I just returned from what might very well be my last hunting trip of any kind for a while. My brother and I tried our hand at turkey hunting again this weekend, and it was miserable. My brother’s coworker let us come up to his place to hunt on some land near him that he said he sees turkey on everyday. It sounded like a good lead, however, once again, my brother did not have the time or opportunity to go and scout the area. The lack of scouting is something that is a huge problem for me, I do not like going into land that no one in the party is familiar with in any way beyond looking at a google map view of. As such, much like our last trip almost two years ago, we were not very lucky. Actually, this trip was much worse than that one. For starters, this time we were sharing a tent that my father-in-law lent us whereas last time we stayed in his father-in-law’s house. So the accommodations were much worse this time in every way possible; We shared a queen sized air mattress, had individual sleeping bags, thankfully his friend lent us a tent heater because it was extremely cold, to top everything off (and the main reason it will be a while for my next trip) is that my hunting boots literally fell apart. They separated from the sole, and the inside of that area was basically all dry rot. My feet were hurting so much by the end of this trip! I will need to do some research for the next pair, as I thought these were supposed to be a good brand, but they only lasted a few years, and realistically they were only worn maybe 20 days. Also I will need to set aside some money for the purchase. Needless to say, we did not see any sign of turkeys on this trip, though it certainly wasn’t from lack of trying. In the end though, all the negatives aside, it was still really fun to spend some time with my brother again. Who knows, maybe the third time will be the charm?
Tag Archives: hunting
Turkey Adventures
This weekend Chris and I went up to Lapeer to try our hand at Turkey Hunting. Neither of us have ever been turkey hunting before but he has been doing a lot of reading about it lately and wanted to give it a try. Honestly I wasn’t to thrilled about it, 
I’m not a big fan of turkey to begin with as I am more of a ham guy. However, I knew it was going to be an awesome time with my brother, so off we went. We spent a few hours the first night scouting out some areas without much luck, so the following morning we decided that we would scout again and try to see if we can track some down and get an idea of where they were going to roost. As it turns out, we aren’t all that good at tracking turkeys. Well, that’s not entirely true. We found a lot of tracks (as seen in the picture to the right) but were not able to follow them to any turkeys. We did see a few of them though, but they were back on private land that we did not have permission to hunt. So even though we did not fill any tags, I had a really good time with my brother. We are even considering going out for the fall and already thinking about next spring.
One Empty Shell
I had the good fortune to be able to get back out in the woods today for what will be my last day of hunting this season. For those of you keeping count this is my second day out during the two week firearm season. Not the best number, but seeing as the last few years I didn’t get out at all I am more than happy to be able to get out even once. So today was my first time ever hunting from a tree stand, and now that I reflect back on it I think I rather enjoyed it. Getting up into the stand was an interesting experience, mainly because I was not familiar with getting into one and I was doing it in the dark. Once I was up and settled it was rather comfortable in comparison to sitting on a bucket or a folding seat on the ground. However I felt that my visibility was slightly limited because I didn’t have the ability to fully turn and see behind me. The overall dynamic of hunting from a tree stand is different and I am not a huge fan of, what I call, mid-heights (15 to 20 feet above the ground). So when I felt like the ground was spinning I assumed for a second that it was some sort of vertigo, but then I realized that the tree was swaying due to the wind. 🙂 The morning passed by peacefully and quiet, though I did hear a few shots way off in the distance. Then about 8am I watched as 5 deer (one of which looked like it might have had spikes) jumped the road and came running toward me through the field I was sitting next to. They were running about 30 yards away parallel and to the left of the stand I was in. I knew this would be the only opportunity I had to take a shot this morning, so I lead the first deer in the pack and when I got to the opening of my shooting lane I fired…and missed. The deer never slowed and I watched them bound down the field and up around a small finger of trees. I knew before I took the shot that the likelihood of connecting was very low for a number of reasons: the distance, the speed of their run, and the fact that I only had slugs to name a few. However, I also knew this would be my only opportunity of the morning so I took the chance. It was great to see them even though I didn’t get to fill a tag. At that point I had thought that I would be able to go back out in the afternoon, but as it turned out I was not feeling well and missed that opportunity. So my hunting season has come to an end and all I have to show is one empty shell. Better luck next year.
A bad day in the woods…
For the first time in a couple of years to day I was able to go out hunting. It’s opening day here fro firearms and it was nice to be back out in the woods, even if they weren’t productive. The morning started out nice and early, heading out in to the darkness and finding a nice spot to sit and wait. I was on top of a small hill looking down into two recently cut corn fields hidden in a little copse. The predawn air was crisp but the sky was clear and I knew I wouldn’t have to worry about rain like we had yesterday. As I sat patiently and quietly waiting on dawns light, listening to the sounds around me, I soon realized that today was not going to be a good day for hunting. Right around dawn a think fog began to roll in, slowly at first and then all of a sudden. It was very thick and heavy and dropped visibility, even from my hill, to mere feet. A few times through out the morning I thought I heard a deer grunt, but I could not tell where it was coming from and had no hope of seeing. The fog finally lifted around 10:30am, but by that time I could see Adam and Ryan (the guys i was with) heading out of their respective blinds and stands and making their way back to Adam’s truck. Even though we heard a lot of gun shots in other fields around us, none of saw any deer today. Unfortunately they both had to work the afternoon so we only had the morning hunt to try and get something. It is passable that this will be the only time I get to go out this year, and even though I didn’t even see a deer it was still great to be back out in the woods. You know what they say “A bad day in the woods beats a good day in the office.”
Hunting trip re-cap – first buck
Well last week was opening week for firearm season of deer hunting, and as usual it found me out in the woods in the frigid air hoping to fill my tag. This year started off like all the rest, arranging for time off from work and traveling out to Allegan to stay at the usual Motel (“Deer Camp”), and then starting off bright and early on opening morning. This year, however, would be different; for this is the year I tagged my first deer! That’s right at about 10:30am on opening morning I tagged a button buck for my first deer ever. It’s not very large seeing as it is a young buck, but it is still nice. All in all it was a very good hunting trip as the five of us whom went brought back five deer, four bucks and one doe. Unfortunately Mike didn’t fill his tag this year but he played a huge part in his son tagging a nice 10 point buck, which is also his first deer with a firearm. Once I get pictures back I will be sure to put them up, just not sure when I will get those pictures though. Only 51 weeks until we do it again!
Ahh…November
Yep, so it is finally here…November. This has got to be my favorite month. The month when all the leaves start to change colors and fall, the air gets that true crispness to it, the smell of fireplaces and of general wood burning is in the air, and I purchase my hunting permit. Hahaha Yes! That’s right, hunting! Fourteen days from today is opening day of firearm season, the most looked forward to day of the year! In exactly two weeks I will be up and in the woods before dawn, waiting for that one or perhaps two unsuspecting deer to cross my path…and then…BANG!, food for the winter. Yes, sweet November indeed. I am hoping this will be the year that I finally tag one; it doesn’t need to be that monster buck or anything, just something to put food on the table. You see I really enjoy the taste of venison and this is one of the only times during the year that I have the opportunity to get it, so it is highly anticipated. So with any luck I will tag one this year and have a few months of yummy venison to eat. But if I should happen to not fill a tag that’s ok too, because spending that much time in the woods is a nice relaxing time and a great break from work. Yep, that’s why I like November. Oh yeah…and pumpkin pie too…Mmmm Pumpkin Pie…