Viking's 09 hunting diary

[Austrian Hunter]

  don't tell me that the rut is past its peak I be there Saturday.    

[EastWaViking]

They'll still be rutting, just not as hard as a few days ago.  I think the peak was the 24th this year.

[Ridgerunner]

seen the 6x6 lately?  That was a dandy buck.  Hope you get another crack at him.

[EastWaViking]

seen the 6x6 lately?  That was a dandy buck.  Hope you get another crack at him.

I can't say for sure the biggest buck I saw on the 25th wasn't him.  It was big and had lots of points.  I hope to be able to tell you for sure in a day or two! 

[EastWaViking]

Day 27 - little bucks taste better.

I got up early and left the in-laws.  Got home and washed my camo.  Jeff called and said he got his buck today!  He said now you got to get yours so we can go find an elk.  I headed into the woods at 1pm and still hunted until almost 3 without seeing anything.  I climbed into my tree stand which is in  between three different trails that make a triangle around it.  I barely sat down and I heard a little twig break.  I looked and here came a small buck.  I could see him through the trees and drew my bow back and waited for him to come out into the clear at about 25 yards, when he did he was hard quartering away from me... no shot.  I held the draw as long as I could hoping he would stop and turn broadside but he didn't.  Finally I had to let the bow down.  He spooked a little when I did and jumped behind some small trees.  He waited for a few seconds then decided to cut around in front of me through the brush.  There was one small opening ahead of him, I drew again just before he stepped out into the clear, when he did I made a little grunt sound to stop him.  He stopped and looked at me, I put my 20 yard pin behind his shoulder and released the arrow.  I saw it disappear right behind his shoulder, he spun and ran.  I watched him until he went out of sight about 50 yards away, then a couple seconds later I heard him crash....deer season 09 is done.   
A small buck after passing up many big bucks in early season, but I lost access to my best late hunting grounds this year and was hunting a 30 acre wood lot, I'm happy with the clean kill and the tenderloin we will be having for dinner tonight.  Now I'll spend a couple days looking for an elk!   

[huntnphool]

Well done

[NWBREW]

Congrats...sounds like you got the most out of deer season this year.

[EastWaViking]

day 28  Scouting

Spent the day Monday scouting for elk, saw some old tracks and moose tracks. 

[EastWaViking]

Day 29 Turkey Hunting

There are two types of land owners, the ones who love turkeys and think they are their pets, and the ones who are so tired of them eating everything they want them all gone.   I asked around and found a turkey hater.
They had about 40 turkeys in their field so I cut into the woods and snuck down towards them,  By the time I got down to where they were, they were further out in the field.  I went back up and clear around to the other side of the property and came at them from that direction.  I was able to get close to the birds, but now I was contending with  the land owners horses who thought I was in their field to play with them.  I was just about ready to shoot when a horse decided to take off and run through the birds... off they went to the woods.  I hurried up the field to get above the birds and cut into the woods to circle around towards them.  After a few minutes I found the birds, I could see a few heads and necks sticking above a log near the top of a ridge.  I ranged them at 26 yards.  I stood there hoping they would go back to feeding or start to move so I could make a stalk, finally most of them did...except one tom who kept watching me.  Finally he put his head down so I crouched down and took one more step then pulled the bow back and slowly stood back up.  He was again watching me with his neck stretched out, all I could see was his head and neck so I thought "pretend he is a quail"  I put my 20 yard pin on his head and my thirty yard pin at the base of his neck, right where  it went behind the log, and fired.  Shave and a haircut... but no bird.  He jumped a few feet and stood there.  The rest of the birds started to move out and he did too, he was not injured just missing a couple feathers.  When they went out of site I hurried up to the top of the ridge in time to see them go behind a slash pile so I ran to it and looked around the corner.  There they were at about thirty yards, I drew and picked a bird that was closest with no birds behind it put my thirty yards pin on the center of it's body and shot...I saw the yellow fletching disappear right where I was aiming.  Got him!   Very fun morning hunt...actually more satisfying than my buck this year.  I'm going to clean him and then take my pup down through the creek to see if we can find a pheasant!

[Pathfinder101]

Cool thread Viking.  Don't know how I missed thie earlier.  Looks like a good year so far...

[shoot-em-dead]

Very cool thread. Keep livin the dream.

[EastWaViking]

Day 30 a good workout

Jeff and I went out looking for elk today.  We parked at the road closure and started hiking. We hiked about 9 miles, which isn't bad, but most of it was up hill and in a foot of snow.   We saw some elk sign, lots of moose sign, four moose, twelve turkeys, and no elk.  We had a great time, saw some new country, and are tired! 

[bearpaw]

Viking, I just looked at your thread, looks like you had a great season, very nice photos, and you did a great job with the kids, they are very lucky indeed....

[EastWaViking]

Thanks bearpaw, one correction though... not "had a great season"  it's still going on!!!

[Clipboard guy]

Nice Day, great scenery, sore feet, good company... living the dream!