After my miss, it was still only a little after 8am, so Jeff and I decided that we might as well stick it out for a little while and see if any other deer decided they wanted to eat out of his food plot.

And that is when the weirdness started.

As we sat in the blind, reviewing the film footage of my miss, off to my right I heard what sounded like a large clump of snow falling from a tree branch.  As I turned to check out the sound, though, I was astounded to see a deer lying on the ground.  At first, I figured that maybe this deer was the dumbest deer on earth, and that it had actually just bedded not 20yds from our blind.  After another look, however, I knew something wasn’t right, because the deer couldn’t hold its head up and it was making sounds like something was definitely wrong.

WTF?

I immediately started to think that maybe a miracle had happened – that I had actually hit the deer I shot at – and – although the footage really said otherwise – that I hadn’t missed; that this deer made its way back around to us and died within sight of the blind.  Jeff and I knew it was a far-fetched concept, but, since we hadn’t heard any other shots, we thought it might be a possibility.

With the deer in obvious distress, and since we didn’t want the sight of us to push the deer any farther back into the cover, we waited it out for a while.  About forty five minutes later, after hearing a low, weird moan, and after not seeing or hearing any movement, we slowly made our way to the deer – guns at the ready.

What we found was a dead button buck – a very young, underweight button buck, with a completely broken back leg and no evidence of a gunshot.  Bummer.  I had definitely gone from high to low, to high, and then back to low – an emotional roller coaster.

Though it wasn’t the deer I had shot, Jeff and I still felt like we should try to do the right thing; heck, at that moment in time, I was even willing to put a tag on the little guy, gut him out, and be glad to have him in the freezer – whether I killed him or not.  But upon further inspection, it was obvious that he was full of infection and there was just no way we were willing to take that chance; he would, however, make for excellent coyote food, so Jeff and I let him be.

Jeff and I left him and figured we’d allow nature to take its course, all the while wondering if that had really just happened.  It sure made for one hell of a morning, though, and it made it a morning we’ll never forget.

What are the odds that something like that could happen in the first place?

It’s a moment that can only happen in the woods.

And that made it pretty easy to sleep in on Saturday.

But, since Jeff texted me emphatically on Saturday afternoon, I figured I’d brave the cold weather and make him happy by hunting behind his house on Sunday morning.

We sat in the cold, and the nasty, southerly wind, which was blowing right in our face, settled into the blind and waited.  I honestly didn’t have any expectations, and considering we bumped one deer as we headed to the blind, I really wasn’t anticipating anything worthwhile.  It wasn’t half an hour into the hunt, though, when Jeff noticed a single deer making its way from our right to left.

My brain went into overload.  Everything was happening very quickly, and knew in my head – and how could I forget, because Jeff was repeating it in my ear over and over – that I didn’t have much time to make the shot.  We both know that when deer cross in this particular area they have a tendency to move very quickly, so I needed to shoot as soon as I had a chance.  Of course, in these few seconds I was having to do many firsts:  I had to find the deer in a scope for the first time; I had to process the fact that there was actually a deer in front of me within range for the first time this year; and I had to process the fact that I was about to take the longest shot I’ve ever taken.  And, of course, I only had a few moments to do all of this.

Finally, at the top of the hill, she stopped and gave me a perfect broadside shot.  I took a deep breath, settled the crosshairs right behind the shoulder, and gently squeezed the trigger.  The Thompson Center Impact barked, and the plume of smoke blew forward and covered my field of view.  But, unfortunately,  the smoke didn’t hide the fact that she jumped about six feet in air at the sound of shot, and walked off as if nothing ever happened; into the woodlot as calm as could be, and as though she was simply out for a stroll.

A clean miss!

I honestly can’t say that I felt great about the miss, but I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t feel pretty good after the entire series of events.  As bloodthirsty, or whatever, as it sounds, I was pretty happy and thankful for the entire hunt.  I wasn’t happy that I missed, but I was happy that I had an opportunity.  I was happy that I had actually seen a deer, that it was within range, and that I had gotten to fire the muzzleloader for the first time.

In my haste, and because of my inexperience shooting at that range, I had settled the sights right on the mid-section of the deer, when I really should have aimed a little higher.  But in the process I had also gained experience in finding a deer in the scope, and in firing a muzzleloader at a live animal.  It was bittersweet, and it felt….well…..pretty good.

Though the outcome wasn’t exactly what I had in mind – after the season I’ve had – I was still pretty comfortable with the entire experience – even if I did miss.  Hunting isn’t always about success, and Jeff and I had a blast hunting together.  We braved the winter weather, which I wouldn’t have done in the past (thank you Stormkloth II), had a great time, and for a moment……just a moment, as I concentrated on the crosshairs of a scope, all of the trials of the past few months – nights spent in a hospital NICU, all of the deerless hunts, etc. – disappeared.

I suppose that is why I was still smiling after the shot.  Now, I can’t lie and say that there weren’t a few cuss words, too, which Jeff captured on film, but I was still pretty upbeat.  I had been outwitted again by a very worthy adversary, and I had been outwitted by myself.  But that didn’t matter whatsoever.

It was still a perfect morning in the woods.

Author’s Note:  The craziness of the morning didn’t stop there, either.  For the rest of this story, which involves something Jeff and I will probably never have happen to us again, read my post later this week.  I guarantee you it will not disappoint, and it made the morning even more memorable.

While I was hopeful that I could manage to get out and hunt a few times before the end of our firearm season, it just wasn’t meant to be.  Everything has been against my hunting season this year – from a premie baby, to unseasonably warm and rainy weather, to a sick wife and kid the last week – but, thankfully, muzzleloader season starts this Friday.

Maybe that’s the reason that I purchased a muzzleloader this season – because God knew that there wouldn’t be time to hunt during the early archery or firearm seasons.  Of course, the cold snap that we’re supposed to have this weekend could really help to get the deer moving as well.

It may seem crazy to a sane person, but I’m looking forward to freezing my arse off in the cold weather this weekend.  And I’m sure that Jeff is looking forward to the fact that I actually will be able to hunt this weekend as well.

For those of you who can muzzleloader hunt in the Southern Lower Peninsula, your season starts Dec. 2 and continues through Dec. 18th.  And hopefully your luck gets better, right along with mine.

In other news:  SimplyOutdoors’ Pro Staffer, Barry Cooper, managed to put down his first Michigan buck (it’s in the picture in this post) of the season this past weekend.  Also, Jeff’s son, Tyler D., recently put down another deer of his own as well.  Man am I glad we have good pro staffers, otherwise my blog would be pretty boring.

Jeff and I went old school Sunday evening and sat together at a base of a tree – both with guns in hand – and Jeff with his camera in hand just in case as well.  Unfortunately, though, Jeff was shown what it’s like to hunt with me:  You can have perfect conditions, great weather, and an awesome spot, and still not see a deer.

If we were squirrel hunting, however, we would’ve limited out.

I’m off for six days in a row starting today, though, so hopefully I’ll have an encounter with a Thanksgiving buck or doe.  While it’s easy to be frustrated – and to say I haven’t been frustrated would be an understatement – I’m trying to stay positive, especially since my gun season will be extended for a few weeks now that I have a muzzleloader.

Now if I could just get my family healthy, so I could actually head to the woods.

Stay tuned!

About a week ago, Jeff scored on a decent little buck.  Jeff has been holding out for quite some time, and trying to wait for a bigun’ to walk by, but self-filming and many hours of frustration finally got the best of him, and he arrowed a decent little buck on film.  It doesn’t matter that you can only lay a pistol in its antlers, the important thing is that he has venison in the freezer – which is definitely more than I can say.

Barry headed down south to do a little hunting, and ended up shooting the nice buck you see in the picture.  I’m sure that makes the time he had off well worth it, and I’m sure that it makes going back to work just a little bit easier as well.

Our gun season kicked off yesterday, but for the majority of us – Ron and Justin not included – the opener was pretty slow.  Chalk it up to the morning fog, or whatever reason you like, but the deer just didn’t seem to be moving as much as we had hoped, and the lack of gun shots in our vicinity was proof that we weren’t the only ones having the no-deer blues.

Of course, our trip to a local buck pole that night kind of poked big holes in my slow opener theory.  There were quite a few very nice bucks hanging for the crowd to be jealous over, and it was fun to take the kids down, take in the scenery, and gaze at what I may never ever get to lay my hands on – a huge buck.

My season, in a nutshell, has went like this:  I like to bird watch.  I may as well call it birdwatching, because each time I sit in the deer woods – the limited times I’ve actually been able to go – all I do is watch birds, because the deer don’t seem to realize that they are supposed to show themselves.  It doesn’t matter if other people have sat that particular stand for a week straight, and have had buck upon buck within close range of them, the minute I sit foot in the vicinity the deer sightings come to a complete halt.

I’m not giving up yet, though.

There’s plenty of season left.

And I just keep telling myself that, year after year.

It only takes one time.

Yada yada.

Good luck to everyone who continues to head out.

After a few hours in stand, my phone started to ring.  Not knowing who could be on the other end, I made the necessary movements to answer the phone, only for it to be Jeff telling me that a few does were headed my way.  As he conveyed the information to me over the phone, and as I turned to look behind the stand, two of the does already had me in view and decided it was time to head the other way.

Thanks, Jeff.  And that is pretty much the story of my hunting life lately.

Honestly, though, I wasn’t deterred, and considering that – in just a few hours – there was a good chance that we would probably be bringing our new daughter home from the hospital, I was still in very good spirits.  The morning on stand was awesome, I managed to see a few deer, and the upcoming afternoon brought about the possibility that we could be a complete family again – not shooting a deer could not possibly deter any of that.

Eventually, Jeff and I headed out of the area we were hunting, as he tried to talk me into helping him move a stand across the road in preparation for our upcoming deer season.  I agreed, and we headed across the road to move the stand.

As Jeff sat in the stand, finalizing the wrap around the top, he motions to me and says that a deer is coming up the other side of the ridge.  He’s in the stand, but I’m standing on the trail that she’s trotting down.  I stare down the trail and see her break over the top of the ridge – headed right for me.  Part of me was screaming “move!”, but another part of me wanted to stand still and see how far she’d come before she changed direction.  Finally, just inside of ten yards, and just as I was about to jump behind a nearby tree for cover, our eyes met which caused her to do the quickest 180 I’ve ever saw and head the other way.

If you could’ve seen the way she wheeled around, and exactly how surprised she was, you would’ve died laughing.  Jeff and I laughed like crazy about how close she had gotten to me, and then headed back to the truck.  It was a perfect end to the morning.  And it’s really too bad that we didn’t have a camera rolling to capture the entire incident.

It would be the last outdoors moment of the entire weekend, as we found out late Saturday morning that our new daughter was coming home.  With that, the rest of the weekend was spent in the house with the family.

I’ll be back out for one last bow hunting hoorah on Saturday, though, and next week I’ll be out all day for the opening day of gun season.

There’s still plenty of time left!

Brent in Arkansas filmed his cousin shoot his first deer with a bow;  Jeff shot his first Fall turkey, and captured it all on film; Barry shot a nice doe on film; Wes shot a nice doe on film; Jessie filmed his buddy shoot a nice buck on film; and Jeff’s lab, Jada, found her first official deer – a deer which was shot sixteen hours beforehand by our cousin, Ron.

It made for quite an opening weekend, and it made it a little easier to handle the fact that Jeff and I didn’t get within 30yds of a deer- well within 30yds of a deer that gave us more than five seconds to shoot, anyway.

We’re off to an amazing start, and it’s going to make the next few episodes of SimplyOutdoors TV that much more exciting.

I don’t think I’ve been this excited about an opening day in quite a long time.  There just seems to be an electricity associated with this year that I haven’t felt in quite a few years.  I don’t know if it’s the weather, the fact that there are acorns falling like crazy on the ridge near my stand, or if it’s because I’m encouraged by all the recent happenings in SimplyOutdoors land.  But whatever it is, I love that it feels this way.

Of course, the fact that our new episode of SimplyOutdoors TV is filled with early season success, could also be contributing to my season anticipation.  This episode is filled with success:  Robert Jenks, one of our new pro staffers shoots a nice, healthy doe during Michigan’s early antlerless season, and two of Jeff’s kids shoot a doe as well.

The rest of this week we’ll be dreaming of the season to come.  And then, come Friday night, we’ll all be gathering around a bonfire, and celebrating the start of a great season.

While we do that, all of you should sit back and watch SOTV Episode 10.  We hope it’s just the start of the things to come.

With those two kills, both of them are done with this year’s youth hunt – you can only shoot one deer during the weekend – but Jeff will be back out in the morning in the hopes of getting his other stepson his first deer.

It’s been an amazing day at the SimplyOutdoors’ camp, and we hope it is mearly a glimpse of what’s to come during this year’s whitetail season.  With the archery season only a week away, we hope that the success of this weekend continues.

Congrats Tyler and Tyler.  What an awesome day!

Note:  Both of these hunts were completely captured on film, too.  I guess you’ll have to make sure to watch a future episode of SimplyOutdoors TV, if you want to see the footage!

We hope you all enjoy.