Bow Season Report, Florida 2010-5

Bow Season Report, Florida 2010-5

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Thurs., September 30, 2010 ( am hunt) #8, (pm hunt #9)

Wind: NW 2-3mph (very light)
temp.: l -71, h.- 82
moon:  last quarter
major feed: 4:00 am - 4:30 pm
pressure: 29.60 - steady
humidity: avg. - % (very comfortable AM 74%) high 94%
rain: 0 (full overcast AM)

I felt like I had a good chance of seeing one of the bucks that have been visiting the pond stand this morning so I made a plan for the hunt.

The only problem with AM. hunting right now is I have to get Morgan (my daughter) to school by 9:00am. That cuts my hunt pretty short but that's what I have to work with.

I bumped two deer at the stand in the dark. one left to the NW. and the other to the E.. Both blew a few times (which is always helpful for attracting deer!) It was full overcast and cool, about 71 with a mist in the air. It was a pretty nice sit actually and I felt like I could see a deer anytime. I finally caught a little movement over my left shoulder just after 8:00am and it was a non-antlered, small type deer.
At 8:15 I packed up and headed out.

Pulled the cam card. Had 103 pics in just from over night with the 77spike and the 5pt showing up again. the spike just after midnight and the 5 pt about 10:30. deer were there off and on throughout the night.

We'll see what the afternoon hunt brings.

PM HUNT:

Mostly sunny, pretty comfortable.
wind light: WNW 3-4 mph

I just made it to the stand by 7:00pm. I buggered a deer off slipping up to the stand but it did not sound the alarm.

I juiced up the feed and scampered up the tree and got settled in. About 7:15 I spotted a buck coming down the 5th row from the east and was at 30 yds and closing. Pretty quick I realized he was tracking another deer and he passed right on by the corn without so much as a glance. Another clue as to why I have been seeing so many bucks on the trail cam. There is some rut activity going on. The deer turned out to be the 75 spike. He's 7" on one side and 5" on the other. the end of his right spike is broken off just a little. After just a short while he came back and went right to the corn and started lippin' it up. Finally it got so dark I had to run him off to get out of there. I decided with all the larger bucks in the area a "snort wheeze" would probably send him packing without educating him about the man in the tree. He hopped off tail high, then stopped and tip toed off waving his tail with each step.

I was able to video him but I don't think I could have shot him and got it on film when he passed by the first time. I really have mixed feelings about the video camera and the illinois hunt coming up. I think first and foremost is going to be killing the buck.....if I can get it on film great, if not at least I'll have a trophy buck. Should be interesting! 

Good huntin'
Larry
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7 Bucks Visit Trail Cam in 4 Days!

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Camera Trap Pictures From 9/24 thru 9/28.

I almost hunted tonight  even though the feed time is still a little early in the afternoon but it was pretty ugly out and I decided to wait for  better weather. That turned out to be a good decision as it started raining before dark.

However, I did stop to put out some feed and pull the card in the trail cam. When I opened the camera it showed 208 pictures in 4 days!! I couldn't wait to get home to see what had visited the stand. It's like opening a Christmas present when you pop the card in the computer.

Well, I misses a great opportunity at a nice racked buck on Sunday morning. I was so tired from staying up posting to the blog Friday night I just could not get out of bed Sunday. That was a big mistake....have a look at pic #26 he was there at 7:25am!

The most interesting thing is that no less than 7 different bucks showed up at the stand in 4 days. I am totally amazed! Without the trail camera I would have no idea that many bucks are using there.

Obviously, all those bucks don't live right there and must have traveled there following other deer trails they cut. This tells me  that bucks are actively out looking for does and if this activity holds thru the weekend I should be able to show you a few close up of one or two of them with little x's over their eyes.

Have a look at these. They are not all big but that's coastal Florida hunting.

Here is a good tip, don't set your camera facing the rising or setting sun or you will get pictures like the on e above early and late in the day. That's a pretty nice buck there, wish the exposure was better.

The camera I am running at this stand is a Bushnell Trail Sentry 2.1 mp. They have discontinued this particular model but have higher mp models like their 4.0 mp and 5.0 mp cameras. The 2.1 mp I used has infra red capability but I prefer the flash pictures and it does not seem to bother them at all. I would mention I have gotten pictures on my Bushnell trophy cam, on infra red where the deer was spooking off the camera! They came back  and were on the cam again but they definitely were startled by the red glow.

Also note that all of these pictures are resized to a modest 640X480 format which degrades the quality you see just a little.

Good luck,
Larry
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