Hicks hunting log
- Thread starter hickslawns
- Start date
Probably the confusing way I wrote it. lmao
Thanks for the good luck. Didn't make it out this morning. Worked up until 5 this afternoon. Eating dinner, shuttling kids, road scouting, and I have a full work load the next 2 days. Volleyball tourney Saturday, soccer for my son Sunday. . . .might squeeze in a couple hunts over the weekend but not real optimistic. Such is life when you have to work and feel obliged to support your kids. Plenty of time left.
It's a shame you can't make it down for the hunt Philbert! Enjoy your weekend, and hope you get to hunt a day or two...
Thanks Greg. Would love to, but it just isn't in the cards. There is going to be an immense amount of deer knowledge there this weekend. Hate to miss this and the fellowship of deer killin'.
I have been nestled into my climber for 30min or so. Set up on a creek between 4 bends which acts as a pinch point between standing corn, picked beans, and is the narrowest sections of trees between 2 larger woods. Clothes are clean, groups are good, broadheads are sharp. Hate to say it but I bumped a borderline shooter 1-200yds from the truck into the corn. Hoping he circles back around into his hiding spot from a different direction. I would love a better look at him. I am optimistic, because the setup seems perfect, but it is hunting. Nothing is a sure thing.
I need to get this up to date.
Yesterday morning (Sunday) I sat in a chair in a pile of stuff the land owner just has laying around. He is always working in the yard so I felt safe there. His property butts up to where we hunt and he gives us permission to park, access our stands, and hunt his land (although neither of us had ever hunted it.) My intention was to glass down a lane to see where these bucks were entering the beans. It is low land along a creek so the cold morning had a bit of fog lingering in the bottom area. I made out one deer but couldn't see it's head before it disappeared. Second deer moved thru and was a buck but I couldn't tell how big. Third buck came straight up this gravel lane right towards me. It was the smallest of the three. The big boys snuck off into the bottom and thick cover. Third deer was walking right at me. Where I anticipated seeing deer I had cover. The direction he came in, he would have seen a guy in a chair. lol Stupid young buck walked a 2-300yd path towards me without missing a beat and turned 35yds from me into the fence row. I videod the deal but cannot upload videos with my dinosaur computer. Unbelievable he didn't pick me off. After this, I snuck out to road scout and make it to church with my family.
Fast forward to last night. We had pictures of 2 nice bucks exiting the property on camera on Oct 18/19 at 8pm. I am pretty sure it was the same 2 plus Old Stupid with them re-entering the property that morning. We set up in 2 stands which would hopefully position us for their exit route and hopefully do so during shooting light. They were no shows. I did have 4 does come in and exit the beans into the woods 50yds west of me. Just not close enough for me. 3 of them came back toward me later. My buddy saw 8 does come out in another place. I saw 3 of the 8 he saw but couldn't tell how many given the angle. My group met up with his group of deer and they all mingled in the woods behind me (downwind mind you, thank you Scent Smoker!) and were all within 100yds of me. I saw 6-8 within 50yds of me but couldn't move around much to decipher how many exactly. It didn't matter how many, I was COVERED up in deer! I finally made moves to get positioned for a shot. I ranged the doe I wanted at 27yds. After this intense slow motion of movements on my part, I was finally able to get to a position to draw. I settled the pin on her. I had a small window through the trees but sank one into her. It sounded great! She took off with her tail tucked! I waited until dark so I didn't bugger up my buddy's hunt. Finally got down and couldn't find my arrow. Eventually we found it and it looked like it was covered in gut materials? We found no blood on impact or in the first 30yds or so. I was puzzled. Assuming gut shot, we slid out and I came back with Hank to find her this morning. It was a perfect double lung shot. I really don't understand why there was no blood on the arrow or the first 30yds or so. Only explanation would be the immense amount of fat she had on her. It had to have wiped the arrow clean upon exit.
Stats for Sunday morning:
Hours hunted: 1.5
Deer seen: 3
SHot opportunities: 1
Stats for Sunday evening:
Hours hunted: 3.5
Deer seen: 13
Shot opportunities: at least half a dozen, lmao
Shots taken: 1
Deer tagged: 1
Yesterday morning (Sunday) I sat in a chair in a pile of stuff the land owner just has laying around. He is always working in the yard so I felt safe there. His property butts up to where we hunt and he gives us permission to park, access our stands, and hunt his land (although neither of us had ever hunted it.) My intention was to glass down a lane to see where these bucks were entering the beans. It is low land along a creek so the cold morning had a bit of fog lingering in the bottom area. I made out one deer but couldn't see it's head before it disappeared. Second deer moved thru and was a buck but I couldn't tell how big. Third buck came straight up this gravel lane right towards me. It was the smallest of the three. The big boys snuck off into the bottom and thick cover. Third deer was walking right at me. Where I anticipated seeing deer I had cover. The direction he came in, he would have seen a guy in a chair. lol Stupid young buck walked a 2-300yd path towards me without missing a beat and turned 35yds from me into the fence row. I videod the deal but cannot upload videos with my dinosaur computer. Unbelievable he didn't pick me off. After this, I snuck out to road scout and make it to church with my family.
Fast forward to last night. We had pictures of 2 nice bucks exiting the property on camera on Oct 18/19 at 8pm. I am pretty sure it was the same 2 plus Old Stupid with them re-entering the property that morning. We set up in 2 stands which would hopefully position us for their exit route and hopefully do so during shooting light. They were no shows. I did have 4 does come in and exit the beans into the woods 50yds west of me. Just not close enough for me. 3 of them came back toward me later. My buddy saw 8 does come out in another place. I saw 3 of the 8 he saw but couldn't tell how many given the angle. My group met up with his group of deer and they all mingled in the woods behind me (downwind mind you, thank you Scent Smoker!) and were all within 100yds of me. I saw 6-8 within 50yds of me but couldn't move around much to decipher how many exactly. It didn't matter how many, I was COVERED up in deer! I finally made moves to get positioned for a shot. I ranged the doe I wanted at 27yds. After this intense slow motion of movements on my part, I was finally able to get to a position to draw. I settled the pin on her. I had a small window through the trees but sank one into her. It sounded great! She took off with her tail tucked! I waited until dark so I didn't bugger up my buddy's hunt. Finally got down and couldn't find my arrow. Eventually we found it and it looked like it was covered in gut materials? We found no blood on impact or in the first 30yds or so. I was puzzled. Assuming gut shot, we slid out and I came back with Hank to find her this morning. It was a perfect double lung shot. I really don't understand why there was no blood on the arrow or the first 30yds or so. Only explanation would be the immense amount of fat she had on her. It had to have wiped the arrow clean upon exit.
Stats for Sunday morning:
Hours hunted: 1.5
Deer seen: 3
SHot opportunities: 1
Stats for Sunday evening:
Hours hunted: 3.5
Deer seen: 13
Shot opportunities: at least half a dozen, lmao
Shots taken: 1
Deer tagged: 1
25ft up in Licking Co. One hot doe. 3 small bucks from spike to basket racks. One nice buck. One maybe. Needed a better view of 2 larger ones and for them to be hundred yds closer. Phone going off.
Love my wife. She just needs to quit Texting me. Make plans enjoy the kids. Let me hunt. Lol
Love my wife. She just needs to quit Texting me. Make plans enjoy the kids. Let me hunt. Lol
Hang in there........They'll be moving around good today. That doe will take them all over that property.
Went quiet so I rattled at 9. At 915 a deer with a mullet showed up. More like a toupee I guess. No bone? Weird. I look harder and see it is a half rack but the rack side was busted 2-3" above base. Lol
Quiet since 915. One banana one sammich gone. Seen a ton if squirrel, chipmonk, wood pecker, crow, bluejay, and one black cat. Oops. Also heard antlers NW of me. Possibly another hunter.
Quiet since 915. One banana one sammich gone. Seen a ton if squirrel, chipmonk, wood pecker, crow, bluejay, and one black cat. Oops. Also heard antlers NW of me. Possibly another hunter.
Just NW of you is probably the other hunter.....stright up the fence line and just a little west is my guess. Hope he rattles one in for ya! Rattled-in buck should go down-wind of the noise and you're right there.
Do not shoot innocent ditch tigers........Then again, we only have guilty ones around here:smiley_clap:
Do not shoot innocent ditch tigers........Then again, we only have guilty ones around here:smiley_clap:
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Little catching up then off to bed. Morning hunt I saw 7 deer total. 2 within bow range but they were the wrong two.
Evening hunt was slow until the end. Rick was in the bed of my dually with spotting scope watching across the road. Lol. I was slow getting down because 3 does were hanging out. They left and I headed in. Rick asks "did you see him?" Um, no. Was it 'him'? Rick said he wasn't sure. Oh well. That is hunting.
Hours hunting 7am to noon and 4pm to 7.
deer seen: 10
We have a game plan for the morning. Hopefully it spells success. The stand change probably means the deer will enter by the stand I was in this morning. Hahaha
Evening hunt was slow until the end. Rick was in the bed of my dually with spotting scope watching across the road. Lol. I was slow getting down because 3 does were hanging out. They left and I headed in. Rick asks "did you see him?" Um, no. Was it 'him'? Rick said he wasn't sure. Oh well. That is hunting.
Hours hunting 7am to noon and 4pm to 7.
deer seen: 10
We have a game plan for the morning. Hopefully it spells success. The stand change probably means the deer will enter by the stand I was in this morning. Hahaha
Dually with a 3' step stool makes a dandy perch to see down in a hollar......especially when you don't wanna spook the deer. People going by probably thought I finally lost it....but again, gotta do what works sometimes.
Heard antlers in the dark walking thru the trees to my north in the dark. This wad before birds or any other noises could be heard. Turned over my can call, then let out 2 grunts. He started raking a tree with his rack.
Next the birds started. Daylight is here! I ranged some places. 5 til 7 and a yellow SUV pulls in couple hundred yds away to hook onto a horse trailer. Just pulled out. Let's hope the deer start to file in now.
Next the birds started. Daylight is here! I ranged some places. 5 til 7 and a yellow SUV pulls in couple hundred yds away to hook onto a horse trailer. Just pulled out. Let's hope the deer start to file in now.
WOW! Keep an eye on that "hole" in the thicket....... But don't forget the other area's around you TOO.