Just before I started to write this, I finished cleaning two guns – a very therapeutic reminder of how well the weekend went. It was a great weekend, but, as with all good weekends, it had to come to an end.

Below, I’ve outlined a few thoughts and realizations I learned or witnessed during the past two days:

• It’s very small world.  At an outdoor hunting show you can run into a tiny little girl you used to know, who is now a grown woman.  Man….am I old!
• You CAN shoot an arrow through an “iron buck” at 50yds.  Those were two incredible shots gentleman; I was glad I left my bow at home, so I couldn’t be humiliated in front of everyone, and watch my carbon arrow turn into splinters.

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When I’m watching outdoor television, there is nothing that gets under my skin more than hearing the person in front of the camera say something like this:

“Well……we’re on our way to Battle Creek Outfitters to hunt for a few days. Jim, of BC Outfitters, has been watching a few bucks during the year, so hopefully we’ll have a chance at one of them in the next few days. We’re gonna get a shower, head into our stand, and hope for the best”.

What they really should be doing is telling the truth – something like this:

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We all know that hunting is a leap of faith – a crap shoot if you will.  Hunting requires an optimistic attitude, and a belief that – eventually – all the preparation and hard work will pay off, and that your species of choice will show itself in a spot predetermined by you.

Well………..my faith is beginning to run out.

All of us experience frustration at times when we’re hunting – it’s something we can’t deny.  And I’ve been trying to keep an optimistic attitude this season, but considering I haven’t seen a deer from a treestand yet, my patience is beginning to run out.

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Normally in Michigan the rut doesn’t really start to kick in until the last week of October, first part of November……..or does it?

My sister’s boyfriend captured these pictures on his trailcam recently, and after seeing them we were trying to decide if the start of the season shouldn’t be moved up a little bit.  Haha!  I’m sure he wasn’t expecting these pics when he checked the cam.  I’m sure this young buck was just “practicing”, but I still think these are once-in-a-lifetime shots, especially during this time of year.

Hopefully this little guy gets a chance to pro-create later in the year, and hopefully this doe gets a rest before then.  I’m thinking she’s probably a little annoyed at him at the moment.  Although, maybe she needs the practice too.:):)

Upcoming posts: This week we’ll have some more camping escapades, along with a post about shooting the 3-D course.  And maybe we’ll do a post once Jeff gets his new boat as well.  Stay tuned!

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Jeff and I headed out to one of the properties we can hunt again last Sunday.  We needed to finalize some treestand issues, and plus we wanted to check the trailcam again.  I was chomping at the bit to check it, after what we found on it a week ago.

Unfortunately, Mr. Big didn’t make a return visit, but we did catch a decent little buck on camera.  And if any of you are keeping score, there have only been two pictures – in the entire three weeks that the cam has been out there – that did not have a buck in them.

We decided to leave our stands where they are for now, and we’ll play it by ear as the season progresses.  We also moved the camera closer to where Jeff’s main stand on the property is, so hopefully that produces some good trailcam pictures as well.

In a related story, one of Jeff’s friends – who hunts a property near Jeff’s house – was out scoping some fields in the area a few weeks ago, and captured some footage of a few nice bucks.  The video quality isn’t the greatest, but trust me you wont need any better footage to see exactly how big these deer are.  For those of you who don’t want to watch the whole video, skip ahead to about the 2 minute mark – that is where the action really starts.

The season is only a few weeks away, and Jeff and I will have to make the decision that every hunter dreams of:  which big buck property should we hunt tonight?

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