First off Merry Christmas to everyone out there in the Realtree world.  I meant to write this a few days ago but with all the holidays and fighting the flu bug that had a death hold on my soul.  I'm finally feeling good enough to get back to work, to the blogs, and to the woods.  Two years ago at Christmas time we were snowed in here in NW Missouri for several days with roads closed and no where to go.  This year we are begging for some colder weather or just any little bit of that white stuff we can find.  Last week during the muzzeloader season they were calling for 2 inches of snow which amounted to nothing.  Now we have a nice heat wave with temperatures hitting high in the 50's and lows only in the 30's during the night.  With the moon phase just right you still might catch a few good deer cruising those evening hours looking for food.

I was blessed to get out a few nights before Christmas and go after a late season buck with the Elite. The first night I set in my ridgetop stand only seeing a few does who quickly pinned us in the tree.  That night I cruised the farm and checked a few cams on the way out of the farm.  Heading into the foodplot I ran into the droptine 8 feeding.  The next night I would set in that stand overlooking the foodplot only to see Wideload and the droptine 8 feed across the ridgetop an hour before last light right by my stand from the night before.  Night 3 turned to be brutal with winds up to 20 miles an hour there was no chance of setting in my ridge stand, knowing a 50 yard shot was out of the question.  I decieded on going to the ground and bedding myself on the backside of a narrowbase terrace 25 yards from the ridgetop where the deer would be feeding.  Like clock work about 20 minutes before last shooting light the does reached the ridgetop.  They were really spooky with the muzzeloader season in swing and the winds blowing.  The does moved to 20 yards of me with the wind in my favor but with a coyote on the other side of the ridge quickly made the group disappear.  With light deminishing quickly the does returned to my south with a west wind in my favor.  They started feeding over the ridge and through to the terraces below me.  Before last light I got a good glimpse of a rack crossing over the ridge at 50 yards.  A young 3 year old 10 pointer probably in the mid 130's range cruised down to feed.  Knowing he was too young to harvest my night quickly came to an end with dark approaching.

Good luck to you late season bow hunters. 
May your arrows fly straight and the weather cooperate with you!!!
Dave Fast

WORK AND WEATHER

     Well as all you working class guys and gals know...there are a few things that can really throw a wrench in your hunting time.  This season since I was able to score on a nice buck during rifle season.  Ive been able to get into the stand only just a few times.  There has been nights were work has messed up things and not allowed me to get to the stand on time, and the nights I have been able to the weather like tonight have been just down right miserable.  The weather has went from cold to mild and wet here in Nw Missouri with temperatures in the mid 40's and SW winds at 12 mph and rain.  This isn't a brutal combination but after the snow we had last week has melted this makes for some stick situations.  

With the work schedule becoming increasingly more busy and the Christmas Holiday just around the corner...my free nights and weekend will definately be spent in the stand hoping for another crack at a great buck this season before the years end.  In MIssour our archery season runs all the way to January 15th and you better believe this working class hunter will be sticking out those late season hunts in the tree.  Hoping for one for shot at a stud to finish off the year before the weekends full of deer shows in the future.