2 Photos
Weston Pease is a 18 year old graduating senior of George Wythe High School and a resident of Wytheville Virginia and he is also the winner of Star City Whitetails 3rd annual Spring Gobbler "Best Photo Contest". Weston received the most votes from our hunting community with a great picture that he took by himself and titled "Thank You Lord" using an APP on his cell phone that allowed him to take the picture remotely with his Gopro camera.
Weston was on a piece of leased hunting property in Wythe County when this hunt took place the morning of May 4th, 2016. He often hunts with his father Jeff, who is a game warden and hunter education instructor, but was hunting solo on this morning.
That morning Weston said he was running late and as soon as he got to the property he heard several Gobblers. He quickly got his avian-x decoys set up and started using his slate call as well as his camo ball cap against his leg to imitate a bird flying down off the roost.. One of the Gobblers answered his calls and seemed to be moving toward him, so he positioned himself in the direction he thought the bird might show up which was the opposite direction from where his decoys were placed. As the Gobbler got closer Weston began using a mouth call to lessen his movement.
Now some 20 minutes later Weston hadn't heard anything, but he knew that sometimes birds will come in quite. Just then he caught some movement behind him, sure enough it was a big Tom Gobbler that started fighting with his jake decoy. Weston knew that he had his work cut out in order to reposition himself for a shot, especially since the bird was within 45 yards.
Each time the Gobbler would engage the decoy Weston would move ever so slightly and with a few adjustments he got his 12 gauge Mossberg steadied and lowered the boom.
I asked this young man what inspired him to take such a great picture and he told me that he wanted to truly capture the beauty of the day and the moment not just the bird, and from the picture you can tell he accomplished just that. As I was interviewing Weston his excitement for the outdoors came through the phone and was palpable and although Weston is an accomplished soccer player and motocross rider his first passion is the outdoors. Weston also had a great 2015 deer hunting season harvesting the two nice bucks pictured below.
It's stories like Weston's that keep me passionate about outdoor writing. In a world filled with media coverage of scandals, politics, drama and lies, it's very refreshing to write about real world, genuine outdoor accomplishments. It doesn't get any more real than the Great Outdoors and it's promising to know that there are still folks like Weston who are more inspired by what mother nature has to offer than technology!
Jeff Phillips
Weston Pease is a 18 year old graduating senior of George Wythe High School and a resident of Wytheville Virginia and he is also the winner of Star City Whitetails 3rd annual Spring Gobbler "Best Photo Contest". Weston received the most votes from our hunting community with a great picture that he took by himself and titled "Thank You Lord" using an APP on his cell phone that allowed him to take the picture remotely with his Gopro camera.
Weston was on a piece of leased hunting property in Wythe County when this hunt took place the morning of May 4th, 2016. He often hunts with his father Jeff, who is a game warden and hunter education instructor, but was hunting solo on this morning.
That morning Weston said he was running late and as soon as he got to the property he heard several Gobblers. He quickly got his avian-x decoys set up and started using his slate call as well as his camo ball cap against his leg to imitate a bird flying down off the roost.. One of the Gobblers answered his calls and seemed to be moving toward him, so he positioned himself in the direction he thought the bird might show up which was the opposite direction from where his decoys were placed. As the Gobbler got closer Weston began using a mouth call to lessen his movement.
Now some 20 minutes later Weston hadn't heard anything, but he knew that sometimes birds will come in quite. Just then he caught some movement behind him, sure enough it was a big Tom Gobbler that started fighting with his jake decoy. Weston knew that he had his work cut out in order to reposition himself for a shot, especially since the bird was within 45 yards.
Each time the Gobbler would engage the decoy Weston would move ever so slightly and with a few adjustments he got his 12 gauge Mossberg steadied and lowered the boom.
I asked this young man what inspired him to take such a great picture and he told me that he wanted to truly capture the beauty of the day and the moment not just the bird, and from the picture you can tell he accomplished just that. As I was interviewing Weston his excitement for the outdoors came through the phone and was palpable and although Weston is an accomplished soccer player and motocross rider his first passion is the outdoors. Weston also had a great 2015 deer hunting season harvesting the two nice bucks pictured below.
It's stories like Weston's that keep me passionate about outdoor writing. In a world filled with media coverage of scandals, politics, drama and lies, it's very refreshing to write about real world, genuine outdoor accomplishments. It doesn't get any more real than the Great Outdoors and it's promising to know that there are still folks like Weston who are more inspired by what mother nature has to offer than technology!
Jeff Phillips
Weston Pease is a 18 year old graduating senior of George Wythe High School and a resident of Wytheville Virginia and he is also the winner of Star City Whitetails 3rd annual Spring Gobbler "Best Photo Contest". Weston received the most votes from our hunting community with a great picture that he took by himself and titled "Thank You Lord" using an APP on his cell phone that allowed him to take the picture remotely with his Gopro camera.
Weston was on a piece of leased hunting property in Wythe County when this hunt took place the morning of May 4th, 2016. He often hunts with his father Jeff, who is a game warden and hunter education instructor, but was hunting solo on this morning.
That morning Weston said he was running late and as soon as he got to the property he heard several Gobblers. He quickly got his avian-x decoys set up and started using his slate call as well as his camo ball cap against his leg to imitate a bird flying down off the roost.. One of the Gobblers answered his calls and seemed to be moving toward him, so he positioned himself in the direction he thought the bird might show up which was the opposite direction from where his decoys were placed. As the Gobbler got closer Weston began using a mouth call to lessen his movement.
Now some 20 minutes later Weston hadn't heard anything, but he knew that sometimes birds will come in quite. Just then he caught some movement behind him, sure enough it was a big Tom Gobbler that started fighting with his jake decoy. Weston knew that he had his work cut out in order to reposition himself for a shot, especially since the bird was within 45 yards.
Each time the Gobbler would engage the decoy Weston would move ever so slightly and with a few adjustments he got his 12 gauge Mossberg steadied and lowered the boom.
I asked this young man what inspired him to take such a great picture and he told me that he wanted to truly capture the beauty of the day and the moment not just the bird, and from the picture you can tell he accomplished just that. As I was interviewing Weston his excitement for the outdoors came through the phone and was palpable and although Weston is an accomplished soccer player and motocross rider his first passion is the outdoors. Weston also had a great 2015 deer hunting season harvesting the two nice bucks pictured below.
It's stories like Weston's that keep me passionate about outdoor writing. In a world filled with media coverage of scandals, politics, drama and lies, it's very refreshing to write about real world, genuine outdoor accomplishments. It doesn't get any more real than the Great Outdoors and it's promising to know that there are still folks like Weston who are more inspired by what mother nature has to offer than technology!
Jeff Phillips
