I called it a morning around noon and returned to the blind at 1 PM. A quick lunch was accompanied by some On-X scouting in preparation for a forecasted180° change in wind direction tonight.
The father son group in the campground next to me harvested a mature doe. Although I haven’t heard many shots since lunchtime, someone close just took a shot.
There is a well used deer trail about 50 yards down this path. It is where the doe and her bond came out this morning.
Based on the forecast, I may move around 3 PM. It’s calm now, but that should change soon.
I made a move around 3:00. A still-hunter went through a few minutes ago. Needless to say, the managed hunt dynamics are new to me. I saw the father/son duo when I moved and they each have their antlerless tags filled and are on the hunt to fill their buck tags.
Day Two: Epilogue
Despite being set up well for the wind, I was starting to second guess the move. Squirrel activity crescendoed as the end of shooting light approached. Over the course of the day I heard 48 shots (give or take a few) and I was bemoaning not being more cautious earlier in the day when I stood up to stretch just as two deer were entering the path.
With just two minutes of legal light left, I was using scanning the edges one last time when I saw one, then two, deer entering the shooting lane. The first deer was much smaller than the second, and I could not discern if the second was a doe or a buck. Since the managed hunt requires two antlerless deer before earning a buck tag, I placed the high quality Simmons optics that came with the TC muzzleloader (INSERT SARCASM) and watched as the deer run 40 yards and dropped.
After confirming the deer was down, I returned to my truck (about 1/2 mile away) and drove to a point that would minimize the drag out. Before retrieving the deer I collected my blind, and shooting bag, and secured them in the truck, with the lights pointed over the field. This is where things go bad.
During the initial trip to the truck was able to carry pop up blind blind and shooting bag, but not my chair. I left the deer where I had set up the blind then grabbed the chair and took about six steps before twisting my ankle on a black walnut—resulting in a maneuver that should be left to gymnasts. Once I determined nothing was broken, I limped back to the truck only to find my keys were missing. After searching for 10 minutes, I called the *55 emergency number they required us to know, and within 15 minutes a park ranger showed up. Our initial search did not find the key (which could have been anywhere between the initial drag and the second trip the to truck). With the only spare key at home, I called my wife, who was returning from our granddaughter’s hockey game. A plan was put in place that would get me the spare key, howbeit, it would be at least an hour before she should get to the park entrance.
The ranger kindly offered to search again, so we returned to the point of recovery and retraced my steps. We found the place I had fallen, and after a second pass, the ranger exclaimed, “I think I found it.” Sure enough, half buried in the mud was the key. When I called my wife to let her know she said they (her and my granddaugher) had been praying we would find it! Amen to that prayer.
With the key in hand, the ranger helped me load the deer (many thanks!), and 10 minutes later I was at the check station. This is my first management hunt. This was also the longest day of hunting in my life (12 hours). I saw four deer during legal light, and two more returning from the check-in station. The harvest was a doe, helping the park achieve their objective.
With the time change, the morning hunt will seem early, but I anticipate I’ll sleep well tonight.
