My PA buck..long story good for the soul

[HuntingPA]

I posted this on PA site, but the reasons we hunt know no boundaries so i wanted to share with my RT brothers as well.

During the past year since I last had the privilege to write a buck story for all here, well the year has not really been all that wonderful. I mean to start get you all nodding your head , anyone living in what is 2011 America I think has a general cloudiness right now in the situation we are all in and the outlook for us getting back to OUR America . The economy, the uncertainty we have now for family, friends and ourselves, the missing solution …I know I am not alone there. It starts an ember of worry in any responsible adult and that ember stays plenty warm without help, toss on that ember of some personal issues with those that you love both in health and finances and it does not take long for you to get buried in a bit funk. And that is the pre-season starting point for this story, as it was this funk not this particular buck that I was looking to eliminate with my 2011 hunting season.

A seemingly never ending winter finally turns to spring, and spring turns to late summer…and in the course of it all and with the help of those that know me best, I go from toying with selling my property just to help take the pressure off of some other dreams we hang on too, to going full bore into what has driven me thru both good times and bad. A love for my family and the importance of good time memories made in wooded surroundings that mean something. Add a dose of love for the land, the animals, the whole system of nature and it is an easy perscription to take for what ails you. So as quickly as the first chilly evening of late summer rolls on thru, I do an attitude adjustment , perhaps one of the more important ones in my adult life, and dive in going from counting my worries, to counting my blessings and my blessings are many.

With the changes to the PA hunting regs in 2011 allowing kids even more opportunities I first look at how well I am equipped for this. I have a couple double ladder stands on the place but they are outnumbered by single stands. Single stands no longer fit the bill. So I do a switch out of all single ladder stands to all doubles and prepare those stands all with needed blind materials that help hide a fidgety youth. Now unlike climbers, ladder stands are a commitment to that certain tree so with 5 years of hunting there, trail cam history and a topo and aerials I resituate for the 2011 season looking at the rectangular parcel like I never have before, keeping in place what has worked and moving what has not.

The season finally opens and as many know, my youngest son Joey (8) connects on a deer during his very first afternoon of deer hunting from a tree that once held a single stand in a year prior year. A week later my Brother in law and his son have a similar moment when my nephew Mick (10) connects on his first deer at 10 from that same stand, now that was a good move. Blessings become evident, reinforced, and the once unstoppable embers of worry have their first flickers of weakness from the cooling Fall air and I open all windows to let in. To test the faith the next couple weeks slow, the coyotes continue to alter my annual go-to spot up on the ridge and with two deer taken already down low I am hesitant to pile on there. So I decide up the ridge it is for the next couple hunts, no matter if we end up coyote hunting with crossbows or deer hunting we are taking the ridge back. Slow days for both my oldest son John and I follow, no yotes, few deer moving about, til 10/22 as magically the does once again move in and we decide to lay off them now as we are so glad just to have them back up there after a summer full of nothing but pictures of yote activity keeping them out of the area. We decide to let them regain comfort in the area as it will not be long til they are our biggest friend in the woods. Not sure, but perhaps us coming up there has moved the yotes on?

Friday 10/22 it is the second vacation day I have burned to hunt, and still not a buck seen from stand. Being a school day I am on the solo and pack for a day of sitting in stand all day. The day does not disappoint as I see 7 does and 4 smaller bucks, including a couple well within range and likely keepers for my kids. But seeing a buck, any buck refuels you almost immediately and I left the stand that evening feeling good, I mean really good about all the blessings I have in life and how things seem back on track some. On the way out of my stand I give my mock scrape a good dose of estrus scent and say “see ya in the morning”

Please see this post here for more details on Friday.

A fun Friday

Friday night the plans for Saturday jump around more than a frog in a bucket as we try to fit hunt times to my wife’s and son’s schedules. If the property was right out the back door we could of pulled it off, but my son with both mid morning and late afternoon scout commitments (haunted walk) and my wife taking the brunt of two other kids needing to be here then, and over there then it makes the 10 minute drive over enough to kill the plans, as we all know what the in and out of the woods all day would likely do to any pending success. So late Friday they both tell me to just go get one for yourself, there is still time on the clock for all. Reluctant to give up on what I was looking forward to as a ‘family’ day in the woods I say OK and decide then to pack a sandwich for the long haul hunt.

Saturday starts early and with just me going I don’t need near the time to get ready as we would otherwise so as the coffee brews I head out to get the newspaper to make sure the world has not been saved overnight, it has not. As I head to the mailbox in the darkness I feel the unexpected sensation of snow on my face, I look up the road at my neighbor’s yard light and it indeed is snowing and snowing pretty good. I knew they were calling for it mixing in but just figured it to be a slushy rain at best...nope this is real snow. I change some of my gear choices back inside and get ready with a hop in my step as if nothing else I know it will be fun to just be in the snow out there. I go upstairs and tell all good bye and get half sleepy “good lucks, be safe” in response. I head out to the truck and am on my way for the 10 minute drive. The closer I get the harder it snows and by the time I pull into the driveway at the property the ground is covered well and lit up in the pre-dawn.

Being very well dressed for a long day in wet snow, and also having some scent problems with the bucks the day before after my long hike up to the stand heated me up a bit too much, I decide to use the ATV to get me 2/3 of the way up the hill, once there it leaves one rise to climb to the bench the stand is on. This has worked before but i hate how the ATV breaks the stillness of the morning. I find myself on the bench and the logtrail I call the “ridgeline” which runs past the stand. I set out a drag and walk the 70 level yards to my stand. For the first time this year I do not bump a deer while doing so, perhaps it is because of the snow hanging on all the trees or maybe the ATV was enough to move them off?? Maybe they just aren't here today. Once to my mock scrape I can still smell the scent from the evening before, and the bare ground sticks out like a manhole on the white covered log trail, PERFECT I think. I freshen up the scrape with another dose of estrus and walk back to the ladder stand 25 yards away and nestle myself in the snow covered beech branches that have aided well in concealing me thus far and should all the way thru rifle season. All set and ready for the daylight to get here, I pour a little coffee from my mini thermos and enjoy it as I look around at my stage that is set.

I have the mock scrape to my right,

and the briars of the clearcut to my left

.. and young woods ahead of me whose leaves hang heavy in white. Now this has the setting for a dream day I think as I put my thermos away and “punch in” for the hunt. Having forgotten to leave my drag on the ground, I toss it over the rail of the ladder stand and let it hang about 12’ up figuring it may scent another wind current then the freshened scrape and I feel like pulling out all the stops on a day like today.

It does not take long in the snow and dim light to spot movement up the hill from me on the last rim and I grab my binocs to investigate…thru all the clutter of white I see dark deer legs moving about..stiff like an old rut buck I think. He disappears then reappears for several minutes, never seeing his head just his legs or rear. Then I catch more movement, and see a young buck fly thru an opening and head up over the rim to the top looking like he had seen a ghost. I look over at the crossbow and all my gear and make sure I am 100% ready to go and the bolt is well seated and reach into my pocket for the can call. I tell myself stay calm buddy as nerves have been a problem in close encounters with big bucks before and i gotta feeling one is about to unfold. Still not seeing the head but I get a glimpse of the body about 70 yards out..He is Big. I turn the can over and the bleat call goes out into the stillness, then two little grunts from the call around my neck…that puts him in motion and it startles me how close he got while I was messing with the calls as a small beech tree shakes loose its snow as he brushes by. I pick up the Parker and follow the trail I know he is on with my eyes and wait there, at around 50 yards I see the rack for the first time and see a long G1 and G2 and a big body…that is the last time I look at the rack. He approaches at a slow walk, stiff legged and purposeful right towards that mock scrape, at 30 yards he will pass between the two beech trees that offer me all this visual protection , broadside, I center the crossbow there and wait on him.He enters and I am right on him at a known distance and send the Lumenok tipped bolt on its way. The unmistakable THWACK of hit explodes the woods and he does a 90 degree turn and runs full tilt thru the briar and young beech parallel to the ridgeline trail I came in on a little over a half hour ago, and he heads back towards the main access trail of the hill. The Lumenok shining in the mound of ground behind the area of impact. Back to the binocs I try to find him out in the clutter and do after he moves a bit after slowing down, he is now standing and is looking around now about 60 yards from the impact spot, i can see his nose and body but not much else...a bit of worry moves in, so I look at the Area around the Lumenok, and it is still too dark out to see red on white and go back to him…GONE, he is no longer standing there. Did he fall? Di he tail flick and move off?

Well send in the shakes I look at my cellphone 8:17, I rethink the shot, it felt REALLY good, well no matter good or bad my next action is to sit and give it 45 minutes so I say the Father’s prayer as I have a lot this year when I could use the connection and need a calming moment before the next action…and I rest back, cross my arms and try to get comfy. After an eternity I look at my cell phone, time is 8:22…5 MINUTES !! OK this ain’t working , so since I have cell reception I call home and let them know “I just hit one”, my wife and kids are excited and were just about to start with the kid taxi service for the morning and said she will bring the boys over to see it after they drop off Jessica , Great ! Then I call my Dad, he is out bunny/bird hunting with my brother down in Indiana County so his phone goes to voice mail “Buck Down Baby!” I say into the cellphone, which is what I said when I called him last year in 2010 right after the shot and watching the buck fall, a voice mail he still has saved, Upon saying that though I start with all the disclaimers that less than total certainty produces. I hang up look at the time 8:34…So I cruise my contacts and call all that are awake, out hunting or may give a darn. 4C, Tom and my FiL are the only other people to pick up and I talk with them for awhile, and leave messages with the rest. Finally 9 AM rolls in and I lower the crossbow and pack. Once down I think “should I cock it and reload?” as I hate to have it cocked when not needed and while draggin otu ..etc.. but I do as I have not seen the trail yet and have some doubts bouncing around. I get to the bolt and it is that beautiful bright red and within a step or two I see the signs of a damaged heart pumping in the snow. I decide to walk on the mowed ridgeline trail instead of busting along the bloodtrail thru the brambles in case a follow up shot is needed. I landmark the tree I last saw him by once on the open trail. I move along slowly scanning the brush for anything and make it to near where he was standing, and the hanging snow falls from the beech leaves and continuously makes the sound of a flushed deer running out, my mind plays tricks... Maybe I should get back on the blood? No, I decide to get out to the main ATV trail because if he kept going he would of crossed this main trail…a close by deer snorts and runs down into the hemlocks from the beech brush on the far side of the main trail, YIKES that is not good I think..I walk up the trail 40 yards and hold my breath as I see no evidence of a cross, so he has to be between that tree and here i think. So I climb the left bank of the trail in line with my landmark tree, and a grouse flushes from the beech brush making me jump out of my skin during the tense moment…I get two more steps past the beech and stop dead in my tracks as I see this.

I am amazed by his size as I never really concentrated on the rack after confirming the needed points and body size. I check for a blink in the eye with a poke and get none…so crossbow down and my breathing resumes the camera comes out and I take about 20 pictures to remember the exact moment in all its color and quiet.

I sit down stare at him and look around this blessing of a place that has brought me and my family so many memories in just 5 years and as I look skywards once again to let Him know sheep may wander but we... my cellphone vibrates and notifies me of several voicemails and texts coming in…the blessing of friends and family becomes evident, everyone wanting to know if I found him, how big is he, I snap a cell pic and send it on to all to let them know , and get to filling out my tag, and the phone once again buzzes like a rattler in my chest pocket…but I now just leave it be , as I tag the buck and carry out the spiritual part of hunting I hold pretty dear, thanking the buck for his life, and that I will not interrupt under any circumstance.

Well as has become common practice, not to ruin a stand or encourage coyotes, I do not want to gut the buck there, so I tug him the short distance to the trail and go down and get the ATV. He is one heavy buck especially not field dressed and I tie him off on the hitch a slowly creep the long way back down to the flat with him in careful tow. Once I get there I find my wife, my boys, one of Joe’s lil buddies who slept over, and My Father in law all waiting near the truck for a hero’s moment. It is a great few minutes in the snow although I am the only one dressed for it. As I shed some soaking wet gear and loose all the excess baggage, I toss my wife the camera and tell here to fill the SD card…which she does, but by then the kids are all freezing and back in the car..so I get my Kodak moments in.

And that is it ladies and gentleman, there is my story…sorry for the length of it, but all this means so much more to me than just a day in the life. I have wrapped more of my life, and soul around hunting and holding onto to what it all means to me more than many more sensible than myself likely would recommend, but the one lesson I have learned is that there will always be worries coming and going in life…[size:20pt]But never, ever let them taint your focus on your blessings or they too may ultimately come and go.[/size]

I hope 2011 is a year you too will remember fondly despite the world's affairs, we are hunters and we make our own happiness happen, especially in the last 3 months of the year.

BE WELL. LOOK SKYWARD MORE! AND GOD BLESS! Refuel, pour your heart into your hunt and lets get out there.

John

[wtnhunt]

Gonna have to come back and read your story when I get a little more time, but congratulations to you on a real nice buck.

[WHISKEYSWAMP]

great hunt, great buck, and awesome story... Congrats!

[dbHunterNY]

that's good stuff. nice buck too. congrats on the wall hanger!