11-13-12 BEAST @ 11 yards....but couldn't do it

Specs of the hunt:

Where: Swamp Property

Stand/Location: Middle Stand again

Time in: 6:00am

Time out: 6:15pm down

Wind: W

Well this hunt was one I'll dream about for years...and be tormented about for years. What would you have done...I hope the same thing.

I got into my stand at roughly 6am...well before I could legally shoot (7:00) and set listening to possible deer rumblings through the woods. I did put some estrous urine down on my walk in so perhaps it would lure something down the two-track I had walked.

At approximately 6:40am I heard something taking very heavy and strong steps off to my NE. Almost stepping like it was on alert and trying to find what it smelled. Well the steps kept getting closer and I could tell it was a buck as it did a couple deep grunts as it got closer to the tree I had splashed the remaining estrous urine on it's base 12 yards in front of my stand. I could tell this buck had obviously walked south along the food plot two-track to my E and when he'd caught a whiff of the estrous he wanted to investigate. I looked at my clock 6:45am...looked up and there he was. HOLY MASS-OLA! This buck easily would have been the biggest buck I'd ever harvest. I could see it, not vividly clear in the low light....but I could have easily put an arrow behind the front shoulder of this BEAST.

I couldn't though....I had my bow in my hand I even put the release on it and said "Screw it...no one will know." I couldn't though, I thought of how I'd feel looking at the thing on my wall everyday for the rest of my life...if I shot I would have chosen to break the law. I'd have been just as bad as the guys who poach, trespass, illegally bait or ignore any kind of hunting law. I'd be able to be lumped in with the guys I despise...couldn't do it.

I quickly said, "Thank you Lord, for just the glimpse" asked him for another chance and watched the beast walk S towards the corn....I simply couldn't do it.

I would set that whole day in that stand...and it replayed over and over again in my head. I was proud of the decision I had made but couldn't help but have regret. Gun season starts this Saturday, the orange army would take over these woods and I wouldn't be able to come back and hunt it till late season...part me was yelling at my self but the other part just kept saying "I simply couldn't do it".

I did see a small 7 pointer that day...couldn't do that either.

Ah, the day I'll never forget and the buck I'll probably never forget....I just couldn't do it.

The little 7 I saw

11-12-12 *Alarm clock mess up...first sighting of a shooter!

It's the old idea that when everything goes wrong, your chances go up. Well this day didn't start out great. My alarm clock messed up when I used the wrong alarm, one set to just vibrate not ring, and got up over an hour later than I wanted. I had planned on going to the swamp property to chase RD yet again, as the weather was switching from high 60's the days prior to now freezing temps with drizzling sleet/snow mix in the morning. I hated to but I climbed back in bed knowing it wasn't smart to be walking into the swamp property less than an hour early and risk bumping RD or another big buck out of the woods they so rarely use (see a new post coming to the SAH blog/site on why that is). The plan was to head out there mid-morning and slip into a stand.

Specs of the hunt:

Where: Swamp Property

Stand/Location:Was going to use far West one and enter it from the South...however the bucks I spotted made me swing North and decide on a gut reaction to hunt the Poplar (center two-track) stand.

Time in:11:00am

Time out: 6:15pm down

Wind: W/SW


Well this hunt would confirm a suspicion I'd had for a long time. If you've noticed going into this hunt, and it still holds true, I've only seen does in the woods ONE time on ONE occasion....why you ask? Well I'd suspected EHD as a factor...but the rising one in my mind is DOGS. We have gotten on cam photos pictures of dogs almost every pull...meaning they're probably on the property every day almost chasing deer....if you were a doe would you want to deal with the darn things everyday and risk losing your fawns to them? Well the dogs potentially cost me RD...yup that's right the buck I'd been chasing for well over 100hours was there one minute and gone the next.

The hunt started with the spotting of two young bucks (little 6 and 7 it looked like) while walking the far Eastern two-track south. One of them popped out in front of me heading East from the food plot...he kept looking East across the two track before getting leary of me a mere 40 yards away and turned and headed SW out of sight. Knowing he had looked East and hearing something coming I quick drew in hopes of it being a 'shooter'. Sadly it was another yearling buck who just kept walking SW towards the other buck paying me no mind. I quickly decided to change up my approach and go N and then head S to the poplar stand on the middle two track.

I was set maybe an hour, texted my father the story of the bucks and gave the wife a UTS (up tree safely) text and decided to do a tickle of rattling and a few soft grunts. After that, I sat down...only to catch movement on the two-track heading into the food plot to my East....IT WAS ANTLERS AND THEY WERE BIG. I grunted and it turned it's head...grabbed my bow....grunted again and BAM! HE FLAT OUT TOOK OFF LIKE A BAT OUT OF **** HEADING SOUTH! Right on his heels was not just one neighbor's dog but two! All I could do was watch as the buck I suspected was RD tear off through the food plot and watch as the massive rack disappeared with dogs hot on his heels.

I would see nothing else the entire hunt....save the dogs come back through sniffing all around trying to "have fun" with another deer....needless to say I came very close to trying to shoot one...

I left my bow hanging and planned an all day sit for the next day, even though the dogs were hurting things the bucks proved to be moving for once and I wanted to see what could happen.

*A letter is planned and will be mailed out today or tomorrow to the owner of the dogs, with trail cam pics proving what they're dogs are doing, explanation of how it's illegal and a warning that they either need to chain or house the dogs. They also should be very thankful I did not shoot them.

11-11-12 Heat, winds....happy wife

Specs of the hunt:

Where: Homestead

Stand/Location: Far NE for the 3rd straight day with the good winds for it.

Time in: 6:00am

Time out: 1:00pm down

Wind: S (strong)

Well this sit would end up being useless. The deer simply didn't move, it was DEAD. Nothing before light, at light or after light. I would sit till about noon before the winds started reaching 25 and the temps started creeping towards 70 degrees....I started debating whether this was worth it...whether I was simply wasting time.

Well with the high winds supposed to get worse and temps sure to hit near 70 I elected to get down...go home...and take the wife out for a much needed date. She was amazingly happy and shocked when I texted her with the news, and that alone made the day worth it I guess. Only deer I saw all day was a little yearling fawn  that came in and bedded down behind me right around lunchtime...which would get spooked by the owner coming to the barn yet again this day. The joys of urban hunting haha!

Here's a pic of her:

11-10-12 Action....

Specs of the hunt:

Where: Homestead

Stand/Location: Far NE one over the primary scrape (which has went dead)

Time in: 6:00am

Time out: 6:15pm down

Wind: S/SE

Well the south winds are perfect for this stand so I hit the stand early and quickly having left gear hanging in the stand it makes for quick climb and set up.

I'm up the stand for maybe two minutes when I have rumblings of deer under me...amazing how quickly it can happen.

This day I would see movement throughout the entire day.

I would have a group of does come down from the NE and work into the bedding area to my W. Then just minutes later I had a 8-pointer (pictured below) following a doe work her up the hill in front of me, then down it and on towards the W. He made 3 scrapes, a rub and worked a million licking branches while I watched him. Pretty neat just wished he'd have given me some better photo ops...although I did have a broadside shot 35 yards away...head was behind a tree so great shot chance just not photo friendly.

I would have a few more smaller bucks working both E to W and W to E throughout the day, but nothing worth shooting ever did come by.

Left bow and gear hanging for a third straight all-day set the following day.

Some pics from the hunt:

(click to see larger image)

 

11-9-12 Let the marathon begin...

So, this is the start of my final attempt at harvesting a buck prior to the 2012 Gun Season here in Indiana. While we don't have as many crazies as Michigan or other states...it gets quite hairy for the weeks the orange army hits the woods. Many of the bucks I've been passing or taking pictures of will hit the ground...which is just how it is. It can frustrate me, but that's the beauty of hunting; "To each their own style and level of commitment".

So the specs of the hunt:

Where: Homestead

Stand/Location: Far NE one over the primary scrape (which has went dead)

Time in: 6:16am

Time out: 6:15pm down

Wind: S/SE


This location is a great travel corridor where the woods get naturally pinched down some with houses to the North and to the South. The hillside isn't steep enough to the point that deer won't walk up it, but they do skirt it if in a hurry and that's what I was banking on a big buck doing.

I got in early and had deer instantly around me...just sitting in the dark with deer moving around you is both awesome but can drive you crazy. "Is that a shooter" or "Man that one sounds huge" can flow through your thoughts almost to the point to drive you crazy.

Well this would be an all-day sit so I nestled back into the stand a little deeper and got comfortable for the 30 minute wait till I would stand up and be "more" ready for the legal time when it came.

Legal time came and went. All I had was does moving to their day bedding areas which are located on both sides of me...setting up a great chance for a seeking buck moving between them. 4 right at light came and were under me for some time before taking off back to the East bedding area as they got nervous due to some outside noise from one of the neighbors outside working.

Evercalm did it's thing again though, because one of those does walked my exact entrance trail back to the barn located 30/40 yards to my left rear...was awesome to see!

10:00am have a small buck come in behind me from East moving West. I mess with him a little and call him out in front of me. He looks up the hill, and assuming that's where the deer headed went up it before leaving the top for the East again minutes later.

When I say I was covered in squirrels I mean it. At one point I counted 14 different ones all within easy .22 range...made me wish I had one with a silencer. I could have filled a freezer with the things:

I did see some mid-day movement around noon off to my East. Does headed even further East for unknown reasons.

That would be it till late at night when I had some movement of unknown origins in the dark. Would leave bow in the tree and plan on hunting the stand in the morning...too many does and that time of year to not hunt it.

11-4-2012 Evening Hunt: Heart Thumping Experience!

Here's the first hunt's specs:

Where: Swamp Property

Stand/Location: Maple on far Western two-track

Time in: 2:00pm

Time out: 6:30ish down

Wind: NE/N winds

Well here we go....I was hunting one of RD's (maple stand) exit routes out of his bed with pre-dawn or morning North winds....

Bought 15 minutes to go till end time...hear a buck coming off the property to my west and behind me....could tell by his gate. Heard him jumped the ditch with a thud, big thud, then proceeded to walk through the NOISY leaf covered forest floor...then silence. The silence told me he'd reached the two-track we mowed like a week ago to keep our entrance noise level down...now he had a decision to head north my way or more than likely East or South....I could hear him grunting but couldn't see a thing.

I began to hear steps again which meant he hadn't chose north...he's steps were getting further and was angling away. Still grunting a ton! I quick un hook my release raise my arm up (grunt tube strapped to arm) and do two quick grunts one aggressive second quiet...bingo! The loud steps are coming directly to me....he gets about 20 yards behind me before I realize which side he'll be on...I turn peep light on quick and hook release prepared to lay RD or this monster unknown down....grunting more I can tell decent body with each step....I turn he pops out 11 yards to my right and stops trying to locate the buck he'd heard postering and grunting the whole time...I let down, shut peep off and watch as the nice young 8 (100inches roughly) lives to see another day......

......Man I thought I had him...over 100 hours dedicated to hunting RD and him alone (will shoot something else big if happens though) and I thought I had him



This ends story time with Ty 

11-4-2012 Morning Hunt

Here's the first hunt's specs:

Where: Swamp Property

Stand/Location: Poplar (middle two track on map)

Time in: 5:45am (daylight savings switched...couldn't shoot till like 6:49am)

Time out: 11:30am

Wind: NE (calm) winds

I'll make it short and sweet. I was in very early, and had movement around me...but well before legal time! Could have been RD for all I know :(