Bolt action

Dead quiet here except for the Mexicans having a grito contest on the Apple farm behind me. Doe and fawn feeding in the beans 135yds in front of me. Group of 4 feeding in the beans 175yds to my right

In for the pm sit. Walked past a Doe on the way. Within 30 yds. She just watched me stroll past. She was on the neighbors property. Now I'm settled in and ready. Here deer deer deer...

Went for pheasant this morning with a buddy. He's never scored on one and I really wanted him to connect. Not many guys in the field and not many shots compared to previous years. We did get one though!

The wind and rain finally stopped up here. Not sure how many guys are out, but today should be a good one. I'll be out with my FIL tomorrow morning for Pheasant. Then if I can work through my honey do list, I might be able to step out for a PM sit on Sunday. I've got a feeling this thread is going explode over the next few days. Good luck!

Would love to get out for duck tomorrow, but I'll be in the field with my FIL for pheasants. Good luck on the water!

Too bad. It's a sad end for an absolute stud of a deer. Anyone know generally where in bport? My mom is right off 19...

I'm in. Thanks for the tip @Nomad

Thanks for the reminder TC.. I stopped into the Henrietta field and steam on Thursday. Differences with the store aside. I asked one of the managers about the transition to sportsman's outdoors. He said the store was closing for a week starting on Friday (last week) for the transition. Happened sooner than I thought. Might be some good sales coming up soon for anyone local.

Took my son out last night for his first time in the woods with a gun.. tried to capitalize on youth weekend. He was super excited when this overweight 6pt stepped out.

That's it for today. Great morning to be in the woods. Still learning this property. I had deer this morning at 80ish yards left and right of my stand. Great for gun but not so much for now.

Saw 2 pockets of Doe on the way in along the parkway. Also saw a bruiser.. looked like a tall 8.. probably 12 g2's.. then nearly ran over a fawn.. all before I parked. Busted 2 groups on my mile walk in. Settled into stand by 630. At 7 I had a group of 3 Doe feeding on acorns to my right at 75 yds. Then the neighbor started his tractor and I watched 4 or 5 pockets of deer all along the field edge go on alert and run for cover. Maybe 15 deer total. Great morning to be out.

I'm up and headed in. Trying a different stand today to try to get me closer to where I've been seeing them.

I'm headed in tomorrow morning for a few hours. Weather looks perfect! Think it's too early for an estrous drag as i walk in?

I've got beans this year too. When I was out last weekend the fields were about half brown and half still green. Didn't seem to bother the deer much. It'll probably change soon though.

Wasn't there a thread on here last year where the idea came up of wrapping plastic bags around your feet before putting the boots on? Some guys (bionic?) tried it and were surprised at how well it worked. Maybe I'm confusing this with something else.. I usually pack the hot hands foot insoles for the coldest days. They seem to keep me going ok. Also makes a difference to have some room inside the boot for air to provide a barrier between your foot and the cold boot shell.

Here's my update from yesterday. First chance I've had to sit down. Coached my kid's soccer have in the morning, then home for a few quick chores. I was in a tree in 8h by 3 for the evening home. Forecast called for a SSE wind bit when I got there it was more ENE. Between that and realizing that this tree wasn't prepped for bow, I didn't like my spot. Decided to get down around 430 and slow hunt into the wind toward a better stand. On my way over I caught movement 300 yds away on the other side of the bean field. There was a small hill between me and a doe and 2 fawns. Rather than being smart about it I tried to put that hill between us and stalk them. An hour later I was in the middle of this bean field stuck with deer all around me. I counted 23 total including 6 bucks, 2 of which are on my hit list. That doe I initially saw was part of a group of 9. I managed to get within 55 yds before they took off. Just before that I was crouched down and looking around and saw one of my shooters 75 yds behind me walking toward me. I learned a lot from this. Mostly that stalking out in the wide open across a bean field isn't going to work. Coolest day in the woods I've had in a long time and didn't need to drop a deer to make that happen.

Always has me running to the bathroom right after...

Kale and peppers from the garden, smoked jalapeno and cheese venison sausage, garlic and a little chicken broth with Spanish rice Tried to upload a picture but getting an error.

I love following along. Is it true that the rain is actually good for tracking? I've heard that, although it washes away the visible blood trail, it freshens up the scent making it easier for the dog to follow. Any truth to that?

Congrats Rebel!!

...must be a slow morning in the woods.

Today's the day. Cooler temps should have them up. Good luck out there!

I've been stalking this thread from the office for the past 2 days now waiting to see the post that someone finally got one. What are ya'll waiting for?? Man I can't wait for my chance to get out on Saturday!

I was looking at the wolf and optima packages. They have great reviews and hard to beat for the price. I ended up buying a traditions vortek ultralight ldr though. Ended up getting it with a Nikon scope for under 200 as a package deal. I use it with the pellets and 295g power belts and it's a tack driver.

I pulled cards today for the last preseason pull. Still sorting through all the pics but haven't seen any so far off my top 2 from previous pulls. I have a few smaller ones that are new, but man I hope those big ones are still around! Here's a pic of one where the horns are still pink...