Any deer down in MO?

[Ethan Grotheer]

Hey all!
Just curious as to how my fellow MO hunters did this morning for our openers?
I missed a doe. No reason to miss. I just got worked up and didn't practice good shooting form, but still great to be in the woods!
Any stories?

[rappstar]

Haven't been out yet.  Planning on hunting Thursday afternoon/evening.

[dnovo]

Passed up shots at 2 different button bucks today and also a 5 pointer.  Couldn't get a shot at the one doe I saw. Pretty good day to be in the woods. Did kill a squirrel tonite

[John3]

I hunted this morning with no deer to be found. A buddy took me to his spot and put me right ON TOP of deer in one of his ladder stands.  Right a 7pm I see a doe heading up the hill towards me.  Next I have a yearling spooked by something running up and right under my stand and stops a few yards behind me.  I wait on the doe which stops under some branches then takes that magic last step... A beautiful dark colored doe. She went from a deep brown then to an almost black stripe high down the center of her back.
Perfect slight quartering at about 5 big steps from the base of my ladder.  I have the exact hair picked to split with my Zwickey. I am perfectly focused and go into automatic mode.  As I draw I can hear my new ASAT Leafy suit making a "crinkle" sound... I was 1/2" from solid anchor when the doe turned inside out and jumped off three big bounds.  I let the bow down and stood rock still cussing myself for bringing this new camo. 20 seconds later here comes a nice spike buck and he stops 18 steps in perfect position. I make it to about 3/4 draw and he hears my ASAT and turned inside out getting away from that noise.  

Break in your new camo!!  I do have a old ASAT suit that is broken in and quiet.. Of course I grabbed the new one tonight thinking, hell it shouldn't spook a deer...  Tomorrow night I will have my old ASAT bottoms on and a nice quiet cotton ASAT shirt.. LOL

Good Luck to all in MO.. These kind of stories can't be made up... Something like this seems to happen to me at least once a season.  Fun times in the deer woods. It just makes it sweeter when you do it right the next time... LOL

John III

[huey]

An 8 point came through at 7:35 am, head down on a mission. Hunted all day didn't see another deer until 5:30 pm 2 forked horns.

[longrange]

None yet. We got some seroiusly heavy rain yesterday evening that sorta blew my hunting to shreds. I will try again thursday but my wife says i can only go if i take her too. I know it's goin to be a blast. Hope everyone everywhere has an enjoyable and safe hunting trip. Congrats to everyone that's got one already and maybe i will get my first before too long!

[swp]

Saw a 3x1 and had another buck behind me both of them came in with the wind and got a whiff of me before they were in the clear to shoot at.  :(

[John3]

My uncle did kill a nice doe opening morning. She was so fat she waddled and was hard to skin. LOL
Good luck to all and keep us posted.

I work today but will get to the bow woods this evening. How I love bowseason!!

John III

[Ethan Grotheer]

Good stuff guys!
I saw nothing but a few turkeys this morning.
Put a stalk on them later on in the tall grass, but I had two other people with me as well. So we got busted just outside of bowrange. But all in all a great time.

Keep at it guys,
Ethan

[bowhunterfrompast]

   

[kennym]

Stay with em guys,I'll be back in a week or so to help ya!

Good luck all!!  

[Curtis Haden]

Nothing here yet.  Had to work late yesterday.  Got off in time to do some serious sitting tonight.

Had two different deer come up behind me and start blowing when they got my wind.  A little later, a bunch of turkeys were yelping and clucking around, just behind me and off to my right.  Then, about 6 PM, a deer came in from that same direction, so close I could smell him.  That one left without any racket.  I suspect buck from his musky odor and behavior.

This is my first year hunting from an artificial blind.  I have mixed feelings about tonight's hunt.  I like the feeling of concealment, but since I don't want the critters to be able to see through, I never open more than the front and one side window.  Sooo...I can't see what comes up behind or on one side.

Give and take I suppose.  I probably would not have gotten shots on any of those beasts tonight, had I NOT been in the blind, given the wind direction and my location.

[John3]

I ran home from work tonight and made it to the woods just before 6pm... Snuck in good and quiet and sat like a stone until dark 7:30.. No deer for me... LOL

I am going to hunt my DB blind for the first time in years tomorrow afternoon.  We will see.

Good luck to my "Show Me" brothers of the bow...

John III

[TommyBoy]

I'm going out this weekend.  Taking a half-day on Friday to get an extra evening hunt in.  I need meat!!  First fat doe I see is going in the freezer.

[kctreeman]

Nothing yet for me just a bunch of chiggers.Partner seen bunch of does inthe acorns.Tried that ground hunting opening morning. Had a skunk sniffing my boots until a opossum ran him off. Thought I would end up with a year long cover scent. Do like the ease of getting setup on the ground. Dindn't like the limited viewing.

[SlowBowinMO]

Good to see you here John!    

Ground hunting is a lot easier on public land, but you're right you can't see near as far.  I may get out Saturday, really early for me I want to get after it this year.

[John3]

I tried again this evening and the deer won the day...  Setup on a blowdown with trails 12 steps away. Waited for a NE wind to sit on this blowdown and thats what we had until about 6pm. Wind started to swirl to E then NW then back to NE. I almost moved but thought with the fickle wind to just wait it out I was in there good and quiet,,so stay put.
At 6:40 just like I hoped a Doe with a yearling trailing behind starts down the bluff towards me. She gets 30 yards away and turns onto the trail to walk past me at 12 steps. I am appx 12' high in the blowdown. Here she comes, my bow is up and I am starting to pick a spot on her side. Of course the wind is cooling the back of my neck at this moment. She pauses (under a redbud tree covering her vitals) while I am thinking come on one more step; then her nose goes up... She freezes and does not move even to blink for ten minutes. She actually started to look for me! I was stone still and in full ASAT.  She kept smelling around without moving. Enough was enough and she jumped away a few bounds stopping at 40 yards and stood still again.
She never did blow.  Her and the fawn pranced away with her whitetail up and waving at me...

What a great evening for me.  Yeah I am after them again on different property in the morning. If this was easy none of us would be having so much fun.

John III

[longrange]

Went yesterday evening and sat on a pond bank overlooking an acre and a half clover patch. About an hour before dark two small 4 pointers and a spike came out into the patch and were feeding. The smaller 4 point was getting rowdy and decided that he was goin to try and whup the bigger 4 pointer but after about 5 seconds the bigger one had the smaller one on the ground. Then the smaller 4 pointer turned to the spike and went round after round that lasted well over 30 minutes before the spike finally put the 4 pointer on the ground. This all took place around 60yds from where i was sitting and of all things they were all down wind. The little 4 point ended up in the pond belly deep in the water playing around, but it was getting pretty dadgum dark and never had a good shot oportuninty. I'm still trying for my first trad kill but i this evening i'm going to put my wife on the pond bank so she can get her first deer ever. Hope everyone here has a chance like i did last night but with better sucess.

[John Krause]

I'll be out there Sat morning. First chance to get out. Put up a few new ladder stands and tweaked a couple more. Brush hogged a few trails. After a couple years of hunting the place I'm hoping I have it figured out a little.

Got some good ones on the game cam the last couple years just gotta get 'em standing in front of me.  

 

 

[Ethan Grotheer]

That sounds pretty awesome longrange!
I went out last night. No deer spotted, but brother saw a 125" eight point. Gonna try that spot again next week. Might head out somewhere tommorrow morning.