Trad Gang
Main Boards => PowWow => Topic started by: LITTLEBIGMAN on August 30, 2013, 05:31:00 PM
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While our season here in MN is two weeks away yet, I thought I'd get a head start on this year's blog as I am heading out the door in the am to do a little elk hunting in Utah.
For those who didn't follow last year's blog or a new to this forum. Let me introduce myself. I am 57 years old and reside in the rugged bluffs of SE Minnesota. My first bow hunting fall was in 1976. I have hunted with nothing other than trad gear since 1985.
I live and work out of a 100 year old farmhouse in a secluded valley. here is just one small sample of the views.
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7331/9629668505_1734fc709a.jpg)
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That is absolutely gorgeous Jim,you are extremely fortunate!
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Oh yeah, here we go again! :campfire:
Thanks for doing this! Awesome place you have.
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I spend almost all of my free time working in the timber doing forest improvement work or working on food plots that I have created in old hay fields , abandoned pastures, and hidden deep in the timber where I have cleared out spots little by little.
I am self employed and once the seasons starts I hunt nearly every day.
I also share my good fortune with friends. Some are trad hunters and you will get to meet them here. Others are still using training wheels, when they are here, I might mention that I have "visitors" here but that will be all.
here is the Yurt which is my secluded little camp 100 yards from the farm house door.
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8171/7986854673_ec34403cc3.jpg)
the yurt gives me room to spread out my stuff, keeps my dirty boots out of the house and allows my wife to sleep in despite my early rising for the next 3 month. After opening day I sleep each night here.
the inside is filled with my treasures
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8206/8161006575_b162f6bd8f.jpg)
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I've made a few changes with some stands being removed, moved slightly , added and some have had the portable swapped out for more comfortable ladders.
here is one we moved about 500 yards. We call it the "sapling stand". The 8 foot ratchet strap barely made it around the tree. It is a two person stand.
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7399/9632851868_3c4ba9969c.jpg)
and this is a new one up above Inspiration point. Very very steep here.
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7390/9632840238_3f423a72a1.jpg)
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I really enjoyed this last year.......I love the Zebra back quiver :thumbsup:
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up in apple alley the old clover plot is rape and turnips this year. A view from the ladder off the upper left corner
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3765/9629651245_4a9ff9d5f6.jpg)
this was planted on August 1st. We have had scant rain all month. While it still looks green, the earth is like powder and without moisture soon my hard work on this spot might be wasted this season
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every man(s) well at least this mans dream, but I have had to accommodate my wife and daughter regarding our residence. good on you.
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I am trying forage beans in the lower valley and also up in old hay field
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3709/9629599181_39ef5f5327.jpg)
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7449/9429943003_1082af2ec3.jpg)
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This was one of my favorite threads last year, bet this year will be good too! Good luck on the elk, looking forward to following your season... :thumbsup:
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this is a brand new turnip patch next to last years turnip patch which this year is clover
(http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2881/9632862676_c24d09b15c.jpg)
as you can see this plot is much closer to the tree line and hopefully will produce shot opportunities.
Up in the Bhudda plot I have planted Rape. Needs rain badly. drier up there.
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7308/9632868436_b3886e79a3.jpg)
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I have one buck I am targeting this year. I am calling him Mr. X. Here is his picture from 2 nights ago.
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7283/9632399186_6356de2619.jpg)
I believe he is the buck I picked up the very heavy sheds to last January near the turnips behind the house. He has been in this clover field on and off all summer. But in the last 30 days he has just exploded in antler growth.
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lots of deer here this year. The trapping of over 2 dozen coyotes by my neighbor has had a dramatic effect on this years fawn survival.
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7418/9267513673_9d9fca9462.jpg)
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5539/9633159734_662d8432f2.jpg)
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We also have some very large does again this year.
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3728/9633160434_bb9c6c9ab1.jpg)
here is one of my favorite pictures this summer
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3804/9633161190_26d3de8420.jpg)
So there is my preview for 2013. I don't know if I will be back for the opener on the 14th. A real rarity for me but the Utah season closes the 13th and it took me nine years to draw that tag so until later guys and gals........
Thanks to everyone who has encouraged me to blog again this season.
see you in 2 weeks or sooner.
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Glad to see you bring this one back Jim. I know just how much work it is to keep up, but rest assured, your efforts are appreciated!
Good luck in Utah. Clear the road for me please - I'm following in the afternoon :D
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Right on!! I really enjoyed your thread last year and i'm psyched to be following along in 2013!
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Jim, This is definitely a favorite thread of mine. Your efforts are quite appreciated. They remind me of home. Looking forward to sharing a cup of coffee in your Yurt sometime.
Best of luck in Utah. Leave a few critters fr Joe.
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Glad you're doing the thread again this year. One of my favorite threads from the last several years. Tuned in and sending prayers for rain your way!
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I really enjoyed your thread last year and plan on following again this year! Good luck in Utah!
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loved reading this last season
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Very nice. This thread was great last year...appreciate the time and effort you spend to let us tag along. Now concentrate on your elk! Nine years is along time to wait for a tag. Hope it is worth it and you have a grand adventure
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Great stuff! Looking forward to this season.
Eric
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Good luck on your elk hunt, I can't wait to start following along on your hunts.
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I'm glad your doing the blog again I really enjoyed it last year. Good luck with elk and have a safe trip
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Hope you have a Safe trip and great hunt.
Glad you are posting again this year. You have a beautiful Place and it's easy to see you love it. Thanks for letting us in.
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Thanks for sharing
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I also really enjoyed sharing your experiences with you. Beautiful place and a wonderful life. Good luck and safe travels
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This is good. I'll be following it too. I can appreciate your hard work. I've been working on my little bowhunting farm most of the Summer. I'm semi-retired. It gives me time to share with my grandson, so i love it. It also teaches him that hunting has a little work involved behind the scenes if it's your own land.
Did you build the yurt? It really looks familiar as I had a buddy who built one almost identical. Same green material and the windows and rafters and cable system is the same. He built his own lattice wall too as you probably did. He lived in it year round for 7 years till he took a diff job and moved. I'm pretty sure he sold the yurt to a fellow in CO. They are pretty neat. My son built one too. His is a slightly diff design and canvas material.
Thanks for the blog.
Irv Eichorst
www.truesouthadventures.com (http://www.truesouthadventures.com)
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This is good. I'll be following it too. I can appreciate your hard work. I've been working on my little bowhunting farm most of the Summer. I'm semi-retired. It gives me time to share with my grandson, so i love it. It also teaches him that hunting has a little work involved behind the scenes if it's your own land.
Did you build the yurt? It really looks familiar as I had a buddy who built one almost identical. Same green material and the windows and rafters and cable system is the same. He built his own lattice wall too as you probably did. He lived in it year round for 7 years till he took a diff job and moved. I'm pretty sure he sold the yurt to a fellow in CO. They are pretty neat. My son built one too. His is a slightly diff design and canvas material.
Thanks for the blog.
Irv Eichorst
www.truesouthadventures.com (http://www.truesouthadventures.com)
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Good Luck in Utah.
I'll be following along here like last year.
Your efforts are much appreciated.
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Looking forward to this year's hunt!!
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I will be following this one closely. :campfire: Good luck.
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Thank you Jim! Loved watching things play out last year. :clapper:
>>>>----------------->
Just when I thought all hope was lost a great topic comes up.
luke
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Thanks Jim! Last year's blog was one of my all time favorite threads, I am looking forward to this year's.
Good luck on your Utah hunt.
David
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Last year's blog was great to follow. Looking forward to it again this year. :coffee:
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Wow,
I missed this last year but you already have me hooked. Good Luck in Utah, look forward to your return.
ALDO
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Good luck on a great upcoming season, looking forward to it! :thumbsup:
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Jim,
I didn't get but 6 hours in two sittings hunting last year but did manage to take a little 7 point on the ground and got some food in our freezer but with 3 girls I was blessed to even hunt those 6 hours...While I was home I was able to see your daily Journal of you and what was happening each day and I actually felt as if I was there hunting as well and enjoyed the time you took to show us what stand and what took place each day if it was good or bad but then again there is really never a bad day in the outdoors is it?
Please keep up the daily journal and I for one appreciate you taking us along......God Bless,
Keefers <><
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LOVE your blogs. I read 'em every day you update.
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That's a nice place you have! Good luck on your season and best of luck to you while your here in Utah.
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Really enjoyed your last season and looking foreward to this one,thanks for taking us along.
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Yep, ready for this year, great fun following along last year. Thanks for taking the time to do this.
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Beautiful. You are a very blessed man.
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Looking forward to it. Really enjoyed this thread last year.
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Looking forward to another great year for you Jim, and the many adventure had by you and your guest. Helps make the season for those of us that may never experience hunting the north country that you live in everyday, great thread last year.
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Can't wait to see what lies ahead for you Jim...best of luck to you bud!!
PS....last years thread was awesome :clapper:
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Thank you Jim, I missed this last year also. My son Charlie forwarded this to me. Your property looks very familiar, Ours is not all that far from yours, I look forward to following along. I hope your trip and hunt are all good.
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Great thread! :campfire: :coffee:
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I have been waiting for this. Thanks for taking the time and sharing this with us. Ken
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This is one of the first threads I look for in the fall. I really appreciate all the work you put into this Jim. Good luck as your 2013 season begins!
Bernie Bjorklund
NC Iowa/SW Wisconsin
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Jim,
You have some beautiful land there! Thanks a bunch for sharing this with us. I can guarantee this thread will be checked regularly.
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Good luck Jim, I'm looking forward to following along again.
-Jay
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Good luck Jim, I'm looking forward to following along again.
-Jay
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Good luck this year Jim. Can't wait to here your stories again this year. :campfire:
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It's going to be a great season at 5 Pines Jim... a great season...
Your place looks amazing!!!
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That place is heaven
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Love reading your thread... followed it last year
Coffee is on!!!! :campfire:
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Wow, what part of southern MN, I went to school at Winona State, and I loved area.
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I got back a last night from Utah ( no elk for me) Sorted , cleaned and readied gear for Saturday's opener. Thanks to everyone for their encouragement for this seasons hunt!
Toured my food plots , we had zero rain while I was away. That means we have had only 1 inch since August 2nd! Beans are still green but due to almost zero rain in July as well they have no beans in the tiny pods on the plants. The Brassica's are either brown or so stunted they wont survive much longer. Only up in Apple Alley , does it look like the plants might survive IF we get rain soon.
Here are some recent trail camera photo's of that little spot.
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3701/9724530865_d5702cfaa5.jpg)
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3800/9724602247_5272d6579a.jpg)
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No sign of Mr. X since I left but isn't this a handsome looking dude? He will be a super buck in a year or two.
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7454/9727755754_16ff6d0247.jpg)
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all though I had great success last year with my Widow KBX named "El Uno" i am going to hunt with the bow i have been shooting all summer getting ready to elk hunt with.
It is a hills country bobcat. I have both the hy bred long bow limbs and recurve limbs for it. Currently I have the recurve limbs on . The bow is 56 inches long.is 46 lbs at 28 inches. It is my favorite wood combo of cocobolo and osage orange. Both woods are darkening up nicely.
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7314/9728563818_3fa8a569e2.jpg)
my arrows are CE heritage 150's with 100 grain brass inserts and a 200 grain double bevel werewolf BH made by Eclipse. This set up weighs in at 599 to 606. I shoot hand cut 2.25 inch feathers set in a 4 fletch. EFOC is right at 28%
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3803/9725324975_2e53d72f9d.jpg)
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Way cool....THIS is what TradGang is ABOUT!!!
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Coco and Osage......my favorite also.....can't wait for this to get rolling. Best of luck!
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Good luck this weekend. I'm not too far from ya, grew up and hunt by Forestville state park. Looks like the pieces are coming together for you. Youre right, we sure could use more rain.
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Awesome Jim!Just found this thread! Glad to see you continue this year! You should add a pic of what you did with that 5th pine!!
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As Jamie suggested here is a photo of our "5th pine"
one of our beloved whites was dead 50 feet up. We had to take it down before it fell on the house. One of my great buddies is a carver. This is a work in process and not quite finished as of yet. I traded John the carvable wood for one carving. Perhaps I will need to change the name of the farm to 4 pines and a fish farm!
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5493/9732123438_b321dab627.jpg)
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Cool, keep it coming and good luck. I think you made a great deal on the carving!
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Good hunting Jim this Saturday, I am going for Turkey first and next weekend at the farm for a deer I hope.
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I hope you had a good trip to Utah!
Don't you dare shoot Mr. X on the first night lol.
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Nice to have you back Jim. I am glued to the post and watching the hunt at at 4 Pines and a Big Fish.... Mr. X is just waiting for you to get in a stand to show up... Good luck!!
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Really enjoyed last seasons journey that you took us all on. Wishing you luck!
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4 Pines and a Fish Farm it is, then!
Great looking start on that carving and a good trade, for sure.
I see your Feather on your setup, I liked last years' version and have a pair on my bow now.
As Terry said, this IS Trad Gang.
Lookin' Good, Jim
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It is about to begin, and you can bet I will follow every post on this thread again this year. It's the next best thing to actually hunting!
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Good luck this year Jim. I was fun keeping up with your thread last year. Looking forward to this year.
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Last year I'd log in every night to see who would score first Jim or Cade (Guru's son. They both had great years!
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And so it begins. In 11 short hours I'll be climbing into a tree stand some where on the farm and start my 37th whitetail bow season . The last 28 have been traditional only.
Below is my favorite flower. Its an English Aster, but I have come to think of it as the bow hunter's flower , because it is always in full bloom just as our season gets underway.
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7423/9736122165_7d64d0613c.jpg)
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When the work day was done, I went down to the yurt and did a little organizing and cleaning.
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7401/9736108381_c74d6c54ce.jpg)
and I thought of a better way to display the moose antlers
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7408/9736100579_b42f388bb9.jpg)
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I split a few more sticks of wood and added to the pile ( the 11th commandment is thou shall not covet they neighbor's wood pile)
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7423/9736135453_af49e2ffcb.jpg)
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I shot some arrows for one last preseason practice session. these are from 15 yards. white feathered shaft has the practice broad head and was my first arrow of the day
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7396/9736092477_81e8fcbe29.jpg)
and lastly laid out my gear for the morning. the coffee pot will be on at five am!
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7336/9736128387_8cc11b2eb5.jpg)
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here is the score card as we begin the 2013 season.
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7442/9736116123_f391799028.jpg)
If your season begins in the morning, may your bow arm be strong and your arrows fly true. Remember respect for your quarry should be your highest priority. May all of your seasons be memorable! Good hunting everyone.
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Thanks, and back atcha!!
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:campfire:
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Good luck in the a.m.!
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I'll think of you in the morning while in my tree in the morning. Good luck.
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You got a little slice of heaven there Jim, enjoy and good luck!
Eric
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I'll think of you in the morning while in my tree in the morning. Good luck.
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Heck yeah, I'll be following this. Gotta see how a fellow lefty does. When your season winds down, I gotta pick your brains a little bit about food plots. We had the same problem with no rain since the first week of August. Until today, that is. Got a half inch of rain. Hopefully some of the seeds that didn't germinate yet will take hold.
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Shoot straight my friend!
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Good luck I cant wait for the rest of the season
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Good luck! Hope that cold front we got is in your neck of the woods! Only 45 here right now.
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Good Luck Jim, I will check back! Hope you didnt shoot Mr. X. lol I would hate for you to be done this early. he he he.
I know weather wise its a beautiful morning out there.
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Opening morning in Minnesota and I'm heading to the library to do homework! Good luck this fall, I sure enjoyed your thread last year.
But wait...no update...maybe you're busy dragging out that big one... :thumbsup:
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Go Jim! Thanks for this!
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Come on Jim! I'm pulling for you to let an arrow loose!
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outing #1
Hard to believe how cold it got last night. I had to light a fire in the yurt! I decided to hunt a trail that runs East/West along the upper ridge. This trail is one of the most defined deer trails on the whole farm. Here is an image of my route to the spot
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It took me longer than I had hoped to make it the tree stand. The sky had that orange tinge to it just above the horizon as I stepped on to the plat form. The stand has been slightly moved down the trail from where it sat last season. This is the 3rd different tree I have placed it along this trail. Still not sure if its the perfect tree but based upon the numbers of deer that went past me today, I think I am getting close.
here is the tree it is in now.
(http://i1302.photobucket.com/albums/ag129/jgilmer2/hunting/P1030997_zps35126180.jpg) (http://s1302.photobucket.com/user/jgilmer2/media/hunting/P1030997_zps35126180.jpg.html)
and here is the trail it overlooks
(http://i1302.photobucket.com/albums/ag129/jgilmer2/hunting/P1030996_zps800dcb17.jpg) (http://s1302.photobucket.com/user/jgilmer2/media/hunting/P1030996_zps800dcb17.jpg.html)
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If I am sitting in the stand I am facing north. Over my right shoulder and up hill about 65 yards is the Buddha food plot. To my left the trail comes out of my neighbor's cow pasture. On the other side of the pasture is a corn field. This hill side is covered in shag bark hickories and red and white oaks. We had a lot of rain in June so despite the current drought the mast crop isn't too bad. I was thinking the deer might head in from the corn, wander around feeding on mast before heading down the steep bluff to the bedding area below me.
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Shortly after 1st light I looked over my right shoulder up towards the food plot. Through the foliage I can see into the plot. It sort of glows lime green. I spotted deer legs moving now and again. I kept watch in that general direction but heard a slight noise to my left. A big doe was coming down the logging road that passes to the left of tree and a 2nd was trailing her about 30 yards behind. As I slowly turned to get ready my harness caught some hickory bark ( they don't call it shag bark for no reason) the doe heard that and jumped to her left but then stopped at about 15 yards out. She was at full alert. The 2nd doe stopped dead in her tracks. They both became statues for next 5 minutes and then slowly but stiff legged walked away from me to the west.
15 minutes later I see a doe and fawn moving along the fence line west of me about 75 yards away.
Not 10 minutes goes by and I hear a deer walking towards me again from the direction of the food plot. Another solo doe , this one a little smaller. The wind was slight but out of the south and as she entered my shooting lane, her head went back and her nose went up! Busted! . She whirls but only goes a couple of paces and turns around. Stands there, doing the old head bob looking directly up and at me. I don't move a muscle. Eventually she begins to move forward towards me. She wants to head past me and swings just wide enough that an easy shot disappears . She gives me a 20+ yards shot and I decide to let her pass.
15 minutes later I hear once again the foot falls of a deer. Coming my way is a spike buck still in velvet. He steps in to the shooting lane and his nose goes up. Except he just stands there scenting the air and looking up at me but my camo is working and he is not catching enough scent to spook and he gradually moves on by.
After enough time I went by, I slowly turned and removed a wool vest and fleece hat from my pack. I had begun to shiver and was no where near ready to leave. After putting on the additional clothing , I decided to sit for a bit and hung the bow on a branch.
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So I am sitting there when again I hear a deer coming down the hill on my left. I look that way and a button buck is coming right at me. I stand up ever so slowly , as I can hear a 2nd deer approaching as well. My hands are in my pockets and the bow is hanging on a limb. I don't dare breath as the 2nd deer is going to go right under me. As it does I look down and see that it's the mom and she is a great big fat one at that.! So there is the shot, but I can't move to grab the bow as she is too close. 5 yards 6 yards from the tree, she stops and looks up at me but once again doesn't make me out. She starts to move forward and as her head goes behind a tree I grab the bow. But its too late, the angle is wrong and she is not going to come back. The button buck goes right thru the center of my shooting lane as he quickly follows his Momma.
A few minutes later another doe comes down and goes past me at around 30 yards.
So that is nine deer in about 1 and 1/2 hours of tree stand time! 30 minutes later deer #10 is spotted below me heading to bed, where she came from I have no idea.
By now it is 10 am and the sun is high enough that it is hitting me right in the face so its time to go. The forecast calls for a south wind all day. After a nap and a snack I'll need to decide on my evening spot.
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Sounds like a great first morning! I've got another two weeks so I'll hunt along with you Jim!
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That's a great start to the season! You've got a lot of writing to do if you are going to keep up that pace. :thumbsup:
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Littlebigman....your first hunt didn't disappoint!!! I'm looking forward to your next report.
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:) .......... Great beginning Jim, great beginning !!!
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Great First Morning in stand Jim! :bigsmyl:
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Outing #2
So we had a wind out of the SSE all afternoon. Its been raining in SW MN and we have a 79 % chance tonight for some here as well. I have numerous spots to hunt a wind from this direction. But I woke late from my nap and had to choose to go to a closer spot than I had intended.
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7330/9753490016_7dcffc37fd.jpg)
I went to the AAA ( Apple Alley Aspen ). This stand sits midway on the west side of the food plot in Apple alley. The plot looks quite sad , but there is an apple tree loaded with apples right in the middle of the plot.
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7412/9753408065_2454bc84ce.jpg)
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the stand
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7395/9753393416_7f7e3c6cf3.jpg)
its about a 20 yard shot to the near side of the apple tree.
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7296/9753172421_3da69ce07a.jpg)
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We call this old pasture apple alley because its lined with apple trees all the way up to the plot.
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7325/9753376206_a0996f1521.jpg)
Just after 6 pm a single doe walked in to the food plot from my left. She fed on what little was green but after about 10 minutes the gusty wind sent her a nose full of Jim and off she went back in to dense underbrush on the East side of the food plot.
About 20 minutes later I heard a little leaf noise to my right and in walk a family of 4 coons. Fun to watch the last little guy trying to hustle and catch up with the rest of his crew.
At 7 pm A yearling doe appeared from my right and walked directly under the apple tree. A 2nd and what appeared to be a larger doe followed her in. They both were munching on the few apples on the ground and drifted to other side of the tree. I had decided to shoot this doe if given a shot. After about 15 minutes she rounded the tree and started feeding on the green in the middle of the field and was working her way up to me. She walked into my lane and I started to put some tension on the string. Her head went down and I took a double take. It wasn't a doe but a yearling buck. I could just make out the bumps ( more like tiny pyramids) on its fore head. I couldn't believe it. It had such a big head I was almost totally fooled. Here it is after I let it walk and it turned around and went back to the apple tree.
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7449/9753420096_665b94c55a.jpg)
the photo makes it look really far but it is really just 20 yards.
I'd been hearing another deer behind me coming down rattle snake ridge for a while . I didn't want to turn and look because I didn't know how close it was. AS I feared it winded me and started snorting. It was one of those does who have to tell everyone in the world " THERE IS TROUBLE NEAR BY!" She snorted 10 to 12 times before she went back up the ridge snorting on and off until she was over the darn top! The other two deer headed out the bottom of the field and I did not see another deer the rest of the night.
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:coffee:
You are doing Great Jim!
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Awesome thread!!
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Awesome as usual Jim. These next 2 weeks waiting for the opener is gonna kill me.
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great motivational thread! I am heading out in 15 minutes!
L.R.
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Thought you all would like to see this . I was going thru the pictures from the trail camera last night from the plot where I just sat. I wonder how many deer would be here if we had had some rain and the rape was knee high like last year
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5533/9758779413_abd4be79ea.jpg)
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Outing #3
it finally rained last night. Started about midnight and was done when I got up at 5am. I decided to hunt closer to the yurt today and chose Joel's stand.
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7329/9758787026_e6d20e9192.jpg)
A small part of the farm (23 acres) sits across the creek and county road. It basically is the Eastern face of a very steep bluff and is great bedding cover for the deer. Joel's stand rests at the bottom just above the mowed firebreak and on an inside corner where a hub of deer trails intersect.
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I had just reached the bottom of the stand when it began to rain again. I don't hunt in the rain but since I wasn't sure how long this was going to last, I climbed up into the tree to wait it out. It didn't long take before I was wet to the gills and as soon as it was light enough to descend with out the aid of a flash light I headed back to the yurt for coffee.
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5340/9758493561_7abf42f23c.jpg)
it slacked off a bit while on the road but is raining quite hard again now. I am thankful for it. hopefully it will breath some life back into the food plots. While the turnips won't develop bulbs this late it should put some green back in to the tops. The forecast calls for partly cloudy skies this evening, so i'll be out and about then.
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Fantastic thread. Thanks for taking us along.
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You can have some of our rain :) nice Good luck buddy!
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I think this is our #1 hunting thread! I really enjoy reading your daily hunts. Good luck...we're all watching! :thumbsup:
Bernie Bjorklund
NC Iowa/SW Wisconsin
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Great posts. You have done a great job with the pics and description of your stands.
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Great start to a great annual blog.
I'm sure Roman will feel honored you are using your Hill Country Bobcat as your weapon of choice this year.
Good luck on your season, Jim. I'll be checking in daily.
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Wow.... As Terry said, this is what Trad Gang is all about! Love how your so in tune with your hunting home... That is what life is all about. One day ill have my own block and do the same.
ak.
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:campfire:
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Jim, thanks for taking us along. I really looked forward to your reports in 2012 and 2013 will be no different. Thanks and the best of luck to you
:clapper:
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Outing #4
Thank you everyone for your encouragement and kind words.
we had a gusty wind out of the NE and the clouds were just breaking up as I got under way
(http://i1302.photobucket.com/albums/ag129/jgilmer2/hunting/P1040017_zpsf8623129.jpg) (http://s1302.photobucket.com/user/jgilmer2/media/hunting/P1040017_zpsf8623129.jpg.html)
this wind gives me lots of options. I wanted to hunt the clover field where Mr. X has been hanging out all summer but this wind is wrong for that spot. So I chose a stand that gave me the ability to see that field and watch with binos. I chose the ladder on the western edge of the newest food plot. It's called the wall of thorns. behind the stand is the nastiest bit of buck thorn on the entire farm. Here is the route up to it.
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3773/9774403653_e98d574888.jpg)
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After some of my other TSI work was done I did start on removing BT from along the edge of this field. The woods here is a wonderful line of white, red and burr oaks. Removing the BT allows the deer to actually get to the fallen fruit.
(http://i1302.photobucket.com/albums/ag129/jgilmer2/hunting/P1040021_zps9233ea55.jpg) (http://s1302.photobucket.com/user/jgilmer2/media/hunting/P1040021_zps9233ea55.jpg.html)
here is the stand. A big old comfortable ladder it is
(http://i1302.photobucket.com/albums/ag129/jgilmer2/hunting/P1040026_zpsb3d1ee4d.jpg) (http://s1302.photobucket.com/user/jgilmer2/media/hunting/P1040026_zpsb3d1ee4d.jpg.html)
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Being 17 feet up allows me a good view of the top of this bluff all the way to my southern fence line. Looking to the north is the new food plot and last year's turnip plot. Which is new clover this year. I also planted an edging of a tall shield grass mix. You can only see a tiny portion of it in this photo as you are looking north and the majority of the field runs the other direction.
(http://i1302.photobucket.com/albums/ag129/jgilmer2/hunting/P1040029_zps9069b25b.jpg) (http://s1302.photobucket.com/user/jgilmer2/media/hunting/P1040029_zps9069b25b.jpg.html)
The clover is a long narrow strip about 250 yards long by 40 yards wide. . The grass strip is about 20 feet wide, just wide enough to create a visual barrier.
At 6 30 pm I saw three deer enter the clover field to my south. Its about 200 yards from this stand. With the binos I could ID two does and a single fawn. They never left this food plot and stayed in it till it was too dark to see them. Nothing visited the plot by me until it was time to go. I had hung up the bow and was preparing to descend the ladder when a doe with twins came into the new plot from the SW. They grabbed a few mouthfuls, then walked up to the clover, passed thru the tall grass and were headed over to the forage beans. As soon as they were blocked by the tall grass, I scooted down the ladder and headed home.
Here is me keeping a close vigil
(http://i1302.photobucket.com/albums/ag129/jgilmer2/hunting/P1040030_zpsfa9a86ea.jpg) (http://s1302.photobucket.com/user/jgilmer2/media/hunting/P1040030_zpsfa9a86ea.jpg.html)
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Good stuff Jim!
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This is so cool!!! I hope you get the buck of your dreams this year Jim! Such a blessing to see deer practically every single time you go out. I know you have worked hard to get your place holding deer like that. Congrats!
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Good stuff! I like the addition of the Google stand location map.
Can't wait for the next installment!
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Outing #5
Heading out the door of the yurt today it was my intention to go Joel's stand since I really did not hunt it yesterday . But when I passed the small reflector that tells you to turn left here, I headed up the steep bluff to the do over stand instead. We haven't had much good luck at this stand hence the name of " do over" as in let me do that shot over!
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3717/9774461623_1db77bba45.jpg)
It's a short walk to this spot but very steep. When you are in the 15 foot ladder due to the steepness of the bluff , you are literally looking thru the tops of the trees below you. looking up the bluff isn't as bad but deer on the trails above you are at eye level or higher. You follow an old logging road up thru the trees until it makes a 90% curve to the north. The stand sits on the curve, about 15 yards off the trail. This area can have deer coming in to bed from any direction. The fields on the very top are the neighbor's and he usually has corn or beans. The beans below are both his and mine and the hillside has plenty of oaks. There is also a large hay field to my south.
Today I saw no deer just lots and lots of squirrels. Here is a look at the stand from the logging road.
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7345/9773314052_4fb06dabc2.jpg)
its in the tree that has the leaning cherrie behind it
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Thanks for taking us that are suck behind our desk along with you.
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Great pictures and story as always.
Keeps a person suspended
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Awesome Jim, I love love love this thread...it keeps the fire burning when Im not able to be out and about!
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Jim, I seem to remember that stand from Last year :smileystooges:
Looks like it was a gorgeous Day!
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Squirrels eat well LBM.
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Outing #6
They say a single picture is worth a 1000 words. This one is worth a million of them.
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7372/9780134494_2f43628156.jpg)
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Very nice buck.
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Beautiful deer, congrats!
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Awesome buck! :clapper:
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That's the wag to start your deer season! What a great buck, congrats!!!!!
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we had a wind out of the SE all day. If the wind was more out of the south than out of the east , it would allow me to hunt the clover field where Mr. X has been hanging out. I dont really like this stand as the shot to the clover can be a bit far if the deer is on the uphill side of the field. But there is no other stand on this field so that is where I headed after a practice session with shots as far as 25 yards. (http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7328/9781073355_9f395bf094.jpg)
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I climbed up into the ladder and could tell right away there was too much of an east component to the wind. My wind check powder was blowing directly east to west right in to the clover. No good.
Across the field ,inside a little opening I created as few years ago ,sits a stand in a cedar tree right at the edge where bluff starts to drop off. I very slowly and ever so quietly crossed over to it. Its called the Possum stand. Here it is in relation to the Dallas stand
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7389/9780888741_855280bf1d.jpg)
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Awesome... I'm up grading papers, so I hope this story will be done before I am!
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I have been doing some intensive invasive species work on this end of the ridge. This summer when I was burning some large brush piles, I noticed some very large deer beds in the heavy cover I was leaving standing near the burn piles. The stand is about 40 yards north of where these beds lie. Its thick with blackberry bushes, dogwood, sumac and wild apple trees both crabs and big apples too. I 'll go back up and snap some photos for you so you can see the stand site. I forgot to do that tonight.
I really pussy footed my way in to the stand barely making any noise at all. I was in the tree at 5 pm. The wind really dropped off and it got really quiet. I have had a really rough kind of head ache all day and I was sitting in the stand with my bow across my lap . Eyes closed doing some deep breathing exorcises trying to get rid of it. I heard the faintest crack of a stick from the direction of the deer beds. I quickly knocked an arrow and stood. He stepped out of the shadows under one of the apple trees at 25 yards distant. The sun made him just glow. I thought it's Mr. X!!!!
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The opening I created with a chain saw a few years ago was now going to pay off. There was nothing between us except air. I felt confident about the shot having practiced with a broad head that very after noon at this very same distance. He was slightly quartering to when I began the draw and broadside when I hit anchor.
I wish I could say I make a perfect shot. I did not. I do not know what happened. At release I think he bolted forward and my shaft buried to the mid point in his hip! He didn't run! He stopped and then slowly walked out the opening of the clearing and was standing on the mowed firebreak! I was sick! Physically sick! He took a couple of steps and was behind some trees. I heard him cough. I thought I saw him go down but wasn't sure. I tried as quietly as possible to get my bino's out of my pack. I then search for 45 minutes with them to find any part of him thru the screen of trees and grass and I could not. I was heart broke. I thought what did you do? I was sure I had just wounded and lost a tremendous buck.
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At 6 15 I couldn't take it any more. I slowly climbed down, knocked an arrow and made my way to the opening where I last saw him. I got to the opening and looked down the mowed trail. No buck , no blood!!
I felt like crying. Then I looked up and he was laying in the tall grass ! I pulled him only ten feet to take this photo
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3757/9779960332_05037b3ed3.jpg)
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He isn't Mr. X as Mr.X has double brows on both sides. This buck has only one double brow and the other is bladed. He is an amazing buck and I have not seen him prior to tonight.
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7336/9779941732_aa41cc6052.jpg)
I am one happy hunter
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3751/9780124526_5a7e6906f5.jpg)
So now i will do some doe hunting and help some of my friends hopefully fill their tags too, The first of this seasons guests arrive this Friday!
I'll continue to post about my doe hunts and hopefully some of my trad buddies will increase the score card too!
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Very exciting. Tagging out early (on a buck) can be bittersweet (Although, obviously I wouldn't hesitate a single second to tag out with that guy!). It's still a lot of fun if you have friends to film and does to hunt! Nice work! Nice buck! And thanks again for bringing all of this to us!
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Great hunt in every aspect and a well deserved buck. Very nice animal! I'm glad he was right there waiting for you after descending from your stand.
Thank you for the efforts you bring to documenting the hunt for us. I remember admiring your attention to detail in your hunting approach last year and it only seems to have gotten better. I also admire your property management, habitat projects and herd management - improving the native habitat and keeping things in balance. What a great working example of stewardship and hunting passion. Kudos to you Jim!
Congratulations and thank you again.
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Wow! I wasnt expecting that pic so soon. Awesome Buck.
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is that a bobcat shooting mechanicals?
awesome buck - well done!!
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Great Hunt!Your preparation surely payed off.Beautiful Buck.Thanks for your time.
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Congratulations on a fine buck. I had a feeling all your hard work was going to pay off early in the season.
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All's well that ends well. But this ended REALLY well!
Nice goin', Jim. Sounds like a real roller coaster of emotions making for a GREAT day afield.
Beautiful Buck. Good mojo in that feather combo.
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awesome stories and way to stick with it and taking us in your journey along thxs for sharing and beautiful buck!!!!now harvest some of those does
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Outstanding. Enjoying this whole thread.RC
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Congrats Jim, that's a real dandy. So glad you found him. Just shows a person what can happen when deer jump the string. You must have hit the artery.
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As is my pattern since you started doing this last year, this thread is the first thing I look at as I take my first sip of coffee in the morning. I just about spit it out when I saw that picture this morning!
Great looking buck Jim! Congratulations buddy! A very well deserved reward for all the work you put into your property. I am so very happy for you!
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Can't wait to hear the story. Wonderful buck!
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:coffee: That's fantastic. Congratulations on a beautiful buck. I'm enjoying my morning coffee reading about your hunts. Keep em coming and good luck filling your doe tags.
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A very well deserved buck, after all the effort you put into your hunts. Congrats! :thumbsup:
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Fantastic Buck, and not even a week into the season....
Congratulations on a fine trophy that is well deserved.
:thumbsup:
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Great Buck LBM congrats Brother!
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I'm speechless......your hard work on the land and your desire has reaped you great rewards.....outstanding.
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Congratulations, great buck!
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Great buck! Congrats on your early season success. I know it means your buck season is over right after it started, but I say take 'em when you can get 'em... :thumbsup:
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For those who are wondering I had a 200 grain double bevel eclipse werewolf on the end of my arrow. I sliced thru both femorals. the buck bled out in seconds!
Thank you everyone for your kind words I am still floating on air.
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Congrats! That's a dandy buck.
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Hard work and perseverence paid off. Congratulations on a fine buck
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Very Nice-Very Nice INDEED-CONGRATS!
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OUTSTANDING!!!! Enjoy your float trip!!
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Beautiful deer!! Congratulations! All of the pre-season work definitely paid off in spades!!
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Congrats, Jim. Great buck!
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What a tank! Congradations!!
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Congrats again bud! Glad you've been practicing those longer ranges for elk, payed off for you!!
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Congrats Jim on a fine buck and a great story. I really enjoy reading it and look forward to more.
Tom
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Holy cow that's awesome congrats and thanks for the thread again!
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Congratulations on a fine buck. I will keep on following this thread for more hunting adventures.
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Nicely done. I always enjoy this thread. Look forward to more adventures. :clapper:
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That is an absolutely wonderful buck! I love those dark antlers! Your hard work in managing your beautiful property is certainly paying off!
Good luck with the rest of your season. I'll be anxiously checking to see how your trad buddies do. Keep us posted.
By the way, those Google Earth pictures really help to tie your stories together. We feel like we're right in the stand with you.
Congratulations! :clapper:
Bernie Bjorklund
NC Iowa/SW Wisconsin
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Congratulations on a great buck! I enjoy reading your posts, looking forward to reading more.
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All your hard work paid off. You have taken a VERY nice animal. THANK you for taking me along on the hunt. VERY nicely done and I felt as if I was sitting in the stand next to you.
CONGRATULATIONS!!!!
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Jim,
Well deserved and great buck. Thanks for taking us along. Appreciate all your efforts. I enjoy reading and following your hunts. Thanks. Ken
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Nice job Jim! Beautiful property, beautiful buck - well deserved.
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Well I've been trying to keep tabs on this thread and when I just saw that it went from 9 to 13 pages overnight, I figured you must have scored... but I did not expect to see that buck so fast! :eek: Wow... what a beauty!
Congrats and thanks again for taking the time to share all the details with us!
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Jim, that is a gorgeous buck! One to certainly be proud to punch your tag on. Congratulations, and we're all still looking forward to the rest of your season.
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You are going to have a great year. Congrats
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AWESOME! Very bittersweet. But a great buck for the wall and the table! Congrats!
I followed your thread religiously last year and hope you don't stop the day to day posts of the hunts! PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD! I'm stuck at a desk. I literally hunt through this site, and the 5 pines farm let's me hunt everyday!
Go get the girls now!
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Jim, I just checked in and saw the pic.
Incredible. I am looking forward to you and your freinds hunts for the rest of the season. And hey, if you want more horns, the season is Open in Wisconsin :readit:
Truly incredible, I am very happy for you!
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That is a beautiful deer...even without the rack he has a nice "look" to him. Maybe because he didn't have a chance to wear himself out rutting.
Any idea what he weighed?
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Got him caped and to the taxidermist. Meat is in the freezer. Ate his tenderloins tonight. Life is good.
Put the bobcat's longbow limbs back on this afternoon. Heading out tomorrow evening I hope ( if it doesnt rain). I'll keep hunting and posting , you can count on it.
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3831/9792190844_049c1c19bd.jpg)
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Way cool....THIS is what TradGang is ABOUT!!!
X2..............you have accomplished much! Thanks
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I respect your passion and for sharing it with us.Well done sir. Enjoy the fruits of your labor. Just think, if Mr.X makes it till next year, he may be Mr.X-strem. God bless
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Congrates Jim on a great buck! Looking forward to more adventures.
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Congrats Jim! The life you've created is an envy to most here...thanks for the journey!
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Congrats thats a beauty. Love this thread. You have a good looking property.
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Congrats Jim, I'm so glad you shot a beautiful buck there. Please keep hunting and posting your hunts I look forward to following along. Take Care.
Burton
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Just got home from a long day at work and read the entire thread. I think I'm going to read it again. Thanks a lot for taking the time to post. This is bowhunting at its finest.
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Beautiful Buck Jim, I love reading this thread!
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Where the heck I have been, this is another great TG thread, Great buck and continued success the rest of the season.
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Wow that didn't take long. Congrats, nice buck.
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Way to go Jim! You have done a wonderful job with your farm, and I am glad you got such a nice buck! I also want to thank you for this thread, it is one of my favorites. I know it takes a lot of time and work, so thanks for taking us along!!!
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everyone is very welcome for the thread. It is my pleasure to share it with you all.
Over lunch we ground up all the trim . In addition to all the steak roasts, shanks and such we got 40 lbs ( i weighed it on the bath scale) of pure ground venison!
There was a mix up in invited guests calendars. The wheelie guys wont be coming till next weekend. So one of my good trad buddies ( Old Lodge Skins) on this forum is coming down on Saturday to hunt with me. If you remember him from last year he shot a solid buck that had the broken leg and then after he shot it a absolute giant 8 point we called Skyscraper walked by. Jay built his own recurve this past winter and will hunting with it.
I'll have some stories for ya I am sure. here is Jay's buck from last season
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8489/8172850584_726fd1f24e.jpg)
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Is skyscraper still around this year?
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I did no hunting today. It was hot and muggy and windy to boot! So I took a quick inventory of the food plots as we got a little more rain yesterday.
Apple alley has perked a lot
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7435/9809506183_294e5c7de3.jpg)
the rape in field in front of the Bwana and Justin's stands looks like its going to survive as well. But I seem to have deleted that photo, darn!
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my beans up top look great too, the pods have tripled in size in just the few days since we got that 1.5 inches Sunday!
they are waist high despite the heavy browsing and lack of rain in July and August.
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5328/9809568053_3f309f67eb.jpg)
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7337/9809478515_ebce798f80.jpg)
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Congratulations on a fine buck!
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here is a shot of the Possum stand
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3665/9809445964_b7c3f57535.jpg)
and a view from the stand of the little staging area I created for the deer
(http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2833/9809530763_49b652d5f3.jpg)
5 years ago there were four large cedar trees here.
the buck came from the right and was in the middle of the four birches when I shot him. Its 23 paces to the spot he was standing . The opening he went thru and later fell down in is in the upper left.
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All the sweat, planning have turned Gilmer's Paradise into just that, paradise... it's given up a sweet prize for you and I'm sure it's just the beginning .... beautiful deer Jim!!!
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:campfire:
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Just gettin' caught up on this thread....
MOST-EXCELLENT buck LBM!
Enjoy the feast!
Shoot straight, Shinken
:archer2:
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Awesome buck LBM! I don't know how, but this is the first time I have ever opened this thread (and now I am going to have to find LAST year's thread!).
Well, this will be on more item to check daily. :campfire:
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Hello Jim, This is a great tread. Charlie told me that you got a great buck. Pictures do not lie. A dandy buck indeed. Your hard work and scouting paid off. The sugery went well, But will not be able to pull my bow for 6 more days, but I will be able to see them coming now. when seasons come to a close, I would love to get together since our places are not that far apart.
Congrats again on a great hunt.
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Congratulations on an awesome buck! I'm looking forward to more from the 5 pines farm.
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Great buck! Love this "blog"/post of yours. Makes me feel like I'm hunting when I'm stuck at work! :thumbsup:
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was all dressed to go ut this am at 5 30 am then I got rained out!!
Idid some more practice yesterday with Anubis and his long bow limbs. Also changed my arrow set up . Slimmed them to down 95 grains on the front end. Shooting the same shafts but with 50 grain inserts rather than 100. Werewolfe single bevels weighing 145. Now my arrow weighs in at 516 instead of 606.
(http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2860/9809492946_4283a648df.jpg)
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Great buck and a fantastic thread!
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Congrats on the nice buck Jim! I am looking forward to following along again this year. Nice to get that buck tagged early in the season! Helps letting those marginal bucks walk! Good luck on a fat doe and guiding for your friends!!!
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Good afternoon Jim, I heard that a neighbor got MR X. Sorry to hear that, I know you have been looking for him this year. One dream now gone, I hope he has some off spring coming along behind him so you can start a new one.
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Great to Catch up finally on the full story. Loved sharing it even though Im on the other side of the world and behind a computer screen.
True hunters Congratulations Jim. Walked around all day with a smile on my face when I got the Picture of your Buck!
Lots and lots of hard work, good management and time on the ground hunting to get it done.
I feel privileged to have hunted there with you and lots of fond memories there.
Keen to see how you go for the rest of the season.
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rained out again! better weather predicted for tommorrow
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Your buck is a dandy !
Congrats..
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Congrats Jim, nice reward for all time and hard
work you put in. I stopped over to Ridgeland Barry's place to hear is bear story and he said you had gotten a dandy.
Your farm looks wonderful and I love that yurt. Thanks for the thread, it really helps me to imagine what it is like to hunt in such a paradise.
Hopefully we can get together at Sparta or some
other shoot next year.
Thanks again for taking the time to share with us your success. Good luck and have a safe remainder of the season.
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Outing #7
the hot and muggy weather was replaced by cool and windy weather! hooray! A cold front pushed south yesterday afternoon. We had some good thunder and rain to boot!
So this am the wind was forecast to be out of the NW. I was anxious to be off and left the yurt well before I needed to! No need for a flashlight today as the nearly full moon was still above the western bluff on the 23.
I chose a spot called "sure thing. It's near my north border and my very good friend Bill's farm at the dead end of the county road . I walk up the county road till I reach a gate I have in the old cow pasture.
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7334/9837112593_4acbf373e2.jpg)
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Keep this thread going!!!!
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We call it sure thing as it is very rare not to see a deer here. I bumped at least three deer on my walk to the stand.Two I heard run off and one was actually visible in the moon light as it got up out of its bed in the old pasture.
I have had the stand in three different trees here. First I had a ladder stand connected to an elm. We killed two does out of that ladder but I always felt totally exposed when in that stand. Then last year I removed the ladder and replaced it with a lone wolf in an oak closer to the edge of the woods. That provided better cover but was too close to the intersecting deer trails in this spot. The solution was just a few feet away. A big red oak that looks like an upside down tripod now holds the stand. I purchased a twisted timber stand to install here since the tree trunk leans severely.
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3779/9836794743_87fd17894a.jpg)
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Great looking stand location Jim. Lots of cover in that big oak. I really enjoy following your hunts every day. Congrats on a fine buck :thumbsup: .... and enjoy the rest of your season!
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This spot sits on the bottom of the western side of Rattlesnake ridge and is the spot where I had a snake buzz me in the dark last year. There are intersecting trails coming down off the bluff and one the runs along the inside edge of the woods. I have cleaned out most of the buck thorn . There are good oaks and hickories here. The old pasture below is lousy with wild apple trees . I have to duck under one as I enter the area to climb into the stand.
the combination of the wind in the tree tops and wet ground from yesterday's rain was going to make it tough to hear any approaching game.
I was standing watching the old pasture to my left as deer in the am usually come from that direction. Out of the corner of my eye on my right side I sensed movement. A doe was slipping in from one of trails coming down the bluff. She stood in the open at 6 yards giving me the perfect shot. She was definitely a shooter, but after a moment It was clear I was not yet ready to kill a 2nd time this season. She looked over her back trail and a rather small fawn was coming down the same trail . I was really glad I had decided not to shoot her! I have a very hard time shooting wet does.
they munched on acorns and apples together. Then headed in the direction of the pasture. But as she was leaving she crossed my entry trail and turned around and came back looking for me. Here she is right beneath me.
(http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2839/9836688844_bdfa183c63.jpg)
She never did find me. But she was aware I had passed thru. They are such amazing animals to hunt!
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Way to go on the great buck. Just reading that post made my emotions go from low to the highest of highs and most of us live for those moments. Congrats. Special thanks for keeping the gang posted.
P.S. I love the way early season bucks look. That's going to be a great mount.
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You don't eat does? :bigsmyl:
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Com'n October 1st, this is really giving me the itch to get out there.
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That's a beautiful picture of an absolutely beautiful animal! :thumbsup:
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I'm with you on the wet does, Jim. You may be killing two deer if the fawn has a tough go of it this winter.
Others may choose to take that shot, it's just not for me.
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Outing #8
All afternoon gusty winds out of the north blew in dark low clouds. Every couple of hours we would get a 15 minute shower but nothing too serious. It was supposed to clear off late in the day and the winds were to stay out of the NNW. I decided to hunt the Justin stand on the East end of the East/West food plot up on top of the bluff.
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3697/9846196983_1a5b85acf5.jpg)
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Just after rounding the corner and heading up the hill a small doe jumped out of its bed. This is the long straight part of the route above. its up all the way.
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7366/9846263156_88d5da4023.jpg)
Once on top I stopped to catch my breath and to pick a snack
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7309/9846097896_8764e64946.jpg)
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7389/9846111796_5c968e3a8c.jpg)
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I try to use the contours as much as possible to hide my movements to and from stands. Arriving at the stand I stopped for a minute for one last wind check.
This photo looks up the food plot to the west. Forage beans are on the top one third and the field with me standing in it that I posted the other day is over the crest of the ridge to the north.
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3813/9846027554_b0fa6dbd31.jpg)
the stand is a 20 foot tall ladder in a large oak with hickories all around it.
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7354/9846075534_258b3d6d0f.jpg)
behind the stand to the south the bluff drops off into secure cover that for the most part I leave completely alone.
The wind was quite gusty right up until last light. With the amount of deer sign and how hard the beans have been browsed I expected to see a herd of deer tonight. Instead I saw zero! As the light was fading and I could still see without a head lamp I headed for home. I no longer sit until its too dark to see anything. I have a hard enough time in decent light distinguishing between a doe and a buck fawn. It would be impossible in low light. So once I am sure there are no deer to bump off the field I am usually sneaking my way along a return trail that keeps me hidden . It works well for me.
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Good stuff Jim, Keep it Coming!
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Great stories Jim, keep them coming. Congratulations on your great buck! Your hard work on your property certainly has paid off.
-Jay
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Congratulations... That deer is impressive, to say the least! Always enjoy your thread!
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:campfire:
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What a fantastic read, and great buck! Thanks for taking me along!
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outing # 9 The Ivy Stand.
cold today, low 40's wind still out of the NW. I chose to hunt the Ivy stand. Andy shot a great doe out of this ladder last year.
(http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2826/9855198365_e22e0e4a65.jpg)
Everyone knows where the yurt is by now. So the red line is my travel path up to the stand. Basically the same as last night except when you reach the hogback you turn left and work your way up to the middle ridge. The yellow line is the deer trail I am hunting. Then deer typically travel this contour on their was to heavy cover to bed which is the white area. The bedding area is a pointed bluff with very steep drop offs on three sides. It is covered in red cedars. It actually sits just across my East property line. My land is the only good access to it . So deer rarely get pushed out of it. Just after first light two does slipped by but they were in a sub trail deeper in the cover. Then a bit later 2 more slipped by behind me. The next two hours pasted pleasently but no more deer were seen.
this is the ladder named for Andy.
its is in the oak on the right side of the frame
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5526/9855324873_cedcf8c017.jpg)
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Tremendous buck! Life has been too busy to get on until this afternoon. Keep it coming!
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I see you crossed the deer trail you're hunting. Any special precautions for that? I do it too, but fret about it. I don't bother with descenting sprays.
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Great buck Jim! Thanks for sharing all your hunts. Good luck on the does!! Rick.
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outing #10 AA lone wolf
The wind stayed out of the NW all day but not as strong as yesterday. I had been up top two sits in a row and it was time to hunt somewhere lower. I chose Apple Alleys Lone wolf.
(http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2840/9865309783_b6e85869c9.jpg)
its an easy walk up the driveway, past the Buddha , along the forage bean field and then in thru some Sumac to the stand.
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7455/9865390454_01dbf61ef3.jpg)
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this stand is in a new tree this year. I have had in at least 4 different trees by now and I think I finally have it narrowed down pretty well.
(http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2858/9865310393_78804eac6b.jpg)
Last year when this stand was further up hill, I continually watched deer drop off the ridge and cut thru a slot next to three apple trees. The stand now hangs in that slot.
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7290/9865317133_cc39f3fc6f.jpg)
The food plot is at the top which is the northern end of the alley. Apple trees litter the center and line the edges of this old pasture. The large forage bean field is below. In the early season I will hunt this stand as long as there are apples on the trees, Then I won;t hunt it till late season when the deer come off the ridges and head down to the bottom field.
Tonight At 5 pm a deer dropped off the ridge to my left but was on a trail that eventually comes thru the brush behind me. I could hear its foot falls and was waiting for the snort. It got closer than I thought it would before it hit my scent stream. Two loud shorts and it reversed its direction of travel.
here is a view from the stand
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7319/9865239376_6872e9c7f5.jpg)
Tonight's wind was opposite of last night's noisy wind. Tonight as the wind dropped off,it got quieter and quieter. you could hear a mouse fart at 50 yards. I heard a deer cough some where below me. I heard another munching apples above me. Later it sounded like a deer was gagging or chocking on something below me. Above me way up on inspiration point another deer was snorting at something. They were all around me yet I never laid my eyes on one! I got down just at last light and stole my way home.
Unfortunately I have to leave town for two days tomorrow, so no hunting till at least this Tuesday. i'd say its been a pretty good first week!
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This is awesome!!
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I would have to agree that it has been a pretty good first week... season for that matter!
Will keep the fire burning........ :campfire:
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Love it Jim.......looking forward to your return so the hunt may continue!
David
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Just getting caught up on this one Jim, apparently I missed a bunch...what a great buck bud...congrats!!!!!!
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"i'd say its been a pretty good first week!"
You bet!!!!
:campfire:
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:campfire:
This adventure belongs on page 1....
Shoot straight, Shinken
:archer2:
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outing # 11
The stand I chose to today doesn't have a catchy name yet so I call it what it is, Aspen over Clover
(http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2824/9916096795_d14c3bf69f.jpg)
Up on my most northern border, a stones throw from the neighbor's barn I have a little clover field that is about the size of a softball diamond's infield. The deer love to hit this field last thing before bed in the am or first thing in the afternoon. The stand sits over a logging road on the upper end of the food plot and there are numerous trails that drop off the ridges onto it.
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7438/9916265993_865078c0cc.jpg)
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it was chilly this am with a very bright moon. No need again for any artificial light and I was in the tree well before pink light. The wind was in my face out of the S and light and variable. I was comfortably standing when I heard the first deer approach. Unfortunately It came down the neighbor's ridge and ended up behind and directly downwind of me. So much for a product called "dead downwind". Three snorts later it was bounding back up the ridge.
in this photo you can just make out the trunk of the Aspen the stand is hung in.
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5537/9918152625_50fb4b9f6b.jpg)
here is a closer view, Due to the slope of the hill the stand is not very far over a deer's head should a deer come down the logging on the stands imediate left ( when in the stand and facing forward that is)
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7309/9918212644_afd2e2b79b.jpg)
sorry for the blur in the center of most of my pictures, its evident I have some how scratched the lens.
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At 8 am I was lost in thought. My head was not in the game. You see a friend of mine died in his sleep Saturday evening. he was young ( just 51)with no symptoms of any problems and we are all in a state of shock. I was thinking about him, his wife and the kids.
Looking to my left I suddenly made out a small deer in the edges of the brush. It was softly stamping its left front leg. Apparently it had picked up something I had done. But being a fawn( it turns out) it was unsure what it had seen. A doe was suddenly directly below me on the logging road. it seemed aware of my presence, but did not look up and it slowly turned 90 degrees left and walked over the fawn. It was hers, they greeted each other by touching noses. Then the doe walked out in front me of me with the fawn trailing. The little one had its flag straight up and the adult was on alert. The wind was perfect, I did not move a muscle and they walked over the apple tree on my right and began picking up some of the fallen fruit. The doe ate several and then she suddenly walked back in my direction and stood directly in the middle of the my shooting lane below.
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5504/9918195556_93b009623d.jpg)
But she was at a slight quartering to me angle and her head gave me indication she was looking directly under my tree. Any movement on my part would surely send her flying. So I watched her and the fawn for awhile and then they went off to bed. I thought of how Tom will never get to see this again. He was a good man, and the world has lost something good with his passing.
Later walking up the road , I decided that I will try to kill the next doe I get a good chance at and dedicate her to his memory.
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Great stuff Jim! Thanks for taking the time to walk us through your season. That sure is beautiful country.
I lost my best friend and hunting buddy 3 years ago. I miss him dearly.....every day.
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Sorry to hear about your friend Jim, a tree stand is definitely a good place to sit back and reflect on those type of things. I get a lot of my best thinking done while up in a tree. During hunting season my wife will often ask "where you going?'
A common response is "need a little tree time"
Thanks for continuing to take us along and share your beautiful property.
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Sorry for the loss of your friend Jim. I think "Aspen over Clover" might need a new memor....and a new name.
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Sorry about your freind Jim. Maybe you could dedicate that stand "Tom's" in his memory?
Good luck on a doe!
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Sorry to hear about your friend. I bet we see pics of a doe shot in memory. Good luck bud!!
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Sorry for your loss Jim that stand is a blessing, maybe you found a name for it.........
:campfire:
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That's a tough one, Jim. Sorry for your loss.
Like the others have mentioned, a new stand name may come easier now.
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outing #12
I'll let you know right now this outing does not have a happy ending.
I decided last night I was going to kill a doe in Tom's memory. So the best place to go is apple alley. the food plot there is getting hammered by deer.
There are three stands up there and I chose the ladder that sits alongside an opening i created several years ago.
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3763/9926695553_b73f862b07.jpg)
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7316/9935189456_0f79564d2a.jpg)
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This is an old ladder stand one of the first I ever purchased and sits in the middle of 4 separate Aspens trunks. It looks out over the food plot to the south. It is without a doubt one of my very favorite places to sit on the entire farm. I always see deer here.
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7340/9926362765_26e3e03960.jpg)
I got to the stand about 4 pm and the wind was light out of the SE. it wasn't long and the first deer were in the food plot.
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7355/9926335785_8c61166a1a.jpg)
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I could make out a smaller deer in the plot in the lower right. Clearly a fawn and it must have walked right under the hang on stand I hunted out of opening night. Then in walked the doe. But within a minute or two, her head shot up. She walked up the food plot in my direction. I was standing with my bow in my hand. She whirled and ran back in to the timber. Hmmmm. I reached into my pocket and pulled out few milk weed pod fibers and let then float out on the breeze. The wind had dropped off and they floated right out into the field! I hung up the bow trying to decide whether to move or not. I heard a deer walking in from my left. It was on the trail I wanted it to be. The thermal were now actually in my favor. I grabbed the bow off its hanger. The lone doe walked into the first shooting lane and stopped.
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5542/9926537283_1f2cec0fd5.jpg)
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:coffee:
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This ladder has a very narrow shelf upon which you stand. I hate it and have repeatedly told myself to replace it. So the doe is in that first opening on the left side of the frame above. My feet/toes are pointing right at her and I can't turn my shoulder toward the shot except for twisting at the waist. Of course I can't move now as she is too close. She looks up at me, and tilts her head back checking the air current. She doesn't make me but she is hesitant to go forward. We play the old game, me my bow in front of me , her staring up at me, me with my eyes closed so we don;t make eye to eye contact. Finally she starts to move forward. She steps into the next opening ( the blurred one) and I slowly draw my bow. I am twisted funny due to the fact I can't turn my feet and I am also bent at the waist. This puts the lower limb of my longbow in between my legs. At release I feel my lower limb tip strike the inside of my right knee cap. The arrow goes low and she explodes forward. I knew what happened had caused the shot to be off but still felt I had lucked out and heart shot her. She blew thru the food plot, the arrow dropped out and she ran into the timber. Within seconds it was quiet and I assumed the deer was down.
After 30 minutes I climbed down, walked out into the food plot and picked up the arrow. The front 4 inches were missing and there was meat packed into the broken carbon fibers of the shaft. I went over to the edge of the woods expecting to see her laying there. But she was not. I went in under the canopy and found the first drops of blood. Very bight red. She got onto a deer trail that runs the lower contour of the ridge and she traveled right on the deer trail for 50 yards or so. Blood was easy to see. At the first deer trail intersection, I lost all blood sign. I assumed she would have turned downhill here and spent the next 45 minutes looking for blood in that direction. When I did not find any I returned to the trail intersection. The sun had now dropped behind the bluff. It wasn't dark but I was in the shadow so I turned on this little 120 lumen light I have for tracking. Instantly I saw blood going uphill! Not a good sign!
here is the path she ran.
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5475/9926555756_c6626627ff.jpg)
The trail was still easy to follow . Twice where she stopped, she left a small pool of blood and one time it was filled with air bubbles. I followed her over the top of rattlesnake ridge and the blood began to get less. Finally after dark on the steep NW side of the bluff I lost it completely. After failing to find any further trace of her. I left it for the night and returned at first light today. I was only able to follow it another 25 yards and lost it when she crossed the fence onto the adjacent property. I did grid searches all morning but on a steep bluff that is very hard to do effectively. I did not find another drop of blood. I believe the arrow went thru the near arm and into her chest but only penetrated the closer lung. I am incredibly sad at the loss . When ever pain and suffering is inflicted needlessly to a living creature it is a very sad thing to me. I know what I do is very serious and I take full responsibility for it. I have always tried my best to avoid these short comings by being the best hunter I can be. I hope this is the last time this ever happens but I fear that it won;t be.
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Bummer Jim. I wish there was something I could say to cheer you up.
I have been there and know others have also. Keep at it!
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Hey Jim,
Sorry about your friend, may he rest in God's peace.
Sooner or later everybody will lose a deer, it's the ugly side of bowhunting. All you can do is shake it off and start over. Take care, Bob
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outing #13 back to Joel's stand
On a much happier and positive note than my last post I am happy to report that Godzilla has appeared for the first time on camera in over a year. Here he is last Friday in the apple alley food plot. I am fortunate enough to have my yurt graced with his sheds from last season. He has 1 foot long g2S
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5472/9926186786_123fb66f13.jpg)
This is the first ever day light photo of him!!
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My good friend and bow hunting Mentor Dean AKA Bwana
arrived last night for a four day hunt. His brother Joel is to arrive some time tomorrow. Unfortunately these guys still use training wheels despite some 50 years of combined bow hunting experience. Perhaps I'll get them out shooting flu-flus with one of my recurves so I can post some pictures!
here is that stand's location again
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5468/9950573636_1eb670011d.jpg)
I busted a deer just before reaching the stand and then my headlight caught the blinking eyes of a deer bedded right under the ladder as I got with 25 yards of the stand! A young doe and i believe it was the same one who came back three times! she just couldn't get enough of me I guess!! I had one other yearling pass behind me before it was time to head in to work.
it's going to get warm and windy this afternoon. Not quite sure where the best place to go is but I'll find somewhere!
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Jim is that Mr. X or another buck? Thanks for taking us along. Ken
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That is Godzilla in the most recent post. Mr. X is dead . killed by my next door neighbor two nights after I killed my buck i caped the buck for him He weighed 225 hanging!
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Jim, you have some nice bucks in your neck of the woods. Congrats on a fine buck. Hopefully, you have a chance at Godzilla next year. Ken
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Jim, you have some nice bucks in your neck of the woods. Congrats on a fine buck. Hopefully, you have a chance at Godzilla next year. Ken
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That deer walking away from Godzilla looks like a fairly big one also. He looks WWWIIIIDDDEEEE!
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yes that buck will be a good one next year too, he is surely an up and comer!
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Great to see Godzilla on the property!!!
:campfire:
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Wow, nice deer, I like him better than mister X...lol! As usual ,great coverage of your season so far.
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Hello Jim, hope all is well, Sorry to hear about your freind. It has been a year of way to many funerals. Prayers sent your way. Glad to see you are getting to the woods and seeing deer. I hope you know there are probly tons of readers here that wish they could be doing what you are doing. So in a way you are hunting for us also.
I have just been cleared to start drawing my bow again. So I will be heading south to Viola this weekend to see what I can do. At least check the Cameras and get a look at who has been walking the woods. Will send pictures your way next week upon my return.
Have a great weekend and thank you for taking the time to share your time in the woods.
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Thanks again Jim! Hope your freinds have a great Hunt! :thumbsup: :campfire:
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That's it, get right back at it.
Very nice to see that big buck in daylight. Good luck with your friends.
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Condolences on the loss of your friend.
That's another great looking buck in you last photo.
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Godzilla LIVES!!!
Most-excellent that you have his matched sheds from last year!
The dream lives on!
Shoot straight, Shinken
:archer2:
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Outing #14 The Pususta stand.
It turned hot and windy yesterday. Near 80 and gusty SE winds all afternoon.
We walked up the logging road together and where Bwana turned right to go to the upper fields I turned left to head to the middle ridge.
(http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2894/9968123216_b72526b1e9.jpg)
When I first purchased this place all that was at this spot was an intersection of three four wheeler trails. It is a natural game crossing where three ridges come together. So I dropped some trees and hired a small dozer to come up and push out the stumps. That was six years ago already.The stand is named for my friend the chain saw carver who killed a nice doe out of the tree early on.
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7377/9968192253_a6ba9f5986.jpg)
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I have a ladder in a big shag bark hickory here
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7420/9968209203_687ba87ac2.jpg)
the food plot is looking woefully sad due to the lack of rain and too much shade as well . I don't think any rain now will salvage the plot. But there is still a lot of acorn and hickory nuts here and it is a corridor that the animals just naturally move thru So despite the shape of the food plot I will continue to hunt in the general area as the season progresses.
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7330/9968153026_f671375d59.jpg)
We had guessed the deer movement would be minimal and if any deer were moving it would be at the very end of the day. We were wrong. There wasn't any day time movement at all. But it was still a pleasant afternoon to be in the deer woods!
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outing #15 The Tarzan Stand.
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7340/9968737914_ddc8d7e324.jpg)
To the East of Apple Alley beneath a rocky outcrop sits the Tarzan Stand. So named for the wrist thick vines that hang from some of the trees that are so strong you can swing like Tarzan on them. This stand is new and will get hunted hard in future seasons. It sits above a trail that hugs the middle contour of the face of the bluff. The hill is very steep here with a rocky cliff above your head. The deer movement here is forced to go below you . Its just a natural funnel But I hunted in the am today and will most likely hunt it only in the afternoons going forward. One I jumped several deer in the dark going in and I think the deer are jut more likely to come down the hill in pm. I think the deer need to be hunted higher up in the am. Again its hot and windy out of the SE. no deer other than the one i bumped were seen or heard.
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outing #16 Back to the scene of Tuesday's crime. The AA single ladder (aka lost doe stand) Pulled chip from the camera in the plot and found this picture. Its the doe I hit poorly. If you blow the picture up you can see my arrow laying in the rape. But you can not see where I actually hit her. I still think thru the arm and into the near lung.
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3789/9975461643_262c8bec37.jpg)
Two words describe tonight/s hunt. Hot. Windy. very hot all day for late September. gusty SE winds. Deer movement minimal I had all ready climbed down and at the far side of the food plot stood a single deer. Too dark to tell what it was. I went out the back door of the spot and circled around as to not blow it out of the plot. Spotted 2 white flags leaving the forage beans.
This heat is supposed to be replaced with some rain and then cooler temps Sunday and Monday. Lets hope so so my guests can at least see some deer.
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outing #17 Jay's stand
It stayed very warm over night. I think it was 58 degrees at 4 30 am with very gusty winds still out out of the SE just like we have had all week. I knew we would all need to be in protected areas. So after dropping off my buddies, I headed up the logging road. I turned left on the hogback then turned right and dropped down the bluff's East side. In the bottom near a retaining ( dry this year ) pond sit's Jay's stand.
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5442/9991423103_8b02a2a3bb.jpg)
The wind was roaring at the top of the bluff but down below it wasn't nearly so bad .
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This stand sits at the intersection of an old skid road I keep oped by going down there once or twice in the summer and using a chain saw and weed whacker with a brush blade and clearing out a path in the brush and bramble. Its very heavy bedding cover and I thought if I was going to see deer in this wind it would be here.
the line you see is the county line, I cant seem to get it to delete.
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7291/9991299865_9650200e47.jpg)
Its too bad the pond is dry this year. But there are three or four apple and two crab apple trees down here and they all have fruit on them this year.
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7326/9991450753_7d0ca0723f.jpg)
This is looking towards where the pond is. you can see it is surrounded with really heavy cover. Tough to see very far down here.
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(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3798/9991437883_b9e724d26c.jpg)
The stand is a good 14 feet up but there isn't a lot of cover in this tree. If the deer are coming from the south or east its not a problem. But from the north or west it can be if you dont spot them early on. Today at 8 am I saw a doe and fawn approaching from the North. The doe went to one of the apple trees and started eating apples that were on the ground/ The fawn went to the crab apple right in front of me and was pulling the little crabs off of the tree. A 2nd doe appeared. The fawn moved forward and was standing right below me in the open her mom walked over and stood beside her baby. I was planning on shooting the 2nd doe. She was the largest of the three and had no fawn that I could see. The first doe looked up at me and stared. I tried to be invisible. The doe took a few steps and stared up at me a gain. Once again she didn't make me. The wind was perfect so far. She moved forward followed by her baby. I was just about safe now as she was moving off to bed. I felt certain the shot was going to happen as the next doe was now at the crab apple pulling down crabs. I was focused on her. when the first doe let out a snort! The doe and fawn ran off and the 2nd doe whirled and stopped and stood still. I hoped she would turn around and follow her buds. But she did not. Instead she ran the opposite direction. I think the wind must have swirled and a molecule or two of me gave me up. I don't think I moved or that the first doe had turned back and was watching but I am not sure. The wind came up at 9 am and the rain moved in and we were washed out the remainder of the day. As it turned out I was the only one that saw deer this am.
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Soooo close...
The ups and downs in such a short time with the bow are a big part of this for me.
I have to get more stands out on our land.
I like how you have a number of options for any outing.
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I still following on pins and needles!
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Great read. Spend a good part of my morning today reading it and catching up.
Beautiful place you have there.
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I'm on my way home from CO and catching up on this had helped to pass some miles. Sorry about the loss of your friend Jim. I know he is enjoying his time in the woods this fall through your thoughts.
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I'm on my way home from CO and catching up on this had helped to pass some miles. Sorry about the loss of your friend Jim. I know he is enjoying his time in the woods this fall through your thoughts.
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Best laid plans??? wind is a killer........
:campfire:
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its almost like things are not meant to be when your out there afield and all things are going right and the shots almost there and then the winds shifts.....NUTS!!!! :o
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outing #18
After yesterday's afternoon rain the temps dropped nicely to a cool 43. We set out at 5:15 in the fog and the crescent moon had a cool ring around it.
Joel headed to the stand with his name. Bwana and I marched up the bluff together. When we got up high we could look down on the top of the cloud that had socked in the valley. I dropped him off on my way to a brand new stand near Inspiration point.
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5526/10012267453_385dabc1eb.jpg)
This stand sits up high on a very steep slope. The old logging road intersects with several deer trails here and several other deer trails run the contours of the ridge below it. Looking down you can actually watch three trails that run parallel to each other.
The steepness of the slope is rather unsettling at first. It makes you feel like you are much higher than you are. I caught myself constantly having one hand on the trunk of the oak to steady myself.
The wind was perfect. Out of the south and right in my face. Any deer passing below would not have any nose advantages on me today!
The first deer that made its way past was a small doe. It came down a trail 15 yards below the trail I am watching at around 8:15. Too far and too steep to shoot. Then a large doe followed at 8:30.
I was getting ready to sit down for a bit when the 3rd caught me off guard. It sensed the movement above and stopped for a short second or two and then continued on its way. All three deer ended up eventually on the trail I am guarding but they were 50 yards down the trail when they did.
I was happy that I had guessed there would be AM movement here. I'll likely sit it again and if the deer move through but below what I thought was the main trail, I"ll adjust the stands location accordingly.
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outing #19
Back up top to the ladder on the new turnips field. I have renamed this ladder to Lefty.
(http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2839/10012185565_7b38ff0a93.jpg)
Everyone who hunts my farms risks getting in a stand set up for a lefty. Sorry but i just can't set stands any other way! This one's new name says it all.
There is a very large limb that is right at shoulder height when you are standing up. It's on your right when you are facing the food plot . It comes straight out of the trunk and stretches out over the mowed trail below. It makes it impossible for a right handed person to draw their bow.
After the rain the food plot has really perked up.
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5496/10012271793_0f84ce930d.jpg)
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The last few days have been hot and all the activity in the plot has been around midnight.
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5528/10012275243_03e0427ee7.jpg)
The temps were cooler today and I hoped there would be some earlier movement. The wind was still out of the south sending my scent out over the cliff behind me. Perfect.
So standing up with my back and right shoulder pushing on the big limb , bow in my hand I peaked under the limb to stare through the limbs of a yellow crab apple next to the oak. Any deer coming down the mowed trail from the south would pass behind the crab and then be in front of me at about 6 yards . I was really being diligent as I had a good feeling about tonight. Occasionally I would look over the big limb to snatch a glimpse of the far clover field down near where I shot my buck. There had been 3 or 4 deer in that clover earlier. Whenever I looked over the big limb I then couldn't see below me. I was doing just that when out of no where a doe stepped into the shooting lane! Now I am caught unprepared and watch as my shot evaporates and she walks up in the food plot! A buck fawn follows her. Talk about rotten timing!
I had pulled the memory chip out of the trail camera on the food plot before climbing up the ladder. The doe had picked up my scent from my boots. She was sniffing the ground like a blood hound and was coming back down to me! I prepared to shoot and got half drawn but she trotted right thru the narrow spot I wanted to shoot her in and now stood under the crab apple. Of course the fawn followed but it stopped and stood where I would have shot had it been the adult! Then they both passed almost directly under me. Now the limb that prevents a right handed archer from shooting is preventing me from shooting! Arg!!!!!
I just had to laugh at the scenario! That is bow hunting!
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Good stuff Jim. I am loving your thread!
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:campfire:
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Outing #20
with limited time to hunt this am and a forecast of winds out of the south I chose to hunt another new stand this year called the double cedar. Sitting at the bottom of Rattlesnake ridge, There are forage beans to the East, Commercial AG beans to the West and apple trees out in front of me, I was hoping to catch a deer going one way or the other.
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7307/10026064336_b2ed41f2a8.jpg)
I literally carved out an opening in the ceder with double trunks and also created a wind row of brush to force the deer to move one way or the other as they pass thru here. I did this work last March or April. In addition to the food here there are always big rubs on the Aspens at the base of the ridge.
I wasn't there long and I realized that I'll need to do a little more trimming in the areas left and right of the tree so that visibility is improved for the hunter. As it s now it is tuff to see much other than what is almost directly in front of the stand. Gonna have to fix that! It got pretty windy quite early and I headed into work around 8 30 am.
My Guests have left with no change on the score card this year. We had a lot of laughs and ate way too much good food. I am looking forward to some alone time in the yurt!
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Great blog!
I'm wondering why you travel through the woods to some of your stand location instead of a direct route through the open fields?
Rusty
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Man I can't make 20 hunts a season! You are living the dream
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Tater you have to remember I live in bluff country and the google earth photos don't give you the true perspective of the farm. Out of 295 acres only 20 are tillable. For example the elevation in the valley is 612 feet above sea level. The bluff top only 300 yards distant is 1300 for a change of over 700 vertical feet. I also avoid cutting thru bedding areas by taking the paths created to avoid those areas.
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Rugged SE Minnesota, I guess so! Have you posted a topo of your property this year or last?
Including the others this is great of you to bring us along. Last year got by me somehow, but I'm caught up and look forward to your daily happens. :thumbsup:
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Great thread this year so far Jim... You are truly dialing your place in and getting patterns figured out.
Best read of my day :)
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:campfire:
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skipped hunting last night and went to dinner with the Mrs, slept in this am to catch up on sleep.
That Topo idea of Tater's is a good idea. Does anyone know of a link where I can save the image without having to pay for it?
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A Left Handed stand that no one can shoot out of! Gotta have a good sense of humour to chase something with a bow.
You're inspiring me, Jim. I'm 7 months out from a hip replacement and have decided that from now on I'm going to work on our land only(woodlot management). I was thinking about this thread the other day in the woods and thought, "I could hunt every day too." Not this year, but am now determined to set things up that way. Might even get me a Bearwood Farms thread going...
Very smart move on a dinner date with the Mrs. Lets her know you're still around.
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Jim...You can go to esri.com and download ArcGis Explorer for free. You can print or save images of topo maps or aerial photos at no cost.
Really enjoy your thread. Congratulations on a fine buck as well.
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outing #21 The hay bale
What a fun evening!!
On the bottom of my farm I have 11 acres that I rent to a local farmer. On the far end it narrows down to just 25 yards wide. Here the level land quits abruptly and drops down in the creek bottom. The creek is lined with brush and box elders that are too crooked to hang a stand in. So instead I have a haybale blind positioned where the field is about 50 yards wide.
(http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2814/10046603923_2d9288585d.jpg)
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3707/10046475404_0afcaa0aa0.jpg)
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When its hot the deer seem to just live in the creek bottom. They will use the creek to hide their movements up and down the valley. Last week on Weds evening when Bwana and I were shooting our bows (his NR tag wasn't valid until Thursday am) We counted 7 deer in the beans in front of the bale.
here is a photo from earlier this summer. The camera is sitting directly in front of the bale. So this is also the view a hunter has when sitting in the bale.
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3728/9633160434_bb9c6c9ab1.jpg)
it was another warm day despite the fact the wind was out of the NW. I decided to sit in the bale because Joel had sat it Friday and had several does in front of him but they stayed on the far side of the field.
I was seated in the blind by 4 30. Early in the evening around 5 pm a doe and fawn stepped into the field about 30 yards from me. They came from out of the creek bottom. She was a very small doe and seemed nervous the entire 15 minutes she was in the field. I know that I made no noise nor was there any way she could smell me as she was upwind. 6th sense perhaps? Any way she turned and dropped back down into the creek bottom and did not come back.
At 6 pm a big doe with twins followed by a single doe appeared at about the same spot the other doe had left. The twins walked right past the front of the blind at about 12 yards. About like the photo of the deer feeding above. The dark colored doe was following but feeding as she came. As her head began to appear in my window I raised my bow arm to get ready to shoot. Some how one of the fawns to my right either spotted the movement or sensed the movement and spooked to the middle of the field. Mom ran all the way over to to the opposite side and went right back to feeding! I then watched them feed and the fawns monkeyed around for 45 minutes. They then all looked up hill to my left. Coming down the hill was a mega doe with triplets! She was so dark that she appeared to be black in color. I picked up my bow but knew that I was running out of time. She fed her way over to me and stood at 20 yards, head on but head down in the beans. I tried willing her to turn sideways. Ever so slowly she feed towards me and was now at 15 yards but was still facing towards me. Come on!
Two of the fawns crossed in front of her and finally she started to turn to her left and my right. Now she was broadside. But it was too dark to pick a spot. Well within range but no way would I be able to see my arrow I with held drawing my bow. She walked to my right and out of my line of vision. I relaxed and leaned forward to peek out to my right. She was walking towards the blind and it looked like she was going to end up in front of me point blank. Again I got ready to shoot. Then she let out a snort and all 9 deer went running out of the field and up the hill towards the timber! I suspect she winded me!
Wow 11 deer tonight in 2 and 1/2 hours!
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Sounds like a great outing, Jim!
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Great thread! With a busy job and 3 little ones I think I live vicariously through you and many others who share their stories on this great forum.
As far as how to get a topo map of your place, you can use Google maps. In the upper right of the screen there is a drop down box where you can switch between satellite, map, terrain, etc. If you click the terrain feature it gives a good topo map. One trick, if you are zoomed in too close, the terrain feature will not work.
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Great thread...As B2 mentions, I also live vicariously through this. I also have 3 little kids and can only dream of a situation like yours. Enjoy the opportunity to own a property like yours, and thanks for the thread!
B
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Pretty neat set up Jim! that hay bale blind is genious.
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outing #22 back to the sure thing.
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7334/9837112593_4acbf373e2.jpg)
with all of the deer activity in the beans by the hay bale I thought I'd sit above that field this am. The sure thing is no more than 200 yeards uphill from the bale blind.
It was Cold today, we had our first frost ! As I was walking thru the old pasture after leaving the road I could see the grass was lightly frosted. Got in the stand plenty early. I wore wool pants this am!!
This stand continues to live up to its name. Just after sunrise I could hear the drone of an approaching motor up in the sky. From the west the noise continued to get louder and louder. I thought ultralight plane or a motorized glider. Sure enough a multicolored sail appeared high over the neighbor's bluff. I was enjoying the show when I glanced down and you guessed it a doe was standing under the apple tree you need to duck under to get into where the stand is. It really looked like she was watching the kite flier too!
Well she suddenly decided it was time to get moving and as she quickly moved into my first shooting lane I put some tension on the string. I am not one to try and stop a moving deer. I fully expected her to stop in the opening as they most always do. She hustled right thru the first , second and last opening. I was at half draw the entire time. Finally she stopped after she was about 20 yards up the hill from me. Then she just stood there for a couple of minutes and slowly walked up the hill to bed. About an hour later I spotted 2 does across the valley ,making their way up the fire break below Joel's stand. It was a beautiful morning and the afternoon looks good as well
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outing #23 lefty
sometimes temptation is just too strong and i'll hunt a stand more often than one should. normally I don't hunt a stand more than once a week. Normally.
today's wind was identical to last Sunday's so I gave in and went back up to hunt Lefty.
The wind stayed favorable and blew my scent out over the bluff behind me. I saw and listened to dozens of bird calls. Distant combines whined in the bean fields and at sun down the tree frogs sang their little hearts out.
I saw no deer. A front is moving in with a forecast of rain for next three days. I am hoping its right. Turnips are just starting to form in the field by lefty with some more rain they just might do all right after all.
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Jim, you know its only a matter of time. Perhaps the morning?? :thumbsup:
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hunt delayed due to weather
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What???? you getting soft in your old age....LOL!!!! Best of luck on your next outing! :thumbsup: :notworthy:
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ha need an ark today to go out, Rain, real rain finally.
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Maybe that will freshen up the food plots.....? If so that will be good for later on when things get hot!!
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outing #24 squirrel's tail stand
We had almost 2 inches of rain this after noon. That is more than we had in the 6 week period of 8/1 to 9/14. But the sun came out for a bit at 3: 30 pm and convinced me it was good to go hunting.
Ron is right its going really help out on the plots!
Not far from the back door of the farm house is the Squirrel tail stand. It sits East above the forage beans, just inside the woods and above the old hillside pasture. Oaks and hickories are here and lots and lots of apples below me.
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3716/10077197775_90470ec4c9.jpg)
The ladder is in a big white oak and has lots of good cover. The slope of the bluff gets really steep right behind the stand. Deer 20 yards up hill from me are actually higher up than I am 15 feet up the tree!
There is a lot of cover here and it is really hard to see past 40 yards except for below me towards the pasture.
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The deer like to bed in that little open area or near it just up the bluff from the stand. That is another opening I and the DNR worked to create.
When they come down the hill, they come down fast. Usually running but most times stop in the staging area I created inside the tree line.
This stand is 2nd only to the Bwana stand for the number of deer killed out of it. In December 2011 my nephew killed a 148 inch 12 point out of it.
Since it was so wet in the wood I knew that I most likely would not hear a deer approaching. So for the last 90 minutes I stood at the ready with bow in hand. At 6 30 I heard a noise up and to my left. A deer was coming down hill fast. I could only snatch glimpses of its brown hide as it cruised down hill and out into the pasture. it was about 45 yards south of the stand as it came down the hill. Then for the last 30 minutes I could a deer somewhere below me crunching on apples. It could have been the one I saw but have no way to know for sure.
At dusk I slipped out and as I was descending my side of the little valley above the beans, 6 white flags bounded up the other.
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Keep it coming, Jim.
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Rained out today and its looks like it will be all day. Snow out west and tornadoes to the East!! Tomorrow should be excellent after all this weather passes.
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Happy Birthday Jim! hopefully the storms hold off and you can get out tonight!
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got rained out entirely yesterday . But in between rain showers I got in a little practice.
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5343/10104925504_98212a4775.jpg)
I can honestly say i have shot more RH with this hill country with the LB limbs than with any other bow. The first arrow was a bit low but the other three were zingers
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outing #25 back to the begining
What a storm we had last night . Over 3 inches rain here with 6 to 8 inches being reported nearby! Lightening and wind as well. Sleeping in the yurt can be an adventure in itself!
the alarm went off at 5 am and I peeked out side. Stars!! I saw stars!!
So I had a cup of Joe and some quick oats with brown sugar and walnuts and headed out the door and up the rigde logging trail. The way was very slippery. But no big trees were down. A few big limbs here and there but nothing blocking the trail. The wind was slight and out of the north. Perfect for where I started the season out at!
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5326/10105296323_4d5d8934e9.jpg)
I had not been here since 9/16 and Bwana sat in it 7 days ago. I thought with the big storm last night the deer movement would be heavy. Didn't happen. Sat in the stand for 4 hours and did not see a deer! The clouds moved back in early and it seemed to take forever to get day light. Lots of bushy tails out and about but not a deer in sight!.
Here is a look at the high trail on my way back down.
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7417/10104978615_7ec32abb4d.jpg)
hoping for some movement tonight!
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Little big man I love watching your threads on here keep up the great work and good luck to ya!!
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outing #26.
The skies were heavy, low and slate colored all day. The threat of rain made me apprehensive about going. So I made the promise that should it start to rain I would just return home. The wind was perfect to sit in the Bwana stand.
(http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2864/10108445634_dd2e1d92e8.jpg)
This stand sits at the very corner of the natural bend in the bluff. Behind the stand It drops down to a logging road that goes down to county road. Below the logging road is a section of the farm that for the most part is set aside as a sanctuary. Its all bedding cover that I only hunt once or twice a season.
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in front of the stand is a mixture of forage beans and rape. The recent rains have turned this plot around. Straight over the hill from the stand is another forage bean field with some turnips I tried to seed in between the rows of beans. Kitty corner is the long clover field and the turnips field in front of lefty.
Some turnips are visible in the beans.
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7459/10108463485_163859d75f.jpg)
this is the clover field and the turnips in front of lefty
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5501/10108538013_4a467f70e6.jpg)
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This is the beans and rape in front of the Bwana stand.
The stand sits in the huge oak just where the curve starts on the right of the photo.
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3779/10108475995_1cd790f7c2.jpg).
Here is the view from the stand.
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7349/10108476376_cb79aa3e2d.jpg)
There is quite a slope in the field. The top is no more than 35 yards from the base of the tree. Deer walking along the top in between the two fields in the mowed trail are higher than you are when you are in the stand. Those bottom rows of beans are just six yards below you. Its a killer of a spot and we have killed 4 deer out it in the last three years. This is where I killed my heavy weight buck last year.
The heavy skies played tricks on me all afternoon. At one point I thought the sun had set but my watch still said 6 pm. I thought for minute or two my watch had stopped! Two and one half hours had gone by quickly without a deer in sight. It was about 6.40 or so and a big thunder clap rolled over head. I could see rain was coming from the south so I decided to get down while I could do so safely. I stalked to the top of the hill ever so slowly in case there were deer over the top or to the left in the clover. But there were none. Then the sun suddenly dropped below the heavy clouds into a narrow slot just above the horizon. A band of orange light exploded and all of the bluff tops in every direction looked as though they were on fire! I just stood there watching as the light quickly faded. Another bolt of lightning sent me towards home. I had spent 6.5 hours in a trees today , not a deer was sighted until I was 200 yards from the yurt when I bumped into three yearlings coming out of the neighbor's pasture and heading up into my hay field. It was a good day.
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Good for you getting out Jim.It is the youth gun hunt here, so stayed home and cooked.Smoked 4 turkey breast and a roster full of legs and theighs,for BBQ and drying apples. Rained most of the day. But saw 2 deer walking in the neighborhood. Hope tomorrow is dryer. Good luck!!
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Still loving this thread!
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outing #27 apple alleys back door. the sapling stand
(http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2877/10120321584_943b39e24a.jpg)
Exiting apple alley is a trail that eventually crosses my fence line and goes into the neighbor's cow pasture. I thought if I skirted the edges of the bean field and went early enough I could get in the back without alerting any deer.
I made it into the stand by 5 :45 and to my knowledge did not spook any deer. atleast I didn't hear any snorts or branches breaking by animals running away that is.
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(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7436/10120322204_bb3dd888b9.jpg)
the stand is a two man ladder in a giant of a tree. An 8 foot ratchet strap barely made it around the trunk!
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7399/9632851868_3c4ba9969c.jpg)
after climbing in I let a few milk weed fibers float on the breeze and everything seemed perfect. It was cold and quiet. There was a lot of squirrel movement but not much else! Greys, Blacks and Foxtails! I heard one distant deer snort very far away. After 3 hours my feet were cold . So I pulled the camera chip and headed in. Looking thru the photos I didn't miss anything today. Not a deer has been in the plot since yesterday AM. But here is a great photo of a family group from last Thursday.
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3744/10120331664_3391148cd3.jpg)
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You are a lucky man Jim, enjoy all your hard work and thanks for the effort to share it. :thumbsup:
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outing #28. Haybale ( AKA how to screw it up without really trying)
ok so I have been striking out lately on my stand selections. Last night while I was up top Jayne from the house watched half a dozen deer in the beans by the bale. So I headed down there early this afternoon. Since it was over cast I thought the deer might move early. AS I approached the blind I decided to get rid of that last cup of coffee before stepping into the blind. Rather than dig out my plastic bottle I decided just to pee in the edge of the field. I was about 15 yards from the blind.
Around 5 pm I heard a deer run into the field from my left. I set my book down and picked up the longbow. A 2nd deer was just at the edge of field in the tall grass and entered as well. They were at the opposite side of the field from the bale. After about 10 minutes one was directly across from me and it thru up its head. Gave a snort and up the hill it ran followed by the 2nd and a 3rd deer as well that I hadn't seen.
What the heck?
One hour later two yearling bucks came trotting down the hill and into the field. Again they are on the opposite side of the field. There is no detectable wind. Up go their noses and up the hill they go. They stop about 40 yards up and stand there staring down into the field. They stood motionless for 20 minutes before trotting off. Ok now. I am wearing dark clothes. My face is both painted and partially covered. I have on a black hat and black gloves. I was not moving . I had even covered the end window with a new bit of burlap to darken the blind! I am starting to think its the pee!
Then 30 minutes later the big doe with twin fawns I almost shot 6 nights ago here enters the field. She is coming my way and is at about 20 yards and angling towards me. She is slightly quartering too when suddenly she goes all stiff!! she foot stomps , snorts! and she is staring directly not at me but to the right of the blind exactly where I had peed 2 and one half hours earlier! She whirls , crosses the field and runs 20 yards up the other side and stands there staring back at the field!
Now it is clear to me she could not identify the smell as that of urine from a predator or a man. But clearly she knew it was not from another deer. It was just enough to set off her alarms and kept me from getting a shot. I wasn't thinking and it cost me.
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Thanks for taking us along Jim! I look forward to your commentary each day.
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I don't carry a bottle with me, but may from now on. I also try to relieve myself a ways off from my immediate hunt area, but who's to say that's good enough? Good lesson here perhaps.
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That must have been frustrating especially with that much deer movement!!!
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Lesson learned Jim. Must have been something in the coffee? Saw some doe fawns, But the cool part of the day was seeing a red tail hawk take down a gos hawk and the fight on the ground. The red tail eventualy won and flew away with it's breakfast.
Good Luck!!
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outing #29 Sure thing.
I was unable to get out this am due to early morning commitments. We had one of those special fall days. With early morning cool temps followed by bright blue skies and a light breeze out of the NW. All though I had sat this stand two times this season I had not sat in it for an evening hunt. You need a NW wind to do that and I got just what the doctor ordered today.
In the stand by 4:15 and enjoying the nice weather it wasn't long and i looked down towards the hay bale and saw two fawns and their mom down in the beans. The fawns were racing around having a grand old time. At 6:05 just after checking my watch I looked across the valley just in time to see a big buck come out of the 23. It has to be every bit of 400 yards across and when I can head bones with the naked eye at that distance, its a good buck! Too bad I had neglected to bring the binos with!
He stood on the mowed fire break for a long time looking things over . Then once he was sure the coast was clear he trotted right down the mowed trail. I lost sight of him as he hit the road but it wasn't a minute later and he appeared in the beans. He immediately went over to check out the doe and she took off like a bullet. He wandered around the field for a bit then I lost sight of him as he rounded the corner . His travel path is the red line in picture below.
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3762/10148606726_418e3be601.jpg)
I left the hay bale marker on so you can see where he was in relation to the bale. I wish I had been in the bale tonight to see how good of a buck he is.
As the evening slowly faded I saw three more deer in the prairie grass across the valley. Then One appeared on the road and finally another one in the apple trees about 30 yards below my spot. But it drifted off and the day ended with nothing too close.
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Very cool buddy!!
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Just caught up this year. Love the story and congrats on the early success of a great buck!
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outing #30 Aspen over clover.
I have been battling an incredibly painful ear infection and was not able to hunt yesterday. But today I headed down the gravel road to the clover field on the north end of the farm A south wind would put the wind right in my face. I hoped the deer were still coming to the apples on the north side of the plot.
the stars were wonderful and I was treated to a lovely sunrise.
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5493/10171389723_01340120e8.jpg)
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I was having a hell of a time hearing properly. Its rather tough with your ears stuffed full of meds and cotton to boot.
I looked down and there she was.
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3799/10171269995_1a32285309.jpg)
I had decided not to kill today and to just watch instead. That decision wouldn't make much difference because as she walked into the shooting lane, the thermals loaded with my scent sent her down field. The south wind had not come up enough yet to blow my scent up hill.
Here she is as she stops 100 yards distant.
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7311/10171249815_d5a29f2b2f.jpg)
About 30 minutes later the neighbor was doing some
dog training down along the county road . He has a new lab he is trying to train for bird hunting. Anyway I decided to go and catch up. I hit the ground, shouldered my pack and stepped out from under the Aspen. A deer I hadn't seen under the apple tree snorted and ran off. I hope my hearing starts to improve soon!!
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Looks like some beautiful weather...
Hope your ears clear up Jim... that kind of stuff can mess with your equilibrium, not good in a treestand!!
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:campfire:
JIm, I hope your ears get better.
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Hey there Jim, having all our senses becomes even more noticeable when one is not 100%. I hope your ear gets better soon. Eye is slowly getting better. But the shooting eye is still good. Hope to be out Saturday!!
Good luck.
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Jim, I hope your infection heals quickly. Just wanted to take a moment to say that I am but one more of the legion of archers that have been both entertained and informed by your outstanding documentation of a wonderful project. Thank you, thank you! I wish you all possible success with it.
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outing #31 Sure thing.
I finally felt well enough to go out and hunt despite poor hearing on the right side and no hearing at all on the left.
I have guests here this weekend and after leading them to their respective entry points this am, I headed to the sure thing because, it was close, the wind was good for it and I had not been there since October 2nd.
This am's view
(http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2808/10210550044_fab4b39aa1.jpg)
I had not been in perch very long and I could hear a deer walking on my right side about 20 yards up the ridge from me. It was too dark to make it out. It passed me by unaware of my presence.
Then about one hour after sunrise I looked down through the oaks branches to my left and there was a fawn standing 7 yards away!! This no hearing thing is horrible. I grabbed ( got a new one BTW)my camera . I wanted to try out the video function. But the little one must have caught a whiff of me. She hesitated coming in to the clearing and eventually turned and walked back down the hill. It was just then I heard leaves rustle over my right shoulder. I turned too quickly and a small 8 point spun and ran away. The next hour passed without further deer coming my way and I headed in to my desk.
I am loving this spot.
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5342/10210763753_fd81cc85d8.jpg)
The forecast is calling for very windy conditions this afternoon. It's going to be a challenge to put my buds in front of deer.
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Hope your ears getting better soon, sounds like it was one heck of an ear infection.
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outing #32 CRP ladder
The forecast was spot on! hot 75 degrees, Wind gusting 25 to 35 out of the SW. Tough to find not one but three places where a guy might shoot a deer!
I got my buddies off to their destinations and headed up to a ladder stand i had not yet hunted this year
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8559/10218149604_b3aa242ae8.jpg)
This stand was moved into the tree its currently in because the old tree died and I no longer felt safe attached to it. We relocated it last July and at that time I felt this new spot would work just fine. There is a heavy deer trail just inside the edge of the woods that runs all along the bottom of the ridge. But after sitting there tonight it is very obvious we didn't think it thru and I'll need to find another tree to put the stand in. Sometimes you just have to waste an evening to figure things out.
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7448/10218159174_128d969821.jpg)
This photo was taken a 4 pm. At 6 pm the stand isn't quite so obvious but its just too close to the trail , even for me! I saw no deer tonight. The wind and warm temps kept them in their beds.
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The sits not wasted if you learn something, Jim.
At least your presence wasn't given away. I find the picking of the tree to often be the hardest part of the "hide" placement. Lots to consider and July looks a lot different than October.
Windy and warm is tough.
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Just some more fine tuning.........
:campfire:
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Jim,
I enjoy this thread just to see the awesome work you have put into your land, proud for you!
Your stand sites are the Bomb! :thumbsup:
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outing #34 Jays stand ( waterhole )
it never got below 60 degrees last night! We slept with all of the windows open like it was an August evening. Dave and I left the yurt at 5:30 in our T shirts and lightest camo pants!
We hiked together up to the Ivy stand and after I pointed out the ladder to him in the dark, I doubled back down the trail to Jay's stand.
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7409/10231230386_63ef65a2d2.jpg)
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The westerly wind would work for both of us. As the sun came up, I was suddenly regretting how lightly I was dressed. I had put on a shirt and vest but the lighter weight pants just were not cutting it. I was not going to last till 10 am that was sure. Here are views from aloft.Lots of leave have hit the ground since I was last here almost 2 weeks ago. Still some apples and lots of crab apples on the trees though.
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5474/10231168975_4cbdec2285.jpg)
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3739/10231201745_727e6e14bf.jpg)
Where the deer trail meets my 4 wheeler trail at the V in the lower right, there is usually a big scrap. But nothing there yet this year.
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By 9 am I was done. I was too cold to sit still and had not seen or heard a deer. I decided to head up top to check out the trail camera over the turnips. There are really some good bulbs starting to form in this little plot . I am amazed how this late warm weather is turning what I thought would be empty food plots into bonanzas. Its starting to look like I will have massive amounts of food for the late season. Late season in the snow is what I love to hunt in most!
There was only one deer on the camera . so I moved the camera over to the forage beans since they are still getting browsed fairly heavily. Perhaps I will get a photo of a buck or two in the next week or two.
The next 2 photos were both taken today.
Here are my forage beans. They are still putting out new green leaves and will not turn brown until we have a killing frost.
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3779/10231100064_b5cb9470e4.jpg)
Now here is the Ag beans in the field I rent out. Note that these beans were actually planted 10 days to weeks AFTER my forage beans.
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3752/10231087744_bab5d11a9b.jpg)
The deer are really hitting the Ag beans right now. But the combines will most likely be removing them this week. So my food plots are full and ready for the action that is just around the corner.
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outing #35 the 90 degree corner.
So the wind stayed out of the west all day and a cold front was moving south. I dropped Dave off at the Dallas stand and back tracked along the western side of the bluff. I went all the way around to the Justin stand so that nothing bedded on the slope below would get pushed out of their afternoon beds.
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5507/10238025996_46612a37f6.jpg)
I can't get the google path function to work!
AS I climbed up the 20 foot ladder , I noticed the wind had picked up considerably. After settling in it picked up additional velocity and the tree began to sway. Either I am getting wiser or becoming paranoid but I decided it was just too windy to be that high!! I was glad another stand was ready and close by. So I headed over to the 90 degree corner stand. This stand sits slightly down the bluff on the edge of the cliff. In a west wind your wind goes out over the cliff. There is a great deer trail all along a long flat bench that wraps with sharp corner of the bluff top. The stand is in a another big white oak.
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3767/10237877994_e88d48c8a0.jpg)
When the sun gets a little lower you are in complete shade here. It looks low because the trill 15 yards downhill from where I was standing when i took the photo.
Here is from the stand looking back to that spot.
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7300/10237886794_49b4dcc044.jpg)
I had just pulled up my bow when a huge gust of wind hit me and then this tree swayed as well!!
I scooted back down. No way I was staying aloft in this wind! I lay down by that red cedar and waited for the wind to lay down. The front of the cold front had passed and it should slack off soon, I hoped. Suddenly a turkey gobbled from very close by!! Then it gobbled yet again!! I thought I was hearing things. With the noise of the wind the bird had to be very close by. The wind began to lessen and after 5 minutes there was hardly a breeze. I went back up the tree just as the Tom gobbled one last time. As the sun set I could hear the bird walking on the ridge to my left. Eventually I heard him fly to roost. But I never laid eyes on a feather or a deer hair tonight either!
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I'm enjoying your stories (again) and I really appreciate you taking the time to allow us to hunt along with you.
This will be my first year to hunt my new property bought last Spring. My father has been ill and passed away last week so I have not hunted yet but will start this week. I'll spend much time thinking of him and all me meant to me.
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outing #36 the Triple B
Jay and and I hung this ladder last summer while i was doing some intensive invasive species work on the south facing slope of the middle ridge. Triple B stands for Big Bad Basswood!!
I dropped Dave off at my stand on the north side of the middle ridge then hurried back to the south side just as pink light was showing on the horizon.
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8270/10259003575_d5ef8f03cb.jpg)
The temps today were almost a full 30 degrees colder than yesterday. It was 33 F this am! Longjohns and wool was the uniform of the day!
The light westerly wind would be perfect for both us. I expected deer to come from the west on Dave's side. They would be coming from the neighbor's corn field a half mile away. On my side of the bluff they would be coming From the West as well from my food plots and the Ag beans by the house. Then they bed in the cedar point to the East of us. We each were on the main trail on our respective sides . Think if a V with bottom point being the bedding area.
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Nothing was moving. I was really surprised and had decided to sit for a bit. Murphy's law, as soon as you sit a deer will show up! I heard a noise to my right. A lone doe was feeding on acorns east of me at about 40 yards. Up went her nose!
the new camera does Video!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/51550276@N08/10258726986/
She stiff legged it towards me. The wind was so slight that my scent was dropping straight down hill now. She was East of me but slightly higher up the ridge. After not being able to find me,her stomach got the best of her and she resumed feeding. I slowly put the camera away and reached for the bow. She was actually slowly feeding in my direction. I had the bow in hand and prepared for the hopeful shot! Suddenly a single snort sounded from somewhere below me. Another deer had scented me and gave the alarm. The doe I was watching walked off tail up in the direction of the other deer.
Here is a parting still photo just as she got a whiff of Jim.
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3774/10258437436_33f2180df4.jpg)
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Ooooh and she looks like a nice one, too.
"Hunting with the wind" is tougher than it sounds...
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Jim, Your new Camera Takes Great Photos.
Hope your ears feeling a bit better!
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Great photos with the new camera.
The pictures make me feel as if I am there.
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I'm sitting in a stand with good reception this afternoon - caught up with this while waiting for deer thirty to arrive. I love following along with you Jim! Time to put the phone away and stay paying attention though ;)
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Keep at it buddy!!
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OUTING #37 Apple alley hang on
I stayed in bed this am. The ear infection is worse if anything and so I went back to the doctor today and got different meds.
All afternoon I watched the farmer's combines in my field and the next door neighbor's as they worked to stay ahead of the forecast of rain for next several days. I thought tonight could be a good night and I wasn't going to feel any worse in a tree stand than I would on the couch.
I chose the AA hang on. Although this food plot has been hunted , no one has actually been in this stand since I sat in it on opening weekend thirty days ago.
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3715/10281770986_7384c82dde.jpg)
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I did my best imitation on our tabby cat Frankie stalking a mouse as a I stalked up to the stand. Setting each foot's heel down first and rolling my foot forward. I made it to the tree with out alarming any nearby deer.
The view to my left
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7350/10281683914_91ed4c9283.jpg)
The view to my right
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3669/10281797776_65af5f84d3.jpg)
in good light it is an easy shot all the way to far side of the rape.
The wind was switching directions all night and I expected at any minute to hear a snort from one direction or another. Finally at last light I made out the dark shape of a deer feeding on apples about 30 yards south of the food plot . It was slowly working its way up the trail to the plot. When it entered I could tell from the small size of its head that it was a fawn. It was fun to just watch it gobble up the food. Legal light had been spent when the fawn looked up field. From my left a large doe trailed by another were walking down the middle of the field towards me. She stopped in my shooting lane perfectly and starred intently at the fawn. It would have been an easy shot but legal time was long gone and I stayed relaxed. She looked up at me and got suspicious and reversed her course. Those old does ain't dumb!
Before leaving for the evening, I pulled the chip from the trail cam. The boys were in hood last night!
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3727/10282162184_c3c8742c89.jpg)
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Great Bucks Jim.
I hope your ear gets better soon.
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Get feeling better Jim!
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Thank you Jim for keeping up. I was out this weekend also. Can relate with you on the wind on Saturday. I should have gotten down.It quieted at dusk, but no deer. Sunday AM was perfect,though should have dressed heavier.But no deer again.Started working on the cabin and made progress. Should have hunted, but it was a good feeling to finish the sub flooring. Back to work. Keep the hunt going.
Thank you.
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Man what a awesome thread, please keep it coming. I admire you have made a prosperous living to be able to enjoy this farm and manage it the way you do. Very cool stuff.
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outing #38 Bwana
Between the Ear and the rains its been impossible to hunt, but I finally got back out tonight.
We had a bit of rain last night. Nothing measurable but just enough so that you could move thru the woods silently.
As I ascended the bluff via the logging road behind the yurt, I jumped a spike buck from his bed. Due to the slope of the hill and the way the road is cut into it, he was a mere 5 yards from me when he jumped up. My head was at about his foot level and like all juveniles he stopped when he should have been running. I grinned as he looked thru the foliage and when we finally made eye contact , off he went up the hill. Better stay on my land little guy as the youth gun season opens in the am.
I made it to the stand early enough to pull out the chip on the camera watching over this field. Not one picture in 5 days! Over the course of my last few hunts I am beginning to think that I have been over estimating the number of deer I thought were in the valley.
I crawled up into the big oak and began to wait. The sky was heavy with threatening looking clouds all day today. Low hanging just barely over the bluff tops. My kind of day! The NW wind was slight and would work well if the deer just did their part and showed up.
As the afternoon wore on and no deer came into the field, I thought I could hear something walking below me. But it never materialized and I may have been imagining it. I got out just early enough to sneak peeks at the other plots up here on top and not one of them had a deer in it.
On the way home as I cleared the treeline above the crp field, I could make a dark shape 100 yards below me in the crp hillside and several more out in the picked beans.
I'll need to have some orange on me in the am. As in addition to the youth firearm season the DNR in all their wisdom is allowing an intensive doe harvest in my valley and the next one over. They are giving out 5 doe tags to anyone who wants to buy them and they are only good for the next 4 days! What this really boils down to is few local farmers who's wallets are not fat enough convinced the DNR to allow this wholesale slaughter . It's insane that if I wanted to have 5 guys over we could kill 30 deer legally! There is no way the existing deer population needs that measure of control.
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Sounds pretty ridiculous to me too. Wishing you good luck on your next hunts and really enjoy you taking us along.
Do you ever ground hunt besides the hay bale blind? I look at some of your pictures and see what would look like great places to tuck in and hide.
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Hope for miserable weather for the next four days to keep the slauter partys out.
Great blog keep it going.
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Nice Video and pictures Jim! That new camera does a fine job. I have always really wondered what the deer density's are in the areas's I hunt. I am sure they are high, like I suspect you did too, and it is amazing how they can just disappear at times. I suspect they are still around, probably as many as your earlier had estimated.
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outing #39 I over slept! Joel's stand.
My hearing is so bad I slept right through the rooster alarm on my phone, And believe me its obnoxious!!
With little time to spare,I hustled out of the yurt and down the gravel road to the closest stand that would work with today's light wind. There was a cold frosty fog hanging below the bluffs. My breath was suspended along with moisture drops in the beam of my headlamp.
Arriving at the stand just as the Eastern horizon was brightening I pulled up the bow and put on an extra layer. It was only a few minutes when I heard foot steps up behind me. In the gloom I could just make out the legs of the deer as it moved along a trail behind and slightly above me. Twenty minutes later I heard a snort above me and the sound of a deer moving off. By the time I needed to get home to work several gunshots had sounded off. I hate that. While running an errand to town I noticed orange jackets in two of my neighbors woods. sigh............
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Hey Jim, Love the blog as much as last year. Thanks for the enjoyment and hope you feel better soon.
Weeks ago, you wondered about topo maps that can be copied etc.
Here is an interesting site that should do the trick.
http://caltopo.com/map.html#ll=43.68564,-91.49647&z=11&b=t
I took a little time and began to zoom into SE Minn. for you.
It is fairly sophisticated and allows import/export of GPS coors. and integrates ok with Google Earth.
To modern medicine and hunt success!
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I agree on the dislike of the gunshots. Sure shatters things.
The orange does its' job, but is hard to take.
Keep your head up, soon it'll be snowing!
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Good Luck Jim :thumbsup:
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outing #40 the double cedar
I elected to stay out of the woods last night, get some chores done and let my 295 acres act as a refuge for deer. This am I woke on time but to very gusty NW winds. So I chose a lower spot than that I had originally planned on and hiked up to it early.
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7307/10026064336_b2ed41f2a8.jpg)
I had only sat this spot once this season. Last night a group of deer were in the picked bean field right below it. I was able to get to the stand with out a head lamp and don't believe I bumped any deer on the way up to it.
The deer traffic has definitely been going by this spot.
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3687/10349620196_7401c96f3c.jpg)
Several large prints were on the trail right below and I found my first scrape under an apple tree not far from the stand when we picking apples Weds for the cider squeeze party tomorrow.
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my view of below.
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7430/10349603554_0b72bcbf02.jpg)
About an hour after sun up it began to rain and I headed in rather than risk laying down a trail that could get washed away.
They are actually predicting a possible snow tonight! heading back out in a bit.
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outing #41 AA lone wolf
(http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2858/9865310393_78804eac6b.jpg)
With a NW wind and gun hunters hanging on the fences I needed to stay low and to the center of the farm. I have hunted this stand only once all season, back on 9/21. I very slowly and quietly crept in to the stand around 3 30 pm. A NW wind was perfect. There are still quite a few apples on the trees in front of the lone wolf. It was a beautiful evening.
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5528/10353980605_54c7d80e85.jpg)
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3678/10353986654_ffa527ebed.jpg)
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(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3782/10353968826_044c1a46aa.jpg)
I was enjoying the colors and small birds that were flying in and out of the apples trees to my left. The opposite bluff was just gorgeous.
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3706/10353994585_9e945257b7.jpg)
Just before the witching hour, I spotted two deer on the opposite hill side. First a doe and then a small buck appeared. They were moving along a trail on the edge of the woods heading down into the apples . This spot is high enough on my hill to allow me to see over the trees between us and the setting sun made them really stand out. I stood as I thought that if they are coming off of that bluff, they should be doming down this one any minute. A shot gun suddenly roared! I bet I jumped a foot off the stand platform!. A hunter was sitting the fence line and blasted one as it was coming down hill. After that I did not see or hear another thing and headed in for dinner.
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outing #42 triple B
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7367/10365167575_7a5440e9f1.jpg)
My actual plan for this am was to hunt the Ivy stand. The wind was forecast to be South Westerly this am perfect for this spot. This stand is also rather centrally located on the farm . After bumping two different deer in the moonlight I finally stood on the logging road next to the stand. But there was virtually no wind and my frozen breath seemed to be drifting right in the direction the deer would be coming from. I had plenty of time to change plans. The triple B would work if the wind came up and the change in the direction of the bluff over there should help with the thermals. I made it there without bumping any more deer.
(http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2835/10365106144_55f9c8aefe.jpg)
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Glad to see you're feeling a bit better. I had the shotgun thing happen to me in KS. I almost had to change, Tracy just laughed at me :)
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This stand is a 17 foot tall ladder. I am standing on the main deer trail when I took the photo and the stand is downhill from where I standing. This is also the stand where I took the video of the doe about a week ago.
As the dawn arrived a few gun shots rang in the distance but nothing close by until 7:45. I had just spotted a deer's legs up in the food plot 80 yards up hill. It appeared to be a doe. She lifted her head at the sound of the gun fire and then started in my direction. I was standing with the long bow in hand. I had created an entry trail for me to this stand so I wouldn't be tempted to just walk in on the main deer trail. It looked like she was walking on it! As she came down the hill I prepared for the shot that I was sure was about to happen. At 20 yards I determined that the deer was a spork. ( one spike+one fork=spork).
Shoot. It was now too close now for me to switch the bow for the camera. The deer had quite a fat torso and a fairly large head to be carrying such little antlers. As luck would have it, he walked right up to the foot of my ladder and sniffed the fallen leaves!! Standing 16 feet below me and not having a clue I was there, it grabbed a few green leaves and headed towards the bedding cover to my right.I wish I'd been able to video him. He made my morning!! No other deer were seen and after 4 hours on stand, I headed in for coffee and a bowl of venison chili.
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A good outing, then.
And a new name - a spork. Good one.
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outing #43 Squirrel's tail
I actually started out on the Tarzan stand. But after getting soaked in a 5 minute downpour and sitting for a bit I change my mind and headed over to the Squirrel's tail. I do believe the Tarzan stand needs to be rethought.
So I dropped down to just below the timber and slowly walked through the old pasture's hillside. Halfway there I jumped a small buck and a doe bedded among the apples. It was cool but not cold. I had the wind in my face and the sun came back out. The moisture on the leaves and limbs above me just sparkled. The day ended with out any deer sightings while on stand. As I walked back to the farm house I noticed three dark shapes making their way down the mowed CRP hillside behind the house. When I got to our red shed next to the picked bean field I looked and counted seven deer feeding with in 100 yards of the shed! Smart Alecks !
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Jim, Glad you are feeling Better! Love the name spork. I have been seeing one on my trail cam!
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looks like they found a safe place.
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:coffee:
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just got back from a little business away from home Hunters coming in later today. Got lots of things to get ready . Its cold 20 degrees this am!!! gonna burn some wood this week. Deer activity picking up.
unfortunately no trad hunters here till next week. But I'll be on stand after guiding my buddies to their spots.
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You have to convert these guys to Trad gear......how can you keep a blog going .....lol!!!! Best of luck this week!
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So much work goes into sharing this, thanks Jim. This is a great thread, I look forward to your exploits every day.
Thanks for bringing us along,
David
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thank much guys!!
outing #44 AA Aspen
After getting my guys into their spots I hustled up to apple alley. It was basically a repeat performance of the last time I was there. The same buck fawn appeared in the lower right of the food plot. It fed below me for about 20 minutes. It left and then 30 minutes returned and walked right past me. The does never showed up and as darkness descended so did I.
The boys are getting frisky it wont be long till it busts loose all over.
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7315/10431275335_8981298dd7.jpg)
And this old tank got his photo taken in the daylight!
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3673/10431401403_e6aa4b3b99.jpg)
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It's hard to believe that you are still looking for a doe. An absolute deer hunting utopia, and yet the girls are still playing hard to get! Just goes to show what a worthy adversary a wise whitetail doe can be to a bowhunter!
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Good Luck Jim. Thanks for not taking a doe so quick as to keep this thread alive ;)
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Thank you Jim for hanging in there, hope the ears are better. I totaly understand how you feel with the slaughter of the deer. By our farm, they can get 4 free tags a day. So brown is down. I will be heading there on Friday.
Good luck with yor hunt and with your guest. Been cold here also.
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Jim,
Thanks for this thread, I love it!
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outing #45 inspiration point
Hey Joe you got it! the does are currently kicking my butt!
You are welcome Charlie ( I think ).
Spreading my hunters out. I sent Joel to the 23 to his stand. and dropped Kim off at the triple B. Then I made my way around and partially down the bluff to Inspiration point.
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7458/10445109534_4b6b1cfc39.jpg)
It was snowing lightly when we left the warmth of the yurt. We were all giddy with excitement. Three little boys aged 58,62, and 64!
But despite the excited anticipation I saw no deer except for the doe I jumped walking back in to camp! Still it was a great morning. Enough leaves have come down now that we have had two hard freezes that I can now see almost all the way down the bluff. I have decided that this stand will move down the ridge about 50 yards. The steep angle of the shot to the trail has me concerned and I think lower would be better. I do not know if we get the stand moved this season but it will be relocated before the next.
update you more tonight.
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White ground, that's a magic time! And wouldn't you know it - nothing.
As a Leafs fan would say "maybe next time".
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outing #46 Dallas' Stand
Spreading out the best we could and covering different food sources, Joel went to the apples in lower apple alley and sat in the lone wolf. Kim hunted over rape and forage beans in the Justin stand. I hunted over clover in the Dallas stand.
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5521/10450434105_0b7c44b576.jpg)
The wind was squirrelly tonight but was forecast to be out of the North. Cold too, it never got above 40 all day.
I have not sat in this stand yet this year. In fact the last time I climbed this ladder was the night I had to climb back down due to unfavorable wind. I killed my buck that night. This stand sits just below a clover field . There are some Aspens on each side of the trail into the stand set that act like goal posts. Both of them have fresh rubs! When you sit in the stand you can not see much of the field to your left due to a curve in the field . So you have to watch for body parts moving behind the foliage.
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3768/10450793513_23e0069177.jpg)
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just before last light I caught movement to my left. Two deer were running around in the clover. I think it was a small buck chasing a doe. Any way he ended up turning her the exact wrong way and they disappeared again to my left. A few minutes later a deer snorted down below me to the south. The wind was back out of the north.
I pulled the chip out of the camera over the beans and rape field and found these two really cool photos.
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5475/10450546173_6939046456.jpg)
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7407/10450379115_703b6de750.jpg)
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Cool Photos Jim!
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What kind of birds are they? Can you Id them?
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Red Wing Black Birds.
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outing #47 ladder by clover.
I think some of those bird may also be Starlings?
Last night Jayne saw several deer on the field in front of the hay bale. So we decided to key in on that activity and hunt the bedding areas and trails near it this am.
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7385/10462540235_02e05a51e0.jpg)
I went to an old ladder north of the field that sits in an old large oak in a small ravine by the clover field.
(http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2854/10462721443_1ba09bcd94.jpg)
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(http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2853/10462374055_caed2b60a9.jpg)
I have never fallen in love with this stand but today decided I should hunt it more. While it is very close to my next door neighbor, the deer trails under and around it are heavy!
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3776/10462363254_958e41947c.jpg)
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:campfire:
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The wind was mostly out of the North. But there was a slight westerly component to it. My hearing on my left side may not come back for 6 weeks per the doctor. So I was standing and watching the clover field to my left.
(http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2882/10462383114_703417cf1e.jpg)
A small noise to my right caught my attention. I knew a deer had gotten in too close. I looked down and right and standing there 6 or 7 yards away was a spike buck. He stopped still and stood listening. Then he began to move forward. It looked like he was going to go under a large limb below on my right and then pop onto the trail beneath me. But he stopped and looked up hill. I was trying to get my camera off the hook to film him. I moved slightly and a doe I had not seen that was slightly up hill and watching me ran down past him taking him with ! That doe was going to walk down the trail that intersects the other! but I got caught looking the wrong way. About one hour later just as i decided I needed to get to work. a doe snorted from above me to my right. I looked up just in time to see her flag disappear back up hill.
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outing #48 Bwana stand.
We are having November weather.
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5532/10467158754_2e489fb952.jpg)
Company left and I had the evening to myself. With a north wind and fresh pictures of does in the food plot below this stand in the daylight I headed up around 4 pm. Jumping a bedded 6 pointer and two does on the way up I had high hopes. Several new scrapes have also suddenly appeared on the road. I got into the stand with two layers of wool. I was dressed for the duration.
Just after sunset with little time to spare I heard footsteps coming up the hill behind me. It was moving so slow. I felt for certain it was a buck. Too dark to film , I kept my bow in hand in case it was without headgear. Waiting for the deer to appear, I looked out in the tall grass and spotted the white throat patch of a deer. It was standing like a statue looking over the food plot. As he turned his head I could see it was a buck I have a picture of in this field sparring with another buck two days ago. He has only 2 points on hi left side and 5 on his right. The deer behind me seemed to disappear and finally this new one started to move up hill. AS he crested the top with the orange band of the last light behind him, he slowly went over the crest of the hill and the day was over.
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:thumbsup: I'm really enjoying this thread.
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outing #49 cedar by yurt
(http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2817/10477436885_db63284234.jpg)
This stand sits in a cedar just above the yurt. It's at the bottom of my ridge and just above the neighbors cow pasture . A heavy deer trail crosses the logging road and heads in to bedding cover on both sides of the property fence lines. It was very cold but still today. The moon and stars gave me enough light to make it the stand with out the aid of my head lamp except for the very last 40 yards or so. I only had a short time to hunt this am and did not see any deer until my walk down. I spotted this doe and fawn coming down thru the apples and took this photo with the zoom on my point and shoot camera.
(http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2887/10485806023_ff43f41e97.jpg)
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outing #50 SVR
The winds turned to the SW and got very gusty today. More company arrived as well. Its really hard to place people on stands where they might see a deer let alone get a shot at one in these windy conditions.
I put up a new stand at 2 pm based upon heavy new buck sign and foot traffic just above the county road.
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7378/10485651696_7a421c7c89.jpg)
Once again I am trying to key in on deer coming down out of the 23 and heading to the picked bean field. But the gusty wind kept the deer in the timber and #50 ended without seeing a single deer, any where.
Here is the stands view.
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3764/10485634184_e287def1f5.jpg)
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The high winds are hard to hunt. Standing corn sometimes is a place I like to try on blustery days. Sneak in row by row slow.
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outing #51 lower coffee cup
The temp was a balmy 46 this am. 25 degree warmer than the day previous!
I hiked up to my stand and dropped off one of my hunters. I then doubled all the way back to LCC. By the time I reached my stand, I had been hiking a full hour and five minutes!
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5524/10504486846_8b519436ef.jpg)
I had not hunted this spot once this year and in fact had not been down to the stand since I hung the new ladder last June.
(http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2890/10504450616_005cdb75dd.jpg)
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The stand sits at the top of a bowl. It is very thick with cedar, blackberry, buck thorn and lots of nice oaks and hickory and apple trees as well. I never hunt below this spot as I try to keep this area as a secure zone for the deer to flee to . In normal years there is a retention pond down there as well. But this year it is dry.
There are great vistas from this stand.
(http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2875/10504432695_74dc56a5e4.jpg)
and a super deer trail as well
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3742/10504452104_e661ffe829.jpg)
Last year I pulled an all day sit here during the chase phase and saw 26 deer.
Today I had just gotten in the ladder ( it was pink light out) and hung up the bow .I was putting on my hat when I heard a deer come trotting down the hill and stop just above me in some cedars. It stood still and I knew it had already scented me. Then it made a 90 degree turn and crossed the deer trail I am hunting on and headed down into the heavy cover. It was a dandy buck. I could only make out the left side of its antlers, but I counted 5 long tines . It had long and heavy looking main beams. What a way to start a sit. But as the morning wore on ,not another deer was to be seen. The wind came up and above me the trees higher up on bluff swayed back and forth. By 11 am, I was ready for coffee and stories so I headed in for both.
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outing #52 Back to the Dallas stand.
Back up on top! The wind was supposed to lay down right at 6 and indeed it did. I sat there thinking the deer would go crazy tonight since they have basically been hunkered down out of the wind for two solid days. But it didn't happen and in fact I got skunked! So I am hoping for a good day tomorrow.
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Jim,
Thanks again for taking us with you! I know that it takes a lot of work to bring us this thread.
Charlie
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I enjoy reading this daily, thank you so much for sharing!!
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outing #53 ladder by clover
25 degrees and still!! What temperature swings we are having!
With only a short time to hunt this am I chose this spot since it is easy to get to and if its going to happen , it will right at first light.
I had hunted here last week and left with a good feeling about the stand. Today, right at first light I was standing and watching the direction that they came from last time.
A dark figure was trotting down the mowed trail to my right and from above. I removed the bow from its hanger and it made a slight noise. The deer stopped dead and stood there. Finally it began to move forward and then turned onto the trail that crosses right in front of me.
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3776/10462363254_958e41947c.jpg)
When it was in the exact spot I wanted, it stopped and looked the other direction! Perfect. I started to put tension on the string. But I was thinking that it was not a very big doe. It stepped forward and the shot opportunity was gone. She walked up in to the clover and fed for about 15 minutes.
(http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2882/10462383114_703417cf1e.jpg)
I kept an eye on her and one also on the trail she had come down. I kept thinking more would be following. The doe in the clover had turned and was standing on the trail that she had crossed over on. She was coming back! I took this as a sign to shoot her. But when she was once again directly in front of me I determined it was just a huge fawn! So once again I let it pass unharmed.
About 15 minutes later a small 4 point was walking on the woods edge up hill from me. It disappeared then reappeared shortly as it walked into the clover from my upper left. Tail up and slowly walking , I decided I should grab the camera and try to get him on film. I made another very small noise as I turned back standing in the clover now was a new doe and very small fawn. The doe had me dead to rights. She quickly left the clover plot followed by her fawn and young suitor. Rats! That new camera is really screwing things up! Ha!
The time to go arrived and home ward bound I went.
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:thumbsup:
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out #54 Sapling stand.
With company gone yesterday at midday, I once again have the run of the place. There had been lots of deer activity up and around Apple Alley all weekend and I wanted to b be close to the rape food plot. Yet I did not want to sit a stand that had been hunted over the weekend. So I chose the Sapling stand.
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7436/10120322204_bb3dd888b9.jpg)
This stand guards an entry /exit on the rape field.
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The temps were really mild and I was able to sit in just a wool shirt and vest tonight. A slight South wind was directly in my face. I can now see out into the food plot since the smaller trees have dropped the majority of there leaves. I can also see up the bluffs and back behind me into the next property's cow pasture.
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7376/10535717033_c75dffcb68.jpg)
At about 5 :30 I could see two deer out in the food plot feeding. At one point they were both standing on the entry point of the trail that comes out and goes past my stand. I thought they were heading my way but it there is an apple tree there and they were picking up fallen apples. Later they faded back down the plot and into the woods . Nothing else was spotted or heard. But it was a pleasant time well spent reflecting on the weekends events.
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I love those cool but not freezing days on stand. Makes for a very pleasant sit.
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I like the look of the Sapling Stand spot. We have a lot of white Birch on our land and that could be a place here.
You made it sound like a pleasant time.
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outing #55 Apple Alley Lone wolf
I thought all day that today would be the day. I wish I could say my gut was spot on but no arrows were flung today!
The wind was out of the North and the temp 42 degrees when I left the house at 3 30 pm. I cautiously crept in to the stand, trying to be as quiet as possible. I am at the opposite end of AA as I was last night. Standing the entire time I felt a deer would be there at any moment. Finally just at dark I heard foot steps behind me. A deer had dropped off the point above me and was now on a trail where it would certainly scent me. You guessed it . A snort and off it went. Once again as I entered the yard I could see dark shapes out in the picked beans. These does are just kicking my butt!
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Today is the day buddy! I've got that good feeling!!
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Does are tough Jim. The only way i seem to ever get on does is when I am only interested in shooting at headgear. It's like not having a buck tag and all you see is bucks.
Have you ever tried ground hunting "THE VERY EDGE" of your plots.
Or really the one apple tree in the center of apple alley would be where i would guillie suit up.
Right or wrong it would make for a fun hunt.
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outing #56 Lefty
I have tried ground hunting but have never felt comfortable on the ground. But perhaps I should reconsider.
I had not sat here for three weeks. We had an Easterly wind today with a forecast of rain tonight.On the way up I bumped fours does out of their beds along the logging road. this food plot and the clover behind it don't seem to be seeing any deer activity!
(http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2884/10565684135_b60da8457b.jpg)
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5498/10565733634_f501a4b1ac.jpg)
I am really scratching my head as to what is going on . Last year these plots were filled with deer almost every night! once again I got skunked. The only visitor I had was this Pileated woodpecker!
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7450/10565691815_217b77e4d4.jpg)
Coming home I jumped a deer right behind the yurt! If I had been sitting in the practice tree stand I think I might have gotten a shot!
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Try ground hunting in a ghillie! It is a blast! Thanks again for taking us along on each of your hunts!
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I love those big Pileated Woodpeckers......Nice photo.
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I think you need to hunt that buhda stand where the ridges meet lol! I always wondered how you pick which stand your going to hunt besides the wind?
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I know, He's got too many choices! I'd freak out with all the options. Plus i'm a "patterning" hunter. So it's hard for me to move to different areas when I have a bead on the game. I basically pattern em and stay on em, till I kill or get busted.
Go get em Jim.
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outing #57 lost doe stand ( upper apple alley)
Jamie I am sort of saving those ridges for company that arrives tonight.
I knew I would see deer up in the rape food plot and indeed I did. A doe and fawn came out right under the other empty stand! LOL. I had been standing and saw the fawn come out first. The doe hadn't been in the field very long when she threw up her head and stared towards the trail that comes out by the Sapling stand. I thought for sure more deer would be coming from that direction. The doe departed and and her baby trailed after her. Nothing came from the direction she had been looking and I could not hear anything over there either.
About an hour later that buck fawn I see every time up here came into plot and began to chow down. Two or three times he looked up and stared in the same direction that the doe did. But he would just put his head down and go back to eating. Something I couldn't hear was clearly getting his attention. Finally he left the area as well and I never did see what was causing their concern.
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5505/10601016575_9e82d84a9a.jpg)
Finally I have another trad hunter here this week. Hopefully the bucks will start moving. I had really hoped to have one pegged for him by now! But they are making themselves scarce!
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Classic Jim! Always thinking of others before himself! You should have an awesome week ahead of you! Can't wait to see what happens during the next 2 weeks!
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outing #58 the sure thing
Before I tell you my hunt I can say its heating up! Jay is here hunting with his home made recurve. He decoyed in a small buck right to the decoy tonight. He hunted the stand I sat last night. He placed the deek right in the open spot in the photo from the prior post. On his way out he almost got run over by 4 bucks who were chasing each other around in the forage beans below apple alley. He was carrying the deek under one arm. Had to throw it down and throw up his arms. The closest bucked veered off at 15 yards!
I went to the sure thing as we had a NWN wind.
The colors have changed quite a bit since I was here last .
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7319/10601025125_aaae8130ee.jpg)
I was on stand by 3:30. The first deer went loping by below me in the tall grass around 4:30. I thought a buck would be following shortly. No dice. I then saw a buck chasing a doe down in the clover field to my North. 15 minutes later I spotted the white circle behind the black nose of a small buck in the sumac and small aspens just below me. I reached for the camera to try and video him. I then spotted the doe a few yards over. I think it was the deer I saw running in the clover a few minutes earlier. The doe took off for the open and buck followed. I then spotted a fawn under an apple tree 80 yards down hill. It headed down towards the picked beans.
Not more then 10 minutes later I look uphill on the trail I had hoped deer would be coming down towards me and I see the rear end of a buck walking away from me back up hill. He had his nose to the ground and all I could see were the tips of his main beams. But they were far enough apart that I think he was a good one. He should have been wearing a sign that said "wide load".
As darkness approached I looked over my left shoulder down into the tall grass and a 4 point was standing there looking uphill right at me. He had winded me and picked up my head movement and took off.
I got down early enough to walk the deer trail on the inside edge of the woods back home rather than cut down thru the pasture as I was sure there would be deer in it. I spotted a large deer's body standing in the trees watching me but I could not see its head.
It's going to be fine day tomorrow.
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outing #59 Joel's stand.
Jay hoofed it up top with a decoy in duck decoy bag over his shoulder, Justin headed up to the Sapling stand and I took the short hike to Joel's stand.
Jay decoyed in a buck I have pictures of sparing. He is a 6 x 3. He was going the opposite way when Jay saw him and turned on a dime when the antlers clacked together. He marched right to the deek and gave Jay a good show until when right under him the buck finally picked up Jay's scent. Not being the buck of Jay's dreams he was allowed to live another day. Later in the am jay saw three other bucks including one whopper 8 point .But these bucks were all downwind and Jay only saw them after they had pin pointed him.
I had only one deer sighting all morning. within 20 minutes of legal shooting time I had a very nice 2.5 year old 8 point walk by me at 12 yards. He has a lot going for him and will be a dandy buck in year or two if he can live that long. Unfortunately I didn't spot him early enough to swap bow for camera.
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Outing #60 Squirrel's tail.
I love this spot! for some reason your wind goes up the ridge and the deer seem to come down left or right of the scent stream. I rarely get winded here.
I went to the stand at 3 pm and wasn't there 20 minutes when this little guy came along.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/51550276@N08/10618290594/
He spent about 20 minutes with me gobbling up leaves . It is always so much fun to be just above them and watch them do their thing when they don't have a clue you are there! I love that !
About an hour later I spotted another deer below me in the young Aspens. It stepped off the trail it was on and headed up my way. It was a little 6 point. I would have filmed him too but my batteries were drained of power from the Spike! He also would have been in trouble if not for the bones on his head!
Just before dark two different does bailed down the ridge above me. But they were coming down a trail about 40 yards South of me. No shot opportunity.
Jay was up in Apple Alley again with his decoy and decoyed a shooter ( sorry but I don't know what else to call them) to 50 yards. It came in hard at first but the wind was twitchy and he may have got a small bit of Jay up his nose. He saw the deek but just stood out there staring at it and finally drifted off. A 2nd but much smaller buck was also rattled in and the same thing happened.
Since arriving Jay has decoyed in 4 bucks, two of which could have been easily killed. Perhaps one will die tomorrow.
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Loving the play by play
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outing #61 Email stand.
Jay and i hiked up top together. We both chose stands that would would with a N wind. I went to the email stand he went to Triple B.
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5497/10636811494_9150cbd5b2.jpg)
After the day he had yesterday we both had high expectations of what the day would bring. This stand has not been hunted once the entire year. It sits out on a knob just at the top of the bluff to the left of inspiration point.
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5516/10637085763_75e939435e.jpg)
just a little more work next spring and this bluff top will be free of buck thorn. It will be a great place to decoy .
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7361/10636853974_393dc7d1ca.jpg)
About an hour after first light I heard a small noise behind me. I turned to see a little forked buck just disappearing into the buck thorn behind me. Then for three hours I enjoyed the birds and the way the light played on the landscape. But I saw no further deer. Jay got skunked except for a coyote that escaped by the skin of his teeth!
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we found lots of these as we walked back down.
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3744/10636849346_d7f53ca080.jpg)
we stopped for a bit to enjoy the view.
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7409/10636840756_6219a3be8c.jpg)
the decoy man He hates getting his photo taken.
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3751/10636870914_1f3f623faa.jpg)
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outing #62 Pususta Stand.
We coffeed up and tried to figure out what was going on today with the deer movement! I am having a heck of time finding a doe. After the day Jay had decoying yesterday we were quite surprised at the skunking of this am.
So At 3 pm I headed back up to the top to the food plot since there was a bunch of scrapes in it and on the road to it. Jay headed up to the sure thing with the decoy under his arm.
My evening view.
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3728/10637059603_4bf7652e15.jpg)
At 5 pm A small 6 point walked in to the food plot from the upper right. He walked around a bit, found something his nose liked and then walked right back out with his nose to the ground. I was thinking a doe just might give me a show tonight but once again the little buck was all I saw!
Jay passed on a big mature doe at 8 yards. He has already put one doe in the freezer at home and is looking for something with horns. Too bad I wasn't in his spot tonight!
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OUTING #63 Jays stand aka the hole
63rd time out is the charm!
Cold and Frosty am. The time change had me worried I hadn't set the alarm correctly. I was on the trail at 5 am and arrived by 5 30.
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5442/9991423103_8b02a2a3bb.jpg)
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5502/10652267156_2e9c264ea8.jpg)
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I had not sat this stand for for almost a month. On the edge of very heavy cover , there is usually a trail coming down the hill from the triple B stand lined with rubs and scrapes. As it got light enough to see I could see that the trail was littered with BIG BUCK sign.
Just after first light I made out a doe standing down in the dry water hole. ( upper right corner in this photo)
(http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2829/10652505243_a1a9c1f0ff.jpg)
After 2 hours I needed to pee badly. So out came the bottle I carry for this purpose. I um had just finished my business and had screwed on the bottle cap , when you guessed it there she was at 15 yards and coming on the trail that goes right by me! What timing!!!!
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I quietly slid the bottle into my open pack. Fumbled in my pocket for my shooting tab. Slowly lifted the bow off its hook. She stopped dead! She was just standing off to the right in the picture above.
She turned to go back the way she had come from. I couldn't believe it! But the wind was in my favor and she really wanted to come past me. She turned around and I knew the shot would happen. I let her get in between the two trees in the middle. She was completely broadside . She looked away towards the hole. I picked my spot and the arrow was there. She exploded and ran for 7 seconds crashing thru the heavy cover and then it was totally quiet. Just 45 yards later I stood over my trophy. A mature dry 5 Pines Farm doe.
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7300/10652326404_04bd8b6f8b.jpg)
My buddy Jay helped with the short and happy recovery.
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7370/10652252396_94a2201ffd.jpg)
We thank the animal spirits who sacrifice their lives that we may eat.
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I have one tag left. I am going to take a little time off . Grand kids arrive this week for 5 days and then on Saturday the slug hunters invade the woods around me. I want to save this last tag for late season and will lay low for a couple of weeks.
Time to pull my Widow "El Uno" of the rack .
To make the day perfect the taxidermist called , my buck was ready.
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5527/10657519365_950dd4f472.jpg)
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Congrats! That looks like a nice doe, good shooting. Love the mount too.
On Google earth I like to use the "historical imagery" setting to pick a time when all the leaves are off the trees, that always helped me get a better picture of the terrain features and what not. Have you used that?
Thanks for all the stories! Looking forward to more.
~ Shan
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:thumbsup:
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Way to go!!!!! :clapper: :clapper:
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Congrates Jim! That's a big doe and beautiful mount! :thumbsup:
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Looks like I got back from Montana just in time to catch up and see your success.... way to go Jim!!!
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Nice going, Jim.
Have a good break.
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Congrats Jim! Really nice doe and mount! :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
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Congrats Jim. Just getting caught up, I am Elated to see you finally found a doe!
:clapper:
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When I got back home I had a discussion with a person who really doesnt hunt or know what it entails. When I told her about Jim and my experince hunting with him she said, "well you must know others who hunt like that and have respect for the animals like Jim does. I dont quite think she believed me when I said, "no, I dont". Its unfortunate but it's just not that common. The photos, hunting shows, long range shots with high powered equipment. Its the loud majority and it's disheartening to see.
I challenge you all to introduce someone to traditional archery today.
Jay
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nice bigdoe and great mount that came back fast and looks great!!!
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Congrats again Bud!!
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That is a toad - Big Doe
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Congratulations on the big doe Jim! That's a great looking mount also!
Bernie Bjorklund
NC Iowa/SW Wisconsin
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That is just about as perfect as a guy could hope for! Hunt 63, dry doe, fabulous shot, and all just before the grandkids come and gun season opens. It is like your season was scripted!
Love the mount too. That is a great pose. A nice side benefit to filling a buck tag early is bring first on the taxidermists list.
Congratulations Jim!
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Nice looking mount, congrats on the doe. Really enjoy this thread... :thumbsup:
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Congratulations on the beautiful doe...she's a bigun!
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So Jim......does that mean your done for the year? Do you have others coming to hunt.....I don't want to see this end!.....lol!
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A well deserved doe, congrats! :thumbsup:
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thanks guys!1
Ron W i have one more doe tag to use and will hopefully get in a lot of hunting in late November and all of December! I love hunting in the late season!
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Excellent........ :thumbsup:
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Awesome Jim! Glad to see you were able to get it done on a nice big doe!
Killer mount too!
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Great job Jim....looking forward to the late season hunt.
David
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TTT
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outing #64 back to Jay's stand.
Well its been 12 whole days since I last hunted! Except for a small sliver of woods behind the yurt where i have worked on buck thorn the last few afternoons, i have stayed out of the woods. Not knowing what the rut is doing i elected to go back to where i killed the doe on 11/03.
Very cold and very still this am. I left the yurt extra early so I could walk up the bluff slowly and not work up a sweat. I made it to the stand with only jumping a single doe out of her bed along the logging road.
The morning was uneventful as there were no deer moving .Very few gun shots as well were heard the 3 hours I spent on stand. If I were to guess I'd say we are a smack dab in the middle of lock down.
I pulled the card from the camera over the big scrape as I left and am happy to report at least three different 3.5 year olds are showing have survived the first week of shot gun season.
#1
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5515/10873516045_f63ef6fc8a.jpg)
#2
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7355/10873664694_250f3f4f0f.jpg)
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#3
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7328/10873847003_1a00bfac27.jpg)
and this last one may be a 4.5 year old
(http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2888/10873522715_237ab7bf41.jpg)
too bad i forgot to reset the date and time when I loaded in new batteries 1-9-12 is actually 11-12-13.
jay is coming back tonight so hopefully we will have action this weekend.
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outing #65 Haybale.
The last two nights, while chain sawing invasive Buck thorn up behind the yurt, I could see numerous deer down by the hay bale.There were 11 last night and 7 the night before. So over lunch my wife said " I think you better hunt in the bale, don't you?" Well what could I say to that?
I got in the bale about 2 :30. Very warm compared to this am. The predicted high was 53! 4 pm came and went and then suddenly out the side window stood a small doe with her first fawn. Even had I wanted to shoot her it wouldn't happen as she never came closer than 20 yards. She and her baby fed on the waste beans and after if was too dark to see them clearly. I made a few small noises to chase them off. Nothing else showed.
Hoping the forecast is wrong . 80% chance of rain to morrow and 60 % the next!
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You have way to much fun Jim :)
:campfire:
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Thank you Jim, just now able to catch up here. Congrats at filling the doe tag with a great doe. Nice mount also of a great buck. I spent the last 2 weeks with my sons in the woods. Some oppertunities past and some misses regreted. Including one on the larget/oldest buck I have ever seen in the wild.
Take care
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outing #66 Joel's stand.
The forecast called for rain by 10 am. They nailed it! It was one of those mornings when it seemed like it was grey light forever! It was like the sun never came up.
I heard the first deer coming along a trail from the south and slightly above my stand. Twin fawns came by at a fast walk. For the next 45 minutes I leaned my right shoulder against the big tree and watch intently in that direction. A noise behind me to the North suggested I'd better turn my head. Darn , 2 mature does at 10 yards! They caught the movement or my scent or both and were going in the reverse direction in a split second.
At 9 am I spotted another doe below me in the creek bottom. It came out, crossed the road below me and headed up in my direction. It was a no show tho. I lost sight of it in the prairie grass and never did figure out where it went.
The rain moved in and I moved out. It rained and rained and rained me out of the afternoon hunt.
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Good Hunting Jim, How has it been since the Pumpkin army moved in?
Looking forward to you trying to fill doe tag 2.
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Glad to hear you are seeing some deer! They seemed to have vanished up here! I have 3 patches of woods that were not gun hunted and have not seen any deer or got any pics since last weekend! May have to head to Iowa to fill my doe tag this weekend! lol.
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Hey guys. I have been down with a horrible flu bug since last weekend. I last hunted last Sunday but there was not much to post about.
We have an upstairs corner room with large windows that over look the back food plots and old pasture hillsides. I have been seated there each after noon and I am happy to report that as of Tuesday this week the afternoon deer movement has been amazing. There have been deer all over the hill sides and in the food plots. So If at all possible I should be in the squirrel stand tomorrow afternoon.
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Best of luck Jim. I hope you get to feeling better!
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Hope you feel better......get after'em!!
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Hey there Jim, hope you are feeling better and able to sit and wait for the doe to give you a oppertunity. Dress warm for the weekend if you get out. take care,
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Get better. I admire your dedication to the hunt. Hot water and Honey will cure anything.
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outing #69! Squirrel's tail
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3716/10077197775_90470ec4c9.jpg)
The last 6 days have been hell. With a nasty respiratory flu knocking me on my butt and deer parading up and down the hills behind the house i was one miserable old man!
But finally today I felt like I could sit a stand and only by going out would i know if I could keep my coughing to a minimum.
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On Tuesday and Wednesday I sat in the upper room and watched as 20 plus deer each night came off the ridge above this stand and ended up in the forage beans behind the house or in the picked Ag beans in front of the house. Last night the number of deer slacked off quite a bit, but still there were plenty to watch. Today at 1 pm I looked out the kitchen window and spotted deer in the apple trees just below the stand. While I watched and tried to figure out how to get up there with out scaring everything off, the buck did it for me. He got a little randy and pushed all three does over on to the CRP field and then eventually all four ran up into the timber.
I took that as my signal and quickly dressed and headed out the door. Having been quite ill these past few days, I took my time going up the steep hillside. The stand sits above where this trail and many others like it start.
(http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2880/11001641615_c63d005104.jpg)
There are about a dozen crab apples trees in among the regular ones and they still are holding a lot of fruit.
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7435/11001726446_9144ca7c0d.jpg)
You can see why the deer are still attracted to them!
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Much has changed since I last sat here. You can now see all the way and down the ridge. That's good and bad as I often wonder how many deer are laying on the ridges and watch me walk up to a spot. Likewise I can see them when they are moving now a lot earlier than just a couple of weeks before.
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3733/11001738856_566d340c07.jpg)
Nothing was bumped that I know of and once at the stand I added some additional layers of wool. I struggled with the urge to cough and a few escaped my chest. But after a bit I seemed to settle in and waited anxiously for the action to begin.
A pair of Pileated wood peckers entertained me for the first hour. Soon the low angle of the sun gave away two deer below me just on the edge of the timber. I have no idea how they got there. They were feeding on fallen fruit and eventually fed out of sight as they headed further on down the hill. I thought to myself, better get ready its going to happen any minute. About 30 minutes later I looked down to my right and a single doe was on the trail that would give me a 15 yard shot. She was about 40 yards away and was focused on the food below. This gave me a chance to grab the bow and to slide my hand muff out of the way of the bow string. She was standing there staring down the hill towards the forage beans. Come on I was thinking. Suddenly she turned 90 degrees and just headed straight on down there! I thought never mind ,she is just the first of many more to come. And that's what I kept thinking right up until it was time to go. It was good to get out!
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Glad your feeling better!
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:campfire: finally all caught up now that i am taking a little hunting break.
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Glad to see you back at it Jim...........
:coffee:
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Love the story, just shows me I didn't do that bad this year.
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Jim,
I am glad that you are back on your feet, Stay after them my friend.
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outing #70 Lefty
(http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2839/10012185565_7b38ff0a93.jpg)
Yesterday was a non hunting day for me. Between extremely cold ( high of 17) for this date and the fact I over did on Friday's hunt, I decided it would a good day to recoop. So we went to the movies and had a nice dinner out.
This AM it was 6 above and again I elected to watch for deer movement from inside. Around 9 am I started to see deer moving around on the sun lit hillside behind the house. A very good 8 point made his way down one of mowed trails at 10 am. The forecast called for a high of 24 and winds out of the SSW.
No one has hunted up top for a long time. We have been concentrating down on that picked Ag field. I checked my chart and saw that I last sat in Lefty on 10/29. Lefty it is.
I packed my bag with a set of wool bibs, wool vest, wool sweater lined with wind stop. Packed a heavy balaclava with a fleese bottom. My heaviest home knitted and felted helmet hat and a light camo wool balaclava to pull over it all. This all went into the pack along with a light camo overcoat.
I wore walking up the bluff a light set of merino wool unders along with a second slightly heavier set of the same material. Wool pants and a wool shirt. My heaviest Sorell pack boots. Crappy to walk in but wonderful once on stand. A hand muff with chemical heater was lashed to pack along with a seat pad. I wanted to be able to sit for at least 3 hours.
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I slowly went up the logging road that goes up the bluff behind the yurt. Watching for bedded deer and tracks and scrapes I made it to the top and then jumped a bedded doe.
I worked my way up to the food plots on the East side of the bluff top just to check for sign. There was just enough snow to tell me what I had hoped was happening. These plots were really feeding a lot of deer. I made my way over to the west side and climbed aloft.
My view to the right (South)
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7351/11039434486_bbff7a4191.jpg)
straight in front (East)
(http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2834/11039327385_fc2fccb2c1.jpg)
and to my left (North)
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5528/11039318415_36a564b538.jpg)
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:campfire: :coffee: This may be good.......
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As I settled in , a cough or two escaped. But after that I was good . Warm, comfortable with lots of real estate to watch.
The first deer was spotted almost immediately. If you go back to the view to my right, see that far tree line? I have a clover field there.
This doe was photoed with my zoom fully extended.
(http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2871/11039450624_c0e8aa603f.jpg)
I watched this deer for a long time but I don't think it was in the group I saw later. About 1/2 hour before sunset, a doe with three fawns stepped into the end of the nearer clover field. Again this is the view to my right.
This is the first 2 into the clover followed by mom and a third sibling.
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3716/11039536213_df000bc2ee.jpg)
All 4 were calmly feeding when mom threw her head up and spun around to look behind her. Suddenly they were all running away from something and coming straight to me. They all ran down onto the mowed trail that goes past the front of the stand. The first deer by was a fawn and it went right under me. She stopped in the brush 10 yards back behind me. I was concentrating onthe mom. She had stopped on the mowed trail and checked her back trail. Coyote? Big buck? Something had her concern. She cut into the brush instead of staying on the trail and my shot opportunity was gone. Down the hill to the West they went. Then I made out the shape of one deer and another and yet another in the brush and tall grass to the South. They were coming from the direction the doe was running from. It turned out to be three spikes! They walked into the clover and then came over to turnips and ended up right in front of me. Three bros all muscled out very nicely. The setting sun made them appear to be made of bronze. Suddenly the biggest of the three saw something to the East he didn't like and all three bounded back to the south from where they had just come from.
I sat down and smiled. This is what I think hunting with traditional gear is about. To battle the elements. To try and figure out where the game will appear. To sit within feet of such wild and alert creatures. Not one of them knew I was near. I didn't get a shot , I didn't get a deer tonight. But what a great hunt it was.
The day was over and my one knee that still has its original parts started involuntarily jumping. Time to get down and head in for some warm food and good company.
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"I sat down and smiled. This is what I think hunting with traditional gear is about. To battle the elements. To try and figure out where the game will appear. To sit within feet of such wild and alert creatures. Not one of them knew I was near. I didn't get a shot , I didn't get a deer tonight. But what a great hunt it was."
:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
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Indeed!!!
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:campfire:
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outing #71 The Sapling
(http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2877/10120321584_943b39e24a.jpg)
The wind continued to come up out of the south west. Just like yesterday. but today it was 33 degrees when I headed out to hunt at 1 30 pm. What a difference 10 degrees makes! hell 33 F is a day at the beach!
I wanted to hunt the opposite end of the farm from yesterday. I had not been to this stand for quite awhile. So I went up the logging road east of the stand and looped back into it from behind. I was hoping by doing this the deer bedded up on rattlesnake ridge wouldn't blow out before I even made it 1/2 to the stand.
Once there I settled in and enjoyed the view to the South .
(http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2847/11058805995_23f943dc4b.jpg)
The only snow left is on the North facing steep slopes. See that one far off? it is still quite white. Hoping for more snow soon!
So with this wind, the wind is coming up the valley and hitting me in the face. I was hoping a doe would drop off either ridge to the left or right and end up in the food in front of and upwind of me.
About 3 pm I heard what I thought was a squirrel. Looking over my right shoulder my suspicion was confirmed as a big grey was foraging in the leaves. But then I heard deer running....away. Looking over my left shoulder I spied a small fork and doe heading back up the ridge. They had been coming down along the fence line just behind my position. Winded! They didn't spook too badly and in fact stopped half way up. They stood for a bit and then continued walking up hill both of their tails wagging in a contented sort of manner.
Grey clouds moved in and it seemed like it was dusk all afternoon. Finally the buck fawn I see here every time I hunt this spot was down in the lower end of the food plot. He is really a big fawn and always by himself. I have starting calling him Maximus. The wind died off and the down hill thermal started to work against me. Maximus kept looking up hill and scenting the air currents. Finally even he couldn't stand my scent anymore and he walked slowly away with his tail slightly flared in alarm mode.
Just before the end of the day gun shots rang out from the farm to the north. I had almost forgotten gun season B was under way.
Better luck tomorrow
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outing #71 Lower Coffee cup trail or just coffee cup for short.
Today was not a walk on the beach. 20 degrees and the wind was howling out the NW! It almost made me want to stay inside. Almost.
I would have to be some where out of the wind. As I was sure the deer would be too. That gave me 2 real choices. Jay's stand or Coffee cup. Both stands are over the top of the bluff on the south facing slope. I chose CC since I have only sat there once the entire year. I wanted to get over the bluff quickly and not break a sweat doing it. So I broke rule #1 and used the 4 wheeler to get to the top. ( red line) Then I hiked the last 1/4 mile to the ladder (yellow line)
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7439/11076333503_4937736d19.jpg)
Normally I don't hunt this spot in the after noon for fear of blowing the deer out as I go in. As feared, as soon as I crested the bluff. a single and very large doe jumped up from her bed in the sun. I debated about continuing to the stand. No where else to go and since I am just as happy to sit as I am to shoot, I made my way on down to the stand.
(http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2885/11075997835_cf4404a844.jpg)
Another risky thing about this spot is the far side of the bowl is not mine. It's in fact 2 separate neighbors. Both of which gun hunt. But it's middle of the week and it's season B. I figured no one would be out and I guessed right. I had the entire bowl to myself.
The wind howled above and since this slope faces south all the snow is gone. So the leaves are dry and every squirrel or mouse in them had me on alert.
It was cold. I battled with my self mentally to hang in there. Finally just before dark I made out a deer on the trail below that intersects with the trail that comes up and goes past me. I looked away just long enough to grab my bow and looked backed. I couldn't find the deer!! It must have just crossed over my trail and kept on the trail it was on. It was traveling with it's head down and tail up. So It was most likely a buck even though I never saw antlers. Then a few minutes a later a doe up above me snorted and was running around in the timber on the edge of the food plots. No way it snorted at me but I never saw it clear nor was I able to tell what it had spooked from. The deer are really on a razors edge now having been shot at with guns since the 9th. It will be tough to get close for awhile yet. I only have to put up with the guns for three more weeks!
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Good stuff Jim, Hang in there!
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Ugghh, thats one long gun season. Keep at em and good luck!
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outing #72 AA lone wolf.
Yes it is a ridiculously long gun season!
The temps remained in the low 20's for a high but the wind , ah the wind had ceased to blow. A very slight 3 mph wind was coming up out of the South today.
Now this am there 5 deer in the forage beans and 5 more in the picked Ag beans. This was well after sunrise. I suspected these deer were bedded on the sides of Rattle snake ridge.
Since the deer recently were not moving until the very last minutes of the day, I hoped the afternoon thermals in this slight wind would pull my scent down hill and the deer would not wind me as they came down off the ridges to feed. Unfortunately I was WRONG!
Here is the view today .
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5538/11093003363_ed873aa828.jpg)
I was standing watching intently in the direction the deer should come off the ridge. I am happy to report that my hearing seems back to normal. I kept hearing this noise behind me. It dawned on me the noise was antler on wood. I slowly rotated on the stands platform to see directly behind me. About 45 yards back in the heavy cover a tree was swaying back and forth. It was deathly quiet except for the rubbing and pushing noises coming from the thicket. A pretty decent 8 point was back there giving a tree the what for. I slowly got the camera on him but the auto focus would not work as there was just too much brush in between us.
After about 10 minutes he finally started to walk in my direction and ended up 15 yards behind me. He stopped and picked up a frozen apple. As he rolled it around in his mouth I was able to get a good look at him. Heavy body and his legs appeared short. Good width, good mass, short tines. Even at this close distance there was still too many branches between us for the camera to work correctly. Darn!
I had this sinking feeling I should look back up hill to the North and see if any deer were coming down the hill. I turned my head to the right slowly and instantly saw 2 does coming down the mowed trail in my direction!! Crap! Now I had a buck very close, my camera not my bow in my hand and I still had to turn back around and face the north, all without making a noise. But before I could do anything the lead doe let out a snort, spun around to the left crossed her own back trail and up the hill both deer went!. BUSTED!
The bucks trail is in red and the does is in yellow.
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3786/11092869326_16d641e083.jpg)
So now the buck stood completely motionless. He is 15 yards away and all though I had no tag in my pocket for him and I was thrilled with the encounter. Other than the buck I killed over 2 months ago, this was the first really good buck I had close up. He finally decided to leave and he turned and walked up the hill away from me. I heard him break a few branches now and then and then the silence resumed. I still had about 15 minutes of daylight left. But the day ended with no shots.
I am going away for the holiday. Happy turkey day everyone. If you are traveling, safe journeys! If you are hunting good luck!
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:campfire: :coffee:
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Have you been been braving the cold! Glad to see you were still seeing deer! Can't wait to see your winter pics!!
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outing # 75 Lefty!
wow has it been that long since I posted ??
Between a lengthy illness, a trip north to see my daughter, a trip to Vermont to see my son and temps approaching the dangerous level I have not been out much! the times I went there really was nothing to share other than I Froze!
Today we had a heat wave with a high forecast of 21! No one has been in the woods for at least 10 days and I needed some tree stand time!
While Northern MN got buried last week with as much as 42 inches in Two harbors. we had zero snow on the ground when I left for VT last Friday. Upon my return I was happy to see about 3 inches.
(http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2890/11345485174_5061375c63.jpg)
All of my food plots have seen heavy feeding during the cold snap but most of the activity was still taking place after dark. ( the muzzle season is still in progress )
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(http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2894/11345377465_7d47e7f25b.jpg)
I was both encouraged and alarmed by the amount of sign in the plots. The food is not going to last into January as I had hoped. I fully expected to see deer in the double digits tonight. The first arrived early. At least a full half hour before sunset. A spike buck walked in from behind me. I heard him approaching and tried in vain to turn towards the sound without alarming the deer. My soft outer garment made just the faintest noise on the tree bark as I turned and he stopped dead in his tracks about 15 yards from me. He turned and made a wide circle around me . Then I noticed a doe on the very end of the plot in the tall grass feeding. Far right in the above photo. She stood at 80 yards and just surveyed the area. Eventually she disappeared and I never saw her again.
Looking over my left shoulder the spike had walked in the plot and was standing at the far corner giving my tree the old evil eye. He walked stiff legged and tail slightly flaired over the top of the plot and into the plots on the East side of the bluff top.
It was not even sunset yet!
I stayed on my toes the rest of the evening but all I got to watch was this sunset!
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3758/11345491804_256f5ab8b9.jpg)
As I made my way down the crp hillside I counted 12 dark bodies out in the fields nearest the house. Better luck next time!
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Keep after it! My hat is off to you man. Those are tough conditions!
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Good stuff Jim. It amazes me how wary these deer get after getting shot at for a few weeks.
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Wonderful sunset to end the day.
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Good to see this back up.
Way to hang tough, Jim. The deer are wired right now, gonna have to be perfect, almost...
Great to be out, though.
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outing #76 yurt cedar.
Pressed for time today. I arrived home from a meeting 2 hours to the north at 3:25pm. With sunset at 4:29pm, I had to go somewhere close. The stand in this cedar is a mere 250 yards uphill from the yurt.
(http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2817/10477436885_db63284234.jpg)
I had seen 6 deer up on the edge of the crp field just below this stand two nights ago just at dark.
So I hoped for a repeat tonight.
I hurried out the door of camp at 3:45. Here is where hunting in bluff land country late season is tough. I wasn't 75 yards up the hill when I glanced up the bluff above the stand only to see four grey bodies running up hill. The deer were either on their feet early or they were bedded on the lower reaches of the bluff. They were not going to stick around with me on my way up!
I stopped and tried to decide if I had any options other than to go home. The spooked foursome had run almost straight up the bluff. There is very heavy cover south of the stand. The wind was in my face. I hoped some deer might be bedded further south and may have not seen their buds high tailing it up the hill.
When I got to the stand it was just littered with track.
(http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2815/11360189636_7011695fa1.jpg)
Looking south west with the wind in my face I thought I still might have a chance today .
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3812/11360195136_89e642663a.jpg)
But either I spooked more then i saw or there just the four I saw that I pushed. Either way, I have decided it was worth going out if only for reinforcing the idea that this spot needs more attention. I just need to get there earlier.
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Why can't they play fair.......lol!
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:campfire:
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outing #77 the triple B
I woke to temps in the low teens and a light snow.I decided based on a coin flip to hunt this stand. It sits about 80 yards west of a heavy cedar covered point. While it wasn't really storming out I thought the deer might be heading to bedding here.
(http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2837/11384547276_af757ecf5d.jpg)
I took my time going up the bluff trying to listens for any deer that I might have gotten out of their beds. The new snow made everything sparkle in my headlamps beam. There were relatively fresh prints on the 2 trails that goes past the Triple B. I spent the first two hours watching in all directions and finally out of the corner of my eye I spotted movement. A 2.5 year old 8 point was to my right at about 75 yards and heading in to the Cedars. I hoped that was the signal for more deer on the move. But by 10 am I was ready to head in and had not seen another deer. I on the other hand looked like frosty the snowman and as the snow was just sticky enough that I was coated from head to toe. I was happy to get back to camp for a hot cup of coffee.
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3811/11377408004_593cf082fa.jpg)
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outing #78 AA lone wolf.
This stand has to be one of the most huntable stands on the farm. One can easily sneak in to it with out risking blowing everything out an up the bluff. While most of the food in the forage beans is gone it is still pulling a few deer down hill to it.
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7451/11377359735_624875823a.jpg)
The last time here I had a good buck making a rub behind me. This new rub welcomed me to the stand.
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5504/11377343085_276f2c6457.jpg)
I had just pulled up my bow when I spotted a deer under one of the apple trees about 70 yards up hill. It turned out to be Maximus the buck fawn that spends most of his time here. At least that's what it seems like to me because I see him every time I hunt in Apple Alley. Eventually I had him at 25 yards. Then I spotted another deer coming down the mowed trail. It stopped to feed under the same apple where I first spotted Maximus
I'd had a perfect wind until now. Suddenly she starts stomping and snorts and runs up the bluff. I looked at the floss on my bow. Yup its floating in an uphill direction! I still had at least an hour to hunt and the wind would be good for 5 minutes then bad for 5 minutes and so on and on.
Finally it seemed the wind again was out of the north and steady. I glanced to my left and Maximus was back standing at 15 yards. He seemed anxious and I have no idea how long he'd been there. He was pacing back and forth. He knew I was close and apparently he is starting to learn. He looked up hill and I took that as a sign to do the same. Five or six dark bodies were coming down the trail from the food plot heading our way. He walked out towards them. I had precious minutes before the day was gone and I knew if the deer dallied at all no shot would be fired tonight. Finally I ran out of day with six deer within 40 yards of me. Then the wind betrayed me and they were gone. I hope I didn't teach them with the stand is!
Stayed in bed this am as the temps were just 2 above zero. A trad friend is coming to hunt this afternoon. Perhaps we will have something more to post.
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Still Loving every post Jim :thumbsup: :campfire:
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outing #79 the sure thing.
Jamie arrived carrying his new Javaman longbow around noon. We caught on up with each other's news and prepared for a cold sit. I don't think it ever got above 7 degrees today.
Keeping Rattlesnake ridge between us, I sent him up into upper Apple Alley and I went to the sure thing.
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3785/11394186693_7d2b428fd2.jpg)
The wind was light but steady and out of the NW .I made it the stand with out seeing any deer fleeing up the bluff and at the tree added two additional layers. I didn't expect to see deer until the very last minutes of the day and I hoped I cold stay warm enough until then.
At 4 pm I saw three deer enter the clover field below me about 100 yards distant. 15 minutes later and they were in the apple trees just past the edge of the woods. A doe and her two yearling fawns. They each went to various trees that still held frozen fruit and stood on their hind legs in an attempt to reach the treats.
I looked uphill and saw movement on the trail that comes down and goes right past the stand. 2 more does were on their way down. The first veered off the trail at about 25 yards as a morsel under a big oak grabbed its attention. It then cut straight down the hill passing me at about 20 yards. Its sibling came slowly down the trail. I had made sure that I had picked up my bow early and positioned my feet early so that would be no movement from me other than the drawing of my widow. I was ready to take this deer. She was in the lane, stopped and looked away. It was so quiet that I tried to draw my bow ever so slowly . There was the slightest noise of carbon scraping the shelf and she bolted straight forward through the opening and stopped where I could not shoot her! She stood there looking around and then continued on down the hill to join the others on their way to the picked bean field!
You can't get much closer than that! Saved by senses fine tuned to the max.
AS I walked back the full moon cleared the Eastern Bluff and illuminated the hillsides. There were deer everywhere. It was a wonderful afternoon.
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keep at em!!!MAN I LOVE THIS THREAD greatjob with it littlebigman
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Thanks again Jim! It was great catching up with you and seeing a few deer! I won't mention how many I saw! lol. I did see the deer known as maximus and he is the biggest button buck I have ever seen! I have to go back and find your blog about him now!
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outing #80 Justin's stand.
This spot has been disappointing this year in that I think I have been skunked every time I sat here. But I know its potential and decided I was up for the long walk.
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3697/9846196983_1a5b85acf5.jpg)
It was a lot warmer today . A whole 3 degrees! But with the wind from the south 11 degrees actually felt pretty nice. We got about 2 inches of new snow today as well
About 1/3 of the way up the bluff's logging road I cut my first tracks that indicated I had bumped deer.
(http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2866/11411305686_0e41dd0a03.jpg)
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When I topped out I stopped to catch my breath and take in the great view
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5477/11411324994_e77012e0da.jpg)
I stopped about 50 yards from the ladder and using the crest of the hill to hide me I added my 3rd and 4th layers of wool. I wanted to be able to go right up the ladder as soon I got to it.
Despite the new snow it was evident the deer had been here in high numbers. Every where you looked there were hoof depressions beneath the new snow.
I stood the entire 2 hours on stand. Finally again at the final minutes of light a doe and her fawn came in to the field from the cedar point to my right. I was able to get the widow off of its hook without any noise and I turned slightly so my right shoulder would be pointing towards the shot.
But as luck would have it the doe fed in circles. Each time she was headed towards me she turned and fed away from me at about 30 yards. It was like there was a glass wall. It wasn't that she was alarmed it just worked out that was how she fed.
I kept my eyes alert to the left as well. I saw a deer go under the Bwana stand and enter the field on that end. Finally I knew it was past legal shooting time and I replaced the arrow into the quiver. The deer continued to feed and finally my knee with all the original parts started doing jumping jacks. Funny how my titanium knee doesn't seem to ever get the shivers! So I made just enough noise to push the deer out of the field without really letting them know where the stand is.
Two nights in a row I have had the encounters I strive for. It's what keeps me going.
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Jim, you sure have a little piece of heaven there in those hills. Thanks for taking us along :thumbsup:
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Thats Great Reporting Jim.. Most people beg to see deer in the late season, others chicken out due to cold.
You are obviously doing something right!
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:clapper: I'm one of the cold chickens....lol!
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#81
Apple Alley Lone Wolf.
I spent an hour this morning on the tractor plowing snow wishing I had gone to the tree stand instead. The temp this am was 22 F! It climbed all the way to 29 F but as the temp went up so did the wind! We ended up with a NW at 22 mph making it impossible to sit anywhere up top. This spot was the only one that would give me some shelter from the wind. I saw deer today early. But the wind had them spooked and mostly I just watched deer running on the far hillside of the valley. one group consisted of 4 does.
Finally I spotted 3 deer coming off of Rattlesnake ridge. it looked like they would end up in my lap. But at 25 yards all three stopped, stared in my direction and then turned around and walked away. Busted again by swirling winds.
Eventually they turned back around but looped well around and past me. I saw a total of 10 deer this afternoon not bad for just 120 minutes on stand! I feel like I am burning out this spot and will avoid for a while.
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#82 the yurt cedar
Still very warm and windy today. But the wind switched to the south and was blowing as hard as it was yesterday. Too windy to go up high so I headed early to this cedar . Last Friday I had the same type of wind but got here late and bumped 4 deer going in.
The deer trails on each side of the tree had fresh track going in each direction. I had 2.5 hours till sunset and despite the high temp of 32 I dressed for the duration. When the sun finally went behind the bluff around 4 pm I was glad for extra layer!
it was about 4 45. The sun had been down for about 20 minutes and I had about 10 minutes of legal shooting time left.
I was focusing my attention to the south as that is the direction of heavier cover and traditional bedding area. I just happened to look north and spotted a single doe browsing in some downed tree tops about 45 yards away. I grabbed the bow off its hanger , but I knew she would wind me . Then after about 5 minutes of watching her eat, her body language suddenly showed he had picked up my scent. Off and away she went up the bluff.
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:campfire:
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outing #83 Sure thing.
With a light north wind I returned to the sure thing in hopes of a repeat performance of Sunday with the exception that today I could get the shot off.
But today the deer all appeared from the south and were well below me in the tall grass of the old pasture. They all looked for apples. One was as close as 30 yards and I was hopeful that she would end up in front of me but eventually the five of them all headed north towards the clover field . I am sure they walked right past the next stand to the north but if I had been there they would have all winded me long before I saw them.
Better luck tomorrow.
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outing #84 lefty
It was a black and white type of day.
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7308/11472269753_588e355ac5.jpg)
Totally absent of all color. We had a little bit of sleet too. Everything has a coating of ice making the snow noisy and tree stands dangerous. Lefty has a life line all the way from the ground up to where you clip in at the top. So I went aloft with just a small bit of concern. Once up top I tried to knock a little of the ice off the platform so any foot movement would not sound an alarm.
It was a very slow evening with just one doe being sighted. It came into the narrow clover strip above the food plot the stand is set by. I watched her kick snow and feed for about 30 minutes and then as quietly as possible climbed down and headed home for dinner. the countdown to the season end has begun. Not many days left now, hoping for some better luck tomorrow.
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Good luck tomorrow Jim!
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Gorgeous photo LBM
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Good luck buddy! Keep after it!!
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Great shot of the Home Place. 4 Pines and a fish farm...?
All good things come to an end, but it ain't over till it's over. Hang tough.
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outing #85 Lower AA
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5528/11487047366_d9b52eec1f.jpg)
This photo gives you a little better perspective as to why this spot is so desirable to sit provided there is a steady North ( downhill ) wind.
So I crept into the stand (red arrow) making very little noise as we had another inch of new snow last night. About 3:30pm I spotted movement coming down from the upper food plot that sits just above the V( tractor trails)at the top of Apple Alley. It looked like two does. They dilly dallied around while a 3rd deer dropped off the ridge to the left.
As luck would have it, the 2 does stayed well inside the upper edge of the timber rather than coming down the mowed trail. The 3rd deer worked its way right in front of me, But it was a small fawn. As the fawn went past, it noticed my back pack sitting on the ground against the tree's trunk that I am perched in. Pretty observant to say the least. She stomped at it for about 5 minutes then resumed her path towards the food plot below. I was watching anther deer up hill when I heard a deer running behind me. The fawn returned at a trot and again stopped right in front of me. She stood there for while then began to working to my left. I looked back up hill but that deer had disappeared. The fawn milled around for awhile and eventually headed down the hill. I caught a glimpse of the deer I lost. Another doe but for some reason it was headed back up the ridge. I heard a noise behind and yup the fawn was back for the third time! This time it stood below me for about 10 minutes before finally running off for good.They are such amazing critters to watch and hunt.
I then spotted 2 more deer coming down the ridge but they turned to the west and never exited the timber on my side of the ridge.
It was a fun fun night!
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I know your season is winding down but I want to thank you for doing this blog. This is the second year that I have followed your season and I enjoy it so much. Many thanks.... :notworthy: :notworthy: ron w
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Thanks Ron!
too cold to hunt -15 this am with minus 30 wind chills!! when it got to 5 above I decided to at least go for a hike. Pulled the last camera and happy to report one great 8 made it past the slug hunters!
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3730/11536375766_a4329c2a31.jpg)
forecast calling for huntable temps tomorrow
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Jim,
Thanks for taking us along on your hunt. Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Ken
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Good luck in the Morning Jim! Hope you stay warm and have a great Present from your Mother Nature.
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Jim,
Thanks for another great year of sharing your hunts with us. I truly enjoy your posts! Merry Christmas!
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Jim,
I found this thread just a couple of days ago. You are doing an awesome job of taking us along with you on your daily hunts. By incorporating aerial maps and photos of stands and animals it's THE most informative and enjoyable hunt blog I've ever read.
Mike and I have talked about trying to do some of the same things with our annual Alaska moose hunt in 2014.
Thanks ever so much for a great blog and for taking the time to share your season with us.
John Havard
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Jim,
John turned me on to this thread and I finally caught up with all the action. I love the way you tell the story without it being a story. And as John said I think we will learn from it and add maps and sat photos to our Alaska Moose hunt this next year.
Mike
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Thank you everyone for your kind compliments and always your words of encouragement!
Outing #86 Sure thing.
After watching deer out the window and while on the seat of the tractor plowing snow, my question was not where to go but how to get there without alerting all the deer on the hill sides. We had gotten about 5 inches of new snow over night. The deer seamed to be on their feet all day. I am sure the warmer temperature was the reason why. I finally decided to walk along the picked beans and then angle up to the stand on the deer trail that leads there..
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5533/11555972953_a923394f00.jpg)
At the point where I turn slightly to start the uphill climb, i looked up and saw 4 deer get up on their feet and head to the south. (yellow line). I lost sight of them when they rounded the point and headed up into apple alley.
This is the view from the spot where I could see the deer running away.
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5538/11555771935_97e7d91a6c.jpg)
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I think next time I will walk the road instead!! I continued up to the stand as I had 3 full hours till sunset and I still expected to see deer coming from the north. The stand is at the red arrow.
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7336/11555915346_7736be2ae3.jpg)
Once at the stand I snapped pictures first to the south
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3722/11555925333_ff790cc8b3.jpg)
and then to the north
(http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2827/11555765065_4a1d85e456.jpg)
I got settled into the stand and shot a practice arrow about 3 yards ahead of where I would shoot the deer. I could just see the end of the fletching sticking out of the snow.
The bird activity today was really something. A whole flock of cedar waxwings were working over the cedars near me. I started to see deer on the adjacent hillsides. There were 5 opposite of me just below the Joel stand. I turned to look over my right shoulder and spotted a deer above me browsing and working its way down toward me. At 60 yards it lay down and started chewing its cud. I was directly in its view and for next 30 minutes I tried to be a statue and at the same time keep an eye on all the trails around me. I slowly pivoted to my left and was watching the deer across from me. I turned and looked back at the bedded deer that was no longer in its bed. I searched the hill side for a horizontal line among the tree trunks. Finally I spotted the line of the deer's back about 20 yards from where it had been bedded. It was on its way down to me. I slowly removed the bow from the hanger and got ready for the shot. It couldn't have worked any better except the doe turned out to be a buck fawn. He stood in the opening and then moved forward to where my practice arrow lay in the snow. It caught his attention and he stretched his neck forward and down to smell it. His reaction was comical as he whirled away from it and then walked stiff legged away. I still had about 20 minutes of daylight left and as the day faded I watched the deer across the valley come down the hill cross the road and the creek and go in to the bean field in front of the hay bale. They were still in the field as I made my way home to Christmas dinner. What a welcome sight the old farm house is at night in the snow at Christmas time.
Happy Christmas everyone.
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Merry Christmas Jim, Great Hunt!
Maybe you can get heater in the haybale blind with your sub arctic temps? :rolleyes:
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outing #87 The Sapling.
It had been a long time since I sat this spot and today's wind was favorable for it. I left slightly later than yesterday but was still out the door by 1 30 pm. But the hunt was really over before it even started.
As I rounded the corner of the bean field ( yellow star is me) I spotted 5 deer standing and watching me ( double pointed pink). The stand is at the red arrow.
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7362/11574872235_945e38e31c.jpg)
They all took off up the bluff east of the stand. This is to the right and out of the picture. So with over 2 hours left in the day, I was still hopeful that like yesterday I was well ahead of any natural late day movement. So I continued on up to the stand anyway.
click the link for a short video
http://www.flickr.com/photos/51550276@N08/11575010414/
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While the snow is not really snow shoe depth, the cleats on the bottom are really helpful for climbing up to the stand.
once there I snapped these photos
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3666/11575035624_f6fbb4fe00.jpg)
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5477/11574689225_b811b24a4e.jpg)
this last one looks south to the food plot
(http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2853/11574913493_3c21e95290.jpg)
It was really really quiet. A couple of bard owls started up a conversation right at dusk. As I walked home I went through the food plot in the last picture. Hardly a track in it as the food is gone. I realized tonight is the first night in a long time I didn't see a deer while on stand.
Tomorrow am is forecast to be mild. It is supposed to be in the teens at sunrise . I am going to do my best to be somewhere in the woods.
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outing # 88 Joel' stand.
if you recall 2 nights ago I saw 5 deer come out just below this stand at the end of the day. So I hoped I might just catch one coming in this am.
I forgot to snap a new picture so we will use this old one.
(http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2872/11586931833_bddb893cc6.jpg)
Didn't need light today. The crescent moon on the snow was more than enough to light my way . My boots crunched on gravel and snow as i made my way down the county road.
I had just left the road and started the climb up when I spotted a deer in the fire break right below the stand. Then a 2nd jumped up and they both took off. well at least I was right as to where the deer would be! Just wrong on the timing!
I climbed into the stand and lay down the rug I brought to stand on. The stand platforms on the last few sits have been squeaky so I brought the rug to quiet them down.
At 8 15 am I spotted a deer above me at about 75 yards. But it was walking on one of the contours trails not one that would bring it down and past me. AS I thought I hatched a plan for tomorrow am. I think we will do a one woman push tomorrow and see what happens. Nothing to lose at this point.
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outing #89 Bwana's stand
I headed out the door a little than planned and with temps approaching 30 degree's with a stiff SW wind I realized in short order I was not going to reach the stand with out breaking a sweat!. I used snow shoes again till I got to the top of the steepest part of the climb. Then kicked them off and left them against a big oak and hurried on to the stand. As I approached the crest I slowed to a crawl till I could see into each of the food plots. There were three deer in the food plot ( star) in front of the lefty stand.
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7354/11594716374_329def7c08.jpg)
It was only 2 pm and there was zero cover so a stalk was out of the question. I back tracked and looped well around keeping the crest of the hill as visual blocker. Arriving at the stand there were fresh diggings in the food plot right in front of the stand. The deer had either been here this am or last evening from the looks of things. I got my extra layers on and hustled up the tree.
After about 45 minutes I could see the line of a deer's back just on the other side of the tall grass that borders the clover field to the west. One of the three deer I spotted before or a new one was working its way in my direction. After a bit of concentrated staring I made out a small set of horns. It wouldn't matter though as the young buck fed for about 15 minutes and then disappeared back down the side of the hill it come from.
I kept expecting to see more deer at any minute but ended just enjoying a great sunset. I enjoyed the walk home in the silence of the snow covered forest and I felt like I was the only person on earth.
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Continues to be a great post to follow.....just curious, I know you want to kill a doe but are you seeing any bucks or did the gun guys wipe them out? I saw the one on the trail cam, any others?
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Ron
Its been a really weird fall in that the only good buck I have seen is the one I killed way back in Sept. For all the hours I have on stand I am amazed I have not spotted one or two. My next door neighbor has seen two good ones since the gun season has ended so I know they are around. But I am not seeing even little bucks. The one tonight and the one last Saturday has been it! Very odd.
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They don't get big by being careless.....lol!
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Keep it up Jim, and tell ron the truth, you are just hiding the bucks for future reference ;)
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Still at it in December.... Lucky man :)
:campfire:
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outing #90 ! Jim's stand.
Since this am was my last morning hunt this year I decided to end it where I started so many mornings ago.
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3772/11614451863_3d95e95ae0.jpg)
It was a much more difficult climb today then it was on Sept 15th! The view from the stand was quite different too. Here it is at just before sunrise.
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7361/11614293773_c7057b0fa1.jpg)
It was a balmy 21 degrees F at sunrise!! At 8:15 I happened to look over my left shoulder and standing not 30 yards away was a young 8 point buck! Finally a buck! He was silently making his way to the west away from me and eventually cleared out a place to bed. For the next 2 hours, I could occasionally just make out his ears and his rack if he turned his head just so. The temps continued to rise and I was able to stay on stand till almost 11 am. Not having seen another deer and not having to worry about spooking the buck I decided to take a different way home and do a little scouting along the way. The buck was long gone by the time my feet it the ground. I wasn't quite happy with this stands set up and after walking to and fro around the spot I have decided it needs to go about 6 feet higher and to be turned about 45 degrees to the West. This will allow better shooting for both right and left handed shooters and will enable a hunter to shoot at either trail the passes below or above the tree. We will fix that before next year for certain.
Hiking back I bumped a couple of nice does before I started my desent home.
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outing #91 SVR
The temp approached the 40 F degree mark and the snow was melting! The wind was gusty and out of the south. My nephew arrived for one last hunt and I gave him the option of hunting the food plots up on top.
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7378/10485651696_6f8709dc7c.jpg)
Below the Joel stand ( star) is a stand we hung on a windy day back in October. Its not been sat in since and on Christmas day night from the Sure thing I saw five does milling about in the vicinity of the stand. So I decided it was worth a shot and when walked up the stand I was encouraged in that there were plenty of fresh tracks going in both directions on the trail that passes beneath it. I was in the stand for about 15 minutes when a pair of eagles, one a juvenile the other its parent flew over. They called to one another as they soared by. Eagles are always a good omen to me.
At 3.30 I spotted three does on the other side of the valley , about half way up from the bean field and the woods edge. They ended getting spooked by my neighbor on his four wheeler down the road. I kept an eye fixed in each direction as best as I could, but the day ended with out seeing any other deer.
The forecast is not pretty. Temps in the minus teens and wind chill warnings for the area for the next two days. I am hoping to get out at least once more. We shall see.
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Great season Jim........ and a great read for us. Thank you
:campfire:
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Congrats on a great season Jim. :thumbsup:
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You do have a long season, but over 90 sits.....amazing...... :notworthy: :notworthy:
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And so it has ended. I did not get out again due to the extreme low temps and wind chills.
It was a great season. It was strange to kill a buck so early that I did not do any what I would call aggressive calling and runt hunting this year. While I don't regret a single thing from the season ( apart from the doe incident in September) I hope next year to do more of that style of hunting.
Now its time to start planning and working for next year. Some stands will come down. Others may be tweaked. I've got some big projects to do. Going to enhance several of the bedding areas by doing substantial hinge cuts this winter. Need to improve these areas so the big boys feel more secure. Thanks again to everyone who followed along and gave me words of encouragement.
May 2014 be filled with trad adventures for us all
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Thanks for sharing! Great story and excellent photos to go along with it.
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Thanks for taking us along! I know it has been a lot of work to do so, Its been educational and a lot of fun. :thumbsup:
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JIm,
Thank you for providing me with one of my favorite threads to follow every year.
Congrats on a great season. Perhaps you could update from time to time with shed antler reports and explain what hinge gutting is?
Thanks again and Congrats again!!!!
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:clapper: :clapper: :clapper: :clapper:
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Even though I have been hunting a lot myself this year and not always on TG every day, I don't think I have missed a single post on this thread. I make a point of not missing a thing on this one!
You have done another outstanding job Jim, sharing much knowledge and entertained us along the way. Thanks for all the effort you put into it. I know how much work it is to post all the comments and pictures, and to keep it up as consistently as you did is truly remarkable!
Thank you, and congratulations on another great season!
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Great season Jim, thanks for taking us along. This is a thread I look for every day.
David
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I truly enjoy sharing your hunts and I am looking forward to next year already. Congrats on a great season.
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Real nice "visiting" with you, Jim. Thanks for the effort, You inspire me to try the same.
Today is the day to plan and dream ahead. I've got my list started...
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Jim,
I too thank you. I love this thread and the pictures of your place. I just picked up a small camp of my own and I will use some of the things I have learned from following your hunts.
Maybe we will share a camp in Manitoba one of these years, although your bear would be tough to better.
D.P.
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Always enjoy the stories and pictures!!! Thanks!!
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Awesome season Jim, hope 2014 will be as successful for you!
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As been said by others thank you for taking us along.
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Thanks for another good thread, looking forward to the 2014 version... :thumbsup:
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:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
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awesome thread!!!the best i have ever seen hands down and the most thorough AWESOME JOB LITTLEBIGMAN!! :clapper:
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One thread that no matter what I have going on, I always catch up and read all your posts! Thanks and congrats on a great season!
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Thanks for taking us along again Jim! I've really enjoyed following along on your hunts. Keep us posted on your habitat work if you would, I find that very interesting.
-Jay