Yes It was truly an awseome year again &
I was Blessed to have shared it all with my Son Jeremy who is an up & comming young hunter as well as my new Gal
Carol, Family & friends . Well I will start out by telling you about the archery season I had this year, Our
season here in NY starts on October 15th , However myself my Girlfriend & my Boy had been at my camp nearly all of the
summer months getting things ready for hunting this year & we camped and fished there as well as my Propterty is located
near a town Reserviour so we enjoy all the Great Outdoors has to offer !anyhow I will start out by telling you I had
a great archery season this year & don't know if I had ever seen so many Bucks as I had this year & was
able to get pictures & videos of alot of deer including but not limited to the eight point I shot during the second week
of Bow. I had scouted alot during pre season & had been seeing alot of buck activity how ever during archery this year
I had not seen 1 Doe til the last week of archery that was very unusual as the doe population is off the planet around this
area but with a few years of mild winters the buck doe ratio has become very good & we now see alot more bucks than normal.
It was opening day I had set up several stands where I Had been seeing & calling several bucks in on a regular basis
pryor to the opener I chose to sit in a stand along a funnel between my camp & the town reserviour as I had seen alot
of deer crossing there & my propt. had the only stream running through it & alot of good bedding cover for Bucks &
does alike to bed down in as well as & this becomes Very Important later in the shotgun season due to heavy hunting pressure
around the area I hunt .Water is one of the most important factors I believe you have to consider before setting up a stand
/groundblind etc. as Deer can go day's w/ out food but absolutly have to have water a few times a day. It was openin day I
had gotten in my stand around 5:30 am so to allow things to settle down in the woods as it was very noisy at that time with
nearly all the leaves off the trees & being dry. It was around 7:10 when I happend to look to my left out in front
of me & saw movement it was antlers I saw first then a fine 7 point buck appeared & he was heading right down a deer
trail that crossed right in front of my stand at 20 yards however he came in alot closer than I had anticipated & didn't
have a clue I was there, as he approached out in front of me he wasn't more than 8 yards I drew back waited til he was just
about past me in a quartering away stance I made a baat noise to stop him & when he stopped are YOU R E A D Y
yes Folks I misjudged the shot n went directly over
his back with the shot talk about dejected feeling well anyone who has had a shot like that can only tell you its not a good
time :(
the buck jumped went abt 3 yrds looked around I knocked
another arrow in anticipation of another shot opportunity however that didn't come & all I could do was watch the fine
7 point continue on walking on his merrily way to the woods!!! ten min into the opener...But I knew even though the
opening day shot missed that the rut was not far away as I had been seeing sign of heavy pre rut activity all through the
area scrapes , rubs, etc , however the bucks were starting to come to my calls & antler rattling so I decided to
try rattling for awhile & within a 1/2 hour or so had a real nice 4 point buck appear behind me ran out into
my meadow & took a quick look around didn't see what he was looking for & scooted back into the scagg / blowdown he
energed from behind me, man gotta tell ya I was pretty pumped up !! but before I could get too
pumped another loud noise came from the swamp in front of me to the right where there are woods leading to the reverviour I
listend to locate exactly where the noise came from but it went quite again so I rattled my rattle bag again &
within a min I again heard something comming from the woods towards where I was in the swamp which is a funnel between
two sets of woods one of which consist of pines & the otherside a ridge which is loaded with acorns & we all
know what deer think of acorns!! anyhow the swamp in front of me the only thing between me & that is the reserviour with
buffalo grass some small trees n a stream along with some tangle & blowdown then about that time out came a very
beautiful 8 pointer I could hardly contain myself it was the very same 8 pt I had been seeing while scouting &
he was a BIG bodied 8 his rack hardly looked like it belonged on top of his head, he walked right out into the open
swamp about 45 yrds away looked around for the buck fight I similated while rattling my rattle bag & he like the other
buck didn't see what he wanted became weary & turned back the way he came and scooted hurridly back to the saftey of the
woods & heavy cover, man I thought what an opener so far I was beside myself w/ adreanalin flow , however that would
be the last I would see of any deer on the opener, But was filled with anticipation to see what tommorrow would
bring and could hardly wait, So I finished out the day enjoying the scenery with my camera & bow ready just in case he
he :)
Hope you enjoyed this day with me & come back for more
as I will be updating soon now that season is comming to a close. So Til then you have a Great safe Hunt & may GOD Bless
you
Enjoy the Great Outdoors
with your family & friends!!
And By the way Practice Practice Practice makes Perfect !!!!! lol
