Zem18

Lol oh damn I forgot I posted that pic. I was laughing my a$$ off reading all your comments. Did you get your screen and keyboard cleaned up from the coffee Burt?

Well last weekend was a bust, sort of. Got down to camp and less than 100 yards from the entrance stood a HUGE doe. I stopped the Exploder right next to her and hit the down button on the window. If she was a foot closer I could've pet her. My buddy was like damn, I hope to see her tomorrow. We drank a few beers that night and hit the sack at about 12:30am. Got up at 6 and got ready to head out. There was four of us so we stayed towards the front of the property. There were tracks all over in the valley so they had been moving through the area. My Dad and his neighbor headed up behind the cabin and I placed my buddy in my usual spot. I then dropped down to the creek and headed towards the back of the property. I stopped at a few hot spots and saw zippo. I then decided to play bird dog as the wind was quite chilly. I pushed low towards the back and then cut up the mountain. By 9am I was starving so I ate my pizza from dinner last night. As I bit into my 3rd piece I heard a shot. I smiled and about 10 seconds later my radio went off. It was my Dad. Here is what I heard "That was me who shot" "I had a doe come walking up by me and she was on top of a little knoll. I took aim and clicked the safety off and when I squeezed the trigger, she stepped off the knoll and it went right over the top of her. I missed" I chuckled and asked if he tried to stop here and he said no. I reminded him that next time he should have whistled of bleated at her to stop, then fire. He said he didn't think of it at the time. My Dad is 74. He hunts 2 to 3 days a year with me for the past 10 years. He has taken 5 bucks in his lifetime and no does. The last deer he saw at my camp was in 2002. I shot a doe while I was eating lunch with him. She turned as I shot and I hit her high. She ran off and we tracked her. We lost the trail and then decided to check the overgrown field and the creek bed. He took the field. Within ten minutes, I hear a BOOM. and then some yelling. I was by the water so I could not hear. I came up out of the creek and here is a doe running directly at me. She turned quick into the thick stuff and we never saw her again. The last pine tree in the field was where my Dad thought she was. He was looking under there when he should've been looking in front of him. He almost stepped on her and she reared up at him and he shot from the hip with his trusty old shotgun (Which I now own - LeFever 12ga Nitro Special - double barrel side by side) In the process he tore his cartlidge in his knee and had to have surgery that year. I still catch crap for shooting her and having Dad have to go through all of that. That was the last deer my Dad had taken a shot at as well in 2002. It has been over 9 years for him. I tried not to pick on him too bad but cmon, he is my Dad and I have to. The other 3 of us didn't see anything. If anyone deserved an opportunity it was Dad and I happy he saw one and took a shot. Maybe next year we can seal the deal but he isn't too sure. He said that he is finally admitting that he is getting old. He had a heart attack in June this year. Since then he has lost 44 lbs, walks 6 days a week, and stopped taking meds for his knee pain and feels great. His eye Dr. said he macular (sp?) degeneration in his left eye and he is slowly going blind. I actually picked on him and asked if he was looking at that doe through the scope with his good eye, lol. Even though I walked about 4 to 5 miles and didnt even see a flag, it was a good hunt. Sometimes we have take a step back and say, its not about what we kill, but about how the hunt turned out in the end. I missed 2 soccer games last weekend and can't miss them this weekend. I plan to get out for front stuffer Saturday afternoon and hopefully Sunday with my neighbor. The boys are headed to the cabin this weekend so I will sign over my unused DMP for one of them to fill if they can. Good Luck to all of you this weekend if you head out. I'll post up again after the weekend.

Hunted last Sunday morning with my neighbor. Just him and I doing small pushes. Ended up seeing 5 doe and took a shot at one decent sized doe but missed. These deer are pressured constantly due to all the drives so getting them to stop is nearly impossible. If I could hunt there with my rifle, I would feel more comfy as that is my baby. Anyways, headed to camp tomorrow night with a friend of mine, my Dad, and his neighbor. We have a little snow on the ground and the temps are staying low so the deer should be moving and not hiding on the ridgetops. I have Saturday to fill my doe tag, and not sure if I can get out on Sunday yet. Looking forward to the cooler temps and seeing some action. Need a little break from the holiday work grind already. Good luck to you guys out there this last weekend. Make it count!!

Speaking of

Nice Doe Fletch. Guess I jinxed myself in my journal when I said I would get my doe this year. Hopefully this weekend will be the ticket with the snow and cooler temps.

Haha Love it Eddie

I received the same email from my buddy after I shot this one while hunting on his property 11-27-11

Gotta love a girl with a big back end!!! Nice job.

It was pretty warm out and I waited until the drive was over. In the pic where I was holding her up, one hand had the back legs and the other had the tail so dead center was the hersheys dispenser so thats why it stunk so bad. Other than that mishap, there was no distinct odor. And I told my buddy to photoshop out the collar and tags, lol!!! Golden retreiver huh. Thats a little creepy indeed but to each his own.

Fletch, I think you nailed it by calling him the guide. He is moving stand sets and scouting them. Then he puts the boys in them and they are succesful.Then he hauls them out for them. Only thing he didn't do was get his hands bloody. Smart guide!!! HAHA

Congrats. Nothing like getting that first kill!!

Unfortunately I mangled the hide up pretty bad, rear shot, glancing blow which I thought was a miss, and then a point blanker right behind he shoulder. The glancing blow sliced a nice part of it over 12 inches long across the top of the back. It was not worth saving so the entire thing was dumped. I wish I was able to keep it and get the hide tanned but there was no saving it.

Burt - I did have a doe tag and it is still unfilled. I knew my Dad was coming down with me after Thanksgiving to the camp (It's not a club just a bunch of guys who like to hunt and we have a rough and rustic cabin on 270+ acres that we lease) so I was saving it so he could take a shot. He hasn't shot at a deer in years. Last year we tried the same thing, he gets the tag on Friday, and I get it on Saturday. I see deer Friday and did not shoot, he sees nothing. We hunt Saturday and neither of us see anything. 11-25 & 11-26 Same thing happened this year. I wasn't in the woods 5 minutes on Friday morning and I have 3 doe less than 50 yards with the rifle. I don't shoot and hope they run to Dad. He sees nothing all day Friday. We both hunted hard on Saturday too and saw nothing. Was way too warm and the deer just didn't come out of their hiding spots. I hiked up and down the hills and ridges and pushed the thick spots trying to at least see a flag but nadda. I had 9 days off and I hunted 8 of them. In those 8 days of hunting I saw 18 doe and not a single buck. Next weekend I will take a doe whether my Dad goes with me or not, that is if I see any. 11-27-11 Day 8 My buddy called me on the way home from camp Saturday night and said we are hunting in the morning at 9am at his place (317 acre lease) He had already asked my wife for permission as he is my neighbor, HAHA. She said OK. So we headed up and we had 7 guys there to do some drives. I lucked out and was a sitter on all four drives we did. One the first one, I had 3 small doe come in to about 30 yards and stop. They stayed for about 3 minutes and moved on. No tag for this area but was funto see some deer none the less. The next two drives were a bust. On the last one is where it got interesting. I was dropped off by 4 wheeler and told to walk about 50 yards at an angle and stop on top of a small ridge that overlooked a bowl that comes out of some pines. The swamp is beyond the pines and the drivers where headed through the swamp and pines towards my location and the other sitters. AS soon as I got comfy I heard the leaves rustling below me in the pines. I look over and see a deer headed my way at about 50 yards but the drive hadn't started. I am watching this deer act nervously and then it turms away and starts to trot off. It is now about 80 to 100 yards away and it turns back and heads back towards me again closing the distance to about 40 to 50 yards but not a good angle for a shot. Once again it is all jumpy and then it hits the afterburners straight into the swamp and the on coming drivers. I was confused for about 30 seconds and then I see something running straight at me in the same little window I saw this deer in. It is small, low to the ground, and moving quickly. By the time I realize it is a coyote I get the scope up on the shotgun and whistle to stop it but it doesn't stop. I tried to lead it and I squeezed the trigger when it got to 20 yards away. Instantly it rolled over and I knew I had hit it. It tried to get up and I shot again but missed. It laid motionless for the next 4 to 5 minutes so I waited to see if any deer would pop up in the drive. Just as I saw one of the drivers, I hear the leaves rustling and I look and the coyote is trying to get up. I walked over to it and from behind the tree I took another shot and missed at like 10 feet after one of the drivers had just said , Don't miss. The fourth slug I fired was at point blank behind the shoulder and that finished it off. What can I say, I hate my shotgun and love my rifle. The only reason I shot this coyote is because my buddy had said if I ever saw one, let alone one chasing deer, that I had better take a shot at it. I mangled her up pretty bad with my crappy shooting but I did get some pictures as this is my first one. It was a female and another guy at there camp shot a nice male on opening day. Hopefully we eliminated a litter of pups for next year. Here are the pics:

I returned home from 4W region Monday night and I had a small one crawling on my wrist. I was able to pluck him off cleanly with the tweezers before he feasted. Then I found another dead one on the floor of the laundry room the next day. The 7pt I shot the last weekend of bow season was loaded with them crawling out of everywhere.

Wednesday - 8am My buddy called me and said three of us were headed to a new spot about 20 minutes away. I was excited as the rain had stopped and I always love a new spot to hunt. We made the drive and got ready to head up to the stands that were in place from bow season at this property. I drew the double seater 15ft ladder stand. It's fairly close to the horse barn and pasture but the bottom in the hardwoods behind me looked awesome and I felt good that some deer would be sneaking in and out of this bedding area. The other two moved further down the field and sat in a stand in the woodline near a hedgerow between two fields and the other sat ont he ground in the hardwoods across the field looking towards the back of the land. Not 20 minutes into the sit the fog rolled in and then rains came. It poured for 20 minutes just enough to soak the outer layer and dampen the second layers of clothes and then the 15 to 20 mph winds kicked in. By 1030 I was a freeze pop in that ladder stand and I had seen the boys moving around on the ground towards the back field. Our plan was to stay until noon but we were out of there by 11am. No deer sighted but a promising new hunting spot. I usually do not hunt on Thanksgiving and this year will not be any different. My wife works retail and she works nights, including tonight and then has to be in early tomorrow night for Black Friday. She will be napping and I will be entertaining the kids. When she gets home from work Friday morning, I will have the Explorer packed and pick up my Dad to head back down to camp for the rest of Friday and Saturday. Should be at least 6 to 7 of us down there for the weekend not including guests so maybe the deer will be moving better this weekend. I'm trying to think positive because the forecast is calling for mid to upper 50s again and the deer don't seem to come into the valley in the mountains when it's that warm. We will see though. Happy Thanksgiving to you all and good luck this weekend.

Tuesday - 1015am I told the kids I would get them on the school bus this morning and then my son had a special Thanksgiving morning program where his class was singing songs. He begged me to go and it was at 9:10am so I went. It was awesome and am glad I didn't miss it. I got home around 9:45 and got dressed to head to my in laws where I bow hunt. I usually do not sit in my bow stands for gun season but the adjacent property I can hunt had 3 vehicles over there so I had no choice. I headed up the field and was about 15 to 20 yards from my stand, right next to the apples tree when I see a doe coming out of the woods right from under my stand. I stopped and froze. This little doe kept coming and ended up 10 to 12 feet away just staring and trying to get me to move. She finally decided she was hungry enough and I wasn't a threat that she went to the apples and started feeding. I saw the second one coming behind her and that one popped out from under my stand and proceeded to get just as close to me but she didn't take her eyes off me. I got the foot stomps, the head bobs, the I'm going to eat and snap my head back up to try and catch you moving. It was quite entertaining. My MIL told me later that she was watching me from the house and could'nt figure out why I was just standing there so she got out the binos and saw why. She was like man you could reach out and touch them and I said yeah they were close. Finally I told them it was there lucky day and to go get their big brother or mom and dad and then come back. They dashed about 40 yards into the woods and I climbed up in my stand. They fed their way back into the woods after about 15 minutes. I sat until the rain was coming down in buckets and when I was about to get down my two friends came back to feed. They didn't see me get down out of my stand so with the rain masking any noise I would make, I snuck around them as not to spook them like this morning. Was a relaxing day in the woods.

I made it back Monday night. That was not my original plan but things change. Saturday the 19th - Opening Day Had to be my most unproductive Opening Day that I can remember. I sat for 5 hours straight on stand as it was too crunchy to walk. Didn't even see a bird or squirrel. The afternoon was just as unproductive, no sightings even after taking a little walk and then finishing the day in my favorite spot. Brother in law shot a medium sized doe today and two others scored as well, 1 doe and a spike. One guy missed a 6 point at 7:10am. With limited hunting time for must of us, it looks like the brown its down theory came into play. Sunday - I broke out the Bermuda shorts and flip flops and headed into the woods. Damn it was hot today with temps in the mid 60s. I did sleep in this morning as I was exhausted from a tough work week and stayed up late playing cards Friday night. I was in my spot by 9:30am and hunted until dark. Zippo deer sighted today so frustration was setting in. At 11:30am I heard shots across the valley and it sounded like a gun fight. 6 shots going every which way. I made it down to the cabin at dark only to find that my BIL and I were the only two guys left at camp. Four others had packed up and headed home. There was a note that at 11:30am one of the guys shot an 8point. Funny because when I left to go out at 9:15am that morning, he was still snoring away in his bunk. Right place at the right time I guess. I'm happy for him as he had rotator cuff surgery in September and he could not bow hunt at all this year. Monday - My BIL and I made a plan to hunt the back part of the property. There was a 3rd hunter from up the road who headed up back on his 4 wheeler at 515am. We headed up there at 6:10am and made the 1/2mile walk. We split up and picked two spots where the deer cross regularly and get pushed of an adjacent property when they perform drives. The wind was bone chilling and my stomach was a rumbling. No one had any Imodium AD in camp but it spread like wild fire between 4 of us over the weekend. Needless to say I was headed back the 1/2 mile to camp by 9am. I was moving fairly quickly and the leaves were crucnchy and I bumped 3 doe off their bed about 30 yards over the property line. I scoped all 3 and kept moving. I'll spare you the rest of the details and just begin with , I was back at my favorite spot, close to the cabin and outhouse, by 10am. It was still a little chilly and windy and I was actually feeling bored so I thought of this story my Dad had told me years ago. He knew a guy who would shoot his buck by 9am every opening day. His secret was to build a little fire and let the wind take the smoke through the woods and the deer get curious and come to investigate. I looked at my watch and it was 11:15 and I thought, what the heck. There is a huge 400lb rock next to my spot so I cleared a little area and found some sticks and tinder. One match later and I had a little fire started and the wind did the rest. I put some twigs on it at least twice as they burned quick and then the third time I actually sat on the ground next to the rock with my back to a tree and was snapping twigs and blowing on the coals. I happened to look up and 50 yards away are momma and two little skippers coming right at me. I reached over and grabbed the rifle and just sat there as they came closer and closer. With the smoke blowing at them and me behind it, they came to within 15 feet of me and just stood there. I got the head bob movement for over a minute but I didn't flinch. Then they decided they wanted to feed right there too. This lasted about 4 to 5 minutes and then they decided to go around me. They continued on their path walking only 10 feet away from me this time. I was thinking, man that was so cool. I thought they were still headed away and I peeked back and got busted moving but it gave me a chance to get up and watch where they were headed. They did hang around for another 5 minutes and moved on. I stayed in that spot the rest of the day wondering if the fire actually worked or if it was coincidence but I haven't convinced myself of either yet. I did see two small skippers at 4pm that came from the same direction the three did this morning but nothing was trailing them and they skirted me by 70 to 8o yards in some thick stuff. I made up for no sightings over the weekend and saw 8 today, all doe. The stomach situation was still plauging my BIL and I so we packed up at dark and headed home. Felt great to take a hot shower and relax a little with the kids.

Congrats to all of you. You knocked em down for sure. Plenty of venison to go around.

Thanks Fletch and same to you. I'll report when I get back.

Good luck to you as well. Hope you run into the big guy.

Well I am washing the hunting clothes right now and am starting to get excited about heading to camp Friday night. I will have to pack most of my stuff tomorrow as I am headed to bed early tonight. I have next week off but this week I am paying for it at work. Good lord I can't believe how busy things are right now. It is a good thing and a bad thing, Iam looking forward to some r&r when I come back home Tuesday. Should be a good time with a full camp. Now if the weather and deer cooperate, things will be good. Good luck to you all this weekend and be safe.

Tough hunting in Vermont - Lots of land for them buggers to hide in. Good to hear we have another fan of the venison.

You are right, I usually give the second one but I just don't have the time. Work is insanely busy and I am on vacation after Friday so alot on my plate and just couldn't get it done. I try to be confident but we will see, I may be eating tag soup the rest of the year. Haha he would've had it right either way!!!

There are alot of dead ones here in Binghamton. I see several heading to work everyday. Saturday I took the family out to eat and on the way home we almost pasted a beauty of a 10 point. What a monster this thing was.

Thanks fellas - Not a giant by any means but he will make alot of people happy. I had every intention of keeping this deer for my freezer. My schedule did not allow me to butcher him last night and I had to work today for a few hours or so I thought. I ended up putting in a full day and had other plans this evening. So I did the next best thing. I donated the deer to the Hunters for the Hungry program in our area. With gun season coming and a DMP for that along with an Antlerless for Muzzloader, I am sure I can get some meat for myself.