Strictly Bowhunting :: WILL THE RAIN EVER STOP!

Posted by: jen-on Thursday, February 04, 2010 - 09:57 PM

It was November 5th 2009 and I was looking out the window at work. Sheets of rain were coming down almost horizontal with the strong wind. Trees were bending to the breaking point. I wondered if my special 3 day local Metro hunt the next day would be postponed. I am a diehard bowhunter some say but even I was hesitant to climb a tree in this down pour. I decided to get a second opinion. I am just dumb enough to hunt regardless of the weather. This time we had 15 hunters participating so we had more responsibility than just us few running the special hunt. I got on the internet and navigated to a local weather stations web site. I contacted the head meteorologist by sending him a quick email hoping some how he would make the bad weather go away. My email said:
<body>

Dear Sir,

Tomorrow we are participating in a special archery deer removal effort. The project runs only 3 days so it is important that we participate all three days. Your forecast states a cold rain. Can you elaborate on that a little bit? We can work with a drizzle or occasional rain. Can you give me a better idea whether it is going to be a total wash out? Hard rain all day, drizzle, light rain, etc.

Thanks....
Jon

I didn’t expect an answer. A meteorologist has better things to do than answer desperate bowhunters emails about weather. To my surprise an email appeared in my inbox but with some bad news.

Hi Jon!

Right now it looks like it'll become more "showery" during the day on Friday. It should be nearly as wet as it was today. The winds will be strong however, changing from southwesterly early to westerly or northwesterly at 10-20 mph and gusty through the afternoon. I hope this helps you out some.

Chief Meteorologist

Because of the nature of these hunts and limited time frames we always have to show up that first morning. The decision is made at that moment. In Minnesota weather is very unpredictable. I have seen a down pour in one suburb and sunshine right next door in another suburb.

My dilemma was do I waste a day of vacation in hopes of hunting? I had to make a decision. The next morning I found myself at the meeting place with the other hunters. We all huddled together in our rain gear for a final talk about the rules. It was stated that if the drizzle turned to a down pour or if it got to windy to get out of timber. Water rolled down my rain gear looking for any opening to invade my warm and dry clothes. With my treestand climber, pack on my back and bow in hand I started the dark sulky walk into the timber. My hood was on giving me tunnel vision in the dark with only my headlamps light fighting its way through the rain drops falling across my face. The woods smelled of wet wood and my boots splashed through the puddles step by step. I found my deer trail that I had previously scouted and followed it through a small clearing. The tall grass swayed in the wind splashing more water on me.

I reached my perch for the day. It was the rut. I planned on hunting the whole day. I worked slowly so I would not get sweated up. It would be a disaster in this wet weather and would get cold after the first hour. 10 minutes later I was safely in my treestand. I had used a climber for this hunt. Big mistake.

Dawn arrived. It was an odd feeling. I can only imagine Frodo in the movie “Lord of the Ring” walking toward Mordor. No food or water. Rain falling and soaked to the bone and surrounded by the same quietness and dull wet timber I was in. All he had was his trusted friend Sam Wise. Not knowing what creature would pop out of the dense forest and end it once and for all.

It wasn’t quite as desperate for me. My bow was lying across my lap. My hands after changing to dry gloves were tucked away next to the warmth of my body. Rain pelted my body and the only thing you could here was the rain hurling through the trees to the ground below. There was only one deer trail for me to watch and it was straight ahead. I had pictures of a few really good bucks using the trail.

I only had three days to hunt them and then they were safe until next year. Cleared out was a swath of nasty buck thorn. My shooting lane was 10 yards wide at best. Two well placed foot pads hung from a tree right in the middle of the 10 yard shooting lane. One was soaked with last year’s doe urine from Bob Kirshner Scents. On my way in, I had them attached to my boots leaving a 200 yard trail. Because of the rain I applied a new dose of the scent while walking every 30 yards or so. I figured the more I put out the less chance the rain would wash it away. The other foot pad was sprayed with "Buck Bombs Dominate buck scent". I wanted to mimic a doe leading a buck along the trail. I also applied an ample amount of "Buck Bombs doe in estrus” scent to surrounding trees.

Minutes turned to hours. Warmth turned to cold. What was I thinking trying to sit all day! It was 2:00 pm. And I hadn’t seen a deer. It was the rut! Where were all the deer? In a flash I saw him running and he came to a complete halt at the foot pads full of scent. I was amazed he could stop on a dime like that. He was a good buck but not the bucks I had on camera. He crouched low to the ground and started to crawl toward me. He was afraid of something. He must have gotten beat up earlier in the season by another buck and was afraid. He glanced at me perched in my tree. I didn’t move a muscle. As he crawled past me I stood up and turned around. He stood up quartering away. He was in some thick buck thorn just 6 yards away. I found a small opening in the buck thorn but I had to stand on my toes to get the shot. My Truth II came to full draw. I put my pin on him and released. The buck jumped out of the buck thorn into a small slough to my east and disappeared. I sat down shaking from the long coming coldness that my body finally succumbed to. My adrenaline was the final straw. The uncontrollable urge to shake finally subsided. I sat there for 10 minutes gaining my composure. Finally I snapped out of it. It was raining and any blood trail that was there was surely gone already. I had to get down there to where I saw him last. My climber made the decent slow. Another 10 minutes and I was standing in the slough. Rain dripping off my hood as I looked for blood only made the madness of the situation worse. Why did I waste all that time sitting in my treestand after the shot! I began to think I didn’t make a good shot. There wasn’t a spot of blood anywhere! It had all washed off the tall grass. I walked to end of the slough a mere 10 yards long. I found one speck of blood on a branch. I had jumped a buck a few times in the slough earlier in the summer. I knew the escape route they used. I walked another 10 yards and saw horns above a log. I slowly approached the buck. He had expired. My emotions gained control of me again. I was standing over a good buck. I sat down to consider what I had done. Rain poured down my hood. I was wet and cold but that didn’t matter. To me it was 70 and sunny and my smile from ear to ear proved it.

Hunt Sponsors:

Bear Archery The Truth II
Timberline Power Glow Extreme Sight
Trophy Takers arrow rest
Carbon Express arrows
Trophy Ridge Broadheads
G5 Outdoors - G Force Lighted Nock
G5 Outdoors - Striker Broadheads
Buck Bomb
Wood Wise Products
The cuflinc

971 Reads

[Edit | Delete ]