5 pines farm 2016 updated 1/2017 page 29

[LITTLEBIGMAN]

hunt # 20 and  # 21

After drawing straws for stands ( just kidding) we all headed out in our various directions. Even on 300 acres trying to place three guys and put deer in front of them and not block or bump each other can be a challenge!

I was two thirds up the logging road when I spotted a doe on the logging road feeding in the clover I planted on it. She was 200 yards up above me. We'd had sun showers on and off and the road was super quiet to walk on.

I watched from below as she climbs up onto the bank above the road and began to feed on the face of the bluff. I have taken out all of the invasive brush here, by cutting, spraying and burning. The hill side is now coming back thick with blackberry, snake weed, plum and other lower growing brush that deer love to feed on.

[LITTLEBIGMAN]

need to go get guys on stand and will report further tonight I hope.......

[LITTLEBIGMAN]

She was feeding slowly up the hill. I moved as quickly as I could to catch up with her. The wind was in my face and I made good progress. There is an old fence line that crosses the hill and I was hoping she wasn't on the uphill side of it. But as I got within 40 yards of her I could see that she was just on the other side of it. There is no way I would try to shoot thru four lines of old barb wire, so I let her move off up the hill a bit before I moved ahead as well. I needed to get at least even with the first fence pole before I could start looking for a shooting lane in the brush.

Finally I moved again and I immediately stepped on an acorn! At the crack of the nut she bolted up hill about 30 yards and stopped. I used the cover of the cut in the bluff to move another 20 yards and stopped just behind a 20 inch thick  Burch. Imagine a clock with the deer at 12 o'clock and me at 6. She was a good 40 yards straight up from me. I realized that because of the cut left by the bulldozer my entire body was hidden and if she could see anything at all it would just be my head. I had my face paint on and a dark hat.

She started to come down the hill and headed towards 3 o'clock. At 18 yards she stood there with a hard quarter to me position staring at me. I was crouched, pack on my back. Arrow on the string. My head tilted back straining my neck.

She turned back up hill and moved again to 12 o'clock then started back down hill towards the 9 o'clock position. Again she stopped at about 18 yards, turned my way and stared. Back and forth we did this for a full 45 minutes. On her last trip I could see she was starting to relax. Every once and a while she would grab a leaf of something to eat, or stop and scratch an itch.

At 3 o'clock I started looking for a lane. At 4 o'clock she was still at 18 yards as I had to step to the left to find a clear lane to shoot thru. There were 2 tree she was going to pass thru. As her head went behind one, I drew, picked a spot , hit anchor and let the string slip. At the sound of the release, she spun to her left up hill. My arrow flew straight towards her heart but her heart had moved and the arrow sunk deep into a slightly rotten tree trunk. ( darn forgot my camera in the yurt) Edit coming in the am. I grabbed a second arrow but I started to laugh out loud and that sent her off over the hill.

This am I headed up and over the bluff then down into the hole . It was a pleasant morning, with clear skies and a light breeze. While on stand I heard a deer in it's bed, coughing or clearing it's throat occasionally but never laid eyes on it . I left at 10 am to see if any one needed a blood trailer. But no one did.

[Jayrod]

What a Great job you do jim and I am sure it's alot of work posting all of this everyday but I wanted to say how much I enjoy it and thanks for sharing
Keep at em!!

[lt-m-grow]

Don't you ever lose the ability to laugh out loud in those situations.  That is great.  Life is too short and too often we sweat the little stuff.

Keep the stories coming my friend.  And good luck.

[LITTLEBIGMAN]

The photo from my stalk. tree center punched!
 

hunts #22 & #23

Three of us headed up the hill together to hunt the plots on the upper bluff.

2 of my friends are the stars, I am in # 31. Wind a little iffy for me.
 
I was ready to kill a deer last night. Unfortunately for me, I was the only one who didn't see a deer. ! Uffda!!

This morning I decided to hunt the top of Rattlesnake ridge.
 
There is no easy way up to this spot. Hence it gets hunted lightly. You must have a N or NW or NE wind to hunt it. Once you get into the timber its a deer trail almost straight up for most of the way. You have to pick your way thru a rocky cliff and be very careful where you place your hand holds. This ridge isn't called Rattlesnake ridge for no reason.  

After doing some snake habitat improvement on the bluff last winter , the DNR and I determined the main snake den in the valley is on this bluff.

The eastern Timber Rattler is a threatened species but is in recovery.  The mornings are now cool enough that the snakes are close to the den site and no longer dispersed thru out the rocks.

The top of the ridge is only about 25 yards wide before you start going down the other side. So its a long bench that the deer love to bed upon. If you beat them up here it is a common occurrence to have them bed all around you.

The tree stand is 20 feet high but slightly down from the very top. So due to the steepness of the hill side 20 from the ground only puts you about 12 feet over the deer if they are on the very top.

Just after getting in the stand, A deer came up the ridge from behind in about the only spot I can get winded. I did not hear it until it had winded me and was running back down the ridge. Nothing was moving. I was about to throw in the  towel at 10 30 when I spotted one and then a second deer coming my way. They had come up the other side of the bluff. I picked up the bow but then exchanged it for the camera as I could see they were both fawns. I snapped a few photos as they came almost directly under me, then I began to watch for the adult. But they were on their own as no other deer followed.

 
I let them cross the ridge and waited another hour before heading to the yurt for laughter and coffee.
!

[EWill]

Good accounts of your days in the woods, enjoying them very much.
I'm not able to hunt this year so am "hunting" vicariously through you and many others here and on other sites.
It's killing me not being in the woods.

[pitbull]

[johnnyk71]

i love this thread.

[LITTLEBIGMAN]

hunt #24

Last night after getting everyone off to their respective spots, I headed to the stand I went to last week but couldn't sit the other night because of the harness failure.

This stand sits above what I call a buck contour trail. When the bucks start looking for does they will run these contour trails and stop and scent check every trail that crosses it for a hot doe. These trails can be low or high on the bluff and that's what makes it hard to find the right one to sit. If you are on the right one and are willing to sit all day, you can see numerous bucks. My best all day sit was three years ago when I saw eight different bucks in one day.

Contour trail is the pink arrows. these trail run all along the whole valley. A buck may take a day or more to make the circuit and then repeat it.
 
I chose this spot for the steepness of the hill right behind the tree the stand is hung in. It keeps the deer low. The bluff also almost always forces the wind to go uphill and be in your face.

At six pm I spotted a buck coming from my left. He was on the contour trail and he walked right below me and stopped. he is 6 yards from the base of my tree.

He was trifle smaller than the last buck I counted coup on. A 2.5 year old 8 point. Short tines with about a 13 inch inside spread.

I smiled as he stood right under me without a clue that I was just above. Sorry but I kept my bow in hand and did not attempt to get a photo. I was hoping he wasn't a solo traveler.

But he was the only deer I saw while on stand. Climbing down I decided this stand had to be improved. It is tricky due to the shape and size of the three trunks on this oak. When cold and icy weather arrive , it could be a dangerous climb. So this am, rather than hunt, I put together a ladder I had ordered but not used.Then I took the portable down and hung the ladder in the next tree over. It is just a few yards further up the hill. Now the shot is not as steep and still inside of 20 yards.  

It's going to be an all day sitter when the bucks start cruising

[Huntrdfk]

Nice Jim, love the adjustments that you recognize and make.

David

[LITTLEBIGMAN]

hunts 25 & 26

Last evening one friend remained here and I sent him to a stand overlooking the food plots behind the old farm house. I hiked up the logging road to sit on the retaining pond we repaired 2 years ago. It was warm and we haven't had any substantial rain for a week. I thought it might just be time for a deer to need a drink.  The stand is set over the spillway of the pond. You can see the pond but not shoot to it. Trees were limited here for a stand to go into.
 
It was really a pleasant evening. Early on I spotted a deer running down hill thru the tall grass below the food plots. It was a good buck!. I thought wow, he is really in a hurry to get to water!. But he blew right past the pond and into the woods below . I then decided that he must have been spooked by something from his body language. I could see as he ran out of sight that he was a BIG 8!!

Here is my view from the stand . The blue arrow is where the buck came down the hill.
 

90 minutes later, a deer snorted just below and two my left. It had made it to edge of the wood line with out me hearing it. I almost back flipped out of the stand at the sound of the snort I was caught so far off guard. I heard it crash off as it went down the steep ridge below. I am thinking it was him. Not sure how he caught me.  The wind was in my face and the big oak's branches provide lots of cover. But I certainly did something to give myself away. I saw no other deer.

Today I tried once again the stand I started the season out with . Still hoping to catch the big 10 with big brows, but I got skunked. I don't think I will hunt that spot any further. I have sat it three times and not had a single deer go by on it. Too many other good spots to sit, so that is what I am going to .

It's time to find a place to sit for hunt #27.

[Hopewell Tom]

I like that decision, Jim. I often go back to a stand that doesn't live up to it's promise, thinking I have to keep at it because of the work that went into it.
You gotta go with what's in front of you. I like how this thread instructs me or shows me that I'm not alone in my thinking.
Keep at it, seeing the good bucks is a definite motivator.

[Cyclic-Rivers]

Its only a matter of Time Jim. Along with Tom's post, i like that you keep things fresh and try new things where other things didn't work.

Good luck.

[LITTLEBIGMAN]

hunt #27

ruined by the neighbors dogs!  You can put every fiber of your being into a property to make it the best deer hunting place possible and have done it all for nothing due to an irresponsible neighbor.

I hiked back down the ridge, took off my camo , washed the face paint off my face and went and had a heart to heart talk with the woman next door. She has 4 dogs and two were running the deer trails. Now it makes sense why the big buck from the night before was running from something!

I am going to take the next 2 days off, catch up on neglected chores around the farm.

I be back at it WEds am................

[ron w]

Hard to deal with irresponsible folks that just don't care or get it.  Go get'em on Wed.

[LITTLEBIGMAN]

rained out this am, but the rain should end by noon. I need to go sit in a stand!

[MnFn]

We really seem to be in a wet pattern. I am hoping for a better weekend.

Thanks again Jim.

[Horne Shooter]

It's now a tradition of hunting season to get to read about LITTLEBIGMAN's adventures.  I love this part of the year (as I know we all do) and this thread just adds to the joy of the Fall.

[Whip]

Even though I already had the short version from our phone call yesterday I had to read through every word of this thread to catch up.  It's filled with so much more than just a daily account of your deer sightings.  It is interspersed with knowledge of how to hunt, both tactically and philosophically. Knowledge of deer habits, use of wind and terrain, food and travel patterns - new and veteran deer hunters can all learn so much from what you share here.

Great stuff Jim!