bowhunter1023
12-22-2008, 04:14 PM
As the second decade in my tenure as a hunter nears to an end, I can honestly say that I am in the process of enjoying the best season I have ever had. This past weekend just added another exclamation point to a season that has shown me my lowest low, while affording me the chance to share in some of the highest of highs. Both my wife and I were joined by our fourth and fifth “clients” of the season this weekend as my good friend Randy (swantucky) and his son joined us for the two-day gun season. I have been blessed to share the stage with several successful hunters in the past month and it has resulted in me having the most fun I have ever had in the woods. This weekend proved to be no different. The following is the story of a special young man we now call “Fred”…
First Annual Hunt
I started my little “tongue-in-cheek” guide service in 2006 following my father’s purchase of an 80 acre farm near our house. Each season, I have taken a handful of hunters in for a few weekends of hunting throughout the season. Last year, Randy and his son Hunter were kind enough to come down and join us for the annual two-day gun season. I had never met Randy in person, but I knew that his son Hunter was a special young man who was still searching for his first deer and I had high hopes that I could help him do that. Over the course of our weekend hunting together last year, I was amazed at how Hunter handled his diabetes. I just went through my mother being diagnosed with cancer and diabetes the year before, but I had no idea how demanding the diabetes could be because all we saw was the cancer. The responsibility that this young man exhibits in response to his disease is something I wish I could contribute to all aspects of my life.
We had a rough morning last year on Saturday with no deer sightings and some rough weather. I decided to take Randy and Hunter to my 11-acre “honey-hole” that has proven itself time and time again later that afternoon. I had set-up a ground blind at the intersection of four hollers for the hunt in preparation for the nasty conditions. It proved to be in the right spot and a very nice 120” buck walked to within 50 yards of their position shortly after getting the arrived at the blind. But old Hunter never pulled the trigger. He was inflicted with that strange fever we have all gotten at one time or another and it caused his trigger finger to lock-up. Just hearing his version of the encounter was fun in itself, but I always felt like I had let them down as they would return home emptied handed. It was a long year waiting for a chance at redemption…
Setting the Stage
After our guests arrived in camp Friday, we enjoyed some hot pizza and cold beverages while we discussed a variety of things, including our game plan. The plan was to spend the morning at the farm where I would take Hunter to my food plot located on an oak ridge, Randy would hunt a creek bottom and hillside, and my wife would overlook a secluded field. At lunch, we would shoot the new muzzleloader that Randy picked up for Hunter on the trip down and then we would take some chili over to my uncle’s farm at lunch and do a drive. After the drive, I would then take Rand and Hunter back to the same spot they hunted last year for the afternoon. With a solid game plan in the works, Randy and I held down the fort until 1AM and then we hit the sack…
Just as day was begging to break, Hunter and I settled into the stand and I couldn’t help from feeling like we were going to have some luck. We were due. Around 8 o’clock, Hunter asked me what time the deer usually moved on our farm. I told him that 8:30 to 9:30 was the best hour for the spot we were sitting. Hunter spent most of the morning scanning the brush because he knew we would never hear them until it was too late thanks to the wet leaves. I was impressed at how he sat quietly and scanned his surroundings for almost 90 straight minutes...
http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q273/bowhunter1023/DSC01118.jpg
At 8:37, I put my phone away and stood up to stretch my legs for a couple of minutes and not long after I sat back down, I heard foot steps. I turned the camera on and stood up just in time to see two does come through a small opening to our left. If they stayed the course, they would come right into a huge shooting lane angling to our 10 o’clock. I told Hunter to stand up and get his gun ready and to focus on the edge of the drainage through that shooting lane. Just as the lead doe entered the screen on my camera, I bleated. The doe took three more steps before stopping broadside in the wide open at 52 yards. Just as I zoomed to put her full frame, I heard a loud “POP”. (On the video, at the sound of the “POP”, you can see her kill zone twitch just as if he had made a perfect shot.) When I realized there was no smoke from his muzzleloader, I let out a sigh of defeat and did my best to get another cap back on the muzzleloader, but my efforts would be in vain. (I would replace the cap later on and the muzzleloader fired with no issues. It just wasn’t meant to be I guess…)
Hunter took it in stride and turned to me with a smile and said: “Well, I guess that is why they call it hunting and not killing!” There have never been truer woods spoken by any hunter, but to hear them from a 12-year old, they rang truer than ever. Neither Randy nor Tracie saw a deer that morning, but we left with some good video and a great story.
http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q273/bowhunter1023/DSC01120.jpg
Let’s do lunch and a deer drive…
Once we arrived back at the barn, we got a chance to check out Hunter’s new muzzleloader. Randy stopped on the way down to pick up this gun from HeartLunger in Athens and he wanted Hunter to take it out for the afternoon, so we shot it a few times to make sure the gun was on. I took the first shot at 80 yards and was 1” left and 1” low. Hunter followed up with another great shot and we knew it was ready for the woods!
http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q273/bowhunter1023/DSC01123.jpg
Once we knew Santa had given Hunter a tack driver for Christmas, we loaded up the chili and head to my uncle’s farm. During introductions, my uncle told Hunter that he looked more like a “Fred”, and he figured we should all called him “Fred” for the weekend. So we did, and it ended up creating a special memory for all those involved…
After introductions, we filled up on spicy deer burritos and deer chili. Shortly after lunch, a few of our buddies came over to help drive out the neighbor’s 100 acre farm. My uncle and I agreed that Randy and Hunter should sit at “The Rock” since we have killed several deer from that vantage point over the years. We hoped that history would repeat itself and Hunter would have a chance to shoot his new gun. As it would turn out, all the action was on Tracie and I’s end of the drive where two does and a buck were killed by my cousin and a buddy. Hunter and Randy only saw a couple of turkeys, but they got to see first hand how “those crazy southerners” drive deer!
http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q273/bowhunter1023/DSC01131.jpg
Will history repeat itself?
In the spot where last season’s ground blind had set, there was now a double-treestand set hung 23 feet up an old walnut tree. This is the same stand where I have hunted for a total of an hour between two afternoon hunts and I killed a doe and my buck. It is just one of those spots and I hoped the luck would still be there. Not long after dropping Randy and Hunter off at the tree, I headed back to the house to work on getting dinner ready. The plan was such that I would return at dark to meet the boys at the back gate. Little did I know, I wouldn’t have to wait until dark to see their smiling faces again! I had just finished cutting the onions for my tenderloin when the phone rang. On the other end, and excited 12-year old that must have had a deer on the ground! I had no idea what Hunter said to me, but I knew I had to throw on my Carharts and get out there as fast as I could. I told him that I would be there as soon as possible and it wasn’t long before I was headed out the back gate on the four-wheeler to claim Hunter’s prize…
Not long after settling in the stand, Randy and Hunter had a doe come in downwind of their location and spook. It wasn’t long after that doe bolted, that Hunter spotted two deer coming down the ridge towards the bottom. The deer continued down the ridge and stopped about 50 yards out where Hunter squeezed the trigger on his new CVA Optima. The deer ran about 30 yards and piled up in the creek. As soon as I saw the deer lying there, I knew it had run in front of the BuckEye Cam on its death run because he was laying about five feet off the edge of the camera’s view. This deer had to be dead in this picture because the distance from his front hooves to where he died was no more than five feet…
http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q273/bowhunter1023/P_000757.jpg
Merry Christmas Hunter
After hearing the story and getting a few good high-fives, we decided it was time to take a few pictures and it was nice to have a little help! Here we are checking out his deer after pulling it our from under the creek bank…
http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q273/bowhunter1023/P_000769.jpg
Swantucky, me, and Hunter with his first ever muzzleloader kill!
http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q273/bowhunter1023/DSC01159.jpg
After we finished with pictures, I loaded the deer on the four-wheeler and Hunter and I head to my gutting location. I helped Hunter gut the deer while Randy made a few phone calls. After we got the deer hung from our famous “Hanging Tree”, we head back to my place to load up all our dinner supplies. We spent the evening at my uncle’s where my guests and my family enjoyed a huge meal of roasted deer loin with onions, fried perch and walleye, farm raised beef ribs done in the crock pot, baked beans, and garlic mashed red potatoes. It was certainly a feast fit for the outdoorsman!!! Once we ate and cleaned up, I played euchre while Randy visited and Hunter made friends with one of the new puppies. It was the perfect end to a perfect day. I had redeemed myself as a guide and I had two happy clients on my hands. I couldn’t have asked for a better ending to the day…
We woke up Sunday to cold, windy, nasty conditions and I think we were all glad we elected to sleep in! I helped Randy pack up the van and then headed for my parents to load up Hunter’s deer and take it to the check station. While we were at the check station, Randy’s wife called and talked him in to bringing home a puppy after hearing Hunter’s pleas from the evening before. So I had them follow me back to my uncle’s where Hunter snagged his third gift of the weekend. Here is Hunter and his new dog “Fred” named in honor of his new nickname…
http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q273/bowhunter1023/DSC01179.jpg
I want to give a special thanks to HeartLunger for giving Randy such a great deal on a muzzleloader that was in excellent condition. HL, you also had a hand in making this a special weekend. Thank you! To Randy and Hunter, I will reiterate my Dad’s words: “As long as we have land, you will have a place to hunt.” Thanks so much for bringing me the beverages and for supplying the fish. I also want to thank my wife for dealing with us for the weekend. Now I just have to get back on her good side before Azzy and deerhunter_Matt hit camp for muzzleloader!
First Annual Hunt
I started my little “tongue-in-cheek” guide service in 2006 following my father’s purchase of an 80 acre farm near our house. Each season, I have taken a handful of hunters in for a few weekends of hunting throughout the season. Last year, Randy and his son Hunter were kind enough to come down and join us for the annual two-day gun season. I had never met Randy in person, but I knew that his son Hunter was a special young man who was still searching for his first deer and I had high hopes that I could help him do that. Over the course of our weekend hunting together last year, I was amazed at how Hunter handled his diabetes. I just went through my mother being diagnosed with cancer and diabetes the year before, but I had no idea how demanding the diabetes could be because all we saw was the cancer. The responsibility that this young man exhibits in response to his disease is something I wish I could contribute to all aspects of my life.
We had a rough morning last year on Saturday with no deer sightings and some rough weather. I decided to take Randy and Hunter to my 11-acre “honey-hole” that has proven itself time and time again later that afternoon. I had set-up a ground blind at the intersection of four hollers for the hunt in preparation for the nasty conditions. It proved to be in the right spot and a very nice 120” buck walked to within 50 yards of their position shortly after getting the arrived at the blind. But old Hunter never pulled the trigger. He was inflicted with that strange fever we have all gotten at one time or another and it caused his trigger finger to lock-up. Just hearing his version of the encounter was fun in itself, but I always felt like I had let them down as they would return home emptied handed. It was a long year waiting for a chance at redemption…
Setting the Stage
After our guests arrived in camp Friday, we enjoyed some hot pizza and cold beverages while we discussed a variety of things, including our game plan. The plan was to spend the morning at the farm where I would take Hunter to my food plot located on an oak ridge, Randy would hunt a creek bottom and hillside, and my wife would overlook a secluded field. At lunch, we would shoot the new muzzleloader that Randy picked up for Hunter on the trip down and then we would take some chili over to my uncle’s farm at lunch and do a drive. After the drive, I would then take Rand and Hunter back to the same spot they hunted last year for the afternoon. With a solid game plan in the works, Randy and I held down the fort until 1AM and then we hit the sack…
Just as day was begging to break, Hunter and I settled into the stand and I couldn’t help from feeling like we were going to have some luck. We were due. Around 8 o’clock, Hunter asked me what time the deer usually moved on our farm. I told him that 8:30 to 9:30 was the best hour for the spot we were sitting. Hunter spent most of the morning scanning the brush because he knew we would never hear them until it was too late thanks to the wet leaves. I was impressed at how he sat quietly and scanned his surroundings for almost 90 straight minutes...
http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q273/bowhunter1023/DSC01118.jpg
At 8:37, I put my phone away and stood up to stretch my legs for a couple of minutes and not long after I sat back down, I heard foot steps. I turned the camera on and stood up just in time to see two does come through a small opening to our left. If they stayed the course, they would come right into a huge shooting lane angling to our 10 o’clock. I told Hunter to stand up and get his gun ready and to focus on the edge of the drainage through that shooting lane. Just as the lead doe entered the screen on my camera, I bleated. The doe took three more steps before stopping broadside in the wide open at 52 yards. Just as I zoomed to put her full frame, I heard a loud “POP”. (On the video, at the sound of the “POP”, you can see her kill zone twitch just as if he had made a perfect shot.) When I realized there was no smoke from his muzzleloader, I let out a sigh of defeat and did my best to get another cap back on the muzzleloader, but my efforts would be in vain. (I would replace the cap later on and the muzzleloader fired with no issues. It just wasn’t meant to be I guess…)
Hunter took it in stride and turned to me with a smile and said: “Well, I guess that is why they call it hunting and not killing!” There have never been truer woods spoken by any hunter, but to hear them from a 12-year old, they rang truer than ever. Neither Randy nor Tracie saw a deer that morning, but we left with some good video and a great story.
http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q273/bowhunter1023/DSC01120.jpg
Let’s do lunch and a deer drive…
Once we arrived back at the barn, we got a chance to check out Hunter’s new muzzleloader. Randy stopped on the way down to pick up this gun from HeartLunger in Athens and he wanted Hunter to take it out for the afternoon, so we shot it a few times to make sure the gun was on. I took the first shot at 80 yards and was 1” left and 1” low. Hunter followed up with another great shot and we knew it was ready for the woods!
http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q273/bowhunter1023/DSC01123.jpg
Once we knew Santa had given Hunter a tack driver for Christmas, we loaded up the chili and head to my uncle’s farm. During introductions, my uncle told Hunter that he looked more like a “Fred”, and he figured we should all called him “Fred” for the weekend. So we did, and it ended up creating a special memory for all those involved…
After introductions, we filled up on spicy deer burritos and deer chili. Shortly after lunch, a few of our buddies came over to help drive out the neighbor’s 100 acre farm. My uncle and I agreed that Randy and Hunter should sit at “The Rock” since we have killed several deer from that vantage point over the years. We hoped that history would repeat itself and Hunter would have a chance to shoot his new gun. As it would turn out, all the action was on Tracie and I’s end of the drive where two does and a buck were killed by my cousin and a buddy. Hunter and Randy only saw a couple of turkeys, but they got to see first hand how “those crazy southerners” drive deer!
http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q273/bowhunter1023/DSC01131.jpg
Will history repeat itself?
In the spot where last season’s ground blind had set, there was now a double-treestand set hung 23 feet up an old walnut tree. This is the same stand where I have hunted for a total of an hour between two afternoon hunts and I killed a doe and my buck. It is just one of those spots and I hoped the luck would still be there. Not long after dropping Randy and Hunter off at the tree, I headed back to the house to work on getting dinner ready. The plan was such that I would return at dark to meet the boys at the back gate. Little did I know, I wouldn’t have to wait until dark to see their smiling faces again! I had just finished cutting the onions for my tenderloin when the phone rang. On the other end, and excited 12-year old that must have had a deer on the ground! I had no idea what Hunter said to me, but I knew I had to throw on my Carharts and get out there as fast as I could. I told him that I would be there as soon as possible and it wasn’t long before I was headed out the back gate on the four-wheeler to claim Hunter’s prize…
Not long after settling in the stand, Randy and Hunter had a doe come in downwind of their location and spook. It wasn’t long after that doe bolted, that Hunter spotted two deer coming down the ridge towards the bottom. The deer continued down the ridge and stopped about 50 yards out where Hunter squeezed the trigger on his new CVA Optima. The deer ran about 30 yards and piled up in the creek. As soon as I saw the deer lying there, I knew it had run in front of the BuckEye Cam on its death run because he was laying about five feet off the edge of the camera’s view. This deer had to be dead in this picture because the distance from his front hooves to where he died was no more than five feet…
http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q273/bowhunter1023/P_000757.jpg
Merry Christmas Hunter
After hearing the story and getting a few good high-fives, we decided it was time to take a few pictures and it was nice to have a little help! Here we are checking out his deer after pulling it our from under the creek bank…
http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q273/bowhunter1023/P_000769.jpg
Swantucky, me, and Hunter with his first ever muzzleloader kill!
http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q273/bowhunter1023/DSC01159.jpg
After we finished with pictures, I loaded the deer on the four-wheeler and Hunter and I head to my gutting location. I helped Hunter gut the deer while Randy made a few phone calls. After we got the deer hung from our famous “Hanging Tree”, we head back to my place to load up all our dinner supplies. We spent the evening at my uncle’s where my guests and my family enjoyed a huge meal of roasted deer loin with onions, fried perch and walleye, farm raised beef ribs done in the crock pot, baked beans, and garlic mashed red potatoes. It was certainly a feast fit for the outdoorsman!!! Once we ate and cleaned up, I played euchre while Randy visited and Hunter made friends with one of the new puppies. It was the perfect end to a perfect day. I had redeemed myself as a guide and I had two happy clients on my hands. I couldn’t have asked for a better ending to the day…
We woke up Sunday to cold, windy, nasty conditions and I think we were all glad we elected to sleep in! I helped Randy pack up the van and then headed for my parents to load up Hunter’s deer and take it to the check station. While we were at the check station, Randy’s wife called and talked him in to bringing home a puppy after hearing Hunter’s pleas from the evening before. So I had them follow me back to my uncle’s where Hunter snagged his third gift of the weekend. Here is Hunter and his new dog “Fred” named in honor of his new nickname…
http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q273/bowhunter1023/DSC01179.jpg
I want to give a special thanks to HeartLunger for giving Randy such a great deal on a muzzleloader that was in excellent condition. HL, you also had a hand in making this a special weekend. Thank you! To Randy and Hunter, I will reiterate my Dad’s words: “As long as we have land, you will have a place to hunt.” Thanks so much for bringing me the beverages and for supplying the fish. I also want to thank my wife for dealing with us for the weekend. Now I just have to get back on her good side before Azzy and deerhunter_Matt hit camp for muzzleloader!