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I see you! A nice quiet night for a hunt!

The top 3 pictures are of the deer I walked in on while I was walking to my stand. The 4th picture is of 2 one years old, the doe on the right is in heat right now. The 5th picture, not that you can see it but one of them is the little buck walking up to the HOT doe.

10 Sit

Saturday October 25, 2020

Didn’t accomplish much for a Saturday

I guess you have those days every once in a while.

Boy did the day off go fast because before I knew it, it was late afternoon already.

I don’t normally hunt 2 nights in a row

Much less in the same place

But the wind just wasn’t right for anywhere else

And there was a call for rain/snow on Sunday

So I had made the decision to not hunt Sunday, but Saturday

Marcus finally came out hunting tonight

The Ghost Blind had arrived and he was goanna try that.

Marcus has not been too thrilled with the current situation

With the river flooding and flooding our land

As this limits access to out hunting land, hunting options, and wildlife movement

So, Marcus has been a little down on his luck

It didn’t take much arm twisting to get him to go

I helped him get set up a little and then he told me to go to my blind, as we were a little late getting to the woods. 

I like to get in a certain time.

The water puddles have went down a little from yesterday and the walk in was silent

I think of Marcus sitting back there as I walk in, hoping he is able to distract his running mind for awhile and hope he enjoy the hunt, the quiet and peace being outdoors offer his busy mind.

As I curved the small filed I walked up on a doe as I was walking in

I immediately stopped for at least 5 minutes,  thinking at some point she would trot off

Nope, she didn’t move, basically went about her business while keeping and eye in my direction.

I was able to get picture and a video before

I made the decision to move and allow to her to be scared off

She made her snort wheeze and away she trotted.

Had I been in my blind already she would have come into the field by my blind

As I approached my blind, I hated the thought that there would be deer in the food plot on the other side of my blind and of course there was.

4 deer, doe and fawns

We had a stare off for the next 5 minutes

I knew I had to eventually get in my blind

So, I moved slowly, closer to the steps and took one step at time very slowly

They just kept watching as I was there but not really

Once I got to the platform to enter my blind and started unzipping the door they disappeared

Once I got all settled I figured my chances of seeing deer the rest of the night

Was ruined by the deer I scared away on my way in

There was little wind and the air around me seemed still and at peace.

I kept thinking and hoping that Marcus might be seeing some action

As it was his 1st time out, reluctantly.

Eventually the group of 4 I kicked up returned to the field

They would go out of sight and come back a few times in the next hour

I basically had deer to watch all night

About 5:55 I had a little doe to my right

I have not had much movement on this little food plot

However, this is my best shooting option

The doe was at least 50 plus yards away, it was small and payed no attention to me as she walked away

The group of 4 eventually shifted out of sight

Within minutes they were back and this time much closer, maybe 50 yards

Closest they have ever been in all my hunts

I notice a larger bodied deer in the middle of the field

Well wouldn’t ya know it, we got ourselves a little buck, he would munch a little on the field

But he was most interested in the HOT young doe near by

I always find it quite intriguing

Watching buck behavior during the rut

The buck wasn’t very big as I had a hard time trying to make out at first he was a buck, the darkness didn’t help.

A little 4 pointer

I think it mysterious the way bucks look when they are walking towards you,

And even more so when a buck is walking straight towards you on a mission, but really walking straight towards a HOT doe.

I am pretty sure she had no interest as she ran away every time. 

It occurred to me that Mr. Little Buck might actually walk over by me.

But who was I fooling he was chasing a girl.

Closing time had arrived. 

Them deer were still in the field as I packed up.

I packed up slowly to not scare them

They were gone by the time I left

Walked back to help Marcus pack up and he was out waiting for me.

 He didn’t see anything and I told him all about my hunt on the way back to the Mud Duck

Of course, this time Marcus drove so we didn’t get stuck on the hill on the way out

We put the finishing touches on our supper of Beer Cheese Soup and Bacon, Cheddar, and Beer sloppy Joes.

Mighty tasty for sure

I was glad Marcus finally got out there.  I felt it was a pretty good hunt.

We did discuss changing up some trail cameras tomorrow as we didn’t have any camera on the food plot exclusively.

Until next time….shoot straight…… its almost ruttin time.

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Puddles and New Deer! A content hunt!

9th Sit

Friday October 24, 2020

It had rained and misted a majority of the day

Not a peek of sunshine from the heavens

Ohhhh and the wind raced freely thru space every which way

Plus, it was a tad bit cold

Fridays are always a long day at work

Even when you work from home

The taste of 2 days off and the thought of fresh air and hunting do a good job teasing the mind.

Its 4:15, just logged off the ole work computer and I am flying around the house trying to get ready

Well most things are already ready.

As the days get closer to the time change the less time I have in the stand

Here we go!

I parked the Mud Duck further back this time

So, I had a longer walk

I had worn my rubber boots for the walk in

I figured with all the rain we had, I would run into muddy travels

Well I ran into so much more

Puddles, lots and lots of water

In the lower land area

Sometimes way above the ankle of my boots in several areas

Now I am glad I wore the rubber boots

Thinking to myself, Dang girl you got some smarts

I wasn’t expecting the amount of water I saw

This water was not from flooding from the river

As it does a few times a year

The water was a bit disheartening

But it’s the nature of the beast.

My blind had water on the floor

I often wonder where it comes from as it is

But it sure did wind and rain the other night

An enclosed insulated blind

But where there is a will there is away

It was a windy, wet overcast afternoon

And I feel the evening would not produce much activity

About 5:00 Mr. Raccoon

Came out from the tree area and wander off thru the field right in front of me

At 5:02, 3 deer are to the left of me, Mom and 3 fawns

Eating in the big food plot

At 5:13, a doe walked out to my left out into the big food plot

This is a popular food plot since I started hunting

Anyways, the doe coming from this area had me thinking

Where that doe came from is a flooded ditch, so I wondered how it got there

Jump the ditch  suppose. 

Anyways it was neat to watch this doe come into the food plot and how the mother and fawns

Interacted with her

They sure did keep their distance from one another, but I wondered why they couldn’t be friends

But I suppose a mother needs to protect her young

A short time later

I see another doe enter the field from my far far left

It certainly was small and all alone

These deer munched on food in the plot for the next 15 minutes or so

By this time, I am distracted by the sound of four wheelers on the road

Probably the neighbors

But they had successfully managed to disturb the deer and they disappeared

I had hoped the four wheelers would not make their way back by me

Well they better not and should now better

But the sure did screw around and disturb my sound of silence for the next 5 minutes or so

I mean going down the road and back is one thing

But I felt it was so much more

And I can respect that boy need play

I could feel my blood pressure raise

I figured I didn’t have a chance to see much the rest of the night

As I sat enjoying the peacefulness

I notice how unusually quite it is

I also notice this on my walk in

I contribute the silence to the wet ground

Everything was soaked and nothing was made a sound

No rustling of the leaves and grass

Just complete quiet

I found this silence quite eerily, but almost soothing to my soul

Around 6 the big grand owl behind me on the  tree line

Gave a few hoots as the light eases into darkness

About 6:10 the deer are back in the food plot to my left

I only see 4, but who knows how many there are

As I cannot not see the entire curve of the field

As I watch the darkness grab the light by the hand

I watch as the deer in the food plot stand at attention

They are looking straight ahead of themselves

Well out comes a deer from the left behind me, in front of them

Again, I wonder where they come from, as they have to cross the water/ditch in order to get to the food plot

The ditch is overflowing from all this rain

It is now well past closing time

I quietly zipper up the window facing the deer and slowly pack up

Trying my hardest to not make much noise

As I am sure any minute I will spoke them

I unzip the door and peak my head out, hoping they had departed the food plot

Nope they did not

I released the cross bow

Below my blind

This time thinking

They would hear this and leave

Nope they are still there

I now see 2 large deer figures walk out to the tall grass

From that ditch area

I was not able to see any horn

I did manage to get a glimpse in the binocs

By the time I was all packed up and ready to step out of the blind

The field was full of deer

I am talking 10 plus deer

I could make out some pretty big bodies

The field was littered with bodies.

I tried to be as quiet as possible

Zippering up the door and climbing down the ladder

But they paid me no attention

As they all remained in the field eating.  I was able to walk away from my blind

And they didn’t know, no different.

I was pretty impressed I managed to be so quiet as to not scare then off

The walk out was dark

Which made the walk rough

As I had to walk through the water again, this time there appeared to be more

Mud than my way in

Or perhaps I just found the muddy areas this time

I was smart this time driving out

I put the Mud Duck in four wheel drive before I left

As the last 2 times I got stuck and had to back up and put her in 4 wheel drive and then go

Darn I am smart didn’t get stuck this time

The buck movement so far on camera has been minimal, but a good night hunting

Is not measured by the antlers I see

I got to see lots of deer tonight and I was fascinated by their behavior as they mingled with other deer.

They temp are dipping tonight

Once I got back home, I was getting out of my hunting gear and

I thought I would have to wear my

One rubber boot in the house

As I could not get it off,

I have a bad foot/ankle and could not find the strength to pry it off my foot

Nothing a few choice words didn’t cure

Fish, potatoes and zucchini for supper

The story of my night shared with the guys(you too Dad)

Dad, you will find the humorous in this……..

20 minutes after I left the blind

I had a buck on camera

A nice one, I think the one I had seen a few hunts back

Definitely a shooter

In the very food plot that all those deer where in when it was closing time

I wonder now as I look at that big rack

Was he out there, when I was there?

The heart feels a little heavy(you know that feeling)

Seeing him on camera, so close yet so far way

Until next time…shoot straight…its almost ruttin time!

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Gloomy 7th Sit

The skies turning dark!
These clouds produced strong winds and light rain!

Friday, October 16, 2020

When a woman makes her mind up

Its set

I had planned on hunting after work

Luckily for me COVID had allowed me to work from home

Plus, it sure does help that our hunting land is right out the back door

Got a late start but was eager to go

 Of course, the cat ran out in the garage and out the door to freedom as I  was getting ready

One of the big bucks I am after was down below the house gain last night again.

So, I kept a positive thought that tonight was going to be a good good night

Pulled the Mud Duck out of the garage along with the retractable electric cord

Good thing the cord decided it wanted to be retracted

Oh, that is how this night is gonna start off?

Decided to walk in the back way again

Which entails driving the Mud Duck through an intrakit weave of fields

To get to where I am going

The walk in wasn’t any easier than the last time

Plus, I was in a hurry

This time trying to remind myself where the holes and divits are

I mean what’s the point of being in a hurry if I am going to fall on my ass

Well probably on my face more like it

As I walked in, I snacked on one of the 100 calorie walnut/almond packs

I normally get hungry at this time, as it is right around when we would eat

But no, I got to go hunting

So, I have to wait until after 7 pm until I eat supper

Ahhh my pretty enclosed blind, you look so nice

Since the last time I seen you

I am proud of my blind, I have not given her a name yet

And I will, but I have always wanted a blind like this and will appreciate the blessing of having one

The weather looked nice on my drive out

The sun was out with a slight wind

But my dad had to jinx it earlier

And say something to the effect that hopes I  got some hunting in before the extreme wind and rain.

Whatcha talking about dad, looks nice

At 447 pm 10 minutes after I get in the blind

There are 2 deer in the big food plot to my left

I kept this window zippered up a little as I feel it helps  the deer

As I think it provides them security as they eat

Plus, I have been told I move around a lot

Whatcha talking about????

Yes, I am not quite sure how I will handle the situation when there is a buck there and I am not ready

Game time decision I guess

Is its meant to be its meant to be

40 minutes later around 528 pm I now have total of 7 deer in the food plot

Just does and several fawn, maybe one  or two teens as well

Well the doom and gloom arrived

The sky turned grey and then dark

The wind picked up to almost Gail force winds

A few times I actually grabbed on to the blind

Preparing to be blown over

Oh, lookey there a tree had fallen in the woods

The deer didn’t seem to be awfully concerned

As they remained in the field

It sprinkled, rained, stopped, rained again,

Stopped,  some more heavy rain and then stopped

I stuck it out

The whole time worrying about taking a shoot and losing the blood trail due to wet ground or rain

The wind/rain kept my mind busy so it wasn’t as peaceful of a sit as usual

I decided to sit out the rest of the hunt

The wind calmed down a bit the last 30 minutes or so

I tried to picture in my mind a big buck stepping out from the willows or walking straight at me down the path.

But it didn’t happened, however I sure do want to be ready when it does

Well, its closing time.

As I stepped out from the blind there were still deer to the left of me in the big food plot

One was fairly large bodied.

It was to dark to make anything out

I was a tad bit concerned walking back to the Mud Duck

Earlier in the week we had a Germain shepherd running deer below the house in the

Middle of the night.

I thought he was located by his owners as Facebook had reported

But as I was leaving the house Marcus was on the phone with someone who had seen

A Germain Shepard spotted down the road from us. 

My intention was to make sure a knife accessible

You know one of those things you keep saying in your mind as your packing up to leave

Knife, remember the knife,  knife, get the knife, remember the knife

And then I walked away and forgot it THE KNIFE.

So, I armed myself with the crossbow bolt( its an arrow with a special end that I use to dry release by bow)

Not sure what that would have done

But I was going to give it my best shot if I ran into that loose Germain Shepard

The closer I got back to the Mud Duck I noticed this white stuff in the air

Yup them would be snowflakes, the 1st of the year

It snow flaked on my ride back home

Brats, potato salad, and chips for supper

Sure, was yummy

Another successful hunt

I saw deer, got some peace and quiet, cleared my mind, enjoyed the simpler things in life, bonded with mother earth and sat in silence and basked in the blessing I have been given in this life, did I mention the deer.

Until next time shoot straight!   Its RUTTIN time soon!

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Fawns 2020

I always get excited this time of year to get some fawns. Haven’t determined how many kids we have yet! But I will keep you posted.