The Doe Magnet...

It appears that I have a doe magnet in my pocket. These whitetail does are making me look like a genius...those of you who know me certainly know that genius would not be one of those words one would associate with me. I took today off and was again scrambling around trying to figure out a plan of action for the morning as my initial plans did not pan out.

I woke up early and was particularly efficient getting my gear together. My plan was to sit in an "island" of huge cottonwood trees that sat on the fringe of a busy travel route. Sitting on the ground was again the plan of action and since I had only threatened at the notion in years passed, I needed to get there early to find the right set up. If I wanted to get to my planned destination any earlier than I did, I would have had to spend the night out there.

There was a stiff SW wind so conditions were perfect for the set up. I placed the decoys behind where I planned on hiding. The buck was about 15yds behind me and the doe decoy was 25 yrds behind. Both decoys were on the edge of the island clearly visiable from a distance.

I managed to have some deer activity which lead a doe and her two fawns in my lap. They would feed and look up at the decoys, but she would not present a shot. Another doe appeared and slowly fed her way in the direction of the Heads Up Decoy. I was trying to film my hunt so there was an extra degree of difficulty trying to get footage and a shot. The second doe walked right into the decoy set and was standing quartering-to at 10yds or less from me. I was at full draw and let her have it. The arrow buried into her chest, entering in front of her shoulder and exiting behind the opposite shoulder. She piled up in about 60 yards. I was very happy.

I managed to capture the draw and shot on camera. This makes 4 does that have come into the decoys that we have been able to harvest. The big bucks will come.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peqkzCQdFHw

The Doe Guide Strikes Again

It appears that I have become a trophy whitetail doe guide. This marks the second weekend in a row that I have been the witness to another doe being harvested.

My brother Jeff joined me for a weekend ground assualt for anything brown and legal to shoot with archery equipment. Saturday morning began with a "bang" as I set the alarm clock wrong. Rather than the standard 4:30am wake up call, I shot out of bed at 6:39am...whoops. It worked out fine, we were able to spot a good muledeer in the area shortly before sun-up for a future day.

As stated previously in the week, our intention was to do some rattling and calling to lure in a buck...which we were unable to accomplish Saturday morning.

Saturday evening found us scrambling around due to a shift in the wind direction that essentially blew our initial plan out of the water. We would later find out that it worked to our advantage. I let my brother make the decision on the particular options that were available to us, and to his credit, was rewarded later in the evening as a big fat whitetail doe walk within 10 yards of him on her way to investigate the Heads Up Decoy 25 yards behind us.

As this was taking place, the light in our hiding spot was dim and I believe she picked up on the flashing red record light on my camera...she went back from where she came giving Jeff a 20 yd, slightly quartering-to shoot which he place perfectly. She expired 60 yards away.

I always enjoy hunting with my brother Jeff. I was lucky that I had him growing up because he is a big reason for my passion for hunting, particularly archery hunting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBcYjkpevEY

Doe Double...Oct 15th

Due to family and work related obligations, there was no weekend hunt so I took Friday Oct 15th off. I had extended an invitation to my newest prostaffer to meet me for an afternoon/evening hunt for which he graciously accepted. I met Matt shortly after noon. We scouted, hung stands, plotted, and schemed about an evening assault.

The wind was blowing from the SSW at about 10-20mph so I felt that a ground approach in a long narrow strip of cottonwoods may produce some action. This particular strip of cottonwoods snaked its way through picked corn and wheat stubble in a north-south fashion, 5-10 yards wide and about 300 yards long. The cover in the strip was dense enough to hide without the use of a pop-up blind. I placed the whitetail doe decoy and the whitetail buck decoy 20 yards behind our "stand" location. Matt chose the wheat stubble side. I chose the corn stalk side. We waited for deer to begin to move from a nearby bedding area.

Having consumed a sugar free Red Bull at the truck shortly before our sneak in, I was particularly attentive. The 20 mph wind gusts were not enough to keep me from hearing deer moving in a small milo field about 200 yards away:^) Four deer, 2 does and 2 fawns, appeared in the wheat stubble and were making their way towards us. I believe the mature doe had picked up the doe decoy and slowly worked her way towards our location. Matt made a slight weight shift to position himself for a shot for which the doe picked up the movement. The "peek-a-boo" game was on. For roughly 30-45 minutes Matt and I did nothing but blink as the doe stared Matt down, most of the time from less than 5 yds away. Matt was wearing Sitka Opti-Fade camo clothing which blended perfectly with the cottonwood Matt was leaning against making it impossible for her to make out his profile.

We eventually out lasted her and as she finally fed towards the decoys, Matt was able to draw and shoot the other doe standing broadside at 25 yards. She expired within 40yds. At this point, all heck broke loose as the other doe began to blow and stomp her way back in for another look. She moved off to the location where the 1st doe was shot. Matt drew and released another arrow. The 2nd doe also expired within 40 yards. It was a great hunt even though there were no trophy antlers. I was able to capture 47 minutes of footage including both shots. Matt filled both his antlerless tags, and the landowner was pleased. Video will be posted soon.

2010 KS Deer Season

The 2010 deer season has opened and again finds me scrambling around to find a good buck. The advantage I have is knowing the area. I have hunted this particular area for many years and there are always several good bucks in the area.

I have added some additional prostaff who will be contributing to the blog periodically. We hope to add photos and video.

I would ask that you join our blog to get our updates.

Good luck all and we will keep you posted on what's going on in the field.

GR