Field Notes Michigan

[DeerCamp]

 As far as the CWD goes... I talked to a DNR officer in my area today.. He said that the ban was just changed to indefently. He said they did that because of the farmers trying to start law suits. He also noted that if NOT ONE deer is found with CWD this deer season, that they will lift the ban for next year.

[Demoderby4]

I figured the warm temps had something to do with it, and the owners of the land that im hunting on have been bird hunting in some fields next to my spot so im sure that hasnt helped any, i cant get mad though they are letting me hunt their land no questions asked and for free so it was really a blessing, im not stuck on over pressured parcels of stateland anymore. I have taken numerous deer out of the stateland i hunt but it's so much better on 400+ acres of private when its just me and my friend. But i have to work or go to class everyday for like the next week and a half :/ so making time to get out in the woods is going to be somewhat of a hassle, its looking like im going to have to pull myself out of bed before the asscrack of dawn a few times lol. And im moving to another stand for my morning hunts, im gonna overlook a field this "Dandy" 8pt is using, the owner says he sees him in there a lot so hopefully i catch him in there one morning! (Hes got a few rubs in there too, they are the only ones i have found so far besides the two by my other stand) And i think one of these days im just going to do some scouting and look for some rub lines and scrapes, i still got a few weeks before the seeking phase kicks in so if i spook anything i'll just set up a nice blind and get the hell outta there until mid Nov. 

[WiredToHunt]

Saw 7 doe and another spike yesterday morning....I also made a mock scrape, we'll see if I can get a little action started. You guys had any luck in the past with mock scrapes? This is my first time trying one out.

[Demoderby4]

Good to hear you saw some action Wired, i have tried a mock scrape once, i probably didn't do it exactly right, but i didn't get much action out of it when i was on stand, but after i made the scrape the acrons and apples that had fallen already were being eaten a lot quicker than when they were before i made it, but their is no way of knowing if the scrape had anything to do with it, i highly doubt it did, i want to try some of that Tinks Power Scrape sometime, i have heard it works pretty well. Try the mock scrape thing, it never hurts to try, just be sure to cover your scent and everything, im obsessive about that stuff lol.

Well i headed out today to do some scouting at about 7am, weather was on the way in so i didnt have much time but, man did i find a buck hot spot! Only about 150 yards from where i park, (figures lol There was a stand i wanted to hunt overlooking a field where the owner "always" sees a pretty decent 8pt, he always calls him a "dandy" and i have no reason to not believe him but i try not to get too excited lol, it doesnt really work though lol, but its hard to not beleive him after today! i checked out the stand and it seemed in good shape, but i dont have an extra climbing ladder to get into it :/ so i just decided to check everything out before i made a ground blind. I started looking over this very small parcel of woods, it it like 3ft wide by 10ft long and sperarated by a row of tall grass before it turns into the bigger section of woods, i saw something white out of the corner of my eye, and yep it was a rub decent sized too, probably about a month old, so i decided he has been in the field fairly recently, then i kept looking and holy crap! 7-8 more rubs on bigger trees! (And a few smaller saplings as well) Those were all done even more recently than the others, the rubbed off bark and such was still laying on the ground! I then found older rubs from the year before and immediately set up a ground blind off to the side of the trail he was using to get to the thicket, hes using a fence line to get there and coming over a lower part of it about 15 yards away from my blind. S set it up and I sprayed a little bit of buck bomb estrous doe scent to cover my scent and left right before the rain came. Needless to say i was pretty excited!

It was just one of those experiences where all my worries just left as soon as i found all those rubs, i was no longer worried about my bills i had to pay (i did still payed them after i left :/ lol) and going into work didnt seem so bad anymore lol. Those are the experiences that make the sport of hunting so great, even if i dont see this deer i know he has been there and i dont know what it is, but it's just really cool finding stuff like that! some of those trees were tore to shreads and they werent all small lol.

I'm thinking about just sitting out there one of these days, out of the way and glassing the area to see if he comes in, i dont know if i want to hunt it just yet....

[DeerCamp]

You cant over look the spots right at the beginning.. I hunted some land that everyone hunted the back of.. I went to the front and saw 2ce as many deer as they saw. I feel if I were you, I would try parking a little farther from that spot next time.. I would also go in there on a windy/rainy day hang a stand and DO NOT RETURN till you want to hunt it.(Give it a week or 2 to settle down)
 
Im going to be going out tonight, tomorrow morning/evening and all day again friday. Im hoping for some good luck, Ill report back to ya'll here tonight.
 
 
 

[Demoderby4]

Yeah i'll park farther away from now on, thats for sure, there's a man made driveway that i drove up to get to where i was, i'll just park at the end of it by the road, i don't have the luxury of setting up multiple stands, i just have one, then other other ones the guy has hanging already, i just need some sort of climbing sticks to get into the stand, but im broke so thats not happening lol, and im not bring a regular ladder out there, thats just dumb lol, plus im not the smallest guy in the world so i dont trust nailing some 2X4's to a tree and using those, i set up a ground blind and havent been back since, i'll take the long way to my other stand tom morning, its tempting to go sit in that one tom, but i'm going to give it a lil bit of time still, it would only of been 3 days, so thats not really a lot of calm time for it anyways. Yeah i normally end up scouting right in the front of the property, i have been ignornat enough not to too a couple times and have regretted it, i wanted to on this land but i was with my buddy every time we scouted and he "swore" their wouldnt be much over there, that they deer were all in the back, yeah ok pal lol! I'll lead the scouts from now on when I'm with him lol he felt like a moron when i told him, it was good fun lol, but good luck on your hunts, hopefully you end up shooting something, if not at least hopefully there's a little action round your stand(s!) Let us know what happens!

[DeerCamp]

Yesterday evening was looking to be a good one.........that is until I got out to my stand and the rain started to come. It rained the whole time I was out there. It wasnt much fun,  so around 5:30 I got down and went home got my Benelli and headed out again.. this time for ducks.. Today is clam again and it was a cold morning so Im hoping for a little luck and a cold night.. Ill keep ya'll posted
 
When I got down I made some mock scrapes.. I didnt put anything in the scrapes because I figured the rain would just wash it away and it'd be a waste. But I figured itd be the best time to make one so it'd kill my scent. Anyone eles make any mocks yet?

[dmcianfa]

Whel,
 
Yesterday got out of work early and hit a spot that I havn't touched yet this year.  Went back there at about 3:30 or so and just as I suspected acorns were falling like rain.  My head even got pummelled a few times.  Its the only oak stand for miles and even though its red oaks I've spotted deer there on more than one occasion in years past browsing and munching away.  In any case, I found my tree and scurried up it expecting some action with the newly fallen morsels, but to my suprise, not even a peep or sound of deer movement let alone a sighting and I stayed until well after dark before getting out of my stand, hmmm.  Very frustrating, but thats big woods hunting I guess!  Maybe the acorns were just letting loose and they havn't found them yet as I did.  I will try my luck again this weekend. 

[Demoderby4]

Went out this morning, no luck, i tried a little bit of still hunting, i just kinda wanted to look around some more and brought my bow just in case, i made a mock scrape by a good intersection of trails that was located by some oaks, we'll see what happens. I don't like not seeing aything but i know they're out there, just gotta be patient, i won't be able to get out again until possibly sunday :/ hope you guys have some luck if and when ya go out!

[DeerCamp]

well...nothing again this evening... it's getting really hard to sit now. I havent seen a deer in the last 8 or so sits.  I know if I had bait out there I would have seen somthing but oh well...

Anyway, I sat from 4-7:35. The wind was blowing to the south just about the whole night. It droped down to 48 degrees. Im just wondering what to do.. I have seen TONS of deer at this spot over the years with bait.. I have seen as much as 27 deer in one morning there. And yet, Ive only seen two now all season.. very very tough to stay on stand.. Around 6ish I was so frustrated I thought about leaving... But then I thought to myself, it's gonna be a tough season and the only way Im gonna get a deer is if I stay in my stand. So I just toughed it out and didnt see anything. Im going to try it in the morning, really hoping for a change.
 
I got deer run ways all around me so I figured Id have somthing come along..But nothing yet.. To right side I have a thicket and behind me a swamp..
 
All I know is itd be nice to see a deer...