Deer Hunt at Crane Naval Area 2009

Adventure Information

Species: Deer
Type of Hunting: Muzzle-loader & Shotgun
Location of Adventure: Indiana, USA
Guide/Outfitter: None
Lodging: None
Would you recommend it?

I would recommend this experience

Adventure Review

My hunting buddy Tim invited me to hunt with him at Crane Naval Area in a special draw only firearms weekend.  We went this past fall and the weather was very mild.  In the aplication process we requested 3 different hunting units within the base.  However, we wre unsuccessful in drawing in any of the areas we requested.  We were drawn by computer to hunt in Area 2 of Crane which is in the North end of the base.  We found a parking area where there were no other trucks and hiked back into an area that we thought would be promising.  Tim stop to set up in an area just inside the tree line by a creek nestled between 2 ridges.  I took the hike further back and topped the rigde on the right.  Tim was hunting with a muzzle-loader and I was hunting with my Dad’s Ithaca Deerslayer in 20 gauge.  It was a fairly windy morning and we heard many shots off the to the east of us.  Our strategy was to stay near the creek area and try to intercept deer as they tried to move westward.

I saw some trails and some sign on the top of the ridge, but I did not see any deer.  I did spook up a couple of does who were bedded down to the west of me.  They were bedded just out of the gale of the wind, but they left their refuge when they caught my scent.  As lunchtime approached I hoped to move some deer towards Tim.  And I was successful in driving a few does within 80 yards of him.  But he did not have a good shot as they were running.

My after lunch strategy was to move up the westridge in hopes of moving the deer back to Tim.  After a lot of scouting and still hunting that afternoon, I saw lots of squirrels but no deer.  So, I hiked my way back to the truck as the sun began to set.  As I neared the truck I began to wonder how Tim had done….???  Attached are a few photos of Tim’s deer.  The great part was that he had the deer in the truck and ready to go for check-in at the station.

The Good of this hunt:

• Tim got a deer
• I saw lots of deer sign and about 5-7 deer.

The Bad of this hunt:

• You have to arrive at Crane around 3 am to get through the check-in process.
• We did not draw the areas we requested.