Average Joe Hunting Adventures with Dan and CJ

OP
Lostinthewoods
Joined
Dec 10, 2016
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363
Location
Coast to coast
I picked my buddy up at the airport and we made our way to Oklahoma.

Before we left Texas we stopped to visit a buddy to see his monster whitetail that he shot this year.... talk about some motivation.

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Talk about STUD!


Alright, back on the road!

Once we hit the border we stopped at a tiny little towns steak house and enjoyed a quick meal.

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We got to our "camp", meet up with another buddy, set up and grabbed some snacks.

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Tomorrow is going to be a WINDY day, but we will make it happen.

I'll check cams and get us a good game plan going.
 
OP
Lostinthewoods
Joined
Dec 10, 2016
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Location
Coast to coast
Today was a very busy day.
We woke up to 40mph winds and that made it pretty interesting morning.

I wasn't seeing anything, so I met up with a buddy who said he was watching some does play about 600 yards away.
I put up my binos and sure enough there were some mule deer bedded down across a canyon.

We couldn't walk directly towards them because they would have pegged us, so swept a long way around and game in on the same level as them. We got within 30 yards and saw there was a buck and three does. I told my buddy he could shoot the buck and I'd shoot a doe. My buddy shot and then I shot my doe. I watched her go about 50 yards and fall over. These mechanical broadheads do alright on deer!

We went to investigate my buddies shot and after about 4 hours of searching we came to the conclusion that he didn't hit the deer.

Here is my doe

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Today I saw a total of 14 deer, but no bucks that I was interested in.

The winds are gone now and the temps are dropping a bunch, so I have a real good feeling about tomorrow.
 
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OP
Lostinthewoods
Joined
Dec 10, 2016
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363
Location
Coast to coast
I'm pretty dang excited about this doe.
This is my fourth season using a bow and this doe was my number 10 deer bow kill.
On top of that this was the first deer that I've seen bedded and been able to sneak in on. Even better I was able to do it right next to a good buddy.

Today was a great day.
 
Joined
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What mechanicals are you running? I just switched to Rage this month after weak blood trails on several deer shot with fixed heads.


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OP
Lostinthewoods
Joined
Dec 10, 2016
Messages
363
Location
Coast to coast
What mechanicals are you running? I just switched to Rage this month after weak blood trails on several deer shot with fixed heads.


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The NAP spitfire. This is the second deer I've killed with them and I was happy with the results.
I typically shoot shuttle T locks for elk and deer, but I wanted to try something new.
 
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Lostinthewoods
Joined
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Coast to coast
Well tonight's going to be a long and dreadful night.

This season has been so good to me, but today I sucker punched myself....

The morning started great. Super crisp and cold morning after a super windy day.

My buddy wanted to sit a food plot and had two deer come in early. One being a nice buck.

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While he was watching those, I was in a little deeper in a spot I knew deer traveled through a lot in November. Sure enough at 7:55 a buck came in at 36 yards... quartering away... calm... I stop him, fire, and hit back. The second I saw the hit I knew I wasn't going to be having a good day. He ran 35 yards and stood there. He was behind some brush and trees, but with my binos I could see him. He stood for what seemed like 3-5 minutes and then bedded down. I was able to see his antlers doing the dead head wobble for about 30 minutes.
When I figure hit the buck back I told myself I was waiting a 4 hour minimum.

After 1 3/4 hours and being over an hour since I saw the head moving, LIKE AN IDIOT.... I decided to move to higher ground to get a better view. As I crested the top the buck was alive and could see me. I sat down and watched him in my binos, but after 10 minutes he got up and walked off....
He was moving really slow and I knew he was hurt. In my head I was thinking I hit liver and guts. From the side I could see (entry side) I couldn't see anything.

He was heading towards and area I'm familiar with and I decided I needed to get ahead of him because he was moving so slow. I sprinted across a canyon, 4 fingers, and got to a ridge I knew he would probably pass. As I crest that ridge, guess who is under me.... then like an idiot... I went into kill mode instead of take your time and range mode.... I figured he was 40 and shot right over his back...
He was at 30 yards.....

I watched him walk away. He didn't sprint or blast out. So I marked last spot I saw him and backed out.

I went back to where he first bedded down and this is what I found.



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Based off this blood I think I hit liver.
Now I was really mad because if I would have just sat still or backed out this buck would be in my truck.

I backed out for lunch and an additional 3 hours. I went in to where I saw him last this evening and grid searched for 3 hours until last light... nothing...

I could be sick. I'll be back out there all tomorrow looking for this buck, but I'm so mad at myself for breaking my own golden rule. If in doubt... pull out! Don't push those deer! I'm so mad....
My arrow reads 100% gut, but I still think I hit some liver too.

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On a positive note my buddy shot a nice buck tonight.

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I'll post results of how the search goes tomorrow.... 🤢


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Joined
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Messages
318
Location
NM
Well the elk hunt with my buddy was uneventful. We saw zero elk, and my buddy managed to catch a pretty bad cold so we called it after the first day. We saw quite a few deer, and I rolled a coyote but couldn't find him in the sage and grass.

Shooting that coyote have me the predator hunting itch, so this afternoon I took my coyote gun for nature hike in the foothills.

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I didn't find any coyotes, but I was reminded that I should have bought a second deer tag after I found these 2 bucks trying to find some love.

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Joined
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Messages
381
Well tonight's going to be a long and dreadful night.

This season has been so good to me, but today I sucker punched myself....

The morning started great. Super crisp and cold morning after a super windy day.

My buddy wanted to sit a food plot and had two deer come in early. One being a nice buck.

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While he was watching those, I was in a little deeper in a spot I knew deer traveled through a lot in November. Sure enough at 7:55 a buck came in at 36 yards... quartering away... calm... I stop him, fire, and hit back. The second I saw the hit I knew I wasn't going to be having a good day. He ran 35 yards and stood there. He was behind some brush and trees, but with my binos I could see him. He stood for what seemed like 3-5 minutes and then bedded down. I was able to see his antlers doing the dead head wobble for about 30 minutes.
When I figure hit the buck back I told myself I was waiting a 4 hour minimum.

After 1 3/4 hours and being over an hour since I saw the head moving, LIKE AN IDIOT.... I decided to move to higher ground to get a better view. As I crested the top the buck was alive and could see me. I sat down and watched him in my binos, but after 10 minutes he got up and walked off....
He was moving really slow and I knew he was hurt. In my head I was thinking I hit liver and guts. From the side I could see (entry side) I couldn't see anything.

He was heading towards and area I'm familiar with and I decided I needed to get ahead of him because he was moving so slow. I sprinted across a canyon, 4 fingers, and got to a ridge I knew he would probably pass. As I crest that ridge, guess who is under me.... then like an idiot... I went into kill mode instead of take your time and range mode.... I figured he was 40 and shot right over his back...
He was at 30 yards.....

I watched him walk away. He didn't sprint or blast out. So I marked last spot I saw him and backed out.

I went back to where he first bedded down and this is what I found.



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Based off this blood I think I hit liver.
Now I was really mad because if I would have just sat still or backed out this buck would be in my truck.

I backed out for lunch and an additional 3 hours. I went in to where I saw him last this evening and grid searched for 3 hours until last light... nothing...

I could be sick. I'll be back out there all tomorrow looking for this buck, but I'm so mad at myself for breaking my own golden rule. If in doubt... pull out! Don't push those deer! I'm so mad....
My arrow reads 100% gut, but I still think I hit some liver too.

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On a positive note my buddy shot a nice buck tonight.

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I'll post results of how the search goes tomorrow.... 🤢


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Good luck! I hit a buck about a month ago a little far back as well. Backed out and went back in the am and found him. It's sickening thinking about them all night! It'll work out!


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OP
Lostinthewoods
Joined
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Messages
363
Location
Coast to coast
Good luck! I hit a buck about a month ago a little far back as well. Backed out and went back in the am and found him. It's sickening thinking about them all night! It'll work out!


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I wish that was the case today. It did not end well.
I've never searched so hard for something, but he was no where to be found.






--------------------------


I searched the entire day and found nothing. I looked for blood, I looked for him, I grid searched the entire area and well beyond.... nothing.
I'm absolutely sick! I've not gut shot anything before and it's not a good feeling at all. This was quite the learning experience and not a fun one.

During my search I did find some trash (which I picked up), a bunch of sign, and a shed.

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If you ever wondered where those balloons fly off to.... its Oklahoma WMAs.

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Very nice whitetail shed. If this was last years then he's going to be a dandy this year and the next. It's cool how he has the sticker on the inside of his beam.


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There's something like 6-8 rubs in this picture.


My two buddies sat a food plot tonight and had a buck come in, but it didn't present a shot. They got it on film though and it came out pretty cool. Young buck with a main beam snapped off on one side.

As much as I hate to say it, but after the all day search I am officially calling it off. Tomorrow is my last day to hunt before I go spend thanksgiving in New Mexico, so I will hit it hard.

It'll be some nasty winds, but we will make it work.



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OP
Lostinthewoods
Joined
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Coast to coast
I'm back in Florida and ready to hit the ground running. The season doesn't start back up until Dec 16th, so I've got some time to fine tune some scouting and get some area ready that I've been saving for the next few ones.

Before I left I found out that the big buck I was chasing last year is alive and.... WELL...
He added some serious everything this year.

He's a main frame 12 with split dual G2s (14 point)

I don't want to post pictures of him yet until he's dead, but here is what he looked like last year.

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It's definitely exciting to have this great buck to chase along with many others. I've actually got some cameras out that have been soaking for a few weeks and I can't wait to see them.

I'll keep you updated on the camera pulls and once the season starts!


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Joined
Sep 28, 2016
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318
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NM
I haven't really been out in the field hunting much as of late. I've been spending some much needed time with the family, and practicing with the tradbow for the javelina hunt. Time's slipping by quickly, and that hunt is sneaking up on me.

Yesterday I took the kids out for a Christmas tree hunt, and after long drive with many ups and downs, we were able to overcome and put our tag on a healthy young Douglas fir. I'm sure there's nicer ones out there, but this one will do just fine. ;)

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The kids didn't seem to have any clue as to why we were cutting a tree down and were much more excited to play in the snow.

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After we had the tree tall setup I had to get out and do some exploring, and maybe try to find some coyotes. Well..... I've really struggled to get on the same page with the coyotes, but I can't seem to go anywhere without finding decent deer.

This is easily the biggest 2 point I've ever seen in person. If we cross paths next year it's going to be tough to pass him.

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OP
Lostinthewoods
Joined
Dec 10, 2016
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Location
Coast to coast
I’m not out of this season yet! I’ve still got today and tomorrow, then Jan 20-29, Feb 10-19 to chase Florida deer.

I’m out right now in the pouring rain and it’s “chilly” in Florida standards. A grueling 43 degrees

However I’ve decided to work smarter, not harder.


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Here’s to hoping big boy or one of his two smaller buddies come out.


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OP
Lostinthewoods
Joined
Dec 10, 2016
Messages
363
Location
Coast to coast
Just a few more days and I can start hunting again!

To keep me sane I’ve been eating some delicious elk creations....


Elk lumpia anyone?

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Joined
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NM
I'm almost back home from the javelina hunt in Arizona. Man, what a blast! Unfortunately none of my journal entries were backed up on my phone or in the cloud, so I'll have to rewrite everything tonight and tomorrow.

What Arizona lacked in cell phone coverage, it made up for with beautiful scenery.

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The idea to do this javelina hunt was conjured up during my buddy's elk hunt back in September. Back then it was one of those "we'll see" type of deals, and luckily our schedules were all able to line up to make it happen.

As I said earlier, the primary weapons of choice for the javelina hunt would be longbows Ryan's dad made. Since all of the bows are called Hualapi Bows, we dubbed the trip the first "Hualapi Bow Bash" in hopes that it will become a regular occurrence. Unfortunately, a mailing mix up and the fact all of the leftover tags were sold out for the unit, only Ryan and I had tags for javelina. Ryan and his dad did have deer tags, so all was not lost.

----

We arrived in camp the day before the season and had a few minutes to glass before the sunset. I was immediately blown away with how beautiful the desert is. I might have been a little distracted by the scenery... We didn't find any pigs that night, but it did help me get my desert eyes back a little bit.

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After appropriately bringing in the new year, the morning of day 1 started a little later than first light, and we moved a little slower than I'm used too. It got warm pretty quickly, and we only saw 7 pigs that morning. Since they were between us and the vehicles, we decided to leave them alone until we hiked out in the afternoon if we didn't see anything else.

After taking a midday nap, we decided to go after the pigs we, but got distracted by this decent 3x3.

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We tried to put a quick stalk on him, but soon realized he wasn't in a spot we could get close enough for a longbow shot. While we were waiting for him to make a move, a random doe we didn't know was there decided she wanted to bed somewhere else. Of course the buck followed her, and my buddy wasn't able to get a shot off as the buck passed by just below his love is sight and out of range.

After the deer encounter, we weren't able to relocate the javelinas, so we walked back to the top of the hill to spend the afternoon glassing for more deer and pigs, and to talk over the next days plans with the Jeff and Steve. They saw several groups of javelina earlier in the morning, so we decided to give that a try on day 2.

---

We were greeted with a stereotypical Arizona sunrise, and a few javelinas not far away.

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This is where the struggle of hunting with a longbow was realized.

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I was able to get within 20yds of several javilena, and had a lot of animals within 10yds but hidden inside the brush. I waited for a few minutes, surrounded by pigs, before a shot was finally presented at roughly 18yds. I drew back, found my anchor, gapped the arrow point and let 'er fly.... right over its back.

I pulled a second arrow out of my quiver, moved closer to the commotion in the brush and a second pig stepped out to stare at me. I drew back, found my anchor, gapped the arrow, and let it fly... right under it's belly.

I don't miss animals very often, and I knew going into this hunt missing was something I would likely have to deal with. I spent a considerable amount of time shooting my longbow ever since I got it last February, and I was drilling dots and felt confident I could get it done. But that just wasn't the case in this moment. I missed, and there wasn't a thing I could do about it except retrieve my arrows, sharpen my broadheads, send a few practice arrows, and keep hunting.

---

For the afternoon we decided to check out a new area near a water tank that was absolutely covered in javelina tracks. We decided to split up to cover more ground. I would be hunting with Steve, and Ryan would hunt with his dad. Not long after leaving the vehicles, we found a group of muleys with a decent buck. Neither of us had a deer tag, so we sent the other guys a text, waited a few minutes with no response, and pressed on to a good vantage point.

The sun was out in force and it was pretty warm, and despite looking at a ton of fresh sign and what looked like great country, we didn't see any javelina up and walking setting. So we decided to cover some ground. We walked really slow and spent more time glassing than walking.

Roughly half a mile and an hour later we faintly heard a rock fall and a pig grunt not far from us. It was so faint that we couldn't quite determine an exact location, but we knew it was in front of us and the wind was good for a stalk. So we moved in slowly.

As we approached a small rocky outcropping, Steve gave me a, "psssst." I immediately stopped and slowly looked back up at Steve. "I think I got a pig." He said that just as my eyes settled on a decent boar laying on his side, in the wide open, 100yds away from us.

I took a few steps back to get behind cover and dropped my pack. As I was making my way down to the sleeping pig, he decided the sun was just a little too warm and slowly got up to stretch. He was well outside my range, so I stood and watched as he tucked himself into the brush.

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I kept closing the distance when I saw a few pigs cross the opening in front of me from left to right. The commotion of the moving javelinas woke the rest of the group up, and there were suddenly pigs everywhere.

I watched a javelina slowly appear from under the brush at only 17 yards. I slowly drew back, and loosed the arrow. The arrow appeared to have flown true, the pig jumped straight forward and got tangled in the scrub oak for a few seconds before running off. I felt good about the shot and walked up to check my arrow, but it was clean.

While standing over my arrow, a boar broke out of the brush and came straight to me to check out what was going on. I drew back and he stopped at roughly 5 yards, but stared directly at me. I didn't have a clear shot, so I had to wait for him to turn. As soon as he did, I flung the arrow right over his back. He was too close! I blew it.

That boar ran up the hill a few yards into an extremely thick patch of oak scrub just above a very large boulder. He grunted and clicked his teeth at me and wasn't leaving, so I climbed up to the to of the rock. There were pigs in literally all directions. When the next shot opportunity presented itself, I was perched on top of a small rock precipice standing above the oak scrub. I drew back and sent the 3rd arrow of the stalk. It glanced off the pig's upper neck and the animal rolled on the ground and ran in a few circles. It was clearly a non vital hit. I immediately nocked another arrow and got a second shot at the same animal as it was sprinting toward me but I missed over its back.

Steve and I watched as the pig I hit ran over half a mile with the rest of the herd and never missed a step. We walked to where we'd last seen it, followed tiny specs of blood for another hundred yards or so before we lost the trail.

The long walk back to the vehicles had me doubting the whole traditional gear thing. I'd never shot 6 arrows in one day, and I've never gone 0 for 6. The thrill of getting close to so many animals was soured by the disappointment of missing so many times.

My personality doesn't handle outright failure very well. I was disappointed with my preparation and practice routine, but dwelling on my self-pity wasn't going to get me anywhere. So I plugged a few cactus with my judos and got over it.

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Joined
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NM
Day 3 I woke with a fresh set of optimism. It was my birthday after all, the forecast called for sightly cooler temps and overcast does. We were also greeted with another magnificent Arizona sunrise.

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While Jeff and Steve would search new areas for deer, Ryan and I decided to head back to the place we hunted the first day which they affectionately refer to as "The Pit." After glassing a few dozen javelina the day before, we felt like we had our javelina eyes back, and thought we stood a good chance of finding pigs in the pit.

Not more that 2 minutes into glassing from the first vantage point I spotted half a dozen pigs all the way at the bottom of the pit. We assessed the terrain, and debated the best options based off where we thought the pigs would go. To play it safe we decided to walk all the way around the t ridgeline the herd was on. This would require at least an extra half mile of walking. Walking to the bottom of the pit and back is a lot of work for a javelina, but we didn't mind. We're still kinda young and dumb.

When we finally got to where we thought the peccary would be, we glassed for a few minutes before we relocated them 2/3's of the way up the ridge and halfway back to where we started from.... Similar to Ryan's elk hunt, we overshot the stalk a little bit. We chuckled a bit and started walking back up the hill to try to cut them off again.

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By this time the winds switched from a cool downhill thermal to a warm uphill. So we decided to drop to the bottom of the drainage, walk behind a small finger ridge, and come at them from their elevation. Half of the herd was bedded in a few thick patches of oak scrub and yucca plant, while the other half was still up and meandering around. All of the conditions were perfect for a stalk... except the wind. It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't consistent.

We moved in as slowly as possible. I stayed 1/3 down the ridge, while Ryan walked just below the top to avoid silhouetting himself. We were never further than 30 yards apart.

As it so often happens, just as we were getting danger close, the wind tickled the back of our necks. A few pigs grunted and started moving up the hill away from us; not fast, just moving away at a normal pace. I stayed on course while Ryan ducked out of sight on the ridge and moved forward to cut them off.

As soon as I lost sight of him a mature pig stepped out at 15yds. He stopped behind a prickly pear cactus with most of his vitals exposed. I looked up at where Ryan had been but didn't see him. I knew there were a few pigs close to him, and didn't want to shoot if there was an opportunity to get a double... I saw nothing, so I drew back, find my anchor, centered my chi, and released the arrow.... Straight into the cactus I was trying to miss. (After the fact, I realized I was so concerned about hitting the cactus that I stared straight at it... No wonder I hit it. Oh well.)

The pig I missed jumped to it's left and took off straight toward Ryan and between the two of us. The pig paused for a moment directly between us, we couldn't shoot. It was less than 10 yards from Ryan, but never gave us a safe shot opportunity.

We tried to get close to the rest of the herd while they were still confused but they weren't sticking around to see what the commotion was about. So we walked back up to our packs, debriefed the encounter, laughed at how lucky that pig was, and shot a few cactus to build up my confidence again. It was a fun encounter, one we had to cover ground quickly and work for. It felt good.

While I was putting my pack on Ryan walked away to take a leak. After he was done he said as he pointed down, "I supposed I'm going to have to run down there real quick and pick up that shed..." I looked down across the drainage and said, "I guess you should."

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We weren't planning on going deeper into the pit, but I guess it was meant to be. We grabbed the shed and walked up the ridgeline to get a better vantage point and take a lunch break. To our surprise, we immediately spotted a large herd of pigs feeding on top of the adjacent ridge... deeper into the pit, but only 600 yards away.

We devised a quick plan and started making our move. When we were 200 yards out, for reasons unknown to us, the pigs grouped up and beelined straight away from us. We stood and watched as the herd crossed drainage after drainage after drainage. For whatever reason, they were motivated to get out of there. They eventually stopped on the opposite side of the pit, and started to settle down.

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They were a LONG ways away by this point, and we debated for a moment whether or not to even go after them. We ultimately decided if we were going to go after them, we had to do it now.

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We grabbed a quick bite of food, and started making our way down to the herd. They were bedded and feeding on a steep, south facing slope, thick with prickly pear, oak scrub, and cat-claw. Getting close was going to be... fun.

When we got to the hillside, almost an hour later, we found it to be A LOT steeper than we initially thought it would be. We'd have to come at the pigs from above; side-hilling wasn't feasible. The only feature we could see to help point is in the right direction was a lone, dead-standing juniper. The herd was somewhere below it.

It didn't take long to start hearing the group of pigs fighting, rustling around in the brush, and making all of the standard pig sounds. It was looking good... except for the fact we couldn't see ANYTHING. We moved as close as possible and stood in wait on the only small openings we could find. Eventually one of the javelina would step out. We could see over a dozen pigs weaving through the thick vegetation within 20 yards of us, but there just weren't any shots.

Eventually, after what seemed like a half hour, one of the pigs spidey senses cued them off to our presence, and it started clicking it's cutters and grunting at us.... Me specifically.

It walked straight to me, and stopped and less than 5 yards behind a large prickly pear. No shot. All I could see was his beady little eyes staring at me through the brush. He wasn't happy that I ruined his nap, and grunted and clicked at me for a minute or so before he bolted to the bottom of the canyon.

He woke the rest of the herd up and they took off in all directions, but mostly down to the bottom. We moved down to where the opposite side of the canyon was only 30-40 yards away. Below us on both sides of the drainage was a cliff roughly 20 feet high, and the pigs were trying to climb the other side.

I don't know how we communicated it, whether through words or telepathy, but we decided to both shoot at the same time at the same pig on the other side.... We both grossly over estimated the distance and sailed the arrows over its back.

This caused massive chaos and pigs were exploding out of the canyon like ants. Target overload! One pig seemed to be stuck in a small patch of hardwoods at the bottom of the canyon, so I sent an arrow after it, but shot below it's belly. Ryan killed another rock with an arrow before the pigs were all out of range.

We looked at each other and laughed... What we thought might have been maybe a dozen javelina, turned into a group of at least 30... and they were all basically in a barrel at the bottom of the canyon. And we somehow missed them all.

A few moments passed by, as we badgered each other for missing some easy shots, when a piglet started squealing for help just on the other side of the canyon. I looked over at Ryan and said, "that might work out in our favor." No more than 20 seconds later 3 pigs came sprinting back to help.

One stopped within my range before I even had an arrow knocked. I fumbled one out of my quiver and rushed the shot... It wasn't even close...

But the pig ran closer to me as I drew my 2nd to last arrow. I knocked it, drew back, stared at my spot, and let 'er rip. The pig squealed and rolled down the cliff to the bottom of the drainage. There was blood everywhere....

I regret not taking a photo of the pig directly below me at the bottom of the cliff, but my brain captured that Kodak moment. I stood still, staring at the javelina 20 feet below me, reflecting on the hunt and the season.

In that moment, I felt a strange mix of frustration and joy. I was frustrated with myself, and I felt I could have practiced more and been better with my bow. But at the same time I was glad the hunt wasn't easy. It was a blast getting close to so many animals, and the misses tested me in ways my other hunts didn't. It was humbling, and I wouldn't change it for anything.

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***I am in no way trying to talk down about hunting with traditional equipment. I love doing it, and looking back on it a few days removed from the hunt, I can't wait to do it again. I admit my perception of my abilities was far better than reality, and I'll strive to perfect my skills as well as understand my limitations better before I take another shot at an animal. It was a humbling experience that I can build off of and learn from. It was also a TON OF FUN... something I often forget about in my pursuit of "success."


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I have loved following along with all of your experiences and success! Thank you for serving our country and helping us enjoy more of it as well.

God bless you and your families.


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