Joel and Abby's 2018-19 deer season

[Joel]

Getting anxious to pull the cards on the two cameras at the new property. I put them out Monday, opening day of gun midday. It’ll be fun sitting down with Abby looking at what’s been hitting her corn pile. I plan on pulling the cards Monday.

I’ve butchered three deer now this year so I’m not in a big hurry to do that again soon. Focus is on Abby’s buck and I’ve been mentally planning shooting a big fat doe in the snow from the ground at some point this winter.

 

[Joel]

I’m still hunting a different property while we wait for a buck to start showing up for Abby. I’m really exploring and enjoying the outdoors more than deer hunting. Kind of trying to figure this property out more for next season, marking stuff on the map and doing ground sits. I’ll shoot a big doe if I get a good opportunity but I’m not stressing it. Just good to get out when I can now and try to figure these critters out.

I tried the euro mount for my Thanksgiving buck myself and I’m pretty happy with it. Need to touch up the antler bases with some stain and I have a piece of wood I want to mount it on.

 

[Joel]

I’m trying to get a big late season doe with no bait from the ground with my crossbow, and I’m finding it’s harder than I thought.

I got close this morning. I couldn’t find the ground spot I picked out previously because the snow and dark made everything look totally different. I actually walked up to it but it didn’t look right so I kept searching lol. Oh well, marked on OnX so I reached for my phone and it wasn’t in my pocket. Ended up falling out in the truck so I got it when I left.

Anyway since I couldn’t find the spot I was looking for I set up next to a stump at the corner. Occasionally I would check around just in case anything came by and eventually saw a group of big does. Tried to reposition for a shot, they caught movement and left in a hurry but without blowing. If I was in the spot I was looking for they would’ve walked 25 yards or less in front of me.

I have to start a project at work Monday and I don’t know how much hunting I can do so I’m going back to the same spot in the morning. I’ll have my phone in case I get “lost” again. One of those does was maybe bigger bodied than the buck I shot so she’s the target. Interestingly she walked off another direction without looking alarmed before the other deer took off in a different direction so hopefully she’ll be there again in the morning.

 

[giles]

That’s the way I prefer to hunt. Find a stump or blow down in a pinch point or close to the bedding area. I’ve killed a lot of deer at mid day using this tactic. Keep at it, it’ll happen. When it does, it’s very satisfying!

 

[giles]

A deer could walk 2’ behind me and I won’t look, I only look at my shooting lanes and never anywhere else. If something walks up from behind you and sees you, it’ll circle. If it doesn’t see you, it will for sure if you try and get turned around to shoot. So not moving is the safest thing you can do.

 

[giles]

If your scope can zoom, I suggest leaving it on the lowest setting. Trying to pick a hair inside of 10 with it jacked up to 8x sucks. Moving to change it isn’t an option. I’ve also shot deer at further ranges then I thought because I had the scope dialed up. (Lost that deer)

 

[Joel]

A deer could walk 2’ behind me and I won’t look, I only look at my shooting lanes and never anywhere else. If something walks up from behind you and sees you, it’ll circle. If it doesn’t see you, it will for sure if you try and get turned around to shoot. So not moving is the safest thing you can do.

That seems like pretty sound advice. It would’ve worked yesterday had it not been for the fourth one I didn’t see. Most of thier heads were behind trees and lots of stuff in between me and them. They’re pretty skittish right now so I wouldn’t be surprised if they spent half the morning running off from misc stuff they couldn’t identify but didn’t like.

 

[giles]

Another tip I’d give is to make sure you have a tree or something behind your shot to catch the bolt. When shooting across at them and not down, it seems to be a real pain to try and find it. Plus it makes for really cool pics...I’ve posted a few on here in the past. This has become such a habit that I do it with all my shots now. Also helps my buck fever.

 

[Joel]

Well I guess that's it for me. I had a lot of fun and learned a lot!

We moved Abby's blind to the back yard and I've been keeping the corn stocked up. If we get a buck making regular visits once it's cold the buddy heater is out there with a big tank ready to go. We can see the blind and corn from the kitchen window. She's about half interested at this point but if we start seeing one show up I think she'll get excited and ready to go. If not, she got her first deer this year. I killed a buck on Thanksgiving from a treestand, a button buck 4 days later with a muzzleloader on opening day of gun and then a big button buck for a family that wanted some deer meat but are not hunters. They invited me back next year so feeling very blessed overall. Next year I will have 5 properties I can hunt and all but one I'm the only one with permission. I also plan on doing a little public land hunting somewhere in Ohio or possibly Wisconsin so already looking forward to next year.

I am going to do way more prep, scouting, hanging stands, trail cams, mineral sites etc next year. This year I sort of "oh shit it's deer season tomorrow" and jumped right in lol.

Unless we see a buck showing up for Abby, that's it for my journal this year. Thanks for following along and thanks to everyone that encouraged me, gave me pointers and congratulated us on the success.

 

[giles]

It’s been great to follow along. You had a great season! Without all that prep, I’d say keep it the same way. All that extra off season pressure, you didn’t do, probably helped you more then the prep.