FIELD JOURNALS
ARCHIVE - BOW HUNTING 2006
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!
Nov.
19 - Eric Scores Again
in the Suburbs!
Entry by: Eric
It was Sunday Nov.
19, the last weekend of
Missouri
’s modern firearm
season, but I was in a
suburban area with my
bow in hand. I thought
my wife had plans for me
that evening so I
figured only a morning
hunt was in store. I saw
two smaller bucks
between 8:15am and
10:15am. I was heading
to my house at 12:30pm
when I got the call that
plans have been canceled
other than dropping off
some lunch for my wife.
I said, “gladly!” I
dropped lunch off and I
told her I was headed
back to the treestand.
The afternoon started
out with a few mishaps.
As I climbed into my
tree I looked up in time
to see what appeared to
be a really nice buck
running off. I saw two
does 25 minutes later
and except for the
noisiest squirrels in MO
all was calm until 10
minutes 'til dark! When
I heard Crunch!!
Crunch!.... Crunch!
Crunch!, the
unmistakable sound of a
buck in motion. He came
right under the stand
and I placed the MX-4
Muzzy tipped arrow right
in the boiler room. He
didn’t make it 50
yards and one of my best
bucks ever was down!
Nov.
11 - Opening day of
Firearms season in MO
Entry By: Clint
The scene was set - cool
temperatures, frost on
the ground, I somehow
knew that the deer
movement was going to be
excellent. The sun began
to shine over the
horizon but not much was
happening. We saw a few
coyotes, a bobcat, but
no deer. About 9:00 we
spotted a few does and
small bucks chasing. The
morning was not typical
of opening day, but I
knew that the buck
traffic at this farm had
been great for the past
10 days. Corey and I had
been bowhunting this
particular area for a
large 8-pointer. At
about 10:15 I spotted a
buck moving across an
open pasture at 400-500
yards away. He traveled
to a wooded ditch that
led right to our stand
location. After several
minutes passed we
spotted a large doe
traveling towards us in
that same ditch. Shortly
thereafter, the buck
came following her. They
had closed the gap
approximately half the
distance to us when the
doe turned and ran the
opposite direction. I
figured we were
finished. The buck just
raised his head and
watched her run off and
continued to narrow the
distance to our stand.
When the buck got to
within 125 yards of us
we lost site of him.
From this point there
are 3-4 trails which he
could travel. If he
chose the right one, we
might be in luck. I
pulled out the grunt
tube and played some
'buck' music. Then we
had to play the waiting
game. After a few
minutes of scanning the
area we thought he might
travel, we still could
not see him. Corey and I
kept looking at each
other trying to figure
out where he was. At
that point we heard a
buck grunt - and not
from a grunt tube. He
had pin pointed my grunt
and came right to the
stand location. There he
stood about 3 yards from
our tree for what seemed
like forever. He finally
came out of the brush
and traveled the
clearing just West of
our stand. Should have
had a bow in my hand --
an 18 yard shot with a
high-powered rifle is
not much of a challenge.
We have had one fine
season up to this point. I
feel very blessed to
have harvested this
truly amazing animal.
Fall is my favorite time
of year and I truly love
the Great Outdoors!
Nov.
7 - November 7 is
"THE" Day
Entry By: Robin
Two
trips to
North
MO
and five days of sitting
in my favorite tree, paid
off big. November 7
has been good to me in the
past, and it didn't
disappoint me this year.
Many miles on the truck,
and a few dark to dark
sits in the stand had me
tired as could be, but
looking forward to this
day. After seeing 9
different bucks on the
6th, right after daylight
found me looking at a very
nice buck on the 7th.
After stopping him with
some grunts, he was
starting to move a way.
As he turned at 60 yards,
I snort-weezed with my
mouth and the buck turned
without hesitation and
moved right in to the
tree. He looked huge
as he came within 8 yards
of the tree, ears pinned
back and hair up on his
neck. The shot was a
bit far back, so we gave
the buck plenty of time
before looking for him,
and we found him lying in
the river bed after a
couple hours search.
My biggest buck to date,
and believe me, I was (and
still am) excited. A
huge thanks to the
landowner, George Sparks, for
allowing me to continue to
hunt his land. I
have been hunting his
ground for 11 years now,
and can't say enough about
the way he and his family
treat me when I am up
there.
NOV. 5 -
Northwest MO Boys score
again in
Iowa
Entry by:
Corey
Clint's daughter Hallie,
was having a Birthday
party at 3:00 PM, in MO.
We knew our time in the
stand would be short that
morning, but being in
Iowa
at the prime time of deer
movement does funny things
to hunters. We set
ourselves up in a little
stand of timber, and it
didn't take long for the
deer to start moving. The
first deer of the morning
was a good buck. He
walked by us just a little
out of bow range. About
two minutes later a small
buck came in with two
does, and it didn't take
long for the big buck to
come back to see what was
going on. He was in bow
range for what seemed like
forever, but never would
offer Clint a good shot.
He came in to three yards,
looked up at us, could not
figure out what we were
(MAN THAT ASAT REALLY
WORKS), then he turned
around and offered Clint a
hard quartering away 7
yard shot. Clint placed an
arrow perfectly, and the
buck went down in view of
the camera. What happened
after all the excitement
was over, was
unbelievable. We had a
huge 8 pointer come to
within 20 yards of the
tree. I have not shot
Clint's bow enough, and I
didn't want to wound an
animal, so all we could do
was sit and watch him.
WHAT AN AMAZING HUNT,
CAN’T WAIT TO GO BACK TO
IOWA
, AND CAN’T WAIT TO
SHARE THE FOOTAGE WITH
EVERYONE.
Nov.
4 - Eric Scores in the
Suburbs
Entry By: Eric
Around
noon on the 4th I headed
to a favorite stand in St.
Louis County. I climbed in
the stand about 1:30 PM.
Temperatures were in the
low 50's. Only an hour had
passed and the wind had
settled. I pulled out my
grunt call and gave a few
normal grunts followed by
a few quick tending
grunts. I didn't even have
time to put the call back
in my pocket before this 8
pointer showed up at 18
yards. The shot was
perfect so he only made it
about 80 yards before
going down. Once again,
the Muzzy did it's job!
Nov.
2 - Nocturnal Buck
Entry By: Keith
I
have trail camera pictures
from this buck 3 different
nights working a scrape 15
yards from my stand.
I have been hunting this
spot hard but he just
hasn't showed up during
daylight hours. Hopefully
he will let his guard up
as the rut kicks into
gear!
Oct.
30 - NW MO Boys Score on
Halloween
Entry By: Corey
Halloween
has been good to Aim Low
in the past, so Clint and
I slipped into the woods
to try and continue the
tradition. A cold front
had moved through, and the
wind was blowing at about
20 mph. We set up about
150 yards from where
Robin's kids shot their
deer on Sunday. At around
7:00 we had a nice buck
come to about 75 yards, I
grunted at him with no
response. As he eased away
I grabbed the rattle bag
(THAT HAS NEVER WORKED FOR
US IN MO)…. I rattled a
short sequence, and he
come RUNNING!!! I stopped
him about 12 yards from
the stand, and put a MUZZY
high in his lung. The
blood trail was sparse,
but we found him after an
hour of searching. Clint
did an EXCELLENT job of
filming, because it
happened fast… NOW
IT’S TIME TO HIT THE
IOWA
GIANTS!!!
Oct.
27-28 - MO Youth Hunt
Entry by: Robin
Wow,
what a proud day for me
here in MO yesterday.
My 9 yr old son, Zac, went
on his first real hunt
this weekend during the MO
youth season. He had
expressed some indecision
about "actually
killing an animal" a
few days before, so his
sister would hunt first
while he took it all in
and made his own decision.
Well...when some does were
headed towards the blind
Sat eve, sis told him she
didn't want a doe, so he
could shoot if he wanted.
In no time the gun was in
the window and buck fever
was in full force...he
whispered "Dad, am I
supposed to be this
nervous?" I
told him "yep, only
if you are a hunter
though." Well
no shot presented itself,
but he was sure now.
Sun morning, he made a
perfect shot on a nice doe
an hour after daylight.
I did have to remind him
to put his finger on the
trigger though, when the
gun didn't go off the
first time I stopped her.
Oh yeah, Kristen will tell
you...as the shot
developed, she actually
asked me if I was
ok because I was breathing
so hard.
A
half hour later Kristen
passed up a good chance at
a small buck, and an hour
later, she made a perfect
shot on a nine pt that
chased a doe right passed
us. I think she
experienced her first case
of ground shrinkage, but I
told her she shouldn't be
disappointed at all.
At that moment, it was the
deer she wanted, and that
should make it good
enough. I know one
thing...Kristen is money
when she levels down on a
deer. This is her
fifth deer in as many
years, and she really
knows how to handle the
gun in any situation.
I am constantly amazed at
how she performs under
pressure.
When
we got back to the truck,
Zac sat down with a bottle
of water and seemed kind
of lost in thought.
Then, he just blurted out
"Dad, that was
awesome!"
A big thanks to the
Northwest Missouri
guys, Corey and Clint, and
also their buddy Charlie
Ramsbottom who ran the
camera for us. We
hunted with them and they
all treated us like their
family. What a hunt!
Oct.
27 - News from NW MO
Entry by: Corey
The day before youth
season, Clint and I
decided to scout a place
for Robin and his kids to
hunt. We got into the
stand around 4:00, and it
didn't take long for the
deer to start moving. We
saw several does, milling
through the area. At about
5:00 we had 2 does run
past us, in a hurry. About
30 min. later a GIANT 8
point walked 60 yards from
the stand. We rough
guessed him at about 150 -
155 inches. After a few
grunts and a short
sequence on the rattle bag
he ran off, makes you
think what else may be out
there!!! Later In the
evening we caught a
glimpse of another
shooter, as he rubbed a
tree in the brush. It was
a great night in the
stand, but it would have
been better, one day
latter when we had Clint's
boy Riley sitting next to
us with a rifle.
Oct.
22 - Finally
Broke the Ice!
Entry by: Robin
It was looking like
"one of those
seasons" for me until
today. Just seems
like every trip to the
stand ends up with no deer
sighted, or something
going wrong like a
swirling wind. Even
this weekend started out
that way. Saturday
evening, as soon as we got
in the stand, 2 deer came
right down the trail to
about 15 yards, only to
lock up and boogie out.
Then, Sunday morning, a
coyote came in to about 8
yards, apparently for a
shave, because that is all
I got was hair, and lots
of it! Only one deer
was seen all morning,
until we left...then we
saw deer all over the
subdivision.
Sunday
evening found us walking a
new suburban property for
the first time. It
looked promising so we put
up a stand on a hunch that
we would at least see some
deer. Wasn't long at
all and deer were moving.
First deer in came too
close and bolted just as I
was putting pressure on
the release. But, 3
minutes later, 2 does came
in. The lead was
very nervous and even
looked up once, but still
offered a good 20 yard
shot. 45 minutes
later, a lone doe came in
and offered a 8 yard chip
shot. This doe went
down in 3 seconds, and
really showed what a Muzzy
does when placed
perfectly. Believe
me, the landowner was
really happy to see two
problem deer gone!
With
the temperature in the mid
80’s it was tough to stay
motivated for our afternoon
hunt. Cameraman,
Lance Anders
,who has done some filming
for us on a few bowfishing
trips in the past, was
behind the camera for his
first deer hunt. A newly
acquired suburban property
was just the right place to
slip in without working up a
sweat. We watched a couple
of does feeding in a grassy
field full of clover for
over an hour. Finally, as it
was nearing dark, one of the
does made it in close enough
for the shot. My first arrow
of the season flew straight
as could be, right over her
back. Luckily she startled a
bit but relaxed enough to
come close enough for a
second try. It felt good to
get that first one of the
year out of the way.
Ryan Jennemann has been has been
running the camera quite a
bit as of late for Aim Low.
We hope he rubs some of this
luck off on us this
season.
I was
drawn for a managed hunt at
Busch Wildlife, near St.
Charles, MO, which I have
been looking forward to
since this summer.
I coached in a
softball tourney on Saturday
morning, so I wasn’t able
to get out there until
around 4PM.
Keith had told me of
a place that had been
successful for him in the
past so I decided I would
try there.
Once I got to the
place, it looked really
good.
There was a ridge
that came down and ended at
a creek and there were
trails all around me.
After seeing several
turkeys, I looked across the
creek and saw a buck stick
his head down to feed.
After a minute, he
started to cross the creek
and headed towards me.
I had him broadside
at about 20 yards.
I hit him a little
far back, but he didn’t go
20 yards.
After the shot, I
couldn’t stop shaking
because I was so excited.
I didn’t realize he
was as big as he was until I
got up to him.
I had to call in
reinforcements to help with
the drag and Keith and Robin
came to my rescue helping me
gut him and drag him out.
This was my first
deer I’ve ever gotten so
it’s not a bad way to
start out.
To say the
least we can't wait to hit
the woods!!!
We
finally got away for our first evening hunt. The wind
was perfect, it was a dark
moon phase, it looked to be
a promising hunt. Around
6:35 we had two does step
out into the field, about
200 yards away, and not long
after we had deer all around
us. As the camera light ran
out we had two 130 class
bucks walk within 14 yards
of the stand, 15 minutes
earlier, and we would have
had our first buck of the
season on the ground!!! No
kills on the night, but a
very good start of the
season.
