Legacy

8 hours ago, machzrcr said:

Been going almost everyday.  Hitting different properties trying to find me a good one that's still alive!  Let the grind continue!  

No doubt the grind time of the year! Good luck!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

11 hours ago, dremarquis said:

1.     1. I know that it is best to spend as much time as possible in your stand during the rut, but given work and family responsibilities, I know I’m not the only one who has to use their time as “efficiently” as possible. My question to all of you is: if you have only 4 hours to hunt on a day during the rut (esp. chasing phase) would it be:

a    a) Dawn to noon

b   b) 10a-2p

c    c) 1p-dusk

I hunt a lot of public lands and don’t put trail cameras there because the first year I did that, they both were stolen (along with 3 stands that had good chains on them!). I also hunt 15 acres of private land that i put trail cams on and during this year’s rut, I saw the most mature bucks from 10a-2p.

 

I     2. I know not everyone buys into the “second rut” (i.e., one month after the primary rut) but if you do, would you hunt the same hours as you answered in question #1?

Thank you very much and good luck to all! and Happy Thanksgiving!

andre

1.

I prefer mornings during the rut. If i had to gamble on a 4 hr window during peak rut I would pick the am shift. The time time period Im talking about is Halloween through the first week of gun season. Bucks tend to be extremely active during those hours at that time of year. Also if they are finished breeding a doe they seem to leave her in search of another during the morning hours. 

2.

The second rut can provide some action but obviously not like the primary rut. Bucks can been seen cruising in the am however the best bet is to concentrate on a hot pm food sources. If you have a hot late season food source then the bucks will show up to find hot does and to eat. It could be a cut bean field, cut corn, ect but you may have to scout it to make sure. I typically start scouting for these spots the last week of shotgun season. Cameras are great but having snow on the ground also paints a good picture. The peak of the late rut coexists with our muzzleloader season so the deeper into the muzzleloader season the less pressure the woods has and bucks are more inclined to walk during daylight hours. The more deer in the field the safer they feel. If you have a spot pulling 15-20+ deer in the afternoon I would bet that mature bucks will show up. However if you dont have the hot food source then it may be better to turn your attention to am hunts in thick bedding. 

November 20 am

22 degrees

Frosty

Partly sunny

Calm wind

Picture perfect morning to be in the deer woods. Cold. Hard frost. Calm wind. Perfect. My morning had a decent amount of action with lots of bucks cruising. 14 does/fawns and 8 bucks seen. Of the 8 bucks 3 of them were matures including a giant 8 pt. 

At about 8ish I spotted a big stud 8pt about 200 yards away. He quickly sent checked the does in front of him and moved on. Right behind him was a younger, decent buck but that seemed to be just following him around. I grunted a couple times but I'm guessing they just cruised past me in the thick stuff. About 10 minutes went by and a doe fawn popped out of the woods and then a mature doe. It was obvious they were bumped. My guess was by the two bucks I just saw. The doe and fawn were acting nervous and I was begging for another showing from the big 8. Unfortunately two young bucks from opposite directions show up and the doe and fawn quickly escape from their harassment. I watch as all the deer seem to go their separate ways and the woods goes quiet again. I'm still focused on the woods out in front of me when I hear the scuffle of leaves next to me. I turn my head expecting to see a squirrel and to my surprise this 11 point is 5 yards from me. He somehow snuck in on my blind spot and I quickly made the decision to shoot. Thankfully my gun was already in my lap (from all the previous action). I raised the gun only to realize I could find the deer in the scope. I quickly turned the power all the way down and found him in the scope. I gave him a quick mouth grunt to stop him in an opening in the thick stuff and squeezed the trigger. He quickly exited and I honestly thought for a second that I missed. His reaction to the shot didn't seem like much. I gave it about 30 minutes and got down to see if I could find blood and it was every where. I could see a blood trail going down the deer trail like someone threw red paint in the woods. I walked out and gave it two hours and returned with my kid. The blood trailing was easy and the deer was piled within 65 yards from my tree. One lung and heart shot.

BBD!

Just saw a stud 8 pt on his feet!

Trespasser #2 on the year. Two days into gun season and two different trespassers.

November 19 pm

41 degrees

Partly sunny

WNW wind 15 mph becoming calm

Lots of action this afternoon from the time I sat down up until I went to leave. 12 bucks and 18 does/fawns. Only one mature bucks amongst the group with the other 11 being 1.5 year olds. No doubt there was a hot doe in the north woods. Might have to rethink my plan for tomorrow morning.

23 minutes ago, Roys Boys said:

Hunted state land this am hiked 1.5 miles walk in with the saddle seen some good action.. heard a shot about 400 yards away.. talked to a guy that had a deer stolen yesterday. I guess he shot it when to the truck to drop layers and get stuff talked to a couple guys in the parking lot and went in the woods to a gut pile, got back to the parking lot and someone said a guy just loaded up the deer and left 

That's crazy

Just now, Legacy said:

Some heavy chasing going on in the adjacent property!!!!

Just saw my number 1 target. Nose to the ground, intensely searching out this doe on the adjacent property! Had the gun on him again. 140 yards in a full trot! The heart is pumping!

Some heavy chasing going on in the adjacent property!!!!

November 18 pm

44 degrees

Partly sunny

SW wind 5-10 mph

Well I don't think I need to put a report up about my morning sit but I will make mention that I did see three bucks.

On to my afternoon. Bumped a doe and a small buck walking in just inside the woods. As I kept walking I met them on the other side of this small woods patch. I stopped and watched the small buck run out of sight. just as I went to keep walking i noticed the doe starring at me from about 80 yards away. I put her in the scope to confirm and while I was bringing my gun down my #1 buck walked out. I slowly dropped to one knee but before I could get the gun on him the doe took off along with him right behind her. Chalk it up as a missed opportunity .

Overall on the day I saw 12 bucks and close to 20 does/fawns. I did pass on a decent buck. He passed through fairly quickly and my immediate reaction was to let him pass. Hopefully I don't regret the pass .

Tag filled! Didnt go 20!!!

Look at this monster buck!!!! I'd love to know how old he is.

Opening day gun season

The bad...

Well the morning started with a trespasser to the north of me shooting 14 times before 8am. He's a local guy and he just doesn't care about anything. I walked out about 10am to help my kid with his deer and found my truck was egged. Yes I said egged. I'm making the assumption that one of the neighbor's assumed it was me shooting up the woods right behind houses and was p*ssed. While I was loading my kids deer in my truck I got a picture of a trespasser (assuming it was the same guy) walking passed the stand I was just in. Please make note of the attire.

Ridiculous stuff. 

Opening day gun season

The good ...

We the highlight of my day was my kid taking down one of our target bucks. It was a unique deer with a double beam and he was very visible on cameras for us all season. I'm pretty damn impressed with the season he has had!

My kid punched his buck tag this morning!

Trespasser, 200 yards from me, on the adjoining property has shot 14 times... Is my hunt ruined??? Wtf