That sounds like fun! I like those kind of reports. I wish you many more. Taking in the moments and opportunities.
Jesse's 2017 Hunting Debacles
- Thread starter bowhunter1023
- Start date
Spent the afternoon toting my H&R Greenwing Special 20 gauge around a piece of public ground close to home. Was scouting for deer while pretending to squirrel hunt. I really like the spot I found and can see me making a hunt or two there at some point.
Came home and got my gear ready for a trip to WV tomorrow. As a perk of getting myself legal for waterfowl hunting over there, I also get a buck tag to be used between now and next Saturday. Hoping for one of those legendary WV 11-points tomorrow!
Came home and got my gear ready for a trip to WV tomorrow. As a perk of getting myself legal for waterfowl hunting over there, I also get a buck tag to be used between now and next Saturday. Hoping for one of those legendary WV 11-points tomorrow!
cspot
Member
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Well, I failed to seal the deal on what would have been a classic story...
This morning was my second ever deer hunt in WV. Back in 2015, I made my first sit on the same piece of ground, which is 350+ acres of former Mead-Westvaco ground. My best friend has been a member since he was a kid, his dad a member since he was a kid, so it's a honor to hunt a piece of land that's meant so much to another hunting family. On that hunt I sat on the opposite side of the holler from where I sat today and saw a doe with two fawns. Only having a buck tag, no shots were fired from my borrowed rifle. Today, I toted my shotgun and sat in a spot that reminded me a lot of my favorite gun spot on this side of the river. Creek bottom narrowed to my left, then opened in to an overgrown swampy area at the Y of the bottom. Nice bedding to my right and plenty of shots 100 yards and in. With a bumper crop of acorns, deer movement has been condensed for them this year, so I wasn't expecting a parade of deer. Well as luck would have it, there was a parade of deer on the shelf above me where my buddy sat! He saw 11 deer before I saw my first, and only. Just goes to show how you can be so close, yet so far away!
My hunt was uneventful until 9 when I had to drop a mad growler, so I still hunted my way back around the rock face where I could watch a different side holler. After I took care of business, I decided I liked that spot better, so I set up shop (upwind) and set to glassing the new territory in front of me. Most of the morning I could easily envision I buck strolling up the creek bottom, hitting the very fresh scrape under the beech tree at the Y of the hollers, giving me a chip shot with the 11-87. At 11:09, I'd had enough and decided I need to stretch my legs. I gathered up my gear and made it about 15 yards before I stopped and looked back down the holler. Immediately I spotted the ass end of a deer. Throwing up my binos, I see it has a rack and is slowly working my way. So I ease back to a nice white oak tree so I can rest my glasses (or gun if need be) and try to figure out what's coming my way.
As soon as I laid eyes on his rack, I knew it was the legend I was after: a true WV 11-point. So much so, it took several minutes to determine whether his legendary status was legal or not. After determining he was sporting the sharpest set of 5" ice pick antlers I had ever seen, I also determined that as much as I'd love for him to represent my first WV deer, the drag out really said otherwise. After all, we'd need handles to get one outta that holler and he wasn't carrying anything other than chop sticks! lmao
This morning was my second ever deer hunt in WV. Back in 2015, I made my first sit on the same piece of ground, which is 350+ acres of former Mead-Westvaco ground. My best friend has been a member since he was a kid, his dad a member since he was a kid, so it's a honor to hunt a piece of land that's meant so much to another hunting family. On that hunt I sat on the opposite side of the holler from where I sat today and saw a doe with two fawns. Only having a buck tag, no shots were fired from my borrowed rifle. Today, I toted my shotgun and sat in a spot that reminded me a lot of my favorite gun spot on this side of the river. Creek bottom narrowed to my left, then opened in to an overgrown swampy area at the Y of the bottom. Nice bedding to my right and plenty of shots 100 yards and in. With a bumper crop of acorns, deer movement has been condensed for them this year, so I wasn't expecting a parade of deer. Well as luck would have it, there was a parade of deer on the shelf above me where my buddy sat! He saw 11 deer before I saw my first, and only. Just goes to show how you can be so close, yet so far away!
My hunt was uneventful until 9 when I had to drop a mad growler, so I still hunted my way back around the rock face where I could watch a different side holler. After I took care of business, I decided I liked that spot better, so I set up shop (upwind) and set to glassing the new territory in front of me. Most of the morning I could easily envision I buck strolling up the creek bottom, hitting the very fresh scrape under the beech tree at the Y of the hollers, giving me a chip shot with the 11-87. At 11:09, I'd had enough and decided I need to stretch my legs. I gathered up my gear and made it about 15 yards before I stopped and looked back down the holler. Immediately I spotted the ass end of a deer. Throwing up my binos, I see it has a rack and is slowly working my way. So I ease back to a nice white oak tree so I can rest my glasses (or gun if need be) and try to figure out what's coming my way.
As soon as I laid eyes on his rack, I knew it was the legend I was after: a true WV 11-point. So much so, it took several minutes to determine whether his legendary status was legal or not. After determining he was sporting the sharpest set of 5" ice pick antlers I had ever seen, I also determined that as much as I'd love for him to represent my first WV deer, the drag out really said otherwise. After all, we'd need handles to get one outta that holler and he wasn't carrying anything other than chop sticks! lmao
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Gordo
Senior Member
To borrow a phrase from Brock, I had all the fun and none of the mess yesterday when it comes to the does. Sat in the blind at K's Spot until a little after 9 and saw 4 from that spot, including 2 big old fatties. I had both lined up perfectly at 50 yards, but can't bring myself to shoot a doe off the farm right now. I moved about 300 yards N of that spot to sit until lunch and ended up seeing 2 more does, likely the same ones I saw from the other spot. I spent the afternoon over the big food plot in the bottom and had 2 does come out at 3:30. I had the big one inside 20 yards multiple times. She wouldn't leave me alone! Every time she'd walk away, I'd cough, then she'd come back. We played cat and mouse until 5:05, which is when I wanted to climb down and start my still hunt towards the corn field for a chance at a last minute shot on a feeding deer. They started to wonder off around 5, then came back AGAIN! This time I just started talking to her: "Look, I spared your life, the least you could do is get the fuck outta here so I can leave!" rotflmao She just stood there and stared at me until I throw my bleat can at her! LOL
I'm hoping to cherry pick a doe from behind the house one evening this week. Need to up those meat provisions!
_______________________
2017 Stats
Antlerless Sightings: 47
Bucks Sightings: 14
Different Bucks: 12
Shooters Seen: 2
Total Sightings: 61
Deer Killed: 0
Morning Hunts: 9
Evening Hunts: 7
All Day Sits: 5
Skunked Hunts: 5
Total Hunts: 21
Hours on Stand: 111
Average Time Per Hunt: 5 Hours 17 Minutes
Deer Seen Per Hour on Stand: <1
I'm hoping to cherry pick a doe from behind the house one evening this week. Need to up those meat provisions!
_______________________
2017 Stats
Antlerless Sightings: 47
Bucks Sightings: 14
Different Bucks: 12
Shooters Seen: 2
Total Sightings: 61
Deer Killed: 0
Morning Hunts: 9
Evening Hunts: 7
All Day Sits: 5
Skunked Hunts: 5
Total Hunts: 21
Hours on Stand: 111
Average Time Per Hunt: 5 Hours 17 Minutes
Deer Seen Per Hour on Stand: <1
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Big_Holla
Senior Member
Hunted hard and never saw a rack during gun season. I've never hunted as hard as I have this year. If I'd have grinded like this from the start of my career, I'd have killed a lot more nice deer. Lesson learned.
_______________________
2017 Stats
Antlerless Sightings: 52
Bucks Sightings: 14
Different Bucks: 12
Shooters Seen: 2
Total Sightings: 66
Deer Killed: 0
Morning Hunts: 11
Evening Hunts: 9
All Day Sits: 5
Skunked Hunts: 6
Total Hunts: 25
Hours on Stand: 123
Average Time Per Hunt: 5 Hours 55 Minutes
Deer Seen Per Hour on Stand: <1
_______________________
2017 Stats
Antlerless Sightings: 52
Bucks Sightings: 14
Different Bucks: 12
Shooters Seen: 2
Total Sightings: 66
Deer Killed: 0
Morning Hunts: 11
Evening Hunts: 9
All Day Sits: 5
Skunked Hunts: 6
Total Hunts: 25
Hours on Stand: 123
Average Time Per Hunt: 5 Hours 55 Minutes
Deer Seen Per Hour on Stand: <1
Tracie and I have sitters lined up for Saturday and will likely spend the majority of the day right here. She's been hunting with me since 2003 and we've had a great stretch killing 13 deer in 14 years. Only year we missed out was when she was super pregnant with Kaydence and I couldn't get her out with a gun. Hoping for #14 on Saturday!
Gordo
Senior Member