5 Pines Farm Whitetails 2014

[LITTLEBIGMAN]

Hot isn't the word for tonight. I have been wearing a set of Tusx lightest set of camo and must say I am very pleased with how well it is designed. Lots  of little zipper vents in both the pants and shirt.

Once again I went up with minimal equipment. I did bring a flashlight, knife and camera tonight.

I knew the deer movement would be late if at all tonight. Just at dusk two forms appeared under the apple tree 25 yards away. Twin buck fawns all on their own. This is where my buck appeared last year. I watched them work on the apples for a good 20 minutes. They walked off towards the clover field just as light faded to dark.

Tomorrow is supposed to be in the 80's! Oofta!

[Jayrod]

I Hope for a cold snap for ya jim and get the deer on there feet

[23feetupandhappy]

Lovin the play by play Jim!!!
I love the diversity of your farm, always something differant to look at  

[LITTLEBIGMAN]

outing # 18 last hunt in the do over.

Across the road way up near the top of the bluff just before it gets crawling on all fours steep sits a ladder called do over. As in "let me do that shot over".  Lots of misses here and unfortunately a couple of hits and unrecovered deer as well.

This bluff side is a good bedding area. The deer come into it from all directions . It can be hunted only in the am as the wind here usually goes straight up the bluff. I don't hunt it very often as I only own 23 acres here and I don't want to push deer out and into the adjacent properties.


Very warm again this am. Really hot today . It's 83 as I type this. At 8 am I spotted moving legs on a contour trail above me . Three does were feeding on acorns and hickory nuts. They meandered a bit and then continued on across the bluff face, headed  towards the fence and ultimately the neighbors woods to spend the heat of day.

That was it for deer movement this am. I decided today while sitting this stand ,that this would be the last day for this stand .  I had my eyes on two trails 100 yards down hill. Since I had help here yet we moved the ladder over lunch .

I think the new set up will work well and I won't hunt out of it until the bucks start moving.

Here some photos from this am.

the stand before moving it

lower mowed trail

logging road entrance


looking towards home


With guests gone I am free to hunt where ever , but I am exhausted. With the heat forecast to continue at least 2 more days, I think I may take a 2 day break . Once it cools off a bit I be back at it hard.

[Jayrod]

Man looks like whitetail haven..keep at it jim!

[LITTLEBIGMAN]

outing #19  lower apple alley

oh what a difference 24 hours can make.

Yesterday is was 84 degrees with no wind. Today it was 59 with a gusty NE wind . I didn't hunt this am but arranged my day for an early afternoon sit.

I got to the tree by 3 pm. The wind was just perfect and I had a feeling today was going to be good.  

Here are 2 photos form the trail just below the thicket where the stand is.

Looking back the way I came

looking up towards apple alley

[LITTLEBIGMAN]

lots of leaf cover has been lost since the last time I sat here.

from the stand looking right
 
The Sumac is well past peak. The Black walnuts have dropped both fruit and leaves. Apples have lost about half of their leaves too. Aspen hasn't started to turn yet but by next week they should be bright yellow.

Early in the afternoon I was watching that trail on the right when I heard a noise on my left. A buck fawn had snuck in on me and was under the apple tree (star)
 

He nosed around a bit till he found a big yellow apple. While he was munching it he looked up at me several times. We were only 8 yards apart at most. I kept thinking he was going to bust me. Several times I closed my eyes to avoid direct eye contact.

When he whipped is head around and stared up his back trail , so did I.

Legs appeared on the mowed trail. followed by a muscled body and a head with a bronze 8 point rack. A 2.5 year old buck stood at the red apple tree just 20 yards up from the young buck and I. He found some fruit as well and began to eat. When I looked back down at the little buck, he was starring at me.  I must have moved my head or body when I was watching the 8 point. The little guy didn't spook but his body language alerted the older buck who after a minute or two spun and ran back the way he had just come from. The little guy headed away as well. But in the opposite direction.

about an hour later, just after the sun had sunk behind the bluff above me to the left, I caught movement on the mowed trail to my left.  Two deer were walking in my direction. The lead one was a nice doe followed by the same little buck again. I recognized him because he has a bunch of burrs stuck in the hair on his head. The doe picked up an apple on the trail and the little guy walked past her and ended up again at the star. The doe walked past him under the tree as well and found an apple quickly. The buck looked at me and then walked on thru . The doe turned around and started to head back to where the little buck had been. She ended up at the star.

[LITTLEBIGMAN]

Now for a right handed archer she was standing in the perfect spot. I being left handed, had to lean way out and crouch down to be able to draw my bow and clear the tree trunk and limbs.

This gave me time to stay calm. I slowly drew the bow. When I was sure I was clear of the tree, I picked a spot and let the string slip.

The arrow hit her tight behind the shoulder but I knew it was 3 inches high. I was sure the single bevel werewolf had made it thru her and that I had hit her lungs . But I knew it could have been better.

I marked the spot where she entered the timber and headed home.

After dinner a neighbor and I returned and followed a very confusing and frustrating blood trail. After loosing the trail only to find it again and loose it again for good, I was feeling pretty bad.

Finally I just decided to walk the main trail that runs the ridge contour and as I was doing that my flashlight picked up her white belly hair laying a ways below me. She had died on her feet on the trail and then rolled down the ridge a ways.

The star in this photo is where we found her. She ran about 150 yards. My autopsy showed holes in both lungs but in the top third.

Awfully happy we found her,  I will go look for my arrow in the am.




I hung up the self bow last week. The 52 lbs was too much and my arthritis in my hands was killing me.  So tonight I was shooting my Hill country bob cat named Anubis. It is 44 lbs. My arrows are 150 CE express with a 100 grain brass insert and I had 145 gr single bevel werewolf. Total arrow weight is 556 grains

[Robhood23]

Congrats again my friend! Perfect night in SE MN!

[pitbull]

Jim, Congrats on a well deserved queen of the forest. All your hard work is paying off.        

[Jayrod]

Way to go Jim I knew it wouldn't be long till something hit the ground..Comgrats my friend!

[Hopewell Tom]

Way to go, Jim. Nice deer.

Once again you've helped me out with some questions I have. My 52# Grizzly is hurting my arthritic hands as well and I'm waiting on a 45#er hoping for some relief. Knowing you found some is making me hopeful.

Thanks, again for your efforts to bring us along. I'm happy to see this back up on page 1.

[MR BILL SHORTY]

   

[Gswag]

Congrats. Enjoying the hunts, thanks

[ron w]

     Well done!

[kadbow]

   

[Sockrsblur]

Good recovery Jim those high lung shots can be tough . Nice to put one in the freezer too. Hey can we have an updated photo of the pond? I loved that project.

 

[23feetupandhappy]

Well done Jim  

I would love to see the pond project progress pics as well!!!

[Gen273]

Congrats on a nice doe Jim!

thanks again for taking the time to take us along through this thread!

[DaveT1963]

Congrats...well done