1998
i hunt in jackson county michigan, which is situated in southern lower michigan. our archery deer season begins on october first. our firearm deer season begins on november fifteenth. our muzzleloading deer season begins on december eleventh.we are allowed to take two bucks, one of which must have at least four antler points on one side. in the deer management unit that larry and i hunt this year there is no limit on the antlerless deer harvest.
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october i,1998, thursday
i got to my stand around 2:30 pm. i wasn't even settled yet and i heard a fawn bleating not far away. a few minutes later i saw a fawn crossing the swamp to my left rear. around 3:50 pm a small button buck entered my veiw from the left rear about 30 yards away and walked off to about 40 yards and layed down. about 4:30 pm He got up and started my way he walked straight toward me not giving me a target, to about 5 yards from my tree stand. finally he turned and started to walk behind me giving me a perfect target. i took aim and let loose my arrow to a fatal shot. the deer darted away to the left rear and disappered about where he had entered and i waited a few minutes to hear if he had fallen. not hearing anything for about half an hour i climbed down and started searching for my arrow which had run clean through. looking at the arrow showed that i had not made a perfect shot but fatal none the less.i started to follow the trail. i got about 50 yards and heard the animal jump up and run, so i waited awhile longer. while i was waiting i was approched by two more small deer which i watched for a few minutes and then they spotted me and turned away so i continued my quest across a small stream and through some very thick cover until i came upon the fallen deer. he was much smaller than i thought but would be good eating. i thanked god for this gift and went about field dressing. while i was busy i was approached by two more deer who passed by without noticing me. it was a long hawl back to my stand and up the hill to where i would bring the truck to pick up my prize. i saw two more deer on my walk to the truck.
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october 2, 1998, friday
i didn't go hunting in the morning.
i got to my stand about 5:00 pm . no shots today. i saw one deer unknown age and sex dissapear behind some cover to my left around 100 yards. i saw a deer , probably a fawn about 75 yards in the swamp to my left rear. got down when it was dark in the woods but a little lite in the open field. i saw a deer in the field about 100 yards away. i think it was a buck not sure. could not get a shot. i heard the sound of deer running toward me to my right in the soybean field, a strange sound running through dry beans.
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saturday, october 3, 1998
it was a drizzly day. i didn't see any deer today. i got to my stand before lite and left around 9:00 am.
i didn't hunt in the afternoon.
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sunday, october 4, 1998
it was an east wind.
i didn't go out in the morning. i got to my stand about 1:00 pm. i know thats not a traditional time but it's the best i could do for today. it was a pleasant afternoon. i saw some squirrels and a little bird that i have to look up in my book. i didn't see any deer at my stand but while walking to the truck at about 3:30 pm i saw a deer in the swamp dart away, then down the lane to my left in the swamp i saw a deer standing looking at me. i stood looking at this deer for a minute. it was a doe. i was thinking of maybe getting a shot at it but she walked, quietly dissapearing from my sight.
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monday, october 5, 1998
it was a strong south-east wind.
i didn't go hunting in the morning. i got to my stand about 4:30 pm. i didn't see any deer today.
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tuesday, october 6, 1998
it was a strong south-east wind
i got to my stand around 9:00 am. i didn't see any deer . i left my stand about 11:30 am. on my way through the lane i saw a deer jump and run off in the swamp to my left about at the pit. then when i got up into the pasture, i saw a cow with a brand new calf.
i didn't go out in the afternoon. it was windy and rainy.
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wednesday, october 7, 1998
it was a light south-west wind, rainy.
i got to my stand around 3:15 pm. it rained till about quarter to six. i didn't see any deer. i saw a goshawk fly by me twice. stayed till dark, about 7:30. as i walked out i saw four deer on the hill, probably does and fawns, it was to dark to tell. i watched them for a few minutes then they spotted me and high-tailed it out of there.
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thursday, october 8, 1998
it was a north wind about 10 or 15 mph.
i got to my stand about 5 pm stayed till dark. i heard some deer in the swamp directly behind me. but i think they smelled me for they were straight downwind, my stand faces north. i saw four deer in the picked soybean field to my right as i walked across the hill , it was to dark to tell but probably does & fawns.
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friday, october 9, 1998
i didn't go hunting today. i have a bad cold.
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saturday, october 10, 1998
it was a light north wind
i got to my stand around 4 pm. stayed till dark. i saw 2 or 3 deer out on the hill in front of my stand, about sun-down, one of them looked like a buck but i'm not sure. they didn't come down to me.
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sunday, october 11, 1998
it was a light and variable wind
i got to my stand about 5 pm. stayed till dark. i saw a night hawk. it flew around my tree and landed on a near-by branch. a small doe came in just before dark. it was just as small as the deer i shot last thursday. i decided to let her go. i don't think i'll do that again. i saw three deer in the picked bean field to my right on my way out. it was to dark to tell probably the same does & fawns i've been seeing.
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Monday, october 12, 1998
it was a light and variable wind, sunny
i got to my stand at 7:20 am. it was just getting light out. i stayed till 10:10 am. i didn't see any deer.
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tuesday, october 13, 1998
it was a very cold and strong n-w wind, overcast
i went out early afternoon, about 2:30. i scouted out a spot i'd looked at last year and i moved one of our tree-stands to this spot. it's a little oak on a dry spot out in the marsh. i think it will be a good stand especially for gun season. this is the first year that we have been able to legally hunt deer from an elevated platform. i think it will make a big difference in the harvest. i finished that and got to my stand at 5:25 and stayed till dark. no deer. i got really cold though because the wind did not die down even at dark.
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wed., october 14, 1998
it was a n-w wind about 9 mph. it calmed about sunset,overcast
i went out about 3:30 pm and went to trim some branches from my new stand. i finished that and got to my stand about 5:45 pm and stayed till dark. i didn't see any deer. i saw one run across the hill when i was leaving.
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thursday, october 15, 1998
it was a calm wind, sunny
i got to my stand at 5:00 pm and stayed till dark. i didn't see any deer. i saw that goshawk again. i thought he was going to land on me for a second. i almost jumped out of my stand.
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friday, october 16, 1998
i didn't hunt today.
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saturday, october 17, 1998
it was a south wind, not strong, hot about 70, overcast
i got to my stand at 7:10 am stayed till 9:30. i didn't see any deer. larry saw about 8 to 10 deer from his stand, all does and fawns. he didn't get a shot.
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i got to my stand about 5:50 pm stayed till dark. i didn't see any deer.
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sunday, october 18, 1998
it's hot, windy and rainy
i'm not going hunting today.
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i didn't go hunting monday and tuesday
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wednesday, oct. 21, 1998
wind -n-w about 10 - 15 mph, overcast, temp. about 50 i think
i got to my stand at about 5 pm. i went to my new stand in the swamp. about 6:30 to 6:45 i saw an 8 pointer . he didn't give me a shot . i saw one more deer at dark when i stepped into the field, i couldn't see if it was a buck or not.
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thursday, oct.22, 1998
wind w-n-w about 10mph gusty, clear, temp. 50
went to my stand in the swamp again. i got there at 5:10 pm stayed till dark. didn't see any deer till i stepped into the field at dark . i saw four deer run across the hill . probably that same bunch i always see out there. larry missed a six pointer at his stand in the s -w corner of big hill .
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Friday, oct. 23, 1998
s-w wind strong and gusty calming near dark, clear, temp around 50
i got to my stand about 5:45 stayed till dark. didn't see any deer.
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sat., oct. 24, 1998
s-w wind about 9mph, clear, 62 degree's
i got to my stand about 6pm stayed till dark. didn't see any deer.
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sunday, oct.25, 1998
s-w wind light, clear, 50 somthing degree's
i got to my stand at 6:30am . about 7:10 i saw two deer coming down the hill off to my left. i watched them for awhile, two fawns, a buck and a doe. then i saw another one coming from my left behind me, another buck fawn. soon they started to walk behind my stand giving me a clear shot, so i took aim on the first one that gave me a target. it was the last little buck that showed up. i let loose my arrow and watched it hit the exact spot that i picked and disappear through the deer. a good shot. i watched him run about 40 yds. and pile up. he stayed right there. i looked around. the other two deer were still there, so i knocked another arrow and waited for a shot. it was about 7:20am. i watched them till about 8:00am when they finally wandered out of sight. then i came down and got my arrow and went and field dressed my kill . i didn"t see any more deer .
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monday, oct.26, 1998
i didn't hunt today.
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tues., oct.27, 1998
wind s-w light, temp 63, overcast
i got to my stand at the back of the hill at 3:00pm. about twenty minutes to four a small doe approached from the s-w. she wandered around until she got into a position where i could get a shot. i took aim at the quartering away deer and let loose my arrow to what i thought looked like a good lung shot. the deer darted away to the s-w into the swamp. i could see that the arrow didn't go through but stopped . i thought it might have hit the opposite shoulder. i saw that it was retracting out of the deer as it ran out of sight. i did not recover my arrow. i waited about 15 minutes before coming down and taking up the trail . i was sure the deer did not go far . i found good bright red blood with bubbles and plenty of it. about 200yds. later i had not found the animal and the blood had stopped. i searched till dark , about two hours and turned up nothing. i called it off till mourning.
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wed., oct.28, 1998
it was a light s-w wind, overcast, about 45dg.
i got to my stand at about 6:30am. i stayed till eight o'clock.i didn't see any deer. i got down and started tracking that doe again.two and a half hours and i scoured the whole area .i found one more smudge of blood on a small tree but i never found the deer . it's a sad day.
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thurs., oct.29
wind e-s-e light, partly cloudy,temp.?
i got to my stand at about 3:00pm stayed till dark. i didn,t see any deer . larry hit a big big doe with his car .
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friday, oct. 30, 1998
wind east light to calm, temp. 50's, overcast
i got to my stand at about 3:00pm . i stayed till dark . no deer .
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sat., oct. 31, 1998
i didn't go hunting today
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http:www.angelfire.com/mi/michigandeerhunters/
BONNIE'S HUNTING JOURNAL-NOVEMBER,1998
BONNIE'S HUNTING JOURNAL-DECEMBER,1998
e-mail: larrykelley@prodigy.net
December18,1998