5 pines farm 2013

[awbowman]

Gorgeous photo LBM

[steadman]

Good luck buddy!  Keep after it!!

[Hopewell Tom]

Great shot of the Home Place. 4 Pines and a fish farm...?

All good things come to an end, but it ain't over till it's over. Hang tough.

[LITTLEBIGMAN]

outing #85 Lower AA

 

This photo gives you a little better perspective as to why this spot is so desirable to sit provided there is a steady North ( downhill ) wind.

So I crept into the stand (red arrow) making very little noise as we had another inch of new snow last night. About 3:30pm I spotted movement coming down from the upper food plot that sits just above the V( tractor trails)at the top of Apple Alley. It looked like two does. They dilly dallied around while a 3rd deer dropped off the ridge to the left.

As luck would have it, the 2 does stayed well inside the upper edge of the timber rather than coming down the mowed trail. The 3rd deer worked its way right in front of me, But it was a small fawn. As the fawn went past, it noticed my back pack sitting on the ground against the tree's trunk  that I am perched in. Pretty observant to say the least. She stomped at it for about 5 minutes then resumed her path towards the food plot below. I was watching anther deer up hill when I heard a deer running behind me. The fawn returned  at a trot and again stopped right in front of me. She stood there for while then began to working to my left. I looked back up hill but that deer had disappeared. The fawn milled around for awhile and eventually headed down the hill. I caught a glimpse of the deer I lost. Another doe but for some reason it was headed back up the ridge. I heard a noise behind and yup the fawn was back for the third time!  This time it stood below me for about 10 minutes before finally running off for good.They are such amazing critters to watch and hunt.

 I then spotted 2 more deer coming down the ridge but they turned to the west and never exited the timber on my side of the ridge.

It was a fun fun night!

[ron w]

I know your season is winding down but I want to thank you for doing this blog. This is the second year that I have followed your season and I enjoy it so much. Many thanks....          ron w

[LITTLEBIGMAN]

Thanks Ron!

too cold to hunt -15 this am with minus 30 wind chills!! when it got to 5 above I decided to at least go for a hike. Pulled the last camera and happy to report one great 8 made it past the slug hunters!
 

forecast calling for huntable temps tomorrow

[K2]

Jim,

Thanks for taking us along on your hunt.  Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!  Ken

[Cyclic-Rivers]

Good luck in the Morning Jim!  Hope you stay warm and have a great Present from your Mother Nature.

[Cookus]

Jim,
     Thanks for another great year of sharing your hunts with us.  I truly enjoy your posts!  Merry Christmas!

[John Havard]

Jim,

I found this thread just a couple of days ago.  You are doing an awesome job of taking us along with you on your daily hunts.  By incorporating aerial maps and photos of stands and animals it's THE most informative and enjoyable hunt blog I've ever read.  

Mike and I have talked about trying to do some of the same things with our annual Alaska moose hunt in 2014.

Thanks ever so much for a great blog and for taking the time to share your season with us.

John Havard

[wingnut]

Jim,

John turned me on to this thread and I finally caught up with all the action.  I love the way you tell the story without it being a story. And as John said I think we will learn from it and add maps and sat photos to our Alaska Moose hunt this next year.

Mike

[LITTLEBIGMAN]

Thank you everyone for your kind compliments and always your words of encouragement!

Outing #86 Sure thing.

After watching deer out the window and while on the seat of the tractor plowing snow, my question was not where to go but how to get there without alerting all the deer on the hill sides. We had gotten about 5 inches of new snow over night. The deer seamed to be on their feet all day. I am sure the warmer temperature was the reason why. I finally decided to walk along the picked beans and then angle up to the stand on the deer trail that leads there..

 

At the point where I turn slightly to start the uphill climb, i looked up and saw 4 deer get up on their feet and head to the south. (yellow line). I lost sight of them when they rounded the point and headed up into apple alley.

This is the view from the spot where I could see the deer running away.

 

[LITTLEBIGMAN]

I think next time I will walk the road instead!! I continued up to the stand as I had 3 full hours till sunset and I still expected to see deer coming from the north. The stand is at the red arrow.

 

Once at the stand I snapped pictures first to the south
 

and then to the north

 

I got settled into the stand and shot a practice arrow about 3 yards ahead of where I would shoot the deer. I could just see the end of the fletching sticking out of the snow.

The bird activity today was really something. A whole flock of cedar waxwings were working over the cedars near me. I started to see deer on the adjacent hillsides. There were 5 opposite of me just below the Joel stand. I turned to look over my right shoulder and spotted a deer above me browsing and working its way down toward me. At 60 yards it lay down and started chewing its cud. I was directly in its view and for next 30 minutes I tried to be a statue and at the same time keep an eye on all the trails around me. I slowly pivoted to my left and was watching the deer across from me. I turned and looked back at the bedded deer that was no longer in its bed. I searched the hill side for a horizontal line among the tree trunks. Finally I spotted the line of the deer's back about 20 yards from where it had been bedded. It was on its way down to me. I slowly removed the bow from the hanger and got ready for the shot. It couldn't have worked any better except the doe turned out to be a buck fawn. He stood in the opening and then moved forward to where my practice arrow lay in the snow. It caught  his attention and he stretched his neck forward and down to smell it. His reaction was comical as he whirled away from it and then walked stiff legged away. I still had about 20 minutes of daylight left and as the day faded I watched the deer across the valley come down the hill cross the road and the creek and go in to the bean field in front of the hay bale.  They were still in the field as I made my way home to Christmas dinner. What a welcome sight the old farm house is at night in the snow at Christmas time.

Happy Christmas everyone.

[Cyclic-Rivers]

Merry Christmas Jim, Great Hunt!

Maybe you can get  heater in the haybale blind with your sub arctic temps?  :rolleyes:

[LITTLEBIGMAN]

outing #87 The Sapling.

It had been a long time since I sat this spot and today's wind was favorable for it. I left slightly later than yesterday but was still out the door by 1 30 pm. But the hunt was really over before it even started.

As I rounded the corner of the bean field ( yellow star is me) I spotted 5 deer standing and watching me ( double pointed pink). The stand is at the red arrow.

 

They all took off up the bluff east of the stand. This is to the right and out of the picture. So with over 2 hours left in the day, I was still hopeful that like yesterday I was well ahead of any natural late day movement. So I continued on up to the stand anyway.

click the link for a short video

  http://www.flickr.com/photos/51550276@N08/11575010414/

[LITTLEBIGMAN]

While the snow is not really snow shoe depth, the cleats on the bottom are really helpful for climbing up to the stand.

once there I snapped these photos

 
 
this last one looks south to the food plot
 

It was really really quiet. A couple of bard owls started up a conversation right at dusk. As I walked home I went through the food plot in the last picture. Hardly a track in it as the food is gone. I realized tonight is the first night in a long time I didn't see a deer while on stand.

Tomorrow am is forecast to be mild. It is supposed to be in the teens at sunrise . I am going to do my best to be somewhere in the woods.

[LITTLEBIGMAN]

outing # 88 Joel' stand.

if you recall 2 nights ago I saw 5 deer come out just below this stand at the end of the day. So I hoped I might just catch one coming in this am.

I forgot to snap a new picture so we will use this old one.

 

Didn't need light today. The crescent moon on the snow was more than enough to light my way . My boots crunched on gravel and snow as i made my way down the county road.

I had just left the road and started the climb up when I spotted a deer in the fire break right below the stand. Then a 2nd jumped up and they both took off.  well at least I was right as to where the deer would be! Just wrong on the timing!

I climbed into the stand and lay down the rug I brought to stand on. The stand platforms on the last few sits have been squeaky so I brought the rug to quiet them down.

At 8 15 am I spotted a deer above me at about 75 yards. But it was walking on one of the contours trails not one that would bring it down and past me. AS I thought I hatched a plan for tomorrow am. I think we will do a one woman push tomorrow and see what happens. Nothing to lose at this point.

[LITTLEBIGMAN]

outing #89  Bwana's stand

I headed out the door a little than planned and with temps approaching 30 degree's with a stiff SW wind I realized in short order I was not going to reach the stand with out breaking a sweat!. I used snow shoes again till I got to the top of the steepest part of the climb. Then kicked them off and left them against a big oak and hurried on to the stand. As I approached the crest I slowed to a crawl till I could see into each of the food plots. There were three deer in the food plot ( star) in front of the lefty stand.

 

It was only 2 pm and there was zero cover so a stalk was out of the question. I back tracked and looped well around keeping the crest of the hill as visual blocker. Arriving at the stand there were fresh diggings in the food plot right in front of the stand. The deer had either been here this am or last evening from the looks of things. I got my extra layers on and hustled up the tree.

After about 45 minutes I could see the line of a deer's back just on the other side of the tall grass that borders the clover field to the west. One of the three deer I spotted before or a new one was working its way in my direction. After a bit of concentrated staring I made out a small set of horns. It wouldn't matter though as the young buck fed for about 15 minutes and then disappeared back down the side of the hill it come from.

I kept expecting to see more deer at any minute but ended just enjoying a great sunset. I enjoyed the walk home in the silence of the snow covered forest and I felt like I was the only person on earth.

[ron w]

Continues to be a great post to follow.....just curious, I know you want to kill a doe but are you seeing any bucks or did the gun guys wipe them out? I saw the one on the trail cam, any others?

[LITTLEBIGMAN]

Ron
 Its been a really weird fall in that the only good buck I have seen is the one I killed way back in Sept.  For all the hours I have on stand I am amazed I have not spotted one or two. My next door neighbor has seen two good ones since the gun season has ended so I know they are around. But I am not seeing even little bucks. The one tonight and the one last Saturday has been it!  Very odd.