Team 15 "Bone Zone"
10-10-2011, 08:08 PM
#51
Fork Horn
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: S.E. Minnesota
Posts: 323
Good work on the avatars on point! Congrats on the does tribal!
Ive been staying out of the woods with the high temps and winds. I did manage to get a stand moved Saturday, stumbled upon a rub line with some pretty impressive trees shredded.I'm hoping to get into it tomorrow night if everything works out. Ive got a buck on cam in early july that was all of 22 - 23 inches inside and although it was early and he had bunch of growing to do i feel he could make the low 160s. My hunting partner laid eyes on a 10 that he said would be mid 160's so im thinking it could be him. Just hoping he is the guy that made this sign. Good Luck everyone!
Ive been staying out of the woods with the high temps and winds. I did manage to get a stand moved Saturday, stumbled upon a rub line with some pretty impressive trees shredded.I'm hoping to get into it tomorrow night if everything works out. Ive got a buck on cam in early july that was all of 22 - 23 inches inside and although it was early and he had bunch of growing to do i feel he could make the low 160s. My hunting partner laid eyes on a 10 that he said would be mid 160's so im thinking it could be him. Just hoping he is the guy that made this sign. Good Luck everyone!
Last edited by FF/EMT; 10-10-2011 at 08:40 PM.
10-11-2011, 11:27 AM
#53
Typical Buck
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Mason County, Illinois
Posts: 635
Went out again this morning.
Ive been hunting the same place at least once a day for the last 9 days, sometimes two a day. First day in I saw a bruiser 8pt walk through. In my mind, Ive got him pegged as a 150 class
. But Ive only seen one other deer, a small yearling, walk through this draw. Ive seen the same Jake flock every morning coming down off the ridge or at night heading up the ridge to nest. I heard a solitary deer come walking through this morning 15 minutes before first light, Im praying its this bruiser Ive been trying to ambush. At the first crack of light I could see my pin starting to glow, so I went to town on the grunt tube & rattles. I rattled in a coyote & the Jakes within 5 minutes, but no deer.
The trail systems that run through this draw are massive. The trails are beat down from years of travel. The acorn mast is unreal. The white oaks are dropping mast the size of ping-pong balls. The paw-paw trees are bearing their soft mast & beginning to drop also, but no sign of deer droppings anywhere. No scrape lines, other than my mock scrapes, & no rubs anywhere.
My trail to the spot has been against the wind the whole way. I set my stand up in a cross wind with a high ridge behind me that is close to impassable, even for the deer. My stand setup is looking towards two trails. One looks heavily used, the other is a buck trail that looks much less defined. Im 35ft up the tree, just under the second canopy. Ive yet to bump any game coming in or going out. I havent seen sign of any other hunters in this draw either.
From a scouting perspective, this place looks like a deer haven. But sitting on point in my stand, this place is desolate.
Im as scent-free as any one man can get. Ive doused the area with doe & buck urine. What more can I do? Is this spot being used by the deer during a different season?
My game plan was to hunt this spot hard all year, but 9 days in & Im having doubts.
Should I wait & see if this place comes alive with all the new mast falling or should I move on?
The October lull is driving me nuts. But Im still having a great time just being on stand.
Ive been hunting the same place at least once a day for the last 9 days, sometimes two a day. First day in I saw a bruiser 8pt walk through. In my mind, Ive got him pegged as a 150 class
. But Ive only seen one other deer, a small yearling, walk through this draw. Ive seen the same Jake flock every morning coming down off the ridge or at night heading up the ridge to nest. I heard a solitary deer come walking through this morning 15 minutes before first light, Im praying its this bruiser Ive been trying to ambush. At the first crack of light I could see my pin starting to glow, so I went to town on the grunt tube & rattles. I rattled in a coyote & the Jakes within 5 minutes, but no deer.The trail systems that run through this draw are massive. The trails are beat down from years of travel. The acorn mast is unreal. The white oaks are dropping mast the size of ping-pong balls. The paw-paw trees are bearing their soft mast & beginning to drop also, but no sign of deer droppings anywhere. No scrape lines, other than my mock scrapes, & no rubs anywhere.
My trail to the spot has been against the wind the whole way. I set my stand up in a cross wind with a high ridge behind me that is close to impassable, even for the deer. My stand setup is looking towards two trails. One looks heavily used, the other is a buck trail that looks much less defined. Im 35ft up the tree, just under the second canopy. Ive yet to bump any game coming in or going out. I havent seen sign of any other hunters in this draw either.
From a scouting perspective, this place looks like a deer haven. But sitting on point in my stand, this place is desolate.
Im as scent-free as any one man can get. Ive doused the area with doe & buck urine. What more can I do? Is this spot being used by the deer during a different season?
My game plan was to hunt this spot hard all year, but 9 days in & Im having doubts.
Should I wait & see if this place comes alive with all the new mast falling or should I move on?
The October lull is driving me nuts. But Im still having a great time just being on stand.
10-11-2011, 12:58 PM
#54
Fork Horn
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Waterloo, NY
Posts: 206
acorns
On point,
Hang in there! The rutting moon is a month away and the bucks are instinctivly putting on fat for the rut by gorging themselves on corn and beans. They LOVE acorns and WILL be there when the gorging settles down.
Hang in there! The rutting moon is a month away and the bucks are instinctivly putting on fat for the rut by gorging themselves on corn and beans. They LOVE acorns and WILL be there when the gorging settles down.
10-12-2011, 12:44 AM
#55
Fork Horn
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: S.E. Minnesota
Posts: 323
Onpoint, this lull is starting to get on my nerves as well. I have to keep telling myself that in a few weeks the activity will start to pick up. As i say that I also got skunked tonight. I checked the trail cam that I put up on saturday when i went to the stand tonight. 35 pictures of different bucks and does working this scrape, but all in the middle of the night, full moon isnt helping any. I got a few pictures of an 8 point and a 6x4 that I have been getting all year, both 3 year olds and in the 125 - 130 class, both have free pass til next year. Hope everyone else is getting to put a little time in the stand, good luck!
10-12-2011, 04:41 AM
#56
Typical Buck
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: northernwestern south dakota
Posts: 722
This lull is kicking my a** as well, the last 2 times i have been out all i have seen is 1 fawn. But the coons and coyotes sure have been moving. I hear fur prices went up this year. Might have to start trappin again.
10-12-2011, 08:25 AM
#57
Typical Buck
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Mason County, Illinois
Posts: 635
Right after I made that post I pulled up my maps & studied the area more thoroughly. I think my problem is that Im not far enough back into the draw. From what I can tell, further back into the draw there are 5 or 6 smaller draws that feed into the main. They seem to all intersect together about 500 yds further back than where I am.
But Ive never scouted that far back. I think Ill head back there tomorrow afternoon with the climber stand & my GPS. Im hoping for a nice opened up area with minimal undergrowth.
We'll see how it goes. But I dont think Ill abandon this draw this season. There are to many signs to ignore.
Good luck fellers.
But Ive never scouted that far back. I think Ill head back there tomorrow afternoon with the climber stand & my GPS. Im hoping for a nice opened up area with minimal undergrowth.
We'll see how it goes. But I dont think Ill abandon this draw this season. There are to many signs to ignore.
Good luck fellers.
10-12-2011, 08:33 AM
#58
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Minnesota
Posts: 1,840
Tough go right now for me as well. Checked cams today just a Tom that keeps coming through and a doe. One one antlered deer. 
They are hung up somewhere just nowhere near where they were a month ago. It can only get better.
They are hung up somewhere just nowhere near where they were a month ago. It can only get better.
