2006 Daily Journal

[Professor T]

Oct 1st Hot but great to be on the stand. I hunted the Lone Oak Stand on the West Plot. Got busted about 5:45pm but then around 6:15pm there were 2 deer on the plot. Both yearlings. I had decided that I would take one if given the opportunity but they never got quite close enough.

Kevin on the other hand had better success with 3 does feeding at 15 yards. His shot was a little far back but good enough to do the job.

[Professor T]

Oct 2nd Morning hunt at the South Fork Stand was uneventful. All noise turned out to be squirrels or birds. This was my first hunt in my new Millenium Stand. It was very comfortable. I will have to move the bait site further down the road because shooting sideways while sitting does not allow for closeup shots. The canopy of the tree is fairly tight and I don't have much room to move around without hitting the bow on some limbs. I will make the changes today around midday. It felt real good to be on the stand this morning. It was warm but not hot. Back to the West Plot this evening.

[Professor T]

Oct 2nd Afternoon hunt. It was back to the Lone Oak Stand to see if I could cash in on the food plot usage. The deer are in there. I got on the stand for 4:45pm and tried to walk to it as slow as possible because of the heat. It didn't make any difference. By the time I sat down I was dripping wet.

I heard deer to the west of me around 6:00pm and kept waiting to get busted. They worked their way around in the cutover through a little peninsula and came in from the north. First out was a big doe. She was one of these long and lanky deer, enough to put meat in the freezer. She was extreemly skiddish taking 30 seconds between each step. She came out and fed at 30 yards broad side. I could hear more deer coming out so I waited to see if she had any fawns.

Next out was a spike that I just nick named "Short Spike" (still in velvet) because there will probably be another 4 or 5 just like him by the end of the season. He was VERY SMALL. If he was normal size I might have thought about taking him but he wouldn't have made a decent hamburger. No sense wasting that deer. Both of them kept looking back so I expected his sister to show up but she didn't. I believe there were deer on the T-Plot that they could see but I couldn't.

By the time I decided that the doe was okay to shoot she never presented another shot. That's okay becasue now I know her. She is RED - RED.

About 5 minutes after they left I saw a deer on the south end of the plot. Light was starting to fade at this time but still plenty of shooting light. When the fawn got to the area of oats and wheat it started to feed. In short time mamma appeared standing watch for her fawn. She stood alert in the middle of the plot for 5 minutes before she took a few bites and lead her fawn back to the west.

I stayed for about 10 more minutes until shooting time was over and left.

Oct 3rd I slept in at the camp. I'll spend the day cleaning up the camp and hunt one of the plots this evening.

[Professor T]

Oct 3rd afternoon hunt. I walked to the Beech Tree Plot to see what was showing up. Absolutely nothing. So I decided to hunt the East Plot. I was still hot but I did my best to keep cool. I tried using scent for the first time but nothing showed up. It was still great to be in the tree.

Oct 4th morning hunt was at South Fork again. It was very comfortable in the stand and no wind. Nothing showed up. The big guy was around all night though.

[Professor T]

Oct 4th afternoon hunt. Back to my favorite stand the Lone Oak. On the way to the stand I could see that something was eating the rice brand at South Fork between the morning and evening hunt. Deer movement must be in the middle of the day again. I didn't check the pictures trying to keep scent down to a minimum at the site. It was hot and still again. This time I used scent to see the deer reactions (If any).

I was just starting to get my stuff packed up when I turned around and a doe was approaching. Minutes left until shooting light. She circled the feeder and followed my footsteps where I had walked with the scent on my boots. She was nervous but no where near how nervous the doe with the spike was 2 days before. She finally went to feed and I got my bow into position waiting for a broadside shot. By the time she turned to give me a good shot I could not identify the kill zone through my peep sight. I could see the deer plainly and the glow of my sight pin was okay but the light had faded under the trees so that I could not ethically let the carbon fly. She was a prime doe, no fawns with her and fully mature. She fed for a while while I waited for her to leave. When I got off the stand there was a yearling at the south end of the plot.

Even though I am off work, the heat is so bad that I decided to come home until Friday evening hunt. There is a front coming in Friday and Saturday morning should be in the high 50's. So far it has been a great season. Four days of hunting and 8 deer sighted by me and 3 by Kevin in 1 afternoon. One doe on the ground and several (near) shot opportunities. I could have easily shot at the little spike but it was SMALL! I can wait. My Muzzy Moment is coming.

Time to spend some family time. I'll cook a gumbo today.

[Professor T]

Oct 6th Afternoon hunt:
MUZZY MOMENT!!
Well not quite that easy. I helped my wife babysit this morning and was late getting started. I did arrive at the camp in plenty of time. I took my shower and got dressed and went to pick up the TC pics. My plans were to hunt the West Plot. I worked my way that direction and wound up on the stand. I put out a little pile of rice bran where I wanted the deer to stop (18 yards). The wind was from the north and very comfortable temps. I settled down for the hunt. The wind kept getting stronger and I could hear the Lone Oak cracking. You can see completely through the tree now very easily. I truly expected the tree to fall today. I left.

I now headed to the East Plot Bow Stand. I had an extra bag of rice bran that I intended to put out at SF after the hunt so I took that with me to the plot. I set out some corn with it at about 15 yards and settled in. Talk about a beautiful afternoon. After doing all that movement and climbing I barely sweat. It was one of the days you could sit in the stand forever.

At about 6:10pm I looked behind me towards the box stand and could see a deer standing there. I immediately recognized him as "Holey Moley" the spike with the third point less than an inch. I watched him there for about 15 to 20 minutes before he had company. "Cro" came out to join him. He is absolutely a beautiful buck. He won't score much but he is NICE!. They both fed about 50 yards to the south of me for another 15 minutes or so. "HM" stared working his way toward me. He passed at about 15 yards but never did stop. I didn't try to stop him because of who was behind him.

"Cro" was now working his way to me but closer to my tree. When he got behind the last limb I drew back. He stayed put for awhile so I had to let down. I waited until I saw movement and drew again. He stopped with his vitals covered by the same limb. I held and he moved forward. About 25 yards he begand to feed on the Tecomonte Max Attract. There was corn there and rice bran but he preferred the greens. I put the pin behind his shoulder and let carbon fly. I heard no "WACK" and was pretty sure I passed slightly above his back. I was shook up. I waited a couple of minutes and climbed sown to check my arrow. It was a complete miss.
Here is a picture of him. He is still around for future hunts.


As Paul Harvey used to say, "Now for the rest of the story":
I climbed back into the stand and settled down and thanked God for the opportunity that He gave me. I really felt good. No worries about the miss, it was just a great experience. I wasn't sittling down 5 minutes when I noticed a big doe on the plot right where "HM" first came out. I tried to get a couple of pictures but they came out really bad then just sat down to wait to see what happened.

I was just happy to get or not get another shot and "Holey Moley" decided to return to the plot. When I shot at "Cro" he was at the very north end of the plot and ran off but he didn't know what had happened. I thought about waiting for "Cro" to return also but "HM" gave me the shot of a life time.17 yards broadside with his head down. I held a little lower and released for the second time today. "WACK", now I know what it sounds like. I watched him run off the plot and listened as he enter the cutover. "CRASH", just the sound I was listening for.

I turned around and the doe was still on the plot. She started feeding again and was soon joined by two more mature does and one fawn. It was getting fairly dark by then and I kept waiting. Finally I pulled the old water bottle trick again. I threw the bottle away from the tree and they looked up and then went back to feeding again. I waited a while longer and then let my bow down which scared them off the field. They were long gone by the time I climbed down though.

So, at 6:59pm October 6, 2006 I had my Muzzy Moment. I went back to the camp and called my wife, brother, and SIL and waited until 7:45pm before going to look for him. He was 30 yards into the cutover and easy to find.

[Professor T]

[Professor T]

Thanks guys.
Max Attract is doing worse than the rest of the plot. Either it was eaten or is slower growing. That 6 point I missed was feeding on it but most of the deer I saw were feeding on the wheat/oats mixture. Scott, I can't give you an honest answer because the patch I planted is not doing well.

Now for the hardest post to date: I lost one.

October 8th: Afternoon hunt. Kevin (SIL) and myself went to the west ridge. Kevin hunted "Kevin's Stand" just off the Ridge Runner Trail. His hunt was uneventful other than seeing a big deer on his way out on the West Plot.

My hunt started off with a few mishaps. I left my pullup rope at the camp not thinking that I had removed it because I thought the tree might fall in the wind the other day. Only half the tree will fall but will put my stand in the open rendering it useless when it happens. Then after getting everything up in the stand I drop my water bottle which I had to climb down to retrieve. I had warmed up a little over the last couple of days so this didn't help the sweat situation (Which I forgot my cover scent). So in cooling off in my short sleeves the gnats started bad. Out came the Thermacell...It worked great. there was a slight breeze from the SE went I teswted the wind. Great wind for everything except the little corner NW of the plot where I was in the Lone Oak Stand. Okay, now I'm settled in.

About 6:15pm I notice movement about the middle of the plot. Abig doe was running around. Just after seeing her I noticed a buck harassing her. He wasn't in full chase but definately interested. It was enough for her to eventually leave the plot just under my tree. Now the buck was aloneand definately interested in what food there was on the buffet. He was also very wary but not nervous. He worked his way around the other side of the pecan tree and made a big loop coming back towards me, the rice bran, and the feeder (corn). He stood facing the south end of the plot seemingly looking for the doe but also doing what bucks do...just stand there and stare into space. He tried working his way to the rice bran but his 6th sense told him not to. He trotted away from me, made a circle and came back. HE stood there some more facing in my direction. The whole while my bow is up and he is standing at around 30 yards but I cannot draw.

He finally decides not to partake in the buffet and starts to exit via the trail that the doe and the spike came out of a few days before. While making his circle to do this I drew. He stopped at 28 yards in the cutover but not bloacked by any trash. I let the carbon fly. He bolted into the cutover and he stopped about 30 yards inside, then silence.

I could only wait about 5 minutes before going to check to see if I hit him. I know I shot low because I have been high in practice and on my last deer. I also shot above the 6 point. I shot low intentionally this time aimiing for a heart shot (If low I miss and if high I get lung). I walked over to where he was standing and saw my arrow right away, at least half the arrow. Red blood on the first half of the half and droplets on the fletching. I went back to the stand and sat for awhile. I figured the shot for 6:30pm.

I recognized the deer soon after seeing him. He is the one I call "Pistol". In judging from body size I would lean more to the 3 yr. old than the 2 yr. he still falls in the between category. Weight around 160 to 180 lbs.

About 7:00pm I started trailing him. He took the hard way everywhere he went. At first the blood was drops and then big globs with solid clods in it. His trail led to the T-Plot and then I lost it. I came out and started looking for Kevin. He came to pick me up on the west plot after seeing I wasn't on the stand and not at his buggy he came back to look for me. We drove back to where I lost him and found where he had turned away from the plot and had a great blood trail leading well off my property onto the neighbors and back towards mine again. At about 9:30 pm we heard a deer get up and move. Blood was getting really thin by now and sometimes it was almost a clear liquid. We continued for a little while but could not find any more. We gave up after trailing him 500 to 600 yards and hearing what was probably him get up.

I lost a good buck. Those that have lost one before know how I feel. It's not the loss of a trophy but the wasted life of a good animal. Enough said on that becasue I feel bad enough.

When returning to the west plot there were two yearlings on the plot.

When we got back to the camp we had to explain why we didn't call but the wives understood. It was a long night for them also not hearing from us coming out the woods.

I will post some pictures to explain where I shot and what the buck did on the plot.

[Professor T]

The next three pictures are in order panning from right (south) to left (north) which shows what the buck and the doe did.




I'm looking for a little knowledge to build on here:
# 1 My arrow broke right where I shot the buck. There was about 6" of blood on the 1 foot piece of arrow on the ground. I aimed LOW. I thought I may have passed under him but I have a hard time following the path of an arrow. I just know I didn't hit high.

# 2 What kind of hit would cause the arrow to break off at the point of impact. there was no brush big enough for the deer to snap it off from hitting something. I am thinking the front leg snapped it off.

# 3 The blood was dark red to semi bright red most of the way in trailing him. A lot of blood, but no big pools to indicate the deer laid down. Some of it had globs of semi solid blood in it where the bigger areas of blood were.

# 4 The deer never stayed on the same path more than 10 yards turning and criss crossing his own path and zigzagging in areas that seemed unlikely for him to go with a clear trail in front of him. Sometimes we lost the trail only to find it again because of a broken twig or laid down brush and then we would pick up the trail again. Over a total distance (Straight Line) of 300 yards the deer had to have traveled 500 to 600 yds or more.

# 5 In several of the spots that were large there was some clear liquid. Nothing ever indicated guts itself, he did leave some droppings along the path.

What do you think the clear liquid (mixed with blood) was?
Where do you think I hit the deer?

[Professor T]

October 13th Brady hunted the Black Locust from 4:30 to 7:30 pm he didn't see anything. This was the first time someone hunted near the West Plot that deer were not seen.

Kevin hunted the East Plot Bow Stand. 4:30 to -7:30 pm About 6 pm he saw 2 does and 2 bucks come out west of the stand. About 6:10pm the 6 pt. high rack buck that was higher on one side than the other gave him a target. He drew back for a shot and another bigger buck 8 points walked under the tree. Kevin shot this buck and it ran north into the cutover to the north. Kevin heard it crash. After this about 7 pm 3 more does (different ones) and 1 fawn came onto the plot from Buck Point.

Kevin waited until 10 pm to go look for his deer becasue he hit it a little far back. He did not want to make the same mistake I did the week before. They, however had a big advantage because Brady had brought his bloodhound. The dog found the deer in short order just across the creek. Coyotes had torn the deer up very bad destroying 1 back strap and both hind quarters. The deer was completely gutted.

They went to the west food plot to get the digital trailcam to take pictures and there were 3 deer on the plot.

[Professor T]

Oct 14th Kevin hunted the E-Plot Bow stand 5 to 7:30pm saw nothing.
Don hunted the Lone Oak 5 to 7:30pm and saw nothing.

Oct 15, 2006 afternoon hunt. this is the sight that greeted me going to the stand.
I hunted the East Plot and "Momma Moley" and this years two fawns the "Moley Twins". I had to chase them off the plot so I could get into the stand. Cro hunted the ground blind on the West Plot. He did see anything. It was very windy and drizzling rain the whole afternoon. We got on the stands at 5 and hunted until 7pm

[Professor T]

Oct 16th Raining in the morning so we did not make a morning hunt.
Cro hunted the West Plot again (4:30 to 7:00pm) but this time from the south stand. He saw 1 rabbit and a bobcat (or 2) two different times. The wind was blowing 20 mph and intermittant rain. no deer showed.
Don hunted the E-Plot Bow stand (4:30 to 7:00pm) and saw nothing.

October 17th the rain stopped sometime around 3 to 4am so we didn't want to destroy the roads slipping and sliding and we skipped the morning hunt again. Of course the deer moved by the sign both of us saw later that morning.
Cro hunted West Plot south (10:15am to 12:15pm) and (4:30 to 7:30pm) Nothing in late morning but 14 rabbits on the plot at the same time in the evening. No deer.
Don hunted the E-Plot Bow stand during the same time and only saw 2 rabbits in the evening hunt.

[Professor T]

I thought this was deer season??




November 15th I wanted to hunt the Lone Oak but the wind was to strong. I hunted the East Plot Bow Stand instead from 3:30 to 5:10pm. Before I had a chance to sit down in the stand because I was setting up all my equipment particularly my camera 4 gobblers walked onto the plot from Buck Point. I got out the stand early because of the high wind. I believe there were gusts near 50 mph. I saw no deer.

[Professor T]

November 17th...Austin's Alley (6 to 9am) The best of mornings to hunt. Cold but no wind. About 5 minutes after I got on the stand I heard a buck grunt twice. But he must have been grunting himself to sleep. I used Hyper Heat on a half of paper napkin and as I stepped off the main trail I stepped on it and then walked to where I hung it in the tree. No deer were seen. I grunted a few times and used the can once. I saw 2 wood ducks for the first time this year.

The deer did not eat the rice bran or the corn at South Fork and at LWE they ate everything but bumped the camera so I only got 14 events. Both of the big deer were there last night.

It seems that the lull in deer activity started early this year. When rifle season starts on Saturday hunting pressure will be on the lands that are around me and hopefully move the deer this way again. So far my land is the only land being hunted and the pressure has been very heavy, but all bow hunting (except one shot on youth day).

November 17th Lone Oak (3 to 5:30pm) No scent used. I learned a good lesson today. If you try to operate a video camera and bow at the same time you are going to mess up on one or the other. In my case both. About 4pm I saw a bobcat coming off the Ridge Runner Trail. He was a fast moving cat covering a lot of ground. He eventually came right near the stand for a cinch shot. Duh!!!! I tried to film and shoot and messed up both. When I was turning the camera to catch up with it I turned it off. When it stopped for a second I shot and missed. It didn't even scare the cat much it moved about 2 yards and looked back while I was nocking another arrow. It was gone by the time I finished. I turned to look at my camera and it was off. OOPS!