Rut-cation Week 2

After a LOOOONG week back to work, I had Thanksgiving week off to do some more hunting (among other things). I kicked things off with an early morning trip down to the property by St. Marys and had an excellent hunt. I saw 3 small bucks and even grunted one of them right to my tree. Around 7:30 I had a doe and fawn work through but the doe ended up getting down wind of me and they both ran off before I could get a shot. With only 3 sits on this property, it is clear that even though it is only 3 acres, it is still a great place as I've had deer within 50 yards every time.

On Saturday evening I headed out to Earlham for an evening sit. Things were pretty slow for the first hour but then heated up quickly. I ended up having 5 does and a big 8 point buck come through. All but 1 of the deer crossed below my stand about 75 yards away so I decided to get down from my stand and hunt from the ground within 20 yards of where they walked. This is the same area that the 2 does came through on my previous hunt in October as well. Even though I didn't have anything else walk through that night, I identified a different tree that I'm going to move my tree stand through that should be great for any north wind and will be easier to get to.

My plan was to head for the cabin after church on Sunday morning, so I got everything loaded in my truck on Saturday evening. I ended up noticing that one of my tires was going flat and had gotten a hole in it. Luckily, the truck was in my garage and I was able to get the spare put on quickly but I ended up missing out on hunting Tuesday with my truck in the shop for new tires.

I arrived at the cabin before lunch on Sunday. My dad had come down Saturday night during a snow storm that dumped 6 inches of snow throughout the night. He surprisingly had a slow hunt that morning but the deer started to move after that. I actually saw a deer in the big field as I checked trail cameras before heading out for an evening hunt. I had a very eventful hunt over the county fence gap stand as I had a 2 year old buck come in and bed about 20 yards from me for over an hour. He came back through later with another young buck but I wasn't able to get a shot. Although it was cold, it was a beautiful evening in the tree stand.

Snow snow everywhere

Beautiful sunset on Sunday evening

There was almost no wind on Monday morning as we headed out through the crunchy snow and leaves. I opted to hunt the opposite end of the ridge from the fence gap stand with the intention of taking the tree stand down after the hunt. It was a very cold morning and took awhile for the deer to start moving, but once they did, they were everywhere. I had a 3 year old buck come by just out of range and then noticed a doe working up the ridge directly towards me. I watched her for 45 minutes as she slowly closed the distance but right before she was about to step out into an opening at 30 yards, I noticed another deer coming from the same direction. It was a 2 year old buck with a 4 point side and the other antler broken off at the base. He headed straight for my stand and as he crossed 5 yards behind me, I opted for the closer shot and decided to try and turn to my right. He ended up spotting me and running off, I quickly looked back to notice that the doe hadn't spooked too bad but did run about 20 yards and was now heading the other way. As I was taking the tree stand down I had another couple of deer come by as well. With that, I was headed back to Des Moines to get new tires on my truck.

Another beautiful sunrise from the tree stand

We arrived home from the Quad Cities on Thanksgiving night and I quickly packed the truck to head for the cabin. A snow storm was forecast for Saturday night and Sunday so I wanted to get in as much time in the stand as possible before the storm. All 4 hunts produced good action but the only deer that I had in range were small 1 year old bucks that I didn't want to shoot. I did see 2 older bucks (a 3 year old and 4+ year old) but they weren't interested in my grunt call and were both well out of range. I reluctantly loaded up my truck after finishing up with my Saturday evening hunt and headed for home, sad that I would not be returning for more than 3 weeks. 

Beautiful sunrise ahead of a day filled with rain

Staying out of the rain in the big field blind

Morning hunt in my favorite stand on the ridge

1 year old buck on the small field

I was very lucky to get a text from my neighbor, Brent, inviting me to hunt with him on Sunday morning. We were expecting a snow storm that never came, but it sure was windy and cold as we climbed up into the tree stands. Lucky for us, the deer were moving like crazy and it didn't take long for a group of 5 does and fawns to make their way to within 30 yards of my stand. I did my best to stabilize myself in the swaying tree and managed to put one of the does on the ground. I was thankful that it was only a short drag up the hill to the truck and even more thankful to spend the rest of the day processing the meat to fill our freezer. 

Hard earned doe to fill my Dallas County antlerless tag

Even though the season hasn't gone perfectly, I sure have had a great year and a lot of fun along the way. I look forward to late season, which starts on December 17th. I have a lot of time off work over the last 2 weeks of December and should be able to spend a lot of time hunting. I'm planning to spend time with the muzzleloader down at my property, but will also be spending a bit of time with my bow around home as well. My strategy for the late season is going to be staying mobile with my new mobile stand set as well as hunting on the ground.