Tip's 2024-2025 Hunting Journal

[Tipmoose]

Earlier in the year I put out some Bag R Buck mineral "drips". One is being hit ok...a small divot has been dug beneath it. Also went out and put some cameras up. That was a fiasco. The first one was set too high on the tree for the downhill slope and I got 25 pics of ears and heads. The other one "fell off the tree" due to shenanigans. A four foot long zip tie fixed that issue.

Ended up getting pics of this guy. Keep in mind this property is not managed and is an absolute free for all when it comes to hunting. So, I don't expect I will see this guy again.

 

[Tipmoose]

Also made my annual donation to the ODNR. Three of us put in for 8 dove draws apiece. We got 1. That's a total of 48 opportunities over the two day opening weekend. We got 1. That's just freakin ridiculous.

But, Zach and I will be at Fallsville on opening day. Its better than fighting the mexicans at Deer Creek!

 

["J"]

You deer hunting in Ohio as well, or down yonder?

 

[Tipmoose]

You deer hunting in Ohio as well, or down yonder?

There is no more down yonder. That club dried up and blew away two years ago. I will be going to Missouri again this year, hunting the family farm there, hopefully. Other than that, I've just got a couple places here in Ohio where I should be able to get a doe.

 

[Tipmoose]

My stepson and I went out to Fallsville for our draw dove hunt this morning. The fog that rolled in just before sunrise made for an interesting time. Those birds were on top of us before we could see them coming. All in all had a very fun hunt. Left the field just before noon with 23 birds between us. Will post pics later.

 

[giles]

Shouldve stopped by!

 

[Dannmann801]

I hope you have a good season, off to a good start - go get 'em!

 

[Tipmoose]

Here's the field we hunted. Not much cover available because of the lack of rain. Super dry and dusty.

Here's a pic of my stepson after getting his first several birds of the morning.

And last, is a pic taken by Mr Greenjeans after checking us at the parking lot. Total of 23 birds taken!

 

[giles]

Yeah, it's pretty bad right here in this little pocket. Glad you guys got some birds tho!

 

[Tipmoose]

Since we were stuck inside today, decided to make it productive. Took a little over 5 hrs to go from nothing to all cleaned up. Got about 35 lbs total. Will be smoking them tomorrow and hanging em on Sunday. For the first time in over 20 years I have no venison in the freezer. Feels bad.

 

[Tipmoose]

Haven't gone out for a sit yet this year. I just can't stomach the high temps or winds from the east. So today I went out and pulled my two cams, tossed out some minerals etc, and found a new spot for east winds. No clue if its any good, but I put up a cam and some corn in the new spot just to see whats there, when its there, and from what direction it arrives.

Then I looked at one of my other blinds and decided its location was suboptimal. Not because its a bad spot, but because the deer is likely to run off the property if shot with a bow. So, rather than wait until I have a dead deer I can't retrieve, I went down to the property owner's house where the deer is most likely to run. I figured its best to know if he'd let me recover it or not before sitting in the stand at all. I expected it to be a tense affair, with the guy being suspicious of my motives. I'd never spoken to him before and had no idea what to expect.

Turns out, he's a great guy who doesn't know how to hunt and is sitting on 130 acres. He offered me all kinds of help if I get one down and asked to be included in any recovery on his property or otherwise. Who knows, maybe I'll be able to hunt his property in return for teaching him how to bow hunt. We will see. Regardless, it went much better than I expected.

Looking forward to heading out on Monday evening after work.

 

["J"]

Haven't gone out for a sit yet this year. I just can't stomach the high temps or winds from the east. So today I went out and pulled my two cams, tossed out some minerals etc, and found a new spot for east winds. No clue if its any good, but I put up a cam and some corn in the new spot just to see whats there, when its there, and from what direction it arrives.

Then I looked at one of my other blinds and decided its location was suboptimal. Not because its a bad spot, but because the deer is likely to run off the property if shot with a bow. So, rather than wait until I have a dead deer I can't retrieve, I went down to the property owner's house where the deer is most likely to run. I figured its best to know if he'd let me recover it or not before sitting in the stand at all. I expected it to be a tense affair, with the guy being suspicious of my motives. I'd never spoken to him before and had no idea what to expect.

Turns out, he's a great guy who doesn't know how to hunt and is sitting on 130 acres. He offered me all kinds of help if I get one down and asked to be included in any recovery on his property or otherwise. Who knows, maybe I'll be able to hunt his property in return for teaching him how to bow hunt. We will see. Regardless, it went much better than I expected.

Looking forward to heading out on Monday evening after work.

That’s a win, win, right there! Congrats Steve!

 

[Tipmoose]

Sorry for the duplicate post. Already posted this in the "Live from the stand" thread.

Took a vacation day and called off from work to hunt this cold front. Felt absolutely wonderful to get up at 430 and slip into the blind at 6.

Had the small ones come in around 8. A four pointer and two does. All looked to be 1.5 year olds. The buck might have weighted 135 or so. The girls would struggle to break 105.

Watched them feed through the acorns for 30 min. The buck sniffed around a bit but showed little interest in the girls. Enjoyed watching them so deer things. It's good to be back in the woods.

Around 10, the wind picked up from every direction except the one it was supposed to. So I headed back to the truck for a sammich, nabs, and diet coke. Breakfast of champions. Will head back out once the wind decides which of its multiple personalities it wants to follow today.

 

[Tipmoose]

 

[bowhunter1023]

Good luck out there! This evening should be awesome!

 

[Tipmoose]

Welp, the evening sit was....eventful...but not in a good way. lol. Not sure what the deal was with the wind today. Should have been a nice, steady breeze from the NW. All the flags on the drive in said that's the direction it was going. So did OnX and Windy. And, every now and then, it was. It was also out of the S. SE. SW, and occasionally from the W.

Until 7:10PM. Then straight on NW. Whatever was in the treeline turned its lungs inside out and ran off, only to come back, stomp a few more times, and do the same thing.

On the walk out...wind was out of the SE. And every single deer that was just now walking out of the SE treeline to see what the ruckus was about, saw me and ran back into the woods.

But it was still a much better day than being at work. And the nap over lunchtime, in the truck, with the windows down....amazing. Heck, the seasons only two weekend's old.

 

[giles]

Keep learning! That is stuff you can't learn from cameras.

 

[Tipmoose]

Keep learning! That is stuff you can't learn from cameras.

Yep. I think this is only my fourth sit on this property. Definitely learning all kinds of things.

 

[Tipmoose]

Went out again yesterday evening for a sit in a new blind. This one faces NE and has an option for a straight west shot as well. Saw fresh deer scat on the way in.

Saw more tree rats and chipmunks than ever. The wind cooperated well today. Discovered my issue from the previous hunt was the mobile version of OnX. It's not updating current wind conditions for any of the stands. The web version seems to work so I will use that until I can figure out what's wrong with the app.

Saw no deer and didn't hear any either. Will try again today.