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Not Lou Semi Live

Well there's enough whitey threads going on so I figured why not. Drew my eastern plains muley tag second choice for the last time I think. Point creep gets us all eventually. Spent some time out here the first split. Always hard before the corn comes down out here. No creek bottoms. Just at fields, crp, and big open draws. But there are some good deer and I can't keep myself from them.

Low, low, low deer densities make for a tough hunt. But if you know where to look it can be done. Dad had a late season whitey rifle tag that he can't use now, so Courtney picked up a leftover buck tag for whitetail and wants to try to get lucky.

Anyways, she had to work this morning and now were on the road. I'll keep everybody updated as often as I can. I have the next 8 out of 10 days off so hope to get it done now while the ruts going on. Wish it was colder. Here's her rifle buck from a few years ago. Good potential out here.

Good luck and keep us posted!! Looking forward to following along and hopefully Courtney can get a match for that one.

Point creep - got way worse this year with the new allocation percentages. My unit went from about 80% first choice with zero points to just over 20% with the same status. I could get a leftover whitetail tag but it's pretty much only muleys where I can hunt.

Tell her good luck!!!

Great buck!

Mark

Good luck to you both. God Bless

Made it to look at a good doe herd that I know has a great tall muley checkin on every now and then. Had a few little dinkers running them around tonight. No shooters and no whiteys. Gonna hit a field in the morning that has nothing but whitetail cause she has to leave tomorrow night. Nothing but spot and stalk out here unless you can get one patterned which is pretty tough with how much they're moving right now. Might have her sit a funnel tomorrow to see if she gets lucky.

Not much going this morning. Fog had us sacked in. Had a cool encounter with a couple of coyotes, didn't expect the fur to be that nice and I wished for the at back in the truck as the deer werent show in up.

Watched another bowhunter try and decoy some does in. Kinda silly really. Had his truck parked about 150 yards behind him in plain sight. Those does weren't having any of it an took off quick fast and in a hurry. Landowner tipped me off to a spot I've never checked before. Lunch first than deer. Here's to hoping it happens while I still have her with me.

Best of luck! Following along...

That doe herd keeps growing in size with does and bucks filtering in throughout the day. Checked them 3 times today and they were on their feet all day. More dinker bucks showing up. An almost buck made an appearance and tested my resolve. She was almost able to talk me into it.

I know there's a taller buck that curls out to make him look wider than he is, but he turns my crank so if I see him its on like that video game monkey. Front isn't due till Tuesday night, but its November so any things possible. That tall ones gonna make a mistake, or one of his buddies will help him out. Gotta work Wednesday and Thursday. Lots of time still. If tomorrow morning feels like this morning without the fog than it should be great.

Keep the heat on!!!

Mark

Big guys are doing recon and you have bait. It'll happen! Just stay with those does and don't blow them up and you'll get a chance in the next couple days. Next Friday - Tuesday will be the best days to call and decoy, but rattling can be killer right now.

Go get 'em!

Frost covered morning. Glassing point to glassing point. The does were a no show, I think theyre in a corn field valley that I can't hunt. Not worried. Lots of chasing going on this morning. Of course now that Courtney is home at work all I can find are whitey bucks.

Saw the back end of a large body from a long ways off heading to a bedding area this morning with what appeared to be beams going over the hill. Hiked over the other side to see if I could get eyes on him. Of course after the 1/2 mile hike he had already cruised right through the area and was on his way. Ran the mile back to the truck to get ahead of "him". I say ran, but huff and puff with bow in hand, binos floppin,beanie askew is more accurate. Made it to the truck and peeled off to the next glassing point and saw a large body making its way through the skimpy crp. On with the big eye and all that work to get a good look at one of the smallest 4 point whitetail I've ever seen. Moved on.

Ended up finding 2 more whitetail bucks locked down with does. One with a whitetail doe and the other with a muley doe. Nothing to get excited about. Saw a couple pockets of does that were just doing they're doe thing. Nothing with them yet. I think it's just single does here and there that are hot. My favorite. Now I just need to find one with a buck.

Oh yeah. I forgot to mention I'm currently watching this unfold. You can see a shooter muley buck just left of this doe. Trying to convince myself I can belly crawl 200 yards down the fencline without being seen in plain sight, keep the wind from squirreling, somehow draw my bow without being seen, and sneak an arrow into him.

Reality check... They need to move about 150 yards and it might work out.

Sounds like your having a good time. Make it happen. Good luck.

I'm just gonna leave this here for the night. I'll regale you all with the story tomorrow night when I get home.

No deer were harmed in the making of today's hunt...

Good thread keep it up and good luck!

Been kind busy and haven't been able to post. Found that buck living in an old wheat stubble field thats been left to overgrow with thistles and weeds for a few years. Tried my hardest to get in on him Monday evening and it was like walking in a rice krispies field. The does had me pegged before it even started so I got out as soon as I could without ruining everything. The pictures make him look bigger than what he is, but he's still a great mainframe 3 with eyegaurds.

Went back Tuesday morning and couldn't locate him again. Found 16 does being harassed by 4 basket case bucks. Got angry and left them to go buy a Heads Up Decoy. The old flambue just isn't as portable as what's needed and I'm tired of being left out of the game. I've had some moderate success with the full body decoy, but never was able to be mobile enough. Ready to try.

Talked to Courtney about a decoy hat on Tuesday night and by Wednesday she had made this. Looks good enough to me. Made it back for a little evening jaunt and was able to make across the field without the does leaving so I'm hopeful it will work out in the morning. She's on her way out here now and we'll be hunting in the am for her whitetail. Finally found where a few of those little bugger's are and she's excited to use the hat. I'm here till Monday night and hope we get at least one deer down.

Got out this morning and immediately got into deer. Almost got the decoy working and a doe busted it up right at legal light. I don't think she liked 2 weird looking does running like humans through the crp. He was a good 4 with good height and width that was chasing that herd of does I found in October. More on him later.

Ran up the road and got eyes on some whitetail for her. A good buck was tending a doe and trying his hardest to fend off a Forky and a small 3. We watched them for a few hours till they got into a good spot for a stalk and made our move. When we got to where we thought they were they were gone. Wind must have busted us.

After lunch I cruised past the field with that big 3 with eyegaurds and made a great spot on him. Got the wind and crept over the top. The big guy was tending a doe in a thistle thicket with 3 other smaller bucks trying their hardest to get to his doe. Could have shot 2 of the smaller bucks easy at under 40 a bunch of times as they were so focused on the doe.

The big guy finally had enough of it and ran out on my side of everything to chase one of the interlopers off. His mad dash brought him under 40 but I never had a shot. Looks even bigger in bow range. Horse of a body. Really wanna put my hands on him. Decoys worked great today. Wouldn't have even gotten close without them, just wasn't able to seal it.

Found some more muleys and whitetails this evening so we've got a pretty good idea of where to be in the morning. Found some deadheads today and she's gonna post some pics. Great day deer hunting with my best friend. Hope were having deer steak tomorrow evening together. Here she is with one of the deadheads and her decoy hat.

So I haven't made any posts to this forum but it was stated by my better half so I thought I would chime in. As you can see from his earlier posts, I made him a doe decoy hat. This morning was my first chance to try it out and it worked alright I suppose. I have a white tail archery tag out her on the eastern plains. We started out around 530 this morning but we ran into some mule deer, which Justin has a tag for, which were not impressed with our stalking skills. So around 630-7 we found 4 whitetail, 3 bucks and a doe. We were calling them the dinker, the medium, and the big buck. But let's be honest they were not that big... So we watched them until 9, and at this point I was antsy, they finally bedded so we made our move. I finally got to try out my homemade decoy hat and Justin mounted his " heads up" decoy. We drove down to the bottom of this draw that led right in front of where they bedded. We went down the draw and got out where we thought they were. We proceeded to slowly stalk this field for the next 2.5 hours, only to realize they had busted us from the moment we got into the draw :-/ No matter. We then went to lunch and headed back out, when Justin made an amazing spot. He found a buck that he was convinced he busted out of the county last weekend, plus he was in a prime spot for stalking. So we drove up the road a bit and made our move. We made the perfect approach but as deer do, he moved a bit. So he was on the other side of the fence and in some thick stuff. There was another dinky buck closer to us. Neither of them had any idea we were there. Justin nocked an arrow and "tried" to get his release to take the D loop, but no luck on three different occasions. He was freaked! I calmed him down, and finally it took. The big 3*3 stepped out of the thick stuff to chase off the dinker. Justin pulled back but no shot, so he let down on the string, but the release failed and sent an arrow flying. The Bucks didn't seem to care but were curious. So I put up the decoy. We then made our way closer, trying to get a better shot. They had moved to the other side of the thick stuff. The big buck and his does were interested but the dinker kept pushing them away. Justin gave me some instructions for the decoy that I didn't quiet get, BLONDE MOMENT, so we kind of spooked them, but not too hard so we will be back in the morning for them. On our way out we picked up a dead head that was a nice Muley. Then on our way home we found another dead head whitey! Hopefully those aren't the only antlers we put our hands on :)

Dead heads

Great to hear the decoy hats are working....looking good!!!

Hate to see those dead heads!

Mark

So the last time I posted Courtney mentioned that my release wouldn't take the dloop what really happened was my release was malfunctioning. I spent some time the next week trying to fix it to no avail. My backup is my target hinge and this'll be the first time hunting with it. Still confident if it happens.

Ended up in steamboat last weekend to take advantage of one of our wedding gifts. So I haven't hunted till this Friday. Got out and spent quite awhile glassing this weekend. Really weird but I couldn't find any of the shooter bucks to save my life this weekend. Found plenty of doe groups and the biggest was an almost buck with a bunch of forkies running with him.

Brutally cold. I originally couldn't get a good look at the almost buck in the tall grass so I made a move. Got to that sweet spot with does all around and had to wait them out for 2 hours. Had to pee really bad and the freezing rain was just miserable. Eventually the buck stood up and he wasn't what I thought he was. I had to pee so bad and was just frustrated enough that I spooked them off getting some relief.

Anyways the rifle season starts on Tuesday for a few weeks that'll allow me to get some coyote hunting in and hopefully I can find the good bucks again. My good hunting buddy lost his leg in Sturgis this year and we picked up leftover doe speed goat tags for the two of us. Hope he can fill that one, he needs it.

The attached picture sums up the weekend nicely.

That is a couple nice Dead Heads----although sad to see.

Cool thread ya got going here----->

Good luck, Robb

Next time you show yourself with the doe hat, give a very soft bleat call too. Sometimes that seals the deal. I like the little Kmeer Deer bite call from Lohmans.

Enjoying the thread! I find deadheads where I hunt, too. Often from gunners slinging lead at long ranges and/or running deer. The temptation is too great for them out in the Great Beyond. I hear about which bucks they "missed", then find them the next year.

Good luck later in the month. Several if my biggest bucks have come late in December out there..

Fun to follow along now that my seasons are complete but always ready for more, so thanks.

my best, Paul

Good read, stay on them. It's all about persistence. Thanks for doing this.

Is that a Haiku?

Ha, Andy, it IS a haiku! 5-7-5. :)

Well we went out with a whimper so to speak. My buddy ended up staying in Kansas for a whitetail hunt and shot a 180"+ whitey with his rifle and one leg. Super pumped for him and not at all disappointed that he wasn't able to go out for antelope.

I got sick as a dog for those last weekends and am currently at DIA headed for the honeymoon. Needless to say I think this was my last shot out there for a few years anyways. She has an interview for KSU's veterinary program and I've got a sneaking suspicion that I'll be living in Kansas by august for a few years. It was a fun run and I'll always be back.

Thanks for following along. Sorry no hero shot but it was a great time as always. Till next year.

How about a pic of that 180 whitey?

Thanks for sharing with us. These semi live hunts don't always go as expected, like all hunting. You two had fun and learned some stuff. That's what matters. And doing it together is awesome!

Best of luck with the interview, have a great honeymoon, and know that the deer hat works pretty well in Kansas, too!

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