Opening day in VT, New pics and some scouting

[vermonster13]

It finally came, opening day. Christmas in October almost.

Thought I'd share day one with you all. Here is my private honey hole. The farm I hunt mainly has a private garden plot that only I hunt during Archery Season. The other hunters leave these 100 acres to me pretty much.

This sweet corn will be the only corn standing in a week from now. Lots of cow corn up still but they were cutting it like crazy today in the upper fields.
 
Here is the view from my morning ground blind.
West
 
East
 
This is a little strip between some houses by a road and the garden. On the other side of the garden is beef and horses in a 40 acre pasture all wide open and surrounded by this on the south and soft and hard wood mix on the north and east. this little strip holds a huge covered runway. 6 different doe and yearlings gave me shots I passed on today here, only get to take two deer in VT and you get one general tag and one archery tag to start and I don't want to end it to soon unless Mr. Big shows.

The runway leads out to here.
 
Loops through the old orchard and comes out here.
 
The trees are loaded with apples and they were falling constantly.

The turkeys like it in here to!
 
I had a dozen or so off to the side of my midday blind but couldn't coax them into a shooting lane. Played cat mouse with them for a couple of hours. It was a blast.

More tomorrow if anyone is interested in it.

Good luck and be safe all.

Oh and Vance, I had prime rib(with fresh horseradish), baked potato and garden salad with ranch Parmesan dressing tonight. (Nachos for the app!)

[Forester]

Sounds good - all the makings of a great opener (including the food)!

[Chris Surtees]

Dave, keep them coming. Looks like a great spot.

[Pat B.]

wow, thanks for posting the pictures..

Looks like a great bowhunting area.

Best of luck.

Please do keep your pictures coming. Interessting to where and how others hunt.

[Ga.boy]

Looks like a nice picture perfect area Verm. Corn, apples, garden veggies, pastures, wow! With that kind of a deer magnet, you are sure to get your chance to fill your tag soon. Wish I had an area like that to hunt. The areas I hunt are strictly hill and valley hardwoods with a sprinkling of pines. The small creeks on the property are dry this year thanks to the drought, and the White Oaks are bare, but the Black Jacks and Red Oaks are dropping, so all is not lost yet.
Good luck, and keep the pictures and stories coming.

[vermonster13]

Food is in great abundance up here this year Chuck. A bumper crop of everything that grows it seems. Have to just wait them out until they feel like having whats on the menu in front of you at the time.

[Ga.boy]

David, just curious since I don't have any apple ohchads around here. Do the deer prefer acorns or apples when both are abundant? There are a lot of apple scent products on the market, but they seem to mostly attract yellow jackets. I have been known to pour a little juice from my bottle of Minute Maid apple juice from my stand in the morning, but can't tell if it helps or not. I've had older deer act spooky when smelling it and had yearlings and fawns actually lick the leaves it is spilled on. Maybe because it is not a natural smell in the areas that I hunt, the more mature deer go on red alert?

[ChuckC]

Beautiful place Vermonster.
good luck
ChuckC

[vermonster13]

If it doesn't belong there my experience has been only the young ones will pay attention in a positive way. Deer don't get old by being fooled easily.

[kawika b]

Beautiful Dave,,,keep em comin bro. Go and get us a hero pic  

[Ga.boy]

In an area with both in abundance, which do they seem to prefer in your experience? Would they abondon any of their caution to get to the apples? Reason I'm asking is that I have the opportunity to hunt an area with a few apple trees on the property. The guy who owns the property doesn't even know what kind of apples they are; just says his wife makes great pies from the ones that the deer don't eat. He has 40 acres total. About 3/4 to one acre of apples right behind his house and the rest mixed hardwoods and pines. He says the only time they see deer in the apples is just before dark, but they think they feed there all night because of the damage to the apples that they see. Unfortunately, the only way to get to the hardwoods is by going through the apple orchard. Maybe I need to slip in an hour or so before dusk and set up on the edge of the apples just inside the hardwoods? Neighbors on either side do not allow hunting, so skirting the property is not an option.

[vermonster13]

Go in mid day and find out where the trails are coming into the orchard. Move back a ways and set-up there if you can. Give yourself a little more shooting light and may not just booger up the apples that way.

There are so many apples on these trees I don't think the deer can keep up. They also have acorns right up behind the apples and beechnuts within 400 yards. Plus the garden corn is sugar and gold and that is like candy to them. These deer have so many choices which is why I set-up on a travel route instead of a particular food source. Gives me a better shot at them while they stage up and decide where they will nibble first and I can keep my sent blowing towards the houses instead of the trail and feeding area so long as I pay attention to the wind.

[Bjorn]

Great shots Dave, you live in a fabulous hunting area!

[4runr]

Nice pics Dave. Looks familiar. Is that where I was set up the first morn for turkey?

[tim roberts]

Looks good, from an easterners view!  LOL        Keep the pictures coming!

[cjones]

Looks like there should be a buck in there somewhere. Now ya just have to find that big one!

[Stone Knife]

Looks like a good choice of spots. Nice photo's to go with the story, I hope you connect soon and report back with some more pics.

[bentpole]

Dave great looking spot.Lots of potential. Keep the stories and pictures coming.

[vermonster13]

There are a big 8pt and a monster 14 that one of the other guys who hunts the farm has pictures of. The 14 is a deer of 4 lifetimes for here.

Had the turkeys this morning but on the wrong side of the fence and posted sign. Temps went from 80s yesterday to 50 today, so I have high hopes for some earlier action this afternoon.

[Izzy]

Thanks for taking us along Dave.Ill be in Manchester today with the family.Ill be crossing my finger for ya if your out in your blind today.