Hunt it on public

[Pucky Freak]

Hunting season - it's finally here! The theme of this year's hunt journal is "hunt it on public". As of today I have no private access, and I am excited to kick off many public land hunts including archery deer, shotgun deer, rifle deer, rifle elk, waterfowl, rabbits, squirrel, turkey, and dove. A special thanks to my wife, as always, for making this possible as she enters year 3 of full-time stay-at-home mom, and year two of homeschool teacher. She has even been suggesting a possible MT spring bear hunt + family camping trip in 2022. I can't thank her enough for her ongoing support and encouragement of a hunting lifestyle for our family.

Tonight my buddy and I scouted several dove plots and have a plan A-D for tomorrow afternoon. A lot of variation between areas, with the most birds found over burned wheat. I'm shooting extra full choke for a bit of extra challenge

 

[Gellar]

I’ll tag along! Good luck, be safe in your travels and adventures!

 

[duckhunt]

I will be following along, good luck this season.

 

[HighDesertSage]

Good Luck!

 

[Pucky Freak]

We hunted the afternoon. Most shots were 15-20 yards. I started 2 for 3, followed by a LONG stretch of misses, and then finished strong going 5/5. No wounded birds with the tight pattern, although a couple of the closer shots made for swiss cheese-looking doves

 

[Bullshot]

Not an expert but the butterfly looks like a pearl crescent or very similar species (northern crescent, etc).

 

[MN_Bowhunter4]

In for the season! Nice batch of doves on the opener. Keep em coming!

 

[duckhunt]

Great first hunt of the year.

 

[Crossbowguy]

nice!

 

[Cowboynjco]

You can do it

 

[TheBenHoyle]

Im always along for the ride. Good luck on all of your hunts.

 

[Pucky Freak]

I kept an archery practice journal this year, which has helped a lot in working on specific things. I have a lot of entries in spring and early summer but it has been 52 days since I've shot my bow. The last several weeks have been kind of a blur with my dad passing away in July. Tonight I shot 4 sets of 3 arrows at 40 yards, all at the center dot. 20 mph gusty crosswind.

First set, mistakenly used an old anchor


Second set, two errant shots


Third set, first arrow was errant


Fourth set, minute of dead!

 

[Bowmannate2000]

Is that a homemade target? Looks like it does a nice job.

 

[prhunter]

Following... good luck this season.

 

[Pucky Freak]

Is that a homemade target? Looks like it does a nice job.

Yes, it’s an old pillowtop mattress with the wire taken out, and stuffed with old clothes and plastic grocery sacks. Pretty redneck but can’t beat the $0 price

 

[Shangobango]

Yup, tagging along. Looking forward to seeing your season unfold.

 

[Pucky Freak]

Ostensibly looking for squirrels, we went on a nature hike for a couple hours, goofing around, and throwing rocks in the lake. We found a coon skull she asked if we could bring home and clean up, so we'll be doing a peroxide science experiment before too long.

 

[duckhunt]

Good times

 

[Pucky Freak]

I had this great idea to drag this:

Through here:

But I accidentally brushed the ladder on my elbow when hanging a stand...

I feel your pain, @HighDesertSage ! It didn't dawn on me until after I left, but if a stranger tries to hunt from one of the stands they are in for quite the surprise

 

[Pucky Freak]

The two stands are positioned at ravine heads in mature timber on opposite sides of a ridge. The NE spot had a lot of traffic last year and the SW spot is new. The target time to hunt these spots is mid-day during the rut when it's cold. I'm not using trail cams, so if I encounter a mature buck it will be my first time laying eyes on him.


A visitor when setting stands