It's Raining Acorns..

I haven’t hunted since opening day and really wanted to get in the woods. My opening day hunt was so short that I didn’t get my fill... I chose to stick with the stand overlooking the oak flat, the wind was good and the food source is still strong with acorns falling. I was settled in my stand by 6am, I have been having a bear of a time getting out of bed lately, those late night baby feedings are adding up...It was overcast with a strong smell of fall in the air. My stand is on the edge of an oak flat with a bridal path 10 yards behind me and a thicket and pine grove on the other side of the path. The thicket drops off into a marsh where majority of the deer spend their day. The oak flat is about 25 yards wide with a steep drop off into a wide gully with a small creek. I have broken views for 100 yards covering much of the gully and anything feeding in the oaks is within my range… By 6:30 I had shooting light and not long after I saw a doe moving in my direction, the deer like to walk along the steep slope and either drop into the gully or up into the flat. All I could see was her head and she was not alone as they came closer I could see flashes of antlers. Not long after I could see there were 5 deer including a small 6 pt and a nice 8 pt. The 8 pt had a box rack slightly wider than his ears and in my estimation a 110 class buck. The antlerless deer already were on the flat crunching acorns, I could see that at least 2 were button bucks. The bucks finally entered the flat...Now it was decision time..The 8 pt was really nice but there are much bigger bucks on the property, but I still had to fight off my urge to shoot this buck. He didn’t let me think about it long as he passed 20 yards away and walked off into the thicket behind me. He was followed a few minutes later by the 6 pt.If the larger buck fed in front of me for a few minutes, I would have probably shot him (weak willed)..I am already regretting letting him walk. I did the same last year with a nice 8 and never got another opportunity. The rest of the deer feed for about 15 minutes and eventually all followed the bucks. I spent the rest of the morning watching deer file in and out of the oaks and feeding on the acorns. At one point I see a deer about 80 yards in the gully; she was running in circles with her tail high. She was going all out, jumping logs and running in a big circle. Eventually she too came into the flat…By 9:30 I saw 16 deer, all within shooting range, but except for a handful of button bucks only the 2 racked deer. It was a great morning and as I was walking out the fog set in and the rain started...The bucks are safe until next Saturday...Hopefully my decision to pass on the 8 pt pays off….

The Suicide Run to The Salmon River

I didn’t hunt this weekend..Instead me and a few friends did the suicide run to the Salmon River in NY..They picked me up at 1:30 am on Saturday, a few cups of coffee and driving 80 miles an hour and we arrived in Pulaski NY at 5:30am.. The first stop was at Fat Nancy's to grab a few supplies and get a bad fishing report and then a quick bite to eat (absolutely necessary with this group)..The river has been in drought conditions, I have never seen it that low, which prompted the state to shut down the Lower Fly Fishing stretch to protect the good head of fish that took up residence..According to the reports the Cohos were stacked in the estuary, so we decided to fish as low as possible, which meant the Douglaston Stretch (DSR)..The DSR is a private 2.5 miles on the lower river. The owner charges $30 a head to access the river (yes, the landowners OWN the river and the fishing rights, they have one a half dozen law suits over the years, even one that went to the supreme court)..Everyone else had the same idea, and the river was crowded. We fished the clay hole and out of the 4 of us, only one caught a salmon ( a nice, fresh 20# coho)..I hooked one on an egg pattern and he made a run and went right under a log jam and broke my tippet..My other friend hooked 3 but lost all..We all caught about half a dozen Salmon River Tarpon (chubs)each..No-one was really catching fish..I saw about a dozen go by from in the 5 hours we fished the DSR..We broke for a late lunch and stopped by the hatchery on the Upper River, barely any fish had entered the hatchery..We fished Altmar, I caught a few smallmouth but we didn’t see a Salmon..Last stop was the Tropper Hole, I caught 3 chubs and a 13in rainbow..The leaves just started to change and with the chill in the air, it felt like Fall and Hunting Season..I really wanted to be in my treestand that afternoon but it was 300 miles away..With no fish in the river we called it quits at 5pm and headed South..I walked in the house at 9pm (not bad timing for the suicide run)...So I spent a beautiful Fall day on the Salmon River with some close friends, I really didn’t miss anything..My treestand will be there next Saturday, hopefully Mr. Big will stop by to say hello...(sorry, I forgot my camera)

Opening Day 2007 Bow Season

This season is going to be tough...With two boys, a six week old and 19 month old, family obligations are going to limit my time in the woods this season. Add a busy work schedule and I will be lucky to get half a day hunt in on Saturdays... I also hurt my shoulder this past spring and it really never healed, every time I shoot the bow, I feel the pain. I didn’t have anytime to scout, luckily I hunt private land and my stands are still in place from last year... My goals are to shoot a few deer for the freezer and hope to get a shot at Mr. Big...He is still roaming the farm...

I was planning to check my stands last Saturday, but I got a call from work and they told me to prepare for a project and I would have a 4 day business trip immediately after Labor Day. The wife wasn’t happy but it’s my job….I got back from my business trip late Friday afternoon and took about an hour to get my gear ready for the morning hunt...

I hit the snooze too many times this morning and was running late... It was 6am as I was walking across the front field. Like I expected, I heard a loud snort and I kicked up a small herd that just entered the field for their morning feed. I was a little nervous walking in the woods, hoping that my stands were still in place. And sure enough they were there. It was already 72 degrees when I reached my stand and I was hot and sweaty. By 6:15 I was all settled in my stand looking over my favorite Oak flat. I knew the acorns would be falling and the deer would be feeding...Of course after only 20 minutes in stand, I started to doubt myself, probably because of the lack of scouting or preparation...It wasn’t too much longer when I saw two does walking directly towards my stand. They were coming up to a trail intersection, a short 15 yard shot away. I positioned myself to cover both shots and when the lead doe turned right and entered the oak flat I made a little grunt sound and stopped her at 12 yards. The shot was perfect and the muzzy performed as always. I watched her run off with the other doe following. She ran down the hill and died in the middle of the creek bed, within view of my stand. With the temps climbing, I immediately climbed down the tree and when I was retrieving my arrow, I saw a herd of 6 more does coming in my direction. They saw me and hightailed it...I made a quick job of field dressing and dragging her out of the woods...I expected to be the first at the check-in station but I was surprised that there were already 3 guys checking does and 2 more pulled up while I was there. By 8 am I was leaving the butcher and on the way home. A great way to break in the new season and my new Bowtech Commander...Now where is Mr. Big...