Greetings

[Witold Krzyżanowski]

Welcome to AH. Good luck.

 

[Tally-Ho HUNTING SAFARIS]

I DO heartily commend you for working with senior citizens!!!

It warms my heart.

Host at least a few every year
We do our best for every level of capabilities and fitness
Regards

 

[Frostbite]

I got up in the dark.

That's how the story starts.

More later.

 

[Frostbite]

Well, I wish I could say I got him while still-hunting alone in the deep north woods. Maybe I should tell that story.

But the real story of 1960s Minnesota farm country is what I'll tell.

Our gang, as usual, all got up before light and went to our personal favorite stands near home before starting our cooperative efforts.

We met at about 9:30 and began our usual series of drives. We would have about ten guys during the week and 15 to 18 on the weekends.

Weather was sunny and chilly with a bit of a breeze. Beautiful fall day and as a younger guy I did more driving than standing. Still a bit of fall color on some maples so there was beauty to be enjoyed. We hit woods, pastures, fields and swamps where walking was tough (and I mean real swamps with standing water that was sometimes over your boots).

So it was a day of pretty hard work. Our drives kicked up deer and by afternoon we had taken a few deer. Pretty normal day. Our group had always been relaxed and easy going though, and we had breaks every time somebody hollered "LUNCH!" And we had a lot.......a LOT of good food packed and a good long break at noon with a lot of talk and laughter and banter about shooting skills or lack of them.

Guns were always ready and other gangs were pushing deer and it was not unheard of to have a deer come right through the scenic spot we had chosen to take a break. Deer were sometimes taken as everybody scrambled to drop sandwiches and coffee cups and grab guns.

This was old-style deer hunting. We knew the owners of the farms and they knew us and expected us. They were relatives and friends. This kind of hunting gradually came to an end in the 1980s--we were sad to see it go, but we learned that good things don't last forever.

By the 80s new people were buying some of the farms and attitudes were changing. Signs with "No Hunting or Trespassing" began to be more common.

An era ended. The new way was everybody hunting separately from tree stands wherever we could get them. The camaraderie that was a big part of the enjoyment was over. It became a solitary and very different kind of hunting. We got together some evenings.......but it was different. It was a loss.

So what about that big deer?

Well, there were two of them.

More later.

 

[African Sporting Creations]

Welcome to AH!

 

[LIFE-FORM TAXIDERMY]

Welcome, enjoy the forum.

 

[Frostbite]

I do apologize for being slow with the deer story.

I've been busy posting in other areas.

Anyway..........to continue: I was on my new guy duty of mostly driving (and in the worst of the swamps) and was in a particularly deep and ugly swamp.

I saw some motion up ahead but the brush was too thick to tell what it was..........no flash of a white tail and no sound--if it was a deer it was sneaking.

Whatever it was made a quick and quiet exit.

Then I saw something that taught me how big old bucks stay hidden and unseen for many years sometimes.

In an area where the water was deep enough to get close to my knees.......I found two deer beds on a tiny island--a dry spot about twelve feet by twelve feet in the middle of an extensive area where water was a foot or more deep.

Hard to get to........most hunters would have circled it to avoid the deep water but being a new guy I was too dumb or too motivated to do that.

"Smart deer, perfect spot to bed down," I thought.

I had no idea how big and smart they were.

More later.