shannerdrake
Well-known member
I bacd been meaning to post this for awhile.
With Wyoming point creep screwing up my western plans this year, I decided to focus on the Indiana season more than usual. Between work and family obligations, I slated 9 days to hunt. I decided it was a mature (3+ yo) buck year or bust and was prepared to eat my tag before shooting a young buck. As luck would have it, this year we had a pretty bad EHD outbreak in the area and our mature buck population was at a 12 year low.
We always put out numerous trail cams at the end of summer to more or less inventory our deer and there was exactly one buck that fit the criteria (normally we have 3-5). Heck of a year to up my standards.
All of my hunts were prime rut hunts between 11/3 and 11/16. After 12 hunts in our traditional best spots, I didn’t see anything approaching what I wanted. I drove home from the gun opener after a near all day sit with temps in the 20s and 5in of wet snow. I was soaked, frozen, and frustrated and knew I needed to change things up.
After two days at home, I drove back knowing that switching from a bow to a gun changed things. So instead of a tried and true stand, I still-hunted a swamp with the wind in my face and say on a stool in a blowdown. I saw a lot of sign, several does, and a coyote chase a dawn within 7 feet of my blind.
That hunt got me thinking so I spent a bit of time thinking about unconventional spots on the farm. We have an old shooting house that looks over a picked bean field. It has traditionally been a dud spot and is nearly impossible to hunt with a bow. But a gun changes everything. The weather forecast predicted another cold rainy evening and I decided the covered shooting house sounded good.
I got in early before the rain and decided I’d pass the time and read a CJ Box novel unless things got interesting. I didn’t even finish a chapter before I saw a deer. Then another. Then another. By 4PM I’d already seen 3 deer and another group of 4 entered the field. I needed a doe for the freezer and a nice plump one gave me a perfect 200yd broadside shot. Down she went. I quietly reloaded and decided that would settle things down for awhile. I was wrong. I was covered up in deer all night. I saw a couple marginal shooters, but decided they were 2yo bucks and I let them go.
Right at last light I heard grunting, but between the overcast sky and rain, I couldn’t see anything. But with my binoculars I made out a small buck, a medium buck, and bigger buck all chasing a doe. It was way too dark to shoot so I silently packed up my stuff and waiting for them the clear the field. They group went into some thick cover. I cursed myself for shooting that doe knowing I had to get her out and risk screwing up the hottest spot on the farm. I took the long way out away from the three bucks and doe. Instead of a nice 1/2 mile walk down a tractor path, driveway, and road, I had a 1.5 mile hike through woods and an overgrown pasture.
I decided to eat dinner and give the spot an hour to calm down. Luckily after talking to the landowner, he told me I was fine to drive the field with my truck. There is a driveway that runs one side of it so deer see vehicles back there all the time. So I drove down the drive then cranked it at the last minute and drove straight to the doe and tossed her in the back and was out. In and out under 5 minutes.
With Wyoming point creep screwing up my western plans this year, I decided to focus on the Indiana season more than usual. Between work and family obligations, I slated 9 days to hunt. I decided it was a mature (3+ yo) buck year or bust and was prepared to eat my tag before shooting a young buck. As luck would have it, this year we had a pretty bad EHD outbreak in the area and our mature buck population was at a 12 year low.
We always put out numerous trail cams at the end of summer to more or less inventory our deer and there was exactly one buck that fit the criteria (normally we have 3-5). Heck of a year to up my standards.
All of my hunts were prime rut hunts between 11/3 and 11/16. After 12 hunts in our traditional best spots, I didn’t see anything approaching what I wanted. I drove home from the gun opener after a near all day sit with temps in the 20s and 5in of wet snow. I was soaked, frozen, and frustrated and knew I needed to change things up.
After two days at home, I drove back knowing that switching from a bow to a gun changed things. So instead of a tried and true stand, I still-hunted a swamp with the wind in my face and say on a stool in a blowdown. I saw a lot of sign, several does, and a coyote chase a dawn within 7 feet of my blind.
That hunt got me thinking so I spent a bit of time thinking about unconventional spots on the farm. We have an old shooting house that looks over a picked bean field. It has traditionally been a dud spot and is nearly impossible to hunt with a bow. But a gun changes everything. The weather forecast predicted another cold rainy evening and I decided the covered shooting house sounded good.
I got in early before the rain and decided I’d pass the time and read a CJ Box novel unless things got interesting. I didn’t even finish a chapter before I saw a deer. Then another. Then another. By 4PM I’d already seen 3 deer and another group of 4 entered the field. I needed a doe for the freezer and a nice plump one gave me a perfect 200yd broadside shot. Down she went. I quietly reloaded and decided that would settle things down for awhile. I was wrong. I was covered up in deer all night. I saw a couple marginal shooters, but decided they were 2yo bucks and I let them go.
Right at last light I heard grunting, but between the overcast sky and rain, I couldn’t see anything. But with my binoculars I made out a small buck, a medium buck, and bigger buck all chasing a doe. It was way too dark to shoot so I silently packed up my stuff and waiting for them the clear the field. They group went into some thick cover. I cursed myself for shooting that doe knowing I had to get her out and risk screwing up the hottest spot on the farm. I took the long way out away from the three bucks and doe. Instead of a nice 1/2 mile walk down a tractor path, driveway, and road, I had a 1.5 mile hike through woods and an overgrown pasture.
I decided to eat dinner and give the spot an hour to calm down. Luckily after talking to the landowner, he told me I was fine to drive the field with my truck. There is a driveway that runs one side of it so deer see vehicles back there all the time. So I drove down the drive then cranked it at the last minute and drove straight to the doe and tossed her in the back and was out. In and out under 5 minutes.
