Ended up hunting the bean field, this is the same spot I killed my buck last year, and where I had video of the 8 point earlier. Only saw 1 doe about 100 yards away right at dark, but I did have a bobcat playing with me all night. They are pretty rare in this area, and it's the first time I have ever seen one while hunting, and only the 2nd I have ever seen. He came out and sat down about 40 yards away and cleaned himself then continued on it's way. Right at dark it came back and walked about 5 yards away from me. Pretty cool encounter. I have pictures, but my computer doesn't want to read my card right now. I also checked my camera on the way in. Since they cut the beans, a group of does have showed up each afternoon, but they were a no go tonight. My mock scrape is getting work, but it's all at night, and all by small bucks. Biggest was a 2.5 year old 9 pointer, but not quite a shooter. I'm going to try to leave this stand alone until the rut. I hung this stand 3 years ago, and each year I have had close calls with shooter bucks. I'm not going to hunt tomorrow. High of 76 here, and while the wind is good to hunt the bedding area stand, I don't think the big boys are going to be moving during this heat.
Wound up moving my blind tonite....about 23 deer in the fields leading to area that I have to hunt. A spike came cruising thru with about half hour left of light. Could have whacked him but hey...we all in this for the points right :P Put my blind where my cam was, so major movement thru there....only catch is everything is from about 330 on....so that denotes tryin to bail outta work early I hear y aon the wind Scott.....NNW or NW sucks for me, needs to be E, NE, or SE Why do I pick those kind of stands.....adversity!!!! LOL Those one or two days during the rut can become magic! Off to Winnipeg tomorrow for my MRI and some shopping at Cabela's.....after my latest grouse hunt I am in need for some new arrows lol..and judo points Maybe a new Quest bow....or Diamond lol we shall see Good luck guys!!!!
Reese and teamies, I can get you anything "PSE" at cost (plus shipping). The radial X weaver arrows are the best thing I've ever shot. Let me know. PT, I don't know what's worse, a season that starts late or a season that's over by the end of September. It sucks not being in a stand before and after work....a month to hunt just isn't enough time! I'm taking the Kiwi back to the mountains this weekend. The two of us are going to help a couple of Louisana police officers rifle hunt mule deer. We're also going to try to arrow a couple of beavers. I'm heading back to S. Dakota a week from Friday. Good luck on your sits! Keep after it everyone!
Heading out now, boys .... VERY windy and 60 degrees with a cold front coming tonight .... going low and thick..........
How'd it go PT? They are finally calling for some rain here this weekend. It's been bone dry since season started, but I'm hoping it doesn't keep me out of the stand. However, it should make for perfect conditions to hunt the river bottom stand Friday afternoon, and with a little luck I might just run into the buck I scouted last winter.
You guys would be proud of old Dave. I must be getting mellow in my old age. Tonight I caught 2 guys and a kid muzzleloader hunting on the small Farm I manage the hunting rights to. I pulled up to the barn at 3pm and saw a silver ford explorer and thought who is this? After a brief conversation with the farmer he tells me "Dave I told them they needed to talk to you first and they told me that they knew you, worked with you and have talked to you about hunting. So now I am pissed.................Back to the truck, rip off my harness, put my bow in the case and to the woods I go. I find one of them in his climber and tell him " son you need to come down NOW and call your buddy then both of you meet me at the barn. 20 minutes later they come walking out of the woods and I let lose on them. 1. I do not know you guys so do not tell these farmers I do. 2. Mr Thomas (the farmer) told you to talk to me first and you lied and said you had. 3. You do not have written permission slips which is required by the game laws. 4. And lastly Mr. Thomas wants you off the property NOW !!!! At this point the short guy wants to argue until I interrupt him and say " one more word from you and I call the DNR. At this point the bigger guy says" sorry for the misunderstanding and perhaps we should just leave" as he is grabbing the short fellas arm and pulling him towards thier truck. I did address the young man and told him sorry if I had scared him but I hope he learned a valuable lesson from this and to not give up on hunting, Just learn how to do it right. Talking to Mr. Thomas later this evening he is laughing at me because I went in the woods and approached a man with a gun then told them what was what. Soooooo, according to Mr. Thomas I must be crazy, or just love to hunt. I told him a little of both but my overwriting factor in doing that was respect for him and hunting legally and doing the right way which is per the laws. We as hunters need to police our own !!!!! Anyways, I need some coffee and time to cool down. People like these guys just make me mad !!!!! Be safe guys Dave
Dave kudos to you for not losing it on the trespassers Up here its 99% public land and 1% private.....I sometimes lol @ how worked up some guys get about "their" property/lease...of course its prolly ignorance on my part. PT how'd ya make out bro? T minus 3 hours and the new house is ours....will post pics in the water cooler of before and after....lets see how much I can get done in a week before we have to be out of the old house LOL. God speed and good luck gentlemen
Sounds like you won't be having any problems with them anymore Dave. Reese good luck with the house man. It's a lot of work, but it will be worth it in the end. I hunted tonight for a short time. I got out in the woods with about 75 minutes of shooting light left. I figured I could slip into a little area close here and sit on the ground behind a large oak tree. No deer though, and the lack of sightings is starting to concern me....had the same problem last year too and then BAM it got crazy out there, so I'm hoping it's about time. I'm going to the farm tomorrow. The SSE wind isn't good to get to the river bottom stand I have been holding out, so I'm going to try to get after one of the trail cam bucks.
Good luck extracting your revenge on those beavers Will. I suspect I know right where you're going! Are the ones Scottie is chasing 2 legged or 4?
Yo Reese .. short memory?? Daughter's Culinary open house last night ... wife reminded me ... lol But I digress .... goin out for the next 2 morning and 3 evening sits .... we shall see what happens ... got perfect wind for this other spot I haven't hunted yet ...
I got busted this morning by a small buck .... my fault ... I got going late ... the wind was perfect for a spot I had in mind and it was "good" for my ladder stand.... but the idiot that I am, I logged on the puter when I woke up and got out later than I wanted to. So I get there and high step it to my ladder, since I can just crawl up fast and be hunting .... wind not bad for the first hour .... then it was like 20+ mph sustained winds ...I just kept thinking, "You aint gonna see anything in these winds ... but I went for the ride (literally) anyway. About 9am I see a buck coming in a direction he will cross my wind ... now it's blowing HARD .... he is about 40 yards out, hits the scent stream and he got outta Dodge fast .... kept me in the tree for a few more hours .... nothing after that ..... Oh yeah ... forgot my dang cell phone .. which was kinda nice ..
Did not get into stand until 4:40 this after (running late). Wind swirling from every direction was driving me crazy. At 6:10 4 doe and 3 yearling come in from directly behind me. Last one in was a big ole gray colored doe ( have trail cam pics of her). I decide she is the one I want to take, she is nervous and has the other 6 deer on edge. After about 10 minutes they all calm down and start feeding on acorns, I get myself turned, bow up. At this point all I am waiting for is her to move that darn legg forward so I have a clean shot pocket. Well, after a few minutes or so she takes that one step forward, a quick glance around to check the other doe's, good I can draw now !!!! NOPE, I just start to draw back and I hear another deer coming in from my left, a darn SPIKE buck chases the old doe off and the other 6 run about 45 yards out and stop. Meanwhile Mr. spike is thinking he is a player and he is gonna get some lovin and continues to push the old doe off into the swamp. All I could do is watch the other 6 deer slowly feed away from me until I lost sight of them. Foiled by a spike..........lol........was a fun night and I loved every minute of it. Here is the spike who thought he was all that with the ladies, trail cam pic from earlier this year. I think I will name him Lil Ladyman since he thinks he is all that...........lol Be safe guys Dave
No one deserves to kill a bruiser this year more than you man. I hope you nail him. Dave---It sounds like you are on the deer, and it's only a matter of time until a shooter buck walks into range. To be honest with you guys, I headed into this afternoons hunt without much confidence. For the 2nd year now, I just can't seem to get on deer in October. It seems in the past, I would be able to go out and take a doe in only a few hunts, but not anymore for some reason. Anyways, I drove to the farm after work and wasn't real thrilled with the wind. I decided to go to a spot I hadn't been in since last winter. On the drive back, I saw a young buck and a doe crossing the field (always a good sign to see a buck with a doe in the middle of the day in the open). I got into my stand, and got ready with mixed feelings about my setup. No deer until about 6:15 and I looked up the trail and saw an all too familiar buck headed my way. It was none other than the 8 pointer I have video of, and countless trail cam pics of. He just kept coming and finally stopped to munch on acorns at the long distance of 10 yards. I had the release clipped, and just stood there watching this buck for over 5 minutes, and I just couldn't bring myself to drop the string on him. I might end up regretting this in a month or so, but right now I feel I did the right thing.
I agree with holding out Scott. I think "we" both may regret not letting an arrow fly. Seems you and I think along the same lines, when you have bigger bucks on your property it is always a guessing game if your going to see them. Rutt is coming up, hopefully that will tip the balance in favor. Anyways, heading out for a morning hunt.........hopefully I can get a crack at something.........I am out of backstraps and need more))))) Dave
Just shoot some bone so we can get our points up ...uh....er, I mean, stick to whatever makes you happy, boys
I got off work around noon today, looked at the temp on my phone and saw 83 degrees, and decided to take an afternoon off. Way too hot here for late October. Ended up getting to do a little maintenance on my trailer, and changing the oil in the 4-wheeler. Tomorrow I'm getting up early and going to the farm for some low impact scouting trying to find some hot areas that bucks are using. Going to move a few cameras around, and try to hang 2 more stands in new areas. Hunting tomorrow afternoon, with a friend running the camera. It's his first time ever sitting in a stand, so hopefully we see some deer and maybe I'll get lucky and kill one.
It's been a wild ride the last two days ... had 2 bucks REAL close to getting an arrow this morning, and 8 deer in the field next to the one I was hunting from 5pm until dark ... they almost came down the gauntlet Nephew was hunting that scrub island I hunt and have sent pics to you guys ... he saw a nice 8 pointer ..so that's 2 good bucks back there at least ..
