Final Preseason Report From Zone 3

[JIvers]

I'm in 347 within sight of Iowa, pumped for sunrise tomorrow...

The good news: the corn is mostly out, and we've had a few cold nights. When I pulled in to my ground in Fillmore County this forenoon for some final stand prep, I had a doe (a yearling I would guess by her size) just west of my south/west wind stand.

The (relatively) bad news: we've had clear skies with a full moon for several nights in row, which by making night travel easier/safer for deer might undo some of the good from cold nights and clean corn fields. I'll still take this over a new moon/clouds and/or lots of standing corn and/or warm temps, though.

I did not see any chasing activity while driving up Highway 63 through Iowa this morning, and I have made this drive in the past and seen a buck chasing does every ten or fifteen miles in broad daylight. Again, the full moon probably plays a part in that, plus it is just a tiny bit early for the peak of the rut.

Anyhow, good luck to everyone tomorrow, and be safe!

[JIvers]

And now my post-season report from 347:

I shot a button buck at 4:00 PM yesterday after seeing plenty of deer all day and passing on an easy shot on Bambi's little siblings at sunrise.

By 5:30 I had at least fourteen deer out around me on every side--six 250 yards or so south of me, one 200 yards straight east, five to my west/northwest, and two more farther off to the east. It was just a matter of hoping one would come within range before sunset. The five to my west and northwest were cooperating that way, and the others were not.

Just shy of 6:00, I had the red dot on a doe at ninety yards west of me, and some movement off to my left caught my eye. A nice eight-pointer chased a doe in to the field to the south of my stand, but I'd been so intent on the doe to my west I hadn't seen the buck and doe, wherever they came from.

Problem was, when I turned my head to see what was moving in the field the buck and doe busted me well outside of shotgun range, and they weren't coming any closer. So I shot the unsuspecting doe to my west and finished the season that way.

It's always good to fill two tags on opening day, but I'll be thinking about the eight-pointer I didn't get for a while.