Brock following Mason through the woods.
- Thread starter brock ratcliff
- Start date
Thanks for letting us tag along again this season Brock. I hope you and Mason have a great and safe season and I can't wait to follow along.
Looking forward to the trials and tribulations of the Natural Born Killer and his Trusty Sidekick! :smiley_clap:
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Deer amaze me, continually. Last season, all I had to do was throw apples on the ground in front of a camera. I'd put a little thought into it, pick my spots in travel areas, etc. Check the cams and BAM, big bucks on video. This year, using the same logic and hundreds of pounds of apples to date, I cannot get a buck on cam, at least not one of the really good ones. Does and fawns are on the apple piles daily, several times a day actually. Still, no really good ones. Just figured they have been hanging somewhere else as things are a little different on the farm this year. No beans to keep 'em around... Well, tonight, Mason and I glassed one of the three we know of that we are interested in. It was the big wide 10, probably 160" or so...and he wasn't 150 yds from one of the dang apple piles! Exciting as heck to get to watch him for as long as we did, but I sure wish he'd start eating apples!
Hahahaha, sometimes they do things just to piss us off it seems like! It's awesome that you finally saw one of them! Hope the others show up soon for ya! Tell Mason, if this 160 is asking to get shot and one of the others is 70-80 yards out tending a doe, SHOOT THE FUGGAR!!!!! LMAO
Just razzin him! Tell him he did something not too many hunters would have done and that took fortitude and willpower! Whatever he decides this year, I'm sure he'll know at crunch time! The young man is a natural!
I sure hope this is the year I get the call!!!!
ickle:Good luck!!!
Just razzin him! Tell him he did something not too many hunters would have done and that took fortitude and willpower! Whatever he decides this year, I'm sure he'll know at crunch time! The young man is a natural!
I sure hope this is the year I get the call!!!!
ickle:Good luck!!!
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Ill pass it on to him, Ric. This deer was nice last yr. When i showed him this guy last season he said, "not shooting him" He was 140s ! Tonight he said, "arent you glad we didnt shoot him"? Dang kid...
Gonna be a fun couple of months!
Gonna be a fun couple of months!
You are not alone. Can't get a shooter buck on camera this year to save my life. Oh well. They are out there. They will show sooner or later. Glad you guys finally laid eyes on him!
bigten05
*Supporting Member*
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Maddening... So yesterday morning I took a little drive at first light. Glassed "the farm", saw several deer. I've been seeing more than I did in August, a lot more. There were few deer on the place then, and I'm confident they are moving back in due to, well, being deer. Yesterday I saw several doe, and another really nice buck. A dandy, going by beams, spread, etc., but I couldn't say for sure how many points or what he'd score...just a good one, that held my attention firmly. I also saw a spike, which I do have video of. He's cool looking, his spike are probably 10" or so. This morning, I couldn't wait to check the two cams I have over apple piles. To get to one, I have to drive a huge loop across unplanted ag fields. I saw 5 doe/fawn, and three turkeys. Cool, should be a great cam check, right? Plenty of deer, I've been seeing them with binoculars... NOT A SINGLE BUCK, aside from the spike. NOT ONE! 600 videos, no bucks. Last year, those big suckers would show up within a couple of hours of me dumping apples, this year....nope. I will never figure out deer...and this is yet another reason to hate cameras!
Big_Holla
Senior Member
ajupsman
*Supporting Member*
"and this is yet another reason to hate cameras!"
Some times I wonder if its better off not knowing what is and isn't on the cameras. They can be maddening.
Some times I wonder if its better off not knowing what is and isn't on the cameras. They can be maddening.
I stopped moving my cams around for this very reason. In 11 years of running cams, I've only ever had one deer on a pattern and I was too chicken shit to go in and capitalize on it. Now, they sit over bait and food plots. I just want to know what's using what I provide and I have zero expectations any more. I know there are big deer around, yet I have none on camera. It is maddening and not running cams would certainly reduce that pain. But what fun would that be?!?
Didn't run a camera all off season... Just been scouting from the cab of my truck is all... Other than walking the perimeter of the property once too reacquaint myself with it that's been it.... They're used too seeing my truck parked the last couple hours of the day, been doing it for a month now....
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I did basically what Jesse did. I gave up moving them around and I quit checking them as often as I used to. I put some out just for the heck of it over some minerals. Other than that, I quit relying on them because all they do is lie to me! Lol
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Time to catch a few things up:
Phil and Garrett came down for opening weekend, enjoyed their company immensely. Mason and I walked them into their stand Saturday morning after getting up way too early after going to bed way too late! I felt pretty good about the set up, and thought we snuck in relatively well considering there was four of us. Mason and I hiked back out, drove a few miles around the property and climbed up in a stand on a neighboring property to wait for a text from Phil that I hoped would be coming around 730. I got it at 738. Mason and I had been messing with 4 turkeys since they had flown down, called em up a couple of times. It was a short and entertaining wait.
We helped Phil and Garrett track down and retrieve Garrett's deer - his first! We were both very happy for Phil and Garrett, getting the first one is BIG deal for anyone, especially a youngster. Garrett did his part extremely well, it was a short trail.
Phil and I reduced the deer to the cooler once we arrived home. Did a few other things, and soon it was time to head back to the woods. Phil now knew where the farm and stand were located, so Mason and I headed off in hopes of him getting his first shot with his compound.
We had an absolute blast! With no pictures of the really big ones, we were just deer hunting. No pressure. We told jokes, lies, and made plans as we sat in the tree. Dodged a few walnuts too. Around 645, I spotted a couple of deer heading in our direction, but they soon veered off. Mason was let down pretty bad, but not for long, as I looked over his shoulder and noticed a doe had slipped in to the pile of apples. She was at 20 yards, quartered to. Mason waited patiently for her to turn, but when she did, he was still not presented with a solid shot opportunity. Soon after, two more deer approached my side of the tree. I had taken my dad's recurve to the tree for just such an occasion. After a stand-off of several minutes, I drew and let fly. Knocked her flat on the ground but she soon regained her feet and bounded off. We never found a speck of blood, and I have no idea where I hit her. The broadhead tip was bent, but only a couple of specks of blood were on the arrow... no clue what happened. Mason had videoed it too, but we didn't get any answers from that... No more recurve hunting this year. We saw another small buck on the way out too...
I did not want to hunt Sunday morning, but Mason did. I got up a little late to find Phil still asleep. Woke 'em up, and we all got going. Mason and I sat in the stand with him falling asleep every little bit, until finally he said he was just tired and bored. Climbed down, found a coyote sitting on a hill watching our parked truck. No rifle in the truck, unfortunately. We checked cams and shot bows, said good bye to Garrett and Phil, and went to Mason's baseball game We won, Mason hit and pitched well. Game ended at 5, so we hurried home.
I was exhausted at this point, and did not want to go. Mason, however pushed on. He insisted, so we gathered our gear and headed to the tree. All settled by 6. At 7, Mason started in wanting to know why we hadn't seen any deer... just wait boy... today might be the day that big wide 10 walks right up here. Mason said, "If he comes in, you shoot him. I don't think I can get it done with this bow". I encouraged him by saying, "You can do it. You haven't been shooting all summer just to kill a doe. I've got faith in you".
Just a few minutes later, Mason whispered, "Deer!"...and, "It's the wide 10"! "Shoot him, Dad. You can kill him"! I wasn't about to take away Mason's opportunity, I told him again he could make this shot if the opportunity presented itself. Then, I flipped on the vid cam and forgot all about reaching for my bow. Mason was still hesitant. I asked him repeatedly, "Are you going to shoot?'' Finally, he said yes and went into the stone-cold killer mode that I've come to recognize as the end of a deer's life on earth.
The deer was facing us for quite a long time, presenting no shot. I was filming, and he was standing in front of our game camera which is set on vid mode. It was absolutely awesome. In the two years we have known this deer, this was the first time he has ever eaten an apple! And eat he did! It seemed he would never give an opportunity, but eventually he turned and angled up the hill in front of Mason. He drew perfectly undetected, said "Mah", the buck stopped quartered away and Mason launced....just over his back! As soon as Mason's arrow flew over, the deer took a couple of bounds, and my camcorder battery died! No one will ever convince me the hunting Gods do not have a sense of humor. If Mason would have had his Excalibur, this deer would be at the taxi... or we would have just never seen him. If that deer had not turned up the obscure trail he did, Mason would have had the right yardage... Just funny how it all works. And Mason learned a tough lesson last night. You can do ALMOST everything right, and still blow it. After the initial disappointment, he handled it really well. When we got home, he said, "Dad, the good thing about missing? I still have a tag!" --------THAT'S MY BOY!
So here is a little clip from the game camera. I've got the full vid from my handy cam that I'll try to post up in a bit. It's been a great opening weekend, with just a shred of "oops" and wishes for "do-overs".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBIqc9h4jGM&feature=youtu.be
Phil and Garrett came down for opening weekend, enjoyed their company immensely. Mason and I walked them into their stand Saturday morning after getting up way too early after going to bed way too late! I felt pretty good about the set up, and thought we snuck in relatively well considering there was four of us. Mason and I hiked back out, drove a few miles around the property and climbed up in a stand on a neighboring property to wait for a text from Phil that I hoped would be coming around 730. I got it at 738. Mason and I had been messing with 4 turkeys since they had flown down, called em up a couple of times. It was a short and entertaining wait.
We helped Phil and Garrett track down and retrieve Garrett's deer - his first! We were both very happy for Phil and Garrett, getting the first one is BIG deal for anyone, especially a youngster. Garrett did his part extremely well, it was a short trail.
Phil and I reduced the deer to the cooler once we arrived home. Did a few other things, and soon it was time to head back to the woods. Phil now knew where the farm and stand were located, so Mason and I headed off in hopes of him getting his first shot with his compound.
We had an absolute blast! With no pictures of the really big ones, we were just deer hunting. No pressure. We told jokes, lies, and made plans as we sat in the tree. Dodged a few walnuts too. Around 645, I spotted a couple of deer heading in our direction, but they soon veered off. Mason was let down pretty bad, but not for long, as I looked over his shoulder and noticed a doe had slipped in to the pile of apples. She was at 20 yards, quartered to. Mason waited patiently for her to turn, but when she did, he was still not presented with a solid shot opportunity. Soon after, two more deer approached my side of the tree. I had taken my dad's recurve to the tree for just such an occasion. After a stand-off of several minutes, I drew and let fly. Knocked her flat on the ground but she soon regained her feet and bounded off. We never found a speck of blood, and I have no idea where I hit her. The broadhead tip was bent, but only a couple of specks of blood were on the arrow... no clue what happened. Mason had videoed it too, but we didn't get any answers from that... No more recurve hunting this year.
We saw another small buck on the way out too...I did not want to hunt Sunday morning, but Mason did. I got up a little late to find Phil still asleep. Woke 'em up, and we all got going. Mason and I sat in the stand with him falling asleep every little bit, until finally he said he was just tired and bored. Climbed down, found a coyote sitting on a hill watching our parked truck. No rifle in the truck, unfortunately. We checked cams and shot bows, said good bye to Garrett and Phil, and went to Mason's baseball game We won, Mason hit and pitched well. Game ended at 5, so we hurried home.
I was exhausted at this point, and did not want to go. Mason, however pushed on. He insisted, so we gathered our gear and headed to the tree. All settled by 6. At 7, Mason started in wanting to know why we hadn't seen any deer... just wait boy... today might be the day that big wide 10 walks right up here. Mason said, "If he comes in, you shoot him. I don't think I can get it done with this bow". I encouraged him by saying, "You can do it. You haven't been shooting all summer just to kill a doe. I've got faith in you".
Just a few minutes later, Mason whispered, "Deer!"...and, "It's the wide 10"! "Shoot him, Dad. You can kill him"! I wasn't about to take away Mason's opportunity, I told him again he could make this shot if the opportunity presented itself. Then, I flipped on the vid cam and forgot all about reaching for my bow. Mason was still hesitant. I asked him repeatedly, "Are you going to shoot?'' Finally, he said yes and went into the stone-cold killer mode that I've come to recognize as the end of a deer's life on earth.
The deer was facing us for quite a long time, presenting no shot. I was filming, and he was standing in front of our game camera which is set on vid mode. It was absolutely awesome. In the two years we have known this deer, this was the first time he has ever eaten an apple! And eat he did! It seemed he would never give an opportunity, but eventually he turned and angled up the hill in front of Mason. He drew perfectly undetected, said "Mah", the buck stopped quartered away and Mason launced....just over his back! As soon as Mason's arrow flew over, the deer took a couple of bounds, and my camcorder battery died! No one will ever convince me the hunting Gods do not have a sense of humor. If Mason would have had his Excalibur, this deer would be at the taxi... or we would have just never seen him. If that deer had not turned up the obscure trail he did, Mason would have had the right yardage... Just funny how it all works. And Mason learned a tough lesson last night. You can do ALMOST everything right, and still blow it. After the initial disappointment, he handled it really well. When we got home, he said, "Dad, the good thing about missing? I still have a tag!" --------THAT'S MY BOY!
So here is a little clip from the game camera. I've got the full vid from my handy cam that I'll try to post up in a bit. It's been a great opening weekend, with just a shred of "oops" and wishes for "do-overs".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBIqc9h4jGM&feature=youtu.be
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Exciting weekend for you guys. Glad to see Mason still has it together. His drive, determination, and overall demeanor will carry him far. You have done well.
Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for sharing.