ARCHERY 2007

Our 2007 Anson County Archery Season found me this morning up at about my usual 0500 hours time whether it is a work day, weekend or Holiday, whereas my internal clock is probably accurate enough to lease out to WWV, National Bureau of Standards, Fort Collins, CO. It would be nice to be able to stay in bed much longer but that is the way it goes.

After getting a little antsy the past week or two and shooting my ole antiquated 1993 PSE Mach6 cam bow for the past couple months only on  Saturday and Sunday morning due to the extreme hot weather we have experienced, I felt good about releasing an arrow at a deer.  The hand me-down 3D deer targets John Gaddy gave me of which I am most  appreciative now looks like a 38MM grenade or one of those Taliban IED exploded in their vitals!   I guess my Holographic sight is dialed in and ready for the real thing.

I went around in circles this morning hoping that my hunting gear and accessories I needed was either in my back pack or my cargo pants pockets and finally got on my hunting stand around 0600 hours.  It was very peaceful and serene with the night creatures busily chirping and singing.  About the break of dawn an angry crow no doubt hungry from the night before started squawking; caw, caw, caw, and the blue jays decided it was time for them to join in too by imitating the sound of a Red Tail Hawk, kay-eee-aaa.  When it was daylight enough to see the area in front of my tree stand/platform it was evident that the deer, squirrels and raccoons had devoured what I had put out on Thursday afternoon but too late to think about that now.

Nothing really eventfully happened except around 0700 hours a deer to my right about a 100 or more yards out sounded the alarm by snorting and headed for a safer area.  The wind direction changed and was blowing mildly in the direction the deer normally approach my feeding area so I didn’t stay on the stand this morning until around 0800 hours due to the wind direction.

Above pix of the view from my platform tree stand that is at least 26 feet high, however as I stated the terrain has a very fast climbing slope and the platform is probably no more than 20 feet if that high from the actual open feeding zone.  Notice the bright colored fletch and florescent orange/red dipped portion of the arrow shaft....the ole Holographic sight sight on the antique PSE Mach6 Maxis bow is no longer available and guess it fits my style......getting antique as well!  My good friend Ed Terry "dawgs" me about the low tech bow strap on the Mach6 bow which sold for around 800 bucks new in 1993 and I am using 1/2 length of a boot string...cost about .50 cents total.  Go ahead and grin now!

I decided to give it another try this afternoon and with the temperature around 91 degrees I did not get onto the hunting stand until around 6:00 P.M. and again, the wind was not the best coming out of the E, ENE and South at times.  Around 7:30 P.M., I heard deer approaching from my right and they were very cautious as they got within about 20 yards of the feeding area stopping and checking the wind direction and looking about.  The first deer was a very small six point with a little basket rack followed by a larger six point and about a minute or two later a large 4 point buck entered the immediate area.  I had seen a much larger six point buck and had good intentions of trying to harvest him first but I trophy hunted for less than two minutes which is about my norm.

When a good (partial) broadside shot presented itself on the larger 4 point buck, I slowly drew the bow back, anchored and let the deer’s vital area settle in the view finder of the holographic sight and released the silent deadly missile (arrow) with it’s 125 grain Thunderhead three blade broad head ahead of the Easton XX78 2315 full length arrow.  The arrow went a few inches higher than my point of aim and made an awesome sound when it entered the deer’s spine and diaphragm area.  The buck did make a 180 degree turn around but his transmission was severed from his motor and could not go any further. I dispatched him with a 3.125 inch “Hinkle” paring knife that I use to field dress and skin my deer which sounds like an under kill but don’t laugh, it works!  I did secure the deer’s head and neck area to the ground with a several inch diameter pole since he wasn’t having any part of me approaching him with blade in hand and those front hooves are sharp as razors and can do some serious damage if solid contact is made.

Since he was in my immediate feeding zone, I elected not to field dress him which is my normal protocol being less than 40 yards from my hanging tree that I nicknamed “Tom Dula” aka Tom Dooley.  However, the drag was gruesome since I could not locate my deer pulling strap and had to use a small 1/4 inch nylon rope which almost severed my head about the shoulder while dragging the deer across the steep branch bottom and up the incline working my way to the lower drive leading to the hanging tree.  Check the inserted pix and see how “pooped” I was!

Notice that his left antler was damaged while in the velvet and is turned down instead of up. I don’t care because I haven’t tried to make antler stew yet. Grin if you must! Capt. Thompson would call this a no-shooter since he trophy hunts but it will be some good eating and others would call this a management buck needing harvest since he doesn’t have any brow tines.

Inserted are other pix of the 4 pointer hanging from ole "Tom Dula" which you guessed it is a white oak tree and I have a boat winch embedded in the trunk of the tree for hoisting deer.
 

I have the ole boy quartered up in my game refrigerator “aging” a little and will slice and grind him up in a few days.

Written by Bill aka Mickey Porter, Wadesboro, NC 28170 09-08-07.

BONUS ANTLER LESS DEER TAGS

This 2007 Archery hunting season for the central region and other regions of North Carolina, you can harvest an extra two does and depending on the number of bonus tags issued by the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission you can apply for additional tags.  The buck to doe ratio is apparently getting way out of proportion and as long as the “trophy” hunters shoot mature bucks only it will no doubt worsen before it gets better.  I am a meat hunter first and for a short minute a trophy hunter.  Go ahead and grin on that one.

Opening day started off real fast and I left out the part about shooting a nice six point buck opening day and could not find him since I shot two bucks back to back that afternoon of opening day and did locate the four point buck of which I wrote a short story describing the hunt.  I just didn’t have the heart to tell the “whole story” since any game animal lost to poor shot placement or what ever the reason is not my norm and it challenges one to do it right the first time since with a bow and arrow one shot is about all you get.  I can count the number of doubles with bow and arrow on one hand!

Several mistakes hunting were made within the past month like moving and shifting around on the tree stand at the most inopportune time when deer were approaching unseen and not making a sound even with the leaves bone dry.  These type of hunting mistakes quickly educate deer especially does that have yearlings with them and maybe off spring from last year too.  The deer I spooked a couple weeks ago were observed from my basement shop coming to the feeding station and staying slightly out of bow range and looking up at the platform to see if everything looked ok.

I hunted the stand this morning and saw a couple does on the ridge about 100 yards out traveling through the cut over into the wind around 0900 hours.  Sometime around 0615 hours not long after I was on stand before daylight this morning, I heard several deer approach my stand from the right but they did not enter the feeding area.  Something must not have been just right or they had already “gleaned” my free corn much earlier.

I decided to give it another try this afternoon and got on stand around 6:00 P.M. and squirrels were harvesting water oak nuts from a few trees that were producing this year.  Their constant rustling of the leaves and branches made it difficult at times to concentrate on identifying other sounds overlapping the “noise” they were producing.  The wind direction was in my favor and was calm most of the time with a few small gusts moving my wind direction device which is a small string hanging from the roof of the hunting platform. It is nothing high tech but it works just the same.

Several species of birds were very active and male and female Cardinals were enjoying my corn along with the Brown Thrash, Blue Jay, Dove and a Cottontail rabbit.  I have seen a small covey of quail consisting of eight (8) birds mostly females but a few male Bobwhite quail in the bunch.  They do communicate among themselves when approaching, feeding and exiting the feeding area.  An occasional show of their “pecking order” will manifest as to who gets the favorite area in the feeding zone as do with most animals and birds.

Crows were harassing a Red Tail Hawk and it sounded like a dozen of them were ganging up on the hawk by all the commotion which lasted a good 15 minutes.

The peacefulness of Mother Nature and the freedom to enjoy God’s creation always comes to mind when observing all that is taking place around you while hunting and many countries only allow hunting to the elite or Aristocrats of society.  Hunting is more than harvesting game although many only enjoy the kill which is a shame because of all other wonderful things taking place.  Well, let’s get back to the hunt!

It was nearly dark when the tell tale sounds of deer approaching the feeding station and a nice 80 lb. (approx) last years doe entered about 15 yards out giving me a broadside shot.  The silent 562 grain arrow found its mark and the deer quickly did a 180 degree turn heading back to the safe direction that it came from but the arrow had already done its deadly job.  The doe crashed into the small trees and foliage while exiting (56 yards) and within a few seconds all was blissful and quiet again.  Pix below:

You will notice on the pix below my right hand the color of yellow which is from a Primos Bloodhunter blood tracking light which did an outstanding job of making the blood trail stand out from the surrounding leaves and ground cover.  Also, the camouflage pattern which is Fusion 3D matches for the shirt and pants but the color pattern shifted on the pants because of the Bloodhunter Light.  I will cover the operation of this new high tech “toy” a little later and will give a link to where you can get a closer look at it and also view a short DVD sales presentation of the light.  The deer was far enough away from my hunting platform tree stand that I decided to “field dress” her in the woods of which the viscera is usually devoured by foxes, coyotes, opossums and vultures within a day or two and sometimes the viscera is gone overnight which is good.  Mother Nature’s other animals and birds have to eat also!

After quickly field dressing the doe,  the drag back to the white oak hanging tree wasn’t too bad with over one fourth of the weight removed from the carcass and used a 2 inch wide safety belt to aid in dragging the deer.

Naturally a photo was taken to document the harvest and the deer was skinned, quartered and placed in my game refrigerator to age a few days until Porter’s Venison Chop Shop gets into high gear.  The deer was later registered on line to “seal the deal” and will enjoy some burger, roasts, steaks and loin straps at a later date.

I did have one neck hair raising moment when a fox started barking while quartering the deer up.  For those that have never heard a fox bark, it is between a doe snort and a dog with a serious head cold which has its own unique sound.

Getting back to the Primos Bloodhunter tracking light, pix of the new toy:




As with most technology I am usually several years to a decade behind and you can say that I am a “Doubting Thomas” for not jumping on new technology or believing all the advertisements about new products and with about 29 years employment with the N. C. Department of Correction I am sure that has some input to my psychology.  The Primos Bloodhunter does work and does what it is advertised to do.  It does make the blood “stand out” from the ground cover and enhance the visual ability to follow the trail.   It does not take the place for a poor shot or good woodsmanship.  I compared the blood trail of a regular flashlight against the Primos Bloodhunter and there is a very significant improvement.  This is one of those things that are a must in your back pack.  Finding one downed animal will more than pay for the Bloodhunter.  It does take a little getting use to since the light does create shadows from the foliage above the ground floor and you must remember to keep the light sweeping from left to right, etc. otherwise it doesn’t work!

I have trimmed down the number of items I carry in my back pack and will show you pix of the items I carried several years back.



Most of the things are still in my back pack except for the Randall # 3 hunting knife which I had it sold on EBay and replaced it with a 20 dollar knife.

The morning is getting gone and I need a second cup of Java to get me going.  Good safe hunting to all and give the Primos Bloodhunter light a try. 

Written by Bill aka Mickey Porter on 10-14-07 and web published on 07-02-13.