First let me start out by thanking Brian for the oppertunity to hunt his land . Beautiful country all around . Good deer sign but little if any movement during daylight hours . Heavy rain the first few days put a damper on things .Brian was getting trail cam pics at night but not during the day . Burton seen a couple does and a small 8 pointer at dusk along the edge of the bean field . I noticed tracks every morning heading west but notracks made during daytime . I opted to hunt the rear of the property around a large weedfield which was surrounded by tall timber .I sat in 2 of his stands but didn't see any action so I tried rattling at the crack of dawn when sound really carries and the deer are usually still up . After an hour I tried grunting and later some doe bleats . After 3 days with no response I set up a ground blind after checking out the ariel photo of Brian's place. I picked a spot where a large tract of timber funneled into his property along what I think is the NW corner . I set then blind about 15 yards from the trail and had it tucked in some amongst some small trees and tall weeds . The trail was being used pretty regular . The tracks were heading south but there were a couple rubbed trees showing that at least one buck was heading north. The timber was to the north and the bean field was to the south .On either side of this corridoor the ground was lower and very wet , some places almost over my 12" boots so it was looking really good . First night I saw nothing and I was back in the blind before first light hoping to catch some deer coming back late from the beans , no luck . Next afternoon the wind was good so I sat there again .A decent buck came by east to west just out of range on a trail I wasn't expecting any action on . I waited for him to get a ways off before I grunted when 2 does came up the trail from the south and fed to within about 5 yards of the blind . I figured the buck would come over to check them out but he just looked back once and headed off , the 2 does fed slowly along and I figured I had the best decoys in the woods but nothing else showed up . Next day I cut out a small shooting lane to the trail the buck used and made a mock scrape at the intersection of the trails . Next afternoon the wind blew wrong so I sat another ground blind I made by tucking a stool inside of heavy cover along the weed field overlooking a mineral lick and scrape but saw nothing . I went back to the first ground blind next day and found my mock scrape worked over and another scrape made about 10 feet way ! I had high hopes but it rained again and the ground being so wet the water had no where to drain and I found the scrapes had about 2 inches of water in them . I felt I hunted hard but things just didn't work out , Brian did a great job of planning the hunt but not everything is under anyone's control . That's why it's called "hunting" not "shooting" I had a great time hunting with some great guys in some of the prettiest country with a chance to bag a Ohio Giant . It doesn't get much better then that . I look forward to bidding on this hunt again if it's offered , I big thanks to Brian and good luck with his farm . And it was a pleasure meeting and spending time with Burton and I wish him the best luck with his new property . Even though the kids are the big winners from these hunts I really think I made out big time , thanks to all involved , Fred
Topic: St. Jude Ohio hunt preview and updates (Read 1201 times)
