dbltree
Super Moderator
Sitting my stand yesterday morning staring up at the still night sky, man it was beautiful! I think the most awesome night sky is right here over Iowa. The stars shined like diamonds that God surely scattered there just for me...
It's moments like that when I think how much those that don't hunt are missing. Do they ever take time to just sit and look at God's wonders?
Thursday night I'm sure He painted the sky for all of us but how many never saw it? There are many reason I hunt...but harvesting a deer or two is the just the frosting on the cake.
It was quiet Friday morning...dead quiet and omigosh it was cold! 12 degrees and my nose was getting frost bitten!
Daylight brought a warm sun that felt nice as it warmed me right through my heavy clothes.
Daybreak also finds the doe groups heading back to bedding areas, some from easily a mile away feeding in corn stubble fields.
Always the same leader, always predictable and sticking to the same routes and patterns.
A group of three walk calmly all the way but she is one of them with ESP and eyes in the back of her head and she often senses something is awry and skirts my stand even though she cannot wind me.
Another group of 10 or more is always lead like the calvery...on a lope across open fields well away from ambush points. The leader stopping occasionaly to check for danger then...away they go again.
The best I could get was the last of them as they prepared to jump the fence on the horizion...
There are bucks still searching but far away from me...
Once again by 8:30 it's all over but the shoutin and I left at 10:00 to thaw out my nose!
During the full moon, mid day feeding patterns I would see fields with deer feeding at 11-12:00 but now....they are void of any activity except in the dark of morning or early evening.
Back in the stand in the afternoon it was still cold and still
I watched deer move out into corn stubble fields far in the distance but nothing came by me.
No matter...I enjoyed sitting quetly in God's theater as the sun set and left me with that peaceful easy feeling...
This morning was cloudy and a little breezy with a SE wind so I chose a stand for the occasion and listened to the wind whistle softly through the big white pines.....
Does appeared in the early light, to dark yet for pictures but later a buck slipped quietly behind me in the switchgrass....not much to see but the horns!
He went by at 30 yards but he was safe behind the shingle oaks...
A little later a second buck made some half hearted runs at does farther up the draw, so they are still moving, still searching and still very huntable.
Creek was pretty well iced over when I left...
On the way over this morning I saw a huge buck bedded right next to the fence along the road and a few yards away...a doe. So some are being bred and bucks will continue to breed as doe fawns come in well into December.
I had a few more daytime pics of mature bucks on my cams and I suspect they will continue to be vulnerable well into Thanksgiving.
The last couple weeks have been awesome despite wind, rain and sometimes bitter cold. A nice buck, the freezer fast filling up with fat does and just plain beautiful November hunts.
As I sit there in the quiet I also can't help but think of the folks right now desperate for a job, losing their home, their dignity and pride. I think of the lonely and sad just longing to be loved. I think of the returning soldiers with no legs, no arms or perhaps no sight...what would they give to be in my stand? What would they give for just one more time to see the sun set?
Tonight...I have all those things...a job, a home, a family who loves me and strong arms and legs to get me in that stand and I have eyes...eyes that see what God has blessed me with.
So I thank Him and regardless if I ever take another buck I am thankful for just the chance and for the sights and sounds that will live forever in my mind.
Shotgun season is only weeks away and I'm looking forward to harvesting some does with my son...but that's December and a whole other story...
It's moments like that when I think how much those that don't hunt are missing. Do they ever take time to just sit and look at God's wonders?
Thursday night I'm sure He painted the sky for all of us but how many never saw it? There are many reason I hunt...but harvesting a deer or two is the just the frosting on the cake.
It was quiet Friday morning...dead quiet and omigosh it was cold! 12 degrees and my nose was getting frost bitten!
Daylight brought a warm sun that felt nice as it warmed me right through my heavy clothes.
Daybreak also finds the doe groups heading back to bedding areas, some from easily a mile away feeding in corn stubble fields.
Always the same leader, always predictable and sticking to the same routes and patterns.
A group of three walk calmly all the way but she is one of them with ESP and eyes in the back of her head and she often senses something is awry and skirts my stand even though she cannot wind me.
Another group of 10 or more is always lead like the calvery...on a lope across open fields well away from ambush points. The leader stopping occasionaly to check for danger then...away they go again.
The best I could get was the last of them as they prepared to jump the fence on the horizion...
There are bucks still searching but far away from me...
Once again by 8:30 it's all over but the shoutin and I left at 10:00 to thaw out my nose!
During the full moon, mid day feeding patterns I would see fields with deer feeding at 11-12:00 but now....they are void of any activity except in the dark of morning or early evening.
Back in the stand in the afternoon it was still cold and still
I watched deer move out into corn stubble fields far in the distance but nothing came by me.
No matter...I enjoyed sitting quetly in God's theater as the sun set and left me with that peaceful easy feeling...
This morning was cloudy and a little breezy with a SE wind so I chose a stand for the occasion and listened to the wind whistle softly through the big white pines.....
Does appeared in the early light, to dark yet for pictures but later a buck slipped quietly behind me in the switchgrass....not much to see but the horns!
He went by at 30 yards but he was safe behind the shingle oaks...
A little later a second buck made some half hearted runs at does farther up the draw, so they are still moving, still searching and still very huntable.
Creek was pretty well iced over when I left...
On the way over this morning I saw a huge buck bedded right next to the fence along the road and a few yards away...a doe. So some are being bred and bucks will continue to breed as doe fawns come in well into December.
I had a few more daytime pics of mature bucks on my cams and I suspect they will continue to be vulnerable well into Thanksgiving.
The last couple weeks have been awesome despite wind, rain and sometimes bitter cold. A nice buck, the freezer fast filling up with fat does and just plain beautiful November hunts.
As I sit there in the quiet I also can't help but think of the folks right now desperate for a job, losing their home, their dignity and pride. I think of the lonely and sad just longing to be loved. I think of the returning soldiers with no legs, no arms or perhaps no sight...what would they give to be in my stand? What would they give for just one more time to see the sun set?
Tonight...I have all those things...a job, a home, a family who loves me and strong arms and legs to get me in that stand and I have eyes...eyes that see what God has blessed me with.
So I thank Him and regardless if I ever take another buck I am thankful for just the chance and for the sights and sounds that will live forever in my mind.
Shotgun season is only weeks away and I'm looking forward to harvesting some does with my son...but that's December and a whole other story...
Last edited:
Fishbonker
Life Member
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: dbltree</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Shotgun season is only weeks away and I'm looking forward to harvesting some does with my son...but that's December and a whole other story... /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif</div></div>
Like a canvas awaiting the brush, a picture yet to be painted a memory yet to be made.
We wait patiently for your next painting as I'm sure your son waits for the two of you to make your next memory.
The 'Bonker
Like a canvas awaiting the brush, a picture yet to be painted a memory yet to be made.
We wait patiently for your next painting as I'm sure your son waits for the two of you to make your next memory.
The 'Bonker
dbltree
Super Moderator
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Like a canvas awaiting the brush, a picture yet to be painted a memory yet to be made. </div></div>
/forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/cool.gif /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/cool.gif
These threads in a way become a sort of diary for me each year, a way of looking back and comparing notes.
Looking at the 2007 harvest graph in the PMA Harvest section it's pretty clear that the lions share of bucks are taken from the 8-16th of November.
Nov 10th over the years, stands out for me as a prime time and this year history repeated itself.
Lot's of researchers and writers with thoughts each year on when the "hottest" time will be but to me it's hard to find a "bad" time to hunt in November.
I have consistantly seen bucks nearly every day and the 2008 PMA Harvest photos show that despite heat, standing crops, full moon etc etc., if you get in the timber in November and put yourself in travel bottlenecks where bucks are circling doe bedding areas...your gonna have some action.
Bucks have still been moving in daylight hours....
On another note, I happened to talk to a gentlemen from another state who hunted every day for a week in their rifle season and saw not a single deer....
Never take what we have here in Iowa for granted, it's worth fighting for and protecting....in the same respect never take your families, jobs and friends for granted.
We sometimes don't know what we have until it's....gone.
Dont forget to wear some orange this coming weekend because the Thanksgiving firearm season will be underway... /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif
/forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/cool.gif /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/cool.gif
These threads in a way become a sort of diary for me each year, a way of looking back and comparing notes.
Looking at the 2007 harvest graph in the PMA Harvest section it's pretty clear that the lions share of bucks are taken from the 8-16th of November.
Nov 10th over the years, stands out for me as a prime time and this year history repeated itself.
Lot's of researchers and writers with thoughts each year on when the "hottest" time will be but to me it's hard to find a "bad" time to hunt in November.
I have consistantly seen bucks nearly every day and the 2008 PMA Harvest photos show that despite heat, standing crops, full moon etc etc., if you get in the timber in November and put yourself in travel bottlenecks where bucks are circling doe bedding areas...your gonna have some action.
Bucks have still been moving in daylight hours....
On another note, I happened to talk to a gentlemen from another state who hunted every day for a week in their rifle season and saw not a single deer....
Never take what we have here in Iowa for granted, it's worth fighting for and protecting....in the same respect never take your families, jobs and friends for granted.
We sometimes don't know what we have until it's....gone.
Dont forget to wear some orange this coming weekend because the Thanksgiving firearm season will be underway... /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif