Our Guide Chad.

Our Guide.

As a young boy growing up in Northern lower Michigan, hunting was a big part of my life. I was fortunate to have a Dad who loved to hunt and also both of my Grandfathers took me hunting. The first turkey I shot was with my grandpa. It weighed 22 pounds with a 10 1/2 beard. I was hooked!!

My grandparent's owned a small cottage on the waterfront with good pike, walleye and perch fishing. Growing up I spent most weekends in the summer with a fishing pole in my hand. We also owned a hunting camp with 40 acres. There was plenty to do with mowing trails, picking rocks and planting food plot fields and always remodeling the camp.

I can remember making my first bow and arrows from a willow tree in our yard. I always had a passion for archery hunting. As I grew up so did my archery shooting from a longbow to a recurve to an early compound bow. When I was able to start bowhunting as a 12 year old Junior Bowhunter. I did my homework glassing and sitting out before season to hopefully find the perfect tree to place a stand. At that time it was a couple pieces of 2x4 and a small piece of plywood for a seat. It was not that quiet but it worked, because I was lucky enough to kill a nice 7 point my first fall in a tree stand. I can remember it like it was yesterday. From then on I bowhunted every fall killing many does and several young bucks but never killed a Trophy Deer.

I also rifle hunted with my Dad and Grandfather for many years and never killed a good buck. But I always loved spending time in the woods watching deer and studying their habits. When I was in my mid-20s our hunting camp was sold and I was forced to hunt public land, which I had not done until that point. I always thought public land was not very good and way overhunted.

It took time and effort to find a decent spot where I thought I may be able to kill a good deer but most important, not see other hunters! I hunted a couple of public land spots, but they were only good during the rut, but I did see young bucks. Eventually, I was to the age when I wanted to travel out of state on a bowhunt. This is when I contacted Randy Huffey with Wildlife Management Partners and several other outfitters. A long time hunting friend and myself decided that Northeast Iowa was the place. We booked the hunt and crossed our fingers for the draw. we were very lucky to both be drawn for archery tags our first year. We hunted 10 days in late October and both saw good quality bucks but we were unable to harvest one. We came back to Michigan empty handed. It was a bit frustrating but I felt it was just bowhunting the potential for the future was very good eventually it would pay off.

As the following year past I kept in touch with Randy @ WMP's. We talked about a return hunt in the future. With my building and contracting business, Randy asked me if I would be interested in doing some remodel work for him, in return I would get a 10 day bowhunt. That next year I drew a tag and returned to Northeast Iowa for another chance at a trophy whitetail. Randy told me of a spot he thought there was a good deer. I was immediately pumped up to get out there. I hunted a couple of days seeing many bucks but could not get them close enough tor a clean bow kill. On the third day, I suggested to Randy I needed to be about 50 yards further down the woodline. We snuck in midday and moved the stand where I thought I would see one of the bigger bucks with enough light to get a shot. That evening not much activity but the next morning it was cold and frosty. I was in my stand thirty minutes before daylight and I settled in with great expectations. It came into daylight and not 10 to 15 minutes into good light I heard something coming FAST. I stood and took my bow off the hook and turned to see a couple of deer trotting with the second one being a good buck. I drew my bow and he stepped out at 20 yards. I let it go and saw my arrow hit it's mark. As he ran off I knew it was a good hit and he would be mine. About 15 seconds later hearing a big crash, I knew that he was down!! I was so excited it took me 15 minutes to gather my thoughts and climb down the tree to recover a blood soaked arrow. Smiling, I returned to the house to tell Randy of my success. He could tell that I had shot a deer by my excitement. After I told Randy how it all played out over a cup of coffee, we returned to the woods to hopefully recover my trophy. After an easy tracking job, we came upon my deer, a beautiful 10 point. I thanked Randy for the opportunity to take such a nice deer. From that point on, our friendship only grew.

Before I left for Michigan, Randy mentioned he had a guy coming in December for a muzzle hunt and he wanted a fully guided hunt. Randy asked me if I would like to guide and I said that I would be interested. I felt that this would be a great opportunity to get more involved in the hunting and guiding industry doing what I love. Upon my return to Iowa the first of December to prepare, Randy suggested we would hunt the guy on the leased farm that I bow hunted just 2 years before. I thought that I knew the 320 acre farm very well. The next morning I loaded stands, climbing sticks and a pruner. I headed to the farm and scouted the areas that I thought would be good spots. I came across what I appeared to be a bucks core area with many big buck rubs and scrapes. I located a good tree in the area and hung a stand trimmed out some shooting lanes and backed out of there feeling confident that I found a great spot. When the hunter arrived, I explained the set up and told him all about the buck signs I found. This was his first Iowa Trophy hunt and he was quite excited. I dropped him off an hour before daylight and he was determined to sit all day. At 12:30 that afternoon, I got a call saying that he had a good buck down. I congratulated him and headed out to the farm. When Randy and I got to the farm, Randy and I were elated that he killed such a great deer. His deer scored over 170" with double drop tines And weighed 280 pounds live weight in December. I think I was just as excited as he was. To know that I had scouted that farm, set the stands and made it possible for him to kill that buck his first day was very gratifying to me. Year after year my friendship with Randy and my role with WMP has grown. Now, I also help with the spring food plot plantings, hang most of the stand sets, shed hunt, guide, film hunts, and help with repairs around the farm. As fall begins to roll around I begin to get ready to head for Iowa for 3 months(Oct. to Dec.). If you have spent the time to read this story of my hunting experience and how I came to be where I am at with Wildlife Management Partners , I thank you and look forward working for you on the hunt of a lifetime with Wildlife Management Partners. If you have any questions or would like a list of my references please give me a call at (989)464-6003 or feel free to drop me an e mail at cwallace069@hotmail.com