viewtopic.php?f=287&t=47018
After that kill I started to focus in on Ohio. 3 trips prior going to Ohio each the last 3 years I haven't been able to seal the deal. This year a new piece of public which I had never been to in person really caught my eye on Google maps. I studied it for days and days. Eastern Ohio on property that very steep rugged hilly terrain. Looking at historical aerials on Google earth and different topos, looking at property lines. One particular east facing ridge caught my attention. It would be a 1.4 mile walk in....
I noticed the prices for non residents jumped this year, that price increase almost stopped my from going. My wife and I spent a lot of coin this year remodeling our house and I just didn't know if I should go. But, Im so lucky and thankful though, she bought my license for me for our anniversary and really supported me on my trip. So thankful for her, she knew how bad I wanted to get out there.
So I picked a 4 day block to go for a mini rut-cation. 11/10 thru 11/13. But I would end up only needing 1 hour of 11-10!
This cold spell and west winds just lined up perfectly for me. I was grinning ear to ear when I checked the weather Sat morning at 2am and the forecast was a WSW. Exactly the wind for a leeward sit at my spot Ive had marked for weeks. I drove out Saturday morning. Walked backed to my spot. I was a little frustrated, I wanted to be set up before day break but it was a good 20 minutes after till I got up in my tree. The wind was strong. Contant 15-20 mph. I was set up on a military crest. Also along the ridge where i suspected i would be between 2 leeward bedding areas. And ontop of the the ridge shrunk down into a bottle neck and almost into a saddle. Just an ideal perfect pinch funnel for cruising. I kept my head on a swivel and it didn't take long!!At 8:10 am this guy came walking thru. He was 15 yards from me cruising parallel to the militsry crest traveling from S to N with the wind out of the West. Just text book leeward traveling. I noticed his rack was a little strange. He had a nice spread to him, his beams where nice but just not much for tines. But he was a large bodied deer and mature by my standards. So I didn't think twice. He took off down over the ridge and was able to run down to a creek botton before expiring.
I after I found him I gutted him and tagged him and headed back to my truck to unload my tree climber and bow and return for him with my cart. Once back at the truck I met a fellow hunter who graciously walked back with me and helped me wheel him the 1.4 miles back to my truck. It took us 3 hours to get him back to my truck! Along the way we talked and shared hunting stories. It was really fun. I had such a blast Saturday, 11-10-18.
I know these 2 bucks might not be huge slobs like many guys on this site are capable of but this year was huge for me! I 100% got out what I put in this year. And these 2 kills are dues paid going forward. This Ohio buck in particular, I learned so much about this new piece of land. Not just from my hunt and scouting but from the other hunter. He shared some friendly tips and let me know of some slobs that he had on camera in the area. It really boosted my confidence even more that my many hours spent cyber scouting a new area have paid off! To quote Stan, "You just gotta pay your dues" I feel like I am and I never had a year like this one. My efficiency is thru the roof since last year. This year will be one to build on and raise the bar a little higher going forward. Im really going thru a progression right now. Im seeing it unfold one hunt after another. Everything really came together this year. Now for next year I can get started early and set my sights even higher!
One last thing I gotta say, Thank you all. Thank you Dan! WE got it done!
