Wyoming!

 The big planned trip for this year was to go out west and mule deer hunt in Wyoming. I went with Tom, Louie, and Chris. We stayed at Tom's friend Mike's house in Gilette. We rifle hunted public land. The conditions were very dry and from what Mike told us, the deer sightings were minimal. Tom was able to shoot a nice buck, with the help of a well-placed follow up shot from Louie, while hiking deep into a large piece of BLM land. I heard the shots tearing across the drainage from where I was. I watched two does take off from the shots. The pack out with the quartered buck was quite the workout in 80 degree dry heat. It was an amazing experience just being out there even if the conditions were sub-prime.  

    On the last day to hunt I took Luna out for a bird hunting excursion and on the way home I stopped at a spot I had taken notice of with the help of Onx. It was a small piece of BLM, but there was a drainage area I thought might hold deer, so I grabbed my rifle and left the bird gun in the truck. I didn't have to walk far, and I saw a doe jump out from the drainage. I got my rifle ready on my sticks and watched a group of does take off down the drainage. I studied each deer as they ran off for antlers and to my surprise, I noticed one deer had horns. Without thinking too much about it I pulled the trigger and dropped a small spike in his tracks. Not the biggest mule deer, but way better than eating a $600 tag. The saying, "every deer is a trophy" doesn't always ring true, but it did in this case.  The spike had a little velvet on the tips of his horns, known as a "cactus buck." 

Deer Hunting 2021

 I didn't spend anytime scouting or running cameras in the early season because I was gearing up for a trip to Wyoming. I missed a lot of the early season bow hunting, but spent a considerable amount of time in a stand after that. I had an opportunity on a really nice buck that came into a grunt call on Nov 5 in Yarmouth. I took a shot at 40 yards but missed low and in front of the brisket. The buck jumped back and then spooked after I tried to grunt him back in. 

Later that year, during shotgun I sat in a stand that I hadn't seen much in earlier in the year, but during the "late rut" when the yearlings were coming into heat, a small doe came running by my stand. I did not have a doe tag for zone 12 so I let her pass and this turned out to be in my benefit because a nice mature buck was hot on her heels. I shot him at 40 yards and he didn't run 20 yards before tipping over.

The day before shooting that buck I did a drive on opening day with Johnny, Rob, and Nate. I jumped a spike and unloaded on him but missed. He ran right into Rob who dropped him with a load of buck shot.

During muzzleloader on a deer drive in Rehoboth I had another really nice buck come to me. My radio, (which was on way to loud) went off and spooked him. We stared out each other for what seemed like forever. I swung my muzzleloader around and took a shot as he started to run. I found a little hair, but no blood and without much else to go on wasn't able to recover him. Little Tom saw him run past but didn't have a shot. Even though I didn't pack my freezer with MA tags I had a successful year with 1 mule deer, 1 pronghorn, and a nice white-tailed buck. 

My Dad shot a monster Florida Mountain buck during shotgun by the Deerfield. 

We also took a late season MV trip with my Dad, Rob, and Nate. We stayed in an Air BnB in West Tisbury. The first night Rob shot a doe, but we had a lack of action after that. I took a pop shot on a doe in a thicket of briars but missed. We checked out the state forest but didn't see much. The deer might have been pushed out by the shotgun season or they just headed to wintering areas not on any accessible land. 

Upland 2021

 I wasn't able to do an early season upland trip in the fall due to a trip out west. Instead, I hunted sage grouse in an outfitter near Casper, WY. I was able to do a short day trip to the Manchester/Peru area of southern VT with my Dad and Dan. We didn't knock down any grouse but had a great woodcock flight.  I also had a few opportunities to get out on some stocked pheasant in MA. I took a few trips in Western MA as well as Norton, the Cape, and Plymouth. The dogs were working well together, but Piper came up lame on one of the last hunts on the year in Falmouth. Luna was solid and is starting to come into her prime years. 

VT Bear 2021

 I tried something new in September 2021 by tagging along with Tom and Louie to the Northeast Kingdom in VT for an early bear hunt over hounds. Just watching the dogs work was worth the trip. Tom shot a nice bear on the first morning and then we struggled to tree another bear after that, but the experience was enough to plan another trip for the following year. 

Markover Hunting Preserve 2021

 In March of 2021 we spent a night at Markover in CT. The lodge was a great time, but lead to a tough morning of bird hunting.  Overall it was a good experience. Along for the trip was my Dad, Louie, Nate, and Rob. We decided the next time we would hunt first and then drink after.