Well, Mike had one of them at 6 yards, but on the wrong side of the tree, and never got a shot at him. The other one never showed. I did get to lay eyes on one of our really good three-year-olds tonight, which was good to see. Hopefully, he makes it so we can chase him around next year.
I found out last week that a neighbor shot the big guy I've been after with a rifle. Good for him, not good for me. I am hoping to get a late season hunt in before the end of the year but the two big bucks I was hoping for are both confirmed killed. Our farm does not hold deer in the winter at all, might have to try some public again.
It's rifle season here. I would normally not hunt much for those 12 days, but I am going to continue to push through it. It's starting to wear on me a bit. Big ol' knurly buck with only main beams left was out back of the house last night well before dark. I about brought out the .270. lol! Taking work off early for an evening sit. At some point I am going to have to go into doe mode as they guys have their pink panties in a knot waiting on me to wear them.... :p
After hunting Monday evening I decided to take the rest of this week off. I needed a mental break and had to get caught up on some stuff at the office. My plan for this weekend is to skip hunting tomorrow morning in favor of scouting and prepping some trees for late season. The food rotation on the farm I'm hunting is way different than it was last year, and I need to get some spots prepped in new areas. So I'm going to take advantage of tomorrow morning's windy conditions and go do that. Then I'll hunt both Sat and Sun afternoon. Sun mornings are out for me from here on out - we start indoor practice for travel baseball this weekend. 'Tis the season!!
Rifle season is in full swing here. The next day I can hunt is 12-9.. I have a spot in mind that may bode will for a doe with a bow. Fingers crossed I can get out and make it work
Haven’t been out hunting in a couple weeks. Little get away with the wife this weekend. Next weekend I’ll be out with my kids trying for their first deer. Will likely bring the bow during our late doe season so I can shoot another buck if we see one.
My boy and his buddy cut a pocket in a cedar and made a blind at noon today. They watched football and then hoped in the blind around 4 pm. They were covered in deer by 4:30. I told both of them to be patient. The two big guys will be out before dark. There was no waiting. He killed his first buck with a rifle a few min later. I watched the buck fall from the couch. Lol. Don’t know how I could make it any easier for them. Second rut is going sting here. That buck was dogging does and pushing them all over the place. His first buck with a rifle and his biggest to date. Sent from my iPhone using Bowhunting.com Forums
Nice work!! Congrats to him. Did a quick run and gun sit in the saddle last night. 28 degrees, 15 mph winds. Had a nice doe come out and feed at 17 yards and after more than 2 years of not killing a deer, it was time. She didn’t make it 50 and piled up. I’ll get the video edited and posted probably tonight for the score card. This is my signature. There are many like it but this one is mine.
Finally got my video edited and put into the contest. It's supposed to snow a couple inches tomorrow but stop right around mid-day. If that happens I'm going to try and sneak out for a quick afternoon hunt. I love hunting in the snow any chance I get. Video of doe kill is here - quick and easy.
Ended up seeing 13 tonight, including one of my shooters, but he showed up about 10 minutes too late. He stood broadside at 32 yards, snort wheezing at the decoy, but it was too dark to shoot. I could see him plain as day on the snow, but all I could do was stand there and watch. Back at it tomorrow!
I hunted Saturday morning and saw a small buck chasing a doe fawn at warp speed past my stand, and that was it. Did a hang-and-hunt in the saddle on Saturday night with the decoy, which is a lot of crap to carry! And I saw zero deer. Wasn't able to hunt at all on Sunday and probably won't be back out until the tail end of this week. On my drive to the office this morning, I realized that I haven't seen a deer that would score more than 130 inches all year.
Team participation has really slowed down since December came! Contemplating a quick hunt this afternoon if nothing crazy pops up at work. Then I will spend the rest of my Friday night helping my brother-in-law install vinyl plank in his bedroom and master bathroom. Yay! Looks like a cold weekend and a good chance for some more snow this week. If that happens I plan on hunting as many afternoons as I can between now and the end of the year. It's not over until it's over!
Hunted both Sat and Sun evenings - and saw one button buck in those two sits. Looks like some major snow is headed our way at the tail end of this week, followed immediately by cold and the holiday weekend. No idea if I'll get out at all in those conditions, but I'm certainly gonna try! Trudging through a foot of snow is never fun, though.