Hoyts 2011 Hunting Log

[Hoytmania]

Well time seems to go by faster every year. Season is here and I can not wait to see what it has in store this year. Well missed out on opening day because of a alarm fubar. I guess the alarm didn't fubar it was my mistake because I accidentally set it for pm instead of am. Was going to try and make it out for a evening hunt but had my bro-in-law coming over to replace a door that leads in and out of the basement before winter roles around. That took longer than anticipated so that scratches out the evening hunt.

So that leads to this morning. I will be heading out to a new property that I acquired over the summer. This will be my first sit on this property. It looks to have great potential and is only about a 5 minute drive from home (that is always nice). I will be set up on a inside corner of a corn field about 15 yards in the woods. This corner is also on a ridge so it creates a great funnel point. I just hope I can catch the deer coming out of the corn.

 

[RedCloud]

Sounds like a great setup. Good luck buddy. Hope to see some pics later today.

 

[dante322]

good luck man, headed out in a few myself.

 

[Hoytmania]

Well it wasn't a totally uneventful morning. Got into the setup without any problems. Got settled in a had a deer at 20 yds. right around 6:30, still dark enough that I couldn't tell what it was other than I know it was a medium sized deer. Rather quiet from that point on till 8:00. At that point I had a nice sized coyote come through. Me going for my bow caught his attention just enough to get him to stop at 18 yds. I knew I had to hurry with the shot because he wasn't gong to stick around. Shot right over his back. :smiley_blackeye:
Nothing the rest of the morning, which is no surprise after seeing the yote.

SIGHTINGS:

Deer - 1
Coyote - 1

Shots Taken - 1
Hits - 0

 

[Hoytmania]

Well had planned on hunting this evening. That got shot down when we got a phone call from my wives sister. Her my 3 year old nephew jumped off a bed and broke his arm in between his elbow and wrist. Compound fracture to boot. The little guy is doing better now. Luckily there is no surgery needed. Just a soft cast tonight and a hard one tomorrow. He is my next hunting buddy. Every time they come over he heads straight to my collection of hunting dvds and picks one out and finds me asking if he can watch it. Everytime he sees me he is always telling me about any turkey or deer he has seen lately, and says "It was Awesome". lol

Oh well the woods will be there tomorrow.

 

[Hoytmania]

With all the rain today I was watching the radar all day in hopes for it to stop at least an hour before sunset. Well it came a little earlier than that in my neck of the woods. I got to docs about around 6. By the time I was all smoked up and in the stand is 20 after six. I hadn't visited this stand since killing my late season buck in January of this year. So I had to spend a couple minutes doing some trimming on summer growth. Got all settled in and ready for a good evening hunt. It was still as could be only had a lite breeze if anything at all. Was texting with Huck a little and ranging some markers for yardages. All of a sudden there is a 120s class 8 pointer at 15 yrds. Hadn't been in the stand a total of 15 minutes. He caught my movement as soon as I noticed him. He spooked out of there and that was pretty much it for the rest of the evening. I was really hoping a nice doe would come through and give me a crack at her, but no such luck. I can't wait for some of the leaves to come off because behind my setup it is just nasty thick. Can't see hardly anything till its right on top of you. All in all it turned into a beautiful evening with some fog rolling in during the last half hour.

Man I am glad season is here.

Deer - 2
Bucks - 1
Does - 0
Unknown - 1

Coyotes - 1
Groundhogs - 1

Shots Taken - 1
Hits - 0

 

[Hoytmania]

Well went to a property that I will refer to from here on out as "The Ridge". Unfortunately I have my first skunk of the season. Was nestled into the stand about 5:45 with a light drizzly that only lasted another 15-20 minutes. Nothing other than some squawking chipmunks and squirrels.

 

[Hoytmania]

Went out last night. got in the stand a little later than I wanted TOO but that is what it is. Got in about 6:30. It had just started raining and didn't let up at all. There where times it was border line pouring. Was an uneventful hunt but was quite relaxing listening to the rain hit all the leaves and corn.

 

["J"]

Steve glad too see you make it out..... Has Austin been in the woods yet????? Me I haven't been out yet and won't be for at least another week or two.....

 

[Hoytmania]

No Austin hasn't been out yet. I was just asking him last night when he was going to get out and he said he didn't know if he was going to have time or not. Like he has a lot on his plate. pffff. All I can do is to keep asking I am not going to force him to hunt.

 

["J"]

That's the approach I have with my son, he goes out deer hunting about a half dozen times a year.... Mostly with his buddies and will rabbit hunt with me about that many as well.....

 

[Hoytmania]

Looking to be a good one this morning. Sitting at 39 degrees and a little damp out. Planning on doing a sit in a setup that I put up about a month ago at docs. It is called the intersection. There is two paths that intersect that is just a creates a natural major intersection. One of the paths follow an old fence row so you know the deer have been traveling it for years. I am hoping that they are traveling it during shooting light and not nocturnally.

 

[Hoytmania]

Well yesterday was a long and interesting day to say the least. I wasn't sure how much hunting I was going to get in but. was determined to get in as much as I could. Be a furnace tech on call and the first cold weekend of the season usually spells very little hunting.

Got into the stand about 6 am and settled in. Sat until my work phone buzzed at 8. So I only had a descent hour of hunting in and was getting a call for work. :smiley_blackeye: Well got down hung a camera at the intersection and took off for work.

This is where the days events start to get interesting. I need to back track a couple weeks first. I did a job a couple of weeks ago and talked to the owner about hunting. He said that he never let anyone hunt but was willing to give me a try for the season and see how things worked out. So I just needed to make some time to meet with him after work and get a permission slip signed and walk the property with him. Well the service call I had to run was right around the corner from this property. So after the service call I called the owner and met up with him and walked the property. It is a 30 acre lot with woods and bean fields and a small pasture. I still had one other furnace favor I needed to take care of, so I figured take care of that and eat lunch go back and hang up a set and hunt it for the evening.

On the way to the new property (which I have no name for yet) I got another call for work. Luckily this call wasn't to far from the property either. So after another hour of work I finally make it to hang a new setup. It took me every bit of a hour and a half to get the setup in and shooting lanes cut. I just got down and was getting my pack to head to the van and get my camos and bow and there was amedium sized doe at 10 yds. She blew at me and ran off. Had I not had the other service call I would have been done with the setup and in the stand when this doe came in. :smiley_blackeye: If nothing else it just assured me that I got the stand in the right spot. Sat for the rest of the evening and saw nothing, which is kind of what I expected. Looking forward to seeing what this will produce as the season moves on.

Just as I was packing up to get out of the stand my phone buzzes again. More work. :smiley_blackeye: Church with no heat. Didn't make it home till 11:30. Man what a long day it was but a good one never the less.

1. Got to hunt
2. Got a new setup on a new property.
3. Saw a doe
4. Got in some OT.

Deer - 3
Bucks - 1
Does - 1
Unknown - 1

Coyotes - 1
Groundhogs - 1

Shots Taken - 1
Hits - 0

 

[Huckleberry Finn]

I think I need a big ole HVAC van that smells like hickory smoke....geeze louis that's a property getting gig that you've got!

Smile, be friendly, show your plummers crack, fix the furnance, and yes ma'am, I'd like some cookies and a signed permission slip....

 

[Hoytmania]

I don't want to say much but I have a good chance at 1500 acres of farm right on the Richland/Knox county line. I will make the phone call in the next week and have the conversation. ickle:

 

[Fluteman]

I don't want to say much but I have a good chance at 1500 acres of farm right on the Richland/Knox county line. I will make the phone call in the next week and have the conversation. ickle:

Lemme know if you need help hunting it. That is an awful lot of land to not share with a fellow TOO'zer

 

[Huckleberry Finn]

Ignore that pm I sent you Hoyt...I've got a connection to a large farm on the Richland/Morrow border and I thought that might have been it...if you're looking for property in that direction, I can point you to the right house, but I've lost my street cred...

Dang farmer's daughters anyways.

 

[Hoytmania]

Lemme know if you need help hunting it. That is an awful lot of land to not share with a fellow TOO'zer

Flutey I am not sure if there is anyone else hunting it. With that much acreage I would venture to say that I am not the first person to ask. I will see what happens though.

Huck the other property that I mentioned in the other post is in Morrow just south of the Richland Line.

 

[Hoytmania]

Went out last night for a sit at tucks. Got settled in around 5 with the mosiquitoes buzzin. Didn't even think about needing the thermacell. :smiley_blackeye: Only saw a couple squirrels, chipmunks, and a groundhog that wouldn't come out of the corn. Beautiful night in all though.

 

[Hoytmania]

Well went out this morning and as I figured it was a beautiful morning but rather uneventful. All I saw was a cottontail rabbit. Went to claps. Decided once I was done I would go and check a trail cam that I had hung last week. Well upon arrival I see that someone else was in more need of a trail camera than I was. The freakin thing was strapped to a tree not 15 yds. from my setup and had a 3/8" python cable holding it to the tree. Some worthless peice of crap had to have went home and came back with bolt cutters to get this thing off the tree. Didn't bother my stands but sure made off with the camera. :smiley_blackeye::tantrum: I went ahead and pulled the setup so I didn't donate any more of my hard earned equipment to some worthless peice of crap that we already financially support through our tax dollars. :smiley_bond: