Late season help

[hickslawns]

That is what it is all about. Trust me, I am no expert here. We all learn when we hit the woods. Seems it takes a few years or sometimes more just to get the feel for a property. Properties we hunt for years we can still learn new things about. Every encounter with a deer is an experience to take in and learn about behavior. Interacting on forums seems like it helps take the learning curve from decades to years. We are all still learning, but it is easier to learn more quickly when sharing experiences and reading other people's experiences. Glad you are still hitting it hard.

 

[Joel]

I'm headed out here shortly to try it again. Hopefully this crappy weather gets em up and moving around.

 

[Joel]

Come on Rudolph. Come and get a bite of corn right before dark tonight. I promise not to shoot an arrow at you and hang your head on my wall.:smiley_crocodile:

 

["J"]

Come on Rudolph. Come and get a bite of corn right before dark tonight. I promise not to shoot an arrow at you and hang your head on my wall.:smiley_crocodile:

Good luck Joel... Kudos for sitting out in these temps....

 

[brock ratcliff]

Good luck!

 

[Diane]

Good luck Joel!

 

[Joel]

Thanks guys. Rudolph had other plans. I saw him run down a hill about 200 yards away right at last light. I think he knows what's going on with the blind. I saw him on the horizon, he came from right where I thought he was bedding but instead of coming towards the corn pile he turned right and trotted down the hill. He stopped, flicked his tail a couple times and took off towards the field on the east side of the property. He was south of me with a good wind in my favor. No way he saw me or smelled me- little sumbich.

Three guys that also have permission are showing up in the morning with guns and orange vests. Instead of being upset I think I'll just join them and make the most of it. We'll see what happens over the next 4 days and see if Rudolph survives, that will determine how I spend the rest of my season.

 

[cotty16]

Damn... I've been following this waiting for the big cash in!

 

[Bigslam51]

Might as well join them. Maybe they'll jump him and you'll get a shot!

 

[finelyshedded]

Way to keep sticking with it Joel! Many years of these encounters like you are having helps a hunter learn! Keep it up and adjust your tactics and don't be afraid of taking risks. Nothing drastic but things like hunting from the ground,changing your access route,go in earlier or later. Keep a log or journal of temps,wind direction,time of sightings and other things that might help you connect the dots and get a little edge on these deer like "Rudolph" for your future hunts in the coming years.

If you can take something from every hunt and use it for future reference it might just be the ticket to help you seal the deal on a nice buck in your future. We've all learned something from reading or watching but learning from personal experience is very valuable, IMO! Glad to see you're enjoying yourself and hunting hard! Good luck, I'm really enjoying tagging along with you and watching from the sidelines.:smiley_coolpeace:

 

[Joel]

Those guys were very understanding and agreed to stay away from Rudolph's bedroom. I was also understanding and said if you see him out in the open, go ahead and shoot him! I went out for a few hours this morning and sat, didn't see anything. Those guys did a small push on the other side of the property and went on to hunt another property.

I am giving up on the blind for this deer, I just don't think I'll get him from there now. Couldn't have had any better conditions yesterday and he avoided that area like he knew what was up. I'm going to try to intercept him on his early morning and late evening routes with the muzzleloader from the ground and see what happens. If he makes it through muzzleloader season and sticks around I will be right back on him with a corn pile and a crossbow but this time the corn will be closer to his bedding area in thicker cover and I'll be in a tree on his route to corn. Fingers crossed.

 

[Gordo]

Still got plenty of time buddy. Stay on it.

Like ric said, the encounters are awesome. Nothing like laying your eyes on a particular buck and watching him do his thing.

Is he still showing at the cam close to dusk?

 

[Joel]

Still got plenty of time buddy. Stay on it.

Like ric said, the encounters are awesome. Nothing like laying your eyes on a particular buck and watching him do his thing.

Is he still showing at the cam close to dusk?

I moved the camera from the corn pile to his suspected bedding area on a heavily used trail. I figured all the pics at the corn pile were doing is driving me nuts and telling me he wasn't showing up until right after dark. After muzzleloader season I'm going to pull the camera off his trail and put it back on a new pile of corn. Hopefully I'll learn a little more about his habits when I pull the camera and hopefully when I move it to the new corn pile he'll show up in daylight. We didn't come anywhere near him today and unless he decides to go straight from his bedding area into an open field, and assuming he's bedded in his usual spot, he's only got one other way out and I'll be waiting every evening through muzzy season at a safe distance but still in range. Still being patient and trying not to run him off. This snow is nice for visibility and I don't think it'll be melting anytime soon!

 

[Joel]

I had to take the day off from hunting, I'm getting discouraged. I think between early muzzle loader season, gun season, getting out with the crossbow after gun season and yesterday I've probably spent 100+ hours in this wood lot not even counting checking cameras and dumping corn. I am ready to bag this big deer and call it a season.

Rudolph- I'm sorry but you are going to have to die soon.

 

[Bigslam51]

Gotta keep on keepin on man, get your ass out there this evening! Sitting it out is going to leave you wondering if today would of been the day.

 

[Joel]

Gotta keep on keepin on man, get your ass out there this evening! Sitting it out is going to leave you wondering if today would of been the day.

You're right and that is sound advice but I need a day down and with the family. I will go out tomorrow with a clear head and kill him.

 

[brock ratcliff]

With the front coming in tonight, you should take your family time tomorrow!

 

[Joel]

Talked me into it.

 

[Gordo]

Tonight should be good.

 

[Joel]

Between you guys telling me to go, friends telling me to go and even my wife telling me to go I had to, lol. That and all the hero pictures with big bucks floating around I had to try it.I'm back in the game now and the frustration's gone. Didn't see crap tonight but I'm still glad I went.

The others that hunt this property walked around a little today and yesterday and gave up. They didn't jump anything other than a doe on the opposite side of the property yesterday and didn't walk around as much as I thought they would. No neighbors hunting either so there's been no real extra pressure on the deer for the most part. Now I think the rain's washing everyone's scent away and we've got two days of gun carrying freezing ass weather with only one other guy hunting and he plans to just sit for a couple hours at the most tomorrow and the next day. I will be in my blind with a heater as much as possible over the next two days. If that fails, I have 25 days left with a crossbow to get the job done.