Shotgun Season 06

Early Muzzle loader 2006 was a bust. Not for lack of seeing deer. The first day of the early season I had seen 4 bucks. Of the four deer I missed two of them, one in the morning and one at night.

The first of the misses i chalk up to a misfire. I was using one of my dads guns, a Thompson Center Black Diamond. It was only a Y buck, but after a year of limited success, I was anxious to get the ball rolling again in the right direction. It was one of those, pull the trigger........hissssss........poww. Once the hissing began, the deer started to trot away.

The evening hunt I walked in with some buck lure on a string tied to my boot. I had three bucks come in, small, medium, and large. The bigger buck initially presented himself but I waited to see if I would get a better shot. When i felt my opportunity slip away, I took a shot at about 150 yards between the Y of a tree to no avail.

This was the deer that i missed with the Muzzle loader.




(Our neighbor, Kieth, shot it during extended shotgun.)




So needless to say, i was poised for the kill on Monday morning of shotgun season.

This five pointer came into me just at day break.






On Tuesday, Uncle Scott calls me to tell me he shot the big one.

Sure enough.....




So I dress the deer for him as a congratulatory gesture and we head to the checking station.

With a deer that size in your truck, you automatically expect to have the biggest deer at the checking station.



We weren't there for five minutes and Dave Hemsley pulls in with antlers sticking out above the bed of his truck.



Daves nine pointer



Scotts eight pointer

Extended Bow Season 06

Bow season is not a priority for me. It has to do with a combination of impatience, working schedules and consumerism. I used to bow hunt a lot when i was younger, but with no success. I would often see deer that were out of range and become frustrated by it. I did miss a few that were in range too, that didn't improve my outlook either.

Another shortcoming of bow hunting is the blatant consumerism. Scent cover-up, head to toe cammo clothing, arrows, broad heads, the list never ends of things that you need for bow hunting that cost money. These things were provided for me by my father during my early years and since then I haven't really bow hunted much.

I prefer to just buy bullets and hunt with a gun.

The upside of bow hunting is that the season is considerably longer, and it usually coincides with the breeding times of the deer. These factors can provide considerable advantage when hunting trophy deer.

My brother and a couple of my friends capitalized on those advantages during the extended bow season of 2006.

My friend, and hunting companion Dave shot this eight pointer with the bow right in the beginning of the extended season and thus it began.





Dave's deer just missed the record book by less than three inches



My brother Andrew shot this 9 pointer right behind the house while both I and my Dad were out of state hunting.






My buddy Andy, who hunted with us for years , but has now entered into a solo career
shot this substantial eight pointer in the extended season.