Silver Mountain Taxidermy News:
Women Hunters Champagne Brunch
Sportsmen's Night Out & SCI Banquet
Thank You for All Who Attended the Sportsmen Canned Food Drive and Raffle
Jeff Mossbruger has an opportunity to meet Ted Nugent
Women Hunters Champagne Brunch
With Special Guest: Michele Leqve
Plus Reno “Jay” Reda host of Inside the Great Outdoors radio show & Taxidermist Jeff Mossbruger from Safari Club Ohio Chapter
Michele will be sharing her stories on how she got involved with hunting, challenges She’s faced being a woman hunter and her recent hunts. In addition, she will answer your questions; teach you how to become a better hunter and how to accomplish your hunting dreams.
Michele is a field producer who as worked and has been seen on several T.V. shows including “WomenHunters® Outdoors” , Greg Hopf’s “DEER QUEST” Outdoor Adventures , “ASAT® Nation”, “Relentless Pursuit with Tim Wells”, “Mathews TV with Dave Watson”.
In just 13 years Michele has harvested over 50 big game animals, 10 different species and 18 Pope & Young entries but her most precious trophy is the 9 1/2 foot Polar Bear she took in Nunavut Canada on April 14th 2006, where she became the first woman to take a Polar Bear with a bow! All that action can be seen on her DVD called, “Hunting Nanuq with Xtreme Bowhuntress Michele Leqve” it features her Polar Bear hunt and 4 other big game animals including; Caribou, Whitetail, Black Bear & Elk.
Come and meet Michele, meet new friends and be in a comfortable atmosphere to ask questions and learn more about hunting and the great outdoors.
The Brunch will be held at the:
73rd annual Cleveland Sport, Travel &Outdoor Show
Saturday,
February 13th, from 11:00am-1:00pm
Cost is $25.00 person includes brunch, door prizes and show admittance.
Tickets must be purchased in advance
The Great Lakes Expo Center is located at 1200 Babbitt Rd.
Euclid, Oh 44132
Or visit sportandtravel.com
For tickets contact Ohio Safari Chapter’s Representative Jeff Mossbruger (440) 617-9665, silvermountaxi@aol.com Or visit www.ohiosafarichapter.com
This event is Sponsored by: SCI Ohio Chapter, Inside The Great
Outdoors Radio Show
(Sunday’s 8:00-10:00am on WHK 1420)
And Slab ‘M Wild Game Seasonings
Sportsmen's Night Out & SCI Banquet
If you didn’t attend this year you missed a fantastic time, we had close to 400 people attend and all had a great time.
We gave away many, many prizes including 10 muzzle loaders, 3 Crossbows, Tree stands, Heaters, Flat Screen TV’s, Autographed items and the list goes on and on, a lot of people left happy!!!!!
We would like to THANK all the Businesses and people who made donations and supported us. And a big THANK YOU for all the Volunteers that helped with all the raffles, without you this wouldn’t have been possible!!!
We will have pictures up shortly so please check back.
Thank you to all who attended, you helped make this years banquet a great success, we introduced to you our 3 new Safari wish hunters and with the money raised we are going to start putting some trips together for them. The money raised also supports many community programs like Lakes & Trails, Young anglers and the June Fish fest, these programs are for YOUR kids, if you interested please check out the SCI website for more details.
Hope to see you next year and Thanks again,
Jeff Mossbruger & Brian Foster
Every year I start off writing these articles by saying this year’s hunt was the best hunting adventure I was ever involved in, but every year these hunts become more and more memorable. I believe the reason is the quality of people I have the opportunity to meet and hunt with.
This year I had the privilege of hunting with two true sportsmen, Pete Vanko and Jim Daniels. Both of these gentlemen have been thrown some curves in life and have been confined to a wheelchair since they were teenagers. Pete is now 63 years old and was not expected to live past his 30’s. Jim is 48 years old and has been in a wheelchair since he was 15. Jim has hunted all his life, but Pete was just introduced to the sport a few years ago. Both of these men have harvested Whitetail deer but have never been on a Big Game hunt. I was very proud to give them the opportunity to hunt buffalo this year.
We booked this year’s hunt a little early hoping for good weather and our luck and prayers were with us. The temperature was a pleasant 55 degrees, the sun was shining, there was a cool breeze, and the trees were covered in a rainbow of autumn colors. It doesn’t get much better than this--we had a perfect fall day for hunting!
We have used this ranch in other years for our Safari Wish Hunts and decided to return this year. Once again, Brent Fisk, owner of Hidden Horns Ranch (located in Michigan, about 20 miles from Big Rapids), was our host. They have always treated us very well, and this year was no exception. In the past ten years of organizing these hunts on over a dozen different ranches, I can honestly say that Steve (Smitty), our guide for the past few years, is one of the best I have encountered. After spending five minutes with him, he has the knack of making you feel as though you have known him for years.
Steve and Jim headed out to the ground blind to wait for the buffalo to come in and to spend the morning taking in the sights, sounds and smells of a perfect fall day hunt. Brent, Mike Nysda (Pete’s good friend), Pete and I drove to the ranch in Pete’s van. Pete was more comfortable in his van, since it is set up for him to drive and hunt as he sits in his wheelchair. Pete was an amazing driver; he maneuvered his van around trees, on trails, and occasionally places without trails. Some people who drive without a handicap could take lessons from Pete!
After driving around about a half-hour or so, we located the small herd of buffalo. I was sitting in the passenger seat, ready to hand Pete his shotgun, when we got into position. Pete has a small range to shoot from because of the steel rods in his back, so you can imagine how difficult it is for him to not only move the van into position to shoot, but also to move his body, a task in itself, plus being very pumped when the buffalo came into range. We had to move several times in order to get a shot, but it finally worked out. Pete took his shot. Bang!!! The buffalo went right down, but to our surprise it got back up and took off with the rest of the buffalo surrounding it. Again came the task of getting the van back into position, but with Pete’s driving skills, it wasn’t a problem. We got back into position and the second shot was fired; the buffalo went out into the lower field and dropped.
This was a fantastic hunt, and Pete proved that being disabled doesn’t mean that you’re not able to be great hunter! It was my privilege to spend this time with Pete. As we were taking pictures and celebrating, we heard some commotion in the upper field where Jim and Steve were in the blind. The other buffalo had made their way up through some trees and were crossing the field in front of the blind. We saw them head right toward the blind and knew that the shot would go off any moment. We could only imagine what was going through Jim’s mind! It seemed as though there was no sound just moments before the shot rang out and echoed through the ranch. Boom!!! The buffalo went down and didn’t get back up. Another shot and Jim had his first big game trophy! It was amazing to be able to watch Jim’s hunt unfold. Later that day we harvested another cow buffalo with some of the meat being used at our Safari Banquet and some being donated to a local church.
I feel very blessed that there are so many people and businesses willing to help with donations and services. Without them, these hunts wouldn’t be possible. It only proves what sportsmen always knew—we are all part of a big family and we never hesitate to help out fellow sportsmen.
My deepest thanks to following:
Safari Club International--Safari Wish Grant Program
Silver Mountain Taxidermy
Brian’s Deer Cutting
Hidden Horns Game Ranch
Safari Club International--Ohio Chapter
The Wildlife Gallery, Inc.
Mckenzie Taxidermy Supply
Tim & Danny Hitch
Mike Nysda
Sincerely,
Jeff Mossbruger
Thank You for All Who Attended the Sportsmen Canned Food Drive and Raffle
The Canned food drive was very successful, we raised over 200 cans of food and collected $150.00 in cash which was used to purchase personal items like shampoo, soap, and food which all were donated to my church and will help alot of families during the holiday season. As of date we have also donated over 150 lbs of venison which will also help out families in need, there is still time to make a venison donation, if your interested please contact us.
Congratulations to Wayne loc who won the Muzzle loader.
Thank you to all help in this food drive!!!
Jeff Mossbruger
This year Brian’s Deer Processing, Silver Mountain Taxidermy and Safari Club International (Ohio Chapter) are teaming up for Sportsman Against Hunger, a program to help families, shelters and church’s in collecting venison donations for people in need.
We will have special packages at Brian’s Deer processing that will hold 2lbs of ground meat that will be donated, we ask anyone who wishes to donate any of their Deer to please contact one of us for more information.
All meat donations must be processed; if you wish to donate a whole deer you will need to pay for processing (we will discount the cost for whole deer donations only)
If you have your Deer processed elsewhere and wish to make a donation please check out Safari club’s website: www.ohiosafarichapter.com for drop off locations, if your deer is processed by Brian we will take care of the drop off’s.
Thank You!
Jeff Mossbruger has an opportunity to meet Ted Nugent
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This is the print that Ted Nugent signed, this is a Jack Poluh limited edition print also sign by him #677/2500, if you are interested in bidding on this print please e-mail me or contact the Ohio (Cleveland) chapter of Safari Club International.
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(Pictured from left to right- Jeff Mossbruger, Ted Nugent, Steven Foster, Brian Foster of Brian's Custom Deer Processing)
We recently had a chance to catch up with Ted Nugent down at the Rock-n-Roll Hall of Fame here in Cleveland, Ohio and he was gracious enough to sign a limited edition print for us they we will have up for auction at our annual Safari Club fundraiser banquet on March 7th,2009 with proceeds to benefit our safari wish programs.
An Iraq Veteran's First Hunt
Written by Jeff Mossbruger
Starting bottom left-Brian Foster, Tim Gurgol (Veteran); Back row Jeff Mossbruger
A minus 10-degree Sunday morning in January is a day I will never forget. I have organized many charity hunts over the years, but this one has to be the most memorable.
We arrived at the ranch in Michigan on Saturday evening. At first light Sunday morning the temperature was -10 degrees, but the excitement for what was about to happen made everyone forget it was the middle of winter. It was Tim Gurgol’s (an Iraq war veteran) first time hunting, let alone participating in a big game hunt.
Tim, Brian Foster, our guide and I set out for the ground blind and sat in it for about hour and half. We saw everything from deer to elk but no buffalo. We could see Tim’s anticipation growing; he was ready. We received a call over the radio that the buffalo had been spotted on the opposite side of the ranch, so we packed up our gear and moved to another ground blind on the edge of a field. About 20 minutes later, the other group with us spotted the buffalo, and we heard two shots go off in the distance. The voices on the radio called out “one buffalo down and three heading your way”. Through the pines off to the right of us, we saw three buffalo running at full speed coming our way. They all made a sharp right turn and were heading into the open field straight toward our blind.
Tim was ready--his gun raised, his adrenaline pumping, his eyes focused! Was this going to be it? As the buffalo got closer, they turned broadside about 10 yards in front of us--still running at full speed, hooves shaking the ground, steam coming out of their noses, eyes locked right on us. It was one of the most majestic sights I have ever seen! Then they were gone into the woods. We all looked at one another and really didn’t have words to describe what had just happened. Something that took less than a minute to take place seemed to be a still picture stopped in time. We collected our thoughts and started talking about the what-ifs. Could a shot have been taken, would it have been a good shot, etc?
Then two other guides who were out radioed in and said they were stopped about 200 yards into the woods, so we waited a few minutes and headed into the woods after them. We spotted them about 150 or so yards in the distance, and our guide whispered: “This is going to be our only chance to get it right.” Being a veteran himself, he took Tim ahead and started the stalk, with Brian and me following close behind. They got within 50 yards and he set up for the shot. They started to move around, and then sensed something was near. Suddenly the one Tim wanted turned and opened himself up. Bang! The first shot was off. The buffalo was stunned. It turned, walked a few yards closer to us, and then turned broadside. Bang! The second shot rang out and the buffalo was down. One more shot and it was his!
Good job, Tim! On behalf of Brian and myself, we were very proud to be a part of this hunt and are thankful far beyond what we could ever express to you and all our servicemen and women who sacrifice everything to fight to preserve all the rights and freedoms we enjoy in this great country!
On January 19th-20th, Jeff Mossbruger of Silver Mountain Taxidermy and Brian Foster of Brian’s Deer cutting, along with President Scott Bagi of the Cleveland chapter of Safari Club International, through monies realized from a fund-raising banquet, arranged to take two people on a Buffalo hunt on the Hidden Horn Ranch in Michigan. The first hunter was Tim Gurgol who served with the Marine division in Iraq and was wounded by a roadside bomb. The second was a 14-year-old youth Kenny Koerner who suffers from diabetes. Both hunts were successful and all who participated share memories that will last a lifetime.
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Starting left - Ken Koerner, Kenny Koerner, Danny Hitch |
Kenny Koerner 14 year old youth hunter |