Heading to the dear stand!

[Stensethfan]

I took the wife out for her second sit of the season and she is chomping at the bit to be in the woods with deer around and hoping to score her first buck. (She has not made it over the hump of killing a doe or fawn yet).  Since I am wanting to have her shoot a deer I play the nice husband card and give her my stand and I place myself about 70 yards down this funnel that usually produces deer most nights in the early season.  So we are sitting and she send me a text message that says something to the effect of "doe and big buck right below me could not get a shot, I am SHAKING so bad!!!"  I kind of laugh and go back to hunting and that is when everything started to happen.  I look in the direction of where her stand is and see a doe walking my way and finally after 20 minutes the doe feeds toward me and I get a good clean kill shot with my new Rage Broadheads about 8 yards from me.  (Side note: if you are looking for some new broadheads the 2 blade rage's are everything that people say they are.  I have to get a picture of the exit hole and show people on this site...simply amazing)  So I shoot the doe and it runs in the direction of my wife and falls over within eye sight of her stand.  She then texts me and says "Well, that is probably the end of the night."  It was about 6:40 and I knew there was plenty of time so I told her to sit tight.  About that time the deer started to parade out of the swamp in front of us.  First a fawn, then a fork, then an 8 pointer.  All three walked right to the expired doe and sniffed around and then went on their way.  I was really hoping that the wife would get one, but she said there was to much brush in the way to make the 25 yard shot. (had to give her credit for not forcing a shot, especially at the 8 point because he was pretty good.)  So in the mean time I put another arrow on the bow and hung it up thinking the night had been good and that I had some time, but was content with some meat for the freezer.  At about that time the 8 pointer that sniffed the doe circled around and entered my shooting lane 35 yards out.  I put the 30 yard pin on him compensating for the down hill shot and fired.  The arow barried itself in his shoulder and he bolted tail tucked.  Now the work began or so I thought.  We climbed down since we had two to work on and went to the truck for the knives and rope.  We had her father come out to help with the buck in the swamp, but lost the trail 50 yards in.  I know I had a decent hit because the arrow went about 12 inches in throught the back portion of the shoulder from what I could see when the deer ran off.  He also bolted like he came out of a cannon and had his tail down.  I did not want to leave, but I also did not want to bump him from the swamp with no exit hole for blood to come out.  I am assuming he has expired, but just is a little farther in.  It was getting tough to find blood about belt high on the weeds.  Needless to say I doubt I will sleep much tonight and I will be right back out there at about 7:00 AM.  Anyway long story short we had an amazing night of deer hunting with 3 bucks and 5 does/fawns between the two of us...one doe in a friends fridgerator as we speak and another buck to find in the morning...hopefully the hunting gods are with me and I get that bad boy right away in the morning and the meat has not gone bad.  I will be sick to my stomach if I do not recover this deer.  Damn this weather right now.

[Mayfly]

Good luck to you in the morning. Can't wait to see the pics!

[GirlGuide]

I really enjoyed your story, good luck to you both in the morning!!

~gg

[Stensethfan]

I cannot believe anyone else is up right now.  I am OBVIOUSLY not tired. 

[GirlGuide]

You better get to bed..you got a big day of truckin' through those woods tomorrow! 
~gg

[Stensethfan]

I am almost ready!  Just needed to sit and look at the Computer screen for a while to relax.  I hate the feeling of thinking your hit might not have been that good...I just keep thinking of the sight of him running tail down.  Usually the is a good thing...I hope I am not one of the out-lyers in this correlation.  If I don't find this buck Uncle Don Stenseth is probably going to have the stink eye out for me.  That is the LAST I need!!!

[GirlGuide]

Your Uncle Don doesn't have a mean bone in his body, he just a big ol' teddy bear... 
(He hates it when I give him away like that, lol!) EXCEPT of course when it comes down to things like this...He is going to be after you big time if you dont find that buck!!    So get your butt to bed so your not walking around in the woods half dead tomorrow...Remember who your dealing with here, your "Uncle Teddy Bear" is not to be messed around with!  I will pray for you! 

~gg

[Stensethfan]

You better do some praying for both our behinds now!!!  I can almost bet he will get up at about 3AM like he does and read all of this.  My Arse is going to be grass if I don't find it and yours will be too for calling him "Uncle Teddy Bear." (The last time I called him that was when we were about 6 brewskies into the night and I beat him in arm wrestlin' and it didn't go none too well!) Mr. Teddy might have a few hand fulls of seasons under his belt, but he isn't too old to have a nasty bite to him in some situations.  I am counting on this buck to be found so I can fill his freezer.  (That is me sucking up so he doesn't come down so hard on me)  GG, you have to know that he taught me the ways of the Whitetail woods and he is not going to be too impressed knowing that my shot flew a few inches to the left of where it should have been.  I am going to bed, I definitely do not want to be up when he wakes from his slumber and hits the World Wide Web in the wee hours of the mornin'.  He might just ring my phone....

[GirlGuide]

LMAO...Turn your ringer off QUICK!!

And don't worry about my Arse being grass from Uncle Teddy....he let's me slide every now and then....You see I make sure I suck up to him quite often...not just when is NECESSARY..(
eeh hemmm...like some people)...If I were you, I hit rack right about 10 minutes ago! LOL!

~gg

I'll still pray for you though...I seriously hope you don't need it.  I think you will find that buck about 20 yards from where you stopped looking!   

...dont forget to turn your ringer off! 

[Don Stenseth]

Damn swamps!! How wet and how big is it?  Now I will be thinking about this all day. If you find it call Aunt Carrie and have her call me. Look the swamp over and think like a Deer, You will find him.  Hopefully the water kept him cool. Remember Brian has a canoe and a 4 wheeler if you need to use something. Good luck!!!

[Don Stenseth]

By the way, I let you win because it was Christmas.   Uncle Teddy

[Stensethfan]

The entire swamp is shaped like a kidney bean and is about a total of 20 acres.  I know he probably did not leave the little section in front of ours stands because there is a good bunch of tamarack trees.  I know it is a major bedding area and I hate to have to go in there, but I would put everything on Red in this situation that he is in this 2-3 acre spot.  The swamp is damp, but not filled with water.  I just looked at the weather and it is only 63, what the  ...I am leaving here in a few I will be back with an update hopefully.  Oh, yeah and belated thanks for that x-mas present,  !

[deadeye]

Stensethfan,
First of all congrats on what looks like a great hunt.  Now the bad part.  I am in no way trying to take anything away from your hunt but I just wanted to point out that you may have come very close to violating the "no electronic devices" law.  I don't know how the DNR would look at texting information regarding deer movement but I thing it comes close to illegal.  If I were you I would delete all referrences to it in forums and on line posts.  Again, congrats and hope you find your deer. 
 

[RavenDog]

Stensethfan- Looking forward to seeing the pics of (both) deer.  Got out this morning around 6:30 was already pretty light out.  About 7:30 1 doe with 2 fawns walked by, had no shot, but I don't take does in September.  But it was nice weather.  They are talking low 80s for today, gonna be a hot night huntin!  Good luck to all you hunters talk soon.

[wildlifeminnesota]

Stensethfan,
First of all congrats on what looks like a great hunt.  Now the bad part.  I am in no way trying to take anything away from your hunt but I just wanted to point out that you may have come very close to violating the "no electronic devices" law.  I don't know how the DNR would look at texting information regarding deer movement but I thing it comes close to illegal.  If I were you I would delete all referrences to it in forums and on line posts.  Again, congrats and hope you find your deer. 
 

I would have say the same thing on the "no electronic devices" law.
good luck of finding him.

[RavenDog]

I believe you can use them "electronic Devices" just not to aid you in your hunt!  It says in the rule book but like everything else It isn't explained very good!

[Stensethfan]

Before I start with the story of the morning I will verify one thing...the electronic device did not aid in the hunt.  All the message said was that she saw two deer under her stand and that she could not get a shot at either of them and that she had buck fever to the point where she was shaking.  She did not say anything about deer and the direction they had went.  Thanks for your concern.  I read the regulations cover to cover each year and agree with Ravendog that they generally are not very clear, but I also would not have used my phone in any way to aid the hunt.  So anyway, I made it back to the woods at 7:15 and took the search up again and the blood was sparse.  We searched until 9:00 AM and had nothing.  I took one last sweeping circle through the swamp before I was about to give up and happened to stumble upon my buck.  The hit was a little behind the lungs as opposed to being through the shoulder like I had thought.  Mother nature got the best of this hunt though as the buck was already starting to smell quite foul.  Just so everyone is clear I did still register my buck because I feel that it is the correct thing to do, rather than act like you didn't see it and shoot another later in the year.  I can verify this for anyone if they would like. I would love to post a picture of the deer, but I did not take any because I was not proud of my shot and the fact that I was unable to find the deer before it spoiled.

[GirlGuide]

Well I am sure glad you found it, I bet that was a relief to you.  Sorry that it was spoiled though..that sucks!  I still think you should of taken a picture of it...after all this WAITING we had to do for you, this morning, lol!    And at least you found it...so now Uncle Teddy can't get after you too bad!

Good luck to you and your wife on your next hunting outing!

 
~gg

[Stensethfan]

Thanks a lot.  I appreciate the well wishes.  It was nice to find it and close the loop.  We owe it to the animal to do as much as we can.  I need a nap now though, sleep was hard to come by last night.

[Don Stenseth]

Hey, things happen sometimes. I know that you would not have taken the shot if you were not sure it was a good one. Chalk it up in the old memory bank about hunting in the heat. Regestering it was the right thing to do although many would not have. I never have to question your ethics and you make me proud.

[deadeye]

I'm glad you found the deer and I you did the right thing by registering it.  I believe you when you say texting had nothing to do with taking game, but remember you and I are not the ones who decide.   

[Stensethfan]

Agreed, Deadeye.  I explained the rules to her after last night also.  She is new to hunting and was just excited to see a nice buck with a doe by her.  No harm no foul in my book.  If it was not for the foliage on the trees I would be able to see her in her stand from mine down the wood lot.  Uncle Don, you have no idea what it means to read what you say about me...Afterall maybe you do since you have taught me everything about ethics.  Like you said things happen, you do the right thing and you move on.  Darn the early bow season and the warm weather you sometimes get.  TGIF anyways!!  Good luck to everyone this weekend.  Keep the reports coming!!!

[Don Stenseth]

Just got off the phone with my Nephew, Luke {Stensethfan} Talking about his hunt and we recalled a story that happened about 14 years ago when Luke was about 14. I had shot a Buck up north  with my rifle and still had a management tag that I was allowed to fill with my bow. I had permission to hunt some property on Cedar Creek near Bethel so I went out the next day and shot a Doe. To make a long story shorter the Doe got into the bog swamp on me and it was getting dark so I decided to wait untill morning to find her as the temps were in the single digits. I called Luke and told him that I would pick him up early the next morning and put him in a stand while I pursued the Doe in the swamp thinking that I may push something out to him. Like I knew he would be, Luke was ready and waiting when I got to his house. As daylight broke I left Luke in the stand and headed into the bog swamp to follow blood. I cant say for sure how far into the swamp I was but it was quite a ways when my right leg broke through the bog up to my knee. As I tried to catch my balance my left leg broke through and down I went. If you have never broke through a bog befor the suction is unbelievable and there is no way that I could pull my legs back out.There I layed , in six foot swamp grass with temps about 8 thinking it's going to be pretty tough for anybody to find me in here so you better do something. With all the strength I could muster I pulled and pulled untill my now bootless and sockless right leg came out of the bog. I repeated the process untill my now bootless left leg came out of the swamp. I never found that Doe and it made me sick but I figured that I had done about all I could do to try to find it. I swore after that that i never would hunt that close to a swamp again and run the risk of loseing a deer. I can still picture the puzzled look on Lukes face as I walked back up to his  stand in my 1 bare foot and 1 stocking foot that cold November morning.

[RavenDog]

Just got back from the old deer stand!  Didn't see anything tonight,  I wonder tonight was the first time I haven't seen anything.  Also, was the first night that I used my Thermo Cell mosq. repell thing.  It works great but I wonder if it affected my hunt at all?  I have used it for turkey hunting and shot a turkey.  Just a thought!  Anyone else have or use one of those Thermo Cell deals?

[Stensethfan]

That is an honest to god true story and I have not forgotten it to this day.  I could not believe that my uncle came out without his deer, not to mention his boots on his feet.  For all I know that is the only one he has never recovered.  When I was that age I seriously thought of my Uncle as someone on the equivalent level of a Fred Bear or Chuck Adams since my father had dropped out of hunting long before I was of age to accompany him.  If you have never met Uncle Don at a MNO gathering you are missing out.  He is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to whitetails.  (not to mention one heck of a jokester!)  Although he hunts with a camera these days I sill am thankful for the nights around the dinner table I get to spend with him jaw jacking about different ideas and theories about deer hunting.  Honestly he will never know how much he has done for this whitetail hunter.

[GirlGuide]

OH my Gosh Don, what a story!!!

And I can just picture you walking up to Luke without your boots and missing sock!!  I know it wasn't funny then...and thank god you got out of that BOG!!!!  That sounded so scary, I would have totally freaked out!!  Good thing you didn't, and you were able to get the heck out of there.

BUT...on another note..

...it is a teeny tiny bit funny now...isn't it?  okay, well..let's just face the facts here...it is now funny as h*ll!!  .....Here come's Uncle Teddy up the deer trail...soaking wet, muddy, dirty, one sock on ...one sock off....    It's ALOT A BIT FUNNY!!    Trying to show his newphew what a great white tail hunter he is....and OMG...it's just absolutely hysterical... What a story!!

Luke, if you only had a camera that day!!  PRICELESS!!

~gg

[Don Stenseth]

Hey GirlGuide, Teddy this... Lol. You sure like to pick on this old fat bald guy don't you. Lol. I bet you go to Special Olympic events just to Boo don't you.

[GirlGuide]

LMAO Don!!   Someone's got to give ya a hard time once and a while...and I just figure, why not ME!!

AND NO I DO NOT GO TO THE SPECIAL OLYMPIC EVENTS JUST TO BOO!!!

OH MY GOD! ...AND HOW DARE YOU!!  Although, you are "special" too, but in no way shape or for would I compare you to the special olympics!!  Not quite yet anyway! 

~gg 

[RavenDog]

Thought it would be a good night to get out.  After the rain and all.  Guess not, didn't see a damn thing.  I hope that the weather cools down so the deer start to move around more!  Anyone Else notice slow deer movements, or is it just me?  Well not gonna see deer if I am sitting at home, so I guess keep trying! 

[Stensethfan]

Well, this has been about the craziest year I have ever had in the bow stand.  Besides everything that has been mentioned already in this thread I had another very interesting day to say the least.  It started in the AM at a new property with a good High School buddy of mine.  He showed me to my stand in the wind and periodic showers and left me for the morning.  Like my first hunt of the year I had two more curious squirels try to enter my tree 5 feet from me and refuse to back down until I almost swatted them.  Maybe I am a wimp, but I am not too fond of those critters and don't want to give them the opportunity to sit in my lap and possibly havest the wrong legums!!  I am starting to wonder if my autumn scented clothing wash is attracting these damn things.  No deer sightings this morning and I was driven from the stand with a nice down pour that soaked me pretty good.  The rest of the day was spent watching the radar wondering if we were going to get hit with another soaking of rain.  About 4PM we decided that we were going to get missed (according to the radar) and headed to the back of the property to hunt two new stands.  We ventured through the woods and came out in a swamp opening with a view, looking to my south I notice some pretty dark clouds, that were definitely not visible from the truck. As anyone who has been rained on before would have made them out as a large problem for us.  I looked to my buddy as we could see the rain moving in and I told him to get behind a tree or we would get soaked.  I am confident that there was not a tree large enough in the woods to shield us from the monsoon like conditions on the lead edge of this storm.  The rain, hail and wind hit us with such force that it was like standing in a bathroom shower and having someone run a leaf blower on you all at the same time.  I honestly thought a tree might snap off and get me when the winds started whipping.  Luckily there was no injurys, but instead soaking wet hunters that did not have a spot on them that was not soaked through all layers of their hunting apparel.  We obviously turned a 180 once the wind let down and headed for the truck.  Needless to say if was another interesting adventure in my 2008 bow season.  Hopefully the rest of the season goes a little more normally....stay tuned.