About an hour into my sit, I heard steps coming towards my stand. It was a beautiful morning and my heart skipped a beat with the idea that a deer might finally be headed my way. Trail camera photos showed my last remaining target buck during daylight at that stand, so I was hopeful. But as it got closer, I heard purrs, clucks and chirps. The steps turned into one big mass of noise and soon, like a movie, the woods were nothing by black blobs moving towards me. They set up in a shooting lane, eating acorns and moving closer, essentially blocking me in my stand. The flock would see me move and spook before I would have a chance to move my gun into a position to get a deer. I was stuck and they were coming closer. When they got bored...
The 4th weekend of deer season was a bust as I had to take my kiddo to a birthday party for a classmate. I (half) jokingly told him that from now on, when he meets a new friend, he needs to ask them when their birthday is and if it is during hunting season, he can't be friends with them. Week 5 had me in the woods for up to 5 days. I headed in on Tuesday afternoon and sat but nothing was moving. The big buck had started showing up only at 10:30pm or 3am on the cameras. He had not been seen during the day since the third week of the season. On Wednesday, Dad and I planned to be in the woods for the full day. We packed sandwiches and snacks and headed into the woods. We had a strategic plan for which areas...
Welcome back! Saturday kicked off Maine's rifle season for deer hunting and I made a point of sitting in my stand for the whole day. I packed a lunch, some water and snacks and climbed up at 6am. It was a perfect day to be in the woods. The sun was warm, the breeze was at a minim About an hour after legal time, this spike horn walked down the path that I had walked down. He smelled the wind but either couldn't smell me or couldn't figure out what I was. He wasn't spooked and he stayed around for a few minutes before continuing on his way. I basked in the sun and kept my eyes peeled for any mid-day movement. I had three large does skirt the treeline in front of me but I let them pass so that I could...
I watched the crack in my windshield grow slightly as the heater kicked on. It was still dark and the temperature gauge read 27 degrees. I took a sip of coffee and exhaled; it was a perfect September morning to go bear hunting. I met Bill Dereszewski, owner of Hollaback Guide Service at the gas station in Princeton. We drank coffee and planned out the day as we waited for more people to join us. Bernie was the first to arrive. A local retired hunter who assisted Bill, his truck was filled with shortbreads and coffee to keep us filled as we chased bears. Bill Gillespie and his pup Tawny joined the group and finally Matt Mcdonnell and a group of hunters from New York arrived. They had been...
I threw the car into park and ran inside, peeling off layers as I went. I traded my heels for wool pants, boots and blaze orange. I grabbed the gun and left. There was less than two hours of daylight remaining and a snow squall predicted for the next hour as a cold front moved in. It was 3pm when I walked into the woods and climbed into the Sky Condo. The big buck's tracks ran along the ridge to my right, so I turned my body to face in that direction. I was hoping that I would catch him as he did his loop. It seemed like a perfect night to have deer move. I looked to my left, scanning in front of the Sky Condo. I was startled to see three deer walking at me. The snow on the ground made...
I think overall, I was excited for turkey season. I really was. Then May came and we went fishing, celebrated Mother's Day and found ourselves busy. Dad and I had one morning to head into the woods to hunt. We had moved the blind closer into the woods and the path that I had seen the turkeys on when I was deer hunting. We set up the decoys and waited for it to get lighter before I started calling. I had a box call, slate call, electronic call and a couple of apps on my phone. We called and listened. Called and listened. Called and listened. After a few hours, we made our way to the fields to see if there were birds around. It was quiet as we walked but that didn't stop us from jumping at least three...
I just have a feeling that this year will be my year and I will be bagging one of these birds. We moved our blind to a new spot this year and I am hopeful that it will put us closer to the birds than we have seen. Dad, Hubby and I set it up and put a trail camera out to see if there are any birds around since last spring we saw everything but a turkey. A week later, we went back to tweak a few things and check the camera. On our drive in, two hens ran away from us and into the woods. That was a good sign! We parked and pulled everything out of the car and over to the blind and some newly transplanted trees. I headed for the camera and SD card. I went through roughly 75 pictures of the trees before I came to the...
The last few days of hunting season were eventful in the wrong ways. Just to the right of the stick is a deer track in the leaves. In order for my mom to prepare and cook what she needed to for Thanksgiving dinner, I stayed home to watch O while Dad and Hubby went out for a few hours. In the afternoon, Hubby stayed home while O took a nap and Dad and I went out. The woods were quiet and calm. We didn't even see a squirrel. Thanksgiving night, O got sick; throwing up sick, which for a two year old is a scary thing. We made the decision to not hunt on Friday morning in case he still didnt feel good. I have been criticized in the past by readers who think that in order to be a good, qualified hunter, you...
I had called Dad mid-week to check in and he told me that we had a big buck by the Sky CondoOne of the 8's? I eagerly asked No. Bigger If I could have driven up that night, I would have. But I had to wait until Friday to put the memory cards into the computer and look at what Dad was talking about. This is, BY FAR, the thickest deer we have ever seen on the camera. He is clearly all rutted up because he has no neck! It also looks like his E2 is broken on his right side. He was on the camera a handful of times over the past week. I am ready to put in some time Wed, Thursday, Friday and Saturday in hopes that one of us will get a crack at this big...
