2006 Archery Deer Season

[new to the flock]

Have been out archery hunting for deer the last couple of days. Started on the 2nd of November, so I thought I would share the last couple of days. I have 2 archery tags for this year, out my back door is WMU, (wildlife management unit) 89 for which I have a buck only tag, while Trix's parents farm is in WMU 87....a 15 minute drive.....where I have a doe only tag. Monday my WMU 89 tag becomes a buck or doe tag for the 1 week controlled hunt. During this hunt I will be using a .50 cal Hawken Muzzel Loader loaded with 100gr. of black powder.

 

Nov.2/06

 

A very late start this morning, not getting out until 10 am. Set up well in side the wood at the 8 pines, and decided to burn a scent stick to try and lure a buck from the down wind side. After a couple of hours and a short nap I hear the sound of leaves crunching under foot and bring the crossbow up as a deer steps out between the pines at 18 meters. Doe. Oh well slowly lower the bow and watch her wonder around sniffing things and just being curious, after 5 minutes off she goes. Sit it out for another 2 hours hoping that the 6 point buck that I know is in the area will put in an appearance before I have to pack up and pick up my middle Little from school. No such luck.

 

Nov.3/06

 

Trix is home today and is taking the boys to school for me so out the door at 5:30 am 1/2 hour before first light. Start down the tractor path, hoping to get over to the big oak in time to ambush the six point buck. He is a very nice animal weighing in around 325 pounds. I am just passing the willow swamp, and see a large black form coming down a field path at a fast trot. Giving a venomous curse I quickly load the crossbow, thinking that I have one of the nasty brush wolves comming towards me. Just as I get a bolt in place after pulling the string the creature looks up as its coming forward. Brush wolf.....NOT....It is a very nice 6 point buck that had his head down tracking a doe. I am flat footed in the middle of the field, but down wind of him and he is still coming on thinking with his nose instead of his eyes. At 25 meters he sees me and stops 3/4 on. He then proceeds to try to figure out whats infront of him ,a doe , or something dangerous. I have the bow up and am holding on him waiting for him to come forward 5 meters and turn sideways. After a minute......feels like 30......he does turn sideways and offers a perfect broadside shot, unfortunately he is still 25 meters out. Off he goes after a load snort, racing across the field back to the woods. I know where he is headed, if I can just get there first. Off I go cutting across well in front of his line of travel and staying down wind. I break through the hedge row, and drop down to one knee. I throw up the bow and there is his white flag disappearing through the brush, he beat me by 20 seconds. Oh well he and I are not finished with our meetings.

 

Decide to back out of there and head in on the far side of the wood down to the beach grove. After a good 30 minute stalk into the grove I am just setting up and I can once again hear the sounds of a deer coming through the leaves. Leaning into a tree trunk to break up my pattern as best I can, and wishing I had put my face veil on before I got here , I bring the bow up just as a very beautiful doe rounds a blow down at 15 meters. She stops and stares trying to find me as she knows something is not right. Could be that olive green pack that is still sitting out in plain view. She decides to move forward across my line of fire, and I keep the bow up as she was moving, as if being chased by a buck. Off to my left about 15 meters she stops again still not convinced that all is right. At the same time I am watching the blow down on my left and sure enough a very nice 4 point buck is sneaking around the back side of it. Another 5 meters and I will have a shot. His head and neck break the cover, the cross bow is up and the bolt is aimed.....and the doe....... she blows and stamps her foot...... 2 paces from him being shot . Off he spins and back through the woods, and as for the doe....she stands there and wiggles her ears, and then wanders off to join him.

 

Decide to move down below the swamps, and reset up in hopes of calling the buck back in. 20 minutes later all set and start a few calls.....nothing....this goes on for a bit and decide it is time for a short nap to let things settle down. After what feels like a 5 minute nap.....turns out it was about 35 minutes by the watch.....I wake to the sounds of yet another deer coming in. Bow up and the deer is coming in perfectly into the opening infront of me. Two more steps, ....one more step theres the nose, theres the head.......doe ....again. After 10 minutes she feeds from view and is gone.

 

That was the last deer to see for the morning, and no one wanted to play that evening.

 

Nov.4/06

 

5:30 am start, as I want to get 2 or 3 hours in before I head over to Dads to help with his fish pond covers and set a couple of fox traps. I told him I would make a couple of sets as I shot one in the front field from the poarch 2 days earlier. It was a nice 130 yard shot and ended with a solid thwack and 1 dead fox.

 

Off to the trail leading into the beach grove this morning. Decide to use an old stump about 4 foot high as a back rest, this allows me to watch the left side where 3 trails converge, and the right side where 2 trails intersect. As the sun is coming up can hear the winter turkey flock....about 25 birds.....waking up and yelping to each other as they fly down to start their morning feed through the undergrowth. There are at least 2 dozen squirrels running around and feeding on the mast......must remember to have a squirrel hunt here with the oldest in 2 weeks time......... Off to the right a raccoon walks a log as he returns to his den tree for the day, I will have him in a couple of weeks aswell. A cup of coffee later I can once again hear a deer coming up through the leaves at a very leasurely walk. The heavy frost has amplified everything this morning and this one is coming in from a long way off. As the deer closes I know which trail it will come out on and bring the bow up and watch a perfect opening for it to enter. 2 minutes later into a perfect broadside opening at 15 meters steps a yearling ..........doe. A quick fawn call, mouthed out, stops her in her tracks at the perfect range and so I watch her for a minute before she calmly wanders off to the alphalfa field for her breakfast. 1/2 hour later pack up and head in to start the rest of the day, including siteing in the muzzel loaded for Monday, when the does will become legal game.

 

NTTF

[Cranfield]

A great read, I thoroughly enjoyed that.

I could even hear the turkeys yelping.

 

Its amazing how much fun and excitement you can have, with nothing to show for it at the end, thats what hunting is all about.

[henry d]

Soon ,very soon,you`ll get your reward

 

I was stalking saturday,but managed a pocket full of Chanterelles and a spooked doe

 

Keep us informed !

[Lancs Lad]

Soon ,very soon,you`ll get your reward

 

I was stalking saturday,but managed a pocket full of Chanterelles and a spooked doe

 

Keep us informed !

I want to live in your back garden.........

[lurcherboy]

Nice one NT, now get back to the housekeeping

 

 

 

LB

[Topgunners]

Nice one NT, now get back to the housekeeping

 

 

 

LB

 

He could try stalking up on that Vacuum Cleaner.

 

Might have more success.

 

 

Dave K

[lurcherboy]

Nice one NT, now get back to the housekeeping

 

 

 

LB

 

He could try stalking up on that Vacuum Cleaner.

 

Might have more success.

 

 

Dave K

 

 

I would suggest he does the washing up but...............

 

 

 

LB

[Lancs Lad]

You nailed the 6 pointer yet.......

[new to the flock]

November6/06

 

It is 8:55 am now. I started out at 5:30 this morning and decided to head out to the big Burr Oak on the south west side of the woods this morning. This place has a very well used trail running about 20 meters inside the woods, and a headland on the other side, so offers nice shooting lanes.

 

I am all set up by 6am and happily sipping a cup of coffee once again listening to the turkeys yelp back and forth as they wake up. Around an hour and a half later I get that little voice that says you do not want to be here ...... you want to be an the clover field with the gas well. Along time ago I learned to listen to that little voice, so off I go taking a little used trail cutting across the woods to where I want to be.

 

Just as I am coming up on the field through the woods I can see .....you guessed it....the 6 point buck sniffing around and munching at 60 meters. Standing in a trail opening with lots of brush behind me I have the perfect shooting window. I pull back the hammer on the Hawken, bring the gun up to my shoulder and squeeze the set trigger. This now has the main trigger down to 3/8 of a pound pull. All the while the buck is getting closer at a trot, He stands broad side at 35 meters........I squeeze off the shot ........and......POP.

 

POP no big heavy BOOM with lots of smoke, just POP :o . A misfire, do to a little tiny bit of oil in the bottom of the flame chamber. The Buck looks directly at me as if to say.......YOU AGAIN .........What could I do but laugh as I watched him trot off into the wood :o .

 

Walked back up to the house, had another miss fire on the nipple, then a true ignition and then fired another through to be sure it does not happen again.

 

Well off to get the tractor and the gas well pump to pump the water off. This usually takes about 6 hours so you can guess what I will be doing while the tractor is working. OH did I mention that the water that comes off the pump is salt water.....deer love the salt and mineral content that gets pumped off.

 

NTTF

[Pedro]

Excellent writing Such a shame about the misfire, but it means your tale will continue

 

I love the idea of having a quick nap. Sitting in the sun this morning waiting for pigeons I was sorely tempted . Thought I might miss something though, so didn't

 

Keep us updated NTTF

 

P.

[Dunkield]

Great post nttf

 

Can you tell us over here how the season/tag system works?

 

I understand you have many shorter seasons for different types of hunting, and that you are allocated or apply for, tags, can you elaborate on this a bit please?

 

Canada and New Zealand are the 2 places I have yet to go to that are on my 'list'

[Lancs Lad]

this is just ACE.......................

 

Im reading this with much anticipation..........................I feel for you mate..............I really do........

 

 

POP..............ha ha........rolling on floor p1ssing myself...............

 

 

I bet you go for the 4 pointer by the end of the season...........If I were you I would give this 6er a wide berth for a while.................hes got you jinxed......

[new to the flock]

Nov.7/06

 

Out in the field by 5:45 am this morning set up on the clover field once more, but with the way that the wind is blowing and the pressure system coming in doubt there will be anything around today. By 8am it is chucking it down so head in for breakfast, then finish the gas well and see if the weather breaks for a later hunt today.

 

NTTF

 

Stuart, I will elaberate on the seasons and tag system in a while.

[Lancs Lad]

Nov.7/06

 

Out in the field by 5:45 am this morning set up on the clover field once more, but with the way that the wind is blowing and the pressure system coming in doubt there will be anything around today. By 8am it is chucking it down so head in for breakfast, then finish the gas well and see if the weather breaks for a later hunt today.

 

NTTF

 

Stuart, I will elaberate on the seasons and tag system in a while.

 

Come on NTTF.............need my fix...............you been out.

[new to the flock]

Nov.9/06

 

After two days of rain.....not very condusive to using a black powder musket...... today broke clear. Although the 30km an hour winds were a bit much. After dropping my middle Little off to school, I headed out to the wood to see what would happen. It was a bad wind for me to try to hunt inside the wood today as it was coming from the SSE and blowing directly into where I would be walking. So decided to take one of my field edge stands for the morning. After 2 1/2 hours nothing had showed so headed in to do some chores and get ready to pick up my boys and do groceries.

 

Surprise, Trix is home early today so I can catch the last 3 hours of light. Since my wood was not producing today, decided to head over to my parents farm and set up on the edge of the back woods. Things looked very promising as I was walking in....about a kilometer.....to where I wanted to be. Was following a very dominate buck trail in, this buck had 4 ground scrapes and an entire hedge rubbed along the back field. I decided to set up in a big old Manitoba Maple blowdown, lots of cover with shooting lanes in each direction. It was also well padded inside with old leaves that were still in the soft stage so there was no noise while moving around.

 

After watching 1/2 a dozen black squirrels chasing each other up and down the trees for about 45 minutes, I could all of a sudden here the tell tale step of a deer coming through the leaves . I hear it enter behind the old blow down up the trail and bring the muzzel loader up placing the site on where the deer will show itself. Once the deer is in the window it will just be a matter of cocking the hammer back and squeezing the triggers. Can see the brown as the deer nears the opening........front leg enters, nose and head....its a doe. A very healthy 2 to 3 year old doe in excellant condition, with a perfect body score and weighing around 175 pounds.

 

My tag allows me to shoot a buck or doe, but as this doe was in prime condition I decided to let her walk on, to fawn next springs young. If this had been an older doe with a grey face, or an injured doe I would have harvested her, but as it was she was allowed to pass to the corn field up the hedge to try and put a few more pounds on before the snows.

 

That was the only deer that I saw today. I did get to watch 8 wild turkeys fly up to their roosts, a dozen mallards land in the swamp and countless song birds flying from branch to branch. I also got to watch another great sunset out in the woods, so not a bad day.

 

Back out tommorrow morning.

 

NTTF

[new to the flock]

Nov.10/06

 

Was out of the house at 5:30 this morning and set up on the clover field.....the one where the 6 pointer last showed....... by 5:45am. Settled in for a wait as if he was to show it would be between 7:30 and 8:00. Was just beginning to think that he was not going to show up today when I could hear him grunting while coming through the woods.

 

With him grunting like he was I knew he was trying to attend a doe, and sure enough I could see the doe walking right down the middle of the clearing just inside the wood. Perfect all I had to do was turn around 180 degrees and they would walk right past me. A fine looking yearling doe walks through and stops broadside 15 meters from me. I had the gun up and seriously thought of pulling the trigger, but again she was in great shape and would winter well, so decided to wait on the buck. The doe rounded the corner away from me just as she was suppose to and the buck is still grunting away and heading straight to where she was standing.

 

The doe then decides to take the path way that would lead her back past the buck 20 feet further into the bush. Just before he is to come into the shot window.....and me with the gun up.....the buck spots her and cuts through the under growth. At this point the doe bolts from him and they both head back up to the top end of the wood. I can hear them as they work through and figure that the doe is taking him back out to the field, so turn back around and sure enough the doe breaks cover and bolts down the field.

 

I know the buck is standing just inside the wood making sure it is safe to come out, but where he exits is a no shot as the neighbors barns are in that direction. I wait for him to come out and put his head down to trail the doe, and then I start to parrallel him down the length of the field. After a quick jog covering around 500 meters, he drops below me into a small gully so I let out a grunt to stop him.

 

I figure 10 deep breaths to still the breathing, get to number 7 and start to raise the gun he turns head on to me. He is only 75 meters out so well within my range but it is a no shot. After another 10 to 15 seconds he breaks and bolts back for the wood. I contemplated taking the running shot around 100 meters as he was broad side, but decided to wait to see what are next meeting would bring.

 

 

Headed in around 9am to grab a flask of coffee and then over to another neighbours to take her out for some calling and rattling as she had never hunted in that style before. So out to a wood that boarders a corn field and get set up. Decide to run an apple pot and a set of scent sticks at the same time, so set it to simmer and then wait 15 minutes for things to settle down.

 

I start the first set of grunts with a young buck challenging an older one and start the horns rattling, tree racking and leaf scaping , making it sound like a great old battle. Keep this up for a 10 minute mock fight and then wind things down with the dominant buck winning and the youngster getting the **** kicking he so richly deserved. With in 5 minutes of ending we can hear a deer in the corn moving back and forth. This went on for close to 2 hours before he faded from hearing without offering a shot. I am figuring it was a wise old buck that figured things weren't just right by the number and tone of the challenge grunts he was thowing out to me and the stomping and pawing.

 

This was a great two hours watching my neighbour getting more worked up and excited by the minute, as the buck and I traded insults back and forth trying to get one of us to give ground. At one point Sharon was holding her breath so long I thought she was going to pass out.

 

This was a fabulous day out, with lots of excitment and great sites. Tommorrow calls for rain, but if not heavy I will be heading back out to see what happens, and to maybe see if the six point is where I want him.

 

NTTF

[Ferret Master]

Good luck.

 

FM

[Topgunners]

Nov.10/06

 

 

 

This was a great two hours watching my neighbour getting more worked up and excited by the minute, as the buck and I traded insults back and forth trying to get one of us to give ground. At one point Sharon was holding her breath so long I thought she was going to pass out.

 

This was a fabulous day out, with lots of excitment and great sites. Tommorrow calls for rain, but if not heavy I will be heading back out to see what happens, and to maybe see if the six point is where I want him.

 

NTTF

 

 

Sharon. Sharon??:lol:

 

I thought Sharon was an Essex girl;

 

LB . Where are youuuuuuuuuuuu?

 

I wouldn't mind going shoooooooooooting with a Sharon

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

or a Chris, Julie, Mary, Susan, Jane ------

 

 

 

 

 

anybody else bar ugly Alan.

 

 

 

 

And NO

we ain't bum bandits.

 

 

 

 

Dave K

 

November6/06

 

I

 

POP no big heavy BOOM with lots of smoke, just POP . A misfire, do to a little tiny bit of oil in the bottom of the flame chamber. The Buck looks directly at me as if to say.......YOU AGAIN .........What could I do but laugh as I watched him trot off into the wood .

 

 

 

NTTF

 

 

Yo Dan the Man.

 

Alan says the only reason you had a misfire was because if you shot it you wouldn't be able to carry it.

 

 

And

 

 

 

Do you want that pink string back so you can tie it down. He still has 10 yards left, which he says is ample range for you not to miss.

 

POP,BANG,BLACK POWDER?. He says " get a REAL gun"

 

Alan M

[lurcherboy]

I've moved up market and am currently doing Cassandra

 

 

 

LB

[new to the flock]

I've moved up market and am currently doing Cassandra

 

 

 

LB

 

Sure its not our own Gloria

 

NTTF

[Zapp]

Have to say NTTF, im REALLY enjoying this!

 

Keep it up, and I'll keep dreaming of the day I move to canada!

 

ZB

[new to the flock]

Due to a couple of eye exams and tests this week I was unable to go out hunting or barely see for that matter this past week. Hoping to hit the field for some fresh deer action middle of this week.

 

NTTF