Blessed at an Early Age

I was blessed at an early age to have a Grandfather who wanted to dedicate all of his free time to his only grandson. This worked out perfectly for me since I was growing up without a father. Hunting was always a big part of my Grandfather’s life even when he was a young boy. He used to tell me stories of the countless nights that he would spend carrying a kerosene head lantern and a .22 rifle through the forests of Central Louisiana. He would hunt rabbits from dusk till dawn and sell them at the local markets in Alexandria the next day. This would have been the late 1930s and early 1940s. I’ve often tried to imagine what this country would have looked like back then. This is one of the reasons why love hunting public land.

The Hills of Mississippi

Well by the time I came along my Grandfather was already well established in a Hunting Club in Claiborne County, Mississippi about 35 miles North of Natchez. I remember tagging along behind him while I stared up into those massive oak and hickory trees hoping to see a tail flickering or a furry little streak run down a limb. Back then I thought squirrel hunting was the most awesome thing ever. There was something about those hills that captivated me. Long ridges would reach out into the forest until suddenly they would drop off into deep hollows. Eventually all hollows and bottoms would lead to a creek. These creeks were wide and rocky with white sandy beaches. The water was crystal clear and tasted clean and sweet. The forest held a certain air of mystery. Spanish moss hung from the limbs of the huge oaks to add to the eerie mood. I loved it all. So I spent the first 25 of my hunting years learning how to hunt those hills. Squirrel hunting graduated to deer hunting and later on I added turkey hunting. I spent all my weekends and holidays between October 1 and January 31 at that place. I knew every ridge and every bottom of those roughly 3000 acres. I experienced many of the best…and some of the worst memories of my life there.

Moving on

Up until this point in my life I really did not have a lot of experience hunting public land. Well one thing we can always count on is that things change. So was the same for my time at Buckhorn Hunting Club. I found a job far away from the southern forest of Louisiana and Mississippi. Sadly I decided it was time to leave those hills behind. But as the saying goes, “you can take the boy out of the woods but you can’t take the woods out of the boy”. My new bride and I spend the next three years shuffling around North America from Western Canada to West Texas to Southwest Pennsylvania. Of course one of my biggest priorities in every place I settled was to figure out where to hunt. I must say there was awesome hunting opportunities in every place I lived. I had so much fun hunting in the snow in Canada and Pennsylvania. It was a rush to listen to the deer walk across the rocky ground of the West Texas desert or to see a buck chase a doe all day long across the desert from about 500 to 700 yards away. I literally watched a mountain lion stalk a doe and a yearling one day! Those were amazing experiences that continued to feed my passion for the outdoors.

Back to My Roots

Finally the time came for my wife and I to start having children. We both decided it was best for us to have them back home close to our families. My job can take me away from home for long periods of time so mom definitely needed the support. Well of course since I was moving back home I felt I would not have any problems getting into some good hunting spots. We have plenty of public land around Central Louisiana. I mean everywhere I’ve been so far I’ve been able to find success. No problem right?…Wrong.

A New Challenge

Okay don’t get me wrong. Louisiana has a decent sized deer population. But there is just something different about hunting here. The first two seasons for me were a complete bust. I actually had to go back to PA to “check on our home that was up for sale” for two weeks in December just to kill a deer. It was terrible. The next season PA wasn’t even an option. So that year I got a big fat ZERO. That was 2011-12. I tried out a couple of clubs here and there but only managed to take a few does and small bucks. It was rough until finally in 2014 we made a trip up to North Louisiana and I took a very nice 10 pt with my bow in Union WMA. I felt all that rush and thrill all over again. It was such a reward to accomplish that on public land. Fast forward a couple more so so years and BAM. Another nice public land buck. That was 2018. For the last 2 seasons since I’ve made a week long trip to public land in Oklahoma. Once again my success rate increased exponentially compared to what I have around home.

My Love for it All

If you’ve made it this far then I am sincerely humbled. I’ve told this story to give the reader some insight into my love for hunting. I love everything about it, peace of the forests, surprising encounters with random wildlife. There’s that squirrel that nearly gets on my shoulder. A hawk once nearly took me out because he thought my head was a squirrel. I once faced off with a javelina. One of my all time favorite memories was when I watched that mountain lion stalk those deer. There are so many.

Closing Thoughts

I would like to get better at hunting my home turf. What are your stories? How did you come to love this amazing sport? I would like to share experiences and tips of how we all find successes with these incredible creatures. Public land hunting can be a very rewarding experience but also very challenging. I don’t intend to quit any time soon.