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| DEER SEASON 2007 page 1 of 5 Clink Here for Most Recent Page |
| After a year off from bow hunting, due to having two surgeries on my rotator cuff, I am looking forward to using my Martin Panther compound bow during this year's deer season. My bow shoulder is still weak so I had to turn the poundage down on the bow to about 56 lbs. I have my Horton Hunter crossbow as a backup. I'll be posting my reports after each hunt....Steve |
| Oct. 16, 2007 This evening was the first time in two years that I was able to hunt with my bow. My shoulder is getting stronger, but it hurts after about 6 practice shots. Since I turned my poundage down my pins are set at 20, 25 & 30 yards. I went out to a new place in Clark Co. that I recently obtained permission from. The property is a small horse farm with an L-shaped woods on the north side and an alfalfa field out front by the house and barn on the south side. The woods are thick with small saplings and honeysuckle. There are few trees to set up a stand. This season will be a learning stage on getting the lay of the land. It will take me a while to figure out where the deer travel. This evening I hung out at a brush-covered fence on the north end of the woods overlooking a beanfield. It had been lightly raining most of the day and I hoped that the deer would be out after it let up. Although I didn’t see any deer movement, I did find a trail that runs just inside the woods along the fence that leads to a corner where the deer apparently travel through a hole. There are no trees in the area that are suitable for a treestand. |
| Oct. 19, 2007 I went back out in the evening to the new spot in Clark Co. to further scout out the area. The wind was blowing and gusting hard from the west. While walking in just inside the shorter side of the L-shaped woods I bumped a young deer. It was near a trail that leads up to a low spot along the fence. At the corner of the L I noted a possible tree that I might be able to put a stand in. I would need to do some major trimming to get to the tree. I then slipped up the long part of the L and found a wide trail that lead to an opening in the fence. As I stood there surveying the area to put up a stand a young antlerless deer, possible the same one that I saw earlier, came down the trail that I had just walked on. It acted skittish and eventually it went in the thick stuff in the woods. I hung out in the area for a while and as it was getting dark I made my way back to the edge of the woods behind the house where I scanned the alfalfa field for any deer. Not seeing any, I walked to my vehicle and began to unload my gear. While doing so I looked out into the dimly lit field and barley made out a doe and two yearlings moving quickly back towards the woods. They apparently were somewhere out in the alfalfa and I didn’t see them. They stopped in the field and watched me for awhile and eventually turned around a made their way back into the field. At least I know that there are deer in the area. I just need to find a good spot to set up for the upcoming rut in early November. |
| Oct. 24, 2007 I went out in the evening to Clark Co. and tucked back in the cover along the fence that borders the north end of the alfalfa field. This is the same field that I saw a few deer in last week as it was getting dark Around 6:30 I heard a noise over my right shoulder. As I slowly turned my head I noticed the legs of a deer moving around in the honeysuckle. Then, all at once, the movement stopped and the face of a deer appeared through the brush. The deer was looking straight at me. It stared me down and did the head-bob thing for a few minutes before it moved off. A short time later I notice movement in the brush to my right and suddenly a young buck with a bull-horn shaped rack appeared out in the field. It took a few steps while checking me out, then snorted and ran in front of me, through a brush covered drainage ditch, and to the east end of the alfalfa field. When he stopped I noticed that there was another deer standing not to far from him in that same field. I watched the second deer browse for a while until it disappeared behind the vegetation along the drainage ditch. About ten minutes later three deer came out of the ditch and slowly began to make their way across the field towards me. Soon there were a total of five deer out feeding in the field, none wore antlers. The light was getting dimmer and as I sat there trying to sorting out through my mind which one was the biggest. They were facing me as they slowly made their way towards me. It was hard to determine which one to take if given the chance. Well the decision was made for me. When the lead deer walked directly in front of my position it spotted me. She stomped her feet and bobbed her head for a few minutes before she snorted and ran back through the ditch taking the rest of the deer with her. I think I’ll hang a stand in that area where I was sitting; maybe I’ll get another chance without getting busted! |
| Oct. 29, 2007 Went out this evening and set in a ladder stand that I put up last week in the brushy fencerow on the north end of the alfalfa field. About the time that I arrived at my stand a combine fired up and began cutting the big beanfield directly across the street. As I was climbing up into the stand a deer jumped up from somewhere behind it. Shortly after six o’clock a young buck with a white rack came streaking down the east end of the property and ran towards the road. He slowed down and then crossed the road and ran past the grain truck that was parked along side of the road. When he passed the truck he was on a head on collusion with the noisy combine that was coming towards the road. He then ran to his left and high-tailed it down the edge of the bean field where the combine made its first pass. I watched the buck run the length of the long field where he then jumped a fence and bounded into another field of standing beans. I don’t know what spooked him so bad to make him run that far. He had to run over a half mile before I lost sight of him! That was it for the evening… |
| Nov. 1, 2007 I hunted this morning out of a chain-on stand that I put up last week in the southeast corner of the woods on the property out in Clark Co. It was my first time in the stand and it didn’t take me long to realize that the comfort and safety of the stand was in question. I was not able to draw my bow without fear of falling out of the stand. I forced myself to stay perched in the awkward stand for a few hours, even though I would not be able to take a shot, but just to observe any deer movement. This was the first time that I hunted this property in the morning. I finally gave it up about 9:30 after not seeing a thing and decided to switch the stand with the ladder stand that I had placed on the edge of the alfalfa field. I would be able to sit all day in the more comfortable and safer ladder stand. It would be in the woods where I anticipated a lot of movement the next few weeks. The rut is just beginning to kick in. I went back in the evening and sat in the ladder stand. Around 5:30 I heard some commotion in the woods to my right and I readied my bow. It sounded like something was being chased and it was coming down a trail where there are a few scrapes. I thought that it was probably a doe being hounded by a buck. Suddenly, a flash of reddish-orange appeared out in the clearing below me. It was a red fox! It stopped for a few seconds then ran right past my stand and circled around the edge of the woods. A few seconds later a black dog appeared with its nose to the ground right on the trail of the fox. About ten seconds later a white dog showed up on the trail followed by another white dog about two minutes later. They both left on the trail of the fox. Later, as the light was fading, I again heard movement along the path. I thought for sure that it was a couple of deer that were heading towards the alfalfa field. I grabbed my bow and prepared for the possible shot. The dogs were back! I then called it a night… |
| Nov. 3, 2007 Piff and I went bow hunting down on the property below Hillsboro on Saturday morning. The land consists of rolling pastures and several small woodlots and brush covered drainages. I hunted out of a chain-on stand in the woods to the northwest of the gate while Piff hunted out of a ground blind on the north end of the pasture just above the small creek that drains the property. Around 8:30 I had a small 4-point buck cross the ditch to my left. I grunted at him and he came slowly walking right in front of my stand. He stopped broadside about 18-20 yards away. A perfect shot, but he was too small to shoot! I let him walk by and he then slipped on down towards Piff. Later Piff told me that he came by his blind also. A half hour later I heard some rustling in the leaves on the other side of the ditch. Soon a yearling crossed the creek and started down the same path that the buck had taken earlier. A few minutes later another yearling followed, then another, then another. All four of them milled around in front of my stand for about ten minutes and they eventually came right underneath my tree. Two of the four were button bucks. They browsed around for another ten minutes or so before moving on. Not long after that, about 9:00, I got a glimpse of movement to my left in the tall grassy field to the south. A nice size buck but with only a tall 6-point rack was trotting towards the corner of the field. I grunted at him and he stopped. I grunted again and he started coming my way. After a few steps he turned and jumped the fence in the corner of the field and walked down in the ditch. I tried grunting again and I also hit the can call, (doe bleat), but he didn’t pay any attention. He eventually crossed the ditch where the others crossed and then went up the hill on the same path that they had come down. Later on, around noon, the four little yearlings came back and bedded down under the oak trees next to me. They were there for at least and hour or so until I chased them off when I climbed down from my stand. That was all the deer that we saw for the day. The mothers of the four little yearlings must have been hooked up with a couple of bucks. You don’t usually see the little ones running around without the does close by. We were hoping that the bucks in the area would be chasing the does. We expected to see a lot more movement, maybe in a few days they will be looking for more does. |
| Nov. 4 & 5, 2007 I went out to Clark Co. and hunted out of my ladder stand both mornings for 4-5 hours. I didn’t see and deer activity! The guy taking care of the horses said that a few days ago he was out working around the barn towards dusk when 4 or 5 deer came out of the woods and fed in the alfalfa field. Maybe I should dress up as a stable boy! |
| Nov. 7, 2007 I hunted out in Clark Co. this evening. As I was climbing up my ladder stand I heard a deer run through the cover to the east of the stand. Not long after I got settled in the little 4 pointer from the other week appeared on the trail below me and to my left. He spotted me up in the stand and stared at me for about 5 minutes before slipping down the hill and into the alfalfa field to the south. At 5:30 I heard something running along the north side of the woods. It was coming fast. I thought that this was it. It might be a doe being chased by a buck. A few seconds later I saw a flash of gray and a white tail. It was a doe and she ran through the cut in the fence at the corner of the property. A moment later the dang dogs were on her trail! I called it a night. |
| Nov. 8, 2007 I hunted out in Clark Co. from 10:00- 3:00 today….nothing! |
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