Went out last night for a short sit and to pull a couple cards. I finally have a buck on cam I might consider shooting. 5 different bucks in the last few days, one is what appears to be a GIANT 6, I have always wanted a giant 6. He might have an extra on his right side, couldn't tell for sure. Pretty tall and heavy mass, appears mature. Gonna have to get a better look at him. Saw two bucks and one doe in stand, one of which is a pretty unique deer just young and a nice young 8.
You find any trees then TJ on the new place or primarily doing a lot of ground hunting this first year?
Ty I got lucky and actually landed yet another spot. Lol I have around 600 acres to hunt now. I was able to find a couple stand worthy trees on the one place but have yet to hang a stand. Still collecting trail cam data before I make final decisions to where I wanna hunt it. I do have bucks showing up there as well. Several in fact. The other new place also has a lot of hedge and cedar but a few decent trees a beautiful CRP draw, couple ponds 40 acres of milo and 40 acres of wheat. Swarming with deer.
Part of me wanted to dislike this post bahaha! Grats brother, crazy how we go from worry and stressed to blessings overflowing.
Your situation sounds pretty exciting TJ. With 600 acres to hunt, every time you hit the woods would be an adventure. I am lucky enough to have a couple 100 acres to myself to bow hunt, but the whole timber is getting logged this fall so im kinda down on this year. Hoping it thickens it up for the future, though.
We're still in the freaking 90's here. Supposed to be 96 tomorrow and Thursday and not cooling off at night at all. I may take the boat out and throw top-water lures Friday morning, then go hang a new set and hunt the evening. We need a cold front in a big way.
Alright guys I'm finally going to get back out this friday! Haven't been out since I shot my doe. I'm going to my micro plot I put in deep in the woods to see how it's growing. Never know what will show up there, a ton of timber around.
We have our first wide spread freeze of the year coming tonight! Highs of 60 today and 55 tomorrow. I'll be in the stand tonight and most of the day tomorrow if need be. I'll be hunting a recently hung stand in a new area so I'm pumped to see how it produces. I'll try to post some pics if I remember.
So, as planned I took the boat out and threw top water baits for striper. The wind was up and made it difficult to stay off the rocks so we didn't catch any fish. However, we had good temps to hang a stand in a new area (part of the same area only different place). On the way I called the biologist for the area (it's public land) to find out how their annual deer count went in August. They do a spotlight count and try to do 4 in the month if they get good weather. They compare the numbers to the past years and average them. It gives them some idea of how the population is doing. Well, the area I am hunting was purchased by the state and opened to hunting in 2011, and is archery hunting only. The biologist said the bow hunters have been doing a really good job of taking deer and last year they took 113 off the area. Unfortunately, the particular part of the area I've hunted since 2011 and one of the most populated is now hard to find a deer on. They spotlighted four nights and saw hardly any deer at all on any of the nights. I checked a trail camera I put out last week under my stand and had one doe and one buck (110ish) in a week's time. After hearing the good news (sarcasm here) we went into the drainage that I wanted to hang the stand in as there is a line of scrapes there every year and plenty of deer. Sadly, not one of the scrapes was opened up and there was one set of tracks where it normally looks like a highway. I set up near that old line and had an awesome view of a huge bedding area but saw nothing. My buddy was 150 yards away on a trail that is beat down from years of deer traffic. He too, saw nothing. This is really a bummer. Not really sure where to go from here.
I didn't draw this year. I hope to get a couple of doe tags when I go back at Thanksgiving. I hoping I can find a buck cruising for does in the next few weeks. There are more deer west and north of where I hunt. I just need a couple to come looking. :D
I say those of us that still need a doe tag filled stop over at Bill's place and slap a tag on one his back yard friends lol Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Right. Kinda ticks me off sometimes...maybe it's jealousy. I spend about 50 minutes to my public ground hunting spot (no baiting on public), sneak in an hr+ before shooting light (partly to beat other hunters), and seldom have a shot available...throw some corn/spoiled produce/rancid sunflower seeds out in the back and these 6 followed by my forky four pt buck all turn out. Sigh. I need to come up with some money or lose some expenses so I can buy some private land.
Well, even though the weather was so nice I opted to stay out of my best stands this weekend. Trail cams show all the bucks still cruising through middle of the night and 5 AM... Gonna wait till they start slipping up before I sneak back in.
