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.