Well, we got a few points on the board now :D Hunting a stand for the 1st time since we put it up, and up until I took the doe, I had seen 3 deer, 60ish yards away. I happened to glance over my shoulder at what I assumed was the squirrels that had been distracting me all evening long, and I see a deer coming out of the pines. Got a look at her and quickly made the call it wasn't a fawn, and the buck behind her (scrubby little yearling) made me think she had no fawns. She clears the pines, and starts coming down the road, and I decide there is not time to stand up for a shot, so when she gets about halfway through the leafless branches, I draw back (she is about 10 yards away) She looks up at me, for an eternity +1, finally she takes that last 2 steps, and I release, looked like a good shot, pass through, she takes off like a bolt and I hear her and the buck run off into the woods. Give it about 10 minutes, took about 15-20 minutes for my hunting partner to show up, and we commence tracking with flashlights, after following an initial poor blood trail, after about 75 yards the blood started to come. About 150 yards into it, it looked like someone was pouring it out of a jug, just a steady line, but by now we 200 yards into the trail, started having doubts, but it looked like a good shot? Finally after clearing a row of pines leading up to a fallow field, just on the other side of the road a deer length into the field, there she lay. Exit hole was where it was supposed to be, but the entry was a bit far back, either she twisted and turned at the sound of the shot, or I took the shot while she was walking. Hit far enough back to go through the diaphram, then into the liver and through a lung. 83 degrees out when I got in the stand, and over 70 while tracking, sweating my, well you know, off out there, so snapped a quick picture, and ran back to ditch my scent lok close and come back with my bow for official photos, kinda the reason I look so sexy on the entry photos, only had a pair of sandals or the rubber boots and the shirt my kid got me for xmas (glad I wasn't wearing the big elmo shirt the other kid got me :D) other thoughts, went on googlemaps and used the distance ruler option, and figure she ran about 230 yards, liver and one lung shot, I can see that happening, but this is the 6th deer I have taken with rage 3 blades and the first that had anything remotely resembling a blood trail. Listening to other people that hunt with the 2 blade rage, and the blood trails they get, makes me really wonder if I should switch, only thing holding me back is I am 6/6 with the 3 blades (4 of those feel within site of the stand) dunno....
Good work Wiaxle! Alright, we are on the board. Sean, keep pressing ahead. The turtle wins the race in the hunting game. Your time is coming. Good luck to everyone else. I will not be able to hunt until Tues/Wed of next week. Brett
wiaxle...nice job. Good story. Way to tough out the heat. We are having 80's here in Iowa also. Deer are moving late and I cant seem to get the mature does in bow range. Plenty of fawns and small bucks. Headed to ground blind tonight. Thermocell should help in there so I dont get carried off. Good luck to everyone. Feels good to be on board!
another doe down. going to get it now. will have some crappy video footage up later tonight or tomorrow.
Good luck tomorrow Sean. The only day this week that I will be able to hunt will be Tuesday afternoon. I am hoping a weather front comes through to stir up some deer movement.
so i put the video on you tube. i was amazed at how hard it is to film your own hunt. you cant do to much when you have deer 8 yards from you. hah. the shot was just off screen and did the post shot interview of only half my face on camera. lol train wreck. the cool part was i had about 8 deer by me at one time. ive been hunting this farm for a long time now and just descovered this staging area. its amazing. ill be spending a lot of nights in this new stand waiting for a shooter. does anyone know where i can upload video that has better image quality than youtube? http://www.youtube.com/user/h34ds7r0ng?feature=mhum
Today was my last day hunting until I get back from Florida the 23rd or so... Kinda bummed, but with the hunting so crappy right now its not killing me. I am sure it will heat up just as I put my bow down. Spent today getting my bow tuned up again...bullet holes. Will try and do some shooting this week to ease the hunting jones a bit. My sights should still be about right since I didn't make any dramatic adjustments. Will walk back and bare shaft this week and it will be ready for my return. Ordered some Judo points to thin the squirrel pop in my yard by a few, will use that to knock the rust off when I get back end of the month.
You will return right in time for the beginnings of the best two weeks of hunting all year. Headstrong, cool video. Man you sure have a good amount of deer in that spot. Best of luck the remainder of the season.
Hunting this afternoon and Saturday afternoon. I am hoping the clouds roll in and the temps drop. Good luck guys, the action should be start picking up a bit when the next cold front moves in within the next 10-14 days.
I just went out for 2 hours this evening and had a spike about 40 yards away but decided to not shoot.
Cool comes! Good discipline, plus you are seeing deer. Fantastic. I saw some squirrels, a raccoon, and a beaver tonight. No deer. hahaha
Hey everybody, Starting to see a few good bucks, here are a few on camera, dates are wrong.. Good luck everyone!!!
Great Job gettin us on the board guys!! I finally made it to the woods the other day. I didn't see a single deer. Tuesday is my next chance to get out and it can't get here fast enough.
Hunteropel... nice pics. good luck getting close to one. Finally the warm weather has broke here. Still in the 70's for highs but much more "hunter friendly". I hope deer are moving more in daylight now. Just havent seen the numbers as in the past. Crops are pretty much out around most of my hunting areas. Really pressing this weekend to tag a doe at least. Going to hunt in Illinois next weekend. The bucks should really be cruising by then. Good luck to all. And congrats to those who have scored.
