Wildlife 2019/2020 Deer Season

[Fletch]

Denny, I think your way over thinking this.... Deer hunting is not rocket science.... IMO best time to be in the woods is NOW... Bucks definately out looking for love NOW... And not finding it yet in every woodlot, therefore they are starting to expand their home range... So if I were you I'd pick my favorite stand and hunt it hard and stop jumping around making fake scrapes etc... Spend your days in one stand and one of those sits will produce... I'm sure some will disagree but that's my personal approach...

 

[Wildlife]

Denny, I think your way over thinking this.... Deer hunting is not rocket science.... IMO best time to be in the woods is NOW... Bucks definately out looking for love NOW... And not finding it yet in every woodlot, therefore they are starting to expand their home range... So if I were you I'd pick my favorite stand and hunt it hard and stop jumping around making fake scrapes etc... Spend your days in one stand and one of those sits will produce... I'm sure some will disagree but that's my personal approach...

I agree with you!

That's exactly what I'll be doing different this season, spending most of my time in the 'Western Stand' and that's based on what I've learned regarding the more mature deer travel patterns over the past three years.

The 'Western Stand' is funnel that leads out off or into the property. They can't get past me without me seeing them over the next couple of weeks.

Today, however, I wish to take my 'Lone Wolf' and head out to where the local bucks tend to live, which is clear on the far side of the property to the East. It's about 2+ mile hike from where I 'm sitting now. It's more of a discovery hunt than anything else and I'll be taking photos as I go. I do these kinds of hunts periodically throughout the season as a nice change of pace.

During my travel today, I'll be looking for all the buck signs in the area to get a better idea how much activity is happening here lately. I use the creek to get to that area, which is the more stealthy way to get there IMO.

In the past on this kind of hunt, usually on the way back in the dark, I catch bucks going at it. I'll see if that happens again this evening.

I appreciate your suggestion and again, I agree with you, thanks!

 

[Wildlife]

Wednesday, October 30, 2019:

What a day!

Doing a hunt like what I did today, kinda takes me back to the good old days to some extent.

I took off from my workshop at noon sharp with my bow, tree umbrella, small pack with huntin stuff & my Lone Wolf Alpha Stand w/ 5 LW climbing sticks; and then headed to the furthest Eastern point of the property, approximately 2+ miles one way, looking for any decent buck.

Along the way, I looked for any decent deer signs and I found plenty. I didn't see nor hear any deer during my travel this afternoon.

(The following photographs were taken in progression from the back of my property to the location I hunted this afternoon.)

I eventually found a good tree and got settled in a little before 2:00 p.m.

No sooner I sat down, it started raining, so I pulled out my tree umbrella and hung it right above my head, and I have to say, those tree umbrellas are worth every penny, especially if the weather is questionable before you head out. I didn’t take any other rain gear with me and I stayed completely dry along with most of my other gear the entire time I hunted.

I didn’t see my first deer until it started down-pouring at 3:45 p.m., right when I was speaking to my wife on the cellphone as I was looking out to the West/my left, into the standing CRP field. He was a decent size buck and I believe he was bedded within that large 120-acre field approximately 250 yards away and he just got up when it started pouring buckets. He then darted to the far side of field and straight into hardwoods, opposite side of the field from me, heading South and completely out of sight.

The down-pouring rain continued for the next 3 ½ hrs.

At 6:50 p.m., I seen two antlerless deer walking along the CRP field wooded edge closest to me, coming from the NW. They never did step into the wooded area. I watched them continue their march along the field wooded edge staying out of bow range, straight past me and headed South-Southeast. They eventually walked into the hardwoods approximately 200 yards away, closer to the neighboring property.

And that was all the deer I seen today.

I waited in the tree until the rain completely died down to at least a minor sprinkle, then I started packing things up. I climbed down shortly thereafter, packed up the Lone Wolf, threw it over shoulders and hiked the two plus miles back home.

Once I started my hike, the sprinkling rain quit entirely, and I didn’t hear nor see any other deer while on the way home.

I thoroughly enjoyed this hunt today even though I didn’t spill any blood. It was truly a nice change of pace and I got to discover all kinds of deer signs along the way to my hunt, which gives me a much better idea what’s going on in my neck of the woods.

Not exactly sure yet what I’ll be doing tomorrow, but I’m sure I’ll be in a tree somewhere at some point.

 

[Big_Holla]

Those umbrellas are priceless when rain is in the forecast.

 

[Wildlife]

Thursday, October 31, 2019:

Well, if you live right here Ohio, then you should know the weather today was absolutely horrible, however the rain did stop in my area at 2:30 p.m. and the weather forecast stated that there was going to be a break in the rain with some stiff winds that’ll get stronger heading into the even hours.

So, I decided to get ready to head out and try to get some hunting in, thinking that possibly the deer might get up and move around.

I choose to stay close to the house just in case the weather turned for the worst, and it did.

I climbed down out of my tree early, right at 6:30 p.m. because the wind got crazy at prime time.

I felt that even if there was a monster buck standing perfectly broadside just yards away, I WOULD NOT have made the attempt, thinking my arrow would’ve been taken immediately into a different direction than what I intended it for. So, I called it quits and got down.

Regardless, I’m glad that scenario didn’t happen, and I didn’t see any deer during the whole time I was up in the tree anyways.

From 3:30 until about 5:30 p.m., I actually seen some blue skies and even the sun peeked out a few times, thinking that, surely the deer would be getting up anytime now and move around, but they didn’t.

I’ll make another attempt first thing tomorrow morning. It’s supposed to be a bit chilly, upper 20's with a much milder wind from WSW, so we’ll see what happens.

 

[Wildlife]

Friday, October 1, 2019:

I had a little bit of a rough start this morning.

The fire went out in my wood stove overnight, so when I first walked into my workshop at 6:45 a.m., I had to split up some wood chucks for kindling to get it back started again for my poor dogs. That set me back in time and I didn’t get to my tree until 8:15, then finally up into my ‘Western Stand’ with a nippy temperature of 27 degrees, along with a mild WSW wind.

I hunted until 11:00 a.m., and I didn’t see nor hear any deer that entire time, and I could see a long way, which was hard to believe.

When I got back to my shop, I changed into my work clothes, then started splitting & stacking firewood that will hopefully get me through the next couple of weeks. I'm running behind in that department...

Meanwhile, as I was doing that, the wife made up a nice big pot of version chilly, which was the last of my venison from last season, and it was quite fitting for this chilly day. It was flippin awesome and hit the spot!

I didn’t make it back to stand until a little before 5:00 p.m., and it felt like I was running late once again.

My evening hunt was by far more active than this morning.

It started off with plenty of busy squirrels in the area, including the one with the half tail (I believe shot off), which is the same squirrel I seen about a week or two ago at my ‘North Western Stand’ and posted a previous photo of him in this journal.

(Here’s today’s picture of him.)

I also seen a Falcon that landed in the tree right next to me, at eye level. What a cool looking bird! He had no clue I was feet away from him.

Right at 6:00 p.m. sharp, Mommy doe and her young one came from the wooded area near the house, from the East, right in front of me. I watched Mommy for about 10 minutes, and it appeared that she wanted to head to the cut soybean field, however the little one kept her from getting there, so she turned back around and headed towards my ‘North Western Stand’ with the little one in tow. I believe they walked back into the wooded area, right on that deer path that goes under that stand.
.

Shortly after that, I had two more does come from same area, heading straight towards me and one of them got within 20 yards. Eventually, those two climbed down to the creek just below me, and drank plenty of water, then headed to our field on the other side of the creek. They hung around grazing within the field for about 5-10 minutes, then headed back towards the house area, probably to my corn feeder that’s at the back of the property.

(Can you see her? She's right in the middle of the photograph, just beyond the down tree on the right side of the creek, drinking water. Talk about camouflage. She blends right in behind that tree.)

Right at 6:50 p.m., I heard some real light walking happening straight out in front of me once again, right where all the other deer came in from. I pulled out my cellphone to take note of what time it was, which it stated 6:51. About then, one of the regular local bucks stepped out in front of me, about 30 yards away to the East. He was trying to trace the tracks of the second group of does, with nose to the ground, walking around in circles trying to find where they went.

(He's in the middle of the photograph, approximately 30 yards away @ 6:55 p.m.)

He finally traced them down to the creek area, right below me, and got within 15 yards. He’s the better of the two nine points that visit my corn feeder frequently, and there's a TC video of him already posted within this journal.

So, I decided to mess with him a little bit and have fun.

I pulled out my doe can and gave a couple of flips. That got his attention really quick. He turned back around and back up from the creek. Once he got the top of the creek shelf, he walked right to me as if he was on a string, got within 10 yards. By then, it was quitting time. So, I just sat there and watched him for a little bit longer, walking around in circles, looking for the squealing lady.

I had to wait on him to head further back towards the thicker part of the woods, kinda towards the house. About a couple minutes later, I could still hear him walking around in circles, searching in the thinker part of the wooded area.

I couldn’t wait on him any longer, so I packed up, quietly climbed down and headed the opposite direction away from him, and finally made it home without disturbing him. As far as I know, he's still walking around in circles

It was a fun couple of hours in the stand this evening.

Tomorrow, I should be able to get to a setup of mine before sunup now that I have plenty of split season wood to burn for the stove come morning.

 

[Wildlife]

Saturday & Sunday, November 2 -3, 2019:

I hunted yesterday morning from sunup until 9:00 a.m. at my ‘Northern CRP Stand’.

(Fresh scrape 15 yards in front of my stand that was most likely made overnight.)

Shortly after 8:00 a.m., I heard some deer movement for about a minute or two within the thick deer bedding area to the East/my right, approximately 30-40 yards away, then it got quiet again. They never showed themselves.

I got down @9:00 a.m. and headed home to try to take get rid of a shitload of leaves in my yard.

(I've been getting rid of leaves all throughout October and now going into November. I hope to be done with them by the end of this week.)

@5:00p.m., I headed out to my ‘Western Stand’ and hunted until dark. I didn’t see nor hear any deer in the immediate area. Got royally skunked!

This morning, due to the ‘daylight savings’ time change, I got another late start for the season. I headed to my ‘Western Stand’ and got settled in @7:00 a.m.

@7:10 a.m., I seen an antlerless deer dart out from the thick honeysuckle patch along the wooded field edge near my ‘South Eastern Stand’, approximately 500 yards away. I watched the deer turn within the field, and then took off quickly heading East out of my sight.

Moments after that, a decent size buck popped out from the same area and he ran straight across the field heading North, right towards my ‘North Western Stand’, and then out of sight a few seconds later.

I believe they got bumped out of their beds by other hunters in the area cause that buck didn’t act like he was trying to track the previous deer. He was in hurry too with his tail in the air.

I climbed down from the stand @9:00 a.m., walked home to continue clearing more leaves out of my yard for most of the day.

This evening I got settled back into my ‘Western Stand’ once again @4:00 p.m.

Nothing but squirrels was moving this evening from I could tell.
_______________________________________

We had plenty of human activity the entire weekend in my neck of the woods, which included several other hunters, people on ATVs and others target shooting during both days - Saturday & Sunday. I believe that kept the deer pretty much at bay all weekend long.

That’s why I’m totally looking forward to hunt during the week. Weekend hunts can be rather tough at times when we have that much human activity in the area.

I compiled ‘WEEK 4’ in the ‘WEEK IN REVIEW’ hunt data report of mine. At the bottom of the page are grand totals for the past four weeks. The report is available on-line for anyone who’s interested in viewing it; https://view.publitas.com/wildlifeohio/2019-hunt-data/

 

[Wildlife]

Monday, November 4, 2019:

This morning I got to my ‘Northern CRP Stand’ at 6:15 a.m. and crawled into my ‘Body Heater Suite’ shortly thereafter.

As soon as it started to get light out, the Southern winds came blowing in at higher speeds than what was stated in the forecast. As time past, the wind speed increased even more, still from the South.

Shortly after 8:00 a.m., I heard my neighbor's dogs barking from the South West, approximately ¼ mile away. One of them sounded like he was being murdered. That’s usually my warning sign that deer are on the move.

At 8:15 a.m., I seen a adult doe hop into the CRP field from the West/ my left, approximately 80 yards away. I watched her disappear within the tall CRP. It’s very difficult to see antlerless deer while the wind is blowing the CRP around., not so much for the bucks though cause their antlers are much easier to spot from my tree.

(The doe hopped into the CRP field from the right side and disappeared approximately 75 yards away. I estimate the CRP to be approximately 6-8' tall throughout the entire 7 acre field. I'm sure she's still in there as I type this and most likely won't move until this evening or a buck shows up.)

I figured that she had others with her that I didn’t see and most likely bedded within that CRP field somewhere for the day. She’s the only deer I seen this morning.

I got down at 9:00 a.m. and headed home to continue removing leaves from yard this afternoon.

On the way back, I stopped by the feeder area and swapped TC cards.

I have a new buck that showed up during Halloween evening, minutes before 9:00 p.m. He’ll be a good one if he makes it through this season. I think he’s the same buck that I seen the other day on the opposite side of the property when I hunted that area on the 30th.

I’ll be heading out later this evening.

I’ll report back here later tonight.

 

[Wildlife]

Monday, November 4, 2019:

Hunted out my ‘Western Stand’ this evening and I didn’t not see nor hear any deer. Perhaps it's the calm before the storm,,, the "LULL" period.

Tomorrow's weather forecast is showing showers off and on throughout the morning hours, then sunny by the afternoon and for the rest of the day.

I'll be heading out to my 'Hilltop Stand' first thing due to the type winds we're supposed to have, mainly from the West.

Over the past couple of years, the full blown deer rut didn't kick in around here until the 13th, however for the rest of the week, there might be a pretty good chance I'll get to see a roaming buck or two cruise into the area, at least that's what I hope for based off TC history.

I'll be spending more time up in a tree someplace each day going forward, which means I'll packing food & drinks to take along with me, making a day of it.

The shit is about to get real and I'm all jacked up for it!

 

[Wildlife]

Tuesday, November 5, 2019:

Left the workshop around 5:45 a.m. with the umbrella in one hand and my bow in other.

It was sprinkling steady during the whole walk to my ‘Hilltop Stand’. I got settled in at 6:20 a.m. and as soon as it was light enough to use the binoculars, I started glassing the area.

Right off the bat, I spotted two antlerless deer to the NE grazing just within the cut CRP field, approximately 70 yards away.

I continued to watch them for the next 10-15 minutes chowing down. The smaller of the two perked up and looked further out into the field, towards the East. I tried to see what the deer was looking at, but I couldn't see it from where I was at.

A few minutes later, a black 4x4 chevy pickup came down the lane that goes in between the two very large CRP fields. That put the deer that I was watching on alert and then suddenly, two more antlerless deer joined the first two that came from within the field further out.

As the pickup got closer to the wooded area, those four deer turned and started heading my direction, into the woods quickly, then stopped right behind my tree looking back at the area they just came from, back towards the pickup.

I watched them calm down and after a little bit they started heading SW slowly, towards an area that is thick and known to be a deer bedding area.

As they left my area, I turned and focused my attention back out into the cut CRP field and seen two more antlerless deer, much further out into the field, approximately 100 yards away due North.

I watched them for a couple of minutes, when one of them perked up and looked hard towards the field wooded edge, back to the SE.

I turned and glassed in that direction, and sure enough, here comes another small antlerless deer heading right towards those two that were by this time, right along the field wooded edge, feeding just to the NW, approximately 70 yards away.

That one small antlerless deer quickly joined the other two within the field.

Once they were done, they slowly entered into the tree hedgerow, heading West, basically, in the direction the previous four deer went.

After they left my sight, I figured with the steady rain and all, those deer would be bedded for most of the day. I was fairly confident that I wouldn’t see anymore deer the rest of the morning, so I started to pack up.

Right when I was about to climb down the tree, those three antlerless deer that I just seen just previously were right below me, further on down the hill, approximately 40-50 yards away, heading East from the SW.

I pulled out my binoculars once again and started watching them. I could tell that they were looking for a place to bed down. Right behind my tree is an area that is thick full of vines and honeysuckles. I watched all three of those deer bed down right behind my tree, approximately 40 yards away, just to the South.

After they bedded, I climbed down and headed back to my workshop knowing that the rain was going to get worse over the next few hours.

I got back to my shop and changed into work clothes by 8:30 a.m., so I hunted for for almost an hour in half this morning.

It was a fun hunt even though it was short lived. I seen ten deer total, five within bow range and three of them I believe were of the same deer out of those ten.

When the crappy weather clears out, I’ll try to get back out again.

 

[Wildlife]

Tuesday, November 5, 2019:

Got settled back into my ‘Hilltop Stand’ once again today at 3:15 p.m.

(The area where I seen three deer bed just before I climbed down this morning and also where I seen two deer this evening. They headed to the East between 4:25 - 4:40 p.m.)

At 4:25 p.m., I seen an antlerless deer get up approximately 35 yards right behind my tree, to the SW. It then traveled slowly to the East.

15 minutes later, I seen another antlerless deer, smaller in size moving up and across the hillside to the East, approximately 25-30 yards away, heading further East away from me.

I assume those were the 2 of the 3 deer I seen bed earlier this morning right behind my tree just before I climbed down from that hunt.

At 5:08 p.m., I heard my furthest neighbor’s dogs barking, approximately 1½ miles away to the SW.

5 minutes later, I heard my nearest neighbor’s dogs barking, approximately 1 mile away to the SW.

I can only imagine they were barking at deer that were on move this evening on the West side of the property, much closer to my house.

Just the two deer seen this evening and that was it.

I haven’t seen a buck in three maybe four days now. Like I mentioned earlier in a previous post, I believe it’s the calm before the storm so to speak...

All the antlerless deer that I’ve seen lately, their behaving is no different than any other time for the most part.

So onward to another day and another hunt in early November.

 

[Wildlife]

Wednesday, November 6, 2019:

Another fun hunt this morning from my ‘North Western Stand’, which I decided to hunt out of because of the East wind.

At 7:00 a.m., a nice size doe grazed within a green patch to the North/ my right, approximately 40 yards away. After a few minutes, she turned back around and headed towards my home, probably to the corn feeder.

15 minutes after that, four more antlerless deer cruised through the field straight out in front of me approximately 70 yards away, coming from the NW, heading South straight to the other side of the field and then down to the creek bottom area, much closer to my “South Eastern Stand’.

Since I have things to get done today, I decided to pack up at 9:00 a.m. and shortly thereafter I started to climb down.

Due to the bitter freezing temperatures, my hang-on was rather squeaky this mornin, so I took up the ratchet straps a little bit while I was climbing down. When I finished doing that, I looked to my right and at approximately 30 yards away to the SE was a decent size doe looking my direction. She must have heard me when I was ratcheting up my hang-on straps. So, I froze in place and watched her while she stomped the ground a couple of times looking hard in my direction, but not up into the tree.

Just like a cat, she was curious, so she started to work her way closer to me. My bow was already on the ground at that time and I had my ‘Body Heater Suite’ strapped to my shoulders with the suite hanging off my back.

Each time when she looked away or got behind a tree that was between us, I slowly pulled my bow back up and nocked and arrow, just in case I decided to take her out.

She eventually got within 25 yards of me but stayed behind some tree branches. She still couldn’t figure out what was making all that noise moments earlier and I was completely downwind of her the entire time.

After a minute or two, another antlerless deer showed up, right behind her, so I got comfortable in the crotch of the tree, halfway down it.

I continued to watch those two deer and, another one showed up, further on South from those two.

At that point, there's three antlerless deer in my area, all within 40 yards of me.

The closest doe eventually calmed her butt down and started grazing along with the other little one that was closest to her, approximately 30 yards away.

After about 5 minutes, all three of them turned to the SE and slowly worked their way up to the top of rig, which is thick full of honeysuckles and debris, most likely to bed for the day, just SE of my stand.

Once they left the immediate area completely, I finished climbing down and headed home.

So, this morning, I seen eight antlerless deer and four of them got within bow range, between sunup and 10:00 a.m.

I wish to keep as many does in the area as I can to attract the bucks that I haven’t seen now for a few days. I think they've been rather busy during the dark hours. That’s why I’m reluctant in shooting any does at this time from my area.

I noticed while at this setup, that my pine licking branch has a deer scrape underneath it, which is awesome!

On the way home traveling through the field, I found another large fresh deer scrape along the field wood edge next to the deer run that goes right underneath my stand, which is even more awesome!

I’ll be headed back out for an evening hunt after I get rid of more leaves within my yard this afternoon.

Good luck to anyone who’s huntin today!

 

[tpierce]

Denny, out all the journal threads, I have enjoyed following yours the most. It's really been great going along with you on your hunts. I wish you success this season, it' will be well deserved!

 

[Sgt Fury]

You sure do put your time in, that’s for sure. Good luck.

 

[Wildlife]

Wednesday, November 6, 2019:

Right after I messed with a ton of leaves once again this afternoon, I went and got changed to head back out a little after 4:00 p.m..

Hunted out my ‘Western Stand’ this evening from about 4:30 until quitting time.

Even though I got skunked during this sit, this stand truly offers up a huge view for me, a great observation setup when it gets to this time of the year after all the leaves are gone on the trees. I can glass almost the entire field just to the South, the entire cut soybean field to the SW, and another two cut soybean fields that I can partially see, one due West and another one a little bit further to the NW. I can also view my entire front yard, which consist of several large pine trees that the deer tend to love and the entire three-acre bush hogged field of mine just to the North, which deer occasionally bed in during the dark hours, right near the house.

Any deer the wishes to stay concealed and/or undercover that travels between properties, must get past me when I’m in this stand. It’s also the location where I’ve captured most of the mature bucks over the past three seasons on trial cameras, most during the daylight hours during this time of the hunting season, which are usually the roamers/travelers.

So, I’m cool with not seeing deer from time to time at this setup. When I don’t any, that usually tells me that the deer are either well within the property, or yet to get there. It’s a wooded funnel area with a creek bottom that the deer use, much like a highway.

This morning, at least four of them came from one of those cut soybean fields, right from the West.

Tomorrow, the weatherman is calling for rain right at first daylight and thru the first hour of hunting time. Then the wind is supposed to change from the West to coming from the North at around 8:00 a.m.

If that’s what will indeed happen, then I’m going to wait until after the rain quits and then head out to my ‘Northern CRP Stand’, which should be fine with a North wind. So, well see what happens come tomorrow morning.
__________________________________________________

@tpierce & @Sgt Fury - Appreciate the well wishes fellas, thank you!

Hope no one thinks that I can’t kill any deer

Just to be clear, I’ve harvested on average at least two deer a season off this property over the past two seasons. Just enough to put a fair amount of meat into the freezer that’ll last nearly a year for the wife & I.

I’ve had a few opportunities on some good mature bucks over the past two seasons, but for some reason or another, I just couldn’t close the deal.

Hopefully my luck with change this season.

I’ve also let many, many smaller/younger bucks get the free pass because I’m only interested in harvesting nothing but a good mature/trophy type bucks off this property.

My father-in-law hunted this same property for decades before he retired from hunting and insists that there aren’t any good bucks to be had here, which I beg to differ and to prove him wrong.

That’s kinda been my goal, if you will, to harvest an ‘Ohio Big Buck’ that I’ll be satisfied with and to prove to my wife’s father that he’s wrong about this place.

I’ll say though, this area has proven to be the hardest place to capitalize on a decent mature buck for me over all the other places I’ve ever hunted in Ohio, including some public land.

I’m confident it’ll happen sooner or later, and I won’t be discouraged regardless how long it takes or what obstacles I must jump through to get there within the law.

I live to hunt and I absolutely love being in the outdoors this time of the year, more than most anything else in my life except for my family.

Besides, doing what I do this time a year in the outdoors, whether it’s hunting, cutting, splitting & stacking firewood or whatever else, it all keeps me in decent shape physically & mentally. I always lose a little bit of weight this time of year, just in time for the Holidays, so I can put it all back on from all the wonderful homemade food from the entire family, which is something I look forward to.

So try to be patient with me fellas, cause I’m in it for the long haul if that’s what it takes…

Thanks again and stay tuned!

 

[Wildlife]

Thursday, November 7, 2019:

I woke up this morning as if I was going to hunt first thing, however it rained steady nearly all day long. Rather than heading out to go hunt this morning, I stayed near the wood stove drinking coffee and caught up on the National News.

I did manage to do some scouting with truck though, a couple of times.

I took off from my shop at 7:30 a.m. and didn’t get back until an hour later. I did another one at noon for another hour and I didn’t see any deer movement during both times anywhere in my neck of the woods.

At around 1:30 this afternoon, the rain changed over to heavy wet snow for about an hour and the weather radar showed a little bit of a break, so I quickly got ready to head out to my ‘Northern CRP Stand’ and took the tree umbrella with me just in case it started raining again, which it did for about another hour in a half after I got settled at 2:30 p.m.

I sat until dark.

Occasionally I’d break out the binoculars and try to glass as far as I could see. I didn’t see any deer movement anywhere during my entire hunt this evening, which is stunning!

So,,, I anticipate that our woods will explode tomorrow with all kinds of deer activity since I didn’t see any at all today.

It’s supposed to be sunny, but bitter cold with a 24-degree temperature starting off along with a mild 6 mph NW wind and it won’t get above freezing until almost noon, according to the weather forecast for my area.

I’ll be hunting out of my ‘North Western Stand’ for as long as I can stand it, hoping to see all kinds deer.

We’ll see what happens…

 

[Wildlife]

Friday, November 8, 2019:

(Tonight's sunset.)

This morning I hunted out of my ‘North Western Stand’, as intended, from first daylight until 9:00 a.m. and amazingly, I didn’t see nor hear any deer at all during that hunt.

After I climbed down, I headed back to my workshop to get warmed up by the wood stove, downed a little bit of coffee ‘TOO’, and then decided to head back out right after lunch to the furthest NW corner of the property, which is an area that I’ve never hunted before.

I took off about 1:00 p.m. with my ‘Lone Wolf Alpha Stand w/ 5 LW sticks’, ‘Heater Body Suite’, a small pack with gear, all on my back, and then carried my bow in my hand.

I hiked through two large cut soybean fields and a creek bottom to finally settle on a tree that offers a tremendous 360-degree view of the area.

About the time I thought I be settled in at 2:00 p.m., I noticed that I forgot my tree hook buckle strap that I use to hang my gear.

The last time I used it was when it poured rain last week and I hung it up to dry near the wood stove when I got back home that evening. Apparently, I forget to put it back into my pack.

Just so happen I had another tree right next to me that I intended to use mainly for cover and it was within arms length from the stand. I ended up hanging all my stuff on it 'TOO', including my bow, which worked out rather nicely.

No sooner when I sat down, I heard our neighbor’s combine fire up behind me and he started to pull corn.

There are three standing cornfields within my view and the neighbor just started harvesting the one furthest to the NW of me, approximately 400 yards away.

After a couple of hours, three deer popped out that same cornfield.

As the neighbor was loading up the truck that hauls his corn, those deer got well within 100 yards of him and it appeared that they were eating whatever leftovers there were within the first two rows that got pulled.

I continued to focus most of my attention on the neighbor in his combine when all of sudden I seen four more deer dart out of the standing corn of that same field, and they ran straight into the woods heading further North, much further away from me.

All seven of those deer seen came out of that cornfield were antlerless, which happened between 4:30-5:15 p.m. approximately.

Roughly 15 minutes later, I seen another deer that was way out into the cornfield that just got pulled , all by itself, much further away than the previous ones that I saw and I couldn’t tell if it was a buck or not because the deer had its head down to the ground the entire time until it got too dark to see.

So, this evening, I seen eight deer, which is all the deer I seen in total for the entire day.

I still haven’t seen any confirmed bucks for several days now, nearly five I think...

Basically, none of the deer that I saw today acted out of the norm really other than simply fleeing from the combine.

Most of them were still grouped together and stayed that way when they left my sight.

I ended up leaving my stand up into tree because I’m gonna be heading back out there first thing tomorrow morning to do another hunt.

I am betting that the neighbor will be pulling more corn come tomorrow and if so, I’m hoping that a deer or two will head my direction that might possibly be worth shooting.

 

[Wildlife]

Saturday, November 9, 2019:

This morning I headed back to my ‘Lone Wolf Alpha Stand’ that I left out over night from the previous evening hunt at a place I've never hunted before.

I got settled in about 15 minutes before legal time and hunted until 9:30 a.m. It was another bitter cold start to the day with a temperature of 27-degrees along with a mild SW wind.

The only wildlife that I saw during that sit was a decent size coyote the crossed the middle of the field right behind me at 7:40 a.m. I watched it go right to its den on the opposite side of the field, straight across from me to the West, and then disappeared into the ground.

I also seen a few squirrels and I took one of fattest ones I’ve ever seen out with the new bow just before I decided to climb down. It’s my very first kill with the new compound and it was a perfect 20-yard head-shot that killed him instantly.

Once I got everything to the ground, I packed it all up together; the ‘Lone Wolf Stand’ with 5 LW sticks, ‘Heater Body Suite’, small pack of hunting gear, threw it all over my back, then grabbed my bow, the dead squirrel and hiked the ½ mile back home to get warmed up.

Once I got back and I put everything away, changed into my regular work clothes, then got me some hot coffee.

After I was warm enough, I then went ahead and skinned the squirrel using the new ‘squirrel gambrel’ that I purchased down @Stroud’s (TOO’s Deer Camp) back in October. It worked like a charm! Now he’s in the freezer.

This afternoon, I headed back out to my ‘Northern CRP Stand’ and got settled in about 4:00 p.m. I noticed that that deer scrape in front of my tree has gotten bigger in size and has the appearance that it's used frequently.

Apparently, I walked right by a little buck 'TOO' that was bedded just South of the path I took to my tree. I always try my very best to walk in as quietly as possible every time I head out to any hunting setup. I’d say I must’ve done a pretty decent job this time because that buck had no clue that I walked right by him and up into my tree just 15 yards away.

For the next 30 minutes, that little buck stuck around right underneath me grazing, stretching and rubbing. I tried not to move even though I believe I heard another deer within CRP field right behind me.

Once that little buck focused his attention towards the creek area to the North and away from me, I then quickly scanned the CRP field with my binoculars, and I didn’t see what I believe was another deer within it.

After that little buck left the immediate area heading towards the creek, I grabbed my doe can & buck grunt call and started calling, using them both to try to simulate a buck dogging a doe.

Moments after a couple of sequences of calling, I seen some movement straight out in front me along the creek on top of the creek shelf on my side, approximately 40 yards away. I wasn’t sure if it was a different deer or not because it was very difficult to see beyond the honeysuckles. Whatever it was, it was heading West/my left towards the house and I never did see what kind of deer it was exactly, but suspect it was the same little buck.

So, I did another calling sequence shortly thereafter and immediately, I seen a much bigger buck jump up from the creek area on my side, just to the NE, approximately 50 yards away, and he headed straight into the thick bedding area with his nose to the ground on a quick march towards the East/my right and then out of sight.

Seconds after that, I could hear deer movement within the bedding area, but I couldn’t tell where exactly or how many. I could only hear thrashing through the honeysuckles and weeds.

That went on for approximately a minute within 50 yards of me, which was around 5:20 p.m.

When it got quiet, I tried a couple more aggressive grunt calls, and nothing ever showed up in an area that I could possibly see.

I packed up right at quitting time and headed home without disturbing any deer that I know of along the way.

So, I seen at least two bucks this evening, possibly three and only one of them got within bow range.

It’s nice to see some bucks back in the area. They've been absent for almost a week.

Tomorrow, I’ll be back at it again first thing at my ‘Western Stand’.

 

[Wildlife]

Sunday, November 10, 2019:

Hunted out of my ‘Western Stand’ in the morning & evening today, and I didn’t see nor hear any deer in the area during both sits, 4.5 hours’ worth of hunting and I got totally skunked for the day!

During the afternoon, since it was so nice out, I did some target shooting with the new bow and below are my first two groups from 30 yards.

I'll tell ya what,,, I'm freaking loving this new bow of mine! Now I just need a good buck to give me an opportunity.

Totally looking forward to this Tuesday & Wednesday, which is the 12th & the 13th. That’s when the full rut should completely kick in around here and I'm basing that on the history of the prior three seasons, plus the weather forecast looks to be perfect for it.

So, I’ll get out sometime someplace tomorrow, just not sure of when & where yet, but you'll find out come tomorrow. I can guarantee you that!

Edit: I put together 'Week 5 ' in the 'Week in Review ' hunt data report of mine and it's available on-line for anyone who wishes to check it out. It's on page two. https://view.publitas.com/wildlifeohio/2019-hunt-data/

 

[Wildlife]

Monday, November 11, 2019:

When I checked the weather forecast last night, it said it was supposed to rain between 8-9:00 a.m. with a mild North wind.

So, I planned to hunt out of my ‘Northern CRP Stand’ come morning and take the tree umbrella with me.

When I headed out this morning with a fairly calm North wind and a much warmer temperature than what’s it’s been lately, I had no problem getting to my stand without bumping any deer and then finally settled in about 15 minutes just before first daylight.

Right about daylight time, I heard some movement just behind me within the CRP and then it stopped.

Then all of sudden I started hearing ground stomping.

So, I slowly stood up in my tree stand and peeked around my tree to try to see what kind of deer it was. It was still too dark to tell although, my first thought was, it's the same small buck that I seen just the other day when I hunted out this stand because I could barely make out what appeared to be antlers possibly, approximately 25 yards away, just due South, perfectly downwind of me.

Not wanting to make any haste movements, I just stood there and waited, with my tree between us, for more daylight, hoping to positively identify the sex of that deer that was right behind me.

After roughly ten minutes, I was able to use my binoculars to see the deer clearly and it was a decent size lone doe standing 25 yards away looking my direction. No blow or acting on full alert from what I could tell, just standing there looking around. Her white haired ears while looking my direction minutes prior, I obviously mistaken them to be a small set of antlers when I first tried to figure out what kind of deer it was without my binoculars.

After about another 5 minutes or so, I was able to see the deer just fine under the regular early morning daylight and she was still standing there looking around, but not up into my tree.

After a few more minutes, I heard a pheasant that was within the same field carrying one to the SE, approximately 100 yards away, which also got the attention of that doe as she looked to the same direction, our East.

At about 7:20 a.m., she finally decided to head away to SW, right towards my ‘North Western Stand’ location on the opposite side of the CRP field. I’d say when she got about 50 yards away within the field, she basically disappeared into the CRP because she blended in so well, and the CRP is very tall.

About 10 minutes later, that cock pheasant that I heard earlier flew from the SE corner of the CRP field and straight to the Northern edge of it, just 50 yards to my right, still to the East. He continued his calling for another half hour or so and I never did see him again.

After nearly another hour, about 8:10 a.m., another doe showed up within the CRP field, but she was much further out into it, approximately 60 yards away, to the South.

The only reason why I seen her was because I was moving my bow hanger further up the tree and she was due downwind of me. She either smelled, heard or saw me move or possibly all the above, cause she blew at me a couple of times as she continued to leave the field heading once again, toward my ‘North Western Stand’ location, and finally out of sight.

About a half hour of not seeing anymore deer after that, I decided to pack things up and head home.

Once I got down from my tree, I wanted to check out a couple things within the CRP field that are rather close to my tree that I observed from the stand, which I believed were deer beds and some tree rubs just within 30 yards of it.

(Just in between my bow sight & arrow is the a deer bed in the first photo, and within the bow sight is the deer bed closest to my tree out of three in total.)

Sure enough, when I got to those locations, that’s what they were, three fresh deer beds and a few fresh tree rubs, all within 30 yards of my ‘Northern CRP Stand’.

So, I turned back around and headed home to take care of some things for most of the day.

I headed back out just before the weather front kicked in, approximately 3:30 p.m.

I got settled in shortly thereafter into my 'North Western Stand', just before 4:00 p.m., and literally within minutes from getting settled, the weather front definitely reached the area.

The wind direction immediately changed from the SW to coming to from N-NW blowing hard and some seriously cold air, and then it started raining.

I quickly hung my tree umbrella and put my heavy jacket on right before it got ‘TOO’ bad.

I hunted until quitting time and unfortunately, I didn’t see any deer at all this evening.

Before I headed out for my evening sit, I took notice of the temperature, which it stated it was 62-degrees at the time, and when I returned to my workshop, the temperature was 37-degrees. Quite the change to say the very least. Now it’s snowing out at the moment, damn near blizzard type conditions outside as I type this up.

We’re supposed to have snow flurries all night long according to the weather forecast and into the first hour of hunting tomorrow morning. The temperature is supposed to be 22-degrees with a sustained wind from the NW at 13 mph.

I'll be seriously bundled up in a tree stand someplace, hoping to see deer early.

We’ll see what happens come tomorrow…