mauser06

went spotting for about 2 hours....only 5 deer we seen in our woods were below my honey hole hill...

went to a township thats blown WAY up...seen probably 50 some deer...3 bucks over 100" and 2 1.5yo...the rest were does and young...could been some other small buck mixed in, but we had binocs on most of them and couldnt put bone on them. im still waiting for the seeking and chasing to start.....

maybe the cold temps kept them from seeking and chasing to conserve calories etc??? could it be they know they are in for a long hard winter(no acorns...its gunna be ROUGH) colder much earlier than any previous years i can remember....and i believe animals can tell "whats coming" weather wise...maybe thats why they never fired up? sit around and wait till the does are ready and conserve their energy...


i might go stir crazy....too cold to run the coon hounds...(cold dens up the coons and snow crust tears the hounds feet) no bow hunting....really hardly any deer around my area....last day of fall turkey is tomorrow so i'll definently be taking the shotgun for a walk.....i dont know what im going to do...Christmas break starts SOON...i normally can run the hounds pretty much straight through the year with a break here n there usually jan-feb when its snowy and cold...this could be a LONG year..........

mauser06

well, saturday i went out in search of a turkey in the snow...and to do a little deer scouting since i had a light coating of snow...

walked my whole "honey hole hill" only 1 rub found and it was in the pines between me and the corn field edge...only cut 2 sets of tracks...probably "hoss" my button buck...walking in circles...werent real big...i dont even think it was doe tracks..im betting it was Hoss...pretty sad...i stayed outta the thick stuff just because i didnt wanna jump them out...but walked all the open woods and pines and that was it for tracks...kinda sad...no turkey sign either...figured mom and the little ones joined up with another flock..not even old sign of them...

started off my hill through the corn fields that were finally picked...spotted movement across the driveway and on the far field edge...BIRD! pheasant? i thought for sure it was a pheasant..threw in some highbrass 6s(better than hevishot) and figured id see if i couldnt get it flushed...got half way through the far field and seen steamin fresh scratchings..TURKEY!! i knew i should been able to get into the flock...i figured they seen me and went left to cross the driveway and get up in the woods that they live in...so i started to beat my feet around the wood patch to try to cut them off figuring they were using the 40ft hillside above a creek to skirt around me...i got 20yds to the left and the ground exploded to my right in the draw...probably 30 birds took wing...

i know in a flock that big that theres almost always a couple that dont fly right away...i looked down and was scanning and scanning and found a good sized hen trying to find an opening to take flight...ole hevishot prevented that from happening...i never have the chance to "bust up a flock" im either too far to bust em or just nail mine before i bust em....maybe next time i get to fall turkey hunt with the gun i will bust em and try to call them in before just shooting one...it was fun, but nowhere near as fun as spring hunting...and really i must be growing up or something coz it felt more like a shoot than a hunt...i dont know...without the snow i would probably never looked down in that nasty patch of woods...and i know i would never seen the bird that caught my eye...with a little knowledge on turkey habits and topography, i can usually get a shot off and put a bird down before i bust em...thats my 3rd fall hen and only hunted them a handful of times...kinda fun but i think i need to bust em and try calling them instead of just pulling the trigger...exspecially with a 50yd turkey gun...or maybe just not MISS when they come by my treestand lol



not a bowkill....but figured id post since i got nothin else to post....

good eatin! never made it to the other spots i wanted to check out...had to get her cleaned and all that...not real concerned with scouting right now anyway till rifle season ends...then its back to the drawing board...

rybohunter

Nice bird mauser. When it comes to fall hunting, I say shoot em at any chance you get just because they are annoying.
Funny how had I taken my 1st gobbler in the spring with my bow, I'd have likely gotten it mounted. But the jake I drilled the other day I didn't even keep the tail fan[&:]

Germ

Dudes your're not that far behind.

Mauser come to MI, I will get you a buck

Cougar Mag

Good job on the turkeys Rybo and Mauser! We still have time, patience is golden.

Glad I took my buck a few weeks ago because things have gone to hell in a handbasket with properties I hunt. My best remaining land has been leased by a hunting co-op and another property(larger but not as productive) leased by the same outfit if you can believe that. They most likely will not renew their leases I hear, but someone else probably will. I'm still hunting on some small property that is sometimes very good in late season. Nice 8 pt. has been showing up recently, but he doesn't spend much time there, I'd sure like to catch him traveling though past my stand.

Mauser, I hear you on acquiring more hunting land. I'm already on the lookout and have some leads.

mauser06

thanx guys...i hear you rybo, they can be as annoying as tree rats....but, of all the animals in the woods, i enjoy watching, seeing, listening to turkeys the most. they are amazing animals and i love how vocal they are. i have no problem doing what i did...and im sure theres going to be many more fall turkey deaths due to the ole 870 shooting them just that same way...still fun and rewarding...and i like to take a hen in the fall just to keep the population in check and keep my competition lowered in the spring one day, i'll try to take em with the bow in the spring...one day. i dont hunt fields and dont use decoys and never used a blind...not opposed to it...just havent and im a woods hunter...with my tactics and technics now, id be hard pressed to take one with a bow. i usually have a couple seconds to shoot or not...when i see them they are generally in range and close to being on my lap...just how i learned to hunt em...make em look for me and be within range to look for that hen...then i shoot or pass...

Germ, if i had the time, id be there....hectic year as far as school and training goes...and important for my career...im suffering that i gotta go sight the MAUSER in tomorrow or wed...i'll have fun rifle hunting the few days i get to rifle hunt....but love bowhunting.

Coug, as you know, ive found that to be my "limiting factor" this season more than ever. i knew last year when about 10 bucks were shot in the area of my honey hole hill, that id suffer this year. spotting, and what others tell me, i feel GOOD about seeing what i seen this season....i might not be a GREAT hunter...but i strive to get better and learn from every hunt. i feel that better properties is going to be critical now that i feel ive platued. the honey hole hill is really the only spot i have faith in. if i lived at home, id over hunt it and be up a creek after week 1 no doubt about it. the only reason it works is because i only get to hunt it a few times a season...just gotta be a shooter buck using that hill for me to have a shot at filling my tag there...


heading home for Thanksgiving break here after i gather my stuff up....rifle season opens Monday. i just dont have the spunk...i know im gunna have fun and maybe drop a buck through the rifle season..but i dont have that same spunk i had counting down for bow season....

Rob/PA Bowyer

Nice birds guys.

Who here still has a chance for a bow buck?

drhntr178

Mauser, Im pretty sure you your 'hen' is a young of the year jake, justby looking at its feather coloring and head. Good job!!

Did i blow it this morning [:@] Last day of rilfe season and im hunting for the big 8 i have two sets of sheds from. Well he came in on my back side though a wide open field. I dont know why a buck or any other deer would come the way he did but it happened and i couldnt get a shot. I was skylined and he saw my movementfrom 120 yds. Going by his slight shrink in antler size I estimated him at 8yrs old. old bucks like that dont tolerate the slightlest movement. He was gone in a heartbeat. Ive never been more depressed hunting that at that moment.

I still have till jan 15th to get him with a bow but its gonna be tough.

Rob/PA Bowyer

Ya'll that can, keep at it!

mauser06

drhntr, i dont think...its head was somewhat different...but im about positive it was a older hen...maybe this pic will show the size a bit better...(my gun is smaller than you may think...)




made it to my buddies camp FINALLY....hunted the rifle opener yesterday...

seen about 25 deer....3 buck for sure...2 different 4pts and a pile of doe and younguns..

the other buck i found bedded in brush...i was trying to still hunt and sneak around and find a better spot knowing 3-4 guys from camp couldnt sit still any longer...plus other hunters...i spotted that buck where i wanted to sit...75yds away or so...only thing i cant see clear is the head but i could see it had a decint rack...gotta have 3 on a side and i was pulling the trigger...could put nice antlers on it and g2s but too thick to see anything else...snuck to about 50 and got behind a big white pine..nothing really visible to him except my barrel...figured i would wait him out..once he stood id have a clear view and clear shooting any way he went...just his head was behind brush...he snaps his head and is looking past me...stands up and trots 10yds...then i see a bunch of other deer trotting around...ERRR no WAY he seen me! i look down and here comes a hunter...the deer bolt..hunter keeps walking..couple minutes later a shot rings out..then another hunter comes through lower...figured the first hunter got the buck...then my buddy gets on the radio and says he got an 8pt down....he was supposed to be across the road...he couldnt sit in the cold so he walked across to my side of the road and was walking around..spotted 5 doe...then the buck i seen and he shot it..then another smaller buck....glad he got it...nice 2.5yo 8pt..not real wide..maybe 12" but nice mass...probably 6" g2s...2-3" brows and 1" g3s....nice mountain buck...

buddies uncle dropped a brute of a mountain buck in the morning...he is the only one from camp that hunts across the road...probably 17-19 wide and HEAVY...good tine legnth all the way around...nothing HUGE but brows were proably 4" and everything else was 5-12" long...good mass...just an awesome buck....

i seen the most deer from the camp with 8 hunters...

funny my buddy killed that buck...he had class so he didnt come to camp till noon...ate lunch with me...left about 1-130...he killed that buck at like 230 lol....i need his luck!! i dont mind...now i got a good dog to push me one here at home....

the crew at home put out a bunch of bucks..the few big ones we had, they put out yesterday...couldnt believe they were pushing deer the first day when the few legal bucks around are all real nice...put out the 2 "monsters" that i havent seen yet..no shooting...then an 11, 8 and 4pt...my buddies daughter missed all 3 and the 11 got killed by someone else...

back to school today...home tomarrow afternoon and hunting thursday and saturday...


keep at it guys that are still bow hunting....only deer i may been able to kill with my bow yesterday was a 4pt that bedded 20yds under my tree for 2 and a half hours....he was the only one that wasnt on high alert....after he left my area, im sure he changed his mood...awesome to watch a deer THAT long....he just walked on in, walked in a circle like a dog and laid down...i LOVED having him there too...he was another set of eyes and i knew he would tell me when deer were within view...he sure did too!