Been Pretty Quiet

Yes, it has been pretty quiet around here lately.  But, that doesn't mean I haven't been up to anything.  November is deer hunting time for me and that means most of my free time is spent in the woods trying to down a trophy buck.  It has been a long season with many highs and lows so far.

I started bowhunting hard the week before the MN gun season.  That week was good for deer activity but I wasn't seeing much for shooter bucks.  As the gun season approached so did the buck activity and I was fortunate enough to have several encounters with shooter size bucks along with several 120-130 inch deer.  However, the two particular bucks I was after seemed to allude me but were still showing up on the trail cameras almost daily.  Those that deer hunt know this is a good thing.

My favorite encounter of the year was a 140-145 inch heavy eight pointer that had an inside spread well outside his ears.  This buck was a surprise to me as I had never seen him before on trail camera.  He passed my bow stand at 7 am on November 6th the day before the MN gun season and I could see he was wide but with the low light I couldn't see the mass.  As I passed the 18 yard shot I watched him work up into the bedding area.  At 8:21 the same morning the same buck emerged from the bedding area and passed broadside at 50 yards.  After getting a good look I decided he was a shooter and grunted him back in.  Like always he circled down wind but presented a shot at 30 yards which I opted to pass because a little pine tree was in the way.  This was a shot I knew I could make but didn't want to take the chance on making a bad shot and off he went.

As we got into gun season I decided to hang up the bow for a week and try to get my 10 year old Cole his first rifle buck.  Of course, dad was watching for one of the two bucks he was after to show up also.  Wouldn't you know it but opening morning at 8:30 here comes the big buck I have been after running right up behind me.  He gets within 5 yards of my stand and I stop him.  Now the buck is way to close for my rifle scope and he passes.  I stop him again at 30 yards and take what you would think is a killing shot...unless you hit a 3 inch thick branch....doah!!  Well, the buck not knowing what just happened stops and walks off, I elected to not take another shot going away.  Cole just got to witness what the definition of frustration is.  I listed all morning praying a shot would not come from the direction the buck headed and one did not.

With my chances of seeing that buck again in the next week pretty much gone we focused on getting Cole his first buck.  Cole ended up sitting 4 days in the stand and passed up several small bucks before he decided he saw a nice 2.5 year old 6 pointer that he wanted to take.  This was a PERFECT buck to harvest as it does not fit our management plan either.  So, after a lot of patients Cole took his first shot with a rifle and it looked like a perfect shot.  In the end it was a perfect miss but a great learning experience nonetheless.

For me as a father, it was one of the best weeks of my life.  I got to spend great time with my son who showed me his patients and great sense of humor over the week.  I could not be prouder of my son after a week of hunting.  He hunted hard, took the miss with pride and is ready to try muzzleloader hunting because he wants to get that buck that got him.  I guess you can say that is how hunters are made.

For me, well, it is off to South Dakota rifle hunting this weekend and then a short break and then back at it with Cole for the Minnesota Muzzleloader season.  I am already looking forward to getting back in the stand with Cole for a chance at a trophy.  That is it for the update now, hopefully the next one will include a trophy buck.