Trad Gang
Main Boards => PowWow => Topic started by: wapiti792 on November 21, 2017, 07:51:00 PM
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The season thus far has been full roller coaster ride of almost, closer and finally floodgates of success. In a year where I have seen as many coyotes as whitetails and killed twice as many as well, getting a chance to share it with you folks is very cool.
It has been awhile. Photobucket sucks, sorry. I think this other site Imgur is going to work. I have some yarns to spin.
First, I went moose hunting in BC. I simply should have stayed home. I trashed my knee prior to the hunt rolling with young dudes in jiujitsu and decided I was tough enough to gut out the hunt. Wrong. So I got back and built some haybale blinds and had surgery. I knew my hunting would be limited and relegated to the ground.
Now I'll talk about those in a how to later sometime. They work very well with a few haybales sitting around. Full disclosure here though. I am spoiled rotten. I was a grinder like many of us on public ground for many years but took the plunge a few years back and bought a farm. It is used for 4 weeks of November and little else other than to put in a few plots, to shed hunt and to grow a little grain. So, this is a set up. You can blindfold me and dump me in the middle of my thicket and I'd walk out and tell you where I'd been. I know most of these deer, work my arse off hinge cutting and planning the next crop of doe family groups to both feed my family and to entice the local swinging you-know-what whitetail bucks to give them a whirl. That is where the haybales come in :)
(http://i.imgur.com/akFlpf9.jpg)
After killing a doe the 3rd week in October I elected to get the darn knee fixed. I had decided to shoot a doe if there was a chance because I have a self imposed "No Doe November". I made a good shot and let my wife know date night got moved to the woods near the pasture as we had a little work to do. As usual she took it in stride. I cooked up dinner the next day to make up for it.
(http://i.imgur.com/J8iMn8m.jpg)
*Heart exit
(http://i.imgur.com/oFi7UnJ.jpg)
* The good stuff
So 2 days after killing our first of the year I went under the knife. 48 hours later I went deer hunting, catching a ride with my 15 year old. It was the pre-rut and nothing would keep me out of the woods. I had to wait until my wife went to the store first. The following week I spent hunting with Monty Browning. We cooked a lot of good food, laughed and basically hunted every minute we could. One of us found a little success.
(http://i.imgur.com/Eq3uFmA.jpg)
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OK folks my image looks like a giant lives in it...maybe this imgur/posting is not for me. Going to go cut up a deer. I will come back and see if it works. Otherwise will just do what a lot of guys are doing and send a dead deer pic to someone that is computer literate and save the story for a magazine.
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:campfire: keep it comin' Mike.
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Nice Mike, always look forward to your posts!
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Nice Mike, always look forward to your posts!
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Mike, take the "s" off the "https" on your pics when you preview for them to auto re-size here. Looking forward to the tales... :campfire:
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Thank you brother!!! Will do.
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:campfire: Just learned IMGUR myself, looking forward to your stories... :campfire:
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Back in the game...
So mid week Browning and I were getting it handed to us. I love that man...he never wavers, is always upbeat and finds a way to see the glass half full. I am happy to have him as a mentor and friend. Dinner is never dull and he and Annie are family. We tried different sets, different winds and it just never came together. Well, sort of. We kept getting the smaller bucks cruising by and the big boys laying up.
I finally had a little success but not with whitetails. I had a trio of song dogs roll into a rattling sequence and one of them came to my mouse squeak. I made a perfect 10 yard shot...and then it got interesting.
(http://i.imgur.com/5lLfwBj.jpg)
As the dog kicked his last the other two started howling. Like full on cutting it loose. They would run away then run back and howl. All three were adults so I can assume this old gal was the pack leader. It was weird...and to be honest it made me a little queasy. They are predators like us but as Browning put it, they'd eat you in a heartbeat. I have a coyote problem: that is 4 with the recurve in 10 days!!! I had very few fawns this year and turkeys are way down. I know the biology says you will never get rid of them but I'm not trying to. I just need some relief. Anyway the shot was good and the coyote was down.
(http://i.imgur.com/kg60pnc.jpg)
Sorry I don't have better pics but it was the rut and I didn't want to wait around smelling like a coyote. I packed it out for the skinning shed to go with the other 3.
The week wound down and our time with our friends was nigh. I was very sad to see them go and my kids, wife and I hugged their necks for the last time as I slipped out for a morning hunt. We agreed that the rut would kick in about the time they hit the South Carolina line...and he was right.
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With Brownings getting home I had a day or so to rehab my knee...who am I kidding. I went hunting. I figured the spots I had to hop around and get in to was rehab. I nearly cut loose on a fine 3 year old buck but held up knowing he wasn't ready yet, at least in my book. Again, I am spoiled. If they are 4 years old and older and they within my effective range, they are in trouble. I used a decoy at a set that was terrific. My haybale setup was legit...
(http://i.imgur.com/YWbUBFO.jpg)
The ol' decoy was spot on for a up and comer. I took one horn away, handled him with gloves after spraying him down with scent killer, and used some smokey's preorbital and interdigital around and used a piece of my tighty whiteys as a small flag. They were clean after the Mrs washed and who needs that much covering their left butt cheek when a man needs a scent wick.
(http://i.imgur.com/RgmS8Zz.jpg)
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After passing on several deer that would make me about 15 years ago kick the me nows butt so hard he'd be wearing it as a hat, I decided to bring in reinforcements.
My friend Jack Paluh came in for a visit to see how the knee rehab was going. I showed him some pics and he decided I needed to see a shrink. We agreed that more time hunting was what both of us needed. I sent him to a friends farm with an absolute toad on it. I had one here that really needed my attention and another one so old I'd jump at the chance to kill. I didn't care which.
(http://i.imgur.com/vGgnVJH.jpg)
*Jack is the handsome fella to my right, dressed with a collared shirt for dinner while I am the heathen in the T.
Jack does some awesome artwork. If you don't know who he is, look up his work. He shoots a Shrew longbow that is whisper quiet and you better watch your nocks. He even puts some of his friends in the artwork on bulls they will only kill in their dreams :)
(http://i.imgur.com/KMiAPlh.png)
Jack saw the toad and it was on. I could barely get him to come in for supper. He would have built a zip line to the outhouse if I would have let him.
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Okay folks, time for a nap. I have to see the knee doctor tomorrow, process some more deer meat and go hunting...be back tomorrow sometime.
Lets just say the world got much more interesting...
(http://i.imgur.com/r6VQ9L0.jpg)
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Darn you mike!! :campfire:
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Okay now I'm hooked-this should be a good one.
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Hey I gotta head to work Pal! :nono:
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Where was I...
As predicted by Browning the rut took off. Multiple encounters by Jack and I led to some "almosts". Jack had a toad that needed one more step and I saw many good ones too. We just couldn't get them there.
Finally mid week it happened. I got to one of my little food plot fields and set up a decoy facing me at 25 yards. If the critter I was after could see it I knew I'd have a chance. This particular deer is one that has been on my farm since he has a small 1 year old. I have sheds from several years and pics as well. He is a bully, coming for horns but always hanging up. He ran off a really giant horned deer last year late in the season which was impressive to watch.
(http://i.imgur.com/dxjRJXs.jpg)
*Last years pic as a 4 year old
He doesn't have the impressive head gear like the twelve my son killed Sunday with a smokepole but he's got confidence and wariness and an unreal aptitude for staying clean. He's been around 5 years and knows the ropes. Last year I put a stalk on him after finding him in a small snow storm late in the year. At 15 yards instead of standing like most deer would do, he exploded out of there offering no shot. I love this deer.
Early afternoon I look out my peek window and see the Bully Eight 75 yards away and closing with that swagger that tells his adversary it's go time. I turned the video camera on and made ready. If he reads the script he comes between me and the decoy to face off, right in the red zone. The Talltines and I were nervous but ready. I've been ready. After passing bucks and eating tags for three years I was beyond ready.
(http://i.imgur.com/FMd1UVe.jpg)
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Ready.... :goldtooth:
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Bring it on!!
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Jack is a great shot. Guess he switched from Roy Hall bows.
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Keith, he still has his Hall bows but as of late he has been enamored with this Shrew. He's still a good shot no matter what.
So, there is a toad of a buck I know well starting to posture and stare at the deke. A loud snort wheeze and here he came. He looked like a big Defensive Tackle that was getting ready to get in his stance and smash. As he neared I realized my shot was more important than the camera and quit fooling with it.
As soon as I saw his nose reach my view I started a slow draw, getting to anchor just as he centered my window broadside. I found my spot and loosed the arrow. To my horror, in one of those slow motion/matrix things he was turning into me slightly to posture at the decoy as the arrow arrived. What should have been a heart shot at 15 yards was on the elbow with a slight quarter towards. I felt confident it was a dead buck, but I hoped I got into the goods.
(http://i.imgur.com/Xu3GcdE.jpg)
An up close look at the shot appears to be low but in the pocket. I sat there and stared into the distance and then prayed. I needed this deer in a bad way. Decoying deer is feast or famine. When it works it is absolutely the most exciting form of deer hunting I have ever done. Even the ones you pass get the ol ticker going. This would be my first shot I didn't blow or pass. Twice I had bruisers come in at the wrong angle. One I shot over and the other I let walk all over me and never got drawn. The other smaller bucks that come in and you know you aren't shooting are more fun actually. No anxiety. Just enjoy the show...this one had me getting a free stress test.
(http://i.imgur.com/tAH9q6k.jpg)
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I texted Jack and another friend Mike to let them know supper might be late. I gave him time and went to the impact spot and found a spot of blood. I eased into the entry of the woods he ran to and found 1/3 of my fletching end. One speck of blood only and no dead deer in sight prompted me to back out, meet the guys for supper and decide what to do.
Over dinner I replayed what I had on video, which was basically the impact blurred and the deer running off. Remember the coyotes? I lost a deer last year in 30 minutes. I walked to the house to get my boy and the ranger and tracked the 100 yards to a doe head and little else. We elected to wait four hours and I passed the nervous time with the 1000 yard stare with my friends reassuring me.
We made the impact site and arrow recovery site and found little blood. There is only 1 trail in the tangle that is that travel corridor after years of hinge cutting and site set up. I felt like I had his trail but still no blood. After a 100 yards my nerves were shot and that dark cloud started rolling in. I had texted Monty to ask advice and sent a pic of the shot and he encouraged me to keep after it. Just when I was ready to back track to impact again to start over Jack yelled "I got blood!" All of a sudden the dark clouds lifted a little.
Following a scant blood trail on a very bum wheel was tough. Luckily the scantiness turned to crimson and the toilet tissue was no longer needed.
(http://i.imgur.com/1DBztL3.jpg)
We stayed on the trail for another 120 yards to the edge of my property line. I texted my neighbor to tell him I was tracking and got the thumbs up. 75 more yards the blood was a Ray Charles and as I peaked over the bank of the creek there that DT laid.
(http://i.imgur.com/g4dfvnv.jpg)
*Tank City
So after 300 yards we were here together over this old warrior. With help I field dressed him and paid respects to his heart buried nearby. What I said to God thanking him I meant. What I said to the buck that gives life to my family and the sadness and happiness I feel today is as real as any feeling I will ever have.
(http://i.imgur.com/efUdTdy.jpg)
*Old warrior
With help we crossed the ditch and got him loaded for the ride out. It is good having friends to help when you have something the size of a cow elk to haul home.
(http://i.imgur.com/7W7Q6oZ.jpg)
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The post mortem confirmed a nick in the heart at the lower pole, a left lung down, a right liver with a perfect S tear from a very sharp Meathead from Tuffhead and a hole the size of your palm for exit. Fat had clogged the exit and didn't bleed much. The broadhead saved my bacon as the arrow hit bone at the elbow going in and tore a hole going out. Tell me how a deer goes 300 yards with that kind of damage that didn't get bumped and never bedded? I tell you how...he was a tough SOB!!!
The next day I took a couple field photos and got help from my best butchers to turn him into food for us.
(http://i.imgur.com/6NM7Rjj.jpg)
*Hanging
(http://i.imgur.com/ameJdNu.jpg)
*Helpers
We eat a ton of deer meat. I can deer, grind deer, make sausage and cook it many ways. My wife's favorite is a little dish with the internals, some Scottish eggs and a little chutney made with jalapenos and onion. We made sure when Grace was said we thanked God for old bucks with bad dispositions.
(http://i.imgur.com/YCBksJo.jpg)
*Honest food
So that's my tale for the year. I am still getting after it as we are a 4 deer family and we need 1 more. Glad to be back posting again. Good luck to everyone out there. Shoot straight and be safe!
(http://i.imgur.com/DPvXQsj.jpg)
*Equipment: Talltines recurve 60 at 30, Trad only 300s with 190 grain Meathead and 100 grain insert, 650 grain total weight.
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Fantastic... Congrats :clapper:
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Helluva buck and awesome story mike!!! :clapper: :clapper:
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Congrats Sir, he's a stud.
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Nice going. Congrat's on beauty.
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Thank you for sharing, looks like a great time with Family & Friends. :campfire:
Well done on a wonderful buck! :clapper:
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Great story telling and pics, congratulations on a great buck!
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Great buck sir , Well done.....
,,,,Sam,,,,
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Great all around, thanks for sharing.
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Congratulations well done
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Congratulations on a great buck! Nice pics and a well told story with a happy ending.
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EPIC!!!!!!!
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Great buck Mike and awesome story. Congratulations.
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Fantastic story and buck! Congrats!
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I knew there was a reason I was hooked on this story. Great buck and the respect you showed the old warrior. Thanks for sharing.
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Well done! Great deer, great story ,great pics.
And thanks for letting us in on it all! Really enjoy hunt stories.
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Congrats to you guys! Looks like you are doing just fine on that bum knee, Mike!
Bisch
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I haven't gotten around here the past few days and just found this. Kind of nice actually to get to read a Mike story from start to finish without wearing out my refresh button. :p
Always love your stories my friend - you have a gift with telling a tale. Of course, hanging with that Browning guy you can't help but have some of it rub off.
Congrats on a great buck! And on filling the freezer - looks like you and the family will likely make it through the winter.
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Wonderful Story and a Bruiser of a Buck! Congrats!
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Beautiful buck, great story and pics. Jack Paluh is one of my top favorite artists, too. Congrats, Mike!
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Congrats Mike. Glad the knee is healing Up..
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Congrats bud!!
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Very nice sir, congrats!
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really good stuff. good shootin, can I come over for dinner ?
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Wow Mike!!!
Thank you for sharing your amazing story.
What a buck and congratulations !!
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congratulations, sir!
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Thanks everyone! This buck could be my all time favorite due to the history and circumstances :)
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Excellent work Mike! Fine old buck.
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Great job Mike those kids are no longer kids and your property is really getting hot happy for you. Kip
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Congrats and thanks for sharing. Felt like I was there with you. Can't ask for more. Good luck with the knee. :bigsmyl:
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Congrats Mike!
Good story telling, too!
Gary
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Awesome Mike, congrats and thanks for taking us along!
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Congrats Mike! Well done!!!
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Great story. Thanks for sharing it.
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I love a good hunting story Thanks for sharing it.
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Absolutely inspiring! Congrats!
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I dropped off the ol buggar at the taxidermy man today. He is not my biggest deer, as it might be the smallest one with a full shoulder mount...but such history with this Buck. He will have his ears peeled back and his hair up just like he was when he left this earth. So cool...
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Cool Mike, can't wait to see the final product!!!!