The Hunting Times

Nick, Eric, and I had a successful morning at the golf course. Two down in less than 30 minutes. Guess that makes up for yesterday's fiasco. We got run off by 8:30.  Somebody showed up to cut trees. Shooting all around us. I was in the wind and it was COLD.  26 degrees F when we hit the course at 6:50 am. Nick and Eric stayed out of the wind.  I need a new spot tomorrow. Eric did take a 275 yard shot with the 20 gauge.  Nick called it "ill advised."  Eric said "I had a shot." Yes, E, they were out in the open, but you're limited to 100 yards or less. Oh well, at least he saw deer today. Got back to the gut pile and Denis and Eric Neighty were there.  They shot another one out of the E stand on Neal.  They said we should have been in the fence row on Marshall / Boyd / Neal, as 4 deer ran right by that spot this morning. Some photos and a video for your viewing pleasure. Yes, we used the golf carts to go pick up our kills.  Note t...

Nick, Eric and I got up and out this morning to hit the golf course.  Arrived and ready by 7 am.  Legal shooting light was 7:12. Nick walked up 18 to 11, down 14 to sit on 15's tee box.  He jumped a buck and a doe on 14.  Too far for a shot. Eric walked around 9 and sat on 16 along the woods. I walked hole 1, across 3 and sat on #4, middle of the fairway behind a tree. I had four doe (mama and 3 yearlings) come out to my W at about 50 yards, below #4's tee box.  I stepped behind the tree to cock my muzzle loader (I carry my muzzle loader throughout shotgun season).  The deer spooked and ran back up to #3's green - but still only 100 yards away. I put my cross hairs on mama's chest and squeezed the trigger.  All four took off to the S.  I reloaded and walked over to survey for blood.  Nothing. I found where mama was standing (prints) and where my bullet struck the hillside.  I shot completely under her.  Bad form. Not t...

First of all, Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours. Us ins?  We've got a lot to be thankful for.  Since I was 13 years old, I've been hunting with my Dad, Uncle, and Cousin on Thanksgiving Day.  That's some 21 odd years straight now.  We scarf lunch meat sandwiches, candy bars, beef jerky, and crackers for our Thanksgiving meal.  And really, it is a treat! I'm thankful that everyone is still around to enjoy it with me.  Plus, we all make it a priority to do so. Since the beginning, we've added folks here and there and lost a few too.  Grandpa Robert Seager used to go with us until his body wouldn't let him anymore.  Nick's goes most of the time, but he's missed a few because he picked sleep over hunting.  I think we've broken him of that though.  And every other year now, we're adding son-in-law Alex to the mix (family obligations on his side keep him away on the even years). As is our usual custom, we headed up to Carroll county ...

Well, my hopes of updating this for every day (i.e. journal) have gone to pot the past week. We have been out and about - early mornings, evenings, etc.  Suffice to say that we've had our chances, seen deer, gotten shots, and only added 2 to the pot. Kathy, Alex, Nick, Eric and I went out to Marshall / Boyd on Saturday morning, the 17th. Colonel Vice had a party at his deer camp next door.  Heard them making noise (grunting, rattling, etc), but no shots over there either. Kathy, if she hadn't been waiting on the big buck, could of had a nice doe.  No one else even had a shot. It was a nice morning though. Sun coming up on Marshall on Opening Day. We called it quits by 11 and came back in for some grub. The Tribe having some liquid nourishment before calling it a day.

We took the time to shoot in our muzzle loaders and shotguns while the weather was nice. While we did this, I also needed to shoot in my AR15, as I had taken off the scope to put it on the .308 for elk hunting. Here is a photo as shot from 65 yards (60 meters). The four on the left show that I'm still a little off.  I readjusted and shot the two at 12 o'clock. That right there - 6 shots in 2 holes - that Bob Lee Swaggert shootin' if you ask me!  And, 2" high at 65 yards ought to put me dead on zero at 150 yards. I was shooting my own hand loads.  I am pushing a 55 grain Nossler ballistic tip bullet out with 27.5 grains of Hodgon's CFE223 powder and CCI small rifle primers.  They are running 3,355 fps.  And, as you can see, they're pretty darn accurate. Then, on my way home from Indy on Thursday, I see this traveling north bound.  First thought, Drug Runners. You're looking at three 300 HP Yamaha motors on one boat.  That's...

Re-Phil and I went out to Jenkins tonight.  RePhil took the large stand in the middle and I took the stand to the N.  On our drive in, we saw 4 does being chased by two bucks, and one of the bucks was a monster.  For sure he was a wall hanger.  A solid 10 if not 12-pointer. RePhil says I bumped a large 6-pointer out of the willows on my way into the stand.  He said it ran right past his stand.  The only problem was, he wasn't in the stand yet.  He was still walking to it. The weather was not too cold, but the wind was ferocious.  It was hitting 40 mph tonight, blowing to the NE.  I only lasted about 30 minutes in the stand.  I lowered my crossbow and climbed down.  I put on a bolt and started walking toward the golf course - out of the wind.  I had not gone 20 yards when I turned around and saw the 4 doe from earlier right under my stand.  Crap. I turned around and walked through the woods toward the deer.  I hi...

Nick, RePhil and I headed for Marshall / Neal this fine Sunday morning.  Nick and RePhil hit the two stands on Neal and I walked in on Marshall's bottom ground by the creek.  We got out a little late, as you can tell the sun is already coming up at about 7:40 am. Nick and Craig ready for Sunday morning's hunt. Before I even got to the bottoms, two doe came up from the S and crossed the road in front of me.  I watched them run N through the bottoms and turn W.  I slowly walked N along the creek. About half way through, I saw a 4-point buck cruising from the S to the N.  He turned and followed the doe. Then Chuck Buck showed up, along the same path as junior.  He continued N until he winded me and then turned W.  I continued my walk along the creek. About at the end, I saw another doe in the bottoms, but she was walking W and S.  So far, I have seen 5 deer and no shots were available. I got to the end and started through the woods w...

The girls (Sandy, Kathy, and Shelby) all went up to Michigan City today to go Christmas shopping.  The boys are ruling the house (until they come home). Alex showed up after work, about 3 or so.  He and Nick loaded up and headed out to the stands on Neal.  I stayed home to clean house and cook dinner (don't revoke my Man Card just yet, read on). The boys, they saw nothing in the woods.  Nick did manage to fall / jump out of the stand.  As he was descending, he slipped and caught hold of the foot plate with one hand.  The metal grate started to cut into his hand, so he let go and dropped about 8 feet, landing on his feet.  The only injury to report is a rip in his pinky finger.  He had previously lowered his bow down with the rope, so no equipment damage. Yep, seems to be some skin missing there boy.  Looks kinda raw. I told the boys I would have the meal ready at 6:15.  They pulled in at 6:13, washed and sat down.  I had ...

Today was Election Day in the good ole US of A.  Got up early and voted.  Returned home about 4 pm and headed to the woods with Kathy, Alex, and Nick. The Gang:  Ready to kill sumptin. We hit the woods at 4:15.  It was 50 degrees F with a slight ( < 5 mph ) wind coming from the SW.   Lahrman's were out applying anhydrous ammonia to Neal's field.  Marshal was out fixing his combine so that he could pick the rest of the corn.  Bailey was shooting in his shotgun.  And the farmer at the bottoms was running a disc through the bean field. Odd are we were screwed for the evening.  Not much chance of any deer being around with all that activity. Alex sat W (old) stand.  Nick sat E (new) stand and Kathy walked the fence line.  I headed for the bottoms. Kathy and I exchanged texts.  The tractor was too close and it stunk, so she went and joined Alex in the W stand. I sat along the creek in the bottoms and enjoyed the si...

A lot has been posted, written about, discussed, cussed, and debated relative to buck rubs, scrapes, and the annual rut (mating period for deer).  Yes, that's right.  Deer only mate once per year.  Pretty much the same as married people over 40. This past week-end while I was out hunting, I came upon a spot where no fewer than 13 trees had been rubbed.  What is a rub and why do bucks rub trees?  Excellent questions...allow me to add my perspective. Here is a photo I took last Friday 11/2 of a RUB.  Beautiful setting by the way. Early in the year, bucks may rub trees like this to get the velvet off their antlers.  Later in the year, however, this is done to (a) mark their territories, and (b) strengthen their necks for fighting to defend territories or does.  Basically, this is a visual cue to all other bucks who pass by that this territory is spoken for and you need to leave. Now, this is a relatively small tree.  Does that mean th...

I took 75 of the 300+ photos from our elk hunting trip and set them to music (songs that we sung while hiking).  I turned that into a slide show / video and posted it on YouTube. I got a nasty-gram from YouTube saying that "some of the content was licensed" and may not be allowed.  I do not know how long it will remain on the site. I have also made the video "restricted."  That is, you cannot find it by simply searching for it.  You MUST have this link in order to access the video. So for you, my loyal Blog Reader, here is the link if you would so like to watch.  It's 9:42 long.   http://youtu.be/9unf9spTPHQ The video is restricted because there are a few photos in there that a) some may find inappropriate, and b) may hurt my chances at winning a seat in the Senate for Indiana.  For sure they will not be good for my Presidential campaign.  You know, some peeing pictures and one of me "riding" Re-Phil's pillow.  All in good fun. ...

Kathy and Alex showed up around 3:45 pm this afternoon.  We loaded up and headed to Marshall / Boyd / Neal.  It was 5:00 (about) when we headed out:  Alex to the old stand (W on Neal), Nick to the new stand (E on Neal) and Kathy to the fence line on Marshall / Neal.  I walked the almost fully picked cornfield to the first ravine on Marshall. The Gang in front of now almost gone corn field. It was 51 degrees F with a 10 mph wind coming from the NW, or off to the left in this picture. I had not been standing for 5 minutes when 3 deer, mama and two babies, came walking down the ravine across from me heading SE.  It was too long of a shot with a stick and string.  In fact, I would have needed a gun to get them today.  They walked until mama winded me and snorted.  They ran around for about 5 minutes, not knowing what to do.  I finally got fed up with them and waved my hands to scare them away - but not before I got a picture of one of th...

Apologies to any followers of the blog, as I have been delinquent in updating since returning to Indiana. Rest assured that we all did indeed make it back okay. We drove from Grand Junction to Golden, passing through all the snow in the mountains, and stopped at Golden.  Our plan was to eat lunch and then take a tour of the Coors Brewery. For some reason, Golden was BUSY on Saturday.  We hit the Blue Mountain Grill for some eats.  They had just turned over their cooking staff.  It took 90 minutes for us to get food and eat.  So much for the Brew Tour.  We left and headed for the airport. We hit the airport, returned the car, and then checked our guns and luggage. Our flight was delayed.  We were told it was because the flight coming in was late.  However, once we finally boarded, we were told we were waiting for a connecting flight.  Three people from THAT flight were due to get on our plane to Indy.  We took off about 30 minut...