My life under a Rock

[Rockspek]

This all started last year during the 2015 hunting season

Decided to start a backlog journal to catch my hunting experiences up to now

33 years old and never hunted until this season.  No one in my family has ever been into hunting so it never really appealed to me.  in the last 10 years I've always thought I may enjoy hunting but never had time to take the safety course.  Recently my 5 year old has been so interested in hunting that I decided I needed to learn so he could have his dad be his mentor even though one of my closest friends is an avid hunter.  My friend weather he knew it or not was going to mentor me.  I managed to get a safety course finished the day before opening of gun and bought a crossbow so I could practice quietly for a few days.  I got accurate enough that I decided to go out sunday am of opening weekend.  Spent every morning and afternoon I could sitting quietly after that.  Saw lots of doe. 11 walked through one day but I didn't have the range.  Even had a small doe walk almost right up to me on two separate occasions but didn't feel right about shooting such small deer.

 

Finally my friend tells me I have to sight in the shotgun I bought, practice and get up off the ground in a stand.  Okay so he sights the 12 gauge in for me.  I take a shot at a target at 50yards and hit close enough that I'm comfortable.  I don't really like firing the gun so I leave it at that.  One practice shot.  Please don't judge me or my friend for the lack of practice.

 

I get in a stand on my property with only a small area that I can hunt legally but I feel comfortable with.  I begin using a new trick of rattling fake antlers and using calls.  10 minutes before sunset I wipe my nose and sniffle from the sinus infection and bronchitis I happened to get and decide to climb down when I realized my calling was working because all I saw were white tails running.  I stop, call a doe noise and they all stop.  I waited 5 minutes and did it again and they started back.  One nice doe makes it on my property.  She looks up at me, kicks her front hooves at the ground a few time.  I stayed very still at the ready.  She put her head down and turned.  I shoot.  I do all the safe things you're supposed to do next and go to the spot where she was.  No blood, no fur and dark now.  I call my friend and get a flashlight.  Found tiny bit of blood 25 or so ft away and start tracking.  not much blood but I did find a little frag of bone so I knew I must of hit her somewhere decent.  Finally found her with the help of my friend and come to find out it was a high hit through the lung so she had to fill with blood before letting much out.  2nd bullet ever shot besides a .22.   My 5 year old came out to the barn while it was hanging and saw it after warning him it was bloody and dead.  His reaction surprised me.  "awww cool....This is a nice deer daddy.  Nice size.  good job."  what 5 year old is so calm and collected like this.

Family liked how it taste so I went back out for Sunday the last day for gun.  No rattling but just calling because I figure with all this talk about no deer around I would just try for another doe.  As I'm about to leave my stand and call it a morning I hear something in the woods so I hang out and call like a doe.  I see antlers for the first time in my life as a hunter.  Heart pumps very differently than when I shot the doe and this thing is still deep in the woods I can barely even see him.  He heads away so I call the best I can.  He turns and I finally get to hear how a buck really grunts.  He cautiously heads towards me.  Shots go off way in the distance.  A large doe comes booking across the field from where the shots fired and right at me in my stand.  I call again to stop her. She stands 5 yards from the tree I'm in and the buck now sees her.  All of a sudden my sounds were very real to him.  He head straight at me and I have to shoot before he gets too too close.  He jumps into the brush and only makes it maybe 20 yards away.  Shot through the shoulder a little and got a lung.   Third bullet ever shot.  My friend and his dad come over to help me out.  This time my 5 year old comes out to see the entire gutting process.  Again very calm and a little excited he said because this one had horns and again was a good size.  I gutted both deer myself due to the responsibility I felt in killing these two animals.  With the coaching of my friend of course.   

 

Apparently this is a big buck.  They told me I need to mount it so I guess I will even though that is not really what I did this for.  That is also why you won't see me in a picture with the animal.  I did it for my son who has such an interest in hunting and to have good quality meat for my family.  Wegmans is right down the street but this meet came from our backyard.  How's that for a carbon footprint.  Thanks for reading

[Rockspek]

I spent all the rest of the winter setting up trail cams and looking for sheds and looking for more hunting property.

This pic was taken the night after I shot my 2015 buck over the gut pile

 

This is one of my favorites

[Rockspek]

During the summer of 2016 I bought a bow and practiced so much my arms hurt and had to switch to practicing every other day. I got to the point of shooting groups within 4" at 40 yards and decided to bow hunt.  

I took the bow safety class.

I bought a lifetime license for me and my four year old.  

Bow hunting I saw a lot but it was frustrating to say the least.  Barely grazed a doe which showed up on trail cam a few days later she was fine but I was a little shaken up.  I also missed my target buck at around 30 yards broadside.   I used deer search once.

I haven't gotten a deer with the bow yet but spent twice as much time in the stand 2016 compared to 2015.

My son drew me a picture as some may recall of my missed buck.

 

[Rockspek]

The last couple weeks my father in law started getting a buck on cam regularly.  He offered for me to hunt there.  Nobody hunts his property.  He has a tree stand just so he can go sit in it and read and watch wildlife.  He's not a hunter either.

I take him up on his offer and here's a copy of what I posted in the harvest thread:

First appointment with this buck I was snort wheezed at.

Second appointment I had a doe and fawn under my stand on my way to it and had to wait till they left.  I felt regret that I should have taken the doe for the meat.  I was 5 minutes into the hunt and would have been home early.  Saw nothing else that day.

However this afternoons appointment he showed up on time, actually a little earlier than I thought.  As I walked to the stand I smelled him.  I knew he was there somewhere.  I even asked live from the woods what to do.  grunt bleat etc.  I grunted three times then bleated once.  Nothing.  A little while later a doe ran along the road to the right of my stand.  I'm in a small hunting area surrounded by farm fields a few houses and roads.  A small buck followed.  I'm not shooting at the road but they went into the thick where the buck smell was coming from.  

Hour later about 12 doe and fawns came out and the doe were grazing and the fawns were goofing off.  At one point a fawn chased another fawn right at me but a little down wind.  The fawn sniffed me out and alerted others and half of them left.  I decided to take my farthest shot yet at the largest doe left.  Probably a little less than 100 yards.  She's in the sight.  Safety off.  Finger to the trigger and SNAP.  I heard a twig under my stand snap.  I look down to the left and through the mesh of my seat I see this buck.  I take my finger off the trigger.  Swing the gun towards him smoothly and let him walk 5 then 10 yards and all I have is the texas heart shot but I'm not going there.  He turns right to the remaining doe who surprisingly didn't see me move to him and finger on the trigger , shoot.  He ran in the direction he was headed and tripped, flipped and ended up facing me.  My light field found it's way through a lung, his heart and the other lung.

Happy to be able to share this with you all and overwhelmed by all the likes and kind congrats.  

[Rockspek]

Decided to go check out the thick area that my buck came out of and was probably bedded in. 

[OldNewbie]

Cool story. Thanks for sharing.

[turkeyfeathers]

Good read. 

You learn fast grasshoppa 

let it be known I've hunted for 30 years and your only 2 bucks are bigger than any I've ever killed.   

[ncountry]

After your 1st year I would have said beginners luck. 2nd year.. Well dang.. keep doing what your doing..lol... great job, nice deer!

[Rockspek]

14 minutes ago, ncountry said:

After your 1st year I would have said beginners luck. 2nd year.. Well dang.. keep doing what your doing..lol... great job, nice deer!

The pressure sure was on to combat everyone that said beginners luck after last season.  Whew!  Thanks!

[Nomad]

Nice read , nice job !

[bugsNbows]

Neat story. Better late than never! Great bucks BTW.

[zeus1gdsm]

Wow.. Nice bucks!!!! Never seen anything like that in the 3 years since I started.

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[doebuck1234]

Havent seen any like that sence ive started either.great read,WTG!

[Jeremy K]

Seems like your son will be into hunting now when he gets older,and then his kids and so on and so on,it all started with you.

[zeus1gdsm]

Curious what part of the state your in for those size bucks?

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[Nomad]

8 minutes ago, zeus1gdsm said:

Curious what part of the state your in for those size bucks?

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State of happiness !  

[Rockspek]

1 hour ago, Jeremy K said:

Seems like your son will be into hunting now when he gets older,and then his kids and so on and so on,it all started with you.

I'd say it all started with my son.  He's still so passionate about hunting.  Last year he even made his own rabbit trap and helped clean and butcher some rabbit we caught and ate.  I was able to save a little money on their lifetime licenses because of their age so I hope we can stick with it.  My oldest son is 6 now and can pretty much tell you what the parts are that come out of a deer and he's only seen it 2 times and once was in the dark

[Rockspek]

44 minutes ago, zeus1gdsm said:

Curious what part of the state your in for those size bucks?

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Both my bucks came out of Canandaigua 8N

[ATbuckhunter]

Great story...thanks for sharing! I want to hunt where you are hunting haha. Sounds like a wonderful start to a great hunting career. Also respect for getting into hunting just because your son was showing interest in it. He'll have a great mentor when he gets into it. 

[Lawdwaz]

Great job Rockie!

[outdoorstom]

Great story and great bucks! Thanks for taking the time to share them!

 

[Rockspek]

1 hour ago, ATbuckhunter said:

Great story...thanks for sharing! I want to hunt where you are hunting haha. Sounds like a wonderful start to a great hunting career. Also respect for getting into hunting just because your son was showing interest in it. He'll have a great mentor when he gets into it. 

I hunt a little here, a little there, on small pieces of property based usually on trail cam pics for bucks.  This doesn't work all the time but because of the time I put in it has been working out.  The amount of meat I get doesn't justify the time but knowing where my meat comes from makes me feel better about a lot of different things in life and has opened my eyes a bit.   

Thank you for the great compliments

[ATbuckhunter]

1 hour ago, Rockspek said:

I hunt a little here, a little there, on small pieces of property based usually on trail cam pics for bucks.  This doesn't work all the time but because of the time I put in it has been working out.  The amount of meat I get doesn't justify the time but knowing where my meat comes from makes me feel better about a lot of different things in life and has opened my eyes a bit.   

Thank you for the great compliments

Quote

 

Well just being in the woods is worth it to me, but bringing home 60 or so pounds of meat is pretty good too. You can't find organic meat like that in the super market. Either way its a great thing to pass down to your son.