NorthMaine
Active member
- Joined
- Nov 14, 2011
- Messages
- 725
- Reaction score
- 134
It seems the 2022 hunting season left as quick as it came. This was my second-ish year trying to hunt these little woods bucks and I still haven't quite figured them out yet. After last year, I told myself I would try and be better prepared and scout/plan more, but as usual, life got in the way and I only marginally achieved those goals. I managed to get out and swap batteries in my cameras in mid summer, and to my surprise, they were still holding strong since I had last replaced them at New Years. In general, I've had pretty good luck with these $40 Wildgame cams and Amazon Basics NiMh rechargeables. They aren’t super fancy, cell cams, but hunting these populated areas, I hate to spend $100 on a camera only to have it tampered with or stolen. At least with these, if someone takes it I’m only out $40. This year was the first year so far I’ve had someone mess with my cameras. I’ve had multiple people walk in front of them and seemingly not even notice them, but at some point during the second week of the season, someone took an SD card and the batteries out of one of them. Oddly enough they left the camera itself which is good I guess. I put my name, address, and phone number on all my stuff I hopes that someone would contact me if they came across anything rather than messing with it, but I guess these are the times we live in…
In September, I managed to get out and hang a couple ladder stands. Only one of which was really where I wanted it which ended up being the only one I sat in all season, however, since I had dragged them both in there, I ended up setting them both up but will be moving one here at some point. I may end up dragging a few others in as well. I still have a handful of them sitting in the garage after wiping out the local Walmarts of them last winter for like $35 on clearance. Similarly to the cameras, I hate to spend a ton of money on expensive tree stands only to risk having them stolen or tampered with. I’d rather have someone use it if I’m not there than steal it. Hell, even if I walked in on someone sitting in it, I probably wouldn’t even be that mad. Someone did end up at least climbing into it at one point as when I returned a few days later, the seat wasn’t how I had left it.
I had told myself this season that I would try and sit more rather than walking and roaming and just pushing/jumping deer all over the place. This is difficult for me, as I'm generally not much of a sitter, however, getting used to these smaller pieces of land that are relatively thick, it's next to impossible to do anything more than jump them, let alone get a shot off. The area I have been frequenting is only 30ish acres, on which I have had a handful of cameras for the last few years. I have an astounding number of buck photos compared to does, some of which are quite impressive. However, as I noticed in years past and this year as well, it seems that once November rolls around, their areas and patterns change completely as they are pushed and disturbed by other people. I get steady traffic right through the summer and as late as the end of October, then the traffic drops off significantly. For next year, I'd like to attempt to get a better understanding of where they're going once November rolls around. They do still pass through, however not nearly at the same frequency.
Due to the sitting, I ended up seeing fewer overall deer this year than years passed, but certainly had better shot opportunities had I chosen to take them. Overall, I think I saw 6 deer, 2 of which being spike bucks, all of which were seen in the last 2 weeks of the rifle season. My hunting times were generally Saturday and Monday mornings till 2:00 or so, then I’d have to go pick up the oldest at Kindergarten. Then I also had Thursday and Friday before as well as Thanksgiving week off. The first few weeks were crazy hot, and I found myself sitting in 75deg and a t-shirt which I don't think I've ever done before. The following weeks leading up to Thanksgiving cooled off a little more but still weren’t super cold.
On November 17, one of the few days I actually roamed around, I found a dead 4pt that had been there quite a while. He was right on the edge of posted property looking like he had come out of it, but I’m not sure if he had been shot or what, as I didn’t investigate; I can only assume so.
The 18th we ended up with a dusting of snow and while sitting in that one stand, I had a spike come through that I was able to video for 3-4min. He came in from my side/behind me and went to check out a scrape/licking branch that’s 40 yards in front of my stand, then came right at me and ended up walking by at like 20’. I was able to video the whole thing for like 4min. It’s always a cool experience to just watch them do what they do.
The beginning of Thanksgiving week was pretty uneventful, generally sitting from daylight to 2:00 or so. I did buy/use a heated vest which was really a game changer for sitting extended periods of time. I look forward to using it more next season. I’m really not sure how the guys that sit dark to dark do it. Thanksgiving Day I didn’t go out and obviously, it ended up being the day I should have been there. When I checked the camera that is near my stand the next day I was annoyed to say the least. At about 8:00, a doe came through and I have a picture of her looking behind her. About 10min later, a buck I have pictures of the last 2 years came right up her track and dubbed around my camera for nearly 30min. It even looks like he may have bedded down right under it. We’ll never know if they would have come by if I had been sitting in my stand 40 yards away, but I certainly wasn’t going to kill them from the kitchen haha.
Friday I sat again, this time in the rain with no sightings. My last day, Saturday, I sat again and had a small doe come through around 8:30, and about an hour later, another spike back came up her backtrack. Could have been the same spike from the previous week.
All in all, a good season. I don’t get out nearly as much as I would like, but hopefully as the kids get older that will change. Tags went unfilled again, but it’s more about the experience than the killing for me.
Excuse the photo dump. No kill pictures, so you'll have to settle for trail camera photos. I think they're a blessing and a curse. It's always cool to see what's out there, but sometimes I wonder if I'd rather not know... The thought of these big boys roaming the same woods keeps me going out haha. It gives me something to look forward to next season.
Dead 4pt and spike.
Thanksgiving morning:
In September, I managed to get out and hang a couple ladder stands. Only one of which was really where I wanted it which ended up being the only one I sat in all season, however, since I had dragged them both in there, I ended up setting them both up but will be moving one here at some point. I may end up dragging a few others in as well. I still have a handful of them sitting in the garage after wiping out the local Walmarts of them last winter for like $35 on clearance. Similarly to the cameras, I hate to spend a ton of money on expensive tree stands only to risk having them stolen or tampered with. I’d rather have someone use it if I’m not there than steal it. Hell, even if I walked in on someone sitting in it, I probably wouldn’t even be that mad. Someone did end up at least climbing into it at one point as when I returned a few days later, the seat wasn’t how I had left it.
I had told myself this season that I would try and sit more rather than walking and roaming and just pushing/jumping deer all over the place. This is difficult for me, as I'm generally not much of a sitter, however, getting used to these smaller pieces of land that are relatively thick, it's next to impossible to do anything more than jump them, let alone get a shot off. The area I have been frequenting is only 30ish acres, on which I have had a handful of cameras for the last few years. I have an astounding number of buck photos compared to does, some of which are quite impressive. However, as I noticed in years past and this year as well, it seems that once November rolls around, their areas and patterns change completely as they are pushed and disturbed by other people. I get steady traffic right through the summer and as late as the end of October, then the traffic drops off significantly. For next year, I'd like to attempt to get a better understanding of where they're going once November rolls around. They do still pass through, however not nearly at the same frequency.
Due to the sitting, I ended up seeing fewer overall deer this year than years passed, but certainly had better shot opportunities had I chosen to take them. Overall, I think I saw 6 deer, 2 of which being spike bucks, all of which were seen in the last 2 weeks of the rifle season. My hunting times were generally Saturday and Monday mornings till 2:00 or so, then I’d have to go pick up the oldest at Kindergarten. Then I also had Thursday and Friday before as well as Thanksgiving week off. The first few weeks were crazy hot, and I found myself sitting in 75deg and a t-shirt which I don't think I've ever done before. The following weeks leading up to Thanksgiving cooled off a little more but still weren’t super cold.
On November 17, one of the few days I actually roamed around, I found a dead 4pt that had been there quite a while. He was right on the edge of posted property looking like he had come out of it, but I’m not sure if he had been shot or what, as I didn’t investigate; I can only assume so.
The 18th we ended up with a dusting of snow and while sitting in that one stand, I had a spike come through that I was able to video for 3-4min. He came in from my side/behind me and went to check out a scrape/licking branch that’s 40 yards in front of my stand, then came right at me and ended up walking by at like 20’. I was able to video the whole thing for like 4min. It’s always a cool experience to just watch them do what they do.
The beginning of Thanksgiving week was pretty uneventful, generally sitting from daylight to 2:00 or so. I did buy/use a heated vest which was really a game changer for sitting extended periods of time. I look forward to using it more next season. I’m really not sure how the guys that sit dark to dark do it. Thanksgiving Day I didn’t go out and obviously, it ended up being the day I should have been there. When I checked the camera that is near my stand the next day I was annoyed to say the least. At about 8:00, a doe came through and I have a picture of her looking behind her. About 10min later, a buck I have pictures of the last 2 years came right up her track and dubbed around my camera for nearly 30min. It even looks like he may have bedded down right under it. We’ll never know if they would have come by if I had been sitting in my stand 40 yards away, but I certainly wasn’t going to kill them from the kitchen haha.
Friday I sat again, this time in the rain with no sightings. My last day, Saturday, I sat again and had a small doe come through around 8:30, and about an hour later, another spike back came up her backtrack. Could have been the same spike from the previous week.
All in all, a good season. I don’t get out nearly as much as I would like, but hopefully as the kids get older that will change. Tags went unfilled again, but it’s more about the experience than the killing for me.
Excuse the photo dump. No kill pictures, so you'll have to settle for trail camera photos. I think they're a blessing and a curse. It's always cool to see what's out there, but sometimes I wonder if I'd rather not know... The thought of these big boys roaming the same woods keeps me going out haha. It gives me something to look forward to next season.
Dead 4pt and spike.
Thanksgiving morning:
Last edited:
