2007 Firearms Deer Season Chronicles

DAY ONE, Saturday
November 10

Drove out to my deer stand at 5 am. Settled in at 5:12 am. well before daylight. The stars were really bright and it was pretty windy. The leaves are late falling this year. I guess because the lack of a hard freeze until a couple days ago. They're coming down now but not soon enough for hunting.

The only wildlife observed this morning were a few squirrels, red-tailed hawk and a few crows. No deer or turkeys.

I had a rough time staying awake. Kept snoozing off and on throughout. I dug out my camera and tinkered with it a few minutes. As the sun came out and lit up the leaves in the trees, I took advantage of the colorful opportunity and took a few pictures. I froze out at 10 am and went back to the SUV to warm up.

It wasn't until later when I emailed that photo (the lead photo of this article) to a few family and friends, that I discovered there was a deer standing in the photo! I never saw the deer until then. I need to see an eye doc and buy new glasses.


DAY TWO, Sunday
November 11

Back on my stand at 5:30 this morning. The wind was more calm than yesterday at the same time. It's also partly cloudy with widely scattered dark.

8:09 am. A really nice 10 plus pointer stepped out in the opening. I was very relaxed and trying not to doze when he came into sight and then I almost fell out of my chair as I scrambled to get ready for the shot. Remember, most of the deer I see are three second deer when I actually need four or five seconds. He stepped behind some brush and I was unable to locate him in the rifle scope. Then I found him. Perfect shot with the rifle cradled in my shoot sticks. I gently squeezed the trigger..."CLICK"!

WHAT, a misfire? Rifle still cradled, I reached up and pulled the bolt to eject the bad round. Nothing! I released the bolt to automatically load the next round. Now, the buck was checking me out. He turned and ran about twenty yards further away. I grunted loud and he stopped broadside to me. He presented a clear shot. I still had the rifle scope zeroed in on his huge body. Again, I gently squeezed the trigger..."CLICK"!

What the heck? I lowered the rifle and the clip fell out of the rifle! I quickly snapped it back in and loaded a round then tried it again. AND THERE HE WAS...GONE! Can you imagine that old buck laughing his rear end off as he disappeared over the hill? I'll fool him next time.

I was sick, sick, sick...all day long. Not giving up on this one. Have I mentioned it made me sick?


My little brother, Brad took a nice small buck around noon near our grandmothers home.


When I left my stand at dark, I stopped by the folks and my cousin, Jeff Vaughn, was showing off a nice 10 pointer he harvested about 4:30 pm.


DAY THREE, Monday
November 12

OOOPS! Forgot to set the alarm this morning. Thunderstorms are active in the area this morning. Can hear the thunder from the comfort of my bed, in fact, the thunder was shaking my home. Good day to sleep in and to piddle around the house, instead, I went to get a hair cut while the opportunity presented itself. Heading out to the stand this afternoon.

Arrived at 1:30pm. I don't know what's going on this year, but the ladybugs are thicker than flies. No that's not exactly right, they're worse than the little black love bugs in Florida! Open the door and they swarm inside. Out on the stand they're just as bad. I had fun flipping them off when I could get them off my face and hands. GEEEEEZ.

No deer or turkeys were seen this afternoon, however there were about 200 crows having an interesting convention in the woods. Such noise for about 30 minutes. I was unable to see which crow upset all the others. It was something else. I did see three low flying ducks headed over to the lake nearby.

My alarm is set for in the morning. Now, if I can just wake up when it goes off.


DAY FOUR, Tuesday
November 13

Got up to a foggy morning. Out on the stand at 5:30am. It had been raining earlier. No wind blowing. It was a very peaceful time to be out in the woods wondering what adventures were in store for today.

I stayed on stand until about 10:30 then drove into Greenfield to have lunch at the Backwoods Restaurant. Changing strategy, I decided to hunt my back up stand on private property. I finally saw 5 turkeys. Usually I see lots of turkeys while deer hunting. I believe the bad ice storm we had this past January seriously thinned our flocks.

I saw a medium size bobcat today too! He was doing the boot scoot'n boogie when he past a trail in front of me. I wonder what or who put him on the run?

At 12:50pm. I finally tagged one deer. It appeared to be a doe but later proved to be a button buck. The 80 yard shot was good. He never knew what hit him. Got to try out the little two wheel cart I purchased last year. Works pretty good. It beats dragging the deer. I contacted my dad and he came out to assist me. (THANKS DAD, I LOVE YOU) We finally got him to our vehicles. Dragging deer uphill sucks, even 8 years after heart surgery, it still sucks. Although the cart was easier than it could've been, it still sucks.

I've got one more tag to fill. Now that I have meat for the freezer, my focus is on the big buck from Sunday, but he will have to wait until Thursday for reasons out of my control.

DAY FIVE, Wednesday, November 14

Unable to hunt this morning as I have to be in the office to cover dispatch. Bummer!


DAY SIX, Thursday
November 15

Didn't wake until 7am this morning. Nice warm bed was hard to leave. Got out to my deer stand around 11 and stayed till dark. My monster buck failed to appear. No comparable shooters were seen today.

DAY SEVEN, Friday
November 16

I was on the deer stand at 5:45. It was a bone chill'n 27 degrees with a very slight breeze from the south. Actually heard a few turkeys this morning nearby. Didn't have my turkey call with me so it was a waiting game to see if they would come out in the open. After about an hour, I stopped hearing them. A few geese flew over but they were headed north instead of south which is somewhat confusing.

Drove to Aurora then Marionville to run an errand. Had lunch in Greenfield. I was back on stand at 1:30 pm. Again, no shooter bucks came by today. I'm beginning to think I'm fishing in the wrong spot.

I could post a few pictures but they would be the same view as my lead photo. I'm beginning to feel like the Maytag repairman of the woods.


DAY EIGHT, Saturday
November 17

It was 37 degrees on the deer stand this morning at 5:50 am. It was even nicer when the sun came up and warmed things up. Still haven't seen my big bruiser buck since last Sunday.

Made friends with a little chipmunk that stopped by to check out the sunflower seeds that I had been munching on most of the day. I'll have to bring an extra serving for him tomorrow. Tried to get a close up photo of him but he was a little bashful. I named him Alvin. Hmmm...

Dad took a small buck this morning. He had one side of his small rack broken off.


DAY NINE, Sunday
November 18

The morning started out okay. I was preparing to depart the house but only after I refilled the ice cooler and put my gear in the back...at least part of my gear. This morning I was going to hunt in my "lucky" pair of tennis shoes to give my feet a rest.

It wasn't until I got off my stand around 9 am that I discovered one hunting boot was sitting on the rear bumper. It's mate was missing. YES! One boot rode the whole 32 miles to my hunting spot! Where O' where did my other boot go?

I called my daughter, Brittany and had her drive up the road from the house to see if she could find it. Surely it would've fallen off quickly. She called back and said she was unsuccessful. I sort of marked this one up as a goner and thought I would be making a trip to Bass Pro for another pair.

Jokingly, I text messaged my brother and told him about my loss. He immediately responded and said he saw it on the road as he was going to his stand which was less than a mile from where I was. It was quickly retrieved and the happy pair of boots are back together. Bad boot.

This was another one of those days where the temperature hit 75 in the afternoon. I finally decided to give up the rest of the afternoon and go home to get some extra rest. Sleeping out on the stand isn't a very good thing to do if you can help it. I was home before dark.

By the way, Alvin the chipmunk and his friends weren't around today.


DAY TEN, Monday
November 19

It's beginning to appear my big buck has moved on and not anywhere around. The season has been too warm for the deer to be on the move. Hunting in 75 degree weather isn't as hunter friendly as the 30 degree range.

I'll give it one last "hurrah" tomorrow. I may have to tag something other than my big buck tomorrow.


DAY ELEVEN, Tuesday
November 20

To make a LONG story short...my monster buck survives one more year. He'll need to be careful 'cause I'll BE BACK!

HUGE FISH FRY

There will be a huge fish fry at the Everton (MO) Community Center this Saturday, November 3, 2007 between 11 am and 6 pm. All you can eat catfish, chicken strips, hushpuppies, baked bean, potatoes, coleslaw and drinks with all the trimmings for only $7 per adult. Limit one dessert. Don't miss out of this wonderful feast!

JMc.