Real Name: David Kretschmar
TG handle: Huntrdfk
Age: 49, almost.....50sheesh
Height: 6'
Weight: 210 (Depending on the time of year)
Home State: New Hampshire
TradGang member number: 938
(TG)- Tell us about yourself.
(Huntrdfk)- Wow, have to think about this one. I have been married to my wonderful wife Heather for 10 1/2 years, we have two children, Hunter, age 9, and Avery, age 7. Both Heather and I grew up right here in Somersworth, New Hampshire, with me being the oldest of six children, and she being the youngest of six in her family. Both of our parents still live less than a mile from our house. Funny thing is that we grew up about a quarter mile away from each other in a relatively small town, and I never knew her until I was 35. Go figure. I owe an awful lot to my parents and my grandparents for the way I've turned out, they've done a wonderful job with all of us, if I can do that with Hunter and Avery I think they'll be ok. I have been pretty athletic my entire life, and gravitated to baseball and golf when I was young. Then, when I was 12, one of my uncles asked if I wanted to go bowhunting with him. He had no idea what he was doing, and I less, but I was hooked on hunting from the get go. He never killed a deer in his life, and is the only person in my family besides me that hunted. He hunted with me, bow and gun, until I went in the military when I was 20. I owe him for that, and will never forget it. In the Air Force, I took a break from hunting for a few years, and then found myself in the Alaskan Interior for my last year. It was unbelieveable, and I haven't stopped hunting since. I started to bowhunt again in 1981, but fell into the craze of the compound. In 1993, back in New Hampshire, I was working at an archery shop when a co-worker convinced me to buy a recurve. It was a PSE Raven made by Jeffrey(?) and while I enjoyed shooting it I continued to hunt with my compound until 1999, when I finally made the switch and have not looked back. It's funny, I had lost touch with that coworker, and opened the current issue of PBS to find him looking back at me behind a bear in Quebec. I was able to track him down and finally thank him for nudging me into traditional archery. His name is Michael Kissel, if you happen to see this Mike, here is a public thanks! The first couple of years I hunted with a recurve, then moved to a longbow for a year, and in the fall of 2004 I jumped in with both feet and started to make selfbows. So, now I pretty much shoot, make bows, and coach my son in baseball and golf. I consider myself lucky right now in that both Avery and Hunter like to shoot, and Hunter wants to hunt with me next year. I hope that they both continue in this vein, but I those are choices that they will have to make, not me. Overall I consider myself pretty lucky, I have a great family, a job I like and have met some wonderful friends right here on this site.
(TG)- What do you do for a living?
(Huntrdfk)- I am a Captain in my hometown police department in charge of the Detective Division.
I've been on the job for 23 years, so can retire anytime I want, but why would I do that when I still like what I do?
(TG)- How long have you been bow hunting with traditional gear?
(Huntrdfk)- Exclusively for six years.
(TG)- Any heroes? Any role models?
(Huntrdfk)- In life, my grandfather without question, both as a hero and a role model. In traditional archery, not so much hero's as role models, most of them right here on this site. I have not met anyone here I would not want to hunt with again or shoot with again.
(TG)- Which eye is your dominant eye?
(Huntrdfk)- Right eye is dominant, and evrything I do is right handed.
(TG)- Do you shoot right handed or left handed?
(Huntrdfk)- I shoot right handed.
(TG)- What got you started bowhunting?
(Huntrdfk)- Well, as I said earlier, the seed was planted by my uncle, and it just grew. I've hunted with nothing but a bow since 1990, and wouldn't have it any other way.
(TG)- Do you remember the first animal you took with a traditional bow? Tell us about it!
(Huntrdfk)- I do, and will never forget it. It's a unique story, and each fall is still mentioned at my brother's workplace. He is a morning DJ on radio talkshow, it broadcasts all over NH, and parts of Maine, Vermont and Mass. He's also a big Nascar fan, and convinced me to go to a race with him in 2001. I am not a fan. Well, we went, we got in the garage area, met crew chiefs and drivers and so forth. We watched the entire race, and when we were done I told him he was going to sit in a stand with me that fall. (While he supports hunting, he is not a hunter or outdoorsman) Well, he got the idea that we would play this up on his show, and we'd talk about hunting in a positive way. I did the scouting, and got this group of bucks on video, including a decent 11 pointer with a injured shoulder. We did a number of spots on the show, it was very positive and got a great response. The afternoon we hunted we didn't see any deer until dusk, and we had to stay in the stands until after legal shooting, but had a group of five bucks come by at ten yards, including that eleven pointer. He and another deer sparred right in front of us, it was awesome. Greg did a great job in the stand, and we left without disturbing the deer after they moved on by. We did another piece on the radio the next morning, and that night I went back and shot the 11 point at 17 yards. I'll never forget it, that buck is now on my wall, and like I said, they still talk about that piece each fall on their show.
(TG)- Do you prefer a glove or tab?
(Huntrdfk)- I shoot with a Damascus glove.
(TG)- Do you have any favorite memories or kills that stand out? Tell us about it!
(Huntrdfk)- There are so many memories, a lot where no kill took place. My first traditional deer was special, and I'll never forget the turkey I killed this spring with the Little Delta Bow. I still marvel at the fact that
Mike Huston (4nolz) sends that bow out like he does to be hunted. Amazing.
(TG)- Can you tell us a bit about your preferred hunting combo?
(Huntrdfk)- Right now it is an osage selfbow I made this spring, it is 54lbs@29", 64"ntn. From that I shoot birch shafts with either Magnus broadheads or Wensel Woodsmans. I just finished another osage selfbow that I plan to use on turkeys this spring.
(TG)- What is the one piece of advice you would give a new hunter to aid him on his hunting ventures?
(Huntrdfk)- I guess it would be to find a mentor to take you under his wing. It took me a long time on my own before I began to become successful, but once I sought out and found bowhunters with the same values as I that knew what they were doing, my success rate skyrocketed. Then be persistent and patient.
(TG)- What is your favorite animal to hunt?
(Huntrdfk)- Whitetail deer.
(TG)- Do you have or prefer a certain method of hunting?
(Huntrdfk)- I mainly hunt from treestands, though in the last two years I have hunted from the ground a little more. Those close encounters on the ground are a rush!
(TG)- Does any of your family hunt or fish?
(Huntrdfk)- Both of my kids like to fish, and Hunter wants to hunt next year, but that is it.
(TG)- Do you have any bowhunting goals or plans for the immediate future?
(Huntrdfk)- My immediate goal is to make my first kill with one of my selfbows, and I have a couple of possible trips I am looking into this fall, hopefully with fellow TradGangers. (Maybe a moose or a bear or a deer...)
(TG)- Do you make any of your own gear?
(Huntrdfk)- I make my own arrows, and for about a year now have been making selfbows. My first five blew up, but I've been pretty lucky since then. I never would have got to that point if not for the great selfbowyers here, they got me to where I am, (still a novice), and for that I thank them.
(TG)- Where is the one place you would really just love to hunt?
(Huntrdfk)- I want to go back to Alaska, also Iowa for big whitetails.
(TG)- Do you primarily hunt private or public ground?
(Huntrdfk)- Mostly private, but here in NH, unless it is posted or you are asked not to hunt there by a landowner, private land is open to hunting.
(TG)- Do you prefer evening, mid day or morning hunts?
(Huntrdfk)- With the right morning spot, I prefer mornings, but find myself hunting evenings more.
(TG)- What is your favorite type of camo?
(Huntrdfk)- A few times this year I hunted like Mickey, wearing a plaid flannel shirt and jeans, and that was fun. I do wear camo most of the time, and most of my camo is Predator.
(TG)- Do you normally use anything like scent covers or attractants, camo, or calls?
I use a scent eliminator spray, and never go into the woods without a grunt call.
(TG)- Do you do any small game hunting?
(Huntrdfk)- I do, for squirrels and rabbits, and if I am up north any grouse that try to get in my way.
(TG)- Tell us what your dream hunt would be.
(Huntrdfk)- That's easy, I would just love to float the Moose John River for moose and black bear with an osage selfbow. I can't imagine a better place to be in September, someday I hope......
(TG)- You can invite 3 tradgang members to share a campfire, who are they and why did you choose them?
(Huntrdfk)- I'm sorry, I really don't think I could just pick three. I mean, so many to choose from, self bow gurus, hunting machines, and just plain people that you can tell from their interactions on the Gang that
you know you would love to share a camp with. I've hunted with Jeff Holchin, (moose), Shawn Leonard and Curt Cabrera, (deer), then all the guys on Shawn's bunny hunt, and would hunt with any one of those guys at the drop of a hat again, and at some point will. I can honestly say that there is not one person that I've met here from TradGang that I would not share a campfire with, and that is the God's honest truth.
(TG)- You mentioned that newcomers should find a mentor, do you have one? If so, who is it?
(Huntrdfk)- No, I don't have one. The reason that I think that it is important is because I know how long it took me to get where I am now. I see what having mentor's do to the new guys that come on my job, and know that having the right mentor for a new bowhunter would ease growing pains greatly for them. It's so much easier to learn hands on from someone that knows what he is doing than from books, and I think it would also lessen the chances that a new bowhunter will leave archery prematurely.
(TG)- How does it feel to be part of history killing an animal with the LDB?
(Huntrdfk)- I don't know that I can adequately describe how I felt. After I shot the turkey I just sat there trembling at what I had done. I was alone when I shot her, and even after I found her I just sat there for awhile looking at the bird and the bow, knowing that what I had done was pretty special. I still look at the photos of that hunt often, and it brings a smile to my face to reread the story or look at the tail and beard display that Curt made for me. I can tell you that it ranks near the top of all the hunts that I have ever been on, and I will never forget it.
(TG)- What is one thing I haven't asked that you would like for people to know about you?
(Huntrdfk)- That's a tough question. I guess it would be that I would like all of you to know that while I am not the near the best bowyer out there, nor the best hunter out there, is that if there is ever anything I can do to help anyone please feel free to ask. If you are ever in New Hampshire, call me, my home is always open to all of you. Lastly, one of the mantras of this site is respect, "expect to be respected". If we all went through life with this simple rule, just think of what kind of world this would be. My golden rule to my kids and the people that work for me is, treat people the way you would like to be treated, it works wonders.
Topic: TradGang Member Interview 1/10/07 - David Kretschmar (Read 2893 times)
