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Hunt went from wet to wild

Sunday November 01, 2009 | 01:00 AM

Don Jacobs

“Wet to Wild” are the only words to describe my most recent days in the field hunting deer. Let’s start with the wet. Last Saturday, October 24, was the last day of a week-long muzzleloader hunt. A muzzleloader is any gun that is loaded by putting the powder and slug down the barrel. It is not as easy as loading a conventional firearm; however it’s not that hard once you learn the proper formula for you gun. I prefer two Pyrodex pellets (gunpowder) and a 290 grain sabot (bullet slug). The actual ignition of the powder occurs when the trigger is pulled and a small firing cap is exploded. These guns are very accurate and effective for harvesting deer.

The weather forecast for Saturday called for heavy rains after 10 a.m. I occasionally get the chance to hunt for myself without cameras and this Saturday was the day. We were determined to hunt, rain or shine. My hunting buddy, Brian Hollingshead, and I decided to spend the day hunting on the ground walking instead of a treestand. This was probably a good idea considering Tom Clark was calling for 20 mile an hour plus winds. We call a hunt like this mooching. Our mooch started out perfectly because the overnight rains made for a quiet stroll through the woods.

The idea behind a hunt like this is to play the wind. Deer have a great sense of smell and it’s important to keep the wind in your face and not blowing past you into un-hunted territory. We traveled through the woods by walking as slowly and quietly as possible. The mooch was perfect except for the lack deer. Brian and I stayed in touch by whistling to each other and all was well until Tom Clark’s prediction came true. The skies darkened and the wind started howling right around 10:15am. I had the sneaking suspicion that our hunt was close to being over. I remembered to cover the end of the barrel with a cut off finger of a rubber glove. This helps to keep the rain from running down the barrel and moistening the powder. Water and black powder don’t mix well at all.

The skies opened up. The rain was actually bouncing off the brim of my hat and making such noise that it was impossible to hear the whistling calls from my partner. The wind started blowing and tree limbs started crashing to the ground all around us. Luckily, it was a warm rain making the trek back to the car much less painful than it could have been with a cold storm.

Since this was the last day of the muzzleloader season, we needed to unload our rifles by shooting them. As it turns out my scope on the rifle was so hard to see through that I’m lucky a deer didn’t show up. I would have surely missed. It took several hours for my gun to completely dry off before cleaning it for storage. This single day in the field was perhaps the wettest one I have ever hunted in.

It is now time for the wild part of this story. Archery hunters patiently wait for this time of year. We call it the rut, meaning the mating season for whitetail deer. This is when the bucks (male deer) are running through the woods looking for a mate. They are typically easy to call in during this time of year. I experienced a wild evening this week as the rut is starting to get into full swing.

I was in a treestand watching a spike buck with one antler feed on a pile of acorns. It wasn’t interested in anything but filling its belly. I started grunting using my deer call and it quickly became interested in the noise. I watched as it turned and started walking towards me. It soon lost interest in the call and started feeding again. I broke out my rattle box. This call is designed to sound like two sets of antlers smashing together as if two deer were fighting over an interested doe. Once again the spike buck lifted its head and started walking towards me.

I began to notice the spike buck was actually looking past me and out towards the field. I slowly turned to find an eight point buck responding to all of my calls. It was acting like the king of the hill. It stomped its feet, ripped a tree apart with its antlers and stood proud as the spike buck ran off. It was as wild as it gets. It was truly a show of strength and ownership. This big buck made his point and the younger deer listened. The eight pointer proudly walked away and wouldn’t respond to anymore calls. I know where it lives. I believe the rut is underway and I will try once again to intrigue this buck with my calls. I will let you know how it works in the future.

But for now I can honestly say that in the matter of five days I went from wet to wild and I enjoyed every minute of it.

The “Rumblin’ Rhino” Contest!

This is indeed the time of year for hunting. Turkey and small game seasons are now open. The waterfowl hunters are enjoying a productive year and the archery season still has two weeks left. It is also the time of year for the much anticipated Pennsylvania Outdoor Life fall contest. This year we are calling it the “Rumblin’ Rhino” Contest.

WNEP’s Pennsylvania Outdoor Life has teamed up with Keystone Outdoor Recreation of Tunkhannock and Yamaha Motor Corporation to give away a 2009 Yamaha Rhino and a host of accessories.

It is easy to enter, simply watch Pennsylvania Outdoor Life and collect four clues in the form of scrambled names of animals found in Pennsylvania. There are a few rules you must follow. You have to 18 years of age or older to enter. You can enter as often as you like but they must all be mailed individually in the form of a postcard. The entries must but received at the WNEP studios by noon on Friday November 27th.

We will announce the winner on Pennsylvania Outdoor Life on Sunday, November 29th. The clues begin tonight on Pennsylvania Outdoor Life.

Be sure to watch.