Just took 4 days and some rain to rescue the plot after overseeding with oats. It sat for 7 weeks only growing some weeds. Pretty satisfying to see the extra effort pay off!
1023's 2024-2025 Journal
- Thread starter bowhunter1023
- Start date
Finally! A little green going on at the farm. Not my best year of food plots, but it wasn't a total loss.
Looking good, Jesse! If history holds you'll end up killing a 250lb twelve point hawg outta there!
Should I start shooting does again? Asking for a friend 
at1010
*Supporting Member*
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Yes. lol that’s my vote.Should I start shooting does again? Asking for a friend
Like clockwork, the first good cold front in October brings new bucks to the farm. We've only had one decent buck on cam until this morning. Great bucks for Ms. Kenna Grace, but I'm still looking for one I'd shoot (the big 6 that I call Lincoln will be in trouble after gun season if I'm still sitting on a tag). These 2 guys rolled in together and left together this morning, so they're not quite enemies yet. This scrape has only seen does until this morning, too. Good start to a nice cold snap!
No licking branch is safe for the next 3-4 weeks!
at1010
*Supporting Member*
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My neighbor texted me last week and she said she shot a "6 point" and a day later, Mr. Consistent took a week hiatus. I was worried it was him, but he's back! He's the oldest and best we have, so he's still my #1 until something else shows up.
I picked up this Redneck blind back in 2021 and I put it where it was convenient knowing that I had other plans for a permanent home, which was done this summer. This is my 3rd sit here and I'm super pleased with the placement. Two decades of experience in this woods played out well and the views are great. We'll have shots into the little food plot to our west with a gun, and the stuff to our east is thick. I'm working to create more bedding to the east and that will only help our cause.
Looking W-NW at the intersection of a N/S holler and an E/W holler. Tons of great bedding to our W about half a mile away on the neighbors.
Looking N-NE at bedding and oaks, with oaks all behind us to the S. This is setup for a northerly wind, but we can hunt high pressure mornings with just about any wind thanks to the thermals. Nice shelf across from us at 75 yards also.
Looking W-NW at the intersection of a N/S holler and an E/W holler. Tons of great bedding to our W about half a mile away on the neighbors.
Looking N-NE at bedding and oaks, with oaks all behind us to the S. This is setup for a northerly wind, but we can hunt high pressure mornings with just about any wind thanks to the thermals. Nice shelf across from us at 75 yards also.
I make my living in development and the organization I run owns a former coal-fired power plant site. Unfortunately, we only bought the core of the plant site and not all the ground because some of it is excellent hunting. We have a little 5 acre area near a stormwater retention pond and the wastewater plant that's decent deer habitat. I've seen deer tracks all over the place and even jump a decent 8 point the week after gun season last year that was laying next to the substation you can see in the background of this picture.
For 4 years, I've threatened to put a cam up and I've always thought it would be cool to kill a deer off one of our properties. Last week, a guy that was out there scoping out the site for a project said he jumped a "massive buck" and sent me a pin. So last Friday, I drove out with a couple cams and a bag of corn. I have multiple daylight pics of does and this gnarly feller showed with wirh only 3 feet.
My goal is to kill one here during the late season just to say I did. If I get to January with a tag and he's still coming in, I'd glady take him out of his misery!
For 4 years, I've threatened to put a cam up and I've always thought it would be cool to kill a deer off one of our properties. Last week, a guy that was out there scoping out the site for a project said he jumped a "massive buck" and sent me a pin. So last Friday, I drove out with a couple cams and a bag of corn. I have multiple daylight pics of does and this gnarly feller showed with wirh only 3 feet.
My goal is to kill one here during the late season just to say I did. If I get to January with a tag and he's still coming in, I'd glady take him out of his misery!
After a night's sleep and a full day's contemplation, I am certain yesterday's morning hunt was the single best hunt in 19 years on the farm and battles Veteran's Day 2003 as the greatest deer hunt of my 24 year archery career. Caveat being nothing died, but the action was unparalleled. What I witnessed in that chase sequence was made for TV drama. I passed 3 solid three year olds, only to see them AND my #1 dogging the same doe, with another promising young buck thrown in the mix.
When the doe hit the ridge top and circled below my stand, the Big 6 went through some of the gnarliest thick stuff and stopped a full sprint to spin on a dime and throw his rack into the buck behind him, letting out a roar like I've only heard one other time (my 2021 buck did it once). I still have no idea how he even knew that other buck was there with all the racket they were making. The woods literally erupted in those moments, with me yelling at him being background noise!
I've been kicking myself all day for how I could have handled it differently, mostly the second encounter. During the first encounter, I did come to full draw, but I couldn't tell you if I ever saw a pin or if I was even looking through my peep. He never stopped and was moving at a good clip, but I feel like a trad guy could have made it count at 3 yards. I wonder if I shouldn't have let it fly, but I felt like it was the right thing to do in the moment. It'll be one of those moments I'll never forget. I was essentially watching one of the most iconic whitetail rut moments in existence while at full draw and I was mesmerized by the moment.
I've worked my ass off for 19 years on that farm for that moment and it almost played out like scripted. My only hope is that it's not another 19 before I experience it again.
When the doe hit the ridge top and circled below my stand, the Big 6 went through some of the gnarliest thick stuff and stopped a full sprint to spin on a dime and throw his rack into the buck behind him, letting out a roar like I've only heard one other time (my 2021 buck did it once). I still have no idea how he even knew that other buck was there with all the racket they were making. The woods literally erupted in those moments, with me yelling at him being background noise!
I've been kicking myself all day for how I could have handled it differently, mostly the second encounter. During the first encounter, I did come to full draw, but I couldn't tell you if I ever saw a pin or if I was even looking through my peep. He never stopped and was moving at a good clip, but I feel like a trad guy could have made it count at 3 yards. I wonder if I shouldn't have let it fly, but I felt like it was the right thing to do in the moment. It'll be one of those moments I'll never forget. I was essentially watching one of the most iconic whitetail rut moments in existence while at full draw and I was mesmerized by the moment.
I've worked my ass off for 19 years on that farm for that moment and it almost played out like scripted. My only hope is that it's not another 19 before I experience it again.
This is the buck I passed up before Halloween. Finally got him on cam. I saw his body and his grey face before I ever got a good look at his rack. I was up, bow in hand and tension on the string when he walked into my shooting lane. That body was false advertising!
It's interesting that my buck may have survived EHD in 2022 based on convos with a DNR biologist and now I have more data that makes me scratch my head...
A new buck showed up this morning and it's the 3rd non-typical I've had on camera this year. I couldn't come up with 3 in the previous 18 years. This ol' boy has the fixings to be something special if he hangs around, but I won't hold my breath. Looks like a run down 4 year old, so I'm going to
and hope for the best!
A new buck showed up this morning and it's the 3rd non-typical I've had on camera this year. I couldn't come up with 3 in the previous 18 years. This ol' boy has the fixings to be something special if he hangs around, but I won't hold my breath. Looks like a run down 4 year old, so I'm going to
and hope for the best!
My cams have been as active in December as they were in October and November. It's honestly been really encouraging to see the level of activity, especially when one of my neighbors told me this week that "they don't know where all the deer went". I just chuckled knowing I'm seeing daylight activity from multiple deer every day. Sitting in the pickup line for my middle daughter, I told the oldest it was a good night to be out with the weather conditions and the moon on the rise early. Wasn't long after that when I got a video of 7 big does in my oats at the farm. Our numbers are good and the pressure during gun season appears to have been nonexistent.
I thought this video was pretty cool. Watch him catch a whiff of something. Whatever it is, he's on it and he doesn't appear spooked at all. I'm wondering if it wasn't a hot doe fawn.
I thought this video was pretty cool. Watch him catch a whiff of something. Whatever it is, he's on it and he doesn't appear spooked at all. I'm wondering if it wasn't a hot doe fawn.
I had one video of this buck in November and wondered if he made it. He's in poll position for next year, but I'd love it if he went underground until 2026. I've seen these genes 3 times in 20 years and they always vanish, so I ain't holding my breath for him!
A man deserves an easy hunt every now and then. We've got a surplus of does and my goal was to kill a couple of the older ones before the end of the season. I took a leisurely stroll down to the "big bottom" this evening to watch football next to a giant sycamore with the wind in my face, hoping a big doe would interrupt my watch party. An hour into my sit, a string of does piled off the ridge and into the food plot. 7 made it into the open, with 2 smaller ones still on the hillside when #7 stepped into the plot at 50 yards. She was the biggest of the batch and she never saw it coming. Just took one Winchester sabot from the Savage 220 to put her down within 50 yards. There were 7 bucks in there last night and 9 slick heads tonight, so I'd say our deer numbers are alright even if we are -1 after today
That's one with the bow and one with a shotgun. Time to tag out with the muzzleloader!
That's one with the bow and one with a shotgun. Time to tag out with the muzzleloader!
Bankfish
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