I chose the title to this blog because this is what I think I have started to do over the past 4 yrs. I have chosen to bring in more knowledge for the sport of hunting whitetails in the past 4 yrs. than I have chosen to my whole life. Why? you may ask, well I think it was just "meant to be" I marriend into a prestigous hunting family with some serious hunting history and with that I think the Hunting Gods just took hold of me.
I have always been a hunter and my father taught me how to respect the outdoors and have fun while I was chasing down whatever I was hunting for, but in the past 4 years I have taken it to a new level. I borrowed a Mathews bow from my father in law in the fall of 2006 and headed into the woods. I wanted to start spending my time bowhunting. My wife was pregnant at the time with our son who was born in the peak of the rut so I always had to get her permission to go out for the day. I was doing some work at a baseball bat factory and the owners were so kind as to let us live in a farm house they owned on there 200 acre property. This property bordered 4,000 acres of State Game land, so I had all the land I needed to get going.
When I got home from the 2006 baseball season, we went straight to the farm house and I went directly to walmart to buy a climbing tree stand. It was about the beginning of September when I made it home so I had a little less than a month to scout. OH MY GOSH, what a honey hole. The first evening in the stand I had about 10 different shooter bucks walk out into the clover field in front of me. I was so pumped to try and arrow one of these studs, I just could not wait until the opener.I like to think I have a big heart and always put others first no matter what my situation. I have shot 7 buck with a rifle up until this time and wanted to see someone special have the opportunity to harvest one of the bucks I was watching on opening day. My Father who has been so great to me was the one who was going to get a shot at one of these bucks first. Well to make a long story short, I put him right in front of two shooters that opening evening, but he missed them both. He was so thrilled to have the opportunity that it did not matter one bit that he missed. I was so happy to at least give him the chance. That year was a great year as I had witnessed on many occasions different bucks I could have shot but elected to pass.
My wife's father told me one thing that sticks... "You have to pay your dues." This means you have to spend countless hours and go through the hard nocks in the field. I totally respect that statement because thats what I am still going through. That year I missed 2 different mature bucks. I shot at one and missed high and then shot at another dandy buck and missed low. I was definately heart broken and got to experience what many of bow hunters do. It is part of the game, but it is how you respond to it that makes you a better hunter and a better person. I have harvested 1 nice 8 point and 2 does with my bow since then.
This year was very frustrating but I learned alot. I shot a beautiful 8 point on Nov. 11, the same day 3 other hunters in my family harvested nice bucks, but dissapointed, after laying down 3 different times I lost the blood trail and never retrieved the deer. I had hit the deer just a bit forward and may not had enough penetration to land the buck.I have spent more time in a tree stand in the past 3 yrs than I have spent in the woods my previous 24. I feel what I have learned has built a foundation for me to be a much better hunter. I also feel it will give me a much better foundation on how to teach my son about the outdoors. I want to pass all the information I have learned onto him and teach him everything I know. Just like building fences, the process can go on for a long time and I will continue to learn and build my foundation as a hunter for a long long time.
No comments:
Post a Comment