Average Joe Hunting Adventures with Dan and CJ

OP
Lostinthewoods
Joined
Dec 10, 2016
Messages
363
Location
Coast to coast
Just when you think the action is done....

Florida’s 17-18 season is still going. Well let me tell you a crazy story from today!

I was on my way to the gym today around 1pm and as I was coming by an area I hunt and I saw a buck cross the road. He was heading right towards some of my spots! I didn’t have my gear with me (doh!) but I knew one of my buddies was out hunting about 10 minutes away. He’s still learning the ropes and I’ve been trying to help him and teach him whatever I can. I called him and said “get your butt over here!”

He showed up and we went into my first spot. Sure enough the buck has been there FOUR MINUTES BEFORE WE SHOWED UP.

80ba2878daf4c8d37d47ae185fb1f3dd.jpg



My gut started telling me something, so I took him to a spot that I just “had that feeling” about.

I showed him the tree to sit in and told him where the bucks come from.

I left him and went to the gym, crushed my workout, went home to shower, grabbed my gear and got ready to head out for a hunt. I checked my phone and I had missed phone calls and a text “I JUST SHOT A BUCK. I CAN SEE HIM, HE IS DOWN.”

I called him and told him to not move! I wanted to be there to see him recover his first archery buck!

17 yard shot, 35 yard recovery....

0e21f54921200594feb68af859565947.jpg


3ecbc3c8c02db19a39e7ac7b6e14af6c.jpg


30a8c89d7176b2f918c78680f848f990.jpg


10ae88a0e43a46096a5b6ac0a3373bca.jpg






Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Last edited:
OP
Lostinthewoods
Joined
Dec 10, 2016
Messages
363
Location
Coast to coast
My buddy is head over heels excited and stuck on cloud 9. I helped him pose some pictures and told him I’d love to help him get the deer gutted, packed out and quartered.

If anyone knows me.... they know I like to take deer out a certain way

4cb88a61d9b42df0bbb8b272512e9ca5.jpeg



f80b687ba313cd966f426fe63db1e5a2.jpeg



If this isn’t silly enough, my buddy wanted to take his deer to my house in his vehicle....

31e7a1fa8da14c1a27bee2eb799bb3f1.jpg




I called another buddy over and we taught my buddy who shot the deer how to skin, quarter, and debone the deer.

All and all it was an amazing night. He’s pumped because he got his first archery buck, I’m pumped because I got to help, and this my friends is how traditions are carried on!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

RyanG505

FNG
Joined
Apr 10, 2017
Messages
53
Location
New Mexico
I tell you what that ole boy carrying that deer on his back must workout like a champ. good work fellas, I miss that Florida hunting
 
Joined
Sep 28, 2016
Messages
318
Location
NM
I tell you what that ole boy carrying that deer on his back must workout like a champ. good work fellas, I miss that Florida hunting
He's gonna start "leg day everyday" soon to take him to the next level. It's tough to get mountain fit when you live 7 feet above sea level.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk
 

RyanG505

FNG
Joined
Apr 10, 2017
Messages
53
Location
New Mexico
He's gonna start "leg day everyday" soon to take him to the next level. It's tough to get mountain fit when you live 7 feet above sea level.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

hahaha il have to give him a hard time about that. I did that workout plan while in Korea, its FUN!....
 
Joined
Sep 28, 2016
Messages
318
Location
NM
hahaha il have to give him a hard time about that. I did that workout plan while in Korea, its FUN!....
Last year I did 45 straight days of heavy squats starting 1 Feb, then leg day everyday with some form of loaded squat and deadlift (lots of barbell stuff) until mid-August..... But then hunting season got in the way of that plan.

This year I'm doing kettlebells, clubs, maces, and a lot of rolling around on the ground like a toddler pretending to be a gymnast. People look at my funny when they see me rolling around in my office, but it's been a long long time since my back and neck has felt this good.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk
 
OP
Lostinthewoods
Joined
Dec 10, 2016
Messages
363
Location
Coast to coast
Today is the last day of my 2017-2018 Florida deer season.
The deer are just starting to move, but I just spent 2 1/2 days in Las Vegas with the family (took my wife to see a concert she's been dying to go to) and I'm leaving for NM tomorrow for a work trip.
So I think it's time to call it a "year" and start prepping for the next one.

At first I had the dream of doing some giant write up to end this year off, but I don't really think it's necessary.
This isn't going to be just a one and done thread. I plan (and hopefully CJ isn't sick of me yet and will too) to keep this going, but just start a 2018 thread.

So I'll keep this short and sweet because I can babble....

In one of our first posts we mentioned that we just really wanted to share our experiences, hopefully help teach some people some new things, help people break out of their "I can't do it" molds, and show that with an established plan you can do anything that your desire.

My year was filled with a small deployment, work trips, raising a newborn, family obligations, and more, but was still able to get out there and chase my passion.
Tags were filled, friends were made, and fun was had. It really couldn't have gone any better.

I want to personally thank everyone who followed us along this year. Whether you were a lurker or someone who participated in the thread, thank you.
We truly appreciated all the feedback. I'm still BUMMED that photobucket did that third party sharing change in the middle of this because the first half of the thread we lost some cool pictures. The take away though is the next thread won't have that issue!

Applications have already started for 2018, big planning is already underway, and I can promise you that the 2018 is going to be just as much fun as this one, if not better!

I have no cool motivational quotes to end this on and I'm far from philosophical, but I do have a few final parting words for this thread and they are from experiences I had this year.

If you have a passion, do it right or don't do it at all.

This year I spent time trying to help a lot of different people start out hunting, fine tune their skills, scout areas, etc.
Some of them, at the end of the day just wanted me to hand them coordinates because they didn't want to do any work that's involved.
While others were just beyond grateful that I was even taking the time of day to help.
This surprised me in two ways.
One) Some of those people claimed hunting as their "passion", but they wouldn't put in any of the things that are involved: training, scouting, practicing with their weapon, etc
Two) It amazes me how many people won't take the time to pass on information or try to help someone else. If something is TRULY your passion shouldn't you be helping pass it on for others to enjoy? Some of the best experiences this year were watching people take their first animal, learn a new skill, or just enjoying the experiences outdoors. I'd take that 3x to 1 over actually filling my own tags.



Stop worrying about what everyone else thinks.

Whether it's social media, your hunting buddies, or whoever..... stop worrying about what everyone else thinks and worry about what makes YOU happy.
This is YOUR passion and your life to live.... not theirs.

This year I watched hunters (both new and experienced) go the whole season passing on animals they truly wanted to kill, but were not "social media" worthy.
Now they are looking back on their year wishing they wouldn't have done that or have some level of regret.
If you spend your time trying to please everyone else you're going to be severely disappointed. You can't always please everyone.


Stop saying you can't.

I firmly believe that anyone with a plan is unstoppable. If you want to do something then build a plan for it and attack.
Anyone out there can do this kind of stuff.

Every year I know I am going to do some serious hunting so I plan for it physically, financially, logistically, etc.
This entire hunting season was budgeted for and I borrow a single penny to make it happen (I hate debt and refuse it!)

If you've dreamed about some sort of hunt, but continually talk yourself out of it because "you think you can't do it" then you're missing out on some of the best experiences of your life.

So no more excuses, no more lies.....get out there and do it.




Ok, this post is getting a little too long.
Thank you ALL again for being a part of this and for letting us share our season with you.
Keep your eyes open because a new thread will be starting here soon enough and I promise you we will try to keep it as fun, helpful, and useful as possible!


Take care,

Daniel
 
Joined
Sep 28, 2016
Messages
318
Location
NM
I've written, deleted and re-written this summary at least 15 times by now. I've been trying to narrow down how this season was so special, and give some personal thoughts about life and hunting. You can take it however you want. Unlike most of my posts, I'm going to keep my summary relatively short.

I feel as though the thread does a good job of showing how I feel about the season, but in case you didn't catch the drift... the word is "blessed." And I'm not referring to the animals I was lucky enough to kill this year. I'm blessed because I am able to hunt. I'm blessed because I have a wife who supports my passion. I'm blessed because I have 2 healthy children to share my passion with throughout the future. I'm blessed to have amazing friends and a fantastic community of hunters not only on this forum but everywhere I've been this season. The mix of solitude and people are what made my 2017 season one I can honestly say has changed me.

I spent a lot of time in the field alone this season, and I will always appreciate solitude. There was a moment from early last summer that set the tone for my entire season. As I was walking out the door for a quick scouting trip, my wife said, "enjoy your solitude." She didn't say it in any special way, and I honestly didn't really think much about it at the time. But two words kept ringing in my head all throughout the season.

Enjoy... Solitude.

I believe solitude is a key ingredient to maintaining my sanity and it gives me the time to know who and what I stand for. The Norwegian explorer, humanitarian, and Nobel Peace Prize winner Fridtjof Nansen explained it better than I can when he said, "The first great thing is to find yourself and for that you need solitude and contemplation - at least sometimes. I can tell you deliverance will not come from the rushing noisy centers of civilization. It will come from the lonely places."

I don't think you can enjoy civilization without having spent some time in solitude, and vice versa. My time in solitude made the times I spent with other people much more meaningful. I had some very special moments in the field with great people this season, and I couldn't be more thankful for all of it. But did I "enjoy" it? Of course! How could you not? :)

Lastly, I believe the best motivation is self-motivation, and my hope for this thread is that maybe, just maybe, someone who's made it this far might find some self-motivation to do something they otherwise wouldn't have. Though ironic, and possibly hypocritical considering we just did a long thread about our seasons, I don't believe anyone should try to compare themselves or create standards for themselves based anything they see on social media or other outlets. Be yourself, set your own goals and standards, challenge yourself, be uncomfortable, always improve, and most importantly enjoy your time in the field.

I look forward to what 2018 has in store, and I'll do my best to share it with you as honestly as possible. Good luck to everyone in the draws, and THANK YOU for following along.

~CJ

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk
 
Top