| Welcome to our new BLOG page!
On this page you are going to see bits and pieces from all parts of the day to day stuff that goes into making a TV show. Sometimes you'll get a on location report other times the latest trip to the sport store or range. Who knows where this will go but we hope you enjoy it! |
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PA Spring Turkey Talk about hard work, early mornings, ziggin’ and
zaggin’, and good luck! For me, Pennsylvania spring gobbler season was
just that. I started hunting my brother’s farm late, with only two weeks
left in the season, yet on my first morning I was into birds. I had a few
jakes come in close and clear, but I was holding out for ol’ Tom himself.
On my third morning he showed himself. He strolled into the field about
200 yards out, accompanied by four of his “lady friends” and one junior
gobbler, and he had no intentions of coming toward my calls. Three
mornings later I had closed the distance between him and me by sneaking in
earlier and earlier, approaching his nightly roost and being exceptionally
careful not to spook the group. I’d also begun to pattern the flock.
They’d fly down at 5:30 am, peck around the clover patch for a half hour
and make their way downhill to the pond for a drink. The morning sun on
day six rose over my back as I lay completely prone, some weeds
strategically placed across my back and over the barrel of my Thompson
Center turkey gun. The hard work and early mornings seemed to have paid
off. I was in the zone. They flew down, landed perfect. But then
trouble – they zigged and I couldn’t zag!
Ed Prebola 5/31/07
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TJ’s Late Season December Goose Hunt
I was down in southeastern Alberta last week doing some work and on the way home called my buddy Ed Houck from Fowl Weather Outfitting to see if I could get in on a last-minute goose shoot. Eddie said he had a field full of geese that would blow my mind and the following morning I was sitting in a blind watching huge Canada geese pour in on the warm but windy December day. While the huge geese were very wary after a full season of being shot at, Ed and his #1 guide Claude managed to expertly call in several flocks and we ended the day with 20 of the huge birds. If you are looking for a great Alberta waterfowl hunt, give Ed a call at (403) 362-4122 |
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T.J. ML Hunt on Wainwright. Nov 30 - Dec 2
I got to see lots of old friends and made some new ones. Hopefully it doesn't take another four years to draw this tag again.
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Cadomin Alberta Bighorn Sheep. Late November
The end of November signals the beginning of the sheep rut and the mountains rang with the sounds of heavy rams waging war. November is also winter at this altitude and daily highs of -20 coupled with wind and snow pushed the temperature to -30 and beyond.
The frigid cold and extreme snow conditions made this hunt one for the books and certainly fulfilled the words of the old saw “If you are going to be stupid you better be tough.” Watch for Rich and T.J.’s fantastic hunt on a upcoming episode of the Outdoor Quest. Rich and T.J. (SHERPA) Schwanky with the grand old ram. |
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November, A Month for Whitetails Sorry we haven’t been more diligent with the Blog entries this month but we’ve been in the field hunting and only spending time in front of the computer when absolutely necessary. TJ spent the last week of October
hunting with Grant Kypers of Buck Paradise Outfitters in Saskatchewan and
while he didn’t take a buck, he really enjoyed the hunt and thoroughly
praised the outfitter for the great accommodations, guides, meals and the
hunt itself. TJ saw over close to 100 bucks during the week but just
nothing that was quite up to his standards. One of the other hunters
wounded a deer in camp that week that we saw the video of and all agreed
that it would have scored close to 190 typical. Grant and 8 of his guides
spent a full two days looking for the buck but were unable to locate it.
It’s TJ’s guess that the big deer is still out there, waiting for another
lucky hunter to cross paths with him. If you are looking for a quality
Saskatchewan outfitter, TJ highly recommends checking Buck Paradise
Outfitters out.
www.buckparadise.com Early November was spent chasing elk west of Calgary, Alberta where pro-staff Vanessa Harrop came very close to scoring on what TJ described as a “toad” of a bull. Lots of bulls we spotted but with a couple weeks remaining in the season, Vanessa’s heart is set on the huge 6x6.
Vanessa took her first whitetail buck early in November in Alberta at less than 60 yards after a perfect stalk. This is one episode of Outdoor Quest Television you definitely won’t want to miss.
Grant Kypers from Buck Paradise Outfitters ended up with a couple openings at one of his northern camps and invited TJ back for another try at a monster Saskatchewan whitetail. Pro staff Vanessa Harrop accompanied TJ on the trip and on day two of the hunt, Vanessa dropped a monster 5x5 whitetail with the Encore Pro Hunter .30-06.
TJ followed up three days later when he dropped a massive 22-point, 166 4/8-inch whitetail, his largest to date. TJ is already planning his return trip to hunt with Grant next year. He saw loads of really good bucks and after getting a look at one of the bucks killed by one of Grant’s guides on the adjacent farmland, I’m sure you won’t be able to keep TJ away.
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Rich October 25th Elk Late season elk are the most fun to hunt if the weather is kind and the winds still. Rich and Pro Staff Luke Viravec spend a memorable morning chasing bull elk still hoping to find a receptive cow.
Watch for the spectacular footage caught on film including an eye popping demonstration of the awesome power of the 300 Win mag Pro Hunter.Home Back to top |
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Pro Staff Bill Prebola October 20 Bill traveled from his home in PA to Wyoming for a fabulous elk hunt. Using his T/C Pro Hunter in .338 caliber Bill took this fantastic bull. Watch for the entire hunt on an upcoming episode of Outdoor Quest TV. |
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No Hunting Sundays, October 15, 2006 With no Sunday hunting permitted near TJ’s home and after a hard day of sheep hunting in the mountains on Saturday, it was off to Banff for a day of photographing and videoing bugling elk. With only a few cows remaining to be bred, competition was hot and heavy between the big bulls and TJ got some awesome shots and some incredible video of some truly monster bulls.
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Monday October 9, 2006 Today is Thanksgiving Monday in Canada and Sandi, Jake and Rich took advantage of a warm and sunny day and went in search of some relaxation. You know one of those days where you just stumble around in the woods and recharge the batteries. The ruffed grouse population is very high this year thanks in part to a dry spring. Taking turns and using the deadly accurate TC Silver Lynx 22 we racked up a 3 person limit (30) of the tasty wild grouse.
Later in the afternoon, Jake filled one of his doe deer tags with one well placed shot from his 300 Win Mag TC Pro Hunter. After a couple of busted stalks. Watch for this segment on an upcoming edition of the Outdoor Quest. |
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Encore Pro Hunter Claims Another Victim
Despite some nasty weather, TJ and guest Vanessa Harrop, were able to head deep into the Alberta Rockies to fill Vanessa’s non-trophy bighorn sheep tag. After a four-hour stalk, Vanessa put the ewe down with a perfect 209-yard shot with the Encore Pro Hunter .25-06.
But, that’s where the fun ended. I took four hours to pack the meat and trophy back to the Argo through some of the most rugged terrain you could imagine. Watch for this hunt in early 2007 on Outdoor Quest Television.Home Back to top |
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Rich and Sandi Moose Opener Saturday September 23 Sandi and I went out for a combination bull elk and moose-scouting trip. While cow talking our way into the spot I wanted to bugle at we bumped into a great deer and after a short but intense stalk Sandi made a 98 yard shot with her 209x50 Pro Hunter Encore.
After fetching the Argo and recovering the deer, we spent the rest of the day scouting and managed to find two bull moose both nice animals. Excited about the prospects we were in the woods long before daylight the next morning. Sandi’s giant bodied bull was taken once again with her 209x50 Pro Hunter shooting a 250 grain Bonded Shock Wave over 150 grains of Pyrodex Pellets. Sandi had to make an awesome standing off hand shot to thread the needle in the heavy brush at 103 yards.
Sandi made a perfect heart shot with the bullet entering the top and exiting the lower side.
Loading an animal, this size can be a
daunting task but with the winch on the Argo a small pulley to chain up
high in a handy tree and it is easily done.
Once loaded the Argo Avenger made easy
work out of hauling the moose the 7 miles back to the truck. Watch for all the action during the upcoming 2007 broadcast season. Home Back to top |
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Hunting Season Starts with a Bang for TJ and guest Vanessa Harrop Hunting season started off with a bang, quite literally, with the season opener in Northern Alberta. In less than a week, TJ, hunting with guest Vanessa Harrop, managed to take 9 big game animals.
Opening day started with Vanessa making a perfect 285-yard shot on a 30-inch wide, 190 mule deer buck with the Thompson/Center Pro Hunter in 30-06.
TJ followed very shortly by dispatching a huge 6x6 bull elk with the .30-06 Pro Hunter.
Then TJ followed up with a record-book mule deer buck with the Pro Hunter 209x50
TJ and Vanessa then took 5 mule deer does…..Vanessa took 2 with the Pro Hunter .30-06 and one with the Excalibur Crossbow and TJ took one with the Pro Hunter 209x50 and one with the Excalibur Crossbow
Then, to put the final icing on the cake, Vanessa knocked a huge, 6’ 3” bear with a 19” skull down at 260 yards with the .30-06 Pro Hunter.
And this all happened in the first week of the season and TJ still has plenty of tags remaining plus he hopes to get the Argo out next week for a couple of duck hunts in central Alberta.
Watch for all these hunts and more on the 2007 season of Outdoor Quest Television. Home Back to top
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T.J. Range Day with the New Pro Hunters Getting new guns is always
exciting but when four new ones show up on your doorstep, well, it can be
a bit overwhelming. With the advent of
Thompson/Center’s new Encore Pro Hunter for 2006, the crew here at
Thompson/Center’s Outdoor Quest have been busy getting the new rifles
sighted in for the upcoming season. TJ will be heading to northern Alberta
in mid September on a trophy mule deer hunt and Rich and Sandi will be
Anyhow, back to the new Pro Hunters. Once they were fitted with the Nikon scopes and bore sighted, it was off to the range to really get them dialled in. First on the bench was the 209x50 and it didn’t take long before it was punching one-inch groups in the paper. TJ settled on a load of three Pyrodex pellets and a 250-grain Shockwave bullet. Even with the heavy powder load, shooting the Encore was a dream with the new recoil reducing stock and recoil pad. It was as pleasant as shooting 100 grains out of other rifles.
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T.J. A REEL ANGLING ADVENTURE
In all, we caught about 50 fish during the day. Fishing partner Brad Fenson landed a healthy five and a half pounder and my biggest was right on four and a half pounds. While we released the majority of the fat river walleye, Brad and I couldn’t resist taking a couple home for the fry pan. Nothing matches the flavour of walleye fresh from the river.
For more information on planning your own Reel Angling Adventure, contact Ray Kohlruss, 780-961-3726, www.reelangling.com Back to top |
Rich August 27 2006First day to the range with my new Excalibur crossbow, I got the Exocet 200 model, with arrow speeds of 330 fps. Zeroing the scope in on my Sidekick block was straightforward and in 4 bolts I had the bow dead on at 20 yards.
My Exocet scope is adjustable for arrow speed and has aiming triangles spaced down the vertical reticule post. Once you adjust the scope for your bolt speed each triangle is supposed to represent 10 yards elevation corrections. My boys Matt and Jake were along with me and we quickly kept shuffling the Sidekick block back at 10 yard increments. The scope worked exactly as promised and the accuracy of the Exocet was nothing short of unbelievable as perfect 50 yard bulls were easily attainable especially by the boys who were probably a little steadier than the old man.
Sunday evening saw Matt and I sneaking through a friends oat field in search of black bear that were doing serious damage to the crop. The first stalk was mine and with the camera rolling, we got to within 63 yards of a pair of small blacks only to have the wind change and spook the bears.
After working down a half mile of field to lose out in the last few steps is a little frustrating but we were all grins as spot and stalk on bear with a new untried weapon gets the heart rate up a touch more than usual. The next bear to the field booked before we could plan a stalk and with light fading a nice 200 pounder showed up. We got to 80 yards before our speed stalk dictated by the rushing darkness spooked him. Matt and were all grins and giggles walking out of the field, replaying the stalks and talking about the next time out for the Excalibur bow.
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Excalibur Crossbows joins
the Team at Thompson/Center's Outdoor Quest
Rich and Sandi Mellon and T.J. Schwanky, hosts of Thompson Center’s Outdoor Quest, would like to welcome their newest sponsor, Excalibur Crossbows, to the series. With the popularity of archery waning across North America, many hunters are looking at crossbows as an exciting new alternative for short-range hunting. Excalibur Crossbows, a Canadian Company, is recognized world wide as the leader in crossbow technology and owners Bill and Kathy Troubridge have traveled the world hunting with and promoting their crossbows. We will be featuring a number of Bill and Kathy’s hunts on the series in 2007, including some incredible footage from their African hunts. We’ll be hunting with the crossbows as well and with the number of deer tags that all of us drew this year, I’m certain they’ll be getting a work out. Check out the exciting line of Excalibur Crossbows at…..www.excaliburcrossbow.com
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N ikon Joins Thompson/Center’s Outdoor QuestNikon Sport Optics has joined the team at Thompson/Center’s Outdoor Quest as the official supplier of optics to the television series. Rich, Sandi and T.J. are especially excited about the new Omega Muzzleloader Scope from Nikon that features their patented BDC-250 Bullet Drop Compensator reticule. This scope is the perfect accompaniment to muzzleloaders like the Omega and Encore that are capable of long-range shots in the 250-300 yard range. But in addition to the new Omega Muzzleloader Scope, you’ll see the team’s Encores topped off with a variety of Monarch scope and you can bet they’ll be using Nikons binoculars, laser range finders and spotting scopes as well in their search for big game across North America and the world. Thompson/Center’s Outdoor Quest airs during the first and second quarters, January through June, on The Men's Outdoors & Recreation network and year ‘round on Wild TV in Canada. For more information, visit www.theoutdoorquest.com or contact Rich Mellon, 780-402-6392 or T.J. Schwanky, 403-932-3585. Back to top |
They
passed by the working end of that TC at about 70 yards, just a bit too far
for a clean kill. That night I spoke with my brother. He had the next
morning off and we talked about a direct intercept plan. Instead of
“side-hilling” the flock, we’d get directly between them and the pond.
Dangerous because they may spot us directly from the roost, but there
would surely be no zig or zag. We set the decoys out just before 5:00 am
and hunkered down. Bill was on the right corner of the clover, I was on
the left (the birds seemed to favor the left side, but I never told him
that!). 25 minutes later the hens were pecking within inches of the
decoys. Both Toms were on their way in. At 5:40 there was no mistaking
the crack of that 12 guage. Bird DOWN! I stood up and unfortunately (for
me) pulled a perfectly unused round from my chamber. After all the hard
work, early mornings, ziggin’ and zaggin’, my brother ended the season
with the luck! Was I disappointed? Sure, but only for about two seconds.
Then it was on to high-fiving and some congratulations. Over ten inches
of beard and 1 3/8” spurs – it was a GREAT bird! I’m not sure who was
more happy, Bill or me. And as far as sibling rivalry goes, I have to be
honest. There’s none. Except that maybe next year I’ll say, “…Nope,
haven’t even seen a bird on the upper side this season…..”
With
only 3 tags drawn for the last 10 day season in WMU 438C, Rich was amazed
to learn he had beat the long odds and won one of the coveted licenses.
438C is the Wildlife management unit that surrounds the coalmines at
Cadomin, home of gigantic big horn rams and where the current world record
comes from. 
Through
it all Rich and cameraman T.J. persevered and by the third day Rich killed
a fantastic 11 year old ram. The battle scarred old warrior is a stunning
trophy and was the cumulation of the quintessential sheep hunt. T.J.
spotted the ram atop a mountain from several miles distant and 2 ½ hours
of struggle through the deep snow brought the old monarch with in range of
Rich’s 300 Win Mag Encore Pro Hunter. 
