A Late Start but a Good Finish

Once again, I decided to ignore deer for the most part and concentrate my time and effort on waterfowl. It’s a risky decision when having a full freezer of venison is a priority. While I don’t necessarily agree with the free for all we have with seasons and weapons in Michigan. It sure does take the pressure off for getting a few deer in the freezer. I certainly wasn’t going to bring the muzzleloader when I could legally take the .450 into the field either.

I did make it out for a couple bow hunts this year. I squandered one opportunity at a small buck (which are my preferred deer to eat). That came on a weekend of epic waterfowl hunting and would have been a nice cherry on top. I think I will make it out bow hunting more next season though.

I didn’t hunt opening day for the first time since I was legally able to. That was strange for sure but historically it has been a waste of time as far as harvesting deer (except for last year). However opening day is more about opening day than harvesting deer to me. We had some more important things to take care of this year and I would get a few hunts in around Thanksgiving. Despite a couple beautiful sits in the snow no deer would be sighted. My next opportunity would be in “muzzleloader season” or whatever you want to call it in Michigan now.

Lucky for me my next few hunts would be action packed. I targeted the first warm day after a cold snap and it did not disappoint. Deer all over! Unfortunately, I had a screwy wind and picked the wrong place to sit on the ground. All of my shot opportunities were at yearlings and I just chose the wrong place to sit that night. It however was still a lot of fun having so much going on. I was very grateful to get an invite for the weekend from a buddy I like to call the ultimate outdoorsman. I knew it was going to be a good one and it felt almost like cheating. It didn’t take long and we had deer around us. Unfortunately, they came in behind us and right on top of us. It wasn’t hard for them to bust us sitting on the ground with very little cover but they lingered around just long enough to take a big doe. It was one of those moments where you just had to go for it and hope they didn’t fully bolt. We kept after it in some other areas the rest of the morning and it felt like going back in time doing some short pushes. Definitely was an awesome day deer hunting and I really appreciated everyone’s efforts!

Warm weather meant not much hang time for that deer but Amanda and I got it all taken care of and it was time to wait for the next opportunity. It is definitely hard to just go with the little ones at home and my spot a half hour away. It takes some planning, finding days where the wind/weather is right and life works out to be able to go can be a challenge. A few days of big winds in a row were likely going to have them hunkered down. But it dropped out on a Friday and it was coming out of the perfect direction. Friday nights aren’t really the ideal nights to hunt as we like to go do something as a family. But this one was too good to pass up and if I could make it happen tonight I’d have the whole rest of the weekend to do whatever and also be able to get a little fishing in.

There was one limb that really needed to come down and I got started on that upon arrival. But a bunch of sawdust in my eye and the fact that there were already deer out in the neighboring field made me quit halfway through. I would regret that later when that same limb kept blocking a big doe. It couldn’t protect her all night though and she did eventually give me an opportunity. I could see deer almost all night in the neighboring field and am grateful some finally came my way. Upon going to tag the doe and go get the truck I could see some eyes in the brushpile behind her. I didn’t think anything of it but upon retrieving the truck the eyes were still in there moving around. It turned out to be an incredibly curious weasel. He was moving around in that brush and watching me the whole time. It was pretty cool and I think only the 2nd time I’d ever actually seen a weasel. Amanda had put in a strange request before I left to go hunt, she wanted the heart. I’ve never really been into organs but if Amanda wanted a heart I would do my best to bring her one. Regardless I was impressed because while she’s embraced the whole wild game lifestyle she didn’t grow up with any of it.

The recipe didn’t disappoint either and it was pretty fancy. Baguette, blue cheese, arugula, pickled onions, and a slice of deer heart. Hearts aren’t always in usable shape but I got all lungs on this deer. I don’t think I will leave another one in the field. We capped the weekend off with some bobber dropping on a place that was really good first ice last year. The fish were still there and we luckily landed on them pretty quick. Catching them on a bobber and Clam Outdoors Maggot Jig isn’t as fast paced as ice fishing for them but the action was still really good! I’m ready for some real ice now but that can hold off until after the waterfowl late season.