5 pines farm 2012 semi live

[Cyclic-Rivers]

Originally posted by LITTLEBIGMAN:
I am dreaming of the winters of old. hoping for some real snow so late season hunting can really begin. Its so much fun to wear white!

I was just talking about the lack of snow this time of year.  some of the big woods hunters by me relied on it to bag their big bucks every year.

FYI, I no longer can wear white   :rolleyes:

[LITTLEBIGMAN]

Today was just an excellent morning to be out hunting!!

High pressure pushed out the excessively warm and humid air last night. It was 62 degrees here yesterday! the temps were alot closer to what they should be today but still quite mild for December 4th! 34 degrees this am.

The 1/2 full moon lit my path as I made my way up and around to a stand that had not had not held a hunter since 10/27! This is the spot were I had those three big bucks close way back last September! I almost had a repeat this am!

I was just sitting there wondering where the bucks had all gone as I have not seen even a little one for days. The light had just started slanting thru the tree trunks when I picked up movement coming towards me.

A super 10 point buck was on the trail that runs parallel to one I am sitting. If he stays on the trail he will pass about 30 yards below me. It was great to see a deer not all spooked and running for their lives like all the deer in the past month or so. His rack was intact and he was definitely a good buck. As he got directly below me he stopped and tilted his head back to sample the air currents. The downward thermals had given away my position and he turned and reversed his course. Not in a spooked fashion but with out delay he headed away.

20 minutes later I pick up another deer headed my way on the same  trail. A 3 year old nine or ten point buck was approaching. He got to the exact same spot as the other buck, tilted his head back and left in the same deliberate fashion.

Looking down I spot a cluster of three trees below the trail they are using which might make a better stand site for next year when i have a buck tag in my pocket!

Before heading in I spotted one more small buck , a 2x2 and a lone doe but neither came closer than 80 yards. It was good to see deer on thier feet in the day light once more

[K2]

What a great morning.  Thanks for sharing your hunts with us.  Ken

[ti-guy]

[coaster500]

[LITTLEBIGMAN]

Last Saturday we reset a stand where the deer were slipping by me on their way down the ridge to turnips back of the house, Tonight I quietly slipped in and waited. This is one of those spots where you wish you had a few more sizable trees. Its mostly heavy low brush with some small Aspens and a couple of old Apple trees.  There is one tree big enough for a stand and that's where I was. But as I feared its just too close to the trail the deer come thru on. Just at dusk a doe with two fawns were coming down the ridge and turned onto the trail . They got right behind me and stopped dead. Stood there and stood there and then turned around and went back up the ridge. Sometimes you know in advance things won't work but you are too stubborn to admit it. Guess I wont waste time trying that spot again. The deer use the trail heavy but its unhuntable.

[Whip]

I have a similar spot that has been bugging me Jim.  I've been thinking about moving a ladder in there for next fall and putting up some camo netting fabric for a background.  I wonder if they have all summer to get used to it if it might be accepted.  Let them get used to seeing a big blob in the tree??

[LITTLEBIGMAN]

its worth a shot , sometimes you'd be surprised what you can get away with!

[Macca]

Littlebigman I am fairly new to tradgang, I came across your thread and spent quite some time reading and looking at your pics . I must say one of the best live hunts I have ever read.

Thank you for posting , you are blessed to have a very nice place to hunt . Again thanks for sharing , cheers Macca.

[LITTLEBIGMAN]

thank you Macca, good hunting to you!

[Cyclic-Rivers]

Jim,  Keep at it.  It will get better as it cools off.  

[Cookus]

Give'em heck Jim! Tomorrow's a new day! I admire your tenacity brother! Go get 'her!

[LITTLEBIGMAN]

Was unable to hunt yesterday as I had to attend meetings away from the farm. Forecast looks good for a sit tonight down by the clover on my north end. Possible chance for snow this weekend! I sure hope so. But its going to have to get a lot colder as its 41 F outside right now

[LITTLEBIGMAN]

While the weather man called for NW winds this afternoon they were completely the opposite when I left the yurt. So instead of the clover field on the north end of the farm i headed up top to sit on the rape field.

By the time the deer were on their feet it was out of the WNW. I should have climbed down. Too stubborn and I paid the price. I looked down hill and saw three coming. 80 yards downhill they stopped, put their noses up and reversed course!

Its becoming a crap shoot now where to sit. Without any tracking snow its difficult to really pin down which plots are getting hit the hardest. I'll need to be more careful with the wind if I expect to get a chance of shot.

[LITTLEBIGMAN]

Not much to show for today's efforts. Just a glimpse of  deer this am and 2 got around me on their way to the turnips tonight . Still hoping for snow but not holding my breath. On a happy note this is the very last weekend for the gun hunters. After Sunday no more Orange.!

[pdk25]

It will nice to take some of the pressure off of your deer.  Gonna get hard to target the food sources here with the acorns going away and the drought doing a number on food plots.  Good luck the rest of the season.

[LITTLEBIGMAN]

Well all though the forecast called for snow it slipped by to the north of me. Woke to clear, cold and quiet skies. Hiked up over the ridge and down the far side to the stand just on the edge of the bedding cover below the food plots. Hoped to catch a deer or two coming down to sleep. But not a deer to be seen other than one little one I bumped in the dark walking in.

This after noon I picked the right stand  but unfortunately the deer were there when I walked up to it. Two big does got up no less than 20 yards behind it and up the ridge they ran . Since they went up the trail I had hoped deer would be coming down, A quick decision had to be made. Stay or move to nearest stand? I elected to move the short 100 yards to the Squirrel tail. Basically the same game plan just a little further north. But the only deer I saw was on the opposing side hill about 150 yards away. Here is my view from on stand tonight
   
once again the forecast calls for snow but it sounds like north of me will get the brunt of it. I have to leave for a couple days anyway. Hope we get at least a couple of inches so I can start to tell where the heck the deer are spending their day light hours.

[wooddamon1]

Good luck next hunt, thanks for keeping this going, the effort is appreciated.

[rraming]

Great thread, congrats on the deer! Don't know if you'll get the snow tonight but I should.

[coaster500]

I feel a break soon Jim....  You've earned it!!