******Daily Hunt Report 2004******

[JC]

Finally able to get a deer to cooperate this season: heard a deer this morning coming in over my right shoulder about 7:45. I slowly turned my head to see if it was in a position for me to stand up and prep for a shot. Little 3 point was downwind but I think my typical 20-25'stand placement had my scent above him.  He meanandered to right under my stand without presenting a good shot because of brush and mostly quartering to me. Stood under my stand curling his lips for about a minute, "thought" he smelled something but wasn't sure I guess. Walked about 15 yards to the main trail, that I had been expecting to see him come down, and presented a steep angle quartering away.  I looked once, once mind you, on his backtrail to see if there was a doe, which I would rather have taken...then back and he was still in the same position, bout 18 yards and seemingly calm.  Well boys, it's been a "dry" season for me, so it didn't take me but long enough to get to anchor and the next thing I know there's my arrow up to the fletching from mid ribcage and exiting between front legs.  He took off in a spurt, made a quick circle and stopped a little further away and uphill. Autopilot reload kicked in and although I "knew" he was dead, if he's gonna stand there and get a second arra, I'm gonna oblige im.  Second arrow was either slightly deflected or he dropped (though I'm not so sure cause he was obviously dead before the 2 arrow hit him....maybe I just missed....nah    )and spined him.  He stumbled, dropped, rolled, broke the arrow that spined him, kicked a couple of times and lay still....less than 10 yards from the stand. First arrow still exiting the sternum between the front legs and narry a feather ruffled!

As usual, the grizzled hunter that I am, then started shakin like a kid on his first kill....man is that a feelin or what!  :D  That mixture of elation, joy, accomplishment, tinged with sadness and old memories of people long gone. Lord help me if that ever goes away.....

Post mortem showed first shot to be almost perfect, right lung and top of heart....the second shot cut the artery running next to the spine and well into the spine from the underside of one vertebrate.
  Finally, 1st Deer of \\'04 Season!  

   Joe

[JC]

Went this evening again to a different spot: beautiful creek bottom on an archery only WMA near my house. Not a sole in the parking area so I was hopeful of deer movement in my stand area. Isn't it great how hunting builds so much hope, expectation and opportunity? Anyway, time change has me messed up already, didn't think about it gettin dark at 6:30 instead of 7:30 so I was late getting in the woods.

First hour or so was slow with no movement by any critter I could see. It was warm today but we had a good breeze and it cooled off quick as the light got low. As the light started to fade I heard the tell tale off tempo crunch of a deer coming through the brush down the main trail. This trail runs parallel to the creek to a point about 15 yards past my stand then makes a turn not far from my stand to a creek crossing. It usually provides several shot opportunities each year.  

I'm up, on full alert, ready to kill my second in 2 days! I can see the body as it moved gracefully down the trail in absolutely no hurry but the head is hidden by the understory along the creek. Never dipped it's head to feed or browse so I suspected it to be on full alert. 50, 40, 30 yards....it's gonna happen again.... I can feel the adrenaline rising. Finally comes out of the brush and....and...and....it's a spike. Dang...my little buck tag was filled yesterday, next one has to be 4pts or better on one side by GA law. He walks clueless along the trail passing my stand at an easy broadside shot of 15 yards at a slow walk. Hops the creek crossing like you and me stepping over a chuckhole, 15' covered with a flick of the tail. Stood on the other side of the creek for quite a while looking and listening in the directiion he was going. Funny how he got real cautious after crossing. He filtered into the brush and day faded quickly into a cool fall evening. Sweet....within killin distance of another deer in 2 days....now it's startin to feel like fall.

Joe

[kennym]

Halloween eve- rattled up a nice (115ish) 8pt. 15 yds broadside, knew there were much bigger ones in here so I passed. A small 8pt. comes in from the other way and they circle each other under my stand. Shortly after they  left,looked behind and there he was- huge (for around these parts) 8pt. (140-150 no bull!)150 yds. Wind had picked up so I rattled hard,don't think he hears me so I crack the main beams hard twice. Here he comes,no hurry. Stops at 100 and looks hard,comes on again to 80 where he does the typical bigbuck thing,turns hard left across open field to get wind of whatever is makin the ruckus, goes behind some trees and never comes out. Gotta love it. Got an appointment for another lesson Fri. AM.... BTW, don't think he got my wind cause several of the other bucks that came by were directly downwind for a long time. Saw no does and not tellin how many bucks cause I don't even believe it!!

[Tedd@work]

Finally arrowed a buck yesterday morn. I left home @ 4:30 to get in a hunt before work. I hunt right at my office. I decided to try rattling, that stuff never works in these parts, too many huinters. But son of a gun here he came charging in! I managed to put it through his heart at a rediculusly long range. (paced it off later 49 steps! that translates to about 45 yds) I practiced hard at longer ranges, but still can't believe how effortless it was to make that shot.
I was even at work on time! Tedd

[b.glass]

I'm discouraged. I've been out several times and have seen one button buck. I had a doe and her fawns blast past my blind another time. That's it! Got a nice buck in Kentucky and am anxious to get my first deer at home here in Indiana. My nephew had a shot opp. at a six pt. Mon. a.m. I saw a six pt. in the corn field N. of the house at 8 0'clock this a.m. He had already filled his buck tag so didn't shoot. I would love to take a doe first so I would have more will power to hold out for a mature buck. I've got good pix of a 8 pt. in the 115 range.

[JC]

Great job Tedd!

Glass, I've been discouraged so far too. Lots of hours on the stand with very few deer in rang.  Except it all came together saturday and Sunday.  If your stands have the sign, keep at it. Change your stand sites, try something different than you normally do, at this point what do you have to lose. The main thing is, You ain't gonna kill em off the couch bruther...I wish you luck!

Joe

[Ralph Renfro]

During the entire month of October, deer movement was very slow and mainly nocturnal. Finally on November 1st I started seeing more movement. As I don't get to hunt most evenings, I've been limited to hunting before work. After the time change I have more time in the mornings. On November 2nd I saw two smaller bucks and one doe. I had a decent 8 pointer bust me in a stand I had moved to make RainCrow happy. After he busted me, with a strrong north wind, I knew I had to get a stand on the south side of the trail. That evening I got off a little early and set up another stand on the south side. I didn't hunt that evening. On Nov 3rd, I was in the newly placed stand by 6:15. It was 24 degrees with a light nw wind. At 7:45 this buck came into the woods on a trail west of me. He passed over the trail that led to me and was moving away, so I mouth grunted and got his attention. He stopped and looked for the intruder. He then started walking and I gave him a more aggressive grunt. He imediately turned around and came back to the east/west trail. He came walking right by me, because of some trees in front of me, my best shot was to let him pass and bust a quartering away shot on him. That I did. The shot hit just behind the ribs but angled toward the lungs. I got good penetration with the rivercane arrow tipped with a 135 grain Magnus II. On impact he jumped and kicked his hind feet, so I knew he was hit hard. He ran over a ridgeline to the northwest. I knew by watching him leave with the arrow, that there wasn't gonna be a bunch of blood on the ground. I waited 15 minutes and then climbed down and followed his tracks till I found blood. I followed the blood trail till I found the direction he had gone after getting out of my sight. I then went to my truck for a nervous wait. After an hour I went back to the trail. Good blood for about 30 yards from the spot I had left the trail, then nothing. So I followed tracks in the leaves. After about 25 yards of doing that and looking ahead, I saw the yellow and orange fletching of the rivercane sticking up. I peered under some brances and by golly the deer was still under the arrow. He had gone about a hundred yards. By the placement of his hind legs, under him, I think he just bedded and expired. I did my normal, smoothing of his coat and thanking my Creator for this fine animal and set about taking some pics and field dressing him. By the stiffness of the legs, I knew that he had died quickly and humanely and I was thankful of that. The bow I used is a BBO with Zebra wood accents that myself, Mike-OK, RainCrow, and JohnBow had glued up opening weekend. I had finished the bow a couple of weeks ago and had killed a turkey with it on it's first trip to the hunting woods. The buck was a mainframe 10 pointer with a 16 1/2 inside spread and included a total of 5 other points scattered on the burrs and a split browtine.   [/IMG]

[Huntrdfk]

Great pics and great story Ralph.  Congrats.

David

[Walter Mauney]

It has been a very slow year for sightings of deer in north Georgia, at least for me. Until yesterday, I had seen a total of 4 deer form my treestands and I have hunted every weekend since Sept. 11. Several other hunters in this area have also had less than usual sightings so far this season. I believe it is the combination of a super acorn crop (they don't have to go far to feed) and unusually warm weather (until yesterday the average low was in the 50s). The temperature dropped to about 30 yesterday morning and I felt good about the chance that I would see a deer. I got into my stand before light and sat there until it started to get light when I heard a deer walking in the same way I had entered my stand. I watched over my left shoulder until I spotted the deer. It seemed to be scent trailing me! I couldn't get a good shot so I sat there and waited, expecting it to bolt at any moment. By this time I could see color and the deer was directly beneath my stand (I should've practiced that elephant draw LOL)! It was sniffing around in the leaves where I had stood while I was attaching my stand to the tree. Suddenly it bolted about ten feet from the base of the tree. I shifted my position so I could draw (it was now in front of my stand and slightly to the right). I noticed it was a button buck and looked to be very fat. He moved off a little bit more and stood there offering me a good 10 yard shot. I drew my Pronghorn and released. Good hit! He ran about 50 yards and expired while I watched. Thank the Lord, my first traditional kill!

[Doug Campbell]

As I was sitting in a tree yesterday afternoon I saw one of the coolest things I've had the privilage to witness. I'm sure most of you have seen those small hawks or falcons recklessly singing thru the trees at mach speed. Well I'd watched on make a couple passes when he zig-zagged to the right faster than you can imagine and took a big magpie right off a limb. He hit the magpie in the back dug his talons in and rode him down to the ground. It was an impressive show of acrobatics and all thirty yards away!!

[Blue Moose]

I got a big ol' doe at Rodney, MS this past Saturday. It was my first trip there this year and hadn't had time to scout so I just went to a corner area I was familiar with. After being on stand about, oh, 15 minutes, I decided I was not going to hunt until I found a hot bean tree (honey locust).

I scouted for about an hour and found a couple of heavily used bean trees in a 20-yard-wide strip of woods between two fields. I climbed a tree downwind and within 30 minutes there were two does coming in for beanie brunch (around 9:15).

The timing was excellent because a crew came in at noon to cut the remaining timber on that section of the property. Bummer...it was truly beautiful in those woods.

Off to try for a buck now. Good luck to all.

Tal

[Warren H. Womack]

Tal, Great news, congratulations. You did good.

Making a high percentage hunt is what it's all about. Your time spent scouting, provided you with just that.

Warren

[Chippy]

My latest deer hunt ended yesterday. Tag soup. Again.  But while on this hunt last tuesday Nov 2, I saw a Mountain Lion stalk, then chase a coues whitetail. We lost sight of him while the chase was ongoing in a steep canyon, 230 yds away by the range finder. We figured he was taking 15-20 foot leaps with every bound, on the side of an almost vertical drop. We found there was a very narrow ledge they were running on when we made our way over to check things out. Never caught up with him again but that pretty much made the trip worthwhile.

[rabbitman]

Hunted in southern Indiana the first week of Nov. Saw alot of deer and on the last day shot a large doe at 15 yds.  She went only a short distance and piled up.  During the week I had numerous deer in bow range, mostly does, yearlings and small bucks. (farm has an 8 point, 125 class rule)  I did have two shooter bucks in bow range but could not get a clear shoot at either.  Saw plenty of turkey, some coyotes, redtail hawks and an immuture bald eagle.  All and all it was a great week.  

[Ralph Conrad]

Had a successful hunt this past weekend with Marty Horn.  Looked for a bruiser for 2 days seeing one once, but no shot.  Passed on a spike the second day and waited until the last morning before taking a 6pt buck I called in to me.  It was my only chance to hunt MO before the rifle season so I took home some good groceries.  The shot was from 10 yds as the deer angled away from me. Had a complete pass thru with a stone point and cedar shaft.   This was my 14th deer with stone points. Double lung shot with deer running about 40 yards before crashing.  Thanks Marty! Ralph

[Huntrdfk]

Good job, Dan.  Hope all goes ok with Mel.


David

[Terry Green]

Didn't have time till now to post about last week.  It was an eventfull weekend.  Saw 9 deer, all were in bow range.  

Friday morn....1st three I didn't feel the shot was right, 30 yards was the closest I got, on the ground, and the lead doe was quatering away, and the other two we small, and kept their vitals below the palmettos.....

Blew a 20 yard wide open shot on a really wide 8 - 10 point, I was on the ground again.  I didn't pick a spot, rushed the shot on the 'cruising buck' as he stopped, and shot right over his back.  It all happened so fast, and I knew when I let go of the string that I boneheaded the opportunity.

Friday evening.....zilch.

Saturday morn....Had a spike within spitting distance, but not leagal.

Saturday evening....Had two does come out at dark, and got right under my stand, and I couldn't get a shot off.  I must have drawn 5 times.

Sunday morn....had a doe stop and going through a bottom with a 'deer' picking along behind her.  She came right by my stand at 18 yards, and I did not shoot thinking the other deer was a buck....but it was another doe, and although she was in range, she never offered me a shot even though I did manage to draw down twice.

[Huntrdfk@Work]

Last Thursday I had just about two hours in the afternoon to hunt.  On top of that I had to qualify, (night qualifications), at 5 pm.  I hunted  behind the house. At 3:50 two yearling deer walk by me and start browsing on acorns. They never get closer than 20 yards and work their way to about 60 yards out. At about 4:15 the neighbors dog starts to bark exitedly, and I can hear an animal in the woods from that direction.  As it gets closer, the two yearlings look that way and then bolt. Out steps a dark colored deer that I know right away is a buck, just by the way he was acting. It turns out to be a small buck with 12" spikes. He goes to where the two other deer were, and is looking that way.  In my rush to hunt I had forgotten my grunt call, so I bleated at him with my mouth. He walks my way and stops at about 17 yards with the front of his shoulders and head behind a tree and bush, begging to be shot. So I did.  He turned out to be a pretty stout spike, weighing in at 124 lbs dressed.  I had him dressed, in the back of my truck and I made it to the range at 5:10.

David

[Ralph Renfro]

The Okie TradGangers-Mike-Ok, JohnBow, RainCrow, and RocDoc are trying hard to find a doe. Saturday morning, everyone had deer within shooting range. Trouble was everything was wearing headgear and there isn't an antlered tag among em. I've filled my tags and was armed with only a camera. So..wanna guess who had four antlerless deer within range?

[SuperKodiak38]

Saturday started off with a bang. Two does come by at a trot with a big wide 6- point following grunting with every step he took. 30 yards at a trot = no shot. Well they chased each other around for 20 minutes. Another buck started to grunt and I could hear them fighting. Man my heart was pounding, deer running everywhere. It started to settle down and I mouth grunted twice. The 6 point came in behind me, down wind, at a trot intent on finding me. From those two little grunts he knew exactly where I was. He was at about 10 yards, quartering to me and he winded me, I watched him try to figure out where I was and scurry off. 20 minutes later I have three does and a bigger buck at least and 8-point coming when a dog barking turned them aound not to be seen agian. So I leave where I am standing in a creek bed and check out the "log" lying in the leaves. Hey is that thing breathing? I creep up on 6 sleeping does.It had rained all night and there was no noise, I was within 5 yards of them, a yearling was closest. I could see her face twitching and eyes fluttering like she was dreaming. It was awesome. No shot as everyones back was to me except the yearling whose head was covering her vitals. I was afraid to shoot as I couldn't tell what end was what and was afraid of a gut shot. I waited and watched for about 5 minutes until they spooked and bolted. Or so I thought, one doe stood up at 20-25 yards the arrow was gone before I knew it. I could see the fletching spinning about to bore a hole in her lungs when I heard the "tink" and saw my arrow change attitude and hit her shoulder, on the bone, just bearly breaking the skin, almost all momentum was lost when the arrow hit that branch about 5 yards from her. It slapped her and she ran off dropping the arrow. No blood nothing.
Not a "clean miss" but I am sure she is fine and saw the group later that day. Even without letting an arrow go it was an awesome morning. It could have been better, but it could have been worse.