Hunting Journal

This morning it was 39 degrees with a crystal clear sky. The wind was NNW.

I hunted by myself this morning. Yesterday was a little nerve-wracking when I went through the water. On the way out it came through my doors. Therefore, when I got through it this morning on the way in I figured I wouldn’t make too many more trips unless I can find a way around it. When I got out of my truck and slid my backpack on I realized that I forgot my bow at home. I wasn’t going to take a chance by going back through the water and coming back in. It was a little late anyway so I decided to got sit with my new camera.

Around 8 o’clock I caught some movement to my right. I could see that it was a deer trotting up the hill. I found it in my binoculars and identified it as a spike-horn. When he got closer I tried getting a picture of him, but he wouldn’t stop. When he finally stopped he was behind a tree about 5 yards in front of me. When he came out the other side I snapped a picture. Unfortunately I got his entire body except his head which was behind a tree. The rest of the morning passed quickly. I climbed out of the tree a little after 10 and headed to work for a few hours.

For the evening I wanted to check a place out that I found a few years ago. I recall that there were and abundance of oak trees on some rolling knobs. I figured that they were probably dropping nuts like crazy. When I got to the place I found a few pretty good rubs and a big scrape. The deer had been feeding in the area regulary.

Around 5:45 I could see a deer coming off to my right. It was only spotty because of the abundance of  leaf cover. Finally she made her way underneath my stand. Eventually her mother joined her and they fed for the next 25 minutes. They eventually headed over the knob and out of sight. I took some video on my new camera, but I’m having a hard time viewing it. I’ll figure this stuff out sometime soon.

I have a really busy week at work so I’m not sure if I’ll get out again before next week. We’ll see what happens. Here’s the picture of the spikehorn.

This morning greeted me with a brisk wind. It was damp from all of the rain we’ve had over the last few days and created a slight chill when sitting.

I headed back to the same stand that I set last night. I arrived a little before dark and settled in for a few hours. The time passed quickly. I didn’t see anything except a few chipmunks.

It was in the low to mid 50’s with a clear blue sky. There was a north wind which was good for that stand location.

This evening I headed to an old reliable spot. If you’ve read my book you’ll recognize it as being my favorite place (the big pine) where I killed “The Grunter.”

I set my camera up in hopes of getting a picture of a buck that I’ve been chasing for the last three years. I know he’s in there, but I haven’t been able to catch up with him yet. It would really help if I could be there during prime time in November, but I’m glad to be going out of state, too. After I got the camera set-up I didn’t like the location but I left it anyway. I would be surprised if I get many pictures.

Around 6pm I heard a few sticks cracking down below me. Soon after a medium size doe appeared. She fed past me, but continued looking down the hill. About 5 minutes later I could see another deer coming. Another doe was making its way up the hill.

They fed up the hill and disappeared after 15-20 minutes. Then, I saw some bushes rustling. A raccoon was crossing the hill as if he was on a mission. Within seconds I spotted another raccoon following the first one. The leader continued past my stand while the second one came right to the tree I was sitting in.

When it got to the rock where I rested my pack before climbing the tree it knew something wasn’t quite right. Then, I saw something that I don’t think I will ever see again. He quickly stood on his hind legs (like a human) and raised his front paws over his head like the was posing as the heavyweight champion of the world after a boxing match. As he was posing he turned his head upward and looked directly at me. With his hands raised he almost smiled at me and then got back on all four legs and scurried down the hill. His buddy immediately followed. Five minutes later I climbed out of the tree and headed home.

That’s why I love hunting. You never know what you might see on any given day. Tonight was incredible. We’ll see what tomorrow brings. Hunt hard and hunt safe.

There was a north wind again tonight. I’ve attached a picture of “The Grunter” in case you haven’t read the book. I killed this buck in the same spot that I sat tonight.

I didn’t go out yesterday. The torrential rains made it rather difficult to justify a trip into the woods. After pouring all night and half the day today many of the streams are flooded. We desperately needed rain, but this was a little extreme.

When the rain tapered off about 2pm I decided to go hunting when I got out of work. I figured the deer would be moving with the cold front coming in. I also wanted to set a stand for Saturday morning.

I had to stay late at work so I didn’t get into the woods until 4pm. I slowly picked my way to the area I wanted to put the stand. When I was within a couple hundred yards I saw what I thought was a deer’s leg. I wasn’t sure so I stopped and waited. A few seconds later a small buck crossed an opening in front of me. Since I was rushed I forgot my binoculars at home. He was about 50 yards from me and I could see that he was definitely a crotch-horn and possibly a 6-pointer. I decided I would take him if a shot presented itself. We only have a 2 week bow season and I’m headed out of town for three days next week and I won’t be able to hunt.

As he continued walking I drew my bow and used some brush as cover to move a little closer. At that point he needed to take a few more steps to give me a good shot although it would be long. Then, I felt something looking at me. Sure enough that buck had a buddy behind him and he caught me red-handed. His buddy was a small spikehorn. He sensed something was wrong and bounded over a few knobs and out of sight. The other buck ran at the same time and slowly walked away without ever offering a shot.

There were more acorns on the forest floor than I can ever remember. I ended up getting my stand set up for the morning. I think the deer will move just because the weather has been so miserable the last few days.

I was hoping to sit for a while, but it appears that I’m going to have to cut the morning short. I’m bringing a buddy with me and he just informed me that he has to be home for some other plans. Instead of throwing a fuss I tried to accomodate his change in plans, so I’ll make the most of the few hours that I get to sit in the tree.

The weather tonight was clear after the rain moved out. The wind swirled like crazy but I guess you could say that it was coming out of the north. The temperature hovered around 55-60 degrees.

We’ll see what tomorrow brings. This has always been a good spot for early archery season for us. Here are a few pictures of deer that we’ve killed there in the past. I killed the first one on the last day of the season one year right at dark and ended up in the hospital that night for a week long stay. Dad killed the other buck in early bow season a few years back.