Hickslawns Hunting log

[hickslawns]

Working sucks. Settled in prime rut funnel location. Neighbor running chainsaw and 15+mph winds don't help. Dragrag doe in rut and dominant buck behind me to stand. Already put on all layers is bad. Colder than expected. Trees creeking in wind. Ready for 2 of my 4 pbj sandwiches and tough it out in hopes of finding the MIA rut today!

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[Dannmann801]

knock one down phil!

 

[hickslawns]

Chainsaw stopped. Wind not as bad. One hot doe dogged by small buck zig zagged area for awhile. Fawn followed 30min later or so. I would guess looking for momma. Here til dark. Hope Chasing continues. I have zero issues shooting a hot doe or yearling today. Freezer is empty. I am hungry for backstraps skin heads! I will drag a dead hot doe in front of my stand with tag in her ear!

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["J"]

Chainsaw stopped. Wind not as bad. One hot doe dogged by small buck zig zagged area for awhile. Fawn followed 30min later or so. I would guess looking for momma. Here til dark. Hope Chasing continues. I have zero issues shooting a hot doe or yearling today. Freezer is empty. I am hungry for backstraps skin heads! I will drag a dead hot doe in front of my stand with tag in her ear!

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Now your thinking :smiley_clap: Good luck.....

 

[hickslawns]

Hunted from 11am to 6pm. Saw 9 deer. Ended up having two hot does being chased by young bucks. Only shot opportunity was a yearling running around lost. The neighbor did finally quit running the chainsaw. Then he started up the tractor and it sounded like he was trying to grind a stump with a bush hog. Not sure what the heck he was doing. Eventually this stopped and the wind also calmed down quite a bit. At 5pm I had an amazing encounter. Mr Browtine showed up. He is the number one buck on the hitlist! He came in about 50-60yds and moved into the field. I grunted, bleated, rattled, snort wheezed, and pleaded with him to turn my way. He did eventually turn on a 45 and move in front of me, but was farther out. He walked out in front of me and opened up a scrape. The two smaller bucks had already worked it today. He then decided to make a loop and get within 50-60yds in front of me but offered no shot. I am only good out to 40yds. It was quite a rush and I probably looked like I was having a seizure in the tree once he moved on. What an exciting hunt! Made it worth sitting in the harsh wind earlier.

Deer Seen- 9
Time on stand- 7hrs
Shots taken- none

Total hours on stand: 53
Total deer seen: 93
Shots taken: 1

 

[hickslawns]

The rut has arrived in my area! Today i dragged a couple Stink Sticks with doe and buck pee on them to my stand. Hung them on the ladder about chest level and went to change a camera card. Swapped cards and went to climb up ladder. 4-5rungs up the number 2 buck on my list came in from downwind to investigate the smells. All I could do was freeze halfway up. He was confused but on a mission. He trotted off in a different direction. He was 10-15yds away. aaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrgggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhh! Finished climbing up and settled in. Saw 2 bucks in the first half hour. Saw 5 bucks total for the hunt. 2 yearlings were wandering around spooky in the wind without their mother. Finally climbed down at dark and had to climb back up. 2 rungs down I had a solo doe come through. She moved on and I climbed down. Took my wife out to dinner and came home to check the videos. Looks like I should have hunted today's stand yesterday. Would have had a shot at buck 1 and 2 on the hitlist yesterday from today's stand. Oh well. 2 days on stand, 2 8pts between 135-145" each. One at 50-60yds twice and the other unde 20yds. Not at all a bad day on stand despite the 15mph winds.

Time on stand: 5hrs.
Deer seen: 8

Total time on stand: 58
Total deer seen: 101
Shots taken: 1

 

[Huckleberry Finn]

Gettin closer Phil...

 

[hickslawns]

Dang. Overslept. Shower, gear, tree this morning. 20+mph winds. Not sure the smoke is going to matter much anyway up 25-30' in these winds. Smoked up really well yesterday too. Just wear same gear.

 

[Gern186]

You might want to take your motion sickness pills today Phil! damn its windy here!

 

[hickslawns]

I had to get down anyway. Coffee was working on my Red Lobster from last night and I had to take care of business. Home to unload, feed Hank and head back out for a tree which is a little sturdier than the one I was in.

 

[hickslawns]

Nestled back in nicely in a massive oak! Not sure what to expect. Extreme wind howling. Even this tree is moving. Sitting on end of fence row littered with rubs and scrapes. Would like to be where I was yesterday 100yds west of here. But I couldn't get in until 2pm and I wanted quieter access. Plus number 2 on list will probably skirt that stand for awhile after yesterday. Sitting here with strategy for a doe or #2 and hopes for #1 or a new guy. Dang it is windy!

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[1hornwilly]

Keep it up, Phil!!!

 

[lung buster]

Good luck. I'm also out looking for a doe and this wind sucks!

 

[cotty16]

Congrats on the doe today!

 

[hickslawns]

Well, Friday I saw the #1 buck on my hitlist from the stand. Saturday I saw #2. Sunday I saw one tiny and busted up buck. I managed to tag a doe early and was done by 900am.

This evening I got back into the stand at 2pm. Had one button buck come out and came directly under me. He moved on and it was quiet for awhile then. I don't know what was up other than the 30mph winds, but nothing moved until the last 30-45min. Once they started to move, it was crazy. I saw 13 more in the last hour. Closest ones were 75-100yds. Most were a couple hundred yards off and probably half were 4-500yds off. Given my buddy being out of town, I wanted to sit in a good observation stand tonight to keep an eye on trespassers.

Morning sit:
2hrs
Deer seen:2
Shots taken: 1
Deer killed: 1

evening sit:
Time on stand: 4hrs
Deer seen: 13
Shots taken: None

Yearly totals:
Time on stand: 64
Deer seen: 116
Shots taken: 2
Deer killed: 1

 

[Mike]

Glad you made it back out Phil. I stayed in and watched the Bears beat up Detroit !

 

[hickslawns]

Surprisingly slow. Winds died down. Thought I would see an active morning. Nothing yet. My eyes are peeled. Rut is on. Things can happen fast. Wife gave me the "this is getting old" comment this morning. Might be forced to go to Thanksgiving at my sister's in Columbus this weekend. Hope to connect before then so everybody is happy.

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[finelyshedded]

Keep at it Phil! My wife usually every year would make comments like that but this year is different for some reason. Her mother passing? Don't know for sure but she hasn't made any comments yet! I'll let you know as my 7 days away for gun season at deer camp gets closer.

 

[hickslawns]

Ended up seeing 5 this morning between 8-915. Skinheads. Climbed down at 10 to get some work done.

Later return than I was hoping for but got back out around 3. Hunted until dark and couldn't get out of the stand for awhile until they cleared out. I ended up seeing 9 deer total with 4 of them bucks. Too bad they were all small bucks. Not sure my next game plan. Thinking I will hit it in the afternoon tomorrow.

Morning hunt- 3hrs/5 deer
Evening hunt- 3hrs/9deer

Season totals:
Time on stand: 70hrs
Deer seen: 130deer
Shots taken: 2
Deer taken: 1

 

[hickslawns]

Hunted a new area on the farm tonight. Was hoping to see some good action tonight but it just wasn't in the cards. I saw one small buck off in the distance and 3 does from 3-6pm.

Strong winds around 20mph might have hurt me.

Hours on stand: 3
Deer Seen: 4