Live From The Woods 2022 - 2023 Edition!

[GreeneHunter]

I'll be headed soon , my son will be hunting I'll just be there to change out Trail Cam Chips ! If he doesn't " Catch a Deer " we'll just do Lunch and be done for the season (maybe) !

[First-light]

This morning we have 5 guys to do several drives. 2 old timers (1 is me lol) and three 30 year old's. But the old guys do most of the driving! Really would like to get one more for the freezer. I'll report back mid day!

[wolc123]

The snow is just as deep over at my parent’s place as it is at home.   I am glad I brought my snowshoes for the 200 yard walk to my stand this morning.

I walked back 1/2 hour before sunrise and I crossed at least 10 sets of deer tracks.  Several of them looked quite large.  With all the leaves down and snow in the woods, I can see more than 200 yards in almost all directions.  So far I seen 4 or 5 grey squirrels but no deer.

Maybe all the deer action is pm  or early am over here also, the same as it seems to be at home.  It’s quite comfortable in this big roomy upper deck.  The temp is about 32 now and rising and the wind is sw about 5 mph.  I’ll stay here until 11:45 or so,  go have lunch with my parents, then hit my clover plot edge stand for the evening hunt.  
 

Edited December 28, 2022 by wolc123

[Lawdwaz]

2 hours ago, wolc123 said:

The snow is just as deep over at my parent’s place as it is at home.   I am glad I brought my snowshoes for the 200 yard walk to my stand this morning.

I walked back 1/2 hour before sunrise and I crossed at least 10 sets of deer tracks.  Several of them looked quite large.  With all the leaves down and snow in the woods, I can see more than 200 yards in almost all directions.  So far I seen 4 or 5 grey squirrels but no deer.

Maybe all the deer action is pm  or early am over here also, the same as it seems to be at home.  It’s quite comfortable in this big roomy upper deck.  The temp is about 32 now and rising and the wind is sw about 5 mph.  I’ll stay here until 11:45 or so,  go have lunch with my parents, then hit my clover plot edge stand for the evening hunt.  
 

I checked on work today and the field to the south looks like a barnyard.   
 

Also, I don’t think I’ll need to trim the shrubs in front of the yellow house for awhile.   They decimated them the las couple days.  

[Five Seasons]

On 12/27/2022 at 7:57 AM, wolc123 said:

I missed (I think) a doe a few hundred yards to my right at 5:00 pm last night.  I got up into the upper deck of my two-story blind 15 minutes before sunrise this morning.  I can see several spots where they were feeding in the adjacent clover plot last night.  Hopefully, a deer stops by for a bite before noon today.

The wind is from the sw about 8 mph and the temp is about 15 degrees.  Conditions are better this morning than they were yesterday for sure.  
 

the nice thing about snow is easy tracking. I've found mz bleed the worst compared to shotgun/rifle and broadheads. Sometimes taking even 20 to 30 yards for any blood to show up. At least it was a complete miss unlike my shitty situation.

[wolc123]

I’m in my clover-edge stand at my parent’s place for the last (2) hours.  There are several sets of tracks across it, from last night, but it don’t look like the deer have been hitting it too hard.  The last one that I killed on this farm, was from this stand 362 days ago, so I’m due for another. 
 

The clover was starting to look pretty lame this fall.  I am definitely going to start reworking it next year.  It tried a little frost-seeding last spring, but that didn’t seem to help it much.
 

I am going to roundup and disk the front and back 1/8ths of it next summer, and plant the front part with heavily-fertilized turnips in late July and the back part with a wheat/clover mix in early September.  

in future years, I will plant the prior year’s turnip 1/8th with wheat/clover, and the next back 1/8th of old clover with turnips, on the same schedule.  That’s a similar rotation as I do at home, but substituting  turnips for the corn, that I use there.  
 

No need for corn here, because the neighbors always plant plenty of that, and it’s a pain getting the equipment over here.    My neighbors at home didn’t plant any corn this spring, which is the main reason that the little bit I put in got completely wiped out by early October.  
 

The permanent stand that I’m in now can cover the front part of this clover plot good and I’m going to move a double ladder stand from home, to cover the back part. 
 

The conditions right now are the best I’ve seen so far this Holiday season.  Light sw wind, partly cloudy sky, and about 40 degrees.  The snow has melted down to about 6” depth and a walk back without snowshoes was not bad at all.  All I need is for a deer to show up in range.   

[First-light]

Hey I got my first with the Muzzleloader today!!!! We did 4 different drives. First three did not produce any deer. Last drive was on my property. I was a driver and started to walk in from the road. About 30 yards in I see a big doe cross in front of me about 50 yards. She knows something is up and trots a few yards and stops. Shot was right through the neck. She was done in minutes. A matter of inches and a miss. I have to put a scope on that gun for next year. Maybe it deflected, don't know. I'm very happy! Right after I shot two more crossed my swail. Buddies Flintlock misfired, would of been nice he had his 12 year old with him. Kid was great never complained once! She's a biggen!

[suburbanfarmer]

35 minutes ago, First-light said:

Hey I got my first with the Muzzleloader today!!!! We did 4 different drives. First three did not produce any deer. Last drive was on my property. I was a driver and started to walk in from the road. About 30 yards in I see a big doe cross in front of me about 50 yards. She knows something is up and trots a few yards and stops. Shot was right through the neck. She was done in minutes. A matter of inches and a miss. I have to put a scope on that gun for next year. Maybe it deflected, don't know. I'm very happy! Right after I shot two more crossed my swail. Buddies Flintlock misfired, would of been nice he had his 12 year old with him. Kid was great never complained once! She's a biggen!

Congrats!!

I plan/wish to join your ranks this weekend

[wolc123]

I stayed in my clover plot edge stand, on the south edge of my parents woods, until 1/2 hour past sunset last night and  didn’t see any deer.

 I drove into the trailer park around the corner at 1/2 hour before sunrise this morning.  I am now in my small, very uncomfortable ladder stand that is in the high part of their woods, north of the swamp.  
 

This stand is only 300 ft from the nearest “double wide”.  I don’t know the owner of that, and about 4 others, that are less than 500 ft away, so I am armed with my crossbow this morning (250 ft setback per NY DEC).  
 

I did meet the guy from the last trailer on the dead end road where I park (I’ll call him “Julian”), and the trailer park supervisor (I’ll call him  “Mr Leahy”) is an old school buddy of mine and he gave me the ok to park on the end of the road that buts up to my parents woods.  
 

He did a nice job of plowing a good wide space for me there after the blizzard.  Usually, Julian has his suv parked there but it’s up next to his trailer now.  
 

It’s been over a year since I hunted this stand and it took me a while to find it in the dark.  This end of the woods is high and dry and I am surrounded by the heaviest concentration of deer tracks I have seen yet this Holiday season.  
 

There are lots of oaks back here and it looks like the deer have been foraging on the acorns that the squirrels have burried under the snow and leaves.  
 

I have only hunted this location about 6 times and have only seen one deer from it.  That was a big 3.5 year old 8-point, during crossbow season in 2018.  I blew my chance on him that day, when he busted me at 15 yards with my shiny chrome cider cup in my hand.

 

He got busted up by a bigger buck later that week, loosing (2) of his points.  That saved me the expense of a shoulder mount, when I killed him the following Saturday (opening day of gun) with my slug gun from my stand on the other side of the swamp (600 ft from the nearest trailer). 
 

One nice thing about no firearm this morning is no orange hat needed.  Now if only a deer or two would show up looking for acorns. 

 

[wolc123]

I couldn’t remember if I locked my wife’s minivan this morning.  My ML, which I plan on using tonight from my stand on the other side of the swamp, is in it locked in a plastic case.  
 

I just got done still-hunting to  “remote-range” of it and back, so that I could make sure it was locked.  The heaviest concentration of deer tracks is about 100 ft of where I parked.  I’d need a vertical bow to hunt that spot.

Im hoping that if I can see a buck at long range, maybe I can draw it in close to my stand with my grunt call.  I called in a 2.5 year old buck in these woods with it and killed it on opening day of gun in 2020, so I know it works.  
 

The weather conditions are the most comfortable so far of this season, but my stand is the least.  I’m going to try my best to hold out here until 11:45 or so.  Deer tracks as far as I can see in almost every direction will help with that.

[wolc123]

The squirrels are getting active, hopefully the bigger stuff gets going soon:

[wolc123]

I held out in my trailer park stand, behind the swamp, until 11:45 and didn’t see any deer.  That must be another one of them spots, where all the deer action is pm or the very early am.  I stopped at McDonalds after, and brought lunch over to my parents place.

 

I had planned on hunting my little hang-on stand, on the south side of the swamp this evening, but my legs said no.  They are too sore from 3 days straight of snowshoeing and trudging thru deep snow.  
 

I won’t hunt that little swamp/edge hang-on again until opening day of southern -zone gun season 2023.  Right now, the little trailer park ladder stand, on the other side, is the leading contender for my last Holiday Hunt on the afternoon of January 1.   I got one on that day this year, with my ML, but it looks like it will be the crossbow this Sunday, next year. 
 

I only made it back as far as my two-story truck cap blind, near the front of their woods.  It’s over 300 more yards back to the swamp and my legs just don’t have that in them, let alone if I killed something back there, and had to drag that far.

Also, after more than (4) hours in that uncomfortable single ladder stand this morning, I was not yet ready for (2) hours in a marginally more comfortable tiny little hang-on stand.  

Its an almost perfect hunting temperature,  at about 50 degrees, cloudy sky with a light sw wind.  It don’t seem like late December weather.  Too warm for hot cider, so staying hydrated with bottled water.  

[DoubleDose]

11 hours ago, wolc123 said:

I did meet the guy from the last trailer on the dead end road where I park (I’ll call him “Julian”), and the trailer park supervisor (I’ll call him  “Mr Leahy”) is an old school buddy of mine and he gave me the ok to park on the end of the road that buts up to my parents woods.  
 

He did a nice job of plowing a good wide space for me there after the blizzard.  Usually, Julian has his suv parked there but it’s up next to his trailer now.   
 

LMFAO!!!   No Ricky or Bubbles?

[wolc123]

3 minutes ago, DoubleDose said:

LMFAO!!!   No Ricky or Bubbles?

Not yet.  Maybe I’ll run into them, when I go back over there on New Year’s Day afternoon.  That trailer park is pretty empty now, because most of the residents are snow-birds who winter in Florida.    
 

I did see them both (the real actors who played the parts), along with “Julian”, at the Riviera theater in North Tonawanda a few years ago.  Julian is almost completely bald now and Bubbles is a heck of a guitar player.  Ricky still looks the same.  I think I heard that the actor who played Leahy died.  
 
 

 

[New York Hillbilly]

Well, after another busy clinic week, I now have a day to hunt. Thankfully it looks like a break from the bone chilling cold and wind. I do hear the wind chimes ringing a pretty tune outside my window, but not the loud, frantic noise they have been making all season. 

Past Sunday I took a short stroll and found the deer in the thickest brushy gully, where the swamp,  grown over apple orchard, goldenrod fields and open woodlot all meet. They place was tore up with tracks, paw marks, and a few beds. I sneaked in and saw a couple sliding through the area not 60 yards away but had no clear shot. We had a stand off for better than an hour and a half, with me moving a couple feet and stopping, and them non stop blowing as they tried to scent me, letting me know we both were on to each other. 

This morning I'm headed to a spot I have not been in a couple weeks, if for no other son than to be out there. I'll save the deery spot from last week for this afternoon, in case they are still in that area. So I do not spook them out. 

[DirtTime]

Last hoorah for the season.

 

[New York Hillbilly]

Picture perfect weather for hunting! But can’t get work out of my freaking head.  Urghh 

[New York Hillbilly]

The deer should be loving this day as nice as it is right now.  Where was this weather earlier in the season? 

[First-light]

15 minutes ago, New York Hillbilly said:

The deer should be loving this day as nice as it is right now.  Where was this weather earlier in the season? 

It is very nice out. I'm going to take advantage of the warm weather and take down the Holiday lights and clean out my shed. I'll hunt this afternoon. Good luck all. 

[New York Hillbilly]

Came back to the house to handle some office stuff.

Now headed back out to play in the woods. A little sneak and peak, and then snuggle into the bushes to watch till dark. 

[wolc123]

I’m on some new ground, up in wmu 9A, for the last 2 hours today.  Weather is good with a light ssw wind, cloudy and about 52 degrees.   I’m seated about 200 yards from my wife’s mini-van, but it would be an uphill drag, if I killed something.

 I brought a sled, but there’s not a bit of snow left here.  I’d probably call my brother in law next door, and see if he could bring his atv back, unless it was a real small deer.  My sister in law might get pissed, but she’d get over it.

The neighbor on the other side  took deer (3) out of here thru archery and gun season.  No one has hunted these woods since regular gun season ended.  He just pointed out a run that the deer use back here and said to get ready for them around 4:30.
 

I might not see anything, but at least I’m giving my home herd an evening off, until I get back after them in the morning, and I got rid of a van load of barnwood.  

[GreenDrake]

Wolc…you are by far my hero…

Happy belated birthday btw

[New York Hillbilly]

Well!

After looking over what now amounts to a greenfield in front of my box stand in a sea of brown brush and snow covered woods; against my better instincts to stay and watch over it, I couldn't fight the urge to try Round 2 with the deer I messed with the other day.

They beat me again! Those son of a guns lay there, in the thick stuff, watching and winding anyone who tries to sneak up on them. Again, as soon as I move in on the area at a snails pace, they start blowing and wheezing. I caught one of them as it finally took a couple bounds and then walked off, but there was no shot possible.

I pushed further in and decided to just stay in there to see if they circled back into the area, but it was a bust. 

I left with enough time to check out the greenfield on my way back to the house, and low and behold there was a great big doe and her young one there browsing. I managed to get within 80 yards but there was a big bush between me and the big doe, and she finally knew something was up and bounded up the hill out of sight with little one in tow. 

Tomorrow morning will be a wrap for me because me and the wife have to go do a late Christmas with my daughter, SIL, and grandson near Rochester. And, while I was on stand tonight I got a text from my SIL asking if I could "help" him "fix" a bathroom faucet he tried to change. lol He sent me a picture from under his sink of the most mangled drain I have ever seen. I sat there perplexed wondering what ripping the drain apart has to do with changing the faucet, but I just said, "no worries, we can fix it!".  

Looks like my deer season will be like the water in his sink tomorrow when I get done, both will go down the drain! : )

 

[suburbanfarmer]

2 hours ago, New York Hillbilly said:

 

Tomorrow morning will be a wrap for me because me and the wife have to go do a late Christmas with my daughter, SIL, and grandson near Rochester. And, while I was on stand tonight I got a text from my SIL asking if I could "help" him "fix" a bathroom faucet he tried to change. lol He sent me a picture from under his sink of the most mangled drain I have ever seen. I sat there perplexed wondering what ripping the drain apart has to do with changing the faucet, but I just said, "no worries, we can fix it!".  

 

 

Look at the bright side, he is asking for help. Means he is willing to learn.

[New York Hillbilly]

15 minutes ago, suburbanfarmer said:

Look at the bright side, he is asking for help. Means he is willing to learn.

Yup! He's a great SIL, because he is a good husband for my daughter and dad for my grandson. They make a nice. loving little family, so my wife and I feel blessed. I never give it a second thought when they call me out of the bullpen. In fact, I actually look forward to working on projects for them. On any given weekend you might find me up on their roof, installing a sump pump, unplugging a drain or fixing a leaky pipe, or building my daughter her raised bed garden.

Its like that with my son as well. Several times thanks to FaceTime I have walked him through his projects. I loved the night I step by step had him pull his washing machine apart, to retrieve the rogue sock I told him he was going to find stuck in the pumps impeller. His happy "whoo hooo" and big smile when he found the sock, I'll always remember. "Hey Dad, how the heck did you know that?" he said.  

I always tell the kids I'm not all that smart, I'm like the insurance company commercial that says "I know a thing or two because I've seen a thing or two!" lol