My countdown
- Thread starter Ol' Arky
- Start date
iccyman001
New member
- Apr 30, 2014
- 5,489
\"Ol\' Arky\" said:
Cant wait!
Congrats on the piggy and coyote!
Today is Wednesday day #5 and I got a call at 10:31AM while I was in my stand.
No one there but it was from my wife. Finally got a text to go and found out
what I almost knew the call was about. My oldest daughter in laws daddy had passed away.
Hunt on hold.
I just home and hugged my oldest daughter in law. Asked how she was and she said
\"Better now that your here\".
Pray for our family.
Depending on funeral arrangements I may get one more day to hunt but it\'s not likely..
Maybe modern gun season... :shh: :shh:
No one there but it was from my wife. Finally got a text to go and found out
what I almost knew the call was about. My oldest daughter in laws daddy had passed away.
Hunt on hold.
I just home and hugged my oldest daughter in law. Asked how she was and she said
\"Better now that your here\".
Pray for our family.
Depending on funeral arrangements I may get one more day to hunt but it\'s not likely..
Maybe modern gun season... :shh: :shh:
I\'m on my cellphone and was thinking of how to describe my muzzle loader deer hunt.
I know you have read books or story\'s that were so boring you never made to the end.
So I\'m going to start this tale at the end
and then tell the rest of the story later...
So 2016 Arkansas muzzle loader deer hunt was THE BEST HUNT OF MY LIFE!!! Bar none..
It ended sadly with the death of a very close friend and relative. We all know he\'s better off now.
I didn\'t kill a deer but after what me and my family have been through to get to this point it was truly a blessing just to be there. From being blessed to be alive, to being blessed to not have cancer, to the work and preparation and the actual hunt itself. My family was great. Y\'all were great.
But the folks at the deer camp were greater than they had to be. From the people of the deer camp I\'ve known for a long time and those that I barely knew at all. They went totally out of their way to make sure I was able to hunt. My wife said they treated me like a \"King\". I told them they didn\'t
know how it meant to me for all the time and work they put into getting my stand ready to hunt.
It\'s great to have good friends even if you don\'t know them, all of y\'all included.
Needless to say I now will truly enjoy each and every hunt for anything that I\'m able to be a part of since it could very well be the last one.
My wish to all of you is that you have fun and enjoy all of your hunt since no matter how young or old, healthy or unhealthy, it could be your last one also.
This is my story\'s ending but there is a bit more startling with the day before and including day 1 through day 5 which was only a part of a hunting day. Unlike some unnamed folks :mrgreen: I didn\'t keep a diary but did make a few notes during the hunting days. Maybe it will be interesting.
Maybe not but I enjoyed each and EVERY minute of it!!! :upthumb: :upthumb:
I know you have read books or story\'s that were so boring you never made to the end.
So I\'m going to start this tale at the end
and then tell the rest of the story later...So 2016 Arkansas muzzle loader deer hunt was THE BEST HUNT OF MY LIFE!!! Bar none..
It ended sadly with the death of a very close friend and relative. We all know he\'s better off now.
I didn\'t kill a deer but after what me and my family have been through to get to this point it was truly a blessing just to be there. From being blessed to be alive, to being blessed to not have cancer, to the work and preparation and the actual hunt itself. My family was great. Y\'all were great.
But the folks at the deer camp were greater than they had to be. From the people of the deer camp I\'ve known for a long time and those that I barely knew at all. They went totally out of their way to make sure I was able to hunt. My wife said they treated me like a \"King\". I told them they didn\'t
know how it meant to me for all the time and work they put into getting my stand ready to hunt.
It\'s great to have good friends even if you don\'t know them, all of y\'all included.
Needless to say I now will truly enjoy each and every hunt for anything that I\'m able to be a part of since it could very well be the last one.
My wish to all of you is that you have fun and enjoy all of your hunt since no matter how young or old, healthy or unhealthy, it could be your last one also.
This is my story\'s ending but there is a bit more startling with the day before and including day 1 through day 5 which was only a part of a hunting day. Unlike some unnamed folks :mrgreen: I didn\'t keep a diary but did make a few notes during the hunting days. Maybe it will be interesting.
Maybe not but I enjoyed each and EVERY minute of it!!! :upthumb: :upthumb:
Departure day...
Woke up :yawn: early :yawn: to get the refrigerator and freezer stuff packed in ice chest since everything else was already packed in my truck. My wife was already packing the ice chest so I go out to check and make sure that I had everything I needed for the trip loaded for the 10 time... :mrgreen: :mrgreen: Looked at my wife\'s vehicle and it had a flat tire... :think: :think: Had to get that fixed before i left so she would have transportation while I was gone. After waiting for the our tire shop to open got tire fix after waiting in line for 45 minutes... Took car back to my wife and was ready to go... Did I forget to say it was pouring down rain.. Had to take ranger down to camp since mine was still in the shop being repaired from when the boys tore it up during spring turkey season... So go to son\'s house to get his but on the way decide to top off my tanks with diesel... Topped off with 10 gal of \"BAD DIESEL\"... Finally got to son\'s house, hooked up to trailer and pour a bottle of Sea Foam in with the bad diesel.. Still raining... My wife decides that she will follow me down to camp and come back home... After short conversation we decide she can follow me down and stay over night then come back home... SO we head back to our house to get her some junk to carry with her... While at home I dump a bunch of diesel additive in with the Sea Foam and bad diesel... We finally head out at about noon... Still raining... Truck finally starts running alright about the time we get back past our son\'s house heading for camp... Rain had stopped... Uneventfully trip the rest of the way to deer camp... :upthumb: :upthumb: Unload everything including ranger.... Finally at deer camp again...
The rest of the day, what was left of it anyway, was mostly uneventful except that my old oxygen concentrator that stays at the deer camp would work but undoubtedly wasn\'t doing much oxygen concentrating... :downthumb: :downthumb: Found that out a bit later and had to go back on my portable oxygen tanks... Oh well a fitting end to our chaotic departure day... :lol: :lol:
Things will surely get better... :upthumb: :upthumb:
Woke up :yawn: early :yawn: to get the refrigerator and freezer stuff packed in ice chest since everything else was already packed in my truck. My wife was already packing the ice chest so I go out to check and make sure that I had everything I needed for the trip loaded for the 10 time... :mrgreen: :mrgreen: Looked at my wife\'s vehicle and it had a flat tire... :think: :think: Had to get that fixed before i left so she would have transportation while I was gone. After waiting for the our tire shop to open got tire fix after waiting in line for 45 minutes... Took car back to my wife and was ready to go... Did I forget to say it was pouring down rain..
Had to take ranger down to camp since mine was still in the shop being repaired from when the boys tore it up during spring turkey season... So go to son\'s house to get his but on the way decide to top off my tanks with diesel... Topped off with 10 gal of \"BAD DIESEL\"... Finally got to son\'s house, hooked up to trailer and pour a bottle of Sea Foam in with the bad diesel.. Still raining... My wife decides that she will follow me down to camp and come back home... After short conversation we decide she can follow me down and stay over night then come back home... SO we head back to our house to get her some junk to carry with her... While at home I dump a bunch of diesel additive in with the Sea Foam and bad diesel... We finally head out at about noon... Still raining... Truck finally starts running alright about the time we get back past our son\'s house heading for camp... Rain had stopped... Uneventfully trip the rest of the way to deer camp... :upthumb: :upthumb: Unload everything including ranger.... Finally at deer camp again... The rest of the day, what was left of it anyway, was mostly uneventful except that my old oxygen concentrator that stays at the deer camp would work but undoubtedly wasn\'t doing much oxygen concentrating... :downthumb: :downthumb: Found that out a bit later and had to go back on my portable oxygen tanks... Oh well a fitting end to our chaotic departure day... :lol: :lol:
Things will surely get better... :upthumb: :upthumb:
Day 1
Alarm went of at 5:40 AM... Got up and dressed with light clothes... Talk to the others in camp for a few minutes... My wife had decided to go with me so we head out to my stand... Trip is about a 10 minute drive... It was foggy and took a little longer this morning... Get to where I park my ranger and we start the long :mrgreen: :mrgreen: 20 or 30 yard walk to the stand... We get settled in, load my muzzle loaded and wait for daylight... After daylight and pretty early we see 2 doe and a little one at the feeder to my left... We both watch them with binoculars for a while... They stay about 10 or 15 minutes then move on... About an hour or so later 2 more doe come to the same feeder... We watch them and they stay for about 10 minutes and move on... My wife is going to drive home when we get done hunting... We didn\'t see anything else and heard very few shots... We left early for me at about 10 AM so she could get on the way home... Got back to camp ate breakfast wife got packed and headed home... I laid down for a nap and my wife called to tell me she was home about 3 PM... So I got up ate a sandwich and headed back to my stand... Get there and get settled in and load my muzzle loader about 4 PM... It was hot... About 5:30 PM black sow hog wanders out into the lane in front of my stand... Valley of Death lane... All she gave me was a quartering away as she was walking away from me down the lane... BOOM!!! .45 cal Hornady XTP 250 grain bullet sent downrange... Heard the bullet hit sow squealed and spun around and back into thicket she had come from... All of a sudden the lane came alive with little piggy\'s... Running across the lane and up the lane and up across the lane... They were every where... Black... Brown... Tan and White... The little critters were a lot faster than I thought they would be... Anyway reloaded and waited a while and until all the little pigs had been gone for a while... When down to where I shot the sow in the ranger and found a lot of blood... Also found the thicket was so thick that we were unable to recover the sow... :downthumb: :downthumb: Went back to stand and waited till dark... Nothing else happened... Unloaded muzzle loader and went back to camp... Talked with folks at camp and ate supper then off to bed since I didn\'t get much sleep the night before... I forgot my phone has a camera and didn\'t take any pictures of anything...
More to come later.....
Alarm went of at 5:40 AM... Got up and dressed with light clothes... Talk to the others in camp for a few minutes... My wife had decided to go with me so we head out to my stand... Trip is about a 10 minute drive... It was foggy and took a little longer this morning... Get to where I park my ranger and we start the long :mrgreen: :mrgreen: 20 or 30 yard walk to the stand... We get settled in, load my muzzle loaded and wait for daylight... After daylight and pretty early we see 2 doe and a little one at the feeder to my left... We both watch them with binoculars for a while... They stay about 10 or 15 minutes then move on... About an hour or so later 2 more doe come to the same feeder... We watch them and they stay for about 10 minutes and move on... My wife is going to drive home when we get done hunting... We didn\'t see anything else and heard very few shots... We left early for me at about 10 AM so she could get on the way home... Got back to camp ate breakfast wife got packed and headed home... I laid down for a nap and my wife called to tell me she was home about 3 PM... So I got up ate a sandwich and headed back to my stand... Get there and get settled in and load my muzzle loader about 4 PM... It was hot... About 5:30 PM black sow hog wanders out into the lane in front of my stand... Valley of Death lane...
All she gave me was a quartering away as she was walking away from me down the lane... BOOM!!! .45 cal Hornady XTP 250 grain bullet sent downrange... Heard the bullet hit sow squealed and spun around and back into thicket she had come from... All of a sudden the lane came alive with little piggy\'s... Running across the lane and up the lane and up across the lane... They were every where... Black... Brown... Tan and White... The little critters were a lot faster than I thought they would be... Anyway reloaded and waited a while and until all the little pigs had been gone for a while... When down to where I shot the sow in the ranger and found a lot of blood... Also found the thicket was so thick that we were unable to recover the sow... :downthumb: :downthumb: Went back to stand and waited till dark... Nothing else happened... Unloaded muzzle loader and went back to camp... Talked with folks at camp and ate supper then off to bed since I didn\'t get much sleep the night before... I forgot my phone has a camera and didn\'t take any pictures of anything... More to come later.....
Day 2...
Started as day 1 and was mostly uneventful and a lot of looking... It was still Hot!! In the morning I saw 2 doe in the lane to my left... And in the afternoon a young buck this a forked antler on his left side and broke off about 4\" stub on his right side... Saw him very late in the day...
So far all of the deer would have been easy shots but none were what I wanted to shoot yet or legal to shoot in the case of the buck...
I did remember I had a camera on my phone...
While driving in on one of the old logging roads to my stand I notice how nice and bright the full moon was... I stopped once I got on the power line and to a few pictures through the pines...
When I got settled in my stand I took another one... The squared off part is the push out wind bottom on the left side of my stand...
Did I say it was Hot???
A few more days to go...
Started as day 1 and was mostly uneventful and a lot of looking... It was still Hot!! In the morning I saw 2 doe in the lane to my left... And in the afternoon a young buck this a forked antler on his left side and broke off about 4\" stub on his right side... Saw him very late in the day...
So far all of the deer would have been easy shots but none were what I wanted to shoot yet or legal to shoot in the case of the buck...
I did remember I had a camera on my phone...
While driving in on one of the old logging roads to my stand I notice how nice and bright the full moon was... I stopped once I got on the power line and to a few pictures through the pines...
When I got settled in my stand I took another one... The squared off part is the push out wind bottom on the left side of my stand...
Did I say it was Hot???
A few more days to go...
Day 3...
Started the same as day 1 an 2... I was ready for action today and thought it would be the day... Almost right BUT... Fairly early (like I said I didn\'t keep a diary) 2 doe show up in the lane left of my stand feeding in the area I put out corn to slow down or stop deer crossing that lane... Remember I remembered the camera function on my phone... Pop it on video and look up... 3rd deer has appeared with the 2 doe... Got my interest since I could tell it was a buck but a small buck... He was legal... 3 on the top on both sides.... I\'d told the folks at the camp that I was going to shoot the 1st legal buck I saw... WELL, I lied... Just could bring my self to shoot the little guy even when he gave me numerous opportunities... Took a short video...
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzGO7_0rdn8&feature=youtu.be[/youtube]
More Day 3 later...
Started the same as day 1 an 2... I was ready for action today and thought it would be the day... Almost right BUT... Fairly early (like I said I didn\'t keep a diary) 2 doe show up in the lane left of my stand feeding in the area I put out corn to slow down or stop deer crossing that lane... Remember I remembered the camera function on my phone... Pop it on video and look up... 3rd deer has appeared with the 2 doe... Got my interest since I could tell it was a buck but a small buck... He was legal... 3 on the top on both sides.... I\'d told the folks at the camp that I was going to shoot the 1st legal buck I saw... WELL, I lied... Just could bring my self to shoot the little guy even when he gave me numerous opportunities... Took a short video...
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzGO7_0rdn8&feature=youtu.be[/youtube]
More Day 3 later...
Day 3 continued....
An hour or so after the 3 deer had lrft together, look down the lane to my right and something is trotting up the middle of it toward my stand... Coyote... Up come the muzzle loader... Got him in the cross hairs, cock hammer and let him keep coming toward me... It was clear to me that he didn\'t intend on slowing down or giving me anything other that a frontal shoot... Then, he stopped an was a little off full frontal... BOOM!!! Another 45 cal 250 grain Hornady XTP bullet headed down range... When the smoke cleared a little the coyote was spinning in a tight circle biting at his middle body... He made several more spins and then drug himself into another thicket from hell... Again a lot of blood but no way to get to him... Now if either had been a deer the thicket buster crew would have figuraed a way to get to it... Stayed till after 11AM and then went back to camp... Told everyone about the coyote and they agreed that the thicket was to tough to get the coyote... Ate breakfast/lunch and laid down for a nap... Woke up for some unknown reason and the ceiling fan was locked up... Messed with it but it was locked up... Dead beyond repair... Turned it off and went back to bed... Got up a bit later and headed back to my stand... Another long set but right at dark saw a doe come to the feeder in the left lane... Another deer tried to come in to the feeder but the doe ran it off... To dark to see what it was so I wait for both to leave and head back to camp... !st day one of the guys had killed a good 8 point for our area anyway... Tonight was fried tenderloin and deer steak night... Ate too much... Gota let this digest again...
An hour or so after the 3 deer had lrft together, look down the lane to my right and something is trotting up the middle of it toward my stand... Coyote... Up come the muzzle loader... Got him in the cross hairs, cock hammer and let him keep coming toward me... It was clear to me that he didn\'t intend on slowing down or giving me anything other that a frontal shoot... Then, he stopped an was a little off full frontal... BOOM!!! Another 45 cal 250 grain Hornady XTP bullet headed down range... When the smoke cleared a little the coyote was spinning in a tight circle biting at his middle body... He made several more spins and then drug himself into another thicket from hell... Again a lot of blood but no way to get to him... Now if either had been a deer the thicket buster crew would have figuraed a way to get to it... Stayed till after 11AM and then went back to camp... Told everyone about the coyote and they agreed that the thicket was to tough to get the coyote... Ate breakfast/lunch and laid down for a nap... Woke up for some unknown reason and the ceiling fan was locked up... Messed with it but it was locked up... Dead beyond repair... Turned it off and went back to bed... Got up a bit later and headed back to my stand... Another long set but right at dark saw a doe come to the feeder in the left lane... Another deer tried to come in to the feeder but the doe ran it off... To dark to see what it was so I wait for both to leave and head back to camp... !st day one of the guys had killed a good 8 point for our area anyway... Tonight was fried tenderloin and deer steak night... Ate too much... Gota let this digest again...
Day 4...
Same routine except today was kind of an off day... Hunted till 9AM and saw nothing except the usual small critters, raccoon\'s, squirrel\'s and bunny rabbits... Had to go half way home and meet my wife for additional oxygen cylinders... Another chaotic time... but we made both made it there and back... Things you\'ll do just to hunt a little deer... I headed back to my stand as soon as I got back... Set the rest of the afternoon and finally just before dark the same small 6 point came out to feed... I could tell he didn\'t have brow tines this times since he got much closer... None of the pictures I took were any good...
I did get one picture that was OK... Picture of my hydration supplies in my stand...
Same routine except today was kind of an off day... Hunted till 9AM and saw nothing except the usual small critters, raccoon\'s, squirrel\'s and bunny rabbits... Had to go half way home and meet my wife for additional oxygen cylinders... Another chaotic time... but we made both made it there and back... Things you\'ll do just to hunt a little deer... I headed back to my stand as soon as I got back... Set the rest of the afternoon and finally just before dark the same small 6 point came out to feed... I could tell he didn\'t have brow tines this times since he got much closer... None of the pictures I took were any good...
I did get one picture that was OK... Picture of my hydration supplies in my stand...
Yep I was wearing my Croc\'s since it was so hot...
Day 5....
I did my normal routine and had seen only the regular little critters... Remember the bad phone signal... At 10:31AM my phone rang or really vibrated once... Looked and it was a missed call from my wife and I was sure I knew what it was about... Sent several text since the only thing I could do from my stand was text when I finally would get 1 bar... Got conformation that I was not wanting to get... Oldest daughter in law\'s daddy had passed away... I when back to camp, packed up what I needed and left the rest... Waited till someone showed up and told them what was going on... Headed home with a heavy heart...
That ended my muzzle loader hunt for 2016...
But---------Modern gun opens November 12th....
I\'ll be back!!!!!!!!
Day 5....
I did my normal routine and had seen only the regular little critters... Remember the bad phone signal... At 10:31AM my phone rang or really vibrated once... Looked and it was a missed call from my wife and I was sure I knew what it was about... Sent several text since the only thing I could do from my stand was text when I finally would get 1 bar... Got conformation that I was not wanting to get... Oldest daughter in law\'s daddy had passed away... I when back to camp, packed up what I needed and left the rest... Waited till someone showed up and told them what was going on... Headed home with a heavy heart...
That ended my muzzle loader hunt for 2016...
But---------Modern gun opens November 12th....
I\'ll be back!!!!!!!!
