Any discussion of this past Rifle Season has to include the after-effects of my Chemo and how it played into the dynamics. It played into stand selection. It played into who hunted and when. My sons were on guard the whole time waiting for their Dad to fall over in the woods and call for help. To some extent, especially early on, I probably deserved that kind of attention. I surprised myself repeatedly in what I was able end up doing, and I was pretty much back in my usual form by the end of season. I appreciate the care that everyone had. I appreciate them putting up with me.

Ammunition

Even though I did all the switching on our loads last year, there were still a bunch of question marks.   Moose and Angus were shooting a new 150 grain Rem Corelokt PSPCL load with slightly different components.  I changed the bullet for the Ruger Hawkeye 30-06 to a Hornady 150 grain Interlock from a 165.  I got a free lifetime supply of the 150s a few years ago, and decided to switch.  Performance on both of these loads turned out to be superb.   Angus went for a second shot, but from examining the carcass, the first round killed the buck. He did not know it.   My 200 yard shot was my longest ever and it put a rather large 9 pointer down with aplomb.   For a second year in a row, I did not get a chance to try out my 7mm-08 TC Compass despite having it out more than any other rifle this year. SuperCore had trouble with some ammo that would not  chamber.  At first he was thinking it was Remington factory ammunition, but it turned out to be some improperly sized hand loads.

Gear

I spent most of the summer in a coat with my trusty Stormy Kromer on my head. It might have been the weight loss or the fact I was bald; I just felt cold all the time. As fall set it, that 107.119.65.104started to improve, but in anticipation of the coming weather, Moose bought me a grand Saint Hubert’s Day present. It is a Venustas heated vest.

Let me say up front: people have been asking about heated vests and the like for decades. My objection has been when folks depend on them in situations where failure could cause . . . well, you know. I had one pair of heated socks that lasted exactly one trip and one washing. One of the socks stopped working on the second trip out. This is different. for one thing, I was a walkie-talkie button away from rescue. I was not going to get hypothermia. I had the vest on through every one of my trips out this rifle season. I put it on as my first layer of outerwear, underneath my wool sweater. Overall, it saves me one layer of clothing. I found that I had enough juice to get through 5 hours on the low setting. I never kept it on high very long– didn’t need it. If I came out and right away put the pack to recharging, I would have it mostly recharged by the time I went out in the afternoon. Low was subtle but effective. Again, I do not want to give you the idea of using this in the backcountry. However, for a long sit in a stand, it gets two thumbs up. Next on the list is my Stormy Kromer hat. The Hunter Orange one is my second. Angus gave it to me for my birthday.

I spent most of my time during Chemo camped out under my Stormy Kromer, even in the worst heat of the summer. Heck, I’m wearing it now. It’s become part of me. However, I’m going to say this in the nicest way possible. It does not stand up to cold or rain the way I thought it would. Don’t get me wrong; it’s a great hat. It is certainly better at keeping me warm than my previous favorite. They’re German Army Surplus and they’re warm. However, I compared them with Stormy Kromer. The latter is much warmer.  I used my orange  Stormy Kromer for afternoon hunts.

Okay, so what does beat a Stormy Kromer? I’m sorry. So much of the stuff I like ain’t made anymore. Such is the case with the hat. It literally took me a decade to find this hat. It was only available from Sportsman’s Guide for one year, back around 2012 or so. I show it here, because it’s got it all, and it’s the benchmark against which one should measure all deer hunting hats.  They sold it for $20.

What should be in a deer hat:

• • To be legal in Kentucky, it has to be solid Hunter Orange

• • Warm: I cannot wear this hat when I’m walking to the stand. I sweat too much. This hat has a synthetic pile lining.

• • It has to have a brim. This hat has a large baseball cap sort of brim. The underside is green.  That’s a bonus.  The orange will give you eyestrain after a while.

• • Waterproof. I spent 5 hours in pouring rain in this hat on the Opener. My head stayed dry. A half-hour in the Kromer in a light drizzle made it a soggy mess

• • Ear flaps. Most of the time, they stay up, but when it’s real cold, they’re awesome. I keep them adjusted to just barely cover the top of my ears. When it rains, I let the flaps stand out; they act like an umbrella.

• • Large. I wear a wool balaclava under my hat for the first few hours of the morning hunt. It keeps my neck and face warm.

I found one sort of like this for Angus a while back at Cabelas. They come around every so often. They were more common a couple of decades ago. If you manage to find one, snag it. Last year, I mentioned giving the Gerber Vital Zip a shot. This year, everyone at camp used it and had great luck.

I admit, my first try with it ended in disaster. I managed to snag the stomach and. . . Moose found the best way to use it. He makes an incision at the bottom of the rib cage and inserts the device and then rips down. I was ripping up from the pelvis. It knocks a few minutes off the dressing of a deer and lets you keep your fingers away from a knife while you’re opening up the carcass. The disposable blade lasted us all season.

How was the Hunt?

Whenever there is inclement weather on the Rifle Opener, you can expect the Opening Day harvest to be off. For some guys, Opening Weekend is it. I have not done my usual data mining on this year’s Telecheck data, but from the numbers I’ve seen, November’s totals are low, but higher than last year’s. The total season numbers will probably follow suit. At our place, we only saw one deer Opening Weekend. That was the buck that Moose shot on the Opener. We saw very few deer all through season, and what we saw, we mostly shot. Our camp totals were not spectacular, Bracken County was low, and so was Pendleton County next door. Beyond the weather, I can guess that the acorns probably had something to do with it. I don’t think the deer are missing. Rather, I think the acorn crop was good enough that it kept the deer in the deep woods longer than most years. Most of our stands are situated for open-field shots. Most years, that is where the deer are coming from mid-November onward. This year? Not so much. I have a camera at the back of the house looking out into the pastures. I stopped seeing deer grazing out there in early September, and they still have not come back.

Closing Thoughts

Look, guys. You will never get me to say that Chemo was a good thing. There is literally no vocabulary to describe what pouring that bug juice into your veins does. They use words like nausea and fatigue, and discomfort, but there are really no words in the English language to describe what I experienced. I got poisoned. I survived. On the bright side, I got to see my sons step up and take over a lot of the running of deer camp and they did a terrific job. I just got home from locking up camp for the winter, and Moose and Angus did a terrific job. I was sitting out back with Supercore on the last Friday night of season, sipping a scotch. Moose had bagged his doe. About all I did was help him get it Telechecked. The rest was up to my guys. I mentioned to SuperCore: that the greatest victory I’ve had as an adult is watching my sons take a deer and get it out to the processors without my help. I love being the patriarch of camp, but it does not mean I have to do it all. Through the illness, my guys have really stepped up. They are starting to make plans for what to do with the farm and starting to take on the upkeep that used to my burden alone. I did it! We did it! We made it through season. ” . . . and Gentlemen all now in bed shall think themselves accurs’d they were not here, and hold their manhoods cheap whilst any speaks that hunted with us on Opening Day.” — Art Penn, November 1981

One last thing: A special shoutout to Blacksmith, the guy who took the picture. You are a real addition to our camp and our family. You are a great friend. I know you’ll read this after we’re gone. I hope it warms you until I come back in March.

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