Sunday October 30th, 2011 AM

What another nice morning. a little warmer this morning at 47 degrees, still had a nice chill in the air though.  Just after shooting light I heard something walking toward me.  It was still pretty dark and I never saw it until I heard a growl behind me. It was a dog growl and it spooked the deer and ran back where it came from.  I was disappointed thinking the neighbors dog was out.  Well, much to my surprise about 5 minutes later I saw a coyote come up from behind me.  I got good video. He did not present a close enough shot though.  I then saw his buddy and I watched them corner a rabbit until it snuck around them and took off. They chased after it.  About 2 minutes later one of them came back to about 25 yards. Just as I was about to pull back he spotted me and was long gone.  That was it for me this morning.

Totals: Taylor: 1 deer: 1?  2 Coyotes

I was very pleased to check the camera again and find that we had a couple of bucks!  One of them is the Big 9. I was very happy as I hadn't seen him in a while.  He sure is a great buck but you can tell he is only 3 1/2 compared to the 4 1/2 year old that I was calling High Brow.  I changed my mind on High Brows name and am going to call him B-Funk. This is because he has messed up brow tines.  The other buck is a goofy 2 1/2 year old without any brow tines.  We will call him No-Brow.

Saturday, October 29, 2011 pm Romance

Saturday, October 29, 2011 pm, Temp 54 degrees, Wind S-SE 5-7 mph, mostly sunny, Sunset 6:05 pm, Hunting closes 6:35 pm. Nate and I went in for lunch and then we were back at it. We were both back at our same places as this morning. I went to the Sherpa and Nate went back to Everest. We were both in position by 2:00 pm. I got some great news when I arrived back at the house. My 90 (he will be 91 in December) took a big 5 1/2 year old 10 pointer with his crossbow at 40 yards in Marquette County, WI. He only went 25 yards before he expired. What an impressive deer and an even more impressive shot. Congratulation to him. I guess the fans can see where my passion for bow hunting come from. Nothing to report for either of us.

Saturday, October 29, 2011 am Romance

Saturday, October 29, 2011, Temp 30 degrees, Wind W 0-2 mph, mostly sunny, Sunrise 7:19 am, Hunting opens 6:49 am. Another short nights rest and Nate and I were back at it. I decided to go back up to Sherpa and Nate went to Everest. I thought a lot about the nice buck that I saw last night. It is not very often that you get at 135"+ deer to within 10 yards. I have my mind made up that if he shows up again, I will take him. I am a little pissed at myself this morning. I had some trouble finding my stand in the dark. I should have just used my GPS to get there. I guess that I got a bit cocky and thought that I would be able to walk right to it. Big mistake. I ended up walking right around it and worked up quite a lather. Thankfully, I brought an extra shirt and some scent wipes so I could clean up and descent. I was still up and all set up by 6:40 am. At 8:50 am, I looked down the hill to the south and I could see a big doe slowly working across the hill from west to east about 100 yards away through the brush. I bleated to her, but she never came my way. At 9:30 am, I had a small 4 pointer come off the hill behind me to the NW. He came down the hill to the SW. He stayed out about 75 yards. I tried to grunt him in, but he just headed over towards the Badger hole. At 9:50 am, I had a doe and fawn come through following the same trail as the buck, but they were going the opposite direction (going NE) as him. I checked in with Nate on the walkie talkie and he said that he grunted in a fork horn to 25 yards this morning. Pretty fun for him, but not the big boys were looking for. He also saw 3 does. From 10:00 to 11:00, Nate also saw a small spike at 50 yards. He was intimidated by the 6 point decoy. We sat until 11:00 am, then decided to head in for lunch. Totals: Bob - 4 deer, 1 buck. Nate - 5 deer, 2 bucks.

Saturday October 29th, 2011 AM

I went back to the 505 this morning. It was a great morning, 25 degrees and no wind.  I went back to the Rock stand as I had not sat there in the morning yet.  At 8:20 I had a doe come in from the creek bed area below me. She got to about 50 yards and went back up the other ridge.  She never saw me and it could be possible she was a "Hot" doe. She had her tail up the whole time with her butt in the air.  That was it for me.

Totals: Taylor 1 doe

Now to the exciting part of this morning.  When I checked my camera on the field edge, I had some great bucks!

The first buck is the 10 pointer. We have some pictures of him, he is a great 2 1/2 year old. Needs another year or two, if he can make it. Would be a great buck for Mindi though!

The second buck is the Dagger buck.  Finally we got a better picture of him and he looks to be a great buck.  I thought to myself, yes, I would probably shoot him.  Until I saw the picture of the new buck!

 

I think I am going to call him High Brow because if you look closely, it looks like he has a really tall brow tine on his right side.  I can't decide how many points he actually has, I think it is somewhere between 11 and 13, possibly 14 with at least one kicker off of his base that might be scoreable.  Let me know how many points you think he has!  Would you pass up the Dagger buck knowing you had this guy and also the Big 9 out there?!?!  I guess we will have to see when the time comes, but for now, I am passing on the Dagger buck and waiting for either High Brow, or The Big 9!  I was in the woods 4 hours after this buck passed through, hopefully he comes back through the woods tonight when I am there!

 For anybody that likes to hunt coyotes, please feel free to come on over and have a try and these guys. I hate them and I hear them almost every night While in stand or coming out of the woods.  They look plenty healthy! 

Friday, October 28, 2011 pm Romance

Friday, October 28, 2011, Temp 52 degrees, Wind S-SW 5-7 mph, partly cloudy, Sunset 6:06 pm, Hunting closes 6:36 pm. Nate an I drove down to Copper after the morning hunt. We stopped at the Swing Inn for a burger, the headed on down. We check the 3 cameras (Rock Out's batteries were dead) and nothing really peaked our interest. We thought it would be best to head back to Romance and try our luck there. We each took a quick shower and headed out. I took Hairy and went up to the Sherpa and Nate decided that he was going to hunt to the west point on the edge of the big corn field. It is really more of a gun stand, but the deer really seem to be using it as a food source. It is an old wood ladder stand and a bit exposed (you are on 10 feet up in the air) but he cannot do any worse than we did this morning. Today is the one year anniversary of me shooting my 10 pointer from Everest and Haag shooting his 200" beast in Waushara County, WI. After my steep climb, I was all set up by 3:45 pm. At 5:25 pm, I could hear something walking from the west down hill from me. I just caught a glimpse of some "bone." He walked by about 100 yards to the south of me. I was able to grunt and bleat him back up towards me. He was a small fork horn. He ended up walking back through to the west about 40 yards away. I did get some video of him. I tried to get him to turn and see my decoy, but I could hear another deer coming from where I had first seen him. He must have seen that deer that was downhill and he trotted off 2 join him. No complaints. Finally some action. At 5:35 pm, it really started getting interesting. I heard something coming from straight west of me. It was a really nice 11 pointer, heavy, but a fairly narrow spread. He was grunting and stopped at a licking branch 50 yards away. He kept coming across at got to 10 yards away. I got some great video. Unfortunately he was quartering towards me and in the brush. He was very tempting, but at this time I didn't think that I would have shot him. He was locked on Hairy, stopped in the brush just short of my shooting lane. The use of a decoy may have hurt me tonight. Just as I was getting ready (I decided if he offered me a good shot I was going to take it) the wind swirled, he spooked and took off. I need to look at the video and see. Regardless, he was a very mature buck on the move during shooting hours. I am glad we came back to Romance. Totals: Bob - 2 deer, 2 Bucks. (One was 140")

Friday, October 28, 2011 am Romance

Friday, October 28, 2011, Temp 31 degrees, Wind W 0-2 mph, mostly sunny, Sunrise 7:20 am, Hunting opens 6:50 am. What a beautiful morning. It is cold and calm. There was frost on the ground and car this morning which is great to see. On our drive in this morning we saw 3 different bucks. Two of which were shooters. One was in the field just over the bridge. It was great to see the big boys out and moving. I decided to take Hairy and go back to the recliner. Nate wanted to try his luck up at Octopussy. We were both in position by 6:30 am. Right at first light, I could here deer to the north of me either in the field or on the hillside. I did some light rattling, grunting, raking the trees, and some mewing, but nothing ever responded. Totals: Bob - 0 deer, Nate - 0 deer

10-27-11 pm Romance

Thursday, October 27, 2011, Temp 54 degrees, Wind W 5-7 mph, mostly cloudy, Sunset 6:07 pm, Hunting closes 6:37 pm. It rained a little in the early afternoon which made the woods a bit quieter. I decided to give the recliner stand a try. I brought my good buddy "Hairy" with me and set him up to the NW of me about 15 yards away. Nate wanted to get closer to a food source (alfalfa and standing corn) so he went up to the "Badger Hole". We were both in position by 4:20 pm. At 6:15 pm, I heard some antlers crashing together to the NW of me. I originally thought that it was Nate. He thought that is was me. We both did some calling, but no luck getting them to respond. Totals: Bob - 0 deer, Nate - 0 deer.

Sorry. We are having trouble posting the photos. We have 6 different bucks on film. One nice 12 pointer, a nice 10 pointer and a really wide 8 pointer.

Thursday, October 27, 2011 am Romance, WI

Thursday, October 27, 2011, Temp 38 degrees, Wind W 3-5 mph, mostly sunny, Sunrise 7:21 am, Hunting opens 6:51 am. After a short nights sleep, we had a nice breakfast, showered and were out the door. I was back at the Sherpa and Nate went to Everest. We were both in position by 6:20 which was a full 30 minutes prior to shooting light. I had left my trusty decoy "Hairy" up on the hill overnight and set him up in the dark about 15 yards uphill of me to the NW. I saw. 0 deer. At 8:40 am, Nate was sitting in Octopussy and he had 6 does and fawns come down the trail from the east. They all came through at 10-12 yards and never smelled him. Unfortunately there were no bucks with them. Totals: Bob - 0, Nate - 6 does and fawns.
No pictures to post from Romance as the batteries in the Cuddeback have been dead for more than 10 days. I will check some of the other cameras tomorrow. Stay tuned.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011 pm, Romance, WI

Wednesday, October 26, 2011, Temp 51 degrees, Wind N-NE 3-5 mph, mostly cloudy, Sunset 6:08 pm, Hunting closes 6:38 pm. Nate's flight was on time into MSP and I picked him up at 11:15 am. After a quick stop at the 009, we took off for Romance. Nate and got down here at 3:00. We were in the stands by 4:20. I went to the Sherpa and Nate went to Everest. Nate saw some deer on the way in and one tail during his sit. I didn't see anything, but I had to do some seat repair on the stand. After we got down, we ran over to the Recliner (move a seat) and there was a nice scrape about 30 yards away on the trail to the NE. Totals: Bob - 0 deer, Nate - 1 deer.

Tuesday, October 25, 2011, Temp 51 degrees, Wind N-NE 15-20 mph, mostly cloudy, Sunset 6:12 pm, Hunting closes 6:42 pm. This is our 400th post of all time. Pretty awesome! I got home early today and just had to get out hunting. A front is pushing through, and the temperatures have been dropping all day. With a N-NE wind, I had to go to the VAT. I was all settled in by 4:30 pm. Mindi got off work late and she snuck into the ladder stand around 5:00 pm. At 5:45 pm, I had a deer come flying down the hill from over by the dump stand. I saw it for a couple of seconds and it ran off to the east. I am really not sure what it was besides a deer. At 6:25 pm, I had a nice big doe sneak in from the south to the west of me. She was working her way into the food plot when the wind swirled and she smelled me. That was all it took, and she trotted off to the west. Totals: Bob - 2 deer, 1 doe n 1 unknown. Mindi - 0 deer
Fans- Stay tuned this week for some great updates from Copper Creek and Romance Valley Farms, Wisconsin. My good friend, and a 009 founder Nate Myers will be joining me from Oklahoma for a hunt. As you know, we do have spotty cell phone coverage, but we will do what we can to update our loyal fans.

Tuesday October 25th, 2011 PM

The temps cooled off during the day and the rain was to move in just after dark. What a perfect night to hunt!  I decided to give my new stand called the "Rock" Stand (named it this because it is not far from a huge boulder that sits at the point of a ridge.  I used to sit on this rock and actually harvested a doe from it about 8 years back.  Anyways, I moved this stand here because it is about 50 yards from a rub line and is between two huge Fence Post Rubs.  I have sat in this stand the last two nights and haven't seen a deer, so I figured, why not one more try.  I had nothing until 6:10 when I heard a deer behind me.  It was a four pointer and he was taking his time walking right at me.  I swung around, grabbed my bow and tried to get video.  He ended up walking directly to my tree and looked right up at me.  My stand is only about 10 ft up, so he wasn't far from me, he knew something was wrong and spooked to about 20 yards away where he stopped. He knew something wasn't right, but didn't know I was there. I was able to catch a tail on the camera, but it was starting to rain and was getting dark so the video was no good.  He ended up walking broadside of me at about 20 yards.  Had he been a shooter, he would have been dead!  He stood and looked in my direction and all around until after shooting light and then slowly walked away.  That was it.  Mindi was also out tonight. She went to Bob's place and sat in the ladder stand. She didn't see a deer.  Bob was out also.  He saw two deer. The first came barreling down from the dump stand and then turned around and went back where it came from.  A doe also came out but got down wind of him and blew and ran off.  Totals: Taylor: 1 deer: 1 buck (4pt): Mindi: 0 deer: Bob: 2 deer: 1?: 1 doe.

Here are some of the pictures of the rubs that I have found.  Pretty impressive!  Good luck as the rut starts up!

Monday, October 24, 2011 pm

Monday, October 24, 2011, Temp 60 degrees, Wind S-SW 3-5 mph, mostly cloudy, Sunset 6:17 pm, Hunting closes 6:47 pm. Perfect night. A little warm, but minimal wind. With the wind projected to come from the south and west, I figured it would be worth giving Fish Bowl the inaugural sit of the year. I thought that my scent would blow over towards Arlie's 8 foot fence and that any deer on that side were unlikely to jump over if they didn't have to. I was all set up by 4:40 pm. Mindi decided that she was going to give the ladder stand a try. She texted me and told me that she was in by 4:50 pm. Mindi texted me at 5:20 pm, and said that she took a picture and shot some video with her cell phone of a nubbin buck that was right underneath her. At 5:45pm, I looked up the hill to the west of me and saw the little fork horn. He jumped the fence once over onto Arlie's, but he jumped right back across onto my land after I grunted to him. He stayed up by Arlie's Nob and never came all the way down the hill even after I grunted to him some more. He ended up slowly working his way back up the hill towards Mindi. I guess Mindi did up seeing the little buck that I had seen. I did get some video from about 40 yards. At 6:20 pm, Mindi texted me and said that she had a fawn out of range heading towards the NW towards me. At 6:25 pm, the same buck that I saw earlier came down from the SW and walked by 15 yards to the north of me. I did get some video with the night vision. He ended up jumping Arlie's fence and he went north into Arlie's pasture. Totals: Bob - 1 deer, 1 buck. Mindi - 3 deer, 1 buck, 2 does and fawns.

Sunday, October 23, 2011 pm

Sunday, October 23, 2011, Temp 62 degrees, Wind N-NW 5-10 mph, partly sunny, Sunset 6:18 pm, Hunting closes 6:48 pm. Not an ideal wind for the property, but we were just going to have to make do. Heidi went down to the VAT, I decided the try the point. I figured that I might not see much up close, but at least I could see what was going on down in the creek bottom from a distance. We were both set up in position by 4:20 pm. At 4:45 pm, I caught a glimpse of the mutant 5 pointer from the other night about 200 yards away near the boarder patrol stand. I only saw him for a few seconds and the he disappeared. For fun, I tried some rattling to see if he would respond, but nothing. About 20 minutes later, I saw him over by the creek stand. I rattled to him and he began working my way. He crossed the creek and ended up about 35 yards east of the stump blind. He never did come out to the main food plot. He ended up jumping back over the creek and worked back towards the east. I ended up watching him through my binocs for the better part of 45 minutes. The last I saw him he was heading to the south along the far east edge of the back food plot. At 6:25 pm, Heidi texted that she saw two does that ended up walking up the trail to the north up towards the house. At 6:30 pm, I saw a big doe in the food plot about 45 yards south of the stump. At 6:40pm, Heidi texted me and said that she had some deer behind her blowing a warning call. They must have smelled her. Totals: Bob - 2 deer, 1 buck and 1 doe, Heidi - 2 deer, 2 does.

Heidi the huntress

Thursday- October 20, 2011 PM

Taylor and I ventured out on Thursday evening as he knew Gary was cutting down the corn fields that are near two of our stands. As we were driving out we saw the two fawns that I always see at the Watch Tower about to cross the road, they ran back up into the woods and I'm sure their Mom was right there with them. I thought maybe I should go to the Watch Tower but decided by the time I'd get there they would have already walked by that stand and headed towards the middle of the woods where they like to hang out.

Gary was working on the fields when we arrived and we thought maybe it would be a dinner bell to the deer and they would come out shortly after he was done. Taylor headed to Rock Creek and I headed to the Creek Stand.

Unfortunately, neither of us saw anything. With three minutes left of hunting light I was preparing to begin to pack up and head out of the stand when all of a sudden I could hear a deer come into the creek right next to me. There is one spot where the brush is quiet heavy and I can't see into the creek and of course that is where the deer decided to hang out. I could hear him drinking and then going to the bathroom in the water. Taylor sent me a text to make sure I was out of the stand but I was stuck, I didn't want to spook the deer. He drove the truck down and met me out by my stand and I quietly snuck out.
Totals: Taylor- 0; Mindi- 1?

5 pointer 10-20-11

Rag horn 5 pointer

7 pointer - 10-20-11

7 pointer video

4 pointer 10-20-11

Video of the 4 pointer.

Fight in the woods 10-20-11

Here is some footage from when they were fighting back in the woods. Not as good as in the field, but cool nevertheless.

Thursday, October 20, 2011 pm

Thursday, October 20, 2011, Temp 46 degrees, Wind N-NW 5-10 mph, mostly sunny, Sunset 6:25 pm, Hunting closes 6:55 pm. Hunting solo tonight at Heidi decided to go out downtown with the girls. With the wind from the north, I decided that the time was right to give the VAT a try. I have hockey practice in Edina at 8:30 pm, so I also wanted to be fairly close to the house so I can get back and go. I was in position and all set up by 4:30 pm. At 5:25 pm, I heard something coming down the hill from the north of me up by the house. I looked up the hill it was a small 4 pointer. He came down and ate in the bean field and walked around for 5 minutes or so at 10 yards. I took some cool video. At 5:30, a 7 pointer came from over by the sugar shack food plot down the main trail. He scared the fork horn off up the main road to the west. He came all the way though, ate beans and presented multiple 10 yard broadside shots. I wish Heidi or Mindi had been here. Some great video and we also got some trail camera pictures. The little 7 pointer walked up the same trail to the west. About 5 minutes later I heard a fight break out. I could see two bucks about 60 yards away fighting in the brush. They fought for about 15 minutes. It was the same 7 pointer an a rag horn 3-4 pointer. After the fight broke up, the rag horn came out to 10 yards and ate in the bean field. I got some video of him too. The fork horn and 7 pointer must have circled up to the NW. They saw the rag horn eating "their" beans and were determined to put a stop to it. The 7 pointer and rag horn got into a fight for about 5 minutes right out in the open in the bean field. It was amazing. I got some awesome video that I will post later. I guess the little guy's hormones are raging. Totals: Bob - 3 deer, 3 bucks.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011 pm

Wednesday, October 19, 2011, Temp 47 degrees, Wind W-NW 10-15 mph, mostly cloudy, Sunset 6:28 pm, Hunting closes 6:58 pm. I had a meeting that lasted till 3:00 up in the cities. I then had to pick up a fresh keg of Coors Light, the dogs from Heidi and bust hump to make it to Cannon for the evening hunt. Heidi came straight from work and was all set up in the VAT by 4:25 pm. Because I was running late, I decided that the Ridge back was my best option. I was all set up by 4:55 pm. At 5:30 pm, I could hear the combine cutting the corn up by Right Field. At 5:40 pm, Heidi texted me and said that she saw a doe running. It must have been scared by the combine. At 5:50 pm, Heidi texted and said that she had two more deer behind her to the south. I prayed that one of them would present a shot for her. She ended up seeing 8 deer, but nothing on the ground. Totals: Bob - 0 deer, Heidi - 8 deer, all does and fawns.

Wednesday October 19th, 2011 PM

I went to work early this morning just so I could get out to the stand early. It was my first day of no football and I was excited to get in the stand at a decent time for the PM hunt.  I was all settled into "Rock Creek" by 3:45.  This is where I saw the big 9 along with the nice 10.  Well, the excitement was slowed quickly as I didn't see a thing until 6:40 when a doe and her two fawns circled me and came in behind me.  I grabbed for the Martin but she caught my movement and spooked.  That was all for me tonight.

Totals: Taylor 3 deer: 1 doe: 2 fawns

I am excited to share that I think we might have another shooter on the property!  This is great news, and he will tempt me if he passes in daylight.  I don't know if I will hold out for the Big 9, I guess we will see. What do you think? Is he a mature enough deer, his body sure seems to tell us he is, but I am not sure on the rack yet, although the angle is not the best.  He also almost looks like he is already puffing up a little in the neck. 

Monday October 17th, 2011 PM What a Night!

What a Night!

This was my last football practice so I was getting in the stand later than I wanted to.  I was in the stand at about 5:30.  I decided to go back to Rock Creek as I had not sat there for a while.  At about 5:45 I had a four pointer come in behind me from the rock quarry to about 30 yards. He never got any closer and walked straight away from me.  5 minutes later two more bucks came in behind me from the rock quarry to about 25 yards. They were both facing me so I thought they would walk right to me.  I couldn't tell what they were yet, but shortly after I figured out that it was the Big 9 and the nice 10!  I quickly tensed up and became very excited.  I couldn't get video as they were directly behind the tree.  For some reason the big 9 turned and walked directly away from me toward the 4 pointer.  I tried to grunt but he started to jog after I grunted.  The 10 still stood at about 25 yards and I could not get good video.  I watched the Big 9 and the 4 pointer run to the East over the hill.  While I watched the 10 pointer two nubbin bucks and a doe walked in behind me.  One of the nubbins licked the trail camera while the doe walked back and forth. I wasn't sure if she was doing this because of the 10 or because of me.  Well, after about 10 minutes of this I tried to turn enough to see what she was up to and she caught me before I had turned all the way around.  She blew and took off and so did her nubbins.  They went back to the south where they came from.  The ten decided to walk back to the rock quarry where the bucks came from.   I was not happy by this time.  At about 6:30 I had another 4 pointer come out of the rock quarry and get to 30 yards on the same trail and he walked back the same exact way that the Big 9 and the first 4 pointer walked.  All in all, that was an awesome short sit!  I think I will be heading back there again for the next hunt on Wednesday night!  I had some video of the first 4 pointer, but I somehow deleted it trying to transfer it to my computer. I wasn't happy about this either!


Totals: Taylor: 7 deer: 4 bucks: 2 Fours, 1 Nine, 1 Ten: 1 Doe: 2 Nubbins

Here are previous pictures of the two bigger bucks I saw last night.  The 9 is my buck I am hunting hard this year and the 10 will be next years prize, or Mindi's first buck every with a bow!

Sunday October 16th, 2011 PM

Mindi and I went to my parents tonight really hoping that Mindi would land a doe.  I set her up in the new "Creek Stand".  I had seen deer every time I have been in this stand, so why not set her in it if she wants to shoot a doe.  Well, it was very windy and she ended up only seeing one fawn in the creek right before dark.  I went to SE Border Patrol.  This is a newer stand on the south side of the road.  I saw one fawn just before dark. That was it.

Totals: Mindi 1 fawn: Taylor: 1 fawn

Saturday, October 15, 2011 pm

Saturday, October 15, 2011, Temp 58 degrees, Wind W 10-15 mph, mostly cloudy, Sunset 6:32 pm, Hunting closes 7:02 pm. Little and I cut wood for most of the morning and up until early afternoon up by the rack shack. Because of this, I decided to go to Border Patrol and Heidi went to the VAT. I really wanted to hunt the square woods since Gary had cut my corn yesterday, but I thought that I had better let thing quiet down for a day. Heidi and I were both set up and in position by 4:30 pm. At 5:55 pm, Heidi texted me and said that she could see a small buck over in the Sugar Shack food plot using her binoculars. It was too far away and going away from her. At 6:15 pm, Heidi texted me that she saw two does running to the SE of her on the side of the hill. The wind must have swirled and they smelled her. Totals: Bob - 0 deer. Heidi - 3 deer, 1 buck and 2 does.

Thursday October 13th, PM

I have not been able to get in the stand as much as I would like because I have been coaching football in Hastings.  Well, tonight I decided to head out anyways after football. I did not get in stand until 5:45.  I headed to my parents place and went to the new stand that I am calling the "Creek Stand" because it is located next to the creek pinched between the creek and a corn field.  I really like this stand as it has a couple of scrapes in it and it showed a lot of promise with deer sign all over.  I also like it because I can shoot down into the creek, and I can shoot across the creek to a path that is next to the other corn field on the north side of the creek.  There are all kinds of options from this stand except that the stand is not in the best tree.  Because it is near the bed of the creek the trees are not the best and are not growing straight.  The straightest tree that I had to put my ladder stand in has a "Y" in it so I have to stand to get off most of my shots.  I am still in the process of figuring out something else, but for now, the stand is in and I can hunt.  Anways, like I said, I was in the stand at 5:45 and ten minutes later I had two Nubbin bucks walk out of the corn at 15 yards away.  At about 6:30 I had the 5 pointer that we have trail cam pictures come from the north east of me and walk to about 10 feet in front of me.  He knew something was up and turned around and walked away back into the creek bed woods where he came from.  He got to where I couldn't see him and he started blowing and then I heard him take off. I am not sure if he smelled me, or just was on alert and wanted to blow to let the deer in the vacinity know there was something that just wasn't right.  No video as it was too dark for the camera, I was bummed. That was it for me.

Totals: Taylor: 3 deer: 2 Nubbins: 1 Buck: 5 pointer

Miracles do happen

Well my brother Steve (aka Corky) has been bow hunting for almost 20 years and has never connected on a whitetail. He and a friend of our John Score went down yesterday for a weekend at Romance Valley Farms in Wisconsin. Steve went to one of the new stands that I built call "The Bowl." At 6:35 pm, he has this nice little 8 pointer with an 11" spread (1 and 1/2 year old) buck come in. He watched him for about 10 minutes and decided that if it gave him a good shot he would take it. He stayed out in the 40-60 yard range and he finally worked his way up the hill into range. When he got to 25 yards broadside downhill from him and he took the shot. He saw it depart with the arrow in him and the luminock fully lit. He got down and came in for help. They went out 2 hours later and recovered him in the field. The buck traveled only 125 yards after the double lung shot. Congrats on the harvest and the great shot placement! I will post some photos later once I get them as jpeg files.

Thursday, October 13, 2011 pm

Thursday, October 13, 2011, Temp 58 degrees, Wind W-NW 5-7 mph, mostly sunny, Sunset 6:35 pm, Hunting closes 7:05 pm. I was able to catch an earlier flight back from Sioux Falls, so I decided to get out for a short sit tonight. Since I was getting such a late start, I figured I should hunt somewhere close to the house, so that I could get in fast and quiet. No one has sat in Ridge back, so I thought that it would be a good option. I was all settled in by 5:05 pm. Saturday, October 8, 2011, Temp 80 degrees, Wind S-SE 10-15 mph, partly sunny, Sunset 6:39 pm, Hunting closes 7:09 pm. At 6:30 pm, I could hear a deer blowing a warning call from down in the stump food plot. I wouldn't think that it could have smelled me from where I was since the wind has died down considerably. I did see 3 raccoons. I hate those worthless bastards. Total: Bob - 0 deer.

Sunday, October 9 PM

Mindi was up in the Watch Tower again hoping for revenge on the doe. It was extremely quiet all night and all that she saw were a handful of squirrels. She did hear some noise up the hill behind her but nothing came down close enough to come into view.

Taylor went to the Rock Creek stand again and had five people on horses come through and lolligag and carry on a conversation loudly for 20 minutes. He was not happy about it, but that is what comes with hunting on other people's property, you don't always know what you are going to get. He got down to change a setting on the trail camera and a skunk came through only 20 yards away. When he was walking back into the woods he kicked three deer out onto the trail. As he was walking back he looked ahead and saw the doe with her two fawns 30 yards in front of him. As he continued to walk they ran back into the woods. Totals: Mindi- 0, Taylor- 2 Fawns, 1- Doe, 1- giant skunk

Much to our surprise we checked the camera at the Rock Creek stand after the first night and we had a 10 point come through. The setting on the camera was set to low resolution but we adjusted it to high resolution so we will have clearer pictures in the future. Take a look at our 10 pointer:

Saturday, October 8 PM

 A shot and a miss!

I was hoping my first ever post would be of a picture of my kill. It was an adventurous night though. I was in the Watch Tower and shortly after I got settled in I had a fawn come walking through. I knew that where there was a fawn a doe wouldn't be that far behind. Since this is my first season ever hunting in my life I have had it in my mind that I wanted a doe to come in for me to shoot at first so I could have practice for when the big bucks come by. Well, this was perfect practice! The fawn came back with his sister and the doe. I watched them down in the recently dried up creek bed for about 20 minutes as they teased me by coming close and then walking back. Finally, they made their move and headed right underneath me into the food plot. The doe was staring me down, she knew something was different but I didn't move a muscle as I didn't want to spoke any of the deer. Let me tell you, having three sets of eyes on you is pretty nerve racking! Not to mention that this is the closest a shootable deer has ever gotten to me. All I could hear was my heart racing and I was shaking uncontrollably. As the doe entered the food plot she came not even 10 yards from me and gave me the most story book perfect opportunity to shoot. I pulled back, had major deer fever, forgot what to do, quickly came to and remembered my checklist, eyed it up, and released. I MISSED! It landed in the ground right underneath her! I apparently was shaking more than I realized. She jumped from being spooked and then all three deer surrounded me in a circle and blew and stomped. I was able to nok another arrow, hoping she'd give me another opportunity. She continued to tease me for another 15 minutes. If she would have come 5 yards closer I would have taken another shot at her, but she just didn't get close enough.

It was quite the learning experience for me. I am glad I finally got to feel the nerves of having a deer come in to you and to feel what it feels like to pull back and shoot from a stand. I am now ready for the big bucks to come at me!

Taylor was also out on Saturday night in a new stand we are calling Rock Creek. He hung that stand earlier in the morning and was anxious to try it out. With about 20 minutes left of shooting light he thought he saw one come in but it never came out. When he got out of the stand it popped out and ran away. Totals: Mindi: 2 fawns- 1 doe- 1 shot- 1 miss; Taylor- 1 ???

Rack Shack Sign

Here it is. The shack is done. Stop on out and take a look and have a beer or two.

New Contributor

Fans, here she is my wife Heidi. Hopefully, she will be posting a harvest soon.

Sunday, October 9, 2011 am

Sunday, October 9, 2011, Temp 72 degrees, Wind S-SW 10-15 mph, partly cloudy. Sunrise 7:21 am, Hunting opens 6:51 am. Nice morning. A bit windy still and a little warm, but a lot better weather than the rain which was fore casted earlier in the week. I was in position up in RF by 6:30 am. At 7:25 am, I heard something coming from the SE. A nubbin buck popped his head out on the edge of the field about 10 yards away. He trotted along the edge of the corn field about 6 yards away, hopped the fence and walked over to the NW of me. He then bedded down for over an hour and a half about 20 yards away from me. At 9:00 am with the nubbin still bedded down 20 yards away, I was able to climb down and sneak out without disturbing him. Kind of crazy. Totals: Bob - 1 deer, 1 nubbin buck.

Saturday, October 8, 2011 pm

Saturday, October 8, 2011, Temp 80 degrees, Wind S-SE 10-15 mph, partly sunny, Sunset 6:39 pm, Hunting closes 7:09 pm. Heidi and I were out tonight. Heidi decided to head back to the Apple Tree and I went down to Border Patrol. We were both settled in for the evening sit by 4:30 pm. It ended up being a beautiful fall day but a bit too warm and it is still pretty windy. At 5:40 pm, I heard some splashing in the creek to the north of me. I looked through my binoculars, and could see 2 fawns underneath the creek stand. They then started chasing each other around the creek bottom and up the hill towards the house. It was really funny and quite entertaining. That was it for us. Totals: Bob - 2 deer, 2 fawns. Heidi - 2 deer, 2 fawns. (Same deer)

Saturday, October 8, 2011 am

Saturday, October 8, 2011, Temp 68 degrees, Wind S 25-30 mph, partly cloudy. Sunrise 6:55 am, Hunting opens 6:25 am. Super windy today. I couldn't coax Heidi out of bed this morning since she had already read her People magazine. I decided to head up to Right Field to see if I could shoot a nice doe. I was all set up by 6:25 am. Sat till 8:45 am. Nothing to report.

Three 10 Points at 009

Well fans. We still have several nice bucks as options for the 009 guys/ladies. See attached photos. It is obvious to me, but these are all different bucks. Post your comments if you think I am wrong. I think all of these could use another year, but all would be tough to pass up by Taylor or the ladies. I am glad that I am done and will not be tempted. If any of these make it to next year, we are looking at 150"+ in my opinion.

Very nice to see.

Buckslayer

Sunday October 2nd, PM

Mindi made it out with me tonight. She went to the Watchtower and I went to the new stand called the Road Stand.  I didn't see anything, probably because I put the stand in that day.  Mindi saw a doe and three fawns.  The doe never presented a shot for her as she and her fawns circled the food plot but never entered it. Mindi was excited but bumed that she never had a shot at her first deer.

Totals: Taylor: 0 deer: Mindi 4 deer: 1 doe, 3 fawns

Sunday October 2nd, AM

I once again decided to go to my parents but this time I sat in the Watchtower stand.  This was a little better as I saw a doe and a fawn at 7:15 but was shortly busted by them as I was reaching for my bow.  She was on high alert as she wasn't even into the food plot yet and spotted me. That was it for me.  I was excited though because I got down and put in a new stand across the road.  We are calling that the Road Stand.

Totals: Taylor: 2 deer, 1 doe, 1 fawn

Saturday October 1st AM

I decided to hunt at my parents this morning. I went to the Y-not stand and sat until 8:30.  I decided to get down as I was going to be moving a camera from one side of the valley to the other and we had a wedding to get to.  The sit was short and nothing came by anyway. 
Totals: Taylor: 0 Deer

Saturday, October 1, 2011 am

Saturday, October 1, 2011, Temp 34 degrees, Wind NW 0-2 mph, mostly sunny. Sunrise 7:02 am, Hunting opens 6:32 am. Dan drove down this morning from Onalaska for the hunt. I sent him up to Everest and I went to Recliner. We were both set up by 6:05 am. The seat that I put in up here is a bit small and is too high. I will need to adjust it if I plan on doing an all day sit during the rut. At 7:20 am, I heard a deer snorting up on the hillside to the north of me. I figured that it must have seen or smelled Dan. I later found out that it was a doe and fawn. At 8:45, Dan had a doe come from the NW. She stayed around for about 10 minutes until I fired up the ATV and drove back to get Dan. Once I got to about 50 yards from Everest, she took off. We then spent about 2 and 1/2 hours cleaning out the other new stands. They should be all set for out hunts later this fall. Totals: Bob - O deer, Dan 3 deer, 3 does.

Friday, September 30, 2011 pm

Friday, September 30, 2011 pm, Temp 60 degrees, Wind NW 12-20 mph, mostly sunny, Sunset 6:49 pm, Hunting closes 7:19 pm. After getting some work done, I ran out to the stands and put in permanent seats and safety ropes with Prusik knots. This way if I or anyone else falls on the way up, down, or while sitting in the tree, they are always attached to a safety rope. I would highly recommend this system to everyone. An ounce of prevention can prevent a ton of pain. You can youtube this and there is a step-by-step video that will take you through it. They are very easy to tie and could save your life. Enough of my soap box. Because I made so much noise up at Romance, I thought that I would try my luck at Copper. Since it is the last day of the 2011 inland trout season, I thought that I need to wet a line for a few hours. I went down to Copper Creek and in an hour and a half I landed 2 beautiful browns on my fly road on a Dave's Hopper. The biggest was about 14." A pretty nice way to end the season. At 4:00 pm, I quickly changed and headed out to the Rock outcrop. I am so pissed because I left my backpack with everything in it back at Romance by accident. No butt pad, no Nintendo DS, and knife, no binoculars. Oh well, I will just have to make do. I was all settled in for the evening hunt by 4:25 pm. Nothing to report. Totals: Bob - 0 deer.