Sit after a drive

I went to the club today. They boys were driving the property but I couldn't attend the drive. I decided to head up late, got into stand 3 at about 3. I didn't see anything. It was cold...only about 15 degrees. Gorgeous night....I heard turkeys making a racket down by the cadillac the entire time. Didn't know they were so vocal this time of year.

Still nada...but I'm on high alert...

Ok, so I'm going back to the club. Even after hearing about the bears. While I was driving up there I was trying to think were I was going to sit. The bears were a constant thought in my mind. When I got there, I actually contemplated sitting in the bed of my truck and letting THAT be my blind, but logic got the better of me and I went to 10. It was chilly but the wind made it downright cold. It was pretty gusty and I didn't see a thing. As I was leaving the woods I noticed that there was a full moon. I really should plan my days off better next time! Oh yeah...why was I on high alert? Well, I kept expecting to see Mama bear and her three baby bears. Thankfully I did not!

B...B....B...Bear!?

Ok, first let me start by saying, I didn't see a bear. Secondly, it was absolutely beautiful out. I took the day off to do some hunting. I headed up to the club and got there around 2ish. I decided to try a new spot so I went to #4. I sat up in the tree and felt so exposed. I used the range finder to check out my distances and when I did that, I noticed that there was a milk crate tucked into the brush about 50 yards away from me. Perfect! I got down out of the tree and sat in the brush. It was fantastic...a great hiding place. I sat there and just enjoyed the afternoon. I didn't see anything, surprised, but used to it at this point. When it got dark I made my way out. I ended up seeing Tony, Jeff and Brad. Tony saw two buttons but then proceeded to tell me that the Division of Fish and Game chased a mama and three cubs out of the neighborhood behind our property and on to our club. They are denned up between the first field and upper field on the side of the old pit. Lovely!! Tony did say that the Division will be back in March to dart them and move them. I sure the heck hope so or Turkey season will not be so fun!

It's amazing how good their hearing is...

That could also be entitled, "My season...what else could go wrong". I went out today and it was just gorgeous!! First I went in MP by the tower. I got in about a half hour or so before light and it was brisk out...about 24. I sat sort of near the tower, kind of where that ladder stand was...and as the sun came up, I saw such a beautiful orange ball rise out of the sky beyond the horizon. I saw about a million squirrels...but no deer. I got out of the tree and went home for lunch. Afterwards I headed to the club.

I got to the club around 1:30 and I was the only one there. The weather was absolutely beautiful and perfect. I sat in stand 10 and just really enjoyed the afternoon. Just about last light, I had a nice sized doe come within about 20 yards or so from my stand to my left. The problem is, I was expecting her to the right and I shoot lefty. So, as she was passing my tree, I turned. As I turned, apparently the sound of my butt against the wood is louder than I could perceive and she took off. Only a few steps...but away from me...behind me. So, I waited and waiting. We played a little stare down. I was being hidden by the tree so I decided, because she wasn't going to come back, I was going to stand up and try to swing around the tree. Well, she didn't like that too much. Don't know if she saw me (which I don't think) or heard me...but she wasn't sticking around anymore. It was a beautiful day.

A beautiful day in the neighborhood!

It was absolutely gorgeous out! With the weather the way it's been lately, to have a day that was in the mid to high 40's and sunny is just priceless. I decided to sit in the morning with my bow at the Recycling Center. I got in well before light to my same tree. This is the first time I've been there since the construction that is going on. Well, they sure did tear up part of the woods. The other thing that I noticed when the sun came up was how open it is without all the leaves. I haven't been there for a while. I didn't stay long...between the construction and the leaves, i felt like I was wayyy to out in the open.

I headed to the club in the afternoon. When I got there, I have to admit, I was a bit frustrated. There were three trucks...Tony, Greg and someone else's that I didn't recognize. The frustrating part was that they didn't put on the map where they were so I couldn't plan where I wanted to go. I didn't want to walk in and find them. So I decided to go to my blind. Even though that's not where I wanted to be, I knew they wouldn't be there. I drove around, parked and went to the blind. It was still ice'd in and as I was trying to see if I could remove the chunk of ice, I turned and noticed something lying in the opening about 20 yards away. I walked over and saw the 3/4 eaten carcass of a deer. I don't know how it died (although I'll assume someone shot it and couldn't find it) but it ended up right in front of my blind. So...I'm not going to hunt over a dead deer so back out I go. Then I went to stand 13. I didn't expect to see anything, and wasn't disappointed...because I didn't. At least it was a beautiful evening and I really enjoyed that! The ride home however was less enjoyable. Apparently there was a big crash and they had parts of Route 80 closed so what normally takes 45 minutes, took 2 1/2 hours. Oh well.

Oh, so close and oh so cold...

I decided to skip out of work early today and head to the club. It is supposed to be "Arctic" tomorrow (windy and super cold) so I wanted to try to get some woods time. I got to the club and into stand 10 by around 2. It was about 24 degrees which wasn't so bad, but the wind was howling...that went right through me, but I was good. It started to snow and it was beautiful. Just at dusk I had a doe in the thickets to my right. She was so close to me, around 10-15 yards but in the thickets I couldn't get a shot. She just had to take a few more steps towards me...but instead she turned to her right and headed off behind me. Grrrr. By the time it got dark, I was really cold and shaking.

Brrrr...sure is cold and windy

I decided to hit the club with the muzzy today. It was cold!! My truck said that it was 17 and the wind was howling, so i'm sure that the wind chill made it in the single digits at least. I went to the blind and did see some tracks around. But I didn't see anything that sit. I did see Tony and Bob and they both had seen deer. Tony saw to little ones near the Cadillac and Bob had a doe bed behind him at 10, but then she caught his wind and left. Tony said that Greg got a nice 8 during shotgun and Bob said he saw a nice 8 yesterday in the big field. (I KNEW I should have gone yesterday!!)