Slow Going

Well, it is about halfway through the deer season and I have yet to kill a deer. It's not that I haven't seen them, it's I guess I am too picky with my shot selection. I have passed up 4 younger bucks earlier in the season, didn't like the shot a group of does gave me, and had a nice 120+ 8 pointer at 40 yards behind some brush and trees, but would never step out for me to take the shot. However, I most likely would have waited for him to get in to about 30 yards before I would have drawn my bow back. Which leads me to my next thought...

I am considering hanging up the bow and taking the rifle to the woods. But I guess you have to be able to see deer to shoot deer. The last 3 times I have ventured out into my bottom, I have been blanked. I haven't seen a deer one. And to top it off, as I sit here and type this, Frank Ellis sends me a picture of a great 10 pointer that was taken on his farm this morning. Not to mention all the other "friends" that continue to send/post pictures of their kills. While I rejoice with them, it still keeps me thinking I haven't got anything yet. I feel my chances would be greater if I took the rifle, but I also want to take a deer with my bow. I think I'll get one under my belt, and then take the bow back out afterwards.

In the meantime, I pray that the lack of seeing deer will be fixed with a change of location, and the lack of killing deer, will be fixed by a change of weapon. Hopefully the next time I write will be to let you know I'm putting meat in my freezer. Thanks for your time, and safe happy hunting. Remember when in doubt, don't pull the trigger.

Butterflies

The days are starting to dwindle away until the archery opener for South Georgia. As the magical day draws near, the butterflies are really starting to set in. To top it off, I still have five days until I am sitting in a stand waiting for the elusive whitetail to wander by. I have several reasons for the butterflies, but that doesn't make it any easier.

Reason one: This is the first year since we have owned this 92 acres that I have not had trail cameras out giving me an idea of what to expect. This wouldn't be that big of a deal, but the 98 acre lease next to our place had some guys on it last year that did not let anything walk. So, I am not sure where my numbers are. Doe, fawns, bucks, I have no idea. My neighbor has said he has seen a good number of deer and sign around the place, but I haven't seen it with my own eyes, and to be quite honest I am a little scared.

Reason two: I know there has to be a few deer on there, but the quality is something I am concerned about. Money has been tight (tight really doesn't do it justice)and the food plots didn't get put in, mineral sites did not get replenished, and the natural forage is suffering from lack of rain. I can only hope the existing perennial plots came back up enough to provide a little nutrition for them.

Reason three: My new bow is sitting in the local pro-shop having some stuff tweaked on it. As I mentioned money has been super tight and all my hunting equipment went to the highest bidder. A great friend recently gave me a bow and with the help of our great sponsors, I was able to outfit it and now it is about ready for me. I shot it for the first time two days ago and then into the shop to tune it in. I hope to get it back tomorrow and then practice, practice, practice to be ready Saturday.

Reason four: I have been feeling extremely guilty the last couple years of not allowing my son, who loves the outdoors, to go hunting with me. So, this year I vowed to take him with me at every available opportunity. That means, Saturday morning, opening day, he will be sitting 15 feet to my left on a near tree in a ladder stand, completely in the open. He is 9 years old and only been hunting with me a couple times and we sat in a blind. This will be the first time he will be completely exposed with nothing hiding him but the camouflage. To top it off I have decided to put a small camera in his hands to film the hunt. If it all works out and a deer does come by and a shot opportunity is given and he records it, WOW! is all I can say. Even if it doesn't happen, the time spent together will be a memory we will share.

Not really a lot to worry about I know, but enough to get the butterflies stirring. It all begins in four short nights. We will be sitting in our "hunt cabin" waiting for that next morning, when the butterflies reach their max and the moment comes. I know it will be worth it, and can't wait to see what happens. I would like it to be a perfect dream scenario, but will be happy with whatever happens. Stay posted to find out what goes down!

I have taken the leap

For the last 15 years or so I have been dabbling in creating websites for friends and acquaintances that have heard of me through word of mouth. After graduating college I started messing around with editing video for the churches I worked for and personal use, and most recently the Team Weekend Dreams iShow. I have had offers to edit some commercials for people and build sites for some other companies and have always thought that it would be neat to be able to this this full time. Well, after some prodding from some close friends and my wife getting a really nice raise, the time has come. I have taken the leap and decided to start an outdoors marketing company. Myself along with a couple of friends are creating websites, editing video (for commercials, hunts, "trade show videos", the list goes on), designing logos, and providing print material to help promote a client's business. So if you or someone you might know is in the market for our services please check out Drop Zone Outdoors.

We have priced our services well below the industry standard, but this doesn't mean you will receive below the standard service. We pride ourselves in professional quality products, and always strive for 100% customer satisfaction. Our motto is, "We blow your mind, not your money."

My first turkey encounter

I started trying to kill a turkey about 10 years ago. Piddling around with diaphram calls and going out in the Osceola Forest in hopes of hearing a thunder chicken sound off. But it never happened. Four or five tries and no luck. Then I moved further south and lost interest, began to fish and gave up the pursuit. Now I live in Southwest Georgia and the fishing isn't that great and the hunting bug has infected me again. So a friend of mine 3 years ago took me with him to his place and I started my pursuit again. We ventured out 1 time not hearing the first bird. Last year my neighbor let me hunt his place, he has birds on the place next to him, but I couldn't get them to cross the fence. That would be the extent of my experience. Go out call and hear nothing or hear one half a mile away and that was it.
We have had plenty of deer on our 92 acres but no birds. Neighbors to the east and west have them but not us. Until the call came in last night that I had been waiting for. Another neighbor was riding home and saw birds in a field on our place. It was late and he figured they would roost near there, he was right.
This morning at 5:15 I woke up and headed out. Arrived, setup, and waited for first light. I hooted a couple of times, no answer. Waited a little while and yelped on my Straight Creek Calls slate, nothing. Then it happened, about 10 minutes passed and an owl hooted and he sounded off. My heart started to pound and I hit my call and he cut me off, GOBBLE. I put the call down and switched to my diaphram. He was on roost and about 120 yards away (really I have no clue how far he was but 120 sounds good). I waited until the sun broke and did a fly down cackle and waited. He gobbled back and I knew then it was on. About 5 minutes passed and I yelped, he cut me off again, he was hot to trot. He hit the ground and gobbled again this time much deeper and bigger sounding then before. I actually thought it was a different bird. I yelped a couple more times and he gobbled back and I shut up.
Then it happened I saw movement across the field, coming out of the woods on the road I thought he would come out on, it was a hen. I yelped once more and he thundered back at me and I knew he was right behind her. She popped her head up, saw my decoys and headed straight for them. He came out, puffed up a couple times and went right back down. A good friend told me you can tell if it is an older bird cause they won't stay in full strut too long, so I really got excited, he was about 80 yards and I could just see he had a full fan, but not his beard. He saw the hen heading to the decoys and followed, blowing up and coming down about every 5 step. My heart started racing as I sat there waiting for him to close the distance. I let out a few clucks and the hen came running in, but, he stopped. "Crap, he thinks something is up." is what I started thinking. He started feeding and slowly coming my way. He got to about 50 yards and hung up. He wouldn't come any closer, he was a big bird and by this time I couldn't see his spurs but could see his beard hanging from his chest. It was pretty thick and about 10-11 inches long. By this time the hen had made her way to my decoys so I clucked a couple more times and he popped up his head. I wanted to pull the trigger, but really wanted to have him in about 10 more yards. So I waited, boy was that a mistake, he turned and slowly made his way back into the woods. I yelped, he gobbled and kept walking.
The hen stayed with my decoys for 30 minutes as he walked deeper and deeper in the woods, gobbling about every 5 minutes. Occasionally I would yelp back and he would cut me off with a gobble but just wouldn't turn and come back. I finally slid out undetected by the hen and will return tomorrow for another chance to kill my first bird.
This was my first time getting to see any birds while turkey hunting and to hear him blow up was something I'll never forget. And to top it off to have a hen at 15 yards and watch her, it was truly a fantastic encouter. Hopefully next time I write I'll have some hooks in my hand. Until then, happy and safe hunting.

finally good trailcam pics

It has been a while, almost a month, since I checked my trailcams. I think I may start waiting a while every time. This last check proved to be my most exciting yet. The results were full of the normal raccoon, opossum, and fox shots, but this time I had a great surprise. At the beginning of the season I had a set of pictures of a nice 10 pointer (5x5) in velvet, and that was the only pictures of him I got. UNTIL NOW!   He has come back to the mineral lick and has a some war wounds. Whether he was fighting, ran into a low limb, injured by a hunter or another animal, I am not sure but his left eye is gone. I am a little torn in my decision to take him if I see him while in the stand. I would hate for someone else to kill him, mainly cause I am selfish, but I really would like to see what his rack will do next year now with this injury. I think he could grow some funky stuff.
Not only was I lucky enough to get this deer on camera but also I got one of those rare photos of a fox carrying a rabbit in its mouth that he had just killed. I have seen people post these pictures before, but this is a first for me. Overall, I had great pictures of a buck chasing a doe, bucks working a scrape, does spooking and a confused raccoon that thought he was supposed to mount from the side. My favorite picture of all is this one, it is nothing fancy, but really well framed and it helps he is a personal favorite buck of mine. I have let him walk a couple of times and hope he makes it to next year so I can see what his left side does.

so far, so good

The 2009 hunting season is in full swing, and I have had a blast. I only have killed the one doe, but I have seen deer just about every time I have been in the woods. Just last night I had several deer, including a buck, inside 50 yards. But for some different reasons I couldn't get the shot off.
Last night I got to the woods pretty late so I decided to let my bow take a break and carried a 30-30 to sit on the ground over looking a bottom where I made a mock scrape. After being there about 30 minutes, 3 does came in from my right (my off hand) and browsed for a few minutes. Then all of a sudden the lead doe darted up the hill taking the other two does with her. Thinking I had missed my chance, I started to scan the bottom, when I heard another deer in the same area as the does were. I scan the area with my binoculars and see horns. I grab the gun and switch hands and prepare for a left handed shot. Looking through the scope I see his left main beam, nice mass but only one point. I knew then what buck he was. I have several pictures of this buck on trailcam and had not made a decision to take him or not, he has a great right side with a nice brow tine, and decent g-2 and g-3. But his left side is just bare except a decent 5-6 inch tine.
I looked at him through the scope he walked behind some trees and stopped with just his head exposed, presenting no ethical shot, and walked into the thicket and was never seen again. I grunted and tried to bring him back but he wanted nothing to do with it.
The weekend before a similar thing happened when a nice mature 8 pointer came walking in to check the scrape.
I start to stand up and the seat on my climber catches the back of my legs and rubs as I stand, making all kinds of noise. The buck hears it and stops dead in his tracks and makes a 90 degree turn at 50 yards and walks out of the bottom stopping behind a tree to survey the situation. With no ethical shot I lower my bow and try to grunt him back in, but it didn't work. ((UPDATE: found out Saturday Afternoon this deer was shot by the guys who have the lease to the north of our property - he was only 2 1/2 years old -- what a shame they couldn't let him walk))
Overall, I am very pleased with the way this season has gone. I haven't shot that many deer, but I have already seen more deer this year then my last two years combined. I am sure the shots will start coming around and some deer will go down. Until next time, happy and safe hunting!

almost but no cigar

I had the most awesome encounter this morning. After talking to my neighbor last night, and finding out that there was a decent doe feeding every morning in our front field, I decided to sit in a stand that I set up last year in the late season for gun hunting. Just about every time I sat in the stand last year I saw a deer. It is a SHORT ladder stand at only 10 ft high but sits embedded in a pine tree giving it great cover. Sitting off a main trail from bedding to feeding it is an awesome morning or evening location. The trail comes out of an oak bottom onto a 20 acre field with some hedge rows that the deer use to bed in. The stand sits about 40 yards from the woods along a stand of pines behind a pine tree that allows enough time to either draw my bow or raise my rifle for a shot without spooking the deer. Well, it works great unless you are not paying attention to the opening of the trail and a doe walks out and the first time you see her is when she comes under the draw tree at 10 yards. After spotting her just on the other side of the tree and hoping she would go to my left giving me a perfect broadside shot, she decides to come right at me while grazing. She ends up coming within 5 yards of my stand (downwind) and across where I walked in. This is the closest I have been to a deer and was so pumped about the encounter, even though I didn't get a chance at the shot.

The entire encounter lasted for what seemed like forever, but was probably 2 minutes. I had no chance of getting an ethical shot off, but next time will be ready for her and my venison skewer will find its mark.

Breaking the Ice

The night of Sept. 17th, a night of firsts and of what I hope will be many more to come.

The weather was rather warm and humid, as it normally is here in Southwest Georgia. I was lucky to have a decent steady breeze, that would sometimes crest as a heavy wind, blowing from the southwest as I peered east awaiting the arrival of the elegant whitetail deer. Hoping for a mature buck, I knocked an arrow and began the wait overlooking two groups of persimmon trees, each 25 yards away, one to the north the other to the east.

As I sat waiting, a jay flies in and lights behind me in my backdrop of a wild cherry tree and scrub oaks. He hangs out for a few minutes providing a small amount of entertainment, and eventually flies off to search for more food in the next group of trees. Time continues to pass and is filled with admiring God's great creation and catnaps. ;^) A light sprinkle begins to fall, with the sun shining bright and no clouds above me. This was a common occurence in Florida but was my first time seeing it here in Georgia. The sprinkle fades away and the sun begins to set.

As the sun is setting, I hear a loud blow of a doe through the woods and on another field to the east of me. It was followed by another and then a sequence of short lighter ones as she ran away to the south. I was hoping she would turn and run into the hardwood bottom between us and come out in my field, but it didn't happen. A few minutes pass and I scan my persimmons to see if anything is coming in when I see a deer's head passing through the tall grass, coming right at me to feast. It was a good size doe with a brilliant brownish/red coat. Behind her was more movement, an old grey doe that I had been trying to harvest for three years. I had the chance last year, but right as I went to draw back my bow she spotted me and began to blow like mad for 13 minutes. Not entirely spooked she did present a shot, but my release let go in draw back and the arrow when flying to the ground. As I reached for another arrow the movement was enough to push her over the limit and send her on her way, with her yearling and fawn closely behind.

This time would be different. As she stepped out of the grass and began feeding, she walked behind a young persimmon tree that provided the best time to draw. I come to full draw and wait for her to present me with a clean shot, and as she does I see more movement from where she come from. It was her fawn from last year, and she walked right behind her keeping me from taking the shot. As I remain in full draw for what seemed like eternity but was more like 45 seconds, she raises her head and looks right at me. "Great, she is gonna get spooked and run off", I think to myself while I sit there starting to shake from being at full draw for so long. She turns her head to the side and attempts to make me out but my leafy camo suit provides enough break up to put her at ease and she continues feeding. She takes a couple quick steps clearing her two offspring and I attempt to bleat to stop her. The bleat sounded like a doe getting hit by a Mack truck, but it worked. She stopped and turned to look, presenting me with the ideal broadside shot. I centered my pin, hit the release and listened to the thwack of the arrow as it struck just behind her shoulder in the heart area. She takes off to the north into the field and her offspring head east into the bottom. She ran to what I thought was about 20 yards and stopped, I watched for a few seconds and then she disappeared as she fell into the tall grass.

It was 7:45 pm (est) when I shot her, just at sunset. I knew I still needed to let her lay for at least 20 minutes, so I call my wife to let her know, her husband the mighty hunter, had broke the ice and would be bringing home some meat for the freezer. I make a few more phone calls, ask a buddy to come help me load her up and head to my truck to complete the recovery. He arrives and the search begins.

Knowing where I last saw her, I figured it wouldn't take long to find her. Well... the sun had set and darkness was in full effect. The spot where I thought she fell was not the one. So we start to circle out and a few minutes later, jackpot, he finds her. On the same line I thought she was just 20 yards out further. We put her in the back of my truck and take her to his house for processing. He shows me how to do it since this the the first deer in my recent hunting experience that I can actually harvest the meat. I had harvested a button muley while stationed in Wyoming, that I processed but did not do it too well. And last year I took my first antlered whitetail, but it took me a week to find him.

This was my first doe ever, she weighed about 170+ on the hoof and toothed aged older than 6 years old. She was an alpha doe that ruled our 92 acres, keeping off any deer that she didn't like. And now will provide many a meal for me and my family.

0 for 3

After an okay Saturday and horrific Sunday evening, I had another chance to get in the woods this afternoon, and was it hot and humid. The wind was still and if not for my thermacell (http://mosquitorepellant.com) it would have been miserable. I got to the woods around 4:15 and after changing into my leaf camo suit and spraying down, I was sitting in the tree at 4:45. By 5:00 I had recorded the intro of the hunt and was ready to sit and wait. After an hour of sitting there and twittering I thought I heard thunder, so I checked the radar and quickly learned it was thunder and a bunch of it, about 45 minutes away. As I sat and decided to stay or go, the rain began to fall, with no protection for my camera or phone I decided it would be best to get down and hunt dry another time.

I am bummed to say the least, but dry and able to hunt tomorrow, if the rain moves through. I know I will check the radar before heading out tomorrow. As of day 3 of GA archery season I am 0 for 3. Will I go 0 for 4, or get rid of this collar, stay tuned to find out. It has to get better sometime right?!?

my great letdown

Well....., the first two days of GA archery season have come and gone and all I have to show for it is a couple of stories. I knew for sure that I was going to take at least a doe on opening weekend, but the deer had others plans! After about 8 hours in the ground blind Saturday and 3 hours in a tree tonight, I can say I am excited I get another chance . Stayed tuned for updates of my 2009-2010 Hunting Season. Happy hunting!

Solitude

As I sit here eating lunch along the banks of a river (sorry not sure of the name) I am taken away by the sounds of cicada and traffic in the distance. It reminds me of being in the stand waiting for Mr. or Ms. Whitetail to come along. For me there is nothing like it, solitude is a great way to rejuvinate, refresh, recharge, or anything else you want to call it. It doesn't bother me to be in the crowds at the mall or in front of a group speaking, in fact I tend to enjoy that as well. But, there is something about the outdoors that I find I enjoy the most. I guess it is being alone with God and nature. It can't be explained, pushed on to others, or understood by someone who doesn't appreciate it. But once someone catches "the bug", the understanding comes easy. Solitude outdoors, is a great place!

Twitter #followfriday List - thanks to @jelo45110

Every Friday Twitter has a "ritual" of suggesting people or tweeple to follow. The list should be people who you follow and find interesting and recommend others to follow. My list has continued to grow every week to where now I have decided to start doing it this way. Below you will find a "mosiac" of the avatars of the people I recommend you follow. Please if you do not recognize an avatar click on that person and follow them. They may not tweet often but they are great people! Have a great #followfriday!

Get your twitter mosaic here.