Hah, yes. Going to wait on that spot till the afternoon- supposed to be rainy most of the morning and the wind isn't right- supposed to be blowing right where I expect them to be bedding. I want to ghost in on that spot in the PM when the wind is supposed to swing from the NW and check it out. So in the AM I will be going to head straight west behind camp, get my dad in a pop up and then creep further back to where this afternoon I saw a biggun and his buddy. I jumped the little one who in turn jumped the bigger one. The bigger one never saw me. The areas all around us, both private and state got slammed by loggers this summer. Going to change things a ton.
I saw 2 does, 2 fawns and a 4pt on my afternoon sit yesterday. Ill be in the ground blind on this rainy morning.
I was in a transition about 20 yards from a field edge, had a doe and a fawn in the field at sunset and was was hoping a buck would come through the transition to scent check but it never happened.
Well boys feel like I let the team down. Had a perfect opportunity at a doe tonight but she caught me drawing my bow. She took the whole field with her running off. 12 yards broadside while on the ground. Would of been my first with traditional equipment. Guess there’s tomorrow!
I missed a decent (maybe 115) 8 point broadside at about 23 yards the other day. He was down the hill from my stand which is right on a ridgetop. He pegged me on the draw and I aimed as low as I could without missing him low in case he didn't drop; but still what I had to hope was low enough in case he did jump the string. He beat the arrow and the vanes clipped his back right above the point I was aiming. Not even a fleshwound. Disappointing but it was still a good evening. I was covered in deer eating acorns and when he came in he was right on them like it was October 31, pushing the does all around and grunting. The rest of Opening Week was pretty much a complete bust. Didn't see anything else in range while in the stand.
that night it did. Squirrels up in the trees cutting them down by the bushel and the deer eating them up. Last year they were raining down everywhere; this season seems to be just sporadic groves are loaded. So once you found a spot it was hard hit but they were hard to find. Last year was almost too many because they were everywhere which meant the deer was all over but impossible to pattern. We found another spot close to camp that was being destroyed but it was so close we let the old timers sit it. They saw some does and youngsters but nothing big. Cams had a couple nice ones but before daylight- moon was awful which is what I blame on that.
Pre pre-rut; I am a big advocate of the Overhead/Underfoot Rule. I use an app called "time to hunt lite" that I don't think is offered any more but it still works. And I think it's pretty accurate. At least in my experience. Once the rut starts amping up I throw that out the window though. In regards to bucks, I find early season AM hunts to be largely worthless ESPECIALLY when the moon is mostly or all full. I see more early afternoon activity in the early season than I do AM activity. I'd rather go out at noon and sit till dark than do an AM/PM split if all I had was a buck tag. Does are a different story as they will be active in the morning light especially if they have fawns- coyotes are too active at night they would rather play it safe...and since I prefer to take a doe early season if possible, so if I have a doe tag I will still sit in the AM. The caveat to that is if I could get really close to bedding way before shooting light to try and catch a buck coming to bed late from water. But I am not currently hunting any areas like that.
Getting started this week in Illinois. Bad timing on weather. To all who wielded the axe and missed, just keep swinging. It is a long season. We are just getting started. : ) Sent from my iPhone using Bowhunting.com Forums
Got us 50 yesterday evening. Got to take a first timer and let her see one get killed off the ground with a bow. I think she’s hooked. Ready for big boy now! Sent from my iPhone using Bowhunting.com Forums
I'll be hunting in SE Oklahoma on Friday evening through Monday. Meat for freezer is first, then we'll see how it shakes out.
Way to go Ky! And good for you encouraging the next crop of hunters. Pass it down or lose it. Now go get them horns!
