2020 Live from the tree

Back at the pond tonight. Wednesday got exciting in this spot when a real big 10 point came flying out of the corn and ended up directly under my platform. After getting a drink he slowly walked off through the willows, and I never got a shot. I’m hoping he’ll be back out early for a drink again tonight!

Sitting on the edge of my North field tonight. Leaves really coming off fast up here.

Sniff. Never got to hunt my Eagle Forage Soybeans once. Frost killed them before season.

Well I had a pretty fun sit last night. Hunted an island in one of the swamps and saw a bunch of does that hung around for a bit. Had a real nice 8 pointer come in a few minutes before closing time. Never got a shot at him but he showed me where a couple scrapes were that I never saw.

Update from last night. Deer were really on the move, but so was the weather.

Had the buck we call BA in the soybeans about 150 yards from me. He’s about the size of a boxcar, his butt is two ax handles wide. One of the biggest deer I’ve ever seen on our property. He never got close, but he strolled around like he owned the place.

Doe and twin fawns came right under the stand. Doe went out to eat, fawns bedded down almost leaning against the ladder.

Had another run-in with the doe we call Nervous Nelly. This doe is one of the few recognizable does on the farm because she is so dark she appears almost black. She must have been shot at once because she always scans up in the trees and can bust a hunter in full camo in a stand hundreds of yards away. And she spooks every deer within hearing distance when she does her thing. This doe has been busting us for 5 years now and I know it’s the same one.

So Nelly strolls into the north end of the field I’m sitting on. 110 yards away. She’s with another doe and fawn. Instantly I recognized her and thought oh sh!t, it’s Nelly. She no more than gets in the field and she looks to the south directly at my stand, which is set back in the trees 10 yards off the edge. She does a leg stomp, steps toward me, and blows! She was literally the only deer that even gave me a glance. How does she do it? No, the wind didn’t take my scent toward her, it was from the west. Never seen anything like it.

With a rain front moving in from the west, I had to get down at 5:30. Since the field was empty, I backed out. Nice sit with lots of activity.

Grouse

Sounds like Nelly needs to be put down.
DT

deertracker wrote:

Sounds like Nelly needs to be put down.

Try getting close enough for a shot. They don’t call her Nervous Nelly for nothing. Also, she’s at least 7 years old and probably older. I think she’d be a little tough…

I really would like to know is how did she learn to start looking up and the air and on opposite sides of fields to spot stand hunters? She’s really, really good at it, I’ll give her that.

Grouse

My sit for tonight, 2 small bucks sparred on the far side of the slough grass across the way for the last 40 minutes of shooting. Fun to watch.

Grouse I had a Nelly at my place a few yrs back. Busted me a few times in ground blind. Would never get close enough. When rifle season opened on the back deck of the house she never busted me again.

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

Had another run-in with the doe we call Nervous Nelly. This doe is one of the few recognizable does on the farm because she is so dark she appears almost black. She must have been shot at once because she always scans up in the trees and can bust a hunter in full camo in a stand hundreds of yards away. And she spooks every deer within hearing distance when she does her thing. This doe has been busting us for 5 years now and I know it’s the same one.

So Nelly strolls into the north end of the field I’m sitting on. 110 yards away. She’s with another doe and fawn. Instantly I recognized her and thought oh sh!t, it’s Nelly. She no more than gets in the field and she looks to the south directly at my stand, which is set back in the trees 10 yards off the edge. She does a leg stomp, steps toward me, and blows! She was literally the only deer that even gave me a glance. How does she do it? No, the wind didn’t take my scent toward her, it was from the west. Never seen anything like it.

Even if she’s old and Tough – She would be #1 on my hit list. Nothing worse than a old wise doe – Sooner or later she will cost you a nice deer. Take he out the 1st chance you get !!!!

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

I think she’d be a little tough…

Walking shoe leather. Mmmmmmmmmmm…

I’d call old Nelly a “sausage sow” and turn her into exactly that.

The problems with turning Nelly into edible cuts are two. First, she is highly resistant to the idea. Secondly, whack Nelly and there goes my tag and the season is over anyway. Don’t really want to burn my tag on a workboot-tough old doe.

Grouse

Had a crappy sit last night. going to throw a morning sit into a new area I did a little scouting in over the winter. Hopefully they are getting back to bedding a little later.

Back at the pond after the big 10 again. Theres two scrapes on the edge of the pond that have been freshly worked over including one about 15 yards behind me. With any luck the cold front and freshly picked corn on the neighboring farm will get them up early. Good luck to everyone this weekend!

Good luck hillhiker!
I’m out on the back 40 tonight. On top the hills full of acorns.

First sit on the season.
DT

Update from yesterday evening’s sit. 44 degrees when I got in the stand at 2:00, but wind alternating between NW and straight N meant it was plenty cool the whole time.

I was sitting on a soybean field that frost-killed back on September 18. In the foreground are the Eagle Forage Soybeans, the back half of the plot has Real World Gen2 soybeans.

My expectations were high with the cold nights on Thursday and then the temp was to drop rapidly on Friday. I thought the deer would show up early and often.

Well, it goes to show you how well I can think like a deer.

Absolutely NOTHING showed up between 2 and 6. I was going crazy wondering what was going on. Where the ell were the deer?

At 6:00, a solo doe finally staggered in to the far side of the plot (180 yards away). And then in comes Mr. Big about 10 minutes later.

So I spend almost an hour watching Mr. Big and hoping he works my way, but he did not.

Until… it was too dark to shoot at 7.00. So naturally, from the woods behind me, a big 6 pointer we call BA literally jogs into the plot and stands at 20 yards broadside!

I drew and then let down. Dark deer, looking down, against dark brown soybeans. I couldn’t pick out the vitals, it was like aiming at a pile of brown feed sacks in a dark room.

Of course, just the cherry on top was that Mr. Big spots BA in his bean plot and comes charging down to my end of the plot to intercept him.

The good news is that I was downwind to the deer the whole time and neither of them had a clue I was there. My dad drove slowly toward the field with the ATV after dark and picked me up, so the deer never saw me in the stand.

I’m seeing the bucks so now just need to hit it again.

Grouse

I have a visitor tonight.
DT

New spot tonight. I’m sitting on a pinch point with a ditch on one side and beans to the other.

Had a good night. Saw a total of 15 deer. Had a couple small 8 pointers sparring out in the been field. A few other small bucks. Just not the big one.
DT

deertracker wrote:

I have a visitor tonight.
DT

Gotta love it when a picker comes along right after you get settled in the stand, eh? lol

For the last five years, on opener for gun here in Zone 3, the neighboring property has had custom pickers take the corn on opening day. Didn’t matter if the season started earlier or later, opening day they were there starting at 9 AM every year, but they were always done by 2 pm. I dig my book out and read while they are cutting the field and read. Then the deer started showing up big time right around 4pm. A few get chased from the corn while they are in there picking to make the woods interesting but honestly the picking doesn’t deter any deer on the move from using our woods and we usually seem to get one while they are making noise just a couple hundred yards away. Farm machines don’t appear to bother deer. There’s corn on that field again this year so we’ll see if they break stride this fall.

Wind is absolutely cranking tonight. Wish there was an easy way to post a video without YouTube. This is a new set for this season. Super excited about it.
DT

Cows got out. Might be the end of my night.
DT

I climbed down to chase the cattle back. See if I can salvage the last hour.

Had one doe come into tonight, just too much brush for a shot.

I quick threw my stand up on the pond for a quick sit. I’ll be lucky if I don’t blow out of the tree, but I have a new rub about 10 yards away.

A little breezy this morning, but overall can’t complain. Owls were very vocal. A couple Tom Turkeys gobble at every gun shot from duck hunters. Had one deer walk by in the dark. Hoping for a big rack to stroll by.

I sat the same pond again this morning and saw 3 bucks walking just inside the corn. I believe one of them was the 10 I’ve been after, but it was tough to tell. I’m down the hill side tonight sitting on the ground overlooking a drainage.

I got a late start so I stayed a little closer to home. I’m sitting on a new piece of public for me tonight. I just set up between a couple dead logs in a spot I can observe a lot of ground.

I scouted out some new to me public area in the MN river bottoms and there was barely any old sign, let alone anything fresh.