Brock's deer hunts '12-'13

[badger]

They say patience is a virtue, and I'm thinking you will be rewarded for yours!

 

[brock ratcliff]

Here's some pics...

 

[brock ratcliff]

They say patience is a virtue, and I'm thinking you will be rewarded for yours!

Thanks, Dale. Patience is about all I have on my side.

 

[finelyshedded]

Nice pics Brock. It is wide open where you're sitting! Good luck.

 

[brock ratcliff]

I've got the itch to get out. There is a good one living across the road from my house right now. Not much to hunt, but there is a standing cornfield that he seems to be spending a good deal of time in. It's a good spot to still hunt. With the windy and wet conditions, I am sure I could sneak up on him if I can see him before he sees me. So, I think I am going to slip over there and snoop around probably late in the morning after I drop my truck off to a buddy for some repairs. I've never seen him up close to know exactly what he is, but he's a pretty good one. Heck, I may shoot a doe if I can sneak up on one over there too. No point in trying to save 'em over there. Once that field is picked they will be gone, and every gun hunter around drives those ditches once that season starts.

 

[finelyshedded]

Good luck in the morn Brock!

 

[brock ratcliff]

Thanks, Ric!

 

[Fluteman]

Good luck Brock! I just don't have the patients to still hunt, so I admire anyone who can do it!

 

[brock ratcliff]

Greg, do it a time or two and you will see it doesn't take patience. Most exciting way to hunt, never a dull moment as you are actively looking for your quarry in his home, where you KNOW he is. He's there somewhere, just gotta find him before he finds you, and surprisingly, you can do it more often than most would think. Nothing better than looking down into a brush pile 15 yards away and seeing that sucker laying there unaware!

 

[Gordo]

I cant wait to be able to do that with the recurve.

These wet and windy days seem like they'd be perfect for it, other then losing a blood trail.

From the little experience i have, it seems to b a hell of a wrk out also.

 

[epe]

I can't still hunt until there is snow on the ground. No patience...

 

[hickslawns]

Best of luck today Brock!

 

[badger]

Greg, do it a time or two and you will see it doesn't take patience. Most exciting way to hunt, never a dull moment as you are actively looking for your quarry in his home, where you KNOW he is. He's there somewhere, just gotta find him before he finds you, and surprisingly, you can do it more often than most would think. Nothing better than looking down into a brush pile 15 yards away and seeing that sucker laying there unaware!

I've tried it a few times here in Ohio without much luck. They always spot me before I can spot them. However I have stalked a few hogs in Texas, and it is a rush!

Good luck out there this morning Brock!

 

[xbowguy]

Nice Pic's Brock. There is just something about pic 5 of 6......I can just see a searching buck coming out of the thicker stuff, across that opening and headded up the fence line. (To take a dirt nap of course)

 

[brock ratcliff]

Nice Pic's Brock. There is just something about pic 5 of 6......I can just see a searching buck coming out of the thicker stuff, across that opening and headded up the fence line. (To take a dirt nap of course)

That is exactly what they do, Xbow! I've seen countless deer round the end of that fencerow over the years. It is a perfect location. Deer use it heavily, but I don't have to tromp through any cover to get to it. Sneak in, sneak out. There are thick patches of cover on every side of it. It is the "hub of the wheel". I have two of these set-ups up there this year that I've never been able to hunt before.

 

[brock ratcliff]

Well that was fun, but I didn't kill anything.
I slipped through a brushy ditch that has standing corn on both sides of it. I know from rabbit hunting over there a lot that deer tend to get down in the ditch on windy days. Seemed like as good a day as any to sneak through and try to kill one in it's bed. As I moved along, I saw a cat doing the same thing as me - looking for something to eat. I should have killed the thing but I wanted to snap a pic of it. It caught me digging for my phone and slid into the corn. 10 yards of a feral cat is pretty good. I got a poor pic of him as he took off.

I moved on up the ditch to where I suspected there would be deer. And there was, but only one and it was a small buck. I saw him bedded under a brushy tree on the bank just above the ditch. He didn't have a clue I was there, though he was looking in my direction. I knew he wasn't one I'd shoot, though I think I could have. He just laid there kinda in a daze, but when I started digging around in my pocket for my phone he took off. He didn't blast out as they often do, he just stood up slowly, tucked his tail as scooted into the corn. Pretty darn fun! I finished sneaking up the ditch, but didn't see anything else. Not a bad way to kill an hour or two on a crappy-weather day.

I snapped a pic of the buck's hiding spot...recently vacated.
The other pic is the cat getting the heck outta Dodge.

 

[brock ratcliff]

OOPS Don't know where the pics went.

 

[finelyshedded]

Very cool hunt Brock!

A few weeks ago I went to pull some cards and was like a ninja not making a sound on my 400 yard walk. Waiting for the wind to pick up before walking again and the whole nine yards. Got to a grassy spot connecting 2 cornfields and looked down to my right and there was a cat crouched down facing away waiting for a mouse or something. I hissed loudly and it about came out of its skin. Lol
Had a great pull TOO. Hehehe

 

[brock ratcliff]

Cool story, Ric. Cats are actually pretty hard to sneak up on...but like deer, their senses are probably dulled on days like today. The wind whipping limbs and weeds around covers your movement. Wet conditions make traveling silent. Strong winds make their nose useless if you keep it in your face or ear. They are just at the mercy of luck on these days. Give me a day like this with a shotgun and things get bloody real quick! Still, I'd rather wait on 'em to walk by on a relatively calm day!

 

[brock ratcliff]

The wind has laid down. I'm going in the morning. I bet I'm up before the alarm too. One of my Fayette Co. buddies killed a dandy tonight... Time to go!