Legacy

Oh you be quiet... I think I need more!!!

Thanks to Double D I purchased a new gun this year and Texas will be first time out with it. I have been impressed with it so far. The thing shoots like a dream however now I'm thinking I want a bigger scope on it. Bergara B-14 6.5 creedmoor paired with Knightforce shv scope

"The rut is for rookies"- Chris Brackett Although we may see some trickle affects here and there, the rut is past us at this point. Bucks are in recovery mode and food is king. Add some snow and the search for food is massive. Time to hunt their bellies! I love this time of year! Sorry for the lack of hunting reports but without a horn tag I have been on the sidelines until now. With the late season is almost here, my hope is to join my kid for some late season hunts as he looks to fill his 2nd buck tag. Looks as we have a bit of weather coming through after midnight tonight which is supposed to bring some additional snow which should help me do some speed scouting this weekend. I have a plan but of course I would like to confirm it and deer tracks in the snow will let me do that. On another note.... Heading to Texas to chase whitetails again next Friday. Needless to say Im am looking forward to that trip. Last year was great so of course my expectations are high.

A quick rant.... I follow a bunch of NY hunting pages on Facebook and I can not believe the amount of bad information in regarding to tracking deer that exists. If it wasnt for the fact that I love the sport of hunting I would find some of this stuff humorous but instead its almost scary. The reliance on tracking dogs is astonishing. That service has more work then they could ever want and I cannot imagine how many of these deer tracking calls go unanswered.

SO I thought I would share this... I saw this somewhere online and bought this "blood trailing flashlight" based off the comments I read from others. It works great. I brought it into the field this year on recoveries and the damn thing works well. I also tested it in the daylight hoping it would be fairly useful but nope. But in the dark... wow. The way it seems to work is by flashing lights and it highlights the color red and literally illuminates it. The flashing light makes the color red blink and man does it work well. If your tracking at night this is a must have. The video I shared is extremely accurate and not an exaggeration. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08Z3KRRF7?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title

What a weekend! My kid was in the same set both am and pm hunts on the opener hoping for a chance at one of our shooters. We both sat in the punch/funnels that connect the two big chunks of woods. He passed up a few small bucks and a slow afternoon turned into chaos. Chasing in the thicket behind him for an hour eventually led him to put eyes on this great 8pt. The buck made his way to him from over 200 yards away. And eventually the deer walked directly in front of the stand about 20 yards, the kid waited until the deer was past him, quartering away before he stopped him and hammered him. The kid was close enough that once I heard the shot, I got to watch the deer on a death run through binoculars. Perfect shot heart and both lungs. Deer ran 50 before falling over. Big mature 8pt with decent mass. I'm guessing 4 years old as we do have pictures from him last year. Love these great dad moments! As for me... Day 2 of gun Going where the SW wind allows me I ended up in one of my best sets. Saw a couple of young bucks cruising early. I decided with buck sightings to pull out my can call and dumped it 3 times. 5 minutes later this 8pt was standing 20 years directly downwind from me without a care in the world. It was at that moment I realized that my kid and i had been confusing these two deer on camera. And that we had 2 8pts that we had been watching. The deer decided to continue on his path from right to left and gave me a 20 yard shot. Easy track job. Deer probably ran 70 yards. I enjoy bow hunting so much more but man is rather shoot them with the gun. It's devastating. Although I'm tagged out now it was a great moment to have with my kid!

Here's a video of the quick track job from yesterday. By the initial blood trail I figure he didnt go too far and I thought I heard him crash. He was about 30 yards inside the woods from the edge of the field and less then 90 yards from the stand. By the amount of blood and where it was I assumed I had an exit wound but nope. Bullet caught the opposite shoulder. No doubt the biggest blood trail i have seen with only a 20 gauge entry hole.

Thank you sir. Once you draw blood you are done with that hunt. I could pay to play again and believe me I have already thought about returning.

Dead deer!!!!

Walked passed the shot site as I was walking out. Great blood. Snuck out of there and going back in awhile with some help. He ran in the direction he was facing. Sounded like he crashed less then 70 yards away from the stand in the thick stuff.

BBD! Shot looked great. Thought I heard him crash.

My kid punch his tag on a great 8. Story and pics coming...

The streak continues!!!

My kid just hammered one... BBD

Good luck everyone

Well a plan is in place for Saturday. Im looking forward to get back out there with a fresh buck tag. Weather looks like it should continue to be great. Deer movement has lockdown written all over it. Does have been treading lightly since the the week leading up to Halloween with lots of single deer traveling by them selves. Does have been avoiding open landscape. However, this week I noticed larger doe/fawn family groups forming up again in the afternoon. Seems like a sure sign that some of my does that have breed are not afraid to be social with each other again. As for the gentlemen... up until about the 10th I saw quite a bit of all day activity. Including bucks of all sizes. Currently there seems to be some great buck movement for the last hour of hunting light but the majority seems like the am hours are the time to be in the woods. From daybreak to about 10-11 ish). I have had pretty consistent activity in the am hours with a shooter on cam just about every day. (as I type this my notifications went off with a big 9pt at 805) What are you guys seeing?

What a beast Matt!