Leaderboard

Got it done today guys and gals! Bagged an 8pt!!!! I walked into the woods at 730am. I went in this morning hoping to fill a dmp tag, but instead this guy showed up. As i walked into the spot where I saw 2 giants during bow season, i decided to take a gamble and go in to the exact location, but upon entering the location, a guy was in a tree stand 10 yrds off to my right so i backed out. I said under my breath a bunch of choice words that were inappropriate and not like myself. So I waved and walked away. Upon leaving the first spot, I radioed my pop and told him i was going to go to the top of the mountain where he harvested a 4 pt about 1 week ago from today. He said okay, be safe and good luck since it was a little slippery due to the snow fall. So as i got to the top, i saw tracks and rubs everywhere and said this is going to be a good spot and decided to sit on a COLD AS HELL rock and text my dad i am in a prime spot and will walk down to him at 10 to get him. The wind today was whipping around like no other and at the same point i said to myself today is too windy and i would not see anything. So after 30 min of sitting my mom texted me to get milk on the way home, and asked if i see anything. So being a good son i said sure, and that it was super windy and was not expecting to see anything today. After 2 min of sending the message this guy ran the ridge right to me, ending up to be 30 yrds from me and came to a full stop. Him and i ended up having a staring contest for what seemed to be forever! so i slowly grabbed my 06 and put the cross hairs on his shoulder, I squeezed softly and boom he buckled and ran 100 yrds to my left up on another ridge. under my breath i said dang did i miss? so i waited 5 min and walked to where i shot him, immediately i see a blood trail! i said hell yes thank the good lord he allowed me to harvest a great animal and now its time to put in the work. As i followed the blood trail i got with in 20 yrs and saw he was laying down. So to be safe i put another round in just in case. As I took anther step he jumped up and ran 5 yrds and stopped, that is where i took the safety off and put another round right through his lungs. He then ran another 100 yrs to the base of the mountain. I radioed my pop and told him i shot a buck and its at the base. He said he would be right over with my brother to help me drag the big boy and get him out. after gutting him and dragging him out of the woods it was 1pm! we all looked at eachother and realized crap, we need to get home and still get milk for our mom. Today was a successful hunt, and we were all excited to get the big boy home and get ready for the big feast! As for tomorrow we wont be going out cause we have to process him and get him to the taxidermist! good luck everyone! they big boys are still on the run!

Heres my 2013 Regular season buck! Hes not the big boy I was after, but Im happy with him and have a good story to go with him. Earlier this year at work, I met a girl, Sara, that is from Cypress and goes to one of the local colleges. She was doing an internship at one of my client's offices. We developed a good friendship, and in talking, I mentioned to her that I hunt. She told me she has always wanted to go hunting, and that she was thinking of getting her safety course done and buying her license this year. I helped her with all of the info she needed, but she never had a chance to take the course, with her busy schedule. A coupl of weeks ago, I was talking to her and asked if she would like to come along with me on a hunt this week, since I was on vacation, and she had Thanksgiving break from school. She said yes, and we planned it for this morning. She got to my place at 5:30 this morning, and I got the truck loaded up and we headed out. We were in my newly placed double ladder stand before daylight and sat there talking a bit and enjoying the woods, and great scenery. Around 9:30, my hunting partner, Mark, gave me a call and told me he was going to do a still hunt, and asked where Id like him to go, so if he bumped anything out, it might head toward us. I told him where I thought would work well and he said he would see us soon. I explained to Sara what was going to happen, and told her that if Mark disturbed any deer, they would either go one of two ways. One way would put them right in our laps. Less than 10 minutes later, I see a deer heading across the field, right toward us, so I nudged Sara to show her the deer. I decided that unless it was a small buck, I would take the deer if given the chance. As it crossed the field, I noticed it had a very nice, big body, so we watched as it approached the edge of the woods. It stopped before entering the woods, and stood there, looking around. As it entered the wood line, I noticed it had a rack, so I put my scope on him and saw he was outside the ears. That was the last I looked at his rack, and I looked his body over. He was a tank, so I started concentrating on a shot. He got onto a horse trail that goes by my stand at 30 yards and started trotting toward us. I got my gun ready, and accidentally made a noise on the blind material. He stood there looking at us, with his vitals behind a tree. After 30 seconds or so, he continued down the trail and I got my muzzle loader in position for a shot in the first shooting lane. As he stepped into the lane, I gave him a quick "mehhh" and he stopped, slightly quartering to us. I put my crosshair right on the front of his shoulder and squeezed the trigger. I heard the impact and he dropped his tail and head and started on a dead run. After giving him 2 hours, and a 100 - 125 yard track, we found him piled up in the old apple orchard. Hes a great 2 1/2 year old with 8 scorable points, but he has a 9h small point and you can see where a 10th small one had broken off. BTW, I have a ton of trail cam pics of this deer, including a series of him fighting with another buck. Ill post those in my hunting journal later on today.

Got it done today guys and gals! Bagged an 8pt!!!! I walked into the woods at 730am. I went in this morning hoping to fill a dmp tag, but instead this guy showed up. As i walked into the spot where I saw 2 giants during bow season, i decided to take a gamble and go in to the exact location, but upon entering the location, a guy was in a tree stand 10 yrds off to my right so i backed out. I said under my breath a bunch of choice words that were inappropriate and not like myself. So I waved and walked away. Upon leaving the first spot, I radioed my pop and told him i was going to go to the top of the mountain where he harvested a 4 pt about 1 week ago from today. He said okay, be safe and good luck since it was a little slippery due to the snow fall. So as i got to the top, i saw tracks and rubs everywhere and said this is going to be a good spot and decided to sit on a COLD AS HELL rock and text my dad i am in a prime spot and will walk down to him at 10 to get him. The wind today was whipping around like no other and at the same point i said to myself today is too windy and i would not see anything. So after 30 min of sitting my mom texted me to get milk on the way home, and asked if i see anything. So being a good son i said sure, and that it was super windy and was not expecting to see anything today. After 2 min of sending the message this guy ran the ridge right to me, ending up to be 30 yrds from me and came to a full stop. Him and i ended up having a staring contest for what seemed to be forever! so i slowly grabbed my 06 and put the cross hairs on his shoulder, I squeezed softly and boom he buckled and ran 100 yrds to my left up on another ridge. under my breath i said dang did i miss? so i waited 5 min and walked to where i shot him, immediately i see a blood trail! i said hell yes thank the good lord he allowed me to harvest a great animal and now its time to put in the work. As i followed the blood trail i got with in 20 yrs and saw he was laying down. So to be safe i put another round in just in case. As I took anther step he jumped up and ran 5 yrds and stopped, that is where i took the safety off and put another round right through his lungs. He then ran another 100 yrs to the base of the mountain. I radioed my pop and told him i shot a buck and its at the base. He said he would be right over with my brother to help me drag the big boy and get him out. after gutting him and dragging him out of the woods it was 1pm! we all looked at eachother and realized crap, we need to get home and still get milk for our mom. Today was a successful hunt, and we were all excited to get the big boy home and get ready for the big feast! As for tomorrow we wont be going out cause we have to process him and get him to the taxidermist! good luck everyone! they big boys are still on the run!

No deer yet, but another fresh buck rub. Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk 2

A little doe management

All my posted signs are on a plywood board, which is nailed to a tree. The nails are not driven all the way down to allow for tree growth. I went to separate boards because of the tree growth which would pull the nails right through the aluminum sign, leaving the sign on the ground, perhaps under the leaves and pretty much useless and even in some cases lost. I also have a self-imposed rule that when standing at a sign, I am able to see at least one sign before and at least one sign after. They are well within the required minimum distance and no one can claim that they didn't see the signs. That kind of care eliminates any and all arguments about mistaken trespassing. When someone enters my property they are willfully and undeniably aware that they are breaking the law and trespassing.

Well this is more like gun season ! Have not seen a deer since Tuesday Pulled card from one spot and my buddy is still around Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Headed out... Temp is 0 deg... If I'm not back by noon come looking for me Sent from my DROID4 using Tapatalk

Guess its true... http://www.sc-democrat.com/sports/2013November/26/sports.htm

Tip #2: Tag along with Wooly.

As much as I love the video, and the theories and tips, man its not really applying much around my hill country. One clue as to why is the number of deer in Wisconsin where they filmed it. One scene shows a farm field with 6-7 big bucks ( and thats just bucks, others show 30+ doe) running into the woods. I showed my dad the video who has hunted the same Catskill Hills for 30+ years. He wanted me to throw that video in the fireplace lol. Back to hill country tomorrow. Good luck to everyone this weekend. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - now Free

Tuesday, Nov 26th... All I had on Tuesday was the morning hunt, as I had to pick my kids up in the afternoon. It was a chilly, windy sit with no sightings. I left mid morning and took the day off to relax and spend time with the kids. Wednesday, Nov 27th... I got down to the farm and started with still hunting, as we ha the snow storm with about 6 or 8 inches of snow over night. I tried my hand at tracking a deer by its fresh tracks, and ended up bumping it before I could get a shot. I continued to still hunt, and ended up taking an off hand shot at a doe at 60 or 70 yards, and I clipped a branch, sending her running with 3 others that were in the thicket with her. 10 minutes later, I botched the shot on another doe, about 125 yards out. For the evening, my buddy offered for me to use his Remington 870 12 ga. I accepted and we headed out to do a ground sit. We sat about 400 yards apart, on either side of a standing corn field. Right before sunset, I had 2 does come across the field edge. Both met their fate before they could reach the corn. 2 does down, and 2 DMAPs filled for the farmer! A great evening! Thanksgiving Day... Thanksgiving is a day that we start out with drives and keep going with them until everyone has to head to dinner. We ran drives on 3 different properties and ended up with 2 does down, and a few misses at the end of the day. 2 more DMAPs filled. I left at 2 and headed home to dinner and stuffed myself. Fell asleep on the couch. Friday, Nov 29th... Let me back track. Earlier this year at work, I met a girl, Sara, that is from Cypress and goes to one of the local colleges. She was doing an internship at one of my client's offices. We developed a good friendship, and in talking, I mentioned to her that I hunt. She told me she has always wanted to go hunting, and that she was thinking of getting her safety course done and buying her license this year. I helped her with all of the info she needed, but she never had a chance to take the course, with her busy schedule. A couple of weeks ago, I was talking to her and asked if she would like to come along with me on a hunt this week, since I was on vacation, and she had Thanksgiving break from school. She said yes, and we planned it for this morning. She got to my place at 5:30 this morning, and I got the truck loaded up and we headed out. We were in my newly placed double ladder stand before daylight and sat there talking a bit and enjoying the woods, and great scenery. Around 9:30, my hunting partner, Mark, gave me a call and told me he was going to do a still hunt, and asked where Id like him to go, so if he bumped anything out, it might head toward us. I told him where I thought would work well and he said he would see us soon. I explained to Sara what was going to happen, and told her that if Mark disturbed any deer, they would either go one of two ways. One way would put them right in our laps. Less than 10 minutes later, I see a deer heading across the field, right toward us, so I nudged Sara to show her the deer. I decided that unless it was a small buck, I would take the deer if given the chance. As it crossed the field, I noticed it had a very nice, big body, so we watched as it approached the edge of the woods. It stopped before entering the woods, and stood there, looking around. As it entered the wood line, I noticed it had a rack, so I put my scope on him and saw he was outside the ears. That was the last I looked at his rack, and I looked his body over. He was a tank, so I started concentrating on a shot. He got onto a horse trail that goes by my stand at 30 yards and started trotting toward us. I got my gun ready, and accidentally made a noise on the blind material. He stood there looking at us, with his vitals behind a tree. After 30 seconds or so, he continued down the trail and I got my muzzle loader in position for a shot in the first shooting lane. As he stepped into the lane, I gave him a quick "mehhh" and he stopped, slightly quartering to us. I put my crosshair right on the front of his shoulder and squeezed the trigger. I heard the impact and he dropped his tail and head and started on a dead run. After giving him 2 hours, and a 100 - 125 yard track, we found him piled up in the old apple orchard. Hes a great 2 1/2 year old with 8 scorable points, but he has a 9h small point and you can see where a 10th small one had broken off. Pics from todays hunt...

Another great evening in westchester with the bow-all I need is some four legged,delicious company! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - now Free

I just finished up 9lbs. of jerky. I use burger and make the flat slim jim style with the gun. I buy my seasoning kits at Bass pro that comes with the cure and seasonings. I can't stand the rip your teeth out jerky made from the steaks. Another great thing to try. I had my processor make sandwich steaks for me. olive oil and some garlic in a pan. High heat. brown both sides and throw it on a sub roll with cheese and other desired toppings.

Call the DEC for trespassers not the sheriff- there are differences in criminal trespass and encon Also- tags trees w paint on your lines- had a neighbor that loved to pull signs...it made for easy remarking. The sam e neighbor was in my backyard hunting- the dec's first question to me was the property LEGALLY posted, then if I had asked the guy to stay off- I replied yes to both and was surprised to see how serious they took it from there. 5 or 6 years now with out a single problem.

No I just removed the stands and put them on the other side. When i posted about this last year I got attacked for being selfish and a cry baby. This year I bought the corn field and green field lol

I look by fence lines because bucks will jolt them loose when they jump over a fence. Bedding areas are also good places to look. Find the food sources and begin there (such as standing corn) and then walk the deer trails as far as you can follow them. I would start looking in February if the snow isn't too deep. A much easier way to find antlers is to build a feeder that is separated by vertical sections of wood. Starting in mid January fill it at least every other day with a bucketof horse feed. A doe will be able to fit its head in the opening but when a buck tries to get some feed they'll knock off their antlers. While we're on the topic of finding antlers I have to tell the story of when I visited a friend in Georgia a few years back. He said "Let's go look for antlers" and I thought "yeah, right, okay" Well after an hour and a half and with three of us looking we found 19 antlers!!! Georgia must not have any critters that eat antlers like they do here.

Good post! Hope to hear lots of tips and hotspots!

Shot it yesterday!

I usually start getting excited when I see nice bucks make it through Thanksgiving weekend. I'm a little early with this guy, but hoping he pulls through the rest of the season so I can get my hands on those antlers in a few more weeks!

I went for routine CT Scan yesterday of my lungs, and I received e-mail from my Oncologist today. He told me the CT Scan was stable and no sign of cancer return. Its been almost a year since they took the lung lobe out, and I'm holding my own!! That's news to be thankful to hear!! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

We weighed him when we got home last night he came in at 135.5#. I took a deer 2 yrs ago almost the same spot. That deer weighed 168. I have him mounted. The taxidermist said roughly a year wait for a finished product. Soo as soon as I get it back you guys will see.

And the hoax continues...they even went as far to create a fake paper and website and write a fake article with a fake shop and credentials! brilliant! Only kidding - congrats-awesome beast!

Damn John,That bear was right down the road from us! Btw,across the border in Pennsylvania, a 722 lbs bear was taken on 11/26 in Lackawanna County.

I don't disagree with your statement , i will admit that a lot of this stuff still confuses me . With that said , i'm not understanding how the activity will occur the same time every year if the weather is different from year to year , deer don't use calenders .

The rut occurs the same time every year. Moon phase has absolutely nothing to do with it's timing. When buck shed their velvet in late August early September their testicles descend in to their scrotum and they are ready to breed. Mother nature keeps the family jewels tucked away safe until it's time. Breeding is determined by the female, ie doe. Sound familiar? As the photo period decreases buck produce more testosterone where as doe produce melanin. When a doe's level of melanin reaches a certain level she comes in to estrous. Not all doe come in to estrous at the same time. Young of the year, doe fawns won't enter estrous until they obtain a body weight of 80 pounds. In Pennsylvania records have been kept for decades involving fetus studies of road killed doe. The fetus are aged and conception date is determined. In Pennsylvania the peek of breeding occurs between November 2nd and November 9th. It hasn't changed in decades despite what date the moon is full. The time period I see the most buck activity during shooting hours is the 3rd and 4th week of October. The buck are ready and few if any doe are respective. This is when buck will be scent checking doe. As a buck's level of testosterone increases he will become more aggressive in his search. Once doe begin to enter estrous a buck will hole up with them for 24 - 36 hours breeding her every time she stands up. This usually takes place in a secluded thicket but I have seen buck lay with doe in small patches of trees out in the middle of an ag field. There are five phases of the rut. 1 Rut preparation. Rublines, territorial scrapes, and sparring with other buck. 2: Seek phase. Actively looking for a doe in estrous. 3. Chase phase. Running a doe that is in estrous or soon will be, to separate her from her fawn{s} and other deer. 4 Breeding. self explanatory 5 Post Rut. Conserving energy and focusing on food to regain body weight lost during the rut..

Exactly. Land doesn't need to be posted. You can still press charges if you have trespassers. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I537 using Tapatalk

Who are you fooling Wooly? Tip#1 Wait until deer season is over.

Saw zip and froze my a$$ off....this is making me mad... I KNOW the deer are out there! I just gotta figure out where! Sent from my DROID4 using Tapatalk

He sure did! I'm not entirely sure I could shoot him at that very moment. Rest assured, I'd take him as soon as he dismounted, and he'd die a happy guy, lol..

The tenderloins for jerky...say it aint so,lol?

Seriously, who the heck told you that? Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Whether you're trying to lose weight OR gain weight.

Tried a different spot at a farm this morning that I avoided because it gets pounded opening day historically. No shots heard but does running everywhere. 100% different activity than our main spot only 5 miles away. Took a doe at 11am... Will have to butcher after family dinner. So, so thankful for this doe!!

I wear Muck arctic pro's down to 25 F or so. Any colder and I break out my Cabela's Saskatchawan pac boots. I have never once had the slightest of cold feet with them. The Mucks are by far the most comfortable of the rubber style boots IMO.

I'm sure he wouldn't mind cranking out a few more of those plaques...im hoping to keep him busy with another buck from up here and maybe one from the Pa gun opener!Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hey All: Happy Thanksgiving! The rut is a difficult thing to understand or put sum up if you will. Three main phases: Seeking, Chasing, and Tending. If you believe in moon phase as I do heavily this year would put us in a very late rut. Second Full moon after Autumn Equinox 17th. Well, I hut bow very hard - two weeks straight, I saw few rubs no scrapes. Did have some nice buck movement, I would say I hit seeking phase. We definitely were not in full blown rut. I believe chasing phase was about a week or so ago and we currently are in Tending aka, Breeding phase. The breeding phase is by far the hardest time to hunt and most frustrating. The bucks are tending does, continually breeding them 24-48 hrs and sometimes they won't move 100 yards. Keep in mind, nothing will stop rut in general but the two main culprits to slow it is the weather and human pressure. These deer will stay bedded and will be pushed nocturnal extremely fast. Rut was late this year! Next year the heart of rut should fall around veterans day.... Like I said, this is what I believe and my opinion. I respect everyone's opinion and experience. Thanks!

Incredible deer but not sure it beats Hansen with all the kickers.

Nice buck Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That would be too easy. The elite superhunter ethics police are all over this place!

Naw..... I'm smarter than that....I'll blame our terrier! Hahaha

I managed to fill my regular season buck tag today with a nice 6'er! I wasn't even going to go out because of the weather and no sightings lately. I froze my butt off for 4hrs before this fella came running in from behind me right around noon. When I stood up to grab my smokepole my treestand let out a God awefull groan and he ran away from me. Unfortunately for him, he didn't run far enough before he stopped, and I dropped 'em in his tracks! Not to toot my own horn... but I don't miss with this gun! As I was gutting him, I had 4 antlerless stroll by me at 20yds, and on my way dragging him out I bumped into 4 more antlerless on the trail home. I can still go out for late ML season but only got the antlerless tag so I'll see how cold it is,lol Looks like shed season will come early again this year!

Nailed a 5 point tonight at 220 yards

Nailed a big doe this am,308 about 50 yards.She ran 30 and piled up.Took out her heart and one lung.

Our deer hang on opening morning. This was by 11:00. Should of had a nice 8 hanging but I rushed the shot and my neighbor took him. Hanging are two doe, button buck and another buck with broken antlers. Friend thought it was a doe. We did tag it as a doe because the 1 antler was 2.75 inches. 1st time hunter and newly weds were together and they shot the button buck!!

Opening morning after my 11 hour drive from NC. I put my climber up near the same spot where opening day last year a 4pt walked by. We are in a 3pt on one side area. So this guy comes in from my right rear and I'm watching him over my shoulder but he's walking in the exact wide open path I walked in on. He looks up at me and I am frozen. I suspect he sensed something he turned and started to walk behind me. I straightened my head and waited hoping he would come out on my left. Then I heard him snort. I stood up quickly with my gun and turned hoping he just jumped and looked back...which is exactly what he did. And my 270 went clean through with unbelievable blood trail for 20 yards. Sent from my SPH-L300 using Tapatalk

Shot this guy today at 2:50pm. Came through with a doe and gave me a nice 60 yard shot. 160lbs dressed according to our scales

After sitting in my stand for about 1 1/2 hours Saturday afternoon (11-16-13) at about 4:00pm I hear what I thought were antlers crashing about 100 yards behind me. I hit my rattles and blow a few tunes on my grunt call. 15 mins later I hear crunching coming from behind my tree stand. Thinking it's a squirrel I don't pay it much mind so I start glassing the corn field. A minute or so later as I'm glassing the field behind me the crunching gets louder and louder. As I put my binos down I see a buck coming out from the brush behind me. At first I only see what appeared to be a four point. Then I see 3 on one side. As I consciously make the decision to pass on him he comes out a bit farther all the while he's looking at me. Suddenly I see 4 points on one side and my adrenaline started pumping. I slowly put my binos down moving ever so gently as he continues to stare at me trying to figure out what I am. He looks away and I finally get my binos down. He's starts looking at me again. Now I see 8pts. He turns away and I get my hand on my Remy that was hanging on a tree hook. He turns back to me. I freeze for what seemed like an eternity with the stock of my Remy on my thigh. He turns away and starts walking away from me at 35 yards from my tree. I get my Remy down and the scope to my eye and safety off in a matter of 3 secs. He stops quartering away and I squeeze the trigger. Just as I squeeze the trigger he starts to turn further quartering away and the next thing I see is his rump go down and he drags himself into thick brush. My heart sinks. I felt like throwing up. I waited 20 mins and then I get down to start tracking him thinking I wounded him and I'm going to spend hours looking for him. I start tracking him in the thick brush. I chamber another round just in case but I come upon him about 20 yards into the thicket and he's already expired. I kneel over him and thank our good Lord for the second time today. Here he is in the field after dragging him about 50 yards and waiting for my BIL to come with his tractor Here he is capped out.

8 pt my neighbor shot with the recurve. Two years in row for him. Hunts from the ground deer shot at 12 feet!

8 point killed Oct. 3rd 15 minutes before dark at 30 yards. Used a Rage Hypodermic...did a nice job...heart shot...only went 40 yards.