Today was my first day back to the Adirondacks, and I expected to have a nice, relaxing day. Well, that didn’t happen, as I had to deal with a few unexpected things throughout the day.
It was 25 degrees when I headed out, and I knew exactly where I wanted to go. On my way into the woods, I saw where a horde of hunters had been there too. As I moved along, I saw where they had dragged a deer, hung out and made a fire.
After getting to where I wanted to sit, it felt good to be in God’s country. The wind made it a bit chilly, but I was ready for the day. The first hour passed slowly, and I had a hard time getting readjusted since I had just returned from the Midwest.
Around 9:15, I saw some movement down the ridge and quickly spotted a buck making its way toward me. I took some video of it. He had no clue I was in his world as he nibbled on some branches and slowly made his way past me. He was a nice deer, and I thoroughly enjoyed watching him do his thing. I was sad to see him disappear over the hill, knowing that would probably be the only – and last – interaction I would ever have with him. Unlike the Midwest, it’s not often that you see the same buck more than one time in the Adirondacks.
I got up about noon and began wandering around to see what I could find for sign, as I fully expected to bring my dad into this area when the timing was right. Unexpectedly, I found it in areas I’ve never seen it in before. I found it in traditionally dead areas. I’m not sure what is causing this, but I would venture to guess it’s from all of the pressure in the area and the total lack of food.
Unlike most people, I study deer and deer behavior while hunting. I notice the stupid little things that most others probably never think about. I pay attention to what deer like and don’t like and why they do the things they do. Passing a lot of bucks gives me insight that many others are not able to analyze, especially in the big woods where you don’t see too many deer. Unlike many others, I don’t feel the desperate need to fill a tag to validate myself as a hunter. I’ve killed many deer in my life, and it wouldn’t change a thing if I never killed another one. Therefore, I could care less if I fill my tag. I’m all about experiencing a new adventure every time I step foot in the woods.
As I began covering more and more ground, I began seeing things that made me question others’ character. What causes people to do the things they do? I’ll never know for certain, but I do know that I’m thankful that my father brought me up the right way and showed me how to be ethical and follow a good moral compass. Unfortunately, many people have no ethics and care about nothing other than themselves. I’ve seen this happen more often in the last few years.
As many of you know, in recent years I decided to use less trail cameras in the areas I hunt, but I still use a few. I use them mostly for my father, so I know what deer are doing in an area before hunting it. The last few years I’ve used a cell cam in an area my dad hunts occasionally, so I know if there are any doe groups hanging in the area or to see if there are bucks trolling those groups looking for some action. With my dad being 76 years old, we use the camera to wait for the most ideal time to hunt a few places. Although he can still put the miles on, it becomes more difficult with every passing year. That’s why I do this. I do it to give him better opportunities and to not waste energy when it’s not necessary. We also know how quickly an area can be blown up and made useless to hunt.
Well, I got a really bad taste in my mouth today, and before I begin, I do realize that public land is open to everyone. However, in most of the areas I’ve hunted, people tend to avoid areas that others hunt. They do this as a courtesy and it shows good ethics. It’s called respecting your fellow hunters and staying clear of them so as not to interfere with their hunting.
The Adirondack Park is 6.5 million acres, yet someone thinks he should sit right next to where my dad sits. Furthermore, not only does he decided to sit there, he decides to come from the backside of the cell camera to make sure he doesn’t get caught on it, then pops open the camera and steals the card. This says volumes about an individual. The camera was over a mile and a half from the road, and it’s no easy feat to get to it to hunt. I hope this individual is proud of himself. I hope when you are 76 years old (if you make it that long) that someone does the same courtesy for you that you have done to my father. You are a class act, kudos to you. I know you’re most likely reading this, and you must feel great. I wish I could be like you. I won’t tell people that you originally approached the camera from the wrong side to open it, so you backed up and went onto the correct side to snag the card. I also won’t say that once you got the card, you went and cleared out a spot to sit about 30 yards from the camera.
I’m sure glad I’m not like you and lack the confidence to find a spot where I’m not interfering with someone else. In all reality that’s the least of it. I just hope you feel great about taking stuff that isn’t yours. In case you were wondering, because you’re probably not smart enough to figure out the camera had a lot of pictures from all over the country and different spots on it, there are bucks on there from Iowa, Illinois and other parts of the Adirondacks. I hope you didn’t shit your knickers when you saw a few of them and then went and told all your buddies that the deer were from where you stole the camera. I guess the real joke is on you. I do think that part is kind of funny, especially seeing all of the people in the area right now. I’m assuming that’s what happened. You got excited seeing some really big bucks, yet you didn’t even notice they weren’t from where the camera was hanging. Actually. I think one 4-pointer showed up on the cell cam all year. Don’t forget, I get all of those pictures too, so I have them.
Well, enough of that. In making a long story short, I guess I can say that after having minimal issues for the last 14 years, things have been getting increasingly more aggravating every year. It’s too bad that these scumbags are in the woods. It’s a shame that people can’t find a good area and kill a deer there. It’s a rewarding thing when it happens. When you let someone else do all the work for you, is it rewarding? Please try to get some confidence and see if you can do something for yourself ad find your own spots where you’re to encroaching on others. There’s plenty of wilderness in all directions where you can start looking. If you need help, just let me know, and I can point you in a good direction. I’ll even give you the GPS coordinates so you can check the cameras that are there since I have’t checked them since putting the out in August.
Dad missed a nice buck this evening in the place where he hunted. He shot through quite a bit of brush, and the bullet must have ricocheted off something before reaching the deer. Brian saw seven deer today but none of them had antlers. Neither Brian nor Dad could believe the story when I told them what I had found. Here are the pics of the person’s work.
Here are the honest, ethical hunter’s tracks going to the camera. He’s got a pair of kahunas on him, since I know he stole the card the day before I got to the camera. That’s pretty ballsy. The first picture show’s where he went and set up next to the camera and sat for a while. He didn’t even put the card back. Instead he decided he would steal it. What a fella. A true Adirondacker right there. Hopefully, he doesn’t have any children or other hunters he’s mentoring.
