Opening morning blues with two Numb Chucks!

[swbuckmaster]

Opening morning blues with two Numb Chucks.
My hunt started out by getting out of my hammock at 4:30 am and fixing breakfast. I arrived at my blind 45 minutes before sunrise. Every thing was going as planned. By 7:00 am nothing had showed up yet except two numb Chucks. One I nicked named Chuck Norris because of his features and the other Chuck Adams because of his beanie hat. I mean no offence to either of these guys they were just in the wrong place at the wrong time for me. Both guys were using recurve bows with large flu flu like fletchings on their arrows. They were about 8o yards apart and moving fast. I heard them coming at least 200 yards away. When they saw me they waved and proceeded to walk right into my spot. I thought, ?How in the heck are these guys going to get anything with flu flu arrows, recurve bows and moving that fast?? Luckily these guys didn't ruin my hunt for the day. In fact it turned out to be very good. About a half hour after these guys moved through, the five deer I had been hunting came crashing towards me and stopped. I didn't have hardly any time to react. I also didn't want to rush the shot. I grabbed my range finder and took two readings which read 72 yards, and checked the angle and cut chart attached to my range finder. I knew if they held tight for just a few more seconds the big one would be in real trouble. I stood up, so I didn't hit my blind, and took two steps to the right, to get a shooting lane with no obstructions. When I stood up one of the deer spotted my movement and was watching me. I put my 60 yard pin on the largest deer?s vitals and looked where my fifty yard pin was and proceeded to compensate for the shot. I was just touching my trigger when all of the sudden they winded Andy, my friend, who was sitting closer but didn't have a shot. Deer ran every where and I had to let down. Less than 2 more seconds and this story would have had a picture attached.
Opening day turned out alright for me however for my friend Jerry it was unbelievable, which took place only a canyon away. Jerry got up and snuck down a 35 degree slope to his pre determined spot. As light started to show so did the deer. The first one to show was a 3x4 and a doe. As they fed into shooting distance he elected to pass as more deer were coming and bringing along one we were after, a heavy four point which we had nick named ?Little Buddy?. It would only be a matter of time and Little Buddy would follow the same path that the other deer had used. When Little Buddy had closed the gap to less than 150 yards someone behind him rolled a 2 foot bolder towards the deer and that was all it took to move the deer out of the area. As Jerry went back to camp he noticed there must have been 20 people surrounding the bowl he was hunting in. They looked like Indians in a cowboy movie on the ridge. Jerry was feeling pretty low at this point but he would soon find out what kind of competition he was up against. He nicked named this group ?The Real Deal?. This group of eight was taking a break, airing out their stinky shirts, and getting into DIY hunting shape by doing sit-ups. Look out Cameron Hanes these guy?s are the real deal. Finally came the grand finally ?The Butt Slider? which was a guy sliding down a 35 degree slope like Katusha rocket with a traffic flag kicking up dust. That must have been a sight. Too bad for Jerry and all of his hard work scouting, videoing, and preparing for opening morning.
If you are going to hunt public land you will have to turn negative situations into positive ones or you will be in for a heck of a roller coaster ride of emotions, especially if you feel you only had a successful day if you connect. Anyway I hope this story has brought some kind of comic relief to your opening morning blues.

 

[Silentstalker]

I had a similar situation happen to me. We had 2 different trailers pull in between our trailer and my uncles trailer which were within 30 yards of each other at the dead end of the road. They then pulled their trucks in between our trailers so we had to go around them to talk with my uncle and his family. These guy's trailers were within 15 feet of my uncle and maybe 15 yards of ours. Then opening morning we were followed into a basin by one of these guy's with his head lamp a blazing and staring at his GPS. Obviously these guy's had every right to hunt and I suppose camp wherever they feel, but I for one would NEVER camp in between an already established group of campers. Luckily the hunt was awesome and I saw some great bucks! I hope to have a photo of a kill soon! Have a great day and make those negatives positives! Sorry to hear about your "negatives" keep after it!

Chad

 

[Prism]

Ahhhhh, the joys of general season public land hunting in Utah

Thanks for sharing the stories.

"Watch the season unfold!"
www.neverenoughbiggame.com

 

[dleonard3]

I have a friend that decided to bowhunt this year. After several failed scouting trips that produced nothing, he decided to call me for suggestions. I suggested that he try looking where the deer live (HA, HA). He didn't like my joke. He asked if it would be OK if he went up to one of "MY" secret spots. I was planning on taking my youngest son in there during the muzzle loader season, so I told him I would rather he went somewhere else, but it is a free country. He said he couldn't think of anywhere else to go, so I decided that if I go with him, at least I could talk him out of shooting anything. I might even be able to get him to sit still and watch from a distance without disturbing any of the bucks. I haven't been up there yet this year, so I figured I could call it a scouting trip myself.

We got up at 5:00 am and headed out in my jeep. As soon as we left the pavement we started seeing large camps with multiple RV's and tents everywhere. I have never seen this many hunters in this area during the Bowhunt. We were very discouraged, but we continued up the road. About half way to our destination, we caught up to an old red Toyota pickup with two idiots in the back holding bows and frantically scanning from side to side looking for that yearling buck they could shoot from the road. Normal people would pull over and let me pass. But these jokers wouldn't. We followed them all the way up the road until we came to a fence with a gate. This is open public land and this fence only represented a different cattle alotment, so there isn't usually a problem going through this gate. Well, someone had opened the gate and parked their "MULE" ATV in the middle of the road between the posts to keep everyone else out. The driver of the little red truck in front of us got out and checked if there might be enough clearance to get between the fence post and the ATV. I suggested that we just hook a tow strap up and yank it out of the way. "No need, I think we can fit" was his reply. We both squeezed by and continued up the road. About a quarter mile from the "road block", we came to a water catchment that had a pop-up blind set up on it. I made it a point to stop and roll down the window and yell real loud "HAVE YOU SEEN ANY YET?" I'm not sure why they didn't answer me. A little further up the road, the road hunters in the little red truck must have spotted a buck, because they both bailed out and sneek/ran toward the west. The driver of the truck finally decided to pull over and let me by, so out of courtesy I rolled down the window and yelled "GOOD LUCK" as we went by. We finally got to our parking spot (about 45 minutes late), grabbed our stuff, and started our hike into our hunting spot. Throughout the morning we spotted 34 bucks. They were mostly yearlings and two year olds, but there were 4 really nice bucks seen. The biggest was a 26-27 inch typical with a single cheater on its right side. My friend decided to try for that one, but before we could formulate a plan, a couple of other bowhunters appeared on the skyline and spooked the herd. Luckily, they were running in our direction, so I told my buddy to sit tight and get ready. The biggest buck made its way to about 125 yards before it turned and headed away. Overall, it was a really bad opening day of bow season, but it was a pretty good scouting trip. I wish Salt Lake area people would hunt closer to home and quit coming all the way to the southern region. It is really messing up "my" area. Hopefully they will all be back home by the time the Muzzle loader season opens, and hopefully there will be a few bucks left.

 

[utahheadgear]

I had a good weekend of hunting. Were there some other hunters in my public land honey hole that I have scouted all year? You bet. Did they mess up my chance at a buck? Yep. I guess I could be all pissed off, but maybe, just maybe, I messed up their chance at a buck too, and didn't even know it.

Think about it, we all may not be on the same level, but we are all hunters and we all have the priviledge to be out there hunting on public land. If it weren't for the "numb chucks" that screwed all of us "perfect hunters" up on opening day, none of us would have the priviledge to get out and hunt. No doubt each and every one of us has messed up someone else while out hunting whether we know it or not. And they no doubt figured us for nothing better than a "numb chuck". Get the point?? Maybe instead of moaning about it we should be glad they are there, and maybe if we give each other some help with improving our hunting skills we might all be able to have a better hunt.

Sure it's frustrating when someone that is seemingly less deserving messes you up, but you're still out hunting which is way better than any other alternative I can think of.....isn't it?

Like I said, I had a great weekend with a couple of friends, some deer, no shots, no kills, and yep, some "numb chucks".

I hope you all have a great rest of the season.

Good luck!

 

[dleonard3]

You're absolutely right. I probably messed up the morning hunt for the road blockers by disregarding their subtle hint and driving right through "their" carefully scouted hunting area. I am also guilty of being very rude by yelling and possibly scaring any potentially thirsty bucks that may have been headed to their water water hole that morning. I was also very rude for following the red truck all the way up the mountain. I should have been a little more considerate and pulled back and allowed them to get further ahead of us so they could road hunt a little more effectively. As far as the two other bowhunters that spooked the herd, I have no bad feelings about them at all. They are welcome in my camp, and on my mountain anytime. They were out there on foot doing their best to find a buck. They were moving slowly, quietly, and carefully, and using their binoculars alot. They didn't know that the herd of bucks were there and I don't think they ever saw any of them. We got to watch how these resident bucks escape from danger, and now we know where they go to hide and the path they take to get there. Overall, this was a great scouting trip in the middle of the most over crowded bowhunt I have ever personally witnessed. I have a little deeper respect for the bucks I will be hunting, and for the bowhunters that are doing it right. As for the ones that are doing it wrong, I hope they get arrested. Just my opinion.