Vermont Hike - Bear In The Woods

In 1983 I was introduced to a group of guys that liked hunting and fishing. We called our group "Sportsman's Fellowship". We started out hunting, fishing, and having Bible studies together. Over the years we have become the best of friends. Some of our group have come and gone because of jobs, moving, etc. but our core group hasn't changed. Our siblings were also included at a very young age and some are now adults carrying on the hunting and fishing traditions. Years ago we thought we would have a wild game dinner with bear, venison, caribou, salmon, trout, etc. Great idea but a bit unprepared when 95 guys showed up. Needless to say we ran out of everything.

We have loads of stories about our experiences in camp, in the woods, on the water, and on the ice.

Here is a true Doug story.

A few years ago there were several of us staying in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. We were scouting for deer season.

Doug decided he was going to hike to the top of Gore Mountain just north of Island Pond. I do believe there is a trail to the top that is 4 miles or so but Doug wasn't going to take the trail.

Gore Mountain is one of the highest mountains in the Northeast Kingdom at 3,330 feet. Coming from Rt. 114 (around 1350 feet) it's a steep climb. If you hike to the back side it is a bit easier but much longer.  Doug is pretty strong and in good shape.  I remember Doug helped Pam and I move to a condo. I was in the condo and heard a loud bang. It was Doug. He had taken our queen size pull out couch, mattress and all, off of the truck and proceeded to carry it on his back to the second floor by himself. He got hung up in the stairwell going through the door hence the bang.

Anyway, anyone who knows Doug will tell you he can cover more distance, rough terrain, and hills than most men in a very short amount of time. (i.e. South Rim of the Grand Canyon to Phantom Ranch and back in 6 hours.)

It was raining on the Saturday he asked me to hike Gore with him. With bad memories of past hikes and having good common sense I declined. Rain + a steep climb + a long distance + a very fast pace + average conditioning on my part + DOUG = A BAD EXPERIENCE. I dropped him off on Rt. 114 for his climb.

Doug said he hiked for a long time and stopped at one point as the rain let up. He said "I was tired!" This meant I would have been hobbling a half mile back most likely trying to get back to Rt. 114 and probably lost (pre GPS).

Because of the rain, walking was very quiet in the woods. As he stood there he heard a noise Shhhhhh ... Shhhhhhhhh ... Shhhhhh ... Shhhhhhh ... He looked around and thought "What in the world is that noise" ... Just then he caught a quick glimpse of black in the corner of his eye. He turned and saw a black bear run straight away from him crashing through the brush.

It was black bear season but it happened so fast Doug said his .44 pistol (named Bertha) never cleared his holster.

It turned out Doug stopped in the middle of a beechnut grove. Doug didn't realize it but there was a black bear up in a beechnut tree eating beechnuts.  The bear didn't see Doug, and because of the rain, the bear didn't smell Doug or hear him walking. As Doug took a break, the bear must have spotted or smelled him and became nervous. The Shhhhhhhhh ... Shhhhhhhh ... noise was the sound of the bear sliding down the tree to escape. 

I took a picture of this beechnut tree with bear claw marks on it when I was hunting.  It's one of my favorite trees in the woods.

Doug continued to the top then down again to Rt. 114. I got a call to pick him up. He was so hungry we headed straight to the store for some food.

A black bears senses are so good they typically smell or hear a person coming and move off. The odds of seeing a bear in the woods is rare. The odds of keeping up with Doug on a hike is also rare.

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.  

Hunting Adventures - 2010

October 1 - Rick and Steve M are going to Mikes for opening bow in Vermont.  There have been several inches of rain in the last 24 hours.  Should stop this evening so opening will be ok.  Very wet, very muddy, and very quiet.  Leaves are turning colors ...

James missed a 5 point.  Ended up taking a doe.

Ryan took this huge deer with a bow in MA.  It's an 11 point and weighed 210lbs dressed.  He said it was the buck he shot at last year.  Derek took a nice 7 point weighing 160 lbs dressed with a bow in MA.  How are us old guys supposed to keep up with these youngsters. 

Representing us "OLD GUYS", Rick is thinking ... "So that's what they look like!!"

Oct 23 - 24 Youth weekend in NH.  Kevin and I headed to Moultonborough on Friday.  Once we arrived we unloaded and headed into the woods to our rock.   We were going to clear the brush and set up for a morning stand.  10 inches from our rock is a tree. When we arrived we couldn't help but notice someones tree stand in our spot.  Kevin was bummed out.  We scouted around and found an area next to the field with 3 scrapes and 4 rubs.  Looked like a buck was a bit busy.  We made a plan for our morning stand. 

October 23.  Temp is low 30's with 15+ mph winds.  Was cold.  I brought a camo blanket for Kevin.  The wind mad things difficult.  After 1 hr 40 minutes Kevin need to start moving.  We walked until late morning.  Didn't see any deer.  Came out of the woods and had breakfast.  Headed to Red Hill.  Hunted to the area where I saw many scrapes and rubs the year before.  Good sign but didn't see anything.  Wind had picked up.  We did see 2 bow hunters.  They were on their way up the hill.  They said they hadn't seen anything either.  Came down in a field.  Met the owner who said I could park there and hunt.  This would make it easier to hit that ridge as I was parking over 1/2 mile away.  Went back to our spot for an evening stand. 

Oct 24.  Instead of taking a stand we waked the swamp trail.  Kevin was about 60 feet in front of me.  He pulled up and took a shot at a deer he saw in the swap.  I couldn't see the deer but I heard it run.  Saw tracks, couldn't see any blood or hair.  Kevin said deer went to the left of a downed tree in the swamp.  I started following tracks ... no blood that I could see.  Stopped and turned back when I took a step and sank up to my knee in mud.  Grabbed my boot.  Had to basicaly lay down to get the mud to release.  I told Kevin we needed to turn around as was to risky to continue.  We continued on the trail and endied up doing a big loop back to the truck.  I was excited he got a shot off. 

Mike took a doe in VT on Sunday with a bow.

SO … I showed Pam the pics of Derek’s deer and Ryan’s deer.  She said WITH TONE … “Why can’t you hunt where they are hunting??  We need the venison!!”

All I could do was say they take canoes across rivers and hunt swamps!  And besides, they bow hunt and I don't!!  Needless to say MY MANHOOD WAS PRICKED.  NO PRESSURE ... Thanks a lot guys.   I can say I am building memories of getting up really early, sitting out in the cold sometimes with wind, until my fingers loose feeling and my body shakes uncontrollably, only to get up and start moving around to warm up.  Hearing gun shots in the area of my hunting buddies shooting their deer (i.e. Steven and Rick on Sargent) ... What great memories ...

I will try to restore my manhood during rifle hunting this year. 

Nov 2. Stephen K took this 8 point buck in MA with a bow weighing 184lbs dressed.  Another big deer.  Congrats Stephen.  Mike asked, "Steve ... what's with the SMURF GLOVES???"  One comment from an un-named source said those may be screw on antlers purchased from the "DH" website and that's really a doe.  Those PURDY gloves are hiding the mounts!  We are still waiting for Stevey's reply.

Derek's dad tagged this small 6 point, 130 lbs dressed with a bow.  HEY DEREK!!  PAM wants to know why you won't put me in one of your tree stands so I can shoot something!!!!

Opening day for rifle in Vermont is the 13^h so I headed up on the 12^th to check out some areas.  Mike left a voicemail saying he had not been feeling well (vertigo) so he would be taking it easy.  I drove the Norford Lake Road on the way in.  Mud in some places with big ruts.  Two large puddles, one had to be almost 2 feet deep.  The Copper Mine Road was reopened so I drove that to the cemetery and turned around.  Rick, Steven, Ryan, and Derek showed up early evening as Mike and I were picking up pizzas.

James (VT National Guard) was wounded in an RPG attack in Afghanistan.  He was taken to Germany, then to Walter Reed for surgery.  He was discharged from Walter Reed last month and came back to VT. He will be driving to NC Sunday morning to turn in some of his gear.  He received a “Purple Heart” from his ordeal.  We are lucky to have him.  Praise God for that.  His unit returns from Afganistan mid December.

I have not been in the Vermont woods since last year.  Mike, Rick, Steven, and James have spent much more time in the woods scouting and bow hunting.  As usual, I asked the question: “Where should I hunt?”  The Town Line, Jurassic Hill, Sargent Hill, Cream Street, the Boulders, the Copper Mine Road, the Valley of the Balls, Mike’s Tree Stand ... 

They made fun of me because I can never seem to choose so they made me something to help.  “The Brian E Spinner”.

Spinner Rules:

• If you land on a place: you must go there!
• If spinner lands on a person: that person tells you where to hunt!
• Valid hunting areas are listed on the spinner board only!

• After 1 hour at determined location, you are free to move about.
• If you land on a person who is not present, you must spin again.
• You may opt out at any time by contributing $5 to that days buck pool.

Steven to Sargent, Rick to Sargent, Ryan and Derek to the Boulders, Still not feeling 100%, Mike would hunt in the afternoon.  I spent Saturday morning on the east side of Jurassic.  I took a stand where deer can be pushed off the hill and down a trail.  I thought I would head east toward the swamp mid morning.  

Temp was low 30’s, almost no wind, leaves very noisy.  As I sat for my Saturday morning stand (1/2 mile from truck) there were many shots east of me toward the swamp.  Around 8:30AM I decided to make my way toward the swamp.  I went 400 yards or so and saw a coyote.  It was blond in color, gun up, I shot, MISSED … it didn’t know where I was so scampered off making a loop.  I was ticked.  I had that dead on.  That was my first shot with the new scope on my gun.  John D and I used a laser bore sight to dial it in but didn’t actually take a shot with it.  My mistake … should have done that the day prior when I first arrived.  I continued hunting moving toward the swamp the whole time wondering if I would hit anything I aimed at.  I was 1.7 miles from my truck when I decided to go back and shoot a couple rounds at a target.  Arrived at Mike’s around noon and I set up a target.  For some reason at 50 yards I was about 10 inches high and a bit to the right.  Brought things down and to the left so ended up with a nice grouping I was satisfied with.  Now I felt ready for the deer or coyote’s.  It warmed up to almost 60 in the afternoon so I dressed lighter for the afternoon.

Steve never came out for lunch so I decided to go up Sargent.  Maybe I would push something toward him.  There was a shot on Sargent but not Steve.  I went to the top and took an evening stand by a blow down.  Had a good open view an area.   No bucks (3 point rule in VT again this year) sighted by the group all day. 

We had our annual dinner at Franks on Saturday night.  Doug Sr, Doug Jr, Paul, John and Ray attended the dinner.  Was good to see all of them.  The food was excellent.

Sunday morning back to Jurassic.  Much colder, minimal wind, leaves very noisy.  Deer tracks right down the trail I walked in on.  Continued a couple hundred yards past my spot the previous morning and saw a big scrape.  Mike was feeling better and dragged a scent line by me on the trail and continued 400 yards past me going left toward a swamp.  He saw 3 more fresh scrapes and sat for a while.  There is a buck tearing it up in there.

In the afternoon I used the spinner and went to the VOB.   No one had been there yet so I thought it would be a good place to take an evening stand.  Mike was coming in from the West moving toward me.  At 4:15PM I decided to start moving back toward my truck.  About 50 yards from my truck I jumped 3 deer.  One was big, gun up and on it but no clear view of headgear.  NUTS … they crossed the old dirt road and circled left behind my truck.  I thought they may jump to road again so I spun around, gun up,  and got ready.  Noise behind me … swung back around and a 4^th deer crossed the road in the same spot the first 3 crossed.  Big deer, light less now, no clear look for headgear.  AGAIN NUTS. 

Monday morning quarterback:  I suspect the first 3 deer I saw were does.  The 4^th was most likely a buck trailing them.  Should have positioned myself and been ready for additional deer crossing where the first 3 had.  Would have been set to see any headgear at that point.    10 minutes later Mike arrived.  He may have pushed them off the hill toward me.

Stephen K took another 8 point weighing 144lbs dressed.  His second buck this year.  Nice to see his gloves have improved.  What's with those detachable skull caps!!!  Is that product from the DH website?

Steve M went back to Mike's in VT Wednesday night.  They hooked up with Wayne and went to Taylor Valley on Thurs.  New area, big woods, saw a moose.   Mike had one bad shot at a buck through thick stuff and missed.

Saturday morning they woke to fresh snow (1 inch).  Steve went in the trail where Rick saw deer last weekend.  Steve saw 5 does and 1 buck with a broken antler but couldn’t get a shot.

Mike went in by Sargent on back of Norford Lake.  He then moved higher by the duck pond and found fresh tracks.  Saw a deer moving his way….antlers….  Made a 60 yd shot.  Took this nice 4 point.



Rick hasn't seen many deer this year.  (I was thinking with age, goes eyesight.)  He hunted Red Hill in NH a couple days and saw a spike on Sunday.  Had little spikes and thought it was very young and to small so he passed.  My plan is to go to Red Hill this weekend.  Rick may do the same.

December 3 – 5.  I hunted a new area behind the pond to the left of Red Hill on Friday afternoon.  Lots of tracks but only saw one rub.  Rick arrived early saturday morning so we hunted Red Hill.  Lots of scrapes and rubs seen by both of us but didn’t see the deer.  I started at around 500 feet elevation and followed scrapes and rubs to 1050 feet elev. turning left to a large feeding area.  Stayed in that area a while then went a bit higher looping right toward Rick.  Hit an old skidder trail which brought me down to the area I hunted before.  Lots of walking for both of us!   Rick was still a mile south and a bit above me and wanted to stay in the woods.   I completed my loop and headed back up the trail and sat for a hour where I saw fresh scrapes.  I then decided to head up again and to the left behind the farms on the road.  At 750 feet elev.I headed left.   Several streams were coming down the hill.  By the time I was above the farms the incline was about 60 degrees.  I wasn’t about to go up hill any further and at one point was 150 yards above the farmhouse below  me.  If I fell, my body would basically end up by that person’s barn.  Not good … I finally cleared the steep section and rested in a good spot.  Couple more scrapes but no deer sightings.  I ended up back at my truck around 4:00PM exhausted.    

I talked to the land owner and told him no deer sightings but I did see a maple tree with nice piece of “burl wood” in his woods.  He told me I could cut it down and take it.  The tree was probably 35 feet tall, 5 inches in diameter, 3 feet off the ground was the burl, then 5 inches in diameter continuing up.  It was 600 feet in the woods so I thought I would quickly cut it down and carry it out of the woods.  OK … with my 6 inch hand saw it took 25 minutes to cut both ends.  NOT what I had anticipated!  I reached down to pick it up.  It was very bulky and the @#!*% must have weighed well over 100 pounds.  AGAIN, Not what I had anticipated!  There was no way I could carry it that distance out of the woods.    I ended up carrying and rolling it as best I could on the slope toward my truck.  After 150 feet it was dark and I was exhausted.  I marked a waypoint on my GPS and left it.  

Sunday, Rick went back to Red Hill.  I went back to the pond area.  Not deer sighting for me.  At 10:30AM I went back for my burl wood.  I took a plastic snow sled with me to help drag it from the woods.  Worked well except the center of gravity was so high it kept rolling off the sled from the slope of the terrain.  Once out of the woods in the field it was an easy drag down hill to the truck.  I put it on the scale and it weighed 172 lbs.  Turns out there were hollow areas within the burl so wasn't completely solid.  This is one of several bowls made.

Rick wanted to stay in his area for another hour so I went to the “L” figuring I had an hour to hunt the swamp trail.  Slowly walking down the swamp trail I jumped two deer 100 yards away heading up the hill.  Gun up, safety off on the second but no clear look at the head.  If I had a doe tag that deer would have made it to my freezer.

Steve M and Mike were in Vermont and both saw a deer on Saturday.  They heard a ton of shooting.  That night, James said there were 7 deer in one of the fields near by.  They must have been feeding because there is snow on the ground.  Was still snowing in Vermont and supposed to get 1-4 inches more.

They could have used my spinner Sunday morning as they didn’t know where to hunt.  They hatched a plan at breakfast.  At 6:15AM they were driving out of Mike’s driveway and saw 6 deer in that field … changed plans … both went behind Gove Hill.  Mike saw 3 deer … 2 does and the other he couldn’t see the head.  Steve saw a coyote.  They had to leave by 10am.

Derek took an 8 point weighing 145lbs dressed that ran off and expired in someones yard.  They called the police, the police called the animal control officer, and then he called the environmental police.  They checked out everything and all was good and all was legal. 

Dec. 8 Steve M took this 8 point with a muzzleloader in the morning behind Ricks house.  He said something spooked a couple deer that headed toward him. A few minutes later came this deer.  Derek said Steve shot that deer looking down the side of his barrel? He didn’t want to chance using his gun sites on this one as he's had 3 misses this year.   Rick thought he heard Steve say while getting into his tree stand he dropped the gun and it discharged. The buck was in the wrong place at the wrong time.  It’s a clear case for carrying life insurance if you ask Rick.  You just never know what can happen; what are the odds?

12/10 Steve M. and Rick hunted in Vermont by Jurassic.  The temp was near zero.  The woods were very crunchy when walking.  Rick said he couldn’t remember when he got so cold hunting.  Neither saw anything.

12/11 it warmed up.  Mike had a great day in VT on Saturday…saw six deer at different times.  He was behind Gove Hill and only moved to 3 spots.  He saw deer in all 3 spots….they never spotted him and all were within 20-50 yds … all does though.

12/15 Derek saw an 8 point and a button buck in the morning.  He is out of buck tags and doe hunting now.  He said 2 days ago he almost had a shot at a doe but she noticed his bow squeak a little as he was drawing back.  She got nervous and slowly walked down wind of him and then walked away.

This past weekend Derek saw a coyote and several deer. 3 fawns 2 small bucks and five does.  He said 3 does were big one was really big. He had no shot closer than 30 yds.  He didn’t make the shot because a few days earlier he fell smashing his bow on the ground.   He said he needed to make sure everything is still on before he makes that shot.  He didn’t want to make a bad shot and injure an animal.  On 12/29 he had his first double.  His season is now over as he is out of tags.

Our Hunting Adventures - 2010 season is officially over.  The group has taken 5 does  (unfortunately, the coyote’s got to one before we did) in addition to the bucks above.  

Search Blog Archive: November 2011, November 2009 & November 2008 - for more Hunting Adventures

Hunting Adventures - 2009

2009 total for the group:
NH: 4
MA: 4
VT: 3

Bow: Mike took a doe in NH and a doe in VT. Ryan took a doe in MA. Ray took a 8 point in NH. Derek took a 10 point in MA. Derek took a 13 point in MA. Stephen K took a 7 point in MA.
Muzzleloader: Rick took a buck in NH. Rick took a doe in VT.
Rifle: Steven M took a 5 point in VT. Ray took a 6 point in NH.
I don't have pictures of all the deer at this point.

I am going to try to do these deer chronologically as best I can.

For opening bow, Mike took a doe in NH and a doe in VT (no pictures). Ryan took a doe in MA (no Picture).

Ray took this 8 point 128lb dressed in NH opening morning for Bow.



Rick said a deer was hit by a car up the street from him in MA. He and Steven M. went back with their bows but it hobbled off. It was a 4 point. Ryan is in a good area. Incident: Ryan decided to move his tree stand. He was in the process of taking it down when he saw a buck (10 point) staring at him. He left his bow in the car so could do nothing but throw rocks. He saw the 4 point the next morning from his tree stand but passed on it as he hopes to see that 10 point again.

Oh my word ... Derek took this bruiser 10 point with his bow. The weight was 210lbs dressed. However, the deer was so long it didn't get completely off the ground when it was weighed. The drag out of the woods took several hours. Question for Derek and Ryan ... How come it took you young bucks so long to drag that out of the woods?

Rick said: Derek's deer looks just like the buck he shot ... except his was 110 pounds lighter and only had 2 points and one antler. Other than that, virtually identical.
Mike said: "He would much rather have shot Rick's deer….. Just think of all the problems Derek has to face with a monster deer like that……
1. The tough drag out of the woods
2. People calling you all hours of the night to congratulate you while you're trying to watch Family Guy.
3. The taxidermy bills.
4. Redecorating the living room to find a place to hang it.
Us old guys could shoot deer like that but with age comes wisdom….. we know the problems big deer bring … alas one day Derek will smart’n up!!! Let’s keep pull’n the trigger on skippers!!!!!"
Rick added: "You forgot... the meat would taste like shoe leather. Not worth eating, so why kill an old guy.... to bad we can't hunt spikes in VT anymore. They're forcing us to cull these poor old bucks."

WAIT A MINUTE ... THAT'S KEVIN'S HEAD ON DEREK'S BODY ... OH NO, THAT'S DOUG'S HEAD ON DEREK'S BODY. HOW DID THAT HAPPEN?


All kidding aside, congratulations Derek. That's a buck to be proud of. Derek said there is another big buck in the same area. Yea right ...

Rick took a nice buck on Red Hill during muzzleloader in NH (no picture). Hey Rick! Tell us again how your deer had spots and antlers!! Just kiddin ...

Other than youth weekend with Kevin, I have yet to get out in the woods. To much going on with visiting colleges, etc. As you can see I am living vicariously through my hunting buddies.

David and Stephen K. hunted Red Hill on opening day rifle (Wednesday) in NH. I was up at 4:00AM Thursday morning to drive to Moultonborough to join them. I arrived to find David wasn't feeling well. Stephen and I went to the "L" to hunt. I went up to Kevin's rock figuring it was a good area after seeing doe's on youth weekend. Stephen went to the landing. They left early afternoon for home while I continued to hunt. It was warm and the leaves were very crunchy. Like walking on corn flakes.

I moved around a while but didn't see much in the way of scrapes or rubs. I decided to try to find a spot and sit quietly figuring anything moving would make lots of noise.

About 1:30PM I decided to go to Red Hill and explore the area where Rick shot his buck the week before. It was a beautiful area. Several runs. There were 2 squirrels and 6 chipmunks near where I was sitting. They sure make lots of noise in crunchy leaves. I must have invaded this chipmunks rock. He decided to sit next to me for awhile. Maybe the extra set of eyes would help. At one point he sat on my boot. I'm glad he didn't try to go up my pant leg ... That could be painful. No deer ... I headed for the truck at 4:45PM.

Friday I did more walking on the "L". I saw my first rub on top with a couple scrapes. I jumped 2 deer but couldn't make out antlers. Mid afternoon I packed up and headed to Vermont for opening rifle. There should be 10 of us hunting this weekend.

When I arrived in VT late afternoon Friday there was more "Derek Talk." During the 2007 Bow season in MA he shot a big buck but didn't bring it down. He has seen the same buck on his trail camera since 2007 but hasn't had the opportunity to try again. That was until several days ago. Derek was bow hunting ... saw the buck ... and took a 20 yard shot from his tree stand. The deer ran several hundred yards through a swamp before it dropped. It's a 13 point buck. Bigger rack than the 10 point with the main beam 4 inches around but lighter at 164lbs dressed. It was his 2007 deer as it still had a broadhead in it's shoulder bone.

We were all wondering if the heavier 10 point was the father of the 13 point, or were they brothers, or cousins. We guessed they may be 5 - 7 years old. What a gene pool in that area. Derek will have both heads mounted and measured. We are thinking they wouldn't make Boone & Crocket but may make Pope & Young. Rather amazing ...

We were up early Saturday morning 11/14 and headed out. It was raining which finally made things quiet. Ryan and Derek went to the boulders. Rick and Stephen went to Sargent. Mike and I went to Gurassic Ridge. I took the east side and Mike went up top. As we drove in there were several trucks parked on the west side. Our thought was the deer would go up top where Mike was and down the east side where I was toward the swamp. No luck seeing bucks except Stephen. Stephen shot a 5 point 155lb dressed on Sargent.


We returned at dark to start our traditional big dinner on Saturday night. Rick had nice steaks going on the grill. There were 13 of us for dinner.


Ray came over from NH for dinner. He wasn't hunting this year in VT. It was great to see him and hear about his bear experience in Montana. After dinner we watched some videos of Mike and Ray from their Montana Elk hunt in October. Sounded like they had a great time. Lots of good stories.


On Monday morning, 11/16 Ray took a 6 point 170 lb dressed in NH. It was from one of his many tree stands near his house. Was it the tree stand you built with the roof on it? We should think about bear hunting in your area next year.





Steven K. was bow hunting in MA early Tuesday 11/17. A doe came down the trail and stopped near him. He took a shot and missed because of a tree obstruction. He said it was the 3rd miss with a bow this season. 30 minutes later a buck came down the same trail following the doe's scent. It actually stopped and smelled the arrow stuck in the ground from his missed shot. It took a couple steps forward and Steven took his shot. The buck ran a short distance back down the trail and stopped. He said it was looking all around trying to figure out what happened. Standing there it wobbled, then wobbled again, and fell over. This buck was 7 point 154lb dressed. He donated the deer to a local needy family. Someone came by to pick it up at 5:30PM.

Saturday, 11/21, I was up at 4:10AM to drive to Red Hill in Moultonborough. My plan was to still hunt at first light. By late morning I came across 2 large rubs on an old skidder trail. (I thought it would make a good picture with my Weatherby.) They were impressive. About 100 yards away I saw run with 4 very fresh scrapes going up the middle of this knoll. It was a good spot so I decided to sit for several hours. Behind me was a stream with another knoll. I saw a deer come down the knoll toward the stream. I couldn't see the head. I was hoping it would jump the stream and come up the run I was sitting on. No such luck. There were quite a few beechnut trees around. When black bears climb beechnut trees they often leave claw marks. Here is an example.

My GPS indicated I was almost a mile north and 250 feet higher from where I parked my truck. At 3PM I decided to find a closer place to park and an easier way back to this spot for the morning so I followed the run down hill toward the road. I hit 3 fields with houses which basically pushed me back toward the truck. Nuts.

Sunday morning, 11/22, I slept in until 4:25AM. I headed straight to the scraps through the woods and sat until late morning. Then I started up the run to see where it took me. I ended up jumping several deer but no visuals for antlers so no shot. I followed an old skidder trail which took me back toward my truck but up hill. I had to head home mid afternoon so headed down hill.

I took the road around Red Hill on my way home. I passed a boat house on Squam Lake with a nice reflection so I turned around. (The movie "On Golden Pond" was filmed on Squam Lake) I also saw a barn that looked interesting. The owner told me it was the oldest barn in Moultonborough registered with the historical society. Lower level for horses, main level, and upper level was a chicken coop.

I went back to Red Hill in NH on Friday, 12/4. My plan was to hunt my way to the top. I got to the top alright with no luck seeing deer. It was quite the little adventure. Read my "A Hunt or a Hike?" post. Rifle season in NH ended Sunday. I don't have time to go to VT muzzleloader so my season is officially over.

Rick and Stephen went to Mike's in VT for opening muzzleloader this weekend. It snowed a bit on Saturday night. Rick took a doe on 12/6.

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