phade

That Ohio buck was at my stand area morning and evening yesterday. Slight piece of the puzzle. I have him heading at that direction @4:30AM on the bean field, and showing up almost a quarter mile away at 7-7:30AM in the interior of a big block of timber. Not sure where he is going in between 430-7 because his approach to the cam in the AM is from the opposite direction of the cam that took his photo at 430AM. Maybe a big loop taking place. He came from the same direction at 7 last night. He has to be bedding very close by the stand and I have flooded timber. He's somewhere nearby that IMO. There is 5-10 acres of flooded timber - ducks galore, a landbridge between it and then a marsh. He appears to be coming from where the flooded timber/land bridge meet.

I don't really differentiate it too much from social media groups, short of the smallness that is the active member count here. I also don't think it's hunting specific. People in generality either post only the best of their lives or post everything, unfiltered. Not alot of people nail the middle - and no fault of their own as its human nature. Example - Guy gets fired for not showing up on time despite all the support he needed. Finds new job. His post on LI talks about how he is moving to X company and that he is expanding his role, etc....you'd think he is the next up and comer. Meanwhile, you know that dude couldn't show up to work on time because he was running around on his wife and getting hungover when the wife was out of town traveling for her job. The less benign example is just that people don't think to post about the struggles of life and post only the big, polished moments. Creates a next generation keeping up with the Jones effect.

Didn’t make it out today because work was obnoxious. First time in a long time where it was such I didn’t want to get in a tree. Ah well. Tomorrow is a new day. That said, I sat PM in the same stand both Sat and Sun. Partner did the same. It’s amazing to see activity drop off after pressure applied, even smart pressure. Cam photos in PM daylight went from 10-15 images per day down to 2 this evening at my stand area. Deer respond to pressure by shifting. Cams that were getting lower pic counts went up today - about 100 yards NE on opposite side of thicket. Farmer took out a row of corn for us for the next week or so. Then they’ll be hammer down in the combines. Better get at it. This Ohio buck has gotten the best of me now for two opening weeks. Seen him once from the stand last year at 60 yards. Moved stand and got in close. Cat and mouse until rut and then gone until late season. This year, he shows at my stand spot the morning before opener in light. No show opening AM when I am there. Shows PM at that spot after I move to the other farm. Bah. I don’t think he put on inches. Put on some weight though.

Nobody knows for sure off a few photos and a hunter's notes, but for me, I'd be less optimistic based on what Chef shared. Standing pools like that without bedding are not a good sign IMO. Not a ton of blood bubbles and the blood amount while good, isn't alot of volume alone. I personally haven't experienced a scenario where a deer bleeds but doesn't bed within a few hundred yards and then keels over dead many hundreds of yards later. The longest I've seen was due to open ground (less than an inch of rye planted that week) that was expansive and the buck died within 30 yards of hitting cover, in its first bed. That was under 300 yards (high 200s). If there is a bed with blood in it, then I've most certainly seen long, long arduous track jobs and a dead deer or one that needed finishing (and would have died eventually). I think what he shared was indicative of a muscle hit high - I surely hope he clipped high lung somehow. The bit of dark blood is interesting though... I'm hoping Chef finds it, and it's more a matter of just locating the buck in cover and trailing than anything else. We've all been there if we've hunted long enough. Good luck Chef.

HBD

Good luck on the recovery.

A good 6 was ultimately the benefactor of a pass. 7 bucks between us and a doe and fawn. It was a nice hunt.

More.

Active debate. Not a shooter decision.

Crane flew up from creek. Land near top of hill. Cool to see. Looked like a plane with not enough power at takeoff lol.

I’m for the pm. Same stand as opener. So far a 2 year old pass this sit. Eating apples. He bombed out Mach 5 after sniffing my pack that I left on the ground at the base of the stand. Dumb forgetfulness on my part. Three point came by too. This wind has some swirls. Not liking it totally.

Partner sends me this lol

Spike and 2.5. Far end of plot. Partner has a doe and fawn in front of him a few hundred yards south.

In. Opener for state #2. Have a few ash trees about 30 yards from me that are finally to the point of falling over. Won’t be much longer til they do. They’re waving in the wind like crazy. And it’s not super windy.

Good luck. Drinking coffee on couch. Heading in for PM today. Wind not right for our entry and food to bed paths. Did enjoy some Wagyu steaks last night though. Preseason ritual.

Way different deer. Go get ‘em.

That is a solid buck there. Good luck!

Rule are rules obviously, but that seems quite dumb. Even if one were to propose shooting prior to legal light, in the Dante's Inferno version of hunting no-nos, that probably has to be one of the most benign, after barbed broadheads or a narrow xbow, etc. Again not justification, but that is quite the hill to die on or hold a feud over. Not even sure how one would accuse someone of that if they were at work? People are crazy. Treestands are nice because I generally don't have to deal with people while in them.

I would definitely get the GW engaged in that type of scenario but I wouldn't burn the spot. Once the GW validates it - no other crap can really be taken seriously. GWs will in large respect the privacy too, I think.

Midwest hits different when it comes to deer hunting IMO. Straight up, I'd be there if not for family desires. Congrats to the hunter. Missouri in T-Minus 5 weeks.

Sorry to hear, genuinely. Do you know how much the owner wants? I am in the market for land.

Hostel came to mind.

I bought a gopro hero 10 and I'll likely mess around with that a few times in the stand this year. Half-hearted. I have it, bought it for our vacation in the USVI this summer and it'll sit in a box for a long time if I don't use it hunting. Definitely not great for typical zoomed in hunting shots but better than nothing. A few of our spots are close in action 10-20 yards. It'll still seem far away. When swimming within a few feet of turtles on our trip, it still seemed far away. I used a pogo to get it within a foot or two and it made some good videos/photos.

We likely will encounter this buck Saturday PM. He is showing up daily day and night. It’ll be exciting to see him and think about potential. We are struggling to put him at 3.5 and pass is in order if he can survive the gauntlet of hunters this year.

Rare wind for opener. East in AM shifting to NE for the next few days. Our plan for Saturday morning really hinges on a Westerly so that is out the window. Too risky to cross feeding areas with an Easterly. We may hunt the first hour in some easy to access spots but we're equally in the boat of not going out until the PM which will be a better entry for us. Getting good activity of bucks daily now, but only two in that spot that are shooter category. One very infrequently shows up and the other is there but not as reliably appearing as the 1/2/3 year olds daily. No doubt we'll encounter bucks, we just need the right one to show. One other spot that we typically stay out of until late Oct/early Nov is surrounded by corn so we may sit there later in the week once we get the right wind. Pair of shooters showing up there to consider. Can't pressure that place too much and it goes to crap after the harvest and spoils are gone. We may need to try earlier than normal due to the crop rotations and it coming down presumably before the rut action gets going. Lower pressure and cloudy, which IMO isn't great conditions. Slightly windy Sunday PM. But, all workable. Not too hot, rare wind. I'm sure it'll result in an early season tag or two being punched by people who thought they'd need to wait a while for that wind direction to arrive. Probably Ohio the following weekend.