My First Bow hunt/season comes to a close...

I Got into a spot early, in the freezing cold, that the wind was optimal for my positioning. Unfortunately the ambient wind was all wrong for "my spot" over on Alder Pond. I had an area that was a flat-iron that I was overlooking from the top of a laurel covered knoll. I was under a Hemlock and hunkered down on that great camo fold up chair I have mentioned before. I had my bow balanced on my right foot and the strings and handle/riser on opposite sides of my knee. binoc's in hand and bleat-can and grunt-tube at the ready. I was facing a more-or-less northerly direction as that is where the wind was coming from.

After I had been in place about 40 minutes I began to hear the footsteps of something I knew was quite different from the squirrels skittering around me. I got very conservative with my calling at that point as not to completely give away and pinpoint my location. It was about 7:45 AM. when I got my first glimpse of brown hair and white "flag" in the distance @ about 80 yards out thru the cover. There was at least 1 Deer, but I was hearing some similar hoof steps not associated with the Deer I could see. Eventually I was able to make out that there were in fact 2 Deer browsing/feeding along. But I noticed strangely that the Deer seemed to be moving back and forth and it seemed odd to me. It wasn't an alarmed movement and it took quite some time for it to transpire, but the Deer were definitely crossing one area and then re-crossing it again in the opposite direction.

So I watched and listened to these 2 Deer as they made their way closer and closer to me all the while seemingly zig-zagging in their travel pattern. At about this time I also caught sight of a more rare Black Squirrel going about his nut gathering for the winter.

Eventually the Deer were quartering toward me at an angle to my left and passed thru a patch of laurel with their heads only above like they are swimming in a sea or laurel. At this time I confirmed that they were both Does. One was significantly smaller than the other and then I realized this was the Mother and Fawn duo I had seen on a couple of scouting occasions during the summer and also found their combined tracks on a number of occasions. It was good to know she had survived her fawn youth and the Coyotes had not made a meal of her. She has lost her spots and is a healthy looking yearling at this point.

The two were almost to cross the trail I had come up back behind me to my left and then they turned and came right back along the base of the knoll right in from of me within 12 yards of my position never having any clue that I was there. They also were within about 5 yards of a certain female Coyote carcass that had been deposited there earlier this season (by an unknown source [;)] ) Even though It has long since lost it's odor to me, I was a little curious if the Deer would avoid the area, now I know the answer is clearly no.

I was able to watch the two for approx. 20 minutes within 20-30 yards of my position at most. At the 15 yard area they were within a perfect shooting lane. So I took the opportunity to practice drawing my bow with Deer in the kill zone to see if I could do it silently without them spooking. I was quite successful and could have anchored the two of them flawlessly with 2 separate draws and kill opportunities. And no... I didn't lose my arrow off the rest this time, everything went flawlessly, at least until I aborted my draw and un-drew my bow. Then the arrow did come off the rest and onto my arm as I was applying extreme resistance and most probably string torque in my attempt to perform this reverse draw as silently as possible. I was still able to recover without the Deer ever taking notice.

Eventually I watched the 2 eventually meander out of my sight and hearing to my right and off up the hill toward the Delnaro's/Klein's property. It was a great experience and gave me huge dividends of confidence in my stillness/stealth ability, and the successful drawing of the bow without being busted by Deer within 15 yards of me. I also determined that what had seemed to be the Deer going back and forth was mama Doe doing vigilant circles around the yearling in her masterful security perimeter patrol around the youngster. I would see her go by on one perimeter and then further away in the opposite direction on the other side of the circle. It was amazing behavior to see and experience. It is no wonder that this Doe has successfully gotten her Fawn this close to adulthood. I had toyed with the idea that it was simply an irrational harried behavior of a Doe in Estrus, but she wasn't pausing and peeing and was completely calm and in control. I am certain it is simply the exercise of her perfect vigilance in keeping this Fawn safe and patrolling the woods as her and her offspring feed.

I had toyed with the idea that someone ought to harvest her to exercise some game management and in hopes that her offspring, that I got to look over quite well in the binoc's to be sure that it wasn't a Button-Buck and was indeed another generation of Doe. I certainly think that she needs to be left unmolested this season to get this yearling all the way thru the winter and adulthood in the safety of this perfectly vigilant maternal care... But I think I have since rethought that idea too... With the display of perfection of the care for this yearling, it is exactly that trait that we need more of in the gene pool of the local Deer population to successfully get the Fawns into adulthood with the way the Coyotes just follow the Deer during the birthing season and eat up the newborns, this is specifically that kind of natural selection we want to continue it's genes in the pool. So even though she isn't a twin-dropper, she is a very positive influence on the continued successful Deer population in my area. And who knows, maybe next year she'll drop a Buck Fawn...

The afternoon hunt saw the wind direction change for the possibility of success in "my spot" over on the west side of Alder Pond. I made my way in around 2:PM and was greeted by new tree rubs within glassing view of my spot. The flights of Geese were so noisy that I couldn't possibly have heard Deer moving as darkness came. Then those night bird calls started again, and there were many different ones calling around to each other. Eventually as I could no longer see my sight-pins and would have been unsuccessful at picking out antlers and started packing up my gear, one of the night birds that had been answering my Fawn-Bleat can call, landed in a tree overhead, it was checking me out. It eventually flew over to a tree that hangs out over the pond and gave me a good look at it's silhouette, it was obviously an Owl of some sort. And as I moved to get a better look at it he was ducking and craning to get a better look at me and it eventually jumped and flew off across the pond giving me a good look at it's size and fat Owl shape.

I did some research for Owl calls online this morning and have confirmed that it was a Great Horned Owl doing their "squawk" call. There are very many of them around Alder Pond in the evenings, and the Owl populations in general are great this year, as a couple weeks ago I caught one on some prey on the ground during daylight on one of my ATC scouting missions, that one was a Great Grey Owl and was absolutely massive. I made my way out to my truck listening to the Great Horned Owls call to each other with their "squawk" call and the Wood Ducks cry out their loon-like calls. The Wood Ducks are not as noisy and may be moving on for warmer areas to the south.

My first ever Bow season @ 40 has come to a close, and even thought I have not harvested a Buck, I consider this Archery season to be a glaring success and I am paying my Bow-huntin' dues as I ought to. I have had the time of my life and seen a ton of Deer and activity in my area. And now, come Monday, MA Shotgun season opens and I have the first week off to try and collect some venison for the freezer. I still love my gun huntin' but now I am hooked... I am a Bow-Hunter for the rest of my days until I move on to The Happy Hunting Grounds in my next life...

Bow season continues

Got myself out into my spot on the West side of Searle's (Alder) pond at the foot of Wolf Hill and settled into a more concealed location under some hemlocks. I think I hampered myself as the shooting lanes were not very good, but no biggie as I didn't get an opportunity to shoot.

As the morning light grew I had some very light snow crystals falling. They were smaller than average snow flakes and left only a trace or dusting of snow residue on the leaves. I set into calling and glassing for signs of movement.

I am so amazed at how the Deer just seem to materialize out of the ethereal and appear out of the blue where they weren't just a moment ago. Right around 8:30 AM I had a group of 3 Does feed up to within approx 50 yards of my location. I got a good look at them and found no antlers on any of them... They were 3 distinctly different colors. The first was a kind of gray coloring with no black in it's hair. The second and possibly the biggest of the 3 had alot of black in her. The back of her tail was almost all black and the back of her ears were very black and down the back of her neck and across her withers was a noticeable black coloring that appeared almost to be a stripe. The third was very tan/brown and looked to be younger and sort of aloof of the other 2. I got to watch them browse and feed, scratching themselves with a hind leg and hoof. They were totally unaware of my presence which I take to be a good sign of my stillness and stealth.

While the last one was still in sight I tried playing with the calls a little bit, both the Doe/Fawn bleat can and my Buck grunt tube. At first it went still and seemed a bit wary, but then it resigned to pretty much ignore the calls and the other 2 Does didn't seem to heed the calls either as none of them changed what they were doing or responded to the calls in any real way.

After watching them for about a half hour, they finally wandered off and the last one seemed to be situating herself away from me in an area that I thought she might bed down. The first two were looking over their shoulders behind them, and then as the last of the 3 came along, none of them were looking back any more. I was hopeful that maybe a Buck was going to follow them in, but it didn't happen.

After which I got up and set up a better position for myself and cleared some shooting lanes thru some of the sapling and evergreen branches and readied a better spot for my afternoon post. While I was snapping off the last of the farther out branches I heard a crash in the brush in the distance. I turned to watch a Deer bound away up the slope quartering away from me at an angle to my right at about 125 yards out. I couldn't make out any antlers with the distance and movement, but the Deer looked to be the same color of the last of the 3 Does I had watched earlier and she come out of a position I vaguely estimated she might have gone to bed down. So I saw 3 Deer together, and a 4th that may have been one of the 3 I had watched feeding and browsing earlier in the morning.

I was serenaded by the usual Canadian Geese fly-overs and calls. I must say the Mallards when one erupts with a call, sound amazingly like the essence of a crotchety old geezer bellowing out some indignity at some youthful offender. It makes me chuckle every time one breaks out in call.

The afternoon post went virtually without activity, except for being over-run by squirrels. I had one light on the ground about 1 1/2 feet behind my back. I took that as another good sign of my stillness and stealth that would lend to my possible successful Deer harvest if the opportunity arises.

After I could no longer possibly make out antlers in the waning light and my fiber optic sight pin dots faded into obscurity I made my way back out to the truck. At that time I was serenaded by a lone Wood Duck calling out as the twilight of dusk approached. The Duck seemed to be paralleling my movement as I skirted the pond northward back to my truck. I thought I had heard some Owl make a couple hoots in the distance and I did hear the calls of some unknown evening bird, possibly waterfowl as evening turned darker. It's calls kept getting nearer and nearer to the pond from slightly up the slope of Wolf Hill. I'm not sure what it is, I will have to research some different bird calls on the internet and see what I can come up with.

Amazingly, I have found absolutely no sign whatsoever of Coyote over in this apparent Deer haven. I know they run and reside on Wolf Hill, but there are no tracks, scat, or signs of them in or around my spot, which is just fine by me. Punchin' a hole in a Coyote with an arrow is a nice quiet way to cull 'em outta my Deer woods without spookin' the Deer, so I am excited by the possible Coyote harvest too, if the opportunity arises. With this recent cold spell, I tend to think the pelts are finally gettin' good and prime, so they would make a nice little rug right about now.

I will be hunting again on Thanksgiving and this coming Saturday as my last opportunities to conclude my first ever Bow season @ 40. So far so good, and I will be able to get after them once the thunder-stick season opens next Monday for which I have taken the week off of work to pursue hoofed venison...

MA Bow season for Deer, Update...

Came close again this morning. The wind was just right for my new spot that I have scouted the most sign, plenty of fresh rubs on a continual line for about a 1/2 mile or so on a ridge overlooking a hidden (posted land) treasure of a Beaver & Bass woods pond in my home town that only I have permission to hunt.

On the West bank of the oval pond that stretches north/south for almost 3/4 of a mile and approx 250 - 300 yards wide, the first ridge above the water's edge that rolls along anywhere from 40' over the surface to 10' above and in a width of about 40 or so yards wide before the woods starts up again, sloping up to Wolf Hill. This first ridge is a major runway of game trail. Buck Rubs every 30 - 45 yards and now new fresh rubs and the ground scrapes have started.

I started in heading south along the west ridge overlooking the pond and took my time and care to move with cover noise of passing cars down the east/west road at the north end of the pond, and I also utilized the ongoing slight gusts of the wind/breezed that was blowing out of the south/south-west into my face as I headed to "my spot."

As the daylight started growing I noticed that it appeared that the leaves were rolled up on the game trail in front of me as if something (a Deer) had just been milling along in front of me browsing and sniffin' for acorns along the way. So I kept my eyes peeled...

Just as I got to "my spot" I noticed 2 new ground scrapes within 15 - 20 feet from my ground posting spot, just as I moved up to take a closer peek at the ground scrapes, I noticed that one of them was maybe a day or 2 old, and one was absolutely fresh as the light bits of ground cover moss and dirt were still light and fluffy in comparison to the other scrape that had 1 or 2 leaves in it that had fallen thru the night with the gusting wind, but the scrape further to the left had none and was still showing signs of unsettled dirt... When a shape in the distance caught my attention out of the corner of my eye... My brain instantly told me that the shape didn't belong and wasn't natural for the normal view from my spot. I froze in my tracks and carefully looked up.

Boy it sure looked like a Deer broad-side out at about 65 - 75 yards away from me... Then it moved... The patch of brown in that horizontal shape was unmistakable... Then it picked up it's head and I made out antlers... It was a beauty!!! I made it out to be at least an 8-pointer, maybe a 10, and it had no idea I was there...

The wind was still in my face blowing from the Buck to me, it put it's head down again and I think it was browsing on acorns, I watched it meander turn and walk out away from me slowly and without any alarm totally unaware of me. Once I was sure it wasn't able to see me I settled myself a little, put down my pack, and quietly pushed the arrow holder off of the arrow so I wouldn't experience a similar debacle to my last encounter...

I slowly and carefully got my Primo's bleat can and my grunt tube into position and started calling. The wind was a little busy so my calls weren't carrying so well at the moment. I worked at it about 15 - 20 minutes carefully glassing the area with my binoc's. Then out of the corner of my eye while checking back over my right shoulder to watch for the chance that the Buck might be trying to circle and wind me on the woods side of me in the cover of the forest, I caught another movement that seemed to be another Deer jumping or running after the Buck, I think it may have been a Doe that I didn't see at first that may have been browsing with the Buck. I think the Doe must have heard my bleats and grunts, but just wanted to catch up with the Buck.

I stayed still another 10 minutes or so and decided to go hunker down in "my spot" and prepare to see if I could call the Buck back in as the winds were starting to subside a bit. I got myself settled in and called and glassed for approx. 45 minutes or so. No action... That's when I got a little antsy and decided I wanted to go see where I had seen it last. I took a couple items out of the pack and set myself up for a short stalk. I glassed the area good one more time repositioned my arrow holder back on the arrow for movement and started off to where I had seen the Buck browsing using the gusts/blows of wind/breeze as cover noise. Again a C-5 from my local Air Force Reserve Base was making a run from behind me to my right and would pass overhead in exactly the direction I was moving, so I used it as cover noise and made my way for the last 40 yards to where the Buck had been browsing. Sure enough the leaves were overturned and pushed around up on end in a fairly open and flat area, just as I was scanning the ground suddenly from about 40 yards to my right a Deer blew/snorted and stomped... I turned my head to see the Deer standing broadside, then it blew/snorted and turned to it's left and bounded out and up away from me blowing and snorting, but not at a true alarm pace/speed.

I was right, it was trying to circle and wind me, but hadn't quite gotten my wind yet and it had seen me move, but without my scent it still wasn't in complete alarm. And I could hear that it had stopped about 70 yards away moving back a little toward my front side on my right. So I eased myself around the opposite side of a huge double-trunked Eastern White Pine tree and proceeded to use the bleat can to try and coax it back again. After a few minutes of this I caught a glimpse of movement out opposite me on the other side of the tree I was behind slowly moving to my right angled to get behind me and try to wind me out at a range of about 50 yards now. So I kept peaking at the area I saw movement from behind my tree cover...
My mistake was not turning myself to look from the right side of my tree cover and getting tunnel-vision focus on where I had now seen it last looking out from the left side of my tree cover even though it was moving to my right when I had last seen it. I called a bit more and kept trying to spot it, but just couldn't pick it out. Then I slowly turned and looked back over my right shoulder and there he was...
I made out brisket front legs and chest, he was doing the same thing I was peeking around a tree back over my right shoulder now downwind of me. I got a good look at his dark chocolate fur color and as he turned and blew and snorted in alarm and bounded back in his original direction up toward Wold Hill I got another good look at his main beams and the lighter color of his antlers over his dark chocolate colored coat.

He bounded out hard and continued to blow and snort until the last snort I heard out and up about 100 or so yards away. So close, and so exciting...

I'm not sure if I should pressure him by setting up there this evening hoping to catch him on his return trip into me. At least now I have his movement time/pattern and it will help me hunt the area more efficiently. Out to Wolf Hill in the morning, and possibly in from Wolf Hill in the evening...

Damn, I love Bow hunting!!! This is fun!!!