Gator

Way to go guys! Beautiful deer. I had a guy go in at 7:30 this morning and bump all of the deer from the field where they were feeding. Instead of them walking past at a leisurely stroll like they did yesterday when I didn't want to shoot one, they ran past flags up at 120 yards today when I did. I'm not sure why guys can't get into the woods before it's light, but who knows? Maybe there's a legit reason. Either way, not my property so it doesn't matter. But it still sucks to see all of your game hightailing it back into the swamp en masse 20 minutes into shooting time.

Matt, that's going to be a pig next year. Congrats on the donkey. One of my guys had a button buck that was gut shot by a neighbor lying under a bush 15 yards from his stand this morning. He didn't see anything. I wonder why? He probably chased the coyotes off it when he went in. I, on the other hand, have no excuse for not seeing anything. Same deal as opening day. Word on the street is that Rob's Farm shot nearly 80 deer this year on nuisance permits. I don't know if that's true, but if it is, first, they have a deer problem and second, they may have gone overboard. I did notice that I was overrun with small bucks this year but few doe. The same thing happened two years ago, and the same rumor circulated. Nothing to be done about it, I guess. So long as we're near a park, DEC is going to hand out permits like candy at Halloween. Gobble, gobble everybody...

Awesome! After a couple of sits and not a single deer sighting to show for it, I'm ready to hit the marsh.

The best part of the day was that we didn't get wet. Three of us and not a deer seen, morning or evening. I don't know if we stank up the property the past few days or whether having the corn cut moved them or whether they were just hunkered down. It was tough this afternoon not to fall asleep in the stand. We recovered my buddy's eight from yesterday, which hadn't moved from where we saw it bedded last night, and the coyotes didn't get at it, so that was a plus too.

Okay, I didn't figure you guys would take me seriously...the goose fell out of the sky, probably a hunter in a field somewhere nearby, my buddy heard it crash...and I finished it from 20 yards as it was walking on one of my trails . Surprised the crap out of me when I saw it, I'll tell you. I can only wish I could make a shot on a goose flying. I hear there's guys who's can, but that ain't me. Good luck to all tomorrow!

Not a deer, but it was a heck of a shot...just had to get the right lead (and yes, I have a duck stamp, etc...).

Great reading; it inspires me for the coming three day last haul. My buddy Bill is up from Boston through Sunday to chase whitetail, with maybe an out one evening for duck--if anybody has recent guidance on ducks, shoot me a pm, please...I'm out of the loop recently. Honestly, I wish he'd been here ten days ago when there were deer everywhere, I haven't seen as much since last week, but there's lots of standing corn and the big boys were tending doe in it this weekend. They've got to find new dance partners soon. Maybe today's the day.

Every year I feel like I get on average one chance to tag a shooter. I hope that this year it wasn't my encounter with the aggressive big boy...I didn't shoot him, he didn't gore me to death. I call that a push.

Had a very large buck tending a doe in the back of a cornfield this morning, chasing away anything that came near. It's the breeding phase. Over the course of the day, I had three separate instances of crashing just beyond where I could see, in thick stuff not more than 40 yards away, so I think that there's still some stuff going on, but it's definitely calmed down from earlier this week. Took a mid-day break to help a buddy find a really fantastic eight point he shot last night and left alone until today. Tough search, but we got it done and he's happy he made the right decision. No coyote damage, either.

And now in an encore appearance from last year: zombie chicken!!

Wow, take a day off to hunt and look at what's happened! First, that's fantastic news on the surgery! Best wishes for your son's fast recovery. On the home front, our favorite mechanic Tommy is recovering well from heart transplant surgery and will likely be moved from ICU onto the cardiac wing soon. I know that everyone wishes him all the best. To Matt and all the guys who scored in the past two days: Nice. It's definitely go-time now. Keep us updated on what DEC says about that deer. I'd be really cautious if there's a visible infection; unfortunately, I think that you have to surrender the deer if you want a new tag. I spent most of the day in the woods yesterday with a two-hour time out mid-day to let the body unwind. In the morning I saw four bucks, two doe and two fawns and my buddy forester Gary Koplun from DEC saw three bucks. No shooters. In the evening I saw every buck we'd seen in the morning and more. In fact, I saw three scrubs come out together and spread wide to work one area. Never seen bucks work like that before. I think first that they're bedded in the uncut corn and coming out at 3 pm en masse, as I saw seven between 3-4 and none after. And second, if anybody remembers from this thread a couple years ago, the local fruit farm shot >70 deer the first year we owned the property. That would make the following year's brood 1 1/2 year olds now, which may be why we're seeing so many more small bucks than previously. It looks like a little bit of snow on the ground this morning. The winds suck, but it could make this weekend interesting.

I've had intermittent chasing on my property in 8G since Halloween, but it seems like in the past few days the big boys have woken up. Just gotta be in the right place...at the right time. Showing up at your stand the same time as a shooter just doesn't work . As time goes on, I've become more convinced that the SINGLE best thing you can do to improve your success is to have low impact entry and exit strategies. Unfortunately, all of this water is making it hard for me to access my best areas without creating some disturbance.

Short story: I walked up on a big boy chasing a doe tonight and had him take a couple steps toward me and, I swear, growl. It brought to mind all the tales you hear about rutting bucks goring hunters. I actually drew on him, but there was no shot as he turned, showed me his rear, and calmly walked 80 yards down the trail away from me before heading into the bush. Hopefully he isn't busted too bad and I can get a crack at him from the stand. Game on.

It was the strangest thing, when Brian's buck bedded down by me I couldn't figure out whether it was wounded or taking a break from the chase. It worked out well though. I figured I might as well hunt all day, but I couldn't sit in one stand for that long so I took a drive to our lease and walked back to the swamp where I spent two hours. Nothing. I headed back to my place and sat from 4:30 until dark; saw one shooter that was on a beeline for me but broke off at ~60 yards into the thick stuff. A few doe wandered by at dark. No chasing though, unlike this morning. It's great to have some hot doe around--I hope it stays like this for awhile before we hit lock-down.

I think it's already started. It seems like we're in the boom or bust phase, which means it's on. Location is critical though. We had lots of activity this morning, then nothing in the evening. The party moved. The fun should continue for a week and begin to taper after the full moon. It's time to get out there!

Tommy was going absolutely nuts lately cramped up in that room...I was shouting in the lab this morning when I found out. So good! A few more hours surgery, a fast recovery, and he can get on with his life. God bless him and Mal and all the folks who have stuck by him.

It was a good morning. Three separate bucks and seven doe in three groups. All within range, several straight downwind and they never saw me. Maybe the ozone worked? I treated my clothes using a cheap ~$60 unit off Amazon in the back of my truck (has a cap) for two hours last night. None of the buck were shooters, but a couple of the doe were tempting. I'm thinking though that I don't want to stink things up with the rut starting...the time to shoot a doe at my place is past, likely to come again after gun opens. Not me, not now.

All these great bucks are making me drool! I'm glad to see people scoring. Last night I had some activity from scrub bucks and doe, but no big boys. The doe are keeping to the heaviest cover, maybe getting harassed by the little guys? Both bucks I saw were nose down, but they didn't look serious about it .

Just think, in 30 years she'll be posting (via text of course), "it's always harder when you're hunting with an old guy, it's got to be the perfect setup, but we got it done..." Until then, you've got lots of memories to make.

It's tough knowing that your pal's going to move on faster than you. And yet we still keep getting them, training them, giving our hearts and souls to them...and it's all worth it. On a hunting note: I hate the warm weather. Two sits yesterday with not a deer seen from the stand. Blech!!