Friday, November 27, 2015

Domino's Buck



November arrived and my excitement for the coming whitetail rut was blunted somewhat when I smashed my left foot against the coffee table one night and badly fractured the forth toe.  The injury meant I would have a harder time safely climbing into tree stands and I resigned myself to hunt from the ground.  It was just another obstacle to overcome.

I awoke as usual early Veteran’s day morning, made some coffee, and prepared to venture out to enjoy a Holiday from work in the woods.  My hunting partner Brent and I were both Veterans and we had a tradition to hunt of this day of remembrance.  He arrived on time and we were enjoying a little coffee when a loud bawl came from the foyer.  My cat Domino can wine occasionally if she is lonely or bored, but this one was a little different.   After another series of howls we went over to check on her joined by my wife who was awakened by the racket.  Something was definitely not right with Domino as her head lay down and she was having trouble breathing, coughing up fluid occasionally.  We called the emergency vet and prepared to take her over when she moved to the hardwood and her bladder let go.  I knew this was not a good situation.  I placed her into the cat carrier and rushed her down the road but her howls and scratching noises stopped after the second light during the ten minute drive.  Rushing back to the carrier to get her I noticed my little girl was already gone.  She died within minutes and I spent the morning burying my beloved pet next to her male counterpart that left us a few years earlier.  She was the sweetest little lap kitty and daddy's little girl.  Now the house was quiet and empty and I was left to reflect on the transient nature and fragility of life.  I managed to muster up the will to hunt that bright and windy afternoon, but my mind and heavy heart were not really there.
 
The forecast the following Saturday was identical to Wednesday; bright, blustery, and cold.  In addition, it was now the opener of the junior firearms season and hunter orange was a requirement.  I knew my time in the woods this day would still be heavy with thoughts of life and death, and the loneliness left by the loss of our pet.  I figured my best shot at a deer was at dawns early light before they bedded down in a secure place out of the wind. 


 I chose to sit in a sharply angled wooded corner, bounded by a meadow to one side, and a steep short rise and a trail above on the other.   The wind was gusting from the trail downhill toward the field.  I was nestled against the 10 foot stump of a huge decaying poplar tree in the edge of the thick briers.  The trails were leading from the open main woods below, up into the thick corner and hedgerow I was at the entrance of.  The strong wind was making hearing difficult approaching animals difficult.  Two grey squirrels chased each other within five feet in back of my position, but I could not turn around and get a shot at them before they got nervous and left.  Settling back down I was focused on looking for movement to my front, when glancing back over my shoulder again I noticed a doe nosing in the wind not more than 15 yards away.  Dang! How did she get to the strip behind me without me spotting her?  She would have had to come from downhill in easy bow range before getting to where I saw her.  I should have been paying better attention. Now she was directly downwind though she had not spotted me.  She nervously stepped forward behind some brush and I positioned myself for a shot.  If she continued out again on the other side I would have an easy 15 yard shot.  The seconds ticked by, feeling like minutes, when I saw a distant deer bounding through the open meadow tail wagging.  The slick old girl winded me and had enough!  I had to laugh a little.

The wind kept blowing and terrain was shifting the wind 90 degrees back and forth making my ground position tough.  It was time to move somewhere else.  If I was to get another opportunity it wasn’t going to be here this morning.  My broken toe and I painfully hobbled up the rise onto the trail and skirted an overgrown meadow thickly choked with persimmon tree juveniles and briers.  The deer loved to bed in this area as it was virtually impenetrable and impossible to move through without noise. Slowly still hunting, I made my way up hill of the patch just inside of the wood line.  Suddenly I was startled when a doe exploded from about ten feet in front of me in a briar patch.  The wind allowed me to get very close before she had spotted me.  The does were around and I knew the bucks might be along shortly as well.  I set up my stool overlooking the edge of this bedding area on a little knob.  I was slightly uphill, but the wind would still gust slightly into the edge of the bedding area from time to time.  I was again beside a huge walnut tree trunk I hoped would obscure my silhouette.  I cleared any leaves around the base of the tree area so I could noiselessly adjust or shoot on either side of the tree if needed.  I sat down on my stool began to eat an apple and wait. 

The time was almost 10 am and I was a few bites away from the core of my apple when I saw the buck emerge from the thicket.  He nosed around a lone mature red oak for a few moments about 60 yards away as I dropped my apple to the dirt and slowly rose in shooting position.  I noticed his thick neck and impressive rack as I had hoped he would close to within comfortable shooting distance.  This was a really nice buck for the highly pressured area I was in.  There was a small window to shoot through as he skirted the edge of the bedding area and stopping every few steps to sniff the ground or lick an overhanging branch.  He stepped into my shooting window and stopped, seeming to look directly at me just for a moment.  I remained composed and he soon glanced back forward and immediately continued to move through in a direction that would eventually wind me.  I knew it was now or never as I smoothly drew back the slender elegant longbow and released the arrow all in one motion.  In my haste I short drew a bit, and the arrow struck higher and farther back then I would have liked.  The shaft was half out of the buck’s side and I immediately saw blood as he bolted forward through the brush.  He rumbled about 20 yards before disappearing in the persimmon thicket, but in that short time I saw red all down his side!  That was the only bright spot in an otherwise dismal shot.  Not confident of that hit, I eased out of the woods quietly and went back home for a nervous lunch.   The area was dense with coyote activity, and I had lost a good portion of a doe the previous month.  I did not want to wait too long before picking up the trail.  Calling my hunting partner Mike, he agreed to help me track the deer about two hours later.  I was contemplating the possibility of a follow up shot if we pushed the buck. 

The trailing job went quickly as the broken arrow was very near the site of the shot and good blood highlighted the deer’s departure route.  Mike continued to trail as I circled around the thicket in case the buck was pushed scanning the escape routes as I worked around the thicket.  That precaution however proved to be unneeded.  The buck lay down and succumbed just beyond where I had lost sight of him running only approximately fifty yards total from the arrow impact point.  The shot distance was paced off at approximately 25 yards slightly downhill.  The wounds confirmed my suspicion that the amount of blood seen instantly and the short blood trail was the result of a main artery hit.  Contemplating the shot scenario over again, I think that if I had been elevated in a tree stand I may not have recovered this animal based on the wound trajectory required.  I was lucky and I couldn't help but think a higher power may have played a hand in this message to me. Enjoy each moment of life, because you never know what each day will bring.  This accomplishment against much adversity was in honor of my sweet Domino. She was "just a cat", but she gave our family so much love. 












Tuesday, November 10, 2015

My Broken Toe Deer

Well after my radiology appointment and xray confirmation of a broken little toe, OUCH! I decided to not completely waste a sick day and headed out to the woods.  I walked very slow and sat a lot LOL.

I settled for a sit up high but the wind was not good.  At sunset I started down the hill.  The squirrels were going nuts with the rain coming. 

It was starting to drizzle and starting to get dark so I was moseying down the hill and stopping to listen after a few steps.  Going slow because of the toe but heading out.  As I reached the crest of a drop off I head footfalls coming up the hill toward me.  Here comes this spike….I had a good sized tree about 10 feet in front of me and he was heading directly for me.  I thought for a minute he may end up too  close and head on, but he took a right and stepped in the clear and stopped.  He had is left foot back to I tried to avoid it and shot all little farther back than I wanted….and lower than I wanted.  Watched him run with my arrow up to the fletch.  He went about 20 yards and stopped where I could not see behind 2 big trees.  The I saw a piece of a white tail and then nothing. 

So here it is getting dark, starting to rain…coyotes are howling all over the place.  Not sure about the hit really though I knew it was fatal at some point. 

I decided to text Mike and go immediately after it.  I went right toward where I saw it last going very slowly.  After a few steps I hear crashing far off in the laurel…..wrong decision I thought….dang!  Just jumped him?  Then as I eased out around the trees I see him bedded there with his tongue hanging out…

After a few more minutes I watched his head go down for good....10 minutes total and 20 yard run.

Nicked the bottom of the heart.

4th deer of the year so far with my Sunset Hill...Did I mention I love this bow!

Ace standard, Cedar Arrow, no camo, from the ground. 

Trophy to me!  Yum!

Coffee Table attack!



Monday, November 2, 2015

Maryland Bear Hunt 2015

I was lucky enough to draw a Maryland Bear tag in this year's lottery.  My first in 5 years of applying. 

Despite a healthy population of deer in my backyard woods, I was forced to hunt in our western most 2 counties as hunting is not yet allowed in other parts of MD.  Also, MD does not allow baiting or scents of any kind.  This really puts the bow hunter especially at a disadvantage. 

I have never heard of someone in MD successfully harvesting a bear in MD with a traditional bow so I made it my quest.  My 2 hunting partners were invited to join my hunt as sub-permittees. 

We scouted 2 large public areas in Allegheny County and found some promising bear sign in one area in particular.  I had no idea how much hunting pressure would be applied by the other 499 permit holders and their designees in the state.  I also did not know if the wild grapes and berries we saw would still be a good food supply at that time of year.

The season runs for 4 weekdays and we were excited to set up camp and get to it.  Filled with anticipation we set up my wall tent in the campground as the height of the fall colors provided the perfect backdrop.  In addition, there was mild temperatures and a full moon.  We were not sure if the latter would hinder our bear efforts.


The three of us hunted hard.  We tried stand hunting, calling, and still hunting.  There was little other hunter pressure......but little fresh bear sign and no sightings either.  The DNR officer stopped by on day 3 to chat and told us one bear had been harvested in the area we were hunting.  Also gave us a few places to hunt that had historic bear signings.  We tried those places as well, but had no luck.

A double front moved in Wednesday and provided 24  hours and 4.5 inches of rain.  Still we hunted hard between lulls in the rain. 

Finally time ran out with no bears seen. 

Still it was a great camp and good company.  Maybe next time one of us draws a tag it will be different, but we can say we gave it our best try.  The weapon made no difference this time. 



The Longbow and Treestand Shooting

Since I have been away for a while, I thought I would post an update.  I was actually a bit hesitant to recount some of my successes with the hope that the good fortune would continue.  After coming home with some small game success, and no elk on my western trip, I have begun to focus on the whitetail deer population.

A late September evening  hunt brought about an interesting opportunity.  Heading out to our stand trees my hunting partner Mike and I bumped into 2 bucks.  I passed up an iffy 50 yard shot at one larger buck that was facing away.  Soon they both headed out for the hills and we set up our stands about a bow shot apart.  Mike up high on an oak flat, and I below on the filed edge.  We were not on stand long before deer started to show, and the show continued for some time as deer passed just out of range.  A horseback rider actually spoiled one approach for me.

At dark Mike scores a hit on a smaller deer he assumes is a doe in the fading light.  His shot was good, though a little farther forward than ideal on a quartering away animal.  The Ace head struck forward into the base of the neck.  Butchering revealed a carotid artery hit.  The deer ran down and around to the left of me at a sharp angle and stopped seemingly unhurt as it stood.  I released the string striking the deer high severing the backbone and dropping the animal on the spot with a cedar arrow and bear razorhead with bleeders installed.  Even with the bleeders, the penetration was almost total on the spine.  A quick follow up shot ended the drama quickly.

We caught this spike in a Sunset Hill sandwich with a rare 2 hunter follow up shot.


Later in the early parts of October we returned to the same oak flat.  This time I was set up about 100 yards away from Mike on the same elevation.  A doe and yearling came in and fed behind me before bedding down directly behind my stand tree.  They stayed there until dusk when the small one decided to stretch and start to feed.  Mom followed and after the yearling passed behind my tree I readied the shot as the big doe approached.  The shot was tough....almost directly behind my stand and I needed to hold the bow perfectly vertical.  My shot was again a bit high and to the left.  I watched them both run about 65 yards and stop. 

Darkness came quickly and as I attempted to quietly ease my climber down the tree I heard a tremendous thrashing.....then again.....  Even Mike heard it from his stand. 

The arrow indicated a paunch hit....no blood.  We both decided not to risk an immediate trail despite the crashing sounds.  We went out for a quick meal and pondered the evenings events.

When we returned after several hours we immediately found the big doe.  She had fallen down into a ditch.  What we heard was her trying to scratch her way out before succumbing to her injuries just a few minutes really after the impact.  The cedar arrow and Ace standard head severed the liver and major arteries on the way through the paunch.  Left a huge hole in both sides.  Really started to have confidence in the Ace standard!  The large doe had little fat.  Unfortunately the foxes got to the deer while we were tentative and ate a few pounds of meat out of one hind quarter.



Finally, a Saturday morning hunt had me in a small persimmon grove.  Shortly after light a nice doe passed by under my stand and I waited hoping the deer would pass out in front of me for a better shot.  It did not.  It passed under and through to my right with no shots.  After the deer departed I contemplated how I could have made that shot despite the severe angle.  Several hours later a deer appears from where this doe went and assuming it was the same doe I readied the shot.  Focusing hard as the deer passed over a log I released an arrow striking the deer and embedding the Ace head in the log on the opposite side.  The deer immediately ran and broke the arrow off.  I could see the top part of the arrow sticking up to the fletching in the deer's back as it ran only about 35 yards and stopped.  Soon I heard thrashing and a last gasp.  I could see the deer's eye through my binos and climber down after a bried calming period.  The deer was a small one.  This years.  I made a good shot and received some very tender tasting meat in return.


Hopefully there will be more tales of success this season as the rut is fast appoaching here!  Until then, I am pondering these 3 hard angle shots and the forgiveness and quietness of the Hill style bow.  A longbow is a disadvantage from a tree stand????   HARDLY.