Deer Hunting
The Eve of the Opener
“. . . The stockings were hung by the chimney with care” Actually, the clothesline IS filled with hunting socks at the moment. Last night Angus did his last load of hunting clothes. Preparations have been going on for some time. Last weekend, I was out at camp, puttering around the whole weekend getting the last of chores done prior to the Opener. It was down to all those little things that would not exactly make or break the hunt, but could put a dent in getting out the door on time. A new battery had to be put in … More . . .
Happy Saint Hubert’s Day, Y’all!
It was back in 2005 when a bunch of us regulars on 24hourcampfire.com were discussing the problem that hunters face when it comes to Christmas. You get all this cool stuff for presents, but then you have to wait until the next year to use it. I suggested that the gift giving be moved to Nov3, the Feast of Saint Hubert. Hubert is the patron saint of hunting. In Europe it’s a big deal in places. Bavaria really gets into it– lots of processions and the like. We’re down here at deer camp, but I’m about to get KYHillChick up … More . . .
Twilight Zone Buck
It all started back last Sunday. I was up in my stand, getting to the end of my second morning of hunting in KY’s early muzzleloader season. I had the .54 Hawken along. It was a nice bright morning. I’d seen a few doe over the weekend, but nothing worth popping cap. It was nearing 10 AM. I had decided that I would come out about then. There was a lot of things to do back at camp. I had to sight in some deer rifles. The next weekend was going to be our designated “Bye” week in season. Most … More . . .
Yute Season
Angus was out for KY Yute Season yesterday. We did not bag anything, but we had a good time. The trip brought up a whole lot of issues, that I feel need airing. First off, as you know, Angus is a bagpiper. He’s not just a good bagpiper. He’s a phenomenal bagpiper. They threw him out of Junior competition a couple of years ago, because he was walking off with all the medals, and it was decided it would be more fair for him to compete as an adult. He’s 14 now. He is playing with North Coast up in … More . . .
Lazy Boy
It is just a little past sunrise, but there is a quite a bit of ground fog this morning. I sent Angus out scouting a new spot. We call it Lazy Boy. Part of it was because we’re trying to standardize the naming scheme of all our stands; this is in Lima Section, so stand names have to begin with and ‘L.’ Part of this was because Angus did not want to go through all the hassle of developing it like a normal stand site– clearing shooting lanes, putting up a tree stand, etc. Lazy Boy is a flat spot … More . . .
Favorite Memories from Deer Camp
I went my first 5 years hunting with my buddies. Then they all started dying off, and in short order I was hunting alone. It took two wives and 15 years to get me back to the point where I had two sons to hunt with, and a deer camp I could call my own. I literally had to go out and breed my deer camp from the ground up. Our first deer camp was convened in the fall of 2001 with me as the patriarch. Mooseboy was 9. Little Angus was only 3, and had not yet taken up … More . . .
Reality Sets In. . . AGAIN
Last year on September 18th, I posted a piece about trying out my new 30-30 rounds. Sometimes writing a weblog can be eerie. You go back and read stuff and you realize you’ve pretty much repeated yourself. Here’s the post: Reality Sets In On Sunday, I was back at the shooting bench. Surprisingly, the target frame had folded up in the storm Friday night. I had to go out and pound some nails in it to get it back standing. I had not had the 30-30 out since that trip in 2011. This time, the only things that were different: … More . . .
Jaegdenfreude?
A Record Month!!! First off, I just want to say a thank you to all of you. August was the best month ever for visitors and the amount of content y’all were reading– about 20% more than the previous record back in April and double what it was a year ago. It is getting so I have at least 200 readers a day, and a growing number of you are coming back for more after the first visit. I really appreciate your appreciation.  Feel free to drop me a line and let me know what you are thinking. I’d love … More . . .
Labor Day Reloading Projects
What is left of Hurricane Isaac is moving through Cincinnati this morning. We had originally thought about staying at the farm all weekend, but the forecast seemed rather dire. We all opted to stay home. A wide-eyed Obama supporter showed up at our door the other night, asking our opinions on President Obama and Sherrod Brown.  I don’t think she liked my responses. However, it reminded me that I was way behind on reloading projects. I was out of work 2.5 years and then underemployed another 1.5 years. I just accepted an offer that puts me back closer to where … More . . .
The Shamanic Guide to Speed Scouting
I can remember this time back in 2001. I had just acquired a 200 acre farm. Season was only a few weeks away. I had seen a few deer and a few turkeys, but I frankly thought the numbers were going to be sparse. I was only able to get out there on weekends, so I spent the weekday nights studying maps and planning strategies. Let me tell you how I went about it and what I did wrong and what I have learned since. First, get yourself a topo map and an aerial photo. Google Earth is pretty darn … More . . .
What was I ever thinking?
Now that I’m well past 30 seasons of deer hunting, I find myself looking back and increasingly thumping myself on the forehead and proclaiming, “What was I ever thinking?” Camouflage clothing: What was I thinking? I do not mean that I was wrong in trying to hide myself a bit better. The problem was that I thought you needed a serious plan with camo. I needed an early-season and late season. I needed camo for the treestand and camo for the blind. I needed camo for every occasion. I had camo cover-ups to camo my camo. The best piece of … More . . .
New 2012-13 Kentucky Hunting and Trapping Guide
KYDFWR has just released the new Hunting and Trapping Guide. 2012-13 Kentucky Hunting and Trapping Guide So far I don’t see any big changes for what I’m doing. This post has already been read 3485 times!Views: 2 Related posts: KDFWR 20-21 Hunting and Trapping Guide is Out Kentucky Deer Hunting Stats PODCAST: The shaman scores in KY Opener 2012 PODCAST: Tagged Out in 2012 Report from Deer Camp — 2012 Opener Shamanic Guide to Whitetail Deer Hunting Thanks for letting me come hunt in Kentucky Return of the Whitetail in Kentucky
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My GoTo Deer Rifle– a redux
I was digging through the stats the other day, trying to figure out why I’d had the best day ever on this weblog as far as the number of visitors. One of the log entries I’d noticed was a popular post from back in 2004, “What is my goto deer gun?” I had forgotten I had written it, and so I decided it was time to read it. What is my “goto” gun for Deer? To my surprise, it was the wrong gun. Don’t get me wrong. The Remington 1100 is a heck of a deer gun, and I am … More . . .
Stuck in The Burbs
So here it is, the second week in July. I should be down at camp, but it is too darn hot. It is too hot to mow, because it is too hot for the grass to be growing. Walking out the door to go the mailbox has become a planned event. We have a fan running in the center of the house, moving air around to help the air conditioning. It is loud enough to disturb thinking. You have to go to one end of the house to have a conversation. My apologies for not writing. I usually take a … More . . .
A Ninety-Niner Looks Back
I have been back to work now for going on 2 years. I am starting to dig myself out of the hole. The bills are getting paid. I decided to go back and look at an piece I wrote a little more than 2 years ago, about being a Ninety-Niner and what it meant to my deer hunting. At the time I wrote it, August 2010, I had used up my full 99 weeks of unemployment and was coasting with no good hope of a job.  Just before season started, I got a call out of the blue to work … More . . .
The Deer Log is Finished
I finally finished off my deer log. I say that, and I can envision a strange shelf-stable variation of venison meat loaf. No, I mean that I completed a spreadsheet listing all the deer ever taken at our camp, along with accompanying a data. I tried to answer the following questions? What was it? Doe, buck, antler size, live weight, etc. Where and when was it taken? Who took it? With what? What was the weather like? Moon phase? It ended up being quite a list and quite an undertaking. I started doing this about 1992 as I realized I … More . . .
Deer Opener
The Proposed 2012 Seasons are posted on KYDFWR’s website: http://fw.ky.gov/20122013proposedseasons.asp The big dates for me: Squirrel Opener: 8/18 Bow Opener: 9/1 Yute Opener: 10/13 Early Smokepole: 10/20 Rifle Opener Zone 1: 11/10 This post has already been read 1547 times!Views: 6 Related posts: Mooselette’s First Yute Hunt Shamanic Dream Team Scores Double-Header in KY Opener Deer Season is Over Report from Deer Camp — 2012 Opener Report from Deer Camp: Opener 2024 Youth Hunt SNAFU PT III Mooseboy Scores Saturday Openers
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Salt Licks — NOW!
I was out last weekend pestering the turkeys and I came upon a herd of 5 deer camped out under one of my stands, worrying my salt lick. It reminded me that now– I MEAN NOW!!! — is the time to start making or rejuvenating salt licks. There was enough salt in mine, leftover from last year, to hold their interest. However, you need to have your licks established early. By Summer, they’re not going to be nearly as useful. Contrary to popular belief, new salt licks are well-near useless during hunting season. You cannot just put out salt the … More . . .
The Remington 742 — a look back
There has been a vast number of hits at this weblog regarding the Remington 742, so much so that I feel compelled to write about it. It was 2004 when I put the 742 onto the rack, never to hunt with it again. It had served me well for over 20 seasons. I put it up on the rack on a dark evening towards the end of deer season, and went into the house to crawl out of my hunting clothes. There was a gust of wind and I heard a terrible racket out on the front porch. Somehow the … More . . .
Bowhunting
This is going to be a bit tickilish. I know my bow hunting friends might very well look at this and think I am knocking bow hunting. I am trying my darndest not to do so. However, it has been 5 years since I had to give up my bow, and as I’m putting the rifles away I must say that I have not missed bow hunting as much as I thought I would. What got me out of bow hunting was a mix of things. First, my eyes started to go. I was having trouble focusing on the pins … More . . .
The Clown Suit Revealed
Over the years, I have gone round and round about in my beliefs regarding camo for deer hunting. I started back in the early 80’s just using whatever was at hand, mostly stuff recycled from my paintballing. I was a bowhunter, and I usually wore an old milsurp M-65 field jacket, and the deer did not seem to mind. Well, I say that, but really they were too busy snorting at me for the mothballs I packed my wool pants in to be paying attention to the camo pattern. Over the years, I started thinking that I had to maximize … More . . .
So Now What?
Good question. Season is over for us. I still have a pile of stuff to do before calling it quits. The Guns One thing I learned over this season is that storing rifles in padded cases is bad Ju-Ju. I guess I was lucky all these years. I never had a problem. However, this year was particularly wet– record setting rain. We had water in the basement. The foam in the cases probably soaked up a bunch of humidity. After I found rust on some of my rifles, I made a point of bringing the cases upstairs and letting them … More . . .
The Way it Ends
The drive back Sunday was all too familiar.  Rain, a lot of unused tags, snow in the forecast, and listening to the Bengals lose.   I explained to Angus that was how I spent a good deal of my early years as a deer hunter.  Somehow Phil Samp play-by-play, Horst Muhlman field goals,  deer hunting, tag soup, and rain all fit together in one tight little package.  That was long ago. Things change after thirty years. For one thing, the Bengals went on to pull it out over Cleveland in the second half.  For another, the unfilled tags belonged to everyone … More . . .
Report from Deer Camp, 2011
Y’all were really nice about Dad passing. Thanks again for all the good wishes. Normally I would have been doing more of a day-by-day report up on Deer and Deer Hunting. Now, here it is, Thanksgiving, and I’ve hardly written a thing. Sadly, there has not been much to write. PRELUDE I’ll begin back in July. I was still recovering from pneumonia back during Turkey Season. We had missed quite a few weekends coming out to camp, and I was behind in my chores.  I went out in mid-July to mow around the house. Just at sundown there was a … More . . .
Getting to the Opener
It is always a bit of thrill getting to deer camp the night before The Opener. The preparations have usually been going on since August. The tree stand skirts are hung in September. Sure, we hunted a little in September and October, but mostly that ends up being armed scouting. What we are all really dreaming about is the odd big rack that appears out of the bottoms and comes up on our ridge starting about Halloween. Everyone wants to save their tag for that. Even with Dad passing away this year, the slow relentless march towards the Opener kept on. … More . . .
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