SYH Blog

New/updated pages, news, information, & events; some not found on the website.

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Jan 2, 2009, Happy New Year!

I know I'm a little late with that! I deer hunted from before sun-up till after sun-down yesterday. I started to write about it here, but it got too long. I made a page out of it: "Stay Positive".

Jan 2, 2009, Stay Positive

Sometimes it's hard to stay positive when nothing seems to work.

Dec 31, 2008, Hunting Harvest

After a hunting harvest of your first deer; then what?

Dec 31, 2008, NOTHING!

The wind direction changed yesterday. I spent most of the day sitting in a canyon. At an intersection of numerous trails where I've seen deer before. NOTHING!

This is the first season, I've "completely" stuck with the bow. Hunting on the ground, still hunting or stalking, and the results are: NOTHING!

I'm writing this SYH stuff, like I know something, and I'm close to getting "skunked" this season.

Which kinda-sort-a-proves "authentic hunting" is not easy.

It's not over yet, but I'll admit that late season has always been tough for me.

I have usually collected a deer or two, and don't hunt as much, or as hard late in the season.

I have never harvested a deer in January. I need to change that! If I could only hunt all 15 days...

Dec 27, 2008, Turkey Feathers!

You just can't trust deer to keep appointments. After seeing so many deer on a super windy day Dec. 15 I went yesterday with enthusiasm. I hunted almost all day and only glimpsed one whitetail in heavy timber for half-a-second. They must have been hunkered down yesterday...

I still enjoyed the time. I slipped through the staging area and saw movement through the brush 30 yards ahead. I carefully moved for a better view and saw dust flying. A turkey was taking a dust bath!

Two hens and a gobbler were moving away from me. I circled way-around and got about half-drawn on him before he ran.

An hour later I had forgotten the turkey. I was using a ditch to stay out of sight, except when I peaked over the edge. At the end I took a careful look around before exiting the ditch.

To my surprise a hen turkey was 20 yards to my right. Her head went up, and I froze, all she could see was the top of my camouflaged head. She went back to feeding. I saw the other hen, and the gobbler. They were the same turkeys.

About to slide back down the bank, I managed to get traction, and move up in a better position on one knee. They were moving to my left and when they got in a little space between trees I planed to take him. As he moved behind a tree I started to draw. He stopped behind the tree, and one of the hens saw me!

I switched to her and released instantly, the arrow looked really good, but she just trotted off. My arrow had a small feather stuck in the broad head, but no blood anywhere. I think it went through feathers and missed the bird.

Note: I can legally take a hen or gobbler during archery deer season.

Dec 24, 2008, Field Dressing Deer

Field dressing deer, I like to hang them with the head up if possible.

Dec 21, 2008, What's Happening?

The overall visits to SYH are down slightly this month, but the "Clothing" page is up somewhat? Oh! Yea! It's almost Christmas!

I didn't even go hunting yesterday... We're all busy trying to figure out what to buy the wife, or how to pay for it; especially this year.

If we don't meet again here for a while, let me wish you my best,
and say Merry Christmas!

Dec 15, 2008, hunter stages

Hunter stages are normal for the development of an authentic hunter.

Dec 14, 2008, Good! Hard! Wind?

Yesterday we had 40-50 mph. winds. If someone asked me about hunting on such a day; I would have said: DONT! The deer will be jittery, bedded deep in thickets, canyons... not moving...

I wanted to get out so I half-heartedly went anyway. I planned to walk, stalk, still-hunt, but I thought it would be a scouting trip mostly.

WOW! Was I wrong! I saw more deer than I've seen in the entire season: Two young bucks, jumped one unknown, a group of at least ten mostly does, two does, another group of six; all does. Some were where I expected, sheltered from the wind, but some were evidently following a more normal routine.

Nothing to get a trophy hunter excited, but fun for me. Walking carefully I had deer around me a big part of the day. I got about half drawn on a young buck. I was almost in the open with him looking right at me. (I will take a lesser buck, or a doe at this point in the season.) The deer seemed confused, like they didn't know what to do when they saw me.

I sat in the "staging area" at sunset. Two does with their four offspring milled around me at twenty to thirty yards for at least ten minutes. They were coming straight for me, but I had huddled up to a little cedar tree and they knew something looked wrong. One doe circled downwind finally at about thirty yards; she still couldn't smell me for a while.

What do I 'know' about deer hunting? Go when you can! Use what you think you know, but expect the unexpected, sometimes.