Come on December...

It's finally here!!! The bucks are chasing hard and I have had bucks chasing doe like crazy the past 3 days. No bucks down yet, but I hope to get after them on Wednesday and Thursday Morning.

Quick summary of season so far

It has been a hot an uneventful month in western, TN. I have seen one buck while on the stand, and given he was a shooter I only caught about 5-10 seconds of him. I hope to keep this journal a little better as the rut kicks off and cooler weather begins to show up.

I have shot and harvested one doe on October 13th. I got in the stand a little bit later than I would have liked and jumped a batchelor group going in. I ended up having several doe come through feeding on the white oak acorns that were falling all around me. I had made up my mind that I was not going to take a doe and wait and see if any of the bucks I had bumped would show back up. Well as dark began to set in I came to the realization that the bucks were not coming back, but with the hot weather I was still not very excited about killing a doe. Well it continued getting dark and this one doe made her way through my shooting lane for the 6th time and I decided to take her. She was quartering away and my shot was a littled farther back than I wanted it to be, but 200 or so yards later we found her and got her dressed out and in a cooler.

Muzzleloader will open this weekend and with the cooler weather and a falling moon I hope to get a shot at a deer. Hopefully I will be able to get some pics posted before to long.

I have done a poor job keeping this thing up...

Well, what can I say....This has been a very fun deer season. I have seen 6 good bucks, tons of small bucks and does, and have had a blast just about everytime I have been out. I had a good weekend. Went out to tipton county yesterday and saw some new scrapes and rubs around the food plot. Hopefully I will be able to make it out there later this week. Anyway, I hope to be more actively posting the last three weeks of the season. Good Hunting!

A very exciting and depressing few days!?!

First off, let me say that last weekend was youth weekend so I did not get to go. I had alot of work to catch up on after being out for three weeks and it kept me bogged down through Wednesday. However, I took Thursday and got some hunting in. This is when the story begins:

I sat down in the stand right at shooting light and thought, 'I oughta turn the can over a couple of times.' So I did, and with in seconds I hear a grunt and the leaves crunching under hooves of what I hope is Mr. Big. The buck worked his way in and it was a 2.5 year old 5 point, I actually have a picture posted of this deer from last year below. He looks indentical to what he did last year except alot taller. He eventually made his way into the thicket and disappeared. About an hour passed and all of the sudden the sound of leaves again over my left shoulder and for the next 20 minutes or so I listened to a buck hounding some does. They eventually made their way by my stand, but before the buck came out into the open I got busted by one of the girls and the show was over. Another hour passed and I was about to get down when I caught some movement up the road about 75 yards. It was a group of doe, 8 to be exact. One of which made the mistake of crossing my shooting lane at 20 steps. I let the arrow go and hit her a little bit high. I waited for about 30 minutes climbed down and went to investigate the scene. There was good blood, not great blood, but good blood. So I decided to take my time and ease through the woods in search of her. A mile and a half later she walked into the thickest junk I have ever tried to get in in my life. She got in to deep and I never found her. She is dead, there is not doubt in my mind, but sad.

Friday, got a call from my good buddy Jeff, and he invited me to go out to one of his spots. As reliving this story is painful, I will just say that I had a shot at a wall hanger, monster 8, and hit him poorly because of a wayward branch that went unnoticed by my naked eye.

Monday Morning I sat in the pouring rain for 3 hours and saw 7 deer, 6 bucks, 2 of which were shooters. Nothing came within range, but it was still a fun morning.

If you want more details about the big 8 who has haunted my dreams since friday, give me a call or post a comment.

Its been a little while

I have been in Sioux City, NE for the past three weeks training with Great West Casualty Company. I am jealous of the deer that they have up in this area of the country. I have not been hunting in three weeks, but I am excited to get up in a tree soon. I am hoping that some big boy has decided that 'home' is underneath one of my stands. I plan on trying to get up a tree saturday. If I do, I will let you know.

Second Weekend...A swing and A miss

Wow! What great weather for the end of September! Friday afternoon Jeff, Dad, and I went out. Jeff went into a new set that had never been hunted, while Dad and I went to the Crows Nest. The Moon was set to rise at 5:30 PM, and I told both dad and Jeff that the deer would be moving about that time. They both laughed and joked about it....but guess what happened at 5:30!?! Two Deer came underneath the Crows nest, and three deer ended up under Jeff. The two fawns under me were too small, but Jeff had a mature doe within 20 yards. And guess what dead eye did!!! MISSED!!! Yep he missed. He spent the rest of the day looking for his arrow, and Dad and I went the rest of the evening without seeing anything else. Saturday morning was beautiful! Cool air and Sunny morning made for an enjoyable sit. I saw two does at about 100 yards, and Torrent saw about 7 or 8 deer. Was a great weekend, but still nothing to talk about...except for Jeff's miss!!!

Opening Morning

I woke up about thirty minutes before my alarm was set to go off. I attempted to fall back asleep, but with no success. I flipped out of bed and began getting ready to leave. I was in the tree and ready to hunt a good 40 minutes prior to shooting light, and much to my surprise had not left anything at the house. I was ready. The morning started off quickly as 5 deer made their way through a shooting lane at about 25 yards. It was to early to make out what they were but the fact that I was in a stand, I had my bow, and deer where within shooting range had my blood flowing. Those deer passed at approx. 6:30 AM, it would be another two hours before another deer would come by. In the mean while I was entertained by at least 5 tree rats, a rabbit, and three yotes that I hoped would come into bow range. They never did. At about 8:20 AM a parade of year and a half year old bucks made their way through the woods passing directly beneath my stand. One a five point that set surprisingly high off of his head, to four points that looked like they could be twins, and a spike that I have some pictures of in velvet. I enjoyed the show and hoped that some boss hog was walking behind them, but no such luck. about ten minutes later 2 doe came through ending my morning hunt. One deer was noticably acting crazy. Will be interesting to see if she was just feeling spunky or if something is wrong with her.