Last ditch Effort this weekend.

[PonyKiller]

The whole hunting season has been a disaster for me. Didn't see a living thing save a few other disapointed hunters on the main trail in december, a whopping two days, scratch that a day and an afternoon. Spent most of the time scouting.

The whole january season has been an abject failure, Wife, kid , mother all sick.
My darned shoulders have gone south and my banged up knee is banged up again, it's like the stars are aligned against me. When i did get out it was foggy in the morning i stepped on a sleeping fox's tail in the pre dawn blackness and almost had a heart attack as it barrelled off into the woods.

The last time out, my fortunes were a bit better, a pair of does were playing grabass about 100 yds from me... on the other side of a thick hedge and thicket area so no shot.

So Saturday, is the final stand. Come hell or high water, no matter how much motrin i need to get my achin bones up i'll be out there trying to sneak one in under the deadline. Haven't got a shot off in my two years of hunting yet and i wanna change that.
Of course it looks like it's gonna be about 11 degrees with snow flurries, but hey can't hunt from the kitchen.

 

[HB]

The harder the hunt, the more satisfying it is. I'm hunting geese in a powercut tomorrow in 5 degree weather with no deeks. I understand.

HB

 

[DesertRam]

Go get 'em!

 

[JEB]

good luck! hope you bag one this weekend! last year i was dead set that i was going to get my first deer with a handgun (ruger super blackhawk). took off the entire season from work. hunted all the first weekend with no handgun opportunities. then went out dawn to dusk every...single....day.......not one dang deer! did this all week long and never saw a single thing save a couple squirrels. last light on saturday my luck changed. small doe jumped the fence and stood 35 yards from my stand. bam! deer down!

saturday is the day my friend! im wishing you all the best!


btw: if that incident with the fox had happened to anyone in my hunting group and i saw it....oh buddy! i might just die from laughter! now if it happened to me....might just die of a heart attack lol!

 

[JEB]

well.....how did the Saturday hunt go?

 

[PonyKiller]

Whole lot of nothing! Froze my oysters off out there. Was gorgeous out, bout two inches of snow the night before, walked in under a full moon, saw only two fresh trails.

Walked back to the area i've been going to and scouting, sat down in the lawn chair in a brush blind, and watched the wood peckers and chicadees. When i got out there it was 12 degrees. At about 10:30 the wind whipped up and i had to go get warm feet, they were going numb at 17 degrees. It was pretty to look at, but when i still couldn't feel my feet after a half hour hike back to the truck, i had to head home and sat in front of a space heater.

Got back out at 2:45 all warm and rebundled set back up and watched the snow blow around till the moon was back up at 6:45. I saw a deer's legs through thick brush with the binoculars way off in the distance. I heard a hunting club driving way off in the distance but they never came close. Most of the surrounding areas' got driven hard in the last two months, but my little secluded spot is off the beaten trail and they never ventured in. It two months of on and off being out there i saw signs of one other hunter out there in bow season. Finding an isolated non trampled area in jersey is no small feat. I have been 50 to a 100yds away from getting a clean shot all season, and it didn't change on the last day. If i head back out down here next year i'll probably go back there again, just for the sheer fact that it's relatively isolated and no one goes there.

There are deer that go through there, and some are big by south jersey standards, but i've yet to see a rub out there, and seen only one scrape. Come springtime the area is just short of inpenetrable. Was thinking of maybe planting something out there for them for the fall and winter next year since the area's pretty well untampered with.

 

[Patocazador]

If you're not seeing anything where you hunt, try scouting different places until you do and hunt there.

 

[Texan Scott]

I know where all the deer are here. Right out the end of my drive, and all up and down the edges of the public right of way, and always within proscribed distance of an occupied dwelling.



I haven't bagged anything this season, either... but going to work in the mornings, I see well over a dozen of them before I ever get to the highway.

:banghead:

Looks like we're gonna have to try to fall back on off-season pork this year.

ETA: I do NOT advocate or condone poaching or unsafe hunting practices... but if I could get the local constable's office to permit me for 'abatement', a 22 at close range with heavy subsonics would put a LOT of venison in a lot of freezers. Just sayin'.

 

[PonyKiller]

I couldn't get out and scout or hunt the way i wanted to this year due to my physical ailments and the damn flu, but i got out as much as i could and at least saw some deer.
All of whom were smart enough to put a hedge or bush between us, so i can't really complain, i consistently saw game.

For next year i'm going to work on my ground blind making. Some of what i did this year was pretty lame, and judgeing by the barren freezer ineffective. Part of it was circumastancial, due to child care constraints,I got out too late. Getting in and getting quiet seemed more important than building a branch fort. For the most part i was happy with the gear this year, wanna find a lighter chair, but warmth, vision and shooting wise i'm set, so a small hand saw and a lightweight chair should be fairly easy to tackle.

I've got 10 months to prep for, and prevent failure for a third time. Although seeing nature in it's uninterupted glory is majestic, the closest i got to a game animal all season was stepping on a sleeping fox's tail sending it charging off in the pre-dawn hours which nearly killed ME! I wanna at least get a clean look next year, I passed on a totally clean shot last day of last season and got nothing of the sort this year. Next year will be better i'm sure. With any luck next fall the family will be illness free, and i can at least hope to have one fully functioning arm!