The Adventure of Hope and Faith 2009/2010

[Gehrke145]

Good luck buddy!

[tradtusker]

Ah Awesome stuff Jim
beautiful place!    

[Travisc406]

put some good blood on er there littlebigman!!! I am anxiously waiting!!!

[LITTLEBIGMAN]

Arrived back in Sather Valley but to wind and rain. In fact, its been raining steady since I left Sunday
No hunting tonight. But the forecast is for clear and cold by tomorrow am so i'll be out and about for sure. I'll up date you all after tomorrow morning's hunt

[KentuckyTJ]

[LITTLEBIGMAN]

the weather cleared around 3 am. Finally no rain! temps in the low 40's and very bright moon light. didnt need a flash light this am. I decided to hunt a travel corridor between the corn field and bedding area on the north end of the farm. Sorry no pictures today forgot the camera in the camper. The bluffs here are ringed by old pastures and these pastures all have wild apple trees in them. This stand another ladder is just on the inside edge of the woods at the bottom of a steep wooded bluff. i have some rented ground below the pasture and it has corn in it this year. . There is also the stream bordered by my only neighbors driveway and then the other side of the valley mirrors my side sans the corn.

Just after the silver light of the moon began to fade and dawn was approaching I saw some movement below me in the apple trees. My binoculars verified a deers body but I couldn't see the head. Definitely not a fawn. AS it moved from tree to tree, I finally made it out, an adult doe.

Hoping she would gradually work her way up to me, i stood up and got into shooting position. But she was content to stay where she was gorging herself. My neighbor's truck door slammed and the motor started. As he went down his drive, I was hopeful if just might push her up the hill. She moved but only into more of the apples and gradually i lost sight of her.

That was the only deer sighted this am. hopefully the nice weather will have them out on the hidden food plots this after noon

[LITTLEBIGMAN]

Got skunked tonight boys and girls!Sat in one of my favorite spots as well. Up on top of my southern bluff is an old 12 acre hay field. It hasn't been hayed in several years and bit by bit I am converting parts of it to food plots with the idea of eventually having a 4 or 5 acre clover field up there. Here is a picture from last July just after the sun flowers bloomed.     the foreground has sunflowers, sorgum  and peas, the back ground has bird's foot trefoil, chickory  and some other stuff I've forgotten the name of. Any way this is just above an area of heavy cover that a big buck has been bedding in all summer. I have his sheds from last season, here is the left side     i also have him on camera from August with another very nice buck, but they were a no show tonight. i think I need to go back to hunting near the apple trees and will head to Apple Alley in the am

[LITTLEBIGMAN]

Boy this is starting to sound like a broken record but Skunked again! Had just settled in up in apple alley this am  and it started to rain. Sat for an hour or so, but no deer were sighted. Lots of apples still on the trees and deer sign is everywhere. My pictures in the rain this am are not worth posting , everything is out of focus. I'll hopefully hunt there tonight taking them again

[tradtusker]

Good luck Buddy, keep at em

[wingnut]

hey that's hunting.  Glad your out with one of our girls and doing some dancing.

Mike

[LITTLEBIGMAN]

ok so tonight was one of those nights you live for, even though no arrows were in the air.  The wind was swirly all afternoon and I was unsure as where to go. By the time I could go, it was all ready close 4 o'clock and it was too late to head up into apple alley. So instead I went and sat a stand recently moved by my nephew and I. More to observe then anything, I wanted to see how this stand might work.   This stand sits back from the edge of the tree line above a little hidden 1 acre corn field I have. There are lots of smaller basswoods here and the bucks seem to love to rub them. We hung a stand in the only tree available on a heavy crossing. The deer will bed higher up and come down the steep slope and the mill around in this edge before venturing out onto the old pasture and then down the rest of the way to the corn. About 5:15 a doe and a fawn come barreling down the hill and stop about 25 yards away. Because they are actually higher up than I am, even though i am 20 feet up a tree, I am trying not to move a muscle. Finally they start to move forward but there is a fallen tree and they break around the back side of it passing by me at 20 yards. The shot distance is fine, but there is too much brush and I watch them move off. Then another and another and finally another doe all do the exact same thing. Hmmm I think this stand needs to be moved 20 yards down the hill I think. About 6:15 I start to hear turkeys fly up to their roosts up the hill to my left. Then more noise up the  hill but this time on the trail the does came down. A nice 2.5 year old eight point is coming down the trail. Instead of doing what the does all did, he breaks around the front of the tree and stops a mere 6 yards from my tree. You're so dead I think, but sorry guys as much as I want to bloody  Faith ,I just couldn't kill him. He has a lot of potential and there are several great bucks on the farm Here is a photo of the corn field. I am up on the right hand slope just 50 yards inside the trees
 
Tomorrow is another day!

[LITTLEBIGMAN]

another clear and cold morning.Decided to hunt a beet plot on the north end of the farm. Wind out of the north and the ladder/hang one, this stand can allow two hunters   All though this is quite close to my neighbor's house the deer dont seem to even look up when his truck fires up and heads down the drive. Had a nice yearling doe feed in the plot but did not give me a shot , here is the plot and a close up of the beets  
alot of the beets tops are chewed down to the beet top , they are really hitting this spot, I'll need to hunt it more.

i wont be able to post or hunt for a few days. have to head north to a family affair/ wedding and wont be back at the farm until next Tuesday or Weds.

[Rick Wiltshire]

I get Hope in November!!!!  Hope to have plenty to share.  

[Travisc406]

no stories all weekend???

[LITTLEBIGMAN]

nope as I said last Friday i had to leave town. just got back and will hunt in the am. Faith and I have the next ten days to hunt hard!

[LITTLEBIGMAN]

woke to today to cold and wet very raw weather. We have had snow here last week and its the first time in 20 years we had measurable amounts in the month of October. Decided to hunt a bedding areas across the road and above my corn field. Here is the deer trail coming out of it across from my mail box. spooked several deer on the drive way and got up into the stand with only loosing my footing once. The hills is slick as snot today. Was sure today would be a good day but with the rain last night every time the wind blew a little bit a zillion water droplets fell out of the trees on to the forest floor. Lots of rain noise and the ground is so saturated an elephant could pass behind me and i wouldn't hear him. Sat till I knew the deer were in their beds and headed in for coffee. Here is the stand I sat this am.   i think its time for insulated boots!  Provided the weather cooperates I'll be out over a food source later in the day.

[LITTLEBIGMAN]

the day stayed gray and cold but at least no rain. Wind was out of the SSE and I decided to head up and sit above the bedding area on the edge of the sunflowers last hunted last week. Did not see a deer until about 15 minutes before last light. A nice 8 or a 10 point buck came loping towards me. I thought at first a second and larger buck may have pushed him my way. But on second thought I believe he must have winded me as he came from the west side of ridge top so my wind would have been blowing right at him. I have a mowed trail in the weed field behind the sunflowers and he ran towards that then cut the corner of the sunflowers
and ran past me about 25 yards away. Not running hard but running never the less. i did not get a good look at him and unsure how big he really was, but he looked like a very nice buck. That was it for tonight. The forecast calls for rain all day tomorrow, I hope its wrong.

[LITTLEBIGMAN]

got rained out this am, boy that bed felt good!

[LITTLEBIGMAN]

Faith and i decided to hunt the hill side where we had so much fun last Thursday. The rain began letting up early this afternoon and we were walking up the hill side after a short practice session. I feel like I am really shooting the gal well. We got to the stand around 4 pm and waited for the deer to start coming down the hill. I had repositioned the stand last Friday and moved it about 40 yards down hill just to the inside edge of the staging area. The stand is in a nice oak with several other oaks around it. 15 yards away are the first apple trees and some smaller birch trees. I listened to apples falling all afternoon thinking that sound is music to a deer hunters ears. I was on edge the entire time fully expecting to see deer at any moment. A couple of times i thought I heard the unmistakable sound of something walking. The forest floor is very wet after a weeks worth of wet weather but still I just had that feeling. Well the day ended and I slowly came down and as soon as i stepped clear of the first apple tree there were white flags a flying!  I knew it! the numerous trails on the hillside brought the deer around me today and it just wasn't our day. I think tomorrow we will sit a blind with a decoy and maybe do some light calling.   until then.......

[Travisc406]

what ever happened to hope?