My good friend Seth Stevens and I spent the last eight days or so hunting state forest land in Pike County, Ohio. Seth is not afraid of a little work and is one of the best hunters I know. Couple that with his change to traditional archery a year or so ago made me very happy to be sharing a camp with him again.
We would be hunting an area we had never been too, so it required a some scouting before we thought about hunting, but by Thursday afternoon, October 30th, we were in trees hunting. This is a picture taken from my stand, overlooking an old roadbed to the right bordering a thicket.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v248/huntrdfk/17f6130f06868aeebd724e045bf151cc.jpg)
I'll be back in a bit.......
I'll try to get this caught up today, but there are some honey-dos to catch up on too.
I had met Jeff Holchin 12 or 13 years ago when he drew a NH moose tag in a zone I used to spend a lot of time in. I offered to give him whatever help I could, he accepted and somehow I found him on a remote mountain top at 5:30 one morning that had no real roads going to it. We still talk about that today. Jeff was coming up from North Carolina to hunt a different area but close enough that we planned to get together at some point during our hunts. It would be good to see him again.
Seth and I had never been to the area we were going to hunt, state forest land in Pike County. We got there on a Wednesday night, scouted Thursday morning and our first hunt was that afternoon. I saw one doe at dusk, while Seth didn't see anything. I liked the spot I was in though and planned on giving it some time. We hunted again Friday morning, planning on scouting in the afternoon as a steady rain was coming in. At about 11 am a small 6 point chased a doe around in the bottom about 70 yards away, then up the hill towards me, ending up about 30 yards from me before chasing her away. We spent the afternoon scouting again, looking for a new spot for Seth as he had yet to se a deer. We found a very good looking spot a few miles away that Seth would hunt in the morning.
Saturday morning was cold and wet with high winds. I saw a lone doe, Seth saw two bucks but had no shots.
We were back at it in the afternoon, I got settled into my stand just before three. I had been there for about a half hour when I heard a deer sneezing towards the head of the hollow to my right. It stopped for a bit and then started again, only closer this time. I saw the deer working its way towards me from about 150 yards away and could tell it was a buck right off. I got binoculars on him, and saw that while he wasn't a monster he was a decent deer and would be hard for me to pass on if given the chance. He continued towards me, and about 60 yards away stopped and freshened a scrape and was working a licking branch. This was the first time in my life I have been able to watch a deer do that while hunting, I have to say it was pretty cool. (For those of you that have not hunted deer in NH you just don't see that type of behavior due to low deer numbers. Heck, we only kill around 2200 deer a year here with archery gear). By now I was able to tell he was an 8 point and I had made my mind up I was going to shoot him if given the chance. He finished his business and came to me like he was on a string, passing within feet of a trail camera I had on the roadbed he was following.
Here he is as he passes the camera. The roadbed straight ahead is where he walks, right towards the two small downed tress. My stand is in a tree just to the left, uphill from that roadbed.........
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v248/huntrdfk/03f8029eae15d1711e0eea820fcefc2d.jpg)
That led to this.......
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v248/huntrdfk/75abb79799b7dcbd49af843bc334c11f.jpg)
David
:campfire: :coffee:
Can't wait to hear the storyline!
I met Seth hunting with Fred Eichler about ten years ago. Glad to see he switched to traditional.
Don't tease us too long!
:coffee:
Oh man, that set up looks like its been through a battle.
oh gosh.. i hate drawn out threads.. they make me check tradgang more than usual.. :bigsmyl:
He walked right down that roadbed, stopping once and looking my way. I thought I was done as I was in a tree with no cover, but apparently the height given by being uphill and being 15 feet up was enough, and he never noticed me, continuing on the roadbed. As he was approaching the downed trees in the roadbed I softly bleated to stop him. He did, I drew, aimed, and as I released he began to walk again. The arrow struck him a little back and high, hitting his spine and dropping him immediately. He drug himself into the thicket, where I was able to finish him off. Here he is in his final resting spot........
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v248/huntrdfk/45be71009fa773fbe7180f27ca08bb33.jpg)
I am ecstatic to be able to take this deer on public land in the
manner I did, I will certainly be back to Ohio, hopefully sooner rather than later.
That's awesome David!!! Congrats. That's the way to do it!!
I always take photos of my animals with just the animal and my bow, having me in the photo does nothing but distract from the main subject, the animal. So here is one of the ones we took....
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v248/huntrdfk/401c6ee7698c2c83ade3961455d905ae.jpg)
I have more to talk about on this hunt, including pictures and a couple of really solid deer that meandered our way. (Unfortunately, they are still meandering)
David
the public land trophies are definitely greater than private land trophies in my book. Without any ability to bait or (legally) leave a stand over night, it is an added but awesome challenge and accomplishment when things go right for you!!
dandy public land buck!
Very nice! :thumbsup:
:thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Here is the scrape he freshened up on his walk to meet me.....
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v248/huntrdfk/e45b4914eb618c77e5e9f8a5576329d0.jpg)
David
And this is one of the many rubs we came across in the area......
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v248/huntrdfk/7121596e075972b28f65b514fff5586c.jpg)
David
Congrats brother....great story and pics!!
Congrats David that is awesome
Dave and I first met, 24 years ago, at the archery shop I manage. We hit it off quickly and have hunted together ever since. Early on, we went on numerous trips together. From Illinois for deer to Quebec for bear.
Then came families and work. While we have always hunted locally together, the last trip we went on together was Illinois in 1997! Way too long!
We started making plans for this trip last winter. Some intel from a friend turned is to this area. We knew it wouldn't be easy but being from New Hampshire, we are used to long odds!
Congrats!!
Great buck
Awesome David, congrats!
After I finished the deer I immediately texted Seth, knowing he had no cell coverage where he was, and knowing that he wouldn't get it till he was close to me, probably around 7:30. I texted him just after 3:30, so I knew I had a little bit of a wait. I texted Jeff and a few others, field dressed the deer and drug him from the thicket to my tree. (Seth is in way better shape than I, he is stronger and younger too. Don't tell him I said that though.) I gathered my stuff and walked out to the road to wait, once there I found another truck parked there. That was to prove fruitful for us. As it got dark, the owner of the truck arrived, his name was Jim and he was carrying a recurve, a Silvertip to boot! We struck up a conversation, and when he learned I had killed a buck he immediately offered to help me retrieve it. I told him that oi wanted to wIt for Seth, but he was than welcome to give us a hand. Jim readily agreed, and we waited for Seth. While waiting a number of people stopped to talk to Jim, who has a camp in the area. All were friendly, especially Nate, who offered to stop by our cabin and show us some spots that he thought were good!
Once Seth arrived we retrieved the deer, I thanked Jim and we called it a night.
Sunday morning I dropped Seth off at his spot, I then returned to the cabin and took care of my deer. I will only say here that Seth saw a 130" buck that morning, he can chime in if he wants to.
Congrats David, I hope Seth Chimes back in. Heck of a buck!
Great job Brother. A public land buck is a true trophy!
Very nice animal!
The spot that I was hunting, the day Dave shot his buck, we called the wide bottom stand. In the morning, I had two nice 8-points work down a bench that would lead them to within 15 yards of me. Both winded me at about the 35 yard Mark!
In the evening, I moved my stand up the opposite ridge to gain better advantage with the wind. The wind was 15-20mph all night! About an hour and a half before dark, I looked over my left shoulder to see 3 people go crashing down the ridge! A half hour later, they came crashing behind me! One was in camo the other two, plain clothes. One had a bow. They disappeared into the hollow to my right.
I figured that was it for my evening. Much to my surprise, 30 minutes before dark, I caught movement to my left. Yet another 8-point was working towards me. He closed to about 40 yards then turned and walked up and out of the hollow.
I snuck down and out. I was driving to get Dave when I finally got the text that Dave had killed one! I couldn't be happier for him! Well deserved!
We made short work out of extracting Dave's buck and taking photos.
Awesme buck!
Congrats!
Bisch
The next morning, Dave dropped me off an hour before light and went back to process his buck. It was 24 degrees an a light NW wind......perfect!
At 7:30, I hear all kinds of commotion behind me! The only thing that could possibly make that much racket is a buck chasing a doe! I grab my bow and look to see. As the crashing gets closer I realize that it's a Hunter with an enormous climber on their back, carrying a crossbow, heading past me and into the bottom of the hollow!
I don't handle that stuff well! I try to be a ghost in the woods and make as little impact as I can. Then, it's all undone by someone plowing in and cutting me off an hour after daybreak!
I resisted the urge to leave and sat down, trying to convince myself that something could still happen. At 9:30, I caught a flicker of white to my right, between the other Hunter and myself. A deer came up from the bottom and was headed to the other person. "This ought to be interesting" I thought!
Congrats, nice buck!!
Oops, double post!
Bisch
After a few seconds, I caught movement from where the deer had disappeared. It was coming back! It was a buck! A heck of a buck! When he stepped into view, he was a wide, heavy and tall, 8-point in the 130" range! He was slabbing across hill on the same bench I was on!
He stepped into my first lane at about 18 yards. I drew and softly grunted to stop him. Nothing! He walked Into my second lane I grunted a little louder this time.....nothing! As he quartered past me, I drew again and grunted loudly! He stopped dead in his tracks, perfectly Broadside, In my last lane! I picked a spot and dropped the string. The arrow flight was perfect right up until the time he hit the deck!!! My arrow sailed, harmlessly, over his back. He took a couple of big bounds,then stopped to look back. After a brief pause, he trotted out of my life!
Sounds like you guys had a great time and made some new friends . It's a lot of fun to hunt new places and figure out the animals.
Congratulations!
David my friend....congrats! Well deserved! Although I would have liked to see you in the picture. A Centaur eh? Nice!
Great story guys, I will continue to tag along.
Seth....I don't stop them any more for just that reason. I too have had several hit the deck on me. It's amazing that a big boy can move that quick. Keep it coming.....
Nice public land buck! Good job going to a new place and getting on some nice deer, despite the other noisy visitors. it just goes to show how deer operate around people. They just let the noisy ones walk on by.
I sat there for a couple more hours replaying the shot over and over. Kicking myself for not aiming lower. I knew he would react....I just didn't expect that much!
(http://i1349.photobucket.com/albums/p753/sethstevens/Mobile%20Uploads/2014-11/E753565B-4C4E-47AE-9FFA-6D6CE1A96E1B_zpsu1txrf9n.jpg) (http://s1349.photobucket.com/user/sethstevens/media/Mobile%20Uploads/2014-11/E753565B-4C4E-47AE-9FFA-6D6CE1A96E1B_zpsu1txrf9n.jpg.html)
He was standing In between the clump of 3 larger trees at the back of the lane.
After that, things got tough. There were people everywhere! A local, showed us a great looking spot on our topo. It was a 1 1/2 mile plus hike into it. I wish we had found that spot earlier! It was the largest white oak flat I've ever seen! Beautiful spot!
On the last evening, we hiked back in and got set up. We weren't expecting much seeing that it was 70 degrees with 20mph winds!
At 5:30 Dave texted me "big buck headed your way"! I could not see him anywhere! I saw movement behind me and a spike eased into my lane at fifteen yards. I picked a hair in the pocket and eased to full draw........ Then let down. He continued into the draw that separated Dave and I. When He got to the bottom he locked up and started acting spooky. I picked up my binoculars and focused where he was staring. A mid-130" 8 stepped Into view!
The big buck moved up the draw and went over the top. Soon after, he came charging back into the bottom, blowing like crazy! Apparently, he went over the top and was eye to eye with Dave!
That was how the hunt ended. All total I saw seven deer from stand....all bucks. 5 of them 8 points. Deer densities appear to be very low but genetics and trophy potential are off the charts!
We also learned that it's the poorest town in the poorest county and poaching is out of control.
This was my first trad trip. I certainly wish I had connected but had a great trip with a great friend. I couldn't be happier for Dave's success! He does have some really good kill photos with him in it. I even made him look good!
Thanks for following!
After I killed my buck all I had left was a doe tag, I continued to hunt, and like Seth, saw more bucks than does. The last day when we walked out to the spot that Nate had showed us I wanted to say to Seth, you Want me to walk a mile and a half with a doe tag in my pocket? Come again? Of course I didnt, be use I knew the answer, and also know he would have been right there with me it had been the other way around. When I first saw that last buck I was excited because I knew it was heading right to Seth. I told him it was a good deer, then told him it was 130+, when he told me he could see it I became more excited. 40 minutes later I about peed my pants when he walked up and over the ridge right into me, eye level, 20 yards away and blew out before I even knew he was there!
That pretty much ended our hunt, and while as Seth said we didn't see a lot of deer we saw mostly bucks, and 6 of those were pretty good ones, 2 of those being book deer. For a public land hunt, sight unseen seeing that number of decent bucks is doing ok.
We just can't wait 17 years before we do it again! Thanks again Seth, I can't ask for a better partner to share a camp with.
David
Here you go Tim, just for you!
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v248/huntrdfk/d2c217be45a31003f5abb38d6f346d68.jpg)
David
Awesome recap, guys!
Bisch
Oh, we're not waiting 17 months! We'll be somewhere next year and I will connect!
One of the highlights was stump shooting in a 38* downpour. Even if I did get robbed on the last shot!
Thanks for sharing your hunt. Nice photos and a great story. Congratulations
Way to go guys! Great hunts and congrats Dave on that fine buck!
Kenny :thumbsup: :clapper: :clapper:
Damn David.....you're as gray as me! :laughing:
Sounds like you fellas had a great time and enjoyed some success. That's what it's all about and what will keep you heading back.
My buddy and I just got back from a week in Kansas hunting public land. A long, hard and hot hunt with only one doe and one turkey tagged. On top of that quite a few laughs and memories.
Great stuff guys!
.
Awesome!
Great story guys! Memories made there for sure. Congrats :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Great Recap Seth, You pulled off a shot so I would say you won.
Great buck buddy!!
Congratulations Dave
Really great public land buck! Often times takes extra dedication to the details to harvest on public land.
Thanks everyone.
Tim the white is why I shave my head and keep a small neatly trimmed goatee, I havent been seen with that much hair in years!!!
Way to go Dave! May have to readjust to being back in the Granite State after all those deer and success. Very nice buck & shot
:bigsmyl: :thumbsup: