FIELD JOURNALS
ARCHIVE - BOW HUNTING 2004
Please follow along as the Aim Low Team does what we
all love to do...Go Hunting! You can check out the
current season or check out a blow by blow account of
last season. We hope you enjoy reading it
all!
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Suburban Doe
12/26
Photo 1
Hunter: Robin,
Camera: Larry Prevallet
Equipment: Renegade Bow
Another great suburban hunt
this morning. Keith is on
vacation so Larry "the
camera guy" came along. We
hunted the spot that has
produced 3 does for me this
season. It was a cold
morning with no deer seen
until 9:45. Several does
worked their way towards us
with 2 bucks behind them
doing some chasing. One a
spike, the other a weird 2.5
yr old non-typ. In fact, it
looked like the bucks ruined
our morning, chasing the
does back the way they came.
But eventually they came
back through. I took the
first shot at a mature doe
and hit her good at 28 yds.
This was my first real taste
of the trials of suburban
hunting. This doe was hit
quartering away, taking out
the liver and far lung, but
yet she went out of our wood
patch, about 100 yards. We
could not tell at first if
she crossed the road with
all the other deer. So...we
did what anyone would do in
this situation...jumped in
the truck, drove around, and
picked up the blood trail on
the road! Luckily she
avoided the yards and opted
to stay in cover and we
found her easily.
Late Season IL Hunt
12/18-19
Hunter: Keith,
Camera: Robin
Equipment: Renegade Bow and
Day One Camo
Sat. we got to IL in time to
spend some time with good
friend Tony Garner and swap
some stories about the big
deer he has seen this year
and especially about the
giant non-typical he took
during the rut. To hold a
rack that heavy in your
hands is more than enough
motive to stay after it in
the late season. The evening
hunt was uneventful with
only 3 does spotted in a
nearby field about 300 yds
away. Sun. morning was
unbelievably cold, with wind
chills around -8 degrees.
Winds were out of the north
at 23mph. We decided to
still get out there but
opted to still hunt in a
patch of woods holding lots
of honey suckle. Sure enough
we walked up on a group of
deer consisting of 6-7 does
and two bucks. One of the
bucks was a shooter,
probably about a 130ish inch
deer. We were able to get
within 40-50 yds of the
group several times using
the wind to cover our scent
and sound. None the less we
finally ran out of luck and
got picked off about 1 hour
and 400 yds. later. The
evening hunt was brutally
cold in the stand. Robin
spotted a shooter buck as we
climbed in our stands but he
never made it over our way.
Right before dark a 2.5 year
old 6 pointer came within
bow range, but once again I
had to pass. All in all it
was a fun trip....just can't
beat IL for late season
bowhunting.
No-Luck Morning Hunt
Hunter: Keith,
Camera: Robin
Equipment: Renegade bow, Day
One Camo
We tried a morning hunt in
the tree where Robin has
taken 3 suburban deer
already. Wind was out of the
NW and perfect for the set
up. The only thing that
didn't cooperate were the
deer. None sighted. Back at
it tomorrow!
More Suburban Hunting
12/5
Hunter: Keith
,
Camera: Robin
Equipment: Renegade Bow
We decided to try a morning
in the suburban stand where
we recently saw the
unidentifiable buck at dawn.
We only saw a single doe
high on a ridge above us.
The morning was not
completely uneventful,
however. A good looking
coyote came trotting in. We
were able to get the camera
on him and the bow drawn
back just in time to video
my arrow skimming right over
his back. It didn't bother
me too bad until we got home
and looked at the footage.
Would have made an awesome
kill shot had I connected.
Picture of the miss soon to
come. We did some late
morning scouting before
leaving the woods and found
a good place to relocate our
stands where we have been
seeing most of the deer
activity. We also found
several fairly fresh scrapes
and a rub on a cedar the
size of a baseball bat. With
a little luck, one of us
might get a crack at that
buck.
One for Two
12/4
Hunter: Robin,
Camera: Keith
Equipment: Renegade Bow
We did a morning hunt on the
urban property that we
hunted in September and I
got the two does. The
landowner has been seeing a
lot of deer and was
practically begging us to
come get some. We got
in early and rehung the
stands. Wasn't long after
daylight when they landowner
came out to let the pets
out. I owl hooted and he
looked around. Next time he
came around the corner,
Keith waved and he waved
back. A bit later out in
front of us a lady brought
her dog out on her apartment
deck for a couple of pix. Oh
ya, the deer hunting...
After all that, a couple
of does were coming down the
ridge. After I got set, they
took off running the
opposite way and a small
buck came up pestering them.
He hung around quite a while
and probably would have got
shot if he came into range.
He was a 2.5 with just long
spikes.
While we watched him work
along his way, some deer
crossed the owners yard and
came running towards us. 2
more does being pushed by a
half rack fork. 7 yards is
too close for me to miss and
she was down in about 4
seconds. The others hung
around, not knowing what was
going on. Long story short,
I missed the other doe at 35
yards and then stuck a
hickory tree at about 17
yards. Should have had two,
for sure. Believe me,
the landowners couldn't have
been happier to see us drag
one out of there.
Photo 1
Fading Light Buck
12/1
Hunter: Robin,
Camera: Keith
Equipment: Renegade Bow
We had time to squeeze in a
late afternoon hunt at one
of our sub-urban spots. We
ran at least 5 deer out on
the way in, and maybe 8.
There wasn't time to go
anywhere else, so we set up
anyway. The spot was a
small bottom where 3 ridges
came together. We had a doe
come across the creek about
45 yards out and feed on the
ridge for the last hour of
light. She ended up
meandering all over, picking
up acorns but never quite
close enough for a shot.
Right before dark, another
deer came down the ridge.
Even though he was 50 yards
and it was fairly dark, we
could see horns. I got my
can call out and stopped
him, another call and he
turned right towards us and
started in. But, after
about 10 yards he turned
back and kept going.
Thought that was going to be
it, he sure seemed to make
his mind up to come in.
Looked like a shooter, but
hard to tell in the fading
light.
North MO Monster Buck
This is the monster buck
Keith and I spotted on the
way to our hunting area in
early November in North MO
(Mentioned in the early Nov
Journal entry). He was
standing over a doe right
next to a busy road.
Photo 1 |
Photo 2
Kristen's MO Gun Hunt
11/20-21
Time to take my daughter
out hunting. She missed the
youth hunt due to not
feeling well and other
activities. This is her
third year deer hunting and
she had taken 2 bucks the
first couple of years.er our
heads filming. The first
morning was plenty cold.
Right after daylight, a very
cool looking red fox came
trotting by. He had a white
spot on his back and the end
of his tail was white.
Kristen decided she wanted
to shoot the fox, risking
not seeing deer from this
stand, but the fox smelled
us and left. Soon
after, two does came right
towards us. She had the
scope on the lead one and
she finally turned broadside
at 25 yards. She missed
right over her back! The
deer were confused but brush
kept her from getting
another shot. I think her
bullet ticked a limb right
in front of the stand (I got
rid of that limb later). 4
more deer were seen but no
shots. No deer spotted in
the afternoon.
Next morning was colder
and Kristen ended up with
all my cold weather
outerwear! 5 does crossed
the river at the crossing we
were sitting near, but none
kept still long enough for
Kristen to settle the scope
on them. She was
disappointed to have them
come by so close but not
shoot. I too, thought that
could be the last chance for
her. I had her practice
finding several stumps in
the scope to be ready for
another deer should one come
by. Just as soon as she
handed me the gun back,
Keith spotted a buck coming
up the crossing. This time I
stopped the deer with a
grunt in an opening and
Kristen found him quickly.
The buck dropped instantly
with her perfect shot and
she had her 3rd buck in 3
years down!
We ran into George
Sparks, the landowner, on
the way to the truck and he
told us he had a nice one
down that he took on the
other side of the farm. It
was a nice one!
Photo 1 |
Photo 2
11/15
This would be the last day
in IL for this trip. Only 1
buck seen in the morning.
It was a good one following
a doe out of range. We
changed locations again at
mid-day and watched a decent
buck following a doe around
at 2:00. He was obviously
frustrated as he stopped to
make many rubs and scrapes.
We could not convince him to
come into range however.
A few other deer were
seen before dark, but
nothing worth mentioning.
The rut activity was
definitely slowing down, and
we both had to get back to
work.
We will be hunting IL more
as the season goes on. This
farm obviously has some good
deer.
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