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Ryan

Without warning, the buck stepped out of the woods and into the bean field at 6:45 p.m. Wind and traffic noise from the adjacent highway had muffled his approach and already he was only 25 yards away. I hit “record” on my video camera and slowly raised my bow into shooting position. At 17 yards he stopped to rub his pre-orbital gland against some overhanging limbs and paw at the ground, flinging fresh dirt behind him. Finding the ground not suitable for a scrape, he continued north. I drew my bow back and gave a couple mouth bleats in hopes of stopping him. He was stopped broadside at 12 yards when I released my maxima hunter carbon arrow. The arrow disappeared into his chest cavity and the buck kicked his hind legs into the air before running back into the woods. Thinking the hit was good, I waited 15 minutes and slowly climbed down the ladder stand. The arrow had passed through the buck and was buried in the bean field. Bright red blood covered the entire shaft and fletching. A good sign indeed. The blood trail was fairly sparse but the bright red, bubble-filled blood gave me confidence I had a solid lung hit. I found the 8 pt. about 75 yards from where I had shot him. A double-lung pass through, my favorite hit.

I was honored to harvest this buck and can’t wait to get back out in the woods.

Good luck out there.

Until last night I had  never really had the desire to coyote hunt. I suspect it has to do with my desire to eat what I kill. It’s a personal opinion, nothing more, nothing less. But last night I observed a coyote/deer interaction that I found interesting if not slightly disturbing and it prompted me to take a shot at my first coyote.

I’ll briefly explain my morning hunt as it contains some important backstory. Around 7:30 a.m. a coyote  moved south to north across a bean field my treestands are stituated by. I enjoyed watching him as he trotted out of sight and returned my focus to whitetails. At about 8 a.m. three bucks ran full tilt towards my stand situated in the southeast corner of a bean field where the beans meet a small woodlot. The first two bucks crashed past my treestand and disappeared into the woodlot and the last buck, a forkhorn, stopped 10 yards in front of me. He was breathing heavily from the run and anxiously checked his back trail before bounding into the woods.  Following the forkhorn’s cue, I searched for whatever had spooked the bucks. The usual suspects, walkers, farm equipment, etc. were not seen and I wondered, but didn’t think there could be, a connection between the coyote and the spooked bucks.

Fast forward to the evening of the same day, in a treestand 150 yards or so from the stand I hunted in the morning….

By 7 p.m. I had seen several small bucks and a few does but no deer were close enough to consider a shot. At 7:10 a small buck, obviously alarmed, ran through the beans towards my treestand and stopped at the edge of the woods. Like this morning, the buck was breathing heavily and watching his back trail. Seconds later he jumped into the woods and followed a well-worn trail, stopping 15 yards from my stand and presenting a perfect quartering away shot. I briefly contemplated taking the shot but passed thinking a larger buck may have chased him into the woods. 10 or 15 seconds later he walked deeper into the woods but stopped in view at around 40 yards. Within a minute I heard something in the beans…..you guessed it, the coyote. He trotted into the woods following in the buck’s footsteps. I quickly glanced at the buck and he took off, crashing into the heavy cover south of my stand. The coyote continued after the buck until my arrow, launched from about 20 yards, caught him. It was a poor (I didn’t follow through) but lethal hit. The coyote stumbled a bit and expired a few seconds later, only 30 yards from where the arrow had passed through him.

I’ve seen several coyotes in the wild but had never observed one trailing a whitetail. But in the span of a few seconds it became clear that the coyote was pursing the buck and the same coyote, or another, had probably been responsible for spooking the bucks I observed running wild in the morning. And the buck, probably 130-140 lbs. on the hoof, was disturbed enough by the coyote’s pursuit to devote attention and expend energy on the varmit that was less than a quarter the size of the deer. This smallish coyote was not going to take down the buck. I’m not saying that and don’t think that for a second. But the coyote sure had it’s attention. My guess is that the fright of coyotes is ingrained in whitetails just as the “pursuit” of basically everything is ingrained in the coyote. I have no evidence to back that up nor have I done any research. It’s just my gut feeling.

Maybe what I have described isn’t very interesting to all but it sure was to me. Observing the interaction between predator and prey is fascinating and is one of the many reasons I hunt.

Thanks for reading, and I welcome any coyote stories you might have. Good luck in the woods.

This hat is my first review of what I consider a “greener” outdoor product.

Let’s get something straight right from the start. No matter how hard we try, it is unlikely there will ever be a product we can engineer or physically produce without impacting the environment in some way. There will always be some impact whether it’s the consumption of fossil fuels during the transport of the raw materials to the factory or the packaging the item is sold in. Despite this fact, minimizing the environmental impact of what we make (then buy) in my opinion should be a top priority. Ok, I’ll get off my soapbox and save that topic for another post….on with the review….

Product: “Green tech” camo hat made by Reliable of Milwaukee. The inside of this hat is made of 100% bamboo. Bamboo is a very sustainable material. As you might know, bamboo grows very quickly without the need of pesticides or fertilizers and requires relatively little water. In short, it’s a very resource friendly raw material. Google “benefits of bamboo” to learn more.

Pros: The use of sustainable materials without compromising quality. Comfortable.

Cons: The camo pattern is a bit darker than I would like.

Bottom line: If  you’re like me you lose a hat or two each year. You might as well replenish your stock with something better for the planet. Thanks for reading.

It’s football season, small game season is open, archery deer season is approaching, the Tigers are trying (and currently failing) to wrap up the AL Central division, and the muskies are about to put on their feed bags. Early fall is a busy time of year, no doubt.

It’s also a great time to check the zero and hone your skills with weapons you intend to bring into the field this fall. The weather is great, and most importantly (to me anyway), the crowds haven’t showed up at the range yet. The photo below was taken at the Rose Lake MDNR shooting range last Sunday. Plenty of room on the firing lines. Shoot all morning if you’d like. So come on, turn the ball game off the tv and listen to it on the radio while driving to your favorite shooting range. You’ll be happy you did come early November. Thanks for reading and be safe out there.

From what I can tell, the light in the nock is the same type of light used in lighted bobbers used for night fishing. It appears that one could replace the battery once it’s drained, which is a plus. My only complaint, and this is actually a big one, is that the housing surrounding the light is very flimsy. I ruined one of my nocks trying to remove it from the arrow. The nock pulled out leaving the lighting mechanism sticking out of the end of the arrow. The only way to remove it was with pliers, which mangled the aluminum housing. So remove these gently!

As for the test results, the nocks were bright, and the arrows hit almost exactly where they did with the factory nocks. However, the test shots were taken at only 13 yards. I intend to test them at longer ranges soon. At $15.97/pair these nocks are not cheap. In fact, they are almost as expensive as a complete arrow. However, they might help you get a better idea of exactly where your arrow hit, which is always a good thing. I recommend them but caution you to be gentle with their removal. Thanks for reading and take care.

For your enjoyment I have posted a short video I shot of my two archery bucks from 2008. Neither sported a big set of antlers but I was very proud and humbled to harvest them both. Note: this video looks much better in HD. Have a great weekend.