Archive for October, 2012

Sunday October 28, 2012

Monday, October 29th, 2012

It was another nice morning to be in the woods. It was so quiet my ears hurt. I got to my trees stand a few minutes after daylight. Something inside me whispered that this was going to be the day. Usually those whispers have meaning behind them but not today. My dad and I hunted until around noon at which time we met and headed back to the truck. I figured the deer would be moving like mad today with the approaching weather associated with hurricane Sandy. They’re predicting some awful things so we’ll have to sit back and see what happens. It felt really good in the woods today. Something inside me is telling me I’m in the right place and it will only be a matter of time before an opportunity presents itself. Unfortunately my time is limited in the ADK’s due to prior commitments out of state. This is a year I wish I was staying put because I’d like to see if I can outsmart this ol’ beast in his own home. I will only be able to hunt him about 4 more days total before our season comes to a close in the northern zone. That’s something you have to learn to live with if you choose to hunt elsewhere. I never left the ADK’s during hunting season for 20 years but it’s something I like to do now. I really do miss being on my home turf though. There’s something about the challenge of Adirondack deer that nothing else can even come close to comparing to.

My buddy Bobby scored on a giant in Ohio last night. He killed a buck he’s been chasing around for a while. He has some great trail cam pictures of this buck for the last two years. He kept telling me he was going to kill this deer the last week in October. Kudos to him for being right on the money with that prediction. Since I’ve switched computers I’m trying to figure out the whole photo thing, so it will be a bit before I get photos on here. Please be patient.

I won’t be back in the woods until either Friday or Saturday of this week. I’m driving to Ohio on Thursday night, meeting Bobby’s father Friday morning and going the rest of the way to Illinois Saturday. I’ll be in Illinois for a week and then Kansas for a week. It will feel good to be in the woods with a bow and arrow since that looked highly unlikely a few months ago. I’m very thankful I have this opportunity. I’ll just cherish being in the woods. Seeing any deer is just a plus to the trip. Enjoy each day because you never know when it will get taken from you. I’ll probably update this when I return from vacation unless I can throw a few blurbs up from my phone and update it when I get home. Hunt hard and hunt safe. Have fun and shoot straight.

Saturday October 27, 2012

Monday, October 29th, 2012

I got up at 4:30 to head north. I hated leaving bed this morning. Sometimes it’s hard to get moving early in the season when there’s still a lot of leaf cover in the Adirondacks and not much buck sign. I knew I couldn’t get one from my bed so I headed to god’s country with my dad. It’s unseasonably warm. The temperature was 60 degrees when we left town. By the time we parked the truck the temperature had dropped a little with our gain in elevation and the thermometer read 47 degrees.

Earlier this week I decided to bring a stand in with me to the area where I’m hoping to catch up with the big buck that tore up some of the turf in there last year. I figured it would get me above the thick canopy that you can’t see through from the ground. Fortunately my father still thinks I’m 14 years old and volunteered to carry my stand most of the way. I could never ask for a better role model or parent. I truly lucked out. The man who would give anything he had to make things better for me. He has amazing character and is somebody who inspires me to be a better person and think of others before myself. I could never compare to him. That would simply be impossible.

By the time we got to the point where we would break apart for the day the sky began lightening up and hints of daylight appeared. I was sitting in a good area by 7:10 after a good hour and 20 minute walk. I planned to sit there until late morning at which time I would find a tree to put my stand in. Right before I sat down I found a large bed with buck droppings right next to it. If I’m not mistaken he had left shortly before I arrived. It’s amazing how close you can me at times. The morning passed quickly without much going on.

After making my way to the stand sight I found a tree and secured my stand in it. I looked at my watch and it read 12:50. I pulled my gun up with the rope and relaxed with my back gently touching the tree behind me. While in deep thought something interrupted me and I was pretty sure it was a buck grunting. I heard it only once and then the woods were all quiet again. At 1:15 I could see movement down in front of me. Then, with its head low a deer was coming right toward me on a quick pace. Instantly I could see a nice rack. I clicked the safety off and waited for him to come into an opening. Then I saw two more deer trotting behind the first one. A quick glance back at the first one and I realized I had made a mistake. I’m not sure what I saw but it definitely wasn’t a rack. It was a doe with her two fawns. They stopped out in front of me and fed for a while before getting past me. Once by me something startled them and they ran back in my direction and headed up the hill and out of sight. I think I saw a lot of the underbrush moving when the deer was running, which looked like antlers. I’m glad I had the extra time to get a better look, otherwise I could have had a major problem. It’s easy to see how and why an occasional mistake is made. I feel like I’m a seasoned hunter and this just happened without explanation.

I never heard another grunt so I’m not sure if one of those deer was grunting or if there actually was a buck with them before I saw them. It’s a question I’ll never have an answer to. The rest of the day flew by. Dad and I met at our meeting place about 5:50 and headed back to the truck.  It was a great day to be in the Adirondacks. Something just felt perfect about today. It’s good to be home.

A nice photo of a great morning in the Adirondacks.

Friday October 26, 2012

Monday, October 29th, 2012

I’ve come down with a nasty cold this week. I’ve been trying my hardest to beat it but for now it seems to be getting the best of me. My doctor gave me a Z-pack last year for my vacation but I held off and kept it. Therefore I decided to start taking it so I won’t be sick on my vacation next week. When I woke up this morning I could hardly function. I got up, put my clothes on then reluctantly decided I just couldn’t justify going into the woods even though I had the day off. By the time I finally rolled out of bed I still felt a little under the weather so I took it easy most of the day.

In the early afternoon I decided I had to shoot my rifle just to make sure it was on. I put a little extra padding on my shoulder to protect the area where I had surgery. After I pulled the trigger and the bullet hit in the bullseye I realized I should have trusted myself and let the gun remain unfired. It walloped my shoulder and made me go to my knees. I expected it to hurt but I didn’t expect it to thoroughly kick my ass. I learned a valuable lesson.

I decided to go out this evening. Since I didn’t have a lot of time after I finally got going I didn’t walk to far from my truck for the afternoon sit. The woods were quiet and the day was gloomy and gray. It was a good day for deer movement, but I wasn’t lucky enough to see any. It felt good to be out in the woods even with this horrible cold. I’m headed north in the morning. Hopefully I can find a few places where the bucks have started scraping. We shall see……..

October 20, 21

Wednesday, October 24th, 2012

Dad and I hunted with my cousin Kyle and his friend Ben at our camp for the weekend. We covered a lot of ground and found some interesting things. We had a nice, but warm day on Saturday. A front just got done blowing through so the woods were damp and quiet. Sunday morning it rained on and off right until we headed out of the woods for the day. I could feel it in the air on Sunday. The time for the big bucks to start moving is getting closer. I’m getting a lot of does on my cameras so I’d imagine within a week or two I should see some bucks.

Once again another camera I sent back decided not to take pictures. I’ve decided to scrap them from my purchase list in the future. I’ll probably stick with Moultrie cameras since I’ve never had a problem with them. The DLC Covert cameras are the ones I’m having all the problems with. Although they take good pictures they don’t seem to be too terribly dependable which is testing my patience.

I saw one deer Saturday morning but couldn’t identify it. I found a place I’m very confident with, too. Unfortunately I won’t have much time to hunt there, but I do have a camera there now so maybe that will tell me something I need to know. I’ll be headed back up there next weekend to try my luck one last time before I head to the Midwest to hunt big whitetails with a bow. That should be interesting since shooting a bow is rather difficult now, after surgery.

October 18, 2012

Wednesday, October 24th, 2012

I got started a little late this afternoon after work. I wanted to head to the flat where I killed the Grunter (from my first book) to see if there were any acorns on the forest floor. I was disappointed when I got there to see very little sign. I did jump a deer right under my stand but I didn’t get a look at it to identify it.

Overall I didn’t see enough sign right now to validate going back. The wind was whipping again today and it was rather warm. I tried setting up one of my cameras but I couldn’t get it to take pictures. I’m not sure what’s wrong with it since I just got it back after sending it back to the company to be repaired.

On my way across the bottom and through a creek bed I found the normal early season rubs that I find quite often in the beginning of the season. Here’s a picture of the one I found tonight.

October 16, 2012

Wednesday, October 24th, 2012

I went up to our hunting camp today after work. Since people have been seeing deer cross the road quite a bit the last few weeks I decided to walk along the base of the mountain and follow the beaver ponds for a while in hopes of catching something coming down for a drink.

I was disappointed when I didn’t find the sign I anticipated finding. As usual it felt good to be in the woods again since I didn’t know if I would be able to hunt at all this season.

It was in the low 60s today and the wind was whipping pretty good. I didn’t see any deer until I was in my truck on the way home. I saw a small buck cross the road right as I pulled out of the driveway from camp. He appeared to be a 4 pointer. He was a little guy. I also saw a doe and two fawns a little farther down the road under an apple tree. I see deer in the person’s lawn regularly so it really wasn’t a surprise.

A picture of our hunting camp that is close to home. I’ve spent a lot of time in this area since my introduction to hunting more than 30 years ago.

October 13 & 14

Sunday, October 14th, 2012

My computer has been crashing left and right lately. After I entered this information all of the text disappeared for some reason. To make a long story short I hunted with my cousin Kyle for the opening weekend of muzzleloader season. We didn’t see any deer but it felt good to be in the Adirondacks again. Saturday morning it was 19 degrees when I got out of my truck. It felt good to feel the cold air in my lungs. Sunday morning greeted us with a miserable drizzle that felt more like a steady rain once we were outside. We didn’t see any deer and I didn’t have anything too terribly exciting on my cameras that I set up a month ago. We’ll see what happens next week for the opener of Northern Zone rifle season.

Some photos of our family camp.

October 9, 2012

Tuesday, October 9th, 2012

  As you’ve probably noticed I haven’t written anything about hunting yet and that’s because I haven’t been out hunting yet. With all the issues concerning my shoulder I’ve decided to take it easy until November. I don’t want to risk doing anything that might hinder my progression.

  However, this coming weekend I will be going north to hunt the opening weekend of muzzleloader season. I’m going to hunt with my cousin Kyle. My main purpose of the trip will be to check a few cameras I put out about a month ago. I put one of them next to the big rubs in the post before this one. There seemed to be a lot of sign in there and I’m hoping to catch a few bucks on the move, but in the north country I know I’ll be pretty lucky to get anything on film without a food source.

  I’ll be heading to Illinois  on November 2 to hunt with my friend Bobby for a week. From there I’ll head to Kansas to hunt for  a week. Therefore I won’t get much time to hunt in the Adirodacks this year so my hunting journal will be relatively slow compared to the last couple of years.

  I hope everyone has a great season and feel free to send along any pictures that you might want to share. Good luck and good hunting!

Todd