November's End

In order to wrap up November, I'll need to do some sort of montage that flashes over all the nice bucks that were taken around the county. However, where we hunt, I don't think anything over 3 1/2 was shot. The buck that mom found her first set of sheds to got killed less than a quarter mile from us. He was a respectable buck. I'd like to see him up close. A neighboring hunter shot and missed Splitbrow. Wheew. What a relief. I hope he stays nocturnal until after muzzleloader. Another neighbor shot a 9 point, but he said it wasn't anything that big. I'll just have to see for myself.

The rut was slow at first, and again from like the 6-10th we had south winds of some kind and warm temps. I saw four deer opening morning and that was about it. The deer were out there, it's just a matter of being in the right place at the right time. Then on the 18th we got a bunch of snow. That put a damper on what foods were being used the most. Since then, we've gotten about 6-10 inches of snow. The deer have started to move around though. I want to move my cameras, but it's right in the middle of muzzleloader season right now and it's not an ideal time to be driving a snowmobile or anything else around for that matter. There's too much snow to drive my truck out in the fields, but it's not quite froze up solid enough to trust taking a snowmobile around in the swamp. So I guess my cameras will sit where they are for another couple weeks. Maybe by the tail end of muzzleloader it'll be better conditions to move cameras. In order to get the cameras close to the food, I need to not have too many people around. I don't want any cameras stolen.

If some of these deer can make it through the muzzle season, we'll be in for another great year of big bucks next season. It's been so fun to watch these deer grow up and mature. It all started in 2006 and 2011 season will be great to see the youngest ones reach 4 and 5 years old.

I still need to shoot a doe with my bow. I will succeed.

"Buck Down"

My 100th post is of a dead deer. How great is that! We got pounded with snow on the afternoon of the 18th and into the 19th (Thursday and Friday). I was planning on hunting the 19th and 20th with the bow northwest of the bus, but on the 19th I decided to just check cameras and head back home and go for a drive with dad. We were hunting the second week of rifle season and although the weather was brutal, we decided to go for a drive. Not thinking we would be getting out of the truck, I didn't dress very well. We had 25 mph winds and temps in the low teens. Windchill was around -5 degrees. We came across a good looking place and I decided that one of us needed to face the brutal cold. I bundled up as best I could and walked across this field. It was about 4:00 and I didn't know if I could even make it until dark. My fingers started to freeze and my face was getting whipped. After about 20 minutes, I saw a deer poke out and I quick examined it. It was a buck. It looked to be a decent buck too. I saw lighter colored main beam and at least 8 points coming off. I had to make a quick decision and I decide to end my season for bucks. I clicked off the safety and as the buck got within 175 yards he stopped. I held where his neck met his front shoulder. The wind was pushing so hard that I hit him low and forward. I threw in another shell and eventually put the buck down before he made it to the woods. I text dad in the truck - "buck down". I headed back to the truck and we were able to drive right to the deer. Super simple, season just about over. He looked to be a very healthy two year old, which was a little disappointing, but I'll take it. When he first came out, he looked like a bigger bodied deer so I figured he was three or so and would score about 115. He'll end up around 100 inches, which is something I'm trying to get away from shooting, but at least we have a full freezer. It was very exciting. Now, I just need to kill a doe with my bow. So far, there have been zero does registered for Streiffs Big Buck/Big Doe Archery contest. Top prize is a Cuddeback IR package.

Sit # 25 - Short Sit

I went out to retrieve my ground blind on Thursday. I put it up in the end of June (so the deer would get used to it). Haha. I never sat in it once. It was always a decent option, but it was in an island woods so basically the deer had to be bedded in there. However, the other morning after that buck ran by me, he ran north and into that island in the middle of the morning. So it's not out of the question that a deer can and will run in there in daylight, but they've got to have a reason to do so. I've still got my cameras up, I'm still trying to pattern this mature buck's movements before, during and after the rut, and I'm still trying to locate any new bucks in the area. I've got most of them I believe, but at the same time, it would be foolish to think that I could ever achieve 100% inventory.

After reading Bill Winke's blog about the poor rut, I'd have to say it hasn't been that bad up here. It seems to me that we had good pre-rut, nudging, not-so-much chasing, then the lock-down, then the cruising on the backslope of the peak of breading. I've noticed all the stages up north, although that doesn't mean that I'll be face to face with a rutting buck from my tree stand. The rut doesn't happen on our watch. After like the 20th of September, there is more dark than there is light in a 24 hour day. Tell me you don't think they're getting most of their business done in the dark and coolness of night. I've seen plenty of rubs, plenty of scrapes, and plenty of trail camera pictures of mature deer. They're moving. It's just during night. We've got too much hunting pressure up north and so this is just the reality. It's the odd buck that you encounter in daylight that you can get a shot at. To have an encounter with a shooter in bow range is a rarity in and of itself. I had four encounters this archery season. I was lucky. I only got to shoot once and I missed low. Bummer. The buck I believe I missed was a deer we've nicknamed Splitbrow. I'm glad I missed, because next year, he could be a real dandy. I also heard he got grazed by a rifle bullet. Lucky deer.

Sit # 24 - Swirling Winds

I attempted to get back on the creek that same Tuesday evening. As I left my truck, I saw three deer out feeding in the middle of the day and I was worried that I would spook them. It was interesting for a few reasons. They were so involved in their feeding that they really didn't care that I was there. That tells me that these deer were hungry. They were probably does that had just been bred and it had been a while since they weren't being constantly harassed. The other noteworthy thing is that it is the Full Moon, which traditionally means midday feeding. I sat all night with my hopes through the ceiling, but I saw zero deer. I need to stay aggressive, even in these cold temperatures that are coming. Highs in the teens? Sheesh! Tomorrow (Friday) morning is supposed to be 5 degrees without the wind. Pray for me.

Sit # 23 - Rut Action

So after getting all those great pictures by the creek, I decided I need to be in there. The wind was from the south, which was not the best, but a person needs to get aggressive at some point during the rut. I got set up without making too much racket and I was quiet and settled by 6:38am. I sat and saw nothing. And then nothing. 9:00 rolled around and I was getting a little cold. I didn't know how much longer I could sit. I figured it out that since I had a meeting at 11, I could only sit until 9:45, so I was determined to do so. At about 9:20, I looked to the east along the field edge and I spotted a deer halfway out of the woods. All I had for optics was my rangefinder. At 200 yards, I could tell that it was a decent buck. I could see mainbeams and a 17" inside spread. I thought that it might be Bullwinkle, so I grabbed the camera and tried to shoot what I could of him working his way down the field edge directly toward me. So he's coming east to west along the north side of this woodline and it didn't make sense till later. He was just scent-checking the little woods. We had a south wind and so anything in that woods, he would find out about it fairly quickly. He shortly disappeared back into the woods, but I figured he would be still heading my way. I flipped the camera around and got it into position for him to come right in front of me. After what seemed like forever, he finally broke a limb and I knew he was close. I hit record and took my bow off the hanger. Suddenly I looked behind my tree and sure enough he came out into the corner of the field. When I got a good look at him and decide that he wasn't in fact a shooter, I hung my bow back up and put the camera back on him as fast as I could. Trying to get video footage by yourself is not easy. If that was a bigger buck, I don't know if I would've had time to change the angle of the camera. When I first got that glimpse of himbehind my tree, he was at about 25 yards, but by the time I got the camera on him he was already at about 35 yards. Tricky stuff. Anyway, I got some good footage of him - enough to know he was probably a 3 year old (maybe a 2 year old), but just not what I was hoping to end my season with. It was an awesome encounter. Just not the right deer.

We're on the backslope of the rut and these bucks are looking for the last does to be bred this cycle. This is a good thing actually, because it means they're on their feet in the daylight. Friday is a west switching to northwest wind and I'm hoping to sit all day if I can.

Jackpot!

I was going to hunt Monday morning, but when my alarm went off, I checked the laundry and was all still damp. So, I crawled back under the covers. I got up about 9 and went out in the country to bring the stand back out to the creek and check a couple cameras. I pulled the card by the creek and there were 39 pictures on it. I hoped for at least 1 picture of Curly and 1 picture of Skyscraper out of velvet. I got like 8 pictures of Curly and out of nowhere appeared a buck we call Bullwinkle. I got two pictures of Bullwinkle and he looks OLD! Last year I thought he was a four year old. Looking at this year's pictures I think I was mistaken. This year he looks 6 if not 7 years old. He gained in his mass, his G4s got a bit longer, his left G2 shrank a bit, but overall he probably put on 15 maybe 20 inches. He should net somewhere between 125 and 130. Not great for an older buck, but definitely one that should get shot. There were a few other bucks on the camera. The only other one worth mentioning was a young 10 point. He could be the next 150 inch 4 year old. He looks awesome and I can't tell if he's two or three. Anyway, that camera really came through for me unlike my bonehead move up NW of the bus. Idiot. The scrapes are tore open, the rubs are appearing daily, the rut is in full swing! Time to get back out there.

Rifle Season - Day 9 (The Last Day)

Growing up as a rifle hunter, I thought that my only chance to shoot a buck was during those 9 days and the closer we got to the 2nd Sunday, the more pressure I felt to shoot something. Now that archery has trumped gun season for me, I feel a lot of pressure alleviated. As I've learned more and more about deer behavior and rut activity, let alone the rut as we understand it up where we hunt, I've gotten more and more excited to bowhunt the weeks right prior to and right after the 9 day gun season. There is so much pressure that comes out of nowhere for these deer in those 9 days, that it becomes much more understandable why hunters don't shoot more mature deer up there. The week before has some sprinklings of rut activity and the week after has the peak of the rut and some amazing encounters in store for the person who weathers the colder weather. All that to say, rifle season ending isn't such a bad thing anymore.

Sunday morning, we lead worship in church. So afterwards, we had lunch with Gavin, who was home, and then headed north. I decided to sit in the same tree NW of the bus. Still saw nothing, but that spot still intrigues me. That wrapped up the 2010 rifle season where we hunt. If I want to, I can still hunt with the rifle until the 21st of November over on the east side of 310. I probably won't. We didn't see too many deer. Mom shot a yearling 8 point. I'll try not to make her feel guilty for it. Just another misunderstanding.