DS19 Part 39: Still Hunting with the Muzzleloader

I didn't get out at all during rifle season.  It was kind of on purpose and kind of a case of the time just slipping away during a few weeks of craziness at work playing catchup after being gone, heading back to Ohio to visit family for the Thanksgiving holiday, and if I'm honest, needing a break from the woods to recharge my batteries a little. 

Drove around the PRC a little yesterday to scout where muzzleloading hunting pressure is.  Tons of people in the woods right now with late elk season also in progress.  Saw a little deer sign driving around and figured out where I would hunt today.

First stop was Lance's to borrow his muzzleloader.  I sent him to a spot a couple weeks ago and he got a nice 8pt with his rifle.  That was pretty cool and he was grateful for the tip, and insisted I take his muzzleloader for a walk.  

I still hunted a long transition between a marsh, pines and an oak ridge.  20 minutes into the hunt, a deer crossed in front of me but I wasn't able to get the gun up fast enough to get a shot.  A few steps later, another passed.  The woods opened up 20yds in front of me, if I could just get around a small group of pines, I'd have a shot at one.  I stalked forward through the shin deep snow as quietly as I could, but 5yds before I got to the pines, the deer bolted.  

I probably won't be able to get out again until the weekend after Christmas.  Two tags still need to be filled.

DS19 Part 38: Jason Finds His Buck

We slept in till 7am and hiked in to where Jason shot his buck. He did a good job finding the spot, and was basically within bow range of where I wanted him to set up when I sent him there. On the hike in we almost got trampled by a group of doe that were getting pushed by a small buck. Both of us scrambled to hide behind trees as they ran past us.  I felt for sure I was going to get run over.

I had him walk me through his hunt and we quickly got on the buck's trail. There was no blood, just running tracks in the leaves. As we came through some briars, he spotted his dead buck just down the ridge, a 2.5 year old 8pt.

While he quartered it, I scouted the area and found some classic buck bedding.

Note the bed at the base of the tree.  Classic!

Also found a double sign post rub. Cant wait to go back next year. Both of these trees were about 10" in diameter.  Its like a cathedral.

On the hike out, we dropped the pack and gridded the area I hunted. The mule kick I saw when I shot at the buck the night before still haunted me. But we didnt find a dead deer or any clues that I hit it. The rest of the day was spent processing our deer back at camp. Tagged out, we're both heading back home tomorrow.

DS19 Part 37: If its Brown, Its Down

High temp of 38 was forecast so I packed an extra layer. Was set up before first light and sat until noon, didnt see anything. Met Jason back at the access and we hit a small diner to warm up and eat lunch. While eating we talked and I decided it was the point in the trip where I would shoot the first adult deer that gave me a shot. He already had a doe and said he would take the first branch antlers buck that came by.

I took him to a new spot, it's quite a hike through some pretty rugged terrain. He thought I was joking when I told him not to fall off any cliffs. This place is the epitome of an overlooked spot or the epitome of a spot most guys wont put the effort in to hunt. I found it cyberscouting and scouted it last year and gave it one sit and saw deer. I had a ridge in mind for both of us and told him where to set up and we split up.

I kind of laughed watching his reaction to the terrain and told him to turn the topo layer on in onx and go around the ravine ahead and up the next ridge. 

I get up to the point on my ridge and start scouting. I find a tree between two bedding areas where the wind will blow my stink to no mans land but is right for the deer. The other reason I chose the tree I did was any deer that came in would have to come in upwind of me, and if they looked at me, they would have to look into the sun. I got my sticks on the tree and before I even had my safety harness hooked up, a 2.5 year old 8pt came in. I pulled my bow up and laid it across my linemans rope, put my release on, ranged him, and shot. He mule kicked just after I lost the flight of the arrow and ran a 20yds then started walking normally. If I hadn't seen the mule kick, I would have thought I missed by his body language. I waited 30 minutes and went to go look for my arrow or first blood to see what happened. Coukdnt find either and was pretty certain I missed, but the mule kick made me uncertain. Do deer mule kick when you miss? I got back up in my tree, ran through everything in my head and got back down again and looked for some sign to tell me if I hit or missed him. No blood, no arrow, no hair.

I got back up in my tree. 30 minutes later a few doe came in. They were in a patch of super thick briars and grape vines that made the bedding area just north of me. I could see a deer body part here and there as they milled around. Finally, one moved towards my side and I had a 6" hole through the thorns at the vitals. I drew and fired, the impact sounded good and blood was pouring down the near leg and then both legs within the first 15yds. She stopped and tipped over at 20yds. I felt relief. I dont know if I could miss another deer this trip and be able to look in the mirror.

The game bags were hung by the grills and smokers with care

I didnt want to interrupt Jason's hunt so I packed everything up and hiked out, swapped my sticks and hunting stuff for my game bags and knife and hiked back in. I had her quartered just before dark. As I was finishing up, a different small 8pt walked in on me. I looked up and we had a short stare down before I bared my teeth and growled at him. I loaded the meat on my pack and saw Jason's headlamp coming through the woods as he worked towards our meetup point. I whistled at him and he stopped and I hiked down the hill and recapped my hunt.

He beamed about how awesome the spot I sent him was. He said he shot a 2.5 year old 8 just before dark and wasnt sure about the shot placement. It sounded to me like he made a good shot but we decided to play it safe and come back to track the next morning. The way he described the shot and deer behavior after, I was confident we would find a dead deer in the morning. I was also kind of happy I wouldnt have to hike back in after packing my deer out.

DS19 Part 36: Rain Day

Stayed up late last night visiting with my mom and did dishes with her. Didnt get to bed till 1130pm, so with that and a full day of rain forecast for today, I decided to skip this morning, sleep in and get caught up on some laundry. Gonna head out after lunch, rest that spot for today and try again tomorrow morning. Not sure yet where I will hunt tonight, maybe do an observation sit with the bow a 1/4 mile north and see what I see or just go somewhere completely new. That's 21 sits on the season. 10 or 12 more before I have to go back to MI. I love hunting here, I love the hills, the briars, the crp, the balanced buck to doe ratio, the age classes you see and the warmer November weather.

Not a fan of the ticks though 

I dont mind hunting in a light rain, but it was just heavy enough that I didnt want to risk losing a blood trail. Watched the radar all day and had an opening in the clouds around 3pm. Got to the spot I was going to hunt and sat in my car till the rain slowed and hiked in. It stopped raining just after I was set up. Didnt see anything and climbed down at dark.

DS19 Part 35: Biscuits, Gravy and Blood Trails

Took the morning hunt off to have breakfast with family. Jason sent me a message around 8am.

Him- I think I shot a doe. She looked wobbly then a buck pushed her off
Me- What do you mean you think you shot a doe?
Him- Should I get down and check my arrow?
Me- Yeah, let me know what it looks like.
Him- clean arrow
Me- ughh, you shoot under or over her?
Him- Missed by ten yards. Sucks because I had two more in my shooting lanes for ten minutes after. Arrow is clean, no blood.
Me- any fat grease on the shaft?
Him- no, she was uphill of log, I found it under. Back up in my tree now. There's deer coming
Me- sends him a pic of homemade biscuits and gravy

Best biscuits and gravy ever

Him- you suck.
Him- I just missed another one
Me- sorry man, sends pic of half eaten biscuits and gravy.
Him- God I suck. Just blew a chip shot. Pushed my hand forward instead of releasing
Me- you have any arrows left?
Him- just shot a doe
Me- yeah!?
Him- dragging a leg, moving uphill. I'm out of arrows

I finished breakfast and headed out to where he was hunting. It's a steep ridge near a funnel across the top. I had noticed good deer movement on that ridge during a leeward wind last year.  It was leeward that morning and deer were pouring through. I throw some flagging tape and a bottle of power aid in my fanny pack and hike up the hill. He is running me through what happened and I see a deer slinking through the brush towards us. Deer, buck! Dont move!" I whisper. It's a solid 8 and we get about 3 minutes of video of him at about 30yds before he finally realizes what we are and heads back over the ridge.

The stuff that happens when you don't have a bow in your hand

We look at his arrow and first blood. Its pink with a few air bubbles in it. He got a pass through but its only bleeding on one side. White hairs with light tan hairs. There is hair in the blood spots for 10yds or so. I suspect single lung. Its only been about 40min since he shot her, so I suggest we wait 20 minutes before picking up the trail. We hike back to the car and grab the sled, knives, etc and hike back up. He leads the trail and I hang back. It's not much of a trail, more like blood pouring out. I am confident the deer is dead but about 100yds later I'm surprised its not and am thinking single lung for sure. I am staying back about 30yds behind him, when he stops. He nocks an arrow and starts stalking up the hill. He draws, shoots. I hear a thwack and see a deer jump up with an arrow sticking out of its hind quarter. I run up to him, she is down again just 20yds up the hill and expires shortly after.

There was a melancholy moment after she died where the two of us stood over her in the morning sun just a few feet apart and paid our respects, appreciating the seriousness of what took place.  I wasn't even the one who made the kill, and it was a very emotional moment.  I didn't cry, but I came close.  It isn't like on TV when these clowns hoot and hollar and straddle the dead deer and put all of their focus on the horns and their egos.  Real hunters have too much respect for these animals to be so irreverent.

Deer are amazing animals and its remarkable to see how strong they are even when mortally wounded.  Even when you make a great shot, you can lose deer, so I think there was also a little bit of relief on both our parts that we found her at the end of the blood trail.  As I write two months after the fact, its been fun to watch Jason's social media posts full of venison meals.  Yeah, it sucks to see an animal you love and respect so much die, but the food part of hunting is why we're willing to make that sacrifice.

He guts her and we sled her down the hill.

He didnt hit any lungs or the heart. She spun as he shot and turned a broadside shot into a quartering to shot, maybe even straight on.  The arrow went in in front of the right shoulder and came out behind it kind of in the armpit.  It wasn't the single lung I was thinking, it was a no lung.  He got lucky and hit an artery which explained all of the bubbles and the bright pink blood and the hair coming out for so long on the trail.

I headed out to hunt and he went back to camp to start processing.

I decided to hit the spot I missed the big 10pt. Only I moved my stand location about 75yds north along the ridge onto a different spur. I was set up by 2pm or so and didnt see anything until about 5pm. A solid 8pt buck is working his way up out of the bottom up my spur. I stood and watched him browse on acorns through my rangefinder until he got to 43yds and stopped. He looked up my way, didnt like something and slowly browsed backwards retracing his footsteps up the hill. I threw a couple hail mary grunts out but he paid no attention. I snort wheezed and he stopped for a minute or so and continued browsing. 10 minutes later I see a head with horns pop up over the next spur north. It's a buck and at first I mistook it for the 8pt circling back around. But no, it was the 10pt I missed. He came to about 80yds and worked his way back down into the bottom where the 8 came from and disappeared. I grunted but he didnt act like he heard it.

I climbed down and hiked the mile and a half out. Got back to camp and made venison stroganoff with back strap from Jason's doe and homemade pasta.

DS19 Part 34: Buck Fever

I love the 5th of November. Killed a lot of deer on this date. I've done enough observing and scouting to this point in the trip, its time to hunt!

Woke up at 4am and hiked a mile and a half back into a east facing ridge where a funnel intersects it. A west wind was forecast with light rain all morning. Scouted the area a couple days before and it looked fishy. Found a tree and was set up by first light. At 730am a small buck chased a doe by me. At 745 it started raining. A light rain, but steady. At 9 I added a layer. It was cold November rain, and the guns and Rose's song played in my head on repeat. I ate a couple pop tarts and a fruit roll up at 930. I was sitting in my stand kind of hunched over to keep my face out of the wind. Every 30 seconds or so I'd survey the area around me. Which wasnt often enough.

At 1030 I scanned to the right and at the end of my scan, a deer was in the corner of my eye. I turned my head farther to see what it was and saw horns, big horns. I reached for my bow, clipped my release in and looked the other way thinking the deer was walking behind me. It wasnt there. I looked back to where I originally saw it. It wasnt there. I looked further away and he had ran backwards, now standing at 30yds. He must have saw me move when I looked at him or to grab my bow. I drew, told myself to go through my shot sequence, put my 20yd pin on his vitals and shot. As the arrow flew my heart sank. I didnt use the right pin and immediately knew it. The arrow stuck in the ground underneath him and he bolted.

I didnt feel the adrenaline until I was about to get down from my stand to inspect the arrow. I calmed myself down and placed off where he was when I originally saw him...9 yards. 9 freaking yards! He was an amazing deer, big tall pearl white tines. Lots of mass. I saw one split brow. Probably the biggest deer I've laid eyes on from a treestand. It stopped raining 5 minutes later.

I packed up. My head wasnt right and I had to put that behind me. Still 7 more days to hunt down here. Made some coffee at the car, ate some peanut butter and jelly and a cup of pudding.

Drove to another spot for the evening sit. There was a truck from west Virginia there with three guys walking into the woods. They stopped and I asked them where they were headed. Two were going the way I wanted to, but not nearly as far back. I asked if they minded if I walked past them on the way to where I wanted to go, and they were cool with it.

Saw a really big bodied buck at this spot observing a couple evenings prior. It's in a bottom where three ravines dump into a crp field. There is a creek running out of one. There are scrapes everywhere. As I got to the top if it and looked down I heard a deer running. Then I hear a grunt. There is a big chocolate racked buck pushing a doe out of the ravine the creek comes out of. There are three ways they could go, they skipped the first, now there is a 50/50 chance they could head my way. I drop my pack, grab my release out and put it on, nock and arrow and jump off to the side of the trail. I wait 5min, nothing. I throw my pack on and start walking down the hill, 50yds later the buck blows at me and storms off. He must have lost the doe and was coming back at me.

I get to where I want to be and hang my stand. It was a beautiful place to watch the woods. 10 minutes after I was set up, another buck is pushing a doe behind me but never in range. I heard him grunt a few times but never got a good look at him. I hate hunting bottoms, never see anything in range it feels like, but man, how do you ignore them?  Definitely my guilty pleasure.

That was it for the night. Had pork loin, redskin potatoes and corn for dinner.

DS19 Part 33: Finding the Zone

Decided there was one more spot I wanted to do an observation sit on. Long ridge that juts out into a point/peninsula on a lake. At the top of the ridge was a secluded crp field. There was a dead end road at the base so I parked there and started work my way to the end of the point and then was going to walk up the hill and sit on the crp. As soon as I got to the tip of the point, I hear a deer jump up near the top. I look up and throw my binos on it and it's a really nice buck in the 120 to 140 range. He goes about 30yds and looks back at me. I pretended like I wasnt paying attention to him and walked back to my car and drove away. I think that deer was bedded, which was weird because of the time of day and time of year, but even weirder for the wind direction. The wind was going up the point. But, he could see where I parked from his bed, so I think he was access watching. I drove to the next nearest access and scouted the rest of the ridge hoping to make a game plan for that evening.

Had lunch around noon and went in from behind him, hoping he didnt leave after I left. It was probably a mile or so from the next nearest access. I got to the crp, flicked the ticks off, and Bush whacked through it. The plan was to get just off wind from where I thought he would come off the point and shoot him before he got to the crp. When I got through the crp, I didnt see a tree I liked that wouldnt skylight me. There was a stiff breeze with sporadic gusts, so I decided to stalk the bed and shoot him in it hoping he was facing downhill. It probably took an hour to get within sight of it. When the breeze would settle, I'd stop, when it would blow I'd move. It was a great stalk that I was very proud of, only my target wasnt there when I got to him.

Tick Country

I dropped down the hill and walked a mile and a half to plan b for the evening sit. A ridge top funnel. I was only about 6' up in a macgyver saddle I use sometimes which is basically a muddy ambush harness. Works great but pinches the hips a little. I just used the top if my beast sticks as a platform. That worked great, too.

20min before last light I got a wild hair and got down and spot and stalked my way through the funnel. The funnel was thick briars surrounded by grass/clover fields. I saw a rabbit at 40yds and drew on it, as I was settling in to pull the trigger, a deer walked out in my sight window 10yds behind it. I froze, the deer looked up at me and did the head bob thing. I let down and it bolted out of sight around a corner to the left. I quickly snuck up to the corner and it was still there with another doe at 43yds. I had a shot and am comfortable shooting that range but wanted to get closer. Blew it and they ran.

DS19 Part 32: Rutcation Day 2

Rutcation, end of day 2 and so much has happened already I'm starting to forget stuff. Mostly scouting and observation sits so far. Seen 3 bucks and a half dozen does. Two of the bucks were in range but too small to shoot this early in the trip. I pointd Jason in the direction of an area that I didn't spend much time in last season but has all the ingredients for a good spot and he has already seen five bucks and a few does. He passed a 120" 10pt. I hope he doesnt regret it. Two nights, total of about 8 hours of sleep. Starting to get my hill legs and feeling all of it. Its the good kind of suck.

Had chicken enchiladas for dinner last night and Hungarian goulash with fresh pasta tonight. Heading to bed. Scrapes everywhere. The deer are moving in places during daylight deer shouldn't be moving.  When they come across your entrance or exit route, they don't turn around and go the other way- in fact, they have followed it a couple times.  It's like they've never been hunted. That doesn't mean its gonna be easy, just the opposite. How do you predict deer that are unpredictable?

DS19 Part 31: Too Mobile

I made it down to my destination in OH at 2am last night, visited with my mom and grandma who waited up for me and got to bed around 3am. Set the alarm for 7am, woke up at 6am, anyway, and have been laying in bed the last 45min scrolling around on onx. Today is a scouting day.

Got to thinking about my october some more on the way down and I think I was too mobile. I think I had 12 or 13 hunts for the month, spread out over spots in 5 different counties. Next year I need to hunt an area down, moving around until I solve it.

Time for coffee

DS19 Part 30: My City Was Gone

Halloween. Where did October go? My season isnt going as planned. Things were going right until I had to go to Mexico for a week and then it's been slow going. But tomorrow is November and we all get a clean slate.

I was born in Ohio and lived there till we moved to northern Michigan when I was 14. I hated Michigan at first, but then I went back to Ohio and it wasnt as great as I remembered it. I learned to hate the buckeye state. Flat, boring, bad drivers, crime and drugs everywhere. My parents moved back when I was in my mid 20's for work, I stayed in MI, took a job in the adirondacks for 5 years, then came back to northern MI. This is home.

Tomorrow I go back, again, for my second hunting trip there as an adult.  I'm leaving after work, should land super late at night, then I'm gonna get up early and check the trail cams I set in July. Then I'm gonna speed scout 3 or 4 properties, and if time permits, do an observation sit in the evening.  Jason is driving up from Georgia to meet me and should land in the late afternoon.  Then I'm cooking chicken enchiladas for dinner and hunting dusk to dawn through the 11th, then I'm gonna go visit my dad for a couple days until I have to come back to work on the 14th. 

Got that pretenders song stuck in my head, its gonna be the anthem tomorrow, at least until I get to where I'm going, and then it'll be bluegrass and banjos.

DS19 Part 29: PRC Archery Deer Camp

Weekend deer camp was awesome. Saw some deer out of range, some elk, a bald eagle and a bunch of small game. Ate like kings and really enjoyed the time in camp.  I'm looking ahead to next week's trip to Ohio deer camp.

cast iron chilli

Making deer camp great again

Low 20's at night, but no worries

Home sweet home

DS19 Part 28: Crazy Quiet

Hit some hill country tonight. We had a light west wind forecast so I guesstimated that there may be a buck bedded on the east side of this hill, and that deer would be traveling that east side to take advantage of rising thermals and the leeward wind direction.

The original plan was to keep circling and come up the north side to about the upper third elevation but it was just too dang quiet. I decided to just get just out of sight from where I thought the deer might be bedded, just downhill from a little bench that pops out. I also had to wait until the sun dropped and the leeward side was shaded, hoping to make my way up on a falling thermal. It all went great, really, though it took forever to keep the deer from hearing me. Even moving along at a snails pace, the crackling leaves under my feet sounded like I was crumpling up a bag of chips.

Squirrels were out in force. The ground in this area is covered in acorns and they fell throughout the hunt. I am benched till next weekend, then its archery deer camp with a bunch of buddies. Then the following weekend I head to OH for 13 days. Probably going to adopt a brown it's down attitude next weekend.

DS19 Part 27: The Marsh

I scouted a spot this spring that looked pretty promising. Finally got the right wind for it today and scouted my way in. This spot is the southern edge of a large stand of hardwood hills where they transition into pines, then into a tag alder marsh, a creek, then pines and aspen. Stiff south breeze gave me good sound cover going in. Stayed about 40yds off the transition line and was looking for either heavily used trails or fresh buck sign coming out of the bedding.

Love this time of year 

Came across a nice rub and a small, fresh scrape without a licking branch over it. Didnt feel right so I kept moving. Got on a better runway and almost stepped on a monster clump of buck poop on a lightly used runway coming out of the tags. I slowed down and 40yds east of it was a heavier used runway coming out. The best tree I could find was centered in between them, but with all the pine branches everywhere, my best option was to only be about 6' up. I hung my stand and was settled in by 4pm. Sat till 5pm and just wasnt feeling like I made the right call so I jumped down, packed up and followed the runways into the tags. I felt like I was close to bedding but not close enough. I also felt like I needed to bump a deer to confirm I was in the ballpark. Next thing you know other heavier runs converged, and converged, and converged and just before the creek it was basically a very well worn run skirting the edge of a bog the deer didnt want to walk through.

About 40yds before the creek I j-hooked off the runway and set up so I could shoot anything coming by before it got my ground scent. To do that, I had to walk across the super spongy, wet bog the deer were skirting around, and I found out why they were avoiding it.  I had to do the sideways step thing to catch grass under my feet to keep me from sinking. There was about three to five inches of standing water where I needed to set up to use the creek as a shooting lane so I laid my stand under my pack and used my pack to sit on. Worked pretty good, though my feet were in about an inch of water. Was expecting them to start sleeping in water but the goretex liner kept my feet dry.

The stand kept my pack mostly out of the water and the lumbar pad on my pack made for a nice seat cushion.

Heard deer moving just out of sight upwind but never saw them. Also pretty sure I heard a buck grunt about 50yds west of me. But that was it. It was dark around 7 and I hiked out. Really enjoyed this hunt

My view of the creek crossing

DS19 Part 26: Finding the Zone

Got back from Mexico yesterday and am trying to get back in the hunting zone, you know, that place you get once you've been out in the woods almost every day and you start to go all spirit of the wild, and shit.  You stop feeling like you're some hobbyist and start feeling like an actual predator.  You're one with the deer's universe.

The same phenomena exists in trout fishing.  I remember Josh writing about it, and if I remember right, he said that he starts to feel it after a few weeks of every day fishing.  I remember reading it, thinking I knew what he was talking about.  I fished a lot, three or four days a week at a minimum.  But then I started guiding and even though I didn't have daily bookings I felt like I needed to be on the water every day so in case someone booked a trip, I would know what was going on and put them on fish.  And then I experienced what he was talking about.

"Get ready, there is a nice fish rising off the right bank 30yds downstream."  I told my client while maneuvering my drift boat for the anchor drop.  It was 11:30pm and pitch black and even in the abyss of a starless northern Michigan night, I could see him look back at me like I was smoking crack.

"I don't see or hear anything," he whispered

"GLOOP!"  one large and one small white air bubble bobbed to the surface where the fish just sucked a bug beneath the surface.

"Oh!"  he whispered excitedly.  I could feel the boat rock slightly as he shifted his feet in preparation for the cast.

It was a good fish, a leopard-spotted brown probably 21 or 22-inches long, the first of three fish over 20-inches in the boat that night.

I didn't have night vision or super hearing, but I knew where every fish in that river was- and several other rivers, and when it was on, or it wasn't, or one of those weird nights that starts out on fire but quickly sizzles out, or the opposite where it starts out super slow then builds into a feeding frenzy, I could feel what kind of night we were going to be into before we finished the casting lesson if it was a guided trip or before the first beer was drank on solo or friend trips.

Knowing where the fish are is a nice trick to have up your sleeve, but it didn't guarantee fish in the net.   I would often joke that I was a guide, not a god- a line I stole from a bumper sticker I'd seen out in NY- and it was true.   You can't make them eat.  You can teach anyone to cast, but some people aren't meant to fish.  And you can't control what other anglers are going to do around you.

There was one particular night where that last point really came to fruition unlike any other.  Hex season was a few days in and there were two really nice browns that none of my clients were able to hook.  These two fish came up every night on the same seam, 25yds apart.  My friend John had not been having a slow trout season to that point and I knew he could hook one of those fish, and if we played out cards right, I could hook the other.  We rowed past all sorts of good water and I put the boat to rest right where it needed to be for the bottom fish.

We sat back, smoked cigarettes, and waited for it to get dark.  After the sun set, the bottom fish started to rise.  As John was working the fish, the upstream fish started to rise, also.  Everything was going according to plan, except that bottom fish wasn't cooperating.  After four or five drifts, it went down and we decided to reposition the boat so that John could try for the top fish who was still rising.

We spotted another boat coming downstream at us.  We were pretty close to the end of the float and John remarked it was a little early to see someone being done for the night.  Maybe they weren't chasing the hex hatch, I wondered.  As the boat got closer, I recognized it was another area guide.

He was a friend, but our friendship was on the rocks.  He used to be John's friend, too, but had stolen a fly pattern that John created and submitted it to a catalog and renamed it after himself, so John had stopped talking to him.  I was kind of ready to do the same after he had recently submitted a photo I had taken to a local magazine and claimed it as his own a week or two before.  A month before that, I had a client that wanted to book a four-person double boat trip through me, which I was going to have this other guide help out with.  The client had two of his group back out, and the trip fell through, but the client told me that after, this other guide reached out to him to do just a single boat trip.  Strike two.   Despite all that, I wasn't ready to cut him out of my life.

He had a sport in the bow and when he reached us, I politely said hi and asked if he was rowing out for the night.  He was, a few sentences of small talk later he was downstream of us and rowing away as John and I quickly snickered back and forth when it became obvious that he didn't know the hex hatch had started yet.  And just when he was almost around the next bend, that bottom fish rose.  The other guide dug in hard on the oars.  John looked back at me, and I looked back at him.  The look on our faces was the same, and one that said, "I can't fucking believe what I'm seeing."

This guy rowed back upstream and dropped anchor, maybe 20yds downstream of us, and was now set up on the bottom fish.  It was completely silent on the river, but the tension was deafening.  Strike three.

The other boat rowing upstream had put the top fish down, and the bottom fish hadn't come back up yet from that initial rise. I didn't say a word to John, then lifted my anchor for a few seconds, putting my boat right next to the other.

"Is that a client in the boat?"  I asked.  I was sure it was, but wanted to make sure.  He said it was, which meant I wasn't going to cuss.  Looking back, I have no idea why I was still being so nice.

Because he had a client, I was trying not to cuss.

"Dude, what you just did was a major party foul.  You don't low hole someone like that.  You didn't even know those fish were here, you were done for the night and the fishing is just getting started, do you even know what the hell you're doing?" 

Not cussing was making it really hard for me to communicate, so I just stopped talking.  I made a short motion towards my anchor rope to leave but remembered I really had to piss.  I aggressively climbed up over the rear casting brace on my drift boat, rocking the boat hard and sending a wave into the other boat.  My stearn was a few feet upstream of his stearn, and I stood there for a second before leaning my knees against the gunnel for balance, facing the other boat's direction.  I whipped it out, and pissed the loudest, most bubbly, satisfying piss of my life directly upstream of his boat.

Not a word was spoken by anyone while all this was happening.  I rocked the boat hard again as I came back to the rower's seat, lifted the anchor rope, and away John and I went.  John asked him how much time he spent developing that fly as we drifted away.  Looking back on the whole thing, it felt like something out of Stephen King's, Stand By Me.

Looks like we have a westerly wind this week, that works out well for a few of my spots.  Time to get back in the zone.

DS19 Part 25: Ghillie Suiting It

Hit an old apple orchard tonight in the ghillie suit.  Spot and stalk is probably one of my favorite ways to hunt deer.  I picked up a ghillie suit from allpredatorcalls.com and hope it will really help my ground hunting game.

I saw a couple does close to last light.  Not a lot of apples left.  I did find some other sign that looks worth hunting, but it will have to wait as I have to leave for another work trip this week, this time I'll be in Mexico.   Looking forward to some good food, but already can't wait to get back.

DS19 Part 24: Master Baiters

Made a big loop south of where I planned to hunt and circled in off wind of where I suspected deer might be bedding. Watched a group of ORV's drive by and could hear them motoring around for the first hour or two of the evening.  Sure would be nice if the DNR would enforce the area for ORV use which isn't allowed.

Came across a pop up blind with 10' shooting lanes cut 50yds in every direction from it like wheel spokes along the way. Thought it was a rifle blind but would be proven wrong later in the hunt when a group of guys came in during PRIME time to bait it. Guessing its set up for crossbow hunting. But let's focus on the positive.

Wind was light to gusty out of the SE with occasional switches out of the NW. I came across a fresh rub 50yds south of where I hung my stand. Only went up about 8 to 10 feet into some good cover between two bug pine boughs. The tree was way bigger than I usually go up but it was in the right spot. If it were 1/2 an inch bigger the straps on my sticks wouldnt have made it around.

The view to my left

View to my right

Had a red squirrel keep me company most of the night. Saw no deer.

About 7pm I think I hear voices. Then its obvious people were talking south of me. Then it was like I could hear their conversation. They were talking so loud it was like they were afraid of bears or something. They were walking towards the pop up blind. I decided to stick it out, maybe they would push something my way. 20 minutes later I can hear them coming back. It clicked that they were baiting their blind. Not sure why they would choose prime time on a saturday night to do it, but whatever. I was frustrated and started packing up.

Oh yeah, I forgot, the positive... I learned a lot about the wind in this spot. Probably went through two full pods of milkweed. It would blow NW from my spot at the opposite point, then about halfway, it would turn 90 degrees to the right. What was happening was the wind was hitting that other point and shifting around it like water hitting a boulder in the river. It was really cool to watch and is something I can use to my advantage at other spots in the future, cause it's highly unlikely I ever go back to this one.

Still on the fence about reporting them to the DNR for the shooting lanes and baiting.  But honestly, I'm tired of being told to report wrongdoing whenever I see it.  How about the DNR puts some more conservation officers in the woods so they aren't spread so thin and people don't have to report stuff?

DS19 Part 23: Apples

Awesome hunt this morning! Used onx to get about where I thought I needed to be in the dark at a spot I had only scouted online. Curled up on the ground in my ghillie suit by a small patch of aspen trees. Grey light comes and apple trees start to materialize in front of me, to the sides, and behind me.  Felt like I hit the lottery!

Didnt see any bucks but I had a group of four doe's come through at about 25yds around 830. Walking out I passed even more apple trees, must have been an old orchard or something that is now mostly overgrown on the edge of a cedar swamp. No buck sign or large tracks but I left a trail camera behind to see who else lives there. Just got home, eating lunch, gonna watch the beginning of the Michigan game and head back out for the evening hunt.

DS19 Part 22: Soccer Mom Wheels

Still waiting for my new driveshaft to arrive but got a loaner vehicle from the best mother-in-law ever to get me by till I fix my car. Gonna be rocking a mini van...

Pulled a deer tick out of my hip tonight. Normally dont have to worry about ticks past september around here, that'll teach me not to check. This week has been one bummer after another. Hopefully it didnt give me anything cause I gotta go to mexico for work next week and I dont wanna come down with something in a third world country.

 Gonna take the ghillie suit and hunt on the ground in the morning. Excited to see what this spot looks like in person. Still not sure what I want to do for tomorrow evening's sit.

DS19 Part 21: Broken Driveshaft

Couldnt hunt tonight, my car is out of commission. Never heard a vehicle make sounds like this, sounds like something is gonna come through the floor. Driveshaft went, cancelled my time off tomorrow and friday, trying to figure out how to fix the car and hunt on saturday.

DS19 Part 20: Opening Day

Day one, not sure where to begin. I guess let me start with me spending 30 minutes looking for my keys this morning, and finding them in the middle of the living room floor after walking past them 18 times. Got to work late, left at noon and headed for the thermal hub spot.

It's about an hour and fifteen minutes away. I had high hopes, rocked a motley crue CD all the way there. Get about two miles away from where I need to park and the road is impassable. ORV's had it destroyed.  Plan B. I drove in reverse about half a mile till I found a spot I could turn around. Drove to the west side of the section and walked in the long way. Saw a bald eagle flying around, that was cool. Get to about 100yds from the spot that looked good on the map and there is a doe standing there looking at me.

She is just right of center I need her to leave but I dont want her to run in the direction she came from so I walk towards her, but kind of at an angle towards where I dont want her to go. It works. She blows and takes off. I go into scouting mode. There were acorns dropping, so many in places it was like walking on marbles. There are also beechnuts galore near the beach trees. I am on the top of a hub and am tempted to stay there but know if I'm going to see the bucks I got earlier in the year on trail camera during daylight, that I need to get close to their bedroom.

Wind is supposed to be out of the NW switching to the north later in the evening. It's supposed to be raining with possible thunderstorms. Instead, its overcast and the wind is all over the place, and very light. Milkweed falls to the ground and then swirls around like its lost. I'm in trouble. But I see a super subtle runway about 1/5 of the way down and it leads me to a fresh rub going from food to bedding. Then another, then another, then another.

I am still not sure exactly where bedding is but I guesstimate I am about 100yds away. It takes me nearly an hour to cover the next 50yds and I decided it was time to find a tree. The family of raccoons I kept getting on camera walks by without seeing me. I hang my sticks, climb up and hang my stand, go to put my tree strap around the tree and my bad day throws another haymaker at me. Left the tree strap in the car when I switched my gear from my backpack to fanny pack so I could keep things simple. Shot showing where I was pointing at where the bedding area is roughly 50yds away

The wind is shifting even more than it has been at this point so I decide to salvage the rest of the evening and spend it scouting. I found some nice sign, including sign that the beds I found in August are still being used.

There was a little bit of hair in each,  upon closer examination, a few looked like wind based night beds to me. That was about it, I'm pooped, gonna sleep like a baby tonight. Watching the weather for tomorrow, nice cold front and an ENE wind. I think that is about perfect for the amoeba marsh so I'm heading for the swamp!

DS19 Part 19: Archery Season's Eve

Bow season opens tomorrow! Got home from work and shot the bow for a while. Shot pretty good from 5 to 40 then swapped the practice heads out for the real deal. Got my stand and sticks, bow case and other gear loaded in the car. Been on and off every weather site out there about 80 times tonight trying to settle on where I will hunt tomorrow evening. Wind is forecast to be out of the NW then switching to the NNW from 6 till dark, scattered thunderstorms in the morning with rain coming on and off the rest of the day.

I'm thinking I will do an observation sit on the amoeba marsh. If I can find the right tree, I will be able to see most of the marsh and any deer that enter it, and have a strong chance of shooting them as they parallel or walk into my point. If they stay out of range, I will have more intel and move in for a kill the next sit with the wind I need, which is pretty much any of them as there are points within close proximity to one another for almost any wind. Great spot to be a buck.

The other nice thing is I will be able to pull my trail cam on this spot on my exit. We will see, I have been known to scrap a plan at the last minute after talking myself out of it. Gotta love the mental grind of deer season, especially when it hasnt even started yet.

A cold front is coming wednesday along with easterly winds that will stick around till saturday morning when they are supposed to flip to being out of the south. I have two good spots ready for wednesday and Thursday, not sure for friday, then plan to go into the spot I got the bucks on camera saturday morning and try to get them coming back to their beds. I have two tags which I can use for bucks or doe's, plus an out of state tag. Hopefully in 6 weeks I'm writing about how happy I am to have filled them and am making my own summer sausage. It's going to be a wild ride, not sure I will be able to sleep tonight.

DS19 Part 18: Feeling Bucky

Ok, finally got a ballpark idea what the weather was doing for the pics that I got during yesterday's card pull. Like many guys on the beast, I can really geek out on this stuff. I think there is a ton of value in using data to highlight patterns or trends you wouldn't have been able to pick up on otherwise.

That said, I also think there is an over-reliance on trail camera photos, apps, etc., and not enough on experience, woodsmanship or gut instinct. So I have to force myself to kind of hit the brakes on the data/technology stuff sometimes, particularly when I'm having a tough time or feel like I'm in a rut.
Every season I have a mental breakdown or two where the deer just aren't cooperating with what I think they should be doing. The way I always pull myself out of that is by going back to the basics- looking at maps until I find an area I think looks good, scouting until I find good deer sign and setting up on it.  Not by spreading trail cams everywhere until I get deer pictures.

This camera sat sat on a small ridge, a little too long to call a spur, that juts off from a really long ridge from 8/11-9/21/19.  The camera was facing north towards the bedding area, but roughly 200'ish yards away. As tempting as it was to leave the camera right in the bedding, I didn't want to ruin the spot. I felt that bedding area was solid for a south wind, but also a good place for them to bed under pretty much any other wind direction. I hoped the deer would be using that point to travel to and from that bedding location. But I wasn't 100% confident in the camera spot. There just isn't a ton of cover in that specific area and I felt deer travel would be better 50yds east by a transition between open hardwoods and a raspberry thicket.

A bachelor group came through from north to south the morning of 8/16.  The wind was out of the south that morning but it was super light. Two hours after that group of pics was taken, it started coming from everywhere, but still only 5-10mph. I'm fairly certain two of these three bucks were the ones I jumped on 8/11. The smaller basket 8 is 2.5 years old, not sure about the one that isn't completely in the frame, but guessing the same. The bigger 8 is also a deer I'd guesstimate at 2.5, but his body does look a little more mature than that basket 8.

Lots of pics of a family of three raccoons using the ridge, as well as a single coyote coming through four separate occasions. Doe's and a doe with a fawn came through fairly regularly, not every day, but just about.

That was it for buck pics. I ran into a guy and a woman on ORV's hiking out, about a 1/4 mile from where I was heading. They were stopped, drinking a beer, looking at something I can't disclose publicly as it might give the spot away. I made small talk and walked past and got about 100yds away when I could hear the engines on their four wheelers fire up. Not wanting them to have any idea about where I was going, I sprinted into the woods towards a small root wad and hid behind it until they passed and were out of sight. They had no clue where I went or even what direction, but the encounter was enough to cause me to pull the camera instead of swapping the card out. I've got the intel I needed, and combining that with past experience at this spot, I feel like I have a good chunk of the puzzle put together.

Before I stumbled into Dan Infalt's DVD's, I thought of this spot as a rut spot. And it is good for the rut, but now I understand why- its a thermal hub. That funnel created by the point and the thicket to the east sucks deer within bow range in some big, big woods. I would save it for early November, but since I won't be here in early November, I'm going to hit it early and again as close to early November as possible. Definitely looks like a winner for a south wind, but I need a SW so it works for me and the deer if he is bedded where I think he is. SE could work, too, and the more I think about it, is probably better. Stand location will be roughly halfway between the bedding and the camera location, as close to the bedding as possible. Late October, I'll be at the SW corner of that raspberry thicket and taking advantage of what I kind of think of as a spot where two funnels turn into one super duper terrain funnel.

Wife is out of town hunting rocks in the UP, so I've got all of my gear spread out in the living room, hunting beast DVD marathon on the TV (minus farm country, don't have that one yet), and leftover pizza on the counter for lunch. Life is good.

DS19 Part 17: The Oaky Knoll

Kinda looks more like a running track to me than a heavy deer but still a good one 

Found a new spot last night cyber scouting. It's kind of an anomaly for this area. A single hill of mature oaks rising 60 to 80 feet from the area around it, roughly 300yds by 300yds, surrounded by low lying stuff, near a river. We just dont have those kind of small isolated pockets of oaks around here. Usually if you have a little island in the middle of a swamp or marsh here, its aspen, and if you are really lucky maple/beech. But this one is oaks. And what's really cool about it is there are no other oaks for over a mile. But with all holy grails, you always have to work hard to get to them.

I studied the map and it's like I found the Bermuda triangle. No roads go near it. The ones that get within a mile arent really roads.  So today's mission was to figure out how close I can get my car. I drove around for a couple hours coming from multiple directions and was pleasantly surprised with what I came up with. The hike shouldn't be more than an hour. I'm thinking this spot is a strong contender for opening day.

I was feeling good about the find and had a few hours to kill. I checked the weather and saw we had thunderstorms rolling in this evening and winds out of the southwest. The camera that has been taunting me to come check it is perfect for those conditions, so I drove a little over an hour to it.  I'm still going through them and figuring out historical weather data for the days  and times I had pics, but wunderground is acting up. It was on a terrain funnel since 8/11 so lots of pics to get through. I'm crazy excited to see 10/1 on the extended forecast in an hour.

DS19 Part 16: A Good Night of Shining

Tonight's shining session was a little more productive. 10 deer, all doe's, 2 coyotes- one which basically walked right up to the car and didnt stop until I growled at it, 1 opossum that did everything it could to get run over but somehow survived, and three elk- one of which was a massive bull. Saw a couple other guys out shining, too. 10 days until the opener, everyone is starting to remember that they like to hunt deer.

I wasnt seeing any deer for the first 45 minutes or so and came into an area that the hound hunters had dragged each side of the road to monitor for bear tracks tomorrow morning. This is normal for most of this area, and being friends with guys who run dogs- and arent really deer hunters- I'm always asking them to let me know when they run into big deer tracks. A light bulb kind of went off, I'm not seeing deer, I should be shining the drag and looking for deer tracks made this evening.

So there I am, shining the road and a pair of headlights pop up behind me, with a spotlight behind them. I quickly raise my light up to look like I'm shining the woods like everyone else, not wanting to give away what I'm up to. Then as they get closer I pull over to let them pass. There are three young kids riding in the back of the truck, huge smiles on their faces, one of which is holding the spotlight. They flip it back on after they pass and continue shining. Made me smile.

I really want to move one of the trail cams I have set. It's not in a horrible spot, but I really want to shift it 50yds east to a transition the deer will start using right about now. As tempting as it is, I think I'm going to leave it, I have to leave it, until I hunt there the first time. Makes no sense to go in and let the deer know they're being hunted this close to the season. But man, it's so tempting to go in there and make a quick move.

I'm musky fishing next weekend, so this weekend will be all about getting my vehicle and gear in final order, out of fishing mode and into hunting mode. I love fishing. Didnt get out near as much as normal this year with a lot going on at work and a foot injury, just under 60 times, but it was a great season, and I'm ready to hunt deer.

DS19 Part 15: Deer Tag Blunders

It's getting dark earlier and earlier every day, bout quarter to 9 right now. Went out shining tonight, saw one doe and two porcupines. Between shining and a couple trail cam checks, you'd think that there are no bucks in my area. Let alone mature ones. Yet somehow, I'm not even close to being discouraged. This is all just stuff to kill time and keep me sane until the season gets here and I can go into the places I hunt and see what's actually going on, find a spot I like and set up and hunt it. Only 12 days until the archery opener.

The exciting thing for me there is that means it's only three days until October 1st pops up on the 10 day forecast. Cant wait to start watching the weather and wind to come up with a game plan. Its also time to quadruple check all my gear and make sure everything is in order.

I purchased my deer tags back in March and couldnt find them a couple days ago. I was sure I lost them so I went up to the DNR today to purchase replacements. I walk out and ask myself, where can I put these so I wont lose them again? I pull my wallet out and think of the perfect spot, only to see my original kill tags there...

Speaking of gear, I had a pretty awesome piece of hunting gear land on my doorstep today. Haven't been this excited about a piece of gear in a long time.

Sausagefest

First thing I want to do with it is Bearded Butcher's cajun snack sticks mixed with pepper Jack cheese. https://youtu.be/zEFhqBVY-zA

DS19 Part 14: Small Game Opener

Youth hunt weekend and small game opener here in Michigan. The elk rut is also heating up and bear season in my area opens on Monday. I drove around to see if there was any hunting pressure around my spots and was pleased to see they were empty. I guess I did choose them for a reason.

Jet lagged from going to China still and overslept today, woke up at 1pm in the afternoon. Probably didnt help that I was up till 3am last night watching youtube videos on meat processing techniques. I love chasing the best bucks I can find in my area, but the food aspect of hunting is always my number one priority and the thing that has often got in the way of me chasing big bucks. Just something about a young doe that makes my mouth water. One year I actually passed what would have been my personal best buck to shoot a doe later that evening at last light. Boy was I kicking myself in the ass when I got to the end of the blood trail and spikes materialized on the top of its head.

But this year is going to be different. My goal is to chase the best of both worlds, which world that is will depend when and where I'm hunting.

Took a long walk in the woods tonight with the shotgun, an elk bugle and a couple trail cams. The mission was to get a grouse or two for dinner and call an elk in. Brought a couple trail cams and sticks just in case I ran into some decent deer sign. Loaded the 20 gauge 870 with low brass 7.5 shells, put some high brass 6's in my pocket in case I ran into any squirrels and started matching through the brush, stopping to bulge every 5 minutes or so. Got a couple answers through the evening but no players.

Didnt flush any grouse, but did see some decent deer sign in a few spots, one of which was worthy of a trail cam deployment. One of the tricky things about deer hunting in this area are the elk. Usually, elk and deer sign are easily distinguishable, but once in a while you run into a rub that could have been one or the other. The one in the pic below was such a rub. Elk rubs typically start at least mid-thigh high off the ground and can go up pretty high. They also tend to leave tine marks on nearby branches and trees. None of these rules for elk rubs are hard and fast. This rub started fairly low, just below the knee, and it didnt go up super high, but the distance from top to bottom was much longer than a typical deer rub. There were no time marks on the upper branches, nor were there any on the little tree right next to it. The back side was rubbed a little lower yet. I'm wanting to call this an elk rub but I'm just not 100%.

Buck rub

Started getting close to dark so I started looping back towards the car and saw a couple squirrels bouncing around the tops of a patch of oaks. I slowly slid the 7.5's out of the magazine and replaced them with 6's and made a tricky stalk on them. Just when I was almost in range, they bounced a little further away so I boogied after them and the woods went silent. I stood motionless at the base of a big oak for a minute or so when one of them came out and was running down a long 45 degree angle branch about 20yds away. I aimed for the head and he spilled over the opposite side and hit the ground. As soon as the shotgun blast finished echoing through the woods, the other started moving straight down the side of a different big oak, right at the edge of my range. I put the bb on its head and it flew off the side of the tree as I pulled the trigger, making a hollow thump as it landed. A third, unknown squirrel started barking nearby but I couldnt find it and recovered both animals and walked out in the grey light.

Winner, winner, squirrel dinner...

DS19 Part 13: Amoeba Marsh Trail Cam Check

We got a heavy rain yesterday so I checked the camera I had on the amoeba marsh spot last night. It's been soaking about two and a half weeks. Had a couple does go through twice and a group of three go through once, then a few single does here and there. Interestingly, no fawns. Been seeing a lot of them driving around elsewhere. No bucks but still trying to focus on the positives- it's still summer patterns, now I know bucks arent using that transition to come out of the marsh into the hardwoods. Another positive is in two card pulls, I have yet to have a deer looking at my camera which means carrying a couple sticks and wearing a harness in is worth it.

 The thing that surprised me was I thought I was within 100yds of bedding, which should have translated to seeing them come through earlier in the evening and later in the morning. But the ones coming through in the morning were probably 30 minutes before light, and the evening movement was well after dark except for the group of three which came through about a half hour before sunset.
Using the logic that any bucks in that area are coming through after the does, I need to be further into the bedding area. At least if I hunt that spot in the early season. I also hope to keep tabs on this family group, cause any bucks in the area certainly are. I left the camera there and just swapped the card, wont be back till season whenever I decide to hunt it for the first time.

Gotta go to china for work for a week starting friday. Kinda tempted to check one other camera before I go, mostly because I want to move it 50yds. Will be back the 13th, jet lagged the 14th, and small game hunting or elk calling the two weeks leading up to opening day on 10/1. Kinda starting to feel like christmas eve.

DS19 Part 12: Monster White Oaks

This is a monster white oak I found about 5 years ago. It's close to 5' in diameter. White oaks arent common in my part of Michigan. They're almost rare and worth keeping a secret from even your mother. I have two spots that have white oaks, one has a bunch of reds mixed in with them. I was in the area of one of these spots today so I took a side trip to see how their acorn production was going to be this year. The short story is they are loaded and already dropping.

I had an unsuccessful but awesome season hunting this spot a few years ago when I first found it. There are some really nice bucks in this area every year and I have a pretty good idea where they bed. It's funny how people- particularly men- go through phases. This carries over into how we hunt. I've gone through my share. First was funnels, I was fanatical about them. Next was being mobile. There was the scent control years. The mock scrape season. Plus about a half dozen others, I laugh about some of those, but they were important to my development as a hunter. I learned stuff while going through each one, and some of the stuff I figured out stuck, becoming permanent and rolling over into whatever the next phase on the list has been and is still in my tool box today.

I mention all that because I feel myself rolling out of the most recent phase for the 2019 season- hunting deer in spots 100yds to 2 miles in like I was on a western elk trip 10 miles into the backcountry. I pulled the fanny pack out of the closet yesterday and will use it instead of the pack this year. Well, at least for the early season before I start needing to bring cold weather layers along. But some of the stuff will carry over. I will never drag another deer out of the woods again, gutless method and quartering is the way to go.

Got the stick talons dialed in now. Think I have a solution to make the Matthew's quiver bracket not hang up on stuff when mounted on the sparrow. Bow and broadheads are shooting darts out to 60yds. Trail cams are all out except for one I'm saving for if a "just in case" spot is identified. I've hung my stand in the backyard so many times the bark is almost gone. I'm sick of dicking around with gear and want to hunt.

DS19 Part 11: I still fish for trout sometimes

Mixing a little fishing in with my deer season prep. Fished with an old friend the other night. We only had about 3 hours to fish till dark, and spent the first hour drinking a beer and catching up at the truck. Caught a bunch of fish after. He is about 25 years my elder, dont know why, but I've always got along better with older guys.

Well, I found a new spot that I've been driving past on the way to another spot. It's a massive swamp around 4x8 miles that basically seems impenetrable as you are driving by. By sheer coincidence, I found myself driving along the northern edge on the way to a family dinner. My daughter was driving and I was able to pay more attention to the area from the back seat, and I noticed things I hadn't noticed before while being in the driver's seat. I pulled the area up on google earth and caltopo and onx when I got home and found something awesome, the west side for probably 2 miles is basically a bunch of ag that you cant see from any of the main roads. And the transition from private ag to public nightmare swamp is all public. I can walk that line from the road a couple miles into the area that butts up against the ag to what looks like a good sized island in the swamp.

I'm not gonna prescout this particular spot on the ground, will wait for the first weekend day during season with the right conditions and scout my way back there after lunch for an evening sit. There is also a SW facing point jutting into the east side of the swamp that looks interesting. Basically no way to get there easily. It will be at least a 1.5 hour hike one way through, but it looks worth it.

Dropped my oldest off at college yesterday, youngest leaves this coming friday and then we are empty nesters for the first time. Which has some pretty awesome implications for my time in a treestand. It was hard having our kids so young, but feels like it was worth it now.  I'm looking forward to watching our kids get their bearings in life and start families of their own.  And truth be told, I can't wait for grandkids, though I don't want my kids to start their families as young as we were when we started ours.

Heading out to the back yard to practice single trips up the tree with stick talons. Starting to like em a little more, but need more practice. Busted another axle on my car, so no shining till that's fixed. And just leaving a note here that leaf colors are really starting to change from a vibrant green to yellow green, with sporadic spots of full color. Ferns are dying in low elevation areas.