RE: (20) Official Team "XX" Thread
 

Best of luck tonight guys - the mercury is dropping here and has been drizzling all day - wish I were in the stand right now!! - I think it looks like it is heading your way Anthony. - will be freezing here tomorrow and thursday nights.

Quick - hope you are done with all the blundering idiots! - they sure have a way of screwing things up for you.

That was a nice buck for team 7!

Hope Troy's appointments went well today (both the Doc and the Grey buck!)

RE: (20) Official Team "XX" Thread
 

Hey guys. Took the morning off today. Next 2 days are supposed to be cool and I'm off:DI think its going to be a good couple days.

RE: (20) Official Team "XX" Thread
 

Hey Buds,

Finger is doing well, Doc said 2 more weeks should be my final visit. Hunting went slow, had one small 4x4 come out in front of me along with 4 cows, 1 calf elk which fed right next to me for 5 minutes. Critters are feeding between 10 pm and 4 a.m. I have been keepting tabs on the 4 bucks at my place feeding in my yard...the Pottenger whitetail Research Facility! LOL

I most likely wont get to bowhunt until Friday...Dee and I have a bunch of work to get done outside the house...My brother Rob is coming up for the weekend to join me for some whitetail action.

I have a couple more stands to move. One directly in ole greys travel corridor... Ole Yeller...hes getting tons of pressure from the gunners..I will leave him alone..pray he makes late archery season...

Quick... good luck hunting bud! I know its a matter of time for you...and thanks bud on the Journal... We truely had a great time. The best part about it was...I got to meet and spend time with 3 great men. Jason, Mike and Ryan are all class acts.. Lifes short times like our elk hunt make for priceless memories..I really hope the guys come back to fill an elk tag..in the future..

Mike thanks..on the Journal.. It was you guys that made it so much fun! Tell J hi for me..! I miss him..get his PC working!

Ryan good luck on your days off! Best of luck!!!

Everyone else I need to run..Best of luck guys...have fun, be safe and shoot straight...

Troy

RE: (20) Official Team "XX" Thread
 

Ryan - we've got some cool weather moving in, hopefully it's here to stay. Good luck over the next couple days. FYI , there may be a Sunday night spotting adventure in the works, but time will tell. I'll have to clear it with my supervisor first- she's been pretty decent about letting me hunt in the evenings, so I won't push my luck. I just got your email about that article - I agree 100%.

Troy - I think there's been a lot of late-night/early-morning activity overnight around here too. I guess it's the moon phase combined with the daytime heat. Either way, it hasn't made for the greatest hunting - like Rybo said - we've got lower temps on the way. I wouldn't worry about Yeller - he didn't get that big by being dumb. Big bucks like that are patient and smart. He's got a good hiding spot, and I'm sure he's not shy about staying holed up in it.

Last night's hunt: I've been saving this isolated hollow for late Oct., but I got antsy and jumped the gun last night, heading in there. The same buck is back from last year, I think, running the same rubline and he has some fresh scrapes. I found his core area last year shed hunting. When I got in at 5:00, there were some fresh deer dropping in the middle of his biggest scrape - looked like he was there in the a.m. Anyway, I perched over the trail and never saw a deer. It's awfully thick in there, and my visibility was capped at about 10 yards. It's also 200 yards from a major interstate, so it's non-stophighway noise. I'll go back in a week or so for Round 2. Judging by the size of some of his rubs and tracks, he's a beast, and he's hiding out in this hollow where nobody is bothering him. Lots of 2-3.5" diameter trees really torn up, but I know you can't rely on that. I'm just being optimistic. It's a pretty sweet deal, I just whip off the Interstate, and stick a white plastic shopping bag in the driver's side window (pretending to be broke down), then slink down over the bank. The nearest gamelands parking is at least .5 miles away, at the bottom of the mountain.

Mike - Ryan can attest to what we deal with around here. These people seem to get worse every year. It's not their fault really, just too many people trying to hunt areas where the huntable acreage dwindles more every year.

Man, it sure is nice to be bowhunting. That's all I know.

RE: (20) Official Team "XX" Thread
 

Quick, you and Ryan really are fine whitetail hunters, to play the hand you guys are delt is simply amazing. It really does force you guys to hunt creatively, let alone smart! I wish you the best on the "pavement beast". I hope you get him.

I am not in anyway putting anyone down, but to see you guys harvest the best bucks in your area given the equations you must solve...versus those huntersthat simply are opportunist that areput in the best hunting spots in the country...oranges and apples ...to me....Man I hope you guys get one of those secretive PA survival mastors...

Your right with old yeller.. I believe he makes his sanctuary on the other side of the mountain..its private and not pressured...Only a hot food source or doe will pull him from there...problem is..he has that feed over thereand plenty of does over there. Of course this is my presonal speculation, but it makes sense...I only see him when the alfalfa is right...


Gotta get back to work..

Have a good dayBrothers of the XX

RE: (20) Official Team "XX" Thread
 

Thanks for the kind words Troy. It's not just Rybo and I, it's getting like that everywhere to a degree. As more roads go in, more developments go up, and more forests are cleared for ag fields, it not only concentrates the deer herd, but the hunters as well. I guess it's something that we're all going to have to contend with sooner or later. On that highway buck, I'd just like to see him one time, and get an idea what it is that I'm chasing, but I have a feeling that the first time I see him will be from the treestand.

Like Yeller, those old bucks have a knack for survival. I don't think they get on their feet much duringdaylight hours, and they're very content stayingput. Like you said, the pursuit of does or food will be their only undoing.

RE: (20) Official Team "XX" Thread
 

Its funny how the moon works...we caught all our sturgeon the other day from noon to 3...

Yup Fran they get real careful in their daylight movements...

The 2.5 year olds in my yard at night are showing that off...only 2.5 and being very careful ...theres lots of gunners beating the brush my way now...oh well...time to get creative...you guys inspire me..thanks...

RE: (20) Official Team "XX" Thread
 

Fellas,

I sent all of you guys the picture of the buck that was taken out of one of my hunting areas. I'd have posted it here, but again, I didn't have permission from the guy, and didn't want to take any liberties posting it online. Really good guy, and the best buck he's ever taken. I'm really happy for him.

It looks like we finally have a good cold front moving in, but I've got no rabbits left in the hat - I've hunted every stand set at least once, and come up empty for a variety of reasons. There is significant hunting pressure on all my stand locations now. Small game/muzzleloader/youth rifle seasonstarts Saturday, and that is very bad news. I hate going this deep into the season without tagging my PA buck,but I'm holding out for something nice. I'll have two full weeks of evening hunts coming up before daylight savings time ends. Something will have to happen soon. Good moon and good weather tonight.

I'm gonna try hunting a new cornfield corner where I know there's a good buck moving through, but there's a loc-on hanging in there (that doesn't belong to me). I saw the guy in it on Saturday. I'm not sure if he's been there through the week of he's spooked anything yet. Tonight will tell the tale. Problem is that this location is in an isolated draw on an east-facing slope, halfway down a hill. The winds are always coming out of the west, and even if they're coming in from the east, the thermals at dark start pushing air down into the creek hollow, which is where the bedding area is. Tonight, we have some heavy winds, maybe enough to blow my scent over them or dilute it enough to keep them from getting nervous. ...but I'm still kicking around ideas. It may come down to a coin toss that will dictate where I hunt.

RE: (20) Official Team "XX" Thread
 

Fran,

That buck pic...DANDY! typical 6x6...very nice genes..looks to be a 3.5 year old? Again congrats to the friend.

Tonights hunt, best of luck. Tricky winds, pressure ...can be enough to make a guy want to sit at home, but you know as well as anyone you have to be out there. Just like your friend sitting in the stand that morning only to have the buck get shot by another that evening from the same stand..

How about our highway buck? Whats the plan on him?

I'll be bowhunting tomorrow evening..on my #1 (getting tore up) traditionalsocial scrape...first time I have hunted it this year..this is located 200 yards from where the ole gray buck was videoed.... feeding..I am soley hunting him for the next couple weeks in 3 different locations..stands..that encompass about 100 acres...

RE: (20) Official Team "XX" Thread
 

Troy - that highway deer is safe for now. Even if I get out of work at 4:00, I can't be in that stand any earlier than 5:20. If I'm going that far out of my way, I'm gonna have to wait until some foliage comes off, because I can't see my hand in front of my face in there.

On the buck in the picture, he doesn't look too old - I'd agree with 3.5. Antler restrictions really do work even despitethe illegal buck kills and guys indiscriminately shooting off the button bucks. Every year, it seems like the bucks get bigger. Butwith the big bucks comes big pressure and more people posting/leasing/restricting access totheir land. We definitely have the genetics for monster whitetails, but we lack the age structure. If you kill a 3.5 year old deer around here, you're doing something right.

Man, it looks like Ryan picked a couple of good days to be in the stand. This is the coldest it's been all year.