Nashville, TN – The Union Sportsmen’s Alliance’s award-winning hunting and fishing TV series, Brotherhood Outdoors, will feature Montgomery, Illinois, resident Stephen Lefaver as he attempts to harvest his first Montana buck at 11 a.m. ET on Sunday, March 15 on the Sportsman Channel.
As Director of Training for Painters District Council 30’s Joint Apprenticeship & Training Fund (JATF), Lefaver prepares apprentices for future careers while supporting the community by giving them the chance to earn credit toward graduation by volunteering their trade skills to assist churches, homeless shelters and other non-profit organizations, including the Union Sportsmen’s Alliance (USA).
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An avid sportsman working to pass America’s outdoor traditions on to his children, Lefaver joined the USA “to be a part of the only conservation organization that highlights the union workers and their families and organizes community projects to put our skills to use for conservation initiatives.”
Unlike many sportsmen, Lefaver didn’t grow up in a family of hunters and anglers but had to learn on his own through trial and error.
“Growing up in the Chicago suburbs, the outdoors weren’t necessarily right out our back doors,” Lefaver said. “I was lucky enough to live near a pond where I learned to fish. [Wisconsin] is where my passion for the outdoors really began.”
With his family and fellow union members as top priorities, Lefaver doesn’t get a lot of time to hunt these days, especially out of state. Upon learning all Lefaver does to give back to others, the Brotherhood Outdoors crew decided a four-day Montana deer hunt would be a well-deserved respite.
The excitement of the November 2014 trip began right away as Lefaver, along with Brotherhood Outdoorsco-hosts Daniel Lee Martin and Julie McQueen, spotted elk, mule deer and pronghorn on the drive from the airport to Bearpaw Outfitters. The anticipation of a trophy buck continued when they spotted 72 deer on the first day and learned from the guide that Lefaver’s deer permit was good for a whitetail or a mule deer.
“So by now, I’m feeling like a kid on Christmas Eve with a wish list a mile long and not sure of what I was going to get,” Lefaver said.
With so many deer in the area, Lefaver and the crew continued to hold out for a monster buck, until it came down to the wire. After hiking 4-5 miles around ridgelines and through draws on that last morning, they spotted a shooter buck at 800 yards out. They raced to the creek, but their shooter buck disappeared into the thicket, this time at about 300 yards away. They waited and hoped for a shot as the buck came out of the thicket chasing his doe four times.
“Before they got to the creek, they both stopped about 325 yards way,” said Lefaver. “Once I knew this was our shooter, I told the cameraman that I was going to take the shot.”
Will Lefaver harvest his Montana buck in the final hour of his trip? Tune in to Brotherhood Outdoors at 11 a.m. ET on Sunday, March 5 on the Sportsman Channel to find out.
Winner of “Best Combination Show” in the 2011 Sportsman Choice Awards,Brotherhood Outdoors awards union sportsmen and women who are committed to preserving North America’s outdoor heritage with a guided hunting or fishing trip or the opportunity to show off their own guiding skills on national TV.
Presented by Bank of Labor, Brotherhood Outdoors is also sponsored by the following unions, contractors and corporate partners: Buck Knives, Burris/Steiner, Carhartt, International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers, International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, National Electrical Contractors Association, and United Association/International Training Fund.
For more information about Brotherhood Outdoors, the Union Sportsmen’s Alliance or Sportsman Channel, visit http://www.BrotherhoodOutdoors.tv/ and www.facebook.com/brotherhoodoutdoorstv.