Team 10

[Ouachitamtnman]

Got myself a conundrum! Went in blind this evening and saw a bruiser. Never saw where he came from which is killing me but he was working scrape below me coming out of a draw about 65yd away. Starts heading away from me and when he was out of sight I gave him the old snort wheeze which has done well for me in the past. Never saw him, pivoted over slightly and he blows and tears off blowing entire way. I never saw him run so I'm not sure he saw me or winded me and was just coincidence when I moved. I'm off tomorrow and off next Sunday so trying to decide if I want to go in tomorrow evening and try set up closer to where he was headed or just wait til Sunday...

 

[Tapeworm]

Got myself a conundrum! Went in blind this evening and saw a bruiser. Never saw where he came from which is killing me but he was working scrape below me coming out of a draw about 65yd away. Starts heading away from me and when he was out of sight I gave him the old snort wheeze which has done well for me in the past. Never saw him, pivoted over slightly and he blows and tears off blowing entire way. I never saw him run so I'm not sure he saw me or winded me and was just coincidence when I moved. I'm off tomorrow and off next Sunday so trying to decide if I want to go in tomorrow evening and try set up closer to where he was headed or just wait til Sunday...

If the wind alllows, slip in there where he wants to be


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[redsquirrel]

Nice work! Did you hit him quartering towards you? Trying to interpret the wounds there.

No he was actually broadside. I was loosing light quick and struggling to find my pin in the peep. I found it and put it behind the shoulder but obviously something wasn't quite right. It never hurts to have a little luck on your side. I believe I took out the aorta, there was just a 2 foot wide spray of blood until he dropped at 40-50 yards.

 

[Ouachitamtnman]

If the wind alllows, slip in there where he wants to be


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I wish I knew where he came from. I'd go cut him off. I don't exactly want to go in stomping around trying to find where he came from either lol. If I knew it sure be easier to cut him off. After spooking im not sure he'd go back there so soon.

 

[hokiehunter373]

Those of you running sticks, what stick are you using?

Before one-sticking I was using beast sticks. LOVE them.

To your conundrum, are you hunting public or private? How much can you hunt? If it's private and you can string together some days, hang back and see if you can get a read on what he's doing before making a move. Public and you get to hunt one day in the next 2 weeks? Get in there before someone else does.

Way to go, @redsquirrel! Just saw we're tied in 1st already and this will make it a solo lead for the time being. Sweet. So was the exit directly on the other side of entry?

 

[NMSbowhunter]

Got myself a conundrum! Went in blind this evening and saw a bruiser. Never saw where he came from which is killing me but he was working scrape below me coming out of a draw about 65yd away. Starts heading away from me and when he was out of sight I gave him the old snort wheeze which has done well for me in the past. Never saw him, pivoted over slightly and he blows and tears off blowing entire way. I never saw him run so I'm not sure he saw me or winded me and was just coincidence when I moved. I'm off tomorrow and off next Sunday so trying to decide if I want to go in tomorrow evening and try set up closer to where he was headed or just wait til Sunday...

My thoughts. If you saw him coming out of a draw 65 yards away, I bet he came out of the draw itself or off a hillside trail leading down the draw. Then he turned away from you to go away. If it were me, and the wind allowed, I would set up to be able to shoot that scrape he was working. Scenario #1 is he repeats the previous evening route, and you get a shot. Scenario #2, the spot is boogered up and he won't be back for a while so there is no harm in going back in. Good luck!

 

[redsquirrel]

Before one-sticking I was using beast sticks. LOVE them.

To your conundrum, are you hunting public or private? How much can you hunt? If it's private and you can string together some days, hang back and see if you can get a read on what he's doing before making a move. Public and you get to hunt one day in the next 2 weeks? Get in there before someone else does.

Way to go, @redsquirrel! Just saw we're tied in 1st already and this will make it a solo lead for the time being. Sweet. So was the exit directly on the other side of entry?

Pretty close. Entrance is on his left.

 

[NMSbowhunter]

I wish I knew where he came from. I'd go cut him off. I don't exactly want to go in stomping around trying to find where he came from either lol. If I knew it sure be easier to cut him off. After spooking im not sure he'd go back there so soon.

Which way was he facing when he was working the scrape? He probably did not turn 180 degrees so whichever way he was facing was probable the opposite way he came in. I would look at topo maps and try to find a leeward ridge in that direction. There is a good possibility he was bedded within a few hundred yards of where you saw him.

 

[NMSbowhunter]

Pretty close. Entrance is on his left.

What broadhead was that?

 

[hokiehunter373]

Well, I wanted to get out Saturday morning. Was supposed to rain from the hurricane Friday evening straight through til this morning. Decided I'd sleep in and not even check on the weather. Of course I wake up Saturday and it hadn't been raining for a couple hours and wouldn't rain basically the rest of the day. I wasn't happy but hopefully I got some brownie points with the wife. More importantly, I decided I'd use some of my free time to take down the blind that my son and I had sat in for the opener since he couldn't see out of the windows and I moved a cam down into the bottom that we hunted last Friday when we saw like 15 deer. Glad I did. When I walked down in there it looked like a horse track it was so tore up after all that ran. I wanted to have a spot for us up on the hill where we can overlook the bottom and be less likely at getting picked off but it was still SO thick. It'd be fine if we were elevated but being on the ground I just couldn't bank on that right now. It's more than likely that won't be the case in 3 weeks when we go in but I figured if so we can just sit in front of a giant tree that day. I decided to make a natural ground blind in the bottom to give us a little concealment. It'll be muzzleloader when we go in so I just need to be able to see the deer when they step out and we should be good. Everything will be in gun range already. Deer were in there 3 hours after I left so hopefully no pressure will keep them in there even with all the changes that'll take places over the next 3 weeks.

 

[Ouachitamtnman]

Which way was he facing when he was working the scrape? He probably did not turn 180 degrees so whichever way he was facing was probable the opposite way he came in. I would look at topo maps and try to find a leeward ridge in that direction. There is a good possibility he was bedded within a few hundred yards of where you saw him.

This area is public and lays out funny. All our mountains run east to west and this spot is a bunch of roundish shaped lower mountains with saddles that connect them. I'm sure he came off the other mountain that the saddle I was on connects to. I'd really like to go set up on that mountain closer to his bed but it's kinda open and don't want to risk him seeing me. I'm thinking I may go back in this evening set up just past the scrape and see if he's a dumb deer or one that's decided to avoid that scrape for awhile. Good news is I wasn't set up on top of him.

 

[redsquirrel]

What broadhead was that?

Rage hypodermic.

 

[Ouachitamtnman]

Rage hypodermic.

I have shot hypos since they came out, tried the Trypan went back to hypo. Absolutely no complaints. Shot one through a big bucks shoulder that cut the humerus in half. Only one that didn't lose a blade so far. It rolled half the edge of the blade over but man did it do the trick.

 

[redsquirrel]

Here's the story guys:
Felt pretty good going into last night's hunt. The wind was blowing pretty and the rain from the hurricane was holding just south of us. I love hunting around weather fronts. I decided to go back to a spot I had hunted early last week. I'm hunting just off a point where they should bed and the tree I was set up in last week had over a dozen rubs and a scrape within shooting range of the tree. There was also tons of acorns dropping and it was clear they were on them. I didn't see anything that first sit but I decided the sign was too good not to give it another try and this was my first opportunity since. I went up in a different tree this time and was settled in around 4:30. This spot is right near an old road and a guy on a mountain bike went right under me on it at 5:00 lol. I told myself that it happens all the time and the deer have to be used to it. I'm mostly focused on the point in front of me and occasionally checking back on the trees dropping acorns behind me. It was pretty quiet until 6:30 when I turn my head to the left and there is a buck standing 5 yards from my tree! He must have snuck right up out of the swamp to my left. He's just a basket 6 so I grabbed my phone and started filming. He checks things out and then starts feeding on the acorns all around me, right up to a couple yards from the bottom of my tree. I got about 2 minutes of video of him doing this and then watched him feed off a little ways. About 15 minutes later I watch him go on alert watching straight away from me. I knew what that meant and grabbed the bow. A minute later I hear a couple loud crashes and out pops a bigger buck. It was starting to get darker at this point, theoretically about 20 minutes left of shooting light but really only 10 with the foliage and cloud cover. As soon as I saw the rack and body I knew he was at least an age class older than the one that was already there and decided if I got a shot I'd try to fill my fall bow buck tag. He stayed out about 25 yards walking around before he finally charged the smaller one and locked antlers about 15 yards away. I drew back and then he was facing right at me, he turned and then was facing directly away. Finally as soon as he turned broadside I put it on him, took an extra few seconds trying to confirm that the pin I could barely see through the peep was centered, put it where I felt was right behind his shoulder and let it fly. At impact I could hear a loud smack that was definitely some bone and he actually dropped like a ton of bricks, snowplowed a few steps and then ran off until I thought I heard a quick crash crash and silence. I could see the arrow didn't pass through but it also not a floppy arrow so that was a positve. At this point I was feeling 50/50 thinking there was a chance I just drilled him in the shoulder, but also a chance it was the off shoulder. I took my time getting down, packed up and went over to impact. A few drops of blood at impact and then just a spray of blood that I could follow for the next 10 yards up until the arrow. The arrow was covered in blood but also looked like it pulled back out cause the fletching itself wasn't fully covered. I took a walk to drop everything back at the truck and get my blood trailing bag and flashlight. I purposely left my sled at the truck not to jinx myself. I went back to impact and started trailing and in the end it was a very easy to follow trail and he only went 40-50 yards. I ended up hitting him at the front of the shoulder joint and it exited just forward of the off shoulder joint some I'm just it caught some bone in there. I believe I must have sliced the jugular or some major artery coming through there because of how much he bled and how quick he went down. It never hurts to have a little luck on your side.

 

[hokiehunter373]

Here's the story guys:
Felt pretty good going into last night's hunt. The wind was blowing pretty and the rain from the hurricane was holding just south of us. I love hunting around weather fronts. I decided to go back to a spot I had hunted early last week. I'm hunting just off a point where they should bed and the tree I was set up in last week had over a dozen rubs and a scrape within shooting range of the tree. There was also tons of acorns dropping and it was clear they were on them. I didn't see anything that first sit but I decided the sign was too good not to give it another try and this was my first opportunity since. I went up in a different tree this time and was settled in around 4:30. This spot is right near an old road and a guy on a mountain bike went right under me on it at 5:00 lol. I told myself that it happens all the time and the deer have to be used to it. I'm mostly focused on the point in front of me and occasionally checking back on the trees dropping acorns behind me. It was pretty quiet until 6:30 when I turn my head to the left and there is a buck standing 5 yards from my tree! He must have snuck right up out of the swamp to my left. He's just a basket 6 so I grabbed my phone and started filming. He checks things out and then starts feeding on the acorns all around me, right up to a couple yards from the bottom of my tree. I got about 2 minutes of video of him doing this and then watched him feed off a little ways. About 15 minutes later I watch him go on alert watching straight away from me. I knew what that meant and grabbed the bow. A minute later I hear a couple loud crashes and out pops a bigger buck. It was starting to get darker at this point, theoretically about 20 minutes left of shooting light but really only 10 with the foliage and cloud cover. As soon as I saw the rack and body I knew he was at least an age class older than the one that was already there and decided if I got a shot I'd try to fill my fall bow buck tag. He stayed out about 25 yards walking around before he finally charged the smaller one and locked antlers about 15 yards away. I drew back and then he was facing right at me, he turned and then was facing directly away. Finally as soon as he turned broadside I put it on him, took an extra few seconds trying to confirm that the pin I could barely see through the peep was centered, put it where I felt was right behind his shoulder and let it fly. At impact I could hear a loud smack that was definitely some bone and he actually dropped like a ton of bricks, snowplowed a few steps and then ran off until I thought I heard a quick crash crash and silence. I could see the arrow didn't pass through but it also not a floppy arrow so that was a positve. At this point I was feeling 50/50 thinking there was a chance I just drilled him in the shoulder, but also a chance it was the off shoulder. I took my time getting down, packed up and went over to impact. A few drops of blood at impact and then just a spray of blood that I could follow for the next 10 yards up until the arrow. The arrow was covered in blood but also looked like it pulled back out cause the fletching itself wasn't fully covered. I took a walk to drop everything back at the truck and get my blood trailing bag and flashlight. I purposely left my sled at the truck not to jinx myself. I went back to impact and started trailing and in the end it was a very easy to follow trail and he only went 40-50 yards. I ended up hitting him at the front of the shoulder joint and it exited just forward of the off shoulder joint some I'm just it caught some bone in there. I believe I must have sliced the jugular or some major artery coming through there because of how much he bled and how quick he went down. It never hurts to have a little luck on your side.

That feeling of thinking you hit front shoulder is so familiar haha. Great story and way to execute on a great plan. Congrats!

 

[NMSbowhunter]

Sounds like a great hunt. Everything came together.

 

[DroptineKrazy]

Just goes to show. Just because your first hunt there was a bust doesn't mean that spot ain't red hot! Congrats!

 

[redsquirrel]

Feeling pretty good about the direction this season is heading. I'm always happy to get an early season buck to get one on the board. We start with a fall bow season which goes out sometime around halloween and then our second bow season called permit bow comes in. Sometimes I get only 1 crack at a buck during the early bow season and it can be tough to decide to shoot or pass when you know that last week of October the bucks are starting to move but the clock is ticking. I'm going to do a bunch of scouting, some striper fishing (I bought a new boat this year ) and rest up for the rut. I have October 29-November 8th off. I also picked up a tag to do a muzzeloader hunt 20 minutes from home November 2nd-5th. In a perfect world I could have 2 bucks down during my rutcation. That being said I'm not going to be that picky with that muzzleloader tag but the pressure is off and I can try to hold out for a real big one during the rut.

I skull capped my buck tonight. That brow tine just isn't going to make 1" lol. I also cut out his teeth and am sending them out to deerage.com to age him. His rack really doesn't do his body justice. He's definitely 2.5 but I also wouldn't be surprised if he comes back 4.5. I have had a lot of my bucks aged over the past 10 years and I'm constantly amazed at the age of some of the bucks I've shot and yet none of them have racks that would break 100". My 3 biggest are all right around 100". One of them aged at 4.5, the other 2 I didn't get aged. One was before I found deerage, the other one the teeth got lost at the taxidermist. Those 2 were both bigger bodies, old and gray so I know they were older than that.

 

[Ouachitamtnman]

I'm glad one of us is excited! This is my least hopeful season I'm going into in a good while lol. I hiked some miles yesterday and found very little buck sign and zero acorns. For once I also don't have anything on camera.

 

[hokiehunter373]

Feeling pretty good about the direction this season is heading. I'm always happy to get an early season buck to get one on the board. We start with a fall bow season which goes out sometime around halloween and then our second bow season called permit bow comes in. Sometimes I get only 1 crack at a buck during the early bow season and it can be tough to decide to shoot or pass when you know that last week of October the bucks are starting to move but the clock is ticking. I'm going to do a bunch of scouting, some striper fishing (I bought a new boat this year ) and rest up for the rut. I have October 29-November 8th off. I also picked up a tag to do a muzzeloader hunt 20 minutes from home November 2nd-5th. In a perfect world I could have 2 bucks down during my rutcation. That being said I'm not going to be that picky with that muzzleloader tag but the pressure is off and I can try to hold out for a real big one during the rut.

I skull capped my buck tonight. That brow tine just isn't going to make 1" lol. I also cut out his teeth and am sending them out to deerage.com to age him. His rack really doesn't do his body justice. He's definitely 2.5 but I also wouldn't be surprised if he comes back 4.5. I have had a lot of my bucks aged over the past 10 years and I'm constantly amazed at the age of some of the bucks I've shot and yet none of them have racks that would break 100". My 3 biggest are all right around 100". One of them aged at 4.5, the other 2 I didn't get aged. One was before I found deerage, the other one the teeth got lost at the taxidermist. Those 2 were both bigger bodies, old and gray so I know they were older than that.

Sounds like some fantastic plans! I really should age my deer, I’d like to know, but I always forget to pull teeth. How do you go about it and how long does it take to get the results?


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