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Jesse's 2012-2013 Hunting Log

bowhunter1023

Owner/Operator
Staff member
48,879
274
Appalachia
Glad you busted one Jesse! Now I don't feel so terrible about borrowing your gun!

HAHA. I shot this one with dad's Knight. That thing hasn't killed a deer in 8-9 years and really hasn't been shot since then. One less notch for the CVA, but I'm hoping you'll introduce Stickers to it!!!
 

xbowguy

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
29,632
234
Licking Co. Ohio
Good Job Jesse. You done good cause that snow was awful noisy this morning. I wouldn't want to try and sneak up on one.
I hope you're right about Sticker's. I've just had a feeling about Greg being due for a good one.
 

bowhunter1023

Owner/Operator
Staff member
48,879
274
Appalachia
Good Job Jesse. You done good cause that snow was awful noisy this morning. I wouldn't want to try and sneak up on one.

HA! Thanks man. It was noisy. It was what it was in terms of a "hunt", but it was tough to be quiet this morning. It took be about 10 minutes to go from 130 yards at the front of the house, to 75 yards where I shot her from. For what it was, it was still a fun little stalk!

Just to set the stage, my place sits in the SE corner of about a 1,000K chunk of woods and the neighbors 21 acres to the east has about 15 acres of bedding on it. I own about a 1/2 acre of woods at the back of my lot, and the fence line with my neighbor to the west is wooded. The deer crossing the road in front of the house use our western fence line to do this and head in to an area that's roughly 2 square miles. That area holds one of the best farms I know of in my immediate area. The lady directly across from me has 16 acres of nastiness and doesn't allow anyone to hunt, so there are plenty of slick heads to be had in my immediate area. When I start seeing less here, I'll stop what I'm doing out of respect for those hunting my general area.

Today was just me doing what was necessary to keep food on the table. I bow hunt for the thrill of the chase and gun hunting has become almost a chore centered around keeping the freezer full. It saves us any easy $1K is food costs, so it is very important to me to be self sufficient in this regards. Now that I know we are good to go in the venison department, it's time to add other critters!!!
 

finelyshedded

You know what!!!
Supporting Member
31,855
260
SW Ohio
Haha great write up Jesse! Felt as though I was with you from the baby handoff to boom time! Lol

Seriously though, congrats on a nice sized doe and commend you on adding the element of a stalk on her. Love it when they drop in their tracks TOO. Great shot buddy!
 

bowhunter1023

Owner/Operator
Staff member
48,879
274
Appalachia
Antlerless Sightings: 36
Bucks Sightings: 25
Different Bucks: 17
Shooters Seen: 6
Total Sightings: 61

Deer Killed: 3
Deer in Bow Range: 22

Morning Hunts: 8
Evening Hunts: 11
All Day Sits: 0
Skunked Hunts: 0
Total Hunts: 19

Hours on Stand: 43

Average Time Per Hunt: 2 hours and 15 minutes.
Deer Seen Per Hour on Stand: 1.42

Stands/Blinds Hunted: 9
Properties Hunted: 3

I wanted to put a wrap on my season and update a few numbers on my tally. After I killed my buck, I quit keep tracking on hours on stand and deer seen as I was largely just screwing around when I did go in to the woods. Overall, my bow season was better than I could have ever imagined and gun season was a bust for the most part. I did manage to kill another button buck during muzzleloader for the meat, so my freezer is a full as it gets and I have a taxidermy bill waiting on me. That must mean it was a great year!

I went in to this season hell bent on having fun and hunting looser than I ever have before. Fortunately, I was able to keep that promise to myself and it resulted in a season that was far more fun than any I have had in my career thus far. The weight that was lifted from my shoulders when I killed that buck is indescribable. It is a shame that I had reached the point I had in my bowhunting career where I was no longer having fun because of the self induced pressure to succeed. I always felt like I had the knowledge and ability, but I just wasn't getting the chances I felt I deserved and bad luck was the only luck I had. The 3 days that lead up to me killing that buck reassured me that I have the knowledge and ability, and that with seat time and dedication, my chances will come. I have to realize that I will not repeat this feat on an annual basis for any number of reasons. I have a renewed feeling of joy when I think of bowhunting again and the pressure is gone. I needed this season and it is the best thing that could have happened to me not only in regards to my bowhunting mentality, but also my everyday mentality.

This season was one for the books and I hope that seasons to come will rival it for best chapter in my book of bowhunting journeys. For once, I am actually looking forward to the season without a feeling trepidation!