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Bruce: Okay. Sweet. Okay. Take a deep breath. Stretch my neck. Okay. Here we go. I’m going to count it down. Five, four, three, two, one. Welcome to another episode of Whitetail Rendezvous. This is Bruce Hutcheon, your host. Today we have Chase Latham from Benton, Missouri and Chase loves chasing whitetails. That’s a pun folks, but what the heck. Anyway, Chase, welcome to the phone. Welcome to the show.
Chase: Thanks, Bruce. Thanks for having me. I appreciate it.
Bruce: Well, I appreciate you reaching out to me and I reached out to you on Twitter. So listeners, social networking is one of the secrets of great whitetail hunters because there’s so much information out there, especially during a rut, that you can find what’s happening in different areas of your state or different areas of the country and kind of figure what’s happening, when it’s happening, and why it’s happening. So social network, there’s a big buck nugget for you, is something that you need to get involved in. Would you agree, Chase?
Chase: Oh, absolutely. I talk to a couple of guys that live up in Pennsylvania, Waylon Dietrich [SP], me and him talk quite a bit on Twitter and he actually comes down to southeast Kansas every year or so, I guess hunts. And this past year I was talking to him quite a bit and seeing where he was hunting out to see where I was hunting out to see if it was in the general area. We were about three and a half hours away from each other. And I was seeing, asking him what he was seeing before I made my trip to Kansas, kind of knowing what I was going to expect when I got there. Then when I got there, it was exactly what he was telling me. There was not much mating. There was not much buck activity, rut activity going much on at all. So I got there. I saw some bucks out there but they were more just kind of scent checking the does and me and him were kind of just talking about the rut and everything that we were talking about was happening in the woods.
It was just. . . Twitter is a great way to connect with people from around the world, from around the United States that go out and hunt these different states that you don’t personally know firsthand.
Bruce: Thank for that. Let’s talk about your first mature buck. Now, how do you define a mature buck?
Chase: I like to define my mature buck. I mean I don’t. . . I mean the age to class thing I’ve kind of been off and on I’ve been learning more about it each year. I may look for more of the body, the neck, and the. . . when the first part of the season, the [inaudible 00:05:48] can tell you he’s got a big body and his neck is a lot more bigger than the rest of him. I’d classify that as a mature buck for that early in the season, especially in September when Missouri is [inaudible 00:06:02]. [inaudible 00:06:03] season opens up, you can tell those mature deer from those younger deer right off that bat. So he was. . . I’d [inaudible 00:06:12] for two years straight. He was a mainframe nine with a kicker off his G2 and I had pictures of him all through the 2012 summer. Then once season came he just disappeared. Didn’t see him. Didn’t get any more pictures of him. Nothing.
So 2013 season rolls around, I was starting to get a lot of pictures of him again, same spot, same field. The beans were looking amazing. We had a lot of rain. So then I went out two weeks before the season started to look at my camera. My camera got stole so that really ticked me off there quite a bit. So I just kind of went in to opening day, opening week actually because I was out working, and just kind of leaned it, set up an observation point where I could see down in this field. And he came out right where my stand was at so I knew I could move in on him the next couple days and hope I had a good chance at him. But the fourth day on stand I arrowed him at 7:00 20 yards from my stand heading out to the bean field.
Bruce: Wow. What did he end up scoring?
Chase: I haven’t actually really gotten him scored yet. He’s actually still sitting in my freezer. I’m trying to. . . I’ve been. . . He’s my first big buck that I worked really hard for and I’ve been trying to find a good place, just a good taxidermist to get him done and I just haven’t found that place yet.
Bruce: All right. Well, how does working for the railroad or on railroads, you said in the warm-up you were a contractor, how does that allow you to have enough time to get out in the stand?
Chase: Well, we work an eight on, six off shift so, I mean, I work a full week and I come home for a Monday to a Monday so that whole six days I’m doing nothing but hunting or checking cameras or just looking at aerial maps. I mean, I hunt a lot during the season with my time off.
Bruce: Now, are you hunting with archery and rifle or muzzle loader? Tell me what type of weapons you’re using.
Chase: I started out as a gun hunter when I was younger. I wasn’t really into the whole bow thing. I didn’t really like being out there in 95 degree weather and having mosquitoes and everything on you. But once I got older, I realized it gave me a chance to hunt these deer three months longer than that two weekends in November that Missouri offers. So I do a lot of bow hunting and a little bit of gun hunting now. But I’ll go out with rifle on opening weekend but other than that I’m strictly with my bow and arrow.
Bruce: Let’s talk about the hunting tradition and how you got involved in hunting.
Chase: Well, my dad’s friends and my friends always did it when they were younger. But me and my dad were more fishermen at that time and we didn’t really like the fact of getting up at 4:00 in the morning and going and freezing your butt off in a stand or in a blind or whatnot. But then we just, they talked us into it one year. My dad went by himself with the buddies. He loved it so the next year he got me into it. We took our hunter safety course together and it just kind of went off from there. I shot my first deer at 11 years old with him. Then I was just hooked after that and me and my dad have been hunting together ever since.
Bruce: What’s some of the lessons that he shared with you by being your dad?
Chase: Oh, he just, he’s always told that persistence pays off. Stay with it no matter what, even if the times are tough, you’re not seeing what you want to see. It only takes five minutes or 30 seconds for something to happen and that deer a lot of time to walk out. And he’s always been there for me. Me and him became real close hunting buddies. He just kind of taught me the way, taught me how to. . . I used to be real talkative in high school or throughout my grade school years. And hunting with him he made me kind of be quiet because I just transferred my hunting experiences into a classroom and just. . . Best of both worlds I guess [inaudible 00:10:28]. Quiet in the classroom gets carried into the woods. He just always taught me just little things that I didn’t think what I would realize until I was older and I have.
Bruce: Let’s talk about a couple lessons learned from . . . let’s stay on the archery side. When you first start hunting with a bow, what are a couple lessons that are stuck with you?
Chase: Always make sure your equipment is working. I mean most archers know that if you’re equipment is not up to par, then your hunt is not going to go the way that you want it to. I make sure my stuff is always sighted in 365 days a year. I keep it in nice, mint condition. It doesn’t see much other besides my bow case and my hand. I just, it’s like my baby almost. [inaudible 00:11:23] but don’t tell my girlfriend that. She’ll get mad at me.
Bruce: How about hunting lessons? You know, we’ve all been there and gone, “Oh, I just screwed up.”
Chase: Mm-hmm.
Bruce: Tell us about some of your screw-ups.
Chase: I’ve learned the last couple years and when I was younger to always stay put even if you’re not seeing the action you want to see. There’s always that temptation to get up and walk around or hey, I’m going to go check and see what’s at my next stand. See how things are going there. I’ve always just, anything can happen at any point in time and with me getting into trying to film, do my own filming, I’ve learned that always keep the camera rolling. You never. . . It’s like moving. You don’t know when that buck’s going to come out. I’ve had a couple times this past year, it was. . . The first buck I shot this past in 2014, the sun was fading, I wasn’t really seeing much so I was kind of putting my camera gear up and right at that last light I had a nice nine pointer walk out right at 30 yards.
It was the most beautiful shot and I’m thinking, “I want to get this on film,” but, as hunters, we know we can’t let a deer like that walk, a nice, mature nine pointer and I had to take the shot. I was upset I didn’t get the shot on film but it was a great hunt either way so I just. . . Always stay put and always keep the camera rolling.
Bruce: Let’s talk about your camera gear. What are you filming with?
Chase: I have a Cannon XA10 and a Cannon HF R500 and a GoPro so I have three angles in my tree with me that I use. I’ve got my main camera, then my secondary camera above me, then I got my GoPro mounted to my Matthews that [inaudible 00:13:16] me.
Bruce: What kind of mounts are you using?
Chase: I have my Muddy Outfitter Tree Arm that I use, great product. They make amazing things. I’ve always had great success with Muddy equipment. Then for my GoPro mount, that’s a, it’s Godinger. I don’t know if a lot of people have heard about them but they make a really good GoPro mount that attaches onto any bow. It’s one quick screw into your riser and it’s ready to go.
Bruce: And let’s just stay on your gear. You said Matthews, so what model are you shooting Matthews? What head and –
Chase: I’m shooting a Matthews Z7 Xtreme. I love it. I’ve had it for three years now and I’ve shot other bows. It’s kind of just testing them out. I’ve thought about changing. I just cannot switch from my Matthews. I love it. I’ve spent too much time and [inaudible 00:14:17] just to get it to where I want to be. I’ve got it all dialed in.
Bruce: How about our broad heads?
Chase: I shoot the Rage Hypodermics and the Rage X-tremes. I’ve never had a problem with the Rage. They’ve come a long way from, like their o-rings. I had the little rubber band o-rings. Now they have the new shock collars. I’ve never had a problem with any of those. Shock collars work great. They break off but you get, put a brand new one on there, sharpen the broad head up, and it’s ready to go again.
Bruce: How about your arrows?
Chase: I shoot a Carbon Express Maxima Blue Streak. I’ve shot those for a couple years now. Then I’ve also shot the Maxima Hunters through Carbon Express.
Bruce: And what poundage is your Matthews.
Chase: It’s a 29-inch draw with a 70 pound draw weight.
Bruce: And the let-off?
Chase: 80%.
Bruce: So, the buck walks out. You’re on him. How long can you hold and still know you’re going to take out both lungs?
Chase: I haven’t had to hold too long. All three of my bucks that I’ve harvested within the last couple years, they’ve came out and I’ve just drawn back and I’ve stopped them. The most I think I’ve held is probably 35, 40 seconds most. I was still pretty, I was nice and calm. It didn’t feel like I was shaking, getting ready to lose it all. So I’ve never really had to sit there for a long amount of time waiting for that buck to present me with a good shot.
Bruce: Let’s talk about your stand setup. You mentioned that you’ve got a couple different stands. Let’s talk about the hows and the whys of where your stands are and the type of stands they are.
Chase: Okay. I used predominantly hang-on stands. I feel like with those you can really get them up and really get them to some places that can really conceal your . . . conceal you the most. Then I’ve got three stands on this property that I’ve got permission to hunt on. I’ve got one sitting over a small little water hole that the deer like to come to in the morning and hit before they go to their bedding. Then I have one right outside of a bedding ground. It’s kind of a . . . basically, just a hole. There’s just some CRP that sits in front of me and then just thick begging around there. It’s almost like a U shape just kind of. . . If you look down on an aerial map it’s a hole and there’s a little creek that runs right behind me. The deer can’t get downwind of me. It’s just a really good spot. A lot of does like to hang out in there and especially during the rut, the bucks are just non-stop through there all day long and that’s where I shot two, my two bucks this past season, was in this hole.
Bruce: And hang-on, do you have any specific brand you like over the other?
Chase: I love my Muddy stand. I’ve got two Muddy stands. I’ve got a Muddy Vantage and a Muddy Outfitter. I really like those for when I go out of state to hunt. I can use those to get up there real quick. If I need to change a stand set-up I can just, basically just get in and get out and move to another set-up and be set up within 20 minutes or so. I’ve got the two Muddy stands and I have the Muddy Prosticks that they have as well. That’s a great product. They come in a four pack and get up there roughly 18, 15 foot and be set up within 15 minutes. I love my Muddy products for whenever I go out of town.
Bruce: What kind of safety harness do you use?
Chase: I use a Hunter Safety System. I don’t ever go anywhere in a tree, get in without it. If I don’t have it, I either don’t hunt or I just find, just go sit on the ground somewhere. I’m never going to get in a tree stand without my safety harness. Never. No.
Bruce: Let’s say that again please, Chase, for our listeners because you and I both know people that, unfortunately, have had accidents.
Chase: Yeah.
Bruce: I haven’t had any friends die yet but broken legs, broken arm, messed up back. So just underscore the importance of the safety harness.
Chase: The safety harness is your foremost, most important gear that you can have with you at all times. Besides your bow, your arrow, if you don’t have your safety harness, why take the risk of getting in that tree and not going home to your family? Because at the end of the day, we all love hunting but we all love our families more than we do hunting.
Bruce: Let’s share a couple ah-ha moments where you just couldn’t figure something out, then all of a sudden there was the answer.
Chase: Oh, let’s see here. I don’t know if I had any ah-ha moments like I didn’t really notice and I figured out right there. I just had a couple funny moments with [inaudible 00:19:28] with my buddies [inaudible 00:19:29]. They were [inaudible 00:19:32]. I went to college down in southeast Kansas at Pittsburg State University and me and my buddy were out hunting the CRP [inaudible 00:19:41]. We were about 100 yards away from each other and I called him [inaudible 00:19:46] corner. He kind of split the difference between us and he took a shot at him, hit his branch, and hit him back far. I knew he hit him back far because I heard the tree. The tree he had hit and whatnot and the deer ran off. I called him and I made sure he hit him. He said he hit him so we’re sitting there and he wants to get down. I said, “All right. Let’s just sit here and just wait a little bit longer. Since you hit him back it’s not a great shot. We’ll sit here, wait for him to die off and expire or whatnot.” So we sit there.
He calls me back. He goes, “All right. I want to get down. I want to track him. I want to find him before it gets dark and whatnot.” I’m like, “I don’t think it’s a good idea,” but I went with him anyway because he wanted to go. I said, “Okay. All right,” so we went. We started tracking this deer. [inaudible 00:20:32] about 100 yards away there were [inaudible 00:20:33] deer. We didn’t see what it was, if it was the same deer or not, but a deer ran off. Then we saw all of a sudden there was blood real bad, started getting little specks, and so we called two more buddies of ours out that were down in school. They came out and looked for it. Still couldn’t find very much blood. Then sun goes down around this place we were at and we haven’t really been before. They’ve been out there trying dove hunting. I’ve never been out there really doe hunting. So the sun goes. We cannot find any blood so we’re like, “All right. We’re going to call it a night.”
We marked where our last blood was. So we started to walk in. We got lost. We’re sitting there trying to figure out which way the thicket [inaudible 00:21:17]. We’re all pointing different ways, saying different ways we should go and whatnot. So about three hours after being just kind of sitting in the woods not really knowing where to go we called our, some more buddies to bring their trucks out there and honk with flashlights and whatnot so that we could find our way out of here. So four hours later, they come out there. We finally get out about midnight. It’s freezing cold and [inaudible 00:21:43] November. So we got out, got back to the [inaudible 00:21:47] and whatnot and went back out there the next day and we ended up being 75 yards from the tree line, just open field that went straight from our truck.
There was, it was a moment that we don’t talk about much just because the buddies, my [inaudible 00:22:00] buddies were out there in Crocs and just shorts and it was just an awful couple hours and not finding that deer at all.
Bruce: Did you ever find the deer?
Chase: Nope. We could never find blood after that again. I don’t know if he just got a flesh wound and didn’t really hit a main, vital organ or anything. It was, I felt bad because it was his first . . . it was a deer that he really wanted to take and after that, just for a deer or two. I don’t know. Us hunters, we don’t like to see deer suffer that much. We like to [inaudible 00:22:36] as a goal, shot the . . . right in the next spot real quick or. . .
Bruce: Well, folks. We’ve heard a lesson learned and it wasn’t Chase’s lesson but he was there. And what I found out from a lot, talking to a lot of people, unless you know and can watch film or whatever, that you’ve hit both lungs, you get the right quartering shot that’s going to take out the lungs, hit them off-shoulder, just let that deer go.
Chase: Mm-hmm.
Bruce: And just wait until the sun goes down. You never know if you’re going to hear a noise, you get your binoculars out, you’re checking the woods. But just let that deer go, come back first light in the morning, and they might have found that deer because odds on the one that they jumped probably was a deer. Will they ever know? Nope. But just learn that lesson and don’t . . . once you make your shot with a rifle, with a bow, and you don’t hear or see that deer go down, just let them go.
Chase: [inaudible 00:23:48] Especially if you’re hunting a place that you don’t really know the terrain all that well and you try to put. . . you try to find that deer that night, you’ll end up [inaudible 00:23:56] some place that you don’t even know where you’re at when you’re out there trying to find it in the dark.
Bruce: Let’s talk about any smartphone apps that you use while hunting.
Chase: I use the HuntStand app and Google Earth. I love Google Earth. I use it on my computer at home. I use it in the woods looking at, trying to figure out another spot I can go to. Then my HuntStand app, I love that. I can pinpoint . . . put [inaudible 00:24:29] a pin for a stand location or a camera location and it gives me all my weather throughout the day, throughout the week, all my moon phases, the game activity. I really like the HuntStand app because it shows you your wind direction, which way your scent is going to blow at that stand for that day or how many hours you’re in that stand. And I really love that app. I tried different couple . . . no, no, no. Sorry about that. I tried a couple different apps and I just found this one to be most useful for me and what I use it for.
Bruce: Let’s talk about any areas of whitetail hunting that you might be struggling with. By struggling I mean you just can’t find the information on the Web. It’s like, how do I do X? And is there anything that you’re struggling with right now?
Chase: I struggle with trail camera placement and trying to get on a pattern of a buck. I’ve been working on that the last couple years, getting cameras out, and I just still haven’t tried to. . . I still haven’t figured out where to put these cameras, what time of year to put them, and how to narrow down a buck from where he’s eating to where he’s bedding and so on and so forth. Those are the two things that I’ve been struggling to work . . . struggling with for quite some time now.
Bruce: How do you try to find the answer to that?
Chase: I’ve been talking to a lot of buddies about where to put trail cameras at, how to get on a deer, and try to [inaudible 00:26:13] patterns out. And it’s started to click a little bit to me but I don’t know if it will click until it actually happens. Until I can actually get on a deer throughout the whole summer and go in confident on a hunting day and know that he’s going to be there at this certain time with this certain weather probably, and get trail pictures of him throughout the whole summer and have him patterned out where I know I’m going to get him eventually.
Bruce: Here’s a last question, Chase. You just got a new 100 acres. You know there’s whitetail on there. You don’t know how big but you know there’s deer there. What are the three or four things, up to five things, you’re going to do between now and September? And if you’re going to hunt them, are you going to hunt that land this year or are you going to wait until next year?
Chase: First thing I would do is I’d get my cameras out, throw up some nice mineral sites and that way you can see what the deer are on the property, see what kind of buck to doe ratio you have. I don’t really look into the buck to doe ratio too much. I just see how many deer, what do I have on that particular property. Then get on my Google Earth app and see what possible wind locations . . . or stand locations I can put these stands up and if the wind will work with that stand. Then, of course, getting shooting lanes. If I hunt it that year, it all depends on what I’m actually seeing on trail cameras as to that time of year for that certain, different, another property not working for me, come in there and just kind of get an observation point, see what the deer are doing, seeing what [inaudible 00:28:01] with firsthand instead of going off what your cameras say.
Bruce: How about food plots?
Chase: Yeah. I put in my very first food plot this year. I would do that on a new 100 acres that I have if I have permission to or if it’s my land I would definitely do it. But if there was a plot of land, if I had permission, I’d put on in. Absolutely, especially if there’s not a main food source on that property to really get and hold those deer and grow those deer on that property, per se, so that [inaudible 00:28:40] them.
Bruce: Well, Chase, we’re at the point of the show where you get a couple minutes on what I call open mic to give shout-outs to your buddies, give shout-outs to gear manufacturers, to stuff you use, and anything else you’d like to share with the listeners. So, Chase, you’ve got an open mic.
Chase: If you all have been looking [inaudible 00:29:07] look at them. They’re great people. Real friendly. Scott has been tons of help for me. I’ve talked to him throughout the month. I’ve put him through [inaudible 00:29:16], asking tons of questions. He probably gets sick and tired of talking to me about all the questions I ask him. Then a new product that I found this year is Clearshot Peeps. They make an awesome peep. After your peep size, one of your main important tools on your bow. Why mess around with blurry pins when you can have a clear shot. Those are the two. Those two products, I love them both and I won’t ever stray from Boneyard Seeds or Clearshot Archery. Go ahead and give a shout-out on Twitter and look them up. They’re great people.
Bruce: Anything else?
Chase: No, Bruce. I think that’s about it. I’m just kind of. . . I don’t have a real lot of shout-outs. I’m just kind of doing my own thing for right now, I guess.
Bruce: So, you mentioned to me early on and we’ll end the show with this because I don’t know who’s listening to the show today. But there might be somebody that would like to talk to you about being a Pro staffer, getting involved, and figuring out what you’re doing and how you’re doing it. How would a person get a hold of you?
Chase: Main thing is Twitter. That’s all I really have. I’m not a Facebook guy. I don’t have an Instagram. So anything on Twitter, just hit me up cmlatham18 on Twitter. I’m there to answer any questions, talk to me. I’m always the guy to listen to people.
Bruce: So that’s CM . . . . @cmlatham18?
Chase: Yes, sir. Absolutely.
Bruce: All right, folks. That’s another wrap and another episode of Whitetail Rendezvous. We’ve been really having a great conversation with Chase Latham this morning, or pardon me, this afternoon. And, Chase, again, thank you for being on the show.
Chase: Thank you, Bruce. I really appreciate it. I’m glad, I’m kind of glad that I wasn’t a girl. He thought I was earlier on.
Bruce: That’s an inside joke, folks.
Chase: Inside joke.
Bruce: All right. You be well, my friend.
Chase: Thanks, Bruce. You too.