Any hunters?

[stovebolts]

Ok, so this is my second year hunting and I really bombed it last year. But I'd like to hear any hunting stories anyone else might have.

My son and I went out for Youth hunting day and didn't see a thing. I went out a couple of times in bow season and again, nothing.

Rifle and Shotgun opened Thursday so yesterday at 3 I went out to my 'spot' and as I was walking the tree line between the trees and corn I hear something jump up. It's a big ole buck that was laying in the brush resting and he was about 15 feet away from me. We really startled each other.

He jumped up and took a few steps into the brush and was about 30 feet away from me and just stood there. I already had the gun racked and by the time I realized what was happening I already had my glove thrown to the ground, the scope cover off, saftey off and had his head in the cross hairs as we stood staring at each other for what felt like about a minute.

I didn't take the shot, and i'll get to that in a moment. But from my vantage, he was almost directly in front of me at a slight angle as he was looking back at me. I thought about a chest shot, but I didn't feel like he was at enough angle and I didn't take the head shot because if you miss... well, it's not pretty and I've seen deer that have been shot in the face that didin't die. It's just not ethical in my view.

It was a pretty awesome experience just standing still looking at this big beautiful buck. I'm sure it was an 8 or 10 point. My neighbor has a camera set up and as the big ole bug slowly walked away from me he went onto my neighbors property and right past his camera, so I'll see if I can get a picture

 

[jasoncran]

not me. though i could get into that.
wip does it and a few others. gojubrian would be a good to ask on fb.

 

[stovebolts]

Well, I'd better get off the computer and get some stuff done around the house. I'd like to be back in my spot by about 3 again today.

 

[jasoncran]

enjoy, making memories with that teen son. my teen son has me on ignore.

 

[stovebolts]

Jason,
I have a daughter that has had me on ignore now for 2 years.... We simply wait patiently and continue in our prayers. God always hears the cries of his children. Always.

Edward,
You've taken down 2 more deer than I have lol! I'd love to hunt in Colorado though! Where I live, we can only use a shotgun and I've only got a 20 guage that I bought for my son. Also, I'm limited where I can hunt. I'm hoping I can draw the deer back to my backyard. They were coming in like clockwork about a month ago, but only at 2am. Haven't seen one in my back yard in about a month. Not sure why.... except to say that I planted 2 apple trees this fall and a buck was using one of them for a rub and was killing the tree, so I hung cd's all over it to stop him from kiling my tree.

Then I have a small tree line that opens into a corn field that I can hunt. It's only about 300 yards that I really have access too, and I'm going to have to get really lucky until the farmer harvests his corn.

Yesterday about 4:30 I could hear the deer moving through the corn... But couldn't see a thing.

After I eat, me and my son are going to go out and build a small blind in the tree line. Might as well get comfy!

 

[jasoncran]

yes, at least nathan is safe and in my town. but well continue to pray.he would love a hunting trip before the event. i have a pic on my phone of him gutting a fish with some help, of course from alan.

 

[stovebolts]

yes, at least nathan is safe and in my town. but well continue to pray.he would love a hunting trip before the event. i have a pic on my phone of him gutting a fish with some help, of course from alan.

If he's anything like my son, he'll like the idea of hunting until he's sat in the same place for 2 hours in silence lol! Frankly, it's relaxing to me... I get to go into my nothing box looking at nothing and thinking of nothing lol!

 

[jasoncran]

nah.he has that addh mind i have. i know. that is why i miss him at times. i know what he would laugh at instinctively.

he would love some new locations for a death march.

 

[WIP]

I'll share my story this year. I have other better ones I'll share later.

First morning about 1/2 hour after sunrise I was glassing around with my binoculars from my deer stand when all of a sudden I see a nice 8-point buck cross through my field of view. He was trotting rather quickly with his nose to the ground. I could tell he was on the trail of a doe. I was only able to see him for brief glimpses as he moved past me as it is rather thick forest where I hunt. I tried whistling and grunting at him to get him to stop but he was totally oblivious to my presence.

A few minutes later I heard a noise and caught glimpses of two deer going back through the way the buck went the first time. It was a doe with my buck about 20 feet behind her. She was moving with her tail half raised enticing him to follow. Again, I was unable to get them to stop. They paid me no mind at all.

That same afternoon I was sitting in my stand when I heard a suspicious noise. I grabbed my rifle and looking toward the noise I saw a blue jay pecking on a birch tree. Thinking that was the source of my noise I proceeded to set down my rifle. While doing that I caught a glimpse of motion out of the corner of my eye and to my surprise there was my buck. I could see him about 50 yards away through the trees and brush. He was standing there facing me looking in my direction. I think he winded me and was looking for me but hadn’t seen me yet. I didn’t want to take him from head on as it was too damaging to meat so I figured I’d wait for him to turn.

After a few seconds he turned around and made two short hops back and then turned broadside, hiding behind a balsam tree. I managed to find a line of sight through the trees and brush with my scope so I could watch the other side of that balsam and sure enough I could see the font of his nose. He was still looking for me. I lowered my cross hairs and waited for him to step forward and when he did my shot was true, dropping him quickly. Turned out to be about 70 yards through the brush when I paced it off.

 

[stovebolts]

Congratulations Wip! Do you process your own or take it in? Also, what kind of rifle did you use? That is so awesome!

Well, hopefully either my son or I will have a similar story to tell, but here's a story from yesterday.

So Saturday my son and I built a new blind in the tree line using existing branches and downed trees. It's actually pretty awesome! There were a ton of tracks so we knew that it was on a pretty well traveled route. Anyway, we didn't see anything Saturday night.

Sunday evening my wife, daughter and I went out and my son stayed home. He wanted to sit in the blind (with a bow) and try his luck. Well, right at dusk he got his shot... Here is is story.

He was sitting in the blind and heard a wrustle in the corn so he turned to watch. The sound stopped and after a bit, he turned to look to his left. That's when he say it.... It was about 15 feet away feeding, so he drew the bow back and took good aim. He wondered though if it was a fawn because it just looked so small. As he contemplated the shot, he held off not wanting to shoot a yearling. That's about when it lifted it's head and took a sniff. My son stayed extreemly still just watching it as it went back down to continue grazing. My son's heart shot through his chest the deer raised it's head again to take another wiff and my son notices a huge 8 point rack. I can only imagine the awe my son was feeling as they stared at each other and my son took it all in. About that time, the Buck stood up from it's feeding and my son realized just how big this guy was. They stared at each other for a moment and then the Buck reared up on it's hind legs. My son said he looked like he was over 7 feet tall and suddenly the buck took both hooves and came stomping hard into the ground. The Buck gave a loud grunt, turned and ran away.

My son was so mad, he stayed there stomping his feet and grunting hoping to call the ole boy back. Ha, he was so mad at himself it was funny hearing him tell the story.

Last year my son got really bored sitting in a blind, but after yesterdays encounter, I'm going to have a hard time keeping him inside! Oh, did I mention this is the first deer he's ever had in his sites? What a first encounter! One he'll learn from I'm sure.

The next time we will have to hunt is Thanksgiving. I saw a couple of does run by the blind yesterday around 3ish, so I'm thinking that hopefully this Thursday, and if not Thursday for sure Friday we'l sit patiently... and together we'll have something hanging in the garage!

Oh, did I mention that when we were building the blind, we got a strong wiff of a scrape when the wind would blow just right. We looked around and couldn't find it and I'm wondering if we didn't build our blind on a scrape... oops.

Question: Do you think this buck will ever come back, or do you think it's ruined?

 

[stovebolts]

I"l bet the Elk was heavy! lol! 8 feet huh! They are sneaky for sure! It's like they just appear out of nowhere!

We don't have any ridges.. just flat farm land. Actually, I only have a tree line that's about half a mile long to hunt from besides my small back yard which the deer only visit at 2 am.

I know what you mean by the last day of hunting and not getting anything. Last year was my first year hunting and I made a lot of mistakes.... I mean a lot lol! So the last day comes and my buddy lets me use his blind. I tell you, it was like being in the Hilton Hotel. It sat 30' up and was in the form of an octagon. Had a propane heater, tinted windows and carpet. Talk about suffering lol!

So there it was last night and I didn't get anything all season. And I can tell you I spent 9 days, every day sitting in my blind. Got desperate day before the last day and took a shot with my kid's 20 Guage from just over 200 yards away. (We can only use shotgun in our area). I knew the drop at 150 yards was about a foot, so I aimed about 6 inches above the back. The deer jumped and went to the tree line while the other 2 stood there. Then the two came running directly toward me. They stopped about 30 yards from me and I had her in my sites, but I only had one doe tag so I didn't take the shot. 20 minutes later I walked to where I shot the other one and I didn't see any blood or hair. Followed her tracks for a good while and nothing! I suspect it went under he belly and just gave her a good scare.

So, back to the last night. It was getting dark and I was getting depressed and ready to pack it in when 3 walked right out in front of me less than 40 yards away. (I had a range finder). I aimed and took a shot and she jumped and ran.

It was starting to drizzle just a bit and there wasn't any snow on the ground, so I wanted to go to where I shot her and find the trail. Where I went wrong was calling my buddy right away and telling him with excitement that "I got one". Just then the doe jumped up from about 20 yards away from me where she went to lay down and we spent 2 hours looking for her... Yeah, that was dumb.. Coyotes ate well though.

 

[stovebolts]

Hey Edward, sorry I didn't reply sooner. I must have read your reply on my phone or something.
That's pretty cool! I don't even think Michigan has elk...
Anyway, our little blind had been lonely and cold. Sat out under dressed yesterday for a few hours and froze. It wasn't the temperature as much as it was the wind cutting through. It really wore me out. Anyway, no new tracks so I'm kind of bummed.

That being said, the farmer across the road from the field I was hunting harvested his beans day before turkey day and yesterday when I was out in my blind he was moving his equipment. see attached photo.

I didn't go out this morning... But I'll try again tonight. I sure wish the farmer would take his corn down.

Back to the photo. The A is my house. I can't hunt the field to the right of me. Some big city slicker bought that land last year and put a fence around it.. He's been out there for almost 3 weeks on a daily basis. Anyway, my blind is in the haphazard black X. Like I said, sure wish the corn was cut down... I'm sure it will by by muzzle loader season.

 

[mcmurry]

Love to hunt, grew up in a family of hunters. This year I set up a deer feeder and a game camera close to a new stand. Over 50 pictures and only 2 deer, before season began! I have been feeding a small herd of hogs!! Actually, I've seen more deer while in the stand than in the pictures from my camera. Actually some of the best times I've had I didn't get a shot at a deer. But I saw several squirrels, turkeys, raccoons, deer, birds, etc. Always remember; The worst day hunting is better than the best day at work! Quite often, I don't see anything for hours. I just enjoy the peace and quiet.

 

[WIP]

When our oldest daughter was growing up she never showed any interest in firearms, shooting, or shooting sports of any kind. When she turned 12 I told her that I wanted her to take a firearms safety course. When she completed that course she indicated she wanted to go deer hunting that fall. Rather than spend a bunch of money on a rifle just to find out if she'd like it, I borrowed a .410 from my brother and bought her some slugs for it.

About 15 minutes into her first deer day of deer hunting I grunted softely on a new grunt call. I never used one before and decided to try it out. Within 5 minutes we had a timberwolf walk up on us to within 20 yards downwind. When it caught our scent it stopped and because I couldn't see it very well I leaned forward to get a better look and it saw me. This prompted him to move on. You can sure tell they belong in the forest. They literally float through the woods almost ghostlike.

About 3 minutes later we hear deliberate footsteps approaching from our other side. I told her it was a deer sneeking in on us and sure enough an 8-point buck walked out in the open broadside, giving my daughter her first opportunity. She shot and he bolted out like he wasn't hit. I told her to have a cup of cocoa while she calms her nerves from the adrenaline rush and we would wait 15-20 minutes to allow the deer to lay down before going to see if she drew blood.

While doing that she suddenly says that she saw him about 70 yards to our west through the brush and trees. To the west of our stand it is surprisingly devoid of underbrush for northern Minnesota allowing us some longer avenues of view. Because he was so far away she couldn't try a shot with that .410 and because the stock on my 30-06 was too long for her to see through my scope, I took him. Turned out she hit him high in the lungs and I just finished the job.

Two hours later my nephew, who also was on his first ever deer hunt, dropped a nice 10-pointer that weighted nearly 210 pounds. Not a bad opening day for those two kids. I hunted for 10 years before I shot my first deer.

 

[WIP]

Here's another I'll share.

Opening day on our daughter's third year of deer hunting she hit a 4-pointer with the single shot .243 I bought her. Because it was so warm I decided we needed to take it home right away and remove the skin so the body could cool. We got back into the stand and within 1/2 hour she took another 6-pointer. Minnesota allows party hunting and this is why she was still able to hunt after taking the deer in the morning. Nothing like getting opportunity but I'd much rather the opportunities go to the young ones. She was hooked and has hunted with us every year since.

 

[stovebolts]

Love to hunt, grew up in a family of hunters. This year I set up a deer feeder and a game camera close to a new stand. Over 50 pictures and only 2 deer, before season began! I have been feeding a small herd of hogs!! Actually, I've seen more deer while in the stand than in the pictures from my camera. Actually some of the best times I've had I didn't get a shot at a deer. But I saw several squirrels, turkeys, raccoons, deer, birds, etc. Always remember; The worst day hunting is better than the best day at work! Quite often, I don't see anything for hours. I just enjoy the peace and quiet.

Obviously it doesn't get below freezing in Arkansas lol! 3 or 4 hours is about all I can stand. Even with insulated coveralls and wool socks, I still get a chill. BTW, my bait pile has been feeding the mice...

Night before last I came home about 8pm and a big beautiful doe was standing in my front yard. It was pretty awesome. Anyway, still no luck. I think my son scared that buck away and we havn't seen any new tracks... and it snowed. So I'm not sure what to think except to maybe try to hide in a different part of the treeline maybe a quarter mile down where I've seen them run last year. It's just harder this year because the farmer still has his corn up...

 

[stovebolts]

Wow WIP, what a story! I still can't believe we were so close to that 8 point and missed both opportunities. I also hope that I don't go another year empty handed.

The later into the season we get the harder it is to get them because they go nocturnal. Any given day during hunting season you'll hear a dozen shots. Lot's of hunters where I live.... lots!

 

[stovebolts]

WIP, it sounds like you've really got a good spot! Your daughter has to be proud!

 

[WIP]

WIP, it sounds like you've really got a good spot! Your daughter has to be proud!

My brother and I have been very fortunate. A couple years ago we were looking back on our success. Since 1992 we have enjoyed over 60% success rate in filling deer tags. That's pretty good in an area that averages about 30% or less according to DNR records. I do remember the lean years in the 1970's when I began hunting. Back then one was lucky to see so much as a flag all season and to actually bring home a deer was really special. I hunted for 10 years before I nailed my first one.

 

[stovebolts]

Wow, I couldn't imagine 10 years! I shot one last year on the very last day of hunting season, but I didn't wait the 20 minutes after I shot it... and lost it.

We have so many deer in Michigan it's crazy. Hate to say it but they are all over the sides of the freeway and roads. They can't clean them up fast enough. Last year you could get 5 tags a day.

What most people don't understand is that it's also about population control. We have so many deer in our area that if we don't thin down their numbers the land doesn't have enough food to support them through the winter, so many of them get sick and die. Not only that, but they get diseased, and that spread through the herd.

They seem to be running a bit earlier in the day this year too. Last year we didn't see them running till about 4:30 pm. This year we're seeing them run before 3. Also, you would never see a deer past about 8 am. Now we see them about 11 am.... which means sitting in the blind longer lol!