Phil's 2013/2014 Hunting Journal

Felt good to hit the woods this morning. Hunting my own property for the first time this year. Long walk in so I wanted to be there super early. Was setup around 6am for a 730 shooting light. Glad I did because I didn't blow out anything. Unfortunately in the 1.5hr wait for legal light I heard several deer moving thru below me. By daylight there were none to be seen.

I did manage to arrow a nice big squirrel at 27.5yds. Good for confidence to nail it at that yardage. I think I will be able to put one on the mark for a much larger target at that distance with no issues. Unfortunately, this guy was shishkabobbed. He tried like heck to get loose and finally quit moving. I climbed down to gather my arrow so I could try for another. Little bastard jumped up and took to life again. 40' straight up a giant oak tree arrow and all. No recovery of arrow or squirrel. Not cool.

Hrs on stand: 6-1015am
Deer seen: 0

Season totals:
Sits: 9
Time on stand: 30.75
Deer seen: 30
Shot opps: 11

brock ratcliff said:

Judo points, Phil...they thump 'em!

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That WAS my last Judo point. I had good penetration I guess. Clear thru him and stopped when it hit dirt. Guess I should not have gotten down so fast. Should have left him to bleed out but I wanted to end his suffering. Well, he is now owl or hawk food I guess. Not my intentions at all.

Made it out tonight. Was on the fence even as I pulled out of the drive. Coming down the road I see my foreman. We stopped and chatted for about 5 seconds. He said "They are picking the corn over by. . . ." and I was rolling. I think I yelled thanks but not sure he heard me over the roar of my riceroni Honda (toaster) Element. Slid into the stand by 415 after a half mile walk. Pretty windy. Had 4 does come in. They all 4 looked small. One of them was extra spooky. Stared me down forever. Stomping, head bobbing, etc. You see they trimmed up the power lines and in the process left my tree stand (nice of them not to steal it) without much cover anymore. They were downwind and never busted me, but she saw me and tried her best to get me to move for over 10min if I had to guess.

Then light rain began. This lasted awhile and suddenly it cleared up. The wind also died down. Next thing I know along comes another doe. Had her at 36yds but she just didn't look very big either. Initially thought maybe a button wandering, but binoculars said otherwise. I let her feed on thru and I spot a buck. A decent buck. I thought long and hard. Binoculars up again and he looked bigger and better. Just didn't have much body on him and I field judged him at 120-130". A nice 10pt, but needs about 10 more inches of antler. He passed right behind my tree offering a sub 5yd shot and I somehow mustered the discipline not to shoot him. It was calm, no longer raining, deer were moving, and it was only 615-630. I was feeling hopeful. Sadly, he was the last deer I saw for the night. Just wasn't in the cards but was a great hunt!

Here are the pics of him. One was trail camera pic from yesterday, the other two off my camera.







Hours hunted: 3
Deer seen: 6
Shot opportunities: 2

Season totals:
Sits: 10
Time on stand: 33.75
Deer seen: 36
Shot opps: 13

Hortontoter said:

Keep after em Phil. A good one has to amble by sooner or later.

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I hope so HT. Sadly, I don't think it will happen on this property. The does are mostly all MIA and overall the property hasn't shown a lot in terms of big bucks this year. You never know during the rut or once all the corn is off, but currently I am thinking it will have to happen on another property if I want a big boy.

Thank you all for reading and for the encouragement. Been putting in some hours. I appreciate y'all taking the time to share in it with me. One of the great things about this website for sure.

Today:
Same property. Different stand. Half of the property I have not done anything in this year due to crop rotation. Trying to stay out and let the deer feel secure because this is really an area they like to use for bedding. This morning I slid into the only permanent stand hung on this half. It is an easy access stand and generally a decent place to attempt to catch them heading back to bed. Not today though. Squirrels and turkeys. I did manage to watch a young buck thru the trees across the field. He was probably over 1/4 mile away or more though.

Hours hunted: 3
Deer seen: 1

Season totals:
Sits: 11
Time on stand: 36.75
Deer seen: 37
Shot opps: 13

Good stuff Ryan. Tempted you for a second didn't he?

Not using tags this year Ric. Nobody else does, why should I? Lol

Quick version:
Hit stand early. 30min before shooting light I had 2 does under me. Glad I was situated already so I could enjoy listening. Light come and had a basket rack and button come thru. Mingled in shooting lanes for awhile. Later saw the basket rack make another loop on the north end of property. Got quiet. Saw a forkhorn about the time I was packing it up. Hung out another 10-15min. Hoping to get out tonight to maybe put some doe burger in the freezer. Off to work I go.

Time in stand: 3hrs
Deer seen: 5

Season totals:
Sits: 12
Time on stand: 39.75
Deer seen: 42
Shot opps: 15

Terribly windy. Died down the last half hour or so. Never saw a thing the entire sit until the end. I was fortunate enough to watch two tom turkeys fly up to their roost. Never seen that before. Never seen any turkeys on this property before either, so this is promising. With minutes of light left I had 4 deer come out. Then I see a fifth which was a young buck. He pushed the does off and I ended up seeing another small buck join him. Talk about bad timing. arrgh

Time hunted: 3hrs
Deer seen: 6

Season totals:
Sits: 13
Time on stand: 42.75
Deer seen: 48
Shot opps: 18