Creamer's 22/23 Season Journal

[Creamer]

Sit #14

Trust your gut. I had a spot on public I thought (on paper) seemed like a logical post-gun season travel route. The kicker was, I'd never been in the spot before. It was a pinched bench running between water and a rocky bluff, connecting an area I knew deer to bed with a grassy area they tend to feed in. I also highly doubt this little spot got much pressure, at least not as much as the rest of the property. My entrance was clean, but what I was seeing on the way in inspired zero confidence.

No sign. I mean none. Not a track, not a trail, not a rub or scrape, not a pellet of dung. I spent the first three hours of the sit seeing nothing, hearing nothing. I kept thinking that I was wasting my time with this sit. I don't know if I have ever felt a stronger pull to get out of the dang tree. For the first time in years, I climbed down early.

There was a clear path up between rock bluffs that would put me in a hollow closer to the parking. I figured I'd slip up on the ridge and just observe the last 45 minutes of light. See what I see. Sure enough, I watch 4 does work off the point and down through the bottom. They got as close as maybe 60 yards at one point. I might not have gotten a shot, but I gained knowledge that might put a doe in the freezer in a week or two. I'm glad I trusted my gut and got down.

 

[giles]

I'm pretty sure I've sat on that same bluff. Way more trees now. I suppose it's been 25 years since I was there last, lol. Those trees on the ground we probably the size of those

 

[Creamer]

Sit #15

I went back to the small chunk of private Sunday afternoon with the muzzleloader, hoping for a fat doe. I've been getting tons of doe pics on the property, very few bucks since November. With this spot, as usual, the hurdle is a clean entry. You're essentially dropping down a point out of a field in between two bedding areas, and if any deer are in the bowl you drop into, you're cooked. The wet ground and windy conditions were perfect, and I slipped in clean.

It was unusually slow. I expected to have seen deer by early afternoon and the woods seemed dead. I kept thinking I could hear something in the hollow below me, I turned a bit to look, but saw nothing. When I turned back, my eyes locked onto a doe that was locked onto me at 80 yards. Shit. She saw me move for sure when I turned back. I had no clue she was there. I know the background is blurred a bit here, but she was behind the tan colored cluster of leaves over the little rise in front of me.

We were locked in an epic stare down for what felt like an hour, probably more like 10-12 minutes. I got head bobbed, she'd take a step and head bob some more. She was locked onto me. She finally took a few steps and got behind some brush so I could move to a more comfortable position and get the gun off the hook. As she moved left to right, two more does materialized behind her. The lead alert doe hit the logging road I walked in on at 55ish yards and, of course, she hit my ground scent. She continued to stare at me and stomped a couple of times. At this point, I had the gun on her but didn't have a great shot. She was partially behind a tree and facing me. Several more minutes of staring and finally she started to move to her left. When she came out behind the large tree I was on her. A soft grunt stopped her, I settled the crosshairs, and squeezed.

When the smoke cleared, I saw three tails racing through the brush, but one collapsed quickly. She only made it maybe 40 yards from where I shot her. Big old doe, and smart, but she should have trusted her instincts a little more. The shot was perfect, entry being about 1/3 the way up the body right up the front leg. That old CVA has been a dependable deer killer for me.

I know a lot of folks hang their deer a while, especially in good cool weather like we have now. But I grind nearly all of my deer, so I usually don't wait to skin them and get the meat off the bones. I noticed when I was dressing her that I couldn't find an exit wound. I found what was left of the Powerbelt slug when I got the hide off. It was stuck between the off shoulder and the hide.

 

["J"]

Nice shot placement on her, Jeff! Congrats on the freezer filler….. I had the same thing happen when shooting shockwaves. The thing was the bullet with the polymer was still in the hide on what should of been the exit hole. Could have shot it again, it was in great shape. Unfortunately…..

 

[brock ratcliff]

Congratulations Jeff.

 

[giles]

Nice! Sounds like a terrible spot to drag a big one out of

 

[bowhunter1023]

Nice work, Jeff! It's always satisfying to win the battle with a big old nanny doe that has you pegged.

 

[Creamer]

Nice! Sounds like a terrible spot to drag a big one out of

It wasn't awful. Once I got her up over the steep part, Mr. Deer Cart was able to be used. Wheels=good.

 

[Creamer]

With two does in the freezer, I can't decide if I'm going to buy that 3rd tag or not. If you'd asked me two weeks ago, I'd say 80% chance I won't. Now, I'm waffling closer to 50/50. I've got cell cams out, hoping to find some consistent doe movement on public. It's been hit or miss. It doesn't help that I find out that other hunters have similar thoughts and/or leg drive. I don't think this guy saw my setup, it was in one of those "I bet nobody goes in there" spots. I was wrong.

I found these two gems scouting a late season spot I like recently, also.

Not only has someone else been hunting it, but I know damn good and well how much commotion went into setting up those two stands and how likely, given their locations, the hunters spooked deer. That being said, I did still find some fresh sign not far away.

I'm shooting the bow well, and I know if I skip the last 4 weekends I'm probably going to regret it in a month or two. Uggh, decisions, decisions...

 

[brock ratcliff]

That’s the first time I’ve seen a 4x4 with screw in steps used for a ladder.

 

[Creamer]

That’s the first time I’ve seen a 4x4 with screw in steps used for a ladder.

It's actually rebar for the steps on treated lumber. Given lumber prices, was it really that much cheaper to buy that as opposed to a set of climbing sticks?

 

[OhioWhiteTails]

It's actually rebar for the steps on treated lumber. Given lumber prices, was it really that much cheaper to buy that as opposed to a set of climbing sticks?

Not to mention the weight of lugging that thing back there.

 

[Creamer]

I've called it quits on the notion of buying another deer tag. I'm ready to switch over to getting some coyote hunting in. I got out last weekend for an afternoon. I found some fresh tracks, but had no responses (that I know of) for the 3 sets I made.

I pared down my call lanyard before this hunt. I needed to simplify things a little bit.

The horn howler sounded great, but like I said, no responses.

This little apricot barrel open reed distress call was a late night half hour project the night before. Apricot is one of my favorite woods to work with.

 

[giles]

One of the things I love about remote callers is that they are remote. Allowing animals to key in on them gives the hunter a little advantage on movement. Giving you a chance to see them before they see you. Makes me think this kind of mouth calling would be greatly increased if in a gullies suit or something.

 

[Creamer]

One of the things I love about remote callers is that they are remote. Allowing animals to key in on them gives the hunter a little advantage on movement. Giving you a chance to see them before they see you. Makes me think this kind of mouth calling would be greatly increased if in a gullies suit or something.

I have a ghillie that I do use quite a bit. I didn't pack it on that last hunt. I don't hunt solo without a decoy, and I'm always hoping they spot that wriggling critter before they spot me. When I used to hunt them with buddies I was always the designated caller and I'd usually tuck into some kind of cover to try to hide myself a bit. It didn't result in me pulling the trigger but I took as much satisfaction calling them to their death...or at least shot at. Damn things got missed more than I'd like. At least I wasn't to blame for that.

 

[Creamer]

I got out for a dedicated predator hunt Saturday afternoon. This piece of public I had never hunted for coyotes and only hunted a couple of small parts of it for deer. The setups seemed pretty good, but the only thing I got to respond was a big hawk that threatened to bomb my decoy a few times before it finally flew off. The deer sign I found will be valuable for next season. I stumbled into some killer buck sign that I think could pay dividends next fall.

As usual, I carry a rifle and walk away feeling like I should have been carrying a shotgun. The first setup offered some shooting lanes out to maybe 80 yards but the other setups were in fairly tight cover.

Again, some fresh sign was found. That place is definitely worth another shot later this winter. There are predators there and the access was pretty decent. I feel like getting in and set up in hardwoods areas for coyotes is the biggest hurdle. It feels really tough to get in clean. Even when I get set up, I'm waiting at least 20 minutes to let things "calm down" before I start calling.

 

[Creamer]

I'm starting to accept that 1) coyotes are hard as shit to kill solo in daylight on public ground and 2) I'm not a great coyote hunter, which makes it tough. I am proving to be one hell of a hawk caller, though. My decoy has been in danger on every hunt this year from winged predators. I did call one coyote in on my 2nd to last hunt, but it saw me before I knew it was there and it ran off quickly with its education complete. I was set up off a big ridge that fed into some thick cover and a huge hollow onto private. The coyote that popped around the corner from beyond that downed tree on the right came from the road, which I was clearly not expecting. It didn't help matters that I think it saw me putting the howler down because I had just finished a howling sequence.

I made a short outing yesterday afternoon, three setups, only calling in the hawk. This piece of ground has a few more open areas instead of just all hardwoods, which made me feel better about my access and getting in clean. No coyotes, though.

 

[giles]

Second post in a row I've read about birds of prey...hmmmm, is the blame going the wrong direction?

 

[Creamer]

I went ghillie suit today just for @giles and my run of hawk responses continued. Today I was 2/2, calling in a hawk on both sets I made today. Today was a combination predator hunt/trail camera retrieval. Success on the trail cams still being there, failure on the coyote hunt.

I had high hopes for this set. I've been holding onto this one waiting for a good wind, had it today, and still just had the hawk respond. In my past snow scouting in this area in previous years, there was a lot of coyote sign out on this ridge. Two big ridges come together here, with rock bluffs and steep terrain down on the right side and a huge hollow leading into a brushy bottom on the left.

Today was the first day I tried the diaphragm howler in the woods. I think it sounds really good and has a lot more volume than I would have expected. Both hawks that responded quickly came to the Magnum Pecker call I turned last week, a double reed woodpecker/bird distress call.

 

[Creamer]

I really thought if I was going to kill a coyote this winter, yesterday was the day. The rain the day before made it easier for me to slip into position for setups, and the wind forecast was good for where I wanted to hunt. I hit 2 public properties and one private. The private chunk was my "ace in the hole," I thought. All blanks, though.

Started the morning off on public along a ridge where I killed one two years ago.

This little diaphragm pouch is the slickest little thing for holding and organizing my coyote diaphragms. I hit them with a combination of female vocals on the open reed and male vocals on the diaphragms, with some estrus chirps mixed in.

I really liked this setup in an old blowdown in a spot I scouted on OnX. I think it will be worth hitting again at some point.

At the private piece, I found a chunk of a beam and a decent shed in my buddy's plot. I left them at his family's place (he lives out of town) for him. There was only one real setup there, it's a small property, but it's flanked by two large pieces of woods. One of them has a big nasty clear cut on it. I gave that one a solid 45 minute sit because I thought something had to be hearing me. No responses, though.

The last spot I hit was a small public piece that had a couple of setups. This one felt good, in an overgrown open area that sat on a bench below a big point where I have found coyote sign this past season. Again, nothing.