Way to go Justin that's a good one man! Congrats! I agree the bucks are dropping like flies now. I got 5....yes 5 different texts this morning from friends with big bucks shot either this morning or last night. I have tomorrow and Mon , Tuesday off so now is the time! I'm seeing and dodging deer with the truck everywhere I go. Saw 2 different good bucks yesterday just trotting across fields doing their thing.
Sat most all day ... only saw one doe! Got up and did some still hunting and saw 3 bucks locked onto does. Isn't it early for that?
Well my morning was interesting. At about 8:45 this morning I shot a 6 point at about 14 yards. Perfect broadside angle. The arrow nicked the elbow/leg bone and got about 4 inches of penetration into the rib cage. The buck took off and I waited for about 30 minutes then got down and checked the arrow. The arrow came out of him about 10 yards away. Lots of white hair, bright red blood and fat. Not the best but still pretty lethal I thought. Decided to follow the trail to where I last saw him disappear over the ridge. Very little blood for almost 50 yards then a lot of blood. He had obviously headed down a trail and stopped or bedded for a minute and then moved again. Went back to the stand, looked at the arrow, got back in the stand and looked around the area with my binocs. Picked up the trail another 30 minutes later as this looked like I could have clipped one lung or an artery. Small bubbles in some of the spots. I ran into another hunter who helped me look for a bit - he knew the area and how the deer ran when shot. Followed blood back towards my stand at which point we parted ways and I packed up my stand and started to head back to the car. It was about 11am. I noticed more blood right in front of the stand so the buck had come back right in front of the stand - probably bumped him earlier and he circled around us. I get back to the car and take a break - I head back in at around 1pm to pick up the search. I follow the trail across this ridiculously steep ridge, sliding down the hill the whole way. On the upside - the trail is getting better. More blood and bigger spots. I follow the trail to the bottom and see that it heads towards the creek, about 60 yards from the base of the hill that I'm standing at. I figure he bedded down right near the creek in some thick, low brush. I lose blood until I get into the brush and find.........a gut pile. Between the time I walked out around 11 and when i went back in around 12:30 / 1pm, someone had either found the deer (or perhaps they took a shot at it as well), gutted it and drug it out. Quite upsetting to say the least. I'm pissed but at least the deer is dead and was found and I can move on. If I hadn't found the gut pile, I would feel worse. Just wish I had made a better shot and actually found him myself. The buck ran about 600 yards total across two ravines, along a terribly steep ridge, doubling back once, and bedded at least 3 times (bumped him once).
Kyle, glad to hear your ok. This stuff is a lot more dangerous than we give it credit for. Scarps, awesome deer man. Congrats on a great buck. It's been pretty slow for me past few days. Thursday night I saw three. Had a little 4 point on a does trail. Only action I've seen. Sat all day yesterday and saw two yotes. SLOW. Back out tonight. Beautiful afternoon for deer to be moving. 50 and overcast. We will see.
Ive been out all this week, been on a real nice 8 point 3 mornings in a row, each day moving my stand further up the ridge, he goes 30 yards even further up the ridge, cat and mouse! Also had a small basket 8 come into 8 yards following my scent drag! Goodtimes...... heres the video!
I shot a doe this afternoon about 4 pm. 20 yard shot and went 50 yards. I'll post some better pics from my camera. Feels good to put something in the freezer.
Just a tad forward than I would like. Went through both shoulders and didn't get a pass thru. But it got the job done.
Nice job on the doe man, I'm holding out on killing a doe right now til the rut is over cuz I need all the does in the area I can get haha
Funny thing about killing my doe yesterday, I knew what she was going to do before she did. It makes it pretty easy to kill a deer when they don't have the edge of unpredictability. I was out thursday night in the same stand and this doe and button buck came out across the field behind me. They appeared they were going to work to my right side and since they were coming from behind, I got set waiting for them to come right. When she hit 15 yards, she made a left and headed to another patch of woods. I could not get spun without the button busting me before they were out of range. Also a little 4 point came out same spot and followed her trail across the field. That's the extent of the rutting action I've seen past three days. Fast forward to yesterday. About 4 pm I glance behind me and same doe and button buck pop out. I knew she was going to try the same thing so I played for it and she did the EXACT same thing. Here is a pic from where she came from...not like she couldn't do 50 different things! The rest is history...she stopped at fifteen yards, and made a left, I stopped her at 20 yards and she didn't make it out of the field. It was one of the cooler hunts I've had to just know what the deer was going to do, that doesn't happen very often.
Good work on the doe MO. Slider you are going to have some good karma, luck, whatever you want to call it coming soon. Keep at it. Big ones are out moving. I've gotten several more pictures of big bucks shot. 19 point, 14 point, and a real tall 10 point. Saw one other buck that scored 183. Not sure how many points. Picture was bad.
Hows everyone doing? Havent gotten out lately but Ill be making a final stand this weekend. Im taking off tomorrow and monday is a holiday so Ill have three days to hunt. Hoping to atleast take a doe down. Good luck to everyone going out this weekend.
I haven't been hunting since killing my buck. Trying not to put pressure and scent in the area my dad and I hunt. He still has buck tag. Still plan on getting out and hopefully getting a doe. Drove around last night and saw some bucks chasing. I haven't heard of anyone seeing anything locked up for breeding. I'm sure they are, but haven't seen it driving. I'm thinking next weekend I'll probably get out some more. I can only stand this so long.
One last day Saturday. I hunted Saturday, and took off Mon and Tuesday as well. Maybe the most unproductive 3 days of bowhunting i've ever had....especially during prime time. Careful about stand selection, wind etc and just didn't see anything moving. In 6 sits I saw exactly one scrub buck, 1 doe and 2 fawns. I was about fried after all that time with no action. Fingers crossed for Saturday, going to try a new location to change the pace and maybe I will get lucky on a first time in set.
Shimish... what a drag the past two days have been! Yesterday all I saw moving in the woods was ONE red squirrel... that's all! Some birds flew past but 4-legged creatures were just non-existent. Dead silence in the woods. Today the wind was so bad the birds had a hard time flying (and again... no deer!). I think I'm over-hunting the area. I have an optimologist appointment at 11am tomorrow and then I'll be going back out. I'll be hunting a few miles from where I usually go, so hopefully I'll see some action there. Last week an 11-pointer was taken on that farm (and nobody has been hunting it since). The Amish farmer told me where the deer bed and where they come out to eat, so I'm crossing my fingers for tomorrow afternoon. Good luck to everyone!
Good luck gl! Not looking forward to getting up at 3:30 tomorrow morning but it'll be worth it when i'm way back on some public land and setup well before first light. Only slightly concerned since I'm basically hunting this area completely blind. Never been in here before and I'm only going off topo and aerial photos. Going to try there until late morning / mid day then move to check a cam in a different area. The cam results will determine where I hunt the evening. It's been there at least a month now - i'm sure it's completely dead but it'll be cool to see pics from that area from pre-rut till now. Might even have some pics during "superstorm sandy".
