Hunting is More Than Killing
This deer hunting season has been a very memorable one for me personally. Just about every time that I've been in the woods, I have witnessed multiple deer and turkey sightings, In fact, there are only two times so far that I have not seen any deer during my time on stand. I have also experienced what I call the best night of bow hunting in my life.
A few weeks ago I was hunting an evening hunt on a Saturday, and it was a beautiful clear day in the woods. I got caught up doing some work around the house and unfortunately was not able to make it out in the morning. About mid-morning though, I decided I was definitely going to make it out in the evening and started my preparations. My hunting clothes were pretty messy so I needed to wash them and then take a shower in my scent free shampoo and soap. Unfortunately, the dryer lint clogged up the dryer hose and it took forever for my clothes to dry. All the while, precious minutes are ticking and it was getting critical that I needed to leave and get to the hunting property.
Finally, I decided that I could wait no longer, so I pull my clothes out of the dryer and thought they were dry enough to wear. Well, they were not completely dry. You know that feeling of putting on clothes that are burning hot in several areas, but still wet and cold in other splotchy areas. Well, that was my experience and I thought to my self, "This is not going to be fun hunting on a cold day in wet clothes." I decide to press on and go hunting in spite of the wet clothes.
I had planned to be at the property by 1300 hrs and instead arrived at 1415 hrs. I jumped out of the truck and went to the back of the pickup to release the tailgate. Once the tailgate open, I heard the familiar sound of deer rustling in the leaves of a wooded area. I look up and no more than 30 yards away are two deer looking at me quizzically I was in shock the deer were already on the move, so I figured I would move slowly and quietly to get my bow out and see if I could get a shot at one of these deer.
As luck would have it though, about the time I get my release on the string they take off, but it was not just two deer, but it was actually five deer that were standing in this small patch of woods. Once all five of them disappeared up the mountain, I decided to forgo the tree stand and bow hunt from the ground on this particular night.. I felt the added time of climbing the tree might give me a disadvantage if deer were already on the move. I hurriedly grabbed the minimal amount of gear that I needed and headed to my usual area.
As I'm sneaking through the woods, I crest a small hill to the planned hunting area and low and behold I jumped up about ten deer about 50 yards away. I watched as I saw their tails disappeared up the mountain and over the ridge. I was pretty discouraged but decided to stick it out and see what would happen. I pick a large tree and clear the leaves away from it and sit down on the ground with an arrow nocked. It was the middle of November and I decided to grab my grunt call and do some calling and see if I could stir up some action.
I call several times over a thirty minute time period and nothing happened. I waited a few more minutes and decided to give the calling one more shot. I grunted two or three short grunts and all of a sudden a spike buck came running across the ridge and is making a beeline and on a mission to check out this grunting. He runs past me and keeps on running. I grunted two more times and he immediately comes to a dead stop and makes a hard left turn towards me. He moves to within about 45-50 yards and I realize that I left my range finder at the house. However, he spots me but does not quite figure out what I am, but he refuses to come closer. He eventually circles away from me and quietly goes right up the mountain.
I decide to sit back down and I waited for about five more minutes and hit the grunt tube again. All of a sudden, a racked buck comes crashing through the woods and makes a beeline across the ridge. I repeat the grunt and he too comes to a dead standstill. He turns and picks a course that is heading straight towards me. I am pretty excited because this is my first night ever bow hunting from the ground and I have already called in two bucks and one is a really nice 8 pointer. He slightly changes his course which is bringing him diagonally past my stand. At this point, I am super excited and I ready to take the shot. I somehow managed to stand up without him spotting me. This deer was completely unaware that I was even there and getting ready to sling an arrow in his direction. I waited until he was perfectly broadside and I pull back the bow and settle my sights on his vitals. I release the arrow and it's a perfect shot that should have hit his vitals. Instead I watch the arrow fly right over his back. My aim was great but my yardage was wrong. The bucks spins around and gets the heck out of dodge.
I dejectedly sit back down and could not believe what just happened. I settle back down and all of a sudden I hear a lot of noise coming from behind me, up on the mountain. I slowly turn around and see a flock of about 13 turkeys moving up the mountain. i continue to make some calls on the grunt tube, just to see what would happen and nothing. Then again I hear a loud noise coming straight towards me and I look over and see nothing, so I get on my knees to get a little better view and within an instant, a turkey flies up the mountain.
I figured at this point, I've seen a ton of deer and a flock of turkeys, what more could happen. I continue calling and once again a buck comes flying across the ridge line and he comes to a complete stop when I grunt a few short times. This deer never got any closer than bout 60 yards and he eventually turned around and went back down the mountain where he originally came. As the evening grew closer to dark, I spotted a doe with her triplets again. This was probably the third or fourth time that I have seen them in this area and they walk down the mountain and out towards the field. Darkness finally fell and I went home empty handed.
Sure I wish that I had harvested the 8 pointer, but all in all it was a great night. I was able to call in 3 bucks and saw close to 20-25 deer and 14 turkeys and untold amounts of squirrels. There is nothing like having your plans line up perfectly and being able to harvest a magnificent whitetail, but hunting is more than killing. It is about the journey, the chase, the process. It is about spending time relaxing in the woods and enjoying the sights that nature offers us each time we go out. Each experience in the woods is completely different. One night the woods are completely dead of deer movements or sightings, but other nights the action is red hot.
I try not to take for granted what a great experience it is to enter the hunting woods and to simply enjoy the experience. It is so relaxing and it allows me to clear my head. There are many reasons why I hunt and people look at me strangely when I tell them that hunting is more than just killing. I thank God every time I harvest a deer, but even if I come home empty handed because I have blown an easy shot, I still enjoy the experience and time that I spent in the woods. Yes I went home empty handed that night, but I also went home with a clear mind, lower stress level and some great memories. For me, this is easily the most memorable hunt that I have ever experienced.
A few weeks ago I was hunting an evening hunt on a Saturday, and it was a beautiful clear day in the woods. I got caught up doing some work around the house and unfortunately was not able to make it out in the morning. About mid-morning though, I decided I was definitely going to make it out in the evening and started my preparations. My hunting clothes were pretty messy so I needed to wash them and then take a shower in my scent free shampoo and soap. Unfortunately, the dryer lint clogged up the dryer hose and it took forever for my clothes to dry. All the while, precious minutes are ticking and it was getting critical that I needed to leave and get to the hunting property.
Finally, I decided that I could wait no longer, so I pull my clothes out of the dryer and thought they were dry enough to wear. Well, they were not completely dry. You know that feeling of putting on clothes that are burning hot in several areas, but still wet and cold in other splotchy areas. Well, that was my experience and I thought to my self, "This is not going to be fun hunting on a cold day in wet clothes." I decide to press on and go hunting in spite of the wet clothes.
I had planned to be at the property by 1300 hrs and instead arrived at 1415 hrs. I jumped out of the truck and went to the back of the pickup to release the tailgate. Once the tailgate open, I heard the familiar sound of deer rustling in the leaves of a wooded area. I look up and no more than 30 yards away are two deer looking at me quizzically I was in shock the deer were already on the move, so I figured I would move slowly and quietly to get my bow out and see if I could get a shot at one of these deer.
As luck would have it though, about the time I get my release on the string they take off, but it was not just two deer, but it was actually five deer that were standing in this small patch of woods. Once all five of them disappeared up the mountain, I decided to forgo the tree stand and bow hunt from the ground on this particular night.. I felt the added time of climbing the tree might give me a disadvantage if deer were already on the move. I hurriedly grabbed the minimal amount of gear that I needed and headed to my usual area.
As I'm sneaking through the woods, I crest a small hill to the planned hunting area and low and behold I jumped up about ten deer about 50 yards away. I watched as I saw their tails disappeared up the mountain and over the ridge. I was pretty discouraged but decided to stick it out and see what would happen. I pick a large tree and clear the leaves away from it and sit down on the ground with an arrow nocked. It was the middle of November and I decided to grab my grunt call and do some calling and see if I could stir up some action.
I call several times over a thirty minute time period and nothing happened. I waited a few more minutes and decided to give the calling one more shot. I grunted two or three short grunts and all of a sudden a spike buck came running across the ridge and is making a beeline and on a mission to check out this grunting. He runs past me and keeps on running. I grunted two more times and he immediately comes to a dead stop and makes a hard left turn towards me. He moves to within about 45-50 yards and I realize that I left my range finder at the house. However, he spots me but does not quite figure out what I am, but he refuses to come closer. He eventually circles away from me and quietly goes right up the mountain.
I decide to sit back down and I waited for about five more minutes and hit the grunt tube again. All of a sudden, a racked buck comes crashing through the woods and makes a beeline across the ridge. I repeat the grunt and he too comes to a dead standstill. He turns and picks a course that is heading straight towards me. I am pretty excited because this is my first night ever bow hunting from the ground and I have already called in two bucks and one is a really nice 8 pointer. He slightly changes his course which is bringing him diagonally past my stand. At this point, I am super excited and I ready to take the shot. I somehow managed to stand up without him spotting me. This deer was completely unaware that I was even there and getting ready to sling an arrow in his direction. I waited until he was perfectly broadside and I pull back the bow and settle my sights on his vitals. I release the arrow and it's a perfect shot that should have hit his vitals. Instead I watch the arrow fly right over his back. My aim was great but my yardage was wrong. The bucks spins around and gets the heck out of dodge.
I dejectedly sit back down and could not believe what just happened. I settle back down and all of a sudden I hear a lot of noise coming from behind me, up on the mountain. I slowly turn around and see a flock of about 13 turkeys moving up the mountain. i continue to make some calls on the grunt tube, just to see what would happen and nothing. Then again I hear a loud noise coming straight towards me and I look over and see nothing, so I get on my knees to get a little better view and within an instant, a turkey flies up the mountain.
I figured at this point, I've seen a ton of deer and a flock of turkeys, what more could happen. I continue calling and once again a buck comes flying across the ridge line and he comes to a complete stop when I grunt a few short times. This deer never got any closer than bout 60 yards and he eventually turned around and went back down the mountain where he originally came. As the evening grew closer to dark, I spotted a doe with her triplets again. This was probably the third or fourth time that I have seen them in this area and they walk down the mountain and out towards the field. Darkness finally fell and I went home empty handed.
Sure I wish that I had harvested the 8 pointer, but all in all it was a great night. I was able to call in 3 bucks and saw close to 20-25 deer and 14 turkeys and untold amounts of squirrels. There is nothing like having your plans line up perfectly and being able to harvest a magnificent whitetail, but hunting is more than killing. It is about the journey, the chase, the process. It is about spending time relaxing in the woods and enjoying the sights that nature offers us each time we go out. Each experience in the woods is completely different. One night the woods are completely dead of deer movements or sightings, but other nights the action is red hot.
I try not to take for granted what a great experience it is to enter the hunting woods and to simply enjoy the experience. It is so relaxing and it allows me to clear my head. There are many reasons why I hunt and people look at me strangely when I tell them that hunting is more than just killing. I thank God every time I harvest a deer, but even if I come home empty handed because I have blown an easy shot, I still enjoy the experience and time that I spent in the woods. Yes I went home empty handed that night, but I also went home with a clear mind, lower stress level and some great memories. For me, this is easily the most memorable hunt that I have ever experienced.
Posted by The Outdoor Podcast at 12/6/2011 11:39 PM 
Categories: Hunting
Tags: Deer Hunting Why Deer Hunt hunting and killing deer
Categories: Hunting
Tags: Deer Hunting Why Deer Hunt hunting and killing deer
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