I found him in a giant brush pile not 30 yds from me over a ridge just to the south. He wasn’t a big, but he was a big deal. I dressed him quickly, dragged him downhill to the shoreline, and boated him to the ramp smiling and fist pumping and thanking God the entire way across the lake.

I tested the Perch first. Rock solid. I felt like I could stand on this thing all day if I had to. I wanted to try climbing as well, but didn’t have time. Instead I just left all the Stepps deployed in my trees, because the ropes need to stretch overnight before their first real use. At 4:15 the next morning, I snatched a Stepp and the Perch from a tree and drove to my hunting spot. In the early dark I climbed 25 feet up a rope, easily set the platform, and waited for daylight and my first saddle hunt.

I've lived in CT my whole life and this past year my family and I moved out to Ashford CT which happens to be right down the street from 700 acres of Yale forest. In my 17 years of hunting 2022 was the first time I applied for a state lottery and won.