Its been really frustrating so far since nothing good has been showing up on camera but I just knew there was some good bucks around from the tracks I have been seeing. Seeing those three deer really sparked everything up. Even though its summer, on that side of the farm we have three stands set to kill.
Hey guys - I spent time on both of my leases in Jo Daviess Counties this past weekend on Saturday, then drove down after to my lease in Fulton County with enough time to glass Saturday evening and work all day Sunday. I'm hesitant to post pics, but as of now I'm very pleased with what I'm seeing. Not only do I have good deer, but at least two of them are very killable bucks as well. I'll be headed out probably first two weekends in August to finish things up on both leases and also pull cards again. I suspect I'm going to have some real studs on cam by then. After last season I've got it bad this year. 77 days and counting.........
Awesome! I've recently gained permission to hunt a friend at works property. It's a small parcel but seems very promising. He tells me he's seen deer there almost daily and he plants half acres of buckwheat and winter rye to help keep the deer from hitting his large garden to hard. I'll be the only person with permission to hunt there also so that's a very fortunate bonus. I'm excited to get my trail cam out there and see what's there. Hopefully this will help me close in on my first bow buck.
Awesome news out of you three...love hearing this. Completely get the hesitancy to show pics of bucks...I've recently gone tighter with my pics due to some "issues". I too am happy so far with what I'm seeing, especially out of the Swamp Property. I'm hoping to close in on a closer to home spot for those quick after work nights where I can go sling an arrow at a doe...like to get a quick easy one down like last year on the opener.
Got dealt my first blow of the year, the 320 acres that I acquired part way through last season will not have any crops planted on it. All the rain we've been getting has made impossible to get the crops in and it is now to late to plant. Should still have some beans planted right up to the south fence (higher ground) , I'll just need to get out and learn their new travel patterns. Still have hopes of tagging one early in the oak grove but this property was going to be my plan B this year. With the loss of our leases, I'm trying to save our best property for youth season but we'll see how that goes ...... my daughter has been kind of spoiled anyway
....JLS....do you have any inlets of the field that would be killer if you planted rye/oats/brassicas or something yourself later here? That sucks but like you said could still produce though during acorn production times.
Wouldn't surprise me if he didn't hook in to the field after walking along the southern edge or "J" hooking into the beans. RD does it habitually...makes him freaking tough to even see let alone hunt.
The corn to the south isn't ours but I am not worried about it because it will be gone before season starts. They cut it early for the cows. When I was sitting there last night I was able to scope out a tree at the road I may climb up in with the climber so then I can watch over the whole field. Going to give it a week or so, don't want the truck to start pushing him to the back of the field.
Last year was my worst season..... EVER and I ended up on a winning team. What can I say, I was here for my looks. you're welcome.
Pulled card this weekend and another bust. Been a real pain in the a** with the deer not really hitting minerals. did seem like there was more activity on them this pull but just young guys and does. Put two more cameras out and moved one in hopes to get a picture of Turkey Foot. Did end up spraying one plot to get it ready for fall planting. hoping this one will be a good staging plot before heading out into beans or hay. This is one that I am hoping will help get him down this fall.
Same here fellas. The one property will have a few cards pulled...gonna possible put up a cam on a new small spot I picked up...no clue on what is out there, yet to put rubber soles on the soil.
Not to sure if any of it can be planted, most of the property is in CRP. The landowner did come back in today and was talking about planting Winter Wheat this fall so all might not be lost yet.
CRP actually can produce a lot of forage for them. Property I use to hunt had about 200 acres of it and could easily sit there and see 20+ deer a night out in it all season long
Looks like I was able to pull a doe tag for some state game lands 25 minutes down the road from me as well as a doe tag for the main public land I hunt. I'm really hoping I can grab another doe tag for the area my house is in, which is also 10 minutes from a state park which allows hunting. Those tags would give me a better shot as scoring some points and add putting some steaks and jerky on the table. Each year I do not score a buck....I think darn, I should have taken a doe and at least got some meat. Last year I had few chances at a doe let alone the bucks that were slipping by me. This year, I'm going to pull the trigger on any mature doe in archery which does not have fawn with them.
Pulled some cards, Swamp Property is looking great for bucks this year. JR and Low Rider have both blew up more than I expected...Low Rider went from a 120 (maybe) wide and low length tined 8 to what looks like should wash out to be a clean low wide 10...he's nearly already as big as he was last year and more mass it appears. JR...didn't blow up as much as Low but he appears to be looking more and more like his pops RD...bigger, longer, more mass. :D Homestead property is like normal this time of year....tons of does/fawns and yearlings. This property starts getting more and more buck activity when acorns start dropping and September hits. Still haven't made it out to the new place in town I picked up...and still hoping to get on a small farm just 3/4 mins by truck from house.
