gettin cold ,one more tale at the fire place.................

[ray koziatek]

Maybe i'm fartin in the wind,shurly not bragging,and maybe a little whining.

Well 2012 was my best year hunting as far as big racks ,2013 was the most humbling with no racks...My boots are the same with the "R" on the left and the "L" on the right..Seems like I hear more creaking when I walk and the o'll back sings now rather than just talking...maybe thats the problem...I have put in my normal 40 days plus in the woods and wore out another pair of boots...cut up my lucky shirt for emergency toilet paper ,and paddeled the canoe over 20 miles (1/2 mile each way to my secret spot}..

I have seen many small bucks during bow season ,but a big time hunter like me would never shoot a little buck.(thats gonna be my first change next year)...but i still will dream BIG. Well I decide yesterday to go in the "Brown its down" mode for the last 2 days,I ain't gonna eat no tag soup...How was i to know another hunter was in the same mode as he almost shot me in the ass when i was taking a dump in the woods ,he was upset about the whole thing but after seeing my under ware with the big brown strip I understood his mistake ,guess i might stick with the pink panties during muzzy season too.

Today I hit the trail with temps looming in the single digets saw 1 doe and got a service call...........AFTER I had reached the top of the hill,so i shuffled back to the van and became a hero..biggest problem was having to sit down to pee for 2 hours after comming out of the cold,o'll winkie did not want to take another chance of feeling those cold temps and went into hiding.

At 3pm I head to a farm I just got permission to hunt and after viewing it on google earth I set out to follow my plan. Walk look for brown and shoot in general direction..

I start down the edge of the field and after 20 min realize Im going in circles ,thats when it dawns on me my wife was having fun with me when she mislabled my boots,after changing them around i feel a sudden comfort with my boots on the correct feet.As i crest the knoll of the field their are 2 brown things in front of me about 130 yds out.I take a tiny step off to the side behind overhanging brush and break a tiny goldenrod .well i might as well of broke a 2x4 they both looked up and the stare down begins..the one just a tad further away starts to feed .then the other does the same..but as smart does do she snaps her head back to me,but I are smarter and didn't move..well after 3 or 4 more times she drops her guard and starts eating . Well the nearest anything to lean on was 5 ft into the goldenrod and I knew it was offhand or bust..so I waited for anything but a head on shot well deer digging in 10in of snow don't move much,she turned almost broadside .I hate offhand with the muzzy do to the tiny delay from trigger pull to that bang sound,not to mention creekin knees and a singing back..Due to the knoll between us i couldnt get a low heart shot so i decide to cap the heart and take out 1 lung....BOOM Hey I Hit Something I could tell by the sound but even Triple 7 leaves a little dust in the air after the shot..So I creek,shuffle and ,sing over to where they were standing,and find brown hair confirming I hit something Brown..Well I should of went for the shoulder lung shot as she plowed through multafloral rose,brush and undergroth most rabbets would avoid ...so I knew I had a dead deer running..it took me 20 min to crawl 30 yds through that crap and the only blood sign was from my face and hands.As I found a tiny opening where I could look up without poking out my eyes there she lay..that was the easy part now I had to drag it back out to the field. Thats the trouble with heart shots not 1 drop of deer blood,but it was better than another yard in that brush.Yes sir another fine hunting season in the books,and the bright side is I have all tender deer meat and don't have to fork out 1 nickle for a deer mount ,tho that doe has me thinking of getting it mounted as a reminder of the hunt..but hey i still will have the scares from all the sticks and prickers...Well hope ya all enjoy my pain ,and if ya hear singing creaking and shuffling sounds next year don't shoot it's probly just me..

Ray K.

[Sk8man]

Still laughing Ray....great account..... :yes:

Edited December 17, 2013 by Sk8man

[momay4000]

Great story - it reads like a Bill Heavey column out of F&S!

 

Glad you had success this year and thanks for sharing,

 

Chris

[Gill-T]

That's hunting Ray. Good to have some back up "brown-down" areas for mental well being. One can go crazy chasing trophy deer year after year.

[Capt Vince Pierleoni]

Good story Ray. Congrats on sticking to it. I always go the last day but a long off hand shot tmw will be 30 yds. My muzzys not fit to shoot at a deer so I'm taking the bow. 

[ray koziatek]

next year.....ok not.............. little alberta buck from where my brother hunts..

[rod hog]

.

Edited April 5, 2014 by rod hog

[BSmaster]

Good read Ray.  I am actually happy to see you made it back down to Earth this year.  Last year was impressive.  I was a little green with envy.

 

ME... I went all season without seeing antlers.  I started that quality deer management thing last year (I think it jinxed me) and realized at the end of season this year that the kids like venison hotdogs.  They do not care about trophys.  So I was reminded that I am a hero when the hotdogs get back from the packing plant, not when I let deer possibly get bigger for someonone else in the following years.  I still tell people no small bucks or fawns but certain times a deer needs to make it to my freezer even though it doesn't classify as a shooter or a trophy.

 

Now I am the one whining.

[momay4000]

vince didnt bow end sunday

 

No - Winter Archery goes through Dec. 17th (same as muzzleloader)