STEVE BARTYLLA

Steve Bartylla first began bowhunting at the age of twelve. Harvesting his first deer that year fueled a passion that continues to grow. This drive for knowledge has led him on successful journeys chasing whitetails all over the U.S. and Canada.
Steve does not rely on outfitters to put him on trophy bucks but, instead, relies on his own scouting and hunting skills. Every buck he has tagged has come from a stand that he scouted and hung.
He spends a high percentage of his time hunting public lands each season. Hard work, an in-depth knowledge of whitetails, understanding how they utilize terrain, and seeking pockets where mature bucks exist, are the tools he relies on most.
His writing regularly appears in Bow & Arrow Hunting, Bowhunter, Bowhunting World, Petersen's Bowhunting, Mathews’ Bowhunting Annual, Scent-Lok’s Hunting Annual, Deer & Deer Hunting, Buckmasters, Whitetail Journal and North American Whitetails. He has written two books (Advanced Stand Hunting Strategies and Bowhunting Tactics) and appeared The Outdoor Channel, Deer & Deer Hunting TV, Woods & Water TV and Double Bull’s TV show.
By using real world examples that everyone can relate to, his ability to connect with the audience is easily recognized.

JASON COLEMAN

Jason Coleman, a California transplant to Wisconsin, has been a chef for 20 years. He is an avid  bowhunter who has hunted many species of wild game. He also is a life member of the Wisconsin Bowhunters Association and North American Hunting Club.
Jason is the production chef in charge of catering at Fox Valley Technical College. His favorite part of the job and cooking at home is to create new recipe ideas.

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.

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.
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.

DAVE HENDERSON

A lifelong resident of upstate New York, and a full-time professional gun writer for decades, Dave Henderson has hunted in 29 states and 10 Canadian provinces.
A member of the Gander Mountain National Pro Staff, Dave is considered the foremost authority in the country on shotguns for deer hunting and has a long and diverse background in muzzleloading rifles. He has written five books on guns and hunting, contributed to four others and is a field editor for Buckmasters Whitetail, GunHunter, Gun Tests and North American Bear magazines.
A member of the Shooting Advisory Staff for North American Hunter, Dave is also a regular contributor to the NRA’s American Hunter and Deer & Deer Hunting.
Dave has won national and regional awards for writing, television and radio production. He also is the outdoors editor of two New York State daily newspapers. He was press liaison for shotgun sports at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. He is a former big game guide in Idaho, state champion taxidermist and a competitive trapshooter.

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.

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.

DAN SCHMIDT

Dan. Schmidt has hunted on public and private lands since taking up deer hunting in the early 1980s. Each year, he hunts whitetails with bow, rifle, shotgun and muzzleloader. He has hunted whitetails in 14 states and three Canadian provinces. His primary passion is bowhunting, and he has harvested more than 70 whitetails with bow and arrow.
He joined the staff of Deer & Deer Hunting in 1995 and was named editor-in-chief in 2002. Schmidt has written one book -- Whitetail Wisdom: A Proven 12-Step Guide to Scouting Less & Hunting More. The book details how Schmidt used the wisdom he gleaned from highly experienced hunters and hunting industry professionals to make himself a better hunter on Wisconsin’s public lands and small private woodlots.
Schmidt’s "Whitetail Wisdom" insights can be seen weekly on the D&DH-TV show on Outdoor Channel.

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).

RON SPOMER

Thirty-one years after his first out-of-state adventure hunt to the Rockies, Ron Spomer continues to prospect the West for elk, mule deer, pronghorns, waterfowl and upland gamebirds. He has camped under the stars, in backpack tents, canvas tents, pickup campers and dilapidated old cabins while discovering some of the finest hunting adventures on Earth, many of them on public land, free for the discovering.
" Diversity is the wonderful thing about hunting the Rockies," the widely published writer/photographer said. "It’s possible, even common, to take three species of upland birds in a single morning, sometimes five! An elk hunter may be able to hunt mule deer and pronghorn at the same time. And coyotes are ubiquitous. With the right planning, anyone can engineer an inexpensive hunt. Throw in the pleasure of camp dinner round a pine log fire, fall asleep to serenading coyotes or owls and you’re looking at heaven on earth."
Spomer, a widely published hunting writer and host of Winchester Legends and Whitetail Revolution on the Versus network, has written Big Game Hunter’s guidebooks to Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. He’s learned how to find free camping and good hunting on public lands plus productive guides and outfitters for hunting private lands.
A native of South Dakota, the author now lives in Idaho. He hunts roughly six months a year and writes regularly for Sports Afield, Sporting Classics, Successful Hunter, Rifle, Gun Hunter, American Hunter and many other sporting publications.
Spomer will give you valuable western- and prairie-oriented details on the how as well as the where, things such as adjusting to spikes/thorns/cactus and the difficulties they can cause; finding the game and then hunting it, as opposed to hunting the instant you step out the door; altitude sickness; pacing yourself for the entire hunt so you’re not worn out after a few days; distance judging and more.