5 pound sucker each...makes me
want to go scout for deer.

Madison Deer Show Coming Up!

jarrod@bloodbro.com (Jarrod Erdody, Dan Infalt, Lee Gatzke) — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 17:47:48 PDT

We're excited for the Madison show coming this weekend. Though it
cuts into our scouting time before green-up, we're looking forward to
talking to lots of you at the show. See ya'll this weekend!

Pictures from 3rd Annual BBO Hogfest

jarrod@bloodbro.com (Jarrod Erdody, Dan Infalt, Lee Gatzke) — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 17:46:28 PDT

Another fun time at hogfest in February as we did our pork shopping
for the year...Eric even did some buffalo shopping! Thanks everyone
for a great time, especially Eddie and John for following me around
as we attempted to kill one on film. The nice sow I shot (through the
heart by the way...see bottom pic) went about 250 live weight and is
already eating great!

Hill Country Bucks DVD Ready!!

jarrod@bloodbro.com (Jarrod Erdody, Dan Infalt, Lee Gatzke) — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 15:29:53 PST

Hi Everyone,

Well, our next release is finished. Volume 2 of Big Bucks Year After Year is
"Hill Country Bucks". We've got some outstanding information in this that is
sure to give you a new confidence in hunting the rugged terrain of the
midwest (and other places too). We're picking it up from the replicators
Friday morning and will have them in stock this weekend at the Green Bay
show. Any orders taking this week will ship next Monday. Orders after that
will usually ship the same day or next business day. Thanks all for your
patience and support.

Proposed Amnesty Bill - Every US Citizen Needs to See This

jarrod@bloodbro.com (Jarrod Erdody, Dan Infalt, Lee Gatzke) — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 11:12:22 PST

I think my head exploded when I saw this... This is even worse than the piece of S@#T that our Republican Leader describes it as.

Christmas Day Deep Snow Hunt: By Dan Infalt

jarrod@bloodbro.com (Jarrod Erdody, Dan Infalt, Lee Gatzke) — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 06:31:51 PST

Twas the day of Christmas and all thru the swamp
Dan Infalt was searching for a reindeer to mount
Would it be Rudolf, or Donner, or Vixen?
Who would end up in Infalt's kitchen?

Fortunately I did not kill Rudolf today...

But I did have an interesting hunt worthy of a report.

I took a ride around the swamp looking for tracks. Found a few. The biggest ones were coming out thru private land that borders a very remote area on the marsh. (Where we did the drive during gun season)

So, I set out on foot after being very unsuccessful at trying to purchase a new pair of snowshoes.. The snow was deep, I got tired fast and had to take a few breaks. But I ain't one to give up easy. I cut a decent track about a ,mile back and started to follow it. When I saw it circling towards down wind side of a known remote bedding area, I figured if he was in there he hooked in so he could smell his tracker. So I slipped in cross wind in a way that gave me good shooting no matter what way they ran out. With the water frozen, and two feet or more of snow on top of the cattails visibility was great and it would be no problem seeing or getting a shot at anything out in the cattails. As I slipped in a large doe popped up and ran for the swamp. She had to hop and was going real slow cause some of the drifts are deeper than belly deep. I could of easily whacked her with my 30-06. 5 more steps and another big doe. 5 more steps and a fawn ran out. The fawn was tempting because it appeared to be wounded... But I decided to give him a chance to survive the winter.

I should of turned around right there and then because that was the last of deer seen and my right leg was cramping bad from pushing thru all that deep snow. But I had high hopes now after seeing how easy it would of been to whack the does. So I headed waaay back. It was a nightmare to get thru that crap and the long walk back was painful. Both legs are cramped up bad... Moral of the story is, they are very easy to kill right now, but bring snowshoes. I also noticed the majority of the deer were bedding close to the food source, with the exception being that big track, that I am sure is of a big buck thats been haunting me since shining last summer... His track went back farther than I did.

Andrae's Illinois Buck

jarrod@bloodbro.com (Jarrod Erdody, Dan Infalt, Lee Gatzke) — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 13:39:19 PST

Andrae killed this nice buck in October in Illinois. Watch for this hunt on a future video and television episode from Whitetail Addictions™.

Upper Peninsula TV Show - Discovering

jarrod@bloodbro.com (Jarrod Erdody, Dan Infalt, Lee Gatzke) — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 12:07:47 PST

A show that's near and dear to my heart after having grown up in the UP, Discovering is a television show up there that has always featured hunting and fishing with a special focus on the UP. Here's a link to some cool recent episodes featuring 2008 deer season reports from Michigan and Wisconsin.

Discovering

Wisconsin Gun Opener Buck

jarrod@bloodbro.com (Jarrod Erdody, Dan Infalt, Lee Gatzke) — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 11:19:07 PST

Here's the buck I shot in Wisconsin with my gun. I even got it all on film this time so watch for this hunt in a future video from Blood Brothers Outdoors and Whitetail Addictions.

Midday Success in Wisconsin!

jarrod@bloodbro.com (Jarrod Erdody, Dan Infalt, Lee Gatzke) — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 13:56:38 PST

Well, success came my way Saturday at 12:30 pm when I shot this
bruiser in Wisconsin. I had several days of miserable, wet, windy
weather, but I stuck it out and fortunately was in my stand when this
guy came past mid-day. He's a 4 and a half year old that had given my
buddy Shawn a really close encounter in early season. I haven't put a
tape to him yet...story and details to come. Good luck everyone!

Ahh November!

jarrod@bloodbro.com (Jarrod Erdody, Dan Infalt, Lee Gatzke) — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 13:47:13 PDT

Most of us are in the woods as much as possible these days. I have
several friends that were enroute for their out of state hunts today.
Me, well I'm working today. I have a funeral to attend early next
week that has thrown a wrench in my plans to hunt Buffalo County this
weekend. But I'll be there mid-week and hopefully in time for the
next cold snap. The bears eluded me this fall. I'm itching to whack
something... Good luck everyone!

Obama Does NOT Support 2nd Amendment

jarrod@bloodbro.com (Jarrod Erdody, Dan Infalt, Lee Gatzke) — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 07:02:57 PDT

Please read this letter from someone with direct experience with Obama:
Obama Does Not Support Right to Bear Arms - Illinois State Rifle Association Executive Director Richard Pearson Issues Open Letter to Nation's Sportsmen Regarding Obama's History in the Illinois Senate

Ashley and Cody D'Acquisto Score in Illinois

jarrod@bloodbro.com (Jarrod Erdody, Dan Infalt, Lee Gatzke) — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 12:17:15 PDT

Ashley and Cody D'Acquisto recently killed these two great bucks
while bowhunting in Illinois. I'm told Ashley's grosses 181" and
Cody's 160". Congrats!!

No Blood Yet

jarrod@bloodbro.com (Jarrod Erdody, Dan Infalt, Lee Gatzke) — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 17:20:08 PDT

The bears are whuppin' us this fall so far. Dan and Lee recently returned
empty-handed from a second try for bear in Minnesota, as did I last weekend
after going hunting four straight nights in the UP for bear and not seeing a
single bear. They were not hitting some of the baits and remain nocturnal at
the others. I'll be heading up in another week for one final go at it.

In the deer woods, I missed a golden opportunity on a nice buck this past
week because of work! I saw a nice 8 point, about a 125-130" 3.5 year old,
which is a nice buck around my parts of Michigan here, on my way to work. I
glassed him for several minutes and knew right where he was headed to bed. I
just KNEW he'd be back out in the evening in a certain spot I've regularly
seen them return to in the evening. But as work and luck would have it, I
got caught up in a meeting until 6:30pm and wasn't able to scoot out early,
hang a stand and kill this buck. Sure enough, when I passed by the area at
7pm, there he was, feeding contently right where I would have been
setup....so it goes.... I setup for a morning sit at midnight that night.
Overnight rains helped the setup but I don't think helped the buck stay on a
pattern. I saw a small buck in the morning was all.

Now it's Saturday night and I just returned from a scouting mission. I saw
the buck again! I'll be setting up on him tomorrow evening....we'll see how
it goes this time! More to come. Get out in the woods whenever you can blood
brothers....

Recent Article in Kalamazoo Gazette

jarrod@bloodbro.com (Jarrod Erdody, Dan Infalt, Lee Gatzke) — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 06:56:34 PDT

The Sunday (September 20th) issue of the Kalamazoo Gazette featured a nice article on us and how we got started. You can read it here.

Bear Hunt - Day 3

jarrod@bloodbro.com (Jarrod Erdody, Dan Infalt, Lee Gatzke) — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 08:17:25 PDT

Finally got to see a bear on my 3rd evening of the hunt. I had a
small bear come in to the bait. Got nice video footage of him.
Nothing big. The hunt continues.

Recent Deer Mounts by Jarrod

jarrod@bloodbro.com (Jarrod Erdody, Dan Infalt, Lee Gatzke) — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 08:08:21 PDT

A few pictures of a couple more mounts I just finished.