THE CASTLE IN THE BEDROOM

No matter what, the weather just won't cooperate. A cold snap with a little snow was followed by a 50 degree warming and torrential rains. The deer were shut down for the second rut. I saw plenty of does, but no bucks. Gun season ended with one small buck and no does. Monday was the muzzleloader opener.

I hunted the hut (now in the horseshoe bowl at Majestic) in the morning and saw nothing. I came home and there was a message from Savage. He was bringing up OldBobR with Mupp. He wanted to drive Paradise Pond and GNJohn's back ridge. As it turned out we only had time for Paradise. Savage shot a doe in the first drive and Mupp and I saw nothing. The temps were dropping fast. The back side of the front that had hammered the midwest was now putting the east in the freezer. I checked the weather. Winds WNW 15-20 mph 5 degree lows. And nothing changes until Friday. Fuck.

But there's not much time left so I got in the woods. I didn't have any choice. This morning I jumped a momma and two babies behind the school house. Then I worked my way down behind ExRDJohn's and spotted a deer down the ridge behind the Hassidic truck container. At least three does were bedded down in the tangle about 200 yards below me. I had to close the distance for a good shot. Remember a muzzle loader has only one shot. It took me about an hour to make 50 yards. I waited for a good gust of wind and slid down this little side hill, trying to get behind a deadfall. Against the snow they caught me. At least ten deer exploded down the hill into the woods. Fuck again.

I got home around noon, had a cup of coffee, tried to thaw out and then headed for Majestic. My plan was to still hunt the NW wind back to the hut and sit out the afternoon. I had a sleeping bag in my pack. My face leafy mask was frozen solid with snot and icy condensed breath. Not 15 minutes into my walk I saw a deer standing in the pines. When I took a knee it made me and spun (but walked slowly off). I waited a while then slowly found the bed and track and followed it. I didn't go 100 yards before I saw a buck- a big curved spike. He saw me at the same time and bolted to the left. Then a doe went off to the right. I had no chance. I found 4 beds and they all looked good. I decided that instead of continuing to the hut I would set up here.

Last week Mupp, OldBobR, Savage and I put on drives down at the airport. We never saw a deer, but saw the very large tracks of two deer who got by us. "If we'd only had someone at the castle, we'd have had them." Savage bemoaned. The "castle" was a pile of rocks YoungBobR piled up as a kid. Back to Majestic.....

I found a "castle" in those woods and settled in for a cold afternoon in the bedroom, snuggled up to those frozen rocks. I could see maybe a 100 yards into the pines, dotted with oaks. These deer never had to leave the safety of cover. Acorns littered the landscape. The wind bit, but the sleeping bag in my pack worked wonders. It reflected my ass heat and I was OK. I never saw a deer until about 4 PM. I caught some movement below me. A deer was coming my way. The wind was good. I put the scope up. It was a buck.....a good buck. He came within 50 yards. When he passed a big tree I already had the gun up and hammer back. I put the cross hairs on his vitals and squeezed.

He hunched, kicked and ran like he wasn't touched. I sat still. Then I reloaded, pressing the ram rod against a tree in order to get the load down, fumbling for another cap. When I was reloaded I went to find the track. Thank the LGM for snow. The track was easy. But no blood. Fuck Me.........but then a drop of blood. But just a drop. I followed the kicked up leaves. Less than 100 yards later I found the dead buck. He's a big mature 7 with one broken brow tine and by far the biggest deer I've ever shot. I can't tell you how pleased I am and want to especially thank Sarah Berka and Buddy Buddy for letting me hunt their piece of heaven. Hunter's Dinner on Sat. after dark. See you at the shack.