Hunting Journal

It was chilly when we woke up today. It was 45 degrees when we headed down the road to hunt. The grass was loaded with dew, so Brian and I ended up drenched when we got to our stands. I had to walk quite a distance through thick CRP to get to my stand. There was no other option.

My morning passed quickly. I expected to see something but nothing ever materialized, and I came out of the woods without any sightings under my belt. Dad didn’t see anything this morning either. He hunted down along the river.

Brian saw another shooter this morning. He saw him at 8:00 a.m., and he was right behind a doe. He was just out of range and disappeared as fast as he appeared. Brian is pretty sure it’s the same buck that he jumped yesterday. Maybe we’ll get a crack at him before the end of the week. You never know with this game.

Tonight we went back to the same place. I had a couple of does come down past me right before dark. It was 76 degrees, so there weren’t too many critters moving around.

Dad hunted where Brian saw the buck this morning. He saw a nice 4-pointer right at dark. That seems to be a good place. Hopefully, someone gets a look at a good one in the coming days.

Brian hunted above dad tonight. He didn’t see anything. I found a giant rub this morning. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a rub on a tree this big before. That always keeps me going. It’s supposed to me 80 degrees tomorrow.

Here’s the rub. The picture doesn’t do it justice.

Today was our first day in the woods. It was warm when we headed into the woods before dark. Not having been here in three years, I was unsure what to expect. The woods don’t look anything like they did the last time. A lot has changed since the last visit.

I got into the area well before daylight but waited until I could see to pick a tree to climb. After settling in, I was just happy to be in a tree. Around 8:00 a.m., I started playing with my phone because I got a little bored. When I glanced to my left, I could see a really big buck standing under a small oak tree on the edge of a CRP field that was 38 yards from my tree. His body was big and blocky, and the rack was more than good enough for me to decide I wanted to shoot at him.

As I watched him for a few seconds, a big doe bolted out of the woods behind him, passed him, and the two of them disappeared into the thick brush. I turned over my can call to try my luck at coaxing them back to me.

Although it didn’t work, a small spike came up the hill on a string. He ended up directly below me. He wasn’t the least bit nervous or jumpy. After feeding around for a few minutes he turned around and went back the way he came from. That was all of the excitement I had for the day. In the evening dad and I went north to another conservation area. It looked pretty good but was cut up really weird. I saw two does when I popped out into a field on my way out. Dad didn’t see anything in there. He covered a lot more ground than I did.

This morning dad hunted down along a creek. He didn’t see any deer. He did find some good rubs and scrapes. He left his stand down there.

Brian didn’t see anything this morning while in the stand, but he did find some really big buck sign. He also jumped a big buck when he was walking around. It was definitely a shooter. He is going to hunt in there in the morning.

Overall, it was a good day considering the temperature. It seems a little colder tonight as we are getting ready for bed. I’m hoping it will help us out tomorrow.

We arrived in Missouri this afternoon. Unfortunately, we didn’t make it in time to get into the woods. When we pulled into the campsite, it was just shy of 90 degrees.

On our way in, we saw a pretty big buck standing in a small field next to the road. It’s hard to believe that he was on the move in this heat.

Youth gun season opened today, but there doesn’t appear to be a lot of hunters around. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. The forecast is calling for high heat the entire week.

We’ll see what happens, but I don’t expect much with the high heat.