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In the 5 years that I’ve been here…I’ve not seen anything that compares with this year. Very early on, I’d mentioned that there was an unusual number of small bucks running around. Of course, it was a curiosity but I wasn’t figuring on much more than passing on a greater number of small dudes…while also having them create extra chaos with any does I might be interested in taking.
As time passed, the delinquents with their first year’s antlers started to fade from sight, making way for those with a little more experience…and the sense that things were about to heat up was in the air. A few weeks of scouting and ground hunting resulted in refining the location for 2 more stands, which I put in and had planned to leave alone for a few days.
As things worked out I arrowed a doe at another location…and when the middle of November rolled around I spontaneously shot a buck that was just better than anything that had presented in the past few seasons…and there went my only buck tag.
I had abandoned Plan A, which would have likely meant holding on to the tag ‘til the bitter end…another 2 ½ months. So I was a little relieved not to be adding wear and tear to what’s already worn and torn, but I also knew that any bucks I’d be shooting for the rest of the season would be with a camera. It was a bitter pill…but I was prepared to be content with a picture or two of “the one that got away.”
Nothing could have prepared me for what was going to happen right after shooting that buck…and what I was about to see over the next couple of months. I’ve seen good deer in the past few seasons, but can’t say any of them have been the same critter that I’d seen in years previous. The last tall-racked buck I saw was one time, during hurricane Sandy, and that’s usually how it goes. Something different every year and I’m just happy I get to see what others don’t.
Anyhow…it will be back to Plan A next year…and hopefully I’ll also get to hunt a neighboring state. I have a lot of feeling foolish that needs to be corrected.
It’s taken a while to edit this all together. The camera’s been unreliable since the wind blew the tripod over when the zoom lens was extended…and now focus can be temperamental from frame to frame. At one point I was just going to make a slide show out of snapshots from videos…but I ended up trying to tell a little story with both short video clips and stills. It is what it is…and if it excites an old hunting buddy back east enough to call, then the season will be more of a success.
My story…and I’m sticking to it. Rick.
As time passed, the delinquents with their first year’s antlers started to fade from sight, making way for those with a little more experience…and the sense that things were about to heat up was in the air. A few weeks of scouting and ground hunting resulted in refining the location for 2 more stands, which I put in and had planned to leave alone for a few days.
As things worked out I arrowed a doe at another location…and when the middle of November rolled around I spontaneously shot a buck that was just better than anything that had presented in the past few seasons…and there went my only buck tag.
I had abandoned Plan A, which would have likely meant holding on to the tag ‘til the bitter end…another 2 ½ months. So I was a little relieved not to be adding wear and tear to what’s already worn and torn, but I also knew that any bucks I’d be shooting for the rest of the season would be with a camera. It was a bitter pill…but I was prepared to be content with a picture or two of “the one that got away.”
Nothing could have prepared me for what was going to happen right after shooting that buck…and what I was about to see over the next couple of months. I’ve seen good deer in the past few seasons, but can’t say any of them have been the same critter that I’d seen in years previous. The last tall-racked buck I saw was one time, during hurricane Sandy, and that’s usually how it goes. Something different every year and I’m just happy I get to see what others don’t.
Anyhow…it will be back to Plan A next year…and hopefully I’ll also get to hunt a neighboring state. I have a lot of feeling foolish that needs to be corrected.
It’s taken a while to edit this all together. The camera’s been unreliable since the wind blew the tripod over when the zoom lens was extended…and now focus can be temperamental from frame to frame. At one point I was just going to make a slide show out of snapshots from videos…but I ended up trying to tell a little story with both short video clips and stills. It is what it is…and if it excites an old hunting buddy back east enough to call, then the season will be more of a success.
My story…and I’m sticking to it. Rick.
