Deer Hunting, December 2007 Today I went out hunting for the first time. My buddy Tommy is a member of a hunting club, and he took me along with him to teach me how to hunt. The good news is, I didn't hurt myself or any other hunters. The bad news is I didn't get any deer. Here's the story: I woke up at 3:00 Thursday Morning and pulled together all my camo, guns and ammo. My wife (who insisted on waking up so she could mock my hunting outfit) made me a delicious lunch, and at 4:00 sharp, Tommy pulled up in front of my house with his Jeep Cherokee, and a trailer holding an ATV. We had some coffee on the way past little Rock down to Sheridan, and stopped off at a convenience store for some hot sandwiches and more coffee. Outside of waking up at this ridiculous hour, hunting was starting to look pretty good. You hung out with your friends and ate food. My kind of social activity. When we finally arrived at the forest area where we were to go hunting, we had to get out into the cold Arkansas morning (You might think Arkansas is always warm being right on top of Texas, but in the winter, it only gets warm once the sun has come out), ride in an ATV for a quarter mile, and then climb up into a little box 12 feet above the ground. (You can see the pictures below). The area we were hunting in was leased by a group of hunters on private property owned by a paper company. There was a small dirt access road that all the stands were set up on, and my stand was right on this dirt road (Access to the road was blocked by a gate, so motorists couldn't drive through this 300 acre area.) Tommy pointed down the road to my left and said "See that opening over yonder about a hundred feet? That's where the deer will cross, so keep your eyes open. You also might see them walking to the side of you in the woods over there, so keep your eyes open. From where I am, I'll be able to see the road and you, but you won't be able to see me" I asked Tommy exactly where he would be so I was sure I wouldn't be sending any bullets in his direction, and then climbed up into my box with it's cushioned office chair, loaded my gun, and then started looking. Tommy motored off to his location about a half mile away and we waited in the dark for the sun to start to rise. This part of the hunt was actually quite peaceful. It was dark and the stars were out. You got to see the first rays of light shining through the forest as the sun started peeking over the horizon. I kept my eyes open looking at the deer crossing point that had been pointed out to me, and turning to look through the woods behind me to make sure none were passing through that area. I heard a very soft buzzing sound, and picked up my phone. Tommy was calling me. "Hello?" I whispered into my phone? "Did you see those deer cross the road ahead of you" Tommy asked? "Uh, no." I responded softly. I was sure every deer in the forest could hear my conversation. "Well, keep your eyes open to the woods to the side of you, they may come out that way. There a path through the woods over there that they may follow" "OK" I said and hung up. As I understood it, my situation is this. A deer has crossed the road (how did he do that without me seeing him?) and is probably going to come out behind me any second. I have my gun at the ready and I am focused on those woods intently. I see squirrels, I see chipmunks, I see birds, but not a single… Buzz buzz buzz. "Hello?" I asked again. "Did you see those two deer cross the road?" Tommy asked again. "Uh, no." (Boy, do I feel like an idiot.) "I was looking in the woods". "Keep your eyes open everywhere." Tommy advised and hung up. My situation appears to have changed. I can't see the dear that have already crossed the clearing, but apparently I have a deer superhighway up the road from me. I'm going to have to keep my eyes peeled on that intersection to make sure no others get by me. Of course, at this point, I'm sure the deer are all calling their buddies on their cell phones and reporting my position to each other. I can imagine they are saying "Look out for the guy in box one with the buzzing cell phone!" I put my rifle's scope on the intersection and prepared to blast the first deer that came into my sights. Actually, you really can't do that, you have to be careful when you hunt deer. There are rules as to exactly what kind of deer you can shoot and what they have to look like. If you shoot the wrong kind of deer I hear stories that the Arkansas Fish and Game people can be very severe, so I know I don't want to anger them. The state rule is that a buck has to have two points on each side of his antlers. The rule amongst the hunters that lease this land is that the bucks have to have three points on each side. I find the rules about the does confusing, so I'm hoping I get a shot at a buck. I have my scope's crosshair on the intersection and I wait. And wait. And wait. And wait. I'm fully focused through my scope for any movement and nothing's happening. It's then that I notice with my peripheral vision, that there's a brown lump in the middle of the road barely twenty five feet in front of me. "What's that?" I wondered. I look away from my scope and straight down, and I see a deer in the road. He's a little smaller than I expected a "shooter" to be, and even though it's daylight, it's hard to see his antlers. I thought I could see two points (which wasn't enough), but I wasn't sure, so I pointed my scope at him to see better and noticed that he had three points on each side. Just as I realized this, the deer trotted off into the woods. "Rats!" I thought. Buzz Buzz Buzz I picked up the phone "Well, that deer waited in the middle of the road for a minute and a half for you to shoot him." Tommy chuckled. I didn't see any other deer that morning, so we packed up and went home. When I saw Tommy Sunday at the Christadelphian Chapel, I asked him if he had caught any deer Friday or Saturday. "Nope" he responded "But the deer were asking for you. They must have felt safe with you around!" and let out a big laugh. So, that's why I have named this article "Looking for deer in all the wrong places" after the Willie Nelson song "looking for love in all the wrong places". I enjoyed the time hunting and maybe I'll be a little more successful next year...
Me dressed up for hunting.
This is the road I was hunting on. I was very beautiful once the sun came up and started warming things up.
This is a hunting stand. The purpose of these structures is that they are fixed to the ground and get you above deer eye level, so they don't immediately see you.
From behind. You can see a little ladder and one of the comforts of home (A padded seat).
My buddy Tommy. That's my Marlin 30-30 in front.
The location and plan for my deer hunting. |
