Sunday, October 18, 2009 a.m.

Sunday, October 18, 2009 a.m., 37 degrees, partly cloudy, wind S 10-15 mph, sunrise 7:31 a.m. (Hunting opens 7:01 a.m). With the wind from the south, I figured that I would give Spaghetti Junction another go. I was flying solo again this morning, and I knew I would have to sneak into the creek bottom early under the cover of darkness. I had "Stubby" in tow and I put him 10 yards up wind of my location. I was all settled in for the morning hunt by 6:35 a.m. I wish there were more to report, but that was it. Totals: Bob - 0 deer.

Friday, October 16, 2009 p.m.

Friday, October 16, 2009 p.m., 44 degrees, mostly cloudy, light drizzle, wind E 3-5 mph, sunset 6:28 p.m. (Hunting closes 6:58 p.m). Well after the hunt Taylor and I were really busy. We put together and hung two new ladder stands. We put one east of the Apple Tree down in the valley near the property line. We have called this one "Spaghetti Junction". It is named after the crazy merger of several interstates in Los Angles, CA. We felt as though this was appropriate as there are many trails crossing each other on all sides of the stand. We put the other ladder stand on the south border of the property between Right field and the VAT. This stand is now called "The Dump" as it is 50 yards north of my neighbors old dump. With a slight breeze from the N-NE, I decided on the inaugural sit at Spaghetti Junction or "SJ" or "the Junction." I was all settled in by 4:55 p.m. At 5:50 p.m., I looked over my right shoulder to the south and saw a big doe feeding in the food plot about 30 yards south of the Stump. After about 10 minutes, she trotted down the trail to the south towards the "sugar shack" food plot. Right at last light (6:55 p.m.), I heard something come off the hill to the east of me. It was a big doe. She saw Stubby and ended up walking nervously down wind of him. She ended up about 10 feet from the bottom of my stand. She stayed for 15 minutes or so which was well after shooting light. She finally ended up leaving back to the east. As I was about to get down, she and another deer spooked off to the east. Totals: Bob - 3 deer, 3 does.

October 17, 2009 Copper Creek

Here are some photos from Copper Creek. I think the two 8 pointers from the 5th and the 11th are different bucks. Their racks are different in color and also look at the markings on their back right leg. Thoughts?

Saturday, October 17, 2009 - Romance WI

Here are some photos from a scrape line at the Romance Farm. I think the bucks from the 10th and 14th are the same buck. But The other two bucks are definately different. The buck on the 11th has a split G2 on the right side and I think is an 11 pointer. The buck from the 12th is a tall 10. All are shooters in my opinion. Thoughts?

Friday, October 16, 2009 a.m.

Friday, October 16, 2009 a.m., 32 degrees, partly cloudy, wind 0-2 N-NE mph, sunrise 7:28 a.m. (Hunting opens 6:58 a.m). Kind of a dark and cloudy morning. I had to take a conference call at 7:30 a.m., so I decided to stay up by the house (better cell coverage) and hunt the Ladder stand. Taylor came over this am (MEA) week/weekend and he and "Stubby" went to the VAT. We were both settled in by 6:35 a.m. At 7:20 a.m., I heard some mewing to the SW of me. I couldn't see anything through the leaves. At 7:29 a.m., (I know this was the time as my conference call started at 7:30 a.m.), a nubbin buck came into 10 yards from the SE. I had to scare him away so I could hop on my call. I am sure glad that he wasn't the big boy. Totals: Bob - 1 deer, 1 nubbin buck; Taylor - 0 deer.

Thursday, October 15, 2009 p.m.

Thursday, October 15, 2009 p.m., 41 degrees, mostly cloudy, rained/sleeted most of the day, wind E 3-5 mph, sunset 6:29 p.m. (Hunting closes 6:59 p.m). It is still pretty wet outside, with some light sprinkles, but I had to give the VAT a try. Because of the crummy weather, Heidi decided to take the night off. But with the action Taylor had last night, I just had to give the VAT another try. I decided to bring my little buddy "Stumpy" the small 6 point buck decoy along to see if he could draw the big boy out into the open. On the way in (I came in down the trail from the NW), I kicked a doe that must have been bedded on the hill side to the SE of the VAT. I was all settled in by 4:50 p.m. At 5:50 p.m., I looked to the north and a nubbin buck was coming down the trail into the food plot. He saw the decoy and stared at it for a while and wondered why he wasn't moving. He then calmed down and walked a fed out into the food plot. He fed in the middle of the food plot eating just the grasses and not the turnip leaves for at least 25 minutes. He then left the food plot on the same trail he came in on. That was it. Totals: 1 deer, 1 nubbin buck.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009 p.m.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009 p.m., 41 degrees, mostly cloudy, overcast, wind E-SE 3-5 mph, sunset 6:29 p.m. (Hunting closes 7:59 p.m). I decided to give the Arlie's Nob a try, Heidi went to border patrol, and Taylor went to the VAT. When we all separated at the bottom of the hill Taylor whistled and we turned and saw two does run out from the sugar shack food plot. Taylor kicked up 2 more deer on the way in and thinks one of them may have been a buck. In the first 5 minutes on the stand, Heidi saw six does two in the main food plot and four from the south of her. They may have been the same does that Taylor kicked up. They didn't stay around long and all took off. At 5:35 p.m., Taylor had a doe and fawn feed down in between the two food plots. They ended up going to and eating in the sugar shack food plot. At 6:25 p.m., Taylor texted me and said that he had a big buck behind him to the south. It had come off the hill from the SE but stayed in the brush 30 yards behind him. At 6:30 p.m., Heidi had a doe and two fawn come out to the west of her. They walked across the new bridge They ended up feeding into the food plot to the north of her. Here is a photo of a new buck that we have not seen. Probably a 2 1/2 year old. Totals: Bob - 0 deer; Heidi - 9 deer, 9 does; Taylor - 3 deer, 1 Buck - BIG.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009 p.m.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009 p.m., 41 degrees, mostly cloudy, overcast, wind E 3-5 mph but swirling a bit in the valley early, sunset 6:30 p.m. (Hunting closes 7:00 p.m). With the wind from the east, it was time for me to give the Border Patrol a try. Before I left the house, I looked out and in my front yard on the other side of the driveway was two does and two fawns. One of the does was the deer that Heidi hit on opening weekend. She appeared to be doing just fine. I was all settled in by 5:05 p.m. Fortunately, I didn't spook anything that I know of off the food plots on the way in to the stand. At 6:00 p.m., I looked over my left shoulder to the west and saw a doe working her way into the food plot from the south. A minute later, she was joined by another doe. One fed out towards the stump and got to within 25 yards of it. The other doe stayed more to the south and ended up more by the base of the sledding hill. She then turned to the north and walked the main trail towards the apple tree stand. They then both met up on the main trail and continued feeding to the north. The one doe came back into the field and fed within 15 yards of the stump. She was about to walk past the camera, but she ended up veering off to the west and walked behind the tree that the camera was hung on. At 6:35 p.m., I looked behind me and saw the tail end of a deer walking to the south in the stump food plot. I am not sure what it was as it was about 150 yards away. Then I saw another one going the same direction. They may have been the same does I saw earlier. That was it. Totals: Bob - 4 deer, 4 does.