WNYBuckHunter's Outdoor Journal

[WNYBuckHunter]

Havent had a ton of time to hunt this week, but we did get out for Thanksgiving morning. Sat in a stand near one of the plots, but saw zip. Got down around 9:30 to meet up with everyone to go push a bunch of lots that we do every year. My daughter was excited, as it was her first time doing drives.

We pushed a couple of new spots, with no success, they were extremely thick, and deer were sighted, but we didnt have enough guys to keep them from just circling back around the pushers. It was also too thick for the pushers to get any shots.

Next we went to a large gully that we do every year. Pretty much right off the bat, the guys bumped out a 2 1/2 year old buck. The one guy that bumped him took a shot when the deer first stood up, but missed and the deer took off. I was standing at the other end, and saw the buck, which was just trotting across the field at that point. That was it for that one.

We went to another property and hit a few spots there, but didnt see much. We all had fun, and my daughter said she did as well, and we headed back home to enjoy Thanksgiving dinner.

Saturday afternoon, I headed out on my own, as my daughter had an upset stomach. I went to a spot where we had just hung a new set last weekend. It was all the way at the other end of the property, and i didnt have a ton of time to get there, so i took the ATV along the opposite side of the property and parked it over there and walked to the stand, about 600 yards away. About an hour before sunset, i caught some movement about 100 to 125 yards out in the thick brush. I saw a flash of antler, and a big body as I glassed the area. I got my rifle up and searched for an opening. Then tried to make out the rack, but i never did. For a second, i had a clean shoulder shot, but decided not to take it, as i couldnt make out just what the buck was.

With about 20 mins to go before sunset, i made the decision i would hop down and still hunt my way back to the ATV. Just as i lowered my rifle, a doe came theough the funnel, and stood there, dead broadside at 35 yards looking away. All i could do was shake my head and kick myself. After she left, i hopped down and hunted back to the ATV, of course seeing nothing.

Today im going out for the afternoon, after the kids get picked up. Probably going to go to the same spot as the winds should be good for that one again today.

[WNYBuckHunter]

Headed out to the same stand as yesterday at around 1:30. At about 3, i caught movement about 150 yards away, on a field edge and saw two does being chased by a big 9 that I have been after this year. I saw him run them out into the pasture behind my stand, and around in a few circles. He never did get into a shooting lane, but spent about 10 minutes at less than 200 yards running those does. Talk about frustrating.

Right around 3:30, i heard some twigs snap off to my right. Coming right up a small creek bed, was a good doe and a button buck. For almost 10 minutes i watched them wander around, and then the doe stepped out onto the ATV trail that is right by the pasture fence, and I let her have it. Put one right in her neck and dropped her in her tracks.

I stayed up in my stand until 4:15 and then got down to watch the open pasture in case the does and the big 9 came back out into the pasture. Right at 4:20, the does came back out of the thicket and stood out in the pasture at about 125 yards like silouette targets begging me to take a shot. I resisted, only because i hoped the buck would come out to harass them some more, but no such luck. I headed to the ATV and came back to get my doe taken care of.

The freezer is filling up nicely, still room for a few more in there though : )

[Fletch]

Way to go!

[WNYBuckHunter]

Thanks!

 

Heres a few pics of the buck that came through Sunday. These were taken on Halloween afternoon @ 1pm on one of the plots at the other end of the farm from this stand. Wish I would have been there, hes broadside 30 yards from a stand, in a shooting lane in the head on pic.

 

 

 

[First-light]

He is stout, linebacker body for sure!

[Zem18]

I was thinking bulldozer but Dang he has all the characteristics of a tank. Hope you get an opportunity at him.

[chiefbkt]

That's guy has some girth!

[First-light]

That side profile would make for a great mount, full sneak!

[WNYBuckHunter]

That side profile would make for a great mount, full sneak!

 

If I kill him, thats exactly what I will have done. Just like the pic.

[nyantler]

That buck has the body of a bull... man that's impressive! His body stunts his rack.

[WNYBuckHunter]

That buck has the body of a bull... man that's impressive! His body stunts his rack.

 

Makes his rack look dinky almost lol. Hes just as impressive in person.

[WNYBuckHunter]

This past weekend I got out on the woods saturday morning and sat for a bit, then did a short still hunt through one area of the swamp. I had a doe pop out from under a blow down, but she got into the thick brush before I could get a bead on her. I then met up with some of the guys and we did a couple of drives. By the time we were done, I was soaked to the bone and exhausted, so I decided to call it and headed home.

 

Sunday was the day our QDMA branch did our wounded vets hunt. We did the hunt on a long time managed QDM property. We had 2 guys out, and after the branch president and I got together, we met up with the two of them and headed over to the camp. We got there and went in and met with our contact and went over strategies for the day. The morning hunt put both pairs of hunters in elevated box blinds. One overlooking a large thick bedding/transition area, and the other overlooking a stand of corn and a small food plot. The hunter I was with chose the corn, so we dropped the branch pres and his hunter at the bedding stand and we were dropped off at ours. We got in the box blind and opened everything up and settled in. The moon was bright, and we could see easilly well before dawn. We saw a large bodied deer come out of the corn about 100 yards out, and watched it disppear into the thicket. It was good to see movement so soon after we got there. After sunrise, we saw some movement in the open lane between the corn and hedgerow. It was a doe that had run out of the corn, as I got my binos up, I saw a large buck run out of the corn, hot on the does heels. I couldnt get a great look at his rack, but it was outside the ears and fairly tall. He was definatley mature. The doe and buck quickly disappeared up a different trail. We watched the area just in case the deer reappeared, but no such luck. A little bit later, the vet, Paul, and I were chit chatting a bit and I truned and noticed a nice doe on the edge of the corn. Paul got ready, but the doe never presented a clean shot. Later in the morning, our contact told us we should make a move to a nearby trasnition area, as the other hunters had been covered up in deer, and seen a great buck, and some other smaller bucks. We made the move and settled in. We saw a couple of does moving through a thicket and into a stand of pines. After that, we headed to the camp and had some lunch, then headed out for the afternoon sit. We sat in a blind watching a food plot, but didnt end up seeing anything. The other pair ended up taking a big doe on the afternoon sit. The day was great, and everyone had fun. We ended up seeing over 20 deer between us and one doe in the books. Im hoping we can do a successful wounded vets hunt again next year!

 

Im almost glad deer season is reaching an end. I have meat in the freezer, and am getting worn down. Now its on to muzzle loader season for one last go!

[Lawdwaz]

Nice gesture John.

[adkbuck]

Giving up a day of hunting to help someone else is truly a generous and kind thing to do.  Doing it to help a wounded veteran on the last day of the season was pretty special. Thanks! 

Edited December 10, 2014 by adkbuck

[WNYBuckHunter]

Thanks guys. The last couple of years Ive had more fun taking new people out hunting, helping new/youth hunters and now the vets hunt, than I have ever had in the woods.

[WNYBuckHunter]

Yesterday I took the afternoon off from work and headed out for one last hunt for this year. I hopped in the stand and got settled in. around 3:30, I caught some movement in the woods about 200 yards out. Picked up my binos and looked to see what it was. Out from behind some brush stepped a 3 1/2 year old buck I call Hooks. Hes a real solid 8 that Ive had a couple of encounters with this season. First time I had seen him since bow season though. He was meandering in my direction, so I watched, and picked up my muzzleloader hoping he would get in a clear spot and give me a chance. He got to within 160 yards or so, and a couple of does busted out of some brush, and he disappeared behind them, into some thick stuff in the opposite direction as me. The rest of the sit was uneventful, but it was nice to know he is still around, and it was better than sitting at my desk at work.

 

I think it turned out to be a pretty good season. Saw some great bucks, had a couple of close encounters with them, passed on a really nice 2 1/2 year old with my bow, and put 3 does in the freezer. No major mishaps, and made a bunch of great memories with my kids and my friends. This coming weekend, Ill head down to take down safety straps, seat cushions and loosen ratchet straps on all my stands. Im looking forward to taking a bit of a break from the deer woods. Ill be out after the yotes though, we have plenty of them to clean out. My bait pile is being put in place this weekend as well.

[landtracdeerhunter]

Congrats  WNY. on all your deer kills and adventures.

 

Are you shed hunting?

[WNYBuckHunter]

Thanks! I will be, but not until I notice some drops on cameras. Honestly, Ive never found a shed before late January/early February.

[WNYBuckHunter]

I got down to the farms the last two weekends and finished up pulling seat cushions, safety straps, securing hoist ropes and loosening ratchet straps on all of our stands. I also took all of my carcasses down and put them in a pile, and hung a cam over them. I actually wanted to hang two cams, with one on video mode, but I forgot to do that, so all Ill have are stills. We still have another bunch of carcasses to put out, so maybe we will do video on that pile. Now that the holidays are over, and all of the stands are buttoned up, its time for predators!

[WNYBuckHunter]

I have had no time lately to get out predator hunting. I did get some time this past weekend to get the kids down to the farm for a few hours to check things out, scout a bit for predator activity, etc. I wanted to grab my last two cams and bring them in for firmware updates, etc. They were sitting over my carcass pile. One on photo mode and the other running video. Got some great pics and a few good videos. Heres a few samples of the pics I got that I took with my phone while I was viewing all of them. Had well over 1000 pics from a 2 week soak.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[rotorooter23]

nice pics!

[Lawdwaz]

Yea!   Cool pics of the fox on the rib cage........

[growalot]

nice!

[moog5050]

some healthy critters there.

[grampy]

Some really cool pics!  Nice!