Late Season Blues

By Samantha Andrews

 

This year, was the year that I would take one of the big bucks we had been seeing. I saved my vacation time in order to put more time in the stand. We put more food plots in and moved stands to new locations. We used cover scents and played the wind to our advantage. We passed on the small bucks in order to grow the herd and never educated the does. Sometimes, when you do everything right, everything is against you. 

Here in Minnesota, the archery season lasts from the middle of September to the last day of December. From the moment last season ended, I had been looking forward to getting back out and sitting in a stand. The private property that we hunt is a mixture of farm crops, woods, river bottom, and swamp. 

 

The season started off all wrong. Hot, humid and the mosquitoes had never been thicker. I think even the deer were looking for lounge chairs by the pool. Okay, that might have been where my mind had been wandering while I was sweating my camo off and a bit light headed from being a quart low on my own blood supply. I couldn’t wait for the temp to drop and a hard frost to happen. With my Thermacell packed and ready to go, I still went out. I saw plenty of small bucks and does with fawns in tow but wanted to see them grow. I grew frustrated as the weeks went by without as much as seeing more than forked horn. Time for a change up! Duck hunting opened and I’m able to not think about the tall ten I have been dreaming about. I was able to switch gears and still enjoy the outdoors while filling the freezer. After a couple weeks of successful of duck hunting, I was ready to get back to archery before rifle hunting began. 

Another little snag happened shortly before the rifle opened. My husband discovered that three of our ladder stands and two trail cameras had been stolen from the property. I was heartbroken and felt as though someone came into my home and stole from me. All that time I had spent in those stands and the deer that we saw on those cameras, it was gone. After a police report was filed, my husband and I hunted elsewhere and tried to hold our heads up high. During the time, residents that surrounded the acreage that we hunted tagged out on three of the bucks that we saw on the cameras. Another kick to the gut. Although it’s better seeing a neighbor take them rather than road kill, it still hurts. It was prime time and we had nothing to show for the hours spent out in the stand.

After a Thanksgiving trip to western Minnesota, we were re-energized and ready to get back out there. Tyler wanted to get out for a quick hunt when we got back home. On the night that I decided to stay home, I get the text from him saying, “BUCK DOWN”. Finally! He took a nice eight pointer and we have meat in the freezer. 

There is something about archery hunting that I just don’t understand. When I don’t see anything after a long sit in the stand, the walk back to the truck is frustrating. I consider selling my all my equipment to take up some other crazy hobby like underwater basket weaving. As I drive away from the property, I wonder where I should sit the next day. Even though it’s a good possibility that I might be eating tag soup this season, I can’t give up. When life doesn’t go your way, you look at life and say, it all works out in the end. It’s been a cold winter so far and ice fishing has started. It will be a great way to close out archery season.

Alicia Meyer Interview

Here at Huntress View we are all about encouraging women to take up hunting & shooting. We feel one way to do that is for women to learn about it from another woman's perspective. With that concept in mind, we will be featuring 1-2 huntresses per month on our blog as a way to reach out to and educate even more women on hunting and the outdoors. The women featured can be new to hunting or well known in the industry, providing feedback on hunting from all experience levels and many different perspectives. So ladies, whether you are new to hunting or have been doing it for years, these blog features are for you! 
                                                                                                        -Andrea Haas

Our first huntress being featured is Alicia Meyer from Minnesota! Check out the interview below to get to know her a little better.

HV: What state do you hunt?
AM:  I hunt the beautiful land of 10,000 lakes, Minnesota.


HV: What types of animals do you hunt? Which is your favorite?
AM: I hunt all types of game. From waterfowl, turtles, upland game birds, small game and big game like deer. Being that Minnesota has so much water on it, you can just about bet you can find ducks. I find ducks to be one of the harder hunts for me up here. Trying to push and shove through the cattails and bogs with 5 layers of clothing on, because it's maybe 30 degrees that mornin'. Then of course come the freezin' hands once you get to the decoys. But, I'm not complainin'. Duck hunting is unique and more of a challenge, which is why it is so rewarding. Central MN offers a lot of farm land, so I do enjoy hunting geese as well, especially in the corn fields because I am able to get so close. It really excites me when they fly right over and I can hear their wings. I don't do a lot of pheasant hunting, being that I don't have a dog. But my boyfriend's family is very into it and they live in western MN where the pheasants are more prevalent. I harvested a great turkey last spring with my Hoyt bow and put a perfect shot on him. I love the fall for deer hunting and breakin' out all the blaze orange. My dad got me interested in hunting at 11 years old, because of deer hunting. 

But my favorite animal to hunt...Goes to the Snappin' Turtle. I have been huntin' turtle for a couple years now. And needless to say, I am hooked. And I would love to show and teach women how to turtle hunt. It's so different and that is probably my most favorite thing about the sport, nobody else does it. A lot of people will come watch me catch turtles out in the swamp and it sure is a good ol' time to say the least. I use my turtle traps, so no turtles are harmed in any way. I would love to show women about this sport and how fun it is.

HV: How/when did you get started hunting and who was your biggest influence?

AM: I got into hunting when I was young. My dad would go out and bring back these gorgeous deer, it was amazing to me, to see them and touch them, as a little girl. I didn't turn away from the blood and guts at all. My dad put me into the Hunter Safety Class and I had so much fun. I remember that I did very well on my exam even. I still do some of the things that those old instructors taught me way back when. I kept asking and asking my dad to take me hunting through out the whole year and he got so tired of it I remember... But my birthday came in July and my dad bought me my very first own gun, a 243 Rifle, bolt action. I don't have anything from my dad anymore but that gun and I treat it like a baby and will always have it and think of him. 

My dad was my influence.

HV: Tell us about one of your most memorable hunts

AM: One of my most memorable hunts is of course with my dad... I was much younger then... My dad and I would wake up in the early mornin', he'd have his coffee and cereal and I'd just have my cereal. I would put all my blaze orange on. Hunting in a rifle zone, my dad always made sure I was orange head to toe and then some. He would walk to the stand with my, coffee in hand. And for some reason there was always a skunk smell around us, I've now been sprayed 4 times, but that's a different conversation... The sun was just comin' up yet still a bit dark. We could see a deer jumping over the corn field rows about 300 yards away. My dad asked my 3 times quick if I wanted to take the shot, as a good dad would. Being new, I said, "No, you do it dad"! I was very excited! 

My dad lines it up and shoots his 270. I see the deer do 2 full flips in the air before it hit the ground because he shot it while it was jumping. We could also tell it was a good size buck. I sit there with my dad so excited and anxious to go see it! We get on the ground from the awesome deer stand he built. We had a little ways to walk, but I ended up finding the blood trail and I was so dang proud of that. 

No matter what I did my dad always kept in front of me as we are walking through the corn. He told me probably 3 times to "stay back" but I was pumped and full of adrenalin. We find the deer and it had a huge clearing around it, there was no standing corn at all because he hit the ground hard. My dad tells me once again to "stay back", my eyes were huge, it was an 8 point buck. The biggest deer I've  ever seen at that point. My dad puts the flashlight on his face and I stand by the rear of the deer. My dad walks around him 3 whole times and keeping the light on his face. 

That 3rd time he walked around the buck. Before I could get out a word. I see the eye ball follow my dad, in a circle. If that ain't scary! About a second or two after, it's on his feet! Snortin' and stomping the ground with his head point right at me! The buck moved so incredibly quick, he was down then more alive then ever. 
It all happened so fast I remember I lost my breath because I was standing in front  of a very very angry big ol' 8 point buck. As he jumps to his feet just like that, he snorts and stomps, shakes his head and lowers it at me. This all again took a second or two. At that moment, everything seemed to be in slow motion. I don't know what it was, I know that this happened very quickly but as he was gearing up for me, I remember seeing all the muscle this deer had and how strong he was. I remember the sound he made when he jumped to his feet and stomped the ground. 

While I'm seeing the buck lower his head and shake it, I froze. I didn't have my gun with me... As the deer charges me, bang! My dad grabs his 44 Mag Smith n Wesson and drops him and he was about to charge me as I stood 10 feet maybe from the deer. Again, this was about 2 seconds. The deer drops right in front of me! I look at my dad and he is wide eyed and in shock. The first thing I do is run up to him and give him a hug. 

I drug that deer back home through the corn field...That is my most memorable hunt. It still don't do it justice.

HV: Do you have any hunting related goals for this year?

AM: My hunting goal this year is my usual. To have a blast and get close to nature. I would love to get a 50lbs or more Snappin turtle this year!

HV: -Do you have any advice for women who are new to hunting?

AM: My advice for new women hunters....

          -You won't always get "the big one" so keep your chin up. 

          -Practice makes perfect. Especially for archery. Keep your skills sharp and try new things. You'll be surprised at what you can pick up easier than others. (Another great reason to hunt diff. game)
          - Know the land you hunt on. Know the wildlife. Set trail cams! 

          - ALWAYS keep your side arm on you! 
          - Hunt with the people you love.