Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all, and here's hoping 2008 is a great year for you.

I haven't been out hunting much in the last few weeks. I made several trips to Ohio this year and hunted in New Jersey plenty as well, so now I'm turning my attention back to family time. I still would like to shoot another deer or two for the freezer, and some speciality cuts. I like to get a shoulder smoked each year that we later cut into bite-sized chunks and then use what's left on the bones for a nice steaming pot of split pea or Navy bean soup. I also have a good friend who makes some speciality items that I get a few bags of each year. I like to cook too so as deer season winds down, I will be puting the fruits of my labor (yeah, like i can really call hunting labor :~) ) to use on the dinner table.

I have plans to try and videotape a few deer hunts before the season is over too, and my niece is still trying to get her first deer, so I'm not done venturing outdoors quite yet.

Christmas Day was a busy one as usual. We started off early with the kids opening their gifts, and then by 11:45am we were at my father-in-laws house for Christmas dinner with my wifes family...and more gifts. I grew up eating a big turkery dinner with all the trimings for Christmas, but my wife comes from a traditional Italian family and Christmas dinner is an Italian dinner. We started with appetizers of marinated olives stuffed with provolone cheese, garlic olives, shrimp cocktail, hot pepper shooters, more olives, pickles, dips and chips and other addicting snack foods. Part way through the appetizers, I saw the bathroom scale sitting on the floor in the kitchen. Now, I don't know why the scale is in the kitchen instead of the bathroom but I couldn't resist the temptation of a little experiment. I jumped on the scale and checked my weight before eating another ounce. Once we were done feasting on a dinner of sausage, meatballs, lasagna and salad, I hit the scale again...exactly 4 pounds heavier. I ATE FOUR POUNDS OF FOOD AT DINNER!! We were having desert at my mothers house, and opening more gifts, so I wasn't done yet.

As we pulled into my mothers driveway I noticed the conspicuous absence of my brother's family vehicle. As we walked in the door, the rest of the family was just finishing up dinner, much later than we expected. It was then explained that a bit of a crisis had kept my brother, and his wife from dinner, and delayed it for everyone else. Seems that someone else in a hurry to get to their own Christmas dinner ran a stop sign and broadsided the minivan, sending my brother to the hospital, luckily only for pre-cautionary measures. His wife and kids were fine, and the kids were actually at my mothers with a somewhat battered Chrsitmas Turkey that they were bringing over for dinner. Fortunately, my Mom was cooking TWO turkeys, and there was enough for dinner, but leftovers were scarce. By 7:00pm, Jeff walked through the door with a neck collar on but none the worse for wear. Desert was apple pie, pumpkin pie, a large assortment of Christmas cookies, and hot black coffee...but no more scale, I really didn't want to know.

I hope you have a safe and happy New Years, and like always,
Good Hunting-DV

Sunday, December 16, 2007

Firearms Season.

Well, our firearms season started off with a bang, or a blast, or, I guess, more like a gust. It was windy, very windy. The first day dawned cool and clearing, after a rain storm passed through. The weather stations posted a wind advisory beginning at 7:00am, sustained winds from 25 to 30 mph, gusts up to 50 mph. I didn’t hunt the first morning, but did go out in the afternoon with the video camera and sat with my brother and niece. I got out late, but it didn’t matter. With the tremendous wind gusts, not much was moving and there was no way a deer could hear me move into the stand late in the day. Once settled in the tree, I didn’t think I was going to stay there long. It was so windy I was sure the tree was going to blow over, and in fact a big dead oak did come crashing to the ground just 15 yards from where we sat huddled against a lone white oak tree. There was very little shooting, except for my brother, who was hunting a little ways from us and managed to miss a buck at 25 yards with his slug gun. I guess I can understand that seeing how hard it would be to steady the crosshairs on a deer with the tree tops blowing around like a 5 ticket amusement park ride…it was crazy out there.

Tuesday brought more of the same, but with frigid temperatures. The mercury dipped into the 20’s, with a high of only 38, and 25 to 30 mph winds again. The wind did lay down a little at 4:00pm, but slowed only to 15 to 20. However, it was enough for my brother Jeff to kill a nice 4-pointer

Wednesday morning dawned calm, but a cold 19 degrees, and the high was not supposed to go over 35 all day. The winds had subsided and an ominous red sky foretold what was to come…red sky in morning, sailors take warning. I remember that old saying used by seagoers to predict fair or foul seas, and this day the red sky in the morning was indicative of an Alberta Clipper headed our way. The red faded quickly and by 8:00am, dim gray clouds covered the Delaware Valley. The snow flakes started to gently trickle to the ground every so often at 11:00am. By 12:30, there was a heavy snow shower, which slowed at about 1:30pm. At approximately 3:00pm, the snow started to come again and never let up. I took up the vigil after work in a ladder stand, about 75 yards from a cut bean field. It would be the first chance I had to actually hunt our 6-day firearm season.

I have a Biologic Maximum food plot planted on the edge of the field and the deer have started to hit it. I figured with these cold temps and snow, deer would be on a food source and this was as good a spot as any. While walking in I saw a Redtail hawk hovering and hunting for a last minute meal before taking refuge from the storm.



I also noticed that a cedar tree up near the field, maybe 40 yards from my stand, had been freshly rubbed. I was in here on Saturday and noticed what amounted to a scratch on that tree, which was now rubbed bare. This gave me hope for the remainder of the day and I sat with great anticipation, despite the snow and ice building on me and all my gear. It wasn’t completely uneventful, I did see a small four-pointer and as darkness crept into the cedars, two does and two fawns came under the tree as they made their way to the food plot. They stopped 15 yards away and sized up the open field for danger before venturing from the cover. I don’t know how they didn’t hear me as it seemed with every breath, ice crackled and snow fell from my clothes. After 15 minutes they seemed convinced the coast was clear and hustled out into the blowing snow to munch on the brassica plot. This was the view from my stand.

The snow continued to fall and by morning, we had almost 4 inches. It was a beautiful day on Thursday, with sunny blue skies and a fresh blanket of snow coating the ground and sagging tree branches all across Salem County. Unfortunately, I didn’t get out.

My next chance to hunt came late Friday afternoon. At about 4:00pm, I parked my truck at the gate and hustled a short distance in to a tree where I could watch an open piece of woods between a bedding thicket and field. Before I was even settled in my climber, I noticed deer moving towards the field about 75 yards away. A doe and two fawns slowly made their way from cover into a secluded corner of the field to feed. I watched them until dark, but they were never joined by a buck. Saturday morning I visited a friend who killed a very big 10 pointer the day before. I took some nice photos and measured the deer for him. It taped out right at 130 inches, and had a great spread of 19 & ¾ inches. It was a beautiful deer, but in the process of taking pictures, helping him get the deer to the butcher and measured, my camera was damaged and none of the pictures of the deer, or the snow from Thursday, could be retrieved.

Saturday afternoon, I had some chores to do around the house but once finished, I went to a ladder stand just off the edge of the brassica plot for the last hour of the day. As I walked in at 3:45pm, I spooked 3 deer already feeding on the plot. I quickly got settled in and waited until shooting light faded from the cedars without seeing a deer. As I walked out, I saw 4 deer feeding on the plot again. I checked them with my binoculars but none had antlers. It was barely light enough to see their outlines in the field as I walked out, yet there was ALOT of shooting happening on the surrounding properties. Makes me wonder if those guys could actually see what they were shooting at or just launching last minute shots at the closing bell. Hope some of you guys did better than we did.

Good hunting-DV

Sunday, December 2, 2007

Getting ready for gun season.

Tomorrow, December 3rd, begins New Jersey 6-day firearm season. It's a day I look to with mixed feelings every year. On one hand, it brings great anticipation of whats to come. Even though me and my brothers never do that well during the gun season, it's always a fun week to be out in the woods...or at least it used to be. What it has become in the last several years is why I now have mixed emotions about it. My farm in Alloway Township is the constant target of poaching outlaws who and drive the land. I spend much of my time patrolling it or getting down to pursue trespasser when I hear a shot from our property. I will be out there much of the opening day, but in the afternoon, I will be going to sit with my brother and his daughter to video tape their first hunt. Patrolling the farm that afternoon will have to be left to the other guys who hunt it.

I usually do alot of video taping each season, but this year, camera problems and the fact I could never hook up with my brothers to either tape them or have them run the camera for me prevented me from getting much footage. We usually put together some good hunts on video, and I like to do a short clip summary of the season. Here is one from last year.


I don't have too much material to do one this year, but maybe I'll get some good footage Monday afternoon.

Good hunting-DV

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Back in the stand.

Well on 11/16, Friday afternoon, after work, I slipped in to a stand I have on a small food plot. It was very windy, and pretty darn cold too. I figured this would be a good spot because it’s hidden back in the cover a little off the field, which gives the deer some security and protection from the wind in the open field. I have noticed the past few days that the fall colors are just barely past their peak, and it’s the middle of November. We don’t usually have leaves on the trees this late into the year but I’m enjoying the brilliant display of falls finest these last few days.

My foodplot finally came up and actually grew pretty well, thanks to good rainfall and warm temperatures later in the fall than normal. It’s mostly brassica’s, and usually by this time of year, the deer have really turned on to this food source. However this year they haven’t touched them. I don’t understand it. There are basically no acorns on this part of the farm, the bean fields have been harvested for some time, and my brassica plot seems like it would be a likely place to see a deer, yet the plants look untouched. I quickly climbed the tree and settled in anyhow, thinking maybe today would be the day they decide to start on the plot. The tire tracks through the plot were just a sign of bad things to come, and evidence of why hunting has been very slow on this piece.


The wind whipped the trees around until just before dark. At 5:02pm, I heard a shot so loud it nearly made me jump form the stand. Someone had just fired into our hayfield, probably at a deer. I grabbed my cell phone from my pocket and hit the game wardens number on the speed dial…voice mail, figures. I left him a message and tuned my ears for sounds of a vehicle entering the field. After straining for ten minutes, I didn’t hear anything that sounded like someone retrieving a deer, but I did hear a snap and turned to see a small doe 10 yards away. She had slipped in under the cover of the gusting wind and was now nervously pacing the edge of the plot. Whether it was from the strong wind, or the shot in the field, that deer was extremely wary and she never got up the nerve to enter the open. As shooting light faded, I scurried down the tree and hurried to the edge of the hayfield. I waited there for some time to see if the poacher would attempt to recover a deer under the cover of darkness, but really didn’t even know if the outlaw hit his target. After 20 minutes of no action, I returned to my truck and stowed my gear.

On my way home I stopped at the neighbors house to see if she had heard the shot and noticed a vehicle. She said she hadn’t on this particular day but, according to her, people shoot into that field once or twice a week from the road, and trucks are driving in and out of it all the time, has been that way all year. She related that a few times a week, she sees them drive into the field and vanish into the woods, will often hear shots “back there”, and then see the trucks drive out, sometimes as late as 11:30pm. The road out of the hayfield leads through the woods, through my plot and to the harvested bean field. From seeing the tire tracks through the plot, I can tell the poachers have been visiting this place regularly over the last few weeks while I was in Ohio.


She said she has called the State Police so many times they don’t even respond any longer, and at that moment I understood why our luck on this farm has been so bad. I could do an entire book on how much I despise trespassing jerks like those that constantly plague our leased property, but I don’t feel like getting that angry right now. Hopefully I’ll be writing in the next few weeks about how I caught the poaching dirtbags in the act and got the last laugh.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and I’ll be out trying again. Have a happy Thanksgiving.

Good hunting-DV

Friday, November 16, 2007

Looking back at the last 3 weeks...

Well, I’m finally going to slow down a little and take some time to write. I hunted alot between October 26 and November 14th. With the exception of working a few days, I spent every possible minute in the woods in either New Jersey or Ohio. This year I hunted a total of 14 days in Ohio, all but 4 of them in that 10/26 to 11/14 time span. We had a tough time finding mature deer. I saw plenty of 1.5 yr old bucks, and a few 2.5 year olds that would have been shooters in New Jersey, but were just too small in Ohio. I did pass on a shot at a nice 2.5 yr old 10 pointer that looked a lot like the buck I killed last year. This one was a 3.5 year old buck.

The 2.5 year old I saw this year was just a bit smaller, and quartering away at 12 yards. I just couldn't drop the string. He should be a good one next year.


Overall, the rutting activity was disappointingly slim in Ohio this year.
I saw very little chasing, heard only a grunt or two, and never really saw it bust loose like it has in the past. There were a lot of acorns in the woods, so maybe that kept the deer from moving much. One other thing I observed is that in the last 5 years, the amount of hunting pressure during bow season where we hunt has increased tremendously. It’s almost as crowded as New Jersey is during 6-day firearm season during the rut in SE Ohio, it’s really crazy there now. I have to believe that the huge increase in the amount of human activity in the woods has also affected deer movement, especially mature buck movements.

I had a few close encounters in New Jersey during that time. The farm I hunt in Alloway Township was a bit of a disappointment again this year, but I had a good encounter on another small piece of land I hunt. A gusty rain storm had ended just before noon, so I headed to the stand at 12:30. I climbed into the stand, pulled my bow up, placed it on the hanger and then began searching my backpack for my release. Before I even dug it out, I heard a snap and looked down to see a great buck passing 10 yards from me. It was very windy, and the woods were still dripping from the rain, so he never heard me come in and I never heard him walking towards me. He was through my shooting lane in about 2 seconds and gone from sight shortly afterwards. He was a big buck, and I hoped he would come back. At a few minutes before 2:00pm, I saw sunlight glint off an antler and watched as this nice 10 pointer came in the same way as the big buck had.


I decided to give him a pass, hoping to use my tag on the bigger buck and let this one grow another year. He should be a real slammer next year. Other than that, so far the rut has been pretty uneventful for me this year in New Jersey. There is a little time left to catch bucks searching, but it's winding down. Hopefully the late season will be good to us as the deer turn back onto food sources.

Good Hunting-DV

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Last minute buck


The last hour of the hunt is just as good as the first hour of the hunt… The last hour of the hunt is just as good as the first hour of the hunt. I kept thinking about that line I read in a magazine article by Bill Winke earlier this morning while drinking coffee at the house. I needed to keep telling myself that as my hunting time in Ohio was winding down. It was very warm, in the 60’s, and windy this last morning of my hunt, and at 8:15am, the rain started coming too. I had planned to get out of the tree at 10:00am, go pick up Brian and head to the house where we would give it a good cleaning, pack up and head for home by noon. We had just arrived Sunday afternoon, November 11th, but both had to return home by Wednesday evening, the 14th, for other obligations, so this trip would be shorter than anticipated. It had been a rough season for all of us. My brother’s buck was the only big one taken and only one or two other shooter bucks seen among our group of 11 hunters over the last 3 weeks. The rut seemed sporadic and mostly little bucks were running the does, we were all baffled and getting a bit discouraged.

As I sat in my stand thinking about that line, I was also going over scenarios in my head about how the perfect hunt would go down at this spot. This season, I have been having serious problems with both shoulders, and drawing my bow has become more than a chore, actually it’s more like an Olympic Powerlifter attempting a deadlift on a world record amount of iron. It takes me quite a bit of effort to get my bow back, and because of that, a few opportunities have been spoiled this season. I cannot draw smoothly with minimal effort, and any deer within shooting distance is going to pick me off while trying to wrangle my bow to full draw. So I sat there, visualizing the most perfect scenario for a shot at this stand…let’s see, if the buck comes along that hillside, and goes behind those three trees growing close together I can draw when he's blocked by them. Then when he steps out, I have a perfect broadside 20 yard shot. Well, it’s nice to dream anyway, there isn’t even a deer trail there.

By 8:55am, the rain had let up a little, but the wind still swayed the trees and it felt more like a spring day than mid November. My cell phone buzzed. Got a text message from Brian…you see any? No, I replied, just a few dogs, how about you? Nothing, he replied, No deer for you, just dogs? Dogs…, I replied. As I folded the phone up and placed it in my pocket, I looked up and saw two deer standing on the hillside 85 yards away. A doe and a fawn had slipped in, it was now 8:58am, and the last hour of the hunt was upon me. I watched them browse over the crest of the hill, and they were joined by a button buck a minute or so later. Well, at least some deer are moving now I thought, so I kept a watchful eye on that hill and just a few minutes later I saw a crown of antlers bobbing towards me. I watched as the buck closed the distance and stopped where the doe and fawn had been, then he looked down the hill. He was looking down the hill and I was looking at him through my binoculars trying to decide if I wanted to shoot him. Then I saw a doe emerge from a clump of trees, and knew what he was looking at. The doe meandered down the hill, and the buck started to follow. It looked like they were going to go off the hill about 70 yards away, then the doe changed course and started towards my stand. The buck came towards her down the hill and she seemed not to be ready for that and sprinted away from him, right towards me, stopping 8 yards from the base of my tree. The buck then started to close the distance and I figured I’d pick up my bow just in case. I still wasn’t sure this was a shooter, but as he got closer, I could see he was a heavy 3.5 year old buck with some junk on his bases, which were pretty massive. I decided he was good enough and watched in awe as he seemed to have read my thoughts from earlier. He stayed about 30 yards uphill of the doe and walked along the hillside…right behind those three trees, as if he had read the script. I came to full draw and decided to complete the story. He did hear something when I drew, and stopped behind the trees. I waited. The buck peeled up the hill a little and emerged from the trees only to walk behind another. I placed my pin right next to that tree and watched as his head and antlers, then neck, and finally shoulder cleared the tree. He stopped, I settled in, and released. The arrow traveled the 22 yards to his shoulder and found it’s mark, center punching both lungs. At first glance it seemed high, but as he ran up the hill I could see the trail would be easy to follow. He covered the 40 yards to the top, lurched into a pine thicket and crashed down about 7 seconds after the shot. He was done. I looked at my phone…9:16am, the last hour of the hunt. My brother killed his buck in the first hour of our Ohio hunt on October 27th, and here I am in the last hour of my last day, putting truth to Bill Winke’s words. Yes, the last hour was just as good as the first. Well, almost, Brian’s buck was bigger.

Brians Buck.

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Ohio bound

Well, since my last entry, I have visited Ohio for a 4 day trip. It was a good trip, although I was a little sore. The trip started off in an ominous way. We were supposed to leave at about 4:00pm. My brothers plane would be landing at Philly International Airport at 3:00pm, he would come to my house, load up the truck and we would be on the road. Unfortunately, and predictably, a little bad weather caused huge delays at the airport and he didn't land until after 7:00pm. I shouldn't complain about it though, the rain that caused the delay was badly needed, and it brought cooler temperatures, which were also very welcomed. We finally got on the road about 7:45pm and after driving all night, and stopping at the local Walmart for food and my licenses and permits, we arrived at the house at 4:35am. Daylight would come by 7:00am, so it looked like we were going to miss the first morning hunt. We slept in until 9:00am, then did some quick scouting of a few locations to get ready for an afternoon hunt. Things looked good at a few of my stands, and the woods were full of acorns, but our green fields were starting to shape up too, so it was decision time. We both decided to sit on the field edges the first afternoon as an observation stand to get an idea of how the deer were using the property. It was a good decision, as we both saw several deer, but nothing huge. I spent the late afternoon watching a doe and two fawns, and a yearling buck feed in the field, until a trespasser on a 4-wheeler came through and spooked them back into the cover. At dark, I called it a night and started my trip out. The weather in Ohio had changed for the better, and the overnight low was forecast to be in the 30's. Dry heat had plagued this part of the country as well, and the rain that delayed our departure had also passed through here bringing cooler temps and a nice breeze. Now the bad news about the cold overnight temps...our heater quit working in the house. After a chilly nights rest, we headed back out in the morning. I was only carrying the video camera though as screwing in steps and hanging a few stands the day before really had my shoulders aggravated, and there was no way I could pull back my bow. We had a few double stand sets up for video taping hunts, so we headed to one of those. The morning was slow, but not uneventful as we did see a few small bucks, and that was how the next few days went...me video taping, us seeing small bucks and a few does. On Sunday afternoon, I decided to check out what footage we had aquired thus far and discovered that I was having some technical difficulties. Almost nothing I had been taping was actually recorded to the tape, and the camera would no longer read the time code on the tape. Looks like more camera repair after I get home. Sunday afternoon I set up on an oak flat that was loaded with acorns, and it was also loaded with deer sign. I saw deer all afternoon, with the same four deer staying around me for most of the hunt. I had a small buck come in and feed under me for almost an hour and took a few nice pictures of him. Monday morning I decided to head back to the same area, but down the ridge a little ways to where I had found a nice shed antler back in March. Not long after first light I had a nice doe come in and offer me a 15 yard shot that I took. After the hit I let her scamper off, waited about 30 minutes and then climbed down. I took my stand out as I wanted to move it to another location for my return trip that would be closer to the rut, and this other spot is a good location to intercept a rut-crazed buck. I quitely slipped out of the woods and went and hung the other stand. After getting that spot settled, I returned to the house and packed my gear, picked up my brother, who had not seen anything, and returned to track my doe. She went a little ways, but we found her without too much trouble in a pine thicket. After a quick field dressing job we loaded her up, finished packing the truck, took a quick shower and hit the road for home. After just a quick stop at the check station we were on our way and back to New Jersey by dinner time. Even though my camera crapped out and I had sore shoulders the entire trip, it was still a success and just a great long weekend get-away. Can't wait for the next trip.

Good Hunting-DV

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Scenes from the stand

Here is a short video of some scenes from an afternoon hunt last week. Deer activity has been slow, but I did manage to see some game that afternoon. Even though the start of the season has been slow, I did see a few deer and some turkeys on my last outing. It's still too hot and dry, but as I write this, I hear heavy rain hitting the roof and see that the temps will be falling in the next few days. Here is a short video of some scenes from my stand.



The two 1.5 yr old bucks came out and fed in the beans briefly before heading towards a patch of beans that were still green. On the close-up shot of the 3 pointer, you can see what became of my food plot this year. Most of the green stuff you see is weeds. Due to the drought, almost nothing I planted grew. I don't know if this latest round of rain will be enough to get it going or not. This is what my food plot looked like last year when we had corn planted on the farm. Sweet huh.


I had high hopes for this farm, we'll see if the rain can lift my spirits. Funny thing is rain is usually associated with dampening things, bringing doldrums and depressing, gunmetal gray skies, and attitudes to match but I couldn't be smiling wider hearing those raindrops pelt my roof. Now for that first frost...

Good Hunting-DV

Monday, October 8, 2007

Searching for Columbus Day magic.

Today is the Columbus Day holiday, usually one of my better days. I've killed several deer on the Holiday, including a few decent bucks. I got up at 4:00am and was again greeted by very humid, 71 degree weather. I turned on the coffee pot, splashed some water on my face and took the trash cans out to the road as the coffee brewed. After completing that chore, and a quick shower with scent free soap, I grabbed my steaming mug and headed for the computer to check weather.com. They are calling for a record high today of 87, beating the old record set in 1882. I decided to use the black lightning stand hanging in the creek bottom by the big white oak. The wind is light and variable, but supposed to blow from the east when it does blow. The stand sits in a small valley about 40 yards wide. There are hills that rise about 20 to 35 feet in elevation on both sides, and a creek running through the middle of it. The creek still has some water flowing, and there are several white oaks dropping acorns like crazy close to the stand. There is also a huge old beech tree raining down beechnuts about 50 yards up the valley, all signs that point to a good morning... well, except for the weather.

I haven’t been to this stand for a few weeks, and only used it once so far this year, and that was in the afternoon with no deer sighted. I want to give it a try in the morning and see if that is when they prefer this spot. I got settled in plenty early, about 75 minutes before sunrise, and quietly waited for first light. I could hear the buzz of civilization coming to life around me before the first hint of daybreak reached through the trees. Commuters busily making their way down a winding county road towards a nearby highway, the trash truck making it’s rounds (glad I remembered to drag the cans out before heading to the stand) and car doors slamming shut in nearby driveways as people began their work week. At first light the squirrels came to life and started knocking acorns from the trees around me. Not that those nuts needed any help falling…they came down like rain all morning. The only action for the first few hours was those pesky bushytails, and a sharp shinned hawk that nearly took my nose off, as he decided at the last second to change course.

At about 9:00am, I heard what sounded like a deer sneezing about 50 yards away and up the hill. A few minutes later I saw one deer move through breaks in the leaf canopy, up on the hill I walked across to get to the stand. It was the same place I have seen deer twice before from this stand, and I made a mental note to pick a tree over there before going home today. That deer never made it’s way to me, but vanished behind the heavy, early season foliage. At 9:45am I got down and went over to where I saw that deer and looked for another tree. I quickly remembered why I had not set up there when I previously saw deer…there just isn’t a good place for a stand. I guess I need to do some further scouting and find a spot on that hillside that they seem to use regularly. By 10:00am it was already getting hot and I was on my way home.

This afternoon seems like a better day to mow the grass than hunt, so that is probably what I'll do. Can't wait for this cooler weather and rain they are calling for by weeks end.

Good Hunting-DV

Saturday, October 6, 2007

Week One of Fall Bow

Well, the Fall Bow season opened for me on the 29th of September, no more earn-a-buck. It was a tough early season, hot, dry temps, and no does killed, so I didn’t want to hunt my better spots because I just knew a buck would come in. On the morning of the 29th, I got up at 4:00am to begin my morning ritual, but first went for my bow to give it a pull. I had been having trouble with my left shoulder for about 15 months, and in the last week, my right one went bad on me. Sure enough, couldn’t get the bow back, so I went back to bed. I hunted in the afternoon anyway, hoping I could get the bow back if I needed to but, you guessed it, I had a shooting opportunity and couldn’t complete the draw.

Saw the doctor later in the week so he could read the MRI…torn rotator cuff in both shoulders, and torn bicep tendon in one. That is not what I wanted to hear, but he gave me a couple of shots to dull the pain and by today, I can get the bow back without too much pain. I’m down on strength a little, but can do it for a few practice shots each day and for the moment of truth if needed. So, the season started off a little rough for me. The hot dry weather, pain in the shoulders, and slow deer movement had sapped some of my motivation to get out and hunt. That has, however, allowed me to get a jump start on this blog because I’m not spending every minute in the woods like usual this time of year. I’m sure the first cool breeze with recharge me and I wont be able to get out enough. Looks like they are calling for rain and those cooler temps by the end of next week, we’ll see…

Good hunting-DV

The Early Season

I got out about 8 times in what NJ calls the Early Bow Season, which this year began on September 8th. I saw a few deer, and had some shooting opportunities, mostly fawns. The stage I'm at in my hunting life is not one where I feel the need to shoot spotted fawns, even to fill an earn-a-buck requirement, so I didn't take a deer in the early season. I still have some venison in the freezer from last year so we don't really need the meat, but I am sure they provide very good eating, even if it is only one meal. SmileyCentral.com




On September 29th, Fall Bow season opened for all zones statewide and the earn-a-buck requirement was no longer in effect. A friend of mine took advantage of his first morning out and killed this nice 8-pointer on public land in South Jersey. The buck was coming to his bait pile on a regular basis, and he had plenty of trail camera photos to prove it. Just after 7:00am, he took the shot and ended his quest for a buck until the end of the month, when the Permit Bow season begins.

I don't hunt over bait. I do run a few bait sites for trail cameras, just to get an idea of what is walking around where I hunt, but in my experiences, most mature deer do not come to bait in the daylight. Yet each year, bucks like this one, which is at least 2.5, maybe 3.5 yrs old, get killed over bait. If you care to comment, I wonder how many others have had luck hunting over bait.

Good hunting-DV

Hot times.

Well, New Jersey's fall bow season has been open for about one month now, and it's been hot! I have been keeping hunting journals since 1989 and, looking back, we have not had a season that has stayed this hot, for this long. We would get a few hot days mixed in with normal temps, but not consistently 80+ degree days like this year, and it's been dry. I have almost 4 acres of food plots planted in a few different spots, and everything has dried up and died. I planted them in late August, right after a decent rain, and there was enough soil moisture to get them growing, but no rains came and now everything is about dead.

On a positive note, there is a tremendous acorn crop in the woods this year, so even though much of the crops and browse has died off early from the drought, the deer still have plenty of food to get them through fall and, with the amount of acorns I'm seeing, probably winter too. I've heard different theories on this, but a forester friend told me that mast crop will be heaviest in times when the trees feel stressed, like a drought. Unless a late frost kills the buds, in time of severe drought, he stated the acorn fall is big. This year he seems to be right, as acorns from red oaks, black oaks, post oaks, pin oaks, white oaks, and chestnut oaks are all over the ground. It can make for tough hunting because deer can find food just about anywhere, and often times do not bed too far from it, but if you find the right spot...where they are currently hitting the acorns, you can have a good hunt. Find those trees they are hiting right now, and set up on them.

Good hunting-DV

Trying to put into words what being an outdoorsman means to me...

Well, I guess the best way to start this blog is to say a little about myself. I'm 40 years old, currently married with a 10 yr old daughter and 13 yr old son and probably the best wife a guy could have. I'm in Law Enforcement, formerly worked as a social worker with at-risk kids, and served in the Navy and Army.

I have been addicted to whitetail hunting since about age 13, when I started hunting with a bow. At age 15, my parents allowed me to hunt with a shotgun, and I enjoy that too but bowhunting is my passion. I also enjoy off-shore fishing, fresh water fishing for just about whatever I can get to bite, and fishing in the Delaware Bay for weakfish, bluefish, flounder and striped bass. I recently bought a kayak for accessing some small fishing holes and find fishing from the "yak" to be alot of fun. I enjoy just about anything I do outdoors, from wading a local stream or river with ultralight tackle, to sitting in a treestand on cool October evenings or crisp November mornings with either my bow or video camera, to the thunderous gobbles of a wild turkey at daybreak, on a cool and damp spring morning, it's all great.

For those of you who have never experienced these things, you don't know what you are missing. There is so much to see and experience outdoors it amazes me every time I go afield. To watch the sun rise or set across a hardwood ridge, ablaze in Autumn’s finest glory…to observe a whitetail buck, steam pouring from his nostrils on a crisp November morning as he strides along the edge of a frost covered, cut cornfield where it rushes up to meet the firery oranges, reds and yellows of the maples and hickories that grow at the woodline, well, you just have to see it to fully appreciate it. To see the flashy colors of the brook and rainbow trout in the cold April streams, or the violent eruption as a largemouth bass bursts through the glassy still surface to grab your lure, as the sun sets across the calm lake on a hazy, late summer evening… You know you are among just a few of Gods wonderful creations.

I guess I’ll end this post with a word about our Creator. I have been very blessed in my life with a great family, good job and good health, and have only God to thank for it. Every time I go afield I see His greatness everywhere, and do my best to preserve it. Please do the same, bring home more trash then you take into the outdoors, and always respect the natural wonders and wildlife you encounter in your Days Afield.

DV

Thursday, October 4, 2007

Just getting started

Well, I'm just getting started with this blog today. I'm still trying to figure out how to get it all organized, but plan on using it to keep an up to date hunting journal through the season. Hopefully, I'll be posting pictures and videos to go along with the journal entries.

We'll see how it goes, finding the time to keep it up will be the tough part, but I hope to be able to stay on top of things.

Good hunting-DV