10/1 Today of course marks the Iowa season opener for early archery. This year will be somewhat different for me than years past. First, Amy will be archery hunting this year for the first time in a very long time. When we started having kids, she sacrificed her archery hunting so that I could go. She recognized it was my passion and although we tried to both hunt some, it was impossible when our hunting grounds were 2 hours away at the time. She continued to go a little bit but ultimately gave it up. Now, after some thought, she has decided to get back at it. Last year, she spent many evenings long scouting with binoculars and the spotting scope and I think the logical next step was to just go ahead and hunt.

So, my first season goal is to try and help Amy set up on a good buck. She will admit that she is more of a fair weather afternoon hunter. The early part of the season then will be perfect for her. Last year, she watched a giant numerous times in her afternoon scouting. I actually saw and passed this giant late in the season…but no passes this year! She’ll probably have first crack at him early on. But then if I get a shot I’ll take it! I didn’t pass on the buck because of any other reason other than I would not have even known he existed until she found him…I thought it was only fair she got first crack at him.

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That giant will be a top go after buck this year. And, we have a solid strategy to take him. I hope he’s still around.

Also this year, my son Forest has drawn a non-resident archery tag. So, we spent some time this spring hanging more stands to accommodate his hunt, Amy now hunting, and of course my hunting. Technically we have 5 different farms to hunt, but some are mostly cow pasture with very little cover. I think though we are sitting good.

And then also, my daughter Lily has drawn a non-resident late muzzy tag. All in all, it will be a very exciting fall at this hunting camp house! Lily and her boyfriend Mason were down this spring helping put in soybeans and corn for her hunt…and they are looking great.

I have 2 archery hunters coming down this year from Michigan hunting a 300 acre lease with me. Their farm is looking great. And, I have one more archery hunter coming up from Louisiana hunting on one of my farms I own. That farm is looking great too.

The only real struggle this year has been establishing my fall green plots. It has been so dry with no rain down here for most of August and most of September. One farm has missed all rain for the past 8 weeks, and the soil moisture is close to zero. Fall plots are a part of my hunting strategy, so when they don’t turn out it throws me a curve ball. We finally got some rain yesterday and more is in the forecast…will it be enough and not too late?

I’ll be posting hunts as we have them just like past years. This year I might add some commentary? Maybe? Mostly about the hunting industry and how I feel marketing is ruining hunting for some of us. We’ll see. I want to keep it professional…but I also want to rant!

One last thing. Game cameras have been a huge part of my hunting for quite some time. This year I’ve added one cell camera for the farthest farm away that the brothers from Michigan will be hunting. We’ll se how that goes. And at the same time, I plan to check mine less closer to home. My “legacy” farms I’ve been hunting for some time now I truly feel I don’t need any cameras to hunt them at all. Or to help me hunt them I should say. But it is fun pulling cards. Pop back in from time to time this season…see how things are going.

10/1 Amy and I went to a neighbor’s farm tonight. This farm is very hard to hunt because access on entrance and exit is very difficult. Either entrance sucks, or leaving sucks on an evening hunt. But, tonight we had rain in the forecast and a wind that only left us one option for a blind. We did see a small buck for over an hour out in front of us eating in a food plot and another nicer buck (possibly a 4 year old) close to quitting time along a fence line about 125 yards away. It’s always good to be back in the timber! It was Amy ‘s first time archery hunting in maybe 21 years or so.

10/2 Sat the north fence jump behind the house tonight with Amy. This is a great spot that we can hunt over and over because access and exit is almost perfect. Tonight, we saw a small 8 point and 2 does with one fawn. Beautiful night to be hunting tonight but it was fairly warm walking in and out. Tomorrow, I’ll have more on tonight’s hunt, but we have company coming over tonight. I did pull the camera disc at that stand tonight….haven’t gone through it yet. Should be fun and interesting.

Short update about last night’s hunt. For those that have followed along in past years, you’ll know I (now we) hunt this stand a lot. Access is perfect making this possible. However, in the past I have also placed a small transition plot in this location and a mock scrape. There is also an enhanced ditch crossing here too that I’ve made better by tapering the crossing with the bucket on my tractor. The one thing I’ve done different here is I’ve eliminated the transition plot. It is certainly possible that we will see less deer in bow range because the attraction of the food plot is gone, but it is also true that deer will not come through the area and hang out eating so long they we eventually get busted….which has happened in the past. When deer bust you on stand, it burns that stand out very quickly. This location with the ditch crossing and mock scrape is SOOOOO good already, eliminating the transition plot just means it will stay good and fresh longer/better.

We did pull the SD card on a camera I have overlooking that mock scrape. It’s the first card pull on that camera for the year and it showed 692 pictures since we put it there about 5 weeks ago. Here’s the shitty part—my SD card reader on the laptop is broke, my portable SD card reader has now failed, and I have no way to get those pics from the SD card to the laptop at this time. I was able to look at the pictures on an older camera I have at home and there are some good bucks using that crossing. In a week or so I’ll hopefully have a new reader?

10/3 Amy and I split up tonight. We had a nice 15 mph NW wind which meant we could both hunt good spots tonight. She hunted a ladder stand on a neighboring farm that we put up for her this spring. It’s near where she watched the giant 12 last year. The stand sets up overlooking a fence jump leading to and from bedding cover and agricultural fields. She saw a handful of does and fawns.

I sat another new stand that was also set up this spring. It is set up taking advantage of a ditch crossing and a perimeter trail that the landowner mows once a year. The perimeter trail allows deer easy movement around the farm where they can use the trail and then dip in and out when they want to. Perimeter trails are a great way to focus deer movement around the perimeter of small properties. Also to my south is a pond about 80 yards away. I saw a few does and fawns also. This summer I installed a mock scrape upwind of the stand on the perimeter trail and hung a camera on it. I checked it for the first time tonight…it has a few good bucks on it and a buck I call “Swoops”. He was a nice buck last year and this year he is even better. A great buck for sure and one I’ll be trying to get at. I’ll upload photos of him when I get the card reader.

It was a balmy 77 sunny degrees when we went into the field tonight. A little warm making it hard not to sweat and get a little warm on the longer walks in, but it was really nice and cool after we got settled in. So…this is my first rant. There are “professionals” out there that will tell you on a warm night like tonight the chances of killing a giant buck are almost non-existent. I won’t argue that when it’s warm, especially really warm, hunting can be quite difficult. Especially making it uncomfortable for the hunter. But not deer. They will move on nights like tonight In fact, deer move during any and all types of weather. Anyhow, these professionals have very sophisticated ways of combining all the pertinent factors into formulas that can help any hunter pick the best days to hunt…all you have to do is buy their very affordable app. One of these guys even says to stay home and not hunt until his app tells you it’s a good day to hunt. The thought is if you only hunt the “good” days, you’ll keep your farm fresh and won’t burn it out. It’s a self full-filling thing…if in fact you only hunt when you are supposed to, it makes it impossible to kill a great deer on the days that you aren’t supposed to hunt? Kind of like saying “you can’t kill a giant buck on hot days”, then never hunting hot days…well you just made it impossible to kill a buck on hot days. See where I’m coming from.

Anyhow, it works like this. These guys who are selling you this stuff consistently kill big deer because they have access to some of the best hunting areas in the nation…hands down. They kill big deer, every year. It’s their access to these properties that makes them consistent big buck killers. Now, I’m not saying they suck at hunting, but I am saying their app has nothing to do with it. So, you and many other hunters buy their app hoping it will give you the edge you need…they make more money giving them access to more property, so that they can kill more and even bigger deer. You have done nothing to improve your chances buy purchasing their app, but you have helped them buy more land or more access to other properties. If you’re one of these hunters, I can promise you I’m not picking on you. I used to have every gadget you could buy and killed nothing. Now, I spend ZERO dollars on gadgets and spend all my resources that I can afford on access to great land and making the properties I hunt the best they can be through great habitat and great hunting techniques. The two methods are not even close. More rants to come.

10/4 I sat with Amy tonight at the south ditch crossing at home. I had to hang a stand because all there was there was a ladder.stand. We got in fairly quiet, I hate hanging stands in season especially when this one could have been done this spring. Before getting on stand, I pulled the card from that camera very near that stand that was facing a mock scrape. The mock scrape was tore up pretty good. Again, some good bucks on that camera including Swoops a bunch of times. I had high hopes tonight as the stand sets up really good for a NE wind which we had. All we saw was two does and a fawn. I can’t share the pictures just yet. Hopefully by next week I’ll have the card reader.

The strategy so far for me is to try and move around as much as possible…checking cameras only when it works to check them while going in to hunt. I don’t feel I need camera data at all to hunt at this point, not on the farms I’m hunting at least. I know them pretty good and I’m confident in the deer movement. But, pulling cards on cameras and looking at the pics sure is fun!

I’m also getting to show Amy the entrance and exit routes…familiarizing herself with all the spots. She does know most of them as she’s been with me hanging most of them, but not all. It has become clear to me that while on stand she is a much better hunter than I am. I am much louder, move around more, etc. I’m used to moving around a lot because I typically can never hear deer…I have to see them because my ears are so bad. So I’m constantly scanning with my eyes. And, I can’t just sit still or my back starts to cramp and hurt. It’s my story and I’m sticking to it. But seriously, she is quieter and moves way less. We spent some time naming the bucks we are hunting this year, so far we have Ranger, Swoops, and Kaminski. Pretty good since most of our cameras have not been checked yet and it’s only 10/4.

10/5 Tonight we split up again. Amy sat the south ditch crossing at home hoping to catch one of the several nice bucks we have at that scrape and crossing making their way through tonight. She got in clean (no bumping deer) as expected but didn’t see anything.

I hunted a new stand at a neighboring farm ideal for tonight’s east winds. It was windy enough that I also got in clean. This is an issue for this stand because it is inside the timber a ways. I did see one doe and a fawn but that’s it. We are continuing to bounce around a bit. It’s not a bad idea this time of year to get some sits on stands that might be better later in the season. I like doing this because most of my stands have mock scrapes at them. This bouncing around and hunting different stands allows me to make sure the mock scrapes are still in tact…like if a buck ripped the licking branch off or broke it. It also allows me to make sure the stands are perfect…no unexpected obstructions, etc. At this stand location, I also had a camera and there was one nicer 10 point on it…but overall activity was low; also expected since this is more of a travel corridor. However, the stand is good and I was able to clear away a couple branches that would be in the way…and the mock scrape is being used.

As I go through this season, I am explaining how we are hunting and giving my opinions…or more so what hasn’t worked for me in the past and what is working for me now. Over the past almost 40 years of hunting, I’ve drastically changed the way I hunt. Even in the past 10 or 15 years I am changing how I approach hunting big whitetails. My approach is more or less getting away from having or buying stuff (gadgets) and spending the vast bulk of my resources (time and money) on habitat and hunting methods. Compared to many, I have a lot of stuff or gear, but compared also to some I have next to nothing when it comes to new stuff/gear. Most of my clothes is older than 10 years, my bow is from 2006…or 2007 maybe…my trusty decoy is older than 10 years. I certainly don’t have any skin in anyone else’s game. My point is this; if what you are doing is working for you and your goal is to consistently be hunting and killing big whitetails by all means why would you change. However, if it’s not working and you struggle most years to get on big deer, AND, you have trouble harvesting those deer, you might consider some changes. That’s all. You most certainly don’t have to do what I or anyone else says to be successful—but this blog is about what works for me. And I’m happy to share it and help any other hunter if I can!!!

10/6 Sat a ground blind on a neighboring farm, the same farm we sat opening night. We had another almost straight east wind. We set up the chairs in the blind so that we could see a long fence line to our southwest, and then some open tillable to our north. When we got there, we realized the farm renter had knifed in pig shit on all the tillable ground. If you’ve never smelt knifed in pig shit, let me tell you it can be pretty intense. We stuck it out. We did also get some light rain…not enough to do anything but enough to make us glad we were in a blind. This farm has seen only very small amounts of rain since late July. The food plot I planted there late August has seen almost no rain…like only a hundredth here and there. The plot therefore is not doing much because the seeds just will not germinate with no moisture. However, the plot/blind is setup to take advantage of a water hole to the west, and a timbered point forcing deer outward from the edge of the timber as they walk from south to north. The plan is when they walk the edge they are forced out toward the blind making them in range…and the one doe we saw tonight did just that. She came out to our south, worked her way north toward our plot…then came out to make it past that point. Perfect kill scenario. So, the set works as planned.

We have been hunting several smaller parcels so far this year. When I get my card reader up and working, I’ll share some of those bucks with you. By jumping around a little, we have a decent idea of what is going on, where the deer are feeding, bedding, etc. However, we have no good plan as of right now on how to take one of the good bucks that are around. Patience is key at this point.

10/7 Amy and I split up tonight. She sat a very small woodlot of about 2 acres hoping to see deer exiting standing corn and feeding out into some nice green hay ground. She had to sneak in from the north and sit on the ground along a fence line. I think she got in clean but nothing showed.

I sat an observation stand tonight. I didn’t even take my bow. From my position, I can see the entire bottom of our farm behind the house. I wanted to see if any deer were using our new switchgrass planting as bedding and if so where they were traveling/how they were using it. It was a very warm night, I could’ve warn shorts in for my sit. Around 6:30 I caught a glimpse of a big deer and rack headed away from my position. It was a good 250-300 yards away walking up from the cover of the switchgrass. I only saw the buck for maybe 20 seconds but got a great look at him. He is fully mature and I recognize him from last year…not much of a rack but he’s a big deer and fully mature. He was presumably headed to a green plot I have planted about 100 yards away from where I saw him. It is good to know he is using and bedding in our cover, but unfortunately I don’t have a way/plan on how to take him with this bed to feed pattern. But I’m still thinking about that?

We will be taking a few days off from hunting getting at it again on Monday.

10/11 Finally got a good soaking rain today. It rained pretty much all last night and most of the day today. It finally slowed and stopped late this afternoon so I went out by myself to see if I could get my eyes on a bruiser tonight. I sat the south ditch crossing. I love going in when its wet after a rain because I can sneak in so quiet. In fact, I must have been quiet because a doe stood up from her bed about 40 yards from me at about 6 o’clock. It was bedded along a pocket of cover/switch grass. That’s all I saw but what a beautiful night.

I wanted to update what the cameras have been showing from the last card pull here at home. I have 16 cameras out, and so far about 6 of them have yet to be checked at all, and another 4 haven’t been checked since late September. Those cameras are on farms that I am either not interested in hunting yet (kind of saving them for Forest and Lily) or they are on farms that I have hunters coming on later. However, there are some good bucks on the few I have checked around home. Here are three (below) that we ‘ll be targeting so far. No doubt, others will show up later…

10/12 Tonight we once again sat the ground blind at the neighbor’s place. We know with the food plot being the way it is (very bad) that our chances of seeing deer in this spot is not good. But, the wind was right for it, we wanted to hunt, and it’s a good access spot for this time of year. We got a good rain and on going in I checked and all the winter rye…just from that rain is germinating. That rye sat there since late August, and with this one good rain is now germinating.

10/13 Amy sat the north ditch crossing tonight by herself. I was feeling a little under the weather so I stayed back. She saw a doe early, then heard some chasing around 1/2 hour before quitting. Another doe was being chased by two good bucks and a little one. The little buck made it’s way right past here but the bigger bucks stayed on the second doe and never came close. Not sure, but she thinks one of the bucks might have been Swoops. Is this doe in heat already…doubtful but not impossible. She didn’t get a good enough look to verify either way as she was only catching glimpses of them. That first hot doe will trigger some great October hunting if you find her!!! Another thing to note, she said the tree with the mock scrape is now rubbed too. She didn’t pull the card on that camera but it will be interesting to see what buck made the new rub. Fun night to be on stand!!

10/14 So tonight, we were dealt with conditions that I hate this time or any time I’m archery hunting. There was a very slight breeze out of the north…barely noticeable with the forecast calling for 0mph winds out of the north at quitting time. With no wind, deer can use their senses of sight, sound, and even smell with unreal results. First, deer’s eyes are not like ours…their pupils are horizontally oval in shape and their eyes are on the sides of their heads. This allows them to see (in focus) around their entire body except for a very small area directly behind them. They can’t/don’t see colors like us, nor can they see detail like us, therefore buying hunting clothes for the camo pattern/color is an effort in futility. As long as you stay away from blues your ok. (They see colors near and around the blue spectrum very well) They don’t see detail like us, but they can see all around them in focus—something we simply can’t comprehend. For an experiment, put your finger out in front of you and look at it…it’s in focus right? However, when you do this your peripheral vision is compromised and objects behind your finger are not in focus…deer don’t see like this. They don’t focus on precise details like us (predators). Instead they see all around them in focus but with less details. They also don’t see above them as good as they can see around them on the same plain because of the shape of their pupils. HOWEVER, deer can see movement like holy crap!!!

Second, deer can hear very good. Again, so good we can’t comprehend what or how they can hear. I’ll leave that there for now.

And third, we all know how good deer can smell. Again, beyond our comprehension. So, when there is no wind, deer can see, hear, and smell at their best. They can see and hear so good because there is nothing else moving and nothing else making any noise from the wind…in other words there is no background noise or movement. If something, anything, makes a noise or moves they will stop what they are doing and try to identify what it is. No wind makes them very nervous because there’s no background noise or movement, so they see and hear everthing…and not only are they more nervous but they’ll bust you if you blink too fast. A zipper on your pack, maybe the rubber of your boots rubbing against a cable on your hang on…it’s OVER. And, with no wind, as the sun sets and it starts to cool, you add in evening thermals sucking your scent down your stand and around the tree. With no wind your scent makes a barrier or scent shit ring around your stand that will alert any deer that does get close…which of course is almost impossible unless you can not move and you can hold your breath for 2 hours…no blinking either.

Against our very informed knowing better, we went anyway…and got busted. A doe was about 80 or so yards away and picked us off through the green foliage…then the stomping, snorting, running away…coming back with more stomping and snorting, you get the idea happened. We knew better, but apparently didn’t. We went because Amy saw those two good bucks last night possibly with a hot doe…possibly? Then this morning, she saw two big bucks with a doe about 600 yards from where she was sitting last night on her way to town. Was it the same two bucks, was it the same doe, was she in heat??? It seemed worth a try to at least try to be in the area to have a chance at those two deer.

I hate hunting in those conditions for the reasons stated above—and because there is at least some scientific proof that deer do move better with at least some wind. When compared to no wind, deer movement studies show deer can move slightly better to somewhat better (in some cases almost double) when there is wind at or above 3-5 mph. The science says this and my experience shows this too.

So…woooo, long winded tonight. The better move would have been observation sits, or maybe an enclosed blind (we hate hunting enclosed blinds during archery), or maybe even long range glassing. Those does that busted us tonight will not any time soon forget our position—a mistake by us! But I love it, tonight they won big!

10/15 We split up tonight. Amy sat a stand where she is in range of a cattle fence jump, but where she can also see quite a bit a ground. She saw two does and one giant buck. None of the deer got in range (or used the fence jump) but she got a pretty good luck at the giant buck and—it is either the giant 12 point from last year, a buck we are henceforth calling Ranger—or it is another giant buck we can hunt. In either case WOW. She said it had 13 or 14 total points and the rack was dark. No pictures of a buck matching this description yet but that’s not surprising since we aren’t too aggressive with our cameras. If it is Ranger, it was good to lay eyes on him confirming he’s still alive.

I sat a different farm. The stand is an inside corner, in combination with a fence jump, and I have a mock scrape on a mowed perimeter trail in front of me. I saw 5 or 7 does and fawns and two small bucks. I need to hang some cover in the stand I was in like cedar branches or something because I felt too open all night. There was a camera on that mock scrape and I did check it…a great buck Amy found the sheds to showed up. (picture below)

Random Rant 10/16 I am mostly disgusted lately when I try to watch a hunting show or read a magazine article on hunting. The bombardment of advertisements and plugs for products these people are sponsored by is relentless. But let’s be clear, these hunters are not killing big bucks year after year because they use T-Raptor Super HD food plot seed (I made that up), or they are wearing the latest high tech camo with neon highlights (what’s that all about?)…it’s because of where they hunt. It’s their access to great hunting areas/properties that makes it possible. I can say this because many years ago I was duped by the marketing…bought into all the bullshit…but still struggled to see and kill big deer.

I’ve been hunting a long time. And I was very lucky/fortunate to have made some decisions in my quest to hunt big deer that pulled me out of the quagmire or circle of trinket buying. In my 20’s, I got into a lease with 4 other guys in a great area in Wisconsin. Big buck heaven. It’s that experience, and others pre and post, that has made it obvious to me what the three key factors are in being able to consistently kill big deer.

1. To kill big deer consistently, you absolutely must be hunting in an area that has big deer. Not just one every couple years on camera…but several every year. Especially if you are hunting small properties. You have to be in a good area, plain and simple. Or, you have to change your property and hopefully your neighbor’s (with things like QDM) or better habitat so that you can grow and hold big deer. If you are the only one willing to practice QDM in an area, the hunting pressure is high, and you have a small property, your chances are not great. That’s the truth. You can make things better, maybe get a few bucks to their next age class….but you’ll never kill big deer every year.
2. You need ample time to hunt. I learned this years and years ago when I hunted the big northern forests of Wisconsin. We could consistently get on big deer, see them….but we couldn’t kill them. Why? Because we had no vacation or time off. We were half weekend hunters. By the time we drove 3 hours and hunted for a day and a half—and figured out a pattern or food source, or some other thing we could exploit, we were driving home again. By the following weekend, most times we had to learn it all over again. It was very hard to accomplish anything hunting this way. If we had say 3, 4, or 5 weeks of vacation to put a good hunt together…maybe it would have been a different story.
3. You need basic understandings of woodsmanship and deer behavior. Knowing how deer can smell you, how to use the wind, how to be quiet, what their preferred food sources are, how to be quiet and hunt without them knowing they are being hunted. You can’t buy anything to do this for you. It takes time, experience, and a willingness to self evaluate what you are doing (continuous improvement). Repeating what works, and stopping or changing what doesn’t. Good hunting skills really aren’t that difficult to learn. Hunting big deer without them knowing they are being hunted—That’s key! (A lot of these things can be learned right on this website for free, just saying) Want to change #3, focus on how to use the wind so that deer NEVER smell you. That’s a great start!

Put all three factors together and you’ll kill big deer every year, year after year. If you have the first, but not the 2nd or 3rd…you’ll struggle. If you have 1st and 3rd, but no time…you’ll struggle, etc. I have many friends who are great hunters, really superb hunters, that simply don’t have 1 or 2…and they struggle. It’s these three factors that allow professional hunters to kill big deer every year…nothing else. I promise you this. So, if you want to get on some big deer…look at these three factors, find where you are deficient in them, and start to change what you can. And when you watch the next episode of your favorite hunting show on TV, remember everything else is all bullshit. (Sorry)

Two final thoughts. When it comes to hunting (and life), there are two rules I have when trying to learn. First, never, ever, and I mean never, take advice from someone who is trying to sell you something (Like T-Raptor Super MEGA HD food plot seed). Their opinions are biased because they have to be, they can only offer you advice if it fits within what they are trying to sell you. And second, never, ever, and I mean never, take advice on a subject from someone who has not excelled or succeeded in that area (unless you want to know how not to do it). Be kind, listen, nod your head, but then forget everything they said and move on!

10/16 Another “perfect” night tonight for archery hunting whitetails. Nice constant winds out of the straight west. A nice cool and crisp day meaning you are comfortable going in and on stand. Mid to late October can be great hunting and fantastic weather just to be out there. I love this time of year. I picked the north ditch at home…Amy would have gone but she was not feeling the best today. I have several choices for tonight, so I picked the north ditch because I just love this spot. It is bullet proof on nights like tonight for access, and it is just suck a good spot. I was hoping to lay my eyes on Swoops, but any other good buck would do. I saw a handful of does and fawns coming out of our switchgrass and heading to combined corn to the north…once again good to see deer bedding in our bottom ground. When we bought the property in 2016, that entire bottom was reeds canary grass—reeds canary is about as useless as it can get for habitat. It took us a few years but it is now nice 6+ foot tall warm season grasses and the deer are having it. At quarter after 6, this nice buck came out of the switch and came my way ultimately spending about 15 minutes out in front of me scraping and rubbing. Below is a short clip of what I got to watch for quite some time. I think he’s a 4 year old and I’m hoping Amy will get a chance at him.

Before going to this stand, I did hang a camera where Amy sat last night on that fence jump. They aren’t using it so much this year…hopefully they will start but the habitat on that farm has changed dramatically from last year, so we’ll see.

10/17 Amy and I both sat observation tonight. I had road duty, Amy sat a cow pasture with the utv. Here’s our thoughts. I have a couple target deer right now that I would gladly shoot. They are Ranger, Swoops, and Kaminski. I know naming them is kind of dumb…maybe even what eveyone else does, but it is a good way for us in camp to talk about the deer and we all know what buck we are referring to. Not only, but there is a reason (usually twice or three times removed) why we give them the names we do. There is one more buck that is a wide 10 too (no name yet). Out of all the bucks, I think right now we only have a play on Swoops; at least something I feel that we can strategize about this time of year. The bucks are still on a bed to feed pattern, but are heavily scraping and rubbing, and they are moving more and more every day. The only play on Swoops…the wind won’t work tonight. So instead we are glassing to try and gain more intel and maybe even see another good buck or see another pattern. We can hunt every day, so it makes sense to take intel when we can and it makes sense tonight…something we should have done a few days ago when there was no wind. Anyhow, I saw 9 total does and fawns. All were using (bedding) in a small clump of cover behind the house surrounded by screening cover (switch grass). 6 went north to cut corn, 3 went east to a small green plot I have in there. Amy saw one good buck (not a shooter though) cross a dirt road and also head toward that same green plot I could see. I saw him go into the plot, lost him, but never saw him again. So, this is now triple confirmed a good number of deer are bedding behind the house. We have no stands/blinds/cameras in there on purpose. This is bedding cover and a small sanctuary and will stay that way. Instead, we’ll cut them off going in and out. Good night! Mission accomplished.

10/18 I saw with Amy at the North Ditch stand…again. But I’ve said it tons, we can sit there over and over with south winds and be in the game AND not put pressure on deer. Tonight, we had a doe and two fawns use the ditch crossing perfectly and it would have been a chip shot. About a half hour before quitting, a big deer stepped out of the switch grass in the bottom about 200 yards away. It was starting to get dark and at that distance I went for the binoculars over the video camera. Instantly I saw it was Swoops. He was standing in one spot grooming himself and rotating between intently watching south and then east. Our neighbors to the south were combining soybeans, and the farmer who rents our farm was combining the soybeans on our land to the east. The buck was not spooked, but definitely felt he moved enough until dark. The the east is a nice green plot I have planted directly behind the house where I saw deer going last night while glassing. I did try a couple grunts but the harvesting equipment was so loud I doubt he could hear it. We stayed on stand until he finally left which was well after shooting light…and then snuck out of there. He was headed for that green plot. He is an AWESOME buck. I have been hunting him all of last year and now this year, and it’s the first time I have laid eyes on him during archery season. I saw him once on a late muzzy hunt last year…that’s it. What a buck!

10/19 Many updates today. First, I checked cameras on two farms that I have not checked cameras on at all yet this year and/or only once a long time ago. Both farms have some really nice deer showing up on them with some daylight movement. I’ll update tomorrow with some pictures. Good news is this is only 10/19 and already a good group of mature bucks on both farms. Those farms, are being “soaked” for archery hunters I have coming in camp. When they are done hunting them, we can hunt them as well if we so choose. One of the farms is where I shot my 207″ buck last year…another is where a hunter shot that mega-giant 8 point two years ago.

Another update…on the one farm (talked about above) I had some really nice fall planted clover plots coming in. When I checked cameras today, those plots are done—nada—nothing but dirt. I was shocked! On the walk into the farm I noticed much of the farmer’s alfalfa was also in rough shape and I was worried. Army worms have been making their rounds around here over the past month, and they destroyed my clover plots. The brassicas are fine-clover destroyed. Now, I know it’s late, but I’ll plan to replant with winter rye in those destroyed plots. Crazy and pissed!!!

We sat tonight once again in the north ditch stand. Hoping for a view of Swoops. Saw several does and fawns and once again Swoops came out of the switch grass and mostly went where he went last night. I checked the wind, we are having good heavy winds tomorrow night again out of the SSW. I have a plan to set Amy up on the ground with our decoy out in front. Still planning, but I think we need to make a play on him!

10/20 So here was tonight’s plan. Today, I spread 3000 #’s of winter rye cover crop over the cut soybeans here at home. The spreader uses my 540 pto and makes quite a bit of noise along with the tractor. Deer do not necessarily see farm type work as pressure, as was evident the last 2 nights we saw Swoops after the combines were going. So, while I was spreading the rye, I stopped very near where we saw Swoops the past 2 days as he went north to cut corn. Not where he was bedded in the switch grass, but maybe 200 yards from that edge. I brushed in a quick ground blind against a black locust clump and put the decoy out on the ground (not stood up yet of course). Tonight we snuck into that blind and I stood up the decoy. We had strong winds from the west making the ground assault possible on that thinly covered fence line we were sitting. We saw 5/6 does and fawns that came close, really close, walked around the decoy a bit, but eventually decided they didn’t like it too much and left. Swoops never showed. Did he move bedding a bit? Did my tractor scare him (doubtful), did he see us walk in? Who knows really. My guess…he just didn’t move tonight until after dark. Normally I am not this aggressive this time of year, and don’t use the decoy this early either. But, I have a ton of pics lately with multiply bucks sparring in the pics, and I really thought if I could get Swoops to see it that it would be game on. He won tonight.

10/21 I sat a neighbor’s farm tonight. I had to get into that stand and brush it in some with cedar branches so that it would be ready for the rest of the season. I would say this stand was hung for when bucks are more in the cruising mode, maybe another week or two. The brushing in was successful. I stayed and finished out the night there and saw 6 does and fawns, and three bucks, two yearlings and one really pretty 3 year old. This stand takes advantage of a fence jump and an inside corner. I put a mock scrape in there late summer more of a way just to maybe slow a buck down while he’s cruising through. The scrape is tore up.

Amy had observation duty tonight and sat on a road near the house to see what was coming out to some cut soybeans. A handful of does and fawns and a couple small bucks.

10/22 I sat with Amy tonight at the neighbors. The Windy app on my phone said east winds at 0mph…another windless evening sit that I hate. It was a beautiful evening though. We saw two 21/2 year old bucks and one or two does. The food plot on that farm that has sat dormant because of no rain has finally sprouted and greened up a bit. It was planted in winter rye and brassicas back in August. Very little brassicas made it up and hardly any rye. I think turkeys got most of the rye because it never got rained on…so I spread another 100 pounds or so of rye on top of it maybe 3 weeks ago and the rains we got here a few weeks ago have somewhat salvaged that plot. We are just bouncing around trying not to hunt any one area too much. Still waiting for another opportunity at Swoops. Looks like all east and north winds for the next few days. I’d like the wind to pick up a bit and I’d try to start working some morning sits in.

10/23 We had great easterly winds tonight that were steady around 10-15mph for our way in, and the winds stayed all night even though they backed off a bit. That’s exactly what I like. Amy and I split up, she sat the south ditch at home, I sat a pinch on a neighboring farm. Amy saw nothing but it’s understandable…they were combining literally right next to her stand. We were hoping they would finish earlier but they didn’t. I saw only a fawn. There was a camera on a mock scrape at my location…I checked it to see Swoops on it yesterday morning at around 9 am. So…just like last year, he has moved to his more fall range around mid-October where I’m sure he’ll spend more time now through fall and into winter. I’m sure he’ll be back through our bottom and stuff, but he’s moved just slightly.

As promised, below is a gallery of some of the bucks that showed up on the last camera pull at the farms that are soaking. These farms will have archery hunters on them soon when they come into camp from Michigan and Louisiana. I think they’ll be hitting the farms at their peaks.

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10/24 So, I wanted to share intel I got from last night’s sit. I have a camera in where Swoops spent the lion share of his fall and early winter in 2020. This year, he spent a lot more time right behind the house no doubt because the habitat was better than years past because of the switchgrass planting, a small food source, some hinge cutting, etc. But, he still moved to his favorite area. I was hoping to get one more shot at him behind the house with the decoy (and still may) but for now he has moved. I have several pics of him almost 1/2 mile from our bottom and it’s early morning. My thoughts are he is now using a sidehill covered in sporadic cedars and grasses as his main bedding. We’ll see if I’m right?

10/24 No hunting, total rain out.

10/25 Sat this morning for the first morning sit of the year. Sat a new stand on the neighbor’s farm and saw nothing. It was good to get into that stand though, first time this year, to make sure the stand was in good shape, shooting lanes were adequate, etc. All looked good! I chose that spot because it is in the timber and access is not the greatest but we had heavy winds this morning making my access ok.

Tonight, Amy sat the south ditch by the house, I sat a ground blind overlooking a very small food plot and fence jump. My ground blind also seconds as an observation spot. Amy saw a bunch of deer, maybe 12-15 does and fawns, two little bucks, one GIANT buck she thinks was Swoops (???) and another mature buck that I also saw right at quitting time. The mature buck we both saw at quitting time was far away crossing picked soybeans…so far you could make out a good rack and huge body but that’s it. I saw another 2 little bucks and a handful of does and fawns. Now…the GIANT Amy saw she thinks was Swoops, but she didn’t have her binoculars (she forgot them in a blind a few days ago…these things happen). She watched the big buck come out very close to the north ditch crossing and work a scrape for quite some time. Then it just stood and watched the other deer, scratched his back a bunch, and eventually left to the west and out of sight. I pummeled her with questions about the buck dismayed that Swoops would be over there? I thought for sure he was south almost 3/4 of a mile from where she saw him tonight. She knows one thing for sure, no binoculars, about 200 yards away, and it was a giant! If it’s not Swoops, maybe it’s Ranger (the giant 12 from last year). She’ll be the first to admit that she can’t identify specific deer easily, but I’ve also hunted with her enough that she knows a good buck from a young one. We’ll see, hoping it’s Ranger that she saw. Another great night to be an stand.

10/26 Just took some time today to brush in a new stand that was hung this spring. It needed to get some cover put around it so that it wasn’t so open. This work should have been done late summer…but you know how it is. It is super windy out today so I thought it would be a good day for it. I think I got in, did my work, and got out without any deer being the wiser.

10/26 Sat this morning downwind of bedding on the neighbors. Saw three bucks and a doe with a fawn. Biggest buck was a 3 year old 8 point. Sat tonight in the stand I brushed in this morning overlooking a ditch crossing and saw 2 does, 2 fawns, and one decent buck that must have caught me moving because when I saw him he was running away from me at about 80 yards or so and he was not having it. Amy sat a small woodlot close to home and saw 5 does and fawns and one little buck. She was sitting on the ground along a fence line and said she almost could have touched a couple of the deer. It was windy tonight so as long as deer were upwind you were good. (unless you are moving around like I was). Looks like a lot of rain coming the next day or two, I’m going to try and sneak in another morning hunt before the skies open up again. We’ll see.

10/27 Forecast was heavy rain today. I got up this morning and the radar and conditions did not look good so I didn’t go this morning. After the fact, I probably could have gone and only gotten a little wet. I used the time to get the cabins ready for hunters coming into camp this next week. The evening was a total rain out so Amy and I just drove around and did some glassing in the neighborhood…we saw deer feeding in cut corn and soybeans, green hay, and even saw some chasing. Looks like tomorrow morning might be another rain out?

10/28 So far today (as of 1:29 pm) it’s a total rain out. I don’t think there will be any hunting tonight either. But…I do have one announcement of sorts. For I think over 5 years I’ve been writing editorial for Iowa Sportsman Magazine. The past 5 years, I’ve had my own column. The editor asked me to write monthly topics that the avid whitetail hunter can do every month all year. I jumped at the idea and chance. So, my articles stressed on habitat improvements to make your hunting grounds better, finding great places to hunt, hunting skills, and very limited amounts of gear related content. (In other words, the three keys to success…1 hunt where big bucks are or grow your own, 2 enough time off, 3 good skills). I enjoyed the hell out of doing it and really enjoyed readers comments and questions. This spring, I was asked to make contacts with vendors (companies that would buy adds) and then put those vendor or company names in my articles. I refused. I only write about what works for me and won’t write plugs for people. In 2021, two of my articles were changed to include plugs for companies I had never even used…I was very upset and said that was unacceptable but was told the content was not my property once I sent it in and was paid. Well, I finished 2021 because I committed to that and have since quit writing for them. I will not whore my writing out, plain and simple.

Anyhow, tomorrow looks to be the next day we’ll be getting back after it, and two hunters from Michigan will also be in camp!

10/29 Got up this morning and got rained out again. Tonight, Amy and I split up again. She actually took our nephew Kase with her, my friend and brother-in-law Anthony sat observation, and I sat in the timber tonight. Amy sat the south ditch crossing and saw a handful of does and fawns and three bucks. The bucks put on a show rubbing and scraping in front of her and Kase for quite some time…eventually they came right by her and she passed on the biggest…a 4.5 year old brute we call Kaminsky. She new it was him but just didn’t want to end her season quite yet. He’s a 9 point buck with an impressive brute like body. After the fact, she said she regretted or even screwed up for not taking the shot. This is how I look at it…passing a buck because you don’t want your season to end is never a screw up in hunting. Screwing up in hunting is antler shaming someone who shoots a buck that “isn’t big enough”, or not letting a youth hunter track a deer on your land because they might disturb your trophy property. Those are true stories. Hats off to Amy, what a great night of hunting for her and Kase. She’ll get another chance…you watch!

I saw a few does and fawns. All movement we saw tonight was just natural movement, no chasing. Every day now will be a good day to be on stand. (Isn’t every day a good day to be on stand though!)

The Michigan brothers (Brent and Denny Baskin) are in camp today. No updates from them yet. If and when I get updates I’ll share.

Update for 10/29 from Brent and Denny. They had a good first night out. Together, they saw close to 20 does and fawns and one little buck. They said they got in and out clean and none of the deer busted them while on stand. Many deer in range.

10/30 Amy and I both sat different spots this morning. She had deer all over her for most of the morning. A handful of bucks but nothing big. I sat 800 yards from her and saw a bunch of deer in the morning…all were spooked and acted like they busted me even though I know they couldn’t have. All were upwind and too far away and I wasn’t moving at all. About 8 o’clock or so I spotted the neighbor trying to stalk through the timber with his bow. Then it all made sense. I don’t think he realized how badly he was spooking those deer.

Amy and I split up again tonight. I sat the north ditch crossing at home, she sat a fence jump on the neighbors. We both saw a ton of deer, a bunch of little bucks. I saw Kaminski right at quitting time…man he is a big bodied deer! And, I pulled the SD card at the stand I was in and back on the 25th, when Amy saw a giant that night by the stand I was hunting tonight, I confirmed it was Ranger. He is ALIVE! It’s our first confirmation of him…what a GIANT. And, I picked up another great deer at the neighbors on a different camera I checked form this morning’s hunt. Some really nice deer to be hunting!

Brent and Denny saw around 30 does and fawns and 2 nice 8 points (not shooters but nice deer). They said they are having a great time so far. The wind shifted about an hour before quitting time tonight so they got down and backed out to not bumble any deer. Good Call!!!

10/31 Sat this morning overlooking a perimeter trail and mock scrape on the neighbors. Only saw one little buck. Amy took one of our neighbors to the airport so she didn’t hunt this morning. Tonight, we split up. Amy sat the south ditch at home and saw Kaminski again and a few other does and fawns…nothing close. I sat a stand overlooking a fence jump and cut soybeans. I saw a doe being chased by a mature 9 point, jumped the fence by me and ran to my north. About 4:45 some does and fawns started working toward me and then I saw another bigger buck with that same 9 point…it was RANGER! He took his time and followed the does and fawns out to the cut soybeans. Once in the beans, he raked several trees and worked several scrapes along the edge, and then ultimately went off and away. Closest he got was maybe 80 yards. He uses the fence jump I was over…he’s done. But instead he used a farther jump about 200 yards away. He is an absolute giant. A mainframe 12 point with at least 2 more points, 20—maybe 21, 22 inches wide. His main beams are pushing 30 inches. Biggest buck I’ve ever seen hunting, easily! Now, devise a plan to take him!

Brent and Denny saw 20 does and fawns during the day, a couple small bucks, some 2.5 year old bucks, and that same mature buck that Brent saw chasing does the other day. He texted me this when he passed on that mature 8 point the other day…Tom, this is a picture of that 8 pt. from last night. He was my opportunity at a mature buck and I very easily could have taken him. I gave him a pass because I’m willing to go home without a buck simply for a chance at a bigger buck, and to be truthfully honest…just to be able to continue to hunt this hollowed ground. This is phenomenal and I am thoroughly enjoying this opportunity.

He sent along two pictures. The first pic is when we put in a mock scrape near a treestand using two fence posts and a curvy piece of hedge wood. Then, we hung another small piece of a hedge branch vertically hanging down as the licking branch. I remember thinking to myself that these guys must think I’m nuts the way I was doing it. Well, that mature 8 walked right into that mock scrape and gave Brent an easy shot if he wanted it. I put in mock scrapes for many reasons. First, if no scrape exists, I’ll supply the overhanging branch so that they can scrape under it. Second, most times, a scrape is not in the right location for a camera trap or for being in bow range. It’s another way of sweetening the pot for a tree stand set-up. Third, I’ll remove any scrape by removing the licking branch in an area if they are not in range of my stand. You can use just about anything for the licking branch….a fresh cut branch, a natural vine, a piece of rope, a piece of wood…anything. You absolutely don’t need some special licking branch thingy you can buy. Please don’t buy the licking branch thingy! Below are two pics from when the Baskin brothers and I put in that mock scrape and when the buck was in it.

11/1 Took the morning off. I was really tired and I was putting a plan together to take Ranger that did not include this morning’s hunt. So, the plan was to go in tonight where we’ve seen Ranger the past two years and deploy the decoy. I did just that and saw him chasing does around but too far away. The closest he got was maybe 250 yards or so. When he finally went to jump a cattle fence he had a really hard time. He didn’t want to jump it but did eventually but cringed really bad when he hit ground. I thought I saw a limp in him yesterday, now it’s confirmed that he has a shoulder injury…it sure didn’t stop him from chasing all night. Once he jumped that fence he headed south in a draw. So, I got down and moved as quickly as I could to another stand I had about 400 yards south and maybe 300 yards east from where I saw him last—-hoping I could maybe cut him off. Well, I didn’t see him but I did have Swoops at about 60 yards but not any closer.

I had deer all over me all night. I saw somewhere in the neighborhood of 35-50 deer total. Now, understand that both stands I sat I could see for hundreds of yards in many directions. Most of the deer I saw were long range but holy cow were there deer out tonight. I saw 4 or 5 mature bucks, maybe 12-15 bucks total (maybe more?). Every buck nudged and chased does at least some. Another great night.

On a side note…the other day Amy stayed on stand longer than I did in the morning. I eventually went to pick her up after all the deer finally left her location save one little buck. As I drove my utv in her direction from the house, the little buck perked right up from his bed where he was sleeping. He didn’t like the utv noise…but when I stopped about 400 yards from Amy and shut it off to wait for her at a farm entrance, the buck got up and got out of there. Don’t ever think that deer like or tolerate ATV/utv traffic. They hate them.

11/1 The Baskin brothers had a pretty uneventful day, they saw some does and fawns and one 2 year old 8 point.

11/2 So, remember last night I saw Swoops. He’s feeding on a harvested corn field behind our house. I thought he was bedding not even close to there…so I’m confused? Yet, last night I saw him again going to that corn. So, this morning I set up on the downwind side of what would be his bedding area. It’s almost 3/4 miles from that corn. At 8 am he comes in with that other really nice 9 point I have pictures of. He was as close as 30 yards but I had no shot. That’s crazy that he is still on a bed to feed pattern and they are that far apart. Incredible. I saw one other little buck this morning.

Tonight, Amy and I both set up on Ranger. She manned one fence jump, I manned another fence jump. If he heads south out of his bedding area tonight one of should get a shot. He was a no show. We did see a ton of deer (mostly long range) and one other mature buck.

Basking brothers saw some does and fawns and some small bucks but nothing noteworthy.

11/3 So, this morning I did not hunt. I’ve been battling a cold and last night, in it’s final stages, a cough came in. This morning I got up to go but couldn’t stop coughing. You know…that tickle you get in the back of your throat. So I decided to sit the morning hunt out. Tonight, I sat a bed to feed pattern stand in the timber and Amy had glassing duty. I saw 4 bucks, one decent buck the rest little. I also saw 4 does and 1 fawn. All the does and 3 of the 4 bucks I could’ve shot and all worked out from bedding past my stand and toward their evening feeding. That stand will be perfect when does start coming into heat.

Amy saw about 40 deer total glassing. She also saw that big 9 point I saw the other morning with Swoops. No Swoops tonight. I have a bad feeling he’s hurting…he didn’t look too good the other morning when I saw him. He was limping bad. I was trying to get a shot so I never did glass to see if I could tell what was wrong with him. Hope he’s alright. Anyhow, Amy’s glassing was a success. We confirmed a major bed to feed pattern the deer are still using.

The Baskin brothers saw about 20 does and fawns between them and a couple 3 year old bucks. Man, something has to give here pretty soon.

11/4 Well, the cough kind of subsided. So I went this morning to a spot on the downwind side of bedding overlooking a perimeter trail and mock scrape. I really thought I was going to see quite a few deer. All I saw was one little buck and a doe with 2 fawns. I sat till 11:00. Amy and I split up for the evening hunt. She sat the north ditch crossing at home and saw 6 bucks total and a bunch of does and fawns. She also heard a big buck fight go on for what seemed like a long time…then when the fighting was done a big shooter buck pushed a doe out of the brush/timber and they went toward the road. He had his nose right on the ground behind her…they eventually went all the way up past our house and then headed back north into our timber/switchgrass. Pretty cool!

I sat the neighbor’s farm and saw a handful of small bucks and a couple 3 year olds. Also a handful of does and fawns. Almost every deer I shot came within bow range…so that’s good. Now one of us just needs a giant to walk past us!

Brent and Denny Baskin had another day of mostly does and fawns. They texted me and I forgot exactly what they saw but it’s nothing too exciting. They are having (I’m guessing) the same problem I am having…constant winds out of the south making it hard to move around. That will change next week first.

11/5 I didn’t go again this morning mostly because of the south winds. I don’t have many options for morning hunts with south winds where I am currently hunting, and the spots I do have require me to access those spots in not the most ideal situations in the morning (I’m forced to walk near evening food sources). So, instead I took another morning off. Tonight I sat a neighbor’s farm about 20 minutes from home and saw a 2 year old buck and 1 doe and fawn. It’s about this time of year, every year, when hunters start to panic. Hunting or hunter fatigue can set in. Our plans didn’t pan out yet, vacation or time off might be getting low, some of the stands seem to be starting to get burned out…my only advice is this—Some of the best hunting is upon us right now and coming up!!! Pure and simple. Stick with it, be smart, patient and at the same time aggressive (hard to do both but?). Big bucks will start to be with hot does if they aren’t already and all it takes is for that one to come by you. Don’t mentally burn out…not now!

I have recently been reading and listening more and more about these radio collar deer studies that have been done. Many have been from places like Mississippi or Texas, so you could write those off as southern deer…but more recently another one has been done in PA. All the studies show peak buck movement at the same time as peak breeding. This is something I didn’t see myself hunting in the past—you know, the dreaded lock-down phase. But a radio collar simply can’t lie. So, if peak buck movement is still to come with me here in Iowa (November 15th is peak breeding) then I have a ton of good hunting to look forward to. As I (we) get closer to that time frame, I will try to concentrate more on great bedding on mornings and all day sits, and preferred food for evening sits. Great hunting still coming I can assure you!

11/6 Unfortunately, I couldn’t go again this morning. The damn cough! Every year I get this cold that really isn’t that bad…but then at the end I get this damn cough. It’s not so bad really except I can’t control it, especially in the morning. So, instead of coughing the woods to death I instead drove around in my truck this morning doing long range surveillance to see where deer were feeding like soybeans, cut corn, green. What I found this morning is that deer were everywhere. I saw does and fawns and bucks eating on all of the above. A lot of deer moving. It was fun, but I gained no good intelligence?

Tonight I sat a fence jump and inside corner on a neighboring farm about 20 minutes from home. I saw a really nice 9 point come through around 5, pause before the jump, and then made the jump and kept on going. He really was a nice buck but not something I wanted to shoot tonight. This is where it gets interesting…about an hour later to my south, I saw a good buck dogging a doe around. With my optics I could it was probably that same 9 point, it was about 200 yards away in some tall marsh grass. After a little courting, he mounted that doe and bred her! Holy Crap! As much time as I spend in the field I’ve not seen that too often. I lost them both right after that. Most deer in my area, upwards of 80-90% get bred between November 10th and 20th…but here we are on the 6th and wham bam!

The Baskin brothers told me today they are backing off their farm a bit. With all these south winds they are worried about over hunting the south wind stands that they have. Hats off to them. It’s not often you see out of state hunters (and I don’t mean that with any digs) with limited time being that patient! Awesome. They have a 300 acre farm to hunt and really haven’t been able to hunt almost half of it because of the winds we’ve had. I hope things move around a bit, for all of us.

Scotty Chabert started hunting my other farm today. This farm has sat soaking all season so far. He was texting me while on stand tonight and had already seen several shooter bucks and almost got a shot at one but he couldn’t stop it. That’s a good start!!

Tomorrow, I’ll try again to hunt the morning.

11/7 Hunted the north ditch crossing this morning and saw a handful of does and fawns and 4 bucks chasing one doe. Nothing close. More south winds. Tonight, I’m going after Swoops one more time with these south winds.

Tonight Big Buck Down. Check it out.

BBD Swoops Makes Mistake

11/8 Well, Amy and Forest are back in camp. Took better pics of my buck today. No morning hunting here.

Tonight, Amy and Forest went out in two different spots. Amy took a friend of ours in a blind on their property. They didn’t see a thing…Amy thought maybe she heard a deer walking in right toward quitting but then someone’s phone went off. Remember to turn your phone on silent when you take it in the field ok Eva! Sure was nice to have a celeb in camp tonight though.

Forest saw 20 does and fawns (ish), 5 little bucks, and 3 mature bucks. One buck was with a doe right in front of him all night grunting but he never got a look at it. Most of the deer he saw were long range…in fact nothing was in archery range. Crazy because he was sitting the south ditch stand at home..most times deer are right in range but it was crazy movement.

I manned the truck and drove around and glassed tonight. I also saw a ton of deer glassing and did see a giant 200+ deer close to home. The bucks I saw, and I did see quite a few, seemed to be in pockets. Where I saw one buck…I’d see 5 or 7 or more. Then giant cut corn fields without a single deer. Then another mile down another pocket of 5 more bucks. Each time I saw those pockets of bucks…you guessed it there was a hot doe in there.

Scotty hunted my farm today and saw some deer but nothing too noteworthy. He’s trying to move around best he can with the winds we have…OH—that brings me back to those damn winds. It was south again today, but then slowly switching over to the NE. But before it got NE, it would go SW…then W….then NW….then N….then finally NE. And all that switching was taking place afternoon and late afternoon. Hard to find a stand good for all those winds right! Scotty hunted or got into one stand then had to pull the switch late afternoon because of those damn winds.

I haven’t heard from the Baskin brothers yet, but they are looking forward to getting some different winds other than south. Hard to hunt same stands over and over without burning them out. I think we are all looking forward to some different wind directions here!

11/9 Forest, Amy, and I all hunted morning and evening today. This morning I saw one smaller buck, Amy saw nothing, and Forest saw a doe and two fawns.

Tonight, I got skunked, Amy got skunked, but Forest had a good night. He was sitting on a neighboring farm inside corner and saw a big shooter buck with a doe. Several aggressive grunts got him turned, but not committed. He tried a snort wheeze and the buck turned and came in but never got closer than 50 yards. It was a big main frame 10 and no doubt a mature buck He did also see one little buck.

Scotty didn’t see much today and was sitting a ditch crossing I put in at that farm this winter/spring. No word from the Baskin brothers yet but they’ve been seeing some deer, saw a decent buck chasing today, and used the NE winds we had today/tonight to get into some new spots. They also sat a couple observation sits to watch the main food source. I have some green food over there and 3-4 acres of standing beans. Not much has been hitting the main food when they were watching it.

I will say this. For my part, I will be trying to sit combo observation/hunting stands as much as I can. Where I sat tonight, I can see a ton of ground. Literally probably over a hundred acres or more…food, cover, draws. And I still saw no deer. It’s going to be so sporadic the next 10 days or so now, you are either going to have a great sit…or not so much. There might be some in-between sits, but it’s gonna be a lot of hot and cold.

11/10 Forest and I sat this morning about 1/2 mile apart. I saw two does and a fawn and I rattled in a little 6 pointer twice. Movement was early and slow for me. I could see a ton of acreage where I was sitting and that’s all I saw. Forest saw 7 bucks, all small except one three year old and one mature buck with a busted up rack. Movement was mostly first few hours but really good and consistent.

Tonight I saw with Amy on a food plot and we did see a decent buck very quickly in the timber chasing some does. I almost think it was a shooter but the view was so quick we just don’t know. We left at 4:30 on account of heavy rain. Forest sat bed to feed pattern and saw 10ish does and fawns and three little bucks. He also got rained out early.

Scotty saw good movement today and some decent bucks but nothing big. He’s been sitting ditch crossings, downwind of bedding today. It seems like it might just be a matter of time for him but his hunt is getting to the end soon.

The Baskin brothers have been hunting their butts off. I spoke with them today and they are seeing doe and fawn regularly but just not any rutting activity. Very little chasing, very little of anything when it comes to buck movement. They planned on hunted possibly through Saturday, but are pulling the plug tonight. It’s been almost two weeks for them, hunting hard, observation sits, but nothing is doing on their farm. They actually ran a camera of their own, caught a couple good bucks on it, but didn’t see those deer either. Sometimes this just happens. I can say out of every hunter/s I’ve ever had, they were the most prepared. They came in spring and hung some stands with me…they knew their farm very well, hunted it smart…but it just wasn’t to be. I don’t know what else to say about that? Sometimes it’s just so damn frustrating.

11/11 So, let’s break this down to morning and evening. I sat an observation/inside corner stand and saw 6 bucks, and 4 does and fawns. 2 of the bucks were mature, one was at 30 yards and easily could’ve shot. But with Amy and Forest both still hunting, I wasn’t going to kill that deer. Beautiful 10 pointer, nice heavy mass. Stand was in the perfect spot.

Forest sat downwind of bedding. I can’t keep track of everything he all saw….7 or 8 bucks, 3 mature bucks and a handful of does and fawns. Most of the morning from sun up until about 2pm he had deer in and around him. He passed on all 3 mature bucks waiting for something bigger.

Tonight, Forest sat the same stand (he actually never left). Action was a little slower but he saw another mature buck and passed it.

I sat the same stand I sat this morning and saw three little bucks. I got down at 5 (early by 1/2 hour ish) because I got a text from Scotty….BBD!

So, Scotty sat tonight in a spot I call The Boot. It’s an interior plot that actually turned out fairly good even with the late summer drought and army worms. About 4:45 a nice 10 point came in using a perimeter trail I established on that farm. A 30 yard shot…and Scotty saw the buck go down! He had a really good hunt on that farm and saw deer pretty regularly. Congratulations!

Amy sat tonight trying to get Ranger. She had deer by her early, saw one mature buck and then Ranger did show up trying to get his piece of the action with a hot doe. She tried grunting but winds tonight were 25-35 mph and she doesn’t think it ever heard the grunts. She was hunting a fence jump on the inside corners of two cow pastures. She had a great hunt and felt that she almost got a chance at that giant!

You might notice we hunt a lot of fence jumps. Down here in southern Iowa, if it’s not crop land it’s cattle pasture. Just about everywhere we hunt has cattle pasture at some point….the low spots in the fence, or in some cases where the bottom barbed wire is high, allows deer to jump (thus the fence jump) or crawl under. These spots are great spots to narrow deer activity down. It only really works when the fence is in really great shape with one or two bad (low or high spots) making it easier in that one spot for deer to cross.

11/12 Well, this morning we got up and it was WINDY! Forest and Jessica sat a stand down wind of bedding hoping to get out of the wind some. After dropping them off, I decided to go back home and bunk it. It was that windy. At sunrise, I could see white caps on our pond. When you can see white caps on a 1/3 acre pond, it’s windy! He did see a buck and doe but pulled the plug at 7:45. Almost literally got blown out of the stand.

Today, I spend the day winterizing the two cabins and checking cameras on the farms the hunters hunted at. I also pulled 3 blinds from my lease to use back at home. It was awful being out today. At one point, it was sleeting so bad I could not face into the wind because of the cutting wind and sleet.

Tonight, Forest is the only one that went. He made a play for Ranger and saw him only he was 400 yards away. He really is a giant. It was hard to stay on stand until quitting time. I want to be clear…deer will move in this weather. The winds were gusting 40mph and sustained in the 30’s Amy and I sat in the truck and watched a bed to feed pattern tonight and saw 24 deer, 3 mature bucks…nope make that 4 mature bucks. They will move in this weather. We didn’t go simply because it was so brutal we thought it would not be enjoyable. A ground blind would have been ideal.

11/13 This morning, Forest and I both went out. I sat a fence jump at home and saw 5 does and fawns. Honestly I couldn’t go past 9am. I got sweated up going in this morning…I knew I was going to pay for it but had no idea I would chill out that early. Normally, I’ll pack in all my clothes and only wear thin base layers or something in so I don’t get warm at all. This morning, the wind was still whipping pretty good so I layered up a bit and paid for it. Rookie mistake.

Forest sat downwind of bedding again and saw a good amount of deer and one great buck we’ve been calling the big or giant 9 point. We’ve decided to call him Chisel going forward.

Tonight, Amy sat the north ditch crossing at home and saw 8 does and fawns all leave our switchgrass and head to the newest cut corn in the area. I sat at our cabin farm and sat an observation stand since it was my first hunt there of the year. I saw 7-10 does and fawns eating standing beans. All deer came out of our cover where I did a substantial amount of cutting this past winter. More cutting needs to be done in there yet. But I felt good that those deer were using the bedding we provided for them. Only one little buck out there with them—that was a surprise. I was expecting to see a bigger buck or two but nothing. Forest sat downwind of bedding again and had a good night. He saw a handful of deer and one mature 8 point with good mass and tine length. It’s another mature buck that we haven’t seen before.

November 15th is peak breeding here in southern Iowa. We are almost at that point where roughly half of all mature does will have been bred. I don’t know why (I have my theories), but it sure seems like the build up to breeding is slow and builds and builds all fall up to this point…then somewhere around November 25th or so it just crashes to a halt. Bucks will go right back to a feeding pattern…yet you’ll see big bucks you’ve never seen before while hunting. We are 10 days or so from then. All good hunting! Keep at it if you can!

11/14 This morning Forest say a stand we call north pond. He saw a doe and two fawns and one mature buck. The buck was about 50 yards away cruising some cedar trees. I sat the south ditch crossing at home and saw only one doe at about 400 yards.

Tonight, Amy and Forest tag teamed a play at Ranger. They sat two draws leading from his bedding area, they could actually see each other. The idea was if he used either of those two draws that one of them would be close and maybe get a shot. He was a no-show. They did see around 10 bucks, nothing mature and a handful of does and fawns.

I sat a stand we call south pond. It was kind of a confirmation sit. We really don’t think many deer are leaving this one bedding area that we have been hunting and traveling south to cut soybeans. Tonight, from that pond south stand, I can see pretty much any deer leaving this bedding area and going south. I only saw one doe and two fawns. Granted, other deer could still have worked out that way after dark, but that stand hasn’t been hunted much at all so pressure wouldn’t have been an issue keeping deer from moving before dark. In contrast, Amy and I watched a few days ago from the truck as 25 or more deer left that same bedding and traveled north to a different food source. My sit tonight confirmed that most of these deer were not heading south our of that bedding on their evening feeding pattern. Tomorrow is another day and looks like warmer temps for a couple days…thank you for that. I was thinking my core body temperature was about 93 degrees after these last couple days in this cold and wind.

11/15 BIG UPDATES today. First, Forest saw Scarback this morning and another little buck. I got up, dropped Forest off for his morning sit, then reluctantly went back home. I’m playing conservative right now with almost 3 weeks left to hunt, and with Forest and Amy both hunting hard during archery…Lily coming into camp in a little over a month, the last thing I was to do is put pressure on deer. Forest’s hunt (at least as planned) ends this weekend. Amy will be gone the week of Thanksgiving visiting friends and family. I will stay at hunting…so I’m being patient only hunting when I feel I can have perfect access and not disturb deer at this point.

Now…the big news. This is big news for me! So…going back to the morning of November 2nd, I saw Swoops that morning with another big 9 point (we have since names Chisel). That morning, Swoops was hurting bad. I mean real bad. Right after that encounter, I regretted not trying to get a shot at him…even if it was a poor shot because a part of me just knew he was going to die, and soon. Then, a few days ago Forest and Jessica saw a bunch of coyotes and crows in that area diving and going nuts. Again, I thought it had to be Swoops. We haven’t seen him or had a single picture of him since November 2nd even though we had been seeing him regular. Well, today we pulled a card on a camera that hasn’t been checked since mid/late October and Swoops is in there on November 8th. WooooHooooo. He lives.

We also got a bunch of pictures of the buck I shot. He showed up and I killed him a day later. Crazy how that all works.

Tonight, Amy, Forest, and I all sat different wood lots. I saw two fawns, Forest saw one mature buck (he passed) and several small bucks and a couple does and fawns. Amy sat with Eva tonight and saw a buck and a couple does and fawns…and missed a doe. She came running in and Amy said she hurried the shot….swooooosh. A clean miss. Oh well, she hasn’t hunted archery in over 20 years. She got pumped and rushed it along.

November 15th is peak breeding. Almost half of all does have been bred by now. With another half yet to go, bucks will still be in pockets much of the time around a hot doe. The best places to hunt are close to bedding areas on morning hunts, and near doe feeding areas in the evening…or transition areas in the evening. Be patient, but hunt as much as you can!

11/16 Sorry I didn’t update Tuesday until tonight (11/17) Forest sat downwind of bedding up tight. He sat pretty much all day. One mature buck, a handful of 2’s and 3’s, and a handful of does and fawns.

Amy sat all day on a small food plot close to bedding. She saw 6 bucks total and a doe and two fawns. Around 2pm, a nice 9 point mature buck came in cruising fast, she didn’t have much time to react, took the shot, and missed. We’ve gone over and over what happened and the only conclusion we can come up with is she just rushed the shot. This is just a lot of not hunting for so long…how do you get your weapon up…aim…stop the deer…get the right angle. It’s a lot that has to come together with archery equipment. The only thing that will fix this is time and more experience.

I sat a stand on my cabin farm in the morning, then moved to the same farm Amy was hunting at night, taking only an hour off for a quick bite. Both stands were new and I wanted to see deer activity around them. I saw some small bucks and some does and fawns. I am already starting to generate a list for next year or this off season. Don’t think I’m not still trying hard for another buck right now, but I’m kind of giving Forest and Amy some room to work too. A sampling of my work list is:

Replace Salmon Run stand, Edge feather all transition plots (Cabin Farm), Switchgrass Cage Fight, Cut Crossover draw, Cut Salmon run ridge, Perimeter trail salmon run high….and the list goes on.

11/17 Today, Forest sat downwind of bedding all day. He saw a shooter 8 twice, a different shooter 8, a mature 10 point, and some younger bucks and does. He tried getting a shot at two of the mature bucks but they never quite gave him a good shot. The stand he is sitting in is a new stand and we’ve already identified that more and better shooting lanes need to be put in. He’s had some great encounters out of that stand but the shooting is pretty tough in there.

I sat a fence jump this morning and saw a nice 3 year old with a hot doe. There were several smaller bucks hanging around with them. Tonight, I went back to where Amy missed that buck yesterday and just did a double check to make sure she missed before my evening hunt. I didn’t find any sign of a hit deer and I did find her arrow with no blood or anything on it. We were pretty sure of a miss yesterday, but I wanted to make sure today. Tonight, I saw the same buck she missed (so that confirmed that!) and he was breeding a doe. He was with her on harvested soybeans all afternoon until dark. They never moved more than 100 yards all afternoon.

Amy didn’t hunt today. I will say this…the best most consistent action we are having right now is up close as tight as we can get to the thickest cover we can hunt. And, activity is pretty much any time of day.

11/18 Forest pulled an all day’er up close and personal to bedding cover and saw a handful of deer. Nothing mature today.

Amy sat tonight in a stand overlooking a fence jump. She went out at noon and sat till dark. She had deer in and around all day, and several of the deer she saw did use that fence jump including a handful of does. All it would have taken is for a shooter buck to be following one of those does and whamo!

I sat a ditch crossing this morning and saw one little buck, a doe and fawn, and one 3 year old 10 point with a small drop tine on both sides. He’s a future giant is all I can say about that deer. All the movement for me this morning was early, but I was not near bedding cover. Tonight I sat a new blind on my other farm overlooking standing beans. I saw some does getting chased around before they could make it into the field. Again, I saw a future up and comer..he’s a 2 year old buck with a ton of mass already and two main beams on his right side. Was a cold night tonight with that heavy NW wind.

11/19 I got up this morning and took Forest to his spot and dropped him off. He hunted close to bedding again this morning and saw one mature buck and some other bucks, does and fawns. I went back home but didn’t hunt. I didn’t have a spot I wanted to go with a south wind which is what we had this morning. Amy didn’t hunt either because she helped out at the high school this morning.

Mid-day, Forest and I talked about hanging a new stand near that same bedding area he’s been hunting. The area is about 30 acres in size and this spring we hung two stands in close proximity to its edge. One stand, on the SE corner hunts good with a west or NW wind. The other, sits on the NW corner, and hunts good with a south or SE wind. But, we’ve been seeing good travel and activity more on the north side of this area…we needed a stand more north or northeast part of this bedding. So, today we went in during the high winds and hung a stand to take advantage of a more SW wind. The stand is located only 100 yards away from the stand I killed my buck, but it’s in the right spot for a SW wind.

At 1:00, Amy got home from school and we got ready. We dropped Forest off at the access to the new stand and kept going over to the farm we were hunting. When we got to our farm, walked in, and got settled, I checked my phone to make sure Forest got in safe. What I saw was a missed call from him and a text that read, “you guys need to get in here to hunt”. I knew at that point a buck was down. Forest had a great buck down before Amy and I even got to our farm. What buck is it? Scarback! (Story coming tomorrow with pics)

To see Forest’s buck Scarback Click HERE

11/20 Forest finally got to bunk it today. Amy sat a ground blind overlooking a small food plot this morning. She saw a small buck, a doe and two fawns, and a big shooter buck. The big buck never came out of the timber. Tonight, after a short break for pics of Forest’s deer, she sat the same blind and saw nothing.

I sat close to bedding this morning and saw two little bucks. I sat a fence jump tonight and saw a handful of does and fawns, a few small bucks, and one decent buck I never got a good look at. Tomorrow, Forest heads back to Wisconsin. His 2021 hunt in Iowa is over. Amy is heading back with him to celebrate Thanksgiving with the family. I will stay in Iowa and keep after it. There’s only about two weeks left of the early archery season and I aim to stay on them!!!

11/21 So, with Forest being done, and Amy back in Wisconsin for a few days through Thanksgiving, I will be hitting the timber once again with a more direct approach at killing another buck. I have a landowner tag so I’ll be concentrating on the home and cabin farms, but I’ll also be hunting some other areas doing scouting and trying to take a few does. I still have several target bucks, Ranger, Swoops, Chisel, and others that I’ll be trying to pull a plan together for. Wind directions as always will be playing a key part in my selections. But, post peak rut, it seems like deer are more prone to pressure than earlier in the season, so I’ll be taking more caution with my hunts. Tonight, for example, I sat an observation stand overlooking what I believe to be Ranger’s core bedding area to see if he would come out. He didn’t. That means he’s either not in there right now, or he came out after dark. Either way, if he did come out and happen by me tonight I couldn’t kill him because I wasn’t observing from my land. I did see one 2 or 3 year old 8 pointer and one fawn. I could see a lot of ground and that’s all I saw. In a few days, you’ll start to see greater numbers of deer out feeding in the evenings as peak breeding is now on the downhill side.

11/22 I did not hunt this morning. I have only one, maybe two stands I would consider hunting at this point in the morning and the winds were not good for them. I did drive around the neighborhood at first light and saw 4 different mature bucks standing with hot does. All of them were on random harvested corn or soybean fields. At some point very soon this will end and mature bucks will have to work at finding another doe in heat. Peak breeding is November 10th-20th so many of the does have already been bred…the early ones are done and the ones that came into heat during peak breeding are now done. I’m only guessing here, but I would say 80% or better have now been bred. First year fawns and some straggler does are all that are left. First year fawns come into heat in early December.

Tonight, I sat thick cover in a new stand to see what kind of movement is in there. I can say one thing, we need some shooting lanes in there badly. I sat from 9 this morning until quitting time. Saw 4 does mid morning along with a 2 year old 8, and then one doe, one spiker, and one fawn tonight.

11/23 No hunting this morning. This evening it was sunny, warm, and a slight breeze. I love those conditions this time of year. I went out about noon and sat downwind of bedding again tonight. I was in the path of their bed to feed pattern thought tonight. I saw 5 bucks, the largest a buck we call Hader. Not a shooter. I also saw maybe 10 or 15 does and fawns. Most of the deer movement was near quitting time. Several of the deer busted me on stand…not because I moved or anything, they just looked up and busted me. That stand was never brushed in and the deer that busted me came straight in. I also had several deer work in directly at me, get past, and then smell me once they got down wind. The stand is directly in their bed to feed path which sounds good but not if deer work past and then smell you. I feel like if I went in tonight hunting a 10, I left leaving it a 5 with those deer busting me. That is something I go to great pains to avoid.

11/24 I had south winds changing to nw winds tonight for the afternoon hunt. I had no place really to go for any target bucks, but I did want to sit out. So I sat a neighboring farm where I can see a long ways in many directions. I saw 5 does and fawns, a buck we call Hader, and another massive mature 10 point buck. I could have killed both bucks but did not want to (and couldn’t because I was not on my property for my landowner tag). These deer are traveling upwards of a mile to get to the most recent cut corn field nearby. Crazy that they are traveling that far to get to the best food source around, but entirely sure that is what was going on tonight. All the harvested corn and bean fields that are closer are pretty picked over by the deer right now so they are going for the easiest meal they can. I want to sit bedding or food….tonight I couldn’t do either so I just sat an observation stand.

11/25 So, I did not hunt again this morning. I have a couple spots I would consider hunting in the morning but conditions would have to be perfect and they haven’t been. Also, I’m getting to the point now where I won’t again hunt mornings…not because you can’t kill a big buck this time of year on a morning hunt but because I feel it is going to put more pressure on the deer that I’m willing to do. Go into tonight, I wanted to sit food so I picked a spot on my Cabin farm. I can also fill my tag over on that farm if I want to. I picked a spot on a long skinny soybean plot that this time of year, every year, I see a ton of bucks cruise and feed on this plot. I got in around 2 and my access was perfect. Around 3 I started seeing deer a long ways off in a plot I call the boot…also soybeans and some corn. There were a few deer in the boot off and on, I had to glass over there to see them. Around 4:30 just as the sun went down over the hill to my west, I was glassing the boot when I noticed tines coming up over a dip in the skinny beans I was hunting. About 100 yards away a buck was cresting that small dip in the plot coming toward me…I put my binos on him as he came into full view. It was a fully mature buck with a GIANT rack. I told myself going into tonight’s hunt I would only shoot a giant on that farm because my daughter will probably hunt that farm quite a bit for late muzzy. Well, this was a giant. he had double forked brows, long main beams, long tines…that’s enough to see. I put the binos down and slowly started getting ready for a shot. Bow in hand, the buck was now at about 60, then 50 as he fed and walked the edge of the skinny plot. When he gets across from me, he’ll be at 30 yards and clear for a shot. Then 40, 35, then for no reason at all, none, he turns and walks into the timber and out of my life. WTF just happened. I laughed. That’s why I love bow hunting. A GIANT, 35 yards, and no shot. Sure, I could’ve tried to slip in a slightly quartering shot at 35, but why?

I called Lily on the way home to tell her about the buck. This brings up another point I’d like to make. I don’t have a single picture of this buck (at least that I know of). I haven’t checked cameras on that farm in weeks and don’t plan to until after late muzzy. It serves no point right now. Yesterday, when I saw that mature heavy 10 that I passed, he crossed my tracks at one point and it really pissed him off. He did not like it. He was already in range so it wouldn’t have mattered. However, let’s say I was only in there to check a camera, and he crossed those tracks…that might just be enough for that buck to avoid that area until after the season. It’s why I have no intention on checking cameras at this point.

11/26 Was a gorgeous day in southern Iowa. Highs in the mid 40’s, light winds. I sat a newer stand in between bedding and feeding tonight just to have some fun watching deer. I can’t shoot a buck there because it’s not my farm. I saw around 20+/- deer and had a bunch of deer around me all afternoon. The stand sits very close to bedding cover and I was seeing deer pretty much from the time I got on stand until quitting time. I saw 5 or 6 bucks, the biggest two were a really pretty 3 year old 8 and a super nice 140 inch 10 point that I think is probably 2 years old only. The last hour of hunting, I was in total lockdown mode (couldn’t move, breath or blink). It got really quiet and the wind stopped. I had deer all around me. What a fun night to be out. The strategy right now is to wait for the right conditions then head in after one of the target bucks. We didn’t have those conditions today so I went for just a fun sit. This time of year, I think you just really have to be careful about your access and scent and any amount of pressure you put on a big mature deer. I’m content at this point if I don’t get a second buck (I’m trying like hell), but I also am doing what I can to make sure I don’t burn out any spots with a week left to hunt.

11/27 Well, with less than a week left of early archery, Amy and I split up tonight. She went after Ranger, and I sat close to bedding cover on a different farm…again I can’t shoot a buck there because it’s not on our farm. She bumped a bunch of deer on the way in and then only saw one fawn. I saw a few does and fawns and 1 little buck. I do have a plan to try and harvest another mature buck but so far the winds have not cooperated. No doubt, I’ll get a couple good sits in yet this year.

11/28 Amy went after Ranger tonight. On her way in she bumped 3 deer then didn’t see anything until right at quitting time when a smaller 10 or 12 pointer came in with 3 does. It wasn’t a buck she wanted to shoot so she passed.

I sat a ground blind at our cabin farm, the same blind I saw that giant a few night ago. By 3 o’clock the wind completely died down and I wondered if this would be the night I got skunked this year. I hate it when the wind dies down to nothing well before quitting time like tonight. As it turns out, I did get skunked.

Right now, at home, there is very little “huntable” food sources for Amy and I to hunt. Most everything around had been in beans with an early harvest. By now, this time of year, there is little to nothing left in those beans. We feel most of the deer are west of where we can hunt maybe a 1/2 mile in some standing beans that never got harvested. I”m not sure what happened with those beans but they were planted in late June or July, were not sprayed very good, and the beans are horrible. However, deer don’t care about yield results and I’m pretty sure that’s where they are feeding right now. We know this is going to be the case year after year, as we have no preferred food on our home farm this time of year. You might ask why? Well, if we wanted to leave let’s say 4 acres of standing beans, that means losing rent for those acres, plus the cost of that planting which would be another $800 or so? It’s all a matter of priority I guess you could say. Next year, we do have plans to leave some standing crops here at home.

11/29 I sat downwind of bedding tonight…not where I want to be this time of year. I’d like to be on food or at least in a transition area to food, but the only farm we have that meets this criteria is our cabin farm and I’m kind of saving that farm for Lily’s muzzy hunt. I’ll probably sit there a time or two yet, but I surely don’t want to put any pressure on it going into the Iowa shotgun seasons. I got skunked again. Not surprising really….I’m in the wrong spot and the last hour of hunting found no winds…I hate no winds.

Amy sat a fence jump on a neighboring property and saw 8 does and fawns and 5 bucks chasing a hot doe. 2 or 3 of the bucks were mature, there was some fighting along with the doe tending. They all ended up coming her way but ultimately crossing the fence well out of range. Most doe have already been bred, but there are some late ones as well as some fawns that will still be coming into heat. It feels like our odds of tagging another mature buck at this point are dropping significantly. Some by choice (avoiding the cabin farm to save it), and some because we don’t have a good food source on any of the other properties we can hunt. We are both looking each day at the winds and trying to decide where to go. We both want a south wind at this point. Amy has her eye on a ground blind on a neighboring farm, and I would like to sit our north ditch crossing one more time this year.

11/30 Still looking for that south wind, you would think with highs in the 60’s that we would have south winds but not so much. The wind forecast was for a NW wind turning to south around 4 tonight. I don’t know of a single stand we have that works for both of those winds. The fact that it was switch in late afternoon really makes it tough to pick an evening spot. I chose a new ladder stand overlooking a high ditch crossing at the cabin farm. It is a new stand that I put together this past winter while doing a bunch of bedding work on that farm. I basically cut and pushed a bunch of hickory into a ditch making deer want to avoid crossing anywhere except the high crossing. At that high crossing I have a ladder stand and mock scrape. I figured I’d go in today around noon…check a camera Forest and I put on the crossing around the 12th of November, then leave when the wind switched. It was kind of an inspection/observation/see how it looks sit tonight. Deer are definitely using the crossing and I did pick up another great buck using the crossing/mock scrape. I did see I have more cutting to do in there. Still way too many tall skinny hickories in there. I got in around 12:30 and had to leave by 2:30 as the wind was switching already to the south.

Amy sat the south ditch crossing tonight. She bumped 6 does and fawns and one little buck on the way in, then bumped a shooter buck right at the stand. SUCKS! We will need to get some screening in place for better access to that stand. There was no wind today and the leaves are super crunchy because it’s been so warm and dry. Amy is as stealthy as they come…just too hard getting in there this time of year under those conditions. She then saw a few more does and fawns and one more little buck while on stand. The wind stayed slow and steady out of the north to northeast for her tonight. Three days left for early archery.

12/01 So, tonight we had more warm weather, it was in the 60’s on our way in. We had SW winds turning mostly west tonight. Amy sat the ground blind I saw that giant a few nights ago from, and I sat a ladder stand about 1/4 mile to her north. Both stands (blind) work well for any west wind. The blind and stand overlook soybeans, corn, and some brassica plots. We both saw nothing! You could say…the deer aren’t moving because it’s too warm. Wrong. Or maybe the neighbor driving down the fence line checking fence screwed up Amy’s hunt. Wrong. One of the other neighbor’s must be walking around on my land. Wrong. The point is, we were hunting arguably our best farm, tons of food in the form of standing grains and brassicas, so why no deer tonight. Our access is almost perfect for both those stands? Well, the warm weather did have an effect, but not the one most hunters would think. You see, on the way out, I bumped 10—15—maybe 20 or more deer all on alfalfa fields on the neighbor’s. And that’s not counting the deer that came out earlier, fed, then went back in the timber. Deer were on green tonight. Now, you must be saying how in the hell can someone who consults not have green then on their farm…well the answer to that is this is the farm that my entire fall planted green food sources perished to army worms late this past summer.

On some farms tonight, right down here in southern Iowa, some hunter was hunting over corn and saw a ton of deer and thought “boy the deer were sure on corn tonight”, Another hunter hunted on soybeans and saw a ton of deer and thought “boy the deer were sure on beans tonight”. Others saw a ton of deer on a green food sources and thought the same. Deer can only feed on what they have available to them. Some might have sat beans, or corn and saw nothing like us and thought, “boy this warm weather, deer sure aren’t moving”. I’m convinced, mostly because radio collar deer studies confirm, that deer were moving tonight everywhere. It’s our job as hunters to figure out how and where. Had my green plots not been consumed by the army worms…would we have seen deer—you bet! If you’re hunting over food, and no deer are coming to it, it’s likely they are feeding somewhere else because they prefer that other food source, OR, they aren’t there because of the pressure you’ve put on them. 2 more days of hunting!

12/02 Amy and I are still looking for that south wind, but it looks like the season will pass before we get one. We had mostly north, slightly east winds tonight so Amy and I both set up on Eva’s farm today. We got out early around 1. Amy was sitting on the ground trying to catch some deer snacking on some winter rye before heading out to cut corn…she got skunked. I sat completely across the farm on the SE corner. I saw a few does and fawns. Around 3 a doe was being chased around by a small buck and I really think she was in heat…you can just tell sometimes when it’s more than just chasing. She eventually came into range so I shot her. One doe down. The little buck didn’t seem to mind much and tried to nudge her even after she was dead. He wondered off and then another nicer buck came along their same trail, walked up to the doe with a dumb look on his face, and also moved off. Around 4 another doe came through…she get an arrow too.

With only a day left to hunt early archery, and no south winds, I am struggling to put together any kind of plan for Amy or I to take a good buck. It’s never impossible but it’s really not looking good at this point. I have two spots in mind…we’ll see what happens tomorrow.

12/03 Well, today was the last day of early archery season. I sat a ditch crossing at the cabin farm and saw one little buck. He did use the crossing just as he should and would have been an easy shot had it been a deer I wanted to kill. That’s all I saw.

Amy sat the south ditch here at home. The last time she went in she bumped a bunch of deer on the way in. Today, she drove the utv along side my truck as I went to the cabin farm, then veered off at her walk in point. ATVs, and UTVs are horrible for alerting deer. Then, she took about 45 minutes to walk in about 1/4 mile. Plus we had some wind today. She got in clean and ended up seeing about a dozen deer…all does and fawns and one little buck. There were 7 or 8 does and fawns bedding about 80 yards away from her. She watched those does and fawns get up and browse and bed back down all afternoon until the late evening when they finally fed out into our cut beans. They are still using our switchgrass behind the house but entrance into that stand is becoming trickier than in years past. We’ll have to put a plan together for that.

So, that’s it for this blog. I’m already starting a list for next season. We still have late archery and muzzy coming up starting December 20th (I think). I’ll run a late muzzy blog starting then.

So many things worked out for us this year, and yet so many things didn’t. It was a fun season and it was great to get Amy back at it (and I think she had a great season as well). Forest said he never had a two week stretch of seeing deer and shooter bucks like he did this year. I have a ton of habitat and hunting work (like fence jumps, blind placement, shooting lanes, stand relocating, hinge cutting, tree girdling, woody browse direct seeding, pine planting, etc.) I don’t have any expectations of getting it all done, but I’ll bite off what I can as soon as our late season is over or Jan. 10 comes. Season opener is less than 10 months away!!!