Scouted Illinois public and that potential lease. Public land looked good but the lease was not all it was cracked up tot be. I took that guy that's holding those sheds in the picture...that was a mistake. I think he likes to church up stories and tales of growing up in Illinois. Within 5 min of trying to scout with him, I was ready to take his ass home. I was getting into the spots all the books, podcasts, and generally "smart" hunters say to look for, him, he wants quantity or quality and would not shut up until we went his way; it was like having a toddler around. I did get enough info to make some decisions for my public land hunts, the lease is crap, and I will make sure my hunting trips will not include that guy. It would be nice to have for free, but it was not worth the measly $800 asking price. I would have better chances on the public lands than I would the lease land; I found tree stands, cameras and plenty of sign telling me someone else was already crossing the property lines. Oh well, I'll keep that money in my pocket. Season starts Saturday, I may or may not be able to get out, I'm not doing mornings early season anymore, no point sitting for 2 hours and getting baked by the heat. I maybe drinking at the football game in the afternoon, so the evening hunt may be out as well. My father comes to visit the weekend after, so that may be out too. Oh well, plenty of season to hunt and it may help me in the long run.
Couple of small bucks running about my small 10 acre piece i have permission on in NY. Looks like I may be filling a "fergie" buck tag in NY before MA opens.
Wound up getting my ct tags. Went and saw a couple does and a small buck. No shots offered Sent from my iPhone using Bowhunting.com Forums
I’ll be out Saturday evening, wind looks dumb, but then again, I may not know how to read the wind. The property I hunt is tricky since it’s kind of small, bean or hay field and the wind blows into places I “think” deer will come from. I may hit one spot and see if my thermals get pulled low, but that means I’m lower in terrain almost eye level with the deer trails. I have 3.5 days to get a plan together, maybe the wind will change.
Good luck! Youth hunt this Saturday. They only get 1 day in MA for youth hunt. Any buck (first buck we see) gets it if we are lucky enough!
Good morning, fellas! 5 days to go here in Illinois. Looks like the first few days are gonna be warm and windy but a cold front the later part of next week should get a few early season bucks killed somewhere. Not sure how much I'll be able to hunt the first week, but I'll try to sneak out a few times. I'm more interested in filling a doe tag early than trying to stumble into a buck. I will likely head out to one of my local spots this weekend and look for a white oak dropping acorns with fresh sign around it and set a stand nearby for a couple of morning sits. Nothing else all that exciting happening around these parts. My poison ivy rash from KY is just about healed up, my bow is shooting good and I'm ready to get back after it.
Opening day here is Saturday Hoping to get out in the morning doesn’t look promising for the afternoon with weather Monday hoping to go scout some public stuff Haven’t had time with kids, family and training Sent using Smoke Signals
Youth hunt looking low of 57, high of 78.. ugh. Opening day of NY looks like rain. low of 58, high of 75. I'll be out that afternoon regardless.
Our opener weather is 91/69, I'd take those 70s temps all day. We are finally getting some rain today, it;s been like 20 days since we've had a decent rain shower. Everything else has been a quick light 5 min sprinkle, my yard is dead.
Pretty pumped right now, just got an email at work that I will be getting to attend the ATA show again this year!! cant wait!
I hunted one of my private spots yesterday evening. Had a few does and young bucks come by my blind around 5:30. At 6:00 a nice buck came off the neighbors property and walked right by one of my stands on the way to the pond which is a mud hole due to serious lack of rain. Watched a few more deer filter out into the field and feed. At dark the coyotes started singing nearby and cleared the field. I had noticed a couple bucks and does working a licking branch earlier, so after dark I setup a camera on it to see what else may show up. Still miserable hot here, but forecast shows first week of October to be much cooler (lower 80s).
This is good stuff. I hadn't checked out the schedule but I sure like the looks of a nice cool day. NY starts on Tuesday but life is getting in the way of hunting there. Will definitely be out for PA opener next Saturday. Its exciting to think about being in a tree again. Got word that our NY lease is holding a couple bears on it. I would love a crack at one with my bow so I'll probably put up a couple cameras to monitor that situation as well. Last night I overseeded a winter rye plot behind the house. The seeds I planted last week are just coming up so I went thru and broadcast more seed to come in a little later. Rye seems to grow about anywhere even if the ground is not very fertile. Sent from my XT1710-02 using Bowhunting.com Forums mobile app
Decided to do some public land scouting this morning. I was looking for some fresh sign and dropping white oaks. Found a couple of fresh rubs, someone's hang on, a dead spike, creeks are dry, and that the white oaks are pretty bare. Out of the 100 white oaks maybe 5 had some acorns, but they haven't started dropping yet. The red oaks and the live oaks are loaded down. Looks like I know where I'll be later in the season.
I went out this evening to sit/recon, checked one camera and it didn’t take any pics, I’m pretty sure it’s video function is garbage. Decided to go sit on the creek and check and camera and got a nice surprise, all 12 points of a surprise. I’ll be out in the AM, hopefully ol 12 pack slips up and gives me a chance.