That would be a hard pill to swallow knowing that deer walked by. Sent from my iPhone using Bowhunting.com Forums
Eh, I'm not super upset about it. Lots of season left and some other good ones still to chase! The weather for the remainder of this week looks super lame, so we'll see how many times I'm able to sneak out and hunt. My current plan is to try and dodge the storms for the rest of this week and then head down to Central IL for next week Thursday to Sunday to hunt our new lease. It should be on fire down there, and I want to hang out with the boys and enjoy some time in the peace and quiet. Hunting the suburbs can be fun, but it's also annoying hearing traffic, barking dogs, police sirens, people having parties, loud music, etc, every single time you go hunting.
I took Friday afternoon and Monday off. I have some Halloween activities with the kids on Saturday night so that leaves me with Friday night, Saturday morning, Sunday and Monday to make it happen. the rest of the week next week Ill possibly be able to sneak out in the afternoon but with the MN gun season starting on November 4th, anything bow related needs to happen by then for me. I'm excited for Friday afternoon, rising pressure, cold front, 40-50 hours of rainy weather clearing up.
The combination of temp drop, pressure rising, clearing skies and last few days of October is about as good as it's going to get for us. This is what we wait all year for! I'm planning on being a ghost around the office for a couple weeks starting right after Halloween.
I’m really hoping for that first good frost out in MO so the leaves will get off the trees. I like the view better without them… not so much the squirrels running around in them on the ground though. But we’ve had this guy in camera the last few days so perhaps he found a few girlfriends to take care of in a few weeks. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Starting tomorrow afternoon, I will be hunting at least once a day for the foreseeable future. I'll be driving out to my lease for tomorrow afternoon and Saturday, then coming home to hunt local on Sunday/Monday, probably sneak a quick AM hunt in on Tuesday before taking the kids trick-or-treating, then I leave for our Central IL lease on Weds morning through Sat or Sun. If I haven't killed anything by then I'll probably hunt local either mornings or afternoons the following week. Let the grind begin!! On a related note, one of the bucks I've been waiting on all year finally showed himself last night. He's been showing up later and later in October as he gets older, and we cannot figure out where he's summering or spending his early fall. But, when the does start to heat up, he always shows up and sticks around usually until late December. I believe he is six this year, and it's time for him to die. The bummer is that I think he actually got smaller since last year.
Well, my buddy shot that big 8 year old I've had multiple encounters with through the years. Sounds like a good hit and he's on the trail now. I'm headed out to help in a bit when my kids are done with sports practice. Kind of fitting he's the one to finally seal the deal - we named the deer after him when he was 3 years old, and he has like 6 years of sheds off him. Hoping it's a happy ending tonight. I'll post pics when I can!
That is crazy. A bitter sweet end to the story. Keep us updated Sent from my iPhone using Bowhunting.com Forums
Well it's not looking good - 400 yards in a sparse blood trail with no beds and the deer is just walking at this point. I've been on quite a number of goose chases in my years, and this may be one of them. Usually if they don't bed within the first 200 yards or so, they aren't that badly hit. My guess is high in the back. Gave it up for tonight, going back tomorrow to look again.
I'm upnand at it this morning. My vacation starts today and goes through next week. With this temp change I'm looking forward to what the next few days bring; plan is to hunt this morning until about 10, then I have a meeting at 11, then after that get back out into the woods. It'll be interesting due to the fact that I will only be able to hunt a couple mornings over the next week as I have to get my kids on the bus and to daycare but maybe this morning I'll lay something down. Definitely going to shootna doe if one walks by, and at this point of the year my standards lower a bit as after shotgun season, which starts Nov. 4, it seems getting on a good buck becomes much more difficult. Anyway, good luck fellas!
I know what you mean with the kiddos lol. I’ll be getting mine off to school this week and staying in the woods until they let out. It worked last year so fingers crossed. Also I went this morning not expecting much. Wore a short sleeve shirt the entire time. Anyway seen 6 doe. Was drawn back on one the size of a horse ha…she never came closer than 30 so I didn’t take the shot. Had to head home and change my socks then I’m going to scout the rest of the day. Might set up if I feel frisky lol Sent from my iPhone using Bowhunting.com Forums
I talked to a dog tracker who said he would come, but also agreed we're looking at a backstrap hit, and recovery isn't very likely. After measuring it on a map, the blood trail was over 600 yards without any beds. That, along with the hunter knowing it was higher than he would have liked, plus no bubbles in blood or what we would consider "good" blood, we decided not to call the dog in. He's going to go back and grid search for a while this afternoon, but it certainly seems like he's not fatally hit. I'm headed out of town to my lease for a couple of days but if he hasn't shown up on cell cam by the time I get back I'm going to deploy a few additional cameras and see if we can't pick him up somewhere.
Good luck! I saw one deer, pretty sure it was a doe but it too was a size of the horse haha. I'm heading out this evening but and I'll be set up on a field edge where there are typically a lot of does traveling and eating and hoping a buck comes on out too.
That's a crap feeling, but part of the pursuit. Itll be interesting to see if he sticks arouns or goes to a new property. Being 8 years old he obviously feel safe in that area. Idk about anyone else on here but for me when a buck comes out and I get drawn back it's like I black out....not in a literal sense but I'm pretty sure it's just the adrenal rush, but it makes it hard to recall the details such as shot placement. Best of luck on your lease. Should be a good weekend!
I've been on my share of backstrap hits with my tracking dogs. It usually doesn't take long to recognize the issue, but nothing is for certain and you still run it out. I've received many pics of bucks with scars from hunters after they showed back up on a trail cam. On a side note, October is a great time to be in the woods looking for 'shrooms here in MD. (I never pick a 'shroom without being 100% certain that its safe). Sharing a few recent finds, a lion's mane and chicken of the woods: -fsh
