So this post is more or less going to attempt at recapping my entire 2012 season. It may seem crazy but this is a season I believe I will forever remember, obviously though that is not due to, at least at this point, adding another trophy to my wall. No, this season in many eyes hasn't went according to plan...although does hunting ever truly go by plan? If I had my way every season would go like 2009....when I shot nearly a 140inch buck less than 2 hours into the season. Yeah that would be great but not how seasons typically speaking go.
No this year, I've officially recorded 181 hours on stand....yes you read that right. Think of it this way, the average hunter hunts roughly 3 or 4 hours a hunt (I know a lot that do less)...but if all I did was a 3 hour hunt I could have hunted at this point 30+ straight days without stopping. Yeah, let's just say my butt is almost developing callouses from all the hours on stand (I've put in nearly 12 all-day sits). What do I have to show with it? Well, tangibly nothing.
While I may not have put a buck down yet, I have learned many a thing about our new properties or stand locations. The Swamp Property...man how this place is frustrating. We've learned that dogs have been running the property consistently almost every day...explaining why out of every single hunt there I have only seen does 1 time...and I've hunted there a ton! Does simply refuse to live where they have to worry about dogs all day long...hence why we never get day time photos of them either up in the woods. In order to find daytime photos you have to go to the sanctuary edge...a place we are going to strategically tackle better next season. We've learned with the dogs the woods are almost useless....save RD who according to cameras is the only deer still using the woods regularly.
Switching to the Homestead Property...my how the does are loving the place! I can remember a time when doe sightings while typical, still at times wouldn't occur. Now you basically can sit anywhere back in our property or around it and you will see does...and lots of them! My father in I both have had 20+ antlerless sighting hunts so far, something that is just amazing. Our food plots are getting hammered obviously and is due to the high doe population. We plan on taking out a bunch of does here late season, probably at minimum 4 but who knows if there's still 5+ doe families running around that number could go up higher.
We've learned the small property we picked up to the NE is money! I haven't sat there save on windy and warm day without seeing at least a dozen deer. The pinch created by the hill and the houses just makes for a deer highway...also we've learned the close bedding makes the base of the hill stand for only all-day sits as you will spook deer entering after light.
Now for the ugly we've learned, well experienced...the troubles we've had with our northern neighbors has finally boiled over. It's official now, we no longer have permission to hunt there...but we were going to back out anyways after this year just to be done with them. Needless to say I'll be showing some of the things we've done already and what we will be doing to discourage the deer even more to use that property (in the process I'm sure making them mad even more).
The good news is though despite everything that's occurred or not occurred the season is still not over. I'll admit I'm typing this on a Sunday afternoon when I could be hunting...but after last nights run in with the neighbor's I have a bad taste in my mouth and needed the day off. So I bid you all good luck as I had back to Sunday football and some cold beer.
Good luck out there!
2 comments:
dont have permission to hunt your land? Im confused about the neighbor issue could you explain a little more please.
Anonymous...We've had permission to hunt a small 2.5 acre chunk of woods just north of our parcel for well over 8 years...sadly over the years more and more guys flood on to it knowing we've had success. In short the landowner is too nice and the new guys basically had no respect for us being there "first". Hands tied as not our property we've just gutted through...that is until this past season my father watched as one of them dropped a yearling buck in it's tracks ACROSS THE PROPERTY LINE ONTO OURS BY ROUGHLY 20 YARDS. Well we've since hinged the border there, posted signs on ours and a neighbor ladies...which has angered the neighboring hunters to a degree of ridiculous and we've pretty much been told we're not welcome there anymore by them. We have not heard from the landowner but do plan on just pulling stand out this off season unless things change. Not worth the mess they create.
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