Each year I've tried to share my thoughts, my hunts and my experience with my Bowsite friends to try to help you become a better hunter.... not because I'm an expert hunter. I am not!
I'm just an old guy that has enjoyed being in a tree stand for the past forty years. I've had more failures than success but you can still learn from my experience, good or bad.
If you remember.... last season I felt it was one of my best seasons ever... and I did not put my tag on a deer. But my definition of success is not measured by killing a deer. I passed on a decent eight pointer early in the season while waiting for the big nine or the ten pointer that was at the top of my hit list. I saw some great sunrises and had several encounters with good bucks but things just didn't work out.
I didn't spend as much time at the farm this off season as I feel that I know enough about where the deer like to bed, eat and travel so I didn't have to stink up the place with extra scouting.
I didn't put up any trail cameras until September second and I have gotten pictures of three possible shooters. However I still haven't got a good picture of Mr. Big yet. The only picture I have of him is a ghost like image of him coming through the oaks on one evening at around 9:45pm and it wasn't worthy of sharing. It shows ten solid points with good tine length and the picture has made him my number one shooter. I believe him to be at least five and a half years old and in his prime!
I have four ladder stands positioned in good locations on the farm, adding two towards the end of last season that I haven't hunted out of yet.
One is in the oaks and replaces using my climber and one is on what I think is the best early morning stand on the farm. It is best hunted with a southeast wind as the bucks think they have an advantage but it has proven that I've never been detected with that wind.
The deer use this trail to get through the thick stuff from one corn field to the bedding area on the southwest side of the oaks. I've always seen deer very early on this trail and I it leaves me an eighteen yard broadside shot with a twenty yard natural opening. No trimming was needed so all is natural to the deer.
The other new ladder stand that I put up last November is in the northwest corner (ideal for any wind from the south) of one of the corn fields that the deer love to feed on after the corn has been chopped. They had a small narrow trail that I figured the does would easily use but it presented the bigger bucks with many obstacles to get through. When I went to the farm to put up my cameras, I took a small chainsaw with me, with the land owners blessings, and I trimmed out the trail a little to make it easier for the racked bucks to use it and from the trail camera pictures it has been proven to be a success. I have pictures of two of my shooter bucks using the trail already. I'll add some"before and after" pictures so you can get an idea of what I did. During my last time checking trail cameras, I notice several scrapes opened up and some rubs started with the best one about fifty yards up the trail from the stand I hope to hunt out of on opening day.
I'm looking forward to Saturday morning and I expect the other guys that hunt the farm will all be in their favorite stands. I'm hoping for the southeast wind that has been forecasted for the past several days and if so I might have some good pictures to show.
I hope you enjoy reading my stories about my hunting experiences and thoughts and if so please comment as we hunt our way through 2016 archery season.
I am going to the farm on Friday and pull my trail cams and hope to show some more pics.
My opening day will be Monday morning.
I also take wind direction, feeding and bedding areas areas into consideration. The route I take into me best morning stand takes me about a half hour. I use a circle technique.... learned at an early age.
If I am just walking from my truck to the stand during the off season, I can be there in ten minutes.
I see about 90% of the good bucks in the morning and fine that evening hunts are barely worth my time.
On the bright side..... Mondays wind is forecast as perfect for my stand with the best trail cam photos. So there goes an excuse I can't use for failure to tag on Monday.
The wind was perfect for my best and favorite stand in the oaks. Last fall I moved one of my ladder stands to my favorite tree and this was my first time sitting in it.
As the woods started to wake up, a soft sprinkle started to fall. I couldn't really feel it but I heard it hitting the leaves around me. As it got lighter I noticed what I thought was a scrape not ten yards from the tree but thought it couldn't be. There has never been one in the middle of the oaks before but sure enough..... it was there as the daylight brightened up. There was another about 15 yards behind me also.
When I sit in my stand in the oaks all my hunting memories flood my mind as I wait and watch for my new memory to happen before me, but today..... no new memories were made.
It was quiet and slow with several squirrels out looking for acorns but no deer until 8:41am. I noticed some movement coming from the corn field to the north and a little behind me so I got up and pulled my bow off of the hanger so I'd be ready.
When the deer finally got close enough to see I thought I saw antlers but I also knew it was just a yearling. As he got closer it was confirmed.... a spike... and disappointment set in. He walked right past at 15 yards ignoring both me and the scrape.
I sat for another hour before climbing down and made a short walk to check out the area that the bigger bucks were rubbing in last year and sure enough, one of the trees showed the start of the big boys rubbing on the rub line.
I left the oaks and went to checkout my last trail camera that I put up watching over a scrape. I had read a thread from last year by Jdawg entitled "Anyone playing with licking branches" and tried it in an area that had two little scrapes, one with a licking branch that had been broken off completely. I cut a sapling and wedged it up in there and low and behold, I've got a couple of bucks hitting it that I haven't seen before. Thanks Jdawg for giving me another tool.
I'm not sure when I'm hunting the farm again as I'd like to wait for an east wind so I can hunt my ladder stand that is about 75 yards up the trail from those scrapes so stay tuned.
I'll post a couple pictures later today after I get back from my Tuesday golf game.
Good luck this season.
I have to be patient enough to make sure we get a perfect wind.... SSE and ESE are best as the deer think the wind is in their favor..... but any east wind will allow me to go undetected.
My first deer was a button buck followed by a spike about a half hour later. Both passed at 20 yards without looking in my direction. They were headed to the north corn field.
At around 6:00pm three does came up the trail..... and four more followed about ten minutes latter. Why is this significant? If you've been following my hunts over the past few years, you probably can't remember me seeing a lot of does together. While I'm sure our doe population is healthy,I've never seen many together during deer season.
At around 6:30 I noticed some antlers coming through the thick brush to my southeast and I made my self ready. I was up, bow in hand, turned and waiting. He walked out and headed to my shooting lane and right away I knew who he was. It was the small eight pointer that I have several photos of. He walked into the shooting lane and posed for me. I was tempted but he does need a couple of years to grow. As he walked by,I smiled and waited until he was past and sat back down unnoticed.
I was feeling excited during the next few minutes of legal shooting light but my parade of deer ended.
It was getting too dark to shoot and I gathered my stuff and climbed down my ladder. Another successful hunt in the books. And not one deer that passed by had noticed this old guy in the ladder stand.
As I walked out taking a long circular route I ran into Ed, one of the other hunters on the farm and we finished the walk together. He hadn't seen a thing moving. I asked him if he had any trail cameras out and he said no, he doesn't own any. Kind of surprising.
I'll try again on Monday I think.....
I talked with two others hunting the farm on the walk out and they didn't see any deer either. Strange morning!
My next hunt won't be before Wednesday.
Good luck tonight!
I had a big mature doe with two smaller does about fifty yards away but they turned around and went back the way they came. I don't think I was winded but I don't know for sure.
I'll try again on Wednesday.
After I got home and had diner with my wife, I downloaded the pictures and was quite surprised.
What do you think?
It was also the first time using my decoy and rattling horns but I think it is a little early for them, but worth a try.
After setting up my buck decoy, I walked across to the other side of the oaks and pulled a drag rag with a tarsel gland soaked in buck urine. But nothing came through the oaks this morning.
Tomorrow we are supposed to have an east wind which will be perfect for a different ladder stand about 100 yards from the licking branch. I've always seen bucks while sitting in this stand but never a shooter. Maybe tomorrow!
I also pulled the card from the licking branch camera and had 16 photos showing all nocturnal photos and no shooters...... only little bucks and does visiting. I'm not surprised by the deer turning nocturnal. There are three others hunting this farm and the deer are adapting to the pressure. And the full moon and warm daytime temperature doesn't help either
But I am surprised that no shooters appeared at all.
This mornings hunt was once again in my favorite stand and the wind was perfect, straight out of the West. No sooner than it got light out, I had three bucks come from the bedding area to the south instead of coming off the corn field to the north. Go figure.... the deer were doing exactly the opposite of what you expect.
They were all within 35 yards walking like they were half asleep. They milled around the oaks for the next half hour or so and then all of a sudden, they bedded down right there in front of me.
See if you can see the buck...... look for his white belly.
It would have been an easy shot.
I made a short trip to check out my trail cam over at the licking branch and left for home after switching out cards. It showed a couple of s ru6bucks but also one decent one still hitting it.
I had some lunch and after checking out the weather forecast for the afternoon, I decided to go back to the same stand for the evening hunt. The wind was forecast for WNW which would be perfect. As I climbed up into my stand I couldn't help but thank my maker for allowing me another hunt.
While watching to the south bedding area, I kept looking over my shoulder towards the corn field. And sure enough the first deer to show themselves were three does walking the edge of the corn. Why can't they do what we expect them to do?
A few minutes later, I looked to the east side of the oaks and sure enough, there stands a lone doe. How did she get there? How could she have gotten to that spot without me seeing her before that? I'll never know, but there she was walking away towards the east.
At around 5:30pm I saw movement coming from the bedding area to the south. It was a buck....... a nice eight pointer but not really the one I wanted. He kept coming...... steadily walking...... he was going to cross on the same trail that the little six pointer walked this morning. I began to think....... do I.... or don't I?
Before I realized it the predator in me was up, bow in hand and ready to make the shot. He stopped..... and stood...... just about thirty yards away protected by a couple of trees. The wind shifted........ just a little and he sensed something wasn't right. He turned and started to walk away but the direction he took would put him in range to my left.
He stopped and snapped his head around looking towards the swamp. In an instant he was gone. I don't know why he spooked. But he did...... running towards the bedding area to the south. Was it another buck? I grunted twice...... nothing. Bleated twice....... nothing. I have absolutely no idea why he spooked but I'm kind of glad he did.
Light was fading fast so I decided to climb down and head out. My next hunt should be Wednesday. See you then.
The wind was good for my favorite stand in the oaks and as I walked in I checked the four different scrapes along the way. Two are going unused and two were fresh. One..... was really fresh. It's the one along the back edge of the corn field so my hopes of seeing a shooter was dashed right there.
As I made my way back through the oaks in the dark, I couldn't help but feel good knowing I had been granted another day in the stand. I don't take those lightly!
As I approached my stand, I noticed the scrape that was 15 yards behind my ladder stand hadn't been touched. Before I climbed my ladder, I walked across the oaks towards the swamp and stopped on the edge. I pulled the tarsal gland and drag rag from the zip lock bag and applied a little more buck urine on it and walked back towards my stand. I hung it on a sapling about three feet high just on the upwind side of the clearing.
I climbed up into my ladder stand, secured my harness, pulled my bow and pack up and settled in. It started to etc light about 20 minutes later. I could see my pins in a few more minutes......... all I needed was a good buck. I waited..........
I have a lot of experience hunting in this area and I know the bucks usually don't come into sight until about an hour after shooting light and sure enough, the first buck came from the south west are just around 8:00am. It was a four point and he passed by my tree at about 20 yards. He disappeared towards the cornfield.
Ten minutes after another small buck was spotted along the edge of the brush lot. Another small buck was seen a half hour later walking along the far side of the oaks ND he completely ignored you scent trail I had dragged about two hours earlier.
I stayed in my tree until around 11:00 enjoying my time...... and yes "bow shot", I enjoyed my coffee and cookies once again. I poured the last of my coffee and took time to call my son. Today is his 46th birthday and I know he was hunting over in 6K by his house. It was great speaking tree to tree with him! I wished him a happy birthday and enjoyed our conversation.
My coffee was gone so I decided it was time to leave. I lowered my gear and climbed down and headed home.
Today's hunt was a successful hunt. I enjoyed very second of it. Especially remembering where I was..... what I was doing 46 years ago...... holding my son for the first time!
I'm going to try to hunt tomorrow morning but I will have to leave the woods earlier. My stepson and family from New Mexico is arriving at around 11:00am for a short visit. They will be here until Tuesday morning so we only have a short time to spoil our grandkids.
I'm going to have to step up my game after they leave...... we fly to New Mexico on November 9th to be with them for eight days....... and don't return until the day before gun season starts over here.
Stay tuned..........
I couldn't until this morning because of getting ready for family of arrive...... too much to do. ??
I'll be hunting next week Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday if need be.
Our grandson's here from New Mexico and I am loving every minute. He's constantly on the go but I was able to take a quick picture of him sitting with grandma.
My stepson and family fly out Tuesday and I will have but six hunting days to get it done before we fly to New Mexico for a week. We return in time for the gun opener.
I'm truly hoping that this rain will have the big bucks moving before it's too dark to shoot this evening. I hunted yesterday morning and retrieved my cards from my two trail cameras which helped me confirm that the stands I need to be concentrating on isn't my favorite stand in the oaks. And yes.... I hunted the oaks yesterday morning only seeing one buck.. about 60 yards away sniffing the ground as he rapidly walked towards the swamp bedding area to the west. I grunted at him and he didn't even acknowledge it. I know he was a racked buck but I don't think he was a shooter. It was the only deer moving in the oaks all morning probably due to the warm 60 degree temps.
But when loading up my pictures on my laptop yesterday evening I saw several things that educated me a little more.
1. There was somebody sitting in my ladder stand on Saturday evening. How do I know? When I climb out, I always fold the bow hanger back to the back of the tree and flip the seat up. When I climbed in yesterday morning the hanger was extended and the seat was down. In the early morning light I noticed a scent canister on a limb about 15 yards away. It wasn't mine. I don't use any scent except a tarsal gland with buck urine.
2. I had a picture on my trail cam of him walking out on Saturday evening at 6:15pm. I didn't recognize the culprit but I will speak with the guys and let them know I don't want anyone using my stands during bow season.
3. The licking branch trail cam revealed my number one buck arriving several times at just past shooting light. I am pretty sure he is walking by two of my stands to get there. I just need the right wind and be in there when he comes by a little earlier. Also several does are showing up on the licking branch during day light. See the attached picture.
4. two other shooters also appeared on the same trail cam showing me more opportunity on that end of the farm.
All my camo is washed stored in scent free bags and ready for each day from today until Monday. It's now or never.
I hope to be posting a happy picture the next time I post an update. Wish me luck!
The picture I shared makes it look like open hardwood but I am sitting right on the edge of the cover. As I sit, facing the west, I'm just about 60 yards from the big cattail wamp. To my left..... the open hardwood and to my right..... thick and brushy. The area where my licking branch trail camera so set. The picture was taken from behind my stand looking towards the cornfield.
This stand is set up about a quarter mile from here I park my truck but to get to this spot without pooling the deer I have to travel about three quarters of a mile or get there. This morning, my walk was easy and uneventful. As I climbed up into my ladder stand I was hoping to get a glimpse of one of the shooters that have been showing up on camera.
At first light, I sensed some movement of my right. Sure enough a small buck was making his way towards me but a little behind me. If he kept walking email would be down wind so I hit my grunt call and he stopped. I hit it once more and he turned ND walked out my tree and just stood and looked. After almost a minute, he turned and walked back into the brush.
About 45 minutes later all hell broke out. There was a deer running as fast as I've ever seen coming from the swamp ND running all through the brush. It ran towards the corn and then turned around and ran past me again towards the swamp. About two minutes later it ran back towards me and stopped not the area of the licking branch. I could see it working the branch and then it would jump and play like a puppy. I finally was able to eek it's head through my binoculars...... spike horn. Then he disappeared not the brush.
About an hour later two more deer showed up near the swamp. They feed through and walked past me at about 40 yards. A different spike and a button buck. They walked into the corn field and disappeared.
At around 9:30 I decided to try my rattling horns. I started with soft ticking with plenty of pauses. Then I went into full blown rattling. It didn't take long for the action to happen. Coming from the brush was a deer on a dead run. In fact he came so fast, by the time realized email was coming, and I stopped rattling, he was less than 10 yards from you tree. The hair was up on his back and he was all buggy eyed! I wish he was bigger than the four pointer he was.
My morning was finished by 11:00 and I headed home for lunch.
By 3:30 I was back in the stand. It was real quiet until 5:30. There were three deer walking through the brush of my right headed towards the cornfield. Two does followed by a good buck. I couldn't get a good look at him but his body was twice the size of anything I've seen so far. Two minutes later he was walking back. I grunted at him to no avail.
As it started to get dark I picked my gear and prepared for the walk out. My day was over but it was a pretty good day in my book. I saw one shooter, grunted one in and also rattled one in. It gives me hope for the next couple of days. My hunting days are down to three more.
Plus..... I'm getting extremely tired. I'm taking this afternoon off but plan on being back in the stand tomorrow morning.
I decided on hunting the stand to the north of the farm, near the licking branch, where I've seen more bucks on camera. The wind was perfect..... out of the North and gentile. I had high hopes.
As it got light, I was up standing and waiting for the parade of deer to walk by. Yep..... you guessed it! It was slow. I saw one deer, about 60 to 70 yards way..... briefly, and I have no clue if it was a buck or a doe.
At a little after 9:00, I had a little doe working the edge of the thick brush as she headed to her bedding area in the swamp. And that was it. Nothing more to report.
As I climbed down, I decided to try and find a tree to get up on the inside of the brush, but there really isn't a tree big enough to climb. Everything is low hanging. So I thought about setting up your pop up blind for the evening hunt.
I walked out after picking out a spot for the blind convinced I could make it work. When I got home, my wife said, "hi stranger....... who are you? " So I knew I had to spend some time with her. I changed while she fixed me some breakfast and then email went shopping. I really could have used a nap but I had to keep her happy. I said whatever she wanted to do was okay but I had to be on my way to the farm by 2:00. And I almost made it
I arrived at the farm by 2:30 and loaded my Pop up blind not my back and walked quickly into the woods. I found your spot and set it up quickly hoping the deer wouldn't hybrid away from it. I brushed it in as quickly as I could and settled in. I was full of anticipation as I sat on my comfy little stool.
I saw nothing until just before dark. A lone doe coming trotting along and then was spooked by a fox just 40 yards from my blind! She jumped off the trail but came back to it right in front of me. I came to full draw and held...... I didn't want to shoot the doe but here she was..... standing broadside at just 15 yards. I kept looking behind her for a buck..... no such luck!
I let her pass and relaxed for the next couple of minutes so it got dark! My day was done....... and the walkway out was easy. I left my blind n the woods and will retrieve it tomorrow after my morning hunt. The wind will not be good for the blind tomorrow. I'm going to hunt the oaks. It is my last day to hunt before we travel to New Mexico.
After I retrieved my wallet from my hunting pants from yesterday I was back on the road. It takes me about twenty minutes to drive there so I was still in good shape. I pulled up in front of the horse barn and got ready. It was cold and frosty...... going to be a good day.
When I got to the oaks i got my bow and pack ready to hoist and then I still had time to lay a scent trail. I only use a drag rag soaked in dominant buck urine and stored with a tarsal gland. I walked to the other side of the oaks and dragged them back making sure to pass my ladder stand about 15 yards away. Then I hung the drag and tarsal gland about three foot off the ground. I was finally ready to climb up. Once situated, I made sure to nock an arrow.
As it started to lighten up, I noticed a deer coming up my scent trail. It was small so I wasn't to excited. It was a button buck and he hung around for over ten minutes. He was fun to watch as he tried to find that tarsal. Then he was gone, headed to the swamp.
About an hour later, a doe came walking up the trail. She browsed around looking for acorns but didn't find to many.
At around 9:30am a four point came walking through the oaks from the bedding area towards the cornfield.
At a little after 11:30, I decided to climb down and go take my blind out. I lowered my pack and dropped the rope. I removed the arrow and started the lower my bow and noticed some movement. It was a shooter headed my way. He was my number two buck, a mature big bodied deer with a wide and high 8 point rack.
I quickly pulled can my bow back up, nocked an arrow and was ready. He was going to pass about 60 yards away. I tried grunting...... no reaction. Doe bleats didn't faze him. He just kept walking and walking..... towards the cornfield. I decided to climb down and retrieve my pack and stay a little longer. I sat another hour and didn't see any more. I finally got out and walked across the farm to pack up my blind.
I got the blind packed and up to my truck in no time. I walked back to the cornfield found a comfy stump to sit on and checked my Mossy Oak Scoutlook weather app and it told me to hunt the oaks again so I headed that way. Once I was up in my stand, I decided it was time for lunch. Peanut butter and jelly tastes so much better from a tree stand! I sat until dark without seeing another deer.
My season has been a disappointment based on expectations but I have cherished every minute. We leave for New Mexico the day after tomorrow and return the Thursday night before shotgun opener. I might try to bow hunt on Friday afternoon.
Good luck to all during the next 11 days.
Today I played golf with some friends and during our conversations on the golf course, we talked about Elk hunting. One of the guys golfing with us harvested a five by five last month. When I told him my dream hunt was to bow hunt for elk, he told me to come back in December and hunt with him. He has two landowner tags and he would be willing to give me one for the ranch he hunts and even help me achieve the dream.
I might be able to take him up on it..... we will see.
We ran errands and at 2:00pm I jumped in the shower, put clean camo on and headed to the farm. I was walking past the horse barn by 3:00.
As I walked into the gateway between two cornfields, I noticed a doe feeding on corn left over from the harvest. She didn't know I was around. She stood broadside at just 25 yards. Why was she all alone?
I walked as quietly as I could towards my corner stand and she never really spooked. She just fed her way towards the woods and calmly walked into it.
I climbed up my ladder and settled in for evening watch. At around 3:45, the action picked up. Another LONE doe came out of the woods to the west and began feeding on the loose corn the farmer missed. She was about 100 yards away.
At 4:30....... another single doe came to the cornfield from the north..... head down without a care in the world. She was about 60 yards away and seemed very relaxed. While watching her, I sensed some movement behind me and sure enough, a small back was headed to the cornfield to my right. He came out on the trail I had widened with my chainsaw just before the season. He walked out at 15 yards and I was tempted. He was a small eight pointer with a skinny little body so I decided to pass.
It was about another 20 minutes before I decided to climb out and call it a day. As I walked from one cornfield to another there was one more lone deer feeding.
So...... I have got to ask...... why all the single deer when they should be fully into the rut?
Tomorrow morning I'll be in one of my stands for the morning watch but I don't know if I will be shooting anything.... we will see. Good luck and hunt safe on opening day of shotgun season.
There were four of us hunting the farm and two of the guys scored. One killed a four point (which I wouldn't have killed) about three hundred yards from me at around 9:00am.
One guy killed a small 10 pointer (two and a half year old) at around 11:00am on a deer drive on a neighboring property. While I was invited to do the drive with them, I declined as it is not to my liking. I prefer to hunt deer one on one and chose to hunt the oaks and enjoy the last of my cookies and coffee as I watched the open hardwoods hoping for one of the dumb ones to walk through.
I only hunted until around 1:00 and then retreated to my home to watch Syracuse football get beat up by Florida State. With the weather we've had recently, I haven't hunted again but I will try to make it out soon. I love still hunting in the snow and I've been pretty successful doing it when I lived in Camden and hunted bigger woods than what I've got here. I loved slipping through the bedding areas and catching a good buck in the bed without him knowing he was about to be shot.
I usually make a trip to DeRyter on the Friday after Thanksgiving to hunt out of Camp Lone Pine with dear friends but my buddy had open heart surgery this psat Monday and his doc has him sitting at home for ten days. While I am still welcome to hunt at the camp with everyone else, it just isn't the same without him so I'll hunt around here instead.
I enjoy carrying my Traditions muzzle loader but I rarely pull the trigger on a deer. Maybe this year I will.... who knows. Enjoy!
I grew up in Cleveland, not far from Camden. Camden is my favorite village. I live in Constantia now.
One morning hunt from my ladder stand in the oaks, I had one lone doe at first light feed her way to the swamp bedding area to the west and that was all. I did get excited when I saw her as she stopped, raised her head and looked behind her. I had visions of the big buck behind her but she was indeed alone.
Yesterday afternoon I carried my Traditions muzzle loader and hunted from the ground in the oaks and never saw a deer. There was a good cold front coming through in the evening and it should have had the deer moving...... but nothing.
But I did see two guys in a side by side 4 Wheeler riding slowly along the edge of an adjoining property. The passenger had a gun in his hands as they drove past the edge of the oaks.
I might hunt one more time during gun but I hope to put together a game plan for late bow.
The corn came down while I was in New Mexico and my sitings have become almost nonexistent. But with a cold front coming in and a strong winds from the northwest, I figured I had a better chance yesterday afternoon so I went and hunted the northwest corner of the farm overlooking a fairly open area with the really thick stuff to my right. This is the same spot that I killed the 6 pointer without guard tines a couple of years ago on the last day of late muzzle loader season.
I have two ladder stands nearby but I prefer to hunt from the ground when hunting with my muzzle loader. I'm not afraid to make a move on a deer that may be just out of range or in the thicker stuff when I first see them.
Sunset was at 4:35pm yesterday and I was posted up by 3:00. The cold winter was in my face and I was dressed for it, but my face was feeling chilled as I waited. I was dressed in camo but wore an orange hat. I also had a Brite orange vest that I hung on a branch behind the tree is was standing at. The tree was bigger than this old guy so I figured it would shield me from behind while helping to break up my outline from the front. The cut cornfield was about 50 yards behind me.
At just about 4:00pm I noticed a deer coming out of the cattail swamp at the far end of the woods. As I put the binoculars up, I quickly seen it was a young doe. She started working along the edge of the thicket, stopped, raised her head and looked back. Out stepped another deer. It was a small bodied spike horn. Then another appeared behind him...... I actually noticed the white horns on him without the binoculars from about 150 yards away and was hopeful. But he was only a 6 point. Why is it always the case...... when a small buck comes into view..... they always give you several opportunities to kill them as they walk by. But if it was Mr. Big...... you only get a glimpse?
They all fed on browse along the edge of the thicket as they moved towards the cornfield passing me by only about 50 yards before they disappeared into the field.
I waited until I couldn't see my sights and took the long way out so I wouldn't spook them off of the cornfield. As I reached my truck, I was pretty cold so I started it before I removed my hunting boots and coat. The drive home took a little longer as I had to negotiate the "Rochester rush hour" traffic.
I am planning on hunting the late bow season next week if the weather is cooperative. We are receiving some lake effect snow today and tomorrow. We still have four shooters running around that nobody has seen during gun season..... and I still do not know where they hide. But I don't think it's on this farm.
Our last snow was Sunday and I walked around looking in all of the best spots but was hard pressed to find many tracks. It was not completely without tracks but it was very disappointing.
I decided to sit in the oaks for a while just to enjoy my many memories made there.... and because I could see a good deal of real estate from the center of it. There really wasn't even a squirrel track to be found. I was surprised to see where a coupe of turkeys walked through but only tracks of about five deer total from Sunday until Tuesday.
I sat only until about 3:30 and then walked out to my truck. I drove around the block and I did find the deer...... all on snow covered green fields about 3/4 miles away. The first field had six does and fawns on it and the next had about twenty but they were far enough away from the road to be able to tell what they were.
I'm going to go down towards the end of the week and check the trail cams to see but I'm afraid my season is over.
I'll be back after it closes with a recap, final thoughts and plans for next year, if any.
We've had about ten inches of snow in the past couple of days and there are very few tracks any place on the farm. The most being in the thick stuff where the licking branch is located..... not far from my early morning stand this morning. In spite of this I never saw a deer today.
I climbed down early because was frozen even though I was dressed for it. It was 8 degrees out when I left my truck in the dark. Every step was a loud crunch so if there were any deer within a quarter mile, they knew I was in the woods. But I did enjoy my last sunrise on the 2016 season.
After I climbed down, I went to check trail cameras...... starting with the one not far from my stand. I had 22 pictures since last Wednesday.... only one in daylight and the only buck was a small four point.
I walked to my next cam located by the edge of the cornfield and only had five pictures.... two being of a coyote. I pulled the camera and put it in my pack.
I decided to walk around the perimeter of the farm and was extremely disappointed with the lack of deer tracks. While there were a few, there are not many deer sticking around the farm. But I did put the trail cam up in the same area it was last winter which captured the pictures of some of the good survivors from last season. We will see if any of the good ones made it through gun season.
Out of the four guys that actively hunt this farm, I was the only one NOT to tag a deer this year. Tommy shot a little four pointer on opening day of shotgun. Ed arrowed one of the eight pointers from my licking branch photos about three hundred yards from the licking branch as he worked along the inside edge along the corn field. And Craig shot a small ten pointer during a deer drive on opening day. Of the three bucks killed, I would have only killed the eight pointer that Ed killed. I was hoping the small ten pointer would of survived as he would have been a real good buck in a year or two.
My 2016 season can only be described as okay...... by anyone standards. It did not meet any expectations at all. I only saw a couple of mature animals while on stand this year and our rut appeared to be real spotty. But I did enjoy my coffee and cookies while watching the sunrise sitting in my stand!
While talking the other guys, they all agree that this was not a great archery season on the farm. No adult bucks were seen trailing any does at all. Nobody experienced any real sign of the rut except scrape actions. I think with our weather being as warm as it was, it stretched the breeding cycle out and the lack of number of does on the farm insured they were all bred without the chasing going on.
Even though I missed the normally "best part of the rut", leaving November 8th for New Mexico and returning on the 17th, Ed assured me that I hadn't missed out. During that period, he only saw the eight pointer that he harvested just before dark one evening and he was all alone. It was the only mature buck he saw all season.
I'm not sure I'll even be able to make another bow season in my lifetime. We never know for sure what is written in our book..... the when's..... the what's.... the ifs. I hope to be able to hunt for many more years but you never know what his will is. But if not.... I've had a great time during my years in the stand.
Thank you all for allowing me the pleasure of writing about my hunts. It makes the season seem better than it actually was. And thank you for the kind comments.
My wife and I will be leaving for Walt Disney World shortly celebrating Christmas in the happiest place on earth........ so I'd like to wish you all a Merry Christmas, Happy New Year..... and happy hunting in 2017 to you all.
I was out checking cameras yesterday and not one decent buck appeared. This camera is in a good area, not far from the licking branch and had 47 pictures on it but 90% were at night and only three little bucks on it.
They've been out since after the end of our season up here. I walked about 3 to 5 miles and saw very little fresh sign..... and no sheds on the ground yet. But one camera had a little guy missing one side so they are starting to lose their antlers here.
My 2016 was so disappointing that I felt the need to get to work on my 2017 season. I hope 2017 will be better for me.
Check your settings. I bet your problems are there. Check out the rest of the thread. All the trail cam photos came from these.
