The first trip of the year is now in the books, and at this rate, it could be a long season! Michael and I were hunting with Seven J Outfitters in Wyoming where we’ve been going for 11 years now. I’ve had a lot of fond memories up in the Black Hills with Jeff and Deb Smith. But the memory I have from this past trip is really not that fond!
Of course I’m kidding. Sorta.
Michael and I had a GREAT time filming an episode for Road Trips for next year’s season. We really enjoyed just hanging out and spending time together on the road. As a matter of fact, coming up pretty soon is the Merriam's Madness Tour ’08 from Seven J that will air on Road Trips.
We shot our bows on the range behind the lodge with a lot of anticipation for the upcoming season, watched college football (including that awesome game between Tennessee and UCLA)! Wow! That got us fired up about college football. Watched as my Georgia Bulldogs were knocked off the #1 slot due to an unimpressive performance.
First morning out in the stand, Dan Johnson and I were sitting a few hundred yards off an alfalfa field and at 7:20, I looked up about 70 yards away and saw an awesome buck headed back to bed, just taking his time. This deer would score about 150 inches. Man, that got Dan and I fired up!
Then the weather turned awful! Lots of rain, the wrong winds, etc.
Meanwhile, Michael went out and did what he does best...he smacked an awesome 145” 9 pointer! In full velvet! And it’s a great hunt, too. Of course, with Phillip Culpepper running the camera, what else can I say!
Well, Dan and I stayed with it, battling the elements and we just could not get close enough to a “shooter”.
Finally on the last evening of the hunt, guide Kenny Morga, put me in a stand that was “hot”!
Dan and I had several smaller bucks come by us almost immediately after getting settled. Then, at 4:30, a group of four bucks appeared, heading our way. One of them was a really good looking 125” 10 pointer and he was going to give me a shot at 23 yards! Awesome!
Not!!!!!
I commenced to come to full draw and got plum rattled! Let’s just put it this way. It is a great miss!
I did everything wrong. I didn’t take my time, didn’t pick a spot, didn’t execute a good shot, etc. And believe me, as hard as I tried to wrestle the tape out of Dan’s hand so I could destroy the evidence, it was no use.
So, I guess I’ll be eating yet another serving of humble pie! That stuff is hard to wash down.
Now, I’m headed to New Mexico to elk hunt near Cimarron. Can I redeem myself?
Of course I’m kidding. Sorta.
Michael and I had a GREAT time filming an episode for Road Trips for next year’s season. We really enjoyed just hanging out and spending time together on the road. As a matter of fact, coming up pretty soon is the Merriam's Madness Tour ’08 from Seven J that will air on Road Trips.
We shot our bows on the range behind the lodge with a lot of anticipation for the upcoming season, watched college football (including that awesome game between Tennessee and UCLA)! Wow! That got us fired up about college football. Watched as my Georgia Bulldogs were knocked off the #1 slot due to an unimpressive performance.
First morning out in the stand, Dan Johnson and I were sitting a few hundred yards off an alfalfa field and at 7:20, I looked up about 70 yards away and saw an awesome buck headed back to bed, just taking his time. This deer would score about 150 inches. Man, that got Dan and I fired up!
Then the weather turned awful! Lots of rain, the wrong winds, etc.
Meanwhile, Michael went out and did what he does best...he smacked an awesome 145” 9 pointer! In full velvet! And it’s a great hunt, too. Of course, with Phillip Culpepper running the camera, what else can I say!
Well, Dan and I stayed with it, battling the elements and we just could not get close enough to a “shooter”.
Finally on the last evening of the hunt, guide Kenny Morga, put me in a stand that was “hot”!
Dan and I had several smaller bucks come by us almost immediately after getting settled. Then, at 4:30, a group of four bucks appeared, heading our way. One of them was a really good looking 125” 10 pointer and he was going to give me a shot at 23 yards! Awesome!
Not!!!!!
I commenced to come to full draw and got plum rattled! Let’s just put it this way. It is a great miss!
I did everything wrong. I didn’t take my time, didn’t pick a spot, didn’t execute a good shot, etc. And believe me, as hard as I tried to wrestle the tape out of Dan’s hand so I could destroy the evidence, it was no use.
So, I guess I’ll be eating yet another serving of humble pie! That stuff is hard to wash down.
Now, I’m headed to New Mexico to elk hunt near Cimarron. Can I redeem myself?
Man I wish you Good Luck. Sounds like a normal hunting trip for alot of people. Emotional Roller coaster. Keep the blogs coming. Thanks! Craig Dilbeck / Dalton
Its better to miss the first one of the year, now that that's out of the way you can bust up a big bull this week. Yesterday was our opener like most the midwest. Not the best weather but I seen over 50 deer yesterday evening. 8 were bucks, 2 shooters but they were both 400 yards away. one small eight point was chasin does all over, He even did a lip curl. No tags were filled but it was a great hunt.
Scott Withers MI
My neck is swelling it must be that time of year. I am a minister and wondered how would an ordinary guy like me ever get to go on a hunt with you or have you come speak at our community wide sportsmen's banquet. It would be an honor. Jake www.pryornc.com
Sounds to me like you got the perfect stuff to wash down a big ol' slice of humble pie - an elk hunt in NM!!
Hey David,
I wish you all the luck. Its all right everybody misses, even the best. :) Keep up the great work and congrats to Michael on his buck. Good Luck in New Mexico. Talk to ya later.
God Bless & Good Huntin'
Kristle Oberlander
PS: So far this season I have had does blow at me b/c of the wind and had two nice 8 pointers come running in about 60 yards from me and thats about it. Oh, also a coyote. I am really excited about this weekend b/c the weather is really cooling down.
David,
I feel your pain. Yesterday morning, Thursday October 3, was the first real cold snap up here in Gainesville, GA. We had news reports claiming 46 degrees in the morning following a dark moon. Moon phases had indicated that the animal activity peaks were to be at 15-minutes before and after sunrise/sunset with the high peaking at one in the afternoon. On Wednesday a huge wind storm had come through the area and I figured that the acorns, if any, would be littering the ground I also assumed that the deer would be anxious to move after a day of being blasted by wind and an evening of sitting in the dark with temperatures starting to hint at the upcoming winter's chill. We decided to bring climbers into an area on our several hundred acre permission tract located on the upper banks of Lake Lanier. This area had been left entirely alone these first several weeks of bow season. At first light we pushed quietly in seeking any possible acorns or deer movement to set up on. After a quick 20-minute walk we came to a juncture of two nice sized feeder creeks positioned in a white oak covered saddle and decided to set up 100-yards from each other. That morning as the sun came up it was incredibly still, except for the hair on the back of my neck, as an alpha dog and his coyote pack came to life within 10-yards of my chosen tree. I almost peed myself, they were so close as I started to climb, I mean run up the tree. Settling in I fired off my new CodeBlue scent dispenser which I hang under my climber with it set in atomized mode on 20-minute intervals; I really want to see if I can fill the 100-yards around me with a great attractant and cover scent this year without giving away my position. After a half hour from the coyote's last howl the woods started to come alive with the normal squirrels and birds, and then it happened. Right on cue they started to come in, X marked our spot, it was going to be a great morning. One doe after another, then a small buck, then the flash of bigger horns, and then could it be...why do they always stand behind trees...walk in and walk away behind trees like ghosts...are they there or is my mind playing tricks. At 50-yards through an under story of limbs and leaves it would not be ethical so I passed on the shot. Just then a doe stood at 45-yards broadside in a shooting lane through the trees straight in front. I stood, drew, and shot right under her vitals right into a piece of rotting wood. There was shuffle as new deer showed themselves and others hid. Buzz, buzz, buzz goes my phone. I look down at my phone to see "they were right under me and I didn't see them until you shot, your arrow went 15-yards from my stand." What did he mean 15-yards; he is to my left, not my right. It seems that as the sun came up a quick shuffle of stand positioning had occurred. He was now on a ridge to my right and not in the funnel to my left. Lets just say that my next received text message read "out of arrows but I got a nice doe for the freezer." Meanwhile I am staring at the backend of a massive buck who is standing under my buddies stand occluded by a tree that I would later measure at at-least 5 feet in diameter. My buddy never saw the buck, disappointing, but hey, what was he going to shoot it with anyway? I made one more shot at another 45-yard doe to be denied low yet again. By low I mean less than an inch. Thank you Jesus for not wounding an animal.
After the hunt we just stood in amazement at his kill and then went to lunch. That evening we would be at it again as we knew the deer had gone down the draw into the bedding area and would be led by their stomachs that evening back under our stands. Unfortunately the deer were moving at 3:30 p.m. instead of at sunset and we stood 25-yards broadside looking at the same two bucks from that morning while we eased down the trail to our stands. They were positioned behind a large blow down and would have let us just walk on by at 5-yards if we had not stopped. Hind sight tells me I should have taken my knocked arrow and continued down the path as normal keeping them from spooking and have taken a walking shot as I strolled on by. He was a bruiser but we know where he is and that he is by far not the biggest we have seen. That is why we call it hunting. I cannot wait to get back from Tennessee this weekend in order to hit this draw again before the acorns are gone and the deer move on. What a spot; seriously, it would have made for a great show.
I can be blogged at http://growingthroughoutdoordiscipleship.blogspot.com
J-Dog Ewers
Gainesville, GA
Mr. Blanton,
Thanks for all your wonderful shows and helpful tips that you have given us. It's not so nice to hear that you missed, but it makes me appreciate my first buck of the year that much more. Not a trophy, but in my eyes he is great. Scored 108 2/8, eight pointer. Goo d luck and God bless.
Brian Godwin
Swansboro, NC
Mr.Blanton,
I feel for you missing last week. However, I wish we could trade places. I shot a ten point Saturday evening with my bow, first bow buck, and we looked all day Sunday, and I even left work early yesterday to search. We drove down there with my dog, and the timber company was burning all the brush out. What Luck! Long story short. I never found my buck. Pretty disheartening. I am told that it is just one of the downsides of bowhunting. I'm going back this weekend to look, but I never thought I could be so sick with a sport I love so much.
Trying to move on,
Ron in South Arkansas