Hickslawns Hunting log

finelyshedded said:

Sounds like an awesome hunt Phil! Killin' em on the ground is a challenge. They don't miss a thing! Goodluck and keep after em!

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Not a kidding there. If he were facing away from me I think I had a chance if I had sat tight and waited to move when the next train went by. Unfortunately he was facing me and apparently not asleep. He sat tight as long as he could, but just couldn't sit any longer.

Once again, work got in the way and I arrived to the stand late last night. Fortunately, I did not see any deer on the way in. In all reality, I didn't see ANY deer until the last 15-20min of light. Sat on the north end of the property with a NW wind. I was closer to the eastern property line.

In the end, I did end up seeing a single doe (or was it a lost button buck?) exit the woods approximately 60yds west of my stand. He traveled straight south towards a food plot never offering a shot. With the last 15minutes of shooting light I saw a doe with a set of twins. They came out SW of me approximately 80-100yds away. They also headed towards the food plot never offering a shot.

Deer seen: 4
Time on stand: 3hrs
Shots taken: None

Season totals: 19hrs
Deer seen: 48 deer
Average deer per hour: 2.526
Shots taken: None

I agree. Too bad I will be watching my kids carry bags of candy around my parent's neighborhood. Aaargh! Tomorrow morning I am hitting a stand that has only been hunted once. I have nice recent videos of 3 different big boys on the camera in the area. I watched a couple young bucks and a young doe hit licking branches from this stand the only time I hunted it. Might be a good morning to try some grunts or possibly the rattle bag first light.

NE-ENE-E wind in the morning. I am hunting the double stand in the morning. This seems to be the end of the property we have seen pretty good flow of deer lately. I would be more than happy to tag a doe for the freezer in the morning, but you just never know. Temps around freezing in the morning? Hmmm. . . you think the big boys will be late in going to bed? Hopefully I can slide in there quietly and get settled in well before shooting light and then we will see how things turn out. Wish me luck!

Well EPE. . . 542am and I already ate breakfast! Coffee is down. Catching up on TOO. Hit the shower, don my gear and I should be able to relax in the tree for 30-45min before the night skies start to break up a little. Hope to give you some good reading bro!

The winds were funky this morning. Got started with a NE wind, then SE, then E? Never seemed to bother the deer. They still all came in downwind. lol

Had two under my stand before I could verify what they were. No antlers, but I didn't want to kill any button bucks so I passed. Finally daylight and I verified one button buck and one was a yearling. They were joined by a basket racked 8pt. Eventually they moved off and I had more deer moving in. It appears maybe their momma had circled around behind me while I was being a statue so as to not get picked off. They met up with her to the south of me and disappeared. They came and went from sight for the next 30min or so. Then I had a huge doe come out at forty yards. She was unsure so she turned around and headed back into the cover. The second time she came out and stared me down. I never moved. She was still at 40yds. She began to turn to head back to cover so I repositioned when her head was down. She was playing the whole game. First the head bob. Next the "I will act like I am looking away, then snap my head back to see if I can catch you moving" game. She lost. I was motionless. She was still unsure and I felt she was heading back to cover for good. I pulled my bow up to draw and she looked. I froze. I waited. She looked down. I drew. She looked up. I waited more. She looked down. I anchored in a hurry and got her in the sights. I wasn't sure how long it would be before she bolted so I released the arrow. Clean miss at 40yds. aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrggggggggggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Looking back, I realize I made multiple fundamental mistakes. I was wearing a different face mask today. Instead of the thin material one like spandex, I was wearing a fleece mask. I did not focus on my anchor point with the kisser button. I am not sure I even bent at the waist because I didn't want to get picked off on movement. I didn't follow through. To sum it up, I rushed the shot. I won't say she "ducked the arrow" because I am not sure if she did. Given her level of alertness, and the distance of 40yds, I would say it is possible. However, in the end I just plain missed. I rushed my shot. I screwed up. I let my fear of not getting a shot (if she bolted) cause me to flat out miss. I can't say I had jitters or was nervous, but I can say my lack of concentration on the fundamentals during the moment of truth got the best of me.

Time on stand: 3.5hrs
Deer Seen: 5
Shots taken: 1

Total time on stand:22.5hrs
Total deer seen: 53
Deer per hour: 2.3555
Shots taken: 1
tags filled: zip

epe said:

Sorry to hear about the miss! At least it was not a big buck. Some does can be dumb while others are very wary.. Good luck the rest if the weekend.

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Thanks epe. Momma works tonight and tomorrow night. Sunday night will be the earliest I make it back out.

Sunday night hunt. Winds were out of the S-SW. I had really high hopes for the stand I was hunting. It was the first time to hunt this stand and was between the bedding areas and a huge food plot. Usually plenty of does in this area, but not tonight. I thought for sure this would pull some bucks through the area scent checking. Just wasn't happening. I tried the rattle bag three times tonight. Nothing. I did manage to see one small buck wandering around but not quite in range. Too small to shoot anyway.

Time on stand: 4hrs
Deer seen: 6
Shots taken: none


Total time on stand: 26.5hrs
Total deer seen: 59

I hope Cotty. Problem is the fact I can see for long distances from most of these stands and we have a good amount of deer on this property. Getting in the right place at the right time is the hard part. Having them in bow range is not so easy. Other than small bucks, and yearlings, I have really only had one shot opportunity and that was the 40yd shot i missed on Friday. It is fun, but has been frustrating.

Let's do this! Heading out again. Wasn't planning on it until my wife asked me last night "Are you hunting in the morning?" Ummm. . . yeah, I guess I am. Good idea!