Drakes first deer hunt!

Well I decided that my two year old son Drake was gonna go out into the deer woods with me for an evening hunt. Many people said that I was crazy. They gave me all kinds of reasons on why he shouldn't go. With many more excuses than legit reasons.

I decided that the weather was going to be pretty warm and he would be ok inside my box blind. I kind had an idea that he was at least interested enough to go. How long he would stay out would be a different story. You see I am in the field about four to five days a week. When I come home I get to hear him say some of his favorite phrases:

"Daddy did you shoot the deer?"

"Daddy did you shoot the ducks?"

"Daddy did you shoot the bow?"

"Daddy did you shoot the gun?"

That is usually the first part of our conversation when I walk through the front door. Usually after that,it is a big hug and kiss for daddy. Man I look forward to that.

I ask Drake if he wants to go "shoot the deer", and he answers "YES!". Kinda what I expected. So we get ready and gather our things. This will definitely be a different "hunt" for me so I have to remember a whole different set of gear. Crayons, coloring book, snack sticks, milk and well you get the point. So we load up the truck and off we go.

We get to the woods at about 3:00. Get our gear on and off to the blind we go. He was pretty excited to be going. Although I think I was more excited than him. We get to the blind and we take a seat. Then out comes the goodies. We laugh and have a good time and I am wondering just how long he will be able to stay out. It gets dark at 5:30 so if we make it til 4:00 it will be a great start to his hunting career.

Well 4:00 comes and goes and he is still having fun. Man this boy is destined to be a sportsman. Then there it is the first doe of the evening. Drake spots her walking and let's me know. "Daddy deer!" The deer looks and keep on going. I was looking for a doe since I have already used my buck tags, but she was a little on the small side. It was starting to rain and Drake wanted to touch it so he starts to put his hand out to feel the rain. He thinks it is the coolest thing. I let him know everything in the outdoors is cool.

Well 4:45 comes and there is the doe I have been looking for! I point her out to Drake and he reminds me to be quiet. "Shhhh daddy. Deer." I now have a dilemma on whether to take the shot.

If I do and the deer takes off, I will have to track it with Drake in the rain. How cool would that be though to get a deer with him on his first trip. Do I really want to take the chance of possibly having to track it in the rain? It would be pretty cool to get a deer on his first trip.

Well I let her walk and we sat and finished off the milk and snack sticks and watched the woods get dark. He made it through the whole evening without complaining at all. I made the right decision on letting the deer walk because we were having a great time just seeing the deer and maybe having to track one in the light rain would have put a damper on a great day. We packed up and headed home. He was so happy and excited to tell "Grandpa Great" on the way out he saw the deer in the woods. He talked about it all the way home and all night and all morning and all evening and on and on. I think it is safe to say I have a new hunting buddy.

I look forward to getting him out more and more. He keeps asking to go so I am going to keep taking him as much as I can. My only problem is, what am I gonna do when the season is over? Well I guess we can "shoot the bow" until the next season!

So until my next blog, be safe, appreciate what you have and get in the great outdoors.

Put Me In Coach!

So I am toasty warm and dreaming of duck hunting when I hear my cell phone ring.

"Hello." "Chico are you in the mood to go out in the morning to get after some ducks?" "Mike? What time is it?"

"It is a little after midnight and I know you had been talking to Kevin about getting out and he happens to have tomorrow off and well I am able to so....."

You see Kevin isn't a waterfowler. He has never been, but to his credit he had already went out and bought a waterfowl shotgun and bought his license. He has been after us to get him out and after hearing us swap stories with George on Sunday I know he was itching to get out.

"Put me in coach. Meet me at the house at 4:15."

Man am I easy! I got up and got my stuff together which isn't too hard since it is almost always in the truck. Just for moments like these. Set the mud timer and back to bed I go. I slept for what seemed like an eternity. Yeah right, it was more like a commercial break! The alarm went off and I was promptly greeted with a nice push in the back from my wife with the encouraging words of "GET UP!"

I poured myself some mud and got ready. I walked out the door and was promptly greeted with a "morning" from Mike. Whoah buddy, take it easy up here in the city that will get you hurt sneaking up on people like that. We loaded up Kevin and Mike's gear and Uh Oh! Chico can't find his license.

Have no fear ladies and gentlemen after 20 minutes of making a bunch of noise and turning on numerous lights in the house I remembered where it was. In my blind bag from my last trip and I forgot to put it back in my wallet. Off we go to the flooded maize field.

It was pretty foggy until we got to the field. We were able to set up without issue. At first light we saw thousands of duck and geese. Then the fog rolled in and wasn't leaving anytime soon. I thought Kevin was gonna go nuts. I mean after seeing all those birds and now we are covered in fog and can barely see our decoys. I know it was driving me nuts hearing the wing beats, quacks and honks and not being able to see the birds making that noise.

Then I heard a drake mallard over my shoulder and he is circling into the decoys. Well you guessed it, Kevin shot his first mallard or duck for that matter on his first ever duck hunt AND it had jewelry! That's right, it was banded. Go figure. I have hunted for a long time and I have never got a banded duck and this joker comes out and smacks one on his first hunt. Kevin was excited and Mike and I were excited for him.

That is what is special about getting people out to do something they have never done before. This was the second banded bird that I have seen taken this year and both were the first bands for the hunter. I think it is safe to say that I am sure I will be getting another call very soon from a very excited and proud waterfowler to go out and chase some birds. I just want to say Congratulations to Kevin on his day of firsts. I was glad I could be a part of his special day.

As for Mike and I, well, we couldn't see much to shoot until it was time to go home. I guess if your only going to get one bird in the group it might as well be a banded one!

So until my next blog, be safe, appreciate what you have and get into the great outdoors.

What a season!

So I started to think of how lucky I have been this year. I have been fortunate to hunt with many people and chase a variety of game. I was able to harvest a ten point with my bow, which is my personal best. The following is what I feel I am most lucky for though.

Mike Adams Jr. was able to shoot his first banded goose during Michigan's early goose season. I was able to see how excited he got when he realised what had happened. The look on his face was priceless. It was great to listen to him tell the story to family and friends.

I was able to see Jake take his first ever duck on his first ever "Big Boy" hunt. What a blast it was to see him get so excited about it. He was on cloud nine. I am sure it will be something that he remembers for the rest of his life. I know I will remember it.
Getting out with a couple of new friends from http://www.talkhunting.com/ . Al and Ken were able to get out and do some early goose hunting and it was great to get to hunt with these guys. It was definitely fun in the goose blinds while they were along.

Receiving a phone call from a very excited Mikey after he shot his first deer with a bow. I truly felt honored and privileged that he thought enough of me to call me either first or second to tell me about it. Pretty cool.

Having Dave give me a call screaming in the phone in the early morning "SIX POINT DOWN". Then stopping by to show me his trophy. Man was he excited, as well he should be.

One of my favorite things though has to be seeing my 2 year old son Drake shooting a bow for the first time. Maybe I am a little biased but I am a proud poppa. I will never forget helping him as he actually stuck a 3D deer target in the vitals at 5 feet! Then see him running down the range to give the UNJ team high fives. Priceless.
I enjoy my own experiences in the outdoors but it is always more enjoyable when I can take part in getting out with new friends, experiencing a child's first duck, archery deer or seeing my son shoot a bow for the first time. I definitely have a lot to be thankful for and I appreciate the experiences the people in this blog have provided me with.

So until next time, be safe, appreciate what you have and get into the great outdoors.

MI 2009 Archery Opener

Twas the night before archery opener and all......OK really let me just get to the story!

I awoke on opening morning and was ready to go. I had been eagerly waiting for today to the point of making myself sick. I know go figure, but it is the truth. I had prepared for this day like never before. I put in a lot of hard work and effort and now it was time for it to pay off.

Before I go any further one small detail I forgot to mention is that I wouldn't be hunting out of a tree because my "friend" finally told me he "lost" my tree stand in a move. Yeah, I can see how that would happen. NOT! So I will be using a borrowed ground blind from my brother in law. Thanks D, I really appreciate it.

So as the morning goes I arrive to the property and get my gear ready for the hunt. I slowly make my way out to the blind that I had set up about twelve hours earlier. I make sure to walk as slowly as possible to not spook anything in the area. So far so good.

I get settled in the blind and go to pull back my bow and come to realize that it is smaller inside than I thought. I will have to draw back diagonally from corner to corner or I will not have enough room. Glad I figured that out now. I get comfortable and begin to watch the deer woods wake up. I wouldn't have to wait too long to see a deer.

7:50 I spot movement from my right 40 yards out. I expect this in the morning as because the deer are on their way back from eating in the field. I notice that it is a buck and I get ready for the shot. He made a left turn and came down to the actual runway they travel and I let my arrow fly.

I wait a half hour and go check for my arrow. I find it and it is covered in sign letting me know I had hit it good. I go about twenty yards and don't see it so I decide to wait. I decide to get some assistance from my father in law. Hey why not, I don't want to have to drag by myself when I can get help. Almost four hours later we pick up the trail and then are stunned when we see a ton of sign and then everything including the deer vanished into the forest air. (Another blog another day) At this point I am sick to my stomach again. I go home and shake it off and refocus.

I head back out into the woods at 4:00. I am ready to go with great anticipation. I see a couple does early on in the hunt but it wasn't what I was after. So I waited and waited and played poker on my blackberry, and waited some more. I started posting on a website about my hunt in real time and waited some more.

Then at 7:00 some movement gets my attention from out front and left 50 to 60 yards or so. It looks to be a nice deer and I start watching as intently as one can watch. It is coming from left to right and on it's way out to the field. Finally I notice that my speed beef has head gear. I slowly fold up my chair to give myself all the room the blind would allow. I draw back and am ready to take the shot. The buck continues to make his way nibbling on branches and taking his time. He has no clue I am even there. At 7:20 he makes his way into an opening and I released the arrow.

The deer turns and goes back left fifteen feet as though nothing happened! Uh oh. He stops and looks back to the right. What is going on I heard it hit didn't I? He then continues left and now between he and I is a thicket and I can no longer see him. I nock another arrow and look to where he should be coming out and wait and wait. I don't see him and I now feel like I just want to crawl into a hole.

I hear a couple of snorts and some upset deer but can't see 'em. The noises weren't in the direction of the one I shot at. I decide that I would get out and check for my arrow. I go to where I shot and the it was just laying there. I pick it up to find only a little bit of sign. I walk to where I last seen the buck and on my way I see sign a lot of sign! I only have on my green headlamp and turn on my flashlight and see not 20 yards from where I shot him, my trophy laying there.

I walk up and take the time to appreciate him. I give thanks and then I inspect the head gear. I just shot my first ten point. My G5 Tekan had done it's part and my Bear Lights Out did it's part. I call and let everyone know what is going on. My father in law arrives about a half hour later and helps me get it to the truck and up to the barn. Pictures were taken and flashes going off left and right. I felt like I was a rock star and was on cloud nine.

I have always wanted to take a ten point in my hunting career. Always dreaming about what it would be like. Well now I know and I hope it doesn't end anytime soon. The rack wasn't as big as the one I had always envisioned but it is my trophy and I wouldn't change a thing.

The crazy part in all of this is, I used to shoot on a archery league and really enjoyed it. So much in fact that I never really hunted with my bow because for some strange reason I just enjoyed the league. So this year I decided that I was going to take my first deer with my bow. So there you have it. My first deer with a bow. The only way you will know this tidbit is from reading it here because I purposely have left it out of all the conversations I had late last night. Cheers.

So until my next blog, be safe, appreciate what you have and get in the great outdoors.

Bird Hunting with Ken & Scott

Well a while back I received an offer from Ken to go hunt Woodcock. I have never went out and specifically targeted these fast and acrobatic birds, so I said I would definitely be in. I looked forward to this day for a change of pace. You know something different.

Well I met up with Ken,his buddy Scott and the star of the show Duke at the gas station. I threw my gear in his truck and off we went. Ken had informed us he was out a tad late the evening before, due to his wife's class reunion. Well you know what comes next. He took a little nap on the way to our destination.

Ken pulls in to our spot and we get our game faces on and prepare for battle. Ken get us lined up and off we go. The terrain was great, hills, thickets of aspen, stumps, holes, ferns, tall grass and other obstacles to make the walking pleasant. After a while you just get used to it.

We flushed over thirty five birds and were able to take five. Those things know just where to go and what tree to get in front of. I even had one come right at me then finally decided to turn about three feet from my face. It was so close I could feel the wind of its wings. It was a rush for sure.

I couldn't shoot today and my buddy Ken let me hear about it every chance he got. What can I say, other than I cut my trigger finger while cleaning my gun the night before. Okay maybe that didn't have much to do with it. It had to be something other than me. Right? I mean my mechanics were perfect!

Ken was a gracious host. He had lunch with all the goodies you could want. I definitely had a great time with him and Scott and hope to get to do it with those guys again. It was kind of special to have hunted with Ken's chocolate lab Duke. Some of you that know me, know that my chocolate lab named Duke passed away a few months ago. So it was kind of wierd to be talking to Duke again if only for a morning. I was glad to have him along. If you have never tried woodcock hunting give it a shot. It is as challenging as anything I have ever hunted.

So until my next blog, be safe, appreciate what you have and get into the great outdoors.

The Season's Last Trout Trip?

Well the Michigan trout season will soon come to an end. It has gone by so fast, that it seems like the opener was just yesterday. Man how time flies.

I called up Art to see if he wanted to give one of our favorite streams a try and he was more than willing. We decided to leave town at 5:30 and make the trek to our stream. He met me at the house we loaded his gear and off we went.

We hit the stream at around 7:00 and decided that we were going to go fish an 8 mile stretch by water. The smoke hovered over the stream like the smoke hovering in a bar. The temperature was a balmy 49 degrees. The sunrise was bright and started to bring some warmth our way.

Art had his game on and quickly landed to respectable trout in the nine to eleven inch range. I was happy for him. Even though I was frustrated beyond belief as to what color spinner was going to be the ticket. You see it had rained the night before and the river was up and had a nice stain to it. I like to go away from the normal way of thinking and decided to use a silver blade with lime green body Panther Martin. Normal logic told me I should use a dark color instead of bright color because it is easier for fish to see a dark color than bright in stained water.

Well I was right on with the color and I started to catch a couple fish. The second being a nice one over 13 inches. It felt good to finally get on the board but it really felt good to get a trout that size. Still when it came to numbers Art was out fishing me.

At around eleven I tossed my line under a cedar tree and SMACK! There was a loud splash and my rod bent as the brown headed for every stump he could find. I sounded like a fisherman with an unlimited amount of cash at the local tackle store. I worked the fish out of the cover and into the center of the stream. He jumped and the colors were unbelievable, picture perfect. Art netted the pig and we gave the celebratory high fives and admired the catch. Then came a problem. The waterproof camera isn't so waterproof and the screen wouldn't come on. No problem look through the old school lens. Sorry. Batteries are dead. So unfortunately no pics of this beauty.

All in all a great day. We waded a little over eight miles of stream and then made the walk back to the truck by walking the road. We reflected on what a great season we have had and relived the memories. Today Art out fished me in numbers but he said I out fished him in quality. In reality I wouldn't have cared if I caught a fish. Just spending time on the stream in peace and quiet with a great friend is good enough for me. Catching fish was a bonus.

We made it back to the truck and realized we do have a few days left. So maybe one more time out. If not it was a great end to season filled with great times.

So until my next blog, be safe, appreciate what you have and get in the outdoors.

MI Early Doe Season Part 2

Well it was the last day for the MI early doe season. I had decided that I was going out for the mornings hunt. 5:00 came and brought with it the smell of fresh brewed coffee. Which makes it easier to get me out of bed. I really wanted to stay in bed and be lazy but my mind trumped my body and forced me to get out of bed.

Driving out to the property I started wondering if this coffee was going to kick in. I was pretty tired and wasn't sure if I was going to be able to stay awake during the hunt. Just about the time I got to the property the coffee kicked in. There is something to be said for the waking up power of coffee that pours like mud.

I made my way to the blind and got settled in. As I wait for the sun to rise, I started to reflect on how lucky I am to be able to do this. I realized that there are some people that haven't even been in the woods to watch the sun rise through the trees. It was a magnificent sunrise and I was eagerly anticipating the opportunity to see some deer.

Well unlike the previous time they came through early. 7:45 brought in the first doe and then the train of deer behind her. In fifteen minutes I saw fourteen deer! Ten does and four bucks. I was caught up in seeing all the deer that I almost forgot what I was doing there. I seen a nice doe who was by herself sneaking through the trees. I got the gun ready and took the shot.

Well needless to say I found no blood and even though I believed 100% that I hit her I found nothing. I searched and combed the area and not a sign of the doe. I got way ahead of myself in my celebration. I always tell myself if you can't see it hold off on the celebration. Well I felt about as silly as a guy wearing pink leather while riding his Harley. I quickly regained my focus and decided that I would hunt the stand again in the evening.

I went home and replayed the shot in my mind well over one hundred times. My competitive nature always gets the best of me in times like this. I beat myself up over this all morning and early afternoon.

I met up with my father in-law and we made our way out to the blinds. We talked about the Lions losing, the Tigers finally winning a game and other sports news of the day. It seems all of our conversations revolve around sports or the outdoors. To me that is a good thing. We make it to his blind first and I give him our traditional good luck gesture and off I go. In my blind and ready to go at 5:12.

6:17 rolls around and I feel my cell phone vibrate. It is none other than the "other Mike Adams". He wanted to know where I was and started telling me about his Mojo decoy problems. We decided it was best to talk about it and compare notes later. I no more than set the phone down and here comes two does down the trail before me. I watch them eat my food plot of Whitetail Institute's No Plow for about three minutes and off they went.

7:16 rolls around and I am interrupted by two does coming through the timber. They stop and start feeding on some fallen acorns five yards closer to me from where I got my first doe three days earlier. I readied my gun and waited for the right shot. Unfortunately it took a lot longer because it seemed like every time a good shot presented itself the other doe was in front or right behind the one I wanted to harvest. Finally the other doe started for the food plot and I was presented with a clean shot. 7:18 my Marlin model 512 barks and off the doe went.

I waited for about twenty minutes and went to scope out the scene. I got to where she last stood and no blood no hair no nothing. It was like deja vu all over again. I knew I heard her crash but after the morning hunt I was a little leery. I pulled out and met up with my father in-law. We decided to go up front and grab the truck and drive it back. My wife and son were there waiting and wondering what was going on. After explaining and grabbing some bigger flashlights back to the area of the shot.

We went back to where the doe was standing when I took the shot. I marked where we ran off and we combed the area. Finally I hear right here. I shine my light in the direction and see the doe laying at my father in-laws feet. I was filled with some serious emotions. My son was there and was going to see his daddy bringing back the deer that he asked me about in the morning. Wondering why I didn't "shoot the deer".

Well no pics due to both cameras having dead batteries. I took one with the camera phone but in reality, I don't need them. I know what I shot, when I shot it and what time I shot it. How beautiful the animal was and how excited I was. Something that a picture could never do justice.

So until my next blog, be safe, appreciate what you have and get in the outdoors.