Ben's 2019 Semi-live hunt log

[TheBenHoyle]

Fried up some backstrap last night. It was delicious. It was the first time I had eaten venison backstrap. The whole family enjoyed it and considering that my deer was so small and that was half of the total backstrap, I think I might need to go out and get another deer yet this season.

 

[Crossbowguy]

Fried up some backstrap last night. It was delicious. It was the first time I had eaten venison backstrap. The whole family enjoyed it and considering that my deer was so small and that was half of the total backstrap, I think I might need to go out and get another deer yet this season.

Don't stop now! shoot shoot you may never see um again!

 

[TheBenHoyle]

Well I found out that my buddy who usually invites me duck hunting has hung up his hunting boots for the foreseeable future. Not sure what's going on, but I know he is super busy and can't get out this year. That's a bummer. If I had known about this earlier in the season I might have been able to put together a different plan to get on some ducks, but I think it is too late to come up with a plan that wouldn't be a total waste of time.

That being said, I might try to get out to my tree stand this weekend to see if I can get a buck or maybe the turkeys will be near. Need to look at the weather and talk things over with the wife. We are taking a trip soon and this weekend will probably be full of errands to get last minute details for the trip taken care of.

On top of that, it is muzzle loader season in Illinois, and while I don't think there are many muzzleloader hunters in the neighborhood where I have that tree stand, I am not positive of that. I would need to where orange, which would be unhelpful when it comes to turkeys... If I do get out, I'll have an update.

 

[TheBenHoyle]

It is official, no duck hunting for me this year unless I somehow travel to a state that has duck hunting in January as I won't be able to hunt the next two weeks. I might still get a chance to do some goose hunting as that season ends in January, but at this point I do not have a good access to property where I can get on geese.

All that aside, I went out to my treestand on Sunday morning. It was cold and we had a nice northwest wind with sunny skies forecast. I was hoping that I would luck into the turkeys being roosted near me and/or the deer coming to bed in my corner of the woods which would be sunny and in the leeward side of the woods.

Overnight low was 11 degrees and it was 15 as I was walking over the bean stubble to my stand. That hard of a frost makes every little stalk into an explosion when stepped on. I tried to walk slowly and pick my steps carefully but evenso it was very load walking in.

I got in and set up and had planty of time before sunrise. Heard the tom turkey flock just north of me. But they were on the north side of the picked beans. I listened to them while they flew down and formed up, but then they quieted down and I was left hoping they would travel south for the day.

About 9 I saw a doe about 90 yards out to the est and she was headed northeast. About 10 steps behind her was a buck paralleling her track. I couldn't get a great look at him, but he looked like a forkie.
The doe went in to the quarry and I watched her walk to the east. Along came the buck down in the quarry. I saw him on th north rim of the quarry just about to drop down on the otherside and I gave out a snort wheeze, hoping to draw him in. It didn't work and he disappeared. But 2 minutes later that doe reappeared and she was headed right for me.

She came in on the other side of my tree so I couldn't see her well and I kept myself looking at where she came from hoping that buchk was still following her. I never did see him come out, but she walkied right up to my tree and milled around. I took a long hard look at her and I think she was a fawn. I could have shot her, but I decided I would rather keep my either sex tag in case I get an opportunity on a buck after Christmas.

She eventually headed north and as soon as she got into the open field to the north the buck chased her north east towards the tom turkey flock. Sure enough 2 minutes later I heard the flock clucking at the intruders.
I had to get out around 10, so I got down and did a little sneak down the quarry. I didn't find anything but it was a worthwhile exercise as this might be useful someday.

 

[TheBenHoyle]

OK, 2019 is over. So I will end my semi-live 2019 hunt log. I didn't end up hunting the last two weeks of the year as I was on a trip to Hawaii with the family for Christmas. Christmas in Hawaii has been on our bucket list and this was the year we crossed that off.

The trip was great fun and while it was neat to be there at Christmas, I think it took a little away from my normal enjoyment of Christmas and my normal enjoyment of a trip to Hawaii. Not regretting the trip at all. It was a wonderful time full of great memories, but I don't think I need to repeat it.

I didn't do any hunting or fishing while I was in Hawaii, but I did see a lot of wildlife. Here are a few neat pictures I was able to take while I was being a tourist.


This time of year the humpback whales are wintering near Maui and we could see them from our condo balcony. But we also sprung for a boat tour that took us out for a closer view. It was amazing to see these gigantic mammals up close and personal.



We drove up to the top of Haleakala and on the way up we saw a pair of Nene geese. They were hunted to near extinction at one time but have made a great recovery due to conservation efforts. I don't believe they are huntable yet, but maybe at some point in the future they will be. This is my fifth trip to Hawaii and my first time seeing a Nene.



At the top of Haleakala I ran into a small group of chukar. I had never seen a chukar before and these were semi tame parking lot birds but it was neat to see them up close. I don't know the history of this bird on Hawaii but I would bet it was an introduced species.

I also saw some neat fish and lots of sea turtles on the trip and I ate a lot of fresh seafood. All in all it was worth giving up a couple of Saturdays I could have been in a treestand for such a neat adventure.

As for 2019, my hunting efforts produced less meat than I would have hoped for with missed opportunities on turkeys and a complete lack of waterfowl opportunities. However, I spent a lot of time outdoors and learned a lot which validates all of my efforts. I do feel like I will have more success in the future based on the experiences I have gained in 2019.

I will be starting my 2020 log almost immediately as I have plans to go out with my bow on Saturday. Archery deer and turkey season goes until January 19th, 2020 so I will hopefully have a few more posts on that.

Thank you all for following along.

 

[dirtclod Az.]

Following again this year. 〽