In response to last week’s On the Record with Carol: It’s hunting season! I received several replies and I am waiting for their stories. Joshua Quaintance, 12, told his hunting tales. Josh told us he was going to Minnesota for a hunt and true to form, he tagged another deer. This gives him 8 deer to date! Readers were asked to top Josh. To date, here are some good stories.
Retired Special Forces Sgt. Major Mark Bayliss, founder of Valor Clinic, wrote, “Doubt I can top Josh–but I have had my best year ever so far. I harvested a 150 class 10pt typical whitetail in Ohio with my bow. Two Auuadad and a Dall sheep with my rifle in Texas and a few hours ago shot a bear with my bow. I will track it in the morning and recover it. Bloody arrow had bubbles. He is dead. I just don’t want to find him before he has passed on. I still have a buck tag for PA and a tag in Michigan for a buck. I am filming an outdoor show from 5th through the 9th there. Guided hunt that will air on national TV next season. I expect to get a giant there.”
Dan Creighton, avid hunter, wrote, “The morning of November 11 was cold, low 20s, and very still in upper Bucks County on State Game Land 56. With the rut going on and temperatures lowest of the season, bucks should be cruising looking for does. Hunting a spot that I know holds several quality bucks, I was rattling antlers and using a grunt call hoping to call one in.
For the past two years I’ve hunted this large land harder than I had for the past 30 years. My last couple sits at this difficult remote area of SGL56 showed noticeably less deer movement. Hmm, ‘just bad timing ‘or ‘just the way hunting is’. Little did I know the deer were changing their movement patterns because of new predators in the area
After first light I heard a coyote vocalize, not your typical howl or yip. “That sounds like one crazy dog,” came over my radio from two friends hunting a couple 100 yards away. I replied, “Has to be a coyote and it is close from the sounds of it.” I have never seen a coyote here either in person or in trail camera photos, only ever heard them yipping in another area. In 100’s of trail camera photos from this past summer and fall no coyotes were captured.
Visibility was poor, I tried a few fawn bleats. Several still moments, nothing! I gave a few buck grunts. A pair of coyotes came over a ridge 50 yards out moving to my left. I video my own hunts, so I positioned my camera to catch their approach. Oh, they turned to follow a deer trail behind my stand. I quit worrying about filming and got my bow into position.
The 1st coyote, hitting my scent trail, went spinning and running in one motion never offering a shot. The 2nd coyote stopped broadside, looked in my direction, a terrific opportunity for a shot. Settling my sight pin tight behind the shoulder, I sent an arrow on its way. I heard the clear thump of a good hit! Wounded, the coyote turned and ran out of sight behind downed trees. My buddy John who was hunting nearby came over to help film the track job and recovery. The arrow was covered in good blood end to end, but the blood trail was just specks of blood on the leaves every few feet. Then John yelled, “there it is, right there”. He pointed it out just steps ahead of me. I looked at the coyote laying there as if it was a unicorn in the woods!
A memorable hunt! Shooting a coyote in Bucks County, was better than a trophy buck. I would have been less surprised to see a bear walk past! Few people ever see one in the wild, fewer still even know they exist in the area. Mounted full size it will take a place of honor next to my deer mounts and several fawns will be spared, thanks to one less canine predator in the area this spring.”
Eager to hear more. Submit your hunting stories to Carol at quaintancecarol@gmail.com.
