5 pines farm 2012 semi live

[LITTLEBIGMAN]

I  had made plans with the Mrs. to do a snow shoe we call " The one woman push" at 8 am. So at 6 am I left the yurt and slowly but surely made my way up and around to the email stand. I arrived at the foot of the hickory tree at precisely 7 am. I was surprised it had taken me a full hour to get there and was glad I had left early. At 8 am the plan was for Jayne to strap on her snow shows and do a hike up thru Apple alley and around the base of the two bluffs just above the turnip patch. This would push what ever deer that had bedded in one these three areas up the bluff face and hopefully on to one of the several trails that intersect at this spot.
 

[4dogs]

   

[LITTLEBIGMAN]

at 8;15 I spotted a deer then four more moving single file thru the trees to my south. They were about 200 yards away and were actually going down the bluff towards the food plot and directly to where Jayne would be hiking. I began to prepare for a shot . I took off the hand warmer strapped around my waist and hung it in a limb. Moved the bow hanger so the bow was in a position to remove it with minimal movement. I began to scan the trees and bluff face on my left and right for movement.

There they are ! Three deer were running back up the bluff about 80 yards south of me. They reached the main trail that runs the contour slightly below the ridge top and were headed my way. I could see two does and what looked like a buck trailing  behind. Unfortunately the wind wasn't perfect for direction they were coming from and when the lead and doe and what appeared to be her fawn got to 40 yards they stopped dead in their tracks. The buck stopped about 10 yards behind them. He was a dandy! Much bigger than the one I killed and will be just a super buck next season. A heavy , tall and fairly wide 8 point. I have not seen this buck before. I had the bow in my hands and all three deer just stood there. It seemed like an eternity and my hands were getting cold. The thin gloves I wear to shoot can only keep you warm for a short periods out side of your pockets!  Finally the does decided to move but instead of going by me they turned slightly downhill and headed to some cedars below me. The buck just stood there. I was able to get the bow back on the hanger and my hands back in my pockets. So i just enjoyed the time I got to watch him. Quite a while went by and he didn't move a muscle. It is amazing how they can do that! Then out of the corner of my eye i see movement. A young doe has slipped in and is preparing to bed off to my left at about 30 yards. She lays down and the buck gives her a look but still doesn't make a move . I am getting cold I have been on stand for almost three hours and it is only 15 above. Finally the buck decides to go and leaves in the direction of the Ivy stand at a trot. Wow he looked good going away. I must have moved my head as the doe was now on her feet staring at me. She stiff leg walked away.

[LITTLEBIGMAN]

I didn't want to get down but my body was telling me I need to get warm. So down the tree I went and headed in for coffee.

Here is the uniform of the day
 

[Hopewell Tom]

"The one woman push" - Good move!
The wind - again.
Way to mix on the tactics, great woman you have there to join in. 3 hours at 15 degrees, definitely time for some warmth.
50 pages and counting, GREAT thread.

[ron w]

Will this ever end....LOL, I hope not. This has been one of, if not the best hunting post ever.          

[LITTLEBIGMAN]

I headed to the upper food plots with the intentions of sitting in either the Bwana stand or the Justin stand where I saw the mother lode of deer last week.

But As I got to the top of the logging road I could see 5 or 6 deer were all ready out feeding in the far east end of the plot. Shoot it was only 2 pm!

A quick change of plans was required. So I decided to sneak to the stand on the west side where I was when it was so foggy recently. I would be below those deer's line of sight and way downwind. As I climbed up into this stand I could see over the crest to the south and there were 3 deer in the south end of the this field too. I quietly hauled up the bow and placed it on the hanger. Adjusted my balaclava and hat and reached up to adjust the strap on my harness. The deer suddenly ran out of the plot. What? No way they saw me. About 5 minutes later I saw 2 racks coming my way. Aha! that is what those does were running from. There was a 2.5 year old 10 point and a 1.5 year old 6 point. They fed for about 20 minutes before cresting the hill and wandered out of sight.

It was quite awhile till I spotted the next deer. But about 30 minutes before quitting time I saw 2 does making their way up the ridge below me. I snatched the bow off the hanger and got ready. At about 40 yards they veered on to the next trail and popped into the hay field below the food plot too far for me to shoot. Then I saw quick movement and 2 more are trotting up my way. These are on the trail that goes by me at 15 yards and I got ready to shoot. As the deer slowed down I realized both deer were spring fawns. Buck fawns at that. So they got a pass. A few minutes later another doe appeared. But she took the 40 yard trail and again was too far. Over the rise. 2 more deer appear, both spikes. I have now seen 17 deer this afternoon! For a moment I thought that the spikes might chase that last doe back my way. They both had their ears back and were walking towards her in a menacing way. But she dodged them and they went back to eating and eventually when the last deer crested the hill towards the other plots I quietly departed for home and supper.

[coaster500]

Couple of good lookin bucks in that group Jim....              for your Mrs and a One woman push!!!!


 

[buckeye_hunter]

This is still the best thread running! I hope Terry archives it somehow.

[Easykeeper]

Way to stick with it.  Good luck on the last few days...  

I'm impressed with the way you are getting daytime activity in your turnips.  I've got to give them a try!

[coaster500]

Look at the doe in the back round....  she's already checking him out  

   

 

[LITTLEBIGMAN]

Kip you are a funny man!

So I awoke with Wimp Fever today. I wimped out, drank coffee and out my kitchen window watched two bucks in the turnips at 9 am! This guy may have been the smaller of the two.
 

[LITTLEBIGMAN]

The idea this afternoon was to slip into the stand I was in two days ago and late in the day try another version of the one woman push.
   
with my back to the tree , this is my view over my left shoulder looking down past the turnips. the opposing ridge goes up to the upper food plots. Jayne was going to snow show along that upper field edge just at sunset. Hopefully this would push any deer in the turnips back up into Apple Alley and i would still have 30 minutes of legal shooting time left.

[LITTLEBIGMAN]

What you can't see is the trail that goes by me at just 10 yards nor the two ridges affectionately known as Rattlesnake and Inspiration.

It got really still and very quiet today and the deer seemed to be moving very late. I had just seen my first  of two deer  come off Rattlesnake and pass  above me in apple alley on the mowed 50 yards above ( and to the right in the picture). They had just moved into that thin strip of brush when I spotted deer running out of the turnips. I then could see Jayne moving along the edge of the field way in the distance. The deer ran up the ridge away from me. Well at least we know now that won't work. I kept hoping the 2 deer I saw would head back my way. I watched and watched but nothing was coming. I glanced over my right should and it is just amazing the way deer stand out in the snow when the ridge behind them is steep. 150 yards or more away standing on the side of the  bluff were a string of four or five deer. Motionless. They must have been coming down and saw Jayne in the distance. I then saw movement in between them and me. Down about 80 yards a deer was walking on the mowed trail on that side of the dry gully that separates apple alley from the opposing hillside. Focused on that deer time was slipping by when suddenly I hear the unmistakable sound of tiny hooves in the snow. @&&* !!! You got  to be kidding me! I look over  my left should and on the trail is a doe with 3 fawns. I turn ever so slowly and reach for the bow. It seems like it is stuck. I struggle to get it free and the doe is practically under me. Just as the bow comes loose, she jumps sideways and snorts! She doesn't bolt & I try with all my might to will her to take a step one way of the other so I have a shot. She bolts and runs about 25 yards , stops turns around and snorts! The fawns turn and walk her way and the four of them slowly disappear into the night. Once again I got caught not being ready and paid the price.

BTW Happy Christmas everyone!

[Guru]

Late season is tough!!

 Luv the dedication Jim...Merry Christmas!!

[Shinken]

Merry Christmas LBM!

Thanks for continuing to share the hunt!

Shoot straight, Shinken

   

[Cyclic-Rivers]

Merry Christmas Jim.  Thanks for sharing your incredible hunts!

[Joeabowhunter]

Merry Christmas and thanks for posting your hunts.  I really enjoy the read.

[4runr]

Merry Christmas Jim

[ti-guy]

Merry christmas