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Cody Altizer Interview Part Two – Bowhunting.Com

August 9, 2011

If you know anything about anything, you know that Cody Altizer knows what’s up. Cody is the Junior Editor for Bowhunting.Com, but honestly I think he dresses up at night and fights crime. Mr. Altizer has a fetish much like you and I, in that he loves whitetails, and thinks about them pretty much 365 days a year. Whether he’s snapping pictures, or working on his food plots, or writing articles, Cody does things with a flair and fun spirit that can’t help but be contagious. In Part One of our interview with Cody, he spoke about how he got his gig with Bowhunting.Com, and a little bit about his place out East. Well we cornered this shutterbug again, and this time he shared with us some of his thoughts on chest hair, the Bro Code, and Gator football.

 

OF – What are 3 things you’ve not yet photographed, that you wish to?

CA – I set out a goal this summer to photograph a lightning bolt, but I haven’t been able to get out during the right storm!  Every time I get set up during the storm I have only got flashes of lightning instead of a nice bolt. And every strong storm we have, I’m either working or away from my camera equipment.  Aside from a lightning bolt, I also want to photograph a bedded fawn at ground level and a bald eagle in flight inches above the water about to catch a fish.  I’ll get photos of both sooner rather than later.

OF – Best sports moment you’ve ever witnessed, on TV or in person.

CA – I am a huge Florida Gator football fan.  If I am not in a tree on a Saturday afternoon during the fall, then you can find me in front of the television watching the Gators play.  My favorite sports moment came when the Gators were playing Oklahoma for the 2008 National Championship.  During the first drive OU quarterback threw a deep ball to Manny Johnson and UF safety Major Wright came out of nowhere and drilled Johnson.  I am usually a pretty quiet and reserved person, but that hit threw me out of my seat and I started fist pumping and screaming like I have never seen before.  That hit set the tone and the Mighty Gators went on win their second National Championship in 4 years.

OF – What tips do you have for folks carrying their cameras too and from a tree stand?

CA – Be careful with them!  When I am in a treestand, my safety is my first priority, and then comes my camera’s safety.  I have too much money invested in camera equipment to be lackadaisical with them in the tree.  Also, have fun with them!  Whether you are filming or taking photos in the tree, shoot everything.  Nature has so much to offer the creative cameraman, and there is a cool shot to be taken every minute.

OF – Do you have any chest hair? Tell us about it. 

CA – I do not, thus I have nothing to tell. (OF Note: Perhaps the only flaw in this lad)

 

OF – Do you ever use other tools for photography and video besides a tripod and tree arm? Perhaps a slider, etc?

CA – Right now my equipment is pretty limited.  I will hopefully have added a slider to my arsenal before the opening day of bow season in Virginia (October 1st).  But right now, it’s just a camera, tripod and tree arm for me; pretty simply I know.  I do have a dolly that creates some smooth motion shots, but I can only use that on smooth surfaces (there aren’t too many of those in the deer woods!) so I only use that when I film basketball videos and indoor projects.  Adobe Photoshop Lightroom makes me look like much better photographer than I really am as well.

OF – What are your writing and photography goals with respect to the hunting industry?

CA – My biggest goal, and likely the most difficult to achieve, is to have a book published about something bowhunting.  What?  I don’t know yet.  But it WILL happen.  As far as photography goes, I want to get a lot better at wildlife photography.  That would require me splurging on some better lenses, but it’s another goal that I WILL achieve. Moving forward, I just hope to continue to contribute better articles and photos to Bowhunting.com and hopefully get a crack at contributing material to print publications.  Also, there’s that book..

OF – Who inspired you to write about whitetails and carry a camera along the way?

CA – Charles Alsheimer is my biggest inspiration when it comes to writing and photographing all things whitetail.  His wildlife photography is the best I have ever seen, and his shots of the hunter in the field as equally as gorgeous, as well as descriptive.  As far as general photography, landscapes, portraiture and wildlife, I find inspiration from Matt White and Dustin Lutt.  I stalk their websites and Facebook pages for hours just admiring their photos, and try to take some of their ideas and give them my own personality.  Those guys are extremely talented and I hope to one day be as skilled with a cameras as they are.

OF – How did you get to be so awesome..  At everything?

CA - The Bro-Code.  I’ll say no more, and simply suggest everyone read it assuming you are a guy of course.  It probably doesn’t work so well for the ladies!

OF – Which of the two do you feel is your strongest talent? Photography or Video?

CA – Right now, I feel as if I am a better writer than photographer.  I am so green when it comes to photography, there is just so much to learn.  I feel like there is no ceiling when it comes to learning photography; you can always add another dimension and learn something new.  Couple that with the fact that everyone looks at a photo differently, and there are no endless opportunities available behind the lens of a camera.  That being said, I am also always reading all kinds of material, not just hunting related, to better my writing skills.

OF – Do you limit yourself to just writing and shooting photos of all things whitetail, or are they passions outside of the bowhunting?

CA – When I first “started out” it was all things whitetail and bowhunting.  However, since I have gotten more confident in both, I am branching out and exploring other opportunities and projects with writing and photography.  I’m to the point now where I am confident enough with photography to actually shoot photos for people and try to make a little money along the way, so any opportunity or idea that comes my way I am all for.

OF – Most guys your age are more interested in starting their own tv show and becoming the next Michael Waddell, what about writing intrigues you?

CA – I’ve always been a non-conformist and never wanted to be or do what made another successful; I want to create my own success.  While most guys my age are busy creating hunting shows and submitting footage to the big names in the industry, I would rather write a quality article with quality photos that can help another harvest a deer, or at the very least shed some insight on bowhunting and make them enjoy it from an arena they never have before.  That gives me greater satisfaction than shooting a deer on film and wanting to be the next hunting rock star; that interests me very little right now.

OF – Tiffany, or Nicole?

CA – Nicole, easily.

Thanks Chief for your time! We’ll catch up with you again in Fall.

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Lindsay Thomas Jr, Editor, Quality Whitetails Interview

August 3, 2011

If you know anything about deer hunting, you know that the Quality Deer Management Association is one of the new organizations to the sport of deer hunting, and the ONLY one that is dedicated to educating, and preserving herd and habitat management for whitetail deer. If you’re not a member, join now. It cost less than a tank of gas, and will educate you on tips, tricks and techniques for helping your deer and deer hunting.

Lindsay Thomas Jr is the editor of Quality Whitetails – the QDMA magazine. And a great one at that. I had a chance to ask Lindsay some questions, and he shared some pretty interesting things in regards to QDMA, his hunting property, and his future goals for both.

Personal

OF – Where are you from Lindsay? What were you involved in growing up?

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Drew Yarkosky Interview – Midwest Whitetail Producer

July 13, 2011

Drew Yarkosky Interview – Midwest Whitetail

Today, we have a wonderful interview from Midwest Whitetail Producer Drew Yarkosky. Drew has worked with Midwest Whitetail for awhile, and is a huge part of their team. Drew stopped by and chatted about Scott Prucha, lady friends, and his first bow kill. Mr. Yarkosky is an outdoor freak that has a very bright future in the hunting industry, thanks for your time man!

Personal


OF – You recently graduated from Simpson College in Iowa, you also played baseball. How would you describe juggling hunting, baseball, and Midwest Whitetail at the same time?
It was very busy to be an hour away from Albia at school and trying to film, hunt and produce shows, but I believe it was a great opportunity for me and something that was worth the trip week to week. Really became familiar with radio stations as well

OF – Mac or PC?
PC

OF – What are your future plans? Will Midwest Whitetail be your full time employment?
I am currently working full time at Midwest Whitetail. We have 2 other full time employees, Jared Mills and Greg Clements, currently and have a great production business going here. A lot of very creative minds and hard working individuals are in the office. It is a great atmosphere and I enjoy it.

OF – Beverage of choice?
Water. Like to stay healthy.

OF – Do you have a lady friend?
I do have a lady friend. She has another year and a half of school left at Simpson. I drag her out into the woods whenever we both have time as well!

OF – What kind of music do you listen to?
I like music such as DMB, Jack Johnson, that kind of stuff. Also some country.

OF – What sports did you play growing up? Was it just baseball?
I have always had a busy life because I played not only baseball, but football, track, basketball, golf, and cross country growing up. Baseball obvious was my favorite though.

OF – Who do you root for in college, or professionally? Hawkeye fan?
Love the Hawks. Long time Atlanta Braves fan as well. Going to watch them play at Wrigley in a couple months.

OF – What your favorite meal? Are you a grillmaster?
Steaks! Nothing is better.

OF – Tommy Boy or Old School?
Both are classics but I’m going to go with Tommy Boy.

Hunting / Outdoors

OF – Tell us a little bit about your first bow kill, how did that go down?
My first bow kill was one of the most exciting hunts I’ve been on to this day. I was 16 years old and was fortunate enough to keep it together and shoot a 135 inch 9 at about ten yards. I have been hooked ever since!

OF – Where will you be hunting this year? Does your family own any ground?
I will be doing a lot of hunting this fall hopefully when I’m free. My parents own a 100 acre farm outside of Albia.

OF – I know it’s early, but any Hit List bucks spotted yet?
I haven’t had a chance to get out and take inventory yet but I should know in about a month. There are a few from last year that could be great deer this Fall.

OF – Do you enjoy hunting anything else? Fishing?
I generally get the chance to hunt geese with my brother Joe and I absolutely love taking my father out for turkey season. Always an adventure.

OF – What was the most memorable deer hunting moment for you, last season?
My most memorable deer hunting moment is one I wish I could forget. It was the first time I had ever filmed Bill (Winke) and we had been in the stand for approximately 10 minutes tops. I hear Bill say, “Big buck, big buck, down to the left, down to the left!” 170 inch buck was cruising towards us and in the mix of all the chaos, I pushed off Bill’s stand as he was pulling the trigger. I remember it like it was yesterday and it makes me sick to my stomach. Lot of other good ones but that one was a heart breaker!

OF – What is one thing you’d like to achieve in the outdoors, that you haven’t yet?
I would like for Midwest Whitetail to become the most popular and watched hunting show in the business. Plain and simple. I think we have the pro staff, bucks and talent in the production room to do that. We’re still learning and have a ways to go but I believe it is possible.

Midwest Whitetail


OF – How did you get started with Midwest Whitetail?
I grew up in Albia and knew Bill. I was interested in the hunting industry and decided to email him asking how to get my foot in the door. He said he was starting a hunting show and the rest was history from there!

OF – What are your day to day duties at Midwest Whitetail?
Currently, we are producing the 2011 season of Midwest Whitetail TV. We all put in a lot of time and effort making these shows so that’s basically the gist of it. The occasional 15 minute break usually involves a few heated games of ping pong as well!

OF – What is your video camera setup? Do you do any photography?
We have a few different set ups for video cameras in the office.

OF – Tell us something about the 3 P’s? 
The 3 P’s became a very funny joke to a lot of the guys here. It was the day before a show was due and I had nothing, zip, nada. So I went out and filmed a segment over late season hunting (3 P’s were Proximity, Paths and Perserverance). Pretty corny show and Scott Prucha ate it up. Still makes me laugh watching that show!

OF – How many people work at the Midwest Whitetail office on a daily basis?
We have 3 full time employees and 2 interns right now. 3 more interns will start in August so that’ll be a total of 8 people working out of the office.

OF – What are two things you’ve learned about producing a TV show, that you didn’t know before you got involved with Midwest Whitetail?
I really learned that it always takes more time to do stuff than you think. It is a lot of work compared to the web shows we also produce. I enjoy TV though because of the freedom you have with each episode.

OF – TrailCam Pro is a new sponsor for Midwest Whitetail, what neat ways are you going to incorporate them into the shows?
I know Bill is going to run cameras a lot more than he has in the past. It’s a great advantage I believe and something crazy always shows up so what we get on camera will help provide a way to incorporate trail cameras into the shows more.

OF – How long does it normally take to edit one show for MidwestWhitetail.Com?
It varies obviously depending on content but I would say an average show last fall would take 6 hours to sit down from start to finish.

OF – Do you having any tips for people trying to film hunts? What exactly is a video producer looking for?
I think that the best advice is to keep learning and be creative with your shots. With so many people filming hunts now, it’s tough to stand out but the more practice you have the better you’ll get.

OF – If you got to pick – who would you rather film for – Bill Winke, or Scott Prucha? Why?
That’s a tough question! Don’t want to get fired for this one! Ha they both have giant bucks on their farms. Kind of cool how some hit list bucks roam on both their properties. Prucha seems to cause my footage to always be shaking from laughing yet Bill does have some pretty legendary locations that I love being in.

Thanks a lot Drew for your time, we look forward to hopefully catching up with you during your whitetail season!

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Jim Ryser Midwest Whitetail Interview Part 1

June 21, 2011

Jim Ryser Interview – Music Composer for MidwestWhitetail TV and MidwestWhitetail.com

For those of you that follow Midwest Whitetail TV and MidwestWhitetail.com – you probably are aware that Jim Ryser has been creating music for them, the last couple of years. In this blog Bill Winke says “I’m guessing Jim inspires everyone he meets”. From my recent dealings with him – I can certainly agree. Jim seems like a fun loving and caring dude who just loves the outdoors. This guy has an interesting life story, and seems to fit right in with deer hunters across the country. We caught up with Jim and asked him a few questions about his personal life, hunting, his music career, and working with the great folks at MidwestWhitetail.com. In Part One of this Two Part Series, Jim will address the Hunting and Musical Parts of his life with us! Tune in tomorrow for Part Two – his personal life and MidwestWhitetail.Com.

Hunting

OF – How long have you been hunting and enjoying the outdoors? How’d you get started?

JR – I actually got started when I was 14 years old.  My dad’s buddy Arnie was a WWII hero and he was also a gun nut.  He had a Browning Sweet Sixteen (as do I now), and he got me with the hunting bug when he took my dad and I hunting  for grouse in upstate New York.  He gave me my first .22 and I killed a woodchuck with it.  I took pictures and felt pretty manly but when I went to bury it I cried.  I still have that type of respect for the animals I hunt.  If I lose that I will quit hunting.  Arnie also had an Ithaca Deerslayer (I also own one!) that I killed my first deer with.

 

OF – Where do you do most of your hunting?

JR – I have a lease here in Indiana.  A very dear friend owns a nice place and I take care of it the best I can, give him some cash, and I have 140 acres to call my own.

 

OF – Do you prefer to deer or turkey hunt?

JR – That depends on when you ask me.  When it is turkey season I cannot fathom liking anything better; when it’s deer season I cannot fathom liking anything better!

OF – Tell us a little about your camera setup – what kind of video equipment are you using?

JR – Like you, I have the Sony AX 2000.  Heaven.  No tape. I think I have a 701 fliud head by Manfrotto, and a very light carbon Manfrotto tripod.  Since I am the music guy and am picky about sound, I use a shotgun mic as well, a Sony ECM-678/9X. I prefer that over wireless so I have less to think about when hunting or filming.    Got it last year and my stuff is not half bad.  I actually used it at my job for videos that have been seen by 15,000 people for dealing with violent and threatening patients.  I work in a large hospital system in Indiana and my licenses to practice are in mental health and addictions.

OF – I’ve seen your Frigid Forage video you made. What will you be planting this for this coming year?

JR – I already have Monster Magnet down.  I will go back to the Autumn Quick plot and beans.  Both work great on keeping them healthy after season’s end.

 

Music

 

OF – I understand that you used to play with John Mellencamp. Can you tell us a little bit about that?

JR – I lived in Indiana for quite some time and as things go, connected with John in the early 80′s.  His dad co-managed me along with Champion Entertainment, and I signed a deal with Arista Records under the legendary Clive Davis in 1988.  The CD produced a minor hit song in 1990 called “Same Old Look” that paid for my education and then some!  I continue to play on John’s stuff only not so much in the past 5 years.  He was very good to me and I have great memories of working with him and his amazing band.  His band plays on a lot of my CDs.

 

OF – On average, how long does it take for you to create a song from start to finish?

JR – Depends.  My latest and best song was written in Scott Prucha’s bathroom after our turkey hunt this year.  Yep, droppin’ a deuce and writing songs!  Scott is on prostate for midwest whitetails as you know!  Anyway, I wrote that very quickly.  Scott inspired it…Others simmer for years and then pop out, like the one I am doing now.  It is a violin “anthem” I am going to put on my next CD.

 

OF – What is your favorite musical instrument to play?

JR – Right now my keyboard/piano. But mostly I love all aspects of guitar – from acoustic to electric to lead.  My favorite all time sound is the Hammond B3, and I have one and love it.

 

OF – What do you consider your greatest musical accomplishment?

JR – Singly, singing the National Anthem at the Brickyard 400 here at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2002.  Right now it is honestly the stuff I do for Bill and the gang, because it has brought me an incredible amount of joy and satisfaction.  Bill and I were working on next year’s TV theme for weeks, emailing mixes back and forth, and when it was done we both knew it…

 

OF – What kind of music to you listen to? Do you have a favorite band?

JR – I like Country, which is relatively new for me.  Contemporary Country mind you – the old stuff is not my style.  Most “Country” folks call what is hip today rock and roll!  But it is very similar to the pop of the late 80′s (not the hair band stuff!).  I also LOVE Pink Floyd.  Always have, always will.  Heaven.

 

OF – What kind of musical equipment do you use in regards to audio, guitar, etc?

JR - Everything you hear is me, albeit the drums are samples from my keyboard.  I have a Yamaha XF Motif, their top of the line workstation, and that has some incredible sounding stuff on it.  I play drums with Kenny Aronoff in mind; he is one of the premier rock and roll drummers in the industry today and a very good friend.  He has always been my drum programming inspiration and when he says, “Yeah baby!” I know I have it.  I love playing new intruments to me – the dobro recently, the mandolin, violin I have always played, and of course the guitars – love to play the bass as well!

 

OF – Do you have a favorite piece that you’ve written?

JR – Probably a song called “Home” that I wrote some of at the tail end of my addiction and finished three months into sobriety.  I finished it 12 years ago, the same length time I have been sober.  I have chronic pain and got hooked on pain pills. (OF Note: Check back tomorrow for more on this stage of Mr. Ryser’s life)

BIG Thank you Jim for taking the time to go into such depth with us! We wish you the best of luck, this Fall!

To read part two of this great interview – click here!

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Don Higgins Interview Part 1- Higgins Outdoors and Real World Whitetails

June 20, 2011

Don Higgins Interview – Higgins Outdoors and Real World Whitetails

Don Higgins is the owner of Higgins Outdoors, author of “Hunting Trophy Whitetails in the Real World”, and well respected deer hunting journalist. He offers a number of services in regards to consulting and habitat management not only for whitetails, but all wildlife and is co-owner of a wildlife foodplot seed company, Real World Wildlife Seed Inc.. It is my honor to bring you the first of a three section series with Mr. Don Higgins. Today, we will discuss his personal life, and his personal captive deer that he looks over. Later in the series we will discuss deer hunting, his consulting business, and outdoor writing. The second part of this series will be up next Monday, so check back! Enjoy!

Personal

OF – What did you think you’d be doing for a living, when you were in high school?

DH – Wow! talk about starting off with a tough question! I don’t know that I really knew what I would be doing for a living way back then but I do remember having a strong desire to raise purebred registered livestock, beef cattle and hogs. That dream sort of fell by the wayside because aside from my grandparents 30 acres, my family didn’t own the land or other resources needed to get into this venture on a big enough scale to make a living at it. Continue Reading →

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