Dr. Vette
Handloader
- Apr 16, 2012
- 1,481
- 369
2013 deer season was different than expected for us.
Opening day started with Dad and I on our land, though I went across the street (its a dirt 2 track) to a large swale (500 yard diameter) on the public land. 15 min after opening a truck with 2 hunters drove around the swale, parked, and they went hunting. After I found them wandering around at 9 am and spooking any chance of deer I went back to our land to continue hunting. Of course, on the way I passed an older guy fumbling with his ammo and 30-30, and decided that moving was definitely in my best interest.
Shortly thereafter from my blind I texted a friend to see if he'd yet seen or taken the large 9 point that he showed me on a trail cam. He complained that he had so many deer around that he couldn't read his book. :shock: I offered to help with that problem, and within an hour Dad and I were on the road. The rest of that day and the morning of the next Dad and I spent on a very nice hunting camp seeing plenty of deer and each taking a doe. We then returned the following weekend and Dad took another on Friday afternoon. Saturday however was a bust due to string winds making the deer very nervous and no shot opportunities presenting themselves.
The past 2 days we went to another location where a former student's family runs several large farms. I saw deer, but the majority were out of shotgun (or pistol in my case) range, so no shots taken. The numbers seemed down from last year, possibly due to the effects of EHD and other reasons. At last light of the last day of season yesterday my son Ryan took a nice doe with a shotgun, making a good shot at 60 yards or so. One of the others also connected on 2 with his muzzleloader.
So, 6 doe taken by our group, and many of the days spent hunting at a camp I'd heard plenty about but never seen. Not a bad year for us, and the freezer will be full.
Opening day started with Dad and I on our land, though I went across the street (its a dirt 2 track) to a large swale (500 yard diameter) on the public land. 15 min after opening a truck with 2 hunters drove around the swale, parked, and they went hunting. After I found them wandering around at 9 am and spooking any chance of deer I went back to our land to continue hunting. Of course, on the way I passed an older guy fumbling with his ammo and 30-30, and decided that moving was definitely in my best interest.
Shortly thereafter from my blind I texted a friend to see if he'd yet seen or taken the large 9 point that he showed me on a trail cam. He complained that he had so many deer around that he couldn't read his book. :shock: I offered to help with that problem, and within an hour Dad and I were on the road. The rest of that day and the morning of the next Dad and I spent on a very nice hunting camp seeing plenty of deer and each taking a doe. We then returned the following weekend and Dad took another on Friday afternoon. Saturday however was a bust due to string winds making the deer very nervous and no shot opportunities presenting themselves.
The past 2 days we went to another location where a former student's family runs several large farms. I saw deer, but the majority were out of shotgun (or pistol in my case) range, so no shots taken. The numbers seemed down from last year, possibly due to the effects of EHD and other reasons. At last light of the last day of season yesterday my son Ryan took a nice doe with a shotgun, making a good shot at 60 yards or so. One of the others also connected on 2 with his muzzleloader.
So, 6 doe taken by our group, and many of the days spent hunting at a camp I'd heard plenty about but never seen. Not a bad year for us, and the freezer will be full.
