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Post by Fletch on Oct 24, 2008 7:56:02 GMT -5
I hear you about suburban stands!! They can get quite distracting. I remember the first time my uncle came down from the "dacks" for southern zone and I took him out and put him on stand in the dark. He about flipped when it got light and the nearby police station cops all testing their sirens at shift change and a couple wharehouses with outdoor phone intercoms going off. "Bob phone call line 1"!!! That and a highway about 500 yards away!! Could not fathom how I put up with it until he saw all the deer!
Tip always look at who is calling your phone before answering!!
:-)
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Post by BuckShotJon1 on Oct 24, 2008 8:31:42 GMT -5
Zemmer,
Just wait until the peak of the chase phase starts and then those bucks should show themselves during the day. It is getting close figure anywhere from Nov 4-5 to Nov 12-13 should be good and anywhere in between there.
Jon
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Post by zemmer18 on Oct 25, 2008 12:51:08 GMT -5
Lol Fletch - Thats some funny stuff right there. I know not to answer but knew I had to. I know the peak is coming I'm just impatient. Like I said, seeing all of them on cam gets your hopes up for sure.
10-24-08 Friday
Inventory went well at work. Had a few things to clean up on Saturday but other than that, we are done with it. With the weather reports calling for gale force winds and an inch and a half of rain on Saturday, I had to get out tonight. My buddy called and he is dying to get a peek at the bucks too so we decided to hunt the same area. I have 2 stands less than 30yards apart but one sits back in the woods just a bit than the field edge stand. So I climbed in the stand at about 4:45pm and my buddy walked up just as I got in the stand. I told him if it moves, it's dead tonight. I received my denied DMP tag in the mail today so now my bloodlust needs to be satisfied. Well the usual suburban distractions reared their heads again but all in all it was a beautiful evening shared with a friend. No deer sighted by either of us. Left at 6:30pm.
Get to the car and my daughter and BIL are there and said, "did you guys see that deer?" I said no. Apparently while both of us were looking back into the woods the way deer alays come, one snuck in behind us and crossed about 30 yds back across the open field. We were laughing that the almighty hunters were stalked and could've been shot had the deer been armed, LOL!!!!!
Raining quite hard right now - 1:45pm Saturday. Wind is suppossed to pick up later as well anywhere between 30 to 50mph. Think I'm going to pass on tonights hunt and spend some time with the family. Tomorrow morning may be better but we'll see.
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Post by zemmer18 on Oct 26, 2008 15:05:37 GMT -5
10-26-08 Sunday
Got up a little late this morning around 630am. Got dressed and headed out up to the in laws. As I was trying to sneak in, I jumped a deer under my stand. I was only about 20yards from it. At that point I just walked as fast as I could to get up in the tree. Im not as talented as Fletch trying to make myself sound like a deer, lol. After 10 minutes on stand I heard the deer I bumped Snort twice off in the direction it ran. So the wait was on.
At 7:45am I was scanning the field and then looked back into the woods behind my stand. DEER! and its a BUCK!!! ah must be one of the 6 points. Hey wake up stupid - BIG BUCK!!!!!!
The Monster(8pt as we refer to him as) was headed on a path right under my stand so I was shaking pretty bad.I couldn't look so I shielded myself behind the tree to try and settle down. I peeked back and he had turned and was skirting me. He was 40 yards away and he cuts downward to run parallel to my stand about 25 yards out and right into the thickest, nastiest stuff on earth. But then he stopped. Wind was perfect. I watch him turn around and start to head back into the deep, posted woods. I had to try something so I grabbed my grunt call and gave it a few tries. He stopped on a dime and was looking around. I grunted again and he whirled around and decided to come back. YES IT WORKED. Only problem was he disappeared only to reappear on the other side of the thicket, not too far of a shot but no shot available. He stepped right out into the field edge to scan the field and then popped back into the hedges. He fed over there until 825am and that was the last I saw of him. Never saw him exit in the 2 directions I could see.
This was an awesome encounter and he had no clue I was there. I have a feeling I will see him again and was praying that he had a hankerin for some apples this morning and I could have sealed the deal. So close yet so far away. My chin is up and Im ready to get back out there as soon as I can which will be Wednesday.
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Post by Burt on Oct 26, 2008 15:43:07 GMT -5
Zem,
Real close you can almost taste it. But it's times like these that bring us back year after year! The weather is going to get cold this week and the are going to be moving!
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Post by Fletch on Oct 27, 2008 11:39:36 GMT -5
Ha that is what it's about! Hope you see him in a lane when you see him next!
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Post by joel on Oct 28, 2008 22:49:10 GMT -5
mr big's days are numbered.i tell ya
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Post by zemmer18 on Oct 29, 2008 20:01:52 GMT -5
10-29-08 Wednesday
Wife woke me up at 6:05 this morning after she got home from work. She said there is a dusting of snow out there and it is still snowing and the wind is light. I said, I'll be right out of bed. I jumped up and headed downstairs to get dressed. I was draggin but made it to my stand at 630ish maybe a little later. The field was dusted and the woods had a nice white background to them. (btw Field & Stream posted today as one of the 7 best days to be in the deer woods this year) The detail they wrote in the magazine is almost exactly what happened to me on Sunday with the big guy. I'm feeling superstitious!!!
Five minutes on stand and the wind started. It wasn't too bad though and things started to heat up at 7:40am. I saw a deer moving in behind my stand, coming the same route the big guy took on Sunday. I grabbed my bow and committed to the right side of the tree looking back into the woods. I lost sight of the deer for a moment behind some thick stuff but expected him to keep walking past on the right side. Then out of my peripheral I catch movement to my left. That bugger turned and was now only 15 to 20 yards to my left. I eased my head over and saw it was a spike. He was nervous as all heck as he approached the field edge. He was past my stand which sits back in a little so I was able to trun around and watch him. He headed right for the crabapples on the ground. Sniffed for a few seconds and then proceeded to stand quartering away in my best lane. I swore at him for teasing me like that and watched him walk off. I stayed on stand until 9am and I couldn't take the wind anymore. I was numb.
I did my husbandly duties from mid morning to mid afternoon and worked out an afternoon watch with the wife. Told her I to help her mom get some branches that fell in all the wind and that I might as well hit the tree for a few hours. It worked!!!! On stand by 3:15. Man did that wnd pick up again. I was ready to call it a night at 5pm but said hey you stood out here this long, stay until dark. So I'm dancing in my stand to keep warm and not pee myself and at 6pm I see this doe come motoring in behind my stand about 35 yards away. Right on her tail is a decent looking buck but I barely saw the horns. The doe vanished from my sight and I was watching to see the buck go past a small thicket. He never went past it. I was scanning but didnt see anything when all of a sudden the doe appears and takes off at 100mph. The buck pops out and stops and then lauches at her like a drag car leaving the starting block. He is dogging her so close that if she stopped, he would disappear inside her. Leaves are flying and limbs and sticks are crashing. They finally ran back into the deeper woods. Looks as if things are a changing and will be interesting real soon. At that point the light was getting low so I climbed down and called it a night. 5.5 hours out there today and saw 2 buck and a doe. Not a bad day except for the wind making it chilly on stand.
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Post by zemmer18 on Oct 30, 2008 19:56:35 GMT -5
10-30-08 Thursday
Worked today but was able to leave around 4:15pm. I headed to my usual stand and was settled in the tree by 4:45pm. My mother in law said the there were 4 turkeys just out under my stand so I snuck up there in hopes to catch a glimpse. They were gone. For the next hour I watched the treerats and chippies scurry around in the leaves like a heard of elephants. Then it got real, real quiet. No deer sighted tonight on this watch. I did see 3 feeding in someones backyard on the way up the road.
On a side note, my BIL went to the dentist yesterday and got out of work early. He decided to sit in the ridgetop stand and he had a 4pt come by. He took the shot and missed right over his back. He said he pulled his head up to watch the arrow which is a no no. He then had a 6pt come in from behind him through some brush. He didn't feel comfy with the shot though the buck was close enough but the tree made him have to contort into a weird position he didn't care for. This was on Wednesday afternoon around 1:30pm. The bucks are definately moving more and more now.
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Post by zemmer18 on Oct 31, 2008 15:46:23 GMT -5
10-31-08 All Hallows Eve
Well this is not the report I wanted to be giving tonight. Here I am, trying to finish up at work but have to wait on someone and I know I can't hunt tonight. This stinks!!!! But on the bright side, it is much warmer today than yesterday so I have a feeling the deer will be laying up until after dark. At least that's what Im telling myself to beat this depression of not being able to go out. I have to order a pizza and get home to get the kids ready for their fun night so I'm excited about that though. Tomorrow will most likely be my last evening hunt except for my days off so no sneaking out on Thursday, Friday , and Saturday evenings after tomorrow. Glad the daylight savings was extended for a little while. I may take Thursday off next week to use up my last vacation day(Still have 2 scheduled for gun) so I can hunt hard Wednesday and Thursday next week to get my buck with the bow. Hope it all works out. OK well time to get back to work and get outta here. Happy Halloween to all!!!
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Post by zemmer18 on Nov 1, 2008 21:21:20 GMT -5
11-1-08 Saturday
Got out of work just after 4pm today. Headed right to the field as soon as I was done. Was on stand by 4:25. Was a bit breezy but the distractions were quiet today to start.
Around 5:45 I spotted a deer coming towards me on a run that goes under my stand. I got my bow to that side of the tree and I watched as the deer headed right to me on a string. It was a spike. He got under my stand and stopped. He scent checked the wind a few times and he smelled something he didn't like. He continued to sniff for about 30 seconds of so and turned around and headed behind my tree. He did a small circle around me to get downwind of me. He stopped one more time and then came right in under my stand on the other side of the tree. Never knew I was there and I don't wear $200 ScentBlocker clothing. He headed right for the crabapple tree.
No sooner did he get there, and I hear someone yelling "Cmon CJ, Cmon girl". Then here comes a 4 wheeler on the trail 40 yards behind my stand that runs parallel to the field. The woman stops behind my stand and yells for CJ the dog once again. The spike is just standing there saying the same thing I am, "WTF?" Finally she leaves and all is quiet. But not for long. At 6pm I hear a chainsaw fire up at the house that is 100 yards away. The guy decided that right at primetime to cut up a small tree on the edge of the woods. The spike is still feeding but staring in that direction. If there were any deer following him down to feed, they are long gone by now but I sat it out.
The spike left in no hurry down through the field. The chainsaw stopped around 6:10pm. I got down at 6:25pm and pulled the card and batteries on my camera. 140 pics and saw 3 more different bucks on there totaling 12 now. Headed to bed so I can get out there in the am. Looking forward to that extra hour of sleep.
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Post by zemmer18 on Nov 2, 2008 10:07:20 GMT -5
11-2-08 Sunday
Went to bed around 10:30 last night so I could wake up this morning. That extra hour helped for sure. It was foggy and somewhat light when I reached the field. Nothing in it so I ventured forth. I was in the stand just before 6am. It was very, very quiet this morning so anything coming would make alot of noise. I stood on stand until 9:30am and not a deer sighted. My buddy called and he had a doe and fawn come in under his stand and then bed down in front of him. He also saw 7 other doe but did not take one just yet. The patterns shown on cam are changing drastically so something is happening out there in them woods. Now is the time to be out spending as much time as possible cuz you just never know when it will happen. May ask the MIL if she can watch the kids this afternoon so maybe I can sneak a watch in.
3pm - I am on stand and man it warmed up. I was sweating. It was pretty quiet this afternoon. The suburbanites were busy doing something but I guess it was indoors, thank goodness.
About 15 minutes before dark my budy came back to visit, the little spike. He came a different route tonight, the route I need the big buck to take. It would've been perfect had he been a shooter. Well he came in and fed on the apples I shook off the tree this morning. Someone fired up a tractor to put in their shed and he bolted for a few minutes, only to return. He walked off in the same direction as yesterday and I thought he left via the field. I am getting ready to lower my bow and out he steps and comes back. He didn't want to leave. By now it was after 5:30 and he is just standing there. I threw my bottle of windcheck at him and he jumped for a second but he thought it was an apple falling off the tree. I then accidentally tapped my release on one of my arrows in my quiver and that did it. He bounded off but didn't blow. Then it was safe for me to exit.
Well not the hot weekend I was expecting but it wasn't too bad. I hope things pick up on Wednesday as that will be my next chance out.
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Post by zemmer18 on Nov 5, 2008 19:23:18 GMT -5
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Post by joel on Nov 5, 2008 21:35:12 GMT -5
that last pic got some wild tines on it.you might wanna wear gloves your hands stand out big time other wise you were camod real good.ya looked like a tree lol
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Post by zemmer18 on Nov 5, 2008 22:12:01 GMT -5
LOL Joel - Yeah it was warm this morning so I opted for no gloves and hands in the pockets once on stand if need be. I call my camo CrabAppleBark or CAB. Ya know come to think of it, those ungrateful bucks didn't even thank me for shaking the branches on that tree everyday I am there to help drop some apples. Man the nerve of those guys!
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. Man I wish I hadn't checked it. Here is what blew at me this morning. 
It is nice to see they are still roaming and getting there at a time when I "should" be there!!! I've already asked her to get out early next Wednesday as that will most likely end my bow season on that day so I will be out all day. Now I believe this is an 8pt and not the Monster 8 we have seen but am not 100% sure on that. But I have a new buck I want now. He showed up this week and he is Mr. Freak Nasty. The pics speak for themselves. 
