Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Opening Weekend Bowhunt for Deer 2011

Well, I wish I could tell you that I bagged a deer my opening weekend, but it just wasn't meant to be.  This was really more like a scouting trip where I also hunted a little since I have been unable to spend any time in the bush leading up to this season.  It was a beautiful weekend with lows reaching 50 degrees and the highs only in the upper 70's.



I arrived at my camping spot at about midnight so I quickly set up camp and went to bed.  As a result of my late arrival to camp, I overslept the next morning and didn't get into my stand until the sun was almost coming up.  I was disgusted with myself, but the deer showed up late also.  The first sightings were two does about 100 yards to my West.  Soon after that I saw a group of small bucks North of me about 250 yards.  They were fun to watch because they were playing around and sparring with each other.  After they departed, I headed to camp (at around 10:30 AM) and had breakfast.

I broke my SPORK!  Good thing I have duct tape!




The evening was relatively quiet until a pair of armadillos came crashing through my area.  I thought to myself, "dang, I wish I had something to shoot them with".  Just then I remembered that I had my 44 Mag pistol with me, just in case I saw any hogs.  I drew my revolver and blasted the first armadillo with a lucky shot.  It was only then that I remembered I didn't have any ear protection!  My ears rang the rest of the night.



I headed back to camp and enjoyed a nice dinner and good book under the stars.  The conditions were perfect for camping.  Cool nights with absolutely zero wind.  You could hear a pin drop and the local wildlife was very vocal.  I heard coyotes and owls calling what seemed like all night.

The next morning I was in my stand well before shooting light, but it proved to be an uneventful morning.  I only spotted a couple of does and by 11:00 AM I was breaking camp.  As I was leaving though, I wandered into an area that I hadn't had time to scout and stumbled upon a couple bucks.  They were concealed in the brush and were unaware I saw them.  I could make out a small buck in the lead, but a better buck was behind him.  They got nervous and evaporated back into the wilderness like a mist...then they were gone.  Now I know they are hanging out and I can begin to look for an opportunity to intercept them, but it will have to be next time.


2 comments:

  1. First off it looks like a great trip. Camping and hunting. You even fired up the Mountain House. Doesn't get much better than that, well.... How is that book? You are also very lucky about the wind. Every time i went to OK or TX in the spring to turkey hunt we had wind or tornadoes.

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  2. Thanks for the comments Savage! It is a rare occasion when the wind doesn't blow. I really like the book and will be posting a review about it whenever I finish it. It is written by the guy that hosted the "Wild Within" show on Discovery. I like his approach to hunting and fishing. He is a hunter/gather type that believes in eating what he harvests and harvesting to eat instead of trophy or sport hunting.

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