First Hunting Trip of the 2017 Season

My oldest daughter, Abigail (6) was off school Friday and a cold front was pushing through, so naturally I took off work and we headed down to the cabin to do a little deer hunting. I had purposefully decided to hold off hunting during the month of October to keep pressure off of the property in hopes that it would make hunting later in the season even better.

Abigail has been going hunting with me every year since she was 3. We take along a bucket of activities and sit in 1 of 2 box blinds that I have on the property overlooking food plots. Abigail does a good job being patient and quiet for sits up to 3 hours. In past years I had taken her earlier in the season and we never had very good weather (good hunting weather != enjoyable weather to sit outside) and thus didn't see many deer.

Unseasonably cold temperatures

After getting the heat turned on in the cabin, I cooked up some grilled cheese for lunch and then made a quick loop of the property to pull all of the trail camera cards to see where our best option to hunt for the evening would be. 

Abigail enjoying lunch

As I walked the property, the first thing that I noticed is how great the food plots all looked. After a severe drought this summer, the rain started at the perfect time for my food plots to grow and we have received consistent rain ever since. 

Heavily browsed clover still looking good on the ridge food plot

Big field food plot looks great!

Small field food plot looks great too!

After reviewing the cards, I was shocked at how many day time pictures of deer that I had gotten over the last month. It certainly seemed that staying away for the month of October was working as I had hoped. I decided to hunt the small field the first evening for 2 reasons. #1 the neighbor's bean field had not yet been harvested yet and I knew there would be plenty of deer moving from my woods out to feed in that field. #2 the trail cameras showed deer on that plot every evening in day light with the exception of 3 days over the last month. So we bundled up and headed to the blind with a propane heater in tow. 

Abigail keeping busy, with a backwards hat and all

We ended up seeing 8 deer during that sit, not including the 3 we spooked heading back to the cabin after sunset. 3 does, 4 fawns, and 1 buck. None of them came close enough for a shot, but it was so exciting to see and watch them. Abigail really enjoyed watching them through my binoculars. 

A doe and 2 fawns out in the food plot

On Saturday morning, Abigail opted to stay in the warm cabin and watch cartoons while I braved the wind and cold to sit in a tree stand not too far away. I sat for 2 hours without seeing a deer, or much of any other wild life either. With gusty winds and sub-freezing temperatures it was a pretty miserable morning so I headed back to the cabin to get some work done and make some lunch. 

This is how I found Abs upon my return to the cabin

Mowed this area last trip and now ready to disc for the garden next year

Garden all tilled up

I typically try to avoid much work and unnecessary noise once hunting season begins, but this year I decided to begin prepping a large area for a garden next year. My hope is to get ahead of the weed and grass competition and to get a lot planted next year. 

Pizza pie irons for lunch

I was happy to see the sun come out and the winds start to calm down throughout the afternoon. It actually turned into a very nice day as we headed to the big field blind for our 2nd evening of hunting. As we arrived at the blind, Abigail noticed a red fox standing in the food plot looking at us. It didn't stick around long, but she was very excited to see it. Deer movement was slower, as we only saw a little buck, but he did put on a show for us. He came out and fed on clover for awhile before making a scrape along the edge of the field and rubbing a sapling tree just inside the edge of the woods. 

Ready for a 2nd night of hunting

Small buck in the food plot

Overall it was a great trip to the cabin and we got a lot of good daddy-daughter bonding time in. I look forward to our trips for years to come. I am also very much looking to my 5 day hunting trip that kicks off next weekend. 

Putting Up Tree Stands And Quality Time

On September 29th, Abigail and I headed down to the cabin for 1 last trip before hunting season. Wow, I love that last sentence, and probably not for the reason that you would expect. Even though I do love deer hunting, there is nothing that I love more than sharing my hobbies and the outdoors with the people that I love. This year has been extra special as Abigail is old enough to come down with me on work trips and that has given us a lot of quality daddy-daughter time.

Upon arrival, we got the truck unloaded and I headed out to mow the yard. While I mowed, Abigail played and Hunter followed her around everywhere. After I finished mowing, we cooked some hot dogs over the fire and heated up some easy mac in the microwave for dinner. While our dinner cooled off, we drove around on the ATV to pull all of the trail camera cards (this is one of Abigail's favorite chores).

Enjoying hot dogs and easy mac

As the sun went down, we made smores and watched the stars come out. As we were sitting by the fire, Abigail asked me about a million questions about what things were like when I was growing up. 

Roasting marshmallows 

The next morning we were joined by my friend, Justin and his family. Justin came down to help put up the 3 public land tree stands and to help with a few other odd jobs. It was a lot of fun having them down. Abigail had a lot of fun playing with their son, Otto and really liked their dog, Zelda, as well. Abigail was a trooper and walked with Justin and I as we put up tree stands. I was VERY impressed because it involved over 2 miles of walking through tall grass and uneven ground in the woods but she never complained once. 

Justin and I putting up a tree stand

Abigail waiting patiently as we put up stand #2

Things went so much faster having Justin there to help. After getting the last tree stand up, we started a fire and made pizza pie irons for lunch. Before heading for home, Justin helped me cut up and clear a tree that had fallen across the ATV trail to the ridge. After that, I finished mowing with the ATV while Abigail watched a movie in the cabin. My mowing included preparation for a large garden next spring. My hope is that by starting to clear things up this fall will help us keep ahead of the weeds and grass competition next spring. 

Abigail and I took one more loop around the property to check on food plots and make sure everything was good to go for hunting season before we loaded up the truck and headed home ourselves. 

Clover on the Ridge food plot

Clover in the cabin food plot

Brassicas on the big field

Small field food plot

The rainfall has certainly increased over the past month and all of my food plots are looking fantastic. In fact, I have gotten somewhere between 3 - 4 times more pictures then during a typical September in the past. I have been lucky to get rain on my food plots at the perfect time of the year, and with ag crops coming out and undergrowth dried down due to the drought, the deer seem to be relying on my plots more than usual. I am hoping that this will lead to another great hunting season. 

Right now, my plan is to head down the last weekend of October for a 2 day hunting trip with Abigail. My strategy for the year is to focus my hunting trips around the times that I have had the best luck in the past. It is hard to sit most of the month of October out, but I am hoping that the payoff will be great.