The Deer Hunt

Day 222

Last month I blogged about me being scared to death by a killer moose and I realized that I only covered half the story. My dad and I were hoping that my little run-in with the moose scared him enough that he would go to a different water hole. I don't know if dad said that just to help me gird up my loins or if that was actually true. Anyway it worked because I once again took that long hike up the mountain back to that watering hole. I sat and waited and remembered the moose. This time I made to pay more attention to my surroundings. I didn't want a repeat of what happened last time.

The best part of bow hunting was the watching and waiting. It was very peaceful; you were there with just your thoughts (as long as you weren't interrupted by some rude moose) and it was fun to watch nature. I would watch the mice again play around my boots. I would watch the birds come in for a drink and a quick bath.

And then suddenly I heard a much larger animal carefully coming to the waterhole. It was a deer and more importantly it was a buck. He was not a large buck but still it was a buck and I now had my chance to snag a deer. It walked around and waterhole and finally stopped right in front of me. He was standing exactly where we had marked our 20-yard mark. This should be an easy kill. I raised my bow and pulled back and aimed.

Please ignore my shirt tucked into my pants and that horrible haircut.

I was excited. My heart was beating so fast. The next most exciting thing was tracking the deer after you strike it. If you aim right, you hit the deer right in the lungs and it will take off running and will not last more than a couple of minutes before it dies. After you hit the deer with your arrow you sit back down and let it go. You wait about twenty minutes and then you go track it down. I was really excited to track it down.

The buck had no idea I was there. I carefully aimed and released my arrow and it hit the deer.

Sadly, my dad and I didn't notice the small sapling directly in the path. My arrow hit that and veered it off course and it hit the deer in the upper back. The deer instead of running collapsed right then and there. At least I wouldn't have to track it but I hated seeing it lay there. It looked right at me and I started to feel a little bad. It was like he knew I was there and knew that I was the one the hit him.

So I sat and waited like I was supposed to do. I waited for twenty minutes and the deer was still alive. I was thinking of just heading back to the truck. By the time I met dad and walked back up the deer will be dead. I was about it get up when I heard something else come into the water hole. The buck heard it too and turned to see. It was that doe and her two little fawns that I saw the last time. The buck made these horrible snorting sounds and the doe snorted back and suddenly it was gone! The buck warned them to get out of there. That didn't help my feelings of guilt. So after they took off, I took off too.

I walked down to the truck and my dad saw me and started to head down too. I told him what happened and we decided to have a drink before we headed up to make sure that the buck had died. So we toasted my first deer over a Diet Coke and a Dew and then headed up. I didn't take my bow or gear and my dad took his bow in case another one came in. We hiked up to the watering hole and found the buck.

And he was still alive.

I felt horrible. That poor thing was suffering and it was my fault. My dad took his bow and shot it and it finally died within minutes. We examined where I hit the deer and we came to the conclusion that I must have hit it right in the back bone and paralyzed it. We then gutted it and hauled it down the mountain. I have to admit that I was no longer excited about deer hunting. I was no longer excited that I got my first deer. If it was dead by the time we got back up there I am sure that my feelings would have been dramatically different. I was feeling quite down the whole rest of the night.

I eventually got over it. The deer steaks and jerky definitely helped me get over it. The deer was very tasty and lasted quite a long time and that made it all worth it. But I am not sure I wanted to hunt again. If I could guarantee that it would be quick and easy for the deer, I would do it again. I just was not a fan of inflicting pain on an innocent animal. I don't have anything against hunting and would do it again if only I knew that it would be over for the animal quickly.

I left for my LDS mission soon after and we sold my bow to get some money for it. That was the last time I went hunting.

The Moose

Day 208

I used to own a bow back before I served my LDS mission and I would participate in a league. Every Saturday I would meet my dad and his friend and we would shoot the bow. I learned to be pretty good at shooting and even won a trophy for 2nd place in my age division.

Just ignore my hideous hair. If I had hair like that now I would get a better haircut.

But the bow was not just for recreational shooting it was meant to hunt. Every other Saturday or so we would go up to a special place up in the mountains to shoot our bows. Only this time there would be various animal dummies at different distances. That was a lot of fun, drinking Dew and hiking around the mountains looking for fake animals to shoot.

And then finally we all went hunting. I have been hunting a couple of times before but that was with a gun. This time I would be going with a bow and by myself. My dad and his friend would take a different mountain to hike and we would each have our own watering hole.

Now let me tell you, my experience with hunting deer with a gun was a completely different experience than with my bow. Instead of freezing my butt off, I was nice and toasty (since the bow deer hunt is earlier) and you do not have to fight other hunters. I was the only guy on that mountain. Just me and the animals. And there were a lot more animals than I thought there would be.

We set me up with a ground stand about twenty yards from the watering hole. I had a clear shot to it. I sat in front of a tree and was decked out in full camo. You have to be extremely quiet and still and patient when bow hunting. So I would sit and watch. But it was peaceful and you can really be alone with your thoughts.

What I found to be real interesting was watching the animals take turns to go to the watering hole. I noticed first that the smaller animals (mice, squirrels) would go first and then the larger animals would take their turn. So I knew eventually that a buck (male deer) could be heading my way. You would think that you might get bored waiting and waiting (you would be up there waiting for hours) but you don't. I remember that I was entertained by a pair of mice that would run around my hiking boots. One would try to pull my laces while the other run chased it. I also had a squirrel that would run along the branch right behind me.

Then a deer came into the watering hole. I was elated. I got myself ready and watched the deer come in. But it was just a doe (a deer! a female deer!) and it brought with it two little baby deer. I could take a doe but it had fawns so I just watched them take turns drinking. The mom watched first as her little ones drank and then cautiously she bowed her head and drank while her kids played. It was a lot of fun watching the kids play. They ran all over the place and at one point was only a few feet in front of me. While the mom was drinking one of the baby deer ran into the other and crashed into it sending it into a bush making a loud sound. It frightened the mom and she instinctively called for her kids which in turn scared them. I thought it was pretty funny that they were all scared especially since it was one of her kids that made the noise that scared them.

They eventually left and I looked up on the mountain and saw a large black thing walking. I thought it was a cow because there were some cows around from a rancher. But it was not a cow at all. It was something much larger and far more scary than a cow. And it wasn't a bear either.

It was a MOOSE!

He looked like this fella. Not one of the largest racks on a moose but still one big enough to serve me dinner on.

So here I am just minding my own business when I suddenly heard this huge crashing noise coming from the right! This moose just came crashing through like it owned the watering hole. It didn't care what was in its way at all. This was perhaps the largest animal I have ever seen and I was getting a personal view. It had a pretty large rack and it positioned itself right in front of me, only ten to twenty yards away from me. It leaned down and slurped up the water like a noisy vacuum. My heart was beating so fast. I was amazed and at the same time quite intimidated by this animal.

And then it stopped drinking and used its huge honker of nose to sniff the air. And then it turned and looked right at me! It knew I was there, he couldn't see me but he knew I was there. It sniffed a few more times and I was beginning to feel a little worried. And then it went back to drinking and I felt better. I was beginning to relax just a little when it stopped drinking and looked right at me again. But this time he took a couple of steps in my direction. I could feel my heart beat and my blood boil. It walked closer to me and was sniffing me out.

I wish it was only Bullwinkle. I would have had a hoot talking with him.

I had to make a decision and I had to make it quick. The moose knew I was there and was determined to figure me out. It took another couple of steps closer. I am sure the moose was wondering just what the heck I was. It was so close that I could have taken my arrow and smacked it on the nose. And that thought did cross my mind which was then followed up by me imagining the moose trampling me to pieces. So I slowly took my arrow and wiggled the small suckling beside me. I definitely got its attention and it backed off a little bit. I continued to strike the tree until he was back at the watering hole.

I was thinking that I was safe but that feeling didn't last long at all. It again came towards me but this time it seemed a little more brave. It was not being cautious anymore, it wanted to figure me out. So I decided to go all out. I knocked my arrow in my bow and jumped to my feet and called out to the moose making a huge racket as I did. I must have called that moose every dirty, filthy name in the book and I was ready to shoot it if I had too. And luckily, I didn't. It stayed for a few minutes backing down but it still kept his eyes on me. Finally it took off up the mountain. I must have spooked it good and I knew that it was that black thing I spotted coming down the mountain earlier.

It was time for me leave anyway and I honestly didn't want to be there anymore too. As I was packing my stuff up something came up behind me. It was a large Elk and it snorted at me too. I was outta there! I ran down to the truck to meet my dad and his friend.

I would go up to the same watering hole the next week. I'll blog about what happened then later.

So get this. I am at my dad's writing this and we were remembering and he told me that he was visited by a mom moose and a couple of calves at that same watering hole. But then he told me another story that I have never heard. He and his friend went up there and my dad was at the same watering hole. Only this time he was not hunting so he had no weapons and no camo. And he was sitting there when he saw something that looked like a fox come in only it was larger. It was a mountain lion! He watched it circle the watering hole and take a drink and my dad felt the same way I did. Amazed and scared. And then the cougar decided to take a siesta. It plopped down and rested while my dad watched. And it was getting dark. Luckily it got up and left and my dad scrambled down the mountain.

Hunting with my Dad Part I

Day 72

A couple of months ago my dad, my brother Nathan, Kristy, Logan and I headed up to the mountains above Richmond. Nathan had a project in school to take some pictures of the fall and my dad invited us to come with.

It was a cold and clear day and we got some real pretty pictures. There was some snow on a bridge by the creek. Now we are trying to teach Logan how to throw a football and I think actually listened. Logan picked some up and throw a snowball at me. I saw that it was going to hit me right in the chest so I turned and instead put the back of head in the way. BOOM! It hit me hard and the ice snow was so cold running down my back. Logan, of course, was absolutely thrilled.



This was also the place where I had my first deer hunt. My dad hunted and so did his dad so it was expected I did too. We hiked up in the mountains with my Uncle Kurt and it was so cold. We sat on the hill right in front of the forest clearing and waited. The sun was not even up and it was so cold. I complained and complained how cold it was and my dad would not waver. It was not cold he told me. I finally relented when my Uncle Kurt arrived and said, "Man, it is sure cold to be hunting!" Thanks Uncle Kurt for supporting me.

The next day we went out to the same place but we had a small creek to cross. My dad went first and found a way to cross. The creek was not frozen but there was some ice and snow on the rocks and it made it tricky to cross. I started to cross and I got to the point where I don't think I could jump across. Dad asked for my gun and I gave it to him and he shot me! (just seeing if you were paying attention!) I gave him my gun and then he extended his hand so I could use him to help get across.

Instead of using my dad for balance I just jumped and grabbed a hold. My dad was not expecting this. I grasped his hand with both of mine and my feet barely planted on the rock he was on. Then I could feel us falling backward. I panicked and basically shoved my dad out of the way. He fell into the cold creek and grabbed my back for support and I fell in. Well, he had to use his arm to stop himself from getting completely soaked but the splash back got him pretty good. I stayed relatively dry, only my boots and part of my leg was soaked. The creek was only a few inches deep! Yeah, we were afraid of a few inches of water! I would have been less soaked if I had just walked across. Dad was a little mad but when we looked up ahead toward the creek we saw a nice bridge that crossed the creek we laughed and laughed!

We pretty much gave up deer hunting until I got my bow and we tried deer hunting with a bow.