Stuck in the Rut

As I mentioned before, one of my good hunting buddies is Doyle Dietz, outdoors editor of the Pottsville Republican & Herald in Schuylkill County, Pa. For those who know Doyle, you’ll totally get this. For those who don’t, let’s just say he’s a heavy sleeper.

In fairness to Doyle, those 3:30 a.m. wake-up calls we had during our Maryland hunt are a killer.

Well, I guess it just wasn’t meant to be for Brad, Doyle and I during our Eastern Shore whitetail hunt this year. In fact, it was a bad week for all the hunters in camp - although some certainly enjoyed better hunts than we did. A total of five trophy bucks - one 10-pointer and four 8-pointers, were within bow range over the course of the week (including three during the three days we were there) and not one of them was harvested. All but one of the deer was missed cleanly, and the one that was hit didn’t appear to be badly hurt because there was only a couple drops of blood and the outfitter couldn’t find any sign of the buck after an extensive search of the area where that client was hunting.

 The last miss of the week occurred Saturday morning about 500 yards from where I was hunting. The guy said he had a chance at a 130-inch 8-pointer but missed after his arrow hit a limb. Of course, I didn’t see any deer that morning, so I was just frustrated when he told me the story. On Saturday afternoon, I had a few small antlerless deer and another 3-pointer come by my stand, but I decided to pass on all them rather than take a small deer. I was down there looking for a big buck, and I just wasn’t one of the lucky hunters to get an opportunity. Of course, I’d like to think I wouldn’t have squandered my chance if it came, but as I told the guy who missed the big buck on Saturday morning, there is no such thing as a gimme shot in the deer woods.

 Saturday did work out well for at least one hunter though. There was a nice guy there from Long Island, Jerry Prinzivalli, who took a small buck that was his first deer ever. So, a big congratulations to Jerry! It’s nice that John Kostick, owner of B&J Guide Service, is flexible enough to let people like that shoot a smaller deer if they want to, because your first deer is always a trophy no matter the size.

 I included a photo here of Jerry and his deer, along with a couple photos of my evening stand location.

 Now it’s back to Pennsylvania and some doe hunting.

Well, I saw a couple small deer on the second morning of the hunt, and had a small, 3-point buck and a doe come by in the evening, but really no great action to speak of. Still, I was set up in a beautiful spot, which you can see in the video here.

One of my good hunting buddies is Doyle Dietz, outdoors editor at The Pottsville Republican and Herald. This video of him is priceless. As you can tell, the hunting was not good on Thursday, but at least they have an Arby’s in Chestertown!

Well, I saw five deer during today’s afternoon hunt, including what looked to be a nice buck running a doe through a marsh behind my stand. Also saw a couple does and a button buck that came right under my tree at dark.

 My buddies Brad and Doyle didn’t see a thing though, so they’re still 0′fer. Better luck tomorrow. Here’s a photo of Brad heading out for his afternoon hunt armed with the BuckWing Bobb’n Head decoy.

Headed down to Maryland’s Eastern Shore Wednesday evening for a three-day bowhunt with  B&J Guide Service of Chestertown.  B&J owner John Kostick is a great guy, and he has a number of prime farm properties under lease. I had hunted with him for the first time last fall, and although I did see a couple big bucks, I never had one close enough to draw the bow.

 So, I have been looking forward to a return visit all summer, and I’m glad it’s finally here. The weather this morning was perfect - just  about 32 degrees and very little wind. Despite that, the action was slow. In fact, out of the five hunters in my group, only one saw deer - two does and a buck. However, the creek bottom where I was hunting was rife with deer sign. Lots of fresh tracks and rubs. We just didn’t catch them this morning, but I am hoping for better luck this afternoon.

 The highlight of the morning actually happened after our guide, Travis, picked us all up. We were riding in the back of his pickup across the farm when he pointed out a large buck that had bedded down with a doe along a little hedgerow. We looked over and saw this HUGE buck standing there. He and the doe ended up sprinting away pretty fast, so none of us got a great look at him. But you could tell from his body size and high, wide rack bouncing up and down across the field, that he was a shooter.

 So, the moral of the story is, they’re out there! Now, I just gotta see one like that under my tree.

I headed out to one of my prime stand locations last night with my new BuckWing Bobb’n Head Deer decoy. I was enthusiastic about the hunt, because I have been seeing a lot of deer in the field, and I was anxious to shoot some vide of them reacting to my decoy.

Well, as you might have guessed, it was a very slow afternoon, and I really didn’t have any action at all until it was almost too dark to see. In fact, I had just climbed down out of the stand when I turned around and saw three does out in the field. Then, as I was standing there looking at them, a whole herd of deer came up over a ridge behind me. I quickly climbed back into the stand, pulled my bow back up and nocked an arrow. But, it was really too dark to do anything more than watch.

 I just thought it was a great reminder of two things - never climb out of the stand a couple minutes early, beacause that could be the very moment the deer are going to show up, and two, even during the rut, there is an ebb and flow to deer activity. If I could figure out why, I’d be a genius.

Welcome to my new blog, which, obviously, will be all about whitetail deer hunting. I hope to share some of my personal insights into archery hunting, in particular, and on deer and deer management. But right now, I am still just trying to figure out how to run a blog and get the ball rolling.

I figured a good first post would be these photos of my 8-point buck, which I was fortunate to take Oct. 26 in Lehigh County, Pa. This is not the biggest buck you will find on the Web, but I think it’s a real pretty deer and I couldn’t pass it up. I actually missed a doe about 15 minutes before he showed up, and I never would have had the opportunity for this buck had I not screwed up. Those does walked up to a nearby field and he came tearing across after them. Next thing I knew, he was coming down the hill straight for my stand!

As you see, we also had a trail camera photo of this same deer over the summer, and you can see what a beautiful, symmetrical rack he has. He’s going to look great on the wall, and the family will be enjoying some welcome protein this winter.