TN Deer Season

buckfish

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Aug 28, 2002
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Havent seen much so far. I hunted public land this weekend on a quota hunt and saw 10...10 hunters that is. I was on stand at 4:10 am and did not get back on the ground until 6:45 pm. Started the morning with a dude who couldnt find his tree. He was walking around at 6:15 am looking for it about 40 yards from me. He finally gave up and walked into the woods...I love the swish swish sound of fall leaves and the distinctive nasally blowing of deer as some dude makes a late arrival into the woods. At 9:00 am he decides to return to the area, maybe to make sure I wasnt getting lonely. Little did he know that I had plenty of company throughout the morning without him. My new "friend" walks within 20 yards of me and I guess decides that he should take in the sights on his nature hike. This is when he finally spots me...I guess he forgot that a few hours earlier I was shining my light at him to get him the hell away from me. He was a hell of nice guy so I wasnt mad. I waited the rest of the day and at around 5:30 pm had a shooter buck within 20 yards of shooting range of me. I am starting to get nervous as he makes his way to me. With every step I feel my heart in my throat. 15 yards now...just a few more steps. The buck raises his head and looks up the hill and what do we see???? Another "hunter" getting an early start out of the woods. The buck showed me his flag and thats all she wrote. I have hunted this area for the past three years and saw one other hunter in the woods. I will never put in for the hunt again. I have heard of horror stories on public land before but never realized that it could be so bad. Enough of my complaining...if the season finishes like this I will have some premium gear for sale.

<FONT COLOR="#800080" SIZE="1">[ 10-22-2003 21:40: Message edited by: buckfish ]</font>
 
I love your Signature !!!!

Bummer on the Hunt Start.. If you sell any of your Equipmant lemme know first.. Although I don't have much use for White tail rattlers here...

Keep at it and don't let it get you down. Next time it will be the time.

Good luck to ya and thanx for the Story !!! Keep us posted on the rest of the days you're out and show us a picture when you finnaly connect !!
 
keep at it and good luck.
smile.gif
 
Thanks for the words, it will keep me going. I hope to have a pic for you this season.
 
It's been a while since my last visit. So far the season has sucked. I have seen deer but not many. Its the second week of November and the temp is holding in the 70 degree range. We have some cold weather coming our way so hopefully these deer will move a little more during the day. Could this be the weekend for Buckfish to end the misery????????
 
I haven’t posted for a while and thought I would check in with a little news from the TN woods. Saturday marks the open of the TN gun season and as usual I closed the books this archery season without a deer.

At the close of every archery season I feel as if a little piece of me has died. In the past I have walked into the woods the morning of gun season counting the days until the next archery season. Maybe this year would be different…

I woke up extra early Saturday and was actually excited about the hunt. I readied myself, grabbed some coffee and my rifle and was off to pick up my hunting buddy. We drove back onto the farm where we have hunted together for the past 4 years and parked in our usual spot. We sat in quiet darkness and discussed our strategy for the morning. I explained to him that I had been in the woods over the past few weekends and had seen four different bucks bedded down in the middle of the day. One of the bucks is a heavy horned 10pt and my plan was to get in our stands and hunt all day for this beast. We walked through the open fields together and just before I started my walk into the woods I loaded my boot up with some doe urine. My buddy turns and say’s “hook me up with a little of that” so I load him up and take off for my stand. As I sat in darkness the image of the buck plays over and over in my mind. I have waited for four years and some how knew that this would be my morning. I had applied for some doe permits and was fortunate enough to get drawn for a few. I felt like even if the buck didn’t show up I at least had a doe tag to fill as my first deer.

At 6:15 the light was perfect and the woods came to life. I turned around and much to my surprise a buck was coming in...his tail up and nose to the ground following the scent trail that I had left behind. The young buck walked behind my stand and picked up yet another scent trail left behind from my buddies boot. As the buck walked between my buddy's stand and mine he had no idea that the cross hairs of my scope were resting on his vitals waiting only for him to stop walking long enough to touch the trigger. My heart pounding out of my chest the whole time would not be enough to distract me this time. This time would be it. The time at the range and the hours on stand would not be spent in vain. My rest is firm and unshaken as the buck stopped and raised his head for the last time. The silence of the woods is shattered by the roar of the rifle. The buck kicks and takes off for the last run of his life. After a simple tracking job we start the long drag to the truck. The whole time I am happy but at the same time a bit jealous as the last shot the deer heard was not from my rifle.

My friend and I hunt less than 125 yards apart and he was unaware that I had a clean safe shot at the deer. He had taken the deer before I got a shot off. Our ride to the checking station was full of congratulations and apologies. I dropped my buddy off at his house and on my drive home I think of the opportunities my friend has given me over the last few years and of the deer that he has past, in hopes that they would find their way by my stand.

Who knows? I may never harvest a deer but I have one hell of a friend to help me chase after them.
 
Meathead....

The hunt this weekend was on private land but my bow hunt was on the Gallatin Steam Plant TVA property. There are some HUGE bucks there but there are also some HUGE problems when other hunters take to the woods. I stayed ticked off for about a week after my weekend at the TVA hunt. I am looking for a land lease for next year but this is a tough area to find huntable land in. I may have to drive a bit to get what I am looking for. I still plan to hunt the two places (private) that I have permission to hunt on but I need to do something before next season.
 
I've heard that it was a good place to hunt. Land here is hard to come by to . We have a 450 acre lease. It's all in set pines that are anywheere from 8 feet to 20 feet tall we mostly hunt trails that we have made and the old logging road. Butr I don't have to worry about someone walking by like on public land. I hunt very little public land anymore.

Maybe we can get together sometime for a hunt. How far are you from Nashville. I have a confereance in Nashville in February, maybe we can hook up then.
 
Meathead...

I live about 20 minutes north of Nashville. What will you be in town for?

I think it would be cool to try to get a hunt together.
 
I'm a Golf Course superintendent and Ive got a conferance at Opryland convention center. I think it's around the 14th of Jan.
 
The hunt continues...Went out several times over the Thanksgiving holiday and had some terrible weather to deal with. The deer were completely out of site most of the weekend. I saw a few does on Saturday but no shot opportunities. I plan to go out this weekend with Doe permits in hand. At this point I would take a brown colored dog. Will post with a PICTURE soon I hope. I need to get a Hunt Talk hat...maybe that would change my luck.
 
I have seen some other TN boys and girls in here...what is the deer situation in your areas? The weather has been so crappy here and the only time I see deer is on my way to work. I am interested in a lease next year...any suggestions?

I know public land is always a hassle but obtaining permission to hunt private land is next to impossible around here. Is there any public land that is worth looking at?
 
Hey buckfish been a little busy.

It takes me about 3 hrs to get to Opryland hotel.

Leases here are haard to get on to.
 
Meathead...

Ive been pretty busy here too. I talked to a guy today about a lease on 2500 acres. I wont be able to get in until next year but I am already fired up about it. Are you going to hit up Basspro while you are in Nashville? We have a pretty decent store here.
 
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