Ahh, That's More Like It

So after last week's disappointing try at getting pictures in the woods this week proved to be a bit more interesting. Seems as though the new camera position and new tree stand may be a bit more interesting. First came the turkeys, the morning after I set up the cam:

Then came the neighbor's son, clearing the trail:

And then it got more interesting yet:

yep, that's the neighbor coming down the trail:

Ahh, but then a few days later things really got interesting:

And more the next day:

And the parade went on:

And even more activity:

And more yet a couple days later:

And more. Notice it's all turkeys and does, but where there are does bucks are sure to (eventually) follow. Looks like the new spot may hold some promise if I can only break away for some hunting.

Stupid, Lame, Knucklheaded Doofus ...

... That would be me. Went out hunting with me brother, Pops, November 3rd at the uncle's place in Lansing and boy what a chance I wasted.

The day started with a ride up and many discussions as he and I are apt to have, about work and Church and life and family. The drive up was worth the trip alone frankly. Then we arrived at the uncle's and backed in only to find the tractor path had been quite wet and the truck suck into the mud. Undeterred, we simply hopped out and got to the business we were there for, hunting, figuring we'd deal with being stuck later. it's good to have a farming uncle near by, tractors and all!

First thing we notice is hunters across the field. Then we hear a turkey cluck just 50 yards or so away but out of sight. Tried a few clucks and a bit of calling but she flew the coop, so to speak, so we grabbed our bows and headed in. He headed to the lower corner of the woods and I to the upper. About half way in just as I passed by the cabin he called to say a deer had kicked out my way but it musta veered 'cause I never saw it. Then as I neared the corner spot a doe came tearing out of the corner of the field (if I had been in place she would have flattened me) and headed towards Pops so I gave him a whisper on the talkies and kept moving. About 20-30 seconds later a second doe came tearing down with a 6-point hot on her tail and, again, headed right for Pops so I gave him another notice and continued. Then just moments after they went out of sight she reappears headed straight for me. And I'm just sauntering, with the bow at my side. So I froze and watched as she veered back towards the corner with the buck still in pursuit but falling a bit behind. As they pass I get out an arrow and get the bow in the correct hand and all but before I could complete getting ready the had made another lap so I froze again. After they passed again I quickly moved to about 10 yards from their loops, got set, drew an arrow and started following the buck's path. True to form they made a third loop and just as they turned broadside I whistled causing her to stop dead. Unfortunately the buck didn't care and kept tearing towards her so I quickly re-targeted on her and let loose ..... just as he got close enough to get her moving again, so I watched the arrow fly directly between them and disappear under the leaves. The buck and doe, still seemingly oblivious to me, then did a partial loop and turned and ran onto a neighboring hunt-club property. I never did find the arrow.

Well, as one might imagine this really got the heart rate up and I quickly walked the 70 yards to my corner spot and got set. Fifteen or twenty minutes later a yearling wandered into the field, just 45 yards away. Shortly after its momma came out as well and they had breakfast whilst ignoring a carefully orchestrated set of bleats and grunts from me until I heard a noise to me left. turning slowly, I caught site of three doe emerging from the brush with the front-runner walking right up 15 yards from me. Looking in my direction. Fortunately she noticed the two deer in the field and, while she was checking them out I drew another arrow and took aim. Umm, and took a shot. And she did what every other deer I've ever taken with a bow has done- ran a short distance and then stood there looking back in the general direction the noise came from (i.e. directly at me) and fortunately there happened to be a tree between her and me that blocked all but my bow from her. The other three doe (yep, there was a fourth doe with them that hadn't come into view until now) ran, each in a different direction so I stood still and waited. And waited. And waited. But she wouldn't drop and didn't give me a second shot. After about 20 minutes of a stand-off I heard a loud snort right behind me and slowly (VERY slowly) turned and saw three more doe who had wandered down the field edge. And they were looking right at me. And snorting. And they started across the field, watching me all the while and stopping every 20-30 yards and snorting some more. Eventually the two deer already in the field joining those three and, at that time, the deer I had shot at took a little jog towards Pops but never gave me another shot.

I went over to where she was standing to figure out what happened only to find no blood, not even a drop. Went back to where I took the shot, same thing. Looked around and located the arrow only to find a bit of white hair and a sliver of skin. After thinking about it a bit (post-accident reconstruction) I realized that, in my adrenaline hag-over from the earlier event, I had failed to follow through on my shot procedure and skipped one critical step- i hadn't touched my nose with the bow string, causing the shot to go low. From the evidence at hand it appears I gave her no more than the equivalent o a paper cut.

And there's more. After I told Pops about my adventures over the walkie I found out he had a 4-6 point buck walk up 10 yards behind him while he was watching for one of the deer I told him was coming his way but he never got a shot. So he started working his way up towards me. Some time after that I saw a 6-point 45 yards away with his nose to the ground, pushing leaves aside as he followed a doe's trail. No amount of bleating or grunting was sufficient to deter him from his intended path and he was too far into the hunt-club property for me to walk over and take a shot so off he went. Then I looked downhill only to see two deer about 100 yards away walking towards the cabin so I told Pops about 'em and tried some calls to get their attention. Shortly after they looped back and then looped again at about 70 yards away, then looped again to about 120 yards away. yes, the woods were full of loopy deer that day. You heard it here first!

After another loop I decided Pops needed a bit of excitement so I decided to try and 'push' the deer his way since they had been in sight for nearly an hour and were not really seeming to want to be shot. I started their way extremely slowly, I wanted them to know something was there and move but didn't want them to know I was 'big' and get spooked. Well, it worked and they started slowly walking down the hill towards Pops, right next to the old dirt town road he was stalking up. I even gave him a call to let him know what I was up to, though he didn't respond. I just figured maybe he was trying to stay stealthy.

The plan was working great until .... well .... the deer both veered slightly and stepped onto the old road. And I looked down the road and saw Pops walking up the road just 50 or so yards beyond the deer. And he didn't stop or freeze, just kept walking. The deer saw him and scooted onto the hunt-club land and disappeared. And Pops put his seat down and sat down.

Shortly after that we caught up with each other and put the whole story together. Pops was a bit on the tired side and had fallen asleep probably shortly before I had called to tell him about these two deer that I was pushing his way and so had no idea what I was up to. At he moment the deer crossed his path he was looking (intently it seems) towards the cabin because he thought there might be something in that direction and so he never saw the two that were 50 yards ahead of him, headed right at him.

By now it was about lunch time and we figured we'd head back and see about getting the truck unstuck. It was then that we noticed that my wood-trailer had lost it's back gate and so would have to improvise. We managed to get the truck out with minimal fuss and with no uncle-farmer intervention and went to the second task of the day, firewood, which we had done in short order and then headed to a local diner for lunch, to the uncle's to say hi and thanks for letting us hunt, then home. All in all a good hunting day even if we came back empty.

Sorry for the lack of pictures, I just never thought about it during all the commotion. I'll try to be better next time.

Another day, another hunt

Or maybe I should say, another day, first hunt of the year. And I saw nothing. If it weren't for the game cam it would have been a total loss and even that was disappointing. Oh, and just to top it off the new seat I made for the tree stand tore the first time I sat on it. Apparently the material I chose was not quite as strong as it felt in the fabric store. I never thought of tree STAND as such a literal title before.



And just how disappointing is this? The game cam was up 8 days and out of all of that captured three pics of one lonely doe within reach of my 'primary' tree stand. Woe is me! So now to try and figure out where them things are really running.












Not that she's a bad doe or anything, quite the contrary. However, it would have been nice to know that I would have more chances than one out of seven days. Since I can only get out once or twice a week that makes it tough to be there at the right time.