"Quality Deer Management" is something to take into consideration and understand. Lots of scientific information and studies prove the point.
On just a small piece of managed ground. Right smack in between creek beds, corn and bean fields, with a pond...
Hunting Stories from the place (Log of activity)
Big adventure year!!!
Rifle Season
Sunday 11/18/2012
Clear temp here.
5:15pm
SW corner (Same stand that the previous 8 point buck was shot same season)
Shot fired direction of Eliott.
Got on the radio and called to see if the shot was on our property. No answer.
5 seconds later, second shot fired.
Eliott's radio cracked, BIG SIGH!! "Shewww...I got him, he came back!"
He got the 8 pointer that had been on the ajacent property earlier.
I cleared the north two man stand, got the buck cart and headed for Eliott in the SW Corner.
Ethan met us and helped cart the buck back to camp.
Appears to be the biggest buck taken on the place.
4:00pm.
SW corner (Same stand that the previous 8 point buck was shot same season)
Eliott reported
Big 8 pointer on glens side of the fence.
Eliott rattled and grunted for 15 minutes buck not interested and would not cross the fence.
Eliott reported that he final moved off slowly to the west.
I told him to keep rattling and grunting every few minutes and watch the treeline closely. He would be curious and be back.
Doe on your side if the fence also, moving NE in the direction of the North 2 man stand.
3:40 pm
SW Corner.
Eliott reported that Mr. 4 pointer came through, jumped the fence and was chasing a little doe on Glen's side of the fence.
10:40am
Two doe standing immediately behind the north two man stand heading east on the trail.
Ethan saw them as we were walking back to camp for lunch. They heard Ethan say "There are deer right there." Turned and ran SW, in timber, over the fence onto Glen. Eliott went around the finger to head them off but they continued SW once on Glen.
8:00am
One and large Tom under Joel's stand, came out of the east corn field.
3 large toms came off of Mooneys
All within 10 yards of Joel's stand.
One large Tom on south bank of pond, moving east.
One large Tom in the food plot.
645am
2 year old doe 100 yards from north two man stand by lone tree.
Moving SW to NE diagonally.
Yearling doe and mature doe 50 yard south of Joel's stand. Moved on east.
Monday 11/12/2012
18 degree wind chill.
I took off work to help Justin.
Mary had van trouble on the way to work, had to go swap vehicles with her.
Justin and I went back up with Leon’s ¾ ton and the trailer, loaded and hauled his jeep back to Barb & Leon’s
Justin loaded the extra gear we had to leave behind.
I grabbed a trail cam, cleared the shoot house one last round and hunted along the way.
Hit the Pick & Pull on the way home for parts.
Went to dinner at V’s with Mary at 7pm.
Went and got a couple of dresses for Mary for Noche De Gala (coming up on Thursday evening) at JC Penney.
9:30 PM, saw a big doe dead at 40 highway and Hardy on the south side of the road.
Full speed weekend, rain, shine, sleet or snow and ready for the next one!
Sunday 11/11/2012
Raining hard at 3 am, as forecasted.
Wind gusting.
Didn’t care, was warm, toasty and comfortable in the shoot house (built and erected years ago for just such an occasion). (with the sound of rain on the roof)
Slept in until 7 am, got up started working on deer in a down pour.
54 degrees at this point.
Raining sideways
Temperature was 25 degrees 2 hours later.
Steve and Justin quartered and deboned deer in the barn.
Justin caped out the 8 pointer.
Cleared the shoot house, double stacked the rack on the jeep, loaded Deer, humans, hardware and headed home about 11 am in a hard stinging sleet shower.
Traditional McDonalds stop for lunch.
Dozen or more deer hit along the highway.
Dropped Justin and Steve at Barb & Leons (to get Leon’s truck)
Ethan home and gone back to school at 3pm.
Check one trail cam card only to find….Yep, that 4 point buck, on the trail cam from directly behind the new two man stand.
Justin’s place must be his core area. Now we wait!!!
Saturday 11/10/2012
Alarm went off at 5 AM.
Justin called at 5:15AM
“Wake up, wake up, I hit a deer, get up!, come tow me in!”
I get dressed and left to pull Justin in, Eliott and Ethan hunt.
Big doe smashed the front of Justin’s jeep. Repairable, but still expensive. …and he only has one vehicle.
Pulled it 5 miles listening to stories from Steve about “Deer vs. Car” from his work as a firefighter. Most people end up injured or dead.
Neither were hurt. A blessing.
Got back to Justin’s place a day break, moving on with hunting, nothing you can do about it at that point.
I’m in civilians, heading back to the shoot house and the radio pops, it’s Eliott, “Ethan, deer, 50 yards right in front of you.” (Eliott in a new 2 man stand he I erected a year ago, right on a deer trail, just at the end of the pond dam.)
They chatter back and forth for a bit, I stop in the trees, Ethan comes back “Nice body, but it’s a four pointer.” Let it walk, moved on east.
Justin, Steve and I move on, I’m not even back in the shoot house and I hear a shot from the 14 acre field, Steve walked up on four does., hit one of them, the others took off south. 30 minutes later, the four point is back under Steve’s SE stand.
Then the 4 pointer moved north, ended up under Justin’s stand in NE corner.
I called Johnny from the woods, only to find him and Joel sitting on a bean field to see if he was an option for hauling Justin’s jeep back to KC.
Wind gusts kicked up at sun up and stayed gusty all day as forecasted.
Day went on, Steve & Justin cleaned and quartered Steve’s doe, Steve, Justin and Eliott went into town for ice.
75 degrees and hot by this time.
Ethan and I hung out in the shoot house. Talked college.
Back in the stands about 3pm, I took the new two man, Eliott went to the 14 acre field, Ethan shoot house, Justin NE, Steve SE.
Heard a few shots back south of the black top, nothing too serious.
About 4:45, the radio pops and Justin says “Glen is on the phone, watch the south fence row, said he saw a nice size deer heading north. Keep an eye on the south fence row.”
I find my radio batteries are dead and can’t transmit. I immediately clear the stand I am in and head for the SW corner (Turkey Corner) to cover the other end of the south fence row.
I got in the stand like a cat, just in case that deer moving from the south was anywhere close. Settled in and sent Justin and Ethan a text to tell them I had moved.
I’m watching fields, watching the ravine, etc. I see something behind me coming from the NW, (not the deer Glen talked about) and turn around and it is another 110-120ish class, 8 point buck like I shot last year, spraying and scenting up everything on Glen’s side of the fence 100 yards away, behind me and too my right. Difficult to see and stand space is limited for movement. So I watch the movement with my peripheral vision.
Hit the “Buck Roar” (to get him on Justin’s side of the fence), He responds with a look, but acts board with it and keeps on scenting things up, hit the grunt three more times, he comes closer every time and eventually over the fence. He gets within 60 yards for me, behind and to my right. I had Ethan’s breach load .308 as he had my rifle in the shoot house. (for range)
Fear of giving up my position, while he was looking for the previous grunts, I swung around the breach load, left handed, one handed, got the best sight picture I could and hit him in the right side of his neck, front of the shoulder blade, through his heart and left lung, exiting the rib cage on the left side.
Dropped on the spot, never moved again.
2 seconds later, another shot rang out from the shoot house, Ethan hit what he thought was a doe (turned out to be a button), in the field, along the east tree line.
I called Justin on the cell phone as he was on the radio saying “What’s all the shooting, sounds like we are defending ourselves. Wait, your Dad is calling me.”
Justin brought the deer cart over from the barn collected my deer, then we went and got Ethan’s deer.
Dark (black) by this point, Eliott dressed them out by flashlight, we carted the deer back to camp.
On the way back to camp, Eliott says, “Man, considering all the problems, this is the best deer season ever.”
We cleaned up a bit and went to Bethany and had Mexican food at Eliott’s favorite spot, “El Nopal”.
Went to bed under clear skies and a blanket of a million stars again.
Friday, 11/9/2012
Ethan came home from MU, finalized his gear that Eliott had prepared for him.
Arrived at Justin’s place around 9:30 pm, set up in the shoot house, went to bed under a million stars and the moonlight.
Rifle Youth season
Saturday 11/3/2012
6:45am
Doe under Eliott's stand for 45 min
Shots fired east 7:35, 7:52, 9:48
5:30pm
Two small does traveling east to west crossing the big field diagonally through lone tree and finger passage way. Same travel path and direction of the buck Matt shot in 2011.
Archery
Thursday 11/1/2012
5:30pm
3 deer in the alfalfa
8:11am
Justin reported;
Two Toms,one strutting in the Alfalfa
(1/2) THAT WAS AWESOME!!!!! The toms came by at 50 yds then a doe fawn and a button walked underneath me. That is high you can not buy. The longbeard strutted
(2/2) through the woods. The deer traveling west to east NE corner.
Archery
Tuesday 10/30/2012
Justin reported
NE corner
Large deer, could not see antler count feeding in Ron'a field.
5 deer
5x5 running with 3x3 and three does
Archery
Saturday 10/27/2012
4:28pm
5 deer immediately behind the two man stand. Split along the treelike headed for the creek bed east.
6:26pm
Two doe feeding 10 yards west of lone tree in the food plot.
6:45pm
Found dead yearling button buck on west side of pond, east side of dam, south corner. Rigors, in tact, no visible injuries.
7:13 pm
5x5 standing on the gravel road
Fall 2011
Sunday, October 9, 2011
While working on the blind and preping a Tree Stand Skirt;
7:00 AM
Two Adult Racoons directly under the north two-man stand..
9:15 AM
Eliott decided to try to track here, took off through the woods, came back around 9:15, out of breath and wide eyed.
"No doe, got a story for you though. Bobcat!. He came from the south heading north out in the open field, across the west tree line. He was trotting along, say me, stopped, turned towards me, took a couple of steps towards me, then got spooked and ran off into the finger treeline."
No evening hunt.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
6:45 AM
Justin - One mature Doe, two yearling does crossing over SE corner, moving north east. No clean shot..
Sunday September 25, 2011
Rossi returned the Trifecta. Replaced the firing spring pin under lifetime warranty
Sighted it in at Lake City. Placing three rounds on paper at 100' within a quarter.
Fall 2010
Daylight Savings begins on Sunday November 7, 2010
Saturday, October 30, 2010 - (Opening Day Youth Season)
6:15 AM
1 Tom Turkey, South East passage way. Milling around eating.
6:45AM
Everyhing is very dry. Lots of noise from walking or rusling of leaves.
Eliott and I are in the 2 man stand East Field.
Heard some distinct walking directly behind the tree/stand to our backs. We could not move to see or get off a shot.
Turning and looking, a doe was 20 yards behind the stand to the north. She didn't like things and decided to run. She went down through the creek bed and headed south west.
5:30 PM
6 Racoons near the finger milling around eating grasshoppers.
Fall 2009
November 11, 2009 - 6:00 AM
Justin was Bow hunting last week.
6 AM, he goes through the field sees some figures and moves towards the Lone Tree.
Peaks around the brush and there is a 10 pointer in food plot (80-100 yds from the shoot house) with 5 Doe. He’s scenting the Does, head down, grunting, etc.
All of a sudden from the east tree line here comes another, bigger 10 pointer with 6 inch brow tines, running right in front of the shoot house, straight for the other buck.
They face off, charge and lock up, then they back off, stare each other down, snort a bit and do it again, clacking, grass and mud flying everywhere. Doe scatter.
…too far out of bow range so Justin just watched.
Finally, the original buck gives in and heads for the passage that leads to the next property and the dominant one took off after him.
That is better than killing a deer! Years of hunting and that is the first time he has ever seen a fight.
I would love to see something like that in person. Way cool!
So far, in three different days of hunting youth season 2009, we have seen 14 deer, in 40 acres, 3 of the 5 bucks could be takers depending on your hunting phase.
The two 10 pointers where wide as their ears, so they would be acceptable to take I would assume, but, the neighbor indicated that there are three other bucks he has seen on his place in the last 2 weeks that are bigger than those.
However, when the lead starts flying, they get smart real quick and “deer talk” is like “fishing stories”. They are always “Good sized” or “Nice little…” or some justification and they always look bigger than they really are.
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All confirmable deer sightings and kills by all the group (Click here for photos)
Saturday November 14, 2009
Morning Hunt
5:45 AM, 1 Doe kicked up off the pond, ran north across the dam, stopped immediately in the thicket on the other property line.
6:00 AM, 1 Tom Turkey, on the ground, sunny south west 100 yds south of the blind.
6:30 AM 5 Doe come in on the NE end, briefly trailed in behind a stand on the other side of the tree line and back on to another property.
7:00 AM 1 four pointer in the Alfalfa, NE end.
8:30 AM 2 Doe and yearling doe ran 80 yards in front of the shoot house. Unprepared to take a clean shot, moving quickly.
9:00 AM 2 Doe moving south along the SW fence line leaving the 40, heading west.
11:00 AM 1 8 pointer, near the fruit trees, 175 yds, taken.
Evening Hunt
3:30 PM 3 Doe cleared the SW corner, just under the stand went over the fence on to neighboring property.
3:30 PM, 100 yards east of the blind, in the trees, found a entire skeleton of an 8 point, 18" high buck. Have the skull.
3:45 PM, 1 four pointer came out of the corn, into the NE corner, meandered around grazing a bit the disappeared north into the creek bed.
4:10 PM 1 Doe, near the NE creek bed stand, taken.
4:15 PM 1 dark mature deer spooked through the creek bed moving north, antlered, big enough to see, but could not get a count, clean look or clean shot.
4:17 PM 1 Doe and 1 Button moving west from the creek bed tree line, 75 yds from the blind. Doe taken, Button taken 3 minutes later through the trees, appeared to be a Doe from the stand.
4:45 PM 1 8 pointer in the Alfalfa, NE corner, responded to grunting briefly and then turned back out of the field, headed east into the corn.
4:50 PM 1 Spike came crashing through the corn, come towards the grunting and rattling, hit the field looking directly in the direction of the call. Hung around trotting back and forth in the field for 15 minutes.
5:00 PM 1 Doe, 150 yds west of the blind, in the field, grazing a bit then wandering back to the tree line.
5:20 PM 1 Doe, 220 yds NW of the blind, in the same corner the Doe was taken last in 2008, hung around until it was too dark to see her.
Sunday November 15, 2009
Morning Hunt
8:15 AM, 1 Doe came out of the trees between the 20 acre and 14 acre fields and ran south through the alfalfa on to the neighboring property
9:21 AM, 1 Tom Turkey, flying west from the Alfalfa, across the 20 acre field, above the tree canopy, landed in the tree line on the east side of the 20 acre field.
Evening Hunt
4:30 PM 1 Doe in the 20 acre field, out of range for a Youth, .243.
5:45 PM 1 Spike Buck, 220 yds NW of the blind, in the same corner the Doe was taken last in 2008 and one seen in the same location on Saturday at 5:20 PM, to take an ethical shot. Threw her tail and left headed west into the tree line.
27 Deer sightings, on a 40 acre piece of Missouri. Talk all you like about large acreage and more population of deer, but, the simple fact is, if you provide a habitat to attract a given animal or animals (not unlike you trash on you back porch), they will come, they will use the area. Simple.
Countless trails, runs and tracks and rubs, one in fact, to include a 4' diameter area where the buck has been pawing the ground, less than 20 yds from the camper.
As a side note, 1 10 pointer and a mature doe were taken on the property immediately west off the property line. 10 pointer was taken, first shot heard of the day on Saturday.
Sunday November 22, 2009
Limited number of shots heard throughout the day. 6 Shots total, 3 were consecutive.
Morning Hunt
9:30 AM, 1 Doe came out of the SE Corner heading east, 100 yds later, threw her tail and sprinted through the treeline and across the adjacent property heading south full speed.
10:30 AM, 2 Doe, 1-2 year old and a yearling, came out of the SE Corner, came within 80 yds of the blind on the south side and stopped. Youth hunter, single shot, .243 took aim, pulled the trigger and a misfire occurred. Doe's took off in a trot, headed into the NW corner of the finger of trees. Lesson learned. Read Divine Intervention for the details
Evening Hunt
2:30 PM, 3 Tom Turkeys, came out of the finger of trees and ran south in a column across the west side of the field and disappeared into Turkey corner.
On the last Sunday of rifle deer season, we went again, hoping to get Eliott a deer.
I witnessed some Divine Intervention on Sunday despite Eliott’s disappointment.
Two Doe. One about 1 ½-2 year old, one a yearling. Both dangerously inexperienced. (Dead, both of them had it been me)
They come out of the SE corner (we seen a mature doe an hour earlier, smart however, threw her tail and split across Glen’s moving out!), wander along the property line/tree line 75 yds from the shoot house.
I’m asleep, Eliott spots them, wakes me up, tells me to get up slowly.
I hide behind the curtains, get Eliott positioned out the window just over the stove.
The doe keep moving and stop 60-75 yds, directly in front of the window, broadside and turns her head and looks directly at the shoot house.
By this time, Eliott has the crosshair on her, I’m peaking out over the curtain and telling Eliott, take the bigger one of the two.
I hear “click”. …and Eliott looks surprised, rolls his rifle over, checks the safety and it is on fire.
Then he looks back a me, heart pounding, breathing heavy, like “What the…??!!!” He pulls it back in, we crack it open and I see the primer had been hit, pull out the round and it was a misfire, dud, something. Still have the round.
Ethan offers his rifle, I said, no, let’s just reload (as the doe are figuring things out), so we get it reloaded, start to get set back up and by now, the doe get the idea and gracefully trot towards the west/NW tree line, heading for the back corner of the finger of trees, 240 yds +. Too late and too far for the boys rifles.
Eliott was crushed. No tears but a fabulous lesson and very mature response.
Eliott, what do you do in that situation?
“Reload. I know that, but you can tell a kid that 100 times and until it happens and you experience it, you can’t learn the lesson.”
“…all I was thinking was my first deer, I’m going to be using my new knife gutting it in a few minutes…”
I told him. “One step at time bud. Identify the target, sight picture, breath, give the rifle some love and squeeze. When the thing is on the ground, you can think about all those other things.”
Of course he did most of that and the misfire was unexpected, but, he’s inexperienced.
Divine dude.
Sunday
We have already taken 4 deer.
Young dumb doe, misleading her child.
Youth hunter.
Close range.
First Deer.
New premium rounds (possibly damp powder as Eliott had a couple of the rounds in is mouth over youth season but I am doubtful. I bet if the round was re-chambered, it would fire)
New Rifle
God made it so.
I told Eliott, “Dude, that happened for a reason. That just means something bigger and better is coming your way.”
He said “Yeah, that’s probably the doe that will give birth to the 10 pointer I’ll get in 4 years.”
An experience to remember forever.
This sort of thing is what non-hunters and “women” simply do not get.
I have been incredibly impressed with Eliott over this deer season. A side of him I would have never seen or experienced had we not been in that tree stand, shoot house or deer camp.
Priceless.
"Quality Deer Management" is something to take into consideration and understand. Lots of scientific information and studies prove the point.