I am a year around hunter and I spend as much time in the woods as I can. I have acquired a passion for shed hunting in early spring and I finally purchased a couple of trail cameras at the end of last season and I'm enjoying them and the pics I've gotten from them.
This year started a little later than last year for me. The DEC didn't allow us to shoot bucks during the first fourteen days of the season saying we have too many does. I see about four bucks to every single doe on the farm I hunt and I didn't want to be tempted by seeing a good one, so I stayed out of the tree until yesterday. Heck.....last season I didn't start hunting until the 10th so I wasn't concerned.
Yesterday morning was the perfect morning to hunt the oaks on the farm. The wind was blowing gently out of the WSW and I was in my tree with my climber before sunup. I had high hopes and I wasn't disappointed. It all started with a beautiful sunrise.
Last Thursday I had gone down to the farm to move one of my ladder stands to a better position and after I got that done, I walked into the oaks to see what was what. It was not forty yards from my favorite tree that I found the beginning of a rub line that looked like it was from a decent buck. The trees being rubbed were not all that big but the height of the rubs and the depth of the gouges indicated a good buck. I was pretty excited and hung a trail camera overlooking two of the rubs.
Yesterday morning as I was sitting about 18 feet up, I saw my first deer at 7:25.... a small spike followed by a young nine or ten pointer with a very spindly rack. The walked right through the rub line and past my trail cam.
As they came past my tree at a little over 20 yards I decided to pass on the shot as I thought the bucks should grow a couple more years.
All in all.... I saw five different bucks but only the two I passed were in bow range. The only buck I might have taken a shot at was actually trailing a doe about fifty yards away and didn't offer a shot.
I decided to sit until after 11:00 because of the solunar tables.... we had a minor activity period until 11:00 am. I wished I had sat until noon to be honest. I climbed down my tree at around 11:30 and started packing up. I went over to my trail cam and switched the card with the one in my Nikon camera and checked out the photo's accumulated in a week. As I walked back towards my tree I saw a wide deer running away to the west. I couldn't see horns but it was a big mature deer.
There were several bucks shown in the 32 pictures but one I'll post is a buck I've never seen live or on trail cam before. He visited the rubs at 7:56 am on 10/11 and I'd like to get a better look at him but I think I'd make him my number two priority as of now.
In total, I saw at least 15 deer for my first morning hunt and I am pleased with just being up a tree once again.
I went back to the farm for evening watch after taking care of some things during mid day and I had high hopes for great movement just before the storm that was coming but it was not meant to be.
I sat in my ladder stand on the west side of the big corn field and hoped to see that big nine pointer I've already posted a picture of. Not a single deer was seen. I walked out in the wind and rain in the dark and digested everything that had happened on my first day. I started to smile on my short drive home.
It was a great way to start my season. A perfect sunrise..... lots of deer seen..... a new shooter emerges..... life is good.
I am not hunting this weekend so my next trip to the oaks will be Monday morning. Maybe number two will join me!
I hope you enjoy these stories about my hunt. I hope you learn some things along the way. We are never promised another a day so make the best of this day. Try to make somebody smile.
I also picked out a new tree to climb with my climbing stand that should put me in a great spot should he come into the corner of the oaks I'll be hunting.
I love the chess match.
On the way out I found a scrape that was just opened overnight on the edge of the cornfield to the north of the oaks, so I put a trail cam on it. I can't wait to see what is using it.
I promise I won't pass on number 2 skipmaster1. But I'd really, really like to bring number 1 out of the woods.
I'll post a picture of number 1 and you will see why.
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The walk in was uneventful and took about 25 minutes to walk the almost 3/4 mile.
I climbed a different tree about 40 yards further towards the back of the oaks. I was actually watching those rubs I showed the pictures of, not really hunting over them but I thought I would be in a better position to tag #2.
As the sun came up, the woods came to life. The squirrels were driving me crazy. There are more grey squirrels this year than I've ever seen!
I didn't see my first deer until around 8:00 am and as luck would have it, he was a potential shooter. Yes...... I said it.... potential. He was a big bodied deer with either eight or ten points although they were all short and stubby! He has a good spread, easily outside his ears.
He came within 40 yards but didn't offer me a shot. I breathed a sigh of relief as he walked away. I swear, I would have tagged him if he let me, but I would rather tag #1 or #2 more.
The reason he walked away was as if was watching him and ready to come to draw, he snapped his head around and looked towards the corn to the north. Here comes two more deer walking slow and methodically like they were almost sleep walking. The first was a six point and the other was a spike!
Apparently, this big buck did not like the spike and as soon as he got about 30 yards from him, he took off running at him and chased him out of the oaks, like he was chasing a hot doe. I don't recall ever seeing this before.
I settled down and waited for more action. It didn't take long for that to happen. Behind me came a small five point and he was just walking, looking for acorns, crunching one now and then. He disappeared to the south towards the bedding area.
At about 10:30, a four point came walking up the hedge behind me actually in my boot tracks. I sprayed my boots with scent killer before first use. And they NEVER see the inside of my truck unless they are in a plastic bag. I also make sure to step in every pile of deer dung I can find.
So here he comes....... walking and sniffing just like a beagle right to my tree. He stopped..... looked confused..... walked circles around my tree trying to find the trail. He finally gave up and headed to the bedding area.
By now I was frozen and I decided to pour a cup of coffee from my thermos. It warmed me up and I decided to stay a little longer. It's a good thing I also packed a few cookies to go with it! At around 11:00 the four pointer came in for a picture.
I decided to leave a little after noon and as I walked out, I stopped and checked my trail camera that I left near the scrape. I was surprised with 32 pictures since last Thursday, including two bucks I hadn't seen before. One is a potential shooter, nine pointer. He is a little young but would look great with a tag. Remember. ... there are two other guys hunting this farm.
I returned to hunt in the afternoon, but I'm sad to report, only one deer was seen and I am not even sure what it was.
My next hunt is Wednesday morning. Stay tuned,
The next one shows a doe standing in the picture watching the direction I went.
I don't think I did a very good job of sneaking in, do you?
I've never seen him before.
I use the Wildgame Innovations, Blade 8 X model. They are cheap enough if they grow legs but still give a pretty good picture.
I ALWAYS spray them with scent killer whenever I handle them.
Stay tuned..... it's about to get fun. I'm going to introduce my buck decoy to these deer when rattling and calling!
I'm set up on the west side of the oaks and have my decoy set up about 20 yards out in front quartering to the left of me.
I've used the black rack rattle horns twice combined with my grunt tube in case number 2 is around. No response.
There is virtually no wind blowing so I'm not sure why the deer are not moving this morning.
I hit the grunt and he kept walking. I pulled out the black rack and started banging away and he stopped. I gave a snort wheeze and followed up with some more rack and he came on a trot. I got my bow ready but when he was about 50 yards away, I knew I wasn't going to shoot him. He was only a crotch horn.
He kept coming and stopped about 30 yards away. Then he saw the decoy and stared at it for about 2 minutes. He came within five feet and tried to sniff it. Then he snapped his head up and looked to the north and I knew I had more deer coming.
Two more young bucks came in. One was postiering as he approached the decoy. All three bucks were within 15 yards broadside and would have been a slam dunk of a shot. The whole experience took about 45 minutes before they gave up and walked off. More to come.
I grunted at them and stopped them but they just stood there. I pulled out the rattle horns and ticked them lightly. Nothing. But they were still standing, looking in my direction. I hit them a little harder. Still standing, looking. They started to walk away. I grunted. They kept walking.
I sat down feeling frustrated and then realized I had another deer responding and he was only 40 yards out and locked onto my decoy. He got to 30 yards and stopped behind some trees. He stood there and then started pawing the ground. It seemed like forever. He finally realized something was wrong and turned and walked away. I recognized him as a nine pointer that is slightly smaller than the big nine but I would have been happy tagging him.
I'm getting ready to leave my stand and head home. Next hunt is Friday.
No deer I'm sight. I am going to give it another hour and call it a day.
Next hunt is Monday.
As it started to get lighter, I used my range finder and established my shooting ranges, the farthest being only 26 yards. The biggest downfall with this stand is the deer can sneak in on you. The cover is thick and you can't see to far in the direction the deer will be coming from.
The morning was colder than what I thought it might be but I had dressed in layers so it wasn't too bad. I'm glad I put a couple of small hand warmers in the pockets of my Hunter Specialties safety vest.
My first deer of the morning appeared on the trail in front of me at a little after 8:00. It was the nice five point that I have passed on while in the oaks last week. He was just walking slowly like he didn't have a care in the world. But he paused when he came to the spot where I had crossed the trail almost two hours earlier. He sniffed around for a minute and went on his way.
About a half hour later in could see another deer moving along the edge of the corn field about 100 yards away. I looked through my binoculars and seen it was a small buck. I pulled out the grunt tube and he stopped and looked in my direction. I blew it again and he came closer but after a minute of indecision, he continued on his way toward the oaks in the south.
At around 9:30 I saw some movement up the trail. I was ready with bow in hand as the next deer appeared. It was a four pointer and he stepped out and I was at full draw. I held as he continued to walk past also heading south towards the bedding area. I relaxed my bow and hung it back on the hanger.
It wasn't twenty minutes later when two more little bucks came down the trail and headed to the bedding area, a spike and another four point.
My morning was over and I climbed down and walked over to check my trail camera that I left watching that scrape. I was disappointed to see only six pictures captured since last Friday. Things are slowing down at the scrape.
My walk back to my truck was really pleasant with the warm sunshine on my face. I am blessed to be able to hunt one more season. And I'm looking forward to being in the stand again tomorrow morning. I plan on hunting the west side of the oaks and stay a little longer hoping to find the bigger bucks cruising between bedding areas on each side of the oaks. The wind is supposed to be out of the east again.
The morning was a little warmer than yesterday but the wind was out of the east. I thought I needed to get back into the oaks so I decided to hunt the west side, on the edge of one of the bedding areas. Once up the tree, I settled in and waited for the sunrise. It was a gorgeous sunrise too! I never get tired of seeing the sun rise.
7:25 is when the first buck walked by my tree. A four point....... he was casually looking for acorns and he found a few. I was surprised to be able to hear the pop that they made when he found one. He soon headed to the bedding area.
At 8:30 another small buck, spike horn, walked up behind my tree coming from the corn field. He paused every few feet sniffing for acorns. He stopped and looked behind him so I knew something was following him. Out stepped a six point.
It was about that time that three doe came off the Brush lot to the south. The spike ran to great them but the other guy stood watching. Finally another doe showed up along the edge of the brush lot and the six point ran to it and started chasing it through the brush lot never to be seen again. Soon, all the deer were gone.
I was about to give up when I spotted more movement behind me. Out steps another four point. He walked by very casually headed to the bedding area.
So my day ended with more opportunities to fill my tag but no arrows were released. I've lost count on how many bucks have been in easy bow range but so far they've all been there wrong ones.
My next hunt will be Friday morning. Maybe a shooter will walk by my stand.
Shawn..... I haven't pulled out the drag rag yet, but when I do, I use a tarsal gland taken from a buck not native to the area. I soak it with buck urine in a zip lock bag with an unscented rag. I use a zip tie and drag gland and rag on a six foot long cord tied to my ankle. It's best to freshen the drag about every 100 yards or so.
What do you use?
The rest of the bucks I saw this morning didn't read the script!
I had a good wind to hunt the funnel stand at the southeast corner of the oaks. This is the area that is have pictures of my number two bucks coming and going through. I had a steady breeze of about 10 MPH out of the northwest. I was up and waiting for sunrise. Have I ever told you how much I love the sunrise?
After the spike walked by its had a chance to relax as I sat and watched the woods come to life. Squirrels and chipmunks were every place.
Just a little before 8:00 I sensed some movement coming behind me from my left. As I got a better look, I got excited. I big bodied 8 pointer was headed to bed. He passed just 20 yards behind my tree and paused so I could get a good look at him.
He was a very respectable buck that I might regret passing. I have seen trail cam pictures of three bucks that are bigger so I left my bow hanging on the hook and just watched him until he walked out of my life. Somebody kick me! ?? He is the biggest buck I have ever let walk!
At around 9:00 am a four pointer made his way towards the bedding area about 60 yards to the west. He was on a mission.
At sometime around 10:00 it started to rain and I pulled up my hood on a scent free jacket. The rain lasted about 15 minutes..... just enough to dampen everything.
While sitting in the rain, I noticed movement to my right. A shaky little three points had come out of the bedding area for a snack. I watched as he fed on some hickory nuts and acorns without a care in the world. He finally headed east towards a different bedding area we call hillside.
And so the action stopped and it was time to sneak out. On the way out, I checked the trail cam setup over the scrape on the side of the cornfield and was surprised to see there were 35 pictures. I pulled the card and downloaded them before posting this.
It's time to get some rest..... yes..... old guys do that.... and make sure I'm ready for tomorrow mornings hunt. I'll be sitting in my favorite tree in the morning. It's the one I've killed my two best bucks so far.
Did I make a mistake?
One reason I passed on him was he was hanging out with number two! Pictures of both bucks were from the same trail camera and just one minute apart!
I am hunting a different stand in the morning but I will be back in that one Monday morning.
My next hunt will be Monday. If
This morning was a bit of disappointment. I hunted the funnel stand and had hopes of seeing Number 2 but all I saw was a little scrub buck walking the hedge row headed to bed about an hour after sunrise.
As I walked out I checked my trail camera at the scrape and only had pictures of three deer since last Friday.
I spoke with Ed, one of the other guys hunting the farm and he said he only saw two little bucks and one hen turkey over the weekend. He hunted both days morning and evening.
I can't be in the woods now until Thursday. I'll be traveling the next two days to attend funerals for my aunt and a dear friend of the family.
In looking at my calendar, I only have four more mornings to hunt before we leave for New Mexico to visit grandkids and help Cason eat some cake for his second birthday.
Let's hope the big boys get moving better during daylight.
I'm going to try to hunt tomorrow morning and if I can get in the stand, I might stay all day. Wish me luck!
With the issues with my sore back, I decided to hunt my ladder stand that was perfect for todays WNW wind. I was comfortable and my back didnt bother me while hunting and that's about it.
I spoke with the other two guys that were hunting the farm and nobody saw a deer today.
My time is running out on this season with only Monday morning and evening left for me. I might try to push it and hunt Wednesday morning if I can't get it done Monday.
We leave early Thursday morning for New Mexico and do not get back until the following Thursday night late.
I've had a pretty good season so I guess I shouldn't complain.
I was headed into the oaks today and with the southwest wind, I decided to sit in my favorite tree at the hub of the wheel. I call it this because during the first season hunting this farm, I watched almost every deer that came through oaks walk within bow range of this one tree regardless of the direction they were coming from or headed. So far I've taken two bucks while in that tree.
I was up my tree and waiting for some action before first light and enjoying the sunrise once again. It was pretty chilly this morning and it really got cold right after the sun got up. I was dressed for it but I'm getting old and the cold weather is starting to bother me.
As I sat waiting...... and waiting..... I wondered if I was going to see anything. An hour later I was still wondering. I pulled out my Black Rack and played a rumble song and ended with a series of grunts. As I sat and looked around, I wondered where the deer were. We're they in lock down? It was already after 7:30.
I was watching both north and south.... nothing. Ten minutes went by and I glanced over my shoulder to check my down wind area and to my surprise, a big deer was about 60 yards out and heading straight for my tree. It was a pretty good one too. It was a narrow 10 point with high horns that I've never seen before.
He stopped behind a tree and I stood up and got my bow down from the hanger and to my surprise, he was staring at me. I froze and he finally relaxed and started walking again but he took a turn to the right at about 30 yards and headed to the bedding area. I sat back down and replayed that scene over and over in my mind. What did I do wrong? How could I learn from it?
As I sat there shivering for the next hour, I decided it was time for some coffee. I poured a little into my cup from my thermos and hung the thermos on the side of my stand. As I took a sip, I noticed a lone doe coming from the corn field to the north. I quickly drank the hot coffee and screwed the top back on the thermos.
Sure enough... there was another deer behind her coming out of the corn. It was a buck. A real good buck and this doe was leading him down the trail that I killed my 8 pointer on. He stopped and rubbed a tree about 30 yards behind her. I admired the buck. I don't ever count points until I walk up to me dead deer but he was big with beautiful white antlers high and wide.
The doe started to move 20 yards to go and so did he. I was already up, turned and had my release hooked up. She came within 15 yards and stopped. Then she turned to her left and started to walk behind my tree..... down wind! No worries..... she didn't wind me..... Hugh sigh of relief.
Here he comes..... walking.... stopped and then turned to his left. He stopped with his head behind a tree. I drew..... his tail twitched and he took another step and stopped. He raised his head and blew..... jumped.... and spun around so fast. Just like that, he was gone.
I sat down watched them leave the oaks for the bedding area back to the east of the corn. I smiled because that was the biggest deer I've ever came to full draw on. I poured another cup of coffee and enjoyed a couple of cookies with it as I thought about everything that had happened.
A half hour later, I saw some movement on the edge of the brush lot about 100 yards to the south. I pulled out the Black Rack and started to make some music. Sure enough, here comes yet another shooter. He came to within 40 yards but continued to walk towards the corn. I even tried to grunt him.... no luck. I sat back down.
20 minutes..... another buck coming at me from the south. He walks right up in front of my tree and stops. 15 yards broadside stands a spike. He was off unmolested.
Fifteen minutes later..... another buck coming from the south..... same trail, same results. Dead stop broadside, 15 yards.
All in all I saw ten different bucks..... four shooters.... six yearlings. Four yearlings within 15 yards broadside. What the heck? Why not one of the big bucks?
I stayed in the tree until noon and decided to head out for lunch and then return for the afternoon hunt.
The afternoon hunt was spent in one of my ladder standstand about 100 yards off of the edge of the corn. This is the trail that the big nine pointer was caught on trail camera on a couple of times. It was pretty uneventful with a small buck chasing three does around during the last 15 minutes of shooting light. I'm not even sure how big he was as I never had him stand still. But he wasn't much.
So there was my day. And now I'm down to one more morning hunt. Even if I don't tag out, I can say that this has been a pretty good season so far, don't you think?
Next hunt, Wednesday morning!
My last day to bow hunt in 2015 has come and gone without much fanfare. This mornings weather was just the opposite of Mondays. It was warm, 50 degrees, and rainy.
And as good as Mondays hunt was...... todays was just as bad! I never saw a deer until 10:00..... and I was only eight feet off the ground in my climber. It was a four pointer and I saw him before he knew I was there. I stood still and he walked by just twenty yards away and after he disappeared, I continued to finish my climb down.
Yep...... I decided to leave earlier this morning to try to get all the loose ends tied up before our flight tomorrow morning. We are going to love watching young Cason turn two years old.
My hunting clothes are in the washer so they will be ready for first day of shotgun season the day after we return. My climber has been wiped down and put away and so has my bow. Everything has been put away except the wonderful memories that were created for me and for them, I am eternally grateful!
Good luck to you all and finish the bow season in style.
I will continue this story during shotgun season but I'm not too excited for taking the gun to the woods.
It took me a long time to realize that there is more to life than hunting.
I've hunted one other day and saw nothing but a spike and I refused to shoot him a couple of times during bow, so why would I kill him now? The scrapes had been cold and I pulled my trail cams until after the season closes so they don't get stolen.
Yesterday I went down to the farm at around 11:00am to install two new ladder stands in areas I will bow hunt next season. While walking one corn field edge, I found a hot scrape. It looks like some of the doe hadn't bred and Mr. Big was more than ready to invite them to.
I was tempted to sit on that corn field just to see what might come out, but I didn't. I'm not into the gun hunt anymore. (did I just say that?)
After I put in the last ladder stand, I was walking out and had to cross the little creek on the edge of the oaks. As I looked for a place to step on the other bank, I saw a shed that had been there for a while. I'll post a picture from my phone.
I would have planed to hunt the late bow season but our DEC says doe only in my area.... and I said..... ok.... lets go to Disney World and see the Christmas decorations instead!
So......my wife and I are leaving for Walt Disney World on Monday and will be gone until next Saturday and I will put out trail cameras during the following week as I get ready for another bow season.
My focus is completely on bow season 2016!
Thank you Lord for another chance to hunt!
