youngfart

JD

Both Saska and Sceeter are giving the best advice I have seen anywhere on this site and also if thearea your hunting doesn't produce big bucks then your sol, Like the south side of Edmonton to the West side. All a matter of feed and terrain and minerals. If you don't have one or the other the antler growth is depleted so shoot a 120 and be happy. I'm a lucky person with 3 properties I can hunt that all have great antler growth and minerals and also the feed. Count yourself lucky too JD, the rest of us can to as were not as low as the Americans with the public charging us to hunt their properties. Pray for that not to happen and if you do set up a hunt with Saska I want to come too. Always wanted a mulie, tough to find around here. Enjoy the outdoors with what God has blessed us with JD ,pretty soon you will be out their with your kids rubbing it of on them, and if your sour about Whitetail hunting, your kids will never get to enjoy it as you once did[8D]. Keep us up to date on your medical reviews bud. Be safe and enjoy what we have before us JD .
Rocky

JD IN ALBERTA

Once again gents...sound advice!! Here's the deal, 1 week with Sask, 1 with Skeeter and the last with Rocky. I'm sure I'd be the quintesential expert by the end of that trip. I agree I think I'm focused way too much on the big antlers. I have been such a patient person and i usually got what I wanted because of it, except for a wt. Then I see & hear how some guy's just stumble on them and it get's to me. Guess it's no different than the lottery. Don't hate the winners just enjoy the game. Thanks guy's, I'm going for a doe this Sat and if it doesn't happen, theres always next year.
Skeeter, I tried going out after the season and found 0 deer in my spot, there were no tracks and no sign, that's similar to what you say, patterns are totally different in the fall. Thanks again guys, sometimes a guy just needs to hear it from other nuts like him when the going gets tough

skeeter 7MM

The saying of right place right time is often used with hunting. The key is to be "in the right place". Luck isn't a bad thing but or me when it comes to deer the stars don't line upall ontheir own. I have had to work and even then I may not get the luck side ofthe equation.I have been stumped on every attempt to hunt my Aspot this fall,it seems every time I can go I have abad wind.Who'd a thunk we'd see so many south winds in November[:@].Lady luck certainly isn't on my side when it comes tohuntingwhitetails this year. Am I frustrated?? HECK YEAH! Really nothing I can do but hope for a little swing in the luck department.

JD, not sure what you mean by after the season? Areyou talking the dead of winter/shed hunting? Or within a couple of weeks after the season closes? If the latter then I'd be looking for a different spot to hunt. The reason I like scouting the few weeks that follow the close of the season is deer are in theirlate fallpatterns still and I find it useful info for the next year. JME bucks move and jostle around with the different stages, where I find them bachelored isn't always where i find them once they go solo,rut and post rut. However core areas that mature bucks like to frequent remain throughout the different stages and years. WhereI'd hunt in sept, oct and nov isn't the sameI transition to there movements/stages.

Best of luck this weekend.

Saska, the pumpkin patch has had enormous pressure this fall. Hope you found(or find)some luck this week!

I'm taking my 11 year old daughter tomorrowafternoon/evening and can't wait. She doesn't want to come home empty............we'll see. If the wind doesn't cooperate we may sit one of my blinds in the ML zone. Protected, comfy chair, safetyand an antlerless tag in my pocket just encase she insistson apull of the trigger. AllI really want is for her to have some fun, learn a littleand enjoy time spent together.

Good luck and take care

youngfart

Skeeter

Best of luck with your daughter getteing a buck, the best part of it is time spent together with one another in the wild. I miss that in my kids which are grown up now. I'm working on my grandson whom is 2 . I gave it my all this season for the 2 weeks that I gave my self to hunt the rut and came up empty tagged,but it was my best season of all. I had close encounters with 5 bucks over 180 and passed 32 bucks 150 to 160 range. My set ups are tuned in but I still have a5 stand sites to move as I saw where I could improve on for next season. Now it's off to Mexico after I score this guys buck from out of town which he'shopping will go 240 +. Cya's in 2 weeks and God Bless.
Rocky
JD.- True in what Skeet said about the 2 weeks after the seasonto scout. This enables you to find their travel routes they preferr when rutting all though we have no snow still to see there tracks.[:@]

Saskabush

Too true Skeet! My hunt this week has been a perfect illustration of that in several ways. The pumpkin patch was clearly not the right place for me to find the right buck. Not saying there aren't any trophy bucks around there but when I see several 2 and 3 year old bucks holding does this late in the game without any competition, it can't be a good sign. Yep, the hunting pressure those pastures are getting is simply insane, by far the worst I've ever seen there.

Contrast that with my last few days up north of town and it was night and day. Sure there was some pressure but I only saw one other hunter out of the truck. Now back to the "right place, right time" thing. I got up to this new area wednesday afternoon and started seeing bucks right off the bat. Most were dinks but the highlight was watching 4 bucks(including a nice 140ish 5x5) do the hot doe choochoo train routine across the road in front of me at about 4:00 that afternoon. That's something you just don't see anymore in the pasture.

The area was basically two quarters of bush and two hayfields set up in sort of a checkerboard pattern, with the black squares being bush and the white being alfalfa and a 10acre slough. One of the bush quarters was once mostly spruce and had been logged about 5-10 years ago. The aspen have since regenerated in to that impenetrable mass of 6ft saplings that whitetails love. On either side of the section were similar bush quarters to the east and west with a mile of wide open stubble to the north and south. I spent all afternoon thursday stomping around in the logged quarter looking for an ambush spot that would allow me to catch the east-west movement I had seen on the road the day before(the 4 idiots). Finally, I found a great little finger ridge that overlooked the 600 yard wide pinch point between the two checkerboard quarters. It wasn't perfect but it allowed me to see about 90% of what wanted to cross from bush A to bush B. After a short, uneventful sit last night (not a surprise after tha stomping around all afternoon) i retreated with plans to return for an all day sit today.

I was a bit late arriving this morning (slept in) but arrived at the ridge about 20 minutes after legal time. I was already pissed at myself for being late and blowing several deer on the way but I was determined to get set up and catch the rest of the morning show. I was in the process of picking a spot for my seat when i saw movement 400yds off along the edge of the slough. Right away I saw antlers as the buck jogged across the 150 open yards between aspen stands. 400 is too long for me but i figured with him moving closer as he crossed he might give me a shot a 300. As he emerged from a low spot I hollered several times to try and stop him. Just as I thought he was going to be gone for good he stopped 5 feet from the edge of the bush at about 300. Using the shooting sticks, Thinking he was a bit further than he was, I held a few inches over back and took a poke. He dropped in his tracks with a broken spine. After the easiest 300yard sprint ever and a quick mercy shot he was mine. A beautiful heavy mainframe 5x5 with a split brow and a small sticker. I roughed him this afternoon at 167gross, 154 net.

Talk about "right place and right time"





Sorry for the timing on this one JD, not trying to rub salt in any wounds. Up till this morning my week was looking pretty dismal. I was just about ready to go home with my tail between my legs. It just goes to show how fast things can turn around.

Sounds like great season YF! Good luck fine tuning for next year. We'll definitely have to talk archery mulies in the off season. Have a great time in Mexico!

Good luck this weekend JD and Skeet.

JD IN ALBERTA

can't sleep and decided to pop in...Sask, you're killin me[:'(][:@][][:-][X(][>:][8D]Man what a beauty!!! Cangrats on him. I seriously have just given up, my buddys dad was hunting in our spot for the last 3 days and he's seen 0 deer. Kicker is we heard from the landowner 9 have been taken out in the last week. WTF? It's a huge area around Turner valley so all the deer have not been shot, just not coming our way. Ah well...I'm just laughing now after Sasks post[:-]

Hey you never said how your trip to Smoky went. Also just found out a buddy of mine works in the same industry as you in Edmonton. You know a Mike Watmough?

Skeeter, I meant in the months after (Feb-April) when shedding. I wish I could do the 2-3 week thing but my wife gives me sept-nov I can just imagine if I said "make it Christmas to" but I can't shoot anything. lol, not that I do now!! lol

Have a good one boys!

skeeter 7MM

Congrats SB, great deer!!!

On my front I finally got a NW wind to hunt spot A. Last evening with my daughter was a true gem, we had action which included 5 bucks, highlighted bya very nice 5x5 whitetail(in a year will be a stud) &a bull moose at less then 75 yards. I think she maybe hooked as she accompanied me tonight as well, while the deer sightings were down due to the heavy winds we enjoyed every minute. We saw the same 5x5 and while Asolid 150-160CLASSdeer. My daughter re-affirmed it when we were driving home that hunting isn't about the kill but the experience. She was tickled and so amI!

This morning I hunted solo and thought I would be posting a pic of the stud but he gave me the slip god damn it! He's a heavy frame 6x typical..a toad.I have a week left but really onlyone day to possibly close the deal...we'll see.

JD that sucks, time for a move by the sounds of it??? Keep on it, you'll find the spot and then things willfall into place.

YF, enjoy your trip to mexico sounds like you had a great year without the fling of the string.

Saskabush

That's too bad JD. Sounds like finding some new ground will be a good move for you, good luck. One thing i'm not sure has been mentioned yet is don't under estimate the goldmine of information that aerial photography can provide. You may already do this but once you find a promising area, track down the 1:20000 air photos and it'll will instantly give you an idea of where to start looking and how deer will use the terrain. Combine the photo with first hand scouting (perennial trail locations) and the stands will almost hang themselves. Google earth can help early on in locating potential area to explore if you're not sure about an area and don't want to spend on airphotos yet.

Smoky was good, but slow hunting. The guys saw some shooters (a few were real crankers) but opportunities were tough to come by and a few missed their chances. We had really windy warm weather which didn't help much. In the end, a few 140ish deer were tipped over but nothing huge (at least by the time I left).

Skeet, That's awesome that you and your daughter had some good days in the stand. Hopefully you'll have a new hunting partner for life. Good luck getting your monster. Keep us posted.

Talked the buddy that helped me out when I first moved up here last night and he trumped me again this year that bugger! Last week he shot an toad that grossed 177, a mainframe 5x with forked g2's. He sent me some trail cam pics a while back and had been hunting this deer religiously.

121553

Now thats a deer. I've hunted perticular deer before and had to settle for less myself. Its a compromise, do you shoot a 120 with the potential of a 190 plus, when you know there in the area?
Good job sb.

Bobby

Jimimac

Some great deer in this thread! I've got to get up there someday.