Well it was warm, wet and dark. I started to cross a small swamp of which I was going to hunt the other side. well, I got turned around and ended up back where I started. Decided to take a longer route around the swamp. While crossing a ridge at the end of the swamp I jumped a bear and he knocked me over trying to run away. Glad I heard him going through the woods instead of chomping on my leg. Finally got to my spot and settled down.
(http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f196/jjeffer/P1010002.jpg)
It got hot quick, so only stayed a couple hours. No deer seen, just lots of birds and skeeters. Took one shot at a tree rat, but didn't connect. Hope the rest of the Jersey crew had a more successful time.
I hit my bow limb on my ladder stand, sent a arrow over the deers back.
And I shot under a doe....
Sounds like a great opening day for you guys, good luck. Great picture, Jerry.
Alex
Glad you didn't get bit Jerry. Very exciting story though. Cool picture!
I struck out, too. I had planned on hunting some private land that only I have permission to hunt. It's a horse farm and I can only hunt it after 1PM. There are horses in the paddocks and on the track until then. So I txt my guy at the farm to let him know I will be there and he tells me that they're having a BBQ. Well, that's out.
So I went to the Wallkill refuge. A minute after I pulled in another guy pulled in. As we were chatting he spots a doe about 50 yards from us. I tried to belly crawl into position as he circled around. I popped my head up to get a fix on her and got busted.
So I go to my spot and it starts raining. The wind shifts and I get busted by two bucks.
The wind eventually shifts back and three does come out about 100 yds away. I know they're coming to me, but I am running out of daylight. The overcast sky didn't help, either.
Yup, I ran out of daylight. They were still 50 yds from me when I left.
Not sure when I will go back out again. Looks like we're in for some warm weather. Ground hunting and heavy sweating just don't go together well.
Wallkill refuge is a nice piece. I have seen some nice bucks come out of there.
It's not bad. I don't think I know more about it than anyone else, but I do have a few spots that are very deer rich and not aggressively hunted... much to my surprise.
Honestly, it's not hunted near as much as I would expect. I hunt woodcock, ducks and geese, turkey and deer there and rarely see another hunter. Of course there are days when I can't find a place to park, but that's usually the two early days of muzzleloader and during 6 day.