wooly

Wet and windy this morning, so I pulled the covers back over my head and caught up on some much needed beauty sleep. Around noon things finally dried up and I got motivated to go pull my blind across the road and set it up for my evening hunt. A mile hike one way... a mile hike back home.... then another mile to my spot behind the house. I'm glad I decided to catch those extra zzzzz's this morning. Anyhow, I was out the door by 3PM on my way to tonight's hiding spot and was brushed in and ready to hunt by 4PM. I ain't gonna lie. My intentions for tonight were to kill that little 10pt, but he never made an appearance. Instead, about an hour into my sit, I heard hooves galloping towards my set up. I peeked out the window to see a spiker blow by about 20yds out where he slowed to a trot and sunk into the brush at the edge of the field. I could never get another good look at him but I could still see him moving around in the cover. Then I realized there was another buck in there with him and I just needed to find a hole and wait for him to walk into it for a visual of his headgear. He eventually gave me a quick glimpse of his basket 7pt rack from 30yds away and they both made their way out into the open green pastures behind me. There wasn't much time left on the clock to hunt anymore so I debated leaving early once again. The farmer made my decision a little easier when he rolled through the field on his quad like he does every night clearing all the deer. It actually works out really well for me to make my escape then. It's good to see more deer are coming off their beds on the property I'm on now before dark. I'm gonna save this set up for another evening hunt tomorrow, but in the morning I'm gonna give my corn field stand across the road another shot. Haven't been seeing much over there lately, but that's the way it usually goes right up until it turns on..., and if I don't keep tabs on it, I'll never know. To be continued.............................................................................................................................................................................

Hell yeah- welcome aboard sis and glad you signed up! Looking forward to another season of hanging out in the blind together and enjoying some hunts with ya! I'll keep tabs on the deer and turkey until it's time for you to do your part. You bring the snack bags and plenty of jooooice for vape volcano,lol Lots of good people here willing to share stories and knowledge, and I'm sure we'll have a few of our own to add this season! I love hunting with you, and some days that's my only motivation to go out! Enjoy the site. There's lots of good information here when you get a chance to look around. See you for the fall turkey opener!

I appreciate it guys. I'm not sure what's up with the late planting dates. A few years ago this same field was planted corn in mid July. The cobs rotted on the stalk by Dec-Jan and I swear the deer AVOIDED this field entirely all winter. Not one track where it should have looked like a deer yard durring the late season.

Anyone know what these seeds will turn out to be? Freshly planted last week immediately after the zambonies rolled through and cleaned up the corn that was there. New sprouts about 2"-3" already. I have a stand here for the corn, but now that it's gone I'm thinking about yanking it unless these new plants are something I have to look forward to attracting deer sooner or later.

Not sure how I missed last years post, but definitely cool to find this one! Looking forward to more successful recovery updates!

Thanks guys, glad to have you all here and hope I can keep your attention! Back at it this evening. I decided I wanted to get a better look at what was happening in the field so I abandoned my stand for the night. I cleared myself out a crop circle in the goldenrod on the edge of the field and got settled in. Saw 3 deer way across that I couldn't identify. Right around 6:30 yesterdays buck showed up again. This time he emerged from the same goldenrod along the wooded property I'm set up in about 40yds out to my right. This guy really threw me for a loop as he can't be any more than 12" wide,lol. But a 10pt is a 10pt in my book and I kinda really dig that rack! He may be in trouble if we meet deeper on my turf! I got a TC pic of him from summer I'll attach here as well. Anyhow..., now I know who he is and his comings and goings. That info may come in handy this year or it may not. It was a fun night hiding on the ground in the weeds and even better to accomplish what I intended for the night! So far I'm having a pretty good time NOT shooting any deer! I hope I don't get anything this year,lol

Good gawd!

I shot up to the same stand this morning to see if I could catch anything going to bed from the field. Nothing shakin' up there so I decided to head out around 11:30AM. About half way home I spotted a deer crossing the trail in front of me 80-100yds out. I couldn't tell what it was so I went into sneaky mode and crept closer when it disappeared behind a knoll. I was on a deer trail that's worn down pretty good so it was nice and quiet. When I got to where I could see around it, I spotted a nice doe browsing around and surveying her surroundings. Then she flopped down and bedded facing down hill. I was above her so I decided to slip in as close as I could to grab a few shots. I made it to about 30yds and she was still facing away from me totally unaware I was even there. I didn't get my ML tag yet so I wouldn't be tempted to use my either sex tag on a doe and piss away my buck chance. Maybe next year if deer #'s seem to be rising here, but not this year for me unless something aweful screws up my season that leaves me with a roll of unused tags near the end. After a while I got tired of taking pictures of the back of her head so I started talking to myself out loud to get her to look my way. She finally did, but she still never budged. I waved my arms at her and still nothing. Finally when I stood up, she did too and it was off to the races,lol How come the big boys never screw up like that...?

I'm having a hard time having fun when I hunt anymore, so I thought maybe firing up a journal might help. At the very least, I'll be posting plenty o' pics of what I see even if I don't kill anything, and I have fun doing that,lol. The first few days of archery were pretty slow. Saw plenty of deer.., had a few doe, forkies, and 6'ers in range, but everything else kept it's distance. The pics from day #1-4 got lost while swapping out cards on the TC when I accidently formatted the wrong one. Today I got my final stand in place in time for the evening sit. I hung this one based on yesterdays sighting of 7 bucks still hanging together at the green fields(clover). I got hung and ready for action by 4pm. About an hour later the first and only buck of the night stepped into the field about 60yds out. I can't get permission to hunt this property(the field), but I do have permission for the timbered property that butts up to it. The timber turns red hot once bucks start cruising during daylight, but I'll have to suffer through a few more uneventful sits until then. Naturally my stand was hung with that in mind but it doesn't offer the best opportunity to see everything that's going on out there right now. This guy snuck in and started munching with 2 doe. I only managed to find him a few times through all the leaves still on the trees. Since I could see him I threw everything but the kitchen sink at him for calls. Grunted, rattled, bleated...... he didn't want anything to do with any of that and just kept on feeding along. He'd snap his head up and look my way when I called so I know he heard me, but he just wasn't in the mood to investigate. I climbed down early since the woods got so dark so quick. First time descending this tree so I wanted to be able to see where I was stepping on my way down and also avoid bumping any deer that were on their way to the field yet. When I reached the ground I could still see him and the doe out there so I know I didn't spook them on my way out. The 10pt is from the evening and the other from an hour AM sit at the corn field. Had 4 turkey pass by as well today. Squills were dropping nuts all around me. It sounded like it was raining at times! Man those little reds are full of energy and never slow down!

That was the second one to respond. Both little yearling 6pts so far, but I enjoy the action regardless of size when nothing else is happening. I wanted to hit the horns last night for the group of 7, but I was on the ground and not in a good position if any of them approached. Gonna hang a stand there and see what happens tonight with them.

Make it a game time decision. There's always that chance you'll never see either one of them again now that your buggin' out about it. That's usually how these kind of post end anyhow.

I shot a video last week of a little 6pt I rattled up into the corn field. Two doe with fawns came to the field and he chased them around with his nose up their skirts. Then the doe got into a girl fight standing on their hind legs and biotch slapping one another. No doubt in my mind they were knockin' boots soon as they hit the woodline over the knoll,lol On another semi related yet different note... this evenings hunt on a different property saw 7 bucks still in a bachelor group following each other across the green fields like they were best pals from summer.

Yotes were just acting on their predator instinct. They smelled fresh blood.

I've been watching this guy buzzing across the top of the standing corn and dive bombing innocent feeding doves the past few evenings. He hasn't nailed any yet that I've seen, but that doesn't stop him from trying again, and again..., and again. He finally did a fly-bye through one of my shooting lanes where I landed this shot. I THINK it is a Harrier hawk based on my googling, but looking for confirmation from you raptor guys.

Dang- glad you didn't end up as a coyote snack! Sure sucks with the fracture but could have been a lot worse. Rest up and get better quick.

Season opens tomorrow! Schwack 'em and stack 'em! We need a coyote harvest thread here.

One more sunset to get through till the big day! Good luck and safe hunting everybody!

I like to smear my hunting clothes all over the first deer I kill while it's hanging. Until that point..., I'm done pizzin' away my money on pizz and other "attractants".

I was only implying that I don't believe the dirt has no value at a scrape sight when they put so many clues into it. I don't think anyone is gonna argue with you about the importance of the licking branch. We don't need to understand all the technical details about scrape science to know they can be productive sights where deer deposit a lot of personal information. Scrapes are like the whitetails version of "Facebook" when it comes to finding out everything they want to know about each other, without ever even seeing the others in person.

Agreed. I don't think a lot of guys even realize deer have glands between their hooves that they use to communicate with. (interdigital glands) I'd bet that has something to do with all the scratching and the pawing ritual under the branch as well.... but I can't say EXACTLY what. When a buck tests a scrape and discovers a hot doe is in the area, it just becomes a matter of following in her footsteps until he catches up to her and the chase is on. Pretty sure they're not just following trails of doe piss through the woods for miles when they put their noses to the ground and single out that one hot doe from the rest of the herd. That's my own personal belief anyhow, without any scientific evidence to back it up.

Yep.., "Holland" High, so wooden clogs, windmills, and tulips were what we were known for. Our sports teams used to be named "The Raiders" and had black and silver jerseys with skull and crossbones on them. I guess that was too scary so they re-named us "The Dutchman" and changed our colors to purple and gold which they plastered right under my deer head,lol I can guarantee if I had held onto that ring it would have been long gone after all these years and everyone that knew me knew that! It was a pretty cool surprise to see it resurface after all this time, and I'm glad they kept it safe for me! I used to sit in Social Studies class and stare out the window at the deer that would come out to the soccer field. That was my favorite class, but my grades didn't reflect that! I didn't realize I've been a "deer-nut" since George Washington was president,lol

100 gr. Rocket Mini-Blasters for me again. Nothing but good things happen when I shoot this head. I got away from them a few years ago to experiment with something different, but I lost all confidence in myself (and a buck) and decided to go right back to them ever since.

Another antler ring from me today..., but not the kind some of you might expect! I was a little surprised when my mother pulled this one out of safe hiding when I seen her the other day and she finally handed it over to me after keeping it safe all these years. I had long suspected my old high school class ring was LOOOONG gone off to Texas with my last high school hunny! Pretty sure my older sister bought it for me as a graduation gift now almost 25 years ago! If this thing could talk it would probably tell the story about how it almost got myself, my younger sister, and a bunch of our friends killed one day by an angry biker on a Harley and some hair bag in a Pontiac Firebird,lol! Hard to believe how fast time flies and how some of our passions follow us throughout our lives! Man, it sure drudges up some old memories and some wild times! I'm sure I've forgotten more than I remember!

Is that first one the same as your avatar buck? Sure looks like him, but in a different location. Wonder if his left side is weak or if it's just really busted up already.

Nobody's gonna blow you over a couple of 2.5 year old bucks that are gonna be hard pressed to break 100". It's really not all that tough. What really gets to me is when I see countless guys here going the extra mile to mentor new and upcoming hunters and get them started on the right track..... then some poser like yourself comes along and tarnishes the image and reputation of EVERY HUNTER by intentionally breaking the laws to accommodate your own poor skill and knowledge level. You guys need to remember that next time you get a door slammed in your face asking for permission to new grounds. This is the type of idiot that thinks ONLY about himself and doesn't worry about how negative his actions afield make anyone else look. Just another pathetic wannabe we can do without. Hit the road azzwipe!