Every Now and Zem-2014

[Zem18]

The excitement is starting to build tonight. My clothes are in the dryer as I type. Shot a few groups of arrows on lunch at work today as a tune up too. Tomorrow morning I will sit for the first time this year.

I have a cam up on my usual tree and there are plenty of deer travelling the area. No giants but they can show up anytime and you have to be out there so I will hunt when I can and post up after my hunts.

I love reading the journals every year and also love to share my stories. Hope everyone has a safe and successful season, no matter what you are hunting.Good luck to all.

[Zem18]

10-4-14

Alarm went off at 5:50am this morning. I hit snooze and got up at 6 when it went off again. Turned the back porch light on and it was pouring so my decision was a no brainer. That extra 2 hours of sleep were wonderful this morning, and dry too.

Have a soccer game at noon, til one today and a few chores around the house and then out for the evening sit.

[Zem18]

10-4-14

Made it to my stand by 4:15pm this afternoon. Was beautiful out there.

Saw the tail end of a deer at 5:45 but it was a small one. Plenty of wildlife out. Chipmunk, someone's black house cat, and some squirrels like this guy

Ended up seeing 4 more doe during the sit. I have a video to upload to YouTube and I'll post it later.

Edited October 5, 2014 by Zemmer18

[First-light]

Hey Zem good luck out there!

[Zem18]

Thanks B. Same to you when you get out of the urban jungle.

[bkln]

Nice pics Zem, keep'em coming.....

[Zem18]

1st sit 2014 bow:

Hope the link works. This was from Saturday evening.

[fasteddie]

Nice vid Zem . Thanks for sharing .

[Zem18]

Momma was at 12 feet and the littles ones were 3 to 5 feet form my ladder. Man I love bow hunting.

[Zem18]

10.5.14

Both my kids had friends sleepover last night so I didn't sleep for beans.I rolled out of bed at 630 and was in the stand by 7. It was chilly but didn't bump anything thankfully. At 730 I see movement 100 yards across field. It is Momma and her two skippers. Then I see them hauling tail back the way they came with the neighbors dog chasing close behind. Stayed out until 10 with nothing else spotted and the wind really picking up.

4:00pm

Back on stand for the evening. Actually warmed up to about 48 with a light breeze and some higher gusts. Spotted 1 unidentified deer walking behind me around 5:30. Nothing else so got down at 6:30 so I didn't get stuck if anything came in late.

3 sits and saw deer on all 3! Good start thus far. Now to do what Loverboy sang - Everybody's working for the weekend.

[Fletch]

Zem.

 

Your seeing deer so that is always good!!

 

You get some new toys?? Cam and vid??

[Zem18]

Yes, 3 sits and deer all 3 times. Not too shabby. And believe it or not, all the pics and video are from my free smart phone I finally broke down and traded my old phone for. Love the phone, and love capturing the moments in the field.

Edited October 7, 2014 by Zemmer18

[Fletch]

Nice, now do not do what I do and miss deer coming in cause playing with phone!!

[First-light]

Zem,

Where is the phone mounted, or you just holding it. Quality was great!

[Zem18]

I was just holding it, not mounted to anything. I was surprised it came out good too. That was only on 1.0x and it goes to 4.0x. I was trying to zoom but didn't want to get caught moving.

I try not to play games so hopefully I won't get busted, but that was an awesome hunt without picking up the bow.

[First-light]

Very nice. We changed tactics this year because of soccer and just being plain busy. Doing a 5 day stretch on the 17th and back up from Wed right through gun opener. Hopefully it pays off, the hard part for my crew is to hit the target! lol

[Zem18]

Lol - gotta love the soccer schedules. My daughter is playing on the school's modified team. She plays about half a game and this is her first year. Only issue is she plays sweeper. She has always been a forward, but the coach is forcing the sweeper position. She is making the most of it, and she is signed up for footskills and indoor winter ball for two different teams. It's about to get crazy.

Good luck to you guys this year. Be sure to put up a journal so I can read about about Zach out shooting you.

Edited October 8, 2014 by Zemmer18

[First-light]

Zemm,

This will be the first year in 4 that Zach won't be there. He is at Arizona St. University. He got turned down twice for the Navy Seal program and didn't want to waste any more time. It's up to me and my Brother to put a hurting on them….oh yeah and soccer, daughter is playing division 1 so it is in your face everyday. When we are up for 5 days to bow hunt my brothers girl is a freshman on Cortland's soccer team, game Friday afternoon, so there goes another afternoon hunt. lol can't wait to see her play. I would gladly give up a hunt for that! Good luck to your daughter. Transition is tough. We are still going through it with my younger one playing up. 

Edited October 8, 2014 by First-light

[Zem18]

Well I have to drive just North of Cooperstown tomorrow morning which is about a 2hour one way trip for me. I found a new gas tank for the Explorer up there and can't beat the price anywhere including the gas I will use so I am giving up the morning hunt. If all goes well, I'll drive up, pick up the tank, and be back before noon tomorrow.

 

Hunt the afternoon and then Sunday morning and then time to work on the tank. No soccer games on Monday so maybe I can sneak out early and get a short afternoon hunt in. Keeping my fingers crossed.

[Zem18]

Left at 7am this morning, got the tank, and was back home by 11:30am.

10.11.14

Made it out to the stand by 3pm this afternoon. Was 55 degrees with a light to moderate breeze that was swirling. The squirrels and chipmunks were out in full force. Then the neighbor was out whacking on something with a sledgehammer for over 40 minutes non stop. Thank goodness it was at the beginning of the hunt. Things settled down and like clock work the deer came out around 6pm.

Had a momma doe come down first followed by 3 little ones. All four walked by me at less than 15feet. Had the last 2 little ones stop next to the tree and look around, then move on. They fed their way out of sight. It was 6:30 and I was getting down my ladder when I looked left to field and there are the four coming back out and they picked up a 5th deer.

I watched them feed across the field and was ready to get down again and I hear footsteps in the leaves so I sit tight and watch as another 5 deer come down out of the woods about 50 yards away. It was like a convoy. The last one was LARGE and I was thinking it was a buck as it stopped about 10 yards from the field edge. Finally it moved ahead and I saw it was a doe. I ended up sneaking down at 6:46pm and headed away so I wouldn't get busted. Almost made it out of the field and at least on saw me and ran but no snort.

10 deer in the last 45 minutes of the hunt sure gets the blood pumping. Had my bow in my hand this time so no video. Maybe next time. Going to be low of 33 here tonight so should be a chilly morning hunt. No action on the trail cam after 4am but they could be back farther in the woods and not by the cam feeding. Going to be out there at first light.

[ants]

Good luck Zem…I know the feeling. I haven't been out yet, but Im hitting it, for the first time,  on Wed. & Thu. 

[Zem18]

Thanks Ants - good luck out there.

10.12.14

Had to wait up for my daughter Saturday night as she was babysitting and didn't get home til midnight. Needless to say when the alarm went off at 6, snooze was my friend, a couple of times. Ended up rolling out of bed at 635 so no stealth mode getting into the stand while it was dark. My only saving grace was the thick fog.I was in the stand by 7ish. Didn't hear any deer running away so that was good. Got settled in and just listened.

The fog was super thick and the moisture was dripping off the trees. Almost sounded like it was raining. The leaves were damp but still crunchy so the squirrels and chipmunk were plenty loud. A slight breeze blew the fog out and I could finally watch some trails at a distance. Nothing moving. About 8am the fog blew back in so my hopes were for a little breeze again. About 8:15am I caught some movement. Two deer about 35 yards away.

It ended up being the Mom and twins again that I have seen 3 out of 4 sits thus far. Mom came out first and walked into the woods from the field right to me at about 15 yards. She knew I was there again and did the head Bob but I looked away. She walked away and then came back, only to head past my other stand. The twins came following about 30 seconds after and followed her on the same runs, right past the other stand. Stayed out til around 10am and no other deer movement.

Did not get out for the afternoon hunt, and never worked on the vehicle either. Drank some new beer (Shipyard - pumpkinhead) and watched football instead.

Forgot to mention, my buddy shot a spike on Friday morning after not bow hunting for the last 9 years. Welcome back to bow hunting!!

[First-light]

The doe will attract he buck…..you just got to be there!

[Zem18]

10.18.14

Had a crappy day and didn't get out until late today. It was 4

o clock when I made it to the edge of the field. I saw a black cat on the trail in front of me. It was walking my trail into the stand. It stopped 25 feet in front of me and I kept walking. I look to my right, and there 40 yards away is a coyote. It took off quickly and so did the cat. I believe I may have saved that cats life today.

Was quite windy but I stuck it out until dark. Just before I got down I caught something running through the woods pretty fast. I think it was a deer as the wind was blowing straight from me to it.

Back at it in the morning. Should be nice and chilly with flurries forecasted, but windy too again.

[Zem18]

Well windy wasn't the word for this morning, dang. It was downright nasty out there and then the frozen precipitation began. The deer were up and moving though, as soon as I climbed into the ladder stand. Saw one doe feeding 80 to 100 yards away. About 20 minutes later, I saw one deer run back into the woods about 40 yards behind me. My buddy was hunting with me this morning and he confirmed there were 3 doe.

I saw another 2 doe @ 80 yards a little while later. My buddy saw another 4 deer cross behind his stand as well.

We took a drive to another spot later in the morning but did not stop, just cruised by. Saw another 8 doe bedded down along the roads we travelled to get there. The wind had them moving at first light, and then they bedded down. Seeing deer at least, just not ready to squeeze the release just yet. Had several bucks and does on trail cam just hoping to see them during shooting light.