Illinois 2010 muzzleload report #2

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Illinois Muzzleload Hunt

Dec. 2nd thru 5th , 2010
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Friday December 3rd

Temp: Max Temperature 30 °F, Min Temperature 19 °F
Wind: 5 mph (East) gust to 17
Snow: 0
Overcast to partly cloudy
Pressure: 30.17

AM. Hunt:
This morning I decided to divided my efforts between two stands. I would start the hunt at the kill zone stand hoping to catch a buck moving back thru the CPR to lay up on the timbered hill side or draws to the east. After that I would move to the sanctuary stand in the woods where I’d have a better chance of seeing later morning movement.

I ended up seeing six deer from the kill zone stand including the narrow 8 but no shooters. After about an hour I made my move to the “sanctuary”. I jumped three small type deer just inside the woods between the stand along the 8 acre field. I sat the stand for about an hour and a half without seeing a deer so I climbed down and decided to have a look in the 5 acre pine tree patch. I slipped into the mature stand but was not able to see the deer before they saw me and I ended up seeing 7 white flags waving good bye.

While I was slipping around the field edges I found the bleached bones of one of our big buck that had laid down and died right on the edge of the field just 20yds from my nibbin buck stand. Judging by his bases he carried horns with some serious mass. I would guess his age at 4 1/2, judging from his teeth. We don't kill many bucks over 3 1/2 years old so it was a great disappointment to find one dead like this. Apparently, he died sometime after hunting season had ended as he had already cast his horns.

Rick hunted the “well stand” and saw (3) does and one small buck but again, no shooters.

PM Hunt:

I dropped Rick off to hunt the “grassy lane stand” and drove around the west side of the farm on the hard top and spotted a doe standing in the end of Rick’s CRP at 2:30. Then saw another couple deer in a field on the neighbor.

Believing the deer would want to feed out onto the cornfield I wanted a vantage stand where I could see as much ground as possible. That was the “kill zone stand”.

On the way into the stand I jumped three deer in the bottom that drains into the CRP my stand is on. A shooter 8pt buck and a small buck fed off the hill on the neighbor to the north. Next I had four deer come off the hill from the east into the CRP. The tight 8 crossed the corn field from the gap headed to the N.W. to the culvert, followed by a yearling that I expect was a nubbin buck.
Little by little, does started to filter into the corn field from the golden oaks/gap area until there were 7 or 8 lippin' up corn some 400 yds down the field.

A doe slipped into the field in the N.E. corner and fed down towards the other deer. Finally, a respectable 8 that looked like might make a shooter entered the field from somewhere between the pines and the gap. It was close to dark so I decided I would climb down and try to get a closer look. As I made my way thru the timber at the back of the corn field it gave me an overlook into the west end of the CRP. Just about that time I saw three deer come charging into the grass and it was pretty exciting there for a moment until I realized it was just the tight 8 chasing a doe and yearling.

The big 8 was south of the grassy slew in the corn field so I used that as cover for the stalk. I could see a yearling feeding just south of the slew but did not know there was a second deer there. I slipped thru the high grass just as a buck walked into the field from the golden oaks. He proceeded across the field headed my way but the second deer that I had not seen caught me moving and blew the whistle and the game was over. By the time I had made my way down there and all this happened the big 8 had made it into the next corn field. I slipped that way and when I came out of the ditch, to my surprise he was standing only about 150yds from me. It was so dark at this point I still could not decide whether to shoot him or not. I decided to hunch over and duck walk straight at him to close the distance and hopefully get a better look. He let me get to about 100yds before he decided it was time so vacate the area. I could not make my mind up to pull the trigger and that’s a good clue to whether you should.
I think I saw 26 deer in all that evening. That was a pretty exciting hunt.

That's one big buck rub in the photo above, one of the biggest I have seen. He did not break thru the bark
but he had to be a stud to even think about tackling this tree!

Rick saw 13 does from the grassy lane stand but almost everyone of them smelled him and no bucks ever made an appearance.

That was it for day 2! Hopefully tomorrow will put a big deer in my cross hairs.

Here's some more trail camers photo's from the trip:

Larry S.
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