Maryland CA/TG hunting blog 2009-2010

November 15 Update from the 14th.

We searched and searched and searched some more and NOTHING. We found four or five places where he had laid down and each one a decent blood in them. We also found a decent pool of blood where he was standing for awhile. It was hard following the trail because when he was walking we could not find much blood at all. So we walked a couple of miles trying to find him or at least some more sign and of course we did not. I hate when this happens but I know it is a part of hunting. The only part I hate. I am going to contact the guys that hunt next to us and let them know just in case they find it.

November 14 Iowa

Got into the stand early atleast an hour before the first hint of any light. It was a long hike through the middle of a standing corn field ( it had a two track dirt road through it ) then down into a CRP bottom, into a wooded draw and then up to a point of a ridge. When the sun came up it looked like the perfect spot. I had 2 nice draws on either side of me and everything funneled pretty much right to my set then they had multiple wooded fingers and draws they could take from there. Saw a fawn and a young 8 in the morning and then another young 8 that evening. It started to rain about 1:30 and pretty much kept up off and on the rest of the evening. Not much action. Long hike back to camp. My buddy Mike that went with me shot a nice 145" ten at 10:15 this morning.

November 15 Iowa morning

It was raining and calling for rain off and on all day so we ( Mike and I ) were going to setup in a draw surrounded by standing corn. One side of the draw was wooded and the other was thick with brush and shall trees. The morning was slow with only 5 longbeards and 2 jakes being seen. Then at 10:45 we see our first deer. With only one deer sighting and the blind being a little uncomfortable with two people and enough gear for a small malitia we decided to change sets at lunch.


Evening

I went to a new set that no one has sat this year. It is located in a finger that pertrudes into a standing corn field. As soon as I reach the wood line I see a deers rear and as soon as I pic up my binos I see another deer turn and look at me. The second deer I see appears to be about a 130" 8 point. He starts to walk toward me and he gets about 30 yds then the woods blow up and 3 bucks run out of the woods. So I think the gigs up so I start to my stand and a 4th buck runs off blowing the whole way. I get into my stand and not 3 minutes later the small buck that was blowing at me is sitting 10 yds away staring at me. He walks off and I continue to get ready and then the 130" 8 walks by me at 15 yds. Now I know something is up. All four bucks are now back and congrgating in an area about 50 yds from my stand. They are sniffing around and creeping to the edge of the woods. When they get a few yds from the edge a 160" 12 stands up and runs them off. He's a main frame 10 with matching split G2s. He runs these bucks off from the time I got into the stand, 1:30, till right before dark when the other bucks finally got the message. At one point I thought I was going to get a 40 yd shot but the 8 point back down one step to early.I had to stay in the stand until about 45 minutes after dark, thats when they finally moved off into the corn. I finally saw some action and I left the camera at home due to the forcast.

November 16 Iowa

Sat a set that was on the edge of a steep draw with a cow pasture on the other side funneling the deer to my set. Again it was raining and calling for it all day. Had a little 4 point cruise like it read the script at first light. At about 8:30 had a pile of turkeys and a doe and a fawn go by behind me in the pasture. Then a 130" 10 was down in the bottom. I called to him to get a better look and he responded but couldn't seem to find a spot to cross a deep ravine between us so he turned and walked away. 15 minutes bang hes 60 yds from me. He looked around, came in and walked off a few times then made his way off. Saw another doe while I was playing with the 10 so I think he made his way down to check her out. Then it starts raing pretty hard. There was a big limbb directly above my head that was pouring water right on my hood. After hours of that chineese water tourture and no more deer sightings I was done. Left the stand at 3:00

November 17 Iowa

Woke up this morning at 3:30 and it was pouring and the wind was blowing. Checked the weather and it didn't look good. Yesterday, even though it was raining, the farmers were out cutting some corn. So we figured we pull out some blinds and set some fresh cut corn fields for a evening hunt.While I was out working my buddy Mike was out shopping. He went to Walmart to get some supplies to package up his deer. When he gets back he tells the guides about some smoking hot blonde he sees at Walmart. He sees her in the store a few times and then sees her getting her truck packed up. He tells the guides what kind of truck she has and the stickers on it and they tell him it was Tiffany Lakosky. What a dumb a!! how do you not know who she is. Mike and I get set up in the blind that we set up and set a decoy up. Mike was gonna shoot a doe if one came into range but I didn't think one would with a buck decoy out in front of us. 4 does and fawns skirted the decoy and then 3 more got in behind us in the standing corn and winds us. Lucky for us they didn't blow. Right at dark a 2 year old 8 came into the decoy side stepping and posturing. Then he walks up to the decoy and as soon as he touches it with his antlers he jumps back 5 yds. After he jumps back I realize he pulled a CA and didn't push record. Well that thing just stood next to the decoy for 5 minutes with his ears laid back. Before we got out of the blind I snort wheezed him to run him off. Calling for more rain tomorrow.

November 18 Iowa

Went to a set they call the sanctuary. Its on top of a pretty big hill. It has to be one of the tallest hills around. You could see for awhile out through the trees. The stand set on a ridge running SE to NW. 60 yds to the NW was a thick bedding area. First light see a small buck that later on comes and bedded a 30 yds to the west of me. Right down wind but never gets my wind. A 120" 8 comes in below me from the east. He scent checks the bedding area then I decide to play with him a bit so I grunt at him a few times. He gets a little aggitated and starts rubbing a tree. Then i snort wheeze at him and he comes right in. When he gets close he sees the the little buck beded next to me. He runs him off a little then moves on. I see a few does below me a little later. Another doe comes up the hill directly at me an I decide I was going to take her. Then I hear a soft grunt so I decide to hold off. Come to find out when the doe gets 15yds from me, it's the doe doing the soft grunts. Now I think it may be a button buck but damn it looks like a doe. The guides keep telling us that they have some big BB out hear. It's not until she is at 40 yds and she is taking a dump that I confirm it is a doe. That when the little buck from earlier decides to come back in and run ths doe off. Saw another buck down the hill about 80 yds and the little fellow came back.

November 19 Iowa

Went to another set that has not been set yet this year. This one looked to be the best setup that I have sat this trip. I had a nice size cedar thicket in the woods to the north a draw to the west, southwest and northwest that all funneled right to me. The draw to the southwest had a deep ravine that ran down to it that would force any deer coming from that direction to come up toward the stand not 22 yards away. To the east was a small 3 acre CRP field. Saw a feww deer on the way into the stand but I sat all day again and didn't see one deer. ???? Well that concluded my Iowa hunt. I'll be back in another 3 years. i just hope the cards are stacked a little more in my favor next time.

November 20 Iowa

Got everything packed up and wouldn't you know, the clouds are breaking up and I saw the strangest thing in the sky. It was round and really bright, I think they call it the sun. We decided we were going to go out driving and try to get some video and damn did we. Not a half mile from the lodge we got video of a monster that the guides have seen a few times. The day before they saw it on the neighboring property to the east and now hes on the neighboring property to the northwest. Looks like I should have hunted the farm the lodge is on yesterday. Once I get the video formated and edited I will get it up. All in all I had a great time. The guides were cool and the 2 other guys we shared camp with were a riot, Greg and Jeff. Greg and Jeff hunted in Illinois the week before with the same outfitter and Greg Smoked a 182" and Jeff a 144". On day 5 of our hunt here in Iowa Greg missed a buck he said would score very close to his 182" from Illinois. That would have made for a great week.

November 21 evening

Back in good ole Md. We sat the new lower hillside set. Had some youngins come into the nursery and mill around a bit. They move off and we can see a few more deer nearing the property line. When the get closer we can see its a doe and a fawn so TG says he's gonna take the doe if she offers a shot. Well she read the script and came in and offered him a nice 35 yd quartering away shot. Wham! he smokes her and she drops. We aren't quite sur what happened and why she just dropped. We know she ducked the string a little but he hit her right behind the shoulder and we are at least 30 up a tree. Come to find out she took a weird angle when he hit her and the arrow went in right behind the shoulder then angled up into her spine. Well it di the trick and we got it on film. We saw a couple of spikes does and fawns the rest of the evening and got some great video to.

November 28 morning, Opening Day of Gun Season.


Sat the old hillside set. TG had been seeing Funky buck hanging with a lady friend near this set a fews times during the week, so we had high hopes.We saw several deer in the cut bean field behind us before camera light and we had several yearlings and two spikes in front of us early. We then had a few does and fawns come through later in the morning. No shooters were seen. A couple of mature does were close to making the cut, but we vowed to not shoot any does off this hillside until we get a good buck kill or two on video.
One of the guys hunting here shot 2 does this morning.

November 28 evening

Sat the hillside blind. This sits right in between where TG saw Lucky buck and Funky buck a few times last week. Didn't go as planned either. The deer come out in the corner of this field everyday, but there are a couple of houses 200 yds away. If the deer come out early and there is activity around the houses the deer run off then come back in and run off again. When they do this the big boys dont show, and thats what we had on this hunt. We saw several fawns and a couple of 1 year old bucks. When camera light was fading and everyone at the houses decided to go in for the night a nice 2 year old 8 we see almost every time we go out and a couple of does came out. That was it. 2 guys on the farm shot does tonight.

November 29 morning

Sat the old hillside set. Had a doe and a really small spike come in. This thing was tiny. I haven't seen a spike this small in years and that was in the hills of Virginia. It's spikes only barely pertruded the hair of this buck and it was definitely a 1 year old deer. He came in before it was light enough to see more than 30 yards through the woods and he was grunting up a storm. That's all we had close to us. We did see 6 bucks out in the neighboring property and one of them was my buddy Lucky buck. They stayed out there fo awhile, the youger bucks sparring with each other, then went to bed about 300 yards from our stand. Didn't see anything other than 3 turkeys. A guy hunting the other side of the farm scored on 2 does this morning. And a guy hunting the property that borders the south side of TG's farm gut shot a nice buck last night and it ran over to TG's farm so we went to help them look for it this morning and came up empty handed. That sucks because it was a teenager that shot it and it would've been his first deer.

November 30 evening

Got it done today, finally. Well TG got it done. We were sitting in the hillside blind. We both skipped out of work early today because it was raining. Every time it rains this corner is on fire with deer and the big bucks usually show themselves when it's raining. Get to the blind at 1:30 and not 10 minutes later we have fawns in the field in front of us. By 4:00 we have over 20 deer feeding in the cut bean field in front of us. Then 2 spikes decide they want to see who's the boss and they lock up and not just sparring. Well they break up before I can get the camera on them and they also managed to clear the whole field. Thought that was it for tonight because now all the deer that were in front of us are now on there way to join the other deer on the neighbors alfalfa field 400 yards away. At 4:30 we see 2 large bodied deer in that alfalfa field. Get the binos on them and BANG it's the big 8 and Lucky buck. Some deer are now starting to make thier way back towards us and now they have theBig 8's attention and he stars our way. 3 youngins are in the bean field and for some reason they run off, taking the deer that were heading our way with them. Out of desperation TG wants to try to grunt at him. He gets the can out and hits it a few times and gets his attention and I hit him with a few aggressive grunts. After a little more coaxing here he comes. He gets about 40 yards from the property line and 4 does and fawns run into the field, icing on the cake. He stands just out of sight of the camera for a few minutes and then he came in. he's 130 yards and calm, just eating, and I give TG the green light and .......He misses. The buck and all the other deer just stand there not knowing what they just heard. We use our T/C muzzelloaders during gun season so he doesen't have a second shot. Lucky for him I have my T/C and he gets the rare second chance. Well he makes good on it and drops him. And we got it all on film. TG's new name probablly for the rest of the season is Camera Man!

Thanks for the write up CA... That was great of you to let him use your gun for a second shot... Way to be unselfish! Great job making that second shot count TG! Congrats on a great buck!

Good deal can't wait to see some video.

Thats a nice buck!

Great Buck TG, A BIG CONGRATS TO YA

Nice buck!

Grats on the Nice Buck TG!

December 5 morning

Sat the old hillside set. As soon as we started to the stand it started snowing. It snowed the whole time on stand. We saw a few deer in the field below us and we had a large bodied deer come thru before we had enough light to tell what it was. Other than those sightings before sun up we had a 7 point come in. No movement after 7:00 so we got out and grabbed some breakfast. They are calling for 3-5 inches so the hunting should be good this evening.

December 5 evening

Sat the new hillside blind. We had 3-4 inches of snow on the ground and it was still snowing and the temps were still falling, should be good. At 3:00 the deer started piling in the field below us. By 3:30 we had 11 does and fawns in the field but they were acting very skittish. @ fawns busted out of the woods behind us running in circles and just playing in the snow. Well when they busted out of the woods they cleared the feild and all 11 deer boogied to the neighbors woods. They came back in 45 minutes later but after 10 minutes snow fell out of a tree near them and they cleared the field again. We then decided to take the first oppurtunity at a nice mature doe. At dark one read the script and I let the air out of her. Wanted to hold out for a nice buck but those does kept tempting us.

December 8 Afternoon

I was able to take my little brother Jason out to try and get his first deer of the 2009 season. We had a pile of does come out and a few spikes around 430. We were sitting in the man made blind with a East wind, witch was perfect. We had deer within 5 yards at one point and never knew we were there. We had a nice doe come out and he was able to smoke her and she ran about 70 yards and piled up. All in all it was good afternoon and it was nice to spend it with my brother because we don't get to hunt much together.

December 12 Morning

I was hunting by myself and self filming out of the old box blind. I did not see much but a couple of fawns and some does. They started harvesting the last corn field of the year behind me. I talked to my Grand Father and he ran about 15 does and fawns out but they all went to the neighboring property. It was a slow morning.


December 12 Afternoon

The hunt started off great, once again I was hunting and self filming because CA had to work. I was hunting the new hillside blind where I shot the big eight almost two weeks ago and CA shot his doe out of last weekend. At 330 a nice doe came out and I was able to smoke her at about 100 yard with the T/C Encore. She did not even run, man I love it when they do that. I went down into the field and moved her back up the hill so it did not spoke any other deer. About a hour later Things went from good to bad in a hury. I had to go if you know what I am saying. So I took care of business and I was getting my self back in order when I noticed two deer standing down in the field and one of them was a nice buck. He slowly made his way up the hill to about 90 yards, I cocked the hammer and let her fly. I MISSED AGAIN. I can not believe it as he just stands there, he finally turns to go away so I reload and get ready again becasue he was coming back. He gets to about 140 yard and I let another one fly this time I connect but as he runs away hunched up I knew it was back. I watch him for while and I can see where I hit him. The shot was about 1/3 the way up from his belly and dead center between his front and hind legs. So I decided to back out with my head hanging low.

If you go back to page one of out blog and click on the link and watch the video of me hunting. The one that I shot is the first ten that walks out at 60 yards. NOW YOU KNOW WHY I AM PISSED. He is not my biggest but he would be in the top 3.


December 13th Morning

We could not hunt this morning so I called CA and my Uncle Gary to assist in the search. I will make this short, we did not find anything but hair. We search for about 3 hrs in the pouring down rain. I plan on going tomorrow if it is to wet to work and look some more. I feel confident that he is dead I just don't know where. I will keep you all posted if I get out tomorrow.

December 14 Morning

Went out again to see if I could find the buck that I hit on Saturday. I searched for another 3 hrs and nothing. I covered about 500- 600 acres or more between Sunday and today. At one point I was over a mile away from where I had shot him. I had talked to a couple of people around us and let them know to keep an eye out. So hopefully some one will call but if not, there is one other place I would like to check but I probably will not be able to get there until the middle of Jan. I just don't know what happened and where he went, it is like he vanished. I guess that is part of hunting the only part that I hate!!

Sorry to hear that TG... but I think the majority of us have been there at some point with a gun or bow. It stinks, but it is a part of hunting. Still hope you find him though...