Field Notes Michigan

[Demoderby4]

yeah ive called with both grunts and bleats so far, called in a doe and a buck on separate days, the doe i called in while scouting, got her within 40 yards, she was out about 150 when i saw her, the buck i heard grunted then i grunted back at him, i heard him move a little then lost track of him (never saw him) im pretty sure he circled down wind and sniffed me out :/ im trying to look at it positively, knowing to circle downwind should mean he's somewhat mature, so im hoping he is, and really hoping i didnt spook him too much, he didnt take off or anything he just walked off so i know he wasnt totally freaked out, but hopefully they are still around my stand if not i'll be moving the stand shortly, im going out today in an hour or so, so we'll see what happens, i'll let u guys know

[DeerCamp]

Great story demoderby4.. Its good to hear that your trying to call, and youve had some good luck so far. I hope tht contuines to happen for ya buddy. Im not going to say I know the buck was mature, because I think all bucks go down wind to smell a source...(I could be wrong.) But indeed Im sure he is a fine buck at that.  Where are you hunting at?
 
I went out last night, I sat for 4 and a half hours. It was real windy here and it rained too. I saw just about everything but a deer. I was bummed out because I really had a good feeling I was going to see som e action for some reason or another. I did see 4 deer on my way in driving. 1 doe and 3 fawns it looked like. It got my heart going a little bit, it's always nice to see deer. Im going to go out today as well. So Ill let yall know how that goes.
 
I was talking to a kid in a class of mine, he was saying that he's noticed that bucks starting to chase does for a little while.. Im thinking the pre rut might be kicking it up a notch. Im going out today like I said, but Im going to bring my feather flex deer decoy and make him a buck (4pt) and put him out. Im gonna try some grunting also. Ill report back and let ya'll know how I do.

[Demoderby4]

Yeah i dont know if he was more mature or not, i think its more me hoping he was lol Im located in SE Michigan, im hunting the Smiths Creek/Goodells area, me and a buddy have 400+ acres to ourselves during bow season so its pretty sweet. Where are u at? I thought i saw somewhere you said you were from Midland area or around there. But i went out today for about 3 hours, i fell asleep at like 1 and didnt wake up till almost 3 :/ so that was disappointing lol, but i got out there and got situated by 4. It was a pretty windy day up until 530, and it was a crappy direction too, i need anything but a West wind and im pretty safe, but of course it was a wsw wind :/ but i knew they were using some other trails that i could use to my advantage, and they were thankfully using those trails today I was calling, both grunts and bleats, didnt really get any action right away though. I did a bleating sequence at about 6 and at 615 a doe comes out of that trail into my section of woods, im hunting a great oak patch of woods, the ground is littered with acorns, trails all over and has a creek bed off to my left, but she was walking pretty fast, and i tried to get her to stop but she wouldnt, i didnt wanna reach for my call, it was behind me and it would of been noisy to get it out (ill always have a call handy in my pocket now lol, i should of anyways, but i for some reason didnt) but she ended up stopping when she came across the acorns, she started eating, i was shaking like crazy and knew this was gonna be my first real shot with a bow, i got everything lined up but i was still nervous, (the shot was at the outer edges of what i feel comfortable with, so i know that didnt help much lol, it was about 30 yards, its my first year bowhunting lol) i rushed the shot, i knew i would, and it hit a branch right before it got to her and it deflected just under her :/ i was kind of disappointed with the shot but i was just glad to know the deer were still moving thru the area! lol then like 45 mins later i did one last sequence and called in another doe at the end of shooting hours, it wasnt too dark outside but it was getting dark in the woods, so i just let her go, so it was a productive day in my book, got to see some deer, actually got a shot off and know they are still around hopefully next time i'll be eating some back straps right about now lol im probably heading out tom after i get back from school so i'll let u guys know how that goes!

[DeerCamp]

Yes I live in Midland... Thats good you saw some deer.. Its to bad you missed. But in the mean time remember not to take a shot out of your comfort zone. Also I see you learned a lesson with the calling lol..We all learn somthing new eachtime we go out, thats what makes it fun.
 
Anyhow I did some grunting, with no luck... I had the decoy out but the winds were SO STRONG it blew her right over so I went downa nd coverd her up.  I went back into stand and at 7:00 a doe and a button buck came mozing on by.. Thats all I saw..
 
On the other neck of the woods, a buddy of mine had 2 does come in at 5:30 and eat from a crab apple tree by him... Thats all for today.. I might go duck hunting tomorrow.. But if not Ill let ya'll know..
 
 
Good Luck and Happy Hunting!
Jerry

[WiredToHunt]

Sorry to hear about the miss Demo! Happens to the best of us, like DeerCamp said, we all just have to live and learn. Silver lining on the cloud is that the arrow completely missed the deer rather than injuring it. I've had close calls like that, and in the long run replaying those situations in my head over and over and learning from them has made me a better hunter.
 
Unfortunately none of that helped me today, as I got completely blanked. I sat out this morning 6:30-12 and then 3-7:45 and didn't see a single deer. It was a very discouraging day to say the least. Not to mention it was hot and the mosquitos were horrible, I've never been more miserable while hunting. Oh well, the warm weather and bright moon haven't been really conducive to seeing much action during the day, but you just have to role with the punches I guess.  I'll have one more chance tomorrow morning and then I'll have to wait a week or two after that to get out again.
 
Good luck fellas.

[WiredToHunt]

On another note, I still have not found a single rub or scrape on my property yet. Which is really disturbing, considering that usually I am finding slews of them by now. What are you guys seeing by you? 

[DeerCamp]

Well wiredtohunt...you werent the only one that got skunked today. I was able to sneek out of work early today at 2:30 and headed right for the woods. No wind so I figured it would be a good day to sit, it was a little hot but I figured it'd cool down a bit more towards night... I didnt see any deer or even hear any..
 
Lots of people in the woods.. I was hunting state land, and I heard a ton of gun shooting out there : /... As well as some idiot running his four wheeler up and down the trail at prime time.. He was trying to get stuck in a mud hole by my stand.. Maybe thats why I didnt see any deer... I guess Id rather hunt on the week days, there isnt as many people in the woods then.
 
 

[Demoderby4]

Well i got a deer the other night.... with my car lol, good thing it was only a fawn, i mean i felt bad it was a fawn, but i would rather it be a female fawn rather than anything else. It didnt really hurt the car much just burnt out a headlight and crinkle the hood a tad, i was lucky lol. I thought it was bigger than what it was so i stopped and put it in my trunk lol, when i got home i looked at it and decided it wasnt going to be worth the work to get what little meat would be left of it lol. But to add on to WiredtoHunt, i havent found many rubs/scrapes either, i have seen a few rubs but all but one have been in overgrown weed fields on singualar trees, i foud oe small rub on a tree by my stand and when i first scouted their were two decent sized scrapes, but nothing since then. Thats another reason why i want to scout more, you cant see scrapes and rubs and a topo map lol.

[DeerCamp]

I have seen both rubs AND scrapes already this season.. I seen a lot of rubs up in the UP. As for down state, I have seen a few here and there, till the other day when a friend shot a doe, while we were tracking I saw TONS of scrapes. Im guessing it maybe from the same buck  but ya never know.. I wouldnt get all bent out of shape yet, if I were you. Come rut time those does will bring in bucks from all over...
 
Weather, The weather has been HOT the last few days or so.. How has that effected your hunts? It hasnt been windy at all, but just miseriable out there sitting with the heat. Anyone get a little discuraged to go out because of weather?
 
Myself I have been using a lot of scent killer and have been cutting a few pine branches and sticking them in my pockets.. Im trying to kill all sweat that I creat from walking to my stand. Other than that I dont mind sitting in the heat, however it seems I see most of the movement at night when it's hot out.
 
I was hoping to go out hunting today, as I was getting out a little late I was hoping to sneek into the woods.  We have a store meeting today and I hadnt been asked to go to it so I was trying to leave with out being seen so I could hunt,Sadly today I got out of work at 4:10 and I was running to get to my blazer when my manager stoped me and said he needed me to come back at 7:30 for the store meeting.. booo there goes that hunt... I know it woulda only been a few hours.. but hey, I got a better chance in those few short hours in the stand than I do sitting here.

[WiredToHunt]

I've got some exciting news finally! Saturday morning I saw 6 doe and 3 bucks! I sat for 2 hours Saturday morning without seeing a thing until about 8:30, when 4 doe crossed in front of me at about 50 yards. Then a half hour later 2 doe popped out to the left of me and walked in front on a trail at about 20 yards. Directly behind these doe came a real small spike, a bigger spike with about 7 inch curved spikes and last came a little bit bigger fork horn. All 5 of these deer walked within bow range and had no idea I was there. For a split second I thought about taking the biggest buck, but I've got my eye on a couple bigger bucks on the property, so I let them walk. Nonetheless it was really exciting to see some bucks finally and it definitely raised my spirits after the previous uneventful days. Tomorrow I'll be out again, unfortunately it looks like another hot day. To your question Demo, I really feel the weather is suppressing the deer movement. The full moon isn't helping out either.