1999SeasonResults

The Day Before

The 1999 bow season was once again very enjoyable for the "Mudbrook Boys" of the Highbanks Hunting Club. We began the season with our traditional opening weekend camp out in the Mudbrook Valley. We all headed up on the Friday before opening day to get camp set up and to have ourselves a great pre-season venison feed. Some of us had set up a number of tree stands a couple of weeks earlier so there was no need for anyone to be out mixing up the woods on this day. Instead we decided to float in Pedro's boat down the Chippewa River to Lake Holcombe to his father-in-law's cabin for the venison feed. The cabin is 9 miles from the Mudbrook Valley. Barnacle and Lefty drove by truck to the cabin to start cooking the meal while Pedro, Paco, D.C., and Jimmy dropped the boat in and enjoyed a beautiful afternoon on the water.

While at the cabin we ate our fine meal and watched the video Pedro had created from the previous season. When we were finished Lefty and Barnacle headed back to the "campground" and the rest of us boated back up the river to the landing (which is about 4 miles from camp). When we were all back at camp we relaxed with some beverages for a while then headed to Flaters Resort for some evening entertainment. Flaters is only a few miles from camp so we always go there to talk with the owner, who is a fishing/hunting guide and also owns property across the creek from where we hunt. The conversation always gets interesting as the night progresses.

Opening Morning

The morning of opening day always seems to arrive a little too early for the members of the Highbanks Hunting Club and 1999 was no different. After spending the evening and part of the morning at Flaters Resort, we were all a little slow out of the rack. But, it was opening morning and the excitement of a new season quickly got us moving. On their way back from the venison feed, as Barnacle and Lefty pulled into the field we use as a campground, they spotted two bucks walking in the direction of the creek, which is only about 300 yards from camp. Lefty decided then and there that come first light he would be sitting in the Money Pot stand, which is down by the creeks edge and 20 yards from a primitive road that winds back to a boat landing. Little did we know that this would turn out to be a great move on Lefty's part. As we continued to get our gear ready for the morning hunt everyone was making last second decisions on where they would stand. Paco was going to the "Fenceline" stand, Barnacle was going to his "Honey Hole", Lefty of course was on his way to the "Money Pot", and Pedro was going to try "The Gap". The two first timers in camp, Jimmy and D.C., were still in bed...rookies!

Jimmy is Paco's nephew and D.C. is a buddy that Paco and Pedro fish with in the summer and snowmobile with in the winter. D.C. was along to run one of the video camera's. Just as we were getting into the truck to leave for our stands, Jimmy came stumbling out of the camper asking us to wait for him. Well, having a soft spot for the pathetic youngster, we waited, and waited, and waited, and watched as Jimmy fumbled through his clothing, put his shirt on backwards, searched frantically for his contact lenses, and tried to find his bow. It was almost daylight as Pedro walked Jimmy to the "Chute" stand and made sure he was safe and secure. Pedro and Barnacle then proceeded to their own stands as the sun came up. After the hunt we all met back at camp to discuss what was seen. A number of us saw some does but the only person to see a buck was Lefty and he killed one...a very peculiar 5 pointer still in full velvet! Lefty said the same two bucks he had seen in the field the night before came walking right down the old road towards the boat landing...and directly past his stand! He shot the buck at 20 yards and it only ran another 25 yards before collapsing. This buck was so interesting because of it's lack of brow tines, it was in full velvet, and it had a somewhat pale hide. At any rate, it was a fine buck taken on opening morning and it fired everyone up for the evening hunt later in the day

The First Evening

The first evening hunt of any bow season is always one of the most exciting hunts of the year because whitetail bucks are still in their summer pattern of coming out early to feed in the fields. At various times throughout the summer months some of the club members would pass through the Mudbrook Valley to observe the deer population and, like every other year, there were numerous big buck sightings. Needless to say, expectations were sky high as we put together a game plan for the seasons first evening hunt. As mentioned earlier, we had hung most of our stands a few weeks earlier and one field in particular was set up to do some video taping. It was a large clover field that has produced many nice bucks in the past. The situation called for Paco and D.C. to sit on the field edge near the south corner (with D.C. running the camera from above Paco). Jimmy would be on stand along the field edge near the north corner and Pedro would sit across the corner from him with another video camera. It was a plan derived from many hours of hunting and scouting this area. Jimmy was in the "hot seat" for this hunt because he had never killed a buck with his bow, and even though he hadn't shown us much earlier that morning, we still decided to let him prove his ability. The stage was set.

We were all in our stands by 4:30 that evening and by 6:00 we had deer feeding in the field. There were some does and small bucks out in front of Paco and D.C. but Paco decided to pass on a decent 6 pointer. Then, at about 6:30, a doe entered the field from a brushy point between Paco and Jimmy...and there was another 6 point buck behind her. Pedro was the only one who could see that the deer were on course to walk directly in front of Jimmy, so he started the camera rolling. What would unfold in the next few minutes is proof that bowhunting whitetails is the best! The doe finally made her way into Jimmy's line of sight, startling him. After gathering himself he slowly grabbed his bow and stood up as the doe methodically grazed 20 yards in front of him. Meanwhile, the buck was making his way into the picture as well but Jimmy didn't know it yet. Finally, the buck entered Jimmy's shooting lane and he drew back to shoot. As he released the arrow the buck bolted in Pedro's direction and for the first 30 yards didn't appear to be hit. But then, to Jimmy's pleasure, the buck slowed to a trot and began to lose his balance, finally tipping over into the bright green clover just 25 yards from Pedro's stand! After a few desperation kicks the buck was dead and Jimmy was seen on camera pumping his fists and celebrating his first bow kill buck. Needless to say, the Mudbrook Boys celebrated that evening. Two nice bucks on opening day had never happened before and certainly left us all wondering what excitement the rest of the season would bring.

Paco

The 1999 season was probably more disappointing for Paco than it was for any other member of the club. This was due to one evening hunt that would break any bowhunters heart. Paco was standing on the ground for this particular hunt because he was late getting to the woods. He was in place barely 20 minutes when a very large buck came rutting through the woods towards him. The buck passed within 15 yards of Paco, and even though things were happening really fast, he managed to draw back and release an arrow that found it's mark. The buck ran off through the woods leaving an easy trail of blood to follow. Paco resisted the urge to go after the buck and decided to wait until after dark so as not to rush things. He went back to the truck and met up with Pedro and Lefty who then went along to track the bruiser, which had at least 10 points according to Paco's recollection. The tracking was very easy at first, because the buck lost so much blood, but it then became more and more difficult to find. After two hours of searching all that could be found were a few specks of blood on the edge of a large field that the buck must have crossed. The search was finally called off until the next morning when Lefty and Paco would look again for any sign left behind by the wounded buck. Their efforts resulted only in frustration and sadness over a lost trophy.

Barnacle

History has proven that Barnacle's bow doesn't pack the "punch" necessary to propel his arrows completely through the deer he shoots. He has had some success (luck?) in the past, including a dandy 9 pointer in 1997, but has also lost a few deer due to the arrow not passing completely through and doing the damage it should. In 1999 this proved to be a serious problem as Barnacle hit two does and a spike buck but did'nt recover any of them. It made for a long and frustrating season which ended with Barnacle not even wanting to take a shot. For the 2000 season Barnacle will be outfitted with a new top of the line bow that has plenty of pass through power which may just make him the most lethal sniper in the woods.