Two weeks vacation - 14 days minus 2 Sundays as we have no Sunday hunting = 12 days possible, minus 2 down days left 10 days to hunt.
In all, I let 6 does pass until after the rut is over...had 8 bucks come by including a button, a spike, forkies, a small 8, a medium 8 which I took last week in the rain, and two very big 8-10's which I couldn't get a good shot at.
Anybody who saw the national weather saw the jet stream dropped way down into the deep southern states all this week letting the cold canadian air blast down in here, blowing 15-25 mph out of the NW all week with temps in the 20's, wind chill in the teens.
The NW flow really messed me up on the two woodlots I have permission to hunt...my blinds are set up overlooking trail crossings based upon prevailing winds from the south and east, not the north and west. As a result I could only hunt one spot 3 times as the wind was most always wrong, and had to use the other spot 7 times which is really too often day after day when you're hunting close...and at that I had to set up and use a makeshift blind to try to deal with the shift in wind direction.
Anyhow, managed to get a Flintlock buck, saw a hawk dive in and just barely miss a squirrel last week, saw turkey a half dozen different days...and just today had a beautiful gray fox came gliding through about 25yds from my blind in the middle of the afternoon...I made a squeaking noise, he stopped and looked in my direction, then continued on his way...I know they raid turkey nests but he was a beautiful animal just the same.
Lucky to have had the opportunities, the places, and the resources to enjoy this time of year in the woods like this...hope to get out some more over Thanksgiving.
PS: This jet stream has to go !!
:grin:
In all, I let 6 does pass until after the rut is over...had 8 bucks come by including a button, a spike, forkies, a small 8, a medium 8 which I took last week in the rain, and two very big 8-10's which I couldn't get a good shot at.
Anybody who saw the national weather saw the jet stream dropped way down into the deep southern states all this week letting the cold canadian air blast down in here, blowing 15-25 mph out of the NW all week with temps in the 20's, wind chill in the teens.
The NW flow really messed me up on the two woodlots I have permission to hunt...my blinds are set up overlooking trail crossings based upon prevailing winds from the south and east, not the north and west. As a result I could only hunt one spot 3 times as the wind was most always wrong, and had to use the other spot 7 times which is really too often day after day when you're hunting close...and at that I had to set up and use a makeshift blind to try to deal with the shift in wind direction.
Anyhow, managed to get a Flintlock buck, saw a hawk dive in and just barely miss a squirrel last week, saw turkey a half dozen different days...and just today had a beautiful gray fox came gliding through about 25yds from my blind in the middle of the afternoon...I made a squeaking noise, he stopped and looked in my direction, then continued on his way...I know they raid turkey nests but he was a beautiful animal just the same.
Lucky to have had the opportunities, the places, and the resources to enjoy this time of year in the woods like this...hope to get out some more over Thanksgiving.
PS: This jet stream has to go !!
:grin:
