I finally get some time to hunt. Both bucks we were hunting earlier in the season got whacked during rifle season... Trash was shot by an 80 year old guy so not too bummed out about that. The guy just started hunting 3 years ago and is having the time of his life. We thought that was pretty cool. Britney had him in bow range earlier but he busted her so we had our chance. Going to really miss Trash as it was fun hunting him and finding his sheds... So I am basically starting over and scouting like a mad man to find some good bucks to hunt. So far I have found one really good spot but I only have access to were the deer bed. I want to hunt it now but will save that for Britney this weekend. I hate morning hunts... especially going right into a bedding area but it is our only option here. Last night I watched 5 bucks working the area. All are 3.5 or older but I was long range scouting and tough to see how big they really were. Two of them looked really good though. I'll spend today scouting and tomorrow morning in other areas. I'll start hunting Friday afternoon. We've got a week of fairly nice weather ( teens for lows/ upper 20's for highs ). After Xmas the temp is going to drop with lows of 10 below or colder. They are talking a lot of wind with the cold system too. That will probably end Britney's desire to hunt. I've got trail cameras going so will throw any pictures of good bucks up if I get any. Wish us luck !! Tim
Good luck Tim!! Hunting has gotten way tough where I'm hunting. The bucks have pretty much left. Their all at the neighbors eating out of their silage pile as that's where the majority of the doe's are. Great bucks you had there earlier!!
I love this time of year,season is winding down and bucks start batching back up.. If you can find a good food source it's almost like hunting in early sept again..
Time to show off your great skills.... "You know, like nunchuck skills, bow hunting skills, computer hacking skills." Best wishes my friend for a successful late season!
Good Luck Tim & Britney hope you get a big boy. Trash was a nice deer, glad the older gentlemen got him. Beefie
We are seeing bucks. Last night I had 2 small ones by me. Should have hunted by the road. Seen a nice one about a 100 yards from where I was parked. No wonder why the road hunters do so good around here during rifle !! Just unreal !! This morning Brit and I snuck into the bedding area in the one good spot. We had one good buck coming in but he backed tracked once he got close. I snuck out on a hill to see where he headed and watch him and 4 other bucks mill around in a spot. Thought it was a little odd but figured they were waiting for does/fawns. Watched them for 45 minutes when 11 does and fawns came through in two groups. We will move in on the bucks tomorrow morning. Hopefully Britney will get a shot at one of them before the does/fawns get back while they are milling around. We have a plan !! No hunting this afternoon. Tim
Well... I messed up. We went in blind in an area I haven't hunted for a couple years. I knew where I wanted to set up but the deer weren't going by the cattails so I moved us out about 35 yards in the worlds thinnest/wimpiest clover patch that couldn't hide one person let alone two of us. We were covering a very slight/shallow draw that the deer were using to travel through. I brushed Britney in pretty good and figured I would just lay down in the grass if something came by. Well It work well for a couple does and fawns that went by. About 15 minutes before quitting time and with things being really slow... I spied a couple deer about a quarter mile away. I was bored and figured Brit was too so I pulled out our flextone electric call. I cranked the volume all the way up and did a snort wheeze, buck grunting, doe estrous and finally more buck grunting. I got their attention but that was about it. I tried a few more grunts and estrous calls for the fun of it. They got bored and went back to feeding. I shut the call off and figured I would glass the area I had hoped the other deer would come from. I had a little slot through the clover I could glass through. When I pulled the binocs up, the first thing I see is a really big deer head with a really, really nice set of antlers looking back at me. It was really cloudy and a little fogging so light was failing fast even though we still had a good 10 minutes left of legal shooting hours. The buck is standing about 50 yards from us. How the hell he covered well over a hundred yards without us seeing him is crazy. He must have came in fast. I reached for the call, turned it on, dropped the volume way down, turned it to buck grunting and set it on the ground facing away from us. It work like a charm... except... he circled to the down wind side which was my side. Wish he would have went the other way for Britney. I came to fall draw as he hit a big opening in the clover we were hiding in. I still needed him to go about 15 feet to clear a clover patch he was walking by. Right as his head and shoulder hit the end of that clover patch and I was getting lined up... he must of got a slight whiff. He whirled back and trotted in the cattails straight away from me. He got to the other side and walked away... not seeing to be too alarmed. Dammit !!! He was a main frame 4x4. Really nice rack on him. Easily mid 140's. Normally I don't use a call very much at all since we hunt the ground because they pin point you so bad. After tonight... I really am going to rethink that and set Britney up farther away from me so they go by her before trying to circle down wind of me. Using that call turned a boring hunting into a pretty exciting one in just a few minutes. Tim
