early in

I think things will be heating up herebig timein my area of Pacome this weekend. Sat we are supposed to get much cooler temps with a bit of rain, perhaps. Perfect conditions! That will be the change we need, because it's been TOO hot around here lately.[:'(]

Planter

Great morning in the woods.. Settled in my stand at 5:15 forgood light at 6:30. It's a 3/4 mile dogleg walk to this one and the temps were 50ish so there was no avoiding a decent sweat.

I'm right on top(40yds ) of three scapes really close togetherso thought I would put out a little doe in heat even though it's a bit early. Bumped a couple setting upand that always feels like a kick in the &%^*s.

It was warm enough that I took theVortex instead of the crossbow and pulling the compound is not so bad when it's warm and I thought I would mix it up a little.

I know it's not much of a story but I had to jury rig the seat of this stand in order to use it. I figured some heavy leather and a piece of 1/2 rope and I would be OK. Well just about first light the leather starts breaking and within 10 MINUTES the rope was riding up like a thong. I wasn't going anywhere as it felt darn good out there.

Acorns are still dropping like raindrops and I could see deer out at 40 plus yards thru the brush. These deer were running back and forth like a pinball for no reason I could figure. It was one of those times it could have been five deer or twenty.

I ended up passing a slam dunk 20 yard shot on a horse headed doe cause I figured the bucks were there too. A few minutes later they ended up behind me and caught my wind GOOD. I should have popped that big doe cause she would just NOT stop blowing. I would be eating backstraps right now but I frankly did not want to pull her 3/4 mile out of the woods and thats a fine reason.I quietly bailed out and headed to the truck. NO deer but a great morning.

BIG cold front moving in tommorow night so I'm gonna be back at it the AMif it's not raining to heavy and the wind stays down. Not killing but still having fun.

One of you guys wanna pick up the slack and get us on the scoreboard??

early in

I damned near had some points to help the team's total this morning. I was in my stand and set up by 6:00AM. Didn't see anything until 7:50. It was first a small 6pt which I passed on. I watched him rub a tree at 10yrds, then he turns to look back at a nice 8pt that was behind him. I watch them both for a vey short time, then the 6pt gives me the once over, but the 8pt is stilltoo busy nibbling. Whenthe 8pt gets behind this bush I draw, and the 6pt catches my movement and bolts. The 8 looks at him and wonders what that was all about?
I'm still at full draw waiting for him to take 2 more steps for a slam dunk.He never takes those steps, and I can't hold anymore! I let down without him seeing me. He then turns to go the way the 6pt went and is headed to a good spot for a shot. I go to draw on him again, and literally can't pull the bow back! My arm was still toofatigued! (anyone ever have this happen?)So, I watched him walk away to live another day. Five mins later I could draw my bow just fine.Next week the rut will be under way in my region. can't wait!Good luck fellows.

RTA47

Hang in there guysthere! Starting to heat up down here as well.

Seeing a lot of deer just nothing i want to shootbut maby soon!
I will be in the stand all weekend. good luck be safe! ..terry

early in

Here's a pic of the buck I almost had a shot at yesterday morn. He walked passed my trail cam as he was leaving.[:@]He's decent for my area!

Planter

The wind was blowing hard this AM so I slipped back into bed instead of a stand. Hopefully this "colder" weather kicks them into gear. Still waiting on a frost to knock afew leaves down.
I'm seeing freezer fillers but have opted not to lace one thru the lungs quite yet.The wife and kids won't eat it and the local food banks wanted nothing to do with it so I'm in no hurry.
I bought a $35.00 stand at Dick's to replace the one with the thong seat. I had to assemble it but it should work Otay. A little rain would be nice to help it settle in.
I say shoot that 8pt Jeff. We need to get on the board! Youmust love this no hunting on Sunday'sas much as I do. I just don't get it.

Stick it to them boys!

gmil6184

Hey gentlemen, how did your weekends go? Saturday was the opener in NY (finally) so I was out bright and early Saturday morning. Perfect morning, clear and cold with almost no wind. Went to a stand we call the "corner stand". Its about 50 yards into the woods in the corner of this field on the edge of our lease. Its one of those places that has produced every year and its a comfortable hang on stand waaaayyyy up this ancient pine tree. From the moment I got out of my truck I was hearing deer. One must have been near the road because I heard it crashing away when I closed my truck door. I was hoping that was a good sign. I hiked up and across the field and as soon as i stepped into the woods by my stand I heard some more crashing. Its always bitter sweet when I spook them on the way into my stand, in a way its good to hear they are in the area but I hate hearing them run off. Anyways, I climb in and get settled and wait for the sun to start coming up. I was just enjoying the beautiful morning when I heard the familier "crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch" of a deer walking in the leaves. Sure enough here comes this decent sized doe walking right down a trail, right at my stand. Because of the angle she was walking and the tree in front of my stand I didn't have a shot until she was about six yards away. So I waited and as soon as she stepped into the clear i cut an arrow loose and heard it hit. she raced off about 20 yards and stopped. She looked bewildered, but no worse for wear. So immediately I start panicking "what happened? Did I miss? No, I heard the arrow hit...was it a poor hit? She was so close I never saw the arrow..". As I'm going through these questions in my head she slowly starts walking away. As soon as she gets out of sight I hear a crash and a couple gasps of air. So I was immediately relieved, but for good measure I forced myself to stay on stand for another hour. Its a good thing I did, because almost an hour later I hear that "crunch crunch crunch" coming through the leaves again. So I'm silently saying prayers that this was that doe's big old boyfriend, but as luck would have it it was just this tiny little fawn, haha. It was all by himself so I'm thinking he might be a button buck who has been run off by his momma already. So he came walking down the same trail as the doe, with his nose to the ground feeding and sniffing leaves. As he walks into the same opening where I shot the doe he literally bumps his nose into the bloody arrow sticking in the ground and locks up the breaks. You could see his whole body tense up as he froze and then slowly looked around. At this point I was just doing my best not to laugh and trying to get my phone out of my pocket to take a picture. he ended up moving off before I could get a good camera shot. Once he was gone I got down out of the tree to check for blood. When I saw the arrow my heart sank a little, there was good blood on it but also a little guts. She was slightly quartering towards me, and in hindsight I should have probably waited for a better angle. I knocked another arrow and decided to walk to the last spot I could see her. When I got there I looked to my right I see this big old white belly sticking in the air. Boy was I relieved! She was dead as a doornail and only went about 40 yards. That being said, I'm not at all proud of the shot. I hit her high and back, just under the spine and it went straight down and came out her belly. Caught the back of a lung, liver, and some guts...not at all an ideal shot, and I have been beating myself up over it. At the same time it shows how lethal a good sharp broadhead can be, even when you make a marginal shot. Anyways, I'm pretty proud of her she weighed in at 104 lbs field dressed, not huge by any means but an ok sized doe for my area. Sorry for rambling so long, but I'm still pretty giddy about it all. I will add some pictures in a moment. Hope you guys had good weekends too, hope to hear about em.

gmil6184

here she is, like I said not a huge doe by any means but it was nice to get one opening day. Puts some fresh meat in the freezer and takes off a lot of the pressure

Picture of some good looking guy...

Kind of a cool pic of the arrow stuck in the ground right after the fawn literally walked into it

Haha, my favorite picture. My girlfriend heather helping me butcher the meat, she is also the one who bought me my bow it was my Christmas present last year...I'd say she's a keeper

early in

Congrats on the doe Greg! That'sthe perfect eating size deer.And yes, you really have a keeper there.Very cute.

I will be doing my second dark to dark huntof theyearin the morning.The wind is supposed to be from the West, which is great for once. We have been getting all N/NE winds for the last week.[:'(][:'(]Things should be getting under way REAL soon!

gmil6184

Thanks Early - by dark to dark do you mean staying on stand the entire day? If so god bless you. I know that 3 or 4 hours on stand in one sitting is my limit. After that i just get too fidgety, need to at least get down and go for a walk. Anyways good luck this morning!