Grizz's 08-09 Hunting Opportunities and Thoughts

[Grizz]

I contimplated whether or not I should start a journal, but came to the conclusion it would be a great way to remember my hunting experiences so I can learn from them or refer back to them.

I'll start by saying I really didn't even think I would have an opportunity to hunt in the state I now reside in, Georgia, but with the help from some of my friends I am now enjoying what is left of the hunting season here.

So here is what has already happened. I had planned to bowhunt here in Georgia and had been anticipating the opening of the season in September when I got to looking at the new bow I had got from my Dad and noticed it didn't have the right draw length. After doing a little research I found out the only way I could adjust the draw length was to order a bigger set of cams for the bow. By the time I was able to do that the season was only a week away and I still hadn't shot yet. I decided that rather than push the issue and rush things I would have to sit this archery season out and just gear up for next year. So October roles around and guys are starting to get ready for rifle season. I talk to the owner of the land I hunt on, just to make sure things are still good with him. All is good so I do what I usually do. I take a walk around the property to scout the area to see if I can see where the deer are coming and going. My funds are limited so I always have to do a lot of this on foot, but I'm hoping one day i can have a couple of trail cameras. As I walk I first notice a tripod stand set up in the corner of the field I usually hunt in. No big deal at first, I'll just walk to my second favorite spot, right? Wrong!!! I get to my second spot and there's a game feeder set up with a trail camera mounted to a tree directly behind it. After seeing that I go and talk with the owner and he says he's unaware of who's it is, but has an idea of who it might be. Long story short, I had to find favorite spot #3, which on this property I had no clue where that would be. I decide to try a spot of thick cover running along side a slim tree line that seperates two fields, that has a small pond at the far end. Ok, so I know it's heavily pressured the first week of the season so I plan on hunting the property starting November. One, the deer will have less pressure from hunters and two, this is when the deer start to rut anyhow, so it works out both ways for me.

Now the present. I've been to my hunting spot once, only to see a Doe and a yearling as I'm driving in, other than that, nothing. At the same time myself and a few of my buddies from work were given permission to hunt another track of land. Great news for me, but the down side is we weren't given permission until 2 weeks ago. Pretty tough going into a new area and trying to find a place to set stands and hunt while the season is in full swing. I'm using this season as more of a walk and stalk season, than a still hunt season. I want to get a good feel for the land as soon as possible and this is almost impossible if I plan to still hunt while I'm there. So far it's very promising. There's plenty of deer sign, a few nice rubs and scrapes, and I've seen deer in a few different areas. The area is full of wild life and as far as I know there are only 5 people total hunting on 300 acres. With the places I have set aside for hunting I have only seen one deer, and couldn't determine if it was a buck or doe b/c it was running through a thicket. Nice bodied deer, so my best guess is a mature doe or smaller buck. The turkey's are out of control on the property. In any given day I see somewhere between 10-50 turkeys, the most being 3 different groups all out in the field at once numbering 58 birds. I know where I'll be in the spring!!!! LoL.

With Thanksgiving being next week I'm gearing up to head home. I hope to arrive in Pennsylvania around 5:00 am Thanksgiving morning. I'll spend Thanksgiving day with family and friends, then Dad, my Uncle and I are off to camp to gear up for the opening day of rifle season. We'll be at camp Friday through the opening day, then drive back to my parents place the evening of the first day. The reason for this is I was unable to draw a doe tag for the zone where our camp is at, but still wanted to go to camp. So we'll hunt the first day at camp, looking for old Mac Daddy on the mountain, then I'll use the rest of my 5 day hunt to hunt the farm I grew up hunting on. I hope to take a nice buck at camp, but if that doesn't happen I'll still have a chance at one on the farm. Since PA put a point restriction on their bucks we have seen some whopper bucks running around on the farm, plus my chances of harvesting a doe are pretty good. If I tag a doe first I'll pace myself and wait for the right buck, but if I see a nice bodied legal buck first I won't hesitate to pull the trigger. And from the reports I get from the farm my odds of at least seeing a 140"-150" buck are also pretty good. My main concern is getting venison in the freezer, after that I plan to be a bit more selective. I plan on hunting this weekend and will update my journal further after the weekend hunt.

[Grizz]

Things are looking good for a morning hunt tomorrow. The low tonight is 23° and the wind is supposed to be almost non-existant come morning. From what other guys are saying there are deer running everywhere, and the majority of does seen have bucks following at a close distance. Found out that a nice 10 point was taken on the property bordering where I hunt, I'm just hoping he wasn't the one leaving all the nice rubs and scrapes where I'm set up. For now I'll sit and wait for morning to come, but I have a feeling the night will yield little sleep, lol. Ya gotta love the anticipation! I truely hope I never lose that feeling.

[Grizz]

Woke up Saturday morning well before the alarm was suppose to go off, but I knew it was going to be a short night for sleep. Got ready and headed out to meet up with my hunting buddies. When we drove up to our hunting area it was 18°! I new then that the morning should yield some fairly decent deer movement. I got dressed, sprayed myself down and headed for my designated tree. I had only been to this area once, when scouting, and chose a tree that I felt had good breakup around it and played right to the wind. I had marked a trail to it with reflective pins, but apparently hadn't marked the trail well enough. I ended up a good 40 ft. from where I needed to be, but after slowly making my way through the darkness I found my tree, only problem was it was almost daylight! I mounted my climber as quietly as possible and got into position as quietly as I could. It must have been good b/c nothing spooked and as daylight approached the woods came alive around me. I had squirrels in every direction and the birds began to sing. That's something I never get tired of, Mother Nature at her best. After 15 or so minutes I became accustomed to hearing the squirrels run around the forest floor and heard something that didn't sound like a squirrel. I looked behind me and caught a doe that was making her way to a bedding area. She was on top of me so fast I didnt have time to get the gun up and get a shot, so she continued on her way. About 5 minutes after seeing her I heard a shot go off in the exact direction she was heading. Not sure if she was harvested, but somebody was having fun. About 5 minutes after hearing the shot I decided to do some grunting and hit a rattling sequence. It was the perfect morning to try it too. The wind was non-existant and it was cold, so the sounds could carry for a good ways. I grunted, then hit the rattle bag and waited. No sooner had I put the rattle bag into my cargo pocket I heard the crunching of leaves that once again didnt sound like the squirrels. I caught movement off to my right and could make out that it was a deer approaching. I stood up and readied myself. It came in with it's head up and looking for the supposed bucks that had been fighting. When it came from the backside of a tree that was about 40 yds from my stand I saw it was a small, half rack buck. I watched as it walked and looked around to see if it could find the source of the rattling. After watching for about 5 minutes I made the decision to harvest the small buck. It was at least 2 1/2, maybe 3 1/2 years old and the one horn that it did have was far less than impressive, and myself and the guys that I hunt with are trying to manage our herd of deer to produce some bigger bucks, so I figured that this deer would make great freezer meat and it would eliminate him being able to breed any does that haven't already come into estrus. He came within 25 yds and was broad side just to the right of me, so I pulled up, stopped him with a soft grunt and squeezed the trigger. He made a mad dash for the pines, but slowed before making it there. About 60 yds from where I had shot him he went down. I thought that was going to be the end, so I sat back down and continued to hunt. My buddies sent text's asking if that was me that shot. I confirmed and they made their way to my stand. I had planned on sitting the rest of the morning out so I didnt screw up their hunt, but they were excited and cold and decided to come check out my management buck. I got down out of the tree and told my one buddy we had to track em. I did this b/c this is his forst year hunting and he has never had to track one before. Granted he has already harvested 3 deer, but all of them have gone down right where they stood, no tracking necessary, so I wanted him to see what it was like, even though I had a pretty good idea that my buck had only gone 60 yds or so. I showed him where the deer had been standing and it didnt take long before we found blood, but to be honest you would have had to have been blind not to see it. As soon as I saw the blood I knew instantly that I had made a heart shot. It looked like someone had taken a paint brush full of red paint and shook it as they walked through the woods. We reached the area I saw the buck go down in, but to my astonishment he wasnt there?!?! You could see where he had gone down and thrashed, but then the blood trail continued. I was dumb struck. I knew I had hit him hard, especially at 25 yds with a 30-06. We got back on the trail and continued another 40-45 yds and finally saw him just on the inside of the pines. After taking a quick look I did infact make a great shot and was still shocked he had gone as far as he did, but as I have had happen in the past, you can never underestimate a deer's will to keep going. We went back to grab the 4-wheeler and got him back to the truck. My buddies and I agree I made the right call in harvesting the deer. So, one down and soon to be in the freezer.

Now I can concentrate on my hunt in PA, a week from today. I got a call from my Dad and Uncle who are up at our camp right now for PA's 3 day bear season. There is 23" of snow on the ground and they expect 10 more inches before next Monday so conditions are going to be pretty tough. I hope to be able to harvest a mature buck from camp, but if that doesn't happen my back up plan is to hunt the farm the remainder of next week. Conditions aren't nearly as bad and they're only calling for snow/rain showers with little to no accumilation.

Notes from Saturday's hunt:
Temp - 18°
Wind - E @ less than 2 mph
Moon - Quarter
Sightings - One doe coming from downwind, One buck coming from upwind. Peak activity around 7:20am.

[Grizz]

Today I make my trek from GA to PA. I hope to get on the road by 4:30, and if all goes well that should put me just north of Pittsburgh by 5:00am tomorrow morning. Forecast for the first week of rifle season is calling for snow every day with winds coming out of the west south west, so the farm is going to be a bit tricky to hunt, but our camp should be prime! Plus camp will be about 10° colder with 5 more inches of snow, so seeing the old deer shouldn't be much of a problem, but finding them will be the challenge. I hope to be able to update each day of the hunt and also hope for some early success. If I can tag one quick I can get it to the butcher and back before I have to leave. I guess only time will tell.

[Grizz]

I was unable to update my hunting status while in PA b/c of internet problems, but better late than never.

Hunting the Allegheny National Forest was rough while at camp, but none the less enjoyable, being able to spend time with family. I scouted the two days prior to the opening day and saw a few deer both days, but come opening day I got skunked. We got freezing rain the night before and the wind direction changed, so all my scouting and planning went right out the window, lol. Camp wasn't a total bust though, my uncle was able to bring home a small doe for the meat pole, and the experiences had and stories told were priceless.

Tuesday morning my Dad and I headed to a farm I grew up hunting. The land owners are relatives and have always been gracious enough to allow us to hunt. We headed to our spots well before daylight and settled in. As soon as I got to my designated spot I noticed one thing, the wind direction was completely wrong for the spot they had sent me to. I knew then that the morning would prove to be interesting. Sure enough the first deer of the day came across the field about 100 yds, came to a screeching halt with their noses in the air, did an about face, and headed back the way they had come. I thought that would be the end of my hunting for the morning, but figured I'd sit down and wait it out till everyone else was done hunting for the morning. To my surprise a group of 11 came trotting across the field, but didnt stop when they got wind of me, lol, they just went from a trot to an all out sprint to the other side of the field! I did however get the scope on them and saw that the last one was a buck. I could count at least 3 points on each side, but couldn't see if he had browtines or not so I never clicked the safety off. I saw 3 more deer after that, but they too caught wind of me and were gone in a flash.

Tuesday night proved to be different. If the deer came from where they went in the morning I was in the perfect spot and the wind was in my favor. Sure enough a few emerged from the woods and proceeded to feed in the fields. I just got done scoping a button buck when I thought I heard something behind me. I went to go sit down and was surprisingly shocked when a small doe snorted from behind me. I spun around to see that she was only about 15 feet from me, but I hadn't noticed her coming b/c I had given the button buck all of my attention. She took off with another small doe and I collected myself after being scared to death. About 10 minutes after that I once again thought I heard something behind me. This time I slowly turned around and spotted 3 deer heading my way. I knew if I stood up they would see me, so I slowly got to one knee and hid myself behind a thicket. Once they cleared the thicket I could see they were all young deer, but still a decent size, and since I already had one deer in the freezer I thought taking one of these does would be good eating. I picked out the biggest of the 3 and waited for a shot. She stopped broad side at 40 yds, but was directly behind a tree. I slowly leaned out to my right, put the scope on her shoulder and squeezed the trigger... She dropped like a sack of tators and the other two took off. I tagged her and field dressed her and got her to the butcher's as fast as I could. One down, hopefully one to go.

Wednesday I woke up and turned on the weather channel only to see that the wind hadn't changed and I knew that I would have to go to the same spot as the previous morning, so instead of spooking all the deer and educating them I just crawled back into bed. It felt good to sleep in, lol.

Wednesday night I was back out and hoped to see a big one. Walking back to my spot at 3:00 that afternoon I ran into a small spike, who was more surprised to see me than I was to see him for sure. I got settled in and 5 minutes after being there I saw 5 deer come into the field from my right. They were there all night long, 3 small does and 2 button bucks. I saw 3 other deer that came busting across the field, all of which were does, so no need for me to even stand up.

Thursday morning I woke up to a different wind and decided to hunt. Saw 13 deer, all of which were does. The majority of my morning I was entertained by two chipmunks who were playing and feeding on seeds. They never knew I was there as one of them proceeded to run over my boot as I was sitting there. Fun to watch, and made the morning go by fast.

Thursday night I got together with an old friend and we hunted some state game lands. Didn't see a single deer, but found some great sign so we knew the deer were there.

Friday morning, last day I could hunt. I woke up and the wind was right. Got to the farm and it was 18° outside. I had a feeling it was gonna be good. It didn't take long for the deer to move. Just after daylight a Mom and a little one came walking my way. I couldn't shoot, but I knew my dad still had a doe tag and was only 75 yds orso to my left and they were heading in his direction. I croutched behind some brush and let them make their way past me. I waited to hear my dad shoot, but nothing. Found out later on he thought the big doe wasn't all that big, but when the little one came running up to her he realized she was good size, but by that time they were on the horizon, so no shot. I saw 3 other deer come across the field and head to their bedding area. I looked at my phone and saw it was 8:15, I needed to be out of the woods at 8:30. No sooner did I put my phone in my pocket I saw 4 deer moving across the field. I put the scope on them and got to the last one and it was a buck!!! I started to count the points on each antler and could see at least 4 on one side. GO TIME!!! I waited for them to come off the horizon, clicked the safety off, put the cross hairs right behind the shoulder and squeezed one off. They all went running and I managed to get another one off before they ran down over the hill. I wasn't sure if I had hit the buck or not so I sat and waited 15 minutes before going to look for a sign of a hit. Dad and I walked out to the field and started to look. NOTHING!! No hair, no blood, no tracks b/c the ground was frozen. We walked across the field to the wood line, still no sign. I stayed out in the field to look for sign while dad went down an old 4wheeler trail. about 70 yds down the trail he called out and I walked over. 20 yds off the trail to the left lay a deer. I walked up and sure enough it was a buck!! I had hit him a little further back than I had thought and caught the liver and back half of the lungs. He never bleed out, but bleed internally. Thankfully dad had the idea to take a short walk in the woods. Turned out to be an 11 point with a 18 1/4" spread. I was more than pleased and full of excitement. Not bad for only having 15 minutes left in a hunt, lol, just never thought it could happen to me.

[Canuck2]

Grizz, awesome hunting adventures. Persistence paid off in the end. Got any pictures of the big guy?

[Grizz]

I do, but am still trying to figure out how to post them. I don't believe I have the capabilities to do it on my computer at work, so I'll have to try it when I get home tonight.

[Grizz]

So still no luck getting a pic of my buck on here, but I'll get it figured out one of these days. Anyway I was hoping to get out some time this week to see if I couldn't find Ole Mossy running around here in GA, but I believe mother nature isn't going to allow that. After all the rain we received last week our grounds are completely saturated, the rivers are right at their breaking points and on top of that the temps are suppose to be in the mid 70's the whole week!! It's the middle of December and we're having mid 70 temps, its CRAZY!!! So needless to say the deer movement is at an all time low, especially for this time of year. Now I'm left with a decision. Do I go out and try my luck this week, or do I keep out of the area and wait for some hopeful colder weather? At this point in the season I'm leaning more toward keeping out of the area until temps get colder b/c I'd hate to leave any extra scent from accessive sweating and what not, but on the other hand the deer seem to be at the tail end of the main rut right now, so you never know when Ole Mossy will be up and running after a hot doe. I'll have to see what other guys who are hunting the area think.

[Grizz]

After checking weather patterns and wind direction, as well as moon phase I've decided to hunt this weekend. It's going to be beyond average temps for this time of year, but the deer are still moving due to it being the start of the second rut for some herds here in GA. I'll just have to move a lot slower to keep myself from getting all sweated up as I go in and out of my hunting area. Might even have to break out the insect repelant clothes. With all the rain we've had and the temps being in the 70's the mosquitos have decided to make there way out again, and it's never fun sitting in the tree having to swat those pesky little things all night long. I definitely need to invest in one of those little smokeless insect repelant gadgets that run off of refillable cartridges. Two archery seasons ago those little suckers almost picked me up outta the tree and flew off with me there were so many of them!

[oddg241]

I'm new to this site but I really enjoyed reading your adventures. Congrats Grizz