2014 Duck Hunt

Today I had the opportunity to go on a duck hunt with my dad and guide David Roller. This is my second year going out with Roller for ducks. Last year, we had an amazing outing and shot 10 ducks. This year was a little tougher for us. We were originally supposed to go out last weekend, but due to freezing weather we were not able to get out until today, the last day of duck season. The morning started off very mild at 40 degrees, gradually declining to around 30 throughout the day. I had the pleasure of shooting the first duck of the day at 8 a.m. My dad followed suit shortly after me, and by 9:30 we had shot 3 ducks in total. Unfortunately, that would be the only 3 ducks to feel the wrath of our 3 inch mags today. We weren't totally skunked for sight though. Throughout the day we saw many birds, mostly in pairs, that just would not cooperate with our decoys or calls. We also saw a handful of geese as well. We had a group of 4 come in to us perfectly, in range at that, but failed to get a shot off. There is no one to blame due to lack of action on all of us. My dad and I were waiting for Roller's call, but Roller did not have a good view of the birds at the time. So, if anyone is to blame, it'd be my dad and I for not taking initiative and taking the shots. No big deal, lesson learned for next year! To make things even better, not 3 minutes after legal shooting time, a HUGE group of geese came flying in directly at us... the excitements of hunting! Can not wait until next year to get back at the ducks and geese!

Opening Day 2014

Today was a relatively slow and quiet day in the woods. There were not many shots throughout our area in the morning. My dad blasted a fork at 9:20 a.m. About 40 minutes later, I saw a real dandy buck off in the distance through some thick, I pulled my scope up to check him out and could make out at least 4 points on one side. He was making his way through the woods and wouldn't turn to come towards me. Other than that my morning was slow, and chilly. Took a quick lunch break and headed back out at 3:00 p.m. At 4:20 a doe came walking towards me from where the buck I had seen earlier disappeared off to. I let her come in only to see another deer following her. Thinking it was the buck I had seen earlier, I raised my gun up only to notice it was a small button buck. The two milled around my tree stand for a solid 10 minutes before making their way back home. I heard more gun shots in the evening than in the morning, but no luck for me. Maybe tomorrow will be my lucky day!

Still Making It Work

Now that college has started, it is becoming harder to get out in the woods to hunt. This weekend I managed to get out for a day of bow hunting. The day started out with a 6 a.m. wake up call. My dad and I were in the woods just a little after 7 a.m. It was a cold, still morning. I sat until around 9:15 a.m and the first deer was spotted. A lone doe made her way past me out of range at about 50 yards. No biggie. A little later on I  looked over and saw a black object move off in the distance, followed by a cluck. A long beard! No, 2 long beards! I have a fall turkey permit so I was hoping that they would stumble across my way. It took them a while to make their way closer to me but they never came in close enough to give me a shot at them. Bummer. After that excitement, not much went on other than the occasional squirrels and chipmunks. So, my dad and I decided to call it a morning and head in for lunch. We were back in the woods a little after 4 p.m. with conditions a little more favorable for deer movement. Shortly after getting into my spot, 6 deer came walking right down one of my shooting lanes. There were 5 doe and 1 button buck. All small and I was waiting for a buck no matter what, so I let them walk on by. It was an exciting sight nonetheless and put a little excitement in my hunt. My dad was having a little better action in his blind a couple hundred yards away and would keep me updated on all the deer he was seeing, including a buck! The nerve of him. Besides the first group of deer, that was the extent of action I had in my p.m. hunt, but it was still fun! I love getting out whenever I can. There's nothing like a change of pace from the college life like sitting in the woods hunting. Until next time.

First Duck Hunt

Had the opportunity to go on my first duck hunt today with my dad and guide, David Roller. Our morning began at our 4 a.m. wake up. My dad and I had a few cups of coffee at our hotel while we waited for Roller to meet us at  5 a.m. and guide us to the launch. We got in the boat at approximately 5:30 a.m. and set off to our spot for the day. Once at our spot, Roller set up the decoys and blind and it was waiting time for our 7:08 shooting time. Just after legal shooting time a lone mallard came in and I took 3 shots at it and missed. It wasn't long before another group came in and I had the first mallard down of the day. Our day was filled with action and many birds. There was a lot of shooting between the three of us throughout the day. We had a lot of misses but we also had ten hits. The birds were cooperating with Roller's calls pretty darn good. We would see birds off in the distance and Roller would call those suckers right on in to us! Sometimes the birds wouldn't come in close enough for a shoot either because they got spooked somehow or just didn't come in for some odd reason. The highlight of the day was at 3:45 when 3 mallards came in to our calls and decoys and we shot all 3 dead! The day was filled with great stories, chili, coffee, and shooting. Throughout the day we had shot 3 different species of duck. We stayed out all day till legal shooting time had ended at 5:16 p.m. and headed in. Both Roller and my Dad gave me a great first experience in duck hunting. I can't wait to get out more and shoot some more ducks!

Half Rack Down 11/15/13 (Opening Day)

This morning was a very exciting, and interesting hunt. Early into the morning a 4 point came jogging through sniffing the ground for a sign of a doe. He made a lap around an opening to my left and proceeded to jog off. Shortly after the 4 point came through, he comes a spike doing basically the same exact thing as the 4 point! He didn't make a lap, but he was running and sniffing just like his buddy. I sat for a while after the spike had gone through and I heard something in the tree above me. I looked up only to find a coon perched 15 feet above me. Just what I needed. I climbed down from my stand and found a spot to sit on the other side of a trail from my stand. The spike came back while I was sitting on the ground and came within 20 yards of where I was sitting! I was texting my dad about this stinkin' coon and he told me to grab my gun and go sit somewhere else for prime time. So, I grabbed my gun and moved 50 yards down this trail and posted up against a tree I thought would give me the best shots possible. I saw nothing in an hour period of time so I decided to go back to my stand. Luckily, the coon was gone so I could climb back up and continue my hunt. I sat for a few hours with no sign of any deer. My dad and I had decided that we would head in at 12 o'clock. at about 11:30 a nice, mature, half rack came walking in from the swamp. I quickly texted my dad to ask if I should shoot him. He said if it was legal go for it. So that's exactly what I did. I shot, and watched him drop just on the other side of the food plot 50 yards away! My dad and I walked up to a nice 5 point half rack laying. I got the honors of gutting the deer for the first time. Needless to say, I needed a few pointers. Today's hunt was exciting! 

Bow Hunts and First Bow Kill (10/24/13-10/25/13)

10/24/13

Got out in the woods before daybreak and set up. At about 8:30 a.m. a decent 5 point came walking by me and stopped to graze 20 yards from me. I had no shot at him at the moment since he was behind some branches. He sat and grazed for a solid 20 minutes and the slowly started making his way over to my left to a lane that had been cleared for a good shot. He stepped into my lane at 9 a.m. I was drawn on him and let it rip-- missed. A little bummed, I brushed it off and continued to hunt. Not a half hour later and here come 4 doe walking down a trail to my left. Good sign that my shot didn't scare off the deer! After those 4 doe came by I saw nothing else for the remainder of the morning. We went back out at 4 p.m. and as I was walking to the base of my stand here comes a spike running towards me. I froze and watched it enter the swamp 10 yards in front of me! I watched it for a while and looked out into the swamp to see a nice buck out there. I couldn't tell how big it was but it was a very decent buck. I slowly grabbed my bow and put an arrow in just in case he came by while I was on the ground, but he didn't. I waited a while and then got situated in my tree. Went all night without seeing any more deer until just before dusk when that same 5 point I had missed earlier came back! He did not present me with a shot unfortunately. Today was an eventful hunt.

10/25/13 (First Bow Kill)

This morning was a slow one. I only saw one lone deer way at the other edge of the swamp. I watched him/her walk for a while then lost sight. After that deer no more came by. The evening was a little more exciting. Early into the afternoon a button buck came tromping on by, but I let him pass. Later into the evening a spike came by my stand as well and I let him pass too. At 7 o'clock, right near dark, a nice 5 point came up from the swamp at came right down a trail to the shooting lane in front of my stand. I pulled back and let her rip. My dad and I went searching for it a while later. We found a steady blood trail and followed it for about 50 yards, then the trail stopped. We couldn't figure out what was going on so we fanned out to search for the deer. No luck. So, my dad said he would go out in the morning to look for it. I woke up the next morning with a text from him saying he had found it! This was a great hunt.

First Bow Hunt 10/20/13

My first bow hunt of my life was a pretty uneventful one. We went out Sunday morning and I got situated in my tree stand for the first time ever. Everything went smoothly. As the light came out and the hours went by there were no signs of deer anywhere. We sat out until 11 a.m. and called it a day. Even though I had no action, it was still a good time like always!