Producer Spotlight: Whitetail Properties with Host Dan Perez
Q: Who was your hunting/fishing mentor?
A: My Dad was my hunting and fishing mentor. He instilled in me an appreciation and passion for the magnificent outdoors. My dad taught me hunting success was measured by the experience and relationship with the land and the wildlife.
Q: How did you get started in the hunting /fishing industry?
A: In 1989 I took a position with Precision Shooting Equipment as Regional Sales Manager in the Midwest. Although by then I’d already harvested quite a few critters and was on the pro-staff with several companies, I believe my outdoor career started at PSE.
Q: What’s the biggest mishap that has happened while filming an episode?
A: Moments after I arrived in camp, in Flathead County Montana, my outfitter and guide John Bartlett ask if he could draw my new bow, which by the way, took me three weeks to get pin-point accurate and super tuned. When John reach full draw, the string slipped out of his grasp and my bow exploded! There were literally parts everywhere. Luckily, I had brought enough extra parts to rebuild my bow. But you can imagine how I felt when I watched my bow come apart during the first 2-minutes of my adventure.
Q: What was your most memorable catch/hunt?
A: I don’t know if I have a single most memorable hunt, I truly treasure each one. But I’d have to say the most rewarding hunts have been on my own farm. There’s a special feeling of accomplishment and pride that comes from seeing your hard work planting food plots, hanging stands, improving timber stand, developing bedding areas and managing the herd come to fruition.
Q: Tell us your favorite hunting/fish joke.
A: Hunting Joke: John was taking his lovely wife, Joan, hunting for the first time. So the night before the hunt John gave his bride some last minute instructions: He said Joan if you get a clear shot at a deer put the cross hairs behind its shoulder and squeeze the trigger. If the deer runs off, follow the blood trail until you find him. And if another hunter comes up on your deer before you do and tries to take him from you, hold your ground and let him know in no uncertain terms that’s your deer.Well the next morning John led has wife to her treestand, after he left her he hadn’t gotten down the trail 200 yards when he heard “boom, boom, boom.” There was no doubt that shots came from the vicinity of his wife’s stand. So John turned around and headed that way. As he approached the area, he heard his wife shouting repeatedly, “Back away from my deer.” Then he heard a man’s trembling voice answer, “Ok lady, you can have your deer, just let me get my saddle off of him.”
Q: How do you like to spend your time when you are not hunting/fishing?
A: When I’m not hunting I spend a lot of my time walking through the woods. You see, the great thing about my job as a real estate broker specializing in recreational properties is that I spend a large percentage of time walking whitetail habitat and explaining to buyers and sellers what makes a property a great slice of whitetail habitat, or what they can do to make a property a great whitetail farm.
Q: What were the worst conditions you ever fished/ hunted under? How did it affect the outcome of the trip?
A: The worst conditions I’ve ever hunted: The wind was blowing 40 miles and hour; the wind chill was 10 below, I was perched in a stand 35 feet off the ground in a 15” diameter tree that was literally bending with each gust. I was very young and very foolish….
Q: What are people always surprised to find out about you?
A: People are always surprised to find out I have three Grandchildren – they’re not sure if I’m older than I look or if I was just very busy when I was very young…. I never tell.
Q: What’s your biggest accomplishment?
A: I would have to say I’m the most proud of my family for the love and support they have given me through all my years of chasing critters and chasing dreams. My biggest accomplishment is having built a very large network of true friends from one end of the country to the other.
Q: Where is your favorite hunting/ fishing spot? Why?
A: My favorite hunting spot is my personal farm. I call it my personal farm because I have owned several farms over the years that I have purchased as investments; land is a very solid investment. However, I think about my personal farm all the time, I know every mature deer on it and have a name for most of them. I plant food plots and monitor deer movement year round with several strategically placed reconyx cameras. I’ve been able to harvest many real good bucks on my farm over the years – but you know even if they were half as big, my farm would still be my favorite spot. The pride that comes from developing a farm for the propose of hold and growing the best bucks an area is capable of producing is what it’s about.
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Whitetail Trophy Properties is a team of professionals who have a solid working knowledge of both the hunting and investment opportunities of agricultural and recreational land ownership. If you’re interested in buying or selling recreational or agricultural land in Illinois, Iowa or Missouri, call the experts at Whitetail Trophy Properties, 1 (217) 285-9000.