My Uncle's Little Spike

My uncle is a great guy. He is very generous because he lets my step-dad and me hunt on his land. My uncle used to be a cop and he is really good with a gun and a bow. I have seen him shoot a deer before, and this is the story behind it.

On this morning we had four people in woods hunting. These people were my step-dad, cousin, uncle, and me. I was down a hill, my step-dad, uncle, and cousin were on top of the hill. They were spread out about seventy yards apart.

Well it was just starting to get light outside, and the deer were starting to move around. I was only going to shoot a buck, but I saw a lot of doe that morning. Well me and my step-dad were texting and he said that he heard some going my uncles way. I started getting excited also because they could cut left and come down the hill. Sadly,this did not happen though.

Well it was about fifteen minutes after I had got the text so I knew I would hear the shot at any second. All of the sudden hear a huge bang, and a roar of the echo through the trees. I knew my uncle was such a good shot that he would hit in the kill spot.

I waited for my step-dad to text me so I could get out of the tree-stand, and roughly fifteen minutes after the sound of the shot I got the message and came out the tree-stand. I walked up to my uncle's tree-stand, and was talking to my cousin and my step-dad. My uncle said that he had shot a spike, which is a buck with two little spikes on the top of its head.

So we took off looking for it because when he shot it the deer ran off. There was no blood where the deer was standing when it got shot. This usually means that you missed, but about ten yards in the direction the deer took off is where the blood trail began.We followed it for fifty yards and the deer laid there up against a tree.

We drug it out the woods and loaded it on the four-wheeler. We took it to the processors, which is the place that cuts the deer up and gives you your meat. Thanks for reading and I hoped you enjoyed it.

Picture of a whitetail spike, this image can be found at http://www.whitetaildeer-management-and-hunting.com/images/Dec31-Spike-Buck.jpg 

Ground vs Tree-stand

Ground hunting and tree-stand hunting are extremely different, but surprisingly similar. They are different in many more ways than similar, but there is one similarity that every style of hunting has, and that is the excitement that comes with it.

Let’s start off with the similarities. The first similarity is that you can use the same firearms in both styles. The firearms used in deer hunting are muzzle-loader, rifle, shotgun, bow, and crossbow. With all of these weapons can be used in a tree or from the ground, but some things are more difficult to use in a tree or on the ground.

Another similarity is that people love both of them. It really depends on how you were raised and what you prefer. I have been raised hunting out of a tree-stand, so if someone asked me what I would choose, then I would say a tree-stand. But if you asked a person rose from hunting on the ground, then they would most likely say they prefer hunting from the ground.

A difference in ground from tree is on the ground you might have to walk around and in a tree you are stationary. Like in turkey hunting you hunt from the ground and sometimes you have to get up and walk around. In deer hunting you can hunt from both styles, but I hunt in a tree-stand. If you hunt on the ground then you can cover a lot more land and have a bigger chance getting a kill. But in a tree-stand you make way less noise than on the ground.

It is harder to see something in a tree than on the ground because you are not at eye level where it is easier to spot something moving. This is another difference between ground hunting and tree-stand hunting. The reason it is harder to be seen in a tree than on the ground is because animals see in front of them and don't normally look up. This is a major advantage to hunting in a tree-stand.

These two ways of hunting are extremely fun and exciting. Some people are scared of heights and would rather hunt from the ground. This reminds me of an article I once read called "Ground Blind Hunting" by Tom Killian, in this he said "If you ever experienced falling out of a tree-stand, you probably have little desire to have a repeat performance.”

There is ways to keep safe in a tree-stand and that is to getting a safety system for yourself. These safety systems can save your life in an emergency. The kind of harness that I use is the one that I read about in an article one time. The article is called "Seat-O-The-Pants Harnesses"; the article says "Hunters love the Seat-O-The-Pants line of hunting safety harnesses and accessories because they are designed to protect you from falls without limiting movement." This is very important because if you can't move then you can't get your phone and tell someone about your situation.

Both ways of hunting are fun and exciting. It just depends on what you prefer. Thanks for reading this blog post.

Picture of a person hunting from the ground, can be found at  http://www.becomeabetterhunter.com/New_Products/Images/mono%20pod%20shooting%20stick/image_3.jpg 

Interview With Step-dad

This blog post will include an interview between me and my step-dad, his name is Tim. I’ve hunted with him every time I’ve been hunting. But today I will ask him about his first turkey hunt. You’ve heard of my step-dad in my last post, which was about our first time hunting. This interview will be about his first time turkey hunting.

Q. Did you enjoy your first time turkey hunting?

A. Yes i did enjoy my first time turkey hunting. It was a trip to see all the wildlife come alive in the early morning. Even though we didn't kill any thing I still had a good time. I really didn't know what I was doing but at least we tried. This was my favorite turkey hunt this year because we actually saw something.

Q. Did you see any animals when you went hunting? If so what were they?

A. Yes we saw a lot of turkey that morning. Also on the way out there I saw three deer dash across the field. Even if we don't see anything it is fun just sitting and relaxing. Hunting is one of the most peaceful things in the world.

Q. Since you seen animals did you shoot one?

A. I planned on shooting one but things didn't work out. It all started with two turkey that came over the hill. I started to get in position and as I went to sit back down a third turkey came over the hill. This turkey saw me and flew off, the first turkey flew in a tree, and the second turkey ran back into the field. I was a little disappointed but my adrenaline was pumped up.

Q. Who did you go hunting with on this hunting trip?

A. I went with my brother-in-law and you. I just about always go with you and my brother-in-law. The reason I go with my brother-in-law is because he owns the land where we hunt. I go hunting with you because your my step-son and you enjoy going, so I take you to make you happy.

Thank you for letting me interview you today. It was a fun time and maybe we can get together again some other day.

First Day of Hunting

In this post I will tell you about the first time I have ever been hunting. I wasn’t old enough to shoot my bow yet so I went with my step-dad. It was bow season and neither one of us really knew what we were doing.

I suggested to my step-dad that we should go hunting and he agreed, so he called my uncle and asked if we could go on his land and he said anytime. Well my step-dad didn’t have a bow and bow season was right around the corner, so he got a nice bow. He bought it in September and bow season was at the end of August. Since my step-dad had never shot a bow in his life, so he had to practice religiously for about a month and a half.

Well the first day of hunting season has around the corner, and couldn’t have been more prepared if we wanted to. We had camo, scent cover up, and a bow. This is about all you need in bow season.

The first day was finally here and we headed out in the woods. We got put in the best treestand since we had never killed a deer before. We got out there about 6:30am and didn’t leave till about 10:00am. Just when I was getting bored two doe showed up. I was amazed because I didn’t think we would see anything.

We didn’t shoot them because we didn’t know if we could shoot doe or not so we held off. We told my uncle what we had saw, and he said we should’ve shot them. I was kind of mad that we didn’t because they would’ve been so easy to shoot.

We went out that night at about 4:00pm and left about 7:45pm. Well just as I was giving up hope again the same two doe came in again. This time we knew we could take them. My step-dad stood up and drew his bow back. It took a second to get sight of the kill zone, but eventually we did and my step-dad let the arrow fly.

I heard a big smack as the arrow hit the deer in the neck. It dropped where it stood and squirmed for about thirty seconds, then the deer went limp.

We were so excited, especially that it only took one day to kill a deer. It took me three years to kill my first deer. Well anyways we took it to the processors and I ate deer meat for the first time the day we got the meat back.

Picture of a whitetail deer (doe), can be found at 

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/hunt/wma/images/matador_sisk_pen_white_tailed_doe_smaller.jpg