A Six Year Wait

     On the evening of November 26th, 2016, it was chilly and windy.  I was in my stand at 4pm, and planned to be there until around dark.  Once I got settled in, I prayed "Lord, please let me get a deer tonight.  I would love a buck. Please Lord, let me get one.  I've never gotten a big buck.  I've had so many close calls, so many hunts, so many times seeing big bucks on camera and never in person.  Please Lord.  Amen."
     After sitting in the stand for close to an hour, I heard something almost directly behind me to my left side.  My stand is positioned on the edge of a field, the field being on my right side, I have a funnel directly in front, and the woods on my left. At first, I thought it was a squirrel, but it sounded too heavy. When I looked back, I spotted a small doe. I looked to my right, and saw a head sticking out out the brush at the edge of the field.  It stepped out, and it was a small buck.  The doe I spotted came out the same spot soon after. Then I heard more rustling.  Another doe came out.  All of these deer were too small to shoot.  "Well," I thought, "at least they'll be fun to watch."  Then I looked back where they had come out.  I saw a much larger body through the brush.  Then some antlers.  Big antlers.  This was a nice buck, one I had never seen before, not even on camera.  No matter, I was going to take him. I slowly swung my gun around and "bing!" My gun barrel had hit the metal of the stand.  My heart sank.  I knew I had just blown my first chance at a big buck.  There was now no way they would not be able to look in the direction of the sound, spot me, and run, and me having to watch this majestic animal bound away.  The deer all looked around, but thankfully, none of them seemed too alarmed.  I breathed a sigh of relief as the smaller ones went back to eating.  But the buck still stayed put, he wasn't coming out until he was sure it was safe.  After taking another look, he thought everything was ok and stepped out.  I aimed, the shot rang out.
     I've been hunting since I was 12.  I started with squirrel hunting, and even did a little deer hunting. Since then I've taken multiple deer and a couple small bucks, but no buck of decent size.  I've seen nice bucks on camera, sometimes seeing fair ones in the field, but no big ones.  This has been the case for 6 years.  Seeing plenty of does, maybe a couple of bucks, if any during some years, and never getting a shot at a nice one.  For 6 years.
   Finally, the 6 year wait and longing for a great buck ended in an instant.  He dropped.  God had answered my prayer.  With a nice tall tined 8 point.  And you know what?  To celebrate, it's headed to the wall.

November Double Stike

Since my last post, things have been roughly the same, cold and some wind thrown in.  I have seen deer, just none close enough.  Two does came close, but then walked away.  It's gun season, so they we're in range, but it was a risky shot.  Then Tuesday, Nov 22, came.  I went out to the stand at a normal time of 4 o' clock.  I prayed that God would grant me a deer tonight after so many close calls.  Around 5, there was a doe behind me in a field.  It wasn't a great posture to shoot from, with the tree stand harness restricting some movement, not to mention my stand is on the edge, so branches still block some shooting lanes.  But she came closer.  I waited.  She looked back, and another doe entered the field.  Their feeding led them in my direction, I told myself I would take whichever one gave me the first shot.  One stepped to where she gave a good view "Bang!"  She dropped.  I quickly cocked my Winchester for another shot if needed, while the second doe ran to the other side of the field. She stopped and took a look at what had just happened "Bang!"  She dropped as well.  2 shots, 2 deer, no trailing needed.  After the shot, I was shaking all over, not from cold, but from excitement!  God had answered, not with one, but two great does (one may have been the biggest I've ever shot).

What makes it worth the trouble, sometimes not seeing deer, other times not getting a shot, or when cutting up the deer, doing all the work to get the meat processed?  Good question.  I'm not sure of the answer. Other than the experience of the whole endeavor.  The expectation of a deer showing up out of thin air.  The adrenaline rush before and after the shot.  Holding steady aim when you're shaking all over.  The blast of the shot.  The reward of success.

What's next for me?  Well, I hope to get another one before the season's over!  And a certain buck I'm getting pictures of is on the list of "next ups" as well.

Sensed, Avoided, Busted

Hunting season is in full swing now, and it's nearing the end of October, and in many places, not far from the whitetail rut.  I still haven't tagged a deer.  I've seen plenty, but they simply haven't come into range.  But I think I figured out the problem.
Every time a deer enters the field to the right of my stand, they feed for a while and when they get about 40-50 yards from the stand, they stop and lift up their heads and sniff.  They know something is there.  It's quite fascinating actually.  It's as if there is a circle drawn in a 40 yard radius from my stand.  No matter where the deer enter the field, they don't act like anything is wrong until WHAM!  They hit an imaginary wall just outside of my bow range and they know something is there.  Every. Single. Time.  I had 2 bucks, one a nice 6 point, do it.  I had a group of 4 does do it.  I've had numerous other deer do the same thing: 40 yards, stop, lift up nose, sniff, walk the other way.  They don't see me, they don't hear me.
They smell me.  I believe you can be as quiet and as hidden as you want, but if deer smell you, they will bust you every time.  The oddest thing is, I believe I'm controlling my scent.  Last year all I did was rub fresh pine needles against my clothing and gear and it worked, I harvested 3 deer, I don't think any knew I was there, not to mention all the other deer I encountered that season. This year is different.  I have some scent killer spray, maybe I should use instead.  I know I should pay more attention to the wind, but I can be careless because I want to hunt every chance I get.  I'll see how it pays off.  Hopefully with good results.

Opening Day(s)

I was going to tell a story about a hunt I had, but as I wrote it, I realized it would have been a little boring, no matter what I did to make it intriguing.  The quick version goes a lot like this: I saw three deer, I snuck over to the edge of a field to intercept, and when I got there, they had vanished.  I tried to quietly head in the direction I thought they headed, but I didn't see them.  On the way back, I scared a doe.  Go figure.  Anyway, how's opening day for everyone?  I haven't had much luck, but I've only been out two times.  I think my plan going forward is to continue to get data from pictures (time of day, weather) to find patterns and to just keep trying.
Want a quick tip?  Get ready to hunt oaks.  The acorns are starting to fall, albeit they're not "ripe" yet, but nonetheless they are falling.
Want another?  Carry a call with you.  I'm going to start doing that, you never know when you may need it.

Til next time!

The Season Approaches

It's almost hunting season!  Are you ready?  I know I'm not, as far a prep goes!  BUT, here's a few things to help rev up for the season:

• Glass fields and crops such as soybeans at dusk.  It's also a great way just to sit out in nature and enjoy it, take someone with you too!
• Put out trail cameras.  I have a camera out, I need to check it :) I've been away lately, but I can't wait to see what it has captured in pictures!  As far as trail cameras go, look for patters in activity.  If you have consistent pictures of deer at 8am and 5pm during the summer, then during the early season they should still be following that same pattern.  Thus, you know when you should be in your stand.
• Shoot!  Shoot your rifle, shotgun, your bow.  Sight in the scope.  Pattern your shotgun and perfect that lead by shooting some skeet.  While shooting your bow; perfect your anchor point and release, not to mention arrow grouping.

Enjoy your prep time!  Can't wait for fall!

Fishing with Artificials

Recently, I've had the privilege of fishing at a friends pond.  I've only used artificial lures while there.  And while pond fish may not react the same to lures as lake fish, I've noticed a couple things:

• Big sunfish and any size bass will attack minnow spinners.  I use a Strike King Pro Series 2" minnow with spinner blades.  This little minnow spinner has worked magic on those fish.  I had sunfish and bass hammering the lure.  The bass weren't monsters, in fact, they weren't even big, but on my ultralight, they gave a fun fight.
• I noticed that the bass like to hang out near a tree line with a drop off.  That way they can get to cool water quick, have access to food that falls from the tree, and be in the shade at the same time.  Perfect place to fish!
• If you find a bed of sunfish, cast a jig out past them, and reel in the jig, letting it fall to the bottom before making it rise.  Or, reeling in slowly and steadily while twitching the lure may work as well.  

Here are some of the fish I caught on the minnow:

Nice size bluegill

Small Largemouth

I don't know what fish this is...bluegill with spots?

Before I close, I would like to mention that I now have a Cabela's Wind River fly reel.  It works great, and it's nice and shiny!  Keep fishing and prep for hunting!

My Gear: Tackle and Lures

In this segment, I'll go over the tackle box and lures I use.

Tackle Box: Plastic craft box and "R2F (Ready 2 Fish)" tackle box
Pretty simple.  The craft box came with little things to make compartments inside the box, so that works well. I was given another tackle box, which also has compartments as well.

Bass Pro Shops Tackle Binder
I decided to move from the box to the binder.  While I may stay with tackle boxes, the binder is nice in that you can flip through the pages and find the lure you need.  I've enjoyed it so far.

Lures:

• Spoons: multiple sizes.  Who can go without adding a few spoons to their tackle?  I have sizes anywhere from brim to Musky (like I plan to use that soon!).
• BOOYAH Pad Crusher.  -Good for weedy areas, good topwater movement.  Once had a bass follow the lure until it was right in front of me, but it saw me, and decided not to bite the lure.
• Diving lures: crawdad, tadpole, multiple other divers I don't know the names to.
• Surface lures: Pad Crusher, Jitterbug, Rebel Grasshopper popper, Tiny Torpedo
• More jigs than I can care to count, many configurations: crawdad, minnow, curly tail, and more

If you have any question on lures or want some better specifics, just ask!  Keep on fishing!

My Fishing Gear: Rods and Reels

Today I hope to show you guys my fishing gear.  For this part, I'll be doing my rods and reels.  Next time, I'll hopefully show you my tackle.

Fly Rod: Crystal River Fly Rod
This name in itself may cause some people to cringe.  Yes I know it's not a top of the line Orvis, however, I had not tried fly fishing, and $25 on Amazon wasn't too much of a sacrifice.  Honestly, I think the rod is a good rod for what you pay for.  It operates well, and it feels good in my hand, and it swings well.
The reel, not so much.  The drag system was always making a deafening clicking noise when I tried to reel in line. I immediately had to modify the reel, taking out the little triangular gears in the reel to stop the horrid clicking, afterwards it had no drag.  While I had no drag, in my mind it was worth no clicking, not to mention when fly fishing your holding the line anyway.
The line is decent, it has memory, however, you can get new fly line.  You'll need to buy more flies, the rod only comes with two.
Overall, this rod combo wasn't too bad, I will probably keep the rod and just get new line and reel.

Spinning Rod: Ugly Stik GX2 Rod and Reel Combo
Some people might be thinking "Now your talking!  I hoped this guy wasn't totally out of his mind."  The Ugly Stik is quite awesome!  It casts great, feels good in the hands, and overall a great experience.
The reel that comes with it is aluminum, and the rod is graphite and fiberglass with stainless steel guides.  I haven't gotten a ton of experience with this rod, as it's new to me, however, I feel I'll have it for a long time.

Reel: Shimano IX4000R
This is another reel I put on the Ugly Stik.  The Shimano is a reels so smoothly, it's like your hardly doing anything.  Again, I have not had much experience, however, I again feel like I'll be using it for a long time.

While I know a couple of the reviews were probably not as thorough as many would wish, I will probably go more in-depth as I get to use the rods and reels more often.  If you have any questions on the rods or reels, (or any fishing question actually!), feel free to ask away!  Until next time!

Spring Fishing

It seems that spring has come!  I have not been writing like I should, life takes it toll on time!  Anyway, it's been a while since I've done anything on fishing.  Right now, the big thing for me is river fishing, I'm hoping to at least get good at it.  Here's what I've learned.

• Look near brush.  Fish crowd around structures for shade and cover.
• Use live bait near shore.  While this might sound weird, it works.  If there is a tree overhanging the river, with branches nearly touching the river, then throw some bait under there.  Fish are waiting for food to fall of the branches into the water.  So, you just might catch something.
• If at first you don't succeed, try try again.  I haven't had much luck lately, but I need to keep trying.  I know there are some big fish in the river I'm fishing at, it's just a matter of finding what the fish want to eat.

The End of a Season: Reflections

On January 2nd of this year, I had to cope with a realization...deer season was over.  Yes, there are other seasons going on and it will come again this fall, but still.  It's over.
This year was a year of firsts. It was the first season that I got more than one deer (at least, more than one recovered deer).  It was the first season I shot a deer with a bow.  It was the first season where mom went on a hunt with me to witness food from field to table.
Mixed with the firsts were the usual things. Some near misses, and shot-but-can't-finds.  This year I went without tagging a big buck, but then again, I never have.
Animal sightings were a plus this year.  I saw coyotes at close range, and fawns playing with their friends and mothers.
As always, deer vs. you staring contests are always fun, especially when you realize during the contest that you haven't hardly breathed since it started seemingly an hour ago.

Yes, this was a good season.