This is the 1st Friday I have sat out. I don’t normally sit out Friday night as I work until 4:15 pm and by the time I get home and ready it’s getting late.
I worked from home Friday and I just had the itch at the last moment.
My new enclosed blind!
It was a tad bit windy and cool, but the sun was out.
I sat in my new blind, so the wind didn’t blow my scent into the food plot.
The sit was nice and peaceful and of course, I was hungry because I had just got off of work, I was hoping the guys ran to get me a fish fry before I got home.
The hawk I was watching!
I had the privilege of watching a hawk of some sort fly from spot to spot looking for dinner.
I rarely have a night where I don’t see deer(in all the 6 yrs. I have hunted, I can count on less the one hand the times I have not seen a deer while out hunting).
Tonight…… would be one of those nights….not a deer in sight.
I was surprised, but not disappointed I love sitting outside in the fresh air, enjoying GOD’S beauty. Any day in the outdoors is a good day.
Of course, the fish fry was splendid.
Old Wind Mill I am fascinated with!Those are geese in the sky!
I got a late start to my hunt, the day got away from me as I was trying to conquer some projects before day’s end.
I remember I looked at the clock and it said 415 pm. I checked the closing time for the night and it said 641 pm….oh heck I gotta get going.
Of course, it’s youth hunt in our area, so I had to make sure I had some blaze orange on….so I had to go rummaging through hunting gear to find something. Time is ticking away!
Gotta love those moments flying around the house trying as fast as ever to get ready and sure as heck not forgetting anything…..like arrows.
I was a tad concerned about the weather as it had hit the high 70’s throughout the day. I figured it would be a warm sit so, I only wore a t-shirt, certainly not thinking about mosquitoes or getting colder out. I normally wouldn’t wear a t-shirt, but that was the only blaze orange I could find in a hurry.
I walked in from the back of the property to my blind, normally we have an ATV trail carved out that I would use to walk in, but we haven’t been back in the area with the ATV yet, due to having corn on both sides of the pathway. So, I had to follow the cow path the deer have made and it was quite an impressive trail.
As I am walking in I immediately question my wardrobe choice, as I now have bare skins showing and a few skeeters chomping at the bit. And….of course no thermal cell tonight! The walk-in is peaceful and tiring walking through such tall grass.
Once I get to the blind and settled in, I play around with my set-up adjusting windows. I have only had this enclosed blind for a year. I have not shot anything out of it. So, the windows are a work in progress for me. I am about 5 feet off the ground, so I worry about exposure.
I sat in this blind tonight due to the direction of the wind, I tried to avoid having any scent blowing into the big food plot.
About 5:36 pm I had a Momma and baby in the bean field about 125 yards from my blind. They hung out for a while and meandered on.
I was concerned about heat, but it was not warm and it was quite windy, windier than I expected or like for hunting. At one point I got a little chilly as the sun went down.
I loved the wind tonight…….as I sat enjoying the peace I thought about bottling the wind for another day, as I was enjoying it way too much. The cool breeze on my face and hair. I even caught myself a few times closing my eyes and embracing the feeling.
The large food plot! Look at how beautiful that field is.
I hear a lonely goose above, he is honking away as he flies through the sky all alone, I wonder why it is alone and what he is honking about???? Yes, strange things I ponder in my peace.
At approx. 6:32 pm, I lean forward to look around as it is getting close to quitting time and I spy out of the corner of my eye deer, I think 2 doe, they are far back to my right, like I said I had to lean forward and look almost directly back to see them. I just moved back to my position and let what be….be what it was going to be, never did see those deer again.
Well…my hunt is over, the wind had calmed down. Decide to check 2 trail cameras on the way out.
Of course, only fitting for my life, the SD card I put into the camera, yeah you know how they are spring-loaded, well it jumped out right into the tall grass. So, imagine this, it’s dark, I have my crossbow backpack on and I am down on all fours rummaging through the grass looking for an SD card. Very thankful it took me less than 5 minutes to find, with minimal bites and obscenities.
The walkout was brutal and exhausting. At least I had chicken wings waitin’ for me at home.
We got a new wooden platform for my birthday/engagement gift. The platform is about 5 feet tall.
I have a portable blind that I put on top of the platform. Instead of the normal spring steel blind frame, this frame is metal and folds out like an accordion, we have it drilled into the platform for now. It is a pretty cool blind. I like the magnetic window option as well as the camouflage screen window covering. In case you wanted to check out the blind, it is called the Hawk Down and Out Blind.
It tricky getting into the blind as we have a makeshift ladder set-up, so yeah proceed with caution.
I have the blind set along a tree line/cattail line, along the edge of the bean field. I have all cattails/marshy areas behind me. I have a bean field and food plot in front of me about 25 yards. To my right a long stretch of green grass with a bean field in front of that and then a ditch. To my left is a long stretch of green grass with a bean field in front of that, that then leads to a cattail patch.
View to my left! Old windmill!
Anyways, once I managed to get into the blind and settled, I noticed a friendly wasp walking about. Oh, no you don’t. You best be trying to find a hole to fly out of. So, mind you I have to keep an eye on this lovely wasp( I am not a fan and scared of these bad boys, bad experience) and get settled quietly in the new blind.
I open the smaller windows on all sides of me, meaning I also have the screens down. I left the screen up on the longer windows but it is hard to see out of. I never leave the screen all the way up, but these are different screens, I can kind of see out but it’s hard to see in. So, I was trying different setups.
I was excited to see what I might see from the blind. Kind of like Christmas morning opening presents. Sitting in this blind my 1st time, made me get those types of feelings like I couldn’t get the wrapping paper off the gift fast enough. An hour went by and I was thinking hey….maybe I won’t see anything tonight, maybe the present isn’t that exciting tonight!
But…..no, as I was looking to my right through my binocs, down toward the ditch, thought I saw something, a deer head pops into my lens around 5:49 pm, hey where did you come from? You scared me!
A little doe!
A little doe walked out from behind me, to my right. About 20 yards from me, it ate in the green grass before it headed into the bean field. It hung out in the bean field and did a complete half-circle in front of me for the next 45 minutes before it wandered out of my line of sight.
At around 6:50 pm about 50 yards from the blind, I see a small buck walkout from the right side of the blind. The same area the doe came from, the cattails to my right, from behind the blind. I have seen this buck on trail camera before, so I am familiar. Shortly after a large doe walks out from the same area right behind the buck. They both headed to the bean field in front of them and ate for a bit. They both then headed to the north and towards the ditch. I watched as they jumped the ditch, they outta here.
About 7 pm, I have a doe walk out into the food plot. It is just starting to get dark now. She meanders in the food plot along with her youngster. They are way out of shooting range, maybe 100 yards.
It was tough trying to be quiet as all heck, getting packed up and out of the blind without disturbing the deer.
All in all, it was a good sit….I have learned any sit is a good sit. But seeing deer while on a sit is an extra special bonus.
So far, I like the blind! Cant wait to get back out there!
Oh, opening morning I have longed for your start. My favorite time of year!
I am not really a morning hunter. Some say there are special deer in the morning…..I don’t even much care if there are special deer at 6 in the morning, I just don’t like to get up so early. Ahh, some girls do some girls don’t!
I went opening morning because I could because if I couldn’t(like I had to work) I would have wanted to be out there and couldn’t. So I got up and went out to prove to the lesser of two evils.
So….I sucked it up. Marcus had to work so, I got up with him at 5 am and he saw me off, with good wishes, a kiss and friendly shot straight.
I had all my stuff packed and ready to go the night before, so all I got to do is dress my tired self, in the morning.
It was a cool morning and the grass was wet. I walked in from the front of the property to my stand. This is something I don’t normally do, but I am a tad bit unprepared this opening day, and I am unsure of my route from the back end of the property, as I wasn’t even sure I was going out this morning. Preparation is everything, but winging works too.
I park the UTV at the front-drive. Rocks/stones have been placed on the drive-in to deter the flooding and make the back fields accessible to vehicles and farm equipment. I find I don’t like this new stone as it is loud to walk on in the dark as I am trying to be quiet as hell. I try to find some grass on the side of the drive but have little luck.
My dad always said you are in their house! If you were at home and heard footsteps in your house, what would you do! So, I try to remind myself of this when I walk into the field early morning. I mean…I know what I would do if I heard footsteps in my house in the dark!
Of course, walking in the front way is avoided in the morning, as I think the line of trees I walk by are bedding areas occasionally, and of course this morning they are….I scare up deer. They are close as I can feel their presence as they get up and run away. The alert call makes my heart jump and I grabbed at my chest to make sure my heart is still there. Thanks for the heart check!
All, I think as I keep walking is, blew any chance of seeing any more deer the rest of the morning! Go figure! Par for the course I guess!
I am questioning myself why my boots are getting wet and slowly my socks and feet, the grass is soaked from the cool night and I ponder getting new boots, but I love the ones I have.
As I round the corner to my blind, I see a shadow in front of me and can feel the ground speak so to say as a big deer run away into the darkness. Lord, I am sucking at this scaring deer thing this morning. Yes, it is still dark out!
I get into the blind and settle in. So, quiet. The sun is coming up and I am enjoying my view as the fog lifts from the cattails into the heavens. It been a long time. There is something quite special about spending those 1st minutes of light with mother nature.
Around 630am I have at least 3 deer to my right, I can barely see them, they are left behind my line of sight, past the open window, so I have to lean forward in order to see them. So, I just decide to mind my business and let them be, they left.
I hear many rustles around me, the woods are alive this morning. The birds are active and fill the air with movement and color.
At some point in the morning, I had a little bird fly up from under my blind and into the blind as if he has done this before a million times. A small wren if I had to guess. He sat and looked at me for a few minutes, I bet wondering what the heck I was doing there. He then flew up to the window and visited for a little while more and flew away. I am pretty sure this bird had built a nest in the blind, as the last time the guys took supplies to the blind, they said they pulled out a nest of some type. As the morning got lighter, I did notice his little marking here and there around the blind. Sorry, little birdy!
At 808 am I had a small doe walk the tree line to the right of my blind, way past the food plot. Way out of bow range for me. I watched as she cut through the woods. I know what she is up to, she is trying to avoid me and walk through the woods to get to the other side of me. Mama taught her well.
Yes, a short time later there she was on my left side, in the big food plot to my left, munching on some beans. She stayed for some time before wandering off. The morning is lingering on and I have the feels I will not see much for activity the rest of the morning.
I had a wasp visit inside the blind, he was trying to be shady, it snuck in quickly and climbed under the window to stay warm, had I not seen it go there I would have grabbed the window shade when I packed up to leave to close the window. I for sure would have gotten stung as he didn’t move from where he first went in and I would have grabbed him, I hate wasps, I had a bad encounter with one last year.
The rest of the morning was pleasantly quiet, I tried to soak up the beauty and quiet all around me as it has been way too long since I have spent some time with my best friend, the outdoors!
Life has been chaotic and stressful lately……I will be back….I very much look forward to my next hunt!
Early morning fog lifting from the cattails.Sunrise….fog rise!More morning beauty!
I watched this little bird’s nest all bow/gun season of 2020. It was in a large bush right outside my blind. I never seen any bird movement near it, but I was able to catch a picture in March 2021. Its a cute little nest…looks well built….some little birdie worked real hard to build it. I wanted to get a better look, but I decided to let it free of human touch.
There is an Bald Eagles nest across the river from our property. Its been there for years. I check in and out from time to time when in the area.
This time the Eagle was there, it was active due to my unwanted presence(I didn’t stay long).
Ohhh and it was loud(yup I was getting yelled at too, get OUT)! This is the 1st time in all the years….that I was able to capture some quick pictures! I was pretty impressed.
Plus, I am pretty sure there were eggs in the nest as the Eagle never flew far away and always came back!
One of my new Christmas presents from the sweetest man I know(Marcus, it’s you)! This new trail camera is amazing……it has a macro lens…..where have you been my whole life??? Yes, I love Cardinals, so I couldn’t pick just one. Still working on the perfect set-up. Super impressed with the camera and my man!
https://suspectgamecameras.com/
I have been using trail camera’s to capture my backyard birds for a few years now. I had been wanting something that would focus more on the bird than anything. Marcus had his eye on a new trail camera that had this marco lens. It went on o sale shortly before Christmas and he nabbed that right up.
I had no idea I was getting this trail camera for Christmas, but I couldn’t be any happier.
Super impressed on the focus of the lens and its clarity. I have had a many of camera’s on my birds, but this here camera it supreme caliber.
It is a work in progress….as I am trying to figure out the right distance from an object to get the clearest picture. So stayed turned……
Marcus’s shadow in the sunset about 45 minutes before he shot his BIG BUCK!
2020 Kansas Gun Season Day 4!
Ahh Saturday morning!
The weekend is here.
Jason and Jess left Wisconsin enroute to Kansas around 4pm.
They made great timing by getting in around 1:30 am last night.
Never even heard them come in.
Fresh air does wonders for sleep.
Another 6 am start.
The wind was a little brisk this morning.
There was a lot more wind than I had expected.
As the weather yesterday was in the 60’s.
So, I expected little wind and decent temp for this morning.
I have hunted long enough to know better and dressed for cold.
Glad I did because as we walked to our hunting area.
The wind really pierced my skin.
We decided to hunt in a new location this morning.
We weren’t sure if Jason was going to hunt in the front blind in the morning, depended on what time they got in last night.
So, we went old school and just planned on sitting on the end of a tree line, with no artificial cover.
We were looking at a big tree line, concentrating more on the right side of the tree line and field.
The blind we have set up only has views of the left side of the tree line and field.
On our 1st day Marcus had seen a buck on the other side of this tree line,
So, where we sat this morning we would be able to view the right side of this tree line.
It was a quiet morning with little noise, an owl or hawk screaming in the air.
I took a picture of Marcus silhouette from the back with the sunrise as his backdrop.
Very cool picture, if I do so say so myself.
I was admiring this tree we were sitting by; it was a medium sized thorn like type
It looked so cool with the sun as it background.
About 741 am I spotted a deer walking on the tree line to my left.
I poked Marcus in the back, as I seldom do to let him know I have seen something,
It our code for “LOOK”.
I, of course did not know if it was a buck or doe, as I seldom don’t pay attention right away.
My 1st instinct is to alert Marcus, plus I didn’t want to move too much, we didn’t have much cover and I had already felt this deer had made us.
Marcus slowly looked up and was able to bring his binoculars up, I didn’t move out of fear.
I felt like the deer was looking right at us.
I watch as Marcus slowly brings up the gun.
I wonder to myself, what the heck is he doing that for, clearly he knows something more than I do.
I do know that Marcus would never bring his gun up if he wasn’t going to shot. I know my man!
So, this was some serious stuff right here!
Gun fires….oh ok! We are doing this!
Deer flinches, but I don’t see much reaction.
Boom, Marcus shoots again, deer takes a digger and goes into the woods. I am for certain Marcus made contact. I watched as the deer went into the woods and never come out. We discussed he might come out of the right of the woods. He didn’t!
That’s it folks!
Marcus is worried the 1st shot was not on point, he says: “the buck should have laid where I first shot”. Marcus was worried he may have flinched a little to the right, as he may have rushed it because the deer was ready to bolt at any moment, due to possibly making us. He was confident in the 2nd shot. It was roughly a 100 yard shot! It looked a lot further than that to me, but what do I know! I know I wouldn’t have been ready to shoot the deer; it would have been too far away for my liking and I would have moved to much getting my gun up. So, I am super proud of Marcus!
Literally from start to finish the amount of time Marcus had to acknowledge the deer, look in the binocs, raise the gun and shoot was like less than 30 seconds…it happened that fast. Yup it happened just like that!
We stood and watched for a while and decided to head back to the house, grab some coffee and give the deer some time to expire.
I was confident that it was a successful harvest. Marcus is a good shot and I have a strong faith in what is meant to be, is meant to be! I hope my prayers also worked wonders as I am a strong believer!
We got a plan together, how we will go track the deer. Jason and Jessie helped us with the tracking! Which was much appreciated. Marcus planked the left side of the tree line, Jess was planking the field to the right, Jason down the tree line overlooking the south end of the tree line and fields, and I walked through the tree line.
The tree line I walked through was thick and was nearly impassable. Tons of thorn trees, my hands were scratched up from making my way through, the stocking cap I was wearing had gotten snagged on several branches on my way through, which made for a pretty comical adventure, as I had to go search for my stocking cap hanging from a tree several time. Oh, sure I had to drop my glove!
If the stocking cap wasn’t getting snagged enough it was my long hair, at times my hair looked like Cruella De Vil and I may or may not have said some bad words out loud.
I was having no luck finding a sign of disturbed movement or a blood trail.
I eventually made my way to a grass clearing. This clearing butted up to the rest of the tree line. Marcus has told me to check out the area, as there was a deer trail coming out of some small red willows. As I made my way through the clearing, I was so focused on finding blood, that I had tunnel vision. I had looked up and turned my head to my right and there the BIG Buck laid! H**y S**t! Oh, thank you GOD!
Apparently Marcus saw him right away, as he was planking the tree line and was to the grass clearing before me. I mean you couldn’t miss him. Unbeknownst to me, Marcus was recording my reaction on his cell camera. I believe I may have had a few choice words of excitement.
What a sense of relief! Thanks be to GOD and your generous blessings! I take a moment of pause, to thank this amazing deer for his sacrifice. I remain in a moment of prayer, as I soak in the beauty of this amazing animal, the life that he had lived and the comfort that he brings by providing food for the family.
Oh, I had hugged my honey as tight as I could. How exciting! Jess ran over from the field; she was so excited. Jason raced over from where he was flanking. What an exciting moment. All Marcus’s apprehension/anxiety/nervousness/ 2nd guessing/self-doubt and replaying the situation over and over in his head where lifted off his shoulders and disappeared into the air. You done good!
I am sure his prayers were answered, and undoubtedly a little help from his pops, in the heavens.
Picture time, celebration time, gutting, and loading time, back to the homestead. Jason went back to the house to get the UTV for transport.
What an amazing experience. This is Marcus’s 4th hunt in Kansas and the 1st opportunity to take a shot at a deer. I am so proud of my man! I had no doubt in his ability to shoot and his appreciation for the love of hunting, the outdoors, and deer! Great memoires!
The buck was an older fella maybe a four year old. At one point this feller had 13 points, through survival of the fittest, he is now a ten! He was blind in one eye and infection has started in, no doubt a war wound. Pretty buck, he was a hefty strong guy!
The 1st deer I had seen all trip so far and it was this big buck, and this buck was one of the biggest we had on camera, and in Marcus’s terms a shooter. Of all the odds, it was him that stepped out in the early morning light to grace us with his presence. Life is full of many crazy, unexplainable adventures in a series of unpredictable chaotic events filled with ups and down, soaking in this beautiful ride!
After the BIG day today!
We took a drive this evening. It’s always a good time to take a drive around an hour or so before closing time.
Jason and Jess went out for their 1st evening hunt!
Good Luck guys!
Marcus took me all around a new area. Found ourselves over by Wayne. I got to see my 1st bobcat.
I also got to see my 1st 2 doe’s since I have been here. We checked out a few walk-ins as well.
We got closer to home and I spotted a little buck up in the tall grass, nose to the ground and in a hurry to get somewhere fast.
Down the road from home we had 2 doe in the corn field on Ma/Ron’s property.
As I look over a buck is running across the open cut bean field.
Didn’t really get to make out how big of a buck, but big enough to know he was a good size buck.
Cream of pheasant for supper tonight! Oh, it was good! Jason/Jess didn’t see anything tonight!
Snowy roads on the way home!Snowed on the way home! Had to drive slow at times!Outside Madison! 1 hour left to go. Not snow as much here!Jess with her Kansas buck!Jason and Jess with thier Kansas Buck!
2020 Kansas Gun Hunt Day 10! Drive Home Day!
We made it home.
We were up at by 530 am and rolling out of the driveway by 615
Hugs, kisses and good byes first.
Made it to the 1st big town by 7 for gas and McDonalds and McDonalds sucked.
Stopped at Casey’s in Adair IA ordered a med pizza for the road and filled up with gas.
It just started to rain here and rained all the way to Wisconsin.
Omg so much rain
Once we hit Wisconsin we hit snow, at times it was pretty bad, as we were going 50 mph on the highway.
Saw a lot of dumb drivers out there, most got lucky this time.
We only saw on accident and 1 in the ditch.
We made it through Madison before rush hour, that is my favorite time to go through Madison, NOT!
Once we left Madison it was more of a rain/snow mix.
We made good timing even with our stops and the snow delay
GPS said ETA home at 430 pm.
We pulled into the driveway at 450 pm
So, not bad timing and glad its over!
Deer meat barley fit in cooler to bring home and it barley fit in our freezer when we got home.
Actually barley anything fit in the car on the way home.
Too much deer meat and a huge deer head and the jeep was packed head to toe
Terrible! 🙂
Get a big buck in Kansas they say…….
How you get that shit home???
Glad Marcus drove the all the way home!
Jess ended up shooting a nice buck tonight, of course we were already home by then.
Super happy for her!
Miss you already Kansas! Miss you Mom and Ron! Thank you for having us! It was nice to spend time with you all. Take Care!
