Hunting reports....

[DonBo]

A really fun night for me tonight. Had a lone fawn come in early. Soon after a small forkie came in and checked her out. Then a bunch of turkeys showed up and chased the buck around for a bit, then he chased them around for a bit. The buck finally chased the fawn out of there.

The turkeys finally got together single file and walked right past me - 5 yards. Too bad my tag is already filled. They watered behind me and came back again at 5 yards, soon roosting right above me. Man did they make a racket!

Near quitting time a doe and fawn came in, but well out of range. All my attention on them when a nice doe shows up right in front of me. Tried to draw and...busted. They all ran away and my night was done.

Can't wait to get back out there in the morning.

[PropsterII]

My second sit of the year. A little warm for my tastes, but a nice evening. Came close to having to worry about ruining a perfectly good hunt! Had a pretty nice ten come in tending a doe. Maybe 145". Doe hung up at 60 yds, he never took his eyes off her. They were around for almost 30 minutes before leaving. I would have been really tempted, almost glad I didn't have to make the call. Saw 1/2 dozen other deer. Cooler in the morning, looking forward to it.

[nbadger23]

The third deer of the morning was a take your breath away, make you shake for 20 minutes after seeing him sort of buck. I had seen 2 small bucks early and then nothing until 9:45. I could here foot steps off to my left and caught a glimpse of a deer. Keep in mind that this area is thick with buck thorn so visibility is very limited...i.e. at 30 yards I could barely make the deer out. I still had not seen it's head but I grabbed my bow and clipped on my release and waited.

When I caught a glimpse of the rack I said some words I can't repeat here and tried to lock into looking at the body only and getting my feet squared underneath me.

The wind was perfect so no worries there, and he had no idea I was there. The only part of the plan that didn't work was that he didn't continue on the path that most deer do when coming from that way. Instead he turned left , paralleled me in the brush about 20 yards away and walked off. He was literally plowing brush over with his rack when he walked. I tried a doe bleat and a soft grunt and he did stop to listen but that was about it.

Here's the tricky part. I am guessing he is bedded down within a hundred to 150 yards, in some thick, nasty stuff. I would love to sit all day but I didn't pack for it and the blood sugar levels are going to yell at me soon.

I will try to sneak out of here for a short break and get right back in, on the slim (at least it seems that way right now) chance he comes out of there my way later today.

[ANYFISH2]

Hope it works out for ya nbadger.

Good luck

[Big Country]

So many close calls being reported here. That's what keep's us heading into the woods, right?

14'th hunt last night. I'm in the metro hunt and passed on a spike on opener out of the metro hunt then had two seperate does within 20 yards straight on that never presented shots. Last night was insane. Set up after work in a very thick snotty area that is in the metro, but on the outer edge of the city. Very wild area. Wind, conditions were perfect. Sunset the wind died. Ten minutes later northern shear winds twenty to thirty miles an hour. A large tree snapped off sixty yards away then a huge branch from another one forty yards away went. Then the snow came. Virtually white out conditions. The snow blew straight into my face and I could not see a thing in front of me. Just when I was thinking I better get down before my tree explodes I see movement to the West of me. A very mature doe had just passed through my 25 yard lane . I grabbed the bow and clipped on the string. She went behind some brush and stood for around three minutes, snow all over her back. She then freaked from the wind and ran back in the direction she came from just like a dog that was chasing something. Never threw her tail up. She entered the 25 yard hole. I was about to draw back and realized there was a large branch sticking out that was totally in line with the boiler room. At a brief moment I thought, maybe I can sneak it through, but my years of pursuing game had told me no way. So I waited. She then took ten steps and decided to bed down under a pine to wait out the storm. Watched her for another five minutes until it was to dark then got down. I will be back in the woods tonight BC

[Scoot]

After a couple minutes, she moved and was broadside, he drew back but said he was shaking so bad he couldn't keep his pin on her steady so he didn't shoot. Very proud of him for letting down and not taking a bad shot just to try and get his first deer with a bow.

Kudos to him for not taking the shot if he didn't feel comfortable doing so! A lot of guys don't have that kind of self-control!!!

[nbadger23]

Wow, what a morning. It started off by having a buck walk by me at 10 feet, grunting the whole way, as I was making my way into the stand. I'm just glad he didn't run me over :-)

Between 7:20 and 8:15 I saw 4 different bucks (one of which was legal to shoot), heard some sparring and more grunting, and never even thought to sit down.

From 8:15 until 9:30 I became very bored and cold.. mostly cold, which led to the boredom. That wind was ferocious. I was just starting to pack up and I see a little fawn walking towards me. She's a distinctive fawn in that she wasn't dropped until mid-summer and she still had spots as of the last part of September.

She mills around for a few minutes and I'm finding it strange that her mom's not right there with her because she usually is when I see them together. Hmm, maybe she's being "tended to???" All of a sudden two does crash through the woods behind me with "that look." I've got my bow in hand, ready to go and I wait, and I wait, and I wait, and I wait some more. Nothing happens for 15 minutes.

I'm thinking about packing up again and off to my right one of the does comes walking through. She stops and feeds about 15 yards away and she's caught me so off guard I can't get my bow in case there's a buck behind her. Keep in mind I can see all of about 20 yards in that direction and the wind is completely masking footsteps at this point.

Sure enough she looks behind her and all I heard are grunts and foot steps. I quickly/slowly grab my bow but there's no chance as he's moving through the one opening in the buck thorn so fast after her that the moment is gone. What a great looking buck....

They meander away from me and I start hitting the doe bleat, trying to make it sound like a fawn because that fawn is still milling around. I'm doing my bet to sound like "mama, where are you.. come back!!!" when I catch the doe moving back up the hill about 30 yards from me. The buck is till in tow but there's not much hope as she stays in the buck thorn. They will cross one opening at about 35 yards so I draw back before I think he will hit it and as he walks through I can barely see him because of the angle of the sun... ugh. He chases/pushes her around and a couple of times I think they are headed back my way but no such luck.

Again, all is quiet for another 15 minutes and for the third time I attempt to start packing up (I had a commitment this morning that I could not get out of). I glance back over my left shoulder and there's a different doe and again I hear grunting. Because of the wind, I never heard her coming and she's at 10 yards, looking around. She turns her head and I grab my bow because the way the morning has gone, there's likely a buck behind her and sure enough he shows himself. He's bigger than the last one that came through! All I need her to do is walk anywhere within range and get past me and he will follow. But does that happen.. no. While he's standing behind her a different buck approaches from the west. The bigger one runs him off, but that makes her nervous and she bolts away... of course into the same area the last pair went through.

During all this ruckus another doe comes in, although neither really pay any attention to her. All I can hope for is that I can anticipate when he will cross my shooting lane in front of me but with the sun and the brush, it's tough to see anything. I watch for her to cross first but I must have missed her as all I caught was him crossing. It was a snow balls chance in haites for it to work but it's all I had. I watched him chase her around in circles for a few minutes and then walk out of my life.

The buck that he had run off (which was a pretty respectable deer) now comes running at full bore from his hiding spot and passes at about 30 yards at full tilt, towards the happy couple. I really thought I'd hear a fight start up but nothing.

At this point I absolutely had to go.. I'm hoping to get back out in a few hours. I get a lot of trail cam shots of that does/fawn pair in that area in the early afternoon so I think it's their prime bedding area.. Of course, it's a 1% shot, but they aren't going to walk by my couch.

As much as I love where I hunt, there are some days that hunting in thick stuff like buck thorn (which has maybe lost 20% of it's leaves so far) makes you swear a lot. If the wind is blowing and I can't hear deer approaching I'm a sitting duck to get picked off because they can be at 15 yards like that and I have no clue.

All I want for Halloween is a doe to meander by at 15 yards and her obedient suitor to follow with his head down :-)

[hockeybc69]

wow. What a morning! Very nice badger.

[bigbucks]

Sucks to not get the shot, but outings like that are DEFINITELY why we hunt.

[Scoot]

Wow- awesome report!

[Boar]

Way cool!

[bigbucks]

Rattled in a doe & a fawn Wednesday night. When I first saw this nice sized lone deer coming through some trees 150-200 yards away I was thinking buck, probably a yearling, but a buck. Then as it got under a 100 in the tall grass with a smaller deer trailing it, I was thinking, what the heck? Could have shot both at 25 yards, which was still fun, but not what I was hoping for. Going out for my 18th sit tonight.

[FISHINGURU]

nbadger23- Man, sounds like a great hunt and I hear ya about the wind and the cold, I was 40ft up in my stand with the North wind pounding me.

I also had a deer grunting by me on my way to the stand this morning. About 10 minutes into light here comes a doe following my exact trail, she knew something was up but not enough to spook her, she walked by within 10 ft of my tree.

About half hour later I have 2 nice does walking right at me, they both pass within 20 yards and here comes a nice buck right behind them except he decides to break off the trail and go check out these pines on the the edge of the field about 80 yards from me. He decided to cross the wide open field in broad daylight.

Hour or so after that a doe came running and bouncing by full speed like she was being chased or got spooked by something.

I was about to leave but decided to rattle, about 4-5 minutes after I rattled I had another nice buck coming in from directly down wind behind me, I was up so high that he couldn't wind me, he ended up hangin up in some thick logged area so I don't know what ever happened with him, he might of snuck out or bedded down.

Waited him out for about half hour or so but nothing, was about to pack up and here comes 2 more does that pass within 40 yards. I sat until 11:15 and had to head out.

Going out in the morning, I should have my perfect wind for one of my favorite stands I only hunt with a certain wind so I only get in it a few times a year. Should be sweet with less wind, it's gonna be colder so they should be moving hard!! I'm going to pack for all day we'll see how long it takes!!

[BRULEDRIFTER]

Approx 30hrs in stand this fall and still have yet to see a deer... Loving the north woods!

[tipup]

Got to my stand at about 345 tonight. Was ready to go shortly there after, at 450, I catch movement out from my right side! Its about 80 yards out. I grab the bow and continue to watch, I am perfectly down wind! I get a good look when the deer is about 60 yards out, its a buck!!! I keep an eye on him, looking to see what size he is. All of the sudden the light hits his rack, or lack there of, he is a basket 6 point. I continue to watch wondering if he is going to follow the trail right to 22 yards of me. He does not, he stays about 45 yards out, which is out of my range due to brush and what not. I decide to to see how he reacts to a little grunting. I dont think that the deer in my area are chasing yet as far as I have seen, so this would be the perfect test for a deer I was not going to shoot. I give him a few grunts and he does not even flinch? A few minutes later a few more, nothing! So I decide to hit him with a bleat, nothing! It took him about 35t minutes from when I saw him to when I lost sight of him. No response to anything, he was in no hurry to get anywhere, and he acted totally relaxed. I have a ton of does in the woods around me, in fact he was on a heavily used doe trail, and nothing seemd to matter to him. I will be at it again now through rifle season, maybe he will hide out and get bigger for next year!!!

[FISHINGURU]

Approx 30hrs in stand this fall and still have yet to see a deer... Loving the north woods!

Yeah some people must just like the tradition, I know people from down here in SE MN that still go up north to hunt. It never made much sense to me lol

Slamming some coffee, time to go sit in my favorite stand...LETS GO!!!

[archerystud]

Saw 5 last night. Didn't expect much since I've hardly seen any deer on camera on that property. First 4 were does with two being chased to me. Last one came in late and I'm sure was a 1.5 year old buck.

[96trigger]

Sat this morning, felt like December. Had a nice doe come in just before shooting hours. Watched her for awhile and she finally wandered off, she was a nice sized doe and was alone. An hour later I decided to rattle a little bit as there was nothing moving, 10 min later a nice 2.5 year old 8 pointer came up to check things out. He stayed about 15 min, had quite a few opportunities at him but he will be much nicer in a couple years. After that, nothing. On my 15 mile drive home, a 6 pointer crossed the road in front of me, 5 miles down the road a mature 10 pointer crossed in front of me. Safe to say they are moving right now.

[B-man715]

Trigger you left way to early

I didn't see a thing until 10 a.m.

Now at three bucks and counting....

It's gonna be a great day in the stand

[96trigger]

I figured that when I saw the 2 bucks on the move on my way home, but, family duties were calling. I'll be back out tomorrow afternoon.

[B-man715]

10-4 Trigger, I know how that goes.

Just saw a fourth buck (spike)

[eyeguy 54]

windy... leg hurts... just gotta go... lol

[Greenhornet84]

Yep windy as heck but its that time of year im heading out in a bit.

[Boar]

me too,

[FISHINGURU]

I stayed in stand until 1pm. 6am pulling into the driveway where I hunt there is a 150-160ish with his nose to the ground. As I park and start to get dressed I hear him trotting back in forth in the woods grunting.

Get to my stand and about 5-10 minutes before I can see well enough to shoot, a deer comes past my 30 yard lane, about 10 seconds behind that is a deer with a silhouette twice as large as the first deer, by how it all went down I'm thinking that one might of been the one I seen in the driveway. If they would of waited 5-10 more minutes I would of had a perfect 30 yard shot.

Seen a couple more does and also had a 6 pointer dinkin around for about 10 minutes. Seen all my deer today before 9am after that it went dead for me.