Blackbeard's 2015 Hunting Journal
- Thread starter Blackbeard
- Start date
Cool pics, don't see hardly any gray fox anymore. That last one I saw had to of been 10-12 years ago. My buddy said he just got one on camera a few miles from my house though.
11/13/15-PM. I took my two oldest boys bowhunting this evening out of the old machine shed on our property. No wind in there to speak of. The boys hammered their snack that mommy prepared for them. Didn't see any deer but heard some walking in the woods below us.
11/14/15-AM. Best morning in the deer woods this season, my overgrown field was crazy. The craziness included a buck fight, a snort wheeze, several grunts, a growl, does everywhere (10 of them) and 5 bucks. And most of it occurred right around me. One borderline shooter, but he kept coming in from downwind, smelled me twice, no blowing, but he knew something wasn't right. That sucked.
11/14/15-PM. Hunted a new ladderstand site I just helped my cousin put up recently. The ladder is a big a$$ Milenium with a swivel seat. Not a great bowhunting stand but we put it in a pin oak with lots of cover. Behind me is a 120 yard wide swamp (photo 1) and in front of me is a small brushy field then thick pines (photo 2). Awesome evening, quiet and cool, but only saw some ducks and 1 spike who came underneath me to get a drink.
11/15/15-AM. Beautiful morning but the action was much less than yesterday morning. Saw one decent buck from a distance cruising a path, two does running through the woods that got spooked by something, then two does browsing.
11/16/15-AM. Cold morning with an E/SE wind. Hunted a stand which sets in a 50 yard wide strip of trees which separates two thickets. It has produced a buck 3 times for me before. I hadn't been to this stand since before the 2 windy days so the walk in this morning was like going through a freaking obstacle course to get to my stand! Saw a red fox on a mission right after daylight. Then a small 5-6 pt chased two does apast me about 7:45. Then all hell broke loose about 8:15 and I witnessed an hour and a half of chasing, snort wheezing, fighting, and grunting by 6 different bucks. Unfortunately the three I had shots at were a small 5pt, an ear width 7pt with short tines and no mass, and a really decent wider than his ears 7 pt with decent mass and long tines. I actually grunted and stopped the decent 7 but he was behind brush or I would have probably shot him. There was another gnarly 7pt that was not even ear width but heavy and all jacked up that was within range but no shots. I probably would have shot him. The biggest buck was only an 8 but pretty decent but not huge but he got the hot doe and disappeared. Then later the decent 7 and 5 pt chased four does apast me again. So I ended up seeing 5-9 does and 6 bucks.
Fox
Fox
11/17/15-AM. Hunted a ground blind which overlooks a 60 yard wide natural crossing where deer cross a hollow from big timber to a thick bedding area. Had one spike come past at 30 yards and that was it. Decent morning, cloudy with an east/southeast wind.
My view
My view
Big_Holla
Senior Member
11/18/15- first day off from hunting since Nov 5. Washed my hunting clothes, slept in, and worked. Weather for weekend looks brutal!
11/19/15-AM. Saw three bucks and 7 does.
11/20/15-AM. Back at it, helluva beautiful morning, sat my oak grove stand which is in a corner between a thick clearcut and my overgrown field. I had only sat this stand once. Saw 6 does and 5 bucks, all just walking through woods browsing, no chasing, grunting, etc.
11/20/15-AM. Back at it, helluva beautiful morning, sat my oak grove stand which is in a corner between a thick clearcut and my overgrown field. I had only sat this stand once. Saw 6 does and 5 bucks, all just walking through woods browsing, no chasing, grunting, etc.
11/20/15-PM. Nice evening, very very quiet, squirrels everywhere, I've seen one doe feeding 200 yards away near one of my other stands, wind out of the NW, hunting same stand as this morning, lots of new and fresh scrapes around.
11/21/15-AM. Sat the stand my middle boy and I just put up the other day. Saw 5 does and 2 bucks, does we're browsing and bucks were scraping and trolling for does. Shot a mature doe at 8:20 at 25 yards. She was quartered away a lot so I was able to send it through her diaphragm so she only went 20 yards. The three boys helped me recover her. It was only a 20 yard drag to the wagon! Fun day. The third photo is of my 6 year old boy helping me skin her.
My view of her from stand after she fell
Bloody arrow
The boys helping me haul her home
Me
William skinning
My view of her from stand after she fell
Bloody arrow
The boys helping me haul her home
Me
William skinning
What's left of the deer heart, shredded potatoes, and peppers...ummmm. The boys and I are filling our bellies!
