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Fluteman's Journey of Excellence, or Lack Thereof

Fluteman

Senior Member
Supporting Member
7,094
146
Southeast Ohio
Last year, I didn't have much to share in the way of hunting adventures, or even deer to hunt, so I didn't have a journal or share TOO much about my season. Early in 2015, by accident, I found that an outfitter had moved in on an adjacent property and was advertising deer that I had passed on as potential targets for clients. I'm not going to go into a ton of detail, but it really put a damper on my 2015 season. I'm not sure how much it truly affected my hunting, but it played a serious part on my drive to hunt, as it just wasn't there.

But 2016 brings a sense renewal and excitement for me in the deer woods. The wife and I purchased a new piece of property, and leased an adjoining farm (we will call it all The 40). I was anxious to get out and scout the new property, but was hit with Appendicitis, and only made it out there to shed hunt a few times. Turkey season came, and I spent a fair amount of time on The 40, learning a good bit about how the land laid, making a couple mental notes for stand sites. The new place has some serious potential. Time will tell if my hunch is correct.

Obviously, with the acquisition of The 40, I have shifted the majority of my focus there. I decided I wasn't even going to run cameras at the house, because I didn't want to know what was back there. Unfortunately for me (or maybe not so much), the farmer planted late beans on my place, so the deer have been hammering them. Despite my best efforts to ignore what was going on behind the house, the deer made themselves very visible. Two bucks quickly caught my attention as having potential. I continue to monitor them, glassing the fields every so often, just to keep tabs on them. Both bucks are still around. As the summer patterns begin to change, and the velvet drops, new bucks have made appearances during my evening visits to watch the fields, and thanks to the late planting, the beans are still green. I probably have a few weeks left, as they haven't even began to yellow.

The 40 has been a fun piece to watch this year. Like I said, I have high hopes, but I'm still not quite sure what to expect. I've got three cameras deployed on the farm, checking them once a month, and have been watching three bucks pretty closely. I've also had a ton of pictures of bobcats on the new place, as well as coyotes and turkey. The 40 was select cut three or four years ago, so there is a lot of new growth. The place really looks different from early spring to summer, but holds a ton of wildlife! The best part about it all is it's littered with logging roads, so there's good access to anywhere on the property. To top it all off, it was all brush-hogged earlier this month, so both the deer and I will have an easier time navigating the trails this fall.

Then of course there is my dad's farm. It's always got a handful of good deer running around on it. If it wasn't such a drive, I would definitely hunt out there more. I typically make it out to bowhunt half a dozen days, then for gun and muzzy season. Dad's got a few nice deer on camera, including the one he shot last year. He's hoping for redemption on him, and I hope he gets the opportunity!



My plan this year is to enjoy the woods, get back to the basics, and have fun. I'm running cameras for inventory, but I'm not going to spend time chasing deer with them. The new place will test my woodsmanship, and I'm looking forward to that challenge. I won't hit it until my vacation the end of October. As far as the house is concerned, I will hunt it early October to get my fix in. I'd like to kill a doe back there, but would shoot a buck if the right one came by. I don't know what to expect this fall, but I plan on having fun.

Here's one of the bucks I've been watching behind the house. This video is from July, so he did some more growing. Haven't got a real good look at him out of velvet, but he's a cool buck. I call him Triple Double

[video=youtube;CWU0hHY6q6M]https://youtu.be/CWU0hHY6q6M[/video]

This deer also hangs out at the house. He's a cool deer. Wouldn't score for crap, but he's mature and I'd fling an arrow at him.



These are the three deer I talked about on The 40. The tight rack ten is getting a pass, as well as the ten with the inverted g4's. The other buck may not be so lucky. Just depends what my heart tells me if he steps in front of me!

TRT





Inverted





Typical Ten





And then there are "dad's deer." The first is a buck he's certain he shot last year and didn't recover. He was really bummed about this deer, but was relieved to see he lived after he spent two weeks looking for him. He doesn't get too many pics of him, but he's still around. The second in just a beautiful ten with what I call double eyeguards (stickers at base).

Redemption Buck

[video]https://youtu.be/O5t1n7tWqxQ[/video]

Eyeguard

[video]https://youtu.be/zeX1EO2BMa0[/video]
 
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Fluteman

Senior Member
Supporting Member
7,094
146
Southeast Ohio
And since this is a hunting journal, I figured I would share this short video from spring turkey season. A little background: I got into turkey hunting a few years ago when I was trying to find something else to fill the void between bow seasons. I've been fortunate enough to harvest a few birds, and I shared my excitement with Dad. He's never been, so I told him this spring I'd be out and we'd go chase some birds. I had him put in some recon, listening in the mornings for birds, and keeping track of where he heard them. One morning after work, I made my way out there. The birds were already off the roost, so we went out looking, and found two toms strutting their stuff 600y across a hayfield. We sat up shop, with a full strut tom decoy, and a feeding hen and did some calling.

I'm the first to admit I'm a terrible turkey caller, and still learning, but I'll be damned if those birds didn't turn and start working our way. It took over an hour for it all to transpire, but being able to watch it all unfold made it easy to sit there and wait. We had a little help from a noisy hen that helped bring the birds in to 150y. Once the decoys got their attention, it was game over. The video begins about the time they saw the decoys. We could've had a double had I chose not to film it, but I'm glad I did. That's an experience I will never forget, a memory I'm glad we made! Dad introduced me to deer hunting when I was five, and it was great "return the favor" and introduce him to turkey hunting at the ripe old age of 59.

P.S. Don't mind me dropping the camera, I ran out in the field to try and get a pot shot at the second bird. I was so pumped, I'm not sure I even aimed!

[video=youtube;x6bSAaSQE6o]https://youtu.be/x6bSAaSQE6o[/video]
 
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brock ratcliff

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That hunt with your dad was cool, Greg! I'll look forward to watching from the sideline as your season unfolds. Good luck!
 

RedCloud

Super Moderator
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17,381
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North Central Ohio
Some nice buck deerz Greg. I cant wait to follow along this season and see how the new property unfolds. Should be a good place and hard to pass TT. Could you imagine what he will look like next year lol.
 

rsmith

Member
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Absoutly awesome! Looks like you are going to have your hands full this year with deer hunting best of luck to you. And the video of you and your dad hunting is awesome, telling a story is one this but the video really is nice to show everyone what really went on and the real emotions behind it all.

 

Dustinb80

#FACKCANCER
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S.W. Ohio
Good write up, nice pics and great video. Way to be Rebel Randy. Ill definitely be following along. Congrats on the new property as well.
 

"J"

Git Off My Lawn
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North Carolina
Great update teammate... Looking forward to your season getting underway.... I have a feeling this is a good year for you...
 

finelyshedded

You know what!!!
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SW Ohio
Great write up Greg! You and your dad have a bright future in store for you both chasing these nice deer! That's so cool you guys are hunting together and making memories!

Good luck to you both this season, I've got a feeling too, that it's gonna be a great year for the Flemings!:smiley_coolpeace:
 

Fluteman

Senior Member
Supporting Member
7,094
146
Southeast Ohio
Thanks guys. I would really like to see dad get a shot at redemption. I'm not sure if you guys could see it in the video, but part of the arrow is still buried in that buck. His initial description of the buck he shot didn't quite match this buck, other than the tall brows, but he was so shook up, it could've been a number of bucks and he wouldn't have known a difference. I guess if he can kill that buck, we can dig the broadhead out and find out for sure if it was the one he shot.
 

hickslawns

Dignitary Member
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Ohio
Be real difficult not to be fired up about the season right now if I were you. You have some great targets running around Greg. Good luck my man! Best of luck to Randy as well. Would be a great feeling to get some redemption.
 

JOHNROHIO

Participation Trophy Winner
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Awesome stuff Greg. It looks like you will have some fun this year, watching how the 40 unfolds.