Last day Muzzy!

When: February 7, 2009
Where: Club - big feeder
Weather: beautiful...lower 40's and breezy
Time: 2:00 pm - 2:20pm

Yup, you read that correctly...it only took twenty minutes!! I got to the club around 1:30 and got dressed. I made it into my spot by 2. I got all set and by 2:20 a deer walked out of the thickets. I thought it was a doe as there was no horns or remnince of horns so I lined up and took the shot. He went down in a clump, let out one "bahhh" and died. I walked over to him and learned that he was the button that Greg was talking about. The nubs didn't even show themselves at all. I went to get the deer checked and then call Rich, the butcher. Rich didn't answer so I left a message. By night time when he didn't call back I decided that I had to butcher the deer myself. So, on Sunday I went and got a new knife and butchered it myself (after watching how to videos on youtube). I made out just fine...It was kind of fun.

So that's how my 2008 season ended...with a bang you might say!

Behind the tennis courts for one more time...

When: Feburary 6, 2009
Where: Duh, behind the tennis court
Time: 3:30-5:30
Weather: Mid 30's and sunny

Not much to report here...just went out and didn't see anything. Some tracks but that was it. Around dark a fox ran by my stand.

A drive and nuthin...

When: January 24, 2009
Where: The club - swamp stand
Weather: cold (low 20's) and windy.
When: 2:00 - 5:30

I went to the club today. When I got there I saw Tony and Greg. They were up there doing drives of the property (grrrr). When I got dressed Tony and I were standers and I went to 13 and Greg pushed the hill. We saw nothing. Then I went to the swamp stand for the evening sit. I saw nothing...Greg saw nothing (he went to 6...Bob's stand) and apparently they didn't see anything all day while driving. Oh well.

Stupid snow!

When: January 10, 2009
Where: Morning - Recycling center
Evening - Club - Stand 18
Weather: Morning, cloudy and cold. Evening, snow showers!

The morning was pretty uneventful. I got in my tree (the fat man's stand) about 6:15 and sat until 8:30 but I was cold so I left and came home. The afternoon I went to the club. I love hunting in the snow...an inch or two is great and sure makes things pretty but today the snow was really coming down. I sat in the stand from 2:00 until 4:00 but all I could think about was, "will I get out of the parking spot", "the ride home will be miserable"...so I decided to still hunt my way back to the truck. While walking back I passed by the Big Feeder stand. As I rounded the corner I could see a doe feeding. I stopped and put up my gun...she was on the other side of the hedgerow and as I was thinking about what I could do to get a shot she saw me, spooked and ran into the pit. I tried to stop her in the path but she didn't. I sat under the stand for a few minutes hoping she'd come back but she didn't so I left. The ride home was pretty treacherous.

So close...

When: January 3, 2008
Where: Morning - Recycling center
Evening - Club - stand 19
Weather: Sunny, clear, cold (around 25) and quite windy
When: 6:15 - 8:45 & 1:00 - 5:00

I started out the day bow hunting in Morris Plains. It was a really nice morning in the fat man's tree. I didn't see anything however. By 8:45 I had all the cold I could take...actually everything was warm but my feet.

The evening hunt was a muzzleloader hunt at the club. I went to stand 19. While I was walking in, right by the big feeder, I kicked out a doe who ran into the field. I tried to cap the muzzy while she was standing there but by the time I capped it she was gone. I got to the stand and set up. At 3:15ish I saw a four pointer pop out from the brush in front of the stand. He looked right in my direction so I couldn't move. Slowly I got my gun into position and as I was doing that he walked to his right a few steps into some thick brush. I waited for him to reappear on the other side but he never did. A minute later I saw 8 does running hard in the field behind the cemetary. That was the last sign of deer I saw for the night. A great night on stand!!

Last day of stocking...

I went up to Flatbrook for the last day of stocking pheasants. I parked on the other side of the river because I wasn't sure how the snow would be on the bumpy road and when we walked over to the parking lot it was only Greg in it! We started out and didn't see a flush...didn't hear much shooting either. After going along on the field side for a while we decided to go up the hill near the cars. When we got to the top left of the hill Bacci would point, then creep, then point. He then locked on point under a pine...Greg saw the hen and tried to flush her towards me but she went up in front of him and a pine tree so he got her. We walked on and just a few moments later Bacci put up a cockbird that wouldn't hold for him. As he flushed he went over the ridge behind us. Neither Greg nor I would shoot because he was low and Bacci was in pursuit. A moment later Bacci returned with him in his mouth!! He's getting good at this! :) We kept walking around the hill, did some of the edge and then went across the road. We ended working our way back to the stuck spot but didn't see any other birds for the day. We ended around 11:00. It was a nice, but strange bird season this year. Not a lot of birds...a ton of guys and the weather seemed strange for almost every day I went. Had a GREAT time with Dani going hunting this year. I hope she doesn't decide that it's "not her thing" like Gianna did. I hope to get her out for one more day hunting deer. We'll see if the weather cooperates.

What a great snowy day!!!

Went bird hunting at Berkshire Valley today. It snowed yesterday and left 6-8 inches of snow. I headed out to BV because I didn't want to have to drive up to Flatbrook with the roads being cruddy. I pulled into the parking lot and could barely beleive that there were only two other cars there. There ended up having two more cars...but there were hardly anyone there. I started out and within the first few minutes Bacci went on point. He held for a long time until I got there and when I did there was a hen in some brush. She struggled to get out and when she broke over the field she never flew more than a few feet off the ground. I didn't shoot because Bacci was in hot pursuit. The dog disappeared...I called for him and a few minutes later he came back with the bird! One for Bacci!! We worked around a bit and as I went up the hill I caught the tracks of a bird. I followed for a bit and saw the cockbird on the hill. As we approached he took off and I got him. I started to walk out of the woods and some guy on top of the hill shot at a cockbird and missed. He called to me as it flew over my head but I already had two. I told him that I did and he said he ran out of shells. I told him that he could have one of my birds so I can still hunt and he took one. I looked for the cockbird and couldn't find him...I started to walk towards the car and when I went into the woods I saw some tracks. About a minute later a cockbird took off and I got him...I went back to the car. I talked to the guy that I gave the bird to, his name is Kevin. We cleaned the birds and I found out why the hen that I gave him didn't fly high...she was carrying eggs! As he cut her open, she started leaking all over the place and three soft shelled eggs popped out! I've never seen that before. All in all, a great day pheasant hunting. I have the birds marinating right now!!!