Trad Gang
Main Boards => PowWow => Topic started by: Zach Mikita on October 01, 2009, 10:09:00 AM
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Opening day for the Iowans! Went out this morning despite the rain and saw a doe and her two fawns that I have scouted all summer, definetly got my blood pumping! I find it so amazing what the sound of crunching leaves can do to a person :scared: ...needless to say it was well worth getting wet.
Anyone else have any luck?
I'm hunting in North East Linn County
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Anything?
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I saw a buck and doe. The buck was a 2 yr old. The doe came in a little too early to shoot. I needed about 10 mins. more of light and things might have been different. The storms in this part about had me jump out a my stand at one point.
Also, I had my annual get disorientated and not find my new treestand in the dark routine. That first time is always a trick. At least I left early enough to let things settle down after all the racket I made falling on tree I don't remember from last year.
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:biglaugh: yep I wasn't going to confess that I did that also...granted I set my stand 7 days ago...but yes makes your heart stop when youre on public land (the thought of having it stolen)
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I have to spend my opening day at work. Won't get a chance to get into the stand till Friday evening. Good luck and hunt safe!
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Darn well I'll be thinking about ya when I'm out there!
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Was a good morning in Jackson Cty. Lots of critters moving before the rain. A 2 y/o buck and a few Does. Would have loved to have one of the Does in range.... Best part of the morning was seeing the resident otters....missed seeing them last year.
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Nice I have a budy that caught a cougar on trail cam dragging a deer! DNR has set traps for it and hopefully will get the critter...spotted north of Troy Mills
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It was raining! With nearly 4 months of deer season, my old bones slept in. Nice weather later in the week will have me out there.
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Shaun, looks like the weekend will be good!
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I'm holding out for the weekend myself. I do have a couple southern IA doe tags to fill so I hope it goes well!
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All was quiet but the pitter patter of the rain. There was a cool breeze blowing away from my blind away from the fields edge. A squirrel was playing in front of me and i though how good he would taste fried next to the potatoes. And then he came, the big boy!!! he walked down the edge of the corn field coming right to me. I picked up my elk risor bow ever so slowly and gripped it tight. At thirty yards or so i drew back a wooden shaft all pretty crested and turkey feathered out. At ten yards here he came, I pulled back and anchored at my point. Then BLAM!!!! my wife hit me in the head and woke me up.. darn rain and wind. I just dreamed today..
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Did Doug77 hunt today? Maybe he is still in the woods..
Good luck to you all up there.. What a whitetail state!!!
John III
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MO isn't bad either...went out this evening and would have been drier if I had jumped in a pool of water lol it rained pretty hard until about 7 pm here just after sundown...out again tom morning
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I have to wait till sat morning.
but I am really looking forward to my vacation the first 2 weeks of Nov.
doug77
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I wont be able to go until this weekend. Do any of you guys live around Iowa City? My son is in his second year there and is looking for people to shoot with. He shoots an Osprey that Chad Holm made for him. (nice bow if you havent shot one)
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Nope. Won't get to the woods until Saturday...darn work anyway :banghead:
Hoping to fill some doe tags this weekend. Hoping even more for my son to fill a tag!
We are going to hunt public land this time, a first for me. I'm not sure just what to think of that.
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my wife wakes me up all the time, why is she disturbing me. don't she know I only get really exited just as I'm about to let it fly straight and true?????????????????????????????????
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You gotta love this cool weather, even with a little rain.....it beats an 80 degree opener and swat'n skeeters!
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Nothing this morning...didnt get to stay out long the mexican food I had last night didn't agree with me today :banghead: may go out this afternoon if the rain stops
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I made it out last night. The rain died down about 5:15pm. I had a young buck hang around within range for 1/2 hour. He had a sad little rack. Nice body size but funny stick straight main beams. We have a rule to let the little guys pass. My Hawk buck from last year is my mark. He was a 4x5 so I need that or bigger(or stranger).
Had a good doe come in. I decided to take her but then a fawn showed at 30 yards. I just can't bring myself to take a doe with fawn. I am a girl! Still have some meat in the frezzer so i passed. Might regret it later in the season if my tags are not filled. Oh well. Great opener. Loved being back out there!
Kate
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Wife and i hit the blinds around 6 30am at light the wind picked up stronger. Heard a deer jump the creek behind me but no sight.. Greywolf seen a med size doe but behind her in the brush to far. Around 9am i heard a bird call. Her, met up with her and she was shaking.. didn't dress warm enough and she was wet and froze. was fun to make the run..got to the truck and it rained harder... things happen for a reason.....
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May head out this afternoon depending on the rain hopefully ill be posting a "First Trad Kill" around 8 PM :pray:
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I had a great hunt this morning. I still hunted my way back to my favorite ridge on my grandma's tree farm and saw 13 deer in all. I saw 3 bucks and the one was "old wide boy". I had him at 55 yards and he went the other way into the wind. Thats why he's a 4 1/2 year old 160" buck instead of deer sausage. I have had two close calls so hopefully there will be a third. I will keep after him or "Old Drop Tine" which ever one I get close to first. Chad
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Didn't see anything again today maybe tom!
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took my wife out for the first time tonight. she didn't dress warm enough so got cold after a couple hours. She finally gets cold enough to say she wants to go home. get out of the treestand, walk 20 yards to the trail, and there's two does running away. another 10 minutes they'd have been coming at us! oh well. there's always tomorrow!
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Your wife isn't alone Joe. Here's a picture of my co-worker for whom i had a bet with on who would get the biggest and the first. Well he got the first but the biggest is still available. This is Tim Foote's first deer ever with bow. (http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z232/mrvicattheriver/timfoote-1.jpg)
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Here's my other buddie JLC trying to decide which bow to use for his first day.... Come on Jack pick one....ya only have twenty or so. . (http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z232/mrvicattheriver/jack.jpg)
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Great pics GreyWolf! Good luck to you this weekend!
Kate
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Saw a coon, bobcat, and maybe close to 1,00,000 squirrels! Unfortunetly no deer today except driving home saw a NICE buck cross road where I was hunting.
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couldn't hunt myself today, but I took my husband to hunt with his dad, and while we where headed down the road by where we hunt we saw a nice 8 pointer crossing the road, Then on the other end of the property was a monster buck crossing the road. Both where coming out of the property where we hunt at 5:30 AM But it is just my luck so far this year I can see them when I don't hunt but can't see anything when I am.
Greywolf
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Oct 4th, the first day of the year I get to hunt with my father. For the last 35 plus years we been tramping the dirt fields, leaf cover timbers and flinging arrows here in Southeast Iowa together. This year I have a special lady for which to share those same woods with, but unfortunately she had to work. We woke up around 5am had coffee and she ran me down to my fathers and dropped me off. Dad and I hit the woods around 6:25am I decided to walk a ways to a spot on the back of the farm. I normally hunt from the ground since I have a back problem but this time it was the ladder stand. Quietly I snuck up to it since it's next to a bedding area and layed my walking stick against a tree. Climbed up the stand and hung my bag and Lakota quiver on the hook. Grabbed a 28” wooden arrow and nocked it on my bow. Sitting there in the dark it felt good to be back in the woods finally. Sounds of small animals walking around and the day coming alive to me is like no other feeling. As the sun came up the birds started to greet each other and crows noisily gathered for their morning breakfasts. To my left is a small creek surrounded by head high trees and brush along it's banks. On the other side of the creek a big grassy area where I have kicked up several times a nice big buck. Out front of me is a small clearing going along the creek to a bigger creek. To my left is the pasture and a pond about a hundred yards away. Around 7:30 a huge Redtail hawk lands in a tree in front of me. Hello there Mr Hawk! He either is looking at my exposed face or the squirrel playing in the tree. Hoping it was the tree rat and not my face. Been there before and about got a tattoo (scars) to prove it. Been lucky in the Hawk dept. Always been close to them as they hold a special meaning to me.. I like to think that every time one comes close to me it has a meaning or message for me. What ever pops in my mind is usually what I take from him. This time it was “enjoying life now Vic” uhhh yes!! all the sudden a pack of coyotes start yipping and howling. What the heck?? I've hunted those yotes for years and only one time before have I heard them howling this late in the morning. 8am. The hawk screams out in a answer.. than a lone coyote howls back hundred yards or so behind me from the north. The hawk screams out again in answer. Then flies towards the area the pack howled from... hunters communicating I guess. At 8:30 a flock of geese fly over me singing their way southward. As they got out of sight I sensed something behind me, turning slowly I spot a small doe walking across the pasture to the pond for a drink. I watch her drink for a while and than I hear something to my left. Three does going from the bedding area down to the creek. I hear a grunt! But realize it's not a real grunt. Heck Dads down there along the creek in his stand. I wondered where he was? The biggest doe had to be close to him? Whack! Here comes the doe right at me. After 35 years of hard labor dad can no longer use his regular bows and uses a x one. She passed right on by me untouched. 9:30 a small deer was making it's way towards me from where Dad was along the big creek. Here he come, a small button buck right under me ten feet under my boots. I watch him walk off into the bedding area and lay down. Finally the Iowa winds start to crank up and the morning is well on it's way. Again I hear Dad grunting on his grunt call. This time a Buck answers him to my left from the bedding area. Ever time Dad called the Buck answered. But he wouldn't come out of that brushy patch... I sat there until 10am wind blowing and birds singing but no more deer movement. Finally Dad came walking up the clearing to me and I harassed him about missing that doe. He had hit a limb, guess all bows have that problem once in a while.. Walking out with our walking sticks together talking about the morning felt better than shooting any Booner on my wall. Last night hunted a clover field, sat in a brush pile and not one animal showed itself..
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Love it Vic. Thanks for sharing! Anytime with Dad in the woods is a blessing.
I have had bow hunting follies this year. Had 3 does come into range just to have my hubby and son shoot of rockets in the back yard. Man can does run:)
Last night I got into a stand I had left alone for 2 months. Knew a nice 8 pointer travels by it often(missed him last year, pics this year). Wind was perfect. Saw a doe on the ridge. Then.....my dog came and sat under my stand! Nice.
Got a small one today 10 yards on the ground. Was standing under my sand as I walked in. Nothing to brag on but fixing up jerky and a back strap as I type!
Love Iowa in the Fall!
Kate
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Way to go Katie!!! Nothing better than fresh meat and jerky on the plate. Follies? yep had those and there's probably plenty more of them coming. Rain and wind been keeping me home, don't know why never bothered me before, wait i guess i might be getting older??? Don't tell Greywolf. Told her i was twenty when we got married last year. HEheheh
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about 30 minutes into my first time out, I heard something behind me...At 10 yards the doe looked right up at me. She took a couple of steps and turned to look the opposite direction of my tree. Gave me ample time to aim and release. Called a buddy of mine(Danny Johnson) and took up the trail after about an hour. This is the first time posting pictures.
(http://i334.photobucket.com/albums/m433/HolmMadeBows/MarcV104091.jpg)
(http://i334.photobucket.com/albums/m433/HolmMadeBows/MarcV104092.jpg)
(http://i334.photobucket.com/albums/m433/HolmMadeBows/MarcV104093.jpg)
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YES! Great deer :clapper:
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First time out was last sunday night hunt. Took my 8 year old daughter Mattie with we saw 2 small bucks and had a doe and 2 fawns about 20 yards away but no shots. But got some quaility time with the little one Sitting on the edge of a corn field .
doug
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Awesome Silvertip, good eating there.. Congrads!!
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Went out this evening...absolutely beautiful day to be in the stand...had a doe and a yearling come in was drawn on the yearling, but saw the doe and decided to try to get a shot at the more mature deer, but winded me. O well an amazing evening in the stand!
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Great job Silvertip!
Glad you got your heartrate up on some deer Zach. Can't wait to see you smiling with a deer in a pic!
Vic-I will not tell her, promise! I'm sure she will always see you as a young buck!
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Great Iowa Day today. Walked back and sat on logging road in the middle of forty acres. Seen one freaking huge racoon and a squirrel. Was so darn quiet in those woods i fell asleep sitting there all comfy and such. Rain woke me up, and by then i was soaked. Don't know what walked by me when i was sleeping? Walked out in a downpour and called it a good Iowa day.... Rain Rain Rain Wind Wind Wind Ok Katie thanks!!
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this week-end should have some good potental for hunting.It's going to be nice and cool. Can't wait for the sun to come up tomorrow AM
doug77
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Had a nice big doe and 3x3 buck walk right in front of me. One problem, I asked my hubby to raise my stand 3 feet. He raised it and faced it South. It was facing West. As much as I tried I could not bend that far and not fall off the stand. Nice big doe at 12 yards. Oh well, always another day. It was cool to watch them pass and have no clue I was trying my hardest to find a shooting lane to them. Sending the hubby back out to move the stand yet again. I have a good man!
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More follies eh Katie? always something. I always told dad we need to hang our stands the way we think the deer will come, then turn them the other way before we lock them down. Always happens they come from behind or the wrong way!! Taken the week end off, too much corn still in the fields at one place and the deer hiding in it.. except at night. Lost our main place, $#%#$# lease hunting. Twice in two years some Michigan hunters leased out from under us in the middle of season... :mad: :banghead:
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That's why I wish I had 100 acres of my own! I wish I could have been in the woods today, but tom I will be a different story! We will get an arrow in something tom!
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This morning went out with wife, got her in her blind and went on to the stand. Didn't have much happen until 9am when the rain started and two nice bucks popped up behind her in the brush. One big eight point and a little nine about twenty yards from her. I let out a grunt to signal there were deer by her and she acknowledges with her bird sounds. The bigger one walked away from her out into the corn field and the smaller nine point came right for me. I debated long and hard about shooting and when he got about twenty some yards i decided to shoot,he stood there broadside and wasn't coming any closer, heck i can do that shot or at least i did it many times on the 3d deer target. dang it i released without staring down the point of impact and sailed a beautiful crested arrow over his back and smashed it into a tree. He just stood there looking at me, and then ran off. well got that out of the way for the season maybe next time the buck will be bigger and i will stare at my spot....she didn't see them because of the brush being to high. Tonight were going out and put up a ladder stand above the brush for her. She don't like height very well...
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I have been seeing good movement, but nothign in range yet. As soon as my Bob Lee arrives (purchased on this site) I will head back out with new bow in hand!
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Vic-I think your lady will like the ladder stand. I love mine. Just put the harness on her and she will feel secure. Sorry about the buck. Funny how that seems to happen 1st deer of the season. You can make a shot 10 out of 10 in the yard on a 3d. Then standing in front of a deer in the field....... Oh well, keeps the season going:)
Good lucj everyone. Hope the rain holds off so the corn can get picked. I sat in a stand on Sunday night and heard "hello" grunts from the corn.
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katie i think not! don't know if i should be telling on her when she is at work and not able to defend herself, or is it, hit me? oh well i been hit before. Last year i put her in my fifteen foot ladder stand in the dark no less. I walked thirty yards away and sat in the brush with my ASAT leaf suit on. About twenty mintues into the light a hawk landed right above me and stared right at me for a while and then flew her way. Right away i sensed something was wrong. I got up and walked over to where she was and looked up. She had a death grip on the stand and her eyes were closed. I whispered "Honey you all right" she shakes her head "NO" I said" Get down" she said "NO I CAN"T" long story short i got her down and thats the end of ladder stands beyond 6 feet up. Was my fault because she never sat in a ladder stand before and i didn't tell her how high she was sitting in the dark. So 8 foot up it is at least she will be able to see over the brush. Yeap ain't the first time i done that (pick a spot)in thirty years and won't be the last. He wasn't a wall hanger but he sure had some backstraps on him! Talking about rain down here for the next four days, everything saturated already.