(http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/m637/cjohntalk/1351813981.jpg)
Yesssss!!!!!!!!
:thumbsup:
F-Manny
You got us hooked Charlie... Now spill your guts brother!
Last week I headed home to see family and friends. I was looking forward to hunting some old stomping grounds with some friends and my Father and brothers.
1st Morning:
I head out with my best pal Dan to a property he purchased last year. its 20 acres and close to home. Its a crisp morning and already this year he has killed 2 deer there. No one has hunted there for 2 weeks and the rut is starting :goldtooth: Last year he arrowed a nice chocolate horn 12 point.
Its dark and I can hear deer walking all round me. After the sun comes up and at 10 am my buddy came over and informed me it was 3 does. As we walk out, Its all deer trails. This woods is loaded. Its a small peninsula that is oaks and pines surrounded by swamp and marsh.
Cool picture Charlie! Can't wait to see what's at the end of that trail!
1st night in Wisconsin, My brothers father and I made Sausage. I apologize if all the deer meat wasnt killed with a bow but its all mixed together.
We started making Bratwurst hot dogs and Kielbasa about 14 years ago and is something we do together every year.
This night we made about 100 lbs. Our recipes have finally become incredible.
Sausage Fest:
(http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/m637/cjohntalk/1351813958.jpg)
(http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/m637/cjohntalk/1351813954.jpg)
(http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/m637/cjohntalk/1351813949.jpg)
(http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/m637/cjohntalk/1351813967.jpg)
My mother had taken the next day off work, so I would spend the morning with her :thumbsup:
Me thinks we are being teased........ :nono: :nono: :nono: :nono:
Something tells me this is gonna be good! Go Charlie! :D
Day 2 afternoon:
I went to the woods with my Dad. We headed over to my grandfathers woods. This woods was wide open and the deer tend to come through just before dark or after dark.
It was quite warm, 65 degrees as we headed across the cut corn and to the woods. I was in an area where my little brother killed his 1st buck with a bow several weeks back.
My father was headed to a small pond that sits back in the woods.
as I was slowly walking in, I had a small deer nearly run me over. I couldn't get it to stop but I had a hand on an arrow and was ready for action!
Cool. 1st deer spotted :bigsmyl:
My father had bumped it.
I had looked around but couldnt find decent cover.I checked the wind and built a blind. after sitting down the wind changed. CRAP!
I jumped up and sat in a new spot about 15 yards away. turns out there was a branch I had found that my little brother cut and it had a bunch of leaves still on it. I bunjied it to a tree and had instant cover between two larger trees. One I could see marks from a climber on, must have been where my little brother was sitting.
This spot, the deer come frm across the road. usually when cars hit their brakes, its a good sign. well as some deer were gearing up to come across a fellow decided it was time to shoot his rifle quite close. it was the guy who bought my grandfathers house.
as we headed out of the woods it was still 65 degrees, Thursdays cold snap aught to get deer up and moving.
I headed inside the old farm house where i was born and visited with grandpa.
Good stuff!
:campfire:
:campfire:
Looks like you broke a perfectly good Bear broadhead. What a shame! :bigsmyl:
:coffee:
I'm hooked too...and by the looks of the background in the sausage pics you guys know how to get it done!
Congrats Charlie. Look forward to the rest of it.
Keep it coming Charlie! I know how much you were looking forward to this trip. From the looks of that arrow it must have been a good one.
Ok Charlie- Ive been waiting to here about this trip!! :campfire: :clapper: :clapper: :clapper:
:campfire: :coffee:
:thumbsup: :campfire: :coffee:
Must still be tired from sausage making
Nice pictures Charlie keep them coming.
Grouse
:campfire: :campfire:
Sorry for the delay. had to go to work :(
The next day would find me headed to the Family Farm in SW wisconsin :campfire:
:campfire: :archer: :archer:
OK, its Thursday night and time to make the 3 hour drive to the Family Farm.
I rode down with a buddy in the dark, Its incredibly windy out, the temp had dropped to the low 20s and we knew the morning would be a good time to be in the woods.
we arrived at camp late and the rest of the crew were sleeping. we stayed up because we were wired from the drive, had a beer and looked at all the trail cam photos from thee previous weeks.
My little brother was setting a seat in his stand and had a 6 point walk right to him.
Morning from a stand I have hunted for 22 years with the exception of last year due to me going to Colorado on an elk hunt. Its at an intersection of 2 wood lots and 2 fields.
This year both fields are planted in corn. One wood lot is a long strip of woods with a big ravine. This spot is a perfect funnel for both deer and Wind.
We woke up a few minutes late (Crap) I skipped breakfast and ran to the woods.
On the trail in I noticed a bunch of scrapes. In fact you couldnt make it a few steps without one.
(http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/m637/cjohntalk/1351814368.jpg)
:bigsmyl:
I was able to get into the stand as the sun was just starting to come up.
Just after sitting down and getting settled. here is a look I have been aching to see for 2 years.
(http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/m637/cjohntalk/1351814193.jpg)
I often wish I was here. I have spent many days in this spot.
and behind me:
(http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/m637/cjohntalk/1351814195.jpg)
ooohh man , cmon Charlie :rolleyes:
More more more :pray:
This property seems to have a lot of squirrels. At all times seems as if you can see 5 or more. Usually more like 15 + or -.
As promised I took a picture of a fox squirrel for a brother.
I was having a tough time due to them busting me while trying to get the camera situated.
(http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/m637/cjohntalk/1351814457.jpg)
(http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/m637/cjohntalk/1351814456.jpg)
(http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/m637/cjohntalk/1351814389.jpg)
(http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/m637/cjohntalk/1351814387.jpg)
Back to the Hunt:
I was in the stand about 15 minutes and I hear a crunching sound. I look front and see a deer node in the corn. I couldn't tell if it was Laying down or not but it was definitely a DEER.
Then I see antlers.
(http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/m637/cjohntalk/1351814197.jpg)
(http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/m637/cjohntalk/1351814197-1.jpg)
:campfire: :campfire:
Definitely going to be good!!!
I would like to preface this by saying, I have been bowhunting for 21 years. To this point I have yet to kill a deer with a bow.
Now When I was growing up in WI we were only allowed 1 deer with a bow per year. the first year I never had a chance. The second several years I was waiting for a buck.
Then came many years of trying to kill a trophy :banghead:
In the interim I stupidly passed hundreds of deer and never killed any. I will admit, I took a couple shots and learned a few lessons along the way.
Then I Moved to NY. here i needed to take bow hunter safety. I had a hard time meeting people and eventually put away my compound.
Eventually I took the course with a friends son and picked up my bow again. I managed to get out and had some encounters. My heart wasn't in it and I put the bow away for a few more years. During this Time I moved several more times.
Fast forward 3 years and I stumble onto shooting a re curve at a 4H booth with my wife's young cousin.
Then begins a new Passion and friends. Next I find Trad gang and a whole new :campfire:
here we are 3 years later and I have been at it more or less 21 years! :eek:
I relly hope you did connect,you seems to be such a good guy.We first connected with the arrow swap and since then I've always find youre comments,congrats, post and cheers to be high class gentleman. SO did it happened!! :) :campfire: :coffee:
I set down the camera and get ready! he stops chewing on corn and starts coming! I cant believe this is going to happen. Its been 3 years and although every year I get closer, this will be my first trad shot at a deer.
I know exactly where he will go from sitting this spot so much. he will be at 21 yards Broadside in less than a minute!
There he is, right where he is supposed to be.
21 yards. Broadside.
I draw, breathe in. recite to myself "pick a spot, pick a spot, pick a spot" moments seem like eternity.
I bear down on the crease behind his front leg and....
:pray:
Charlie, your killing me....I have to get up early..... :saywhat: :saywhat:
I feel the tension and everything seems right, the string slips from my hands just as my head goes BLahhhhhhhhh. :pray:
I sit back down disgusted with myself. This is an easy shot. I can nail it 10 out of 10 times.
I take in all I can and hope for the best. I know an artery runs through there and it was close to the kidney. :pray:
Its all I can do to stay in the stand another couple hours.
:saywhat: :pray:
:campfire: :campfire:
:campfire: :campfire:
Charlie,your killin' me! I'm headed up to camp for a week & will be wondering about the rest of the story
OK I'm logged and ready now...
Man Charlie come on!!! :banghead: :banghead:
:readit: :knothead:
I would bet the "camera" in your head of that blind put you to sleep many a night.
Those are not Squirrels....they are small German Shepherds :wavey:
Not only does it take you 21 years to shoot a deer but it takes you another 21 years to tell about it. :dunno:
I think he's taking lessons from Charlie and Terry :biglaugh:
:campfire:
:coffee:
sorry guys, I have been trying to catch up and hunt as well.
While I was waiting in my stand after the shot I see another deer. Its making its way toward where I thought my buddy was.
After it exits the field I can catch glimpses of it moving through our woods. It goes up and checks the scrapes that I showed pictures of and then moves my way. Whatsa fella to do, has not had a shot at a deer with a bow for 5 years and now has two in one morning :dunno:
Hes gonna walk right past me at 10 yards
(http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/m637/cjohntalk/1351814200.jpg)
(http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/m637/cjohntalk/1351814198.jpg)
Perfectly in front of me at 18 yards
(http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/m637/cjohntalk/1351814201.jpg)
Nothing to Do! I had an arrow in a deer albeit a not so good shot but I am not the greedy type.
Here he is walking away!
(http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/m637/cjohntalk/1351814203.jpg)
After another Hour I get down and head over to where my buddy is. I know the deer I hit should have gone right past him. At least thats where it looked like it was going. Hopefully he saw it and had a better idea of the hit.
After he climbed down the tree and was taking his stand off at the base I told him that I could swear I could see a nice set of antlers standing on a knoll 60 yards away. This is at 10:00 am perfect.
After Deliberating, he assures me that its just a sticks and a piece of corn husk then goes back to work on his stand.
Whil he was woorking on his stand this sticks and corn turns his head and looks at us.
"Buck, Big Buck!" I said excitedly.
My buddy dropped what he was doing in a hurry and couldn't believe it.
Here we have a big buck standing at 60 yards just scent checking. It was windy but we crouched behind some trees and tried calling to him.
He couldn't hear us and disappeared into the gully below him after 20 minutes of just standing still with his nose in the air.
Gotta go get some broadheads mailed out to Steve Humphry before the post office closes.
After some deliberation we decided to go back for lunch and give the deer some time. My buddy had not seen the deer race past but he said he was still climbing his tree at 7:50 and a herd of elephants could have come past unnoticed.
Here is the porch of our cabin and some views from it. I should have taken pictures of the cabin itself and other angles.
(http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/m637/cjohntalk/1351814371.jpg)
(http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/m637/cjohntalk/1351814373.jpg)
5 hours after the shot,my Father and buddy went to help track.
There was NO blood.
After 30 yards I found the arrow. 6 inches of shaft was missing on the business end.
(http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/m637/cjohntalk/1351814381.jpg)
(http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/m637/cjohntalk/1351814377.jpg)
(http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/m637/cjohntalk/1351814383.jpg)
We ended up doing a grid search for a few hours. Never found Blood or my deer. I was quite upset, marked the spot of the arrow and told the other guys to go out hunting.
As we were walking to my buddy during the grid search he motioned that he saw a buck. Turned out while he was taking a leak, a giant one horn 4 point walked past him at 15 yards completely oblivious to his presence.
With my spirits pretty low, I went to a quiet place to sit and reflect for the afternoon.
A weary doe came in at 10 yards and eventually winded me, she ambled off into the corn field.
After the long night of being sick to my stomache, the alarm went off and I was headed back to the woods.
My location this morning would be backed against a giant oak tree along a rub line sporting rubs every 5 or 6 yards.
(http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/m637/cjohntalk/1351814204.jpg)
Around 9 am I caught movement to my right. A beautiful Coyote was looking up in the air and stalking squirrels. Thats pretty awesome I thought.
I did a few hand squeaks after it passed and caught its attention.
It turned and started toward me.
I cant believe I am going to get a shot at a coyote on the ground without a blind.
I could tell it was coming by the shadows from behind a tree. I draw just before I thought it would pop out. It popped out a millisecond early and is looking right at me. I think its aw me move but it paused just long enough for me to drop the string.
Whifff.
I was in such disbelief of the whole situation, That I never picked a spot :knothead: :banghead:
Blown opportunity and a coyote standing at 12 yards.
After lunch I went back and combed the area for the hit buck again. No Luck!
I was met up by my older brother and father for the last evening at our farm.
We split up and my brother and I went below a gully that tends to hold deer. My father went above it.
I was expecting them to come from behind me and browse a bit before moving on. It seems as if that's what they always do. I had a hard time finding a spot. This was the best I could do without a treestand. If the deer came from "where they are supposed to" I should be OK.
(http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/m637/cjohntalk/1351814466.jpg)
(http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/m637/cjohntalk/1351814462.jpg)
Well its Funny,
when you talk about deer hunting and what they are supposed to do, it never works that way.
A small 1 horned 3 point came over the top of the ridge and straight at me. The bow was up and I was ready to draw only for him to completely bust me. he was 15 yards and staring straight at me.
He was looking hard for what seemed like an hour. I was squinting and not looking him in the eye in hopes he would relax and give me a broadside shot.
It wasn't to be and he bolted out of there.
The next morning would be my last, unfortunately. Mom has a big dinner planned since I was to fly home on Monday. (H. Sandy had other plans for that though)
My little brother and I headed to the woods early but after sleeping in a little. The plan was to squirrel hunt a bit before going home.
I slowly entered the woods first while he hung back at the field edge.
after going nearly 30 yards by now, I catch movement to my right. DEER
Plans changed from a squirrel hunt to a Deer hunt real quick and I decided to stalk them since I had made it so far and need more cover.
The wind was good and I started in a direction that should allow me to intersect them with their general direction of travel.
Sorry you did'nt find that deer,it has happened to me two,just keep up :) :thumbsup: :campfire:
Tough one Charlie....maybe your on one???
:campfire:
I have already made it 30 yards and needed to close about 30 more. I made it about 20 more and the 2 does took off. they were headed for somewhere else but not spooked.
I couldn't figure what had "pushed" them off.
My little brother and I sat down and were just catching up oin old times when a bad A** buck fight broke out up the hillside away from us. I am sure the does boogied after seeing a buck or both.
The clashing went on for quite some time. If I couldn't hear the bodies being pushed about I probably would have figured it was fake however I know no one was hunting that property.
For an area that is absolutely inundated with squirrels this morning was pretty quiet.
I watched one from 100 yards away building a nest. It would go up and down a tree every 30 seconds.
It was late and we needed to get back to the cabin to pack up for our journey home.
I decided to put a stalk on this squirrel. It took me the better part of 45 minutes to stalk within Bow range. Just as I was about to shoot, 2 other squirrels came racing in. I switched targets and made the shot count. I hit her mid body, when she turned to bite the arrow I had already send a second shaft and hit her between the eyes.
Sorry for the long drawn out tale. I had an awesome trip home! The deer activity was incredible, the weather and Company was Great! I only wish I had a few more days!
This is my first Mammalian Bow kill.
(http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/m637/cjohntalk/1351813981.jpg)
(http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/m637/cjohntalk/1351814469.jpg)
I had already changed as I was running 30 minutes late from the long stalk but here is a hero shot!
(http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/m637/cjohntalk/1351814471.jpg)
Here is another Highlight of my trip.
I was able to shoot with my nephew Oliver. He loves archery and was a recipient of a Mad dog bow. But also has a 69 Bear cat longbow he leaves at Grandpas house.
(http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/m637/cjohntalk/1351814549.jpg)
(http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/m637/cjohntalk/1351814547.jpg)
(http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/m637/cjohntalk/1351814539.jpg)
Hey Charlie - Glad you had a good trip back home to Wisconsin. Congrats on your squirrel, you'll get your deer on next years trip. It looks like the cabin is in a beautiful setting, a nice place to enjoy your time off.
-Jay
Charlie,
A well-told story about your trip. I love SW Wisconsin and have spent many wonderful days around that part of the state. Great shot on the squirrel. Well done, my friend.
Joe
Looks like some beautiful country, congrats on the squirrel! Always feels good to go home, sad when ya gotta leave...
Good tale Charlie! Congratulations on the squirrel... They're harder to hit than a deer anyways! You're time is coming. God bless!
Great story and pics!! Time well spent with family you guys have a beautiful place. Joe
Wow dude, what a trip.Thats some beautiful country for sure and I can only imagine your happiness at getting together with your kin who you are so distant from at this time . Sounds like the place is crawling with deer. Ill be hunting this week myself, I hope to run into some of the rutting activity you experienced. Glad to see you putting that Griffin to use.
Also, for me, a dead squirrel seems to bring me good luck with the deer so maybe you ought to get ready. :saywhat:
Good times.........
,Sam,
Thanks for taking us along on your trip Charlie. You'll get that deer real soon. My son and i will be taking are annual trip to SW Wis. hunting in Crawford and Grant counties along the Wis. river. Beautiful country in that part of the state.
GO PACK GO!!!!!!!
I really enjoyed your hunting story Charlie! Thanks for taking us along! :thumbsup:
Bernie Bjorklund
NC Iowa/SW Wisconsin
Congrats on the squirrel! Proof that you are lethal.Good trip with family.Thanks for sharing. :) :thumbsup:
Thanks for sharing your trip back home, Charlie. Sounds like you had a great time. And good shooting on that squirrel! Hey, that shirt looks good on you.
Great trip and photos Charlie. Glad you had an Awsome time. Nothing beats hunting with family and friends. Your day will come. The least you could is bring that young man a Giants jersey.
Thanks for writing the story Charlie! Congrats on your first mammalian trad kill!!!
Well done buddy!
Nice pics Charlie , good story
Thanks for the kind words.
Great story Charlie. Thanks for taking us along!
I haven't been on in a few days. wow...cool story buddy!!
Great story. Always awesome hunting with family isn't it ?
How'd I miss this earlier. Great story Charlie! Thanks for sharing!
Charlie - glad you made it back in one piece!
Sorry about the lost buck, but you made a pretty good shot on that tree rat!!
Sandy has messed with my hunting vacation....as well as electricity at the house and surrounding area. Hope to get out soon.
Good luck with the deer back here in NY!