2018 Hog Hunt Day 1

I woke up early and forced myself to go back to sleep for at least a little while.  Then watched TV until it was time to get ready and head downstairs for gratis breakfast.

The rest of the hotel must have been on the late shift as I had the breakfast area nearly to myself for a couple of waffles saturated in syrup.  They were excellent.
After breakfast, I packed up my stuff but waited until it got a little light before hitting the road.  It felt a little odd leaving so late.
For a short time after hitting the road, the sunrise with the residual storm clouds made for a very dramatic scene.  I was unable to find my camera at the right time to try to grab a picture.

The rest of the drive south and east went easily enough.  I finished listening to The Lost City of the Monkey God - the end of the book talked about some of the controversy about using LIDAR for archaeological exploration.  The elite of any profession are sanctimoniously right.  Always!
It also talked about the author's affliction with leishmaniasis - a tropical flesh-eating parasite.

The book ended almost perfectly timed as I got to camp.  I unpacked and read for a bit before Rick came back.  The two other hunters in camp, Bob and Jesse, were from Virginia.  Since I was there early enough, I decided to go out hunting for the afternoon as well.

I sat on the same stand where I killed my hog the previous year.  I had three deer come out fairly shortly after I got onto the stand.  The spike buck, doe and very small yearling stayed around for most of the evening.  I even played around with the scope and camera on my phone to capture a couple pictures.  This was pretty hard to do with my phone since the image on the screen doesn't center on the same place as the actual camera - so yes, I do realize it would have been a gut shot.

The only issue I had during the evening was it was cold.  It felt much colder than it should have given the temperature in the low 40's.  I may have to dress warmer for the rest of the week as it is supposed to be colder - although with less wind.
All too soon it was getting dark.  Bob had shot a very fat (and 3x pregnant) sow, even though he had sat on the wrong stand.  Jesse saw only deer.

If I hadn't left early because of the storm, I wouldn't have hunted, so I just consider this a bonus even if I didn't see any hogs.

2018 Hog Hunt Day 0

Looking back over the last several years, more often than not I'm heading South as part of this annual adventure a day early to avoid some unfriendly weather.  I used to NEVER do this!  Is the weather getting worse?  Am I getting more cautious?  I usually end up doing this in a way that the only cost is that of an extra hotel room; I could also say that I usually do this and have to spend the additional cost of a hotel room on an already expensive trip.  I do suppose that the few 10's of dollars the hotel rooms costs is much less than a vehicle in the ditch or a lost day of hunting.
It was unusual weather, as between getting up in the morning and daylight, the temperature dropped over 20 degrees.

So after getting up at my normal time and working from home for several hours, I was out the door by late morning.  I can't say I'm terribly thrilled with my job right now, but having this kind of flexibility is quite ducky.  I need to constantly remind myself of how life is good.  I do feel a bit bad for SO having to deal with a winter storm at home.  Hopefully it won't be too bad.  I also hope I have banked some good karma - while walking the dog a few days ago, I saw a fat fox squirrel trapped in a raccoon leg trap.  I let him out - he seemed quite pissed off and chattered at me from a tree.
I may be being overly cautious and with the forecast, I could even have made an argument that waiting until morning might have made more sense.  One of the best things about being an adult is no one tells you what to do.  One of the more difficult things about being an adult is that no one tells you what to do...

Things above ground were just starting to ice up when I left.  Due to really warm temperatures for the previous few days, the ground was warm enough that nothing was sticking.
So I headed south.  It was raining as I left and this continued for almost the whole day.  The only thing that really changed was how much it was raining.  Temperatures started near freezing and wavered up and down while climbing slightly as I headed south.

After I got off the interstate on US25e, I must have crossed the frontal boundary as almost instantly, the temperature jumped almost 20 degrees.  Both the inside and the outside of the truck fogged up pretty quickly, until temperature and humidity equalized.

Heading through the mountains, traffic was heavier than I've usually seen at first.  But eventually, it thinned out as I headed southeast.  I normally like this part of the drive, but in rainy, cloudy weather it wasn't anything special.  I did remark to myself at one point that it was nice to be headed out without any real time pressures.

I was listening to The Lost City of the Monkey God by Douglas Preston.  It was a fascinating account of the history of the Lost City of the Monkey God - or White City - in unexplored Honduras.  It tells the true story of using LIDAR to find and map unknown ancient cities in the jungle, and their subsequent exploration on foot.  It was a fascinating read/listen.
I pulled into Veterans Overlook so that I could make a plan for how far I wanted to go.  I decided I didn't like the hotel I had previously chosen, and I wasn't really ready to stop yet.  So I looked ahead a bit and found a Sleep Inn outside of Asheville, NC.  This should make the rest of the drive an easy day assuming roads don't freeze up overnight.

The hotel looked nice enough although it was a wet walk down to road for food.  I had been sitting in the truck for several hours so I didn't mind the walk, but it was still very wet and my shoes have some holes in them.
Dinner was a calorically intense Hardee's before calling it a day.

2017 Deer Hunt (Part 1?)

The days leading up to opening day of Indiana's deer gun season were not optimistic.  The night before the forecast was for strong winds, even potentially damaging, and significant rain.  The forecast the previous day at one point said, "Steady wind-driven rain," on Intellicast.
But there was hope.  The local forecast said most of the rain would be late in the day and even Intellicast showed a lower probably of rain in the AM.
So I went to bed a little pessimistic.  I decided I probably would miss the first opening day in many years.

I woke up around 2:00 and peaked outside the window.  No evidence of rain, and while I could hear the wind, it wasn't screaming.  Back to sleep - sort of.
Over the next couple hours I fitfully slept while peeking outside every time I woke up.
Finally a little after 4:00 I got up and let the dogs out.  The forecast was now for rain by late morning, and the radar showed lots of heavy rain to the north but very little in the immediate area.  I fed the dogs and sat down to think.  I have a 0% chance of seeing deer if I don't go out and the temperatures were extremely mild.  I'm going hunting.

I didn't have time to take a shower, but I don't worry about that too much at Mike's.  The deer are somewhat used to human scent and with high winds and other hunters in the woods, the effect would hopefully not be detrimental.  Within a short amount of time, I was out the door.  My LED headlamp and failed since the last time I used it - with the batteries leaking and corroding.  It wasn't an expensive unit, but I had grown fond of its utility.

With heavy wind and the potential for rain, I didn't want to sit in my A#1 usual spot - I'd rather be on the ground with high winds and wet.  But I hadn't planned for this when I was scouting.  My plan was to find a low spot somewhere that I could use as a ground blind.  With the expected weather, I was only going to be hunting for a few hours anyway.

Once at Mike's I headed down into the woods.  It has been an odd, warm and wet fall, resulting in most of the trees leafless, but much of the lower undergrowth (especially the honeysuckle) still leafy and greenish.  Looking around in the dark with my flashlight, I found a spot among some honeysuckle that would give me some cover and good outline breaking stuff behind me.  I set up my SwiveLimb as a seat - this is a great versatile treestand, it is too bad that they don't make them anymore...

I settled  in for a long wait.  It was about 45 minutes to shooting light.  At least temperatures were at a friendly ~60F.  The wind was howling, but sitting low in the ravine, it was actually kind of pleasant.

As it got light, not much was moving.  Even the squirrels seemed subdued with the noisy wind.  Still, as it got light, I decided the spot I had chosen in the dark was actually pretty good - the biggest negative being that I was only a few feet from a well-used deer run.  I had a lot of time to think and mentally decided that with the adverse weather, I probably had about a 10% chance of seeing deer - still better than if I was sitting in my living room at home.
Sitting in a ground blind (and I use that term loosely), it felt very much like my first few years of hunting did in college.  Hunting from a treestand is "better," and it makes it much easier to see.  But there is something really visceral about being eye level with deer when hunting.
And even as the morning wind picked up, the ravine remained nice enough.  A few hickory nuts did aim for me as the wind blew them down.

I tried not to look at my watch, but around 10:00 I decided I should probably look at the radar.  If heavy rain was imminent, I wanted to be out before it got to me.  I was wearing my rainsuit as a precaution, so I started fishing around in my many pockets looking for where my phone was.
As I was looking for my phone, I saw movement way ahead to the left in the form of antlers bobbing up and down.  A buck was moving from the left, away from me and to the right.  My .243 was on my shooting sticks, so I got it up.  He was a bit far, and there were many trees in between us, but as he crossed the creek, he turned a little more to the right and into a small clearing.
To get ready for my mule deer hunt, I've been doing most of my target shooting lately at 200 yards.  So with a solid rest on my Bog-Pod, I took the shot.

The buck dropped at the shot.  I reloaded by .243 and after a short wait started walking toward him.  He looked like he was still moving, so I put a second round into him to be sure and to put him down quickly. 
As I got to the creek, I was looking for a way to get down and across it when a branch I was leaning on gave way.  I nearly fell in and bonked my head on a rock, but managed to roll onto some debris, keeping my gun out of the muck as well.

The deer was a smaller 8-point, with a spread just to the width of his ears - pretty good for the area where I hunt, with lots of other hunters and nearby public land.  I was happy.  I'm mostly after meat when I hunt near home.

But now the real work...  I packed up my stuff and headed to the truck.  The radar showed torrential rain to the north, but it was only heading slowly to where I was.  Shedding a few layers of clothes, I went back to the deer and field dressed him.  Then it was time to drag him.  Through the first creek, across the ravine.  Through the second creek and up that blasted final hill.

Once at my truck, I checked in my deer on my phone.  Mike walked up as I was finishing this and startled me - he was wearing a Tyvek suit as he was doing some work in his attic.  We talked for a bit, before I loaded the deer and headed for home.  I thanked Mike as he was walking back to his house and he thanked me for shooting the deer before noon - with memories of the previous year.

Once back at home, I unpacked and cleaned up a few things - laundry can wait for now.  The antlers weren't big enough to do anything with, so I took them off an skinned him to get the meat cooling down as quickly as possible.  As I was skinning, I found a major bullet fragment.  The .243 isn't a real thumper, and I'd prefer the bullets stay in one piece.  But the fact that I recovered the bullet meant that I had the deer and it had done its job.

  I decided to drop the head off for testing by the Indiana DNR - and it would make disposing of it easier since I left the hide attached.  The DNR check station appeared to be mostly college students - probably getting credit for their work.

I've had some fantastic hunting over the last 12 months.  My big whitetail in 2016.  Another wild hog in early 2017.  Mule deer a few weeks previous.  Once I process the deer, the freezer will be full again.  But with a lot of vacation to burn yet, it is possible I'll get cabin fever and will have to head out again yet this year.

2017 Mule Deer Hunt Day 8 Home

I really wanted the free hotel waffles, but I wanted to be home more.  So I left about an hour before the free hotel breakfast started, grabbing an apple on the way out.  I don't think hotel guests must eat much fruit since the apple was questionable at best.  I'm probably glad it was dark in the truck when I ate it.

The hotel was right off the freeway, so I was up to speed quickly.  Traffic in the early morning was predictably light.  Temperatures were near freezing, with high winds.  The winds on this entire trip east have really killed my gas mileage with one fuel fillup showing less than 20MPG (I routinely have been getting closer to 25 at home).  A strong cold front has been doing wacky things with the weather all over.  Temperatures at home were more like early fall and there were tornadoes in Northern Ohio.

I listed to Short Stories edited by Stuart Dybek.  It was ... not good.  One story was about a Wyoming rancher which was pretty good.  The rest were not really worth the time to listen to them.  Once it was finally over I relistened to the first part of The Billionaire's Vinegar.  The rest of the books on my USB drive will be saved for my  next trip in my truck.

Travel went fast and I had lots of time to think about my mule deer hunting adventure.  It had all the ups and downs I would expect and hope for on a hunting trip.  I got to hang out with a good group of guys.  I got to see more deer than I probably saw in my entire life combined, including a lot of phenomenal bucks.  More than that, I got to be around deer that see little hunting pressure.  And as the end of the hunt was in sight, I got to stalk a mule deer in true Wyoming fashion with snow on the ground and a Western wind blowing.

Travel went fast and soon enough I was off the interstate getting close to home.
The dogs seemed happy to see me.  I unpacked the truck, but didn't unpack everything inside as it isn't immediately imperative; it will drive me nuts for a day or so, but I'll just have to deal with that.
I did take care of the mule deer meat.  The dry ice had kept it cold and some of it was frozen rock solid.  This made it hard to debone it, but I kept at it and got about 40-50 pounds of meat.  It will probably be a few days until I  actually try it.

Before heading west a week previous, I sort of thought that mule deer would be a one and done thing.  I really didn't think I'd do it again - I was wrong.  As soon as I can, I'll be sending Wyoming my money to start buying more deer preference points.  Sadly, it will be a few years until I get enough to hunt Jim's other areas to the South that will be a different kind of experience.
And that is what it is all about; it gives me something to look forward to.

2017 Mule Deer Hunt Day 7 Leave Day

I had thought about leaving the previous evening, but it was getting late, especially with the time change, and dark early.  Besides, I was enjoying the group of guides and others I was hunting with, so I stayed the final night.

Once awake, I packed up much of what I had.  The mule deer meat wasn't frozen, but the very cold overnight temperatures had cooled it well.  Importantly, the cats had not gotten into it - they had lots of leave-ins in the bed of Jim's truck anyway.

Breakfast was eggs and muffins - and eating chocolate chip muffins for breakfast is awesome - almost like eating cake for breakfast.  I wanted to wait until daylight to leave since the area is so thick with deer.  Besides it would give me a chance to see the deer in the fields one last time.

Once it got light, I said goodbyes and thanked everyone again.  Then I was on the road.  The cold temperatures kept the road frozen, which was an improvement over the mud that had been everywhere for the previous days.
As I left the area, the fields were again filled with deer.  I saw a few of the bucks that would be shooters just about anywhere else in the country, but just nice here.  Shortly before turning off of the dirt road onto the paved, I saw a big group of mule deer does and smiled as I made the turn.

I headed south toward the interstate, getting on it only briefly before stopping in Spearfish to get dry ice at Safeway.  With the cold temperatures, I was hoping about 15 pounds would suffice. 
From there, it was really time to head home.

The day started with a mix of clouds, making a pretty dramatic sunrise.  Sadly, the picture couldn't adequately capture what it actually looked like.

Once again, I was on I-90 for a long time.  There were a few periods of snow with a couple areas where the roads were quite slippery.  Right near the South Dakota Minnesota border there was a roll-over accident that I strongly suspect was from ice on a bridge.  This slowed most of the traffic, but the roads were only troublesome for a short distance.  I sort of felt like I was in the Movie Fargo though.

I was listening to David Rakoff's book Half Empty which was not nearly as good as Don't Get Too Comfortable.  But the end of the book was somewhat dramatic as he talks about his cancer which I believe kills him a few years after the book was published.

Once I had a good idea where I could get to, I had SO look up hotels.  I wanted to stop in Waterloo, Iowa, but there were really cheap hotels and really expensive ones without much in between.  I think that is the same problem we had when we stayed there in 2012 and as I recall, I wasn't thrilled with the hotel we stayed in then.

So I motored on to Iowa City.  The last hour was pretty tough with fatigue and darkness, but I was careful and made it safely to the hotel.  After eating little since breakfast that wasn't junk food, I was hungry for something more substantial.  Sadly, I think the gas station hot dogs I chose were not much better.  The Sabra Hummus was actually quite good though.

2017 Mule Deer Hunt Day 6 Hunt Day

I woke up to a couple more inches of snow and frigid temperatures in the mid teens.  At least I wouldn't be sitting in a treestand all day and the was forecast to be much sunnier than any previous day on the hunt.

After a breakfast of flapjacks, Jim and I hit the road.  Bill came along, but with the only tag left to fill being mine, it was mulie or bust!

We went back out to the west ranch, this time getting there without any extraneous turns or missteps.  As we got in the area, we could see two important things.  First, the yard mule deer had moved on somewhere.  Second, with the cold night over and temperatures rising in the sunny morning, mule deer were on the move and were scattered all over.

We started at the small ranch where I was unable to shoot at the big mule deer.  We drove most of this "small" ranch and saw several groups of mule deer.  There were a couple of decent bucks, but nothing that Jim said was worth spending time on.  I was starting to wonder if his standards were higher than mine.  And they are...  With no Mr. Big on the property, we went back to the larger ranch. 

Once on the larger property, we started seeing mule deer all over.  We quickly saw the crab claw deer nosing after a doe.  I still thought it was a pretty deer, but with lots of time left, we kept going. 
A short time later and after seeing several more small groups of deer, we saw a larger group to the right as we crested a blown-out levy.  In that group, we saw a really wide mulie.  Jim put the spotting scope on him, and he said he was a 3x4.  Jim looked a few more minutes and said he had good mass; then he finished with, "I would shoot that one."  He wasn't as excited as the big mulie the previous day, but it did look like a good mule deer and definitely one of the better ones we've seen on the hunt - certainly wider.

Jim slowly backed off and we got behind a large bluff.  Jim and I got out of the truck and got ready for a stalk.  I chambered a round and put on some additional layers of clothes as it was still very cold.
We slowly climbed the hill, with me staying a few steps behind Jim.  I could catch a few glimpses of the deer, while we maneuvered to where Jim was happy with the view and amount of cover.
Jim said we were going to crawl ahead the final 30 yards.  He warned me to watch out for cacti.  I tried, but they seem to be the Wyoming gift that keeps on giving; I pulled several stickers out of myself throughout the rest of the day.  Jim took his day pack off and set it in front of me as a rest.  "They are at 150 yards," he said.  "High shoulder when you have a clear shot and are rock steady and comfortable."

The deer were milling around happily, I settled the crosshairs high, but a little closer to center of body.  I felt excited, but also surprisingly calm as I snapped the safety off.
I love the way rifles sound in the huge Wyoming sky. It is nothing like how they sound at home in the heavy woodlots or at the range.  The rifle report is more of a low boom than a sharp crack, and it echoes off the surrounding hills, both close and distant.  Magical.
My first shot hit him hard, but it was a bit low.  One went over his back, but two more in quick succession put him on the ground for good.
We stood and observed him and walked back to the truck.  Jim congratulated me.  I was excited and elated.  The walk back to the truck seemed much shorter than the stalk up.  But it was long at the same time.
I won't claim it was my finest shooting ever, as I did need one finisher after we drove up on him to end things quickly.  I was thrilled.  I still am.  Mule deer has been on my bucket list for a long time, not just the animal, but the whole experience.  He was a very wide 3x4 with good mass.  Perhaps more importantly, I got the Wyoming experience I was hoping for.  Seeing many mule deer to look over, a stalk with snow on the ground and a cold Western wind.  And taking the deer at a relatively long range.

150 yards - long range?  Well ... about that.  Jim later told me it was actually 250 yards and that is why he stressed a high shoulder shot.  His tactic worked - I would have had less confidence in the shot if I had known it was longer than I had thought.  Quite the guide, that Jim.

We spent some time taking pictures before heading back to town with my mule deer buck in the truck.  One the way out of the property, we again saw the land owner.  We stopped so he could see my deer and we talked a bit.  Even though Jim leases hunting rights, I thanked him for the opportunity to hunt on his beautiful land and for the great experience that it was.  He seemed pretty happy to see the deer as well.
We went to the taxidermist in Hulett, who was the same guy who did my pronghorn several years previous.  That work was excellent, so I knew my mulie would be too.  Looking at several mule deer in progress at the shop, mine showed actually quite well.  Northeast Wyoming mulies are a little lighter in mass than what would be expected in agricultural areas or in parts of New Mexico, but it was a great deer and a greater experience.  He was still all mulie with the white face with grey on top, and he was definitely a mature deer which is what Jim strives to take.

Back at the lodge we ate lunch.  Then Jim helped me quarter my deer.  Temperatures were right around freezing with a cooling wind, so the meat should be good until evening where overnight temperatures were again expected to be well below freezing.  The plan would be to pick up dry ice somewhere early to keep things cold for the trip home.

As it got dark, Jim and I sat on the road to look for good deer and "patrol" for road poachers.  We happen to sit in a spot with decent cell phone coverage so I could at least update SO as to the plans to leave on Monday.

Dinner that night was succulent ribs with corn and potatoes.  With the time change the previous night, it was dark, and I was tired early.  But I forced myself to stay awake for a while before turning in for my last night in Wyoming.

2017 Mule Deer Hunt Day 5 Hunt Day

I had a lot of time to think through things with my no-shot mulie as I fell asleep and woke up.  The exact numbers don't matter, but if I had taken the shot, I probably had equal probability of making a clean hit, making a recoverable but ugly hit, making a clean miss, and making a wounding miss where the deer was never recovered - the worst possible situation.  While I am a bit disappointed, I made the right decision and I still have a few days to hunt.  'nuff said on this topic.

After a great breakfast of eggs and some turn over things, we hit the road early to look for deer.  The first couple hours of the day went pretty well.  There were a couple good whitetails sneaking through the woods that Bill was interested in, but he wasn't able to get into position quick enough with his limited mobility.

Then things slowed down.  Things slowed wwwwaaaayyyy down.  The hundreds of deer we were routinely seeing seemed to just vaporize.  Still, the country we were hunting in is absolutely gorgeous.

I almost got bored during the latter half of the morning, and spent some time thinking about how incredible it was to hunt here.  I was now starting to see deer that I would never in a million years pass up on and thinking, "Nice, but kind of small."

I know I'll reenter reality as I get back home, but that is still several days away.  For now, "Nice, but kind of small."

These pictures are by no means the largest that were passed up - they just happen to be situations where I was able to easily snap a few pictures.

We went back to the lodge for lunch.  Bill had made a joke about not going back out since the end of the morning was slow, but there was no way I wouldn't go out.  Even if it is slow, deer don't hang out in the lodge (although they almost do).  Also, if everything had gone into hiding, they might be anxious to get back out.

And the deer were back out.  We saw several more herds of deer and many more decent bucks.  As we turned onto one of the ranch roads, We saw several deer ahead.  Jim stops the truck and looks through the binoculars, "He's a shooter Bill!"  The deer was heading right for a fence to jump in front of us.
Once across the fence, he ran into the woods.  Jim pulled up a bit more.  I said, "There he is, there he is!"  Jim got into position as the deer turned around, confused by the truck in his domain. 
Jim's gun barked.  Friggin muzzle brake - it was LOUD.

All three of us got out after a couple minutes to look for the deer.  It was slow going at first with Bill's very limited mobility.  Jim and I went ahead.  Jim found a good blood trail as I paralelled him a little lower on the hill.  We found the deer about 75 yards away. 
Bill made his way to the deer.  He was happy.  To be honest, it felt kind of good helping someone like him remain in the field hunting.  The deer was a gorgeous 10-point buck.  Good mass.  Good Height.  Symetrical with a few extra mini points near the brow tines to give it character.

We took some pictures before field dressing the deer and heading back to the lodge.  Even after all our noise making of pictures, gutting, etc., there was still a couple deer less than 100 yards from the truck as we left.  Jim caped it since Bill was going to take it home for the taxidermy.

The guys from Conecticut had gone antelope hunting and had come back with two good pronghorns, one male, one female.  The other group spent most of the day looking for the previous day's deer.  Sadly, it was not recovered.