The terrain on this 4094-acre public access conservation land includes lowland marsh and prairie bordered by managed crop fields where part of the crops are left standing to serve as food for the wildlife. Other fields hold plenty of bedding areas among groves of cherry trees and sumac brush not to mention the uncut hay and native grasses which hide deer beneath their tall height. Rolling hills shelter ragged rock ravines cut between them, that the deer find cover in when moving from one area to another. Three well-stocked lakes provide an additional habitat with trails leading to the water’s edge. Another feature of this varied landscape is the Blackwater River flowing through seven miles of timber lined banks. The riparian region has both flat open spaces which hold deer tracks embedded in the mud and steep sloping embankments overlooking sheltered places of bent down grass where deer have obviously lain.

We found no limit to the amount of fresh signs as we made good use of the preseason to scout for good places to set up tree stands fairly close to the areas frequented by deer. These trails showed the direction they were traveling and often we were lucky enough to see their daytime movements and we noted the time for future use. I was somewhat overwhelmed with the size of the area we were to hunt and which heavily used trails would provide the best cover to produce an unwary deer. One evening as we left the conservation area by way of a gravel road, we crossed the river and turned to view a group of large bodied six and eight point bucks running hard toward us, from about a distance of 400 yards out in that meadow. When we crossed the bridge, they spotted us and stopped abruptly and then turned and bolted back into the direction they had just come from.

Exercising my independence I set out to scout a little farther from the beaten path and followed my enthusiasm through thicker brush and around the far edge of the lake. My footing found a steep incline embedded with deer tracks along a narrow trail until it opened up beneath the acorn laden oaks. From this elevation I eyed more tracks leading down into thicker grass and willows below to my right. To my left was an embankment rising above my head which was bordered by large wooded acreage. I walked on peering through the trees ahead until my steps were softened by river bottom mud. I knew immediately that the Blackwater River was close and proceeded to find it. As it turned out I was several hundred yards from the river in a tall forested area that butted up to the grass lined river bank. The actual trail that I had followed into the area was now a scattering of deer tracks in all directions, some of the fresher tracks that I found came from the grassy slopes adjacent to the river. My early morning scout turned up no deer only more sign of their presence in this vast conservation managed land. Several days later my husband trekked along the same area of the river for some distance looking for a shallow place where the deer might cross, when he heard a noise and looked up and across the river to see a ‘big’ buck running down the other side of the bank. He claims it was the biggest buck he had ever seen in person! Coming from an archer who has only failed to bag a deer once in the 12 years he has archery hunted, I expect that it was indeed a large buck. Having hiked into the rugged interior of this area at least a mile, I wonder how we will ever get the deer we shoot out since regulations prohibit any motorized vehicles from traveling within the boundaries of this region.

I hope to share some late afternoon and evening hunts with my daughter, Jessi to teach her the patience and rewards of hunting as we share the pieces of her heritage that she will carry forward with her. We recently brought her along during an afternoon of scouting. My husband set off in the direction of a new rub he had found to see if there would be any evening visitors and Jessi helped me to set up a burlap camouflage blind in front of a row of cedars a distance from the place where I had seen a large buck cross several evenings before. We sat for three hours calling and glassing as we watched the pinched clearing between wooded tracts and a grass grown field. When my husband walked up and joined us it was almost dark, so we gathered our things and set out to the truck. No more than a half dozen steps toward the field and two does were startled from under a tree in the tall grass where they had been bedded down just 20 yards away for who knows how long. There was no doubt in our minds that we had found several good places from which to hunt when the season opens. With our gear packed we headed out of the managed land until opening day knowing that we were definitely on the trail of some great public land archery hunting.

Part two: Finding the Right Motivation click here