2020 Whitetail “Die”ary

[LukeTM]

July 23rd

I was low on time so I headed out to shine Josh’s area to try and re-locate that 11 point I saw last time I was out. No luck. I guess my hot streak ended because after an hour and twenty minutes of shining I only located 13 deer, all does. The crazy part... NO FAWNS!! I would think they’d be out by now... it’s almost August.

I’m not worried about the lackluster night out... I’m more used to that than I am seeing shooters the wife is on call this weekend plus there’s rain in the forecast, so idk if i’ll Make it out observing. Most likely not.



On a side note, we had a scare with my oldest daughter. We were going to get her tonsils taken out, but they couldn’t do surgery because they found out she had a blood clotting issue. Her blood would take a very long time to clot. So today we took her to the Children’s Hospital in Minneapolis, but long story short, her labs came back perfect! The doc even had an explanation as to why things worked out the way they did. So that’s a huge weight off our shoulders. When issues like that arise you always fear the worst. Cancer, etc

I avoid the East side of this God forsaken state as much as possible , but since I was there I swung into Cabelas in Rogers and made good use of some Cabelas Club points. I got a Leupold Freedom 3x9x40 scope with the Ultimate Slam reticle FOR FREE. $300 scope and I even have money left over I’ve been meaning to buy one for years but have been putting it off.

Can’t wait to mount it and get it dialed in.

You must have sent your hot streak down this way. I’ve just started a hot streak this past week! It’s getting pretty crazy. Glassed closed to the biggest buck I’ve ever seen two nights ago. Several more good ones earlier in the week.

Glad to hear your girl is doing well!

Hey, let us know if you need help with the burden of those leftover Cabela’s points...
Good luck!

[Lockdown]

Glad to hear it Luke! Btw you can keep my hot streak for a bit but I’m going to want it back shortly




I’m not sure if this will be a wrench In my gears or a blessing in disguise. Time will tell, but my wife broke her arm today. She was riding bike and hit a bit of a hazard by a tunnel opening. You can see she hit some slippery algae and wiped out pretty hard.


Broke her radius just above her elbow. She sees the ortho doc tomorrow to see if she needs surgery. So there’s going to be some down time regarding scouting.

She did mention that she’ll be sidelined from work (obviously) and her sister mentioned her and the girls heading to Grand Forks to stay with her for a while during her recoup.

That would be bliss for me. I NEVER get time alone at home. In fact, my wife hasn’t taken the girls anywhere overnight even once without me. Not once in 5.5 years! my parents have taken the kids many times but that always ends up as date night or catch up on the to do list.

But to be alone?! If that happens I’m going scouting EVERY DAY. I’ll keep you posted.

[greenhorndave]

Ouch.

Hope she heals up soon.

[Lockdown]

Doc said no cast or her arm will be fused at a right angle when the cast comes off So that doesn’t sound real promising

If it doesn’t break any worse she doesn’t need surgery. But she needs to ride it out with her arm in a sling.

Her work still wants her to come in to do computer stuff so it’s not looking good for her taking the kids to her sisters.

Hopefully grandpa and grandma come through for me

[seazofcheeze]

Doc said no cast or her arm will be fused at a right angle when the cast comes off So that doesn’t sound real promising

If it doesn’t break any worse she doesn’t need surgery. But she needs to ride it out with her arm in a sling.

Her work still wants her to come in to do computer stuff so it’s not looking good for her taking the kids to her sisters.

Hopefully grandpa and grandma come through for me

I feel like the appropriate comment here for your situation and your wife's situation is "Tough break".

[greenhorndave]

Doc said no cast or her arm will be fused at a right angle when the cast comes off So that doesn’t sound real promising

If it doesn’t break any worse she doesn’t need surgery. But she needs to ride it out with her arm in a sling.

Her work still wants her to come in to do computer stuff so it’s not looking good for her taking the kids to her sisters.

Hopefully grandpa and grandma come through for me

I feel like the appropriate comment here for your situation and your wife's situation is "Tough break".

That was really cheesy.

[Lockdown]

July 29th

Decided to put some boots on the ground at “the Donut Hole”. This place isn’t far from Location X and is near where I shined that big 9 with the deep forked g2. This is one of those spots where the property line taunts you. There’s two different bedding areas that are just across the line, and even if I set up ON the line I’m out of the game by 50-100 yards or so.

I feel that these bedding areas are legit because the public gets enough pressure to keep them pushed out and likely just onto the private. At least some of the time

I had some bedding that I’d never been to that I thought had some potential. When I got there, I saw a stand on the private that was a little too close for comfort. He’s there because of the inside corner of the field edge. Then on the other side I saw another stand. So it’s safe to say that if that guy hunts much at all, a big buck won’t feel comfortable there.

There is definitely some deer in there now though. I bumped 6 does and fawns off the field edge, and found a few beds in suspected bedding but nothing crazy.






Here’s something that some might overlook. These aren’t dead branches. It’s heavy browse from deer in this bedding. The shrubs only looked like that in a very small are near the beds. Once they start fanning out from bedding, the browse line disappears.





From there I checked out some buck bedding that is hard to hunt. It’s tough to know what way they’ll leave it. Either a trespasser or the DNR had a side by side out there and here’s what I found in the wheel track right on the edge of the bedding.





Okay maybe I need to put more time into this place I don’t know for sure how good that bedding is. But this lone turd has put it on my radar. The bedding is choked out with dogwood, willows, aspen and ash trees. It’s wet with dry ground in the center and that’s where the buck beds are. As mentioned before they can leave in any direction, it’s close quarters, and as always... its THICK. Idk how I’d even hunt it with nothing prepped but I might be able to figure something out. I do think it’s a little too high traffic for deer to be there when pressure ramps up. There’s plenty of good looking private nearby.

On the way back I checked on a kill tree I haven’t sat for a couple years. I did a little pheasant hunting through there in December (even got me a Rudy ) and I bumped several deer out of that bedding. Could easily see beds and tracks in the snow. So if that holds deer after the gun seasons... that’s really saying something. The only time I hunted that bedding I had half a dozen does come out. I’m excited to go back... I think it has potential.




I high tailed it to the truck and swung around the end of the property. YES! Bachelor group of bucks were out in the Ag. 4 bucks. 2 really nice two year olds and one that I couldn’t decide if he was 2 or 3. Two of them were 10’s they were moving west toward public. I didn’t stay and watch them long... no big boys so I kept moving.

I raced to location X to try and get a better look at that 3 yr old. I was in a good mood and couldn’t wait to get there and glass.

TRUCK.

Right in “my” spot. With a spotting scope aimed where I always aim mine.

I was a little irritated right away but got over it quickly. If he messes them up then so what.

I had 20 minutes of light left and raced (literally) to a big open property. Low and behold look what greeted me on a hill top





I don’t want to go into too many details at the moment but he’s going to be a tough one to kill. Never hunted or scouted this property and it does not have much for predictable bedding.

I shined after that and it was VERY slow, which was surprising considering numbers were REAL good during daylight.

I can’t believe how many bucks I’m seeing. I remember thinking last year during gun season that I wasn’t seeing many kill pics on social media or getting pics sent to my phone. Most people I talked to didn’t do well. Apparently a bunch of them made it through

[Uncle Lou]

Nice.

So this is why I must not kill good bucks, I just don't practice like some of you. Good luck Lockdown

[Lockdown]

Aug 1st
I headed up to the camper with the kiddos for the weekend. Wife was on call AGAIN (on call with a trainee since she’s one handed at the moment). The fish didn’t cooperate much, so I decided to take Elli scouting and shining with me - again, she’s 5. I took her last year and she loved it... I mean what kid doesn’t love using a ginormous flashlight

Overall it was pretty slow even though this is in a supposedly high dpsm area. We saw one little spiker and a half dozen does during daylight, then 4-5 does while shining. The highlight for me was Elli shining her first two deer of the night.

“SEE! I TOLD YOU THIS WAS THE BEST WAY TO FIND DEER!”
she loved it. She still says she wants to hunt...



Aug 4th
Mama was feeling good enough to let me out of the house I decided to watch the South end of the donut hole and verify where those bucks were coming from. As I expected, they were bedding on the neighbors in a low spot in the corn. Dogwood patch.

What a crop of bucks! Tons of potential. There was one buck who I thought MIGHT have been a modest short tined 3 yr old. He was an 11 pt due to a split g2, but his tallest tines weren’t even 6”. There was only one yearling and FIVE two year olds (5 included the maybe 3 yr). Normally those numbers would be flip flopped.

The bucks started dispersing and I got the feeling that it was late enough that this field was done for the day. Right or wrong, I high tailed it to location X to see if my “buddy” was in my spot. Nope. But the bucks weren’t in their spot either a couple had came out way south. 2 were real nice two year olds and there were several yearling bucks. Also some does on the private way to the South. Love seeing good numbers!!

The high racked buck wasn’t there and the low spot that normally holds all the deer only had one doe there maybe my buddy went scouting?? I’m thinking so. The thought occurred to me that the bucks came out there and traveled south. I’ve seen them do that, but that quite that far. Regardless, if there’s a shooter in there I’ll be in the game whether someone else is on to him or not.

I had 20 minutes left so I high tailed it to the opposite side. I normally don’t see near the numbers here, but I saw a couple heading North. Doe and a shooter buck he looked like a real nice 10. Stud 3 yr old for sure, maybe mature.

Bedding is pretty loose on that side, so he might be tough to pin down early season. I do have a real good idea of where he might be, but he’s susceptible to being bumped off his pattern over here too. There were guys in there early last year. Regardless, I’m excited that there’s a definite shooter on the property. I will put time into this buck.

From there I BARELY had time to race over to the spot where I saw the split brow buck. He wasn’t there, but I had JUST enough light to use the spotter for another part of the property. This is an open and rolling hill type property and I had a couple points of interest for bedding. I ended up locating 3 deer near one of my pins, and two were bucks. It was too dark to see exactly what they were, but one looked nice. Could have easily been the split brow buck. They were bucking and jumping around... even the big one.

I just can’t lose this year!! I’ve done a lot of complaining in years past about numbers and buck quality, but no more of that for now. I’ve got some good ones to chase, and multiple options for once.

I shined my way home. No sign of the big split g2 buck, or the kicker g2 buck in Josh’s area. Saw a few does and one forkie.

Seeing those bucks in daylight got me so pumped! I was thinking on the way there that I’m in a very good place mentally. My expectations are realistic (I know how quick things can go South), and my sights are set high.

I still have lots on the to do list. Gotta get cams out, gotta start shooting bow , and much more. It’s starting to feel like killin’ time boys! I’ll be ready.

[Lockdown]

Aug 8th

Wife had a girls night so I took the girls to a park, out to eat at DQ, then scouting. See how I make it fun?! Everything is more fun with ice cream

I stopped by the south end of the donut hole. Last time there was 6 bucks and a couple does in the beans...

NOTHING. and I have no idea why.



Swung by location X... my “buddy” wasn’t in my spot, but the deer weren’t in their spots either. I saw a half dozen does off in the private... not where they were last time. Couple tiny yearling bucks. 1 doe came out of the best bedding zero consistency at this spot this year. Consistency is often an issue at Location X but this is craziness. Also, none of the two year olds were visible I checked the North side where that shooter ten was... nothing.

So I’m 0-3 so far. Hopefully there was something at the split brow spot. I’ll refer to this one as “the open property”. There’s probably a half dozen trees big enough for a stand, but they’re willows so they’re likely not strait enough

Glass the fields and grass around split brow’s location... nothing. 1 doe way out there.

Last time I said I wasn’t sure if the big buck that I saw playing around was the split brow. I was thinking not because I THOUGHT his spread was too wide, especially at the tips.

JACKPOT He was there and it’s definitely a different buck. He’s WIDE. I’m thinking 18-20”. I think he’s a 10 but couldn’t tell for sure. He was the one chasing the other bucks that I started that thread about. He’s a bully 100%.

He was in the same spot as last time, with the same other two bucks, but I still don’t know for sure where he came out. I’ve got 7 potential bedding areas pinned, and he’s hanging out between two of them.

Again, it was JUST dark enough I couldn’t quite tell what he was. If I zoomed over 25x I lost optical light.

I’m not quite ready to give up scouting other bucks yet, but this buck is going to get a considerable amount of my time. Visibility is the obvious advantage for me at this property, so I will be taking advantage of that.

Next time I go out I’m going to camp out and see where he’s bedding. Cross your fingers that he stays put.

[Lockdown]

Aug 12th

Did some cruising at the usual spots. Nothing doing for big bucks... One two year old is all and not many does. Saw the 2 yr old in the area where the bully hangs, but the bully was nowhere to be found.

It’s not impossible he left bedding a different way and I didn’t see him. Not impossible he’s 2 miles away.

Time to get out of the truck and snoop around...

[Jrdeerhuntr]

My question for you as me being 18 months into beast hunting/really focusing on bow hunting:

Everything I read/hear people say once they shed velvet they may leave their summer area or they will shift around the end of September. Our opener being a few days later this year, how much stock do you put into scouting fields right now. I also have a family and kids with limited time. I having been banking permission slips to start gassing around labor day until the season starts. Should I start using them up now or wait? I figured alot can change in 3 weeks so I am better off with the more recent intel. any feed back would be great.

[Lockdown]

My question for you as me being 18 months into beast hunting/really focusing on bow hunting:

Everything I read/hear people say once they shed velvet they may leave their summer area or they will shift around the end of September. Our opener being a few days later this year, how much stock do you put into scouting fields right now. I also have a family and kids with limited time. I having been banking permission slips to start gassing around labor day until the season starts. Should I start using them up now or wait? I figured alot can change in 3 weeks so I am better off with the more recent intel. any feed back would be great.

I can say with confidence, wait. If you gave me 5 days to observe pre-season and I got to pick which 5, I’d choose the 5 days preceding opening day.

A lot can change even in a week’s time. Scouting right now is still a good use of time, but a lot can change from now until velvet shed. They’re a different animal once the velvet comes off.

I should add, my observation tactics may change a little as well. They’re much more reclusive when they’re hard horned. I’m much more likely to be observing openings near bedding back in the cover vs waiting for them to enter a crop field.

Also, I don’t expect deer to hold a pattern for a week. I lucked out last year and found a bachelor group that did the same thing all summer (as far as I’m aware). But I think it’s far more likely that most “patterns” are very short and they spend a couple days in a bedding area, up to a week if you’re lucky, then head elsewhere.

Look at the bully buck. He wasn’t there on the 1st, he was on the 4th and 8th, and wasn’t on the 12th. I’m going to keep an eye on it and try and establish a pattern. Maybe he only shows periodically? Maybe he won’t come back at all? It’s all part of the game.

[Jrdeerhuntr]

My question for you as me being 18 months into beast hunting/really focusing on bow hunting:

Everything I read/hear people say once they shed velvet they may leave their summer area or they will shift around the end of September. Our opener being a few days later this year, how much stock do you put into scouting fields right now. I also have a family and kids with limited time. I having been banking permission slips to start gassing around labor day until the season starts. Should I start using them up now or wait? I figured alot can change in 3 weeks so I am better off with the more recent intel. any feed back would be great.

I can say with confidence, wait. If you gave me 5 days to observe pre-season and I got to pick which 5, I’d choose the 5 days preceding opening day.

A lot can change even in a week’s time. Scouting right now is still a good use of time, but a lot can change from now until velvet shed. They’re a different animal once the velvet comes off.

I should add, my observation tactics may change a little as well. They’re much more reclusive when they’re hard horned. I’m much more likely to be observing openings near bedding back in the cover vs waiting for them to enter a crop field.

Also, I don’t expect deer to hold a pattern for a week. I lucked out last year and found a bachelor group that did the same thing all summer (as far as I’m aware). But I think it’s far more likely that most “patterns” are very short and they spend a couple days in a bedding area, up to a week if you’re lucky, then head elsewhere.

Look at the bully buck. He wasn’t there on the 1st, he was on the 4th and 8th, and wasn’t on the 12th. I’m going to keep an eye on it and try and establish a pattern. Maybe he only shows periodically? Maybe he won’t come back at all? It’s all part of the game.

Thank you for the response, I wish we could run cameras in MN. My plan is to glass fields adjacent to the public I had an encounter with a big one last year and found what I think were his tracks this spring. I few other pieces to glass as well but we have a ton of corn on the east side of the state this year so that makes glassing tough and when i was out scouting a new piece the other day I noticed acorns dropping already.

[Lockdown]

My question for you as me being 18 months into beast hunting/really focusing on bow hunting:

Everything I read/hear people say once they shed velvet they may leave their summer area or they will shift around the end of September. Our opener being a few days later this year, how much stock do you put into scouting fields right now. I also have a family and kids with limited time. I having been banking permission slips to start gassing around labor day until the season starts. Should I start using them up now or wait? I figured alot can change in 3 weeks so I am better off with the more recent intel. any feed back would be great.

I can say with confidence, wait. If you gave me 5 days to observe pre-season and I got to pick which 5, I’d choose the 5 days preceding opening day.

A lot can change even in a week’s time. Scouting right now is still a good use of time, but a lot can change from now until velvet shed. They’re a different animal once the velvet comes off.

I should add, my observation tactics may change a little as well. They’re much more reclusive when they’re hard horned. I’m much more likely to be observing openings near bedding back in the cover vs waiting for them to enter a crop field.

Also, I don’t expect deer to hold a pattern for a week. I lucked out last year and found a bachelor group that did the same thing all summer (as far as I’m aware). But I think it’s far more likely that most “patterns” are very short and they spend a couple days in a bedding area, up to a week if you’re lucky, then head elsewhere.

Look at the bully buck. He wasn’t there on the 1st, he was on the 4th and 8th, and wasn’t on the 12th. I’m going to keep an eye on it and try and establish a pattern. Maybe he only shows periodically? Maybe he won’t come back at all? It’s all part of the game.

Thank you for the response, I wish we could run cameras in MN. My plan is to glass fields adjacent to the public I had an encounter with a big one last year and found what I think were his tracks this spring. I few other pieces to glass as well but we have a ton of corn on the east side of the state this year so that makes glassing tough and when i was out scouting a new piece the other day I noticed acorns dropping already.

Don’t overlook corn as an early season food source either. They eat corn leaves as soon as it sprouts. Any time you’re walking a corn edge and you come to a spot that’s browsed hard, take note. There’s either a solid travel corridor or bedding close by.

Good luck knocking down the big one!