Hunting and Superstition

If for one second you don't think that superstition plays a big part in our hunting success, this past weekend's trip to the Theobald Farm in Barneveld, WI was case in point.

We left for the farm at 1:30 am on Friday morning and as always made the same three stops we make each and every trip, the Kwik Trip on the west side of Fond du Lac, pick up Chris and the PDQ on the South side of Madison. But, I should've known we'd be in for a rough weekend as, unlike previous years, we also stopped at the Eagle Mart in Barneveld to hit the bathroom one last time because we were so early.

After getting to the farm and dressing for the morning hunt, we all headed out for some deer hunting action. My dad (Gary) headed across the creek, Devon went to the Pine Tree Stand, Chris went to the Strip Woods, dad (Bob) went to his favorite spot in the back of the valley and I (James) went to Rob's stand. Dad (Bob) and I walk out together as we hunt only a 100+ yards apart on the opposite sides of the ravine. After just a short walk, I noticed something small and furry a few (maybe twenty) feet in front of us. It had such an odd shape, kind of pointy but definitely made of hair. All of the sudden I whispered "stop!" as it became evident what "that" was. It was the south end of a north bound Skunk and his tail was up and ready to spray. I don't know how we got out of that unscathed but that would've stunk, literally, to start the weekend out that way. We backtracked and took a different route out. We each hunted until about 9:30 am but noone saw any deer. My dad (Gary) got a turkey but that was all that anyone saw.

After a bite to eat we went across the farm to drive some thickets that have always held some deer for us. Our first forage through the best of the locations kicked up exactly ZERO deer. Impossible! Our luck was off to a rough start. We tried the pond thickets and had only one last thicket remaining. My dad and I took points outside the woods and Devon, Chris and dad walked through them. Halfway through, dad yells out that their are some does on their way out! That's good news because that is all we can shoot, no bucks as they are not legal to shoot during this weekend. Unfortunately, they came out at about 100 miles per hour and were missed by all of us, mostly me. Then, about five minutes later another deer gets up in the thickets but it is a HUGE buck. As it "trots" between Chris and I, we both acknowledged our frustration by lobbing not shotgun slugs but mild obscenities at the departing eight-pointer.

We assumed our luck would improve on Friday night as we each headed out to sit for the afternoon. I sat with Devon at the end of the draining ditch and with about 30 minutes of light left in the day, nine does came out to meander in the woods about ten yards away. I held my breath, anticipating Devon's shot at any second. I waited, and waited, and waited. Nothing. On the way out at dark I asked Devon what happened. He said that none presented anything but head shots, and, because we had teased Devon so much about his last deer kill, he didn't even take a shot.

We got to the hotel and picked up our room key to room #2, the room we always stay in because of course, we're superstitious. But no, they had already given out the room so we were left with room #17. Since the day was shot, we didn't eat at Pizza Hut, where we always eat, and ate at the Country Kitchen buffet instead where Devon defeated Chris, five plates to four.

Saturday morning it was extremely foggy and we were running late... unlucky again. As we walked out to our spots, Dad gave Devon a ride to his spot where he had seen all the deer the previous night on the ATV. Since I knew that Dad would be about twenty minutes behind me, I headed out right away in case he would kick something up on his way out and I would already be in place. Of course, that would require some luck. As I approached the draw between our two stands, I peeked and saw a deer standing about 150 yards uphill, right where Dad would eventually poke out with his ATV. I backed up a few steps and set up on a fallen down tree and waited for the inevitable... for dad to drive through on his ATV and the deer to come back where it came from, the draw I was now sitting in. Unfortunately, or is it definitely due to bad luck or some lack of karma, dad approached from a different direction and the deer headed towards the right instead of back down the hill. I was bummed but knew Chris was that way so we might be alright. I also knew it could shoot through a gap further down from where I had come so I moved and set up facing that way. Two minutes later I hear a crack of a broken stick and look over my shoulder as the doe goes through the draw that I had expected her to come in originally. She had doubled back and fooled me and now I was out of place with nowhere to rest the gun. I fired a shot that should've landed true anyway, but didn't... what part of my hunting routine was I missing... After getting back together, we found that Chris had two deer less than a 100 yards in front of him feeding in the alfalfa but as dad tore through on his ATV (where we didn't expect him to go) both deer took off into the corn. Chris wasn't exactly feeling the love. We drove the thicket from the day previous and kicked up two more deer, both 8 point bucks and safe from harm. Where are the shootable does? Since when is seeing bucks unlucky? This weekend apparently.

We went to Subway for lunch (because we always do) and it dawned on me at the checkout what I was missing. Before we left, I made a quick stop at the convenience store to pick up the good luck charm and one missing component to every hunting trip. When we got back to the farm, my dad headed out across the creek and dad Vater laid down in the grass for his afternoon nap. Chris, Devon and I decided to do some squirrel hunting while we waited for the late afternoon hunt. Devon took my 20 gauge because it is like a magnet for deer. Chris had a .22 and I had a single shot 20 gauge. On the way up the hill to walk through the strip woods I pulled out the missing lucky charm... Red Man chewing tobacco. I never put in this stuff except for the 2-4 days a year hunting in Theobald's and limited even then. Chris high-fives me for figuring out what has been going wrong and the two of us (not Devon) pop a little between our cheek and gum. Ten minutes later, Devon shoots a deer, the first non-sleeping (see archived stories) deer of his life. Karma has been restored.


Over the course of the rest of the weekend, we saw three more bucks in shooting range. Devon had a four pointer mill around from him at the end of the drainage ditch, a nice eight pointer walked right under Rob's stand on Sunday morning while I was sitting in it trying to rid the area of its squirrel infestation (to which I removed two of the noisy critters) and we drove the corner thickets and kicked up another buck that went past Devon.
Final tally, two squirrels, one doe, a turkey and of course a great time. We know there are about five or six different 8-point bucks running around the farm right now, hopefully they'll still be there in November when we go back and they are in-season. I'll post pictures after Chris downloads them from his camera.

Tom Bags a Tom and a Buck

Tom Vandermeer picked up this nice turkey and nice buck with his bow in Indiana. As with all good hunts, I'm sure there is a great story behind the bagging of the gobbler and buck. We're off to Barneveld in two days, hopefully someone in the group will have some success to write about this weekend.

Boar Hunt Set - Deer Hunting Around the Corner

We're all set for our first ever boar hunt. We're heading down to Dos Plumas Ranch in Trent, TX for a January 30th-January 31st Boar Hunt. We're each going to be able to shoot two hogs as well as use their trophy bass and catfish ponds. We can each keep up to three catfish and all bass are catch and release. They have lodging on site in a bunkhouse for up to six people plus our meals are included. It sounds like an excellent ranch with great hospitality and great success ratios.

We'll be driving down Wednesday night and Thursday, hunting Friday and Saturday, and coming home Sunday and Monday. We're currently registered for six hunters, Dad, James, Rob, Devon, Randy Bonde and one of Rob's friends.

Now on to Deer season which starts next weekend down at Theobald Farms in Barnveld for the October Doe-Only Hunt. Hopefully we'll have some good times and shooting down there as well. We'll be hunting Friday, Saturday and Sunday but Sunday, if the two previous days are successful enough, is usually reserved for squirrel hunting. In addition to deer, turkeys will also be open and several of us have turkey tags.