BenAllgood
5 year old buck +
Heck yeah! She's huge! Congratulations Chris!
Electrodigical
5 year old buck +
I saw A doe. That was the extent of my hunting season. 
Had a tag and needed the meat, but certain circumstances, or perhaps uncertain ones would be a better description keep me from shooting in the two seconds I had a chance. The trip was one disaster after another, with two almost worse ones in the middle. I left camp today while I still could.
Had a tag and needed the meat, but certain circumstances, or perhaps uncertain ones would be a better description keep me from shooting in the two seconds I had a chance. The trip was one disaster after another, with two almost worse ones in the middle. I left camp today while I still could.
Bill Loser
5 year old buck +
Got in early, 5 15 . Nice buck in front of me in the dark. 2 more a little while later .. nothing so far in the light
I hope everything is OK and nothing is really life changing because I found myself laughing at your post, it sounded like Christmas Vacation or in this case "Hunting Vacation"I saw A doe. That was the extent of my hunting season.
Had a tag and needed the meat, but certain circumstances, or perhaps uncertain ones would be a better description keep me from shooting in the two seconds I had a chance. The trip was one disaster after another, with two almost worse ones in the middle. I left camp today while I still could.
trampledbyturtles
5 year old buck +
First rifle buck tag in 19 years. Had a rodeo at first lite. Fingers crossed. Buck fever hit hard which never happens with a bow. Hoping I didn't mess up.
trampledbyturtles
5 year old buck +
Found him. Made a great shot. Not the one I thought but I'm happy. Gunna say buck fever made me pull the trigger. Ha
Electrodigical
5 year old buck +
(wall of text)
My nephew started hunting about 5 years ago. That first year he had all these grand ideas where he wanted to hunt. I said "Look, if you want to shoot a deer, go here." (where I would have been). He did, and he did. And pretty much every year since then he's shot one there opening day. The only other deviation from that was last year, the evening of opening day. (after shooting a doe in the one spot in the morning.) I have another very specific "spot" where I traditionally hunt the evening of opening day. I say specific because it's spot where I've seen and shot deer the evening of opening day in the past, but ONLY then. Countless mornings, opening day or not, countless evenings, mid days. 18 years I've never even SEEN anything there other than on the evening of opening day. No idea why it's the case. Anyway, as evening of opening day draws near, I'm heading to that spot when I hear a shot. He's there, he shot a buck. "Okay spot stealer, it's time we had a talk". lol
This year I told him look, time to start hunting. "Remember all those far away locations you wanted to hunt 5 years ago? Well have at em, because opening day I'm going back to my spot!" lol But of course I changed my plan when I FINALLY stared seeing deer on my cam up on the hill at my bow hunting spot. So like a dumb ass I spent opening day and the second day there and saw nothing. While he shot a buck the afternoon of opening day where I'd intended to be. Because I'm stupid.
Anyway, that wasn't that bad part. After dropping the deer off at the "local" processor the one night, his truck started bucking and jolting going up the hill. Hmm.. not good. Monday morning came with a solid hard rain, since I'm on vacation I "slept in" (which meant 7AM instead of 4:45AM lol). When the rain stopped he tried the truck it wouldn't move. The truck just sat there in gear while transmission made horrible noises. Wonderful. At home this would be a pain in the ass but you could deal with it. Up there in camp 250 miles from home with no phone, internet and very spotty cell service... oh joy.
Monday evening I finally got out for a few hours at the end of the day, which is when I saw the doe. It's amazing how much can run through your mind in a couple seconds. I put the crosshairs on her, then double checked her head. Didn't want to shoot a yearling or button buck. She was younger, but not a newbie. Mmm.. maybe okay. Then I thought "With all that's going on, with all we have to deal with, and the fact that I may have to go home tomorrow (to take my nephew home so he can go to work) do I really want to shoot this deer?" I paused. At which point she stepped behind some pine tree limbs and I could only see her head. She was was about 230 yards away, wind blowing hard at my back. She could smell me, I could see her looking my way, nose in the air sniffing. She turned and started walking farther away. When she finally cleared the pine limbs all she presented me was her rump, she took two more steps and bolted into the woods. (later though, I found out my nephew planned on leaving the next day, he didn't need to be at work till Thursday. (Doh!))
Monday evening we drove my truck to town to try to get some info. Searching the web on our phones, stopping at two auto parts stores asking if there were any transmission places near by (there aren't).
Tuesday I got an hour and a half in the woods in the morning, then it was back to town to try and figure out what to do with the truck. Then arrange for a tow truck to come. That took the whole day deciding who, what, where, getting in touch, arranging it and waiting for them. All things that would be so simple at home, but a pain in the rear up there. At one point I had to hike up the hill and go up in my tree stand to call the towing people because I knew I'd be able to get signal. Finally right before dark they picked up the truck. All we really did was get it towed 150 miles closer to home to a family friend's house so at least he'd be in a better position to decide what to do with it. A place 50 miles away had quoted him $5500, which he sure doesn't have.
That evening after the truck left I ran out in the woods and got a 15 minute sit. lol
Wednesday morning I got 2 hours of uninterrupted "hunting", sitting about 60 yards behind the cabin. I didn't want to go too far knowing what was ahead. Back inside by 8:30, we loaded up and I went of a 3.5 hour round trip to drop him off at an Amtrak station. I returned, settled in and got back in the woods from 2 til dark.
Later that night it stared to rain/snow. All day Thursday, wet heavy snow. I had things in around camp and in the woods I needed to do, venturing out for an hour at a time of so getting soaked, I did them, armed... but not really "hunting". Miserable weather.
About 3AM that night I woke up, got up to pee and thought "Why is it so dark?" No power. Okay, that happens when it snows, it'll be back on soon. Back to bed. 5AM I'm startled out of my sleep by a huge crashing noise! "Oh a tree must have fallen", I start to go back to sleep then remember where my truck is. I get and yup... while I dogged a HUGE bullet, and it could have been MILES worse, a tree did fall and land on the cabin and my truck. More Wonderful.
I get dress and I can't get the front door open because the tree limbs are blocking the door. I finally force my way out and see how I lucked out. Another 3-4 feet to the right and it would have done serious damage to the cabin and destroyed my truck. As it turned out it was just scrapes and small dings. I started it up and moved it, which is when I realized there aren't any safe places anymore, the trees are all so big. Back to bed.
A few hours later, still now power. About 8 inches of snow at this point, still coming down. Go outside and cut up some of the tree up with a 6" hand saw lol, at least I can open the door and take some pressure off the porch. I don't mind no lights, and I can even deal with no running water in a camp that set up for that, but this one isn't. No power means no water. And no heat tape to keep the shallow well pipe from freezing where it comes into the building. So I need to drain it. Unless I really crank up the heat. Which I can't because I'm running low on fuel. Do I drive to town to get fuel in hopes the power comes back on and the weather clears up? Or just pack it in with the remaining daylight I have? It killed me to do it, but that was my choice. Now the other wrinkle, can I get down off the hill or have the county trucks plowed the road and I have wall of snow and ice to dig through? In the past this has happened where I literally spent an entire day getting out of the driveway. Dodged another bullet there and was able to power through it. Decided to get while the getting was good.
When I finally left right before dark, the power was still out and it was still snowing. It was a week of blessings. I told my nephew, as awful of a place as this it for it to happen, it's a hundred times better than on the side of the road, 1/8 of the way home. I also got amazingly lucky with the tree mostly missing my truck and the cabin. The other was the weather. The first four days it was too warm, close to 60 at times. But that made it possible for it to snow for many hours without any accumulation. The temps fluctuated right around freezing, so it was freezing rain, snow constantly alternating. When I left there was probably 10" of snow on the ground. But it precipitated non stop for more than two days, had it been cold prior and throughout, there probably would have been 2 1/2 to 3 feet of snow on the ground.
Last edited:
Same place I sit every opener. I carry a portable ladder stand into public land. The plan is to get something moving around in that brush in the first couple of hours. Then spend the rest of the day waiting on the constant parade of people to move something my way. But each year the parade seems to get smaller, and lazier. I don't blame them. The hips get sore just walking in and out where I'm at. Hopefully the cloud cover gets something moving before last light.
Dang, I hope you kill a monster next year, you deserve it(wall of text)
My nephew started hunting about 5 years ago. That first year he had all these grand ideas where he wanted to hunt. I said "Look, if you want to shoot a deer, go here." (where I would have been). He did, and he did. And pretty much every year since then he's shot one there opening day. The only other deviation from that was last year, the evening of opening day. (after shooting a doe in the one spot in the morning.) I have another very specific "spot" where I traditionally hunt the evening of opening day. I say specific because it's spot where I've seen and shot deer the evening of opening day in the past, but ONLY then. Countless mornings, opening day or not, countless evenings, mid days. 18 years I've never even SEEN anything there other than on the evening of opening day. No idea why it's the case. Anyway, as evening of opening day gets draws in I'm heading to that spot when I hear a shot. He's there, he shot a buck. "Okay spot stealer, it's time we had a talk". lol
This year I told him look, time to start hunting. "Remember all those far away locations you wanted to hunt 5 years ago? Well have at em, because opening day I'm going back to my spot!" lol But of course I changed my plan when I FINALLY stared seeing deer on my cam up on the hill at my bow hunting spot. So like a dumb ass I spent opening day and the second day there and saw nothing. While he shot a buck the afternoon of opening day where I'd intended to be. Because I'm stupid.
Anyway, that wasn't that bad part. After dropping the deer off at the "local" processor the one night, his truck started bucking and jolting going up the hill. Hmm.. not good. Monday morning came with a solid hard rain, since I'm on vacation I "slept in" (which meant 7AM instead of 4:45AM lol). When the rain stopped he tried the truck it wouldn't move. The truck just sat there in gear while transmission made horrible noises. Wonderful. At home this would be a pain in the ass but you could deal with it. Up there in camp 250 miles from home with no phone, internet and very spotty cell service... oh joy.
Monday evening I finally got out for a few hours at the end of the day, which is when I saw the doe. It's amazing how much can run through your mind in a couple seconds. I put the crosshairs on her, then double checked her head. Didn't want to shoot a yearling or button buck. She was younger, but not a newbie. Mmm.. maybe okay. Then I thought "With all that's going on, with all we have to deal with, and the fact that I may have to go home tomorrow (to take my nephew home so he can go to work) do I really want to shoot this deer?" I paused. At which point she stepped behind some pine tree limbs and I could only see her head. She was was about 230 yards away, wind blowing hard at my back. She could smell me, I could see her looking my way, nose in the air sniffing. She turned and started walking farther away. When she finally cleared the pine limbs all she presented me was her rump, she took two more steps and bolted into the woods. (later though, I found out my nephew planned on leaving the next day, he didn't need to be at work till Thursday. (Doh!))
Monday evening we drove my truck to town to try to get some info. Searching the web on our phones, stopping at two auto parts stores asking if there were any transmission places near by (there aren't).
Tuesday I got an hour and a half in the woods in the morning, then it was back to town to try and figure out what to do with the truck. Then arrange for a tow truck to come. That took the whole day deciding who, what, where, getting in touch, arranging it and waiting for them. All things that would be so simple at home, but a pain in the rear up there. At one point I had to hike up the hill and go up in my tree stand to call the towing people because I knew I'd be able to get signal. Finally right before dark they picked up the truck. All we really did was get it towed 150 miles closer to home to a family friend's house so at least he'd be in a better position to decide what to do with it. A place 50 miles away had quoted him $5500, which he sure doesn't have.
That evening after the truck left I ran out in the woods and got a 15 minute sit. lol
Wednesday morning I got 2 hours of uninterrupted "hunting", sitting about 60 yards behind the cabin. Didn't want to go far knowing was ahead. Back inside by 8:30, we loaded up and I went of a 3.5 hour round trip to drop him off at an Amtrak station. I returned, settled in and got back in the woods from 2 til dark.
Later that night it stared to rain/snow. All day Thursday, wet heavy snow. I had things in around camp and in the woods I needed to do, venturing out for an hour at a time of so getting soaked, I did them, armed... but not really "hunting". Miserable weather.
About 3AM that night I woke up, got up to pee and thought "Why is it so dark?" No power. Okay, that happens when it snows, it'll be back on soon. Back to bed. 5AM I'm startled out of my sleep by a huge crashing noise! "Oh a tree must have fallen", I start to go back to sleep then remember where my truck is. I get and yup... while I dogged a HUGE bullet, and it could have been MILES worse, a tree did fall and land on the cabin and my truck. More Wonderful.
I get dress and I can't get the front door open because the tree limbs are blocking the door. I finally force my way out and see how I lucked out. Another 3-4 feet to the right and it would have done serious damage to the cabin and destroyed my truck. As it turned out it was just scrapes and small dings. I started it up and moved it, which is when I realized there aren't any safe places anymore, the trees are all so big. Back to bed.
A few hours later, still now power. About 8 inches of snow at this point, still coming down. Go outside and cut up some of the tree up with a 6" hand saw lol, at least I can open the door and take some pressure off the porch. I don't mind no lights, and I can even deal with no running water in a camp that set up for that, but this one isn't. No power means no water. And no heat tape to keep the shallow well pipe from freezing where it comes into the building. So I need to drain it. Unless I really crank up the heat. Which I can't because I'm running low on fuel. Drive to town to get fuel in hopes the power comes back on and the weather clears up? Or just pack it in while I the remaining daylight? It killed me to do it, but that was my choice. Now the other wrinkle, can I get down off the hill or have the county trucks plowed the road and I have wall of snow and ice to dig through? In the past this has happened where I literally spent an entire day getting out of the driveway. Dodged another bullet there and was able to power through it. Decided to get while the getting was good.
When I finally left right before dark, the power was still out and it was still snowing. It was a week of blessings. I told my nephew, as awful of a place as this it for it to happen, it's a hundred times better than on the side of the road, 1/8 of the way home. I also got amazingly lucky with the tree mostly missing my truck and the cabin. The other was the weather. The first four days it was too warm, close to 60 at times. But that made it possible for it to snow for many hours without any accumulation. The temps fluctuated right around freezing, so it was freezing rain, snow constantly alternating. When I left there was probably 10" of snow on the ground. But it precipitated non stop for more than two days, had it been cold prior and throughout, there probably would have been 2 1/2 to 3 feet of snow on the ground.
Very nice doe!!!
I saw at least 3 does moving through an Aspen stand to the right of my pic above at about 1:30. Too thick to get a shot.
About an hour before closing my BIL got a 6 point that was walking an oak tree line.
Back at it today. About 1/10 of the vehicles here today as yesterday.
About an hour before closing my BIL got a 6 point that was walking an oak tree line.
Back at it today. About 1/10 of the vehicles here today as yesterday.
356
5 year old buck +
With the 180 degree change in wind plus a cold front, I’m in a location that’s an easy walk from the house. I think nou have 90 minutes to hunt before I have to leave for Southern Missouri for work.
Had a button buck 30 yards to the east of the blind on camera at 6:57 am and three does on camera 100 yards to the north at 7:07 am. If I had more time, it is likely some bucks would have cruised through.
Had a button buck 30 yards to the east of the blind on camera at 6:57 am and three does on camera 100 yards to the north at 7:07 am. If I had more time, it is likely some bucks would have cruised through.
Last edited:
