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Phil's 2019 season

hickslawns

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248
Ohio
Gurgly gut got me into stand late. Bumped none. Setup before legal light. One nice young buck before legal light. 3 does since. Short hunt this morn. More of a test hunt for new stand, swap camera card, recon hunt. So far I'm pleased. Should be a great spot. Once leaves fall visibility will be better. 3 shooting windows now. All 25yds or less.

Mental note: don't forget to pick up wallet that slid out of pocket and is 20'under me before walking to the truck. Oops.

Hate that I need to leave by 920. Squirrels are active. Birds noisy at times. Hearing a random twig break here and there. It's been a beautiful morning.

Hours hunted: 2
Deer seen: 4

Season totals
Hunts: 3
Hours hunted: 7.5
Deer seen: 8
Deer in bow range: 4
Does: 7
Bucks: 2
 

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hickslawns

Dignitary Member
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39,721
248
Ohio
Spent some time on stand this morning. Not sure I'd calling it hunting. More like a drunken sailor wearing potato chip bags on his feet, walking on ice, thru a museum full of bells. Dark dark morning in the woods for my walk in. Surprisingly, I never heard anything bolt. Ended up seeing one yearling 150yds off. It disappeared until I was ready to climb down. Then was in bow range.

Puzzle pieces? Last year I killed my buck in this woods Oct 21. Makes me wonder if there is an early doe on this property every year? I did have a lone yearling wandering around today? This woods does not typically "hold" mature deer. Could be coincidence. Yearling momma could have been hit by car or something.

Hunt: 2.5hrs
Deer seen: 1
In bow range: 1
Season totals
Hunts: 4
Hours hunted: 10
Deer seen: 9
Deer in bow range: 5
Does: 8
Bucks: 2
 

hickslawns

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39,721
248
Ohio
Beautiful evening. Other than the buzzards up in a massive oak tree 30yds away, I enjoyed it. Those things are a little freaky up close. 10 of them kept taking off and then coming back. I think they were picking on the doe the farmer found which was not recovered by someone. Or poached. Ended up seeing a yearling thru the leaves. Later had 4 does come out at 55yds downwind. Shortly after a funky buck ran them around. I ended up seeing a shooter running them around thru the binoculars. Naturally, he was about 30-50yds away from my truck as I was 250yds away in a tree stand. Unbelievable to see the deer eating grass in the yard and along the buildings rather than the pinch point between fields. :ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO:

Evening hunt.
Hours hunted: 3
Deer seen: 7
Bucks: 2

Season totals
Hunts: 5
Hours hunted: 13
Deer seen: 16
Deer in bow range: 5
Does: 13
Bucks: 4
 

hickslawns

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39,721
248
Ohio
Thanks Rich.
Been an exciting morning. Doe with yearling popped out of corn 60yds away. I could hear corn stalks moving and grunting but couldn't see buck. He popped out and chased momma around as yearling went back to corn. Few minutes later a momma with 2 yearlings cruised by in bow range. Had another solo yearling behind me at 20yds but in the cover of foliage. I keep hearing periodic grunting and occasional quick rustle of leaves. No visuals. I think same buck. I have pics of him previously. Maybe 15" tall. Straight up rack with maybe a 6-8" spread if memory is correct. Funky dude. Horny too it seems. 7 deer seen. One buck. 4 in bow range. And I heard some turkeys with no visuals.
 
Good to know your getting out Phil, enjoy reading your hunt results. The wife and I have spent the last few days building a new box blind (carpenters, we are not) to replace the one I lost in a flood this summer. I had planned to hunt from a pop-up, but found it way to uncomfortable.

I've spent a couple days in it, saw one doe for my efforts. I'm hoping to get the box stand set up on Monday.
 

hickslawns

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Ohio
Evening sit. High hopes with front coming in. Low results. Saw one yearling wandering around. I suspect they are in the corn.

Evening hunt
Hours hunted: 3
Deer seen: 1

Season totals
Hunts: 6
Hours hunted: 16
Deer seen: 17
Deer in bow range: 5
Does: 14
Bucks: 4
 

hickslawns

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39,721
248
Ohio
Late getting in for an evening hunt. Oh well. Bumped nothing getting in there. Can't kill them from the couch. Saw 2 does waaaay across the field. Had 3 does come out 75-100yds east of me. Had one yearling read the script and walk by at 30yds. Good visibility of a massive picked bean field. No bucks seen.

Evening hunt: 1.5hrs
Deer seen: 6
In bow range: 1

Season totals
Hunts: 7
Hours hunted: 17.5
Deer seen: 23
Deer in bow range: 6
Does: 20
Bucks: 4
 

hickslawns

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39,721
248
Ohio
Second night of road scouting or glassing fields on properties I hunt. Not so busy for deer sightings. I think this is part of successfully harvesting deer on a regular basis people fail to recognize. We (most of us) can NOT hunt daily. It might only be the last 15 minutes of light, but I do my best to scout nightly if I'm not hunting. Sometimes this tells me "stay out of there. The deer are comfy and bucks aren't cruising yet." Other times I kick myself for not being in the stand. Either way, I'm not burning out a stand, and I'm not leaving scent everywhere.
 
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giles

Cull buck specialist
Supporting Member
That’s also the advantage you have of having local spots. Closest property I have to hunt is just over 20 minutes away.

How much corn do you guys still have up?
 

hickslawns

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Ohio
That’s also the advantage you have of having local spots. Closest property I have to hunt is just over 20 minutes away.

How much corn do you guys still have up?

Probably 50-75% of the corn is up. Depends on the farmer. Maybe 10-25% of the beans are up. Around my immediate hunting spots all beans are down and roughly 50% of corn. Drive a mile or two and corn still standing. This will keep some of the deer out of my areas, but in the next couple weeks I don't think it will matter. They will be cruising at some point. Corn or not. Not EVERY single doe is going to hang out 1-2 miles away in the corn.
 

hickslawns

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Ohio
Hunted this morning. Saw a young buck deer.

Morning hunt: 3 hrs
.Deer seen: 1
In bow range: 1
Bucks: 1

Season totals
Hunts: 8
Hours hunted: 20.5
Deer seen: 24
Deer in bow range: 7
Does: 20
Bucks: 5
 
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hickslawns

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Ohio
Road scouted last night. Saw a shooter from the road with binoculars. Stood like a statue watching my truck several hundred yards away. Doe 20yds in front of him feeding. I know the property. I know the travel patterns. I feel there is a high probability she will cruise him by a stand today. What time? Nobody knows.

Property 2. Slid behind barns at last light. Glassed 12 deer. Could have been more. Could not make out any antlers that screamed "hunt me". I know historically there are more shooters on this farm. I saw does (it appeared mainly all if not all does) in there at last light. I have little doubt a shooter will be within 1-200yds of my stand at some point today. BUT. . .if there are this many deer in there I will blow them out walking in. AND with higher deer density, there is a good chance the big boys will be locked into one and not cruising.

Tough choice. No wrong answer. I am hunting where I KNOW there is a hot doe. Might not see a deer. Might kick myself for not hunting where large masses of does were seen last night. That is hunting. I will enjoy being in a tree stand shortly either way. Thank you Lord for giving me the health and ability to do this. Please watch over my fellow hunters today. Keep them safe. Guide their arrows to their targets.
 

hickslawns

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39,721
248
Ohio
3.5 hour hunt. 2 bucks and 2 does couple hundred yards out. Doing rutty things. Later had buck and doe buzz behind me at 40yds. Seemed more spooked than a chasing behavior. More like he was bedded with her and got bumped. Borderline shooter.

Hours hunted: 3.5
Deer seen: 6
Does: 3
Bucks:. 3

Season totals
Hunts: 9
Hours hunted: 24
Deer seen: 30
Deer in bow range: 7
Does: 23
Bucks: 8
 

hickslawns

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Supporting Member
39,721
248
Ohio
Hit church. Took son to lunch. Made it back out by 230-300. No vehicle parked at property next to where I hunt when I drove by. Put on my gear. As I am walking to the stand a dude gives me the "meh" as he was climbing into his stand on the property line. I said "good luck" and kept walking. He must have been wearing his stuff, parked, and walked in. Beat me to the stand. . . .60yds or so away from mine. Ugh. Oh well, that's hunting small wood lots in NW Ohio.

Within 30 minutes or so had a lone doe come in, catch his scent, and change course. Small buck came out into field upwind of us shortly after. Ended up seeing at least 4 different bucks. Had a parade of does walk across the field from east to west towards neighboring property. Got spooky. Headed back. Tried to circle along creek. Had 3 nice does within 20yds of me but catching his scent. They were on high alert. I wasn't doe hunting. Didn't want to give up my position. Sat tight and let them pick him off. They boogied out. Some bucks came out to harass them (there were six total at this point). Pushed them back towards other hunter. They had a mexican stand off. They must have caught his movement. I got a good show. It was also a great example of why scent control is so critical. I saw no less than 15 deer but lost count as it was tough to keep track with the does moving everywhere trying to avoid the other hunter and the bucks harassing them.

Pretty sure my only "shooter" on camera on this property made an appearance. He was all bristled up and on the prowl. The does took off and the other hunter tooted on his grunt tube like it was a freaking instrument. He tried and tried to bring that buck in. I thought about rattling to see if the buck would come into either of us, but decided to watch the show. Tomorrow is another day. Swapped a card before leaving. No new guys showing up.

Evening hunt: 3hrs
Deer seen: 15
Does: 11
Bucks 4
In bow range: 3

Season totals
Hunts: 10
Hours hunted: 27
Deer seen: 45
Deer in bow range: 10
Does: 34
Bucks: 12