On November 2, I left the house at 6:15 am. I headed for the "Bean Pole". I have shot my last three archery bucks from this tree. A buddy of mine called it a bean pole when I showed it to him while he was helping drag out my 2005 buck.
The stars and the moon were bright enough that I didn't need to turn my headlamp in for the walk or hanging the Lone Wolf stand. I checked my cell phone when I sat down, 6:55 am. It wasn't long and movement caught my eye out in the pasture. It was a small 5 point, headed my way. He jumped the fence behind a huge cedar tree and took a trail that went right by the base of the Bean Pole. What little breeze there was blew my scent away from him, towards the creek just behind me. I checked the time, 7:19 am. About 5 minutes later, a flock of turkeys started flying down to the east of me. They were acting kind of weird, running back and forth. I guess I got caught up watching them, because the next time I looked back towards the pasture, there stood a buck under the cedar tree. He had already jumped the fence. He's maybe 15 yards from the base of my tree. I look his rack over and think, not bad. He jerked his head to look towards the creek and like an idiot, I do the same. He caught the movement and looked up at me. I closed my eyes (don't know if it does any good or not, I feel like a little kid who thinks their invisible when they do that) and slowly peaked at him. He looks back down towards the creek, then starts following the trail the previous buck used. As he was headed away, I stood, drew, and when he hit an open spot at 20 yards, I erped at him. He stopped, his head behind some brush, giving me a clear window on his rib cage. I didn't hesitate (really on autopilot) and sent a Jakhammer through his heart. As he ran off, I watched my arrow flop out of him. Also, a little buck that was down by the creek took off with him. So that was what he was looking at!
I looked at the time, 8:02 am. I waited a half hour and then climbed down to find my arrow. I found it and it was broken, missing about six inches. Next to the arrow was some bubbly blood and seeing where the arrow was sticking out of him as he ran, I knew it was a good hit. It was a very poor blood trail, plus my being red/green colorblind doesn't help. I quit trying to blood trail and started walking in the direction he ran. I found him less than 100 yards from where I shot him, though of course, it was 100 yards the other way from the car.
Looking at him, I saw that the Jakhammer was just under the skin on the far side (under the tuft of hair on his left shoulder in the pic). After pictures, I cut the skin with my knife and pulled out the arrow head. The arrow struck him 4 ribs ahead of the diaphragm on the right side, ranged forward nicking the top of the heart, finally hitting the off front leg bone. The downward shot and lack of exit hole had him bleed out internally.
So my buck tag has been filled and I?m sitting with two antlerless only archery tags. Iowa has county quotas to help thin the deer herd (on Sunday, October 21, after filling my 4 early muzzleloader tags, I shot my first archery antlerless deer). I still had one archery antlerless tag for Johnson County and another for Cedar County. I headed out to try to fill the Johnson County tag this morning. On Sunday, November 4, with the time change and insomnia, I was about 10 minutes late getting to the tree I wanted to set up in. I bumped two does bedded in the corner of the CRP field right next to my tree. Oh well, I figured there are lots of deer so I went ahead and set up anyway. It didn't take long and deer started cutting across the corner of the CRP field. Of course they came down the trail right next to the tree I sat in last weekend. Finally, one doe split off from the group and hugged the edge of the timber. She was on the trail I wanted her to follow and then she headed straight for the base of my tree. She was going to get downwind real quick and I was afraid she would catch my scent on the Lone Wolf steps. When she was 12 foot from the base of the tree, I let an arrow fly. It was basically a straight down shot. The arrow cut her spine, her hind legs gave out. As she was going down, she spun a quick 180 in place and collapsed, never to move again. Not even 8 am and I'm done in Johnson County for the year. I figured the spine shot probably messed up the NAP Spitfire expandable, but I was pleasantly surprised when I pulled it out. The blades weren't bent. I cleaned it up at home and resharpened the blades. I figured I would use it again later in the afternoon. I ran her to the local HUSH (Hunters United to Stop Hunger) locker and headed home. Picture taken from the stand:
I messed around at home during the middle of the day, then headed for Cedar County. I got the Lone Wolf Alpha stand set up in a brushy corner where 4 fields meet. There was a picked bean field behind me, combined corn in front, CRP to the west and a corn field with the end rows combined to the NW. I checked the cell phone and it was 2 pm. About 2:30 I can see antlers running up and down a brushy waterway. At 3:30, I happen to look at the scrape I walked through to get to my tree. It was 10 yards behind me. Lo and behold, who do I see standing in it? None other than Corkscrew (his brows have a distinctive curve to them and I have tons of trailcam pics of him, see below). He stands in the scrape for about 5 minutes before he heads to the CRP field to the west. Did I mention I only have a doe tag in my pocket? :cry:
Around 4:20 I stand up to take a leak. As I'm letting the rain fall, I see a doe coming out of the CRP headed my way. She takes her time, slowly working into the picked corn field in front of me. I have never hunted this tree before so I had no shooting lanes cut. I had to wait for her to get in an opening, then let the arrow fly. The resharpened Spitfire does a complete double lung/heart pass through at 25 yards. She runs out into the corn 30 yards, turns to look back and falls over. It was 4:30 pm and my archery season was officially over. Picture looking back towards the tree I was in:
I got home and started cleaning all my gear out of my car. It dawned on me that I set my favorite knife on the edge of the bed of the pickup when I was out in the corn field. This knife has great sentimental value to it, so I drove back out to look for it. It was dark by then so I took a flashlight. Luckily, I found it in less than 10 minutes of looking. I bought a lotto ticket that night, but it seems I?d used up all my luck.
I?m going Pheasant hunting in the morning, after checking the trap line I put out today.
Shotgun deer season starts Dec. 1. Between shotgun and late antlerless only season, I have 6 more tags to fill.
Good luck everybody and stay safe!
The stars and the moon were bright enough that I didn't need to turn my headlamp in for the walk or hanging the Lone Wolf stand. I checked my cell phone when I sat down, 6:55 am. It wasn't long and movement caught my eye out in the pasture. It was a small 5 point, headed my way. He jumped the fence behind a huge cedar tree and took a trail that went right by the base of the Bean Pole. What little breeze there was blew my scent away from him, towards the creek just behind me. I checked the time, 7:19 am. About 5 minutes later, a flock of turkeys started flying down to the east of me. They were acting kind of weird, running back and forth. I guess I got caught up watching them, because the next time I looked back towards the pasture, there stood a buck under the cedar tree. He had already jumped the fence. He's maybe 15 yards from the base of my tree. I look his rack over and think, not bad. He jerked his head to look towards the creek and like an idiot, I do the same. He caught the movement and looked up at me. I closed my eyes (don't know if it does any good or not, I feel like a little kid who thinks their invisible when they do that) and slowly peaked at him. He looks back down towards the creek, then starts following the trail the previous buck used. As he was headed away, I stood, drew, and when he hit an open spot at 20 yards, I erped at him. He stopped, his head behind some brush, giving me a clear window on his rib cage. I didn't hesitate (really on autopilot) and sent a Jakhammer through his heart. As he ran off, I watched my arrow flop out of him. Also, a little buck that was down by the creek took off with him. So that was what he was looking at!
I looked at the time, 8:02 am. I waited a half hour and then climbed down to find my arrow. I found it and it was broken, missing about six inches. Next to the arrow was some bubbly blood and seeing where the arrow was sticking out of him as he ran, I knew it was a good hit. It was a very poor blood trail, plus my being red/green colorblind doesn't help. I quit trying to blood trail and started walking in the direction he ran. I found him less than 100 yards from where I shot him, though of course, it was 100 yards the other way from the car.
Looking at him, I saw that the Jakhammer was just under the skin on the far side (under the tuft of hair on his left shoulder in the pic). After pictures, I cut the skin with my knife and pulled out the arrow head. The arrow struck him 4 ribs ahead of the diaphragm on the right side, ranged forward nicking the top of the heart, finally hitting the off front leg bone. The downward shot and lack of exit hole had him bleed out internally.
So my buck tag has been filled and I?m sitting with two antlerless only archery tags. Iowa has county quotas to help thin the deer herd (on Sunday, October 21, after filling my 4 early muzzleloader tags, I shot my first archery antlerless deer). I still had one archery antlerless tag for Johnson County and another for Cedar County. I headed out to try to fill the Johnson County tag this morning. On Sunday, November 4, with the time change and insomnia, I was about 10 minutes late getting to the tree I wanted to set up in. I bumped two does bedded in the corner of the CRP field right next to my tree. Oh well, I figured there are lots of deer so I went ahead and set up anyway. It didn't take long and deer started cutting across the corner of the CRP field. Of course they came down the trail right next to the tree I sat in last weekend. Finally, one doe split off from the group and hugged the edge of the timber. She was on the trail I wanted her to follow and then she headed straight for the base of my tree. She was going to get downwind real quick and I was afraid she would catch my scent on the Lone Wolf steps. When she was 12 foot from the base of the tree, I let an arrow fly. It was basically a straight down shot. The arrow cut her spine, her hind legs gave out. As she was going down, she spun a quick 180 in place and collapsed, never to move again. Not even 8 am and I'm done in Johnson County for the year. I figured the spine shot probably messed up the NAP Spitfire expandable, but I was pleasantly surprised when I pulled it out. The blades weren't bent. I cleaned it up at home and resharpened the blades. I figured I would use it again later in the afternoon. I ran her to the local HUSH (Hunters United to Stop Hunger) locker and headed home. Picture taken from the stand:
I messed around at home during the middle of the day, then headed for Cedar County. I got the Lone Wolf Alpha stand set up in a brushy corner where 4 fields meet. There was a picked bean field behind me, combined corn in front, CRP to the west and a corn field with the end rows combined to the NW. I checked the cell phone and it was 2 pm. About 2:30 I can see antlers running up and down a brushy waterway. At 3:30, I happen to look at the scrape I walked through to get to my tree. It was 10 yards behind me. Lo and behold, who do I see standing in it? None other than Corkscrew (his brows have a distinctive curve to them and I have tons of trailcam pics of him, see below). He stands in the scrape for about 5 minutes before he heads to the CRP field to the west. Did I mention I only have a doe tag in my pocket? :cry:
Around 4:20 I stand up to take a leak. As I'm letting the rain fall, I see a doe coming out of the CRP headed my way. She takes her time, slowly working into the picked corn field in front of me. I have never hunted this tree before so I had no shooting lanes cut. I had to wait for her to get in an opening, then let the arrow fly. The resharpened Spitfire does a complete double lung/heart pass through at 25 yards. She runs out into the corn 30 yards, turns to look back and falls over. It was 4:30 pm and my archery season was officially over. Picture looking back towards the tree I was in:
I got home and started cleaning all my gear out of my car. It dawned on me that I set my favorite knife on the edge of the bed of the pickup when I was out in the corn field. This knife has great sentimental value to it, so I drove back out to look for it. It was dark by then so I took a flashlight. Luckily, I found it in less than 10 minutes of looking. I bought a lotto ticket that night, but it seems I?d used up all my luck.
I?m going Pheasant hunting in the morning, after checking the trap line I put out today.
Shotgun deer season starts Dec. 1. Between shotgun and late antlerless only season, I have 6 more tags to fill.Good luck everybody and stay safe!
