Pictures - sorry for the blood but there's some blood involved in deer hunting.

Sammy and Shaun with the four pointer Shaun and Mike drove to Sammy on the Wal-Mart Drive.














Below: Sammy & Shaun on an obviously chilly evening.

Below: Sammy explaining to Mike that he's killed three deer and probably renewing the offer for some long range shooting lessons.

Below: Shaun, Mom, and me in my kitchen after three long, hard days of hunting.















Below: Shaun down on the creek/swamp near where my climbing stand is with the big doe he shot Saturday afternoon. This picture doesn't do it justice, but believe me, this is a big doe. Shaun even agreed and he's used to seeing those big NY deer.














Below: Taylor(?), Sammy, Mike, Scott, and the back of Ben's head.

Finishing the season with a BANG!!!

All I can say is wow, did we have a great weekend of hunting (Thursday, Friday, and Saturday), here in Virginia. Shaun was down, as evidenced by his less than honest portrayal of our hunting experience these last few days of the season in his post. We make man drives and I would have to say I was in on making somewhere in the range of 70-75% of them so I definitely wasn't sitting on my ass. My only thing was that I've killed enough deer this year and I had a designated driver in Shaun so I could sit around and drink a few beers with Sammy and/or Mike while some of them still hunted on Friday and Saturday afternoon. Just to be perfectly clear on the drive front, we usually have two people driving and sometimes three. We were able to do that more these last few days because we had more people hunting. A high of 11 hunters at one point on Saturday.

Just to give you a synopsis - on Thursday we hunted in Blackstone making drives most of the day and we jumped a total of 25 deer that we saw. We made the Continental Can drive backwards (from Ft. Pickett back to Ridge Road) and jumped at least five deer we know of. There were only six of us hunting, Scott and I were making the drive and everyone on stand got to shoot (Scott even got to shoot in the cut-over where we jumped the deer). The only problem with that was that Jay got a running away shot at a doe and missed, Sammy got a shot at a doe he's pretty sure he hit with the shotgun but we were never able to find it, and Mike and Shaun both got shots at what they both described as a 'nice' buck (mountable according to Mike and he doesn't mount small ones). They hit that deer because they found blood but, again, we weren't able to find the deer. Another drive of note was the Parham drive where Mike and Jay ran a group of 8 does by me and I got one of them but should have had at least two, maybe three. They jumped two more deer on that drive but no one else shot. All in all, 15 shots were fired and we ended up with what we thought was just the one doe for the day.

Late that afternoon most of us sat in a stand somewhere for the afternoon hunt. Sammy and Jay (the landowner (and good friend - Mike and Jay basically grew up with Sammy and I've been hunting with these guys for about 20 years) and Mike's brother) went to the squeaker stand and watched down the light line into Ft. Pickett. That's a good place and you usually see a deer or two because you can see so far. The thing is that they're usually so far away the shot is nearly impossible. Shaun sat on my climbing stand overlooking the swamp on the house side of the land and I sat in a stand where I could see Sammy's truck where he and Jay were. Shaun got a shot at a doe but missed. Sammy shot twice at a doe across the creek into Ft. Pickett. We estimate the distance at around 600 yards. He shot and neither he nor Jay could tell if he hit the deer but there were still two deer in the light line so he shot again. They didn't see what happened to the deer so they just decided to leave it alone, rather than cross the creek and go looking in the dark for a deer that he might or might not have hit. We probably should have known better since Sammy is often saying he's "One shot Sam," or singing "Sammy Gee was a man, yes a big man….." or recent sayings like "If it's brown, it's going down," and "If it's brown, it's on the ground." Those are all in good fun and just joking but I'd have to say Sammy pulled off a shot something akin to Dan'l Boone killing a bear with just his bare hands and a knife. I took Shaun back to the Squeaker Stand the next afternoon to sit (because you can drive to the stand) and he looked across and saw what he thought was a deer laying in the light line about 600 yards away. A look through his 14X scope confirmed it so Shaun went and crossed the creek and dragged the deer back to the stand. By then Mike and Sammy had arrived and I told them what we had discovered and the legend of the 1/3 of a mile shot started to emerge. It's a story that will no doubt be passed down for generations and will probably be embellished some but I'm here to tell anyone reading this that I was there that day and it really did happen just the way I've described. It was cold Thursday night (20's) and chilly and rainy all day Friday (30's) so the deer meat was fine. A neighbor and friend of Sammy, Chuck Parrish, suggested that Sammy might want to approach some of the ammunition companies and make a proposal to them for the long range shots he's becoming known for. That would be to make the bullets with a certain percentage of salt content so the meat would be preserved until you could make it to the remote location where the animal was when you brought it down. I think that's a pretty good idea myself.

So, it was actually two deer for Thursday. Friday we made drives in Dundas and while I'm sure we must have gotten a few deer up, I know no one shot any deer that day.

That left Saturday and we were back in Blackstone. Just to hit the highlights, Shaun got a doe on the Parham drive that Mike and I were making. The deer got up in front of Mike and ran right to where Shaun was and he got it. Then on the Locust Grove Drive (again, being made backwards), Aaron shot a three pointer but it didn't die right away so he and a couple of the other young guys went back later and found the deer, finished it off and dragged it on out. We also made the Wal-Mart Drive (so named because it starts behind the Wal-Mart in Blackstone). Mike and Shaun made that drive and they drove a nice little four pointer to Sammy which he dispatched with one load of buckshot. Shaun probably drove the deer to Sammy but on a drive like that it's hard to say exactly where the deer came from unless you see or hear it get up and I don't think that was the case with this deer. It's just that Shaun finished up the drive right near where Sammy was. Sammy was saying later on that he didn't like taking those close-in shots but when you're making drives it only seems right to shoot what comes by you when the drivers are putting in the effort. This was, after all, the day after we confirmed his 600 yard kill shot with a 30-06, 150 grain bullet.

Still hunting for the afternoon on Saturday didn't include me or Sammy, we had a few beers at the trucks. We heard Shaun shoot and we had Shaun's radio so we eventually learned that he had shot a great big doe (for down here) - again while hunting from my climbing stand. I carried my safety strap down to him to make the drag a little easier and carried his pack and gun back for him. Then we heard Mike shooting down below the Locust Grove and it turned out he had five does walk out on him and he was able to kill two of them so it was a six deer day for our group.

After cleaning all the deer, Shaun and I went over to Sammy's in Dundas where a bunch of guys were cooking deer meat, shrimp and potatoes. We ate, I had a few beers, and we headed for home. I should mention that Mom came down with Shaun and while we were hunting, she was cleaning my house (thanks very much Mom, I love you!). Shaun, Mom and I got up for breakfast Sunday and went to the Cracker Barrel. After a nice breakfast, they headed for NY and I went home to get some much needed rest. I've got two big coolers pretty full of deer meat that I'm planning on starting on tonight.

I have pictures I'll post soon - as I said though, it was a great weekend of hunting. A total of eight deer for our little group in three days and it could have quite a few more. Lots of action and excitement and that's why we're hunting after all.

PITIFUL

Hey this is Shaun. Steve wimped out real bad on the deer hunting front today! He sat around drinking beer while I had to go get all the deer for him. Right now he is saying how glad he is that hunting season is over as he has a date with the couch...pitiful!! I can see that I need to come down here more often and kick his ass into shape dragging my deer out for me. I can lure him with a bottle of beer on a stick while he drags out my deer and then foremanize him while he cuts it up and makes jerky out of it too.

Ohio Hunting Trip

A friend and co-worker of mine, Darrel Coley, went hunting this past weekend in Ohio. His son Matt lives up there somewhere near Cleveland. Both pictures are of the three deer they got on Sunday, and the two guys in the second picture are Darrel and his son, Matt. Matt shot the doe around 7:30 in the morning and then around noon, Darrel had a group of five deer come in his general area. He said he only saw three but his son was just down from him and got to watch the show and he said there were five. Darrel shot one of the eight pointers with a shotgun (slug). I mention slugs because we don't use them here in Virginia - buckshot only for the most part. I guess some people do in the few counties that you can only use shotguns but none of our group do. The doe weighed 130 pounds and the bucks were around 180 each. The inside spreads on the bucks were 20" and 15". Quite the harvest for a two day hunt in Ohio. Congratulations Darrel and Matt!

Merry Christmas!

Almost Christmas and I realized I haven't posted anything in some time. Hunting season has slowed down considerably but I don't think that's a big surprise. It usually does for us during the month of December but almost always picks up a little bit toward the end of the month and toward the end of the season (January 3rd this year). We've been hunting every weekend and making man drives like we always do but it's just been slow. I think our group has killed two deer on drives this year and that's kind of pititful but what are you going to do. I haven't seen a deer to shoot at since my last post.

Today Mike and I were the only two hunting because Sammy's mother passed away Thursday and her funeral is tomorrow so none of the Gee group were hunting. I didn't know Sammy's mom very well, only met her once or twice in my life but I'm sad for Sammy and his kids because they lost their mother and grandmother. I consider Sammy a good friend and he's a great person so I'm sorry about their loss. His mother has been ill for some time and has been in a nursing home but still, it's never easy to lose someone. I'm reminded of Uncle John, who's also in a nursisng home and can't communicate much; a condition which I'm sure is devastating to him if he knows what's going on because he was always such an active person throughout his life; hunting, fishing, doing a garden, messing around with fire wood, the list goes on and on. It's heartbreaking. Mike is going to be a pall bearer for the funeral tomorrow.

The hunting today wasn't very good with only two of us but we did make three drives with zero results. We didn't still hunt this morning but did this afternoon. Mike sat on the squeaker stand and saw one deer across the creek on Ft. Pickett a little after 4 PM. That's a long ways and not worth the shot mostly but I think he said he didn't see it until it was all the way across the light line and probably couldn't have shot if he wanted to.

I went to my climbing stand behind the mailbox drive and was up the tree ready to shoot at 2:50. About 4:40 or so two gray foxes came into the picture scooting about here and there. The one stopped behind some brush/trees but I had him in the scope so I took the shot. I know for certain I hit him because he was thrashing around on the ground and "screaming" for lack of a better word. I watched him do that for a good two minutes and I thought I saw the other fox come back into my view from where he had run after I shot. To shorten this story, I climbed down the tree and went over there but there was no fox to be found - pretty sure he's on Santa's death list since he was hit by a 30-06 bullet. After that I figured I might as well walk back to the tobacco barn (I have a picture of the tobacco barn that I'll post here) and wait for Mike. Just before I got to the stargazer stand on my way, two deer started hopping down the light line. They ran across the creek toward the original fort stand and stopped and I could have made a free hand shot at about 100 yards but I kept walking toward the stargazer stand so I'd have a rest and by the time I got there they had hopped into the bushes.

That's all there is to post for now. I did talk to Shaun today, he's coming down (as well as Mom) for New Year's to hunt Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Hopefully we'll have some luck.

Yayyyy Pearson!!!

Here's the Thanksgiving weekend hunting post. I'll try to be brief because I recognize many wouldn't care but then again, I'm doing this mostly for me and a few close family and friends and this is what matters to me this time of year so I will go into a little detail. I already posted that Mike got a small buck on Wednesday (he's marinating in the refrigerator right now). A few of them (Mike, Pearson, Sammy, Ben, and Scott I think) hunted Thanksgiving morning and I believe Scott got a shot or two at a deer on a drive but missed. I wasn't there so I couldn't swear to that. I had Thanksgiving dinner with Rick and Debbie Court and their son Sean. A good time was had by all and it was a veritable feast so I'm very thankful that they invited me to join them for the holiday.

Friday was another day where we made drives and it was Mike, Sammy, Ben, Scott, and me. Nothing too much to report, no deer were taken but we did jump a few and Mike and Ben both got a shot at a buck on the Bledsoe drive that Sammy and I made. The deer was flying out of the block of bushes we were driving and Mike and Ben were at the other end but only had a split second to get a shot off so it's understandable that they missed. I think Scott might have gotten a shot Friday too but I don't remember the details so I can't report on it. We didn't still hunt in the morning but did in the afternoon and didn't see anything.

Saturday was the big day - same crowd except Pearson (Mike's son) was hunting with us and also another couple of young guys that are friends of Ben (Sammy's son); Aaron and James hunted for a little while. We hunted in Dundas during the day making drives and Mike drove a buck out from the right side bottom below the Oak Grove. Scott got a shot as the deer was running across the field but missed. The other drive of note (although Mike and Sammy made the Silo drive, which is a bear (as in a very difficult drive) but nothing came out) was the twin bottom drive from the School House to the Walnut Tree/Ant Stand (I realize that Shaun is the only person reading this who will have a clue what I'm talking about but hey, this is my blog so I'll include these little details). I jumped a doe and wasn't quick enough to get a shot but luckily it ran toward where Aaron was, even though it started out running right back where I had just come from. Anyway, Aaron shot three times and the deer had made its way over to him and he got it. Saturday was a legal doe day so that a good thing.

Another couple of Sammy's friends (Brian and Mike) were there but weren't hunting. They've built a shelter down by Sammy's pond in Dundas and it's a great place to clean deer and just hang out. They were cooking kabobs with deer meat, onions, summer squash, green peppers and man-oh-man was that some delicious stuff. Those guys really do know how to cook deer meat I have to say. That was a lunch time feast for all of us.

For the afternoon hunt, Mike, Pearson and I went back to Blackstone. I went down to the Continental Can cut-over where I had my climbing stand and pulled it out to the squeaker stand where Mike took it in his truck and carried it out. I had to get it out of there because they're getting ready to cut the timber very soon. I still hunted in the squeaker stand for the afternoon and saw nothing. I heard a shot around 4:50 and figured it was Pearson because that was where it sounded like it came from (they were in the original fort stand). As I was walking out at dark Sammy called and said Pearson had killed a seven pointer with a 15-1/4" inside spread. I met Mike and Pearson and took a couple of pictures and we went back to Dundas to clean the deer. I just bought a digital camera so I'll post a couple of the pistures here. It was a great day, everyone involved was happy for Pearson, especially his dad. Pearson is 13 and this was the fifth deer of his life and at least the second buck; he also got a seven pointer last year from the same stand. He made quite a shot on this one as the deer was up at the stargazer stand facing him when he shot (I believe that's every bit of 175 yards) and he hit it perfectly right in the center of the chest. Congratulations Pearson!!!

I realized I forgot to mention that Shaun shot himself a nice 11 point buck Thanksgiving morning while making a drive with Johnny and Tom just up the road from where they all live above Lampman Road. I got a couple of pictures from Mom on the cell phone and it looks like a nice buck. Shaun told me it had a number of stickers too but was 11 points at least an inch long and I think I remember him saying it was 16-1/8" inside spread with a 19" outside spread. He's getting it mounted and I'm happy for you Shaun.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Just wanted to wish everyone who might be reading my blog a Happy Thanksgiving (I recognze I probably have a limited audience but for those of you who are reading this, all the more meaningful, eh?) Nothing to report on my personal front today but I'm happy to report that Mike Justis went hunting in Blackstone this afternoon and killed a small buck. He also shot his rifle a fair number of times to sight it in because it was off for some reason. Go figure, it was on last year but something caused it to be off. I'm glad he got it fixed. He killed a small buck and as far as I know is going to give me the meat to make jerky out of it. I have to say I've become quite the deer jerky manufacturer. It's quite a bit easier than I thought it would ever be. It's late and I'm joining a friend and his wife for Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow and have plans to hunt with Mike, Sammy, Ben, Sam Jr., and whoever else is there Friday and Saturday so hopefully we'll be getting a few more deer and I can keep the jerky operation operating at full blast. Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Steve