In this episode, the SimplyOutdoors crew chase after some Michigan Whitetails.  And, in case you didn’t know, Michigan Whitetails are some of the hardest hunted deer in the country.  It could be interesting.

Watch along, as Barry, with many of his family members in tow, chases Whitetails in the foothills of Tennessee.  It ends up being a very memorable trip for all involved.

Join the SimplyOutdoors crew, as they head to woods during Michigan’s archery season opener.

Some evidence:

• I never posted a few of the deer that Justin shot.
• I didn’t post anything about Jeff, Barry, Erin, and Josh heading down to the ATA show in Columbus a little over a week ago.
• And I’ve never posted anything about the fact that SimplyOutdoors TV will be airing on the Pursuit Channel starting in January 2013.

I have all kinds of excuses for my neglectfulness – helping the wife tend to a colicky baby, and working on some up and coming website revamping – just to name a few.  But the fact of the matter is that I’ve been a complete slacker when it comes to this blog.  I can’t really deny it.

SimplyOutdoors has a lot of very cool things in the works right now, and though I’ve been a little preoccupied with raising two little girls, and all the responsibilities that go with it, hopefully – very soon – I will be able to put more time back into this blog again, and make it what it used to be – a place to write, to vent, to share ideas, and, most importantly right now, a place to share all of the cool things that are coming down the pipe for the SimplyOutdoors crew.

And…since I’m turning over a new leaf….I might as well share the fact that this weekend, on Saturday, a bunch of us will be at the Huntin’  Time Expo in Grand Rapids.

So, even though, lately, you can’t read many of my ideas and thoughts, you can at least stop by the Proc’s Hunting Buddy booth and say hello.

You have to watch this episode of SimplyOutdoors TV.   Sit back and watch as the SimplyOutdoors’ crew put a few early season doe in the freezer, and as we put a few youth hunters in the right spot at the right time.  It’s probably our best episode yet!

As I was cleaning and reflecting back on the last couple of seasons, I was trying to figure out exactly where I’ve went wrong when it comes to my deer hunting exploits.  I can kill turkeys, catch fish, kill rabbits, and kill geese, but the four-legged swamp donkeys always managed to sneak past me.

Why?

I’ve asked myself that same question, and have managed to come up with a few very logical answers:  I must stink, for one, and my kids always enter this world in October, for another.

Silly kids.  And maybe I should shower more often.

Despite the fact that I think having kids during hunting season is affecting my ability to shoot a deer, I still think that the main cause has to be my stench.  Or maybe I have a deer whistle permanently embedded in my Eucalyptus.  Or maybe deer don’t like the smell of baby vomit and/or baby wipes.

The jury is still out as to which one it is.

You can bet, though, that, in the coming months, some sort of wildlife – turkeys, fish under the ice (if it ever gets any colder than winters in Florida here), and geese – are in a world of trouble.  Because turkeys can’t smell worth a you know what, and geese can’t see baby vomit from that height.

I’ve put one gun away, but I’ve washed, verified that I do not have a turkey whistle in my Eucalyptus, and now I’m ready to pull another gun out of its case and chase after some geese – and then after some turkeys.

I’m ready to head to place where no baby wipes are required, though I will still probably smell like them.

After my miss, it was still only a little after 8am, so Jeff and I decided that we might as well stick it out for a little while and see if any other deer decided they wanted to eat out of his food plot.

And that is when the weirdness started.

As we sat in the blind, reviewing the film footage of my miss, off to my right I heard what sounded like a large clump of snow falling from a tree branch.  As I turned to check out the sound, though, I was astounded to see a deer lying on the ground.  At first, I figured that maybe this deer was the dumbest deer on earth, and that it had actually just bedded not 20yds from our blind.  After another look, however, I knew something wasn’t right, because the deer couldn’t hold its head up and it was making sounds like something was definitely wrong.

WTF?

I immediately started to think that maybe a miracle had happened – that I had actually hit the deer I shot at – and – although the footage really said otherwise – that I hadn’t missed; that this deer made its way back around to us and died within sight of the blind.  Jeff and I knew it was a far-fetched concept, but, since we hadn’t heard any other shots, we thought it might be a possibility.

With the deer in obvious distress, and since we didn’t want the sight of us to push the deer any farther back into the cover, we waited it out for a while.  About forty five minutes later, after hearing a low, weird moan, and after not seeing or hearing any movement, we slowly made our way to the deer – guns at the ready.

What we found was a dead button buck – a very young, underweight button buck, with a completely broken back leg and no evidence of a gunshot.  Bummer.  I had definitely gone from high to low, to high, and then back to low – an emotional roller coaster.

Though it wasn’t the deer I had shot, Jeff and I still felt like we should try to do the right thing; heck, at that moment in time, I was even willing to put a tag on the little guy, gut him out, and be glad to have him in the freezer – whether I killed him or not.  But upon further inspection, it was obvious that he was full of infection and there was just no way we were willing to take that chance; he would, however, make for excellent coyote food, so Jeff and I let him be.

Jeff and I left him and figured we’d allow nature to take its course, all the while wondering if that had really just happened.  It sure made for one hell of a morning, though, and it made it a morning we’ll never forget.

What are the odds that something like that could happen in the first place?

It’s a moment that can only happen in the woods.

And that made it pretty easy to sleep in on Saturday.

But – since Jeff texted me emphatically on Saturday afternoon – I figured I’d brave the cold weather and make him happy by hunting behind his house on Sunday morning.

We braved the cold and the nasty, southerly wind, which was blowing right in our face, settled into the blind and waited.  I honestly didn’t have any expectations, and considering we bumped one deer as we headed to the blind, I really wasn’t anticipating anything worthwhile.  It wasn’t half an hour into the hunt, though, when Jeff noticed a single deer making it’s way from our right to left.

My brain went into overload.  Everything was happening very quickly, and knew in my head – and how could I forget, because Jeff was repeating it in my ear over and over – that I didn’t have much time to make the shot.  We both know that when deer cross in this particular area they have a tendency to move very quickly, so I needed to shoot as soon as I had a chance.  Of course, in these few seconds I was having to do many firsts:  I had to find the deer in a scope for the first time; I had to process the fact that there was actually a deer in front of me; and I had to process the fact that I was about to take the longest shot I’ve ever taken.  And, of course, I only had a few moments to do all of this.

Finally, at the top of the hill, she stopped and gave me a perfect broadside shot.  I took a deep breath, settled the crosshairs right behind the shoulder, and gently squeezed the trigger.  The Thompson Center Impact barked, and the plume of smoke blew forward and covered my field of view.  But the smoke still didn’t hide the fact that she jumped about six feet in air at the sound of shot, and walked off as if nothing ever happened; into the woodlot as calm as could be, and as though she was simply out for a stroll.

A clean miss!

I honestly can’t say that I felt great about the miss, but I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t feel pretty good after the entire series of events.  As bloodthirsty, or whatever, as it sounds, I was pretty happy and thankful for the entire hunt.  I wasn’t happy that I missed, but I was happy that I had an opportunity.  I was happy that I had actually seen a deer, that it was within range, and that I had gotten to fire the muzzleloader for the first time.

In my haste, and because of my inexperience shooting at that range, I had settled the sights right on the mid-section of the deer, when I really should have aimed a little higher.  But in the process I had also gained experience – finding a deer in the scope for the first time, and firing a muzzleloader at a deer for the first time.  It was bittersweet, and it felt….well…..pretty good.

Though the outcome wasn’t exactly what I had in mind, after the season I’ve had, I was still pretty comfortable with the entire experience – even if I did miss.  Hunting isn’t always about success, and Jeff and I had a blast hunting together.  We braved the winter weather

Congrats to Jeff.  Welcome to the dark side, and say goodbye to Powerbelts.

While I was hopeful that I could manage to get out and hunt a few times before the end of our firearm season, it just wasn’t meant to be.  Everything has been against my hunting season this year – from a premie baby, to unseasonably warm and rainy weather, to a sick wife and kid the last week – but, thankfully, muzzleloader season starts this Friday.

Maybe that’s the reason that I purchased a muzzleloader this season – because God knew that there wouldn’t be time to hunt during the early archery or firearm seasons.  Of course, the cold snap that we’re supposed to have this weekend could really help to get the deer moving as well.

It may seem crazy to a sane person, but I’m looking forward to freezing my arse off in the cold weather this weekend.  And I’m sure that Jeff is looking forward to the fact that I actually will be able to hunt this weekend as well.

For those of you who can muzzleloader hunt in the Southern Lower Peninsula, your season starts Dec. 2 and continues through Dec. 18th.  And hopefully your luck gets better, right along with mine.

In other news:  SimplyOutdoors’ Pro Staffer, Barry Cooper, managed to put down his first Michigan buck (it’s in the picture in this post) of the season this past weekend.  Also, Jeff’s son, Tyler D., recently put down another deer of his own as well.  Man am I glad we have good pro staffers, otherwise my blog would be pretty boring.