Evening Hunt 9/28/10

I was able to head out to our "Pond Stand" today after work. Pretty crappy day weather wise. Temps have been hovering around the 60 degree mark (it feels a lot chillier than that) all day with a pretty heavy drizzle in the morning that kept on all day with some decent rain at times. Winds were out of the West at around 2-9mph with gusts up to 21. Sunset is 7:15pm so legal hunting time ends at 7:45pm.

The rest of the week looks pretty nice weather wise, but between work and a wedding this weekend, hunting is looking rough so I decided to get out while I can.

Over the last two weeks, my cousin Joe and I have really noticed an increase in rub activitiy especially around our "Pond Stand" that we built a few weeks ago. We've probably spotted close to 20 new rubs that weren't there prior to this time. We have also noticed a couple of scrapes on the edge of the soy bean fields that have gotten some activity but nothing too hot right now.

Anyways, tonight I had a nice buck come through about 7:20pm. Couldn't quite tell how big he was due to the light, but he looked solid with a tall rack and a fairly large body. I was lucky to spot him - looking in the right place at the right time. I really wasn't able to hear anything because of the soaked ground and falling rain so it was good to see him trot through. On the way out of the stand there were 5 deer out in the bean field, but again, due to the light I wasn't able to tell what they were. All in all a decent evening - hope to catch another glimpse of that buck!

Opening Weekend 9/25/10

It was a pretty eventful opening weekend for the group. We had a few guys hunting our stands in Avon, Ohio and another group out at my uncle's property around Chatham, Ohio. When all was said and done and the dust settled down Sunday night, we had dropped four nice deer during Ohio's opening archery weekend.

My old man GB led the pack with a pretty decent 10 pointer dropped opening morning at 7:17am in Avon. It's a pretty typical 8 pointer with two nice kickers coming of the deer's left antler (see the pic at the top for a better view). Man, ever since he's turned 50, he's been dropping at least two a year and it doesn't look like this year will be any different!

Following up GB was my 10-year-old cousin Andy who dropped a nice 7 pointer out in Chatham on Sunday. What makes this deer even more impressive is that he took him with a well placed shot from his recurve bow! Pretty damn impressive shot from the 10-year-old deer slayer!

Our buddy Dino (top below) was also able to drop a real nice doe on Sunday out in Chatham while my cousin Pat (bottom below) dropped a spike in Avon on Sunday as well (luckily the spikes were small enough that he was able to use one of his doe tags on the deer).

We also had a couple of clean misses this weekend but luckily no wounded deer. I was in Avon and didn't have a shot opportunity, but did see a couple of nice does. During my downtime I was able to update the "tree log" in the bucket stand where GB dropped his buck. I added it to my old post from a few years ago when I dropped a 9 pointer out of the same stand.

All in all, a pretty damn good start to the season. Lots of fresh meat getting cut up for the year and a few celebratory beers!

I will be trying to hit the woods at least once or twice after work this week so hopefully I'll have some more posts to add. In the meantime, also check out my cousin Joe's blog over at: http://bowhunting2010.blogspot.com/. Later!

Hunting Info

I mainly hunt in Avon and Chatham Ohio with an occasional trip or two to Southern Ohio for archery and blackpowder season.

The Avon Woods are in a fairly urban environment with new construction both residential and commercial going on in the nearby areas. I shot my first deer in these woods when I was 10-years-old and hope to squeeze another year or two in hunting over there before the land is developed. As you can tell by the map, there are 4 fairly large soy bean fields in our hunting area that make for a great food source.

My uncle owns some great property out by Chatham, Ohio and this land is more of your classic rural hunting area. They've done incredible work out there setting up food plots and managing the deer herd with some great results. We've got some real nice stand setups out there and of course, nothing can beat the "Condo" (pics later).

During archery season, I'll be rocking my Fred Bear Lights Out 2009. I purchased this bow from the Hunter's Friend website and couldn't be happier with the price and product. It's a great setup but I did change from the broadheads provided to the Montec G5 CS broadheads. They shoot great and I'll let you know what they do to a deer once I get a shot on one. A nice benefit is that Montec also produces Pre-Season versions of these blades so you can avoid relying on field tips or dulling up your broadheads during practice sessions. Finally, I added a Tru Glo Sight Light to my Trophy Ridge Hawk Eye sight.

Come shotgun and blackpowder seasons, I'll be carrying my Thompson Center Omega with the thumbhole stock. I've shot this gun quite a bit and it's accuracy and distance is outstanding. I'm looking forward to taking a nice deer with this gun.

That pretty much gives you a quick overview of what I'll be using this year. Hopefully I'll be able to post some pics with sweet results.