There are many different hunting shows on the air right now, but one that is differentiating from the masses and building huge credibility is the award winning Heartland Bowhunter. I was extremely fortunate to get the opportunity to speak with one of Heartland Bowhunter’s founders, Michael Hunsucker, this past Friday. He is a really good dude and gave some great advice to better yourself in the woods. I hope you enjoy this interview!
Green Lake Chronicles: Where did it all start for you boys?
Michael Hunsucker: I grew up deer hunting the rifle season in Missouri, where we only had 10 days in the woods to try and fill our tags. I shot my first whitetail when I was 10 years old and was hooked ever since. My passion for the outdoors started at deer camp as I’m sure many others did. As I grew older, 10 days in the woods was not nearly enough to quench my hunting thirst. I purchased a compound and taught myself how to bow hunt. The Missouri bow season was much longer than rifle and gave me a great opportunity better myself as a hunter. During this time, I developed a passion for filming hunts. I had a cheap video camera and brought it into the woods every chance I had. As my bow hunting skills continued to grow, I started going out with my high school buddy, Shawn Lutchel (Heartland Bowhunter co-founder). Shawn was raised in an outdoor family and had a few more years of bow hunting experience under his belt. We started to get serious about filming hunts and eventually graduated to a better video camera. We were getting some great videos, but not to excited about the camera arm we were using. We wanted to develop a stable and quality camera rest for the stand and after some trial and error, the HB Sniper Pro Tree arm was born. This arm allowed us to up our game and really accelerated our filming. It put us on the map with notable hunting pros. Our goal initially was not to develop this tree arm for financial reasons, but to create a camera rest that will give us the best footage for our personal memories. Eventually we saw how well this arm worked and saw an opportunity promoting it to other hunters. After all the work we put into the first DVD, Shawn and I thought “why don’t we just start a hunting show and produce ourselves.” It all took off from there!
Green Lake Chronicles: Awesome story Mike. What was your most memorable hunt to date?
Michael Hunsucker: Ah man, there has been so many great hunts in my time, but I would have to say that the most memorable hunt for me was when I filmed Shawn take Junior. Prior to this, we got real serious in managing our deer herd. Passing on younger bucks until they matured to full breeding and antler potential. Junior was a buck that I had personally watched for a few years. We saw him grow as a two year old from our Reconyx trail cams and I even passed on him when he was a 160″ three year old. There was a lot of time and energies put into the management of Junior and I had spent most of the 2010 summer locking down his patterns. Opening day Missouri 2010, I was filming Shawn on what would be one of our best hunts to date. It was a rainy day and we had encounter with Junior around 40 yards at one point, before he walked away. Later on Junior came back and Shawn made a great shot at him around 15 yards. I never kicked myself for passing on Junior the year before, it wasn’t about who killed him. Junior was the product of hard work, scouting and effective deer management. He scored 172 6/8″. I was fortunate to share this amazing memory with Shawn.
Green Lake Chronicles: That’s great Mike, especially seeing junior as a stud 160” and getting him at full potential the following year. What is your favorite species to hunt?
Michael Hunsucker: That’s an easy one. I love going after whitetails. The time and effort put into deer management and scouting makes it that much more rewarding when you have the opportunity to take a big buck.
Green Lake Chronicles: What is the most challenging hunt you have been on?
Michael Hunsucker: Good question, I think the most challenging type of hunting is out west. Chasing elk or mulies in the high country is a physically demanding and mentally challenging hunt. You are usually hunting on the ground, spot and stalk and hiking miles to get a good wind. These western hunts will also get to you mentally. You can spend all day waiting for the right wind to stalk and when you’re getting close, the wind changes or the animal gets spooked. You can make your own luck, but you have to work extremely hard for it.
Green Lake Chronicles: I know you boys shoot NAP Killzone broadheads, but have you ever thought about making the switch to a fixed blade? The fixed VS mechanical is a hot topic.
Michael Hunsucker: Man I don’t think so. NAP makes a great product and their Killzone is nasty. I prefer shooting a broadhead with a wider cutting diameter and the Killzone opens up at 2″. I have nothing against fixed blades, but again prefer to have the additional insurance from a wider cutting diameter. Not every shot will be a perfect double lung and the wide cut gives me more confidence.
Green Lake Chronicles: What bow poundage do you recommend for beginning bow hunters?
Michael Hunsucker: A common misconception for beginning bow hunters, is that they should be pulling back big weight. That’s really not the case and I recommend folks pick a draw weight that they can consistently pull back and be confident with. It’s dependent on the person and how much they can pullback with ease. Keep in mind, shooting targets in warm weather is somewhat easy, but when you are on post, have bulky clothes on and a case of buck fever comes over you, you want to make sure you can get the string back clean! Confidence and comfort are key. I would also recommend buying a bow, that you can change weight as you become stronger and more comfortable. That way, you don’t need to buy something new every year.
Green Lake Chronicles: Great advice Mike, I remember when I first started, I tried pulling way to much back and froze when I had my first chance on a deer! What fundamental tips can you share for beginning bow hunters and what recommendations do you have to improve the mistakes of beginning bow hunters?
Michael Hunsucker: When I started bow hunting way back, I learned a ton from personal trial and error. The more time you put in the deer stand, the more opportunity you will get watching how deer work. Early on, I didn’t really understand the importance of hunting the wind. I would say this is the most important factor when choosing a stand. Don’t rush into hunting a spot, if you the wind is wrong. It’s better to hold off and not get the deer off their regular patterns. The second important tip I can share is hunting from the outside in, especially if it’s on a new property. Hunting from the outside and setting up “observation” stands will really teach you how to pattern. Using this mentality will allow you to pinpoint deer movement and make adjustments throughout the season. I also set up a ton of Reconyx trail cams to do the scouting for me. You can’t beat technology these days and trail cams have revolutionized the game.
Best advice I can give beginning hunters is to know the anatomy of deer to ensure proper shot placement. Study the vitals of deer and practice as much as possible. I like to shoot at 100 yards when I practice, because it builds confidence. I would never take a shot at 100 yards, but if you can consistently shoot vitals at a farther distance, you will have much more confidence when the deer comes within range. Practice to build muscle memory and know exactly where the vitals are on a deer no matter what placement they give you. Many beginning hunters rush a shot and get guts or non vital. END
Mike, thank you for taking the time to speak with us and share some great information about hunting. I started watching the show a few years back and was immediately hooked on the production quality, camera shots/angles and the actual story within each episode. As I mentioned above, there are a ton of hunting shows on air right now, but Heartland Bowhunter is a game changer. They do not focus on the hard sell of products or individual personalities, but on the memories and the story. The Heartland guys want viewers to be able to relate and not conform to the traditional, cookie cutter hunting program.
I hope you enjoyed this interview as much as I did. I urge you to check out the Heartland Bowhunter website to learn more about these guys and be sure to catch their next episode tonight 11/2 at 9:30 ET on the Outdoor Channel. Thanks for reading.
Disclaimer: All images in this article were found on The Outdoor Channel, google images and the Heartland Bowhunter website. Green Lake Chronicles is a “not for profit” style blog and all photos are credited to the appropriate owners listed above. Green Lake Chronicles does not take any credit for these photos.
-Michael
Green Lake Chronicles 