Lessons Learned

Well my hunting season has come and gone. I only filled one tag this year. Some people here in Alabama might say I didn't have a good season. But in my thinking I had a great season. I had many blunders and just plain blowing it moments, but I enjoyed my year of hunting. As far as the mishaps they were great lessons learned. I will walk away with a great deal of wisdom for future. I also have many plans in the works to help me not repeat them. Besides as other hunters have used in the past. The bucks I missed will be bigger next season.
Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God,who gives to all generously and without criticizing,and it will be given to him. James 1:5
My wisdom came without me asking so I can vouch for God giving wisdom generously. You can look at all experiences as a chance to gain wisdom or gripe about your what happens to you. Me, I have done it both ways and for me gaining wisdom is more fun.

Just experiencing nature

January came with the first 2 days of the year finding me heading off to the woods. I get to my spot where I missed the nice 7 point earlier and after getting settled in for a full day, after about an hour I start hearing a horse. This went on for maybe another hour and I get up to run the horse off (which has gotten out of someones pasture). As I try to chase the horse off I step in doe poop. Deer poop is better than horse. I head back to my stand and just as I start to sit down. Have you ever felt like you were being watched? I got that feeling. As I look around my 7 point is standing 30 yards on my back trail, watching me. He WHISTLES and is gone again. That big boy was trailing me where I stepped in the doe poop. I now have a new technique, as I walk through the woods I will step in the deers droppings. Who knows it might work again. The more I see this buck the more I learn about him. His luck or my mistakes can't last for ever. I will get him.
The following day I only see a big doe followed by a spotted fawn. I didn't know they had babies with spots this late.
I use the time I spend in the woods as a quiet time. I read my Bible a just unwind . On the day I saw the doe and fawn, I'm relaxing and reading. I feel something touch my boot, I look and see a bird sitting on my boot. It amazes me what all I get to see and experience when I in the woods.

Overcoming issues

This hunting season opened with me harvesting a spike on opening day. I was thinking I was in for a great season. Then came spending only about 10 hours ( and not on the same day) of hunting during the rest of November. Not a big deal since here in Alabama the season goes through January 31. But as December came in, I am back to the woods. I put myself in some great locations and get shots at not one but three different deer. Two of which were very big mature bucks. I missed all three. I know that I'm just like everyone else I miss sometimes. But I don't normally miss more than once a year. I start questioning myself. I know that last year to finish the season my rifle started jamming so I put it in the shop. This year I was using a borrowed rifle. My father in law loaned me his extra which was the same make and style as mine. I sighted it in and was comfortable with it until I missed. I just chalked it up as just getting nervous until it happened again. The second time was at the first of the bucks. I re sighted the rifle and found that some how the scope had been knocked off. I am comfortable with the gun again and less than a week later I'm back in the woods. I get to my stand before daybreak, and after about 2 hours I see movement. It is a big 7 point I aim, fire, MISS. So much for a great season of filling the freezer. But I am an over comer the rest of this year will be iron sights. Sometimes we can plan every detail and issues that are out of our control just happen. We just have to overcome.
On a brighter note my oldest son who is 9 was with me when I missed the first buck. We have never seen a buck when he was with me. He is very excited and can't wait to go again. He also saw dad handle difficulty and deal with it without over re acting. Both lessons were great for him to see. I enjoyed hunting with my son even if I missed.

Opening Day

Well opening day of (gun) deer season came here in Alabama. As I stated in an earlier post, I was going to try hunting in area that no one ever hunted on our property . I started my morning hunting right in a corner of our land next to the property line. About a hour into the hunt the I started hearing movement from the other side of the line. Next 3 does came by me like their tails were on fire. Then I heard someone talking from the other property. Well that is part of hunting sometimes. But my strategy worked the deer were moving where we never hunted.After another hour and not seeing anything else. I decided to check the other areas we don't hunt. As I moved into this area, I spot a deer watching me. It looked like a doe and since it is doe season I shot and killed it. When I walked up on it I realized I had killed a spike with antlers that grew down following the ears. The antlers were completely hidden. Well I was thankful for fresh meat for the table, but I had also told my father in law I was going to try and harvest only older bucks. When he saw it he thought it was a nanny until he saw the antler. We were both fooled. Neither of us had ever seen any bucks that had antlers growing this way. Maybe next time it will be his big brother. But 2 out of 5 spots we never hunt had deer in them. It goes to show that while we pattern deer they also pattern us. Next time you can't seem to catch up with the deer, don't be afraid to try change.

The Lost Trophy

I have been checking out " Chasing Trophy Whitetails" lately on face book. When ever a picture of a nice buck is posted, the question is always asked," what will this deer score. To the point that when younger hunters kill small bucks and show their pictures they are criticized for not letting those deer grow. I am for deer management. But I was raised with the thinking that any animal harvested legally was a trophy. I also saw many hunters apologize for deer they harvested being too small. I hunt for meat first and antlers second. But I'm always proud of any deer I harvest. I think that we have missed it and need to get back to the lost trophy. We need to be proud of any animal we harvest by fair chase. Besides only the person who is hunting can decide if the animal is big enough or not.

Excitement

Here in Alabama, we are 9 days away from opening day of gun season. I am remembering all the years before as I counted down the days. In every memory of the night before opening day I see the excitement , sometimes even to the point of no sleep that all of us hunters have faced. It is like a child waiting for Christmas Day or the adrenaline rush athletes feel right before the big game. In my memories I remember that sometimes I didn't sleep and left for the woods very early. Back then I did most of my hunting on my grand dad's land. It never failed that no matter how early I got there before daylight opening day. It always seemed that my Pop already had a light on. Just as if he couldn't sleep either. I guess it doesn't matter the age we all get excited about opening day.
My Pop was who really influenced me the most about my deer hunting. He always just seemed prepared never anxious about opening day. When me and my cousins were still trying to decide which spot might produce the best,Pop would already know where he was going. He always had meat in the freezer. I can still hear his advice today, he would say " Deer are lazy, they don't want to climb the highest point on the mountain, they will always use the lowest area to cross." or " the deer will take the trail that is easiest, just like you would." Other older hunters advice worth repeating was, "find the water and you will find the deer, they get thirsty just like we do." or "look for the droppings, if you find the poop you will find the deer." I hope my thinking back in time will help someone else get ready for opening day. Good luck to all.

Looking for a Strategy

In Alabama, bow season is here and firearms season is now just 2 weeks away. I've had my trail camera out and have pictures of many does and a small 4 point. As I study all my pictures from this year and the past I noticed that the bucks I'm after are only being seen at night. Since our property is the area with the least amount of pressure I know the big boys are somewhere. Over the years I fallen into a routine of hunting the same stand sights. I hunt on 80 acres, sounds like a small amount. But I have found that big bucks will stay on a smaller tract of land if there is low hunting pressure. I have been studying aerial photos of my land along with my pictures. I marked all the stand sights me and my hunting companions use every year. A pattern of 5 different areas showed up of where we never hunt. I'm always looking for a new strategy on how to improve my hunting harvest. This year I plan to hunt in each of this 5 areas and with any luck I will connect with one of those elusive big bucks we all dream about. Sometimes a change in our old strategy is God directing our paths.
I believe that God should be in control over every aspect of our lives. I will be first to admit that I sometimes forget this. Life is better if we let Him control it all, even where we hunt. To some this might sound silly, but to those who have truly learned to trust in God's direction,they have grabbed hold of the best strategy.
Jeremiah 10:23 I know, O Lord, that a man's life is not his own;it is not for man to direct his steps.