Wildlife 2019/2020 Deer Season

[Wildlife]

Thanks guys!

I just stepped out with the bow to practice some potential distances I might have tonight.

First cold shot from 40 yards.

I think I'm ready!

 

[Wildlife]

Wednesday, October 9, 2019:
.
Hunted out my fourth different hang-on setup since last Saturday from 5:00 until quitting time.

This setup is roughly 30-40 yards away from the edge of that large deer bedding area that I mentioned about in my previous post.

The wind was ideal for it, coming from the East-Northeast for the first hour of my hunt.

Then around 6:00 the clouds started rolling in and in a matter of no time the wind completely died down to virtually a standstill for the rest of the evening.

So, with the overcast sky and the temperature quickly dropping, I figured those deer would be getting up much sooner than what they did yesterday when I saw them @6:55.

Sure enough, @6:15 I started hearing what could’ve of been easily mistaken for a squirrel on the ground just to the East/my right.

After a few more slight leaf noises coming from that area, I slowly grabbed my bow and got ready.

Yep, it was deer alright, a couple of’em as a matter of fact, however not the kind I was hoping for originally.

Two young ones, one antlerless and a forky in toe walked right underneath me.

The young buck kept bumping the one in front in the ass in a playful manner, then a quick game of tag ensued right in front me for about two minutes.

Once they settled down, each of them started munching down leaves off the honeysuckles for a few more minutes, roughly 25 yards away in front of me.

Eventually they walked off towards the West and completely out of sight.

Thinking that was a good sign and hoping for others to quickly follow suite, amazingly, for next hour, not a thing was moving.

Once it got down to the last 10 minutes of legal hunting, I grabbed my doe-can and gave it a few flips hoping that I could draw more deer out of that same bedding area and out into the CRP field right behind me, which I could see clearly in at that particular time.

Rather funny though, one deer did show up, however it came from the West/my-left, from within the woods.

It ended up approximately 30 yards out in front me and I couldn’t see the darn thing because of the darkness.

I could hear'em plain as day walking about, I assume, looking for whatever was making the bleeping sound.

So of course, I ended up staying up into the tree a bit longer than normal because of that silly deer that was right in front me that I couldn’t see.

Once it finally left the area from what I could hear, I packed up and headed home.

It was a fun hunt even though I didn’t get the see the same caliper or roughly the same number of deer that I saw yesterday..
________________________________________________

Now for tomorrow, because of the warmer temperatures we’re suppose get over the next two days, I’m gonna try to do a couple of morning hunts rather than evenings.

Well see if I can get me ass up early enough to make it happen.

 

[Wildlife]

Thursday, October 10, 2019:

Manage to get up this morning and head out to the same setup I hunted out of last night.

There was a heavy mist and some series dew happening in our valley with a little bit of fog at the time, which allowed me to be real stealthy getting to my stand.

NO DICE, got skunked this morning.

First time that I didn’t see any deer during a sit this season so far, however @8:15 I heard a heavy tree branch break on the ground approximately 40 yards to my West/my-left, but I couldn’t see what it was.

I know it was a deer because there were some hoof marks on top of my footprints from this morning.

I got down @9:30 cause I wanted to do some recon in the area while the ground was still wet, and I came across two football size fresh scrapes that weren't there yesterday right in front of my stand, just within 20 yards of it.

I also found the tree rub that I seen that big buck make from the other evening.

The real good news for me, is that the area I seen those big bucks at the other night, well, they were much closer to this setup than I originally thought, approximately 40-50 yards away.

There are heavy deer runs that are within my reach that are going to and from that area. I’ve had some opportunities in the past on other good bucks using those paths.

I also came across that skull that's in the photograph above, also within the immediate area.

It doesn’t appear to be a deer, more like a small coyote. Perhaps the one I shot last season from this location that was right underneath me and I never did go get’em.

On the way back to my shop, right when I crossed the stream and headed up into my yard along the creek levy, I jumped a deer that was bedded just on the other side of it. It ran straight away towards the bigger creek at the back of our property.
______________________________________________

I doubt I’ll get out this evening because it’s supposed to get rather warm out and I just soon wait for the cooler temps to hunt in, for instance, like tomorrow morning.

So good luck to any of you that will be getting out there later today!

 

[Wildlife]

Friday, October 11,2019:

Didn’t make out this morning like I wanted to even though I got up in time.

I didn’t feel the greatest, so I turned back around and went back to bed with a decent sinus pressure headache.

I woke up a few hours later feeling a tiny bit better, but not much. I ended up dealing with it pretty much all day today.

Anyhow,,,

I wanted to get out for hunt regardless how I physically felt, so I made my way to my Hilltop stand for the first time this season, leaving my shop shortly after 4:15 p.m.

It’s by far my longest hike out of all my other setups from the shop.

It’s literally a ¼ mile straight out the back of my shop if I were to hike it through the woods, however that isn’t what I do.

Instead, I take the long way around using the roads, through a soybean field, then through a CRP field and finally, down a big hill part way, which tallies up to nearly one complete mile one way.

I do this so I don’t mess up the woods pushing any the deer out from my hunting areas.

The wind conditions were perfect for this setup this evening, coming from the South, me going in from the North, with a cloudy overcast sky, however, it was a bit muggy and warm ‘TOO’.

I finally got settled in at 5:00.

I did get a little sweaty from that long hike, but not ‘TOO’ bad. I cooled off rather quick, just before all the deer action.

And yes, it didn’t take long for that to start, that’s for sure!

At 5:40, out the glimpse of my right eye, I seen the ass end of a good size deer walking into the woods from the CRP field to the NE/my-right. I couldn’t see it after that first glimpse until a couple of minutes later, right after I saw a honeysuckle tree waving back in forth in that same area.

I was able to confirm it was a good size doe, approximately 35 yards away.

As she started to graze her way further on down the hill, somewhat towards me in quarterly fashion, I seen another smaller antlers deer right behind her.

It appeared to be her young yearling, so I just sat there and watched as they continued making their way downward, grazing off all the honeysuckles trees in the area.

Both got as close as 25 yards of me and still, it was difficult to see their entire bodies beyond all the tree/honeysuckle foliage.

The two deer are in the left photograph taken to the right of me. The left photograph is the area right behind my tree , further on down the hill where they all ended going eventually.

As they got further and further on down the hill, beyond me, I heard another deer get up even further downhill, directly behind me. That deer, a button buck, joined those first two.

I watched all three of’em, just within 30 yards, eating honeysuckle berries and leaves as they slowly made their way South- Southwest/my left and out of my sight.

When I turned back around to the front of my stand and looked back out into the CRP field, which is to the North, I saw two more antlerless deer, approximately 45 yards straight away.

They 'TOO' ended up going into the woods at roughly the same spot the first two did and pretty much traced the same route through the woods.

About a minute after that, another antlerless deer, a nice nanny doe, also just to the North of me within the same CRP field, reached the edge of the woods, but this time, a bit closer to me, just within 40 yards.

Once she stepped in, I decided I going to take her, however, once again, she stayed to the right of me, which I don’t have any shooting area/lanes/windows on that side. So, I continued to watch her ‘TOO’ trace the same steps as the previous ones, further on down the hill and around the backside of my tree, circling me approximately 30 yards away and providing no opportunity.

So, I sat there for a minute or two, thinking to myself, sooner or later some of’em will make their way back, possibly to head back out into the CRP field after they eat. There are two major deer runs right underneath me and surely, I thought, a few'em would use those paths to make their way back out to that field, which are my best shooting areas/lanes/windows.

Well, a few more minutes pass and I hear leaf crunching coming from the NW/my left, approximately 50 yards away.

Yep, two more antlerless deer coming into the woods from the hilltop tree hedge row.

WOW! I say to myself...

I’m literally surrounded by deer and I felt like I couldn’t move more or less, cause I knew there were potentially eighteen eyeballs in the immediate area, and surely one of them will spot me if I were to move, I thought.

About that moment, two of the littlest deer walked out from the thickest stuff right behind me. I was able to get a quick snapshot of'em with my phone and I didn't bother to try to get the other that was just to the right.

The last two deer that came into the woods from the NW/my left, ended up being another nanny doe and button buck.

Both fast tracked towards the others that already got past me, roughly a few minutes prior.

I ended up seeing eight antlerless deer altogether this evening from 5:40-6:55 p.m. All got just within 30 yards of me at some point.

I didn’t see any others after that.

I think I captured a couple of them on my bow Tactacam video camera as well, however I’ll have to download it first to confirm.

All in all, it was definitely a fun and exciting hunt.

I thought I was going to bag one of’em for sure this evening, however, none of them, other than the littlest ones, really presented any decent opportunity for me.

So onward to my next hunt, which will be sometime tomorrow, weather permitting.

There’s still plenty of time yet, and I have plenty of patients to make it happen.

I'm confident I'll get'er done!

 

[Wildlife]

Saturday, October 12, 2019 - A Week in Review:

I went ahead and put together an Excel spreadsheet of all my hunting data.

I published it on-line for anyone who cares to check it out.

I'll be updating it each week throughout the season and compile a monthly one as well.

Just so you all know, I feel very blessed to do something that I thoroughly enjoy.

If there's any suggestion in how I can improve my data regarding my hunts, please feel free to let me know, thanks!

https://view.publitas.com/wildlifeohio/2019-hunt-data

 

[Wildlife]

Saturday, October 12, 2019:

Got into my tree later than what I was hoping for, however it didn't really seem to matter, @5:30 p.m.

The woods didn't come alive until about 7:15 p.m.

That's when I heard the first deer get up behind me approximately 40-50 yards on the other side of the creek in the woods, but I couldn't see it, even with my binos.

Over the next 15 minutes or better, I heard a couple them moving slowly through the woods. Sounded like they were making their way towards the field in front of me, but much further to the South/my right about 40-50 yards away. I never did see them make it out into the field.

And about the same time, I heard something else moving in the wooded area along the creek in front me, just to my left, heading East. It TOO' never showed itself.

Then I turned around and glassed the edge of the corn field right behind me beyond the woods and I saw a buck that was getting up in the tall alfalfa grass between the woods and the edge of the corn field right near the corner of it.

He just laid there looking around to his left, right and then into the corn like something was about to come out of it.

I continued to watch him until I couldn't see anymore due to the darkness, which was well after quitting time.

So, I only saw one deer, which was that buck approximately 80-100 yards away. I felt like everything got up just minutes before quitting time, most likely due to the full moon rising.

I finally climbed down and headed home through the cut bean field that you see in the photograph above. Didn't even need to use my headlamp to find my way due to the brightness of that beautiful full moon this evening.

I'll be back at it again tomorrow.

 

[giles]

They moved early yesterday. Like 3-5

 

[Hortontoter]

Great reports, keep 'em coming.

 

[Wildlife]

Sunday, October 13, 2019:

(7:30 a.m. from the stand photograph)

I left the shop early this morning, a little after 6:00 a.m. heading to my Hilltop Stand once again, which is the furthest setup from my shop to hike.

Being that it was 32 degrees out, I grabbed my ‘Body Heater Suite’ and threw it over my shoulders while wearing just my typically early fall clothes and headed out.

Needless to say, it was definitely a brisk cool walk getting to my stand and I knew before I even left my shop, there wouldn’t be any risk of me getting sweaty.

So,,,

about halfway there, taking a roundabout way, I seen two antlerless deer standing in the middle of the first uncut soybean field.

Normally, I don’t hike down the road with my headlamp on, however I do keep a small 1000 lumen LED tactical flashlight in hand as I walk down the road in complete darkness.

Those deer just stood there as I continue my walk towards my stand. They never did move away.

Once I got to the back of the second uncut soybean field, the one that I walk the backside of to get to my stand, when I was almost to the far corner, just before I cut through a tree hedge row, and I ended up bumping two different antlerless deer.

They didn’t blow, they just bounced into the tree hedge as I slowly continued my journey.

I heard them make their way out into the CRP field, which is on the other side of that hedge and once I cleared it, I scanned the CRP field with my flashlight.

Standing approximately 30 yards away were those two antlerless deer looking straight back at me.

Still, I continued heading to my stand with the deer standing between me and that setup.

Once I got within 20 yards of them, they hopped into the woods, just about where I go in at.

As I got to the wooded edge, I stood there for minute and listened.

I could hear them walking about approximately 20-30 yards in, not running nor blowing.

I decided to head into the woods very, very slowly and quietly headed straight to my stand.

I still could hear the deer just to the East/my left approximately 20-30 yards away. Still no blow.

Under the moon light only, I was able to get to my stand without a hitch.

I still could hear those deer to my left slowing walking around.

I then quietly hooked up to my ‘LIFELINE’ and hooked my bow up to my hand line and started my way up the tree.

Once I got into my tree-stand, I hung my ‘Body Heater Suite’ on a tree hook, slowly pulled up my bow and then hung it on the bow hanger.

After that, I sat down at 6:45 a.m. and listened.

I didn’t bother doing anything else, like knocking an arrow or climbing into my ‘Body Heater Suite’, I just sat there and listened to the deer that were pretty much underneath me at that point.

About 10 minutes later, I heard one of them cross right in front of my tree approximately 10 yards away heading West/my left.

That deer continued heading further and further West-Northwest towards the same area where I first bumped’em.

I still could hear the other antlerless deer to the East/my right now, approximately 20-30 yards away walking very quietly and slowly.

After another 10 minutes go by, approximately 7:10 a.m., I hear that deer make its way back out into the CRP field, which is now to the North/straight in front of me.

Right at first light, I was able to watch that deer head back towards the area where I first bumped’em 'TOO', much like the first deer that crossed in front of me moments prior.

At approximately 7:20 a.m., I started seeing more antlerless deer roll out of the tall section of the CRP and into the area where it’s been cutdown, right where I originally walked in from 35 minutes earlier.

This went on for about 10 minutes where I continued to see a total of six more deer that gradually walked out from the 6-8’ tall CRP and out into the cut section.

They all grazed the alfalfa along the CRP for just a few minutes as they gradually headed towards the same area as those first deer did, right where I bumped’em originally, right behind the second uncut soybean field.

And that was it for my morning sit.

That was all the deer I seen this morning from daylight until 10:30 a.m. when I climbed down and headed back to my shop.

After I took care of a crapload of leaves this afternoon in my yard, I got ready again to head back out to that same location for my evening hunt.

This time I had the wife drop me off at that second uncut soybean field where I originally bumped those antlerless deer first thing before daylight. That saved me some time and any potential grief, God Bless her!

(4:30 p.m. from the stand photograph)

I get settled into my Hilltop Stand once again right at 4:30 p.m. sharp.

I was expecting to see those deer make there way back at some point and sure enough, some of them did.

Right around 6:10 p.m. I saw three of them standing in the cut section of the CRP field grazing once again, approximately 100 yards away.

I continued to watch’em with my binoculars for about 10 minutes as they slowly started to make their way towards me, which I’m 35 yards into woods, just off the corner of that field.

I was able to tell that the three deer consisted of one button buck, one young doe and one adult doe, most likely the mother of the two.

I watched them feed in that field for what seemed like an eternity, from about 6:10-7:00 p.m. approximately.

Towards the end of that time, around 6:55, three more deer show up in the same area, also feeding on the alfalfa.

Those three consisted of two young does and one adult doe.

At this point, there are six deer that are between 30-50 yards away from me eating and playing.

Eventually, the four little ones popped into my 30yrd field window, all four of them at the same time, physically touching each other, the button tried to mount one of the little does, lol.

(The button Buck in my first field window @30yrds.)

I thought they were going to enter the woods right in front of me, however they stay right along the field edge instead.

The first seen adult doe was just to the right of them in my second field window, approximately 35 yards away, however there’s tall weeds right there that I haven’t yet cleared for better shooting opportunity. I usually wait to do that when they dye off after a couple more frosts, to help minimize leaving any my scent when I pull’em.

Around 7:10 p.m., all the young deer enter the woods at the field corner and headed due West in a tag game/playful manner.

I continued to pay attention to the both the adult does, they were still within the CRP field.

The first adult doe was still slowly grazing along my second field window and the other adult was much further out into the CRP field, approximately 45 yards slightly to my left, much closer to the corner of the field.

I prepared to shoot the first adult doe if she was to offer up any sort of an opportunity for me within my first field window, which she was working towards very slowing, a 30yrd attempt for me.

I could still hear the young deer to the West-Northwest/my left running about and so did the first adult doe as well, the Momma.

I kind of lost track of the second adult doe because I knew I wouldn’t have any sort of an opportunity on her. She stayed clear within the corner of the CPR field, near the tree hedgerow along the woods.

About then, the first adult doe quickly perked up when she heard those young ones getting much further away.

So I got ready.

All she needed to do was to take another small step, but instead, she just stood there behind a big tree along the field/wood edge just shy of my first window listening to the young ones running off.

After another minute or two, approximately 7:15, she quickly jumped into the woods right through my first shooting window and fast tracked straight towards the young deer that were nearly out of the area completely.

And that was it!

No more deer showed up the rest of the evening.

It was close, but no cigar darn it!

I wasn’t interested in taking any of the young ones, however I would’ve tried to take that first adult doe if she would’ve taking just one more step for me beyond the big tree that was between us.

I guess that’s how the cooking crumbles as they say, so onward to my next hunt, which will be most likely tomorrow evening.

So for this evening, I seen six deer and five of them got within bow range, making a grand total for the day of sixteen deer sightings and I'm sure some of'em were of the same deer out of the sixteen that were seen during the morning hour.

I'll say this, the large Silver Maple right next to my second shooting window will have a 'Lone Wolf Alpha' stand in it in the very near future

Definitely before the rut!

 

[Wildlife]

Monday, October 14, 2019:

Since I left my climber out at the tree two days ago, just off the corner of cut soybean field near a creek bed, and the wind was favorable, I decided to head to that location for today’s hunt.

I was running a tad bit behind in time, however I still managed to get settled in at 5:30 p.m.

I noticed when I went to hang my gear and what I thought was a couple of light shirts to wear just before prime time when the sun goes down to keep me warm, one of them was missing, or so I thought.

Apparently, when I went to grab both the shirts from my hunting closet, I missed grabbing one of them, so when I got back from hunting this evening, there it was, still hanging in my closet, which was a relief because on the way back home, I tried desperately to find it by tracing my original path going in.

Now, back to my hike to my stand.

When I was about halfway through the middle of the cut soybean field, I heard a deer hopping just within the wood line of another creek area to the South/my left. It never did show itself nor do I believe it left that immediate area. That happened somewhere around 5:15 p.m.

Once I got to my tree and got settled in, I sat there for another 20 minutes when I started hearing heavy leaf crunching coming from the woods to the Southwest/my left, right along the backside of the cut soybean field that I was hunting.

I realized that whatever it was, it was headed straight for me and then it stopped just shy of me by about 30 yards. I had to peer over some tree limbs to catch a glimpse of what it could be and load and behold, it was another hunter that was to the best of my knowledge, trespassing on private property that me and only one other has permission to hunt.

I observed this person searching for area to cross the creek bottom just below him. Then he started his heavy march once again through the leaves, down to the creek bottom, over to the other side and along the creek edge heading towards the neighboring cornfield, that’s approximately 150 yards away to my West.

This person had no clue that I was right above him and it appeared to me that he was looking for a spot to hunt from regardless who’s property it was.

I assuming from the ground because he had what appeared to be a ground blind and a compound bow with him.

So, I sat there and watched him cut through the woods of the property that I believe he had no permission to be on, and continued over to the backside of the standing cornfield, which is the neighboring property that I DO NOT have permission to hunt, then finally out of my sight to the Northwest.

This all happen from 6:00 -6:20 p.m. approximately.

I figured my chances of seeing deer coming from my West-Southwest or even the Northwest was slim to none at that point.

So I focused most of my attention towards the area where I first bumped a deer when I walked through field earlier using my binoculars.

Once it got to almost quitting time, approximately 10 minutes prior, and not seeing or hearing any movement, I decided to start packing things up.

I lowered my bow to the ground and started my slow climb down the tree.

No sooner than when I stepped off my climber onto the ground and just unhooked my bow from my hand line, I heard what sounded like two deer running at full speed coming from the area where I last saw that hunter go.

At that moment it was quitting time.

With my bow in my hand, I heard one of those deer cross the creek bottom and head straight towards the corner of the cut soybean field that I was hunting.

I was standing literally 10-15 yards away from a deer that was just on the other side of these 6-8’ tall weeds that stood between us.

(A photograph taken towards the deer that was just on the other side of the weeds standing in the corner of the cut soybean field 10-15 yards away.)

I couldn’t tell what kind of deer it was, a buck or a doe because of the darkness, however I froze where I stood for a few moments and listened to that deer slowly walk away further out into the field.

I wasn’t sure where the other deer went to, I think it stayed over on the other side of the creek and headed South.

I assume that both deer got pushed by the hunter I saw earlier because the deer came from the neighboring cornfield.

After all that excitement, I finished packing up my climber, threw it over shoulders, grabbed my bow once again and headed home, trying to find that shirt that I thought I dropped on the way to my hunting setup this evening.

And that was my hunt for today.

Not exactly what I was hoping for by any means, but tomorrow is another day and I’ll see what it brings me.

 

[Wildlife]

Tuesday, October 15, 2019:

I’ll make this brief,,,

SKUNKED!!!

I got settled into my Southwestern Stand this evening right @5, which is a setup I haven't hunted out of in over a week.

It was beautiful evening to say the very least. Wind was virtually at a stand still during prime-time.

I didn’t hear or see any movement during the entire hunt with the exception of a few squirrels.

However, right at 717 p.m., I heard my neighbor dogs barking like crazy, and that typically tells me that there are deer on the move over in the cut soybean field, much closer to where I hunted yesterday evening.

I climbed down right at quitting time and walked down the middle the field into the road.

While walking down the road towards home, I scanned the cut soybean field with my LED tactical flashlight, and sure enough, standing in the cut soybean field were at least five deer in a group.

Usually what that tells me, there’s a good chance that group will be in the area that I hunted this evening come tomorrow.

So, pressing onward into the season.

I'll get out again tomorrow evening.

 

[Wildlife]

Wednesday, October 16, 2019:

Since we got a good soaking early this morning and the winds are fairly heavy today, plus the ground is still plenty wet, I decided to cut down one our pine branches out of the front yard right after lunch where I get deer scraps every year underneath them, and haul it out to a setup to replenish the one that I hung last year.

(First photo of the PLB I cut down in the front yard, 2nd photo of the old PLB from last season at below setup, 3rd photo taken last night from the stand looking down where the old PLB is hanging)

(New PLB in the 1st photo, deer run just on the other side of the tree, just to the right in the 2nd photo and my treestand in the middle of the 3rd photo where I took it standing right next to the new PLB.)

These pine licking branches seem to work quite well attracting deer to the area and below are just a few examples.

This was the setup I hunted out of last night and I wanted to do some maintenance in the area by trimming up a couple of my shooting lanes, so I took my tree trimmer and a small chainsaw with me.

(Same photo taken from last night. The shooting window to the right is the one I cleaned up. The 2nd photo was taken where there's a deer run going into and/or out of the wooded area and goes right by my tree.)

(My treestand is the middle of the 2nd photo above.)

There's another setup of mine that gets a PLB . I haven't hunted out it yet this season and I usually don't until the rut comes in.

I have no trail cameras out at any of my hunting setups still yet, but I intend to hang some soon.

Not sure where I'll be hunting this evening. I'll be checking the weather & wind conditions right after this post and figure that out.

So I'll be back here later on tonight to document that hunt.

For those of you that'll be getting out this evening, I wish you the best of luck!

 

[Tipmoose]

I love how you document your hunts and all the detail. Please keep it up! Good luck this evening!

 

[giles]

You do more work in your woods during deer season than anyone I know. I hope it works out!

 

[Wildlife]

Wednesday, October 16, 2019:

Okay, going forward I’ll be including weather and/or wind conditions in my journal from time to time.

This journal is just as much for me and as it is for anyone who wishes to follow along. Being thorough in my documentation of my hunts or times afield are important to me. I intend to use this year’s information for the following deer seasons. So basically, it'll be another tool in the bag.

To help paint a better picture of where I hunt from a high level, so to speak, I’ll share the following,,,

I have access to just over 1,200 acres around where I live in Southern Ohio.

There’s a wide variety of terrain that includes large hills, open fields, ridges, valleys, creek beds, high creek banks and creek shelves.

One third of the total amounts of access acreage are AG fields, corn and soybeans. Another third consists of several different acre size standing and/or cut CRP fields, and the other third, which is wooded, has a large variety of different species of hardwood trees, including a few different types of Oaks.

I hunt near my home within our valley mainly, usually within 400 acres from my workshop.

I have ventured out further in the past, but only for two reasons; as a nice change of pace and if believe I’m having any difficulties narrowing down a good buck at any of my current hunting setups.

The deer around here have endless places to come and go. There are no fences and only perimeter rural roads.

It’s been my experience hunting this area over the past three seasons, that we generally have approximately 4-6 different groups of deer that range in size from 4-10 to a group that travel the entire properties that I access to. No doubt, there’s a method to their madness that I try to learn from each hunt/each year.

Typically, if I see a group of deer on one side of the property, usually within the next day or two, they’ll move entirely to a different/opposite location on the property.

During the pre-rut and rut, we get the travelers, and what I mean by that, are more of the mature bucks that come from the neighboring properties.

The are good bucks that live on this property currently. This I know because I’ve seen them with my own eyes just last week.

Now pressing forward with this evening’s hunt.
______________________________________________

Due to the blistering wind conditions and the heavy overcast sky today, sustained West wind @18 mph and gusts up to 25, I decided to hunt out of a setup that I hunted out of last week when I saw a couple of good bucks and several antlerless deer far out of bow range due North.

My ‘Southern CRP Stand’ is located at the bottom of 50’ ridge that I used today and nice wind breaker. Those strong winds blew over the top of my tree and out into the field behind me.

Just to the North, right behind me is one of smallest in acreage size standing 6-8' tall CRP fields in the area. Occasionally, deer will bed in that field when it gets this windy out.

So, I got settled into my stand at 5:00 p.m. sharp and I took my jacket with me just in case I started get cold.

I did end up putting my jacket on just before the sunset time because the wind was picking up and the temperature was quickly falling.

Right at 6:47 p.m., I heard one of our neighbor’s dogs barking their fool heads off once again at the far end of the cut soybean field/due West about 1/2 mile away.

At 7:02 p.m. I heard another neighbor’s dogs barking their fool heads off that are located much closer to me, at the closest corner of that same cut soybean field.

Usually when that happens around prime time, there’s a pretty good chance there are deer in the area and on the move.

Meanwhile, I spent my last 10-15 minutes in the stand glassing the standing CRP field right behind me and along the wooded areas surrounding that field.

I didn’t see a darn thing.

So, I climbed down a bit early because I wanted to get to the field above me where I could possible see what those dogs were barking over.

Sure enough, there stood in the middle of the cut soybean field, approximately 300-400 yards away, were the same 5-6 deer I seen yesterday evening while walking home.

Pretty much a duplication of yesterday’s hunt with the exception of the weather.

And that was my for hunt for the day.

Not sure if I get out tomorrow or not. It’ll kinda depends on getting everything packed by the end of day and ready to go to deer camp/Strouds.

With that said, I'll be absent from this journal for the next few days, but I’ll catch up documenting any hunts that occur when I get back.

Until then, those of you that get out over the next few days, have good hunt and be safe!

Good luck 'TOO'!

 

[Wildlife]

Thursday, October 17, 2019:

Well, didn't get out at all today, and I just got home.

While driving down our road I seen eight deer including these two little bucks right near my 'South'Western Stand', the one I hunted out of two evenings ago.

Looks like it's a good evening to be out.

I'll be heading out for Strouds first thing tomorrow.

Have a good one everybody!

 

[Wildlife]

Monday, October 21, 2019:

Last Friday, I left the house in the morning heading for the 'TOO Deer Camp @Strouds Run State Park'. I arrived around 10:30 a.m. and stayed until Sunday morning.

I thoroughly enjoyed myself the entire time. Something I haven't done in decades, deer camp that is. All the camaraderie, getting to meet many of the main 'TOO' members and a few new ones as well. I also ate like a king each day. Definitely well worth making that trip let me tell ya!

In fact, I laughed so much down there that my stomach muscles are still a little sore today.

You can bet that I'll mark my calendar for the next 'TOO' event, something I would recommend to anyone who hasn't been to one before to do the same. You gotta get to at least one of'em, and I'm absolutely certain you won't regret it.

While down there, I hunted each evening and got skunked each time. I climbed the two biggest hills not 'TOO' far from camp, found a good tree sitting on top with plenty of acorns laying about, hoping to see a good deer. Instead, I seen more chipmunks than I have in over ten years, but I still enjoyed every second of it regardless.

(Friday, October 18 evening hunt @Strouds Deer Camp 4:30-7:15 - Skunked!)

(Saturday, October 19 evening hunt @Strouds Deer Camp 4:30-7:15 - Skunked!)

I compiled my second week of hunting data and posted it on-line. Just click the following link if you wish to take a look; https://view.publitas.com/wildlifeohio/2019-hunt-data/

I intend on doing an evening hunt later. This morning when I walked out my front door @6 a.m., I had deer in the front yard while it was plenty dark out still and one of them blew at me.

So,,, I know I have some deer in the area today, just not sure what setup I'll be hunting out of yet, but I'll figure that out here shortly.

I'll follow up tonight with some documentation.

Good luck to anyone who gets out later!

 

[Wildlife]

Monday, October 21, 2019:

Well, the weather man called for thunderstorms between the 6 & 7 o’clock hours and steady rain at 8.

When I got settled into my ‘Southwestern Stand’ at 5, it felt as if I stepped into a sauna. I could smell the humidity & moisture in the warm 72-degree Southern thick air.

Right at 6, the wind laid down to virtually nothing and at that moment I could see the weather front off in the SW distance heading my way.

Occasionally throughout that hour, I’d hear thunder and could see lighting within those dark blueish grey clouds and getting more frequent as time past..

Then right at 6:55 p.m., the swirling wind gusts rolled in quickly. My tree started swinging back-n-forth quite violently, so I quickly packed up and climbed down much earlier than normal.

Once I got to the field edge 30 yards away, it started sprinkling rain. I didn’t bring any rain gear with me, so I was hoping the sky wouldn’t open up any time soon, and it didn’t. I made home dry as a bone.

My wildlife observations during this sit consisted of nothing but busy squirrels, including one with a half tail and single Red-tail Hawk.

(Half tail squirrel, perhaps it was shot off?)

Surprisingly, I didn’t see nor hear any deer in the immediate area.

Tomorrow, it’s supposed to be much cooler out. Perhaps that might do the trick in getting the deer moving during the regular daylight hours. I shall see…

So yep,,, I got skunked once again.

Totally looking forward to another day in paradise!

 

[Wildlife]

Tuesday, October 22, 2019:

Pulled trail camera cards from the feeder area.

Thought I'd share just a few of the better video ones captured. Nothing significant as far as mature bucks go, but they're the regulars that live nearby.

Most all of them visit daily, sometimes a couple of times a day, especially the mother doe with her young fawn.

Once again, I don't hunt near the feeder. It's literally located 100 yards from my front front porch.

The intent is to keep the regulars close to hopefully draw those more mature bucks to the area.

Well see how it pans out for me relatively soon.

I expect the deer activity to intensify in the area over the next week.

I'll be getting out this evening at one of my other setups and then followup here later on.

Good luck to whomever is hunting today!

 

[Wildlife]

Tuesday, October 22, 2019:

At 3:45 p.m., I checked the weather & wind conditions using the free ‘Windy’ (windy.com) application I installed and have been using for a few years on my smart cellphone.

At that time, according to the app, we’re having sustained wind from the SW @15 mph and gusts up to 24 along with a temperature of 63 degrees. The wind direction was supposed to change from the SW to the West about by the time I’d get to my setup for the evening. It also informed me that those winds would die down to approximately 6-8 mph, still from the West during hunting prime time.

So with that information, I took off and headed to my ‘Hilltop Stand’ and got settled in right at 4:30 p.m.

Along the way, I noticed that the soybean field that I cut across on the backside got pulled over the weekend. I also noticed that the 100-acre CRP field right next door to it also got cut down as well, which is the CRP field just North of my setup.

Right around 5:00 p.m., the wind did shift from the SW to the West and still, very breezy out.

So, I sat there in my stand comfortably for the next two hours not seeing any deer activity, just busy squirrels and one Cotton Tail.

However, just before 7:00 p.m., right when I thought I wouldn't see any deer action for the hunt, I spotted movement right along the CRP field and wood line edge to the NE/my right.

The first thing that saw through the tree leaves was a small buck approaching my area quickly, so I turned and grabbed my bow not knowing for sure what was about to happen.

A few seconds after that, 4 to 5 antlerless deer showed up right in front of my second field window within the CRP field just to the North, approximately 50 yards away.

I noticed that the first two that came into full view were two adult does, and trailing them were two smaller antlerless deer, maybe an additional one ‘TOO’, but I’m not entirely sure cause they all came in on a run.

Once the small 6pt buck showed up in the same field window a few seconds later, he lower head towards the larger of the two adult does and slowly started to approach her.

She wanted nothing to do with him. She circled him and then ran, further North, straight out into the cut CRP field. She stopped in the field approximately 100 yards away from me, roughly 50 yards away from the other deer that were still straight in front of me.

After that, the little buck changed his attention towards the other adult doe and she ‘TOO’ ran away from him, also straight out into the cut CRP field and then stopped halfway in between the first adult doe and him.

The remaining deer closest to me, including that little buck, grazed on the alfalfa right along the CRP field edge near the woods for about a minute or two.

Eventually, the rest of the deer slowly left the immediate area, heading North towards the very top of the hill of that CRP field and completely out sight around 7:08 p.m.

After all that excitement, I went ahead packed up, climbed down and walked home.

I won’t be hunting tomorrow, instead I’ll be attending the Full Draw Film Tour 2019 in Columbus.

I have every intention on hunting the following day though.