A Visit to Tru-Fire Corporation

Tru-Fire Corporation (TFC) is an amazing company and Struttinbucks, Inc. (SB) is privileged to be their partner! Our team members have been using Tru-Fire release aids for years. Their releases are reliable, durable, American made and the most innovative on the market. With over 40 patents, TFC dominates the industry. 

In a recent visit to their new 20,000 square foot building in Fond du Lac, WI, I was fortunate to have met up with Steve Tentler, President/Owner of TFC, to learn more about the company, its products, their newest release aid and the history behind the company. 

In 1976, Steve’s parents purchased a local archery distributor company by the name of Raulf Archery Supplies. This particular distributor sold to dealers across the U.S. and abroad. Raulf Archery was one of the main suppliers of cedar shafts from the 50’s into the 70’s. About 75 percent of schools and colleges in the U.S., who had archery classes, utilized Raulf Archery Arrows. 

In 1979, his parents decided manufacturing would be the next step towards expansion.  Total Shooting Systems (TSS) was born. Bringing in engineers from across the country, TSS designed the Quadraflex compound bow, climbing tree-stands (the first to offer a safety harness), sights, releases and other accessories. At its peak, TSS employed over 70 employees. 

In 1984, Steve’s parents decided to sell TSS but retained the original release line. They were able to focus on the manufacturing of releases exclusively, an accessory that had tremendous growth potential.  

Also in 1984, Tru-Fire Corporation was introduced. As far as the company was concerned, they perform almost all secondary machining on-site, as well as 100 percent of the assembly, packaging and shipping. That’s right, everything they sell is American made and they are proud of it! All engineering, as well as research and development, is performed exclusively at TFC by a full-time engineer. In fact, most of our parts come to them from a three state radius. Even all the release straps are made in Wisconsin. TFC is now in its second generation with Steve and his wife, Cheri, whom purchased the company from his parents, in 2006.

Since then, TFC has continued to introduce new and innovative products year after year and then patenting those ideas to make certain the features of their product line are brand exclusive. This hard work has lead to TFC dominating their segment of the industry.

During my visit, Steve showed me the Hardcore Max Black Buckle Foldback, their newest release. Its best features, along with most of the TFC releases, is the foldback option: allowing the release to literally fold back out of the way of your grip. Thus intern, permits you to grab onto tree steps, stands, adjust clothing and/or many other items with ease. It is padded for comfort and falls into the new family of open jaw releases. Most people may not know it is made out of real deer hide, right there in Wisconsin. This is an amazing feature! Make sure and check out this new release and their complete line at www.trufire.com. 

SB and I would like to personally thank Tru-Fire Corporation and Steve Tentler for its support of Struttinbucks, Inc. I appreciate him taking the time out of a busy day to talk with me about the company and the outdoor industry.

To Film or Not To Film...

Lately I have been getting a lot of questions about what it takes to film in the outdoor industry. If you are interested in filming your hunts for personal use, any recordable device will suffice. Of course quality of footage varies depending on your equipment. For the hunters wanting to obtain TV quality footage or to become part of an outdoor television show, a whole new set of guidelines come into play.

Some hunters think all you need is a camera and you are in business, but there is so much more to this equation. To start, it is a good idea to have a quality tree arm. My team uses the Muddy Outdoors Boss Hawg tree arm for our camera. You may ask, “What about a shoulder mount?” To achieve smooth and steady footage the arm is ideal.

Next, sound quality is a big concern. We use a couple of Sennheiser products including a wireless microphone and a shot gun microphone mounted on the camera. Wireless microphones improve the sound quality when the hunter is whispering or is at a distance from the camera.

Also, having two people in a tree or blind can create limited movement for the cameraman. A useful tool is the Verizoom controller, which mounts on the arm of the fluid head. This controller allows the cameraman to zoom, record, and focus with just the use of a thumb.

Another must have is a tripod, for hunting out of a blind or hero shots following the recovery. My recommendation is a Bogen Manfrotto tripod. You will want to make sure you are using at least a 501 fluid head for the tree arm and tripod.

Most importantly is the camera. Be sure the camera is capable of filming in 1080p. My team currently uses the Canon XH-A1. There are many cameras with features relative to the Canon; therefore, any of them will work just fine. Since the majority of networks hosting outdoor television shows are broadcasted in High Definition, it is a must to have an HD Camera.

Finally, I know it sounds like a lot of equipment and you are right. Carrying all this equipment, including your gear and weapon of choice, can be a challenge. I recommend the Camera Pack by Game Plan.

Now that I have you all geared up, price tags can be an issue for the consumer. For the beginner, used equipment is available through a variety of Web sites.

To film or not to film…

After all this information, you may realize filming hunts is not for you. I have talked with people who think filming takes away from the experience of hunting. Then there are those who hunt for the wrong reasons – for the freebees. (Freebees shouldn’t be your motivator.)

It is my belief that filming adds a whole new level of excitement. Attempting to capture all that Mother Nature has to offer and sharing it with others is quite the challenge. Filming is more than just the gear and your surroundings. In order to produce quality footage, you need an eye for the small things. Someone once told me years ago, “Anyone can kill big deer, but a good cameraman is one in a thousand.” In order to produce a TV worthy hunt, many factors and elements must be met. Unfortunately, I can’t give you a “secret recipe” for success – each show has its own format.

To film or not to film is totally up to you. I hope this blog was a useful reference for your decision. Good luck!

I personally film for Struttinbuck Outdoors. They are a stand up organization and a great group of guys/friends. If you are interested in filming with this organization go to www.struttinbucks.com to fill out an application.

Big Buck Classic 2011

Look out! My first blog ever! Who knows what is going to come out of this mind. HA!! It was Friday, January 21, 2011, when Corey Koester and I jumped up at the sound of our alarms around 6 a.m. After some last minute packing and a trip to drop off my niece at school, we were on the open road leaving Red Bud, IL, on our way to Little Rock, AR to meet the other team members of Struttinbucks. Corey and I were so nervous to meet all these guys. After all, we have been watching these guys for a while on the DVD, talking on the phone and e-mailing for a few years. All we were worried about was making a good impression. (I know I left an impression! HA!!) Well, a lot of this nervousness was shot down by being stuck on the interstate 55 for almost 3 hours just inside the Arkansas border. Our 5 ½ hour trip turned into an 8 hour trip before we arrived at the hotel. We checked into the hotel and made our way over to the BBC (Big Buck Classic). Once there, we were greeted like familiar friends! Talk about taking the pressure off! Especially after Heath came at me like a line backer! LOL! The nervousness was gone.

Friday night, for me, was about meeting everyone, talking about hunts and what the future holds for SB (Struttinbucks). Meanwhile, I was still a little reserved at this point.  After leaving the BBC around 9 p.m. we all headed over to a Mexican restaurant where we all talked about National Team Meeting locations, got to know each other more, showed off hunting pictures on our phones and I even shared Corey’s hunt we filmed this past season. This dinner with our new friends went by in the blink of an eye. Soon it was closing time. Back at the hotel our team meeting was underway. It was headed up by our new Marketing Director, Ray Scheide. Discussions ran until around 1 a.m. It was very exciting to hear about the direction SB was going. Look out for what the future holds!!!

Around 10 a.m. the next morning Corey and I headed down to grab some grub. After catching up with Brandon and Heath, at breakfast, we were off to the BBC. What a great day this was! We got to meet so many more people. Everyone was so nice!! Everyone kept warning us about Charlie Parton and I didn’t understand why. But when I met him, I knew -- I should have done cheek exercises before I got there! Charlie cracked me up so much my face hurt by the end of the day. This guy can interview anyone and be serious – including a monkey. I kept waiting for the little bugger to BITE HIM! HA!! Just kidding Charlie!!

After a long day of laughing and carrying on it was time for “The Raptor” to come out and play. Only a select few of you know what “The Raptor” is, but I am sure more of you will find out in the upcoming SB videos! It is an impersonation I have been doing since college (& my friends dubbed me “Raptor.”) Some could say this must be embarrassing for me, but I just say if it makes people laugh then it is all good! I live to make people laugh! To account the evening’s events, “The Raptor” took over and sauntered to the booth across the way to sniff, that’s right, I said SNIFF, the stuffed bear. Eruptions of laughter were heard. The booth attendants didn’t think it was funny – tough crowd I guess. I opted to reel in “Raptor” mode. Now my only thoughts were, “I bet these SB guys are thinking, who the heck is this guy?” LOL!!

After being at the BBC for around 8 hours we all needed to unwind. And what better way to do that then with video cameras. (I really feel sorry for Heath who is going to go through all these tapes from the BBC and try to make sense out of what we were doing. LOL!)

The booth with freeze dried pets was our target. Interviewer Charlie was all over this. His first question was if they could stuff his Grandma! I bet they didn’t know what to think. HA!! In all seriousness, this organization provides a unique way to comfort people who’ve lost their pets.

It was now 9 p.m. – time to fill our bellies. And wouldn’t you know it, Hibachi Grill! We all sat around two grills eating sushi and watching our chefs flip knives, light onions on fire and cook us up something real nice – even better than, “Bork-Bork-Bork” – the Swedish Chef. And of course I had to yell, “Bonsai!” The cook asked me if I spoke Japanese and I told him, “No I speak Karate Kid.” HA!! I guess he didn’t know what kind of guest he was in for. Good Times!!

The next morning came way to quick! Corey and I got up early and hit the open road. We wanted to say our goodbyes but opted to let our friends snooze. I really wanted to shout “FIRE” right outside Sherb’s door and see if he came out sporting some BVDs. It would have been priceless!!

All Corey and I could do on the way home was talk about the great memories we made and super nice people we met. Two new phrases we learned from that weekend were, “Bloomer Crickets” and “Turn-a-beach.” We always say, “whip a Louie,” when we tell someone to turn up ahead. “Turn-a- beach” must be the Arkansas version. LOL!!

Overall, we had a wonderful weekend! We couldn’t have been in better company with such a great group of guys! Everyone was so welcoming to us and treated us like family. I know I personally look forward to all the camp fires, hunting trips, mountain sides and future endeavors we cross with these guys. Thank you to all the SB crew for such a great weekend!