October 24, 2011

Shane Gerhardt has had a great hunting season so far. A third-year employee of Best of the West, most folks who call in to our shop will chat with Shane, as he is one of our most knowledgeable customer service reps. But this year, he has been offered the opportunity to go out with the film crew and hunt on-camera.

Just last week, Shane was back in eastern Wyoming with his high school buddy Matt Burch. Matt and Shane used to rodeo together in high school – bull riding and team roping, respectively. Now Matt has found great success as the co-owner and operator of Burch Rodeo Company and Four Horse Outfitters in Moorcroft, Wyoming.

Shane, Best of the West newcomer Brandon Davis and cameraman Jasen Hansen spent a few days with Four Horse Outfitters in October, spotting and stalking some mule deer and antelope in the sagebrush hills near Moorcroft. They left Cody on Wednesday the 12th, and within 24 hours they already had their first kill – Brandon shot a nice 5x5 muley at 650 yards Thursday morning! It was about 10 a.m., about 50 degrees out, a beautiful autumn morning. According to Shane, they waited for about two hours for that buck to get up – he said his knees were getting pretty tired by the time he actually got the shot opportunity!

Shane’s deer, on the other hand, was a much quicker shot. They had seen him earlier in the day, passed on him because they thought he was too small, and then realized when they saw him again that afternoon that he was a lot bigger than they originally thought! So he ended up shooting a nice buck at 325 yards.

Check out the picture – Shane with his 5x4 and another hunter that had come along with the purpose of shooting one of the stags that had been spotted on the ranch.

But since Shane and the gang had gone to northeast Wyoming to chase mule deer AND antelope, their adventure wasn’t over yet. Friday morning they headed back out into the hills to fill Shane’s antelope tag, and they didn’t have to wait too long. In the Wyoming early morning sunshine, with Brandon spotting, in true Best of the West long-range hunting style, Shane took aim at a nice antelope at 825 yards and dropped him!

Shane says that there’s a big difference between just going on a regular hunt, and then hunting on-camera. When you’re hunting for television, not only do you have to consider the normal conditions – wind, range, temperature, pressure – but you also have to make sure the camera shot is dramatic and spectacular! Shane noted that Jasen made sure he had the camera shot right before Shane fired; but because it was Shane’s first time in front of the camera as a hunter, he said it was a little tougher to stay calm enough to take an accurate shot.

An interesting side note about this Four Horse Outfitters hunt – Shane said that Four Horse was guiding a hunt that same day with a kid in a wheelchair, which is remarkable enough as it is; but the REALLY cool thing was the shot that he made – by blowing into a straw to pull the trigger, he shot a deer at 1,030 yards (using a Huskemaw scope, of course)!

Keep an eye on the Outdoor Channel’s schedule for The Best of the West – the episode featuring Shane’s antelope hunt will be airing soon!