NC hunters?

[ber643]

LOL - sounds about like a viable plan, ncrm. Sounds like Bertie County and Windsor was one area that really got it bad water-wise according to the TV and their videos. Of course water doesn't bother deer a whole lot (not near as much as most people), deer go through it like one of those amphibious cars, that's why they love swamps. Good luck Sunday.

[nc recurveman]

We got it BAD around here Bernie farmer up the road said 20" here locally. I had to go check on the school late thrusday night (I'm the fix-it boy) and ended up tow cars outta the water for 3 hours. People just don't think, I was in a dodge ram with a 4" lift and told a guy in a honda civic. "You cant get across its pushing it in this truck". the deputy how was there and I go to turn around the next car and he goes anyway! Of course he stalled and the water pushed him in the ditch. Deputy wrote him a ticket when he ask for a tow out I had misplaced the chain somehow.........      

[ber643]

LOL - I hate to say it but serves him right. They had one down this way that folks were doing their best to wave back - kept right on coming - in his PT Cruiser - got washed off the road, turned over and disappeared. It was on TV. don't know if there has been any resolve or even how many were in car. Like you said, folks just don't think - or believe the power in moving water.

All our members, no matter how bad you want to hunt this weekend - Please be careful (and sensible) out there.

[J-dog]

Got work and family business over with this morning just ran in to the house to get my stuff together and found my wife washed me camo in with the rest of the wash. So I kinda like washing my camo in just baking soda and water so doing that now. Will get to the club this evening and HOPEFULLY get a chance to bloody an arrow. If not it will be a good sit w/Mac the best of company - after the week of rain and the dealing with contractors and pumping water out of the town and all that jazz - to get in the blind and wait for a deer will be great.

It is good that bow is legal during muzzleloader this yr!!! i still just went and reread the regs to be sure LOL - do not want a warden educating me on the road.

Hope all who head out today be safe and successful however you define successful!

J

[ber643]

You'll be safe on that count, buddy - on private land and even in the Game Lands. Go get 'em!

[broketooth]

WOW WOW WOW what an exciting day i saw so much deer movement it wasn't funny. i have 2 blown shot opportunities under my belt. i went in the woods kinda late about 7:30a.m. i was told to expect rain, so i wasnt expecting to be in the woods to long. i had deer moving all around me. i put on the stalk and started to move in on a small group of does, i guess they thought they saw movement . at the same time i had crouched behind some tall scrub oaks and stayed put and watched, i guess i didnt spook them cuz they stuck around for about 20 minutes, milling about here and there. 2 of the does i guess were headed up a trail to my left where i had come in at, i saw the 2 through a small clear spot about the size of a garbage can but the shot would have been 30 yrds or better. i had to let them walk. i have no clue where the other four went. about an hr later i put the stalk on a lone doe, and she blew me out big time huffn and puffn every step of the way as she bounded outa there. i desided to circl wide and to the left to get back where i origanally. but i came up with nothing. i decided to get home and get my climbing tree stand. and get back to where i firs was surounded by does. by the time i got back there were to big does feeding and milling about right where i was gonna get up in a tree. im so surprised i didnt spook them cuz my treestand was still on my back. i crouched down and dreww an arrow from my kanati quiver and nocked it on johns personal anneewakee addiction recurve i was all set to draw when the one doe raised her head suddenly. satisfied that it was nothing she went back to feeding . by this time my hear is pounding outa my chest so hard i was suprised they didnt hear it cuz it sure was loud to me. i had to have been no more than 12 -15 yrds. i came to full draw now or never, isuw her sillouett perfectly through that fan like swamp weed stuff we have growing all over the southeast. well i let her fly the arrow just went under her belly and hit a berm right behind her, the kind a logging skidder leaves behind. she lit outa there like nobodies business and the other doe ran the same direction but stopped at about 25 yrd looked at me blew reel hard and hauld butt. WOW WOW WOW WOW WHAT A DAY! it took me almost 2 hrs to calm down from that adreniline rush wow! y'all have a great week ruddy

[nc recurveman]

sounds like alot of fun tooth, I chalked up the day to another washout

[ber643]

LOL - Good on ya, Rudy. The thrill of the hunt is a lot of times far better than a kill - especially when you get a clean miss (as opposed to a wound that gets away). Best part is that you usually learn more and more each time a close contact like that occurs, and each time you think it over (relive it). In the meantime you are having a ball.

The Forrestry folks tell us down here we have more roads closed than anywhere and it may be awile. They are bringing a specialist down to survey and estimate what's needed apparently. In the meantime folks can either walk in or ride a bike - but no vehicles of any kind. A couple guys went around the barricade (some always do/will) and the ranger sent them out with only a warning - this time. Jimmy and Chris walked in and relayed all the info to me. It's a blessing to have friends!

[Don Batten]

I shot a nice buck yesterday. Bucks were on the move. Saw 6 more on the way back to camp. I just put up some pics on another thread. looks like next couple of weeks are going to be prime for seeing bucks. good luck. Don

[ber643]

Aw-right, I gotta go look fer it!

[ber643]

A great one in my book - y'all go look. "Nice buck for Eastern NC" thread (or something close to that).

[mscampbell75]

Took a doe this afternoon.  Pic in my 1st meat thread.

Don, thats an awsome buck.  Congrats to ya.

[ber643]

Good on ya, msc - every deer is a trophy deer with a trad bow!

[olddogrib]

I asked this question originally on Don B.'s nice buck post, but would like to get feedback from here also:

It's a well-known fact and corroborated by the NC wildlife folks, but I never have quite understood if rutting activity is triggered by photoperiodism, why does it begin a month or more earlier in the eastern part of NC compared to the western half the state? If the amount of daylight hitting deer retinas due to the shortening length of days is what is relevant, sunset time is changing uniformly across the state even though it will begin a few minutes earlier in the east and move westward. Any armchair biologists want to clue me in? Does this phenomenon happen in VA. or S.C.? If so, I haven't heard about it?

[ber643]

Not ignoring you - it just beats me too - LOL

[ber643]

I walked in with Jimmy and Chris last evening (with climbers on our backs). Actually hunting different areas but also walked out together. None of us saw deer - or anything else (including mosquitos, as Jimmy said - LOL). We did see 11 turkeys on the way in though. It actually was cool enough to make our hands get a little too cool towards the end of the sit - and still no deer. A neighbor said he saw 3 different doe today but all were running (from something - probably doggers "exercising" their dogs early, or not getting them back up after putting them out for exercise at night). He did see a couple dogs come out from the same area later.

Chris got his package of shafts , adaptors, etc. yesterday where I helped him order things he needs to get his trad gear ready to hunt. Also a  few assesories we both needed. They called the order in to 3 Rivers on Thursday and it got here Monday - they are always quick, even in season - ya gotta love it. When his BHs from ABowyer get here tomorrow or the next day I will show him how to fletch his arrows (for hunt and practice and save him the cost of feathers and fletching the shafts). He's already really shooting good (using my arrows). I'm proud on him - LOL. Wouldn't surprise me at all to see him kill a deer with trad gear this year.

[broketooth]

ive been seein does everyday since sunday.yesterday was the closest encounter ive had yet. i had a doe less than 10 ft in front of me and couldnt do nothin about it, she was lookin right at me. another doe blew me out that was behind me, i never saw her. i was sittin in a natural ground blind. i wont make that mistake again. ifn i had been in the treestand id probobly have meat in the freezer right now.im very frustrated, ruddy

[ber643]

Hunting from the ground is fun but takes a lot of time and experiences for most folks to get it down right for actual shot opportunities with bows (of course some folks seem to be "naturals" at it). If you can get more observation (and maybe a kill or two) to understand their behavior better, under your belt, from your tree stand first it will help the learning process and boost your confidence, Rudy. In my opinion. I've only got one from the ground with trad gear so far and I do about half and half (tree stand is getting heavier every year - LOL)- I think the story is still in the archives. As long as you are seeing deer you are doing good though but, if you spook a given population too often, - soon you won't see them during hunting hours anymore - most usually. They won't put up with the pressure without "going nocturnal". Not trying to be a know-it-all, just my experiences/opinions.

[J-dog]

Ber _I have a feeder out in one spot that I hunt. It is a ground hunting only area as no trees in the right spot big enough to get into. These deer for the past month the trail camera has been out have only been nocturnal. I have only filed the feeder twice and hunted there once.

It is really baffling me that these deer act like they are pressured when it is a still set only area and there is no chance of deer hounds pushing them or people bothering them.The president of the club said these deer seem to always be a nocturnal breed!

I am no biologist but was hoping these deer may be more daylight oriented than what I find on game lands. Was my whole intentions and hopes when getting in this club.

Maybe they will change as I have quite a few deer in there on the bait.

J

Yeah have hunted a couple times so far and still have not seen a deer in the woods. I did see one through binos in a cutover on my walk out. It was so dark I could only make out the ears in my binos!

[Tom Anderson]

Most all of the deer that I've ever hunted in eastern N.C. have tended towards being nocturnal.
When I'm hunting with my rifle, there's actually not any need of me even getting in my stand until about 45 minutes before dark.
The only deer that I've seen that aren't nocturnal are "city" deer that are NEVER hunted.