Ryan lives in the bluffs of South Central Wisconsin with his wife Ame.  His background is in conservation and currently works for a private environmental consulting company as a land management consultant.  Ryan hunts lots of small parcels of private land as well as various public hunting grounds across the Southern portion of the state. Large tracts of agricultural and river bottom land bordered by broken farm and large bluff country make up the majority of the habitat in the area.  Being in the heart of Chronic Wasting Disease, CWD, zone, the area has high hunting pressure and an irregular season structure, leading to low deer densities and nocturnal animals. Ryan now spends all of his time with his new found hunting partner, his wife Ame. His new passion is sharing the whitetail world with her and teaching her the sport of filming and pursuing mature whitetails.

Ame resides in the bluffs of South Central Wisconsin with her husband Ryan.  She is a labor and delivery nurse by profession.  Ame hunts alongside her husband on various parcels of private and public hunting grounds.  She has been engulfed by the sport of archery and hunting ever since Ryan introduced her to the outdoors.  She is a quick learner and does what it takes to be successful in the outdoors. She is constantly increasing her knowledge about whitetails and sharpening her archery skills. Her goal this year is to harvest a mature buck and have her husband Ryan capture it on film.

Ryan and Ame's Hit List

Ryan and Ame are new members to the Main Show this year on Midwest Whitetail.  They will be switching back and forth hunting and filming each other.  With a fairly large hit list started already, both of them have high hopes for the 2009 season.   The following descriptions are in Ryan's words.

1. “OCD” (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder): I had a dozen trail cam pictures of this deer in 2008. OCD loved the trail camera last year. I later had an encounter with him on the ground with my bow in early November and drew back on him at 40 yd quartering to. I elected to not take the shot angle.  The wind shifted and the rest is history.

This was also the first deer I got pictures of in early June in 2009.  He looked to have lots of growing to do yet. 

I then filmed the deer a few weeks later. He looks to have the same frame and kickers and grew a major set of brow tines.  This deer tends to come back to the same thick bedding area to check scrapes. I plan on getting on this deer in early September on a small acorn flat next to the bedding area.  He will likely show himself in late October as he did last year where I will hunt his primary scrape line that he has had 3 years in a row.  I dedicated my entire 2008 season to this deer and was obsessed with him, hence the name “OCD”.

2. “LUCKY”: I first saw “Lucky” in 2008 in an alfalfa field with another shooter buck in early September.  He is a frequent visitor to the trail camera as well. I got pictures of him in 2008. I passed this buck up with the bow last November hoping to see him make the season.

I then proceeded to pick up both of his sheds this spring. He is now frequenting the same area where I passed him up in 08’ and I plan on hunting the edge of his known bedding area with just the right wind. He recently broke off the G-2 on his left side, but will still be a hard deer to pass up in WI. The buck earned his name, due to the fact that he was all beat up from a fight and he came limping in when I passed him up. I later proceeded to find his matched set of sheds, each side over a week apart.

I am now getting pictures of him in the same area, but he has a broken G-2 in velvet. How lucky can this deer get? Broken or not, we will see how lucky he will be this fall!

3. “OLD GREY”: “Old Grey” is a new buck to me this year. I have no history with this deer that I can recall.  I was fortunate enough to get a few pictures of this deer on a mock scrape I made this summer. I glassed this deer in an alfalfa field a week later but it was too dark to get good footage.  He looks to be fully mature and an infrequent visitor to the cameras. He got his name due to the abnormal grey forehead he possesses. Hopes are to catch this buck during the rut where his guard will be down.

4. “WINGS": This was the second deer I got pictures of this summer. He is a fully mature management 8 pt. He seems to be a frequent visitor to the camera as well. I have taken multiple pictures of the deer with the trail cameras and filmed some good low light footage of the deer in late July.

He earned the name “Wings” because of his wide spread and short tine length. The first picture I received of the deer he looked like he could fly away.

He has since blossomed into a stud of an 8 point.  I plan on hunting this deer during the early season between his known bedding area and his favorite feeding destination.

5. “MR. T” : "Mr. T" was a late bloomer as far as antler growth. I have no history with this deer, but he seems to be a fairly easy deer to pattern in 2009. He has shown up on 3 of my trail cameras this summer.

I have been getting pictures of this deer since late May on the trail cameras and filmed him with his buddy, the "Simple 7", multiple times. He looks to be fully mature with a wide, short-tined rack. I plan on hunting this deer early season as well.  He is frequenting a known bedding area next to a red oak flat and feeding in the same field on a regular basis.

7. “PENCIL 9”: This buck recently showed up on one of my trail cameras. I had seen this deer in the 2008 archery season. He looks to be only a few inches bigger than he was last year, and I have decided that if he shows himself this year he may get an arrow launched at him. He has great beam and tine length, but is still sporting a pencil rack. The “Pencil 9” is frequenting an area where I am getting pictures of many other deer. This deer could be one to get on early in the season, but we will most likely get a chance at him during the rut when he will be most vulnerable during daylight hours.