Upland and waterfowl 2022

 

    Early on in September I joined a group of guys running bear dogs in VT. After that trip I left my camper up in Lancaster NH at a fairgrounds. I returned 3 weeks later and luckily it was still there. I picked it up and my dad and I drove to Colebrook, NH and stayed at the Notch View Inn campground. It was a quick trip over the border into VT where we hit up our regular spots, and found a few new ones as well. Although we had plenty of opportunities, only one grouse was shot and a few woodcock. We tried fishing, but the water level was really high with a recent amount of rain. We actually cancelled with a guide and tried a small river with no success.

   

     Around my birthday in late October I like to my a trek home to do a little hunting. In 2022 my Dad and I with my friend Dan went to the Peru/ Bromley area of Southern VT and hit up a few spots. It was extraordinarily warm for that time of year and dry. We were able to find a good flight of woodcock, but only came back with a few. 

 
    The rest of the bird season was just a few days trips to local stocked areas with the dogs.

    Duck season was an after-thought. The season on the cape goes well into January, after all other seasons are closed. I was able to get out a few times and hit a few birds with the old lady Piper. 

Deer Hunting 2022

 Deer Hunting 2022

    My deer season for 2022 was overall a great success. I didn't punch a tag on a monster buck, but I filled my freezer and had a lot of great experiences.  

    Opening day I shot a doe. This was my first time hunting from a saddle. I was more interested in fine tuning my gear for the season I did not actually give my thought to actually shooting a deer. However, I scouted the area out that afternoon, before finding a tree to climb. It was a windy day. I climbed a tree and quickly realized how close I was to a walking path. It didn't matter. Well before sunset a giant buck walked towards me from the other side of the tree I was hanging from. So with my saddle the deer was coming in the direction I was looking and I was going to have to try and make a shot from either the left or right side. So many things I read and heard about saddle hunting, they say not to lift your bow over your tether to shoot from the off hand side. Well I figured out why. As I moved my bow over the tether, I forgot that my arrow rest was broken and had no way to hold the arrow in place if tipped up. The arrow fell off my bow string and tinked down the steps below me. I hurried to grab another arrow from my quiver and leaned around the tree only to lock eyes with the buck below me. He disappeared shortly after.

    Not soon after that a momma and her baby came walking behind me. This was a shot that I had practiced. I leaned out, drew my bow and sent my rage broadhead to the pump station of the bigger doe. She ran about 30 yards and dropped. 

    

    Later on that year, during that pivotal first week in November I got up early and headed to one of those areas that is always good during that time of year. I had a few encounters with deer during afternoon sits in past years, but had never hunted this stand in the morning. In fact, I hadn't hunted any mornings prior to this. My wife even criticized my hunting strategy and asked if I was ever going to be getting up early. So I set the alarm and got out of bed. I hadn't been to this stand since last year, and with my new love of saddle hunting I wanted to sit in that, instead of my stand. Getting set up was no efficient. After I finally climbed up to my spot, I quickly realized that my bow string was caught on one of the steps and I couldn't pull it up. I climbed down and back up and was still wiping the sweat off my forehead when I heard deer running towards me. I looked up and saw two does. I leaned out from my saddle and my platform made a loud creak. The lead doe stopped and stared at me. She stomped her foot and was about to blow at me when I let one loose. It hit her high and spined her. She dropped but was far from dead.

I took another shot at her put missed, as my adrenaline was still pumping and so was hers. She was flopping all around, not giving me an easy shot. I took another shot and it deflected off a branch that was in front of her. As this was happening I heard another approaching deer and heard a grunt. I grunted back. In all of this commotion the other doe came around my stand, now down wind of me and started blowing. If I had another doe tag I would have shot her too, but I only had 2 for the cape and had already filled one on opening day. The blowing doe took off and with her the sound of the grunting buck. With all this going on, called the attention to a small 4 pointer whose curiosity got the better of him. He stood broadside at 20 yards and the rest is history. I was able to climb down the tree and finish both deer off right under my stand. I grabbed my kids from daycare and had them "help" me track and drag the deer out. 

    

During shotgun I went out with two of my buddies, Rob and Johnny. We went to an area I had never hunted but wanted to check out. Early that morning we spread out in a small area with the intention to sit quietly for the first hour and then start pushing the area. Rob texted me and said that there was a buck headed my way.  I stood up and pushed deeper into the woods, as I was standing close to the highway. Just as I did I saw the buck running about 80 yards out. I took my first shot with a red dot mounted on my Remington 870. The deer ran another 30 yards and then stopped and looked towards me broadside. I shot a second time and he dropped. The first shot had hit him in the hind leg area and the second shot was high but in the vitals. 

    During 2022 my dad and I did our first deer camp with an outfitter in the Finger lakes of upstate New York. I had a few encounters on my trip and made a couple bad shots, (one high shoulder hit, one gut punch). My dad shot a six pointed and with only one buck tag, had to pass on a nice 8 pointer the next night. After this season I inevitably needed to figure out my shot placement and ended up buying a new bow with a better setup. I also went down the rabbit hole on target panic and have been working on making better shots in the future.

New Brunswick Spring Bear 2022

 

    In early May of 2022 (5/8-5/14) I took my first trip to Stony Brook Outfitters in McAdam, New Brunswick for spring bear over bait. This was the first real outfitter trip I had been on and it did no disappoint.  The camp is right on a beautiful lake that is full of pre spawning smallies. During the day you can do whatever you want, shoot your bow/gun, fish, take a boat ride or a nap. Lunch is the biggest meal of the day and is served prior to going on stand. As with any outfitter, your experience weighs heavily on who your guide is. At Stony Brook, the owner, Bob Parker, hires a handful of really good local guides. Some are more "old school" or traditional with their sites, easily accessible, with a limited window or shooting lanes to conceal movement. Other guides run tree stands and trail cameras in a more modern approach. This first trip I had a guide who had more of a traditional approach. I used my friend Louie's 30-30 rifle and watched a barrel in a small window for the majority of day 1 with no sighting. Day 2 came and a small boar came out early in the hunt. In my haste I only waited about 10 seconds before pulling the trigger.  The bear weighed about 130 lbs. An average size for the camp but for that early week it won the big bear pool.  The coat had already started to rub, so I wasn't worried about messing it up too much and used it as an opportunity to try skinning and drying the hide myself. I sent it to a tannery who professionally tanned it, and it now hangs on a wall in my basement. 

    The rest of the week was filled with fishing. I brought a small fly rod, which I was trying to get better it. Being inexperienced I brought leaders set up for trout and broke off many small mouth, losing my best flies. It only taught me out to play a fish carefully on light tippet.  Overall I would highly recommend Stony Brook and I ended up going back the next year for another trip. This time with my bow and proper fishing gear.