For New York State’s Southern Zone’s opening weekend of rifle we welcomed Josh and his two sons Justin and Cole. The weather around here changed drastically from one day to the next. Saturday, it was 65 degrees and we were hunting in t-shirts. Sunday’s temperature dropped to 33 degrees with at least six inches of snow. Even with these extreme conditions, they almost were able to fill out that buck tag. Unfortunately, the doe that it was chasing wouldn’t stop for them to pull off the shot. We salute Josh and thank him for his service as he’s an United States Army Veteran. We look forward to having him and his boys back next year!

This weekend we welcomed bow hunters Ross, Greg, and Chris for some prime time, rut time, hunting! The men all saw quality shooter bucks, but the doe they were chasing didn’t stick around long enough. Chris and Greg are brothers who enjoyed spending some bro time together pursuing whitetails. Ross had a heart pounding moment when he saw a huge rack appear, but to no avail, as it was busy hound dogging the females around the woods. We are looking forward to these awesome guys returning next year, as they were real close to bagging some bone!

This past weekend we had the pleasure of welcoming new guest Bobby and welcoming back returning client, Brandon. These men were on the hunt for some Catskill Mountain bone and rug steaks. The winds swirled and the temperatures warmed a bit, stalling most of the game movement. Bobby saw a fisher Sunday morning and Brandon had some doe and turkeys visit his spots. Unfortunately, the bucks and the lone bears kept themselves on the down low. Ryan did see a sow with three cubs Saturday when he was heading to check trail cameras. If you’re in the Utica area, please check out Bobby’s business, RFC Contracting Inc. There you’ll find qualified licensed professionals with 35+ years of experience in plumbing, carpentry, and construction work. RFC Contracting serves both Oneida and Herkimer Counties. For more information, their website is www.rfcplumbercontractor.com. We look forward to having Brandon and Bobby back again next hunting season! 😃

We had the pleasure of having guests Chris and Brandon join us bow hunting for a couple of days. Brandon is just getting into the sport and he sat with Chris in a blind the first day. Right away they had action with a buck that appeared on their left-hand side of their blind. Being an antler restriction zone, the bucks must have three points on one side to harvest them. This buck never presented his horns good enough for them to decide whether it was a shooter or not. The second day, once again, Chris saw good action with two spikes and three does coming by the blind. Chris is a stand up guy out of Rochester, NY. You should check out RDC (Rochester Decorative Concrete) Concepts, his business. Their services are decorative patterns, epoxy coatings, custom designs, resurfacing, ceilings, crack repairs, and asphalt repairs. Their website is www.rdcconcepts.com. We hope to see these guys back again next bow season! 👍

This past weekend, we had guest Jonathan hunting for deer and guest Chris on the hunt for a bear. These two guys are class acts and represented the hunting community well! Jonathan is fairly new to the sport of bow hunting and Chris is a seasoned veteran. One of Jonathan’s encounters was a 3 pt. buck ten yards away of which he studied the deer’s movements. He noted it was an awesome experience to have a buck that close to him and it not even realizing he was sitting there. Unfortunately for him, in our zone we have antler restrictions and the buck has to have three points on one side in order to harvest it. For Chris, the work week for his bears proved to be Monday through Friday and then they took the weekend off. We had bears on cameras multiple times a day during shooting hours throughout the entire week. In a Facebook post, we even shared some of those trail cameras’ photos. I guess this is why it’s called hunting not killing. When they’re not fenced in, wild animals will always amaze.

It was awesome to have Brandon back in camp! 🙂 We always enjoy hanging out with him when he gets here.  Brandon had a lot of action. The first day, does were like fleas around him. Then the second day, he had turkeys and a doe but no horns or bears showed up for him. Fifield Outfitters went up and sat in a stand just to see what activity was going on. We filmed a mama bear with her cubs on Day 1 and an 8pt. ten yards from the stand on Day 2. You tell us these animals aren’t smart. They know who to come by and who not to come by. It’s nature’s way of survival. Check out below two videos of Ryan’s recaps of the first two days of bow season.

Mother Nature sure wreaked havoc on 2016 opening day of turkey season in the Catskill Mountains. On this chilly, wet, May 1^st, Fifield Outfitter’s guest, Chris, was affixed with determination to bag a bird. Soaked clothes and all, he put in a long, hard day all the way up to the last minute of legal hunting hours. He displayed true dedication to the sport of turkey hunting as he didn’t quit as the weather got worse. Only a lone hen was observed, but big Tom and his brother, Jake, will surely come out to play when the weather improves. On a side note, a lot of healthy deer were seen during this hunt.

It was a pleasure to have Greg and his two sons Sean and Scott hunting with Fifield Outfitters. Although no one harvested anything during this weekend rifle hunt, some fond family memories were made that will last a lifetime. We look forward to seeing them back in October 2016 for their bow hunt. 🙂

Fifield Outfitters had the privilege of hosting Brandon for a weekend bow hunt. He is a true outdoor sportsman filled with enthusiasm and patience as deer were seen, but no shooter bucks came in. We look forward to many more outings with Brandon trying to put that trophy white-tail on his wall. This beautiful photo was taken by Brandon at one of our stands.

Fifield Outfitters was truly honored to have Lieutenant Colonel Carter L. Price, a true American hero, join them this weekend on a bow hunt. This extremely humble, dedicated, and brave soldier has earned both a Silver and Bronze Star for Valor. Joining him was his supportive, caring, and kind wife Tricia. Carter saw a lot of deer, but he was after a bear, which didn’t end up coming in the days he was here. Thank you Carter for your service to our country! God Bless You Both!