I’m 13 years old, in Seventh Grade at Jefferson Junior High School in Toledo, Ohio. I took this 8 point buck with my 53 lb. Diamond Liberty. My buck didn’t run 45 yards before it died. I like my Liberty; it is the best bow I have ever had.

We started by setting up our tree stands on the roof of my hunting lodge that sits on about 1/16 of an acre. It was a beautiful morning, there was a light dusting of snow falling, barely any wind, and a perfect 34 degrees. Once we got settled in, it didn’t take long, Jon had just taken a sip of his coffee when the first doe stepped into the yard the field. She was quickly followed by Jon’s huge buck. Jon was so fired up he almost dropped his bow off the roof tree stand. He recovered quickly; drew back his 2007 Black Ice and landed a perfect shot!

It wasn’t long after Jon’s buck went down that I had my opportunity. We had just got back up to the stand and settled when my monster buck hopped over the 7′ fence that lines my backyard property. We sat as still as possible as he grazed around a bit, just as I drew back my 2007 BowTech Guardian, he must have caught a whiff of us becuase he took off like a screamin’ banshee. He was at full sprint and just before he jumped over the fence again, I let my arrow fly. The shot was a little high, but it dropped him. He was running so fast that when the arrow hit, he slid into my fence and busted 3 boards! It was all worth it though; you don’t get chances at snow deer very often and when you can capitalize on the opportunity there is no greater feeling!

I told Michael that I would take him on his first whitetail hunt once I taught him the proper way of shooting a deer by being very accurate with a bow. Winter time is my favorite time of the year to take kids on a hunt. The deer are easy to pattern and you can get them in close for a good, humane shot.

Michael and I set a Double Bull blind up in an apple orchard. Michael and I knew the exact distance that we were going to attempt to harvest a deer and that was 20 yards or less. The morning of the hunt we glassed the area before we were going to go into the blind and we saw the buck with several does feeding in the open in the orchard. We decided to leave and return later, hopefully not spooking any deer while getting into our blind. About 1:00 in the afternoon, Michael and I went back to the orchard and by now it had began to snow very heavily. There were still two deer feeding within 50 yards of the blind. We decided to take our chances and try and sneak into the blind because the buck was not anywhere in sight. Both deer left and went to the other side of the orchard just as we crested the hill.

It wasn’t 15 minutes and there were does feeding within 40 yards of us. And as the snow kept coming down, more deer started to enter the orchard. Michael’s eyes were peeled for anything that moved. Every time another deer would come into the orchard, he had it in view before I did. The deer were feeding with the wind to their backs and coming into us. I put the range finder on a big doe and told Michael that she was within 20 yards. He said he wanted to hold out for the buck.

As the afternoon was going on, there were deer everywhere. Several does had passed within our 20 yard marks. Then I heard Michael whisper, “Don’t move, don’t move, here come two more deer”. As we were watching them come close to us, a third one appeared and it was the 4-point buck. The buck came forward and nudged one of the does in the back end and she ran forward and stopped within feet of our blind. Michael could have reached out and touched the deer—it was that close! We were both holding our breath.

The buck walked at an angle to our left, stopped and looked right into our blind. He was perfectly broadside—the exact shot we had been practicing. But I knew that he was so focused on us or on the deer close to us that any movement and the hunt would be over. I could not believe the amount of patience and control Michael was showing. This went on for at least three minutes, but it seemed like three hours! The buck didn’t move—he just kept staring. Then all of a sudden, the doe standing next to us bolted and I heard her run off behind the blind. Michael was still sitting there ready for the opportunity to draw his bow. For whatever the reason, the buck did not follow the doe. He turned completely around and started walking back toward the other deer and that was Michael’s opportunity. It was as if he had been doing this all his life. The bow came back to full draw, I gave a short grunt, the buck stopped and the arrow was released. Everything went into slow motion. Michael had made a perfect slightly quartering shot! The buck bolted. I looked at Michael and I said, “You pinched! What an incredible shot.” We waited in our blind for about 15 minutes and then stepped out into the orchard. The snow was still coming down and the wind had picked up. I was worried about how the blood trail was going to look with these conditions. We walked up to where the deer had been standing when Michael released the arrow. I could follow the blood trail with my eyes right to the wood line. And there, just inside the woods, lay this magnificent buck and a dream come true for Michael.

I just started bow hunting last year in September and I shot my first deer and first Mulie with my Rapture bow. This September I bagged a 2×2 Mulie (pictured above) and an antelope! I love my Diamond!

This year bow hunting I carried the Diamond Liberty and I must say it is the best bow I have ever shot. I was sitting in my tree stand in upper Michigan in the perfect spot where I knew deer would come through and sure enough around 8:00 am on Dec-16-07 four decent sized does came trotting down the trail. The lead deer and also the largest stopped eight yards from me. She looked down and I pulled back and put my pin right behind her shoulder and released. I made a perfect shot and she only ran 40 yards.

Eugene, OR (December 13, 2007) Outdoor retailer Gander Mountain honored Diamond by BowTech with the “Vendor of the Year” award during its 2007 Vendors Summit held in Minneapolis this week.

“Diamond has been a great partner for Gander Mountain in serving our customers archery products and accessories needs,” said Mark Baker, CEO of Gander Mountain. “We are proud to sell their products in our stores and are pleased with the enthusiasm our customers show for Diamond’s bows.”

Diamond was chosen for the award from over 2,000 active vendors based on a criteria selection process measuring vendor performance in the areas of; sales and profitability growth, training, logistics execution, timely shipping and order fulfillment, product innovation and development, and effective communication.

“Diamond is honored to receive this recognition from Gander Mountain,” said John Strasheim, CEO of BowTech. “With Gander Mountain’s 115 stores in 23 states, they provide an expansive audience for our products and have helped us build customer loyalty for our brand.”

Gander Mountain sells Diamond compound bows and Stryker crossbows both brands of parent company BowTech. Gander Mountain and BowTech also worked together to develop the Guide Series TecHunter brand of bows, which perform quietly and consistently in all conditions from the range to the field.

About Diamond by BowTech
BowTech, a wholly owned subsidiary of Savage Sports Corporation, manufactures and distributes the world’s finest compound bows and supplementary archery equipment. Founded in 1999, BowTech’s corporate offices and manufacturing facilities are located in Eugene, Oregon. Today, BowTech brands include BowTech, Diamond Archery, Stryker, Octane, Airow Gun and WaterDog Surface Technologies, with a worldwide dealer and distributor network. For more information visit www.bowtecharchery.com

About Gander Mountain Company
Gander Mountain Company (Nasdaq: GMTN), headquartered in Saint Paul, Minnesota, is the nation’s largest retail network of stores for hunting, fishing, boats, camping, marine, and outdoor lifestyle products and services. Since 1960, the Gander Mountain brand has offered an expanding assortment of competitively priced outdoor equipment, technical apparel and footwear, as well as gunsmith, archery, ATV and marine services. The stores feature national, regional and local brands as well as the company’s owned brands. Focused on a “We Live Outdoors®” culture, Gander Mountain dedicates itself to creating outdoor memories. There are currently 115 Gander Mountain outdoor lifestyle stores in 23 states. For the nearest store location call 800-282-5993 or visit www.gandermountain.com

© 2007 BowTech