Whitetail Destruction Hosts First BanquetMENTONE - Nearly 300 hunters gathered in Mentone Saturday night for the first annual Team Whitetail Destruction banquet.
The Team is a team of hunters consisting of 10 full-time members and about 30 associate members. The local hunting team records its deer and turkey hunts.
The banquet was a fundraiser for the team so it can buy its first professional camera. The team wants to eventually have its own hunting show. It plans to make and release a DVD of its hunts.
Saturday's four-hour banquet opened its doors at 5:45 p.m. Until the food was served about an hour later, attendees could walk around and look at the various displays on hand, play games, buy raffle tickets or bid on auction items.
Around the Mentone Community Emergency Services Building, mounts of deer, turkeys and other game decorated the bay.
Paul Fites, Wild Wings Taxidermy, Akron, had a large display of his work that included three deer and a coyote. He said it took him a week and a half to build, including all the different mounts and scenery.
He's been a taxidermist for 11 years, and has been a hunter since 1979. Fites said he was impressed with the first annual banquet.
"I think it's great for the first go-around," Fites said. "I think it kind of took Terry (Engstrand) by surprise the way it took off. I'm happy for them. It's a good deal."
Engstrand is one of the founders and organizers of Team Whitetail Destruction.
Another taxidermist displaying his work was Max Huffman, Whitetail Taxidermy, Rochester.
One of Huffman's displays was the heads of two bucks locked together by their horns. The mount was an award winner for Huffman at the Indiana Taxidermy Association Show.
Having spent 25 years in his craft, Huffman said, he does everything from African game like Zebras to deer and turkeys.
To decide what table would eat first at the banquet, diners were asked to donate money in coffee cans to send children to Camp Mollenhour. The table with the most donation got to eat first. By the time it was all collected, enough money was raised to send two kids to the camp.
Brian Barns grew up in the Mentone area, but now lives in Valparaiso. A big hunter, he came to the banquet after his brother told him about it.
"I've been to a few Ducks Unlimited meetings, and this is real nice," Barns said of the banquet. "It's set up real nice."
He said he liked the displays and camaraderie the best.
Brian and Sarah Hite, Cromwell, attended Saturday's event after finding out about it on the Internet.
Brian has been a hunter for 25 years and enjoyed the whole banquet.
"It's not too bad for a first year really," he said.
He is on a Ducks Unlimited committee, and, he said, they have a banquet each year like it.
"It's nice and open and everyone can get around and see everything. They have some pretty good games it looks like," Brian said of the Whitetail banquet.
Sarah goes out hunting with her husband when she can. The couple have three little boys, so she can't make it out too often. However, when the boys are old enough, she said, they will all go out hunting as a family.
She prefers hunting turkey.
"That's more intense than anything else," Sarah said.
Brian goes to Missouri for turkey hunting with some buddies who live there. For deer, he said, he hunts in Northern Indiana. On Dec. 27, 2009, Brian shot his biggest deer, a 166, which is in the North American Record Book.
During the meal, Engstrand talked about the Team. He said, like everyone else at the banquet, the team members grew up hunting, often with family. They decided to start the team, and decided to have a big buck contest about five months ago.
For the team, Engstrand said, they wanted 10 guys who were serious about deer hunting. As time went along, they had 10 full-time members and 30 associate team members, but expect that to grow.
"The 10 guys we've selected, we've been real happy with," Engstrand said.
The team members are recording footage of their hunts, with the goal of having their own television show.
"The money raised tonight will go toward that. Tonight, we hope to raise enough money for our first professional camera. They cost $6,000 to $8,000," he said.
Before presenting the awards, Engstrand thanked the sponsors.
"We got a lot of help from Albertson's Sports Shop this past year," he said.
Other sponsors included Mathews, Whitetail Institute, Wild Wings Taxidermy, Hunter Safety System, Bass & Buck, Flat Deerheads, Signs & Designs by Lewis, Mission Archery, Whitetail Taxidermy, Craig Welding & Manufacturing, C'Mere Deer, Snyder Heating & Cooling, Mossy Oak, Bulldog Saloon, Burt Coyote Lumenok, House of Decor, Wildlife Research Center, Snyder Racing, Acu Lok and Muzzy.
For the awards, Tyler Huffman was recognized as being in first place this year with overall points. Stuart Eherenman had the longest antler tine, and Nick Huffman had the widest inside spread.
