5th week- what did you see?
Pennsylvania
It’s really starting to heat up out there!(RUT-wise ;-) Clear skies and heavy frost on the pumpkins this morning...........can’t ask for much more! ;-)
Art saw some doe this morning but nothing for me. Just had a relaxing morning in the treestand watching the sunrise. Very peaceful morning.................
Saw good 8 but not on my list. Funny thing is for the fun of it i grunted at him. He didnt care, just kept walk away.
Twelve does and fawns this evening. No buck sightings yet this season. This is typical for my woodlot. The boys will show up a week from now.
I saw a deer from down in the hollow that saw Art up on the hill! ;-) Only one I saw. No bear or turkey.
Little buck down in the hollow too.
Kept getting busted by swirling winds yesterday. I should know better than trying on less than ideal conditions. Saw 4 does and several turkeys both at different times and nothing in range.
Changed locations at noon. On my way to a different spot I found a good run and 20 yards later a cluster of fresh scrapes. I was just looking for a place to set up right there and a nice buck jumped up 75 yards away and ran off. Dolp! I’ll file that away for my next morning sit.
Proceeded on to another setup over mor fresh scrapes. I just got settled in my tree and noticed 2 or 3 does through the brush about 100 yards away. They fed around and bedded down again. Live decoys! A lone turkey came by, but again no shot. Then the wind switched again and when I checked on the does with my binoculars they were gone.
Nothing the rest of the evening.
I'm seeing deer every day usually 8 to 10, sometimes more, but last year I usually saw a lot more. Lack of rain restricted germination in some of our fields, they're growing now but the next hard freeze will end that. I'm seeing mostly does and fawns.
Sat till noon yesterday nothing, evening was halloween for the grandkids.
Rubs, scrapes and activity turned on like a switch Friday, Saturday. Seen more bucks cruising the last few days than all of the season.
2 inches of snow and 25 mph wind gusts this morning. Waiting until noon to go out today. Had no problem going to bed at 8:30 last night waking up at 4 AM this morning with the time change. LOL. I'm sure your gonna score John. Can you guys still hunt straight thru to Thanksgiving?
Here in 2B we can hunt straight through. I am not mad enough at the deer to be out there in 30-40 mph gusts swinging from a tree or trying to keep a ground blind planted in the ground.....I think I'll hold off until tomorrow and give it a go. Still somewhat breezy tomorrow (forecast) with winds tailing off through the day. I may have been more inclined to at least sit on the ground if there was a coating of snow here but only light snow showers here in western westmoreland co. I am sure the ridges have a nice coating and probably 10 to 15 more mph of wind gusts too....
Seen a beauty of a buck on Saturday and a lot of deer. Today seen 11 does and 7 gobblers, just couldn't find a hole through the green briars for a good shot. Was ground hunting. Very windy today!
Cody was able to use his first tag of the season tonight.
Nice job Cody. Went out at 1:30 and an hour and a half later, saw a decent buck working his way along the bench to my left at about 80 yds. He turned around and headed the way he came from. A few minutes later 5 does cut across in front of me and went where the buck went. Nothing but wind after that.
Way to go Cody! : )
Sounds good Art!
Crazy evening with 4 does tonight. Too much to describe.
Saturday was an awesome day in the woods. Seen 17 including 3 bucks. My son and I both got big does.
Sounds good Art..............I’ll call you later! ;-)
NICE Banjo! : )
Congrats Cody and Banjo and son, great deer!
I took off work tomorrow and Friday so I'll be hunting hard the next 3 days. Good luck to all and stay safe!
Sat near Rut's spot and saw his button buck early walk thru the same spot near the tree. A while later, a familiar 4 point walked past Rut's climber/kill spot. About 9:30, a 5 or 6 point walked past my other stand with his nose to the ground. He turned to his right and slid down over the bank towards the big pond.
Was that the big(heavy/high) Forkie Art?!
This morning, 2 does ran by me at 6:45 in a big hurry. They made a u-turn, stopped in front of me at 35 yards then took off again straight away from me. After 8, a big 4 point walked in front of me and stopped looking over his shoulder. After he continued on, I noticed a buck that had a 3 (up) by 1 rack following along. The 4 point changed direction suddenly, hurrying away from me over the top of the hill and the other buck took off from the direction he came from. 20 minutes later I saw the 4 point going in the direction of the 4 by 1. Strange activity. The button buck came up over the hill too and disappeared somewhere.
Keep at it Art- sounds like things are really heating up and it’s only a matter of time before the BIG BOYS come out and play! ;-)
I got a trail cam pic on 10/24 of of a whopper there in the middle of the night that looked like he walked straight up over the hill and under the stand.
Had this nice buck come through on Halloween.
2 came chasing a single doe yesterday. Ended up right under my stand.
The bucks pushed that doe 200 yards across a clear cut. Full speed, grunting non-stop.
Passed up a small 2.5 yr old 8 point last night at 10 yds. He was scent checking some of the does and didn't smell what he wanted and ambled off. Saw 15 or so deer total, some within 10 yds. They were munching on acorns that were still falling. Had a unicorn spike walk under my stand after the 8 pt walked off over the hill. Deer were moving all around at dark and after and I kicked out a few on the walk out. Quads were running around on the neighbors property until 445pm and the deer all started coming out at 5pm. Slept through the alarm this morning....oh well...Looks like I'll get some work, work done and then cut the grass....hopefully for the last time this year.
Sounds GREAT Art! : )
NICE buck Jethro! Congrats! Sounds like the RUT is in full swing!
Thank you. Was happy. Nice buck, made a good shot, died quick. Always a good hunt when those 3 things come together.
I've had some success this year with rattling. Been hanging my horns on my pull rope and tugging the rope to rattle. Gets the horn sound, some thud sounds if you bounce them, and some leaves rustle sound. Nice 8 that didn't come in range Saturday and a thin 8 that came in fast looking all around for the other deer.
A couple videos I took from this week....Tuesday night and last night.
https://youtu.be/haxNMlkJ-Pw
https://youtu.be/B-Yoaz3B-3M
Lots of Doe. I saw a nice Buck on the way hunting yesterday morning but it crossed the road in the middle of a bunch of houses. Go figure.lol
Oops! Guess we’re in the 6th week now! ;-)
6th year for my buddy, Seth, and I camping on the mountain. Met around noon on Thursday November 5th and drove as far as we could, then loaded our packs and headed up to the top of the mountain and on out to our camping spot. With the warm weather forecast we didn’t bother to set up our tent, but left everything we didn’t need for the evening hunt and headed off in different directions. (This was in stark contrast to last year where we started our hike in the cold rain, set up a big tarp to block the wind and rain so we could get the tent set up, cook supper, and get warmed up without even trying for an evening hunt. Our wet clothes that we hung up were frozen stiff the next morning.)
Larry and grandpa John within 400 yards of the “stump.”
Larry and grandpa John within 400 yards of the “stump.”
For several years my wife’s grandpa (John) had been commenting about wanting to get back to an old hunting spot “one last time.” He’s over 90 so that probably was not going to happen, but this past spring I decided to try to get him as close as we could. I contacted a neighboring landowner who had driving access to within a few hundred yards of the spot and we set a date to meet up and get grandpa close to his old (chestnut) “stump”. My father-in-law (Larry), grandpa John, and I met up with the landowner one day in late February. Grandpa was in good spirits, but in no way fit to maneuver over a rocky forested landscape, so he stayed at the cabin while Larry and I went looking for the “stump.”
The big pine tree grew about 5 yards in front of the “stump” which is now gone but has a few sprouts still trying to come back to life decades after the blight took its toll.
The big pine tree grew about 5 yards in front of the “stump” which is now gone but has a few sprouts still trying to come back to life decades after the blight took its toll.
We found it after a little searching and right away I could see why this place had consistently produced opening day and first Saturday (rifle season) bucks. The spot was straight below (120 yards) a well used saddle on top of the mountain. Looking down over the mountain was a terrain feature like an inverted V that funneled deer to a point behind the stump from both the right and the left. Good trails were clearly evident. And what was even more exciting to me was the fact that it set up well for an archery hunt with several potential trees to get up into with a climbing treestand. I vowed then and there to hunt this spot in early November when Seth and I camped on the mountain not too far away.
My father-in-law, Larry, was the last to shoot a deer at the owls nest in 1992.
My father-in-law, Larry, was the last to shoot a deer at the owls nest in 1992.
To the “stump” I headed Thursday afternoon when Seth and I went our separate ways. I scouted as I went and found some well used trails at the next saddle east of our campsite only 300 yards away. I was tempted to set up right there for the evening, but I really wanted to get a deer at the “Owl’s Nest.”
Now, the “stump” and the “owl’s nest” are two names given to the same spot by two different families that were founding members of my camp way back in 1944. My great uncle, Merle, started keeping records in an old ledger book detailing the hunter, date, location, number of points (for a buck), and sometimes the weight of the deer. There was a running tally of bucks killed by the camp, both total and yearly as well as overall number of deer killed by members of the camp or guests. (I am told Merle took the idea from another camp, but it mainly served to settle the numerous disputes that arose when the members got together and started telling stories about past hunts. ) Additionally, if there was a noteworthy story associated with the deer/hunter it was recorded in his unique written voice.
Late in my high school years I volunteered to enter the record book into a word document. Later, I entered it into excel, which greatly enhanced the search abilities of the digital copy. Most recently, I took pictures of every page with my phone to preserve the original penmanship and aura of the book. Each year after the book is updated, I update my digital versions as well.
Merle passed away while I was in college in 2006 and his son, Ralph, took over the keeping of the record book. Ralph was one of my biggest hunting mentors after my dad and uncle Jim. The three of them took turns with my brother and I making for a great childhood full of camp storytelling, great camaraderie, and of course awesome life experiences in the deer woods of fall and turkey timber of spring.
It has been nearly three decades since a deer was shot at the owls nest by any member of our camp. Land ownership changes restricted our access to hundreds of acres of land we used to hunt. That was half the reason Seth and I started doing our camping weekend, establishing a type of spike camp to hunt from so we could go a little farther from the easily accessible hunting ground, knowing that it would take a bit more effort. All of that to say I was now fully committed to the owls nest for as long as it took to get a deer this weekend. Additionally, my standards would be altered to make it happen.
That’s pretty cool Curtis! Is there more to the story?! ;-)
It’s coming slowly. Lots of digging between posts.
Bird’s eye view of the “owls nest”. The pine tree on the right edge of the photo is right in front of the depression where the “stump” used to be.
Bird’s eye view of the “owls nest”. The pine tree on the right edge of the photo is right in front of the depression where the “stump” used to be.
I don’t think the lichen covered rocks on top of the mountain ever crunched as loud as they did that afternoon as I “sneak?”-scouted my way to the owls nest. My brother would be joining us later after dark and I wanted to pass along some good intel to get him on some deer in the morning. Plus, I had never walked to the owls nest from this direction and wanted to take my time and make a logical approach given current and predicted wind and thermals. All of these factors made for a longer walk than anticipated, not to mention the fact that every few boulders would shift and throw me off balance. My feet and knees were beginning to tell me they were getting a workout. Eventually, I made it to the spot found a suitable tree and got settled in for the evening hunt.
It was an uneventful sit up until a little after 5 pm. I can’t say I was really expecting much as warm as it was. Then around 5:15 I heard a doe bleat. I couldn’t tell exactly where it had come from or even if that’s really what I had just heard. Then it came again from the top of the mountain and the same way I had approached. The second bleat was followed by the sound of deer running in the leaves and coming your direction out the top of the mountain. Soon I caught a glimpse of a deer heading over the saddle. I pulled up my Bono’s and saw big Ys going over the top. Well I guess he won’t be coming close enough to tempt me. I could still hear them running just over the top, then they reappeared 80 yards to the East. The buck was grunting like crazy and crashing through the brush in hot pursuit of the doe. When the buck lunged in close to the doe she turned 90 degrees and bailed off the top heading straight down the side towards me. Yes! This is happening! The rocks were sure to funnel them right past my tree. When the doe got behind a hemlock 25 yards away I came to full draw. She broke off her decent and came right out the side under my tree at five yards. The buck followed at full boar. I knew the normal “meh” would not be heard so I yelled, “Hey!” He stopped at 4 yards and I noticed for the first time how big of a body and framed rack he had. But in the dim light I could not be sure he had brow tines. Honestly, it was a mistake to shoot without knowing for sure he was legal. I knew he was fully mature. I knew I wanted him.
Ok- I thought there was Curtis-I’ll try to be patient, but it will be hard, since I LOVE stories like this! : )
Itook the shot and he reacted as if unscathed, bounding right under my tree and stopped 10 yards below me. He was looking around trying to relocate his doe, which had scooted away into the brush. I noticed my arrow sticking out of the ground and couldn’t believe I had missed a slam dunk opportunity. I could hear the doe about 60 yards away as I nicked another arrow and came to full draw. I looked him over a second time and could still not see brows. I almost didn’t shoot, but then he turned and exposed a slightly better angle and my arrow was gone. With that hit I knew he was done. He plowed down over angling away slightly until a few big trees and fading light took him out of my sight. I heard a crash. Then another. It sounded like the doe went down to him and I could hear more crashing around. I did not think he would be going much farther.
Now say what you will about my decision to shoot. I was pretty disappointed with myself. I was also excited about what had just transpired and not just a little anxious to recover him. To say I was conflicted would be an understatement. I knew he was a mature deer, but was he a legal deer?
Perhaps this brings up a discussion that should be had about the PGCs antler restrictions. One club I’m a part of has antler restrictions (4 on one side) with a clause that any buck that is PA legal and over 3 years old will not be penalized. This allows for better (not perfect) management.
I called my brother who was sitting in traffic about a half hour away. He was headed to my dad’s to get a ride up on the mountain and hike to our camp in the dark. I told him to wait at dad’s in case I ended up taking my buck down off the mountain a different way where they could meet me with a vehicle.
After that call I started climbing down from the tree and heard more crashing around where my buck had disappeared. What!?!??? How is he still alive? Or is that hot doe causing all the racket? I quietly got out of my stand and looked at the first arrow. It had not missed! I was then glad I had followed up with the second shot. I found hair, but no blood. . Slowly, but not without lots of crunching in the leaves I went to the sight of the second shot. I found a big pool of blood there and running tracks leaving the scene.
Blood trailing does not come easy for me. I struggle with partial colorblindness. My 8 year old son did a better job than me seeing a sparse blood trail left by the doe he shot elwith a .222 in the youth season. So when I say that this was not a difficult trail to follow after dark with a not so great flashlight, know that most of you could have probably walked right along the trail at a decent pace.
I took this picture hoping the flash would capture more than my flashlight revealed.
I took this picture hoping the flash would capture more than my flashlight revealed.
15 yards from the second shot I found my arrow covered in good blood. With growing confidence I continued on the trail. Another 45 yards out the side and down a small hill the trail led me until I caught two eyes looking back at me in the glow of my flashlight beam. Not good! Was this my buck? Or the doe bedded down beside him? Would a doe do that? It was only 15-20 yards away, but I could only see the eyes shining. Surely a deer that wasn’t wounded wouldn’t let me get that close as noisy as the dry leaves were. Well, I wasn’t going any farther, so I marked the spot and started backing out. After three crunchy steps I heard a deer jump up, snort and crash off a short distance. Not good. I climbed back to the top of the mountain and called Seth, then waited for him to join me.
A ridiculous amount of food for a day and a half of hunting, but we were up to the challenge.
A ridiculous amount of food for a day and a half of hunting, but we were up to the challenge.
Seth was getting supper when I talked to him, so I told him to finish and then join me as soon as he could. It was probably 45 minutes before I saw his light coming out the top. It was good to have some company on the trail. I showed him the trail and we got back down to where I had last been without hearing anything. I took that as a good sign. We got down closer to where he had been bedded and found several large (2 foot by 2 foot) pools of blood and then a bed with a little blood in it. It took several minutes but eventually we found the blood trail leading away from the bed, but it was not like the trail leading into the bed. We went about 10 yards and were struggling to find more blood. At that point we decided I would come back at first light and take up the trail. It was difficult because I was really frustrated with myself and wanted closure. However, I knew we could spend hours looking and do more damage than good. I hated to walk away, knowing the restless feeling that would haunt me until morning, but it was the right call given what we did and did not know.
So we hiked up to the top again and back to camp. After a little more supper and relaxing under the stars, I started to feel a little better. My brothers light soon cut the darkness and our weekend trio was now complete. We put all our food together in a bear bag and made plans for the morning hunt.
He’s laying behind a log just to the left of the big tree in the center of the picture, which was taken at the previous night’s last blood
He’s laying behind a log just to the left of the big tree in the center of the picture, which was taken at the previous night’s last blood
Friday morning I took my brother to the spot close to our camp that I thought looked promising the afternoon before. Seth dropped down over the south side but planned to move and do some scouting in the middle of the day since the heat would probably temper normal rut activity. I arrived at the owls nest a few minutes after good shooting light and had deer run down over in both directions. I would have been in business if I hadn’t shot at the buck the night before.
I got down to last blood hoping to be able to scan the woods with my binoculars and spot my buck nearby. It took less than a minute for that hope to come true. I ranged my buck at 29 yards from last blood. It would have been nice to have recovered him the night before, but I was still relieved that he hadn’t gone much farther. Now if only my prayers for the presence of brow tines would be answered.
Notice how dark the bases and brows are compared to the big white Ys. No wonder I struggled to see them in the low light.
Notice how dark the bases and brows are compared to the big white Ys. No wonder I struggled to see them in the low light.
Indeed, my prayers were answered. A beautiful old mountain 6 point.
It took some time, but this is a picture I will be looking at frequently for years to come.
It took some time, but this is a picture I will be looking at frequently for years to come.
I was quite relieved, and still conflicted about my decisions the day before, but I moved forward to preserve the memories and the meat.
Thanks to the quality pictures submitted here and other sites as well as printed media, I have become somewhat particular about getting good in field photos. These images will invoke memories for years to come and it is worth the time it takes to get the quality that is pleasing to the eye and respectful to the quarry. It annoys me when people stand back and take pictures looking down on the animal with feet splayed every direction, which completely distorts both the hunter and his/her prize. I am not an expert by any measure but an advocate for taking the time to do it right.
Halfway there.
Halfway there.
The next step was to take care of the meat. The night before my brother had given me his game bags so I could quarter and pack the meat out rather than try dragging all of that dead weight the 1.3 miles (as the crow flies) to vehicle access. Again, inspiration from Bowsite (and other sources) took me the gutless route. This is another area where I get particular. I want good quality meat, so I took my time and enjoyed the morning. Even had a doe walk by in range. I started reaching for my bow, but quickly thought better. One deer was enough for me today. After 3 hours I had the last of the meat bagged and ready to pack
Great PA hunt and story. Great picture too
The pack weighed on at 110 pounds when I got home.
The pack weighed on at 110 pounds when I got home.
Now for the pack out...
I ate up all the food I had brought along and finished my water. No need to pack on the outside what could be fueling my insides. I knew I was in trouble when I struggled just to reposition my loaded pack to a place where I could pull myself up from a sitting position.
Great story and great documentation with pictures! The only thing that could have been better would be if your bow was not upside down! (Sorry, just couldn't resist! ;-)
No wonder you had trouble seeing those brow tines.......................
And I always wondered how you picked the area you did for your annual backpack hunt.
I'd like to do one of these in the Poconos sometime!
Done and DONE!
Done and DONE!
I really need to do some research and talk to a few backpacking experts before I do anything like that again. I could not get my pack situated to walk upright. The meat inside was bulging into my back forcing my shoulders back and causing me to lean forward to keep the load balanced. Well, 100 yards at a time by made for a long 1.3 mile hike out. Fortunately, 97% of that was downhill and 90% on an old logging road. Still, it took a toll on my body. Perhaps I should have done 2 trips?
My brother’s buck.
My brother’s buck.
I talked to one other hunter on the way out and he reported seeing a few small bucks but no chasing. My dad and uncle were hunting a mile away, so I called my dad and we planned to meet up. He also informed me that my brother had just shot an 8 point at 11:00 am! He and Seth were in the process of dragging it back to my truck. Awesome!
I met up with my dad who offered me some water, which I readily accepted. We went to a little spring and both topped off our bottles before we parted ways again. I took the shorter, downhill route to vehicle access and he went to meet up with my uncle and drive around to pick me up.
Our 2nd time doubling up on bow bucks!
Our 2nd time doubling up on bow bucks!
My brother and I met up at my dads house and we got our deer to a processor. I prefer to leave my deer hang for at least a week but the weather was nowhere close to cooperating.
Then it was back up the mountain and the hike back to camp. Seth had seen a few deer while moving between setups in the middle of the day, but had an uneventful evening sit. We had supper and enjoyed relaxing in camp. We made plans for Saturday morning before turning in for the night.
Beautiful buck, Yoda. Thanks for taking the time to write up the story. Those eggs that somebody carried in...fresh or hard boiled? That was a lot of food!
A good pack makes a HUGE difference! It must have a good frame- either internal and external. Must also have a good, padded waist belt and load lifters! This keeps all the weight on your hips and close to your center of gravity.
A soft pack with no rigidity (even if it has a waist belt) will put all the weight and stress on your shoulders and lower back and will make for a miserable pack out! : (
A memorable year 6 in the bag.
A memorable year 6 in the bag.
Eggs were hard boiled. Good protein boost to get the morning started right and no mess.
I wish I could say Seth got his buck Saturday morning and we went three for three but the consecutive days of high temperatures shut down daytime deer activity. None of us saw a deer all day. Seth stayed all morning in the stand where my brother had shot his buck. We met at camp at noon to pack up and hike out.
I had a similar occurrence on Wed/Thurs. You will have to look at the week sixth thread to see. Fine photography by the way.
Congratulations Curtis!
I'm partially colorblind also, so I know what a "decent" bloodtrail is. I'm always happy when I don't have to walk bent over, trying to determine what is or isn't a drop of blood.
