My 2014 North Carolina Deer season was a good one until it got unexpectedly stopped short Thanksgiving week due to a foot injury.
1) November Fall colors and cool weather were beautiful as usual. I also saw the biggest buck of my lifetime moving slowly through thick trees about 50-60 yards away. Had his nose down on a hot Doe track, ignored my grunt call, just kept slowly plodding along, never had a good shot, and then he had passed on by, never saw him again...huge deer, huge rack.
2) I did manage to take a 7 pointer and 2 Does”¦the 7 pointer was originally an 8 but 1 tine had been snapped off apparently from fighting”¦donated all of them to the needy family I give them to near where I hunt.
3) I used my .58cal Early Virginia only because I felt pretty sure it would be my last season with it”¦planned to begin ”˜thinning the herd’ in 2015 by selling off the .40cal Late Lancaster, and possibly the .58cal Early Virginia after the season was over”¦and in fact have now sold both of them.
4) As in recent years, I used my preferred “high-shoulder-shot” to take out the vertebrae, and as in the past the results were all 3 deer dropping in their tracks in 40-50 yard ranges”¦a devastating kind of shot placement.
5) As in 2013, I used Ameristep Doghouse ground blinds again to eliminate the possibility of ladder stand / tree stand related injuries, and they were great again”¦warm / dry / comfortable”¦hunted a few days in rainy weather that I normally would have missed.
6) Then ironically”¦in spite of being risk free of ladder stand / tree stand injuries”¦during Thanksgiving week when I was walking back out of the woods after dark following a couple days of heavy rain, I slipped on muddy ground stepping over a ditch, and in falling got my right foot wedged / bent down into a small hole. Tore cartilage in the foot, had to stay off of it through December ending the 2014 hunting season early.
But, while it took 6-7 weeks for my foot to heal up, the good news is I was able to walk back over uneven ground in the woods just today, and take down / bring out the 2 Doghouse blinds I had used in November. With mobility basically no longer a major issue I’ll be restarting weekly Flintlock range trips now and be 100% ready for April Turkey season with the 28ga Early Virginia.
Hope everyone had a good 2014 season and a better 2015 coming up in the near future...
1) November Fall colors and cool weather were beautiful as usual. I also saw the biggest buck of my lifetime moving slowly through thick trees about 50-60 yards away. Had his nose down on a hot Doe track, ignored my grunt call, just kept slowly plodding along, never had a good shot, and then he had passed on by, never saw him again...huge deer, huge rack.
2) I did manage to take a 7 pointer and 2 Does”¦the 7 pointer was originally an 8 but 1 tine had been snapped off apparently from fighting”¦donated all of them to the needy family I give them to near where I hunt.
3) I used my .58cal Early Virginia only because I felt pretty sure it would be my last season with it”¦planned to begin ”˜thinning the herd’ in 2015 by selling off the .40cal Late Lancaster, and possibly the .58cal Early Virginia after the season was over”¦and in fact have now sold both of them.
4) As in recent years, I used my preferred “high-shoulder-shot” to take out the vertebrae, and as in the past the results were all 3 deer dropping in their tracks in 40-50 yard ranges”¦a devastating kind of shot placement.
5) As in 2013, I used Ameristep Doghouse ground blinds again to eliminate the possibility of ladder stand / tree stand related injuries, and they were great again”¦warm / dry / comfortable”¦hunted a few days in rainy weather that I normally would have missed.
6) Then ironically”¦in spite of being risk free of ladder stand / tree stand injuries”¦during Thanksgiving week when I was walking back out of the woods after dark following a couple days of heavy rain, I slipped on muddy ground stepping over a ditch, and in falling got my right foot wedged / bent down into a small hole. Tore cartilage in the foot, had to stay off of it through December ending the 2014 hunting season early.
But, while it took 6-7 weeks for my foot to heal up, the good news is I was able to walk back over uneven ground in the woods just today, and take down / bring out the 2 Doghouse blinds I had used in November. With mobility basically no longer a major issue I’ll be restarting weekly Flintlock range trips now and be 100% ready for April Turkey season with the 28ga Early Virginia.
Hope everyone had a good 2014 season and a better 2015 coming up in the near future...
couldn't get in my stand for 2 weeks.
