The 2019 - 2020 hunting season has come and past here in Maryland. I admit I was very bad about posting updates this past year. Between life, work, and just the sheer lack of time for both my hobbies and posting about them, I neglected updating our readers this past season.
This past season had some high's, low's , and even a little ugly but overall wasn't a bad season.
The season started out on a high note. One of my hunting buddies and I were able to obtain permission to bow hunt a small private piece of land close to home. I finally purchased my first Matthews Bow from Lancaster Archery before the season started. Generally speaking, the season had so much to look forward to and be excited about.
Then life came into play, I didn't even get out hunting until over a month into the season due life and work schedules, and some poor weather on the chances I did have. When I finally did get out I had some great fun on the couple of locations I have to hunt, lots of deer, and deer movement, and no monsters but some decent bucks.
I blew an opportunity at a mature doe the end of October. This was my own fault, not my new bow or anything else. I just plain blew the shot.
November I spent time in the woods, seeing deer, I let some smaller does walk, and spent my time waiting on a shot at a mature buck. I saw lots of deer, but no shots. Finally, mid-November I got a shot at a mature doe at 15 yards and was able to put some meat in the freezer. Perfect shot, she ran about 35 yards and that was the of the story. I was happy to have the meat and my buddy I was hunting with got a doe that morning as well, so it was a doe double header.
Then my next opportunity came, opening day of shot gun season I elected to hit the woods bow hunting. Good choice on my part, just after first light I had an 8 point buck that I had been after for about a month come across the hill hot on a doe. Problem was, the doe knew something wasn't right. She never winded me, and she never spooked, but she was super nervous and kept looking up right at me. So, I had to limit my movement and my opportunities for shots at the buck were not coming as easy as you would hope as he knew something wasn't right either but was focused on her. I spent the next hour playing cat and mouse as the buck did circles around me trying to get the doe whom was 15 - 30 yards from me the entire time. The buck during that hour stayed 40 - 70 yards away not giving me even a 40 yard shot which I likely would have taken. Finally, another smaller 3 point buck came chasing does from another area and gave this buck something else to think about. The doe now was at just 8 yards under my stand, she would look at me, and look at the buck as if she wasn't sure which was worse. She started to try to sneak up the hill and out of the thicket she was in and the 8 point made his move. He was walking broadside and presented me with a 36 yard shot. Not my ideal shot, but certainly in my comfort zone. I decided rather than risk him walking away this time, I would take the shot. I drew and he went on full alert, also less than ideal. I didn't like that fact, but he was acting like he was about to blow out of the woods and the doe was starting to stomp her feet as she had seen me draw my bow. So, I took the shot, the buck reacted to my shot and I quickly feared my shot didn't land where it was intended, but instead he had turned and it was slightly forward into the front shoulder. I watched him run across the hill and then start walking and looking like he was going to fall over. I had high hopes, but just because I had seen and felt like the shot was forward of where I was aiming I gave him an hour and half before I even got out of the my stand. During that time I watched the doe walk away, then get chased back across the hill by another smaller buck. I saw some fawns and small does eating. When I finally got down and started my search for my buck I was at first worried, as I found no hair, blood or any sign of my arrow. Then about 10 - 15 yards into following where I had watched him run off I started finding large amounts of blood. This continued first for 50 yards, then 150 yards, then 250 yards. I finally got worried he might still be alive even know I had been finding large amounts of steady blood. This being said I backed out and got some food and then went back on the trail. After 500+ yards of steady blood trail, I never saw the buck, never found my arrow, and in my 20+ years of hunting never seen a deer lose that much blood and still be on their feet. But he finally crossed over off the property I was hunting and on to other private land and then into many other smaller chunks of private land. I did the best I could to ask to look on the other land and drove around the roads that cut through the private property. I never found anymore blood after he crossed this field, no arrow, no deer, nothing.... I spent the entire afternoon and part of the next morning looking for that buck, but simply put just ran out of ways, permission, and ideas where he could be. I am not even sure how long he lived or how far he made it before he bedded in. Sadly, I never got any additional pictures of him so I do believe it was a fatal shot, just not one I could recover. I did everything in my ability to find that deer and made every effort to.
Simply, I know it's bow hunting and this can happen, to any of us, but it made me sick to lose a very respectable buck like that. I ended up taking the better part of December and part of January off from hunting because I was upset about it. I finally got back to it in mid January, as I still wanted some meat. I had decided to only take close shots and hopefully get my confidence back up. It wasn't until the last week of the season I was presented with another shot at a mature doe, 31 yards, perfect shot broadside and I made a good shot. She ran about 20 yards and I was able to put some meat in the freezer.
This season had some let downs, some exciting hunting, and I got to spend some great time in the woods with friends and family. I take the good parts and savor them, and try to learn from the pitfalls. Next year is a new season.
A couple of notes about last season since I didn't do much writing. The new Matthews Triax is amazing. I couldn't say more great things about it. It's smooth, fast, far better at grouping, and just plain fun to shoot.
Another note would be pictures of bucks this past season didn't happen much and the ones I did get were either summertime or during rut int he middle of the night. I got very few pictures this season of daytime rutting activity on our one piece of private land. The other we got lots of daytime pictures, but of the same 2 - 3 deer. There wasn't a ton of "new" rutting deer movement this past season.
I can tell you deer are finally starting to shed antlers as we hit the end of Match, so if you have private land to shed hunt on, please take this time and do so.
Finally, as I sit here and write this post we are dealing with a pandemic that has left many of us out of work, our kids stuck at home, limited outdoor activities are available as trout stocking has halted, lakes are closed to fishing, and most outdoor public parks etc. are closed to any type of activities including hiking. Grocery stores are empty and people are now learning what 6 feet apart means. A sad state for us as we deal with this health crisis. First and foremost, I wish each and everyone of our readers and their families to be safe and healthy. We are doing our part and encourage you to do the same. We hope this passes soon and we can get back to normal life, work, and enjoying our hobbies and the outdoors and we can think about this as a bad nightmare in the future.
Until then, be safe and healthy, and catch up on your outdoor tv shows!
