We're on the tail of the rut in central NC. I have some other spots in mind, some smaller parcels... Weather is supposed to be warm next weekend... I may have to consider a hunt in the mtns.
Friday night I had one of my shooters coming right to me about 45 min before dark. He got to 30 yards and crossed the trail of a doe and fawn that had come by earlier in the night, then turned and followed that trail into the brush instead of coming another 5 yards I needed for a shot. That's two encounters under 40 yards with the same deer and no shot opportunities. I spent the rest of the weekend at my lease with my son, trying to get him on a buck of some sort. Saturday night we sat on the ground with no blind and had a big doe and fawns in range. Sunday night we moved into a blind and saw 3 bucks, but all slightly out of range. The only deer we had come close was a button buck. Still a good weekend though. We had deer in range both evenings, saw a few bucks, and got to hang out and do guy stuff all weekend. I don't plan on hunting at all this week. Busy at work and need some time to regroup and start coming up with late-season plans. I'll hunt this coming weekend which will probably be my last morning hunts for the year. After that, it's time to start hoping for cold and snow.
My son laid down his Bow and picked up his great grandpaws 30:30 and killed the Buck I had been after and only laid eyes on him back in 2019. 3 years of history with this joker. Plenty of trail cam pics of him. I’m so very happy for my son, just a tall old cool looking Buck. I found a shed the other day, an oldie from last year
You Richardson boys are stone-cold killers!! Congrats again to Dalton. It's 2nd firearms season here in IL, so I'm sticking close to home in my suburban haunt this weekend. The thought of going hunting tomorrow morning seems painful right now, but I'm going to do it anyway. At this point, I'm just throwing hail marys and hoping someone catches one. If we can get some cold and snow there is still a chance I'll be in the game for a late-season buck. At the current time, I don't have any intentions of shooting a doe. There just aren't as many deer around as I'd like to see. The only exception would be a late-season saddle hunt at my lease. I have a group of I think 5 mature does with no fawns all hanging out together. If I get a chance, I may shoot one of them.
Headed back out to the farm tomorrow. My cameras haven't been showing much but antlerless season starts tomorrow and maybe they'll be moving with this cold front. It's been a tough season! Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk
I put the bow down and carried the .270 this weekend. Sat all day on the marsh and at last light this guy came out. An itchy trigger finger and spent patience resulted in more meat for the freezer. Sikas are such cool deer. Their vocalizations are so much like elk and I can pack out a whole deer with my Mystery Ranch elk pack makes it that much better. Hope everyone is safe and healthy. Sent from my SM-N981U using Bowhunting.com Forums mobile app
Decided to sneak out last night and hunt the only real cold we're going to have in the foreseeable future. Ended up seeing 13 deer make their way onto the cut corn, but nothing worth getting excited about. A bunch of does/fawns and a few young bucks. I did a hang-and-hunt out of the Tethrd saddle and I'm finally starting to think I'm getting this figured out. I was surprisingly comfortable and very warm in my ScentLok Divergent suit with some merino wool under it. Temp was 19 when I got back to my truck, and we had a pretty stiff wind for the last hour or two before dark. I'll probably take my son out again the next two weekends and wait for some colder temps before I hunt again. If no bucks show up that are worth going after I'll try to take a late-season doe on my lease. DeCroo is supposed to be in town around the holidays so we may head out and try to film a hunt with his fancy new slow-motion camera. I have to contribute something to this team.
I havent hunted in the past few weeks, Havent been feeling well and just didnt have the energy to get up n go ,feeling al little better so Im going down to the farm this weekend to fill feeders and hunt a little . I did get a photo last night of one of My target bucks that disappeared around Halloween, , I did
Fertilizer all our food plots this afternoon just before the rain. Scraps where all down the side’s and on the edge of the food plots. The rut is a couple weeks away.
Well my elusive 9 point was still alive as of Dec 5th....man he was run pretty hard as of the end of Nov but looking better now! Hope he made it through smoke pole! Check out that front leg though-wow Sent from my SM-N960U using Bowhunting.com Forums mobile app
Gun season finished up this weekend and this guy shows up past couple days. Looks like I finally have something worth pulling the string on in my lease. Sent from my SM-N981U using Bowhunting.com Forums mobile app
Dang, that front leg is looking wicked! Hope he made it through. I've got 3 shooters still running around that I know of, but not much time to hunt them! Between the holidays and upcoming ATA show, time is going to be tight for me. I'm going to take my son back out to our lease this weekend and see if we can't complete our mission to get him a buck this year. The weather looks pretty cold, which I'm hoping puts a few deer on to our beans. This is probably the last weekend for him, so I'm still hopeful I'll get something killed before it's all said and done. Heck - I may even grab the crossbow and whack a doe with him this weekend if no bucks are around.
Hunted yesterday and saw two does that winded me at 40 yds. I guess the ozone helped some because they didn't leave snorting and running, just a little spooky and back the way they came from. Got up a tree super early this morning and had a deer follow me to the tree then proceed to do circles around the tree trying to figure out where I went. I'm guessing it was a young deer. Would be nice if a hammer followed it in the next 20 minutes when I can see. Really warm yesterday and today. Highs of 55°. Not ideal but makes for some comfortable sits. Sent from my SM-N981U using Bowhunting.com Forums mobile app
Saw a dozen deer on Saturday evening, but they all went to the green (winter wheat) instead of our standing beans. We had a couple of does filter through the beans but they were just over the crest of the hill and it would have been a tough shot for an adult, let alone a kid. Plus, we were looking for bucks anyways. Sunday night was more of the same. Ended up seeing 6 deer, but they were all does and faws. The bucks are eluding us! Looks like I'll be able to hunt Thursday afternoon for sure, possibly Weds afternoon as well. This weather kind of sucks for late season, but it is what it is. Gotta keep after them and hope a miracle happens!
Sat in a totally different parcel on Sat... Saw no deer. I'm planning to sit my property a few days this week with the bow. Just need to wrap up some EOY work scrambles and appointments.
Got a mild case of the Rona which would be great for hunting purposes, but my wife's pretty sick so I've been staying home. Hopefully tomorrow is the worst of it. If so I'll be getting some woods time this weekend/early next week. Wish we'd get some snow. Merry Christmas, everyone
