70 in Texas, 50 in Oklahoma
- Thread starter TexOk
- Start date
TexOk
Active Member
I knew I wasn't crazy! Maybe I should have said cereal rye...
TexOk
Active Member
Thanks Lak, I'm hoping the clover comes up decent. Not expecting anything crazy my first go around, but some decent germination would be nice! One way or another the neighbor situation will be settled after this season, because we are definitely hunting there next year!
TexOk
Active Member
So a week ago I made it out to the Property to fill feeders and check cams, but more importantly I was dying to see how my first attempt at planting was coming along. According to Farmlogs I'd had about 1.6 inches since I had planted, so I was hoping to see some good germination. So I was pretty tickled to see this!
Those were, of course, the best spots. It seems to be coming up rather patchy in spots: lots of rye here, lots of clover there, some spots with both, and quite a few areas with nothing. I'm betting the patchy growth is probably due to the fact that I was forced to broadcast everything by hand since my little hand spreader broke right off the bat. But in any case I have some deer food growing, and that's pretty neat. If it's still spotty next year I'll probably overseed it with some more rye and Durana next fall.
Those were, of course, the best spots. It seems to be coming up rather patchy in spots: lots of rye here, lots of clover there, some spots with both, and quite a few areas with nothing. I'm betting the patchy growth is probably due to the fact that I was forced to broadcast everything by hand since my little hand spreader broke right off the bat. But in any case I have some deer food growing, and that's pretty neat. If it's still spotty next year I'll probably overseed it with some more rye and Durana next fall.
dogdoc
Well-Known Member
I'm betting the patchy growth is probably due to the fact that I was forced to broadcast everything by hand since my little hand spreader broke right off the bat.
You are correct but I promise you the deer won't mind. You baby plants look awesome!! They should really shoot up with the rain you got this weekend.
todd
You are correct but I promise you the deer won't mind. You baby plants look awesome!! They should really shoot up with the rain you got this weekend.
todd
TexOk
Active Member
Here's a couple of the bucks on our "hit list." The first one we call Biggie, good looking 9 point.
And another 9 point we call Crabby, for obvious reasons.
Both are already pretty nocturnal and they may disappear once the rut starts. As of a week ago bucks were still hanging out together. We're just hoping they stick around and make a mistake!
And another 9 point we call Crabby, for obvious reasons.
Both are already pretty nocturnal and they may disappear once the rut starts. As of a week ago bucks were still hanging out together. We're just hoping they stick around and make a mistake!
TexOk
Active Member
Well I got well behind on my updates! Life has a funny way of messing with your plans. I had been teaching college history part time while I was finishing my PhD. Then right at the beginning of hunting season got a really good full time non-teaching job that offered to work around my existing teaching schedule, since I couldn't just quit my teaching job mid semester. So I suddenly found myself basically working 60 hours a week, and of course this all happened the opening week of deer season in Oklahoma. Of course this is a great problem to have and am greatful for the work, but I was really looking forward to hunting this year. Somehow I managed to make it work so that I've been able to hunt three weekends so far this year. First weekend was October and my dad was able to take a doe, which was great because he didn't have much luck last season. The next weekend, which was the first weekend in November, I shot a spike that was on our shooter list. I realize that sometimes spikes can mature into a decent buck, but for some reason on the Property our trail cams have been showing way more bucks than does. So my dad and I decided going into this season that our goal would be two bucks and a doe each this season, since the womenfolk were really wanting us to fill the freezer. So given the lack of big bucks we were seeing I decided to take this guy, whom we named "little spike."
Bear in mind that this is only the third deer that I've ever recovered. I know he's young but happy to get some venison in the freezer. He only ran about thirty yards and dropped a few feet away from the trail, easy recovery!
Bear in mind that this is only the third deer that I've ever recovered. I know he's young but happy to get some venison in the freezer. He only ran about thirty yards and dropped a few feet away from the trail, easy recovery!
TexOk
Active Member
So my dad and I planned to hunt the week of Thanksgiving, but my Grandma (my dad's mom) passed away so the trip was postponed. We wound up hunting the next weekend instead. After a rough Thanksgiving it was nice to get away, and it ended up being a really great hunt. First, my dad and I refilled the feeders the night we arrived. While we were at my stand I showed my dad the mock scrape that I had made a few months ago. It was clearly active, and when I told my dad that I had started it by peeing in it, he couldn't believe it. For him it was gospel that you never peed anywhere near your stand. He couldn't believe that human urine wouldn't spook deer, let alone that you could use it to start a mock scrape. But I told him I had read on this forum about starting mock scrapes with human urine, and to prove it I told him to get back and turn around so I could prove it! I marked the mock scrape again and my dad couldn't believe I was peeing within eyesight of my stand, much less in an active scrape. The next morning I didn't see anything. That afternoon my dad and I put up some rain covers over our stands, since the forecast called for steady rain for that evening through the next day. While I was putting up my rain cover over my stand, my dad said he needed to test my theory, so he went and peed on the mock scrape himself. That same evening I hunted that stand. An hour before sundown a little six point showed up. I watched him eat at the feeder for a while and then he walked right over to my mock scrape. He proceeded to sniff it, rubbed the overhead licking branch, and then scraped and peed in the scrape himself. I managed to take a blurry iPhone pic of him peeing in the scrape to prove to my dad that it happened.
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TexOk
Active Member
To say that my dad was shocked would be an understatement! He couldn't believe it... He'd faithfully carried a pee jar with him every time he hunted just because he had been told by many others that human urine would spook deer. The next morning my dad skipped bringing his pee jar. He had to pee not long after getting in his stand, so he simply stood up and peed over the side of his stand. He was so happy about this new found freedom that he texted me to let me know what he'd just done! Not long after doing this my dad heard movement behind him. An eight point buck came up upwind from him, walking a few yards away from where dad had just peed. The buck showed no signs of being on the alert... in fact he was cruising along so calmly that my dad was afraid he wouldn't be able to get a shot. But the buck paused to graze about 15 yards from my dads stand offering a perfect broadside. He took the shot, and actually watched the deer go down.
This was the biggest buck my dad has ever shot and the first buck he'd taken on the Property. He didn't have a huge rack but he was heavy bodied. He was really proud of that deer.
This was the biggest buck my dad has ever shot and the first buck he'd taken on the Property. He didn't have a huge rack but he was heavy bodied. He was really proud of that deer.
TexOk
Active Member
Thanks Lak and doc! Now, as Paul Harvey used to say, for the rest of the story. As you guys can probably tell I'm pretty long winded... the historian in me just likes writing too much. You've been warned!
The day before my dad shot his buck, I had seen a pair of does at my stand but the bigger, older doe never gave me a clean shot. We'd seen this pair on camera quite a bit all year. Then later that some morning the pair came back. It had been steadily raining all day with a light rain, so I wanted to make sure I had a good shot because I was worried about blood tracking since the rain was going to continue all day. But the older doe gave me a perfect broadside at about twenty yards, so I took the shot. She ran back into the woods and with the rain I couldn't hear very well if she dropped or not. So then the difficult decision of when to take up the trail, knowing that with each minute it would get harder and harder to follow. After about thirty minutes I decided to climb down and check out my arrow. It had some blood on it, but zero blood on the ground anywhere nearby. So after about thirty minutes more my dad and began searching, and after several hours came up with nothing. Not a spot of blood anywhere except on the arrow. As mentioned the rain was steady but light, and I left the arrow in place and the rain never washed the blood off of it. So I began to wonder if again I'd aimed too low and got her in the brisket, like I did with the first deer I shot last year. Of course I was really upset and kicking myself. That evening I climbed back in my stand and just as it started getting dark, out came a pair of does. Of course it could be another pair of does but the size difference between the two looked to be the same as the pair from in the morning. It was getting dark so I couldn't see any injury on the older doe clearly so who knows for sure. I wouldn't think a deer would come back to the same spot just hours after being injured there. But just maybe?
The day before my dad shot his buck, I had seen a pair of does at my stand but the bigger, older doe never gave me a clean shot. We'd seen this pair on camera quite a bit all year. Then later that some morning the pair came back. It had been steadily raining all day with a light rain, so I wanted to make sure I had a good shot because I was worried about blood tracking since the rain was going to continue all day. But the older doe gave me a perfect broadside at about twenty yards, so I took the shot. She ran back into the woods and with the rain I couldn't hear very well if she dropped or not. So then the difficult decision of when to take up the trail, knowing that with each minute it would get harder and harder to follow. After about thirty minutes I decided to climb down and check out my arrow. It had some blood on it, but zero blood on the ground anywhere nearby. So after about thirty minutes more my dad and began searching, and after several hours came up with nothing. Not a spot of blood anywhere except on the arrow. As mentioned the rain was steady but light, and I left the arrow in place and the rain never washed the blood off of it. So I began to wonder if again I'd aimed too low and got her in the brisket, like I did with the first deer I shot last year. Of course I was really upset and kicking myself. That evening I climbed back in my stand and just as it started getting dark, out came a pair of does. Of course it could be another pair of does but the size difference between the two looked to be the same as the pair from in the morning. It was getting dark so I couldn't see any injury on the older doe clearly so who knows for sure. I wouldn't think a deer would come back to the same spot just hours after being injured there. But just maybe?
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TexOk
Active Member
So the next morning after my doe incident my dad shot his eight point. I was really excited for him but still bummed that maybe I had killed that doe and not recovered her. I watched the skies all day to see if the buzzards found something. They showed up pretty quickly to dispose of the entrails after we gutted my dads deer, but didn't notice them coming down anywhere else nearby. I didn't see anything that morning and that night was my last night to hunt. I knew my odds were low of seeing a shooter since the eight point my dad shot was the only good sized buck we had seen on our cameras in the last couple of months. Crabby and Biggie had disappeared since the beginning of October. So as it came down to the end of shooting light I decided to go ahead and start packing since my wife and kids were there at the Property and we needed to head home that night. As I started packing up I thought I saw movement out of the corner of my eye. I turned to look and there was Biggie! He was walking toward me headed to the feeder. Thankfully I hadn't removed the bolt from my crossbow yet, so I slowly got into shooting position. But instead of walking to the feeder like I assumed he would, he went instead straight toward my mock scrape. He stopped there and was messing with the licking branch, but his back was to me so no shot. The light was quickly fading and I was worried that he would move off too quickly and never give me a shot or that I was going to lose what little light there was. As I was busy trying not to hyperventilate he suddenly turned to rub the licking branch from another angle giving me a good quartering away shot. I took aim and squeezed the trigger. I had a Lumenok so I could see that as he ran the bolt stayed in him. An hour later my dad and I took up the trail to see if there was any blood. Not a drop anywhere. With Lumenok I could see which way he ran even through the brush so we went in that direction and eventually found the bolt. There was blood on it, but no blood anywhere near it. We grid searched but could not find any trace of blood. We even tried a FLIR device to see if that would help, but discovered that rocks warmed by the sun glowed just like a body on the ground, so that proved pretty useless. Finally I had to give up because my family needed to get home. I had to give my students a final exam the next morning so we had to get back that night. My dad however was already planning on staying so he was going to try searching in the morning, but after looking for hours I had little hope that he would find anything. That was a really terrible three hour drive home that night. I was really kicking myself. Had it been too dark? Was I just a bad shot? Should I even keep hunting if I was going to lose more deer than I recovered? Should I have even hinted that evening knowing that I needed to leave that night? Needless to say I went to bed very upset that night.
The next morning as I was driving to work my dad texted me this pic:
I'm not gonna lie, the mixture of relief and happiness almost brought a tear to my eye. I thought for sure I was never going to see that deer again. It turns out that the reason we never found him was because he'd gone about ten yards over the property line and fallen behind a cedar tree. Since we didn't have contact info for that neighbor we didn't feel comfortable going over the line. My dad had gone out to search that morning and was having no luck, until he saw a buzzard swoop down from the sky not too far away from him. He ran to the spot where he saw the buzzard go down, and there was my buck. It was only one buzzard, and as you can see from the pic the buzzard only had time to get one eye. We contacted the processor he said the meat should be fine since the temps had been in the 40s and the buzzard only got the eye. That meant more to me than anything else, since the biggest reason for me to hunt is to provide venison for my family. So a few valuable lessons were still learned... Don't aim so low, don't hunt if you won't have time to wait for the deer to go down and then time search, and don't be too quick to give up! All lessons I should have already known, but experience is often the best teacher.
The next morning as I was driving to work my dad texted me this pic:
I'm not gonna lie, the mixture of relief and happiness almost brought a tear to my eye. I thought for sure I was never going to see that deer again. It turns out that the reason we never found him was because he'd gone about ten yards over the property line and fallen behind a cedar tree. Since we didn't have contact info for that neighbor we didn't feel comfortable going over the line. My dad had gone out to search that morning and was having no luck, until he saw a buzzard swoop down from the sky not too far away from him. He ran to the spot where he saw the buzzard go down, and there was my buck. It was only one buzzard, and as you can see from the pic the buzzard only had time to get one eye. We contacted the processor he said the meat should be fine since the temps had been in the 40s and the buzzard only got the eye. That meant more to me than anything else, since the biggest reason for me to hunt is to provide venison for my family. So a few valuable lessons were still learned... Don't aim so low, don't hunt if you won't have time to wait for the deer to go down and then time search, and don't be too quick to give up! All lessons I should have already known, but experience is often the best teacher.
dogghr
Well-Known Member
Really great stories, Tex. Glad you found you deer. Any deer, especially with a good story or with friends/family is a trophy on my book. Horns aren't the real memories. Great buck you took, it can be aggravating to make a good shot then find no blood and hard to find the deer. Thanks for sharing. Congrats
TexOk
Active Member
Headed out to the property for one last hunt. Trying for a doe to really pack the freezer full and make the wife happy. Also going to work on some habitat improvement. Got this ordered early this week:
Got their Buck chestnut package, a few Seguin chestnuts, a couple of late dropping grafted female persimmons, and a few strawberry bushes. Of course, when I ordered them the weather looked cold but not too bad. Then came this arctic blast that dumped quite a bit of snow on the ground. I was going to leave last night but the roads were so bad I couldn't go, so I'm just now heading out. Thanks weather man!
Got their Buck chestnut package, a few Seguin chestnuts, a couple of late dropping grafted female persimmons, and a few strawberry bushes. Of course, when I ordered them the weather looked cold but not too bad. Then came this arctic blast that dumped quite a bit of snow on the ground. I was going to leave last night but the roads were so bad I couldn't go, so I'm just now heading out. Thanks weather man!
