Citrus Buck 2013

I've been having a tough deer season so far. I had a doe jump my string at 30 yards opening weekend of Ga archery. I had another doe slip right behind me at my property in Fl during archery, when I tried to stand up and turn around she caught my movement and ran off. I missed yet another doe during general gun in Ga. With my wife's Nov. 22 baby due date fast arriving, I was feeling the pressure to put some venison in the cooler.

"Lefty" cruising during mid-day

I saw the cool temperatures on the forecast for Wed. Nov 13 and decided to take a personal day from work and try to make it happen. My plan was to archery hunt my property in the morning and then hit Citrus WMA in the evening for their late archery season. My property camera was telling me the rut was on as I had a couple pictures of a 7 point I call lefty cruising through during the daytime.

I arrived early and though I was happy about the cool temperature, I wasn't thrilled about the 30 mph winds.

Roadkill Buck

Besides getting a wild ride in my tree stand as the gusty winds blew me back and forth there wasn't much action except 9 squirrels at my feeder. I got down about 9:30 a.m. and drove to Wal-Mart to look for a new trail cam as one of mine had stopped working. On my way back to my property I spotted the white belly of a deer in the little ditch beside Hwy 98. I turned around to investigate and found it to be a beautiful 8 point that was freshly killed by a vehicle. It was still warm and smelled fine so I hoisted it on my Hitch&Haul and brought it back to my property. After messing with a few of my hunting buddies by sending them a picture with no explanation, I began cleaning the buck. It's neck and hind leg were broken but there was no damage to the best cuts of meat. Isn't the first time I've taken advantage of a road kill deer and I'm sure it won't be the last.

After getting the meat on ice and cleaning up, I headed over to Citrus for a long afternoon sit. I got up in a tree at 1:30 p.m. and sat till 5:30 p.m. when the wind began to calm. My spacing out was interrupted by the sound of a deer running through the woods across the trail I was set up on. I could just catch some glimpses of brown and white as it ran off to my left. I gave it a couple calls with my grunt tube and I heard it stop. about 5 minutes later I heard another deer trotting strait towards me from across the trail. I stood up and saw a nice buck coming quickly towards me. I knew I would have to stop him at just the right time to get a shot off. As he came into the trail at full trot I gave him a loud deer stopping sound, you know, something like, "Maah!" and tried to get my top pin behind his shoulder before he took off again. He was 15 yards away and quartering towards me. I don't know if it was because I was shivering in the cold wind or what, but for some reason I could not seem to steady my pin on him. I released my arrow and heard a loud "Thwack" that sent him running a beeline across the trail and into the woods behind me.

I sat till dark thinking about the shot and how it just didn't feel right. It happened so quickly I was trying to remember where I saw the arrow hit him. It felt a little far back. When I got down my fears were confirmed. My arrow was laying in the trail covered in stomach matter. It looked like the dreaded gut shot. I decided to not even look for blood but rather to back out quietly and let him lay over night.

Citrus 6 point

After a night spent dreaming about looking for my buck I took the next morning off work and returned with my brother Jonny with the sober understanding that I may not find him. I climbed back up in my stand till it got light enough to look for blood and then began searching on my hands and knees starting where I shot him and moving into the woods where I saw him run. After an hour of searching without finding a drop of blood I went and got Jonny to do a grid search. After saying a prayer we split 30 yards apart and began walking in the direction I saw him run. As we entered a thick stand of palmettos my hopes were sinking lower and lower; but to my delight I looked to my left and there he was laying under a small cabbage palm. A beautiful 6 point. He had maybe ran 100 yards before laying down and expiring!

As the reality of how blessed I was to find him began to set in I jumped up in the air yelling as I pumped my fist and praised the Lord! The shot entrance was a little back but did get liver. The reason I had no blood trail was that with him quartering towards me, the arrow pulled the stomach through the exit hole like a balloon plugging it. All the blood had stayed inside the cavity. I was just thrilled to find him as I know the feeling when it goes the other way. It turned out to be a productive day of hunting as far as filling the freezer goes: Two beautiful Florida bucks. As after every hunt there are always lessons to be learned:

1. I should have made a better shot.

2. As the saying goes, "When it doubt, back out." I gave him time to lay rather than pushing him (I have learned that lesson the hard way before).

3. Don't give up searching just because you don't find blood. Give it your best effort and go a little further because he may be laying dead just ahead.

Now I'm ready for my wife to have this baby and then take my two older boys to my property for doe week to try to get them their first deer.

An Adventure in Tampa Bay

A couple weeks ago my brother Jonny and I heard a tale of someone who hunts hogs in a mangrove swamp somewhere in Tampa Bay. Yes, I'm being purposely vague. We did some detective work and figured out where it was. It is accessible by boat only. After contacting the FWC to make sure of the legalities of hunting hogs in the tidal mangrove and mud flats we planned a scouting trip for last Friday morning.

We loaded my Carolina Skiff with our bows as well as fishing rods and, after getting a later start than we planned, began a long run to this mysterious mangrove swamp that we had only seen on Google maps. It ended up being at least 10 miles from the boat ramp we used. Next time I am going to try a different ramp.

We arrived at the edge of the mangrove swamp late in the morning and were greeted by a school of pompano cruising along the grass flat that boarders the swamp. After getting sidetracked by throwing a pompano jig with no luck we began push poling up a narrow cut into the thick tangle of mangroves. At times the cut was so narrow we had to push branches aside to continue on.

The sun was high and hot by this time and the mosquitoes were thick. Luckily Jonny had brought a can of mosquito repellent which we quickly took advantage of. After pushing a long way in we found a spot where the mangroves opened up to a large expanse of mudflats. We pulled the boat up into the mud and grabbing our bows, we began walking the edge of the mudflats.

The hogs had been digging for fiddler crabs

We were excited to see plenty of hog tracks, and most of them very large. The mud and sand was
rooted up where the hogs had dug for fiddler crabs and shellfish. It's amazing how wild hogs can adapt to nearly any environment. We could see hog trails going into tall salt-grass fields and thick groves of Brazilian peppers. It was obvious that the hogs were bedded down in thick cover to escape the August late morning heat. But there were hogs there and that is what we had come to investigate.

Our plan is to return in the late winter months when extremely low tides leave the flats exposed, offering the hogs an all they can eat seafood buffet. Then the hogs will move during daylight hours and the mosquitoes will be gone as well. It should be a fun option come January when deer season begins wrapping up and the fishing slows down.

Satisfied with our findings Jonny and I pushed our way out of the mangroves and began the long run back. A couple big storms had built up in a few different areas of the bay and we had a pretty rough ride in my small skiff. We ended up going under the Gandy Bridge to get some shelter from the storm. We began chumming with greenbacks and fished our heavy spinning rods with pinfish.

Jonny's cobia

It wasn't long before my rod doubled over. As I was trying to tighten my drag, the fish took me around a piling and snapped my leader. After I was snapped a few more times and Jonny jumped a big tarpon, Jonny finally got a cobia to cooperate and fight away from the pilings. Every time it would see the boat it would take a strong run away. After a long fight we netted it and got it in the boat. It just made the size limit and we had a tough time fitting a 34 inch cobia into a 20 inch cooler.

After catching a mixed bag of mangrove snapper, jack and bluefish, and getting broke off by some more very large fish, we decided to call it a day. Sometimes I have a tough time on my day off deciding whether to go hunting or fishing; it was a cool feeling doing both on the same trip. It was kind of strange having to rinse my bow off along with my fishing rods though. I'll definitely do it again when the weather cools down; and I'll bring a bigger cooler.  

Trail Camera Pictures Update

After having my automatic feeder stolen and switching to a homemade gravity feeder I have been getting a lot more activity at the feeder on my property in Fl. Also I am going through a lot more corn as the deer are getting an all they can eat buffet verses the 4 lbs. a day they were getting with the automatic feeder. I checked my camera today and had over 400 deer pictures this week. They are eating about 100 lbs. of corn a week with some help from the raccoon and turkey. I won't be able to keep that up for long.

The biggest of the four bucks that have been coming in just lost his velvet. I thought he was a wide 7 but upon getting clearer pictures I see he is a wide 6 point. I have some pictures of him from right before he dropped his last set of antlers and he has definitely gained some mass as well as another point. Here are some pictures of what has been coming in. Only three more weeks till archery opener!

Wide six last year and this year

The future is bright

Bucks are starting to visit closer to daylight hours

Lefty should be really interesting in a year or two

Young buck

Packed house

Florida Deer Hit List 2013

Well, I've managed to keep a trail camera on our Florida property for almost two weeks without it getting stolen. My neighbor must still be in jail. After checking the SD card this afternoon I was able to catch up with the bucks that frequent the property. I was very pleased to see how much their antlers have grown since last time I saw them back in June.

While I have many daylight pictures of does, the bucks are coming in under the cover of night. Hopefully that will change when the weather begins to cool and the rut kicks in, which is usually mid November where I'm at. I'll be more than happy to arrow a fat doe before that though. I'm just really getting excited about hunting my own property for the first time. Just a month to go!

Here are some pics of what's been showing up.

Daily Does

Lefty - this buck has an extra beam growing out of the left side of his head.

High Five - a tall five point

High Five, a forked buck and a wide seven point in the back.

The biggest buck, a wide seven point

Raccoon doesn't want to give way to forked buck

These little turkey have been visiting everyday

Archery Season is Coming!

Nice preseason grouping at 30 yards

July is finally wrapping up and the end of summer is in sight! As a youth pastor, Summertime is my busiest time of the year with conferences, camps and extended hours at the Skate park and Rec. Area we run. By the end of July I'm feeling worn out and ready for some recharging. My mind begins to wander forward to September, sitting in a tree-stand with my bow, far away from wild middle school students and parents looking to me to fix their kid's problems. Don't get me wrong, I love having the great privilege and responsibility of sowing God's Word into the hearts of young people but by the end of Summer I'm ready for a break.

We are going on a family vacation to North Georgia at the end of August to relax at a cabin on top of a mountain, swimming with the kids and helping them catch bass and bream in the lake. Then I have the weekend of September 14 and 15 off for the opening of archery. This year I have a harder decision to make regarding where I will be sitting opening morning. In past years Georgia's archery season opened a week earlier than Florida's but this year they open on the same day.

So my options are:
1. my lease in Georgia
2. my property in Brooksville
3. Chassahowitzka WMA

Daylight does from a recovered camera that had been stolen

I don't think Chassahowitzka is going to win. I did really well last year on opening weekend at Georgia taking a buck and a doe but on the other hand I'm looking forward to hunting my property near Brooksville for the first time. When my camera's aren't being stolen, I've been getting quite a few daylight pictures of deer. 

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that since my last post two more cameras were stolen and both of our feeders. They caught the guy who stole them but we have only been able to recover two cameras out of the four and he must have already sold our feeders because they have not been recovered yet either. It was a guy who lived  a couple properties down from us. He's currently in jail for beating up his girlfriend and some drug charges. Not so great neighbors. At first I was really angry at whoever was stealing my stuff, but after going over to their property with the police officers to look for my stuff and meeting these people, I just feel really sorry for them. They are strung out on drugs, living in poverty conditions and their only hope of being set free from the destructive cycle they are trapped in is through the love, forgiveness and freedom that Christ offers to all.

Didn't work

Seeing that even my metal lock-box didn't work I'm sort of at a lost for how to keep cameras going at my property. As far as feeders go I'm going to replace my stolen automatic feeders with cheap PVC tube feeders that have no value to the thieves in the area. That way I can keep the game coming onto my little property and give myself a better chance of connecting with a deer come Fall.

I shot my bow the other evening and after a tight group of three in the bulls eye at 30 yards I'm feeling confident for the opener. I might just have to flip a coin between Georgia and Florida. I'll keep ya'll posted.

Trouble With Trespassers

It's been exciting owning some property near Brooksville, Florida that draws in a lot of game. I've been

heading up there nearly weekly to check on my beehives, fill feeders, tend the food plot, change
batteries and check my trail cams. The only downside of the property has been dealing with trespassers. Last month I found a bunch of brush dumped on my property with truck tracks coming from a neighboring property. With the piles of brush I found a receipt with a name on it. I also had a couple of pictures of people walking through my food plot on the same date as the receipt showed. I fenced off the access points from the adjacent property, posted private property signs all over the place and held on to the receipt and the pics, hoping that would be the end of it. Unfortunately it wasn't.

This past week I headed up to check my cameras and change batteries in the feeder. I've been excited to check the pics lately because the buck's antlers are growing so quickly that every week brings new surprises as they reveal what the hit list may be this Fall. As I walked up to where my feeder is, my excitement turned into a sinking disappointment, my trail camera had been swiped. After changing the battery on my feeder, which was luckily still there, I walked over to my brother's feeder to discover that his camera had been taken as well. Near the front of my property I found an attic fan with a cordless drill in the road. It looked like someone had ripped the fan off the abandoned home in front of my property and were using the drill to get to the copper coil. They probably heard the feeders go off and went to investigate. After finding two $100 cameras they must have left the drill in their excitement to hock em' and buy some more meth.

I called the Sheriff's deputy out who was very friendly and helpful, unlike St. Pete Cops are here. He took the drill

Trespassers in the food plot

for fingerprinting as well as the receipt bearing the name of a man that has a record of drug possession and petty theft in the area. He also said they would stop by my property when they do their rounds at the Golf Course next door to make their presence known to the locals. That's all great but I don't know how much good it is going to do. I have to figure out how to keep my feeders and trail cameras going while monitoring who's coming on the property. Now that someone has a couple SD cards loaded with pictures of deer, I need to guard against poaching as well. The joys of owning property.

After pondering ideas like rigging up Swiss Family Robinson traps that would crush some trespassers and cause others to fall into pits loaded with poisonous snakes and beehives, I finally settled on some more practical applications for security. For starters I put up a fence blocking the last entrance vehicles might be able to access my property. Hopefully this will help our feeders stay put as not many thieves want to carry a huge corn feeder a couple hundred yards. I brought up my last two trail cameras, which are cheap and take rather poor quality photos, and camouflaged them in well while I am awaiting a better camera I just ordered online.  I then built a steel security box for the new camera.

I saw some security boxes online for about $30 but the metal looked a little on the thin side. I took
matters into my own hands and made a box that I would love to see someone try to break open. I had some scrap 3 inch galvanized angle iron that is 1/4" thick left over from a skate ramp we recently tore down. With this I welded together a lock box that will bolt from the inside behind the

camera to a big pine tree near my feeder. The top cover is secured with a master lock. This will hold my good camera at my feeder and I'll hide my cheaper cameras near the food plot and the main drive way to monitor for trespassers.

Hopefully I'll be collecting a weekly harvest of deer pictures at my feeder once again and not have to experience another stolen camera. We'll see how it goes. I know that where there's a will there's a way, I'm just hoping these people get the point and move on to easier pickings.

  

Late Spring Update

Well, turkey season is over where I'm at and I'm wishing I could have a do-over. On my last post I

The property hen

detailed my plans for this turkey season and although they sounded good, they just kind of fell apart. I hunted Richloam WMA on opening morning and started near a main road where I saw a ton of tracks while scouting. I got there really early, set up in my ground blind on the edge of a Cyprus Swamp and as soon as I started calling I was mimicked by the worst sounding box call I have ever heard. After realizing the guy kept getting closer to me, I got up and moved a few hundred yards along the edge of the swamp, he followed me. I spent all morning trying to shake this guy off my trail. I gave up about 11:30 a.m. and decided to check out the area I had hunted last season before I called it a day.

I arrived at the area a little before Noon and walked back to where I had found a freshly killed

Does at property feeder

raccoon surrounded by panther tracks while scouting a week earlier, that's the main reason I didn't choose to hunt there again this year. As soon as I hit my call I was cut off by a gobbler that was close! I dropped down against a tree and readied my gun with my heart beating out of my chest! He continued to gobble but I could soon tell that he was moving across to the left in front of me. I only had about 30 minutes of shooting time left so I decided to sneak over and try to get closer. I never was able to get a look at him before 1 p.m. came so I had to leave him to his gobbling.

I returned to that area a couple more times without hearing or seeing a thing. I consoled myself with the thought of going to Georgia where I could get my fill of heart racing gobbles in the turkey woods. My brother and I planned two trips, both of which fell through last minute because of his work schedule. This just wasn't the year of the turkey for me. Oh well, maybe next year.

My turkey-less depression has been remedied a little by how the fishing on the flats has been

heating up. last Monday morning I fished Tampa Bay and had a great time poling the flats and catching reds and big trout. it was really fun seeing schools of redfish swimming the shallow grass flats again, and even more fun fighting them.

Besides that I have been checking on my property in Brooksville about once a week; maintaining

Doe on the food plot

the feeder and checking the trail cameras, food plot and the various fruit trees I've planted around the food plot (apple, peach and plum). I also brought up three beehives last week to help pollinate the fruit trees and hopefully get some honey. The deer have been tearing up the food plot which is a mixture of sunflowers, clovers and brassica. The deer don't seem to mind the bee hives as I have a picture of a doe standing in the food plot looking at the bee boxes. They have also been hitting my feeder multiple times every evening and morning. With quite a few daytime visits I'm excited about what this Fall might hold. I also have a hen turkey hitting the feeder now pretty regularly and we actually saw her this morning on the property next to us. I have seen a couple gobblers across the street as well but have yet to see one on my property. I'm hoping that by keeping the feeder going all Summer and maintaining the food plot, I can recruit more wildlife on my small 6.3 acre property over time. But for now I'm not complaining with 3 bucks and 3 does coming every day.

I'm going to have to take advantage of hunting locally more this Fall as my wife and I are expecting our 5th child in November. So that is going to mean less Georgia hunts and more short morning or evening hunts locally. I am looking forward to planning some weekend camp-outs on the property to archery hunt Chassahowitzka and Citrus with some friends. But before that we have to endure the long, hot days of summer.