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

[Charlie Lamb]

Went out this evening for a short sit. There's a cold front moving in and I figured the deer would be moving.
Well, I did see three in a field along the road in. When I got to my property I was heading up the trail road when I spotted movement ahead about 50 yards.
Just weed tops shaking at first then a small rack appeared above the brush.
I just had time to step to the side of the trail and freeze before he stepped out in the trail.
Pretty cool! He turned my way for a few yards, then continued off into the brush on the other side.
The rest of the evening was very quiet, and no more deer seen.

[Hooked]

Ever have this dream (nightmare)....

Excited about opening day, I got up early and was out the door in record time.  Cold Front is coming in so there are supposed to be scattered thunderstorms starting in the morning and then all day.  My plan is to hunt until they hit.

Get to the property and load up with my gear:  strap on the fanny pack, throw my Lone Wolf Hang On on my back, and grab a rain coat just in case.

First thing I notice is how bright the moon is tonight.  Good news is flashlight is definitely not needed, bad news is my experience on this property is that the deer will not be moving during daylight because they have been up all night feeding with the near full moon.  Being optimistic, I tell myself that the approaching cold front will get them moving.

The Soy beans are already cut, so I head straight across the cut bean field to the treeline where my stand is located.  Wind is out of the South ( I am walking stratight into the wind).  The bucks tend to walk the North edge of the timber with a South wind so I am setting up in a tree there.

Get to my tree.  Immediately look for my rope for pulling my bow up.  Found it, now looking for my bow to tie it to.  UH OH!  Suddenly I feel a sense of Deja Vu!  I am living that dream where you get to your stand and your bow is back in your vehicle!  AW SH_T!  (Pardon my french!)

With no time to waste, I hang my stand quick as I can and head back to the car.  I did get back to my tree before sunrise, but with alot more exercise and prespiration than anticipated.

Hope this isnt an indication of how the season is going to go!

[John Scifres]

A day in the woods - October 2, 2004 - Parke County Farm.  Nothing showed early until a squirrel and I played tag for a while.

  Shot 1

  Shot 2

  Shot 3

The rest of the morning was uneventful.
I moved my stand and had 2 deer walk right under it at 3:00 pm.  Only problem was I wasn't in it.  I had decided to take a siesta downwind about 100 yards from my stand before climbing in for the evening hunt.  I had both deer within 10 yards of me but neither offered a shot.  Of course I was taking a sip of coffee when the first one showed up so she nailed me.  The second saw me walking up to get in my stand but never busted me.  Never offered a shot either.

1 hour after getting in my stand I had a doe just about step into my shooting lane before looking up, right into my eyes, she swapped ends and blew out of there before I thought she could have processed what I was.  She must have seen a treestand before.  15 minutes later a doe and her grown fawn came in but mama scoped it out for baby and walked on the wrong trail where I had no shot.  She got downwind and left but never spooked.  It was a fun day in the woods and I got some squirrel meat simmering in the crack pot as I type this  

[insttech1]

Took my 6-year-old boy with tonight; put us on the ground behind a tiny camo screen, so they wouldn't see 'im fidgetin' much...

Watched a doe comin' in about 70 yards out.  It was clear she wasn't comin' at us...oh well...at least he got to see her--cool!

Half our after that--I hear 'em comin'--but IT'S A HORSE!!  This thing is off the trails on public land, rider in an orange vest, and goes crashin' off into private property, breakin' trees that sound 3" thick...

He was 12 yards from us, and to my knowledge, had no clue we were there...

Never seen him there before; never saw a horse trailer, either.  Suspect he came from private property, hopefully just out for a ride.  I hate to think that he was there to push deer, which is exactly the route he'd need to take to push 'em from the state land to the adjacent private parcel...then 20 minutes later, he comes back out onto state land and rides outta sight...

If I see 'im again, I'll talk to the DNR.  If he's on the trails, it's his land too.  If he's off, I think that's a no-no.  Not sure if that applies to a horse, but it does to the mountain-bikes.

Then we saw three more as we drove out, one at 8 yards--the boy was happy with that!  

So no shots, but a great time was had...

Take Care,
Marc

[SilverTip]

been out 3 times this year, i've seen over 30 does. been huntin this one real nice buck for the past 2 years. but after what i've seen i'll just be taking does this year. the buck -doe ratio is way outta wack in my area. all the does i've seen have been on a 40 acre lot.
                                Billy

[Bulletman]

Got out on Saturday morning, cool here, just a hint of frost. Sat for an hour or so (hunting a buddy's land & his ladder stand). I look up and from upwind two does coming, the lead one walked right to me, but at four yards she's head-on with her nose to the ground sucking up acorns. I personally won't take this shot so I'm waiting on her to turn,,,,,,,,,,and she looks up at me and knows something ain't right. She trots away and stops broadside just out of my comfort range, then fees away. Maybe next time.

Bulletman

[cajunbowhntr]

Just got back fron the woods.It's been tuff readin all these huntin reports and havin to work opening weekend.Monday morning found me sitting in a narrow strip of hardwoods between two big cutovers.There is a bottom that connects both cutovers and I was on a finger ridge that looks straight into the bottom.Any deer traveling the bottom would have two walk by my stand.There are also some large water oaks just starting to drop acorns.About 7:00 I hear what sounds like a D8 caterpillar coming thru the woods.I look to my right and see hogzilla! He's feeding around the base of my finger headin straight for me.I'm no hog expert but this dude looked to be at least 150-175#'s.When he gets broadside at 13 yds I draw anchor and release.The hog takes off at warp speed for the cutover.Now I have been telling myself if I see a hog to shoot low and behind the shoulder tight.But at the moment of truth 20 years of pickin a spot midway behind the shoulder took over.I hit him about 2-3 inches above dead center.A good shot with a steep downward angle for a deer but not on a hog.I gave him 2 1/2 hours and went looking.With a high entry wound and no exit there was no blood.!00 yds in i found the fletch end of the arrow.By the looks of it I only got 7-8"'s of penetration,not good.I followed his trail into the thicket on my hands and knees when it occured to me that I'm trailin a wounded boar with only a folding pocket knife.Ain't no way I'm shooting a bow in this thick stuff if he decides to stomp me.No trees to climb.I went another 200 yds outta stupidity and headed back out.I went and checked an old skid road several hundred yards into the cutover and found no sign.I'm perplexed as to why I got so little penetration.Maybe I caught the top of the shoulder,but I did'nt hear a loud whack.I'm shootin a big simmons head which may be too much broadhead for my setup.Monday evening did'nt see a hair.Front was coming thru with wind blowing from every direction.


CB

[cajunbowhntr]

This mornin I took a stand in a oak riverbottom flat between a monster cutover and the largest set of hardwoos for miles on the private property next to us.There is also a food plot next to the transition into the hardwoods.About 7:30 I hear a loud growl followed by grunting and squealing.Sounded like my honeymoon night     The windage was right just didnt bear down and pick a spot.It happened too quick.This is the first time I've seen ahog on stand.We've seen sign and trapped a few but have never seen em in these numbers.The rest of the morning was uneventful.


CB

[Terry Green]

JC and I set out for a Cohutta adventure Friday afternoon.

Friday it was stone cold dead....no animals moved at all....only the Kaddi Didds buzzing.

Saturday we got a great start, heading off the Mountian at 1st shooting light.  Found lots of well used game trails, and lots of fresh hog sign.

Had lunch at about 10:30 on the top of a knowl, and about 100 yards from there on an uphill lead off the knowl we found more than a half a dozen piles of bear scat all within spitting distance of one another....looking better.

Got to another top, and turned left down a moderately steep lead....more bear scat.  We then sat down to re-group and check the map to see if we had an idea where we were.  This was 11:20.

As JC and I glassed across the hollow to the bank of another lead, I paused to get the map out......

"There's a bear right there" I said in a heavy wisper.  JC said nothing, still looking into oblivion across the hollow.  "There's BEARS right there" I said again....still nothing from JC as he gaized 150-200 yards.  "RIGHT THERE"...then JC couldn't help but see them....as a cub ran up a tree 30 yards in front of us...yep, and mom was coming straight up the lead to us.

The bow was no good, neither were leagal to shoot, so I checked my boot knife, and told JC to get my camera out of my pack.  I took a couple of photos, but they didn't turn out as good as what I could have gotten 5 to 10 seconds earlier.

Anyhow, the cub slid down, and rambled broadside over to mom....and mom had either heard enough wispering, camera clicks, or smelled enough....and she gathered em up and went back the way the came.  JC said he saw two cubs, but I only saw one....I was too busy trying to get a decent pic of Mom that I just didn't see the other little one.

We then found a really nice saddle, that has definately been used, with lots of wild grape vines as well as a couple of scattered oaks.  We set up here for the evening.....it was big enough for us to both set up on, one on each end.

Heard a few 'wild' sounds, and 'imagined' bears were making some of the noises we heard....but we saw nothing but the images of earlier replaying over and over in our minds.

It took us an hour and 45 minutes to walk out......we was in the Big Woods....here's a few photos......

View of the Cohuttas.....

   

JC surveying the dark laurel bottom below....

   

Mama Bear...and back end of one of the cubs...

   

[frankwright]

My fifth day of hunting and I have not seen a single deer yet. Am I snakebit or what?
This morning it was calm and cool, about 60 degrees. A floating wisp of cotton ball blows behind my little hang on stand telling me the wind is right, at least for now. I sit staring at the jungle of vines and saplings that fill this creek bottom I am watching. I can see two fresh rubbed trees from my stand. Finally, I see front legs, about 35 yards in front of me, I can tell it is a deer but not what kind or how big and frankly right now I don't care. The deer disapears in the thicket and then I see it moving to my left. It's a buck! Nice thick antlers but not many of them. It looks like a big four point but I am not sure. He stops for a second, at about 24 paces (stepped it off later) and then starts to turn to move away. I stand up, come to full draw and proceed to forget everything I have ever known about shooting a longbow. A total and complete brain fart. I shoot one inch under his belly. He is not happy as he jumps straight up, spins and runs off. I hear him stomping the ground, somewhere out of sight. I am sick but I will take a miss rather than a bad shot. I did not pick a spot, I did not push with my bow hand, I did not do anything I know how to do. Why do animals make us act like fools. Oh well. I at least saw a deer, maybe my luck is changing.
 

[JC]

Terry and I did have a great hunt, them Cohutta's shore are purdy. Dang, it was early Terry, I don't remember that bottom bein that dark.  That was about an hour after we left camp Sat mornin!

I was locked on this hillside across a hollow when Terry was tellin me "Bears".  So I strain my eyeballs a little more.  "Bears...right there!"  I'm still lookin....."NO BEARS...RIGHT THERE." Then I look at him bewildered and he's lookin down the same ridge we're on, bout 30 yards.  All of a sudden this cub runs 35ft up a tree like a monkey goin up a ladder, I mean lickety split.  Then I see the ma...Now terry may have checked his knife...I don't know,  I was too busy nocking an arra.  He said "they aint' legal"....I think I asked him "you shore?" ten times before I got the hint. Very cool, worth the whole trip.

We saw sign on top of sign in this one spot...I mean looked like the aftermath of a bear convention. And some spots that the hogs had plowed big enough fer a food plot.

Walk back was rough, my asthma kicked in some bout midway back as the night air chilled quick and Terry slowed/stopped quite a bit for me.  We left our huntin area bout 7:45....back at the trucks at 9:30.  Terry's dead reckonin was real accurate, but thank God fer GPS, compass, and led headlamps brudda. Rule #1, GPS don't lie.

Joe

[Terry Green]

Gonna re-post a couple of photos.....got a new program I am trying to learn......

 

 

[Charlie Lamb]

Well, it's been an interesting few days here in Missouri.
Been hunting from the ground in different areas getting a feel for things and just waiting for the weather to break so I really feel like getting serious.
The weather did break and turned off nice and cool, which stirred up some of the old predator feelings.
Haven't seen much, just building an information base so far. Of course there was yesterday! Isn't it funny how things seem to escalate as the season rolls along.
I'd been disappointed that a bottom corn field hadn't been picked yet and the adjoining woods were empty for the most part. I knew the deer were in that corn.
I took my tree seat and set it up along a trail that parallels the creek which separates the woods from the corn. A small bluff is there too, so I was on top of the bluff.
Well, guess who decided that it was time to pick the corn. I was in bliss with thoughts of giant whitetails crawling all over me.
I saw nothing until a half hour before sunset. The picker had just come even with my position and was making it's usual racket.
Through a gap in the brush I could just see the creek below and it's normal smooth surface was rippling.
Craning my neck to see, I spotted a little forky that I'd seen before. Not much to look at, but a deer no less.
He must have been pretty thirsty, because he walked around in circles for several minutes sucking up water.
Finally a truck came down the road between the corn field and creek. That was a little much for the  buck and he jumped into the brush on my side and started up the hill.
I'd picked my way into my spot figuring the least impact and least likely way for  deer to stumble on my trail. Go figure!
He was gonna cross that trail if he kept coming. (I wasn't planning on shooting him anyway)
The buck was about 12 feet away when he finally crossed my trail and bounded away. Some fun!!

Today I'm off to Springfield, Mo. to hunt the weekend with the Kinslow boys on their farm and when I get back Monday, I'll turn around and go off to north central Mo. for a few days with an old hunting bud. He's a character!
He uses his "lighted" sight pin on a recurve that I made him. (a match stick taped to the riser) Makes it work too!

See you all later.      

[tim-flood]

what is a chinkapin????

[Timo]

Tim, it's a species of Oak tree.(white oak sub)

Has a oval type leaf,with a saw tooth edge.Drops a small diameter acorn,very dark in color,and sometimes elongated.Deer and turks love them.

[Ralph Renfro]

It's been kinda slow around here for deer. However, I have about 200 turkeys roosting on my place. As of 8:30 yesterday morning there is one less. Something bout a rivercane arrow, tipped with a sharp Magnus, out of a 3 Okies Archery BBO.  [/IMG]
Did I mention it was so foggy I had to hit something.

[insttech1]

Copied this from the thread I posted, but I thought it would apply here, too.  

Thanks,
Marc

Hey All!!

OK, here it is:  First trad deer, and second shot at a deer with a bow.  First shot missed on Saturday evening...  Took a few with the rifle, but this one happened just right!

     

I finally got one, on public land, ten yards, on the ground...

I hit him forward of the front shoulder, went into the off shoulder, and the broadhead/insert came out of the carbon shaft.  He took it with him, and it tore the opposite shoulder up--bad!

He went 100 yards, with little blood, and the arrow dropped out 20 yards from where I hit 'im...

Here's the bow spec':
Roberston Montana Falcon, 62" 58@30", 31" Carbon Express Terminator Hunter Select 45/60, 125-grain Wensel Woodsman, shaft weights about 530-ish...

I was sitting in a tiny makeshift groundblind (I carry about a 5x2' piece of camo with me), I found a new spot that looked really good, spooked some does on the way in, and sat down for an hour...

I watched him run into a little bowl, and could hear him feeding for 40 minutes as he walked my way...

He came into the berry patch near me, stopped broadside at ten yards, glanced at me as I drew, and I watched the white fletch headin' right where it should--turned out it was forward of the leg bone, but all was well...

There was almost NO blood whatsoever...just tiny drops, but they looked like lung blood.  We surmised (I went to get my trad mentor-buddy) that I hit the off-shoulder, since we found the shaft with no head, and 6" of blood on it only.

The woodsman head was OK, but the adapter and the insert itself were bent as he tore off on his last hundred-yard dash...

I was thinkin' about Barb earlier last night, too...gotta go launch one for her now.

You all take care!!  And thanks for all the help over the last year and a half that lead to this!!

See Ya!!
Marc

[so tx pighunter]

O.k. I figured its about time I post something on my hunts. Especially since I am pretty shook up on this one. My son and I actually went out to fill feeders today and to pick up a ground blind that I had set out. Upon arrival at the ranch we right off saw a big boar under one of the feeders so I figured that the animals would be on the move and boy was I really going to find out how much they would be. We went to another field and saw another thirty hogs tearing up the local farmers round bales of hay. I quickly backed out in hopes of ambushing them on the game trail that they used so willingly. They never did show and we continued onto the feeders in order to fill them. I told my son to stay in the truck because there were snakes around. It seems  my little scare tactic was getting ready to turn into a reality very quickly. I got to the feeder with corn bag in tow and went to retrieve the chair so that I may use it for a step, well about a foot or so from the opening of my blind I was about to push through I was stopped in mid stride by a very large and loud rattler who was none to happy at me disturbing him while he was on his evening hunt for rats who were readily eating all of my corn. Well I had one foot in the air and the other in a forward motion so I had no choice but tovault up and twist in the air and as I did so Mr. No Shoulders decided to give me a toooo close for comfort miss strike at my leg. I landed and in the process turned my ankle in a very unnatural direction, I thought now you have done it you went and at the very least twisted your ankle out and you have a very P.O. rattler way too close to you. I tested my weight and found that I could move pretty well( I think it was because I was highly motivated ), I finally made it back to the truck only to find that my snake charmer was buried under about 30 pounds of bowhunting gear and I didnt want that sucker to get away and be a threat later. Si I grabbed my little Super Black Bear and two new used arras that I just recieved today from Ric Oshay (THANK YOU LOTS DANNY they shoot great and are allll bloodied up now) and proceeded to get alittle payback. I got back and at first couldn't see him in the grass but soon saw his head in the strike postion. My first shot was a hair low and my second shot a hair to the left and then he proceeds to try and scoot around a cactus cluster so I try to retrieve my first arra only to find that it is buried about ten inches into the core of a cactus rootI then grab the second one and was relieved when it pulled cleanly and I got another shot at that darn snake at about five yards. Well all I could see was his head and about three inches of his nesk so I pick a spot and let'er rip and ya know what third times a charm but that old snake still has plenty o life in him so I go back and pull the othe r arra free only to find that the B.H. is missin so I say what the H### I am gonna shoot him any way so I send arra number two into his ugly head. Well Im not ashamed to say that I am shook by now and the adrenaline hits me hard. So hard that I put in half a bag of corn into the feeder and say forget it. I use the empty bag and put the snake in it and head for home. I never did see them hogs again but rest assured they will be there. I did see some turkeys so another option has just opened up. Mind you I will not be going back into the woods without my snake boots (I just remembered why I bought them again) and I really will not be as laxed as I have been. The snake is now in my freezer with the other ones that I killed with my bow and hopefully they will be backing my sons Osage selfbow as a reminder that sometimes daddy needs to take his own advice.         .

Peace and walk the way of the hunter.

[Ralph Conrad]

I've been hunting with a different bow this year and decided to use a steel broadhead for a while.  I've let several small bucks walk over the past week and finally decided to shoot a doe last night.  Pass through double lung shot from 18 yards.  She ran all of 20 yds and piled up.  The toughest thing was the drag out to the truck.  Should eat real good.  Ralph

[Timo]

Nice going Ralph! Marty called a told me all about it last night.

Probly be some good "no stress meat"?