Captainkirk's 2019 Hunting Thread

Tell us your Traditional Bow Hunting experiences
Forum rules
Discuss all aspects of the hunt.
Post Reply
Message
Author
Captainkirk
Site Admin
Posts: 12787
Joined: Tue Aug 26, 2014 8:19 pm

Re: Captainkirk's 2019 Hunting Thread

#41 Post by Captainkirk »

According to a past Deer and Deer Hunter survey, the average hunter sets up his stand no more than 1500 feet from his or her vehicle...
Aim small, miss small!

User avatar
Graps
Posts: 6696
Joined: Mon Sep 08, 2014 8:39 pm

Re: Captainkirk's 2019 Hunting Thread

#42 Post by Graps »

DEER CROSSING.png
DEER CROSSING.png (104.35 KiB) Viewed 74 times
Here is what you should do Kirk
"Maybe the truly handicapped people are the ones that don't need God as much." ~ Joni Eareckson Tada

Captainkirk
Site Admin
Posts: 12787
Joined: Tue Aug 26, 2014 8:19 pm

Re: Captainkirk's 2019 Hunting Thread

#43 Post by Captainkirk »

Graps wrote: Tue Oct 08, 2019 9:37 pm DEER CROSSING.png
Here is what you should do Kirk
Does that work? 8-)
Aim small, miss small!

User avatar
Grizzly
Posts: 2646
Joined: Fri Mar 16, 2018 9:06 am

Re: Captainkirk's 2019 Hunting Thread

#44 Post by Grizzly »

only in college towns ;)
Jesus replaces the old covenant and speaks to the believer the moral code of God by His Spirit directly to the heart. He is the eternal, everlasting revelation of God to mankind. In Him is both the knowledge of righteousness and the power to live right.

User avatar
White Falcon
Posts: 3330
Joined: Sun Jun 11, 2017 11:47 am

Re: Captainkirk's 2019 Hunting Thread

#45 Post by White Falcon »

:lol: :lol:

stumper
Posts: 2688
Joined: Wed Sep 14, 2016 7:40 pm

Re: Captainkirk's 2019 Hunting Thread

#46 Post by stumper »

Very nice..
Nothing clears a troubled mind like shooting a bow.

Captainkirk
Site Admin
Posts: 12787
Joined: Tue Aug 26, 2014 8:19 pm

Re: Captainkirk's 2019 Hunting Thread

#47 Post by Captainkirk »

DAY 2

Woke up with a splitting headache and feeling kinda lousy. Decided to sleep in and do the evening hunt again.
Got out to my blind site around 3:30 and got settled in. Again, I was really glad to have the Thermacell because the skeeters were fearsome back deep. This time I brought the flashlight...BOTH of them...and was determined to stay out until at least sunset (correctly ID'd as 6:19 today). Much of a repeat of yesterday, lots of squirrel, jay and chipmunk action. As with yesterday, there was only one vehicle in the back corner of the parking lot, except for a yuppie-looking crossover SUV in the front of the lot. On my walk in, I noticed a dark blob halfway up a tree and raised my K-Mag in a greeting but it did not respond. Figured maybe he didn't see me?

About half a mile in on the trail, I passed a yuppie-looking woman with short bobbed hair in a large maroon sweatshirt and man wearing a gray hoodie and sunglasses walking back towards the lot. She mumbled a "hello" to which I responded with a cheery "Hello!" but as we passed she gave me 'the look'...you know, that animal-lover PETA look... :? Now, I love animals, too. I also love braising some of them them over coals. 8-)

My sit was pretty routine, squirrels and 'munks making a lot of rustling sounds.Sat there until the sun dipped from sight, maybe around 5:30 or so. I heard a rustling and turned around and was startled to see a fawn, nose down, walking on the same trail I walked in on. Not the least bit alarmed, just curious. It stopped literally ten feet from me and stared at me. Of course I wasn't holding my bow at the time (busted!) and I was looking back over my shoulder at it. Though it had no spots, it was tiny, not much bigger than, say, a German Shepherd. It looked at me and bleated a fawn bleat twice. I decided no way I would shoot this one even if I was holding the bow. Too small. We stared at each other for a good thirty seconds before it decided I might not be the Easter bunny, and it hopped a downed log that was part of my blind and trotted off out of sight, tail down (not alarmed, but cautious). I silently called myself a major doofus (caught napping!) and stood up and picked up the bow, and watched to see if mama was following, but saw nothing.
About 20 minutes later, getting close to legal sunset, I heard rustling in the grass. This time I was ready for the noisemaker. It was the same fawn, or it's sibling, eating from the tall grass behind my blind! This time it walked to within 15 feet of me and grazed for at least a full five minutes. I had plenty of time to size it up, and yes, I was holding the bow and standing facing it with the tree trunk to my back. If I'd have shot at that range, Stevie Wonder couldn't have missed. But who wants to take a deer that small? It probably would have yielded maybe 25 pounds of meat or less. The whole time, this thing grazed and didn't wind me or the Thermacell. Then, the wind shifted and began to eddy around me. The little head popped up from the chest-high weeds (at times, all I could see were the ears poking up above the weeds) and our eyes locked. I held perfectly still. The little guy tried feinting with me, stamping a forefoot three times, doing this several times trying to get me to move, or blink, or something. But I didn't want to spook it in case mama was holding out near the fringes. Finally, it turned and loped off, splashing through the swamp water, and once across, turned and looked for danger. I held tight. Seeing nothing, it gradually moved away.
Had I shot it, or mama, I would have been tracking and dressing it in the dark, so I was actually glad mama didn't show up. I believe I did hear a deer blow twice a few minutes later, maybe mama? By now it was ten minutes after sunset and the visibility was going quickly. I packed it up and began the long hike back to the truck.
As I walked, a hoot owl was making his presence known. I love the sound of owls n the woods. A nearly full moon shone down from the quickly blackening sky. The only tiny cloud within five miles drifted in front of it; it was so picturesque I had to stop and snap a pic.
I heard nothing other than our owl friend and the sound of my boots scuffing the path. I turned on my flashlight in the general vicinity of that huge 'chuckhole, and good thing I had the light, because I wouldn't have seen it otherwise. After passing it though, I switched off the light and made the rest of the trek in darkness, save for the moonlight.
When I got to the truck, The other hunter was sitting in his truck. We introduced each other and he asked if I'd seen anything. I relayed the fawn story to him. He said he'd seen me raise my bow but wasn't sure if I was waving or trying to swat mosquitoes! :lol:
He had been waiting to make sure the other hunter got out of the woods safe, as it was pitch black by now. Nice thing to do. We chatted for a few minutes, then parted ways figuring we'd bump into each other again this week. I saw no other vehicles or hunters, wondering if some are waiting for this weekend and cooler weather?

The full moon over the swamp just as the small cloud passed in front of it. The ol' hoot-owl was hooting while I took this picture.

Image
Aim small, miss small!

stumper
Posts: 2688
Joined: Wed Sep 14, 2016 7:40 pm

Re: Captainkirk's 2019 Hunting Thread

#48 Post by stumper »

Beautiful hunt.
Nothing clears a troubled mind like shooting a bow.

User avatar
Graps
Posts: 6696
Joined: Mon Sep 08, 2014 8:39 pm

Re: Captainkirk's 2019 Hunting Thread

#49 Post by Graps »

Thanks for sharing. :D
"Maybe the truly handicapped people are the ones that don't need God as much." ~ Joni Eareckson Tada

Captainkirk
Site Admin
Posts: 12787
Joined: Tue Aug 26, 2014 8:19 pm

Re: Captainkirk's 2019 Hunting Thread

#50 Post by Captainkirk »

Thanks, Dave and Dale. Wish you were here.
Aim small, miss small!

Post Reply

Return to “Bow Hunting experiences”