Whitetailsinsight.com

Thanksgiving Monday Doe  Oct.12,2009

Ontario deer, taken with a Excalibur crossbow, 18 yard shot from a tree stand, double lung shot, Slick Trick broadhead.

7 POINT BUCK

  This was the second young buck to come in real close to me this season and with hunting opportunities down to a few remaining weekends, I decided to take him. He walked in from the north, picked up the doe trail and headed towards me on my left about 30 yards out, lots of trees obstructing a shot (S wind,10km). He walk over to where my foot prints had crossed the doe trail and stopped to sniff. I had coon urine scent on my boots, and I had placed some Code Blue buck urine on one tree limb beside me and some doe in estrus on another limb.  The buck followed my foot prints to within 10 yards of the stand slightly quartering to me. I had just one lane to get a clear shot through some fallen tree limbs,so I stopped him with a meee... and realized I had forgoten to take the safety off,  the deer looked to the north turning more broadside, I squeezed off the shot, looked like a good hit. I watched his departure to the north and he disappeared into the cedars but I didn't here him crash. I waited an hour before climbing down to check my arrow which was covered with bright red blood and a lot of white hair. I waited another 1/2 hr before taking up the blood trail that was very easy to follow in the snow. I found the buck about 70 yards out just about where I had last seen him. You could tell by the melted snow that he had bedded down right there. Now I've got lots of venison to give out to my brothers and dad who did not deer hunt this year. 

Oct.1 Archery deer season opener.
Tree stand three( Swamp Buck)
Simcoe County Forest 76C
Weather : cloudy,sunny breaks, few light showers.
H 13C L 11C  wind N25km/h changes to NE.
pressure: 100.5kPa

I was in my stand just at first light and all set for an all day sit. The morning was pretty quite aside from all the geese flying over my head constantly. After lunch at 2:00pm I got down to stretch my legs and check my trail cam. No pics stored since I checked it on Saturday.

The afternoon continued to be quite until shortly after 5:00pm when a fawn approached from my left about 40 yards out. The fawn continued to get closer and ended up at the two pieces of trace mineral block that I had left there in July. Another fawn follow suit and they where both lined up side by side licking the mineral. They where both facing me broadside ten yards out and I could have got a double header with one shot ( two tags in pocket) but I wasn't interested in that action. I figured mom ma's going to be coming along here shortly so I just had to keep my cool and be still. I watched these two fawns for about 20 minutes as they worked their way around to me ending right under my stand. Now I'm 16ft up and these guys didn't have a clue I was above them. The one fawn even looked up, seem a little startled but then continued on eating and circled around back to the lick. Then mom showed up and the two headed back over to her where she was hung up at about 30 yards but didn't present a clear shot. All three deer slowly headed south to feed in the bean field when she winded me from a N/E breeze and they ran off. All was quite for the rest of the watch as a light rain began and I made my way out of a very dark cedar bush. Well that was a fun evening, I'll give this stand a rest and head over to stand one ("the inside corner") tomorrow.

Tree Stand Three

The umbrella camo is not blending in to the foliage yet,  but it sure is keeping me dry during the down pours. Then I take it down.

It's called the " Instant Roof " made by the Allen Company.

Oct.2
Tree stand one( " inside corner " )
Simcoe County Forest 76C
Weather: cloudy,sunny breaks,heavy rain showers, 2-4mm
H 11C L 3C wind NW20 km/h
pressure: 100.43 kPa

Into stand one by 7:00am and discovered a fresh rub on a sapling, 100yards from it. Looked like rain so I setup the umbrella. By 9:00am it began to pour and the rain continue for an hour and a half. This umbrella worked really good and was money well spent. No deer sightings for the morning and at 1:30pm I headed home to change camo and return for an afternoon sit.
Back in the stand by 3:30pm with the sunshine, it was  nice. At 5:30pm I hear a twig snap to my right, 100 yards out. It's a hunter with a shotgun walking through, didn't see me and I kept quite. He was dressed in a brown hat,coat and pants - no blaze orange, likely a waterfowl hunter. This is one of the draw backs of hunting public land and it pretty much messed up my hunt for the evening. I remained in stand until dark but it was no surprise that no deer came in.

Oct.3
Tree stand three & two ( Swamp Buck/Fencerow buck )
Simcoe County Forest 76C
Weather: cloudy, sunny breaks, windy, showers.
H12C L6C wind 25 km/h
pressure: 101 kPa

Got a late start this morning because of the heavy rain showers and was into stand three by 9:00am. Hunted there until 2:00 with no deer sightings and no pics on the cam. After picking up a warmer coat and gloves at home, I headed for stand two. Lots of deer tracts and you could see where they had been feeding on the corn, right behind the stand. This stand is in the only large tree along there and it is surrounded by food crops of clover, corn ,soya bean and up until Sept; wheat. A cluster of pine trees acts as a perfect wind break. It was a beautiful evening on stand but no deer sighting however. The wind and the rain seems to be suppressing deer movement.

Oct.4
Tree stand One ( " inside corner " )
Simcoe County Forest 76C
Weather: cloudy, sunny breaks, showers
H12C L3C wind 15 km/h
pressure: 107 kPa

I arrived at stand one by 7:00am. All was calm until 8:30am when I spotted the back half of a deer moving by in front of me through the trees. The deer than disappeared into cedar bush to my right and than reappeared in the lane where I had walked in. It was a doe, standing pretty close to where I nailed one last year, 20 yards out. The doe was sniffing my tracts(standing broadside) and then she turned and walked towards me to within 10 yards, looking at me constantly, my hands where shaking. There was no clear shot to take with saplings and conifer branches in the way. She turned and walked back into the cedars. About 10 minutes later she gave out an alarm scream and then I heard a snort to my left about 60 yards out. It is very difficult to see in the woods at this present time, but once all the sapling foliage dies off, you will be able to spot the buggers better. I stayed on stand until 7:00pm with no further deer sights. Had a look at the apple orchard which is 100 yards in front of stand and there is still a decent amount of apples on the trees ( though they are very small this year ) to draw the deer in.

Stand three
Temp.7C to 20C  Got into stand three by 9:00am on a beautiful sunny morning with light winds from the S/E. No deer sightings, by 2:00pm, too warm for deer movement. Several pics of the doe and her two fawns on the trail cam that I have relocated there. I moved to my other cam site to swap out cards. Got into stand one by 4:00pm for the evening sit. No deer sightings. Warmer temps forecasted for tomorrow and Monday so I will not be going out until next week.

Oct.18
tree stand three
frosty morning, winds light from S/W
sunny, clear

Got into this stand at 9:30am and hunted until 1:00pm. No deer sightings. Checked trail cam, two pics of the doe and her two fawns. Started a scout of the area south of the stand and marked(GPS) some rubs from last year. Worked my way over west to the creek and marked it on the GPS. From there I headed north to the road( N/W wind) and bumped a deer bedded by the creek. All I could see was a patch of brown as the deer bolted and snorted once. I found some fresh but small deer droppings from where the deer was indicating a young deer.
  Got over to stand one for the evening hunt to find fresh scrapes 10 yards from the stand. This is the third year in a row that this same scrape has been made in the same spot. Hunted until dark, no deer seen. On my walk out I was serenaded by coyotes from a N/E location.

Oct.25 Stand Three
9:00am  10C W 15 km/h
Found some scrapes on the way into the stand. After a four hour sit with no action, I scouted a bit around the stand area and found a series of rubs. Checked both cams, no bucks and headed home.

Oct.26 Stand Two and One

9:00am  10C  SW 25 km/h

Into stand two, found two fresh scrapes 10 yards from the stand. No action, did some scouting around, found more scrapes and tracks. Found a series of rubs in the apple orchard. On my way out laying along the bank of the drainage ditch was a dead coyote pup. Headed for stand one.

Got into the stand before it started to rain. Setup my trusty umbrella and a short shower hit. Then it cleared and the sun came out( wind change: W 30km/h ). Fighting to stay awake, I heard gun fire from the east which really makes me mad as there is no firearm hunting in this township on Sunday. Took down the umbrella and got ready to head out as it looked like another storm was moving in. At 6:15 a doe came into view from the east followed by another doe. They approached quickly as the wind started to pickup. I put the cross hairs on the lead doe but there where to many branches for a clear shot at 20 yards. They walked behind me into the conifers as it looked like they where seeking shelter from the approaching storm. Then they walked back out into the open again, still no shot and headed N/E. Then all hell broke loose as a tremendous gust of wind hit and a large tree fell behind me. It started to rain and hail as the wind was gale force. I manage to get down safely in between wind gust and got out of the bush before dark. I later learned that there had been a weather warning issued for sustained winds of 60km/h and gusts of 90km/h. It pays to pick good healthy hardwood trees to hang your tree stand in.

Nov. 2
Stand One
-2C S/E wind 10km/h frost

S/E wind in my face and expecting deer to come around the corner from that direction. Sure enough a doe runs in to view and works her way by me and stops. A few minutes later a buck appears and chases her into the conifer forest to my right. I was unable to get a clear shot as the doe wanted nothing to do with the buck and ran deeper into the forest. He was a decent eight point from what I could see of him as he made his way back out into the hardwoods and headed N/E. The rut is definitely on in this area and it was awesome to witness. 

Nov.8
Stand One
Cloudy 7C wind S/W 17km/h

At approximately 9:00am a buck came by my stand on my right, 20 yards, moving fairly quickly I was unable to get a clear shot with too many branches in the way. He was an eight point and about 2 1/2 yrs old. Not sure if it was the same buck that came through here last week. As I grunted at the buck to get him to turn around, I heard some leaves ruffling behind me and as I turned to look, I spooked a coyote that was looking up at me from 10 yards. I was unsure whether the buck was still there or not because my view was restricted to the north so I didn't take a shot at the coyote. The coyote continued on his way in the direction of the buck. No action for the rest of the day.

Nov.16
snow - heavy at times
1C wind NW40km/h gust 57km/h

High winds and snow where going on early this morning so I waited until late morning to head into stand one. An overnight snow fall had blanketed my hunting area but I only saw one set of deer tracks on the way in. In my stand by 10:00am, snowing off and on waiting to intercept a noon hour buck. No such luck as clumps of wet snow fell from tree branches above. Hunted until 1:00pm with no deer sightings.

Nov.22
Sunny,clear,cold, -7C/-13C wind chill,
two feet of snow on the ground.
wind NE 15km/h

Driving along my road to Stand Three, there where two fawns and a doe feeding on some standing corn near the road, 200 yards from where I walk in to the stand. Lots of tracks seen on the walk in as I slowly made my way into the stand through the two feet plus of powder snow. I was in the stand by 9:30am and hunted until 1:30pm with no deer sightings. Day old deer tracks right under the stand too.

Decided to move this stand to a rub line location not far from this spot. 

Nov.29
Stand Three

Hunting from ground cover ( tree stump ), wearing white camo, I had a doe come in to 20 yards, but was spooked by her fawn running by, no shot presented. Time was 11:45am.

Using doe scent and corn/oats

Update - Dec.6 to 13

Had a couple of encounters with does but no shot opportunity. Seeing lots of sign and doe beds, especially in the cedars where they are browsing.

It's getting down to crunch time with the season nearing it's end and I figure I have about three full days left in which to fill a tag.

Dec.27
Tough luck hunting today

Hunted at Stand Three this morning. Around 10:30am somebody started target practicing with a shot gun to the west of me. I stopped counting the rounds at 24. I had setup the umbrella as it began to pour and the shooting stopped. But than came the thunder and lightning, so I packed up and left. Drove down the road a piece and a doe had just crossed the road and was headed in the direction of my stand.

Back at it one last time tomorrow morning. 

Dec. 28
On stand for a few hours this morning before the gail force wind gusts hit. No deer seen.

Dec.31
N/E to N wind, 20k gusting to 40k with snow flurries.-15c

Got the whole day off to give it one final try in the deer woods. On stand for three hours, no deer came into the bait. Got warmed up at the car and had lunch. I then back tracked a main trail from the stand, west to the cedars moving slowly and glassing ahead, but no deer sighting. By 4:30pm I was done and headed back to the car as the snow was now blowing sideways.

Well that's it for another deer season. No deer for me this year but I can't say I didn't have a few chances. I passed on a fawn twice, wasn't ready/should have had better shooting lanes on a eight pointer, seconds away from taking a nice doe, only to be busted by her fawn. Ah, that's why they call it hunting right !Looking forward very much to next season as the bucks that we saw are going to be bigger if they survive the winter.

I am going to be coyote hunting on some Saturdays over the next three months. I have been invited to hunt with some of the local farmers in the area.

Preserve our hunting heritage  - Tracer

The hunt continues in 2009

My favorite trail cam pic from this summer.

I climbed into stand one at 6:40 am which is the one where my trail cam is. Did not spook any deer on my way in as far as I know and there was a half moon shinning down. The wind was already blowing at 15k and it was fairly bomby out. The pressure was 29.9 in. I hunted this stand until noon and did not see any deer. I had my lunch and then headed for stand two for the afternoon hunt. I did not see any deer here either, so at the end of legal light I packed up and headed home.

Note: Way too warm and windy, two big factors that suppress deer activity. The deer are likely bedded down near a food source such as a bean field ( which was being harvested the past couple of days) and have gone nocturnal. I think they are visiting the water source at night.

We had some rain overnight which made for a quieter walk in to the stand. It was another all day sit between the two stands and still no deer seen. Did some scouting around stand two and found some rubs on saplings about 100 yards S/E of my stand. Mature bucks are inclined to rub earlier in the season, an  encouraging sign for sure!

Weather notes:  cloudy , high 72F  low 59F , wind S/E  5-10mph , pressure 30.10 in.

Going into Stand One I flushed up three turkeys out of their roosts, there by alerting any deer in the immediate area. The turkeys entertain me for most of the morning with their yelps and gobbles near by. With no deer seen at either stand I did see a first for me. Two Fishers came running by Tree Stand Two at sundown which was pretty cool.

I did the all day sit at Stand One and there where no deer to be seen. At 1:00pm I did some scouting in the immediate area and found that one of the key marshes that the deer used for a bedding area and watering hole was completely dried up. See pics below.

Weather Details: winds S 5K to E to S 5-10K, sunny and clear all day.

                           temps : morning 50F high 77F

I picked up the venison today from the butcher and had sausages off the barby tonight. They where awesome. The cut and wrapped deer weighed 95 lbs. I took a walk back into Stand Two to have a look for my arrow and was very happy to have found it, stuck in the ground. I did a remeasure and the shot was 20 yards and the deer travelled 100 yards before laying down. The coyotes and what ever sure did a good cleanup on the gut pile.

Today warmed up to 80F and S/W winds at 30 K becoming light. Went into Stand Three at 5:30pm and stayed in the stand until 7:00pm. No deer sightings but it was a beautiful evening (65F) spent in the stand and a 75% moon to guide me out of the woods.The cold temps. are coming Wed. just in time for the seeking phase of the rut.

I managed to get off work early and headed into Stand Two for a late afternoon hunt. I came across a rub on a sappling and scrape on the way in, not to far from my stand. I will be setting up my trail camera there on Sunday. No deer seen tonight but I heard a couple walk by at night fall heading for the apple orchard. The full moon sure is bright tonight.

I hunted at Stand One this morning after it rained all night. No deer sightings but the rain held off and even had some sunshine.A Pileated Woodpecker landed in beside me by about 10 yards. The bright red on his head was very impressive. I could hear grouse hunters near by bangging away so that ended my hunt for the morning. I hunt on public land and this time of the year is always busy on Saturdays with hunters, mushroom pickers and hikers. This puts a lot of pressure on the deer and it dials their activity way down. Rain and high winds forcasted for this afternoon and tonight. I will pass on the evening hunt.

I'm going to hunt at Stand Two today and set up my new trail cam.

Moultrie M40

Got the new trail cam set up off a rub and scrape this morning and will check back with it in a week. I continued on into Stand Two for a six hour sit. No deer sightings as the temperature dropped to 32F. It's shapping up to be a good week for the rut.

On my way into Stand Two I checked the trail cam for pics.No pics stored. I hunted in there all day with no deer sightings. After lunch I change the location for my trail cam to a scrape infront of my stand. This scrape looked fresh and there where also some rubs near by.

Nov. 4

I went into Stand Two to take the trail cam out before the start of the shotgun hunt on Monday. Checked for images and this is what I got. I think this is the same buck as the one in the pic at the top of this page.

Sat. Nov.17

I was late getting into Stand Three and was ready to hunt at 9:00 am. There was a couple of inches of snow on the ground and it was crispy and noisy to walk. The temp. was -4C and a light wind from the east with a mix of sun and cloud. By all reports the rut was in full gear and I was ready for some action.

Backgrounder: Nov.3 at nightfall, 7:15pm, I spotted a nice buck standing in the ditch of the side road near Stand Three. This buck was at least 10 points and it was a basket rack, symetrical and tall. This was the buck I was hoping was still alive and that it would survive another shotgun hunt.

Well at 11:00 am. I got my answer. I heard some branches snapping behind me so I turned around to look and saw this buck with a big set of head gear. There was no shot to be had but the rack was really impressive. He was at least a 10 point and the inside spread was noticeably wide. He had trotted on through near some trees that had been uprooted. This looked like the buck that I had seen on Nov. 3 and one that I had seen back in July 2006. My plan now was to set up behind one of those uprooted dead falls and wait for his return that evening. I had some doe urine so I made a mock scrape on the bucks track, five yards out infront of my setup. At 5:00pm I could hear a deer coming in so I got ready for a shot. As I peaked around the tree stump anticipating the sight of a big buck, there stood a nice doe sniffing my tracks and the mock scrape. This doe was only 5yards away and I thought she was going to walk right into my lap. She knew something wasn't right and walk away over to some my other tracts and then started snortting and then took off along with another doe. The does are safe for now, my 1 remaining tag is for a buck like the one I had seen today.

I will try this setup again tomorrow.

Here's a pic of the up rooted tree I was hidding behind .

With a light S/E wind and a temperature of 25F I headed into Stand Three for a morning sit. In the afternoon I planned to move this tree stand to the prevailing down wind side of the deer trail that a big 10 buck was using. As I was walking in along the road a small doe ran across in front of me. When I turned into the trail to the stand I found a fresh set of coyote tracks, so obviously the yote was chasing that doe. Put up a grouse just in off the road and I'm thinking the game activity chart was right on today, indicating peak activity. When I got to the stand I made two mock scrapes, 10 and 30 yards out. I put some doe estrus urine on each. I was in my stand and ready to hunt by 9:00 am and did not expect the big 10 buck until around 11:00 am.

   It was 11:50 am when I heard some noise behind me to my right. It was a coyote at 10 yard looking straight at my trail leading to the stand. I very slowly turned around to try and make a shot but it is almost impossible to do that with a crossbow. Add to that the coyote is going to catch my movement. The coyote never presented a shot and worked his way by the mock scrapes and out of sight. I would wait an hour before having lunch but I feared that I would not see anymore deer today. At 12:30 am I heard a noise behind me to my left. It was the big 10 buck coming to my scrape, 30 yards out . He than moved into my 10 yard scrape but did not present a clear shot with the trees and branches in the way. He than walked right behind me and than charge in the direction of where the coyote exited.I hit the grunt call a few times as he disappeared to my right. Once again, having the tree stand positioned in the wrong direction impaired my ability to make a good safe shot. At 1:00 pm I spotted this buck again, over at the scrapes.This was possibly the first time I have ever called a buck in. He was concealed pretty good as I slowly positioned myself to get the crosshairs on him. Then disaster struck, my crossbow case dropped to the ground and the buck froze and looked straight my way. I had knocked the case off the platform with my big new boots. I froze too and waited for him to make the next move which seemed like for ever and then he stomped his foot and turned away and bolted, snorting as he went. I hit the grunt call a few times to try and calm him down and waited 1/2 hour before climbing down. I than moved the stand to a better spot on the down wind side of his trails.

Note : The doe estrus by Knight & Hale proved to be very effective.

          Activity game chart for Nov. 24 a full moon indicated the peak major time to be 11:31 am .

         With two inches of snow on the ground and colder temperatures, bucks moving later in the morning.

-8°C

Feels Like	-17
Wind	N 31km/h
Wind gusts	41km/h
Relative Humidity	100%
Dewpoint	-8°C
Pressure	103.44 kPa
Visibility	0.0 km
Ceiling	ft

Weather conditions:

Feels Like	-6
Wind	W 15km/h
Wind gusts	30km/h
Relative Humidity	69%
Dewpoint	-6°C
Pressure	102.04 kPa

Checked my trail cam at Stand One on a partly cloudy day with temp. of -4C and a S/W wind at 20K. A few doe pics stored and changed out cards. Looks like some good traffic coming by the camera as I began my afternoon hunt in the stand. No deer sightings after a four hour sit.

Here is one of the pics I got :

Back into Stand One at 7:30 am and after I climb into the stand I notice fresh deer tracts directly under the stand. I later checked the trail cam and it caught the ass end of a deer at 5:30am that morning. By the time 11:00am rolled around the off and on noise from sleds was getting pretty bad so I packed it in for the day. Did some scouting along a concession road where I had previously seen a nice shooter buck standing in the ditch. I went into the cedars and discovered a bucks bed.

Here is a pic of the bed :

Full day hunt to fill remaining tag.

Did some scouting to the south east of Stand Three and I came upon a large deer bedding area .

Large swamp with buck sign all through it .

A creek with a deer trail along it leading to the bedding area. I will revisit this area for sheds at a later date.

Spent the last 2 hours on stand but no deer sighted.

With my deer hunting season coming to a close, coyotes started howling in the distance . The coyote would be my next prey of pursuit and this stand has proved to be a good location to hunt them.

Checked my Moultrie M40 trail cam for pics. Here's a sample :