BackWoods Hunter

Just got back. Single digits this morning in 5g. I was almost laughing out loud on the walk in. I think the deer from two towns over could hear me. With that being said, I could've heard a deer from a mile away once I was settled in. The only thing making noise were the trees when they popping.

Lol. No kidding! I had family pictures this morning and couldn't leave until we were through. Figured better late than never.

It's about 20 degrees here. Just got back. My feet were hurting but now it's just my pride. I tried to stay for the last few hours but lost that battle. Going to buy new boots tonight. Anyhow, hunted from about 10 to 3 and nothing was moving. I did come across an area that had plenty of fresh tracks. Guess they're from last night or early this morning. Two days in a row with fresh yote tracks as well.

Holy cow

Do all hunters have tiny little balls? Twice a day I'm butt naked in my garage while the temperature is well below 32. The hunting garb that kept my nuggets nice and warm on the earlier hunt has now had plenty of time to refreeze in my scent free bag. There has got to be a better way. Even storing the bag inside to keep the cloths warm would be a step in the right direction.

If you don't mind, let me lend you a machete for your intellectual thicket. If I understand what you said correctly, you have stands and blinds in areas with very little activity. I was doing the same thing for quite some time and had no luck. This season, I decided to leave the stands in the garage and still hunt my property. This was by far the best thing I could've done to increase my chances at bagging a buck. I uncovered more sign than I ever could have dreamed of. I started still hunting those areas that had the heaviest sign and picking different places to sit. It wasn't long before I finally got a chance at an eight point. Take this advice with a grain of salt because I have still yet to kill a buck in these big Woods. However, I am more confident now than I ever have been & amp seeing deer regularly. It never would've happened if I hung my stands on day one. 5g

Real quiet all day here in 5g. Didn't see anything for the first time in awhile now. Packed snow made for very crunchy walking. I only cut three tracks. The storm had passed, it was thanksgiving, and there was fresh snow on the ground. That's a trifecta! Guess the deer had other plans. Maybe now that the wind has laid down this evening they'll start moving again tomorrow.

Thanks for the kind remarks on the story. I thought it would be a nice read for you guys. @Buck&1/4- if I had that kind of luck, I'd have to buy a new gun every season!

Hey good news. I have video of the deer I thought I shot from the following evening. Clearly he's doing just fine. I also happen to see him again today, although I didn't have a shot because he was on the opposite ridge that I was on. IMAG0008.AVI

Yeah. They're my dad's. We had the larger ones but we've used them already. I think they're the same ones we used to shoot at with a 22 about 20 years ago when I was a kid.

Yup. You're right. They're a little bigger than a quarter.

Oh ya! 5g

Left 2 inches and down 1 inch I think.

I site mine in from the rest. Freehand my bullets go right. In the field, I aim left.

I am the biggest sissy when it comes to cold weather. I'm tall and thin and my hands and feet absolutely freeze. It took me three years to figure out how to keep my hands and feet warm. I wear the under armor cold gear stuff that's like wearing latex. You know that real stretchy stuff that sticks to your body? Over that I wear the under armor stuff that is like a sweatshirt and sweatpants. I can tell you that keeping my core warm has kept my feet and hands warm. I gave up on gloves and just started putting my hands in my pockets. I've never been happier. I put my redhead camo pants and jacket on over that. I can tell you that the wind doesn't stand a chance. I bought my second set of latex under armor just a few weeks ago. I'm good into the 20s easy. All of that gear is definitely a huge investment. But it absolutely gives me more time in the woods. There is no way I will ever buy anything else, except maybe a New pair of boots for when it's below 20. I have packages of handwarmers and body warmers from Dick's. They are a few years old now. You're more than welcome to them. P.m. me with your address.

I will be trying my hand at tracking for the first time this season. Bring on the snow!

The scope is fine. I put 40 rounds through the gun today at 60 yards. Here's the last five shots using the stick. Each ring is a quarter inch. It's a 270 model 70 classic featherweight with Leopold scope.

I will. The scope came with a gun and I have never taken it off. And actually to say that I wasn't on paper isn't exactly fair. The targets I was using were 8x8. On a larger target I likely would've been on paper.

Thanks. The other thing is, he didn't go barreling through the woods like a deer that was shot. He ran back down the trail, then I could hear him stop and get quiet and then run a little bit further. He wasn't crashing his way through the trees. He was picking his way through the trail. I also came home this afternoon and tried to shoot a target at 60 yards freehand like I did last night. I am embarrassed to say that I had horrible groupings and one of my shots was high. I left to have lunch and came back to try again. My first two shots weren't even on paper. I will be going out tonight to pick up new shooting stick from Dicks. Considering that, and not finding him or any blood today, I'm now very confident that I missed. With less then one buck per square mile in my area, I am really hoping I didn't scare him away for good.

I just checked. It was missing to the right 2 inches. I adjusted it and shot again. First shot was dead center. The next shot was an inch to the right. The third shot was an inch to the right of the one before it. There may be something wrong with it. Either way though, I just missed. Still can't believe it. I could swear I hit the freakin thing. He was moving and I did have to wait for him to come into the scope. Plus there were a few twigs around although not that many and I thought I was clear of them. For the first time since I began, I feel really good about the area I'm hunting and how I'm hunting it. I feel like I'm putting myself in an excellent position to go home with one.

I missed at 28 yards.

This proved to be great advice... I have been hunting and the Adirondacks now for five years. Neither my friends nor my family hunt so I've had to go at it alone. I saw my first buck in the woods two or three years ago while in a stand hunting a swamp. I had dozed off when I heard a crunch in the woods that woke me up. I looked up and he emerged from the trees from the right side of the lane. As he passed through the Lane, I was able to get my rifle up and the scope on him. As soon as I saw brown in the scope, he had moved into the woods off to the left side of the lane. He stopped to rub a tree about 10 yards into the tree line. At this point he was over my left shoulder. Being that he was inside the tree line and I was in a stand and unable to move much, I decided to let him walk. I haven't seen a buck since. Over last few years I've had plenty of time to contemplate that day in the swamp. Long ago I realized that if I was going to shoot a buck here, I was going to need to get much faster on the trigger. I decided that if I saw one again, I would not hesitate. Tonight I decided to set up on the southern end of the scrape line. The scrape line is on the west side of a mountain that runs north and south. From where I was sitting it was only about 100 yards north and over a knoll from where I knew most of the deer in my area bedded down. I was sitting on a rock about a third of the way up the side of the ridge. I had an old skid trail 10 yards beneath me that ran north and south. I was sitting 10 feet away from a scrape. I had a lane that extended west up the mountain 30 yards that ended in a Rocky bench. I didn't realize it at that the time, but there was a scrape on that bench. From experience, I know that most of the deer travel from South to north the majority of the way up the ridge. I was below them. There was no wind and the thermals were carrying my sent down below me. About 45 minutes into my sit, a doe began to work her way towards me from the north. I watched as she ate some branches above her head and roamed in a low-lying grassy area just below where I was sitting. She slowly started to work her way east up the mountain that was across from the mountainside that I was hunting. She got about a quarter of the way up the mountain and stopped cold for about five minutes. I thought she may have winded me however at this point she was at least 100 yards from my rock. She then took a few bounds and stomped once. It wasn't long before I realized that it wasn't me that she winded. I heard the slow and steady crunching of leaves coming from just north of my rock. It was coming from behind a blow down and 20 yards of 5 foot tall beech saplings. It took probably 30 seconds before I would find out exactly what was stomping through the woods. Whatever was walking, was doing so at a deliberate pace. I thought for sure it was either a buck or a person. I was able to hear it walking as it approached the far side of the saplings. It turned to the west and moved up the ridge. By now, I was hoping it did exactly that. I had already turned away from the doe that was feeding on the opposite side of the valley to the east and was now facing the lane towards the bench to my west. That's when I first caught sight of the muted white ivory coming from my right. I could see he was at least a six pointer, possibly eight not including the brow tiines. He had a medium-sized body. This buck was going to move south directly into the lane I was facing. The lane was only about 15 feet wide. Because the buck had not stopped since the moment I first heard him, I knew I was going to have to react quickly. I was on one knee when I lifted the rifle to my shoulder and aimed 25 yards up the hill at the only available area I had to aim at. Before I could think twice, he moved directly into the path of my gun. I saw brown in the scope and without hesitation let the lead fly. Through the scope, I could see his fur was ruffed up above his shoulder. I immediately bolted another one into the chamber. He jumped up on his back legs and made a U-turn. He then ran about 25 yards before I could no longer hear the sound of his hooves crunching on the leaves. This is the first time I've shot my gun in the woods. To say the least, I was excited. My first instinct was to run after him however I knew that I should wait. I looked down and picked up the shell casing that was from the first Adirondack buck that I had killed (and only the second I've seen). I got off my rock and stood in front of the game camera that I had set up on a tree facing the scrape that was 10 feet away from my rock. I knew it was on video so I held up the empty shell casing and whispered something about the buck being dead on the rocky bench above me. As I stood there waiting for time to pass, I reviewed what my eyes had seen through my scope and that was now forever burned into my memory. I saw that I might have hit him a little high, but definitely hit him all the same. It was now 4:45 PM and had been 30 minutes since I shot him. It was getting dark and so I thought I shouldn't wait much longer if I was going to find the blood trail. I walked up the 15 foot wide Lane 25 yards to where I had shot buck. I found no blood. I followed a few trails in the direction he had been heading after I shot him. I found no blood. I circled around to verify The location he had been hit. I thought he could have possibly been 10 yards further than where I had initially thought. Still, I found no blood. I walked back to my rock, looked up the lane, and located the only area that was possible that I would have seen him that. I traveled back up the lane to that exact location. Still, I found no blood. I searched the trails leading out of that area in the direction he was heading. Even then, I found no blood. By now it was 5:30 and pitch black. Even though I was so certain that I had hit him, I have started to come to the realization that I may have missed. I am on vacation until December 6. After that, it will be next season before I get another chance at an Adirondack buck. The saga will continue...

I haven't taken any pictures over the last few days but here's one from last Friday.

Here in 5g they're still getting hit regular. Obviously not all twenty but several anyway. We had that tremendous wind a few days ago and a few have already been cleaned again.

Since I keep getting such great replies to my threads I'm just going to keep posting. I hope you guys don't mind. I Have an area with literally 20 scrapes. I know because I counted them. It is a little bit further from the bedding area. If I hunt those scrapes I may or may not see the does. If I hunt closer to the bedding area, I am much more likely to see the does. Which area would you guys recommend I hunt?