Post by subzero350 on Nov 18, 2018 9:59:54 GMT -5
For firearms opener, my dad expressed desire to hunt my land. Since I only have 2 stands up on my land, I decided the wife and I would go up to Steuben Co. and hunt my dad's land. He arrived here at 4:30am - long before we got up and hit the road.
We were a little behind schedule getting out of here but the wife and I made the ~30min drive to dad's land and arrived about 30 min before legal hunting time. I drove around back to drop her off so she could hunt the ground blind. As we rounded the bend, there was a 6pt and doe standing right at the edge of the road where my wife had to walk in to get to the blind. They promptly ran off.
I dropped the wife off and drove back around and parked so I could walk into the stand I was hunting.
Shortly after the light came up, I spotted movement across the road to my left. It was a momma doe closely followed by 2 yearlings. But there was something else... As he cleared the thicket, I could see ONE 4-point antler. The other antler was completely broken off of his head. The 3 does he was following crossed the road and came into the swamp in front of me. The 1/2 8 point buck looked concerned and did an about-face and walked off. He didn't seem to be too interested in the females, he was just "with them".
10 minutes later an 8 pt buck crests the hill with his nose to the ground - tracking the females. He was on a mission. He crossed the road and followed the exact path the 3 does before him walked. As he paused for a moment - looking around about 20 yards below and in front of me, I took the shot. He immediately took off running and I questioned whether I had even hit him. I waited about 30 minutes and then climbed down out of the stand and started tracking him. There was a good blood trail that began right where he was standing when I took the shot that was very easy to follow - especially considering there was blood on every stick and branch along the way he rubbed up against as he retreated.
As I tracked him down by the swamp, I heard footsteps in the half frozen water - so I froze (not yet seeing my deer - I thought that might have been him still staggering around in the thick scrub). The steps got closer... Then, I spotted what looked like someone's dog. What is a dog doing deep in a water-filled swamp? It got close enough I could see most of the body thru the thick scrub - it was a COYOTE! He got to within 15 yards of me before a car drove down the road which caused him to turn and walk away. I didn't shoot because I honestly thought it was someone's dog.
Anyway, continued my track and found my buck laying at the edge of the swamp.
Neighbor came over to check him out, congratulated me, and said what I probably saw just a moment earlier was one of the coyotes they have seen out there. So I guess my hunting isn't over for the year. The question is: what do I do with a coyote?
Wife didn't see anything but birds and squirrels but dad had 16 does walk within shooting distance of his stand back at my house (he didn't shoot because he was waiting on the buck that was following them that never arrived).
We were a little behind schedule getting out of here but the wife and I made the ~30min drive to dad's land and arrived about 30 min before legal hunting time. I drove around back to drop her off so she could hunt the ground blind. As we rounded the bend, there was a 6pt and doe standing right at the edge of the road where my wife had to walk in to get to the blind. They promptly ran off.
I dropped the wife off and drove back around and parked so I could walk into the stand I was hunting.
Shortly after the light came up, I spotted movement across the road to my left. It was a momma doe closely followed by 2 yearlings. But there was something else... As he cleared the thicket, I could see ONE 4-point antler. The other antler was completely broken off of his head. The 3 does he was following crossed the road and came into the swamp in front of me. The 1/2 8 point buck looked concerned and did an about-face and walked off. He didn't seem to be too interested in the females, he was just "with them".
10 minutes later an 8 pt buck crests the hill with his nose to the ground - tracking the females. He was on a mission. He crossed the road and followed the exact path the 3 does before him walked. As he paused for a moment - looking around about 20 yards below and in front of me, I took the shot. He immediately took off running and I questioned whether I had even hit him. I waited about 30 minutes and then climbed down out of the stand and started tracking him. There was a good blood trail that began right where he was standing when I took the shot that was very easy to follow - especially considering there was blood on every stick and branch along the way he rubbed up against as he retreated.
As I tracked him down by the swamp, I heard footsteps in the half frozen water - so I froze (not yet seeing my deer - I thought that might have been him still staggering around in the thick scrub). The steps got closer... Then, I spotted what looked like someone's dog. What is a dog doing deep in a water-filled swamp? It got close enough I could see most of the body thru the thick scrub - it was a COYOTE! He got to within 15 yards of me before a car drove down the road which caused him to turn and walk away. I didn't shoot because I honestly thought it was someone's dog.
Anyway, continued my track and found my buck laying at the edge of the swamp.
Neighbor came over to check him out, congratulated me, and said what I probably saw just a moment earlier was one of the coyotes they have seen out there. So I guess my hunting isn't over for the year. The question is: what do I do with a coyote?
Wife didn't see anything but birds and squirrels but dad had 16 does walk within shooting distance of his stand back at my house (he didn't shoot because he was waiting on the buck that was following them that never arrived).