Building a 'Six Pack'

This past weekend Cameron, Andrew, their Uncle Peter & I went up to the hunting property to do some spring turkey hunting and build a new deer box blind. We didn't harvest any turkey. We did see some each morning. Saturday a hen came within 20 yards and would have been harvested if it were the fall season. But seeing as only males can be taken in the spring she was allowed to pass. Sunday Pete took a shot at a jake (a juvenile male) that we thought was about 50 yards out. But when we later marched it off the shot was more like 80 yards, too far for a kill shot. Hunting is just that, hunting. Sometimes you get fill your tags, and sometimes you get to keep your tags as souvenirs.

Here are some pics & vids of our weekend...

Mt. Dew kept us alert for the late Friday evening drive up to the property

I didn't get any pictures of the turkey hunting, did I did take this poor quality cell phone video of this hen as she crossed the field right towards us and came within 20 yards before moving into the trees

We got the boys out to get in some shotgun practice.

We use yellow-duct taped plywood for targets.

They twist and flutter a good deal making for a challenging target... 

Andrew with Pete providing instruction

 Cameron

Before we go off to the lumber yard Pete needed to take a quick break

The lumber bought, time to unload & schlep it uphill to the site of the build

The plywood provided the biggest challenge to move, so we let the boys do it

 Yeah, they were thrilled

Building this box on the side of a hill; think thrice, measure twice, cut once.
We name all of out boxes/stands.
This one measures 6 foot wide, a roomy 2-seater, so...
"Six-Pack", is the name for this box blind.

Boys got to use the power tools too, no idle hands allowed.

Screwing down the floor

Securing the walls

Cutting the door

Proof that I was really there

Done, packing up to go home.

Yeah; I forgot to take a picture of the finished product.

Later in the year I'll get that picture taken & posted, promise!

Back at home trying to relax, you'd think I could unwind.

Nope, no respect from the cat.

 Crush stuck his face in my water cup to care for his own thirst

Great time, always is up at the hunting property. Look forward to going back this summer or fall to get in some more turkey hunting, deer box & stand work and of course deer hunting!

Mounting Cameron's 1st Deer Antlers

This week we finally mounted Cameron's first deer antlers from the October Youth Hunt.

Until now his antlers have been in the BBQ bin outside resting in this box.

Notice that 'Nacho' is also looking forward to this project...

Having never done this before we followed the instructions word for word...

First step was make a pot of antler-soup, mmm.

It was so good we made this brew twice to be sure we boiled away all the bits of flesh & brain...

After boiling came the scraping, scrubbing, more scrapping and then washing; fun & stinky work it was...

Once they were clean & odor free the real fun began. Sawing the skull pieces to size.

This took forever because we didn't want to remove too much at once and screw it up.

After a good hour we had them in the best possible shape we could for mounting to the mold...

A little skull drilling was the next step.

Two holes in the bone of each antler to affix it to the kit mold.

Cameron snapped my 9/16" bit in half during this step; he needs more time with power tools...

Ah, starting to look like the deer that once was.

No, this may not look pretty, but we're not done yet; patience!

We needed to break for lunch at this point...

Ok, after lunch we realized that the remaining steps were paper mache, cutting leather, gluing, ugh...

Too much like a craft project, I HATE craft projects.

So I lost interest in photographing the remaining steps

We grumbled through the paper mache bit, let that dry over night...

Then finished up cutting the leather, forming it, gluing it and affixing the mold to the base.

There you see the final product; I'm not sure which of us was happier to see this chore finally complete.

His antlers now proudly hang on the wall in his bedroom.

Gun Season Nov. 20-21, 2010

Eight of us were in attendance at the Warner Farm & Campgrounds for the start of the 2010 gun season; Don, Shorty, Patrick (Shorty's son) Pete, Alicia, Andrew, Cameron & myself. We hunted all day Saturday and Sunday morning until 11 a.m.., Don, Shorty & Patrick stayed to keep hunting into the week after we packed up for home. I didn't do a good job of getting pictures this hunt, but here is what I did get.

All in all we harvested five deer through Sunday morning. Here they are, all snug and keeping each other warm for the ride to get registered...

and another angle of the same...

and this picture shows who took which deer...

Saturday the weather was in the mid-thirties, but dry and the sun teased us on & off. Cameron figured the best way to keep warm was to move so he left the 'lower-bowl' stand for the 'hillside-ledge' around 7:30 a.m., great exercise...

Here is "Bump", the antlerless buck which I took on Saturday morning around 9:00 a.m., I named him Bump because I thought he was a she. But when I flipped her over to start dressing, she was most definitely a he. All he had for antlers were tiny bumps covered by scalp hair. Bump was taken from the tower stand formerly as the semi-safe tower-stand which had been built by Thurmon. It has been renamed the 'Staiway to Heaven' since its stairs remind me of an insane USMC confidence course obstacle.

Bump and a buddy crossed the fence line to the west which runs north. Bump & buddy were preceded by another pair of doe (I think) only 4-5 minutes prior. They too came along this line heading northward. Cameron & I each took a shot at the first pair from a range of appx 175 yards and missed. They moved on to the north to live on for at least a few more moments and perhaps for years to come. When Bump & buddy came through they were moving through the cold air fast so 175 yards shots weren't considered. But luck was in the air too and it turned them turn at the small creek which cuts across the land east & west and sent them right at me. Still they were moving so fast I couldn't get either in the scope long enough to shoot before the hopped the fence and veered north-east towards the lower-bowl and the top-40 beyind that where Alicia awaited. Frustrated they weren't cooperating I remembered a tip Pete shared; whistle. So I did, loud! And they stopped in their tracks 60 yards north-east of me just to the west of the fence line before the lower-bowl. Three seconds later Bump was on the ground and he never got back up.

After I shot & dressed Bump I went on up to check on Alicia as she was on her own on the top-40 in the same box stand which she took her first deer in 2008. This is how I found her when I arrived...

She was sleeping in a big way. Two serious shakes of her boot were needed to get her to awaken and rejoin the hunt. She saw Bump's buddy come darting into the field behind her about a half hour earlier without the opportunity for a shot. She would shoot at a deer around noon to no avail.

Her brief nap aside Alicia hung in there and stayed in this box for over 10 hours. And she was rewarded for her perseverance with an antlerless buck that passed 40 yards to her north with about 30 minutes to go before the days end was to end. One shot and 20 yards of stumbling later he was down for good. Unfortunately I did not take a picture of her antlerless buck. The darkness was drawing on us quick and we needed to get him dressed. We also needed to determine how to tag him as he did have antlers. One of his spikes was very close to 3 inches. In the end we estimated is at 2.99999 inches and tagged it antlerless. Thus Pete & Family scored an Earn-a-Buck sticker!

All of the deer were taken on Saturday. Patrick took his in the morning and I believe Don & Shorty took theirs in the late afternoon. It was a good day, the best in my short three year experience in the sport.

Sunday the temperatures were warmer but the weather was not friendlier. The morning started perfect weather wise. But not perfect deer wise, as there were none. Shorty & Patrick chose not to go out, so Pete went to Shorty's box overlooking the north-eastern field, Don went to his usual stand deep into the forest, Andrew went up to the top-40 to sit in Alicia's box, Cameron went back to the lower-bowl before moving to the hillside-ledge before moving through the forest to the tree-stand in the south-western corner of the top-40 (Cam likes to move around), Alicia went to the Taj-Mahal, and I went to sit in Pete's box stand...

Waiting soon gave way to watching the fog roll in and the visibility decrease across the Warner's southern field. The visibility dropped from 400 to 200 yards in about 30 minutes...

We packed it in by 11:00 a.m., thanked Don & Shorty for their hospitality and were on our way home by noon. Which of course means Cameron found time to take a nap...

A good time had by all whether they took a deer or not. We look forward to the next opportunity to load up and harvest some meat for the table.

Antlerless Hunt Oct. 16-17, 2010

We arrived late Friday, after dark. Shorty (left in pic) harvested a doe earlier that afternoon. Don (right) & Shorty had been here since Thursday morning but this was the only deer they had taken. They had seen a few, including bucks which were off limits this weekend. So we hopeful for the weekend hunt.

Saturday morning we were in position by 6:45 a.m., but the morning hunt produced nothing. Cameron saw a small 4 pt. buck within 10 minutes getting settled into the box on the top 40. Andrew was in the tree stand just 20'ish yards away where Cam had shot his buck the week before. I went all the way around to the tree stand in the far south-west corner of the top 40.

After a couple of hours I moved a 100 yards to the east to an old stand that had been placed in a rock & brush pile in the middle of the south field. The view from this stand was much better, but no deer came to be seen. Around 10:30 a.m. I went for a walk around the top-40 perimeter to check the fence line and scout out other sites for raising stands.

On my way back towards the boys I apparently flushed a pair of doe which bounded through the tall grass in Cameron's view. However he never had a shot so he saved his ammo vs. shooting in their general direction as he had the week before. I never saw or heard these doe, I saw no deer that morning. Neither did Andrew.

Pete & Monica were in a tree stand in the lower-bowl and reported seeing three deer in the west tree line but they never presented themselves for a shot. Don & Shorty did not see anything that morning.

In the afternoon nobody saw anything except Pete & I. Earlier that day Pete & Monica had scouted that field and discovered a self-raising tree stand and an prime place to sit on the ground that faces the western field of our property. They chose that spot for their afternoon hunt while I chose to go up into the semi-safe tower-stand which had been built by Thurmon.

A lone doe fawn is all anyone we saw that afternoon and we harvested it. It came north about 100 yards in front of Pete. Monica was off on a nature walk and missed the opportunity. But the fawn never gave Pete a clear shot as the trees and brush it was feeding along side of provided sufficient cover. It steadily made its way towards me and I kept en eye on her. About 5 minutes later she popped her head & shoulder out far enough for a good broadside shot from just 40-50 years.

Unfortunately I aimed high and hit her inthe upper chest. This put her down, a good thing, but it did not kill her. I made a rookie mistake by not taking a 2nd shot for the kill from the stand. Instead I chose to take the 5 minutes necessary to get down from the tower and walk up to her. By then she had shook off the trauma enough to jump up and bolt back to the south.

Instantly upset at my mistake I took a few steps in pursuit but then stopped as I saw Pete with rifle at aim. Fifteen seconds later he fired. Seeing that he set his rifle down I called him and he directed me towards where he had last seen the fawn. Uncertain if he had hit her we were hopeful either he had or that my shot finally took the wind out of her. After a few minutes I came up on here down and dead behind a large bush. Pete finished her with a running shot, to the gut.

Monica walked down to me and helped me field dress the fawn and Pete showed up with the 4-wheeler about the time we were ready to move her out. Here she is, small indeed, and believe me everyone let me know how small she was...

Sunday morning we went back out, hunted until appx. 10 a.m. and saw nothing. Pete & I herded up the kids and headed home before noon, Don left for home as well. Shorty stayed and hunted the final afternoon of this antlerless season. He was rewarded with a large buck fawn which he harvested.

Youth Hunt Oct. 10, 2010

Sunday morning hunting started at 6:41 a.m.; we had made the 1/2 mile trek up the hillside and were in position just prior to that. It was quite foggy in the pre-dawn light with visibility at most 60-70 yards. At 6:45 a.m. I hear Cameron who is about 20 yards away fire his Savage 7mm; I was sitting next to Ryan. Instantly Ryan & I spin around, we see one doe bounding towards the fog cloaked tree line and stop. Ryan takes aim and fires a split second after the doe leaps into the white curtain, he missed.

Looking back at Cameron, he isn't certain if he hit the other doe or not. Yes, other doe; he thought these were both does. Long story this pair of deer was barely visible to Cameron, but he got one in his scope cross-hairs and took a shot. When I walked up to the deer to discover it was a buck, I was thrilled. The fact that it was just 5 point was a bit of a bummer, we generally would not shoot a buck less than 8 points. But during youth season this unwritten rule is less adhered to.

This deer was taken via a head shot. Not where Cameron intended to hit him, another fog related variable we can say. Thus why this guy's face is messed up so bad. The pressure from the bullet passing through one side of his skull and out the other shattered his skull, knocked his antlers free from their base, forced his eyes shot out of socket, blew out his ear drums and left Cameron no opportunity for mounting this one. As well it made for this grizzly post harvest photo.