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Hickslawns Hunting log

hickslawns

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39,721
248
Ohio
1. First week of the season: Wild Ohio Whitetail. Deer seen, too many to count. Well over 100, possibly mid 100's to 200. Bucks seen: 6 on the same night. One decent 8pt approximately 130”, otherwise spikes and young bucks. Not counting any hunting time from this one week hunt towards my regular season as it was a unique experience which will not be repeated every year.


2. Farm East- Wed, Oct 12 4pm-8pm. Deer seen-8. Doe with triplets, young buck bumped just east of double stand, 2 young bucks pushing around a young doe.

Winds out of the east calm to 5-6mph.

Entry to double stand from Dead end Lane.

Exit- Sat in stand forever waiting for deer to clear out. Tough to exit and did not bump any deer until several hundred yards away in the middle of the field to the west. Half way to truck or more.

Preferred food- doe and triplets came out of the bottom, across food plot on power line, and munched acorns behind double stand. Young bucks and young doe grazed a little on grasses and weeds but were more interested in checking licking branches just west and northwest of the double stand.

Deer movement from approximately 6pm on.

Time on stand- 4 hours
Deer seen- 8
Deer seen per hour- 2/hr
Shots taken- zero
 

hickslawns

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Ohio
Showering up, smoking up, and hitting the woods as soon as I can. Going to brave the winds in a stand off the edges of the property. Not quite time to move in any farther onto the property until we have to. Not quite killing time yet, but you never know what can happen. I am hoping for a shot at a doe tonight or there is a small chance at buck activity from this stand. At least I will be hunting in a good observation stand.
 

hickslawns

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Thanks guys! The night was eventful from start to finish! Had one of the two shooters on the hitlist within 50-60yds. He fed his way towards me all night. First appeared at 6pm and just inched his way in. I needed another 30yds out of him to be in my shooting lane and comfort zone for shot opportunity. Once he finally got to the 50-60yd mark, he just decided to turn and feed back the other direction. Talk about frustrating!

Only other shot opportunities I had were fawns and yearlings. I did have a mature doe with triplets under 20 yds but she walked straight towards me. She finally stopped with some branches in the way but was quartering to way too much. She was upwind of me and I am not sure what made her stop. She stood there and stomped several minutes. She was not looking up, but I still did not dare move. All I could think was the big boy finally made his way closer and here I am facing this momma doe frozen in place. aaaarrrgh! Then, out of nowhere a fork horn and small basket 6-8pt buck came traipsing through and she did a 180 and led her fawns directly away from me. Never did get a broadside shot for more than a split second. Even so, there were a couple twigs in the way. Winds were out of the WSW tonight.

Time on stand- 3hrs
Deer seen- 9
Deer per hour-3
Shots taken- zero

Season- Time on stand-7hrs
Deer seen-17
Avg deer seen per hour-2.428
Shots taken- zero
 
Last edited:

hickslawns

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39,721
248
Ohio
Yeehaw! This tree is a rockin'! In the stand, phone is going away and bow will be in hand!

Sent from my BlackBerry 9630 using Tapatalk
 

hickslawns

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39,721
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Ohio
"Can't kill them from the couch?" "Don't know if you don't go hunting?"

Well, sometimes you can hunt because the conditions are all perfect. Sometimes, you go because you know you can't kill them from the couch. Tonight was one of those nights. It was majorly windy. It was raining off and on. Did I mention it was windy? Ended up seeing one deer believe it or not.

Time on stand: 3hrs
Deer seen: 1
Shots taken: None
 

hickslawns

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Ohio
All I am saying is the one deer I saw must have been as dumb as me. But. . . you just never know. If the winds would have died down the last half hour or so, it could have been worth every blast of wind and rain. You gotta put in your time if you wanna kill them. Maybe I should have stayed home, got to bed early, and put in my time in the morning though. I can admit this. Now. lol Needed to get out and clear my mind though. I can say honestly, while I was in the stand, I wasn't thinking about anything else in the world. Rather be in the stand with nothing happening, then home working or dealing with some personal headaches. My wife actually suggested I get out and clear my mind. Man, I love that woman!
 

hickslawns

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Ohio
Made it out again tonight. Work and family had me getting into the stand a little later than I intended. Thankfully I didn't bump any while setting up shop. Hunted 3 hours again. Saw 6 anterless, and one small buck late in the hunt. Not sure what was going on. Generally we are covered up with deer on this property. Maybe with the high water in the creek right now they just aren't crossing it. Possible I only saw the deer on the south side of the creek. Closest any of them got to me was 100-150yds. Just not happening during bow season. Winds were out of the WSW about 6-8mph. Skies were mostly clear and it is supposed to drop to 35 tonight. It was around mid-50's while in the stand.

Hours hunted: 3
Deer seen: 7
Shots taken: zero

Season total:
Hours hunted: 13
Deer seen: 26
Shots taken: zero
 

hickslawns

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Alrighty! 4hrs sleep and was up getting ready this morning.

Slid in a tad later than I wanted but did not bump anything. Was in stand just after 7am on the NE corner of the property. SSW winds 5-8mph, so this was about all I could do for a stand if I wanted to hunt today. Deer were actively moving. Saw 15 deer up to about 8am then things quieted down. Would occasionally see some stand up, mill around, nibble on some grasses, then bed down again in the distance. Unfortunately, 14 of these deer moved 100-200yds west of me. Kinda sucks when you watch them come in, cross the food sources, and bed down, but you just can't do anything but watch. However, if you are playing the wind, trying your best to keep the deer unpressured, and not on the offensive, this is not terrible. Besides the fact, I felt one of my target bucks was spending most of his time in the field directly behind me and downwind of me.

Fast forward to 9am. Here comes a basket 6 or 8pt on full spring followed by a "deer's length" by a bigger buck. The larger of the two was probably 100-110" deer but I could not get a great look given their speed. I could tell he was at least an 8pt, had good mass, and was just inside his ears. And to think I was beginning to think about getting out of the stand?

I stay put for another 30minutes. I am not sure if they were spooked by a coyote, someone was on the property to the north of me, or (hopefully) there was a big boy that ran them off. I could occasionally hear what I thought was antlers rubbing on a tree or leaves crunching behind me. I would turn to look and see nothing. Keep in mind, the visibility behind my stand is minimal. Too many saplings growing up in the overgrown fence row I was sitting in. I have great cover. There are great shot opportunities to the west and south, but to my east or north it is an overgrown fence row. Finally, at around 10am I decide I am going to pack up while there is a train covering some of my noise going by on the tracks.

I slide down the stand, nock my arrow again, and decide to do a stealthy walk along the fence row edge/property line to look for scrapes and rubs. As I get 1/2 to 2/3 of the way down the fence row I look into the overgrown field. I was examining broken off tree limbs, and multiple shredded shrubs/trees. I notice a huge bush in the middle of the field about 6' tall and the size of my truck bed. Am I seeing things? Those look like some antlers in there. I grab my binoculars and look. Hard to tell. I stand up and look to find some typical antlers on one side with the other side well concealed. For only seeing one side, there was some major mass and antlers taking place inside that bush! I kneel back down and shed my Gamegear Bowbag. I am down to a grunt tube, bow, and binoculars making my plan of attack. I was down wind. I was 30 yards from this buck's cover. I had no shot. I was on a mowed path which allowed me to stalk/walk to the truck quietly, but to get any closer I am going to have to go through a field of stubble and weeds. Not going to be quiet and the winds are pretty calm at the time. I decide to sit tight and wait. Hopefully another train comes through soon.

I considered finding better cover and attempting to grunt or rattle towards the buck. I just didn't know if he was facing me or looking away. I didn't know if he had seen me or was cluelessly bedded. I am still sitting tight for now approximately 10-15minutes. I finally see the slightest movement and I come up off my heels which I was resting my butt checks on and prepare to draw. Too late. He runs directly away from me with the bush still blocking any potential shot. He made 3-5 bounds and was in the corner of the field maybe 75yds away. He stops to look back. I am still on my knees holding my bow like it was a nerf bow. Might as well have been. It was pretty useless at this point. After looking back, he takes another hop, then seems to just walk off into the cover of the fence row and woods.

He did give me enough of a look to know which buck it was though. It was the double main beam buck. Yep. One of the bucks on my hitlist. Tall, heavy, awesome typical side, and one funky side. Strike two for me. Had him in the same field earlier in the week for over an hour watching him as close as 50-60yds. Had him on the ground at 30yds today. That old buck is pretty sharp. Give me time though. He will slip up sooner or later.

Time on stand 715-1015am
Deer seen: 18
Shots taken: Zip
 

finelyshedded

You know what!!!
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Sounds like an awesome hunt Phil! Killin' em on the ground is a challenge. They don't miss a thing! Goodluck and keep after em!