6:30AM and settled in the tree. Pretty brisk N-NW wind. Facing right into the teeth of it. Gonna have watery eyes all day. Sunrise is just peeking over the hills and thru the broken clouds. Tree I am in has a little sway in it. Will see if any gun shots ring out today. Last weekend for gun hunters….YEAH!
I just cannot get motivated and excited about donning the orange and going out during firearms this year. I plan on hunting the road hunters tomorrow with my cameras, every year the scavengers are out trying to fill the tags on the final day however they can.
Man that wind this AM was BRUTAL!!! Got real bad from 9am and on. Heard (2) rifle shots this AM. The first at 7:30 and the second at 7:40. Both were in the same general direction and vicinity and sound like they were about a 1/2 mile away and not on or near the property I was hunting. Figured the shooting would have been a little heavier this AM due to it being the last weekend of gun season.
At 8am, had a good 11ptr. with broken right brow come in 5 min. after I had rattled. He came in real slow and quite to the nearby fence line (30 yds away) that is slightly uphill and behind my left shoulder. He stood there for about 3 min. looking for the 2 bucks that had been fighting. I did some soft grunts and a snort wheeze and he would lift his head or turn and look. He just never would commit to jumping the fence to my side.
Eventually, he just wandered on back from where he came from. I took video of him while he was standing at the fence but I was holding the bow too low and the video isn't any good. My bad ;?)
He wasn’t a shooter today (and some might debate me on that)….but definitely a shooter on 12/31.
In fact that deer above might just work for me. In your area that’s probably a good size body and his tarsal glands are plenty dark. As far as horns go if there’s another tine I’m not seeing on his right side and if that’s a split on his left G2 then this one right here just might making me happy.
This buck looks like he still has plenty of weight on him….not too run down by the rut. Not sure on what all he has or doesn’t have as that is the best and only trail cam pic I have of him. I think that particular camera might be on the fritz as most photos from it are slightly fuzzy and partially out of focus.
Gonna hunt all-day tomorrow and have a little church from the deer stand too!
6:38 AM and settled in the tree. At the moment, no wind to speak of. What an incredible nice cold morning!!! Prior to light breaking and while walking into the timber to my stand I bumped something out of its bed and it just trotted the other direction away from me. Pretty sure by the sound it was a deer. It didn’t snort or anything so that is good. It was bedded about 30-40 yds from my stand.
Like yesterday, will count the gun shots that ring out today. Last weekend for gun hunters….can I get an AMEN!!!!!
Right out of the gate @ 7:30 this nervous guy (all by himself) came by. At first he paced back and forth along the fenceline that leads to the generational fence crossing. With every 6-8 steps he took he put his nose in the air scent checking for the likes of me! Being Dec. now, my leaf cover is a lot thinner in this tree so I am a little more exposed/sky lined than I was in Nov.
He looked my direction intently many times while he paced that fence line trying to decide where to cross. He then made his way to the corner, where the generational crossing is located and stood there nervously scent checking and looking at me for over 4 minutes. Eventually he turned around and walked down the fence away from the crossing and just jumped over it into the meadow in front of me. Perfect!!!
Pics of him at 35 yds……..videos to come later when I can download.
Can't blame him for being on edge. It was too quiet that morning and the recent 1.5 weeks of rifle season that he had endured and survived to that point surely had something to do with his cautious and calculated movements.
There were a few rifle shots off in the distance that morning between 8-9am and only 1 sounded close by.....like somewhere over on the neighbors place.
The first pic is the Big 8 from the 11/9 hunt that I passed on that came right under me. Don’t know if he is still alive or not? Hope so, but if not I hope he was killed by a “hunter” and was thrilled to get him!
The second pic. is the Big 8 from last weekend. His width and body size is what sets him apart from the 11/9 Big 8.
Yes, during this 16 min. encounter it appears this wide Big 8 is just hanging out in the open clearly exposed and to some degree he is….but within this very deep protected draw. The deer feel very safe traveling down in this deep protected draw. He could have been up top traveling in the wide open prairie above and would have certainly been easily picked off by any number of rifle hunters in the area if using that means of travel.
As you can see in the videos he was wary of every noise and has a sense that I am there and by taking the route thru the meadow he does actually skirt me while looking like he could jump out of his skin at any moment. Even though he skirts me he does so at 35-40 yds……
KSRancher....I am usually pretty good at judging width but once they get outside 18+" I get a little stumped?
Randy....not a youngster for sure. Wish there were more out there with his age!
Be Still....my guess is 4 yr. old max. He could also very well be a 3 yr. old with great genetics going for him. Unfortunately, I don't have any history with him. What's your guess on his age?
Quailhunter...."man that's a big deer."....my exact words too when I saw him come up to the fence line and more so when he jumped over it and came closer and closer.
Bwhntr....seems like the hunting sure is getting better. Looking forward to the hunting between now and Dec. 31....especially when some of those does that didn't get bred in November come back into estrous. They will have every buck in the area trailing them. I love hunting the 2nd rut!
Thornton.....I'd sure like to see those 2 that you saw that are like him. They sure get the blood pumping!
Well, here is the video of that wide Big 8 skirting me at 35-40 yds @ 7:30 on 12/10 (best to fast forward to the 30 sec. mark to get passed the novice trying to video this buck) ......and yes I gave him a big ole PASS too just like the other Big 8 from the 11/9 hunt above.
I am almost 100% sure this buck made it thru the 2023 KS rifle season as the only shots that I heard that entire last day of rifle season occurred between 8-9 am just after he had come thru this draw and all those shots came from the direction he had come from (including the one that sounded like it had come from the neighbor's place nearby) and not the direction he was going. Didn't hear a single gun shot that entire last evening of rifle season for miles in all directions.....Yipppeee!!!!
So, what say you......was I CRAZY for passing on this wide mature 8? Come'on give it to me...I can take it and probably likely deserve it, LOL!
I’m with Bwhnt on that might might have been a risky shot but if this deer gives you a decent shot next time yea I think you’d be crazy for not taking him out.
Look at this way….you like 10’s or better. The longer you let this beast breed the more 8’s you might get…I bet he’s the daddy of them other 8’s there.. This old bad boy is probably whooping up on all the other little 10’s and 12’s around there. I say take this one out and let the nicer deer live so that wonderful place you got there gets even more wonderfulnesssss.
I could be wrong on this one too but your hope of him growing a few kickers or more points next year I will guess won’t happen. His horns look pretty smooth and next near he might not be that much bigger…maybe even could start taking a downward turn. Them Ribeyes ain’t going to last forever either…bet he has some nice fat and thick back straps on him:?)
However, I will admit that the whole time I was videoing him it was running through my mind that as quiet as it was and as jumpy/cautious as he was....that if I was to shoot him I would have certainly aimed low as I have no doubt he would have been a "string jumper." Most likely I would have waited to send that arrow down range in those last few seconds of the video after he passes that dead cedar giving me a slighting quartering away shot.
Sorry Be Still.....if I see him on 12/31 he will get another PASS. Will just save him for you next year! Believe me, I know there has got to be something wrong with me....I guess 8's just don't trip my trigger. Is there a Deer Dr.?
Yeah Randy….I had that old boy working that sniffer for real didn’t I, LOL!
Jason…..can’t say that I disagree with you one bit. In my heart I think he was just a big bodied 3.5 yrs….but that is purely a hunch on my part as I have no history to prove otherwise. In post above, Be Still thinks he is 5+ yrs old and he may well be right. I wouldn’t disagree with anyone that thinks he is north of 3.5 yrs. Nice specimen and glad I had the encounter with him! Now if he could just transfer some of that body into his antlers then he would trip my trigger!
2:00 PM and settled in a new spot I hadn't hunted yet this year. I call it the Sycamore Grove stand and it is located in a timbered creek oxbow with creek and cut bean field to my south and a cut beanfield to my north. The stand faces west and has 2 primary deer trails running through it. One deer trail is on my left and parallels the creek and the other is on my right and parallels the cut bean field to my north. With a SW wind, my scent cone was blowing over my right shoulder behind me toward that SE corner of the cut bean field north of me.
At around 4pm, there were 4 different clusters of deer groups (with atleast 10 deer in each group) chowing down in the cut bean field to my north. Bucks didn't show up until 5pm. I rattled and called fairly aggressively from about 4:45-5:30. Near dark, I had a nice buck with alot of trash points come across the beanfield and stop at the field edge just north of my location but he wouldn't commit to coming on into the Sycamore Grove.
That was it for the very last evening of the KS 2023 gun season. Didn't hear a single shot ring out that entire evening hunt, weird? There is a sentimental feller here on Bowsite that likes KS sunsets. Figured he would enjoy seeing this killer one....as it lasted a good long while too!
(See next post for 12/10 PM hunt pics and videos)
Sunset 1 (best viewed in full screen mode):
Sunset 2 (best viewed in full screen mode):
Stand: Ladder Stand along the edge of the timbered creek and prairie.
7:30AM: I saw 2 does way off across out in the middle of the prairie (skylined) and just browsing away from me to my east. A couple minutes later, 2 bucks came along following slowly behind the does. With bino’s one buck was an avg. 8-9 ptr but the other was a dandy heavy 10+. Hard to get an exact count of points but hoping to do just that tonight. They were all headed in the direction of my South Draw stand….which is where I will be this PM in hopes of meeting up with that bigger buck.
8AM: Heard a twig snap over my right shoulder and could see 2 deer coming down the trail. Both turned out to be bucks…a young 10ptr with a big forkhorn following behind. They headed on down into the creek bottom timber unaware I was there.
9AM: 8 does come into the timber below me from the cut bean field behind me and to my west. They just meandered thru the timber eating acorns until out of sight. No bucks trailing or dogging them.
I will say this, the waterfowl/goose hunters were KILL’IN it this AM. Almost non-stop shooting in all sorts of directions from right after sunrise to atleast 9AM.
Stand: South Draw...a remote thin timbered seasonal creek way, way back in the prairie.
4:15 PM: Well as I expected, the 2 bucks I had seen this morning did actually make it back here to bed for the day. They were up on their feet at around 4. Only thing is, the big one in this video was not the big one I saw....he looked like the smaller one that was with a bigger one?
4:25 PM: Oh...here comes the big one seen this AM bringing up the rear. Guess those 2 from this morning picked up a smaller/younger buddy. I wasn't able to change his direction and come my way, darn it!
All in all, a great day of hunting and the deer were moving. The highlight of the day was getting "free" permission to hunt an add'l. 500 acres nearby. Not sure if I will do a hunt from the new property this year or not? If not, then definitely will next year!
Yippppeeeee! He made it thru gun season!
However, “between’er” winds as I call them can sometimes be a challenge. For example, I have a timbered bottom running thru a draw that if someone looked at it on a map would say it lays out in a east-west orientation. However, it actually lays out in a slight NW-SE orientation. Therefore, earlier this Nov. we had alot of S-SE or N-NE winds. So, in instances like that I will que up the wind direction map to get a good visual of how much north, south, east or west wind there is in these "between'er" winds. In the example mentioned above, I don't sit that specific stand when a S-SE wind is forecasted as it will blow my scent directly down thru the truly NW-SE oriented timbered draw. Attached is a pic. of what the “Weather Underground” icon looks like when saved to your phones home screen and the link to the website if you want to save it to your phone too.
Also, attached is a pic. and video of a hypothetical set-up scenario that factors in the use of the “Weather Underground” wind direction map. Say, I am hunting from this lone tree (see yellow "X") and the deer are known to travel from the west-to-east in the AM along the fence line on their way back to bed in the prairie for the day (see dashed red arrow). As you can see from the video, that particular day there is a S-SE wind forecasted with alot more "east" in it than south. If you sat this stand in the AM that day as the deer traveled along the fence line west-to-east, they would catch your wind long before they were in range for a shot with a bow.
Anyway, just letting you know about this overlooked tool buried somewhat deep in the "Weather Underground" tool chest and how it can help you better visualize "between'er" wind conditions for your set-up and hopefully help reduce stand burnout or heaven forbid cost you a shot at that big buck that you might only get one good chance at per season. Good Luck to those of us still holding that coveted KS tag!
crestedbutte's Link
Change of scenery from my typical hunts. I am up here in NW KS on business the next few days so tonight hunting on the ground on property I have never hunted before. Tucked in under a cedar on a side hill slope overlooking a creek from nearby pond drainage. Got a trail and fence crossing on other side of creek that is not within bow range (see orange arrow) but if something is over there hopefully, I can call them over to my side hill. Got a trail just out in front and below me (see purple arrow). That is hopefully the trail they meander down tonight for what should be a 20-30yd shot. Also got a trail right behind me at maybe 15 yds away but only one good opening in this cedar to poke one there from here.
While walking in, I bumped a big 10+ ptr. that was bedded up along the rim rock above me (see yellow circle). He ran down the trail that is now behind me and jumped the neighbor's fence to the west where the pond is. If the pic from my location doesn’t load to this post, I will try again later tonight when in the nearby city. Going to settle in now and see what I can make happen!
Update: The only deer seen tonight was the bedded buck that I bumped which ran west over the neighbor's fence toward the pond. No gun shots heard tonight, LOL!
I will be hunting in the AM (for a short AM hunt prior to a late AM meeting) at a different spot. Then tomorrow PM, I will likely be at a different spot as well. If I hunt Fri., it will be an AM hunt only and then on with my return trip home.
Got in here at 6:30 this AM….which was way too early. With it being overcast, foggy, and drizzly, it didn’t break light till almost 7:30. So, needless to say, I was in here and set up plenty early.
I have a 10:45 meeting about an hour away so this is going to be a short hunt. I’ll have to be back at the Jeep and leaving the gate at 9:30 which I am not too thrilled about doing.
I’m set up on the ground tucked in under a big cedar on the south hillside of an east west draw with good views to the north. There’s a deer trail out front at 15 to 20 yards and a 1/2 full pond with water nearby.
Appears to be perfect conditions for deer to move all day long. We shall see if they are at least moving the first few hours of light?
That NW KS country looks like it should hold a lot more deer than what I saw over the last couple of days. I mean heck, you can see forever in every direction. The area just seemed void of any large population of deer or small population of deer for that matter and it was some incredibly remote country that I was in. Guess the majority of deer that are there are nocturnal otherwise, I would’ve seen some with all the glassing I did.
Definitely way fewer deer than where I normally hunt. After they ban baiting…maybe they should close deer season up there for a few years, LOL. ;?)
Naw just messing with ya…it has been dropping on numbers it seems the last couple years up there though. That particular place seemed to be the best one last year on numbers and age structure of bucks. This year couldn’t figure out if there was a lot of deer died or moved to another place. The few deer that was on there this year though was definitely not on their feet for the most part. Had a few days there they seemed to move pretty good but for the most part had to try and catch them in their bed.
Wished you would’ve gave it another shot in the morning but I understand if you had to get back. Don’t give up on the place though…it’s pretty decent for that area up there. Safe travels back.
Jared…thank you for the kind words of encouragement! You’re right there is still some time but it’s waning fast….but that ole FAT LADY “KAREN” hasn’t started warming up yet! She started “warming up” on me last year and I had to shut her pie hole! This is my last package of her. Saving it for Dec. 31st, LOL! Definitely more hunts to come!
Also…..I 100% believe the bait ban will happen. It is the right thing for KS wildlife, environments and sportsmen/women.
I haven’t been doing much during deer season here about it but I’m about to start sending letters and making phone call to see if there’s anything I can do. I still think if enough of us will band together the ban will happen. KPWD should ban it without our help but sadly there’s a lot of people not looking towards the future that’s putting pressure on them.
Thought about picking it up for Chet….who was named after this guy from “Weird Science.” Now that stanky/nasty thing would have been a rawhide of all rawhides, LOL!
