woolys 2016 journal

[nyslowhand]

Dude, the older you get, the less any blood-lust is involved in your hunting. Also, simply filling tags for the sake of filling them becomes less desirable! In my pre-historic days I was doing both, not anymore! Not sure if I'm any smarter, become more of a conservationist or even lazier... just doesn't appeal to me to KILL for the sake of it!

[Curmudgeon]

Wooly -

Great journal and photos. If a hunter didn't feel conflicted at times, I would wonder about them.

Tom

[wooly]

I'm not sure what to make of this season so far. I know I mentioned over summer from the observation stand that this looked like it was going to be the "year of the yearlings" around here. So far my prediction has been right on the money, and I still haven't laid eyes on anything 2.5 or better.
Yesterday morning I got out hoping to see a "spike in action"....instead all I saw was this spike.. "in action" just as the sun was starting to come up.

That was it for the morning, but I don't usually hang around long. On to the evening hunt, I arrived a little earlier than normal. I was excited to look over towards the field beside me to see a buck making his way across it right around 5pm with the sun high in the sky. I grabbed a few long range shots but he had to be 100 yds out. Just for kicks I hit the doe bleat and followed it up with some aggressive grunting. He snapped to attention and then tore azz for the far edge of timber. Wussy!

I thought for sure I would see more action after that, but that was all for the night.

Today I could only get out mid day for a couple hours. The creek was flooded so I only had two stand options left behind my house. I sure had a good feeling after the rain let up and the sun peaked out. Not 45 minutes into my sit I saw a buck cruising through to my left but he was moving pretty quick and made it to the edge of a hemlock stand before I could grab my camera or call. I quick grabbed the call and let a few grunts rip and got him turned my way to where he closed the distance to about 40yds. I grabbed a few shots there but he continued around directly to my down wind side where he finally winded me, turned tail, and headed off the way he came in. I assume another 6'er but I never got a real good look at the other side of his rack.

To top off my afternoon I got packed up by 3pm and decided to head out early. I clipped my bow rope carribeaner to the bottom cam of my bow and dangled it over the side of the stand to be lowered.

ZIIIIIIIIIIIING..........PIIIIIIIIIIIING..........CLAAAAAAAAAAANK.....DIIIIIIIIING......PLAAAAAAAAANG.... clunk!

Somehow my knot slipped on my rope and unraveled from the clip. My bow plummeted 15ft before crash landing and bouncing about 8ft away from the base of the tree. I picked it up and gave it a few thumps with my fist and could hear something rattling. My site bracket must have taken the bulk of the impact and loosened up from the riser. I tried to tighten it when I got home but the top screw threads must have got pulled out and now she's stripping when I try to tighten it. Gonna have to figure something out before it hits the woods again. Thankfully the x-bow will come out this weekend, so no rush to get a fix up done before then.

 

Hoping to get a chance to move a stand or two tomorrow or I'll have to hang and bang Saturday AM. I'm just not seeing what I should be so far this year from a few of them.

[stoneam2006]

I'm not sure what to make of this season so far. I know I mentioned over summer from the observation stand that this looked like it was going to be the "year of the yearlings" around here. So far my prediction has been right on the money, and I still haven't laid eyes on anything 2.5 or better.
Yesterday morning I got out hoping to see a "spike in action"....instead all I saw was this spike.. "in action" just as the sun was starting to come up.


That was it for the morning, but I don't usually hang around long. On to the evening hunt, I arrived a little earlier than normal. I was excited to look over towards the field beside me to see a buck making his way across it right around 5pm with the sun high in the sky. I grabbed a few long range shots but he had to be 100 yds out. Just for kicks I hit the doe bleat and followed it up with some aggressive grunting. He snapped to attention and then tore azz for the far edge of timber. Wussy!
I thought for sure I would see more action after that, but that was all for the night.


Today I could only get out mid day for a couple hours. The creek was flooded so I only had two stand options left behind my house. I sure had a good feeling after the rain let up and the sun peaked out. Not 45 minutes into my sit I saw a buck cruising through to my left but he was moving pretty quick and made it to the edge of a hemlock stand before I could grab my camera or call. I quick grabbed the call and let a few grunts rip and got him turned my way to where he closed the distance to about 40yds. I grabbed a few shots there but he continued around directly to my down wind side where he finally winded me, turned tail, and headed off the way he came in. I assume another 6'er but I never got a real good look at the other side of his rack.


To top off my afternoon I got packed up by 3pm and decided to head out early. I clipped my bow rope carribeaner to the bottom cam of my bow and dangled it over the side of the stand to be lowered.

ZIIIIIIIIIIIING..........PIIIIIIIIIIIING..........CLAAAAAAAAAAANK.....DIIIIIIIIING......PLAAAAAAAAANG.... clunk!

Somehow my knot slipped on my rope and unraveled from the clip. My bow plummeted 15ft before crash landing and bouncing about 8ft away from the base of the tree. I picked it up and gave it a few thumps with my fist and could hear something rattling. My site bracket must have taken the bulk of the impact and loosened up from the riser. I tried to tighten it when I got home but the top screw threads must have got pulled out and now she's stripping when I try to tighten it. Gonna have to figure something out before it hits the woods again. Thankfully the x-bow will come out this weekend, so no rush to get a fix up done before then.
 
Hoping to get a chance to move a stand or two tomorrow or I'll have to hang and bang Saturday AM. I'm just not seeing what I should be so far this year from a few of them.

Only person who can make a pic of a fallen bow look good.

Sorry to hear about bow that's not good least xbow is here. Great pics and story's as always

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[DirtTime]

Sorry to hear about the bow wooly. Hope it's nothing more serious then the sight screws. 

[wooly]

7 minutes ago, ....rob said:

Sorry to hear about the bow wooly. Hope it's nothing more serious then the sight screws. 

No biggie.... I'm getting tired of this one anyhow.

[The_Field_Ager]

1 hour ago, wooly said:

I'm just not seeing what I should be so far this year from a few of them.

That's how it was for me. I had settled on a weird 2 pronged freak as my deer of choice. It all changed in a matter of minutes one cool morning.

[nyslowhand]

OMG, you just brought back nightmares of me doing the exact same thing several years ago. Only when my bow hit the ground it was on one of the cams on a rock, OUCH!!! Only positive things that came from that experience are I no longer used the haul ropes with those damned clips and my mishap was on the very last day of bow season. Time to blow the dust off the Xbow Wooly!

[wooly]

Saturday was my most active sit of the season so far. I ran into some technical difficulties with the x-bow, so looks like I'm back to the compound for the remainder of bow season. I got a new screw in the site bracket, let a few practice shot fly, and she's ready to roll again.

I got 2 stands moved yesterday and brought them a little closer to home. Saw some action last night from my new location along the orchard, so I decided to hit that again this morning.
A little after sun up a fawn worked the edge of the orchard less than 20yds out for about 20 minutes or so. I couldn't ask for a better decoy for sight and scent purposes so I did my best to go unnoticed. She heard my camera shutter slap a few times, but didn't pay much attention to it after the first few clicks. She stuck around long enough to lay down some fresh free urine for me before working her way up the ridge.

She stopped and focused on something further up the hill so that got me looking too. I noticed another deer I couldn't identify crossing the ridge we were on 100 or so yds above us. It kept a steady pace and didn't take long before it was out of sight. The little fawn decided it was time to head back to bed working her way up the ridge in the opposite direction the other deer had left.


About an hour later I was contemplating heading home for some lunch. No sooner that thought crossed my mind a nice mature doe emerged from the orchard edge on a b-line to my stand. She made it in to about 10yds when I thought I better stop with the pictures before she picked me off. Then my mind drifted to that either sex tag on my pack....., but I couldn't bring myself to reach for the bow even though my goals may be shifting more towards meat now.

I thought that would be it for the morning when she finally made her way down towards the power lines.
About 1/2 hour later I thought I'd hit the rattlin' antlers together one time before heading out. I haven't had much luck at all with them this year, so I wasn't expecting to get any takers. Not 5 minutes later a dopey 4 pt worked his way across the front of my stand. I don't have much of a clear view or shot straight out, so as hard as I tried my cameras focus kept catching branches in the foreground. He escaped without getting his picture taken.

I went home for lunch around 1pm and was back in the same tree by 3. About 5:30 the final deer of the day came in the same way the last little buck did in front of me, except this little guy was just a spiker. I managed a few hail mary camera shots through the branches before he made his way into the orchard. Bumped 2 deer on my way out in the creekbottom which was my only concern of the day. Not much I can do to get around that unless I want to sleep in my stand and it's getting a bit chilly for that,lol

So now down to the final 2 weeks of archery and back to the compound, my standards for a "shooter buck" may have changed a bit. I keep reminding myself I can save this tag for the late ML season when I usually have pretty good luck catching up to a decent buck every year. I'm not sure what I'll decide to do from one encounter to the next at this point, so I can't even begin to hint at what these tags are going to end up on..., if anything.

Things are certainly heating up and the new stand locations look promising with plenty of antlerless action right at prime time for the coming days!

[doebuck1234]

Awesome pics and great stories!u never sieze to amaze me on the quality of pics u take

[wooly]

Well this is just getting to be ridiculous now!

5 deer spotted from the orchard stand this mornings sit. This first pic is the only one in range that I could identify about 15yds.

 

This evening I switched up and ran behind my house to my hub blind where I got a look at this little guy out around 35yds.

I know everything is about to bust wide open in the next week or two at some point, but damn watching all these spikers and forkhorns every day is really getting to be a bit annoying. I honestly can't remember a season with so many yearlings as this one.

 

The only thing that makes me think I may still be in the game is I haven't been busted yet from these stand even with all these deer around me. I got the stand placement down in these locations, but I'm not getting any cooperation from ANY of the animals I'm after.

Loving the steady flow of action,  but I REALLY need to see something to get excited about.... and soon!

 

 

[shawnhu]

Well this is just getting to be ridiculous now...
....but I'm not getting any cooperation from ANY of the animals I'm after.
Loving the steady flow of action,  but I REALLY need to see something to get excited about.... and soon!

 
 

When this happens to me, I generally turn on National Geographic's or porn, not in that particular order. That, or a trip up to Montreal does the trick too.



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[The_Field_Ager]

That last guy has attitude. He will be a beast if he makes it.

[wooly]

I had a little time to kill this morning, so I figured I'd go try to find something to kill with it.
COLD start to this sit from a temperature and activity standpoint, but both heated up nicely once the sun came up.

Of course, how else did I expect to start the day with nothing more than another spike showing up,lol. Likely the same guy that's been pestering me all week so I didn't get too crazy on the pics with him. He just made a quick round and shot back the way he came in from. When he took off I noticed he was chasing after another deer further below me that I never saw. A good sign for sure of things to come!

 

About 1/2 hour later I looked off to my right where I spotted a busted 10pt standing there admiring me up in my tree drinking coffee. I recognized him from a trail cam pic I got the other day. He was going to be a shooter for me but he was on the wrong side of my tree to the right. He never did get spooked at me and finally worked his way around to the front of my stand. I tried to get my bow drawn, but as I suspected my elbow hit the trunk behind me and I had to let it down with him at 25yds. I hung up the bow and grabbed the camera to grab a quick shot before he got behind all the branches that ruin pics for me here every time.
I got off two quick shots of him just in time!

Finally!
The trail cam pic was at one of my old stand locations that I moved the other day. You can see my stand in the tree behind him between his antlers.

 

 

And here he is on the edge of the orchard this morning roughly 1/2 mile away from where that pic was taken.
Time for "Plan-C".... the x-bow is coming back out again this afternoon!

I'm secretly waiting for one of the other 9pts to show up, but if this guy screws up again..... who knows WHAT I'll do,lol

 

 

[Fletch]

I'd let the air outa him!! Nice pic! I was complaining about all the 1.5 year olds I've been seeing. Then that stopped and I am seeing nothing. Careful what you ask for lol. You think its boring just seeing spikes.......

[wooly]

Six deer spotted from the orchard stand this morning, with only one confirmed spiker! Just a dink that looked like someone turned his left ear inside out to the white side. It was just sort of hanging there flappin' in the breeze. I'm sure he'll be back and I'll try for some better pics than what I have right now of him.

Had a couple fawns show up to keep me entertained for a while. Then "Big Momma" stepped out and fed along with them right around the 20yd mark. My x-bow was hanging there looking at me like...."what the hell are you waiting for.., let's eat". By the time she joined them they were a little too close to be snapping pics. I'm sure she would have heard the shutter slap and picked me off at that point so I didn't dare try for all 3 of them in a shot.

She may get a tag in her ear shortly.

I picked up an extra dmp from my father with his request to find something to hang it on. It's now in with the rest of the tags on my back so forget about all that stuff I was yammering about back on page two,lol. I'm really gonna have to be in the right mood for that though.

The trail cam has been working overtime in the orchard about 150yds away, but still not a crankers in site. Lots of early morning action though which is matching up with what I'm seeing on the other side. If anything worth mentioning shows up I'll post the here as well.

Only one fawn spotted yesterday evening.

Twins from this morning minus momma.

 

[wooly]

Well, it was back in the same stand for an evening hunt and I'm happy to say I got to see another buck. I'm gonna have a hard time walking away from this stand unless it really goes cold. Trying to stay patient and wait for something I like to show up.

This little sixer  strolled through around 5pm along the edge to my left according to plan. He freshened up a scrape and continued on to browse around between 15-20yds for a while. Eventually he made his way off towards the fields above me which I need to check on one of these evenings soon. Once they start harassing the doe hard, that's where I'll find every buck on the block.

Almost forgot to mention.... my little spiker made his way through again just like clock-work,lol

ZERO variety in his routine! I don't think he'll survive opening day of regular season here if he keeps that up!

[Lawdwaz]

Looking good!

Stick to the plan, I've heard things are cranking up.

[grampy]

You gotta stick with what's working! Good luck buddy!

[wooly]

Well, I was hoping I'd have some good news by now but I continue to fall short.

Activity from my "hot stand" cooled off late last week. As I said, it was going to take a lot for me to give up on this one so I hung in there and suffered through the slow early weekend with only a few distant sightings.

Yesterday turned out to be my most action packed sit of the season here.  Between my morning and evening stands I saw 14 deer total, with 5 confirmed bucks, and got to see a few short chases. Still not much to get excited about size wise but that's the kind of action that gets me excited. Things were happening so fast I found myself reaching for the x-bow BEFORE the camera with each approaching deer. I almost pulled the trigger a few times but I talked myself out of it,lol

 

One of the few shots I did take here, and one of the highlights of my most recent hunts was this little forky. He came out of the orchard and worked his way around the front of my stand. A few minutes later one of the spikers showed up heading right for the little forker.

The little 4pt blew up like a spring strutter! Every hair on his body stood on end as he began side stepping his way towards the spiker. If I hadn't already seen the size of his antlers and relaxed posture, I would have guessed him to weigh 200lbs+ when he went into "full strut". Pretty cool to see that, especially under 10yds.

I told myself before this encounter that the next legal buck was gonna get smoked to get this x-bow buck monkey off my back..., but I just couldn't do it.

Since I was having such a hard time resisting the temptation to kill one of the dinks, I thought it might be fun to take a hike, scout around, and to go snap some "hunting selfies".

This turned out to be more fun than sitting in my stand getting frustrated about the size of deer I'm hung up on this year.

I just hope no one was watching duck in and out of the corn like some kind of crazy x-bow guy up to no good,lol

[Zem18]

Rooting for you Wooly. Great journal entries. Love reading about everyone's excursions and the pictures add a certain flare not to be missed. 

[fasteddie]

Great pictures Wooly ! 

[Rebel Darling]

I admire your thoughtful posts and well composed photographs.

Thanks for sharing them. Very much appreciated.


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[DirtTime]

19 hours ago, wooly said:

Well, I was hoping I'd have some good news by now but I continue to fall short.

Activity from my "hot stand" cooled off late last week. As I said, it was going to take a lot for me to give up on this one so I hung in there and suffered through the slow early weekend with only a few distant sightings.

Yesterday turned out to be my most action packed sit of the season here.  Between my morning and evening stands I saw 14 deer total, with 5 confirmed bucks, and got to see a few short chases. Still not much to get excited about size wise but that's the kind of action that gets me excited. Things were happening so fast I found myself reaching for the x-bow BEFORE the camera with each approaching deer. I almost pulled the trigger a few times but I talked myself out of it,lol

 

One of the few shots I did take here, and one of the highlights of my most recent hunts was this little forky. He came out of the orchard and worked his way around the front of my stand. A few minutes later one of the spikers showed up heading right for the little forker.

The little 4pt blew up like a spring strutter! Every hair on his body stood on end as he began side stepping his way towards the spiker. If I hadn't already seen the size of his antlers and relaxed posture, I would have guessed him to weigh 200lbs+ when he went into "full strut". Pretty cool to see that, especially under 10yds.

I told myself before this encounter that the next legal buck was gonna get smoked to get this x-bow buck monkey off my back..., but I just couldn't do it.

Since I was having such a hard time resisting the temptation to kill one of the dinks, I thought it might be fun to take a hike, scout around, and to go snap some "hunting selfies".

This turned out to be more fun than sitting in my stand getting frustrated about the size of deer I'm hung up on this year.

I just hope no one was watching duck in and out of the corn like some kind of crazy x-bow guy up to no good,lol

You look grumpy enough to scare a deer to death in the selfie wooly, no need for the x-bow.

 

Hope you get the deer you are after.

[shawnhu]

You look grumpy enough to scare a deer to death in the selfie wooly, no need for the x-bow.
 
Hope you get the deer you are after.

It's called "the game face". Get with it rob!


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