Friday, December 1, 2017

Well, I was back at it again today. My dad hunted by himself yesterday, and I joined him last night at hunting camp. I didn’t like him being in the woods alone, but it’s probably the same reason why he doesn’t like it when I’m alone in the woods. For some reason we always think about the worst case scenarios and worry about the ones we love. He’s my idol, my hero and the person whom I look up to the most.

When I arrived at camp last night, he told me how disappointed he was that a good one snuck by him before he could get a shot at it. The beech saplings were too thick, and he hunted in an area that he hadn’t been into in the past, so he was a little unfamiliar with how the deer traveled through that area. He seemed pretty jacked up about getting back into that same place this morning, so I dropped him off at about 4:45 and parked the truck in an area where I wanted to check to see if there was any bear sign. I also wanted to continue my search for big buck sign for any buck that might still be roaming around and has a good chance to make it into next year.

Think about that for a second……..he headed into the woods at 4:45 a.m. He’s 70 years old and still loves heading into the woods well before daylight to get to a predetermined location to kill a buck he’s after. The guy ceases to amaze me. His backpack made it look like he was trying to compete with the sherpas who carry gear for the hikers on Mt. Everest.

Well, this morning the buck went under him again. This time, it wasn’t light enough to see to shoot. He could see the shadow of the deer, but couldn’t see it in the scope. I’ve been trying to tell him to buy a new scope for a few years. He has a scope on his gun that I gave to him back in the early ’90s. I wish he would purchase a better scope. He thinks he will get the buck tomorrow. He says the third time is a charm.

I didn’t see much today, but I did find a lot of bear sign where they have been feeding in the beechnuts. I will be returning to the place I found today. Smitty hunted with us today, too. He saw a big doe about an hour after daylight, and he covered a lot of ground today to become more familiar with the area.

All three of us ended up at the same place around 1:00 p.m., and we decided to  head back toward the road and sit until evening. Shortly after we split up, I jumped a really big deer. I saw it’s track and got a whiff of its hocks. It stunk like a buck in rut. I was sure it was a good buck, but I never got a clear look at it. I jumped the deer twice as I was trying to get it to go in front of Smitty.

When we drove down the road this morning, there were fresh tracks all over in the snow on the road. I expected the deer to move like crazy, but the tracks in the woods throughout the day told me they deer didn’t move much after daylight.

Tomorrow’s another day. Hopefully, my dad or Smitty gets a crack at something. It just doesn’t appear that the deer are moving too much.

 

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