Hunting Adventures - 2012

If you haven’t heard by now Steve aka Sevey is no longer a bow hunting virgin.  Yes he ended his 25+ year bow hunting dry spell last weekend on a nice 115 lb doe.  It was quite a story because unbeknownst to Sevey, he his brother Rick were both shooting at the same deer.

It went like this:

• Sevey shoots….and misses (very typical)
• Deer runs off…towards Rick
• Rick shoots…not sure if he hit it?
• Deer trots back towards Sevey again
• Sevey shoots…he scores…but even Sevey can’t quite believe it
• Deer runs off
• Steve sees Rick….. indicates a blood trail
• Rick assumes what most people would that he hit the deer given Sevey’s poor track record bow hunting.
• But low and behold, lighting does occasionally strike twice and the Bow hunting God looked down on Steve and had pity…Sevey killed the deer.
• Steve smoked a very satisfying cigarette over the kill.

We older hunters have hunted together for 20 years in the Northeast.  We have loads of stories which inspired me to start my blog.  We also raised our children hunting, fishing, camping, etc. and I wish I had the pictures and stories written down. 

Our children grew up and started hunting on their own.  They took it upon themselves to take it to the next level and started doing things that we older guys looked at and said “nope … too old for that … “.  We started calling them “Dirty Hunters” for their efforts.  We would question their tactics, mock them, trash talk, and get a jab in any chance we could.  It wasn’t because they were doing anything illegal, but because we were too old to participate (Different stage of life).  All they do is point to the pictures of their success. 

I should explain what we mean by a “Dirty Hunter”.  It starts with Time … and I mean lots of time in the woods; scouting, trail cameras, multiple tree stands, swamps, mapping out a plan, etc.  This has included: 

• Time … they spend so much time I the woods before the season starts scouting and preparing.
• Getting up early to get to their stand hours before sunrise. 3:30AM is too early for me.
• Wearing hip or chest waders to go deep into the swamps where the big deer hide during the season.  Maybe I’m too old but if I have to go in to waist or chest deep water to get to my tree stand I put it in the wrong place.
• Paddling a canoe across rivers if necessary to get to their tree stands.  (Included loading deer into the canoe, going back across the river to the truck)
• Becoming proficient with deer bleets, blats, grunts, etc to bring them in.
• Legally bow hunting in areas that you wouldn’t expect the deer or the deer hunter to be. 

The last bullet reminds me of Ryan who had another “DH” successful hunt this year with what we called his “Taco Bell” buck.   He was bow hunting in a quiet area … morning after morning the only thing he heard was “Welcome to Taco Bell … May I take your order please?”  He took this buck we named the “TACO BELL BUCK”. 

The success of the “DH” group can be seen on my blog from past years of hunting.  10 point, 11 point, 13 point, and heavy deer … There is something to be said about putting in the time scouting before the season and going where the big bucks go in swamps, etc.

The rest of the season played out this way.  We saw little or no acorns, beechnuts, or apples in the woods.  We saw many deer in the fields eating grass but that’s not very nutritious.  Will be interested to see what Fish & Game says about the winter kill.  Hopefully 2013 will have more food in the woods.

We were out of town for NH Youth weekend.  Kevin took a 115lb doe Youth Weekend in Vermont.  I hunted Vermont rifle opening weekend.  3 point rule, buck only.  I saw 2 spike horns and 3 does.  Many more does in the fields.  The first buck was heavy and I couldn’t believe it was a spike.  There was a 3rd point on one side but not countable (at least an inch long).  If it was NH I would have taken it.  The second buck was small with spikes that looked like pencils.  I wouldn’t have taken that one even if it was legal.  Needs to grow up …  

Mike and I hunted two new areas sitting on runs that led to the grassy fields.  No luck spotting bucks.  I am interested in going back to those areas next year. 

The following weekend I hunted in NH.  I saw 5 does … and no bucks … nuts …   That was it for my hunting time in NH. 

Sevey took a doe, Rick a doe, Ryan a 7 point and a 4 point, Derek a 7 point and a doe, Stephen a doe, Mike skunked, James skunked, Brian skunked … Doug didn't even hunt this year!!!  There were way too many tags unfilled ... 

There’s always next year… 

Go to: "Search This Blog" at the top of my page and type in hunting to see past posts.

Youth Hunting Weekend - Vermont

Friday, November 2, as soon as Kevin got home from school we headed for Vermont. 

We arrived around 4:30PM and Kevin wanted to go 4 wheeling so we headed down some of the logging roads before going to Mike’s.  Some mud, some rocks, and Hurricane Sandy dropped a tree across one of the trails so we had to turn around. 

The hunting plan was to get up early head to our spot from last year.  I had my pack and would lump the extra gear around (40 lbs … water, Gatorade, snacks, camera, extra gloves, hats, socks, flashlights, etc.) to free Kevin up with the rifle.    

I was up at 4AM.  Woke Kevin up at 5AM and had breakfast.  We were walking through the woods to our spot with our flashlights by 6AM.  We sat until 8AM.  NOTHING…

At 8AM Mike left us and did a loop through one of the fields to hopefully push something toward us like last year.  NOTHING...

Next spot...  Kevin and I headed to a ridge where Rick saw several deer during Bow season and Steven took a doe in the same area.  Mike had some things to take care of so he planned on pushing the ridge to us a bit later.  It was very windy at the top of the ridge so not the ideal conditions.   Mike got on the radio to let us know he was coming up the ridge.  Kevin was ready.  NOTHING...

We headed back to the house for lunch.  Next Spot...  We walked down Cream Street and headed past Stephen’s stump into the hard woods down the hill near the stream.  Mike was going to push behind his house heading toward us. 

Typically the deer go down the hill, cross the stream, and head up the other side.  We found a nice deer run coming from the stream and settled in.  Mike jumped several deer.  They crossed the stream in a different spot and headed up the hill on our side but we were a couple hundred yards further down.  NOTHING... 

We connected with Mike there and decided to go over the ridge the direction the deer went and set up near the ponds.  Often times the deer will bed down near those ponds so we thought they may have headed in that direction.  We saw several scrapes on our way which was a good sign. 

Next spot…  Kevin and I took a stand on a rock wall so we could see on both sides above the ponds.  If the deer came up from the ponds Kevin had shooting lanes on both sides of the wall.  Mike walked over the old stone bridge and started a big loop around the ponds.  He said it was very thick.  NOTHING...  Mike looked tired!!

Next spot ... From the walking we had done we decided to go back over the ridge to Stephen’s stump and sit along a run we saw with several scrapes.  Kevin sat on Stephen’s stump watching and waiting, I sat nearby on a downed tree watching and waiting.  Mike leaned up against a tree and fell asleep from all of his extra walking.  I do believe I have a picture of Mike from last year doing the same thing.  With the wind in our face Kevin started to get cold. He said he had enough for the day so we slowly hunted back to the truck.  NOTHING...

We headed to the check in station and Kevin got some snacks.

 Next spot … On the way back to Mike’s we still had some daylight so decided to head in to one of the areas where Kevin and I go 4 wheeling. 

In the woods we spotted a doe above us on a hill.  The first deer we had seen all day.  Kevin had a shot … took it … and that was it.  The deer went down and rolled probably 30 feet down the hill.  “Great shot by Kevin.”   We dragged the deer to the road.  We talked about walking Kevin slowly through steps of field dressing the deer but the checking station would be closed before we finished.  Kevin wanted to get back to the checking station before they closed so Mike dressed the deer with Kevin’s help (Mike said time me!!  Record time, 5 minutes).  Mature doe … dressed at 115lbs.  SUCCESS …

Kevin and I walked 4 ½ miles.  Mike walked several miles more to push for us.  We were all pretty excited about sleeping in the next morning.  Kevin wanted get home to hang the deer in our tree for all to see.  Some of his friends stopped by to see it.  Doug, Rick, and Stephen also stopped by to congratulate Kevin.

Somehow people could tell Kevin was successful on the ride home.