Because of the doe

When I hunt, it is for the challenge I can get. I know I have to beat the animals instincts, eyes, ears, and nose. Over the years I have learned to do this. I have watched bucks come in an area I was hunting , stop as if they felt my presence. At times the wind would be in my favor. I would be completely hidden and still get busted. They just didn't like the feel of things. I can relate. There have been different times in my life when things would seem perfect like say in a job offer, a chance at deals on things. When I started to do these things I would not feel peace. Some times it would come at the last minute. At these times when I didn't look for peace and did them anyway, many times things didn't work out for the best. Much like those old bucks who felt uneasy about things and came in anyway. Many of them filled my freezer. But getting back to hunting because of a challenge, the bucks are not always the best challenge. On many hunting shows and in my own experiences I've watched the bucks show no fear. But one old doe would be the one to bust me and the others every time. When I was hunting one time, I found the perfect funnel, but every time I tried to hunt this set up I got busted by an old long faced doe. I finally started hunting this doe. When I finally killed her it was with a long range shot. I just could not get close to her any other way. I have seen her back track when hunters spooked her. I even saw her crawl behind a dead fall tree to escape me shooting her once. She was a great challenge. I enjoyed harvesting her more than some of the bucks I've killed.

Dealing with Others

Many people are passionate about different things in life. Football, politics, fishing, hunting, etc. We can even let other peoples' passions get on our nerves. Talking with others who are passionate about something and you disagree with them can lead to arguments and at times fights. I'm passionate about hunting and I'm not influenced by what others think. Most of the time I don't even care. Over the years I have butted heads with animal lovers. Most of them think hunters are barbarians. Many of these are miss informed. Because they think that animal lovers are the ones who started conservation programs to save animals. They don't realize that hunters started these programs and give a portion of all hunting licences and fees back into these programs. I've seen people who are passionate try to change others to think the way that they think. Not just with hunting but other things like football fans who cheer for one team and try to change other fans of other teams to their side. Not likely to happen. It is the same with politics. I have seen it happen time after time. When we are passionate over things and others can't understand. We should try to see things from their side. I'm not saying change to think as they would, because I wouldn't. But we should understand not all our passions are the same. I recently saw a friend of mine compromise how he did things about something he was passionate about so he wouldn't offend me. I usually say what ever I want no matter who I offend. But I ran across someone who was passionate about something, poker, which to me is something on the lines of Uno, dominoes, clue, risk, and any other GAME. Playing against this person ,we had different styles. It was for chips, not real money, so I played like there is no tomorrow, taking some risk. I got put out quickly by calling someones bluff, and they weren't bluffing. The person who was passionate about poker took offense that it didn't faze me. He even started really talking trash talk to me. This is just being a guy. But he pushed to far in my opinion and almost got me to tell him what I really thought. That would have hurt his feelings and offended the others at the table. I held back for better relations in the future. Something I don't normally do. My wife says I'm maturing in my thinking. But me, I could see his side and his passion. Just like mine for hunting.

My first buck

I've taken a lot of bucks over the years. The one I can remember the details about the most was my first one. When I was young my granddad always had a garden. I would go help him work in the garden. I would notice all the tracks of the deer coming into his garden at night. One of them always stood out to me more than all the rest. It was a nice sized buck track. What was unique about this track was it had a split off one side of the hoof like a small finger jutting out. I saw this same track for about 5 years. I was determined to harvest this buck. I would scout all my hunting woods to find any buck sign. For anyone who don't know what scouting is. It is like looking for clues or signs left by the deer to tell where they travel. I searched where the buck I was after was entering and leaving the garden. I hunted in that direction without any luck. For 5 years this buck escaped me. Until one day I stopped beside a mud hole and looked at the ground. There in the mud was a foot print of the deer I was after. It was heading to another patch of woods from where I had been hunting. I went to a funnel in this area. There was buck sign everywhere. Deer season came that year and I took a week off to hunt. I hunted from the ground so I found me a point where the funnel crossed between to cliffs. The first morning , the wind was blowing the wrong way and I spooked the deer. The next day I was back, the wind was blowing perfectly straight up the between two cliffs forming a funnel. I smelled a wet horse smell and heard deer grunting. I was in a perfect set up. I knew it was my day. Then the wind shifted . All I heard was deer blowing their alarm. I had to react fast or miss my chance. I climbed over the side of the cliff. About 15 feet below me was the bottom. There I went around the base to meet the deer leaving from the funnel. We met and I killed a nice 8 point. My first buck, I can remember it like it was yesterday. When I checked his feet one had the split I was after.

As a child

When I got started hunting, my excitement at just being in the outdoors couldn't be matched. Just the sight of wildlife, squirrels, raccoons, hawks, and deer would make my heart race. At that time I was still young, maybe 10 years old, every sighting was a new adventure. To be out so far you couldn't hear any cars or anything modern. I could imagine myself following the footsteps of Louis and Clarke,Daniel Boone, and Davy Crockett. As I grew older my excitement wavered. No longer did my heart race as smaller animals went by me. It had to be deer to get much of a reaction. Then I became a "Dad". I would go hunting. When I came home from hunting. My children would rush to my truck and ask many questions about what I saw,not what I killed. I then started looking for different animals, when I hunted, so I could have something to tell them. They didn't care if it was a deer, squirrel. raccoon, or just a bird. It all was exciting to them. My son,who is 8 years old, and I were hunting together recently. We hadn't seen anything all morning. So we decided to move slowly through the woods to see if we could jump anything up. I was totally focused on trying to spot deer. My son was looking for whatever he could find. As a child will, he noticed things, many of which I hadn't even seen. I had walked under a tree, not even noticing 3 baby raccoons sitting on the limbs of the tree. One of which was only about 2 feet above me. He still gets excited when he remembers that story. One more thing we should try to do as a child would, is to show a little respect around wildlife. I decided to have some fun with the one just above my head by shaking it out of the tree. It was just a baby so I wasn't worried about getting hurt. I shook the limb. The raccoon lost its grip and fell. Only to catch on a limb lower down which had a broke limb laying on it. That broke limb fell right into my face and left me with knot on my head. My little boy respected the animal enough to stay away from it . Not me, if I had done as a child I wouldn't have gotten a headache.

God's canvas

Waiting in the dark for dawn. It is all quiet. The stillness is broken only by an owl's hoot in the distance. The peace is breathtaking . This is the best time to release the worries and stress of daily life. When dawn finally breaks a rainbow of colors seeps across the sky. The air has a crisp bite to it.

The grass and the trees has frost covering them. When the light of the morning sun hits it , a shine like jewels in a royal crown meets the day . This is a time I personally reflect on God's artwork. I've walked through many museums looking at paintings. None can compare to the Master's touch. People have asked me why I would be crazy enough to get up before daylight to go out in the cold. My own thoughts are taken back to all the times I have been a guest to God's canvas!

Lessons from the Past

As hunters, most of us are always trying to improve how we do things . Continuously looking for better ways to harvest the animals we hunt. Anything that gives us a better edge than the game that we are after. We use calls, scents, the latest camouflage design and the most up to date stands we can buy. I have fallen into this pattern myself. I'm not accusing people of wrong doing. I just want everyone to take a look at who showed you how to hunt. I look back and see four different men who influenced me. My dad who got me started deer hunting. My granddad who taught me how to hunt for funnels, even before magazines ever started telling about them. A friend of my dad's, who taught me how to make homemade cover scents before the first ones ever hit the markets, and one of my uncles who taught me to find water and then you will find the deer. These men showed me how to hunt the wind. What to look for in tracks and droppings so I'd know if I was after a buck or a doe. But the funnels was the best advise any of them gave. My granddad showed me to look at the lay of the land. A low area between two hills makes an obvious one. He also showed me to look at more subtle ones, like edges, places where hardwoods and pines come together. Power lines are great because many types of terrain come together to form funnels. One of my favorite funnels is a power line set in hills so I get a natural funnel that pushes deer to cross at certain areas. My problem, at first, was I had many such hills on this same power line. Until I scouted closer and found a place where pines and hardwoods came together. I also got a bonus funnel, a man made one, a dam at the end of a lake which directed deer down a particular hill funnel. Me and my hunting buddies have killed many deer in this great set up. My granddad taught me other great lessons, like deer are colored blind. So you don't have to have all the camo. He hunted in a dark blue coveralls outfit and kept his freezer filled. The friend of the family, who taught me about cover scents, showed me that baking soda makes the best scent killer. So take lessons from past. The latest products may not be the best way to fill your tag.

Just another spike

When thinking of the deer woods, I compare it to what it can teach me about life. Lessons from paying attention to the little details, to noticing things in a different light.

My hunting has been about me and my fun. I never realized how selfish I was until my oldest son started hunting with me this year. I made a terrible teacher, not because I didn't want to share my experience, but because I didn't try to make it the best experience he had ever had. If things didn't go as planned, my plans, I made it a miserable experience for him. It is a wonder that he ever wanted to go with me again. He still does. It is amazing how much boys will endure for Dad's approval. I hope that I don't let him down. Watching a spike follow after bigger bucks reminded me of this again. Spikes watch as the big boys do things. Then try to mimic what they see. Sound familiar? Our sons do the same with us. I have seen spikes turn into 8 pointers and I've seen them stay spikes for many years. I hope my son can grow into a better man than me and not into just another spike!

Hunting Memories

Deer season is over in my neck of the woods. Man that bums me out. This is when you have to reach deep down and pull out those great memories. No matter if it is deer,turkey,elk ,etc. What ever game you seek, when the season is over you have to rely on what you remember.

My favorite memories of this past season were when I, myself, just filled the freezer, or more importantly when I got to show my son what my passion is all about. I'll never forget the first chance he had to shoot a deer . He took careful aim and didn't shoot . When I looked at him he was shaking, buck fever had struck again. Or I can recall my hunting buddy, killing his first big racked buck. Boy I was jealous! He killed a monster 7 point. To me hunting is not about the harvest, it is about getting outdoors, which I sometimes forget. I can recall some of my fondest memories such as sitting on the ground by a tree and watching two does, both with sets of twins, pass within 15 feet from me. Talk about a rush. Or even better getting high on a mountain to watch the sun rise or set. There is nothing more relaxing.