Live for the season...

The Last Hoorah...

ll I guess I have put this one off long enough. My last deer hunt of 2009 was also my worst. One of the worst hunts I have had in a long time. So bad, it really tainted an otherwise awesome season for me. Other than repeat it to a few buddies, I really just haven't wanted to tell the story - but it's time to get it out of my system & move on to better things (turkey season)!

Saturday, Dec. 19th

After taking a few days off to recover from my Iowa trip, I decided to hit the woods again. I was really wanting to hunt an open stand - the skyscraper, where I had killed Freak in November, but it was raining so I chose to sit in my favorite shooting house which overlooks the same plot. I got settled in early & patiently waited for daylight. Action started out pretty slow, but then I spotted a spike and a few does behind me around 7:00. Even though I was focused on the deer behind me, I still tried to keep an eye out the front too. Then suddenly around 7:15, I was turning to check the front window & caught a glimpse of a big-bodied deer out of the corner of my eye.

I turned & got the binocs up in one fluid motion. What I saw shocked me - a big, old, mature buck with a huge rut-swelled neck attached to one of the largest clean 8 point racks I have ever seen on the hoof! He had walked up to the edge of the food plot, but instead of coming out into the field, he had turned & was following the fence directly away form me by the time I knew he was a shooter. At this time he was probably only 80 yards or so from me, but he was headed into some extremely thick cover. So I slid the front window open & quickly found him behind the cross-hairs of the Schmidt & Bender. The only problem was that I had NO shot - nothing but bits & pieces of deer and LOTS of brush in the scope. Finally, he moved in front of the only opening - about a 6" - 8" gap between 2 trees so I squeezed off a shot.

I thought he acted kind of odd at the shot. He didn't bolt & he sure didn't drop - he kind of jumped to the side, almost like he was flinching. I jacked another shell into the .300 Ultra Mag, but there was no way to get another shot off before he trotted out of sight. My gut feeling was that the outcome was not going to be good so I made myself sit tight for a few minutes before getting down to check for blood.

When I got to the spot where he had been standing, I could only find a handful of white hair - no blood. In my experience, white hair always = bad hit, so my heart sank a little further. After looking for a few more minutes, I eased over to the edge of the hill as quietly as possible. As soon as I peeked over, he bolted from cover less than 40 yards away. Yep, he was every bit as big as I thought! I turned around & ran around toward the point of the ridge, hoping I'd be able to pick him out as he entered the hardwoods from the thick brush.

Sure enough, I spotted him about 150 yards down the hill just as soon as I got back up to the edge. Believe it or not, he happened to stop about that time - the only problem was that he was once again behind some trees. Thinking he was already wounded, I put the scope on the only patch of deer hide I could find & squeezed off another round. I was shooting off-hand, and was just a little excited, but I felt steady & was surprisingly confident in my shot. But this time he did bolt at the shot, so once again my spirits sank.

I struck out down the hill to search for blood, but once again did not find a drop. So I did the only thing I knew to do - I started easing out the hillside in the direction he had run. I was hoping against hope to walk up on him dead, or at the very least to finally find some blood.

I had probably covered another 50 yards - moving as slowly & quietly as possible through the wet leaves - when, out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a deer... a BUCK! He was walking down the hill, about 50 yards out in front of me - in the same general direction as "my" buck had run. I lifted my gun & quickly found him in the scope. I only had a side view, but I saw several points so I thought "it's him!" & I shot.

I was kind of shocked when this time, the buck actually did what he was supposed to at the shot - he dropped! I rushed up to him, anxious to get my hands on that rack, and.... I almost dropped! I'm sure you have already guessed what had happened... I SHOT THE WRONG DEER! Instead of the massive 20" + mature buck I was expecting, I was staring down at a dink. :(( I had just killed one of the 2 1/2 year old 8 points I'd been watching all season. One of my deer that looked great from the side, but was only about 12" wide. In all my excitement & adrenaline rush from chasing the big deer, I just simply screwed up.

I know, I should have been pleased to be fortunate enough to fill my 3rd tag - a feat that many hunters would have loved to have accomplished this year. But honestly, I cannot remember a time in my nearly 30 years of deer hunting when I have been more disgusted with myself. Not only did I muff the shot on the biggest deer I had seen in Tennessee all season, but I also burned my last buck tag AND killed a beautiful young 8pt with great potential that I had already passed many times. Definitely NOT the way I wanted to end my year!

On my way back to the truck, I decided to stop and look at the spot where I had originally shot at the big deer. Not that I think I can't miss, but I was just dumbfounded by the morning's turn of events. This is what I found:

 

About a 6" tree that my bullet passed thru BEFORE striking the deer! Not sure how I missed that when I was first looking?? Apparently the bullet lost enough steam when passing thru the tree to be less than fatal when it finally did strike the deer. I guess that explained some of the morning's fiasco, but it sure didn't make me feel any better about it!

Oh, and I also found these while walking out:

 

 

Bigger rubs than anything we saw in Iowa. No doubt in my mind that they were made by the buck that I had just shot at - a definite bruiser! And no, finding these certainly didn't make me feel any better either!

I've tried to chalk this one up to a lesson learned. All in all, was still a great deer season - I just hate that it ended on such a sour note. I just keep telling myself that he wasn't hurt, he's still out there, and he'll be even bigger next year...

Iowa - Day 2 & 3

Sunday morning found me back on the North tract where I had killed deer the past 2 years. Even though we had seen a big 9pt there when we were scouting on Friday, I just didn't have as good of a feeling about that spot this year for some reason. I guess it was probably because the farmer had done some clearing & there just wasn't as much cover as in the past.

Rick dropped me off about an hour before daylight so I could take my time waking in. I finally got to my blind where my blind was supposed to be after about 20 minutes but it wasn't there! Luckily, I found it just a couple of minutes later. Apparently the wind had gotten up enough during the night to blow it down to the edge of a nearby ditch. I got it set back in place fairly quickly & got settled in for the long wait till daylight.

Other than 4 or 5 does & 1 small buck, my morning was pretty slow. I sent Rick a text & arranged for him to pick me up a little before 12 for a lunch break. After lunch, I decided to try something totally different for the afternoon hunt. I was going to set a blind in the middle of the corn field where we had seen the 2 big bucks while scouting on Friday. It would literally be stuck in the middle of the field with absolutely no cover around it. This was something that I'd never try at home - it seems to take our deer a couple of weeks to get used to a new blind. But, I knew from past experience that these Mid-Western deer weren't near as shy of blinds as our Tennessee deer for some reason. I also knew that we were expecting snow to start falling mid-afternoon. The blind would blend in perfectly if I could only get a coating of snow on it before the deer started hitting the field....

We got the blind set & covered it with corn stalks & cedar branches as best we could. I had to admit, from a distance it did look good - like a big round hay bale. But I still had my doubts as to whether or not the deer would spook from it.

I got settled in by 2:30 with high hopes, but didn't see my first deer until a little after 4:00. A small buck jumped the fence behind me, walked right past the blind and never even looked my direction! I couldn't believe it - this might actually work! By 4:30 it was snowing pretty hard & I had already had 5 does + the small buck walk right right past the blind. A couple of the does had actually walked within bow range of the blind & never even looked my direction! I remember thinking that this was already one of the coolest deer hunts I'd ever had - I was sitting in the middle of a corn field full of deer, in Iowa, in a snow storm, with a buck tag in my pocket - what could be better?!?

By 5:00 it was snowing even harder and the wind was blowing 25 - 30 mph, so I could only see clearly for about 100 yards. I just happened to glance to my left when I spotted a big-bodied deer coming into the field. I put the binocs on it & could just barely make out antlers. He had jumped the fence behind me just like the smaller buck & was walking past the blind on my left side. He was probably only 75 yards away but by the time I got my gun up he had dropped down into a small draw where I lost him in the blinding snow.

By this time I had nearly a dozen deer feeding out in front of the blind so I was confident that the buck would come out the other side of the draw & join them - he did! The only problem was that he was between 125 & 150 yards and both the wind & the snow had picked up even more. He finally stopped to feed when he got to the other deer. He was quartering away from me with his head upwind. I settled in behind the scope and waited till I felt rock-solid on the shooting stick before touching the trigger.

I knew immediately that I'd hit the deer solidly. I had actually heard the bullet hit (an unmistakably sound if you know what to listen for), but was a little concerned that he ran out of the field without dropping. I sent Rick a text at 5:07 saying "Got him" and then got out of the blind to look for blood. The only problem was that any blood he would have left was covered by the snow by the time I got there. I'm telling you, I'd never been in a blizzard before but I'm pretty sure this would have qualified! I couldn't believe how hard it was snowing!

After I struck out on finding blood, I started easing down the draw where the buck had run. I was really getting worried when I heard a deer crashing through the brush after I'd gone about 200 yards. I had a bad feeling that this was my buck so I immediately backed out & went to wait on Rick. We looked for blood in the field and the top of the draw for a few more minutes, but it was pointless. By this time we had 2 - 3 inches of blowing snow in the field so we decided that the best thing was to wait until morning.

Yes, it was a long night. I was confident that I'd hit the deer solidly, but just couldn't understand how he gone so far. I'd never had a deer run more than 50 yards after being hit with the Savage. The more I though about it, I was pretty certain that I'd hit the deer too far back. I could remember seeing the crosshairs resting solidly behind his shoulder before I shot, but given the distance of the shot & the high winds, I was really concerned that I hadn't allowed for the wind drift.

Our plan for the next morning was for me to go in before daylight and get in the blind where Rick had killed his deer and then he would go in after good light to look for the deer I had shot. His blind was probably a half mile from where I had shot my deer the night before, but the 2 spots were connected by a big draw that basically runs the length of the farm. We were pretty confident that Rick would either walk up on my dead deer or at least push him to me if he were still alive.

My view from Rick's blind right after daylight:

It was a long, uneventful morning. I only saw a few does as I anxiously awaited a message from Rick. I finally got the news from him at 10:15. His text read "Got him call". It turned out that the deer had only run another 100 yards or so after I jumped him the night before and it looked as if he had probably died before we had even left the farm. As I suspected, my bullet had indeed drifted to the right, hitting the buck in the left ham & angled up into his body cavity. Certainly a less than perfect shot, but it did prove to be leathal.

No monster by Iowa standards, but a nice 10pt that I was very proud of - iceing on the cake to end another great trip to Iowa!

And a little soemthing to look forward to next year - we got this guy on trail cam at Rick's blind the day AFTER he shot his buck. Another giant that will hopefully still be around next December!

Iowa - Day 1

Rick & I were fortunate enough to be invited back to hunt the same farm in Iowa for the 3rd time. So obviously we had been counting down the days all Summer and Fall and could not wait for the first weekend in December to get here! We finally got the truck pointed West & hit the road about 5:00 Thursday morning, December 3rd. The trip out was pretty uneventful other than our customary stop in Kansas City.

Friday morning found us up early & anxious to get to the farm. We stayed in a different town this year because we weren't able to get a room at our normal motel, so we had nearly an hour's drive every morning. We finally made it to the farm around 8:00, and immediately spotted a group of 3 bucks and 8 - 10 does together, and then another few does with a really nice 10pt. No absolute monsters, but definitely at least 1 shooter & we had only been on the farm for 30 minutes!

We spent the rest of Friday scouting, setting blinds, and moving a couple of ladder stands. We ended up seeing several more does & 1 other shooter buck - a big 9pt on the North tract where I had killed deer the 2 previous years.

Saturday (Opening) morning Rick decided to try a spot where we had never hunted before. We put his blind at the top of a bluff. He had thick woods in front of him and a creek crossing below him.

I chose to hunt a small draw below the corn field where we had seen the 10 pt the day before. This was also the same spot where Rick had killed his deer last year and also where Jeff had a mis-fire on a big 8pt last year.

I had seen several deer , including 2 small bucks from my stand when I got this text from Rick at 8:35 "Missed a monster". And then a few minutes later "Out in front very thick here". And then a few minutes later "He was 150 or bigger". And then a few minutes later "I hit him". And then a few minutes later:

An absolute GIANT! The story, as he later told was actually pretty good. He had 2 big bucks in front of him a little after 8:00 that started fighting. They were only about 75 yards up the hill from him, but the woods were so thick he could only make out bits and pieces of them. Finally, the bigger buck crossed a small opening & Rick knew that it was "now or never" so he took the shot. He reloaded, got out of the blind, and went to look for blood, but could not find a drop! After a few minutes of looking, he was certain that he had missed so he sent me the first message.

After Rick got back to his blind, he discovered that he had lost 1 of his gloves - his brand new very expensive gloves. So he got back out of the blind. As he was searching for the glove, he came across what he described as an "Interstate of blood" - so he sent me the message saying he had hit him . Then luckily he only had to follow the trail for 25 - 30 yards before finding his prize. 11 points, 156" gross - truly the buck of a lifetime for a deer hunter from Tennessee! Congrats again to Rick - it was definitely your turn!

Freak!

October 23rd

I took off a little early to spend the afternoon bow-hunting one of my favorite spots - the "new" food plot at the Grove. [it's not really new, but it was at one time a few years ago & the name just stuck] Movement had been pretty slow until this 9pt stepped out about 30 minutes before dark.

I could tell that he was one of the 9's from my trail cam pics. He had long beams & looked really good from the side, but he was nowhere near a shooter. I was almost certain that he was a young deer - pretty small body & no mass at all to his horns.

Well, I was perfectly content to watch the 9 & had done so for almost 30 minutes when I caught sight of another deer entering the plot from the South. I threw the binoculars up and think I said something like "WHOA!" as soon as I focused on him - a big, dark-colored body with a WIDE rack. Light was fading fast, but I was able to make out the rack fairly well through the Steiners. I was guessing 20" wide and... 6 points!?!? What?!? Yep, after studying him for a few minutes I was certain that he only had 6 points. Well, you know what - WHO CARES! This was the biggest dad-gum 6pt I had ever laid eyes on & I wanted him! Unfortunately, even though he was headed my way, it just got too dark to shoot before he got in range - it was even too dark to be able to get a picture of him :((

Fast forward a few days & I got a nice surprise on my trail cam in the "old" food plot (I know - our names at the farm are soooo original!).

Yep, it was him - only now I realized that he was only a 5pt! Well, you know what - WHO CARES! This was the biggest dad-gum 6pt 5pt I had ever laid eyes on & I wanted him! A big, old, mature buck - scarred up from fighting. I quickly named him Freak!

Well, fast forward again to Nov 5th. I had planned to hunt out of my lock-on on the opposite edge of the "new" plot from where I normally hunt. Unfortunately, I didn't realize until I had already gotten to the farm that I had forgotten to bring my lock-on. UGGGH - really now, who goes deer hunting & forgets their stand :(( Oh well, I decided to just hunt my 2nd favorite spot instead - the "old" food plot.

I think I got settled in around 2:00 & did not see a deer until 4:30. I looked up & there he was - a BIG, tall, wide-racked buck feeding my way. I knew it was him as soon as I put the binocs on him - Freak! I watched him feed for nearly 30 minutes & I don't mind telling that I got just a wee bit excited - ok VERY excited! That was probably the longest I had ever had to watch a "big" buck before getting a shot & I just went to pieces - it has been a very long time since I got that excited from just seeing a deer!

I had first spotted him at 4:30, feeding S L O W L Y my way. At about 5 minutes till 5:00 he had closed the distance to 50 yards. It was then that a second, smaller buck stepped out in the exact same spot where Freak had come from. Freak's hair immediately stood up on end, and he turned around and made a stiff-legged walk back to confront the other buck. Obviously, my spirits sunk - I only had 20 minutes or so of shooting light left so I figured my chance at getting a shot at him that afternoon had just passed. I even hung my bow back up, thinking "well at least I might get to watch him chase the other buck off...."

Much to my surprise, Freak's posture totally changed when he reached the smaller buck. It was almost like he suddenly realized that they were friends after all. He immediately went back to feeding, and once again started S L O W L Y heading my way. This time however, he did close the distance a little faster - he was back at 50 yards in only 15 minutes or so. Once again, I was preparing for the shot & trying to keep my composure. He finally took those last few steps I was needing - I took the shot we he turned broadside at about 30 yards. My shot was a little high but he dropped in his tracks! I could not believe it! Actually, my shot wasn't the best (remember, I had been suffering from just a small case of "buck fever" for the past 45 minutes), but I got him!

Definitely one of the coolest bucks I have ever killed. I'm pretty sure he is at least 4 1/2 years old, has some of the best mass of any Tennessee buck I have killed, and was obviously a warrior judging by all of the scars on his head & neck. Like I told my buddies, to kill an old monarch like this with a bow is the ultimate trophy to me, no matter what the rack looked like - he couldn't help what grew on his head!

Trail-cam Treats!

Apparently their is a big debate among hunters these days (like we need something else to argue about) about whether or not we should use trail cams. Some of the more traditional hunters say that this is just another example of how technology creates an unfair advantage and that you should just use "woodsmanship" and hunt the "old way". Well, I think anyone who knows me can predict my response - "whatever... each to his own... I'd rather go hunting than take the time to argue with a fellow hunter over his version of ethics".

For me, trail cams not only add another very exciting aspect to my hunting, but I really feel that they make me a better hunter. Every time I walk up to a camera & pull the memory card, it is truly like Christmas morning - the anticipation of getting a pic of a good buck is almost as exciting as actually hunting. And then, once you do get a shot of a good deer, trying to focus & hunt that 1 specific buck adds a whole new dimension to your season. I've found that hunting a specific "big" deer forces me to hunt smarter, use better woodsmanship, and pass on other "good" deer. So it's your choice: like 'em or hate 'em, love 'em or leave 'em - but trail cams have definitely found a permanent home on my farms!

I started getting pics of some pretty good deer about the time of our beach trip. As always, the most notable earned names for themselves:

Small 9

Big 9

Food-plot 8

And last (but CERTAINLY not least), hers a couple of Freak - you'll be hearing a lot more about Freak very soon :))

Craig Scores!!!

I was out of town the week after I killed my 8. The family & I made out annual pilgrimage to our favorite beach in the whole world - Amelia Island, Florida. While I did hate to take a week off from bow-hunting, we had an awesome time, as always, and it was nice to get away from everyday life for a change. Plus, I DID get to do a little "hunting" while I was down there - shark tooth hunting! No wall-hangers this year, but we manged to bring home a few keepers.

But as far as deer hunting went for that week, I was having to live vicariously through my buddies. Craig in particular was keeping a couple of my stands warm for me. This is Craig's first year to seriously bow hunt. Our original plan had been for him ease into bow-hunting this year by using my Hoyt & I was going to use the new Crow. Those plans went down the tubes when the Crow blew up & I had to take the Hoyt back over. But by then it was too late - he had the fever and quickly became the owner of a new Hoyt Alphamax!

I couldn't have been more excited for him when I woke up Oct 8th to this text message - "Jus smoked a buck real big body looked like main frame 8pt". Well he kept me on pins & needles for about an hour, but I finally got the pic!

This picture really doesn't do him justice - 9 points, over 17" wide, with good mass that carries all the way out. An incredible first bow deer! Congrats again buddy - very proud for you - just hate that I missed it!

Re-post in honor of tomorrow's Juvenile hunt

This weekend is one of 2 Juvenile deer hunts that Tennessee will have this year. Youth hunters, age 6 - 16 can kill 2 does and 2 bucks each weekend (total buck harvest cannot exceed 3). Man how things have changed since I was a youth hunter! We only got 1 weekend per season, were not eligible to participate until age 10, and then could only kill 1 deer of either sex. But still, for many young hunters (Me included) this was the biggest weekend of the year - just as exciting as Christmas!

My plans for the weekend (weather, Halloween, soccer, and other potential conflicts permitting) are to carry my Nephew Sam & my Molly Saturday morning. At this point, it looks like Sam will be the actual hunter, but I'm pretty sure Molly will be just as excited when she finds out that she gets to go with us too. I can guarentee you one thing - no matter how excited the kids are in the morning, neither will be as excited as yours truly :))

Here's a little walk down memory lane for you:

November 5th, 1981

A day that will live in infamy! As we approach the upcoming Juvenile Hunt weekend in TN, I find myself reflecting on the 7 years that I got to participate, and most especially, my first. My Dad introduced me to dove & squirrel hunting, but he was never a big game hunter. Luckily for me though, I had an Uncle (Dwain) who was an avid deer hunter. Somewhere around age 9, he told me that once I turned 10, if I took, and passed the Hunters' Safety Course, he would take me on the juvenile deer hunt. I took the week-long course sometime that next summer - I think I scored a 98 out of 100. Then, a few weeks before the scheduled hunt, Dwain took me out to shoot his Remington 788 .243. I did pretty good for my first time to shoot a high-powered rifle, but we soon discovered that I was really going to need a rest to shoot off of if I was actually going to hit a deer (a little foreshadowing - stay tuned :) )!

There was very little sleep the night before. Let me just say to those of you who just don't get it: For me, from age 10 thru 16, Juvenile hunt morning was bigger than Christmas morning! I looked forward to it all year, and then relished the memories & usually showed off the pics until the next year!

Fast forward to Friday night, Nov 4. I meticulously laid out all of my hunting cloths, including my brand new reversible camo / blaze-orange vest, complete with the Hunter Education patch that my Mom had sewn on the front. I really don't remember what all I wore that next morning, but I do remember that it wasn't enough - it was cold!

Dwain & I settled into a brush pile well before daylight the next morning. We were hunting a farm that belonged to my Grandfather and Great Uncle Knox. I really don't remember how long we sat, but I do remember FREEZING! Did I mention that it was cold? Eventually, a group of does came out in front of us. They couldn't have been over 40 or 50 yards away, but I had to shoot off-hand, and I was shaking just a little from the cold, and a lot from "buck fever". Well, I missed, and then missed another one a little later, and another one a little later. I'm pretty sure I had a rest on one of the last 2 misses - don't really know what happened... oh yea, the cold and the "buck fever"! :))

It was finally time to start heading back to the truck - plus Dwain's ears were probably ringing from all the shooting! Anyway, we had to pass a small hidden field on the way back to the truck. We stopped in the field road & Dwain told me to stay put while he snuck up to the fence-row to see if there were any deer in it. Sure enough, he motioned for me to follow & when I got to the fence-row, there were 3 does about 100 yards out. By some miracle, they stayed put while I got a rest on a fence post & found the biggest one in my scope. And, by an even bigger miracle - I HIT ONE!

Yep, this is the old girl who started it all! By the way, to a 10 year old camo is MUCH cooler than orange. That is why I just HAD to reverse my new vest before I let anyone make my picture! :)

Oh how I long for the days when I got that excited by just seeing, not to mention shooting a doe! That is truly what hunting is all about for me - a love and a passion that I find hard to express in words and one that I cannot wait to pass along to my children!

This weekend is one of 2 Juvenile deer hunts that Tennessee will have this year. Youth hunters, age 6 - 16 can kill 2 does and 2 bucks each weekend (total buck harvest cannot exceed 3). Man how things have changed since I was a youth hunter! We only got 1 weekend per season, were not eligible to participate until age 10, and then could only kill 1 deer of either sex. But still, for many young hunters (Me included) this was the biggest weekend of the year - just as exciting as Christmas!

My plans for the weekend (weather, Halloween, soccer, and other potential conflicts permitting) are to carry my Nephew Sam & my Molly Saturday morning. At this point, it looks like Sam will be the actual hunter, but I'm pretty sure Molly will be just as excited when she finds out that she gets to go with us too. I can guarentee you one thing - no matter how excited the kids are in the morning, neither will be as excited as yours truly :))

Here's a little walk down memory lane for you:

November 5th, 1981

A day that will live in infamy! As we approach the upcoming Juvenile Hunt weekend in TN, I find myself reflecting on the 7 years that I got to participate, and most especially, my first. My Dad introduced me to dove & squirrel hunting, but he was never a big game hunter. Luckily for me though, I had an Uncle (Dwain) who was an avid deer hunter. Somewhere around age 9, he told me that once I turned 10, if I took, and passed the Hunters' Safety Course, he would take me on the juvenile deer hunt. I took the week-long course sometime that next summer - I think I scored a 98 out of 100. Then, a few weeks before the scheduled hunt, Dwain took me out to shoot his Remington 788 .243. I did pretty good for my first time to shoot a high-powered rifle, but we soon discovered that I was really going to need a rest to shoot off of if I was actually going to hit a deer (a little foreshadowing - stay tuned :) )!

There was very little sleep the night before. Let me just say to those of you who just don't get it: For me, from age 10 thru 16, Juvenile hunt morning was bigger than Christmas morning! I looked forward to it all year, and then relished the memories & usually showed off the pics until the next year!

Fast forward to Friday night, Nov 4. I meticulously laid out all of my hunting cloths, including my brand new reversible camo / blaze-orange vest, complete with the Hunter Education patch that my Mom had sewn on the front. I really don't remember what all I wore that next morning, but I do remember that it wasn't enough - it was cold!

Dwain & I settled into a brush pile well before daylight the next morning. We were hunting a farm that belonged to my Grandfather and Great Uncle Knox. I really don't remember how long we sat, but I do remember FREEZING! Did I mention that it was cold? Eventually, a group of does came out in front of us. They couldn't have been over 40 or 50 yards away, but I had to shoot off-hand, and I was shaking just a little from the cold, and a lot from "buck fever". Well, I missed, and then missed another one a little later, and another one a little later. I'm pretty sure I had a rest on one of the last 2 misses - don't really know what happened... oh yea, the cold and the "buck fever"! :))

It was finally time to start heading back to the truck - plus Dwain's ears were probably ringing from all the shooting! Anyway, we had to pass a small hidden field on the way back to the truck. We stopped in the field road & Dwain told me to stay put while he snuck up to the fence-row to see if there were any deer in it. Sure enough, he motioned for me to follow & when I got to the fence-row, there were 3 does about 100 yards out. By some miracle, they stayed put while I got a rest on a fence post & found the biggest one in my scope. And, by an even bigger miracle - I HIT ONE!

Yep, this is the old girl who started it all! By the way, to a 10 year old camo is MUCH cooler than orange. That is why I just HAD to reverse my new vest before I let anyone make my picture! :)

Oh how I long for the days when I got that excited by just seeing, not to mention shooting a doe! That is truly what hunting is all about for me - a love and a passion that I find hard to express in words and one that I cannot wait to pass along to my children!

Sooooooo far behind.....

At this point I am resigned to the fact that I will never get caught up on my daily journal posts for the past month which really sucks! Not only do I enjoy recapping my hunts just to tell others my hunting "stories", but I also enjoy looking back & reading about past year's hunts - because there are always details & highlights that you forget about after time. Oh well - so I'm going to just post the highlights until I can get caught back up & then try my best to do a better job of journaling. Thank you for your patience Oh Faithful Few Readers!

Wednesday, Sept 30th

Lee & I met around 2:30 Wednesday afternoon. We were planning to hunt the hilltop stand on my Grandfather's place. Lee was going to sit in the 15ft ladder to film while I would be a few feet above him in my Lone Wolf lock-on. All went well & we got settled into the stands by 3:30. The way we were set up, Lee was in the ladder facing East while I was in another tree right next to him facing West. My tree was so close to his, I was actually able to just climb up the ladder stand and step over into my lock-on.

Things were pretty slow until I spotted a small 6pt about 5:30. He was coming from behind me on the left side which would be in front & to Lee's right. I quickly got Lee's attention and pointed to the buck. I saw Lee start to get the camera up, so I assumed he saw the buck and all was good. After just a minute or 2, I spotted some movement behind the 6 and then a few seconds later that movement turned into horns! I knew he was a shooter before I ever even saw the whole rack. Big, tall frame and beams that seemed to go F O R E V E R ! By this point, the 6 was probably 20 yards down the hill to my left and the bigger deer was closing fast. The 6 must have caught a whiff of our scent because he suddenly threw his head up, took a couple of bounds down the hill, stopped, and looked back up at us. Of course the bigger deer froze and just stared at the 6 - I'm sure he was wondering what the heck was going on.

Finally after a minute or 2 (seemed like an hour), the bigger deer took a couple of steps which was just enough to give me a clear shot. I eased my bow back, settled my 25yd pin on his shoulder, and touched my release. Funny - I thought as I was drawing, "I should really make sure that Lee has him on camera before I shoot", but then I thought "na, this deer is standing in the open at 25yds - OF COURSE he has him on camera!"

Both deer ran at the shot - I could see the arrow sticking out of his shoulder as he ran down the hill. First thoughts were that the shot was a little far forward and that I didn't get a pass-thru, but I still got the boiler room so he was still a dead deer! I turned to Lee and said "GOT HIM!", then I'm pretty sure my jaw dropped when Lee said "I never saw the deer!".

HUH? WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU NEVER SAW THE DEER? Apparently there was a limb on the tree that I was in that almost had Lee's view to the right completely blocked. He said "I was on the 6 - at first I thought you were just practicing drawing on the 6 to see if you could get pulled back without him seeing you. Then I could tell you were about to shoot & I thought surely he's not gonna shoot that 6!" Oh well, we didn't get "the shot", but we did get the deer!

Honestly, I didn't even try to blood trail him. He ran downhill to a big hill-side pasture & even though I didn't see him fall, I knew that he had to be dead in the field. He just would not be able to carry a 2" Rage cut any further than that. Sure enough, I had only walked about 50 yards out into the pasture when I spotted horns sticking up about the grass - always a beautiful sight! Here's a pic from where he fell:

And 1 more that shows off those LONG main beams:

I have not had a tape anywhere near him so I can't give you any more details than this - definitely my best buck by bow and 1 that I am very proud of, a big thick-chested mature deer, and an awesome hunt that was shared with a buddy which made it even better!

Monday, Sept 28th

Monday morning - Brian hunted a ladder stand just outside of the "original" food plot at the Grove while I hunted the "new" food plot. I think Brian saw a couple does, and I only saw 2 as well - pretty slow morning.

Monday afternoon - Craig & I headed back to the Grove to hunt the "new" food plot. Craig would be the shooter today - he was in the 20" ladder, and I was a few feet above him in my Lone Wolf lock-on.

My buddy Tim had hunted this spot the afternoon before & had seen several deer, including some small bucks, so we decided to give it another try. This is also the spot where we had killed the buck on video last year on an afternoon hunt, so we had high hopes of a repeat!

Brian decided to try the milo stand in my river bottom. This spot had yet to be hunted, but we could tell from the sign that it was getting absolutely hammered by deer! This particular stand is a Summit "Deer Deck" lock-on. It has a big platform, and is rock solid. But, I will admit, I did hang it a little high :)) . To start out, I have a 12' section of old ladder propped up against the tree, then on top of that I have a 15' climbing stick, then finally just a few more feet of screw-in steps to get you where you need to be. Oh, and did I mention the poison ivy that has made a nice home in this particular tree... or the nice little breeze gale force wind that was blowing that afternoon?? Well, apparently Brian isn't too fond of heights. I had just settled into my stand when I got this text from him:

"I'm skeerd to death in this thing!!! I think I can see the beach from here!!!"

So I tried my best not to scare off any deer by laughing as I read it & showed it to Craig, but then I totally lost it when I got this one:

"The deer will look like ants from here. No wonder u missed!!!!" [I missed a doe from that stand last January] "Its hard to shoot straight down!!!! OMG the wind started blowing. Hard to text and hug the tree!!!!"

By now, me and Craig are really having a good laugh at our poor buddy's expense so I fire back:

"Craig said quit cryin an kill something!"

To which Brian replies:

"I don't think u really hunt out of this stand. Just a joke to play on the fear of hights, poison oak sensitive visitors on a windy day!!!"

Not long after that, he sends another text saying that he's seen a couple bucks and some does. So I replied, asking if he had a shot. His reply:

"Hard to shoot while 2 hands holding tree for dear life"

So now I'm starting to get a little worried - still laughing uncontrollably, but a little worried. I ask:

"Are u not wearing harness?"

To which he replies:

"U out of your mind of course I'm wearing harness. Kidding about hugging tree.......well sort of:)"

Oh me - I don't think I have ever laughed so much while hunting! Apparently he did turn loose of the tree long enough to shoot though - he laid the smack down on this nice young buck about an hour before dark.

Congrats again buddy, and thanks for the entertainment that afternoon! :))

Craig & I only saw 1 doe that afternoon - maybe it was all the laughter coming from our tree??? :)) We did, however see 4 big long-beards. They entered the plot on the opposite & fed across strait toward us. They eventually ended up right under us giving Craig a great shot - he managed to clip a few feathers, but no turkey dinner :(( Oh well, still a great evening in the woods shared with good friends!

Friday, Sept 25th - Sunday, Sept 27th

My plans were to climb up a tree with my nephew Keith Opening morning & try to film him shooting something. Keith has only bow hunted a few times before & has never killed anything with a bow so we both had high hopes for Saturday morning. He & Rick had been getting trail cam pics of some really nice bucks at the edge of a food plot on a pretty regular basis, so that is where we planned to hunt.

I met Keith at the farm around Noon on Friday. We needed to trim 1 more limb for the camera stand & then we were also wanting to practice shooting a few times out of the stand since it is so high. You see, this particular stand started out as a 15 ft ladder stand but has since had 2 additional sections of ladder added to it - so it now stands 25 feet to the platform!

To say that I was disappointed with the forecast for Opening Day of bow season was an understatement! We were supposed to have a front come through not long after daylight. Before then, temps would be in the mid-70's with near 100% humidity. After that, we would be getting heavy rain for the remainder of the day.

Despite the forecast, Saturday morning dawned surprisingly calm. Hot and humid, but calm. Although the radar did look quite ominous - I figured we'd at least get to hunt till 9 or 9:30 before the rain hit. I met Keith at the farm at 5:15 and we were settled into our stands well before daylight. We had seen 2 deer driving in, including a pretty nice looking buck, but did not see a deer from the stand. Our only excitement was when a flock of turkeys came out under us around 8:00. Keith just missed a hen (we can kill either sex during archery season) at about 20 yards, but the camera man (ME) missed the entire thing! Who knew you had to push that little red button to make it record????

The weather did blow through by Saturday afternoon, but I was not able to hunt. Instead of hunting, I had the pleasure [insert mild sarcasm] of attending my 20th high school reunion. Who plans a reunion for the Opening Day of deer season anyway???

Sunday morning found me hunting alone at the Grove. I was hunting a new ladder stand that Tim & I had put up the week before. This spot is on a side of the farm that we almost never hunt. Not really sure why we don't hunt it more because Tim & I found a ton of acorns and a lot of really good deer sign. This stand was another 15ft ladder. I really like these ladder stands because they are fairly easy to set-up and even easier to hunt out of, but I have never really felt like they are high enough to bow hunt out of. Of course there are some exceptions, but in most cases you'll get picked off pretty quick when trying to draw a bow in open woods when only 15ft up in the air. Sure enough, I had some does come through about 8:00 and they spotted me about the time I saw them. I don't think they ever quite knew what to think about me, but they did vacate the premises pretty quickly.

Sunday afternoon my buddy Brian & I both hunted my Grandfather's place. Brian had come in that afternoon to hunt with me for a few days. I was hunting the creek stand where most of my trail cam pics had come from & Brian was hunting the hill-top stand that Lee & I had hung a couple weeks before. I ran does out going in, but soon had more deer under me munching acorns. They had been there for about 30 minutes when 1 started blowing & they all ran. I knew from the wind direction that they hadn't smelled me, so I was a bit confused as to what went wrong until I saw a coyote a few yards up the hill behind me. Well, no more deer after Mr. Yote, but I did have a BIG flock of turkeys come through about 30 minutes later. I had 1 step into the open about 15 yards in front of my stand & just couldn't resist - I barely missed a little high. Most of the birds didn't know what had happened so the just kind of milled around & then headed back my way a couple minutes later. This time I center-punched a big 'ole hen at 25 yards! Plus, I managed to get both the miss & the kill shot on video - not too bad for self-filming! I'll try to post the video on here in a few days if I can figure out how...

Brian saw several deer as well, including at least 1 small buck so we both planned to hunt the same stands the next morning. So far so good for our 2009 season...