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Team 4 Campfire

Got back at it again but didn’t see the big guy. Eyes on 5-6 bucks, 1 I would’ve shot, but he was locked up with a doe in a thorn thicket.

Hope to get out again atleast 1x next week but weather looks ****ty
 
Forecast is not great tomorrow, hot and windy but a weak front is supposed to roll through during the night tomorrow so mostly betting on Sunday morning.
 
I’ve been grinding away and still no shots fired. I must admit, in a way I’m envious you folks that see multiple deer per sit.

I just got back from two days in the saddle in New Hampshire. And now for some crazy reason I’m heading to Vermont to chase deer on snow. I need a break from the daily grind of stand hunting. It’s time to lace up the boots and put on the miles. I think VT has the lowest deer density in the country and the highest percentage of hunters per capita.
 
Our rifle opener is tomorrow. Anyone else whose opens tomorrow here’s to big bucks in your sights. I would always rather hunt with the bow but the gun opener tradition is fun and you never know what will happen.
 
Only worth 5 points but … 134” 10 point! Ohio trip paid off!
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Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Quick run down of the weekend. Got to the farm at 12:30 am friday. Slept in my truck and woke up and straight to the woods. Saw 17 bucks during the day. 2 shooters just no shots. So I was clearly excited for Saturday..... 1 buck all day lol. It warmed up and was 65 degrees.
Sunday morning I wake up and debated just driving back to NY but checked the cams and the shooters were on their feet in the early morning hours so I decided to sit until 10ish then head home. At first light I did a sequence of bleats and grunts ... few minutes pass and I hear some leaves rustling. This guy was hitting scrapes and coming my way. He came in perfect for the set. I definitely had some buck fever. I could not get him to stop, sent it and straight gut shot. I was so disappointed in myself! Snuck out of there and my buddy has a thermal drone. Waited until 12:30 to send it up. After an hour of not finding him, I took up the blood trail. Well there wasn't really any blood just specks here and there. Then that stopped. I ended up taking one of the game trails where we saw last blood and could smell him. Looked to my right and there he was! Went 70 yards and was stiff as a board. What a relief! dealt with the deer and drove the 8 hours home back to the family and work!
 
Yesterday morning was a fun sit but no shots taken. First deer came by as I was nocking an arrow about 10-15 minutes before shooting time. Could see the outline of the body and it looked like a big bodied deer but couldnt tell for sure it was a buck. About legal shooting time the turkeys started gobbling and actually gobbled pretty good until about 7am. Saw them up closer to 9am. Had 3 big does and 2 little ones skirt me just a bit and had a cow horn spike stick his ribs out at me. But the real excitement was the when I thought I heard a buck chasing a doe coming from behind me. I started to reach for my bow and looked over my right shoulder at the same time and the chase turned out to be 2 otters. Grabbed the phone and got a little short clip. I have no clue why they were there. The closest body of water or water source that would support an otter from that spot is 4-5 miles at least. Cool encounter though and fun morning in the tree. Had a trail came pic of a real nice mature buck at 5 am that may have been the deer that came by before shooting time but that's just speculation.

Saturday I saw 3 deer from the tree, one 3-4" spike and a 3y/o 8 point. Saw the 8 point twice, morning and evening. All three encounters were sub 20 yards.
 
Gonna head back down to the river this weekend. Getting in to the pre-rut down there so hopefully they will move and respond to a little calling. If you still have tags, let's get in a tree and make some more blood trails. Cant let up now.
 
bigcat93 said:
Struggling to find time to get out with a 4 month old at home lol, but I’m keeping tabs on those bucks who were locked down last time I saw them. Still plenty of time here in NJ and might be able to slip out for an evening tomorrow!
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Yeah you got your hands full.
 
BTaylor said:
Gonna head back down to the river this weekend. Getting in to the pre-rut down there so hopefully they will move and respond to a little calling. If you still have tags, let's get in a tree and make some more blood trails. Cant let up now.
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I’m in the grind - there is no let up till all the tags are filed or the seasons are all closed!
 
BTaylor said:
[...]But the real excitement was the when I thought I heard a buck chasing a doe coming from behind me. I started to reach for my bow and looked over my right shoulder at the same time and the chase turned out to be 2 otters. Grabbed the phone and got a little short clip. I have no clue why they were there. The closest body of water or water source that would support an otter from that spot is 4-5 miles at least. Cool encounter though and fun morning in the tree.
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Prolly scrape otters. We have a lot of them here, especially around the marijuana patches. They're like compass possums, except they don't climb for persimmons. At least I've never seen them do it.

They'll lead you right to a dominant buck scrape, though. You have to follow them slowly, and be very, very quiet. Crawfish cover scent is almost a must. If they turn and see you, stay very still and make a turkey noise, or churr like a hedgehog. Do NOT purr like a *****cat. They will charge and bite your ankles if you do.

They're almost as bad as ridge gators in that regard ....
 
Swamp Fox__On The Run said:
Prolly scrape otters. We have a lot of them here, especially around the marijuana patches. They're like compass possums, except they don't climb for persimmons. At least I've never seen them do it.

They'll lead you right to a dominant buck scrape, though. You have to follow them slowly, and be very, very quiet. Crawfish cover scent is almost a must. If they turn and see you, stay very still and make a turkey noise, or churr like a hedgehog. Do NOT purr like a *****cat. They will charge and bite your ankles if you do.

They're almost as bad as ridge gators in that regard ....
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That's why this place is special. You cant get that kind of knowledge anywhere else.
 
BTaylor said:
They are tryin hard to catch us. Cant let up now. Killers gonna kill so get out there and drop hammer or string on some nuther ones.
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Trying. Saw a good one at 60 yards this morning. Bugger just kept trudging on by. They don’t make it easy!

Looks like I’m gonna go dark to dark today without even stepping foot off the platform.

here a trail cam shot from this spot a few days ago.

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BTaylor said:
@Swamp Fox__On The Run I failed to mention how accurate your post was. Those otters ran within 7-8 steps of a mature bucks scrape.
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Man I wish I could post a video on the subject. A couple years ago I was set up on the ground in a pinch point between two huge swamps waiting for a buck to cross and had 3-4 otter come at me - teeth gnashing! @woodsdog2 can verify my account!
 
Skunked again tonight.. this area has TONS of does so I’m thinking it’s easy pickings to get locked down with. Will keep getting out when I can!
 
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