Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! It was a great thanksgiving today as I have a lot to be thankful for. This morning I met Kenny and Dave at the hotel. Kenny escorted us through the black winding roads of rural ohio in the pre-dawn. 20 minutes later we arrived at our spot right at first light. Timing was perfect. The three of us talked for a little bit and admired Dave's new Fred Bear takedown. What a beautiful bow with a near perfect grip. Kenny and Dave also showed off there knives made by Robatto (spelling?)Wow does we make a great knife and I'll be in touch with him soon. Kenny had to leave pretty quick but man what a great guy. I really look forward to hunting with you in the future sir! After Kenny left Dave and I started to slowly ascend the hill in front of us. The weather was 40 deg., rainy and only going to get colder as the day went on. So the plan was to still hunt most of the time and sit for a little while when a good spot presented itself. There were quite a few pheasant hunters out and we intended to use them to our advantage. So off we went slowly up the hill. 30yrds up and the plan was set. I would cut off to the left and follow a horse trail around the base of the hill through the woods, hook up to a gas line and follow that to the top. Mean while Dave would follow the old road straight to the top where it met the gas line. Off we went hoping to maybe catch a deer by surprise or to unknowingly to the deer push him gently to the other person. As I made my way on my first still hunt experience I carefully and slowly made my way around. Through the woods and around promising wood and brush piles but nothing stirred. The fresh dawn light lit up the woods just perfectly for us to sneak through. I connected up to the gas line happy that I didn't get lost. These woods are all new to me. I slowly made my way up the ridge. Two steps, look around was the name of the game. I got about 50yrds and up popped a spike. He was at 30-35 yrds. He took a quick look my way and bounded off waiving his beautiful white flag. He never gave me a shot but it didn't matter. The adrenaline was there. I just snuck up to within 35yrds of a buck on my first still hunt! The deer were here and I was excited for a great day of hunting. I made it to the top at the exact same time as Dave. I quickly told him about the deer and our excitement grew. Next was plan two. He would follow the gas line down and up to the top of the next ridge. I was to go down the other side of the ridge to the right, sneak my way through the slough, over the brook, into the woods and around to the other ridge. Clearly my youthfulness was being put to the test. We headed off on our separate ways. I made my way through the briars and thorns and down to the slough. The rain had swollen the brook and I was about to put my boots to the test. I patiently made my way through the thorns and found the narrowest spot to jump the brook. Well I can't jump as far as I thought and my back foot quickly splashed me, my quiver, and my bow with ice cold water. Luckily the boots didn't leak. While I was at the thick bottom in between the ridges I decided to make a little noise in hopes of kicking something out to Dave. I went up to a little spot over the slough and found a nice trail with a rub over looking the slough. I sat there probably 15-20 minutes. Then slowly walked through the woods to the backside of the ridge and into a field. As I did that my phone recieved a message. To bad I didn't check it. It was Dave telling me he just had an eight pointer kick out the bottom and go down the gas line road. and to stay put and wait. Well oblivious I kept on going. Around the second ridge through the grasslands hoping to stumble on a bed or two. No luck. I met Dave at the top and quickly realized with Daves help that I need to slow way down when still hunting. What should have taken me 3 hours I did in about 1 1/2 hours. Hmmmm one of many lessons Dave was going to teach me today. So off we went. Down the ridge back to where started. Along the way we saw lots of acorns and the biggest scrape I've ever seen in the woods. It was about 3 feet across! We decided to cut into the woods and set up for our last hour of hunting before I had to drive back. As I sat there it took me 20 minutes to realize the Dave was only 60-70yrds away. I could see him at all until he looked at me and I saw his eyes through the cut out in his face mask. Lesson 2: Never forget your face mask. It makes a huge difference and without it your face will light up like a beacon without it. Well the hour came and went with nothing happening. Shivering like a leaf I went up to meet Dave and we went back to the car. BUt the lessons were far from over. Now it was time to work on my shooting. Dave is a master instructor. To say my form was a mess was an understatement. Within an hour he quickly corrected the basics and had me CONSISTANTLY shooting more accurate. He helped me with my short drawing, my anchor, my release, and my back tension.
All in all there's a lot to be thankful for tonight. I met 2 great guys. Had my first still hunt and got to see another deer! But most of all Dave retaught me the basics of my new passion and installed in me the knowledge to help my shooting take off!
So thanks to Kenny and Dave! I hope all of you had a Thanksgiving as great as mine.
T.J.
Topic: Ohio Bound (Read 4717 times)
