Fantastic Weekend Hunting ! Waay Long.
11-17-2002, 11:51 PM
#1
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: , IL USA
Posts: 277
Fantastic Weekend Hunting ! Waay Long.
OK - So I get over the fact that the combine is driving all over the field & making sooo much noise that a deer could be working over the tree that you are in & still not hear it.
Saturday PM
I decide to go to a stand in a far corner of the 180 acres that I hunt with a buddy (his property not mine). Neither of us have used the stand this year.
I'm walking down a row of corn and BOOM - WHOOSH ! A pair of pheasants go rocketing right from under my feet! That'll get your heart pumping.
I continue my walk but now I'm looking down for pheasants - not across for deer. My buddy will be very surprised to see me at the truck with birds on the belt.
BAMM AGAIN ! This time not birds but 5 does! They jump up and sprint from within 5 yards of me. Man I am going to have a heart attack before I get to the stand.
I get to the tree line/windbreak that separates the corn field from a small meadow that is overlooked by my stand. I notice that it looks like some one has been in with a sickle mower and taken down a bunch of the tall grasses between the field and meadow. Not a mower but DEER!
I'm looking down again at all of the deer tracks in the grass & dirt (the area was totally torn up with hoof prints) when CRASH - SMASH, I get to see 4 or 5 deer with the tails held high bounding the opposite direction.
Damn - I've busted a bedding area. Crap. Well - I screwed the pooch now. I might as well get in the stand and check it out.
I'm in the stand making mental notes on vines & branches to cut for next years season when, crunch-crunch, crunch. I see him. Wow - looks nice. Aw man - he walks right by the meadow/field opening in the corn.
I rattle & give 2 grunts. He turns and heads towards the opening. He ends up going the opposite way! I wait a little...I rattle & scrape a little. Then give 3 very soft grunts.
Nothing...Nothing. I wait 5 minutes. Still nothing. I grunt 2 times then some hard rattling. Wait again. There! I hear something...He's coming back! Unreal! Oh jeeze- he comes right out of the brush like a ghost. Never expected to see him there.
Crap again! He's nose down walking on my trail right up to the tree. Arrgh - I've got no shot. Wait - there's something wrong here. Rack looks great - perfect 8 pts. Very even on both sides - but something’s wrong. Oh man - he's missing most of his left ear. Man he's kind of skinny. I can see his hips...couldn't see the hips on my first deer - is something REALLY wrong here????? Can I really see ribs?
He gets right to the base of my tree - I can't see him now. He spends 2 minutes sniffing and looking around for whatever he was trailing (me). I get to watch him and at this point I am COMPLETELY over my buck fever - I decided not to take him.
He gives me 4 perfect shot opportunities. I even practice drawing down on him. I still can't take him. I only have one buck tag left and I've seen 2 real bruisers and an even bigger 8 on the property. I decide to name him Stubbs (as in stubby ear).
I watch him amble off & I make some mental notes on the success & failure of the hunt. I climb out of the stand at days end with a smile on my face though (non hunters will never get it).
Sunday PM
My friend hasn't seen deer for 3 weeks. We flip a coin for the oak stand. I lose. <img src=icon_smile_sad.gif border=0 align=middle>
I climb into a stand that 3/4 of the time at least lets me see deer. Combine is still working the field - but farther away now.
I in the stand for about 2 hours when something makes me look to the left where the combine is heading. I see a deer 200 yards out - put the binocs on it - it's a buck! I rattle loudly & grunt 3 long & loud challenging grunts. He looks my way, pauses but continues moving in the direction that he was going. NO! He's going to cross my scent trail from the wind...
He crosses over where I'm assuming the wind is blowing my scent. NO REACTION! He continues. I grunt & rattle some more. He pauses again, but again does not change direction. He stops, puts his head down and begins to eat some corn. He looks up and continues.
Something tells me to get ready. My stand is on an outside corner facing SOUTH <img src=icon_smile_sad.gif border=0 align=middle> of a windbreak over looking the cornfield. 40 yards to the north is another windbreak perpendicular to me. My windbreak orients North-South for 30 yards then goes west for another 500 yards.
There is a heavily used deer "highway" to the North that runs the center of the windbreak. I watch the "exit" area of that highway for the buck. All right - here he comes...NO WAY - It's Stubbs!
He is now behind me & even if I wanted to - I can't get a shot off. Let's play with him... I watch him stand on his hind legs to rub his antlers in the branches of a tree (never knew they did that). He then rubbed his head on the trunk of the tree & stuck his nose to the ground at the base of the tree. He stops and looks around. I decide to grunt once & gently rub my rattle bag on my tree to see what he'd do.
Jeeze - he starts walking my way. He goes nose down and follows my trail to the tree. He's under my tree again!!! Again no shot - he's to the right of me. I scootch over to see him better - darn I made a noise and he leaps only 5 yards away. He's in deep brush now. He slowly meanders away.
Wow that was cool.
Crunch - crunch, cool a doe. She moves to the right...no shot. Snap crunch...another deer. Looks like another doe. Great - freezer's getting empty. Behind heavy brush to the right now - I draw my bow. Awesome - moving to the left now - she pauses behind some brush - I draw. Ahhhh, c'mon now. It's been at least a minute already... OK here she comes, NO! - She’s exactly downwind... No change in behavior - whew. 5 more feet...I meeww. She stops - I release...NO! Why didn't I see it before...she was not as broadside as I thought. She was slightly quartered to me....
Well the arrow's sticking in the ground & I don't see red...did I miss? Let's pack up the stuff & get out of the tree.
I check the area around the arrow & can confirm a hit. Solid matter with bright blood & some white hair...white hair???? That's a low shot...aw man - did I gut shoot him? <img src=icon_smile_sad.gif border=0 align=middle>
No but the blood is VERY bright red - buts what's this solid stuff? I wait for my hunting buddy to cross the field - by the time he gets there, I've seen a few more deer & the sun is quite down. He hasn't seen a thing (why - that's another story).
We begin to track - I know that it's only been a hour, but the suns down & I'm supposed to meet the in-laws for dinner. We track for about 200 yards. Spotty trail - blood with solid particulate matter in the blood. No blood for as much as 15 yards - then perhaps little fine spray droplets with some blood & chunks.
We loose the trail... I'm running late for dinner with the in-laws...man where is this deer?
I go back to the last know GOOD blood. Put the miners light on & get down on my hands & knees and crawl. I see that the deer is beginning to trend left with its blood on the trail. I begin to look 24" to 30" off of the ground at the grasses for blood. Sure enough I see a tiny bit... then some more & then a whole splat. I see grasses bent away from the trail - I stand up & look... there he is. I found him!
Wow was I relieved. I was not going to lose this deer.
Well - it was a he - a really good sized button buck. Really thought that it was a he but the nubs are not visible - got to feel for 'em. Going to be some really good eating.
Wish that he was a she, but I'm very happy for the good kill. He went over 200 yards on a single lung pass-through. The broadhead (slick-trick) devastated the one lung & took some of the frontal stomach/esophageal material out on the exit which caused the meager blood trail. But the one lung that was hit - wow, total jelly....
All in all - a really great weekend. Just wish that my new friend "Stubbs", would bring some of his "big-buck" friends by. [
)
A big thanks to those of you that have helped us rookies looking for deer in the past. I've read almost every post & I could almost feel your presence. Thanks again.
BTW - WTG Cardeer...the necklace strikes again! <img src=icon_smile_wink.gif border=0 align=middle>
"It's not the kill, it's the adventure and challenge! <img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>"
Saturday PM
I decide to go to a stand in a far corner of the 180 acres that I hunt with a buddy (his property not mine). Neither of us have used the stand this year.
I'm walking down a row of corn and BOOM - WHOOSH ! A pair of pheasants go rocketing right from under my feet! That'll get your heart pumping.
I continue my walk but now I'm looking down for pheasants - not across for deer. My buddy will be very surprised to see me at the truck with birds on the belt.
BAMM AGAIN ! This time not birds but 5 does! They jump up and sprint from within 5 yards of me. Man I am going to have a heart attack before I get to the stand.
I get to the tree line/windbreak that separates the corn field from a small meadow that is overlooked by my stand. I notice that it looks like some one has been in with a sickle mower and taken down a bunch of the tall grasses between the field and meadow. Not a mower but DEER!
I'm looking down again at all of the deer tracks in the grass & dirt (the area was totally torn up with hoof prints) when CRASH - SMASH, I get to see 4 or 5 deer with the tails held high bounding the opposite direction.
Damn - I've busted a bedding area. Crap. Well - I screwed the pooch now. I might as well get in the stand and check it out.
I'm in the stand making mental notes on vines & branches to cut for next years season when, crunch-crunch, crunch. I see him. Wow - looks nice. Aw man - he walks right by the meadow/field opening in the corn.
I rattle & give 2 grunts. He turns and heads towards the opening. He ends up going the opposite way! I wait a little...I rattle & scrape a little. Then give 3 very soft grunts.
Nothing...Nothing. I wait 5 minutes. Still nothing. I grunt 2 times then some hard rattling. Wait again. There! I hear something...He's coming back! Unreal! Oh jeeze- he comes right out of the brush like a ghost. Never expected to see him there.
Crap again! He's nose down walking on my trail right up to the tree. Arrgh - I've got no shot. Wait - there's something wrong here. Rack looks great - perfect 8 pts. Very even on both sides - but something’s wrong. Oh man - he's missing most of his left ear. Man he's kind of skinny. I can see his hips...couldn't see the hips on my first deer - is something REALLY wrong here????? Can I really see ribs?
He gets right to the base of my tree - I can't see him now. He spends 2 minutes sniffing and looking around for whatever he was trailing (me). I get to watch him and at this point I am COMPLETELY over my buck fever - I decided not to take him.
He gives me 4 perfect shot opportunities. I even practice drawing down on him. I still can't take him. I only have one buck tag left and I've seen 2 real bruisers and an even bigger 8 on the property. I decide to name him Stubbs (as in stubby ear).
I watch him amble off & I make some mental notes on the success & failure of the hunt. I climb out of the stand at days end with a smile on my face though (non hunters will never get it).
Sunday PM
My friend hasn't seen deer for 3 weeks. We flip a coin for the oak stand. I lose. <img src=icon_smile_sad.gif border=0 align=middle>
I climb into a stand that 3/4 of the time at least lets me see deer. Combine is still working the field - but farther away now.
I in the stand for about 2 hours when something makes me look to the left where the combine is heading. I see a deer 200 yards out - put the binocs on it - it's a buck! I rattle loudly & grunt 3 long & loud challenging grunts. He looks my way, pauses but continues moving in the direction that he was going. NO! He's going to cross my scent trail from the wind...
He crosses over where I'm assuming the wind is blowing my scent. NO REACTION! He continues. I grunt & rattle some more. He pauses again, but again does not change direction. He stops, puts his head down and begins to eat some corn. He looks up and continues.
Something tells me to get ready. My stand is on an outside corner facing SOUTH <img src=icon_smile_sad.gif border=0 align=middle> of a windbreak over looking the cornfield. 40 yards to the north is another windbreak perpendicular to me. My windbreak orients North-South for 30 yards then goes west for another 500 yards.
There is a heavily used deer "highway" to the North that runs the center of the windbreak. I watch the "exit" area of that highway for the buck. All right - here he comes...NO WAY - It's Stubbs!
He is now behind me & even if I wanted to - I can't get a shot off. Let's play with him... I watch him stand on his hind legs to rub his antlers in the branches of a tree (never knew they did that). He then rubbed his head on the trunk of the tree & stuck his nose to the ground at the base of the tree. He stops and looks around. I decide to grunt once & gently rub my rattle bag on my tree to see what he'd do.
Jeeze - he starts walking my way. He goes nose down and follows my trail to the tree. He's under my tree again!!! Again no shot - he's to the right of me. I scootch over to see him better - darn I made a noise and he leaps only 5 yards away. He's in deep brush now. He slowly meanders away.
Wow that was cool.
Crunch - crunch, cool a doe. She moves to the right...no shot. Snap crunch...another deer. Looks like another doe. Great - freezer's getting empty. Behind heavy brush to the right now - I draw my bow. Awesome - moving to the left now - she pauses behind some brush - I draw. Ahhhh, c'mon now. It's been at least a minute already... OK here she comes, NO! - She’s exactly downwind... No change in behavior - whew. 5 more feet...I meeww. She stops - I release...NO! Why didn't I see it before...she was not as broadside as I thought. She was slightly quartered to me....
Well the arrow's sticking in the ground & I don't see red...did I miss? Let's pack up the stuff & get out of the tree.
I check the area around the arrow & can confirm a hit. Solid matter with bright blood & some white hair...white hair???? That's a low shot...aw man - did I gut shoot him? <img src=icon_smile_sad.gif border=0 align=middle>
No but the blood is VERY bright red - buts what's this solid stuff? I wait for my hunting buddy to cross the field - by the time he gets there, I've seen a few more deer & the sun is quite down. He hasn't seen a thing (why - that's another story).
We begin to track - I know that it's only been a hour, but the suns down & I'm supposed to meet the in-laws for dinner. We track for about 200 yards. Spotty trail - blood with solid particulate matter in the blood. No blood for as much as 15 yards - then perhaps little fine spray droplets with some blood & chunks.
We loose the trail... I'm running late for dinner with the in-laws...man where is this deer?
I go back to the last know GOOD blood. Put the miners light on & get down on my hands & knees and crawl. I see that the deer is beginning to trend left with its blood on the trail. I begin to look 24" to 30" off of the ground at the grasses for blood. Sure enough I see a tiny bit... then some more & then a whole splat. I see grasses bent away from the trail - I stand up & look... there he is. I found him!
Wow was I relieved. I was not going to lose this deer.
Well - it was a he - a really good sized button buck. Really thought that it was a he but the nubs are not visible - got to feel for 'em. Going to be some really good eating.
Wish that he was a she, but I'm very happy for the good kill. He went over 200 yards on a single lung pass-through. The broadhead (slick-trick) devastated the one lung & took some of the frontal stomach/esophageal material out on the exit which caused the meager blood trail. But the one lung that was hit - wow, total jelly....
All in all - a really great weekend. Just wish that my new friend "Stubbs", would bring some of his "big-buck" friends by. [
)A big thanks to those of you that have helped us rookies looking for deer in the past. I've read almost every post & I could almost feel your presence. Thanks again.
BTW - WTG Cardeer...the necklace strikes again! <img src=icon_smile_wink.gif border=0 align=middle>
"It's not the kill, it's the adventure and challenge! <img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>"
