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Author Topic: Story of an amateur hunter #2  (Read 15425 times)

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Offline lenador

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Story of an amateur hunter #2
« on: October 22, 2023, 01:23:47 pm »
 Last weekend I bumped two does that I seen crossing the property the night before. I gathered this Intel and tried to come up with a game plan for next hunt
 I went out on Tuesday evening at 6:30 and glassed across the feild of private land to the east end of the public land. I spotted the 2 does and 1 single doe moving west from the points I had figured they would be coming from. This told me an afternoon hunt was going to be the best time. I used the points I marked on the map to use tidy a line where deer are moving from water, bedding, and food. I came up with a game plan to access the area I wanted and watched the weather all week. Sat evening was my only opportunity to get out and it was looking to be warmer than I wanted. 68 was the high but mid afternoon a cold front was moving in so 20 mph winds out of the north west. This was a good shift in the weather for me because I need a wind from the north to get in and set up plus the high winds and leaves falling still masked my noise coming in.
 There were 3 other hunters out there when I arrived  at 1 p.m and the two in the lot indicated that they bumped a few deer but they were not nearly as deep into the property as I was planning to go. I slowly moved into my spot stopping every 100 yards or so to listen and glass. Probably I overkill but I knew I had time and was taking everything in. About 1/2 way to where I wanted to go I found a group of stands making me think I had accidently crossed into private land but according to the IDNR map I was on public land. The owner must be trying to push his property line into state land and I found lanes he cut on public land. I hate to create a situation with the private land owner but I feel I have right to public land and I'm going to use it. Another few hundred yards in I found a really nice spot that I could hide in the ground behind some fallen trees but I didn't feel like I was deep enough in for the timing of their movement. I decided to pushed further in and as I was moving across a well lit draw I spooked what I believe were the 2 does. They were a way into the woods and they didn't really seem to see or smell me and were not very panicked. I held my position for a few minutes and backed out and set up just before the draw in an area where there were a lot of white oaks. I setup a ground blind and shooting lane.

Paced off 8 paces and 16 paces. It was about 3 and I sat without seeing anything until about 6. I thought I was going to get skunked but a large buck appeared eating acrons right in the draw. I don't think he seen or smelled me but he meandered back to the north and never came into the area I needed him too. I was shaking and could barely breath being so close. I wasn't expecting to see a buck so the fact I had placed myself so close to a large buck without much experience was exilerating.
 I sat for another 15 minutes and there was only about 15 minutes left until legal light was over so my thought was to pull out and not spook the buck to give myself a better shot next time. Just as I un nocked my arrow two more bucks came running into my shooting lane without caution. One stopped in the draw and the other stopped right in my shooting lane but quartering towards me.

 He kept on moving fairly quick, I tried to grunt to stop him but he wasn't having it and didn't care. This spooked the other buck off though. I was shaking and was totally pumped full of adrenaline. I realized the arrow I pulled from my sheath still had the sleeve on the broad head.
 Lesson here is #1 I should have a little more focus and not given up after the first buck. Then the second one I should have let go when I didn't have a shot and let the other one come in and stayed silent. Lesson #2 is to put more thought in my ground position to give me a wider shooting lane and consider the position of the deer.
 All in all the fact after 1 scouting trips I was able to put myself on 3 bucks was a real confidence booster.
Failure isn't a loss unless you cease to move forward from it.

Offline Pappy

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Re: Story of an amateur hunter #2
« Reply #1 on: October 22, 2023, 07:21:32 pm »
Great story, hang there it will happen. Pappy
Clarksville,Tennessee
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Offline TimBo

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Re: Story of an amateur hunter #2
« Reply #2 on: October 23, 2023, 09:37:03 am »
You're in the right spot for sure!  That's frustrating about the private landowner pushing into public land though...things like that drive me crazy. 

Offline lenador

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Re: Story of an amateur hunter #2
« Reply #3 on: October 23, 2023, 12:03:22 pm »
Great story, hang there it will happen. Pappy
Thanks, I have the confidence now.
Failure isn't a loss unless you cease to move forward from it.

Offline lenador

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Re: Story of an amateur hunter #2
« Reply #4 on: October 23, 2023, 12:06:02 pm »
You're in the right spot for sure!  That's frustrating about the private landowner pushing into public land though...things like that drive me crazy.
Yeah, I use a GPS tracker app so if there was an issue I could always prove where I was to the game warden. If the private owner were to give me trouble I would t push it but he does have permenant stands on public land which is illegal so as long as things stay the way they are there will be no worries.
Failure isn't a loss unless you cease to move forward from it.

Offline Aaron1726

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Re: Story of an amateur hunter #2
« Reply #5 on: October 23, 2023, 09:27:08 pm »
Sounds like you're getting close and trying to learn from each time out.  Good luck!  I enjoy the stories as well.

Offline lenador

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Re: Story of an amateur hunter #2
« Reply #6 on: October 24, 2023, 01:27:40 pm »
Sounds like you're getting close and trying to learn from each time out.  Good luck!  I enjoy the stories as well.
Thanks, I was hoping that it may encourage some people who have never hunted before. I hunted 3 times with a friend 10 years ago but at the time I was being drawn into compounds and leasing land and all that jazz. I made a self bow and took it out once on public land but become discouraged without anyone to help me learn. Honestly my Osage staves staring at me from the basement and the inflation of groceries pushed me to get back into it in the simplest way possible. Self bow, on the ground, public land, nothing fancy. I don't even have a quiver yet. I use the fingers cut off a glove to sheath my broad heads and stick them in the side of my hiking pack. I bought cheap arrows and re fletched them with feathers. The most expensive thing I've purchased was the broad heads. Figured if there was something that mattered it was a good broad head.
Failure isn't a loss unless you cease to move forward from it.

Offline archeryrob

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Re: Story of an amateur hunter #2
« Reply #7 on: October 25, 2023, 05:28:59 pm »
Is your grunt call adjustable? Where is can be buck or doe. I keep mine set on doe as I have personally observed 8 points head away from a buck grunt. I had one in 2020 walk away from a buck grunt and then do a 180 and come right at me on the change to doe. This will only work if they are actively searching for a doe, in the rut. If they are not searching for does, or already locked on the trail of one, they will not normally respond to your doe call either. Bucks grunt work on that big big that thinks he's king and wants to fight. The other bucks not wanting to fight are intimidated by a buck grunt. Anyway, that is my opinion, from my observations hunting.
"If you can't have fun doing it, it ain't worth doing, or you're just doing it wrong."

Offline lenador

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Re: Story of an amateur hunter #2
« Reply #8 on: October 28, 2023, 11:39:12 am »
Is your grunt call adjustable? Where is can be buck or doe. I keep mine set on doe as I have personally observed 8 points head away from a buck grunt. I had one in 2020 walk away from a buck grunt and then do a 180 and come right at me on the change to doe. This will only work if they are actively searching for a doe, in the rut. If they are not searching for does, or already locked on the trail of one, they will not normally respond to your doe call either. Bucks grunt work on that big big that thinks he's king and wants to fight. The other bucks not wanting to fight are intimidated by a buck grunt. Anyway, that is my opinion, from my observations hunting.
I don't use a call. I just use my mouth. If I was hunting in the rut I'd probably get a proper call but I'm not going to hunt firing firearm season so I'll be limited to pre rut. I wasn't trying to call him in as much as just getting him to stop moving so fast.
Failure isn't a loss unless you cease to move forward from it.

Offline archeryrob

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Re: Story of an amateur hunter #2
« Reply #9 on: October 30, 2023, 04:54:43 pm »
I called a buck in 2020 the day before Halloween. I grunted him and he was like "Nope" and turned a away. I changed the call to a Doe Bleat and he did a 180 and died shortly later. I've called bucks off a scrape line with a doe bleat. They are worth having from Middle of October through December here in Maryland. "The rut" is not just during firearms season, it is every time any doe comes in heat and the boys get crazy. It's one crazy month with warm up before and tail downs covering 2 to 2 1/2 months.

Now, I have to state, many times if a buck is not actively searching, or if he is following a fixed scent already. He will not give two craps about a grunt from your mouth or call. I would say 70% of the time I get next to nothing or no reaction. Other times it is like magic and he will come in like on a line straight to you. It works less than it does work, but when it does, you'll never go hunting without it again.
"If you can't have fun doing it, it ain't worth doing, or you're just doing it wrong."

Offline lenador

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Re: Story of an amateur hunter #2
« Reply #10 on: October 30, 2023, 07:22:59 pm »
I called a buck in 2020 the day before Halloween. I grunted him and he was like "Nope" and turned a away. I changed the call to a Doe Bleat and he did a 180 and died shortly later. I've called bucks off a scrape line with a doe bleat. They are worth having from Middle of October through December here in Maryland. "The rut" is not just during firearms season, it is every time any doe comes in heat and the boys get crazy. It's one crazy month with warm up before and tail downs covering 2 to 2 1/2 months.

Now, I have to state, many times if a buck is not actively searching, or if he is following a fixed scent already. He will not give two craps about a grunt from your mouth or call. I would say 70% of the time I get next to nothing or no reaction. Other times it is like magic and he will come in like on a line straight to you. It works less than it does work, but when it does, you'll never go hunting without it again.
I'll have to give it a try. As far as weekends we only have one weekend between Nov 17-decemer 10 that isn't a fire arm weekend. I'm trying to learn what I can and apply it and see how it works. I've had people tell me not to grunt this early and I've had others say what you are saying. I got skunked this past weekend soni need to change things up.
Failure isn't a loss unless you cease to move forward from it.