| DEER HUNTING REPORTS 2002 pg.3 |
| Dec. 2-8, 2002-GUN SEASON MONDAY Two of my brother-n laws, Craig and Doug, and myself went down to Hocking Co. and hunted until noon Wednesday. The weather ranged from the mid teens at night to the mid 30's on Monday and into the mid 20's on Tues. and Wed. On opening morning Doug had 4 deer, including a buck, go behind him on a trail and they didn't offer him a shot. He said that he had just moved down the hill to get out of the wind and that if he had stayed put he might have had a shot. Craig and I didn't see a deer all morning. Opening morning was quiet with hardly any shooting heard around the adjoining properties. That afternoon I had 6 or 7 deer cross a head of a ravine below me. They came single file and I was waiting to see if there was a buck among them. One by one they passed, just 40 yards below me. The first one was a big doe, then a couple little ones then another small doe or two. I then noticed that there was a straggler bringing up the rear. When it came into view it was a buck, but he was a young one. I didn't shoot. Craig hunted out of his tree stand in the afternoon. Just before quitting time he thought he heard some deer moving down below him. Soon he heard Doug shoot across the ravine from him. Doug said that he shot and missed a buck that was in a group of about 8 deer that came across the lower trail above the summer campsite. TUESDAY Doug and I climbed the steep Outhouse trail on the Lindsey side of the hill on Tuesday morning while Craig slept in due to a case of "Montezuma's Revenge". Doug stuck it out until around 10:30 and headed back to the house. He didn't see any deer movement all morning. After a couple of hours of fighting the frigid temps I decided to walk and stalk for a while. As I slipped along the hillside above the landowner's house and a pine grove I saw the white tails of a couple deer running away. It was very crunchy sounding when you stepped on the mat of freeze-dried leaves, which made it hard to be stealthy. Any deer would hear you coming. As I continued along the hillside I would take a few steps, then stop and listen. About half way around the hill during one of my pauses I thought I heard a ticking sound way off and up high to my right. The hill slopped down to my right so I wrote the sound off as just leaves in the trees blowing in the slight breeze. I continued along the hillside for another 50 yards or so when I heard the noise again. I stopped and listened but I didn't hear the ticking sound again. After a few more walk and pauses I heard the noise again. This time the sound seemed like it was coming from high up on the next ridge to my right. As stood there listening the sounds seemed like they were getting lower and lower. I then realized that it was either deer or turkeys running down the end of the ridge and that if they continued they would cross the landowner's front yard and come up the hill right to me! I stood there for a moment and the sounds stopped. I figure that they were now crossing the yard and I would be unable to hear them until they reached the hillside below me. Soon I heard crunching sounds in the leaves. They were coming up the hill right towards me! At this time I still didn't know weather or not if it was deer or turkeys. The noise was so spread out that I thought it was about 20 or so turkeys scattered about the hillside. Soon I spotted movement. It was deer! The lead deer was a big doe followed by a few smaller ones. They would come up the hill towards me and then turn to my right about 40-50 yards below me. I had 5 or 6 deer go by me and I could still hear more coming. I was waiting for a buck to show up. Finally after a few more deer passed a buck appeared. When he came into range I grunted a couple times with my voice to make him stop. When he did I fired, and missed ! Most of the deer paused at the sound of the shot then went on their way. A few seconds later another buck showed up and stopped broadside in clear view about 40 yards away, offering a perfect shot. But he was a small 4 pointer and I let him go. In the afternoon about 7 of us set up a drive. Craig and I walked east along the south side of the ridge while the neighbor, Tom, walked the north side. The others were positioned along the saddles and ravine heads near the top of the ridge. About midpoint in our drive I spotted a few deer moving up ahead of Craig who was walking the lower part of the ridge. They were moving along the lower trail and out of sight of Craig. I thought that it was just a matter of time that these deer would eventually end up moving in front of one of the standers in one of the ravine heads. As it worked out Craig did not walk the lower hillside where the deer were last seen. He elected to walk the bottom below the ridge where he ran into the landowner. I could hear him talking down below me. As I walked up to the next ravine head I saw Doug who was sitting and looking down the ravine. Well as it turned out the deer ended up between him and Craig who was now down at the bottom of the ravine. Craig later said that he could see the deer above him but he couldn't get a shot. The deer turned and backtracked and slipped between Craig and I, so I was told, and I didn't see them! WEDNESDAY Wednesday morning Craig hunted the lower trail where we encountered deer the afternoon before while I hunted the east end of the ridge. Around 9:30 I walked the area above the house hoping to push deer towards Craig. When I met up with Craig we both reported that we didn't see any deer movement all morning. We were about ready to call it a day and pack up for home when Craig said that he would walk a the hillside above the campsite to warm up. He told me to go up ahead of him along the bottom of the ridge to see if any deer would move my way. About a half-hour after I was in position I heard a couple of shots coming from the hillside that Craig was walking. After about 20 minutes he finally showed up and informed me that he jumped a few deer and shot at one and missed then shot at another one and that he was sure he hit it. He heard it run off and said that it sounded like it fell just around the hill, out of site. He decided he would let the deer lay and continue on with the one-man drive then get me and we would both go find the deer. As we both headed back up the hill I told Craig that I would walk over towards the edge of the ravine where I could see a lot of the hillside that the deer was supposed to be on. Craig would head to the spot of the shot and pick up the trail. As soon as I walked to the edge of the ravine I spotted his deer. It was lying just above the ravine head. Another 20 foot and it would have been down in the deep ravine and it would have been one hell of a job getting it out. It turned out to be a young button buck. THURSDAY Thursday evening I went out to Greene Co. and saw a few does and yearlings but I wasn't able to get a shot. It snowed over night and I only saw a few tracks in the beanfield. FRIDAY Friday morning I went back out to Greene again and didn't see a deer. SATURDAY Piff and I went down to Scioto Co.to hunt Saturday and Sunday. Saturday Piff took his usual position by the pond and saw 4 or 5 does and a buck out of range. I didn't see a thing. SUNDAY Sunday was the last day of gun season. Again Piff went to his usual spot by the pond while I stood up on the wooded hillside overlooking the pasture. The hillside is covered with greenbriar and is a favorite spot for deer to bed. About 8:30 I noticed about 6-7 does and yearlings below me grazing in the pasture just below the treeline. A little while later they seemed to be headed to the hillside below me and to my left. I figured that they were going to bed down. I then decided that I would hold my position on the top of the hill and wait for Piff to come by below when he was finished hunting for the morning. I thought that the bedded deer might come up and over the hill when they spotted Piff. The trouble was that we didn't specify a particular time that we would call it a morning and meet up. At 10:30 I crept just off of the top of the hill to the edge of the greenbriar. I stood there for about ten minutes when I heard something over my right shoulder. When I turned to look I saw 2 little deer get up out of a patch of greenbriar and slip down the hill. A minute or so later I could see ears moving above the greenbriar and they were headed right to where Piff was supposed to be. A short time later I heard Piff shoot once. I held my position hoping that the deer would come my way, but they didn't. I then continued through the greenbriar anticipating that more deer would be bedded in the area. After traveling about 40 yards along the hillside a doe jumped up about 80 yards ahead of me and stopped. I fired a shot at her but missed. The doe then ran down the hill and across the pasture. I then worked my way back to Piff. As I approached him I noticed that he was looking down as if to find any evidence of a hit. He said that he shot at a big doe that was with 2 yearlings and that it ran up the hill right where he was standing. I asked him if he found any blood or hair. He said no. I then asked him if he was sure that he hit it. He replied that maybe he missed because he could find any sign. I then looked down at the ground next to his feet and saw blood everywhere! I asked him if he could see the blood on the leaves and snow and he said "where". I told him that he stood on a blood trail that even Ray Charles could follow! Piff is colorblind. The blood trail led to a ditch about 30 feet away. We followed it and found the big doe in the bottom. We field dressed it and went back and got the landowner to hauled it out with his tractor. (See picture). With only a few hours left in the gun season I went back out around 3:00 while Piff went to go play Santa Claus at the landowner's company picnic. While talking earlier to the landowner we found out that the hillside next to the pond (the one where we have been seeing all the deer since we first started hunted there last year) was his! I figure that I would spend the last few hours of the season checking out that hill for signs of deer. I thought that I would just climb the hill slowly and look around for possible treestand sights for next year. I slipped under the barbwire fence and began to slowly walk and stop as I climbed up the wooded hill. There were trails everywhere! When I got near the top a doe jumped up in front of me, and to my right, and went up to the top of the hill. I could see her head as she stopped and looked back my way. I then heard her stomp her feet, snort, and run off. I stood motionless for about 6-8 minutes then proceeded to slowly walk up the hill. When I was just about 20 feet from the top I heard a noise to my right and saw 2 deer standing about 75 yards away. One was broadside so I raised my sluggun and fired. It ran off crashing through the woods. I looked at my watch and it was 4:00, the season ends at 5:00! I waited about 10 minutes and then went to the spot where it was standing and found blood and hair. I followed the blood trail over the ridge for about 60 yards and found my deer. It was a young doe. I have been hunting hard since the first of November and I finally got one for the freezer. I have one more tag left; maybe I can get another one during the 3-day muzzleloader season at the end of the month. |
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