Well most of you know how my season went this past year. It all started with me and Jacob putting down a turkey in April and then in October I was blessed with a great buck. Having encounters with other bucks and finding a fully in tact skeloton of a nice 9 point. I for one will remember and cherrish this past year as being a personal best for me. From all the great encounters and stories to being able to harvest some awesome animals in some great settings.
I am really looking forward to this coming year. I have already started thinking about where my stands will be and how I am going to hunt them. Jacob has told me we are going after a "big boy" turkey this year so no more jakes for us, I guess. My semi-annual fishing trip is this coming June and that is always a great time. I feel very fortunate and blessed to be able to spend the time I do in God's creation and I hope everyone else does to. Take care and lets make it a great year.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Monday, December 6, 2010
Made a great find
I went hunting on Saturday the 4th of December at my moms. Well the wind was out of the North so I decided to try a spot I was looking at putting a stand at next year. I decided for now to just build a ground blind and give it a go that way. There are a bunch of small pines around there so I was using branches from thos for cover. I was cutting some branches off of them and I looked down at the ground and I saw antlers sticking up out of the snow. I grabbed them and pulled them up and they were attached to a perfect skull. I was really excited as some of you already know. Its one thing to find a shed but to find an intact skull with the antlers is unreal. There is not a chew mark on them either. There was a little skin on it just under the antler bases so best we can figure is sometime early fall. Maybe a bowhunter but its impossible to tell. We did go back the next day and dug in the snow and the rest of the skeleton was there. You can see from the pics he is for sure a 9 point with a little 1/2 inch tine that could make him a 10 point. His spread is 15 inches. Thats compared to 13 inches on the one that I shot. I think that this one was also a 2.5 year old. It sucks in a way because this is one less that made it but at least I found it and it didn't go to a complete waste. Anyway it was a once in a lifetime find and I thought I'd share.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Crazy Saturday for Julie and I
Well most of the people that see this already know what happened yesterday but I wanted to post it anyway. So I can look back at this in the future and hopefully laugh it off.
Since our family got back from Disney World on Thurs the 18th Julie and my gun season's started yesterday(Saturday). We spent the night down at the farm and got out in the morning. Julie sat in the tri-pod and I sat on the other side of the property against a cut corn field. It was a great morning I had seen 7 deer by 8 am. I was watching a small spike or fork in the corn field about 50 yards behind me when someone blasted 5 shots at this deer. The shots sounded like they were 50 yards behind me. Turns out they were. I didn't realize that there were 3 other hunters, a guy, his wife and daughter's boyfriend all within 150 yards of me. (I love gun season) So after watching the wife climb down from a tree stand that was about 40 yards from me I decided my morning was ruined so I might as well help them look for that deer. We looked a little bit couldn't find any blood and they weren't listening to any advice from me so I let them look for themselves. So I called Julie and she said she wasn't seeing anything so by now it was about 8:45. So I made the call to bag the morning and build a ground blind in an area where I knew a 6 point was hanging out and we had seen him on the driveway the night before when we drove in and watched him go back to this area.
Side story here--about a week after I killed my 10 point I went down here and hunted this area because I had a hunch it would hold a good buck because of its seclusion from everything and it is just a perfect area. So my first sit at about 10 minutes before dark I saw a really big 3.5 year old 8 or 10 come out. Probably 120 inches. I watched him go from the corn field to some apple trees right where I though one would bed. I was geeked!! I had found a deer bigger than the one I just shot. I was very careful with him and waited for the perfect wind to go back in and try again. It was 3 days later I tried in the morning which I was so nervous about because his night-time bed was only 40 yards from my treestand so I had to be dead quiet getting in but I risked it. I got into my stand and settled in. 10 minutes after that I looked and saw him going along the hill up from the appletrees. It was still pitch dark and I saw him only because of the lights from the grocery store nearby. Fast forward 4 more days it was a nightime hunt this time and he came out 5 minutes before dark and followed some does up the hill away from me. So I kept seeing him but really early or really late. Then 3 or 4 days later the neighbors to the north say they shot "nice" 8 and my heart sank. Where they shot was a ways away from his core area but with does coming into esterus you never know what they will do. So I sat there that night and saw nothing but a small 4 point. So I didn't know what happened and we had to leave for vacation.
Fast forward to Saturday--Julie and I snuck down to within 75 yards of this "sanctuary" area. I was making the ground blind in a small 8 foot white pine. Which work perfect for grounds blinds fyi. I kept looking down into the sanctuary and sure enough there were 4 doe, so that go me excited for Julie for that evening. I was putting the last branch in place when I looked down there again and saw that buck coming up out of the sanctuary into the cut corn field. I told Julie to get down and get me my gun. I was able to get into position and he came out. It was my first really good look at him. He fed for about 5 minutes and started to turn to go back in. I had one shot and he turned a little bit quartering away and I shot. He bounded into the sanctuary and then walked away up the hill low to the ground looking injured. We waited 30 minutes then went to look for blood. Nothing!!. My friend Ross was kind enough to drive down and help we came up with a plan. With Barry my brother in law, Julie, Ross and his son Isaac and my self we scowered the sancuary and found nothing. We are calling it a clean miss and that he was spooked by my shot and sneaking back into safety. I told Julie after I shot that even if we didn't get him I have had an amazing season and I stand by that. Just to see the deer I have seen this season is a unreal. So hopefully he comes back and we get another crack at him in a week or two. Sorry for the long story but I needed to post this.
Since our family got back from Disney World on Thurs the 18th Julie and my gun season's started yesterday(Saturday). We spent the night down at the farm and got out in the morning. Julie sat in the tri-pod and I sat on the other side of the property against a cut corn field. It was a great morning I had seen 7 deer by 8 am. I was watching a small spike or fork in the corn field about 50 yards behind me when someone blasted 5 shots at this deer. The shots sounded like they were 50 yards behind me. Turns out they were. I didn't realize that there were 3 other hunters, a guy, his wife and daughter's boyfriend all within 150 yards of me. (I love gun season) So after watching the wife climb down from a tree stand that was about 40 yards from me I decided my morning was ruined so I might as well help them look for that deer. We looked a little bit couldn't find any blood and they weren't listening to any advice from me so I let them look for themselves. So I called Julie and she said she wasn't seeing anything so by now it was about 8:45. So I made the call to bag the morning and build a ground blind in an area where I knew a 6 point was hanging out and we had seen him on the driveway the night before when we drove in and watched him go back to this area.
Side story here--about a week after I killed my 10 point I went down here and hunted this area because I had a hunch it would hold a good buck because of its seclusion from everything and it is just a perfect area. So my first sit at about 10 minutes before dark I saw a really big 3.5 year old 8 or 10 come out. Probably 120 inches. I watched him go from the corn field to some apple trees right where I though one would bed. I was geeked!! I had found a deer bigger than the one I just shot. I was very careful with him and waited for the perfect wind to go back in and try again. It was 3 days later I tried in the morning which I was so nervous about because his night-time bed was only 40 yards from my treestand so I had to be dead quiet getting in but I risked it. I got into my stand and settled in. 10 minutes after that I looked and saw him going along the hill up from the appletrees. It was still pitch dark and I saw him only because of the lights from the grocery store nearby. Fast forward 4 more days it was a nightime hunt this time and he came out 5 minutes before dark and followed some does up the hill away from me. So I kept seeing him but really early or really late. Then 3 or 4 days later the neighbors to the north say they shot "nice" 8 and my heart sank. Where they shot was a ways away from his core area but with does coming into esterus you never know what they will do. So I sat there that night and saw nothing but a small 4 point. So I didn't know what happened and we had to leave for vacation.
Fast forward to Saturday--Julie and I snuck down to within 75 yards of this "sanctuary" area. I was making the ground blind in a small 8 foot white pine. Which work perfect for grounds blinds fyi. I kept looking down into the sanctuary and sure enough there were 4 doe, so that go me excited for Julie for that evening. I was putting the last branch in place when I looked down there again and saw that buck coming up out of the sanctuary into the cut corn field. I told Julie to get down and get me my gun. I was able to get into position and he came out. It was my first really good look at him. He fed for about 5 minutes and started to turn to go back in. I had one shot and he turned a little bit quartering away and I shot. He bounded into the sanctuary and then walked away up the hill low to the ground looking injured. We waited 30 minutes then went to look for blood. Nothing!!. My friend Ross was kind enough to drive down and help we came up with a plan. With Barry my brother in law, Julie, Ross and his son Isaac and my self we scowered the sancuary and found nothing. We are calling it a clean miss and that he was spooked by my shot and sneaking back into safety. I told Julie after I shot that even if we didn't get him I have had an amazing season and I stand by that. Just to see the deer I have seen this season is a unreal. So hopefully he comes back and we get another crack at him in a week or two. Sorry for the long story but I needed to post this.
Friday, November 5, 2010
Oh so close
Well I sat in the same stand that I killed my 10 pointer out of early this season for the first time since. Its been my plan to apply very little pressure to this spot. It started off cool and quiet. Not a lot of movement until about 9:15 am. I had a mom and twin button bucks come down right under my stand. Hung around a little mom was nervous the whole time. Then I noticed the buttons looking behind me and sure enough here comes another deer. It was a lone doe so I decided if she gave me a shot I was gonna take it. The mom and the buttons trotted off so it was just me and the other doe. She finally started to come in at about 25 yards. She came out and I shot. My string hit my sleeve and she jumped really bad at the shot my arrow went right over her. Probably missed by an inch. It was a great morning hunt though and I came so close to going 2 for 2 out of that stand. That would have been really cool.
Friday, October 29, 2010
Scott smoked a doe
Scott shot this doe this morning. Double lunged her at 8 yards she didn't go far. Some good eating for sure. Nice shooting Scott.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Close!!
Well Julie gave a doe a haircut tonight. She shot and the doe jumped at the sound of her shot and she just missed. We found a bunch of dark hair on the ground but no blood. I told her better to miss like that than to hit the doe high. We will keep trying. Its a never ending learning process.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
FINALLY!!!
Well a lot of you might know but I finally got a buck today. I shot him on Weds evening Scott and I tracked him for an hour and a half, lost the blood trail and decided to give him the night. The next morning myself, Julie and Jacob went out and Julie and Jacob found some blood about 50 yards from where Scott and I lost the trail. So I am pretty sure I would not have found this deer if it werent for them. Well we looked until about 11 and called it quits for the morning. I got back out there at 3:30 and this time Ross and Eric helped me and after some great advice from Ross we found him laying about 30 yards from where Julie, Jacob and myself quit in the morning. So I just want to say thank you to all of you guys for helping couldn't of found him with out you.
He is a 10pt and i measured his inside spread at 13 1/2 inches his g2's are both 5 1/2 inches not to shabby for a 2 1/2 year old deer. I wonder what his dad looks like. Thanks again everyone!!!
He is a 10pt and i measured his inside spread at 13 1/2 inches his g2's are both 5 1/2 inches not to shabby for a 2 1/2 year old deer. I wonder what his dad looks like. Thanks again everyone!!!
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