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Having just awoke from a well-needed, solid sleep, it's as good a time as any to re-cap our TOO trip to Strouds.
Mason's best friend and his dad tagged along with us this year. Noah had not bagged a deer and was anxious to get in the woods in Athens Co as Mason had spent the last year telling him how great the hunting is. We were glad to have them along. I called Mike Rex when we arrived in Athens to ask for pointers on a place to put Mason. It was my intention to put Noah and Dave in the stand Mike and I had set up last year for Mason to hunt (Mason shot two there with his xbow last year, so I felt pretty good about it). Mike said he would think on it for a while and get back with me. A bit later he sent a text and stated "I have you covered". He had a Bind Turtle set up below his house and took the time to dump a bag of corn to lure deer in. He did not need to do all that, we would have been happy to set up on a ridge top and cross our fingers for the weekend!
We met up with Mrex at his home after dropping Dave and Noah off on the ridge where they would be hunting. Mike drove us down the hill in his Ranger, dumped another bag of corn, (the deer had eaten 50lbs throughout the night) and left us to settle into our comfortable hiding spot for the morning.
Mason was babbling some kind of nonsense when I happened to look out the window and saw a deer already approaching the corn just after the sound of Mike's Ranger had faded. At first I thought it was a buck due to the low light and the deer standing next to a tree limb. I told Mason "DO NOT SHOOT"! I did allow him to watch the deer through his scope, but was listening intently for the click of his hammer, knowing what that would mean. He sat there watching and asked in a hushed tone how long he would have to wait. I didn't know, but suspected we were at least 30 minutes from legal shooting time. I dug around in my pocket for my phone and was surprised to see that it was 7:11...5 minutes after legal time! I whispered, "Shoot her". The slight "click" caused the deer to lift her head and look in our direction. BOOM! Fire lit up the early morning darkness, smoke filled the air, and I couldn't see a dang thing but could hear the sound of hooves pounding away. Mason said immediately, "I drilled her!"
I gave him a high five and took the gun away from him to reload. There was no point in getting down to look for blood as the light was still dim in the wooded surroundings. He only had one tag, so we switched seats in hopes another deer would come along. After a short time, Mason started in about wanting to go find his deer. I argued that we may as well sit a few as another may come along. As I recall it, he replied "Dad, we just shot off a gun, there are no deer coming. Oh, dad, here comes a deer"....
The deer I killed came out of a steep ravine with another, just passing through. I gave her the obligatory "meee", she stopped, the crosshairs settled and for the second time in minutes the morning's silence (and Mike's failed attempt at a nap) was shattered by the blast.
We each only had a single tag so we climbed out to retrieve our deer. Mason's bled like a stuck pig. Mine did not. Mason probably traveled 100 yds or so, mine maybe 75. We climbed out of the holler to Mike's house and he graciously retrieved the deer with his Ranger, saving us a grueling drag!
We were out of cell service for a time, having gone back to our campsite to drop off the deer and wait until it was time to pick up Noah and Dave. I tried to hang the deer, but couldn't do it due to the issues I'm having with my elbow. Beener, Doug, Adam, and Dave helped with that, and I sure appreciated it! We were to pick up Dave and Noah at 11 and decided to drop by the main camp before going back up the ridge. Glad we did as Noah and Dave were there starting to work on Noah's first deer! It was great to be a small part of all that, nothing better than a kid getting his first!
We spent the afternoon tying up loose ends and visiting with TOOzers before heading back out with freshly purchased tags. We went back to the blind where we had hunted in the morning. It was a nice sit. About 6:30 or so, Mason said "deer!". There were four. They came sneaking through, somewhat edgy, likely due to the two gutpiles they had obviously walked by. Mason watched through his scope, and as the big lead doe offered him a shot he touched one off. He felt confident in the shot, said there was NO WAY he missed the 35-40 yard shot... "That deer is dead!" I couldn't see the deer when he shot, but I'm gaining confidence in his shot selections and handling things in the moment, he's made me proud that way.
I had no desire to shoot another deer and with darkness coming fairly soon, there was no point in waiting to take up the trail. We climbed down, and Mason went to the point of impact to start looking for blood. After searching for a few minutes, his attitude became pretty poor. "There is no way I missed. Those bullets are junk! There should be blood everywhere, why didn't those bullets expand and blow blood out? I hit her, dad, that deer just isn't bleeding because you loaded junk bullets into my gun!" yada, yada, yada,...it went on for a minute or so. I let him vent and added to it by saying "Sometimes we just miss"...then followed it up with, but not this time" as I could see her laying belly up down a steep ravine.
He had tried to hit the point of the shoulder to "fold her up", but missed the mark by an inch or so. She didn't drop, but was in fact stone dead regardless!
We enjoyed the campfire festivities Saturday evening and went to bed way too late. With Joe's help, I did get up in time to hunt Sunday. I suggested Joe take Travis to the turtle blind and gave him directions. Mason and I walked out the ridge with Dave and Noah. We dropped off to watch a couple of benches while Dave and Noah continued on to their stand. We saw a deer, but it was two benches down...and I had no interest in shooting at it as I would have quite possibly killed it, resulting in another dead deer that I did not want to deal with. It was a great morning of squirrel and sunrise watching, and a fitting end to a nice weekend with some great company!
I have yet to have the "deer bug" bite me this season, I suspect because I can't shoot my bow, but this weekend was exactly what deer hunting probably should be... a heck of a lot of fun in the company of really good people. We enjoyed it, and to any of you that were there to share it with, thank you!
Mason's best friend and his dad tagged along with us this year. Noah had not bagged a deer and was anxious to get in the woods in Athens Co as Mason had spent the last year telling him how great the hunting is. We were glad to have them along. I called Mike Rex when we arrived in Athens to ask for pointers on a place to put Mason. It was my intention to put Noah and Dave in the stand Mike and I had set up last year for Mason to hunt (Mason shot two there with his xbow last year, so I felt pretty good about it). Mike said he would think on it for a while and get back with me. A bit later he sent a text and stated "I have you covered". He had a Bind Turtle set up below his house and took the time to dump a bag of corn to lure deer in. He did not need to do all that, we would have been happy to set up on a ridge top and cross our fingers for the weekend!
We met up with Mrex at his home after dropping Dave and Noah off on the ridge where they would be hunting. Mike drove us down the hill in his Ranger, dumped another bag of corn, (the deer had eaten 50lbs throughout the night) and left us to settle into our comfortable hiding spot for the morning.
Mason was babbling some kind of nonsense when I happened to look out the window and saw a deer already approaching the corn just after the sound of Mike's Ranger had faded. At first I thought it was a buck due to the low light and the deer standing next to a tree limb. I told Mason "DO NOT SHOOT"! I did allow him to watch the deer through his scope, but was listening intently for the click of his hammer, knowing what that would mean. He sat there watching and asked in a hushed tone how long he would have to wait. I didn't know, but suspected we were at least 30 minutes from legal shooting time. I dug around in my pocket for my phone and was surprised to see that it was 7:11...5 minutes after legal time! I whispered, "Shoot her". The slight "click" caused the deer to lift her head and look in our direction. BOOM! Fire lit up the early morning darkness, smoke filled the air, and I couldn't see a dang thing but could hear the sound of hooves pounding away. Mason said immediately, "I drilled her!"
I gave him a high five and took the gun away from him to reload. There was no point in getting down to look for blood as the light was still dim in the wooded surroundings. He only had one tag, so we switched seats in hopes another deer would come along. After a short time, Mason started in about wanting to go find his deer. I argued that we may as well sit a few as another may come along. As I recall it, he replied "Dad, we just shot off a gun, there are no deer coming. Oh, dad, here comes a deer"....
The deer I killed came out of a steep ravine with another, just passing through. I gave her the obligatory "meee", she stopped, the crosshairs settled and for the second time in minutes the morning's silence (and Mike's failed attempt at a nap) was shattered by the blast.
We each only had a single tag so we climbed out to retrieve our deer. Mason's bled like a stuck pig. Mine did not. Mason probably traveled 100 yds or so, mine maybe 75. We climbed out of the holler to Mike's house and he graciously retrieved the deer with his Ranger, saving us a grueling drag!
We were out of cell service for a time, having gone back to our campsite to drop off the deer and wait until it was time to pick up Noah and Dave. I tried to hang the deer, but couldn't do it due to the issues I'm having with my elbow. Beener, Doug, Adam, and Dave helped with that, and I sure appreciated it! We were to pick up Dave and Noah at 11 and decided to drop by the main camp before going back up the ridge. Glad we did as Noah and Dave were there starting to work on Noah's first deer! It was great to be a small part of all that, nothing better than a kid getting his first!
We spent the afternoon tying up loose ends and visiting with TOOzers before heading back out with freshly purchased tags. We went back to the blind where we had hunted in the morning. It was a nice sit. About 6:30 or so, Mason said "deer!". There were four. They came sneaking through, somewhat edgy, likely due to the two gutpiles they had obviously walked by. Mason watched through his scope, and as the big lead doe offered him a shot he touched one off. He felt confident in the shot, said there was NO WAY he missed the 35-40 yard shot... "That deer is dead!" I couldn't see the deer when he shot, but I'm gaining confidence in his shot selections and handling things in the moment, he's made me proud that way.
I had no desire to shoot another deer and with darkness coming fairly soon, there was no point in waiting to take up the trail. We climbed down, and Mason went to the point of impact to start looking for blood. After searching for a few minutes, his attitude became pretty poor. "There is no way I missed. Those bullets are junk! There should be blood everywhere, why didn't those bullets expand and blow blood out? I hit her, dad, that deer just isn't bleeding because you loaded junk bullets into my gun!" yada, yada, yada,...it went on for a minute or so. I let him vent and added to it by saying "Sometimes we just miss"...then followed it up with, but not this time" as I could see her laying belly up down a steep ravine.
He had tried to hit the point of the shoulder to "fold her up", but missed the mark by an inch or so. She didn't drop, but was in fact stone dead regardless!We enjoyed the campfire festivities Saturday evening and went to bed way too late. With Joe's help, I did get up in time to hunt Sunday. I suggested Joe take Travis to the turtle blind and gave him directions. Mason and I walked out the ridge with Dave and Noah. We dropped off to watch a couple of benches while Dave and Noah continued on to their stand. We saw a deer, but it was two benches down...and I had no interest in shooting at it as I would have quite possibly killed it, resulting in another dead deer that I did not want to deal with. It was a great morning of squirrel and sunrise watching, and a fitting end to a nice weekend with some great company!
I have yet to have the "deer bug" bite me this season, I suspect because I can't shoot my bow, but this weekend was exactly what deer hunting probably should be... a heck of a lot of fun in the company of really good people. We enjoyed it, and to any of you that were there to share it with, thank you!
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