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Dannmann's Opening Day

Dannmann801

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
10,640
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Springboro
Here’s the short story of opening day: I was fortunate to spend opening day in deer camp with Ben and his buddy Ron and my son in law Kevin – Kevin and I connected Saturday evening with does – and his was his first deer ever! There was joy in camp as we had two deer down and everyone got to share the experience as Kevin popped his deer cherry.

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Here’s the long version:

Ben was kind enough to invite us to camp and positioned us in prime spots next to his lush food plots. As we were going in, we bumped deer out of the spot where Kevin would be on stand. He saw a few small bucks and some yearling does during the morning sit, but chose to pass on them because he wanted to wait on the right deer. I only saw one spike buck come in at 7:15….he came in and left again in no time flat, I didn’t see anything the rest of the morning. At about 10am I got a call from Mother Nature, so I grabbed my bow and un-assed the stand, and silently made my way back along the trail into the woods, looking for a place to do my business. About 100 yds away, I slipped off the trail and dropped trousers. I was in mid-squat, taking care of business, when I heard limbs breaking and a big commotion about 30-40 yds away, then the old snort of alarm. I know that deer didn’t see me – musta caught wind of me and got shook up. Oh well, whatcha gonna do?

After 11 I went to pick Kevin up at his stand, and he was really bummed out – he’d gone to unload his Excalibur crossbow by putting a junk arrow in it and shooting into the ground. When he did, one of the limbs broke near the tip, putting his bow out of commission. He didn’t dry fire it, it just broke. Imagine his disappointment. I told him no worries, he could use my bow for the evening hunt and I’d just watch. When we got back to camp for lunch, Ben and Ron encouraged him to call Cabelas (which was only an hour away) and see if the bowshop there could help him. I didn’t think there was a chance in hell that anyone could help on a Saturday, but lo and behold, they told him to come on in. They stock Excalibur parts for just such an emergency! So he hustled on down, got taken care of, came back to camp and sighted in, and was ready for the evening hunt!

Saturday evening Kevin went back to the same stand, while I decided to try my luck in a ground blind nestled on the edge of a plot of turnips. I was watching 3 turkeys (for what turned out to be about an hour and a half) when the call came over the radio that Kevin had a doe down! I was excited for him, but didn’t want to leave the stand. I called Ben (who’d decided to forego the evening hunt, to make himself available to help with what he was sure would be an influx of deer) and asked him if he’d help Kevin, and they were good to go. So I continued watching and glassing the turkeys. Craziest thing ever, all three birds had solid blue heads. Not a lick of red to be seen – but one of the turkeys had a beard about 6 inches long. I was sure I was looking at a bearded hen. Later talking to Ron ( a pretty experienced guy), he’d been watching the same ones that day, and figured out that even though there was no red on the head, that turkey had a lot more neck waddle than the others, so it must have been a Tom.

Eventually the turkeys left, and the evening ticked on….the sun going lower and lower, and tension mounted as sundown approached and no deer were to be seen. Finally, around 7 o’clock, I saw one doe in the far weeds, making her way toward the plot. She was soon joined by 2 others, small yearlings, then finally a fourth doe. I watched them browse , taking turns being skittish then relaxed. These four were big on rubbing faces and rubbing heads, and there was a lot of reaching forward with the hind legs and ear-scratching. At one point on of the does stuck it’s nose in the other one’s butt, causing it to jump and snort. Fun stuff to watch. One of the young’uns would browse to within 15 yards of the groundblind but paid me no mind. Thing is, I was sitting in the blind facing forward, and the deer were to my right side, and I’m right handed. I didn’t want to shift around to try to shoot out of the corner window, so I was just waiting for the two larger does to browse in the direction that put them in front of the blind. Tick tock, light is waning, tick tock…finally, one presented a broadside shot at 30 yds at 7:45 (only six mins of legal time left). I took the shot at 30 yds and was immediately rewarded with a resounding “Thwock!” – she jumped and mule-kicked, then bounded off into the high weeds headed toward the woodline. I’m tellin’ ya, when that arrow hit her, it sounded like a carpenter had hit a 2x6 with a 20oz framing hammer. I did not see her go down, just made note of the direction.

Called Ben on the radio and told him to come and bring the dog. Got out of the stand to look for blood and my arrow and found neither. (Never did either.) It was a little nerve-wracking at first, finding no blood, but Ben and Jaden worked the area where I’d seen the deer run to and eventually I hear Ben yell “I’ve got blood! We’ve got blood over here!” Hustled over to where he was, and he was shining light on some blood and saying “we’ve got some here…and over here”. Meanwhile, about 8 feet away at the end of his leash, Jaden is standing on top of the deer licking the bloody wound. That deer was down less than 40 yards from where it had been hit. It was a double lung pass through, just not a lot of blood. I remembered later that this is the very first deer I’ve ever shot on an evening hunt. 8 years of hunting, and every deer I’ve shot has been a morning/midday deer. I gotta say, I much prefer working in daylight instead of darkness.

Anyway, the rest is routine, guttin’ and cuttin’. Again, a big thanks to Ben for his hospitality, and helping Kevin achieve success. It was a great weekend.

I gotta say this – for the first part of my hunting career, I’ve hunted mostly alone, doing my own thing. This thing of being in camp with other guys (other than going to Strouds, which is a whole different ballgame) is a relatively new thing for me, and I gotta say I enjoy it immensely. I think every hunter should be able to function on their own and get it done as a lone wolf, but “pack hunting” and enjoying the company of others is immensely gratifying.
 

jagermeister

Dignitary Member
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Ohio
Excellent write up, Dan. I appreciate all the details you put in there... I knew exactly what picture you were painting the whole time. Sounds like you guys had a great couple of hunts! I'm amazed, though I shouldnt be i guess, at the high level of customer service he got from Cabela's. That's pretty awesome shit.

Hunting with buddies, being able to share the overall experience with good friends, that's what it's all about man. That's a big reason I enjoy waterfowl and bird hunting so much. Don't get me wrong, I do like to deer hunt or turkey hunt alone sometimes, just me and mother nature... but it's just not as fun as sharing it with others.
 

Milo

Tatonka guide.
8,184
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Love it dan-o.. Great write up. camp is pretty cool that's for sure
 

xbowguy

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Licking Co. Ohio
Very Nice Danno! Glad to see you had such a good time! Kudos out to you Ben. Pretty darn good of you to help these guys out and assist in getting the game out also.
 

"J"

Git Off My Lawn
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Glad you had a good time Dan, congrats to both your SIL and yourself on a great day.... Ben, awesome job hosting them.....


 

steveOh

Junior Member
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Dayton Area
Congratulations to you and your SIL. Kevin is on his way to becoming a deer hunting addict like the rest of us:smiley_clap:
 

CJD3

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NE Ohio
Congratulations my friend!
You have come a long way!
Very nice write up. I felt like I was with you.

And what a grand opportunity to be there for a first kill. He will never forget!
 

hickslawns

Dignitary Member
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Ohio
Love it. Good stuff all around. Mother nature calling and you get busted. Hahaha. Never fails. Kevin's first deer. Priceless. Brother Ben and his hospitality combined with his witty humor. Great all around! Congrats.
 

Fluteman

Senior Member
Supporting Member
7,094
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Southeast Ohio
Great write up Danno! Congrats to you and the SIL. I agree, group hunting is a lot of fun, as is deer camp. It's always enjoyable to share an experience with others!
 

brock ratcliff

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I enjoyed the long version best. Well done Dan. And Ben, well done, sharing the experience and providing opportunities is grand!
 

finelyshedded

You know what!!!
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SW Ohio
Great read,write up and weekend for you both and your host! Congratulations guys!!!

A big atta boy goes out to Ben! Great job for takin care of Danno and Kevin! :smiley_clap: