World Renowned Hunter Of All Times.

Years ago in a small town village, there were a group of hunters preparing for the first mornings hunt for deer. Now in this group of hunters were five men and two women, all of which were known well for their hunting abilities. These seven hunters were to meet the following morning at the edge of the north woods to decide where each would be positioned throughout the woods for safety precautions. Upon meeting and deciding locations the seven hunters each set off on their own separate ways to try to bring back to the village the best and largest amount of deer meat for the towns people they could. The first hunter to bring down his deer was the great hunter of the north, OTHMAR. OTHMAR brought down a nice 12 point buck with a weight of 242 lbs. using his 270 caliber rifle at a distance of 347 yards. Next came a report that REX had taken a 10 point buck weighting 185 lbs. with his bow at 52 yards and MARIAN came in with her buck,an amazing 14 pointer with a weight of 297 lbs. that she took with her crossbow at and astounding 91 yards. KRISTINE had taken herself a nice fat buck with her 243 caliber rifle also which was a 9 pointer weighting in at 215 lbs. taken at 247 yards. At 10:30 more reports came in that two more hunters had taken deer for the village and as the hunters came into the village their deer were weighted in and stories told as follows: MIKE took a nice 8 point double drop tine buck weighting in at 215 lbs which he took at 75 yards with his 260 caliber rifle and a young gun hunter known only as the NY HUNTER took a fine 11 pointer weighting 238 lbs. at 37 yards with his bow, As darkness began to fall upon the village the hunters began to worry about their hunting partner still out and so they started toward where the hunter was to be hunting and upon reaching said point found only a large pile of blood and nothing else. The said hunter had shoot his deer and was tracking it through the woods and was trying to bring it back when he realized it was to large and he would need help getting it back. the said hunter was the world renowned Christmas Place hunter, OLD SCRATCH. OLD SCRATCH, though was old was also very well experienced and knew the best location for the biggest and best bucks. OLD SCRATCH finally got his deer back to the village and weighted in as follows. OLD SCRATCH TOOK A 22 POINTER WEIGHTING 328 LBS WITH ONLY A KNIFE AND A STICK AT 2 YARDS. Though OLD SCRATCH had taken the biggest and best that year no other hunter has ever to this date taken anything better with so little which is why OLD SCRATCH IS THE WORLD RENOWNED HUNTER OF ALL TIMES.

Missed Long Shot.

Thursday October 30,2008, I had not gone hunting this particular morning but opted to instead stay at home with my wife and enjoy the morning with her. It was around 9:30 a.m. and we were getting ready to go into town to do some banking and pay bills when just as we where going out the door the phone rang. My dad called to tell me of three deer in the lake bed. I grabbed my bow as we went out the door and drove down to my parents house, as we passed by I could see the deer feeding along the left side of the field heading up toward the house. I turned the truck around and parked in front of the house so the deer couldn't see me and told my wife to go watch out the breakfast nook window. I got my bow and gear and went to the right side of the house and upon reaching the back corner then realized there was no more cover for me to get and closer. Checking the location of the deer, one was going back into the brush and the other two were still feeding toward the slope of the back yard. I knocked an arrow, drew back and realized the deer were about 80 yards from me and that I only had my bow sighted up to thirty yards. What I did next was a little outlandish but sometimes effective. I then began visualizing the sight pins that should have been set at forty-fifty-sixty-seventy and eighty yards then released the arrow. Though it was all just guess work the arrow flew just inches over the deers back and they ran off into the safety of the brush. I went to retrieve my arrow and the deer were standing in the brush, which as I approached my arrow spooked the deer running them further into the thick brush of cover. Lesson learned here was to next year set and practice with more yardage pins for those long shots.

2nd Day of Young Sportsman Hunt.

October 27, 2008, O'Ryan was joined by Kaleb and was taken out hunting by my soon to be son-in-law (Daniel) and a friend (Danny). They went to a farm Daniel was hunting and split up to different stand sites. As the sun rose the Young sportsman were still eager to shoot their first deer. Daylight fell across the open fields and the deer began moving around browsing on the grasses and berries around the edges of the tree lines. The young sportsman and the companions sat watching and waiting but with little results. O'Ryan had a buck come thru by his chosen stand but never presented a shot before disappearing back into the woods while Kaleb had a doe show up on a far off ridge line heading away from him and never giving an option of a shot before she disappeared back into the woods. Though both the young sportsman were disappointed they still enjoyed the weekend hunting trips and our great outdoors. There is another young sportsman hunt at the end of deer season in January which both young adults will be participating in I'm sure.

1st Day of Young Sportsman Hunt.

The dawn was cool at 47 degrees and cloudy with a south/southeast wind. It had rained the day before and the leaves on the ground were wet, making travel through the brush alittle easier. As we traveled across the horse pin and down the fence line, I disclosed to O'Ryan the direction of travel I thought the deer should be coming from when approaching my blind. Upon reaching my blind I had O'Ryan get into the best possible shooting position as possible and be prepared for the deer to come in very quite due to the wet leaves. Just as the woods began to lighten up enough to begin seeing to the bottom of the hollow, A large bodied deer appeared from out of nowhere and was heading down the trail toward our shooting lanes. O'Ryan being anxious for his first deer was moving about and couldn't sit still. I on the other hand was waiting and trying to watch the deer and get O'Ryan to sit still long enough for the deer to reach the shooting lanes. The deer was now within 50 yards and had just stepped behind a big oak tree which blocked our view of it and O'Ryan just had to look for the deer. Back and forth he rocked, from one side of the tree to the other playing peek-a-boo with a deer. Now I'm still not sure what exactly when wrong but for whatever reason the deer sensed something, it winded us or it saw movement it didn't like and alerted it and the deer flew ever so quietly up the opposite hillside without a sound. I knew the deer wasn't spooked due to no sound as it left the area and was hoping it had only traveled a short distance up the hill with the possibility that it might return to the trail. O'Ryan on the other hand thought the deer had left the country and began moving around again. I assured him the deer could still be back for him to sit still and watch for it to return as I began using my deer call to try to lure it back. We sat there hunting for another 3 hours before moving to another stand site in which we only hunted for about an hour before O'Ryan was ready to give up on his first morning of hunting and go home for something to eat and hot coffee. On the way to the truck I explained to O'Ryan that deer hunting was not always about harvesting a deer everytime your out but was a learning experience and about making memories that will last a lifetime. I only hope that O'Ryan will learn to love the outdoors as much as I do, learn how to carry on our great heritage of hunting for a lifetime to come and learn everything I can teach him and more about hunting the great outdoors.

Young Sportsman Season Opens.

Here in Tennessee, the first young sportsman season will be opening on October 25, 2008 and I have things set up with my son-in-law to take two of his sons hunting for their first time to try to take a whitetail. My son-in-law thinks its so cool that his two oldest boys want to get into hunting but he doesn't know much about hunting whitetail and so has ask me to guide them though the whole hunting process and teach them the proper ways to hunt safely. Both the young sportsman seasons are only two day hunts with one at the beginning and one at the end of our Whitetail hunting seasons and a bag limit of two deer per hunt. With any luck I'm hoping that both boys will take a deer their first day out. Anyway I'll be posting more on this big event after the first season closes and I get the boys back home with their dad and I regain my composer from the trip. Best of luck to each and every young sportsman hunting this year---- hope you get a big one.

Mid-Day At Brushy Ridge.

Well as I stated in my last post I was thinking that the deer are moving during the mid-day hours and was going to try hunting Brushy Ridge. I made it to Brushy Ridge and began my long slow journey into the vast thick brush around 12:30- 1:00 p.m.. As I traveled through the woods, the leaves were crunching under my footsteps and rustling which made my travels even slower than I wanted. I looked for any signs that the deer were still in the area and found a scrape underneath a fair sized maple tree which had also been used to leave the bucks scent on the limb overhanging the scrape. The scrape seemed to be relatively fresh so I made a ground blind just beyond it in an area just off to the side of the trail. I sat there all evening long and saw two deer ( one doe, one buck ) but could only count part of the points on the buck due to the thick cover the deer were in. The deer never came out into an open and clear shooting lane for the fifteen minutes I watched them before they left my sight. As darkness began to fall upon me it was getting to dark to see my sight pins so I headed for the truck. Just my luck the deer were still in the area and were spooked as I moved out to go home for the evening. Though I spooked the deer, I don't think they were spooked to badly cause neither of them blowed as they left the area. Best I could tell the buck had 6-7 points on his right side and if he is a typical buck should have the same on the left. I figure this buck is worth my time to hunt all season if possible and will do my best to take the buck before the close of deer hunting season this year.

The Moon and Brushy Ridge.

With the moon shining so brightly these past few nights the deer have most likely been moving during the mid-day hours so with that thought in mind I've decided to give it a try tomorrow at Brushy Ridge. I plan on starting around noon or so hunting from a ground blind on the top of Brushy Ridge then if nothing happens by about 5:00 p.m. I'll probably start heading back though the brush to a spot where turkey have been hanging out in hopes of find a flock of them to shoot at. I'm hoping to at least catch a glimps of a deer, any deer moving through the area or maybe a turkey or two, if not then I may give up on the hunting season till gun season gets here. We already have alot of poaching going on here with gun shoots going off all around the areas that I hunt. Even people at my work have commented about all the gun shoots they have been hearing while their out bowhunting. It's sad that people have to resort to these kind of ethics and most just want the antlers to brag about which is even worst but it happens. Hopefully there will be some mature bucks left by gun season to hunt but I'll just have to wait and see. Anyway I'll post about my hunt to Brushy Ridge within the next few days to let everyone know of the outcome.

Big Buck On The Brushy Ridge.

Tuesday morning I had gotten up at 4:00 a.m. and decided to go hunting over at a place I call Brushy Ridge. I had checked the weather forecast and it was to be sunny with winds out of the south/southeast at 5-10 miles per hour and the barometric pressure was rising with temperatures around 61 degrees. Sunrise was at 6:42 a.m. and I had arrived at the bottom of Brushy Ridge at 4:45 a.m.. I got my gear and headed out across a horse lot and into the woods taking my time so as not to spook any deer in the area. Slowly taking my time and working my way through the dark woods without a flashlight I had made my way to my stand by 6:30 a.m.. I had just gotten settled in when a huge buck appeared at 40 yards from me broadside but he stopped and began looking around as if he knew something was wrong. At first glance of the big buck I could see that he had dark chocolate horns and the right side was oddly formed and his face was almost completely gray with a large body. He stepped behind a tall stump which gave me the opportunity to draw my bow but as lady luck would have it the buck turned and began stepping away still not sure what was wrong with the area. The buck stopped again and I waited till he was standing there for a minute then released my arrow at the 40 yard pin. The buck flew out of the area running back the direction he had come in from and up across the ridge stopping only long enough to blow before leaving my sight. Still not sure if I had hit the buck, I remained in the stand and began hearing the squirrels barking just over the ridge where the buck had run of too. As the buck was by his self I was hoping there would be some does looking for him and come my way so I waited for about 2 1/2 hours before checking for my arrow. I searched the area where I had shot at the buck for my arrow and had to realign myself with the shot several times before finally finding the arrow in a pile of tree tops and leaves. The arrow was clean but I still looked around the area for any signs of a blood trail. As I looked back at my stand from where the buck stood I quickly realized that I had misjudged the distance and that he was really at 55 yards not the 40 I had thought he was at. I missed the shot completely but was happy to know the big buck was unharmed and still running in the area for a return visit next time. Wednesday morning brought heavy rainfalls which should remove alot of the leaves from the trees and bushes giving me a better view of the area but also giving the deer a better chance to see me better getting into bow range. Perhaps next time I'll judge my yardage better or end up buying one of those expensive range finders for bowhunters.

Trophy Buck Scouting

October 1, 2008, Today I wanted to go hunting after working 12 hours but decided I was to tired and the wife needed the truck for some shopping with our daughter. Plans changed quickly after reaching our daughters house and I ended up doing some scouting with my future son-in-law who had been telling me that he was finding big buck rubs in his neck of the woods. We headed out the door at 9:00 a.m. and upon getting into the area he told me had all rubs I couldn't believe my eyes there was big rubs everywhere and tracks and trials that looked like a herd of 50 or more deer where in the herd. The woods were under selective timber cutting by the owner and was all steep hills. I could tell the area hadn't been hunted for years and supported a large number of deer in the area. As we walked and climbed up and down the hillsides my hunting buddy told me he and my grandson had jumped two monster bucks just before bow season started with really wide and tall racks on them and that the best he could tell the smaller of the two bucks was either and 8 or a 10 pointer and wasn't sure about the other one but that it was even larger. After seeing the tracks, trials and the rubs for myself, I decided to put up some stands and see if I can help him take one of these trophy bucks. I 've never seen bucks in our hunting area here in Tennessee rubbing trees as these bucks are until late October or November so these bucks are for sure worth hunting. The brush on these hills are really thick but has some areas where the woods just kind of open up and will make for some great rifle hunting when time comes. I should be able to limit out on this farm with no problem and if I do I'll be sure to donate a couple of my deer to the " HUNTERS FOR THE HUNGRY " program as I challenge all hunters to do this year.

Second Day Hunting, Not So Perfect.

Sunday morning, September 28Th, I woke up at 3:30 a.m., started the coffee brewing and went online checking sites and waiting for the coffee. By 5:30 a.m. I was dressed and heading out the door to my parents place. The weather was calm winds,61 degrees and partly cloudy with the barometric pressure rising. A perfect start to what I had hoped would be a perfect adventure to the woods. By 8:00 a.m. the sun was just about to enter the field when a loud crashing noise from just behind me got my heart pumping. I grabbed my bow with high hopes only to have them shattered by a large 140-150 lb. doe charging out of the woods and into the field just below my stand then quickly back into the brushy woods across from me. The large doe was followed by a large Siberian husky which I quickly recognized as one belonging to a new neighbor who had moved into the area about 2 months before deer season opened. Though I haven't spoke to the new neighbor yet, now is the perfect time to ask him to please keep his dog tied during hunting season to prevent his untimely demise. Anyway with the morning hunt blown, I went inside for coffee,a sweet roll and some conversation then home for rest and relaxation till evening hunting time. As evening approached I decided to give hunting a break and stay home with the wife. Monday morning I hope will hold better adventures as I plan on returning to my parents place for yet another try at the big doe or maybe even a buck. Further updates to follow as time allows so stay tuned.