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Joel 2016

Joel

Senior Member
3,049
113
Centerburg, Ohio
Going to try to keep up on this and I think it will be nice to look back on at the end of the season. I was going to start a journal earlier this season but there hasn't been much going on other than watching squirrels.

As kind of a way of taking note of when and where I've been hunting, I've snapped a picture on my phone at every hunt. I just started doing that this year but it's kind of neat on my phone. I can look back through the pictures and see the date and time I took the photo. That tells me when and where I hunted as I flip back through the photos.

I have been out 17 times this year. So far I have seen seven deer and shot one of them. To be honest, I have four spots and three of them suck lol. The spot I killed my doe at was my first sit in that stand and I haven't been back yet. It's what I consider a good spot and I try to save it for ideal conditions.

The other three are small and there's deer in the area at all but they've been pretty slow this year. One is new to me this year, one I just started hunting last year and don't go often and the other spot is 100 yards from my back door. Behind my house typically picks up when the corn is cut there and it was just cut last week.
 

Joel

Senior Member
3,049
113
Centerburg, Ohio
I'll start with a couple recaps of what I can remember about hunts I actually saw a deer at and skip the others.

The first deer sighting was middle of October behind my house. I was in a ground blind and watched a buck calmly walk through the woods about 40 yards away as it was getting dark. Didn't even raise my crossbow because I couldn't see his rack that well and it was dark in the blind but still cool to see one.
 

Joel

Senior Member
3,049
113
Centerburg, Ohio
Probably a week later, I was sitting on the ground at another spot. A small buck worked his way around a creek and then climbed up the hill I was sitting on. When he got to the top, we were at eye level maybe 10 yards from each other. I thought he was going to bolt but he looked right at me, looked side to side and then calmly kept walking like he never saw me. At one point he was about 14 feet from me and it was pretty cool watching him.

About a week after that I hunted behind my house but chose to sit in between the corn and the woods on the ground. About 6:00 I heard something, looked to my right and saw antlers coming out of the woods maybe 15 yards away. I couldn't see much but was thinking it might be a shooter so I took the safety off my crossbow and waited.

He worked his way into the clearing slowly and then ended up stopping ten yards in front of me. This buck ended up being smaller than he looked at first and was covered in tumors. He stared me down forever, curled his nose up, liked the air and was downwind of me at 10 yards. He just could not figure out what that strange thing was that smelled like smoke and eventually went back to doing his thing and was in shooting range for over 10 minutes while I watched sand took pictures and videos of him on my phone.
 

Joel

Senior Member
3,049
113
Centerburg, Ohio
Thanks guys!

On the 25th I went out for my first morning hunt of the year in my best spot for the first time of the year. I bumped a couple deer on the way in a couple hundred yards from my stand. Didn't see them, just heard them. I got settled in about 20 minutes before shooting light. I watched a couple raccoons at first light and then it was pretty quiet but I was seeing all kinds of fresh deer sign as the sun came up.

At about 8:30 I saw a deer move on the other side of some brush and it looked like it was getting ready to step into a shooting lane so I put the crossbow on my shoulder and waited but it never stepped out. I was starting a remodel later that day so I didn't want to stay out too long and was thinking maybe I should head in. Just for the heck of it I got out the grunt call and did a couple soft grunts.

A few minutes later I saw a big deer moving on the other side of the same brush pile. She stopped for a couple seconds and then started to head straight into a shooting lane. I saw it was a big doe so took the safety off and got ready. She was at the top of a steep hill 25 yards away and was pretty much level with me even though I was 15 feet in a tree. I stopped her with a "meh" but she took an extra step before stopping and there was a branch in the way.

She took a few more steps and I stopped her again in a very small opening. I really rushed the shot but saw the luminoc hit right where I aimed. She jumped up and bolted.
 

Joel

Senior Member
3,049
113
Centerburg, Ohio
I liked the way the shot looked so I didn't wait long and climbed out of the tree. I looked around for a few minutes for the arrow but never found it. Looked at where I thought she was standing and found blood pretty close. Started following the blood and it was looking pretty good. After 30 yards or so though it slowed down to just pin drops here and there and I was getting nervous.

About that time as I was on my knees looking around for blood I heard a deer stomp. I looked up and a yearling doe was staring at me 20 yards away. I watched her for a minute but then wanted to get back to tracking so I stood up thinking she'd take off. She stared at me stomping so eventually I waved my arm and said "get out of here". She threw her tail up and started to take off but then stopped and came back towards me lol. This went on for a few minutes and I finally started to follow the blood again and ignored her. It she stayed close for way longer than normal. Acted like she had never seen a human before and it was really a neat experience.

Eventually I found more blood then it started to get heavier again and got easier and easier to follow. I kept stopping and looking around for a dead deer but never saw one. Kept walking following heavy blood. In the corn, out of the corn, back in the corn...

She finally picked a row of corn and went down that way for 100 yards or more leaving blood all over the stalks. The blood stopped and I looked into the next row and there she was, a good 500 yards or more from where I shot her.

IMG_0972.jpg
 

Joel

Senior Member
3,049
113
Centerburg, Ohio
Ended up being a single lung hit. Didn't realize it when I shot but she was quartered away slightly so the broadhead went dead center through one lung and just barely missed the other. She died about 500 yards from my stand and probably 800+ yards from my truck. If the corn was down I could've driven my truck right to her but since it was still up that brings us to the story of the drag. I'll try to post that story on here soon and it's pretty funny to me.

Had access to a 4wd tractor with a bucket but came up with this genius idea so I didn't have to damage the corn too much. IMG_0977.jpg
 

Joel

Senior Member
3,049
113
Centerburg, Ohio
Time flies when you get wrapped up in adult stuff like work, family obligations and things like that. I've only been out a few times since I updated this last and not much to report. Corn is all down around all my spots, just wrapped up a job and taking the rest of the week off. I've already warned my wife I have some hunting to catch up on so I'll be back at it hardcore the rest of the week and this weekend if need be.
 

Joel

Senior Member
3,049
113
Centerburg, Ohio
Skunked this morning in my good stand. Nice morning and I really enjoyed the quiet but I didn't see a thing and gave up around 10:00. The more I sit in that stand the more I think it needs to be moved about 50 yards north. The view from my stand is a giant hill that I can't see what's on the other side and it drives me nuts wondering what's going on over there lol.

Back out tonight in a ground blind at the new spot I picked up this year. Still have never seen a deer here but there is a lot of good sign and this is my first hunt here since the corn came down. Really cool natural funnel and 20 yards from a cut corn field behind me. They just about have to move through here at some point now that the corns down.

Not the greatest temps at the moment but the wind is perfect for this spot.