2017 Phil's hunting journal

[hickslawns]

Hunted this morning. One small buck early at 40-50yds. Saw a doe with her 2 youngsters several hundred yards away. Windy as heck. Wind was going right thru my layers. I wanted to observe from this stand and was hoping there was a big boy in the area but really had no clue. Hung a camera there last week. Pulled the card on the way out. It is showing a few small bucks. One could be a 3yr old but pics didn't help determine a lot other than he is off to a pretty good start. He is not the buck I saw from the stand. Of course, as I was walking to my truck I kicked up a doe and fawn as I entered the lawn area. Go figure.

Hours hunted: 2
Deer seen: 6

Season totals:
Hunts: 5 (2 morning, 3 evening)
Hours on stand: 13hrs
Deer seen: 37
Deer in bow range: 12

 

[hickslawns]

Hunted a fresh set this evening. Never hunted it before. I do have a camera close. Haven't swapped the card since Oct 18. Walking in I didn't bust anything out. Followed a nice rub line on my way to the stand. Visibility isn't great as it is mainly an old tractor path with 2 intersecting trails. One crosses it and the other runs parallel to it. Squirrels galore. Had a couple fawns who kept peeking their heads out and generally wandering around most of the hunt. That was pretty much it. Rather bland hunt. Was a beautiful evening. Got to swap a card. Card told me not to put tons of effort into the stand. lol



Hours hunted: 3
Deer seen: 2

Season totals:
Hunts: 6 (2 morning, 4 evening)
Hours on stand: 16hrs
Deer seen: 37
Deer in bow range: 14

 

[hickslawns]

Was out of town yesterday. Got back in time to hunt this evening. 4 deer seen. Way off in the distance. Technically, I saw another 5-6 on the next property over as well. BUT. . .They were likely 1/2 mile away. Not much to write about.

Hours hunted: 3
Deer seen: 4

Season totals:
Hunts: 7 (2 morning, 5 evening)
Hours on stand: 19hrs
Deer seen: 41
Deer in bow range: 14

 

[hickslawns]

I was walking in shortly after 7am. Walking out shortly after 7pm. Saw one yearling at 216pm at 50yds. Had the decoy out all day. Tried some blind rattling. Just a day with little activity in my area I guess. From the sounds of things locally, there simply was not much moving anywhere. Roughly 4-5pm I heard some coyotes sounding off. Just before last light I heard deer blowing. Over and over and over. Not sure what had them boogered unless it was my decoy, but they sounded a good ways off in the thicket to had seen my decoy. Feeling dejected, I packed everything up to gather my decoy and make the long trek across a plowed field. Naturally, as I stepped out of the blind I watched 3 tails flagging and bounding off.

Hours hunted: 11.5
Deer seen: 1

Season totals:
Hunts: 8 (2 morning, 5 evening, 1 all day sit)
Hours on stand: 30.5hrs
Deer seen: 42
Deer in bow range: 14

 

[hickslawns]

Was heading in this morning. Stopped to glass the open field before walking across to my stand. 300yds out in the darkness I catch 3 tails flagging away from me. I wasn't in the open. I had cover. I was downwind of them. I don't know. Hard to believe they were busting out because they saw me. Got to stand. Not much moving. Did see a couple 1.5yr old bucks as the morning played on. Smaller of the two took his time and didn't seem too concerned about anything. Second one had more purpose. Walked across the picked field and snacked on a strip of beans which were still standing. His head was scanning the area off and on. Didn't stay to eat very long. Headed back the way he came from. That was the only action I had this morning.

Hours hunted: 3.5
Deer seen: 2

Season totals:
Hunts: 9 (3 morning, 5 evening, 1 all day sit)
Hours on stand: 34hrs
Deer seen: 44
Deer in bow range: 14

 

[bowhunter1023]

Good luck in the coming days Phil. Hopefully it picks up for you!

 

[Bigslam51]

It's gonna pick up soon!

 

[hickslawns]

Good luck in the coming days Phil. Hopefully it picks up for you!

Thanks Jesse. Same to you Sir. Patience is all I need. I'm seeing deer. Seeing best doe numbers in a long time. Just seems as if the chasing is later than normal this year. Same as leaf drop. . . Related? I dunno. Just interesting.

Thanks Chad. Hopefully you get your buddy on a deer too!

 

[brock ratcliff]

Hang with it Phil! It will happen soon. You're correct on the leaves, too. I don't ever remember so many still hanging this late in the season. It looks like the third week of October.

 

[hickslawns]

Got in late. Didn't bump anything. Set up the decoy. Climbed into a stand I hadn't hunted yet this year. Could use a touch of lane trimming but was workable. Had a 2yr old buck read the script. Had a shot at 40-45yds. Maybe 50yds. Didn't range him. Was busy video taping. Didn't want to make too much movement in case he brought friends. He bristled up. Moved downwind of the decoy. Threw his head in the air several times. Did some stiff leg walking half a dozen steps. Stopped again. Stared some more. This stuff went on for around 5-10min. Thought he was going to circle the decoy but went 15yds behind him and stopped. Did the old head bob deal several times. Stood a couple more minutes. He wasn't spooked. More puzzled or confused than anything. He couldn't figure out why the decoy wasn't moving. Eventually he trotted off across the plowed field back on his search for does. Only action I had all night. Didn't see a doe or anything else.

Hours hunted: 2
Deer seen: 1

Season totals:
Hunts: 10 (3 morning, 6 evening, 1 all day sit)
Hours on stand: 36hrs
Deer seen: 45
Deer in bow range: 15

 

[brock ratcliff]

Sounds like a cool encounter on a slow night. Won't be long.

 

[Curran]

I've gotta try the decoy thing one of these days. That sounds like a pretty cool encounter! Good luck if you're getting out today Phil!

 

[Big_Holla]

Sounds promising for you Phil. Definitely a good experience!

 

[hickslawns]

In stand at 630am. Left at 1000am. Slow as crap until 840am. Then had some deer up and running. Something spooked them. Coyote? Wind? My farts? Maybe a buck in there pushing? Not sure but they were running all at once. Seemed to settle down and I had a pair of button buck fawns come under my tree. Literally. They sniffed the tree. If there was any meat on them I'd have shot one of them. Doubt they were 100lbs. Later had 3 more dancing around nervous. They stayed out around 80-100yds. Jumped out of tree and swapped a couple cards on the way back to the truck. Stopped by another property on the way home to swap a card. Carried my bow. Was creeping in and had one bumped but never saw it. Continued my way to the camera. Unhooked the camera and knelt down to swap the card. Bam. Two more deer ran off. Aww screw it. Just the way my day was going. Camera cards all showed chasing or at a minimum seeking. Just no big boys found. I'm dumbfounded.

Hours hunted: 4
Deer seen: 5

Season totals:
Hunts: 11 (4 morning, 6 evening, 1 all day sit)
Hours on stand: 40hrs
Deer seen: 50
Deer in bow range: 17

 

[Boarhead]

Good stuff Phil just keep at it.

 

[Boarhead]

Also i have noticed the leaves hanging on this year, today was first day i could actually see really well,seems like the rain and wind is finally knocking them down.

 

[hickslawns]

Morning hunt:
Set up and ready to go by 623am. 730am I saw a couple does. They were 100-200yds downwind of me and acting a little skittish. I was struggling to believe they were winding me but it could have been possible. Then I saw a good one dogging them. No wonder they were skittish. I grunted. I banged the rattling antlers. He did pause to look for a second after rattling. 2 seconds max. Then he was back to chasing. That was it for the morning. 630-10am. 3 deer.

Evening hunt: Had to wait out a small buck to cross the cut bean field. He finally left and I boogied to my stand. Got settled in at 345. By 430 I had a trio coming in upwind of me and within 20yds. There was a pair of button bucks and a doe. The buttons crossed the creek and made their way around me. The doe got to the edge of the creek and got spooky. Not sure why unless she saw me trying to take a picture of her. They stayed under me for what seemed like forever. They were anywhere from directly under me to 50yds away. Did a 360 around me and meandered back the way they came. Later I saw a trio out in the field so they must have done a big loop from my north to my east 100yds and then south of me 100-200yds. Towards last light I had something which kept crunching leaves and sticks ever so slightly and slowly. I kept thinking "this is one skittish buck taking his time or a coyote." Sure enough, I saw a coyote but by the time I caught a visual it was out of bow range. Pretty much all the action for the night. All in all, not a bad day in the woods with a break in the middle to do some work. Too bad all Fridays aren't like this one.

Morning hunt:
3.5hrs
3 deer seen
Evening hunt:
2.25hrs
Deer seen: 4

Season totals:
Hunts: 13 (5 morning, 7 evening, 1 all day sit)
Hours on stand: 45.75hrs
Deer seen: 57
Deer in bow range: 19

 

[hickslawns]

Hunted this morning. Couple does shortly after 7am. Couple hundred yards away. Rattled at 730. Beautiful 2yr old buck came to investigate at 740. Generally froze my butt off until 930 despite dressing properly for it. I was dressed better than yesterday and still got cold. Oh well.

Hours hunted: 3
Deer seen: 3

Season totals:
Hunts: 14 (6 morning, 7 evening, 1 all day sit)
Hours on stand: 48.75hrs
Deer seen: 60
Deer in bow range: 20

 

[hickslawns]

Hit the blind this morning to see what was happening on the north end of the property. Came to find my blind was overturned. Not sure if it was the weather or trespassers. We did have some storms blow thru. BUT. . .I also swapped a camera card before leaving. Hadn't changed it since Oct 31. On Nov 1 someone rotated the camera on the tree to face away from the trail at 719am. Guess we have a trespasser(s). At least they didn't steal the camera or tree stand or ground blind in this section. Explains why I haven't been seeing any deer in this area. Some bonehead has been back in there screwing around. Might be time to move the camera and try to catch some trespassers. At least they aren't hunting out of my stand. They turned the camera to face the tree my stand is sitting in. Frustrating.

Hours hunted: 2.75
Deer seen: None

Season totals:
Hunts: 15 (7 morning, 7 evening, 1 all day sit)
Hours on stand: 51.5hrs
Deer seen: 60
Deer in bow range: 20

 

[hickslawns]

Had to hustle to get a hunt in this evening. Bumped what appeared to be a young doe on the walk in. Stupid decoy is noisy as heck carrying it thru the woods. Got to my stand, set up the decoy, climbed up. Wasn't done getting situated yet when I heard a bleat. Looked to my left to see a doe. Then she lets out another. She continued south and I was hoping she was alone and looking for love. Was hoping she would draw in a shooter. No such luck. Saw her come back thru later with her yearling. I'd say she was simply trying to locate her youngin' while I was settling into the stand. She came thru later with the yearling and did not like the decoy or the fact he hadn't moved yet. She threw out the head bob, foot stomp, walk away and then snap back, and everything she could to get him to move. Got her to 33yds at one point. Dropped my range finder down and hooked my release. Started to put pressure on the string. Was ready to draw back and put a tag on something this year. She was decent sized so I was ready to fill the freezer. Then she decided to start walking again. Oh well. Such is hunting. Had fun. Swapped a card, gathered my decoy and headed out. Card pull showed lots of young bucks and a 3yr old or maybe 2 of them. Not really anything I am looking for. Surprised the big boy I have seen with binoculars a couple times has not yet made an appearance on this camera. I think he is hanging in one place and the does are coming to him. lol

Hours hunted: 2
Deer seen: 2

Season totals:
Hunts: 16 (7 morning, 8 evening, 1 all day sit)
Hours on stand: 53.5hrs
Deer seen: 62
Deer in bow range: 20