We've waited all year for this! Deer season was back. Hubs, Dad and I had a rough idea of where we were going to sit to start the morning, when and where we would move to next and the basic game plan for the morning hunt. But then, I looked at the trail camera pictures. The 10 pointer that we had had on the camera last year had shown himself for the first time two days before at T3. Up until that point, we had only smaller bucks on the cameras. But this one... we've been watching him for at least 4 years and he was beautiful. I declared that I would start the season sitting in T3. Hubs was bumped to the Sky Condo and Dad would still hunt. It was a perfect morning - quiet and calm. I got into T3 and settled...
There is no snow on the ground and the temperatures have been in the 50s instead of the teens or 20s. As a result, our deer herd is having a great time getting lots of food without the worry of snow, freezing temps or that coyote that is (still) around. Dad still has the trail cameras out and we are getting some encouraging pictures. I didn't bother copying the ones of the coyote, but he is still around and solo. But these are always good to see and it means that we will need to change things up for next season if we are going to outwit this deer. I believe he is about 3.5 or 4.5 years old and knows how to avoid hunters. I can NOT get over the size of his neck! And the next generation of big bucks: From the side, his...
The last few days of hunting season were eventful in the wrong ways. Just to the right of the stick is a deer track in the leaves. In order for my mom to prepare and cook what she needed to for Thanksgiving dinner, I stayed home to watch O while Dad and Hubby went out for a few hours. In the afternoon, Hubby stayed home while O took a nap and Dad and I went out. The woods were quiet and calm. We didn't even see a squirrel. Thanksgiving night, O got sick; throwing up sick, which for a two year old is a scary thing. We made the decision to not hunt on Friday morning in case he still didnt feel good. I have been criticized in the past by readers who think that in order to be a good, qualified hunter, you...
I am a proud member of the Orange army. I never really thought about it until I became more involved with the online hunting groups. So many of my buddies on social media have posted over the past couple of weeks about trying to get a deer and getting out of the woods before the orange army comes in. There are trail cam pics being posted with spike horns or crotch horns with a note about the likelihood of the deer being shot by the orange army. Allow me to tell you what this proud member does when she puts on her orange. She is looking for food to feed her family. She proudly carries her rifle into the woods and knows that with one well placed shot, she can drop a deer dead in its tracks. She is...
This is how hunting is supposed to be! Cold in the morning with a solid front on the ground. Noisy but not enough to give your cover away. And sun. I love the sun. I sat in the Sky Condo, Hubby was in T3 and Dad decided that since time is ticking, he would walk. The plan was for him to walk the piece by T3 in hopes of jumping something towards Hubby. Then, the guys would head my way and split up. Dad would head east and loop around to my treeseat. Hubby would make a loop west then swing east and come out at my treeseat. When I saw Hubby at the foot plot, I was supposed to head immediately to my treeseat. I was excited about this plan because I had not sat in my treeseat all season and I missed...
I had called Dad mid-week to check in and he told me that we had a big buck by the Sky CondoOne of the 8's? I eagerly asked No. Bigger If I could have driven up that night, I would have. But I had to wait until Friday to put the memory cards into the computer and look at what Dad was talking about. This is, BY FAR, the thickest deer we have ever seen on the camera. He is clearly all rutted up because he has no neck! It also looks like his E2 is broken on his right side. He was on the camera a handful of times over the past week. I am ready to put in some time Wed, Thursday, Friday and Saturday in hopes that one of us will get a crack at this big...
We kicked off the new season on Saturday and it could not have been a better morning. The moon was out, the stars were bright and there was just a slight chill in the air. It was 24 degrees. After last year's last minute switch in sitting spots and my success, I let Hubby pick where he wanted to sit. He wanted the Sky Condo and I took T3. As the three of us walked along the path into the woods, the silence was broken by a single howl. It was loud and close. Sound travels Dad said but we all knew that the coyote was close. He was probably in the woods between us and T3. Luckily, it was just one coyote (only one was howling.) We split from Hubby and headed directly towards T3 as another howl came....
If you have been a dedicated reader, you know that we have built a new treehouse for the 2015 season. If you are a new reader, do a quick search for T3 and you can see what we have done so far (and why.) When the weather is cool with lots of sun, it's hard to be anywhere but outside. Since rifle season opens in a couple of weeks, Dad, Hubby and I took to the woods to get things set up and ready for the Oct 31 start. We hauled carpet, plywood, tar paper, canvas and a chair down to T3 to add the finishing touches. We also brought a limber to get those little branches out of the way of the shooting lanes. On the floor, we put two layers of the tar paper then the plywood. The canvas was turned into a gun rent...
With these deer around, I may want to get my sleeping bag and heater ready for deer season! What do you guys think? Is it too early for these big guys to be going around to their scrapes? This guy is back in the pattern of stopping by twice a night to check things out.