WNYBuckHunter's Outdoor Journal

[Fletch]

Way to go! Congratz.

[WNYBuckHunter]

Thanks!

[ELMER J. FUDD]

Thanks Elmer! Hows your season been going? Havent seen you around the forums much.

happens to me every year, only went out twice for gun. Nada. I'm consumed at work. I think I've worked over 350-400 extra hours this year (salary time). It beats the alternative. I came in at 6am today and will be here for another hour or two.

Edited December 3, 2012 by ELMER J. FUDD

[WNYBuckHunter]

Bummer. I hope you get to go out another time or two before things wrap up.

[132 eight pointer]

I think you should change your name to "Sniper" with these long shot kills you have had this year.Congratulations again.

[WNYBuckHunter]

LOL, thanks 132. The funny thing is, after that doe ran behind my stand, I actually didnt realize it was the same one I shot. It was standing there, and as quietly as I could, I reloaded my gun, turned and shot at 20 yards. Right then, she laid down and died, so I thought for sure I had just taken 2 with my ML at the same time. I was kinda bummed when I got down and we found the blood trail from the field edge to the doe behind the stand, but I was relieved that I had actually missed the 20 yard shot, and didnt put another hole in her and chance ruining any more meat lol. My buddy was busting my chops about making a 90 yard shot and missing a 20 yarder.

[WNYBuckHunter]

Oops forgot to post about last weekend. Saturday I went to a buddys and sat for the first few hours. Saw nothing. We did a small drive through a swamp on the way out, one doe came out and my buddy missed her because she walked straight to him and saw him bring the gun up. Sunday I went to my dads place, saw 6 doe right before legal hours were up, but they were on the other side of the field where I didnt have a shot. My gun season total was my buck and 2 does. On to this coming weekend to finish the season up. I took Monday off, so Ill have 3 days to reach my goal of 5 deer this year. I plan on hitting the farm in the morning and afternoon and then maybe my dads for the evening sits. We still have some of the big boys walking around the farm, hopefully I can catch up with one. Maybe Ol' Tank will make an appearance one last time this year, or Hayrake will show up for me.

[erussell]

Good luck!!

[WNYBuckHunter]

Thanks erussell

[WNYBuckHunter]

Heres a quick summary of the last weekend of deer season for me.

Saturday, woke up at 4:30 and discovered that I had forgotten to dry my hunting clothes. Started laundry. My daughter got up and I told her we would be waiting until the afternoon to hunt. Around 1, we got ready and headed off to the farm where I killed my buck this year. She wanted to take a walk before getting into the ground blind, so I took her up the hill to the place I shot my buck. On the way there, I spotted a doe and she bolted into the brush before I could get my gun up. She was spooked by the sound my daughter's pants were making, you know, the little swoosh swoosh noise. She was bummed and I told her that next year we can get her some pants that are more quiet. We continued the walk and ended up back at the ground blind, so we settled in. It was a great evening sit, wind was good, nice and quiet, but nothing showed up.

Sunday we couldnt get out for the morning, so we sat the afternoon and evening at my fathers property. Nothing showed until after legal light. 7 nice does came out into the field and fed. We sat until after dark waiting for them to leave. I talked to my daughter on the way home and she said she had alot of fun this season and cant wait until next year. She also hopes that we can seal the deal on a deer together next season, its the only part of the hunt she has yet to experience.

Monday I woke up at 4:30, got ready and headed to my stand on another farm. I got up in my stand and waited for daylight. Right around 8am, I was watching one section of brush and heard a loud snap behind me. I turned to see a basket 8 point making his way toward the bedding area from the cut corn off to the west. I sat until 9:30 is and decided to take a walk. I wanted to grab my trail cams and then head home for a bite to eat. I took an incredibly slow alk through the hardwoods, thick stuff and part of the swamp. I grabbed my cams and headed to the truck and went back to my house. After a quick lunch, I headed out to a friends place where he said I was welcome to hunt. I got up in the stand and sat until dark. Didnt see a thing, just a couple of squirrels.

Overall, it was a great season for me. The additional 2 weeks made it feel really long though. Next year I may hunt bow season a little differently, who knows. Now, its on to a bit of predator hunting, and enjoying the venison I took this year.

[BizCT]

"Now, its on to a bit of predator hunting"

+1.

[WNYBuckHunter]

Went out for a bit of predator hunting last night. We hit up a spot where I had seen a ton of coyote sign during deer season. We got in for the last 1/2 hour of light, saw a group of deer on the way in, but that was it. No tracks, nothing.

Next we hit a spot where we had luck the year before last with fox. We got setup and started calling. About 15 mins in, I saw some eyes up on a mound in some brush about 200 yards across a field to our right. We quieted the call a bit and watched. He disappeared and popped back up straight out in front of us about 5 minutes later. He was still 200 yards out and I could see he was still heading to our left. He went about 100 yards further, and disappeared. He had caught our wind and took off. At this spot we found a ton of fox tracks, but they were mostly on a plowed access road. Nothing anywhere else.

We hit 2 more sets and headed back to my buddys truck. All we saw was the one yote. We figure that maybe nothing was moving because of the deep, soft snow. I think we need to get a good crust on top of it before they will really be out moving.

On another note, last night was my first real test of my new Under Armor Cold Gear. I have to say, I have been a nay sayer in the past and thought the other types of base layers I had were just as good. Boy was I ever wrong. This stuff is phenominal. All I had on was my Under Armor, a mid layer, medium weight shirt and my overalls and jacket. On my feet I had a pair of Carhartt wool socks and my Scent Shield rubber boots. We were out for 5 hours, and I never even got chilly. My buddy, on the other hand was freezing by the end of the 3rd set. I am a firm believer in the Under Armor stuff now, and I am sure it will help me stay in the field considerably longer from here on out.

[BizCT]

+1 on UA cold gear. I wear 2.0 as my base layer in like 20-30 degree weather n I'm fine all day now. I used the 4.0 base layer in -22 temps last week and it worked great.

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk 2

[WNYBuckHunter]

Yesterday I got out for a few hours to poke around one of the farms. They are doing a bunch of logging, mostly ash and walnut, and I had heard it was a mess. I got down there and the pile of timber was huge, and you could see that alot of it had already been taken. I got back into the woods and swamp and holy cow, there are huge areas where it has been almost completely cleared. On one hand, we now have stands that are pretty exposed, but on the other hand, there are 3 or 4 spots where food plots are going to work out very well, and we can use the tops to build some funnels to try and direct the deer into the plots. Its gonna be a busy spring lol.

I also got a couple of hours of shed hunting in, didnt find anything though. I covered most of the outside of a large corn field, and an old hay lot. It was nice just to get out for a few hours.

[WNYBuckHunter]

This past Saturday night one of my buddies and I headed out for some predator hunting. We started out in a new spot, which we werent 100% on where to access it quietly, and the way we chose was dead wrong. We made a bunch of racket getting in there, and consequently went on to see zip there. Our next set was a t a place where we had seen fox in the past, but had not called it since the year before last. We got in nice and quiet and got setup. I was calling and handling the light and he was the shooter. First, I shined the field in front of us and the edges to make sure nothing was right there, then I started the FoxPro calling very softly with a call that we have alot of luck with. I muted it and scanned the field, turned the call back on a bit louder and scanned again then muted the call for a few minutes. We sat and I turned the call back on just a little louder, started my scan and boom, theres a set of eyes out front and to or left. I kept the light on the eyes and let the caller go for a few seconds before turning the volume down a bit, which drew the animal to start coming in to investigate. The wind was perfect, blowing right to us, and the animal would have a long way to go to get downwind, and would take it right across the field in front of us. I kept muting the call and then turning it back on, and after a few times of the animal approaching, I could tell it was a fox. Just as he got to about 75 yards, I accidentally turned the call off, so I had to start lip squeaking to try and get him a bit closer. It worked, he got to within 50 yards and I was whispering to my buddy to shoot, and he did. It looked like the fox dropped, but it was hard to tell in the red spotlight. We set the stuff down and pulled the red lens off of the light to go out and collect the fox, and we couldnt find it anywhere in the field. We circled the field edge and found a very fresh set of tracks that looked like it was running, and figured he had missed. I couldnt believe it, I put that fox in his lap and he missed. He wont be living that down any time soon.

We got back to the truck and as we were putting things away I hear a bunch of coyotes yipping and howling a ways away, so I grabbed the Fox Pro and let out a couple of challenge howls. About 5 minutes later, the yotes howled back, but this time they had cut the distance in half, and were right on the other side of the wood block and swamp from us. We grabbed the gear and headed back over to the field. I got them to howl back once more, but from the direction it came from, I could tell they were going to wind us, I just hoped they came out of the cover before that happened, but we had no such luck.

We headed to our next set with high hopes, as we have had success seeing critters there before, and there are always a ton of tracks. We got in there, and as usual, there were an ungodly amount of tracks on the way in. We did not end up seeing anything though, so we headed for the truck. On the way back, we were discussing whether or not to do one more set, and thats when I stepped onto a patch of glare ice that was hidden by the dusting of fresh snow. My feet went right out from under me and the next thing I know, Im laying on the ground with my buddy asking if Im alright. I hit my hip, shoulder and head pretty good, but I was fine getting up and walking aback to the truck. I went home and fell asleep.

Sunday morning, I woke up and felt like I had a hangover, complete with throwing up, etc. After I thought about it, I wasnt sure why I felt that way, as I hadnt been drinking the night before. I talked to my fiance about it, and she told me it sounded like I had a concussion from the fall. Ive been feeling like crap ever since, but am doing better today. Other than the fall, it was a fun night, and Im looking forward to getting back out there, though it wont happen until we get his rifle out and sight it back in, as I was carying it when I took the spill, and the brise on my left hip is from the pistol grip, which ended up between me and the ground. I felt horrible about dropping his rifle, but it was not damaged luckily.

[wooly]

Dang man, that's no kinda fun. Glad you're alright.

I suppose when you spend as much time afield as we do, bad things are bound to happen at some point. We kinda take for granted the generally mellow terrain in NY compared to running around other states where the land is more extreme, and less forgiving to simple mishaps.

Not much you can do about it before hand other than use caution and good judgement, but it sure doesn't hurt to be at least lightly prepared just in case.., with at least a basic survival pouch and first aid kit. Especially you guys that roam around at night predator hunting in the dark.

One bad spill that finds you spending the night in single digit temps alone could get real ugly, real quick.

If you don't have the necessities to get ya through a couple hours till you can get out on your own, or wait for the rescue wagon, you can find yourself in deep doo-doo before help arrives just from the elements alone. I hate like anybody else to haul around a heavy pack full of crap I doubt I'll need, but I've had enough close calls to warrant carrying it all, just in case on all my hikes.

Be safe out there, and be prepared for the unexpected should you find yourself in a situation.

[josephmrtn]

This past Saturday night one of my buddies and I headed out for some predator hunting. We started out in a new spot, which we werent 100% on where to access it quietly, and the way we chose was dead wrong. We made a bunch of racket getting in there, and consequently went on to see zip there. Our next set was a t a place where we had seen fox in the past, but had not called it since the year before last. We got in nice and quiet and got setup. I was calling and handling the light and he was the shooter. First, I shined the field in front of us and the edges to make sure nothing was right there, then I started the FoxPro calling very softly with a call that we have alot of luck with. I muted it and scanned the field, turned the call back on a bit louder and scanned again then muted the call for a few minutes. We sat and I turned the call back on just a little louder, started my scan and boom, theres a set of eyes out front and to or left. I kept the light on the eyes and let the caller go for a few seconds before turning the volume down a bit, which drew the animal to start coming in to investigate. The wind was perfect, blowing right to us, and the animal would have a long way to go to get downwind, and would take it right across the field in front of us. I kept muting the call and then turning it back on, and after a few times of the animal approaching, I could tell it was a fox. Just as he got to about 75 yards, I accidentally turned the call off, so I had to start lip squeaking to try and get him a bit closer. It worked, he got to within 50 yards and I was whispering to my buddy to shoot, and he did. It looked like the fox dropped, but it was hard to tell in the red spotlight. We set the stuff down and pulled the red lens off of the light to go out and collect the fox, and we couldnt find it anywhere in the field. We circled the field edge and found a very fresh set of tracks that looked like it was running, and figured he had missed. I couldnt believe it, I put that fox in his lap and he missed. He wont be living that down any time soon.

We got back to the truck and as we were putting things away I hear a bunch of coyotes yipping and howling a ways away, so I grabbed the Fox Pro and let out a couple of challenge howls. About 5 minutes later, the yotes howled back, but this time they had cut the distance in half, and were right on the other side of the wood block and swamp from us. We grabbed the gear and headed back over to the field. I got them to howl back once more, but from the direction it came from, I could tell they were going to wind us, I just hoped they came out of the cover before that happened, but we had no such luck.

We headed to our next set with high hopes, as we have had success seeing critters there before, and there are always a ton of tracks. We got in there, and as usual, there were an ungodly amount of tracks on the way in. We did not end up seeing anything though, so we headed for the truck. On the way back, we were discussing whether or not to do one more set, and thats when I stepped onto a patch of glare ice that was hidden by the dusting of fresh snow. My feet went right out from under me and the next thing I know, Im laying on the ground with my buddy asking if Im alright. I hit my hip, shoulder and head pretty good, but I was fine getting up and walking aback to the truck. I went home and fell asleep.

Sunday morning, I woke up and felt like I had a hangover, complete with throwing up, etc. After I thought about it, I wasnt sure why I felt that way, as I hadnt been drinking the night before. I talked to my fiance about it, and she told me it sounded like I had a concussion from the fall. Ive been feeling like crap ever since, but am doing better today. Other than the fall, it was a fun night, and Im looking forward to getting back out there, though it wont happen until we get his rifle out and sight it back in, as I was carying it when I took the spill, and the brise on my left hip is from the pistol grip, which ended up between me and the ground. I felt horrible about dropping his rifle, but it was not damaged luckily.

wow im glad ur ok

[mbucks27]

Damm just goes to show you how being out in the woods cam turn dangerous in an instant. Glad you wereny seriously hurt and good luck next time out.

John

[WNYBuckHunter]

Thanks guys. Im feeling better today, still sore as heck, but Im able to think clearly again and my vision is back to normal. What happened Saturday night is exactly why I dont go out hunting at night on my own. Sure, it could just as easily happen during the day, but roaming around in the dark is far more tricky IMO. I always carry my cell phone as well.

[virgil]

Glad you're ok. Should always be careful with head injuries. At the very least, when going to sleep, should have the wife/gf/fiance wake you up every hour or so to check on you.

[erussell]

Know how you feel!! I was coming down the mnt. one night and right on the steepest part of the hill I slipped on a leaf covered flat rock. I fell on my back so hard it knocked the wind out of me. I dont know if I cracked a rib or anything but it was about 6 months before it stopped hurting when I took a deep breath.

[WNYBuckHunter]

I got out shed hunting yesterday with my daughter. We didnt find any sheds, but I took my new 22 pistol along and whacked a red squirrel and a bunch of ice chunks on the bank of the creek. She thought it was awesome to just sit there and watch me shoot while never touching the gun herself lol. She would have been a heck of a shot with it and could have blasted a few nice chunks of ice herself if I would have let her shoot, which would be a big no no according to people that know better than me of course.

My daughter found the only deer part of the day, an old leg bone that she used to make all kinds of noise on the trees and fences with. It was a fun morning in the woods with my favorite outdoors partner!

[WNYBuckHunter]

Holy cow, I havent updated this in a while. Back in March I ended up going out shed hunting a couple of times and found one little 3 point. I dont have any pics of it, as the camera on my phone died a while back. Since then, its been all yard work and helping my mom move, so I havent gotten out to do anything. I wanted to get out shed hunting more, but no such luck. Im hoping to get out turkey hunting once or twice before the season ends, but its not looking very promising for this year.

[WNYBuckHunter]

I was able to get out to turkey hunt for a few hours this morning with my daughter, and man, was it a great time! The first spot we went to was where I figured the birds were roosting, based on where I had heard them roosting last year. We got in just at dawn and sat for about an hour. We heard some calls coming from the other side of the ravine soon after we got there, and it sounded like they were heading away from us, toward a recently plowed up corn field. I decided to head up to the corner of the plowed field, and we slowly walked that way along the edges of the rye fields.

When we were about 100 yards from the corner i wanted to sit in, we heard hens calling, and some gobbling, which got both of us excited. I peered past the hedgerow up ahead, and sure enough, there were birds in the field! We slowly made our way to the hedgerow, as some of the birds were heading away from us. I saw a couple of jakes or toms across the field, and about 6 hens closer to us. We sat down and I started lightly calling. A hen poped up fraom a swail about 35 yards out and hung around picking for bugs for about 15 minutes. I wanted to get around to face a different direction, so I took the opportunity of the birds being gone to move to the next tree over, which gave me a way better view of the field and corner. I started a little light calling and all of a sudden a deer popped out about 30 feet away from us. It was a decent sized buck with about 2 or 3 inches of antler already. He turned toward us and got to within 15 feet before he spotted my daughter when she turned her head. He stood there for a few seconds and took off as another deer popped out where he had come from. 5 minutes later a squirrel hopped up on a tree about 4 feet from us, and sat there looking at us, trying to figure out what we were. Within a couple of minutes after he had left, I heard some rustling behind us and turned to see a big hen about 15 feet away. I told my daughter not to move and as I was trying to see if there were any other birds there, i felt my daughter nudge me. I turned and she whispered "Dad, theres a big coyote right there!" I turned my head and sure enough, there was a big yote crouched down about 15 feet in front of my daughter. I got my gun up off of my lap and it turned and took off. I looked back and the turkey was gone as well. That was about as much as my daughter could take for the morning, so we headed out, stopping to dig out some leeks on the way to the truck.

No turkey coming home with us, but the leeks will be great on our homemade pizza tonight, and my daughter got to see her first turkeys and first coyote out in the field. She was more than happy with the morning, and I am happy as well. Some good memories made, and thats what really counts!

Hopefully Ill get back to that spot before the season is out.

[WNYBuckHunter]

Finally got out and set my trail cams last evening. I also got together with one of the guys down at the farm and went over our food plot plans, etc. 5 new plots under construction, and another 3 are going to be getting tilled shortly. We checked his cams and saw pretty good activity overall, but mostly young looking bucks at this point.

 

Ill be getting back down there at some point this weekend or next week to start going through stands, etc.