OPENING MORNING JINXED MYSELF...
Saturday Sept, 13th, 2008: I start off to my ritual first day spot, and was in kind of a hurry. (not into my routine yet) and get to the field where I want to hunt. Well its full of deer, thinking I can sneak in from the southwest side. North wind blowing and catch the deer on their way back to bed. Well just as I am pulling into the parking lot. The wind shifts and they were spooked by the scent of people who were in the parking lot, or something anyway they took off. There were a couple of kids in the parking lot on bicycles, don't know why they were out at 4am might of been paper boys. Well that stand is shot. So I hurry up and head to the other morning spot I have been successful at, to make a long story short, I sat there until 12noon and didn't see a single deer. Fast forward to Sat. Afternoon. Take my oldest son back to a standby site, that has always produced, I have deer on cameras during the day for 4 weeks prior to this (using infrared) sign everywhere, we get in their at the right time with the right wind. Guess What 4 hours later we spot no deer. We go for a ride country and in the city, and see... guess what NO DEER. Of course thanks to all the tropical storms we had rain and wind all day.
Sunday Sept 14th, 2008: I go to a new stand sight. I have been getting a few deer on this but its a perfect travel corridor. I am using the video cameras today, (at least trying to) much harder to do all this stuff by yourself, my hats off to the http://huntinjunky.com/ for pulling this off. Decided I need a bow mounted camera as well. Well I am doing my thing get settled in. and I am talking into the camera after a 2 hour wait. Then all of sudden, I am covered up in bucks. 3 to be exact. I didn't know what to do. I couldn't shoot them because I don't have my doe killed yet, and I didn't want to move the camera to video them in case I might spook them. Well they hung around about 5 minutes. one a magnificent heavy 12 pointer which I think is the one from last year. and two smaller 8 and six pointers. What a rush. Again my hats off to all those camera men out there!!! So I am thinking, why haven't I seen any does, and then about an hour later I hear a bunch of noise and here comes a doe except she's doing about 40 miles an hour with two fawns behind her, I try to stop her but she was having nothing of it and the little ones didn't stop either. After another hour of waiting I climb down and move on to the truck. I enjoyed myself. I got back in the stand for the first time. Well overall the first weekend has a been a bust for me, but I am trying new things like trying to video tape my hunts. From now on I am running two cameras, one on lower on my stand wide angle. and then the one I try to be a camera man with. and as soon at the Epic Stealth Cams are in stock, I think I will purchase one of those and mount it to my bow for those just in case you don't have time shots. Monday Sept 15th 2008 Morning stand: I can't believe it I am sitting in a stand right now using my phone to send you all messages. This sure beats working. I get the next two weeks to hunt. This is awesome. The under armour is doing the trick its about 46 with a 15 mile wind I only put on a light layer of thermals on over my under armour but my feet are dry and warm. Nothing to but wait it out. I could of probably put on a fleece sweater but that would of made it to warm. No deer this morning, but we will see how it goes this is my second stand of the day. I have to pick up my son at 2:00 taking him hunting this afternoon. NW wind is kicking my butt. On stand locations. Oh well it still beats working any day.
Afternoon Stand : I promised my youngest son I would take him hunting today, so we went and set-up at a prime location. Well as you all know I am trying to video tape all of the hunts I do with my kids. Let me tell you, THIS IS HARD. My hats off to every cameraman out there trying to videotape whitetail hunts. My son and I got up into the tree, I had to set a second platform and I was using the Trophyline Tree Saddle, I have to tell you its was awesome for running the camera, although my camera skills are still a lot to be desired. My son and I got into the tree by 4:15 after hauling our bows and our camera equipment. Trophyline send me what they call the Saddle Bag, its mean to hold my Tree Saddle, but it is awesome backpack, that I can attach to the Lonewolf Alpha Tree Stand, which I use for a Platform. But I may be foregoing that in favor of 8 strap on tree steps. Well we were in the tree for about an hour and half when we see a doe at that bottom of the ravine about 75 yards away. My son and I were right in her line of sight, she might of seen Drew-Shawn moving in the tree because she looked right at us, but then the wind changed, she came up the hill and circled us, once she got directly east of us, the jig was up, she took off across the clearing and over to the west side of the pond. After about another 1/2 hour another doe comes through, of course I am fidgeting with the camera so I don't even see her, she gets under the stand on my son's side at 10 yards and he has a stare down contest with her for about 3 minutes then she has had enough and takes off, now he got to experience what we all have experienced, the silent stare, the fake bend the head down and pretend to feed, and the foot stomp. Man was that awesome. Well another 1/2 hour goes by its about 7:00 only about 20 minutes to sundown, and two more does surprise us from the west. Now with hindsight I can see that I set up directly on a wagon wheel of trails. Not a good spot for evening hunting. There's a huge set of oak trees directly behind me and I thought I could catch the deer going to that, but with the angle of how they walk up the two ravines, they will spot us every time. Mental Note, this is a MORNING ONLY STAND.
Well my son and I all and all had a great time. And I wouldn't trade it for the world. He's very happy in his new Sticks N Limbs suit, (Thanks again Berdette and Timm). Tomorrow, I have to forego the video taping as much as I like it, I have to get some deer killed. So I think my video taping will be continuing after we each get a deer killed. Which I am hoping will be within the next week. Full moon tonight and I went driving around there were 5 does in the field by the mall but unfortunately the wind tomorrow will be south. But its supposed to shift SW which may be okay for the Stand that is in the S.E. Corner of the Field. I might be able to catch a doe or two as they are going to bed, Going to be an early morning I have to get into the stand by 4:30am for this to work. Wish me luck. I started my hunt today at four am. I couldn't hardly sleep hoping to get a big fat doe early this morning. Took my usual shower checked the weather.com for weather reports. It was of course raining. But that would not stop me. It was raining pretty hard sunrise was at 6:48, am. So since it was 430 am I thought I would cruise by the mall to see if there were any deer in the field. Well as I pull into the Target parking lot I spot 6 does and two small bucks right on the edge of the parking lot. I am kicking myself because I could of gotten into my east stand instead I scared them right where I should of been, in the stand that is directly over the field exit route. So mental note hunt the mall tomorrow morning. So I head across town to my S1 East blind site. I get all my gear together and get to walking in and I spook a doe didn’t see her but I had to be within 5 yards of her.
SIDE NOTE:
I have been hoping for the rain to stop but it hasn't I don’t know if it will today. Well I left this stand after getting soaked and skunked opening morning. I worked my but off hanging stands but because of the rain was relegated to a ground blind. I went home washed my clothes. My oldest boy wanted to go so we decided to try the same spot. We got on all our gear (thanks to Timm and Berdette coming through for me and my kids.) My son decided he didn’t want to hunt from a Treestand so this being one of the only all day spots we went back. We got into the blind at 430 And settled in for a wait. This is a stand that traditionally the deer don’t know over till last half hour of shooting light. So we are sitting here waiting...
September 15th, 2008: Well the morning started off with the alarm going off at 430. Started the ritual hit snooze twice then get up. There was a west northwest wind. So I decided to hunt LL stand No. 4 Which is 25 yards off the highway. Unfortunately this is a 4 lane so you cannot park there. I pulled into a vacant lot at the trailer park. When I got out a doe was obviously beside one of the trailers because she took off in a hurry. I put on my tree saddle and grabbed my Lone Wolf stand and my new mountain bike. I loaded up and coasted from the truck to my entry point along the highway. It amazed me how quiet and fast I got to the entry point. Now I had tree setup with climbing sticks but not my tree-stand. I proceeded to climb the ladders and set my stand and camera in place the I pulled up my gear.
September 16th 2008: I setup at the Mall I always drive my truck right into the field drop off all of my gear setup my decoy then drive my truck back out I do this do that if there are any deer bedded on the edge I can scare them away with a vehicle. I have been in the stand about an hour my decoy is set up about 30 yards west and about 6 yard south of my stand we have a strong south wind of course its swirling. But these deer mainly exit out of the southeast corner of the field. My thoughts are I saw deer in the far north corner of the field not even 15 yards from the target parking lot last night at 745pm which I am guessing the hit the field around 645 legal shooting light for us is 1/2 hour after sunset. So I have until about 8pm to kill a deer. I here rustling behind me two small does walk out right under my stand they mill around under my stand for 10minutes one of them makes the fatal mistake of walking clear of the brush at 30 yards right up to my decoy. I know my decoy is at 32 yards. I aim for 30 held a bit high. Bad shot hit her very low. I think I hit her in the foot. But looking at the footage I hit her low forward. I remembered something I sighted my bow to my 440 I didn’t recheck it against this archers choice bad move. I can hear her dragging herself around right behind my stand then nothing did she lay down or did she recover wont know until I climb down. Sun is getting ready to set. I am going to wait until dark to look for my deer hopefully she will be dead within a few yards. I was going to wait it out. When I see a fox stalking my decoy. I video tape it for about 15 minutes. He actually scare three does away that were coming in from the north. I get down and go after my arrows its getting darker fast. I start on the blood trail. I get 30 yards north of stand. And there is blood everywhere. I follow it into the cattails but my glasses keep fogging up from the heat.
NOTE TO SELF HEAD SWEAT BANDS AND ANTI FOG TREATMENT ON MY GLASSES. Walking through the reeds I can hear rustling ahead of me. I am thinking how can the deer be alive? I keep on the trail. I get turned around. Lucky for me I have my GPS and I start marking blood trail. If any of you have never used a GPS to mark your stands let me tell you when you are in a cattail marsh in the late evening and its starting to get dark it is nice. It takes another 15 minutes when I finally see my doe I cant believe it. She’s still alive but bleeding out of her front shoulder my glasses are fogging up. I can see she is on her last breath so I hurry up and put another arrow in her she walks 10 yards and drops out of site. Of course its almost dark but I didn’t want the animal to suffer anymore after looking at POI on my GPS I can see she only went like 35 yards in a circle. If I had of backed out she probably would of died but it is 70 degrees and the fox I got on video would of got her. I don’t believe in wasting meat. Anyway for the most part this was great hunt. I got it on video although not award winning footage. I was able to take a decent night picture by adding lights to my backyard setup. During the processing, I see that I hit her quartering but it actually pierced both shoulders and passed through. just clipping vitals but missing the heart. All in all it was a great hunt and I learned a lot about how hard it is to video tape. The decoy makes a lot of difference. The video also made a big difference. that is why I picked up a couple of the Epic Stealth Cams so I can mount them on small tripods or to my decoy itself. Having that Instant Replay really helped me determine that I had gotten a fatal hit. Officially scored - 5 points – jaydub
Tuesday Sept. 16th 2008: morning LLSWP Stand: I am at my LLSWP stand which is a very mature oak in a small grove of mature oaks that border a small pond. I was late this morning getting to the stand which was good and bad because I missed out on getting setup pre daylight hours and good because I was able to see this is where I needed to be. Once I started walking to the stand I could see a deer take off. It was right at 650 am I am about an hour late. So I climb into the stand setup my bow and get settled in. With all this rain we are having bumper acorn crop. Today is supposed to be sunny so I plan to hunt all day until evening. I haven’t put my camera gear up, when a deer appears then another and another. Three young spikes are walking to the pond to drink. Although at any other time I would of taken one for the meat. It is a good sign that my quality management on this property is staring to pay off. I have 3 new potential shooters in the next couple of years. I watch the spikes for a while then they leave in my SnL and with homemade scent killer they never even see or smell me. After they leave I setup my camera gear. Hoping to get a doe harvest on video. Now this is a huge oak grove, so with acorns dropping everywhere its hard to pinpoint deer movement but this stand is between two bedding areas on the corner of three travel routes and on the edge of a large group of mature oaks. I hope deer start moving again soon last year I killed a large spike and two does from this stand and saw numerous mature bucks. I am being pelted by acorns. So I know its only a matter of time until a deer walks through its 9:49am Sept 17th 2008 12:18pm QPMSE Stand I have been busy. I climbed down out of the tree went and for my pole saw and trimmed up some more shooting lanes. This tree is a great spot but I don’t want repeat of last year when I couldn’t shoot that big buck because of branches in the way. I have decide to stick it out until 2:00 pm then I am going to go get into my QPMSE stand because I am seeing does on a regular basis in the field. Last night they were there at 745pm so that means they had to of gotten there at least by 650pm at the latest. Hopefully today will be the day I connect on a nice doe. Sept 17th 2008 445pm I get to the stand. I set up video cameras and get my bow ready. I am trying to run two 3ccd and one epic stealth cam on my bow. The acorns are dropping all around me it is calm with a slight ESE wind. Should be perfect weather. I can hear two hot air balloons almost directly above me. Its 555pm and the woods are starting to get that calm I dropped my water bottle on the ground and I am trying to make a decision of whether or not to go get it. My thermacel is working great and there are no bugs bothering me squirrels are quieting down now I just have to wait for the deer to come. Hopefully soon. I am about 75 yards off the trailer line and the neighborhood is getting quiet. Just a matter of time now. The video cameras I have are great quality except 1major flaw if you are not recording they shut down after 5 min of non use.
10/05/08 QUINCY PLACE MALL:EAST OF TARGET STAND: My daughter JacLynn and I decided that we should go hunting. So around 4pm we got to the QPMNET stand. I had to place another platform up we were both wearing tree saddles. My daughter jaclynn shoots a Diamond edge bow. We decided that we both would run a camera. Well we are seeing zero dee activity. B ut we are hoping to get a doe. I have my trailer completed, but the ac unit I am using will only get the temp down to 52deg f we decide to wait it out. Well about 630pm we hear some movement in the brush several does are milling around. Then all of a sudden they turn and head south. Winded us.Its about 700pm and i help my daughter get down she says Dad there is a deer at the decoy and sure enough there is a spike checking out the feather flex fawn decoy I have.set up. 10-10-08 4pm: After coming home for a few hours because it was too windy to be in a tree stand. I decided to hunt my SEGB standsite. I got to the property doused myself down with homemade scent killer grabbed my bow tripod decoy and camera and headed for my ground blind. Now I am in here at least 2hrs before I expect any movement. My trail cam videos show a doe and her fawns are using this 30 yard wide clearing as a transition area right before dark. I am hoping to get a third deer killed so as to help insure that I get a november buck tag it would be nice to go into the rut with 3 tags then I dont have to be so picky. Last night I drove by my mall property and there were two bucks and 6 does in the field One was a spike the other was an average 7 Pointer. I decided not to hunt there so I woulnd mess it up if more bucks were moving in. have only killed two does this year so far. Its been a little bit tougher because we have a huge acorn crop.Very hard to pattern any of the deer. Last night while driving around I did see a total of 6 bucks which is a good sign. So as I write this story on my PDA I just sit and wait.
10-17-2008 First Buck LLSWP STAND: The alarm went off at 400am after about 6 times of hitting snooze I got up took my shower, checked the weather.com forecast. It was to be a north wind today, so I decided to try something different and hunt my LLSWP stand. So I got all my gear on and headed straight for the stand. I left the house at 530am. I was hoping that there would be deer coming from the north I could ambush. Well after getting settled in the tree I lowered my rattlin bag down and tickled the bag little then I just left it. After two minutes I grunted with my BOWGRUNTER. It was now about 600am and still a bit dark. I do the tickle sequence again and then hit two grunts on the call and wait about 10 minutes goes by and a doe is directly below my stand she came from the east side of the pond right on the levee. I would shoot her but its too dark for my pins so I just sit as quiet as I can. The doe continues to feed under my tree for another 20 minutes. I am holding my breath. The doe keeps coming in from back and forth from behind me. It is driving me crazy. She keeps looking right at me and I am telling you she looked right through me! This definitely is a testimate to the excellent properties of my Sticks N Limbs coveralls. Well finally she leaves. I wait 5 minutes and I jiggle my Treestand Rattlr and hit my bow grunter twice. Then I look to the east, here comes a buck. He looks like a nice buck, I judge him as a 120 8 pointer, biggest buck I have ever shot with a bow. He comes straight into the DropTime mock scrape. SIDE NOTE: The great thing about this hunt was that I had a trail camera on the DropTime and when I got home and checked the trail camera...at 1031pm he was there. That is so awesome! But also Check out the pics of the activity that happened within 24 hours before.
This activity is all under the Pine Tree I hung a Code Blue DROPTIME with dominant buck urine. Its awesome how much the spot under the tree got checked out, these photos are rips from videos taken by my trail camera. He is sniffing the air. Looking for the buck that he smelled and heard. I know he is also sniffing for that doe that just left. He starts upt the trail and then turns and gives me a broadside shot. I draw back my FRED BEAR TRUTH and release a 100gr MUZZY 4blade tipped SATELLITE ARCHERY Bronze arrow. Just when the arrow 
released, the buck turned and he hit the ground instantly flopping. I didnt know what happened. So I immediately knocked another arrow and released it entered into him through the front shoulder he was still moving so of course to be humane I shot another arrow which busted through the lungs. After I calmed down I grabbed my binoculars and looked at the buck. He was definitely dead. I couldnt make out the antlers completley so at first I thought I hit him in the head and broke off the antler. I decided to climb down and my buck was there at the bottom he was there in all his splendor. 8 perfect points largest buck I have ever killed. Bowhunting is the only way to hunt whitetails. I called local Taxidermist Rick Stevens. He said meet him at his shop at 930am. The most awesome part of this hunt was I called this buck in and killed him in my Treesaddle and in my SticksNLimbs. Now I have 3 more buck tags It will be awesome to try this all again.
Nov 9th, 2008 My boys and I decided to go hunting. They would hunt out of a groundblind and I would find a tree to climb. We got to the hunting area about 3:30pm the boys got settled into the ground blind, I went about 75 yards north and about 40 yards west of them. I love my hunting set-up, which consists of a Lone-Wolf Assault, Trophyline Tree Saddle, and EZY Steps. I use a Fieldline Multi-Purpose Bag, I bought two carabiners for it and just clip it to my stand tie my bow to my stand and then just haul it right into the woods. Its a great setup and very quiet. Well after I got up a large oak that was at the head of a long seasonal creek that has a logging road that runs parallel to it on the North and a Large steep ridge that runs parallel to it on the south. on the North border of the road was another very steep ridge. Which makes for an excellent funnel. With a strong northwest wind I was east of what the Topo map showed as a very very thick bedding area. I got into the tree and lowered by Treestand Rattlr and waited. I blew a few grunts on my bowgrunter and waited again. Then about 150 yards away I could see HORNS. Looked like a really nice buck that was coming right down the logging road. I was hoping the buck would cut west of me and head south towards another really thick bedding area, and I was right that is exactly what he did, when he got under my tree I put my sight on him and used my DeadonRangefinder and had him ranged somewhere around 25 yards. I put my 20 yard pin on him and released. The Muzzy tipped arrow zipped right into the front heart area, the buck ran down the ditch and then tried to get up the ridge, but he fell over backwards and down in to the ditch. What an Awesome feeling.
Great buck for me, my third buck ever in my life. My first buck was a Spike I killed last year, and my second buck was this year, this is my Third buck, but only the 2nd one I have had to actually put a "BUCK" tag on. Great feeling, to call in a buck is awesome feeling, its not the biggest deer, but he's big in my book and definitely going on the wall. Thanks to everyone on here who have shared advice. My 3 year quest is working. Here is a photo of this buck ripped from video of my Moultrie Trail camera. He walked right by my stand site at about 2:15am that morning.
11-29-2008 LLNC FREELANCE STAND: I got into the stand about 2:30pm. About 3:00pm a deer steps out of the brush about 75 yard north of me. One thing I want to note this buck was broken UP he was probably a nice 8 pointer at one time, but now he was basically a one sided spike. He was also downwind of me and the wind was calm about 3mph from SSW and he didn't spook. I am wearing the following items. Under armour heat gear shorts pants and shirt. Cheap nylon socks from wall mart (mens white dress socks) 2 pair, one pair of Under Armour baseball socks, One pair of Merino Wool socks from Walmart. Layering the nylon socks was something new and the work awesome for keeping feet dry and warm. My mid layer are Starters copy of Under Armours Cold Gear. Basically what I did was read the specs ont the hunting brands I like ind out what they are made of and then find clothing at a discount store comprised of the same fabric. My outer layer consists of Walls insulated coveralls and then Sticks N Limbs unlined coveralls. My head gear is an acrylic/nylon stretch cap a terry cloth sweatband a fleece stocking cap and my favorite boonie style hat. My boots new for this hunt are Guide Gear 16" snake boots insulated with 1200 thinsulate. I purposely bought them a full size larger both in width and length. I have to tell you with thick socks and layers it makes ALL the difference. Well of course its snowing and raining. I have been watching this buck for an hour. I am not going to shoot him. A doe walks out in front of the buck she gets within 20 yards I take aim and release. The doe jumps I can't see my lumenok or arrow I watch the doe walk away tail up. I figure I missed. I keep looking for my arrow can't find it. I stay in the stand when about 30 minutes later a nother doe comes up the draw. I wait for her to give me a shot she keeps walking through the thick stuff then she stops in an open area 50 yards from my stand. I aim for 45 yards because she is about 10 feet in front of the tree I had ranged. I hear that unmistakeable thud of an arrow that hits home. The deer spins around and takes off after a 10 yard jog it slows down to a walk then a stumble and then I see her fall! Jackpot since I harvested my last buck I have been trying to kill a doe. Seeing these does lets me know that the first heavy duty phase of the rut may be over. I go and collect my doe the blood trail was enourmous the Muzzy 4 blade did its job. I am so excited I get the deer checked in and then head to the police department to pick up my tag which is ready and waiting. Now I can start hunting bucks again. I don't worry that I have hunted hard and the rut may be over but I have a good chance at post rut bucks they will still be chasing does we have able unbred does all the way into Feb. So bucks are still vulnerable. I am hoping to get some serious time in the woods I am on vacation Dec 19th thru Jan 5th so plenty of hunting time to come. Oh that arrow from the first doe I found it and a pile of hair no blood on the arrow so I shot too low it was all white hair. Anyway another successful hunt for the Suburban Bowhunter.
Sunday December 14th, 2008: I decided to get out again and do some more doe hunting. So when the alarm went off at 3:45am. I finally got out of bed at 4:15. Of course through the morning ritual of taking a shower and all that good stuff got dressed and headed out. I was on the road by 4:45am. I hit the woods right about 5:15am. As I am sitting in my tree stand waiting for daylight to show, I think to myself, "I am lucky to be able to do this whenever I have the time." Anyway I see nothing until about 7:30 when a button buck comes out of the brush to the SW of my stand. Hoping that he will come my way with mama doe in tow I wait. It was fun watching him "rub" his little bumps on every dead log he could touch. The big doe came out as well followed by what must of been the button bucks twin another young doe. The worked the ridge to the west of me, but decided to walk the opposite way. The wind really isn't in my favor today, its coming out of the south west and the deer are coming from the south west but I could just as easily have deer come from the north. And that is what happened about 8:30 I see movement about 200 yards north of me on another ridge and here comes the unmistakeable shapes of does and fawns. I watch as they pile out of the timber and onto the abandoned access road. The lead doe gets to the ditch that has the road washed out and decides to turn and go up the hill alongside the highway and right back down around. I have to shift around to the other side of the tree, I love the TREESADDLE for this ability. The lead doe gets about 20 yards from my stand and I release an arrow. ZING right over her back and about 3 feet to the left. I don't know what happened other than I think I hit a small limb between me and her. So she takes off as do all the other deer. I am pretty disgusted that was a nice very mature doe. Not to mention I need to kill at least 3 more does between now and the end of January to insure I have buck tag for early management hunts next year. Anyway, thinking that all is lost, I didn't notice the yearling doe that didn't seem to get the point she was supposed to run away. She really wants to come my way. So I wait she walks under my tree is about 12 yards away and I let another MUZZY tipped arrow go and watch it sink right behind her front leg. She takes of running the arrow still in her so I must of hit the opposite shoulder. I truly expected her to die just a few yards ahead of me. I continue to wait it out and hunt for a another hour or so. But no more deer to be seen. Its about 10am so I climb down pull all my gear together and take it to my deer cart that I had hidden in the bushes about 30 yards from my stand. As I start to look for blood and there is a lot of it in some really thick stuff, I decide that this doe can't be very far, so I take off my tree saddle and pack and decide just to carry my bow and go collect my deer which should be right over the next hill. To make a long story short, 3/4 mile of blood tracking up and down several hills later I jump the doe along with 2 nice 10 pointers and about 17 does. (I think I found a prime mid-day bedding area). The arrow is still in the doe and I had been following quite a lot of blood, so I follow the doe she runs 150 yards or so and lays down again. I try to close the distance, at 75 yards she hops up and goes another 100 yards I can still see her on the opposite ridge. Now I have two choices here. I can back out, and try to come and find her the next day, One problem it is going to rain, no blood trail to follow if I wait. or I can just keep her walking and keep her bleeding. (Jim Daugherty method) So that's what I do, I walk 20 yards she walks 40, I walk another 40 she walks another 60 until finally after we do this dance about 10 times, she gets out of my sight. I decided to keep following the blood and there she is in a creek about 30 yards below me. she is sitting upright, I can't tell if she is dead, so I do the next best thing I nock an arrow and I aim about 4" behind the shoulders and right at her spine. (her back is towards me and I am above her) and the arrow hits home! She jumps up and runs 15 paces and falls over backwards. I am so glad this is over. Only problem is in my haste to follow this blood trail, I am little bit LOST. No problem I say, "I have my phone and google maps and I can get my directions back" only problem BATTERY IS DEAD! Now I am really feeling stupid, because I am in uncharted territory here, I have walked about 2 miles in a bobbing and weaving direction did not bring trail markers with me. Feeling pretty stupid I go and collect the doe and begin dragging her back to where I think there is a 4wheeler trail. This was hard work.Needless to say, I couldn't make it as is. I am pretty deep into the timber and there's an ice storm coming and I don't have phone to call or even a compass with me (VERY VERY STUPID). So what I decide to do is I will walk back into the direction (straightline) towards the sounds of the train which I know is Completely SOUTH of the Property area I am hunting. The doe by this time is getting very hard to drag along with my bow. So I decide I need to gut her. Guess what my knife is in my PACK back at my stand! So I use the only thing I have available, I take one of my muzzy 4blades apart and use a blade to open her up and with her on a steep incline I field dress her with 1/2 a muzzy broad head, worked like a charm. That really lightened her up. As I am gutting the deer I can see that I hit her too far forward. and too low. It was a mortal hit she would of bled out, but no guarantee she wouldn't of gotten up during the storm and I would of lost her the next day. The arrow was still in her it had passed through and broken the opposite shoulder.
After this ordeal, I drag the doe to a 4 wheeler trail that was about 1/2 mile from where I last killed her. I tried to drag her down the trail, but exhausted, I couldn't do it. So I left her on the side of the trail, used the rest of my energy to walk another 3/4 mile or so back to my stand, I collected all my stuff put it in the truck. Then I drove over to the property owner's house and borrowed his John Deere Gator. I went and got the doe that way although I couldn't get the in all the way back to the 4wheeler trail with the gator. I did get within 1000 yards of the doe. Which I hustled to pick up and get into the gator and back to my truck at the property owner's home. I learned a very hard lesson. Never go into the woods even if you know where you are doing without a compass and a map of the area. Never leave your knife. Never leave your daypack with your survival kit and fresh water. Doesn't matter. My reason for pushing the doe was also because the last two does I left for later got eaten up by coyotes in less that 18 hours. Anyway the doe is hanging in my trailer and I will take her to the processor tomorrow some time.
12-26-2008 LL North Sticks Stand: I set this stand up with climbing sticks on Friday the 26th, and just observed the deer pour into the area. Now I have another stand that is on this ridge about 175 yards south of me. But I decided to get towards the end of the saddle. This terrain is very interesting from overhead it looks like a hand, with your fingers corresponding to a different ridge and between the ridges deep saddles that are around 300 yards long and with a deep but gradual slope. Which all dumps to another ridge line. On Friday I watched 112 does pile out of the thick brush. And they all came right to my stand, unfortunately, I couldn't get a shot off because some trees still needed to be cut. But I have to attest to the power of Sticks N' Limbs. I had literally 12 pairs of eyes under my stand and I think they knew there was something there. But I just stood up using my treesaddle and hugged the tree. It was awesome. They all stayed under my tree and I mean I had three does directly under my tree and every other doe was within 7-10 yards of the base of my tree. It was a south wind. They didn't smell me. I really think the fact that I was wearing two layers of synthetic base layers, along with two layers of coveralls synthetic base layers under my ball cap as well. And I have to tell you I was sweating pretty hard when I hung the stand getting in a hurry. Finally they all passed by me about an hour and a half later. It was pretty cool to see the power of the Stick N' Limbs. Now understand something. I only washed my clothes, took my ritual shower. I did not use any scent prevention chemical other than deodorant. The wind on the ridge helped a lot. But you have to understand all of these does came from the north right under my stand with a south wind. I think two things are very important here. My tree stand I used (5) 3' sections of climbing sticks so that puts me right at 21 feet to the bottom of my stand. The deer came from a much lower elevation that was nearly 600 yards away. and came up a gradual slope which I believe carried my scent above the deer's position and by the time they got to my position they were committed to keep on going. 12-28-2008: Since it rained all day yesterday and then it snowed again I figured this afternoon wood be a good time to go back to the stand.
I didn't leave the house until 2:35pm I arrived at my stand about 3:00 I was actually up in my stand by 3:10pm At 3:45 I see movement from the same place as Friday. I had been grunting and bleating prior to that for about 20 minutes. I think that random bleats and grunts especially if you are long ways off from where the deer are coming from help to calm the deer. I also started using a turkey call every few minutes. Before I climbed up into the stand I had squirted buck snort apple scent on several trees in the area. I don't know if it will even work, but hopefully that scent will be stronger on the ground and trees and calm the deer down a bit. As the does get closer a big lead doe comes under my stand directly west of me. (man I wish I had of cut some of those saplings down. When she gets between me and the tree I have marked at 14 yards.
I put my 10 yard pin on her shoulder and hear that THUMP. But I can tell I hit her a little far back, must of torqued my bow. I don't bother following where she went. 3 more does are coming around in front of me. I can't get a shot, those darn saplings. and under brush, but I wait. Finally one walks into a shooting lane, but another one spots me move my head so sllightly. (note to self) we really need some fleece sticks N' Limbs stocking caps. Anyway. I become still, she's not stomping, just looking. but she turns and gets ready to leave, the other two does must of calmed her some because she starts to head south, but this time all the does are east and slightly north of my position about 14 yards. The head bob stare goes on for what seems like an eternity, (probably about 10 minutes) then they had enough of that and start to take off, instead of trying to stop them. I see there is a yearling doe who doesn't quite get it. I draw she's perfectly broadside. I use my Dead-on Rangefinder that's part of my bow site, and see that she more than is in my 15 yard range. I look through my peep again and see that my peep seemed to disappear. Man, what do I do! well I shoot with a peep and a kisser button which is set up to touch the tip of my nose not the corner of my mouth, so I put an eye on either side of the string. Put my 10 yard pin on her shoulder and release. It could not of been a more perfect shot, she runs off and I watch her crash about 40 yards south of my positions (great she's closer to the truck).
The older two does run south and then west. The are now on another ridge looking back at me. What I didn't know was the doe I shot first was sitting right directly behind me about 60 yards, bleeding. I decide to wait her out the. The other two does, want to come back this way, but I think one of them saw me moving around in the tree. She blows and hangs around for about 5 seconds then takes off. The first doe I shot gets up and walks about 45 yards and lays down again. with her back to me. Her head drops up and down. I must of hit liver. There is still one more doe watching me in the tree from about 200 yards away. The first doe I shot is about 150 yards away. on the side of the opposite ridge to west of me. I am hoping she dies there, but no, she doesn't She gets up another time and walks about 20 yards, sits down again. About 5 minutes later she gets up again and walks out of sight into some brush. I decide this time to let her stay. I decide to wait in the tree, its only 4:15 its hard to believe all of this happened in less than one hour. I hope a buck is following them in but no. I search, I see some turkeys that came out of the woods into the clearing that the two does that got away ran into. The walk right where my other doe walked into the brush. I decide that its best to let her lay down. I wait until 4:40 I hear what I think is the faint sound of the death moan, but because where she is probably at is very easy access, I decide to just let her be until tomorrow. I lower all my gear down and gather it up and follow the line of blood to my doe. I am so glad, to get some more meat in the freezer especially since there is only exactly about 29 days of hunting season left. I decide to field dress the deer in the woods I am in a deep ditch, so the critters will get the spoils, it will feed some raccoons, oppossums and foxes here in the area. I get to try my new knife, that I purchased at a gun show a few weeks before,
It is a folding knife with interchangeable blades. I am not sure about the brand, but to make a long story short, it took literally 20 minutes total to get my gear lowered gathered up find my deer and field dress plus bury the guts under some blocks of frozen snow. The blade was easy to use, I just wish they had a skinning blade that fit the handle as well. No matter how you look at it, to be able to hang out at the house all day with my wife, then take a shower around 2:00pm get dressed and get to the stand a little after three and kill two deer by 4:15pm that's living. It reminds me of the old days when we would go in the back field at my parents old farm and shoot rabbits and squirrels and pheasants. Amazing that I get to do this.
12-29-2008: I got out of the house by 3:15pm go to the stand, really just wanting to sit in a tree, and then go and look for my deer. I decided since it was under 20 last night to give that deer a good 18 hours minimum before I went back after her. Well after about an hour in the tree stand I knew that there would be no deer coming, so I climb down take my stuff to my truck and then drive my truck around to the next ridge. I get out and head down the old logging trail and find the place where the doe was laying down last. I can't find any blood after that so I just start heading in the direction of the single tracks that were broke in the frozen snow. I only had to go about 45 yards and there she was right where I thought, dead right next to the fence, my guess is she tried to get up enough muster to jump the fence and fell over backwards. Anyway, I drag her down into the ditch, field dress her with that new knife (Elk Ridge) and then I drag her out of the woods, I am not too happy because I have to drag her through a group of trailers in a cul-de-sac, but I drag her into the shadows just between two trailers where no one is home. I go and get my truck and back it up as close as I can to that spot and then make a mad dash to put her in the back of the truck. When hunting suburban areas you have to be really careful not to offend non-hunters who are the voting majority.
Well after that I take my deer to the fire station to get it checked in. That's two deer down. So I decide its only 5:45 I will drive over to the Mall and see if there are any deer in the field. Generally this field is abandoned by this time of the year. But since we had three days of sunlight the snow melted off of a lot of the field which opened up a lot of green grass. And when I get to the mall there are 9 does bedded down within 10 yards of the parking lot. That makes me very happy. I think I will try to sneak in there tomorrow with a ground bind and harvest one. I purchased 5 more doe tags, today and hopefully I can fill them before the end of January.
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