No luck this am the wind and rain picked up quite a bit once I got on stand. Out hanging a new stand today that had one of my target bucks walk by 25 yards away last night around 6...hoping he repeatable that pattern tonight! Be back on stand around 4. Good luck to everyone else out tonight
Sort of.....had a shooter at 80 yards and was coming in, but the doe in front of him decided she didn't like my decoy and blew the whole field! :-!
Nope, sorry..no luck here this evening. The wind was freaking nuts tonight swirling around everywhere and changing directions. It ran the entire gambit from north to east to southeast to south to southwest to west to northwest to north and then all combinations in between. Craziest wind I've ever hunted in I think, never blowing hard just crazy direction switches. On the bright side, I pulled the card on the way out and had this guy. He's new'ish, I had him there in velvet back in July and hadn't seen him since. Also had the double throat patch buck on it again. No Boom or Crossbow though...Saw crossbow the other evening standing beside the road at about 9pm and ran him back off the road.
It was a monsoon here yesterday so I skipped the afternoon hunt. I am taking a 1/2 day tomorrow for a dr's apt and hope to get out in the afternoon.
Sitting in one of my very best stands tonight.....I got goosebumps when I climbed up....that's how many big deer I have seen from this stand.
I feel I should apologize to everyone on the team. I went out again this evening, walked in on a whim and sat on the ground on an elevated ridge. As expected, one of the un-named bucks I've been getting on camera came in before dark in good light at about 8 yards and I let him walk in spite of about five minutes to decide to let him go or take him. He is the nice 8 pointer that's been running with Crossbow and I was expecting to get a chance at Crossbow this evening. As the eight point walked away I knew I'd probably feel a bit bad for letting him go. I don't know that I'd change anything under the same circumstances but it's rough not getting bigger points for the team. I pulled the card on the camera I was hunting beside when I left. Here's the eight point as I sat a few yards behind and to the right of him. Can't see me on camera due to the moisture on that damn Covert camera. I've had real problems with condensation on these coverts for some reason. Here's a pic a few days ago on the same card pull showing both Crossbow and this eight point.
That's awesome Covey! I passed on a little 6 point tonight. He hung around for 20 mins just taunting me. Didn't see any other life, except for 4 turkeys.
It was a neat encounter. There's something to be said for sitting on the ground and having a nice big buck walking around 8 yards from you. You know sh*t just got real when you can hear them breathing and watch their tongue lick on branches. I'm a bit concerned that Crossbow wasn't with him there tonight. The only thing is that the wind was at the 8's back (south and he was going North) it's odd but happens but I wonder if Crossbow is just old enough to know better and circled around behind me and was just never seen. I don't know but the last time I had Crossbow on camera was 10/14, five days ago and he was with this 8 point. Had the 8 point on since then but not Crossbow. Then again, I also hung a new stand northeast of there on the 13th and hunted it several times. It's possible I bumped Crossbow or irritated him somehow and he just has avoided the property the last few days. I hope he's okay, hopefully he shows back up. I guess there's lots of good ones around if he doesn't, still a lot of season left yet.
No need to apologize man. I have zero intentions of changing how I hunt just for points for the team. I will shoot, or pass, the same deer I would have before this contest. I am just having fun sharing my experiences and reading others experiences as our seasons progress.
Thanks, I appreciate it. I have all the 130-140'ish 8 points I plan on hanging on the wall. There are so many ten+ points running around here this year it's a bit absurd. I would love to hang another ten+ pointer on the wall and with meat in the freezer already...I'm not going to use a KS tag on an 8 pointer for points for this contest either, lol. It's just one of those things that almost just feels wrong to watch a buck like that walk away from an 8 yard on the ground shot. I hope for his sake he learns better than that, he's not likely to be given a pass from many other hunters around after making a mistake like that. I couldn't believe he walked directly downwind of me, on my trail in...and never busted me. He must be deaf, dumb, blind and lost his sense of smell.
LOL I need one of those bucks to come my way in Pa. I haven't seen any bucks at all yet on the public land I hunt. We have a few nice ones in Ohio but I don't get over there as often as I can hunt Pa.
Don't feel bad. Given the situation I would have done the same. Don't change the way you hunt just for a contest. Maybe crossbow will do something similar soon
I hope Crossbow makes a mistake like that but so far he's better than I am, as has been all of my hitlisters. This 8 point I had figured I'd take him if given the chance as I looked at him on camera but when I saw him in person and weighed the prospect of tagging one of the big big boys...I just couldn't take a shot at him. I sat there shaking my head at my own stubbornness. He was the first really decent buck I've had in front of me this year so far...hopefully he's not the last *fingers crossed*. Absolutely fabulous deer and lots of them on camera here this year, I feel very very good of my chances or I'd never have let that deer walk.
Well, I dont know what the weather is going to be like for you guys where your hunting but up here in MN, we looking at upper 60's, low 70's at least for the next week. Now dont get me wrong, I love the warm weather but ITS BOW SEASON!!!!! DROP THOSE TEMPS MOTHER NATURE!!!! (there may be a little frustration there). Im not sure if I should hit up the stand or not because I dont want to pressure the bucks. I've got 2 (I think) different 8 pointers and I just put out a mock scrape dripper on saturday. I had a smaller 8 2 weeks ago at 15 yards which sometimes I regret not taking him but he lived to tell another tale (hopefully for now). Good luck to everyone out there!! I havnt been to active on here because of work, a 1 year old, and obviously hunting but I'll be making a better effort now that were getting closer to the rut!!!
Like Mike said, you don't need to appologize. I am glad others aren't changing the way they hunt just to get points. It's only bragging rights here - get something you're proud of for home! But, I must say - that is one big deer I wouldn't have been able to let walk; even knowing what else was around lol. My husband let that big deer walk opening morning (He had it 30 yards, wanted closer - though he practices at 50 yards!) and we haven't seen anything close to that again. My kind of weather expected this weekend (Friday-Saturday) - hoping to see something, anything!
