A day with the muzzleloader and some revelations.

[bigbore442001]

The sound of the clock radio to some country music artist awoke me from my slumber. After a cup from the Keurig and donning my obligatory wool pants and orange coat I was out the door.

About twenty five minutes later I arrived at my spot. I walked northward along the property edge to my treestand. I noticed a distinct lack of tracks in the dusting of snow which concerned me but at the end of my hunt I would find out why I am not seeing any deer.

It was relatively chilly so I got down and planned to do some walking around. As I walked northward to the border of the land I spotted an orange hat.

I met this man and we chatted for a short time. He is a neighbor who has permission to hunt and was out walking around. Nice guy as he apologized to me for potentially fouling up my hunt. I told him don't worry as I have not seen a single deer for the entire season on this property.

I didn't know what happened to this place but I soon found out.

The was nice and he actually did a one man drive for me. I got back in my stand and waited until I saw him. Nothing appeared.

We chatted and he informed me that the neighboring orchard shot over a dozen deer on crop damage. The neighbor to the north cleared out a pasture and put in some Belgian draft horses which had the effect of pushing out any deer. At least that is what happens here. He also mentioned some poachers in the area so I suspect that did not help.

So I went to get a coffee quite dejected and ruminating in my head what should I formulate for plan B.

A short visit to mom and dad to see how they are. Dad obtained an MRI and he has three discs that are problematic. One is fractured and two are herniated. So he will be going in for surgery sometime this winter. We had planned a trip to Florida but that may be on hold.

This afternoon I didn't bother to hunt. I know there may be a buck or two on my back property but it is a very limited spot and I don't want to spook them out to past the season.

I am debating this in my mind. Here in good ole Connecticut you have a two tag system. If I pay an additional 19 bucks I can hunt state owned land with the muzzleloader until December 23rd. I am tempted as I can hunt a public land spot ten to fifteen minutes from work. So I can get in about one and a half hours of deer hunting each weekday with the exception of my spot. I could also hunt next Saturday and I may since the original spot isn't looking good. Sunday is out as there is no Sunday hunting in Connecticut.

Right now I will have to think about it.

 

[Widude]

I'd move around and adjust as needed. Some of the more public options shouldn't be to crowded on weekdays, especially if it's only muzzle-loader seasons.

We were hunting this past weekend(IL) and deer sightings have been slimmer than past years. I was with two easier going chaps, willing to shake things up some. We sat just for the 1st 90 minutes or so.

I ginned up a drive we have never done before, a one man 'push drive' through prime, thick cover. I did the driving, my scent blowing ahead of me. It worked great. About 12 deer of various types drifted right by the two posted standers. Two of the deer ended up on the meat pole.

This is a drive we have never done, but the wind was ideal, and we had a good idea of where they would want to go. I saw a few during the drive, but no shot offered. I pushed a coyote too, but he slipped out the side.

I used to do the hooting and hollering drives back in the day. Now I prefer a slower push, often letting scent do most of it. This way the standers have a better chance of a shot at a stationary or slow moving deer.