Iowa Deer Shotgun Season 2 2010

Iowa Shotgun Season 2,  December 11 - 19th, started off very breezy and by 9:00A.M. the blustery winds began to carry huge white flakes. Several inches of snow blanketed the ground in a couple of hours.

Another neighbor and a friend of his came to try their hand at taking a couple of deer here at Timber Life. They spent a couple hours in wait on the first day. As for myself I was busy rendering the buck given to me earlier in the week. While working away I heard a gun shot and soon a knock came at the door. They were looking for permission for the friend to bring his ATV to transport the young doe out of the timber back to his house. The weather was declining, no time to waste in retrieval..

I didn't try my hand seriously at hunting again until the last few days of the second season due to lack of storage. I got  this feeling that spurred me on ...What if I hadn't tried to fill those tags?

There were a few Spot & Stalks.On one of the mornings the deer came back and started to bed down within 400 yards of the house.The wind was favorable, but not all the deer were facing away from my direction of approach...

Saturday, December 18th, I bundled up and headed to stand in the vicinity where my Mentor had his two successes on the first two days of the first season. I stood for three hours in the silence of the waning light. The rays of sun playing in the snow crystals, twinkling and winking as I worked on my strategy for the morning of the last day.

I got up on Sunday morning , the last day of the season, filled with expectation and hope. Getting all my winter weather tolerating layers applied and topping it off with my hunter's orange I was out the backdoor. My focus was on the same general area bordering a fence line.

Standing the day before I envisioned taking my position inside a fallen tree to try a shot as the deer were coming back close by.

Maybe you can guess what happened?!?

Heading over to take my place, the deer went running out of the very place I had wanted to hide. They headed back north and then east over to my Mentor's property. I went to a spot that would allow a great shot if they came back over the fence. They tarried for quite some time before going on east inside my Mentor's timber. No more opportunities presented themselves to get back out.

So ended my experiences for Iowa Shotgun Seasons 1 & 2  2010. Time to start thinking about what will happen for preparation in 2011. .. ;)

Iowa Deer Shotgun Season 1 Days 3 - 5 in Reflection

I would  like to share my slant on Days 3-5 of  Iowa Deer Shotgun Season # 1, which were spent around the homestead.

The "Group Hunters" of which I had spoken previously, had gotten two extra bucks during the second flushing of our timber. The 14-point taken by my 16 year old neighbor and an 8-point. As good fortune would have it they offered Hubby and me a choice between the two to put in our freezer. Taking into consideration the storage space we had available I took the smaller 8-point which arrived after dark on day 3.

This happened to be the first opportunity for me to skin and butcher a deer on my own. Assisting my Mentor on one occasion several years back to render a doe he had shot provided me with some idea of what I should be doing. Oh and yes I utilized some tutorials on You Tube by Wilderness Outfitters...

The weather,although not snowy was hanging in the 20's for highs. My task began in the great outdoors on day 4 after attempting another spot and stalk. I was enticed to try once more by the swift exodus of deer bedding near my food plots. They happened to linger for a time on the north side of the fence. I headed out to the west to circle around...I should have continued with the first plan, but changed my mind mid-way heading through a gate, not knowing for sure whether there were still deer to my right as I entered the pasture. It soon became evident by the noise of trampling hooves and blowing I wasn't a welcomed guest.

Ahhh, another precocious buck! Maybe it was the same one as the other day?!? He got to a certain distance in front,turned sideways, looked back and then took off as I continued to move forward. I wasn't immediately deterred from trying to get another deer;heading for a thicket of trees in a fence corner often used for deer cover I concealed myself. A short-time passed and I watched a buck return to move back through the timber. The shot distance totally out of range.

After an hour I left the thicket to get started on my new experience. The air was still extremely nippy. However, I am starting to use some fleece clothing to layer under my coveralls since Hubby had some in the closet. I had picked up a thermal top lined with fleece to get the core layer started, when I stopped to visit our local farm store before the season got going.

Did all my layers help? They seemed to do quite nicely when I was in the windless sunshine of the afternoon.

Time to get back to rendering my buck. After being subjected to outside temps for at least 36 hours the animal had become an ice block. Skinning was most definitely a challenge since I didn't want to chop anything off that could go into freezer packaging instead.

It took me until late afternoon to get the hide off.The sun's rays were starting to get long, and I needed to get a move on so I could go see two of my grandchildren sing at their Winter Program.

Wrapping the deer in plastic I proceeded to pull it for a distance, got some plywood to make a smooth surface over the deck steps and inched it up. Making a turn at the top through the front door I pulled it, plastic and all into the extra bathroom - boosting it into the tub to defrost. I had to make concessions if I wanted to keep the deer and not take it to a professional locker.

I made it to the Program but could feel my physical labor that kept me hopping that day.

The next day, day 5, I started washing and putting the parts in the refrigerator to age before finally getting the venison back in the freezer to be enjoyed during the cold days of winter.

So went the days three - five of Shotgun season #1. ;)

That brings to a conclusion my reflections on season #1. I will have a few thoughts to share on season #2 soon. Over all I will tell you they were good seasons, even if I ended it still holding my two tags  still in hand.