Well, what can I say but... bummer. Rack greed kind of got the best of me. Kind of...
I know I have said before not to focus on the trophy rack but to have a good time and hunt. Oh I had a great hunt! ...but not a great harvest. I am defiantly all about letting the deer grow and see what kind of beast they can be. But when you walk in the house from hunting all day and your wife is looking at you like ....Well? I just had to hang my head in shame.
No deer, dear. The look I get from her is... well, sort of the same look I get when she says she has a "head ache" (I'm sure you married guys know what I mean). On a side tip for the married guys. Ask if she needs aspirin first. Then when she says "no, why" BINGO no head ache excuse. Now if I can just figure out the question that defeats the "i'm to tired excuse", I would have it made. If y'all got any tips, send them my way, PLEASE! After being married as long as I have you have to get creative.
Anyways.... I did have plenty of opportunities to shoot a deer but, they weren't old enough and the racks were just to small. I guess I like my deer like I like my women, older and...pointy . Ok thats not a good comparison its more like, I like them like my coffee, hot and sweet. 8) LOL!
There were plenty of doe to shoot but, I'm always afraid that as soon as I do. Some massive buck chasing her would get spooked and it would be my one and only chance. I know I had a 100+ opportunities to shoot a doe but I just couldn't bring myself to do it.
Stupid Rack fever! Some say buck fever but I never saw the buck in person so I am not classifying it as that. I think it makes me feel a better. A litt
At the first I planned to tag out on doe and then get my buck. But that was until I saw THE ONE! The one that made me stop and rethink my whole plan. May camera wasn't picking up whole lot for the first week of two but then he showed up. I was just sitting there at the table scrolling through picture after picture and then bam! There was a definite shooter on my screen. My heart was racing and my face was a calling for my woman. "Check this bad boy out" From right then and there the chase had begun. I started going out every weekend, taking days off work, cold, hot, didn't matter I was going to get that buck! If I was using any amount of gray matter, I would have guessed he was just passing though. When you don't see him show up on camera but one or two times, and all others you can count on like clock work, he's long gone. But just when I had given up, there he was again. Like he was teasing me and knew I wouldn't shoot anything else but him. DANG DEER!
Deer hunting is one of my favorite things to do... Well hunting anything on four legs is pretty much my favorite. I have deer hunted long enough that I can pretty much guess when the deer are going to be out by what the weather is doing. At least with partial accuracy. I can usually figure out where there headed at what time of day so I can be there to wave hello and goodby with a trusty arrow.
But this hunting season I ran into something I have not before. Normally I'm out before daylight and headed back after dark. I try to get out there before the deer roame through and leave after there gone. I don't want to disturb them to much or put unnecessary pressure on them to leave. But there was a two-three week span when everything changed. Whatever patterns the deer normally followed, changed abruptly. I had already put up a deer feeder and it was like the deer came in fast, ate all they could as fast as they could, and then took off. Looking over it's shoulder constantly, and thats normal for deer but not like this. They turned more aggressive in how they acted, never calm. Tails up and always ready to run.. And then, there were no deer at all. Nothing... Not on camera during the day and scarcely at night. it was weird.
But then I noticed something happening to me. I had a sense of fear creeping up on me that I don't normally have. I would get there and couldn't shake not wanting to get out of my vehicle. Now I've gone against that fear before and my hole life turned upside down, so I know better than to do so. When I feel it, I listen to it. Well, most of the time anyways. In those instances I really think its the good Lord trying to tell me something. Like warning me not to do what I am about to. Like this one time I ignored it, did what I wanted, landed me in a wheelchair for a year. I was stupid. But as you know, I'm a country boy and country boys like me are stubborn and don't learn our lessons very well. So there were days I went against it and headed out anyways, but when I did, I felt like I was being watched.. It's a Crazy feeling to have in the woods while its dark, and I mean dark! When the moon and stars are covered you have to rely on footing and listen if your on the trail or not. I was out hunting with my cousin once and it was so dark that we literally had to have a hand on a shoulder to know where each other was. Either his on mine or mine on his. That was a great hunt, And a different time. I can probably write about that in a different post.
Ok... back to the story. Knowing me, I was not giving up. The deer wouldn't show up at all but I would still be there anyway. That crazy thing was... at night when I left the blind, I had the same feeling. It got to me enough sometimes that I would pull my 9mm and have it ready to go if anything happened. There are times when I don't take it with me, but not with this feeling I was getting. I figured there were hogs the area being there so thick around there but I never smelled them. Which if hogs are near and the wind is right, you will. ...They stink!
On the days the feeling was overwhelming, I sat in my vehicle and waited until daylight. Of course in doing so, I was mad in thinking I missed my one opportunity. But looking at the pics on camera I never missed anything. There were several times I caught pics of an animal that I couldn't tell what it was, it would be just out of the shot and blurry. I didn't think much of it and deleted the pics. After several weeks the feeling left and all was back to normal. But I couldn't stop thinking about it. What was that?
After some time went by and several conversations with others, it all hit me. Mountain lion! Thats what that was! Thinking back at the camera pics, what I saw was the blur of a Mountain Lion. Talking to the local ranchers they see Mountain Lion tracks all the time. This one guy told me that a friend of his was out hunting and shot a deer. All of the sudden a massive Mountain Lion came out of the brush grabbed the deer and took off with it. It was not small deer and the Lion just RAN off with it. It was a big Lion!! That happened not two miles from where I was. It all made since, The feeing I was being watched, the deer scarce and acting so different, my overwhelming fear. I'm out there by myself with no cell service. If something does happen to me, it would be awhile before I get discovered. Big cats really have a presence about them and shouldn't be taken lightly. An animal that can sneak up on you with grand master ninja skills and intentions to kill or maim. Makes me very cautious and a little nervous.
One of these days I will go hunting for a big cat but I want to do it on my own terms, not solo. Preferably with dogs to track'em down.
So I ended the season with empty hands and clean broadheads. I guess the good part is I'm already ready for next season. But this time I'm sticking to the plan. If I see a big doe, she's freezer meat.
I will post more pictures of my hunting experence in other posts. I don't want this one to be to long and get boring.
