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Post by grizz1 on Feb 4, 2010 23:59:31 GMT -5
This pair of Eagles have been flying over my house all winter, going back and forth between the lake and river.They stopped for a rest today, letting me take their picture from a distance. Not sure if they are a mated pair or not but seem to hand out together. Also see some single Eagles about everyday as well.
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Post by grizz1 on Mar 2, 2010 23:33:36 GMT -5
Temperatures starting to climb during the day, above freezing so some snow is leaving slowly. Got home from work this evening, had deer and turkey in the field in front of the house, they are still having trouble getting through the snow so they are feeding on the plot which is just about gone. Bro called, said to come over to the East farm and get some hay and bring a log chain and 4 wheel drive. He went into the barn lot with his 2 wheeler and was buried in snow. He was hard to pull out but managed finally to get him back on the road. The weather man says temps near 50 by the weekend, hope he's right and the snow leaves for good. Sure would like to get out shed hunting and turkey scouting, take some pictures just haven't been able to get around.
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Post by grizz1 on Mar 16, 2010 22:52:24 GMT -5
After feeding cows and catching up on some other chores at home my Bro and I went shed hunting. Was able to take the ATV for the first 1/2 mile then began walking trails back into the thicket North of my house. We walked for 2 hours and he found one small shed just before we got back to the ATV, the rodents had already worked on it, nearly had one point gnawed completely off.The trails just kept branching and going East then North to where we no longer had permission to hunt. Saw a lot of deer ahead of us along with a couple turkey, not much turkey sign where we were which is not good for my spring hunting. We got back to the house and decided to cross the road and look for a short time. Just as we stepped into the creek my Bro found a nice bird point arrow head so this made his second find for the day and I came up empty handed. We got word about Chris finding a set of sheds across the fence from my East farm, they say it has 17 points so this I have to see. Matt also found one side of a big one, 5 points, the G1 is 9 inches, G2 is 12, the others he said just slightly shorter. I'm kind of bummed out but knowing these deer made it through season and my farm is in between theirs makes me feel a little better.
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Post by grizz1 on Mar 18, 2010 22:43:07 GMT -5
An unusaul morning on the front porch with first cup of coffee for the day. Fog had moved in early yesterday evening reducing visibility to near zero and the temps were at the freezing mark here in the bottoms. Not expecting to see much in the fields never thought it was going to be very interesting this day but then I heard hen turkey yelping and two Gobblers began answering them. They gobbled real good for the kind of morning we had. I could tell they were gathering in the bean field and gettng closer but could only see for a few yards. One bird had that old, deep, trophy sound and I really wanted a look at him but not a chance. If season had been open, could have walked right at them in the open field to within range, bet that never happens come April 19th.
This evening when I got home from work 14 birds were in front of the house, 2 nice sized gobblers but doubt if they were the ones I heard this morning.
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Post by grizz1 on Apr 18, 2010 21:44:30 GMT -5
Is the night before the 2010 turkey season opener here in Mo and I'm less prepared than I've ever been. This morning I did hear several birds, more then anytime last year but they were all off my home farm. We saw a couple nice gobblers later in the AM in my hayfield but they will be hard to hunt birds. Plan to go to the East farm and just try blind luck and see what happens. Scouting time was used getting much needed work done and since the weather cooperated, fence is done on my place, cows on grass, corn crop is planted, helped neighbor brand and vaccinate 100 head of cattle today, garden tilling done,yard is mowed, got some pasture burned for native grass seeding, now if I can get on some turkey maybe I can relax and have a good hunt.
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Post by grizz1 on Aug 11, 2010 22:28:57 GMT -5
Returned home a week ago from trip out West and have been busy catching up on chores around home. This evening we went for an ATV ride to check out the crops in the river bottom,The water was over the crops too long from the July flood, water that wasn't moving and it has killed evrything for miles. Thousands of acres of dead corn and beans, the smell in the air was terrible. Most of the weeds along the edges were even dead. This may well change the deer numbers in this area, normally a problem with the trophy bucks staying in the corn until harvest, now I have the nearest crop field for miles that is going to produce something if my luck holds a little longer. The deer may come to my place a month or two early, may be here in early bow season. Could be an awesome year hunting here at home unless they eat me out of house and home first.
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Post by grizz1 on Sept 18, 2010 23:36:46 GMT -5
Archery season has been open for 3 days, progress is slow at being fully prepared. Shooting with broadheads has created problems that were unexpected so not trying real hard to get on th edeer at this point. Have seen a great buck crossing at the Oak tree and have made plans for him but need to get sighted in before, the plan will only work once maybe twice so need to feel confident and at this point have little faith in my ability. thinking about trying for him in the open pasture, use the pond for a funnel, will be a boring wait but he has been predictable now for 3 days straight, with only minutes of light left he leaves my timber for the clover. This week has been a stange opening season, saw a spike buck with 12 or 14 inch spikes and he has 3 of them, looks like 3 main beams. couple stickers about 1 inch long on the right side, hope ot get him on game cam. Saw over 60 turkey which was a shock, 3 different flocks. Turkey have been hard to come by here so good to see them making a come back.
MAde final touch ups on the blind, checked the ladder stands, reset them so they are quiet once again, have to check two hang ons and will be ready for some serious hunting. storms started rolling in this afternoon, went from heav[y rain to extremely heavy rain, lot of lightning, good to be out of the woods. Hope to get the bugs worked out on the bow/broadheads tomorrow, trouble is I don't know how to fix the problem, and it may be me, don't know for sure, very frustrating.
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Post by grizz1 on Sept 19, 2010 22:32:00 GMT -5
The weather has put a damper on my bowhunting for the weekend. Needed to tune equipment and get more ready for some serious hunting so spent the afternoon sighting in. With 4 inches of rainfall last night and this morning thought the deer might be out after the storm than when Bro called and told me Mike had taken a 185 inch 12 pointer last evening South of his ladder stand on the creek I knew I had to hunt this evening. Checked the wind, looked over my place and made my plan. Walked across the road, followed the fence to the Creek and no way could I get across to the Bluff.The water was running fast and 4 feet deep so backed out came back to the yard and walked the edge of my cornfield to hunt the dry side. With corn scattered on the ground where deer have been tearing it down just knew it was a matter of time until I would be shooting something. Over two hours later I'm counting up all the animals I saw on this great hunt, total = ONE (1) rabbit
Bro went to the new blind, fresh paint on it Sat, sawed trees down there Sat evening, drove the truck there 3 times so I didn't think it would be good this evening, he saw 11 deer and 1 turkey.
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Post by grizz1 on Oct 3, 2010 22:00:56 GMT -5
Got a chance to go to the West farm today and do some scouting. Been missing out on some great deer hunting looked like. The plot on top of the hill at camp is torn up, could toss a coin in the air and it would ALWAYS land in a deer track. They have a hole at the salt block over 2 foot deep and the plot was grazed close to the dirt. The East plot had some activity but not eating it as much. The big suprise was the amount of White Oak and Burr Oak acorns, heavy crop and deer tearing them up also, North of the road, clover looked good, deer grazing it heavily too. Hung a camera on all plots, then walked the creek.Found 3 good trails beside stands already in place so quit walking the woods, worked on clearing some brush in a few places, put out Trophy rocks , While walking the creek found a very good flint point about 2.5 inches long and a knife/scraper. They are the same color and were lying on a sand bar within a foot of each other. Have never found pieces that close together before. Sure wish I knew the history behind the points I find in the creek beds, wonder if their luck was much better than mine when they hunted there so many years ago, what would they think of my fancy bow, cameras, stands, truck and then left the woods empty handed-- probably looking down on me and havinfg a good laugh !!
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Post by grizz1 on Oct 19, 2010 21:58:45 GMT -5
Checked 3 cameras this last weekend, averaged 100 pics per cam in a 2 week period. Movement has been slow even showing that on the cameras, most movement far back from the road on clover surrounded by the timber. The West farm still shows the most deer sign but the 23 miles to drive is too far at this time. HAve went on 5 bowhunts in the last week with some serious thought of shooting something only to come home without sighting any animals. One squirrel was all Id seen out of 5 outings until this evening and of course I came home empty handed.
Went to the East farm and headed for the Old Disc to an observation point . Thought I would use Glasses to watch over the farm and figure out what the deer were up to and the times they cam out. AS I passed through the Cedars just before the panel I should have been ready but NO , goofed up once again. Had deer on my mind and no sighting of turkey for a long time so what a suprise when I hear a CLUCK and fiind myself in the middle of 40 some turkey. Was able to get an arrow on the string and could make out at least 10 young gobblers on the South side of the fence nad mostly young hens on the North side. Over the next half hour I had many chances at the hens but wanted to take a gobbler with a beard, they never got in the clear, plenty close just too many limbs in the way. The gobblers went to roost over my blind and the other birds went behind the big pond. Three doe came out below the blind and went West to the food plot, saw 2 bucks come from the old hog lot into the North Meadow, they made their way to Errols fence then headed West..One was a spike the other a 6 point with a strange rack.His points all come straight up out of the base together, like 3 spikes on each side.
Returned a phone call that I missed while trying for the turkey and learned that my hunting buddy from NC is leaving Sat morning and plans to drive into my place Sunday afternoon. His 2 sons are coming with him so there are many tags to begin filling. Look forward to seeing them and enjoy some great times in deer camp for the next 2 1/2 weeks.
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Post by grizz1 on Oct 30, 2010 0:09:47 GMT -5
Had a meeting to attend this evening so cut my hunt short but my phone was buzzing costatly as I walked out of the woods. Bro Paul took a doe 15 minutes after climbing into his stand, she went 40 yards. Craig called and said Cam had taken a 7 point about 20 minutes into his evening hunt. His deer went 50 yards, both shot with a bow.Cam is from NC, been here 4 times, shot 6 times, he has taken 5 deer and 1 turkey.This 13 year old is not only a great hunter but an excellent shot, stays cool under pressure. Youth season opens Sat, 10-30, will see what the young ones harvest soon.
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Post by grizz1 on Nov 14, 2010 23:20:04 GMT -5
Took this buck Nov14th at 8 AM, been deer hunting for 2 weeks, many guys at deer camp have taken good bucks this last week. Weather on opening day of firearms season was terrible with 28 MPH wind and temperature at 38 degrees but many good bucks were taken. Sunday Nov 14th the weather was great, was calm and 30 degrees. For about 2 hours starting at 7 AM bucks were cruising everywhere. There were 5 bucks that circled the Cedar thicket, the 6th one came by and I took him with the .270. The largest so far was a 12 pointer taken North of the new ladder stand, scores in the mid 160's , it was the dark colored 12 point so the white racked 12 pointer is still around as far as we know. Have seen more mature deer this year than ever before, some real large bucks are being harvested, most guys hunting with me are tagged out on our bucks so will be picking up the bows again in nine days.
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Post by Kt29 on Nov 15, 2010 9:41:07 GMT -5
Congrats Grizz on a fine looking buck. Sounds like you boys hunted pretty darn hard this season and were rewarded with some great hunts and animals. Continued success when you pick up that old stick thrower again. Really enjoy your posts and your journal. Again a big congrats on this fine hunt.
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Post by grizz1 on Mar 31, 2011 22:15:14 GMT -5
My jobs have been taking us further from home each day it seems, 100 to 150 miles a day , all rural roads and I've been doing my spring scouting along the way. The turkey situation does not look good, we are not seeing many birds for the miles we cover. Have seen some real large gobblers, almost always alone or with a few hens. No jakes and seldom more than one adult Gobbler strutting for the hens. Today as I arrived home there were 2 large old birds strutting, one jake and 11 hens by my driveway. we drove 140 miles today and these were the only turkey we saw. My place may be as good as it gets and that is sad. The deer are everywhere, have to drive carefully at all times, see any where from ten to a hundred deer a day. They are still being hit on the roads as if the rut was still on, it is unbelievable. Been camera shopping on the internet each evening, hope to buy a new DSLR camera so I can take better quality pictures while hunting and on vacation. So many to choose from, wish they were like guns, that would be easy! Would like to get the camera before summer vacation and than look out big bucks this fall, I'll get one of you big guys on the wall one way or another.
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Post by grizz1 on Aug 11, 2011 22:56:54 GMT -5
Burned off old food plot at the double ladder stand, brush hogged lanes to West stand, the Blind and around fence row on East farm, have 5 acres ready to till and plant.Rain in the forecast so hope to get it done in time,Trying some trophy Radishes, never used them before so we'll see what happens. Going to Tim's over the weekend and try to plant 5 acres. Saw 5 bucks and a dozen doe tonight on my way to his house for the tractor and tiller, nothing big but they were sure moving good right at dusk. Had at least 10 trees blown down near the West stand, a lot of firewood to be cut soon. Stands are all OK
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