FIELD JOURNALS
ARCHIVE - BOW HUNTING 2004
Please follow along as the Aim Low Team does what we
all love to do...Go Hunting! You can check out the
current season or check out a blow by blow account of
last season. We hope you enjoy reading it
all!
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Illinois Hunt
11/14
Keith hunting again (since I
did not get my IL tag).
Right after good light, a
big buck followed a doe into
the field. We didn't
realize it at the time, but
video shows this was the
same buck we saw chasing
does yesterday in this
field. He is a great 8 pt
with very tall brow tines.
A bit later in the morning a
doe brought a decent 10 pt
near us. He stopped to work
a scrape and Keith decided
to shoot. The arrow went
right over his back! (Video
later shows that the buck
actually ducked the arrow at
the shot.) This same buck
and doe came back within 25
yards later in the morning
and he even snort wheezed a
couple of times and bedded
twice near us. But no shot
presented.
Keith's Missed Buck
During the mid-day, we
helped our good friend Larry
(camera man for Aimin' Low,
Vol I) trail his buck that
he shot the evening before.
After 3 hours of tough
tracking, we found him. A
very nice 10 pt. Larry had
hit him a bit further back
than he thought, which is
what led to the tough
trailing.
Larry's Buck Photo
We moved locations for
the evening hunt and called
in a decent 8 pt. Keith was
at full draw on him at 4
yards and needed him to take
2 more steps to clear some
brush, but the buck walked
right into our scent taken
downward by the evening
thermals and he high tailed
it out of there.
Lotsa Bucks, No Shots
11/13
Hunter: Keith, Camera:
Robin
Equipment: Renegade Bow
On the drive up the evening
before, we saw a very nice
buck making a scrape in a
field with several does
watching. We turned the
truck around a shot a bit of
video of him and spotted
another nice buck in the
brush. This got us going
for the hunt.
The first morning we had
a very big buck sneak up to
within 20 yards of us before
either of us saw him. He
spotted something he didn't
like and walked away the
direction he came from.
Good start, but we would
have liked to close the
deal. Later in the
morning another big buck
chased some does out into a
field we were watching and
came within 35 yards but no
shot presented. Before
the day ended we saw 8
different bucks and 4
shooters. What a day!
Early November in
Northern MO
Rather than a depressing
day by day blow, I will just
summarize the trip.
Friday morning, about 12
miles from our area, we see
a monster 10 pt standing
over a doe right next to the
road. We did a U-turn and
got some video of him. Wow,
this pumped us up. About 1
mile from camp, we spot
another big buck standing
with a doe in a ditch. Now
we couldn't stand it.
Straight to the stand we
went and sat the rest of the
day. 8 hours in the stand
and one small buck was all
we saw.
Each day was the same,
hours and hours in great
funnel areas (that have
proven themselves in the
past) for 4 days with a
small buck or two coming by
each day. Not one single doe
was seen close by, and no
mature bucks were sighted.
We did each pass the same
2.5 year old 8 pt. On a
couple of occasions, we
glimpsed some chasing in the
distance (long distance).
We talked to friends that
were having the hunts of
their lives. Pretty
disappointing for us, but we
aren't done yet! Keep
checking in.
Halloween
11/31
Hunter: Robin, Camera:
Keith
Equipment: Renegade Bow
We could only hunt the
morning so we could home to
our kids for trick or
treating. Decided to try
the logged area again where
I missed the doe.
Soon after daylight, a
nice little buck came right
by and some does came to the
brush to bed in the
distance. Around 8:30,
three does ran into the
logged area and a decent
buck followed them in. Next
thing you know, deer are up
all around us and a mature
doe is walking by at 12
yards. You guessed it,
right over her back! But,
with my bow being so quiet,
she stopped at 30 yards and
I didn't miss. I did hit a
bit to the left and after a
long blood trail and a heart
pounding second shot at 6 or
7 yards we had her.
11/30
Hunter: Keith, Camera:
Robin
Equipment: Renegade Bow
The radio said high winds
with 50 mph gusts for this
morning. We decided to try
it anyway. The river bottom
was a bit sheltered, but
still our tree was rockin'!
No matter, right at shooting
light 2 bucks came by about
60 yards. A couple of
grunts and they came right
in. Now it was decision
time as the biggest was a
borderline shooter. We
whispered back and forth,
but I could not convince
Keith to shoot. "It's not
even November, yet." he
said. As the buck walked
off, I think we both
wondered if we made a
mistake. It was a nice 120
class 9 pt. Time will
tell...what do you think?
Soon after, we saw a buck
chasing two does a ways
out. Then around 9:00, a
nice (about 100 inches) 8 pt
came in and bedded 50 yards
away. Due to the high
winds, we were able to leave
without him seeing us. Cool
morning. Who says deer
don't move in the wind?
This is him, should we have
taken him?
Photo 1
11/29
Hunter: Robin, Camera:
Keith
Equipment: Renegade bow
Hunted near a bedding area
in North MO. We got right
at the edge of a logged area
due to very high winds. We
figured that we needed to be
really close to deer as they
may not move until right at
dark. It worked! Even with
30 mph winds we had a small
buck walk right by us. Then
a doe and two little ones
came under us and I flat
missed the big doe, bummer.
11/16 Evening
Pretty cool evening. We set
up in a small draw in an
abandoned cow pasture on a
new piece of ground we had
never seen before. That
draw just really got my
attention, especially with
the dozens of nice rubs and
huge tracks around it. Just
before dark a group of does
came in and, well, um, I
kinda...missed. Shot high,
misjudging the distance.
Probably the biggest doe I
have ever seen. Funny thing
was, this time Keith didn't
have the camera ready.
Seems like we are good at
not filming the misses!
We again got hung up in
the tree with deer all
around us after dark. That
was a good thing, though, a
very nice buck came out of
the draw and to the top of
the next hill, 65 yards
away. We could see him in
the skyline, working over a
tree. A definite shooter!
11/15-16
Friday evening and
Saturday morning in North
MO. Very windy conditions,
but deer were moving anyway.
We had some close calls, but
no shots taken. This does
show that "It's too
windy..." is no excuse to
not be in the deer woods.
Between the 2 hunts, we saw
at least 10 deer, including
a buck that came right under
us and out into a field.
Keith rattled just loud
enough for him to hear it
and he came running back to
our tree. Pretty cool for
mid October with the wind
blowing like crazy.
11/14
North MO evening hunt.
Had several does coming in
as it was getting dark.
They didn't make it until
after legal shooting time,
so we sat there and watched
them under and around our
stands until about an hour
after shooting light when
they finally moved on.
11/9
Had an intersting
suburban hunt. We had a
small doe come down from
some backyards to our stand
location. Thermals were
already moving downward and
she bolted (again, these
deer are no pushovers). A
bit later another doe came
from the same general area,
giving Keith a good shot.
But, as goes bowhunting, he
just missed her. I was more
upset than him though, I
didn't have the record
button pushed!
11/4
Hunter: Robin, Camera:
Keith
Equipment: Renegade Bow
No shots at deer this
evening. In fact, only saw 2
in the distance. Did manage
to shoot a nice hen turkey.
Was at full draw on the
flock once but had to let
down when the camera
couldn't see them. They
circled around us and I got
a 18 yard shot at the last
one. Dropped on the spot
and the others came back to
see what was up with their
"sleeping" friend. No other
shots were presented though.
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