Quality deer management and (in my opinion) trail cams have been the best things ever for deer hunting. When I started deer hunting in east TX in the early 80’s, you might sit for days and not even see a deer, so the first one with a horn was dead. From bird hunting around Jet, OK in the late 70’s to mid 80’s, it didn’t appear to be much different in that we never saw deer. About 1984 or 85, that changed for some reason, and we started jumping deer fairly regularly. I didn’t start deer hunting in OK until 2002, and the deer numbers I saw in Woods and Alfalfa counties were shocking.
I knew men growing up that had shoulder mounts on their walls of what appeared at the time to be monster bucks, and in my wildest dreams, I never believed I’d ever be able to shoot a “mount worthy” buck. Today, I have 4 over 160” on the wall, and I’m still kind of shocked about it.
I headed to the lease at 5am yesterday and saw deer all the way there. I knew it was a bad omen. Sat until 1030 with hardly a squirrel moving. That was my 3rd sit in that stand and my camera there didn't offer much hope, though it's captured a good buck a few times. I decided that was enough and moved the stand to a field edge, closer to the pinch point I know deer are using. Found 2 rubs at that pinch point, 20 yards from the new location.
I decided against trying to hunt it that evening and checked my cameras. Would've done better if I left the cameras off. The October lull is in full effect for me. I sat from 4 until dark and finally saw some squirrels, but that was it. That's 5 hunts now where I have not seen a single deer from the stand.
I'm not sure what's going on. The acorn crop was puny this year and dropped early. With the regular moisture, the acorns should be starting to rot, or at least that's my hope.
I decided against trying to hunt it that evening and checked my cameras. Would've done better if I left the cameras off. The October lull is in full effect for me. I sat from 4 until dark and finally saw some squirrels, but that was it. That's 5 hunts now where I have not seen a single deer from the stand.
I'm not sure what's going on. The acorn crop was puny this year and dropped early. With the regular moisture, the acorns should be starting to rot, or at least that's my hope.
Don't sweat the lull, the November lock down is the one that sucks. Bucks are moving, relocating, wandering in places they've not been since last year or ever. You may or may not see your usual bucks consistently for a while, but you'll start seeing some different bucks as the weeks progress. Is your entry and exit good with your wind directions........... too much intrusion? I hunt edges hard, and rarely venture thru to get to a stand, I simply won't go if I can't just park and go to an edge stand. Everyone's property and setup is different sometimes though. If you had does, and now you don't, then something's changed, and then I'd be concerned somewhat.
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Looks very promising with the weather this weekend. That artic air and a later than normal muzzleloader season ought to have things started!
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My entry and exit should be good. I try to keep from hunting deep into the woods. I have hunted with what I believe are known good winds, but it's new property, so I could be wrong.
For those of you that remember me asking about leases before, I finally locked down that lease today. It was hard to get the landowner to be comfortable with it due to past experiences, but the lease is finally signed today.... Just in time to prepare for the rutt. 120 acres surrounded by houses on all sides and the entire thing is woods/grass so thick you can hardly see 20 yards. But it's most definitely one of two tracts of land where all the deer in the area live so my chances just went way up to be successful in getting meat compared to the two acres I was hunting.
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Sounds like a great spot. Good luck!
Congratulations Shooter!!!
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