Intro: Hill Country's Miss Hope and Faith....(roster added on page 2)

[threeunder]

Out again after whitetails with Faith.  Mid-morning I headed out to the other end of our property.  Was headed to what we call the saddle blind.  We've taken a number of deer over the years on this saddle.  Weather today was calm winds, partly sunny, temps in 20's this morning.
Faith and I mounted my Honda Rincon and headed away.

     

I parked at the family cemetary.  Said a quick hello to my father who died June 23, 2009 and started my walk to the saddle.

Here's a road that leads to a trail that heads off to the east end of the property.  Got lots of trailcam pictures out there, but, for whatever reason, the deer moved off of it in October and haven't been back.

 

A quick note about dad.  He first took me deer hunting in 1979.  We also did some rabbit hunting and a little squirrel hunting.  In those days, deer were few and far between here.  I finally killed my first one in 1986.  The day I killed that first deer, was the last day my dad ever hunted.  I always believed he took me hunting to give me the opportunity to decide for myself if it was something I was truly interested in.  In all the years he took me hunting, I never saw dad kill an animal.  He did it all for me...To give me a choice.  Thanks Dad!

Back to the hunt:  The recent storms have blown down a lot of small trees on the trail.  My approach was a little noisier than I had wanted, but I soon was at the blind.

     

This blind sets right on the property line.  The field behind it is not ours, but we have the bedding area on us.

I saw very little fresh sign on my way in.  That was disappointing.  I got settled.  Here's the view from this one....left, center, and right.

     

     

     

I was ready, Faith was ready, and Simmons Interceptor was ready.  Unfortunately, the deer weren't.

     

I sat until early afternoon and nothing was moving.  Headed out to stop by the house.  Then was planning to head to the western side of our place and meet one of my buddies for the afternoon.

I mentioned yesterday about having some ladderstands set.  Here's one I had to go by to get to the saddle.

     

[Bud B.]

You have a hunting haven Ken. Cherish it, as you so obviously do.

Love all the pics!!

[threeunder]

About 1 pm or so I met up with DJ for the afternoon.  DJ is one of only a few people I hunt with regularly.  He's voiced some interest about trying trad.  I push it as much as I dare.  Hopefully, he'll read this and get inspired to take the plunge.

Got my gear together and got ready to make the walk in.  I would be using my Millennium Tree Seat this afternoon.  Its one of the most comfortable ground level seats made.  Lightweight and comfortable..NICE!

 

We had only made it about 30 yards when we came up on this.

 

Have to admit, that got us both pretty pumped.  There's at least one good one apparently still around after gun season.  Hope I can lay my hands on him before the end of season.

As we walked toward the hayfield, DJ whispered, "There's a deer right under the far ladder stand."

Sure enough, we could see not one but 4 within 15 yards of the ladderstand on the edge of the field.  We put a hasty plan together.  DJ was make a sneak on them undercutting a ridge and dropping into the pines.  I would move forward to try to cutoff one of the potential escape routes should they bugger up.

I know this photo is awful, but the far hill side is about 200 yards away.  That's where the deer were.

 

I eased my way to the last amount of cover and sat down behind a brushpile.  That's when I started having problems finding all the deer we had seen.  There was 1, 2, 3, 4....5....6...six!

Its hard enough to stalk 1, but pulling the wool over 6 sets of eyes, 6 sets of ears, and 6 noses is hardly feasible.

After about 20 min.  1 doe started blowing.  They had made DJ.  That went on for nearly 5 minutes and they decided they'd had enough.  Off they went....of course, out of the north end of the field...I was on the west end of it.  There were a total of 7.  The one we had not seen had been bedded in the pines and picked DJ off on the stalk.

[threeunder]

With that done, DJ and I split.  He headed to another ladder stand and I headed to the far western corner of the field to set up  watching a fence crossing.  After I got my stuff set up, I took a moment to take a couple of photos.

 

 

 

Hunted all evening and nothing.  I even snuck over to the fence line and looked at the neighbor's place....nothing!

 

DJ and I met up and headed toward the trucks.  We took about 5 minutes to reset the blind I told you about yesterday that the wind had blown over.  Here it is after we got it reset.

   

On the way we came across another one of the big guy's calling cards.  He's been all over this place over the past day or so...really just added more fuel to my fire!

 

Thanks for joining me today.

Weather tomorrow looks to be awful.  High winds, rain, and snow.  Not sure at this time if I'll get out in it or not.

[Rob W.]

I woke to another round of about 5" of snow this morning. Debated not going but season is almost over and I knew I would regret it if I didn't.

I met up with my buddy Perry (perry f. on here) at some public land we scouted in Sept. We got in a little late and to be honest really didn't know where I was going to hunt til I sat down.

Found a nice trail with a few fresh tracks and a nice rock outcropping that would blend in with my wool sweater.

 

[Rob W.]

Snapped this pic to see if I blended in at all. You would think a guy that has hunted like crazy and seen almost no deer wouldn't be smiling. Something about this Hope bow and snow has put me in a good mood regardless.

 

[Bud B.]

OK Rob...I saw the other post and pic....

OUT WITH IT!  

 

[magnus]

[perry f.]

     now,  now,  lets not rush a good story!!!!!!

[Rob W.]

The first hour or so was dead still. Saw one squirrel and started to think about kicking bushes for rabbits. I was lost in thoughts of my vacation ending soon when I cuaght movement to my left. Deer!!!!

She was walking perfectly down the trail I was watching in route to a shooting lane 18 yards away. She paused for a minute or so chewing on some sort of bush. I tried to get my glove off but gave up and raised up a bit to shoot of my knees.

One more step...One more ste...I start my draw and busted!!!  She cuaght movement and we were in a stare down. I'm at 3/4 draw on a 64# bow and shaking like a leaf. I slowly start to let down and a limb 20 yrds. behind the deer snaps and snow falls everywhere. Thank you Lord!

She looks away , I let down, take a deep breath and put tension on the string again. She takes on step and the arrow is on its way. Still pretty alert she drops and spins a bit. The arrow hit back and high. I thought I saw it come out as she bounded away and things didn't look good.

[Bud B.]

oh yeah!

[59Alaskan]

I HOPE this ends well!

[Rob W.]

I texted Perry that I shot one but the placement wasen't good. I thought about staying put but had to see the arrow. After about 5 yards or so it had come out and was sticking in the snow.

We debated what to do and he asked what first blood looked like. I crept up another 5 yards and saw this.

 

Perry asked what I thought was hit and replied "Artery". I was still worried but felt a little better. I backed out and met up with Perry to take up the trail.

[Rob W.]

As we slowly took up track the blood got better.

 

And better...

 

And better!

 

[Rob W.]

After finding one bed we knew we had jumped the deer but given the snowy conditions and only one hole we decided to stay on the trail. Maybe 50 yards later The trail ended with a bedded, alert deer at the end.

Perry kept an eye on it while I stripped off clothes preparing for a sneak and shot. While the deer watched Perry I snuck to about 8 yards, took a hard quartering shot and sent the same Tree Shark through the vitals and into the off side shoulder.

I had just taken my second deer of the year off the ground. On top of that I had Hope in hand and a good buddy with me to share the moment.

   

[Bud B.]

Man...now THAT'S hunting!!

Very well done!

 

[Rob W.]

I'm so honored to be a part of the Hope and Faith hunts this year. This is such a great cause and it's a win-win for everyone involved!

Tradgang is the best!    

 

[Rob W.]

Happy Huntin' Buddies!

 

[jonsimoneau]

Good stuff!

[59Alaskan]

Great job on seeing that through!