**** Team 9 Double Lung Liquidators *****

I plan on taking one of them an I guess I'll do the first come first served on my plate lol. Then hold my other buck tag for something bigger that might cruise through during the rut. I'll be in the tree this weekend but come Monday deer take a backseat since bear season opens the 14th. I'll have to drive up Fri night really late to miss all the traffic since Appalachian state has there homecoming football game this weekend I'll be able to hear the game from my stand since it's not that far away. Acorns have started falling so with this cooler weather this week it's liable to be good hunting

 

Just remember that there are bucks on or that come through your property that don't get their picture taken

 

Good luck on the bear hunt. We have a black bear hunt here, just on the other side of the state. Not yet ready to invest in a cross state hunt just yet

 

Planning on hunting Friday afternoon and Saturday. Here is the story from my son's youth hunt this past weekend:

Saturday morning we crawled out of bed at 3:30 to get ready to head down to the public land in Clark County that we had scouted earlier this spring. We arrived down to our spot a little later than we had planned but because of all the rain we had Friday night we were able to sneak into the stand of oaks seemingly undetected. Here are a couple pics at that location:





Around 11am Jacob was getting a little restless and since we hadn't seen any deer we decided to walk down an old atv trail. Part way up the hill two deer took off from an oak flat but Jacob wasn't able to get a shot at either one. Not sure if there were bedded or if they were just feeding in the oaks. Here is a pic of Jacob walking down the atv trail:



After not having any success that morning we decided to head home and have some lunch and come up with a game plan for that evening. After lunch we decided to head out to a farm that is enrolled in the Voluntary Public Access program.

We arrived at the farm around 3pm and headed back to a hidden hay field that I had seen a bunch of deer in the Saturday before while bowhunting. On the way back there we bumped a buck that was bedded in fairly open woods but with the Eastern wind it made sense because he had vary thick pines he could get to quickly. If we would have been watching on that side of the trail instead of the other we may have seen him before he took off. After getting situated against some trees along a thick fence line we waited for the deer to show up. As time went on it started to get very windy and then began to pour so we decided to call it a night.

Sunday morning found us back out to the same farm but we set up in some oaks between a soy bean/corn field and a thick swamp where I assumed they would be going back to bed in by the trails leading that way. We were only able to hunt until about 8:30 so that we could make it on time for church. We didn't see any deer but were entertained by the squirrels and woodpeckers.

Originally we weren't going to hunt Sunday afternoon because I usually go to bed early since I have to be up at 11:30 pm for work. After talking with Jacob I could tell that he really wanted to go out again so I agreed. We headed back up to the same farm and decided to hunt off of another alfalfa field were we had seen a small buck and a bunch of does earlier in the week while glassing. Once out there we decided to sit about 50 yards off the field and down the hill in a fairly thick bottom. Around 6 pm Jacob was getting restless and wanting to sneak up to the field to see if there was any deer up there but I told him we would wait until about 6:40 before heading up there. At about 6:15 I caught movement down in front of us and saw that a deer was coming. I told Jacob to get ready. The doe must have seen him moving and stopped right behind a tree, but her curiosity got the best of her and she started walking forward to see what had been moving. I told Jacob as soon as he had a clear shot to take it. Within seconds the shot rang out and she took off obviously hurt. It sound like she crashed just out of our sight. Jacob was so excited that you would have thought he just killed a monster buck! After some high fives and texts to friends and family we headed down to see if we could find blood. We found a drop of blood where she was standing when he shot and then a few more drops. After that I couldn't find any more blood and started to try and figure out which trail she took. I then looked up and could see the white of her belly. I told Jacob to come over and he immediately saw her. When he shot we didn't really know how big she was but it turned out that she was a decent size doe. Here is Jacob with his doe(this is his second deer but the first one was shot as a stander on a drive):



I couldn't have been more happy for Jacob. As you can see in the picture with the doe that Jacob has a trach which makes it kind of hard for hunting because he has to cough frequently. But whether we see deer or not Jacob always has a positive attitude and just loves being out hunting! Now he's looking forward to trying to kill a buck during the regular gun season and hopefully you will see another post then

 

Man that's awesome

 

And on a side note it's the thought of the bucks not on my camerathat make me not want to shoot any of these bucks lol if a doe would step out it'd make passing these a whole lot easier

 

Why is a three day weekend?

 

I think some get off work for Columbus day but I'm not one of them lol

 

Yeah. I'm not one if those guys. Wi, that is an awesome story. Good to read his excitement.

 

I love hunting behind my house, thats where my love for hunting started on the shoulders of my dad walking in to scout for deer as early as i could remember. I spent 8 years in a treestand back there and where I harvested my best buck to date last year. There is a huge farm owned by a steel company literally thousands of acres that have gone untouched for 8 years and serves as a sanctuary for all the deer and there are always MONSTER bucks in it. Right on across the road from me is a public park, it has hundreds of acres as well where no one can hunt and the deer always move from the sanctuary out by my house and cross into this park. Ive seen several 170+ inch deer in the fields and one monster i would imagine would go 190 last season which is unheard of in Pennsylvania. Fortunately i can hunt alot of the surrounding property and catch bucks heading out to feed and chasing in the rut.

This year though the company allowed the oil companies to come in and drill, they wiped out alot of the habitat and it kills me inside to see my favorite property, my heart and soul of hunting, being destroyed by corporate americas quest for cash. I did spend some time on my surrounding properties this summer though trying to see how the deer would react to all the commotion and people who busted down the door to their home. In the summer I layed eyes on a monster buck in velvet, the kind when your in your t shirt and shorts, its 90 degrees out, and seems like your eons away from a treestand still makes you shake like a rag doll. My buddy drove past my house the other night and said he saw a monster, which im sure is him, coming out of the wood line.

My dad called me this evening from home, he said deer were everywhere around the house and after a long discussion we think we have their new pattern figured out, they are bypassing all the drilling and using new travel corridors to get to the park. Im going to set up some cameras in a few places and try to find this big boy and look for their new crossings that i could hunt in rut.
That being said, there is a glimmer of hope that I may once again be behind my house, where my love for hunting began, chasing the whitetails that ive come to know and love. Im excited and plan to sit back there this weekend in hopes of harvesting a doe.

Ill be home friday late and looking forward to saturdays hunt. Thankfully I have this Monday off for fall break so this weekend ill be hunting Both saturday morning and evening, Then monday morning and evening. Because ill have to go back to school monday night i dont think ill have the opportunity to loose an arrow unless they come in early. Im pumped to get back in the tree and as long as that heat wave doesn't come back im pretty sure ill be putting 50 points on the board with a doe. The weekend cant come soon enough...

I cant wait to get back there guys. I lost all hope after the destruction I saw during the late summer, but things are looking up and maybe ill have a crack at one back there again this year.

 

Travis, thanks for sharing! Love to see kids getting in the woods, and especially having success. Tell Jacob Nice Doe. The power of a positive attitude is undeniable...

 

Two day weekend here - and weekends still full for rest of Oct. Saturday is soccer and football in the a.m., and p.m. a family from school is having a "chili dump" party (everyone brings chili and mix all together in large pot). Sunday a.m. I have kids while my wife takes pictures, church, then a B-day party for my godson/nephew...fingers crossed for at least a quick Sunday evening hunt.

...the good news is my spots are not getting any pressure

Good Luck to everyone getting out this week and weekend! Tim - who have we not heard from recently?

 

beaubowhunter. I have him down as being on a couple of hunts late September/early October. But I haven't seen much of him since he checked in.

 

Hey Guys

Quick update. My son who is 15 and on another team went out on his last youth hunt this past weekend. Conditions were poor, a lot of rain. His weather app suggested there would be a break for a few hours in the evening. He went out to the stand he picked ( a 1 acre food plot ) he felt when the rain let up that is were they would feed. It was a hard to steady rain. He passed on a spike almost as soon as he climbed in to his stand. It stopped raining after the first hour. About twenty minutes before dark a 2 1/2 year old 8 pointer stepped on to the plot. when he made up his min to shoot he could not stop shaking. He finally calmed himself down and shot at about 80 yards. The deer bolted but did not act as if he was hit. literally 30 seconds after he shot it poured, I mean poured.

We went to the cabin and grabbed Cooper our blood trailing dog and set out to see what we could find. I could not find any blood Cooper got on the trail of the spike that had come out early. I tried to get him refocused. He then pulled and opened ( which he has never done on a deer) found a little washed out blood. Cooper was pulling and all business. 150 yards later my son was kneeling by his best buck to date about a 90 inch 8 pointer. I think we would have found the deer the next morning but I am sure we would not have that night without Cooper. He was outstanding that night.

 

awesome!! congrats!

 

Tell him congrats on the deer!!

 

Congrats to your son!

 

So, this isn't a "big buck down" post, but I had a mini-breakthrough today. I'm not sure how many of you guys know that I'm an Afghan vet, but it has led to some issues that I have. The biggest is our evacuation alarm at work. We had one go off today for a fire, and I kept my cool throughout the incident. That's the first time that is has happened for me, so it's a sign that I'm getting to be able to handle it.

Figured I'd share some of my good news!

 

That's some really good news!!

 

Haven't made it out. This cold seems to be winning right now!!