this was the twelfth Conecuh Springs Christian School hunt i have participated in. it is normally held the second to last weekend of january, in order to catch the rut in bullock county. as with the Gordo hunt, things happened that were beyond control and this school had to make changes from the norm. apparently, another school hunt changed their dates to coincide with Conecuh Springs. some of the landowners provide their property for both hunts. in order to avoid conflict and a last hour rush to obtain new properties to hunt, it was decided by the board members to move the date up one weekend. all hunters were contacted in december and asked if it was okay. apparently everyone, or the majority, agreed.
thursday - arrived at the school at the stroke of noon for registration/meet and greet/lunch. waivers were signed and we were given our schedule and t-shirt. met with our guides/landowners and chatted for a bit. it's always nice to see these folks and catch up with everyone - you know like family that you only see once a year - but it's family that you like
.
**must add - boy has that chantilly parkway area grown. pike road area too. unreal what has been built in the year since we were there last. twelve years ago there wasn't much around but a gas station, now there are eleventy billion stores and res'rants, hotels too. best thing they have built is the veteran's clinic
. i guess it's nice for the rural residents to come to town for shopping and entertainment but i sure don't like to see growth keep extending toward the happy hunting grounds.**
hunters from jaw-ja
lunch was a hot bowl of dee-licious turnip green soup (gotta stay warm for the hunt
), corn muffins, sweet/unsweet tea and assorted pies and cakes for desserts
a room, or gymnasium in this case, sure gets quiet when folks begin eating. guides/landowners to left, k-jun hunters to right
flaw-re-da kill everything that crawls, walks or runs hunters (hey, it's what two of them said)
after lunch we made haste to our lodging. it's the same place, just out of town, where we've stayed for pert near the last four hunts. it's on a 4,000 acre plantation. i don't think it's part of their regular lodging but it'll work for our needs. it's clean and quiet and you're guaranteed to see deer on the drive to or from and on the plantation itself. it's nice to have the amenities of home while your away. a refridgerator and washer and dryer are
. we don't have to worry with an ice chest to keep milk and other drinks cold for baby girl. it's nice to have a stove and microvawe if you want some oatmeal or something hot for breakfast. the school offers continental breakfast for those hunters meeting their guides in the early morning hour before departing for their hunt. unless a new place is added, we know where we are hunting and therefore skip the continental breakfast and drive directly to where we are hunting or to our guide's home, where we then ride with him. works for us and allows us a little more shut-eye.
thursday evening hunt-
we were hunting off one of the main roads in bullock county. it's adjacent to a cattle farm (lots of these in the area). kinda nice to hear a moo-moo here and there ever onst in a while. i was hunting a shooting house at ground level. it is one i have hunted many times with great success. pete was 400 yards or so past me in a slightly elevated shooting house. i don't think we have ever switched stands. maybe next year.
my view had changed dramitically, as there had been a recent storm roll through bullock county. a huge tree had fallen across the opening of the green field. some limbs were cut but the viewing area wasn't completely clear. it was good enough for me though.
2:34 p.m. 74 degrees
with 8 mph wind out of the southwest. it was a bit warm but not too bad as the shooting house was practically encased in the surrounding trees and bushes (thank you!). i didn't take note of the time but i heard some noise behind the shooting house to the left. i slowly peaked out the window and saw a doe entering the road about ten yards from me
- she was close, wish i had the camera in hand but there was no way to reach for it with the proximity she was to me. she sauntered to the other side and stopped at a scrape; then she entered the woods to my forward left. i listened to her make her way through the undergrowth until all was quiet. about ten minutes later, i heard more noise originating from the same area the doe came earlier. this noise-maker was a spike
. he followed the doe's path and after about twenty minutes, they both entered the green field. (i have to say i was happy just to see deer moving about in the temperature and moon phase)
some time later (no watch and i didn't look at phone), waaay back in the green field, i could see a dark image exit the woodline. it didn't move much so i thought it must be a buck checking out the kids in the field
. binoculars showed a very dark colored doe
. she was very cautious and took a long time before committing to the openess of the green field. once she got closer to the doe that entered the field with the spike, i could clearly see the size difference between the two
. the first doe was a yearling - crossed her off the list. more time lapsed and another spike joined the scene. he was much bigger in body size and his antlers were twice the length of the first spike; if i wanted a spike, he would be the one. time was ticking and it was getting darker. i watched these deer for forty forevers and decided that i would take the dark colored mature doe.
before i could accomplish that, the young spike began making his way toward the fallen tree
. ruh-roh raggy! the larger spike had been very wary of the shooting house. it was not in it's normal place and he knew it. when the tree fell, someone moved the shooting house because the view was completely blocked. maybe they didn't have time to cut all of the tree and move it so they just lightly limbed it and moved the house. the big spike kept his eye on it as he grazed about. he followed the small spike up the field until the smaller one turned to the right and went behind a clump of grass and small trees. i couldn't see him but the larger spike would look his way and then my way and then he would eat. this went on for about five minutes until the big spike alerted to his right. i know for a solid five minutes he offered me the prettiest broadside shot ever seen. he didn't flinch. i figured big-boy was on his way and got my rifle from the corner and placed it in my lap. after i watched the deer for a bit more, i decided i best be ready for the big-boy to make a grand appearance. i gently put the barrel out the window and w-a-i--t-e-d. it didn't take long and that big spike spun a 180 and was out of there so fast he took the dust with him
. the little spike didn't stay either and he was out like a lightning bolt too. in a whirlwind reaction to the spikes speedy exit, the yearling and mature doe were fast on their feet and exited stage right in a blur. whoo-wee! must be a brute coming in and they don't want any part of him
.