Opening day 9/14 I sat a spot which covers (kind of) two buck beds. Ended up seeing one spike buck a long ways away.
9/15
This was a ground hunt, and I was hunting a lone bed in the middle of cattails. It turned out I pushed in too far and bumped 2 deer, one was a nice 120-130's class buck bedding on the leeward side of a slight hill.
Buck bed is to the right of the picture.
9/16
I hunted this spot once last year, and once this year, no deer sighted either time. Might be time to dump this spot.
9/17
This was another ground hunt. Hunting a lone bed under a cottonwood, which I discovered while dragging out a big buck a couple of years ago. It turned out I setup adjacent to a bachelor buck bedding area (which I did not know about). Had a spike buck at 8 yards that totally pegged me, but I could have shot when he turned to leave. He also stomped a few times, after he stomped I heard brush breaking in the thicket, I think the other bucks he was with decided to circle down wind to smell what the disturbance was. They smelled me and blew. Blown hunt, but excellent intel for next year.
The bed I thought I was hunting was to the left about 60 yards into the cattails. It turned out a bachelor group of bucks was bedding in the thicket to my right. The spike buck came out into the opening from the right.
9/18
I was hunting a point jutting out into the cattails. Snuck in real quiet, no deer seen.
9/19
Ground hunt, very hot day, 83 degrees. Just before prime time I had rain, wind and a heck of a lightning storm which made me quite nervous. No deer seen.
When it is hot, sometimes we strip.
Bedding is to the left.
9/20
Hunted a point on an island which I hunted last year and saw three bucks. No deer seen.
Bedding is to the right.
9/21
Hunted a bowl in the transition line. Very crunchy walk in, I really took my time, when I crunched something I stopped for a few minutes. This was a ground hunt and ended up giving me a ton of confidence. I set up within 60 yards of a bedded buck in noisy terrain. I passed the shot, he was a nice looking young buck. Had him at 5 yards.
Bedding is to the right.
9/22
Hunted with my daughter in the afternoon. No deer seen. This was set up on a travel corridor.
9/29
Hunted the same spot I hunted on opening day. Since I did not see a buck come out of either bed I was hunting (and it rained) I thought I would give this spot another try. About 45 minutes prior to dark I heard sticks breaking and a heck of a racket coming from the bedding area to my left. He must have really been working over the brush. I listened to him for the rest of the evening. Interestingly he never got to the woods (where hunters setup) until it was too dark to shoot. Had I been sitting 15 yards to my left I would have had a 15 yard shot. I would have shot this buck, he was a 3 y.o. I believe. Learned a lot on this hunt too. It is one thing to listen to Dan talk about how a buck doesn't move much away from his staging area in pressured areas. It is a real eye opener to see it in person. I believe.
Buck was bedded to the left, about 60 yards away. I setup on the wrong trail.
10/5
Went in blind to an unscouted area, it was a point jutting off some woods. Rained quite hard for an hour, I got soaked. No deer seen.
10/6
Hunted a brushy point, passed on a 4 pointer at 15 yards about 2 hours prior to dark. Hunt got buggered by waterfowl hunters at prime time.
10/12
Hunted a bed on an island, which is a mile walk through nasty stuff. Wind and approach seemed flawless. No deer seen.
Bed is straight ahead on the left.
10/13
Hunted a brush area which I found bedding on this past spring. A lone doe came out at 60 yards.
Bed is to the right, past the large tree.
10/19
Hunted with my daughter, just around prime time it sounded like a freight train was coming across the marsh, the wind was blowing like crazy! My daughter didn't like the "free ride" and wanted to leave, so I looped around and drove the bedding area to her. No deer.
Bedding area straight ahead, other side of the cattails.
10/20
Hunted a slight finger of brush coming out of the main woods. Light rain all afternoon. No deer seen.
10/26
First morning hunt, hunted where I killed an eight pointer last year. No deer seen. After the morning sit I hunted a brushy bowl on the main woods transition line. Had a doe right below me, heard splashing and chasing 30 minutes later.
11/1
First hunt in Iowa of the year. All day sit. Saw 5 deer total, had 6 pointer at 15 yards. Nice 10 pointer cut below me, no shot.
11/2
Hunted a different public area in Iowa. Had two flashlights bobbing up the hill in the dark, turned my light on and the other hunters left. Saw 3 bucks and two does, had a nice 2 y.o. work a licking branch and make a scrape in front of me. Could have shot one doe and two bucks. All day sit.
Nice sunrise. I could see Wisconsin from my stand!
This spot has three ridges coming together right in front of me.
11/3
Had a 1.75 mile walk in the dark to hunt a ravine funnel. Saw 6 deer total, 2 bucks, one was a spike. Sat all day. Setting my stand in the dark my top strap wasn't locked (rubber inner-tube was caught in the strap cam buckle mechanism) and when I stepped on the stand (18 feet up) the strap loosened up. I was able to hug the tree and step back to my sticks. I swapped my top and bottom strap and got her hung. Thankfully I didn't have to test my harness (I was connected to the tree).
11/4
Hunted a different property, 1.7 mile walk, saw 2 bucks and 3 does. I drew on a nice eight pointer but passed the shot. After watching the buck after I passed, I wished I would have shot him. All day sit.
11/5
Had a squirrelly wind, rainy and foggy, so instead of burning a good spot, went in blind to an unscouted spot. No deer, half day hunt.
11/6
I hunted the leeward side of a large ridge, saw one doe and one 2 y.o. buck. Could have shot the doe. Saw the same buck 3 or 4 times. My brothers friend was hunting 0.25 miles away and saw a decent 8 pointer but was not ready, no shot. The doe came from behind me. The buck was downhill out of range.
11/7
Hiked up a hill and scaled a small cliff. Passed a doe at 5 yards in the AM. At noon I moved 60 yards to the west into some thick stuff. Saw 3 does total.
11/8
Hunted a finger of woods (ravine) extending out of the main ridge between two corn fields. I entered the woods from the top (field side). Interestingly when I hunted another property and entered from the bottom of the ridge (no crop fields) I bumped a ton of deer, from the top with standing corn, I jumped no deer
. Cold frosty morning, 21 degrees. Saw 5 does, and killed a ten pointer at 2:35 PM.
My brother was hunting one ridge to the north and left at noon because the bucks were "not moving".
11/11
Back in Wisconsin, rain turned to snow, hunted until 10:30 was soaked and freezing. No deer.
Picture before the snow started.
11/12
Wind chill of 8 degrees, hunted a transition line. Very cold. No deer.
11/13
Cold and windy. Hunted a finger of woods jutting out into the cattails. No deer. Hunted until noon. Saw a rooster when I got back to the truck.
11/14
Hunted a new spot, then moved at noon. No deer. All day hunt.
11/15
Walked over a mile through marsh grass, cattails and some spots of thigh deep water. Saw 1 doe and 4 bucks, all 2 y.o. No action until noon. Could have shot one of the bucks. Quite a bit of mid day chasing.
11/16
Hunted the transition line near where I killed my buck last year, rainy and misty all morning. No deer.
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I'll skip gun/muzzleloader season
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12/28
Hunted a bed I found last year while dragging out my buck. This was an afternoon hunt. No deer.
Bed is near the larger tree straight ahead.
12/31
Hunted a bed in the transition line. I was 5 feet off the ground in a scrub tree. Had a doe at 10 yards, passed the shot. Afternoon hunt.
Bed is on the outer edge of the brush to the right.
I learned a ton this year about bed hunting, the Hunting Beast gave me the outline of how bed hunting is done. I just have to fill in the blanks with real world scouting and hunting. In total I bow hunted 33 days and killed one buck.
[glow=red]Is anybody still awake?
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