Georgia archery opener, a hunt with JC. (updated with pics)

[Coop]

Awesome, thanks for sharing.

Those arrows with the pink fletching look familiar    

[TexMex]

Awesome, Gracias!!

[Glenn29]

Love the Cabin/Home!

Keep the pics coming!

[Brian Halbleib]

After a morning sit, I caught up with JC and Chase to see if they saw anything. There were a few does that came close and Chase nearly loosed an arrow at one. I was excited to hear about his encounter.

Back at the house, I was treated to the first of many delicious meals in Ms. Kim's kitchen. After breakfast, I decided to continue my evaluation of that comfortable mattress in an attempt to get caught up on a few of the winks I had missed.

Back up shortly thereafter and we began to put together a plan for the evening hunt. JC said we would hunt the McGraw WMA with his friend Ken. While we were eating lunch, a white SUV pulled up JC's driveway and out walked a fellow I've been trying to catch up with, just freshly returned from successfully chasing pronghorn in Wyoming. You might recognize him...

   

Left to Right: Terry Green, Ken, Me and JC.

Here's part of the landscape of the McGraw WMA near the power lines as we walked in.

   

This is a view from my evening treestand. Very thick but plenty of shooting lanes. I had a good feeling about this spot.

   

   

   

-Brian
 www.bowyersjournal.com

[Brian Halbleib]

Terry, it was a real pleasure to finally meet you in person and sharing a woodlot with you. After getting a chance to meet and talk with Terry, folks it's obvious why TradGang is so successful. I look forward to hunting with you again in the future.

Same goes for Ken, what a great fella. He really knows his bowhunting and I'd be happy to share a camp with him any time.

Thanks for taking time out of your schedules to come hunting with me and JC.

Well, the moon was still big and bright as the sun went down and I'm pretty sure it kept the deer movements confined to the night. Ken, Terry and I saw nothing and I believe JC saw one or two on the other end of the WMA.

This beautiful hummingbird did buzz around and visit for a while which I surely enjoyed.

   

-Brian
 www.bowyersjournal.com

[OconeeDan]

Brian, you have good photography skills.  And you can tell a good story too.  Looks like ya'll had fun!

[Terry Green]

Back at ya Brian.....and yep, we'll have to do it again sometime....but make it a longer hunt than on afternoon.

Best to your and The Bowyer's Journal.  Keep up the excellent work.

[cjones]

Get on with it Brian! The suspense is killin me..

[SHOOTO8S]

I'm with ya Chad...'bout time for someone to shoot something  

[Seeking Trad Deer]

   

[Brian Halbleib]

OK, back to JC's after that evening hunt. Terry had to get on the road as JC and I sat down to some smoked chicken. A quick meal, a little story telling and it was time for bed.

The next morning we hunted on JC's place and were hopeful for some activity despite fighting the big moon at night. The morning hunt came to a close with no sightings.

For the afternoon hunt, JC thought we would try the Pine Log WMA and attempt to locate some feral hogs. This was a very beautiful setting in the mountains.

   

We worked up a drainage where JC and friends have had encounters with hogs in the past. The wind kept toying with us, changing directions at will but we worked up into a very scenic hollow where several benches came together. We decided to take a break from our hike.

     

We came across a fresh pig wallow and from the sign left behind, it was apparent that we just missed some action. The wind never did cooperate very long so JC decided it was time for us to try another spot.

-Brian
 www.bowyersjournal.com

[Brian Halbleib]

We went to a different spot, this time working down a drainage loaded with pig sign. Here's a pig bed in the mud with pig hair impression lines throughout...pretty cool, we must be close.

   

Here's a few more not much further down the hollow.

   

We thought for sure we would be walking up on a pig or three in no time. We heard a few snorts and grunts in the distance but have yet to see hair nor hide. We continued to pick our way along.

   

   

We could hardly believe that we had not seen so much as a running pig or a white-tail flag the whole time we crept down the hollow. I've seen the full moon affect critters in different ways over the years but never anything like this. But we were determined to find something before the sun went down.

-Brian
 www.bowyersjournal.com

[Brian Halbleib]

After a few hours of walking, we decided to sit down for a drink and a snack. I couldn't think of a much better place than right here:

 

Daylight was burning up and we were still coming up short. Everything was working against us and we desperately racked our brains to try to figure out what we were missing. We decided to start stump shooting and just screwing around in general with our guard down which is usually enough to bring game in during moments like this when you're not paying attention. The landscape sure was pretty here with all the ivy and vines climbing the tree trunks.

 

 

-Brian
 www.bowyersjournal.com

[Brian Halbleib]

Another tough day of hunting came to a close but our tired butts were comforted with some fantastic teriyaki steaks hot off of Miss Kim's grill. Delicious! Although we were tired, JC and I figured we earned a few beers and did so while we checked football scores on the big screen. Sleep came quickly that night as well, as usual after a day of hard hunting.

The last day of the hunt was upon me as I got ready to beat the sun to the treestand on JC's place. The moon had lost some of it's shine but was still about 3/4 full last night. On the way to the stand, we saw several deer in the field next to JC's house. We slipped into the woods without spooking them and were hopeful that there would be some opportunities this morning.

The morning sit proved uneventful, unfortunately, and I headed back to the house. I did come across this critter while cutting through the horse pasture.

 

-Brian
 www.bowyersjournal.com

[Brian Halbleib]

We didn't have to leave for the airport until around 6:30 PM which left us the whole afternoon for one last ditch effort. I decided to use that time to take JC and Kim to lunch and spent the rest of the day enjoying the breeze and the conversation on their beautiful front porch.

We didn't loose any arrows at any critters but we were both thankful for the opportunity to enjoy God's great outdoors again and for new friendships. For me, success has never been measured in filled tags, but in the experience, the opportunity to see new country and the addition of new, close friends. It doesn't get much more successful than that.

I thank you all for coming along with us and maybe next time we'll have some fresh backstraps to share with you    

-Brian
 www.bowyersjournal.com

[Coop]

Greta pics and story Brian. Thanks for taking the time to share them.

[Al33]

Brian, thanks for sharing your experiences and hunts with the Coots and the great photo's. That moon surely played it's part in not seeing deer on the opener for me too. I hunt not very far from the Coots place and neither my buddy nor I saw a deer. I stayed on the stand until 1:00 PM thinking they would have to move soon.

Glad you had a wonderful time nonetheless, but knowing JC, Kim, and the boys that was bound to happen.

Al

[rabbitman]

Thanks for the adventure Brian.  You were lucky to hook up with JC.  I shared a camp with Joe last spring so I know what a great guy he is.

[herb haines]

Brian enjoyed  it all with you do have a question is every thing up hill? just courious as we who are chubby ( fat) do like flat ground    :D   don't see any of it around here and looks like in Ga every where you want to go is over the next hill!!!

Miss Kim i thank you for the kind offer and maybe in 2008 i will see if i can come for a few days .you and JC are very lucky and God Blessed you both ,to have each other --- herb

[JC]

The more folks I meet through trad archery, the more I am convinced of God's goodness. Brian is a fine friend, I look forward to sharing many years hunting with him.

The killing has been pretty dry around here lately....but the hunting has been spectacular. Especially when you consider great camp mates like Brian.

I was frustrated that we could be on all that hog sign and not get on the hogs. I was even more frustrated that the deer had seemed to evaporate. But to Brian's credit, he smiled and took it in stride, enjoying the hunt and our time together even though the critters fooled us despite our best efforts.

Herb, there is some flat ground, but not much   :D