Dennis and I with his buck

                                Dustins Buck

                                  front view of my buck

                             side view of my buck

                                Tom hiking out after a long three days

                                Zemans Buck

This fall I hunted less than I ever have since I was 11 years old due to starting a business, but the time I did spend hunting was extremely memorable and because of the new hunting partners joining me, it was also extremely gratifying. We probably killed more trophy's this year than we ever have before Jeffrey killing a whitetail in the mid 160's and another dandy, Z and I killing Muleys in the 160's and Dustin, Dennis and Jesse all taking nice Muley bucks out in Eastern Montana, but its the time shared in between the killing that will be remembered the longest. I have been planning and dreaming about this hunt for a long, long time; the idea of getting some of my favorite people together in game rich country enjoying one of our favorite pastimes seemed like heaven on earth to me and just like any dream I have ever had you gotta make it happen, not sit around and hope for it. Last fall I got everyone to apply as a group for Muley tags in MT when we knew we all drew kill tags I started to do my homework on a good place where we would find plenty of nice bucks and a place for us all to stay. Flights were booked and we all showed up the saturday night before our hunt was to start on sunday, the majority of the group thought it was  a good idea to party hard the night before in the bar and were dissapointed I called it a night early, but the next day when they were hiking around with headeaches and in bed by 6pm the next night I think they understood better.... ha ha I had too much invested in this hunt to potentially jepordize anything due to a hangover. The first day was my favorite as I was with my Uncle Dennis when he killed his first muley, I wanted to make sure he got his deer first as he was one of the main people that got me hooked on hunting, that meant the world to me to see him get to experience a hunt he never had before. I had a distant relative that had a terrible farm accident this summer and almost lost his life tell me how easy it is to lose touch with your family and friend's being so busy as we are these days and that we Ziegler's tend to work way too much and I needed to take my family hunting and get away and do those things before its too late because life is very short if you really think about it, very short. I thought that was great advice and I was willing to sacrifice a day of my hunt to be there with Dennis on his, I was right next to him as he shot his buck and when it was done he just shook my hand and said "thanks Nick" I pretty much knew then he was enjoying himself and it was worth all the lost time at work and money to get out here and do this sort of thing, it wasn't as big of a buck as he would have liked, but maybe there was a reason for that, now he has to go back. Dennis told me it was the first time in a long time he forgot about the stress of the farm, or the pain of his body and just enjoyed himself, I knew it was going to be great for Dennis to spend some time with his sons away from work and with two of his nephews and Goddaughters husband and our good buddy Tony Zeman. Dennis always told me when it comes to $/money "you cannot take it with you", well you also cannot replace these memories we just made. My brother in law got to know the crazy family he married into a little better as well. It was unfortunate that Jeffrey and Tom had to be the ones to come home empty handed, but I guess its like anything in life nothing is ever perfect. Our guide gave us a discounted, self - guided hunt and told me he didn't think we would be able to kill anything and he was complaining to me as we kept knocking down bucks each day that his other clients would pay him three times as much for a fully guided hunt to take the bucks we were taking off of his lease. It became clear to me he thought we were going to be like taking candy from baby's when it came to taking our money and expecting us not to kill anything; I guess he didn't realize we probably knew how to hunt a little better than the average guy and in the end the joke was on him as we left with 5 of 7 guys taking home Muley bucks. I didn't feel bad at all for that guy.My only regret was not being there with Jesse to celebrate and help pack out his buck and for not being able to help get Jeffrey and Tommy there trophy's, hopefully they will give me another chance and our family will be together again in one of the beautiful western states chasing trophy animals.

Jeffreys 2012 season

                                            Buck # 1

                                              Buck # 2

2012 South Dakota Bird hunt

                                             Day 1 limit of roosters with Partridge and Grouse mixed in.

                                            Day 2 limit of roosters

 The back of the Pedestal mount from Buck # 2 in 2011

Buck #2, mid 140's 8pt.

Buck # 1 from 2011, gross 144, 9pt.

First Bear Kill!

September 24th, 2010 is a day that will be etched in this hunter's memory for the rest of his time! It took me 5 long years to draw a bear tag and even if I did draw a tag I didn't know if I would have a place to hunt a bear or someone to bait for me.. Last fall I saw a picture of my buddy I knew through wrestling with his bear kill, I quickly sent him an email and asked if he could help me out, he didn't even hesitate to say you can count on us; I started planning for the hunt by making a scouting trip up to Medford, WI in August and talking on the phone with his Dad (Mike) from time to time to see how the baits were doing. Through the summer the baits were being hit by nice bears consistently, but the opening week of season the baits really slowed down and were not being visited consistently anymore due to the corn and acorns being so plentiful for the bears; the only thing I saw the first couple weeks was a big bear way off in the distance and triplet cubs, which was still pretty good considering with my work schedule I was only hunting the weekends. I got the call from Mike early in the third week that 2 baits were turning on again and being hit everyday by at least a couple different bears in each location, I could not wait to get up there on that friday and sit over the baits. We chose a bait site for that Friday that I had put many hours in the tree previously with no sightings, but our camera's showed this bear was less nocturnal than the bears at the other bait. It was rainy and windy and something about that weather must have made this big bear hungry early: 6:45 while in the tree stand I received a text from Mike that this bear was on the camera at 10:45 pm last night, needless to say that was not going to help me get him; I put the phone in my pocket looked up and ten yards away sat a 240lb black bear on its butt like a dog just looking around! My heart rate sky rocketed and I went into auto pilot the bear waited a few minutes and eventually got up and walked around behind the bait presenting a nice 15 yard broadside shot. After the hit the bear ran 5 yards started to climb a tree changed its mind and ran off into the brush; A flood of emotions came over me at this point it was an emotional roller-coaster only a hunter knows, from thinking dream come true to wanting to jump out of the tree-stand worrying that I might have missed the bear and will never get another chance. I quickly climbed down and much to my relief found lots of blood immediately, I turned and jogged/sprinted a half mile out of the woods on a pure adrenaline rush down the road to my buddy's friends house to call Mike and excitedly let him know it was time to gather the troops for a tracking job and that's where the excitement of hunting bears really begins, tracking! Lets just say you have to be mentally prepared to follow one of these beasts in the middle of the night right into its bedroom during a rainstorm, it was gut-check for me and added to the memories and made me think twice about ever wanting to bear hunt again, but when the bear was retrieved it was all worth it and then some. I felt like I did when I was 13 years old and had just killed my first deer which happened to be a nice 8pt with a bow, just pure excitement, it's like the experience took me back in time as hunting always does and made me realize why I do this and what I am thankful for: I first thought about how thankful I was to my buddy Lee Storck for so graciously offering up all of his Dad's free time since July to bait bear and hang stands and strategize a successful bear hunt for some guy whom he had never met before mid August; the Storck's invited me into their home cooked for me, gave me my own room and put me on bears and I sometimes questioned if they wanted me to get a bear worse than I wanted to, they cared that much! Mike's best friend Mel who is also in my bear kill pic deserves a thanks for helping bait, track and butchering duties and even more importantly all of his years of bear hunting wisdom he shared this guy is a bear hunting guru, when he talks you listen, bottom line. When Mel found out our baits were slow he walked corn fields until he found one that had bears ruining it and gained permission from the farmer for me to hunt and him and Mike quickly fired up another bait for me, these guys just went the extra mile with a failure is not an option attitude! I am excited to meet such selfless people like these folks and make more great lifelong friends, that's definitely what hunting should be about not competition,resentment and lying between fellow hunters.

This hunt gave me time to reflect (when the mosquitoes were not feasting on me) and I thought about how thankful I am for my brother and my uncle Dennis for getting me started on hunting and kindling my unhealthy obsession and love for the sport and my entire family that supports me in my singled minded pursuit of whatever trophy animal I set my sights on and pursue religiously. And for my friends who all offered up the congrats and the "I know how hard you worked and wanted this man you deserved it" Without these people being there for me hunting is pointless. And lastly I have to give a shout out to all of our veterans past and present of the greatest country in the world, they make it possible for me to live the good life due to their sacrifices, God Bless them!

Final hunt of 2011

The unlucky three that won't see the New Year

Carl with his buck he made a tough shot on.

Brisky's buck

The final hunt of 2011 proved to be a great one as we saw lots of deer and Brisky was able to kill a solid buck and Carl made a great shot at probably 100 yards with his shotgun on a very nice buck, I was doing the driving and walking all day and jumped a herd of deer and was able to knock down a small buck as well, it was a running shot and quick drag back to the truck and I'm sure once again I proved luck is better than talent, ha ha. 2012 hunting season will have to be pretty special to top 2011; I got 2 of my best bucks with a bow, Jesse added his personal best deer with the bow and one more nice one with a gun, Dustin killed a Muley and this is how it ended up for Carl. Along with an amazing pheasant hunt we are pretty darn lucky as a whole and have a lot of great memories and experiences together to be thankful for.

North Dakota

 a pic of the terrain we were hunting

 The porcupine that watched me pass by three times hauling Dustin's deer out of the bottom of the Butte's

 Dustin with his first muley a solid 4x4

 getting ready to feel out of shape hauling a head, cape and 2 hindquarters up the butte to the truck

 Rancher's shed behind the house and the round bales the deer were feeding on last year each afternoon

 pile of crap house we stayed in, but it kept us warm and did the trick just fine.

preparing to hike out into the frigid wilderness and try to stalk  a muley buck ( I look like I know what I'm doing, but really I have no clue, what I am suppossed to be doing).

Stormy style celebration!!

Dustin and I have been hunting together since we were probably five years old trying to exterminate every pigeon and sparrow from the entire farm, we were always fairly successful and this hunt was no different of course Dustin is the one bagging the trophies and I was ok with that. We had a ton of fun chasing these awesome beasts all across the badlands of North Dakota and I blew stalk after stalk and Dustin had some close calls before he finally connected on this buck, it was a solid team effort as I glassed him from about 800 yards away and got Dustins attention and we put the plan together where I would spook him out of his bed and hopefully he would head up the ridge where Dustin would be waiting. It was a huge releif to me when he got this buck because his knee's were really hurting him with all the hiking we were doing and I knew my body would be able to handle this stuff for a long time I hope and him being a dairy farmer limits his time as well; as busy as we both are its always nice how hunting can help keep a friendship strong and the funnest parts of the hunt probably were not the hunting, but the nights at the cabin shooting the breeze, striking up new friendships, playing some cards and joking around. The other guys in camp were great to hang out with as well Deano's friend Cunningham had the experience and taught us the ropes and Brandon Storm was a rookie this year with Dustin and I; Stormy is a hunter I have always admired for how he bags trophy's year after year off of knocking on doors to gain access and sitting all day for weeks on end during the rut even if he isn't seeing much, plain and simple he is successful because he outworks all the other hunters I knew it would be beneficial to learn from him as he was a big part of the reason I decided all day sits in my treestands and having more patience are neccessary for me to be able kill trophy deer; main thing he taught Dustin and I is you always have to have a victory beer in your pack for the rare occassion that you kill something and need to sit and have a beer and savor the moment, he said it might sit in your pack for two years, but no beer will taste better than that one, Dustin and I each put a beer in our packs and the next morning we got lucky! I was not suprised when he was the first one out the door in the morning and the last one to give up at night. Ironically Stormy and I were the only two hunters that never drew our bows, but we are all the more determined and excited to go back and I believe there is a big muley buck in our near futures. Dustin and I left a day early, so he could get back to help on the farm and also, I wanted to see Jesse and Bryce wrestle at the first tournament of their senior seasons, it turned out to be well worth it as Jesse came away a champion and Bryce was third that was great to watch; family is always more important than any hunt and that is exactly why Deano missed out on the hunt he planned, because he was being a good husband and taking care of his wife after she had surgery, we missed him in camp a lot and were really hoping he would make it, but more importanly hoping everything went great for his wife and him. The whitetail numbers were decimated from a disease they all got over the summer and they were not feeding on the ranchers round bales all around the house like last year, but we were not really there for them anyway, there is just something beautiful about a steel gray giant muley buck that we all wanted so bad. The house was a little rough with holes in the ceiling about the right size for raccoons to crawl through and a toilet that never really wanted to flush along with beds and couches that seemed to be cloth on top of bricks...LOL, but hey thats the North Dakota experience. I am already fired up to get another crack at the muley's next year.