I love those big Pileated Woodpeckers......Nice photo.

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?

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.

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.


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!

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!

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 .

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.

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.

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.

Loving the play by play

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.
 
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.
 
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 .
 
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!

we found lots of these as we walked back down.
 
we stopped for a bit to enjoy the view.
 
the decoy man He hates getting his photo taken.

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.
 

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!

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.

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)

 

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!!!!

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.
 

My buddy Jay helped with the short and happy recovery.
 

We thank the animal spirits who sacrifice their lives that we may eat.

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.

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

Way to go!!!!!      

Congrates Jim! That's a big doe and beautiful mount!