By: Mackenzie Adams
On our way up to the lodge we were talking about the lodge and where we were hunting. Then Mikey said,” There it is!” So of course since I hadn’t been here since I was four years old I said, “There’s what?” Then dad said, “There’s the dirt road that leads to the lodge!” Then we turned onto the dirt road and then I knew we hit the county, that’s when I thought that this weekend was going to be great. When we got up ahead the road there were those trees that are very tall and only have the green bristles at the tops of the trees. Then there was an empty field, wait it is not an empty field it has deer in it and there was about eight deer we saw on the way to the lodge. There is also a pretty big lake and a small pond we have a great view from the window in the living room slash dining room.
The Lodge
The lodge is huge it is a two story and when you walk in the front door there is a hallway and on the end on your right is the room we were staying in, there is a sink, bunk bed and a full bed. I am staying in the bottom bunk while dad and Mikey sleep in the full bed. When you go out the hallway and go straight that is the living room. It has a long table and chairs and two small tables and chairs. There is also a flat screen TV, four couches, a rocking chair, three padded rocking chairs, and there is a fire place. Next to the living room is a kitchen. There is also a storage room where we store everything. Last but not least is up stairs it has wooden stairs going up and there is two rooms and one room leads to a secret room that leads to the storage room. There is also a small wooden door that leads to the attic. Then next to the cabin is John’s house.
Now it is the fun part we go hunting. We put on all of our hunting gear then we sprayed down with Dead Down Wind sent eliminator and we started to head out. We got to Mikey’s spot and dropped him off and we got to our spot and on the way to Mikey’s spot and ours there were tons of deer tracks. There were so many I couldn’t count them all. We got to our stand and climbed up into it. It took about two or three hours until we saw the first deer and it was a huge buck. Then another huge one came out behind the other buck and they were very curious about something and just ran off before they got close enough to shoot. About thirty minutes after that, three deer came out of the back field and we couldn’t tell what they were. They finally came close enough to tell what they were and there was a doe and two of this year’s fawns. Right after they came there was six does that just all came out of the back field at once. They got about fifty yards away from us and something spooked them off too. After that there was this spike that came and ate and ate and ate those clovers. He comes when we get there and before we left, he left. Before we left there is a trail on the left side of the middle field. On that trail was a big buck and he would not move so we had to wait and wait and it got so dark it was hard to see him so we just left. We walked over to Mikey’s stand and we talked to him earlier on a walkie talkie and he said that he shot a deer. Since it was a pass through shot we went out and tried to look for it, but there wasn’t a lot of blood spots we could look at to find the doe, so we had to wait till the morning.
Waiting For Deer
The next day dad and I went out and we barely saw anything. There was a big buck came very close to our blind. Dad almost shot him but since his bow was so cold that it creaked and the buck heard it and ran away. Then about thirty to forty-five minutes after that the little spike came through and there he was eating clovers again. When he left there was a doe that came out and did not get close enough to shoot. That is all we saw that morning. We came back and Mikey was still sleeping when we walked in and we woke him up and Mikey, dad, John, and I went to look for his doe and all we found was one drop of blood. We never found the deer. John said he should find it within a week from the birds. After we went out to look for the deer we came back and ate lunch.
Little Spike Looking For Clover
Then we went out for an afternoon hunt when we got out there and we walked into the field to get into our stand. There was a buck under our blind and five does in the left field and when they saw us they all ran away. We got up into the stand and then spike came back out again to eat those clovers. After about thirty to forty-five minutes until we saw the next deer it was a buck and then he must have sensed something because all the sudden he just ran away. Then here comes spike again to eat those clovers. When he was eating a doe came out in the back and just started to circle around and went away and when spike ran off we left. We picked up Mikey and we saw a flash light shin on the ground and dad went to go get him and Mikey thought we were going to leave him there; how funny!
Still Waiting For Deer
The next morning we did not go out so after we woke up we ate breakfast and watched some football after we ate lunch we went out for and afternoon hunt. It took about two to three hours until we saw the first few deer. There was the spike again and three does. Then after that it got to where they wouldn’t come out then there were four does. There were two yearlings and the mom to the yearlings and then there was a year and a half old doe; last year’s fawn. She was right there to where I could get a clean shot at her. So dad told me to stand up so I stood up and he was standing up too. He had my bow in his hand so my arms wouldn’t get tired. When the doe wasn’t looking I took the bow, clipped on my release and dad said, “When you’re ready let it fly!” I couldn’t see the deer so I had to take a step up really quietly. I could see where I was going to shoot and it was a good thing I didn’t shoot or I would have hit her in the stomach. She moved and then moved back and I shot her and I heard the arrow go into her. Dad was watching her and he saw her fall and he said, “You got her!” Then I said, “Really, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh!” I was shaking so bad. We went out to go get pictures and video. We saw where I shot and I shot kind of high. My dad thinks I hit an artery and her diaphragm and cut off her breathing when I hit it. After we took pictures Papa field dressed it for me. Then we took it back to the cabin and hung her on the deer pole. When the ladder hit the pole Mikey said that when he heard it he knew someone got a deer. Then Mikey came out and watched us clean her out. Mikey was videotaping dad and I talking about my deer kill. Then we went inside and it was already two hours after I shot the doe.
My First Deer And I Got It With A Bow!
I called everyone that I basically knew. Everyone was so excited. Then we got too tired to stay up so we went to bed. In the morning we stayed in and around nine-thirty we went out and we were butchering my deer. We also saved the hide from the deer to get it tanned and we are also saving the skull so I can get the skull boiled. Mikey is going to boil the skull for me. For the deer hide a taxidermist named Bill is tanning the hide for me.
Now It Is Dad's Turn
Well after we butchered my deer we went out for an afternoon hunt. We went out and even though I already shot a deer I want to go hang out in the stand with dad and hopefully watch him shoot a deer with his bow. Well like we always do we saw spike there again feeding his way through the winding fields. Then when he got close enough to see his spikes he turned back then I just happened to look back at the trail and I saw something small and white. When it came closer we could see the black on it and it was really a skunk. He was such a funny little skunk. He saw that spike and he went over to him and was just following him around. He also spooked off a pretty big doe. After he did that we got a call from the radio from Mikey and the first thing I heard was “DEAD DOE DOWN!” Then dad said, “Awesome you got one!” Then Mikey said, “YES!” Then dad said, “we will be over in about an hour. We waited that hour and we did not see anything. We left and went to Mikey and he was on the ground flashing his light we went and found him and went to his deer. Then it was a perfect timing John came with his four-wheeler and we put it on the back of his four-wheeler and over to dad’s truck. We took video and pictures before Mikey field dressed it. When he did, he hit the gut sack and it stunk so bad. When he popped it you could hear the air coming out of it. Then when he got the guts out we put it on the back of dad’s truck and took it to the cabin. When we got there we hung it on the deer pole and cleaned it out and then went inside. We were eating dinner and doing the pod cast at the same time. Then we just went to bed because we got so sick.
Mikey's First Deer With A Bow
The next morning we did not go out because we were to sick and Mikey butchered his deer. When he was done we just packed up and left. We went to this zoo like place on the way home that had a bear that I wanted to see but he was tucked up in his pen. Then we got something to drink and a snack for the road. When we got home we unloaded and settled in. We ate dinner and talked about the weekend. That was my birthday hunting trip and my first deer. Best birthday ever!
If you would like to see the whole hunt on video you can view it on Episode 5 of Beyond The Wild at: http://www.upnorthjournal.com/
