Short version to date: Opening weekend, nothing happened. Stroud's muzzy weekend, powder got wet and blew an opportunity at a fat doe.
Hunt was going great right till I pulled the trigger and it went "pop" instead of "BOOM". Oh well, if it was lasertag, I'd have won. Chubbette lives to drop another fawn. So this last weekend if finally came together, and I saw lots of deer Sat and Sun mornings (saw nothing on Sat evening sit). Took a doe Sunday.
Longer version:
This last weekend had some much-needed successes. The first came Friday night, when I arrived at the old family trailer on the property in Adams county. A TOO brother had been kind enough to hook me up with an old used pellet stove, that with a little TLC now runs like a champ. It was 45 degrees inside the trailer when I arrived; not long after it was comfy, and a little while after that I was walking around in my skivvies. GLORIOUS! (Picture that now!)
Saturday AM found me at a spot in the southern part of Adams, big hills and such, sitting on the ground in my hillside hidey-hole brushed-in ground blind. Shortly after shooting time I started seeing deer, nothing close enough to shoot, but enjoyable to watch. It was kinda drizzly off and on, but bearable. I saw more deer than squirrels that morning, with one doe circling me at about 20 yards, staring intently at me but not spooking....doing the old head-bob thing. 30 minutes I sat like a rock, and not once did she turn or look away or slide behind a tree for 2 seconds so I could raise and aim my bow. Finally she bounded off. I moved down off the hill to the field bottoms for the evening sit and didn't see a thing. Still a good day.
Sunday woke crystal clear, cold and frosty. I walked back to the 2 acre patch of woods behind our homeplace, which is the corner of a much larger woods that has multiple owners. The squirrels there are THICK, and after an hour I was thinking maybe I should have brought my .22 instead, but soon enough I spot a little forkhorn who'd snuck in behind me and walked around out of range, then jumped the fence onto the neighbors property. In a while I grunted and he came back, along with a little spike buck. The spike buck was cool...just two straight spikes, maybe 3 inches long and pointy, aimed back like they were slicked-back hair. I almost shot him just for the skull, but knew better things are in store. I rattled, I grunted, and these two boys came in and out, just sniffing the ground, movin' slow. I saw this fox come back and forth a few times.....squirrels barking at him....he seemed pretty dejected.....one time he was stalking a squirrel, accellerated for about 2 feet and came up short then trotted, knew he'd been busted. He came real close to my stand, and it looked like his eyes were yellow. Kinda cool. And one time a hawk was flying overhead and let out with a screeching call, well, you shoulda heard the squirrel community lose their minds all at one time. Barking and yelping, running for cover, it was hilarious. Even the chipmunks got in on the action. One note: All the gray squirrels were small guys, the few red ones were big. Musta been an explosion of grays this year.
So, I looked to my right and here was a deer about 60 yrs away, walking up the hill parallel to my stand, and I think it's the forkhorn coming around again, but wait...no...this guy is bigger and has a rack, similar to or bigger than bucks I'd shot previously. He walks up to the property line, hops the fence, and starts walking away over the hill. I grunt but he keeps walking. About 30 mins later here he comes again, walking back, and he turns and starts walking parallel to the fenceline, about 30 yards out. So I think to myself "He's just gonna stay on that side and disappear to the left. Knucklehead, as soon as he draws level with me, he pivots 90 degrees and walks straight toward me. And of course, I'm sitting there like a fucking tourist, my crossbow on the seat beside me, not at the ready as it should be. So he hops the fence, and I decide that yes, he's a shooter, especially since it's special to have something like that on our property. My mouth was dry and my heart was thumping. But alas, it was not to be....his path around me was such that if I'd moved I'd have been busted. When he went behind me I chanced to turn a bit and there he was, walking into the grub. I was really hoping though that he'd come back around like the younger guys. Finally, I saw a doe fixin to do pretty much the same thing...and thought "I won't make that mistake twice" I readied myself and when she hopped the fence i waited for the right time...she was close to a tree I'd ranged at 20 yds....when she turned her head I stood, when she moved again I took my shooting stance, then popped her. Got the classic thwack sound, the mule kick, then she took off. Made it 40 yds, stopped and fell down.
As she lay
It was a weird shot - she was quartering away just a little, I was in a ladderstand only 6 ft high but shooting downhill about 20 yards. The shot hit low, went thru her heart, and broke her front leg on the far side. Slick Trick does it again.
Entrance
Exit - note the leg I could just flop over
Heart Entrance
Heart Exit
She's been quartered and now resides in my Coleman Xtreme cooler on ice, tomorrow night I'll cut her up into steaks and such.
Really looking forward to the upcoming weekend. Hope it's as exciting as this last one.
Hunt was going great right till I pulled the trigger and it went "pop" instead of "BOOM". Oh well, if it was lasertag, I'd have won. Chubbette lives to drop another fawn. So this last weekend if finally came together, and I saw lots of deer Sat and Sun mornings (saw nothing on Sat evening sit). Took a doe Sunday.
Longer version:
This last weekend had some much-needed successes. The first came Friday night, when I arrived at the old family trailer on the property in Adams county. A TOO brother had been kind enough to hook me up with an old used pellet stove, that with a little TLC now runs like a champ. It was 45 degrees inside the trailer when I arrived; not long after it was comfy, and a little while after that I was walking around in my skivvies. GLORIOUS! (Picture that now!)
Saturday AM found me at a spot in the southern part of Adams, big hills and such, sitting on the ground in my hillside hidey-hole brushed-in ground blind. Shortly after shooting time I started seeing deer, nothing close enough to shoot, but enjoyable to watch. It was kinda drizzly off and on, but bearable. I saw more deer than squirrels that morning, with one doe circling me at about 20 yards, staring intently at me but not spooking....doing the old head-bob thing. 30 minutes I sat like a rock, and not once did she turn or look away or slide behind a tree for 2 seconds so I could raise and aim my bow. Finally she bounded off. I moved down off the hill to the field bottoms for the evening sit and didn't see a thing. Still a good day.
Sunday woke crystal clear, cold and frosty. I walked back to the 2 acre patch of woods behind our homeplace, which is the corner of a much larger woods that has multiple owners. The squirrels there are THICK, and after an hour I was thinking maybe I should have brought my .22 instead, but soon enough I spot a little forkhorn who'd snuck in behind me and walked around out of range, then jumped the fence onto the neighbors property. In a while I grunted and he came back, along with a little spike buck. The spike buck was cool...just two straight spikes, maybe 3 inches long and pointy, aimed back like they were slicked-back hair. I almost shot him just for the skull, but knew better things are in store. I rattled, I grunted, and these two boys came in and out, just sniffing the ground, movin' slow. I saw this fox come back and forth a few times.....squirrels barking at him....he seemed pretty dejected.....one time he was stalking a squirrel, accellerated for about 2 feet and came up short then trotted, knew he'd been busted. He came real close to my stand, and it looked like his eyes were yellow. Kinda cool. And one time a hawk was flying overhead and let out with a screeching call, well, you shoulda heard the squirrel community lose their minds all at one time. Barking and yelping, running for cover, it was hilarious. Even the chipmunks got in on the action. One note: All the gray squirrels were small guys, the few red ones were big. Musta been an explosion of grays this year.
So, I looked to my right and here was a deer about 60 yrs away, walking up the hill parallel to my stand, and I think it's the forkhorn coming around again, but wait...no...this guy is bigger and has a rack, similar to or bigger than bucks I'd shot previously. He walks up to the property line, hops the fence, and starts walking away over the hill. I grunt but he keeps walking. About 30 mins later here he comes again, walking back, and he turns and starts walking parallel to the fenceline, about 30 yards out. So I think to myself "He's just gonna stay on that side and disappear to the left. Knucklehead, as soon as he draws level with me, he pivots 90 degrees and walks straight toward me. And of course, I'm sitting there like a fucking tourist, my crossbow on the seat beside me, not at the ready as it should be. So he hops the fence, and I decide that yes, he's a shooter, especially since it's special to have something like that on our property. My mouth was dry and my heart was thumping. But alas, it was not to be....his path around me was such that if I'd moved I'd have been busted. When he went behind me I chanced to turn a bit and there he was, walking into the grub. I was really hoping though that he'd come back around like the younger guys. Finally, I saw a doe fixin to do pretty much the same thing...and thought "I won't make that mistake twice" I readied myself and when she hopped the fence i waited for the right time...she was close to a tree I'd ranged at 20 yds....when she turned her head I stood, when she moved again I took my shooting stance, then popped her. Got the classic thwack sound, the mule kick, then she took off. Made it 40 yds, stopped and fell down.
As she lay
It was a weird shot - she was quartering away just a little, I was in a ladderstand only 6 ft high but shooting downhill about 20 yards. The shot hit low, went thru her heart, and broke her front leg on the far side. Slick Trick does it again.
Entrance
Exit - note the leg I could just flop over
Heart Entrance
Heart Exit
She's been quartered and now resides in my Coleman Xtreme cooler on ice, tomorrow night I'll cut her up into steaks and such.
Really looking forward to the upcoming weekend. Hope it's as exciting as this last one.