Last year, at this time, I was so anxious and eager to get outside and start practicing with my new bow. After deciding that 2014 was the year I would start bowhunting, I was sized up for my first bow only for temperatures to plummet and snow to fall until it was up to my waist in […]
A deer trusts its nose above anything else. In fact, researchers at Mississippi State University recently found that a deer’s sense of smell can be 500 to 1,000 times more acute than a human’s. Scent control is a basic tenant of bowhunting and bowhunters typically wash hunting clothes in special detergents that eliminate scent and […]
So if you’ve been following along, my husband and I have been working to turn two deer hides from deer harvested last fall into buckskin. I’ve detailed the other two steps in the process with photos: Phase 1 and Phase 2. Now we are onto Phase 3, which is almost the last phase … the […]
One of the coolest winter projects anyone can try is turning your deer hide into buckskin. It seems like it would be hard to do, but most of it is fairly easy — requiring more time (for each phase) than anything else. In my last post, I went over how we got started, covering phase […]
This weekend we started the process of turning the two deer hides from this fall into buckskin. Thanks to the knowledge of our friend, Kenneth Mulder, our two hides will transition from slightly shedding raw hides to soft and pliable buckskin. Our other friend, Jim Harding, is also learning with us. Buckskin is different from […]
After receiving 15 inches of snow for Thanksgiving, we enjoyed a warm up over Christmas that meant temps in the high 40s, melting snow, muddy roads, and a break from trekking through knee deep drifts just to get the mail. We took advantage of the warmer weather to cut, split, and stack wood for the […]
It’s amazing how much change can happen in only a year. Just look at me – I am the perfect example. A year ago today I was sized up for my first compound bow. I remember how excited and nervous I was to head out to the archery shop, having zero idea what to expect […]
Saturday was the start of the second half of archery deer season in Vermont. It was a mess of a day, complete with rain, icy rain, sleet and snow — and while I did go out for a while that afternoon, watching the day turn to night, fog engulfing the area below my tree stand, […]
The second bow season in Vermont begins this Saturday, Dec. 6, and runs through Dec. 14. I’m hopeful to get out in my tree stand during this brief (albeit cold) second season in hopes that one of these deer decide to visit. We got our first snow storm over the Thanksgiving weekend and had a […]
I hope everyone is having a successful season! My husband managed to get another deer while visiting his parents back in our home state of Michigan so our freezer is well stocked with venison! His family has owned property in northern Michigan for generations so it was a real treat for him to spend some […]