Scoot's 2024 Review
Whitetail Deer
2024 was a very interesting year for me. I had some really great ups and some definite speed bumps this year. In total, it was a "lemons from lemonade" kinda year! Below is a collection of pics I took throughout the year. I was generally pretty bad about taking pictures this year, but I got enough to make it semi-entertaining, I think.
The season started out with turkeys in the spring. I managed to shoot a bird on opening morning, but I was by myself and for some reason didn't take the time to get a picture. Not sure why- I usually get a pic of everything I shoot, but not this time. It was a total decap on a nice tom.
Next up was Gavin. On Gavin's first turkey outing of the year, I called in two nice toms and he made a great shot on one of them. He centerpunched the tom and he ran 20 yards and dropped. It was great! Here's G with his first turkey.
Next up was Casper. Cas had never shot a turkey and had done very little turkey hunting. I got Cas in the blind after baseball practice one early evening and in less than 15 minutes had called in this nice tom. It couldn't have worked any better!
I also managed to help my buddy, Briggs, take a nice tom. He made a perfect shot on a great bird and I was thrilled for him too.
Rod and Ryan with a largemouth.
Rod and Ryan with a largemouth.
Ryan was busy with college golf, so he didn't get time to turkey hunt this year. We did get some fishing in after his spring season was done though.
I actually got a little muskie time in this year too, which was nice. Here's my bro with a decent one.
My summer was also filled with a lot of prep for a Colorado mulie hunt. My buddy Gabe and I were headed to CO to chase fuzzy horned deer, and pretty jacked about it. I ramped up my running, lifting, and pack work over June, July, and August, but I knew that would only allow me to be less of an anchor to Gabe.
We got out there with no problem and found deer right away. We went to a sweet basin a fellow bowsiter clued us in on (thanks fellow bowsiter!) and the first evening found a bachelor group of bucks, including a good 4x4 that either of us would be thrilled to shoot. Unfortunately, two different groups of guys moved their camps into that basin the day before the season started and pretty well blew the whole basin up. We had scouted other places, but mostly struggled to find a good buck elsewhere.
We were looking for these guys.
We were looking for these guys.
The country was beautiful and highly varied. It was big country and everything was farther than it appeared.
The bears really wanted to get into our cooler!
The bears really wanted to get into our cooler!
After a lot of looking, we found a really great buck.
We never did get a good picture of him, but here's a zoomed in pic through a spotting scope. Poor pic, but you get the idea of the kind of buck he is from it.
Gabe put a sneak on the buck in that cave. He got within range, but the buck must have heard or smelled a little something because he got weirded out, then slunk out of there before Gabe had an open shot at him.
We bedded that buck, and a couple more, another time and made a play on them. It took a long time to get up to where he was bedded. When we got there, no bucks! We glassed and waited and waited and glassed! After a few hours of waiting for one of them to get up and stretch their legs, Gabe decided to back out, loop around a bit, and try glass the area where we saw them bedded. Well... he made it about 30 yards and the big guy popped up out of his bed. All three bucks had relocated a couple hundred yards and were bedded 40 yards from where we were looking for them. They were behind some brush and in tall grass, so there was no way we would have seen them or been able to know they were there. I'm pretty sure they had no clue we were there either. As you can imagine, the whole thing blew up pretty quickly once the big guy got spooked out of is bed.
Unfortunately, that was pretty much the end of our trip. We got in bow range of that stud buck twice, but never got a legit shot opportunity. In total, it was a blast and I'm forever grateful to the bowsiter who helped us plan out this trip. He was a wealth of info and extremely generous with it to us- thanks again!
I final pic from our CO trip-- beautiful country!
More pics from our deer hunting at home coming, but I have to work for now...
Nice pics! Looks like yall had a fun year!
Great start, Scott! Looking forward to the rest!
Amazing photos. Can’t wait to see the finale!!
Great pics thx for sharing!
Great start buddy! Can't wait to see the rest!
Same as everyone else, keep it coming.
Keep it coming, Scoot! The video you sent me this spring, on the turkey decap, was epic!
Once home from CO, I turned my attention to whitetails. However, a week after I got back, I woke up one Monday morning with a terrible pain in my left shoulder. Nothing had happened to cause it, but dang it hurt. It took 1 1/2 months of trying to treat my shoulder (and failing) to finally get an MRI of my neck and shoulder. The shoulder looked good, but my neck was a mess. I had two herniated discs in my and they were the cause of the problem. Worse, nerve pain was now going down my arm and into my hand, and I had lost most of the strength in my hand and wrist and much of it in my arm. I struggled to hold a glass of water with enough strength to successfully take a drink of water from a glass.
You can imagine what this meant for shooting a bow. I couldn't even hold my bow up, let alone try and draw it without my arm or wrist collapsing. MN allows for crossbows during the archery season, but ND does not. I had a very legitimate reason to use one, but I had a strong desire to not use one. I was also into the deer season already and very short on time to make a major change that wouldn't likely be an easy one.
I remembered reading an article about Mr. Tough as Woodpecker Lips himself, Ron Niziolek. I PMd Ron and asked if he would mind talking me through some basics of shooting a mouth tab. Ron graciously agreed to help me and he pointed me in the right direction. Thanks again for your help, Ron- I appreciate it greatly!
After Ron going me going, I rigged up a mouth tab and started flinging arrows. I struggled a bit at first, but it came to me slowly. I really struggled to close the correct eye. Being right eye dominant and shooting a left handed bow, I had to close my right eye. Man, did that feel unnatural! In fact, my first opportunity came and I closed my left eye while at full draw. My brain shorted out and I knew something was wrong, but for a second or two, couldn't figure it out. In short, I totally blew a golden opportunity. I tried to shoot some arrows every day. I eventually got proficient to 30 yards. Ron said he could shoot much farther than me, but I'm only human, so 30 was it for me!
The bow in the post above is a Mission Craze. It belongs to my buddy Jake's son, Logan. He outgrew it and is now shooting a "big boy bow", so I started with that one. It worked pretty well, but I really wanted something with a longer ATA, thinking I would be able to shoot it a little more accurately. It turns out a friend and coworker of mine's husband isn't using his lefty bow this year, due to having a coupe little cookie crunchers at home. They generously offered that bow to me and I rigged it up with a mouth tab. Soon I was shooting pretty well with it! Here's a video of me shooting the Craze.
We had some good bucks in the places we hunt- both in MN and in ND. There was one buck about half-a-mile from my house that we have a three year history with- we call him the "muley buck", even though he's a whitetail and we only have whitetails around home. He's had one or two split G-2s that look very much like a mulie's rack. For the area we hunt, he's a hoss! I've laid eyes on him multiple times the last three years, but sadly, none of us saw him this year.
We tried our best to help multiple youth get a crack at a deer again this year. My buddy Jake brought his son, Logan again this year. Early in the year, Logan asked if his buddy, Gallaghar, could come and hunt. I agreed. The two boys sat in the same treestand (their choice), and they had quite a night! Early in the evening a nice doe came by and presented Gallaghar with a great shot opportunity. He whiffed- right over her back! Half-an-hour later another doe came out and Gallaghar made good on the second chance! He spined the doe and she dropped on the spot. Half-an-hour later, the biggest buck Logan had ever seen came by the stand, but he came from a different direction than expected. Logan got turned in his stand, but with Gallaghar there he had to contort a bit to get drawn and a shot off. The good news- the buck was broadside and clueless at 20 yards. Logan took careful aim and let er rip! Immediately he knew something was wrong. His top cam hit a tree branch that he hadn't accounted for and the arrow sailed harmlessly by the buck. Dang!
Attached is Jake and Logan with Gallaghar and his first archery deer ever.
My brother's grandson took an interest in hunting this fall. Rod got him out quite a few times and he's hoping to be able to shoot a bow next year and hunt himself. Finn had a blast!
Ryan was first to draw blood. On opening morning of the rifle season, Rod and I got a text that simply read "Buck down!" from Ryan. Rod immediately requested that Ryan wait for them so Finn could track his first deer.
Here's Rod and Ryan helping Finn with the details of tracking. This was one even Rod and I could track (we're both colorblind), so Finn had no problem bringing us right to the buck.
Lov'n this Scoot! Have a smile on my face as if I was there with you.
Heck Yeah ! Way to go fellas !
I'm off to my daughter's basketball game. I'll finish up tomorrow.
I love these picture/story threads ! Kudos to you Scoot for taking the youngsters hunting and especially for not giving up when your neck problems arose. Great thread !
If you need a nice old lefty bow that is 29"/60# Scoot let me know. I got one hanging in the basement. It's a Ross CR 334 in really nice condition.
Great pictures and stories! Awesome year even with adversity! Congratulations and looking forward to the rest of the story!!
Hell yeah. Congrats, Looks like a great year.
Love the season/year recaps!
—Jim
Great stuff so far!
Looking forward to the rest.
Family, friends, and the out of doors. Looking forward to the rest of the story. My best, Paul
Fun times and memories for life right here.
Thanks for sharing,
Robb
12yards, I appreciate the offer very much, but I'm improving with PT and time. I'm hoping I stay on the right track and don't need to use a lefty bow again!
I worked hard to get a deer in range too. A couple days after Ryan shot the buck above, everything worked out and I got a nice doe to give me a 10 yard broadside shot. I opened my mouth and the arrow zipped on its way, right in the pickle barrel! She didn't make it 40 yards.
I got Gavin out about half-a-dozen times this fall. It was tough to find time during the football season and he seemed distracted by a certain girl he's been spending time with also. But... that's the deal with teenage boys! We had a blast when we got out, but once again, it just seemed like I was covered in does and small bucks when he wasn't with me and it was quiet when he was along. Towards the end of the year, when it was dang cold, I was pretty dialed in on a lot of deer, but I think it was just too cold for him and he pulled the pin on the season just before Christmas. Still, it was fun and we tried.
I also managed to get my nephew, Kaden, out a few times. Kaden shot a crossbow this year, but is hoping to shoot a vertical bow next year. Kaden and Ryan are great buddies (and cousins) and Kaden has really looked up to Ryan since he was very little. The two of them teamed up and Kaden made good on his opportunity during the last weekend of the gun season.
I was hunting with my buddies too!
It’s great seeing the kids getting out there and being successful. Great pics and story telling.
Lotta good times right there!
Ryan and I were chasing out to ND every chance we got too. There were several nice bucks around, and we were so close on multiple occasions. I had a great 5x4 at 4 yards and never got a shot, Ryan had the biggest buck he's ever seen at 10 yards with no shot, and we had a stud that was high and wide split the distance between us and tease us just out of range too. We were so close several times.
Side note- the place we hunt in MN has coyotes, but the density is relatively low. We also have a few wolves, but they are also not too dense (I pray it stays that way). However, where we hunt in ND has a very healthy population of coyotes. In the 43 years I've bowhunted, I've never lost a speck of meat to a yote.
In December Ryan and I met Briggs out at his land in ND. We all settled into our stands in the afternoon. I was at a spot that had been pretty quiet all season, but I just had a feeling about that spot that night, so I chose it (nobody else wanted it). An hour into the sit I heard something to my right and looked through the woods into the field. Without thinking, my only reaction was to literally say out loud "Oh my goodness". The big buck Ryan had seen at 10 yards was coming my way! Unfortunately, he saw a doe out in the field and decided she looked better than my trail in the woods, and off he went. Not long after, a pretty nice buck took the same path as him, but with no doe in the field any longer, he came past me. I put my 30 yard pin on him and let 'er rip! My lighted nock shined bright as the arrow zipped through the air. It found it's mark, and off the buck went, with the arrow still in him.
Long-story-short, the shot was very close to good, but just a little too far back. We had to leave the buck until the morning. We tracked him 200 hundred yards and found him like the pic above. We had been gone about 10 hours when we found him. Dang- they made very short work of him! I was definitely disappointed in myself for the less-than-ideal shot.
He's actually bigger than the pic makes it look- a nice 8 with pretty decent mass.
He's actually bigger than the pic makes it look- a nice 8 with pretty decent mass.
We got Kaden and his dad back again at Christmas. We couldn't get a deer in front of Brandon (I think he plays a gong when he's in the stand), but we did manage to get Kaden another crack at a doe, and he made good on the opportunity.
I managed to get some venison for Briggs in the last couple minutes of the last day of the MN season.
The remainder of the year was spent sitting with Ryan, trying to get his ND tag filled.
Great post thanks for sharing I hate coyotes Lewis
We tried hard, but couldn't manage to get a good buck in front of him. We had several great sits together to end the year. Not really so much because of great hunting, but much more so about quality time with my son. On the last night of the ND season we started the hunt at 1 degree above and finished well below zero. It was cold, with a decent breeze, but Ryan wanted to stick it out and take every opportunity he had before he couldn't go anymore. Once again, we had a great time together. I love time in the outdoors with my kids and I'm so thankful I've been able to have as much of it as I have had. I'm definitely a lucky guy in that regard. The sun set, the deer didn't come very close to us, and it got dark. The 2024 season was in the books.
That's it- my season in a nutshell. Some highs, some lows, and plenty in between. In total, I loved it. I did the best I could with what I had and tried to keep a positive attitude about all of it. Thanks for following along and best wishes in 2025.
Good write up Scott, can't beat time with your kids in the woods. Tell Ryan congratulations on a dandy buck!
Nicely done Scott. I hope this doesn’t exclude us from getting together over brews? (The world still has problems which require solving)
Excellent thread Scott!
Great pictures and recaps and thanks for sharing with us.
I hope you and yours have a blessed 2025.
Thanks for sharing Scott! Hoping your neck sorts out for next year!
Looks like a fun, great season scoot! Kids are grown up too. Sucks huh?
Haha yes Jeff, it does kinda suck! Both my kids have grown into fine young adults who I'm very proud of. But... I sure miss their toddler through early teen years!
Great to see a family sharing a love of the outdoors with each other!
Great job with the “youngins”.
I wear that same cold weather Sitka hat. The best.
I would call that a great season. Im glad to see your kids like the outdoors. Good luck for 2025.
Awesome pictures and looks like a great season. Thanks for sharing.
Congrats on a great season with family and friends!
Great finish to a great year! Love seeing you helping your son and helping those other youngsters! Definitely setting them on the right path! Congratulations all around!
Scott - thanks for taking the time to do this years recap. Lots of hours in the field and many memories made for you and those you helped.
Great finish to a great year! Love seeing you helping your son and helping those other youngsters! Definitely setting them on the right path! Congratulations all around!
Fantastic Scoot!! Congrats all around!! Thanks for sharing!!
A lot of time spent hanging out. Nothing better than that. Great pic’s and entertainment for us. Thanks!
Great year with family and friends...thanks for sharing!
Congrats on another great year Scott! Amazing how fast our kids grew up isn't it?!? Wishing you and the family the very best in 2025. God bless buddy!
Great recap Scoot. Lots of fun memories for sure. Kids do grow up but it is still fun when they let dad sit with them!
Amen to that, BOWNBIRD! I love it when Ryan let's me hang with him! I'm very fortunate in that Ryan still enjoys time in the outdoors with me. I sure hope that never changes.
Loved it, Scott! Thanks for passing it on. You think your kids were fun when they were younger, wait until you have grandkids!
Another great year Scoot! Thanks for sharing.
