What can be the hardest part but, the most satisfying part of any hunt is tracking after the shot. If done right it will not be as hard as some might think. You will learn from your mistakes as I have and you will learn something new on every track you go on. This is something that I have become good at and have been asked numerous times to help.

First thing you want to do is watch the deer’s reaction. It will sometimes tell you where your hit was for example if you hit it in the paunch area it will run off slowly as it hunches with it’s tail tucked. If you hit it in the heart it will sometimes buck like a mule and run off like a bolt of lightning.

At the same time you need to watch it for as long as you can. If it runs out of sight you need to pick a landmark of the last place you saw it such as a specific tree or stonewall or maybe a certain bush. The reason for that is once you climb down the terrain will look much different than it did while you were up in your stand.

If you are not sure of the hit you will need to wait for a while to give the deer time to lay down. I have lost deer in the past because I did not wait long enough and consiquently ended up pushing the deer out of it’s bed and if that happens the chances of finding it drop considerably.

At that point the deer has run out of sight and I have a landmark to go by plus I have waited a sufficient amount of time. I will climb down and go to where the deer was when I shot to look for hair and blood. I will mark the spot with a piece of orange surveyors tape. If I feel I need to wait I will back out slowly and give the deer more time to expire.

When tracking you need to be as quiet as possible as not to push the animal if it is still alive. I will usually try to get another person to help, maybe two people but no more than that because the more you have the more of a chance to make noise and the more of a chance to ruin what sign is out there by accidentally stepping on the sign.

When tracking has started I will have someone stay on the last piece of sign so I do not lose it. Once another piece of sign is found I will have that person move up and then i will continue. Every so often it is a good idea to stop and glass ahead with binoculars just in case you are getting close, it is possible to see it ahead of your location sometimes.

One thing I do want to mention as well is to look at the blood drops. That can also give you an indication of where the shot was. Bright red blood with bubbles in it is a lung hit, dark red blood can be a liver hit for instance.

Tracking at night can be very tough for a couple of reasons. I will try not to track at night but, sometimes you have to depending on the weather. If tracking at night you need to proceed very slowly and you will need to mark almost every step with orange tape because believe it or not no matter how well you know the area everything looks different at night and it would be to easy to lose your bearings and get lost, and I do say that from experience. I shot a doe once and ended up tracking at night and to make a long story short I hunted this particular area for years and after going in circles and backtracking once or twice I ended up lost and could not find my way out till someone had come looking for me and I heard them yelling my name. I can honestly say that never happened again.

I would much prefer to see the deer drop within eye sight but, if they don’t and I know I have a track job in front of me I have confidence that I can put all the information together to either proceed or to wait till morning.

So remember these few basic steps and learn from every track you go on and your success of completing a hunt will increase. We owe it to the animal we hunt to do everything in our power to find them.

When I go out hunting I like to carry a backpack for one reason and that is I don’t like to be held down with full pockets. My backpack carries everything you can think of and once on stand you can hang it from a limb out of the way. Here are just a few things that I bring along with me,

1. water

2. lunch

3. knife

4. extra gloves

5. ammunition

6. orange raincoat

7. cell phone

8. drag rope

9. mini mag flashlight

10. extra hand warmers

11. orange surveying tape for marking a blood trail

12. disposable camera

The list can go on and on. It is easier than filling all your pockets and can be hung out of the way till you need it.

I am sure a lot of you have already done your scouting and have placed your tree stands. I know when I used to Bow hunt I would already have done that and all I would be doing at this point is counting down the days.

There is something about deer season that just drives most of us crazy. For me it is a year long process and usually by this time of the year I am so pumped up that my wife thinks I’m crazy. I spend all year long preparing which usually starts with shed hunting in late winter /early spring. During the summer I am always keeping track of deer I see and where I see them. By late summer I am picking out my spots and try to pick out what i hope will be the luck tree that I will be sitting in.

What we all need to remember is that Autumn is the magical time of year at least for me it is. There is nothing better than sitting in the cool crispness of fall while watching squirrels and chipmunks running around gathering acorns for winter food. Watching the leaves change colors and seeing flocks of geese fly overhead can be so relaxing that somedays I feel I could just sit there all day and it would not bother me if I did not see a deer at all.

I always say that just being there in the woods and just being able to see deer is worth it to me and if I fill a tag than I just consider that a bonus. That is what I mean by remembering the basics. It is not just going out to kill an animal it is by getting out there and enjoying nature at it’s finest. Seventeen years ago I started deer hunting and I never really knew why. I just came home one day and said I wanted to try it.

Since that day I have figured out why, the deer woods as I like to call them are my place to go where I feel the most at peace. Don’t get me wrong I do love to be at home with my family but there is something that drives me to the deer woods every year in autumn. The smell of air the sounds of acorns dropping and the sight of all gods creatures running around on their daily  chores of gathering food for  the upcoming winter.

So while you are out there waiting for that big buck or if you are into herd management and your waiting for that big adult doe to show up I would recommend thinking about the basics and why you are there. Every one has there own reasons and that is fine but, for me it is the one time of year where I go to get away from the daily humdrum of life and find my inner sole. A time for me to reflect about the days gone by and the days to come. I think it gives me a better way to appreciate what I have and enjoy what I am doing.

So good luck to you all and remember the basics, enjoy this time and don’t forget to share it with family and friends.

Well I went out today to check my camera even though I am under Doctor’s orders to do nothing. I took my time and walked out and upon entering the area I noticed that the trails appeared to be used and there was fresh deer droppings on the outside perimeter of the pond which still can not be seen because of all the overgrowth around it.

Upon entering the pond I noticed that there is still no water which given the fact we have not had a significant amount of rain it was understandable to not see any. I noticed that there seemed to be a little more deer traffic which gave me a good feeling. It has been a week and a half since I put my deer cam just inside the dry but very grassy pond and by seeing the extra tracks and fresh dropping I was feeling I was in the right spot.

I got to the camera and paused it temporarily so I could open it up. The counter showed that I had seven picture on it and with a 24 exposure roll in the camera I opted to turn it back on and leave it there. It was looking real good, I wished I could see what was on the cam but it is a old model where I would have to take out the film and go have it developed. unlike the new models that are digital and would let you look at the pics right then and there.

So what I did was back out as to not leave any more scent than need be. I have tracks, I have trails, I have fresh deer droppings and I have seven pics on my camera. It looks promising so I will let it sit longer to hopefully get more pictures. As the season approaches I will start deciding on what tree to sit in. I already have one picked out but I am leaving my options open at this point.

Last night I attended the First Annual Banquet & Fundraiser of a new branch of the Quality Deer Management Association. The Connecticut River Valley Branch which is in it’s first year held the festivities at the Zandri’s Stillwood Inn in Wallingford, Connecticut.

They started the night off with Mr. Matt Ross who is the New England/Canada Regional Director of the QDMA giving a short but informative overview of the Associations goals and their mission.

Then they had a few words from the President of the Connecticut River Valley Branch Mr. Ron Reaves. I had the pleasure of speaking with him over the phone in the past and he is a very nice gentleman who has hopes of expanding this new branch and continuing what the QDMA has started.

Then they had the Pledge of Allegiance which I did not know but, they like to do that before every event such as this. My personal opinion it was a very nice touch.

The last thing they did before the meal was a blessing of the meal from Branch Vice President Mr. Bill Sieff which was also a nice touch.

Through the night you had a chance to fill out raffle tickets for the many gifts that were graciously donated from quite a few businesses around the state like for instance Cabela’s who will be opening their brand new East Hartford store in October. From my neck of the woods was a donation of a gift certificate from Homestead Taxidermy in Woodstock and from right in Wallingford itself is the gun shop Connecticut Sporting Arms, LLC who donated three different types of guns.

All through the night they were having a silent auction of some very nice items and shortly after Dinner which was very nice they had a live auction of some of the nicest prints I have seen in awhile, those would have made anyone’s living room look nice for sure. I have to say that I have not seen very many live auctions or auctioneers for that matter but the auctioneer they had made that part of the event so much fun that I spent half the time laughing like crazy.

It was a fun time had by all and I for one had a great time and look forward to next years banquet. I would also like to say that whether you deer hunt or not The QDMA and their new Connecticut branch of the Connecticut River Valley is very dedicated to promoting a healthy high quality deer herd and wildlife conservation in general.

For more information please visit there website “Quality Deer Management Association”

or you can contact

Ron Reaves - Branch President > crvb-qdma@sbcglobal.net

or

Matt Ross - New England Regional Director > mross@whitetailstewarts.org

I would like to briefly touch on something and that is our Health. It is something that we should not take for granted. You or old we all need to take better care of ourselves if we want to continue to enjoy we we all like to do. For me Whitetail Deer Hunting has been a very big part of my life for the past seventeen years as well as my family.

I have been married for almost twenty two years, our anniversary is actually November 2nd. I have two boys and the youngest is 5. Getting back to the topic at hand, I have never really thought to much about my health (shame on me) but, now I think I have to.

Lately I have been feeling not very well and I think it is catching up with me. I went to see my Doctor the other day and to make a long story short I have to go for a full Cardio workup because she is concerned that my Heart might not be working properly. They also did an extended test for Lyme Disease. If some of you did not know there is three stages to Lyme and it could possibly effect you Heart and/or Neurological system. I was tested positive for Lyme two years ago and they want to see if it when another step.

The Lyme is not really a thing that you can hide from, the ticks can get you no matter how much precaution you take but the heart is something that you can help just by getting a yearly physical, eating properly, exercise, etc.

Better late than never I have decided I want to do what I have to do so I am around for as long as i can be for my family and for what I love to do and that is Deer Hunting. My tests are scheduled for Wednesday which is four days away. I am a little nervous but, we all do what we have to do.

So what I have to say is that “Life is short, take care of yourself to enjoy family and the great outdoors”

I do love deer and deer hunting and muzzleloader shooting as well which leads me to tell you about another form of shooting I like to do. I can not hunt with it but, it does give a lot of meaning to history in general. I am talking about shooting a Cap and Ball black powder Revolver. I own a replica 1860 Colt Army 44 which looks like the picture below.

Just to give you a little history, I got started in shooting blackpowder when I found out my great great grandfather had left Vermont to go to New Hampshire to join the Union Army back in 1861. He had joined up and was part of the 1st. New Hampshire Calvary. Then I found out he was actually at the battle of Gettysburg and survived. I started doing some research on the Calvary and what they used and what life was like. I even went to Gettysburg on vacation 3 years in a row, that was pretty awesome to say the least.

I purchased a replica 1860 Colt 44 and began shooting and fell in love with it. Like I said I can not hunt with it but, it is fun to take to the range and shoot off a few rounds. It has been a little while since I shot it but, now that I belong to a Fish and Game club with an indoor/outdoor gun range I will be able to shoot it more often. Here is a short video I found on loading and shooting a Cap and Ball Revolver. It is not me in the video but, it will give you an idea what it is like.

I found a new blog, it has news and information about shed antler hunting. I have been hunting for sheds since I started deer hunting which was 17 years ago. This blog is very much worth visiting. Ironically it is called The Shed Antler.

While I was checking it out the other day I found a video of a buck shedding one of it’s antlers. It was pretty cool to watch and thought I would share it with you all.

This announcement came from the Norwich Bulletin and it is the basic outline for Bow Hunters. I posted this announcement because I want to try and inform the non-hunting public that they need to becareful when walking in our state forest areas. The reason being that one state forest in particular that I hunt in has a nature trail that winds it’s way through it. In the past I was Bow Hunting one day and was preparing to get ready for a shot at a deer that I had seen coming and the next thing I knew a man and woman with an infant came walking out instead.

Lucky for me I do not shoot until I am positive of my target but, unfortunetly there are some who are quick to shoot and look after the fact. I am not telling the non-hunting public to not walk in the state forests after September 15th. but, I am asking them to think before going out and to at least wear flourescent orange to high light themselves.

< Let us ALL be Safe and enjoy what our State Forest’s have to offer >

The state Department of Environmental Protection announced the 2007 fall archery hunting season for deer and wild turkey opens Sept. 15.

Until November 13 and again between December 19 and 31, bowhunters can pursue both deer and turkeys on state land and on private land where they have written permission of the landowner. Archery hunting for deer also is open from December 5 to 31 on private land in deer management zones 1 through 10 (refer to the 2007 Connecticut Hunting and Trapping Guide for specific information on the location of deer management zones). In zone 11 (Fairfield County area) and zone 12 (Connecticut shoreline towns) archery hunters can hunt for deer from Sept. 15 until Jan. 31.

Bowhunters who plan to hunt into January in zones 11 and 12 have to purchase a 2008 archery deer permit. All private land archery hunters, whether they are hunting deer or turkey, are required to carry a signed DEP consent form signed by the landowner and dated for the current season. Permit applications and the 2007 Connecticut Hunting and Trapping Guide (which contains DEP consent forms) are available at town clerks’ offices and some DEP offices. The guide and consent forms also can be accessed on the DEP’s website at www.ct.gov/dep. Hunters also should consult the DEP website for an up-to-date listing of new state lands open to archery deer hunting.

Bowhunters also are reminded that they are required to have a bowhunter safety certificate before purchasing an archery deer permit. Information on dates and locations for bowhunter education courses offered by the DEP’s Conservation Education/Firearms Safety Program can be obtained by calling the Wildlife Division offices at 642-7239 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Ft. Thomas considers Bow Hunting as Deer Management Program

Here is another example of a growing deer population getting out of control and a city trying to pass a proposal for a deer management program. I think if we all look around that we are not much more different than Ft. Thomas, Kentucky.