Welcome to TheOhioOutdoors
Wanting to join the rest of our members? Login or sign up today!
Login / Join

Veterans Hunt 2016

Dustinb80

#FACKCANCER
Supporting Member
18,172
187
S.W. Ohio
So heres how everything went for the weekend.

Friday:
I got up around 830 Friday morning and started getting the truck packed with my gear. I left a little earlier then I had originally planned so I stopped by my Moms house to see how she was doing. Got on the road towards Lima at 10:30. GPS said I would be there around 12:15. Once I got closer, I got a hold of Phil and let him know my ETA. He told me to come on over to his house before I went to the qualifications. Got to Phils around 12:10, hung out for a bit, shot the shit, printed out an additional tag, got to play with Hank and Izzy for a bit then headed out. Everyone met up outside the Joint Systems Manufacturing Center in a gravel area to qualify. I got there around 1:05 and there were already a bunch of guys there. We had to wait a round for a while before we were allowed to shoot. So I turned in my paperwork, bullshitted with a couple of guys, then went to my truck to relax for a few. Finally got to qualify around 2:30. Did fine, then I went and grabbed a quick bite to eat. Came back and hung out for a bit with my buddy Jake. Everyone started to leave to meet up at the Laborers Local Union Hall, right down the street. They had pizza for dinner that night. We met up with our guides, took pictures, talk to area coordinators about where we would meet up, where we were hunting etc. Finally got to my hotel around 8:45. Didn't get to sleep until around 11:30-11:45.

Saturday morning:
Woke up around 5:00, got ready and met up outside JSMC parking lot at 6:15. Got my blind around 6:30, dumped a small bag of corn, time for a nap. Not ten minutes since we got set up and we now have 3 deer on the corn. A 4th walked past our blind took a soft right and just kept going away from the blind. Legal shooting light was 7:41 if I remember correctly. We saw quite a few deer come into the area, not too many would hang around to offer me a shot. Finally around 8:30 or so a small doe moved in broadside. Keep in mind this is a meat hunt, they want us to kill anything and everything. My guide has sat with me before on previous hunts and he knows that Im not going to shoot just anything. A few minutes before this doe showed up, we had a teeny tiny fawn show up. I could've shot it, but it was WAY to small to waste a tag on. So the doe is standing there, I put my 20 yard pin on her and THWACK. She mule kicked and started spraying blood immediately. I watched it pouring out of her as she took off. She went about 30 yards past the feed area and dropped. I was pumped. we gave her about 10 minutes and then we got out to drag her out. We decided before we got out that we would drag her out, leave her behind the blind next to the road in a ditch and continue hunting since it was still early. Got out of the blind, found the arrow right away.

20161105_085619.jpg

20161105_085645.jpg

20161105_085718.jpg

20161105_091400.jpg

20161106_1208481.jpg

We found the arrow immediately, complete pass thru with the Full metal Jacket and the Dead Ringer 3 blade broadhead destroyed its target. My guide went right to the deer, I wanted to see the trail. I snapped some pictures, which we weren't supposed to do bc its Gov property, dragged her out, put a temp tag back on her and got back in the blind. I was still shaking at this point. Loaded another arrow and waited for the next deer to come along. As him and I were both on our phones relaying the good news, another fawn and her mama walk in. Fawn goes straight to the corn, mama skirts around us, leery of the blind. 10 minutes later another fawn comes straight to the corn and her FAT mama stays back but still in range. she was 25 yards out. I put my 30 pin low, couldn't get comfy with my anchor point and I tripped the release to early, wide left. Clean miss. I was pissed about it but was ok with it being a clean miss. Then about 20 minutes later we had a big bodied spike come in, right to the corn pile. I didn't want a spike to be my first buck so ho got a pass. We got out of the blind at about 11. Seeing 11 deer that morning made for an exciting sit. Never could find that arrow though. My guide had to leave after the morning sit to go to the OSU game with his wife.

Saturday afternoon:
I grab some chili and a sandwich back at the union hall for lunch and meet up with my new guide Eric. Phil shows up to say hi and bs for a few, then Eric and I meet up at the JSMC parking lot. Got into the blind and wait We ended up seeing a total of 12 deer that afternoon, the big bodied spike showed up again along with that same tiny fawn from the morning. He asked if I was going to shoot, and reminded me that it was a meat hunt. I told him that spike was not going to be my first buck. He understood. Nice guy, ex marine, older gentleman. Right around 6:45 I see a bog body moving in our direction about 150 yards out. Just enough light to see that he has headgear, but cant tell how much. Eric has my binos and takes a look. He told me to get ready. By this time I had already packed my shit to get ready to leave. SO I grab an arrow, put my release back on and wait. Shaking. He gets about 60 yards outside the blind and stops, we can hear people walking and talking, then we see a red light moving through the brush about 50 yards in another direction. Search party. The buck took off. Im glad he did, bc I grabbed a field point tipped arrow and put it in my bow, not a broadhead. Time to head out and get some chow and head back to the hotel.

Sunday morning:
Got into my blind around 5:45, tired. About 6:55 that same small fawn shows up to the corn. Eats a bit then slowly takes off. No other deer would come into the area the rest of the day. I did end up seeing 10 more deer on Sunday, but none were in range or even in front of the blind. They came and picked us up around 10:45 and started hauling us out. While we were driving around the property we passed a doe bedded on the side of the road just inside a thicket, we stopped I got out and we tried to sneak up on her for the shot, just as I was about to draw on her, she jumped up and took off. Got the heart pumping again. Went back to the union hall, ate some lunch. Ate lunch with my guide and his family. Wife and two kids. Phil showed up and we went to put hands on my deer. 1st time Id seen her since we drug her out on Saturday. They gutted her and stuffed her with ice. I wasn't able to make the timing work with Phil in order to quarter her so I offered the deer to my guide James. Him and his family could use the meat so I was more than willing to let him have it. Got on the road and headed home. I was tired as hell driving home. But I smiled the whole way home. It was a great weekend. One that I look forward to all year. I ended up seeing around 33 deer that weekend. As a whole they took 29 deer on all of the properties. New record for this hunt. Thanks to everyone for the congrats and kind words. Sorry for the delay in the story and the pictures. If I had been on another property I would have had more pictures and they would have been up immediately.

Back to the daily grind...
 
Last edited: