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1023's Season Chronicles

bowhunter1023

Owner/Operator
Staff member
48,879
274
Appalachia
This is the coolest sit on our farm. If I have guests, this is where I put them on any southerly wind. Eventually, I'll have a platform built for a blind right on the edge of the crop field and over looking this plot. It's prime for kids. And we may be booting the guy farming our place, which means I'll gain a 3 acre food plot that'll become a "playground" for me. Think Egyptian what grass border, strips of corn alternating with green food sources. 😎
 

bowhunter1023

Owner/Operator
Staff member
48,879
274
Appalachia
This is the aerial from last fall and you can see how corn is a real game-changer in this spot. My food plot is outlined in green. The red X is the stand on the edge of that plot with a 30-40' drop off into the holler right behind it. The red X in the middle to the SW of there is located at the head of a side drainage that dumps into our Pond Holler, which is the N/S running holler you see on the aerial. That stand covers 2 great trails that connect the bedding on the S side of the cornfield to the stuff on Hippie Ridge, which is W of this same stand. The southernmost red X covers the skinniest spot in the creek bottom and the best trail exiting all that great cover. Everything E of this field is my neighbor's thicket, which they generally fuck up by mid-October. With us adding 8-10 acres of good bedding in the last decade, we're holding more deer. With free run of this field, I could get super creative. The orange box represents my idea for a future box blind. If I built it 8-10' off the ground, it would offer a hell of a view and is a spot that's easily accessible with kids. One day, one day...

tempsnip.png
 

OhioWhiteTails

Senior Member
Supporting Member
8,482
191
Flatlands
How do you exit that corner plot stand in the evening? I'm assuming that spot is evening only, until they start feeling their oats?
 

bowhunter1023

Owner/Operator
Staff member
48,879
274
Appalachia
Yes, evening only until November. With it being a S wind stand, I hug the E line until it button hooks around the N end of the field. I have a mowed trail that lets me drop straight N from the NW corner of the field, right into the woods, then I can slip into the stand from inside the woods. That keeps me hid from deer bedded in the sanctuary, which lies immediately adjacent to the field/plot.
 

bowhunter1023

Owner/Operator
Staff member
48,879
274
Appalachia
You asked about exiting, not entry... So flip the script there and you're good if I know there are not deer in the field. If there are deer in the field, I drop straight off the ridge into the creek and walk S down the Pond Holler and back to the truck that way.
 
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bowhunter1023

Owner/Operator
Staff member
48,879
274
Appalachia
I had a golden horseshoe up my ass when it comes to the timing on this experimental food plot. We had a pretty decent rain on Monday night and it rained again pretty good last night. The forecast shows mild, sunny weather for the next 10-15 days. With the heavy dews and this plot staying in the shade until 11AM or so, there should be plenty of green growth spring back. Got my fingers crossed that it exceeds expectations!
 

bowhunter1023

Owner/Operator
Staff member
48,879
274
Appalachia
Time to get the stat tracker going and since I always judge (partially) my season off the ratio of deer seen per hour on stand, seeing 1 deer in 1 hour on opening morning is a perfect start! That 1 deer seen per 1 hour on stand seems to be a realistic marker for a good/bad season in my opinion. Although unrealistic, my hope every season is I see at least one deer on every hunt. Pretty optimistic, and unrealistic, goal, but it adds a little flavor to the season!

I arranged for my SIL to watch the girls on Friday night since my wife is on call. With this cold front moving in, I'll be out. Even with the high winds, it's hard to pass on a 25-degree temp drop and N winds in October!
_______________________

2019 Stats

Antlerless Sightings: 0
Bucks Sightings: 1
Different Bucks: 1
Shooters Seen: 0
Total Sightings: 1

Deer Killed: 0

Morning Hunts: 1
Evening Hunts: 0
All Day Sits: 0
Skunked Hunts: 0
Total Hunts: 1

Hours on Stand: 1

Average Time Per Hunt: 1 Hour
Deer Seen Per Hour on Stand: 1
 

5Cent

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
12,291
212
North Central Ohio
Agreed Jesse, I'm trying to line up my first sit for this Friday evening. It can't come soon enough.

I'd give anything for a .5-1deer/hr. ratio over the course of a season.
 
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bowhunter1023

Owner/Operator
Staff member
48,879
274
Appalachia
Fun hunt last night. It was like walking in on corn flakes, but with the wind whipping the tree tops, I was able to still hunt in and got within 20 yards of a doe and fawn bedded in the creek bottom. After a 15 minute interaction with them that resulted in both of us sneaking away from the other, but in opposite directions, I decided to stops short of where I wanted to hunt and sat in an observation stand in the creek. The wind had died down and it was already 5:30, so I was reluctant to push deeper into the woods. I was like a monkey fuggin' a football getting setup, so it was a good dry run. Saw and heard a giant barn owl that has had a nest in the holler for years. I saw tons of squirrels and had a great experience with a coyote at dark. Make sure your volume is up when you watch the video.

I saw a beautiful sunset on the walk out, and watched a red fox cross the road as I was pulling out of the farm. Great evening to be in the woods!

_______________________

2019 Stats

Antlerless Sightings: 2
Bucks Sightings: 1
Different Bucks: 1
Shooters Seen: 0
Total Sightings: 3

Deer Killed: 0

Morning Hunts: 1
Evening Hunts: 1
All Day Sits: 0
Skunked Hunts: 0
Total Hunts: 2

Hours on Stand: 3

Average Time Per Hunt: 3 Hours
Deer Seen Per Hour on Stand: 1