Friday Morning Bow Hunt

Well I finally got back out bow hunting this morning. This is only the third time out since my trip to Colorado. No excuses, just haven't got out. I made it a point to get up and ready this morning so I could spend it in the tree stand.

I tried to get everything ready and out the door, but I had a problem finding my range finder this morning. It wasn't in my backpack where I left it or so I thought. After about 5 minutes of frantic searching I said the heck with it. Out the door I went. When I arrived at the woods that I hunt, I quickly got my bow out and everything put together. Onto the trail I went. It was just beginning to break daylight. I was really about 15 minutes late getting into the woods, but man did it feel good to be back out in the outdoors.

I made my way down the trail and then I crossed into a field that ran next to the wood lot. This way I can sneak down to the tree stand without making too much noise. As I walked down the field's edge I could see something up ahead on the ground. As I approached it I could see that it was a scrape that a buck had made! There was a licking branch hanging over the scrape, this was what I needed to build some confidence in this morning's hunt. I walked another 10 to 15 yards and there was another scrape and licking branch! Another 10 to 15 yards and another one under a licking branch! Man this was getting me pumped up for the morning hunt for sure!

These were about 30 or 40 yards away from the treestand, so I slipped into the stand and began to get set up. I nocked an arrow and took my quiver off and strapped it to a tree branch, then I settled in.

From behind me across the field that I walked the edge of I heard what sounded like two bucks fighting. I looked behind me across the field and saw nothing. It sounded as if it was coming from inside the opposite woodlot. It went on for a couple of minutes and was rythmic in its sound. I knew then it was another hunter rattling trying to get a buck to come in. I've never had any success rattling bucks in. I think it is due to the fact that bucks here in this area don't have to fight for dominance to breed does. It wasn't long before I heard the hunter rattle again. It had way too much cadence to it. It sounded nothing like what a deer fight would be. I have seen them on video and heard the noise they make, and it was nothing like this guy was making.

After about an hour I heard a flight of geese coming towards me, as I watched the horizon I could see six of them flying straight for me. They buzzed the tree tops about 15 yards over my head! If I only had my shotgun! It wasn't long before I heard squirrels rustling around below me. I looked and spotted at least four different squirrels, two greys and two fox. The fox squirrels were pretty big, once again I thought if I only had my gun! One of the greys came towards my tree and stopped about 10 feet short of it. I thought he might try to climb up and visit me for a few minutes, but he turned and went back to his business.

Towards the end of the morning I noticed that three bluejays had flown into the tree right above my head. They began to pick what was left of the twigs and acorns off of the tree, the debris was falling right on me. The little buzzards kept this up for about five minutes, I was getting pelted with all the debris, once again if I only had my gun! That is always the story with hunting. You never have the right weapon to use for the game you happen to see. If I had been small game hunting I would have seen deer, but since I was bow hunting, no deer and a ton of small game! Oh well at least I got to get back out into the woods again, and boy did it feel good. The time passed quickly this morning, too quickly for my liking. I can't wait until this evening. If it isn't raining I will get back out again with the boys.

First Duck Hunt of the Season

Well, I got out for my first duck hunt of the season this morning thanks to my son waking me up at 5:15am! I struggled out of bed and managed to get up and ready as he loaded everything up. We hit the water and went to a spot that we have hunted near before. We found an old blind that someone had knocked down, but the platform was still there so we made the best of it.
He dropped me off on shore like an old man who couldn't get to his hunting spot. I only had knee boots on and the water was too deep. I felt like I had to be carried into the blind, I guess that is a sign of getting old. I managed to hang our blind cloth on some branches and filled in the holes with cut sticks and branches while he put the decoys out. He then walked the boat around the point and anchored it so it wouldn't spook the birds.
I sat there with him waiting for first light, talking back and forth and enjoying each other's company. Then the time clicked to 7:16am! It was shooting time! It didn't take 2 minutes until we heard other hunters cut loose on some birds! We waited with anticipation hoping to see some flying our way. We waited until 8am until we finally saw some ducks flying, then they were too far away to even think about shooting. Once agian we heard the other hunters laying the lead to the waterfowl, then we saw four ducks coming our way. I hunkered down and Mikey began to call, this was it! Just as they began to get into range, the hunters at the other end of the lake cut loose again. The ducks we were waiting on flared and flew away! Man! That was our chance and now it's gone! We waited a few more minutes and finally saw some geese. Mikey worked his goose call and they started to fly our way but they never quite made it to our position. It was starting to get late and I knew we would have to pack up and head in. He had to be to school by 9:30 and it was now 8:15. I told him lets give it 5 more minutes. It wasn't a minute or two later and there they were, two ducks coming straight in for us! We got ready and then they turned in front of us, Mikey called "Take 'em". They were still a little far out, but I threw my three shots at them and he did the same. He rocked one but not well enough, and away they flew.
Well no ducks today, but at least we got some shooting in this morning and we got to spend a morning together in the duck blind. Not too bad for the first morning out.

2nd Bowhunt of the Year

Well, I finally got back out this last week to bow hunt. It wasn't what I had anticipated, but I got out non-the-less. I took Friday off of work, since my kids had the day off of school, I thought this would be a great opportunity to get out with the oldest ones and hit the woods with the bows. Boy was I wrong.
My buddy Matt from Compass Outdoors invited Mikey and I over to his spot to hunt for a Friday morning excursion. Thursday night at work I began to feel sick! Oh no I thought, this is going to wreck my weekend! I went to bed that evening with the hopes that it would pass and I would be able to hit the woods that next morning. WRONG! I felt like junk when the alarm rang. I got Mikey up and ready to go and let Matt take him out and I went back to bed. They saw a few small bucks that morning and I saw the back of my eyelids under the covers in bed.
That afternoon I began to feel a little better so I planned to hit the woods with Mikey and try it. I didn't want my day off to be a waste. We got out around 4:30 that afternoon and made our way into the woods. He went to Matt's stand and I sat in the stand I used the last time out. It wasn't long until the mosquitos began to work their fury! I thought the frost from the previous night would have done those little suckers in! WRONG AGAIN! I tried with great fury to keep them from biting me and carrying me away. Then the neighbor began to cut small trees with his lawnmower just out of sight from where I was hunting and then there were some youths running the woods on the property behind where Mikey and I were hunting. What a miserable hunt!
As soon as the sun set, I got down and Mikey called me to check and see if I was ready. The bugs were taking him on also. I told him to meet me at the trail head and off we went.
It was a miserable hunt, but I'm glad I got out. It was the only time I made it out this weekend. My sickness got worse and I stayed home while my buddy Chuck Parr and Mikey went out for the opening two days of duck season here in Michigan. Mikey bagged a duck opening morning but nothing today. I will be looking forward to next weekend!

First Bow Hunt Of The Year

Well opening day of bow season came and went with out me getting out in the woods. It always seems as if the best laid plans always go to waste. I felt really bad that morning so I stayed at home. But never fear, I did make it out this morning to partake in day two of the season.
My buddy Matt from Compass Outdoors showed up at my place at 6:00am to pick me up. I got my gear together and I was out the door. We drove the 10 minutes it takes to get to his spot to hunt and then it was time to get suited up. I always put my hunting clothes on once I get to the parking spot where I'm going to enter the woods. Once I got my Scent-Lok, rubber boots and other gear, I grabbed my bow and found out I forgot my quiver! Well I'm supposed to only need one arrow any way, I grabbed two though just incase.
We began the walk back to the treestands, this was the first time I've hunting this property and in the dark it looked different than it did when we were there scouting. After we split up on the trail I headed to the stand I was going to hunt. Luckily I had my bow sling so I could climb the climbing sticks and hold on to the two arrows I took while doing so. I got situated on the stand and proceeded to nock an arrow. The other arrow I laid across a couple of small branches and hoped that it would stay put. It wasn't long until I felt the cold air begin to creep into my jacket and pants. It was then that I thought boy this is going to be a cold morning. I later used my range finder that has a thermometer in it to find out how cold it was, 42 degrees was the pre dawn reading. The skies were clear over head but in the distance it was starting to cloud up somewhat. Then the wind began to blow in my face, it was then that I knew that I wasn't ready for the cold weather yet. I hung my bow on a hook and buried my hands into my jacket hoping to keep them somewhat warm.
As day broke, I noticed that there was a plane flying overhead. I forgot that this property was in the flight path of Flint's airport. I counted 8 big planes this morning along with 4 trains off in the distance and numerous cars driving down the dirt roads. It wasn't like it was when we were in Colorado. Out there you didn't hear anything all day.
As the sun rose it began to warm a little bit, but the deer were not moving this morning. I kept glassing the field and treeline ahead of me to try and see some movement. I must have lost track of time along the way, because I thought it was around 8:00am when I noticed some movement behind me. It was Matt coming up to pick me up. We had made plans to leave around 9:00 or 9:30 and he was sneaking up behind me. I asked him what time it was and he told me 9:00am. Boy did I lose track of time. I guess it was the anticipation of being out for the first time hunting whitetails this season that made it go so quick.
He also wasn't able to see any deer movement, so I guess we will have to wait until next time. I hope to get out this weekend and give it another shot. But for a first day out at home it was great. I got to watch the sunrise and spend time in the field, what more could you ask for?

Colorado Adventure Day 8 & 9

Day 8 was pack up and head home day for us. I wasn’t in a good mood since I didn’t find my deer the night before. We did make one more pass on the opposite side of the creek to see if we could pick up the trail that morning, but we didn’t have any luck finding here. I hate leaving game in the field!
We got Kevin’s deer skinned and quartered up for the trip home. Then came the worst part of the trip. We had to leave. As we headed out I thought to myself, I will be coming back again soon. We made our way up into Wyoming to head back to I-80 to head east.

Near The Wyoming Colorado Boarder

We arrived at a crossroads and couldn’t decide which way to go. The GPS said to go through the mountains for a shorter distance, but it would be quicker to head north even though it was a longer route, there were no mountains to cross. So we decided on the only proper way to decide which way to go, we flipped a coin. Heads we headed north, tails we headed east through the mountains. The flip was tails, so we headed into the mountains and boy am I glad we did!
As we headed up to over 10,000 feet, we stopped on the Continental Divide.

The Continental Divide Looking West

It was an awesome place to be. I crawled up on the rocks at the roadside stop and placed a phone call to my family to let them know I was on top of the U.S.!
We then made our way onward and upward. We came around a bend in the road and saw a mountain that was absolutely gorgeous!

St. Marie Lake In Wyoming's Medicine Bow National Forest

It was St. Marie Lake at the bottom of the mountain and what a view. If you ever go through Wyoming and pass through Medicine Bow National Forest, you must stop here for the view. After about a half hour of photo taking we went on our way.

Another View Of The Mountain Overlooking St. Marie Lake

As we headed down out of the mountains we hit the high plains and saw hundreds of antelope in the fields along side the roads. It was awesome to see so many animals. Lastly on our way back home we had to stop back at the Sidney Nebraska Cabela’s store again to pick up some goodies for the kids. After a long 26 hour drive we arrived home. It was a trip that I will gladly take again anytime. As a matter of fact we are already planning our return trip for next year!

Colorado Adventure Day 7

Day 7 of the Colorado trip started off with high expectations. The skies were clear and the moon bright this morning, although it was cold. This should have got the deer moving after yesterdays storms. Kevin joined me down in the valley and set up about 250 yards from the stand I was in. Hopefully we would see some deer this morning. Around 7:40am the coyotes cut loose again, they sounded like they were closer this morning than they were yesterday.
The minutes passed and turned into hours. I new that this morning was going to be a bust, nothing was moving except birds. I glassed the mountain sides to see if there was any movement, the only thing I saw was muddy trials and sage brush. At about 10:00am I noticed some movement off in the distance, but I knew that Kevin was going to be coming that way at that time. It was him heading in to pick me up to head back to camp. We crossed the creek and made our way back to camp.
We decided to make the most of the day since it was going to be our last full day here. We packed up the quads, camera, and our bows then we took off towards the summit blind.

View From The Summit Blind

We figured we would at least take some pictures and video from the summit blind and maybe, just maybe we would see a deer in the distance we could put a stalk on. When we got to the river we had to cross it with the quads, it was there we took some photos and video. Then we headed up to the blind. As we approached the blind I noticed a doe mule deer cross in front of us, finally we saw a deer! After a few photos and some video we headed back down to camp to eat lunch then it is to the creek for some fly fishing.

My Trout

We spent about an hour trying to catch some trout out of the stream. After no luck at the stream we tried the pond and had some success. We each caught one trout a piece on my fly rod. We then hurried back to the cabin to clean them and get ready to head into the woods.

Kevin's Trout

We got into the woods around 5:00pm, Kevin set up in the same place as the morning hunt and I headed back to the stand. At 5:30pm I saw a doe come in from the right just under my stand. I watched and waited for the deer to offer a shot. It made it to about 25 yards out and quartering away. I knew that this was the shot to take so I drew back and took my time placing the shot. I snapped the release and the arrow flew right into her left side. She kicked and ran off. I just knew that I had placed a good shot. I watched her run out of site and sit down for a while to rethink the shot. After about a half hour I got down and went looking for the arrow. I found it and when I looked at it my heart sank! Just a little bit of blood and hair. I am now thinking I made a bad shot. So I went back into the stand and replayed the shot in my mind over and over again. I kept seeing the arrow hit my mark, but I couldn’t be sure she was lying out there somewhere. I had to wait until dark to go look so I wouldn’t disturb Kevin’s hunt. It wasn’t long until I heard what sounded like a bow shot from his direction. I later find out that it was him who shot. He took a nice doe from about 36 yards away and it ran about 100 yards. I wish I could say that. We got a game plan together to go looking for my deer. We came back and got the quads and crossed the creek to start looking. It was so dark it was hard to see. I grabbed a new tool that I was given to field test this year. It’s called Illumitacks from Elusive Wildlife Technologies. They are flashing led lights that you can tack on a tree. We needed to be able to see our way back to the creek to cross and it was almost impossible to find it without them. I placed it on a tree near the brush that covered the crossing on the creek. We could see the light from over 200 yards in the dark! We then went to where Kevin’s deer was at so we could start the search for mine. I placed an Illumitack on my quad so we could find our way back to it in the dark also. Remember we are in the mountains in Colorado and didn’t know our way around too well.
Next I broke out another tool that I was given to field test. It is called Blue Star, it is a blood finding agent. You spray it on the ground and it illuminates blood no matter how small. We went to the spot where I shot the deer and started spraying the ground. Now remember it is dark out and you are not supposed to use any light source when using it. The ground turned florescent blue, it was amazing how well this worked. We began the tracking process finding blood along the way. I had blood on two sides so I knew that it was a pass through shot. We wound up tracking it up the mountain and back down again into a thicket, then to the creek and across it. That is where I lost the trail. We also had run out of spray to see if we could pick it up again. I hate like heck to hit a deer and not find it. I don’t know if it died or not, but I will try to do a broad search tomorrow morning before we head back home. That is why everyone needs to practice, practice, practice. I haven’t shot from an elevated stand on a regular basis this year and I think that is why I missed that buck earlier this week and possibly lost this doe this evening.
If nothing else at least Kevin got his first animal with a bow, that is pretty awesome to be a part of that.

Kevin's First Archery Harvest

Now that my hunting is over for this trip I have to say that despite my not getting a deer I had an awesome time. I will just have to take some time and reflect back on what an awesome week it really has been. I just have to get the sour taste out of my mouth for screwing up my two great opportunities.

Colorado Adventure Day 6

Day six was somewhat disappointing, it was cold and overcast for the morning hunt. We got up and around as usual, then I headed out for my stand. Kevin headed for the stand on the hill, which is lower than the one he hunted the previous night.
I was heading to my spot on the ATV when I saw a deer in the headlights. It was a small doe standing in the two track, she didn’t seemed to be too startled and just wandered off out of my way. I got to the parking spot and headed for the creek. It was somewhat of a tough go this morning since the moon didn’t give off much light with all the clouds hanging in the air. I managed to make it across and head to the blind. I got set up and began the long wait to see deer. Around 7am I heard a pack of coyotes sound off. They were pretty loud and it seemed as if they were near where Kevin was set up. Then again around 8am I heard them again, but this time they seemed as if they were behind me somewhat. It was either another pack or the same pack had moved.
I waited until around 9am before heading back to camp. There was absolutely nothing moving this morning. It was cold and windy so I decided to head back in. As I approached the cabin, I noticed an eagle sitting in a dead tree next to the creek. I thought I might get to the cabin and break out the video camera to take some video of him, but he flew off just as I got to the cabin. So much for that! Kevin is still out in the field so hopefully he is seeing some movement this morning.
I watched the weather report for the next two days and it doesn’t look good. It looks as if rain is moving in, hopefully it will move through quickly or not at all. I guess we will have to wait and see.
Kevin just made it back in and once again saw nothing. I was hoping that he was seeing something since he came back in late. We got some lunch and took it easy for the afternoon.

Storm Moving In

Later on it was looking cloudy off in the distance and we decided to take another ATV ride down the road the opposite way as yesterday. After about a half hour ride it was looking really dark in the distance and there was lightning off in the distance, so we turned and headed back to camp. Within 5 minutes of getting back it began to pour out, then it began to hail and blow! Man am I glad we came back when we did.

Rain & Hail Storm

After about 20 minutes it quite hailing and the rain stopped a while later. We took the quads down to the creek to feed the fish and check to see how much the water had risen since both of us had to cross the creek to get to our hunting spots. The water level was up already a couple of inches and the wether looked to be getting bad again. We decided to hang it up for the day and stay at camp. There was too much rain, lightning, and rising water levels. We will try to hit it again in the morning.