ramblings, this years rut, buddy system, down right boredom

ug -- I'm bored.  I want to ramble about nothing.

So archery season is right around the corner.  Less than 90 days.  It'll be here before we know it.  I've tied about 7 boxes of flies for steelheading, the fishing around my area just doesn't interest me this time of year (neither do water levels) .. so I end up spending spare time around the woods and reading.  Many of the trees in the area will not drop acorns this year.. so it appears.  I haven't spent much time in the woods when it gets real hot.  A friend saw a rattlesnake the other day as round as his arm.  yikes!!!  He showed me the area of their dens.  Sorta changes my perspective of hunting there. 

I've seen some deer this year, particularly last night after the downpour of rain.  I was a nice 8 pt. earlier in the week.  His browtines were about 5 inches long but his rack was only maybe 11 inches wide.  Real high though.  I like that.  : )  Other than that, two 4's, a spiker, lots of doe and little ones.  Last night, was a night well worth the ride thru the forest.  I met a friend at his camp, as I pulled up, two bucks were eating along the road.  They took off down thru the woods.  I got the spotting scope up to find them both eight pts.  Both are nice .. one out past its ears with the main beams turning in.  The other, main beams to its ears and still heading outwards.  My buddy shows up and we drove down to his camp to find them right there.  He got excited calling them "huge" to his friend on the phone.    na .. both respectable bucks, by no means huge.  Huntable to me but I know there is better to found.  That will come with time spent out there.  He wouldn't have seen them if it weren't for me.   

Down the road about 7-8 miles, we stop the truck so my buddy can pi§§.  He's out there yappin about the acorns in the red oak just above us.  I look down thru some high grass as the vehicle idles.  I'm staring (a zoning dumb stare), and I catch movement.  Upon focusing (he's still yappin), all I see are antlers, just the tines .. about 100 yards away.  Out of nowhere the buck stands up.  yikes!!!!  As I struggle to get the spotting scope locked to the window, my buddy is still yappin, and here I am staring thru the scope in aw.  I forgot to count points at this time.  If I would have been in a treestand, I would have forgot to pick up my bow.  Yeah .. that kind of buck.  My buddy finally turns around.  "Holy Â§h!t" he yells.   After that yell, another one stands up.    So .. there stands two magnificent whitetails.  Both 12 points.  The ones antlers haven't even started to turn in and he's at least 22
inches wide.  His 11th and 12th point are just started.  The other had much longer tines with the main beams turned in.  If it wouldn't have been for my buddy pi§§ing and yelling, I would have never seen those deer.  ...and to think those bucks have another month and a half to grow. 

The buddy system worked at its finest on this day.  I can't expect to hunt a big buck without knowing he's there as the forest is so vast.   Well worth the time spent out there so far this year.  This area hasn't been hunted for two years.  Last year, this area was seriously a lack of deer area.  The feed must be there for now. It certainly got the blood pumpin.

Anyway .. I suspect the rut is going to be a good one this year.  Our rut generally occurs one week after the second full moon AFTER the autumn equinox.  That day after the one week will be November 2.  Last year, we missed this by one day and next year we'll miss it again.  This week, if it matters to you, will be the week of the new moon this year.  While I believe the doe ultimately controls the timing of the rut, I do pay attention to moon phases as well.  So get out there, get prepared, and enjoy.  I hope to see all of you with a trophy this year.  Wear a safety harness to see another day!!!!

I'm a Tard.  She's a biggen.

J .. I opened a bottle of scent killer that expired in 2004 last week.  Smelled like hairspray.  yum yum.

You want to ramble on about nothing?  You've come to the right place!
 
Anybody notice that on certain days, deer are out everywhere?  Usually a couple of times per summer, I see deer everywhere I look.

So .. I went spotting last night.  It looks like someone hung white Christmas lights above and below road RIGHT where I saw those huge bucks.  That's the disadvantage of public hunting I guess.  Didn't take long for that!!  Those deer have likely already dug their holes in the ground and we're still two months away.  What's the point of putting six brite-eyes in the tree right along the road visible with headlights?  Do ya think others might see that, huh?  Then one every five feet down thru the woods? Some people are idiots.  Let the nocturnal animal fun begin.    

Hey Drake, do you like them rockets?  A buddy of mine turned me on to them and I was thinking about giving them a try this year. 
 
Thanks.

I may have to move to a new area this year. So far in the area I hunt I have seen 14 bucks and not one was larger than a five point or wider than 10 inches. I haven't seen that much junk here since the early seventies. Between the junior hunters, the special licenses and the late doe hunters most of them won't make it through the winter. On the bright side the area I hunt in Ohio is supposed to have some dandy's this year.

Last Wednesday on the way home from raystown, I counted 17 deer in the one field.  15 of them bucks.  Talk about a bachelor group.  12 were 8 pts.  I couldn't put a nineth point on any of them.   Maybe one would go 125."   They're on private land.  Once that corn gets cut, they'll be up.  yee haw.

Saw 3 bucks on the way home a few nights ago, 2 -- 3 pts (good looking though) and a reasonable 8.  Some awfully small fawns too.  Last night, I found what I've been looking for.  A good buck that the whole county won't hunt.  Biggest deer I've ever seen on hoof in PA, probably 250 pounds.  He looked like a well fed cow.  He was too far (or my light sucks), to count points for sure.  Nice mainframe though. 

Saw two more rattlesnakes tonight.  That's 7 in the last two weeks.  One was a black phase.  I didn't like that!!  yikes!!  Freaked me out.  Little guy, only had one rattle.  The other was a yellow.  I stop for a baby bunny and see a "flicker" to its right.  Here's it a 3.5 foot rattler (6-7 rattles) only 5-6 inches from the bunny.  The flicker was its tongue.  Not sure if it bit the rabbit or not.  I'm sure it'll follow its scent trail.  It would have been a cool pic.  I got the snake on the cell.  I need some rattlesnake herd reduction here!!!  For the record for you snakes lovers/haters ..  I only killed one.  I didn't see it in time.  The little black phase almost got the tire tonight.  Another guy hit one the other night too.  He was a biggen.  It moved away fine though.  Also saw a black racer this p.m..  It was a welcoming sight compared to those venomed ones.  I think I'm going to take up bowling, enough of this woods crap.

I'm a fixed blade kind of guy.

I shoot 60# and when it came time to draw on a buck on a cold november morning last year it was a struggle.  It is amazing the difference in summer shooting vs cold weather shooting.
 
I am thinking of dropping down a few pounds this year.

I shoot 56lbs... and yes guys the sonics are cut on contact fixed blades 

http://www.americanbroadhead.com/performance_testing.shtml