Kevin in NH Deer hunting log 2015-to Present

[kevin in nh]

10/31/2020 Saturday 22 degrees 5 mph WSW wind. Farm stand. I layered up using the Pnuma heated vest and pants base layers with two more layers and carried everything else in my pack. On stand at 06:15 and heard on shot way off behind the farm. The turkeys started there morning trek to the property and nothing else, I sat warm and comfortable until 10:45. I checked the SD card and of course there was a nice Buck at my stand on Friday at 07:31 while I slept in.......

 

[kevin in nh]

11/8/2020 Sunday, Farm Stand: 42 Degrees and barely a west wind. On stand at 05:15 I went in dressed lightly and other than the Turkeys coming down from roosting in the pines to the field that was the only wildlife I saw. I don't count the 17 thousand squirrels that never stop rustling the leaves. I swapped out the sd cards and there are 7 different Bucks on the property....two are good ones too!
Today is Monday 11/9 and I am out until the 16th, then out again to the 23rd.I won't get to hunt every day but the rut really kicks in I hope to be on stand when one comes by.

 

[kevin in nh]

11/11/2020 Veterans Day Farm Stand 44 degrees dressed lightly WSW wind. On stand at 05:35. The landowners son is hunting 2 of my stands now. I had a beauty of a buck making a scrape and licking at the snowmobile stand. I sat until 09:45. Very foggy and nothing is moving as the temp climbs to 73 degrees as I get to the truck. Cooler weather is coming!

 

[kevin in nh]

Lucky Friday the 13th for me! 11/13/2020 Snowmobile Stand lite West Wind 39 degrees, on stand 05:55. Walk in was dead quite from the rain. At 06:20 I catch a flash of white at my 2 o'clock in the thick stuff and coming up from the cut is what looks like Doe....than another....then a good size deer cuts up around the two Doe and stops. Its still a little dark where they are then another deer comes up behind him. There all just standing there and I can barely make out a rack....my 66 year old eyes ain't getting any younger! The first Doe starts to head to her right towards the trail and the others start to move and I give a very light grunt and they stop....they are at 50 yards so I give one more just as she turns her head and she turns and starts towards me with the two Doe going past her on her right. She steps out and walks to 25 yards and the Buck steps out at 45 yards and stops with his front left angled away behind a big Oak. This is not your Buck chasing Doe but 4 deer being shadowed by this buck and then all 4 start to feed on the acorns! The other two Doe are in the head high greens heading towards the trail then the lead Doe turns toward them so its game time before he disappears.
I have killed a lot of deer and I still get excited after 40+years of this! He sucked up an acorn or two raised his head towards the Doe and I get on him and see the rack clearly and I am a little higher on his shoulder than I usually do an BOOM! He flies by me like a rocket.....no mule kick so I know I missed the heart and he shows no sign of being hit.....hit with a 3 inch 12 ga. solid copper sabot! I don't hear a crash so I sit down and 30 minutes later I check where he was standing.....nothing? I very slowly start tracking and nothing? I start second guessing myself after 50 yards and I was tracking a minute or two before every step. The leaves were wet so I had somewhat of a direction to go but 80 yards and still nothing?? An hour has gone by and at 90 yards one drop of blood! I see another and a few drops and there he is! He died on one side of a small log that in 2015 I shot an 8 pointer at the same spot with one long shot! I hit him high in his left shoulder and it traversed out his right side before his right rear leg. He is a nice even 8 pointer and weighed 168 with an 18 inch inside spread!

 

[kevin in nh]

Tuesday 11/17/2020 Farm Stand 37 Degrees 4 mph WSW wind perfect. On stand late at 06:10 and the sd card swap later shows I bumped 2 deer coming in. Sat until 10am.....nada, zip! SD card shows to different bucks while I was at work on Monday coming thru at a good pace.....not running but moving!

 

[kevin in nh]

11/20/2020 Farm Stand 41 Degrees. W wind 5 to 10 mph. On stand at 05:45 and sat until 09:45. Nothing is moving here so time to check the sd cards. I went back to the snowmobile stand to get the cards and went past where I turn off to get the camera over the gut pile. I pulled the camera and was walking back towards the stand and 4 deer where 30 yards from the stand. Back at home I went thru the sd cards and Thursday the 19 was the day as 3 different bucks went by the Farm stand at 08:07 a nice 8 walked by heading onto the property......then another chasing a Doe at 08:14, and another 8 or better also walking onto the property!!! After dark on the 18th into the 19th a steady stream of deer headed onto the property. The sd cards at the snowmobile trail had another nice buck feeding for 18 minutes at 07:21. The deer were going by the stand day and night so this morning, Sunday the 22nd heading back to the snowmobile stand to give it another shot with the crossbow.

 

[kevin in nh]

11/22/2020 Snowmobile stand 37 degrees 3/5 mph wsw wind on stand at 06:00. First time back since I shot the 8 pointer. I was about 100 yards from where I turn off the trail and the coyotes started howling and screaming and they were not far off. I hadn't been carrying a handgun but that changed after listening to them as I hurried to the stand. A little after 07:30 I caught movement and its a nice Buck coming up from the drainage. He was on the same trial as the 8 point and the 4 does. He has a big thick rack and he was heading up to the trail. I hit the grunt tube and no reaction so I hit it again a little louder with no effect. He was a nice one too! Around 8am I hear a deer coming and its a Doe coming from behind me and she stops and keeps checking her back trail, then comes right into 20 yards in front of me and stops checks her back trail and walks off. A little after 9am I catch movement at my 2 o'clock and its a smaller racked Buck and he too ignores the grunt tube and continues on to the backside of the knob heading towards the house. I sat until 10 am swapped out the two sd cards and headed home.