Another First - Weekend Recap

Spent the weekend in the woods with the boys again.  I truly enjoy hunting with my kids and hunters new to the sport as it allows me to see many firsts through their eyes which just streghtens my passion for the outdoors.  This weekend they were both  bow hunting!  Brandon has been practicing and very confident in his shooting so this was his first bow hunt ever.

Brandon and Brendan after a morning hunt

There was no problem getting the boys up and moving Saturday morning even if there were some light showers in the area.  Brendan offered up his blind for Brandon to use on his first bowhunt and considering Brendan had deer encounters during ever sit in this blind, Brandon was definitely excited.   As Brandon and I were sneaking into the ground blind I heard the all too familar sound of a deer snort which stopped me in my tracks.  I turned to look at Brandon and he had a concerned look on his face and wasn't sure what he just heard.  I explained to him that it was a deer snorting at us and he looked less nervous and more confused.  As we stood there I could hear deer moving in the brush just out past the ground blind and then it happened again. Brandon kind of giggled and said it sounded like a train whistle.  I never thought of that, but I guess it kind of does sound like a train whistle - okay not really - it sounds like a deer snort!  After the last snort we heard the deer crashign away so we once again attempted to be quiet and made the last 50 yards to the blind and got all tucked in for a sit.

With the rain still dripping from the wet leaves and trees it made hearing anything impossible so we spent the next 3 hours on high alert only to not see anything.  This wasn't a bad thing, as I spent that time coaching Brandon through and trying to teach him some simple things like marking his yardage, how to scan the woods, paying attention to the wind, etc.  I did also take the time to reminsce about the first time I hear a deer bleat and told Brandon I swore it was a sheep in the middle of the woods.

About 9:30 I headed over to where Brendan was setup and we took a little walk around the back part of the state land to get Brendan reoriented with that piece of state land.  We stopped by the swamp and the beavers have a done a bangup job with their damn making a really nice puddle duck spot and we most certainly saw some ducks in there which will make a nice early morning hunt before work.  The colors along the swamp were really starting to pop and the picture doesn't do it any justice sorry.

We found some fresh rubs and some good sign and an interesting living space made by something, not sure what though.  We never moved a deer but we did finally run into a couple of other hunters on the far back part of the state land and we chatted with them and shared a little information, not all of it though.

Brandon had to head out to work that afternoon so after watching our Penn State Nittany Lions lose to Indiana Brendan and I decided we needed a calming place so back out to the woods we went.  It was hot and buggy but it beat being home doing chores.  We didn't see a thing, but we did hear something that sounded like heavy breathing off in the distance, but it is really thick around there and we never did see anything.  I'm guessing it was a Squatch as there is no other reasonable explanation. 

All in all it was a nice day in the woods!