So I Did This Thing...

By: Prois Staffer, Necole Ontko

So I did something pretty amazing... Took myself on a solo road trip, on a slight whim all the way from Oregon to Wisconsin! To participate in the 2021 Annual Prois Posse Whitetail Hunt!!! This was a hunt that presented itself to me no once, not twice, but three times! I finally said what the hell, why not?
So I loaded up and in three days time I started driving and set out on an adventure I'll never forget! I had wonderful friends and family all along the way to stay with, Thankyou to you all!!
I made it to Phelps, WI Monday afternoon and didn't really know what to expect..... I walked into the lodge and was immediately blown away and felt beyond blessed and honestly kinda underserving. I couldn't stop smiling! That afternoon we started hunting right away! There was two gals that tagged out the first night and damn they were awesome bucks, the following day one more tagged out with a phenomenal buck too!
The next day ended up being my day! My guide and new found friend Gary and myself had been putting in long hours and early mornings! Mid day we encountered a white turkey and I told him that was a good omen! He agreed. We had a mishap shortly after, meaning I shot at a different one but I missed, twice. However God obviously knew what he was doing because the Buck that I did get that evening was just right and far more than I could ever ask for! There was definitely adrenaline and emotions when we saw my buck go down without any suffering!
I definitely cried tears of joy because anybody that knows me, knows that hunting is way beyond the harvest itself!! I made new found friends on this trip and memories that are going to last the rest of my life time and hopefully be passed down by oral stories for generations to come!
I was very grateful for my Harvest and my awesome guide, and extremely blessed that God presented me with the "Peace Buck" as he is known, for his peace sign on his left brow tine! I was able to give him his last meal of grass, as well as share a piece of raw fresh heart with three of my new friends! What a better way to honor the Peace Buck! I was extremely stoked that the guys allowed me to gut and skin my own deer for that is something I really wanted to do, I told then earlier that just because I was on a fancy hunt, didn't I mean I wanted to lose the other aspects of the whole process such as gutting, skinning and taking care of the meat! When we made it back to the lodge, more tears of joy leaked down my cheeks as I hugged the other gals and received many congratulations! A shared moment amongst good company was celebrated with shots at the bar! That night I went to bed with a thankful and joyful soul.

The next morning we had one more from the Prois Posse to fill her tag, I woke up early to wish her good luck and prayed that she would be blessed with a buck! Around 7:30 while I sat in a different stand with the owner of the reserve who invited me to go on his elk hunt that morning! It was then we received the text message that said big buck down! We rushed back to the lodge to congratulate her and geez, what a gorgeous buck he was.
This trip has been something more than special, these are the reasons why we hunt... to provide, laugh, learn patience, cry out emotion, meet new friends, share memories with good company, consume fresh delicious earned meat and that is just the tip of the iceberg! All while the antlers become a bonus to it all! This surely won't be my last time to hunt at this wonderful place.

Thanks be to God #Prois #TheWildernessReserve ForrestandLisa Pike Lisa M Pike Gary Van Wormer the 4 other badass gals that came! Our other guides who seconded as chefs/meat processors. Cheers to future hunts to come!!!