That's the spirit! These next 2 days should be good, I'm just concerned about the wind hindering movement. I'll be out anyway!
Late season help
- Thread starter Joel
- Start date
Well I think I might have blown my cover yesterday when I shot, blew a big hole in my blind with a muzzleloader and dragged a dead doe by the dwindling corn pile right before dark. Now, the freezer is full and I can focus on this buck for the rest of the season. Soon I'll get the camera back out next to a new pile of corn and see if I can get some daytime pics of him. If he's still around (I'm pretty sure he is), I have about 3 and a half weeks to get him with the crossbow. The corn is going a few hundred yards from there and I'll set the camera and stay out of the area for a week. I want to put the corn in a thicker area so he can work his way to it without being in the open. I'll use a tree stand this time since I watched him do a huge circle around the blind to avoid it during daylight once now.
With a full freezer and one last tag to fill I will save it for this buck or eat the tag.
With a full freezer and one last tag to fill I will save it for this buck or eat the tag.
Gordo
Senior Member
Soinds like a good plan! Id almost consider going out tonight. It serms improbable, but he may waltz right out in front of ur blind. Stranger things have happened
It's cold out there dude lol. I'm going to let my buddy use the blind tonight with my heater anyway. It's his last day of the season since he doesn't bow hunt. I've taken 2 deer from this property and he still has his first tag to fill. I am picking up 200 lbs of corn today though and I'll have it out by the weekend.
Congrats on your doe! Good luck with Rudy the rest of the season! Your buddy stands an excellent chance of killing him tonight due to the extra cold temps.
If he kills him that's alright. I know there is a possibility of that but he's had a rough season and there's other bucks to chase. He'll shoot a doe if he sees one before that buck, which is a much more likely outcome tonight IMO.
Muzzleloader season is officially over and no deer were shot on the property today. Camera and corn time again.
Corn and camera going out today. I'm moving the pile about 75 yards to just inside the heavy cover and decided to stick with the blind. I've got a pretty good spot for that picked out and I'm going to brush it in with some pine branches and sticks about 30 yards from the corn. The plan is to wait one week then just go in for an evening hunt. I'll switch the memory cards when I go into hunt on my way out. This last tag of the year is reserved for Rudolph.
Corn is out along with one of those game blocks and a camera. I changed my mind about the blind though, I'm leaving it right where it is until I get this deer but wont hunt from it and I'm hanging a stand. Just ordered the stand and it should be here Monday. After I laid out the corn and camera I looked down and saw some tracks that looked fresh and judging from the size I'd say they are his. Pretty sure this deer is going to go down as long as I don't mess it up. Feeling pretty confident.
I thought about that but I don't think that will work. He was showing up just after dark at the old pile so I think I'm moving even closer to his bedding area. It's a ladder stand so it's not going to be a quick or quiet job hanging it. I was actually thinking about walking back with a leaf blower to run him off when I go back to hang the stand then waiting atleast a few days to hunt.
I think the corn is so close to his core area that I need to be super quiet getting to the stand and wait for the right wind.
I have put a ton of thought into this, like an unhealthy amount lol. However if you or anyone else here thinks of something I'm missing let me know. I am new to this big buck stuff.
I would of went with a hang on and some climbing sticks, those can be set up pretty quiet. This late in the game he might not put up with the leaf blower and he might notice the ladder and change his route all together.
Looks like about 2 hours away. I thought about another type of stand, climber would probably be ideal. I think I can pull this off but I could be wrong. I'm used to a ladder stand and they don't bother me. Never tried sticks or a climber but I tried screw in steps with a hang on once and it scared the crap out of me rotflmao
If we could get a TOO express going or even meet halfway I have a brand new big dog hang on with a field and stream cushion and a brand new never opened set of 20' climbing sticks I would sell or let you borrow.
I appreciate the offer man, that's really nice of you. What I should have done was get my crossbow last year so I could have started all this in September. Or, if I would have put the blind closer to this cover area to begin with he might be at the taxi by now. Or I could have started off with a climber or sticks and a hang on instead of the ground blind, there's lots I would have done different if I had it to do over. This has been a great learning experience if nothing else- thanks mostly to you guys and TOO.
At this point I've had a good season with two does in the freezer. Playing in the woods and watching this buck has been a blast and I've learned more this year than the last 5 put together. At this point, if I never see this deer again I'll still call this season a success. I've shot one buck since I started hunting 5 years ago, completely self taught, and he was a little 4 point. I'm ready to get a big one but I got started on that project pretty late in the season.
I think I'll take my chances with the ladder stand since I already paid for it. I will try to hide it as best as possible and maybe I'll get lucky.
As far as the leaf blower goes I might be wrong but I don't think it'll bother him much. This property has a ton of daytime people activity and he's living there anyway. The spot I just threw the corn down is a stone's throw from a big corn field too so I think he's heard his fair share of equipment and machinery. I'm hoping he will just creep down the tree line and lay low when he hears the blower and then go right back to the corn pile that evening.
At this point I've had a good season with two does in the freezer. Playing in the woods and watching this buck has been a blast and I've learned more this year than the last 5 put together. At this point, if I never see this deer again I'll still call this season a success. I've shot one buck since I started hunting 5 years ago, completely self taught, and he was a little 4 point. I'm ready to get a big one but I got started on that project pretty late in the season.
I think I'll take my chances with the ladder stand since I already paid for it. I will try to hide it as best as possible and maybe I'll get lucky.
As far as the leaf blower goes I might be wrong but I don't think it'll bother him much. This property has a ton of daytime people activity and he's living there anyway. The spot I just threw the corn down is a stone's throw from a big corn field too so I think he's heard his fair share of equipment and machinery. I'm hoping he will just creep down the tree line and lay low when he hears the blower and then go right back to the corn pile that evening.
Also I realize I don't have many more chances to get this guy. If I can manage to get back on Monday without running him off and hang my stand I won't be able to get back out there too many more times before the end of the season because I want him to be able to eat and get comfortable for at least a week without getting arrows shot at him. Just walking back there today and dumping corn might have run him off, and that's assuming he did in fact stick around through muzzleloader season and is still in the area. For all I know he dipped out two weeks ago when I stopped running the camera over the corn pile. Who knows.