Fun Deer Season 2016

The whole family :-)

With all three children in college now I really, really enjoy the opportunity to spend time with all three of them.  This season did not disappoint.  We had a fun Thanksgiving week and a successful deer hunt.

Jess & I opening AM in tee shirts!!! 

A couple weeks prior to opening day Tracy, Jessica and  her friend Teig helped me open some shooting lanes on the Hedges property in Bloomfield.  We reminisced how this annual ritual dated back to when the children were very little and how we would have cocoa and cookies in the woods. 

Jake on the AM of day 2 tracking in Boughton Park

The night before opening day we had a cookout and nickel/dime poker game in the garage.  We were joined by the Shumans and Mitchells and all of their children who too had just returned from college.  Lots of laughs and great family time.

Opening morning I cooked a big breakfast at 4:30 AM for the kids.  We then went to Bloomfield.  It was a very warm day, so much so that I actually wore a T-shirt in my stand all morning.  Jessica and I sat in the double tree stand and Jake overlooked a ridge close-by.  We saw a lot of deer and several small bucks.  Jake shot at and missed a small 8pt on the gas well line. Paul, Mr. Hedges friend, had shot a 7 point and later we discovered it had a rotten hind quarter due to a broad head from an arrow.

Hannah, Jake and Mr. Mitchell in Boughton Park

At lunch time we met with our friends Mr. Covel and Mr. MItchell where we enjoyed cheeseburgers on the grill.  For the afternoon Hannah joined Jessica and I went and sat on a seat hanging from a tree over looking the lower ridge.  I passed on a small 8point.  Jake missed another deer and was expressing his frustration.

The next day there was a major snowstorm that put down 2 feet of snow.  The winds were 50 mph gusts for two days.  While waiting the storm out, the children and I enjoyed a great movie called Hacksaw Ridge.  With the storm over, Jessica had college on Monday so Hannah and I sat together and Jake attempted to get to a stand above the middle ridge.  The snow proved too much for him so he opted for my seat.  It was a real workout hiking to the stand in two feet of snow wearing pack boots.

9 pt 20" spread Thanksgiving

Once in the stand it was not long until we saw a very large doe approximately 150 yards.  Even though we have plenty of doe tags I leaned over to Hannah and whispered in her ear that a buck usually is with a larger mature doe.  Sure enough mulling around in the brush behind the doe was a large buck.  I lifted my rifle to take a shot and the shooting rail suddenly collapsed on me.  I leaned back and took a shot.  The buck jumped and moved 10 yards.  I took another shot and he took off.   Feeling frustrated I told Hannah we would sit tight for 30 minutes and the investigate.  10 minutes later the same buck re-emerged.  He was not going anywhere until he knew where I was.  I took a third shot and this time he jumped before he took off.

Two great hunters Jake & Jessica

Well I had no idea that I was about to begin a 5+mile two day tracking event when Hannah and I located where I hit the buck.  We tracked him north across Boughton Road into Boughton Park.  Boughton Park is a wildlife safety zone with no gun allowed.  Jake drove my truck over for us to lock up our guns in so we could track the deer legally in the park.

While waiting for Jake a couple cars pulled over.  The first car was a pair of road hunters all curious as to what we were doing.  These guys were hunting from their car and I was not too friendly with these guys as I think their actions are a bad reflection on the sport.  The second car was a the caretaker of the park named Dave.  I introduced myself, explained what we were doing, and assured him that we would abide by all the park rules.

Thanksgiving AM

Jake, Hannah and I entered the park and track the buck to the top of a ridge.  Hannah spotted him standing in the valley and we were excited to see how big he was, 10-12 point 200lb class buck.  We decided to back off and we returned to the truck for an hour.  Our friend Mr. Mitchell joined us and when the hour was up we returned to the ridge where we had left.  The two feet of snow from the storm made it easy to track but difficult to walk.  We slide down the ridge using various clumsy techniques, the kids said I chose the Frosty style of sliding down a hill....we tracked for another mile and we saw the buck again.  I thought it best to leave him alone for 5 hours and we returned to the truck. 

At 3:00 Jake, Mr. Mitchell and I returned to the spot of his last sighting.  We tracked the buck for 3 miles over many ravines and through thick brush.  Lots of laughs at the old man's expense, but I reminded them it is not that one falls down, but that one can get himself back up LOL.  The buck had taken us south to north across the entire park and was doubling back on us when we saw him.  I decided to let him go over night and to look for him in the morning. 

Next morning Jake and I entered the north end of the park and quickly picked up his trail.  The buck took us south across the park again drifting eastward.  We passed the Boughton Pond which was absolutely beautiful and full of geese.  Amazingly and disappointingly we saw that three sets of human tracks were also following this buck.  The tracks were old so they must have been out there at night.  I knew that the word was out that the a trophy buck was being tracked in Boughton Park and I thought back to those road hunters that I had run into the day before.  Jake and I were angry but even more determined to see this to the end. 

After one mile the human tracks turned back, even though the wounded buck continued to leave an obvious trail.  We thought for sure that we were going to find only the remains of this buck from these three people so our spirits were uplifted to see they had turned back.  Boughton Park is an absolute gem of a park with beautiful ponds and virgin timber. 

We followed the buck all the way to the edge of the Fairport Reservoir where his trail entered the water and never returned.  The buck had swam into the Reservoir.  Jake and I were in complete disbelief. We never would have thought this adventure would end with the buck getting into the reservoir.  It was a long hike out of the woods.  We were exhausted when we reached Boughton Road where Mr. Mitchell picked us up.  Lunch at Cheap Charlie's never tasted so good.  That night I shot a doe in the back of Hedge's pasture. 

11 deer in camp

Thanksgiving morning had Jake heading to the gas well, Jessica to her favorite two person stand and me to the seat overlooking the lower ridge at the Hedges.  There was a light rain in the air with plenty of snow on the ground. A buck emerged walking very slowly into the easterly  wind on my right.  It is difficult to shoot to the right and I had to sit up and swivel in my seat.  The buck looked up at me while I struggled to find the buck in my scope.  I was fortunate that he did not move in this struggle.  After I shot I saw him run away and all I could think of was that I wounded another large buck.  I sat tight for 30 minutes stewing over the thought of having to go on another multi-mile tracking of a buck.  There was a big hole in the ground where the bullet had hit the ground, yet no sign that the buck had been hit.  I was really feeling bummed.  I followed the deer tracks for ten yards and I could see him laying in the trail forty yards away on a bed of snow.  I than heard several shots in the distance that was Jake taking a couple does on the gas well. The buck was a nine point and is the biggest buck taken since Jessica's several years ago. It had a 20 inch spread with a very dark rack.

As it turned out one of the "does" Jake shot was actually a button buck.  Quick and often did Jake inform the girls that he had the biggest "buck" for the season of the Apthorpe children.  A claim he could hold onto till the last weekend of the season.

The rest of the season was great, more so because the older I get the  more I enjoy family and friends  than just deer hunting.  Our camp had the second most productive camp since 2009 with 11 deer processed.  The only time I hunted the Krause property I was fortunate enough to shoot a large doe very near the platform while hunting with Jessica and Mr. Mitchell.

The last weekend of the season had Jessica calling me at work Friday asking to go deer hunting over the weekend.  She was itching to get something.  We went out to the Hedges property and she went up our two stand watch on the west side of the property and I sat on the chair located on the eastside of the property.  About a half hour before dark Jessica texted me that she had shot a decent deer.  I told her to sit tight until I made my over there.  The deer she shot was standing on the ridge that we had spent many years hunting together on.  Using lights we found the deer 20 yards away from where we shot it.  It was a true one point buck with one antler extending a full inch.  As a result she earned the biggest "buck" award of all the Apthorpe children.  I asked her to time me, 2 minutes 45 seconds, for how long it took to field dress the deer.  I had her do this in jest to our friend Mr. Flanagan who wrestles with field dressing and opts to use "loppers" ( branch trimmers)  instead....too funny.

The food around camp has been phenomenal as usual.  Mr. Flanagan made fresh venison burgers and tenderloins in mushroom sauce.   The camp cat enjoyed the venison snacks and the warm camp stove.

This year we will be sending 30 pounds of venison to Steven Brothers to have cheese dogs made.  Now cheese dogs do NOT sound appealing to nor do I like hot dogs.  However, last year we had some and the taste would not remind a person of cheese dogs.  A very unique and succulent taste.  We served them at a Keuka Lake last summer, as good friends had given us some, and they were gone, gone, gone because people loved them.

Another fun hunting season in the books!

...I am, of all men, most richly blessed....