My brother got his buck from last year back yesterday. Got my mind spinning back to that day and looking forward to another season coming up fast.
So little update, albeit not great... So everyone that knows me knows I've made my "hunting" on small pieces of property and I myself own a small just under 23 acre piece that isn't in the best area BUT I make it the best I can. That property usually has some awesome bucks around and in truth summering mature bachelor groups are like clockwork...BUT this year is unlike ANY other. My property does have a commercial operation as a neighbor on one side and they've expanded with an additional building that gets right near the property line which happens to be a five acre bedding of mine which is used regularly...that building is still in the final stages of being constructed right now as I type. Also then opposite end of the property where my larger bedding area is, just three hundred yards in one direction from it off my property but down along that end of things - a homeless encampment area was set up, talking couple vehicles, two massive tents and multiple folks crashing there apparently from June until just the end of August... Both of these things have reshaped all deer activity when it comes to bucks on my piece this summer and leading into the fall unlike any year before. Now the promising thing is that the does that have grown up used to human disturbance more than many being semi-urban deer have learned to deal with it and two doe groups are truly on the property almost daily if not. So come the fall when hopefully the building gets done and that area quiets down at least a little more AND as time passes from the homeless site being gone we begin to see the mature bucks will follow for sure. At least that is the hope. I do have a couple other small single parcel properties to possibly get lucky but would be blind hunting just permission pieces, but low hopes in the few I have left. I do have a killer spot to go kill some does for a buddy who tries to kill 30 does a year....he said I can buck hunt but I doubt I look to that place for anything more than does UNLESS December rolls around and he's got some management bucks he wants out (like an old low scoring buck he wants out). Life has been sheer chaos and while I am about as unprepared as I have ever been for a hunting season...I think I might be ready for that deep breathing from a stand more than any year before.
Deer X, some photos from the last month on my cell cam. Just finished planting this weekend and the boys on the “Farm” just installed a new duck blind on one of our lakes.
I finally have a little time to prep for season. I did mow a clover field last week and put up a couple of cameras. To be honest, I put in a Rakk Fuel blend of clover that I had gotten from Tom as I was seeding the Fall brasicas last year. I had completely forgotten that I had put clover on that field late last Fall and actually had a really good stand of clover considering I had done absolutely nothing with it. There are already multiple does and fawns hitting it daily. Late today I will start mowing a 15 acre bottom field and put in a few spots of forage oats and turnips and raddish. It is late, but the deer will still be attracted to the tops if we get some rain. By the end of this week, I hope to have most of my plot prep done and get some mock scrapes started. I have a couple of new Redneck blinds that are being delivered and I need to figure out exactly where I am going to put them. I have about 35 acres of amazing alfalfa that the deer are pounding on another property and I have a blind and ladder to get moved over there also. We got pretty much settled into our new home this weekend so I am back down at the farms for a few days of enjoying the outdoors.
Last year and this year wear faced with EHD in Ohio. We have a 100-acre farm in Belmont and a 187-acre farm in Monroe. If you look at Ohio's EHD map the worst of it is below us but it's creeping north. 3-Years ago myself, my dad and BIL all harvested bucks over 165". Last year the biggest bucks we seen were under 130". This year most are under 140". My BIL and myself didn't take bucks last year so they could get another year older and hoping something may show up during the rut. That never happened. I know there are at least three 4-1/2-year-olds on the farm. I'm just hoping maybe something bigger shows up and we don't see EHD taking more deer.
This was the EHD map for Warren County in 2022. That year was rough, but everything was back to normal in 23 and 24.
It sure has moved East since 2022. The past several weeks it's been spreading north. This photo is from 9-2-25. I'm afraid to see what it looks like when they update it again.
I feel bad for you guys down south. Lucky the closest I have seen it to me was one county north. We do have some cwd zones up by me in the county I work but so far I haven’t had to do with any of those issues. Sent from my iPhone using Bowhunting.com Forums
I hunt 9 miles as the crow flies from the epicenter (1 deer) of the CWD outbreak (2019) in central MN. There have been 3 deer that have tested positive in a 50 mile radius from 2019- now, 1 was hunter harvested and 2 were tested from other means of being killed. Hunters are far more concerned in my area and north of wolves and possible EHD.
Dad will be 80 right after this season. Still going strong. Put up a new house with him today that we picked up at the Harrisburg Outdoor Show. He’s pretty happy with his shelf and window work
My other hobby is growing super hot peppers. This should be our last big harvest, so now I can officially focus on deer season. If anybody wants to try the 2nd hottest pepper in the world, send me a couple bucks for shipping and I'll hook you up!
O boy I got a friend who loves hot stuff. May be interested. How much you think it would be to ship to Missouri?
Random tidbit - Reapers (I believe are second or lower already) were developed/bred, roughly an hour from me. Word is they will soon be moving down more in the ranking... [sarcasm]cause 2.2 million Scoville isn't hot enough [\sarcasm] Also isn't Tom @Lester a pepperhead?
I read that the guy has already created a hotter one than the Reaper. He calls it Pepper X. The Carolina Reaper is now the second hottest pepper in the world. Not sure about Tom, but I’m somewhat familiar with them because of my Nieces artisan jellies. Carolina Reaper jelly just sounds wrong, but people buy it up.
