Places to Go: Pettigrew State Park

Unlike my last post about Lake James, Pettigrew State Park is a little hidden.  Not that both aren't a decent drive get to, but Pettigrew is very much a "Oh wow look there's a state park here" kind of place.  However, it is a very nice place to visit.  Here's a few reasons why:

- Plenty of hiking is around Lake Phelps at Pettigrew SP, the second largest natural lake in NC.  The lake is not fed by any creek or river, only by rainfall.  The exact reason as to why the lake originally appeared in the first place is a mystery.  There's a swimming area, a boat dock/ramp, and plenty of fishing.  The swimming area is in about 4-6 feet of water, the lake is fairly flat, with an average depth of 4.5 feet and the deepest part being 9 feet.

- There's also a lot of hiking to be had out at Pettigrew.  Several miles of trails lead you to overlook around the shoreline of Lake Phelps.  Animals that can be seen around Lake Phelps in Pettigrew SP are deer, bear, tundra swan, bobcat, muskrat, and more!  

- Camping and picnic spots are available as well!  Camp at night and go fishing in the morning!

Dock near the boat ramp

Swimming area in Lake Phelps

Be sure to spend some time out at Pettigrew State Park when you're on the Albemarle Peninsula of NC!

Also big thanks for the Pettigrew SP Fact Sheet for providing some of the insight in this post!

Places to Go: Lake James State Park

Wherever you are, do your best to take time to see what kind of outdoor beauty is around you.  It can be as simple as a bee on a flower, bird on a feeder, or a hike in your local park.  There's plenty of places to visit that can be hidden from plain sight, you just have to look for them.

However, this is not one of those "hidden" places.  This is an NC state park!  I hadn't been to this park before, and I had the opportunity to visit Lake James State Park for a short time while in the mountains.  I'm thankful for it, as I have a good feel for where I'd like to spend more time in the park when I go back to visit for a more extended time.  

-The park already has miles of hiking trails off the two main accesses of the park.  If you like mountain biking, they've got you covered too!  Two shorter loops and two longer ones so you have choices depending on your time and ability.  There's also planning of rental cabins, RV and group camping, more trails, and when I visited, looked like a state-of-the-art new visitors center under way as well.

-Plenty of camping at the park as well, however, some of those sites are access by boat only, which can be kinda cool, gives you a sense of seclusion with no roads being right behind your tent.  

-Speaking of boats, make sure to bring your boat, kayak, or canoe.  Oh and fishing gear.  Oh and swimsuit...in the summer anyway.  Not right now, it was 32 degrees and windy...like 20-30mph gust windy.  So yeah.  BUT, once it's warm, bring that boat down!  There's plenty of fishing to be had here, with many of the popular game species existing in the lake.

If that doesn't help you decide whether you should visit the park, then well maybe I can convince you by showing you some pictures.  As soon as you drive in, you see an overlook to the Linville Gorge.

Then you get to the lake and get these views:

How's that for you?  It's quite the scenery.  It's stuff like this that make you want to go back and visit again.  To see what else the park has to offer.  To hike the trails, fish the water, camp the woods.  If you're up in the NC mountains, give Lake James a try.  

Speed Scouting for Deer Season

 Fall is here everyone!  It's gotten a little chilly down here in central NC, especially after Sally came through and brought so much rain.  Either way, for those of you who see my social media posts, you know I've had quite the last few months!  Graduating college, starting a new full time job, and welcoming a new daughter!  

That doesn't leave a lot of time to scout for the upcoming deer season to pinpoint new spots.  If you're pretty familiar with the property, then great, head start!  You may not need to find out where deer hang out on the property, as you may have that down.  But, there may be new bucks in the area or some new patterns individuals may have.  So, keep your cameras going!

If you're unfamiliar with the area you're hunting, like trying out public land, then you need to get started quick!  Hunting apps like HuntStand or OnXMaps are really useful here to get a grip on an aerial view to identify possible pinch points and routes to and from food/bedding.  On the ground, if you find an oak ridge, or a flat spot between two slopes where there's an oak stand, great!  Or, maybe is a lower area between to slopes where deer may travel from bedding to food.  Look for natural barriers that may attract deer movement.  

If you're hunting a smaller property, like so many suburban hunters, deer are likely in the thick stuff.  Deer love the thicker sanctuaries because quite frankly, they don't have many other places to go.  And that's also where people are less common.  Bottom areas where there is a creek with woods and some thicker undergrowth is a good place to start when trying to find deer, as often those sites aren't buildable and therefore are left alone. Where law allows, you can possibly attract deer and hold them on a smaller property with some corn feeding or even a mineral site.  Quite possibly a small food plot can be planted and if well managed, you're in the gold.  But that's more of a long term thing, we're talking speed scouting!

Again, you're speed scouting, trying to narrow down quickly where deer are and aren't.  Not only scan for landmarks and land/food qualities, but be on the lookout for any rubs, scrapes, or beds in the area.  It's amazing how often you will stumble onto stuff like that.  When you see something of note, mark down that spot!  If you do so, patterns may start to emerge on the map that you may not have noticed otherwise.

My 2019 Experience

Better late than never, given that this is a reflection of 2019 coming in April 2020.  Since I've got some time, I thought I'd write about some thoughts I had during the close of last deer season.  As many of you can tell, I didn't write much during 2019.  During 2019, I was going to school full time, working 2 part time part time jobs, got engaged to start the year, married in August 2019, and have a baby on the way due May!
Needless to say, I didn't have much time to be an outdoorsy person.  That's not to say I wasn't outdoors.  I still went fishing, hunting, hiking, just not as much.  I went with some close friends to Hanging Rock State Park and had a blast, hiking and dipping into waterfalls to cool off.  I took a day trip with my family to a park up in Virginia where it rained cats and dogs on us halfway through a 3 mile trail.  My honeymoon in Ashe County, NC, and my wife and I hiked and fished at sites like Mount Jefferson State Park and New River State Park.
During the fall months, if I wasn't working, I was at school.  Sometimes, I was working at school as a tutor for my community college.  My first hunt didn't come till October during fall break.  I got my first deer of the year on November 17th, my youngest brothers 7th birthday.  Ironically, I think every deer I've ever shot, save maybe one, has come during or after mid November.  That story can be read here.
I had one evening where I had 5 or so deer in front of me three different times while I was hunting on the ground, sitting by a tree.  They got to within 20 feet of me several times.  Sadly most weren't big enough to shoot, and those that were, came when there were too many eyes close by for me to comfortably move.  Sitting so still never took so much effort.
My last hunt of the year was on the closing day of the season.  I had some luck, saw a few deer to start, then nothing.  After some still hunting, I came upon some does near the corner of a field, and one caught my eye.  A nice doe, perfect.  I stood up to shoot, the problem facing me, was that I was having to be offhand, nothing to rest on.  As I put the crosshairs on the deer, a good 75 yards from me, I paused.
And I thought of everything surrounding that moment.  I thought of the adventures I had that year.  Exploring parks with friends and family, having my siblings come over and help me with retrieving a deer from the woods.  Starting a new life with my wife and being on our own, yet still being close to family.  The experiences I had with my few hunting trips during the year, the crazy things that happened.  Sitting beside the fireplace on winter evenings and feeling content.  It's amazing what can happen in split seconds, all the emotions you can feel, even when looking down a scope at your target.
I was been blessed beyond belief that year.  God was good to me.  A man once said there is "a time to kill, and a time to heal."  This deer would live.  Sure, I had an offhand shot that  wasn't easy, and I could make it, but that wasn't the point.  Sometimes, it just doesn't feel right.  Sometimes, the right thing to do, is just to enjoy the moment and reflect.  Not every shot has to be fired. 

Lucky 7's

Well, spoiler alert, one isn't so lucky.  However, I couldn't help but realize the crazy coincidence of this story.  I had been watching a buck on this one property, whom I considered naming Lucky 7, but hadn't decided on it yet.  He was a nice 7 point, very active in the area I was looking to hunt.

I decided to see if I could pattern this buck.  He wasn't the biggest one on the property, there were two massive 8 points on the property too.  But this guy showed up the most so I thought I could give this one a shot.  I hunted in October during my college fall break in what seemed to be a secluded buck haunt, no luck.  That and the fact that with no treestand this time, the tree root I sat on gave me a lot of discomfort so I wasn't out as long as I'd like to have been.  I would hunt soon after, no luck, I saw three does but they decided to turn around before they would get in bow range.
November 17th was my little brother's 7th birthday.  After a lunch celebration, I decided with some prodding from my wife, to hunt some that evening, even though I'd be getting out later than I'd prefer.  I set up near a field, but didn't see anything after a while, so I decided to still hunt some.  I had gone about 60 yards, and stopped near a tree.  Light was starting to fade when I hear the familiar crunching sounds of a deer walking.  It was to my right, and the way I was facing I knew I'd have to shift my whole body in order to possibly get a shot.  Not only that, but there was an old fence that was between myself and the deer, so I'd have to stand up as well to make sure the bullet cleared the fence.  So I've got some things to work out here.  I notice the antlers now, it's the seven point.  Keep in mind, I had thought of naming him, never officially did.  I waited till he was behind a big tree to shift myself to face him.  He stopped and looked, hearing the leaves rustle from my movements.  Now came my biggest challenge, having to quickly stand up, look through the scope, aim, fire, before he realizes what's happening.  And deer are usually pretty quick at realizing danger.  He clears the tree, he's now full broadside some 20 yards from me, I jump up and aim, place my crosshairs on his shoulder, and fire.  It all happened so fast, but surprisingly, so slow.  He took off running, crashing just out of sight.
I decided to track him down with the help of my siblings, birthday boy included.  They enjoyed it very much.  It was an easy tracking job, the hard part was getting him out of the woods.  But they helped me with that even.  Be it helping drag the deer or lighting the way for us to walk with flashlights.

My siblings who came out and helped

Birthday boy!

A seven point, on my brother's seventh birthday, on November seven-teenth, how's that for ya?  Yeah  I get it's not a perfect 777, but it's close enough!  He ran out of luck before I could even name him Lucky 7.  But, maybe that is a fitting name.  He may have run out of luck, but I think I had some on my side that day.