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Brock goes hunting

brock ratcliff

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With opening weekend out of the way, figured I'd start this thing.

This was the first opening day/weekend I can remember missing -ever. I haven't been able to shoot my bow(s) since July, and I am just not in the mood to hunt. I suppose not being able to shoot has a great deal to do with that. I managed to shoot one arrow on Friday afternoon, but couldn't pull the bow to shoot another...

I planned to take Mason out this weekend, but found out Friday via a progress report, he has not been doing his homework. His test scores are all A's, but deciding not to do homework is not going to fly with his mom and me, or the school. It has affected his grades, and I'm pretty well ticked off about it. So, the best medicine I could think of for him was to skip opening weekend. He was pretty upset, as he should have been, it's a punishment for crying out loud! We may skip next weekend too. I expect to see a lot of effort on his part to remedy the situation. Dang kids...
 

finelyshedded

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Great lesson Brock! Not hunting is prolly the best punishment you could have doled out for Mason. I bet he buckles down now!
 

MK111

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Brock it's a shame you can't shoot your bow due to conditions.
I was in the same way 2 yrs. ago with my MS muscle loss. I tried a crossbow but found out I was too clumbsy and making too much noise with it.
I bought a Hickory Creek Bow-Loc attachment for my bow. It turns a regular compound bow into a vertical crossbow. Uses same arrows.
Give it a look as it's a sweet outfit. And It bolts right onto you present bow. Cost about 180.00.
 

aholdren

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Dang still getting A's on tests and not getting the home work done, I'm impressed. I'm beginning to think your a bit of a hard ass Brock rotflmao.
In all seriousness here, I'm betting it hurt you more than him, hope this fixes his not wanting to do the home work.
 

brock ratcliff

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Oh, he's "passing", J, but he can and will do better or he won't be doing what he's dreamed about since early February. I gave in a little last night and took him for a drive at dusk. We saw four deer. I think looking at the deer he can't hunt made it worse or better for him, depending on point of view. Strangely, I had no desire to get after them, but he was squirming in the seat knowing they were "unattainable" for him. I think he's learning a lesson.

BTW, I did scout a farm I know well yesterday. I shot a buck in his bed there two years ago, but over-estimated the yardage in my haste and shot him high, just taking off some hair actually. I had never hung a camera on that property and was going into my first season of "old school" by NOT using any cameras. I hung a camera after I shot him to insure he was getting along ok. I'm almost certain after my scouting trip he is back on that ridge. I may have to give him a go...that sucker had one tall rack! It's funny that I feel like I know him better than most bucks and only have a handful of pics as I took down the camera after seeing he was doing fine. Adds a little romance to the thing... Of course, it could be another buck, but he is sure enough doing the same things it would seem. Difference is, I now have permission to slip across the neighboring property to get to him, which should be a huge advantage on this property! Now if I can just get motivated to go hunt him...
 
I hear you on the kids thing Brock. Going through a situation most fathers dread when it comes to their daughter. Part of getting older but like you we are parents, not their best friends. Good luck on keeping your son in line, I'm sure he will learn fast in this situation.
 

bowhunter1023

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Love the thread title Brock. I always enjoy your writing. I've heard you tell enough stories in person that is makes you stuff here so much better. Hope you all have a safe and successful season.
 

brock ratcliff

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Brock it's a shame you can't shoot your bow due to conditions.
I was in the same way 2 yrs. ago with my MS muscle loss. I tried a crossbow but found out I was too clumbsy and making too much noise with it.
I bought a Hickory Creek Bow-Loc attachment for my bow. It turns a regular compound bow into a vertical crossbow. Uses same arrows.
Give it a look as it's a sweet outfit. And It bolts right onto you present bow. Cost about 180.00.

Just saw your post, Frank and Aaron.
Frank, thanks for pointing them out. I've seen them at a deer show somewhere, neat concept. I'm pretty happy with the performance I get with our Excalibur, and I'll probably use it at some point if this elbow doesn't straighten out. Archery has just been such a big part of my life for so long that not being able to shoot my bows seems to have thrown me out of sync...it doesn't even feel like it should be bow season yet!

Aaron, I don't think I'm overly hard on him, but he may think so at times. There are right ways and wrong ways to go about things, and he isn't going to get away with half-heartedly doing anything. Sure, it's fine if he wants to quit fishing early, or climb out of the tree when he gets bored, but he isn't going to do that crap with school work. :)
 

hickslawns

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You are not alone Brock. Good for you for standing your ground and actually disciplining him. I am going thru the same thing with my 9yr old. He needs to get his stuff together at school also.
 

CJD3

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Guess your lucky to have something that motivates him for "leverage" er... guidance...

That is one of the few things I don't miss about having kids in school...
 

Curran

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There are right ways and wrong ways to go about things, and he isn't going to get away with half-heartedly doing anything. Sure, it's fine if he wants to quit fishing early, or climb out of the tree when he gets bored, but he isn't going to do that crap with school work. :)

I think a lot of us think the same way around this place ;) School comes first, then everything else. Whether its hunting, fishing, sports, etc. if the effort isn't being made in the classroom then there's no extras. Period. If we're not tough on our kids and have high expectations, then nobody will.
 

brock ratcliff

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I think the bug may be starting to nibble on me a bit. I will be out of the shop and home by 11pm tonight. I may buy my deer tag (likely just getting one this year), and go out in the morning in Fayette Co. I checked it out the other day and was severely disappointed. Last year, our property up there was over-run with deer, relative of course as nothing in Fayette Co is over-run. :) There is a little burr oak up there that draws deer like a magnet on it's producing years. I've had a camera on it for 3 weeks now, and have yet to have a deer on camera. The ground is littered with acorns, none have been eaten as of Saturday. I checked the creek crossings we hunted in early season last year (about 3/4 of a mile from the camera/oak), and there are very few tracks crossing the creek. I can't even blame the crops as they were on late last year and we still saw deer on the creek. It may be a tough year for us up there this year, but I have a good observation stand in a fencerow I may crawl up in for the morning. I don't have anything better to do, and it is a really low-impact spot that gets a lot of activity. What the heck...then again, I may sleep in. :) It may be good for Mason if I wake him up as I leave...tell him to work hard so he can go next time! ha, being the dad has it's good points too.

Ron, looking forward to meeting you too!
 

brock ratcliff

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Well, it happened. I went deer hunting. I was up till after 1 am this morning getting my gear together, and for a guy that hasn't even wanted to go deer hunting this year, I sure had a hard time sleeping last night.

I rolled into the farm and made the hike well before sunrise. Pretty uneventful really. I saw a big momma doe and two little ones, heard a couple of squirrels barking, watched a blue jay fly right to me from 150 yards or so and land just above my head. That was about it from the stand.

I've had a camera strapped alongside a faithful Burr Oak for the last two or three weeks. That tree has been golden over the years. I have always gotten pics of the boss buck there every year I've put a camera on it. Usually, you only see the acorn caps laying on the ground as they are typically gobbled up as soon as they hit the dirt. This year however, there are piles of acorns laying under the tree, and until yesterday I had not gotten a picture of a single deer. I noticed on my way to the stand this morning that some of the nuts had been de-capped and eaten, so I was excited to check the cam on the way out. I did, and I had about 15 pics of does/fawns. They just started feeding there yesterday morning, afternoon, and were back this morning while I was in the stand. I hope a big boy shows up there soon as I would like to know what is around. I imagine I'll get a bunch of pics over the next week or two with the deer having found the acorns finally. It's strange as it appears the deer have just started eating the white oaks around the stand I was in this morning too...dang deer. They sure are sleek and pretty this time of year... Look on the ground in the below pic, there are acorns everywhere!
 

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Boarhead

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Glad to see you made it out Brock.Hope your arm gets to feeling better and just enjoy the time spent out there no matter what weapon you use.I will be heading out this evening trying to get my friend's son his first deer.Pretty warm out but he is very excited and am sure he will be happy if he just see's some deer.I know he want's one bad as his brother shot his first buck Sunday morning.Good Luck this season.Oh by the way have had several deer down wind of me on 2 sits so far and none have winded me using the Scent Smoker including the big doe i shot opening morning.Thank's again.