Bows & Afro's -- There's No Place Like Home!

I love New England! For the last few years Northern New England is where we call home. When we moved up here I could not wait for bow season to start. I could not wait to get into these Big Woods and get on the deer. However, three seasons later I am still waiting for it to happen. There are many factors that have impacted my hunting, and to this day I have yet to taken a deer in NH or VT. The 2011 season was no different! Zero, still no deer for me in Northern New England.



In the early season I had plenty of photos of deer on my trail camera, so I knew deer were frequenting the areas where I hung my stands. Then, all of sudden they disappeared? Perhaps, it is the abundance of acorns that keeps them from traveling far from food these sources, I am not sure? What I do know is that I only saw about 6 more deer over the next 2.5 months.

The buck in the photo represents an interesting story. On Thursday, November 17th I flew down to Charleston, WV to pick a van I purchased. The plan was to drive back to New Hampshire in two days, pick up my wife and kids and drive to Cape Cod, and catch the ferry across to Nantucket to spend Thanksgiving week with my mother et al...and hunt really hard. While driving back to NH, I saw more deer between WV & NJ in two days, than I have seen in the last three years combined while hunting in NH & VT.



After arriving on Nantucket Sunday November 20th, I connected with my good friend Patrick Topham, and we looked at a few spots I wanted to hunt in the morning. We saw deer on their feet feeding--always a good sign. The next morning I got up early and headed to Polpis (an area on the Island) in a light rain. Under the cover of darkness I walked into the property slowly and sat on the ground nestled-up in some dense scrub oaks. At first light I began calling, trying to get a buck to respond to my simulated doe bleats. As I waited in silence anticipating a response...nothing! I thought, "here we go again, no deer!" I made a quick decision to change spots and make my way to a stand a couple hundred yards away.



Creeping across a field I saw these rubs and was stoked--tree rubs are caused by deer marking their territory, leaving their scent for does, and strengthening their necks for the ensuing battles. I knew a mature buck was working the area making these rubs, and my hope was that he received my text requesting his company.

I quietly made my way to the stand and slipped in without bumping any deer. I waited a few minutes for things to settle down, and began to bleat again. Almost immediately I see a deer creeping off the salt marsh walking directly towards me . This deer is completely oblivious to my presence. I remain motionless and let him walk in front of me. When he is 10 yards in front of me, I stop him with a grunt call. I am fixed on him the entire time, holding my bow at full draw. I release my arrow and watch the deer jump straight up and kick out his hind legs. I thought to myself, "did I miss?" The arrow was traveling so fast I could not see it. I watched the deer run off, and in about 3 seconds his front legs collapse, a clear sign that my arrow found its mark. The arrow was perfectly placed, resulting in a complete pass-through. The deer expired right in front of me. My wait for this year's deer was over!



This deer will provide halal, organic, pure, ethical meat for me, my family and any friends willing to share it with us, and for this gift I thank God.

I hope some day I can hunt the Midwest, and Kansas is pretty high on my list. However, for now, all I can say is....There's no place like home!