J-birds place

[j-bird]

Got out today getting some stands up.....yes.....I know it's late and hunting season here!

First of all.....my apple is still stuck on the T-post....which surprised me. My wheat is germinating in my soybean plots as well.

Also thought I would share a little trick I do on my ladder stands to help reduce noise and snag points. I simply wrap the pins in duct tape. Sometimes it's the little things that can make a big difference in the moment of truth.

Here is the diagram as to where these stands are. I think sometimes it's important to understand why we put stands where we do. The white circles are bedding areas - the red line is a property line and the blue line is a creek and my southern property line. I have a box blind for gun hunting only that sits on top of the slope. I also have a ladder stand and a fixed position stand. The ladder stand is a "take a chance" stand just to shake things up. Green oval is a kill plot and the green is a plot/orchard and the yellow is my soybean plot.

My intention with both the low southern stands is to use the creek for access - I can cross the field to the south as well if I need to. I am specifically hunting a buck I saw here last year that I am after....I have no sign he is around yet, but I didn't last year either. So I am hunting back off the main food sources and hunting the cover corridor between the larger blocks of cover. I doubt I see as many deer, but I hope to see the one I am after.... Obviously both southern stands will be hunted with a south wind, but I have options to hunt on either side of the kill plot. I will follow up with a later post as to the views from the stands.

 

[j-bird]

Views from the SW ladder stand:

Last year I had a great buck chasing a doe and crossing the creek in this area so I have put this stand up in an effort to maybe be able to get a shot should a similar thing happen again. I was VERY frustrated last year as the deer stayed just across the creek and I couldn't reach them.....maybe, just maybe I can get to them before they get that far this year.

View facing west to wards the neighbors bedding area - which isn't hunted.

Same stand facing north.....you can just make out some of the soybean plot thru the trees....

Same stand facing east....you can see the kill plot in the distance.....

Here is a view facing south ......using the creek bed is a great way to access stands.

 

[j-bird]

Views from the SW fixed stand....

This is the same location I killed my buck from last year and overlooks the kill plot.......

View looking west....overlooking the kill plot of clover and wheat.....

Same stand looking due north.....

This is looking to the northeast and you can see the perennial plot/orchard in the distance......

View looking east..........

Again the view south and the creek access.....

 

[Bill]

Anywhere in that corridor between the two bedding areas looks good. I know you don't like fences in the woods but I'd figure out how to pinch that corridor so tight that they only real had one easy way to get through it when traveling east west.

 

[j-bird]

Anywhere in that corridor between the two bedding areas looks good. I know you don't like fences in the woods but I'd figure out how to pinch that corridor so tight that they only real had one easy way to get through it when traveling east west.

I have considered some hinge cutting to help manipulate the course of travel in the area. My biggest issue is that the damn deer want to cross the creek right where 4 properties meet and then skirt behind me and my options there are minimal.

 

[Weezy]

Is their a reason why your hunting the southern stands with a S wind? Just curious since it would be blowing into your beans or plot/orchard. Looks like it would hunt better with a N wind.

 

[j-bird]

Is their a reason why your hunting the southern stands with a S wind? Just curious since it would be blowing into your beans or plot/orchard. Looks like it would hunt better with a N wind.

Maybe I typed it wrong.....the stands along the creek would be hunted with the wind coming mainly from the North - like you state. That way my scent is blown into the creek and on to a neighbors property......also why I would use the creek for access.....to come in "below" where I expect the deer to come from and minimize any scent left behind from access as well - or even drive around the block and access from the harvested bean field south of the stands.

 

[Weezy]

Ok, that definitely makes more sense.

 

[j-bird]

This isn't about habitat - but I believe that if your a true fan of a team your a fan thru thick and thin....
Well, as some may know and I know I have shared I am a very dedicated Chicago Cub's fan. Last night my Cubbies season came to an end at the hands of a better team. As much as I am disappointed, this year just didn't have the same vibe to it as it did last. This year was a struggle and just winning the division seemed to be a struggle at times. Anyways this puts my Cubbies into the NLCS 3 years in a row now so that is a far cry from the "lovable losers" we have been historically. I think we have a great core of players to continue to be VERY competitive in the near future so no need for the doom-and-gloom. We exposed some places where we need to improve and hopefully management will look real hard into improving those areas in the off-season and we can make at least another trip to the NLCS next year. Besides....the last time we won back-to-back world series it was a 100+ year long drought until we did it again.....nobody wants that!!!

 

[j-bird]

My first hunt for me of the year. Sitting in a ladder stand up north between my vine and the neighbors standing bean field with my compound - doe walked thru about 8 but not what I was looking for.

Pulled the card from the vine and it is seeing a lot of use, but nothing to write home about. Finished prepping some other stands and checking on a few things. Bumped what appeared to be a nice buck from a 10 to 15 acre standing corn filed. Didn't get a real good look, but his beams seemed to carry decent mass.

My scrape vine in my plot with my crab apple tree has been visited and I checked on the wheat in my soybeans and it seems to be doing well also. I will be moving my cam to see who is doing this......the deer worked the limbs over pretty good so I am hoping its the buck I only got a glimpse of.

Late Saturday night.....about 10:30 we here a shot come from the road. My son and I went to check it out and didn't discover anything at that time. Today I head out to move my cam and I found the target of the shot. A nice doe not 10 yards from the road.....we simply didn't see it last night in the dark. I have already contacted my local conservation officer......poachers really upset me!!!

 

[4wanderingeyes]

What is worse poaching, or shooting it and letting it lay.


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[j-bird]

What is worse poaching, or shooting it and letting it lay.
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The whole thing just sucks!

 

[Bill]

That sucks! Damn poachers.
I Don't call them call them hunters. Their thieves. Rotten no good SOB's

 

[Bowsnbucks]

We had road shooters/scum problems before. We've long since planted spruce along our mountain road and now have a living "wall" that blocks any view into that part of our property. We took a cue from another camp along our mountain that did it first. It works when they can't see more than 10 ft. off the road !!

Sorry to hear of your doe getting poached/stolen. Try hiding cams near vulnerable road-shooting spots. Maybe get a license # & time stamp.

 

[j-bird]

I have already started the screen in the area I thought was more likely.....a row of cedars and then a row of MG from Bill. So in time that area will be a non-issue, but this was not far from the house! We seldom have deer there, but these people found one. I have 2 old cams that don't work that I think I may put up in areas where I want them to be seen to maybe at least make them think twice. Sure they may get stolen as well, but that is just something else we might be able to tack on as well! With the road being public I am not sure what I can do legally, but I will talk to the CO about that.

Red dot is where the deer was. The yellow line is my current screen. The distance from the house to the deer is just over 100 yards. The road is lower in elevation so the house and the north field and the like sit higher which limits their visibility form the road which helps, but it didn't help that doe.

 

[j-bird]

Fulfilling a promise here.....
November is national CRPS awareness month. I realize many of you have no idea what CRPS (Complex Regional Pain Syndrome) even is. I didn't either until it affected my middle daughter. As a promise to her in her effort to spread awareness of this condition I told her I would use my internet connections to spread the word. Below is a link if you are interested. I won't go into all the details, but essentially the brain gets a short in it when the person receives an intense pain. My daughter broke her foot. The injury healed.....but the pain itself never went away. Imagine that....the pain level of a broken bone all the time. Normal medications won't stop it either because its a nervous system issue. We fought this for 2 years before somebody really figured out what it was. Some people have gone as far as amputation to get rid of the issue! At one point we where concerned my daughter may never walk unassisted ever again. It tends to affect pre-teen girls for some reason and is not very common and is difficult to diagnose. The symbol for awareness is a hunter orange ribbon (interesting being peak deer hunting season here as well). If you have questions please let me know because I am no expert but we have learned who to turn to and I will do what ever I can to get someone else with this condition some help or in touch with people who can help. What is even worse....is if left un-treated the area where the "pain" is felt can grow and expand. The condition nearly tore our family apart and will never fully go away, you simply learn how to cope. Therapy and certain medications can help, but they are only tools.....there is no total cure.

http://www.rsdhope.org/crps-awareness.html

 

[Bill]

Hope things get better over time. She shouldn't have to live in pain.

 

[j-bird]

Was able to hit the woods again this am. Cold - shallow puddles had thin ice on them, wind from the NE at about 10 mph. Went to SW by the creek. Creek flooded due to heavy rains a few days ago, looks like it rose beyond the banks a good 2 to 3 feet. No deer seen.

Did do some investigating and the willows are all rubbed up again, so there is a buck in the area.....I just need to lay eyes on him. Other than that no major sign other than tracks. Wheat in the bean plot looks good as well.

Went an finished a set for gun season. Not sure if the corn is going to still be in by then, but if so I plan on taking advantage of it! This is my south bottom field and it's about 10 to 15 acres of corn, buffered with 40 yards of CRP. The stand is 3/4 the way up the slope on the north side of the field near a point. The tractor path between the corn and the CRP has lots of tracks and I saw a decent buck here last weekend......which reminds me I need to check the cam card to see if I got a pic of him!

Then reality set in and work called! So back to the house.....hope to be out this evening as well. Just felt good to be out in the fall air and sunshine and not back at the cube farm they call an office!

 

[Bill]

Wow that field look clean. You should be a farmer!

 

[j-bird]

Wow that field look clean. You should be a farmer!

It's a rented field ...... so it was done by a farmer! Just been too wet to harvest. Not sure if/when it will but I am planning on taking advantage. Got a standing bean field on the neighbors on the other end of my place as well. Been a strange fall here! My plots won't serve much purpose until these fields are harvested.