Zem18

11.3.13 Hunted with my buddy this morning. We bumped one going in and that was all we saw. That wind this morning was bone chilling and we didn't last much past 830am. We decided to drive past another spot we have hunted in the past but the cams have shown zero daytime movement. Sure enough, within 1/4 mile we saw 12 deer, 10 up and 2 bedded feeding away. Looks like we picked the wrong spot this morning.

11.2.13 Got up and was in the stand by 645am. Bumped one going in as I heard it bounding away in the leaves. I no ssoner got up the ladder and had a doe walking 15 yards past me. It is the same little one I have been seeing everytime I am out. Shortly after it was light out I heard a bleat/grunt. I look to my right and that little doe is about 40 yards away and headed right to me. With every step she takes, she is bleating/grunting. She fed for half an hour just making all these noises and acting like a live decoy for me but to no avail. She finally paired up with another doe and fed away into the timber. I saw 3 doe total this morning. Went to my BIL's and we took our kids with us for a trip down to our cabin to get ready for gun season. Man was I pissed when I got there. Someone had broken in. They pryed at the wndow but didn't break it so it is now fixed. Then they pryed the door lock from the jamb and made their way in and proceeded to trash the place. Ate anything and everything we had left there in the metal cabinets. Used all the plates, bowls, napkins and left them wherever all over the place. They cooked on the firepit outside and left all the pots and pans, utensils, oven mitt, and chairs outside. They put hot pans from the fire on the carpet and the ultimate sin, on our poker table. Now we have black char marks everywhere. They hooked the propane tanks up for lights and used all of that. Had 3- 5gallon cans of kerosene and that was all gone but funny thing is, they couldn't figure out how to use the kerosene lamps we have. One of the guys left half a bottle of Southern Comfort and that obviously was gone as well. We mowed the grass, cut some firewood and stacked it inside, and then picked everything up and fired up the generator to vaccuum. Finished up in about 2.5 hours. We talked on the way home and said even though it is only 1.25 hours away, we definately need to make more trips throughout the year to visit so this crap doesn't happen again. This is the 4th time in the past 10 years this has happened but never trashed this bad. Got home in time to get out for the evening hunt. Sat from 415 until 610 and saw 7 doe. One was a tank but she never came closer than 60 yards. I was able to sneakdown and get out undetected.

10.30.13 Time to play catch up on my journal. Snuck out after work and was in the stand by 5pm. Sat til 615ish and I remember seeing at least 5 doe that night. Couldn't hunt Halloween or Friday night (BIL's B day)

10.26.13 Very windy today. Froze my tail off at 2 soccer games this morning but I still decided to give the afternoon hunt a shot. I saw a bunch yesterday so hopefully I would see more tonight. I was in the stand by 4:15pm. Around 5:15 I had 4 doe come down out of the woods and begin to feed all around my shooting lanes. One of the doe left so the 3 continued to mill around. The momma doe walked past the farthest edgeof a shooting lane but it seemed a touch far so I didn't attempt to shoot. One of her littles ones walked directly below me, stopped and looked up at me, and then walked past to head to the apple trees. I thought they would continue to feed and move on like they have been doing but they decided to stay. I sat there until 6:45pm and it was good and dark. I got down and ended up scaring them off. I hate that part but they will come back eventually. 10.27.13 Was on stand by 6:45am, still plenty dark outside. Saw a lone deer about 45 yards away at 7:05am. Saw another lone deer at 8:15ish and it headed into the woods from the field straight towards me. Walked below me at about 2 yards and saw it was a small button buck. It was still pretty windy this morning and not much else was moving. Sat until 9:30 and headed home for breakfast with my family and parents.

It was a fun time and I look forward to more hunts with him. I will have to practice shooting out of a blind though because as I said, I was not comfy in there. 10.25.13 Got out of work and was rushing to get in the stand and wouldn't you know it the construction traffic was a joke. Stay away from rt17 and rt81 in Binghamton on a Friday between 4 and 6pm. I finally made it into the stand at around 5:15pm. The weather was crappy, just how I like it, and I wasn't disappointed. I sat for an hour, got rained on, saw the sun, and got rained on while the sun was shining and the wind was howling. I saw 13 doe and 1 buck, Buck unidentified as he was chasing the 13th doe I saw and it was pretty close to dark. They are getting frisky out there.

We are all faced with those split second decisions and sometimes they pan out and other times they don't. What counts is you made an effort of looking for the deer and didn't give up. I hope he is OK and that you or someone gets a shot at him later on. I think most of us have been there at one point and the feeling sucks but don't beat yourself up about it. Good Luck

Saturday 10-19-13 It was pretty overcast here in the Southern Tier and the forecast was for rain around 7 or 8pm. Well it started early, around 4pm early. Can't trust them weathermen, lol. I headed out to the stand anyways. I always seem to see more deer during crappy weather and I wasn't disappointed tonight. I chose to sit the lower stand at my in laws place. Not sure how long I was there but I looked towards the upper stand and there is a deer under it. I began watching the deer and could see it was a small buck. He fed towards me and I wasn't sure which side of the tree it would go on so I had to wait until it commited. I was shocked it stayed straight and would walk right past me at 8 yards. I'm only 10ft off the ground in a ladder stand so it was up close and personal. He stopped perfect in the lane, 8yds away, and I sighed. Too small and has potential for a four pointer. I lost sight of him for about 20 minutes but he appeared only 40 yards away so he was feeding in the area for over 45 minutes. He walked off and 4 doe came running in to an apple tree to stuff themselves. They only stayed for 30 seconds and then bolted. Not sure what scared them ut then 2 more deer came in and fed close to me. One was a one horned spike and the other a spike. They hung around for awhile and then walked off to the south. Two more small doe ran past to the East and back into the woods. Was a good night with 9 deer spotted in 2 hours and 15 minutes on stand. 10-20-13 Got a late start but was in the stand by 6:45am. At 7am 2 deer were at the apple tree and left 3 to 5 minutes later. 15 minuted after that I see 2 deer in the field. They turn and head towards my set up. I see that they are both 4points and both are small bodied. One stops and rubs his antlers on a branch and makes a scrape. They proceed back across the woodline and the field and enter into the woods into another shooting lane. They feed their way back into the deeper woods and disappear. Two minuted later a deer comes bolting from where they went in straight towards the tree I am in followed by another deer hot on her trail. Yup, a 4 point is dogging a yearling fawn. He looked so funny chasing her. They vanished into the thick stuff to the South. 15 minutes go by and the yearling doe comes back, mouth wide open breathing heavy from being chased. She lost the 4point and decided to feed. She walked right nder my stand and back into the deeper woods, only to return about 10 minutes later from a different direction. I think she just circles the area and pops out to eat apples. She started back past my stand again and then bedded down about 15 to 20 yards away. She only laayed there for 5 minutes and then walked off. It was close to 10 when I got down. My 7yr old son kept asking if I could take him deer hunting. I asked my buddy if I could borrow his pop up blind and he said yes so I took him out for the afternoon. After setting up the blind close to where I have been seeing the deer coming ut of the deeper woods, we settled in sitting on our buckets. I had my bow but have never shot sitting in a blind so I said if I did see one, I didn't think I would attempt the shot as I was not comfy. 5 minutes later I hear a sigh from my son. I knew what was coming next. " Hey Dad?" "Yeah buddy?", "I'm bored". He was sitting there playing his Nintendo DS too. I hear another sigh. " Hey Dad?" "Yeah buddy?", "I'm bored and I'm hungry". We spotted some squirrels and a few chipmunks and then he asked if we could go. I checked my watch and it 4:40. We had lasted about an hour but we packed up and got out before the deer started to come out of the woods. He said to me when we got back to the car - "Sorry I didn't do so good out there". I told him he did great and I would take him again anytime he wanted to go.

Congrats on the doe!!! The deer were all over the place this weekend down here too. I'll post in my journal tomorrow. Have some backstrap for me

Made it out this past Saturday for the afternoon hunt. My son and I checked the trail camera at mid day to see when the deer are coming and going. Got plenty of critters crawling around at night up here and I'll post the pics below. I got in the stand around 4:00pm Saturday afternoon. It was an absolute beautiful afternoon. After sitting there for half an hour I noticed my camo pattern was moving. I was covered in these small jumping spiders that were all different colors. Then I saw them all over the trees surrounding my ladder stand. After another 15 minutes of scratching and flicking these things off me and my skin didn't feel like it was crawling anymore, I relaxed and waited for some deer to appear. It didn't take long. Had 4 doe come from the north but they were jumpy and did not come to within 30 yards. Got down at last light and headed out across the empty field and looked back into a small scrub field to the south and had another 4 doe standing and watching me walk out. Can't complain though as I have seen deer each time I have been out thus far. Here are some pics from my trail cam. First is the porcupine, then the gray fox, then I need some help identifying the last ones. The black long tailed critter is either a pine marten or a fisher but I do not know the difference. Can anyone confirm? And the last has my buddy and I second guessing. It could be the fox again but we both think it has catlike looks so think it could be a bobcat. I need a new camera as the pics are very grainy. Porcupine Gray Fox Fisher or Pine Marten??? Bobcat??? Not sure

Well how did it go? I was expecting pics but you must've struck out. Pretty warm this past weekend. Good luck the rest of the season

That is a huge stand. Looks sweet. I personally like the log cabin. Good luck out there.

Hey Eddie - great pics. Good luck this year and I look forward to your fables.

LOL about her blow valve. Had a doe like that at my brother in laws place a few years back. She would blow and blow and blow like 30 to 40 times. The whole world knew she was pissed at something in her woods. Good luck out there and look forward to reading your posts

Looks like a great place to just get away and relax. Good luck and I look forward to reading your posts.

Yeah residential is a crap shoot somedays. The house with the dog should be vacant, or I should say, was going to be by the end of August. The son is in jail so the Dad stays there with the dog I guess. I need to focus on the early morning hunts there but will wait til it is not 80 degrees outside. Should be more quiet in the morning. Thanks and good luck to you

10.3.13 I got out of work at 4:25 today and made the half hour drive west to my in laws. I was changed and in my stand for the first time this season by 5:05. It was 77 degrees out but the clouds were moving in and the temp was dropping. I settled in and just took in the beautiful scenery and the smell of fall in the air. The chipmunks were especially loud, chirping away in the distance. About 15 minutes into the hunt I heard some leaves rustling behind me and then the distinct sound of a dog tag clinking against the metal loop of the dog collar. I stood up to see my inlaws neighbors dog hot on the tail of 3 does and chasing them into the woods behind my stand about 40 yards away. I whistled once and the dog stopped but the deer kept bolting. The dog headed back to it's house and inside. No sooner did the dog disappear and 3 doe come trotting out of the woods into the yard where the dog just was. I watched them from across the field as they headed to the apple tree to gorge themselves. One decided to lay down. Then 2 more doe appeared to feed as well. They all left going away from me and noe got closer than 70 yards. It was cooling down a little finally so again I settled in and just listened. Thats when I heard the four wheeler start up to my south. I heard head down the road at full speed and then up the small hill to the yard where the dog lives and then right into the woods and onto the trail only 40 yards behind my stand. This hunt is officially over. A nice looking blond in tight jeans and a yellow top was driving so all was not lost. I trimmed a few twigs I didn't see the last time I was up and then headed out for the night. It was 6:18 My buddy and I decided to go out spotlighting for an hour. Hit 5 or 6 backroads and counted 90+ deer. Saw a decent 6, a small 8, 7 or 8 spikes, and the rest were doe. Love going out and just seeing them. Gets you excited to be out on stand for sure. Rain and more rain are in the forecast for this weekend with temps in the 70s so I am going to play it by ear. I'll have to put some fletch dry on my feathers if I do go out.

Turn down the treble and turn up the bass

Haha something like that

Yo!!!! I can't believe it is here already. I'm sittin at work this morning and thought, man I have to start my journal so I wrote myself a note so I wouldn't forget. It sucks getting old. So let's see, I am totally unprepared for the start of the season, but I have shot the bow, so that is the most important piece of this complicated puzzle. Rain is forecasted for this weekend so we will see what happens. I think I am cancelling soccer practice Thursday so I might sneak out for the first time after work. Good luck to all you guys out there and I look forward as always to reading the updates and stories. Zem

I love these threads. I posted a bunch of old pics awhile ago and I don't remember if they were on this site or not. Here are some of the ones I have: My Dad's 10pt from 1979 My first buck ever - shotgun kill on NY StateLand (1990 or 1991) 2nd guy from left was my grandfather whom I never met. He passed in 1969 so this pic was pre 1969. Him and some buddies after a successful rabbit hunt.

Thanks THhunter. They are great companions and very good with kids. Again I am late posting about ML hunting but better late than never. Saturday Dec. 15th My daughter had a soccer game so a morning hunt was out of the question - Her team won 9-1 and she had 1 goal. Felt bad for the other team. I got out in the woods by 1pm. I was hunting my in laws neighbors land. I wlked for a while and found a nice spot to sit. Then walked some more and finally headed out of the woods. Was in the 40's and no deer spotted. Sunday morning mt buddy and I went to his camp property. No one wanted to drive that morning so it was the 2 of us. We decided to split up and walk the trails parallel to each other. 150 yards in on the first trail and he bumps 3 deer right to me. I look up and they are running up the trail straight at me at 100mph. The first one veers off to my right and stops 30 yards away, vitals behind a tree. I have a neck shot, but this small doe was from this year and no way I was going to shoot for the sake of shooting or to hopefully get 30 pounds of meat. She got a pass, as did her sister who was behind her and the same size. That was my close encounter of the day. Saw 5 more all running away from me and the season was over. Or so I thought.... Monday morning I went to work and it had slowed down quite a bit and I had alot done that morning. I was feeling kinda cruddy so I decided to take half day and head home to rest. I left at 12 and was home changed and ready to rest in the woods by 1pm. I decided to hunt the old "honey hole" that I haven't been to in a few years. It is a swampy area across the street from my in laws. The last time I hunted down there, I visited that area approx 6 to 8 times that season and saw deer everytime I went there. I had nothing to lose. I made it to the edge of the pines and started scanning. I didn't see anything so I crept in closer to where to I wanted to be. 30 yards in and I look and I think "oh crap, busted!" I froze and could see a deer looking in my direction. We had a standoff for over 4 minutes but the deer moved first. Woohoo I won!!! I get the ML off my shoulder and get the scope on the deer and see it is a buck, a lopsided spike. His left side curved up and was maybe 8 inches long. His right side was a straight up 5 to 6 inches long. Nice looking deer and again, all I had was a neck shot as he was looking in my direction. He knew I was there but he didn't take off. We were approx 60 yrds apart through the woods. I watched as he proceeded to feed along and waited for a shot opportunity but to no avail. I waited about half an hour and headed the direction he went. 70 yards from where I last saw him, he sprang up from his bed in the thickest greenbrier thicket you have ever seen. He boogied back the way he came from when I first saw him and again did not offer a shot. I continued to walk up out of the swamp and up the hill to where I had hunted on Saturday afternoon. AS I got to the top of the hillside where it levels out, I scanned the open hardwoods for movement. Nothing so I took a few more steps and I hear a thump from behind me. Yup, I walked right past two bedded deer and they let me pass by them about 20 yards before springing up and running directly away from me. No Texas heart shot from me so all I could do is watch and hope they would stop. They didn't. Maybe next year I will get a good shot opportunity and finally get to take a deer with the ML. I have to say I am disappointed it is over but I had a great season. I saw two bucks during bow season, a button and a spike, both up close. And then I saw 4 bucks during gun and ML season which is the most I have ever seen during any firearms season. There are plenty of squirrels still out with this warm weather so maybe I will get the kids out again in the next few weeks. Need some snow to get the bunnies out and moving for easy visibility. Merry Christmas to everyone. Enjoy the Holidays with family and friends. Z

Thanks Fletch. It was a fun day.

Sunday December 9th Only 4 of us at my buddy's place this morning. Did 3 small drives and on the 2nd one I had a medium and a tiny doe come in and offer 3 different shot opportunities between 40 and 60 yards. I passed on them in hopes they would go to one of the other sitters but it never worked out. Looking forward to muzzleloader next weekend. I will post up with any details sooner than later.

Wow I have been away too long - Sorry for slacking and now time to play catch up - November 30th My Father in law and I headed down to the Turkey party near our cabin. Was a great time - All you can drink and eat for FREE, yes FREE. It was Busch beer but beggars can't be choosers. Hot dogs, sandwiches, chips, crackers, cheese, etc... Was a good time. I won a capon (word I was looking for in previous post) which is a castrated rooster. Very tender and juicy bird my wife cooked up when we got back. Spent $10 to help support the fire department and had a good time. There was plenty of snow on the ground at the cabin and we got a light dusting overnight Friday. My FIL and I hunted hard all day Saturday and both saw zippo. I found 3 beds from Friday night around 11am and cut my first set of fresh tracks at 2:30pm that afternoon going up into the neighbors posted porperty. Got plenty of exercise. Got home and my buddy called to see if I was heading out to his property for drives in the morning. Heck yeah I will. December 2nd - Sunday Met at 9am at my buddy's hunting club. We set up for 4 drives. I was driving the wheeler to my stand and I spotted 2 doe. I jumped off, chambered a round,and couldn't get a good bead on the larger doe. Got back on the wheeler and headed to my stand. I was first in my stand and the other wheelers were headed above and below me. AS they went out of sight, I hear a deer in the leaves coming towards me. The drive hasn't started but the 4 wheelers got the deer moving. I get the scope up and see it is a buck. He runs in to 25 yards and stops quartering to me. I can only count 7 points but he is outside of the ears. Figures I have no tag anymore. Just then I hear a wheeler headed back towards me. I am waving to him to let him know there is a deer right under me and only 15 yards away now. He sees me and stops and is only 45 to 50 yards away. I yell to him Buck right here - 15 yards - but no response. I repeat and the deer is just standing there. Finally I said do you want your buck tag filled? and the deer then decides to run off. Man what a cool encounter with a decent buck. The next drive, I set up about 250 yards from the the stand I was just in but on the same level of the hillside. 5 minutes later, here comes a coyote right to me. It would stop behind trees so all I could see was a tail and a nose. Then it would trot and stop again. Finally I took a leading shot as it started to bolt and I missed. Just as I miss, I turn back the way it came from and here comes another one only 20 yards away but already at a full sprint. I didn't even waste a slug on that attempt. Within a minute, I see more movement from below me and here come 3 little skippers. These babies were only slightly larger than the two coyotes I just saw. The come in to about 30 yards and 2 of them bed right down next to a log. I can hear and see the drivers coming over the hill top now and these doe are just watching up the hill. Finally the one standing looks at me and I say "Boo" and the 3 of them took off at Mach3. One of the guys saw a nice racked buck lower on the hill during that drive but had no shot. I believe it was the 7 I saw on the previous drive. Set up for the 3rd drive had me in the same stand as the first drive. This is the one that paid off. Only minutes into the drive I have 2 doe, two decent sized ones, come runnig in to 30 yards and stop. I could not get on the vitals of the first one until she took a step and I squeezed the trigger. She hopped about 10 yards and stopped again broadside. I friggen missed the first shot but I connected with the second. She ran about 40 yards and fell over. I must've bumped my scope somewhere along the way on my shotgun as my 2nd shot that connected was about 4 inches low and 4 inches right. I caught her in the bottome of the sternum about 1 inch high. An inch lower and it was another clean miss. I split the doe with my buddy so we both have 1.5 deer in the freezer now. I was a driver on the 4th drive to let someone else get some shooting in. That was one of the best days I have had in hunting up there in the past 10 years I have hunted there. Great way to end the weekend.

Well nice going on the horny doe, hahaha. More meat for the freezer. Good luck Muzzleloading this week.