Pinetag's Plot - 43 acres in Virginia

[pinetag]

I got to spend a little bit of time in the woods yesterday and away from the stresses of my new job. Had some good action early with various critters seen on the upper 20. 7 deer (no antlers), a bald eagle, a hawk, some Canadian geese, and dozens of chipmunks and squirrels. Unfortunately I had some disappointing card pulls. I was excited because I had not checked almost all of my cameras since early Sep but 3 out of the 4 had issues. One had dead batteries, one had a small branch fall on it with leaves still hanging so the lens was completely covered, and the last one is totally dead. The one that got covered has about a week's worth of images missing but I did get a couple pics of the nice 8 working the mock scrape on Oct 7. After the leaves shifted the most recent images aren't showing him so either he's shifted his range or he might have succumbed to an arrow. If it works out I might be taking my daughter out this evening for a brief hunt in the blind.

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[pinetag]

Turns out the big 8 is still hanging around and he's coming through closer to shooting hours now! Plus a few other bucks are starting to cruise through and work the mock scrape. Muzzleloader season starts tomorrow and the wind will be right to sit the stand just behind this camera.

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[FL Plotter]

Always nice to see them again after you think they are gone!

 

[pinetag]

Feeling pretty disgusted right now. My daughter and I went out this evening and I shot at a really nice buck at 5:45. We looked for about 1-1/2 hours and only found one drop of blood the size of a silver dollar about 75 yards from the shot location. The blood was bright red so I'm hoping it was just a muscle hit but I'm gonna go back out to look again tomorrow morning.

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[pinetag]

Unfortunately, no luck this morning. I walked around for a good bit in the bottom and walked up and down both sides of the creek with nothing to show for it . He was quartering away pretty hard when I shot so my guess is I hit his close shoulder but got no vitals. I hope to see him on camera soon with nothing more than a limp.

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[OkieKubota]

Unfortunately, no luck this morning. I walked around for a good bit in the bottom and walked up and down both sides of the creek with nothing to show for it . He was quartering away pretty hard when I shot so my guess is I hit his close shoulder but got no vitals. I hope to see him on camera soon with nothing more than a limp.

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I feel your pain...

 

[FL Plotter]

I spent 4 hours yesterday looking for my friend's doe. His arrow was covered....good blood for about 50 yards....then drops, then nothing. Hands and knees in Florida thick. Grids. Following trails. No joy.

So yes, sorry for what you are going through. It tears good ethical hunters up inside when that happens.

 

[OkieKubota]

A fellow lease member killed his muzzleloader buck Saturday so he was hunting with a crossbow today and he shot a decent 8 point buck and said he hit slightly high. We looked together a couple hours and he is currently still looking for it. Bright red blood, no bubbles, deer layer down 3 times and we would see a tiny drop of blood every 20 yards or so until that even stopped...

 

[pinetag]

Thanks guys. I'm actually feeling a little better this evening. The more I thought about the shot angle on my ride home, the more I think it's probably just a flesh wound. Plus we went horseback riding this afternoon up in the mountains for my wife's birthday and it gave me a chance to stop thinking about it for a while and enjoy spending time with the family.

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[pinetag]

Even though I pulled this card a few days ago I wanted to check for the buck I missed the other night to see if he was still hanging around. Unfortunately no such luck but I did get this guy at 6:38 that morning and I checked my driveway cam and I had pulled in at 6:26. I was getting ready to walk to this stand while he was walking right under it. Lol

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[weekender21]

Yeah, access is a mental struggle for me. I'm playing that scenario in my head ever time I walk in to a stand. It's tough to come up with bullet proof set-ups.

 

[OkieKubota]

Yeah, access is a mental struggle for me. I'm playing that scenario in my head ever time I walk in to a stand. It's tough to come up with bullet proof set-ups.

Me too...it seems the largest bucks that use our place will only rarely cross an old logging road that runs East/west and they stay to the north side of it, my big plot is right on the south side of it. I rarely if ever see a big deer south of that small 2 track road...so I need to get to a stand north of that 2 track...it’s always a struggle to get there in the morning without blowing everything out...when you do get there it is always worth it though!

 

[pinetag]

Yeah, access is a mental struggle for me. I'm playing that scenario in my head ever time I walk in to a stand. It's tough to come up with bullet proof set-ups.

I think he was just cruising through, not spooked by my access since I was still up by the truck getting ready. He was there the night before walking the exact same way. I just thought it was comical that I literally missed him by minutes.

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[pinetag]

After the intrusiveness I've put on my place over the last few days, I'm going to give it a rest until Sat morning. Work is going to be busy for the next couple of weeks anyway, which will help me keep the pressure down.

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[pinetag]

I'm not positive but I think this first pic from back in August is the buck I hit last Sat evening. The collage has the same pic plus a new one from a couple days ago. I hope these are all one in the same and I just grazed him.

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[pinetag]

And had this new buck show up that I would love to see in person. He actually looks fairly young too.

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[weekender21]

That new visitor looks nice!

 

[pinetag]

My buddy made the first harvest for my property yesterday evening. A decent sized doe. I was covered up in deer from about 3:30 till dark. The first doe started working her way in and I heard grunting so I watched and waited. Heard another deer coming and it was doe, then another, then another. 6 strolled in before the little buck came through and I had previously passed him down on the river that morning (2nd pic) so he got another pass. Then 2 does walked out in my neighbor's pasture and I was surrounded. It was exciting to see and hear deer moving all around and I was glad my buddy got one to top it off. A card pull on the way in revealed the buck I'm after. This is the second time I've gotten daylight pics of him in a week.

Well, cell service must not be good enough to let that pic load right now.

 

[OkieKubota]

My buddy made the first harvest for my property yesterday evening. A decent sized doe. I was covered up in deer from about 3:30 till dark. The first doe started working her way in and I heard grunting so I watched and waited. Heard another deer coming and it was doe, then another, then another. 6 strolled in before the little buck came through and I had previously passed him down on the river that morning (2nd pic) so he got another pass. Then 2 does walked out in my neighbor's pasture and I was surrounded. It was exciting to see and hear deer moving all around and I was glad my buddy got one to top it off. A card pull on the way in revealed the buck I'm after. This is the second time I've gotten daylight pics of him in a week.

Well, cell service must not be good enough to let that pic load right now.

Keep after him...if he day walks on your place he is killable. All day sits may be in order...good luck because that is a really good one.

 

[pinetag]

Keep after him...if he day walks on your place he is killable. All day sits may be in order...good luck because that is a really good one.

Unfortunately I can't hunt again until Wed and then again on Fri, but I will definitely be looking for him. I've done all day hunts where I moved stands to sit a better spot for midday or afternoon, but never done a true all day sit in just one stand. I may have to give it a shot for this guy though.

The neighbor's grandson got a fairly nice buck that I had captured on camera at least one time.

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