For those of us that likes stories I have a few from this week I would like to share.
I started out leaving work Friday afternoon for 9 days of hunting, 2 bow and 7 days with my 45-70. Well Saturday morning I decided to get out around 10am and scout a piece of woods I have permission for but its across a river so you have to have awhile with no rain so I headed out and made my way to the river looking for a low spot and found one but wasn't sure my 17'' rubber boots would make it so I began poking the water with a stick and next thing I know I'm sliding right into the water so I run across and get a little wet and make it to the sand bar and coyote tracks all over and deer tracks too. I made my way up the hill and it was thick and not very many trees suited for a climber. I thought about it and being solo this week said ill get myself in a mess if I get something so I headed back to the "low spot" I begin wading across and try and get a running start at the slippery hill and reach for a sapling and make the jump and face plant and slide right into the water and water in the rubber boots.
I changed shoes and pants and headed to another part of the property I have permission for (farmer owns several parcels through the county) I park in the drive lane and start walking across the field and about 4-5 deer are bedded in the uncut beans and head to the woods. I get in the woods and the river on this side is almost non existent so I begin walking and figure find the property line and I find it and 4 more doe running away from me and a ladder stand right on the line facing into the woods I have permission for. I then head the other way to find the line on that side and see red straps on a tree and its a stand and I got to thinking I have seen someone use red ratchet straps before and they are all the other stands on this owners properties so I back out and find several good scrapes still being used and a few rubs in a dry creek bed but getting in and out in the dark will be a challenge with the river banks and all the hawthorn, black locust and Osage orange trees and blow downs. I found a good spot on a ridge overlooking 2 creek crossings, all the scrapes and a thicket behind me but that ladder stand would be shooting right down at me so I'm kind of on edge about that spot.
I headed home and checked zero on 2 rifles and got everything ready for Monday morning where we had a perfect wind, temps, etc and I tucked back in the far point of a woodlot in the middle of a corn field ive had good sightings and pictures and about 745-8am I hear noise coming at me and I figured whoever owned the stand at the far end of the woods would push them to me but no such luck. I climb down and hit the corn field and someone is sitting in an old 20yo wooden stand and appeared to be sitting on his orange vest. I wave and head to the truck and hes parked next to me and its a mini van so I'm figuring wife and kids, he doesn't have a stand and probably just trying to fill the freezer so ill leave him be. I head to the river spot and 6 trucks there so I went home.
Tuesday morning I head to my best farm I knew no one would be at and my headlamp was dead so I waited for gray light and headed in and settled in and the fun began. I hear walking coming from my right and here comes a deer and its going meeh, meeeh and looking around. It gets closer and its what appears to be a yearling and it comes closer and I'm trying to judge it and it appears to be about a yearling/maybe 1.5yo so it got a pass. About 30min later it comes back and doing the same noise and all of a sudden a squirrel comes running down the tree and at the deer and it kind of jumps and trots off like what the heck! Deer comes back and squirrel moves and it spooks again and finally throws up the tail and trots off. I ate an apple while all this was going on and attempted to throw the core but it dropped below the stand. I had to leave and came back at 2pm and the core was gone and no deer seen but heard what sounded like coyote communicating across the fields.
Today I head in at dark and my flashlight decides to die so I got in dark with no light and make it to the atv trail and hear something spook. I climb in and see 10 different squirrel and left at 11am because of wind change. I'm pretty sure something blew at me from the bedding area around 9am. I usually see a lot of deer on this farm but Ohio dropped the ball the last few years with high bag limits, ehd, poaching, etc so sightings are down. I usually sit an osage orange tree in a small hang on and have a red squirrel that grabs apple chunks and comes up and eats them about 5ft from me and has let me take pictures with my phone and never spooks or makes noise but man he seen me move in the atv trail stand today and wouldn't shut up! 30min of chirping so I waved my hand at him and he runs off and comes back. It was pretty cool seeing him because we don't have many around here and man are those suckers fast!!!
Ill be back at it tomorrow-Sunday. Man am I sore from climbing in and out of that tree! If anything exciting happens tomorrow-sunday ill keep ya posted!
I started out leaving work Friday afternoon for 9 days of hunting, 2 bow and 7 days with my 45-70. Well Saturday morning I decided to get out around 10am and scout a piece of woods I have permission for but its across a river so you have to have awhile with no rain so I headed out and made my way to the river looking for a low spot and found one but wasn't sure my 17'' rubber boots would make it so I began poking the water with a stick and next thing I know I'm sliding right into the water so I run across and get a little wet and make it to the sand bar and coyote tracks all over and deer tracks too. I made my way up the hill and it was thick and not very many trees suited for a climber. I thought about it and being solo this week said ill get myself in a mess if I get something so I headed back to the "low spot" I begin wading across and try and get a running start at the slippery hill and reach for a sapling and make the jump and face plant and slide right into the water and water in the rubber boots.
I changed shoes and pants and headed to another part of the property I have permission for (farmer owns several parcels through the county) I park in the drive lane and start walking across the field and about 4-5 deer are bedded in the uncut beans and head to the woods. I get in the woods and the river on this side is almost non existent so I begin walking and figure find the property line and I find it and 4 more doe running away from me and a ladder stand right on the line facing into the woods I have permission for. I then head the other way to find the line on that side and see red straps on a tree and its a stand and I got to thinking I have seen someone use red ratchet straps before and they are all the other stands on this owners properties so I back out and find several good scrapes still being used and a few rubs in a dry creek bed but getting in and out in the dark will be a challenge with the river banks and all the hawthorn, black locust and Osage orange trees and blow downs. I found a good spot on a ridge overlooking 2 creek crossings, all the scrapes and a thicket behind me but that ladder stand would be shooting right down at me so I'm kind of on edge about that spot.
I headed home and checked zero on 2 rifles and got everything ready for Monday morning where we had a perfect wind, temps, etc and I tucked back in the far point of a woodlot in the middle of a corn field ive had good sightings and pictures and about 745-8am I hear noise coming at me and I figured whoever owned the stand at the far end of the woods would push them to me but no such luck. I climb down and hit the corn field and someone is sitting in an old 20yo wooden stand and appeared to be sitting on his orange vest. I wave and head to the truck and hes parked next to me and its a mini van so I'm figuring wife and kids, he doesn't have a stand and probably just trying to fill the freezer so ill leave him be. I head to the river spot and 6 trucks there so I went home.
Tuesday morning I head to my best farm I knew no one would be at and my headlamp was dead so I waited for gray light and headed in and settled in and the fun began. I hear walking coming from my right and here comes a deer and its going meeh, meeeh and looking around. It gets closer and its what appears to be a yearling and it comes closer and I'm trying to judge it and it appears to be about a yearling/maybe 1.5yo so it got a pass. About 30min later it comes back and doing the same noise and all of a sudden a squirrel comes running down the tree and at the deer and it kind of jumps and trots off like what the heck! Deer comes back and squirrel moves and it spooks again and finally throws up the tail and trots off. I ate an apple while all this was going on and attempted to throw the core but it dropped below the stand. I had to leave and came back at 2pm and the core was gone and no deer seen but heard what sounded like coyote communicating across the fields.
Today I head in at dark and my flashlight decides to die so I got in dark with no light and make it to the atv trail and hear something spook. I climb in and see 10 different squirrel and left at 11am because of wind change. I'm pretty sure something blew at me from the bedding area around 9am. I usually see a lot of deer on this farm but Ohio dropped the ball the last few years with high bag limits, ehd, poaching, etc so sightings are down. I usually sit an osage orange tree in a small hang on and have a red squirrel that grabs apple chunks and comes up and eats them about 5ft from me and has let me take pictures with my phone and never spooks or makes noise but man he seen me move in the atv trail stand today and wouldn't shut up! 30min of chirping so I waved my hand at him and he runs off and comes back. It was pretty cool seeing him because we don't have many around here and man are those suckers fast!!!
Ill be back at it tomorrow-Sunday. Man am I sore from climbing in and out of that tree! If anything exciting happens tomorrow-sunday ill keep ya posted!
