Well, I’m not really sure where to start. This is my first “success” post and I have so much to say. I guess I’ll take a good friends suggestion and start near the beginning but be warned, this is probably going to be very long. I’m a talker.
Apologies ahead of time for poor grammar, writing, etc..
My immediate and extended family did a lot of hunting growing up and our dad often brought us along. Unfortunately I was too young to remember most of it and when my parents got divorced, that was the end of it. I rekindled with my dad about 10 years later but by then he wasn’t doing much hunting anymore and I wasn’t really thinking about it much at that point in my life either.
As a lot of you may know from my previous posts, a few years ago my brother and I decided to reintroduce ourselves to hunting along with our spouses. Sadly my dad passed away unexpectedly just before that. I wish he could have been here to watch and help us learn and hear about our adventures. And oh the adventures we’ve had..
My brother and I and our spouses get along really well and all share a passion and love for the outdoors. Whether crabbing, fishing, camping and now hunting, we really try to spend as much time outdoors as we can and often find ourselves doing it together. (Can’t beat great company!) As soon as we started hunting we quickly realized it was a rekindled long lost love and we quickly became addicted. Most of the time though it was mainly my brother and I who were leaving camp well before first light while our spouses slept in.
We started hunting part way through the 2015 season. It mainly consisted of hair raising driving situations down snowy hills (see previous posts – don’t worry, I quickly learned the importance of good chains) and a lot of just getting out there and exploring. We spent a lot of day and overnight trips in Region 2 and the occasional camping/hunting trip in Region 3. A few grouse bagged and a lot of does seen but no bucks.
2016
My first full hunting season and man was I excited. Again, we spent all of our time in Region 2 & 3 on a mixture of day, overnight and 3-4 day trips but this time it had a lot more excitement. I really can’t explain how excited I was to be seeing sign and so much of it at times. I was often reminded by my brother to stop spending so much time staring at the ground and more time looking up.. I try not to think about how many deer I probably missed by staring at prints..or crap.. Our techniques were usually a mixture of driving, walking or sitting. Every morning or evening was usually spent hiking in and sitting somewhere. One particular morning mid season, we were driving to a spot we planned on getting out and hiking when I looked out my brothers window and saw deer. I quickly smacked his arm. “Deer!!” They were probably only 10 feet from the truck and seemingly unbothered by our presence. At first glance, we thought they were all does but quickly realized there was a young spike in the group. My brother anxiously whispered “There’s a buck! Go get it!” I grabbed my gun and was about to jump out of the truck but hesitated. “What are you doing! Go!” But I didn’t. “It’s only a spike.. it seems small. And it’s so close to the truck.. and we’re only 10 minutes into the morning. It doesn’t seem right. It’s too easy.” After some more urging, I quickly snapped back, “You go get it!” At this point, the deer were casually walking down the road ahead of us and slowly out of sight. My brother hesitated and ultimately decided against taking the buck as well. It was 10 minutes in on the first day and I really did think we were going to see “lots” more. Oh how naïve and wrong I was. Not a buck to be seen for the rest of that trip or the season. We quickly realized the mistake we made and it has bothered us (mainly me) ever since. I was new, looking for my first deer, wanting meat in the freezer and I passed on a buck. What was I thinking..? A lot of great experiences and a few grouse summed up hunting in 2016...
A look at the buck I passed on.. Yes.. I even took a picture. I know, I already hate myself for that decision.
Part 2 to come...