Wow what a year it has been. I have not been this relieved for hunting season to arrive in quite some time.
Prelude
I did a fair amount of winter scouting last offseason. Never as much as I would like but with our little dude growing up a little, it has been slightly more manageable on my wife to get out.
Took a new job in March and with that opened up a whole new smattering of public land for after-work hunts. I spent some time macro scouting that area. I love figuring out new ground. It's one of the things that really makes me tick so I am excited on that front.
My little people are starting to accompany me on little adventures. Just keeping it fun for them--climbing stuff, stomping in mud puddles, looking at tracks and turds, that kinda stuff. They both seem to be taking a real liking to the woods but I'm not going to rush into anything with hunting. I just love getting out there with them. Torpedoed my hunting to a degree the past couple years but I wouldn't trade it for anything. My best days are ahead, when they really get into it.
On the gear front I upgraded by bow to a Bowtech Revolt X after last season's near-fiasco finding a replacement in September. I didn't plan on upgrading this soon but I do really like this bow and got a good deal on it used. The backwall is not quite, but almost, as good an my Answer. The after the shot sound and vibration though, wow! I'm driving tacks with it. It also came with a 3 pin slider, my first serious foray into that world. I only have it setup out to 50 right now though.
I did buy a LWCG 1/2 also. I didn't really want to drop that much coin, but it meets the size specs I've been dreaming about for years. A treestand and a saddle platform made sweet love and what was borned has the best traits of both and the worst of neither.
No other new saddle gear this year, I am dialed in with my Flex. With these stick innovations coming to market this could be the final lap for my Heliums, but I'll wait and see and really want to handle some before I buy.
Saturday, October 5
Low 40, High 55
Wind W, L/V - 5
Opening morning!
I have a spot that I've kinda taken to as an opener morning tradition. It's easy access, has some does, just a good place to shake the cobwebs off since I'm not too inclined to practice climbing trees in swampazz szn.
Just saw a couple hen turkeybirds that snuck into 15 yards then putted off. Uneventful morning.
Had a camera soaking there over a beech scrape. Not too much to get excited about. Did get this guy, not huge but typical representative shooter buck for these parts. Only have one other camera out. I've really lost my passion for them but it is neat to see what is there.
Evening hunt I hit this big chunk that always has a big buck or two but gets hit pretty hard. I got tight to some bedding in the direction of a field they feed in. Problem here is the whole block has great browse and some acorns so guessing where they'll feed any given day is a crapshoot. I did see two bucks, just got a glimpse of both at about 50 yards, but neither looked like anything to write home about.
Also saw this little spiker walking in and stalked to 35 yards, still needing my bino to confirm it wasn't a doe. I really need a new contact Rx. My eyes are struggling a bit this year.
Thursday October 8
AM Hunt
Winds 360 degrees, L/V - 10. Most South early then turned around to North
Snuck in and set up over a buck bedding point hoping I could get one sneaking back before I had to go to work. Didn't see anything. Forecast was for a steady NW wind which would have been beneficial, unfortunately it was swirling every direction and predominantly from the South which is the worst wind in there.
Been poking around at this area for 3 years off and on and haven't had many sightings, but I know deer use this point pretty heavily. Going to start taking a couple different approaches to hunting it. Since my #1 honey hole is messed up due to timbering I was hoping to fall back on this area some more.
Thursday October 8
PM Hunt
60 degrees
Winds WNW 5-10
Posted up on an oak flat sort of an observation stand. Saw a couple does, they got in behind me and winded me. Best sign I've seen yet, a few rubs and a lot of deer activity, but it's not an area big bucks are likely to hang out beyond the first week, too much pressure.
Saturday October 10
AM Hunt
50-70 degrees
Winds SW 5-15
Saw a borderline shooter driving in. Nice wide 8. Thought about making a play on him but I had no clue where he might bed. He was in a strange spot, kinda no mans land a bunch of wide open woods with no underbrush. He was with a forkie and just stood there 5 yards off the road staring.
I bombed into an area I scouted last winter. It looked great then. I really had high hopes for this ridge. Nothing doing there this year. No acorns at all. Behind on my scouting, I need to start finding some deer! These big woods you just can't hunt early season if you don't stay on the food soruces.
Sat until 9 and scouted the ridge for a few hours. I am out of shape, that hike was brutal.
Took the evening off. It's hot and I needed to take care of some wife points. Now is not the time to be pushing it. Worst day of the season is the second Saturday imo.
The maples, gums, and sassafras are really turning right now. The huckleberry bushes are all red. Gorgeous. Actually turning colors this year instead of just turning brown.
Wednesday, October 14
65, Wind <5 WSW
Got to sneak out of work early. Scout hunted my way into a gamelands I checked out in March. Other than jumping a couple does 20 yards from the truck, it was an uneventful evening. Poked around a buck bed setup about 300 yards from the truck but didn't see any fresh sign. Pressed on, hoping to find scrapes, a rub line, acorns, anything to inspire confidence to set up on. After covering about a mile I didn't see any of the above. Got to a bench off a bedding point that was my decision point and decided to set up instead of pack it in. Didn't see a chipmunk, very quiet evening. Tried to shortcut the walk back to the truck and got tangled in a bunch of laurel. Fun stuff.
Big cold front coming through Friday and I don't even have anything I'm confident in. Feeling very unprepared this year and struggling to get on these mountain deer.
Saturday, October 17
Low 32, High 50
Wind <5 WSWNESWESNE (swirling)
Morning hunt - hunted the mountain in the big boy big woods. Haven't done as much of it as I used to but didn't want to deal with the traffic of the muzzlerifle opener. Climbed a 1000' ridge to a nice bedding/transition area I've hunted in the past. Didn't see anything. Peaked around the little area and didn't see anything. No acorns. These ridges usually need chestnut acorns to be productive else the deer just scatter far and wide. Hung a camera just out of curiosity and because I had one with me. Probably won't be back to get it until after the season, want to see if it picks anything up cruising in the rut. Might possibly give it a shot the last week, three years ago I hunt a camera here and it had awesome buck activity Nov 16-18ish.
Midday scout. Checked out my #1 honey hole which was timbered off over the summer. Been dreading going in there to see it wrecked. It's not great. Definitely not going to be anything worth hunting this year. Going to need a few years before it's decent again. Not an area that I thought needed timbered, I don't get what the forester is doing.
Evening hunt - wasn't really sure where to go, decided on this spot in a clearcut. I wasn't in here last year at all, but the two years before that there was a dinner table scrape at a junction three logging roads. Problem is this year there's no scrape. I was pretty much committed at that point so I set up anyway. There's one lone white oak with enough low branches for cover, but you have about 3 shooting lanes all 10-15 yards. Anyway I bumped a couple deer getting in there as it's also tough to access. Heard some deer bleating up the hill, but nothing sighted.
Tuesday, October 20
65 degrees
Wind S-SW <5
After work hunt, went to a place I just found this winter and only briefly scouted once. I like it though, it checks a lot of my boxes for areas I find bigger bucks. Hike back the gated road 1.5 miles, just get to where I am planning to cut in and come across a red oak that's dropped a bunch of nuts. Struggled to get on acorns this year, I am glad to see this. Just as I am standing there I hear a foot stomp and 25 yards to my right there's a forky. He trots off, then I see an 8 point get up out of a blowdown. He's decent typical 80-90 inch probably 2.5 yo, shooter the last couple days but not now. I drop off and head toward a laurel patch with suspected bedding. Didn't see any buck sign but I set up on the edge in a sort of observation stand.
Saw one doe from the stand, probably 70 yards. It was a warmer evening than I thought it was going to be. Coming out I saw a lot of eyes glowing. Haven't been seeing much of that another reason I've known I'm not on the deer. So this area will get some more attention, need to give it a day of dedicated scouting.
Saturday, October 24
62 degrees at daylight, dropped throughout day into high 40's
Wind forecast NW 5-10 per all 3 Windy models. Actual was WSW 5-10 and really squirrelly.
Good friend of mine came up to hunt with me for the day. Good to hunt with someone, all the lone wolf hunting gets old. He tagged a buck on his property the first day of the urban season but has a doe tag for my area so does are the mission. Of course we struck out.
Went into an area I know pretty well and tucked Christian into the edge of a cut and I went up into the cut right amongst some doe bedding. Get up there and see glow tacks. Great. Starts getting light and there's a ladder stand 20 yards from my tree. Flipping things drive me nuts. I sat til 10 and didn't see anything then scouted around a bit. This nutbag cut shooting lanes 10 yards wide x 75 yards in every direction (rather highly illegal). Prolly just let him have this spot and move onto plan BCDEFGHIJKLMNOP.
Drove around a bunch doing some pressure scouting and tried to find backdoor access to a piece I scouted over the winter. Struck out there as it was gated off on private. It's about a 4 mile hike from the access I know about which is a little more than I generally get into. DCNR site says the road is supposed to be open so going to have a convo with them. There were a ton of people out for bow + muzzlestuffer season.
Wasn't really sure what to do with the evening sit, so during the course of our drive we came across an area of gamelands that look pretty good and noone parked, so we just pulled off, he took one side of the road and I took the other. I walked a big oak flat that had some acorns but no fresh sign. Sign is tough this week as leaf drop is happening though. I crossed a ravine and found a nice little transition where oak scrub, laurel, and open woods all meet and got setup. I was unsure of the best tree and setup only about 8 feet high in big white oak.
At 6 I head some footsteps up above me in the scrub then heard a grunt. Pretty soon a doe and fawn pop out. I watched them at 30-35 yards for a good half hour. At one point I had a broadside shot at her about 32 yards, but didn't quite feel comfortable. Then my side stabilized popped loose. It came with the bow I bought used, and thought about taking it off but it make for a nice place to rest the bow against my thigh, but in doing so as I discovered it unscrews it from the mount. I didn't want to shoot now because I thought the limb may contact that and didn't want to risk cracking a limb. So I was trying to get that completely off and she caught me doing that and snuck off.
Heard more deer up in the scrub and stayed til dark thirty when one eventually worked its way in but at that point I couldn't make anything out and got down.
Prelude
I did a fair amount of winter scouting last offseason. Never as much as I would like but with our little dude growing up a little, it has been slightly more manageable on my wife to get out.
Took a new job in March and with that opened up a whole new smattering of public land for after-work hunts. I spent some time macro scouting that area. I love figuring out new ground. It's one of the things that really makes me tick so I am excited on that front.
My little people are starting to accompany me on little adventures. Just keeping it fun for them--climbing stuff, stomping in mud puddles, looking at tracks and turds, that kinda stuff. They both seem to be taking a real liking to the woods but I'm not going to rush into anything with hunting. I just love getting out there with them. Torpedoed my hunting to a degree the past couple years but I wouldn't trade it for anything. My best days are ahead, when they really get into it.
On the gear front I upgraded by bow to a Bowtech Revolt X after last season's near-fiasco finding a replacement in September. I didn't plan on upgrading this soon but I do really like this bow and got a good deal on it used. The backwall is not quite, but almost, as good an my Answer. The after the shot sound and vibration though, wow! I'm driving tacks with it. It also came with a 3 pin slider, my first serious foray into that world. I only have it setup out to 50 right now though.
I did buy a LWCG 1/2 also. I didn't really want to drop that much coin, but it meets the size specs I've been dreaming about for years. A treestand and a saddle platform made sweet love and what was borned has the best traits of both and the worst of neither.
No other new saddle gear this year, I am dialed in with my Flex. With these stick innovations coming to market this could be the final lap for my Heliums, but I'll wait and see and really want to handle some before I buy.
Saturday, October 5
Low 40, High 55
Wind W, L/V - 5
Opening morning!
I have a spot that I've kinda taken to as an opener morning tradition. It's easy access, has some does, just a good place to shake the cobwebs off since I'm not too inclined to practice climbing trees in swampazz szn.
Just saw a couple hen turkeybirds that snuck into 15 yards then putted off. Uneventful morning.
Had a camera soaking there over a beech scrape. Not too much to get excited about. Did get this guy, not huge but typical representative shooter buck for these parts. Only have one other camera out. I've really lost my passion for them but it is neat to see what is there.
Evening hunt I hit this big chunk that always has a big buck or two but gets hit pretty hard. I got tight to some bedding in the direction of a field they feed in. Problem here is the whole block has great browse and some acorns so guessing where they'll feed any given day is a crapshoot. I did see two bucks, just got a glimpse of both at about 50 yards, but neither looked like anything to write home about.
Also saw this little spiker walking in and stalked to 35 yards, still needing my bino to confirm it wasn't a doe. I really need a new contact Rx. My eyes are struggling a bit this year.
Thursday October 8
AM Hunt
Winds 360 degrees, L/V - 10. Most South early then turned around to North
Snuck in and set up over a buck bedding point hoping I could get one sneaking back before I had to go to work. Didn't see anything. Forecast was for a steady NW wind which would have been beneficial, unfortunately it was swirling every direction and predominantly from the South which is the worst wind in there.
Been poking around at this area for 3 years off and on and haven't had many sightings, but I know deer use this point pretty heavily. Going to start taking a couple different approaches to hunting it. Since my #1 honey hole is messed up due to timbering I was hoping to fall back on this area some more.
Thursday October 8
PM Hunt
60 degrees
Winds WNW 5-10
Posted up on an oak flat sort of an observation stand. Saw a couple does, they got in behind me and winded me. Best sign I've seen yet, a few rubs and a lot of deer activity, but it's not an area big bucks are likely to hang out beyond the first week, too much pressure.
Saturday October 10
AM Hunt
50-70 degrees
Winds SW 5-15
Saw a borderline shooter driving in. Nice wide 8. Thought about making a play on him but I had no clue where he might bed. He was in a strange spot, kinda no mans land a bunch of wide open woods with no underbrush. He was with a forkie and just stood there 5 yards off the road staring.
I bombed into an area I scouted last winter. It looked great then. I really had high hopes for this ridge. Nothing doing there this year. No acorns at all. Behind on my scouting, I need to start finding some deer! These big woods you just can't hunt early season if you don't stay on the food soruces.
Sat until 9 and scouted the ridge for a few hours. I am out of shape, that hike was brutal.
Took the evening off. It's hot and I needed to take care of some wife points. Now is not the time to be pushing it. Worst day of the season is the second Saturday imo.
The maples, gums, and sassafras are really turning right now. The huckleberry bushes are all red. Gorgeous. Actually turning colors this year instead of just turning brown.
Wednesday, October 14
65, Wind <5 WSW
Got to sneak out of work early. Scout hunted my way into a gamelands I checked out in March. Other than jumping a couple does 20 yards from the truck, it was an uneventful evening. Poked around a buck bed setup about 300 yards from the truck but didn't see any fresh sign. Pressed on, hoping to find scrapes, a rub line, acorns, anything to inspire confidence to set up on. After covering about a mile I didn't see any of the above. Got to a bench off a bedding point that was my decision point and decided to set up instead of pack it in. Didn't see a chipmunk, very quiet evening. Tried to shortcut the walk back to the truck and got tangled in a bunch of laurel. Fun stuff.
Big cold front coming through Friday and I don't even have anything I'm confident in. Feeling very unprepared this year and struggling to get on these mountain deer.
Saturday, October 17
Low 32, High 50
Wind <5 WSWNESWESNE (swirling)
Morning hunt - hunted the mountain in the big boy big woods. Haven't done as much of it as I used to but didn't want to deal with the traffic of the muzzlerifle opener. Climbed a 1000' ridge to a nice bedding/transition area I've hunted in the past. Didn't see anything. Peaked around the little area and didn't see anything. No acorns. These ridges usually need chestnut acorns to be productive else the deer just scatter far and wide. Hung a camera just out of curiosity and because I had one with me. Probably won't be back to get it until after the season, want to see if it picks anything up cruising in the rut. Might possibly give it a shot the last week, three years ago I hunt a camera here and it had awesome buck activity Nov 16-18ish.
Midday scout. Checked out my #1 honey hole which was timbered off over the summer. Been dreading going in there to see it wrecked. It's not great. Definitely not going to be anything worth hunting this year. Going to need a few years before it's decent again. Not an area that I thought needed timbered, I don't get what the forester is doing.
Evening hunt - wasn't really sure where to go, decided on this spot in a clearcut. I wasn't in here last year at all, but the two years before that there was a dinner table scrape at a junction three logging roads. Problem is this year there's no scrape. I was pretty much committed at that point so I set up anyway. There's one lone white oak with enough low branches for cover, but you have about 3 shooting lanes all 10-15 yards. Anyway I bumped a couple deer getting in there as it's also tough to access. Heard some deer bleating up the hill, but nothing sighted.
Tuesday, October 20
65 degrees
Wind S-SW <5
After work hunt, went to a place I just found this winter and only briefly scouted once. I like it though, it checks a lot of my boxes for areas I find bigger bucks. Hike back the gated road 1.5 miles, just get to where I am planning to cut in and come across a red oak that's dropped a bunch of nuts. Struggled to get on acorns this year, I am glad to see this. Just as I am standing there I hear a foot stomp and 25 yards to my right there's a forky. He trots off, then I see an 8 point get up out of a blowdown. He's decent typical 80-90 inch probably 2.5 yo, shooter the last couple days but not now. I drop off and head toward a laurel patch with suspected bedding. Didn't see any buck sign but I set up on the edge in a sort of observation stand.
Saw one doe from the stand, probably 70 yards. It was a warmer evening than I thought it was going to be. Coming out I saw a lot of eyes glowing. Haven't been seeing much of that another reason I've known I'm not on the deer. So this area will get some more attention, need to give it a day of dedicated scouting.
Saturday, October 24
62 degrees at daylight, dropped throughout day into high 40's
Wind forecast NW 5-10 per all 3 Windy models. Actual was WSW 5-10 and really squirrelly.
Good friend of mine came up to hunt with me for the day. Good to hunt with someone, all the lone wolf hunting gets old. He tagged a buck on his property the first day of the urban season but has a doe tag for my area so does are the mission. Of course we struck out.
Went into an area I know pretty well and tucked Christian into the edge of a cut and I went up into the cut right amongst some doe bedding. Get up there and see glow tacks. Great. Starts getting light and there's a ladder stand 20 yards from my tree. Flipping things drive me nuts. I sat til 10 and didn't see anything then scouted around a bit. This nutbag cut shooting lanes 10 yards wide x 75 yards in every direction (rather highly illegal). Prolly just let him have this spot and move onto plan BCDEFGHIJKLMNOP.
Drove around a bunch doing some pressure scouting and tried to find backdoor access to a piece I scouted over the winter. Struck out there as it was gated off on private. It's about a 4 mile hike from the access I know about which is a little more than I generally get into. DCNR site says the road is supposed to be open so going to have a convo with them. There were a ton of people out for bow + muzzlestuffer season.
Wasn't really sure what to do with the evening sit, so during the course of our drive we came across an area of gamelands that look pretty good and noone parked, so we just pulled off, he took one side of the road and I took the other. I walked a big oak flat that had some acorns but no fresh sign. Sign is tough this week as leaf drop is happening though. I crossed a ravine and found a nice little transition where oak scrub, laurel, and open woods all meet and got setup. I was unsure of the best tree and setup only about 8 feet high in big white oak.
At 6 I head some footsteps up above me in the scrub then heard a grunt. Pretty soon a doe and fawn pop out. I watched them at 30-35 yards for a good half hour. At one point I had a broadside shot at her about 32 yards, but didn't quite feel comfortable. Then my side stabilized popped loose. It came with the bow I bought used, and thought about taking it off but it make for a nice place to rest the bow against my thigh, but in doing so as I discovered it unscrews it from the mount. I didn't want to shoot now because I thought the limb may contact that and didn't want to risk cracking a limb. So I was trying to get that completely off and she caught me doing that and snuck off.
Heard more deer up in the scrub and stayed til dark thirty when one eventually worked its way in but at that point I couldn't make anything out and got down.
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