Archery 2009

This was to be my first year at a serious attempt hunting with a bow since 1982. I had grown up shooting archery since I was eight years old, had shot in numerous tournaments and won most of them, even placing second in four consecutive New England State championships. As a junior hunter you could often find me hunting squirrels and rabbits with my bow. However, after missing a deer at roughly fifteen feet, I hung up the bow indefinitely vowing never to pick it up again

Then, about five years ago (2004), my brother Paul loaned me an old Eagle III that he had laying around and a half dozen arrows. So, even as I started practicing in mid-September 2009, I still had the bow and those same six arrows.

Considering that the fall archery season was close at hand, I felt a little panicked. I needed to sight in my bow, add string silencers, and build my confidence in shooting again. So, I began practicing nearly every day and just as my confidence was growing, I did it. I tossed an arrow over the target and it was gone, hidden somewhere beneath the autumn leaves...and I was down to five.

Complicating matters was the old 1980s bowhunting sight which required the horizontal and verticle adjustment for each pin. Eventually, I replaced the sight...after losing another arrow. I was frustrated though, that 35 yards would be my maximum..."Heck I used to shoot fifty and even out to eighty yards!" But, the season was upon us and like it or not I had to live with the prospect of getting within the range of my pins.

I can honestly say that I was less than one hundred percent confident of my shooting, perhaps around sixty percent. I was also less than happy with my hardware on opening day, but I was going to give it my all.

Throughout the season I continued to practice and learn. I replaced my quiver and bow sight, and got my bow tuned-in. I was far more excited when the late archery season opened in December than I was when rifle season opened in November. I also feel blessed with the many things I learned through the 2009 archery and rifle season about myself, the area I hunt, and most of all an understanding of why I have failed on so many hunting trips in the past. I have regained my enjoyment and confidence with archery as well as the desire to pursue it further, and I'm happy mostly for that. It is a great source of fond memories from my childhood, and perhaps it will prove to hold many more. In fact, I'm sure it will.

Pursuit Info - Ridge Lines & Watershed

Unfortunately, the ridge lines don't appear too well in the above illustration. But, an important thing to remember is that the terrain is sloping downwards towards the creeks. As shown, there are sub-ridge lines (minor ridges) between the Primary Ridge lines and the creeks. The sub-ridges are only very well defined by the terrain in the areas located in the photo.

Now, at first glance one might think that these creeks flow towards the reservoir in the bottom left corner. This is not the case however. The West Creek is actually fed by the reservoir as part of the lake's natural spillway. East Creek and the field spring flow northward towards the Lower Swamp. This is all due to the terrian, since the property is on the north face of a small mountain.

East Creek

East Creek is pretty much as it shows in the photo, a small babbling creek. West Creek, Field Spring and both swamps are literally that...narrow, mucky bogs. They are prominently identified by thick stands of tall pines throughout.

Pursuit Info - The Small Pines

This stand of small pines no doubt holds some hidden secrets, some of which were revealed following a recent heavy snow. Rabbits, fox, red squirrels, as well as the deer have been using the small pines for cover. The photo above shows how the limbs of the pines cover the ground beneath them pretty well and even more so in other areas. This photo, taken on 13 Dec. 2009, shows evidence of a deer bed which was quite likely used the night before. No deer trails have been discovered at this point running through the pines. But, I hope to clarify this in future posts. The deer may be using this stand of pines as morning bedding areas, but I have yet to prove that either.

The stand of small pines borders much of the primary wood lot to the south and serves as the boundary to the fields surrounding Mark's home. But, despite its relatively small size, it is still a royal pain to navigate even with two logging trails passing through it. The logging trails are strewn with debris as well as rooted stubs of small trees that have been trimmed down. I can't tell you how many I tripped over as they were hidden in the snow. There is also a small muddy creek that runs from Marks property through the further-most western end of this stand of pines.

Pursuit Info - The Thicket

The Thicket is another area of the property that was previously logged, but has had a few years of growth. Although there are pines shown in the photo above, the pines are actually standing along West Creek. The thicket largely consists of the young hardwoods you see in this photo as well as briars, raspberry, and many other types of deciduous vegitation.

Much like the wood lot, the thicket also contains numerous standing trees, piles of limbs, and fallen timber. It's tough to navigate through, but thankfully there are logging trails that divide up the thicket and provide a means for accessing different parts of the thicket fairly easily.

The thicket is located on the north side of West creek opposite of the woodlot. It is bordered on the east by East Creek and the west by another woodlot and standing trees. The north side of the thicket I have yet to explore but it appears to be more standing timber and pines similar to that found along East Creek. The thicket also encompasses a prominent ridge like that found in the wood lot...and running parallel to West Creek.

Prior to the 2009 early fall bow season I was actually unaware that the thicket even existed. Since two other exploration trips onto the property resulted in nearly getting lost after dark, I was taking the exploration slowly. It wasn't until late November 2009 that I began to explore the thicket more and more and then on the last weekend of the December archery season realized that the Thicket, I am convinced, is the Ticket. Most of the deer sign tracks, droppings, scrapes, and deer sightings were all in the thicket. I know that the deer are bedding in the thicket during the day, but what about the pre-dawn hours? Hmmm....I'm still trying to figure that out.

Again, these are just introductions to the various areas of the property I'm hunting. I will likely be updating these posts with actual overhead photos depicting these areas.

Pursuit Info - The Wood Lot

The Wood Lot was actually the feature that first caught my attention on this property. After not seeing deer sign in nearby fields, I felt the wood lot, with it's ample cover and browse, could be helping the deer avoid exposing themselves in the fields. (The fields around this clump of land have no agricultural crops, just simple grasses.) The wood lot also provides "edges" that white-tails are drawn to, and these edges are far removed from normal roadways, unlike the fields.

The wood lot is encompassed within an area of roughly 55-65 acres and is bordered on the north by a creek (West Creek) which is actually a narrow swamp. A stand of young, dense pines borders the wood lot on the south and west, and a stand of tall pines and hardwoods and another creek (East Creek) to the east.

The wood lot was harvested in 2007 and 2008 so it should prove to draw more deer as young browse develop and take over the open areas. Already the white-tails have claimed the logging trails through the lot as their pathways, abandoning older trails that once navigated around this section of woodland. This is true for all but one deer that still seems to use the old trail as an escape route. It's quite possible that this is an older deer that knows the old trail and feels secure using it.

As you can see in this photo, not every tree was harvested for sale, and there are soft and hardwoods still standing. The only negative aspect of the wood lot are the piles of limbs and fallen trees littering the forest floor. There is literally no "silent" way of getting across the wood lot. And, when covered with a blanket of snow, the hazards are merely hidden from view and make for a tiring if not treacherous hike.

A key feature of the wood lot is a sub-ridge that runs parallel and to the south of West Creek. Although I have yet to see any bedding activity on the ridge, I have spooked feeding or migrating deer (not sure what they were doing) off the ridge in late morning. I have also found that most of the deer sign and activity has been found on the ridge, at crossing points along West Creek, and various spots in the western half of the wood lot.

My intentions at this point will be to seek permission to clear a pathway for myself through the wood lot so as to avoid twisting an ankle or breaking a leg, and for a more silent passage way to thw western side of the wood lot. In this effort I will also be making "natural" blinds with the limbs and downed trees as stopping points for still-hunts through it.