Bagged this morning due to the wind. Thought I'd get wet this afternoon but went anyways. Luckily the rain broke up this afternoon for my area in 2b. Got in a little early to try and find a better spot around the point on the ridge more sheltered from the wind. Walked by over a dozen scrapes on the trails and switchbacks. Good sign. Find an area that is starting to look good and well, another hunter thought so too as I see him up in his stand about 60 yes out. I back out as quietly as I can and go back to the area near where I got the film of the buck above. I set up lower on the hillside to try and stay out of the wind. As I am climbing I look up the hill to see a doe watching me climb. Oh well. In the tree 30 min. And a 4 pt is moving above me on the hill but only 30 yds away. He was actually above me and picked me off but after a 5 min stare down and me getting video, he starts up the trail and ambles off not spooked. 30 min. Later, two doe come out and one comes right below me. The other is 20 yds away. After 10 min. The wind swirls and they boogie. Just before dark, a doe comes running underneath me and stops. I get ready, just in case, but nothing. A min. Goes by and I hear grunting way up top. Finally, a decent buck on a mission comes down the upper trail grunting and seeking. He never did see the doe by me and went out the ridge. Never could see exactly what he was but it was a rack about ear width, and probably not a shooter. As I am trying to shoo the doe away a little later as it is now past shooting light, the buck comes back but comes from down wind and moves on off back up the hill. Good to see movement tonight...

Had a decent hunt in Ohio tonight. Bad news is we where a little late getting there and it cost me. At 4:30 what may have been a shooter 8 pt stood 15 yards in front of my blind. He had some height to his rack but not more than 15"wide. About 6:15 I got covered in female deer. I couldn't get out of my blind. My son got worried about me and eventually spooked them about 20 minutes past shooting time.. He saw 3  does and had a small 6 pt at last light. It's getting better....... Till the next time.

Sure was a grand start to a beautiful day, until the clouds and gusty winds rolled in.  Was greeted by calls of the Sand Hill Cranes as I stepped onto my favorite deer stand then treated to a huge show of starlings as they flew in a large cloud like flock, from ground to tree tops and back to ground again.  Brought back memories of trailer-trucking the green stamp, through the farmlands of the Buckeye where one could see for miles, flocks of birds, like ribbons of smoke curving miles across the sky.  That in turn, brought back some fantastic memories, seeing huge heavy rack bucks roaming the hills and valleys of Ohio. My-Oh-My some of those elusive whitetails would give an old guy, buck fever.
 
Made my rounds, stopping specifically to check two scrapes for any activity.  To my delight, the scrapes continue to be worked and now, each have an established licking branch.  I do wonder, the scrapes are within 20 yards of each other, same deer?  No matter I guess, just nice to see the ground being worked and each having a branch now in use.  I remembered also, being told, a few drops of bottled doe pee on a scrape will keep the buck returning, looking for a hot doe.  Needless to say, I don't have doe pee but, I sure had to go and, enough for both spots.  Should have placed a field cam on video at each spot to see the reaction of the buck when he gets a whiff of that.  I'm thinking there should be holes dug under the branches, when I get back.  Hell ya just never know if ya don't try!!!
 
Now I must go, time for my meds.....  'tupid cabin fever!!
 
 
Good luck fellas, hunt safely and remember, it's about the hunt.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Well, this morning started off the same as yesterday afternoon minus the rain. Winds still a gusting and not seeing any action I stood up to stretch for a few just after 9. Standing there contemplating whether to stick it out for a while or climb down to move to another stand 3 doe came ripping in. Stood there and waited for a buck to come in after them, but he never showed. The 3 worked to within 30yds of me and as they seemed to get a little sketchy being downwind of me now I decided to arrow one. Whether straight up poor shooting on my part, effects from the strong winds, or some combination of both I was not happy with myself when I saw how far back I hit. To my pleasant surprise though she trotted maybe 20yds and then fell over on the spot. Made for an easy track job. Upon inspection while gutting her the NAP killzone absolutely annihilated her liver. Gave a short thanks for the gift and another great morning in the woods, then it was off to get her skinned and quarterd. Back at it tomorrow with focus on finding a nice buck. At least the wind will be less and I can get to a spot I've been wanting to hunt with the climber. Good luck all.

Had high hopes for my son to get a buck tonight. Skies cleared up, light NNW wind, high pressure.

Ended up seeing 4 bucks, but all pretty small and not up to his standards. One small spike harassing bald deer. Three separate ones all alone. No shots at em anyway.

Not even as many bald deer on the move asI thought we'd see.

Congratulations Crappie_Slayer!!! Now for a few crappy fillets, a thick slice of backstrap and it's Pennsyltucky, surf and turf. Don't get noooo better then that. 🍻

Mopars great field cam shots bud. That big bruiser looks like the deer I"d see, while sailing the concrete ocean, across the Buckeye.

The fork horn is exciting, neck appears to be swelling and the tarsal gland on the right back leg looks extremely dark. He might not have a legal rack but it sure looks like, he's horny!!!

Ok... ok, It's the cabin fever I tell ya.

Best day ever around 30 does seen 8 bucks hunting from 10-7 in the rain payed off 1 confirmed shooter possibility more idk it got crazy at dark had 5 bucks chasing does wicked hunt

I sat in that rain too...saw 1 doe in morning,1 doe while taking a shower with my hunting clothes on,and then I drove home sat last hour on plot saw 5 deer and my 1st legal buck nice lil 8pt to far away probaly would have let him walk anyways he was looking for does on plot but not hard chasing just strolling through.Gotta do some other things today hunt the evening last couple hours.GOOD LUCK...WCW

Nice picture there BTDT... getting ready to hit the woods , hopefully i’ll have better pictures than just the ones at night, you know with Mr. big boy on the ground… OK , wishful thinking 😜👍… Plan on doing some more rattling tonight maybe we’ll get lucky ...OK good luck guys.

Hit woods about 2:00 checked cameras , a few pictures nothing great , had a little spike dancing on his back legs getting to the branch .... lol and the little 4 pt .. checked for New scrapes nothing , put down a little doe pee. In stand 2:30 , no rain which was good, at 3:15 have 3 doe running past me ... looking for nice buck coming . Well not so fast about 5 or 6 minutes later here comes a coyote trailing them ... they hit the field , coyote almost to me stopped to far away for me anyways 50 + yds looks up toward me not sure if he knew I was there but he hit the thicket ...3 coyotes that i’ve Seen in last 2 yrs ... after I calmed down sit until 5:55 seeing nothing then I have this lady decide to take a walk with her 2 dogs down the edge of the field ... figure Great this is all I need .... wrong about 6:10 almost dark getting ready to leave stand I look in the thicket only to see the big boy walking away from me ... I did grunt but he just kept walking away .... oh well .... as they say TOMORROW RIGHT !!! All and all it was fun ... Good luck guys .... here is the little dancer ...... lol

Mopars give her hell buddy.... the woman with the dogs I mean. lol

Doesn't sound like you're seeing much of silly season yet but you know, it's just around the corner.

Got my fingers crossed fir yinz.

Good luck & shoot to kill.

It's OK buddy, we believe you saw something. Sitting long periods in a deer stand is like being alone on a desert. I think they're called a mirage. Lol.

I didn't say that, did I, stupid cabin fever.😒

Well I decided to not hunt at home due to wind direction went to a spot I just call THE HILL got nightime vid of a impressive 10 pt there last week his g2 and g3s are about a foot long.Anyways got into ground blind made out of a huge fallen Beech tree before 3 around 330 a 6 pt appeared out of a blind spot close jus sniffing the ground strolling around suddenly he bolted he was upwind never looked my way so figured sumtin bigger spooked him and 5 minutes later a small 8pt came strutting up to about 40yds wasnt interested in him but gud to see.He had an attitude no other deer around but at one point he put his head down and ran into a brush pile busting through it and flicking his head up tossing branches I just enjoyed the show.No other deer seen on hill drove home and wife told me there were 2 deer in plot butting heads for 15 minutes right before dark.Hunting here in swamp today nnw winds are perfect.Its getting better see what happens...GOOD LUCK WCW

Hunting Pa. yesterday afternoon in the suburbs of Pittsburgh. It can't get over the amount of highway traffic,screaming children,hammering people,and just ridiculous amount of noise,but the smell of grilling steak did make me hungry.lol My wife had a big juicy cheese burger,coleslaw,and slice garden tomatoes on my plate as I walked in lol So it eased the pain of my hunt. I wasn't in the woods 15 minutes when a young 7 pts walked in at 15 yards. He was so small that I needed binoculars to count that massive rack. lol He decided to look over at me,a couple of foot stomps and head bobs,one big leap,and a baby snort. He just turn and walked away. That was it,perfect evening and no more deer. It's been my toughest year without a doubt. Even last year with a quadruple bypass I smoke 3 deer.lol I'm getting old real fast. Should have gotten another beagle and hunted rabbits,advantages of rabbit hunting,plenty of walking,( good for the ticker) not a problem dragging them out,about a 100 day season,at least you get to shoot once in a while.lol  I did not hunt today it was raining this morning at 6:00 am. I took a good shower on Wednesday in Ohio an Pa. Rain,rain go away. Forecast look wet Sunday thru Tuesday wet. Good luck guys. I think I'm going to hunt Thunderpoles woods.lol

Did not hunt last Friday, but stayed on the patio and drank beer with my wife instead. Saw a doe, fawn, and buck in the east neighbor’s field. He wasn’t interested in her, nor her him.

At 6:30, two adult does crossed from the west neighbor’s yard into ours. They eventually wondered off.

At 6;50, and it was getting darn dark, a huge buck came out of our woods on a path that leads to our treehouse. It was too dark to tell exactly what it was, but every time he moved his head, you could see the rack at about 200 yards against the sky.

Tuesday morning found me in the treehouse and my south neighbor again interrupting the hunt by cutting corn stalks (I figured out he was feeding them to some newly acquired pigs). I saw nothing.

I contacted a hunting body and told him that all buck photos last rut were in the creek bottom and none in the field edge. This year, it was just the opposite. He suggested I create a mock scrape near the treehouse.

Being a gun guy until now, I had never done that before. But I followed his instructions and did it before my Tuesday evening hunt.

Tuesday evening, I saw four deer, two doe and two unknown. None crossed the creek.

Thursday predawn was raining hard enough that the dogs would nit leave the kennel for their morning constitutional. I took that as smart and I didn’t go out either.

It was well light by the time I headed for the treehouse. In the corner of the east neighbor’s field, close to our boundary, was a buck that I’m pretty sure was this one.

At 9:00, the Mom and triplets, showed up and hung out for about 20 minutes. I had vowed to leave them alone and they finally wondered off. I gave it about 15 minutes and did a bleat and a grunt.

It wasn’t long before, I saw antlers in the woods behind the mock scrape. It did not come down the path. This meant the only opportunity was if it stepped in the mock scrape.

When it did, I had about .25 seconds to decide if it was the right buck (it was clearly legal). I decided I like venison bologna and loosed the bolt at 12 yards. I can’t say I saw the bolt in flight, but I heard it hit.

The buck ran behind the treehouse and jumped into the stream. It ran in the water for about 25 yards, blood pouring into the creek. It jumped on the opposite bank and headed down the farm road that ran the length of the corn field. At some point I lost sight of it and figured it went into the corn.

The bolt was firmly in the ground, right beyond the scrape. There was hair and blood in the scrape, and from what I saw pouring into the creek, I knew it wasn’t going far.

I headed home, dumped my gear, and drove the truck over to the neighbor’s. I parked right where the deer had exited the creek and there was blood all over the farm road.

I walked about 30 yards and there was the buck dead as a door nail right on the farm road where I had lost sight of it.

And it was the wrong buck. It was the younger brother (a year apart) of the one I thought it was, but it was a solid six and I’ll take that for a first quasi archery buck in my rookie season

My buddy who suggested the mock scrape said it was more about the process — scouting the deer, getting it to come to the mock scrape, calling it in, and bolting it in a brief time window.