The hunt is ON...

[Pinelander]

Here we go again, attempting to share a few of my excursions afield. This was my first weekend of hunting and it started out rather slow.

No deer sighted on Sat. morning. That evening I watched 6 does loping by my stand approx. 50 yards out about half hour before sunset. What was that all about? Must've gotten spooked out of some other area and were passing through mine.

This morning, one lone doe standing about 100 yards out, looking rather lost. She then took off galloping across the field.???

This evening 4 does (one mature and 3 yearlings) came out into the field an hour before sunset 80 yards to my north. OK, this looks good... they then proceeded to walk North away from me. Not so bad, I say... half hour later a nice buck appears from same place the does emerged. Not to be... he headed out into the field and walked straight West away from me. A good-looking buck with inside spread past his ears - the hunt is ON!

All in all, it was a good first weekend. I didn't get busted (wind or sight) and didn't jump any deer out of bed. Had a N to E wind all weekend and had to stay away from the NW honey hole.

No pics of the buck, not wanting to chance getting caught with hands full if he headed my way. When he did move West, he was in tall weeds and all I could see was antlers. Here's the does, big momma is not in the picture...

[tuffshot]

I am looking forward to this seasons story and pics Piney. Just don't tag out too early :)

Keep the pictures coming.. :cheers:

[Esquire]

Been looking forward to this, Pinelander. Thanks for taking the time...

[BLACK WOLF]

Love it Dave...is that where I think it is? ;)

Ray ;)

[Pinelander]

Yeah right Tuffy, LOL... It was my own fault last year, passed on way too many deer, then panicked on Nov. 15th and took a little one for meat in the freezer. Just never know how things will go as the season progresses. It's very difficult to take the first doe out in the evenings, as was observed this evening... usually a better deer comes a bit later. Last year, I remember letting a forkie pass, then 15 minutes later a small 6 pt, then 5 minutes later a nice 8 pt. came out, but he didn't take a shootable route... go figure. Guess I ought to just thump the first one that comes along and be done with the meat market thing. Always a tough decision early season... the antlered ones are very unaware for the first few weeks.

[Pinelander]

Yep Ray, that's the place. Remember that nice 8 pt. you took from the ground just north of a small field of pines? Those pines are so big now, I've got a stand inside that thicket... usually some traffic through there when the rut picks up. No more crops planted in that area, gov't paid filter strips took away too much and made it un-profitable for lease farming.

[tuffshot]

Piney, sent you a PM check it out!!

[BLACK WOLF]

Yea Dave...I still have the skull and rack...it makes a great bow rack...I now know why they call 'em "basket racks" ;)

Ray ;)

[James Wrenn]

Piney shoot us one of those 300lb brusers you have up there. :) Heck that whole part of the world is one big corn feild.All those deer do is eat and grow.No wonder they get so big. :lol:

[Cato]

Looking forward to following this thread. Thanks Piney.

[Pinelander]

Well, I practically wrote a min-novel for my personal journal as to what happened this evening. Bottom line is... me and my Quinn Longhorn sure are itchin' to take out either of the two bucks I've seen in the last two evenings. This ends a 3 day long NE wind that was perfect for this area, will probably be a week or better before we get another one. Gonna take a break for 3 or 4 days, waiting for the wind to get going out the South soon. The NW area has a couple of fresh stands patiently waiting... for another day, another hunt.

[tuffshot]

Piney,

Question for you. Do you find that when the wind is from the East you are least likely to see deer. Around here it usually means there is a storm coming and is like it is circling around before it cuts loose, thus the Easterly wind. :sbrug:

[Pinelander]

No, I think it helps more than it hurts... in late season anyway. In most cases an Easterly is an indication that a storm of some sort is on the way (or already here) because of that counter-clockwise motion of a low pressure system. Many times the beginning of an East wind willl bring with it a quickly dropping barometer and it's always been said that animal movement is increased because of the expected oncoming storm, so they want to fill their bellies before hunkering down a spell when the storm does finally hit.

The NE we've had here lately has been nothing more than a gentle system that did not produce any rain whatsoever... was actually some of the best blue-skied, mild weather we've had in a long time. It was very beneficial to me just because that's what I needed to hunt that area. The deer were very at ease and comfortable coming out in open areas very early the last several days. Don't think it had much to do with wind direction, more to do with un-pressured, normal routines where they haven't had any human intrusion... until now. It will change in a week or so, getting more cautious as some of them will sense more human presence. But then the rut will mix 'em up pretty good again.

Now if you were to ask Hank or Stagmitis... they'd tell ya it was the MOON. I'm gonna start taking notes about that and see what I can come up with. Never have really followed that bunk.

I've heard fellas say that when the wind is out of the NE, their hunting dog's noses aren't worth a crap... and so that would stand to reason that a deer's nose wouldn't be very good either. A wive's tale, not so sure about that. Most cases, when I've hunted in Nov. with a NE... the deer seem to be rather disoriented about things compared to the normal SW and W-NW that we usually get around here. Maybe it's just the rut, I dunno. One thing's for sure... I always like those low-humidity days. Deer can't get as much moisture in their nostrils for doing what they do best.

[Pinelander]

Oh, BTW... I was so frustrated this evening, I just wanted to do this.

But of course, I'm bowhunting and it just wouldn't fit the "traditional" mode, I guess.

[Lambow]

Piney, go ahead and thump the first one that comes by. It might help you be more selective in the future, and satisfy your need to kill something early.
Sure would like to see you take that 20" drop tine out of the heard!!
Hunt hard & good shooting,

Lambow

[tuffshot]

Piney the mad CAT :eek:

I have hunted with the wind from the East also and it seems to be a 50/50 shot. The old saying was "wind from the East fish bite the least", just figured it was about the same for deer and wildlife also..

[Pinelander]

Well, I've had to take a break from hunting for reasons other than the weather. Hunted for 3 days and then had a re-ocurrence of a lower back problem Tuesday morning. Just now starting to get my strength back, hope to be in the trees by next weekend or Halloween at the latest if things continue to improve.

This was a very unwelcome reminder to me as to how fortunate it is to have good health and mobility. Injury was not related to bowhunting activities, but everyone please be careful and safe out there anyways. :)

[Lambow]

Will do Piney... and hope your back gets better soon.Get on down there to the pin sticker, and get punctured!!! The rut is right around the corner, can't be all hobbled up for that.


Lambow

[tuffshot]

I hope you can get back in the game soon Dave. Take care of the old back.

Just so you will still be in the hunting mode. I went out yesterday evening to sit in a tree for a spell. The valley where I live has a ridge running on the South side of my home that runs for a few miles East and West. There is a small farm about a mile and a half where I hunt. The corn has already been picked and the woods are loaded with acorns and nut of every kind. There are ears of cornleft in the field after the harvest that the deer haven't even touched because of all of natures bounty this year.

There is a dirt race track about a half of a mile from my house and they have been racing every night since Thursday. So I figured the noise would run the deer out of the area with all the people and noise, and they would head towards my spot.

Thursday morning I went out for a few hours in the morning to sit and scout around. I found a spot with 3 fresh scrapes and a couple of rubs in the area. Figuring this may be a good spotand the wind was right it was a good spot to set up Friday evening.

Getting in a tree just North of the 3rd scrap seemed to be a good spot. There is still a lot of folage and leaves here they should bestarting to change colors and falling soon I hope. Besides a few squirrels the wood were quite except for the distant roar of the engines from time to ime at the race track that seemed to echo thru the valley.

As seen on TV there are always new products coming out that are the latest and greatest in deer attractants so I brought some with me. After seeing a infomercial on C-Mere Deer I decided to get some and try it out. I put it in a spray bottle and sprayd a stump about 10 yards from the stand.

With the bow still hanging by my side a doe comes running up the hill about 5:30 PM on the dot as she got within about 15 yards of the stump and only 10 yards from me she stopped and started looking around. She made a small circle where she stopped sniffing and licking her lips for about 5 minuites. She never got alarmed and her tail was down the whole time and just slowly walked off and never going over to the stump with the stuff on it.

Welp sat there until 7:15 wich was prtty much dark in the woods with all the leaves still hanging on and never saw or heard another thing except for the roar of the engines as they made a few laps around the race track.

But you can bet I'll be back looking for the old buck making those scrapes. :)

[Pinelander]

Don, you know I just love to hear about others' escapades while hunting... thanks for sharing that. Ain't nothin' like sitting on a scrape line in anticipation as to what might come along. I sure can hear that race track, we have one no more than a half mile away to the East of where I hunt in the NE area (where picture of does was taken). They only race on the weekends, but from 8 am until 6 pm... it's a constant drone. Well, it's actually louder than that, because when I'm over there the wind is out of the East and blows it right over. Sounds a lot closer than it really is... just like when turkeys are gobblin' and the wind carries the sound. That reminds me... last Sunday morning I heard a tom go off in the trees before sunrise, what a way to start the day. Also saw a mottled turkey in the bunch on Monday evening, maybe it's that same tom I saw last spring.

Eric, I was hoping to hear a bit of a story on that 4th deer you tagged. A very good strategy on your part by making the most of undisturbed hunting before the gunners get going.

Strange how this back thing works... started to loosen-up yesterday a bit and can actually sit in a chair now for longer than 5 minutes. Was telling Hank how it was great to be able to stand up straight after being bent-over for 4 days... insanity starts setting in being flat on the back day and night. I think I can do a bit of shooting in the yard today, but no hunting until the stiffness is gone and strength is back 100%,. Thank goodness I got the Stallion back... it isn't the power-poundage of the Longhorn, but more of a finesse bow at 47# and should help out tremendously.

[Pinelander]

What a beautiful morning, a bit of frost on the ground and the maple outside my window is on FIRE...

[Pinelander]

Last Monday evening's hunt fiasco is still haunting me to no end. Watched a buck move out of the willows at 6:15 and head West just like the other one did night before. Got down out of tree and scampered down to end of treeline that meets a small gully where a tractor path cuts through it. Figured this is where he was headed and backed down into the gully with a good wind hoping for an ambush.

Sure enough, no more than 5 minutes after getting settled, I heard some brush movement. He was sniffing around the edge of weeds next to the path no more than 8 yards away from me. All I could see was a glimpse of antlers, his face and broad snout when turning his head. He was heavier-beamed that I thought when I first glassed him by the willows. Not real wide, but plenty thick out to his G2's and rather high-tined.

Would have been a great shot presentation if he had only proceeded another 5-10 yards without all that sniffin' around. He kept sniffing, then would look out into the field... come on, 10 more steps looking away and you're toast! Wasn't meant to be though, he didn't find whatever it was he heard (me getting in there), so he decided to turn and go back from where he came. I was darn sure he was gonna pick me out, as the cool evening air was showing my breath as I exhaled... but thankfully he had no clue I was there. Darn it anyway! So close, but yet so far away. Just couldn't be that easy, ya know...

[James Wrenn]

Piney it is those types of encounters that keep us going back. :)
It is sort of like sitting in a stand for 5 hours in dead woods with nothing moving.You are tired and your back hurts.Some days you might be cold or sweating with skeeters everywhere o another day.Then in a blink of the eye everything comes alive and happens in a minuite or so.The first 5 hours no longer exist.They just went away because of one of those encounters. :) When we think back on it all we remember is those last minuites. :lol:

[Lambow]

Good to hear your back is better Dave. You almost pulled it off, headin that buck off at the pass like that. "cool evening air showing my breath", i won't see that here till december.
The last deer i shot fri. eve. gave me the easiest shot yet. Slowly walking by at 15 yds. broadside, slightly quartering. Double lunger, went 30 yds. and expired. The Warfer & tackle, preformed well for me this bow season. Hope to get a crack at the big buck when he goes into rut.


Lambow

[Pinelander]

Man, it's like night & day... went to the hardware store, grocery store, and gas station and just got back. On my feet and driving around for nearly two hours... feels good. Gonna shoot the Stallion for awhile and see how things go.

Ya just gotta love those 15 yd close-in encounters, really gets that adrenaline pumpin'. :)

So I'm curious... when do the bucks start acting stupid down there in GA anyways?

[BLACK WOLF]

Dave,

Are you involved in any type of core strengthening routine?

Has your back been diagnosed with anything specific?

I know this guy in Colorado that would love to help ya if you need it ;)

Ray ;)

[SubconsciousShooter]

Appreciate the pics and good real-life stories...not that that they aren`t all real life...lol

I wanted to take a pic of the buck last week, but he was walking directly toward me across an open field and there was no way, I could get away with any movement.

If I can get some pics in the future...I`ll post them on-line.

[Lambow]

Piney,
The big bucks are running the young (1 1/2 year old) ones out of their territory now.They are a little displaced for a while, so the evidence is from seeing a good number of the basket rack bucks that have been hit by vehicles. The big ones are starting to get serious now.
The rut in my part of the state is usually the 2nd week of Nov. though the last 2 biguns i killed were in the last part of Oct. They were not in full swing...
One of them came by checking the does out, and the other came out a little to early for acorns.
When do they do it up in your part of nois Dave?

Lambow

[Pinelander]

Same thing, Lambow... they start snooping around a bit the last week of October, younger ones are sparring and start chasing to no avail the first week of November, and then the dominant ones go full-bore the second week of the month. First Does that hit estrous happens in a window that's always somewhere between the 12th - 15th.

Ray, no I don't do a lot of working out... that's where the problem is, need to strengthen the legs and abs way more than I do. Herniated disc removed (L4, I think) many moons ago and has left a space in there where compression can happen from time to time. One day I'm climbing up, down, and around trees and the next thing ya know... an uncoordinated stumble and wham, compression down low where there is no cushion. Severe spasmodic muscle reactions to compensate and it hangs on for about 4-5 days and then back to normal as if nothing happened. So, Dr. Ray.... that's about the jist of it.

Was an interesting evening out there tonight. Three does cutting out into the field half hour before sunset, two others appeared just as the moon was rising. Too warm for me... skeeters were dive-bombing. Doggone digital camera anyway, too much fiddlin' around to try and get the aperture right.

[BLACK WOLF]

Wow...those pics are GORGEOUS.

You definitely aren't having a hard time shooting a trophy picture ;)

Your back issues sound typical of someone in your condition. I'm sure you know this...but your situation will feel like night and day once you have strengthened your core.

Ray ;)

[Pinelander]

Finally back up in the trees again for the first time since last week... all is well with the back. Headed on out to Ole Faithful this evening with NW wind. Didn't see a thing until 10 minutes after sunset. Then a little 6 pt. came out of the weeds and entered the bean field. He wasn't going to be anywhere near me... until I gave him two burbs without a grunt tube. He made it over to my tree before quitting time. Chewed on some overhanging branches where the annual scrape always shows up. Kicked a little dirt around, then turned at 15 yds. and let me put a draw on him.

It was a successful hunt... as I let down and watched the little guy head on down the line. Still lookng for that meat market doe, the sooner the better. Left the camera in the truck, but that's OK... it sure felt good locking down on that young buck, then letting him live another day. No, I'm not a tree-hugging animal-lover... just like to let younger males get BIGGER, unless backstraps aren't in the freezer by mid-November.

[Pinelander]

My visiting hunter form Michigan and I finally hunting the NW honeyhole yeterday evening for the first time. We both saw a 10 pt 120-125" buck bumping does out in the field right before sunset. Right after sunset, Jim had a "mutant" buck approach from his back side and work a scrape nearby. He said the deer's right antler was very long (about 26" from base to end) and the left side appeared to have only several brow tines or main beams about 6"-7" long. The right main beam grew out a long ways before any tines appeared. Jim didn't have a shot opportunity until it was too dark. He said it looked to be a very old deer because of it's body size, but I told him they ALL are big-bodied down here, LOL.

Sounds like this is the one-sided racked deer that everyone was seeing last year. His right side was very wide and typical, but his left side was nothing but 3"-4" scrub. We all thought that that he would be a magnificent-looking animal if he had the other side. We are very fortunate that many bucks survive from year to year because there is no gun-hunting on this large property. Seems as though this buck has abnormal antler growth genes and needs to be culled from the herd. We're going back out again this morning and see what's offered up....

[Pinelander]

My journal continues...

Not one deer sighting this morning in the same area as last night. Must've been the moon phase.

Started to rain at 9 am and set another stand in the NE area. This is the same place I hung one last year with not much action and didn't stay long. There are scrapes on each side of the narrow fingered tree line with two cut-through trails nearby. Set the stand in a different tree this time with better sky-line concealment and a bit higher... it's a very high-visibility location for seeing what's going on in the area.

Hunting the Prairie lands of Illinois...
Last year's photo shows the short finger where new stand is placed, located near the base of the finger. It's tough to hunt these areas, being flat with only isolated areas of cover that are mostly willows. The deer have a tendency to meander around out in the grassy set asides. They know where they're safe... they bed-up in the willows 100-200 yds. to the north shown in the second photo.

[Pinelander]

Nope... not yet, but things are getting interesting over by my latest NE stand placement. Wind has not been good for the NW honeyhole. Saw 3 does just north of me Monday evening at this new stand location.

Sunset is 6:00 pm now. At 5:45, 3 does come running out of the willows from the NE, checking their back side intently, then begin to meander my way. Then all of a sudden, they start running lickety split right towards my location. One doe runs full-bore and cuts through right under me, the other 2 cut through the tree line about 40 yards before that. At 6:00 I spot two of them just SW of me in the corner. They are feeding on the grassy trail and get about 60-80 yards from me. Then at 6:20 I see a huge-bodied deer walking at a good pace coming from the South near that tractor crossing. He's closing the distance between him and the does real fast and when he gets about 50 yards away from them, he starts gruntin' away. About 20 yards to go and the big doe takes off down the middle of field with buck right after her. Then at 6:30 I see him again on the other side of my tree line where the does had been earlier... he continued across the field and headed NW away from me.

I believe this location might be a better morning stand. This buck looked to be in the 130-140 class, not the same one I had a close encounter with last week. The clock changes this weekend and I think I'll leave it alone until then.

[Pinelander]

Went to Ole Faithful this evening. There are now 2 scrapes and one is twice the size it was last Friday. Same little guy entered the bean field in the same place as last week (2nd pic). He worked his way through the weeds and got downwind (north) of the scrape area, nose bouncing up and down trying to get a snootful. He didn't work the scrape, but rather headed NE across ditch behind me. This scrape area has opened up earlier than in past years.

First photo was taken last year when it was in corn. The scraping area is located about 10 yards in front of the tree alongside the grassy path. The buck crossed grassy path and entered brush to my north (3rd pic). Only had a 3 mph south wind this evening and he never made me... gee, guess that ScentLok works after all.

[Pinelander]

Beautiful morning, this Saturday the 29th of October...

Three Does out in the beans at first light. Glassed another Buck this morning 1/2 hour after sunrise moving along the edge. Not sure if he's the same one I saw on the 26th, definitely 20" wide and would probably go 130-140".

Photos of the morning...

[Pinelander]

Parked the truck along a pine line and was getting some stuff out of the back of the truck to make an adjustment on one of my stands in the area. There stood 2 Does watching me from about 100 yards. It was 1-1/2 hours after sunrise. They didn't seem to be too concerned about that dumbo fiddling around with stuff. Nor did they mind me taking a few photos...

[tuffshot]

Those does looked pretty healthy to me. They probably have a pretty god layer of fat on them from eating all those acorns. It won't be muchlonger before their suiter will be catching up to them.. :)

Great pictures / :highfive:

Shoot something Piney!!

[Lambow]

Those are some great pictures Piney. The pumpkin feild with the fall colored leavs on the trees, are beautiful.
Those 2 does look very healthy. I'd take one!!

Draged my 5th one out of the woods this mornin. Just couldn't restrain myself.

Lambow

[Pinelander]

Shoot something Piney!!
I'm putting in the hours now, Tuffy. Just a matter of time & luck, I guess.

Those 2 does look very healthy. I'd take one!!
Lambow... yeah, me too... those were both real fat mommas, no doubt. Now if I could just be lucky enough to have 'em walk by one of my 5 stand setups... when I'm there.... :rolleyes:
They meander so much, can't pattern them very easily around here.

Draged my 5th one out of the woods this mornin. Just couldn't restrain myself.

Alright, that's it !#$%^*!... you are officially dubbed...
Whack 'em and Stack 'em LAMBOW. :D

You are a deer magnet, my friend.

[Pinelander]

Sat. evening 10/29 -
We were on stand at 4 pm. There's this neighboring hunter to the north that has to walk clean across the open cut bean field about 600 yards to get to his hunting spot. There are some high, long and narrow weedy strips out in this field. After the hunter walked some 200 yards past one of them, Jim watched a huge buck bolt out of the weed strip and make his way across the field to cover on our side. The hunter must've walked within 50 yards of that sneaky buck... he just stayed put, then got the heck out of there after hunter passed by. Jim had two shootable does where he was, I had nothing. He is even more selective than I am... 130" bucks or better.

Did a little scouting late morning today. Discovered that a waterway ditch no longer has water in it. It's about 5 feet lower than the adjacent fields and seems to be a good place for sneaky deer to travel unseen between two cut bean fields. It joins into the area of tractor crossing (close call ground hunt) and also the set aside area where buck was chasing doe one evening. Suspicions were confirmed... deer are walking the length of this ditch.

One lone willow tree near the ditch and amongst heavy willow cover. Very difficult setup as the tree is all crooked and such. Could only get the stand up about 12 feet max. We call it our Billy Bob gunhunter's stand, but still looking forward to watching this ditch and field edge when the seek phase gets going.

[BLACK WOLF]

Luving the stories Dave...and I'm still blown away with your photography skills...Frosty Morn and Pumpkin Patch are gorgeous.

Ray ;)

[Pinelander]

Last year's photo showing location of newly set Billy Bob stand. The set-aside weeds have grown up immensely since last year (supposed to be hardwood saplings growing in there, but there aren't too many). It's 15 yards to brush-hogged grassy path at edge of willow thicket. Then another 35 yards of weeds to the cut bean field. Kind of nice that all willow thicket areas have brush-hogged "walls" to keep the willows from spreading out into the gov. set-aside areas. Deer travel and feed on these grassy paths often.

Bet I get made if a deer walks by this stand on the grassy path. I'm gonna have to take a photo of it the next time I'm there... it's pretty laughable actually. I was just shaking my head when looking at it, what a joke. Down in the ditch is a better sneak shot.
The games we play trying to get on their routes. :p

"Wish this guy would just shoot a deer and get it over with"
Yeah... me too! :D

[Pinelander]

Well fellas... for those of you that are hunting the midwestern lattitudes and you're aware of known scraping areas that develop in the same place every year, better get to watching them.... now!!

Went to the pine thicket this morning for about an hour. When leaving, I checked a place where scrapes occur every year. There are two very large and very active scrapes no more than 15 yards from each other. Still wet with urine markings at that. These are not the normal field edge scrapes that are showing-up everywhere right now. These are soon-to-be breeding scrapes in a small opening surrounded by thick cover.

Time to pack a lunch and hunt in the vicinity of scrapes ALL DAY.... :D

[Pinelander]

Nov. 4th - Bucks are moving the Does around pretty good now. Spotted a buck laying down at the edge of a cut bean field at first light. Appeared to be watching the field edge line for Does moving through. A nice-looking shooter buck was chasing a doe in my area at sunrise, but no shot opportunity. I was trying to take a photo of these pheasants at 8:00 and this smaller buck appeared, moving along the edge nosing around, but turned off into cover before getting to my area.

Wind has unexpectedly turned out of the W-NW... a good opportunity to go watch those twin scrapes in the pine thicket this afternoon. Time to put the Longhorn into duty at this location... one shooting window, and it's CLOSE.

[Pinelander]

The pine thicket is a tricky setup... had a buck in there yesterday evening, but he didn't come to the scrapes.

Hunted the NW this morning... lots of does over there and the bruisers should start coming out of the woodwork next week. Plenty of the little guys chasing and bumping does, but the big guys aren't too excited yet.

Not sure who was watching who here....

[Pinelander]

Uh-oh... what's this? He piled-up 240 yards from where I hit him, double-lunged at that. Ran straight down the grassy path and expired right next to it... easy load-up in the truck, off we went, and didn't stir up our honey hole spot.

[Pinelander]

We were having some fun with photos this morning. I'm sticking my tongue out at all those that keep preaching about h-e-a-v-y arrows for good penetration. My 50# Quinn Longhorn (yeah, that's a wooden bow) is tuned for shooting 380 grain carbon arrows tipped with 125 gr. Muzzy Phantoms. That's right, heavy arrow believers... no front-end load-up and a whopping 7.6 gr/lb! The business end made a complete pass-through at 22 yards with shaft buried to the front of my 4" fletching. Blood trail was easy... leaking out on both sides of the deer.

[tuffshot]

HE SHOOT HE SCORES!!! :highfive:

Nice buck Piney and tuff too, to go as far as he did!!

[James on laptop]

Man them things are big up there! :) Good work. :highfive:

[Lambow]

ALLRIGHT PINEY!!!!!! way to go man. That's a big buck and nice rack.
He sure did go a long way didn't he. It's a great feeling to prove what those skinney carbons will do, and a confidance builder for the future.

Congratulations my friend, you did real good!!!! :)


Lambow

[Pinelander]

Thanks guys, sure was a short hunt ending quickly about a half hour after getting on stand.

If you have read the story on the 2005 pictures thread, here is a photo of my confusion as to which way the buck went after the hit. The yellow line represents the path he took. The red line represents the path those 3 flagging deer had taken and where I was so intently watching right after the hit. If I hadn't been glassing so much over to the SW, probably could've glassed him falling over in the grassy path. LOL

[SubconsciousShooter]

Way to go Piney, that is a hefty buck with good body size and a nice 8 pt. rack. I am going to guess... a 2 1/2 year old?

Nice shot too, the adrenaline must have kicked in after zinging a carbon through his side.

Awesome photography skills as well: ) I assume that is the buck that you photographed earlier? :shooting:

[Pinelander]

Sub, I was lookng at the previous photos of that other buck and it very well could have been him. Not sure how old this deer was... no more than 3-1/2 that's for sure. Ha... it happened so quick, wasn't much time for adrenaline pump.

The real adrenaline pump happened this evening. At 4:30 (1/2 hr before sunset) there was a bruiser cruising the edge of those willows that appear across the weedy field (a ton of golden rod actually). He was thrashing saplings and nosing around for about 15 minutes, then headed south away from me towards the marsh. Then he re-appeared again at 5:00 and was walking across the weedy field directly towards my corner! About 200 yards out, he veered over to the grassy lane by the woods (same one the 8 pt. expired on). He was walking up the grassy lane heading right for my corner. About 100 yards out he turned into the woods and left me shaking in my boots. I need not give a description of this bruiser... he left me weak in the knees and that's all I have to say about that!

If Jim or I are fortunate enough to shoot this buck, it will be the biggest one either of us has ever taken.

[tuffshot]

Now that was a good story on your buck.. :highfive:
Doesn't if figure after you shoot one, the ole big brusier buck shows up.
This coming week should be a good one for seeing alot of bucks. I can't wait to get out again. I went out last Wednesday evening and saw 4 deer at another old farm I hunt. It was the first time I have been there this season. I was doing a little recon for my son with the youth gun season coming up we may have a chance at a good buck there. Now that it is basketball season he doesn't have much time to do any hunting.

But I may have to sneak over and shoot a doe or turkey before then.. :)

[Pinelander]

Well, yesterday (Nov. 7) wasn't all that active. In the morning, a small 8 pt. walked down the same grassy path like the others. Not a shooter at this time... about the same as the one I tagged Sat.

Today Jim and I saw some very promising things. We were not hunting the NW honeyhole this morning and between the two of us saw 5 book deer. All but one of them are different deer than what we've been seeing. Jim had one right under him very early, but too dark and not legal shooting time. It was the same one we both saw on Sunday evening that gave me the shakes. He also saw another nice 8 pt. later on in the morning. I saw 3 deer today that would make book... 2 this morning and 1 this evening. The first one was trolling the field edge across from the Billy Bob stand at 7:30. The second one came out of thick stuff nearby and galloped across the field at 8:30. The third one came out of the willows in the far NE area at 4:00. He is by far the biggest racked deer either of us has seen, wider and higher than the one we saw Sun. evening.

The bruisers are just now coming out of the woodward and showing themselves quite frequently late in the morning and early in the evening.

[Pinelander]

Some interesting photos I took on Monday morning/evening...

We've noticed that there are more and more yearlings by themselves in the last 3 or 4 days. Breeding hasn't started yet, but will very soon.

We had at least 1" of rain Saturday evening and the water levels are up considerably.

Not sure what type bird of prey this is... not a red-tailed hawk. He (or she) hunts the field to the north regularly and I watched him swoop on a pheasant, but missed.

[Pinelander]

It was the foggiest November morning I've ever seen this morning. The bucks weren't moving until the fog lifted.

[Pinelander]

Yum-m-m... nothin' better than a stack of ribeyes, sirloins, and butter-fly chops. :)

[James Wrenn]

Piney you sure take some nice pictures.I would have no idea where to start trying to hunt all that open territory like you have there.Would not know how to act when one of those monster deer you have walked by either. :) Thanks for sharing.

BTW.. You sure would feel all cramped hunting some of my stands. I was in a thicket last night and a small buck came so close to the widow of the blind I could almost touch him.My shooting lane is 5yds long and he looked pretty big from eye level at 6ft. :)

[Pinelander]

Where to start? That's the easy part... hunt the edges and give 'em what little timber and willow cover there is as their safe place. The hard part is seeing them so often, but usually not within shooting distance.

How to act? Sure you would... it's the all too familiar adrenaline surge, usually stays in check until one of two things happen, you either shoot them or they get by you without a shot. In both cases, when it's over... the legs give out and you're reachin' for a barf bag. LOL

That would be like claustrophobic hunting conditions to me. I hunt a pine thicket that has two small windows and shooting lanes are 10-15 yards away. I have a hard time staying there longer than two hours... really takes a lot of patience and confidence to stick it out. At six FEET, that's got to be a rush... would be kind of hard to miss a gimmee shot like that, unless of course ya can't hit the broadside of barn. LOL (or deer in this case).

[tuffshot]

Great pictures Piney,

Even the butteye :D

We have some bad storms moving tru our area tonight and tommorow so things might pick back up the next day as the deer will be seeking shelter during the night time storms..

[Pinelander]

The front moved through this morning. It was 64 degrees at 4:40 am... it's 46 degrees now at 9:00 am. Supposed to be 28 degrees in the morning with a West wind. Could't ask for better weather at the peak of the rut.:)

[Lambow]

That's some beautiful country your hunting in Piney. Great photography!!
I especially like the pics of the back straps.
I let a little rack buck walk fri. eve. He fed all around, and up under me for 10 min. He came back and did about the same thing sat. eve.
I changed stand locations and saw him again this eve..... saw 3 does too, but the big boy didn't show. It's been in the 80's here, so the deer activity has slowed a bit.
Good luck with your time off for huntin, i'll be off the next 2 days myself.

Lambow

[Pinelander]

Good luck to you too, Lambow. Winds were 25-30 mph yesterday, did some honey do's and back at it today. It's 30 degrees this morning with a good 7 mph hunting wind out of the NW. Packing a lunch for an all-dayer... but would rather be done at 8-9 am with buck in the truck.

[Lambow]

I saw him this evening Piney.... MuyGrande!!!!!!! had a doe feed past me on the edge of the field i was hunting. I let her go by in hopes that the big boy would come out.... He did, as saw him coming out from around a brush pile about 100 yds. away. He came straight to the doe, and they milled around feeding for a while. About 80 yds. was as close as he got. i grunted at him, but he paid it no attention. They both walked into the woods to my left.
His color was almost black, and his antlers were white. He looks to be a 140 class buck.... and 3 times bigger than the doe he was with.

Lambow

[Pinelander]

Hey! That's great! You knew he was in there... he's starting to show himself and might just make a mistake real soon! Good luck on that bruiser. :)

[Pinelander]

Jim and I hunted all morning with no luck, not much buck activity at all. We went to the NW corner this afternoon. Around sunset, a big fat doe walks by my corner and I let her go through as this is really the time to let 'em go and wait for a following buck. At the same time I was watching the doe move through, Jim spots a very nice buck step out of the willows. He immediately gives his rattle bag a short clack and man, that deer comes goes running across the field right to his location. Couldn't get a shot at first with brush in the way. Buck moves over on the burm and presents an open shot at 48 yards... yep, that's right 48 yards. Jim puts an arrow where it belongs and deer goes down out in the field about 60 yards!

I'm so happy for Jim, we've been hunting hard all week and today would have been his last day of hunting here before returning to Michigan. The timing couldn't have been any better. This is the biggest buck he's ever taken and it's a dandy main beam 8-pointer. First time either of us had seen this buck. Photos aren't too pretty... a few snapshots, gutted him and got him out of there without disturbing the area too much.

[tuffshot]

Super Buck Jim, Congratulations :cheers:

It will be a least a week before he quits smiling Piney... :)

[Pinelander]

Throughout the week during our discussons, Jim would say that he didn't like grunting or rattling... that most times results were not good. I told him that it works, just have to do it sparingly and not everytime on stand. The day before yesterday he went out and bought a rattle bag. I bet he's thinking that's the best hunting accessory he's purchased in quite awhile. ;)

[Pinelander]

Very little activity this morning... same as yesterday morning. I saw a buck with a doe at 10 am yesterday out in the midlle of a bean field. He wouldn't let her get more than 20 feet away any given time. She was not trying to run off either. I guess they're coming into estrous now...

[SubconsciousShooter]

Looks like Friday the 13th with all that blood there. Jesus Jimmeny what kind of broadhead did he use? Congrats to your friend, now that is what I call a big buck :cool:

[Pinelander]

Sub, not sure which one... I think it might be a Montec G3 or Muzzy. A fixed-blade head, he doesn't recommend expandables as he has seen others use them with failures. It was messy mainly because of a double-lunger and the deer stumbled twice and got back up each time before succumbing... lots of loss through the breathing airways as well.

[Pinelander]

Activity picked back up this morning. Seems as though maybe a few Does have come into estrous, but not the main bulk of the herd yet. Observed a small 8-pt. moving along at a good clip at 8:00 am with nose to the ground like a vacuum cleaner.

A very large Doe got bumped out of the willows at 9:00 am and then headed down the grassy lane towards me. She turned off into the timber about 150 yards out. I glassed back in the cover from where she came to see what had bumped her out and there he was... main beams past his ears, a dominant buck on the search for a Doe in readiness. Of course he was on her trail and turned in where she did.

Rain this evening with high winds to follow all day tomorrow... bad timing to say the least.

At midday today, I moved a stand over on a scrape line "tunnel" that runs on a narrow lane between a grove of pines and a hardwood/pine treeline. This is a protected area from WSW high winds and should serve it's purpose for a couple of days at least. Now all I need is a shooter buck to oblige and hit that scrape line when I'm there.

[Pinelander]

Nov. 13th was a very high wind day (30-40 mph). Could not hunt because of this. Yesterday the 14th, 9 hours of hunting in 3 different stands. Breeding has commenced, as there was no buck activity whatsoever... they are holing-up with the does now. I had a feeling the breeding first started on the 10th, when I saw that buck corraling a doe out in a bean field at 10 am that day.

Everything was a bit early this year and the pre-breeding phase was not as intense as most years. Annual scrapes opened-up nearly 5 days earlier than previous years. The chase phase was at it's peak between Nov. 4-6 and the seek phase was probably Nov. 7-9. Activity began to wain after a very windy day on Nov. 9th. Jim had a bit of luck and caught that big 8-pt. without a doe on the 10th. There were a few minor spurts of chasing and seeking through the 12th, but I never saw the "panic mode" that occurs just prior to the does coming in.

Will hunt every chance I get (not much, vacation time is over). Won't see too many bucks moving, but those that do will be the bruisers... done breeding one doe and looking for another. Won't be as easy and as exciting as the pre-rut, but still the opportunity is there.

A photo of that buck corraling a doe on the 10th...

[SubconsciousShooter]

Cool pics, they say that late November is the best time to get a big one for the reason that you mentioned, they are looking for one more doe in heat. But everything did seem to happen a bit earlier this year, I was told on another board that it had to do with the quarter moon that occured in the last week of October.

[Pinelander]

I'm wincing through this Sunday (the last day of the first gun-hunting phase). Will hunt early morning Mon/Tue/Wed before work, than a long 4-day go at it during Thanksgiving weekend. Jim will return from MI to accompany me then. I told him the next buck he pulls back on has to be bigger than the first one, LOL. :eek:

Should be interesting to see what new bucks (out of their home range), have taken up residence in our area now that the gunners have riled things up on neighboring properties. :)

[Cato]

Some awesome pictures Piney. Jim's buck is a dandy. And the two of you saw 5 book bucks in a morning? Down here we are lucky to see 2 or three from October 1 through January 31.

The pictures and the narratives are better than picking up a hunting magazine. Thanks for going to all the trouble. Maybee you could put it on a CD for us? I'll be your first customer.

Keep it up guy.

Cato

[Pinelander]

Cato, thanks for the kind words... no CD, I just like talkin' about deer and their antics this time of year. Yes, we saw 5 bookers during the course of one day. They are just so easy to spot in all this open prairie land. That was the day of opportunity, but you know how it goes... being in the right place at the right time is everything. Apparently you were in the right place at the right time with that awesome buck you tagged. That deer is a trophy no matter what part of the country, you did good!

[Pinelander]

Hunted each morning... saw some Does on every outing, but no shot opportunites at all. They are making their transition a lot earlier (no later than 15 minutes after sunrise), now that the gunners have been at it on neighboring properties.

Looking forward to some serious hunting this weekend if the wind doesn't whip up too bad. I've seen some good bucks during Thanksgiving weekend in the past. Good thing I'm not a football nut and end up sitting on the couch munching and watching games, LOL.

We had our first snow of the season this morning. A deer had walked down the scrape line (2 tracks in LR corner) no more than a 1/2 hour before I got there because it was snowing when I first arrived and tracks were visible.

[Lambow]

Beautiful pictures of the snow there Piney. I've never hunted deer in the snow before. I reckon it would make the blood trailing and tracking easier.

Thanks for sharing the pics, and hope all of you have a happy thanksgiving!!

Lambow

[Pinelander]

It was not a good Thanksgiving weekend for hunting, sure was a good one for eating and giving thanks. Hope ya'll had a wonderful turkey day as well!

Thursday was very high wind day. Friday & Saturday was work on the farm. Sunday & Monday rained most of the day. Used the opportunity of rain to move the pine thicket stand to a different tree with more open shooting windows and higher up than the other one. The 2 main breeding scrapes in there had been freshened recently and a new one opened up as well. Second gun season begins Thursday for 4 days, hope to get out tomorrow for a short morning hunt before the neighbors start blasting away again.

One-hour morning hunts during the week is all I get from now on out. Three different stands available, but the pine thicket is the ticket... deer use this area more frequently as the season progresses into the winter mode. Can only hope to catch a good buck snooping around in there or a fat doe for that matter. Second estrous phase (the yearlings) should increase scrape activity in about a week or two from now.

Side note - surprisngly, the way I've got the Stallion's grip wrapped with rubber, neoprene, and duct tape... it's actually warmer than the wooden Longhorn's grip.

I'll be back in a week or two to give a long, d-r-a-a-awn out, edge-of-your-seat, anticipatory, blow-by-blow description of my exciting??? late season hunt for an ILLINOIS bruiser, LOL. :rolleyes: .... on second thought, no way... when and if it happens, it happens... and that's it.

[Pinelander]

Hunt that "honey stand" Hank!... even with a marginal wind. Take a risk or two and go for it, unless of course a bad wind will run 'em out of a favorite bedding area.

Wind is gonna die down tonight, should only be a 15 degree wind chill in the morning. LOL, gotta love this late-season hunting.

[Pinelander]

We received our first good snow cover last night, a good 4" of the white stuff. It makes access into areas a bit more difficult because of the noise walking in snow (squeek, crunch, etc.), it's only quiet when there's lots of it and freshly fallen. But there are some benefits as well, deer start getting back to hanging out in groups. It doesn't take long and the most often used trails show up real good. They also tend to bed further back in the thick stuff and more specific areas, instead of spread out all over the place. Always a few more sets of suspicious eyes do deal with, but it's worth getting out there anyways. I remember last year during Christmas break, looking across the field one morning and seeing 5 bucks walking single-file into some thick willow cover. That's where the Billy-Bob stand is set up now, a method to my madness.....

Gun seasons will be done after today, time to get back at it. Even if I had a bunch of deer in the freezer, I'd still be hunting to the last day of the season... never could get enough of this stuff, LOL.

[SubconsciousShooter]

Piney, where have you been man?

You can't just disappear off the face of the planet like that!

Don't do like I did and disappear for several months!

Anyway, we all wish you well and hope you are in good spirits : )

[Pinelander]

Well thanks Sub. I'm still here... justing spending less time on the forums and more time with family and some work-related stuff.

We had some pretty severe December weather this year and didn't get out much until Christmas and New Year's breaks. Ended the season by passing on a slam dunk opportunity on a spike buck (let him go and grow for another hunt). A few big-racked deer made it through the gun seasons. I saw one across the field on Jan. 14th... still sniffing and bumping every Doe in the bunch. Started shooting indoors last night with my old Hoyt Pro Medalist target bow... different season, different game. Applied for spring turkey tags recently, can't wait for the weather to break and the gobbling to commence.

[SubconsciousShooter]

Sounds like you owned that spike buck! Hunting after the gun season is over is a real chanllenge, most of the time I can't even find a deer to hunt!

Good job and glad to have you back. :shooting: