I am one lucky son-of-a-bitch!

The blurry photo I took with my phone after the fall from my deer stand.

It was a season of misses and near misses. But, looking back on the 2022 Fall hunting seasons, I am one lucky son-of-a-bitch. The grouse and woodcock seasons started in September. I was out with my Brittanies, Hera and Stella, right away. The weather was warm at the start of the season, and the woodcock covers were dry. Of course, I had to bring water for the girls. We hit our usual haunts, the farm near Spencerville and three patches of cover in the Marlborough Forest. Grouse were scarce, and a trickle of woodcock passed through during the migration. I racked up some spectacular misses on shots at wild flushing grouse and bumped woodcock. Stella is three years old and still working out finding and pointing birds. By the end of October, just ahead of the rifle season for deer, Stella was pointing and honouring Hera’s points.

Buck fever no more!

Posing with the eight-point buck I took in the 2020 rifle season.

I tagged out for the 2020 rifle season in Wildlife Management Unit 66A on the second last day, bagging an eight-point buck. In all, I sat for five afternoons in two of the four deer stands my hunting buddies and I have on the property we hunt. Unseasonably warm weather kept me out of the stand for several days through the middle of the two week season. It is unusual to be walking outside in the second week of November in shirtsleeves. By the latter days of the rifle season, there were more seasonable temperatures. My enthusiasm for deer hunting waned as I heard reports from hunters around the Ottawa Valley that the bucks were not moving, at least not during legal shooting hours. I saw three does one afternoon during the first week of the season. There are deer on the property, and I held hope that a buck might wander into view before the rifle season ended.

Every cloud has a silver lining

Sighting in my new Remington Model 700 left-hand bolt action rifle in .270 Winchester.

“Be careful what you wish for, lest it comes true,” goes the adage. In deer season last year, I saw my hunting buddy Jason bag a six-point buck with his 1974 vintage Marlin 336 in 35 Rem lever-action rifle. It was an exciting hunt, and I was so impressed with how Jason handled his Marlin rifle, I decided I wanted the same rifle for myself for the next deer season. Jason agreed to search for a Marlin rifle for me, and he came through. He found me a 1960 Marlin 336 lever action in 30:30 in short order. Not long after, Jason found the right scope for my Marlin rifle: a Bausch and Lomb Elite 3000. Jason installed the scope on the rifle for me; he has the skill and experience for such delicate work. With the new rifle and scope assembled, I looked forward to getting it out to the range to try it out.

My Marlin 336 lever action rifle in .30-30 rests on the bench at the rifle range.

James I

James with the woodcock he shot on his first woodcock hunt.

The 2019 upland game, small game and woodcock seasons opened in Eastern Ontario this morning. The weather was near perfect for the opening day of these seasons. The sky was clear, the winds were minimal, and the temperature was hovering at about 10 degrees C. I set out for the farm near Spencerville with my new hunting buddy James and Hera, my Brittany, shortly before 7:00 am. It is about an hour’s drive from my house in Centretown Ottawa to the farm. James and I arranged to meet Mike, another of my hunting buddies, at the farm for 8:00 am. Though James is not new to hunting–having hunted small game with his buddies in Cornwall in previous seasons–this would be his first woodcock hunt. It would be his first hunt over a bird dog also. We stopped at a Tim Hortons on the way–I have to have my morning cup of Joe–and arrived at the farm in good time. Mike came with his dog, Maggie, a German Shorthaired Pointer, not long after James and I got there. We started our hunt not long after 8:00 am, eager to see what fortune would bring.

No doe tag, no problem

Fran with the six point buck she shot on Remembrance Day 2017.

I took up whitetail deer hunting in earnest in 2011, and every following season I learn more about the sport and become more proficient as a deer hunter. I hunt with a “Gang of Four.” There are four of us in our cadre of deer hunters: myself, my friend and hunting buddy Omer and my friends and hunting buddies Jason and his wife, Fran. Jason is a seasoned deer hunter, and under his tutelage, I shot my first deer, a nice little doe, in the 2012 rifle season. One of the first things I learned from Jason is that you make certain to enter the antlerless deer draw every spring. Antlerless deer tags, or doe tags, are doled out by the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources by lottery every year. The advantage of having a doe tag is that you are licensed to harvest any deer you see while hunting. Having a doe tag increases the odds you will bag a deer, so I make sure I enter the draw every year. I was disappointed when I was unsuccessful this season, so much so, I considered not hunting. Jason firmly reminded me that one does not get a deer sitting at home and not having a doe tag does not mean you will not see a buck. I heeded his words, but in the back of my mind remained pessimistic. As fortune proved, Jason got to tell me “I told you so.”

No honour among thieves

Jay examines where my trail camera was stolen.

This morning I set out with my friend and hunting buddy Jason Quinn to the farm outside Spencerville where we hunt deer. Our original plan was to bring our dogs and take them into the field after grouse and woodcock, then set about moving one of the deer stands, make adjustments to another and put more corn out as bait. We changed our plan because rain was forecast and decided to call off the upland hunt. We left the dogs at home and made our way to the farm, leaving Ottawa at 8:00 AM. We arranged to meet with one of our hunting buddies, Omer, and his friend Ehtisham at the farm as it was Omer’s stand that needed adjustment. Jason and I arrived before them as they stopped en route to pick up additional sacks of corn. Jason and I set out on Jason’s ATV with its trailer in tow laden with sacks of corn and the tools Jason needed for stand maintenance and relocation. We stopped by the new location for the stand slated for relocation and set out one of the sacks of corn. Then we moved on to my stand and when we arrived we were in for an unpleasant shock.

Merry Christmas!

My Christmas present to myself: A Tikka T3 left-hand in .300 WSM and a Zeiss Terra 3 x 9 x 42 scope with Leupold rings and bases to mount the scope.

Saturday morning, December 17th, started out a little unusual. Mika’s flight to Regina, originally scheduled for the day before, was cancelled due to bad weather in Toronto. I was supposed to drop him off at the airport for 9:00 am Saturday morning, but this flight was delayed. The plan was for me to drop off Mika at the airport then pick up Jason and his dog Nos (Hera was already on board) for a morning dog run. Along with the dog run Jason and I were going to tend a few errands. Jason needed to go to the bank to deposit a rebate cheque he received from Browning. I needed to take my Browning X-bolt Medallion rifle to Gunco, the gunsmith we use, to have the broken cleaning rod removed from the barrel. I needed to get a replacement cleaning kit for the rifle also. As Christmas is a week away, I still needed to buy a few more gifts including one for Jason’s daughter, Rose. It was well after 10:00 am when I arrived at Jason’s house. We hit the bank on the way to Gunco. The cleaning rod was safely removed from my rifle barrel and as we browsed the array of second hand shotguns and rifles for sale I caught sight of a left-hand bolt action rifle. It was a Tikka T3 in .300 WSM with a synthetic stock. “Nice gun,” I thought and the price (between $800-$900) was reasonable.

Trial, error and a nine point buck in the bag

My first white-tailed buck, a nine point, taken on opening afternoon of the 2016 rifle season in Eastern Ontario.

I never fully appreciated big game hunting until I shot my first white-tailed buck yesterday afternoon on the opening day of the 2016 rifle season here in Eastern Ontario. I took up big game hunting in earnest in 2011 under the tutelage of my good friend and hunting buddy Jason Quinn. Jay is an accomplished big game hunter with a lifetime of experience in the pursuit of white-tailed deer, moose and black bear. Under his guidance I shot my first white-tailed deer, a doe, in the 2012 rifle season. While killing my first deer was a thrill in its own right, the hunt I experienced yesterday was the culmination of all that is good in hunting: notably the challenges, camaraderie , effort, joys, sorrows and sportsmanship associated with hunting. The buck, my first, was hunted down and killed in a fair chase. I felled it using my Browning X-Bolt Medallion bolt action rifle (left-hand) in 30-06 with a Winchester Super X 150 grain bullet. What this experience showed is I remain a novice deer hunter and with Jay as friend and mentor I am learning through trial and error.

Gun powder, treason and plot

Hera checks out a bait pile of corn left by a deer hunter at Lester’s Square.

It is November 5th, Guy Fawkes Night in England, and I spent a good part of the day out with Hera in the Marlborough Forest. I hoped we would turn up some woodcock, stragglers left from the Autumn migration. I left Ottawa with Hera on board shortly before 8:00 am. I stopped at a Tim Hortons to grab a coffee and chocolate glazed doughnut en route and arrived at Cowan’s Corner shortly after 9:00 am. It was sunny this morning and there was virtually no wind in the forest, which suits me fine. The ground is still nice and boggy and Hera was raring to go. From the get go, Hera found old scent left by birds that were long gone. I walked up a number of points only to find there was no bird. I wonder if this contributed to me watching in dismay as Hera bumped the first two birds she pointed before I could walk up her points. We turned up nine woodcock and two hares in the five hours we spent in the field. I shot at one of the hares, missing spectacularly, and three of the woodcock, also missing. Most of the woodcock flushed were found in the densest, most impenetrable cover and flushed unseen.

Hera unleashed

Hera at the end of a good day of upland hunting.

I woke up this morning later than planned, filled with enthusiasm for another day afield with Hera, my Brittany. These days I find my body lags behind my enthusiasm for getting up to go upland hunting. Usually, I am ready and on the road by 7:00 am hoping to start the the hunt by 8:00 am. This morning I woke up sometime after 8:00 am and undaunted, had breakfast, loaded my shotgun, hunting gear and Hera into the car and got underway. The objective for the hunt today was to check on the deer stands on the farm near Spencerville where some of my hunting buddies and I hunt whitetail-tailed deer in the rifle season. This year rifle season opens November 7th and runs two weeks. I grabbed a coffee at a Tim Hortons on the way to the farm and arrived shortly after 9:00 am. I noticed on the drive to the farm that the recent rainfall was sufficient to fill the swamps that were dried out when I first hunted the farm at the end of September. “Good,” I thought, “hopefully, the wetlands on and adjacent to the farm are holding water again.” Hera was raring to go when we got to the farm and off we went.