10-28-07 WACKO!!

10-28-07 PM, Temp 52 degrees, Wind from S/SW, Mostly sunny, Sunset 6:08 pm, (Hunting close 6:38 pm) Well what can I say. It has been a rough week with work and school. I was actually in Denver and then Austin, TX for the weekend for school. Unfortunately, there was no hunting. It was great to get home and get out tonight. I decided to go to Arlie's Knob and arrived at the stand at 3:15 pm. I had my buck decoy for the first time this year, and it was a good move. (more later) I did get a few photos on the trail camera that I will post on another blog. I kick up a deer as I came over the hill (not sure what it was) and it ran to the north. Things were really quite for the first part of the evening and then things got good. Nate got out late and decided to go to the Jolly Roger and got settled in about 4:45 pm. I guess he kicked up a doe on the way in that was near the border patrol. At 5:00 pm, he saw a doe on the hill to the east on the neighbors property. At 5:10 he saw a good buck chasing as fawn near the border patrol stand, unfortunately for him, it never came into range. That was all Nate saw for the evening. At 5:45, I looked to my south and saw a nice 10 pointer working my way. He saw the decoy and was not happy that a small 6 pointer was in "his" territory. He worked his way towards me and stopped about 25 yards away and made a scrape as he angerly looked at the intruder. After a couple of tense minutes, he turned and walked up the hill towards the NW. I had a nice quartering away shot at about 20 yards and decided to take it. After the shot, he spun 180 degrees and ran straight down the hill. I saw him fall within sight after a short 50 yards sprint. I was able to get look at him through my binoculars and he expired fairly quickly. Absolutely awesome. It is a long video, so it may take a while to get this posted. Nevertheless, I do have some still a short video before the shot and some still photos of the magnificent animal. He is a 10 pointer, with a small 3/4 kicker on the base of his main beam (not quite enough to make him a 11 pointer) and he has a 17 1/2" spread. Good mass to the rack and a big bodied mature deer. I would guess him to dress at about 200 lbs and probably as 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 year old buck. I will be off to Wisconsin on Friday and hope to have as good of luck down there. Hopefully some more posts, so say tuned. Totals: Bob1 deer, 1 buck; Nate 3 deer 2 does, and 1 buck. Buckslayer OUT.

SKUNKED!

Well, I was able to get out again last night and it looked like it was going to be good. Unfortunately, the deer wouldn't cooperate. I had a NW wind at 2-3 mph and overcast skies with the temp at 55 degrees. The squirrels were moving and a lonesome racoon, but not a deer, not even the lost nubbin fawn/buck. So with that said, great looking night, no deer. SKUNKED!

Forgot to add a picture of my son, the next generation of hunters!

October 25th--Love Struck Buck

Perfect evening to be out, south wind at 5-10 and clear and crisp. I settled into my stand and at 5:30 PM a doe came by from NE to the SW. She then circled and headed to the neighbors property. Then around 6:00 5 does showed up and fed towards the North. Then a few more showed up and began getting nervous. I then noticed a big 8 pointer. He began chasing the does and grunting at them. I just couldn't get him interested. I grunted at him, but he had no interest in leaving his girlfriends. So the totals for the evening 8 does, 1 buck: 9 deer.

Trail Cam Pics

Finally I am posting a few pics off the trail cam. I set the cam up unfortunately on a leaning tree and some of the pics didn't turn out as good as I anticipated. But needless to say, some good bucks checking scrapes and getting ready to rut. This Thursday marks the full moon and should kick off the pre-rut for sure. Shorter days and colder nights should have the necks full and the bucks looking for love! Lets all cross our fingers and be in the stands!

Sunday, October 21, 2007 AM

Sunday, October 21, 2007 AM, Temp 46 degrees, wind E/SE 3 mph, overcast skies, Sunrise 7:36 am (Hunting opener 7:06). I get settle into Arlie's knob after walking up from the east by the apple tree stand at about 6:40 am. It was a beautiful morning, unfortunately the deer did not cooperate. I sat until 9:45 am and never saw a deer. Very strange. I did some light grunting and some rattling and was not able to solicit a response. Oh well. Totals: 0 deer, 0 Does and fawns, O bucks

Saturday, October 20, 2007 PM

Saturday, October 20, 2007 PM, Temp 67 degrees, Wind S/SW 15 mph, Overcast skies, Sunset 6:20 pm (Hunting close 6:50 pm) Steve's bow season has officially begun. Steve made it out for the first time today. He got here a little late, so after shooting some arrows, we headed for our stands. I went to Arlie's and Steve went to the ladder stand. We both got settled in about 4:45. At 5;25 pm the same little nubbin buck walked up from the east. He stopped in my shooting lane at about 10 yards, and had no idea I as there. He proceeded up the hill and eventually passed by Steve on the trail at 10 yards to the east of him. He then walked down the trail to the house and went into the corn. At 6:20 a doe and fawn came up from the east but never came through my shooting lane and stayed about 50 yards to the east. That was it. Totals: 3 deer, 3 does and fawns.

Saturday, October 20, 2007 AM, Temp 42 degrees, Wind N 5 MPH, Mostly sunny, Sunrise 7:35 am (Hunting opens 7:05 am) A beautiful morning for Nate and I. I went to Arlie's Knob and Nate went to the Jolly Roger. We both got into our stands about 6:40 am. I went up past the apple tree and up the ridge to reach the stand. At 7:00, am huge owl landed on a branch about 10 feet from me. Very cool. At 7:20 two does fed down the hill to the south of me and worked their way towards the apple tree. At 7:25, a nice 9 pointer was in the same valley going toward the apple tree. I aggressively grunted to the buck and he finally turned and came my way. It took him a while and he finally worked his way up the hill towards me. I was able to get this video attached below. I thought he was only an 8 pointer but if you look closely, he has a small kicker on his right side. At 7:40, he finally jumped the fence and went into Arlie's. At 8:10 am, a doe and fawn worked to the north about 75 yards behind me. I think they were the same deer that had come through at 7:20 am. At 8:35, I looked to the north and there was a doe on Arlie's about 40 yards away. At 8:45, a smaller 8 pointer walked on Arlie's side of the fence line from the west going east. I tried grunting to him, and he kept going down the hill. Eventually he jumped the fence, and walked back up the trail towards me. At 8:55, he came right at me, and walked under my stand. This time I got some video of it. Crazy! You can see the deer through the bottom of my stand. I had to get in for a school conference call, so I got down at 9:10 am after the 8 pointer left. Totals: 7 deer, 2 bucks.
For Nate, At 7:40 5 does came off the hill to the west of him. At 7:50 a small 7 pointer came down the trail from the north and came within 5 yards of his stand. He ended up walking off to the south. He did get some nice pictures on his trail camera that he will upload later. Totals for Nate: 6 deer, 5 does and 1 buck.

A"Doe Parade"

Friday, October 19, 2007 PM, Temp 55 degrees, Wind N/NW 25-30 mph, Cloudy and cool, Sunset 6:22 pm (Hunting close 6:52 pm) Well it was great to finally get out. It has been raining almost constantly all week long. I got out tonight about 4:45 pm. As I was walking to the Ridgeback stand, I kicked up a doe and fawn. The doe was between the RB and ladder stand and the fawn ran down the trail between the ladder stand and Heather's stand. About 2 minutes after I got in the stand a nubbin buck was about 75 yards away down in the valley to the east of me. I have to post this video of this little nubbin. You can barely see the spots on him and you can actually see his "package" when he lifts his leg to scratch his nose. Pretty funny. After about 30 minutes he started working my way. He actually was directly under the stand and was sniffing the steps in the tree. He finally walked off to the NE. At about 6:00 pm, a doe and a fawn were under Heather's stand and moved off to the NE. About 5 minutes later 2 more does came from Heather's stand and fed towards the south about 30 yards to the west of me. At 6:20 four more does came from the NE coming towards me heading south, just then I spotted another doe to the east of me and she came up to the west to meet the other four ladies. They all stayed around till dark and eventually headed west up towards the fields. Totals: 10 deer, 10 does/fawns. (maybe some of them were repeats, but at least 7 different)

Wednesday, October 17, 2007 PM

Wednesday, October 17, 2007, PM, Temp 62 degrees, wind from S/SE 20 mph, overcast and rainy, Sunset 6:28 pm (Hunting close 6:58 pm). Tonight found me back at Arlie's knob. Pretty slow evening overall. At 6:20 pm a doe and a fawn came from the SE up the ridge towards me. They stuck around for about 20 minutes before the went back in the same direction that they came from. At 6:35 pm, I looked over my right shoulder and saw a doe on Arlie's about 40 yards to my NE. It disappeared into the timber behind me. That was it. It has been raining almost constantly for the last 4 days. It has made if very difficult to get in any consistent hunting. Hopefully things will clear for the weekend. Totals: 3 deer, 3 does/fawns.

Tuesday, October 16, 2007 pm "Ladies Night"

Tuesday, October 16, 2007 pm, Temp 50 degrees, Wind from SW - 5 MPH, Overcast, light mist/rain. Sunset 6:28 pm (Hunting close 6:58 pm) I decided to go to Arlie's stand. As I crested the hill about 40 yards from the stand, a nice 8 pointer jumped up from underneath the stand. About 20 seconds later, Arlie's nephew was riding his ATV along the property line to feed the cows. I hope the ATV spooked the deer instead of me. Regardless, at 5:30 fours does came from the SE and slowly fed towards me. They hung around for 45 minutes and all of them offered a shot at one time or another. At 6:20, 3 does fed up the valley (going west) to the south of me about 75 yards away, at the same time a doe came from the NW (may have been a repeat) and fed back to the east about 20 yards to the north of me. That was it. Total: 9 deer, 8 does/fawns and 1 buck.

Friday, October 12, 2007 PM

Friday, October 12, 2007, Temp 50 degrees, Wind N/NE 5-10 mph. Sunset: 6:34 pm (Close 7:04 pm). I decided to go to the new acorn alley stand and dad went to the corn crib ladder stand. At 6:40 pm, I had 3 does, 1 large, 1 medium, and 1 small come down the road from the east and walked through my shoot lane. They worked off to the west. Lon had a doe and a fawn come from the hog back and walk down the road. 30 yards away and then walked off to the west. Totals for tonight: 5 deer, 5 does.

Friday, October 12, 2007 AM

Friday, October 12, 2007 am, Temp 45 degrees, Wind N 5 mph. Sunrise 6:47 am (Hunting hours 6:17 am). I went to acorn alley, and dad went to his enclosed tower stand. Got into our stands at 6:00 am. I hunted until 8:15 and didn't see anything. I got down and decided to move the stand to the North side of the road. I found a great tree and got the stand rehung. Lon and I went out and cleaned it out later in the afternoon. I met Lon at the car at 8:45 am. Lon had one small doe come down from the SW and passed near his stand. Totals for this am: 1 deer, 1 doe.

Sunday, October 14, 2007 PM

Sunday, October 14, 2007, PM Weather - 50 degrees win N/NE 15 mph, Light rain/drizzle. Sunset: 6:31 pm, (hunting close 7:01 pm) Even though it was raining, I decided to give Arlie's Knob a try. I got into my stand about 4:50 pm. I has been raining most of the day, so it was pretty easy to sneak in quietly. At 5:45 pm, a small 8 pointer and another nice 10 pointer cam in from SE. They walked up the ridge about 10 yards to the south of me. I will not post the video of the small eight, but you can see the 10 is a really nice buck. A big body, probably a 2 1/2 maybe a 3 1/2 year old. I decided to let him walk as he was small then then bigger 10 that I passed up on the second day of the season. That and because it was raining and I hate following a blood trail that has been washed out by rain. At 6:15 pm, coming from Heather's stand was the nice 8 pointer. Defiantly a 2 1/2 year old. He came in to 10 yards as well. Stayed around for 2-3 minutes and gave me several shot opportunities that I passed on. Nevertheless, more great video. See attached. Totals for tonight 3 deer, 3 Bucks

Bucks-a-plenty!

Saturday evening, perfect, light north wind at 5 mph, temp 57 degrees and the bucks were on the move. I settled into my stand, (Heather's stand), not sure we have hunted out of it this year. We have talked about the ridgeback stand, this stand is 75 yards north of it and with the North wind and the main trail to my north it set up perfect. I was in the stand at 5:00 PM and within minutes of my arrival a small button buck approached and passed to my north at 10 yards max. I have some video, still trying to get it on here as my camera doesn't want to cooperate. Around 5:45 a doe passed to the north and shortly after that another buck appeared due east about 80 yards away. Then around 6:00 PM a nice 8 pointer fed to the NE and gave me a small window of opportunity, but Bob and I discussed it and we decided to let him walk no matter how many times he presents us a shot, one more year and he will book for sure. This buck kept looking to the East and sure enough a nice heavy 8 pointer came in and made a rub on a tree then chased the smaller 8 across the trail to the north. The bigger 8 then approached the other deer and began to spar with him. I was ready to pull the bow on the bigger 8 but he never gave me the chance. Both bucks fed 30 yards away from me in the small saplings and I could never get a good clean shot, they both disappeared towards Arlie's Knob and that is where Bob was heading tonight. Before I got out of the stand a small 6 passed to my south about 45 yards away and headed to the corn. So as the title states, Bucks-a-plenty for sure. It was a spectacular action packed evening. I think the cool temps and shorter days are getting these guys moving, next weekend they should be coming to antlers pretty good.

October 11th--Evening at the 009

Well as you know yesterday was a perfect day. There was a light ENE wind at 5 mph at the most and the air had a little bite to it. If I was a deer I would be up and moving. I decided to check the trailcam pics from the Jolly Roger and the cam only had some does on it, so I moved it to a nearby tree that had three scrapes. Maybe I can capture the buck making the scrapes on the cam now. I will post those pics if they come to fruition. So I decided to hunt the Ridgeback stand as the wind would be perfect. At 6:30 3 fat does appeared to my North and proceeded to head straight at me. Two of the does fed around the stand for 10 minutes then headed to the corn. I glanced to my East and there was a small six 65 yards away. I gave him a light grunt and he began to head my direction, he circled to the North and then disappeared in the dark. Total for the evening: 3 does, 1 buck (six pointer)

October 11, 2007 PM

October 11, 2007, PM Temp 55 degrees, Wind 5 mph from North, overcast, Sunset 6:40 pm (hunting close 7:10 pm). Dad went to the ladder gun stand on the ridge down off the cliff and I went to the twin towers. It was a beautiful night for hunting. Unfortunately, nothing to report. Totals: 0 deer

October 11, 2007 am

October 11, 2007, AM Temp 45 degrees, Wind gusts 10-15 NW mph, overcast, Sunrise 6:50 am (hunting open 6:20 am). I went to my bow stand in the valley and Eric went to Acorn alley. We did kick up a couple of deer on the way to drop Eric off. At 7:20 am, I had a deer (a doe I think), come off the hill and went from north to south to the east of me. Eric was shut out. That was it. We are starting to see more scrapes. I think the pre-rut is just starting. Total: 1 deer.

October 10, 2007 PM

October 10, 2007, PM Temp 58 degrees, Wind gusts 20-25 SW mph, overcast, Sunset 6:40 pm (hunting close 7:10 pm). Eric went to old reliable and I went to acorn alley at Copper Creek. At 6:15 Eric had a doe and a 2 ½ year old deer came off the hill to the south heading east. At 6:15 I had a doe come from the SE and work around to the north of me. At 6:30 I looked over my right shoulder and come on the trail heading to the east was a 2 ½ year old 9 pointer. It had a 17” spread (5 on the left and 4 on the right). I grunted to him and he stopped and made a scrape about 60 yards away. He then turned and decided to follow the doe back to the east. Totals: 4 deer, 2 Doe and 2 bucks.

October 8, 2007 PM

October 8, 2007, PM Temp 58 degrees, Wind W 15 mph, overcast, Sunset 6:44 pm (hunting close 7:14 pm) I got out a little later than I had hoped (work). I didn’t get into the stand until 5:25 pm. I decided to go to Nate’s new stand we called the “Jolly Roger.” It has finally started to cool down and fall is in the air. I was surprised that the evening was fairly slow. I only saw one small 6-8 pointer that cam in from the north and stopped about 20 yards away, rubbed his antlers on the tree branches and then walked up the hill. Otherwise the evening was fairly uneventful. Totals: 1 deer, 1 buck.

Sunday, October 7, 2007 PM

Sunday, October 7, 2007 pm, Temp 78 degrees, Wind from S 10 mph, Cloudy with showers earlier. Sunset 6:43 pm (Hunting close 7:13 pm). I went out late because it was raining up until 5:45. I got in the stand about 6:00 pm. Because I was so late, I decided to go to the Ridgeback stand. At 6:30 a doe came in behind me on the way to the corn field. At 6:55 pm, a nice buck (8 pointer) came in from the east and headed up towards me. He stoped at 10 yards and gave me some good video (see attached). He was a litle spooky, but walked off up the hill through my shooting lane. At 7:10 a doe with two fawns came through from behind me. The doe actually was directly under my stand. That is two deer in two nights under my stand. Kind of crazy. May need to start hunting with a spear. They eventually walked off to the west towards to corn field. Totals for tonight: 5 deer, 4 does/fawns, 1 buck.

Sunday, October 7, 2007, AM

Sunday, October 7, 2007 am, Temp 70 degrees, Wind, S 10 mph, Overcast, Sunrise 7:18 am (huning hours 6:48 am). I decided to go to Arlie's Knob. To not scare anything in the corn field, I went down to the apple tree stand and then up the ridge to the stand. I got in abou6:25 am. The morning was pretty uneventful except I was able to witness a hawk glide through the woods and pick up some breakfast (mouse). It was really cool to see. I was about to get down, when I looked to my right (north), and saw a nubbin buck heading to the east. He was on Arlie's property and then crossed through the fence. He came through my shooting lane at about 20 yards and then decided to bed down on the hillside for about 30 minutes. It was 9:15 am, so I tried several calls to try to scare him away. It didn't make any differnce, I tried grunts, bleats, roar, etc. and he wouldn't leave. After a while, he final got up and walked and fed up the hill. He actually ate some of the branches that we had cleared before we moved the stand. I snuck back down the ridge and back to the house. Totals; 1 deer, 1 Doe/Nubbin Buck

Saturday, October 6, 2007 PM

Saturday, October 6, 2007 pm, Temp. 80 degrees, Wind S/SE 15-20 mph, partly sunny Sunset 6:44 pm (close 7:14 pm). After adding some more gravel to the trail on the way to border patrol (we are gong to put in another culvert), Nate and I got to our stands. Nate decided to go to the Jolly Roger and I went to Arlie's knob. At 6:30 pm Nate have 2 does come through. One from behind him and one from the south. They moved off together to the south. At 6:45, the same small 8 pointer (it is the same one we have been seeing) came from the border patrol stand and walked to within 10 yards of Nate. He did get some video, we just need to figure out how to upload it from his camera to the blog.
My night was pretty slow until dark. At 7:15 there was a doe that walked from the east going west up the hill along the property line. Two minutes later, the big 8 pointer came through about 15 yards to the north. Unfortunately, it was too dark to video. I wouldn't have shot him as I have already passed him up several times this year. About 5 minutes later a small 6 pointer came through on the same trail. I was hoping he would follow the other buck, but instead he decided to hang a round for a while. He actually walked over and was directly under my stand. I could have jumped on his back. I have had deer close before, but he was sniffing the tree my stand was in. I got a little tired so I shifted my feet and drop some dirt from the bottom of my boots on his back. He didn't like this and trotted off. Hilarious. Totals: Bob 3 deer, 2 bucks and 1 doe: Nate 3 deer 2 does/fawns, 1 buck.

Friday October 5, 2007

Friday, October 5, 2007, PM, Temp 80 degrees, Wind S/SE 20 mph, Partly sunny. Sunset 6:45 (shooting close 7:15 pm) Nate and I got the first culvert on the way to Right Field in place and put some gravel over it. Looks awesome. Now we will be able to put in a food plot over by the "sugar shack." We have never been able to get the tractor over to that side of the creek and now we have access. Very excited for next year. There was a lot of noise down by the valley, so didn't have very high expectations. As Nate mentioned we did trim out the Jolly Roger and moved Arlie's knob down the hill to the east about 25 yards. I went to the Ridgeback Stand and got in about 5:10 pm. I did kick up a doe on the way in by Heather stand. Kind of crazy because we had the ATV about 50 yard from there about 30 minutes earlier. Nothing else to report. The sit in the stand was slow. Totals: 0 Deer.

Thursday, October 4, 2007 PM

Thursday October4, 2007, Temp 78 degrees, Wind S/SE 5-10 mph, Sunset 6:50 pm (Hunting Close 7:20 pm) Overcast skies, Finally got back after a week in South Dakota. Decided to try my luck at a new stand called Arlie's knob. Got into the stand at about 5:00. I did kick up a doe on the way in. At 5:40 pm, 6 Tom turkeys worked their way into Arlie's pasture. They were about 40 yards away but through the brush (and I don't have a tag- but I did get some video- see below). At 6:20 pm, a small buck sneaked in behind me and was about 30 yards to my east (behind me). He kind of walked off towards Heather's stand. About 6:25 pm , and doe followed the buck but was a little bit further east. At 7:10 pm a big doe sneaked in behind me to about 5 yards and then worked her way towards Arlie's field. I think it makes sense to move this stand down the ridge about 3o yards. I will look at my options tomorrow. Totals: 3 deer, 2 does and 1 buck.

New stand same buck

So it was a beautiful evening, 76 degrees, SE wind at 10-15 mph. I got in a little early and hung a new stand on the backside of Right Field. I moved the trail cam while I was at it too. No pictures to speak of since Monday so I figured it was ok to move it. I got the stand set and at 6:30 a buck appeared, small 8 pointer, he then decided to sprint towards my tree. I am not sure what was going on with that deer, but somewhat strange. He then fed up the hill towards the cut bean field behind me. At 7:10 a doe and two fawns walked across a small meadow and eventually to the north of me. So totals for the evening: 4 deer, 1 buck, 3 does.

Monday Night Doe's

October 1st

So with the full moon behind us, looking forward to the next full moon as it should start the rut. I headed out tonight to a new location the VAT stand. The temp tonight was 60 degrees with a SE wind at 5 mph. This stand is located in the valley between two hills, kind of a transition area before they head to the corn at night. At 6:40 PM the first doe came through presenting a 10 yard shot numerous times before she headed up to the uncut corn field. Then at 7:10 PM 5 does came from the NE towards the stand and passed by offering a shot at 15 yards. No deer with headgear tonight, kind of the theme for me this season as I have not seen very many bucks. I moved the trailcam tonight and set it up on a trail that crosses the creek. I will check it later this week and see if we have any bucks moving down in the valley. I will keep you posted. Goodluck out there to all the other states who opened up their bowhunting seasons today!