Bright Idea Outdoors Weblog

Holiday Weekend Hunting Report

The young buck appeared right about the time I had decided to call it an evening.  It looked up at the clump of trees that hid my stand and kept walking.  Then it stopped; right in my shooting lane.

My bowstring was drawn, and my sight pin was on the kill zone.  If it had been five minutes earlier, or if the doe that was behind the buck had come first, I might have shot. 

When I decided for sure to let it walk, I eased off the string.  This motion got the buck's attention.  It spooked, and he and his girlfriend dashed off into the approaching night.

Other than that, the weekend was pretty uneventful from a hunting standpoint.  I concentrated more on goose hunting than deer hunting; I'm new to that and am making some progress but still have had little success.  They came to my decoys yesterday; I think I just need to put the deeks closer to my blind.

My middle son got to hunt with me, but my oldest was sick with the flu and unable to participate.  This was a big disappointment for both of us.  We had really been looking forward to doing some shooting together.  I woke up to frosty conditions this morning; a perfect day to take the youngster, who is feeling better, to the woods.  But you know; we can't hunt on Sundays in Virginia.  The hunt is over for us, at least until next Saturday.

Meanwhile, the Captain is rumored to have killed a big buck Saturday afternoon.  I'll report on that as information comes in.

Saturday Hunting Report

My six-year-old son and I picked a hunting spot on the west side of the pond this afternoon.  We saw the biggest buck I've ever seen at Camp Cowboy; on the east side of the pond!  The huge 10-pointer was in full rut, sniffing and pawing at the ground right in the middle of an open field.  All we could do, however, was watch and desperately blow into a grunt call.

Meanwhile, the Captain knocked down a big doe on another property in eastern Loudoun County. . .

The buck I saw was headed right for one of my favorite stands, and I sure would like to take a crack at him tomorrow morning.  Oh, wait a minute; it's illegal to hunt on Sundays in Virginia. . .

Damn!

My six-year-old son and I picked a hunting spot on the west side of the pond this afternoon.  We saw the biggest buck I've ever seen at Camp Cowboy; on the east side of the pond!  The huge 10-pointer was in full rut, sniffing and pawing at the ground right in the middle of an open field.  All we could do, however, was watch and desperately blow into a grunt call.

Meanwhile, the Captain knocked down a big doe on another property in eastern Loudoun County. . .

The buck I saw was headed right for one of my favorite stands, and I sure would like to take a crack at him tomorrow morning.  Oh, wait a minute; it's illegal to hunt on Sundays in Virginia. . .

Damn!

The Ashburn Sawzall Massacre

Leave it to the Captain to take an ordinary day and turn it into an adventure. It started when I got a call on my way home from work.

"I think my dream is about to come true," the Captain said.

As it happened, I had just passed the Ashburn-area road where my buddy Mike, aka "The Captain" lives.  So, when he filled me in on the situation, I immediately made a U-turn and headed straight for his tee-pee.

It seems that the Captain was awakened last night by the sounds of a car crash and sirens.  When he went to investigate, he found a car with its windshield caved in and learned that the driver had struck a deer. The animal had run off, and the police were unable to locate it.

Uneasy knowing that there could be a dead deer within a mile of his home, the Captain launched his own investigation when he got home from work today.  Astride his trusty 12-speed, it didn't take the veteran tracker long to find the buck in a wooded creek bed near a pedestrian trail.  Only there was a catch; the deer was still alive!

Nearly 24 hours after being hit, the deer clung to life despite the fact that its broken back legs prevented it from moving any more than a few inches at a time.

When I arrived at the house, a sheriff's deputy had already arrived.  The Captain jumped into my truck, and we led the lawman to the spot--about 100 yards away from a major road--where the buck still thrashed about in the underbrush.  By this time two more patrol cars had arrived, and the deputy who put the animal out of its misery had an audience of five (me, the Captain, two other officers and a "ride-a-long") when he unloaded two 12-gauge slugs into the deer.

He then gave the Captain a case number and told him to do with the buck what he would.  I won't go into details, but I will say that we walked into the woods with two kids, Mrs. Captain, a Buck knife and a Sawzall.  Twenty minutes later, we walked out with all of the above as well as two big back straps and a set of antlers.

No; we're not rednecks or anything. . .

A Sinister Plot

Under the watchful eye of the wise heron, Canada Geese calmly swim about on a beautiful Sunday at Cowboy Lake. 
Little do they know that just a few hundred yards away, a fiendish leprechaun and his six new friends are planning their demise.

Goose season starts Saturday!

Whitetail Down: I Gotta' Say It Was a Good Day

After spending opening morning of Virginia's general firearms deer season at work, I was fortunate enough to secure permission for an afternoon hunt from a Camp Cowboy neighbor.  The property is a small but excellent hunting spot where I am normally only permitted to hunt in the morning, so I was thrilled to have the opportunity to hit the woods at around 2:30 today.

The weather was warm, but coming off three solid days of rain, the deer movement was good.  By 4:00 the field to my left was filling up with does, and I spotted the buck at around 4:15.  He chased the does in circles for about 20 minutes before finally turning broadside to me at 50 yards.  That was when I let the 000 buck shot fly.

At first I thought I'd missed, and as I watched the does stampede into the distance I wished for a moment I hadn't shot.  I told myself that I'd gotten greedy and that I should have let him get a little closer.

When the commotion died down, however, I noticed a dark form in the field that I thought hadn't been there before.  A quick check with binoculars revealed that my Mossberg's record had remained perfect.

It's a pretty good-sized deer; no record book or anything, but I'm happy with it.  I'm also thankful to the folks who are so generous to let me hunt their land; to my wife for putting up with my hunting habit; to my two-year-old son (pictured above) for "helping" me with the deer; to the deer their sacrifice; and to God for putting this all together.

Yeah; today was a good day.

You Know You're in the City When... or, No Tink's? That Stinks!

If you're wondering why I haven't been writing about hunting right in the middle of the best part of deer season, it's because I haven't been hunting.  The new job is keeping me out of the woods.  I have to work on Saturdays, and, just in case you forgot, it's agains the law to hunt on Sunday in Virginia.

The general firearms deer season starts tomorrow, and I may have a chance to hunt in the afternoon.  So, just in case, I figured I'd pick up some Tink's # 69 today.

My job took me to Alexandria today, and there just happens to be a Wal-Mart in the Kingstowne area, just outside the Beltway.  Once I'd completed my "stops" for the day, I popped into the mega-retailer and headed straight for the sporting goods section.

Only the city version of the sporting goods section at Wal-Mart wasn't quite what I'm used to.  They didn't have any Tink's, but it wasn't because they were out like most other Wal-Marts in the country are the day before deer season starts.  They were out because they don't sell it; they don't sell any hunting stuff!

No hunting section in a Wal-mart; no guns either.  They did have a few boxes of shotgun shells and a sling or two; but no scents or anti-scents and not a stitch of blaze orange or camo.  I jumped in my truck and headed back toward Leesburg.  My town may no longer be the rural outpost I grew up in, but you can at least pick up some hunting stuff in the Wal-Mart.

The ironic thing is that there's some great deer hunting territory right around Kingstowne.  It's illegal to hunt with a gun in Fairfax County, but a bow hunter could have a field day; if he had permission. . . and some Tink's.

John Riggins: Bucking the System

If you haven't read Sally Jenkins' article "The Diesel Fumes" in today's Washington Post, do yourself a favor and check it out now.  It tells the story-behind-the-story regarding the controversy that has arisen here in the Washington, DC area following former Redskins running back John Riggins' recent negative commentary on team owner Daniel Snyder.

For those of you from other parts of the country, Redskins football is practically a religion in this region, and John Riggins is one of the most revered figures in team history.  Meanwhile, Snyder has never been extremely popular and has fallen into increasing disfavor as the 2-6 team has reached what could be an all-time-low this season.

The story behind Riggins' comments was interesting, but what I found even more so was the biographical information on # 44.  When I was a kid, I looked up to Riggo as a great athlete.  Now, with the Diesel at 60 and me pushing 40, I can't help but still admire his anti-authority persona. . .

Veteran's Day Salute

Best wishes to all and current and former members of the United States armed services (and to their families) on this Veteran's Day.  Thanks for all you've done and all you do!

A New Book: The Darwin Experience

I wasn't quite sure how to react when I got the following email asking me to review John Van Whye's book The Darwin Experience: The Story of the Man and His Theory of Evolution (National Geographic Society, 2009).  The publisher's representative wrote:

"I'd like to share a fascinating new science and history book that National Geographic published today, THE DARWIN EXPERIENCE: The Story of the Man and His Theory of Evolution... Celebrating both the bicentennial of Charles Darwin's birth and the 150th anniversary of the electrifying publication of "On the Origin of Species", the book is a lavish, slipcased anniversary volume featuring dozens of removable facsimile documents that re-creates the extraordinary impact of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution in a unique and vivid package.    

"Combining science, travel, culture and history, the book is an elegant volume that offers hundreds of photographs and a trove of removable documents that bring the subject alive.  These fascinating memorabilia include letters, maps, sketches, newspaper articles and more, providing telling glimpses of Darwin's life as never before, from his early expedition aboard the Beagle to his meticulous research in the Galapagos Islands.  The book is a distinctive art book, collectible archive, and a collection of intellectually rich documents that engages the eye and mind and will find appeal among history and science lovers, explorers and travelers of every age (especially with the upcoming holiday season)."

At first I wondered what the book had to do with hunting.  Then I wondered if reviewing a book that deals with Charles Darwin's theory of evolution would be controversial.  In the end, however, I decided I couldn't pass on the chance to get a free book (consider that my disclosure) and that I'd probably learn something in the process.

That was a couple of weeks ago, and I finally had a chance to start reading the book late last week.  As you might imagine, it goes into detail about Darwin's scientific research and discoveries.  Science isn't really my thing, so it's slow going, but I will say that the pictures, inserts and maps are everything the press release above says they are.

The book also relates stories about Darwin's life and personality, and I find those parts to be more interesting.  I especially enjoyed an excerpt from the controversial scientist's biography in which he describes how he conducted "target practice" with his muzzle-loading rifle; in his college dorm room!  Information on Darwin's religious background and beliefs--like how he was known for quoting the Bible at length on board his research ship the H.M.S. Beagle--is also intriguing.

Like I told the publisher's representative, it will probably take me a few weeks to get through this whole book; I'll write a full review when I do.  In the meantime, I'll agree with the rep. that this book would make a great gift for anyone interested in history or science...

 

Random Notes on a Sad Friday

It doesn't feel right to write about hunting or my own life on a day like today; everything I'm up to seems pretty unimportant in the wake of the mass murder that took place in Fort Hood, TX yesterday afternoon.  I'm not really sure what to say about this; of course, my thoughts and prayers go out to the victims and their families. 

This is a sad sad story with many questions still unanswered.  It will be interesting to see how it unfolds and what angles different segments of the media take as they cover it. . .

Meanwhile, the station I'm watching right now just broke from coverage of the shooting to tell me that unemployment has hit 10.2%.  Suddenly the fact that I can't hunt tomorrow because I have to work doesn't seem so bad. . .

There is one personal item that I do feel the need to report; I got some great news yesterday when my wife emailed me to let me know she had found my wedding ring, which had been missing for nearly two weeks.  We've been married for more than 11 years, and  that ring means a lot to both of us.  Again, I'm reminded of how lucky and blessed I am. . .

I wish everyone a pleasant and safe weekend.  Good luck hunting; and, while you sit in that treestand, take some time to thank God for all you have and to pray for all who who need God's help.  And by the way, that's everyone.