I'm sick....

Today is a really windy day.  I wasn't even going to go hunting but wanted to get out and into the woods.  Even if I don't see anything it will be nice and relaxing.  I decided to go to the club and sit on the ground so I don't get blown out of a tree.  I went back by 13 and tucked myself into the weeds on the side of the hill.  I certainly didn't plan on seeing anything but before I went to sit, I wanted to take a long shot into the target just to see how this bow shoots at 35 yards.  Right in the middle!  I love this bow.

So, I went to my spot at around 2:45 and settled in.  Literally, at 3:00, a doe came walking down the path.  I took out my range finder and guess what...35 yards.  I know JUST where to hold at that yardage.  She stopped to eat some of the autumn olive and I squeezed off a shot.  She went running up the hill into the real thick stuff.  I waited about a half hour and went to go find my arrow.  I couldn't see it and there was only a drop or two of blood on the ground.  What made it even more difficult to find that blood was that the ground was absolutely covered in autumn olive fruit...which are red and about the size of drops of blood.  THIS is going to be a challenge.  I followed where I think the deer went up the hill and I would find a drop here, a drop there.  Nothing significant and in some cases I was following olive drops and not blood.  I used some best guessing too.  At the end, I looked for over three hours and couldn't recover her.  I wanted to throw up about it.  I know that sometimes it happens in bow hunting but I don't think it's ever happened to me.

Nada

Went to the club on Saturday.  I was alone and went to stand 13.  It seems a bit more rickety than I would like but I got up anyway and sat from 2 until dark.  I saw nothing at all

Friday!

Left work a bit early and hit behind the recycling center.  Saw nothing but a bunch of squirrels.

I'm really a tree hugger

Went to the dump today in the morning.  I got there around 5:15 and while I was climbing up the tree I heard something behind me.  I was making noise and had a flashlight so surely it couldn't be a deer...must be a guy (or a bear) so i shined my (blue light) flashlight towards the sounds and there was a deer, literally 5 yards from me.  I covered the light and hugged the tree.  There was more than one and they walked around for a good 10 minutes while I hugged the tree.  It sounded as though they walked down the hill and I finished my climb.  When it got light, there was no sign of them, however. I saw nothing else either.

Buck from a distance

I took off work early to get some hunting in.  Whew it was hot!  I almost didn't go but did.  I went to the club and wanted to sit at 5 (the road between the fields and first place I got a deer a the club).  I sweat my ass off on my way into the stand but it was a nice, comfortable sit.  I was facing the field so that, where I expected to see deer would be to my right.  At approximately 5, I saw a (what a think was a) 4 pointer at the rock wall.  It fed for a bit and then wanted to get out in a hurry.  Did it see me?  did it smell me?  Not sure.  The only other thing I saw was a guy with a power hang glider...that was pretty cool.

Opening day - 2015

It was a fairly uneventful day.  The weather has been rainy the last day or two, but this morning it was clear and beautiful.  Cooler than it had been lately.  I went to the Recycling center and sat in Sam's tree.  I had, a week earlier, set up a feeder and camera.  I got into the tree at 5:30 and sat until 9:45 and saw nothing but squirrels.  On the way out, I checked the feeder and swapped out cards.  I went home for a siesta and checked the card.  There doesn't seem to be a lot of action there but there was, on two occasions, a 7 or 8 point buck that is frequenting the area.  So that got me juiced to get a doe.

For the afternoon, I decided to head to the club.  I was the only one there and it was really threatening to rain.  I got into 13, which has really grown in, and only lasted about an hour before it really started raining.  I didn't feel like soaking in the rain so I left.

Happy New Deer! um I mean year

I am going to the gang party on Saturday so I wanted to get some woods time and New Years Day is a good time to do it.  I headed up to the club determined to sit in 4.  I got into the stand and I was the only one there (which is so nice).  It was coldish, around 28 but windy as anything!  My stand kept creaking so much that I actually was worried it may come down.  I sat there from about 1:30 and then around 4:00 I had a deer come out of the thickets and snorted at me.  I didn't see anything but the tail going away.  I hadn't been moving and the wind was in my favor so I'm not sure how it busted me.  After about 15 minutes, a group of 6 or so does came from the thickets and crossed the woods into the field.  I watched the first one step out and noticed that the others were bigger so I waited.  When the last one stepped into the field (they were walking towards the dip stand) I put the crosshairs right on the chest and let it bark.  I saw her run up the hill about 30 yards and crash.  I perfect angling away shot through the chest and out through the shoulder.  That's how to start out the new year!