Iowa Deer Blog

Well I haven't blogged in a while. I am really terrible about keeping up with it and I'll try to get better. The site traffic numbers have been off the charts this year. It's definately been a surprise how many visitors and hits we are getting each month and it has taken up a lot of time managing the new growth of the site. But it has been a lot of fun too, and it's encouraging to see some great new people participating on the forum.

As far as hunting goes, I haven't been out as much as I normally do. Most of the private ground I have hunted for years has either been sold (some to outfitters) or leased for big $. I can't compete with the big $ players - 3 kids, one income, you know the deal. So I've hunted some public ground and actually had some good and bad luck so far this year. I have passed on many small bucks and have harvested 2 does so far. Two weekends ago I rattled in a nice 10 pointer that I'd guess would have gone in the high 140 - 150 range. I had my decoy out and just like they always do he circled down wind from it. I had planned for this and I too was down wind - just not quite enough. This guy had obviously been hunted many times on this public area and was wise. I finally got a decent shot when he stepped out from behind a large brush pile. He was slightly quartering to me and appeared to have winded me. I really wanted to wait for a broadside or quartering away shot, but felt that I could put a good hit on him. And I did, or so I thought. I put my 20 yard pin right behind his front shoulder and let er rip. The arrow sunk in right behind his right sholder and he bolted. I was pumped! I sat still for another 30 minutes and then got down and went into town and bought a deer cart. Just before I shot him I dropped a big ole doe and I was way back in on this public ground and couldn't drive back in to retrieve them. After getting the deer cart and calling John (aka Iowa Deer) we went back out and started trailing the big boy. I had a good blood trail initally but after trailing him about 100 yards up on a ridge it really lightened up and then disappeared altogether. We looked almost all day for him and never recovered him This is only the second time I have hit one and not found him. I was really bumbed. Actually I still am as I write this. I still can't believe given the shot placement that he didn't drop sooner and that I didn't find him.

So on to other adventures. About the only good gound I have left that is private is a long drive for me south just north of the MO border. John and I headed down there last weekend for an all day Sunday hunt. I sat up down in a bottom area right by a North/South creek where I have seen some good sign this year. John was up on a ridge about 200 yards away. Right away in the morning I saw 2 does cruise through the CRP up on the hill in front of me then a small 8 came cruising in. I could barely hear John start to rattle and the 8 turned tail and bailed the opposite way. He ran down near my decoy. looked at it and then bolted across the creek. Then about 30 minutes later I see antlers appear in the CRP across an east/west creek to the south of me. He is probably 60 yards away from me. I try to grunt him into my decoy using True Talker doe setting, but he won't cross the big cut that the creek flows through. The banks are very steep in either spot. I had actually setup my decoy for once as a doe thinking I might catch a lonely buck inbetween does. They had all been locked down the week before so that was my theory and I stuck to it. To make a long story short he strolls right on up the creek and doesn't turn his head to my calls and just continues up into the CRP. Now I knew John had taken in his self climber and was somewhere up there and I shut up and hoped for the best for him to drop this big boy. He was a minimum of a 150 inch deer from what I could tell. Maybe as high as 160 or so, but with ground shrinkage I would think somewhere in the 150 range. Nice 10. Anyway, I watch the buck cruize up the hill and then he bolts. I didn't know if John slung one at him or if he spooked or what. I found out later when we talked that he just spooked and tore out of there.

We hunted all the rest of the day until dark. I will share some more on our afternoon hunt some other time as I am getting really tired of writing. Talk to you all soon.