5 Pines Farm Whitetails 2014

[Cyclic-Rivers]

Well Jim, I hope you have good news about how all the big bucks retreated fro the gun men past your stand  

[LITTLEBIGMAN]

outing #63    a long slowwwwwww day.

The wind finally dissipated and turned to the SW.

I started my day in the pants down stand. Right at first light, a fat spike slowly walked the trail past the back side of the stand. He walked with his nose down and tail erect. I was picking out spots to shoot had he been a larger deer and I discovered several major obstacles I hadn't seen before. So after he was gone I zipped down the ladder and did my best to remove them with out using a saw ( I didn't have one ).

Spent the next 4 hours listening to gun shots but saw no deer.

At noon the wind switched back to the NW. So I headed in for a snack and then hustled up to the hang on behind the yurt to hunt the escape trail from the neighbor's to the south. Sat there till dark . But I saw only three does and some turkeys the entire afternoon.

Comparing notes with neighbors and with my nephew who hunted here in the am I was the only one not seeing bucks! Bummer.

We have some weather moving in. The wind will switch to the ENE and we usually get really bad weather when that happens. They are forecasting a foot of snow north of here . But it looks like we will only get some rain.  Guess we will just to wait and see what the morning brings.

I'll try to shoot some daylight pictures of the cooler. But it's a work in progress

[mlsthmpsn]

Jim, does the antler point restriction apply to bow hunting as well? Or just gun hunters?

Most of people interested in QDM in my area think that you get bigger bucks by not shooting does at all...but then they'll shoot everything with bone on its head during the gun season.    

I think you should write a book about DIY deer management.

[huntnmuleys]

enjoyable thread!!  loving it..

[LITTLEBIGMAN]

outing #64 Joel's stand

With vacation being over I am back to shorter sits.

The storm seems to have passed to the north. It was just very foggy and a gusty but not too cold wind out of ENE as predicted.

Just after first light I heard a slight noise behind and above me. Looking over my left shoulder  I spotted a doe standing 20 yards behind me sniffing the air. But my scent seemed to be carried up and over her and she passed me by unconcerned. Same thing for the next doe and fawn. Another hour goes by and a little forky comes down the same trail. This time I saw him coming and I noticed that I needed to do some more shooting lane trimming up behind the stand.

The trail they were on seemed to be getting used more now than the one below. So at 8 30 when it was time to go to work I quickly took care of matters so the lane is clear should I sit this stand again.

Outing 65# Upper Apple Alley.

An 11 am teleconference with my neighbor to the north indicated the bucks we really moving. He saw three different bucks between 9 and 11 move between his farm and mine. So I decided I would go some where out of the wind where does might want to feed early. Hoping a buck would also be doing the same thing .  I chose this little jewel of a food plot.
 

It was truly a November gray day. But the green of this field really made me think it would get pounded today. I jumped one Doe out of the food plot when I walked in and that was the only deer I saw all afternoon.

I just keep picking the wrong places. Eventually my number is going to come up.!!

I pulled the chip on the camera set for movies on the rub in the Red Pines on my way in and every buck that visited the spot in the last week did so only in the dark of night!

A half a foot of snow fell north of me but all we are getting is some spittle.  It's going to be windy in the am.  Another coin toss!

[Chuck Janssen]

Hang in there Jim, it will happen. We got your snow and now freezing rain. Going to be a tough morning. You propety pictures just keep getting better everytime I see them. Good luck and my the wind be in your face!!

[Robhood23]

Stick with it brother! Lots of nice bucks have been taken the last few days!

[LITTLEBIGMAN]

outing #65  Joel's stand ( repeat)

Sometime during the night , the spittle changed to snow. I awoke to about 2 inches of wet snow and wind!
 
I chose this spot to be on the SE face to be protected from the wind yet again!

It was just an amazing morning! Just at first light a spike buck came down the logging road from the north. Wind at his back, nose to the ground and tail in the air.

15 minutes later I see a body approaching coming from the exact same way. Bow in hand, 8 point below. He walks into the scrape and reaches up with his antlers. He is looking right at me. I am invisible. He makes the scrape and moves through all three of the shooting lanes. He was small and it was everything I had in me not to kill him.. It would have been a good kill but it is still early in the rut and there are real bruisers still walking the valley floor.

Then the turkeys roosted above me began to talk and to fly down! Nine turkey dinners eventually walked on by me.  They are in the bucks scrape scratching in this picture.
 
this hen was last to fly down.
 
there was a tom somewhere on the hillside as he gobbled twice this am!

I thought I had struck gold today . But after the turkeys fed through , nothing else came by. After four hours I was ready for a cup of Joe. Looking forward to this afternoon.

Yes some absolute giants died around me this week, but they were all killed by the sluggers.

[LITTLEBIGMAN]

outing #66  Lower Apple Alley

Anticipation was high, but unfortunately I don't have a lot to report tonight. So I will share today's sights with you all

hiking up to the stand
 

Checking out the rub tree by the movie camera
 

the hiking trail that goes by the stand.
 

[LITTLEBIGMAN]

the hiking trails below the stand and looking across the valley to the Round About ( red arrow) stand
 

deer sign under apple tree in front of stand.
 
It was pretty quiet all afternoon. 18 to 22 mph winds out of the NW. Wind in tree stand was swirling. Just about the time I decided I should get down I see a set of legs coming down hill. A doe fawn walks in under the apple tree in front of me . Eventually she picks up some of my scent and looks up at me with those wide eyes that say got ya! She did the classic backwards walk out from under the tree and ran off to wards some where safe. Then a 2nd set of legs is coming down hill. It's a spike buck. He goes by me with out winding me. 5 minutes later he comes back and passes me going the other way. I got away with it again. Hmmm maybe the wind isn't that bad.

I look across the valley towards Round about just as the first of seven does come out of timber and go right by the stand! That's the stand I have been skunked in 5 or 6 times this year!

I keep expecting a buck to appear but none does.

Will some one tell me what month it is? The way the deer moved this afternoon I'd swear it is late December. Tomorrow the bottom falls out or the thermometer. Single digits lows are forecast for the next 7 days!  So until the temps moderate a bit i'll be hunting the pm's only. Better to sit one good sit than a couple of short crappy ones.

[LITTLEBIGMAN]

hey Miles!

 the APR here is for all hunters (except youth hunters) and is during all seasons. Best thing MN ever did! It's not state wide and only in SE Minnesota is it in place. Our deer herd here has never been stronger nor more diverse in age classes.

[huntnmuleys]

im with ya on hunting the PM's.  gonna be minus 10 here in the morning.  im not man enough.

[Cyclic-Rivers]

Keep it up Jim. We all know, one good sit can make a season in a hurry.

[wapiti792]

Jim, I simply love this thread. You motivate me to roll my sorry arse out of the bed and go hunt...knowing you are hunting tougher terrain and tougher weather than  here in So. Illinois. Keep after it man and good luck with those bruisers!

[mlsthmpsn]

Originally posted by LITTLEBIGMAN:
hey Miles!

 the APR here is for all hunters (except youth hunters) and is during all seasons. Best thing MN ever did! It's not state wide and only in SE Minnesota is it in place. Our deer herd here has never been stronger nor more diverse in age classes.

There is zero chance of that ever passing here in Wisco. A lot of people's attitude is "if I don't shoot that spike, the neighbors will."

Many also think there should be enough deer to be able to tag out at 8am opening day of gun season. Football is on don'tcha know.....

Now we got this full crossbow season and the harvest is just skyrocketing. DNR just implemented sweeping new rules for harvest,  deer zones and doe tag system to increase deer quality/numbers after a couple  seasons...then allow crossbows so every Tom, dick and Harry and sons can all shoot them easier.

Makes no sense to me. Modern archery is getting to the point, that I'm thinking they should have a separate season here... Then we'd have a 9-day gun, 9-day muzzy, 9-day modern archery.


But this is getting way off topic now! I hope you catch up to that big one soon

Stay safe.

[LITTLEBIGMAN]

hey Miles. I used to hunt in Wisc. last time was in about 1993, about the time baiting arrived in the public forests......

It's 7 am and I'm looking out the window and making coffee from inside the house for the first time in a long time.  I look out the window to the beet field. I see a doe feeding.  I grab and grind the coffee beans.  I look out the window and see a 2.5 year old 8 point go over and check her out. I pour the water into coffee maker. I look out the window and I see a 3.5 or possibly 4.5 year old walking towards her. I grab the binos. It's the buck with the one tall brow tine from the rub video. It just figures.......  

[Whip]

I took this morning off as well Jim.  I can't resist a peek out the window every time I pass by but am almost afraid of what I might see....

So far I haven't missed anything and I'm not sure I'd want to see it anyway.  Would just frustrate me.  But my evening sits have been more productive lately anyway, so I'll be back in the tree this afternoon.

[huntnmuleys]

sitting at home here two. its below zero here.  im sure my bucks are moving but I probably couldn't shoot being bundled up that bad.  plus, im supposed to enjoy hunting, and trust me this morning I wouldn't be enjoying it lol..

[mlsthmpsn]

I'm in a no-baiting County. I saw 7 trucks lined up in one spot the other night in the state forest.... Right on the county line (next County allows baiting).

It's legal and all, but I don't get it.

[LITTLEBIGMAN]

outing #67 Squirrel's tail

I am with you guys, it's tuff when its this cold all ready. But the bright side is, I'll be in good condition for the late season!

With a consistent 10 mpr West wind I chose this stand. The squirrels tail sits on the same contour trail as Round about but around the bend in the horse shoe and to the south a little bit. The bucks will move up and down this contour on a west wind scent checking for does below. Deer will also drop down off the of the goat prairie above me. The steepness of the bluff seems to carry my scent up and over deer coming from that way.
 

with 24 degree temps as the high I figured I could sit three full hours and no more. So I climbed into the ladder stand at exactly 1:30pm.

View across valley to where I was yesterday.  

and looking down on to the deer trail
 

At 2 pm I made some noise with the horns. At 2 :30 I repeated the rattling. Instantly I saw a deer approaching from the south. I could tell it was a good buck and that he was on the trail the comes around the bend and goes past me at 9 yards. PERFECT.

I got ready for the shot and repeated the pick a spot mantra. At 60 yards (star) he stopped and searched with his eyes and ears for the bucks. He stood there for 5 minutes or so it seemed and then about faced. CRAP! I grunted at him. He stopped. But started again in the wrong direction. I figured I had nothing to lose and wheezed at him. That only put him in to a faster walk and up and over the bluff he went.

One hour later I rattled in a little 2 point to five yards.

After 5 days of slug hunters throwing lead at these guys, I am surprised I am having any luck rattling at all.

Tomorrow I think I will add a decoy back into the mix.