There were signs of deer everywhere! Tracks, rubs and fresh scrapes but for some reason, I was not seeing them. Dad, on the other hand, was seeing deer everywhere he looked. One morning, he watched a spike horn chase a doe and fawn through the woods. He walked out of the woods behind a doe and fawn another night. He was seeing multiple does every time he sat or walked through the woods but instead of using that doe tag, he wanted that big, illusive buck that we knew was still hanging around. I hung out in my stands and watched a lot of squirrels. How could we be spending so much time in the woods and not come across a deer yet? It helped that Hubs had filled the freezer but we knew that there were deer all...
On Veteran's Day, the wind was so bad that I climbed down from the Sky Condo to sit in the ground blind that we had not removed since turkey season. I am usually all for rocking in the trees but there was just enough extra creeks happening that I felt better on the ground. It sleeted, the wind blew and nothing moved. Saturday was different. I started off the same way as the weekend before; Sky Condo to tree seat. I left the Sky Condo a little earlier than I had the week before hoping to see more deer than just the two does. There were fresh rubs that were a little bigger than the ones the week before, but it wasn't from a large buck. The leaves were somewhat crunchy and I took my time getting to the stand. ...
We had to revamp our hunting plan since we were now one hunter down, but Dad and I stuck with what he knew would work and where we thought the deer were. I started the morning in the Sky Condo and when it was clear that nothing was moving through, I headed to a tree seat not far away. There were fresh rubs along the path that I used and although they were made by small deer, it gave me hope that the deer would be moving through. I left my pack at the bottom of the tree and climbed the 16 feet up to the seat. I think I am more comfortable in treeseats than the bigger stands. I can't move when I am up there because every part of me is exposed to unseen deer but there is something about being so much more present with...
We've waited all year for this! Deer season was back. Hubs, Dad and I had a rough idea of where we were going to sit to start the morning, when and where we would move to next and the basic game plan for the morning hunt. But then, I looked at the trail camera pictures. The 10 pointer that we had had on the camera last year had shown himself for the first time two days before at T3. Up until that point, we had only smaller bucks on the cameras. But this one... we've been watching him for at least 4 years and he was beautiful. I declared that I would start the season sitting in T3. Hubs was bumped to the Sky Condo and Dad would still hunt. It was a perfect morning - quiet and calm. I got into T3 and settled...
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 following is an article that I wrote for The Liberty Project. It was originally published on November 16, 2015 here. I was never paid by The Liberty Project so they don't own the copyright. Why trusting yourself is key for success in the outdoors It is critical to know and feel comfortable with any situation you put yourself in. This is especially true if your goal is to bring home meat for the freezer. You need to have a level of knowledge and understanding about why you are there and what you want to accomplish. Everything about being successful in the outdoors comes from a sense of trust: in yourself, your tool and your training. My training came from my Dad. I started to...
When it is sunny out and there is snow on the ground, it is hard not to want to be outside. Last weekend, we brought in the trail cameras and tried to figure out where we should be hunting for the 2016 season. It is never too early to start prepping for the next season! I pulled up to where we normally park and as we got out of the car, there was nothing but deer tracks all around us. Big, little, going in both directions... all kinds of tracks. Only a couple of feet from the roadway with this bed. I stood in the bed and snapped another photo of the beds around it. I posted that picture on our FB page and asked people how many deer beds they could find. The deer bed closest to the road Four more deer beds ...
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...
