Rebel Darling

I almost did, but then I heard a twig snap... I'm all thumbs when using Tapatalk

Lucky in that regard. Man, it is beautiful right now... Sitting in the thick stuff. I'm all thumbs when using Tapatalk

In case you heard that noise, that was me dropping my quiver from 20'. I'm all thumbs when using Tapatalk

One step closer to your mount! I'm all thumbs when using Tapatalk

Showing the pig in him... Nice buck. I'm all thumbs when using Tapatalk

Neighbor started working outside, upwind of where I'm hoping a buck to walk out from. Going to climb down and reassess afternoon hunt. I'm all thumbs when using Tapatalk

Well... It's been quite a while, and nothing since. Could have been behind me a ways. Tough to hear with the wind and wet leaves. I'm all thumbs when using Tapatalk

Out of nowhere this doe fawn charged in. Did a quick survey, and browsed for a minute. Now she u-turned and is headed back. I'm all thumbs when using Tapatalk

Scent trail down in the scrape line. Up in a tree now... Here we go. Luck all around! I'm all thumbs when using Tapatalk

I slipped out of the office, made it into the Pine Bush, and up a tree over a scrape by 3:15 p.m. I jumped something on the way in, but it's thick along the way to where I wanted to set up, and didn't get a look at the animal. The wind swirled a bit as the high pressure front pushed out the low and wet one. I was hoping a doe would walk by through a cut in the hill (I saw a pair walk that line last year) and to punch a doe tag tonight. No such luck. Legal light passed on without a sighting. The best excitement came via text message from Long Lake. My buddy stalked and drilled down a 10-point buck that ended up with a dress weight of 182. He used his old man's 30-06 lever action in the NZ. That buck is a noble-looking monster. Symmetrical antlers. He already downed a doe early season, and now he'll be working to rearrange for freezer space. It's a good problem to have. I'm super pumped for him, too. He's born and raised ADK way, and this is his biggest buck to-date. As I texted him back just after legal shooting light, my rattle bag slipped out of my pocket, dropped the 15' and smacked down into the ground. It was then that I heard and saw the buck that snuck into the clearing I was hunting over. The drop startled him, and he bounded off a bit before turning to look back. He didn't look up, so I don't think I was busted, but he didn't like that sound and took a few leaps into the thick brambles and was out of sight. I didn't get a good look at his headgear, but I think he was a 4-pointer. Maybe a spike. It was getting dark, and he was 70 or so yards out when he stopped and looked my way. Well, I finally saw a buck this year. Ha. I'm pretty sure I have a date with a buck tomorrow morning, too. I'm going back into my neighbor's property to hunt the scrape line again. I'm using the forecasted Northwest wind to get in, and hopefully get set up before he (hopefully) beds down in the marsh. My plan is to locate the tree, set up the climber, and then walk the scrape line spraying a bit of estrous in each scrape, and then dropping some buck urine over the estrous. With the wind, that scent should carry into the marsh, and I'm hoping that it will draw him out so that I can draw on him. I'm all packed up with the scents and the clothes have been washed (I sweated a bit walking in today), dried, and sprayed down. Tomorrow looks to be a beauty of a day in the woods even if bucky stands me up again.

My friend up in 4H saw two different six-pointers harassing and chasing in fields late morning today.

It's my first season with it, and I'm not entirely sure that I know what I'm doing. During the first couple of weeks of the season, I'd rattle lightly and does would come to check out who all was fighting. I've read that I'm supposed to get more aggressive with the rattles in the coming days, and maybe pair them up with a few snort wheezes. I don't know though... Everything seems spooked by everything. I've got a TON to learn. I'll let you know about positive or negative experiences, but I get the feeling it's going to be kind of a flat ride until I learn more. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

My buddy sent me over a pic of his Long Lake 10 point he dropped today. As I was texting him back after legal light, I dropped my rattle bag and spooked the buck that had snuck in. Yargh... He was young, thick neck, but young. Maybe 4 points. Couldn't tell. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

S&S Farm Brewery Oatmeal Stout. Played a gig there on Saturday, and they sent me home with this... Tastes great, pretty filling. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

4J - Pine Bush. Jumped something on the way in. Hoping to fill a doe tag. 56 and drizzling. 2.5 hours left. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Live from a desk, but I'm getting out of here... Going hunting in the warm drizzle.

Hope you're right, Grow. I might try to fill a doe tag this afternoon down in 4J, and tomorrow morning's wind looks prime to hunt a scrape line up here in 4L. Good luck out there... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Stellar buck, Papist! And a huge congratulations for setting a hard-won standard on tracking... Truly impressive all the way around.

You hunting 4J? Man... You've got some good spots around you. Drop a slob!

Been outside too much to do a decent job of keeping up with a daily journal, but I'll have at it from memory. Monday: 10/31 Headed over to my neighbor's property, the one with the shelf up 50 yards from a stream. Well, that stream is more like 100 yards away from the shelf, but the shelf functioned how I thought it would. Two doe walked right along that flat extension right at daybreak. Aside from those two doe and the five turkey that scraped and pecked their way through, the only other excitement I had was before dawn. I had my climber up about 20 feet, and was trying to settle in and throw on the release, the facemask, etc., when something stomped and then turned and ran. I still had my headlamp on, but it's always on red light, so I'm unsure if that animal could even see it. It was about 6:00 a.m., and I had pasted on some EverCalm on nearby trees. The wind was coming from the North, not from the listed West, and that prevented me from setting up by the shelf like I had planned, so I was down closer to the stream. Whatever it was that took off ran parallel to the shelf. I'm unsure of which direction it came from. I had a loud walk in, so it was probably curious to know what in the hell was coming through in the dark. I had some EverCalm residue on my boots, so maybe it followed me in. Just after daybreak, the two doe walked to the spot at which I judged the jumped animal to have been, and they stuck their noses to the ground and looked around. I'm betting it was interdigital scent they picked up. They didn't bust me, nor did they turn and run, so all was well for that, and I can hopefully get back in there. Around 9:30 a.m., when the turkey were hanging around, I thought I heard a light grunt further down a slope towards a clear hard-wooded area. The tom in the group didn't like how I looked in the tree, and kept eyeing me, so I didn't go for the grunt tube to reply. I figured that if I spooked the turkey, I was going to spook whatever it was that grunted. I opted to keep the peace, and no other deer materialized. I sat from legal light to 11:00 a.m. I worked around the house for the remainder of the day, and had to head into Albany for a band practice that evening. I wanted to be in the woods the entire time. I'm glad that my anticipated use of the terrain played out. That will be helpful knowledge in the future. Hopefully, I'll get a better wind for a set up, and a buck will be trailing those does next time. It still seems like a subdued atmosphere in the deer woods, contrary to many reports from other parts of the state. --------- Tuesday: 11/1 For the morning hunt, I headed out to the stand from which I harvested the doe a few weeks back. I think I let an air of magical thinking take over, and my expectations flew out and beyond reality. I saw one deer moving along at daybreak at a distance too far for me to estimate. A couple hundred yards, maybe. It was also too far for me to accurately identify doe or buck. The neck looked a little thick for a doe, but I couldn't see any headgear aside from the ears. Maybe it was a 1.5 spike. There should be a couple around. It'll get an "Other" in the sighting log. I gave out a couple of grunts to prompt a response, but it wasn't a taker. It paused for a bit, but then wagged the tail and moseyed on. It's tail was half-up the entire time it walked away. I don't know what that means, but I imagine it's a signifying behavior. Same as the day before, the biggest excitement came in the pre-dawn. This time, right in the backyard as I was putting my boots on. I had just touched up the sides of the soles with EverCalm, and something ran back into the woods right behind me at 20 yards. It scared me, and I jumped and turned around. I fell over, and my hand ended up on my bow, which was sitting on my patio. Fortunately, nothing was wrong with the components, and the bow is fine. It could have been a lot worse. I was in the stand by 6:30, and other than the mystery deer, I saw zilch. I also saw zilch on the midday through the evening hunt. I headed over to my other neighbor's property to check out the scrape line. It had been freshened, which got the heart racing, and I immediately started looking for a tree to climb. It's too tight in that tight scrape grouping, which is by design, I'm sure, so I couldn't get a stand in the thick stuff without cutting tons of branches. A little too late in the game for that. I did, though, notice that the scrape line now continued down along the creek for a bit and then split off in another direction. That presented many trees to climb. I chose one, and then sat for 6 hours (12 p.m. to 6 p.m.) and saw zilch. Long day, but at least the weather was nice. It was a pretty decent day to spend in the woods, stood up by a buck. I think I may have made a mistake, though. I placed "curiosity" urine in many of this fella's scrapes. While up in the stand, I second guessed that decision, because I'm unsure if doe would get up in his business that way. I'm thinking that I should have used buck urine (which I didn't have on me), or my own urine instead. I'm hoping that my use of "curiosity" in his scrapes wasn't the reason I didn't see any action. I also thought, while in the stand, that just because the wind favors that stand location (southern wind), doesn't mean it favors the buck coming out of it. If I were him, I wouldn't come out in a southern wind. I wouldn't be able to see all that well through the funnel between the two houses, and the wind wouldn't be in my favor either. So... I'm thinking that the wind needs to come from the North, in order for him to come out and check that line, if he's even bedded down in that marsh on any given day. I scanned around and picked another tree, and if I can get a Northwest wind, I bet I can escape his nose, and still have him think the wind is favorable. There's a southwest wind coming in tomorrow morning, but I'm unsure if I'm hunting. I'm pretty exhausted from house work, hunting and gigs and practice. I'll bed my own self down soon, and see how I feel in the am.

Wasn't meant to be here in my part of 4L. Saw nothing after 6 hrs over a scrape line. Another day... I Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Sorry to read the news, Papist, but there's hope you'll handle those antlers yet! From the climber over a scrape line: Hour no. 3 in, with 3 more ahead. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Sitting over a line of fresh scrapes... C'mon fella! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Slow morning again in 4L. One deer moved through at sunrise. Too far to tell if doe or buck. If a buck, it was a young one. Woods feel quiet and still. Hoping to see some pics from Papist. Otherwise, it's cold and beautiful. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Today is even colder than yesterday. It's going to be another morning of chills, and I'm hoping for thrills. Heading to the stand from which I harvested the doe. First time back in the stand. Hope to remember to try some "curiosity" and EverCalm before I climb up. Good luck and be safe afield, folks. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk