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!