Deerbuster.com


	I don't write about hunting for a living, unfortunately. I have a job, so my hunting and writing is an avocation, not a vocation. I was once fortunate enough to share a bear camp with Bill Winke, a successful outdoor author. We were on a bear hunt during the month of June in Newfoundland. I learned from Bill that even those guys don't get to hunt as much as I enviously thought they did. The fact is, they have to hustle. He was sure generous with his time, expertise and experience. He gave so much of his stuff away to the local hosts and guides, I couldn't believe it. My point is (you knew I'd get around to that eventually) that the rest of us must balance hunting and HRA (hunting related activity) with work and family. So, hunting time is short. This leads to a question....... When should I hunt? I go as much as I can but being afield too much leads to neglect in other areas of life. Family first, job second and so on. For me, the days of being a Hunting Addict are over. That's my choice. I need an excellent reason to hunt. I need an indicator. Jeff Murray's Moon Guide has been an terrific tool for me for the last 2 years. I mostly hunt when the moon is right and I see more deer that way. The other thing I pay attention to, even more than the moon is the weather. In fact, I put more stock in the Weather Channel than my Moon Guide. For instance, on Halloween night, a Friday, the weather channel predicted a storm blowing in early on Saturday the first of November. The timing looked good though, for a morning hunt before the high winds and heavy rain that is typical of a Nor Easter storm were to begin. One of my landowner/permission givers, Jerry said he'd seen some doe deer about when I called him for an update. Everything was right. The wife was understanding. The south or east wind was excellent for hunting behind Jerry's so I was up and out of the house by 4:50 a.m. My headlights revealed in the darkness, 3 doe deer in their night beds within 100 yards of my house. One lay bedded, 25 yards from my truck, illuminated by the lights. I bid them adieu and I was on my way to Jerry's. The weather was warm, in the 50's and the wind hadn't picked up by the time I arrived. I carried lots of clothing options in the back of the Rover, and chose to wear Peter Storm rain gear over camo pants and a fleece shirt and a scent lok top with a scent lok head mask. Because of the rain, I toted my compound bow because it's set up to shoot vanes, not feathers. My goal of harvesting something with my recurve would have to wait. The stand at this property is based on terrain features and experience, not sign. In fact, not one fresh rub adorns any nearby tree. No scrapes either. It's just a funnel, plain and simple. But one complication this year is the presence of competitor hunters on adjoining properties. An inconvenience I didn't have to deal with in 1996. Deer sighting frequency hadn't been bad though, so I just avoided burning out the stands. I had last been on the property with a Vermonter Glenn, two weeks earlier. That time he saw deer, but we neither killed or spooked any of them. I could easily park within 100 yards of my stand but my routine is to park at a nearby property, where I also have permission to hunt. This gives me a 400 yard walk on the road before walking into the woods. By now I was accustomed to the route to the Tree Lounge stand, and the wet footing made my approach silent enough without a light. I put the bottom five steps in and realized I had forgotten my rope. It was tricky, but I managed to pass the bow up above me, a tree step at a time, hanging the bow on higher tree steps as I ascended. Finally, I was comfortable in my stand and got some rest before the sun was to rise, an hour later.
When I could see, I stood, so as to be ready for anything. I paid particular attention to the thick stuff that was down wind of my entry trail, as I had spread some doe in heat scent along the way. The first hour went by and you could tell some nasty weather was on the way. It seemed to be getting darker, not lighter and the wind picked up from 5 to 10 mph and the leaves were blowing about, despite their wetness. I sat back down, decided I moved less in the more comfortable reclining position. I hate getting spotted on stand, especially by smart old does. On an impulse I blew a Primos grunt tube that I keep tied to my left arm with shock cord, directing the call l into the thicket. About 4 minutes later, I spotted a buck walking excitedly from the opposite direction. I was caught a little off guard, sitting down with my bow on a hook. Even though he was walking towards me, I chanced standing up and grabbed my bow. The buck was wide, I could tell the instant I saw him that he was a shooter. Maybe the fact that he was on the move himself helped my not get spotted as I got myself together for the shot. The arrow was already nocked but I fumbled getting my Scott Mongoose release on the string. He moved past the stand, and I wasn't ready in time for a 10 yard broad side shot. He was fifteen yards away and almost facing straight away from me by the time I was ready. "neeeaah", I bleated with my natural voice to stop the buck. He stopped, not knowing where the sound came from. It was natural for him to stop there anyway, because he was about to cross an open area where a path leads to an aqueduct. I could see his left side, quartering away and there was enough to shoot at so I pulled back the string and squatted down to get a clear line of flight under a branch. The position was like that of a Catcher awaiting a pitch. My back was against a neighboring tree for support and unswayability. My 20 yard pin was wavering all over his body momentarily but after only an instant, it settled down. The arrow was there in a hurry and he didn't jump the string at all. I doubt he heard it. He trotted, stopped, wavered and his back legs gave out. Down he went and after a 10 second struggle, it was over. Fifteen yard shot, twelve yard trail. I was ecstatic. When my shaking stopped, I inched my way down the rain slicked tree trunk and approached where the buck had crash landed next to a tree. His nose lay in a pool of bright red blood but his rack wouldn't let his head lay down!
In suburbia, with anti-hunting neighbors, rainy weather, and other unknowns, a lot of things can go wrong after the shot. But not this time! One of the quickest, cleanest kills I've ever made. After last year, when my two trophy bucks lived a while after the hit maybe I was starting to feel unlucky. But the Nor Easter Nine Point changed all that. I was grateful to him and our creator for such an experience. This marked the second year in a row I was fortunate enough to harvest a trophy buck in this funnel. The weather-to-come, a Nor Easter, carries with it sudden barometric changes that the deer are aware of. This puts them on the move more. They need extra feed and it can even roust them out of their usual beds, through travel areas like funnels, to thicker more protective cover. Such was the way on November first of this year. If you are reading this, you are on the net. The Weather Channel (TWC) has a web site that can show you up to the minute radar for your area. I would bookmark that sucker if I were you.