Peppe

Well this past weekend was the second weekend of this bow season I went hunting with the little hunting group I have become a part of. The first weekend we went (october 5-8) was very exciting. Saw plenty of deer, mainly doe except for one young 4 pointer. Decided not to take any deer as I passed up on 2 young doe who were maybe 5 yards from my stand. Well this past weekend was just as exciting. Many many bucks were seen and big bucks at that. There were 5 of us hunting and we all saw a minimum of 2 bucks. One of the guys I was hunting with saw 10 different bucks from his stand. This is only my second year hunting and I am enjoying it more and more everytime we go out. Once again I passed on a doe this weekend. I wish I wouldnt have done so, would have loved some meat in the freezer. However, I passed on her because I could see some bigger deer in the thick brush behind her and was hoping one of them would walk out into the open to get a shot at them rather than the younger doe. I guess I was getting a little greedy. I am yet to take a deer with my bow and should have just taken the one this past saturday. I am going back in 2 weeks when rifle season opens up but I will be taking my bow into the woods with me and I will take a deer with my bow if it is close enough. One great thing about this weekend is, we have done a lot of work on the property I hunt on. Food plots, sanctuaries, trails, etc. This weekend I witnessed deer using everything we have put into the property. My stand is near the sanctuary and it was amazing to see how many deer actually are using it. It is packed full of deer and it is very rewarding to see the hard work paid off. I also learned the pattern of the deer near my stand and will be using that to my advantage. This offseason I may reposition my stand just a bit to give me a better shot with my bow. This past weekend I would have had a nice 8 pointer had it been rifle season. Although I didnt take anything this weekend I still considered this a very successful hunt as I learned a lot. This is my little hunting story. Hopefully next time I have some pictures to show of the hunt.

illiniquack15

Good to hear! What is your sanctuary? Planted pines? or is that just what you call the areas that everyone stays out of?

Peppe

Did some hinge cutting, planted some pines some evergreens. Have a small food plot between the hinge cuts so they can have a place to eat with a lot of cover.

illiniquack15

nice, im looking to do some of that after this season is over.

Peppe

Its a great thing to do. This is only the first year we have done that and our first hunting season since creating this sanctuary and the results are tremendous. It really is amazing how much it has worked. The day after the hinge cutting was done we placed a trail camera there to see if any deer would move in. The same night we did it we had deer moving into the area. Every night the amount of the deer activity in the sanctuary increased. It now has become a deer highway. There are so many in there. We are planning on doing another small sanctuary on the opposite side of the property just keep more deer on the property. Really beneficial and rewarding to see when it works.

RWK

What state are you in.

illiniquack15

how did you do your hinge cutting? I know how to hinge cut trees, im asking Like Size of it, did you use the direction of the wind as guidence? Thanks in advance.