WEBVTT - Ep. 252: Deer Camp Memories 0:00:02.880 --> 0:00:06.440 Welcome to the Wired to Hunt podcast, your home for 0:00:06.519 --> 0:00:11.479 deer hunting news, stories and strategies, and now your host, 0:00:11.880 --> 0:00:16.239 Mark Kenyon. Welcome to the Wired to Hunt podcast. I'm 0:00:16.280 --> 0:00:19.680 your host, Mark kenyans episode number two fifty two, and 0:00:19.760 --> 0:00:22.720 today in the show, I'm joined by Josh Further Hilliard 0:00:23.200 --> 0:00:26.880 and my father to discuss the history of our family 0:00:26.920 --> 0:00:29.720 deer camp and some of our favorite stories from along 0:00:29.760 --> 0:00:53.000 the way. All right, we are back in the log 0:00:53.080 --> 0:00:57.520 cabin with the wood burning stove and the propane lights, 0:00:58.160 --> 0:01:02.520 and almost exactly one year or go, we're here, me 0:01:02.600 --> 0:01:06.760 and Further talking about deer camp. And that was a 0:01:06.760 --> 0:01:08.600 good chat, right, Josh, it was a good chat. It 0:01:08.680 --> 0:01:11.880 was a good chat, but it was it was an 0:01:11.920 --> 0:01:16.200 incomplete chat because it was it was just you and me, 0:01:17.120 --> 0:01:21.360 and we're missing a very important part of any deer camp. 0:01:21.720 --> 0:01:23.600 Do you know what that is? Further, I think I've 0:01:23.600 --> 0:01:26.880 got a pretty good idea. Yeah, it's the senior citizen regroup. 0:01:27.680 --> 0:01:31.920 It's the senior member of the camp. We do have 0:01:32.040 --> 0:01:34.000 a senior member of the camp, one of the senior 0:01:34.040 --> 0:01:36.679 members of our camp. We don't have them all here today, 0:01:36.720 --> 0:01:41.080 but we do have special guest, first time appearance on 0:01:41.120 --> 0:01:46.959 the podcast many time appearance in My Life David Kenyon, 0:01:47.280 --> 0:01:51.440 my dad. Welcome to the show. Dad, Thanks Mark, glad 0:01:51.480 --> 0:01:56.120 to be here. And I gotta say, um, this is interesting, right. 0:01:56.600 --> 0:02:00.320 I haven't had the father's son dynamic on the show yet, 0:02:00.400 --> 0:02:02.920 So I just gotta tell you. You can't go you 0:02:03.040 --> 0:02:06.440 can't get too much into like proud dad mode like 0:02:06.480 --> 0:02:11.240 you do sometimes. What am I going to talk about, Yetta, 0:02:11.280 --> 0:02:14.400 try to stay unbiased, um, otherwise people are going to 0:02:14.480 --> 0:02:17.720 turn this off real quick. I'm sure you can throw 0:02:17.760 --> 0:02:19.720 a few things in there that will help. Yeah, yeah, 0:02:19.760 --> 0:02:22.000 you can. You can share the other side of things. UM. 0:02:22.040 --> 0:02:25.919 But no, I'm really excited because you know, so much 0:02:25.960 --> 0:02:28.600 of what makes this place special where we're at right 0:02:28.600 --> 0:02:32.480 now is the history. And that is something that I 0:02:32.480 --> 0:02:34.520 want to talk about today because last time, when we 0:02:34.520 --> 0:02:36.880 talk Deer Camp, me and further, we're kind of just 0:02:36.880 --> 0:02:39.200 talking about the recent history, talking about our hunts up 0:02:39.200 --> 0:02:42.960 here just recently, what was going on. Um. But there's 0:02:43.080 --> 0:02:47.200 so much about this place that steeped in the past 0:02:47.480 --> 0:02:50.760 and one of my favorite things growing up. And I 0:02:50.800 --> 0:02:52.519 don't know if you remember this, if it's annoyed you 0:02:52.600 --> 0:02:55.480 at all, it probably annoyed some people. UM, but I 0:02:55.520 --> 0:02:57.720 just remember every time we were driving up to camp, 0:02:58.240 --> 0:03:00.800 whoever I was sitting with in the backseat. Sometimes it's Terry, 0:03:00.880 --> 0:03:03.800 sometimes it was maybe you or Uncle Steve or Uncle 0:03:03.840 --> 0:03:05.880 Bill or whoever might be. I was always asking him 0:03:05.880 --> 0:03:07.560 to tell stories, like tell me about the first time 0:03:07.600 --> 0:03:09.079 you got a dear, tell me about this one time 0:03:09.200 --> 0:03:11.120 up at camp, or tell me about this year what 0:03:11.240 --> 0:03:13.960 happened this time. I just loved all the stories at 0:03:13.960 --> 0:03:16.960 the old days, um, and I still love the stories 0:03:17.040 --> 0:03:18.920 the old days. So I'm hoping you can share some 0:03:18.960 --> 0:03:22.840 of those stories of the old days. Um. So is 0:03:22.840 --> 0:03:27.240 that something you're up for it? Yeah? Um, well good. 0:03:27.680 --> 0:03:30.359 We're sitting here, we're drinking cold beverages. We got the 0:03:30.400 --> 0:03:35.360 fire going. We just had um my wife's famous venice 0:03:35.360 --> 0:03:40.360 and chili, and Josh made some great dear heart, so 0:03:40.400 --> 0:03:44.680 we are borderline food coma. Yeah, So hopefully we can 0:03:44.720 --> 0:03:47.760 stay awake for this one, um, because I think it's 0:03:47.800 --> 0:03:49.560 it's it's always fun to talk about this stuff. But 0:03:49.600 --> 0:03:51.720 I guess before we get into those good old stories, 0:03:52.080 --> 0:03:55.760 we should at least talk about what's happened here so far. Um. 0:03:55.800 --> 0:03:57.280 You know, it was kind of a quick trip up 0:03:57.320 --> 0:04:00.320 here to camp kind of two Jewish days too quick days. 0:04:01.120 --> 0:04:03.960 Um and dad, you and me, we have not seen 0:04:04.000 --> 0:04:07.120 it a deer at all. Right, Um, so we don't 0:04:07.160 --> 0:04:08.840 have a whole lot to share. But first you've been, 0:04:09.200 --> 0:04:12.080 you've been kind of the star of the show. Yeah, 0:04:12.320 --> 0:04:15.560 I've seen ten deer you guys, zero which is pretty 0:04:15.600 --> 0:04:17.480 good for up here. He walk us through your runs. 0:04:17.560 --> 0:04:20.200 What's happened so far? Yeah, well I got up here, 0:04:20.200 --> 0:04:23.400 what a night A night before you guys. Um, I 0:04:23.440 --> 0:04:27.039 got up Sunday night and uh not in time to hunt. 0:04:27.120 --> 0:04:32.680 But my first hunt was Monday morning, and um, I'm 0:04:32.680 --> 0:04:34.520 trying to remember what all even happened that morning. I 0:04:34.560 --> 0:04:38.279 guess I saw. I saw four deer that morning. I 0:04:38.360 --> 0:04:42.240 saw like a little four corn, a spike, a button buck, 0:04:42.279 --> 0:04:46.200 and a dough. Um throughout the morning, just kind of slow, 0:04:46.680 --> 0:04:49.200 slow morning, even though seeing those deers all kind of 0:04:49.880 --> 0:04:54.440 um in a short time period where they came through, Um, 0:04:54.600 --> 0:04:57.000 that was fun. I sat, I sat where Mark usually sits. 0:04:57.080 --> 0:05:00.320 I've snaked his spot since he wasn't here yet. He 0:05:00.320 --> 0:05:02.640 couldn't say no, so he didn't set one of the 0:05:02.640 --> 0:05:05.120 food plots that he usually sits, so that was fun 0:05:05.160 --> 0:05:08.360 to sit somewhere. I hadn't I hadn't said. And interestingly, 0:05:08.440 --> 0:05:11.160 the one time I let you hunt there, you hunt there, 0:05:11.240 --> 0:05:14.000 and then all the subsequent hunts has been dirt. I 0:05:14.000 --> 0:05:16.120 haven't seen a single deer, So you've you found some 0:05:16.160 --> 0:05:19.240 way to really disturb the walk. I walked through the 0:05:19.240 --> 0:05:21.920 whole food plot. I didn't wash my clothes. I could 0:05:22.000 --> 0:05:26.200 dump in the middle of the field exactly. You turned 0:05:26.240 --> 0:05:29.880 that star whole real quick for you. No, I didn't 0:05:29.880 --> 0:05:33.800 do any of that. I snuck in there and snuck out. Um. 0:05:33.839 --> 0:05:37.880 But um, yes, that was That was a good first morning. Um. 0:05:37.920 --> 0:05:40.840 I mean, we just don't We don't see a ton 0:05:40.880 --> 0:05:42.640 of deer up here. So seeing four and once it 0:05:42.760 --> 0:05:45.239 is pretty good and a good day. Two antlerd bucks 0:05:45.320 --> 0:05:49.440 is is a in one set is a good day. Um. 0:05:49.720 --> 0:05:52.520 It's worth pointing out that from the time I can 0:05:52.560 --> 0:05:55.719 remember coming hunting up here, so if I have my 0:05:55.839 --> 0:05:57.919 memory serves right, probably from the time I was like 0:05:57.960 --> 0:06:00.679 six or seven is when I can start remembering hunts. 0:06:01.120 --> 0:06:02.320 You know that I was up here dead right. I 0:06:02.320 --> 0:06:04.080 was up here at six seven, eight years. You were 0:06:04.160 --> 0:06:07.040 up here much earlier than year. But that I can remember, well, 0:06:07.040 --> 0:06:09.320 I can't tell you what you can remember. I remember 0:06:09.680 --> 0:06:12.919 about three years old at the bottom of the block. Yes, yes, okay, 0:06:12.960 --> 0:06:15.599 So so I can remember though around like seven or 0:06:15.600 --> 0:06:18.880 eight years old, because I remember I was seven at 0:06:18.920 --> 0:06:20.800 ninety five, I remember that was the year that GP 0:06:20.960 --> 0:06:23.000 killed a big one and Terry kills a big one. 0:06:23.200 --> 0:06:24.640 So I remember that year, and I remember the year 0:06:24.640 --> 0:06:27.800 before that, which is and Steve killed that night's eight 0:06:27.800 --> 0:06:30.080 point So maybe six years old is when I can 0:06:30.120 --> 0:06:33.200 remember those hunts. So from six all the way until 0:06:33.880 --> 0:06:38.880 um until like I was like eighteen or nineteen, so 0:06:39.000 --> 0:06:42.960 let's let's call it that whole time period, um, ten 0:06:43.080 --> 0:06:53.719 twelve years or whatever. Um. I can remember seeing one, two, two, 0:06:55.680 --> 0:06:59.000 I think two antler bucks. All those years of you 0:06:59.040 --> 0:07:00.800 and me hunting together. I think we only got two 0:07:00.880 --> 0:07:03.560 or three antlered bucks in a ten or twelve year period. 0:07:04.680 --> 0:07:08.320 So it doesn't totally shocked man. It was probably the 0:07:08.320 --> 0:07:09.840 two that you and I saw when you wanted to 0:07:09.880 --> 0:07:11.920 pull the gun away and shoot him yourself. That was 0:07:11.960 --> 0:07:14.360 That was one of the stories, and we'll tell that one. 0:07:14.560 --> 0:07:18.920 We'll get to that story soon. Um. But yeah, I 0:07:18.960 --> 0:07:22.560 mean so in general, we have not seen the last 0:07:22.600 --> 0:07:24.920 couple of years have been a little bit better. Um, 0:07:25.360 --> 0:07:27.920 so this trip being indicative of that. Even though you 0:07:28.000 --> 0:07:30.000 and me dead didn't see anything, Josh, you saw a 0:07:30.040 --> 0:07:32.400 lot of bucks relative too. But you know, it wasn't 0:07:32.400 --> 0:07:35.080 always that way. So back when Grandpa and I and 0:07:35.160 --> 0:07:36.920 Uncle Steve and the rest of us came up here, 0:07:36.960 --> 0:07:40.360 back in the late sixties and seventies and eighties, Um, 0:07:40.400 --> 0:07:41.760 there were a lot of deer up here, I thought. 0:07:44.720 --> 0:07:47.240 So the uh, the the area that we used to 0:07:47.320 --> 0:07:49.520 hunt in a mile or so from where our camp 0:07:49.600 --> 0:07:52.760 is now for your out what we call the oil road. UM. 0:07:52.800 --> 0:07:55.280 At that time, it was just a two track. And 0:07:55.320 --> 0:08:00.120 then the oil well companies came in. They widened the road, 0:08:00.160 --> 0:08:01.880 they did a lot of clear cutting, they put in 0:08:01.920 --> 0:08:04.320 the oil wells themselves. Suddenly, over the course of the 0:08:04.320 --> 0:08:06.200 next two or three years, we had all this undergrowth 0:08:06.280 --> 0:08:08.280 that grew up in the deer. And then a number 0:08:08.320 --> 0:08:09.960 of people came in from the outside, from the oil, 0:08:10.080 --> 0:08:12.880 from the drilling companies and hunted. So now we had 0:08:12.880 --> 0:08:15.400 a lot of pressure than we never had before. And 0:08:15.520 --> 0:08:18.960 there were probably five years, maybe ten years where we 0:08:18.960 --> 0:08:21.120 were seeing lats of deer and it was it was 0:08:21.120 --> 0:08:23.800 pretty cool. It was pretty fun. And then, um then 0:08:24.000 --> 0:08:27.480 for whatever reason in the late nineties and early two thousands, 0:08:27.720 --> 0:08:32.719 things slowed down again. Yeah yeah, um so I want 0:08:32.760 --> 0:08:34.600 to get back to all that. But I guess let's 0:08:35.720 --> 0:08:37.719 look finish your story, Josh, and I want to jump 0:08:37.760 --> 0:08:39.960 back to where you were just at their dead uh, 0:08:40.400 --> 0:08:42.560 because yeah, so in the past they had been better, 0:08:43.240 --> 0:08:45.760 and then there was a basically once I showed up, 0:08:45.760 --> 0:08:49.000 things started going down to the two. Once I started coming, 0:08:49.040 --> 0:08:51.280 things really slowed down. And then maybe we've been on 0:08:51.320 --> 0:08:53.079 a little bit enough to take the last couple of years. 0:08:53.559 --> 0:08:56.880 Um So, Josh, you saw a little Bucks. Yeah, a 0:08:56.920 --> 0:08:59.600 couple of little Bucks that morning, Monday morning, Monday afternoon, 0:09:00.040 --> 0:09:04.240 you guys got here. Um when I see I saw 0:09:04.320 --> 0:09:07.760 five doze Monday afternoon, and it felt like it was 0:09:07.760 --> 0:09:09.560 gonna be a really good night for me to I 0:09:09.600 --> 0:09:12.400 was thinking, to me, great, and then I start hearing 0:09:12.440 --> 0:09:15.319 all this blowing behind me a couple hundred yards away. 0:09:15.360 --> 0:09:19.240 Just yeah, for about thirty things turned into a bit 0:09:19.280 --> 0:09:22.640 of a cluster. Yeah. They never they never got down 0:09:22.679 --> 0:09:24.600 wind to me. I don't think they smelled me. But 0:09:25.520 --> 0:09:28.840 I was sitting on the ground, this this spot, it's 0:09:28.880 --> 0:09:32.880 not really conducive for a tree stand or saddle sitting 0:09:32.880 --> 0:09:36.200 on a pipeline trying to look down this pipeline. It's 0:09:36.240 --> 0:09:39.640 on the edge of this big hemlock stand. Hemlocks are 0:09:39.679 --> 0:09:42.000 like an evergreen tree, right, so they got a lot 0:09:42.040 --> 0:09:44.360 of a lot of branches, a lot of low hanging 0:09:44.400 --> 0:09:47.800 branches hanging over this pipeline, and so really are the 0:09:47.840 --> 0:09:49.920 best bet is to sit in the ground there for 0:09:49.920 --> 0:09:52.839 for visibility and shooting lanes, and then you can kind 0:09:52.840 --> 0:09:56.760 of see into the hemlocks too, because there's there's zero 0:09:56.880 --> 0:09:59.320 understory in there because it's there's no sunlight in the 0:09:59.320 --> 0:10:03.640 floor in there. Um. So sitting on the ground and 0:10:03.760 --> 0:10:06.680 that lead dough, she she knew something was up. She 0:10:06.720 --> 0:10:09.920 never smelled me, but I think she she knew something 0:10:10.040 --> 0:10:14.480 wasn't right. Um, And she started blowing, and then one 0:10:14.480 --> 0:10:17.480 of the other doughs started blowing. They didn't really run off, 0:10:17.480 --> 0:10:19.800 They just kind of bounced off to about forty yards 0:10:19.800 --> 0:10:22.240 and just looking at me, and you know, bobbing their 0:10:22.240 --> 0:10:25.720 heads and stomping their feet and blowing. And that one 0:10:25.760 --> 0:10:28.920 on the worst when they just sit there and every 0:10:28.920 --> 0:10:30.640 time they make that noise, like a little part of 0:10:30.679 --> 0:10:33.559 my heart dies, and I think to myself, just leave, 0:10:33.679 --> 0:10:37.040 just if you're soap set, just leave. I was seriously, 0:10:37.800 --> 0:10:39.840 I was seriously ready to just stand up and start 0:10:39.880 --> 0:10:41.480 waving my arms just to get him to run away, 0:10:41.520 --> 0:10:45.000 because I mean it was just it was getting ridiculous. Um, 0:10:45.120 --> 0:10:47.440 I wonder about that if sometimes that might be the 0:10:47.480 --> 0:10:49.520 better way to go about it, right, just get him 0:10:49.520 --> 0:10:51.960 out of here, Yeah, just go. And um, so they 0:10:52.000 --> 0:10:53.520 just kind of hung around from it. I don't know, 0:10:53.760 --> 0:10:58.480 ten minutes maybe, Yeah, it was like thirty Yeah, I 0:10:58.520 --> 0:11:00.880 mean you could hear him the whole time, you, um, 0:11:00.960 --> 0:11:05.680 because we weren't. We were sitting maybe a couple. Um. Yeah, 0:11:05.840 --> 0:11:07.720 it was just it just turned into a cluster and 0:11:08.200 --> 0:11:10.600 I ended up seeing one more dough I don't know, 0:11:10.640 --> 0:11:15.120 maybe twenty minutes before shooting light was over. And um 0:11:15.280 --> 0:11:17.760 that was that was that. Um but that was I 0:11:17.760 --> 0:11:20.319 mean seeing five dolls in a night again, I mean, 0:11:20.360 --> 0:11:24.280 that's that's a good night. Um. So, I mean that 0:11:24.320 --> 0:11:27.120 was a good day. I saw she's nine deer just 0:11:27.160 --> 0:11:30.600 in that one day. And then um, we pulled trail cameras, 0:11:30.960 --> 0:11:34.000 pulled trail cameras. We looked at some pictures last night, 0:11:34.040 --> 0:11:36.800 and fortunately two of the three cameras didn't take pictures. 0:11:37.640 --> 0:11:39.719 I don't know. I don't know what happened. If if 0:11:39.800 --> 0:11:43.520 I it appears that the cards were not formatted so 0:11:43.600 --> 0:11:46.360 that the cards were full keeping, because when you look 0:11:46.400 --> 0:11:48.160 at the pictures, it's a bunch of old pictures of mine, 0:11:48.880 --> 0:11:51.439 So it would seem that I put the card and there, 0:11:51.480 --> 0:11:53.640 turned it on and didn't reform at the cards. But 0:11:54.320 --> 0:11:57.360 I just cannot see myself doing it. It's I do 0:11:57.520 --> 0:12:00.600 this so many times, and that's like, I don't even 0:12:00.600 --> 0:12:02.760 turn on the camera without first format. It's it's just 0:12:03.160 --> 0:12:05.040 it's as much of a process as it is to 0:12:05.160 --> 0:12:08.000 pull on your pants for going on the bathroom. Um, 0:12:08.040 --> 0:12:12.320 hey man, it happens. Interesting analogy. I've made that mistake. 0:12:12.440 --> 0:12:21.200 I'm sure I can good dump for me. And it's 0:12:21.240 --> 0:12:25.520 been going back and forth like this the whole time. Yeah, 0:12:26.160 --> 0:12:30.120 uh yeah, I don't know what happened, but something happened 0:12:30.400 --> 0:12:32.920 which kept our two best cameras. There are two best 0:12:32.960 --> 0:12:35.439 spots that traditionally the past few years we've been getting 0:12:35.440 --> 0:12:38.520 good bucks on camera. Those didn't take any pictures from 0:12:38.559 --> 0:12:41.560 mid October through mid November, which is that the one 0:12:41.640 --> 0:12:44.280 time period during the year we usually get good bucks. 0:12:44.480 --> 0:12:46.880 So I was kind of devastated last night. I was 0:12:46.920 --> 0:12:49.640 really upset about it. There's a there's a couple of 0:12:49.960 --> 0:12:52.160 decent bucks on on the one camera that we had, 0:12:52.280 --> 0:12:55.280 but a lot of critters, just you know, bears, I 0:12:55.280 --> 0:12:58.480 mean dozens dozens of bears, a couple of coyotes, a 0:12:58.520 --> 0:13:02.920 couple of bob cats, um, and some bucks, mostly young bucks. 0:13:03.360 --> 0:13:05.120 There was one buck maybe that could have been three 0:13:05.200 --> 0:13:08.000 year old. A couple of small eight pointers, a little 0:13:08.000 --> 0:13:09.719 six that kind of stuff that are maybe one or 0:13:09.760 --> 0:13:12.640 two year old. Um. It was good to see bucks. 0:13:12.679 --> 0:13:15.520 I mean it's you know, to the earlier point in 0:13:15.559 --> 0:13:17.400 the past, we didn't see any antler bucks, so it's 0:13:17.480 --> 0:13:21.080 nice to know there are antler bucks running around. Um. 0:13:21.120 --> 0:13:22.920 And I gotta believe if we had the food plot 0:13:22.960 --> 0:13:26.160 cameras running bets, you at least one nice buck with 0:13:26.280 --> 0:13:28.720 a show up. Well, there was one nice buck on 0:13:28.760 --> 0:13:31.280 that one camera, like a you know, maybe a three 0:13:31.360 --> 0:13:33.360 year old tight kind of tight and tall look at 0:13:33.360 --> 0:13:36.959 a pointer. Um. So that was good to see, I guess. 0:13:37.960 --> 0:13:40.720 And then that takes us to this morning, right, yeah, 0:13:41.080 --> 0:13:43.600 and this morning I think I saw that tall and 0:13:43.640 --> 0:13:46.160 tight eight pointer that was on the trail cameras. I 0:13:46.160 --> 0:13:49.760 saw one deer this morning, and it was the first 0:13:49.800 --> 0:13:52.920 deer that has made me pick up my gun since 0:13:52.960 --> 0:13:55.480 I've been coming up here for what seven years? This 0:13:55.640 --> 0:14:00.440 is seven I think this is a seven seven something 0:14:00.440 --> 0:14:02.920 like that. And as the first time I picked up 0:14:02.960 --> 0:14:05.160 my gun and I was looking through my scope and 0:14:05.440 --> 0:14:09.679 ready to pull the trigger. Um, it's not happening. Well, 0:14:09.720 --> 0:14:11.640 I'm sitting and I was sitting in the same spot 0:14:11.720 --> 0:14:14.280 us at the day before that, the evening before, and 0:14:14.280 --> 0:14:16.319 because it works so well with those doughs, Yeah, it 0:14:16.480 --> 0:14:21.200 worked worked really well those Yeah. I was just I 0:14:21.280 --> 0:14:24.480 was just hoping that they wouldn't come back through there. 0:14:24.480 --> 0:14:26.640 They're they're just spooked and wouldn't come back through. And 0:14:27.200 --> 0:14:29.080 it was a slow morning, there's really nothing going on. 0:14:29.160 --> 0:14:32.520 And then jeez, what was that maybe nine fifteen is 0:14:32.680 --> 0:14:36.600 nine thirty maybe, Yeah, sometime around then, I just caught 0:14:36.640 --> 0:14:40.600 a flash of something working through the hemlocks and um, 0:14:40.640 --> 0:14:42.800 moving quick. It's just is one of those like moments 0:14:42.840 --> 0:14:45.320 where you're like, oh, that's a buck, like you know, 0:14:45.400 --> 0:14:47.480 it's not a dough It was is cruising. It was 0:14:47.560 --> 0:14:50.680 just walking like a buck. Um are kind of cruising 0:14:50.720 --> 0:14:53.560 like a buck. And I got my binoculars up and 0:14:53.760 --> 0:14:56.520 as you was going through the hemlocks and all the 0:14:56.520 --> 0:14:59.160 the trees everything, I could just make out his antlers, like, oh, 0:14:59.200 --> 0:15:01.480 that's a nice that's pretty nice. That's a nice book. 0:15:01.720 --> 0:15:05.200 And um, he got to the edge, he got to 0:15:05.200 --> 0:15:07.960 the edge of the hemlocks. I didn't have a shot yet. 0:15:08.000 --> 0:15:09.520 I needed him to take a couple of steps out 0:15:09.560 --> 0:15:13.840 into this pipeline, and instead of doing that, he had 0:15:13.880 --> 0:15:15.560 stopped at the edge of the hemlocks. And then he 0:15:15.640 --> 0:15:19.600 started working due west of me, right straight away from me, 0:15:19.680 --> 0:15:24.000 right down this pipeline, and uh just walked walked away. 0:15:24.640 --> 0:15:26.400 Tried grunting at him a couple of times, and he 0:15:26.440 --> 0:15:30.560 did not care. He just zanas was on a mission 0:15:30.640 --> 0:15:33.400 or something. This was a buck that you were like, 0:15:33.760 --> 0:15:36.440 definitely shoes, Yeah, yeah, especially for up here. I was 0:15:36.480 --> 0:15:38.120 like that, that's a shooter for up here. You know, 0:15:38.160 --> 0:15:42.040 I thought he was probably judgment judging his body coming 0:15:42.080 --> 0:15:45.240 through the woods, Like he looked like he's probably three 0:15:45.240 --> 0:15:47.720 and a half. Um looked like he had a had 0:15:47.760 --> 0:15:51.160 some some good antlers on him. Um, I thought, for sure, 0:15:51.200 --> 0:15:54.280 he's a shooter for up here. So pretty excited he 0:15:54.280 --> 0:15:56.400 would have been. You know, we're looking at a wall 0:15:56.440 --> 0:16:01.000 of racks here, um, and the top rows is all 0:16:01.040 --> 0:16:03.360 the bigger racks that have been shot up here. And 0:16:03.400 --> 0:16:07.000 he definitely would have been a top row bucke, that's 0:16:07.000 --> 0:16:10.560 for sure. Yeah. I feel like, even though our top 0:16:10.680 --> 0:16:16.200 row is not terribly impressive across the board, there are some, um, 0:16:16.240 --> 0:16:17.760 but if you get a shot at something that would 0:16:17.760 --> 0:16:19.560 be a top row buck these days, it's it's hard 0:16:19.600 --> 0:16:22.440 not to pull trigger on that. Yeah, just an editorial 0:16:22.440 --> 0:16:24.680 comment there. This used to be that top row used 0:16:24.680 --> 0:16:27.400 to be full of big racks, bigger racks than what 0:16:27.520 --> 0:16:30.520 we're there. Um. Back in the late nineties, we had 0:16:30.520 --> 0:16:33.640 a break in and they took many of our bigger racks. 0:16:33.680 --> 0:16:38.360 So now we're kind of kind of refilling it. Yeah. Um, 0:16:38.640 --> 0:16:41.240 well we almost had one to put up there today. 0:16:42.000 --> 0:16:45.320 That would have been nice. Yeah. So they walked away 0:16:45.320 --> 0:16:47.440 and that was it. And that was that basically into 0:16:47.480 --> 0:16:51.120 the morning. And I was in your your guys boat tonight. 0:16:51.160 --> 0:16:55.840 I didn't see a deer this afternoon, So yeah, no 0:16:55.840 --> 0:16:59.320 no such luck for us, I see I did I did? 0:16:59.480 --> 0:17:01.960 I remember thinking yesterday and this morning I hadn't seen 0:17:02.000 --> 0:17:03.560 any here, but I did see two of the does 0:17:03.640 --> 0:17:06.560 that spooked from you. They came running sort of by me, 0:17:06.600 --> 0:17:08.639 and I saw him back behind me. But otherwise nothing. 0:17:09.119 --> 0:17:10.960 I did have a fresh set of bear tracks that 0:17:11.080 --> 0:17:13.239 came past me this morning. They had not been there 0:17:13.240 --> 0:17:15.600 in the evening before. And then we end up getting 0:17:15.640 --> 0:17:18.439 pictures of him. I think we went and checked the 0:17:18.480 --> 0:17:21.240 camera again today because you thought that buck maybe walked 0:17:21.240 --> 0:17:24.040 past it. Yeah, pulled that card tonight because I thought 0:17:24.080 --> 0:17:26.399 that buck he did walk. I know he did. I 0:17:26.400 --> 0:17:29.679 know he probably did. Um, But I don't know what 0:17:29.760 --> 0:17:32.400 happened to that camera because now it's like interesting batteries 0:17:32.400 --> 0:17:37.119 are did? I know I probably did well he was 0:17:37.160 --> 0:17:39.280 he was heading in that direction unless he unless he 0:17:39.359 --> 0:17:42.480 cut in um to the swamp on the other side 0:17:42.480 --> 0:17:46.200 of the clear cut before he passed that camera. Um. 0:17:46.280 --> 0:17:48.240 But but my guess as he was working down the 0:17:48.280 --> 0:17:51.800 edge of that swamp, you know. So we got the picture, 0:17:51.800 --> 0:17:53.560 didn't get the picture of the buck because the batteries, 0:17:54.240 --> 0:17:56.720 but got the little bear on camera. It's kind of cool. 0:17:57.920 --> 0:18:01.040 Lots and lots of bears, a lot of bears. And 0:18:01.080 --> 0:18:03.080 then well I talked about us in podcast Aret, I 0:18:03.080 --> 0:18:04.880 didn't talk about with you guys. But I did see 0:18:04.880 --> 0:18:07.080 that bear last time I was up here, a bear, 0:18:07.160 --> 0:18:10.480 which is really cool to see. Um, how would you 0:18:10.480 --> 0:18:12.119 have reacted, Dad, if you were sitting out here in 0:18:12.119 --> 0:18:17.639 a bear came walking up on the Uh. Probably can't 0:18:17.680 --> 0:18:20.720 say what I would do. I feel like you're a 0:18:20.720 --> 0:18:23.560 little bit more on edge about the bears than I am. Yeah, yeah, 0:18:24.080 --> 0:18:26.680 oh yeah, oh yeah yeah. I think you know I 0:18:26.760 --> 0:18:30.359 won't go in the woods without a weapon. Um. You know, 0:18:30.400 --> 0:18:33.440 I know that most of the time, you know, especially here, 0:18:33.480 --> 0:18:36.479 the black bear are probably more afraid of us than 0:18:36.480 --> 0:18:38.720 where them. But do I really want to take that 0:18:38.840 --> 0:18:40.640 chance and be the one time when you know I 0:18:40.720 --> 0:18:45.880 have a piste off bear. I get that, I get that. Um. 0:18:45.960 --> 0:18:48.320 But yeah, we've certainly have seen a lot more bear 0:18:48.560 --> 0:18:51.679 evidence and bear themselves, and we've had some sightings. Our 0:18:51.720 --> 0:18:54.800 neighbor next to us a couple of years got a 0:18:54.800 --> 0:18:57.000 picture of a bear that he claimed was and that 0:18:57.119 --> 0:19:02.040 DNR apparently confirmed it was a seven eight hundred pound bear. 0:19:02.160 --> 0:19:05.480 I mean, you know, very large black bear. Um. I'm 0:19:05.480 --> 0:19:08.239 pretty sure that can't be right in retrospect, because I 0:19:08.280 --> 0:19:13.639 remember seeing numbers of like world record bears. But but 0:19:14.480 --> 0:19:16.199 all that to say, is we're just gonna get an 0:19:16.200 --> 0:19:21.440 email from someone's gonna say there's no way those it 0:19:21.520 --> 0:19:26.040 was a big dear yea. Um, but yeah we did 0:19:26.080 --> 0:19:29.720 see Also speaking of big bears though, the sixth largest 0:19:29.720 --> 0:19:33.320 black bear killed in the state or something that was 0:19:33.400 --> 0:19:37.600 recently killed not too far from here, so certainly, um, 0:19:37.880 --> 0:19:40.399 history would indicate some big bears around here for mission 0:19:40.440 --> 0:19:43.040 at least. Yeah, and we've had a number of cougar 0:19:43.160 --> 0:19:45.679 sightings as well, and you know animals that have been 0:19:45.720 --> 0:19:47.960 killed by by them as well. So yeah, we've got 0:19:47.960 --> 0:19:53.840 a lot of wildlife. There are some critters. So that's 0:19:53.840 --> 0:19:58.080 been our deer camp as far as deer sightings, animal sightings. Josh, 0:19:58.080 --> 0:20:00.840 you let us down, good thing I'm here. Well, no, 0:20:01.320 --> 0:20:04.160 it's almost worse when it's right that close, so close, 0:20:04.200 --> 0:20:06.800 and then you just couldn't make it happen. It's like 0:20:06.840 --> 0:20:10.760 your teasing. Thus that's the story of my my season. Close. 0:20:10.840 --> 0:20:15.280 But no, cigar, do you have like three different We 0:20:15.359 --> 0:20:17.280 won't get too much into it now, but I've had 0:20:17.320 --> 0:20:22.600 three different like shooter bucks just not offering your shot. 0:20:23.240 --> 0:20:25.600 Can you give us like the thirty second cliff notes, 0:20:26.000 --> 0:20:28.920 h thirty second cliff notes? Um A couple of days 0:20:29.000 --> 0:20:31.720 before a gun season, last time hunting one of the 0:20:31.760 --> 0:20:36.480 properties I have access to in Jackson. Um. Just a 0:20:36.640 --> 0:20:41.200 really nice buck was about seventy yards out and coming in, 0:20:41.640 --> 0:20:44.680 and he had another trail and went went a different direction. 0:20:45.880 --> 0:20:48.840 And I was debating on the tree stand where I 0:20:48.840 --> 0:20:51.840 was sitting in a tree stand about or setting a 0:20:51.880 --> 0:20:55.800 stand about thirty or forty yards further towards where he 0:20:55.840 --> 0:20:58.399 came from. And if I would have set to stand there, 0:20:58.400 --> 0:21:00.639 I probably would have killed him. That night, got a 0:21:00.680 --> 0:21:03.200 text message from the other guy that hunts that property 0:21:03.480 --> 0:21:05.960 on opening day guns season, he killed that buck, really 0:21:06.000 --> 0:21:11.200 nice eight pointer. That was a bummer. UM happy for him? Um, 0:21:11.440 --> 0:21:14.400 opening day a guns HEAs really yeah, why not? I mean, 0:21:15.000 --> 0:21:17.720 I'm not gonna I don't mean that's that's the it's 0:21:17.720 --> 0:21:19.600 a it's a buck that I had no history with. 0:21:19.960 --> 0:21:22.359 You know, it's you know, it's a it's a property 0:21:22.440 --> 0:21:25.720