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.