Hunting with the Hedge 2021

[JB G]

Eric, I should not bitch. The guys I been hunting the high country with for thirty years killed 6-8 elk this season. My good friend and Paratrooper I ran the world with toting a Kbar and M4 carbine killed out after the boyz all broke camp. He just called me from a mountain top in MT. He took a great bull in a hell hole few days ago. He been humping meat for three days by himself in grizz country. Wish I was there to hump meat and smell the sage brush! Miss eating inner loins on side of mountain on a green Mt alder stick.

Time to grind 50lbs of burger and fire up the smoker for some jerk meat. Make 20lbs of jerk meat and seal it for the high country for next fall. The burger will get eaten every week. No beef in the freezer at these prices. No way to buy beef steaks at $20/ribeye. Use to go to a tavern on Saturday afternoon and get a 1lb ribeye, baked potato with fixins, salad and a beer for $6 bucks. Cooked em on hickory charcol out back. Did not know hw good we had it.

HH~

[JB G]

03 Nov 21

Well, have to freeze this Mule Head bucks cape and get some of him ground into burger and sealed. Nice to take a mature buck and se those heavy shoulders. Just something about a mature whitetail.

Got caught up on my chores. Had to wire and post some property on farm I hunt where folks ran over wire gate and been dumping trash. Thats done and my warm weather potted plants are in house for the hard freezes comiing.


Looking forward to finding another mature whitetail, plenty abouts here. Have another Tenn tag, a Ft Campbell buck tag and a Ky buck tag. So, no hurry I will hunt into January and hope in the snow a bit.

Good Hunting
HH~

[JB G]

04 Nov 21

First nice frosty morning. Deer moved well last nite. Not so much this morning. Have to go do about 70lbs of burger today and that should keep me from having to deal with the USDA all next year. Was glad i did not see a good buck this morning or I would been armpit deep in meat. Will get back on em on Post this week my area is open all week!

Good Hunting

HH~

[JB G]

05 Nov 21

0600 28 degrees, NE wind 1-3

Lots of action early. Small buck chasing. Doe eating persimmons drops. Right at first shoot lifht a nice 5x4 came by. Nice buck. Came right to stand and then cut up ridge into brush nose to ground. Could hear him coming a long way off. Did not see him until he was at 20yds. He better stay in thick stuff tomorrow is opening ML!

HH~

[JB G]

06 Nov 21

30 degrees 0600 N wind 1-2

Got out up the road at farm. Wind was good for the stands in Osage thicket on creek again. Took two folks with me all got shots. My friend who is a very good bowhunter hit one in shoulder. He was not happy but we saw the small buck he spit the arrow and BH in three pieces. I thought he had his other bow with 645 grn arrows but he switched after killing a doe on Thursday and I never saw that in dark. My other friend had a 2o something yd shot and shot over which I was very surprised at. Was same deer that got hit in shoulder. Woulda been nice to clean that up right there but thats bow hunting.

I sat in the Black Chicken stand (long story) but i got in and it was slow for first hour then at 0800 a 3 pt came in walked around and ate clover at 15yds then slip down into a civil war sulpher pit thats over grow and all brushy. Thirty minutes late a huge buck came down the small bucks trail. He stopped behind tree and made a half attempt to scrape then head up, came along. Stood up when he was 40-50yds out. He got to 23 yds I tried to stop him, No Mas. Grabbed doe grunt and he stopped behind two big sycamore limbs and just looked over. Prolly anothe 30-50lbs heavier than the buck I shot other day. he was old I looked at him for 5 min hard. He had prolly 75" of horn on his right side and a huge main beam on left with every point cept one gone. He was an old warrior his face fur was droopy and his ears were full of white hair like on old man. Face was white. He has not rutting at all. Just poking along. I had one chance at a 20 yd shot but he turned away hard and went into sulpher pit brush. never knew i was there. When i grunt last time he bristled up, and postured. and walked off. Nice to and old warrior on that piece of ground. Was a great day afield.

Some hides from the Selfbow men.

HH~

[JB G]

07 Nov 21

35 degrees 0600. N 1-2mph


Went out this morning at farm. I let my friend hunt osage thicket stand. Was a slow morning. I did not see any deer. About 0830 my friend had a nice doe come in and by the stand. He made pretty good shot, tad high but she only went hundred yards. Good size doe and plenty fat. I guess she had already shagged her yearlings as she was alone moving inside thicket along wheat field. Good hunt, short blood trail.

HH~

[JB G]

Looks like a good deer Ed. That's a lethal shot, congrats. Should eat very well.

HH~

[JB G]

12 Nov 21

0600 38 degrees sw wind 5-10mph

Went down by river this morning up a small sycamore tree. Deer moved well early at and after first light saw 5-6 bucks and two doe. Last buck came to tem yds. Was a small 3x3 that had gone all around me several times farther out. Little later in morning I heard a noise near a large log and brush pile washed up by high water. Its was a red fox diggging out a mouse. He got em. Ate him up right below me. Pretty one too. Good morning but wind came up to 20mph and was over quick.

HH~

[BowEd]

Yep I'm sure he never knew what hit him.I know I would'nt of.
Cool little red.They kinda live on the edge here with all the coyotes after them.Pretty darn efficient mouse catchers watching them do their thing.It's their mainstay.Does'nt take them long to inhale those mice.
It's trying to be winter here with a 40 mph front moving through.A skiff of snow.That's ok.It'll settle down.Just makes the animals move more.Love this time of year.Ponds are'nt froze over yet.
Looks like some beautiful country your in there.

[JB G]

Yes
Im on a big creek and a bigger river juction. We have lotsa mink, otter, bobcat, coon out the wazoo and you name it. If southern fur was worth something I would trap again i got the time, got the place. When my father passed my step mom sold all my stretching boards, wires, traps. my ash baskets. chains, stakes all of it. Wish i had them back. Trapped lots as a kid and young man. Enjoyed it and learned more about hunting thru trapping than all my years in a stand. I remember doing beaver and coon until 0330 on a good night. A 10 dollar bill back then was easy money. Had a 12 ft canoe, I use to carry on my back.
Here's a good one Ed: I was in a big swamp, maybe 3 miles long full over beaver and rats. Had not been trapped in years. I had been doing well in there and it was starting to freeze up solid so I had to make some set changes. Main channel was still open so I carried the canoe in about a mile in. Went in did the work then pulled it up and went further in with my hip boots and 22lr and basket. I come back and my canoe is gone. I saw scuff marks going up the ridge as it was deer rifle season. I took 22lr and took off. Got up top and i see this guy about to go over top with a shotgun pulling my canoe. I may a big circle and got ahead of him and waited. He came up to an over grown small pasture when I was sitting in bramble and I stood up. I says " you see anything"? The gun black tape holding it together. He nearly jumped out his skin. He says "nope". I ease my 22lr stevens single shot trap rifle up and says "you like that canoe? it's easier to carry than to drag it"? He just looks at me drops the bow and starts walking away around the thicket. My father told me I was lucky he did not shoot me. Never saw him in there again. Guess he figgered he was bettter thief than hunter.

[BowEd]

It takes all kinds.What a sleeze.He should of felt some pain for that or at least walked away gimping.
I don't believe it's bragging when nothing but the truth is said first off and I'll try not to stand too long on my soapbox here.
In my 25 years of breeding/raising/training/and campaigning in the hunts winning nationally a few times against 1000's of dogs with my own strain of B & T's prior to making bows I learned more about the woods and the animals in it hunting 250 nights a year than most anything with hunting.It is a life style.Most exciting way to hunt in my experience there is to hunt yet.I could'nt wait for it to get dark.Hunted more in 10 years than most people hunt in 2 lifetimes in many different states hunting bear,bobcat,and lion too.Handled and sold a lot of dogs.Raised a couple litters a year.
Learned all my skills of grading fur/skinning and tanning in those years.I think I've skinned everything from a mouse to a buffalo in those years.Still have my wooden and wire frames/beam/tumbler/the tools and traps yet.
I've caught people trying to steal dogs off the tree a few times as I would leave my dogs tree sometimes for hours intentionally before I go get them.Always tried to hunt them in the toughest leanest coon populated area I could find usually along a river.They loved the work.It's where they wanted to be.It's there where I could get away from the stealing because it was too hard for them to get there.
Reason why I like the remote God's country enviornment.It's getting harder and harder to enjoy that any more.It's the reason I have a 1/2 mile long driveway too.My relatives live in this state too.
The question I always had for them was "what you doing here?"Never got a lagitimate straight answer ever.They got ear marked then who they were and where they lived.I made sure everyone in the clubs I was a member of knew about them.
I've had to go get my stolen dog tied off at someones' barn before too when I heard and seen them steal him in the woods but could'nt get to them on time.Did'nt walk to the house door to explain myself being there just untied my dog from the barn.Put him in the truck and drove off.Ready for anything that could happen.
In the woods at night way out in the sticks along the river a person takes care of things as he sees fit.Noone around to regulate the process.
Cooler heads are best used yet though.Just get the point across to never get in my path again.I could never get myself to trust them ever again.It's a sickness that does'nt go away.
I've had yaahoos in pairs at night think they were going to rob me before too out in the sticks.That never worked out for them either.Seems when you got a gun strapped to your back that sorta puts a damper on their enthusiasm.
I've got a ton of more stories hunting those dogs I could tell too.Mostly good though.Met quite a few fine people then too.
Primitive bow hunting is still fun though.It's more about putting your wits against theirs letting them make the mistake than letting the technical side cover the flaws and make hunting whitetails like sitting in your own den with an 8 year olds' ability.If a person wants excitement deer hunting it's the most thorough degree of excitement.Especially with equipment you craft yourself.

[JB G]

Modern Day Lilly, Ed. Read of his exploits with the big dogs. There’s places here here you dont go out without a sidearm bow hunting. To many two footed tic turds. Specially if you have to park your truck in view of road.
Kid i taught to bow and gun hunt had all his stuff stolen today of his lease west of here. He ended up sitting in brush and taking a nice buck off cut corn. Worked out for him but it cost him a bunch.


Had kid steal my climber a few years back. A year to fay later i saw a trk parked in my froends bean field in cedars. I was walking with rucksack getting ready for Mts in a few weeks. Had my .45 with me.
I says to myself “ I wonder”? So i slip down ridge and guy is in my tree with a bow! Pulled my shirt up over my hogleg. I says “ i hope for your sake your not on my climber, come down”. He was not in my stand and i tan his tail up the hill where my farmer buddy was waiting with his coyote rifle. Funny what you have to do sometimes in brush! I learned a bunch growing up hunting the Ontario border in Maine. Got lots of really crazy Maine-ac stories.


HH~

[BowEd]

Yep old Ben was a self made old school mountain man.Living his life more remote than me.His dogs were not distributed nation wide for competition though.He bred for his own suiting himself for the game he was after within the dogs he had.They were'nt a standard setting type of dog.Standards for abilities have been raised quite a bit since his days.I tried a so called trained bear dog from out west once.Slowest track dog I ever saw.Mediocre tree dog too.
A lot of my dogs went to bear and lion hunters from Calgary to New Mexico.Stayed in touch with these fellas a long time.They had the sand/grit/desire and speed to get the job done.Their all individuals just like people.
You meet a lot of characters in the country with these hunting sports.Some good some bad but mostly good.
It took a few years to educate these locals they can't run over at random my hunting area any time they please.Caught them poaching.Seen big dead bucks with heads cut off and the whole nine yards.I don't call the local game warden very often.They are busy this time of year.
A person does'nt realize how many infiltraters without permission are around until it snows.It's surprising how dedicated a thief can be.Priorities are mixed up there.

[JB G]

I hear you. Ben was a character. I like the story where his old buddy went back and dug the box he buried in the floor of the dug out. Had one of those big dogs bones in it and other momentos. We ran with a guy who had hounds in the day. Was fun but the land got so broken up we could not keep dogs out roads. Lost a few to cars.

Was funny watching guys in Army at night when i first came in. All the Nam Vets were good in woods and jungle. The the 70's enlistees were worthless. One time we were on the East German border, I was a PVT. These fools running this patrol in winter in a small snow storm got so freakin lost. I says to my team leader " you know we are making the third circle now almost on our own tracks. So, he takes me to the patrol leader. I tell him where we are on map. Way behind on our time hacks on check points. I ended up taking point that night as a Pvt with my TL. A week later my PL lost his patrol orders on border that were supposed to be handcuffed to him in a satchel case. He was gone next day. Russians did not play in them days. They had east German border locked up like a frogs butt. Our side was just demarcation poles. Ahh, yes. Oh that night we walked right up in to a bedded herd or Red stags cover in snow. They jumped up and boogied out. One snapped a rear hind leg. When I jumped them one fell in a hole and "snap" i could see leg flopping. I walked right almost on top of them. All that trekking in bush chasing coon hounds at night really help me keep my head over the years.

HH~

[BowEd]

Cool...You got the drop tine cleaned up.Another one bites the dust.I gotta hand it to you boys in Tennessee.You are some deer slayers.
Old Ben in his day was a legend.Treed more bear and lion than most anybody.His dogs' heritage went back to those big old blue gascon hounds.They were a french heritage.Big long eared big boned dogs tough as hell.He put a lot of miles on in those mountains.
An old man with a carbide light got me started coon hunting.Pulled 8 coon out of an old maple den the dog treed on with that fella once that wanted them all on a night with afoot and a half of snow and -5 below F.Half of them were 30# coon each worth $50.00/piece back in them days.Jumbo's.
Personally all the rough walking in these rivers and draws gave me 3 arthroscoptic surgeries along the way.Tore up cartilage.Watched dogs drown and saved them from drowning.Fall out trees and break their back.Climbed trees 30 foot up to get them out.Hit by trucks or cars.Dig em out of holes and junk piles/crawl in caves.Get into all kinds of predicaments.I never went home without them though.We was always partners.I usually hunted by myself most times too.
I never did go into the service but suppose I would of if I was called to.I graduated in 1972 and farming was on my mind.Always amazes me someone stepping out into the line of fire.Quite an act of devotion and courage.It's the ultimate meaning of giving honor to those that deserve it.I respect principaled people.
Been lost with yahoos in the woods too.First off I'm never ever lost.Just delayed.Too many chiefs and not enough indians syndrome put this one out of hand.Some character took me into a big national guard training camp area once.Said he knew it well.Old hammer trees 3 coon deep [1/2 mile].He was a dog that could count the coon in a tree.If there were three.You shot one.He'd go to treeing again.Till you shot every one.Then he'd go on.I usually don't do that sort of thing.I like to leave some seed.
He wanted me to turn him loose again from that spot.I knew better because next one treed will be really deep.All in all I found our way out of there,but 8 miles from the truck.I just followed water till it got to a big river with a road along it and figured it out.It's times like that when people see a light they think you might be up to no good 4 in the morning and you'll get a "hail mary" shot over ya.
Just another night in my book.I always carried a compass with me.Walk back out to the truck the way you came in otherwise from one drop.
Another group of fellas at a U.K.C. sanctioned competition nite hunt left me find my way out of a 4000 acre set of woods once too.They had their dogs caught up but mine don't quit.I found mine treed with a coon and headed back to where they said they would be,They were not there.Went into the wee hours in the morning then too.But hunting till daylight was'nt unusual.
It's not a life style for everybody and I would'nt change a thing having done it.