Every industry has standards. Ratings, durability, adaptations and specifications come with every product, from cars to canned food. In the hunting world, the shelves are stocked with products…but how do you know what is the best one to use?
What happens when the lab tests aren’t enough, and it’s time for your gear to be practical and exceed expectations?
Those are the instances where the pretenders are separated from the contenders.
Millennium’s products not only meet, but exceed their industry standards. The truest test of Millennium products is their field performance. Every day, hunters entrust their health, safety and fruitful harvest to the quality Millennium products that they have with them during their pursuit.
Tales from the wilderness are the best gauge of a hunter’s confidence, so why not go straight to the source?
To find out just how versatile and capable Millennium products are in the field, we talked with Arron Bleise, an industry-renowned videographer and hunter.
Bleise grew up in central Michigan and has hunted since he was in high school. His first experience behind the camera came when he was only 16. He filmed one of his hunts for a production class, and his teacher encouraged him to edit the video. The end result was magical. Bleise was hooked.
Since then, Bleise has traveled from the tundra of Alaska to the rugged terrain of Italy to film hunts. He also is the editor and producer of popular hunting show “Rival Wild” on the Sportsman Channel. In the past year, he started The Fall Podcast, a podcast all about hunting whitetails.
In Bleise’s words, he eats, sleeps and breathes whitetails.
“I’ve traveled the world and filmed all kinds of exotic hunts for crazy animals in crazy locations,” he said. “At the end of the day though, I will always get the biggest thrill out of hunting whitetails. I think about them 365 days a year, and when I’m not behind the camera, I’m behind the weapon. It’s an addiction.”
He swears by his practices and tactics…and says that Millennium products are essential to his success.
Bleise gives credit to Millennium for the harvest of his biggest buck to date.
It was the final week of the 2015 season in Missouri, and Bleise had a bow…and a plan.
“We knew that we had all week to hunt, but the first five days had just a brutal wind,” he said. “We sat all five of those days in a high-rise style observation stand, and we were able to pattern out the deer quite well. They all funneled into a field at the same time every night, and we wanted to get closer to them. That was where we had to be mobile.”
Thanks to his Millennium M60, mobility was more than one option. It was the best option.
“We headed out on the sixth day, and sure enough, the wind swung around from north to south. We picked a tree, and it was a good size, but the branches and crookedness did not make it conducive for a stand. But I had to get in there,” he said. “I started climbing and said that I’d figure it out when I got up high enough.”
Once the tree was scaled, Bleise said that his M60 was no problem at all to hook to the tree.
“The receiver system on the Millennium stands is unmatched in the industry,” he said. “We probably had no business sitting there, but our M60 kept us in the game.”
Like clockwork, the deer began filing down to their food source as the sun sank down. This time, the wind was right, and so was Bleise’s aim. Just before dusk, he sent a monster to the promised land.
The buck, which was a 4 and a half-year-old mature Midwest buck. When breaking down his hunt more in-depth, Bleise raved about his Millennium products that he used.
“That stand can change location with you so quickly, it’s crazy,” he said. “I needed to bounce up a tough tree in that hunt, and it answered the call. That’s been the case in many other hunts, too…it’s just so responsive.”
Stealth is another aspect that didn’t go overlooked by Bleise in his experiences.
“What a quiet stand that is,” he said. “So often, you get a creak or a noise when you’re unfolding everything, but not with Millennium. These stands are quiet, compact, and effective.”
“At the end of the day, I’m just an all-around firm believer in Millennium,” Bleise said. “I’ve been a lot of places and seen a lot of things, and their products seem to excel whenever and wherever I need them.”
Take it from a man who has dedicated his life to fascinating over the art of the hunt: Millennium won’t let you down.