Another Year of Memories Made

[WestKyHunt]

Starting as just another day during Kentucky's modern firearm deer season, ending with bloody hands, full coolers and big smiles!
Thanksgiving 2023 is one I'll store in the back of my mind.

I'm not the best storyteller and typing on a phone sure won't help, so please bear with me through errors and typos.



Having taken a very nice buck last year I went into this season with a mindset I've never experienced before. There was no anxiousness to fill a tag. Afterall there is near 5 months of season to shoot a doe or two.

We purchased a house in the summer that ended up needing much more work than initially anticipated. Two mortgage payments were made before we slept a night inside the home.
This ate into all of early bow season.

I did manage to get out during the two day early muzz and had some good action.
A couple does filtered into the uncut beans, along with some smaller bucks.
I had some intention of shooting a doe, but the perfect opportunity never aligned.. Once again, I'm in no hurry.



For whatever reason I have made a habit out of taking pictures of trees I'm hunting in. Here's mine from muzzleloader

 

[WestKyHunt]

During that muzzleloader hunt I had a small buck walk right under me in the saddle, then work a licking branch right in front of me.
Managed to get somewhat of a video.

 

[WestKyHunt]

At 9am my buddy Nathan (who will be key to the rest of this story) decided we would still hunt our way back to the vehicles.
There is a strip of timber 500 yards long and 100 yards wide that is parallel to the path back to the parking area. When conditions are right we'll sneak out through there in hopes of catching a deer or 2 in their bed.

This day had a perfect 10mph perpendicular wind coming through the strip.
We slowly snuck through stopping every so often. On these quick stops we'd take a knee behind a tree and glass ahead. Then Nathan would take out his rattlin' antlers while I used my 30yr old grunt tube that I "stole" from my uncle as a teenager.

The wind and noise cover from it was enough to dampen our walking, but also our calling.

There is a portion about halfway through this timber strip that was seemingly logged decades ago. The trees in there are not very large, but are just at the size where the super nasty ground cover is starting to fizzle out.
The combination results in cover thick enough for deer to feel comfortable bedding in while thin enough to still see and shoot through most areas.

 

[WestKyHunt]

Even though we felt our glassing stops were thorough, at some point we looked over 2 deer and jumped them out of their beds.
They only saw us, or part of us, since noise and smell were in our advantage.

We decide to fire up another calling/rattling sequence.
Then shortly after creep forward.
Suddenly, as if he materialized in front of us, a buck trots by to our right and doesn't see us until he is at our 3 o'clock.

He isn't a small guy, but once again I'm in no hurry and neither is Nathan this year.

I took a crappy video instead of raising the gun.

 

[WestKyHunt]

Opening weekend of Kentucky's modern firearm season finds me in Estes Park, CO.
Terrible dates to be gone, but I absolutely love the mountains.

Happiness levels seem to rise with the elevation.


We're here for a business trip, but I got to find a way to get outside. Even if just for a bit.
A stop by Walmart leaves me with a spinning rod and 2 baits. Purchased a one-day fishing license online and swung by the Big Thompson.

Fished several hours.
Nothing landed, but a couple good hits.

 

[WestKyHunt]

The following Saturday morning I managed to get back out in the woods on my own.

I sat a small field corner out of my saddle without much action the first hour.
I decided to put another layer on since I was getting little chilly.
after fighting my bino harness and vest i finally start to slip on my Jetstream.
As I'm pushing my hand through the last little bit of sleeve I spook 4 does that had come in silently behind me.
They didn't spook too hard, but went towards Nathan's stand.

I send Nathan a message and ask if it'd be dumb for me to try and sneak to his stand.
He pointed out that it had rained the evening before, and if the leaf litter was still dampen enough why not give it a try?

 

[WestKyHunt]

I gathered up my stuff and climbed down.

I started slowly sneaking towards the other stand. Stopping to attempt to glass every couple steps, preferably near larger trees.

Nathan's stand is located in a small valley along a shallow creek bottom, with two hilltops converging near by.

As I get to the edge of this valley I notice a yearling doe that is stock still, staring towards the stand. I look that way and see what I can tell is 2 deer, one chasing the other.
I'm 90% sure it is a buck chasing a doe.

Suddenly they are pushing towards me and a doe is 15yd in front of me. She looks my way, but before she can try and figure our what i am she starts getting pushed again.
At this point I'm starting to envision what sort of mature buck is pressing this doe.
Then a little buck that's forked on one side and kind of clubbed on the other pops up.... Definitely not what I was hoping for.
He gets a hard pass then continues to work the doe.

Meanwhile the yearling has walked off at some point. After the buck and doe are gone I take a moment to appreciate how close I had just been able to sneak up on these animals when the yearling appears again and starts walking right towards me.
She makes it to within 10ft of me before ever realizing I'm not her mama.
I let her bound away and quickly beat feet to the stand.
I am no sooner sitting down when a doe works in front of me being pushed by a button buck that thinks he rules the woods.
Another hard pass.

As the night winds down I get to watch the button and funky buck "fight" and a couple more deer move around out of clear sight.

 

[WestKyHunt]

The next morning was Kentucky's second annual Veteran's duck season.
Me and Nathan went out to a new spot a buddy of his had told us about that neither of us had ever been to before. I'm not usually fond of doing this, but have had absolutely terrible luck at picking out spots to duck hunt.

We arrived way ahead of shooting time knowing we were not exactly sure where the marked pin was.
This place is on a WMA that requires you to hunt within a set amount of yards from a state marked pin.
In the dark we couldn't find the pin anywhere.
Frustration was rising when we hear a boat motor fire up.
F#@&
The motor gets closer and eventually we see the boat.
A lone driver was at the helm and proceeds to ask where we were setting up, in a noticeably confused tone.
Nathan and I look at each other and simultaneously announce "we don't have a clue".

The stranger states he is hunting a blind ~100yards away and will be by himself.
He offered for us to join him if we wanted.

He had a fancy mud motor and was wearing $2k worth of sitka gear.

We accepted the offer and did quick introductions as we loaded our stuff in his boat.

 

[WestKyHunt]

The blind was not what I originally had expected. Someone had gone through the trouble (and I mean trouble) to bring a floating blind back into this oxbow.
A boat hide was lean-too'ed off the back.
After dropping decoys quickly we pulled up and got into the blind.
There were battery operated lights and bar stool chairs awaiting us.

Hopes were high as Nathan's buddy had scouted a couple days prior and our new friend had the night before. We were concerned that we had not jumped any ducks setting up. This concern was fortuitous.
At first light some woodies would randomly fly by out of range. Hardly any big ducks seen.
We did work a flock of gadwalls that circled 10 times before deciding to land behind us in brush too thick to shoot through.

While this was not the morning we had hoped it would be, we were all okay with it. Comradering was quickly formed with our new blind partner.
We spent the morning swapping stories and showing pictures of past hunts.
Back at the trucks we shared venison summer sausage Nathan had smoked the night before as we shared contact info.

I most definitely do not kill many ducks each year, but have been grateful to make several new friends that I never would have otherwise.