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Been looking forward to tomorrow for a long time. The trail cams are showing 'Bucks in Rut', lots of Does still on the property, the weather looks good, at least a lot colder than rifle week. So it should be a fun week.
Hope everyone who goes out has a safe hunt...
Good luck and keep your powder dry and hope you all "Make Smoke" !!
Packing this afternoon for an early start tomorrow morning.
Going to be frosty and crunchy in the bush.
Good luck!
Don't forget a few Hall's cough drops..an essential !! :)Quote:
Originally Posted by impact
Good luck, looking forward to reading about your adventure :)
You BP guys likely won't be alone. Black Bear is still open until the 30th. They'll still be toting rifles. I think this is the first time the two seasons run together for a couple of days.
I don't know of anyone in this area that hunts bears specifically...some guys used to buy a tag in case a serendipitous bear came thru while out hunting Deer. ..like the one I posted a pic of...that doesn't happen very often.
I'm scheduled for an archery Bear over bait plus I still have a antlerless Deer tag I still want to fill at a buddy's farm in WMU 60 tomorrow for sure and maybe Tuesday if the sign is still there. Everything is on the table. Just as an aside,I sure wish we could use orange camo for big game.
Good luck with the hunt! We hunt the first controlled hunt. A long wait for the 2022 season! Lol
Well,we were on stand at first light and stayed out until 4PM to get back to the barn before dark. Other than a couple of neighbors swinging through with a pair of Walker hound pups,we saw bupkus,no tracks,no bait hits,nada. The only other highlites was a pair of Whisky Jacks showing up for lunch. It was a beautiful day to be out,though. We're going to pass on tomorrow. Time to get the Coyote gear out.
They drove me nuts today. A buck tearing up the trail I walk in with 2 fresh scrapes and 3 beds in the snow. Not a piece of deer hide seen other than a coyote crossing a field in the far distance. It was -9C walking in this morning and the crunching of the crust was heard for kilometers I'm sure.
Gorgeous day to be out though.
Like the saying goes: A bad day in the bush is a whole lot better than a good day at work.
No kidding, it was rather invigorating sitting in the -8 with the Sun peeking thru the trees at sunrise. Best vacation I've had in years :)Quote:
Originally Posted by impact
No deer were seen, but had a great time watching the Turkeys. They apparently are roosting in tree about 200 yards from my stand. Heck of a racket a fly down. There are two groups, about 24 in one, mostly all hens and a 2nd group of 7 that are all Toms. They circulate thru the area once every hour or so.
A bit annoying but sure break up the monotony.
I'll give that spot another 8 hours (4 dawn and 4 dusk) today then I'll move on to another stand later in the week.
So no deer in ML season yet.
We did well in shotgun/ml season though so no complaints.
I think there's something wrong....what season are we in ??
https://i.imgur.com/fI5c5tEl.jpg
lots of turkeys kicking around. a few yotes more active. i find with this snow here and first rut come and gone the patterns have changed a bit. back to cover, food and first and last light tactics
I have been alternating between two WMU's this week with one being archery only. (municipal bylaw)
Just walked out at dark and 2 deer standing in the field a couple of hundred yards away from my archery stand in the bush.
Nothing on camera the last couple of days so they have me figured out.
Back to ML for the remainder of the week.
I am seeing deer, just not one I want to shoot yet. Now that the week is ticking along, my standards are going to slip.
That depends on how much work is waiting for you when you get back sometimes....Quote:
Originally Posted by impact
Decided to try a guide this year and they dumped me in the worst position and terrible stand. Lots of deer around and the only one I wanted to shoot (a fat spike) I blame solely on the blind. Every time I moved he would turn and look and stamp and snort... I was so busted but he was hungry, he headed out tail in the air long before I even got the gun to my shoulder. You couldn't move without the floor making a noise (cheap boards for the floor), the windows were too big, the curtains useless in the sun which from about 10am to 4pm I could have taken the chair and sat on the hill behind for all the cover it gave. I should have taken a picture, standing at the bait pile you could see the inside clearly with the sun shining in. Wind direction and rain did me no favours too as all the deer seemed to be coming from downwind until they caught my scent and reversed course and made they even made it colder in that box. I enjoyed getting out, the bald eagle and ravens were interesting... the "camp" (mouse hotel with no apparent attempt at pest control) had me switching to a hotel and driving an extra 30+ minutes so for their part, nice guide, owner seemed only interested in money (showed up to make sure I paid him the full balance the last day) and I would say what a complete waste of money! In a couple decades of hunting that is probably the worst blind and "camp" I have had!
Bolingbroke-to bad to hear that,sucks.
Just a curiousity, is this was Ontario ...or else?
Sad to hear that. Most of the time,the very best guide is your own two feet. Remember the old adage "If you want it done right,you have to do it yourself."Quote:
Originally Posted by Bolingbroke
It was in Ontario, I'm hesitant to say who simply because part of it is hunting and weather and luck. He did fit me in as a solo hunter and some other guides just add a bunch of money or say minimum 2. That said I also don't think he had spent any time looking at the stand and the deer traffic etc., the height and sun shining in made me stand out about like a Christmas tree on a dark night and that "camp" building had mice inside, but what ever the heck was in the rafters was a lot bigger and more worrying when you are trying to sleep!Quote:
Originally Posted by gbk
That's what my wife made me promise and after that its my plan. Anyone have any maps of crown or township properties you can hunt Toronto east? Rather than going north east seems to have alot of deer and might be worth a change of focus and closer.Quote:
Originally Posted by trimmer21
So, did anyone have any luck during the muzzleloader season?
Was not able to get one with the smoke pole but the area I was hunting in was shotgun as well, got a big doe on Monday morning and the group I hunted with had 11 down out of 14 guns and 13 tags by Wednesday morning.Quote:
Originally Posted by rf2
Closest I got to a nice buck was :
I was at the 'other' stand that aft:
https://i.imgur.com/yYx4Mf7l.jpg
I was just getting to my pop-up and saw a white tait flash 50 yrs in front of me:
(The time stamp is still on DTS)
https://i.imgur.com/0pjsbJ6l.jpg
11 deer down in just over 2 days? That's insane! Where was that? Too easy!Quote:
Originally Posted by Fox
This is the problem with trail cameras. Sometime it's better to not know.Quote:
Originally Posted by MikePal
Near Stratford, this was a crazy year. They had 3 down in 1 chase on Monday, I got the big doe Monday evening at my dads place. Tuesday we setup in a swamp, 1 guy had 12 deer come to him, he got 2 deer but most were not good shot opportunities, that chase the gang got 6, we were bucks only after that and got another buck on Wednesday. The deer population down there is coming back as the coyote population is down. How can I say the coyote population is down? Well, the rabbit, squirrel and grouse population is up, significantly.Quote:
Originally Posted by rf2
That is a good indicator.Quote:
Originally Posted by Fox
Well done!
The ash dying off is actually helping too. All these established forests with almost no cover have turned into a tangled mess of undergrowth, a lot more cover for the smaller animals and deer alike.Quote:
Originally Posted by Big Jack
I shot a doe (first deer with my muzzleloader) on the last morning of the muzzleloader season. Had been holding out for a good buck but being the last chance with a gun and having an empty freezer it was time to pull the trigger. Actually saw 15 deer that morning hunt including a small fork horn that came through 15 mins after I shot the doe. The number of does I’ve seen this year compared to bucks has been a bit ridiculous so I was happy to take a doe over a small buck anyway. Area 64A.