LES DAVENPORT

Outdoor writer and trophy whitetail hunter Les Davenport has bowhunted more than 45 years. He also has hunted other big game animals on four continents and New Zealand. Davenport is from western Illinois and writes for Bowhunter, North American Whitetail and Deer & Deer Hunting magazines.
He has used trail cameras since their conception in the mid-90s and is considered one of the leading authorities on these ever-changing scouting devices.  His advice on proper use of trail cameras has enhanced the success of many trophy whitetail hunters. His techniques will change the way you place your trail cameras for the upcoming whitetail season.

BYRON FERGUSON

Byron, the archery trick shot man, is a spectacularly good archer and an excellent bowhunter. He has performed in the U.S., Canada, France, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Chile and Japan for crowds up to 50,000. His most nerve-wracking shot was when he put an arrow through the finger stall of a $17,000 diamond ring on Japanese television. Byron proudly bears the honorary Jicarilla Apache name “Tdo-ee-cee-ee”, which means “The one who does not miss”.
He continues to make regular appearances on outdoor television programs and some ‘extreme’ sports programs.
Byron has tagged more than 200 whitetails with bow and arrow, several black bear, mule deer, a record-book moose (airlifted out by helicopter because that was the only way to get it out), game birds and countless rough fish.
He has written “Become The Arrow” book and produced two videos on the same topic.

JUDY HELGELAND

Judy has made mighty fine meals over the years from whitetail deer, mule deer, black bear, elk, moose, pronghorn and roadkill. The latter was done out of curiosity, to see how far around blood-shot meat you must cut before the meat tastes as it should. (Blood-shot meat tastes like low grade rubber tire.) In a previous life, Judy was an extension home economist. Then she married a hunter and discovered she liked camping and fishing and hunting and all that.

ART HELIN

Art began hunting 25 years ago under the instruction of his father and grandmother. His interest grew into an obsession to hunt nearly every big game species across North America. Thus far, he has harvested animals from six big game species and four turkey species. To assist him in scouting, he takes advantage of the tools and technology available including aerial and topographical maps and trail cameras.
Art and his wife, Michelle, also film and hunt with the Archer’s Choice and The Choice TV shows.
He has planted food plots for years and practices woodland management on his 40-acre property. He has recently completed timber stand improvement and pond projects and is eager to share what he has learned.

BILL HESSELGRAVE

Bill is a journeyman meat cutter and an avid all-around outdoorstman. He began cutting meat in 1960 and processing wild game in 1965.
Bill will show you how to "fillet" a deer and use the techniques you learn from his DVD on wild game processing. These techniques can be used on all the wild game you harvest.
He has put his knowledge into three "how to" videos: "Care and Processing of Venison, 2nd Edition" is an 89-minute video showing you how to field dress, clean, skin and process the game you harvest so you will always have good tasting meat; "Filleting Fish the Easy Way", and "Getting The Razor Edge" which shows you how to select quality knives and sharpen them right.

M. R. JAMES

M. R. James is founder/editor emeritus of Bowhunter magazine. A lifelong hunter and active bowhunter since the early 1960s, James took his first Pope & Young record book animal, an Indiana whitetail, in 1963.
Over the years, he’s added several dozen P&Y animals -- mule deer, blacktail deer, whitetail deer, black bear, pronghorn, elk, caribou, mountain lion, moose, musk ox, bison, mountain goat and mountain sheep.
The author of hundreds of national magazine articles, James also has written seven books and edited/co-written several more.
In 2003, he was elected to the Archery Hall of Fame. He is the current Pope and Young Club president and has been a Senior Member since 1980; regular/life member of the Professional Bowhunters Society; board member of the Physically Challenged Bowhunters of America; member of the Bowhunting Advisory Council of North American Hunter magazine, and was named by Petersen’s Hunting magazine as one of America’s 25 most influential outdoorsmen.

MARK KAYSER

Mark Kayser has photographed and written about the outdoors since junior high and in a career spanning two-plus decades. His travels have spanned three continents.
Mark is the whitetail columnist for North American Hunter, backyard whitetail bowhunting columnist for Bowhunt America magazine; conservation editor and bowhunting advisory council coordinator for North American Hunter.
He’s an accomplished bowhunter and firearm hunter for all North American big game species and has hunted white-tailed deer, mule deer, pronghorn antelope, elk, black bear, moose, Dall’s sheep, wild turkey, red deer and a variety of African game.
Mark co-hosts North American Hunter on Versus, Whitetail Revolution on Versus. In 2008 Mark will host a new series on Versus, "TruckVault’s Xtreme Hunts."

TONY LaPRATT

Tony has been in the land management (for whitetails) business since 1995. Tony and his associate Chris Pierson (a childhood friend) have visited, laid out food plots, created deer beds specifically for bucks and does, selected stand locations, etc. on more than 70,000 acres of hunting and farm land. Tony specializes in small acreages (155-acre client average). Yes, you can have top quality habitat and deer action on small pieces of land. Tony owns 52 acres in southern Michigan, with only 25 wooded, and has taken seven bucks that gross over 150 B&C on that small parcel. He’s been consistent for more than 20 years on trophy class whitetails ... 29 in all.
Gordon Whittington, producer of the North American Whitetail television show, says “Over
the years, I’ve been able to pick the brains of many of the world’s best deer hunters and managers. I can honestly say that Tony LaPratt’s ideas and techniques are unique – and they work in the real world. If your goal is to make your land better for whitetail hunting, he really can get you there".
Attend Tony’s cutting edge seminars and you will see and hear tried-and-true methods of improving your land and hunting techniques.

MATT MORRETT

Matt Morrett began his outdoor education while accompanying his father to the woods at the age of six. His love for turkey hunting and deer hunting left him waiting for rut-swollen November bucks, and straining his ear in the spring, hoping to pick up a gobble ringing across the ridges of Pennsylvania. As his knowledge and appreciation of the outdoors increased, his reputation in turkey and deer hunting circles grew.
Matt perfected turkey calling to a degree that few have matched. Dedication to fine tuning his calling techniques has earned him five World Champion Friction Turkey Calling titles, five U.S. Open Turkey Calling Championships, and the coveted Grand National Champion title.
In 1994, Matt put his calling to the test by taking an Eastern bird in Missouri, a Rio Grande in Texas, and Osceola in Florida, and Merriam’s in South Dakota, completing a grand slam of four sub-species of the wild turkey.
His turkey hunting techniques have been featured on ESPN, TNN, industry videos, several radio shows and depicted in writing through numerous magazine articles.

RICHARD P SMITH

Richard is an award winning outdoor writer and photographer living in Marquette, Michigan. He has hunted whitetail deer and black bear more than 40 years and is a recognized expert on behavior and biology of both species. In 1997 he won the Ben East Prize from the Michigan United Conservation Clubs for conservation journalism about bear management. and the Outdoor Journalist of the Year Award from the Flint (MI) Chapter of Safari Club International.
Smith has written 22 books, 10 of which remain in print, and thousands of magazine articles., He contributes to Michigan Sportsman, Woods-N-Water News and Porcupine Press. He’s a field editor for Bear Hunting Magazine and Michigan Hooks & Bullets, and he writes/edits the Michigan Bear Hunters Association newsletter. His writing and photography appear regularly in Deer & Deer Hunting, Buckmasters, North American Whitetail, Bowhunter and National Wildlife.
Richard has collected a CBM Grand Slam, only the second person to do so. To qualify, you must take Michigan deer, bear, elk and turkey that qualify for listing in state records maintained by Commemorative Bucks of Michigan (CBM).

GORDON WHITTINGTON

Gordon is the producer of North American Whitetail’s television program and former editor of North American Whitetail magazine. He’s hunted whitetail all over North America.
He’s seen a wide, wide range of programs designed to produce healthier whitetail populations and bucks with the strength to grow better antlers. Gordon has definite ideas on the right way to evaluate your land and create good food plots and habitat improvement practices.

BILL WIESNER

Bill’s nickname is “Bear Crazy”, but it could just as well be “The Big Turkey”. He has shot 23 turkeys with bow and arrow.
He is a bow designer; the first hunter to complete the Great Lakes Grand Slam (bear, deer, turkey) with all types of archery gear -- compound, recurve, longbow and self-bow with stone heads; the first hunter to complete all five Wisconsin Bowhunters Association awards in one year (coyote, bobcat, turkey, deer, bear); a hunter eduction instructor for 25 years, and a member of the Red Arrow Society, awarded by the Lakota Sioux Nation for archery contributions to the tribe, an award rarely given to a non-tribal member.

JIM ZUMBO

Jim Zumbo is a 40-year veteran as an outdoor writer, and has had more than 2,000 articles and 3,000 photos published. He is arguably the country's most prominent big game hunter, and has dedicated his life to supporting and defending hunting, and describing ways in his books, lectures, magazine articles and TV show for people to become better hunters.
He travels more than 250 days each year with rifle, shotgun, and fishing rod. He has hunted and fished on five continents, has hunted all 50 states for deer, every western elk state, most of Canada, and at least two dozen trips to Alaska.
Jim has always been a friend of the regular hunter -- many of his hunts have been on public land, and he has made it a priority to help others plan hunts to unfamiliar places. He follows his heart to places in the outdoors with a keen perspective to keeping his travels within reach of most folks.
He champions ethical hunting, and is continually reinforcing his beliefs that more youngsters be introduced to hunting. He believes the single biggest threat to hunting is that the average age of America's hunter is getting increasingly older.
Jim also is focusing on taking severely injured soldiers on no-cost hunting trips, a program he began three years ago.
His career objective is to share the excitement, the successes and failures, as well as solid how-to advice to make your experiences fulfilling and successful, whether you squeeze the trigger or not.