Author: jarvisoutdoors

Well Western Kentucky had its ups and downs but overall it was an excellent trip. All of our members were in the Bluegrass State together and although plenty of deer were seen, we were only able to put one on the ground. However its not all about the numbers of animals you can harvest, for me its the whole experience that makes it a good trip. Don’ t get me wrong you always want to fill your tag but I enjoy the whole camp mentality more than anything. Sitting around the campfire with people you only see a few times a year, telling stories, laughing and eating great food that’s what does it for me. There is absolutely nothing better!

The first day was perfect. We started off with temps in the 30’s the skys were clear and the deer were moving. We had 4 hunters do all day sits and it proved to be a good choice for two of us. As the afternoon wore on a front began to push through and the winds picked up but it seemed to have little effect on the deer movement. Early in the evening Bill had a nice mature buck move into one of Tad’s whitetail institute plots and give him a standing broadside shot. Well as it happens in muzzleloader hunting the gun misfired and did not go off. Bill re-cocked the rifle and was able to get a shot off, the buck ran about 60 yards stopped and looked back at Bill before walking into the woods. About 15 minutes later the buck returned to the field and began eating in the food plot just out of range. That evening just to confirm a clean miss 5 of us searched the area and found no sign of a hit.

That same evening about 500 yards from Bill, J.R. was also sitting over a beautiful whitetail institute plot and had two shooter bucks show up. As the deer walked closer J.R. prepared himself for the shot and when the buck turned broadside at about 115 yards he took the shot and unfortunately missed the deer. As only his luck would have it the two bucks ran a short distance and had no idea where the shot came from. He quickly reloaded for a second shot and was able to drop the buck in his tracks at about 135 yards. You can see the full video on our YouTube channel by following this link. The buck was a true Kentucky tank and a true testament to Tad’s management plan and how well the Deer30 minerals work. He tipped the scales at 250 lbs and was sporting and impressive set antlers with 6-1/2″ bases.

As for the rest of us on the second day, plenty of deer were seen even had a few opportunities at a shooter or two but unfortunately were unable to get it done. Rain had moved in and made the hunting conditions a bit harder. Deer movement was still good but reduced from day one. We had a few issues with coyotes and the farmer which I am sure also contributed to the reduced movement. At the end of the trip we should have been coming home with 3 mature bucks and coolers full of meat, but as it happens in hunting sometimes it doesn’t work out that way. That’s why its called hunting and that’s what keeps us coming back year after year season after season. Never the less we all had an awesome time the hunting, food, and people were all great. We topped it off with one beautiful buck and even got some great video to share with you.

The rut is getting ready to jump into full swing and I will be doing a rut update post soon. So until then everyone should be heading to the woods for this magical time of year. As always get out there and Stay Safe!

Chris

In just a few short days the Jarvis Outdoors team will be heading to Western Kentucky to hunt with Tad Ladd West Kentucky Whitetails. This will be the fifth trip for the team and the first trip where all of us will be in camp hunting together. We will be running four cameras this trip and hope to capture some great footage to be able to share. Our muzzleloaders are dialed in for the hunt. We have made some adjustments to our muzzle loading set ups this year to improve accuracy. I did switch up my load by switching to a 250 grain Hornady SST-ML bullet with the easy load sabot, being pushed by two 50 grain white hot pellets and have achieved consistent accuracy of around 2.75″ at 100 yards. To get much better than that out of the old smoke pole, I will have to go to shooting loose powder and adjust loads to tighten groups up. That being said I am pretty happy with the accuracy and consistency we are getting out of a load using preformed pellets. If the forecast holds true we should be in a good spot with a cold front pushing through Friday night setting us up for a good opening morning on Saturday. I will keep you posted on how we are doing. Check us out on our Instagram account and on YouTube for the latest updates over the weekend. Wish us luck and stay safe out there!

Chris

As we approach the end of September deer season is in full swing. The temperatures are getting cooler and the deer movement is ramping up. There has been a unique start to this season, to say the least. Many factors have limited our time in the field so far this season. We have had to deal with weather, work, virtual school and other life obstacles but a few trips afield have shown promise and things are starting to change. One of our team member’s wives was able to get it done on a mature opening day Kentucky buck kicking off the season on a high note.

In less than a month the Jarvis Outdoors team will be heading back to Western Kentucky for a shot at a Kentucky giant. We will be back with Tad Ladd and his guys again for nothing less than an exceptional time. There is a little more prep work to be done but everything is coming together nicely we just need mother nature to cooperate come Mid October and fingers crossed we can bring home one of those Kentucky bruisers. Please keep up with us on our YouTube channel and on Instagram as we get closer to our trip. I plan to have frequent post and updates to highlight our preparation and the journey to beautiful Western Kentucky.

I hope that everyone has had a chance to hit the woods or soon will be. Stay tuned for updates, good luck to everyone get out there and Stay Safe!

Chris

As we kick off the 2020 deer season. I met a gentleman yesterday, and he told me a story of survival. His story got me thinking, about how we hunt from treestands, the evolution of treestand designs, and treestand safety. It made me realize that we have come so far in such a short time and it has all come from stories like this one.

The gentleman told me a story about when he fell from a treestand. He was severely injured from the fall but fortunately he fully recovered from his injuries. He continues to hunt every season, though he has changed his treestand hunting practices. Twenty plus years ago the man was hunting alone in a remote location, he had traveled several miles back into his stand site where he had a lock on style stand up in a tree. He used screw in tree steps to access this stand. Everything seemed normal as he climbed up to the platform which was positioned over 20 foot in the air.  As he stepped onto the platform the last screw in step pulled out of the tree, causing him to fall. As he started to fall he said all he could think was he didn’t want to land on his head or his back. He grasped for the tree in an attempt to ride it down, the tree bark tore the skin on his arms, the tree steps ripped into his torsos, and as he struck the ground the impact traveled trough his legs causing severe compression injuries to his spine. As he gathered himself he realized that he was severely injured but alive and able to walk. Since this was before the time of cell phones he knew his only option was to walk out on his own. After a long, slow, and painful walk he made it to his truck and was able to drive to the nearest hospital. His story had a positive outcome and he fully recovered. He’s more than happy to share his story and goes into great detail as he tells it. He wants people to here his story so they can learn from his mistakes.

Times have changed so much. The days of screw in tree steps and 2×4 treestands are all but gone. Technology has taken over, as it often does. Now we have climbing stands, ladder stands, climbing sticks and the latest trend of tree saddles is quickly gaining popularity. But also treestand safety is more popular than ever, and thanks to companies like Hunter Safety Systems and their designs treestand safety is easier than ever. It’s quick, easy and comfortable which makes it more likely to be used and used correctly. Fortunately the gentleman’s story had a positive outcome but it very easily could have been very different. Think about how his story could have been different with a set of climbing tree sticks and a safety harness. He probably could have finished his hunt that evening.

As this season kicks off some have already started heading to the woods and the rest will soon follow. I just want to take a moment to remind everyone to be as safe as possible, and to always wear your safety harness when hunting elevated. No one wants to have a hunting accident and everyone wants to go home safe. Something that requires such little effort as putting on your harness and wearing it every time will ensure you always have a safe hunting experience. If you see someone forgetting their safety harness, remind them it only takes a few seconds to ensure safety while hunting from a treestand. Always wear a safety harness, from the time your feet leave the ground until they are safely back on the dirt always stay connected. For now I wish everyone a safe and successful 2020-21 hunting season. Get out in the woods and stay safe!

Chris

YouTube @ Jarvis Outdoors

Instagram @jarvis_outdoors

www.jarvisoutdoors.com

I have been doing a lot of thinking lately about who I am, what Jarvis Outdoors is and what I want Jarvis Outdoors to be. I have been asked many times what Jarvis Outdoors is and I always have the same response. ” Its just a little thing I do nothing big, but I have things in place in case it would take off and get bigger”. Well in the grand scheme of thing it is getting bigger and it has already grown further than I had ever expected. It’s way more than just a little thing, it’s growing followers on all platforms more and more each day. There are people subscribing everyday, weather that is in the form of YouTube subscriptions, people subscribing to the blog mailing list, or followers on Instagram. Each and everyday there is some kind of growth and I could not and would not do this without growth. I want this to be so much more but I struggle with exactly what I want it to be. I’d have to say in an ideal world I would like Jarvis Outdoors to somehow have a roll in the outdoor community,  what that roll is, could go many ways but I would like to be able to produce good positive content that reaches the entire outdoor community. I want to produce content that people enjoy seeing, and content that has some kind of positive effect. 

If you have followed us long you know that hunting is my true passion and what drives this whole thing, but it goes so much further than hunting for me. Jarvis Outdoors is all about enjoying the outdoors with family and friends, whatever the “outdoors” happens to be. People joked with me that Jarvis Outdoors will be on T.V. one day and wouldn’t that be awesome. I’d be able to reach all kinds of people then. Who wouldn’t love to travel all over hunting, fishing, camping and being outdoors all while getting filmed and being paid to do what you love. Count me in!  However in today’s world of outdoor T.V. I believe its a long road. Take a look at who and what is on outdoor T.V. now. Professional sports athletes, singers, T.V. and movie stars, people with tons of money. Not many of the new up and comers are normal people that just started with a passion, a blog, or a YouTube channel. I fear the days of the simple hunter trying to make it are long gone. However it still may be possible for someone to make it big, and there are a few guys doing it. There are also other ways to make it in the outdoor world besides T.V. and lets say that’s where I am heading for now. Now don’t get me wrong those big name people produce a lot of good content and show how passionate they are about the outdoors but they have taken a very different path to get where they are.

It takes motivation to do anything. Motivation drives better outcomes. If you don’t have motivation to do something its likely you will fail or whatever you are doing will be done poorly. I am motivated by my passion, and all my supporters. I also receive motivation from following two guys who are pretty big names in the outdoor community, Mark Kenyon and Randy Newberg. I follow both of them along with many others around them on many different platforms, each and everyday I am inspired by something they have said, done, or something in the content they have produced. I guess you could say these two guys give me the drive and I strive to be like them. Now I have never met either of these gentlemen but I am usually a pretty good judge of charter and I truly think I know who they are and what they stand for. In the last 5 years I have had a chance to talk to several people who are involved in the outdoors in various ways. I have heard stories from these people about some pretty big names in the outdoors. Stories that just make you shake your head, stories about lying, cheating, bad attitudes, and some other things I don’t care to discuss. All things you would not expect from people who get paid to do what many would give a limb for. Never the less no one is perfect, but it still doesn’t make it right. I truly feel in my heart that Mark Kenyon and Randy Newberg are the real deal they are two of the good ones and I feel very much like them. They too had a passion, a drive and found motivation to take the steps to get where they wanted to be, look where they are and where they are going. I can only hope that one day I can be just a little like them and look back at where I started.

At this point I can’t say where this is going. It is my passion and I will continue to move forward as I have done so far. I started with a YouTube channel, then came the website and blog, and now I have started dabbling into social media with Instagram. I feel I can continue to grow and reach more people by expanding my platforms, growth in any amount is positive. I think my next step should be striving to produce better content. Up to this point I have used very basic equipment and I feel that upgrades are due. Upgrades take money so I have started to making a few custom wooden display pieces for local taxidermists along with a few other projects like corn hole boards, flags, and I am hopping to make some outdoor furniture to fund the coming upgrades. I’m sure some of you have seen this on Instagram. With my next goal in growth being to produce more and better content, I hope this allows me reach more people with better quality content to support the growth of Jarvis Outdoors. Just maybe one day I’ll be a Randy Newberg or a Mark Kenyon and maybe one day Jarvis Outdoors will be a name in the outdoors that everyone will know. Big hopes, right? For now we will just keep doing what we are doing and reach as many people as possible. I mean I love doing this, it doesn’t feel like work when your doing what you love.

I want to thank each and everyone of you who has taken the time to watch my videos, read my blog, leave a comment, or subscribe to one of my platforms. You are a big part of this and your support helps drive everything I do. It takes time for you to support us and I thank you so much. I can promise to keep bringing you content and will be working to make it better. Come along for the ride and lets see where this goes. Every step forward no matter how small is still a step forward. Until next time get outdoors and stay safe!

Chris     

YouTube Jarvis Outdoors

Instagram @jarvis_outdoors

www.jarvisoutdoors.com

Well the time is ticking and we are less than a month away from the archery season opener. The stands are set and our hunting lease is secured for yet another year. We took the time last weekend to move a few sets and add a few new ones. We also freshened up all of our Deer30 mineral sites one last time before the season starts. We plan to slip back in for a quick visit before the season kicks off to pull camera cards and confirm what deer we may want to target for the year. Early trail camera pictures have shown some potential for this year and several nice up and coming deer have been seen, we will be targeting those deer in the years to come. We will be continuing on with a doe management plan in an attempt to balance the heard. Using trail cameras to complete an inventory of our heard has shown an imbalance with a high doe to buck ratio and many of the doe being mature. The pictures have also shown that many of these mature doe have produced twin fawns and a few have produced triplets. This will push the ratio even further out of balance. When we entered into this new lease last year we knew it was going to be a lot of work to make it what we wanted. As we enter into year two we have seen improvements already and know that it may take up to five or six years to be exactly what we want. We did have several plans this year that were affected by the pandemic and we weren’t able to do everything we wanted, but I do think we have still seen improvements. We are in a very good place to produce nice deer and with a few more years of hard work and management this farm will be exactly what we want it tot be. It also helps that we are surrounded by other farms where the hunters have similar management goals.

Come along for the ride this year. We think it will be a good one and you will enjoy it just as much as we will. Please feel free follow us on YouTube where we post all kinds of outdoor videos and reviews. You can also follow us on social media on Instagram @jarvis_outdoors. Look for the next update to come soon before the season kicks off. Until then get out in the woods and Stay Safe!

Chris

Part of owning property or entering into a lease is the potential for people to trespass on the property. It’s hard for me to wrap my head around how inconsiderate and just plane careless people can be. As owners or lessees its our hard work and money that they are walking or driving on and I take this as a personal attack. I can not even imagine pulling in a driveway and just saying ” well no one is around lets go for a walk” or better yet start driving around on the property.

Well over the last few weeks we have started getting pictures of cars, trucks, an people on our lease. One of our cellular trail cams has been sending pictures of the trespassers on a pretty regular basis. We have been in contact with the land owner and have been unable to determine who these people are or why they are there. We posted the property with “No Trespassing” signs last year and even gated off a farm access road. This apparently has not been enough. We have stepped up the posting game by adding larger signs and will be adding more signage over the next few weeks to other areas of the land.

Trespassing on private property creates all kinds of potential issues for the land owner and a lessee. For a land owner there can be liability issues, not to mention the potential for crop and property damage. For a lessee such as ourselves this is unwanted, unnecessary, excessive activity on the land. This activity has the potential to have negative effects on our deer management plan. When you spend money and put the time and effort in to a plan to better the land, it just plan ticks me off that people are that bold. At this time the property is covered with an amazing corn crop, trespassers movement is pretty restricted but soon enough hunting season will be here and the corn will be harvested. We have to nip this problem in the rear now and if we can’t handle it ourselves then we will be forced to enlist the help of local officials.

I will keep you posted on this issue as it develops. Take the next few weeks to continue your preseason prep. Stay cool and get ready as we are less than 8 weeks away from kicking of early bow season in many places. Until then get out there and stay safe!

Chris

We are into summer and the temps are up. We have made a few trips to the farm to check trail cams and freshen up our Deer30 mineral sites. This past weekend we had beautiful weather and had some time to trim up a few trails and stand locations. We are hoping to move a few sets and add a few new stand locations over the next few weeks. This will hopefully allow us to stay out of the woods except a few time to check trail cameras and mineral sites before bow season kicks off in early September. With this being our second year on the lease and the first year being mostly information gathering, I have gone strictly with Deer30 mineral on the property. This mineral is unlike any other I have used and the deer absolutely tear it up. I don’t care if its an established site or a brand new one it doesn’t take them long to find it and constantly revisit the site. All my Deer30 sites on the farm are brand new and the results have been very good so far. I established 4 new sites this year on the 165 acre farm. I strategically picked locations across different areas of the farm in an attempt to attract as many deer as possible, this has also allowed me to track deer movements and start an inventory of the deer on the property. I am anticipating adding one additional site to cover an area along the road that has g potential to catch traveling deer.

It is very simple to start a mineral site using Deer30 and we have seen excellent results starting all our sites in this way. When I start a new site I look for an area where there is good deer activity, if you can find a trail, intersection of trails, or pinch point you will find the deer quickly visit the sites and return regularly. Once you find your desired location all you will need is a rake or stick to clear a circular area about 3 to 4 feet across. Clear the area of debris and pour the mineral over the cleared area just enough to lightly cover the dirt with a thin layer of mineral. We have also cleared areas around dead stumps and poured mineral over the stump and cleared earth, we have seen very good results here as well. Once you have covered the cleared area with mineral you are done. Set up your trail camera and wait for the pictures to stack up. Most times the deer are visiting the new site the same day. After the site is established you’ll only need to revisit it about every 3 to 4 weeks to freshen up the site with new mineral and while your there take the opportunity to change out SD cards and batteries on your trail cameras. You may ask when should I put out mineral? There can be a lot of variables and opinions about this. I can tell you that I typically start new sites or freshen up my established sites once the hunting season is over, for us that is January 31st and I will regularly freshen up my sites until the bow season starts in early September. I like to have the mineral out when I think the deer need it most, that starts with recovery from the rut and during the winter and carries the doe through fawning and the bucks through the antler growing season. I have noticed that once the antler growing season is finishing up in early September activity at the sites slow down. This time of year the fields are full and the deer have plenty of soy beans, corn and grain to eat. At this point the deer don’t require as much mineral because they are getting plenty of nutrition in their diets. I do however out of personal preference try to freshen up my mineral sites one time during the season just as the pre-rut is kicking off. If you follow these steps I think you will achieve your desired results and after a few years as I hope to see on our lease, have bigger healthier deer. Providing minerals is just one small step in growing a healthier deer herd, but its a good first step in starting to grow your herd. Get out in the woods and establish your new mineral sites. Check out Deer30 mineral you won’t be disappointed in the results. Tell the guys at Deer30 you heard about them from Jarvis Outdoors. Until next time get out in the woods and stay safe!

Chris

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We have been keeping it under wraps since late November last year but the time has come to let the word out. The Jarvis Outdoors crew is heading back to Western Kentucky for the 5th year to hunt with Tad Ladd West Kentucky Whitetails for an October muzzleloader hunt. Tad’s operation is hands down top notch. If you have been following us over the last few years and checked out our YouTube channel you know that we have hunted with Tad in the past. His outfit has been extremely good to us, the accommodations, guides, food, and the hunting don’t get much better. We have taken several quality deer over the years with him and we couldn’t be more excited to be heading back this year for another shot. We will be ramping up our preparation soon and will bring you along for the journey. We are going to make some adjustments to our muzzle loading setups in efforts to improve our accuracy and confidence in the equipment. Anyone who has ever traveled for a hunt knows that your equipment needs to be the absolute best it can be, you want to leave nothing to chance when the potential opportunity of a lifetime happens . Any hunter that puts this much time, effort, and money into a hunting trip knows you need everything to be perfect. This will be the first of many post on our 2020 Western Kentucky hunt. We will be adding new post to You Tube as we prepare for the trip. We also will have new content and post for you to look forward to shortly on our pre season whitetail prep at the lease. If you are looking for an awesome hunting experience you won’t be disappointed with Tad Ladd, get in contact with him through the link above and let him know you heard about him from Jarvis Outdoors. Until then everyone stay safe!

Chris

Good morning all. Its a cold rainy May day here but thing are looking up. Way up! I hope this is the last Covid-19 update I have to bring you. I wanted to fill you in on how our guy is doing. If you have been following along you know that we had one of our guys test positive for the Covid-19 virus over two weeks ago. I have been in contact with him daily and I got the news early this week that we all have been hoping for, he has beat the virus. Late last week he was released from isolation, after spending two weeks confined to his bedroom away from his family. He consulted with the doctors over the weekend and they released him to return to work starting sometime this week. We are all very happy but I am sure none as happy as he is. It also appears that the isolation worked because his family has remained healthy throughout the process. All that we can hope and pray for is that everyone continues to stay healthy from here on out. I hope this is the last you ever have to hear about Covid-19 on this blog and that we can get back to normal business soon. As states start to reopen slowly please continue to practice social distancing and use common sense. I think we are close if not over the hill but this is far from over. We all need to continue to do our part to lessen the spread and it will hopefully be gone sooner than later. Lets make the next post about hunting or something fun, check back soon for that. Everyone stay safe and healthy!!!!

Chris