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Tuesday, August 27, 2019

DS19 Part 12: Monster White Oaks

This is a monster white oak I found about 5 years ago. It's close to 5' in diameter. White oaks arent common in my part of Michigan. They're almost rare and worth keeping a secret from even your mother. I have two spots that have white oaks, one has a bunch of reds mixed in with them. I was in the area of one of these spots today so I took a side trip to see how their acorn production was going to be this year. The short story is they are loaded and already dropping.

I had an unsuccessful but awesome season hunting this spot a few years ago when I first found it. There are some really nice bucks in this area every year and I have a pretty good idea where they bed. It's funny how people- particularly men- go through phases. This carries over into how we hunt. I've gone through my share. First was funnels, I was fanatical about them. Next was being mobile. There was the scent control years. The mock scrape season. Plus about a half dozen others, I laugh about some of those, but they were important to my development as a hunter. I learned stuff while going through each one, and some of the stuff I figured out stuck, becoming permanent and rolling over into whatever the next phase on the list has been and is still in my tool box today.



I mention all that because I feel myself rolling out of the most recent phase for the 2019 season- hunting deer in spots 100yds to 2 miles in like I was on a western elk trip 10 miles into the backcountry. I pulled the fanny pack out of the closet yesterday and will use it instead of the pack this year. Well, at least for the early season before I start needing to bring cold weather layers along. But some of the stuff will carry over. I will never drag another deer out of the woods again, gutless method and quartering is the way to go.

Got the stick talons dialed in now. Think I have a solution to make the Matthew's quiver bracket not hang up on stuff when mounted on the sparrow. Bow and broadheads are shooting darts out to 60yds. Trail cams are all out except for one I'm saving for if a "just in case" spot is identified. I've hung my stand in the backyard so many times the bark is almost gone. I'm sick of dicking around with gear and want to hunt.

Sunday, August 25, 2019

DS19 Part 11: I still fish for trout sometimes


Mixing a little fishing in with my deer season prep. Fished with an old friend the other night. We only had about 3 hours to fish till dark, and spent the first hour drinking a beer and catching up at the truck. Caught a bunch of fish after. He is about 25 years my elder, dont know why, but I've always got along better with older guys.

Well, I found a new spot that I've been driving past on the way to another spot. It's a massive swamp around 4x8 miles that basically seems impenetrable as you are driving by. By sheer coincidence, I found myself driving along the northern edge on the way to a family dinner. My daughter was driving and I was able to pay more attention to the area from the back seat, and I noticed things I hadn't noticed before while being in the driver's seat. I pulled the area up on google earth and caltopo and onx when I got home and found something awesome, the west side for probably 2 miles is basically a bunch of ag that you cant see from any of the main roads. And the transition from private ag to public nightmare swamp is all public. I can walk that line from the road a couple miles into the area that butts up against the ag to what looks like a good sized island in the swamp.

I'm not gonna prescout this particular spot on the ground, will wait for the first weekend day during season with the right conditions and scout my way back there after lunch for an evening sit. There is also a SW facing point jutting into the east side of the swamp that looks interesting. Basically no way to get there easily. It will be at least a 1.5 hour hike one way through, but it looks worth it.

Dropped my oldest off at college yesterday, youngest leaves this coming friday and then we are empty nesters for the first time. Which has some pretty awesome implications for my time in a treestand. It was hard having our kids so young, but feels like it was worth it now.  I'm looking forward to watching our kids get their bearings in life and start families of their own.  And truth be told, I can't wait for grandkids, though I don't want my kids to start their families as young as we were when we started ours.

Heading out to the back yard to practice single trips up the tree with stick talons. Starting to like em a little more, but need more practice. Busted another axle on my car, so no shining till that's fixed. And just leaving a note here that leaf colors are really starting to change from a vibrant green to yellow green, with sporadic spots of full color. Ferns are dying in low elevation areas.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

DS19 Part 10: Shooting Form Tweaks

Shot a lot of arrows the last couple nights and got my low and right groups figured out. It was actually a combination of two issues, funky anchor was causing the right, forgetting my top pin was at 15 instead of 25 caused the low, haha!

I run a 3 pin slider, with my top pin at 25, middle at 35 and bottom/slider at 45. I switched it around a little this year for shooting longer distances at 3D shoots and had my top at 15, middle at 30 and bottom/slider at 45. The slider can go from 20 to 90 and I've basically just been using it all summer and not messing with the top two pins. Completely forgot where I had them set at...ooof! Once that was figured out, everything was good again.

 Did I tell you about the track I came across out of state scouting earlier this summer?



Yeah. Thought about that spot a lot today and the two trail cams I have had soaking there the last couple months. Which led me to add a few more days to my rutcation. Will be there November 2 to the 13th now. Basically the same dates I was there last year with about 5 more on the front end.

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

DS19 Part 9: Trial Run


Took my whole hunting system- minus clothes- out in the backyard last night and went through all the motions. My setup is basically the same as last year, but I’ve made enough little tweaks here and there that I immediately noticed things that I didn’t like or that I’ll need to retweak.

The first problem was when I got up to the tree and took my stand/sticks off my back, the quiver bracket attached to the sparrow I added this offseason hung up on one of the straps on the back of my safety harness. This isn’t an issue with the sparrow, more with the big C shape of the Matthews quiver bracket. Almost couldn’t get my stand off my back, haha, then it happened again when I got to hunting height on my sticks and went to pull it off to hang it. I need to find a new place for the sparrow or its going to have to go. Not really interested in changing quivers at this point in time, but a quikee quiver bracket would solve the problem.

 The other issue I ran into was with my camera arm. I have no freaking clue why I got the bug to try self filming a hunt this year. I’ve ran a smartphone mount on my stabilizer the last couple seasons to film the shot and it was pretty helpful in figuring out where exactly I hit them and how soon I could start tracking. But it had a lot of limitations. I don’t wanna be a TV star or anything, but I think it would be cool to have a video of the hunt to share with friends as well as to be able to look back on it in the future. I picked up a beast camera arm and it seems to be pretty nice, only issue is it wants to unfold out away from the tree as you’re hanging it, which makes it kind of a pain to hang. I think I need a short bungee or strap that can keep it folded up until I’ve got it on the tree and ready to mount the camera on. I’m kind of tempted to drill the arm out, beast stick style and switch the tree bracket to a batwing, too.

Did some shooting and seemed to be shooting a couple inches to the right and to the left if I didn’t really focus on my anchor. I think I need to get back in the habit of bending at the waist. I thought I was, but my arrows were telling me otherwise. It felt a little funky having the camera arm kinda right there, just to the right of the bow, as I was at full draw. It was a distraction the first couple shots, but I forgot it was there after. Practice, practice, practice over the next month will put these issues to bed. Oh almost forgot, played with the stick talons for the first time while actually going through all the steps and stuff of hanging a stand. I added these a couple weeks ago and am really attracted to the concept of a single trip up the tree. Jury is still out on if they’ll make it to the start of the season. They hold the sticks nice and solid, basically doing everything I wanted them to so I can make a single trip up the tree, I’m just not sure if that’s what I really want yet.

While I was up there my wife came outside and poked fun at me for what I was doing. Something about me being obsessed. There is no doubt about that, but I justified it by saying, “babe, there are only 41 days until the season opens.” You could see the light bulb kind of go off when she realized that summer is almost over.

Sunday, August 18, 2019

DS19 Part 8: Bear Crap Chronicles

I should have called this journal the bear crap chronicles. Doesnt matter where I go this year, I cant escape bear sign. It's like the bear population tripled around here. Gotta be all the rain we've had and what it's done for the berries. The bears are eating them and crapping everywhere.

 I had to take it easy the last week, foot injury flared back up. Not sure exactly what's gonna happen there, hopefully find out what the long term plan is this week but I can tell you one thing is for sure, nothing is happening till after November.

 Anti-inflammatories started doing their job and I felt good to hike back into a new to me spot I discovered this spring. It's an amoeba-shaped marsh near the transition between a conifer/cedar swamp and a hardwood ridge. There was some good sign there this spring from last fall and I am REALLY looking forward to hunting there. No idea if the buck that made the sign is decent- though some of the sign suggested there was a nice one around- and I'm not sure if there is anything decent around this year, so I decided I wanted to throw a trail cam up there on the main transition. I wont be able to check this camera again until I hunt there, so hopefully it doesnt wind up stolen. Here is a pic of the area it's looking at.


Basically there are 4 edges here. Not sure exactly where I will end up when I hunt this spot the first time, but this spot is kind of the starting point. If I had to pick a tree today, it would be about 50yds further in where I could hunt a spot that basically is within range of two funnels.

Of course, there was a pile of bear crap near the tree I chose to hang my camera in.



Had a deer blowing at me from the marsh on the walk out. Timed the walk out to the access spot and this spot will be doable for an after work hunt or two. Gotta rack my brain on the right wind direction to hunt it, thermals falling in the evening could make things really tricky. Decided I better stock back up on milkweed so I drove real slow on the way out and picked enough to get me by for a while...

had to stop myself

Monday, August 12, 2019

DS19 Part 7: Shooting Broadheads

Took the field points off and screwed the broadheads back on tonight. Shot three at 25 and 3 at 40 and they seem to be flying just like my field points and not doing anything funky. I'm gonna shoot slick tricks again this year. I really like how they've performed for me so far in years past and how sharp they are. One of the few broadheads I will use a broadhead wrench on. The first three at 25 were just a sanity check to make sure they were flying right. The second group was at 40 as part of a drill I call the SWAT drill.

Basically I bring the bow to full draw at about 90 degrees to the right or left of the target and pan over to whatever I'm aiming at, make a grunt sound and pull the trigger as quickly as possible. The next arrow I will go 90 degrees the opposite direction and vise versa till I'm out of arrows. The goal is to rush myself and still make a good shot. I made a lot of changes to my setup last year- new bow, accessories, arrows, etc. Everything is the same this year as last so I should really be able to focus on my accuracy and shooting form rather than getting used to a new system.

Thought a lot about the spot I scouted yesterday today at work. Particularly what the best wind would be and how I should access it. Also about what spots I want to set the rest of my trail cameras out in. Still have three left I'd like to have set by Labor day. I know where two will go, just torn on the third.

Sunday, August 11, 2019

DS19 Part 6: Diving into a Prime Bedding Area

About halfway through the week I decided I needed to go into a spot I've been hunting for a few years and go back a little further than normal to a place I suspected was a bedding area. I was really torn about going in and possibly disturbing the area, but I decided to go for it with the season still being seven weeks out and I just needed to know how this little nook looked on the ground. On the way in I decided to move the camera I set last week to a spot that could monitor deer that might be using this particular bedding area- at least if they entered or exited it to the south. The check revealed 8 deer, one small black bear and either a bat or a flying squirrel that had walked by it over the last week. Unfortunately, the picture quality is terrible. There are three deer that looked bucky, but its not clear one way or the other.

So there is a long ridge that leads to this point that I want to get to, its basically a peninsula. Over the last few years and even during spring scouting, this area was covered in mature trees so I was kind of perplexed to see a lot of daylight coming through the woods as I got closer. They logged it this spring, almost a complete clearcut, but they left some scattered oak and beach trees. At this point I was really happy I decided to scout this spot one more time before season. As I stood on the high ridge overlooking the clearcut, I was disappointed at first, but this is going to be really fun to hunt as it goes back through succession. Its not just a big square clearcut, its almost "8" shaped, but the 8 is sideways facing, kind of like an east/west infinity symbol with the center just south of the end of the peninsula- which runs north/south. I was thinking deer would be using those points tht create the center of the 8 for bedding in conjunction with the end of the peninsula, giving them multiple bedding options for different winds very close to one another. I started to walk the skidder tracks out into the clearcut towards the end of the peninsula and stopped to check out some deer tracks. When I looked back up, I spotted a deer standing about 50yds in front of me. It was a small buck. I pretended like I didn't see it, regretted not bringing my binos, and started to walk kind of towards and away from it and it took off. I stopped and decided to go check out its bed and after about three steps towards it, another buck jumped about from about 10yds to the left of where the original deer was and followed it NW down the same draw. Nothing to lose now, I thought, and went over to where they were. It was interesting, even though I knew exactly where they were bedded, it was tough to find both beds. In fact, I only found the one from the original deer.

From where I was now at, I could see the end of the peninsula. I was surprised to see how high the elevation gained towards the end of it. It was basically a small hill at the end of the peninsula, about twice the height of the center of the peninsula. Where the two deer jumped up was- I would really love to draw this out for you, but I don't trust you :) The wind was out of the west, but because of the terrain, it was coming over there backs from the NW and they were watching over the clearcut to the south. 50yds behind them the little hill started to rise towards the end of the peninsula. I walked back to it and circled to the downwind side and made my way around it. Going in I thought the deer would have bedding for three different wind directions, but because of the shape of the little hill, they could bed here on any wind. I ran into multiple buck beds, some down to the dirt.



I sat in each and looked around to see what the deer could see and realized that I will have my work cut out for me to get close to this spot in the fall- especially after the leaves drop. I hemmed and hawed about how I should approach it- do I stack the deck and throw a few hunts in close proximity to it- one at the base of the peninsula, one on the opposite ridge to the north and then one basically right where those deer jumped up, hoping they aren't bedding there when I come back and are using the hill beds, or do I just go right at the hill? I'm still not sure. While the leaves are still up, I am confident I can get to where those deer jumped up today and hang a stand. I feel that is the direction of travel and most likely spot any deer bedding on the hill will probably move through as they exit their beds in the evening. The other option is to throw the ghillie suit on and stalk as close as I dare to that point, and take cover in some of the brush piles left over by the loggers. I think I need to just go right at em if I get the right wind in early October. I hung my camera at the base of the peninsula on the way out. This time it will sit until I'm back in the area to hunt it.

Friday, August 9, 2019

DS19 Part 5: Attack of the Short-Faced Bear

Met my wife and mother-in-law for dinner on the way out to the woods. After we ate, mom says, "Have fun working on your deer blind!" I was kind of offended that she thinks I hunt that way, haha, but I said thanks, said goodbyes and headed for the woods.

Got out to the area I wanted to shine a little early so I took the opportunity to pick some blueberries 

picked enough for pancakes
This has been a heck of a great year for berries with all the rain. Did some driving and glassing from the car, saw half a dozen does and a bunch of elk, here is a pic of 3 bulls.



 The bear hunters are busy training their dogs for the upcoming season. One of the roads I drove had a fresh drag so I left them the biggest bear track of all time :)

All you fudgie hunters better look out for those short-faced bears
Got dark and I shined. Saw a couple does and a few elk, no bucks. Gonna get a few more trailcams out this weekend.

Monday, August 5, 2019

DS19 Part 4: Looking for Bucks

It wont be long now- saw the first leaves changing color over the weekend.  I have three trail cams out in a couple of the places I hunt in OH, but haven't put any out yet here at home.

Put the first one out yesterday at a spot about an hour from home. Figured I would maximize the drive and do some glassing and shining while I was over that way. I got away from the stock trail camera straps this year and am trying Paracord. I tied a perfection loop in one end, bring it around the tree, pull the free end through and back the opposite direction and tie off with a barrel knot. Easy to untie and gets the camera rock solid, and is way less noticeable than a strap, especially 12' up a tree.


Set up on a large field a half mile from the road. It's kind if a long rectangle of wild grass and flowers- and a lifetime supply of milkweed. The east end is at the top of a hill that slopes down to the west with a big drop in the middle so it's kind of terraced. I set up to glass the last hour of light at the top, then just before it got dark, I started moving slowly along the south edge towards the center so I could see the whole field to shine it. About I had moved about 40yds at last light I hear what kind of sounds like someone whacking at a tree with a machete. The sound is coming from like 40yds into the brush. And then it dawns on me, there is a bear popping its jaws at me. I slowly started walking backwards and it stopped. When I got about 100yds away, I googled "bear popping jaws" and sure enough, that's what was what I heard. Sooo, I didn't shine that field, haha. Got back to the car and shined a few fields in the immediate area, saw a half dozen deer, no bucks.


Thursday, August 1, 2019

DS19 Part 3: Porcupine Madness



Back out to shine last night, only saw one deer, a single doe browsing on some tops in an area that was select cut last year. Also saw a half dozen elk and two porkies. To be honest, I'm kinda not sure what to think about the lack of activity. Three nights this week and just over a half dozen deer total, no bucks. I'm also trying not to be concerned, it's late July and the areas I've been shining are near food sources that wont really be hopping until later in the year. I'm also shining mostly woods so the visibility is never more than 100yds from the road, usually less than 40. I'm tempted to park the car and shine deeper in on foot but I'm not that desperate to see deer this time of year, and I feel good about the intel I got last fall and in the spring. Just gonna keep doing what I'm doing but move to some different areas with better visibility.

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