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The Hunt for Moe: Week 3

bowhunter1023

Owner/Operator
Staff member
48,879
274
Appalachia
It’s been a while since I have mentioned much regarding my hunting and how things are shaping up with Moe. With the different approach I am taking this season (not hunting much in mid-October) there comes an inherent “worry” as to what is happening in the woods. Thankfully, I have developed a good grasp of trail cameras over the years and how best to use them on our farm. Last nights camera check was perhaps the single most informative check of the past eight years. There are currently six cameras on our farm and Moe showed up on four of those six in the time frame from last Tuesday when I hung the cameras, to early Monday morning. Of those four cameras, I expected him to be on three of them. Only one of the cameras I hung with expectations of capturing him failed to do so, but he managed to walk in front of one camera that I figured was a long shot. All in all, he is showing me exactly what I had hoped and I believe that my opportunity to kill this buck is coming in the next couple of weeks. Here is a look at what he showed me this week…

I headed to the farm last Tuesday (10/4) around 5PM to use the rainy conditions as cover for a camera check that takes me close to an hour at times depending on how much moving I do with the cams. I made sure to shower, smoke up, wash my boots in the creek, and don my rubber gloves for the check and it really paid off this time around. At 5:15PM, I made a move with the Hippie Ridge cam in an effort to capture him leaving the sanctuary on the trail I suspect he is using most often. At 7:23PM that evening, he cam down the natural edge created by the thicket and the open woods that runs along the N edge of the ridge. Not 10 minutes later, he walked directly passed the camera and disappeared out Hippie Ridge. During my camera check yesterday, I swapped the BEC for a SpyPoint and created a mock scrape at this location. It’s no chip shot from my stand at 55 yards, but it is well within my visual range from the stand…





After disappearing out Hippie Ridge, both Moe and I headed for a new cam that sits east of my second stand on the ridge roughly 65 yards. I hung this cam based on what I saw him do last year and it appears he is right on schedule. I pulled away from this cam at roughly 5:35PM that night and later that morning after spending the night in the bottom in front of the other BEC, he walks past this camera at 3:45AM headed back to bed in the sanctuary…

[video]http://youtu.be/y3G9E0OS1Yg[/video]

He would then again walk past this camera to bed around 5AM on Thursday (10/6) morning. Later that evening, he and Captain Jack would pass this camera at 9:23PM on their way to feed in the bottom. This is the exact pattern I witnessed nearly nightly during the last week of October last season and it the sole season I hung the other stand where I did on this ridge. I left this camera at this location last night, and also hung a BEC over the scrape/rub line/oak tree that sits 40 yards from my stand. I expect to get him on this cam as well…

[video]http://youtu.be/vVKvwPfHfLY[/video]

The surprise cam from his visits to a funnel on the N ridge of our farm, a place Deuce frequented quite often. Both visits were preceded by a stop in the bottom and an exit towards the food plot that sits in the bottom directly below this oak flat. The acorns are sparse, but they a there. The good news is that he did not walk past this camera, but rather exited in the direction of the bottom where he would again show up on the camera down there within an hour of making his appearance here…





The 100% expected pics cam from the BEC in the bottom where I have inventoried deer for the past three seasons. Moe loved this area last year and it seems to still be a favored location of his. Just above this camera is a shelf where he had a rub/scrape line last year. There is a subtle trail that leaves the ridge above where my stands are located, and meanders down the hill to this shelf. I hung another BEC on this shelf last night and opened up his preferred scrape from last season. If his pattern rings true, he will pass my SpyPoint 4 camera, walk down and hit the BEC 2 location, then drop to BEC 3 here in the bottom. He could very well hit BEC 1 and SpyPoint 3 in the process, a loop that would be exactly what I have been anticipating. The next check has the potential to seal his fate…

He made five separate visits to this location in the night of 10/9 and 10/10 alone. He is here nightly and has been as early as 8:05PM the night of 10/4 when he left the sanctuary at 7:23PM. I have two stands on the opposite side of the creek bottom from this camera 100 yards either direction from it. One is a decoy/observation set and the other is a killing/observation set. I expect to get my chance on the ridge, but either of these sets could offer me a chance. In addition to those two, there is a third on the same side of the creek that covers the shelf above and a hidden trail that cuts across the drainage ditch separation the sanctuary with the huntable hillside above this camera. It’s not my first choice for places to kill him, but I know he’s been within range of this stand several times in the past week…

The amount of weight this deer has put on in the past few months in unbelievable…







These two are close to being enemies after a long summer of hanging out together…





As you can see, things are progressing. No doubt I have the ability to screw this up, but for the time being I am very upbeat about what is going on with my hunting and the new approach this season. I’ll be in the woods this weekend sparingly, with next weekend marking the start of my feverish hunting. In the mean time, I’ll let the cameras work their magic!!!
 

Rutin

Senior Member
2,029
0
Ina Duck Blind
Hes a freakin stud Jesse.... I know its just a matter of time before we see a picture of you two. I def think your playing it safe with the mid Oct layoff, only gonna take this moon a little bit to change and you will be ready to dive in the last week of Oct. I know Adam Hayes has kill ALOT of his big deer in Late Oct and I usually see the cams blow up the same time!
 

jagermeister

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
18,060
223
Ohio
Looking great buddy! I'm hope you're right about Moe's movements... Definitely looking forward to the next cam check.
 

Bucknut

Junior Member
112
0
Belpre, Ohio
You know what you're doing...go get him! He is def getting bigger, the neck on that beast is unreal...to me it seems like captain is a hell of a lot heavier now too. Goodluck bro!
 

Dannmann801

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
10,640
191
Springboro
Very impressive scouting on your part :smiley_coolpeace:

Shoot his ass while he's still fat, the sooner the better.

This is a very high level of hunting - multiple year targeting study of the same deer. Upper echelon stuff. There is a wide range of hunting styles and habits, from poachers and slob hunters with no skills at the bottom of the food chain to guys who scout religiously like this and everything in between. This is definitely top-level stuff - seal the deal, man, seal the deal.:smiley_bril:
 

Huckleberry Finn

Senior Member
15,973
135
Dead deer walking...

Kill 'em this weekend, or else next weekend I know of a handful of guys that are going to get lost trying to walk out of the woods while you're killing him!

My last thought is that you better keep a full tank in Big Bird for hauling that beast out!
 

Fluteman

Senior Member
Supporting Member
7,094
146
Southeast Ohio
I'm gonna get lost???? Whachu talkin bout Huck?

All you need to know is if you hear banjo music, you need to turn around and head the other direction!


Looks like you have him pinpointed Jesse. I hope the wind is right and you can get in there and bust him this weekend.
 

cotty16

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
Honest dude...just text me when you hear the banjo's...and then run!

Dude, listen... I live minutes from West Virginia. I hear banjos all the time. As long as that dude in the blue bikini doesn't show up we're good.

I know I said this before, but if Jesse lays Moe down that weekend how friggin cool will that be? And, let's add Flutey's buck to that as well. That would be a weekend to never forget. Let's not even mention if Ryan jacks Jack. Holy shit!!!
 

Fluteman

Senior Member
Supporting Member
7,094
146
Southeast Ohio
Dude, listen... I live minutes from West Virginia. I hear banjos all the time. As long as that dude in the blue bikini doesn't show up we're good.

I know I said this before, but if Jesse lays Moe down that weekend how friggin cool will that be? And, let's add Flutey's buck to that as well. That would be a weekend to never forget. Let's not even mention if Ryan jacks Jack. Holy shit!!!

Wait, why is Ryan doing the jacking, I thought you were the pivot man! lol
If you do get lost Mike, don't stop and ask for directions. Just stay away from the creek and keep walking until you find the empty Busch Heavy cans, then follow those bitches Hansel and Gretel until you find the cooler. Then and only them will you know you are safe.
 

bowhunter1023

Owner/Operator
Staff member
48,879
274
Appalachia
Very impressive scouting on your part :smiley_coolpeace:

Shoot his ass while he's still fat, the sooner the better.

This is a very high level of hunting - multiple year targeting study of the same deer. Upper echelon stuff. There is a wide range of hunting styles and habits, from poachers and slob hunters with no skills at the bottom of the food chain to guys who scout religiously like this and everything in between. This is definitely top-level stuff - seal the deal, man, seal the deal.:smiley_bril:

Ah man, I'm just blessed with an understanding wife, flexible work schedule, along with the time and resources to pursue my passion at full speed. Without those things, what I could make of all this would be much different. I'm still largely clueless when it comes to this game, so I just make the best of it as I go along. With some luck this year, I'll finally be able to finish what I started. I appreciate all the support fellas...
 
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