Steve's 2019 season
- Thread starter Tipmoose
- Start date
There's no hunting the corn field. They planted it right up to the woods. The woods themselves are thick crap with a dried up creek bed running through it. Not allowed to clear anything larger than 3" in diameter.
The only open areas are dominated by non-hunters on golf carts joy riding. So...one makes do.
Once the corn is cut then they will have to bed in the woods and I will be able to hunt the trails leading from the woods into the cut corn. Only other option is the uncut power line easement. Everyone else is hunting there.
What's more likely is that I will kill a couple does or small bucks in missouri and NC and not hunt this place again until early next year when the exact same problems will cause me to do the exact same thing. This cycle will repeat itself until I buy my own land in 5 or 6 years.
(Warning, long post. you TL/DR fuggers can go eat a bag of dicks) 
Since I'm probably not going to get back out into the woods to hunt until Nov 2 in NC, I figured I would share this little gem of a hunt from waaay back in 2008. It was three days before the end of the season.
This morning I decided to go out and try to get a nanny for the freezer. It was such a pretty day, I grabbed my gear and headed out. I made sure I had everything I needed. Knife, cooler, license, gun, ammo, boots, clothes, etc. and off I went. I figured I would just hunt the afternoon and come back home. If I didn't see anything, I'd make a more serious attempt tomorrow and the next day.
I got to the club around 1:45 and pulled on my boots and camo. It wasn't cold, so I didn't wear the heavy wool socks I normally wear. Nobody else was hunting, so I had the whole place to myself. Deciding to be adventurous, I started off down the road to our most remote tower stand. I stopped by to check on the pace of logging on the property and continued on to the stand. By the time I'd gotten there, my thin socks had caused a blister to start on my heel. No big deal, really, I thought. Just had one more trip back to endure and I was set.
The day was just gorgeous...blue sky, a light breeze, and pleasant temps. I sat in the stand and didn't really care if anything came out. I was just happy to be hunting.
Around 4:50, a doe and two yearlings came out into the food plot, about 200 yards away. I brought my rifle up and watched em. As they got closer, I saw that the doe wasn't an old girl. Probably 1.5 years old. I had decided to let her walk...but noticed that she spent more time staring at the stand than she did eating or walking. Just staring intently in that way that deer do. She'd stretch her head up....lower it down....stare...chew...stare some more. Gradually she and the others walked to about 100 yards away and the closer she got, the more she eyed that stand.
I reconsidered my decision and decided to take the smart little beyotch out.
I sighted in on her and had to wait for a good 10 min before she and the yearlings would clear each other and still give me a shot. Finally it happened, and I touched off the .300. All of them ran into the woods and I was left wondering if I missed. So down I went and searched.
I found lots of blood. Obscene amounts of it. Bright red...but not frothy. I knew she was dead and so I trailed her and eventually found her. The woods looked like a crime scene...blood had been sprayed everywhere. It was a trail Ray Charles could have followed. After a bit I found her and dragged her back to the shooting lane.
Rather than walk all the way back around the block of woods in front of me, I decided to just cut along the far edge and hit the road that way. See? Being smart! Reducing the amount of time I would be on my blistered foot. So off I went humming a happy tune.
When I got to my truck, back in the parking area, I stopped and shook my head. The keys were in my backpack which was still in the tower. Dangit dangit dangit. My heel is starting to feel like someone is holding a hot poker to it...and now I have to go do the entire round trip again.
So...off I went. All the way back down the road...off the path...up the tower....got my backpack...flipped the deer over so she could drain more. The SSTs are just BRUTAL on deer. It left an exit wound a beer can would fit in. A small limp had developed by this time. But I was determined not to let it bother me.
When I finally arrived back at the truck, I was dragging my foot like the creepy assistant in the horror movies who says "Walk...this way..." and limps into the castle. Anyway, I was thrilled to finally get into my sneakers and jeans and out of my boots and insulated camo. And into the truck I climbed and off to my deer I went.
I opened the gate and drove around to where she was and loaded her up into the truck. Not a big deal after all. My heel would heal. (yes...bad joke). In no time at all, I got back to the gate and pulled through...got out to lock it...and my deer was gone. She was no longer on the back of my truck...she'd fallen off. So, stifling a curse, I got back in the truck and went back around to look for her. I went all the way back to where I had loaded her up. No deer. So, I turned around again and drove back to the gate very slowly. Sure enough...there she was. 10 yards from the gate.
With tire tracks on her snoot.
Yes....I had run over my deer. I got out and ran over to her to inspect the damage. Luckily, I had straddled her body and just clipped her nose and hind legs. But nothing was really even damaged...you see...she had fallen into a very large mud hole. I discovered this by stepping into it in the dark.
In my beloved sneakers...remember.
So I dragged a bloody, tire marked, muddy, dead doe out of the ditch and square into a blackberry bramble. I took off all my insulated camo...remember. Its so much fun to try and detach several thorn brambles from the back of a flannel shirt at night. Finally I got her hauled up onto the truck and back to the skinning rack. It was 8PM.
The rest of the evening went fairly straightforward. I weighed her and dressed her out. The SST ruined most of the shoulder meat even though I had shot several inches behind and below the shoulder. But dang do they leave a good blood trail.
So, after quartering her out and dumping the carcass...cleaning up...and pouring four bags of ice on her, I drove home.
And I as I pulled into the driveway of my home in a built out subdivision....I am not making this up....five deer looked up at me from the sideyard of my house, snorted, and took off across the road.
*shakes head* What a day.
Since I'm probably not going to get back out into the woods to hunt until Nov 2 in NC, I figured I would share this little gem of a hunt from waaay back in 2008. It was three days before the end of the season.
This morning I decided to go out and try to get a nanny for the freezer. It was such a pretty day, I grabbed my gear and headed out. I made sure I had everything I needed. Knife, cooler, license, gun, ammo, boots, clothes, etc. and off I went. I figured I would just hunt the afternoon and come back home. If I didn't see anything, I'd make a more serious attempt tomorrow and the next day.
I got to the club around 1:45 and pulled on my boots and camo. It wasn't cold, so I didn't wear the heavy wool socks I normally wear. Nobody else was hunting, so I had the whole place to myself. Deciding to be adventurous, I started off down the road to our most remote tower stand. I stopped by to check on the pace of logging on the property and continued on to the stand. By the time I'd gotten there, my thin socks had caused a blister to start on my heel. No big deal, really, I thought. Just had one more trip back to endure and I was set.
The day was just gorgeous...blue sky, a light breeze, and pleasant temps. I sat in the stand and didn't really care if anything came out. I was just happy to be hunting.
Around 4:50, a doe and two yearlings came out into the food plot, about 200 yards away. I brought my rifle up and watched em. As they got closer, I saw that the doe wasn't an old girl. Probably 1.5 years old. I had decided to let her walk...but noticed that she spent more time staring at the stand than she did eating or walking. Just staring intently in that way that deer do. She'd stretch her head up....lower it down....stare...chew...stare some more. Gradually she and the others walked to about 100 yards away and the closer she got, the more she eyed that stand.
I reconsidered my decision and decided to take the smart little beyotch out.
I sighted in on her and had to wait for a good 10 min before she and the yearlings would clear each other and still give me a shot. Finally it happened, and I touched off the .300. All of them ran into the woods and I was left wondering if I missed. So down I went and searched.
I found lots of blood. Obscene amounts of it. Bright red...but not frothy. I knew she was dead and so I trailed her and eventually found her. The woods looked like a crime scene...blood had been sprayed everywhere. It was a trail Ray Charles could have followed. After a bit I found her and dragged her back to the shooting lane.
Rather than walk all the way back around the block of woods in front of me, I decided to just cut along the far edge and hit the road that way. See? Being smart! Reducing the amount of time I would be on my blistered foot. So off I went humming a happy tune.
When I got to my truck, back in the parking area, I stopped and shook my head. The keys were in my backpack which was still in the tower. Dangit dangit dangit. My heel is starting to feel like someone is holding a hot poker to it...and now I have to go do the entire round trip again.
So...off I went. All the way back down the road...off the path...up the tower....got my backpack...flipped the deer over so she could drain more. The SSTs are just BRUTAL on deer. It left an exit wound a beer can would fit in. A small limp had developed by this time. But I was determined not to let it bother me.
When I finally arrived back at the truck, I was dragging my foot like the creepy assistant in the horror movies who says "Walk...this way..." and limps into the castle. Anyway, I was thrilled to finally get into my sneakers and jeans and out of my boots and insulated camo. And into the truck I climbed and off to my deer I went.
I opened the gate and drove around to where she was and loaded her up into the truck. Not a big deal after all. My heel would heal. (yes...bad joke). In no time at all, I got back to the gate and pulled through...got out to lock it...and my deer was gone. She was no longer on the back of my truck...she'd fallen off. So, stifling a curse, I got back in the truck and went back around to look for her. I went all the way back to where I had loaded her up. No deer. So, I turned around again and drove back to the gate very slowly. Sure enough...there she was. 10 yards from the gate.
With tire tracks on her snoot.
Yes....I had run over my deer. I got out and ran over to her to inspect the damage. Luckily, I had straddled her body and just clipped her nose and hind legs. But nothing was really even damaged...you see...she had fallen into a very large mud hole. I discovered this by stepping into it in the dark.
In my beloved sneakers...remember.
So I dragged a bloody, tire marked, muddy, dead doe out of the ditch and square into a blackberry bramble. I took off all my insulated camo...remember. Its so much fun to try and detach several thorn brambles from the back of a flannel shirt at night. Finally I got her hauled up onto the truck and back to the skinning rack. It was 8PM.
The rest of the evening went fairly straightforward. I weighed her and dressed her out. The SST ruined most of the shoulder meat even though I had shot several inches behind and below the shoulder. But dang do they leave a good blood trail.
So, after quartering her out and dumping the carcass...cleaning up...and pouring four bags of ice on her, I drove home.
And I as I pulled into the driveway of my home in a built out subdivision....I am not making this up....five deer looked up at me from the sideyard of my house, snorted, and took off across the road.
*shakes head* What a day.
A trail that ray charles could have followed* lol.
Congrats, man.
Congrats, man.
(Warning, long post. you TL/DR fuggers can go eat a bag of dicks)
Since I'm probably not going to get back out into the woods to hunt until Nov 2 in NC, I figured I would share this little gem of a hunt from waaay back in 2008. It was three days before the end of the season.
This morning I decided to go out and try to get a nanny for the freezer. It was such a pretty day, I grabbed my gear and headed out. I made sure I had everything I needed. Knife, cooler, license, gun, ammo, boots, clothes, etc. and off I went. I figured I would just hunt the afternoon and come back home. If I didn't see anything, I'd make a more serious attempt tomorrow and the next day.
I got to the club around 1:45 and pulled on my boots and camo. It wasn't cold, so I didn't wear the heavy wool socks I normally wear. Nobody else was hunting, so I had the whole place to myself. Deciding to be adventurous, I started off down the road to our most remote tower stand. I stopped by to check on the pace of logging on the property and continued on to the stand. By the time I'd gotten there, my thin socks had caused a blister to start on my heel. No big deal, really, I thought. Just had one more trip back to endure and I was set.
The day was just gorgeous...blue sky, a light breeze, and pleasant temps. I sat in the stand and didn't really care if anything came out. I was just happy to be hunting.
Around 4:50, a doe and two yearlings came out into the food plot, about 200 yards away. I brought my rifle up and watched em. As they got closer, I saw that the doe wasn't an old girl. Probably 1.5 years old. I had decided to let her walk...but noticed that she spent more time staring at the stand than she did eating or walking. Just staring intently in that way that deer do. She'd stretch her head up....lower it down....stare...chew...stare some more. Gradually she and the others walked to about 100 yards away and the closer she got, the more she eyed that stand.
I reconsidered my decision and decided to take the smart little beyotch out.
I sighted in on her and had to wait for a good 10 min before she and the yearlings would clear each other and still give me a shot. Finally it happened, and I touched off the .300. All of them ran into the woods and I was left wondering if I missed. So down I went and searched.
I found lots of blood. Obscene amounts of it. Bright red...but not frothy. I knew she was dead and so I trailed her and eventually found her. The woods looked like a crime scene...blood had been sprayed everywhere. It was a trail Ray Charles could have followed. After a bit I found her and dragged her back to the shooting lane.
Rather than walk all the way back around the block of woods in front of me, I decided to just cut along the far edge and hit the road that way. See? Being smart! Reducing the amount of time I would be on my blistered foot. So off I went humming a happy tune.
When I got to my truck, back in the parking area, I stopped and shook my head. The keys were in my backpack which was still in the tower. Dangit dangit dangit. My heel is starting to feel like someone is holding a hot poker to it...and now I have to go do the entire round trip again.
So...off I went. All the way back down the road...off the path...up the tower....got my backpack...flipped the deer over so she could drain more. The SSTs are just BRUTAL on deer. It left an exit wound a beer can would fit in. A small limp had developed by this time. But I was determined not to let it bother me.
When I finally arrived back at the truck, I was dragging my foot like the creepy assistant in the horror movies who says "Walk...this way..." and limps into the castle. Anyway, I was thrilled to finally get into my sneakers and jeans and out of my boots and insulated camo. And into the truck I climbed and off to my deer I went.
I opened the gate and drove around to where she was and loaded her up into the truck. Not a big deal after all. My heel would heal. (yes...bad joke). In no time at all, I got back to the gate and pulled through...got out to lock it...and my deer was gone. She was no longer on the back of my truck...she'd fallen off. So, stifling a curse, I got back in the truck and went back around to look for her. I went all the way back to where I had loaded her up. No deer. So, I turned around again and drove back to the gate very slowly. Sure enough...there she was. 10 yards from the gate.
With tire tracks on her snoot.
Yes....I had run over my deer. I got out and ran over to her to inspect the damage. Luckily, I had straddled her body and just clipped her nose and hind legs. But nothing was really even damaged...you see...she had fallen into a very large mud hole. I discovered this by stepping into it in the dark.
In my beloved sneakers...remember.
So I dragged a bloody, tire marked, muddy, dead doe out of the ditch and square into a blackberry bramble. I took off all my insulated camo...remember. Its so much fun to try and detach several thorn brambles from the back of a flannel shirt at night. Finally I got her hauled up onto the truck and back to the skinning rack. It was 8PM.
The rest of the evening went fairly straightforward. I weighed her and dressed her out. The SST ruined most of the shoulder meat even though I had shot several inches behind and below the shoulder. But dang do they leave a good blood trail.
So, after quartering her out and dumping the carcass...cleaning up...and pouring four bags of ice on her, I drove home.
And I as I pulled into the driveway of my home in a built out subdivision....I am not making this up....five deer looked up at me from the sideyard of my house, snorted, and took off across the road.
*shakes head* What a day.
Yes,,, "what a day."
Thoroughly enjoyed your sharing Steve!
Congrats on making sure your doe made it to your freezer, one way or the other
Big_Holla
Senior Member
triple_duece
Ragin Cajun.
- 9,641
- 159
Here’s a great tip. After hunting before putting your xbow up, hook your cocking rope just like you were fixing to load it. This way you can’t forget it.
Ive got some travel planned for the next three weeks. And I'm excited about it. NC this weekend and Missouri two weekends later.
This weekend, for the first time in 10 years I will be heading into the woods with my 50 cal T/C Hawken side lock. NC's central area muzzle loader season opens on 11/2. A friend of mine and I are going to be hunting my old stomping grounds outside Stem, NC this weekend. He will be using my normal T/C Triumph inline. The Triumph is sighted in at 100 yards using 90gn of triple seven loose powder behind a 250gn Hornady SST in a red sabot. The Hawken will cloverleaf four maxi hunter slugs at 50 yards when pushed by 80 gn of pyrodex loose powder. Last time I shot it, I got a full pass through at 70 yards on a 140 lb buck, so I'm optimistic.
The weather looks beautiful. The first real cold snap of the season is coming through on Friday night. Lows in the 30s. Highs in the 50s. There will be a nice, consistent 7-10 MPH North wind which will make some of the better stands on the property huntable. The deer haven't been hunted at all this year...the club doesn't bow hunt. So it should be as good as it gets.
I think I will stop by the old feed store in Creedmore on the way down and pick up some corn. Yea i know...but that's how its done down there. The other guys in the club will appreciate their spots freshened up too. I'm thinking I'll be hunting out of an old tobacco barn called 2nd barn. Not sure where Pete will opt for. Maybe I'll put him in what we call the RB stand.
Gonna have to go get some firewood on the way. Also had to go get a breech plug wrench for the Triumph and a nipple wrench for the Hawken. Also picked up some 209 primers and No 11 percussion caps. The ones I have are ancient...don't trust them. Also discovered they have pine scented bore butter now. Who knew? Picked up a tube of that so I can reapply the lube to the old maxi-hunter slugs. The stuff that was on there has long since dried up.
Planning on bringing two coolers, my tent cot, a spare tent for Pete (last time he brought a cot and a tarp and wrapped himself in that.) and everything else. Game cart...check. Pre weighed pyrodex and 777 charges in plastic water proof test tubes? check, Picked the tubes up from my old lab rat days in school. Made sure all of my old ML gear is in one spot and ready to go.
Just gotta load up and get there. Wish us luck!
This weekend, for the first time in 10 years I will be heading into the woods with my 50 cal T/C Hawken side lock. NC's central area muzzle loader season opens on 11/2. A friend of mine and I are going to be hunting my old stomping grounds outside Stem, NC this weekend. He will be using my normal T/C Triumph inline. The Triumph is sighted in at 100 yards using 90gn of triple seven loose powder behind a 250gn Hornady SST in a red sabot. The Hawken will cloverleaf four maxi hunter slugs at 50 yards when pushed by 80 gn of pyrodex loose powder. Last time I shot it, I got a full pass through at 70 yards on a 140 lb buck, so I'm optimistic.
The weather looks beautiful. The first real cold snap of the season is coming through on Friday night. Lows in the 30s. Highs in the 50s. There will be a nice, consistent 7-10 MPH North wind which will make some of the better stands on the property huntable. The deer haven't been hunted at all this year...the club doesn't bow hunt. So it should be as good as it gets.
I think I will stop by the old feed store in Creedmore on the way down and pick up some corn. Yea i know...but that's how its done down there. The other guys in the club will appreciate their spots freshened up too. I'm thinking I'll be hunting out of an old tobacco barn called 2nd barn. Not sure where Pete will opt for. Maybe I'll put him in what we call the RB stand.
Gonna have to go get some firewood on the way. Also had to go get a breech plug wrench for the Triumph and a nipple wrench for the Hawken. Also picked up some 209 primers and No 11 percussion caps. The ones I have are ancient...don't trust them. Also discovered they have pine scented bore butter now. Who knew? Picked up a tube of that so I can reapply the lube to the old maxi-hunter slugs. The stuff that was on there has long since dried up.
Planning on bringing two coolers, my tent cot, a spare tent for Pete (last time he brought a cot and a tarp and wrapped himself in that.) and everything else. Game cart...check. Pre weighed pyrodex and 777 charges in plastic water proof test tubes? check, Picked the tubes up from my old lab rat days in school. Made sure all of my old ML gear is in one spot and ready to go.
Just gotta load up and get there. Wish us luck!
