Tuesday, November 22, 2016

I skipped yesterday. The snow was hanging on the trees, which made visibility poor. I decided to catch up on a few things I needed to get done that I have put off. Dad hunted yesterday and saw 14 does and two bucks. He decided to give the bucks a free pass. He has a nice 8-pointer and a young 10-pointer on camera in the area he hunted. He was surprised to see them on camera, so he’s a little excited about it since the area is close to home.

Today I picked him up after work, and we headed to the woods north of his house. We only had about two hours to hunt, but a lot of things can happen in two hours. After parking my truck, we headed in opposite directions.

My calves burned as I hustled along a creek bed, over a ridge and down the other side of it. I went to an area that I haven’t hunted in about two years. Due to a lot of things, I vacated the area a few years back and had no desire to return there until today.

With the bad weather that has rolled through recently, I figured there would be no chance of any other people being in the area. I was correct. I never cut another person’s tracks, which made me feel at ease.

Within seconds of sitting down, deer exploded in every direction. I quickly realized that a buck was chasing does on the flat below me. Scanning through the woods to find the cause of chaos, I spotted a number of does.

As I tried to identify as many of them as possible, it was impossible to keep tabs on them as they ran around in circles. I could hear a buck grunting in the hemlocks off to my side, which was away from the rest of the deer.

I eased the gun to my shoulder and readied myself. The chaos continued below me as the deer grunted. A few seconds later, I could see the buck headed toward the other deer. A bad-ass spikehorn made his way across the flat to join in the fun, then I spotted a forky behind him. I centered the crosshairs on the shoulders of the forky, so I could gain back some of the confidence I had lost after the weekend. I gently squeezed the trigger to pretend like I was shooting the buck. When he disappeared below me, I felt good knowing that I could have made a perfect shot if he had been a big buck…..mission accomplished. I’m ready.

I never did get a look at the big buck that was chasing the does around. He must have been mixed among them, and I just didn’t see him. He chased the spike and forky back up the hill past me, so I know he was the dominant animal in the area. I wish I could have seen him.

I headed out of the woods feeling like I had accomplished something that is foreign to many people. I gave a death row pardon to two Adirondack bucks on the same night. In my younger days, I would have taken one of them. Now, I just enjoy the sights and sounds in the woods. It’s not that important to me to shoot a deer. I’ve already had one good opportunity, and I could have easily killed either one of these smaller bucks. That’s more than enough for me.

I hope one of us gets a look at something good on Thanksgiving morning or during the upcoming weekend. The weather looks like it’s going to be less than desirable. I guess we’ll have to make the most out of what we get. We can’t control the weather. It has dealt us one blow after another this year, so we’ll go with the flow and take it on the chin.

Here are a few pictures of the deer dad’s chasing around near his house. We both kind of hope this deer makes it through the year.

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