Field to Fork Program for New Adult hunters.

[Swamp_bucks]

Thats great. Good for those new hunters and you guys.  I bet they are hooked now.  Its a really good thing your doing for them.

[Culvercreek hunt club]

The group is on fire!!! I haven’t heard the story yet but Tanya took her first deer and it was a dandy buck for sure. Mentored by Mike Edwards. Congrats Tanya, I hope the hunt was more than you hoped for. And an FYI. she did it with an ought 6

[Paula]

Nice!

[Moho81]

Man the rookies are slaying it!


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[doebuck1234]

Love it!congrats all the way around

[Culvercreek hunt club]

On 11/18/2018 at 4:57 PM, Culvercreek hunt club said:

The group is on fire!!! I haven’t heard the story yet but Tanya took her first deer and it was a dandy buck for sure. Mentored by Mike Edwards. Congrats Tanya, I hope the hunt was more than you hoped for. And an FYI. she did it with an ought 6

The experience and harvest from a first timer's view.  This is the write up that Tanya sent me. 

"

On Sunday, November 18^th I went on my first hunt. I’m 42. The daughter of a retired Massachusetts State Trooper, I was introduced to guns at an early age. Five years ago, I decided I wanted to shoot a deer. First, I needed to get comfortable with a gun again. I took a junior rifle class at my range. I applied for and received my pistol permit. I bought a .22 pistol and trained with a few friends. A few years went by, and I acknowledged that I wasn’t making any progress with hunter education, learning to shoot a larger caliber gun, or finding land to hunt. When Field & Fork had an outreach table at the Rochester Public Market, I knew it was an incredible opportunity. With the help of QDMA and a team of mentors, I have been learning about hunting and how to shoot larger caliber rifles since September. We spent about 12 hours in the classroom and two hours in the range. I tried a .22 rifle, a 30-30 and a .30-06. The mentors patiently answered a zillion questions about shot placement, field dressing, deer behavior, and how and when to get a hunting permit.

On hunt day, the second day of the rifle season, I suited up into my (brand new, purchased the night before) camo coat and pants and orange vest. I drove an hour south of the city where I live to Springwater, NY. My mentor, Mike Edwards, was waiting for me outside his house. We hiked down into his land. As we walked in, he got a text from his trail camera that a fawn was eating in the field. It was gone when we arrived. We settled into the (heated!) enclosure just before noon and talked quietly. The enclosure sits on a hill on the edge of a forested area adjacent to a field of soybean, clover and apples (see photo). There was a light snow falling. We reviewed how his .30-06 worked, where a deer might come from, and how we would communicate about a shot. We watched a group of eight turkeys come into the soybeans from across the field, wander to the north and back into the woods. The toms were circling and bickering. We talked about Mike’s family's childhood hunting camps and how many people take the whole week of opening season to stay in the woods, play cards, hunt and eat with their friends. The field was peaceful and the experience felt restorative to me.

It did not feel like we had been in the enclosure for two hours, but I took out a book close to 2:00PM and read a paragraph at a time. I had a sense that reading would summon a deer. I continued to scan the field and the forest edges every few minutes. Around 2:05, a buck stepped out into the soybeans directly across from us. Mike saw him first. He was 110-120 yards away. We opened a window and I fumbled with the binoculars for a minute and then decided to watch the buck through the gun scope. Keeping the safety on, I put the muzzle out of the enclosure and got into ready position. The buck was facing us. I could see through the scope that he had six or eight points. I recall thinking that he was beautiful. We waited silently and expectantly. The buck took a slight turn and ate for a few minutes. I followed him with the scope. It was tiring to stay still and ready as the minutes ticked by. I was conscious of my nerves, but it was not until the buck turned broadside that my body started to shake. When Mike gave word that I could take off the safety and shoot, my excitement and anxiety shot up. I tried to settle into the rifle. I could not do it. I was too nervous. I lifted my head off the stock, looked at the ceiling of the enclosure and took a huge breath. I exhaled fully. I breathed in again and exhaled halfway. Mike reminded me to pull the trigger steadily. I settled back into the gun, found the buck through the scope, took aim, and pulled the trigger. I don’t remember the recoil being hard, but I rode through the shot with my cheek on the stock of the gun. I watched the buck leap into the air through the scope. He took off into the woods across the field where he had first emerged. I pulled the gun back into the enclosure and asked if I could hand it to Mike. He acknowledged and took the gun from me. 

I knew we had time to sit and wait and I was thankful for that. All the emotion swept over me. My legs and hands were shaking. My head was pounding with blood. I was in disbelief. We discussed the shot and what we each saw. We knew I hit the buck but we weren’t sure where the shot landed or if it was fatal. Mike looked through the binoculars and saw blood on the field. We discussed whether we should get the tractor, which was up at the barn, then or after we tracked the deer. We decided to sit and wait. We were happy with what had happened. I texted a few people, including my dad, to let them know I had taken a shot. After about 15 minutes, we wondered aloud if we might see another deer. As soon as we said it, a fawn walked into the field from the south and started eating soybean. He pranced over to the apples and started eating those. We inspected him, assessed his size and age, and decided to let him be (see photo).

A little after 2:30, we left the enclosure and walked through the soybeans to the spot where the deer was standing. The fawn, who was previously unaware of our presence in the stand, bounded off into the woods from the apple trees. We found bright red blood in the field in the snow and on the soybeans. Some of it was clotted. At some points, we didn’t see any blood for a few feet. We followed the trail into the woods with Mike leading the way. About 40 yards from where I took the shot, the buck was on the ground face down. Mike saw it first but let me see it on my own before he said anything. We hugged and walked over to the deer. He confirmed it was dead and I kneeled down in the snow. I touched its wet fur head. I talked to it. We rolled the buck over and found the shot and the exit wound. I had hit the shot a little low but had likely damaged the heart and lungs.

We dragged the deer over to flat land, put it on his back, and I cut open the stomach. We found its stomach had been punctured by bone from the shot. He called his friend John who brought down the tractor and some rubber gloves. Somehow it was after 3:30 by this time. John field dressed the deer for us because I had only seen one video about this process. The undigested food from the stomach smelled wretched. John took pictures of Mike and me with the deer after the field dressing. We loaded the deer onto the tractor and rode up to the barn to hang it next to a doe that Mike’s friend shot on opening day. 

I drove home extremely happy but also in a stupor. That night I was exhausted but slept soundly. I have felt a great sense of pride over the last two days. Tonight (Tuesday 11-20), I will butcher the deer with my other Field to Fork classmates, two of whom shot bucks on opening day. I feel lucky to have had this experience on my first hunt. I could not have done this without QDMA, Bob and Mike. I’m proud of myself for the shot, which was far for me, and for handling a .30-06 with confidence even though I had only used it once before. I’m hooked on the experience of hunting. I need more time in the woods. I enjoy the primal nature of the sport. I love shooting. I know I will enjoy the venison that we will eat this winter. And I’m the city girl who will be proudly wearing camo whenever I get the chance. After Sunday, I believe hunting will become part of my culture. My 13-year old daughter is expressing an interest, and my dad is sending a .22 rifle at Thanksgiving for her to learn how to shoot. 

Thank you QDMA, Mike, Bob and Terry for being so gracious with your time and for sharing your knowledge and enthusiasm with us. This experience has been life changing for me."

[Paula]

That is a great story! Congrats to her and to Mike.

[Dinsdale]

44 minutes ago, Paula said:

That is a great story! Congrats to her and to Mike.

Sure is, terrific thread.

 

[Culvercreek hunt club]

On 11/17/2018 at 3:54 PM, Culvercreek hunt club said:

#2 . Another guy gets his first deer. Haven’t got the details yet

Braden did a great job of not only taking his first deer but also of telling his story. Reports I got from his mentor, Terry tell a story that is identical to Braden's recount with one exception. Braden felt the same effects of adrenaline as the rest of our first time hunters and he found out about the shakes I talked about in class. He calmed down enough to make a beautiful 80 yard off hand shot. 

 "I was able to go on my first deer hunt opening day as Terry offered to take me out in his ground blind on a piece of property he hunts regularly in Henrietta. I was very excited knowing that I had a good chance to shoot my first deer. Terry and I got into the blind around 6:00 am and got ready to sit for the day. He explained to me the distance I would be able to reach with my shotgun and pointed out landmarks at the furthest distance I could shoot. He also told me what to look out for when spotting deer through the trees such as a flickering white tail. It was only 30 minutes or so before I saw a small doe come in from the right of our blind from the corn field behind us where we walked in. It was about 20 yards away as it ran by us into the thick brush. About an hour and a half later I spotted another deer about 80 yards away to the right of us in the thick brush the small doe ran into. It was walking slowly our way out of the brush and revealed itself to be a small buck. Terry told me to get ready with my gun as the deer continued to walk closer and if a shot presented itself, I should take it. I was following the deer in my scope as it walked behind groups of trees and finally stopped about 40 yards away broadside behind a tree. I didn’t have a shot as the deer's neck was the only part not covered by the tree. There, the deer stuck his nose up, turned around and ran back into the thick brush. About 4 hours passed without seeing anything until I spotted another deer to the right of us in the thick brush. I couldn’t tell what it was as it stayed in the thick stuff for over an hour. It got a little closer and I could tell it was a doe. It moved closer to us through the brush until it disappeared. About a half hour later it reappeared even closer to us now in the brush about 20 yards away. We watched it for awhile not having a good shot until it turned back again and disappeared. This deer did this a couple of times as it did not want to present a good shot to us. Terry and I figured that this deer would not come out to the right of us, so we turned our attention back to the front of the blind. Not even 10 minutes later, a small buck passed by on the right coming from the corn field behind us. We didn’t realize it until the deer had its back side facing us as it headed into the brush. I got my gun ready in case it came out into the open. Sure enough the deer walked to the back of the brush line, turned left and followed a creek that flowed across the front view of our blind. It was slowly walking along the creek broadside and Terry pointed out a big opening in the trees where he would stop the deer by making a noise so I could make a good shot on the deer. Terry asked me if I was ready and stopped the deer as it walked into the opening about 80 yards away. I shot and I could tell I made a good one as the deer spun around several times before it fell over into the creek. I was very excited to see the deer go down and I could tell Terry was too. It was about 3:45 pm when we went down to gut the deer and saw that it was a little 5 pointer. We thought that it could have been the same buck we saw earlier in the day. I was very happy to get a deer on my first deer hunt and thanked Terry for taking me out and teaching me along the way."

[Five Seasons]

4 hours ago, Culvercreek hunt club said:

As we walked in, he got a text from his trail camera that a fawn was eating in the field. It was gone when we arrived.

there's a pretty good discussion on this subject during a recent meateater podcast. No reason to detract from an awesome story, so somebody remind me and we can go 10 pages when the season is over

[Moho81]

Bob - thank you for sharing their story and make sure you tell them it’s much appreciated.

Makes you remember what it’s all about.


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[Paula]

Another good story

[Culvercreek hunt club]

We have two ladies that have not taken a deer. Actually they haven't seen one. I will be taking one out for a full day this Saturday and the other out the following weekend (don't have the day picked yet though). Hopefully we can bat 1,000 this year. The one lady I am taking Saturday,  has been out on 2 full day sits to date. She was out yesterday and got literally soaked from head to toe. All day in a stand (not even a blind) and she hung in there. I have to work hard to make that kind of dedication pay off for her. 

Edited November 27, 2018 by Culvercreek hunt club

[Paula]

I'm glad she is sticking with it, she won't regret it.

Best of luck to both. 

[Culvercreek hunt club]

On 11/17/2018 at 12:16 PM, Culvercreek hunt club said:

Story to follow but the first field to fork deer is down. Ryan was a rock.....until after the shot. Lol20181117/409fff6a9914702ebcb0ee97534e1927.jpg[/img]

How Ryan got this buck was rather non-traditional but it highlighted something that he and I talked about when we got back on stand that afternoon. Any decision you make, no matter how small, can effect your hunt positively or negatively. You'll see what I mean in this following story. 

This took place at my hunting camp and my brother in law and Steve863 from the forum joined Ryan and myself. Even with all the snow the morning was pretty slow for action as well as the number of shots we were hearing. 

"It all started around 9 o’clock when Steve863 texted Bob that he had shot a doe. It was a quiet morning in our blind so Bob asked me if I wanted to go down to Steve863's doe and learn how to gut it or stay in the blind and keep hunting. I kind of shrugged and said I wasn’t sure and kept looking for deer; avoiding the tough decision. A few minutes later he asked me again. I was very indecisive and unsure because I thought I wouldn’t see a deer if we went down to gut the doe. Ultimately, I decided to go learn how to gut it in case I didn’t get a deer myself. 

 

Shortly after, we headed down to meet Steve863 by his doe. We leaned our guns and bags against the tree, and stood around talking in normal voices, listening to the story of what happened and how he shot it. As we were talking and getting ready to finally gut it, I looked around the woods and suddenly spotted a deer walking with its head down about 70 yards away. I was so surprised to see a deer down there in the first place but let alone one that close to us. I pointed it out to Bob and Steve863 and Bob quickly ran to the tree and got our guns and started saying it was a buck. I was so shocked and flustered I didn’t even realize it was a buck. Bob handed me the gun and I started to walk forward towards a little tree with a branch sticking out so I could rest the gun on it for an easier shot. Before I could take another step, Bob grabbed my shoulder and told me to not move so I didn’t make noise and spook the deer. I stood there and put the gun up to my shoulder while following the deer in my scope the whole time. I watched the deer walk from 70 yards in to about 30 yards with his head down the entire time, following the trail of the doe that Steve863 shot about an hour earlier. It didn’t see, hear, or smell us at all. Over my left shoulder and in my ear the whole time Bob was giving me directions. He then told me to aim in this one opening where the deer was heading, which would give me the perfect opportunity for a clear shot. As the deer kept walking without flinching or noticing us, Bob kept telling me to wait, wait. wait. (Edit: Additional info by Bob-- The buck was walking left to right and then veered right putting him on a collision course with us. At that point in the snow I could see the tracks of the doe and blood trail from Steve863's doe and the buck was right on them with his head down. The doe was literally laying at my heels and I knew this was going to get some pretty close quarters...lol). As soon as it walked into the opening I was aiming at, the deer stopped and looked right up at us. (edit: As he entered the clear lane at about 30 yards he turned sharply to his right giving us his left front shoulder quartering to. Ryan was carrying a 308Win so I knew that shot at that distance was a no brainer). Bob was telling me where to aim and then all I heard was “shoot, shoot”. As soon as I heard “shoot” the second time I pulled the trigger and hoped I made a good shot. 

 

After I shot I lowered the gun, put another bullet in the chamber and all of the sudden saw the deer start running full speed straight towards us. I had no idea what to do so I went behind Bob as he held the gun up aiming at the buck running at us. Looking back at it now it’s a little embarrassing, but in the moment when a 200+ pound buck is running at you in the middle of the woods, my first instinct was to run the other way. Bob was ready to put another shot in it until he looked through his scope and he could see the blood spraying out. He knew it was a good shot and didn’t need to shoot it again. After it ran towards us it turned to it's right , the front leg gave out and fell down, then it got back up and ran a few more feet and fell over again. Bob told me to keep my gun up and keep my eye on the deer in case it wasn’t dead and got up and ran away. During this time my leg was shaking uncontrollably and I couldn’t stop it to save my life. Now I know why Bob told us to stay in our blinds or tree stands for a little bit after shooting a deer to let the adrenaline die off. After a few minutes of waiting, all three of us walked slowly towards the deer with our guns up and confirmed it was dead. From there we took a few pictures and then began the gutting process. Bob showed me how and got me started, and I ended up gutting the buck and the doe. It wasn’t as bad as I expected it to be. 

I’m glad it all happened so fast and it wasn’t the traditional way of sitting and spotting a deer, and maybe waiting hours for it to walk out to where I can get a shot. I think this allowed me to just react and not overthink the whole situation and let it bother me and get my nerves going to where I was shaking while trying to get a shot off.

Overall, it was an unreal experience and a great first hunting memory that I will never forget. I’m grateful to have been able to get a deer my first time hunting, let alone this nice buck. Thanks to Bob and all the QDMA members for all they have done during this great program. It has definitely given me a new hobby that I hope to continue and share with others and I highly recommend the program to anybody with even the slightest interest in hunting. I never thought I would have gotten into hunting but thanks to this program it has given me the knowledge and confidence to be able to go on my own and now I am definitely hooked."

Edited November 28, 2018 by Culvercreek hunt club

[Culvercreek hunt club]

Steve863 actually had the best seat in the house to see this all go down' he was behind us and I would be interested in hearing his impression. It was a pleasure sharing that day with you Steve863. That one will be in my memories forever. 

[Five Seasons]

15 minutes ago, Culvercreek hunt club said:

How Ryan got this buck was rather non-traditional but it highlighted something that he and I talked about when we got back on stand that afternoon. Any decision you make, no matter how small, can effect your hunt positively or negatively. You'll see what I mean in this following story. 

This took place at my hunting camp and my brother in law and Steve863 from the forum joined Ryan and myself. Even with all the snow the morning was pretty slow for action as well as the number of shots we were hearing. 

"It all started around 9 o’clock when Steve863 texted Bob that he had shot a doe. It was a quiet morning in our blind so Bob asked me if I wanted to go down to Steve863's doe and learn how to gut it or stay in the blind and keep hunting. I kind of shrugged and said I wasn’t sure and kept looking for deer; avoiding the tough decision. A few minutes later he asked me again. I was very indecisive and unsure because I thought I wouldn’t see a deer if we went down to gut the doe. Ultimately, I decided to go learn how to gut it in case I didn’t get a deer myself. 

 

Shortly after, we headed down to meet Steve863 by his doe. We leaned our guns and bags against the tree, and stood around talking in normal voices, listening to the story of what happened and how he shot it. As we were talking and getting ready to finally gut it, I looked around the woods and suddenly spotted a deer walking with its head down about 70 yards away. I was so surprised to see a deer down there in the first place but let alone one that close to us. I pointed it out to Bob and Steve863 and Bob quickly ran to the tree and got our guns and started saying it was a buck. I was so shocked and flustered I didn’t even realize it was a buck. Bob handed me the gun and I started to walk forward towards a little tree with a branch sticking out so I could rest the gun on it for an easier shot. Before I could take another step, Bob grabbed my shoulder and told me to not move so I didn’t make noise and spook the deer. I stood there and put the gun up to my shoulder while following the deer in my scope the whole time. I watched the deer walk from 70 yards in to about 30 yards with his head down the entire time, following the trail of the doe that Steve863 shot about an hour earlier. It didn’t see, hear, or smell us at all. Over my left shoulder and in my ear the whole time Bob was giving me directions. He then told me to aim in this one opening where the deer was heading, which would give me the perfect opportunity for a clear shot. As the deer kept walking without flinching or noticing us, Bob kept telling me to wait, wait. wait. (Edit: Additional info by Bob-- The buck was walking left to right and then veered right putting him on a collision course with us. At that point in the snow I could see the tracks of the doe and blood trail from Steve863's doe and the buck was right on them with his head down. The doe was literally laying at my heels and I knew this was going to get some pretty close quarters...lol). As soon as it walked into the opening I was aiming at, the deer stopped and looked right up at us. (edit: As he entered the clear lane at about 30 yards he turned sharply to his right giving us his left front shoulder quartering to. Ryan was carrying a 308Win so I knew that shot at that distance was a no brainer). Bob was telling me where to aim and then all I heard was “shoot, shoot”. As soon as I heard “shoot” the second time I pulled the trigger and hoped I made a good shot. 

 

After I shot I lowered the gun, put another bullet in the chamber and all of the sudden saw the deer start running full speed straight towards us. I had no idea what to do so I went behind Bob as he held the gun up aiming at the buck running at us. Looking back at it now it’s a little embarrassing, but in the moment when a 200+ pound buck is running at you in the middle of the woods, my first instinct was to run the other way. Bob was ready to put another shot in it until he looked through his scope and he could see the blood spraying out. He knew it was a good shot and didn’t need to shoot it again. After it ran towards us it turned to it's right , the front leg gave out and fell down, then it got back up and ran a few more feet and fell over again. Bob told me to keep my gun up and keep my eye on the deer in case it wasn’t dead and got up and ran away. During this time my leg was shaking uncontrollably and I couldn’t stop it to save my life. Now I know why Bob told us to stay in our blinds or tree stands for a little bit after shooting a deer to let the adrenaline die off. After a few minutes of waiting, all three of us walked slowly towards the deer with our guns up and confirmed it was dead. From there we took a few pictures and then began the gutting process. Bob showed me how and got me started, and I ended up gutting the buck and the doe. It wasn’t as bad as I expected it to be. 

I’m glad it all happened so fast and it wasn’t the traditional way of sitting and spotting a deer, and maybe waiting hours for it to walk out to where I can get a shot. I think this allowed me to just react and not overthink the whole situation and let it bother me and get my nerves going to where I was shaking while trying to get a shot off.

Overall, it was an unreal experience and a great first hunting memory that I will never forget. I’m grateful to have been able to get a deer my first time hunting, let alone this nice buck. Thanks to Bob and all the QDMA members for all they have done during this great program. It has definitely given me a new hobby that I hope to continue and share with others and I highly recommend the program to anybody with even the slightest interest in hunting. I never thought I would have gotten into hunting but thanks to this program it has given me the knowledge and confidence to be able to go on my own and now I am definitely hooked."

awesome! Hopefully he knows that it doesn't always work like that lol.

[Culvercreek hunt club]

2 minutes ago, Belo said:

awesome! Hopefully he knows that it doesn't always work like that lol.

That is what we talked about. That little decision could have just as easily been that we went and gutted the doe and the buck walked by our blind while we were gone. 

[steve863]

3 minutes ago, Culvercreek hunt club said:

Steve863 actually had the best seat in the house to see this all go down' he was behind us and I would be interested in hearing his impression. It was a pleasure sharing that day with you Steve863. That one will be in my memories forever. 

I have been hunting a LONG time now, but Ryan's kill will be etched in my memory forever, that is for darned sure!  I have seen some crazy stuff while hunting over the years, but the way Ryan's buck just walked up to us while myself, Bob and Ryan were pretty much standing around next to a dead doe like the 3 stooges, talking out loud, etc. was truly one of the wildest scenes I have ever witnessed while hunting.   It was downright surreal.  You read about hunters concealing themselves from head to toe, spraying themselves silly with scent-killer, deer piss, you name it, and here we are just standing around and a dandy buck simply comes in paying us NO mind whatsoever!  

We have to give a lot of credit to Ryan here. He was the first one to spot this deer.  He kept his composure and made a great shot under some pretty tense circumstances.   We were watching this deer for a good distance coming in towards us.  And the bucks antlers just kept getting bigger and bigger as he approached.  Hunters with many years of experience would have become unglued in a similar situation, I can assure you, but Ryan followed all of Bob's instructions to a T and made an absolutely great kill.  One, I am sure he will remember for the rest of his life!

Kudos, to Bob and all his colleagues who were involved with this Field to Fork program.  As we are seeing all these success stories and pictures here, they obviously did a terrific job in training these folks.  Many of these mentors took precious time away from their own hunting to take these folks out and show them how to get the job done.  In Ryan's case, he could not have had a better mentor than Bob.

Also, many thanks to Bob for opening up his camp to me again this year.  I thoroughly enjoy hunting with him and at his camp.  I had a great time last year and an even better time this year as everyone just read above in Ryan's story.  You just can't make up stuff like that!

 

 

 

 

[moog5050]

As an aside, Bob was raving about the food you brought up Steve.

[steve863]

3 minutes ago, moog5050 said:

As an aside, Bob was raving about the food you brought up Steve.

The compliments need to go to my dear old mother!!   For years now, whenever she hears that I am going hunting, she cooks up a storm for me to take along with me.  I guess she's afraid that I might die of hunger out in the woods!   My wife, on the other hand, doesn't seem to be as worried.  LOL

 

 

[Paula]

Great stories!

[Culvercreek hunt club]

Well this weekend is the last hoora for the last two ladies in the program.

I took the one out for an all day sit last Saturday on a property that is managed for older bucks. They have to be outside the ears (they want 3-1//2 to 4-1/2 to be the bar). BUT the property is loaded with does and that was actually our target. Kati had 2 DMP in her pocket for the area and we were in the blind early.  The blind is a nice big Redneck and is at the property line overlooking a couple small plots. at 720 we noticed 4 does behind us in the thicket and they came to 15 yards of the blind. SO here we sit. in the blind, deer totally unaware and they walk right into an open 4 wheeler trail. The only thing between us and them is the posted sign on the property line. We hoped they would feed into the plots but it wasn't meant to be. Around noon we took a quick warm up walk around the area and it was loaded with tracks. One of the largest hoof prints I have ever seen actually crossed our entry trail 4 times working the side hill back and forth. Just not low enough for us to see it. We got back in the stand and at 330 we noticed a deer crossing a wheeler path and headed towards the plot. Kati got settled in and got the rifle up. It walked into the plot at 80 yards and I had my bino's on it. She said she was on target and I could see her barrel was rock steady. Then the deer turned it's head and looked at us and it was a spike with a small eye guard. I could hear her sigh. Very disheartening but both were a good lesson. Gotta play by the rules

This weekend I am taking Amy out on an afternoon hunt on Saturday and Kati is wanting to go for another all day sit on Sunday. Keep your fingers crossed for these ladies. They have really been putting in the effort and I want to make this happen for them.  

Edited December 7, 2018 by Culvercreek hunt club

[helmut in the bush]

Good stuff

[WNYBuckHunter]

52 minutes ago, Culvercreek hunt club said:

Well this weekend is the last hoora for the last two ladies in the program.

I took the one out for an all day sit last Saturday on a property that is managed for older bucks. They have to be outside the ears (they want 3-1//2 to 4-1/2 to be the bar). BUT the property is loaded with does and that was actually our target. Kati had 2 DMP in her pocket for the area and we were in the blind early.  The blind is a nice big Redneck and is at the property line overlooking a couple small plots. at 720 we noticed 4 does behind us in the thicket and they came to 15 yards of the blind. SO here we sit. in the blind, deer totally unaware and they walk right into an open 4 wheeler trail. The only thing between us and them is the posted sign on the property line. We hoped they would feed into the plots but it wasn't meant to be. Around noon we took a quick warm up walk around the area and it was loaded with tracks. One of the largest hoof prints I have ever seen actually crossed our entry trail 4 times working the side hill back and forth. Just not low enough for us to see it. We got back in the stand and at 330 we noticed a deer crossing a wheeler path and headed towards the plot. Kati got settled in and got the rifle up. It walked into the plot at 80 yards and I had my bino's on it. She said she was on target and I could see her barrel was rock steady. Then the deer turned it's head and looked at us and it was a spike with a small eye guard. I could hear her sigh. Very disheartening but both were a good lesson. Gotta play by the rules

This weekend I am taking Amy out on an afternoon hunt on Saturday and Kati is wanting to go for another all day sit on Sunday. Keep your fingers crossed for these ladies. They have really been putting in the effort and I want to make this happen for them.  

Remember, Sunday my place is available if need be. Ill make sure to have some extra propane tanks in the blind just in case. More than welcome to take anything that steps out.