Happy Birthday SCO!

Snow Camp Outdoors has been up and running for 6 years!  It's crazy to see how far things have come since I first started writing.  Back then, I wrote about anything from hunting techniques and equipment to survival, a lot of which I honestly never used myself!  Deer drives, Dakota firehole, minnow traps, and so on.  Ok, I did try the Dakota firehole, once.  Now I try to stick more to stories or some tips and strategies...that I actually use.  When I first started writing in 2011, I had yet to shoot a deer.  I had gone squirrel hunting before, but I would not shoot a deer until 2014.  I found out writing this that I don't think I posted a pic of the deer, or even a story about it, so, here's the pic:

If you want to hear the story of my first deer, let me know in comments!  Afterwards, I got deer each year, but I wouldn't shoot a big buck till 2016.  If you want to see that story, go here.

This year, I tagged another big buck, named Prince.  So far that's been a highlight of mine for the year, other things include fly fishing fairly often in the spring and summer, and having my blog post, "A Six Year Wait" put on the RMEF web page.  You can see that here, along with a lot of other cool stories! 

Here's to another great year!

A Prince of the Forest, Part 3

Where had he gone?  How could he?  Did I just miss somehow and get a flesh wound?  Nothing made sense.  A few hours before, I was so happy to get Prince.  Now, after two hours of searching and nothing much to show for it, the guys; Justin, Caleb, and I headed home.  I would return in the morning and look some.

I planned to get up fairly early Thursday because I had somewhere to be later in the morning, so getting an early start was imperative.  I had planned to wake up a bit before 7, but restlessness woke me an hour before my alarm, I couldn't go back to sleep.  It was just impossible.

I went out that morning, expecting to find him in a particular area where we had heard crashing the night before.  Unfortunately, though I found blood, I didn't find him.  The trail stopped, and I didn't know where to search.  After an hour and a half, I headed out of the woods.  That afternoon, the guys dad, Mark, came out to help me look some more, still nothing.  There was one last area to look at before I called it quits, the woods across the field from where I shot him.  However, it was going to be Saturday afternoon before I got the chance.  Who knows what could have happened to him by then?  Can I even find him?  The answer from the search that afternoon was no.  I couldn't find him.

Now is when questions and replays of the encounter start going through your mind.  Was my shooting technique bad?  Was I not holding steady on the shoulder?  I told myself: "I know I got buck fever, but I've dropped deer before, I'm not a bad shot."  Did coyotes get him?  And this sounds weird, but is he still alive?  Who knows if he's still alive? The camera will have to tell me. 

Heavy hearted, I grabbed the SD card from my funnel camera and headed back home.  As I pulled out of my grandparents driveway and pulled into mine (we live next door), my grandpa's tractor came out from behind me and headed towards my cousins cow pasture.  Hmm, he doesn't head that way often, whatever.  I got home and started checking photos.  Nothing.  Is this really how it was going to end?  A huge deer just, wasted?  Sure, the meats bad by now, but having some token that said "you shot this deer" would be nice.  But he had just vanished.

Then mom gets a phone call, it's from Grandpa.  He had gone to help with something in the cow pasture, and my cousins son, who was with him, had spotted him while in the tractor.  This deer had ran well over 300 yards from where I shot him. 

Finally, the search was over.  I could see him up close, look at his size, hold his antlers.  All the questions, while still largely unanswered, didn't matter anymore.  All I wanted to do was savor the moment.  We got his antlers off, thanks to my cousin.  Could I have mounted him?  Yes, but my last buck mount was my Christmas present last year.  Kinda wanted something different this year, not to mention limited wall space, haha!  But, I think an antler mount might be in order. 

This buck give me a lot of twists and turns, highs and lows, but in the end, it was worth it.

A Prince of the Forest, Part 2

Recently, I've had a father and his two sons start hunting on the property along with me, they had heard about Prince and they agreed not to shoot him because I had been watching him. 

The evening of November 15th was calm.  Very little wind, maybe a slight breeze.  The two sons had come out that night to hunt and after coming up with a game plan for hunting spots and exit times, we started out towards our spots.  I went to a blind at the edge of a field, they went to a stand around 150 yards from my spot (give or take distance).

In my blind, I prayed we would have a successful hunt, that the guys could get a deer, and that I could get Prince, well any good deer really, but especially him.  After a while, about the time the deer start moving around this area, I hear movement.  At first I thought it was a squirrel, given how rapid the footsteps seemed to crunch the fall leaves.  But, it sounded, bigger.  I looked to my right, and I see a deer walking just inside the woods bordering the field.  Ugh, it's just a doe.  She walks parallel to the field through the woods and into the clearcut and disappears.  Guess I just have to sit and wait some more.

At this point, I was hoping to have seen more deer enter the field, but it was 5:20 pm and light was about to start fading fast.  I sent a text to the guys and said I would get out of my blind at 5:30 if nothing showed up in the field.  Put down my phone, and hear crunch, crunch, crunch.  It's coming from behind me now, the one place I can't see while in my blind.  I knew it was a deer, no mistaking that.  It had come down a path behind my blind that deer have come down in the past, an old logging road through the clearcut leading to the top of a hill.  I leaned over to see through the window on my left.  I saw a big deer, with antlers shooting skyward.  It was Prince.  A stroke of luck to see a buck come out so early when all I had were night pictures and the fact that there were no does in the field to "attract him".  My guess is he was hungry.  Quickly, I put on my ear muffs and cocked the hammer on my Winchester and aimed.  He was now about 45 yards away, and walking down the edge of the field.  The gun was pulled up, I made a "MEH" sound, at he stopped broadside.  Perfect.  Crosshairs landed on his shoulder, the hammer came down, BAM!  He hunched his shoulders and ran up into the woods.  Thank you Lord, I got him!

The easy part was over.  The guys came and helped me blood trail, but we only found little splotches of blood on the ground.  Sometimes we'd lose the trail, but we'd pick it back up again.  In the end, after two hours of searching, we couldn't find him.  Where was this buck?  How could he run this far?  Didn't I get him with a heart shot?  Just, how?!? 

A Prince of the Forest, Part 1

There are bucks that have pep and are fun to watch, but are too small to shoot.  There are good bucks that you see, but not shoot.  There are bucks that love a certain area, a certain time of day, have unique antlers, all sorts of things can set a buck apart.  This buck, he liked a certain time of day and had unique antlers.  A nice bodied 8 point with a curved main beam, long G2s and 3s, and loved the night.  His name is Prince, named after Bambi's father, the Great Prince of the Forest.  I thought it fit, whether or not it was an original name.  Here are some pics of him:

Sorry for the blurry pic!

Pic from my new Wildgame Innovations Mirage 14

I had a problem.  As you can see, all these pics were taken at night, and not just that, but well before (or after) shooting light.  The earliest he ever came out is 6:50 pm, just 20 minutes after I had left my stand that evening.  The latest in the morning?  5:55 am, too early to shoot.  He wasn't coming out when and where I want him to.  So I had to figure out where he was in the daytime, which can be a challenge if you don't exactly know where to start.  So, I set another camera out in the woods to hopefully catch him in the day time, meanwhile, my other camera kept getting pics of him at night.  

With the whitetail rut coming up I knew and heard the best time to get him would be the next three weeks or so (about mid to late November).  I knew a doe group was in the area, not to mention all the other does that liked to hang out by themselves, so I would have plenty of chances to see rut action.  All I could do at this point was be where does were and patiently wait for him to show.  

SCO Update with Pictures!

It's November y'all!  Time for the whitetail rut to start, not to mention all the other small game seasons kicking in!  I thought I'd give you guys an update on what I've been up to recently.

My deer hunting is business as usual.  I haven't gotten anything yet, but believe me I will post when I do!  The last 3 times I've been out in the stand, I've seen 13 deer and haven't gotten a shot.  I take that back, I could have shot.  However the deer was much to small, must have been a yearling at most.

Secondly, I bought a Wildgame Innovations Mirage 14 game camera.  14 MP, shoots video, adjustable light exposure and picture/video quality, stylish little camera.  I have it out in the woods at the moment so I'll try to do a product review once I see what the camera can do.

And, here are a couple pictures!

This group regularly visits the area

And a squirrel for you

Until next time!

Predator

No, this is not a movie review of Predator starring Arnold Schwhatshisname.   This is a short story about a recent hunt of mine that ended, well, unexpectedly.

I was in the stand about 4:30ish.  Maybe some people will get on to me and be like "be in the stand earlier!" Don't care.  I've got it down to where I know deer appear around 6 in the early season and 5:15 in the late season.  So I'm there a while before the deer are.  After about an hour and a half, right at 6, I look right and there is a 6 point buck, he just kind of appeared, I never heard him walk up, but ok then.  Not big enough to shoot (maybe half the size of the 8 point I got last year) , I decided to let him pass, a doe came out.  I stood up slowly when the deer weren't looking, but I never got a shot on the doe.  They simply walked off into the woods at my 2 o'clock.  Still standing after about 5 or so minutes, I look to my left into the woods at my 9 o'clock.  I see 4 legs walking through the brush, but I notice it's not a deer...this is a coyote.  Now I beg for him to turn right, towards my stand, so that I could have a shot.  Sure enough, he does.  I wait till his head goes behind a tree to draw, and hold on my anchor point and aim.  The coyote, after coming from behind the tree, is still hidden by briars grown up next to the tree.  I hold the bow back for another 10 or 15 seconds (forgive me for inaccurate time, it seemed like I held the bow forever when it was probably just a few moments), and finally I get a shot.  20 yards, WHAP!  The sound of an arrow hitting its mark.  The coyote did not make it a few feet before it fell, the Muzzy Mx-4 having done it's work.  After giving it a few minutes to expire, I got down from the stand to see my first coyote kill.

Sorry for the blurry selfie

Now to attempt at a deer!  Keep hunting and stay safe! 

Summer Pictures

Been a while since I've done one of these!  I honestly haven't had my camera out very much this year, so I don't have a ton of pictures, but heres a few I have gotten recently:

Most of the coyotes in my area have been trapped by neighbors, but looks like at least one got away...

I saw these bucks hanging out with each other, or another deer, a lot.  During the summer, it is interesting to note that while bucks are normally solitary animals (with the exception of the rut), during the summer they will group up together in "bachelor groups".  Sometimes these groups will contain up to 4 or 5 animals (possibly more!)

Ooh, nice little 8 point

And I believe this is him again

I know it's a very short post, but I hope you enjoy the pictures!

NC State Parks: Hanging Rock

A few weeks ago (I am very behind!) I was able to go to Hanging Rock State Park in NC.  I would highly recommend this park, and here is why:
1.Great hiking trails.  Trails surround the park lake, go to an observation point, and of course lead to the hanging rock, the main attraction.
2.Fishing.  While I didn't catch anything, sadly, I still had fun in the parks lake.  I tried fly fishing and regular spinning rod.  Fly fishing wasn't easy because you could only do it in select spots and the fish weren't biting flies or regular lures (timing may have played a part, it was mid afternoon). Oh well.  And, there is also more fishing in the Dan River, which borders the park.  Which brings me to my next attraction.
3. Boating.  More specifically, kayaking or canoeing.  You can rent a boat for the lake, but you are free to bring your own boats for the Dan River section of the park.
4. Swimming.  In the summer, swimming is open in the park lake.

5. Opportunity for pictures.  Great scenery, especially from the top of the mountain or observation tower (even the visitor center!), provide great places to take pictures.

You gotta try it sometime.

Spring Season

Since the last post, I haven't been up to too much, yet that doesn't mean I've done nothing!

Back in April, I went to Cabela's and shopped around for some fly fishing gear.  I had to be careful looking around because, given enough time, I would buy the store!

After I got the fly fishing lures at Cabela's, which were poppers, the family and I decided a week later that it would be a great day to kayak.  I took my fly rod, of course.  And I brought an ultralight, which I let my siblings use.  I started using a small frog popper and had a lot of luck, if you consider bites and not set hooks luck.  The panfish were just too small to get their mouths around the hook.  I was ready to try a smaller popper when I realized, I had left my tackle bag on shore with my siblings.  So, I continued fishing.  Eventually, I got lucky and a small bass bit the lure and didn't let go.  Yay!

Also in April, the mount of the 8 point I shot back in November was finished!  I got him back and he is now on my wall.  Shout out to Jeff Poston of Living Image Taxidermy for doing a great job!  I would definitely recommend him!

The picture does not do it justice!

That's all for now!

The End of a Season

On January 2nd, the 2016-2017 deer season ended in North Carolina.  With that, I had a few thoughts looking back on it.  Not to mention personal records :) Always have to have those.

• Record: I harvested my biggest buck to date, a nice 8 point.  You can see details here
• Record: I harvested two does in one night, one may have been my biggest ever.
• Record: All three of the deer I shot this season were during Thanksgiving week, does on Tuesday, buck on Saturday.
• Lesson: I learned that you should never shoot from a position your not comfortable with.  I should have already known that, but I know now.  I was crouching in a weird way, not sure exactly how I was positioned.  It cost me another doe, whom I missed...twice.  I was 3 for 3 before that night, now I hit 3 of 5 shots...ouch.
• Lesson: Never give up.  The buck I got is the first big one I got after six years of hunting.  Six years!  You will get one if you hunt long enough and try hard enough.  
• LIFE TIP!! I should also mention that prayer helps tremendously.  I prayed for that buck that evening, and he came.  No, not every single one of my prayers are answered, but without prayer, I don't think I could have shot that deer.  Why, you ask?  I had never seen that deer before, in person or on camera.  It was a gift from God Himself.  When He gives you a gift (whatever it may be, even a deer), thank Him for it.

Hope you all enjoyed this, and enjoy what's left of the North Carolina snow!