Well not much has changed since my last post, the deer movement is still rather slow, but I have seen a few. On October 17th I made my way to the tree for another morning’s hunt, it was a calm, quiet morning. I had a good feeling that I might see something that morning. Daylight had arrived and the time for the deer to start moving through was near, and at 8:45am that time had come. It was a doe and her yearling doe fawn, they popped in out of nowhere. I hurried and fixed the camera on the two deer and grabbed my bow to prepare for a shot. They were closing the distance quickly and I was following them with camera. They went to the one spot I didn’t want them to go, right below the tree. You would think that would be a good thing, but not in my set-up. I was sitting in a hang-on stand above a 2-man ladder stand and the side rails of the double stand were blocking my shot. The does were directly below me munching on some acorns, I could hear them breathing, I could have spit on them if I wanted to. Just as I went to turn to look at the adult doe, the young one picked me off and started back-stepping away from the base of my tree. She had her tail flared out, meaning she wouldn’t stick around for long. The momma still hadn’t noticed me and she was now a little further behind me. I stared to follow the young doe with my camera and I decided I was going to try taking a shot before she bolted. I fixed the camera into position the and drew back, and with the release of the arrow I realized that I had just made a bad shot…No excuses, I just downright  made a bad shot and wouldn’t you know I didn’t even get it on film. She had taken a few extra steps and made it out of frame right before my shot went off. I hit her high, below the spine and above the lungs. She ran about 20 yards and stopped to look around, I ranged her at 40 yards and tried to slip a second arrow through a small window of brush….THA-WACK! I managed to hit the one branch I thought wouldn’t be in the way.  I knew that that the first shot wouldn’t be fatal and that she would more than likely recover from it, and run off with only a little more knowledge than when she arrived. I got down and tracked her a ways anyway, just in case I some how managed to get a lucky artery hit, but no such luck. There was some good spots of blood where she stood for a few minutes but after she took off again the blood turned into tiny trickles here and there. I left the stand that morning wondering if this season would ever get better, I felt like I finally had an opportunity and all I did was make a mess of it…But I kept on keeping on and headed out the next day in hopes of some redemption.

Over the next few days I didn’t see any deer until my evening hunt on October 21st, it was a fairly warm evening with a perfect north-east wind for our stands in the valley. Around 5 o’clock that evening I spotted a buck standing at the top of the hill to my right. The sunlight was bouncing off the buck’s antlers as he stood overlooking the valley. This was not a buck I wanted to shoot, it actually turned out to be the same buck I had an encounter with earlier in the season and the one of the same bucks I had filmed during the summer velvet season.
He made his way down the hill and munched on acorns for about an hour or so and then eventually made it across the creek to the other side of the valley and out of sight. I left that evening with nothing more than some good footage and a thankful spirit for the sighting of an awesome buck.

Abel made the trip home from Cleveland again on the morning of October 22nd, but he got back a lil to late to make it out for the morning hunt. After showing him the footage of the buck I had filmed the night before, he decided that it was a buck he would like to take if the opportunity presented itself. With Abel having limited time home to hunt this season and never have taken a buck with his bow, this buck met his standards. And with me sitting in our stands in the valley two different times, seeing him both times and the buck having the same routine, we decided to take our climbers in that evening for a better chance at sealing the deal. We headed out early that evening to allow ourselves plenty of time to pick out a good tree and to get all of our stuff set up.
After getting climbed up the tree and all of our gear set up, we sat in wait for our buck to show. The wind was perfect that evening and it was warm but with a cool breeze, seemed like a great evening to be in the stand. As we waited we were entertained by the dozens of squirrels and chipmunks shuffling about. We were also surprised by the unusual sighting of two different minks, one of them was chasing a gray squirrel and the other was diving under a log to catch a mouse. I managed to catch some footage of the second mink as it made off with its dinner.
Around 5:50pm I noticed a deer walking along the edge of the woods about 100 yards off, but I couldn’t tell if it was a buck or a doe. I got Abel’s attention and told him I saw a deer, we both watched as it made its way down into an opening. We both then realized it was a doe. I was able to get some decent footage of her before a second doe came out from the same place. We watched and filmed them until they made their way out of sight, and those would be the last deer we would see that evening.

Abel and I didn’t get a chance to hunt Sunday before he had to head back to Cleveland. Its a major bummer that he doesn’t get to hunt more than once or twice when hes home, but he only has another five months left of college and that will put him home in perfect timing for shed season.

I ventured out again on October 23rd, Monday morning, but I never saw a deer. I went again that evening, but again, nothing. The same went for the next day, no deer…..So on October 25th, I headed out to a stand we set up on the edge of a standing cornfield for an evening hunt. It was as windy as could be that evening and about 60 degrees out, I really wasn’t expecting an eventful evening.
I had pretty much given up on that hunt before it even got under way, but I sat it out anyway. I really truly hate hunting when its windy out, yeah I know sometimes it can be good, but I hate not being able to hear anything around me….It was so windy out that evening, that I could barely hear the squirrel running around on the ground floor below only ten yards away from me. Luckily, the wind died down a little before dark.  Just when I thought the evening was pretty much over, I heard the unmistakeable sound of a deer stepping into my midst. I instantly looked over my shoulder to see where it was, and there she stood, a beautiful young doe. She was slowly closing the distance and I was definitely going to take a  shot if the opportunity presented itself. I had the treearm handle in one hand and my bow in the other, I followed her with the camera as she snacked on some acorns. She finally stepped out in an opening at 35 yards, I set the camera and got ready for the shot. Due to some branches, I had to crouch down and flip up my seat to lean up against the tree just to make the shot. I drew back, took aim, and let my arrow fly…..THA-WACK!!! I smoked her! She jumped up into the air kicking back her hind legs. She only made it about 30 yards before falling over and expiring. I threw fist up in an act of victory and redemption, thanking God that I was finally able to make good with an opportunity. Man, was I pumped! I had finally conquered my seemingly bad luck of a season. I know that its only a doe and a small one at that, but for me its not about how big or how small…I get just as pumped over a doe like this, as I do over seeing a big buck. Its all about the thrill, and the passion of the hunt. Even seeing a little spike buck is amazing to me, like I said big or small, it doesn’t matter God made them all. To even have an opportunity to see one, is being able to see an amazing animal that God created. You gotta know that God made allot of amazing things in this world for us to see and enjoy, and for me its getting to be in the woods in search of these awesome creatures during the days of October and the beginning of November that I enjoy the most.

Well after Abel had gone back to Cleveland, I prepared my gear and picked out my spots for my week of solo-hunting. I was so pumped about getting in the woods and I just couldn’t wait to get some good footage of all the deer I was hoping and thinking I might see. Though my hopes would soon be shaken, because October 3rd became the day that became day one of my “ten hunts and counting” theme.

You may wonder what exactly I mean by “ten hunts and counting”. Ten is the number of times I sat in the stand and never even seen a deer. The “and counting” part is because this terrible ten hunts with the no deer sightings streak, didn’t just end after ten attempts. It kept going, on and on, day after day.

The only thing I managed to see during my first week of solo-hunting was a gazillion squirrels and one wondering coyote, which I shot while self filming on October 4th ( my birthday). It was awesome! Even though the footage could have been better, I was still thrilled, for I had just taken my first coyote with my trusty Mathews. I sat the rest of the evening in hopes that a deer may come cruising by in the same way, but yet again no deer. Hunt number four had come to an end.

What was wrong? Why am I not seeing deer? I have been at it for days, I hunted mornings and evenings, stand after stand, playing the wind, and still nothing! Maybe it was because the temperatures had risen back up from the 40′s and 50′s into the 60′s and 70′s. Maybe the high rising moon was having an effect on the deer activity. Maybe I was just hunting all of the wrong spots at all the wrong times. I don’t really know why I wasn’t seeing any, this was the longest I have ever went without seeing a deer. And let me tell you, it definitely starts messing with your head, you start to think that everything you catch moving out of the corner of your eye is a deer.
It usually just turns out to be a leaf falling from a tree or a bird in a thicket that appears to be a white tail flickering. Even the sound of  a loudly, obnoxious squirrel rustling in the leaves will make you second guess that unmistakeable, steady sound of a deer walking into your midst.

Then comes the part where you start getting aggravated, its 65 degrees outside, you’re hauling a bow, a 20 plus pound backpack with your camera gear and occasionally a climber stand. You are sweating your butt off and you feel like a waddling duck just trying to make it to your spot with all of this stuff strapped to your back. When you finally do get to your spot and you realize that you have forgotten your bow rope and a rope for your backpack, things start to get a little more complicated and aggravating. But you decide to tackle the climb anyways, so you hop on your climber with your bow and your backpack and start climbing away…..Only to hit that point, you know…where you’re not even half way up the tree and you’re looking down at the ground, thinking “Wow really? I’ve only went that far?”. Then you start to wonder why on earth you decided to do this on the absolute hottest day of the season, “why, oh why”? And once you have finally made it to the top, you gotta get all of your gear set up which isn’t so bad. Then you sit back, relax, and wait on the deer to arrive…..As the daylight fades to darkness with no deer to show for it, you begin to think “Wow really, all that for nothing?…Sigh”. Feels like someone just kicked you in the shin, seems like no matter what you do or try, you just can’t seem to make it happen.

Day after day and hunt after hunt has went by with no sightings of a deer, all of my hopes for the 2011 season have seemed to fly out the window. Nothing is going the way I had hoped and I was now getting very discouraged. All I wanted was to start off by getting some good footage of a deer or two, I didn’t have to shoot one right away, I was fine with just getting some solid footage. Turns out that wouldn’t be an easy task to fulfill, being that I was  now on like hunt number ten with no deer to be seen. Next thing you know, I’m in a tree on hunt number eleven and yep, still not one deer. Hunt number twelve? Nope still nothing. Hunt number thirteen….Yeah, I didn’t see any that day either. Hunts number fifteen and sixteen? Yep, you guessed it. Nothing, I have not seen  one single deer after being out sixteen times.

Finally a front is on its way, and with a slightly full moon in the sky I decided that the next day should be better. I skipped the morning hunt to finish some work on October 12th, but I was going to hunt for sure later that evening. Even though the front was on its way, it was still rather warm out, but yet still a little cooler than the days before. It was an overcast day with a slight breeze to the west, not bad for the stand I had in mind. After arriving at my spot for hunt number seventeen, I sprayed down with some scent-away and headed for the woods. I got into the stand and finally got my safety harness hooked up and all of my camera gear set up, now I just needed to hoist up my bow. I gave the bow rope a pull and…”CACHINK”, the rope popped off my my bow, “well thats just great “, I thought to myself. So I had to unhook my safety harness and climb back down the tree to tie my bow back up.Then it was back up the tree I went. Once I was all safetyfied again, I successfully pulled up my bow.

I sat and sat, it was getting later and I was getting anxious. I had a somewhat good feeling about that evening, but with the luck I was having, I wasn’t expecting anything much. All around me critters were stirring, squirrels were chasing each other through the woods, there were several woodpeckers dive-bombing each other from the tree tops above, and the chipmunks were shuffling about….It got to be about a quarter after six and still no sign of deer. I looked up and said “Oh, please Lord, please, please, please just let me see a deer”….As soon as those words left my mouth I looked over to my right and I saw the most amazing sight! IT WAS A DEER!!!! And it was making its way towards me, better yet it was a buck! “Oh thank you Lord”, I said. The feeling I felt when I finally saw this deer was awesome!  ( This must have been what Noah felt like when he finally saw dry land after 40 days and nights of rain )….Anyways, the buck had made his way down the hill and was now about 60 yards from my stand. I had the camera on and recording, but it was so thick where he was standing which made it hard to get any solid footage. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught movement from the same spot that the first buck came from. It was another deer, a buck! Man was I pumped, not only did I finally see a deer, I saw two deer and they were both bucks at that. Neither buck was very big, the first was a two and a half year old probably scoring around 100″-110″ and the other was a year and half old with some pretty small head gear. Both bucks stayed behind the cover of the thicket munching on acorns for about a half hour to 45 minutes. Neither buck ever came any closer than 50 yards, and eventually made their way to the other side of the valley.

Now, these deer may have not been close, or big, and didn’t offer the best footage, but altogether I was thrilled to have finally seen deer. I felt as if my season had finally started and I couldn’t wait to get out again in hopes of having another awesome encounter….But I have come to find out that my season isn’t getting any easier. Will this be a rough season, will I fall short of my goals and expectations for the 2011 season or will I conquer this on-going, hard time of a season?

Well its finally here, opening day has arrived! Abel had just got home from Cleveland at around 5:45am. He rushed in to get ready and grab his gear, I was already there and geared up for the morning hunt. We had everything ready to go, so we jumped in the truck and headed out. We got to our stand with plenty of time til daylight, more time than we expected. After getting the camera arm mounted and all of our other gear situated, we sat silently in wait of day break….or not….I started hearing a strange noise and for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out what it was. As I went to turn in the camera stand around to ask Abel what was making the noise, I discovered that he was the source of the noise…..He was asleep and snoring away. I nudged him with my foot to wake him up and when I told him he was snoring, his reaction was…”no I wasn’t, you’re crazy”….Yeah, ok. If you say so.

The sun had finally started to come up, it was windy and cold, about 40 degrees. We started out with a south to southeast wind, which wasn’t bad for that stand but the problem was it started to swirl. We sat and sat, and the wind swirled and swirled. We saw nothing but a bunch of bushytails and birds. At 9:30 we decided to get down…..Early I know, but by sitting there with a swirling wind we were only educating any deer that may be near by.

So we tried again that evening, but yet again no luck other than the one doe we saw that a passing car scared away.

We didn’t make it out again until Sunday evening on October 2nd. That night we had near perfect conditions, we had a southeast wind and a temperature of about 50 degrees. We were sitting on the ground in a small strip of woods separating a hay field and a bean field. We figured it would be the perfect place to do a sneak attack on an unsuspecting doe. At around 6:45pm, Abel spotted a small buck making its way toward us by the end of the woodline. We lost sight of the buck for about ten minutes, then he suddenly popped out of nowhere at ten yards behind us. Abel said to me ” I’m going to shoot him”, but I told him no because I knew he would regret it. So with Abel trying to get turned around and me trying to get the camera around, the buck picked us off and bolted away. As we sat there and watched him runaway, Abel says ” Yeah, I didn’t need to shoot him anyways, I would have regretted it”.

It was getting close to the final moments of our last hunt before Abel had to head back to Cleveland. Around 7:20 Abel sees a doe and her fawns making their way across the hay field to the beans, so we get ready just in case a shot presents itself. The doe was slowly making her way to the beans while one of her fawns decided to get a little crazy. The fawn started going nuts, it was having a ball, running at full speed and springing off of the two hay bales in the field. At one point it ran right past us at like three yards, then  it made a big circle around the field to meet back up with its mother who had made her way into the beans. Using the woodline to our advantage, Abel and I snuck out to the edge of the beans to cut off the deer. I was still a little ways behind Abel still and had little camera light remaining, but from my point of view I couldn’t see the deer very well. So as Abel drew back his bow I stood back and filmed him as he released the arrow…….THAWACK!…He had hit his mark and the deer didn’t even make it 20 yards before falling over.

After about ten minutes we headed towards where the deer had been hit, but when we reached the spot of impact there was no arrow to be found. I was walking around the spot in hopes of finding Abel’s arrow but it was a no show and  Abel had already located his prize in the beans.

After a quick recovery we got a few pics and took care of the deer so we could get it to the local meat processor’s. Abel then had to head back to Cleveland for another week and I would be left here to do some self-filming of what I thought was going to be a great week of hunting…….But I was wrong!

Read the rest of this story on my next post…”Ten hunts and counting”.

By this time, we all have our stands hung, tons of trail cam pics, bows sighted and tuned, arrows set with our favorite broad heads, and only the hopes and dreams of what we hope will become reality. Phase 1 (the shed season) and Phase 2 (the velvet season) of the yearly whitetail quest, has slowly passed us by. The level of anticipation is high and relentless, we are left wondering just what the season may hold for us.Will all of our scouting, hard work and persistence pay off or is it just not meant be?

I’m a lil late on starting this blog, but I figured it would be cool to blog about the upcoming season here in southeastern Indiana. My plan is to use this as a log for the season that I can share with others, I am going to try to keep up with the temperatures, moon phases, deer sightings and time of activity, weather conditions, winds, etc… and write them down after each day’s hunt.

First on our list was the youth season, but unfortunately we weren’t able to make it happen…
I had to work on Saturday. Sunday morning we went to church and on Sunday evening it poured the rain.

So now we will just have to wait for opening day of bow season. Hopefully we will be able to get some good solid footage to start out the season. Unfortunately, Abel will only be able to hunt on Saturdays and Sundays, due to him going to school full time and having a full time job in Cleveland Ohio. This year will definitely be a challenge to get solid footage, since I will be filming by myself and I will be filming Abel the two days he is here.

Anyways, I will be posting on here again with pics and more blogging just as soon as our 2011 season officially starts on October 1st, so please follow us throughout this season and feel free to give us your thoughts or even let us know how your season is going. We love to hear deer stories, and learning more about the whitetail world!

Our gear for the season:

Bows: Abel-Mathews DXT. Jena-Mathews Prestige.

Sights: Sure-Loc QC 5pin

Rest: Abel-Whisker Biscuit. Jena- Sure-Loc bear trap

Arrows: Carbon Express maxima blue streak 250s

Broadheads: Abel-Muzzy mx3. Jena-Muzzy 75grs.

Scent Elimination: Scent Shield Products

Camo/Clothing: Abel-Lost camo on Gamehide. Jena-Mossy Oak treestand on Scentblocker.

Stands: Dick’s Sporting Goods brands

Safety Harnesses: HSS treestalker vest

Camera Gear: Muddy Outdoors hunter tree arm, Canon HFS 20, campbellcameras.com

I pulled a few of the catalogs early on. I’ve got some brain food, and some products to look into.

Here are a few that may have been talked about before, but I’m interested in playing with. How about you? Do you want to know more about any of these?
Carbon Express Maxima Dual Spine
Fusion Neon Vanes – transparent & Neon
Trophy Taker Heartbreaker Pro
AAE Mag Clip – accessory clip
Vapor Trail Limb Driver Pro-V
Are there any other products I should check out for you?

Crossfire – Nitro 1.5
Speed 320-325 FPS (70#, 30”, 350 gr.)
Let-Off 80% (adjustable)
Draw Weight 50#, 60#, 70#
Draw Length 25” to 28”
Brace Height 7” *
Weight 3.4 lbs.
Axle Length 30.5” *

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Crossfire – Nitro 2.0
Speed 320-325 FPS (70#, 30”, 350 gr.)
Let-Off 80% (adjustable)
Draw Weight 50#, 60#, 70#
Draw Length 27” to 30”
Brace Height 7” *
Weight 3.4 lbs.
Axle Length 30.5” *
* Approximate

Firecat 400 – Nitro 2.0
Speed 335-345 FPS (70#, 30”, 350 gr.)
Let-Off 80% (adjustable)
Draw Weight 50#, 60#, 70#
Draw Length 27” to 30”
Brace Height 7” *
Weight 3.7 lbs.
Axle Length 32.5” *
* Approximate

Firecat 360 – Acu-Trak 2.0
Speed 315-320 FPS (70#, 30”, 350 gr.)
Let-Off 80% (adjustable)
Draw Weight 50#, 60#, 70#
Draw Length 26” to 31”
Brace Height 7.2” *
Weight 3.7 lbs.
Axle Length 32.5” *
* Approximate

ShadowCat – Nitro 1.5
Speed 320-325 FPS (70#, 30”, 350 gr.)
Let-Off 80% (adjustable)
Draw Weight 50#, 60#, 70#
Draw Length 27” to 30”
Brace Height 7.75” *
Weight 4.7 lbs.
Axle Length 41.25” *

Crossfire – Nitro 1.5
Speed 320-325 FPS (70#, 30”, 350 gr.)
Let-Off 80% (adjustable)
Draw Weight 50#, 60#, 70#
Draw Length 25” to 28”
Brace Height 7” *
Weight 3.4 lbs.
Axle Length 30.5” *

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Crossfire – Nitro 2.0
Speed 320-325 FPS (70#, 30”, 350 gr.)
Let-Off 80% (adjustable)
Draw Weight 50#, 60#, 70#
Draw Length 27” to 30”
Brace Height 7” *
Weight 3.4 lbs.
Axle Length 30.5” *
* Approximate

Onza 3 – Nitro 2.0
Speed 330-340 FPS (70#, 30”, 350 gr.)
Let-Off 80% (adjustable)
Draw Weight 50#, 60#, 70#
Draw Length 27.5” to 30.5”
Brace Height 7.25” *
Weight 4 lbs.
Axle Length 33.25” *
* Approximate

Silencer – Nitro 2.0
Speed 335-345 FPS (70#, 30”, 350 gr.)
Let-Off 80% (adjustable)
Draw Weight 50#, 60#, 70#
Draw Length 27” to 30”
Brace Height 7” *
Weight 3.5 lbs.
Axle Length 31.25” *
* Approximate

Pantera – Acu-Trak 2.0
Speed 315-320 FPS (70#, 30”, 350 gr.)
Let-Off 80% (adjustable)
Draw Weight 50#, 60#, 70#
Draw Length 26” to 31”
Brace Height 7.25” *
Weight 3.5 lbs.
Axle Length 32.25” *
* Approximate

Ridge Hunter – Acu-Trak 2.0
Speed 315-320 FPS (70#, 30”, 350 gr.)
Let-Off 80% (adjustable)
Draw Weight 50#, 60#, 70#
Draw Length 26” to 31”
Brace Height 7.2” *
Weight 3.7 lbs.
Axle Length 32.5” *
* Approximate

Exile – Acu-Trak 2.0
Speed 315-320 FPS (70#, 30”, 350 gr.)
Let-Off 80% (adjustable)
Draw Weight 50#, 60#, 70#
Draw Length 25” to 30”
Brace Height 7.25” *
Weight 3.4 lbs.
Axle Length 30.25” *
* Approximate

Leopard – Acu-Trak 1.5
Speed 282-287 FPS (50#, 26”, 250 gr.)
Let-Off 80% (adjustable)
Draw Weight 40#, 50#, 60#
Draw Length 21” to 26”
Brace Height 7.1” *
Weight 3.35 lbs.
Axle Length 30” *
* Approximate