Bittersweet Bruiser Buck
11-19-2006, 07:52 AM
#1
Fork Horn
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Ontario Canada
Posts: 108
Bittersweet Bruiser Buck
Thank You Lord for the food! If you don't have time to read this, I understand....there is a picture in here somewhere. If you can't find the picture, click on the link at the end of the story. GOD BLESS!
"Bittersweet Bruiser Buck"
This was what seemed to be a mild and comfortable opening day. The temperature didn't
[/align]promise heavy deer movement but the moon phase did. I was confident we would see deer and us
[/align]being the only ones in this popular spot started to give me the feel good all over feeling.
[/align]I got my hunting getup together and grabbed my trigger locked Win Model 70 3006 bolt action
[/align]from the hard case and quietly closed the doors on the ol 93 Chev Blazer I got for $600.00.
[/align]Stealthily, I made my way up the old logging road past the what was formerly a winter
[/align]feeding ground many years ago. The Ministry was said to have placed hay there one winter
[/align]when the local deer were having a difficulty surviving. The air was still and the woods
[/align]quiet.
My Father in law Mike and his Brother were making there way in just south about a
[/align]kilometer on the other side of a kilometer long swamp that runs east to West where I shot a
[/align]450LBS Black Bear back in 2000. Called it in with a fawn call. The swamp that dries up in
[/align]late August and early September is about 150 yards wide at it's widest point and the Western
[/align]end is a tangle of White Cedar and bull rushes but with some well defined game trails
[/align]traveling throught it. I past some old apple trees on my left. The apples had long since
[/align]fell and had been consumed by a myriad of wildlife including bear, deer, chipmumk, red
[/align]squirrel among many others.
One good thing was that there was someone pasturing cattle in
[/align]here and it made for some well defined and easy to stalk upon game trails. There were some
[/align]nice cow patties to step in and hide your footprint aroma from the local wildlife. This
[/align]works great for hiding your sent as well as rolling around in some local white or red cedar
[/align]or white pine trees. The downside is it makes me have to change into civilian clothes at
[/align]least 100 meters from the front door of my house. I continued past the old field surrounded
[/align]in white and scotch pine, low spreading junipers, and on the North end by a small strip of
[/align]iron wood, red oak, beech, hicory and maple. This was the field where the old gang of deer
[/align]hunters used to camp and park there vehicles.
I proceeded down the old road where I've
[/align]treked with my young boys many times. This is where they've spied their first Bear tracks
[/align]and where, with a well guided hand, Justin took his first shots from the Marlin 22 Papoose.
My new boots were squeaking and while this doesn't seem like a big thing, it bothered me
[/align]that I could hear it and if I could hear it so could the deer. They were new and I had taken
[/align]out the insoles for a bit more room and I'm sure this is why they were now squeaking. I
[/align]later reinserted the insoles and this did fix the problem with this fairly comfortable and
[/align]extremely light pair of Herman Survivors. I moved on trying different walking techniques to
[/align]hide the squeaking sound. Not before long was I where I thought I wanted to be. A small
[/align]space between to rocks that stood about 4 feet high. I chose this spot not by chance but by
[/align]the larger than squirrel noises I heard in the hardwoods near by. I got as comfortable as I
[/align]could without making a lot of noise and waited for 1/2 hour before sunrise.
That magic moment of 1/2 hour before sunrise came and I cemmenced to unlock my gun and load up for the
[/align]days hunt. This was a painstaking task being that it was so still and every little sound
[/align]echoed in the silence. The larger than squirrel sounds that rustled close by were now
[/align]rustling away but luckily without snorting of any kind. I thought that if one was a doe in
[/align]heat that a buck may soon follow and I waited. The woods began to awake with the sounds
[/align]scampering mice, chipmunks and red sqirrels. This was possibly the most chipmunks and
[/align]squirrels I've seen in my life. Everytime I turned to look at a leaf rustling sound it was
[/align]another forest rodent, which I normally enjoy watching but it was to the point of driving me
[/align]crazy. Sections of the forest I was now traveling through erupted in the sound of chipmunks
[/align]chirping and red squirrels spittering at each other and sounding the alarm of this glowing
[/align]orange alien walking through their world. I just wanted to shout at them all to tell them to
[/align]shut up but I knew that this wouldn't help my situation. I did feel that all this activity
[/align]would mean that the deer would eventually be feeding also. I firmly feel that the sound of
[/align]feeding wildlife brings in other larger game to see what the big deal is all about.
I slowly made my way down to my Mike and Jim who were patiently and religiously staying in their
[/align]respective tree stands that they had contientiously roped to the trees as not to injure
[/align]them. I used the existing deer trails and moved slowly while spying high and especially low
[/align]under the thick and horrid prickly ash. What a haven for big game this stuff is but what a
[/align]night mare for hunters. I was glad that I was clad mostly in wool as this helped
[/align]tremendously to move through this tangle with the least amount of noise. I finally turned on
[/align]my radio to listen for Mike and Jim and if they were going out to the trucks for coffee like
[/align]they always do about 12:30pm. I know that it's better to stay on post but what's hunting
[/align]without the tradition and I looked forward to the great lunch that Mike's Wife Helen
[/align]faithfully and lovingly put together for us the night before. I equally looked forward to
[/align]reporting all the fresh sign I had seen to Mike and Jim and to hear what they had to report.
[/align]What they had to tell me wasn't too promising. Nothing was moving. We ate and talked for
[/align]about an hour and a half and they were talking about leaving for the day. I tried to talk
[/align]them into staying but they weren't buying it. They soon left for home and Itreked back up to
[/align]where I parked.
I refreshed my water and grabbed a cup of Tim Hortons coffee I had in my
[/align]thermos in the truck. I also had a bear tag and had a coleman one burner stove with a metal
[/align]cup and some bacon. I worked my way down to the swamp I mentioned earlier and setup a bacon
[/align]fry to see if I could coax in some stray black bear. I also took out the fawn call and tried
[/align]to call him in. The last time I tried this I got caught eating the bait and my gun was about
[/align]3 feet away laying on the ground. I was litteraly standing there about to take a bite out of
[/align]a bacon sandwich when I heard a stick crack and an easy shot away stood a fuzzy cinnimon
[/align]phased black bear staring at me. I made an ill attempt to grab my gun while clamping down on
[/align]the sandwich with my teeth and I no sooner made a move and the old bear took off for better
[/align]bacon somewhere else. I felt great as a bear trainer and lousy as a hunter. That bear won't
[/align]likely fall for that trick again anytime soon. Well I called for about 1 hour and nothing.
[/align]So you guessed it, I ate the bacon and moved on.
I made my way up to an old tree stand above
[/align]the apple trees I mentioned earlier. I went up to check it out and the chipboard had
[/align]degenerated to a point of no return and it would have been an unsafe balancing act to stay
[/align]up there so I decided to get out of there and move on to stalking and calling. I had a good
[/align]grunt call that had a doe bleat, fawn call and good deep buck grunt and I had some new buck
[/align]lure by Harmon. It had one of those "As seen on TV" stickers on the label so I figured I
[/align]couldn't go wrong. I ended up in the old half acre field that the old Deer hunting gang used
[/align]to camp and park their trucks in not far from the apple trees.
It was prime time at this
[/align]point and I began to slowing meander up to the north end of the field toward the small strip
[/align]of hardwoods. On the North side if this strip of hardwoods was another 25 acre piece of
[/align]prickly Ash with scattered patches of soft tall green grass. Most of this green grass was
[/align]matted down from deer feeding and bedding in it. There were also numerous fresh rubs in this
[/align]area that I noted on the following day's hunt with Mike and Jim. In the hardwoods I could
[/align]hear the sound of chipmunks and squirrels makeing lots of noises. At one point I thought I
[/align]heard what sounded like something a bit larger that a woods rodent. A distinct thud on the
[/align]ground. I froze behind a white pine and took out my grunt call and gave a couple of doe
[/align]bleats. I have found that I get just as much reaction with doe bleats during this time of
[/align]year as I do with buck grunts and for the obvious reason that bucks are preoccupied with
[/align]finding does at this time. I waited, listened and watched. I looked to my right which was
[/align]East and saw a red squirrel chittering and running toward the hardwood. The hardwood was
[/align]alive with the rodents and instead of heading up to the hardwood and leaving my cover behind
[/align]the whitepine, I turned and slowing started heading south, continuing with a couple of more
[/align]doe bleats. I took approximately 10 very slow steps and heard 3 or 4 steps to my right, this
[/align]time to the West, since I had madethe complete 360 degreeturn and was heading south. I turned to the
[/align]west to look at the edge of the small field which was only 25 yards away and there appearing
[/align]out of what seemed be nowhere was the neck, head and antlers of a very large whitetail
[/align]buck. It had put it's head down twice and when it picked it up the second time my 180 grain
[/align]round nose had it home. The bruiser Whitetail went down immediately but got right back up and
[/align]ran 25 yards and dropped again. It went to get up and I hit it with a quartering away shot
[/align]that put it down for good. I thanked God for this fine gift from nature and then took care
[/align]of the business of dressing this fine specimen. I was fortunate to have him fall just 20
[/align]feet from the logging road at the South end of the little field. I went for the Blazer and
[/align]backed it up and into the rut of the logging road.
I had used this trick more than a few
[/align]times to load big game. Getting the back wheels in the rut lowers the tailgate enough for
[/align]very easy loading. I loaded a 450lbs Black Bear this way by backing up to a small mound not
[/align]far from this very place and was able to roll it onto the tailgate and into the truck. Once
[/align]in the truck I was on my way to a pay phone to tell my Wife I would be a little late since I
[/align]was going to the butcher to have the Buck officially weighed on certified scale for the
[/align]local Belleville Fish and Game Club's Big Buck Contest. It was another very successful hunt
[/align]and this time I was heading home with the biggest buck of my life, weight wise. This hunt was bitter
[/align]sweet because of the fact that it may be the last hunt with my Father-in-Law Mike who was
[/align]diagnosed with liver cancer and given a year to live. Needless to say I was dogging for the
[/align]rest of the hunt for Mike and Jim and gladly so. I'm not much for sitting in one spot for
[/align]too long. I tend to nod off and that's not good when party hunting. Party hunting members
[/align]tend to get a bit miffed if your sleeping when the deer walk by you within view although it
[/align]does make for great ribbing back at the truck or camp.
[/align]
[/align]http://www3.sympatico.ca/chazpat/Chas1
[/align]
[/align]=
"Bittersweet Bruiser Buck"
This was what seemed to be a mild and comfortable opening day. The temperature didn't
[/align]promise heavy deer movement but the moon phase did. I was confident we would see deer and us
[/align]being the only ones in this popular spot started to give me the feel good all over feeling.
[/align]I got my hunting getup together and grabbed my trigger locked Win Model 70 3006 bolt action
[/align]from the hard case and quietly closed the doors on the ol 93 Chev Blazer I got for $600.00.
[/align]Stealthily, I made my way up the old logging road past the what was formerly a winter
[/align]feeding ground many years ago. The Ministry was said to have placed hay there one winter
[/align]when the local deer were having a difficulty surviving. The air was still and the woods
[/align]quiet.
My Father in law Mike and his Brother were making there way in just south about a
[/align]kilometer on the other side of a kilometer long swamp that runs east to West where I shot a
[/align]450LBS Black Bear back in 2000. Called it in with a fawn call. The swamp that dries up in
[/align]late August and early September is about 150 yards wide at it's widest point and the Western
[/align]end is a tangle of White Cedar and bull rushes but with some well defined game trails
[/align]traveling throught it. I past some old apple trees on my left. The apples had long since
[/align]fell and had been consumed by a myriad of wildlife including bear, deer, chipmumk, red
[/align]squirrel among many others.
One good thing was that there was someone pasturing cattle in
[/align]here and it made for some well defined and easy to stalk upon game trails. There were some
[/align]nice cow patties to step in and hide your footprint aroma from the local wildlife. This
[/align]works great for hiding your sent as well as rolling around in some local white or red cedar
[/align]or white pine trees. The downside is it makes me have to change into civilian clothes at
[/align]least 100 meters from the front door of my house. I continued past the old field surrounded
[/align]in white and scotch pine, low spreading junipers, and on the North end by a small strip of
[/align]iron wood, red oak, beech, hicory and maple. This was the field where the old gang of deer
[/align]hunters used to camp and park there vehicles.
I proceeded down the old road where I've
[/align]treked with my young boys many times. This is where they've spied their first Bear tracks
[/align]and where, with a well guided hand, Justin took his first shots from the Marlin 22 Papoose.
My new boots were squeaking and while this doesn't seem like a big thing, it bothered me
[/align]that I could hear it and if I could hear it so could the deer. They were new and I had taken
[/align]out the insoles for a bit more room and I'm sure this is why they were now squeaking. I
[/align]later reinserted the insoles and this did fix the problem with this fairly comfortable and
[/align]extremely light pair of Herman Survivors. I moved on trying different walking techniques to
[/align]hide the squeaking sound. Not before long was I where I thought I wanted to be. A small
[/align]space between to rocks that stood about 4 feet high. I chose this spot not by chance but by
[/align]the larger than squirrel noises I heard in the hardwoods near by. I got as comfortable as I
[/align]could without making a lot of noise and waited for 1/2 hour before sunrise.
That magic moment of 1/2 hour before sunrise came and I cemmenced to unlock my gun and load up for the
[/align]days hunt. This was a painstaking task being that it was so still and every little sound
[/align]echoed in the silence. The larger than squirrel sounds that rustled close by were now
[/align]rustling away but luckily without snorting of any kind. I thought that if one was a doe in
[/align]heat that a buck may soon follow and I waited. The woods began to awake with the sounds
[/align]scampering mice, chipmunks and red sqirrels. This was possibly the most chipmunks and
[/align]squirrels I've seen in my life. Everytime I turned to look at a leaf rustling sound it was
[/align]another forest rodent, which I normally enjoy watching but it was to the point of driving me
[/align]crazy. Sections of the forest I was now traveling through erupted in the sound of chipmunks
[/align]chirping and red squirrels spittering at each other and sounding the alarm of this glowing
[/align]orange alien walking through their world. I just wanted to shout at them all to tell them to
[/align]shut up but I knew that this wouldn't help my situation. I did feel that all this activity
[/align]would mean that the deer would eventually be feeding also. I firmly feel that the sound of
[/align]feeding wildlife brings in other larger game to see what the big deal is all about.
I slowly made my way down to my Mike and Jim who were patiently and religiously staying in their
[/align]respective tree stands that they had contientiously roped to the trees as not to injure
[/align]them. I used the existing deer trails and moved slowly while spying high and especially low
[/align]under the thick and horrid prickly ash. What a haven for big game this stuff is but what a
[/align]night mare for hunters. I was glad that I was clad mostly in wool as this helped
[/align]tremendously to move through this tangle with the least amount of noise. I finally turned on
[/align]my radio to listen for Mike and Jim and if they were going out to the trucks for coffee like
[/align]they always do about 12:30pm. I know that it's better to stay on post but what's hunting
[/align]without the tradition and I looked forward to the great lunch that Mike's Wife Helen
[/align]faithfully and lovingly put together for us the night before. I equally looked forward to
[/align]reporting all the fresh sign I had seen to Mike and Jim and to hear what they had to report.
[/align]What they had to tell me wasn't too promising. Nothing was moving. We ate and talked for
[/align]about an hour and a half and they were talking about leaving for the day. I tried to talk
[/align]them into staying but they weren't buying it. They soon left for home and Itreked back up to
[/align]where I parked.
I refreshed my water and grabbed a cup of Tim Hortons coffee I had in my
[/align]thermos in the truck. I also had a bear tag and had a coleman one burner stove with a metal
[/align]cup and some bacon. I worked my way down to the swamp I mentioned earlier and setup a bacon
[/align]fry to see if I could coax in some stray black bear. I also took out the fawn call and tried
[/align]to call him in. The last time I tried this I got caught eating the bait and my gun was about
[/align]3 feet away laying on the ground. I was litteraly standing there about to take a bite out of
[/align]a bacon sandwich when I heard a stick crack and an easy shot away stood a fuzzy cinnimon
[/align]phased black bear staring at me. I made an ill attempt to grab my gun while clamping down on
[/align]the sandwich with my teeth and I no sooner made a move and the old bear took off for better
[/align]bacon somewhere else. I felt great as a bear trainer and lousy as a hunter. That bear won't
[/align]likely fall for that trick again anytime soon. Well I called for about 1 hour and nothing.
[/align]So you guessed it, I ate the bacon and moved on.
I made my way up to an old tree stand above
[/align]the apple trees I mentioned earlier. I went up to check it out and the chipboard had
[/align]degenerated to a point of no return and it would have been an unsafe balancing act to stay
[/align]up there so I decided to get out of there and move on to stalking and calling. I had a good
[/align]grunt call that had a doe bleat, fawn call and good deep buck grunt and I had some new buck
[/align]lure by Harmon. It had one of those "As seen on TV" stickers on the label so I figured I
[/align]couldn't go wrong. I ended up in the old half acre field that the old Deer hunting gang used
[/align]to camp and park their trucks in not far from the apple trees.
It was prime time at this
[/align]point and I began to slowing meander up to the north end of the field toward the small strip
[/align]of hardwoods. On the North side if this strip of hardwoods was another 25 acre piece of
[/align]prickly Ash with scattered patches of soft tall green grass. Most of this green grass was
[/align]matted down from deer feeding and bedding in it. There were also numerous fresh rubs in this
[/align]area that I noted on the following day's hunt with Mike and Jim. In the hardwoods I could
[/align]hear the sound of chipmunks and squirrels makeing lots of noises. At one point I thought I
[/align]heard what sounded like something a bit larger that a woods rodent. A distinct thud on the
[/align]ground. I froze behind a white pine and took out my grunt call and gave a couple of doe
[/align]bleats. I have found that I get just as much reaction with doe bleats during this time of
[/align]year as I do with buck grunts and for the obvious reason that bucks are preoccupied with
[/align]finding does at this time. I waited, listened and watched. I looked to my right which was
[/align]East and saw a red squirrel chittering and running toward the hardwood. The hardwood was
[/align]alive with the rodents and instead of heading up to the hardwood and leaving my cover behind
[/align]the whitepine, I turned and slowing started heading south, continuing with a couple of more
[/align]doe bleats. I took approximately 10 very slow steps and heard 3 or 4 steps to my right, this
[/align]time to the West, since I had madethe complete 360 degreeturn and was heading south. I turned to the
[/align]west to look at the edge of the small field which was only 25 yards away and there appearing
[/align]out of what seemed be nowhere was the neck, head and antlers of a very large whitetail
[/align]buck. It had put it's head down twice and when it picked it up the second time my 180 grain
[/align]round nose had it home. The bruiser Whitetail went down immediately but got right back up and
[/align]ran 25 yards and dropped again. It went to get up and I hit it with a quartering away shot
[/align]that put it down for good. I thanked God for this fine gift from nature and then took care
[/align]of the business of dressing this fine specimen. I was fortunate to have him fall just 20
[/align]feet from the logging road at the South end of the little field. I went for the Blazer and
[/align]backed it up and into the rut of the logging road.
I had used this trick more than a few
[/align]times to load big game. Getting the back wheels in the rut lowers the tailgate enough for
[/align]very easy loading. I loaded a 450lbs Black Bear this way by backing up to a small mound not
[/align]far from this very place and was able to roll it onto the tailgate and into the truck. Once
[/align]in the truck I was on my way to a pay phone to tell my Wife I would be a little late since I
[/align]was going to the butcher to have the Buck officially weighed on certified scale for the
[/align]local Belleville Fish and Game Club's Big Buck Contest. It was another very successful hunt
[/align]and this time I was heading home with the biggest buck of my life, weight wise. This hunt was bitter
[/align]sweet because of the fact that it may be the last hunt with my Father-in-Law Mike who was
[/align]diagnosed with liver cancer and given a year to live. Needless to say I was dogging for the
[/align]rest of the hunt for Mike and Jim and gladly so. I'm not much for sitting in one spot for
[/align]too long. I tend to nod off and that's not good when party hunting. Party hunting members
[/align]tend to get a bit miffed if your sleeping when the deer walk by you within view although it
[/align]does make for great ribbing back at the truck or camp.
[/align]
[/align]http://www3.sympatico.ca/chazpat/Chas1
[/align]
[/align]=
Way to go!! and many more.
