Staying Alive, Staying Alive

The last week of hunting has presented a few small signs of the rut starting. A few small bucks were circling around sniffing up does that were bedded down about 20 yards from my ground blind. During my trip to Michigan for work, I saw a mature buck along Rt 80 chasing a doe like a junior high boy seeing his first girl. Although all good signs, it still seems to be sporadic. I would imagine in the next week it will break loose. It been about a week past the full moon, and from what my uncle indicated from his intimate knowledge, that after the first two frosts rut should begin.

It was just yesterday where is was sunny and comfortable while sitting in my ground blind. Today, its snowing, in October. Really? I told myself this is okay though. This Nor'easter is going to be the cold spell to finally push that rut to begin. I have spent the last few weeks manging out some does from the herd and rarely seeing a buck during the daylight. I didn't envision this based on the early trail camera pictures. I thought I would have a set of antlers on the wall for the Halloween party to talk about with the guys. I even have a few new bucks that have showed up on camera they we haven't seen before.


A new 7 point with one small brow tie is quite impressive. His tines have some good length and present a high rack. Certainly worthy for the hit list. Again though no shooter bucks have broken the night time feeding pattern. The one buck that does haunt my woods is the 5 point. It took a while to capture him on camera but I had seen him before that. I am trying to determine if he is a mature buck because his nose and approach tactics hint on his abilities. Every time I have encountered him, he has ended up checking downwind of me and busting out of the area.


Yesterday, I had the 5 pointer at 12 yards to which I could have ended his stuck up lifestyle. He snuck in on me from the corner of the blind I could see out. Even at 12 yards, I could decide to pull the trigger or to let it ride. His tines are rather long and his strut made it seem like he had a mature swagger. With a hope of good Karma to come, I let him pass. He moved on to the food plot and a few minutes later he came running out. Did he catch my wind....I thought it unlikely. Maybe Brian's dad came out in the backyard and spooked him. Either way this buck has been the only deer to bust me. I hope is nose doesn't mess up an opportunity at a shooter buck for me. A 20" arrow could have secured that fate yesterday to my advantage but will let things play out on fate. Or a cross bow arrow if he shows up again.


Below is that 7 point buck I mentioned. Although two brow ties are present, I believe only one will score.
The mature bucks are doing a great job though staying alive. If only night hunting was legal.

New Bucks in Town

I have been finding myself sneaking into the hunting area about an hour before sunrise. The full moon phase had been keeping the deer in the area until the early morning hours. So as I slide into the woods this morning, I pushed deer out from the food plot. The stampeding off of the deer had heavy impact sounds to the ground depicting decent size deer. At this pace, I would just have to sleep in my ground blind to beat the deer to the area.

So at the end of day and loading up a large doe that I managed to harvest, Brian and I downloaded the trail camera. Just as my luck goes, there was a decent buck in the food plot that I spooked out. This would be one of two new bucks they have showed up in the last week. Although not huge bucks a 5 and 7 point from preview of the pictures showed, the bucks would be a good match for Jenn to hunt. The 7 point, which we have deemed as the Lucky 7 has a really high rack but lacks on brow ties as the one is barely a countable point.

The crazy eights have manged to disappear again but signs of the rut beginning have be confident on their return. I have a trip to Michigan that will keep me away for about a week. I think it will be just enough time to get the rut in full swing. Next Saturday should be a pretty opportunity to finally harvest a quality buck. I am also taking advantage of stopping at the Pines (family farm ~600 acres) on my return trip from Michigan. A good report of decent bucks on the farm may provide an buckertunity as well.

Robin Hood would be jealous

So another day in the woods ended up with more meat for the freezer. I have to say when I realized I did hit the deer with my arrow, I was impressed. It was only a few days ago when Shawn came over with his new crossbow purchase. While he was sighting in, I took the time to take a few shots. It came to my attention that my bow was a bit off. It could have easily been knocked off center from trudging through the woods in Maryland or the boat rides to get to the hunting grounds. Its good to check you bow every week or prior to hunting trip, (especially if you traveled far).

By the end of the night both mine and Shaun's crossbows were spot on. I have still yet to shot more than 20 yards to check the pins in my scope. If I only knew my bows potential, I could have taken some of the hit deer earlier. Saturday morning came quickly, after a long stressful week of work. I used my ground blind again, as it provides a great view of the woods rather than my tree stand. It wasn't long until I started to see some deer movement.

It was Spike, who came across the woods to stop by the food plot and then back out the same way he came. After that, a few doe appeared in the thick brush, luckily no bucks slipped by with them as they provided no clear shot. Once this small group emerged it was apparent that they we the soccer mom clan. Two moms and three little ones. The little ones have really grown since August. So at 20 yards they decided to bed down. The setup of the ground blind was perfect with the wind and the sight of it didn't even draw any interest from them.

20 minutes later, here came Spike again, chasing the does. Yes, its the first sign that the rut has started. And before I knew it, another small buck showed up to chase the same does. The bucks gave up pretty easily and the clan laid back down, at least they were a little further out of sight so I could relax and eat some lunch. I decided to stay a bit longer in the blind hoping for a larger buck to arrive but that never happened. I did though see the doe that Jenn missed last week and had another mature doe with her.

The two does came out pretty far away and crossed in front of me. They were going to utilize the same travel route as spike. So using a few trees, I decided that my shot would be around 50 yards. I chose a shooting lane and waited their return. The first doe passed by a bit quickly, and not enough for a shot. The second one lagged a bit, stood behind a tree and then finally appeared. I used a tripod stand from my camera to steady my shot and put the 50 yard pin in my scope on the top of her shoulder. Without hesitation I squeezed the trigger. It was like a scene from Robin Hood, the arrow took flight and weaved its way down the tree line and I saw the deer kick and start to run away. A smack sound of the impact soon followed like a lag of time for distance.

I gave it a few minutes, I thought I hit the deer based on the reaction after the shot. I soon took a trip to the general area to check for blood and my arrow. It felt like I walked in circles and ended up going back to my blind to determine the exact area of the shot. Again, I saw no blood and no arrow. I even checked for the recent foot prints to see the direction of travel. With that I just decided to look in the direction where they ran. With only a few steps I saw the deer piled up. I was amazed. I knew my bow was spot on from left to right but my long distance had never been tested. My shot had taken the deer down at a distance of 65 yards and was an almost instant fatal wound.

The deer had been quartering away and had it's front leg extended forward which opened up the heart for a direct hit. The arrow had enough energy that it did pass through all the way and landed a few feet after it jumped on impact. With this new found ability to take longer shots, it will provide more opportunities to take confident and quality shots. I have definitely put my new cross bow through the hoops and look forward to a buck stepping out, even at 60 yards.

Grounded for a Buck

Another day in the woods but still no shooter buck. I spent the morning in the stand and on the ground. The forecast was going to include some windy conditions from the southwest but area I hunted didn't seem to affect the woods too much. Before daylight even hit the cedar stand of forest a deer spooked out from underneath me.

I hadn't heard any movement in the woods but this could have been due to the continual rain every few days. The last three weeks have been a mushy walk into the woods which helped me sneak in almost like a ninja. I guess the deer get to take advantage of this muddy condition by trying to sneak past me as well. After about two hours I got restless in the stand, and went down to the ground. Using a tree to sit against and staying low I setup shop. The woods still have a decent ground cover to hide me in my gilly suit.

The cedar forest has a low canopy which the tree stand limits the view. On the ground is a much better view although your stealthiness has to be up to snuff to beat a deer eye to eye. I sat on the ground two weeks ago and had a doe come in, do the stare down and then she continued to feed. You have to be prepared for the red face test, I was always good at winning a staring contest but it includes keeping absolutely still. You have to give that deer no reason to think you are a predator even if you seem out of place to them. Use ground cover and good camo to break up your outline. Cover your head and face so only your eyes are exposed. Beating one deer can be easy or hard but the real challenge comes with multiple deer.

If you do go with the ground you have to be ready. So you are covered up in vegetation, back to a tree, and laid up in your best camo outfit. You beat the stare down and are ready to shoot. Wait, do you have to pickup your gun or bow?... If you have too this is crunch time. This movement can blow your cover. I use a crossbow and have it set on my leg pointed at the area I anticipate the deer to be for my shot. A gun can be used the same way. A bow though may give you some problems. I tend to setup behind a tree when using my compound bow on the ground. Using the tree as my initial cover and then peaking on either side. I tend to be on my knees to give me a bit of elevation so the my bow clears the ground.

I prefer this method of hunting. as it gives up a more heads up challenge against the deer. I make sure to clear out all leaves and small branches as I sit on the ground to reduce any noise making. My trusty tree stand cushion acts to make that ground like a pillow for my behind as well. Yesterday I had a four point buck come in and give me the heads up battle. For being a younger buck he was smart as the first view of me he then angled to my downwind side. I gave him a run for the money though. I was practically laying on the ground with only me head on the tree trunk. At 12 yards the battle was on.

His rounded rack almost made a complete circle as he stared at me. His goal was to cross the dry creek bed behind me to follow two does. It was like watching a bobble head in slow motion. Back and forth he steps trying to break me. The black eyes felt like they were burning into my forehead. Then has he gave in he started to graze. I picked up my grunt call and gave a quick call. Then the battle continued, I just blew his mind with the call. He had first saw me as something out of place, then gave in, and now he hears the sound of another buck. I sensed a bit of anger from the buck.

The deer started to move away in the cedar forest when I did it again. A short grunt call and then a snort wheeze. Yup that pissed him off. He came stomping back in to about 10 yards and angled even further to my down wind side. It wouldn't be long before he busted me. He would now be able to put the smell of me and something not being right together. He gave a few short feet stomps and snorted off into the forest. What a little girl, I totally owned him.

I love getting the up close action and beating the deers predator cues. I could have shot this deer at any point but he just wasn't a shooter. I planned to hunt the afternoon a bit further into the woods and set up my ground blind. I would even bring Jenn out to hunt for some fun.

Young 8 on Tap

I had spend a few days playing cat and mouse with the old 8 point buck which was fine. Then like when you know it will happen his partner in crime showed up right after I left the stand and a little later he posed for the camera. The young 8 point buck. I wouldn't know this until I had returned from my sika deer hunt in Maryland though. It was like a little kick in the private area to know they were only coming into the hunting area after I left. Thats hunting though.

The moon phase was still keeping them up all night like it was 1999. So as these big bucks party like rock stars through the night hours, I am formulating a plan of attack. Its actually kind of simple. First to wait out the moon cycle to provide more deer movements at dawn and dusk. The second is the timing of rut. This is when the bucks are going to chase the ladies around the woods. They trade in a bit of brain power for testosterone. When this happens their guard will drop a bit, maybe enough to make the harvest.


Below a picture of the young 8, it has been almost two months since he had showed up. It looks like he grew a bit out of his velvet rack and seems a bit taller. Either way, he looks good. Its time for me to step up my game.

Sika Me This

My first sika deer hunt with a co-worker down to Maryland proved to be a exciting and some what successful. I loaded up the boat on a Thursday afternoon and headed south. You may be asking why are you taking a boat? The sika deer are found in marshy coastal areas along the eastern shore. Maryland actually has state game lands or wildlife management areas for hunting. The areas we were going to hunt are located in the fishing bay area, which is southeast of Cambridge, MD. The specific hunting areas we were after are only accessible by boat.

This was definitely a first for me and it was an experience. My buddy Josh had suggested this hunt as he had hunted for sika deer before. Although the area he hunted did not require use of a boat. So with an early start the next morning we launched the boat and followed the maps provided by MD fish and game. The boat ride to the first stand of forest was a couple of miles. As we approached there was already a boat parked on shore. With this being are first hunt like this and the use of public land, we respected the hunter for being their first. We moved on another mile or so to the next stand of woods.

We slightly miscalculated the amount of time needed to get to the hunting locations via boat. As we unloaded out gear, a faint bugle of a sika stag could be heard in the marsh. The excitement of the hunt set in. By the time we arrived, day break was upon us. Josh popped up my ground blind while I moved in a bit further to take refuge under a tree. We sat for the morning and then began to scout the area. We were looking for travel pathways and signs of deer presence. After this we loaded into the boat and cruised a bit further down the creek. We check a few more launch points to land the boat and do some more scouting. We decided to stay out until the evening hunt and laid up on a sandy hill to pass some time.

While sitting on this sandy hill over looking the marsh, we had a red fox give us some company as he pounced through the grass looking for rodents. We had been having a full conversation but it seemed to not bother the fox at all. Josh would be hunting a nice stand of hard woods in the middle of the this forest as I would over see a horseshoe shaped marsh outlined by forest. Both spots seemed promising based on location. One thing I learned about the marsh area was the marsh grass could hide small elevation changes (1-2'). I was in my ground blind watching the marsh when three white tail doe stepped out. At first they could be seen to about mid chest but then with a few hops into the marsh, only the tops of their ears were visible. The grasp in front of me was only about 2 feet high.

I later hoped that the hadn't hid any sika deer that passed in front of me in the marsh. It is typical to see tripod type stands to gain elevation over the marsh grass to see the sika deer. You have to remember you are hunting something the size of a medium to large dog. Day one came to a close, a dark ride back to boat ramp only lit by moonlight overhead. Back to the hotel for food, a shower, and soft bed. We planned to get up an hour earlier to gain time in the morning for travel via boat. We even stopped for our food and gas that night to save time.

What only felt like minutes in bed came to an early morning. Another moonlit ride to the hunting area on my Carolina Skiff on a cool morning. We decided to hunt the same area for the morning from the previous day. The morning was supplemented by sika stag bugles from across the marsh in another stand of woods called chance island. This was enough to have us plan our evening hunt at chance island. I had taken refuge under a fallen tree on this morning, with the nice broad leaves hiding my body outline. Josh had traveled further into the woods by a pinch point near the marsh.

As I laid under tree around 9 AM, my phone rang. Josh had shot a stag and it was down. I quickly bagged up my stuff and moved toward him. He had hit the stag on the first shot, but it had hit the deer in the rear spine. He ended up shooting his whole quiver of arrows to lay this deer to rest. After a few minutes of enjoyment of the harvest, we field dressed the animal and headed toward the boat. We would pack it up with some ice prior to heading back out for the evening hunt.

The evening hunt was set for chance island. We arrived early and stalked in pretty far. We even passed two old cars from the 50's in the woods. How they got there was a mystery. An area surrounded by marsh and water was not accessible via cars. We scouted and chose a spot with a pond of water surrounded by marsh which was just outside of the forest edge. We were hoping to catch a deer coming out of the woods toward the marsh or vice versa. The ground blind was brushed in as I always carry some clippers with me.

So we sat, and sat. Time ticked on from seconds, to minutes, and to hours. The spot had seemed so promising and we even used the sika caller to try and lure in some deer. This evening hunt would not give us a chance to harvest a sika from chance island. We packed up, headed to the boat, ramp, truck, and home. The hunt was still worth it. The experience of using a boat to access hunting areas that are not accessible in other means provided an isolated feeling from the everyday hunter. This wasn't the typical drive to the woods edge in my truck and walk in a couple hundred yards sit down.

I am not big on quotes but this although a bit biblical says it all.

"Now then, get your weapons--your quiver and bow--and go out to the open country to hunt some wild game...."

Genesis 27:3

Old 8 Playing Hard to Get

So it has been almost three weeks since a decent buck has presented itself on the trail camera. The ship finally came in, the Old 8 pointer has been visiting the area for a three day streak now. He is hanging out the soccer moms like a huge extended family of 7 deer. Although the it was great to see the buck again, the timing was not to my advantage. The buck was only there during early morning hours and an hour after dark.

This timing ended up relating to the moon cycle which I posted in a seperate blog. But be that as it may, I hunted hard with hopes on getting a shot at him. I even pasted up Lindsay Lohan with a clean 15 yard shot oppurtunity. Today I got in the woods early but I got the erie feeling that I pushed the deer right out of the area. It was almost as if I could see their shadows but by the time light came, the area was clear. I sat for awhile but with not action by 10 Am I got up. I tracked the entire group of deer through the area.

The fresh tracks followed down toward the edge of the property where it slopes down into a small valley. As my uncle alway said, they go down in the morning and up at night. This is just what they were doing. So in hopes of catching their evening movement, I set up with a makeshift ground blind along a fence panel. Yes, there is some fencing in the woods from Brian's dad. I made a good location about 20 yards off of their travel path where they would come up from the valley. So I waited, and waited, and yes waited. Before I knew it, the sun had set and forest was completly dark.

My setup was perfect, with a wooded blind and my cross bow at the ready. I was just missing the deer to complete the package. Again the moon had shifted the deer movement to past dark and not during my hunting time. I will use this setup later one the moon provides a better hunting oppurtunity. Now the make shift ground blind I made was pretty sweet. The forest I hunt have ample dead fall from the cedar trees and in about ten minutes I had a good blind. The benefit of the a good blind is it hides your movement or breaks up your outline. Camo is great but if a deer can see your outline its kind of pointless.

I backed myself up to the fence paneling and a small tree. This would only leave me two sides to built up some fallen limbs. I built up to about chest height when I am in a sitting position. I used smaller branches to fill in gaps and run them vertical to fill in the blind. Then with a solid limb across in front of me I was able to lay my cross bow out for easy access. All I would have had to do is lean forward into the scope and aim at a deer. I use a small tripod seat and wear my gillie suit from head to toe. I knew I would have had to fool about 5-7 deer before the buck would have showed up so passing the red face test with lots of eyes is essential. I would be able to make slight movements but still be cautious when they arrived. The blind is set but will have to wait for a better moon.

2nd Brown down

The previous Friday I hunted I ended up getting soaked by the rain. When instead, I should have held out for the Saturday hunt with clear weather. I gambled and lost, but that's hunting and you if to be in the forest to hunt. So I rested up, took care of work through the week and started hunt-cation on following Friday. I climbed in my stand, and waited for movement. If wasn't long at all before a pair of does came right into the field of view. At 15 yards I was able to make a solid shot and released a crossbow bolt to her vitals.

By 730 I was back down on the ground and tracking the deer, my shortest stay in a tree stand yet. I tracked the deer pretty well, as the shot did hit vitals and produced a solid blood trail. She ended up crossing a road and then a ditch which led to a semi open area with grass. The blood trail disappeared. I had starting tracking the deer almost instantly which I would discourage. The deer ended up going so much further because I pushed her from laying down to expire. Even a solid shot to vitals can allow the deer to travel pretty far and wounded animals should be given ample time to lay down.

The hunters on tv shows do this all on the time but not usually for the animals benefit. They don't want to track the deer down at night and do their big video shot in the dark. So they wait until morning, say they were thinking about the deer all night long, and first thing in the morning do their hunting show deer search. Well I am not hunting star but tracking down a wounded animal is imperative. I take high percentage shots and commitment to the animal I shoot.

So when I did find the deer I shot was with a bit of luck. The other deer that had been with this doe when I shot remained around her when she finally laid down. I was trudging through the woods and spooked the other deer. Then I could see the deer I shot laying under some thick bush. I was so glad to have finally found it, but since I pushed the deer so far, it on significantly increased the distance to truck. This meant a lot more dragging by myself. Yet another benefit to not push a wounded animal after the shot. This was the second deer I was able to harvest and it will be used to make some sausage with my new grinder. Now the work begins.

Moon Light, deer lite.

So I have hunted hard the past few days. Between morning and evening hunts, I have put some serious time in. But the past few days has proved to be very slow on deer movement. The trail camera proved to be generous with pictures of deer and even the Old 8 buck. I didn't realize until today that the moon cycle was providing the night time feeding for the deer. Each day this week I saw less, and less deer. I feel like a rookie making this mistake. I got over excited with the trail pictures and hunted with out taking the moon phase into account.

The weather the past couple of days wasn't the best, overcast or cloudy and even a bit of rain. With that being said, the moon was out sight and out of my mind. So yes, two weeks ago I was seeing 5-7 deer by 8 am. The past three days, I haven't seen 3 deer. I really should have stopped to check the moon phase before I hunted. I am willing to admit my poor planning and taking this as a good lessons learned. So in my future planning, its weather, wind, and moon phase.