Congrats! I don't mean this in a derogatory way but after 60 deer, why wouldn't you wait for something that had a little more age behind it? Just curious. I also hunt Michigan and I have a hard time understanding why we do the things that we do.
Jeffrey - great question, one I ask myself from time to time. I guess it boils down to priorities. For me it's more important to 'get a deer, any deer' rather than 'get a big/old/mature deer.' This is especially the case at the beginning of deer season. Once there's venison in the freezer even I get a bit more picky. In fact, I passed several shots at small deer on state land this past season. Also, where this small one was taken is a tiny chunk of land that a buddy let's me hunt - urban hunting on a micro level. The last few years I've gotten plenty of pics in Aug and Sept, including some nice bucks. Every year they disappear toward the end of Sept and into Oct. While I'm scent-conscious and try to limit my pre-season visits to pull camera cards and the number of times I hunt there It could very well be the case that I'm putting to much pressure on it. Maybe I should hold off on hunting this spot until the rut. In any case, I only saw 3 deer from this spot this year (the 3rd one was a very nice doe I whacked in late Dec.) This year I heard of a guy in Wisconsin, Dan Infalt, who focuses on mature bucks on, primarily, public land swamps. A good bit of my hunting is on state land west of Chelsea, where there are plenty of swamps. After listening to many of Infalt's podcasts and watching some videos I started applying his tactics. It was quite educational and I plan to continue it next year. The thought of getting a big deer out of the swamp is not very pleasant - it was hard enough 20-30 years ago when I was a young man in my 30s-40's! I know that the yearling bucks are the dumbest deer in the woods and the easiest to kill since they've been kicked out by mom and are trying to establish their own territory. But it's still exciting, to me anyway, to have a deer, even a yearling buck, in archery range. When that excitement wears away maybe I'll exclusively target older, mature deer. Another thing that's crept into my thinking the last few years is, "..this might be the last deer I ever shoot.." I'm in my early 60s and really expect to be hunting for another 10 years - but you never know. Having that thought in my mind doesn't help the life expectancy young deer that come within range! This response is probably way too long - sorry about that. Good luck. With snow on the ground it's time to keep scouting for next year's hunt.
Could be. Sure tasted good and no regrets. Believe it or not, I still get excited at a deer like this, which, I admit (and said in the earlier post) is the dumbest critter in the woods. In a certain way I hope this excitement never wanes since I probably only have 7 or 8 more deer seasons left and want to enjoy everyone to the fullest. Have a Blessed Easter and good luck next deer season. My mind is now shifted full-time to some Detroit River Walleye.
Great video,great memories. Thanks for letting us be a part of it.
thanks for sharing .keep hunting n sharing
Congrats! I don't mean this in a derogatory way but after 60 deer, why wouldn't you wait for something that had a little more age behind it? Just curious. I also hunt Michigan and I have a hard time understanding why we do the things that we do.
Jeffrey - great question, one I ask myself from time to time. I guess it boils down to priorities. For me it's more important to 'get a deer, any deer' rather than 'get a big/old/mature deer.' This is especially the case at the beginning of deer season. Once there's venison in the freezer even I get a bit more picky. In fact, I passed several shots at small deer on state land this past season. Also, where this small one was taken is a tiny chunk of land that a buddy let's me hunt - urban hunting on a micro level. The last few years I've gotten plenty of pics in Aug and Sept, including some nice bucks. Every year they disappear toward the end of Sept and into Oct. While I'm scent-conscious and try to limit my pre-season visits to pull camera cards and the number of times I hunt there It could very well be the case that I'm putting to much pressure on it. Maybe I should hold off on hunting this spot until the rut. In any case, I only saw 3 deer from this spot this year (the 3rd one was a very nice doe I whacked in late Dec.) This year I heard of a guy in Wisconsin, Dan Infalt, who focuses on mature bucks on, primarily, public land swamps. A good bit of my hunting is on state land west of Chelsea, where there are plenty of swamps. After listening to many of Infalt's podcasts and watching some videos I started applying his tactics. It was quite educational and I plan to continue it next year. The thought of getting a big deer out of the swamp is not very pleasant - it was hard enough 20-30 years ago when I was a young man in my 30s-40's! I know that the yearling bucks are the dumbest deer in the woods and the easiest to kill since they've been kicked out by mom and are trying to establish their own territory. But it's still exciting, to me anyway, to have a deer, even a yearling buck, in archery range. When that excitement wears away maybe I'll exclusively target older, mature deer. Another thing that's crept into my thinking the last few years is, "..this might be the last deer I ever shoot.." I'm in my early 60s and really expect to be hunting for another 10 years - but you never know. Having that thought in my mind doesn't help the life expectancy young deer that come within range! This response is probably way too long - sorry about that. Good luck. With snow on the ground it's time to keep scouting for next year's hunt.
Because 0 patience.
Could be. Sure tasted good and no regrets. Believe it or not, I still get excited at a deer like this, which, I admit (and said in the earlier post) is the dumbest critter in the woods. In a certain way I hope this excitement never wanes since I probably only have 7 or 8 more deer seasons left and want to enjoy everyone to the fullest. Have a Blessed Easter and good luck next deer season. My mind is now shifted full-time to some Detroit River Walleye.
...i like that bumper music, nice guitar work.
I know the guy who wrote, played all the instruments and sang it. He's amazing.
IS THAT RABBIT TOBACCO ?
God bless and keep it going, great video
John Eggenberger...do you belong to Michigan Crossbow Hunters on Facebook?
Hadn't heard of it, will ck it out.
Congrats on your buck !
nice "scope-bite". ouch. knock on wood, that's never happened to me so far.
As soon as I rrad Crossbow and Michigan I knew it was going to be tinny.
Congrats!
Good job. I just SLOCKED a nice doe last night myself, FREEZER MEAT SECURED!
Sweet video man!!!
Nice job!