This years hunt

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10-12-2012, 07:39 AM
Chip

This years hunt

Hi all, I just wanted to share the story of my bow season this year. I just got back into bows last year, my driving factor was the season is longer and I enjoyed them when I was younger. I need a longer season as I work 6 to 7 days a week and change shifts every month. Last season I hunted at my cousins and still can hunt that land, but it is a drive for me to get there and opportunities to hunt would be limited with my work schedule. I hunted last season at my cousins and passed a small eight point that walked under my stand. My cousin has around 100 acres with food plots, feeders, stands, and blinds in place. Anyway, given the limited time I have I was at a cook out at my mom and dads. I said hey I think I want to put a stand in the wood lot behind the house. When I was a kid mom and dad bought an extra lot behind the house, it has oak, cherry, hickory, walnut, you get the point hardwoods.

I don't know the acreage of the lot, but it is about 50 yards by 50 yards, I can see the house from the back of the lot. This lot is close to my work and I can hunt there between shifts making it ideal for me. In July my wife bought me a ladder stand for our anniversary, so I picked a location for it on the lot and drove to the owner of the property around the lot to get permission to track a deer if I shot one. I knew with the small lot that a hit deer was not going down on it, well 99.9% sure. The owner gave me permission so my hunt began in July. August I put out a mineral block and trail cam to monitor the activity on the lot. I started getting doe pictures and knew if I could hold them there the bucks would follow. September I put a feeder out and started getting pictures of bucks on the trail cam.

Opening day I knew bucks were coming in late afternoon early evening with no real pattern on the days. So I went to my stand and set in for an afternoon hunt after a nite shift and luckily I was off the next day. Well at 5:45 curly tine started heading up one of the trails through the lot. I watched him come up the trail eating acorns along the way he hit the small window I had from my stand. I began to draw and he looked up straight at me so I froze he went back to the acorns and I drew. The deer raised his head and turned to right and I took the quartering away shot, he bucked up and dropped within site of the stand. He is a small eight point, but he his the first whitetail bow harvest for me and my nemesis. I have taken deer with gun, but that is not even close to bow hunting. I said originally it was a 35 yard shot, that was an estimate from my eye. I just bought a new laser range finder and pinged the tree he was next too and it was 33 yards. I passed on a small eight last year and went without a harvest, so I decided that was not going to happen this year. I do have a couple really nice bucks on trail cam from this same lot, so next year I will wait it out longer. I still have a doe tag for this year so who knows maybe another one for the freezer.
10-12-2012, 12:08 PM
Ehunter

Congrats Chip. Glad to hear your return to bow hunting has been successful. Any deer with a bow is a true trophy.
10-12-2012, 01:10 PM
Chip

Thank you EH, I hope the rest of your season is a great success. Here are a couple bucks I have trail cams on my small hunting spot.

http://i774.photobucket.com/albums/y.../WGI_0045A.jpg

http://i774.photobucket.com/albums/y.../WGI_0018A.jpg
10-12-2012, 04:29 PM
Double S

Congrats on the Buck Chip!. nice pics too!.
10-12-2012, 05:10 PM
elkslayer4x5

Well Chip, congratulations and welcome back to bowhunting! You've got a couple of nice bucks comming to your feeder, in paticular the daytime buck. He looks to be the older buck as he is fuller in the chest than the other buck, and I like that little crab claw on his left main beam. Keep the feeder working and select a nice older doe for your next tag. If you can run your feeder as deep into winter as possible, as the deer will remember where they were getting food, and be back in the spring. :)
10-13-2012, 09:01 AM
Chip

Thanks gents, I just got back from hunting saw a red tail get a squirrel breakfast that's about it. I checked my trail cam and I still have doe coming in, but they seem to have gone nocturnal. So I am going to keep the corn out there and ease off hunting for a while to see if they change pattern. I have been hunting this small area pretty hard so I think it's best to let it cool a bit. I have a concern about the older deer in the picture. There was about three pictures in the camera sequence. I retained the one as it was the best, but from other angles he has severe damage to his hind quarters. His spine is bowed and you can see his ribs and spine bones through his skin. When I first saw his pictures I was tempted to target him and wait as he was the most mature I have pictures of. I debated and thought about him and I came to the conclusion that all I would be taking was the antlers, so I made the decision that if he came by my stand I would pass. That being said if he survives the season and he shows up on my cam I will re-evaluate harvesting him. Thanks for the info, I do plan on feeding the deer and I am also thinking about a small food plot as there is a clearing in front of my stand. I have to say I am having a great season even if I don't harvest another. I would also add that seeing my fellow archers on line and in real life enjoying the sport and outdoors is just as thrilling as my own success. If I have missed a thread to congratulate your success both hunting and just general shooting, I would like to extend it now.
10-14-2012, 08:44 AM
elkslayer4x5

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chip

Thanks gents, I just got back from hunting saw a red tail get a squirrel breakfast that's about it. I checked my trail cam and I still have doe coming in, but they seem to have gone nocturnal. So I am going to keep the corn out there and ease off hunting for a while to see if they change pattern. I have been hunting this small area pretty hard so I think it's best to let it cool a bit. I have a concern about the older deer in the picture. There was about three pictures in the camera sequence. I retained the one as it was the best, but from other angles he has severe damage to his hind quarters. His spine is bowed and you can see his ribs and spine bones through his skin. When I first saw his pictures I was tempted to target him and wait as he was the most mature I have pictures of. I debated and thought about him and I came to the conclusion that all I would be taking was the antlers, so I made the decision that if he came by my stand I would pass. That being said if he survives the season and he shows up on my cam I will re-evaluate harvesting him. Thanks for the info, I do plan on feeding the deer and I am also thinking about a small food plot as there is a clearing in front of my stand. I have to say I am having a great season even if I don't harvest another. I would also add that seeing my fellow archers on line and in real life enjoying the sport and outdoors is just as thrilling as my own success. If I have missed a thread to congratulate your success both hunting and just general shooting, I would like to extend it now.

All the more reason to target this deer, he is injured, and sounds as if he in not doing well. Most likely will not survive the winter. I also would'nt worry about how much you've been in the wood lot, believe me, they can smell you on that corn your feeding them. Try a deer block, avaible at your local feed store, has even more nutrition than just corn, and deer love the molasass that is used as a binding agent in the block. Another trick is tape some absorbant material ( cotton balls will work, but wont hold up long ) to the instep of your boot and soak it with vanilla extract, another smell that deer realy like.