My '09 archery season done!

[Scoot]

Well, I had another wonderful year in the field with my bow and camera. This season had more lows than highs than usual for me-- I let more arrows go this year than I did in the past many combined! Despite being a more consistent and better archer than I've ever been, I struggled while in the field this year. I'll explain below.

FYI- I've posted most of the pics at the beginning of this before, but there is new stuff at the end too, so it's not completely redundant with past posts.

I managed to sneak out to Western ND a couple times to chase muleys. I wrote up the story before, but here a couple quick highlights of those trips:

Snakes!

Elk!

Muleys!!!

...and the big bummer was me hitting a nice buck that we didn't recover. We worked dang hard to find him, but simply ran out of blood. It was a real head scratcher as I thought the shot felt rock solid, but I clearly didn't hit him where I wanted to. This was the first time in 26 years I hit and didn't recover a deer. Here's a shot of my buddies helping their colorblind pal (me) out.

I hunted some around home for whitetails later in Sep and in Oct. Much of my effort was without a bow in my hand- I tried really hard to help my nephew Erik get a deer. Erik's twin brother Austin shot a doe on opening day.

Here's a shot of Erik, Austin, and one very proud father, my brother Rod.

Despite this effort, we didn't get Erik a deer this year. Next year, however, he will get top priority and I'll do all I can to get him a crack at a deer early on! Erik, you have my word I'll do all I can to see that you take a deer in Sep next year.

I went back out West in Nov and had a great trip. I made my best sneak ever in really tough conditions and got inside of 25 yards on this buck.

Unfortunately after I couldn't spot him my brain took a little nap on me and I screwed it up. He was a really nice and thick buck and would have been my biggest muley by far. It was a great sneak though and I had a lot of fun on that trip!

I hunted as much as I could at the end of Nov and during Dec. As usual, the bussle of the holidays made it tough for me to get out as much as I wanted to. I about drove my wife crazy, but she was as tolerant as any wife can be with a moderately obsessed hunter for a husband.

In mid-Dec I decided to try fill my tag with a doe. Long story short I shot three times at does and didn't bring home any meat. (Warning: lame excuses to follow! ) I thought the first one was on a 30 yard trail when it was actually 40 yards from me. The second two jumped the string on me. On one of them, I could literally watch her drop down below the arrow, which took only a tiny puff of hair off her back. I shaved some hair off the other one that jumped the string too. My brother nicknamed me "The Barber".

Continued in next post...

[Scoot]

On Dec 19th I got a trailcam pic of a really nice looking buck. It was in an area I hadn't been in for a long time, but Tom told me there were bucks of this caliber running around there and I knew he wasn't pulling my leg.

He was a 6 by something and was clearly a nice buck. I hung two stands in the area- one that was good with any Southerly wind and one that I could get away with a NW wind. The NW wind stand was the one I was forced to deal with my last few times out because, as most of you know, we had a major storm roll through the area before Christmas that dropped two feet of snow on the area that I was hunting. NW wind followed this storm for a week straight. Whenever I could go, I'd make the trek out to the stand through the knee to waist deep snow. After I made a few trips the walk got a lot easier- I'd simply follow the trail I'd made from my previous trip.

This stand was on the edge of a field. I'm not a big fan of sitting field edges, but it was the only spot I could put a stand in the area with a NW wind. Here's a view of the woods that I spet as much time as possible in the last couple weeks of Dec.

I had planned to hunt most afternoons and the last weekend of the year (this is in ND and season is open through the first Sun of Jan this year). However, the storm kept us from going to my in-laws to celebrate Christmas last weekend. Now, we're leaving tomorrow night and I'm going to pick up kids and won't get out tonight.

My last night out was bitterly cold. I was by myself and the temps were around zero. There was a NW wind that cut through me- I was totally exposed to the teeth of the wind on that field edge. There's no time I feel more alive than when I'm in the woods hunting. Call me a sick puppy, but when I'm breathing that ice cold air late in Dec while sitting in a tree stand, I love it! It's really one of my favorite experiences and so many people don't bother with it because it's "too cold". I love it.

That last night out (12/28) I sat, took it all in, and reflected on my bowhunting season and even a little about my life. My bowhunting year has been a little like my life- I've had some ups and downs this year (family-related health concerns primarily), but in total it's been another wonderful year and I'm extremely lucky and appreciative of the opportunities and experiences that I've had.

Thanks for checking out my recap of my bowhunting year. I hope I didn't ramble too much... I encourage others to start their own thread and write up their year end recap too- it's fun to hear other's trials and tribulations too.

[sticknstring]

Nice recap Scoot. It's always hard to accept the fact that another season has come & gone. It is the fastest 3 1/2 months of the year for me by far. I'm already thinking towards next fall and the preparations that will take place in the spring/summer. Hopefully I can make it out and pick up a shed or two as well.

Overall, I had a pretty successful season in the woods this fall filled with new experiences. It started out well when my wife & I took the stand together in September and she was able to take her first deer with the bow, a mature doe. I think I was more excited than her. Hopefully she's hooked and I can get her out next fall. We have a little one due in the spring so I'm just hoping I can make it out some!

I participated in the Camp Ripley hunt for the first time and was fortunate to take a nice doe the first morning. Just sharing camp with 2,000 bowhuters made the trip worth it. I can't believe it took me this long to apply. I'll be back for sure.

November was tough. I hunted Sherburne NWR quite a bit and even managed to sit opening day of gun season there. We saw more wolves than deer at our hunting property up north and the rifle guys only shot a spike & a fork between 8 guys over 3 weekends. A few buddies and I made it back up there during muzzleloader and I was lucky enough to even see a deer and made sure to capitalize on the opportunity. Doe #2 was on the ground.

In December, my focus returned to Sherburne as it's quite a bit closer than the cabin. I really never got on the deer. We saw a few and I did see a nice buck the week before Christmas but it just didn't pan out. Another unpunched tag to add to my growing collection.

Even with meat in the freezer and a few arrows released, I'm disappointed in the amount of deer seen and the amount of bucks seen. I only saw three bucks this season and only one I could've shot, the one in Ripley that tried to mount the doe I had shot. Normally I'll have at least a half-dozen dinks within bowrange that I'll pass on but not this year. I think it was tough on a lot of people from what I've heard.

Another positive (or negative depending on how you look at it) was this guy that showed up a few times, once after gun season. He's a stud in our neck of the woods but is a lot smarter than everyone who hunts him. He'll be at least 5 1/2 yrs old next fall and I'm going to hunt him hard.

I hope everyone had a great season. There's still a few days left so good luck to those still in pursuit. Looking forward to next year!

[Scoot]

Sticknstring, thanks for the reply. Looks like a great year to me!!! Congrats!

[heat checker]

Goals for this season were: Spend time hunting with the kids, get 13 yr old daghter a crack at a deer, get 16 yr old son a crack at another deer, prepare 6 yr old son for his first crack at a deer, and lastly, get myself a crack at a deer. Goal #1 was accomplished in spades as myself and 2 youngest spent alot of time in a ground blind. Goal #2 was close, about two more steps for a clear 10yd shot. Goal #3, well, you know how 16 yr old boys are! Goal #4, 6 yr old is noisy, restless and impatient,BUT, tell him there is a deer around, and it's instant "stealth mode". (He'll be ready). AS for the last one, not many chances to hunt by myself, passedup the one young buck within range, saw my first mating (same young buck), saw a monster buck that I haven't seen for 2 yrs. Tag soup with our 3 bow tags, but I'd have to say the season was a success. Deer or not, I'd rather go deer-less than leave the kids at home. Cant' wait to start practice up again next spring!

[Scoot]

Heat checker, it aslo sounds like you had a very fun year! I spent more time in the woods this year with my nephews and it was a blast. I also too my four year old boy out more this year than past year- that was very fun too. My experience was a lot like yours- he was impatient, couldn't whisper softly, and squirmed a lot. However, he loves it and I think he's on his way to becoming my favorite hunting buddy!

It was a great year indeed! Oh, I almost forgot...( ) my story from above isn't quite done...

[WalleyeGod]

Scoot:

Word on the street is we are in for a fine finish to the story.

WG

[Scoot]

WG, be careful what rumors you repeat. Especially when you consider your source of information...

[Scoot]

I conveniently forgot to mention that the nice buck hadn’t been on the camera since the 19th- he’d made just that one appearance, but never showed his face again. When I checked the camera on the way to my stand for the last time for the year on the 28th, he had showed up the night before at about 2:00 AM. I was excited about this and hoped he was still around.

Now, back to where I left off in the last post: Here’s the view again from my stand.

As I thought about my season and the past year, I caught a hint of movement off through the trees. I saw a deer's feet move through an opening 100+ yards away through the trees towards the back-right side of the pic above. I slowly watched as a doe materialized. Then another and another, until six deer slowly showed themselves. I quickly noticed they were all does/fawns, but fortunately they were headed my way and I would be thrilled to put backstraps in the freezer during the 11th hour of the season. It was 4:50 and legal shooting time ended at 5:15. As they got about 80 yards away I noticed some movement off to their left- it was a doe. Then, behind her I saw a buck. He didn’t look too big, but I couldn’t see him very well. As he got closer, I thought “He’s not too bad”. When he got to about 60 yards I thought, “He’s pretty big… holy cow, that’s him!!!” As the six slick heads neared the field edge, the doe and buck trotted ahead to catch up with them. Just then my phone vibrated from a text message showing up- no significant noise and I ignored it.

I drew my bow when most of them were behind a fallen tree. They slipped out into the field and the buck stayed behind them. He stood at about 38 yards quartering to me. I didn’t like the angle at all. Suddenly, a doe bolted about 15 yards back into the woods. The buck turned and went behind the fallen tree. All the deer looked nervous. I have no idea what spooked her- they didn’t smell me and I hadn’t so much as blinked. I distinctly remember thinking, “That’s it, it’s over”. I expected all of the deer to blow out of there in a second or two. All of a sudden, the doe that bolted into the woods sprinted back out into the field twice as fast as she ran in. The buck followed her and came back out into the field. He got on a trail that came right to me, but at 25 yards he turned around and walked straight away from me again. But… with the deep snow he had to stay on the trail and it went left or right at 30 yards- either choice would give me a quartering away shot. He went right and stopped for a second at about 32 yards, quartering pretty sharply away from me. I put my pin behind the rib cage and settled in for the shot. I let the arrow go and heard a loud “Whack!”

He then did something I’ve never had happen- he kicked his back legs up in a huge mule kick and tore off in a blur of brown. I watched him run and quickly noticed that he was not using his front left let at all. He was quartering to the right, so the front left leg was his off-side leg (a good sign!) He ran about 80 yards and stopped. I watched through the trees as he started to wobble left, then right, then down he went. When he fell my heart beat went from really fast to off the charts and I got the shakes immediately! I took a bunch of deep breaths and tried to calm myself a little bit. Eventually, I grabbed my phone and looked to see my brother had text me at 4:55 with a message that read simply, “Report plz”. At 5:00 I replied to his message by saying “OMG, I just shot him” (he had seen the trailcam pic after I got it and he would know what I was referring to when I said "him").

I got down and found where he stood when I shot him:

Even though I could see the blood and hair as plain as day where I shot him and I had seen him go down, I didn’t want to take any chances- with my color vision problems and bad luck, I wanted help tracking (and a little help hauling through the deep snow sounded great too!) After my brother didn’t answer his phone several times, I called my buddy Gabe. He was more than happy to come out and help me, so I hauled my gear back to the truck and waited for him.

Gabe showed up after a little while and we loaded up a frame pack, an expandable Canadian pack, a couple knives, game bags, and the camera and took off. Gabe follows blood like a hound dog and he followed the blood trail to where I saw the deer fall in no time flat. He looked like this when we found him.

Here are a few pics from before we went to work on him.

We decided gutting and dragging wasn’t a very good option through the deep snow, so we took care of the deer with the gutless method. We loaded the quarters in the frame pack and the head/hide and loins in my Canadian pack. Here’s a shot of Gabe on the pack out.

Here’s one of me.

Lastly, just so nobody wonders if I tagged that critter, here’s a shot at the truck with the tag on.

Thanks for following along. It was one great season and a heck of a way to end the year! Thanks very much to my wife for tolerating me for the past several months, my parents for watching my kids so I could hunt, Tom for giving me a wonderful place to play, Gabe for helping me get that guy out of there, and my hunting buddies who have taught me a lot and are great guys to be in the field with: my bro Rod, Jake, Gabe, and Slevy in particular.

Take care and shoot straight!

[WalleyeGod]

Scoot:

Nice! Congrats.

Great pics as usual.

WG

[DonBo]

Wow, great story, great deer! Great 11th hour finish for sure. Congrats!

[sticknstring]

Scoot - you dirty dog you! Now that's the way to end an already great season. Congratulations on a dandy!

[lawdog]

GREAT deer, especially in late December. AWESOME job...

[Stratosman]

I concur, very nice deer, for any time of the year but late season that's special.

[mrklean]

nice job scoot thats a nice looking deer good way to end the season to

[96trigger]

Scoot, that is fantastic. Congrats on a great buck.

[harvey lee]

Way to keep at it Scoot. I was starting to think you probably didn't believe that there are some dandy bucks roaming the ranch.

I am very happy that you put the hurt on a very nice buck.

I will tell you this Scoot, that is a fine animal and I will tell you, there are many more like that or larger that are still roaming the river bottoms and hills around the ranch.

Looks like you will be back next fall and you are more than welcome to hunt on the ranch.

I would like to also say this about Scoot, he asked permission to hunt a couple years ago and I said he could under certain terms.

Scoot is one who follows the rules to a T and will always be welcome to shoot nice bucks at the CP ranch.

Again, Congrats Scoot as I am really happy you whacked a great buck.

A friends of mines daughter hunted rifle for her first season this year and I placed her in a spot I figured she would have a good chance of shooting a buck. I have a photo somewhereb of her 10 pointer and I will have to look for it.

My son shot a nice 9 pointer and my trophy, got away with a 300 mag bullet which hit to far forward. It was the largest buck I have ever shot at and I figure it was close to 200 points B & C. It was easly larger than the ones I have that have made the book. I have one 12 that is I believe #36 in the ND book and this bruiser was all of that plus more.

[harvey lee]

Man I am still pumped to see you harvest a good buck Scoot.

[Scoot]

...I was starting to think you probably didn't believe that there are some dandy bucks roaming the ranch.

... and will always be welcome to shoot nice bucks at the CP ranch.

...and my trophy, got away with a 300 mag bullet which hit to far forward. It was the largest buck I have ever shot at...

Tom, I definitely believed you! I saw a stud the first year I was out there and a couple good ones last year too. I have no doubt part of my struggles out there have to do with the fact that I don't know the woods that well and I'm just learning where to go and not go. I'm sure I've sat in a lot of places that would leave you scratching your head, but that's been part of the learning process for me. It's been really fun to start to get a feel for the land out there. Awesome woods with great bucks for sure!!!

I know I've thanked you a bunch, but thank you, thank you, thank you. I'm so appreciative of your generosity. I hope to repay it in some small bit next Fall and in the future.

Regarding the buck you mentioned, I'd sure have loved to see it! He had to be a monster. I'm pretty sure I'd never get a crack at one like that- he'd smell me when I lost control of my bodily functions as soon as I saw him.

Thanks again, Tom. I'm still on Cloud 9 and my wife can't figure out why I'm constantly smiling-- she thinks I'm up to something!

Happy New Year Everyone!!!

[MJCatfish]

Very nice work, Scoot! That is an impressive harvest anytime, but especially under late season conditions!

MJ

[tweedlap]

Scoot,

You are a great story teller ! I was in the tree with you and

share your great accomplishment. Your efforts and determination are truly remarkable.

No one deserves such a thrill and such a trophy animal more

than You. Congrats.

tweed

Having a great friend like Harvey is a bonus.

[Scoot]

Scoot, You are a great story teller !

[cupper]

That is the best post I have ever read. Thanks for sharing Scoot!!

[Musky Buck]

Now that's a hunt ! Nicely done Scoot and that was better than watching some deer show !

[lovebigbluegills]

Thanks for the fantastic story and the pictures Scoot. Congratulations on a great buck, you definitely earned it.