Headstones and hunting experiences

[woodslinger]

Kind of a strange title for a topic and not much of a hunting story but I though I would share it anyways.

I do a lot of hunting around old abandoned homesteads and farms because they generally have a bunch of old fruit trees that are regular deer magnets. They also tend to have old family cemetary plots that can lead to some unigue hunting experiences.

About 5 years ago I paddled my canoe out to an island about 1/2 mile off the coast to do some deer hunting. I still hunted my way towards the center of the island and found a group of 3-4 apple trees that the deer were pounding. A quick look around on the downwind side showed a slight depression about 2' deep and about 6-7' long with a small fir tree at the end closest to the orchard. A perfect spot to wait until dark.  No deer showed up and I exited my blind out the back side and tripped on something buried in the leaves. A quick look with the flashlight revealed it was a headstone. Not that I am superstitious or anything but had I known my ground blind was someone's final resting spot I would not have used it.

Two years ago I had another ground blind watching a trail coming down off a softwood ridge onto an oak flat. The trail wandered right through another old family plot with dates as far back as the 1780's. About 30 minutes before dark a group of 3 does came down the trail. I drew back and took a shot at the lead doe shooting right over her back and shattering my  snuffer tipped birch arrow on the headstone about 10 yards behind her. That granite sure is tough on arrows.

Just the other day I walked about 3/4 mile into this old field I found on an aerial photo. While scouting around I found an old overgrown clearing 1/4 mile N of the field that had an old stone foundation, 3 apple trees just overloaded with fruit and one old chestnut tree that was dropping nuts. The deer sign was pretty impressive with at least a dozen fresh rubs scattered around this 1/2 acre plot. In the SE corner I found 5 headstones all with the same last name and dates ranging from 1854 to 1962. Two of the headstones belonged to soldiers one from WWII and the other stone was to old to read. I knew they were veterans because they had the small American flags lying down at the head of both stones. The wooden stakes had rotted and broken holding the flags. A few minutes with the old pocket knife and each flag had a new stake and were standing tall at each headstone. I then gave each flag a salute and continued on my way. This may sound crazy but being an Army veteran myself and having a grandfather that gave the ultimate sacrifice it seemed like the thing to do. Who knows maybe they will smile on this bowhunter and I will get that buck.

[rascal]

I can understand the part with the flags, I would have done the same and for the same reasons you did.  Im a vet and a hunter and couldnt imagine a more suitable way to handle the situation.

[SouthMDShooter]

pretty cool experinces i think

[Wednesday Caste]

That was a great gesture flying the flags again for those soldiers.

[Soilarch]

Sorry guys, I'm messing this up...

[Soilarch]

Originally posted by Soilarch:
Don't think I've ever found one that I KNEW had veterans for sure.  There's a lot of really old really small graveyards back around home (Farmers find/know many little secrets about what is on or near their land.)

What's really sad, is the biggest of the "secret" graveyards is right beside a rural road, and I bet there were people who lived on the road and never knew it was a graveyard.  They cleared the growth on it about 5 years ago.  In two years it was unrecognizable again.  Very sad.  We're talking thousands of 1-2" thick saplings COVER this 20x30 yard cemetery.  What can you do?  You can't go pulling up all the mini-stumps without taking the entire top 2 feet of ground with them.  It's that thick.


You did good.  Perhaps remember the spot and check on it every couple years.

[Soilarch]

Whoa...edit

[razorsharptokill]

Good story and good deed! I'd have done the same thing. Sounds like a really neat place. Take some pics next time you go. I'm sure everyone would love to see these places.

[Tyler2045]

I am not a veteran but i have to agree i would have had to do the same thing. Men who have severed our country and do severe our country deserve the utmost respect. And what you did is RIGHT.

[Izzy]

Cool,cool,cool.There was a gravestone at a bend in a stream I used to jump shoot ducks on which was rumored to be that of a child who drowned there long ago.It was a really strange spot for a gravestone but a spot I would appreciate being layed to rest in.I saw 3 bucks battling on that same point within feet of that stone.Havent been there in a while but I often thought about what the real story was with that worn out stone.

[Killdeer]

Headstones are tangible reminders of what is in the back of my mind on every hunt. Who was there before me? What was the land like? What were their lives like? Did they feel like me, see the same things as me, get the same thumb up the nose from the ancestors of the nose-thumbing game I hunt?

Every hunt to me, is a different walk on the same path as my forebears, and I respect them and the land they also loved.

Killdeer

[Robert Warnock]

Great story, thanks for sharing