Ben's 2021 Semi-live hunt log

[TheBenHoyle]

Just a short post to update my progress towards the hunting seasons.

I spent the offseason getting a buddy into archery and he bought his first bow the other day. He really wants to go out deer hunting this fall and we have plans to get out scouting a piece of ground his aunt owns in Indiana over Labor Day Weekend. I think we might have a few pretty good hunts together this year.

I also have a fall shotgun turkey tag for some public land I've never hunted before. I'd like to get out and see the property before October but I'll have to see if it fits in this fall. I will definitely be out there hunting, just not sure if I'll have time to scout first.

I just put in an application for access to the public land duck hunting spot I hunted last December. I might have a new hunter coming along with me on that hunt as well.

I'm definitely getting itchy to get out and hunt but I also have a bunch of personal projects to work on and my oldest daughter is in high school now and she joined the marching band. So there are a lot of weekend commitments to conflict with hunting.

 

[TheGreek]

Good luck this fall! I'll be following along and rooting for you. I hope you draw that waterfowl hunt again. Maybe I'll get lucky and draw it too!

 

[TheBenHoyle]

Good luck this fall! I'll be following along and rooting for you. I hope you draw that waterfowl hunt again. Maybe I'll get lucky and draw it too!

You might want to check your app. There was a problem with the dates loaded at first and so they just wiped out any applications from before 3:30 pm on Monday. I had to re-apply. Good luck!

 

[TheGreek]

You might want to check your app. There was a problem with the dates loaded at first and so they just wiped out any applications from before 3:30 pm on Monday. I had to re-apply. Good luck!

Ha ha! Sounds about right for the IL DNR! God bless 'em.

 

[TheBenHoyle]

So I'm trying something new this year. I have been hunting with Muzzy broad heads and they have been fine. I've killed everything I have hit and they were an inexpensive opportunity to get into the sport 5 years ago when I got them. But they are a little extra work to keep sharp.

Decided to get G5 Montecs for the 2021-2022 season. Looking forward to trying them out and I am going to offer my Muzzy's to a friend who is just getting started in the archery hunting world.

 

[TheBenHoyle]

Going out on Sunday to a 30 acre property in Indiana with a buddy of mine. He is a new hunter and I am showing him the ropes. We started shooting bows together in the winter and he decided he liked it enough to buy a bow. He still has a lot to learn but he has been enthusiastic every step of the way.

Looking forward to scouting new property and finding places for a blind and a stand. Really I'm just looking forward to getting out and getting a taste of the coming season.

It's that time of year and I am pulling game meat out of the freezer to cook up for lunch. Yesterday it was duck breast today it will be a venison steak. Before long I will putting meat back in the freezer. Can't wait.

 

[duckhunt]

We are also going out this weekend checking stands and scouting. Also going to put a few rounds through the muzzleloader.

 

[TheBenHoyle]

Just found out I have been awarded a late season permit for archery deer and turkey as a state park. Looking forward to checking that out for a few hunts. I always like to go hunting on my birthday and now I know where I'll be.

 

[TheBenHoyle]

Went to Indiana on Sunday to scout a 30 acre parcel that I have permission to hunt. It is 15 acres of soybeans with 15 acres of woods around it.

We bumped a couple of deer as we were walking the field edge and saw a bunch of tracks. There is a row of oaks loaded with acorns along the east edge of the field and you can see that the deer spend a decent amount of time feeding along there.

My buddy is a first year hunter and is leery of climbing trees, so we set him up with a ground blind site that should offer several shooting lanes.

I found a spot where I will go up a tree on the first hunt. I have a saddle so I might try several different spots this season, but it is definitely a promising spot to start.

As a bonus, I found turkey tracks! I haven't decided if I want to buy a turkey tag yet. Might wait until after I have hunted the first weekend and then see if turkeys are out and about before I buy a tag. We'll see how that goes.






The only downside is that the landowners (my buddy's aunt and uncle) gave someone permission to firearm hunt there a while ago, but they haven't seen this guy in around 5 years, so they are not sure if he is still hunting out there. We are hunting archery and do not plan on being anywhere near there during the firearm season, but we did see 3 stands set up in the trees, which makes me think this guy still hunts out there. Just hoping we don't have a problem with him. I'd like my buddy's first hunting experience to be just positive even if the odds of him getting a deer his first time out are probably low.

 

[TheBenHoyle]

Just a quick update. Friday is the opener of Archery here in Illinois and while I would love to get out sooner, I think I will have to pass it up. I am just getting done with a bunch of house projects and this weekend is going to be needed on those.

I still have a nice amount of venison in the freezer, so my priority is on trying to get a turkey this fall. To that end I have decided to focus on a piece of public ground that I have never been to, but the turkey density should be pretty high. I am going to try to learn that place and see if it can't become a go to spot in years to come.

I am also taking a new hunter out for some deer hunting on some of his family's land in Indiana. It will be an archery hunt and that is where I will be for the rut.

There is another new hunter who wants to try shotgun deer. If we can pick up tags for the December season we'll try that. Otherwise I will try to get him out after some ducks/geese. And I will try to talk him into picking up a bow in the off-season. Right now I don't anticipate hunting as much, if at all, the little patch of trees where I have spent the last three seasons. We'll see though. I might get out there in December or even late season in January.

Either way, I should have lot's of new experiences.

As a follow up, the electrician finished all his work on my shed/woodshop, with the exception of the mini-split heat pump/AC. Now I can start moving in. I will try to post some pictures of that since it is hunting adjacent. If I get a deer I will most likely be processing it in the shed this year.

 

[duckhunt]

Good luck this fall. I will be in the deer stand for the first time Saturday morning.

 

[TheGreek]

Good luck on the turk and waterfowl this fall!

 

[TheBenHoyle]

I got out Sunday for my first Fall hunt of the season.



It was good to get out, but I am finding that this part of the season is going to be very frustrating. I had wanted to get up and be at the hunt sight before sunrise, but I was up so late the night before with my daughter's marching band competition that there was no way I could get up early enough to make the 2.5 hour drive before sunrise.

I meant to go scout this area several times over the summer, but it never happened so I showed up about 2 pm with no idea what I was up to. I did some hiking around and found some nice puffballs.



I was tempted to take one, but I don't really know what to do with them and wasn't prepared to deal with that. So I left them alone.

I found a nice deer superhighway along the edge of some corn.



There was a scrape to the left, right on the corner and a good try to climb with my saddle.
The trial was full of tracks so I was pretty hopeful that I would see some deer moving through before sundown.



Sadly, I didn't see any deer. I might have heard a turkey right at sundown to the south of where I was sitting. And then moments later to my west I heard a bunch of coyotes howling. Couldn't hear much else.

All in all it was a decent first hunt. I am going to try to get out there again next weekend although my daughter has another marching band event on Saturday. But the plan is to start learning this piece of public ground for the future. Any time I get to spend out there is well spent.

 

[TheBenHoyle]

I was hoping to get out to that same public hunting area today since I have a shotgun turkey tag that is good for one week starting yesterday. But we didn't get home from the state marching band competition until 3 AM and I was too smart to just stay up and drive the 2 hours 20 minutes to the hunt area...

I thought about getting out for the afternoon, but the forecast was for rain. So instead of getting soaking wet tromping though the woods looking for turkeys, I got soaking wet, pushing my wheelbarrow. I moved 3 cubic yards of mulch that had been sitting on my driveway for a couple weeks now.

Sometimes you have to admit that even though it is hunting season and every potential hunting day is precious, you need to get your work done first.

I might try to get out midweek, but most likely I will have to wait until the weekend. I'll be bow hunting in Indiana next Saturday and Sunday.

 

[TheBenHoyle]

I took a surprise vacation day today to get out to that Public Land area. I have somewhat low expectations, just hoping to learn more about the area so that maybe down the road I can have some success.

I was a little late in getting there this morning and the first sit I had planned ended up being uneventful.

About 9:30 I decided to get back to me car and drive around the property to see the other parking areas. I ended up deciding to hike in from the south and did about 2 miles, slowly and methodically looking for tracks and sign. I didn't really find anything in terms of turkey sign. But I did find a nice spot that might be good to set up on for deer. I saw a lot of deer tracks, and some of them were pretty big, but I didn't see any rubs. SO I wouldn't say that I found where the bucks are bedding, just a corridor that they use to get from point A to Point B.

Saw some nice scenery though.


Sat on the edge of a hay field that might be a good spot for a spring turkey hunt.



And while I was sitting there, I had my lunch, a venison pastrami sandwich. All in all a pretty nice day.



I decided to bail out after lunch. I could have tried to sit through sundown, but I felt that I had accomplished enough for today and I needed to pick up something I order from the hardware store. I'll try to get back out there a few more times this season, gain a little more knowledge about the way the deer and turkey live out there.

 

[TheBenHoyle]

I got out Saturday to Indiana for a hunt with a first time hunt with a new adult-onset hunter, we'll call him D. I am pretty excited that it actually happened. I have had a lot of people who expressed interest in hunting, but then when it comes time to make something happen they are too busy or maybe next year.

But D got really serious and put in the time last spring to learn how to shoot a bow and he bought a bow and we went out and scouted this property that belongs to his aunt. All through the process I was half expecting him to flake out, but he was in for all of it.

So I was pretty happy to get out Saturday morning but I was a little apprehensive that we would sit all day and not see anything. But boy oh boy did we have some exciting times.

D wanted to hunt from the ground, so we had set up a ground blind for him and I went up a tree about 70 yards west of him. We were on the south side of the property with a open bean field to the north and a north wind.

About 30 minutes after sunrise, I rattled some horns and about 15 minutes after that I had a 2 year old buck out in front of me. D could see him, which was nice but he was too far from either of us for a shot.

He started drifting north and a little doe came running out to him. It appeared he was going to cross the field to the north and we would lose him, so I grunted in hopes that he would turn and come back.

I was honestly hoping he would end up near D as I wasn't interested in shooting him, but I knew he'd be perfect for D.

Unfortunately he came right back to me and then when I didn't shoot him he continued on to the south.



That's the 20 yard shot I took with my iPhone instead of my bow.

As I watched him and the doe filter through the treeline I was in, I noticed a really fresh scrape right over my left shoulder.



I was hoping that I would see something come along to check that scrape, but maybe next weekend that will pay off.

D had a deer about 30 yards east of him, but it was in a little too brushy of an area for a shot.

About 3:30 he had a very agitated doe come running out of the treelike about 20 yards from him and stand out in the field. She was probably 20 yards, but he thought she was more like 40 so he didn't shoot, which was probably ok since she might have jumped at the sound of his shot. She ended up running from there to directly under my stand.

She kept looking over her shoulder as I was watching her waiting for her to step into a shooting lane, and I made the mistake of taking my eyes of her for a second to see if there was another deer coming. When I looked back, she was gone. No idea where she went...

And about 4:30 we had a doe, two fawns and a little spike buck come out in the corner about 150 yards north of D. We were hoping they would feed along the field edge his direction, but the spike was being aggressive with the fawns and they ran off north which took the doe and the spike soon after.

All told, we had an action-packed day and I know D is hooked. He can't wait to get back after it next weekend.

 

[TheBenHoyle]

Went back out to Indiana with D on Friday afternoon. We had a nice hour or so, with a doe and some fawns coming out into the field. The doe was pretty interested in the grunting that D was doing and I thought she might work her way across to him, but there was another deer still in the treelike that decided to run back deeper into the trees. The fawns followed and then so did the doe.

I thought we might see them again at sunset, but of course we had visitors. We are sharing the property with a couple of other guys and they were going to come in at 4:30 to check their stands and that pretty much disturbed the tree lines and sunset was a total bust.

Saturday morning was quiet. I saw a nice buck cross the road and head to the opposite side of the field like he was on a mission at about 8:30.

At 9, the other two guys decided they should leave, which kinda disturbed things. We had no movement of deer all afternoon. I had a little buddy watching me for a moment though.



I ended up taking a moment to try climbing a tree with my saddle. I've only done it a few times now and I am still learning. I am getting better at the mechanics of getting up and down, but I still don't feel incredibly comfortable with the shooting. I do feel like once I get the hang of it (pun intended) I will love being mobile and hunting from a saddle.

At 3, the other two guys showed up again. I am going to follow this post with a little rant about that.

At sunset, I had 4 does come out of the treeline about 30 yards to my west. They milled about in the field pretty much within range, but this was my view of them.



Can't see them can you? Neither could i...

Two of them circled to the south and got a drink from the pond behind me.



That would have been a 34 yard shot, but there was a bar on the tree stand that was in my way for drawing my bow. I was hoping that she might come around closer, but she drifted to the south.

I looked up with about 15 minutes of light left and saw a buck (possibly the same one from the morning) reversing course from the far side of the field to the road. And then it was dark and our day was done.

It was a little disappointing that D didn't have any close encounters. I know he enjoyed the experience despite the headwinds. We'll keep trying to get him a deer.

 

[TheBenHoyle]

Here's my rant.

This land we were hunting in Indiana belongs to my hunting buddy D's godmother and godfather. They offered to let us hunt it saying they didn't think anyone was hunting it.

Many years ago (at least 20 or more), The godfather had a coworker who asked if he could hunt there. And he did for many years. At some point he started bringing his friend K along with him. Eventually the coworker got too old to hunt and stopped going out, but K had gained permission from the godmother and godfather and so he continued to hunt it. He extended his permission to some of his friends.

The godmother and godfather assumed he had stopped hunting since they hadn't heard from him in a few years. But they were wrong. K hunts this property like he owns it. He brings one or two buddies out to hunt with him and they hunt hard for about 6 weeks, from November 1 through the middle of December. Crossbows during archery season, shotgun season and Muzzleloader season. He's a "if it's brown it's down" hunter and regularly takes 5-15 deer off the 30 acre property between him and his buddies.

So that is the back story.

The rant is that the property owners have no idea what is being done by K because they are not hunters and know nothing about hunting. They assumed that no one was hunting it, and sent D and I out there thinking we might have a good hunt.

And D and I should have had a good hunt. There is plenty of land and plenty of opportunity for 3 or even 4 hunters to each have some fun and success in the woods.

But that permission given to one person 2 decades ago, a person who no longer hunts, has turned into a quasi ownership of the hunting rights by a guy who really doesn't know how to make room for anyone other than himself and his hunting party. He trashed D's blind and then later apologized when he realized that D had permission to hunt out there. He wrecked our Friday afternoon hunt by insisting on walking in at 4:30 and then standing around in the open on the field edge talking loudly. His in and out on Saturday was not stealthy and was not intended to try to minimize the impact on our hunts. Etc.

As long as he has permission to hunt out there, I don't think D or I can consider that a viable option for hunting. And I honestly don't know that his godparents have any interest in laying down the law to K and telling him he needs to scale back his activities or to revoke his permission.

It's just disappointing. End of rant.

 

[TheBenHoyle]

I'm going out for an afternoon waterfowl hunt with a buddy and most likely we will head back out Sunday morning as well. My buddy said he drove by the spot we are going to hunt the other day and there were just piles of ducks back in that spot. Hopefully that will hold true for us today.

 

[TheBenHoyle]

I was pretty excited on Saturday to get out with my buddy. He had put a lot of work into resurrecting his Jon Boat that he hadn't used in several years and we were going to take it out on the river by his house.

Unfortunately the river was a little low and we had to walk the boat over a few low/sandy areas, but we managed to get to a nice set up and should have had a chip shot on a nice drake within about 30 minutes of seeing up that afternoon. But it was coming from the right and I had a dead tree in my sightline, so I didn't see it un til it was right infant of me flaring out of the decoys...

We saw a good deal of ducks and geese, but most of them tucked into the river to the east, which meant we would kick them all up on our way back to the launch. Such is the case.

The next morning we did the whole thing over again. Kicked up so many ducks and geese on our way back west to where we could hunt. At one point I practically jumped out of the boat to avoid being plastered by a low-flying goose in the dark coming right at me.

We got set up and had a nice morning with a decent amount of ducks in the air. Unfortunately we had another hunter set up a spear about 200 yards east of us and that meant the ducks were trying to land in between our spreads keeping them out of range for each of us...

He did manage to be more efficient than us. I think he left with 2 or 3 ducks.

I missed 5 or 6 shots and was out of shells momentarily when the easiest shot I had all morning went whizzing right in front of me. My buddy missed about as many although he did manage to get a hen into the boat.

It was humbling, but I enjoyed sitting outside and seeing the action way more than I would have enjoyed anything else.



Next up for me is some deer/turkey hunting in one of my old stands on private ov er Thanksgiving weekend.