(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4512/37740166151_c16449a2c2.jpg)
:campfire: :coffee:
Great to see you posting Jim. I'm looking forward to the story.
A few days ago while sitting in the pants down stand, I noticed that the deer had adjusted their travel path this year. All though numerous deer have been taken from this stand over the years, I decided a move of 50 yards was in order.
Slightly down the bluff on a flat bench about 40 yards wide a likely tree held my interest.
Over the lunch hour that day I moved the ladder to an Elm with a branched trunk , right at the hunters height.
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4469/37740164981_b777d3f5e1.jpg)
And he's back!!!!! Glad to have you back with us... we've been waiting!
There he is :clapper:
it's been a weird weather year. Like all across the country, there is no normal. We had September weather in August and August weather in September. I have been in the stand everyday except when torrential rain and 90 degree temps kept me in bed on in my office.
But today it was a real fall morning. The Temp was 33F when I left the yurt and the wind was slight and out of the west. I headed to the relocated stand and gleefully drank a cup of coffee in the star light.
As the light began to grow a light mist of fog filled the valley. I could not see more than 40 yards for the first hour. I had begun to think it was going to be a skunk and at 8.20 I decided 15 more minutes and I would head in to work.
Just then I spotted them coming from the north ( my right) A large doe and twin fawns trailing behind her. Normally a doe with multiple fawns gets a pass from me. Any doe who can raise twins in the coyote rich environment we have is such an asset to the farm. But this year it seems almost all the does have twins and one has triplets.
Momma stopped in the scrapes 10 yards from the base of my tree to pee. As she moved ahead I oozed into shooting position and as she passed behind the one tree between us I began my draw. But she picked up on the movement and stopped still. She turned to her right 90 degrees and then turned another 90 back to the north. Broadside now all she had to do was take two steps forward to clear the tree. As she did I picked a ruffed up spot on her side and released my arrow.
To be honest, I thought I missed. I never saw the arrow pass through her and it made no noise what so ever as it did. She ran 20 yards up hill and stood stock still for a few seconds. Then I saw her hind quarters start to sag. She bolted forward another 15 yards or so and collapsed.
Here is the happy hunter and the doe after a short downhill drag to the fire break.
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4494/37708089102_b1932ca567.jpg)
:clapper: :clapper:
Now I know it is fall!! Glad to see ya posting Jim!
I went back to longbow this year after falling in love with a 68 inch bow made by Timberpoint bows in Estonia. I hunted today with his 64 in model he calls the Icarus. it is 40 lb at 27 inches. I was shooting Bear Paws Pentholon Extreme carbon shaft with a 200 grain Werewolf on the tip.
here is a photo of the bow.
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4220/34919364820_9df78c1f5c.jpg)
While I love the bow, I have to admit the additional 10 inches of limbs has been a challenge in the tree stand!
Thanks to all of you for your concern on me being MIA. But I have been limiting the time I spend on social media these days.
You will see me now and then that's for sure. I have a brute I am after this year and hopefully I will have another story or two to share as the season goes on.
Happy hunting all!
Good to hear from ya Jim!!!!
Good Hunting :campfire:
:thumbsup: Good to see you here again......you are part of what keeps my head in this game. Now go get that big one. :notworthy:
And Happy Hunting to you!
Glad to see your post :thumbsup:
Rusty
Well done sir....
,,Sam,,,
Woohoo glad to hear all is well Jim and to see you had some success Best of luck getting after the big one I will be tuned in!!
Glad to hear all is well and congrats on the doe!
:thumbsup: :thumbsup:
:clapper:
:campfire: Congratulations on a quick start to your season. Looking forward to your stories.
Congratulations sir! Glad to hear you're all right, your season and hunting post will be missed but I'm sure we all can understand your reasoning... great shooting on that beauty
Glad you found him at least sorry it didn't turn out the way you hoped but that is hunting sometimes. Shot looks good, should've done an autopsy for future reference but that's hind sight. Cool looking rack and buck I don't think I've ever seen a deer with a face that dark
Whoops not sure how that last post got here as I was on the smallest of details post when I pressed post lol
Glad to hear everything is ok. Congratulations, and enjoy your fall!
Gary
Congrats on the doe and glad you are back!
Jim I'm very happy to see you are o.k. and out hunting and can understand not being in the social media but enjoying the great outdoors our God has provided for us!
Hope you get that "Brute" you're after and we know you do your homework in trying to connect with a certain deer and that's part of the fun we have in Traditional bow hunting.
Again so glad you are in the "Vertical" position and not the "Horizontal" :p :thumbsup:
Attaboy!!
Tim B
Congrats on the doe! The 5 pines journal will be missed, but a guy knows when it's time to take a step back from the wireless world and really disconnect. Just post some pics of this year's buck when you connect!
Congrats Jim!
I always enjoy your posts.
Good to hear from you Jim. Congrats... Hope you get a swing at the big'un. Jeff
Glad you are back. We missed you! Congrats on the doe. Ken
Glad you are ok and congrats on the doe. always look forward to reading about your season.
congrats
Congrats on the nice doe and sweet looking bow! Looking forward to more stories! :campfire:
Congrats Jim, Glad to see you posting again. I was across the Missisip last weekend.
Congratulations, like others have said it's great to see you posting again.
:thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Great job Jim!! Good to see ya bro!
Happy to follow along for another season.
Congrats on the doe. Looking forward to reading about the buck. Good luck >>—\0>
Always look forward to the hunts you share so well with us, glad your back and Congrats on the doe.
Congratulations Jim. It was good of you to share that with us.
Nice looking bow and a great example that 40lbs works just fine.
Best of luck on the rest of the season and of course look forward to seeing you again.
Great to see you post again, been missing the 5 Pines Hunt-a-long. Being laid up Post surgery love seeing the frame by frame hunts.
Congrats on the doe :clapper:
Glad to see your out doing what we love
Good to see your posts again...good luck catching up with the brute you are after! Nice doe!
Good stuff.
Hi Jim,
Do you have any pics of the big boy? Hope you get a crack at him.
Some people think shooting a doe is easy, but let me tell you the most difficult deer to kill is an old mature doe!
Good to hear from you again Jim! Thanks for sharing your stories as they are the best! Good luck!
Kenny :clapper: :clapper: :clapper:
:campfire: :coffee:
:wavey:
Littlebigman,
We are all anxiously awaiting a rut report! As a fellow MN bowhunter, I might be a little more anxious than others!
How's it going down your way?
Brian
hey everyone. In a word it's been an exhausting rut! both for the bucks and me.
first it started off earlier than I ever remember with my sighting of a buck breeding a doe on Halloween!
I have been hunting a minimum of 8 hours every day since then and only hunted 4 today because of rain.
the chasing was incredible and 9 days ago 5 good bucks chased a doe right past me , with out me being able to get any of them to stop.
Then a sixth buck showed up following the scent trail the wrong way and I ended up missing him at 15 yards!
A few weeks ago a nice rub appeared half way between two existing ladders stands and I first caught this buck going by it on 10/20.
here is a better picture of him on 11/08
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4576/37603803625_2e82352e15.jpg)
After some sweat and innovation, I was able to relocate a another ladder here and spent the prior three days to today in the stand.
another but closer photo of this brute
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4553/37603819795_fa18259d94.jpg)
so the first morning in the stand, it was not quite light enough yet to shoot and I was sitting down on stand. I decided to stand and be ready when it was light enough to shoot.
What is it they say about Murphy and his law? You guessed it, upon standing up a doe squirted out right from under me with this big guy ten steps behind! Argggg!!!!
Then a few minutes later I heard a faint grunt, looking back on the trail I see yet another 2nd big 10 point! But he had picked up the scent of the first buck and so he veered from the trail and followed their exit path up the bluff away from me. Trust me when I say I would not have felt any disappointment by killing the 2nd buck
2nd morning on stand, upon climbing up the ladder , I never sat down and was ready to kill from the get go!
But it had rained all night and was now rather windy and I never heard the big 10 down below me on the left. He was moving up thelogging road that runs parallel to the one I was focused on. I was looking to my right.
When I spotted him he was all ready thru my first shooting lane and moving at a brisk walk. By the time I had the bow drawn, he was in my 4th and final shooting lane.
I totally blew it and missed him by a foot!. He quickened his pace as the arrow flew past and I sadly watched him go.
After about 30 minutes for a reason I have yet to figure out, I got down and pulled the arrow out of the dirt of the logging road! I had barely reached the top of my ladder, put the arrow in my quiver, when I turned to look at the deer trail just as big buck #2 from the day prior was trotting up hill. Either seeing or smelling me ! What are the odds of both bucks coming by me two days in a row!
Wow Jim, that buck is a stud. Hope you get a shot a him. Good luck bud!!!! Keep us posted.
I was just dumbfounded that I had gotten so close to the same bucks 2 days in a row. But now is when it got really crazy.
Below me is a logging road. Below that a thin strip woods between the road and the prairie hillside. its about 40 yards wide. suddenly there was crashing and branches breaking and lots of grunting. two lesser bucks were hard chasing a doe thru the strip and up hill in the direction the first big ten ran.
I actually thought to my self, " If that big 10 is up there, they won't have that doe much longer."
Less than 10 minutes later , I spot the doe being pushed down hill my way by no other then the big 10!
The two younger bucks were on the peripheral . The big guy was making noises I have never heard. In addition to grunting at the doe, snort wheezing at the young bucks, he was also huffing like a black bear will do.
Eventually the doe was 25 yards uphill from me with the big buck on top of her. The satellite bucks were hanging close. The big buck actually got the job done and then the two lovers stood side by side sort of quivering ( Sorry but they really were). The doe then lay down!!!!
She was 25 yards away and looking directly in my direction. The big buck kept bluff charging the others and I was doing my best to hold it all together!
Enter big buck #2.
I had managed to ever so slowly get my bow back on the hook so I could insert a frozen bow hand into a pocket. In the back ground a familiar 10 point appeared . He began to circle the others and had caught the attention of the successful suitor.
I was envisioning him button hooking the group and ending up in front of me at 10 yards!
I had had enough time, to talk myself down and was actually quite in control. I ever so slowly slid my hand out of my pocket. Wrapped my fingers around the riser and lifted it off the hook. But the damned doe caught the movement and after our gun season has all ready run a full 9 days, she was not about to ignore the movement!
In a flash of white, 5 tails up the hill they bounded!
If I had not seen it myself I would call me at best BS'R or at worst , a liar.
Just unreal........ :eek: I wouldn't know what to do with all that action.
Day 3 same stand.
Colder, no wind. at first light I spot 3 does walking along the mowed fire break that runs along the strip of woods below the log road. Today they have reversed course and are going North to South ( down hill).
30 minutes later the lesser of the 2 big bucks is following their trail. I get him to stop and look my way with a soft snort wheeze. He starts to move off and I do it again, a little louder. He turns and flees and runs down the hill, across the field, county road and onto the adjacent property. The bigger buck never showed .
today started very windy after an on and off again rain. I elected to give that ladder a rest
and will hunt it again in the A.M. I will get some pictures then of the stand and trail so you have a little better idea as to how this all played out.
to be honest, my hunt this fall despite misses has been the best of my life.
thanks for giving my tale a read.
Wow Jim, that's what rut huntin dreams are made of!!!!!
Good stuff Jim! Waiting on the sequel!
Incredible Jim. I have been eagerly waiting your report!
All your hard work on your land has paid off, I know you will reap the rewards......well done. :notworthy: :notworthy:
I feel your pain. I've had one of my best seasons ever, but have missed two different bucks in the 150" range.
Congrats on your encounters. I always enjoy your posts.
:thumbsup: Its going to come together, keep at it... :archer:
Jim,
Thanks for sharing your hunts with us. Eager to read more. Ken
Jim, I am going to have to pick your brain a bit about food plots and such, some day.
My grand daughter and I watched 15 does and fawns on my hayfield Saturday, and not a single buck showed up.
Gary
Since it's way to windy to hunt safely from a tree today , I will update you with one of this past weeks crazier hunts.
I continued to sit in the stand where I watched the breeding take place, except this time I had inserted a buck decoy into the hunt.
Here are pictures from the stand .
this is the view looking straight ahead (East).
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4525/38505551286_1f4ee163b0.jpg)
down and to my left ( North)
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4527/37674176135_67889a30a2.jpg)
the decoy is about 25 yards from the stand.
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4528/26786087259_c85cec6a98.jpg)
Normally I do not decoy like this. even though the woods looks open enough , it is still hard for deer to see the decoy since there is no movement to catch their eye.
But I was feeling sort of desperate with all of the close calls with big bucks moving very fast past me in this spot and I hoped it would at least cause one to just slow down a bit.
I'll spoil the story here by just saying this came back and bit me hard in the butt.
I had 5 females feeding on the hillside above me and to my right. They were feasting on the acorns. I kept expecting one of them to wind me since the wind was out of the North.
It was about 8 am when I saw large, heavy dark antlers appear about 60 yards due East from me coming my way.
A great 10 point was coming straight down the trail that goes by the tree on the right. It appeared I was going to get a point blank shot.
Suddenly he cuts to his right towards the log road. I quickly gave a grunt , hoping he would see the decoy in the road.
Instead I suddenly see several females on the log road also on heading my way. That's what got him to turn and he cuts the lead doe from the group. First she turns to run back up hill and away from me but he cuts her off and back she heads.
In the top picture above , if you look close you will find the rub and the brush pile on the ground to the right of it. She was passing thru this gap and he was right on her tail.
The doe sees the decoy on the road and I am guessing here, thinking she has another big buck to avoid veers to her left. She runs between the end of my arrow in the picture and the double trunk tree.
I am poised for the shot , but the buck goes behind the double trunk tree and stops! now I have a great buck at about 12 yards and at least 8
does all stopped and on high alert! The buck starts to stomp his foot. I have no shot! only his neck and head and tail are free of the obstruction the tree has created!
Sensing one of the does on my right about to bolt, I prepare to draw, hoping the buck will take a step or two before running. No such luck. When the does bolts he does the same and again I watch a real cranker buck run out of my life.
I am sure had the decoy not been there I would have had a walking shot at 6 or 7 yards.
Making the day even worse, two hours later a doe and her fawn are coming my way from the East but too far up the hill to my right for a shot. But some how she spots the decoy and starts to head down hill. She gets on one of the trails that goes by me above and to my right. This one is about 20 yards and puts her even with my eye level.
I take my time and make the shot. She spins 180 degrees and I see the arrow fall out the off side.
Waiting about 1/2 hour, I climb down and head back to the yurt to get my buddy who is also hunting with his recurve. We will need the 4 wheeler to carry in my nice doe.
Some how when we were walking in the direction the deer ran , we missed my spent arrow laying in the leaf litter. The first blood we find is a great big splash , red with bubbles . We both comment that this will be a short trail. Good splats of blood and then drops and then pin pricks then nothing.
We ended up picking the lost trail several times and by the time we completely lost it we were on the other side of the farm.
Back tracking from the first big splash of blood , I find my arrow, covered end to end in thick brown stomach residue. It appeared then my hit was behind the diaphragm when it entered and exited out the far side lung. Had I known this we would have never started tracking until late in the day. But my eyes had told me a different story.
So 2 large errors cost me a shot a great buck and also some prime eating venison. There is nothing worse than losing an animal and knowing you have caused it pain and a rotten end to it's existence.
I vow once again to be more careful and to take more time in shooting and tracking so as to not repeat this sad situation.
The weather and holidays this week , will interfere with hunting, hope to be back at it this coming weekend.
Dang Jim, sorry to hear that.....
That hillside stand has provided you with plenty of excitement this year :thumbsup:
Sorry about the doe! Keep trying Jim, I hope you get another taxidermy bill this year.
Keep At em jim unfortunately it happens to us all take the good with the bad and get back after em!!
Great effort, Jim. Sounds like they have you surrounded.
Sorry for the result.
it has been a pretty uneventful last 10 days. Between the gun season ( still open) overly warm temps and an approaching full moon there has not been much day time deer movement.
But tonight just before dark a solid 5X5 was following 4 mature does about 60 yards below me in the tall prairie and apple trees.
The final push is on . 31 days left in our archery season. Sure hope Mrs. Littlebigman hangs in there with me! :biglaugh:
Thanks for the report Littlebigman.
As a fellow Minnesotan (Deer River), I like to know what's going on rut wise in other parts of the state.
I broke out the muzzle loader and saw a small buck working a scrape this past Mon. eve. right at the end of shooting light and the next morning I saw a spike chasing a doe.
Good luck and I know what you mean about the Mrs. hanging in there with you!
My better half is really, really, really wanting me to get a deer. LOL
Brian
Keep at it Jim. You will see more and I want to hear about it. Selfish I know but I feel I am not alone ha. Good luck