Congrats on the doe Kyle! I'll be taking my boy out with me this evening to sit in the ameristep ground blind. You just never know what will happen but hopefully we'll see something. If a doe comes by I'll shoot her since this spot isn't one I hunt unless my boy is with me.
Well team, I'm headed back to IL tonight after work. And I am excited about the chances for something going down this weekend. Talked to my neighbor after his hunt this am. He said little bucks are running everywhere and he saw one good buck this morning too. It should be interesting to say the least. Something is dying this weekend!
Go get em John, will be waiting for the news... good luck to all heading for the stand this weekend. The orange army starts tomorrow at noon here in ND. Won't get back in to the stand until third weekend of gun season. Most fly by nighters are done by then so less chance of stray bullets finding there way around me. Will be quite a few less deer around then as well though... I'm in bow making mode and will be trying to get a couple bows tillered up this weekend. Suprisingly its supposed to be in the mid 50's up here this weekend.
Mid 50's? Didn't you guys just have a blizzard? Good luck to you all this weekend. I may be heading out tomorrow night for a goat and deer hunt to the south end of the island on my friend Don's trawler. Nothing like living in style on a 100' boat and not having to worry about bears at night. I'll check in before I leave but SOMEBODY KILL A BIG BUCK!!!!
Well guys i'm heading out for my last sit. This has been probably the most frustrating season I have had in years. Missed a doe on the first day of doe season (Monday), had a close encounter with a smaller buck, and fell out of a 21' stand!.... this week! This morning I will be heading to the stand I fell out of, it is positioned over a morning travel route of a very nice 135" 4x4 we spotted. It's my last option, and all thats left. Honestly, it's getting to the point where is hard to drag my butt out of bed and slip on the camo's, but i'm still at it!! It only takes 30 seconds for a season full of bad memories to turn into a season you will never forget! When that 30 seconds arrives I don't want to be on the couch, but in my stand, at full draw ready to say hello
Should've killed last night. Yesterday afternoon I decided to head out and sit on an oak flat that I had some sightings on earlier this season. The wind was blowing hard gusts between 30 and 40 but I thought it would lay before dark. After getting in the stand I realized I might have a long sit ahead of me. This tree was swaying 2 feet or more in either direction and I felt a little motion sick! Well I stuck it out and about 5 minutes before I ran out of shooting light I see a deer to my West about 40 yards. I can tell he's a buck but I can't tell how big he is. He's on a mission and he's not stopping to give me a shot opportunity. He must have been bedded off of the flat or ridge that I was on. He skirted me at 40+ yards heading down the opposite side of the ridge behind me. The wind was still howling but I got out my Tru Talker and gave a few loud agressive grunts. I couldn't hear over the wind and I had lost sight of him by this point. Finally the wind calmed and I could hear him circling downwind of me off the ridge behind me. I then got really aggressive with the grunt and gave a couple of long deep grunts and several short tending grunts. Just after I stopped I could hear him coming straigh in. He RAN straight to the base of my tree just behind me! There was one limb that I didn't trim to give me some back cover and wouldn't you know it he stops right below it. I couldn't get low enough to get the shot off under the limb so there I stand with my bow drawn waiting for him to take 2 steps. He's 3 steps from my tree and I'm running out of enough light to see my pins through my peep! After what I would guess to be 2-3 minutes he turned and started back the way he came. I let down the bow and swung around the opposite side of the tree. I drew and once he cleared I stopped him with a bleat at 18 yards. I began to try to find him in the peep but it was just too dark. I struggled but to no avail. 3 minutes earlier and I could have seen my pin. As I stood there he walked back over the ridge and out of sight. So discusted but happy to have had the experience. I love when you call at em and they nearly break the door down coming in! While he was right under me I got a good look at his headgear. He's a real good 8 probably 125". Not wide but has good tine length. Anyway, I'm going back out this evening to give it another chance. He wasn't spooked and with the way he reacted to the grunt I may take the rattling horns and give them a try. Use your grunt call cause I think it'll bring em in on a string right now.
I'm heading to the only place I have grunted a buck in before. As I mentioned earlier, I have lost my primary ground for next year as of a week ago. Hunting it this past week feels like going to the prom with the girl that dumped you 3 weeks prior to it. I swore I was only gonna do that once. I've go too much invested not to finish the year, but it's bitter sweet. Taking a break from that property and heading to the cabin land for tonight's sit. Don't hunt it much, but I know I have the wind to be in the best (most buck sign) on the property tonight. We'll see.
Well guys it looks like im done. Nothing on this morning's sit. If I can get all my stuff packed and ready to rock I might be able to sneak in a hunt tomorrow morning, I'll be leaving for Montana at noon.
Sure did, u don't like the weather here in Oct and November just stick around for 30 minutes; it'll change. I shot my buck in Sept and it was colder that weekend than 95% of October
Rob, I'm seriously considering it. Thanks! I'm excited to get this move done, it will be nice being able to work on bows for a living again!
I seem to be doing a lot of work on them but I can't say there's much of a living in it. I hope it works out well for you. I'd love to be able to make a living at it and quit my day job!
It has it's ups and downs. At the end of the day I have a job that I LOVE and still make enough money to live comfortably and hunt everyday.
Well Dave hope you get a chance to get out in the morning.... your due that's for sure. Good luck with the new job, you'll only be a state away if your interested in coming to ND next fall...
Kyle, thats tempting! I already have a Hog hunt planned in April and a possible Blacktail hunt in oregon planned for the last week of Nov. I may have to look you up for a ND hunt. Do you have any open country mule deer options where your located? I would love to try to stalk one. I have been trying to do as many DIY OTC hunts as I can. We have a small "side business" started where we are showing guys that you don't need to spend big $$$ to have big adventures, basically through blogs and semi-live hunts. It is in it's early stages as of right now, but sponsors have been contacted and this thing is getting under way. We will be looking to release a video in the next year or so. If anyone is interested, check it out on Facebook! Help us get the name out! http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/pages/Parallel-46/159306070774682
Just hopped in the house for a bite. Slow going out there today. Saw one 4 pt on a mission. Needed to make a move, just no sign of anything. Heading to a known bedding area stand to see if anyone's checking on it.
Good luck tonight Ben... Dave, actually that's what I had in mind... there is a bunch of gov't land that I have had friends rifle hunt the last couple years. Have taken and seen a bunch of nice mulies. They usually stay in Sydney as it's the closest town to where they hunt in ND. It's about 8-10 months out for rooms from what I hear due to the oil boom having all the rooms booked. Camping is another option but if we get a dry summer there will be fire bans through the region. FYI, i've never hunted mulies with a bow so this would be my first time trying it....
I won't be back in the woods till this Friday when I start my 3 day hunt at the federal WMA. I've been checking their website and they've killed several P&Y's over the last 3 weekends. I've drawn the last weekend but I'm hoping that we'll be hitting it at the prime time. They're calling for rain Wednesday night through Friday and then a cold front moves in Friday night so I'm hoping that ther will be alot of movement Saturday and Sunday. They killed a 164" last weekend and 152" the weekend before. They hadn't posted the results from this weekend yet but I bet things are picking up. Good luck to the rest of you.
