Just when you think you’ve got it figured out

[RyGuy]

So dad drew a decent buck tag this year. It’s in an area we are super familiar with.

We spend lots of time in this area even when we don’t draw deer tags, and in turn I’ve found a lot of dead heads/sheds:



Hunting with my dear old dad is always an interesting experience. We’ve been hunting together since I could walk and so we can practically communicate without even speaking, and we often have great ideas to bounce off of each other. BUT he also has a bit of a temper…. Whereas I am usually the calm, level headed presence. Last time he drew this specific deer tag (4 years ago) we had a big argument because he was frustrated by how the hunt was going and he claimed “he’d never shoot another deer” and “he never has luck on his side” and “the universe is out to get him” blah blah blah… hopefully you can see he’s a bit dramatic! I was trying to say hey let’s stay positive, let’s keep after it. He wanted to go home. Well, approximately 12 hours later he killed this buck:



It’s pretty much all river bottom hunting for whitetails but we’ve also seen the occasional muley buck. Dad is always dead set on shooting a whitetail over a muley here even if the muley is bigger.

Based on years past our expectations were high. Dad joked about not shooting anything smaller than a Boone and Crockett whitetail. Yeah right! We both knew that was a lofty goal, but in all seriousness we believed going into this hunt that we had this area all figured out.

 

[Westelker]

So dad drew a decent buck tag this year. It’s in an area we are super familiar with.

We spend lots of time in this area even when we don’t draw deer tags, and in turn I’ve found a lot of dead heads/sheds:

View attachment 304737

Hunting with my dear old dad is always an interesting experience. We’ve been hunting together since I could walk and so we can practically communicate without even speaking, and we often have great ideas to bounce off of each other. BUT he also has a bit of a temper…. Whereas I am usually the calm, level headed presence. Last time he drew this specific deer tag (4 years ago) we had a big argument because he was frustrated by how the hunt was going and he claimed “he’d never shoot another deer” and “he never has luck on his side” and “the universe is out to get him” blah blah blah… hopefully you can see he’s a bit dramatic! I was trying to say hey let’s stay positive, let’s keep after it. He wanted to go home. Well, approximately 12 hours later he killed this buck:

View attachment 304738

It’s pretty much all river bottom hunting for whitetails but we’ve also seen the occasional muley buck. Dad is always dead set on shooting a whitetail over a muley here even if the muley is bigger.

Based on years past our expectations were high. Dad joked about not shooting anything smaller than a Boone and Crockett whitetail. Yeah right! We both knew that was a lofty goal, but in all seriousness we believed going into this hunt that we had this area all figured out.

Great job reining in your old man! Sounds a bit familiar! He needs to start listening to you and perhaps realize it's time you lead the hunts.

 

[RyGuy]

Preseason:
Dad went out to set two tree stands at the south end of the primary piece of public we’d be hunting. It’s a pretty long walk in there, and on his way he ran into 3 groups of guys.
They all were accessing the public via their private land, stopped to talk to him and informed him that there were definitely NO DEER down in the direction he was heading.
That’s odd, we’ve always seen the most deer at that end of the property…

When he told me the story it honestly got me excited I was thinking there must definitely be some big bucks down there.
I also wondered, are you allowed to access these pieces of public from anywhere? I swear I’ve seen signs that say “all access to this property is from designated parking areas only”.
I called the game warden, just out of curiosity, because there are some places I’d like to access without dealing with the specific parking lots. He informed me that that rule is strictly enforced EXCEPT when it comes to private landowners.
Seems unfair to me… but hey I don’t make the rules

Dad got the stands hung where he wanted and we were feeling ready for season!

 

[Pahoundsman]

Following

 

[RyGuy]

Morning 1:

We planned to meet at the parking lot at 5 am since we had a couple mile hike to get down to the far south end of the property. I arrived at 4:45 and meet a nice guy already there loading up to hunt.

We chat and it turns out we’re hunting the same deer. He has a stand on the East side of the river, ours is on the west side but both of us will be watching thick cover on the west side where the deer often bed. We should be able to stay out of each other’s way. He heads in.

Dad arrives a little after 5, we get loaded up and hike in. This is one of my favorite parts of hunting. It’s dark, but there’s a bright moon and once your eyes adjust it’s almost like walking in the daytime. It’s cold, maybe 20 degrees and still. So still, so quiet, so peaceful. All you can hear is our footfalls on the frosty leaves beneath.

We hoof it a couple miles from the parking lot and come to our river crossing. The crossing was uneventful. We’ve got some packable waders which are SO much nicer than using trash bags like we have in the past.

We made it over the tree and dad climbed up. I just sat at the base of the tree because I figured less movement for deer to see up there. I didn’t have much of a view since the understory is so thick.



Time is slowly ticking by, then I hear a click, that sounded like a safety clicking off! I look up, he’s raising the rifle. This is it! It’s gonna happen, on the first morning.

Oh wait, he’s just scratching his butt. Damn! I was so convinced he was about to pull the trigger on a big old buck. This happens about 3 more times and every time my heart skips a beat and I’m convinced it’s happening, but no deer is harmed.

He climbs out of the stand and tells me he saw a group of 5 does walk by at 60 yards at around 7:10. I had no clue they were even there. We start making a plan for mid day.

 

[Westelker]

Those guys saying, "no deer" in a section is a dead give away that there are deer in that section.

 

[RyGuy]

Mid-day/evening 1:

Another strategy we’ve had success with in this area is doing deer drives. Since there’s only 2 of us we have to drive small areas of cover, but in years past we’ve had good success and the blocker is usually in a position to get a shot at deer about 50% of the drives. Well, that was NOT the case this year. I won’t bore you all with the details, but day 1 we did a lot of walking and dad only caught a glimpse of 1 deer.
As the afternoon wore on we decided to do one last drive on an island that almost always holds deer. Dad heads off, I give him plenty of time to get in position, and then I start pushing through the cover. I’m seeing lots of fresh sign and expecting to hear a shot at any moment.
Nothing. I reach the end of the island and I’m looking around but not seeing dad. Wtf he should be right here? I then spot him, 100 yards off to the East facing the wrong direction we discussed the cover I’d be pushing through and the possible escape routes and I guess we were on different pages because there was no chance he would’ve seen anything, even if there was 30 deer on this island.
Oh well. Time to find somewhere to sit for the evening. We start walking into the wind and find a good stand of cover. I say, hey let’s watch this spot. Dad says no, and that he already walked through there. What? When? Why?
Well now you’ve got to understand that dad is a bit paranoid at times… you could say that his paranoia has been thoroughly “baked” into his brain over the years.
He then proceeds to tell me about how he saw a truck in one of the parking areas while he was looping around the island. For some reason he thought they were following him and trying to “steal” his hunting spots. So he raced off through the woods and took some crazy roundabout path to get to the spot he sat. And raced through a bunch of good deer bedding areas. I just busted out laughing! I wish I had a tinfoil hat for him at times like this.
We found a tree to climb into and sat that evening but didn’t see a thing.

 

[44hunter45]

Great thread. Circle of life stuff.

Fun to see this from what must be like my own sons' perspective when hunting with the old man. Enjoy every minute of the craziness.

My dad and I had that level of unspoken communication, but when it went sideways, it was of course because I had got it wrong or screwed it up. Never because he changed the plan mid-hunt or never really had a plan. I would give anything for one more day in the woods with him.

 

[RyGuy]

Day 2:
We sat the South end in the morning again. The wind was swirling, so we saw nothing.
Again we spent the whole day doing drives and didn’t see a single deer.
I did find this fence post that has been absolutely rubbed like crazy:

Kinda cool.
We sat in a tree in the evening overlooking some bedding cover but once again we didn’t see a thing.

 

[RyGuy]

Great thread. Circle of life stuff.

Fun to see this from what must be like my own sons' perspective when hunting with the old man. Enjoy every minute of the craziness.

My dad and I had that level of unspoken communication, but when it went sideways, it was of course because I had got it wrong or screwed it up. Never because he changed the plan mid-hunt or never really had a plan. I would give anything for one more day in the woods with him.

Yes, I get so frustrated with him when things go sideways, but I know that these are the good ol’ days of hunting together. I do my best to enjoy every moment and just laugh at the crazy stuff.

 

[Westelker]

Just gota take it in stride! Try to cherish the time together. Next time, if it appropriate, recommend a plan, but make it so your dad thinks it's his idea. When my brother an I hunted with my dad, he of course, was always right; then as we got older and my dad really got older we would just plant him at a good elk blind. The problem with that set-up... my dad couldn't sit still and be quite or he'd light up a camel and chase everything away within five miles. We never had a chance with good Ole dad, but now we laugh about it and since then have been quite successful in our hunts. Just try and enjoy your time with your dad while he's still with you!

 

[rtraverdavis]

Enjoying this a bunch, and excited to read the outcome. Keep it coming!

 

[fmnjr]

Great stuff, this hits home. Not sure really how much time the boy and I have left to hunt together.

 

[Westelker]

Great stuff, this hits home. Not sure really how much time the boy and I have left to hunt together.

Just try and put yourself in his position and improvise as you go. My older brother keeps telling me, "we'll be in his position in a few years."
We all just have take in stride and think positive.

 

[Westelker]

Ryeguy...did you go back to the south end where the groups of guys said there were no deer? Any update?

 

[RyGuy]

@Westelker - W. Colorado
Sorry I’m a slow typer and it’s hard to find time to write out a hunting story when you’ve got a 1 year old wanting to play every waking moment!

 

[RyGuy]

Morning 3:
We decide to try something new. We haven’t been to the north end of the property yet. We check OnX and find a promising looking funnel in the trees. We head out in the dark and ease our way through the frozen grass. We find a nice tree with enough room for us both to sit, and climb up.
As it slowly gets lighter out we can see a mix of cottonwoods and chest high grass/weeds in every direction. Im facing one way, dad the other, both scanning with our binoculars. About 10 minutes after shooting light dad taps me on the shoulder, “doe”. I look over and throw up my binoculars just in case. It’s a buck!! At 40 yards just easing his way along from left to right. “He’s a buck!” I whisper. Dad quickly grabs his rifle

 

[D-Mac]

So much suspense!! Lol

 

[Westelker]

Morning 3:
We decide to try something new. We haven’t been to the north end of the property yet. We check OnX and find a promising looking funnel in the trees. We head out in the dark and ease our way through the frozen grass. We find a nice tree with enough room for us both to sit, and climb up.
As it slowly gets lighter out we can see a mix of cottonwoods and chest high grass/weeds in every direction. Im facing one way, dad the other, both scanning with our binoculars. About 10 minutes after shooting light dad taps me on the shoulder, “doe”. I look over and throw up my binoculars just in case. It’s a buck!! At 40 yards just easing his way along from left to right. “He’s a buck!” I whisper. Dad quickly grabs his rifle

I hope your dad has a bullet in the gun!

 

[grizzly63]

It keeps me hanging on?