The Hog Blog

Yeah, there’s a lot to be experienced in North Carolina, and I got to get up close and fairly personal with all of it over my recent long weekend.

I was hoping to have the story of my weekend on video, but that’s gonna have to wait until later this week.  In the meantime, here’s a word-centric version for those of you who’ve been wondering how I did.

 Some of you will remember the catalyst for this whole trip, a trail-cam photo my brother sent me.  Allegedly, this buck was on his property, and allegedly, he has this big boy all figured out, from bedroom to dinner table and all points in between.  Allegedly…

Well, I jumped on it, made my airline reservations, and let my mom know she’d have an unexpected house guest for a few days.  I’d arrive on Thursday night, spend the day Friday visiting and relaxing (and doing a few hours of work), then plan on hitting the opening morning on Saturday.  Based on my brother’s stories, I figured we’d have a deer each on the hook by 10:00, and relax on the river the rest of the day. 

The best laid plans of mice and men g’ang aft agley!
Robert Burns

Brother Burns had it right.  So did Murphy.

Saturday morning dawned hot and muggy.  Sweat soaked my new, lightweight clothes, and ran down my spine.  I was thankful for my Thermacell, as I could hear the mosquitoes plotting their assault, only to be thwarted again and again by the vapors from this magical device.  The wind was absolutely still, and with the dense humidity, scent dropped to the ground and stayed there. 

All this detail serves a point…  Stink.  The hunters’ bane.  Deer don’t like us.

About an hour after first light, I was scanning the woods when I heard the dreaded “huff”, and turned my head in time to see the white flag flickering through the catclaws and pin oaks.  The deer had been within 15 yards and I’d neither heard her, nor seen her until she hit my scent and blew out.  How long she’d been there, I’ll never know.  The dense, late-summer foliage made it impossible to see anywhere except the shooting lanes my brother had cut.

I sat tight, waiting for quite a while, until I was sure the deer wasn’t going to circle back (as they sometimes do).  I hung my bow on the hook, and settled back into my seat.  Morning dragged on, and the effects of staying up late the previous night, and rising at 0400 were catching up.  Keep in mind that I still hadn’t had an opportunity to switch from Pacific time to the East Coast, so my internal clock was all out of whack and I was dog tired.  I caught myself nodding from time to time, and knew I wouldn’t last much longer.

I shot a little more video, and considered climbing down and heading back to the truck.  As I was doing a little monologue, I heard a snap in the bushes.  I froze, and put the camera away, slowly.  I couldn’t see anything, but as I scanned the brush I heard it again… the whoof of exhaled air, and the crash of brush.  This time, I saw the deer breaking away to my left, heading for an open spot.  I lifted the bow, hoping for a shot, but just as the deer hit the opening, he disappeared!  A ditch runs along the property line right there, and it is apparently a regular escape route. 

I held tight for another hour or two before climbing down.  It was too hot to be there anymore, my back was aching, and I was a little disappointed that all of the main trails were directly downwind of my stand. 

Back at mom’s place, I took a brief nap, had some lunch, and took some practice shots with the Mathews.  Before long, it was time to get back in the woods.  To summarize the evening hunt, nothing happened.  Just before dark, I heard some deer blowing, and thought my brother may have had a shot.  Turns out that there were a couple of smaller bucks sparring in the creek, too far for him to shoot and nowhere near my stand. 

North Carolina is one of the handful of states that still doesn’t allow Sunday hunting.  This worked out OK this trip, because it was an opportunity to spend some time with the whole family… nieces, nephews, brothers, sisters-in-law… you know, the whole shebang.  It was fun, and definitely a highlight of the trip.  Sunday came and went, and after over-indulging on good, homecooked food and a few drinks, I went to bed fairly early.

My schedule had me departing at 1125 on Monday, so the plan was for me to sleep in and then have a good breakfast before heading on over to the airport.  I’d expected to have at least one deer in the cooler by then, but as we’ve seen, that wasn’t to be.  So, instead of laying in bed, I was up and out at 04:00 again to get back in the treestand.  I blame my little brother, who insisted that even if I shot one at the last minute, he’d track it and process it for me. 

At 06:45, as the morning light was still filtering through the trees, I caught the movement of legs in the trail.  I raised the Leicas and, sure enough, a small buck was browsing on something right in the middle of my shooting lane.  With tiny, three-inch spikes, he was too small for even me to take, so I enjoyed watching him for a while.  Another deer was with him, and while I couldn’t see antlers, it was about the same size, body-wise, and I figure it’s probably a sibling.

After watching them for a few minutes, they suddenly stopped still and stared back into the thicket before bolting up the trail.  At first I thought my brother had just shot something, or was walking up the trail, but then I spotted a larger deer coming in.  A quick scan with the binos told me he was a decent little cowhorn, and certainly good enough for a first archery deer.  (A “cowhorn” is a spike with antlers over six inches or so.)  I slowly lifted the bow from the hanger, and got ready.

It all went so perfectly, as he eased right into my shooting lane.  As his head went behind a clister of branches, I raised and drew back.  He stepped into the open and lowered his head, stopping almost perfectly broadside.  Textbook! 

I centered the pin, took a deep breath, and I’m pretty sure I gently squeezed the release trigger until the arrow zipped into the air.  A split-second later, I heard the thump of the impact, and the deer spun and took off into the bushes.  I listened to him run, hoping for a crash, but didn’t hear it.  With the damp ground, I figured I might not hear anything, so I sat still for a half-hour, then climbed down to check the arrow and the sign.

And here’s where it all fell apart.

I estimated the range and the angle, and decided to hold a little high on the shoulder.  The thought was that the angle would carry the arrow down, through the shoulder, into the lungs.  But I over-estimated that angle, and the arrow apparently went right under the spine, but too high to hit any vitals.  The arrow was covered in blood, but I couldn’t find a single drop on the ground for yards. 

I packed my gear out to the road then went back in after another half-hour wait.  By now my brother was down, and the two of us scoured the woods for sign.  We circled outward.  Finally, about 100 yards from where I’d made the shot, I spotted a splotch of blood on a dead leaf.  We soon spotted another drop, then followed the likely trail until we hit more blood at the creek bank.  We could see where the deer had run down the creek bank and crossed.  He was heading toward a bedding area, and my hopes were getting pretty high.

Unfortunately the sun was getting higher too, and I realized it was way past time for me to go.  It was two hours before my departure time, and I still had to drive back to mom’s place, get my luggage packed, and have her drive me to the airport.  Regretfully, I left the tracking to my brother and took off. 

Waiting for my connection in Atlanta a few hours later, I gave him a call.  He told me he’d followed the trail without finding more blood, but as he entered the bedding area, a deer jumped and took off.  He’s assuming it was my deer, and based on its movement, it wasn’t hurt too badly.  He gave a brief pursuit, but found no indication that this deer was fatally hit.  He finally gave up the search, and headed off to work.

So there we go.  I’m blown away by this new bow, and the accuracy it offers.  But even with this technology, there is no sure thing. 

The streak continues… I have yet to take a big game animal with a bow.

 

Heading out this morning, into the sun

Heart, Dreamboat Annie

This is the song that’s been running through my head since I woke up this morning.  Besides the fact that it’s one of my favorite Heart songs, it’s also apropos, since I will be boarding an east-bound jetliner later this morning and heading back to NC for a few days.  The archery deer season opens this weekend, and my little brother has totally conned me into giving more money to the greedy airlines in order to come out and sit in a tree, in the sweltering, late-summer, southeastern heat. 

And I can’t wait! 

How’d he convince me to come out?  He sent me this danged picture of a fine whitetail from one of his trail cameras. You’ll need to click the pic to enlarge it, but when you do you’ll see that no self-respecting deer hunter could turn down the opportunity to get back home and try to stick an arrow in this sucker! 

Even worse, the time stamp is my birthday!  Is that a sign, or what?

So the new Mathews is packed up in a brand new SKB bow case, I’ve got a dozen arrows, half of them tipped with 100 grain Slick Trick broadheads, and the other half tipped with field points for practice…  and the skinning knife is tucked away as well. 

In addition to the hunting, of course, I’ll also be visiting with family.  Didn’t have much time back there on my last visit, so I’m looking forward to relaxing a bit at Mom’s house, and just taking it easy for a while.

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On another, mostly unrelated note, no, I haven’t forgotten the significance of today’s date.  It’s one I’ll never forget, the same as any other American.  But I’m not gonna try to stick together some kind of flashy or heartfelt memorial.  That’s been amply done around the blogosphere, including tributes from several of my Skinny Moose Network compatriots, including:

Her Outdoors

From the Stand

Moose Droppings Blog

Not to mention several outside of the network, like Arthur’s Simply Outdoors, are also commemorating the day.

 

 

 

Most of you, like me, are just about at saturation with the Summer Olympics.  Yeah, they’re still thrilling, but there’s only so much you can watch… especially if you’re watching on network TV and listening to the banal observations of the “experts” and announcers.  The only way I can bear it, sometimes, is just to remember the announcer in Christopher Guest’s mock-umentary,  ”Best in Show“.  It reminds me to see the humor above the annoyance, and I get by… but barely.

But what I’m not getting enough of in the televised coverage… actually, what I’m not getting ANY of on network TV… is the shooting sports.  Archery, pistol, rifle, and shotgun events have been part of the games for ages, but in recent years televised coverage has dropped to nil.  Some folks believe there’s an anti-gun/anti-shooting sports reason for this lack of television exposure.  I’m not sure I completely buy that.  The more logical argument put forth by the networks is that these aren’t really crowd-pleasers and they don’t generate enough attention to merit coverage… which amounts to the fact that if they don’t generate enough advertising they don’t rate air-time.  I guess that’s valid enough, since TV is all business.  But it still grates on me. 

Another reason you won’t see a lot of the shooting sports on US network TV is that the US has generally been fairly tepid in the Olympic shooting sports.  Our shooters put up a great effort with an occasional stellar performance, especially in the shotgun sports, but we’re often outgunned by other marksmen (and women)…particularly the northern european countries.  That makes it tough for some of the flag-waving crowd to get behind, but dammit, these shooters are all the BEST IN THE WORLD!  That’s how they got to be at the Olympics in the first place!  They ALL deserve recognition and coverage.  I believe that’s sort of the point of the Games.

Anyway, since you won’t hear a lot about this in the mainstream, I just thought I’d let ya’ll know that so far the U.S. shooters have taken three medals.  There are still some events left, including a couple where our team should make a good showing, but for now we have the following:

Women’s Skeet - Kim Rhode won the silver following a three-way tie and shoot-off for the gold. 

If I remember correctly, this is Kim’s third or fourth Olympic medal, going back to the 1996 games where she won gold as a 17 year-old competitor in Women’s Double-Trap!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Women’s Trap - newcomer Corey Codgell took the bronze medal. 

As the press-releases tell, Corey wasn’t even expected to make the team this year, much less medal in the events.  As a brand-new face at the Olympic Shooting Camp, she was just there to learn more and train fo the 2012 games in London. 

Following a pretty awesome performance in the qualifications, and in other key shoots, she suddenly found a spot on the team and with this bronze medal win, made her own mark in the annals of Olympic history.

 

 

Men’s Double Trap - Glenn Eller took the gold, and set a new world record in the process… 190 out of 200 targets! 

This is Eller’s third Olympics, and his first time on the Podium.  As of right now, he shows promise to be there again in London, four years from now. 

 

 

 

 

 

You can learn a lot more about the US Shooting Team by going to the USA Shooting website.  Read up on the program, and the participants, then find out what you can do to help this great organization continue to bring us even more world-champions. 

There’s a lot of great stuff going on in Archery too, and as that competition begins to gel, I’ll bring you a salute to some of America’s (and the World’s) best archers! 

In the meantime, I just want to recognize the intense drive, determination, and dedication these shooters and archers have demonstrated in order to get where they are.  This isn’t the kind of thing you just learn to do overnight. 

Just got this from the good folks at Bowtech.  Pretty serious stuff for any bowhunter, whether you’re hunting hogs or deer. 

Check it out:

Well, first of all… I didn’t get sprayed by a skunk. I’m a little gun shy of those things. In the last video, when he raises his tail I think there was a coyote down in the draw with him. He had no idea I was there.

For those who haven’t been keeping up, I was bowhunting blacktails during the California A-zone archery season. This was my first outing with the new Mathews Drenalin compound, after many years shooting a recurve. The hunt took place on the Hedgepeth Ranch, which is leased by the Golden Ram Sportsmen’s Club. It’s a great place, and I had success there with a hog and a deer last year.

Anyway, once again as in so many of my hunting videos, there won’t be any kill shots or spectacular close-ups with trophy game (except that skunk). But I hope you enjoy it anyway…

Well, only a few more days until my first blacktail deer hunt of the 2008 season, and my first bowhunt with the new Matthews.  This will be my first outing, ever, with a compound bow… something I’ve avoided for several years through my hard-headed insistence on doing it “the hard way” with traditional archery tackle. 

So how do I feel about it? 

Here are a couple of representatives of my current groups at 20 yards with the new bow.  I realize it’s not much compared to folks who’ve been shooting a bit longer, but I’m pretty happy with it.  That’s six arrows in there, four of which are in the yellow and two of them on the X.  I actually shot several groups that were even better than this, like the one below. 

The average groups at 40 yards aren’t quite as tight, but they’re still all going into the red and yellow when I don’t cant the bow (a bad habit from shooting the recurve) or jerk the shot. 

Point is, I’m feeling pretty good about the decision to adopt the compound bow.  Training wheels or whatever, it was the right and ethical thing to do. 

So this weekend, when I’m up there in Sonoma County hunting deer (or hogs), I feel very confident that I can put an arrow into the kill zone at reasonable ranges, and that the arrow will do what it’s intended with plenty of precision and energy. 

We’ll see, of course.  There’s no guarantee, and heck, if I can miss with a rifle I can sure miss with a bow.  But I now feel that I’ve done what I can to make sure my kill is as clean and humane as possible… a confidence I no longer have with the recurve. 

 

I know, I’m no Shakespeare and I’m definitely not a crown prince of Denmark… and it’s really not even an existential question… but still, it’s a tough one!  What to do, what to do? 

So as I just wrote on Friday, deer season opened on Saturday.  I didn’t go, as I had other obligations, but my sights are set on next weekend anyway.  I usually avoid opening day anyway, due to the crowds and yo-yos. 

OK, get to the point, Phillip… right? 

The place I’m going to hunt has a mess of pigs.  I did some hunts there last year, so you may remember the posts and video.  The thing is, from the looks of things the deer are in one area and the hogs are in another.  I’m sure there’s some overlap, but I have to decide which area to focus on… and that’s tough! 

To top it off even more I’m not even sure if my tags will be here in time for the hunt, so I may have to totally shift gears.  Fortunately, Michael over at Native Hunt has offered to let me come up there to break out of my “archery slump”… a tempting offer.  He’s got some great feral hog hunting down there, on top of the excellent lodging and hospitality.  Even if I get a tag, it’s tempting to blow off the Hedgepeth Ranch and go visit at Native Hunt. 

Ahh… decisions! 

Maybe I’ll just stay home instead. 

California deer hunters rejoice!  Deer season is upon us!

Well, it’s upon the hearty (or crazy) few of us anyway who can stand the 100-degree heat and stalk the wily blacktail deer quietly on the dry, crunchy ground. 

California’s A-zone archery deer season opens across the central part of the state tomorrow morning, one-half hour before sunrise, and I know a lot of hunters have been sitting on go, waiting for this one to kick off.  By this time tomorrow someone will be taking pictures of the first deer killed in the 2008 season. 

I’ll be out there next weekend, pending the arrival of my tag.  It’s an over-the-counter tag, but I made a slight error and failed to get my application in early… so I’ll be biting my nails all next week in hopes that it arrives on time.  I’m really looking forward to getting out there with this new bow, and seeing if I can turn my bowhunting slump around. 

To those of you heading out this weekend, be safe and have fun!  Remember to stay hydrated, watch out for sparks and fire, and shoot straight! 

I’ve unapologetically lifted this discussion from the Jesse’s Hunting and Outdoors forum, because it raises some interesting questions and I thought I’d see where you all stand.

So here it is, in a nutshell.  Many states, like California, do not allow hunters on the provision of an archery tag or hunting during an archery-only season to carry a firearm.  The logical rationale for this is that there’s a risk of hunters using the gun instead of the bow, and this makes it difficult for law enforcement to monitor legal take. 

So my questions to you all:

1. Does your state allow you to carry a handgun while bowhunting in archery-season
2. If you could carry a handgun while bowhunting, would you?  Why or why not?

In the two states I know best, California and North Carolina, it’s not legal to have any kind of firearm when you’re bowhunting during bow season.  Of course, during regular firearms season you can carry both. 

This doesn’t apply to activities such as hog hunting, since there is no archery-only season for them, but for deer and, in some cases, bear, it is is prohibited. 

Personally, I don’t have an issue with the prohibition.  I don’t see the need for a firearm while I’m bowhunting anyway.   I have carried the .44 while bowhunting during turkey season… but that’s because I turkey hunt in hog country, and if I had a chance to pop a wild hog the .44 gives me a lot more range and power than the old recurve.  (Now that I’m shooting the compound, that may change.) 

Anyway, where do you weigh in on this? 

… for my bow.

That’s right.  I went and did it. 

I’m sure some of you may have read the last gasp of my struggling resolve to stick to the traditional bow, but a few hours spent today at my local archery shop, Archery Only finished me off. 

Honestly, I was just there to look and ask some questions.  I’ve been a little intimidated by the technology surrounding modern bows, what with wheels, sights, releases, and all that.  Wayne, the shop owner, spent as much time as I needed to answer questions and point out some key considerations.  He set up a couple of bows and let me try them… and that was really the spoiling blow.

Within a few shots with all of the bows I tried out, I was shooting reasonably small groups (4-6 inches or better)… even nicking the fletchings.  And the speed…  I’m used to releasing the string and then watching the arrow arc gracefully through the air.  No more!  These arrows zipped to the target so fast I could barely follow them… flat and straight! 

I hemmed and I hawed, but it finally came down to the fact that, if I plan to bowhunt this year (or upcoming years), and I want to be ethical, then I need to have a bow I can shoot consistently and accurately.  Without daily practice, that’s just not going to happen with the recurve… and even with daily practice, consistency is a struggle.  A compound will give me a lot more control over the accuracy and consistency, and I can get away with a little less practice (no archer should hunt without regular practice…but it’s the difference between shooting daily or a couple of times per week). 

So I’m now the proud owner of a Matthews Drenalin, complete with new sights, arrow rest, and release… as well as a dozen slick, carbon arrows.  I’ll be shooting a lot over the next couple of weeks, in hopes of being ready to take the new bow deer and hog hunting on the 19th (our archery season opens on the 12th, but I’ve got other commitments).  I’m also looking into a weekend trip back to NC when bow season opens there in September. 

The recurve isn’t going into full retirement.  I’ll still shoot it whenever I can.  But until I can shoot regularly again, and rebuild my confidence, I’ll be sticking with the training wheels.