I got back today, and we had a really great hunt. Only got the one doe, with a 25 yd shot, but late yesterday afternoon after 14 hours in the stand,(I read an entire James Patterson novel) a massive buck came up the trail, and was sniffing the acorn rage that I had put out to stop any deer coming thru my shooting lane. The wind was calm, but shifting back and forth on occasion. He wasn't a booner, but would certainly make Pope and Young. Really massive in the bases. I was shaking like a leaf, and all he had to to was take two steps to clear a limb that I couldn't reach with my saw. 40 degrees, and the sweat was rolling off of me, and he just stood there looking at the little pile......and he just stood there, and stood there...
Finally turned and walked out of my sight. By that time I needed a paper sack to breathe into for hyperventilation.
I went and talked to my buddy that went with me, and he told me that each morning he had been seeing a sow with 6 little ones in a clearing. He had been seeing lots of does and small bucks where he was at.
After a day and a half on the stand, I was so sore that sitting another half a day in that stand was not going to happen. As the hunt was over at noon today, I managed to crawl up there and spent three hours in a heavy drizzle, without seeing anything. My buddy called me on his cell and said the pig was back. I asked him why he didn't go after it, and he wasn't interested, so I got down and hobbled the 1/4 mile to his area, and spotted the pig. All black, and would weigh about 70 lbs or so. They were feeding on persimmons, and had a nice grassy area that would allow me to slip around them. and get close.
The stalk took about 20 minutes in the drizzle, and I found a gap in the brush. 15 yds away she was broadside to me feeding, but I needed to take one more step to get above the brush, and a bramble caught my foot, and caused a stumble. She looked up, and they were gone in a flash.
So, No antlers, and no bacon, but we ate like kings, and got in a great hunt in an area that neither of had been. The quality pass for taking a doe will allow me to go back next year to hunt the same area, and at the same time.
They have two biologist on staff there, and with their recommendations, they set up some rules for the hunters. Each year its different to get a quality pass to come back without going thru the drawing.
This year they said that IF you stick a doe you get a quality pass, or IF you stick a buck on your first deer that is greater than 112" they will give the hunter an either sex tag for the second deer. If the second is a doe, the hunter gets a quality pass. IF the hunter takes a pig, they will get a quality pass.
The guy that runs the hunt said that taking a pig to get a pass was good last year too, and a guy brought in a tiny piglet that he had ran down and picked up. Tied its legs together and brought it in. He got a quality pass
I donated my doe to the Hunters Feeding the Hungry Program, they had going. She was so old that the two biologist and a couple of game rangers couldn't figure out how old she was.
A bonus for the trip was that I got to stand next to a MOAB. The Mother of All Bombs
They have one set up in front of the Head Quarters building. They won't allow any pics of it, but its HUGE Pity the poor fool that gets one of these dropped on them.
Here is the epitome of a dumb A$$.
There are strict rules that must be followed. For Gods sake its a bomb factory and you are walking around ordinance that is not even in a bunker. Just stacked on a slab.
They give the rules every morning, and your guide gives them again before you leave to go out on a caravan. One of the biggies is that you MUST put out a traffic cone where you want to park your vehicle. From that point, you can walk how ever many thousands of acres you want.
But it never fails. A group gets bored and wants to drive around. With all the video surveillance, and the security guards and the white hat guides for the hunt that have a tag number, and location for your traffic cone parking area, that are driving the areas, they catch people every weekend just driving around looking or road hunting. Out the gate you go, and you are banned from ever coming back. A group from our hunt met that fate. Dummies
Finally turned and walked out of my sight. By that time I needed a paper sack to breathe into for hyperventilation.
I went and talked to my buddy that went with me, and he told me that each morning he had been seeing a sow with 6 little ones in a clearing. He had been seeing lots of does and small bucks where he was at.
After a day and a half on the stand, I was so sore that sitting another half a day in that stand was not going to happen. As the hunt was over at noon today, I managed to crawl up there and spent three hours in a heavy drizzle, without seeing anything. My buddy called me on his cell and said the pig was back. I asked him why he didn't go after it, and he wasn't interested, so I got down and hobbled the 1/4 mile to his area, and spotted the pig. All black, and would weigh about 70 lbs or so. They were feeding on persimmons, and had a nice grassy area that would allow me to slip around them. and get close.
The stalk took about 20 minutes in the drizzle, and I found a gap in the brush. 15 yds away she was broadside to me feeding, but I needed to take one more step to get above the brush, and a bramble caught my foot, and caused a stumble. She looked up, and they were gone in a flash.
So, No antlers, and no bacon, but we ate like kings, and got in a great hunt in an area that neither of had been. The quality pass for taking a doe will allow me to go back next year to hunt the same area, and at the same time.
They have two biologist on staff there, and with their recommendations, they set up some rules for the hunters. Each year its different to get a quality pass to come back without going thru the drawing.
This year they said that IF you stick a doe you get a quality pass, or IF you stick a buck on your first deer that is greater than 112" they will give the hunter an either sex tag for the second deer. If the second is a doe, the hunter gets a quality pass. IF the hunter takes a pig, they will get a quality pass.
The guy that runs the hunt said that taking a pig to get a pass was good last year too, and a guy brought in a tiny piglet that he had ran down and picked up. Tied its legs together and brought it in. He got a quality pass
I donated my doe to the Hunters Feeding the Hungry Program, they had going. She was so old that the two biologist and a couple of game rangers couldn't figure out how old she was.
A bonus for the trip was that I got to stand next to a MOAB. The Mother of All Bombs
They have one set up in front of the Head Quarters building. They won't allow any pics of it, but its HUGE Pity the poor fool that gets one of these dropped on them.
Here is the epitome of a dumb A$$.
There are strict rules that must be followed. For Gods sake its a bomb factory and you are walking around ordinance that is not even in a bunker. Just stacked on a slab.
They give the rules every morning, and your guide gives them again before you leave to go out on a caravan. One of the biggies is that you MUST put out a traffic cone where you want to park your vehicle. From that point, you can walk how ever many thousands of acres you want.
But it never fails. A group gets bored and wants to drive around. With all the video surveillance, and the security guards and the white hat guides for the hunt that have a tag number, and location for your traffic cone parking area, that are driving the areas, they catch people every weekend just driving around looking or road hunting. Out the gate you go, and you are banned from ever coming back. A group from our hunt met that fate. Dummies
