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Gamechangerop Fall/Winter hunt

Ok guys I always enjoying reading about all your guys' hunts every year. I figured this year I would give this Semi - live hunt a try. I will be hunting the north central part of the state on 3 farms (2 will be hunted more than the other). As of right now I have 2 main target bucks. The trashy 9 is on what I will refer to as the west farm. The HEAVY 8 is on what I will refer to as the south farm. I do not have any target bucks on the north farm. Property is private and the only thing I paid was hard work. I put 2 little "Kill" plots in raddish/turnips on the south farm. The west farm is agriculture but not planted to anything this fall/winter. The north farm is pasture next to a river bottom. I will be updating after each hunt and my first day on stand will be Friday afternoon. Also looking for any advice when doing these live hunts or anything some of you guys would like to see that no one else is doing.

Also I didn't want to do this as a mobile hunt. Does anyone know how to remove a thread?

either buck is a fine trophy buck IMO - good luck

Well didn't make it out last night. Hunted this morning and it sure was brisk out. Not sure I was mentally prepared for my first sit being this cold. Hunted the south farm this morning and saw 17 does and 3 small bucks. Most of the deer stayed in the thicker cover and didn't offer me a shot for pictures. Hope everyone else is having a good and safe season.

Good luck Cord, im hoping to get out for my 1st sit this evening.

That's a bunch of deer, have fun and keep at'em!

Well I hunted the south farm again this evening. It was not quite as productive as this morning's hunt but did not disappoint, I really want to see that heavy 8 to see just how big he is. 12 doe/fawn, 1 up and coming 2.5 year old and 1 fork n horn. Don't know if the Mrs. Is going to let me hunt in the morning but if I do I will post an update.

Hunted the south farm this afternoon in a different stand than I hunted Saturday . Saw 9 doe/fawn and no bucks. Here is a view to my left and right

Good luck this season Cord. Look forward to following your hunt

Well guys I'm about to dip out of the office to "work from home" (treestand) for a couple hours. Taking the kids trick or treating and the Mrs. wants to get an early start. So I will only be sitting in the tree for about 2.5 hours. I figure once the snow stops it may get some animals moving.

Last night was kinda slow. Got in stand about 230 and snuck out at 445 to take the kids trick or treating. Had 4 does come by about 345 and that was it.

Well guys I will be back at it again this evening and then again on Sunday. My vacation starts Monday so today is really going to drag. Will be hunting the south farm pretty hard as that is where most of the activity is going on. Deer just aren't showing up on the other farms yet. Have noticed the roadkill activity picking up in my area so I am sure we are getting pretty close. Going to finish out the week of my vacation by taking my brother in law to Smith county running and gunning trying to rattle. He is out for redemption this year. Last year on the first set I rattled in a giant 180"+ that came blowing out of a cedar thicket. From my excitement of seeing this giant (and explicit word choice to let him know to get ready) and his excitement to see the deer rush us and cover 100 yards in a matter of seconds his buck fever had skyrocketed to a level I have never seen. I think his hope was to give the buck a heart attack as he airmailed one over his back somewhere. Think the arrow ended up in Nebraska. Anyways this time around he wants me to say either shooter or dink when I first see a deer, not, "holy sh*t, big deer, huge freaking deer" as he claims I said. Anyways hope everyone has the intense chasing and good luck we all wish for when hunting the KS rut.

Hunted west farm tonight and saw 1 doe 1 fawn and 1 spike. Will focus on south farm Sunday.

This morning was a little more eventful. Deer running around everywhere! 1.5 and 2.5 year old bucks were harassing every doe in sight. Saw 11 of those little bucks. Had a shooter at 60 yards before shooting light. It's starting to crank up in my neck of the woods. Lot of fresh sign on the west farm when I checked my camera this morning. I will be hunting there this evening trying to catch a big one cruising.

Well this evening's hunt was pretty uneventful. 2 3.5 year old bucks at about 300 yards and 3 does at 100 yards. About an hour after I got in the stand my wife sent me this picture from the house. She said this buck had a doe up in the cedars. About the only time of year we see deer on our property is when a buck tries to keep other bucks away from his doe. If he was bigger I probably would have gotten down from the stand and came home to try to put a stalk on.

Well this morning's hunt was pretty uneventful, except for the flat tire I had when I walked out. A couple does is all I saw. When I got home I saw the tail end of a deer disappear through the cedars and wondered if it was the same buck my wife saw last night. Circled the hill to get the wind in my direction. Stopped about 50 yds from where I thought he may be bedded and hit the grunt call. Wish I would of had my camera ready instead of my bow as a nice up and coming 2.5 year old 8 came blowing out of the cedars and rushed to 15 yds. Could have taken him if I wanted to but he will be a stud of a buck if he makes it 2 or 3 years. Hoping for a good evening hunt. How's everyone else's season going?

Has been tough to concentrate at work the last five nights but in the stand now

Tonight was a much more active than this morning. 9 does and 3 bucks. One was a shooter the last pic I got of him. He had a huge left side and his right side was a little messed up. Well he was missing his good side when he came by around 3:30. Had a coyote show up at last light that i gave a back shaving to. Hope things keep up in the morning.

Both morning and evening hunt were filled with 15+ deer and it seemed like there was always deer on their feet. Wish I could take more pictures for you guys but with how calm the wind has been it seems like a deer would hear any movement from a half mile away. Right as I was getting in this afternoon 2 bucks chased a doe 3 or 400 yards across a pasture. One was the broken main gram and the other a 2.5 year old 8. With all the deer I have been seeing I still can't believe I haven't even seen a shooter during shooting light. Every day has gotten better so we will hope tomorrow is the day! Hope everyone that is out is having some luck!

This morning was pretty interesting!

Got to my spot and as I pulled in I saw a big buck with a doe. Gave them some time to work off and then headed to the stand. This would not be the last I would see this deer. About an hour after sunrise I had seen 13 does and 2 small bucks and then I see the big one and his doe slip into a little drainage about 400 yds away. So I get down and circle to get the wind in my favor. Hit the drainage and find a good place to set up and start grunting. After about a minute I do a short wheeze followed by rattling. I get about 10 seconds into the rattling sequence and I see him coming! Fast! Then he just disappears. Now I didn't get a good look at him but I thought he was a shooter so my bow is now in my hand. Then he appears at 30 yards circling downwind. Tall and typical 160 class 10 point. Goes behind some brush and I draw. Has 3 steps to take to hit the big opening........front shoulder had cleared the opening and he stops....i felt the wind on the back of my neck. I had 6" of vitals exposed...........i had shot much tighter groups than that. I choose the lesser of 2 evils in my mind at that time. Shoulder hit possibly wound him or hug the tree and go for the double lung...even if I clipped the tree he was just inched behind it and a deflection would be deadly........all this played through my mind in about 3 seconds. I loosed an arrow and the tree grew 3 inches in the time it took my arrow to get there.

Dang late growth spurts!!

Son of a...hang in there as we have seen persistence pay off so far this young season!

This evening had plenty of deer but otherwise uneventful. Lots of does and small bucks. Still can't hardly believe the big ones aren't moving yet or at least not where I'm at.

I hunted every day this week. Had shooters in bow range 3 of the 4 days i sat but nothing older than 3-3.5.

This morning's hunt had the bigger deer moving. Saw 2 shooters with one of them being the one I missed yesterday. Nothing too close but a few does. Probably not going to hunt this evening but will be headed to Smith county early tomorrow morning to hit a bunch of spots rattling.

Well our trip up to Smith county was a bust. They are in lockdown up there. The only deer we were seeing were in the middle of open fields or pasture paired up. It was pretty uneventful. Couldn't even find a buck cruising.

Took my 4 year old hunting buddy kasyn with me this evening. We almost got it done and he had a blast. The heavy 8 made an appearance and i had him cruising through at 30 yards . Unfortunately he was in heavy cover and offered no shots. The little one sure had a blast though and did a fantastic job bring quiet and sitting still.

Cherish those hunts brother while you can, best ones

So I had a run in with the big 10 that made me look bad Thursday morning. Long story short as I was driving into my spot I saw him and a doe on the other side of the farm and decided to make a move on them. I was hunting from the ground. I had him broadside at 30 yards and as I let the arrow go he turned to me to chase the doe. Arrow made at least 10" of penetration and had bright red blood with bubbles in it. This was about 445 this evening. He ran off about 15 yards and stopped in a thicket. I tried to get another arrow in him but it didn't make it through the thicket. Where he was stopped for 15 seconds or so I found a dinner plate sized pool of blood. I didn't go any further. I am planning on going back out at 8 to look. Any body have any thoughts?

Bright red with bubbles, you got lung, go real slow, he should have expired by now. Good idea to wait a spell though. Good luck!

I'd say he's dead too, but agree with Randy on taking it slow. If he jumps again back out and come back in the morning...tracking in the dark is tough.

Go get him tonight, but follow previous directions given if necessary! To be continued with pics hopefully.....

Well followed decent blood for 200 yards. Not an all out spray but enough to where we could walk and see it by flashlight easily. He never did bed down in those 200 yards. Crossed the property line to the north which is a freshly grazed cattle pasture that is about 3/4 of an inch tall. We all know how easy that shit is to track in. Marked last blood but I think in the morning i will have better luck just searching for him in the 3 patches of cedars in the quarter section. I'm going to wait until the fog lifts in the morning and then will be back at it.

Good News - Bucks still alive Bad News - Bucks still alive

Never found any new blood when picking up the trail where we left off. The last draw I walked out led to me busting him and a doe out of their bed. Deer looked to be moving fine. Must of just clipped a lung?

So after my run in with the big 10 early this week lead to a non lethal wound, I decided to get back after it this evening. Wanted to hunt the west farm to give the south farm some more time off after I tramped around in there the last 2 days. The evening STARTED very slow and would end with me being disappointed. I had 2 does in front of me at 150 yards most of the evening. About 15 minutes before shooting light I look to my left and I am stunned!!! 25 yards coming straight at me is an absolute monster of a deer. I am not sure if its the biggest deer I have ever seen on hoof or not but no doubt he was huge. I did not even guess a score. I went into kill mode and reached behind me for my bow. The calm evening was my kryptonite tonight. I couldn't even get my bow in my bow hand before he heard movement, and I was being extremely cautious. Thankfully I had a good background to break my silhouette up, but he already knew something wasn't right and the stare-off began. The deer finally gives up on trying to make me move but he isn't taking any chances. He quickly ducks into the nearest cover before I could even draw. I have never seen this deer before and I hope he walks by the trail cam tonight. I have already called my boss and got permission to use 2 hours of my vacation tomorrow morning and come in at 10. Hopefully he stays on the farm and beds in the same area tomorrow that he came from this evening. I know the odds are not good but a guy can always wish right?!

Hunted the west farm this morning and not one deer was moving. Did see 2 coyotes though and took one of them out. Will be hunting the south farm this evening. Hoping things pick up!

Well hunting had been slow since my last update. Very little deer movement and only small buck sightings. Things totally turned around this morning. The woods came alive with bucks moving. Most were 2.5 and 3.5. One was at least 5.5 12 point, he was huge. No shooters within range this morning though. This evening I got a late start and deer were moving by the time I got settled in the stand. I saw 7 bucks and 2 does in the first 30 min. About sunset I rattled hard and fast. Saw nothing for the first 2 minutes or so after that. I was watching to my south because that is where the deer come from in the evening. I look back to the north and at 60 yards in a wide open field is a buck coming fast. I have enough time to adjust my pin for the trail i think he will take and luckily I guessed right. I'm not sure how big he is as it all happened so quickly . I am pretty sure he is my biggest whitetail to date. I didn't hesitate to grab my bow when I first saw him so that is how I generally know if one is a shooter. All this happened in about 20 seconds that led to a 20 yard shot. I will know how big he is in about an hour. I believe it was a double lung shot.

Can't wait to see him ..

Can't wait to see him ..

Good Luck!!

There you go, look forward to pic update

Good luck!

Well not quite the deer I thought he was but I am happy none the less he got my thumper thumping and I am happy with him. Upon further review I one lung, liver, and stomach shot him. He made it 3/4 of a mile before bedding down and expiring.

Nice deer! You earned him.

Great buck Cord! Well deserved, thanks for taking us along!

Congrats...

Congrats!!!

So that picture really didn't do the buck justice since his rack sweeps forward. This picture makes him look like he has 4" tines when he g2s are 9"

Wow. What a difference a picture makes. Some hefty mass on him totally lost in that first picture.

Congratulations!

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