Donna Siggelow – Pennsylvania

Cancer Survivor Gets Second Chance at Hunting

Seeing is believing, and Imperial Whitetail Clover sure made a believer out of me. I started hunting in 1991 with my new husband, Ray. Ray had a real nice camp up near Tionesta, Pa. We hunted all over those mountains and even in the tornado area. Hunting was good because we always brought deer home for the family, and we enjoyed the mountains as much as anything.

The trips to the mountains came to an end on Valentine’s Day of 2000, when I was diagnosed with lung cancer. One third of my right lung had to be removed, and this changed our lives completely. Ray had taught me to hunt, and I still wanted to get out in the field. So I hunted the following year same as usual. I just didn’t have the strength or air supply but Ray pulled me up the hills with a rope and helped as much as possible. He would even carry my gun home at night.

We also hunted the Yellow Hammer area which had a lot of flat ground, but my favorite spots had all been timbered, and this made it hard to walk through. I’ll never forget opening day that year. I attempted to go a little further in the timbered area and ended up huffing and puffing and just plain frustrated.

I stopped to rest when I heard a man say, “Hey lady I’ll help you drag your deer out, hold on.”

I replied, “I’m not dragging a deer. I’m dragging myself out of these woods.”

It was a definite struggle. I laughed at the time for the man was right. I must have been a sight. Ray found me and said, “That’s it, you can’t hunt here anymore. I’m sorry, it’s just too hard on you, with your health condition.”

That ended my 10-year mountain hunting, so I put my head down gracefully and dragged myself out of Yellow Hammer with great sadness. I finished out the last few hunting days I had left … in the backyard.

At present I still work a full-time job and save my vacation for hunting season. In 1999 we had moved to Mercer, Pa., and made a home in an old cow pasture and corn field. We have 38 acres with a small woods on one side of the property. I sat on a gas line from 6 a.m. till 5 p.m. for two days straight and saw nothing, not even a rabbit. Once again I left the woods feeling low.

I said to Ray, “Now what will I do, I won’t be able to hunt anymore.”

Ray replied, “I’ll make you a hunting spot in the back woods and bring the deer to you since you can’t go to them anymore.”

The hunting camp in the mountains was sold, and that was very, very sad, to say the least. It ended a big chapter in our lives. We had been married only ten years and this health condition put a damper on everything, as it does with every cancer patient and their family.

But lo and behold, Ray kept his word and did bring the deer to me. Ray had read in a newspaper about the Whitetail Institute and their Imperial Whitetail Clover. He called and spoke with a representative and got a lot of information about their clover and their other products. Ray then ordered a couple bags of Imperial Clover and told me his plan. He was going to make a couple of food plots for the deer which would encourage them to come to my area of the woods.

In the spring Ray pulled out the plow and went to work. Before I knew it the Imperial Clover was in, and a short time later it started sprouting. At first I wasn’t an Imperial Clover believer, I admit to that; but the deer sure changed my mind. By summer the Imperial Clover plot was big and beautiful. It looked like a special green carpet in the woods. When we walked down to check on the plot, we saw tracks of deer and turkey feathers. Now I was starting to get excited.

Come fall, Ray saw a lot of turkeys and deer in the Imperial Clover plot. I thought to myself, “Maybe the Imperial Clover plot is my second chance to hunt again and bring a deer home, without huffing and puffing.”

On my birthday Oct. 8, 2001, I received a 10-foot tree stand. Now where do you think my husband placed the tree stand? He put it right off the gas line, where I had already spent two days hunting and seen absolutely nothing.

In a very loud voice I said, “Why would you ever put my tree stand there? I sat there for 10 1/2 hours each day, for two days straight and saw nothing.”

My good husband replied, “The clover will draw the deer to you, and they’ll funnel through the woods, just wait and see. I have faith in it.”

Well, I did wait, and during the 2002 hunting season, deer did come my way. I took two does that year. One doe was huge – it had a 42-inch chest. Ray was right, the Imperial Clover was working. I even saw a flock of turkey there and rabbits were hopping all through the clover. Ray also brought home two does. The next spring he planted another Imperial Clover plot and bought some Cutting Edge to supplement the deer with minerals and vitamins.

In the 2003 hunting season, I brought home a nice 7-point and two more does. Ray got a dandy 7-point buck in archery season and attributes this to the Imperial Clover plots and the Cutting Edge mineral/vitamin program. The next spring he decided to plant two more food plots over by his tree stand for good measure.

This past 2004 hunting season was the ultimate hunt of all my 13 years of hunting. Once again, Ray did very well when he brought home a dandy 8-point on opening day and later in the week, a huge doe with a 40-inch chest. They were both very impressive deer.

Needless to say, Ray was super excited. On opening day, up in my little tree stand, I took the trophy buck of my lifetime. I brought home a beautiful 15-point buck with a 46-inch chest. I must admit this was one beautiful, fantastic buck. His antlers were equally impressive. The circumference between G2 and G3 was 7 inches on the left side and 6 1/2 inches on the right side.

Seeing is believing, and I saw with my own eyes. One thing you should know – I’m a 58-year-old female and I shoot a .308 caliber rifle. Not too bad for a grandma. Ray and I love to feed our families with the deer we get.

My 15-point buck caused a lot of excitement in the area to say the least. I named the buck Ramo, and he is being mounted and will long be remembered for years to come. So will the Whitetail Institute’s Imperial Whitetail Clover.

I salute the Whitetail Institute of North America because, in my opinion, the Imperial Clover gave me a second chance to hunt again. Not only did I see deer, but I also filled my tags and got a trophy buck in my own back yard.