mauser06

rub it in manuman...rub it in!

best of luck!! hoping to see some pics!!

next week for me..next week...good thing too it stormin right now...then we get a coldfront from the NW...highs in the lower 70...lows in the low 50s...i can live with that.

manuman

Well, I don't have a very good report. No deer due to poachers ----again!!!!!!!!!!!I found a dead buck on my way out, horns cut off, back straps and shoulders removed and dumped right where I always park my Jeep. I guess I ticked off the guys I got arrested last year for the same thing.[:@][:@][:@]

WakeCow

That f-ing sucks. Why do people have to do that?

mauser06

sorry to hear about that manuman...i dont understand why people do things like that. whats the point?? to me antlers and a kill aint all that important.

i guess guys like us will never get it...because we aint guys like that. sucks...

WakeCow

Sorry Manuman, don't know if your a Falcons fan but they got their ass kicked by my Vikes today!

manuman

I really don't care about the Falcons, but I hated how the Bulldogsbeat themselves against SC yesterday!! How frustrating can you get.
Anyway--I had a much better hunt this evening. My son went with me and although we didn't see any deer, a 250 lbs black bear came in and I released a perfect arrow, only to watch it smack a sapling literally 6" from his shoulder broadside!! I have taken a couple and told myself that I wouldn't shoot another until it was really big, but since he was with me, I thought it would be a great experience. Although I missed he had a ring side view--the bear was 5 yards to his left and he was only 10' off the ground. Pretty exciting for us both, and not so dissappointing since he had such a close encounter. I was totally surprised since I had not seen any bear sign in this area including last year.

WakeCow

Manuman tough luck on that bear. I'm sure it was cool for your son to watch in aticipation and then have the arrow hit the tree. Total change in emotions, from watching the kill to oh damn he hit that tree!

ManSaturday morning can't come early enough! I don't think I'll get much sleep this week.

mauser06

just got back from doing some scouting here at school

had 8 saddles marked out. 4 on state game lands and 4 in a state park. wrote driving directions AND foot directions with compass directions and thought i was pretty dang precise.

not even close. out of 8 saddles i couldnt even locate ONE! i could have, but wanted to avoid walking around these woods 3 weeks before the season pretty aimlessly. stuck to the trails and stuff they are used to people walking. i did all my topo studies on my laptop. i guess i better print them out or take my laptop next week.

good news though, all the areas held alot of deer sign. good acorns and other nuts dropping..good looking woods..and far enough from the hard road i shouldnt have a whole lot of competition. one road was more of a 4x4 trail. i cant believe they didnt gate it 2 miles before they did. you definently aint gettin a car back there even now when its dry let alone wet or snowy. seen 1 doe and found a really nice fresh rub. ive never seen a rub as high as this one or rubbed so hard or with so many tine gouges...that area is tough looking though. found it in a strip of woods that was a growing cut...no way to get a stand in that area...on the back of the strip of woods is a nasty thick powerline...supposed to be a saddle there somewhere but i couldnt find it lol.

keying in on saddles because they should funnel the deer nicely...gotta find them first i suppose now that im familiar with the areas i should beable to find most of them if i take my topos with me.

nice to be out and about in the deer woods again.

saturday starts my doe season. im pumped...all i gotta do is screw broadheads on my arrows and replace the blades i been practicin with and wash the hunting clothes and i will be ready to roll.

manuman

I like your approach.I hunt the same way. I look for terrain features, especially funnels as you have described. Then I look for sign, but sometimes these funnels don't hold obvious sign, and they are not so obvious as to just where teh deer specifically will travel--especially bucks. I find that I have to keep studying closer and closer to pay attention to some of th emore subtle clues--faint trails as opposed to teh more pronounced ones, trails just within the edges of thick stuff, and eventually these will lead me to whereI need to be to intercept a buck, and sometimes that is not until later. I find also that some places are only good at certain times of the year,and , usually, the same time each year, and you won't find a deer there at all at other times. Natural foo dsources mean thatsome years an rea wil be good for a while,and then one year not be good for anything. Oh well--enough of my ramblings. Good luck saturday!

WakeCow

Team 31 Role Call: Whats everyone else doing to get prepared for their seasons or if your season started hows it going? Where is everyone?

My brother and I planted fall/winter food plot about 2 acres last monday before we gota bunch of rain last week and this weekend.

Season opens Saturday and I haven't decided where I'm hunting yet.Wind is supposed to be out of the southon Sat 8-10 mph and high at 60.