Archive for November, 2013

Tuesday November 5, 2013

Friday, November 8th, 2013

I went into work last night after I got home so I could make some time up to allow me to leave a few hours early on Thursday. I figure that will give us a good bite into the trip to the Midwest.  It’s always nice to put a lot of road behind you when you’re going a long way.

I got out of work early enough to run into the woods and hunt for a few hours. I also wanted to change some batteries in my cameras and pull a few others so I could bring them on vacation.

When I stopped at my first camera I didn’t expect much. The camera has been there a week and it’s not in the best place I could have put it. I chose the place because it was fairly open and appeared to be in an area that was being used quite a bit by deer.

When I viewed the card I was surprised to see a lot of pictures on it. I got a nice little 6-pointer in the daylight. He looks like a healthy deer and the color of the pictures is great. I’m very pleased with the quality of DLC Covert cameras.  After I deleted quite a few pictures of does I came across a picture of No-Brow 8. I’ve got pictures of him all over the mountain. It’s hard to tell where he’ll show up next. Based on his activity on my cameras I’d imagine he’ll get killed before the end of rifle season. I could be wrong, but he tends to be a wanderer.

Finally, I got a picture of the moose that lives on the mountain. As I suspected it’s a very large moose, but it’s not a bull. It’s a cow and she’s very well developed in the shoulders and chest. I’d imagine the muscular definition is from the terrain she’s spending most of her time in.

After I reset the camera I headed to the knob where I killed my first buck. As I got close to the knob I heard some leaves shuffling on the flat below me. A glance that way revealed a nice buck trotting up the hill. He didn’t have a clue what spooked him or why he was running. He stopped and looked my way. As I looked at him through my binoculars I thought about shooting him. He was a really good buck without much headgear. He was a mature deer.  I applied some pressure on the trigger a few times before deciding he wasn’t what I wanted.

After he disappeared I made my way to the camera. To my surprise I found the same buck on camera three different times in the last 4 days. Every time he was in a scrape doing his business of advertising. He was in the scrape just before daylight today. He couldn’t have moved much during the day if he was back there again tonight. If I see this buck on Thanksgiving I’ll shoot him so we can relive the old tradition of shooting a buck on that day. I guess I was right yesterday when I felt like I was close. I could have easily taken this buck tonight. It must have been his lucky night.

 

Monday November 4, 2013

Friday, November 8th, 2013

I had today off from work. I couldn’t have asked for a better morning to sit in a stand in the Adirondacks. It was one of those days that I dream about all year. It was 15 degrees when I headed into the woods at 4:50.  After a steady hour and twenty minute walk I arrived to the stand I had set up back in the summer.  Something made me feel good about the day.

Shortly after the sun rose above the ridge behind me the animals came to life. I could hear a raven cawing in the distance as well as a few geese flying over. As I enjoyed everything around me I made sure to take it all in because moments like that are fleeting.  Twenty minutes into my sit I could hear the leaves crunching beneath the legs of a running deer. At first I couldn’t make out where the noise was originating. Suddenly I realized it was coming off the ridge in front of me and the deer were quickly gaining ground. I grabbed my gun off the tree hook and prepared myself for any opportunity that might present itself.

A few seconds later and I could see the tips of antlers coming out of a small depression. I couldn’t see the animal at all, but the antlers were as clear as day.

I pressed my thumb against the safety and got ready to slide it forward. Then the buck turned and disappeared. The rise in the hill was just high enough so that I could see his antlers but no part of his body. I’m pretty sure it was the big 10-point I got a picture and video of, but I’ll never know.

The rest of the day passed too quickly and before I knew it my four day vacation was over and I was headed home. Dad didn’t see any deer today. We had a great weekend. I couldn’t ask for better weather or a more relaxing atmosphere. Although it was only four days it seemed like much longer. That doesn’t happen too often.

I feel like I’m close to scoring. In my younger days when I felt that way it seemed like an opportunity almost always presented itself. I guess I’ll sit back and see what unfolds in front of me.

Sunday November 3, 2013

Friday, November 8th, 2013

To my surprise there wasn’t any snow on the ground when I woke up at 4 o’clock. Since the forecast called for it I was pretty sure it would happen, especially with where I was hunting.

I hit the trail about 5am and began my trek. I consciously paid attention to where I was when I got to the top of the hill since I lost the trail there the last few days.  Five minutes later I was fumbling through the darkness in search of my way once again. I still can’t figure out what keeps screwing me up with this place. I’m pretty sure I’m going to get it right tomorrow before I head to the doctor’s.  I’ll have to make the most of my time since I have other places to be later in the day. These last few days have flown by and I’ve loved every minute of it. It seems like the old days when we used to spend all season in the north country. There’s something about pursuing an individual buck in the mountains that can’t be explained to anyone. While many people party hunt, still-hunt, drive hunt and track, I try to locate a place where a buck is working and do my best to kill him. I’ve done that here like I always used to. I’m pretty sure I could put this buck on the ground if I spent my vacation I these woods. I discovered a route he’s taking today that might surprise a few people, but it doesn’t surprise me.  I’m hoping he will make a mistake shortly after daylight tomorrow.  The wind will be perfect as it’s supposed to come out of the north at 4mph, so it will be almost dead calm. It’s going to be a battle with the cold though.

I’m not all that prepared for cold weather and it will be in the teens for most of the morning. We should be able to hear the deer coming for a long ways before we see them. I love when I can hear deer making their way toward me through the crunchy leaves. I’m praying I get to hear it in the morning even if it’s a doe or two.

Dad watched the same doe for about an hour and half today. She fed on a hillside without covering hardly any ground. He was surprised that no bucks showed up to investigate. I guess it’s just not quite ready to happen yet. If he had that same scenario next week it might play out a little differently.

I saw a fisher shortly after daylight this morning. It took me an hour and 25 minutes to get to where I sat. That’s a long walk in the dark without much of a trail. Sometimes I’m amazed I can find my way. I’m going back to the same place in the morning . I have a hunch about  it, so I’ll play the odds. I learned a long time ago to go with your gut when the second voice starts talking. It’s talking quite loudly right now, so I will be there when the sun comes up.  I’ll sit back and see what unfolds in front of me. That’s the beauty of the big woods. You never know what might show up. I might see a mountain monarch, a doe and fawn or maybe even a moose or a bear.  In the end it doesn’t matter what I see because I just enjoy being in the big woods. Until next time……………..

 

Saturday November 2, 2013

Friday, November 8th, 2013

We got going early today. The stars were abundant in the sky. Everything told me this morning was going to be a good morning based on the wind being non-existent and the clear sky. After I got going I did the same thing I did last week and got off track while following the trail. Before I knew it I got totally turned around and lost a half hour of my time. Once I found the trail again I put it in overdrive and made it to my stand before daylight.  I sat until 11:30, but nothing came by. I was actually quite surprised that neither one of us saw anything while we were sitting. I checked my last three cameras today and got four bucks on them. I still don’t have one in the daylight. I’m guessing daylight pictures will start showing up next week. Unfortunately I’ll be on the road and won’t return until the next to last weekend.  It appears that the batteries in all of the cameras should be okay until the end.  Although I got two really nice bucks, I’d love to get one that could be qualified as an absolute smasher.  On the way out we pushed a small swamp. We saw some deer in it last week.  Deer started piling off the hill, but only one of them came past me. It was a button horn. After further examination we saw where a lot of deer went off the front of the ridge. Dad said one of them was a nice buck. It had a big track and the hocks smelled.

There’s supposed to be some snow rolling in tonight and continue through tomorrow. They’re not calling for a lot of it to stick, but you never know in the Adirondacks. I feel like we’re really close. Unfortunately we just don’t have a lot of time and it’s not prime time when the bucks are moving like they will be a few weeks from now. We’ll see what tomorrow brings.

 

Friday November 1, 2013

Friday, November 8th, 2013

I scheduled this day off quite a while ago so I could hunt up north a little before leaving for the Midwest.  Unfortunately the morning greeted us with torrential rain. The wind blew an average of 25mph with some gusts as high as 40mph. Trees crashed down around me for most of the day. At some points it was a little scary. I didn’t wander too far today, so I made the most of my time and checked four of my cameras that I could get to without too much work.  The first two cameras were close to where I sat. They both had a lot of pictures on them and the majority of the pictures were taken in the daylight. Unfortunately there weren’t any bucks on them, but there were quite a few does.  I’m sure the bucks will show up in the next few weeks with that many does hanging around the area.

I met up with my dad around 1pm and we decided to go into the lowland and check a camera I moved last week. Instead of leaving it on a signpost all year I made a mock scrape and set it up on that. There were two pictures on it and one was a nice 10-pointer. The picture quality is horrible, but the video came out great.  I’d love to see this buck sneaking through the woods in front of me at some point over the next few days. I accidentally deleted one of the pictures and it deleted the video attached to it. I was a little disappointed because I would have liked to see the video. Since the picture was a blur I didn’t even think about it before deleting it.

After getting done with the camera we split up and decided to meet at 5:30 to head back to the truck. I still-hunted along a thick ridge before making my way to the final camera I wanted to check. When I got there I didn’t expect much. I quickly saw a really small 6-pointer on the camera from last night before the torrential rain started. He looks like a healthy young deer. A few seconds later and I was staring at a picture of a dandy 8-pointer in the scrape. I wish I had video of it, but the pictures will have to do. He’s definitely a shooter, so my hopes are up again. These cameras are amazing because it shows you what lives in the area you’re hunting. When you’re feeling down it doesn’t take long to bring your hopes back up when you think about the images.

Tomorrow should be a good day. The front is blowing through tonight. It’s supposed to be a lot calmer and much colder in the morning. Something tells me we might get look at buck in the morning. We shall see.