Live from the Stand (10/29/2011)

My first time trying this, so bear with me...
Only my second hunt of the season, first one was rather uneventful. Just got set up in my climber on the outskirts of a doe bedding area. Temps are hovering right around freezing with a light southwest wind.
Jason hunted yesterday morning and saw upwards of a dozen deer...he's hunting the other side of the property this morning also. Hopefully between the two of us we can put one of the bucks we've been watching on the ground.
Between yesterday's action, the low temps, the beans that were harvested yesterday near my stand, and the fact that the chasing phase should really be kicking in, I have so high hopes for today. Updates to follow!

8:12 -  been surrounded by bucks for the past thirty minutes. Mostly youngins, and one decent 8 that needs at least a year. He fought off a smaller buck in a quick 5 second battle. Grunted a spike to my tree and got the bigger of the bucks to make three scrapes after snort-wheezing at him.

8:20 - just had a doe come by at 8 yds. She got a pass for now but the next one may not if I have time to make sure there aren't any bucks on her tail.

8:55 - just had another young 7 pt pass by at 35 yds. Been an exciting morning so far!

10:30 - calling it a day...no more action since the last update.  Ended up being a great day to sit in the stand though!


Summary - even though it was mostly younger bucks, that one hour of hunting was one of the more exciting hours that I've experienced.  I was absolutely surrounded by deer to the point where I couldn't even keep track of them.  There were at least 6 different bucks within 50 yards of my stand, and possibly one or two more.  The leaf cover on the ground was thick and I could hear every footstep.  I kept hoping I would turn to see a massive rack when I heard a new set of footsteps, but it wasn't happening today.  Shortly after they all meandered off, I spotted another young buck about 80 yds behind me.  When I turned to look back a minute later, there was now a doe there and the buck was nowhere to be seen?  Not sure where he went, but the doe spent a good 5 minutes <10 yds from my tree before she crossed my path where I walked in.  She eventually picked me off but couldn't make out what I was, doing the ever-so-comical head bob for a solid minute before walking off.

Managed to take a few pictures of a spike that followed my grunt call to the base of my tree...

Hard at Work

We've had a dozer and scraper putting in a lot of hours for the past week for some long overdue levee improvements and field work.  More details to come in the near future, but here's some pictures in the meantime!

Before

After

Familiar Faces

The hot summer months of June and July are the peak for antler development.  I've been keeping an eye on several bucks this year that have been regulars in front of the camera.  These two guys below are familiar faces from last season.  The wide 8 was a regular in front of the camera last season all year, but he broke off his left side early and was nocturnal the majority of the time.

The first buck below never showed himself on stand or on camera last year until the season was already over.  I never knew he existed until I got pictures of him in a standing bean field in February.  There's something about him that I've always liked since I first laid eyes on him...hopefully I can wrap my hands around those antlers this fall!

Spring Update

Spring has come and gone as the hot summer weather is beginning to settle in.  Hasn't been much to write about since turkey season.  We are still due for a couple of work parties, as we like to call them, to start getting the table set for duck season.  We will hopefully get the ball rolling on that sooner than later, and there should be some exciting things going on when we do.

My dad, Jason, and I have only made it down to our favorite honey hole once so far to catch some spring bass.  The bite was fairly good and we caught some good sized fish (mine was by far the biggest...see far right picture below and you be the judge) in the short couple of hours we were on the water.

I have had most of my trail cameras pulled due to the threat of flooding during this time of the year, but always left at least one out on each mineral lick to keep tabs on velvet bucks.  I've been happy with what has been showing up so far, and they are just now getting to the point when you can really start seeing antler characteristics and tell what type of potential they may have for this coming season.  Just recently, as the threat of  heavy spring rains and flooding is diminishing, I put out some more cameras on trails...hopefully I will get some more velvet bucks and more exciting pictures.  I've always enjoyed true "trail" pictures more than "bait" pictures.

The local hog(s) has showed itself several more times although I have yet to get a good picture of it.  We haven't been able to get down to the farm to replenish the bait for more than a month so it's tough to tell how much time it is spending on our area.  I dumped some more soured corn out last week so we should have a better idea of what's going on after I swap memory cards next time.