Live From The Woods 2022 - 2023 Edition!

[silent death]

Dec will replace the tag just give them a call we had the same thing happen  in  selkirk next to ge with a deer that was infected and had gangreen.

[suburbanfarmer]

4 minutes ago, silent death said:

Dec will replace the tag just give them a call we had the same thing happen  in  selkirk next to ge with a deer that was infected and had gangreen.

I dont think he cares for that , plus thats a good amount of antlers to lose  

[Hock3y24]

3 doe just ran around the field, idk what they were doing. 

[suburbanfarmer]

21 minutes ago, Hock3y24 said:

3 doe just ran around the field, idk what they were doing. 

2nd rut ? chasing

[Hock3y24]

Fixed it, this slob of a doe got the pass tonight. 

 

Edited December 5, 2022 by Hock3y24

[WNY Bowhunter]

Barely made it out after work hunt tonight. Right at the end of legal shooting time the deer just piled into the cut beans. Thought I was going to be shooting a doe and all of a sudden this guy popped out. Everything happened so quickly...I ended up having to shoot him about 75 yards frontal shot in the neck. Dropped him in his tracks.

[First-light]

41 minutes ago, WNY Bowhunter said:

Barely made it out after work hunt tonight. Right at the end of legal shooting time the deer just piled into the cut beans. Thought I was going to be shooting a doe and all of a sudden this guy popped out. Everything happened so quickly...I ended up having to shoot him about 75 yards frontal shot in the neck. Dropped him in his tracks.

Walking out tonight same thing happened. They came right into my corn. Took a shot at a doe think I hit her but we looked for an hour three of us. I will go back in the morning and walk the hill. She did a mule kick as I play it out. 

 

[suburbanfarmer]

5 hours ago, WNY Bowhunter said:

Barely made it out after work hunt tonight. Right at the end of legal shooting time the deer just piled into the cut beans. Thought I was going to be shooting a doe and all of a sudden this guy popped out. Everything happened so quickly...I ended up having to shoot him about 75 yards frontal shot in the neck. Dropped him in his tracks.

Congrats..so happy for you

[suburbanfarmer]

12 hours ago, First-light said:

Walking out tonight same thing happened. They came right into my corn. Took a shot at a doe think I hit her but we looked for an hour three of us. I will go back in the morning and walk the hill. She did a mule kick as I play it out. 

 

Keep us posted.. stuck on desk duty for 3 more days :( 

[wolc123]

I’m in for the last 20 minutes of sun, plus 30.   I noticed lots of deer scat on this little clover plot, on my walk back Sunday evening, so I’m trying to catch one out for an early bite tonight.  I’m not going to be fussy and I am in pure “brown-down” mode. I have two dmp tags and my buck tag left in my wallet.

It looks like we are having a stretch of perfect carcass-hanging weather, over the next week, and it would be a shame to let an open hook in our insulated garage go unused thru that.  

I think my odds of a little deer action tonight are ok, because I had to get on the brakes hard to miss a doe just up the road a bit, on my drive home from work just moments ago.  

Also, a fresh stick of Evercalm arrived in the mail today, so hopefully having that open next to me covers up my scent from those approaching from downwind.  I also treated my rubber boots with a little, prior to my 350 yard walk to this stand.

Now, if I can just get one of these 2-3/4” 12 ga Hornady SST’s thru a shoulder blade or (3), all will be well.  I don’t have much time for tracking.  

Edited December 6, 2022 by wolc123

[wolc123]

Nothing seen tonight.  I could still make out the crosshairs on my 2-7x Redfield Revolution scope at 25 minutes past sunset on this cloudy night, with no snow.  
 

The next time I hit that clover plot will probably be 1/2 hour before sunrise on Saturday morning.  
 

 

[First-light]

10 hours ago, suburbanfarmer said:

Keep us posted.. stuck on desk duty for 3 more days

Looked for 2 hrs this morning. I found nothing. 

[suburbanfarmer]

8 minutes ago, First-light said:

Looked for 2 hrs this morning. I found nothing. 

Better luck next time.

[Just Lucky]

2 hours ago, First-light said:

Looked for 2 hrs this morning. I found nothing. 

That stinks. I have been there before 

[CapDistPatriot]

16 hours ago, wolc123 said:

I’m in for the last 20 minutes of sun, plus 30.   I noticed lots of deer scat on this little clover plot, on my walk back Sunday evening, so I’m trying to catch one out for an early bite tonight.  I’m not going to be fussy and I am in pure “brown-down” mode. I have two dmp tags and my buck tag left in my wallet.

It looks like we are having a stretch of perfect carcass-hanging weather, over the next week, and it would be a shame to let an open hook in our insulated garage go unused thru that.  

I think my odds of a little deer action tonight are ok, because I had to get on the brakes hard to miss a doe just up the road a bit, on my drive home from work just moments ago.  

Also, a fresh stick of Evercalm arrived in the mail today, so hopefully having that open next to me covers up my scent from those approaching from downwind.  I also treated my rubber boots with a little, prior to my 350 yard walk to this stand.

Now, if I can just get one of these 2-3/4” 12 ga Hornady SST’s thru a shoulder blade or (3), all will be well.  I don’t have much time for tracking.  

How do you like the Evercalm? Is it worth the $$$?

[Rack Attack]

Evercalm is like anything else, it's not perfect, it doesn't make you undetectable.  However, the stuff does help, I use it on my boots for the walk in and place some when I arrive.  I have to say I feel it gives you a bit of an edge over not using it.  One stick should last the average hunter most of the season, so in the big picture the price isn't to bad.

[moog5050]

On 12/5/2022 at 6:51 PM, WNY Bowhunter said:

Barely made it out after work hunt tonight. Right at the end of legal shooting time the deer just piled into the cut beans. Thought I was going to be shooting a doe and all of a sudden this guy popped out. Everything happened so quickly...I ended up having to shoot him about 75 yards frontal shot in the neck. Dropped him in his tracks.

Great season my friend.  Congrats’

[WNY Bowhunter]

15 minutes ago, moog5050 said:

Great season my friend.  Congrats’

Thanks. It was pretty good...no monsters taken but my freezer is full, one big doe canned and this buck is headed for canning jars too. My wife still has her buck tag and I'm hoping my continued scouting efforts can put my dad on a decent buck during late muzzleloader season.

[wolc123]

3 hours ago, CapDistPatriot said:

How do you like the Evercalm? Is it worth the $$$?

I agree with rack attack, in that it isn’t perfect, but it definitely seems to help. I use to go thru more of it, but I got sick of all the ugly yellow stains around my stands and blinds.

Now, I just wipe a little on my boots, for the last couple hundred yards of approach to my stand, then open the stick again and lay it down when I get there.  I get almost 2 seasons out of a $20 stick using it that way, so the cost is manageable.

To save a partially used stick for the following season, put it in a zip lock bag in the freezer, otherwise it will dry up.  
 

I noticed Evercalm use was a common denominator amoung (4) of my last 3.5 yr and (2) 2.5 yr old buck kills over the last (6) seasons.  Last year’s 3.5 was the most directly attributable to the Evercalm.  
 

He actually froze perfectly still, when he encountered the trail that I had walked in on.  He stood there long enough for me to clear the snow from my scope, and make the shot.  
 

Had he not encountered that Evercalm scent, there is little doubt that He’d be at least 4.5 years old right now, rather than on my wall and in my freezer/belly, forever 3.5.

 

 

Edited December 7, 2022 by wolc123

[Don_C]

3 hours ago, wolc123 said:

He actually froze perfectly still, when he encountered the trail that I had walked in on.  He stood there long enough for me to clear the snow from my scope, and make the shot.

I was always under the impression that's what they do when the catch something they don't like. They don't move until they figure it out (or don't) and decide to bolt.

[DoubleDose]

4 hours ago, wolc123 said:

I agree with rack attack, in that it isn’t perfect, but it definitely seems to help. I use to go thru more of it, but I got sick of all the ugly yellow stains around my stands and blinds.

Now, I just wipe a little on my boots, for the last couple hundred yards of approach to my stand, then open the stick again and lay it down when I get there.  I get almost 2 seasons out of a $20 stick using it that way, so the cost is manageable.

To save a partially used stick for the following season, put it in a zip lock bag in the freezer, otherwise it will dry up.  
 

I noticed Evercalm use was a common denominator amoung (4) of my last 3.5 yr and (2) 2.5 yr old buck kills over the last (6) seasons.  Last year’s 3.5 was the most directly attributable to the Evercalm.  
 

He actually froze perfectly still, when he encountered the trail that I had walked in on.  He stood there long enough for me to clear the snow from my scope, and make the shot.  
 

Had he not encountered that Evercalm scent, there is little doubt that He’d be at least 4.5 years old right now, rather than on my wall and in my freezer/belly, forever 3.5.

 

 

How do you know it was the  scent of the Evercalm and not the smell of the Deer-E-Ere? 

[wolc123]

2 hours ago, Don_C said:

I was always under the impression that's what they do when the catch something they don't like. They don't move until they figure it out (or don't) and decide to bolt.

Not sure about that. I’ve always observed that when they catch human scent, the immediate reaction of a mature deer (does even more so than bucks) is to bolt for cover at maximum speed.  
 

That particular buck was “on a mission”, near the end of the rut.  It took something “very special” to stop his brisk walk and hold him in place for the long time that it took me to clear both lenses of my scope. That’s why I attributed that one to the Evercalm more so than any of the others that I killed while using it.  
 

The only bad thing that time, was that most of his vitals were covered by a big tree where he stopped.  I had to aim considerably farther back on his rib cage than I preferred.  I still caught the second last rib and both lungs with my 16 ga foster slug. The slug didn’t quite make it all the way thru him, but did blow out enough chunks of rib, to make a halfway decent double blood trail in the snow.  
 

He made it into some very heavy cover and I had to use that special dual-purpose tool as a handle to drag him out to where I could gut him and get to him with my dad’s Ranger.  Order of operations is very important in such a predicament (drag first gut second).  

I’ve had other mature deer approach from directly downwind, when I had Evercalm wiped on my stand or  tree.  I hope the open stick produces that same result, but I haven’t been doing it long enough to find out.  

It also works on more than just deer. One of the more hair-raising experiences that I had with it, occurred during early ML week up in the Dacks, a few years ago.  I had treated my boots with evercalm and was wearing full camo (that was before the orange hat or vest rule).

As I followed a well-used deer trail up a mountain ridge, I was nearly intercepted by a big coyote. I raised my ML, when it was ready to pounce, less than 10 yards away.  I have never seen one move as fast as that one did, when it saw me lift that gun.  I could not get off a shot, before it disappeared into heavy cover.  

 

Edited December 7, 2022 by wolc123

[First-light]

Not my buck but my neighbors. Both of our fields were in corn this year. Smiths Farm shelled the corn late and left strips up for the deer. There is so much corn in the fields its crazy. So Im hanging with my neighbor today and he says its time to only hunt bucks. Any legal buck is mine. I have to say this guy is like the late season specialist on getting it done. So he sets up over his corn. Texts me at6 3:30 saying he has 6 doe in the field. At 4:30 I hear 2 shots. A doe left and went back into the woods when she came back trhis 10 pt was in tow. lol he gets it done again! Muzzy and the Holiday hunt I will be glued to my corn field. 

[wolc123]

18 minutes ago, First-light said:

Not my buck but my neighbors. Both of our fields were in corn this year. Smiths Farm shelled the corn late and left strips up for the deer. There is so much corn in the fields its crazy. So Im hanging with my neighbor today and he says its time to only hunt bucks. Any legal buck is mine. I have to say this guy is like the late season specialist on getting it done. So he sets up over his corn. Texts me at6 3:30 saying he has 6 doe in the field. At 4:30 I hear 2 shots. A doe left and went back into the woods when she came back trhis 10 pt was in tow. lol he gets it done again! Muzzy and the Holiday hunt I will be glued to my corn field. 

No doubt about it, corn is the place to be late-season.  I had plenty of it last year (it lasted till March), but I cut my acreage in half this year, due to high fertilizer and fuel costs in the spring.  The deer had me cleaned out by mid October.  
 

It didn’t help that my neighbors also eliminated or cut way back on what they put in.  I do have plenty of good turnips out there still, and lots of winter wheat.  I’m hoping that keeps some deer around thru the Holliday ML season this year.  I could only hunt a couple of days of that last year, but there were deer in my corn every day that I hunted it.  
 

This year, I have that whole week off work and I am planning to hunt every day.  I just wish I had planted a little more corn this spring.  Oh well, I do have plenty of cover back there and hopefully the turnips and wheat will do the trick.  

I don’t know of any wild game (or food of any kind) that is quite as tasty as a corn fed and fattened whitetail deer.   

[First-light]

32 minutes ago, wolc123 said:

No doubt about it, corn is the place to be late-season.  I had plenty of it last year (it lasted till March), but I cut my acreage in half this year, due to high fertilizer and fuel costs in the spring.  The deer had me cleaned out by mid October.  
 

It didn’t help that my neighbors also eliminated or cut way back on what they put in.  I do have plenty of good turnips out there still, and lots of winter wheat.  I’m hoping that keeps some deer around thru the Holliday ML season this year.  I could only hunt a couple of days of that last year, but there were deer in my corn every day that I hunted it.  
 

This year, I have that whole week off work and I am planning to hunt every day.  I just wish I had planted a little more corn this spring.  Oh well, I do have plenty of cover back there and hopefully the turnips and wheat will do the trick.  

I don’t know of any wild game (or food of any kind) that is quite as tasty as a corn fed and fattened whitetail deer.   

Fatty Corn fed deer delish!