Ah, the taste of some good venison for dinner.

I was informed today by my domestic assistant (DA) that I was "in charge" of dinner.  What a great opportunity to have venison for dinner.  I pulled out a package of chops and steaks and let them thaw.  I took a stick of soft butter, lemon juice, and Cilantro and mixed them together and set it aside.  To prepare the rub for the meat: I took 3 tablespoons of A1 Steak Sauce, added a tablespoon of Ground Cayenne Red Pepper and half of tablespoon of Garlic Powder (I recommend more, and salt).  I rubbed this mixture into the steaks and chops and fried them on a skillet for about 3.5 - 4 minutes per side.  I served this dish to my family with Red Potato.  The butter mixture was for the warm, soft, tender venison.  It was delicious.  Both of my boys enjoyed the venison.  My wife scored it 8 of 10.  Success!   The only change I would make is to grill them, vs. frying them.

If I keep serving meals like this, the DA may authorize extended hunting trips.  All part of the master plan.  You see folks, It pays to have venison in the freezer, even if it means shooting the small ones.  Ha!

Please God, help me!

I have been getting a lot of slack about the deer I shot last weekend.  Let me tell you, I worked hard for that little doe.  Sure I dreamed of shooting a large buck with 12 or more points.  I even purchased an extra harvesters tag this year so that I could take a doe early and still hunt for that monster buck.  Sometimes you have to take what you can.  This especially was the case for me, since I have not taken a deer in six years.  And let me remind all of you, this is the first deer I have taken with a bow.  What an amazing accomplishment; and I have venison in the freezer to boot.

Ok, do you want to know the truth?  I made a deal with God.   While I was hunting this past weekend, I was reflecting upon my failed attempts to "stick" a deer.  I felt discouraged because I have not been seeing deer in the stand, and because the archery season is coming to an end.  I normally trust God's providence for my family and me.  However I felt that time was running out for this archery season and I needed divine intervention.  So I made a deal with God.  The deal was: if I shoot a deer on Saturday, I told God I would study hard and take the National Examination for Marriage and Family Therapy.   God came through with his end of the agreement.  It is time for me to come through with mine.

I studied for the exam a little bit last night.  I am finding that it is much more interesting reading about deer hunting and fishing than studying theories on individual and family psychopathology.  I am also coming to the realization that when it comes to passing the national examination, I will definitely need some divine intervention.   I better keep studying, and praying.  Lets see... What does the MN Board of Marriage and Family Therapy say about bartering again??

Die Hard Bowhunter!

I went hunting Saturday with my buddy Jimmy and his nephew Andy on some public land in Pine City, Minnesota.  It was the third weekend of firearms season.  Jimmy and Andy were both sporting their rifles and I had my PSE compound bow.  This is my third season of bow hunting, I had yet to take a deer with a bow.  My expectations were high, yet I was feeling discouraged by the unsuccessful hunting trips that preceded this one.  I thought my chances of taking a deer would improve if I hunted during rifle season, because it usually coincides with the rut.  This was my year to take a deer with my bow, I could feel it.  

The three of us arrived at the campsite in Pine City the night before.  Andy arrived first and set up camp.  He had a roaring fire waiting for us.  Jimmy brought up some cold beers.  We stayed up until about 11am, chatting about hunting, guns, cars, and various other topics.   Camping is normally tough for me on the first night, and this night was no exception.  It was very cold, and Andy snored like a disgruntled bear.  A few guys from South Eastern Minnesota set up camp at about 2-3am.  It was one of the longest sleepless nights that I can remember.  

Saturday morning came, eventually!  Jimmy and I immediately started our vehicles so that we can have some heat.  We quickly got our hunting gear ready and had some Blueberry Pop Tarts for breakfast.  We decided to hunt close to the camp site and hit the trails about 1/2 hour before sunrise.  Jimmy and Andy were able to find places to hang their stands.  I had a difficult time choosing a spot, and ended up posting in various places.  Neither of us saw a deer.  It was a cold, bitter morning.  I think all three of us eventually scouted around just to keep warm.  

We met up for a good brunch at 10-10:30am.  There was some interesting and fun pre-brunch activities.  Neighbor hunters had a big doe hanging on a tree in their camp site.  They hit it with their truck as they were driving up.  As they were sharing the story with us, one of them spotted a "big buck" swimming across the river.  Those guys all scrambled to grab their rifles and went chasing after it.  I'm assuming it was a fantom buck, because Jimmy, Andy and I didn't see a thing.   This prompted us to quickly cook our brunch so that we can get back to hunting.  The three of us had hash browns, eggs, and bacon for breakfast.  It was delicious.  

After lunch, I was itching to get back out there and hunt.  I still had not found a place to hang my stand.  Jimmy and Andy found a nice place to park, and took naps (slackers).  I spent a couple of hours lugging my portable tree stand around hoping to find the perfect spot.  I could not find many signs of deer activity and there were many hunters scattered throughout the woods.  I finally settled on a spot and hung my stand.  The picture above is the view I shot from my stand.  If you look closely, you can see a heavily trotted deer path just right of the tree in the center of the picture.  This path was one of the only signs I could find of recent deer activity, and I looked for hours.  Below is another view from the stand I hunted from, you can see the hiking bath that followed the stream.  My hope was that I could either see deer on this hiking path, or on the deer path that crossed the stream.

The afternoon hunt was tough.  I was so tired from the sleepless night before.  My eyes were very heavy and I kept getting down to walk so that I didn't doze off and fall out of my stand.  When I was walking, I bumped into two other deer hunters wandering around.  This with bothersome for me, but what can I do as we are on public land.  I felt pressure on all sides.  Andy was on one side, and two other hunters on the other.  As it got later, I returned to my stand to wait out the evening with feelings of pessimism and defeat.  As I was watching for deer, another hunter walk by me (smoking a cigarette I might add).  the wise words of the buck slayer (Jimmy) came to mind: "Don, you can't give up.  That deer can come at any moment!"  Jim had already bagged a 9 point buck this year, and a much larger buck two years ago.

About a half of an hour later, I saw this doe bouncing along towards me.  My heart began to race.  The deer walked down the deer trotted path, stopped for some water, and walked up the hill towards me.  As I began to draw my bow, my mittens (archery precision shooting mittens, that is) bumped my trigger release and I pre-maturely shot.  In disbelief I scrambled to re-nock another arrow.  Luckily the deer wasn't spooked.  The misfire caused her to pause long enough for me to reset, draw and shoot.  Perfect shot right in the cage.  She ran about ten yards and fell.  I had taken my first deer with a bow.  

Now I know a lot of you are laughing about the size of my deer.  It is about the size of a large dog.  Sure it doesn't have a huge rack.  I am still grateful for the yummy venison that I will have in my freezer.  When bow hunting this late in the season, you take what you can get.  And, don't tell my wife, I still have one more tag that I can fill by the end of December.   Anybody up for some late season buck hunting?

No deer in the old stand.

I went on a three day hunt with my buddy Jim last weekend.  We decided to hunt at my old stomping grounds near Brainerd, MN.  It is the place where I shot my first deer many years ago (a four point buck).  I have not hunted this spot in at least 12 years.  I knew it would be crawling with critters of all sorts.  I also knew that the weather was going to be nice, perfect for tenting.   So Thursday night, with our Resident Archery Deer licenses, Jim and I traveled up North to begin our hunting adventure.

We found the perfect camping spot.  It was a State Forest, so camping was free.  The tent went up quickly and we soon found ourselves crawling into our sleeping bags.  Both of us could hear critters moving around in the woods.   My imagination filled with visions of monster bucks as I drifted to sleep.

The first day (Friday) proved uneventful.  I did come across a fresh scrape and rub. This was exciting for me because I have been looking for signs of deer all morning and could not find any because the leaves were falling off of the trees.  The fallen leaves were covering the deer droppings and hoof prints.  They were also very crunchy, no doubt the deer could hear me coming from miles away.  I also found some permanent stands near the scrape and rub.  These stands were very useful for Jim and me, as we posted in them for the evening and morning hunts.  

Saturday Morning was beautiful.  It was 55 degrees and the wind was 5-10 MPH.  Perfect for the morning hunt.  Jim and I got to a late start (I set the alarm wrong), but we were able to get out to the stands and give the morning our best.  Unfortunately, neither of us saw anything.  We met for some good chow (we ate like kings) and decided to hunt a section of the forest that had recent logging activity.

A couple of weeks earlier, I tried locating my old stand but could not because the forest path leading to the stand was destroyed by fallen trees (left behind by the loggers).  I had assumed that my stand no longer existed.  After helping Jim find a great spot to set up his portable stand.  I decided to look further.  I was able to locate where the trail that led to my old stand started again and I was pleasantly surprised to find it still standing.  In the image below, I took a picture of the tree where I had carved my name in 1997 and 1998.

Finding my old stand gave me an euphoric feeling and brought back some good memories.  My friend Matt carved HEAD SHOT into this stand because of how I shot my first deer.  Head Shot was no longer visible, so I re-carved it for old times sake.  Hunting from this stand enriched my experience of the weekend.  As I hunted, I was able to recall all the deer I had seen in the past.  I soon realized I was not alone in this stand.  A porcupine took residence in the tree above.  The euphoric feelings switched to slight nervousness.  I wondered, as the little guy studied me, do porcupines jump?   Later, Jim told me that they can shoot their quills when threatened.    As Saturday evening settled in, two owls landed in the tree 10 yards from me.  Their calls echoed the forest.   Another day gone, neither Jim or I have seen deer.

Sunday Morning was uneventful.   The deer were not active at all.  It's possible that it was simply to warm.  Perhaps the falling leaves kept them from moving around.  Maybe the deer were in some corn field.  Even though Jim and I were skunked, we had a wonderful time camping, eating, and enjoying the beautiful scenery.  

 

Encounters of the Furry Kind!

Last Friday I posted on a fallen tree facing the cornfield and a very steep hill leading to the river at my back.  As I sat there on that log with my bow in hand, I began grunting and bleating for deer.  I could hear various noises in the corn which sounded like turkeys or pheasants; neither of which presented themselves.  When up in the tree a squirrel came rushing at me making all kinds of racket that only a squirrel can make.  As I stared down the little critter, I couldn't help but think: "that little bugger is going to jump on me."  The squirrel didn't.  It knows that I would have unleashed a fiery of defensive moves resulting in major bodily injuries, or ruptured ear drums.  The critter backed off..... or called in for reinforcements.

I could also see numerous raccoons coming out of the woods running into the corn just down the path 10 yards or so away from me.  As I watched the coons, I wondered why they were up so early.  It was only about 6pm and the sun was still high.  Usually coons are nocturnal, no doubt they were aware of the upcoming harvest and wanted to get their fill of the corn while they still had a chance.  As I was thinking these things, I heard some noises behind me.  As I turned to look, two coons were working they way up the log towards me.  In an attempt to send a warning, I took my bow and began threatening to shoot them.  Fearing for their lives, the coons backed off.  However they thought it was wise to sit there peering at me from the distance.  I had no doubt that those darn coons were plotting a way to get me.  After some time of waving my arrows at them, making faces, grunting noises, and whipping tree bark at them; they disappeared.

I continued to post on that log, grunting and bleating when I heard another noise from behind me.  I thought; "thats it, I am going to shoot one of those darn coons."  As I turned to look, two small deer (does) came out of the woods and stood five feet from me.  The does must have responded to the bleating and the grunting that I was doing.  I sat very still as the deer walked passed me and onto the path.  Both deer knew that there was something odd, or out of place.  I don't know why, but they kept looking at me.  They stared at me, pawed at the ground.  I just sat there and soaked in their beauty.

I did not attempt to shoot the deer simply because they were to small.  Even if I wanted to shoot them, any attempt to lift my bow would have spooked them into the corn.  Both deer were similar in size, my best guess 40-50 pounds.  They had brown and shiny coats, big black noses, and alert beady eyes.  There were no signs of nubbins or buttons (antlers).  Both deer were very skinny, so much so that I could see the individual ribs on their rib cages.  I sat still as the deer gracefully moved on into the corn.  No doubt they had their fill also.

Thats one of the things I love about deer hunting.  I don't always have to shoot that monster buck to have a great time deer hunting.  Deer hunting gives me the opportunity to witness God's creation which I often overlook in the hustle and bustle of every day living.  Many times I have enjoyed an amazing sunrise where the forest floor is completely silent, and then watch it come to life with birds, squirrels, deer, and sometimes coyotes, beavers and fishers (marten, not men); and also witness the wilderness retire as the sunsets.  It truly is amazing.