Saturday, February 4, 2012

Winter Pictures

2 Weeks ago I put out two cameras and some BB2, which is a mineral mix that you poor out and it has some corn mixed in as well. You can see it in the photos. Today, Satureday, I checked both cameras. The one camera had about 8 pictures of deer but nothing to serious just some does. The BB2 was just about like I had left it 2 weeks ago. Then we checked the other camera where I had put the BB2 in the pines. What a difference. I had 162 pictures and the BB2 was gone. After looking at the pictures I found out why. The turkeys found it and they put a serious hurting on it. However, I was able to get some bucks on camera and one of which is new. I really don't think I have seen him or have any pics of him. It looks like he is a really good 9pt.


Group of Jakes going to town.
That is a nice beard on the bird to the right.

Two strutters.

This gets me excited for spring!

The deer were getting in on the action also, here is a group of does. This is a later picture look at what the "pile" of BB2 looks like compared to the picture above.

This is a picture after the snow we had last Sunday. This little buck is go after it through the snow.

Nice little buck here. It actually looks like he might have the start of a drop tine on his left side. It also could be the snow in the back ground. A guy can dream though right?

Here is the big 9pt I mentioned above. Those are some really good g2's and g3's on his right side. The left side almost looks like something might of happened in velvet or it could just be the angle of the picture. Either way I hope to see him again.

The boys and I did do some quick checking around for some antlers but no such luck. It is really early so I didn't expect much. My plan is to check back in 3 weeks and see what is going on. I did replenish both spots. It was pretty obvious though they like the mineral station that was in the cover as apposed to the other which was not so much.















Thursday, February 2, 2012

Borculo Property Breakdown

I thought I'd run over the property in Borculo with a couple ariels of it and why I think its such a good little piece of property. You can see on the picture below which is more zoomed out, the general layout of everything. The red X to the north is my really good stand. The red X to the south is a new stand I moved this past year but never actually sat in it. I waited to long to put the stand there in my opinion. The green dotted lines are the trails and the general movement of the deer on the property. Green circles are bedding areas. Pink is crops, which is normally corn, beans or alfalfa. The blue circles are the ponds/water sources. The yellow lines represent the areas that the deer don't really cross and thus they are natural funnels. I also added where I shot my 10 pointer in 2010 which is the white square, his path after I shot him, the white dotted line and where Ross, Eric and myself found him, the white circle. This is also the trail i saw all the action on this year.


The new stand will allow me to hunt with a N, NW, and possible W wind. This past year the trail that runs through here was tore up like I have neve seen before and I really wish I would of pulled the trigger sooner but hind-sight is 20/20. But I have a stand there now and it will be waiting for me come late Oct or Nov.





Below is the zoomed in picture of my really good stand. You can see the deer trail/s, green dotted line, my stand, the red "X" and my access route, red dotted line. You can see why its such an awesome funnel. There is a small creek/ditch to the east of the stand that they really don't bother crossing because it would take them to close to the house and then to the SE of the stand you can't see on the ariel but there are trees that are knocked down and it forces them to go around which funnels them from that side. The distance between the two yellow lines is no more than 40 yards and my stand sits right on the edge and when the wind is out of the E, SE, or S it is absolutley perfect, especially in the morning during the rut. If they come through there they will be within 30 yards at least and if they take the money trail its a 10-15 yard shot depending on the direction they are traveling.








Hopefully, with the deer I saw and my plans of putting out minerals here I can get a bigger deer to set up shop this coming fall.





Wednesday, February 1, 2012

New Year New Plans

Here I am again at the beginning of a new year filled with anticipation for what this coming year will bring. As much as I love bow hunting I probably enjoy now until Sept just as much. To me the enjoyment of bow hunting is not just harvesting a deer but all the work and preperation that goes into it. I am very fortunate to have some really great hunting properties that my family allows me to hunt and I love the homework involved in figuring out how to hunt these properties.
Last season I had some plans that I thought were pretty rock solid and I still believe they were even though I did not harvest a deer, We saw the deer we were hunting for and I passed on some nice little bucks. I just couldn't close the deal on a couple of deer because they showed up to early or late or in one case just didn't come the right direction same goes for Julie. Like I said I also got to see and pass on a bunch of younger bucks, in fact I officially passed on a 3,4,5,6 and 8 pt. They were all in my shooting lanes and within 30 yards, just not what I was looking for. I feel like I can pass them because I have pictures of the deer I know are on these properties and knowing what bigger deer are there makes it really quite easy to pass on the little guys. Also, my plans may have not worked the way I wanted them to while I was in stand but Julie on the other hand got to see 2 of our "hit list" bucks, one of which was 2 steps away from her flinging an arrow at him but he decided to do a 90 degree turn at the wrong time. Oh by the way he was #1 on our list a big wide 10 pointer. (side note-my luck this year could of been a little better, I had some pretty crazy things happen that you cannot plan for and there is no question they affected my season, from coyotes, to weather, to neighbors and their dog it was one crazy year. Every time I went out I would wonder what was going to happen that time, I know I can't control everything but my attitude is going to be better this year so hopefully that will ward off some of the bad vooddoo)





Anyway, on to 2012. In Gobles I am going to focus on the same general areas for the shooters however, one big difference is that i am planning on putting in some food plots. I am hoping that I can get the bigger bucks to use these as staging areas and get them up on their feet a little earlier than normal in the evening. I am going to plant varieties that will peek late Oct and Nov. which will get the doe in them during the rut and hopefully a big boy not to far behind.



I am also going to be using "mineral stations" down there more than I did last year. Last year what I did was put a trophy rock out in June and kept it out all summer. If you look back I got some fantastic pictures of some great deer. This year I have already put out minerals, in the form of trophy rocks and also a product called BB2. Its a corn product mixed with a lot of minerals that Deer love. The only issue is the deer will blow through it pretty fast especially once they find it. So my plan is to always have at least the trophy rocks out because they last forever and then periodically put out BB2 thoughout the spring but more heavilly in the summer months when they start to grow antlers. My hope is by having these stations that the deer will become used to coming in to them when they need the minerals that are essential to their developement. The more I can get them to visit the property the better and maybe some will stay close with the combination of minerals and food I am planning.



The stands will be pretty similar to last season with a couple of new ones in areas that will allow me to hunt a spot with multiple winds. The biggest difference/change for me is that I am going to wait until the last week of October to hunt. I will hunt the first week but it will be in a low impact stand and maybe once in Gobles and once in Borculo. The first week is a good time to catch a buck still on his summer patterns, like the buck I shot 2 years ago so it is worth a shot, I just need to be careful. My good areas I want to wait to hunt until the big bucks are starting to get into the rut phase. This past season, I went in to early into my better spots and I think it cost me. This is going to be tough for me because I love to hunt and when Oct. rolls around I just want to be in a stand. However, this year was a learning experience for me. I did not see near the deer numbers I am used to seeing, they were there I could tell by the deer sign and whatnot. They were mostly coming through at night so all I was doing was educating them every time I sat out and it hurt I could tell. We(Julie and I) did see a lot of bucks and 3-4 of them were shooters, so that part was good I just feel like we need to hold off until late Oct. to kill those bucks not just see them.



My Mom's property in Borculo is my little gem. It is not the biggest piece of property but it hunts pretty big. I saw so many little bucks here in the few times I sat here it was a lot of fun. One morning I had a small 6 pointer dogging a doe and they went right by my stand he was just grunting away. Then 5 minutes later a 4 pointer comes down the same trail he wasn't even gone and the little 6 came back by again. Another time I had messed up 5 point bed down about 30 yards behind me, I was actually able to sneak down the tree but he saw me when I was on the ground. Another morning I had a small buck grunting and running back and forth in front of me just before light all I could see was a dark form. This is all the same stand and same trail I killed my 10 pointer out of 2 years back. Its a really good spot, in fact its my best stand because if they go through this area they have to come withing 30 yards of my stand. Its easy to get in and out and its on the edge of bedding areas so the bucks just cruise it looking for does. The majority of the property is pretty thick, swampy and great for bedding. My plan is to start a mineral station there as well with a camera. If I can get a good buck to come on that property there is a really good chance he will stay because of the great bedding areas, water and food all around.



So there you have it my "plans" for 2012. Once again I feel like they are pretty rock solid but who knows what will be thrown at me this year, but hopefully Julie or myself can put it together and put one of these guys down. Good luck to all and have a great year!!